NATC- kimono stuff

I was at the North American Taiko Conference (NATC) in Palo Alto last weekend. Of course it was exciting, fun and all taiko, all the time for 3 days! Surprisingly, I managed to find some kimono and accessories when I was there. I even found a kimono at the conference marketplace...a vendor from Japan selling tabi, drums, and bachi had a box of kimono and yukata...everything was $15. Of course I had to check it out! I found a funky wool hitoe in excellent shape. It's fun, rustic and has a bit of a Rastafarian vibe. A perfect kimono for cool fall evenings. A little bit itchy though, but I think the right juban with deal with that problem.

Please excuse the odd photos, these were taken at an angle because I have costume stuff set up in my studio so I have a lack of blank walls at the moment. 

Coordination with my existing wood hanhaba obi

All this kimono needs is a green obi and Bob Marley would be proud! Maybe I can find a cannabis-leaf obidome too....that would be awesome!
After the conference, I stopped at Nichi Bei Bussan in San Jose's Japan Town on the way to the airport to see if they had anything I was looking for. They sell used kimono items on consignment and often have great stuff. I was supposed to just buy accessories but I found this amazing hitoe beauty as well:

The print is multi-seasonal: pine, cherry blossom, rose, bamboo, bellflower.

The background color is deep periwinkle blue, and the flowers are cream, deep gold, and pale yellow. The fabric seems to be  a blend, maybe silk-rayon or silk-wool but I'm not sure. It's a very smooth, fine weave, light-weight, and a matte finish. I'm not usually drawn to pastels but this one really spoke to me. (Maybe because it's not pink!). The sleeves are longer and someone had sewn tucks into the shoulders to make it fit someone with a smaller frame. I removed them right after I took the photo and it fits well considering it will be worn "vintage style" with no ohashori. (I'm too tall to wear these vintage pieces in the traditional manner). I had an obi in mind that actually looks decent (My brown thistle obi) but it looks rather heavy visually.  I may look for something lighter, maybe pale yellow? Yellow with violet accessories would be stunning!

The other items I purchased were items I had been looking for for a while: a soft turquoise chirimen obiage and a bright orange obijime as well as a couple of pairs of fun tabi socks. Maybe I will post photos of those items later in the week!
Until then,
Reb