Yukata Wearing (12/4)

Posted on April 12, 2014

How To Wear A Yukata?

When you are in Japan, you might consider buying a yukata (cotton summer kimono) or, if you have the money for it, an actual kimono. Mind you, real silk hand painted kimono’s are not exactly cheap so bring your creditcard if you are keen on getting one! Still it is one size fits all so compared to western style clothes it is a much better investment, although you might not have that many opportunities to wear them.

Once you have purchased your kimono or yukata, now comes the question… how to wear this beautiful piece of garment?

How to wear a yukata, step by step:

1. Put the Yukata on. Flip the long sleeves back over your arms, so that they won’t be in your way. 2. While one hand is holding both sides of the fabric together in front of your body, try to locate the center line of the garment (where the fabrics are sewed together)on the back of your body using the other hand. Fix the garment to the center. 3. Open up the garment and pull it up to the ankle level. 4. Bring the left side of the garment to the front and decide the correct length and width. 5. Open up the left side while keeping the length and bring the right side to the front. Decide the length. Bottom corner of the right side of the garment should be about 4″ from the ground. 6. Keep the right side garment and bring the left side on top of it. Decide the length. The bottom corner of the left side garment should be about 2″ from the ground. 7. Use Koshi-Himo and tie the garment around the waist. Make sure to tie tightly to avoid the garment getting loose. Tuck the Koshi-Himo in. 8. Find the side pockets, stick both hands, and pull the extra fabric over Koshi-Himo. Make sure to do the front and the back. *This layer around the waist is called Ohashori. Ohashori is supposed to show below the Obi. 9. Fix the shape of Ohashori and tie the second Koshi-Himo right below the bust. This one does not have to be as tight as the first one. Tuck the Koshi-Himo ends in. 10. If you are slim build, you may have extra fabric on the side of the upper body. At the side pockets, pull the back fabric to the front and the pull back the front fabric over it to hide the extra fabric. This will make a clean side look. 11. And now you are done! Make sure to tie an Obi around the waist for the complete Yukata look.