Kohanna's Sun Kimono

WOW! I've been gone a long time. Sorry about that guys! The flu hit my house like a hammer and we're just now really getting over it all! But everyone is doing well and I finally had the time and energy to take some pictures. I have a ton of stuff to show you guys from Christmas and my birthday and I planned to take the whole of January to do that but I think it's going to spill over into February a bit. I'm sure you all won't mind. Let's jump right in shall we?

Carpatina actually sells some of their products through Amazon. Lucky for me I got plenty of Amazon gift cards this year! So I purchased two outfits; the Sun Kimono for Kohanna and the Tudor dress for Matilda.

They both came in a slightly battered, white envelope.

And here is everything I got!

Sneak peek of the Tudor dress!

I was pleased that my package came with a catalog! It's a really nice one with lots of big pictures. I'm so impressed that I might talk about it a little more in my next post.

Since my envelope was a little damaged I was glad to see that the outfits came in separate plastic bags.  Here is the Sun Kimono in it's bag:

 

It's a three piece set that includes the kimono, obi and shoes.

Here is it fresh out of all the packaging:

The Sun Kimono is a formal type of kimono called a furisode. Furisode pretty much literally means fluttering or swinging sleeves. They come in three sleeve lengths, this kimono has the longest length, and are usually only worn by young unmarried women.

It is made out of a bright floral silk brocade with a motif of what looks like golden peonies and silver phoenixes to me. I could be wrong though!

It's made to look layered even though it's all one piece!

The blue layer there is most likely supposed to be the nagajuban which is a separate light, kimono shaped robe worn to keep the actual kimono clean. You don't want to sweat on something as expensive as a real formal silk kimono!

The kimono is trimmed at the collar and sleeves with pink silk.

Here is the back.

It's a bit wrinkled from the obi but that's okay!

It's held closed with two snaps.

One under/near each armpit.

The inside is unlined but very neat and tidy. I can't find anything wrong with any of the seams in this outfit!

Here is a closer look at the inside.

You can see the flowers a bit better on this side!

Like the kimono, the obi (sash) is one piece layered to look like multiple pieces.

The pink part is most likely supposed to be the obi-age. The obi-age is a scarf  that is tied around the body and tucked under the obi. The younger a woman is the more of it shows! The blue part that matches the kimono is the actual obi while the red cord is the obi-jime. It is a braided silk rope that helps keep the obi in place. I'm not sure what the darker fabric is supposed to be. It's a bit stiffer so I'm thinking it might be the obi-ita. An obi-ita is a stiff piece of cardboard (or other stiff material) wrapped in fabric that is used to help keep the obi smooth, but I'm not sure if it's supposed to show or not!

There are many types of knots or musubi. Carpatina identifies this knot as a butterfly or chocho musubi.

But do you see that little part directly under the knot that almost looks like it could be a separate piece hanging down? It makes me wonder if this knot is actually supposed to be a fukura-suzume (puffed sparrow) musubi. That would make more sense than a butterfly knot as the fukura-suzume musubi are usually worn with this type of kimono.

Now that I've rambled on about layers and knots let's get back to the review!

The obi is also held closed with two snaps that are sewn on to the obi-jime. I have to say that the obi is my favorite part of this outfit! I am incredibly impresed by the fact that I can identify each part of it and still it is incredibly easy to get on and off. Plus it looks fantastic!

And when it is on properly the bow is right around shoulder blade level as it should be!

Carpatina calls her shoes tatimi sandals but I think they are probably supposed to be zori. In any case I don't know what tatimi sandals are!

They are thong like platform, sandals with a woven inner sole. The platform part is made of  black foam, the straps are made of the same fabric as the kimono and they have a clear band on the back to help them stay on her feet. They can be a little difficult to get on her feet but once on they stay in place just fine!

And now here comes my only gripe. This outfit did not come with socks.

Luckily the socks she came with work just fine but it really bothers me that they didn't include socks. No one in their right mind would be caught in basically the most formal kimono a woman, other than a geisha, will wear and have their feet bare. Just so much no right there. At the same time this outfit was only $28 so maybe I can't complain too much!

Kohanna looks absolutely beautiful in it! The blues and pinks look lovely next to her skin and hair.

 Here she is showing off her furi or the swinging part of her sleeves.

 She stands great in her zori! Even on acorn littered ground.

And here is a close up!

Other than the lack of socks I have nothing bad to say about this outfit. I'm incredibly impressed by the quality of the fabric and the detail. I love that they bothered to make both the kimono and the obi layered. In fact the obi kind of blows my mind if you guys couldn't tell! So far I am really impressed with Carpatina as a company and I think I got a lot for my money. I'm pretty sure I'll be buying more from them in the future! They do make this kimono for AG sized dolls, so if anyone is interested you can find it here!

It's really good to be back! I'll be doing the post on the Tudor dress here soon. I also have three small dolls to tell you all about and three AG outfits. It was a pretty good doll related December for me! Anyway stay tuned for all of that and I'll catch you all next time!