xiner's kimono closet

Goofing around in yukata

2010-08-03T23:19:00.006+03:00

The summer has been very hot and even the air outside is already a bit cooler already it is still hot inside the house. I really don't take heat very well. When I arrive home I change into yukata right away. It is probably the most comfortable piece of garment I know! But no way I'm wearing datejime or obi-ita so I put everything together using only 2 koshihimo.

I tell you a secret: I am not wearing a single thing under my yukata. Don't tell anyone! :D

P.S. This time I used medium-sized pictures. Would you prefer smaller pictures?

Roses are red

2010-04-25T00:31:00.001+03:00

Originally uploaded by jeiccis

Today I had a chance to dress these two lovely ladies in kimono. It was a first time for both of them to wear a kimono but you really couldn't tell because they both look so graceful and comfortable wearing them. Even though the wind was strong!

Roses are not the most usual motif in kimono - and not a bit traditional - but they are still one of my favorite motifs. The red rose furisode and Mamechiyo's Rose Bouquet obi really don't deserve to just lie wrapped away in my closet. This reminds me I should wear kimono more often.

There's more on my flickr.

Year of the Tiger

2010-01-17T11:18:00.001+02:00

Geisha hikizuri kimono
Originally uploaded by jeiccis

I tried hikizuri kitsuke for the first time! Jenny was kind enough to let me dress her. We had a kimono theme party and we had lot of fun. A few of my kimono also found a new owner and I'm very happy about it. It is so much better to see them worn well by other people than just lying in my closet wrapped in tatoshi!

I got this geiko hikizuri for a few months ago. It is from early Showa era and the maru obi is about the same age. I think they go quite nicely together. This obi is quite difficult to tie because it's so heavy and stiff and I think I made it too wide. I also didn't have any red cloth to pass as momi so it's missing.

But I think I did quite well for my first time, also considering it was after a few glasses of wine. :)

Tsukimi

2009-10-05T18:36:00.002+03:00

Tsukimi
Originally uploaded by jeiccis

Long time no post! It's not that haven't been wearing kimono lately but I've been forgetting to take photos.

This is what I wore to Tsukimi chakai organized by our Tea club. I probably should have chosen something more formal but to tell the truth I was dying to wear this fern komon of mine. It's one of my favorites but I've had a chance to wear it only once before.

Too bad it was raining so we couldn't go moon viewing as planned but otherwise the chakai was a very nice occasion. I hope the guests weren't bothered for me messing up all the time...

Sorry the bit forced smile, I was tired for working too much lately.

Finncon/Animecon 2009 outfit

2009-07-12T23:12:00.005+03:00

This year's convention was a lot of fun! I was one of the very few kimono-clad people, not counting all those Bleach cosplayers :)

I wore my sha summer kimono and a hitoe obi, both synthetic and washable. But I think that even an awase kimono made of silk is more breathable. Well, at least my ensemble _looks_ cool enough...

The first day I tied my obi into bunko musubi but it probably wasn't a very good idea. Bunko looks nice with yukata but it just didn't work so well with this kimono. Next day I did kouken (chidori) musubi. It wasn't a 100% success but still it was better than bunko. My obi was a bit too floppy and also on the short side so the wings of my "chidori" didn't become as well as I had liked them to. Anyway, I'm always happy to try something new.

BTW I'm totally in love with my Swan Lake bag ^_^

Yukata party

2009-06-26T21:22:00.009+03:00

Summer is finally here, the weather has been very cold but now the sun is shining. Me and my friends got dressed in a yukata, took some photos, ate lots of ice cream and had lots of fun! ^_^

I sew my dark blue yukata by myself. Otherwise it's okay but I made a stupid mistake quite in the beginning. I don't know how it happened but somehow I turned the other front panel around and didn't notice until I had cut the collar and sewn the center back seam. I used 38 cm wide yukata fabric and its both sides look same - I did mark the right side but I still made a mistake. The most annoying thing is that now I've got two big flowers on both sides of my butt...

Aliisa also made her yukata by herself. It is awesome! She's a professional seamstress so of course she can sew, but I also love the design and think this is one of the most elegant yukata ensembles I've ever seen.

