New Kasuri Ensemble

Yesterday Arian and I hit Japantown for some fun. I've been so busy doing taiko related events in Japan Town that I haven't had time recently to relax and explore/shop.

It gave me the opportunity to wear my new indigo kasuri ensemble...it really is starting to get a touch too warm for the haori - but I wanted to wear the set at least once before it was too hot. I paired it with my lovely new taisho obi - which unfortunately has a few tears in it (all hidden, when wearing...but still). I might be able to convert the obi into a two piece which should minimize too much fabric stress, and allow me to still wear it. I was unreasonably excited by the fact that the red and pink shibori juban I purchased around the same time as the kasuri ensemble...but from a different seller - actually fitted the sleeves of my kasuri kimono perfectly it was as though they had been made for each other....it might just be the first time I've not had to adjust sleeves lengths. :)



When we got to Japantown - we ran a few errands - visiting David at White Crane Tea so I could give him back his vintage kasuri kimono vest. I had hand sewn a new collar on it for him, as the old collar was falling apart. He was thrilled that I returned it on Boy's Day....very appropriate - which didn't even occur to me until he mentioned it! He ended up gifting to me a gorgeous vest of sorts he made from a vintage black ro kimono with gold dragonflies woven in sporadically. The edges of the collar and the hem are tearing a bit - but he told me that I could sew a light weight solid black silk collar and edge to frame it...and then wear it over a nice light blue or silver kimono.... which would then show off the stream pattern woven into the ro. I was really humbled by this gift, as I know how much he loves this vest - but, he said it was a bit too girly for him to wear, and while he'll miss it - he'd rather see someone wear it and give it new life. So I promised to fix it and wear it for summer this year :)

We then went to Genji antiques and I purchased a new obi. Haha. I swear - they must have a "Naomi Radar" or something, because every time I go in, there is always ONE new piece that I absolutely must have. In this case - it was a black obi with a river/mountain scene with a rabbit and a frog hand painted on. The hand painting is very simple though - nice clean lines and minimal shading. Oh - it is too hard to describe - I'll take a photo:



Afterwards, Arian spoiled me with buying me a book that has old photographs from the 60s and earlier of kimono outfits, advertisements, etc. I figured it would be good for inspiration. From there, we went to the taiko showroom to meet with Kumiko Tanaka, Sensei's wife - for her to take photographs of Arian and myself. She is an artist and photographer, and had been wanting to take photos of me wearing kimono for a while - so we finally had a chance! I can't wait to see how they come out - as her black and white photography is amazing. She has a real eye for perfect lighting.

After all that - we finally met up with Marissa and her friend to have dinner together and go out for a few drinks. Marissa was wearing a fantastic brown and blue ensemble - If her obi wasn't firmly tied to her - I would have taken off with it! I want a ship obi!





When we finished dinner dinner, we hit the karaoke bar for a drink and Arian sang Piano Man. Then we moved on to a cute little bar on the other side...near the hotel. Arian and I went their for the first time during Cherry Blossom with Sensei and the hostess was wearing a gorgeous kimono ensemble. We got talking about kimono then, and I promised her next time I came in, I'd wear kimono and visit her. So she was extremely happy to see Marissa and I turn up in kimono and we have a lovely evening talking with her and the other bartenders about kimono stuff.

And that wraps up our evening. I had a lot of much needed fun, relaxation and kimono time with someone who likes to talk about kimono just as much as me! :D

Cherry Blossom Festival, 2007

I was in San Francisco Japantown the entire weekend helping out Taiko Dojo for Cherry Blossom Festival. Saturday, dressing in kimono was simply NOT going the way I wanted it - so I tossed off my outfit in a tantrum and just put black pants and my taiko dojo shirt on. Good thing I did though, as I must have subconsciously realized it was going to POUR down raining for most of the morning.

