Experiencing London in kimono

Last weekend I got to experience London in kimono once again. For me it wasn't a new thing, but for my friend Sachiko, who visited from Japan, it was a first time. We met on Facebook through one of the kimono groups and somehow hit it off right away. Kimono must be addictive huh? Earlier this year she told me that she was planning on coming to Europe to do some research for her class and I thought it would be great to meet up and wear kimono around London.

She couldn't bring any with her due to weight restrictions, so I offered to let her borrow one of mine. Those who know me, know that I have more than enough kimono and accessories to dress up several people. She picked my stylized roses beige kimono, thinking it was gorgeous. I can say that I agree with her wholeheartedly. :) :)

I picked her up from Standsted airport and we made our way to Eppings, where I could leave my car for 2 day without going broke over parking fees in London. First thing we did was check in to our hotel, and I thought it was the cutest little room ever. I actually never stayed in any Btitish hotels since coming to UK, so I was excited about everything :) Little beds, cute bathroom, tea cups, and heated towel racks :)









By the time we got done with getting to hotel, checking in and getting dinner, it was too late to do anything else so we just sat at the hotel room and looked at kimono :) Sachiko told me that her mother enjoys looking at my photos on FB, and wanted to contribute something to my kimono obsession. :) She sent me a kimono, reversible hanhaba obi and 2 obiage, all wrapped in a cutest furoshiki ever :) Green with little turtles. To say that I wasn't expecting anything like that was an understatement! I was extremely surprised and grateful :) Now I'm in a process of figuring out what to send her as a thank you gift. I got some ideas, since Sachiko told me about some stuff her mom wanted her to bring back...

On Monday we dressed up in kimono first thing in the morning and went to British Museum. I decided to wear the obi that I got as a present, because it matched so well! The other side is grey with printed lace, so totally my style too!! LOL I had trouble tying my hanhaba, because I'm not used to doing it.... Sachiko had to keep fixing it for me during the day.

Originally I intended on wearing pink tights with this kimono, but at the end I completely forgot... because the outfit I wore in the morning for breakfast didn't match with pink tights. Oh well, no big deal although I wish I didn't forget. The whole outfit would have matched a lot better :)







I've never actually been to British Museum until Monday, and I must say I absolutely loved it! I don't think we explored even half of it :) I think I will come back again sometime soon. Plus I still want to go and check out their Tea Ceremony, seeing as I never been to one. After museum we went to Soho area to do some window shopping :) Of course I had to show her my favorite Irregular Choice shoes as well as whole bunch of other cool shops :)



By the time we got done with shops, we were so tired that all we had energy for is to go back to her hostel, change from our kimono and rest. Well... I had to go home, and Sachiko went grocery shopping for dinner, but nonetheless we called it a night :) I had a blast, and I'm extremely happy that I got to hang out with her during her visit. :)

First Kimono de Jack in UK and outside of Japan

Yesterday I went not only to another kimono meet up in London, but also to the very FIRST Kimono de Jack event outside of Japan. Ever since I've read about Kimono Jack in Ichiroya's newsletter, I've wanted for us (Westerners) to have something like that too. After a grand total of about 30 seconds of thinking, I decided that once a month would be a pretty reasonable amount of times to meet, killing several birds with one stone: having Kimono Jack, getting out of the house, meeting up with friends, wearing kimono! I mean what can get better than that? All of my kimono friends in UK immediately loved the idea too, and even helped out with Kimono de Jack (special thanks going to KittyKanzashi for creating Facebook group and promoting Kimnono Jack on her blog).

After watching the weather forecast for a week, it didn't look all that great for us. Rain, rain, and more rain. While looking for kimono to wear I came across a rain coat (?) that I didn't remember buying. Usually I'm really good with remember who/when/where I bought from, but not with this one. Nevertheless I was happy that I had it, and I decided it was a perfect occasion to try it out!



For kimono I picked a dark blue synthetic komon, which I also had for a while but was only waiting for colder weather to wear. Since we fully expected it to rain, I decided to wear a pair of western shoes instead. Well... it was because of rain, and also because I thought I would be too cold in just tabi as it was pretty chilly outside :) I paired it up with my all time favorite brown kokeshi fukuro obi, one of my new hats, sunflower obijime that I've made and a bright orange obiage., I still laugh at myself because my original thought was to wear a bright red beret to match my shoes, but while getting ready in the morning I completely forgot about it and instead picked up one of the hats that mom sent me. Overall I'm pretty happy with how everything looks, except the otaiko part which drooped on one side... Yeah I'm not showing those photos LOL.







We had a total of 5 people show up, even someone who followed my blog. Funny, I was telling everyone how I think someone from blogs will show up and sure enough there she was! Of course I don't remember her name anymore, but I'm terrible with names lol. I'm hoping that she will find me on Facebook, and that will help me remember. And that she will come to our future Kimono Jack events of course! :)

At first we walked around the National Gallery, but it was way too hot in all our layers so instead we went to hang out in our favorite Piccadilly area :) I got myself some teas from a tea shop (forgot the name), I've been looking to get them for a while but our store in Cambridge didn't care those :( Afterward we all went to get lunch at the SO restaurant. We were seated at the coolest table ever, if we ever go there again I would request that table and that table only lol. The food was great and decently priced, so I think I will be going there again. :) April and her husband were able to join us for lunch, and although she didn't wear kimono we were still very happy to see her! :) It's great when all friends are together :)















Finally we decided to get some ice cream to finish up an already great day, but not before I checked out the Irregular Choice shoe store! Everyone laughed at me, but what can I say? I love that brand! :) :) :)

HYPER JAPAN 2010

Last weekend I attended the very first Hyper Japan event in London. If I had to describe it, I would say that it was something in between a traditional Japanese festival like Japan Matsuri and anime convention, but a lot closer to the convention yet not quite like it. The emphasis was on Japanese street fashion, especially Lolita. There were some traditional elements too, like kimono dressing and Japanese pottery and items for sale , but still there were more stuff that were pretty modern. My favorite were cupcake and sweets jewelry, especially chocolate mirrors. No they were not made from chocolate, but just looked like one :)

Overall I was pretty impressed with the event, for it's first time. I will definitely go again next year.

Back in August I even applied to be a model in their KERA fashion show, but sadly I didn't get picked. Oh well I said and decided to wear something that will make me stand out even more than any of those models. I spent over a week picking out an outfit, posting my choices on Immortal Geisha forum and changing it up based on suggestions. I never thought that hard about an outfit before lol. Usually all I do is pick a kimono, and the evening before or the day of I go into my room and grab an obi and accessories that will match. But not this time! I was determent for it to rock!

For kimono I choose one of my newest ones, striped meisen. I couldn't believe how cute it was when I received it! I think stripes are my favorite pattern now :) And the sleeves are so long, I think they are around 65cm or so. Compared to my usual ones, it is a nice change. I paired it up with my bright yellow nagoya obi. Actually it was my first choice, but then I changed my mind thinking it wouldn't match but at the end I still came back to it. I used a new belt for obijime and a sunflower necklace I made as a last touch.

But here comes the fun part! Instead of zori I wore my GAGA Irregular Choice boots that I've been waiting to wear for like... forever! That meant that my kimono had to go up higher than usual, just right below my knees higher actually :) :)