Saturday, July 25, 2015

Geta 下駄

Now let's take a quick break to talk about geta for your yukata! Nothing completes the yukata outfit than a cute pair of geta.

Let's start with the most common types.



ピドヒール下駄 
(Pidohiiru geta)

ピドヒール下駄

Woman's Pidohiiru Geta

【男下駄】-geta950-b
Men's Pidohiiru Geta

These are a more modern style of geta that have become really popular. Generally, woman's have a rounder toe and use bright colours, while men's have a more squared toe with subdued colours. Generally. These are also sometimes referred to as Ukon Geta 右近 下駄.



二枚歯下駄 
 (Mimai-ha geta - Two teeth geta)




These are the classic style geta. The teeth come in varying heights. They are also referred to as komageta 駒下駄.

Now onto the less common ones...


一本歯下駄
(Ipponba geta - Single tooth geta)




I would like to find out why these are a thing in all honesty. :P They look like trouble, but, apparently, they are not as difficult to walk in as they look they say (it's just standing still that's the tough part). These are sometimes called "tengu geta"(天狗の下駄).

おこぼ下駄 
(Okobo geta )

(Koppori Geta

These are "maiko/geisha" style geta. They are also versions worn by small girls with full kimono garb during children's festivals. There are a couple of names for them, based on the sounds they make when walking; pokkuri ぽっくり and koppori こっぽり. I'm not sure how often these are worn causally but I have no problem finding these for sale (see link above for example). I have seen pictures of girls with yukata and furisode wearing them. I reeeeeally want to get a pair for myself.


And now for something really crazy...



These are oiran geta 花魁下駄, They're also referred to as Yoshiwara Geta 吉原下駄. 
They're just nuts. 

But .... if you type in oiran geta into Rakuten global market, you get some pretty rad stuff for sale.




I wants them.
 

Friday, July 24, 2015

Update-y-ness

I realized now why I neglected my blog for so long; I'm rather displeased with the photos I took to demonstrate the next part in my yukata tutorial. I said to myself "man, I should just draw some diagrams or something" and then BAM!!, a year passed.

But anyways, I plan to make another yukuta this summer so I'll make sure to get better sewing photos.

I really want to make it out of purple lace, with a teal obi.

And then I had this crazy idea.

I reeeealy like those white translucent "over kimonos" that are commonly seen on dancers (and similarly kimono dolls), like the ones seen below (I figured out it's called a karakoromo 唐衣) .

Tsuneyu, a geiko of Gion Higashi, dancing as a Shinto priestess for a plentiful harvest of rice in early spring.  Japan. Photography by mboogiedown on Flickr



I wanna make something similar to wear over my purple and teal yukata.

But I dunno, maybe that might be bad? I don't know a lot about it, maybe it has quite a bit of religious significance. Maybe it's too formal to wear with a yukara. But damn, that would look cool.