Kimono Challenge Tag!

I've noticed some of my kimono friends doing a "Kimono Challenge Tag", and it looked really fun to do! So I thought I'd give it a go :) At the very least, it'll give me something to post about haha.

Here's the list of all challenge questions:

1. How did you discover and got into kimono?
2. Your dearest kimono item(s).
3. Your most used kimono item(s) (not counting jubans, datejimes etc.).
4. Your least used kimono item(s).
5. Your favourite coordination(s) so far.
6. What do you like and don't like about kimono.
7. Kimono confessions. Did you know that...
8. Your dream kitsuke items (or at least items you really really want but can't get for whatever reason).
9. Your biggest kimono fears.
10. Your biggest kimono inspiration.
11. Your kimono collection.
12. The evolution of your kitsuke.
13. Your special kimono memory.

I'll probably post them at the rate of once a week, more often if I feel particularly inspired to write.

I guess you guys know what you can look forward to seeing on my blog soon then! :)

Suggestions?: Obi-Matching Dilemma

As mentioned in my earlier posts, my godsis Carolyn bought a yukata at the Jusco Yukata Fair. Since the fair didn't have any proper undies or even koshihimo (shocking!) and she hated the obi her yukata came with, I decided to get her a proper matching obi and yukata undies set for her birthday. (Don't worry about my posting this in public - she already knows what she's getting for her birthday :P)

My only problem is deciding what colour obi I should get her. Her yukata has a base colour of dark purple, with lighter shades of purple and white, and a motif of sakura. I can see it matching with so many colours - mustard yellow, pale yellow, pale green, light blue, all sorts of pinks, white, lilac.... I just don't know what to get her :/

I did ask her what sort of colour she'd like, but she said it'd be very difficult to decide without actually seeing the obi in person. Also, her taste is generally a less bright and more sedate sort of colour combination. Her favourite motif is sakura, but I'm afraid of accidentally turning her outfit into a sakura overload ^^;;;

Soooo..... Any suggestions?

Outfit Challenge: Hanabi yukata - "Pop" style

Hanabi yukata - "Pop" style, originally uploaded by shira.C.

SO sorry it's late!! But I went out with Mel today, and we ended up spending the whole day together :D That will come in the next post.

Anyway, this is the very last hanabi yukata ensemble I created that day! I call it the "pop" style because it is very modern.

It all started with me wanting to use the hot pink obi. I matched it with one of my bags, and thought the hot pink looked really modern. I also used my modern geta that you've been seeing in some of the previous ensembles :D

I didn't know what to accessorize it with to make it fit with the modern theme, but I found a silver hairband I've had for a while and put it on. It's a little hard to see, but I'm also wearing a nice bracelet and my favourite ring with a rose motif.

So! Which one was your favourite? :D Which one should I wear to Bon Odori this year?

Outfit Challenge: Hanabi yukata -"Refreshing" taste

Hanabi yukata - "Refreshing" taste, originally uploaded by shira.C.

Today's yukata ensemble was aimed for getting the "refreshing" look. I've always thought pale green was a very refreshing springtime colour, and navy and green look so cute together!

Like with the "cute" taste ensemble with a light pink obi, I flipped over part of the obi so that it didn't look like a solid block of colour interrupting the pattern. The bag just happened to be absolutely perfect with it :D

You can't see it very well, but the geta are my mustard yellow geta. If I'd thought of it at the time, I would've worn my pale yellow one instead :)

Well, one more outfit to go!

Outfit Challenge: Hanabi yukata - "To the beach" style

Hanabi yukata - "To the beach" style, originally uploaded by shira.C.

Lol I nearly forgot to post today's yukata style :P

Today, the look is a little weird - I really wanted to wear my hat, but the only look I could think of was a beach-y style, so I paired it with my sandals and a nice beachy looking bag.

For the obi, the hakata obi was the only one that looked okay colour-wise, but I think the pattern is a little too traditional for such a modern look. I think maybe I'll use my pale yellow obi next time for the beachy look? But what about the hakata obi? What accessories to use then?

Decisions, decisions...

Btw, I've always had a big big big crush of Dr. Spencer Reid since I first watched Criminal Minds ages ago, but I've recently acquired Criminal Minds Season 3 and *__* my obsession is shooting through the roof.

