I was looking through some old kitsuke photographs and I came across the photographs I took when I attempted kitsuke for the very first time ever!

Boy oh boy - I've come a long way

I'm going to post these photos as encouragement for all those who are starting out.  While I am certainly NO expert in kitsuke (I still consider myself a beginner, and will always be), I like to think I've gotten to a semi-decent level.  At least, I do feel comfortable going out in public now

These photos were originally taken in March 2003:











Here are links to two very recent outfits I wore to show how I dress today:

http://www.immortalgeisha.com/ig_bb/vie ... php?t=8568
http://www.immortalgeisha.com/ig_bb/vie ... php?t=8364


If you've been wearing kimono comfortably for a few years, and you have some photographs of your first time - why don't we all share and turn this into an encouragement thread?

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Oh gosh. My first kitsuke attemp was disatorous! I havent been doing it for years but its been almost 2 years now. I, myself, think i have come a good way in  my kitsuke experience.

I still am no expert, thats for sure!!

I think this is a great idea I have a couple on my work computer that show the first time I wore kimono- and I wore it to a wedding at that! As soon as I get back I'll post. Looking back, I realize that I should have practiced more before I attempted that...

how good it was pretty dark....



It isn't easy to do a musubi without pictures , just by a text written by someone with little knowledge how to do it. It was so damn hot in that synthetic weave komon.

Maiko-san: ever thought of the development of a nice pot-belly for kitsuke reasons? *snickers* your obi doesn't look that bad to me  :lovelove

I recently went through my high school graduation pictures and found the one of myself in yukata. To my horror I see that I had it wrapped the wrong way. That photo is in a box somewhere now, so when I find it, I'll scan it in. LOL!

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If you only read what everyone else is reading, you can only think what everyone else is thinking. - Haruki Murakami
http://shigatsuhanashouse.blogspot.com/

This thread was a great idea!  So sweet!  

Since I don't know anything about Kitsuke, it looks alright to me.  :P   he he he.  I'm silly.

I, too, was dead the first time I wore yukata. I can't find the pictures to save my life, though! I probably erased them in embarrassment.

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We're so feral.

Dschinny, No way! haha! I have to stay fit if I want to be a model!  :D

At the kimono workshop here last November, one of the American volunteer guys was incredibly skinny. I don't have a photograph of his juban layer, but I seem to recall the professional dressers building him a little pot belly with a couple of washcloths. I may be imagining it...he could have been given pointers on slouching.

--Bai

Several of my men's kitsuke books recommend a towel above the obi to create a pot-belly look.

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We're so feral.

Great Idea! I'll have to try that next time!

the yukata+nagoya outfit is great! I have seen pics of geisha wearing yukata with proper obi (not hanhaba). Yours is a nagoya so still informal enough to wear with a yukata that is more like dress and less like bathrobe- and your yukata seems pretty so. On the other hand you can wear a hanhaba obi with an informal kimono like komon/ town wear. Depends on the effect u want to create- if u want to make your yukata a bit dressier that's a good way to do it.

The only problem about the obi might be with the golden threads. They tend to add formality and this might be too much for a yukata.

The only thing u really should do is to bind your hair up there! show your beautiful face and neck!

found the first set of photos of me trying on kimono. Notice the sloppy obi, the juban sleeves that are too long ( I made the juban from linen). I figured out after several tries that my obi was really long and I needed to tie it in a different way to make it work.



if that doesn't work.. http://new.photos.yahoo.com/songbird516 ... 17586462/0



http://new.photos.yahoo.com/songbird516 ... 17587478/2

check out that obijime! It took me forever to figure out that knot, for some reason..
All of my accessories were homemade for a while, obi-ita, obi makura, eri shin, etc. But this was the first attempt This kimono was my first and was given to me, so it doesn't fit me that well. Now it's mainly for display.

Aw man, everyone's first try was tons better than mine!  

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Well, I should mention that I had my BF who I could kick around until I ran out of ideas how to get it right....