Jouni also got dressed in his asa hemp blend yukata. I love the yellow obi and tabi!

Jenny in her plum blossom patterned yukata. It surely makes you feel cool when you think about winter and plum blossoms.

Me and Eerika talking about how long it takes to go to the loo in a yukata... well, it really doesn't take any longer than when wearing western clothes. Can you imagine, a totally random guy actually asked us about this XD

Crested komon

2009-05-26T23:19:00.011+03:00

This kimono arrived today ^_^ I had been drooling over it for ages. I thought I'd deserve a treat and now it's mine! This one is a bit peculiar - it is a komon kimono but has one crest. Also the designs line up and match over seams so it's more formal than usual komon kimono.

According to John Marshall the pattern is shippou, a sort of shorthand for seven treasures.

The fabric of the kimono is beautiful, very light and shiny silk. The patterns are woven with urushi coated thread. I combined my kimono with a Taisho era chuya obi. The other side of the obi has stripes. Also my porcelain obidome is from Taisho era.

Yet another ensemble I hope to wear out someday ^_^

Kitsuke Keiko

2009-05-24T12:28:00.019+03:00

Kitsuke Keiko
Originally uploaded by Kitty Vane

Our Tea club had a kimono class again. It's so much fun to learn how to wear a kimono together! We did help each other a bit with obi tying but otherwise everybody dressed themselves. Everybody's learning so fast, great work ^_^

I love everybody's ensembles too. Especially I adore the purple Pearl Drops kimono Aliisa is wearing, wow! Eerika had her lovely Showa houmongi arrive just in time. I also think Veera's new peachy pink iromuji suits her very well.

More pics on Eerika's flickr account

Our previous kimono class from January

The Rose Bouquet Challence continues

2009-05-17T17:04:00.007+03:00

I got this kimono on mail last week. It was listed as meisen but it isn't. I think it's chirimen, sort of. The kimono sleeves are about the same length as the sleeves of my meisen haori.

I think they go quite nicely together ^_^ But I need black tabi!

It would be nice if my kimono and haori had a bit larger wingspan but I guess you just can't have everything. Anyway I'm quite happy with this ensemble! Hope I can wear it out someday.

Nô performance

2009-05-16T10:34:00.005+03:00

This week we had a rare oppoturnity to see Nô theatre in Helsinki, performed by the Oshima family of Kitai school. All three shows were so enjoyable! We wore kimono to the last performance. The plays we saw as a whole were Hagoromo (The Feather Robe) and Tenko (Heavenly Drum). We also saw a part of the play Tsuchigumo (Spider) which was especially impressive. My favorite still was Tenko, a story of a boy and his father. It was so touching that I had tears in my eyes.

Click for larger view!

The set was beautifully made. They didn't have a possibility to build a real Nô stage to the old opera house of Helsinki but what they did do was awesome enough.

Finally I was able to do kitsuke again! I've been sick so I couldn't do kitsuke for a while. But the good thing about it is that I lost so much weight that my lovely karako tsukesage finally fits me, yay! As you can see it has much longer sleeves than most modern kimono.
I had to tie my himo very low but hope it's okay anyway.

Yuna-chan's new iromuji is so pink and pretty! I tied the obi into a fukura suzume bow. Too bad we had to do everything again...

... can you find one small mistake? *oops*

The obi has pigeons! It's awesome ^_^

Three kimono ladies in front of Alexander Theatre.

After the show. I love all of these three different versions of my favorite combo, a pink kimono with a white based obi. Because of the silly mistake I did before I had only a half an hour to dress both these two ladies. I'm still probably not at my best. Hope I did okay anyway!

The Rose Bouquet

2009-05-12T09:49:00.003+03:00

Mamechiyo's obi is so versatile! It goes with so many kimono. I'm thinking about a personal challenge of how many ensembles I can pull off with this obi.

I didn't mean to pull my collar so far back. It just... happened, lol.
Thanks to Heli for kanzashi ^_^ Though I think I failed attaching it to the comb.

I also copied Mamechiyo's idea and made a haneri with iron-on rhinestones.

