Event Aftermath: Bon Odori 2010, Shah Alam, Malaysia

I managed to go to Bon Odori this year! It seems like I'm only able to go every 2 years (2004, 2006, 2008 and now 2010) ^^; How odd!

But honestly, after this year's Bon Odori, I highly doubt I'll be going there again ^^;; Just a liiiiiittle too crowded and hot for my tastes, and I don't really need another excuse to wear yukata out - if I wanted to, I'd just wear it :P"

I met up with a few friends - at first, it was a few friends from my high school (all of whom I haven't seen in at least 5 years!!), then later on we split off to look for other friends ^^; I met up with Hayashi, a kimono buddy of mine, and we managed to squeeze in the final round of dances together XD

I didn't get any good pics, so I'm just posting a few pics of Hayashi and me ^^

Hayashi...



Me...



Both of us together after the final round of dancing...



Crowd photo!



Just a little bit on my outfit...



This yukata is rather special to me, because I first saw the blue version in one of my sister's fashion magazines in 2004. I fell in love instantly but never actually tried looking for it because the price tag on the magazine page was ridiculous.

When I started buying from YJA, I thought of looking for the yukata and after months of searching, I found this one going at a decent price in a whole set (yukata, obi, geta, bag & obijime). So of course, I fought for it and managed to win it in early 2009 XD Yay!~ *happiness*

For Bon Odori 2010, I wore it with its matching obi, which has a motif of goldfish woven into the fabric. I didn't quite want to wear the full set, so I paired it with a pair of green geta, obi kazari with orange and green beads, and orange and green earrings. I'm also using my favourite bag for yukata.

When I was getting ready, my sister and I randomly decided to go to a hair salon and get our hair done. I was meant to leave the house for Bon Odori at 5pm, but went to the salon at 4pm - and finished at 5.30pm ^^;;; Luckily, I still managed to get home and change and leave by 6pm!!

Anyway, this is what the hairdresser came up with:



Pretty nice, isn't it? I was really happy with how she did it! My sister and I just told her I was going to wear a yukata, so she could do whatever she wanted ^^ I'll definitely ask for her again the next time I go there.

That's all of the pictures - the rest that I took were mainly crowd pics that had yukata outfits in them haha. Not really worth the camera space, now that I think about it.... ^^;;;

Goodnight!

Long Weekend~~

Friday was a public holiday for Hari Raya, so we had a lovely long weekend.

I was quite productive!

1. Got my legs and eyebrows waxed. FINALLY.
2. Made an appointment for a facial.
3. Cleaned up room. Guesstimating about 30% done so far, but that's quite alot already ^^;
4. Started playing RO again. Woohoo!
5. Bought a new teacup/saucer set. Now, just to get the matching teapot....
6. Cleared out my closets. Turns out I have alot of clothes to donate to charity ^^;;;
7. Took some pics of clothes to sell~

Now if only I could fit in a hair & scalp treatment and a make-up session, it'd be perfect :)

On another note, I think I'm going to redecorate my room. I really need a proper study table, so I might get that country-style table I've been eyeing for a while.... So I've got to change my room's decor from Japanese-inspired to country home-inspired XD; I can't wait to start hunting for proper partitians!

.. But I think I can definitely wait for Monday to start ;_; Sunday, where did you gooooo?

Layout Change~

Just a random post to say that I've changed my blog layout again :) Navigation is mostly the same, but the looks are very different now. I got a little tired of looking at the same small frame for the body, and it was really too small for alot of my photos, so I just used one of Blogspot's pre-set layout designs ^^;

I'm quite happy with the current colour scheme - yellow is so cheery and happy, yet this shade is particularly peaceful and calming at the same time.

*happy*

Style Tips: September

One of the lolita blogs that I follow does an article on style tips for each month. It's a pretty fun idea, so I thought I'd start doing it too, only for kimono ^_^

Please note that most of these tips are completely from my own opinions and small bits of knowledge I've picked up or noticed over the years I've been into kimono. As such, they shouldn't be taken as any sort of steadfast rule, but instead as guidelines on how to dress in tune with your surroundings.

Also, most of my style tips are applicable for the Northern Hemisphere only - maybe even specific to London, which is where I gained all my personal knowledge about kimono in cold weather! However, if you're able to withstand the heat, these may also apply to those in tropical countries as well. ♥

Here goes!

1. Start preparing for the upcoming cold weather early: air out your warmer kimono ahead of time so that if there is a sudden drop in temperature, you're not caught without anything to wear!
2. Things might start to get a little chilly later this month so switch out your yukata and summerweave kimono for a warmer hitoe when you begin to feel that nip in the air.
3. If you find it too cool for summerweave fabrics yet too warm for hitoe, compromise by wearing a ro juban under your hitoe kimono. Alternatively, layer up a little with a lace haori or shawl.
4. As a precursor to colder weather ahead, your han'eri, obi, obiage and obijime (and even tabi and zori!) should no longer be usumono.
5. At night, temperatures can dip pretty low, so keep a thin pretty shawl in your bag when you go out.
6. This month marks the beginning of autumn, so slowly phase out your summer colours of blues and purples, and start introducing small amounts of orange, yellow, brown and red to your ensembles.
7. Autumn's most common seasonal motifs are chrysanthemum flowers and turning maple leaves, which are worn throughout September, October and November.
8. The Japanese usually decorate their house with pampas grass around this time of the year (tradition dictates that this will ward off illness for the year) so wear pampas grass motifs earlier in the month to keep in season.
9. Other in-season motifs to keep in mind: Bush clover, Chinese bellflower, crickets, dragonflies.
10. September's moon in considered to be the most beautiful of the year. Until/On Tsukimi (the moon-viewing festival) which is on 22nd September and 20th October this year, wear kimono and obi with moon motifs.