Black Peacock Kimono 'Oborozuki'

A peacock low on black satin, pink peonies and white blossom above it

On black, a peacock gets the stage it asks for. The bird stands low on the front of this kimono with its tail sweeping to the hem in pink and green, and above it pink peonies, white plum blossom and trailing green scatter up the body and over the sleeves, every colour reading clear against the dark. The collar is white, edged in gold. The obi is black, with a braided red cord wrapped over it, the one hot line on the garment.

It is the evening member of the peacock family and the most dramatic, because black makes every other colour on it brighter. The white blossom reads like points of light. The pink reads like neon. The bird reads like a bird at night.

The name, Oborozuki, is the hazy moon, the spring moon seen through mist, and the name of the mood the print makes: colour glowing out of a dark ground.

It is printed, not embroidered, on a polyester satin with a smooth, glossy face and a fluid drape, chosen because black must stay black around colours this bright, and because satin is what makes a dark ground shine rather than absorb. It is light and it moves.

The obi is included, a matching sash with the red cord that wraps twice and ties at the back. Cross the fronts left over right, tie the obi, and the kimono closes into a long black column with the peacock at the hem, the flowers climbing it and the red cord at the waist.

The cut is long, falling to the ankle, with wide kimono sleeves and a wrap front that adjusts at the waist. Tied, it is the dress for a dinner after dark. Open over black, it is a robe that makes the flowers float. Black shoes, and nothing else printed anywhere near it.

At three metres it is black with bright points on it. At thirty centimetres the peacock's tail shows every eye, the peonies show their layers, and the white blossom shows its stamens against the dark. It is the print in the family with the most contrast, and it holds it.

It comes in one size, cut long with a generous wrap. It is Asian sizing, so it sits closer than a Western one-size; the wrap and the obi give the room, and set the waist where you want it.