||Kyoto Kimono Home|| What's for Sale? || Email us ||

 1. How does the sizing work?
 Most of the garments we get were handmade for the people who bought them, so there is no small-medium-large standard. Each was made from a standard length of fabric (a "tan") about 13 yards long and 15 inches wide. Vintage kimonos usually can accommodate anyone with a small or medium build (e.g., woman's size 2 to 12). Older kimonos tend to run smaller.

Even though the average Japanese body is smaller than the American one, a kimono has a larger "fit range" because of the extra fabric used: the extra length is taken up at the waist and bound in place with an obi, and there may be extra width at the waist where they are supposed to wrap all the way around from hip to hip (with the opening on the right hip). The overlap should be 6" to 12", but can be worn more loosely, especially as a robe to accommodate a wider frame. People who need larger sizes or who are over 5'9" should consider one of our custom made kimonos.

 2. Why is the obi sold separately?  
An obi often costs as much as the kimono and are chosen to suit the occasion and characteristics of the wearer. The color, style, and design variations are so great that they can make the kimono seem more or less formal, or the wearer seem older your younger.

Wonderful combinations of color and design which may tend to challenge the western aesthetics would be considerd apprpropriate or artistics to the Japanese eye. In addition, most of our customers use the kimono as a robe or loungewear, and the traditional obi is not practical or comfortable for this use. In this case I suggest one of our belts that can be purchased for an additional $10 with any kimono.

back to top

To tie a butterfly (the simplest style) obi:
http://www.japaneselifestyle.com.au/fashion/butterfly_obi.html

To put on a kimono:
http://www.japaneselifestyle.com.au/fashion/how_to_wear_yukata.html

To put on the hakama, click here for a printable graphic.

back to top

Folding a kimono is like fabric origami, but it does create a nice, flat, unwrinkled square that can be stored easily. There is a nice pictorial of this in The Book of Kimono, but if you don't have that, try this website:
http://www.thetatamiroom.com/kimono_folding.html

or the video on YouTube:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NJ-x3LFCjw0

To see how to fold your hakama, click here for a printout or view this YouTube video.
back to top

Displaying an obi can be more of a challenge. Wide maru or fukuro obi can be hung straight from a dowell or "woven" over bamboo. Nagoya obi are more difficult because of the folded portion, but a fan-shaped display is quite attractive. See our Dramatic Display page for more ideas.

(For just hanging the kimono in a closet, consider our telescoping plastic hangers.

back to top

6. What do Japanese brides and grooms traditionally wear?
These days, Japanese couples may have up to three types of ceremonies. - Shinto, Buddhist and Christian. For a Shinto ceremony, the bride wears white shiromuku. At the Buddhist temple she will wear a colorful uchikake or kakeshita. For the Christian ceremony at a chapel, a western-style wedding dress.

The groom's attire at the three Japanese ceremonies is the same - black kimono, striped hakama, black haori. Here is a great YouTube video of a couple getting professionally dressed for their wedding.

back to top

 7. How do I clean my kimono or obi?
If you just want to freshen the kimono (and get rid of any musty vintage smell), just hang it outside in the shade on a breezy day. You can try spot-cleaning any new blemishes rather than washing the entire garment, but it is unlikely that older stains will come out. If you decide to dry clean the item, find a dry cleaner who is used to working with vintage silk.

A few customers have written to say that the home dry cleaning products work just as well. Silks can often be cleaned right in the washing machine, on gentle, but we don't recommend it unless you test-clean a small inside seam first. Some silks will wrinkle terribly.

One customer shared this with us: "Metallic embroidery has NO stretch or “give” to it. Therefore, if it is washed or dry cleaned, the silk will “draw” and leave the metallic embroidery crinkled or puckered, if it does not break the metal threads. This type of silk can only be very gingerly surface cleaned—without water! This is why metallic embroidery was traditionally reserved for the nobility and very rich—when a garment was dirtied, it was thrown out, or the metal recovered from the stitching, and the remains used for other purposes."

back to top