kimono - History and description, Women's kimono, Men's kimono, Kimono accessories and related garments

Japanese traditional costume, today mostly worn for special occasions, such as weddings and the tea ceremony. It is not worn to work except by Buddhist priests, waitresses in traditional style restaurants, and a few others. Plain colours are for men; bright for girls and young women. The obi (waist sash) for women is frequently of an expensive material.

Kimono (Japanese: 着物, literally "something worn", i.e., "clothes") are the traditional garments of Japan.

Kimono are T-shaped, straight-lined robes that fall to the ankle, with collars and full-length sleeves. Traditionally, on special occasions unmarried women wear kimono with extremely long sleeves that extend almost to the floor. Kimono are generally worn with traditional footwear (especially geta, thonged wood-platform footwear; Beneath the outer kimono, another shorter kimono is worn as underwear, called a nagajuban.

History and description

The original type of kimono was mainly influenced by the Chinese Hanfu through extensive cultural exchanges between the two countries starting in the 5th century ce. The modern kimono began to take shape during Japan's Heian period (794–1192 ce). Since then, the basic shape of both men's and women's kimono has remained essentially unchanged.

Traditionally, all women's kimono are one size; Kimono are made from a single bolt of kimono fabric. The bolts come in standard dimensions, and all the fabric is used in the making of the kimono. All traditional kimono are sewn by hand, and the fabrics from which they are created are also frequently hand made and hand decorated. Various techniques such as yuzen dye resist (made with a kimono which governs where the pattern is distributed and if it is a singular or a repeating pattern. Repeating patterns that cover a large section of the kimono are traditionally done with the yuzen resist technique and a stencil.

In the past, a kimono would often be entirely taken apart for washing, and then re-sewn for wearing. However, the washing of kimono in the traditional way can still be found. Basting stitches—long, loose stitches—are sometimes placed around the outside edges of the kimono for storage. They help to prevent bunching, folding and wrinkling, and keep the kimono's layers in alignment.

There are styles of kimono for various occasions, ranging from extremely formal to very casual. The level of formality of women's kimono is determined mostly by the pattern and fabric, and also the color. Young women's kimono have longer sleeves and tend to be more elaborate than similarly formal older women's kimono. Men's kimono are usually one basic shape and are mainly worn in subdued colors. These days there are polyester kimono as well;

Today, both men's and women's kimono are increasingly available in different sizes. With the tradition of kimono being made from a single bolt of cloth, larger sizes are difficult to find and very expensive to have made. Very tall or heavy people, such as sumo wrestlers, have kimono custom-made.

Kimono can be expensive. A woman's kimono may easily exceed US$10,000; a complete kimono outfit, with kimono, undergarments, obi, ties, socks, sandals and accessories, can exceed US$20,000. In practice, however, most kimono owned by typical kimono hobbyists or by practitioners of traditional arts are far less expensive. Enterprising people make their own kimono and undergarments since they follow a standard pattern, or they recycle older kimono. There is also a thriving business in second-hand kimono in Japan, and second-hand kimono can cost as little as 500 yen.

Kimono are never wasted. Old kimono are recycled in various ways: they may be altered to make haori, hiyoku, or kimono for children; the fabric may be used to patch similar kimono; larger pieces of fabric may be used for making handbags and other similar kimono accessories; Kimono with damage below the waistline can also be worn under hakama to hide the damage. There were even those skilled in laboriously unpicking the silk thread from old kimono and reweaving it into a new textile in the width of a heku obi for men's kimono, this recycling weaving method is called Saki-Ori.

Today, kimono are usually worn only on special occasions, and mostly by women. A few older women and even fewer men still wear kimono on a daily basis. Men wear kimono most often at weddings and for the tea ceremony. Kimono are also worn by both men and women in certain sports, such as kendo. Professional sumo wrestlers frequently wear kimono because they are required to wear traditional Japanese dress whenever appearing in public outside the ring.

