Men's Slate Blue Yukata 'Aonibi'

Slate blue in a slubbed weave, a black obi, and nothing else to think about

A yukata is the simplest thing in a Japanese wardrobe: one long piece of cloth cut into a robe, crossed left over right, tied at the waist. This one keeps it that simple. The cloth is a slate blue with a slubbed, chambray-like weave that shows a fleck of lighter thread across the whole surface, so the colour reads as blue from a distance and as a texture up close. The sleeves are wide and square. The collar is a deep crossover. The obi is black, wide and flat, and it is the only contrast on the garment.

It is the yukata to buy first, because it is the one that looks right on everyone. The blue sits between navy and grey and goes with any skin tone and any room. It looks like workwear from across the road and like something considered up close, and it does not ask you to understand anything before you put it on.

The name, Aonibi, is an old Japanese colour name, a blue dulled with grey, the colour of indigo cloth that has been washed for a year. It is the colour the cloth is, without improvement.

The weave is polyester with a dry, slubbed hand, chosen because a slate blue this even needs to stay even through washing, and because a yukata is worn in the warm months and should weigh almost nothing. It is not lined. It does not need to be.

It comes as a set. The obi is included, and so are a folding fan and a small bag, which is how a yukata is sold for the summer festivals in Japan and how this one is sold here. Cross the fronts left over right, wrap the obi twice at the waist, knot it at the back or the hip, and the whole outfit is done in a minute.

The cut is long, falling to the ankle, with the width to walk in. Worn at home it is a robe. Worn out with sandals it is a summer outfit that needs nothing else, and nothing else should be added to it, because the plainness is the design.

At three metres it is a plain blue robe and a black belt. At thirty centimetres the weave shows its slub, the lighter threads crossing the darker ones, and the cloth looks like it has a history. It is the plainest thing in the collection and the one people ask about.

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