FAQs
These are some of the most common things we get asked about kimono and Japanese culture
1. WHAT IS A KIMONO, WHY IS IT SO LONG AND HOW DO YOU WEAR IT?
Women in Kimono (Image Source: https://ukiyo-e.org/)
Kimono is the traditional dress of Japan. The basic shape of a crossover front and dropped sleeves has been around for centuries and the history of kimono is fascinating if you want to look into it more deeply. Nowadays most Japanese people dress in Western clothes, but many still wear kimono for special occasions such as weddings, graduations and coming-of-age ceremonies.
Kimono can be quite complicated to put on as there are many layers which are wrapped and tied with lots of accessories, so people often go to specialist kimono dressers for help. There are also schools where you can learn to dress yourself and others. In Japan, you are even expected to gain qualifications in order to dress others for special occasions.
When you first see a ‘real’ kimono you will probably think it is made for a giant as they are very long! This is so it can be hitched up and tied around the waist. The collar is then smoothed and tied under the bust (ALWAYS left-over-right, regardless of gender), then the obi belt is wrapped and tied around the middle with a variety of straps and ties.
Of course, we don’t expect you to dress in full kimono for a trip to Tesco (although that would be amazing, and we have done it many times!). You can easily enjoy wearing your kimono as a house coat for flouncing around on a lazy Sunday afternoon, or to keep you warm whilst snuggling up for an evening of Netflix. Or how about making a statement on a bare wall by displaying your kimono as a work of art?
Nowadays if you would like to start wearing kimono, there are many useful videos on YouTube to help you. We recommend Billy Matsunaga’s wonderful channel to get you started:
2. WHAT ABOUT THE SHORTER JACKETS YOU SELL?
Woman putting on a haori (Image Source: https://ukiyo-e.org/)
These jackets are called haori. They are not ‘shortened kimono’ but garments in their own right which are made to be worn over kimono for going outdoors and keeping warm. They are often beautifully decorated, and even the linings (especially on older and men’s haori) can be surprisingly funky!
The beauty of haori from a Western perspective is that they are incredibly flattering for a variety of body shapes/sizes, and can be dressed up or down for any occasion. Some of our haori are 100 years old but still look incredibly fresh and modern because the designs are so ‘different’ to what we see in the West. If you visit our shop, please do try on a haori. You may be surprised how good you look in it!
3. WHY ARE YOUR KIMONO VINTAGE/ANTIQUE AND NOT NEW?
Stunning Dance Kimono
To buy a kimono new can cost upwards of £20,000 if it is hand painted or made using other specialist techniques. Each silk kimono is still stitched by hand, so that it may be carefully picked apart for cleaning if necessary. Fortunately for us, the value of kimono drops once it is used, which is how we can bring you such marvellous pieces at very affordable prices!
Since the early-mid 20th century, everyday kimono wearing declined as Western clothing became more popular. As a result, many of the industries associated with kimono manufacture – silk weaving, ‘yuzen’ painting, ‘shibori’ tie-dyeing etc – also dwindled and are now much less common. People have to train for many years to become a master of their technique, and fewer young people want to enter these professions. It is said that kimono manufacture using these techniques is now just 10% of what it used to be, and there are now museums in Japan where you can see these traditional art forms being preserved, and sometimes even have a go yourself.
4. WHAT ELSE CAN I DO WITH KIMONO?
Cushions made from Obi
After many discussions with friends and teachers in Japan, as well as almost 20 years’ experience of Japanese textiles and kimono culture, we believe it is absolutely fine to cut up and reuse any of the kimono, obi and other items we sell. Of course, with some of our more special items you may want to use more caution, but reusing is better than the Japanese concept of ‘mottainai’, which roughly translates as a feeling of regret for something being wasted. It’s much better to make an obi belt into 4 cushions that you use and love every day than to have it languishing, unused and unseen, in a drawer for years.
There are many used kimono shops in Japan and people not only buy them to wear, but also to pick apart and use the fabric for ‘remake’; this could be Western-style clothing, home furnishings or other decorative items.
Kimono and haori with stains or other imperfections can be remade into tops or skirts, or turned into stunning bags, patchwork quilts and other craft projects.
Obi fabric tends to be quite thick, so is perfect for cushions, evening bags, upholstery or even just made into a simple wall hanging (even simpler, just fold and hang a full obi as a statement piece on a wall).
Scraps can be framed or made into greeting cards, pin cushions and other small gifts.
5. CAN I WASH IT?
Women Washing Cloth in the Chofu Tama River in Musashi Province, from the series Six Tama Rivers (Image Source: https://ukiyo-e.org/)
All our items are sold as seen and non-returnable due to their vintage/antique nature, this means there may be some stains or other flaws. We check each item carefully and any damage is always reflected in the price. We even have an ‘over-loved’ bargain box in the shop for items that are more suited to using as fabric rather than clothing.
We do not recommend that you try to wash your items, and if you do so it is at your own risk. It may be possible depending on the fabric, dye etc but you will have to do your own research and take your own chance on this. In Japan there are specialist cleaners who pick apart kimono, sew them back into a long strip (each kimono is made from a narrow bolt of fabric which is about 12m long!), before skilfully washing, drying and re-stitching it by hand.
You may want to try dry-cleaning your garment but again, this is at your own risk. Many garments will be absolutely fine to dry clean, but please be aware that any gold outlines on painted items may be lost.
Our best advice is to love your garment as it is, but if you have to clean it then take it to the professionals and take your chance. Do your research and it should be fine!
6. DO YOU SELL ONLINE?
We do sell some pieces via our Instagram and Facebook pages each week
We do not intend to make this website into a selling site, but we do choose some pieces to sell via our Instagram and Facebook pages each week.
We will not send pictures, measurements etc of anything else from the shop that you may have seen on our social media pages, but we will hold an item for up to 7 days with no obligation if you are interested in coming to visit the shop in person.
We have a beautiful little boutique shop in Birmingham which is open 7 days a week and you are welcome to come at any time to try things on, and spend as long as you like looking at all the lovely things we have to offer. The shop is in hip Digbeth which is home to countless other independent shops, bars and restaurants as well as the iconic Custard Factory (just over the road from us) and with Instagrammable graffiti at every turn. Well worth a day out!
Our Retro Kimono shop is part of a collective of independent shops called Red Brick Market which is manned by a central payment desk, so we are not there all the time. However, if you are making a special trip and would like to meet us, you can get in touch via Instagram to arrange a time, and if you are after something in particular we will bring any other suitable stock for you to have a look at with no obligation.
Red Brick Market Birmingham
Floodgate Street, Digbeth, Birmingham
7. I’M WORRIED ABOUT CULTURAL APPROPRIATION…IS IT OK FOR ME TO WEAR A KIMONO?
Display Room of an English Shop in Yokohama (Image Source: https://ukiyo-e.org/)
In recent years cultural appropriation has become more of a mainstream concern, and rightly so in many cases. Indeed, if you were to come into our shop and say you were planning to wear a kimono to a Hallowe’en party with white makeup and chopsticks in your hair, we would gently explain why that is not appropriate and try to steer you away from that plan!
However, there is a big difference between appropriation and APPRECIATION and as long as you approach kimono with the latter it is absolutely ok to use kimono in any way you see fit.
We have many Japanese friends who are kimono makers and teachers, who wear kimono in their everyday lives and help to preserve the culture in Japan and throughout the world. They think it is amazing that we have opened a kimono shop in the UK and have all expressed their sincere hopes for our success. In many cases their first thoughts were that Westerners would buy kimono to wear as a long cardigan/housecoat, so that’s as good an endorsement as you can get.