Tag: red

Go Habs Go!

, , , , , , , , , 0

One thing you may not know about me is that I am descended from hockey royalty. Newsy Lalonde was my great-grandfather. While this isn’t something that generally overlaps with my kimono interests, sometimes a girl’s just got to represent hometown and familial pride, in the form of a coordination evoking the Montreal Canadiens team colours. Especially now that we’ve made it into series two of the Stanley Cup playoffs. Go Habs Go! Tricolore jusqu’au bout!*  I’d originally planned to put this up before Series 2 Game 1 on Wednesday but was feeling under the weather, so I’m making sure it goes up before Game 2.

Sadly, I don’t have any hockey-themed accessories, and I don’t think my father would be too thrilled with me using things like his grandfather’s Hockey Hall of Fame ring as an obi-kazari, so I had to work with the “tricolore” (three colours) emblematic of the Habs — red, with blue and white as accents. Our primary jersey colour is, of course, a nice bright red, and as is standard in the NHL the away jersey is white so of course this red-and-white yagasuri komon was the perfect base. I just always forget how danged huge it is, which makes putting it on the mannequin a little awkward. It also looks a bit pinker in these photos; blame the light in my room. In person it’s definitely a true red.

Sadly I don’t have any obi that are quite the right shades of blue, but this one works pretty well. I tied it in a karuta musubi because the square shape with the red and white lines of the obijime reminds me a bit of an ice rink, if you squint! There’s no significance to the cat motif, I was just going for colour cohesion. It does tie in nicely with the blues and white and the motif on the haneri though, doesn’t it?

How about you — are you a hockey fan? Are you watching the playoffs, and rooting for any particular team? If so, let me know so I can tell you how factually incorrect you are (I kid, I kid).

Items used in this coordination

*(this literally means tricolour until the end or tricolour all the way, referencing the three team colours)

Stepping out of my comfort zone

, , , , , , , , , , 0

In the more than two decades I’ve been studying, collecting, and coordinating kimono and Japanese arts and aesthetics, one thing I still find myself struggling with is Japanese colour palettes. I studied graphic design before I fell into this little rabbit hole, and my colour sensibilities are innately Western.

 

It’s possible you’ve seen this adorable little A Dictionary Of Color Combinations book on some fashion and personal style social media accounts lately, it’s gone somewhat viral, and for good reason. It’s less a book and more a collection of colour palettes that appeal to the Japanese aesthetic. If you’re ever stuck for inspiration, it’s a fantastic place to start. You can either open a random page and go from there, or if you have a piece in your collection you’re unsure of what to do with, there’s a handy index at the back. Find the swatch closest to your piece and then view all the options! That’s what I ended up doing here, with this gorgeous early-Showa komon I picked up at the Palm Springs vintage market a few months back.

 

 

I found this palette with the colour “Eugenia red”, which was about as close as I could find to the kimono. The complementary options were “Sulphine yellow”, “Green Blue”, and “Raw Sienna.” The obi is nearly spot-on for the sulphine yellow, and the other two colours show up in the obi motifs quite nicely. Would I normally have paired a red kimono with mustard and green accessories? Not in a million years! Was it successful? That’s for you to decide. I think it works, but it’s definitely not my favourite thing I’ve ever put together. I will definitely keep trying combos from this book though

Also if you’re curious about my manicure in the book pics, it’s Zoya Midori stamped with this Maniology sashiko plate. I was going for “matcha latte” vibes.

 

Items used in this coordination

 

 This post contains affiliate link(s). If you choose to purchase, I receive a small rebate or commission which goes to the continued maintenance of this site. 

Art Gallery – Mystery “Geisha” Doll

, , , , , , , , 0

I have mentioned it before (and I’ll likely mention it again), but I am a sucker for any sort of gacha/mystery/blind-box situation, so you know darn well when I found this listing on Etsy for a 3D-printed “mystery geisha doll” from NoirVibe Studio I had to snatch one up. I figured it was high time to share some beautiful original art that wasn’t my own silly fanart, so here she is!

Let’s get the obvious out of the way first – this lovely lady is more of a kitsune miko than a geisha. However, I don’t blame them for the name, this one is much more likely to attract attention and for the average Etsy shopper.

How these work is you purchase the listing, and you can request specific parts for the shop to mix-and-match, or you can be surprised. I told Nikolett I liked the black okobo and red hakama, but wanted a surprise for the face and hair. I’m very happy with the one I got! There only seems to be one option for the kitsune, but I absolutely love how it’s detachable and functions as a fun little fidget toy!

The quality is lovely, she’s very solid and well-assembled, and the 3D-printed parts all fit perfectly together. There are, of course, some print lines — but this is to be expected and doesn’t detract from the figure at all. The quality is good enough that they’re only visible if you’re very close, and I actually find it adds an interesting texture to things like her hair and the large red mon-like dot on the back of the kimono.

Overall I am very happy with this purchase, and am considering buying another though, in a black and white outfit and the skull face.

 

Kabuki Glamour

, , , , , , , , , , , , , , 0

For today’s outfit I was inspired by the lush decadence and pure kabuki glamour of the costuming in Kokuho, which I reviewed earlier this week. This astonishingly big and heavy stage hikizuri was the perfect base, and for once I’m actually in season with it. I waffled between my black and white hakata tsuke-obi and this green short han-darari style, but in the end the bling and the drama of the darari won out. I also really like how it picks up the green in the ume branches of the kimono. They feel very theatrical together, don’t they?

Colour-wise, there was already more than enough going on so I figured white accessories with a lot of rich texture would be the best accent, and I’m glad I didn’t add in anything else. I went with my tried-and-true textured kiku haneri, the white and silver maruguke obijime from one  of my bridal sets, and my white obiage with red shibori clouds. I think they make an excellent combo!

This kimono is so big, and the obi so easy to put on, that I am seriously debating wearing this entire outfit myself and going to take photos in the snow before it melts. We’ll see if I end up finding the time and energy. (ed note: Don’t get your hopes up, the writer is tired)

Also one fun note about this kimono, there are still trace of oshiroi smudged onto the red inner layer. I should have taken a close up, now that I think about it.

 

Poppies and Promises

, , , , , , , , 0

Those of you who’ve been around for a while know I make a point of keeping an eye out for items with a poppy motif, since my mother’s name is Poppy. They’re doubly special to me now since orange poppies are also the state flower of California, my new home. I got this kimono from Sasa and I’ve had it for quite a while and I knew I wanted to coordinate it before I headed back to California in a few weeks. My kitsuke skills are a little rusty, since it’s been over a year but once I got into it muscle memory took over and I think I did alright, all things considered.

In person this houmongi a gorgeous pale minty colour that’s basically impossible to capture digitally. My mobile phone actually did a better job so that’s where these photos are from, but it’s still not quite accurate. It really makes the red, orange, and yellow poppies… well… pop. I used my beloved orange hakata chuya obi since it’s such a perfect match to the flowers, and the green obijime is almost the exact same bright mint as the kimono so that was a no-brainer.

I had to take these photos in a different spot in our living room due to things still being upside-down from the fire I mentioned a while back, but I think it works for now. I’m not sure when I’ll be able to do another mannequin coordination since I head back to California in a few weeks, but I’ve got lots of fun DIY projects, reviews, and little field trips in the works so hopefully those will tide us all over for a bit 🙂

Items used in this coordination