/fidgets

Here are a few photos of me in furisode--the kitsuke's not so great in the purple one, but it was after a few hours of walking around, and I am still learning. And my face looks lumpy.

Anyways...

/hides

that second furisode looks amazing!! i love all those swirls on it. the subtle purple one is great too, it gives you a more mature look.

You look great . Furisode kitsuke is pretty hard, so I think you did pretty well. I really like the swirly furisode, and the purple looks vintage. The obi you used with the purple one looks too small, I thought it looked like a hanhaba obi, so you might need to invest in another obi for it. More neck and haneri would also really add to the look .

By the way, the garden scene is beautiful in the last picture, you should definitely take more pictures there.

Thank you, Ichisumi!

Thank you, Fuyouhime;

I'm so sorry--I should've described the orange obi as a maru obi to begin with. You're right, it does look like hanhaba here. I can never seem to get it to lay right when I try it fully open and turned over on top like it's supposed to be...it just feels...off, somehow. And I start off with the collar pulled down a decent amount, but by the time the obi is tied, it's sort of...um, "borked". I'd love it if someone had advice on this!

...but I would like another maru obi just for the purple furisode, only I can't seem to find a brightly colored one that goes well with it right now.

I'll tell the older couple who own the farm this was shot at that I have to borrow their yard.

I got impressed with your make up.I don´t care much about kimono( hehehehh please girls,don´t shoot me !),i prefer thousand times make up and yours is perfect ! Gave you a perfect maiko face

Ohhh! I recognize that first furisode! I'm so glad someone is getting some wear out of it and it looks gorgeous for a Maiko ensemble like you've done! You've really done quite well to dress yourself in Furisode, and I never could, they'd drive me nuts and I'd end up wearing an iro-muji, so you're very good to be getting it on by yourself! Lovely ensembles too, and you've picked two very nice furisode that look Maiko like even though they're not hikizuri! Thank you for sharing your photos, you look so lovely!

Maru obi are really tricky, I can sympathize with your problems. I'm not sure how yours is acting up, but I know that tateya musubi look better when they are tied higher, so you might want to tie it over the initial knot (which probably should also be tied high), maybe even above the obi itself, and secure it to you by wrapping a himo around it and tying the himo tight in the front. That might help.

The same thing happens to my collar when I tried dressing as a geiko. I'm still working on that problem, but suspect it's one of those things that requires an extra set of hands. At the moment, I'd suggest getting your collar as low as possible so that after it has risen, you still have a decent amount of neck showing.

Glad to see you found the TM forums.

wow your kitsuke is relay good. You have the the standerd kimono-san furisode dress code all most perfect.


Did you sing up for the kimono-san forum?
http://kimonosan.freeforums.org/index.php

Matsuko

Sakamoto, thank you--I don't have real oshiroi makeup yet, so to get such a compliment with regular white "clown" makeup is wonderful. I found a true red blush at Sephora, and use a narrow brush with black eyeshadow instead of pencil for the brows. If everyone is happy with how it looks, then so am I.

Tsuruko, I had a very strong suspicion about that after reading some older posts. I have to tell you that I'm still floored. I've lost out on every other furisode auction I've gone after, and the few that scream "maiko" are out of my price range for single pieces. I promise to take good care of her, and find a maru obi that compliments her!

Fuyouhime, thank you for the advice. I'll try having someone on "collar duty" this next time and pull it back farther than it seems it should be. I definitely think it's the wrestling with the obi that does it. It's extremely thick and stiff, and though I can reliably get to the mid-way point with most musubi on my own, sometimes I have to call for someone with bigger biceps.

...I've heard that Ichiroya has a service to sew obi into a darari facsimile. Can anyone else verify this offhand?

Matsuko, thank you. I have to apologize--the first time I tried signing up for the forum, it must have been undergoing maintenance or something because I got a funny error message. I haven't had time or presence of mind to try it again, but will now that you've reminded me.

I love the last picture, very cute. I like how the people in the background look astonished.

To fix your collar problem use an eri shin, use two if you want to get a dangerously low collar in back.

Hoshigumo,

I have to agree, collars can be quite a pain. Try running the strings of your nagajuban through the top loop of your chikara nuno and pull them tight before you tie the juban completely shut. It should help

And your make-up is absolutely awesome!

You look beautiful:)and elegant;the kitsuke fits you very well (see, you have advises how to improve) and that is unusual for non-Japanese women.I've sence I'm looking on the pic with a Japanese girl, not a foreighner. Sorry everybody, nothing personal