Cool green yukata on it's way

I haven't purchased a yukata in a couple of years. I'm picky when it comes to yukata....they have to have an unusual design or color and not be too young and girly looking.

So when I saw this vibrant green gem on eBay, I thought this would be an excellent addition to my collection. It's for a taller person (yay!), 63" long and has a decent wingspan of 51.2", so I'm getting closer to something that will fit well. I'm not a glamazon at 5'5", but I do have a 54.5" wingspan, so eventually I will have to invest in a custom yukata and kimono. But for now, I enjoy the ones I do find very much.



This green butterfly yukata is so vibrant...I hope the color is as rich as it looks in these photos as it will be in person!  It should be really easy to coordinate an obi as well. For now, I keep seeing a crisp white or pale blue Hakata obi to add some cool contrast to the deep green. White and navy blue geta and other accessories would complete the crisp, cool feeling.


Of course, I can't help but seeing hot pink with this deep green, but then again it's one of my favorite colors! A yellow or orange obi would be pretty zingy as well- especially with some lime-green accessories!

So crisp and cool or zingy and bright, this will be a fun yukata to wear at the next Japanese festival.
~Reb

Fun Saturday

I missed a "fun Friday" post, so here is one for Saturday; not that it's exactly a tradition on my blog, but fun is still fun no matter what day of the week it might be!

It's been hot for the last few days, around 90 F or more, so our summer heat has arrived, so I won't be posting any new photos of myself in kimono for a while unless I'm indoors. Which leads me to new and creative ways to entertain you, my dear blog readers!

I was playing around with some ideas in Photoshop this evening.
What if you could have any image on a custom kimono? Something crazy, fun, unusual, artistic, or very personal like photos from your last vacation? What about a collage of cat photos or favorite movie poster?
Here are two ideas I will share this evening....both are obviously images I pulled off the 'net. (I don't own my own police box! At least not yet). The second  is a fabulous image of a vintage Pan Am airlines poster.
What do you think? What would you want on a kimono if you could have anything?

TARDIS kimono

PAN AM England poster kimono

Next week, I'll post a new fun design. And maybe create some coordinating obi just for fun.
Have a wonderful Mother's Day tomorrow, whether you are celebrating or being celebrated.
~Ciao

Fun Friday: Yukata silliness in Phoenix

Just some photos of me and a few friends goofing around at Ro Ho En. Even Murray wore a yukata this time!
Have a great weekend!
~Rebecca

Addendum: someone asked about my outfit, so here are the details: it's a vintage (1970's or 80's I think) yukata I bought from Yamatoku about 4 years ago. Motifs are hibiscus, leaves, and chrysanthemum; I love the colors in it, it's kind of a red-bean background color with cream, yellow, and black. I dressed it up with kimono-styling by adding a black polka-dot cotton han eri, a yellow cotton hanhaba obi with some a plain black obijime, and an "obidome" black and white polka-dot vintage metal flower pin from the early 1970's. I'm also borrowing one of Emma's cute kinchaku bags she made. Not shown; black bunny geta.

 (All photos copyright 2012 by Murray Writtle)

Too much kimono stuff: my collection

Can you have too many kimono and accessories? Maybe- especially if you realize some pieces you haven't even worn yet. (Just waiting for the perfect TPO...just sayin').

Undergarments and underpinnings
2 cotton hadajuban tops, 2 susyoke
1 kimono bra, 2 obi ita, 2 obi makura, 1 korin belt, 2 date jime (one silk, one velcro), 1 obidomegane, and a bunch of himo, 4 eri shin (2 are mesh); 9 juban (1 men's, 2 sample fabric, 2 for furisode)

Accessories
14 obiage (1 is ro), 27 obijime, 4 summer obijime, 4 date eri, 5 silk han eri, bunches of homemade cotton han eri;
4 kimono purses, 2 kinchaku, 1 basket kinchaku,
2 pair plain white tabi, 9 pair colored casual tabi sox

Footwear
8 pair zori, 6 pair geta

Outerwear
6 haori, 1 ama coat, 2 douchugi, 1 michiyuki




Kimono: summer
8 yukata,  2 ro kimono, 1 hitoe summer-weight wool


Kimono: other seasons
1 hitoe wool,  10 awase komon, 1 houmongi, 1 odori kimono, 2 iromuji, 1 kurotomosode


Misc. 
1 adon bakama (ladies undivided hakama)



Obi
16 hanhaba obi (includes 5 hakata), 3 fukuro obi (2 hitoe, 1 formal awase),  2 summer obi, 3 tsuke obi, 8 nagoya obi, 2 chuya obi, 2 heko obi (1 is for a boy), 2 maru obi (1 girl's obi)



If I have all of this, what am I looking for? Mainly casual summer kimono and accessories: ro obiage, ro obi, ro and sha kimono, etc. I seem to wear the warm-weather items more and more. I'm also still looking for an obi for the pink birch-tree houmongi. I'm also thinking of selling or gifting some items I do not wear much.
Cheers,
~Reb