Tag: Taisho

Stepping out of my comfort zone

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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

 

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Birthstone Ensembles – March – Aquamarine

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Welcome to the first/third installment of a year-long project. I’m determined to make a coordination every month that features the primary colour of one of that month’s commonly accepted birthstones. I say one of because many months have more than one accepted stone.

Should I have started this in January? Probably, yes. But I only got the idea a week or so ago, and here we are. I will be doing January and February’s shortly and backdating them. I will also have to do a few in advance, when I know I’ll be in California, but at least this way I’m guaranteed to get back to my roots and post at least one kimono ensemble per month, barring some unforeseen disaster like the Great Legsplosion of ’23 or some other such nonsense.

For March, we have the beautiful aquamarine. Not quite blue, not quite turquoise, but that ephemeral middle-ground. I knew I had to use this Taisho-era irotome, and the vintage mirror motif obi was a spot-on pairing. I love how it adds some sparkle and shimmer, very appropriate for a gemstone theme! I decided for a few hints of pink in the accessories because they’re already present in the kimono and read almost as neutral here. It also gave me an opportunity to use the amazing rainbow obiage I got from Chayatsuji Kimono recently. I am happy with how this all came together, and it gives me hope and encouragement for the rest of the project.

What’s your birthstone? Or, if you have several, which one do you prefer?

Items used in this coordination

Life, the Universe and Everything

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This is one of those coordinations I’ve wanted to do from the very moment I got this kimono, and have just been putting off for one reason or another for years. It was high time I fixed that! This past Thursday was my 42nd birthday, and this coordinate has auspicious motifs of hayama and kagami (arrows and mirrors) and my favourite colour (teal) so I decided it was finally time to do it.

This kimono is definitely interesting – it’s brighter and more bold than most kurotomesode of the era, and it’s definitely very long for its age. The hem has a slight roll to it, so it’s a bit heavier than the rest of the fabric. This, along with the length, lead me to suspect it was a hikizuri, meant to be worn trailing. I’d like to think it may have been a geisha’s piece, worn at the new year, but this is just a suspicion of mine and I have no way to verify it. Whatever it is, I absolutely love it and should coordinate it more often.

The cool afternoon lighting in my living room makes the teal look bluer in these photos, but it definitely sits right between green and blue in person. I decided to use reds and blues in the accessories to emphasize how bold and punchy this piece is, and to sort of reinforce the geisha-adjacent feel of it. I also decided to let it drape, hikizuri style, to show off the beautiful flow of it, and tied the obi wider than normal to match. The collars are a bit wonky, but sometimes I just cannot get them to cooperate due to the shape of the mannequin. Alas.

This birthday has been a good one and I have very upbeat feelings about this coming loop around the sun. I hope I can share lots of new content and great news with you all soon!

Items used in this coordination

Slava Ukraini! Heroiam slava!

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Слава Україні! Героям слава!
Slava Ukraini! Heroiam slava!
Glory to Ukraine! Glory to the heroes!

This was not the outfit I’d planned for this weekend at all. But things changed dramatically earlier this week when a power-mad despot invaded a beautiful independent country full of brave people. If you’re a regular reader here, you know that I tend to deal with anxiety and grief by throwing myself into coordinating outfits. It’s a strange coping mechanism, but it helps me.

The Ukrainian flag seemed like an ideal jumping off point; in fact when I was sitting on the floor of the kimono room, feeling overwhelmed and re-thinking my entire coordination plan, my father came into the room and said “Do you have something in blue and yellow?” It was comforting to know his brain was on the exact same wavelength mine was.

I have several blue kimono, none of which are exactly the right shade, sadly. I chose this one because it’s my favourite and because the bokashi haze around the hem lightens the whole piece up, bringing it closer to the flag. Originally I’d had a gold obi in mind, but then I remembered the yellow side of this Tokaido hanhaba I own. Is it technically too casual for this kimono? Yes. Do I care? No. A matching haneri and a beaded obijime that’s the exact correct shade of blue complete the outfit. The formality is all over the place, but today that wasn’t my priority.

If you’re feeling as helpless as I am, I urge you to donate to either the UNHCR or the International Committee of the Red Cross to help assist in their efforts in helping people on the ground. Any funds generated by this blog (my two Patreon Patrons, I thank you!) will be donated to the UNHCR this month on my part.

Items used in this coordination

Happy New Year 2022

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Hello! I am very sorry I haven’t been around lately. I started working full-time for the first time in over a decade and it really knocked me for a loop. I also spent a month in California back in November, and this gorgeous vintage kurotomesode happened to follow me home. Part of me wanted to share it right away but then I realised the arrow motif was very reminiscent of hamaya and was therefore absolutely perfect for a New Year’s coordinate. I felt that New Year’s Day was a perfect day to re-devote myself to this blog. It’s not a resolution, per se, because I am utterly terrible at  keeping those, but it did seem like a good day to set a new goal.

I did debate going “proper” and pairing this piece with a typical gold fukuro obi and white accessories, but as usual my love for dusty vintage colours won out and I ran with this maru obi instead. One of the motifs on it is sho-chiku-bai or the three friends of winter, a lucky winter motif, so it felt appropriate nonetheless. Red accessories and a textured white haneri added a bit of punch without stealing the focus, and I’m quite pleased with the end result.

Here’s to a year of health, happiness, and hope. A year of finding the time and the passion to focus on what makes you feel happy and fulfilled. I am going to make a concerted effort to devote more time to my hobbies, both kimono and my miniatures. I already have several outfits and entries planned out for the next little while, so I just need to keep this motivation and momentum going. How about you? What are your hopes and goals for 2022? I’d love to know, so please leave a comment!

Items used in this coordination