Part 2 of my video for costumers and cosplayers is up! I include sewing advice and general tips for wearing your costume well. Have a great weekend and thanks for all your support on the newly revamped channel!

Panel Madness at KamikazeCon!

This weekend, if you're in Houston and have a chance, check out local anime convention KamikazeCon.

I'll be there doing four panels, which is new and exciting for me. The most I've ever done in a weekend is two!

FRIDAY:

Kimono 101 (2:00PM - 3:00PM)
A friendly, fast-paced introduction to the world of Japanese kimono, including history, different types, how to buy, how to tell a real one from a fake, and how to wear them. Authentic examples will be on hand and a start-to-finish dressing demo will be included.


SATURDAY:

Kimono for Cosplayers (10:00AM - 11:00AM)
From Hetalia to Kenshin, kimono are a common sight in anime and manga. If you'd like to cosplay a character who wears one, come on by! You'll learn the pros and cons of making vs. buying with real-life examples, tips for budget costumes, and advice on how to wear and move in them as your character.

Geisha 101 (8:00 PM - 9:00PM)
Step into the world of the geisha, the classical entertainer and symbol of traditional Japan. This panel will give you the basics on what geisha are, what they do, and how they dress: some answers might surprise you! Tips for cosplaying geisha will also be included.


SUNDAY:

Japanese Traditions 101 (12:00PM - 1:00 PM)
Stop by for a quick introduction to some of the cultural traditions of Japan: geisha, Japanese dance, calligraphy, kimono, and the Shinto religion.

Two Panels This Weekend at Delta H Con

This weekend in Houston is Delta H Con, an intimate little anime convention on the University of Houston campus. If you're going and are interested, I'll be doing two panels this weekend! :)

Today, 7pm, Panel Room 2: Kimono 101. This is the basic introductory panel I do at conventions, which I tweak a little each time with new examples or a different "extra" topic/obi knot/etc. thrown in for those who have seen it before. Geared toward beginners, it covers history and types of kimono, how to tell a real one from a fake (important as there are so many out there for sale!), and if time allows a start-to-finish dressing demonstration for both men and women.

Saturday, 11am, Panel Room 2: Kimono for Cosplayers. From Hetalia to Kenshin, kimono are a common sight in anime and manga. This cosplay-focused panel will cover the pros and cons of buying kimono vs. making your own, tips for budget costumes, real-life examples of different types, and how to convincingly wear and move in-character in kimono.

For me, today's outfit is a purple yukata with rabbits playing in leaves, a hanhaba obi, and a big flower headband. Here's to comfy summer outfits! :D

Kimono Costumes: Geisha and "Samurai Darth Maul"

I'm sometimes asked what I do with the kimono I collect. The answer is usually "wear them when I have the opportunity" or "show them at educational panels," but as a costuming geek I also have fun working them into costumes when I can.

So a couple of weeks ago at Houston's Comicpalooza convention (awesome, can't wait for next year!) I wore these two:

Geisha "Ayame"

This costume has been a long labor of love as I kept an eye out for pieces in my price range, but I finally pieced together a decent "starter" geisha look! It involves a hikizuri (trailing kimono often worn during dance performances) in my favorite color, a hakata obi (traditional geometric weave pattern classically seen on geisha) worn in a style particular to geisha, two-color dance fans, and a human-hair katsura (wig) in a styling very similar to a geisha's.





"Ayame" 菖蒲 means "iris" and is a flower that fits me for a couple of reasons: it blooms in my birth month (May) and is often seen in my favorite color, purple. :)

My kitsuke (kimono-wearing) skills need a lot of practice, but I loved this costume and will definitely wear it again.

"Samurai" Darth Maul

This next costume comes from the fact I'm aiming for an eventual full Darth Maul (Star Wars) costume, because I love challenges in costuming, but due to funding and time only had half of it done by the convention. My choices if I wanted to do it anyway were a white T-shirt with "rest of costume goes here" worn over my linen black pants and Frank Thomas black boots, or my idea to do a nod to the awesome Star Wars "ukiyo-e" paintings I saw on the Immortal Geisha forums a long while back, which featured the characters as classical Japanese nobles, samurai, demons, etc.

So I bring you a loosely-inspired "Samurai Darth Maul" in punk black hakama by indies brand Qutie Frash, a formal men's kimono and haori, boken practice sword, men's geta, and a whole lot of paint!









It was well-received at the con (Darth Maul barely talks, so with binding and a silent swagger the costume seemed to work, as I was taken for a guy all day) and an artist actually came running up to me excited because he did a series of paintings, apparently, featuring Star Wars characters in "real life" and one was a Maul samurai. It was a lot of fun all around, though I will say to any guys reading that it was tough figuring out how to walk like a guy. ;)

I will also say that after all the prep time and work that goes into Maul (bald cap, handmade horns, full head of paint) the geisha makeup seems like a breeze in comparison.

So there are two of my own kimono-based costumes! If you've done any you'd like to share, any costume that involves a kimono, please send me a link or picture! I'd love to see them. :)

Thanks! and... Any Questions?

Whew! I'm home and tired, but had a great time at the convention. Thanks to the organizers, my fellow dealers, and everyone who visited our booth!

Like I told folks who stopped by, if you have a kimono of your own you have a question about, feel free to drop me an email and I'll help if I can. My email is info attttt thekimonolady.com, and I'll get back to you in a few days. :)

Join Me at Delta H Con!

For those of you in the Houston area, I'll be teaming up with dealer Kyoto Kimono this weekend at Delta H Con, selling komon, obi, men's formal wear, and more. Stop by our booth and say hi or bring any questions you might have about items of your own. :)

Delta H Con is a game and anime convention in its third year and will be today, tomorrow and Sunday at the University Center on the University of Houston campus. The address is 4800 Calhoun, Houston TX, 77004, and the center can be reached at 713-743-2255.

