Honestly, Beautifully : honey blade

2002-05-11 - 2:56 a.m.

There's a kimono shop just off Portobello Road.

Since I've been hankering after an obi (kimono belt) to go with my kimono, I bimbled up there today to see if they had a better selection than ebay. And now I have two obis, an under kimono, and a sash. Almost a full set. Yay!

I was expecting the shop to be run by a Japanese person, but it's actually run by an English woman. She knows her stuff though - she showed me how to tie the obi that I bought and everything.

I brought my kimono with me so I could try out different colours of obi with it. I put it on in the shop and the owner came over to help me tie the obi. After very little time she began asking where I got my kimono, and how much I'd paid for it.

To recap for anyone who hasn't been told the details a hundred times already - my kimono is creamy-white, dates to the 1930s, made of silk. It has a seashell pattern embroidered onto it and if you look closely at the fabric, you can see a cherry blossom design on it. It has orange trim around the hem and the sleeves. And it cost me $50 on ebay.

I relayed all this information to the owner, she looked amazed and said she could have sold my kimono for at least �150, easily. She kept saying "I hope you realise what a bargain you've got!" and I kept having to assure her that I did.

I tried on an orange obi, which has to be tied in the traditional style, and a yellow one which has a bow already attached and comes with two strings to tie it together with. They both looked nice, so I took them both.

While there I also asked about the underdress. She told me to look for a kimono with a plain, white collar. She went over to some racks and pulled out a couple. The first was a kind of greyish green colour and had a big tear down the back. It wasn't that nice-looking, so if it had been the only one there I would have just left it. Fortunately though, she pulled out a red one with a white, tie-dye kind of pattern on it. That one grabbed me right away and I took it. I also got a cheap, green sash to go with it. It goes underneath the main kimono, so you don't need a decent tie, really.

The best thing about it was the owner's responses to me. Either she was really impressed at me knowing a bargain when I see it, or she really wanted to flatter me into buying lots of stuff, but as she was folding up the under kimono she half-whispered to me that it was a very collectable kind of kimono, and the selection of stuff I bought made for a very special outfit. She also said she really wanted to see the under kimono go to someone who had an understanding and appreciation for Japanese handicraft, which I do, apparently.

Go me!

There was this other girl in the shop who'd been trying on kimonos when I got there. The place sells some formal kimonos, more like the one I have with the very long sleeves, but they mostly sell ones with shorter sleeves or light yukatas and dressing gowns. The formal ones are the most expensive, of course.

Anyway, she was trying on this grey kimono with a coloured sash when I got there. When I started putting my kimono on and allowing the owner to tie up my obi, the girl started screaming and pointing and saying "that's the kind I want!!". Later on she started saying I'd stolen the limelight with my kimono. Hee!

Anyway. Content with my day's purchases, I went on to work. Apparently I'm getting a semi-promotion. One of our dispatchers has buggered off for three weeks and that leaves us a bit short-staffed on Saturday nights, so I've now been put on Saturdays in the meantime and have the interesting job title of "telephone manager". Hmm.

Anyway, this is prompting me to ask the manager for a raise of some description. I've been working there over a year now, after all, and the only thing standing between me and a proper full managerial position is the fact that I can't devote the time to it with my uni course.

So, tomorrow night, before the rush, I shall say to the manager "Right, you know I'm the best telephonist you've got in here and I think I'm worth an extra 50p an hour at least, especially since I'm sacrificing potential study time to come in here."

With any luck, he'll see it my way. An extra 50p an hour might not sound like much but break it down like this. Tomorrow, I'm doing a five-hour shift. On my current pay, that's �22.50. With an extra 50p an hour, that becomes �25.

Total up my hours for the week and on my current pay I'm getting �75. With the extra 50p an hour, that's almost a tenner more. And then double that since I get paid fortnightly and you have the difference between �150 and �170.

Valuable stuff for a student, ya know.

But I digress. Once I got home from work I decided to try on my full kimono set. It looks so cute!!

I got Neko to take photos, since putting an obi on by yourself is really difficult. If anyone wants to see them, e-mail me or something.

It was kinda sad to have to take it all off again... =sniff=

Anyway. Must make food and go to bed soon. Neko and I are going to an open day at a university tomorrow. Yay!

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