Chado demonstration #2 and a laundry day ^_^

2009-04-18T21:35:00.006+03:00

Our tea club had another chado demonstration today at Sinebrychoff museum in Helsinki. Pics from the first demonstration and more info here.

I'm wearing my bingata-like which is the first kimono is the first kimono I ever got! I've worn it only once before.
My kimono is still a bit too small but now I've lost some weight it fits me better, yay ^_^

I wasn't too happy with my kitsuke. I was in a hurry (as usual) and I also forgot my erishin and ended up to use a piece of paper instead!
Our sensei gave us some kitsuke critique and suggested us to tie the obi lower. She said for tall ladies obi looks better tied a bit lower and I totally agree. I used to tie my obi far too low and while trying to avoid it I ended up exaggerating it.
She also said because my kimono is too small I should pull my left front panel further. She's right again of course. But despite my A4 erishin she said my collar was fine ^_^

So after coming home I tried again to do better, hope I did! I tied my obi a bit lower and also padded more carefully (and used a real erishin).
Our house has a large laundry drying room under the roof. There's a large window and lots of light so we went there to take some pics:

P.S. I realized it has been a month since I last posted! I have a new job so I've been quite busy but I hope from now on I'll have more time for studying chado and practicing my kitsuke.

Fresh from Japan ^_^

2009-03-17T16:08:00.003+02:00

We spent last two weeks in Kyoto and Tokyo and it was just great! We went to many places I've been dreaming to go to for a long time. I'm so happy! Completely broke, but happy ^_^

What's the first thing you do when you go to Tokyo? Visit Mamechiyo Modern kimono shop of course! They have a new shop in Shinjuku but I went to the Nishi-Ogikubo shop. One of their staff, Fumiko-san, speaks excellent English and she was kind enough to help me choose this kimono set:

Kimono set closeup
The most comfortable zori ever

Next day we went to Meiji shrine. There was a wedding going on.

I was glad I insisted on buying a 40-150 mm telephoto lens. Didn't have to get too close to get good pictures of them.

After a couple of days in Tokyo, we took the Shinkansen and traveled to Kyoto. I had reserved a stroll plan at Studio Shiki but it was a rainy day so we had to live with studio photos. But it was fun anyway :)

The hikizuri I chose is so pretty! It has spring flowers: cherry, peony and iris. I liked all of their geiko hikizuri but most of them had autumn flowers. They also had a very beautiful ro hikizuri but I wanted a spring kimono so the decision was very quickly made. The lady who helped me was surprised that I chose so fast.

I had to say several times that no I don't want the maiko plan, I want the geiko plan. I guess many people don't choose it because it's more expensive. But I like the geiko look more and I'm too old to be a maiko anyway. I also had to say no, I don't want to wear okobo! But they still made me hold an uchiwa.

More henshin photos here.

The next day the weather was wonderful! I met Fuyou, my friend from internet kimono forums and we had a lovely day strolling through Kyoto. Thank-you so much for the day, Fuyou!

We also met other kimono wearers. I love their style!

Maiko henshin. The tall maiko is a guy.

I was able to take many photos of maiko and geiko! All of them didn't turn out so well I had hoped. They walk so fast... I also didn't want to get too close. Some of them looked a bit surprised to see us. Well, I guess even in Kyoto you don't see gaijin in kimono everyday. My favorite pic is this one of Fukumomo:

Maiko&Geiko photoset here

Next day we went to Fushimi Inari shrine. Of course I ended up buying a kimono again.

We also visited Kiyomizudera and I was happy seeing so many young people in kimono! I guess most of them had gone to a kimono rental shop. This super cute musubi is definitely professional work:

More maiko henshin! My telephoto lens proved to be useful again.

We stayed in Kikokuso ryokan. It was so great to stay there! I give my recommendations if you ever go to Kyoto and want to stay in a traditional Japanese ryokan. Also the food was great, probably the best I've ever had.

I bought the green obi at Yasaka shrine flea market. I think it goes well with my Mamechiyo kimono too! I found the purple obijime at Chicago Harajuku. My juban sleeve had a will of its own...

We spent a week in Kyoto and then headed back to Tokyo. I went to many kimono shops but most of them were quite expensive.

