Kimono Days

Wearing traditional Japanese clothes, at least through the cooler autumn to spring months, has become increasingly regular for me this year. I like the comfort and simplicity of the yukata and the warmth of the kimono. Even though I've historically worn my kimono significantly less, I'm really beginning to appreciate the warmth through the winter months these days. Maybe I'm getting old and feeling the cold more, who knows!

Side note - love this kimono so much! Such a beautiful warm wool! Made it myself and same with the obi. (So hard to photograph at ten to six in the morning by yourself in a bathroom that is currently having a sink drain replacement!)

Since July though, I've had extra reason to be reaching for these when I'm considering my wardrobe choices in the morning, because I picked up an extra day of teaching Japanese at a new school. I wasn't really looking for more work, though Steve and I had thrown around the idea of me increasing to four days next year, but my principal came to me and said she had a friend who really needed a Japanese teacher. I figured why not? 

The job was literally handed to me (I got to choose my classes and day that I worked), and it was the same school system, so I figured if I liked it, a transfer would be easier. I just signed a six month contract, thinking that would be enough time to see if I firstly, could actually handle four days a week, and then if I liked it enough to stay. 

A day a week at a new school solely teaching Japanese was the perfect chance to wear a different kimono each week. I actually have enough that I could have worn them with no repeats, so that was a little bit my motivation, especially to challenge myself to wear some of the kimono that I haven't gotten out for a long time. 

I started pretty strong, but a kimono does take longer to put on in the morning, and the weather did warm up, so I switched to yukata toward the end of term three. I'm glad I did challenge myself to give it a go though, because I did learn that one of my kimono is just too small for me (pictured below). It's a vintage one that Sarah bought in Japan the first time she went, so it's beautiful, but small. You can still wear it, but it takes a lot of fiddling to get it looking just right. Sadly not worth it in my books, especially when I have eight other options I can choose from. 

Challenging myself to wear theses each week with no repeats made me really work hard mixing up which obi I wore with each yukata/kimono and finding new ways to tie them. Even though no one else noticed, I loved it! I forgot to take photos of myself every week, but hopefully this gives you an idea. 

In term four, I figured I would make it through October but have to give up in November as the weather is usually just a little too hot for comfort by then. I was right about the end of October being a little uncomfortable, but November started unseasonably cool. I could have made it at least another two weeks! Alas, I had already spent an afternoon packing up all of the yukata and kimono from the floor/walls of my room and I wasn't committed enough to get them out again. 

I had an uncharacteristic amount of Japanese outfits to clean up because my family had joined me in traditional dress for a Japanese evening in the Botanical Gardens. We sat in the Japanese Gardens eating our bento and enjoying Japanese music together. 

Perfection