View source for Japanese clothing

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[[File:Man-and-lady-kimono.JPG|thumb|upright|Photograph of a man and woman wearing traditional clothing, taken in Osaka, Japan]]
There are typically two types of clothing worn in [[Japan]]: traditional clothing known as {{nihongo|'''Japanese clothing'''|和服|''wafuku''}}, including the national dress of Japan, the [[kimono]], and {{nihongo|'''Western clothing'''|洋服|''yōfuku''}} which encompasses all else not recognised as either national dress or the dress of another country.

Traditional Japanese fashion represents a long-standing history of traditional culture, encompassing colour palettes developed in the [[Heian period]], silhouettes [[Japanese missions to Tang China|adopted]] from [[Tang dynasty]] clothing and cultural traditions, motifs taken from [[Culture of Japan|Japanese culture]], [[Wildlife of Japan|nature]] and [[Japanese literature|traditional literature]], the use of types of [[silk]] for some clothing, and styles of wearing primarily fully-developed by the end of the [[Edo period]]. The most well-known form of traditional Japanese fashion is the kimono, with the term ''kimono'' translating literally as "something to wear" or "thing worn on the shoulders".<ref name="Tradition and Innovation">Assmann, Stephanie. "Between Tradition and Innovation: The Reinvention of the Kimono in Japanese Consumer Culture." ''Fashion Theory: The Journal of Dress, Body & Culture'' 12, no. 3 (September 2008): 359-376. ''Art & Architecture Source'', EBSCO''host'' (accessed November 1, 2016)</ref> Other types of traditional fashion include the clothing of the [[Ainu people#Culture|Ainu people]] (known as the {{transliteration|ain|attus}})<ref name="Kyoto National Museum">{{cite web |title=Ryukyu and Ainu Textiles |url=https://www.kyohaku.go.jp/eng/dictio/senshoku/ryui.html |website=kyohaku.go.jp |publisher=Kyoto National Museum |access-date=10 July 2020 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20200710185804/https://www.kyohaku.go.jp/eng/dictio/senshoku/ryui.html |archive-date=10 July 2020 |url-status=live}}</ref> and the clothes of the [[Ryukyuan people]] which is known as {{nihongo||琉装|[[Ryusou|ryūsō]]}},<ref>{{cite web |last1=Boivin |first1=Mai |title=Okinawa Traditional Costume – Ryuso |url=https://insideokinawa.wordpress.com/2013/04/22/ryukyu-beauties/ |website=insideokinawa.wordpress.com |date=22 April 2013 |access-date=10 July 2020 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20161018150400/https://insideokinawa.wordpress.com/2013/04/22/ryukyu-beauties/ |archive-date=18 October 2016 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Traditional Costume that Represents Okinawa's Culture and National Features, the "Ryusou". |url=http://okinawatravelinfo.com/feature/201601ryuusou/ |website=okinawatravelinfo.com |archive-url=https://archive.today/20160714163506/http://okinawatravelinfo.com/feature/201601ryuusou/ |archive-date=14 July 2016 |url-status=live}}</ref> most notably including the traditional fabrics of {{transliteration|ja|[[bingata]]}} and {{transliteration|ja|[[Kijōka-bashōfu|bashōfu]]}}<ref name="Kyoto National Museum"/> produced on the [[Ryukyu Islands]].

Modern Japanese fashion mostly encompasses {{transliteration|ja|yōfuku}} (Western clothes), though many well-known Japanese fashion designers – such as [[Issey Miyake]], [[Yohji Yamamoto]] and [[Rei Kawakubo]] – have taken inspiration from and at times designed clothes taking influence from traditional fashion. Their works represent a combined impact on the global fashion industry, with many pieces displayed at fashion shows all over the world,<ref name="Bonnie English">English, Bonnie. ''Japanese fashion designers : the work and influence of Issey Miyake, Yohji Yamamoto and Rei Kawakubo''. n.p.: Oxford; New York : Berg, 2011., 2011. ''Ignacio: USF Libraries Catalog'', EBSCO''host'' (accessed November 2, 2016).</ref> as well as having had an impact within the Japanese fashion industry itself, with many designers either drawing from or contributing to [[Japanese street fashion]].

