Kimono in 'Western' sizes

[SadoSamurai]

Dear all

I get my kimono tailor made in Japan. But not all people wanting to
practice Tea have the budget, nor dedication to go to Japan for a
kimono. In Australia kimono available for purchase are limited to
second had imports, for sizes of Japanese people worn a few decades
ago.

Understandably, the height and arm length are a big problem for
Westerners and I struggle to recommend any good solutions to students
and also to find 'practice' kimono for myself.

Does anyone know of a place to buy cost effective kimono in Western
sizes?

Best wishes

Adam

[Marius Frøisland]

There are some books out there about how to make a kimono, it will probably not be perfect, but better than nothing. I had a professional tailor in tailand make one for me. It was not a 100% success but it was fairly good. However, I think your best choice is to get someone you know in Kyoto go buy cheap silk on the fleamarket and have a reasonable tailor make  a Kimono out of it. I got mine for 22.000 unlined that way. Those kimono have served me very well for many years.

Marius

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Marius Frøisland
  - http://www.linkedin.com/in/mariusfroisland
  - http://wiki.chado.no
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[Ahmad Saqfalhait]

Dear Marius,

Can you tell me what is the difference between the lined and unlined kimonos, and whether there are any fabrics or colours (for men) that shouldn't be used in tea.

Thanks,

Ahmad

2011/8/29 Marius Frøisland <muhi...@gmail.com>

[Marius Frøisland]

Hi

A lining means is an extra layer that is sown into a garment. Like in a suit the inner fabric is often different than the outer layer even though they appare as one garment.

Selecting one fabric for a mens kimono is fairly easy. Use earth colors like blue, brown, green, grey. Avoid black, white and gaudy colors.

Marius

[Nick]

Hi Adam,

If you're going to get one kimono, my advice would be an unlined
synthetic one, which you'll be able to wear throughout the year to
practice, and can be dressed up for formal occasions. I would stick
with a dark blue, black or dark brown. Ichirioya (http://
www.ichiroya.com/index.php) sometimes has kimono in large sizes, and I
believe they will custom make synthetic kimono as well. You could
also try Rakuten. You're probably looking at the $300 range.

An alternative would be to try to find someone near you who knows how
to make kimono. You may find that this isn't so much cheaper than
having something custom-made online or in Japan, though, so another
possibility is to learn how to make them yourself. Making unlined
men's kimonos is not actually that difficult, especially if you can
find someone to teach you. More than likely you'll have to use
Western fabric, because if you're taller or heavier than the average
Japanese man, regular kimono fabric will not be wide enough to make a
kimono that fits you (kimono fabric comes in a standard size which is
mostly about 15" wide. In my case, for instance, my sleeves need to
be 17" wide in order to fall to the wrist, which means that, allowing
for hems, 15" wide fabric is at least 4" too narrow). Using Western
fabric, sewing a man's kimono consists of 5 main steps: 1): cut 7
rectangles, for the body, sleeves, overlap (okumi) and collar; 2): sew
in the back seam; 3): attach the sleeves and sew the sides of the
kimono; 4): attach the okumi panels; 5): attach the collar and collar
cover, and sew all the hems. Most of the sewing can be done by
machine, making it quite fast. There are two hard parts: attaching
the collar, and hand-sewing the visible hems. The first is just a
tricky process, while the second is not actually particularly hard,
it's just very time-consuming. I would suggest taking the finished
measurements from a kimono you already have rather than relying on
methods in books, which can be unnecessarily complicated and quite
misleading. Check out the Immortal Geisha forums (http://
www.immortalgeisha.com/ig_bb/index.php) for lots of discussion on how
to make kimono.

Nick

[Ahmad Saqfalhait]

Hi Adam,

I have recently ordered a tailor-made linen kimono from this site: http://www.menz-kimono.com
I still haven't collected it, so I can't tell you how good they are, but the good thing is that they have a detailed form that you can fill to take your exact size.

They have a very good range or prices that can be feasible for okeiko.

They also sell ready made kimono of most of the fabrics, with detailed size chart. And also the option of all handmade kimono or machine with handmade.

They also show you how they lengthen a sleeve for tall people: http://www.menz-kimono.com/wakidasi.html

They accept money transfer, paypal or cash on delivery (in case you were in Japan).

I can send you my full review once I get it and try it on.

Thanks and have a nice day,

Ahmad

P.S. Thanks Marius for the explanation of the lined and non-lined kimonos.

[Emmet Bondurant]

You might consider meditation robes, I get mine from Endless Knot:
http://endlessknotcushions.com
I also have some basic patterns (which I haven't tried yet, but they
look simple enough) if you'd like to email me.
Emmet

[Jessica Scott]

Rakuten is a good source for new kimono. It's like an internet shopping mall. Some even have 3L sizes, like this one.

http://global.rakuten.com/en/store/kyoetsu-orosiya/item/otokomuji04/

While this one isn't a particularly good quality, the price lends itself to buying a few for okeiko.

 

[Marius Frøisland]

Another option that I used in the beginning, but is far from perfect is to use martial arts gi. Those you can get in a thin fabric (avoid the judo ones, they are heavy an cumbersom) and in different collors. I would try to stay away from black. Again it is not the real deal, but it might be one step closer to where you want to go.

Marius