accesories and neccesities

[aerish]

Hi,

I have a kimono, I'm looking for an obi, and I have my geta sandals, tabi socks, and obijime.  I know that to wear a kimono there are other items that you need, but I'm not exactly sure what they all are or where to buy them.  The only online store I could find that offered all these is currently down due to the death of the owner and I've had no luck finding another store.

Please help me,

Emily

[chiiyo]

*tired* just finished rewriting my entire project proposal on "The Evolution of Kimono: The effect of western imperialism on japanese culture"

Okay, since Kyoaki-san hasn't replied yet I shall try to help. I am assuming you are female, and you are wishing to wear a furisode?? *suddenly wishes there was a way to ship my whole folder of kimono links over*

Firstly, some all-rounders
www.asahi-jc.com (sells a lot of things, but are mostly quite expensive)
www.shop-japan.co.jp/english-boku/index.3html.htm (japanese based store with  commercially made stuff)
cocoro.webspacetemp.com/EMain.htm (sells only some stuff, but interestingly they have umbrellas and sensu)

For your obi you could try this shop:
motoya.safeshopper.com/

You will need zori sandals to go with those tabi (tabi are worn only with zori, not with geta. geta is worn barefoot with a yukata, not kimono) You can get the tatami ones or you could get the padded/brocade ones which look better with nice kimono. There are places which sell matching zori and kinchaku(bags) but they are quite expensive.
www.asahi-jc.com/zourikn.htm (expensive)
www.jpnkimono.com/home.html (look under accessories)
cocoro.webspacetemp.com/Egeta.htm (some tatami, some padded)
www.nbstore.com/tatami.htm (tatami)

You will also need a nagajuban (otherwise known as juban (underkimono). the newer ones are made from polyester or damask silk and look pastel pink in colour. With a white colour. Those intended to be worn with furisodes have long rounded at the edge sleeves.) Ichiroya sells some of these, or if you don't mind the price, you could try Ichoya.com If I remember correctly they sell a lot of nagajuban, but all of them quite expensive.
www.ichoya.com

Han Eri (half-collar) Usually white, but I see a lot of patterned and embroidered ones in my kimono magazine. You sew this to the collar of your nagajuban to create a defined collar line. I don't know where to get the coloured and embellished ones, but these places ought to sell the white ones.
www.nbstore.com/kimo-acc.htm
cocoro.webspacetemp.com/Ekomono.htm

Eri-shin, lining for han-eri
Date-jime, belt to hold nagajuban together.
Date-eri (only if you're interested. Is a second collar, inserted between the collar of the kimono and the han eri. Er. third collar, sorry) one of the accessories link ought to have it.
Koshi-himo, sashes for kimono and obi
Obi
Obi ita, inserted in front of the obi to prevent it from being wrinkled
obi makura, a pad typically for tying Taiko bow. I have no idea whether it is needed for other bows.
Obi-age, obi sash. Can be found in motoya.
Obi-jime. Ichiroya sells.

And hopefully a few books on kimono and how to wear it.

Hope I helped! (actually I got a lot more links but got a bit lazy to set them all down. You could try Yahoo Directories. Don't search for kimonos, try and find the category kimonos under business. They should have a listing of about 25-odd online kimono shops.

[Kiyoaki]

Dear Cyberhippy,

I'm glad to see there are others, who have so much to contribute here. Your list of sources will be helpfull to many.

Contrary to what many may think, I'm not the universal 'answer' person. For one thing, I have no practical experience dressing in women's kimono. So, anything connected with that is beyond me. However, men's clothing is my forte'.

No one should wait on another person to respond first. The whole concept of a message board is to exchange information (right or wrong). Whenever I post a message, I'm looking for an exchange of views. My greatest reward comes when I receive a contrary response, which makes me reconsider my previous view.

Perhaps I should explain, my primary interest was first, wearing kimono, and only secondly, the history and development of this art form. Beyond that lay an enlarged appreciation for textiles as a medium of expression, which goes far beyond Japanese clothing. In short, my focus now is historical and technical first (and I wish there were others who shared my interest), and the practical comes second. Anything else should be fair game for everyone.

I hope this explanation ecourages more people to feel they can contribute to the board. I think we all benefit when we get the most responses. After all, no one has a monopoly on experience.

Kiyoaki

[aerish]

Thank you very much Yuriko, I welcome any and all information I can get my hands on about kimonos.  I am not ashamed to say I am quite ignorant about them as I am young and living in America.

So, thank you for the links and information, it is very much appreciated.

