r/kimono

Japan has already started reaching around 25°C on some days, so I’ve slowly starting to transition to lighter fabrics, but still warm enough that I don’t get cold when the sun goes down.

The kimono is a wool hitoe I found at a thrift shop a while ago. The yuki is a bit short on me, so I usually widen/open the collar more to try to stretch it as much as possible. But still, my wrists feel a little naked sometimes.

The obi came from an antique market and is extremely short — only around 310cm. Because of that I can really only do rōnin musubi (the one in the photo) or karuta musubi with it. There’s some small damage here and there, but it was only 500円 and I really liked the dark colours and the rough texture (I was told this was wool too)

I used a belt instead of an obijime because I wanted to keep the styling more casual and everyday feeling. I could have done without the obiage, now that I look at the pictures.

The geta are karasu-omote. I really love the darker, ashy bamboo colour of them. I know they’re more commonly paired with yukata, but personally I think karasu-omote looks really chic with tabi and kimono too.

I have wide feet, and could only find mens geta that fit the width. I have short toes as well. Is there too much showing in the front? Should I get them shortened in the front, or try to find shorter geta? My heel doesn’t hang off the back by much, maybe half a centimetre

So, to give context, around ten years ago I went to Japan with my family. I was still pretty young then, and I remember we went to a sort of second hand kimono shop while there and bought some things. Years later I found them in my closet, and since I'm not the most knowledgeable in traditional Japanese wear, I'm quite at a loss at what I specifically own here. I've understood that traditionally kimono has multiple layers and is quite expensive, so I doubt this is a genuine kimono or a part of it. I've also considered that it might be a yukata or something similar, as the fabric is pretty thin and light. However, I'm not sure at all. I also bought what I think is an obi, or parts of it, but I'm not sure. Anybody with a bit more expertise could help me at identifying what type of clothing this is and what type of obi(?) I might have bought back then? The items are still a pretty color and if possible, I'd consider even wearing them in the future. But to mindfully wear it, I'd obviously have to know what I have at first.

Thanks in advance!

(Images attached)

Recently, I have a thing for plain looking obi. However it needs to have that something something 🤪 the photo can't really capture the beauty of this obi but it looks great in person. With some gold underneath those silver mesh Obidome is a brooch.

Ereyesterday I posted to this forum looking for help because I haven't been able to get my o-taiko to sit properly. (Original post: https://www.reddit.com/r/kimono/s/LG4kh7ArxB).

I got tons of really useful feedback from the community, but in particular I must shout out u/Lazy_Classroom7270 for recommending me this tutorial for the twist method for o-taiko. And it worked!! The video was super clear and easy to follow, and I'm super proud with the result! The tail is super long I know, and the drum's a bit wonky, but I unfortunately didn't have enough time to redo it correctly.

Thank you again for everyone who gave advice!

(The third photo is my previous o-taiko, before switching to the twist method)

I'm truly stumped :( I've never been able to get my o-taiko to sit right, and I've tried several different methods and tutorials. This time I was feeling really good with a Billy Matsunaga tutorial on YouTube for o-taiko with fukuro obi, but yet again it's sagging and too pathetic for leaving the house in. What on earth am I doing wrong??

I've been so busy with life it's pretty much all I can do to keep up with right now, but here have some pretty antiques to look at. :)

Got kimono/haori that you don't really wear anymore? Get a mask and some wall-hooks!

I really enjoy this one, as the little battery-light on my smoke detector shines down on it in the dark JUST Enough to make it a super-creepy shadow...

(Yes, it took a couple of weeks, but my wife HAS gotten used to it)

She is so pretty!

I think I have worn this kimono quite a few times in the past few months. However.... It's an awase, which means I have washed and kept it. It's too hot to wear this now. One of my fave. Not going to lie. Hoping the shop has a random 50% off so I could get another cat kimono🤪

An older picture, but wanted to share my menswear inspired fit with stripes and the geometric scarf. I wanted an overall “winter” feel to the outfit and photos.

My obi was tied in samurai/ronin musubi and I used 2 leather belts as obijime.

And I also committed the taboo act of wearing my hair down 🫣

would be kinda funny

Went out with my Sister's family and my grandmother who is visiting from the Philippines!

Our first stop is a place I know well, Asakusa!

The next stop is shibuya to take a picture with hachiko.

And of course we can never ever ever ever leave out eating.

My outfit:

Beautiful shouken hitoe.

Red kenjo-gara hakata obi (otaiko)

Red chirimen obi age

Navy blue marukuge obijime

Setta with red hanao

+ A nemo squishy toy

Got this cool find from a friend just because I wanted a kimono on my office wall and my kimono are too big to fit my space. I loved the pattern on this and fits well with my earth tones. I can see she was repurposed with the sleeves to fit into modern times, and they tried to recline the kimono but it seems to have either been stored improperly or the dye of the new lining interacted with the material. Either way it’s a cool find and I just wanted to share in bring her back to her glory ✨👘💙

I absolutely love the ducks 😊

Also, ignore the juban collar. Twas too early and my brain wasn't awake yet 😭

Hello everyone! I’ve been following this subreddit and admiring your beautiful kimono and haori every day — I’m a huge fan! Unfortunately, I don’t own a kimono, and I don’t really dare to wear my haori in everyday life (it’s not very common where I live, in France, and I don’t like drawing too much attention to myself). But I do own these two pieces without really knowing what they are exactly… their age, whether they’re formal, the technique used — I’m not really sure. So I thought I’d ask the experts here if anyone could help me identify them?