That what you think. Oh boy my frist kimono was not even sewn right. I'll see if Iican finde pics

Hm, my first public outing was pretty bad. I looked okay from the front, despite having nothing that matched, but from the back...

I gave up on o-taiko for a few months, switched to hanhaba untili got the hang of it, and then went back to nagoya obi and did alright. It can take a while to get the 'knack'.

claw789 - The otaiko might not be right - but for some reason it still looks pretty, almost like it was meant to be like that.

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oh god.. my first try.. hahahahahahahahaHAHAHHAHAHAHA *falls on floor and continues laughing hysterically*

with my homemade kimono:


wtf kind of musubi is that? ^^;

this was so long ago.. yuck.. no juban (im still trying to buy one)

more recent. its not very smooth.

messssyy.. -_-;

holy.. im finally starting to buy accesoried now though.. real ones

I like this thread!  :)

Well, one of my first experices are not shown on pictures but this ensemble was quite interesting:

deep blue based yukata with black nagoya obi  :D  I felt great in this ensemble!

http://pics.livejournal.com/ziehendewol ... 05056w/g23

the otaiko from hell  :D

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{ Demipoulpe's Flickr }

seeing all of your first attempts really does fill me with confidence. now i have my juban and stuff turn up i'll try get my furisode on completely and show you all

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This was such a good idea for a topic. ^^; It's just fun~

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Become the wind, the divine wind
and into the darkness, disappear.
Bloom in the evening of our reunion.
Hotaru no hikari.

I'm glad I'm not the only one with an Otaiko disability! I felt like I was just inept!  It was crazy when I was at Matsuri and my sensei adjusted her otaiko and made it look even more perfect than before in less than 5 minutes. I doubt I'll ever get that good, but then I get so nervous about tying it right that I never practice!

HAHA! I cheat with my otaiko! Here's what I do!!!

You can whip up and otaiko musubi in 5 mineuts,
 :D LOL  :D

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my fashion/music blog. :)

Hey, that's not bad, as a matter of fact, my REAL otaiko looks like a fancy piece of melting cardboard and it lays on my hips...EW.
BTW I LOVE your furisode!  :lovelove

[redundant image removed by bebemochi]

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my fashion/music blog. :)

What a great thread
I definetely feel better then I am hopeless at dressing myself.
I need more practise.

Right! I found my yukata graduation photo. It was taken in 1986. Get a good laugh at me dressed for dead! LOL! But at least I could sit in seiza position longer 20 years ago!  :P

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If you only read what everyone else is reading, you can only think what everyone else is thinking. - Haruki Murakami
http://shigatsuhanashouse.blogspot.com/

Shigatsuhana you look so cute and serious

I was going to say the same thing! I love that photo. You should frame it.

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We're so feral.

I like the picture, too. By the way, the background is great for a yukata style.

shigatsuhana  all You have to do...is copy the photo into any basic photo program and flip it!  Voila!  Instantly correct!  Gotta love technology!  Then!  TA DA!  No more deadness...course...would that make you a zombie then?    :???:

This is way, way off topic, but I just had to mention it.  Some friends of mine at college were hanging around talking about kitsuke and decided that if any of us ever become zombies (admittedly an unlikely event), we'll start wearing our kimono crossed right over left on account of being technically dead.  
Sorry for the off topic, ne.  

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"Moshi moshi?  I'm hip-deep in silk right now, and I may have accidentally tied my left arm behind my back.  Can I call you back later?"
-from an afternoon of kitsuke practice
http://lanthir44.deviantart.com/

The government actually sent us a "sorry for your loss" death letter thing about me being dead. But then they fixed the mistake.... so technically I'm a zombie.
Does that mean I can cross my kimono over whatever way I want? [/offtopic]



At least you guys had some real kimono. What did I have?
a Chinese brocade-ish  kimono with totally open sleeves in the front,
and a velcro obi that you just wrapped around and then a matching velcro bow.

