On wearing yukatas.

[chiiyo]

I just bought a bolt of blue yukata cloth and intend to sew it into a yukata. Just a question though: is it normal or okay to wear obi accessories with a yukata? I'm thinking of buying one of those new synthetic hanhaba obis on Ichiroya right now, but they look heavy and seems to require at least an obijime. Can I wear those hanhaba obi with a yukata, or would it look strange?

And I believe someone has mentioned this before, but it's not on this board: What does one wear under a yukata?

[fraise]

The synthetic hanhaba obis are lightweight, no accessories needed If you wear them with komon (which is acceptable for young women), you can wear an obiage and/or obijime, depending on the musubi.

Under yukata you can wear hadajuban and susoyoke for modesty, or even nothing if your yukata is opaque enough. I think most people wear hadajuban and susoyoke, though.

Welcome back to the board, I wondered where you'd gone

[chiiyo]

Heh... school's a chore.

Thanks for the information! I realised it myself when I flipped through one of my kimono kitsuke books.

Another question: There's currently an item described as a yukata obi listed here. What is it actually? Heko Obi?

[bawsin]

I'm the proud owner of a (second-hand) yukata, which I bought exclusively for home wear. It's very comfortable, and I'm happy with it.

Here's my question. How do you wear it while at home, i.e. how do you tie the waist? All the descriptions I've seen of wearing yukata involve wearing an obi for outdoor/public purposes. Yet I'm told that people wear them at home for loungewear, and even to bed. Obviously, an obi with bow is unsuitable for this

Do women wearing yukata at home (1) use any old tie or sash for tying the waist, and (2) do they tie in front or at the back? Or is it a matter of "anything goes"? And when wearing a yukata to bed... do you maintain the fold at the waist? (Doesn't sound very comfortable!)

And lastly... what do you use as a belt/sash/"plain" obi? (My yukata didn't come with a belt, and I understand that most yukata don't.)

Thanks for any help, and sorry if this is a stupid question

- Bawsin

[Kiyoaki]

I maybe on shaky ground, but from my experience women can wear a man's kaku-obi __ which is nearly identical to a han-haba type in its' proportions__ and that's tied with the usual 'clam shell' knot.

I don't know if the heko-obi for men would be appropriate for women, but it could be tied in a half-hitch after circling the waist twice. If you can't tolerate any kind of knot, then just twist the ends under and over the obi itself.

Kiyoaki

[Ume]

What you would wear to bed is some thing else then the yukata you can buy from Ichiroya.
These sleeping kimono are light in material and shorter, you will not need an ohashori at the waist, so you won't need extra koshihimo etc. These would all cause extra bulk and you can imagine this doesn't sleep very well.
Mostly these "sleeping" kimono come with a matching tie. If not you can tie it with what ever you like. But not with a big bow, for sleeping, the ties that usually come with these yukata are very small (not wide) (these bed yukata show up on eBay every ones and a while)

Of course for lounging in the house you can wear everything you like, also a kimono/yukata/sleeping-yukata tied with a kaku obi.
But these men's obi are quite less wide then womenfs. Womenfs hanhaba are around 15centimeters and men's kaku obi are no more then 6 too maybe 9 centimeters. You will look less elegant with these menfs obi and you can't tie the kaku in fun bows and they do not come in fun colors like hanhaba do.
You can tie the obi anyway you like (as long as you stay in the house)


I found an example of the sleeping yukata:

aeka-hp.hp.infoseek.co.jp/nemaki.html

[bawsin]

Thanks for your kind clarification, Ume! I hadn't known about the different types of yukata before... I'd naively assumed that all yukata had the same function. (Also I'd never seen the sleeping kimono mentioned in The Book of Kimono or anywhere else.)

The second-hand yukata I bought (it was from the local Value Village!), I suspect it's a sleeping kimono. It's certainly made for the tourist or export market, as the label is in English! The pattern is a fairly large one, with cranes, chrysanthemum and iris. The colours are indigo and white with some mauve, grey and black accents. Tellingly, the pattern is paler on the inside of the yukata (i.e. the dye mainly colours the outside).

Frankly it's not a particularly elegant yukata, but then I really liked the idea of having a "practice" yukata that I could lounge around in without having to worry about damaging it! Anyhow, this puppy wasn't sold with a tie, although of course it could have started out life with one. So I'll just have to find something else that will serve - something narrow and soft, as you suggest.

