obidome

More Irreverance…Obijime as Modern Belts

Let me stop and praise the humble obijime. As the outermost belt on traditional Japanese dress, it provides that final bit of color and contrast. Usually made of woven silk, it can also serve as a base to a jeweled obidome, which looks like a tiny belt buckle. But in its own right it is a beautiful thing, soft and silky, often with much detail in the fine weave.

Every market I visit has at least one stall piled with used obijime, usually available for a song. Better quality and/or unused ones are often displayed with obidome and tend to be more expensive. I invariably pick up a few here and there, with an eye towards a project (like the one I wrote about yesterday) or for my favorite new use!

The irony is that the use, while a bit irreverent, is actually quite appropriate really. Lately, I’ve been wearing them as casual belts with jeans and trousers. They perk up the most ordinary combination. And while midriff selfies are brutal, I want you to see how they really look on.

So cute, no? I’m also planning on pulling some out for spring dresses – I see lots of possibilities.

I haven’t been the only one doing some serious repurposing around here. Visiting friends from Doha came to the Tomioka Hachiman shrine sale last weekend and made a beeline for the dealer with all the high-end samurai gear. My friend’s excellent eye went straight for the antique sword portepee, a woven cord that wrapped around the sword handle to keep it from slipping away during a fight. Now you know how I normally avoid all the “male” antique stuff – and frankly I could not tell you the name of this item in Japanese – but I just love what she did with it.

Her fresh view saw it as a necklace and it can even be worn two ways, or maybe even more with thought put into it. The detail work on the weaving is absolutely spectacular and it almost feels like it is made of metal but I believe it is actually silk.

Talk about irreverent repurposing!

Apr 12, 2013 By tokyojinja in Jewelry and Accessories, Shrine Sales and Flea Markets, Textiles Tags: belt, obidome, obijime, portepee

Saving Coral…Finding Treasure in Shrine Sale Junk

The quilts, my new wallet and the exhibition Second Lives: the Age-Old Art of Recycling Textiles at the Textile Museum in Washington, D.C. have me thinking about the ways in which living with antiques and crafts can be sound environmental choices and one of the oldest forms of “green living”. While I am not a jewelry designer by any means, I have been doing a bit of recycling myself these days, with bits of vintage coral from hair ornaments and obi belts and it is slowly turning into quite a little collection.

At every shrine sale or antiques show there are many dealers selling obidome, the jeweled ornament worn on the narrow obijime cord as an over belt on a kimono’s wide obi. They are often made with semi-precious stones such as jade, coral, amethyst and others, ivory, enamels and cloisonné, silver and other metals and even Bakelite.

Hairpins and combs also abound, with similar ornaments

In general, they are very expensive, so I don’t allow myself to buy any, especially since there is not much you can do with them and they don’t display easily. Nonetheless, I am a bit obsessed and have taken to buying little pieces of coral that I find, often lying at the bottom of a box. I’ve set myself a really low price ceiling and I stick to it!

The earrings were found as is, in their lovely vintage box, and they were a bargain I couldn’t walk away from, especially as I have such a fan fetish.

These beads were found together and I had a friend string them into a pretty necklace.

The coral daisy had a pierced hole at the top, so I used an O ring, given to me by the lovely ladies at Helen Ficalora jewelry to turn it into a pendant. As for the obidome, I am not sure what to do with it….

The silver mount on the back is almost as pretty as the flowers on the front. You can see it has 2 bands to string the obijime through. Perhaps I should run a silken cord through it and turn it into a necklace?

Anyone have any other ideas?

Mar 10, 2011 By tokyojinja in Jewelry and Accessories, Shrine Sales and Flea Markets Tags: coral, jewelry, obidome, recycling, shrine sale