This listing is for a vintage Japanese kimono, obi, and obijime combination. This kimono set comes from the collection of Yuriko Fujimoto, the mother of one of our Kyoto Kimono partners in Japan.  Wearing kimono was an integral part of her upbringing, with her own mother and grandmother teaching her how to wear them and giving many in her dowry when she married. Note the crest – it is for Watanabe, Yuriko’s maiden name. As she downsizes, we are honored to have been chosen to find new homes for her collection.

A sweet salmon pink kimono with the faintest glint of a floral damask pattern in the tone-on-tone jacquard weave. This kind of patterned weave suggests petals pressed into memory, just visible beneath the surface. The woven motifs seem to bloom and fade with every shift of light - quiet and fleeting. This style of kimono, called iromuji in Japanese, is typical of what would be worn by a practitioner of chado – traditional Japanese tea ceremony. (See video below.) A single white wisteria crest (mon) appears at the back neckline.

The obi is a beautiful ocean blue with woven abstract elements in cream and a matching pink. This obi is a nagoya style, which has a specialized shape - folded and sewn to a 6-7" width for the portion that wraps around the waist but left wide (13-14") for about one yard at the end that would be tied into an elaborate bow.

The obijime is a rounded braid in blue.

See the videos below to learn how to dress in kimono.