by Steve Lussing

Created on: April 23, 2008   Last Updated: September 17, 2009

The Kimono is ubiquitous in Japanese history, culture, and tradition. To the Japanese it means simply "thing worn" or "clothing". It is the only garment worn throughout history by the people of Japan for as long as most of the rest of the world has known them. The predecessor to the present day Kimono is the "ko-sode", meaning "small sleeves", referring to its narrow arms. The Kimono we now tend to associate with Japan is the "furi-sode" with its wide open sleeves.

The Kimono is a functional garment in that it is of a single size which is adjusted for length at the waist by the "obi", or sash and in that it is intended to be worn by both men and women. Whereas in early Japan a dozen or more layers of kimono of different colors would be worn they are now normally worn as a single layer over a slip garment. One can only wonder at the practical challenge in adjusting the obi to accommodate a dozen or more kimonos.

A "tan", or bolt of cloth measuring about 9 m by 30 cm is used to make one Kimono. The cloth is cut into four patterns, one each for the back and front and one each for the sleeves. When buying fabric for making one kimono one buys a tan. There are sixteen parts to the overall pattern, such as "yuki" for sleeve length, "sode" for sleeve, "eri" for collar, "tamoto" for sleeve pouch and so on. The traditional silk fabrics of the kimono have given way to rayon, cotton, and other low maintenance fibers with the exception of the traditional wedding kimono which is still made of silk.

The history of the kimono included a fling as fashion statement during the Heian period (794-1185) with the introduction of the historical beginnings of class consciousness as Japanese women began favoring the look of up to a dozen layers of kimonos of different shades which would show in the sleeve edges and collars. In more affluent households even more layers were worn, as many as could comfortably be accommodated. The degree of comfort and the number of layers worn reflected the fineness of the silk and the affordability of one's time and the assistants needed to don them. A poor peasant girl attempting to do the same with the simple hemp styles her family could afford could certainly not present herself very well.

This early manifestation of style consciousness naturally led to the establishment of a class hierarchy as expressed in the style and pattern of one's clothing, during the Edo period, also known as the Tokugawa period (1603-1868). This was a development predicated

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