Sunday turned out much better and was a very beautiful day so I wore kimono. Despite being a very subtle outfit - I was extremely well received by many of the Japanese ladies wearing kimono who complimented me on my outfit and kistuke and asked where I got the pieces from. They all seemed to really love the striped kimono. It was a nice feeling, because I haven't had a chance to dress up all fancy in kimono for a while.

I was also lucky and ran into the lovely Marissa from my forum who was wearing a lovely and subtle kimono ensemble herself. She was kind enough to take a photo of my outfit:



(Pardon me squinting - it was really bright outside)

My outfit consisted of two pieces purchased from the Texuba sale and my obi purchased from Genji:
* Pink "juban" with large pinkish/red yabane pattern.
Actually - this "juban" is quite interesting. I came across it at the Texuba sale and fell in love with it immediately. It was in fantastic condition, gorgeously long sleeves (you know, back from when short sleeves were rather long)and a nice very lightweight silk. The only problem was it came to exactly my ankle length. I was rather disappointed, but then a thought occurred to me, I could probably wear it as a juban....and if I did - it would be the first juban I own that actually FITS me like a juban should, rather than having to make it a two piece, or take out the sides or what ever. So I purchased it and proceeded to sew a chikara nuno, white collar and ties on it. I also adjusted the sleeve length to fit perfectly under my brown striped kimono.

* Brown striped kimono.
I got this kimono from Texuba sale also - it actually fits me almost perfectly both length and width wise....a rarity for older kimono. I didn't realize until right before I purchased it that the sleeves had been shortened...but the way they had been shortened was really quite interesting and VERY easy to replicate without having to take the entire sleeve off - which is how I shortened my juban sleeves. I'll have to take a photo tutorial to share. So, I took my sleeves out and ended up with an extra 4 inches of sleeve length - with no discoloration or damage to the fabric that had been sewn up. Yay!

Chocolate Brown All Season Obi
I got this obi from Genji, in SFJT. I had been admiring it for quite some time, and when came to visit - I finally caved in and purchased it. It is this amazing satin feeling chocolate brown with a rinzu pattern of cute ume and young bamboo leaves. The pattern on the front and back (that you cannot see in the photo) is of two fans. One fan is a nice antique gold colour with fuchsia peony inside, the other fan is turquoise with chrysanthemum inside. I've never seen an obi before in such a lush brown colour. I originally had thought of wearing my fuchsia obiage and obijime set with the outfit, but in the end I felt the soft blue shibori obiage and soft blue and white obijime complimented much better.

All in all, it was a fantastic weekend. It felt good to be doing taiko festival stuff again. Next weekend is going to be even more busy with my performance at noon on Saturday, the concert Saturday night and then participating in the parade on Sunday. fun Fun FUN! :D

I haven't had a chance to practice kitsuke for nearly 3 months for various reasons and I'm all sad.

I needed to take some photographs for PuchiMaiko so I figured I'd use that as an excuse to dress up. Unfortunately I discovered today that - I am woefully out of kitsuke shape :( I need to practice dressing much more frequently.

I decided to wear my gorgeous shimmery blue hitoe with my Taisho era chidori obi. The obi-age and obi-jime are a lovely fuchsia colour...and the kanzashi was made by myself. I'm also wearing a pink juban.

I also dressed with my obi crossed on angles at the front more like geisha obi - and I tied my obi-jime on an angle as well, like I see in a lot of vintage geisha postcards.

I have to say I'm really becoming a big fan of iromuji...I love patterned kimono - but there is just something simple and elegant about iromuji that allows you to dress formally...or to have fun.

Sorry about the bad photos - and the camera in each of them. I only have myself to take photographs. Please also pardon the bad kitsuke!






The colours in this photograph are slightly off - the correct colours are in the two above.

Asian Festival 2006

This past weekend was a busy, yet fun weekend.

On Saturday - FushuDaiko was performing at the Asian Festival at the Fruit and Spice Park which is way out whoop-whoop. It feels almost surreal driving around that area.

