Dark Teal Obi Belt 'Tetsunando'

Dark teal pre-tied obi belt with fine white flecks, the narrow kind worn low

Teal so dark it is almost black, with white in the weave. This narrow obi is a stiff band in a deep blue-green with fine white flecks scattered through it, so the colour shows only where the light hits and the flecks show everywhere, and a pre-tied knot at the front that hooks on. It is the one colour in the narrow obi that is not black, grey or navy.

It is the narrow obi for a person who wants a colour and wants it to be the kind you have to look for.

The name, Tetsunando, is the iron indigo, the blue-green of the old dye charts, and the band is that colour.

The band is a thick woven cloth folded double and stitched flat, stiff enough to hold its line round the waist, and the knot is sewn in place on a short separate tab that hooks over the band at the front, so the obi goes on in one movement: wrap, fasten at the back under the band, hook the knot on. The closure is adjustable and hidden.

Wear it over a yukata, a jinbei top, a kimono or a haori, wrapped twice round the hips rather than the waist, low, the way a man ties a narrow obi and a woman ties one when she wants the same line. The knot sits at the back or at the side, as you prefer; the photograph shows it at the front only so you can see it. Over a plain tee and a wide trouser it works as a belt.

The flecks come from a white thread twisted into the teal one, so they are in the yarn rather than on it, and the teal reads differently in daylight and lamplight. On the knot, cut on the bias, the flecks run the same. The band is the same on both faces.

Hand wash cool, flat, and dry flat; do not wring, because the stiffening in the band creases. Iron on the reverse if it needs it. It is a belt, and it takes a belt's life.

From across a room it is a dark band with a knot. From close the band shows its teal, the flecks their white, and the knot its fold. It is the obi for a black yukata and a person who wants one colour on the whole outfit.

One size. The band wraps a waist from about 70 to 110 cm with the closure adjusted, and the pre-tied knot means the length does not change how it looks. It is cut to Western sizing, so there is no size to take up.