Random Blue Samurai (headshot)

A good view of the front of my kimono. Pretty neat huh? =) My Juujutsu - Arts of the Samurai class found out that I specialize in making costumes, and requested that I make them all kimonos. So, that was last November, and since then I have been independently studying kimonos and kimono culture. I haven't actually made good on my promise yet, but now I think I'm finally ready. I've come up with two kimono patterns that work really well, and actually got pulled aside before officially opening up for business by a classmate who's finance wanted a custom wedding-kimono-dress-thing. (Perhaps it was foolish, but I accepted the challenge; they wanted it anyway, because even if I didn't think I could finish it in time for the wedding, the lady still wanted to wear it around to conventions.)

The hakama (baggy samurai pants) that you see in the other pictures is actually the hakama I wear in class, and was bought from ebogu. I did not make it. (Have you ever tried to FOLD one of those things?! So....many...pleats.... I figured making one would be 10x harder.)

The fact that this kimono and this hakama are the same color is PURELY coincidence. My original intent was to cosplay OAV Kenshin, so this kimono's color was chosen to match that. And as for young Kenshin's hakama, I ordered a vintage silk one from Japan through ebay that, at least in the photographs, matches dead-on perfectly. O_O