Happy New Year 2022

Hello! I am very sorry I haven’t been around lately. I started working full-time for the first time in over a decade and it really knocked me for a loop. I also spent a month in California back in November, and this gorgeous vintage kurotomesode happened to follow me home. Part of me wanted to share it right away but then I realised the arrow motif was very reminiscent of hamaya and was therefore absolutely perfect for a New Year’s coordinate. I felt that New Year’s Day was a perfect day to re-devote myself to this blog. It’s not a resolution, per se, because I am utterly terrible at  keeping those, but it did seem like a good day to set a new goal.

I did debate going “proper” and pairing this piece with a typical gold fukuro obi and white accessories, but as usual my love for dusty vintage colours won out and I ran with this maru obi instead. One of the motifs on it is sho-chiku-bai or the three friends of winter, a lucky winter motif, so it felt appropriate nonetheless. Red accessories and a textured white haneri added a bit of punch without stealing the focus, and I’m quite pleased with the end result.

Here’s to a year of health, happiness, and hope. A year of finding the time and the passion to focus on what makes you feel happy and fulfilled. I am going to make a concerted effort to devote more time to my hobbies, both kimono and my miniatures. I already have several outfits and entries planned out for the next little while, so I just need to keep this motivation and momentum going. How about you? What are your hopes and goals for 2022? I’d love to know, so please leave a comment!

Items used in this coordination