Before i joined this forum i thought i was quite knowledgable about kimono etc. but i quickly realised i didnt know hardly anything!

i still dont know what an obi-jime is!  :oops:

hopefully i will find a good book soon about kitsuke

  The obi-jime is that little cord that wraps around on top of the obi. It reminds me of a shoe string.

yegads, I'm about 4 years old, and it's parade day at the Salmon Festival in Steveston, my first yukata.
it seems my obi got lost somewhere en route.

http://pics.livejournal.com/kitsune_13/pic/0007g80d/

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Of all the evils in the world, I always pick the one I've never tried before.  - Mae West

Deru kugi wa utareru- Japanese Proverb

A photo from the times when I did not know that there exists such a thing as eri-shin  :content:



...then I learned about the eri-shin but still did not know that one does not wear a taiko musubi with furisode. It was not a good taiko either  :oops:



Now I have gone a long way - I even intend to wear a furisode for my wedding in August.

Ooooh, nice thread!! Hehehehe...

I haven't any pictures of the first two time I wore yukata. Well, not on my laptop anyway. My sis probably has copies of them! The first time was when an exchange student we were hosting brought them as gifts, and taught us how to put them on. The second time was when there was a Cultural Day at church, so my sis and I dressed up in it again.

This is a picture of my third time in kitsuke, when I went to Bon Odori for the first time in 2004. I'm the one on the left in the red yabane yukata:


The only reason why it looks reasonably alright is cos the ohashori was already sewn up for us!

kitsune_13> Oh how cute!! I absolutely love pictures of kids in yukata (not so much kimono cos they usually look highly uncomfortable in those). Seeing that makes me tempted to buy a kid's yukata set to put on my cousins/nieces!

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Well, I never could find any pictures of my first yukata disaster, I did find pictures of my first attempt at dressing someone else.

Oops. Major collar malfunction. The sad (fortunate?) thing is, nobody noticed until we looked at the pictures. It was sort of a silly thing to dress my friend up for her welcome home party anyways--the only time she'd worn kimono before was at her shichi-go-san ceremonies, and she was planning on doing a lot of drinking. I think she lasted perhaps 20 minutes before asking me to help her take it off, haha.

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We're so feral.

This is my first and very embarrassing try in furisode kitsuke. I had tried only nagoya obi before and no one had told me you have to fold fukuro obi in two  :smil3:  :oops:


I thought something must be REALLY wrong here but we took photos anyway  :)

gosh.... my first kimono was disastrous... but I can't find the pictures... my fiancee must have one, because I took one with him... It was red and black, made form chinese fabric >.< I had overseen a very very pretty, silky, silver fabric with crane motifs, but I'm an animal of habits, and went for the red and black one... The woman who made it sewed the otaiko into the back!! It was shameful... Then I cut it short and added lace and such to make a Wa-Lolita outfit, which I must say I love ^^ The only thing is the obi...

Then in my b-day, my best friend's oneesan (Yamada Yurie, formerlly Sanai Yurie) and my mother bought this one kimono here. And someone here in Immortal Geish forums told me I was wrapped the wrong way... I even blushed when I read the post...

So here's the second time I've worn kimono in my life...

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I am 20! Yay for me !! Didn't get furisode, though... Maybe I might get oen this birthday! ^^

Such a cute thread! I'm glad we can all laugh at these.

Here's my first attempt. My neighbour came over while I was getting dressed, and insisted on doing my makeup. Also, I didn't even have a juban yet at that point, so I'm wearing a yukata under my houmongi ><



There's no oshashori cause I'm 5'10, and that kimono was made quite some time ago, for someone who clearly was not 5'10. I've managed to make a passable fake one since then.

Also, oghod, no tabi! Fear my naked feeeeeet!

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(Clearly, the concept of an obi-ita was foreign to me. . .)


EDIT: FOUND IT!!


