Friday, July 25, 2014

Preparing for Grad in Japan - Choosing a Kimono :D

After 10 or so years of university, several switches of my major, and LOTS of part time jobs to pay it all off, I'm finally graduating!!! The thought of never having to go back to university is such a relief, you have no idea. I'm not the type that enjoys sitting in the classroom, so I am SO excited to be free from that and have all of my time available to be put into other things :) But I'll talk more about that later...

Today I went to the kimono shop to choose what I will be wearing to my graduation ceremony! In general girls will wear something called hakama for graduation. It looks something like this:


I'm not really a fan of the hakama look, so I chose to rent a furisode instead. Furisode are long sleeved kimonos, the most formal style of kimono worn by unmarried women. Because furisode are generally very expensive, it is common to rent one instead of purchasing it.

I was lucky and got a great deal because I had done some modelling for this kimono shop last year :) They have so many colours and patterns to choose from, it was so much  fun!

I'm pretty sure these ones pictured here are for males. Pretty colourful right? :D


In this cupboard were tons of different furisode to choose from. When I modelled for this store last year I wore a white furisode and also a purple one. I just loooooved the look of the purple one but unfortunately it was being rented out so I had to choose something else.


Ogawa-san (the owner of the store) suggested that I try a black and purple combination. (Um YES. My 2 favourite colours... I like how she thinks!)

She pulled out 2 different furisode to try.


The first one was black with a pink/purple cherry blossom pattern, which is very commonly seen. I liked how it looked, and was happy with the colouring, but it didn't really stand out to me. I guess it felt too ordinary.



The second one, however, was gorgeous!!! I had never seen this pattern on a kimono before and I just fell in love with it. These flowers are fuji, I think they are called wisteria in English :)

Not only was the pattern amazing, but the colours were all pastel-y and gorgeous and just omgggg *_* Love at first sight. I couldn't have asked for anything more perfect!

It's hard to tell in the photo but it has a nice gold sparkle to it as well.


Now that I had my furisode picked, it was time to choose the obi (belt) and accessories.  I went for something super colourful! Love itttttt.



So excited to wear this to the ceremony, stay tuned for a video! <3 

18 comments:

  1. Awesome! I bet you look a million dollars in it!

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  2. Congrats, Sharla! What an amazing occasion in your life. The kimono is absolutely stunning as well :)

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  3. YAY I'm so happy for you!!!

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  4. Congratulations and Good Luck!

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  5. Wow looks great! Next time I visit Japan I will make sure to bring home some "furisode" for my sister:) Best wishes in your next part of life:) enjoy:)

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  6. SO many years, I am proud! :D
    Congratulations!!!

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  7. The purple kimono was absolutely gorgeous on you. But I thought you should try other ones in search for better. I'm glad you in fact found the yet more beautiful kimono for the commencement! 卒業おめでとう! --YoshiWoods

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  8. That kimono looks great on you! Congratulations on your graduation! :) <3

    -Fei <3

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  9. Oooh! That is such a beautiful kimono! I can't wait to see the video. I bet it looks wonderful on you!
    Congratulations on your graduation, by the way! I'm so happy for you! :D

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  10. I just started following your vlog and blog. Congrats on graduating! I'm currently working on trying to finish my BA here in the United States. Its so expensive but I'm determined to finish so I can move to Japan and teach English for a while and then maybe go to grad school. I saw your picon Instagram and you look stunning. Good luck with everything!

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  11. Congrats on your graduation!

    I saw your blog bio says you study (studied?) «International Communication (which is basically just a fancy phrase for LOTS of languages)». Can I point people to your blog/vlog?

    The reason I'm asking this is because I study Linguistics (PhD level now, sort of); the most common and stereotypical question is "How many languages do you speak?". Little do they know that the truth is closer to "linguists are language professionals who can write a paper on case marking in a dozen or so languages across three or four families, but can't say 'Good morning!' in any of them" :-/

    I bet the Linguist Llama (the meme) will be happy to know there are people who can properly answer the "how many languages..." question.

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  12. Congratulations! おめでとうう♡

    http://www.beautybymai.com

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  13. Congrats, Sharla! I've been on vacation to Japan 2 years ago and stumbled across your YouTube channel while searching fun facts and info of the country. My girlfriend and I enjoy all that you share and even get jealous sometimes or sad we didn't explore a cafe or other venue you experienced haha. The furisode is really pretty! Take care!

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  14. Wow that furisode looks amazing! :o And no more school for the rest of your life? *-* I'm jealous :x x) By the way I wanted to know for quite some time now how did you come to Japan? I know lots and lots of people must've asked you that question before but I really hope to go study in Japan someday! And I don't really know how tonproceed and stuff... :s ^^' bye~

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