Tag: houmongi

Trip to the park in a bunny houmongi

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I’m back! Sort of! I’m still not 100% better, they’re working on figuring out exactly what is wrong with me. Fun fun. However, I do have a bit more energy now, so when this adorable houmongi with french knot embroidery and a bunny arrived this morning, I decided to tackle it with gusto! I paired it up with a greeny blue fukuro obi with pinkish lavender lines and my blue and red shibori obiage and hakata obijime. A pair of gold and red zori pulled out the gold leaf accents on the kimono nicely.

Astute readers may have noticed something slightly different about my hair 😉 Being trapped inside the house on sick leave for extended periods apparently makes me do wacky things.


In case you’re wondering what my earrings are, they are turquoise Calaveras (day of the dead skulls) with roses in their eyes, from Polished Two on Etsy. They arrived this morning as well, and were the exact same colours as the embroidery on the kimono. I figured I had to wear them.

And in honour of the recently departed Gary Coleman, RIP.
What’chu talkin’ bout, Willis?

For more images, and larger versions, please check out My Flickr.

Gothic Landscape Houmongi

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Every so often, you come across a piece that you know you’re just meant to have. Sometimes it’s immediate, and you splurge and buy it. Sometimes you’re not that lucky, and you miss the opportunity. Take solace in the knowledge that eventually, it will find its way back to you.

This curious piece came up for sale, and at the time I didn’t have the money for it. It was purchased by a member of the Immortal Geisha forums, and I happily admired it from a distance, when she posted photos of herself wearing it. Time passed, and she got engaged, and sadly had to sell parts of her collection to fund the wedding. This time, I was ready. I swooped in like a bat in the night (can you tell the mood of the kimono is rubbing off on me? Either that, or the fact that I am currently watching Batman: The Brave and the Bold while writing this) and snapped it up when she put it up for sale.

Damn, was it ever worth the wait. I am fascinated by this kimono. It’s got swirly wrought iron gas lamps, Victorian-style buildings, and what appear to be a series of small grave markers. It reminds me of London in the late nineteenth century.

I wonder if the artist who designed and painted this piece had the same scenes in mind – and if so, what possessed them to make such an odd and unexpected kimono? If not, what were they trying to evoke with this piece, and what would I see if my Western-minded bias were not getting in the way?

Sadly, I’ve not had the opportunity to wear this yet. The woman I bought it from bundled it with a funky shimmery blue-green obi that has a pattern reminiscent of paving stones, and they coordinate very well, but I can’t help think this kimono would look particularly amazing with my equally weird blackbird obi. Crows flying over London, surveying their territory. Hopefully I’ll be able to get the obi re-lined soon, and be able to put together an outfit that does both pieces justice.

Indigo Girl

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I’d been waffling about buying a Taisho-era indigo piece for a while when this came up on Ichiroya, and while it was a bit more than I usually pay for kimono, the colour, size, and condition of it were all worth the investment in my mind. This is a houmongi with era-typical long sleeves and a beautiful, multiseasonal floral design. It’s got branches of ume (plum blossom), iris, botan (peony), and bamboo around the hem, and a bold, graphic stem of tachibana, which is probably my favourite floral motif. I love how squishy and fun they look!

It also has some gorgeous, lush embroidery on some of the geometric designs

However, I think one of my favourite things about this kimono is probably one of the most subtle. Woven directly into the fabric, before the dyeing process was started, is a gorgeous red and gold windowpane plaid. You’d never see detailing like this on a modern houmongi, as nowadays that sort of design is considered strictly informal. Naomi wrote a great piece on the qualities of indigo dye, and the transitional phenomenon of putting stripes (which are very casual by modern standards) on more formal kimono. It’s a trend I think is beautiful and needs to come back into vogue.

I’ve worn this kimono once, but only inside the yard, as I’m a little worried about wearing such an old piece out and about. Maybe one day when the right time and place come up, I will do so. I chose to pair it with a late-Showa era obi, which may seem odd but the clouds, grasses, and colours just seemed perfect with it. The obiage and obijime were a gift from a friend, and bring out the soft blue and olive tones in the kimono perfectly. For a vintage feel, I chose some burnt paulownia geta instead of zori.

Back in black, birthday-style.

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In my entry about my birthday purchases, I mentioned that I’d gotten one other special piece that I was going to devote an entire entry to. Well, I finally had some free time today to devote to putting an ensemble together and dressing in that piece. Without further ado, allow me to present my kurotomesode/houmongi hybrid mystery kimono!

At first glance, it looks like a subdued kurotomesode, and that is where it was hanging at the kimono showroom. At first I was going to skip over the whole rack, having no real need for more formal items, but I can never pass up a good ogle. While I was rummaging, I noticed something a bit out of the ordinary about this particular piece – there were designs on the sleeves! Kurotomesode, the most formal kimono for married women, is typefied by several things. They are fully black, they have five white crests (three in the back, two in the front), they often have a white second layer known as a hiyoku, and they have designs on the hem only. This one fit all the criteria, but was thrown off by the decorated sleeves.

For the ensemble, I was inspired by the subdued, chic look of geiko in their formal outfits. I paired it up with a warm gold fukuro obi I received as a birthday gift, a white obiage with red shibori clouds, a green and gold obijime to highlight the green in the kimono. Underneath it all I wore a red juban with a lushly textured white and silver haneri. I also put my pearl necklace on, since it was a birthday gift and I felt it was subtle and classy enough not to look out of place.

Full view of the kimono

Close-up of the hem designs

Inside the hem, and the white hiyoku

Design on the sleeve

Going Bananas!

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I’d been trying to abstain from buying anything new, honestly! I was just idly browsing ebay when I found this beauty. I need to learn not to Windows-shop, it just leads to me spending money I don’t have!

Basho, or banana leaf, is a bit of a weird motif. I’d associate it with summer – tropical muggy climates and whatnot, but since it’s not native to Japan I keep getting conflicting information about seasonality. It’s lined, so definitely between fall and spring. I plan to just wear the hell out if it whenever.

The leaves are yuzen-dyed in vivid shades of pink – from a deep raspberry to a pale cotton candy, with some icy blue accents, all highlighted subtly in gold. The sleeves are deliciously long, almost two feet. Taisho length, but it’s definitely a more modern piece. The lining is pale cream, with dark pink around the edges.

I’ve got no idea what I am going to pair it up with yet, but you can bet there will be photos when I figure it out!