Kanzashi

Happy New Year! I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday. I had a great, though very busy time. I had family come to visit, firstly my brother and his wife and then my cousin.

I thought I'd do today's blog in honour of my cousin, Danielle. She's a very talented jewellery designer whose work is strongly influenced by Japanese designs. While she was staying with me, we managed to fit 20 hours of shopping into a 48 hour time period. I kid you not! It was funny, I realised how much I've learnt about kimonos and their fabrics when I took her to my favourite second-hand kimono haunts. She even suggest that I start running vintage kimono buying tours.

One thing she fell in love with while here are the Japanese hair ornaments, known as kanzashi. They are so delicate and sweet. Knowing her taste, I had already bought her a book on how to make some of them.

The kanzashi are usually worn with a kimono or yukata, but look great with any outfit. We also saw many made into brooches and hanging ornaments.

A geisha wears kanzashi that would not only be co-ordinated with her kimono and obi, but would also reflect the season. You can see below a close-up of a geisha's hairstyle below.