Monday 31 October 2011

Kimono de Jack Autumn ( Den Haag - The Netherlands)

Last weekend I went to the Netherlands to visit the Dutch version of Kimono de Jack,
near The Hague at the Clingendael park, after Kornelia invited me to come.
The Clingendael park is open to the public, except for the Japanese garden there, which is only open to the public twice a year for a few short weeks.


 We were very lucky : lovely sunny autumn weather.  The trees around the main house and in the whole park are already showing off their beautiful autumn colors.


What better place to hold a Kimono de Jack Autumn ?
It turned out to be a big success : fourteen people showed up in kimono.


On their way to the Garden : Linda , Amy and Amy's friend, Jeffrey.


 From left to right, Youandi , Ben (Kitty-chan's friend) , Stephanie and Kitty-Chan.

The Japanese garden is built around a small pavilion , complete with two red ornamental bridges, lots of Japanese lanterns, sculptures, etc.. bought in Japan and brought over by boat by one of the former owners. 

The garden really looks authentic, with the two bridges , all the mossy banks of the pond, the maples and the lanterns and rock arrangements.




Too bad it's not open in the evening and at night : it'd be a nice place to hold a tsukimi (moon viewing) and drink a a chilled daiginjo or even a Sake spritzer while contemplating the garden in the moonlight.





Everyone gathered at the pavilion for a chat and some lunch.

 Mei-ing , Linda and Kornelia. Lovely green. Reminds me of the one Hong made to wear at the 2010 Matsuri , but that fabric was definitely an even darker green.


Amy checking if her friend has a fever  ^^.


Charissa ( the girl in the purple hakama ) joined us at the pavilion.

The group photo at the pavilion. Very nice but I prefer the one below :)


Lots of people wanted to pose by the red maple tree : here's Berber.
 Kornelia and Stephanie.

 Together with Youandi.
Charissa.

 Kornelia opening the sliding doors in seiza pose :)

 Stephanie in seiza pose too : very nice, but hey, where's the tray with my chilled sake ?



After having fun with the sliding doors , they posed at the corner of the pavilion.



Same shot, with extended sleeve.



I liked the shot above so much, I asked Anne and Berber to pose in The Corner too.


And also Kitty-Chan and Ben from Belgium.

And Mei-ing and Linda. 


Kornelia , Stephanie, Anne and Berber showing their musubi.
I missed getting Riga, Tulay, Amy and Youandi for a "corner-shot" , but by that time everyone started leaving the Japanese garden. 
An impressive group, considering it's just the second Dutch Kimono de Jack.

Tulay, Amy and Riga. Up till now, I thought only miko wore red hakama ^^ , but I really like how the brown and red go together in Amy's outfit. Tulay ( on the left ) made the obi with the two cats herself !

With everyone's back turned , I could get hold of another musubi-shot : Kitty-chan, Tulay, Riva, Linda and Youandi.


 Amy and Charissa showing off their hakama outfits.

Stephanie and Linda in a pensive mood , ^^.



The Kimono Club's signature shot : the zori / tabi rosette.
 I didn't get that shot myself, but I got a few nice little details ^^ :


 Tulay's red and black zori with a lovely embroidery of a pink... thingy with a string.

 Linda's embroidered neko with a bell . Kawaii, desu ne ?!


Charissa's hair ornament. Hmm , a kanzashi would have been nice too.I know a Kitty in England who can come up with just the one that'll suit her.
 

At the Dutch garden , everybody gets ready for the group shot on the ornamental staircase.
We'll need longer staircases if the Kimono de Jack NL keeps growing.


The showing of the sleeves ( from left to right : Berber, Mei-ing, Anne, Tulay, Charissa, Stephanie,
Kornelia , Riga, Amy, Linda, Kitty-chan, Ben, Youandi. ) Lengthwise, I reckon Charissa comes out ahead with Riga and Amy a close second ^^ .

Thanks everybody for a nice day and for posing so nicely : I can't wait till the next KDJ comes around.

( to download pictures here don't save them directly , they're small from here, click on the picture , it'll open a slideshow and then on the Show Original , right-click that and save it.)
I can make HiRes jpg of every photo ( I always photograph in RAW mode ). If you want anything else in Hires, just ask.

4 comments:

Unknown said...

Hi Walter,
What great pictures!
And very nice account of the day, thank you.
See you next time at a KimonoJack ^_^

kirin said...

Beautiful pictures and kimono! I liked the cats in the Obi and small embroidery for tabi(they look like tabi styled socks?). The Kimono de Jack seems such a fun group. I wish to be there!

godzilla_rabbit said...

Thanks Walter for sharing wonderful pictures.
Ray

Kumiko said...

These pics are amazing and beyond description!

Especially the last one is superb!

Thank you for sharing amazing pics,Walter!(^_^)