Tag: pink

Pink Takara Houmongi

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I’m not generally attracted to pink kimono, or kimono with lots of small scattered designs. And yet somehow, this thing captivated me from the moment I saw it. The first time it was listed I forgot to bid and kicked myself repeatedly for missing out on it. I guess nobody else bid either, because a few days later it was listed again at an even lower price. I couldn’t believe my luck. I bid on it immediately so I wouldn’t forget, and hoped nobody else would bid either.

The end of the auction was coming up but I had to get to bed, so I asked Naomi‘s husband Arian to keep an eye on it for me. He decided to do so by outbidding me by 50 cents. He’s quite a goof sometimes, but a very sweet goof. In any case, I’m very grateful, because it’s absolutely gorgeous.

It’s a delicate soft salmon pink with white bokashi (fade-dyeing) around the shoulder and hem. Within the white areas, there are tiny Takara or Lucky Treasures motifs.

Takara-zukushi is a pattern of assembled “takara”, or treasures, which reflect what Japanese people consider valuable.
Needless to say, “takara” comprises of sacks of gold and magical mallets of luck. Buddhist scriptures which can give you knowledge and wisdom is a major treasure too. Counterweights are also “takara” although it may sound odd to you, because they are used as a balance when valuables are weighed. As for the rest of the treasures, “choji” (an herbal medicinal ingredient), “mino” (straw raincoat) and “kasa” (wattle hat) all symbolize something to protect oneself with against calamities and are therefore also considered “takara”.
The sense of “takara” varies by era and locality. Sometimes it comprises of locks, keys, and even ritual articles.

Trying to identify each treasure in a Takara-zukushi pattern is just like opening a jewelry box. In the mood for a treasure hunt? How about looking for interesting and unique treasures on kimonos or obis with the Takara-zukushi pattern!!

Explanation courtesy of Yamatoku.

I am hoping to be able to wear it on my birthday, and I’m going to aim for a very soft, girly, Kimono Salon-style coordination, pairing it up with the beautiful Tokaido obi I received as a gift recently.

Because I can’t go anywhere without buying something!

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Thank you to Rick and the team at Websytz for getting my technical issues sorted out!

I recently got back from a wonderful week in Boulder, Colorado. It was really nice spending time with my friends, catching up with people, and just enjoying what I’ve truly come to believe is my second home.

Of course, I had to make a visit to Janine at the Vintage Kimono Showroom. I had no plans to buy anything, but she had one incredibly amazing haori and an obi that I’d admired the last time I was there, and somehow they magically ended up coming home with me. I also had the fortune of ordering Wearing Propaganda – Textiles on the Home Front and having it shipped to my best friend to save money, so that came home with me too. I’ll be doing a review soon. But I digress; onto the amazing stuff I bought.

Pink bellflower hakata obi


I actually first found this obi the last time I was there but somehow talked myself out of it. When I saw that it was still waiting for me, I had to cave in. I love hakata of all kinds, but especially the sort that’s not geometric, because it’s so much less common.

Eye-searingly awesome meisen spider kiku haori

I finally have meisen that fits me! So yes, admittedly it’s a haori and not a kimono, but I don’t care. It’s vibrant, it’s tacky, it’s amazing, and I love it. I have no idea what I’m going to pair this one up with, but I really don’t care. I couldn’t let it escape my grubby little clutches.

I’d originally found a subtle purple and cream striped haori while at the showroom but when Janine brought this beauty out I just couldn’t say no. It’s not something I will ever find again, and I could not pass up the opportunity. The lining is also adorable, tiny little kokeshi dolls.


I also came home to a box of goodies from Naomi, so I’ll be sharing the contents of that soon enough.

From the Archives – Hydrangea ro komon

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Unfortunately, life’s been both hectic and humid here lately and I haven’t had many opportunities to wear kimono. Hopefully the pictures of new items and book reviews and whatnot have been interesting to you guys. I am really enjoying the book reviews and I’m really hoping to do more in the future. However, this is afterall a kimono blog and it’s about time I posted some more pictures of outfits!

These pictures are actually quite old, from when I first got the outfit, nearly two years ago. However, they are of my first (and only!) ro summer weave outfit, so I figured they might be worthwhile to share at this time of year! I was saving them because I had planned to wear this outfit again to an art exhibit I attended recently (I will be posting an entry about that soon, don’t worry!) but unfortunately the weather wasn’t cooperating, nor was the knee I injured a few days beforehand. I ended up wearing a haori with jeans and a nice top. Boo.

