Woodgrain shibori kimono
This latest find has me very excited! I managed to win a woodgrain (mokume) shibori kimono on my meager budget:
There’s also a closeup of one of the hexagons. The flower seems to be one of the seven autumn grasses, and as it’s a hitoe (unlined) kimono, it would probably be worn in September. (You can see when lined/unlined/etc. should be worn on this page.)
The woodgrain shibori is likely to have been stitched rather than pale-wrapped (arashi). The main evidence of this are the horizontal lines of slightly different color, which follow where threads would have been. These wouldn’t be present in arashi:
The flowers are done in hon hitta kanoko, dots within squares. The amount of handwork it must have taken is mind-boggling.
Update: I had time to verify that the flower is specifically kikyou, Chinese bellflower, one of the seven autumn grasses. According to the Japanese Haiku Dictionary kikyou is an early autumn flower.
February 21st, 2004 at 01:51:44
Wow, that is really beautiful. Congrats!
February 24th, 2004 at 17:05:48
That is really pretty! The star-shaped flowers are really unique.
I have a kimono in similar colors. What color(s) obi and obi jime do you plan on wearing with it? =D
February 25th, 2004 at 13:45:12
Technically, since mine is hitoe, you’re supposed to wear a hitoe obi with it as well, but I only have one :] It’s a kobukuro obi, green hakata weave. So it would go nicely with it! If it were a lined kimono, I would probably wear a blue obi, since it would pick up on the little bit of blue in the kimono and go well with the red. Or maybe a cream obi with an understated design? Hmmm, come to think of it, I bet I could wear the navy blue fukuro Nagoya obi I have, since it’s unlined…
February 28th, 2004 at 15:34:28
It’s really a nice kimono, that woodgrain shibori is surely a great find. I love the colours too.. lucky girl ;)
May 8th, 2005 at 02:43:42
so pretty!!
i was wondering, what are some specific colors of kimono that you are supposed to wear, according to the seasons? i saw the link to what kind of lining, but i’m wondering if colors matter…if it’s just meisen, does it matter then?????
May 9th, 2005 at 08:48:39
There used to be specifics in the Heian era, you can find references about that in Liza Dalby’s book on kimono.
Nowadays, in general it pretty much follows what we as Westerners see as “seasonal”. Pastels in spring, oranges, greens and yellows in autumn, almost any color in winter. Summer seems to be just about any color as well, although blue is often favored since it’s cool-looking. This is all from what I’ve observed, by the way, I haven’t really found anything in books.