New boots to go with a kimono

My American Duchess boots arrived! Finally! I ordered these from the pre-order sale somewhere around November/December when they were just going into production. Later I also ordered the buttonhook to help getting the buttons closed.

Boots and buttonhook

Close-up from the hook.

I really want to try something Meiji-inspired with these... Or steampunk... Oh, the possibilities! And they look good with jeans too^^

American Duchess Shoe Shop

The Great Market, Hometown love and hime.

Our town hold a few market days each year, autumn market, christmas market, the great market...etc. In my youth they were held at the market square, but that has not happened for a few years because they are building a shopping centre and parking lot below the market square. For a few years there was a three-story deep hole dug in the ground, but this spring they covered it up and soon they will be able to open it again. Before the digging, there was a shooting accident on the square, of which reminders (paint circles of where evidence was found) are still visible during summer..... A lot has happened in the  square over the years and you could say it's the heart of Kuopio.

Aerial view of the Market Place before the digging started. Image from uusisuomi.fi

The hole they dug for the shopping centre and parking space.

On the left of the Market Square you can see the Market Hall that is open year around. It's the only clearly Art Nouveau inspired building on the centre and one of my favourite places in Kuopio. If you ever come here, that's the place to visit. The Market Square has been in function from the 1818.
There had been a parking space already under the square, but they are making it bigger as Kuopio has grown since it was first built.

Kuopio Hall. Kuopio.fi

For the last few years they've held the Grand Market in the Kuopio Hall. It's nicer in the way that weather cannot affect going. Kuopio Hall is usually used by sports teams for training and sports competitions.

Well, I think that's enough of hometown love for one go. What about the kitsuke? I was inspired by the Go Hime! -project and as I wanted to take part, I went for a little hime-ish design in terms of dressing.

It was so bright out there! It was impossible to get good photos with my face towards the sun. Sorry about that...

It's the return of the green-grey stripe komon! Matched with silver nagoya and bright green accessories to celebrate the (slowly) coming spring! During easter it's traditional to have something bright green and yellow in your homes, so I added the bright green into my kitsuke. I would have wanted to get the Tavistock boots from American Duchess for this photoshoot, but what can you do?

I'm also wearing the shawl I knitted my self a few years back. It's silver grey with sparklies! Goes nicely with the obi. The had is made from the leftovers from the shawl. The hat has a golden ribbon that matches to the gold on the obijime and the obidome. I also wish I had had either a light yellow or green obiage... I think the white doesn't go very well with the rest of the kitsuke... I have teal ribbon on my hair.

Without the shawl and the hat. Being photobombed by our newest family member Veetu. You can see the Lucrezia cosplay behind me.

Yorkshire terrier obidome. Well actually it's a pin.

Bright green collar.

First time wearing one of these... It kept slipping all the time, but it felt nice and warm against my neck. And I kinda like it with this kimono.

And what was our haul? What you really go there to get is market liquorice or metre liquorice and pretzels. The liquorice is not actually metre long, only 0.5. We usually get the 12 pieces for 10e on liquorice with different tastes. This year we went for the bigger pretzel. The pretzel is more like a big bun shaped in the form of a prezel. It's very soft and sweet.

Bag full of liquorice.

The pretzel.

And just end this long post with cuteness: Here's our two kitties enjoying the sunny day.

Kiki

Veetu

As you can see our big boy can be hand fed, but this trick does not work on Kiki. She takes only by stealing it off your plate or from the couch. Here you can see the size difference between the two. Veetu is younger and a male so Kiki (the smaller one) is the Boss.

Adjusting zori thongs

Boo on me for not blogging more.

My black zori for the Loki kitsuke arrived and they had the deal, that with most unused zoris have, that the thongs were too tight for my feet. Luckily I remembered a thread from IG where Kokoro showed how the job is done.

Here you can see the zori and how tight that strap that goes between your toes is. ouch.

 This is where the adjusting starts. First loosen that small metal hook with tools. I used a flat headed screwdriver. White adjusting, keep in mind that those hook end are mighty sharp. They really are.

 Here's what you see inside. By loosening this know and pulling from the straps you get extra lenght. My zori straps where coated with wax, so loosening was a series tugging and pulling and using the screwdriver as a crowbar to loosen the knot. After you have adjusted them to your fit and checked that the knot stays nicely on it's place, push the hook back to it's original place. Mine went nicely into the holes without hammering.

And here's a picture of the loosened zori. If you look carefully, you can see just how much I had to loosen these for the comfy fit.

While waiting for the mail...

.... to bring me my faux leather for the Loki kitsuke, here's a doodling:

I've gotten half a mind to draw the rest of the Avengers as well. ^^

Loki kitsuke plan

Kimono Saturday

I finally found time to do kitsuke... And it's already March! Ugh, so much for my kitsuke a week new year's promise -.-''.

Well, as the kimono of the say I chose the green-grey komon I got from Choutama on Etsy. It's lovely and I wanted to wear it for today. I also wore the new reversible tsuke obi I made from scrap fabric I had laying around.

Front shot.

Back shot.

The obi shot.

The downward shot.

Black, beige and red side of the obi.

White, pink and black side of the obi.

Hopefully the next opportunity to wear kimono comes a lot faster than this one...

Have a nice weekend everyone!

Kitsuke spamming...

I have been sick for three days now, but today I felt a little better. So, that means it's time to show all the new goodies that have come in. It was also sunny so the image quality is better in this dark little cave we call home^^. I'm sorry about the terrible mess you see on the background, I've been very weak for the last few days and sleeping on the couch (I didn't want to get my fiancé sick as he has work), so I haven't been able to clean...

Starting point. Everything nicely in a pile.

Just fooling around with the obi.

 I got this kimono a while ago, but realized that I haven't shown you any pictures of it.

Pidgeon breasted anyone? ;)

 I wasn't sure of this next one wether or not I liked it. It's rather prickly fabric, but once I got it on I decided to like it as it fits so nicely! A friend of mine said it looks very summery as the color is faded like it had been left in the sun for too long. I'm not sure if the bright blue obi matched the kimono, but hey, I was just throwing things on...

Sunbathing kitty^^

 I was feeling rather unwell at this point so no obi... Sorry about that...

Olive green kimono I bought from Lyuba. It's so lightweigt! I had a hard time putting it on because I've used to wear kimonos that weight more than this... But it was fun!

Photobombing kitty....

 At this point I was rather knackered so I didn't even try to put this on properly. I fell in love with it as soon as I saw it on sale on etsy.

 The last one is the emerald green iromuji I'm going to use in the Loki kitsuke. I actually started the day with this, but blogger threw it last.. oh well.  That's not the obi that's going to be on the actual kitsuke, I just threw on a black scarf to see how it looked. The kimono is a little darker that the image shows, the material has a shiny quality and photographs lighter that it is.

The inevitable aftermath of kitsuke...

And now I'll go back to the sofa and watch a movie.

Image from justaddconstentrate.com

Loki themed kitsuke plan

I'm confessing myself as a Loki fan. Or I could say I'm a Hiddlestoner x'D.

Sorry about the crappy coloring

I have an emerald green iromuji, but the obi and the haori I have to make. I plan to make the obi from leather strips so it resembles the costume Tom Hiddleston wears in the Avengers. The haori will have a zipperlike edging as was in the coat of Loki.

I'm still pondering wether or not to leave the juban color white and what kind of shoes would be the best.

The points in the picture that I have marked "gold" are in futher investigation of the costume more copper/bronze in color.

One more thing to the Making Off list!

What do you think?

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Captain America kitsuke doodling