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