I was feeling rather disillusioned by my recent failture with kimono number 5, but my next kimono was a resounding success. This pink Rinzu kimono uses three separate techniques - Bokashi watercolour dyeing to give the background silk a shimmer, plus kanoko shibori and boshi shibori to create the pattern.

I fell in love with the sugar-pink colour of this kimono and didn't know at the time that it was Rinzu. It was also my first purchase from a new vendor, Ryujapan. When it arrived, I realised it was the 'feel' of kimono I'd been searching for - very negligee like and feminine. The lining was also beautiful, with the hakkake (bottom section) dyed in an ombre style. 

Kanoko (deer-dot) shibori is a technique in which small sections of fabric are looped with threads and pulled tight, which acts as a resist. It produces a white ring on the fabric similar to the markings on a young fawn.  Boshi shibori uses an item such as a cork or a coin to provide an area of resist or which can be dipped into dye - in this kimono, this is how the red 'flowers' are created. 

It is part of the Japanese aesthetic that the design of the Rinzu should oppose the pattern applied to it - hence leaves and streams in the silk itself, and flowers applied on top.  

I shortened this kimono to ankle-length and took up the ombre lining from the doura (top lining) rather than the hakkake (bottom lining) in order to preserve the ombre shading. I find this kimono very pleasing and feminine to wear.

This kimono was my first purchase of a hitoe - an unlined kimono. I bought it because it was Omeshi, and I was keen to see what this fabric was like. In fact I didn't know at the time, but I already owned an Omeshi kimono - my yellow townwear with urushi roses.

This kimono has a lovely background treatment like sharkskin, in what the vendor Yamatoku called 'kame-komon' style, topped with a design of Edo-period houses joined by a stylised stream. It was on sale at rock-bottom price and described as basically in good condition but with dirt spots, but I was attracted to its wonderful texture and had also notice the urushi threads, which were not mentioned in the description. I decided that would redye it or remake it into a jacket if it would not come clean, so I risked a bid. 

On arrival it proved to be absolutely filthy, but unfortunately it couldn't be washed. I took off the collar guard to try this out and it produced copious quantities of burgundy dye, which stained the front surface of the omeshi dark pink. 

Sadly, since I do not have access to a specialist dry cleaner, I had to write off this purchase as a mistake - I have still not been able to do anything with the fabric. Just goes to show that you do have to watch your step when buying online. I hope one day to get the fabric dry cleaned and at that point it will be usable for something. 

I bought this 'townwear' kimono from Yamatoku. 

Townwear kimono are assembled from bolt silk, so the design is equal in all areas of the garment rather than being placed at the hem. This makes them inherently less formal than furisode, tomesode and other formal kimono such as tsukesage or houmongi.

I was attracted to this kimono because of the sheen of the silk, while the roses were in urushi, which was a technique I already knew I liked. I'm particularly fond of yellow and the balance between the primrose coloured ground silk, the pink roses, the silver lame and the peach lining was very effective.

Roses, incidentally, are considered a casual flower in Japanese art, unlike older flowers such as pawlownia.

On arrival, I fell in love with the silk and contacted Yamatoku to ask what it was. This was when I learned it was Omeshi, a tough crepe silk of almost furnishing weight.  The silver lame threads turned out to be copper-coloured and really quite beautiful.

As ever, the kimono was too long, so I shortened it from the hem so that I could wear it as a kimono.

After wearing the garment regularly for a couple of weeks, it began to soften up and developed a better drape. Around the house, I often wear it with a t-shirt and leggings or tights, with a front-tied obi. To my surprise, although it is a pale colour, it sheds dirt very well and remains surprisingly clean.