Note the bright blue sequined flip-flops without any tabi on, because I could not find zori in my 26.5cm size... The back is SO droopy! I look like someone had dumped a bucket of water on me - the taiko is sagging and everything. AWFUL.  :x

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Ha ha I love this thread. It's co cute.

Not my first kitsuke, but the first time I tried to do the whole kit. I didn't have the right accessories, no eri shin, no obi ita, my collars are drooping, the kimono is too low, you can see my undershirt, and ATTACK OF THE BOOBIES!

But I do so love my hime tsukesage!

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Zuihitsu- obi ita or not, that is one smashing kimono ensemble!

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Thank you! It was a BIG present from Mom, because it had to be custom-fitted due to my height.  (And I was more than amused by the kimono tailor apologizing that the sleeves would be a half-inch too short, when most kimono fit me to elbow length... )  It's real silk, so I'm really paranoid about wearing it. c.c I really should just screw up the courage to put it on more often, or there's no point in having it, yanno?

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I found this topic too good to resist. While I don't actually have any pictures of my first time (which is probably for the best) I have a horribly detailed memory of it. Picture a dark green yukata with geta. Not too bad...until you add the tabi, the highly formal maru obi (that was tied incorrectly, btw), the too small juban, and clashing bright pink obi-age that was also tied incorrectly.  :puke It was a hideous mish mash that should never have seen the light of day. And yes, I wore it outside in the streets of Houston. Ugh...like I said, a good thing there are no pictures. I don't have to worry about blackmail.

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"Life's a banquet and most poor suckers are starving to death!"

First time ever wearing kimono. bought the kimono at the festival. It was a kimono for young girls, (maybe 10 year olds.) Wore a gothic lolita obi that zips  up on the side. Got a mass of comments...
Can't wait to wear real kimono there this year.

Then, in October, I had gotten my hands on a Juban and a Fukuro obi. EXCITING!
Decided to weat both with same children's kimono. Thought your juban was SUPPOSED to show, because of my remembrance Maiko pictures.
No obi-age or obi-jime.

AKA DISASTER.





Painful. I promised myself I'd never show anyone those pictures. >> XD
Now I'm all serious business about kimono. I learned TONS quickly.

Hello everyone.

I just got my membership in here, and I thought it most appropriate to show my first attempt. Please don't laugh too hard

http://kaballa.hi5.com/friend/photos/displayPhotoUser.do?photoId=1437047126&albumId=171256929&ownerId=105213372

the wig is crap - currently working on restyling it. [/url]

Welcome ume_bloom!  

Actually, aside from the wig, I really like your outfit! The colors are bright ,but not tacky, and the obi compliments your kimono quite nicely  :lovelove  You've put everything together very well,too, from what I can see in the pictures. You could probably show more juban collar in the front, but as it is, it looks great  :katana:

And I have to add, your makeup is pretty good too - nice and soft ^^,

(Technical note: try url/url instead of img/img and the picture will appear on this page. 'Cuz there's no *.jpg in the link)

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Tumblr: http://ainokimono.tumblr.com/

Facebook: http://facebook.com/ai0kimono

thank you very much seoulstar74  :)

I am not so fond of the make-up, but i have my eyes on Hannari  :]

I bought this kimono on ebay in february. It's a Hikizuri actually and it's a bit small (span is 128cm, but at the time I didn't know how it's supposed to fit), and all the other accessories are house-made, including the obi.

I've watched loads of kitsuke videos on youtube before though. Hope next time it will be better.

I am desperately trying to restyle the wig into a wareshinobu, but I have yet to learn how that works.

My first and only real kitsuke attempt was for Halloween at the office about two years ago.  The kimono is real, but that's about it.  The obi is a lot of quilting fabric folded into an "obi" (you can see the Joann logo if you look closely), and the obijime is just a twisted satin cord.  I practiced the taiko obi knot a few times, but don't have any pics (it would have been pretty flat w/o a makura).



