Blue Aurora Tsukesage

This morning I bought a new kimono - an azurite blue tsukesage (付け下げ、つけさげ) . I fell in love with the color as soon as I saw it. Usually, I don't like this color - possibly because it's normally paired with red or white flowers. In anycase, I fell for the subtle white aurora looking motif. However, I made a promise to Andrew that I would only buy this kimono if it stayed on Kimono Lily (formerly Chuu) until Sunday. Luckily, this beauty stayed until I could buy it.
I already have items that I think I'm going to pair with this kimono. I think my silver Saga Nishiki kujaku (孔雀、くじゃく) obi, silver zouri, and a white obijime. Ideally, I'd like to buy a white obiage to go along with it as well.
I hopefully will be wearing this beauty at the Asian Occasion event at my college.

Kimono Storage

I was a bit bored this afternoon, so I decided to take photos of my kimono chest and inventory what's in there.

The chest is something that took me quite a few months to actually find.  The problem wasn't so much finding something that I liked.  It was more the issue of finding something to accommodate the length of the kimono tatoushi (着物たとう紙、きものたとうし) (32 inches long).  Everything I looked at seemed to stop at 30 inches wide.  So I was looking on Target.com - and came across this tv armoire.  It happened to be just the right width.  So my parents bought it for me, knowing I needed something large to put my kimono in.

This is the inside of my kimono chest.  I try to keep it fairly neat, but that's a bit hard (especially with no shelves on top).  The whole top is filled with kimono(着物、きもの), yukata(浴衣、ゆかた), and haori(羽織、はおり) - mine and Andrew's.  Under that shelf, all my obi(帯、おび) are stored.  Behind the lower doors, are all my accessories... fans, underwear, bags, kitsuke accessories, kanzashi, etc.  As I said, I attempt keeping everything neat, but that becomes especially hard with my kimono and my obi.

My Kimono Inventory:

2 Uchikake (打ちかけ)

1 Kakeshita (賭け下)

1 Maiko Hikizuri (舞妓の引きずり)

1 Susohiki (すそ引き)

3 Furisode (振袖)

1 Tomesode (留袖)

1 Iro-tomesode (色留袖)

3 Iromuji (色無地)

3 Houmongi (訪問着)

2 Tsukesage (付け下げ)

12 Komon (小紋)

2 Tsumugi Kimono (紬着物)

1 Wool Kimono (羊毛着物)

5 Haori (羽織)

1 Tsumugi Haori (紬羽織)

1 Ama Coat (雨コート)

1 Maru Obi (丸帯)

4 Fukuro Obi (袋帯)

2 Fukuro-Nagoya Obi (袋名古屋帯)

8 Nagoya Obi (名古屋帯)

4 Hanhaba Obi (半幅帯)

1 Furisode Nagajuban (振袖長襦袢)

1 Nagajuban (長襦袢)

2 Suseyoke (すせよけ)

1 Hadajuban (肌襦袢)

4 sets of Tabi (足袋)

10 Obiage (帯揚げ)

10 Obijime (帯締め)

3 Obidome (帯留め)

13 Han eri (半衿)

6 Zouri (草履) 

2 Geta (下駄)

1 Okobo (おこぼ)

Interview with Fumi Akutagawa - kimono teacher

Probably my favorite interview of all time, she's very reassuring to listen to :-).

Beginning Post

This is obviously my first post here, so I'm obviously very new at the 'blogging thing'.   I will say that I intend to use this blog to document, not only my kitsuke progress and so on, but also to document my friend's progress, and kitsuke news (from here and Japan).  I also wish to show, possibly different or new methods of doing things - kitsuke wise (such as maybe tying obiage/obijime in an unusual way).

A bit about me to get this started.  I'm 22 years old, and live in Upstate, NY (Albany and above).  My original interest in kimono and kitsuke actually stems from my interest in Geisha culture.  One thing that especially grabbed me about these mysterious women, was their specific and stylish way of dress.  Since the first time I actually saw geisha in Kyoto, I wanted more than anything, to own the same beautiful items of clothing.

Since then (3 years ago), I have amassed about 30 kimono; everything from yukata　（浴衣、ゆかた）, to komon　（小紋、こもん）, to furisode　（振袖、ふりそで）,  to tomesode　（留袖、とめそで）, and wedding kimono　（花嫁着物、はなよめきもの）.  I have a lot of time, money, and effort in my collection, and am very proud of the items I own.  The only problem with this is, the more kimono I own, the more I want to buy. 

Not only do I see these beautiful items as clothing, but as an art major, I also see each kimono I own as a wearable piece of art.  Even if there is another kimono with the same pattern as one I own, there are still tiny, almost invisible, differences between the two kimono.  I love the fact that each kimono I own, is one of a kind.