Tag: orange

Fall’s Bounty Ikebana

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I guess all that complaining about how summer was sticking around actually accomplished something, because it’s wonderfully crisp and cool out now. It seemed like a good time to share this last of the triad I created from that one big bundle of flowers my mum brought home a while back.

The lilies and the greenery forming the horizontal grounding of the arrangement harken back to the end of summer, while the carnations and chrysanthemums scream autumn to me. Unfortunately the piece does end up feeling a little cluttered, in retrospect, and I might have been better off just foregoing the orange lilies entirely. Oh well, you live and you learn, right?

I’d also like to take a moment to thank any regular readers for their patience. My schedule at work and life in general have been a little out of whack for the past few weeks and I’ve found it hard to devote time to blogging. But things are back to normal now, so I should be back to two entries a week or so.

Second Summer Ikebana

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Isn’t it supposed to be autumn this weekend? The trees are still green, the weather is still warm… It definitely feels like a second summer is sneaking back to us. Blegh!

This more traditional-looking sparse arrangement is another one made with the same bundle of flowers as the last one, but it feels quite different I think. The roses make me think of the sweltering heat of mid-summer, but their colour absolutely evokes autumn foliage.

I am definitely ready for it to actually stay cooler and crisper now! Can summer just go away properly, please?

Rainbow Sherbet

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This beautiful faux-shibori odori kimono came home with me last weekend, courtesy of my friend Sasa of SA Design by Sasa. I modelled a plus-size happi coat for her a while back and she was incredibly generous in offering this piece to me as thanks. I also bought a lovely obi from her, but I’m saving that for later. 😉

I really love the colour combination of purple, orange, and yellow. Despite the autumn mood of the leaves on the obi, I think the whole outfit together has a very refreshing feeling to me. It feels very summery, like a refreshing scoop of rainbow sherbet. It looks sweet and cool and completely delicious, and now I’m making myself hungry!

It’s finally starting to cool down here in Montreal, and the fashion show I’ve been prepping for is coming up really soon, so that means I’ll finally be comfortable enough and have enough free time to get back into posting as regularly as I used to. We’re coming up on the tenth anniversary of me starting this blog, so I’ve got to do something fun and exciting.

Also, do you spell it as sherbet or sherbert? It seems to change depending on where you’re from.

Items used in this coordination

Vibrant Vintage

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For someone who keeps telling herself she doesn’t need more kimono, I sure do keep ending up with more kimono. But when I saw this gorgeous vibrant turquoise Taisho irotomesode on Ichiroya recently, I knew it had to come live with me. This piece is not in great shape, admittedly. It’s got sun damage that leads me to believe it was folded and then stored badly at some point in its life. But I was just so in love with the colour that I couldn’t pass it up, and it became my tax refund gift to myself. It’s also incredibly small, bordering on too small for the mannequin even, so I have no delusions of ever being able to wear it even if I lose weight. Alas. 🙁

I knew immediately that I wanted to pair it up with this bold orange nagoya obi that really pulls out all the gorgeous warm tones in the hem design of tachibana and kaioke. My initial instinct was to go for more muted accessories, including an obijime that has nearly the same shade of turquoise, but then I remembered I have this bold haneri with tachibana in the same colours as the obi and just ran with it. I love the emphasis the rich purple tones bring to the whole coordination. I will definitely be revisiting this kimono soon with a more gentle and subtle coordination, but I really do love how bold and vibrant this turned out.

Items used in this coordination

Autumn Rose Ikebana

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I finally had the time and money to stop by the florist’s today to see if anything inspired me. After a bit of browsing I came across these gorgeous miniature roses that reminded me of autumn foliage. It’s actually been snowy here for nearly a week already, but I’m determined to ignore that for as long as possible, and I thought they’d make a beautiful farewell to the season.

Alex, the kind and friendly owner of the florist shop, suggested the stem of large, shiny green leaves as some contrast foliage, and they look great. I’ve sadly forgotten what they’re called. I also wanted to practice forcing a curve in a stem without breaking it, and I think I’ve finally got the hang of it! The branch was originally perfectly straight, but I managed to get a nice, natural-looking curve to frame out the roses perfectly. It was feeling a little bit empty so I picked up some of this fluffy yellow plant at the flower counter in the pharmacy to fill it in a little bit, and it feels much more balanced now.

I’ve missed practicing my ikebana, and I feel like things generally weren’t flowing as well as they used to because I was rusty. But this turned out very much how I’d envisioned it, and I think it features the flowers perfectly, so I’m quite happy.