Kimono (Japanese Traditional Dress)

The Kimono is known today

first appeared as a formal
outer garment. The kimono
worn by Japanese women
are well known abroad for
their beauty. By far the most
gorgeous is the uchikake, a
long over garment worn by
the bride in a wedding day
ceremony. The silk fabric is
embroidered with gold and
silver threads, most
commonly in patterns of
flowers or birds.

There are various types of

kimonos. Those of married and
unmarried women differ in
design, color, sleeve length and
other aspects. Japanese women
ordinarily wear kimonos during:
New Year holiday
Coming-of age ceremony
College graduation parties
Wedding ceremonies and
receptions
Funeral services

Men wear kimono mostly at

home when they wish to
enjoy a relaxed, easy
atmosphere. On formal
occasions, they wear haori
(a half coat) and hakama (a
divided skirt).
The cotton yutaka is an
informal kimono and is
popular as a home garment
especially for summer wear.
It is an ideal kimono to wear
while cooling off in a breezy
part of the house after a bath
in the summer.

Parts of Kimono

How to Wear a Kimono

Traditionally, the art of
wearing kimono is passed
from mother to daughter.
Today, there are also
kimono schools that teach
the proper techniques of
how to wear a kimono.
An under garment like a
slip is worn under the
kimono with the collar
showing beneath the
kimono. The two pieces full
slip is called Jubal, today,
many women just wear the
collar called eri-sugata
because it is much cooler
and still gives the formal
appearance.

How to Wear a Kimono

1. Purchase a kimono.

2. In addition to the kimono

itself, you must have a juban,
a koshi himo belt, a datejime,
an obi makura belt, and
white tabi socks. As you're
getting dressed, put on the
white tabi socks first. It is
difficult to bend down after
dressing fully in a kimono, so
you should get the socks out of
the way while you can.

3. Put on a slip called the

"juban." It consists of a white
cotton top and skirt, which you
can easily substitute with
separate pieces if you can't find
an actual juban. Today in Japan,
an alternative is to wear only the
white collar that goes around the
neck called a "cri-sugata."

4. Put on the kimono, making

sure the back seam is centered.
For both men and women, you
should wrap the right side of the
kimono over your body to begin
with, then bring the right side of the
kimono towards the left side of
your body, overlapping it with the
left side as you do so. Adjust the
white slip collar to show evenly
around the neck, just under the
kimono collar.

5. After you have put on

your kimono, pull the
kimono so the it ends at
your ankle. The length of the
kimono is always adjusted,
which is why there are only a
few lengths made by the
manufacturer.

6. As you hold the extra

material about your waist,
tie the koshi himo belt below
the excess material. Cross
the belt in the back and tie it in
the front. Straighten out the
excess material and bring
some down to cover the koshi
himo belt.

7. Now take the datejime belt

and wrap it around your
waist over the koshi himo
belt. Tie this belt in the front,
leaving the overlapping
kimono fabric visible below.
The excess kimono fabric
should hang out evenly below
the belt so that the fabric is
seen.

8. Put the obi

makura into place
and wrap the obi. Tie
both ends of the obi
together, folding it in
across your waist and
tightening it at the
center. Then slide it to
your back, straighten
yourself out a bit, and
you should be all
dressed up in your
kimono!

Obi Sash Belts for Kimono

A woman's formal obi is
usually 4 meters long and 60
centimeters in width. The
width is folded in half and the
obi is wrapped twice around
the waist and then tied in the
back. Formal obi belts are
made of a brocade or
tapestry weave. The more
pattern, the more formal is
the basic rule. Today, an obi
completely covered in its
entirety with woven or
embroidered design are now
normally worn by a bride.

Obi Sash Belts for Kimono

Casual Obi Sash

Narrow as 10 centimeters or as
wide as 30 centimeters. They
are usually made of satin, twill,
chirimen, gauze weaves,
cotton, nylon or wool. Casual
obi are not made of silk and do
not have the elaborate silk
brocade embroidered patterns.
Although called casual, many
are not casual looking at all. It
is worn both with the kimono
and the summer kimono
"yukata".

The koshi-himo belt is

the first belt tied around the
waist. The belt is available
in a variety of styles,
materials and some newer
styles even have velcro.
The koshi-himo belt shown
here is made of tye-dyed
silk
The date-jime belt is the
second belt tied around the
kimono covering the first
koshi-himo belt.

The obi-jimi is a
braided cord tied on
top of the obi.
Because the obijime is visible, it
comes in a variety of
colors and the color
is chosen to
compliment the obi.

Butterfly Obi Belts.

This obi is a pre-tied belt that gives the
impression of the complicated tied obi
but is very simple to put on. The tied
bow shape is called cho cho for the bow
resembles the butterfly, thus giving it
the name butterfly obi. The belt consists
of two pieces; the wide belt and the
bow. The belt is 5 feet in length and 6
inches in width The belt is wrapped
twice around the waist and tucked
under.

Japanese Sandals
The two basic types of
Japanese sandals/shoes is
the geta and the zori. The
length of the kimono is
normally adjusted to hang just
at the ankle displaying both
the Japanese shoes and
socks. Japanese sandals and
shoes come in a variety of
colors and styles, red and
black being the most popular.
Japanese manufacturers now
make Japanese sandals,
purses and Japanese hair
combs to match the exact
pattern of the kimono to
complete the ensemble.

Kimono for Japanese Men

Kimono were traditionally worn by
men as daily wear clothing, but
today they are usually only worn
for festivals, ceremonies, special
occasions and as kimono robes.
Men's kimono, like women's can
range from simple to elaborate
patterns. Popular kimono patterns
include dragons, koi and
masculine designs and generally
are conservative in color. The
kimono background color is
usually blue, black, gray or brown
with contrasting designs. Kimono
with scenes and motifs include;
dragons, kanji symbols, bamboo
canes or geometric patterns.

Male kimono

Male kimono (Traditional wedding)

Hakama is an outer garment worn

over the kimono that are either split
between the legs like pants or nonsplit like a skirt. It is originated as an
outer garment to protect samurai
warriors legs from brush when
riding a horse. Today, the hakama is
worn as formal attire for
ceremonies, traditional Japanese
dance, artists and martial arts.
Traditional hakama pants for men
are striped or solid in subdued
colors. The striped black and gray
hakama pants as shown on the
right is the most popular traditional
attire. The formal attire consists of a
white under garment, black full
length kimono, hakama pants and
black haori.

Japanese Winter Kimono