It has been two years since I last went to the Asian Festival. FushuDaiko performed there last year - but I had stayed home suffering from a bout of being anti-social and just being a spoilt sport in general.

This year though - I was highly motivated to attend, not only to hang out with everyone, an excuse to wear kimono again and to help at the booth - but also due to the bubble tea. Two years without bubble tea is like torture!

I managed to have myself dressed in kimono and make-up done in 20 minutes - which is really quite good timing for me. I do have to admit though - after spending all the previous weekend with Christy and dressing together - I felt lonely :( It is a lot more fun dressing in kimono with someone else doing the same.

I decided to wear my wool indigo hanabishi komon for the festival due to it being far more casual than what Hatsume festival is. But rather than wearing my red hakata obi, I decided to push myself and pair two colours together that I normally wouldn't feel comfortable wearing in regular clothing.

So my outfit consisted of:
- Indigo komon with turquoise and pink hanabishi kasuri pattern.
- Yellow-orange juban
- Cream obi with gold threads woven and with orange and sherbet colour flowers
- Softy, almost dusty pink obi-age and obi-jime.

I know it probably sounds silly - but, coming from someone who has pretty much worn nothing much but black with the occasional hint of colour for the last 15 years - experimenting with full body colour outfits is a totally new thing for me. Sometimes, I think that is why I feel so enthusiastic to wear kimono as it gives me a canvas I feel completely comfortable in to experiment with colours I never normally would do.

I was really quite happy with how my outfit looked. My obi was a nagoya obi - and I decided to tie it into the tsunodashi musubi. Because the nagoya was a shorter one - the musubi was a little bit smaller than what it looks when I wear my reversible obi. I think it still looked cute anyhow. Also - I originally wore my white tabi with my outfit...but when Yoshiko-san changed into her two piece kimono-like outfit for her koto performance, the only tabi she had were purple patchwork patterned ones that totally clashed with her outfit....so we ended up swapping tabi - as my white ones looked much better with her outfit, and well - she was going to be on stage performing anyhow :)

As for bubble tea. Boy oh boy - I did have my 2 years worth. I had Taro bubble tea in the morning when I got there. Then for lunch, I had Thai Coffee bubble tea....and right before we left late in the afternoon - I had Almond bubble tea ;P I don't think I want any more bubble tea for at least another year now!

One thing I do have to say though was that I found it rather sad that I was the ONLY person wearing full kimono at the Asian Festival - which I was quite surprised. I would have thought they would have some of the girls at the Japanese tent in kimono - as many of the other Asian communities had people dress in ethnic clothing - but nope. Yoshiko actually wanted me to go and work in the Japanese tent for the day when she saw how I was dressed - but we really needed someone to man the FushuDaiko booth so I stayed put.

Hatsume 2006

My long anticipated and highly exciting weekend finally happened!

Christy and I have been planning this weekend for a couple of months now, and we were very happy that Kate was also able to make it down on such short notice!

Christy and her husband, along with their fuzzies Momo and Zoku arrived Thursday afternoon after a long 9 hour drive from Georgia. We had the chance to go to Basha Grill to watch Bacabuda Arts perform that night - but we decided that after the 9 hour car trip that Christy and her husband endured, that we would probably be better of just staying in and having a pizza and beer night instead. So we cracked open the case of Kirin beer they brought along and scoffed down on pizza and just sat around talking. Eventually - us girls started talking and gawking about kimono and the boys went the video/computer game route.

Friday night, Kate and her business partner Laurel made it over to my apartment. They drove all the way down from PA for the weekend and came baring lots of delicious goodies ranging from horse radish cheese - woopie pies - divinity just to name a few. We all had a lovely time getting to know each other and talked into the wee hours of the morning.

After all the excitement, I was only able to grab about 2.5 hrs sleep before I had to wake up at 6am to start getting ready to go to Hatsume Festival. We were hoping to leave early - but it just didn't happen that way. We ended up just taking our time and leaving later in the morning to get there.

