Tag: purple

Rapunzel – Disney Princess Kitsuke Project

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🎵 Flower gleam and glow 🎵

Rapunzel is definitely one of the more “fun” princesses. She’s got a chameleon for a best friend, she can fight with a frying pan, and she undeniably has the best hair of anyone. I wanted to find a way to acknowledge that amazing, magical hair without using a wig.

How better to emulate a long gold cascade than a gorgeous gold obi tied darari-style? This style is typically worn by maiko, but I feel like it was the best way to capture Rapunzel’s hair in a way that still felt true to the project. The addition of some silk flowers really kicked it up a notch. Of course I had to use a pink and purple kimono to echo her pink and purple dress. I purchased the obijime on a whim a while back, and I realised it would be a great reinforcement of not only the colour scheme but also her braided hair. Not only that, but the pearls on them form sweet little flowers that call back to the golden flower that granted Rapunzel’s healing powers. After that, braiding a few obiage together really pulled everything together, I think. And of course, Pascal the chameleon had to make an appearance.

And with that, all of the brave, brilliant, beautiful Disney Princesses are done! I’ve assembled a master post for the entire project, and I’m so happy with how they all look together!

Items used in this coordination

Ariel – Disney Princess Kitsuke Project

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🎵Look at this stuff, isn’t it neat?🎵

Six weeks ago, I found a kimono on ebay that was perfectly reminiscent of Belle’s yellow ballgown from Beauty & The Beast. I snatched it up, and thus the ridiculous Disney Princess Kitsuke Project was born. I spent the following weeks plotting out coordinations for every single one of the official princesses. Made a few purchases, but mostly tried to use my existing collection. However, six weeks in, that gorgeous gold kimono still hasn’t arrived. I felt my frustration setting in and my motivation up and running away. I knew the only way to keep myself on track was to work on some of the other princesses in the interim.

Ariel seemed like a good starting point, as she was the first “new” princess of my youth. I definitely identify the most with Belle (nerdy idealistic brunette? come on!) but had very strong memories of Ariel too so she seemed like logical next best thing. I chose my teal green hakama to mimic her tail, a sparkly purple komon to match her purple shell bra, and my shell haneri. It’s not very visible, but of course I had to use my whale hanhaba obi under the hakama, right? Last time I was at the craft store, I kept an eye out for charms and decorative items I could use in this project, and the first thing I found was a cute little shell charm. I figured I could work with that, and then I stumbled across the dinglehopper and couldn’t have been happier! I assembled them together with some silver chain, and some pearly beads and starfish charms finished it off perfectly.

Overall, I think this first outfit in the project came out exactly how I wanted it to. Which is a good thing, because now my motivation is back on track for the rest of them! I’ll likely be aiming to doing one a week, and then a big collective entry when they’re all complete. I hope you come back to see the others.

Items used in this coordination

Pretty Pastels

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It’s hot out there, you guys. It’s so hot! I really needed to make an outfit that felt summery and breezy to counteract the oppressive weather. If you follow me on Instagram, you may have seen this adorable card-suit obi that followed me home from California. It seemed like a good place to start. Even before I’d brought it home, I was thinking it would work well with this hydrangea hitoe komon I’ve had for years that never gets enough love. It’s way too tiny for me to ever wear, and I admittedly only bought it because it was bundled with an obi I wanted, but the light colour palette and seasonality of motif fit perfectly with the breezy summer concept I was aiming for.

This adorable shell haneri from Kansai_Gal seemed like the ideal finishing touch for the outfit. Rather than default to my usual standbys for a hanhaba obi (chocho musubi or karuta musubi) I thought I might try to be inspired by Choko and her amazing ability to improvise soft and relaxed-looking obi musubi that would also fit with the airy and relaxed style I was aiming for. I would like to think I’ve succeeded.

A few of us here in Montreal are having a kimono meet-up  this coming weekend and I do wish there was some way I could get this kimono to fit me, but even if I were to lose a huge amount of weight it would still be too narrow across the back and too short, sadly. It would look so cute with pink lace tabi and my card-suit geta, but that’s a coordination for another person on another day. I will likely end up wearing my bunny komon and teal hakama, and you can be sure I will take tons of photos so check back early next week for that.

Items used in this coordination

Architectural Ikebana

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Most of the arrangements I’ve done so far have been fairly loose and natural in feeling, working with the shape of the flowers instead of forcing them. I really wanted to try something more sculptural and geometric and work with straight lines and the very linear quality of lucky bamboo (which isn’t really bamboo) seemed like an excellent starting point. While I was at the florist’s I saw these gorgeous miniature purple calla lilies and I knew I’d found the perfect counterpart for the bamboo.

I focused on the diagonal lines to draw the eye from the top of the arrangement to the bottom. Initially I’d just wrapped the vase in the faux banana leaf but the colour balance felt off. I found this ribbon while packing for vacation; it’s actually the belt from a dress I have. The mauve was a perfect match for the calla lilies, and it really helps to anchor the whole arrangement and make it feel much more balanced. Overall, this one turned out very close to what I’d initially had in mind, and I’m very happy with it!

Rock Garden Ikebana

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I said I’d be trying to do at least one ikebana arrangement per month, but that was the bare minimum. I was inspired to do a second before April ends.

I wanted this one to feel much more natural and organic, a bit like a rock garden at the edge of a pond. I found the beautiful white and purple ranunculus first, and then found the smaller filler flowers in the exact same colour scheme and knew I wanted to experiment with texture and repetition instead of the more traditional shin/soe/hikae structure of a more vertical arrangement. The roundness of the glass vessel echoes the rocks and the shape of the flowers, and and the colours repeat each other which gives the whole piece a feeling of cohesiveness. This has a very different feel from the last one, which makes me feel very happy. I can’t wait for the next strike of inspiration to hit me!