Kamikaze Con Kimono Panel Photos

A big thank you to Alison Wennagel! She attended my kimono panel at Kamikaze Con last month and recently sent along some of the photos she got. It was great meeting you there, and getting to chat at Japan Fest, Alison. Hope to see you around again!

Below are volunteers from the audience modeling a large chunk of my personal kimono collection to show the different styles (thank y'all for helping out :) ), and me putting another volunteer into a cotton summer yukata.

Photos copyright Alison Wennagel and used with permission.

Anime Matsuri: Thank You!

A big thank-you to everyone who showed up for my kimono panel today at Anime Matsuri, and to Brian for helping me out! I always enjoy getting the chance to share my kimono love with others, and you were a great crowd.

For those of you who weren't there, with the help of a lot of volunteers from the crowd modeling (thank you!), we made it through all the types of kimono and obi, as well as putting on a woman's yukata kimono and men's formal outfit from start to finish. I didn't have time to show how to tie a a taiko obi knot, but now I'll have something new to show at my next panel, whenever that ends up being. :)

I've been asked if I'll be doing the AM kimono panel scheduled for this Sunday, but that isn't me: I believe it's one of the vendors for the con.

Photos to possibly come later if I can track them down. Have a great holiday weekend!

2PM Panel at Anime Matsuri Tomorrow!

For those of you attending Houston's Anime Matsuri this weekend, I'll be doing an introductory kimono panel tomorrow, Friday, at 2pm in Panel Room 3. If you've caught previous panels of mine at Oni Con or Kamikaze Con, it will be the same basic panel but for the first time I'll be showing a very basic men's kitsuke and possibly also a basic women's taiko knot, depending on time. If you caught one or the other of the previous panels, you'll also see a few different kimono than last time. :)

I'll also be giving away a women's yukata kimono and obi set, great for conventions, festivals, cosplays or just dressing up.

I have a lot of fun with these panels, but the packing for them is always nuts. Wish me luck!

Kamikaze Con Kimono Panel: Thank You!

Today, I and one of my best friends did an introductory kimono panel at Kamikaze Con, which covered the history of kimono, the different types with real-life examples of many, and a start-to-finish dressing of a volunteer in a summer yukata and hanhaba obi (thank you again! :) ). I did one similar at last October's Oni-Con, but I try to change them up a bit each time so people can see something new.

I'd like to say thank you to everyone who came! It was a lot of fun to do, and y'all were a wonderful group. If you attended and have any comments or questions (or got any photos as I blanked out on getting some of the actual panel), feel free to drop me a note at info atttt thekimonolady.com, and thank you! UPDATE (4/20): You can now check out a couple of photos here. :)

Here's the one photo I remembered to get after the panel, of me and Giant Suitcase o' Kimono in tow:

Today I decided to take the plunge and wear a non-yukata outfit (yukata are the simplest to wear and, having worn them enough, I'm very comfortable in them). So I went with a purple and abstract (possibly) spider-web pattern komon (fine pattern kimono), a Nagoya obi with tiny gold, red and white flowers, and green obi-age scarf and obi-jime. My kitsuke (kimono wearing) needs a huge amount of work as I've only recently moved from collecting to wearing, but it was exciting to actually go out of the house in something dressier than a yukata!

It'll be a long time before I can do a whole panel on kitsuke, but with a lot of practice between now and then I hope to confidently include how to tie a basic taiko knot and men's formal kimono and hakama in my panel on April 2 at Houston's Anime Matsuri.

This is one fun part about this blog and doing panels: I'm always learning something new!

Panel Tips

Last Halloween, I did a beginner-level panel on kimono at OniCon here in Houston, and it was a lot of fun. I'm currently in talks to hopefully do two more local panels back to back, one at Kamikaze Con next month and then one at Anime Matsuri in April. I'll be hauling a lot of silk around!

I'm certainly not perfect at presentations, but I'd like to share some tips gained from that first experience, other panels I've watched or been part of, and my background as a teacher. Panels don't always need to be formal affairs at a convention: you might find yourself wanting to do one on samurai for your school's anime club, a tea ceremony intro for International Day at your college, or a presentation on kimono for your Japanese class. So how can you do one that will be both educational and fun for your audience, and stress-free and fun for you?

- If you know enough about the topic at hand and love it, you're halfway to a good panel already. People respond better to a presenter who is actively and obviously interested in the topic. :)

- Treat the audience as you would want to be treated. Smile, be friendly, and never talk down to them, no matter how obvious you may think the answer is to their question. Knowledge and learning happen in positive, welcoming environments where students feel "safe" to ask questions.

- Involve the audience. Ask them questions as you talk, eliciting answers from them. If you think back to school, the teacher who peppered her talk with questions probably held your attention better than a teacher who talked as you passively sat there. It also creates more of a personal "connection" between you and the audience.

- Manage your time well. Rehearse your panel at least once and jot down the topics you want to cover and how much time you will spend. It can be as easy as an index card listing things like "Kimono History: 5 minutes". That way you can stay on track throughout your presentation and speed up or slow down as needed. Part of this is also wearing a watch, as you can't guarantee the room you're in will have a clock.

- Have fun! If you've never spoken in front of an audience, you might be nervous. I'll admit that despite almost six years of teaching, I was nervous before my first panel! The best way I've found to relax is imagine that you're talking to your friends, or if all else fails the old public-speaking trick that everyone out there has a watermelon for a head. It's impossible to find watermelons intimidating, right? ;)