We arrived at Hatsume Festival just as FushuDaiko started their first performance. We decided to head over and find Kate and Laurel first in case they needed any help with their stall and minded the stall while they were preparing Kate as a maiko. Kate was absolutely lovely and offered for me to put some of my PuchiMaiko items on the table - so the week before, I had made a new batch of kanzashi for the weekend. I am happy to say that both Kate did quite well with her stall this year - and will be coming back for next year's festival - and the PuchiMaiko items did well also :)

After we helped out at the stall - we started walking around the festival checking everything out. Christy and her husband had a chance to see one of the FushuDaiko performances and I had the chance to introduce them to everyone. After the performance, we headed up to the museum for lunch and to look around at the galleries. We ran into Rumi-san, who is one of the tea ceremony instructors. I know her from Bon Odori lessons and for helping with kitsuke backstage at various taiko performances. She was really happy to see the three of us dressed in kimono like we were and made a big point of inspecting us and complimenting us on our outfits and kitsuke. She really is such a sweet and lovely lady and I am very happy that they got to meet her.

After the festival - Kate changed into a lovely blue kimono and we all went out for dinner at Tokyo Sushi. As usual - the food was delicious!

Anyhow - enough talk and now for some photos!

This lovely young lady read my article in the City Link magazine and came to Hatsume Festival just to meet me :)


A gorgeous photograph of and her husband:


and Catgirlmecha's husband:


Dinner Time!



and I


After dinner:

Kimono Pirates Part 2

Right now I am sure everyone is rather intrigued with the Kimono Pirates photo right? So here is the story behind it.

I was at the Ren-Fest with Fushu Daiko and the theme for the past weekend was Pirates.

Of course - with FushuDaiko's stage being next to the pirate's cove...my brain got ticking over with ideas as soon as I heard of the theme weekend and wasted no time in emailing to let her know of the change of plans (we were originally just going to wear regular kimono).

I thought that it was really neat that although we had the theme of Kimono Pirates, the three of us all had vastly different outfits and styles.

Christy's husband dressed in a ronin style with a splash of Scottish added and a Turkish knife thrown in for good measure. He looked fantastic and most certainly piratey!

Christy went as a dandy/American Revolution style pirate. Frilled shirt under her grey kimono, and her kimono worn open at the top. She also wore men's hakama and obi with a studded belt and boots. The hat she is wearing was mine - and she did a fantastic job of sewing the pearl skull and cross bones on it. Originally I was going to wear it, but after we got dressed it was very clear that her hat matched my outfit more, and my hat matched hers - so we swapped :) I absolutely LOVED how her outfit came together - it really looked fantastic and sexy...a great mix of masculine and feminine.

My outfit ended up having more of an Edo-esque type feel and consisted of pink bloomers with eyelet lace (that I frantically sewed the night before while slightly intoxicated...heh), my bright pink naga juban, Christy's black and white striped kimono, my red hakata obi (which matched the red in the hat I was wearing), black and white striped stockings and slipper type shoes. I also borrowed a katana from Christy to finish up my outfit.

I think I can safely say we were the most interesting pirates there on the weekend - there were no other kimono pirates about and we attracted a lot of attention with our outfits :) I have to admit also, I cannot express how scandalously fun it was to walk around with my kimono hitched up and my bloomers showing ;P

Kimono Pirates?

I just had the most amazing 4.5 days and now I am sad and lonely that it is all over.

I need to do a big update tomorrow - but for a teaser....

Care for some kimono pirates?

Centrefold!

I was interviewed for a local magazine in relation to both Immortal Geisha and PuchiMaiko and they asked me in to do a photoshoot in kimono. Unfortunately, my kitsuke was rather sloppy - but the photos still came out nice :) It was a weird feeling driving around South Florida and seeing my face plastered every where though!

I decided to wear my dusty pink iromuji with my reversible Taisho obi and Taisho obi-age.









