Bordeaux Maxi Kimono 'Tsurubeni'

White cranes across the lower half of a long bordeaux satin robe, blossom above

Bordeaux to the ankle, with cranes. This long satin robe carries the birds across its lower half, white with pink-edged wings and red crowns, flying in a loose flock from the knee to the hem, with a few small blossoms scattered at the shoulders, on a ground of deep wine red that goes almost black where the cloth folds. The belt is cut from the same cloth and ties at the front. Wide sleeves to the elbow, a crossover front, and a hem that moves.

It is the long crane robe in the warmest colour, and the one that reads richest in a photograph, because wine-red satin has depth that a bright red does not, and white birds on it look like they were painted. They were printed, and we say so below.

The name, Tsurubeni, means crane crimson, the bird on the red of safflower dye, gone deep, and the robe is that red.

The cranes are printed, not embroidered, on a polyester satin with a smooth, glossy face and a fluid drape, chosen because satin is what makes a red this deep glow rather than sit, and because a long robe should fall straight. It is unlined and not sheer.

Cross the fronts left over right, wrap the belt once at the waist and tie it at the front or the side. The birds are all below the belt, so tied the robe reads as plain red above the waist and full of cranes below, which is the classical way to arrange a kimono.

Up close the cranes show every feather and the satin shows its weave. From across a room it is a long wine-red robe with white movement at the hem, and it is the one in the family for a winter evening.

It washes cold, inside out, and dries in an hour on a hanger. Kept on the back of the door rather than folded in a drawer, the satin stays smooth and the print stays where it was put.

It goes with nothing, with a black slip when the room is cool, and with a cold night and a warm room. Of the long crane robes, this is the deep one. Buy it in November.

Sizes run from M to XXXL. It is cut to Asian sizing and runs small, so take one size up from your usual. Between two sizes, take the larger.