I did end up winning "Most Creative Costume" though, and a South Korean colleague wondered where I learned how to dress - the internet (wasn't aware of this site at the time...)!

LOL at the Joann logo! The obi fabric is pretty cute though - did you make a proper obi from it in the end?

Oh dear, I just have to post this picture of one of my....early attempts at kitsuke  :oops:  :x It's horrible  :eek:



What was wrong?
1. The kimono was too small around and in length. I have NO ohashori, not to mention the kimono just doesn't...fit.
2. My collar is folded inside-out  :oops: I knew that there were white collars worn with kimono, I just didn't know it was supposed to be the juban collar, not the kimono one! (the snaps on this kimono should have told me otherwise)
3. I'm wearing a yukata as a juban. It's sticking out at the bottom. Enough said  :D
4. I'm wearing a pre-tied obi!!! What a baaaad idea  :roll:

There are more I'm sure, but I think my collar was pretty neat....for a first real try. It could have been pulled back a LOT more. Funny thing was, I took this picture only 5 months ago  :oops:

And truth be told, I really haven't improved all that much yet  :oops: I'm still trying to get together enough stuff to attempt a full kitsuke - Seattle, here I come! Hopefully I'll find what I need this weekend!

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"We can't giggle, it's a crime scene!"

Okay. So, some of your have heard this story. And finally I trudged out the photo to go with it. This photo is from late August (possibly August 31st, which is my Birthday), 2003, only a month after I'd arrived in Japan. This was the second festival I attended in Japan.

This 'kimono ensemble' was sold to me, as worn, by Rising Sun Imports at an anime con. The 'kimono' is one of those horrific cotton yukata things that they sell to tourists in Japan for ridiculous prices, claiming to be kimono. The obi is a real, silk, nagoya obi. I was given no obimakura or obi-ita (well, obviously no obi-ita), and rather than an obijime, they gave me a length of cotton rope. SRSLY.

I then wore this ensemble to an actual festival actually in Japan, that I was being driven to by some Japanese friends. The moment I walked out of the apartment... they started laughing at me.

To make matters worse, they were taking me up to a village where we would be staying for the day with one of their friends. Who, for a living (wait for it...), was a kimono sensei. :'(

Also: this was before I lost, oh, 70 lbs. So it's a painful photo for me to look at in that respect, as well. >.>

I remember this story! Poor LtDead, it wasn't really your fault. You were just going with what you were told by people you assumed would be experts! I hope they haven't been telling lots of people the same information.

And now you're an inspiration to everyone, because you dress so beautifully! (I'm thinking of that iromuji you wore at Fanime...gorgeous color, great kitsuke!)



I finally found a picture of my first kitsuke, too. It was a yukata and obi that a home economics teacher at the research center where I worked helped me make. I think I did okay (the picture is fuzzy, but I do have an ohashori) except for what is prettymuch the most important part to wearing a kimono of any kind.

Yep, I'm dead.

The funny thing was that nobody noticed, and I went all over the place dressed like that. I traveled on a train 45 minutes to an international festival in a different city. I must have passed dozens and dozens of Japanese people. Several actually complimented me. It was only weeks later, when I was showing one of my coworkers, that I was outed, haha.

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We're so feral.

Maybe they were just too polite to say anything.

Then again, maybe they're just totally ignorant. In Japan I had to gently inform several teens that /they/ were dead.

Also: that green iromuji fuckin' rocks. I'm totally glad I bought it.

I remember the first time I wore kimono outside of my house (but not really in public) was to a festival at school, and a Japanese girl there who was dressed beautifully in a pale yellow and pink furisode had to help me tie my friend's obi, but she didn't tell us that we were all dead. Or that we looked ridiculous. I should have assumed as much because she went over to her parents and began rattling off stuff in Japanese, giggling. Oh, the horror!  :oops: Now that I think back on it, I should be embarrassed, but I know better now! I won't be dead again!

Though I might dress some of my friends up as dead for Halloween  :D

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"We can't giggle, it's a crime scene!"

