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Description: Often advertised as the largest anime convention on the East coast, Otakon is entering it's 17th year, and it keeps getting bigger. The dealer's room is going to be ginormous this year and has at least five kimono sellers on its list so far: Arise Bazaar, Global International Trading, Kyoto Kimono, Rising Sun Imports, and Yokodana. Kinokuniya and Sasuga bookstores will be there too with eight and four tables apiece. Of course there will more anime playing than you can watch, awesome artists in Artists Alley, shamisen and j-hip-hop concerts (Yoshida Brothers and Home Made Kazoku), panels, Otakurave, a fashion show by h.Naoto, karaoke, the AMV contest, and more cosplayers than you can shake a stick of pocky at.
I know! I hope I can get in, the concerts get crazy popular and the lines are insane. Also, I hope I can budget enough for some awesome kitsuke stuff. If not, the dealers always are willing to bargain on Sunday...
I think I'll definitely wear kimono at LEAST Friday evening-ish. In the morning I'll be in cosplay. And maybe Saturday morning. I'll be in cosplay the rest of the time. This is kinda all on the fly. I'm definitely packing one of my ro kimono.
My cosplay vs kimono time depends on what my other cosplay group wants to do specifically...
I'll post a message Thursday or something when I have a better idea.
So~ the con just ended and I went crazy today buying stuff. If you've never been, Sunday is the day dealers drop their prices and are willing to bargain so they don't have to ship stuff home. I pretty much got a whole outfit from three different booths in the Dealer's Room. From Kujaku Trading I bought a blue synthetic komon with combs and sakura petals, a juban, a black nagoya obi with an embroidered flowers, and a green obijime. The guys there were really helpful (especially Dan) and made me some great deals. The owner, Sam, told me they are establishing a storefront in Atlanta, GA as soon as they find the right property.
Next, I went to Wolfhome Adventuring Outfitters to buy some stretch tabi. I really only meant to buy tabi. I did. But... I saw the most beautiful soft vintage striped kimono that matched the obi I just bought. So I ended up getting the kimono, the tabi, and a light blue obijime to match one of the colors in the kimono. jennifer was really helpful, although she did make me do this demo with pulling on an obijime to test it's strength on Saturday where she basically called me weak. I was pulling as hard as I can!
At this point, I was pretty sure I was done. I checked in with Arise Bazaar, but they didn't really have anything that grabbed me (kimono wise, I did buy a cute pair of sleeping cats for my boyfriend's maneki neko collection). The owner told me they are having an open house/sake tasting event next Saturday, so I thought about going to that.
So I made one last stop at Kyoto Kimono and ended up getting two more things: a synthetic new (with tags!) pink ichimatsu haori and a cream seigaiha nagoya obi. The owner again was very sweet and was willing to make me a deal.
The only place I forgot to go back and visit was Yokodana Kimono, but I'm okay with that. I didn't really see anything I would be upset with missing there on Saturday. I did miss out on two pieces I hesitated to buy on Saturday, one was a kaede haori for $30 at alchemy and the other was a purple bingata komon from Kujaku for $65 which I ran into a girl wearing beautifully with an orange obi on Sunday. But on the other hand, because I didn't buy them, I could get other pieces which I now think I love more. Sort of the opposite of buyer's remorse. So it was a great con and I'll be back again next year. Pics to come.
...a purple bingata komon from Kujaku for $65 which I ran into a girl wearing beautifully with an orange obi on Sunday.
Thanks, I wasn't sure the obi would work well, but Sam pretty much INSISTED I wear it the next day. I'd picked up a cute purple vinyl obijime from another dealer that pulled the whole thing together really well. Jennifer did the same obijime 'test of strength' thing with me, but with different results....
Over all, Otakon was fun. Some bumps (the entire convention center was evacuated when someone pulled a fire alarm, I rely HEAVILY on the AC to stay alive in kimono) and compared to all the other cons I've been too it was utterly massive. Maybe next year I'll do a kimono panel.... considering the number of kimono dealers (LIKE 5) there was a curious lack of related panels....
_________________ "Just so you know, I'm stripping in your truck." "I figured as much when I saw the pillow come off."
Quat, I was pretty sure that was you, but I'm a little shy about going up to strangers and being like "Hello ma'am, I'm from the Internet." I was wearing a green t shirt with a koala bear on it.
I actually was at lunch when the alarm was pulled and a friend texted me, so we all just ate slower and drank tea for an hour. I guess it's nice to be a native and know where the dim sum joints are that don't mind if you show up with cosplayers and suck down endless pots of tea for two hours, lol. I bet the Harbor was over run.
If you run a panel next year, I'll definitely attend in kimono. I was really surprised at the reasonable prices, quality, and variety of kimono dealers this year (I didn't make it last year due to being out of the country). It's really improved from when I first started coming in 2005 and all I saw in the dealer's room was tourist kimono and furisode (nothing against furisode, I'm just more of a komon girl). It seems like things are really branching out beyond anime, manga, and t shirts and I'm all for it.
It's cool, I spied you trying on the blue hitoe and figured, 1+1=IG. There are only so many people who know how to try on kimono, and aren't somehow associated with this forum. I was in the dealers when the alarm started... it sucked.
_________________ "Just so you know, I'm stripping in your truck." "I figured as much when I saw the pillow come off."
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I was pulling as hard as I can! 
So it was a great con and I'll be back again next year. 