We also went to Kabuki-za. We saw one act of Genroku Chushingura, Saigo No Daihyojo. I'm happy I could go there now that the building still exists. This play was a part of the farewell series to the old Kabuki-za building.

Actually I didn't want to come back at all. But I must work and make money for our next trip to Japan, ne? :)

We took so many photos. If you're interested, you'll find my flickr photoset here.

Meisen kimono outfit

2009-02-20T20:17:00.014+02:00

Usually I wear a kimono only at Tea ceremony occassions. I try to be a good girl and do my best kitsuke and follow the rules. But sometimes you just have to loosen up ^_^

A while ago I got Mokona's Okimono Kimono in mail and I love the book! I wanted to try lace and cuffs with kimono too and came up with this ensemble. I also had a hat to go with this ensemble but I forgot to wear it in pictures, didn't realize until it was too late...
Finally I got a kimono to wear with my favorite juban. I just love it's color and the pattern - goldfish! You can't see much of it but it's really great and fun :)

I sew cuffs into my meisen kimono and attached a crocheted strip my friend Heli made for me into the collar. Thanks Heli! She even gave me this beautiful shawl. It goes so well with kimono.

Kimono and banana leaves

2009-02-08T18:40:00.007+02:00

Photo
Originally uploaded by henria

At least it looks like a banana plant to me?

We had a chado demonstration in Gardenia tropical garden. What a nice and unusual surroundings for Tea ceremony! I'm wearing my pink landscape houmongi with a fukuro obi. Thanks to Henriikka for photos ^_^

More pics here.

Chado demonstration

2009-02-01T22:19:00.003+02:00

This weekend our tea club also performed tea ceremony demonstrations in museum's small tea room. There were lots of audience, hope they enjoyed it ^_^
Naomi-san made usucha today. Her kimono is full shibori, very beautiful!

I didn't want to disturb the audience by taking too many photos during the demonstration so I asked Jenny to pose for a photo before.
Thank you!

Jouni is wearing a vintage silk hakama. Compared to polyester hakama he said it was more difficult to dress but more comfortable when worn. Silk hakama also makes more beautiful sounds, really! When the wearer is walking around polyester hakama sounds like a plastic bag.

I'm wearing my iromuji and "snowflake" fukuro obi. My juban sleeves are a bit too long...

Exhibition opening

2009-01-28T23:48:00.008+02:00

Our tea club members were invited to opening night of an exhibition of the theme "Daughters of Sun Goddess - Japanese femininity". What a great occasion for kimono wearing ^_^

Usually when we wear a kimono it has something to do with chado and the ensembles have to be quite subdued. Now we finally had a chance to wear our fanciest kimono and obi musubi. Jouni also wore his hakama for the first time and actually dressed himself!

The exhibition was great. There were beautiful kanzashi, make up things, uchiwa, woodblock prints... It was very crowded so I didn't have a chance to get a good look on everything but I'll go again.

More pics on flickr.

Kimono class

2009-01-12T18:15:00.011+02:00

everyone
Originally uploaded by Yuna-chan

My first time being a kimono kitsuke sensei ^_^ Well, my kitsuke is still far from perfect so I'm probably no good for teaching others but I was glad to be able to share some ideas and experience I have with the girls from our chado club!

It may look like it was freezing outside but it wasn't that cold but about
3 °C. Most of us were glad to step outside for a minute - the central heating in our tea room was going like crazy.

BTW I really like this picture of Yuna-chan ^_^

pose in the snow
Originally uploaded by Yuna-chan

Orange Taisho kimono

2008-12-15T15:34:00.003+02:00

I couldn't help feeling disappointed when I got this kimono in mail. It's in excellent condition and the size is okay but I didn't like the color at all. It looked much much prettier in seller's photos! I still decided to give it a chance and did some experimental kitsuke with my mofuku Nagoya obi. Perhaps it's got some potential anyway.

The photos are taken without a flash to draw out the real color. Still it looks better in photos, I think.

Furisode dress-up

2008-12-08T21:55:00.009+02:00

Heli just got her new super kawaii furisode. I love the blue color, it's so beautiful and looks very good on her! She doesn't have an obi to go with it yet. My white and pink fukuro obi goes fine with it but a yellow obi would be a more interesting choice, I think.