On the other hand, watching Criminal Minds has also made me paranoid to the point where I'm barely able to go to my own kitchen without keeping an eye on all windows and doors lol.

My overactive imagination *sighs* A blessing and a curse :P

Outfit Challenge: Hanabi yukata - "Cute" taste

Hanabi yukata - "Cute" taste, originally uploaded by shira.C.

When I first bought this obi, I didn't think it would match anything I owned, simply because it looked too modern. Then I noticed the amount of pink in this yukata and thought "why not?"

I'm really glad I did, because it turned out looking so cute! However, one blank stretch of pink against the busy yukata looked to be too much of a shock, so I folded up the bottom side of the obi to show off the other side of it, which is white with a really gorgeous pattern of flowers, leaves and butterflies in black. It creates a break in the solid colour that gives a nice effect, I think.

For the bag, I chose a periwinkle blue kinchaku that I got for free in one of my YJA purchases. I thought it looked cute because it had pink stripes to match the obi, and the blue brought out other pale colours in the yukata.

I wore my modern pair of geta because the obi itself looks modern, and traditional geta looked rather odd with it.

Although I like all of the ensembles I created with this yukata, I must admit that I think this one is one of my absolute favourites :D

Outfit Challenge: Hanabi yukata - "Classic" taste: yellow

Hanabi yukata - "Classic" taste: yellow, originally uploaded by shira.C.

Navy and this shade of yellow are another classic colour combination for yukata. I also happened to have a nice summery looking bag that matched the yellow obi (cost only RM120 for this bag and another one - that's only £20 for both at time of purchase!), so I used it :D I switched from traditional geta to my more modern ones because the traditional geta looked a little off with such a modern bag.

Also, you can't see it because I edited my ugly ugly face out, but I accessorized with my glasses. I wanted to with modernizing it a little, because the bag and geta alone looked a little too modern for the navy and yellow combination and wearing the glasses seemed to take the edge off the oddness for a bit hehe. It also had a little to do with looking like the "girl next door" ^^;;;

Outfit Challenge: Hanabi yukata - "Classic" taste: red

Hanabi yukata - "Classic" taste: red, originally uploaded by shira.C.

Yesterday's hanabi yukata ensemble was the last of the "kimono style" ones.

Today's ensemble is purely yukata style, in "classic" taste. The combination of navy and red has been very popular and very common for many years (or so I've deduced from what yukata magazines tell me), resulting in a very "classic" look for yukata. I didn't add any major accessories, and used a kinchaku and proper geta to achieve that "classic" and "traditional" feel for the look.

I've never really liked red and blue together, unless it's on flags, but for some reason, navy and red just go together really really well :D

Outfit Challenge: Hanabi yukata - "Kimono" style "Classic" taste

Hanabi yukata - "Kimono" style "Classic" taste, originally uploaded by shira.C.

Once again, today's ensemble is the same ensemble as the previous two, with different obiage and obijime for a different look.

This time, I used yellow for a more "refreshing" look in a more "classic" style. But it blends in a little too much to the obi for my liking.

Btw, I just got back from the London MCM Expo! It was fun :) I'll have to post pictures sometime soon hehe. Tomorrow, tomorrow, lol :P

Outfit Challenge: Hanabi yukata - "Kimono" style "Sweet" taste

Hanabi yukata - "Kimono" style "Sweet" taste, originally uploaded by shira.C.

Today's ensemble is the same ensemble as yesterday, but with a different obiage and obijime for a different look.

While yesterday's dark maroon obiage and obijime was used for a more mature look, in today's outfit, I chose sweet pink accessories to make the outfit lighter, younger and cuter. Also, the pink accessories were supposed to bring out the pinks in the yukata, but they were too pale to really do anything! Hahaha.

Perhaps I should have chosen a darker pink instead?

Outfit Challenge: Hanabi Yukata: "Kimono" Style "Otona" Taste

Hanabi yukata - "Kimono" style "Otona" taste, originally uploaded by shira.C.

Lately, I've been inspired by one of my yukata magazines to create as many ensembles as I can using one yukata, each outfit differing on style, taste, TPO, etc. Today, I took out my hanabi (fireworks) yukata and had a two hour dressing session for this personal challenge!