Despite previous generations wearing traditional clothing near-entirely, following the end of [[World War II]], Western clothing and fashion became increasingly popular due to their increasingly-available nature and, over time, their cheaper price.<ref name=":4">Rybalko, Svitlana. "JAPANESE TRADITIONAL RAIMENT IN THE CONTEXT OF EMERGENT CULTURAL PARADIGMS." ''Cogito (2066-7094)'' 4, no. 2 (June 2012): 112-123. ''Humanities Source'', EBSCO''host'' (accessed October 29, 2016)
</ref>{{verify source|reason=this source might not actually validate this statement; please remove it if it doesn't.|date=September 2022}} It is now increasingly rare for someone to wear traditional clothing as everyday clothes, and over time, traditional clothes within Japan have garnered an association with being difficult to wear and expensive. As such, traditional garments are now mainly worn for ceremonies and special events, with the most common time for someone to wear traditional clothes being to summer festivals, when the {{transliteration|ja|[[yukata]]}} is most appropriate; outside of this, the main groups of people most likely to wear traditional clothes are [[geisha]], {{transliteration|ja|[[maiko]]}} and [[rikishi|sumo]] wrestlers, all of whom are required to wear traditional clothing in their profession.

Traditional Japanese clothing has garnered fascination in the Western world as a [[orientalism|representation]] of a different culture; first gaining popularity in the 1860s, [[Japonisme]] saw traditional clothing – some produced exclusively for export and differing in construction from the clothes worn by Japanese people everyday – exported to the West, where it soon became a popular item of clothing for [[La Japonaise (painting)|artists]] and fashion designers. Fascination for the clothing of Japanese people continued into WW2, where some stereotypes of Japanese culture such as [[geisha#"Geisha (Gee-sha) girls"|"geisha girls"]] became widespread. Over time, depictions and interest in traditional and modern Japanese clothing has generated discussions surrounding [[cultural appropriation]] and the ways in which clothing can be used to stereotype a culture; in 2016, the "Kimono Wednesday" event held at the Boston Museum of Arts became a key example of this.<ref name=Valk>Valk, Julie. "The 'Kimono Wednesday' protests: identity politics and how the kimono became more than Japanese." ''Asian Ethnology''no. 2 (2015): 379. ''Literature Resource Center'', EBSCO''host'' (accessed October 31, 2016).</ref>

==History==
=== Yayoi period (Neolithic to Iron Age)===
[[File:Yayoi people attires.JPG|thumb|Reconstructed Yayoi clothing]]
Little is known of the clothing of the [[Yayoi period]]. In the 3rd-century {{transliteration|zh|Weizhi Worenchuan}} ({{nihongo|魏志倭人伝|Gishi [[Wajinden]]}}, a section of the ''[[Records of the Three Kingdoms]]'' compiled by Chinese scholar [[Chen Shou]]),<ref>[http://www.geocities.jp/mb1527/wajinden.htm 魏志倭人伝] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101016074410/http://www.geocities.jp/mb1527/wajinden.htm |date=2010-10-16 }}, Chinese texts and its Japanese translation</ref>{{better source needed|date=October 2021}} there is some description of clothing worn in Japan. It describes broad cloth (possibly [[Loom#Flying shuttle|double-width]]), made into unshaped garments by being tied about the waist and shoulders.<ref name=iz2_1>{{cite web |title=The Costume Museum - The Rebirth of The Tale of Genji |url=https://www.iz2.or.jp/english/fukusyoku/fukusei/index.htm |website=www.iz2.or.jp |publisher=The Costume Museum, Kyoto |access-date=16 October 2021}} See "Explanation" button for relevant costumes.</ref>
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=== Kofun period (300–538 AD) ===
{{Image frame|content=
<gallery mode=packed heights=250>
File:Japanese Figurines (30028363686).jpg|Museum-reconstruction figurines (conducting religious ceremony; note {{transliteration|ja|[[Shide (Shinto)|shide]])}}
File:HaniwaChieftainIbaraki500CE.jpg|{{transliteration|ja|[[Haniwa]]}} figure
File:Japanese Figure (30062324725).jpg|Reconstruction
File:Japanese Figure (29435641613).jpg|{{transliteration|ja|[[Haniwa]]}} figure with reconstruction
File:Haniwa, Tomb Culture 300-500 AD, Honshu, Japan - AMNH - DSC06256.JPG|Figure (reconstruction?) from [[Honshu]], decorated with red pigment
File:Yokohama Silk Museum 043.JPG
File:Yokohama Silk Museum 045.JPG|{{transliteration|ja|[[Haniwa]]}} figure with reconstruction
File:Yokohama Silk Museum 044.JPG
File:Periodo kofun, haniwa, donna, VI sec, 01.JPG|6th-century figure
File:Tanko-Armor-Kofun-Period-by-Sugiyama-Sueo.png|[[Tanko armour]]
File:Wrestler, 5th-6th century AD, Japan, earthenware - Art Institute of Chicago - DSC00112.JPG|Figure in a loincloth
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Until the 5th century AD, there is little artistic evidence of the clothing worn in Japan.<ref name="LtK">{{cite web |last1=Kennedy |first1=Alan |title=Japanese Traditional Dress and Adornment |url=https://fashion-history.lovetoknow.com/clothing-around-world/japanese-traditional-dress-adornment |website=LoveToKnow |language=en}}</ref> [[Kofun period]] clothing is known from clay sculptures used atop {{transliteration|ja|[[haniwa]]}} offering cylinders.<ref name="MET_kofun">{{cite web |last1=Department of Asian Art |title=Kofun Period (ca. 300–710) |url=https://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/kofu/hd_kofu.htm |website=www.metmuseum.org |publisher=MET Museum}}</ref> These were used in the 5th and 6th century,<ref name="LtK"/> though most {{transliteration|ja|haniwa}} have no sculpture on top.<ref name="MET_kofun"/> These figures likely do not represent everyday dress; they may represent riding dress. Many wear armour.<ref name="LtK"/>