The flowers are orchids. A little unusual motif but so pretty ^_^

My red furisode with roses. I tried this on before with different accessories but it didn't look so good. I guess I'm more on the right track now.
Sorry for the sloppy kitsuke! I just wanted to get dressed quickly but now I think I should have tried harder.

New obi

2008-11-30T00:00:00.004+02:00

Long time no post! I have been busy but today I finally got a change to try on this Nagoya obi. It has some kind of Chinese feel in it: colors, design, fabric. I like it ^_^

Sushi, kitsuke and new haircut

2008-11-04T01:03:00.006+02:00

Heli was visiting me tonight. We had sushi dinner and of course got dressed in kimono ^_^

I love my new haircut, it's super easy and comfortable! I didn't have to start dressing in kimono by doing my hair up first. At this point we had eaten TONS of sushi so that explains a little sloppy kitsuke...

I think I finally got the blue Taisho kimono ensemble together. This obi looks better than the maru obi I tried with it before. I also like the pink haori even it's too small. What do you think? Heli is wearing a karako tsukesage which is one of my favorite kimono but too small for me to wear. I'm glad it fits her!

Fukurasuzume attempt! I did this the traditional way, without biyosugata. Another wing soon fell apart but I think I know what I did wrong. Practise, practise...

Bunny ears LOL ^_^

IG Team Colours

2008-11-01T15:47:00.015+02:00

My newest kitsuke challenge ensemble! This time it's about Immortal Geisha Team Colours: wear pink and blue wafuku ^_^
Link to IG forum.

I haven't worn this furisode after our wedding over an year ago and I have to say I was surprised how much easier it was to get dressed now. It still is far from perfect but I guess I've improved a bit. Yay :) Too bad it's a kimono for not married women! I added blue date-eri, obiage and obijime (which is a bit too high I guess). At the wedding I wore this with red accessories and the look is quite different even the kimono and the obi are the same.
Click here to see my blog post about the wedding.

Our rooftop is a good place to take pictures. The light is beautiful and there are no staring people around. Today the wind was strong but it wasn't too cold. After many days raining I'm so happy to see the sun shine!

Chidori with fukuro obi

2008-10-21T07:12:00.003+03:00

Last time it was a chidori variation with maru obi and now I wanted to try a normal chidori with fukuro obi, tied with a biyosugata. When you use a biyosugata you construct the bow first, secure with clips and put it on - just like a backpack ^_^

Hope I'll get a change to wear this with my landscape houmongi some day!

Chidori musubi, second try

2008-10-19T23:21:00.004+03:00

Yay, I think I did much better now ^_^
I pulled the collar back more than I usually do. Maybe it's too much?
I also tried new ways to tie my obiage and obijime.

Is it a bird? Or is it a propeller?

2008-10-15T22:45:00.012+03:00

I've always liked the chidori musubi. It is very beautiful and I wanted to try tying it myself. I thought I chose a wrong kind of obi because the wings didn't stay as I wanted them to but I found out later that I had forgotten to secure the rubberbands of my biyosugata! No wonder if didn't stay. Actually it's a miracle the bow didn't totally collapse ^_^

This bow looks a lot like fukurasuzume but the way it's constructed is different. Check out Toma-san's webpage for instructions, here. I made the wings bigger.

I also thought I'd just dress quickly and skipped padding but everything seemed to go wrong! I even couldn't put the center back seam on the center. Need some practise. I also tried to "fix" the musubi and retied the decorative cord but it ended up worse than it was before...

But isn't this kimono wonderful ^_^ I'm totally in love with it. It has stains but it's still such a beautiful piece!

Let's Party Like It's 1933

2008-10-12T18:39:00.015+03:00

Here's my another try at IG's new challenge forum. The fashion for the year 1933 was wearing dounuki with crested iromuji. Here's my try to bring back that style! My iromuji isn't crested but who cares ^_^

This really was a challenge! I've never tried layered kitsuke before and found out it's not that easy to do. It's literally three times more collar problems and not to mention how hot and heavy it is! But after I managed to get dressed I have to say it was quite comfortable.

