Learning to Bow

So I've uploaded a bunch of photos from Anime North 2013 on flickr, and I thought I'd post a few of my favourites here. You can view more photos of Anime North, the kimono display and the kimono fashion show (including behind the scenes shots) here: [link]

As always, we had a maiko and geiko dressed up for the fashion show. Both of which wore hikizuri that I made. Our geiko wore my restored Shidare hikizuri: Unfortunately, I didn't get many photos of her because she wasn't feeling well after the show. Our maiko wore my Harunohana replica maiko hikizuri:

Our maiko wears wisteria blossoms in her hair indicating that she’s dressed for the month of May. Her distinctive darari ob (dangling obi) trails behind her. It’s a whopping 6 meters long, about 2 meters longer than the obi worn by average women. This particular darari obi once belonged to the Min no Yae Okiya (geisha boarding house) in Kyoto. You can see it being worn by maiko Makino here: www.flickr.com/photos/augustustremebundus/6668789953/ Aside from the darari obi, this outfit features authentic maiko han'eri and obiage. Her kimono is a project I undertook with the intent of making an entirely accurate maiko hikizuri replica. I painstakingly based this on the measurements, proportions and reinforcement techniques of the 4 maiko hikizuri in my collection. Unfortunately, due to fit issues, our maiko was not able to wear a more appropriately styled katsura.

In this image, our maiko learns how to bow gracefully.

You can view her kimono on display here: [link] Her kanzashi on display here: [link] And her obi on display here: [link]