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Kimono Series: Female Kimono Planner

The intention here is to help you plan and prepare to create a feminine kimono ensemble for either an original design or character recreation. 
For the feminine style kimono planner, we will cover: 
  • Identifying Feminine Kimono
  • Formality Customs
  • Design Planner
  • Resources, Tutorials, and Patterns 
The key feature of a feminine kimono is the opening under the armpits and down the body side of the sleeve. The opening on the body is called Miyatsuguchi. Other identifying features are very rounded marumi on the sleeve corners or just very tall sleeves. When worn, there should be a fold underneath the obi called Oshori. The hem should be just over your toes and the collar is worn off the back of the neck instead of against it so there is some subtle shape differences compared to a male collar. But the obvious indicator is the open sleeves and miyatsuguchi. 

Formality Customs

Female formality customs can be a rabbit hole of learning. Things change over time and in some cases it is preference based on the kimono school or region. However, these are things that hold true in common:
  • Materials: Silk > Fake Silk > Slub Silk > Rayon > Rayon Polyester >  Cotton/Hemp/Linen > Polyester Cotton
  • 5 Kamon > 3 Kamon > 1 Kamon > No Kamon
  • Dye/Painted Kamon > Embroidered Kamon
  • Tall Sleeve Height > Shorter Sleeve Height 
  • One image crossing seams all over > One image crossing seams below the obi > Image series not crossing the seams > Plain > Repeated pattern where things stay right side up > Repeated pattern all over
  • Plain or Edo Komon can be made more fancy with Kamon
  • Thicker more decorated Obi > half width obi > 1 layered/Heko Obi
I will make a new post about what I've learned in regards to Kimono formality customs. It's long enough to deserve its own post. Meanwhile, I do have some resource links for you at the bottom of this post for further research. 

Design Planner

Usually, I start with inspiration first. Figure out what color themes and motifs fit your vision. For this part, use whatever methods you like to cultivate a cohesive vision: doodles, building a vision board, brainstorming, etc. If this is for a character cosplay or character bounding, gather your references and build up the color palette, iconic motifs, and other things you might associate with the character.
Character reference
There are 4 major points of design for the feminine kimono ensemble: 
  • Sleeve Height
  • Motif Design and Placement
  • Color Coordination
  • Accessories!
For this part of the process templates and doodles are a major help. I've offered a couple of my doodles you can use as templates. My templates are meant to help with color coordination of a whole ensemble. 

I have a couple rough templates you can use here: 
Furisode always had thick obi with accessories. 
A couple of obi options for casual and dressy-casual
I also like using Kurokami Kanzashi's Templates here to really plan out where to put motifs on the kimono.:
Furisode Template (Long Sleeve Height)
Tomesode Template (Standard Sleeve Height)
Kosode Template (Short Sleeve Height)

Example: Ruka's Spring Kimono
Using Kurokami's template
Some of the other things I consider for my kimono ensemble include: 
  • Will I wear hakama with it?
  • Will I include a Nagabaori (Long Jacket)? Haori? Kintaginu? Apron? There's a lot of fun kimono jackets for rain, working outside, and for fashion!
  • Will I blend with Western styles or other cultures? Such as a hijab or Polish vest?
  • What kind of head accessories? Hair sticks, Hair pins, Kanzashi, head wraps, head scarfs, ribbons, flowers, a mask, head bands, etc. 
  • What kind of obi will I wear with it? Pre-tied? Do I need accessories with the obi? 
  • Will I include fun charms or decorations on my obi or obijime (the cord)?
  • Will I have a fan or something stored in my obi?
  • Will I include fun things to carry like a parasol, handbag, fan, or weapon?
  • Do I need to account for a tail or ears if I'm doing fantasy?
  • What kind of footwear will I wear? Zori, geta, heels, or boots?
  • What other fun accessories like jewelry can I get away with? 
Obviously you don't need to answer all these questions or include these pieces. (Obi is the obvious one you do need to think about though.) 
And that's how I approach kimono designs for feminine kimono. Below I list resources to learn more about the different styles of kimono and their level of formal. 

Resources

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