page_title: Kimono
section_title: Construction
hierarchical_section_title: Kimono / Construction
caption_attribution_description: kimono parts
context_page_description: The kimono is a traditional Japanese garment and the national dress of Japan. The kimono is a flat, T-shaped garment with square sleeves and a rectangular body, worn left over right unless the wearer is deceased. It is always worn with an obi, and commonly worn with accessories such as zōri and tabi socks.
  Kimono are mostly made from traditional bolts of fabric known as tanmono. There are different types of kimono for men, women and children, and the style of the kimono can indicate the wearer's age, gender, formality of occasion and - less commonly - the wearer's marital status. Types of kimono range in formality from the very least to the very most formal of occasions.
  In modern Japan, the kimono is uncommonly worn as everyday dress, and has steadily fallen out of fashion as the most common garment for a Japanese person to own and wear. Kimono are now most commonly seen at summer festivals, where people frequently wear the yukata, and is less commonly seen at funerals, weddings, and other formal events.
context_section_description: Kimono are traditionally made from a single bolt of fabric known as a tanmono, which is roughly 11.5m long and 36 cm wide for women, and 12.5m long and 42 cm wide for men. The entire bolt is used to make one kimono, and some men's tanmono are woven to be long enough to create a matching haori jacket and juban as well. Some custom bolts of fabric are produced for especially tall or heavy people, such as sumo wrestlers, who must have kimono custom-made by either joining multiple bolts, weaving custom-width fabric, or using non-standard size fabric. Kimono linings are made from bolts of the same width.
  Kimono have a set method of construction, which allows the entire garment to be taken apart, cleaned and resewn easily. As the seam allowance on every nearly every panel features two selvedges that will not fray, the woven edges of the fabric bolt are retained when the kimono is sewn, leading to large and often uneven seam allowances; unlike Western clothing, the seam allowances are not trimmed down, allowing for a kimono to be resewn to different measurements without the fabric fraying at the seams; for children's kimono, tucks may be sewn into the waist, shoulders and sleeves, which are then let out as the child grows, as even children's kimono are made from adult-width bolts.
  Historically, kimono were taken apart entirely to be washed - a process known as arai-hari. Once cleaned, the fabric would be resewn by hand; this process, though necessary in previous centuries, is uncommon in modern-day Japan, as it is relatively expensive.
  Despite the expense of hand-sewing, however, some modern kimono, including silk kimono and all formal kimono, are still hand-sewn entirely; even machine-sewn kimono require some degree of hand-sewing, particularly in finishing the collar, the hem, and the lining, if present. Hand-sewn kimono are usually sewn with a single running stitch roughly 3 millimetres (0.12 in) to 4 millimetres (0.16 in) long, with stitches growing shorter around the collar area for strength. Kimono seams, instead of being pressed entirely flat, are pressed to have a 'lip' of roughly 2 millimetres (0.079 in) (known as the kise) pressed over each seam. This disguises the stitches, as hand-sewn kimono are not tightly sewn, rendering the stitches visible if pressed entirely flat.
caption: Diagram of the kimono parts
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