This ‘Being Girly’ Icon is becoming more and more common these days. I’ll have to stop being so girly… Anyway, I have spent all weekend making pretty ribbon hair ornaments. For those of you that don’t do context derived definitions too well, Kanzashi are ornamental hairpins that geisha or maiko (an apprentice geisha) wear. The particular ones that I like best and have been trying to make, are called hana-kanzashi, which means “flower ornamental hairpin”. These are mainly worn by maiko, and change according to what month it is. They’re made out of small squares of silk glued onto a round board, and then arranged together on a hairpin so that it can be worn without actually resting against the hair or head. Most hana-kanzashi consist of 2-5 pieces that match. One goes on the right side of the head, one on the left, one in the middle in front of the bun, one in the center of the bun, and one just under the bun at the back of the head. I made myself all 5 over the weekend, and I must say that I’m rather proud of these. It’s hard work pinching all of those little ribbons into petal shapes. I sewed mine together, which is a lot easier than trying to glue them all down to the same board. I’m glad they’re done though. I’ve spent enough time pricking hell out of my fingers! You can see the rest of the five here.
