Taisho Chuya Obi

Ok, here it is, the coordination first. The Taisho chuya obi does go with one kimono that I own: a navy blue tsumugi iromuji with a single mon. I havent worn this obi yet, I was waiting for the perfect obiage and I think I'm getting closer. The kimono is almost like the  "little black dress" in my collection. It goes with virtually every obi I have.

I have paired the kimono and obi with a pale yellow rinzu obiage and a pale yellow/salmon colored obijime. I also have an ice blue obiage that will probably work as well.

The colors of this obi are so mellow, I'm assuming partially because of it's age. It's a chuya obi, which is about the same length as a fukuro obi, but it's reversible. This type of obi has a pattern on one side and usually plain dark silk on the other, hence the name, "day-night obi". It was worn informally in it's heyday and is pretty soft and apparently difficult to get a decent o-taiko musubi from one. I haven't tried tying it yet; for now I'm content with just looking it it's fantastic pattern.

 As you can see, it's yuzen-dyed (Rice-paste resist) and has all types of auspicious images on it: treasure ships, waves, sakura or plum blossoms (probably both), shippo patterns, and all kinds of cool stuff. I love the colors: soft eggplant, aqua, sage green, toffee brown, olive green, cream, teal, soft black. The colors are amazing, the design stunning; the colors are so soft and complex. Soft and complex works well with certain kinds of kimono....I don't have anything like that in my collection so far.  What this obi needs is a fabulous Taisho-era houmongi in soft, rich colors that will do it justice!

But in the meantime, my "little black" dress navy iromuji will do just fine. I'll wear it soon...so stay tuned for photos!
Arigato,
reb