Hee hee!  These stories and pics are great!  I need to scan a picture that I have from halloween 4 yrs ago.  It's awesome!  I had purchased a bridal furisode which was beautiful, but that I had no clue how to wear.  I had a pre tied obi which absolutely did not match (it was a wrap around job, with this ghastly bow at the end), also, I did not understand how the collar on the furisode worked (still dont).  It has an extra collar sewn into it, but its silk and doesn't fold well, but that didn't matter....I had turned the collar out instead of in!   I can't wait to find the picture!!!!!!

The sad thing is, I used to go to Japanese school when I was a kid so I wore kimono all thime!  :oops:

I just want to say BRAVO to everyone who has been brave enough to post pictures and share their stories, no matter how embarrassing it may have been!  

We've all come a long way since our first try, eh?  

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Oh yes! I wouldn't be embarrassed out of my skull for my Japanese teacher to see me in my kimono! Or to be stopped on the street either  :kawaii: I would probably be flustered, but I'd have so much fun!

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"We can't giggle, it's a crime scene!"

as promised, my first attempt:


Please note my HORRIFIC mistakes:
1.  I attempted to wear a bridal furisode without ever having worn one before

2.  I wore it to work (the kimono weighs like 15 lbs!)

3.  No ohashori

4.  WTF collar????? (I didn't know that you had to fold it in)

5.  Obi= pre-tied, nevermind that I didn't bother to match it to anything

6.  No juban



I'm going to stop there, because the list would be endless!
BTW that is a walkie-talkie on my obi
Oh yeah...I am also wearing a pair of sneakers, but you couldn't see them because my kimono was trailing the ground

Wow, everyone's tries were better than mine... I don't have any photographs, but I received a yukata from a boyfriend, who ordered it online.  It came to me with stains, and wrinkled.  Did I clean and de-wrinkle-ify it?  No!  So I put it on for a Japanese Culture Club meeting, and use a scarf as a makeshift obi.  Disaster.  I'm larger than a typical Japanese woman, so of course, it didn't want to stay closed... anywhere.  It looked frumpy, and the 'obi' was terrible.  It was about four feet long.  Total.  Ugh.  I looked like I was wearing a man's obi.  On top of that, all I had was the scarf and yukata, none of the other obi parts.  So, yeah.  It accentuated my large belly and rear, and was in general rather horrible.  And of course, I haven't gotten any better, mainly for the lack of kimono.  Or obi.  Or anything else.  Oh, and, on my feet, I wore black socks I had on that day as part of my ROTC uniform.  Not fun, or pretty, with a white and blue, but mostly white, yukata.

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~Tsukino Kitsune

It's so cute to see all these first tries and how far the people have come now.

For my part, my first kitsuke was in Japan and everything was wrong really. Thank heavens I didn't go out though.

I didn't remove the basting stitches of the haori because I thought they were meant to stay there. The obi was too low, it was literally tied on my bottom, everything was crumpy, misplaced and wouldn't stop moving around.
The choice of color wasn't exactly the best : A dark blue juban with a dark blue kimono, a purple obi and a green haori.
Although you can't see it on the picture, I was also wearing straw zori with no tabi. Uggh!
(also excuse the stupid face and haircut)


I like to think that I'm able to dress correctly now. And not look like a total idiot if I meet someone knowledgeable about kimono...

I think you look great.
Do you realise you could post the outfit in the "White, black, and red all over" Challenge?

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"The problem with quotes on the Internet is that it is often difficult to verify their authenticity." - Abraham Lincoln

My first kitsuke in over a year...

Ugh! I know these are horrible. *cries* It has been almost a year since I have done any kitsuke and this is a disaster. However in my defense I do not have all the necessary components needed to pull this off. We are not going to even talk about the 'obi' thank you very much. Suffice to say I just needed something to keep my kimono closed with.

