A Furisode Episode!

While I'm still trying to sort out the whole lack-of-cheongsam issue, I thought I'd take a moment to address another reception dress I've been dreaming about - the kimono.

Honestly, I had long given up hope of wearing a wedding kimono, due to the staggering expense. Sak's parents were kind enough to send us some beautiful yukata instead, which we wore for our engagement photos.

(And again on our 6th dating anniversary at the Fanime Convention this year!)

However, it didn't seem formal enough for a wedding, so I had resigned myself to being a 2-dress bride. Of course, that didn't stop me from whining about my lack of dream kimono every chance I got. I'm such an embarrassment.

But as destiny would have it, I actually received an e-mail from a church friend/wedding guest of ours. A friend-guest that wanted to loan me her furisode. A fancy, red kimono. I about died.

Friend in her kimono at a wedding in '74

My dream! So beautiful!

She brought it all over in a suitcase, and I must say - there's a lot of parts to it.

The kimono slip? I think it's called a juban.

Belts. Lots and lots of belts. And no clue as to what each one is for.

A beautiful golden obi!

And the brocade beauty herself, which Sak is trying desperately to hold up off the floor. It's long!

No wonder one of her conditions was that I must have someone to dress me in it. We'll need someone with fast hands, or else I might miss our entire reception trying to get dressed!

She also warned me that the furisode is technically meant for unmarried ladies, since the sleeves are long. I'm hoping none of Sak's family notices, though I wouldn't be surprised if they did. Some of them are quite traditional. Oh well. I'll only have been married a few hours, surely it can't be that bad?

Oh, and I can't forget the shoes (geta)! Are these not the cutest?!

I'm really excited about this dress change. I've been dabbling around in Japanese culture even before meeting Sak, so having the opportunity to wear a kimono at our wedding feels kind of like a cultural right-of-passage to me, if that makes any sense. And of course, I'm super grateful of our friend and her dress-generosity. I can't wait to wear it, and I hope Sak will love it too!

Now, should I ship it (insured, of course) to Hawaii, or should I leave room to take it with me on the flight? What's safer? And how do you say thank you for something like this?

Choosing the Cheongsam

Simply put, I need a cheongsam/qi pao/Chinese dress to wear at both our receptions.

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Unsimply put, I haven't really started looking for one yet.

Obvious, right? Go to Chinatown and buy one. Well, I sort of tried. But I got lost in the chaos by myself. Plus I'm deathly afraid of the store owners since a) I don't speak the language b) I kind of, uh, don't know what the heck I am doing, and c) I read on Yelp that they criticize you if you're fat. Well, okay, because of letter "a", I probably wouldn't know they were criticizing me, but still!

So bring my mom with me, then? Well, she doesn't speak Mandarin/Cantonese/etc. either. My plan was to bring my grandmother. Her answer? Ask your aunt. Urgh. Apparently no one else wants to deal with this either.

However, she also advised me to draw out what I wanted in a gown beforehand, so I'd know what to look for. Okay, I can do that!

1) Must be red. Aside from being one of our wedding colors, it's also considered lucky. Not that I believe in color-luck, but that's besides the point.
2) Must be the floor length 1-piece kind. You know, the kind with the sexy thigh-slit up the side?
3) Dragon and phoenix print is preferred. Cause who doesn't love dragons? Plus they are traditional wedding symbols.
4) Must not be super expensive. Nothing more costly than my wedding dress, so that means a less-than-$300 budget.
5) Must be the sleeveless halter style. The traditional look with the sleeves makes this wide-shouldered-penga look like a big brocaded box! Not so fun.

Something like this, only imagine that there's a big gold dragon on it somewhere:


So now I turn to you, readers. Help? Where can I find this? Do I *have* to go to the scary-dress-shop-ladies? Does anyone want to go with me and hold my hand? Is it okay to buy online, or is that too risky? Should I just buy a pre-made dress and alter it myself?

Any other half-Chinese girls out there looking for a dress but too afraid that your not-so-petite torso won't fit in the tight silk? Erm, that's a little specific. I'll try again:

Anyone else wearing a traditional cultural dress? How did you and your dress meet?

Shutter Pleats!

Oddly enough, both my mother and Sak's mother are thinking along the same lines in terms of dresses. In fact, they both set eyes upon the exact same designer with the exact same style in mind. It's almost like having my very own bridesmaids with matching dresses, only I'm not involved in decision making.

But don't get me wrong - I love it. The style they both fell for is very flattering, and will be perfect for a summer wedding in Hawaii. I wouldn't mind wearing the shutter pleat style either!

(leftmost source, right sources)

Adrianna Papell, champion of the Penga/Sak mothers. I know there are plenty of other brands that sell shutter pleat dresses, but for some reason, they've only tried on the Adrianna dresses so far.

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Saka-Mom already bought her dress - from Nordstroms. They didn't have the one she wanted in Honolulu, so we went off to an L.A. Nordstom while in town for Saka-Brother's graduation from USC. Not only did they have the style she wanted, but in blue too! According to Sak, his brother and his Dad, her favorite color is blue. Because she wears jeans a lot. *Sigh* Men.

Well, whether or not her favorite color is blue, she liked this option better than the black dress she had found in Honolulu.

She bought a cute little ivory shawl to wrap around her arms, and is now in the market for a pair of not-too-tall navy heels.

Penga-Mom also bought a dress, from Macy's. She bought it for $150, and then found the exact same dress at Ross for $50, prompting the old return-and-buy-again routine.

