Kimono Coordination App for iPhone Review - 着物帯合わせ

App Name: 着物帯合わせ (Kimono-Obi Coordination)

Creator: Sanyo Co, Ltd.

Screenshots

Landing page

Coordination page

Options on coordination page:
1. See completed look
2. Change season (can choose awase/hitoe and usumono)
3. Purchase items in app
4. Delete images (only ones you've added)

Dressing Sample page

Convenient Book page 

Completed look

This app (and its complimentary yukata coordination app) is the only kimono coordination app I've been able to find so far for the iPhone. The app takes some time to load, especially the first time. It crashed on me several times until I just let it run for a little while and let it load all of the images. There are three main pages you can access from the title screen - the coordination page, the dressing sample page, and the "convenient book" page. The coordination page is the main feature and allows you to upload your own images (or use their provided ones, often items for sale) to compare kimono, obi, obiage, and obijime. Just select a swatch for each section, and it will add it to the image. Options can be selected by clicking the little hammer in the bottom right corner of the image. Selecting the kimono image will let you see the completed look. The next option allows you to change the season (can choose awase/hitoe and usumono). The third option (the fan) links you to items in app that can be purchased. The trash can allows you to delete images that you have added. I found that you need to be careful with the delete function because it can be easy to accidentally delete the wrong item, and you need to reselect delete to go back to coordinating. You also can't add any other accessories, so haneri, obidome, etc. are out.

Pressing a plus sign on page will allow you to upload an image of that item from your phone's pictures (for example, clicking on the obi page and then the plus sign will allow you to upload a picture of an obi in your collection). Each section will crop the image differently to fit that type of item. You'll probably need to play around with it to figure out which size/resolution images will work. I found that higher res images are really needed to get the best final results. As far as how different kimono types display, I was able to adequately show the kimono for several different formalities (houmongi, iromuji, komon, etc.). You can't change the sleeve length on the final image, so furisode will show up like houmongi, but for coordination purposes, it should be sufficient.

As for the other pages, the dressing sample page shows you pictures (real life and from the app) to give you inspiration. You can add your own coordinations by selecting the plus sign. The "convenient book" page has information about TPO, seasonality, etc., but it is very short and all in Japanese, so I found this to be less helpful.

In conclusion, this app will definitely work if you want a quick check on an ensemble you're planning, but don't expect any high quality images or advanced functions.


Here's the TL;DR pros and cons of this app:

Pros

• Able to see items in kimono silhouette
• Can save completed looks to phone
• Free
• Mostly self-explanatory and some English so little to no Japanese language is required for coordination functions

Cons

• Slow to load
• Japanese only on "convenient book" pages
• High res pictures needed for the best final images
• Shading on completed looks can distort colors
• Obijime looks awful unless using their provided images
• Can't delete sample coordination items (can actually buy some of these from the app)
• Can be too easy to accidentally delete your items
• Can't coordinate haneri, obidome, or other accessories