Tuesday, May 11, 2010

Kimono Coordination: May Themes

Seasonality plays a big role in kimono wearing, with certain motifs only appropriate in certain seasons, months, or just a small part of one month only. As kimono have dwindled in daily life, many kimono now feature motifs from every season so that they're ok to wear year-round.

But, for the fun of it, I'll start doing monthly coordination examples in a "if money were no object" bit of daydreaming. :)

Here's our first coordination for the month of May, using a couple of May/early summer motifs: wisteria and irises. This outfit is a furisode (I know, I'm on a kick with them lately), a kimono for a young, unmarried woman meant for a formal occasion. The plain kimono is the underkimono, and the boxed set is the obi-age scarf and obi-jime cord for on top of the obi, and around it, respectively. You can show your personality in the small details, and this outfit feels to me like it would be for a bold, friendly person as you have the two "brights" of the kimono and obi rather than a more subdued combination.








Images copyright Ichiroya and used with permission.

2 comments:

  1. please forgive my comment, for I do not mean to offend -- but I actually own the furisode you show here. I bought it on ebay approximately 2.5 years ago. Perhaps I have a twin? It's a signed artist's piece in a hand-painted brocade. It was simply astonishing to see it here, on your website, though! It is truly one of my favorite pieces, too.

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  2. It's entirely possible that it's yours! I often use Ichiroya images (with their permission), so someone may have bought it from Ichiroya only to sell it on Ebay later. :)

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