A personal flaw of mine is being very discouraged in reaction to mistakes. It's taken years to realize the root of this issue. And oddly enough, costumes have helped me heal. I'm learning how to make happy mistakes or at least embrace the process. And all this flowery intro is how my process in learning how to make a kimono is going. My hindsight (that now feels a bit embarrassing) and my current process plan and hopefully resources for anyone to have a better foundation than me getting started.
Here were the challenges I had on this project:
- I rely on patterns. When it comes to brain load, measuring and understanding why the shapes work is often a lift I can't make easily. The patterns available are a mix of authentic and more Western approaches to sewing. (Something that I only recently learned is the variation of seamstress traditions between cultures.) Technically, you don't NEED a pattern for kimono, but although I knew the pattern shapes, I did not know how to put them all together.
- I only understand English. A majority of information about kimono that would be primary source material is in Japanese. Translations can be tricky. Again, the amount of brain-load that it takes for a non-speaker and illiterate limits what I can rely on for research. (Wakarimasen! I am learning Japanese though. For fun...and anime mostly. Side note, literally, the amount of cute Demon Slayer doujinshi I have saved on my Pinterest Board that I WANT to read is growing. This is my driving motivation for learning. But it has side benefits too as I enjoy Japanese culture from the comfort of my own home.)
- Availability of Textiles and other materials is lacking where I live. What this means is any authentic material I would need, must be imported from the source. (or maybe if I'm lucky, get it shipped from California.) In both cases, the cost is quite high. And I haven't had the best luck finding some of the "normal" material in my local fabric stores. It's silk...I have NO idea where to get it.
- Bad Sewing habits. Honestly, I rush a lot and make a lot of silly mistakes when sewing. I lack patience and focus. I also make a lot of wrong assumptions because some of my sewing instincts are just off. Combine that with rushing at times, then you get starting off on the wrong foot and a series of mistakes that need to be covered up later.
- Timing my Research. Annoyingly, sometimes the information I HAD been searching for or didn't even think I had to research comes a half second too late. For instance, I had cut my pattern pieces using the old pattern right before finding a much better more authentic set of instructions. The issue was that the McCall Pattern shapes were different than the AliceinCosplayland shapes so they wouldn't work together. Which is how I ended up doing the McCall's pattern again.
Some of these challenges are universal and some are perhaps just relatable. So far, I've made 3 costume kimono and own 1 imported Yukata. I am planning on making several kimono designs including some cosplay ones. I feel much better equipped thanks to some gems of resources that I'm going to share with you so you can start from a better foundation.
My current References
- Hanami-Mai Kimono Blogs - Photo examples and explanations about how to spot a formal and informal kimono
- The Kimono Lady Blog - my fave post is about each month's color and decor pattern.
- Making and Candor - tailoring blog that goes into depth about measurements and cutting fabric.
- Kurokami Kanzashi Deviant Art Tutorials - Free Diagrams to help design your own kimono
- Alice in Cosplay Land's Patterns and Blog - Also has videos showing her sewing instructions and how to put things on.
- Folkware's Patterns for Kimono and Hakama - I haven't used the Kimono one, but I treasure the hakama one.
- Billy Matsunaga's YouTube and Online Kimono School. (I recently joined the school. I'm excited to learn so much more!)
I mention these so you can work from some decent starting points when doing research. Obviously there's lots more. I was recently made aware of some books (in English) but I haven't read them so I can't say what kind of resource it is. Also there are other talented folks on Etsy making good patterns.
Now I'm going to go through some of the important things I've learned about designing and sewing a kimono from these resources and what I plan to take to my next project. (I'm no expert, I may use the wrong terminology! Just think of this as a student report and not a lecture.)
Cultural Design Considerations
There are cultural norms, expectations and "rules" for garments, even in modern day. (Where it feels like there are no rules.) You have to know the rules before you intentionally break them or mutate them. When it comes to cultural design decisions there are 3 major considerations:
- Who is wearing it?
- What's the occasion?
- What time of year is it?
The Person Wearing it
The sex, age, marital status, occupation (in certain cases) and (in the past) social class of the individual has a huge effect on the kimono. It determines the measurements you need, the shape of the collar, the shape of the sleeves and the types of accessories worn.
The Formality of the Occasion
Even in the West, we have expectations for what you wear to a wedding, funeral and prom. Special events always have dress codes. Certain shapes, color and decorative patterns are considered more formal than others. Even things you wear only at home versus going to the grocery store or visiting friends would have differences. (For example, I actually put on pants when people are over. LOL) Certain accessories (mainly the obi) are very different based on formality.
Theatrical things always have the most leeway when it comes to "what's appropriate". It's traditional to swap gender.
Seasons
Again, this is a bit of common sense but cold-weather kimono is made differently than hot weather kimono. I've recently learned too that certain colors and décor themes are preferred in certain season. (Images of snow and cool things are worn in summer while warm colors are worn in winter.) This is the style rule that gets played with the most among Kimono stylists as I understand it. Much like in the west you don't wear white after Labor Day, you switched from an unlined kimono to a lined kimono at a certain time of year. However, the rules for kimono styles are very Tokyo-centric which has a very specific weather pattern seasonally. Other regions of Japan have longer summers and certainly in Texas there's nothing but heat!
That covers the basics of the cultural considerations. Now onto the specific shapes and what they mean.
Basic Kimono Shapes
What shape the kimono takes is largely determine by the sex of the wearer: male or female. Areas where you see differences are in the sleeves, collar, and total length.
