Furisode Fun!

 Today Okaasan helped me get dressed in my furisode I bought at the Toji Temple flea market. Apparently, it’s a little small on me (probably because it was made for a Japanese woman and not a gangly American) but I love it anyways. I can probably not wear it in Japan without getting mocked, but I feel that not a ton of people in America would notice that it didn’t fit me as well… Hmmmm, I may know what I’m wearing on the plane ride home. XD

I don’t have all the accoutrements needed for kimono wearing, so Okaasan kindly lent me her own. Everything except the kimono and one of the sashes is borrowed from hers. Apparently the obi I bought didn’t have the right stiffness for the bow she wanted to make, so she lent me her own. “Next time,” she promised, “we’ll put your hair in a cuter style and use your own obi.” So, yay! It’ll happen again!

From the front!

Did you know that you’re supposed to style your hair before putting on a kimono? Yeah, I didn’t. I just wanted to keep it out of the way for the forty-five minutes spent completely still as Okaasan wrapped me up like a doll.

Look at the designs!

The Japanese have a thing about wrapping things to make them pretty; it’s only common sense that that would apply to wearing clothes as well. There are so many things you need to make yourself compliant with a kimono. I could tell you them all and describe them to you myself, but there’ s already a lovely page about that that I will direct you to: here. Check it out if you want to see what went into making me look like I was kimono-ized.

Look at the beautifully tied obi!

Fortunately, getting out of a kimono takes much less time than getting into one. In about five minutes I was out and in my regular clothes.