Thursday, January 30, 2014

kimonos

Long ago, when I was a little girl, I ate at a Japanese restaurant in a kimono I had decorated with crayons.  This was such an exciting adventure as I, along with my Brownie troop, had been studying Japan for several months.  We even performed a short play in costume (complete with traditional hair that a talented mother had made of crepe paper!).
I was so proud of my kimono!  The mothers had sewn them out of old sheets and we decorated them with crayons.  The designs were then heat set.  Finally the day arrived!  Off we went to a real traditional Japanese restaurant!

That's me in the back taking off a shoe.  Do note those stylish shoes!  

I remember this kimono well.  How I wish there was a color photo of it!  It was made from a yellow sheet.  I decorated it with pink flowers and green leaves.  You can see them very faintly around the hems of the sleeves and the bottom, as well as along the sleeve.

We sat at a low table on cushions.
  
The article and photos appeared in the Sunday Star magazine, a supplement to the Washington Post.



How exciting it was for a little girl to learn about the customs of Japan, learn words in another language, perform a play, make a kimono, and wear that kimono to a real Japanese restaurant.  Then to top it off, there she is in an article printed in the paper.

"As the last "Sayonara" sounded through the restaurant, ...the troop set off into the late afternoon sun..."




Alphabe-Thursday, hosted by Ms Jenny, is so much fun!  This week our letter  is "K."  Come visit others' submissions HERE and join in the fun! 



original photos by Claire Sawyer  © photos by me  © 2013     all rights reserved

15 comments:

  1. Neat experience, and great re-telling of it!

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  2. What a great memory! My only memory of Brownies is making placemats... lol

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  3. What a fun experience! Love the photos!

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  4. What a wonderful experience! I enjoyed the retelling on your blog today.

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  5. That must've been an exciting experience when you were a little girl! Yes - great shoes :)
    Glad you kept that newspaper article and the photos!

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  6. What a great and fun experience!

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  7. What a fun and creative activity that was!

    =)

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  8. I always loved decorating fabric with crayons like that when I was young! What a great memory, Margaret! And I do love your shoes!

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  9. What fun! Your love of decorating beautiful clothing started early in life :)
    Love the saddle shoes too :)

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  10. *Brownies in Kimonos* -- how cool is that! What a fun time and a great memory! Hubby lived in Japan (his dad was stationed there) from about age 3 thru the 1st grade... his mother gave him several kimonos in later years -- I'm so glad to have them now; they are beautiful!
    And, hey, Saddle Oxfords were all the rage back then!

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    1. Whoops! This is me! I was still logged in to a wordpress acct!

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  11. Loved you K is for kimonos - we will be getting ours out next week as have three Japanese ladies moving in for a month!
    Wren x

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  12. What a kool experience...

    Seeing old photographs from when I was a kid always makes me wish I kept some things.

    At least you have the newspaper clippings - Now I can say I know someone famous... ((winkwink))

    Thanks for linking to the letter "K".

    A+

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