I'm wearing my pink peony tsukesage underneath. It has a kasane eri attached. I'm not so sure about the color combo but the tsukesage was the same size as my iromuji.

Pics taken at the rooftop of our house by my beloved official photographer ^_^ This landscape probably hasn't changed much since 1933.

I edited this to look like an old photo:

Obi display

2008-10-12T12:13:00.003+03:00

I don't only wear my kimono but I also display them ^_^
I made this kimono hanger mostly for to display my haori collection but now I decided to do something with my maru obi too. This is what I came up with! Now I'm thinking of another obi display possibilities for next week.

The same obi being worn here.

IG's black-white-red kitsuke challenge

2008-10-06T20:25:00.009+03:00

I took part in a kitsuke challenge on Immortal Geisha forums: "What's Black, White and Red All Over". What a nice idea! I haven't even tried this kimono on before because it's so small but I decided to give a try.

The kurotomesode looks discolored in the photos but it's not, it's just the flash. Actually the seller's photos looked like it too but even I thought there's discoloration all over I still got it. Maybe the other bidders thought so too so I got it practically for free! It's very small so no ohashori this time. I'm not going to wear this ensemble out of the house anyway.

BTW, these photos are taken by me! I think I'm getting better. They're at least not too blurred ^_^
I hurried home after work and dressed quickly to be able to take the pictures before it got dark but I didn't quite make it and had to take the pics with a flash. It gets dark so soon now.

My first kimono item

2008-09-30T00:06:00.005+03:00

... was this haori. I bought it for display purposes and because I was curious how the kimono silk feels like. When this one arrived in the mail I fell in love with it in a second. Rinzu silk is so beautiful!
This haori is sadly too small (and maybe also too precious ^_^) to be worn.

Waterfall

2008-09-28T02:10:00.003+03:00

Me and my husband had a nice trip to a waterfall at Eastern Finland. The water was low but it was still very beautiful! Sorry no kimono pics this time either :)

There used to be a mill but it was washed away by the spring flood years ago. Only the stone remains...

After this the battery of the camera died. Too bad! We saw about 10 cranes flying past us, very close. Moving south I guess :)

My friend and her kimono

2008-09-24T19:17:00.014+03:00

It's so much fun to dress other people in kimono, even at 2am! My friend Heli still had some energy to smile and pose for a photo even it was a very long day. She is wearing her new komon and a fukuro obi of mine. I bought the obi because in the listing it looked like it was pink but apparently it wasn't. I was a little disappointed but luckily the obi goes quite well with Heli's kimono :)
The beautiful kanzashi are made by her. Click here to see more of her work!

I did some experiments with the obiage. What do you think about it?

A close-up. This obijime is just awesome! Very non-traditional but pretty.

Rasseli

2008-09-23T00:58:00.005+03:00

I'll post some kimono pics soon but in the meanwhile, here's a cute cat photo ^_^ Isn't she adorable?

Snowflake obi

2008-09-15T11:37:00.005+03:00

I wore my hitoe iromuji again but now with a different obi. This is a fukuro obi and the pattern is karabana, imaginary flower. But don't they look like snowflakes :)

Autumn ensemble

2008-09-13T16:12:00.011+03:00

I love the colors of this outfit! The kimono is a wool kimono and the obi is a silk nagoya obi. I just snatched the red scarf in a hurry but it looks quite good, I think ^_^ In Japan it'd be too early to wear this ensemble but here the weather is already cold enough to be comfortable in wool kimono.

The kimono is short and the sleeves are far too short but I still love it! I've worn it many times with a red hanhaba obi. This obi combination looks more interesting to me but the white tabi and collar look kinda too white now. Next time I'll try a yellow haneri and tabi socks :)

A close-up of the obi.