(Incidentally I've got a much fancier vintage shibori yukata on hold at the moment. That one will certainly be worn out-of-doors with obi etc.!)

Ume, thanks again... my goodness, this forum is a treasure-house of wonderful tips and information. Aren't we lucky to have it?

[Kiki]

I bought a yukata off of ebay about a year ago, and I wear it as a robe around the house. It is probably the smartest thing I have bought in a long time, as I wear it all the time, and it is perfect to throw on top of pjs when I go downstairs with my family. I tie it with a purple scarf-thing that matches a color in the pattern perfectly.

I got a friend a yukata (with bunnies!) and she wore it everyday around the house. Even my mother wanted a yukata as a light summer robe, so I'm getting her one too.

I think they are so wonderful!

[Nicole]

I have quite a few yukatas and I love wearing them out (since I'm way too afraid of wearing my kimonos out and messing them up... they make me happy enough hanging on the walls). Okay, anyway, they're too long so I do fold them at the waist and tie it off. But I find myself having to fix this quite a few times a day. I know I'm tying the thing tight enough and folding everything up right... so I was thinking about sewing up a bit of fabric from the bottom and making them the proper length for me. I would consider this blasphemy on my rather expensive vintage kimonos, but since it's my everyday clothing (oh I love them so much), I thought it might be okay. Um, so help... please.

[bawsin]

Shortening the yukata seems reasonable to me, but then I am not Japanese :-)

This issue is related to a question I have, which is: why is the ohashori (fold of surplus fabric below the waist) required in the first place? As each kimono was tailored to the woman who wore it, why not simply shorten the garment to the appropriate length, one that makes the ohashori unnecessary?

I can think of two reasons. One is that because the hem should (generally) come to one inch above the sole of the foot, it may be difficult to adjust it with precision without the use of an ohashori. Especially as some datejime and obi "pad up" more than others... you might find that the length of your un-ohashori'd kimono would vary slightly, depending on what you wore around your waist.

The other reason has to do with the inheritability of kimono. If you pass your kimono down from one generation to another, the ohashori allows each new wearer to adjust the length to suit her height. In that respect it's very flexible... up to a point.

What I'm more puzzled about is why the ohashori is sacrosanct today. For example, take a look at Kimono Hime magazine, with its beautiful young things wearing vintage/antique kimono. The models wear 2 or 3 kimono in layers to compensate for the short length of the oldest ones (which are worn on top). Now, the interesting thing is that these old ones are often too short precisely because the model uses an ohashori! If the model didn't - i.e. if she omitted the fold at the waist altogether - very often the vintage kimono would be the right length. But, apparently that's unthinkable.

I think it's fascinating that, even in the unorthodox youth fashion of Kimono Hime, it's more acceptable to layer kimono in a bohemian fashion than it is to omit the ohashori. Why?

[Kiyoaki]

If you look at woodblock prints from the 18 th and 19 th centuries, you won't find women using the 'tuck'. Instead the full length trails after the wearer. This style is preserved by the geisha, who still do without the fold at the waist. However, that style of wearing the kimono demands that the wearer lift the hem when walking out of doors.

Perhaps the fold was adopted once women started working away from the home. If you're going to be working on your feet, then the trailing hem is a nuisance. The solution was to modify how to wear the kimono so it would suit that circumstance, without permanently eliminating the traditional option by reducing the length altogether. Hence, the innovation of the waist fold. Perhaps that idea has become so ingrained in people, that even when the need doesn't exist, the form is still followed. This wouldn't be the first time it's happened.

[Flock]

well yeah, tradition. Kimono Hime is much more creative in fashion than most stiff traditional magazines on kimono.
But of course there will always be tradition to contend with, I'd never wear a kimono without an ohashori, unless I was wearing it under another kimono (think of the bulk it could cause) if it happened to be the right length. But that's all very well for me to say, I've neatened my ohashori technique!
There's nothing wrong with doing things diffirently.. after all, the Kosode originally developed from an undergarment!
How about a hikifurisode? similar (or the same) to what geisha wear they're furisode with slightly padded hems, worn by brides so they don't always have to be tucked up, but can trail.
But because kimono isn't everyday wear it's not likely that fashions will change!
I think kimono looks more complete with an ohashori, and it's an advantage when buying vintage kimono, because we're not having them tailor made, so it's all to the good