Construction Details:

I've loved the Rurouni Kenshin Tsuiokuhen OVAs for years and years, and Tomoe was always one of my favorite female characters, so it was only a matter of time until we did the costumes. Because I thought Tomoe's white OVA costume was a little plain, I decided to make the kimono she's wearing when she dies in the manga: the winter kimono covered in white plum blossoms. There are precious few color images of this costume (I think I've found two, ever -- one from an artbook and one from a magazine), so we blended a bit between the anime and the manga to come up with the final design. The manga elements include the lavender hakubaikou kimono, the yin-yang charm on her obijime, and the hairstyle. The anime inspired the obi, obiage and shoe colors. Excessive costume details, a.k.a. the costume nerd section, a.k.a. TL:DR... ^_^ - We tried to make every costume element of this set as historically accurate as possible, using period patterns and appropriate fabrics. Kenshin's zouri are hand-woven from jute fiber. Tomoe's kimono, juban, obi, obiage, wrap, etc. are silk; Kenshin's clothes are a coarse-weave linen blend, with his hanjuban made of bamboo cotton. The only exception to the historically-accurate-fiber rule is Hiko Seijurou, whose ridiculously ripped torso and silly cloak precluded us using authentic fabrics. Hiko's hakamashita is stretch satin with a sewn-in muscle shirt and synthetic padding. (But his igebakama, etc. are more accurate.) - Fresh off our Saiunkoku-fueled silk-dyeing kick, we had to dye something for this costume! The obiage started fox orange and was dyed wine red. I used discharge paste (a dye remover) to create the blossom pattern in the kimono silk, and hand-painted the branches with dye. Hiko's igebakama were also dyed; they started the same color as Kenshin's hakama. - Because Kenshin is supposed to be shorter than Tomoe, but Shinteetah is three inches taller than me, I built Tomoe's shoes on platforms. I cut the straps off a pair of thick-soled platform sandals, drilled through them with a power drill, used a Dremel bit to carve out a brace for the straps, then sewed new straps I'd made from red waterproofing fabric into the soles. (Because the soles are 4.5" tall, I left ankle straps on to stabilize when I walk; without them, I wobble and was afraid I'd break an ankle. But I left the kimono long enough that the extra straps don't show.) - Kenshin and Tomoe's tabi are vintage, brought from Japan after WWII. An older lady I knew as a child had lived in Japan, working as a teacher. After she passed away one of her friends, knowing I was interested in Japan, gave me some of the things she'd brought back when she returned to the U.S. in the 1960s. I've stored them carefully for a long time, but I felt that they were appropriate for this costume, so we decided to wear them (with care).

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