My husband and his "outrageous" blue-green collar ^_^ Sorry for the poor picture quality, this photo was taken by me... all the other photos are his. I think he's a very good photographer :)

Neko obi

2008-09-07T21:12:00.007+03:00

Today I wore my cat obi! It's design is adorable and it's a tsuke obi, a pre-tied obi, which is good at the days like this. You know the bad hair day? Today it was a bad kitsuke day for me. I was in a hurry to get dressed - even more than usually - and everything just seemed to fall apart. I tied my koshihimo too loosely and stepped over my hem and almost fell down at the Tea ceremony practise. Not to mention that today my legs hurted more than they usually do but somehow I managed to get through without falling down. Luckily I was wearing my tsuke obi so at least the otaiko bow remained perfect ^_^

On the way home me and my husband met a very nice Japanese couple who were interested in chado and kimono. Great! Hope they have a nice stay in Finland :)

Taishoroman ensemble - in action!

2008-08-22T22:38:00.022+03:00

My husbandand I went to see a demostration organized by our Tea club (we didn't take part since we're still only beginners). As you can see in the picture, it was a success ^_^

Tonight there were many events around the town and I wanted to wear this ensemble. I'm so glad that I finally was able to wear it! But I hope no one thought I was dressed for Tea Ceremony! Tea ceremony kimono should be subdued and calm, preferably one color only. My kimono ensemble is a good example of what's NOT appropriate :)

I had only 15 minutes to get dressed so I didn't have time to fix my collar (which is wider than it was supposed to be) but I'm quite happy how the taiko turned out: instead of the ordinary square shape I was aiming at more relaxed style. I chose a pink shibori silk haneri and a salmon pink shibori obiage to go with this ensemble. I know it's not seasonally correct but the weather might have been too cold to wear usumono and I would probably have looked silly in a sheer silk kimono with a warm wool shawl on my shoulders :)

Kimono party!

2008-08-10T00:55:00.008+03:00

I invited the members of our Tea club to watch the movie Sakuran and maybe also to get dressed in kimono. In the end we didn't have time to watch the movie at all but we've got some really nice kimono pics ^_^

I wore my new custom made hitoe iromuji kimono. I'm glad I finally have a kimono that fits me perfectly! I like iromuji a lot because they're so versatile. Being one color only, you can dress them up and down depending on the occassion. Just combine with different obi and accessories and you've got many styles with just one kimono! In the picture I'm wearing my iromuji with a transparent fukuro obi, a summer sheer silk obiage and a summer obijime and zori made of asa hemp.
So comfortable ^_^

More photos on flickr!

Taishoroman ensemble

2008-08-05T00:10:00.002+03:00

Originally uploaded by jeiccis

I'm so happy I got this kimono and obi! Both are vintage but in a very good condition: the kimono has only a one or two very small snags and the obi has some small holes but they're not visible when worn.
The fern leaves are woven beautifully. The lucky mallet motif in the obi is hand embroidered. I hope I'd someday have the skill and the patience to do that kind of embroidery...
I can't wait to be able to get dressed up ^_^

Blog created!

2008-08-04T23:47:00.001+03:00

Getting started...

I will post some AMAZING KIMONO STUFF later!
Find your inner kimono freak and stay tuned :)

I also added some of my older kimono pics and stories beneath them.

Dressing up my friend

2008-08-02T21:08:00.003+03:00

Today me and my friends went through my kimono collection and I wanted to dress my friend Heli in kimono. My ume tsukesage is too short and too narrow for me but it fits her perfectly! She's so pretty ^_^
I have a new digital camera and taking photos is so much more fun now.

Summer 2008 kimono ensembles

2008-06-07T22:09:00.003+03:00

Summer's here again and it's time for the photoshoot in the garden of our summerhouse. I've had this tsukesage for a long time but couldn't find an obi to go with it. But here it is! I'm so happy ^_^
The kimono has an interesting pattern. The first picture shows a boy and a mouse stealing something from a pot and in the second picture the boy is tied to a pole and the mouse is tickling his feet. If anyone knows the story behind this, please let me know!

Next summer I might get another obiage-obijime set for this kimono. The pink is okay but it looks a little bit too bright to me.

Here's another summer kimono ensemble: my sha poly komon and poly hitoe obi. This isn't as comfortable as the silk kimono but I love the colors! It's one of my favorite ensembles. Please excuse me, I forgot to take of the basting stitches on the sleeves!