Men's kimono have 1 type of sleeve. The sleeve has sharp corners, a short height (vertical length), and is closed at the inner seam near the body. The collar rests flat against the back of the neck. The total length of the kimono is from the shoulder to the ankle. All this because men don't wear wide, fancy obi. Some of the other cultural factors are that in formal occasions or public outings, men typically don't just wear a kimono (exception is Yukata to a festival). Men's kimono should include either hakama (trousers), haori (coat) or both.
Women's kimono have varying sleeve heights (vertical length) from the same height as the men's sleeve to the floor sweeping furisode. The outer corner is rounded and inner seam is left open. The sleeve height and corner roundness are associated with age and marital status. Long with very round corners are for young unmarried women. Sleeves get shorter and sharper as you age. The collar sits on a curve off the back of the neck. The length of the garment should be your full head to toe height. All this to accommodate for the large obi you can wear. Women also wear haori and hakama in different occasions.
Formal and Informal Kimono
You can assume that semi-formal rests between the two extremes of Formal and Informal. (Like Business-Casual...I don't like that term much.)
What makes a Kimono formal includes the shape, material, fabric design, and expected accessories.
We covered shape. But material content matters. Silks tend to lean formal. Linen or Cotton is informal. In addition to fabric type, how the fabric is decorated indicates formality.
- Adding family crests makes it more formal. The more crests the more formal.
- Solid colors (called Iromuji) is semi-formal. It becomes formal if you add family crests.
- Komon indicates a repeated pattern (like polka dots, checkerboard, or whatever). This is usually informal or semi-formal.
- Tsukesage has some sparse, but deliberate placement of images on the kimono panels. Usually below the obi line and not crossing over the seams. It's informal to semi-formal often.
- Houmongi is the kind I often think about when I think kimono design. It's a flow or stream of images going through the garment. It's semi-formal if the sleeves are short but formal on a furisode.
- Tomosode only has decoration below the obi. It's the most formal kimono a married woman wears.
In addition to the kimono, if you wear layers under the kimono, it's more formal than if you do not. The thickness and extravagance of the Obi indicates formality. The larger the belt (for women) the more formal it is. Men's obi come in comparatively thinner styles but that's probably because formalwear usually means wearing hakama.
References:
References:
Obi Styling
For my reference because I'm making most of my obi, here are the measurements for the types of Obi I know about.
- Men's Obi (Kaku) - Width 3.5" - 4" (9cm - 10 cm), Length 3.6m - 4m
- Hanhaba Obi (Half-width Obi): Width 15 cm, Length 3.6m - 4.5m (3.80 - 4.20m is common, up to 4.4 or more for larger circumferences.)
- Heko Obi: Width 15cm - 30cm, Length 3m - 3.5m
- Nagoya Obi: Width 30cm (12"), Length 3.6m - 4.5m long
The Heko Obi is only worn with Yukata. It's made from crepe or gauzy cotton. It's an informal obi. All others are semi-formal to formal.
All other Obi are often made with stiffer materials or reinforced material so they hold solid shapes when tied into knots.
A nifty thing I learned though is for Nagoya Obi, sometimes only the first and last third of the obi are full width and have decoration while the rest of it is half-width. This is because many musubi (knot ties) require you to fold a length of the obi in half while wrapping it around yourself. The fullest part of the obi are the ends because they're all that's visible.
Video References:
Kitsuke Kits (Parts You Didn't Know You Needed)
Or at least I didn't. These are all the pieces that you need to help put the kimono on and keep it on.
- Hadagi - this is what goes directly against the skin, basically underwear. Most of the time actual underwear replaces this. BUT if you want extra protection against sweat, it's not a bad idea.
- Underpadding - particularly for female kimono, to get a certain silhouette, you can have chest padding, shoulder padding, waist padding, and hip padding.
Some examples of how to pad based on body-shape. - Juban - These are the under kimono that you often see peeking from the collar. It's not quite underwear but you don't show off too much of it either. The collar of the juban is very important. There are 2 styles: full length (nagajuban) and half-length (Hanjuban). A Hanjuban is worn with a wrap skirt (susyoke).
- Han-Eri - this is the over collar on the juban that you can use to change up the color and provides a tube to insert a collar stiffener (eri-shin).
- Erishin - is a stiff piece of material usually a plastic-like thing that makes the back of the collar keep its shape especially for female kimono.
- Himo (Belt Ties) - You'll need a few of these. Alternatively, you can use korin belts which are like suspenders in a way. It uses clips and elastic instead of tying more knots.
- Datejime - a belt worn over a juban to flatten the obi area.
- Yonhimo/Sanhimo - Elastic clip belts with 4 or 3 layers of elastic meant to help tie very specific (but very common) obi knots.
- Obi-ita - a stiff plastic-ish material used to help the obi keep its shape.
- Obi Pillow - a little pillow to help puff up certain, popular obi knots.
- Obi age - part of a formal obi. It kind of looks like stuffing in the top of the obi to me.
- Obijime - the thin rope tie often worn with formal obi.
- Obidome - a decorative slide piece kind of like a belt buckle.
- Clips - sort of like clothespins, these alligator style clips can help a person hold part of the kimono or obi in places so you can manipulate parts. Useful in obi tying too when you need 3 or 4 hands.
Kimono Undergarments (video)
Putting this in Context
Goodness, so this is a lot of very overview things about kimono. But how is this helpful? Well, for cosplay, it helps break down what someone is wearing because it has a basis in reality. So for image analysis, it gives you a better sense of how things are supposed to work.
But when making something for yourself or maybe for a character in a production, knowing the cultural and historical stuff goes a long way.
I'm going to leave this post here and next time explain my projects and how I'm applying the new things I've learned.
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