HOW TO DRESS IN A KIMONO

 

 

HOW TO DRESS IN A KIMONO

 

This past week at school was full of more fun activities associated with our Japanese Cultural Unit.  A few months ago, many of you saw that had some photos taken with me wearing a traditional Japanese Kimono. Because it was a rush to get everyone through to get pictures taken, I was dressed rather quickly with some of the traditional pieces missing or pre-fixed to put on. This week, one of our teacher, Hisako, was gracious and kind enough to demonstrate to our students how to dress in a traditional Kimono with all the parts included.

 

Dressing in a Kimono is an orderly process and take practice to get it right. In Japanese culture, there is a high standard of appearance and presentation and when you where a Kimono, it is no different. You want it to look beautiful and perfect.  I have seen a number of women in Kimono around the city. From what I have seen they are usually worn when attending some type of event such as a concert, wedding, or a special dinner with friends or family.

 

I really love the look of the Kimono. Most that I have seen are so beautiful and quite elegant.  There is usually an interesting mix of colors and patterns that are used and normally, most would never think to make those type of combinations but the Japanese make it all work in such a beautiful way.

 

I am going to do my best to explain the process. I actually had to go to Wikihow to remember the names of the different clothing pieces. Also, I took all the pics on my phone so I apologize for the poor quality but I hope they will be okay. 

 

Teacher Hisako is explaining the different pieces used in the Kimono dress. She is wearing an all white under dress called a Juban. You can buy it in one piece or two. The collar around the Juban is very stiff. When I dressed for my pics I only wore the collar that was wrapped tight around me down to the waist to keep it in place.

 

 

Here are the various pieces used. I will name them as I go through the rest of the pics below.

 

First the Kimono is put on over the Juban. The important part here is to wrap the right side over your body first and then wrap the left side over the top of that. Kimonos are made to be quite long so as you wrap it you need to reach inside to pull the Kimono up off the ground to the correct length.

 

Next you tie a Koshi Himo belt below the excess fabric. This belt is quite long so you wrap it from front to back and then back to front to tie it. This keeps the extra fabric you don't need on top and hanging over the belt so it can't be seen.

 

So I am trying to remember correctly but I believe she tied another long piece around her waist. After that she put in place something that I think is called the Makura. This helps give a good straight shape for the Obi which will go around the waist. So the tricky part is holding that in place while you put the narrow part of the Obi over your left shoulder and then warp the thicker part around the waist. This seems to be the trickiest part. There are a number of steps in putting the Obi on and I am not even going to try to explain it. You will have to get an idea of the process by looking at the photos.

 

 

Last there is a small belt that looks like a rope that wraps around the obi to keep it all in place. The end result is quite pretty.

 

Traditionally you wear Japanese sandals and corresponding white foot socks with Kimono. You can also buy a fancy coat to go over the top in winter time and buy a fancy bag to match. Winter Kimonos are heavier satin materials and summer kimonos are typically light cotton. Although when I arrived in August I saw a number of the heavier fabric kimonos being worn. I am guessing because the fabric is fancier.

 

I would love to invest in a very nice kimono. Probably several actually. A few blocks from my apartment is a store that custom makes Kimonos. I have stopped in to look around and have purchased a vintage purse or two from them. They speak English so I don't think communication would be a problem. The two issues would be wear would I wear it and learning all the steps to put it on properly.