Anyways this was the komon kimono I purchased back in January this year. Lucky for me I am 5'3" so finding length is not a problem. Sadly the sleeve are quite a bit to short and I've gained a bit of weight since I bought it so it's a little snug. Never the less I love this piece. It seems to have an overall beige-ish coloring with green and pink clouds. The komon design are padgodas, bridges and I believe some sort of trees. It has a wonderful texture over the softness of the material.

Anyway my main reason for posting pictures other than the vain fact that I just wanted to see what I looked like in it was to get opinions for obi. I know that I need a nagoya to go with this, one preferably with out shiny or metallic thread. Sadly being a poor college student this piece has sat in my closet most of the year since I have been unable to afford such accessories. Anyway I could quite possibly be purchasing an obi for this in the end of this coming January and was wondering if I could get some opinions on what might look good with it?

Thank you so much for looking.

Ookini!

So you guys already saw this in the kimono photo gallery section... but since eventually ill get better here's my first kitsuke attempt for the record.




(okay it was really my second attempt since the first time I couldn't get my obi on.)

hahaha its the obi age from hell, and I cant raise my arms!
I also need just a little bit more padding ^,^

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"the world says artist's are just dreamers, but the world was created by someone who dared to dream"

KIMONO OBSESSION: The Kimono Collection and Adventures of Polina

polinah, I just want to say that your furisode looks absolutely amazing. I'm so jealous! *_*

Hahaha, most of you tried your first kitsuke with a real kimono - not me! I used something I made myself according to an extremely Americanized sewing pattern. The sleeves were all wrong - it was more like a bathrobe than a kimono!

This was for a school demonstration in 2004 on how to do origami, and I guess someone's head got in the way of the camera. Thank you, random girl, for helping to disguise the true horror of my first kitsuke.



Awful things that may not be so evident in the picture:

- I was using a pink child's kimono my mom had brought back for me from Japan when I was six as a juban. Mind you, this was still when I thought all you needed for kitsuke was an obi and a kimono, and the only reason why I included the "juban" at all was so I could have some extra color around the collar area.

- I was also wearing the pink child-sized obi that came with the kimono my mom got me. I think it must have been even smaller than a hanhaba obi. And a musubi? Forget it! I think I just sort of tied a knot and tucked it in in the back.

- The sleeves of the "kimono" I was wearing had no openings save for the holes where my hands came out. In my defense, though, the children's kimono I had was structured in a similar way.

- I had no idea what an ohashori was or why it was even necessary. The pattern than I used to make the "kimono" certainly didn't help either, since it didn't factor in the length for an ohashori.

- ...What is this "tube shape" you speak of?

- Also, horrible seiza position.

I haven't found any early kimono pictures of me, but I started with maiko henshin anyway.
I put together a few pictures to share with all of you...
The ones on the left are some of the first ever taken of me in maiko regalia...the ones on the left are more recent.

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Kiku saho mamori tsukushite yaburu to mo hanaruru to te mo moto o wasuruna
Observe the standards and rules to the limit, and though you may break them or depart from them, never forget the principles
http://www.mojuko.com/

mojuko that is a very nice composition. It tells your story from maiko to geiko pretty accurate

I very much like the 2nd pic with the black furisode. Are those cherry trees behind?

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- ume_bloom -
My blog...
Wearing kimono

Ems, forgetting that it is supposed to do anything with kistuke, I like your photo! You look like some witch telling fortune with cards

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http://szlakjedwabny.wordpress.com is my blog, where I sometimes post kitsuke photos, too.

*cackles* I'll get you, my pretty... and your little dog too!

I mean... thank you! I always thought I looked really menacing in that photo, haha. Just practicing my gaijin stare when the Japanese youngin's look at me, I guess. The sad part is an upperclassman was also doing the origami demonstration along with me, and her yukata kitsuke was orders of magnitude better than mine. And I had to sit beside her all day, not even realizing what a fool of myself I was making.

At least there weren't any Japanese exchange students that year. x_x