Kimono kraziness

I am on my way to turning Japanese. I have been tutoring a gal for a few months now, and she invited me to bring a friend to dress in a traditional Japanese kimono. So, I agreed, and it turned out to be quite an adventure.

Dressing in a kimono is no easy task. It took us about an hour and a half to get completely ready. We began by putting on "underwear," pictured above. After that, we put on a slip, which looked like a lightweight kimono.

My student, Miyoko-san, had arranged to have our hair done. My friend, Beth, went first and had her hair put into a cute little bun. It was very plain and simple. The hairdresser asked me if I wanted a "cute style" or a "Japanese style." I opted for the Japanese style. After having seen the result of Beth's hair style, I assumed mine would be similar. Much to my shock, it was not.

So, how do you like the rat's nest on top of my head? I was literally in pain from trying to hold in the laughter. I appreciated the effort, but it was just so unexpected. I didn't even know my hair would get that big. 

You wouldn't believe the amount of ties and restriction-type bodice thingys that are under kimonos. It felt like wearing control-top panty hose (not that I have ever worn any) x 100. 

Here I am from the back. The obi (yellow belt thing) almost balances out my badonkadonk. Maybe I should always wear one.

Here are the itty-bitty shoes I attempted to wear. They were WAY too small. Like my socks?

The socks were supposed to clip shut in the back, but as you can see, my cankles are too big. The stairs were no easy feat, by the way.

We went for a traditional lunch in the city. It was quite tasty and nice. The little brown squiggly things on the rice are little whole fishes. I just pretended I didn't know what they were and shoved them down the pipe. It just really creeped me out that they had round black eyeballs.

This picture does a better job of capturing the grandeur. 

Here's a photo from the restaurant. I dig my outfit.

One of the ladies that joined us for lunch was wearing the scarf in the picture above. I half-heartedly made a comment about it, and the next thing I knew, I was wearing it! It felt really eery to have an entire dead animal wrapped around my neck. Eek!

We wrapped up the afternoon by enjoying some little cakes and coffee at a posh little place in the city.