But then she decided it wasn't blingy enough for the wedding. And it's a little hard to see the pleats due to the busy fabric. She'll keep it for some other part of the wedding trip, but is still on the look-out for "the one". Any ideas of where I can find a knee-length, mother-of-the-bride-blingy dress with pretty pleats?

Have your parents and future in-laws coordinated their attire? Any other mothers out there with a passion for pleats?

Because 7 Dresses is Just Not Enough

Engagement photo time is coming up soon, and it seems I have more outfits than necessary. Well, what's one more?

Noting the suggestion of needing a shorter, solid-print dress, I picked up this B. Darlin dress from Ross for $8.99:

messy house alert!

It's a taaaaddd tight on me, but hey..it was $8.99 and it has pockets! I couldn't refuse.

However, it is strapless. And I'm scared of the effect gravity may have on strapless dresses, so let's add a halter, please.

Taking a piece of white scrap fabric, I cut out two, 27" x 4" strips.


I sewed them in half length-wise, flipped them inside out, and stitched them onto the dress by hand.

That's all there is too it! Just tie the straps around your neck!

I even tried some red lipstick for effect!

Such a poser!

Do you think it helps the overall look any? It certainly helps my "please-don't-fall-down" fears, so mission accomplished!

And to go with my dresses, I also picked up these shiny silver sandals for $12.99 (also from Ross).

We'll add to that some hair flower pins borrowed from a recent bride/family member.

And a crocheted jacket for the windy-side of the island?

I think we have a winner! My first white dress ever!

Then Sak, curious as to my parading around in a dress all day, ended up wanting to play dress up too. Who knew that he just happened to have a white silk shirt lying in the back of his closet? Unfortunately, he ran away before I could snag a picture, but you'll see him soon enough!

We're ready for some pictures now! Let's go!

How many engagement outfits did you (or will you) have?

Yukata? Yes!

My mother called me today, to tell me a certain international package had come in the mail! (I usually have packages sent to her house since my apartment complex is prone to "misplacing" boxes.)

She went ahead and sent me a few pictures of the contents:

Two brand new yukata from Sak's parents in Japan! Whee! If you remember, I previously wrote about how much I wanted to wear something from Sak's culture for our wedding. Now it looks like I'll be able to - at least for engagement pictures!

I love how the geta (shoes) also match the yukata fabric!


The geta are worn with tabi, which are socks made to be worn with sandals.

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I have a collection of them, actually. Like a complete nerd, I used to wear them around college with my Rainbow sandals on cold days. However, for some reason, they are all made with printed fabrics. I'll need to find some plain white ones for Sak and I to wear!

We'll also have to figure out how to wear it properly - tying an obi (sash) is no joke! It can become quite complicated if you have an intricate kimono on.

(source) Just look at all the stuff going on in that belt!

(source) No wonder they take so long to put on!

Luckily, I'll probably end up only trying a butterfly obi knot. It's much simpler, and commonly seen on yukata. Isn't it cute?

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Sak will use the men's obi style, which looks like significantly less work:

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The yukata were sent to us ahead of our engagement picture time for the sole purpose of practicing with the obi tying. I've got about a week to learn, but I think they will make for some pretty awesome photos!

Anyone else have cultural outfits that require instructions? Are you wearing any as part of your wedding or engagement ensemble?

Close Encounters of the Dress Kind

Coming up at the end of next month is our scouting trip to Hawaii. My parents, who are high school sports photographers, will be taking more engagement pictures this time. Hopefully with more knowledge of "couple-photography" and less "diving-for-touchdowns".

So while Mom is studying composition, I am tasked with finding some outfits.

Unfortunately, however, I'm a bit...shall we say, fashion-challenged. Not in the sense that I think unflattering things look good on me, but more like I have a hard-core case of apathy.

Maybe it's because I work in an environment where they don't seem to care much for clothes. Maybe it's because my mother never instilled any knowledge of fashion in me as a kid, and "What Not To Wear" hadn't aired yet. Maybe it's because I'm a big nerd, and always thought it more fun to wear screen printed anime/starwars/80's pop culture tees rather than the hip & cool trends of the time.

But it's probably just because I'm a cheapskate. I shop for clothes maybe once a year. Most of my clothes come from birthday gifts, actually - my loving family reaching out benevolently to the sad, 24 year old woman that still wears the same clothes from high school.

So it's no surprise that my family offered to help pick out my engagement picture outfits. Thank the maker for them!

Here's what they picked out for me (please excuse my mess of a house):


These are from Macy's, where my aunt works. Hello, discounts! Can you see she really likes a certain color-combo? Bold is beautiful, dah-ling.

This plaid number comes from American Eagle, courtesy of another aunt. Light, frilly fun!


Okay, I admit, Mom and I pulled these from the 75%-off rack at Target. But whatever, they are airy and super comfy.

And just for kicks, I also tried on this old dress, which I've had since middle school. (Can't believe I fit it again!)

To make my dress collection complete, I think I need one more, hopefully a solid colored, longer, flowy beach dress. Maybe I'll hit up some goodwill's before we go. Notice that all the above dresses are printed. I've heard a rumor that printed dresses don't come out so well in pictures. Am I better off with solids? Help educate a girl, please? :)

I asked Sak what he'd like to wear, to be met with the usual "I-don't-really-care" shrug. I'd love to see him low-rise man-jeans, but he has denim-phobia, and has never and will never wear any. So I'm thinking his usual khakis and a white cotton shirt. If I do end up finding a solid colored dress, I'll let him wear one of his printed aloha shirts. Matching muumuus maybe?

(source)

I don't think Sak would go for something like this...

So tell me, am I the only one that needed help to pick out her engagement shoot outfits?