Meisen kimono

2008-04-12T21:57:00.003+03:00

I got a meisen kimono from Ryujiro's web shop. Though it's longer than the usual meisen kimono it's still too short. And too narrow. Like almost all kimono I have *sigh*
I stil decided to be brave and try it on without an ohashori. I aimed at "relaxed style" but it's difficult to feel relaxed when your kimono is flapping open when you walk =D

The obi is also too short but I think I still managed to tie at least a half-decent otaiko. I think I'm becoming more a kimono collector, not only kimono wearer. Or how else should I explain these beautiful but almost unwearable things I buy?

Dinner-dance in kimono

2008-03-14T21:48:00.001+02:00

My friend invited me to a fancy dinner-dance and of course I wanted to wear a kimono ^_^
I thought my peony tsukesage was seasonally and formality-wise appropriate and it already has a stain so I wasn't so scared for staining it. It really was a lot of fun! I was dancing all night long and had to fix my obi every now and then but I'm still very happy that my kitsuke didn't fall apart. This photo was taken after wearing the kimono for many hours!

I tied my obi to a fukura suzume bow. It's a furisode bow but to an untrained eye it looks better than the otaiko bow. I tried to tie a smaller bow than when wearing a furisode. I think it works ^_^

Going to see Madama Butterfly

2008-01-04T21:27:00.008+02:00

I was invited to the opera to see Madama Butterfly. It was the opening night so I thought it was appropriate to wear something classy and what could be better than a Taisho era kimono ^_^
The irotomesode is beautiful and one of my favorites and so is the maru obi but it's sooo heavy and difficult to tie! Anyway, the kimono and the obi go so nicely together, I think.

The nijudaiko musubi took me umm, about 2 hours. I should have practised with an easier obi like normal fukuro first! The obi fell apart during the car ride and I had to fix it many times to keep it together.

The gals at Immortal Geisha forums suggested to change the obijime and of course they were right. Though it still is not perfect the red one goes so much better with this ensemble ^_^

Wool kimono and hanhaba obi

2007-12-06T21:18:00.002+02:00

I wore this outfit at Independence day party at my brother's house. My family thinks my kimono enthusiasm is a little bit odd but I think they're used to me doing odd things ^_^

BTW my brother has quite an impressing art collection! My favorite is the one with the small red houses on the left side.

Married!

2007-08-10T23:28:00.006+03:00

We got married! It was a wonderful day, great party and great quests! And of course the best groom ever ^_^
It was a warm and sunny summer day so I'm glad I chose a normal furisode instead of full Japanese wedding kimono with uchikake and everything. I kinda wanted to do that but gave up the idea. But I didn't think about wearing a traditional white dress. Actually that didn't even cross my mind!

More wedding photos on Flickr!

Summer 2007 yukata

2007-06-22T21:09:00.002+03:00

My first yukata! Of course it had to be pink ^_^
I think it looks kinda nice. The colors are cool, maybe too cool considering what's the summer in Finland like, brr. But I really like the pink and purple combo.
The pics are taken by our summerhouse. I live in the city and every time I go to our summerhouse I'm surprised how GREEN it is everywhere.

The best thing in early summer is the light. I think the light is most beautiful in early summer evening. Great time for some kimono photoshoot ^_^

Iromuji ensemble

2007-06-20T21:00:00.000+03:00

This one-crested iromuji kimono has a decent sleeve-to-sleeve size but I need to let out the seams to increase hip size. The color is beautiful! The flower in my hair is my first try making kanzashi.

Thanks to the great people on Immortal Geisha forums my kitsuke is getting better ^_^ It would have been so much more difficult to learn kitsuke without getting any help.

Kimono first time!

2007-05-26T20:45:00.006+03:00

This is my first time going out in kimono. It's not actually my first time wearing kimono but about the third. The first two tries were horrible!

The kimono is quite small and I made a too long ohashori. But it was fun to get all dressed up! The bingata-like design of the kimono is quite lovely and I think I picked a nice obi to go with it. The obiage-obijime set is not the best but it was the only one I had at the time.

This time I had some courage to go outside wearing kimono. My husband (or boyfriend at the time) took a lot of photos of me. People stopped by to look and their comments were all positive.