Kimono Color Combinations?

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I can never get the right color combinations for kimono, obi, obiage, and obijime.  I try, but it never comes out right.   What color kimono, obiage, and obijime can I wear with these obi?
1.  orange nagoya obi with gold and silver flowers
2.  Nishijin fukuro obi bright green with black and silver fans    
3.  black obi with gold, silver, red and green phoenix bird

How do the Japanese make such wonderful color combinations?  What's your secret?  

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Dear Minasan
thank you very much for your mail! About obi and kimono colors, the easiest way to pick up the matching obi is to choose one color from the kimono and try putting them together. One woman kimono seller was saying, obi can kill or revive the kimono and she always told the customers to choose the better quiality obi for their kimono. The color combination may be a bit different from the western clothes. Both kimono and obi look very gaudy at first, but somehow they match. You will never know until you put them together and see. To choose the similar motifs is another way and formal kimono with colorful motifs want the obi with a lot of gold. I know my friends who enjoy making their own obi from old obi, kimono, or the textile of curtain! I think choosing the spicy obi which is  not too quiet will be better.

By the way, `Mina san'(san is Mr &Ms) means `everyone' in Japanese! Isn't it interesting? Domo arigatou gozaimashita! We are planning to add pre-tied obi on our site in next year. It will make us much easier to wear kimono.
Hope you can browse our site when you have time! Arigatou,  Mina san!        

['Guest']

 Domo arigatou gozaimashita.  With your advice in mind, I will continue to try on making good color combinations with kimono.  I also have another question.  Why is it so difficult to find a blue obi?  I've seen some blue Nagoya obi for sale, but not any blue fukuro obi.  I've heard that blue is a very popular color.

[[e-mail]]

 :)Dear Misa san
Thank you very much for your mail. Yes we wondered also why there are not many blue color obi. We see many gold, silver or mix of many colors obi...I like blue, too. What kind of blue color do you like?
We will try searching for blue obi wherever we go and we hope we can add ones. Fukuto obi is very easy to decorate, and tie also. aren't they?

Domo arigatou gozaimashita. We all ate a lot of rice cake(mochi) during these days!

Sincerley, Yuka wada

['Guest']

I like dark blue color.  I have been searching for a dark blue obi or an obi with some dark blue color in it.  

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How much are the kimonos in Japan? For children?

[Daikan]

Thank you for you message!
[Ichiro is writing.]

Yours is a good question, but rather difficult to answer simply. Here in Japan, kimono vary according to where and when they are sold. At department stores, they are sold at highest price. However, if you look for kimono of equal quality at other places [such as a discount store, a bargain sale], you'll be able to find them at third nomal retail price.

Vintage child kimonos also are a good example. If you buy it at the antique store in Tokyo or a souvenir shop for foreigners, the price will be higher than at a shrine sale. However, if you wish to find a rare piece, you would most likely find it at a well established antique shop at high price.

For example, yesterday I came across a brand new child's kimono, of excellent quality. It was decorated in yuzen technique with custom design work from a good workshop. I heard the department store expects to sell it for $1500 - $3000. Nevertheless, the designer's wholesale price to the store might not even cover production costs. In such cases, such a piece might be sold to a dealer instead.

[Kiyoaki]

Dear Mina,

For another perspective on color combinations, you may find Liza Dalby's new book "Kimono" very interesting. One section of her book describes Heian color combinations for the "juni-hitoe". Try figuring color combinations for 12 layers at once!

I've given her book a more detailed review under the topic "Bibliography". There are color charts to illustrate her descriptions as well.

Kiyoaki

[Kou Hiko]

I have found that black (obviously) goes with everything. Gold obi are good to match to any nice kimono with even a hint of gold in it. Yellow goes well with just about all yukata. Red is also a very good color that goes with most kimono, since it seems most furisode have red in it. Try matching instead of finding a color in the kimono, find it in the obi. I saw a picture of a girl in a orange houmongi and a sky blue obi. The kimono had NO blue in it but the obi had a tiny hint of orange so it fit with orange obi age and obi jime and juuban and tabi in sky blue as well.

I think red and green go good together and not because of Christmas. I have a tan kofurisode that has the slightest splashes of green on some leaves (about 4 leaves 1 inch big) that goes great with my bright green tuske obi with small fan motifs in red, gold, and silver. Pink is a good color that has never failed me.

Also, instead of contrasting, try matching. I saw a picture of a pink kimono with noshi design with slight hint of yellow matched with an obi that fades from pink to yellow with yellow obi age and obi jime.

I hope this helps a little.

[Kiyoaki]

Dear all,

I suppose I shouldn't be adding my two cents worth, especially because most of this topic applies to women __ rather then men. However, I do have a few random tips and in one regard, some comments about when to wear gold and silver.

According to tradition, gold is supposed to go best with black. Silver, on the other hand, is supposed to be paired with white (and I suppose that might mean pastels as well).

So, what goes best with a chocolate brown then? My best guess is a moss green or white juban. The obi should be in a lighter tone (perhaps tan, for contrast) or darker (perhaps with gold too).

Often, I see red and gold woven in the same fabric. That seems like a traditional pairing based upon felicitous associations. In general, multiple primary and secondary colors are often combined with gold.

Lighter tints and pastels seems to work best with silver. I suppose they aren't overwhelmed by the white color of the metal.

A classic combination (for men and women) is black outer kimono with a red second kimono, and a final white juban; all showing at the sleeve opening and throat. Not always a practical or comfortable combination [hence the date eri]. Obviously for a very formal occasion [i.e. funeral] a black obi is required. Less formal might be a dark purple.

I suppose women think men have an easier time of it, when they need to decide color combiantions. On the other hand, being limited to dark colors and having to wear matching kimono and haori is pretty dull as well. There's not much for a guy to get excited over.

If your kimono is lined with a different color, use that as your cue to work out color combinations with the obi.

Kiyoaki

[Himiko]

I find that color combinations can either work in a couple of ways.
Firstly, as discussed earlier, the color can be co-ordinated with the kimono, like red in the obi matching the red tone of the kimono.
Secondly, one can also use colors not found in the kimono, like a beige obi with a purple/lavender kimono.
This makes one stand out in terms of color combinations.
I find the iromuji (solid color kimono) most challenging to work with. I have one solid dark purple one and I have difficulty finding a nice obi to match. I can either work with a funky, maybe, geometric-pattern obi, to match, especially fun, since the kimono is solid and plain.
I have read that with solid, simple kimonos, one can get away with a more funky, intricately patterned obi, while with more complex kimono, one should stick to a more muted obi, to avoid color clashes.
However it is entirely up to the individual to experiment and try out different combinations to see what works best. That's the fun part!

[Kiyoaki]

Himiko,

One classic color combination that works with dark purple is white and silver. A secondary color that is favored by tradition is pine green, but I think it only works if you already use the white. Then the green serves as an accent to them both.

Kiyoaki

[chiiyo]

I don't know whether this helps, but one trend you would notice in colour combinations is that they usually actually occur in nature. Like the brown and green combination, kind of reminds me of green sprouts from earth. Maybe one can work towards that?