There are many kimono hobbyists in Japan, where people can even take courses on how to put on and wear kimono. Classes cover selecting seasonally and event-appropriate patterns and fabrics, matching the kimono undergarments and accessories to the kimono, layering the undergarments according to subtle meanings, selecting and tying obi, and other topics. There are also clubs devoted to kimono culture, such as Kimono de Ginza.

Women's kimono

Modern kimono are not the elaborate affairs they used to be. Kimono worn for festivals and other informal events can be only two layers, or one with a false under collar and a slip. These informal kimono are worn with a simple patterned or single colored obi. Full formal kimono are most often only worn by brides, geisha, or hostesses, or for very formal events.

Most Japanese women would be unable to properly put on a traditional kimono unaided, since the typical woman's outfit requires twelve or more separate pieces that must be worn, matched and secured in prescribed ways. Professional kimono dressers still help women put on kimono, usually for special occasions. Kimono dressers must be licensed, and while they often work out of hair salons, many make house calls as well.

The choice of which type of kimono to wear is laden with symbolism and subtle social messages. In descending order of formality:

Kurotomesode (黒留袖): a black kimono patterned only below the waistline, kurotomesode are the most formal kimono for married women. Kurotomesode usually have five kamon printed on the sleeves, chest and back of the kimono. Furisode are the most formal kimono for unmarried women. Irotomesode (色留袖): a single-color kimono, patterned only below the waistline. Iromuji (色無地): single-colored kimono that may be worn by married and unmarried women. Kimono with a small, repeated pattern throughout the garment. A kimono with this type of pattern is of the same formality as an iromuji, and when decorated with kamon, may be worn as visiting wear (equivalent to a tsukesage or hōmongi). Yukata (浴衣): informal unlined summer kimono usually made of cotton, linen, or hemp.

The pattern of the kimono can also determine in what season it should be worn.

Men's kimono

In contrast to the woman's garment, men's kimono outfits are far simpler, typically consisting of a maximum of five pieces, not including socks and sandals.

A noticeable difference between men and women's kimono is the sleeves, these are completely attached to the body of the kimono or no more than an inch or three unattached at the bottom, whereas women's have very deep sleeves and most of their depth is unattached from the body of the kimono. Men's sleeves are less deep than women's kimono sleeves because an obi has to fit round the waist beneath them, whereas on a woman's kimono, the long, unattached bottom of the sleeve can hang over the obi without getting in the way of it.

In the modern era, the principal distinctions between men's kimono are in the fabric. The typical kimono has a subdued, dark color; Some have a subtle pattern, and textured fabrics are common in more casual kimono. More casual kimono may be of slightly brighter color, such as lighter purples, greens and blues.

The most formal style of kimono is plain black with five kamon on the chest, shoulders and back. Slightly less formal is the three-kamon kimono.

Almost any kimono outfit can be made more formal by adding hakama and haori (see below).

Kimono accessories and related garments

Nagajuban (長襦袢) Beneath the kimono a nagajuban is worn. This is another kimono, usually shorter than the outer one, worn as underwear, complete with the long kimono sleeves, which are neatly fitted inside the outer kimono's sleeves. Silk kimono are difficult to clean and often delicate, the nagajuban (sometimes just called a juban) helps keep the outer kimono clean by keeping it off the wearer's skin. Only the collar edge of the nagajuban shows from beneath the outer kimono. Nagajubans are often as beautifully ornate and patterned as the outer kimono. Men's kimono are usually fairly subdued in pattern and colour, the man's nagajuban allowed him to discreetly wear a garment with very striking designs and colours. Hakama (袴) is a divided or undivided skirt, rather like a very wide pair of pants, traditionally worn only by men but now worn also by women, and also worn in certain martial arts such as aikido. Haori (羽織) is a hip- or thigh-length kimono coat which adds formality. They are now worn by both men and women, though women's kimono jackets tend to be longer. Hiyoku (ひよく) is a type of under-kimono, worn in previous times by women beneath the kimono. Kanzashi (簪) are hair ornaments worn in the coiffured hair style which often accompanies kimono. Obi (帯) is a Japanese sash or belt used to wrap around a kimono or yukata. Koshi himo (腰紐)Thin sashes tied to keep the kimono in place while getting dressed.