I managed to come up with nine outfits today, although I will admit that I could probably think of even more outfits if I bothered to look harder. Sooooo.... I'm going to post one ensemble a day till I've shown off all the ensembles I've created! :)

I am planning to wear this yukata for Bon Odori this year (it takes place in July every year in Malaysia) but I can't decide which outfit to wear :P I like all of them! So, once all the ensembles have been posted, you guys help me decide!

For today's ensemble, I'm wearing the yukata kimono-style. The obi is a plain white hakata weave nagoya obi, tied otaiko style, and with maroon ro (summer weave) obiage and obijime. I put on a kantan eri (easy collar that gives the illusion of a juban even if I'm not wearing one) and tabi to complete the kimono look.

I call this "Otona" or "adult/mature" taste, because I think the dark maroon colour and the dark navy colour look so mature together!

I think this is more of a daytime outfit. It's so dark that it would look striking in the daylight, rather than blending in with the night. I think this one is something I would wear to go shopping or to an informal lunch or something :)

What do you think?

Outfit Snap: Red Wool Komon & Parrot Obi

Finally, after nearly 3 weeks of kitsuke deprivement, I got to wear kimono today!

Actually, I wasn't supposed to wear kimono at all. However, the due date for one of my courseworks has been postponed, so I suddenly had a bit of free time!

Anyway, here are pictures of today's kitsuke:

The front:

The back:

With a shawl:

With scarf and hat:

With earmuffs:

Upclose:

The kimono came as a part of this lot of kimono I won for 2000yen. I think the lot had 7 kimono and 4 obi in it? Anyway, I calculated the prices and all, and I managed to figure out that each wearable piece cost about $17, shipping and all! So yay cheap stuff.

The kimono is red (slightly orange too) with a woven pattern that I can't seem to identify... The obi is a painted parrot obi that I bought a couple of months ago, because no one seemed to want it, and it was GORGEOUS. Of course, it's actually far too short for me, so I had aLOT of difficulty wearing it today! If I weren't so worried about bungling it up, I'd turn it into a tsuke obi! But first things first, I ought to try doing that on other obi....

I chose a yellow obiage to match the yellow flower and parts of the bird, and a green obijime to highlight the leaves, and to hopefully tie in the bag. I wore a white han'eri and white tabi with black zori.

This outfit seems to fit the Black, Red, White Challenge as well!

I actually changed my hairstyle after uploading these photos to braids, because there was something about the outfit that reminded me of my Showa Kimono Modan book, and lots of young girls had braids in those pictures. I haven't uploaded those pics yet, but I will do it soon.

I just realised I haven't posted pictures of the MCM Expo, or of my purple ensemble! *GASP* Must remember to do it soon....

Okay, back to work!

Outfit Snap: IG Red-Black-White Challenge

Well, despite being late for over a week, here are pictures of me participating in the IG Red-Black-White Challenge!

The front...

The back...
With that cape I bought from Japan all those years ago. I never wore it till January when I discovered what a cute kimono accessory it made!
Sorry for the bad picture, but in here you can see that it's black and white stripes rather than grey!

The kimono is a black and white striped polyester kimono I bought quite a while ago. Very warm. The obi is a very cheap nagoya obi I bought from a UK seller on eBay. It has white maple leaves and butterflies on it! So cute!!

To tie in the gold bits, I used a yellow obijime and a gold and silver obijime. Yes, TWO obijime! Mel and I saw it in one of the kimono magazines I have and we decided to try it. I picked a white obiage to give it a lighter, cooler and more "uplifting" feel and also to tie in the white han-eri, white tabi and white maple leaves.

Unfortunately, the obi is a bit short for me, which is why it looks kinda ugly on me. Maybe I should sell it to Hong? Or trade it with something? I've already sold one of my black furisode to her because I can't fit it (it's too short) and it's perfect for her. It's black, lush, the right length and size, and has gorgeous embroidery on it. I'll have to wait till she gets cash, though, hehe. Then after that, I'll have to see if she still wants it *sigh*

Ling: There, tell the parents that I'm selling off my kimono rather than buying more.