I know new people always have a lot of questions about kimono when they first start.  So I thought I would just write out some answers to some of the most common and useful questions newbies have.

Questions:

1. What are the different types of kimono?

2. Are there different kimono for different ages?

3. What size kimono do I need?

4. How does seasonality work for kimono?

5. How formal are kimono and when can I wear them?

6. Does color have any meaning with kimono?

7. Do the motifs and patterns on a kimono have any meaning?

8. What types of fabric are kimono made from?

9. How do I clean a kimono?

10.  How should I store my kimono?

11. How much do kimono cost?

12. What do I need to wear kimono?

13. Are there any kimono meetup groups or online communities?

Recently I went to the Myoken Festival in Yatsushiro.  And I saw a lot of wonderful outfits.  We may see modern kimono on the streets, but there were so many kinds of outfits throughout the Edo period (when the festival was founded).  So I'd like to use the Myoken Festival as a case study to pick apart the less commonly seen clothing from Japanese history.  All photos, unless captioned otherwise, come from the official photo contest for the Myoken Festival which you can find on the festival website here.

If you see any mistakes or have some information to add, please let me know!

A kimono with hakama (the skirt) and Kataginu (the sleeveless vest with pointy shoulders).  By the Muromachi-Momoyama period, this was daily wear for samurai.  And while it was wildly popular by the Edo period, it was mostly worn for more formal occasions.

The hat that he is wearing, and many others in these photos, is called a ichimonji gasa or sometimes yakko gasa.  It was a standard straw hat good for blocking sunlight or protecting your head from snow and rain.  The ichimonji gasa is a type of military hat.

So recently I've moved to Japan to teach English for a little while.  The move and new job has kept me pretty busy.  But finally I had time to go kimono shopping.

Now, I only brought 2 kimono with me to Japan, one formal houmongi and one casual komon.  My goal is to buy everything cheap in Japan, and bring it back with me to America.

My first stop was Gallery Kawano's 1000 Yen kimono sale.  Now the real Gallery Kawano is in Tokyo, but every so often they have a sale down here in Kyushu at The West Coast (西海岸) in Yanagawa (Fukuoka prefecture).  They fill the entire second floor of The West Coast with kimono, obi, and other accessories.  My neighbor and I made the one hour drive to indulge ourselves. 

For beginners, it can be very hard to pick up all the vocabulary associated with kimono.  So today I'm going to show you pictures and descriptions of some common kimono related terms and names.

Here I have listed all the various online websites and stores where you can buy kimono and Japanese clothing.  If you have any more websites or stores that you like to use and have had a good experience with, please let me know! I would love to keep this list updated with as many stores as possible.  Stores are listed in no particular order.

Dedicated Kimono Websites

Ohio Kimono

I have personally worked with this store when they came to Boston.  The owner is knowledgeable and fair, and I give this store my personal stamp of approval.  They're LGBTQ+ friendly and willing to help you with whatever your dressing needs may be.  You can find various kinds of kimono, obi, dressing accessories, tabi, haori, purses, kimono fabric, etc. The website lists product condition and sizes.  They operate out of Ohio (no surprise) and for now only ship to the US.  But their website also has various information, a blog, youtube channel, instagram, customer gallery, and more!  I strongly recommend you check them out!  I wrote a whole blog post about them here.


Kimono Yukata Market

This site has expanded over the years to sell a wide range of all the wafuku you can imagine.  Men's and women's, furisode all the way to yukata.  They have a rather large selection, a easy to understand quality rating system, lots of information about wearing kimono and measuring your size.  At the time of writing this, they have a whole section devoted to plus size yukata with hundreds of items listed.  Plus, they sell other items related to kimono, including storage containers and display stands. 

​One little note, I noticed on their Who We Are page they owners talk about being fed up of seeing fake kimono being sold online, so they decided to open up their own authentic kimono shop.  Now that's an origin story we can all get behind!

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Sou

Sou has an incredibly expansive listing of items.  They sell kimono, yukata, obi, accessories, art pieces, tea ceremony pieces, and more.  They often have some of the cheapest prices around, if you're looking for discount vintage kimono.  They often run sales and have free shipping as well.  This site is connected to Shinei and often the stores will list each other's products.  Check their ebay for more items and even better deals.

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Shinei

Shinei is a great website for finding a wide variety of color and styles of kimono.  Their array of synthetic iromuji is impressive.  They also sell a large quantity of synthetic kimono of all types.  Be careful, shipping can get expensive and isn't included in the price listing.  One of the best part of sites like this in my opinion is the robust search and filtering system on the website.