Tag: black

Outfit of the Week: Valentine’s Day!

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I may be single, but that doesn’t mean I can’t get caught up in the ridiculous fluffy commercialism of Valentine’s Day, right? There are plenty of folks in my life whom I love. So I decided that for this week, I’d try to come up with a sort of thematic outfit. I started with this black wool komon I got from Ame a while back. The red and white designs, from a distance, remind me of hearts and snowflakes, which seemed perfect for a love-related holiday this time of year. The kimono came with a matching haori, but I decided to bring a bit of brightness to it with my well-worn red haori and a red hakata obi. I think this outfit is definitely cute and lovely, without being overly frilly or twee.

Items used in this coordination

Quiet afternoon kitsuke time

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I know I have not been posting in this blog anywhere near as frequently as I used to, and I apologise. However, yesterday I got an overwhelming urge to coordinate a kimono I’d never worn before, and decided to pair it with an obi I’ve also never worn before.

The kimono is a half-lined synthetic piece with tiny white fans in a sort of gradient pattern. I won it at the Astoria street fair in NYC in the summer of 2012, and it’s been sitting in an armoire ever since. I decided to pair it with a bright red faux-shibori obi I got from Ame years ago, and couldn’t resist using my ubiquitous lemon-yellow shibori obiage and hakata obijime.

Something about the combination of tiny patterns felt a bit retro to me, and I’ve been obsessively reading the Sano Ichiro series of novels by Laura Joh Rowland lately, so I decided to aim for a bit of an Edo-style silhouette, tying my obi much lower than usual and going for a more pigeon-shaped and natural-looking bust. I’m not sure how well it succeeded, but it was very comfortable! To emphasize the period feel, I had on a pair of black geta with pinstriped hanao, but they got cut off in the photos. Haha. Whoops!

Items used in this coordination

Oh I’m a lumberjack, and I’m okay!

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Oh I’m a lumberjack, and I’m okay!
I sleep all night and I work all day!

I’d been waiting for the right opportunity to wear my lumberjack kimono, and I was starting to worry winter would come and go before I had the ideal combination of weather and free time. I guess the universe took pity on me, because we had a rather spectacular blizzard overnight!

I decided to pair it up with my ume and momiji tsuke-obi, since it seemed seasonal, thematically appropriate, and practical. I dressed in a sort of comfortable casual style, forgoing a proper juban for a turtleneck and a pair of tights. I figured the ridiculous hat and boots completed the outfit well.

I only realised as I was getting undressed that I’d forgotten my obijime – the perils of wearing a tsuke-obi, I suppose! I think it’s fine in this particular case though, since my kitsuke is so non-conventional to begin with.

And in case you don’t know where the title and opening bit of this entry come from, I present to you, The Lumberjack Song, from Monty Python:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mL7n5mEmXJo

Chidori Obidome

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This adorable obidome was one of the awesome things in the last box of goodies Kansai_gal sent me. I love chidori, but I also love the amusing multi-faceted aspect of this particular piece.

Chidori is the Japanese term for plover (a type of small wading bird), and when it comes to kimono the term generally refers to depictions of this bird. The depictions can be realistic, or very stylised, much like the depiction of the silver bird on this particular piece.

However, due to the similarity in appearance, the Japanese name for the houndstooth pattern on the background is also referred to as chidori. So this particular piece is technically chidori-on-chidori! Isn’t that cute?

Obi Bundle part II – Chuuya and Tsuke Obi

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Continuing my deconstruction of that huge obi bundle. I was initially planning on doing a separate entry for each type of obi, but since there were only two chuuya obi and two tsuke-obi, I figured I would put them in one entry in the interest of efficiency and expedience.

Black bingata tsuke-obi with cranes

Or, as I like to call it, the roast-chicken obi. Something about the shape of the birds in flight reminds me of a trussed-up cooked chicken. I absolutely love the design of this one though, despite not usually being fond of cranes. The construction is a bit odd for a tsuke, it’s all one piece. I’ve yet to figure out how to put it on and have it look perfect, but I’m working on it!

Black tsuke with ume and momiji

I’m so glad the other ladies let me have this one – I’m really in need of more cute, versatile tsuke obi for days when my health is not great and I don’t have the energy to tie them myself. I think this one is incredibly charming.

Green multi-technique chuuya
Obi Bundle Part IIObi Bundle Part II

I’m not entirely sure how to describe this, aside from gorgeous. It’s rich, slightly dusty colours, lots of different techniques , and the silk is incredibly soft and buttery. It’s a typical chuuya with black on the opposite side, and the black silk is rotted beyond salvation, but I’ve replaced the silk on other ones before, and it’s not difficult.

Grape chuuya
Obi Bundle Part II
Obi Bundle Part IIObi Bundle Part II
So called because one side is purple and the other has grapes. How could I not? This is so gorgeous, the grape-and-trellis side is sort of a rough blend, and the wave side is a rough cotton or hemp. It’s quite casual, but so unique. I can’t wait to find the right kimono for it.