You can read the article here:
http://www.southflorida.com/citylink/sfe-cl-022206cover,0,2385691.story?coll=sfe-cl-top-promo

And a photograph that Malia took in the studio:

Taisho Chic Experiment

This morning I dressed up in my indigo kimono I purchased early October. I fell lin love with this kimono because the indigo was just so vibrant and the pink and turquoise hanabishi pattern completely won me over.

I decided to pair the kimono with my rasberry red hakata obi (the first photograph gives the true colours). I also tied one of the new PuchiMaiko koshi-himo around the bottom part of the obi as an accessory to see what it would look like.

I wore my orange juban because my other juban are currently being converted to two piece juban sets. I have to admit - I was surprised with how nice the orange went with the outfit! It was quite unexpected. I think I will make a thin orange "belt" to wear with this outfit next time.

Last, but not least - I decided to do my hair in a Taisho-chic style. I often see similar hairstyles in shin hanga prints - and I love how it looks.

Uchikake!

A few weeks ago I participated in a taiko concert. I only had a small walk-on appearance in the finale - but the costume was spectacular!

I was told often during the night that I looked like a Japanese doll. Such a flattering compliment!

I must say - wearing uchikake tires you out. It is amazingly heavy and hard to "carry" about between shows.

In the dressing room - I have the uchikake tied up with a koshi himo so it was easier to walk in until the concert.



Backstage:

Yukata Fun!

My good friend Christy, and her husband Brian were visiting from out of town visiting for the night. We decided to have dinner at a Japanese place. For fun and for an excuse to wear kimono - we dressed in yukata!

This was the first opportunity I had to try my raspberry red hakata obi with my yukata. At first, I was concerned it might be a bit to bright against the purple - but the colours actually went together fantastic.

Photographs after we returned home from the restaurant (I am in purple - see my cute bag/kinchaku I made to match my yukata?):

Traditional Japanese Motifs and Patterns

I'm a very big fan of traditional Japanese patterns vs modern, contemporary patterns. Well, I do appreciate certain contemporary patterns - but they don't hold a special place in my heart as the traditional ones do.
There is something very aesthetically pleasing about traditional patterns, designs and colour combinations that just never seem to work with Western clothing.


To date - my top three favourite traditional patterns (in order) are:

Ume (plum blossom)

Chidori (plover)

Kanoko Shibori (a type of tie-die)

Asanoha (hemp leaf pattern)

(oops - top four, I guess!)

Lately, I've been looking at kimono, obi and fabric that contain traditional patterns and now, I am very excited - the other week, I purchased this obi:


It has the most adorable plump little chidori jumping over wave patterns on it. It is made from summer ro silk.

My next excitable purchase was this tan of asanoha kimono fabric.

Converting One Piece Juban into Two

The week before - I worked on a juban I already owned. I had received the juban in a box of damaged kimono to be used for fabric. At first I loathed the colour of it...but over time it grew upon me. I decided not to cut it up early on in the game especially considering it was in great condition. I figured I could use it for costume design or something similar. The only problem with it - it fitted me everywhere perfect...except it only came to just below my knees...instead of above my ankle.

At last, I finally got enough courage to attempt to re-construct it into a two-piece juban. I personally find two-piece juban much more comfortable to wear - and, it lends hope to those of us who are taller (I'm only 165cm - but by kimono standards - that is huge! yikes).

A lovely friend of mine who lives in Holland sent me photographs with measurements of her two-piece juban. It was quite useful, as she is taller than I am so I was able to make it to fit. I had to try to keep as much fabric in the skirt part as I could. To achieve this. I cut the top of the juban shorter, and added white cotton around the bottom to give it length. I then added white cotton to the top of the juban skirt to give it a bit of extra length and ties.

I was very happy with the outcome!


(Please forgive the dirty collar, this photo was taken immediately after wearing this at a VERY dusty festival)



Some day when I have the time, I'll do a detailed tutorial on how to convert juban like this.