The Japanese Kimono
The Kimono is the traditional clothing of Japan. There are many types of kimonos worn by men, women, and children. The cut, color. fabric, and decorations will vary according to the sex, age, marital status, season of the year, and the occasion. It is usually made out of linen, cotton, or silk.
The woman’s kimono is the most elaborate and varied in style and design. The sleeves of the kimono indicate the age and marital status of a woman. A young unmarried woman would wear a furisode, a colorful kimono with flowing sleeves that hang almost to the ankles. The furisode, made of chirimen is appropriate to wear on formal and ceremonial occasions, such as weddings. In contrast, a married woman wears a kimono with a short sleeve.
The obi is the sash tied around the waist. It can be tied in a variety of simple or complex ways in the back. An obi may be as wide as one foot and as long as 13 feet. It can be tied as a simple bow or as complex as a butterfly.
The summer kimono is called a yukata. It is made of light-weight cotton. It is used to attend festivals. Most yukatas are navy blue and white, but girls and young women sometimes wear brightly colored floral-patterned yukatas.
No buttons are used in fastening the kimono, and it is draped across the body from left to right and is held in place by a sash and an obi.
A man usually wears a conservatively styled kimono of blue, grey, or white. In the summer the man also wears a yukata with wooden geta sandals. The man’s obi is narrow and tied in a simple knot and is worn lower on the right hip.
Socks with a split toe, called tabi, are worn with all kimonos, both by men and women.
The most popular form of footwear is the wooden geta or the zori. The geta was originally designed to keep the feet clean in the muddy streets. The wooden sole is supported by two lateral slats and the shoe is kept on by two thongs that pass between the first and second toes.
The zori have flat soles of woven straw, flax, or bamboo, covered with a material or leather. The thong is similar to the geta. They are now worn by both men and women as formal footwear.
The kimono has gone through several variations related to the historic period. On world wide web site there is a good summary of the kimono and good color photographs of kimonos.