Your First Kimono

When I do presentations, people often ask me about what they should be looking for when they are looking into buying their first kimono. Now after doing the last reflective post, I'd like to offer my advice on purchasing your first kimono. Please note that this is only my opinion on these matters, and there are many schools of thought here. Whatever you decide to do, my biggest piece of advice is to do your research on everything possible before you buy. Most experienced kimono enthusiasts will tell you that they have an early purchase that they regret! Hopefully, this advice will help you feel more comfortable in making your first purchase.


1. What type should I buy?
I know that people are often drawn to kimono because of the bright, bold patterns they see, but what I find most frequently is that they are looking at furisode (the long-sleeved young woman's kimono). Furisode are easily one of the most complicated kimono to tie, and I strongly recommend that you do not make it your first purchase. There also seems to be a pattern of people wanting kurotomesode (ceremonial black kimono with pattern below hem only) for a first kimono (I actually wanted one for my first as well!). This type of kimono is ultra-formal for married women. While lovely, it's hard to tie and also difficult to find appropriate occasions for. I strongly recommend familiarizing yourself with the types of kimono out there before you buy.

Truly, I think the best kimono to start with is the yukata. It's one layer, usually cotton, and often washable. They also won't break the bank (usually) and come in a variety of patterns that will suit almost anyone's taste. The obi types used with the yukata are more simple to tie than those that will be used with other types of kimono. It is also needs fewer accessories (see question #4).

Hiraki Nagoya and Share Fukuro - How to tell the difference!

Most seasoned kimono wearers will know that there are 5 main categories of obi for women: heko, hanhaba, nagoya, fukuro, and maru. These are pretty easily distinguished from one another (see my obi types page if you are unfamiliar with these). Of course, there are more main types, but where things start getting confusing is with the "sub-types", and most commonly, I see share fukuro and hiraki nagoya getting mixed up (I've even done it myself recently). In case you're unfamiliar with these two terms, a share fukuro obi is a fukuro length obi but it has no metallic thread, therefore making it a casual obi. A hiraki nagoya obi is one where the pre-folded part has either been undone or does not exist. Hiraki nagoya do still have the potential to have metallic thread (making it resemble a regular fukuro obi), but they often are more casual. Because these two often look very similar, it's an easy mistake to make.

So how do we tell the difference? (I'm going to talk about modern pieces for the most part, because vintage lengths tend to get more complicated.) The easiest way to tell modern pieces apart is the length. That being said, there is no hard and fast rule about length, but we will use the most common measurements. A hiraki nagoya obi is usually between 3.5m and 3.8m, whereas a share fukuro is usually 4m to 4.2m. When we start looking at vintage pieces, the lengths are typically shorter, but it is still usually proportionate to the modern pieces. For example, a vintage hiraki nagoya may be 3m long and a vintage share fukuro may be 3.5m. We also need to examine the threads used. If  you see metallic thread and the length falls into nagoya style, you likely have a hiraki nagoya. Share fukuro will never have metallic threads. If you are still unsure of what you have, my best advice to ask someone more knowledgeable what they think.

Thanks for reading, and I hope this has helped you a little in your adventure with kimono!

Updates to Helpful Hints

You may have noticed a few extra links in the sidebar to the right. I have added a page on sizing kimono and one on where to buy kimono. I hope you will find these helpful!

Helpful Resources Added!

I've started working on a section of the website that will have helpful information for the kimono-wearer.

The first section - Kitsuke Basics - is up, and I will be adding to it frequently. Under that section, I currently have a list of kimono and obi types as well as komono (all with pictures) and an obi and kimono compatibility chart.

 Please check back to see more additions!