-Emily

[chiiyo]

I hope it helped... I have actually found many other sites which sell these things, but these are the links I've kept. Maybe because they were good places to shop from? I wouldn't know, I have only bought from Ichiroya.

Oh I forgot some others.
www.risingsunimports.com
www.kyotokimono.com
www.yokodana.com
www.trocadero.com/kimonome/
www.kimonogirl.com

Don't put yourself down because you're young. I'm also considered young... (though I still can't reconcile with myself that I'm already 17...) but I know a lot more about kimono than my peers. Most of it used to come from looking at sites selling or promoting kimono. Nowadays I try and collect as many japanese culture books. I have about 9. Don't worry, you'll soon have your own set of links to refer to.

One tip is, instead of searching for "kimono", try searching for a specific piece. I found Ichiroya by searching "oburisode". Try things like "nagajuban", "maru obi", "iro-tomesode", "haori" and you'll be able to evade most of the stores selling polyester bathing robes.

And here's the yahoo link
dir.yahoo.com/Business_and_Economy/Shopping_and_Services/Apparel/Specialty/Kimono/

[Kou Hiko]

If I may ask, what state do you live in? If you lived in Washington I could give you personal dressing lessons for free. Just a thought.

[chiiyo]

*sigh* I think it's sad that a country nearer to Japan and Asian to boot has less resources on kimono than America, one continent away...

Just wish there was someone who would give me kimono dressing lessons in Singapore...

[aerish]

thank you, but i'm in Texas, just a little too far for lessons ^___^  and i think i'm getting the hang of it, I found a kimono store here and the lady who owns it has been a great help to me.

[Kou Hiko]

On a side note, I just started working on my web site. I just started and know nothing about what I'm doing so it'll be a long time before it goes up. But the first thing I'm putting up is detailed instructions of how to put on kimono and dress obi with illustrations most likely drawn by me (I'm an okay artist so it shouldn't be too hard to follow.) I'll let you know of my progress so that people can teach them selves to wear kimono with the aid of pictures, the way I learned.

[Himiko]

If you are in USA and would like kimono accessories and stuff, you can order at www.kanaiya.co.jp if you do read Japanese. They have interesting items like obi-age, obi-jime, zori and other stuff. However if you do not understand/read Japanese, you can view the page using the translator by Babel online, so everything comes out in English for your convenience.
The catch is that u have to order through the US company, Asahi. Asahi will email you an order form.
However, everything will still be at the stated price (converted from yen to USD), and u will have to pay for postage, and not any extra handling fees.

[chiiyo]

Welcome to the ichiroya board, Himiko! Sorry haven't been checking this place for a long time, I have exams coming up. Thank you for that link... *adds it to her favourites* Even though I still can't really read japanese... it's still useful to have...

[Himiko]

I also checked out another Japanese site, which has zori and geta. www.gendaiya.co.jp
They have all sorts of formal, semi-formal, casual zori as well as men's/women's geta. However the site is totally in Japanese. I emailed them and they said that they are willing to ship overseas if customers pay for the shipping costs. Still, it is fun to check out the footwear, nevertheless.

Hello CyberHippy and good luck for the exams!

[Himiko]

In addition to CyberHippy's comprehensive lists (good job!), you also need the "korin", a sort of elastic belt-like thing, with ends like an alligator clip, to hold the Y shaped collar folds together, so that it does not come apart at the chest. It snakes around behind the collar/lapel folds and is invisble outside the outer kimono.

[jrockersplaytoy]

this is another late reply *duck* but if anyone here lives in or near atlanta, and would like some dressing lessons, I'm up for being a teacher for a day ^_^

-Stephanie

[chiiyo]

Just a note: the shop-japan place is actually quite good too. I've been inquiring about their prices for tabi and zori and they are pretty reasonable, in fact much cheaper than a lot of other links.

Keep in mind I live in Singapore, so shipping charges are cheaper to my country from Japan than from America.

Another point of note: I was conversing with three different online vendors for the past week about buying some taroushi (kimono wrappers) for my kimono. One of them is Ichiroya, one of them is the shop-japan place, and another is a america-based online shop Rising Sun Imports. In the end I am buying from Ichiroya because it's the cheapest, but a point to note that when I look at my inbox, I notice that both the japanese vendors have "Thank You Very Much" in their subject title, whilst Rising Sun Imports simply said "Re: Washi wrappers". I find it amusing...

[chiiyo]

*blink* I wasn't trying to point out how rude people in America are, simply the difference in their attitudes, and how you present it. I mean, the american vendor was also extremely polite in her email to me, it was just that the two japanese vendors tended to long but polite subject titles, whilst the american would rather go straight to the point first.