A Few Photos from a Day in Phoenix

Some friends and I went to the "Strolling in Yukata" event at Ro Ho En on April 27th. It was really nice....and almost too hot for strolling! At 4:30 in the afternoon, it was in the 90's. They had more activities and entertainment this time, including folk dancing. However, people were dancing in the sun, so we sat in the shade, drank sparkling sake, and just watched!

I recognized the music and dances from Obon...of course, since it's not Obon season, so it was just called folk dancing. Shade would have been a really good idea and probably would have got us out of our seats to dance.
I forgot my camera (D'oh!), so I only took a few photos with my phone. Friends took lots more photos, so maybe I can post some more photos soon!

Despite the typical spring in Phoenix weather, the garden looked gorgeous. There were baby ducks in the pond competing for food with the koi, a few remnants of blooms on the jacaranda trees, some iris blooming under some trees, and the grass was very green, which looked cool and inviting.

Unfortunately, the tea house was closed but they had a nice kimono display outside featuring two uchikake hanging up, which is a special kimono worn like a coat (no obi) over the kakeshita, the wedding kimono. There was also a few other items: obi, formal gold zori, and what looked like a black furisode.

While we were there, we did hear a rumor that they would move up the strolling event earlier, probably because of the hot weather. It would be great if they could make it in March after Matsuri! It would benefit everyone....attendees, entertainers, and of course bring more people in if the weather were a bit more hospitable! Making it a bit later in the day would be nice as well...maybe 5pm-9pm.

Afterwards, we all went to Cibo for pizza and hung out on their beautiful patio- still dressed in our yukata. At 8:30pm, the temperature outside was absolutely perfect!

If I get any more photos, I will be sure to share!
Ciao,
~Reb

Yikes Stripes! Obi & obijime arrived today

Whoohoo! I love to get stuff in the mail, especially on a Friday!
I haven't shopped on ebay for over a year (I'm being very good!)...but couldn't resist these two cute accessories, both striped and reasonably priced!

New striped obijime

How cute is this obijime? The red is really a very deep magenta or rubine red. It's a brand new obijime, so the white is crisp and clean. I love that the stripes are vertical rather than lengthwise. It reminds me of the red-and-white stripes you see at Obon on the yagura, on a cart at matsuri, or on the paper lanterns. I don't know the significance of the red and white stripes, but it does look very festive and reminds me of being a kid at the county fair.

New hanhaba obi

This beautiful obi I picked up has a just enough bling to take it out of the everyday hanhaba category. It's actually more elegant than I thought it would be. The fabric is high-quality and has a nice drape. It's woven with three different patterns and is reversible, with pink and blues on one side and yellow and blues on the other. The gold threads soften the whole obi and the colors look frosted and shimmery rather than too loud and shiny. It seems to be a silk blend but it might be all silk. It's so pretty I think I will wear it more with komon kimono rather than yukata unless I want to really doll up a yukata!

I will have to spend some time soon coordinating both of these new items soon and post some photos...a kimono wearing event is coming up at the end of the month. Oh whatever will I wear??

More soon,
~Rebecca

Matsuri: new stuff

Ok, I finally got around to taking photos of the new items I picked up last weekend!
First up, a silk or silk-blend hitoe (unlined) komon (a casual kimono with a small, repeating pattern) with a pattern of pine needles. I love the lovely slate blue color...very elegant and definitely a grown-up kimono. I bought it from Maruhachi. They seem to know me fairly well since I've bought items from them at every Matsuri for the last 4-5 years.
I was drawn to the kimono since it was a beautiful color and (bonus!) unlined. I thought pine was a winter pattern but maybe it is multi-seasonal since this is an unlined kimono but it is not sheer ro or sha. However, I will consult the Immortal Geisha forums about the pattern/fabric question.

Front and back; basting stitches are still intact.

Pattern detail

After I picked out the kimono, I saw this obi. They usually don't have many obi but this one screamed "buy me" since it coordinates with this kimono!

It's an opened Nagoya obi in a lovely soft olive green. You can see from the detail image that it is multi-seasonal: maple leaves (momiji) and chrysanthemums (kiku) for autumn, iris (ayame) for spring/early summer and possibly some summer grasses as well! It's unlined and has a slightly glossy finish. The kimono color picks up the blue in the pattern.

The next day, I bought this crazy, psychedelic haori from another vendor. I saw it Saturday...made a mental note that it was cool in a weird way, then forgot about it until I saw it again the next day. No one had bought it (duh!), so of course I had to buy it! Plus I got a discount since it was late in the day on the last day of the festival. I do have a leaf-green iromuji this would go with but that might be an unseemly combination or even downright wacky with a semi-formal kimono. It's very casual-looking though, so maybe just wearing it with western clothing would be fine. It does seem to have a 70's or 80's vibe to it and looks almost airbrushed! It's missing the himo (little woven ties that close the front) and still has the basting stitches. It's so ugly it's cool!

Have a fabulous weekend and look for photos of my in the new hitoe komon at a kimono-wearing event soon!
Ciao,
~Reb

Matsuri: Springtime in Phoenix

Phoenix had gorgeous, virtually perfect spring weather on Saturday and decent weather Sunday; both days had blue skies and sun this year. Saturday was taiko show day (No kimono, only happi and performance gear) for Odaiko Sonora and we could not have asked for better weather! Sunday was a clear and very cool 60 degrees because of the wind but it was a pretty good day to wear kimono all day since it wasn't hot. I just never took off my haori and wished I had matching gloves! It was OK if you kept moving or found a place to sit in the sun and out of the wind.

I dressed Emma for a taiko performance both days; she had a new pale pink obi with a butterflies to wear with her tea-green yukata. I loaned her a candy pink obijime and a juban (underwear) with pink striped sleeves that showed through the yukata when she was back-lit in the sun. She looked really lovely for her performance of Hana-hachijo. Her husband (a taiko player extraordinaire with Fushicho Daiko) also played Hana-hachijo. Emma and I found a fabulous gold cotton hakata obi and nice yukata for him on Saturday morning at one of the vendors. He wore the obi later with happi for performance.

Muri's new obi!

The colors in my Sunday outfit reflected the blue sky and bright sun of Matsuri. It was technically still winter during Matsuri, but the weather can be pretty variable in Phoenix in February. When you have weather like this for Matsuri, it's spring, darn it!
I don't have much to choose from for spring flower motifs in my kimono collection, so I bent the rules a bit, combining a golden bamboo obi (winter motif) with cattleya orchid komon kimono (spring) with a leafy haori of unknown plant motif! I wore zori with metallic gold and red to coordinate with the obi and haori. My little basket kinchaku handbag is black, blue and navy. The cute little bunny was given to me by the Sensei of Watsonville Taiko.

Bunny!

More photos! I saw my Phoenix friends in dashing kimono dress on Saturday and a cute photo of the yukata on the children of the Gassho Bu, Children’s Choir, Arizona Gakuen School. They performed on Sunday afternoon. 

I did manage to make some purchases...I still need to get some photos taken...everything is still folded in the suitcase. I did get home pretty late last night....I found a wonderful hitoe (unlined) kimono featuring a graphic pine needle motif, and a nice Nagoya obi to go with it as well as a crazy orange haori! So look for photos soon.
Ciao,
~Rebecca