Kimono Throughout Kyoto

Kimonos are a commonly wanted souvenir by many gaijins who travel to this magnificent country. What we ignorant white girls don't know though is how very expensive kimonos are. I too wanted a kimono very badly. Everyone who knows me knows I love to dress up and feel like a princess. I love formal wear! Yet alas, a kimono is a bit out of my price range. >.<
So Shizumi and I decided to just rent one when we went to Kyoto to see the Aoi Matsuri!
Renting a Kimono for one day was not nearly as expensive as buying one and it saved me some trouble as I didn't have to dress myself. A nice Japanese girl styled my hair so beautifully and another nice Japanese girl helped me put on this extensive piece of clothing. My kimono had many MANY layers to it. I tried to count them as they were removed at the end of the day and this is what I believe I wore: 3 pieces of various underclothing, 4 straps to be tied around my waist in between various layers, and 4 belts of a sort which were also tied around my waist in between various layers. That is what I counted but there were so many I may have miscounted!

After...kimono-ing (?) me, we headed out onto the streets of Kyoto! We first visited some sort of...festival I think. There were many many little stands in the yard of a large beautiful temple of a sort. Almost everything (if not every single thing) was handmade so it was all quite amazing however, expensive. I only purchased one thing here and that was a water color sketch of myself which a girl who looked like she couldn't be over 25 did for me in just 15 minutes!

Eventually we made our way over to watch the Aoi Matsuri, which is more of a parade than a festival. It was a long procession of traditionally dressed people. The last person in the line (or well, almost the last) was a lady dressed in a Kimono which apparently has 12 layers! Geez and I thought mine was hot! I am glad I was not her!

My apparel got the most interesting results all day! It seemed to impress the older generations mostly. I had many kind old "obaasans" staring and telling me how cute I was but the little kids liked it too. One wide eyed little girl proclaimed "o-hime-sama!" as I passed (which translates to "a princess!") and a little boy, probably around 3rd or 4th grade professed his love for me. If only all the older boys could be as smooth as him!

Now I have finally returned home. Although I was very sorry to see that beautiful piece of clothing being carried off, I am glad to be home in one layer clothing that actually allows me to slouch (which I am presently doing). It is also nice to be able to take normal steps. Walking in that thing must be an art form because it was very difficult. Most of the time I just felt like a colorful penguin.