Yesterday I wrote about our
KDJ event at Carnaby Street, but I didn't include too many photos of Akira style. The reason is because
Akira Times is so fabulous, that these photos deserve their very own post!
As many of you might know, I was inspired by someone in Spain who dressed in Akira style. Once I've seen the photo, I wanted to do the same thing, without caring that I am a woman... haha :) Akira wears all kinds of hats, but most often he can be seen in a bowler type hat, so I started looking on ebay for something similar. I came across this bright pink straw hat, which gave me an idea to do the whole outfit around color pink.
I used my handmade hanhaba obi as a kaku obi. Since I can't really tie kaku obi well I just went with an easy bow in the back. Unfortunately, the damn bow sat at a very uncomfortable place, so it made the drive in the car and then the ride on the tube fairly uncomfortable for me. But lesson learned, if I ever do men kitsuke style again, don't tie a bow and learn some of the flat obi knots! To add some decoration to obi I used one of my obijime. Actually, it was the one laying around from the last time I wore kimono, but it match, so all was good. Few days before I got a care package from my friends and in it I got a two cherries keychain. I attached it to the obijime, and then jingled for the whole trip since the keychain also has a small bell.
One of my friends remarked that she thought I had a small pudge going, but was too polite to remark on it HAHA. She said that after I remarked about how I was very proud of my padding skills, which created a nice belly effect :D. I strapped my breasts as usual, and then added one extra datejime to my waist versus two that I normally use.
It didn't feel THAT weird wearing kimono in men's style, at least not as weird as I was expecting. I still felt very strapped down, but that was because of all the binding and padding I used. At the same time, it was easier to move, and aside from the uncomfortable bow in the back, it was very nice not to worry about collars (since they are loose anyway). I kept thinking that my collar was open too much, but then I remember the casual men's style, and was able to relax.
Here is how I looked without the beard and hat. As Diane said, I still managed to look very girly, which honestly was the look I was going for anyway. I wanted to create a very "romantic" Akira style, for laughs, but once the beard and hat were off, I was left with MY style. After goofing off with the beard, I simply couldn't take non-silly photos even in my "normal" kimono. So here you go, more goofy photos of me :).
