Kimono Advent Calendar Day 2

Hello Everyone,

For the 2nd day I decided to go all out in PURPLE and UME! I love ume! Purple is not one of my go to colors, normally, but somehow I accumulated quite a large collection of purple items. And no, I'm not willing to give them up! I'm very pleased with this coordination and definitely going to wear it sometime in February.

I'm also pretty excited about my new felt boater hat.

Lyuba

Kimono Advent Calendar Day 1

Hello Everyone,

My friend Hong came up with the idea of doing Kimono Advent Calendar (except that she is SLACKING!), so here is my first entry.

The kimono is vintage komon, I haven't actually wore it out yet. I got the kitty paw obi as a gift from Hong a while back, and it remains one of my favorite obi. The haneri was made fairly recently and you can see how I did it in my most recent issue of Western Girl Kimono Style online magazine. For some reason some people can't open the file, my home computer included, so I apologize in advance for that. I don't know why some people have no problems and others can't load anything.

I am pretty happy with this coordination and I definitely will wear it out one day!

~ Lyuba

Since my last post...

Wow I haven't updated in a long while! I did, however, update my FB photo album, so you can check out my most recent coordinations. Sadly, I didn't get to wear kimono as often as I would have like to, but that kind of comes with the whole moving-across-the-world-and-getting-used-to-the-new-area thing. Last time it took me almost 2 years to get back into regular kimono-ing, so I'm hoping that this time it won't take me as long. Of course working a graveyard shift (nights) also doesn't help, as I'm asleep during the best daylight hours.

Anyways, here are some photos that I took but didn't post here.

We had another snow back in February in Clovis. It wasn't as much as back in November, but it was still fun to run out and take some photos. I even borrowed a dog specifically for this reason!

 I had a lot of fun styling this outfit. I tried something different with my hair, and I'm pretty pleased with how it came out. Of course my husband had to help me with one side, but at least he was willing to do it! And did a great job at it too!

For anyone interested, the hat is my newest purchase at the local antique store, and the mustache belt is a separate belt from the obi! They just blend it so well that it seems like I have a mustache pattern on my obi.

Let me know if the comments if you had to take a break from your kimono-ing lately!

Lyuba

Just Arrived #25

Hello Everyone, 

With all the Akira style photos I've  been posting, I completely forgot to post about two new items I've received in the mail just before KJD last Saturday. 

I'm a sucker for pretty juban, and my *slight* obsession got much worse after I started wearing vintage kimono almost exclusively. I always feel like I don't have enough, so I'm always looking to get more. When I saw this one, initially I was amazed that it wasn't bought! Then I looked though photos and discovered why. Well, there is hole on the right panel, and at first I was also put off by it, but then I decided that it is easily fixable, and no one going to see it anyway, so I got the juban. 

 This is the terrible hole. When this juban arrived, it turned out not as bad. Now I just need to get off my lazy behind and actually fix it.

 This kimono is seriously bright! I absolutely love it :)

Have you got anything good in the mail? :)

~ Lyuba

It's all about the hat

Yesterday was a nice sunny day in England, and in Lyuba-world that means kimono day! Incidentally, I've received this hat that same morning, so my whole coordination revolved around how to mach my kimono to this hat. I took the hat, and off I went into my disaster zone kimono room to look for a suitable kimono. I usually don't have this problem, but this was ALMOST one of those "I don't have anything to wear" moments! At the end, I've decided that this kimono matched because it had those blue stripes, and if I paired it up with a lighter obi, then it was a good start to the whole coordination. 

 I ended up using dark blue obiage, obijime and gloves, because I love the matchy-matchy and repeating colors style. In the photo, my obiage looks like a mess, but I fixed it after I noticed that it "came up". It's hard to see these things when I'm focusing on jumping in front of the camera lol.

I also wore my new haori to complete the outfit. I know that the pattern on that haori are clouds, but the colors make me think of a bright sunny day, so I thought it was a perfect occasion to wear it. It goes gorgeously with this kimono, so I'm very happy I ended up buying it. 

Much needed kimono day

With all the stuff going on lately, I really needed a kimono day so I got dressed up and off I went to Starbucks to read my textbooks. I know, now very exciting, but I got to wear kimono AND read my textbooks, which is something I usually really slack off on. 

I wanted to wear my ship obi, so I figured a blue kimono will match it rather well. I also wore my new yellow brooch, which matches the lining of kimono perfectly. The obi is very soft, and that's why it looks so flat. Also, the design is positioned a little weird (for me) on the front, which requires me to start tying with my right shoulder. I always tie all my obi in the front, and I start by putting the narrow bit on my left shoulder, so it took me a couple of tries to get it right haha. 

I rather like the asymmetrical look, very casual.

At the end I settled on wearing only haori, because I figured I'll be inside anyway and I can handle a little bit of cold walk from the car to Starbucks.

Just Arrived #22

After my last week's news I really needed something to cheer myself up. That "something" came in the form of two packages from Japan, because let's face it, kimono always makes the world better!

This kimono is a prime example that even I like floral patterns. I was drawn to the color first (it's a gorgeous teal), and the striking white and yellow peonies second. It's a pretty thin kimono, so I'll have to wait to wear it.

I've been on a hunt for grape patterned kimono for I-don't-know-how-long. I've managed to get a grape obi a while back, but kimono would elude me every time! Imagine my surprise when I saw it listed and NOT sold. I don't think I've bought anything that fast before. In person it's even more striking.

 I could pass up this michiyuki either. This is the only one I own that has vintage length sleeves, so it will fit majority of my vintage kimono.

Finally, I got some more obiage. I'm a sucker for pretty obiage and can never get enough of them!

STRAWBERRIES!!!!

What were your first purchases of 2013?

~ Lyuba