Even if the kimono is originally of Chinese origin, Japanese people have been wearing kimonos for hundreds of years, and the most beautiful examples were a product of 17th and 18th century Japanese design.
The combinations of color and cloth traditionally indicated the wearer’s political and social status and the colors of kimonos varied with the time of year. These days, the kimono is no longer a purely traditional garment.
Traditionally, all girls in Japan learned to make their own clothes and sew. But sewing was less difficult than in the west. The haori, girdle and kimono, and even the long-hanging sleeves, used only parallel stitches. The garments were, actually, taken apart for cleaning, and each piece, after being slightly starched, was stretched on a board for drying, before being stitched back together again.
There are many different kinds of kimono clothing: the long-sleeved, gorgeous kinds worn by young girls or geisha, the formal kimono stamped with the wearer’s emblem and worn on ceremonial occasions; men’s kimonos and children’s kimonos. A young girl would wear a kimono with long sleeves and an Obi, a broad silk or brocade band about 12 feet long and 12 inches wide. As the girl gets older, her kimono designs become smaller and the colors richer and deeper while the obi is worn lower and made narrower. In addition, haori, a short knee length kimono, is often worn. Nowadays, a kimono is typically only donned on special occasions and is mostly worn by women, but some men still wear this garb. Both haori and kimono may be hung on a hard wood bar as wall art.
As an ideal gift or indulgence, kimono clothing is versatile, a welcome addition to any wardrobe.
Perhaps the most popular color for a kimono is red, derived from safflower. The yukata has much in common with the kimono, only it is made of light weight cotton and is more casual.