Japanese Clothing

Two hundred and thirty-nine pieces of traditional Japanese clothing, sorted by what they are rather than by what they look like. That sounds obvious until you shop elsewhere and find a haori, a kimono jacket, a happi and a yukata all filed under "kimono". Here each garment has its own collection, its own name and its own cut, and this page is the map: what a kimono is and is not, why the jinbei exists, what the hakama was for, and which of the eight you will actually wear.

Wafuku: why Japanese clothing fits the way it does

Wafuku is the Japanese word for Japanese dress, coined when Western clothes, yofuku, arrived in the nineteenth century and the old garments suddenly needed a name. Every piece of it is built on the same principle: a length of cloth, straight panels, no darts, folded around the body and held by a belt. There is no size in the Western sense because there is no seam that has to land on your shoulder. A kimono fits a range of bodies that a tailored jacket cannot, and a men's kimono and a women's differ only in sleeve length, obi height and print. That is why everything in this collection can be photographed on a man and on a woman and be the same garment, and why the sizes on each page are given as garment measurements in centimetres rather than as a letter you have to trust.

The eight garments, and what each one is for

The kimono is the full-length wrap, lined, closed left over right with an obi; the yukata is the same shape in unlined cotton for summer and the bath. The haori is the jacket worn over the kimono: thigh length, open, straight sleeves, a flat collar band and nothing to fasten. The kimono jacket is the haori cut short to the hip, which is the version that ends up over a tee and jeans. The jinbei is a two-piece summer set, wrap top and shorts in crinkled cotton gauze, and it is what Japan wears at home in July; the satin kimono robes and pajama sets live in the same collection. The happi coat is the long festival jacket, the crest or the print carried across the whole back, worn at the matsuri and at anything that wants a loud garment. The hakama is the wide pleated trouser samurai, archers and students wore over the kimono, sold here as pleated hakama, as hakama-style wide-leg trousers and as women's hakama skirts. The Japanese dress takes the kimono's lines and builds them as a dress, a skirt set or a blouse with a zip and a lining. And the school uniform, the sailor seifuku and the gakuran, is the one garment on this page the whole country has actually worn.

Kimono or yukata: the seven differences that matter

People ask this more than anything else, so here is the short version. Lining: the kimono is lined, the yukata is not. Fabric: kimono in satin, polyester or silk-look weaves; yukata in cotton. Collar: the kimono is worn over an under-layer whose collar shows, the yukata is worn on the skin. Sleeve: the formal women's kimono carries the furisode, the long hanging sleeve; the yukata never does. Obi: wide and stiff for the kimono, narrow and soft for the yukata. Footwear: zori or geta with tabi socks for the kimono, geta on bare feet for the yukata. Occasion: the kimono for ceremony and the evening, the yukata for summer festivals, the ryokan and the bath. None of the seven is the print. Both close left over right, always; the other way round is how the dead are dressed, and it is the first thing a Japanese eye checks. The Journal has the long version.

Where to start: the three pieces that get worn

Buy a kimono jacket first. It is the piece that leaves the house most, it costs the least to get wrong, and it makes Japanese clothing wearable with everything you already own. Sixty-three prints, from a single crane in gold line to a full Hokusai wave, on a light polyester that hangs rather than clings. Then a jinbei for summer, because once you have worn crinkled cotton gauze in July you will not want to take it off. Then, when you want the real thing, a yukata with its obi, and a pair of geta to finish it at the ground. The happi and the hakama come after that, when you know what you like.

Men's and women's Japanese clothing: the same garments, sorted by who wears them

Most of this collection is unisex by design: the haori, the jinbei, the sukajan and the happi are cut the same whoever wears them, because the fit comes from the wrap and the belt rather than from darts. Where it differs, a men's kimono runs shorter in the sleeve and plainer in the print, and a women's carries the furisode and a wider obi tied higher. The men's and women's collections sort the same garments by the model who wears them in the photograph, which is the only honest way to show a kimono jacket to someone who is going to put it on.

How to wear it, how to size it, how to wash it

Put the under-layer on first, close left over right, tie the obi above the hip bone rather than at the waist; a haori or a kimono jacket simply goes on open. The garment should hang straight, not cling. For size, read the centimetre measurements on each page and compare them with something you own: most pieces are cut to Asian sizing, about one size smaller than US or EU, and every page says whether to size up. Sizes run to 5XL. Wash cold, 30°C at most, because heat is what fades and shrinks; embroidery survives washing better than print, so wash a printed piece inside out. Store a kimono folded flat along its seams, never on a hanger, which pulls the shoulder out of shape. Everything here is made to Japanese designs in Asia, in cotton, linen or polyester as stated on each piece, never silk, and we say so on every page.

Traditional Japanese clothing: the questions we are asked

What is traditional Japanese clothing called?

Wafuku, literally Japanese clothing, as opposed to yofuku, Western clothing. The kimono is its best-known garment, but the haori, the jinbei, the happi, the hakama and the yukata are all wafuku too.

What is the difference between a haori and a kimono jacket?

Length. The haori reaches the thigh and is the traditional layer worn over a kimono; the kimono jacket is cut to the hip so it works over a tee and jeans. Both hang open with the same collar band and wide sleeve.

Can I wear Japanese clothing if I am not Japanese?

Yes, and it is welcomed by the people who make it. What matters is treating it as clothing rather than as a costume: wear it the right way round, and wear it more than once.

Is any of this made in Japan?

No. These pieces are made to Japanese designs, not in Japan; a cotton kimono actually sewn in Japan would cost well past $600. The material, construction and measurements listed on each page are exactly what you receive, and we would rather tell you than let you find out.