What do hime gyaru, agejo and kimono have in common? (Well, Japan, obviously…) A sense of the dramatic, perhaps? Maybe it was the bright colours that attracted me to this mook (magazine-book/special edition) in the first place, but boy am I glad I picked up Kimono Ageha! It’s utterly fantastic.
I do have to confess that I know about Ageha as much as I know about kimono – not a huge amount, but I am a fan of the visuals. Kimono are something of a mystery, but I love the secret language of it; the different parts, the coordinations, the seasons, and how much you can tell about the person and the situation just from seemingly arbitrary factors like sleeve length and colour. Despite owning a few copies of Ageha here and there, I’ve never tried the full-on style for myself; maybe I’m just not cut out to be a girly girl after all! Again, there’s distinctive eye make-up, specific types of eyelashes and coloured contact lenses that provide subtle visual clues to those in the know. A closed book to me, but one that I’m very happy to leaf through now and again when I need an eyeball pick-me-up. I do get the strongest urges to wear triple my normal amount of make-up afterwards though – what do you mean I can’t possibly draw my eyes any bigger?!
As I’ve fallen head over heels for Kimono Ageha, I thought I’d share a few highlights here…
Click through for more fabulousness!
(A quick note: our scanner has finally given up on us, life and working with Macs, so these are actually photos of some pages – I can’t stress how much it’s totally worth buying this special mook!)
Okay, you can’t see much of the kimono, but this just sums up Ageha for me.
It’s just so pink and frilly and flowery! Check out those nails too – wowza.
Really love this – reminds me of The Old Days when millions of layers of kimono were worn.
I have a soft spot for darker colouring. Oh, and an idea of pricing – ouch!
Some amazing colour combinations.
Yes, you saw it: My Melody & Kuromi, kimono style! Haha, I love it.
Finally; one of my favourite shots from the whole magazine. Amazing.
So there we have it: old and new, kimono and Ageha – something I didn’t expect, but am really glad it’s happened. Admittedly, the whole mook is just a huge advert for a kimono company, but as with tie-ins sometimes it’s better than you could ever have hoped. If you can find it, I highly recommend purchasing a copy – a computer screen can never quite do justice to Ageha’s impeccable airbrushing and styling.
[...] fail to notice that people in Japan still do wear kimono and yukata relatively often and even in a very fashionable context, so I for one believe it has relevance at JFW and in fashion at large. I suppose the problem with [...]
These are so stunning!!
Thank you so much for sharing! ♥ So much gorgeousness here omg~
@ Sami – I know, right?! I could stare at it all day!
R
@ Tori – Thanks, I’m glad you like it! It’s always tough to get the balance between showing example and posting the whole magazine!
R