Tag: tsuke-obi

This Outfit has a Secret

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And that secret is efficiency! At first glance there’s nothing “unusual” about this, it just looks like an everyday casual coordinate, right? What you can’t tell immediately is that both the kimono and the obi are two-piece “easy-wearable” items. The two-piece, or nibushiki, kimono, can be worn with an obi over it like this to resemble a regular kimono, or it can be worn more like a dochugi and wrap skirt. It’s common to see pieces like this worn by restaurant workers and other people who need to be comfortable and able to change easily. It’s also synthetic and went through the wash once already with literally  no ill effects.

It also has the benefit of being much easier to adjust if you’re a non-standard size, as you can wrap the bottom half however you’re most comfortable and then adjust the top half separately. It makes dressing so much easier, more convenient, and more accessible.

The tsuke-obi is more common. I’ve had this one in my collection for literal decades and it used to be in very heavy rotation. Ones like this, with an otaiko-style musubi, are much easier to camouflage than the butterfly-style polyester ones that come with beginner’s yukata, and I think with the right accessories they’re perfectly acceptable for a more casual occasion.

The salmon pink accessories were a bit of a surprise, I will be honest. I liked how the navy obijime tied in to the kimono and figured I’d run with it. It’s unexpected but it works! My gut instinct was to go with the same yellow set I use for basically… everything. I’m glad I refrained.

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Showa Fabulous Christmas in July

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It’s still hotter than the surface of the sun here in Montreal, but I was determined to see if I could turn my han-darari tsuke obi into a passable fukura suzume bow in preparation for the Otakuthon fashion show. I figured while I had the mannequin and obi out, I may as well go all-in and change her outfit. This isn’t going to be a full outfit in the show but it’s good practice and visualisation for something that’s in the works.

The obi has such a gorgeously shiny showa fabulous feel to it that it felt like the perfect time to bust out my precious post-war kiku houmongi. I went with gold, red, and green accessories, and while I worried initially that the outfit would feel Christmassy, it actually worked out really well. Besides, Christmas in July might help me feel a little bit cooler!

As for the obi experiment, it definitely worked in theory. I just need a few more himo to make things a little tidier, but I’ll definitely be able to pull it off properly for the show on a real model, and I’m thrilled.

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Mature Elegance

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Isn’t it funny how the older I get, the more my tastes gravitate to the bright and youthful? I’m turning 37 tomorrow and somehow I keep finding myself accumulating boldly coloured furisode and things. When I was younger, I was drawn to more shibui styles, and now I guess I’m making up for lost time?

This gorgeous bamboo houmongi is a lovely exception, I think. It’s yet another of my purchases from the kimono bazaar last month and I thought it lent itself quite well to a more elegant coordination that would still allow me to express myself through pattern and colour. The bamboo leaves are in a lovely range of blues, reds, oranges, and purples, which gave me a lot of selection to work with.

My navy and gold tiger’s eye tsuke-obi is making yet another appearance here. For a silly impulse purchase I made, it’s turning out to be one of my most weirdly versatile and beloved items. It tied in very well with the kimono, and I decided to pull out the warm maroon for the rest of the accessories. The beautiful obidome from Pinto Pony Productions worked well against the ivory backdrop here too, rotated onto its side for a little more drama.

This definitely feels like a more traditional and elegant sort of outfit, appropriate for a woman my age. But it’s not boring or quiet, it’s still got some lovely impact and personality, which is exactly what I was aiming for!

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Classic Elegance

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It feels like I’ve been doing a fair number of casual and non-traditional outfits lately, and while there’s nothing wrong with that I was in the mood for a little classic elegance. To me, there’s nothing like the graceful simplicity of a kurotomesode to really demonstrate the luxury and refinement of kimono.

Admittedly, I still managed to inject some of my personal style and preferences into this outfit. Typically, a kurotomesode should be paired with a metallic fukuro obi and white/metallic accessories. However, this kimono actually occupies a strange liminal space between kurotomesode and houmongi. The black base colour and five crests imply the highest level of formality, but the fact that there is pattern, however subtle, on one sleeve, knocks it down a peg. Because of that, I knew I could get away with deviating from the norm a little bit.

I thought it would be a good time to use this gorgeous tsuke-obi that I got recently, It was clearly a fukuro obi at some point in its life, but was converted to make it easier to wear. However, whoever converted it did so with their specific body in mind; because of this, it was an absolute bear to tie on the mannequin. Both the obi and the kimono were too big for her, which is not a problem I come across very often! However, this does mean I could probably wear this outfit myself if I lost a few pounds. It’s always good to have one very formal outfit ready to go, I suppose. I went with olive accessories since there’s a very similar green in both the kimono and the obi. Thanks to the gold accents, they still feel appropriately formal but feel a little more interesting than plain white would have been.

Overall, I really like how this looks. It conveys the traditional mood I was aiming for but still has a sense of unique personality.

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Why being my friend is dangerous

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My dear friend Anlina was in town and came to visit me at work yesterday. We then went to dinner, and they came to crash at my place afterwards. We talked and got giggly and silly, and at some point the idea of dressing them in kimono came up. I’ve honestly never dressed anyone but myself before and thought this would be a great chance to practice. Anlina is lucky, they have a great body for kimono. They’re not wearing any structural undergarments here, merely a snug tank top.

My only stipulation was that they choose an outfit involving a tsuke-obi (pre-tied obi) as I’d been working all day and was tiiiiiired and not up to tying anything. I think we pulled together something cute, even if the formality is all over the place.

And of course, Tribble had to get involved.

So, what do you think, good first try for dressing someone else? Outfit cute, even if it makes no sense? Isn’t Anlina adorable?

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