Comments on: Coming back to life

By: Cheryl

Cheryl — Sun, 20 Mar 2005 18:12:47 +0000

Angela — Quick ways to see if you have furisode or yukata is to look at the fabric (cotton is yukata, silk is fuisode) and sleeves (yukata will be short and squarish, furisode will be long, to your knees or below, and rounded) and lining (yukata not lined, furisonde, unless for summer, will be lined). Where in the U.S. are you? There are little kimono stores tucked away here and there - San Francisco has several places that sell obi. Or, if you have a yukata, just make a long tube of coordinating fabric, maybe 2 or 3 yards long and about 6 inches wide. Easier for yukata! For furisode obi, take a look at the obis on ebay to get ideas on color, size, etc. Then go to http://www.ichiroya.com for more information. You can e-mail ichiro and he or one of his very helpful, friendly staff people (thanks, Anna, for the link to these guys!) will answer all your questions. Gambatte! Good luck with the fashion show!

By: Angela

Angela — Sun, 20 Mar 2005 05:17:01 +0000

Hi! It’s me again. I have a Kimono, but I’m not sure if mine is Furisode or Yukata. I think Yukata is easier to wear because you don’t need to wear socks or make so many complicated things.

I want to know how to make an Obi, can you teach me? I could not find one in th United States, I don’t know why. =.=

My mom is Japanese/Chinese, but she never taught me how to wear a Kimono. I could not ask her now because she is in Hong Kong, and I’m in United States for the exchange program for one year.

I have a Fashion Show, so I really need the Obi only. T_T

Arigato gozaimasu

By: Cheryl

Cheryl — Thu, 17 Mar 2005 19:31:11 +0000

Thank you so very much for sharing all the bits and pieces that you’ve learned! Thanks to you, I’ve made my first purchase from AmazonJP, figured out how to work with Jim Bream’s amazing dictionary, and have been brave enough to put on the kimono I’ve been squirreling (sp?) away — I just love the fabrics and colors! We need to organize an out-of-the-closet day for us all to wear kimono! I’ve also placed an order for all the strings, sashes, and pads. In San Francisco we have a small kimono store that mostly sells vintage kimono and new yukata: but it turns out that if you know to ask, they open drawers full of accessories! What fun! Now I need to figure out how to post pictures of my kimono-wearing disasters! Thanks again …

By: Julia

Julia — Fri, 11 Mar 2005 18:10:34 +0000

Thanks for replying, Anna! I’m much comforted to know that I’m not wearing the sartorial equiv of tattered blue jeans when I attend chakai in my mon-free iromuji ;-)

When I read about your move, I got very excited, not just because of the news of the new meublé (which is joyful news in its own right), but also because of the potential for more activity on your kimono subsite. (Sorry, spot the monomania. Mon-omania?) Anyway your new meublé sounds fantastique and I’m very glad you were able to snag such a find. Wish I could be there to give you a hand hefting cartons on moving day!

By: anna

anna — Fri, 11 Mar 2005 13:32:51 +0000

Iromuji without mon are suitable for tea ceremony. I would give more detail but all of my kitsuke books are in storage and it’s been a long time since I last read one.

SB I only know of one book in English that I like: Japanese Inspirations: 18 Quilted Projects.

Mallory it’s actually from an obi, but not one sold on ebay - from a fukuro obi dyed in otaiko style sold on a Japanese site, Kanaiya. Considering it was a modern one, I bet it reminds you of the furisode because it’s very likely they were both done by the same artisan :) There aren’t many tsujigahana artisans left.

I really hope I’ll be able to post more soon - will be moving in three weeks and finally have a new home for my kimono and books. But until then everything is in storage and out of reach :]

By: Mallory

Mallory — Thu, 10 Mar 2005 19:39:30 +0000

Glad that you’re back! I can’t wait to see new things on this site. You’re such a great resource/

That tsujigahana pattern looks very familiar. There was a tsujigahana furisode on ebay a little while back, could it possibly be from that? I bid on it but it quickly went out of my price range. It is such a beautiful technique! I wish I could have owned a peice.

I hope that you post more in the future. =^^=

By: SB

SB — Mon, 07 Mar 2005 05:08:16 +0000

Stumbled upon this site for the fist time today! I, too, love kimono and have recently gotten into cutting up old kimono and making pillows, purses, clothes etc. Do you have any ideas for sources in English that might give me some ideas?

By: Julia

Julia — Sun, 27 Feb 2005 19:17:36 +0000

Hallelujah! I am SO happy you’re back! I love your kimono subsite and refer to it often. Your kitsuke instructions were a real blessing when I first began to wear kimono.

I have a quick question for you, if you don’t mind. Have you managed to find any resources that shed light on the thorny question of iromuji without mon (crest)? I’ve been looking for a text that explains clearly where mon-less iromuji rank on the formality scale.

This is a real issue for me because I own a couple of iromuji without mon. I love both of them, but I honestly don’t know on what occasions I can wear them. Are they suitable for Chado (tea ceremony), for instance?

And is a mon-less iromuji neutral, in the sense that you can dress it up or down according to the obi and obijime you wear with it? And just how far up/down in the formality scale can it stretch?

Dalby’s book sheds no light on this, although she cites one quotation that IMPLIES that even a one-mon iromuji only barely squeaks into the Formal category. Yet, iromuji without mon does not appear on the Everyday Wear side of her chart. So, ‘colour’ me puzzled!

(By the way, extra points if you can illuminate for me the relative formality of Edo komon with or without mon ;-)

Thanks so much for ANY light you can shed…

Julia in British Columbia