The kimono itself is a deep navy, with bright white and pink hydrangeas printed all over. The obi is cream and hakata weave. When I bought it, I thought it was white, but the cream is a nice contrast against the navy. The accessories are a soft pale pink, to tie in with the hydrangea. I have also since bought a pair of pink lace tabi to wear with this outfit, but have no photos yet.

Please forgive the excessive amount of bosoms going on in this outfit – at the time I was using a bright lime-green rubber datejime to flatten my bust, and there was no way of hiding it under the kimono, since it’s semi-transparent. I had to do without, and this is what the girls look like when not sufficiently strapped down.

Montreal Matsuri Japon 2010

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I went to the annual Matsuri Japon last year and really enjoyed it, so when I found out it was happening again this year I was eager to head out. I wore my black ume yukata and blue and white hanhaba hakata obi to work all day, and after my work day was over my mother joined me and we drove down together. Since there are so many photos here, I’ve put smaller versions than usual in the post, please click on them to see bigger versions 🙂

Unfortunately, the festival had changed locations this time around, and it was in a much more cramped location in the middle of the busiest and most tourist-filled area of the Old Port of Montreal. The traffic flow was not ideal and the stage where the taiko drummers were was virtually impossible to get to. I was a bit let down. However, there were plenty of lovely yukata to see and photograph, and a few great bargains to be had.

At first I didn’t realize that the festival had moved, so I tracked down a guide and asked them where to go. This lovely gentleman then came up to me and asked me where to go, he was as confused as I was! After posing for a photo at my mother’s insistence, we headed off to the new area together.

At the gate, I saw the always-radiant Akane, who I generally run into at these sorts of events. She’s such a sweetheart.

And in the long-standing tradition of goofy photos of me with food in my mouth (if you have me on Facebook you’ve probably seen some others) I found some takoyaki! It was yummy.

This lovely young woman had the most luscious raspberry-red yukata with great shibori all over it, and a really pretty obi with some urushi-like flowers on them, she looked great!

Another beautiful young woman who was doing custom calligraphy.

She made me a very nice interpretation of Tsuki and Hana (moon and flower), on some beautiful Japanese paper.

Three little dolls looked absolutely adorable in their yukata and heko obi! Love the hats, too.

A beautiful family! The young boy on his daddy’s shoulders had the cutest “Chip & Dale” jimbei!

There was not much in the way of kimono to purchase, thankfully. However, I did manage to find some very cute obijime for a steal, $5 each!

And I couldn’t pass up this adorable origami crab jewelry! I will probably turn the pendant into some sort of obi-kazari, as I always wear one of my pearl necklaces, but I couldn’t pass it up!

There are plenty more pictures in my Flickr Account, if you’d like to see! I’d also like to give a huge thank-you to my mom for taking a lot of these photos!

Black Hanamaru Furisode

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Black Hanamaru Kofurisode

This is a piece I’ve already shown you, I wore it the first day it arrived, but it also needs a decent catalogue entry, so please bear with me.

Yamatoku was having a sale over the summer of graduation kofurisode overstock. Kofurisode are shorter-sleeved furisode, typically worn with hakama. Girls often wear them during high school and college graduation, so about a month after graduation season, kimono retailers will typically have a large number of modern, synthetic, mass-produced kimono available for good prices.

I don’t usually like modern kimono, and furisode even less, so I honestly wasn’t expecting to pick one of these up. However, when I found this one I had to cave in. It’s komon-style (all over pattern), so it doesn’t scream “furisode” to me. If anything, between the sleeve length and the bright all-over pattern, it looks more like a vintage everyday kimono than a modern graduation outfit. Because it’s modern, it’s nice and large and actually fits me nicely. It was also a steal at $19.95. How could I say no?

The patterns are hanamaru, which are decorative balls of flowers. They’re primarily fall and winter flowers; ume and kiku. There’s also some sort of berries or tiny flowers, I have no idea what these represent. If you know, please comment and help me out! There’s also some subtle trellis designs which add a nice geometric element and keep it from feeling too twee or girly.

The hakkake is a deep yellow, and there is a matching built-in kasane-eri. I hate those damned things, but it does add a nice vibrant touch of colour up by my face, and helps to break up the black, so I’ll probably leave it in there.