Pride Parade Meet

Pride Parade is like the ultimate time to dress up. People expect a bit of outlandishness and fabulousness, so we thought what better time to get dressed up and show our support for the LGBTQ community at the same time. We ended up being stopped a few time by people telling us they liked our outfits and thought we looked awesome. 

It was really rainy and a bit chilly so I decided to wear my yukata so I didn't have to worry about water stains on kimono, but I dressed it up kimono style with a juban, nagoya obi and obi-jime and obi-age. Definitely not traditional, but I was pretty pleased with the outcome and didn't have any issues with being too cold like the last time I wore my yukata.

For this month's meet we decided to get together and watch the Pride Parade. We also headed down to a really nice local sushi restaurant called Ko-Doraku. I had a really tasty kampyo roll, some chicken udon and pork dumplings. The owner was very happy to see us in kimono and came out afterwards to tell us how pleased he was. He said we made him think of summer and Japan!  After that we checked out the new library and then headed out to play some board games at the Board Room Cafe. It was a total blast and I can't wait to hang out with these lovely people again. 

I personally didn't get any photos, but once again my friend Jessica managed to get some nice ones of me so I'm posting them here with her permission.

At the parade!

Walking through the crowd. Please excuse the obi, it got a bit wonky after it came loose and had to be retied.

At the restaurant they had this gorgeous uchikake hanging on the wall with some samurai armor so of course we had to stop and get a group picture. They also had some really gorgeous fukuro obi on display as well! It was such a lovely atmosphere! I really want to go back again sometime in the future!

I can't wait until the next meet! For updates please be sure to like my facebook page!

Kitsuke Challenge Part 3

Summer is one of my least favourite seasons. The heat saps my energy, the humidity turns me into a cranky puddle. I really have no motivation to do anything more than lazing on the couch with my curtains closed, fan turned up, eating popsicles and watching netflix. My kimono summer wardrobe is in a sorry state as well. I have almost no summer items. So far, with the exception of one obi you've seen the entire extent of my summer wardrobe. This is sort of my warning to say that as far as new outfits, it's probably going to be a sparse summer. Sorry!

The heat and my laziness is pretty much why I haven't been keeping up with my kimono challenge and kitsuke inspiration posts. I will do my best to step it up. I really do apologize. 

For this week we are going to look at my most used kitsuke items. This does not include juban, koshi-hime, eri-shin, and whatnot.

How did you find out about kimono.

What are your dearest kimono items.

What are your most used item(s) (not counting juban, date-jime, etc)

What are your least favourite item(s) so far.

What are your favourite co-ordinations so far.

What things do you like and not like about kimono.

Kimono confessions. Did you know that...

Your want to buy list (or would buy if you had money/occasion to wear it)

Biggest fears and wishes when it comes to kimono.

My biggest inspirations in kimono

My kimono collection.

The evolution of my kitsuke

I have a few go-to outfits that see a lot of use. They feature the few items I have that really fit me well in the sense that I don't have to hold panels shut, they are long enough, I don't need to feel self concious when I wear them.

My first go-to kimono is the beautiful blue rose tsukesage. It's a nice moderate formality. I really like pairing this with my pink fukuro with flowers and streams (which you will see down below) and green accessories to pull the green up from the stems and leaves of the flowers 

This is the obi that frequently gets paired up with the above kimono. It's a pretty muted fukuro. No metallics, gold or silver. It can be dressed casually a lot easier than many fukuro I see floating around. It has pretty much every flower imaginable floating in pink streams. I feel like it's a decently all-season item so it gets pulled out a lot. Here's a shot of the items together. 

I have a few other shots of this outfit in action at other times, but they are honestly pretty embarrassing, so this will have to do. 

The next items is this greyish lavender iromuji with a woven woodgrain design. It's super long and also purple! I have a deep love for purple and my collection is hugely dominated by purple. I have paired this with almost everything I own at one point or other, but it frequently gets paired with the below tsuke obi.

I'm pretty sure they are stylized mountains. Nice all-season piece that I use constantly!

This is my fave haori! I love the vintage design, and the length. I am so in love with long vintage haori! Outfit with all three pieces:

Bonus pic of lavender iromuji and pink fukuro!