06 Jul Spring Trip to Tokyo for Inspirations
We traveled to Tokyo this June to search for vintage obis. Obis are sashes donned with the traditional kimono or yukata and they are usually beautifully embellished and very ornate.
We found this quaint little kimono shop on the slopes of Omotesando Hill, owned and run by a mother and daughter team (just like us ANGEE W.!)
The shelves of the store is beautifully stocked with new, second hand and vintage kimono, obi and other accessories. For us, being in the bridal clutch business and all, we are immediately drawn to the metallic silver and gold furuko obis. Furuko obis are all 13 feet long and about 30 cm wide with the elaborate brocade side featured on one side of the sash while the backside is “lined” with a silk of complementary or matching color. Lucky for us, the width is just barely wide enough for our ANGEE W. clutches so that we can have them mounted on 8″ metal kisslock frames — like the vast majority of clutches that we make.
If we could spend hours at the shop, we would as everything was so beautiful. After more an hour of browsing, we said our “arigato” and good bye, leaving with a big happy bag of glittery silver and gold fabric.
Here are a few photos from Tokyo as we step away from our workshop to look for inspirations and ideas for our clutch bags. Now that we are back home, we look forward to showing you the pretty treasures we’ve picked up from our trip. Stay tuned and follow us on Instagram to get the latest updates.
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- A beautiful dawn greeted us as our flight landed at Tokyo’s Haneda Airport
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- What’s in our travel clutch? 🙂
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- On our way to have breakfast…
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- A 300 yen (US$2.50) Japanese breakfast from local “counter style” restaurant near our Airbnb
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- Found it! This is Gallery Kawano
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- Vincci striking a pose after her shopping spree of vintage obi and brocade fabrics
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- These fukuro obis are so heavy that we had to mail them back to us!
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- kisslock clutches are everywhere in Tokyo from airport to very touristy shops
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- A serene ravine at the Meiji Shinju / Shrine
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- A matta green tea ice-cream stop outside Meiji Shinju
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- A beautiful flower garden near Shinbuya
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- Lovely flowers planted by our neighbor
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- June is the month of rain in Tokyo and flowering hydrangea bushes are literally everywhere.
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- In the search for dinner in Akasaka
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- And we found this lovely casual isakaya to have our fix of sashimi and yakatori (Japanese skewers)
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- and complemented by this citrusy (but very strong!) yuzu sake!
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