In the Kofun period, the right side was wrapped over the left (unlike in China), and the overlapped edge was secured with ties on the right side. Sleeves and trousers were tubular. Female figures often wear a skirt, with male figures wearing trousers tied with [[garter]]s just above the calf, so that they balloon over the knee, allowing freedom of movement.<ref name="LtK"/> {{transliteration|ja|Mo}}, wrapped skirts, were worn by men and women, sometimes over {{transliteration|ja|[[hakama]]}} (trousers).<ref name=iz2_1/>

[[Chinese clothing|Traditional Chinese clothing]] had been introduced to Japan via Chinese envoys in the Kofun period, with immigration between the two countries and [[Japanese missions to Tang China|envoys to the Tang dynasty court]] leading to Chinese styles of dress, appearance and culture becoming extremely popular in Japanese court society.<ref name="Dalby Fashioning Culture">{{cite book |last1=Dalby |first1=Liza |title=Kimono: Fashioning Culture |date=1993 |publisher=University of Washington Press |location=Seattle |edition= 1st |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qyIO9kJ5fIgC&q=uchikake-ru&pg=PA39|isbn=9780099428992}}</ref> The Imperial Japanese court quickly adopted Chinese styles of dress and clothing.<ref>{{Citation|url = https://academic.oup.com/jdh/article/30/3/300/3010188 |title = Elizabeth LaCouture, Journal of Design History, Vol. 30, Issue 3, 1 September 2017, Pages 300–314}}.</ref> As early as the 4th century CE, images of priestess-queens and tribal chiefs in Japan depicted figures wearing clothing similar that of [[Han dynasty]] China.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Textile Museum (Washington, D.C.)|title=The kimono inspiration : art and art-to-wear in America|date=1996|publisher=Pomegranate|others=Rebecca A. T. Stevens, Yoshiko Iwamoto Wada, Textile Museum|isbn=0-87654-897-4|edition=1st|location=Washington, D.C.|pages=132|oclc=33947597}}</ref> There is evidence of the oldest samples of {{transliteration|ja|[[shibori]]}} tie-dyed fabric stored at the [[Shōsōin|Shōsōin Temple]] being Chinese in origin, due to the limitations of Japan's ability to produce the fabrics at the time<ref name="Wada">{{cite book |last1=Wada |first1=Yoshiko Iwamoto |last2=Rice |first2=Mary Kellogg |last3=Barton |first3=Jane |title=Shibori: The Inventive Art of Japanese Shaped Resist Dyeing |date=2011 |publisher=Kodansha USA, Inc |location=New York |isbn=978-1-56836-396-7 |pages=11–13 |edition= 3rd}}</ref> (see {{transliteration|ja|[[tanmono]]}}).
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=== Asuka period (538–710 CE)===
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File:Tenjyukoku embroidery (cropped to upper two thirds).jpg|Part of the [[Tenjukoku Shūchō Mandala]], an embroidery from the reign of [[Empress Suiko]] (593–628)
File:Takamat1.jpg|Women's dress under [[Goguryeo]] influence, with overlapping collar and {{transliteration|zh|mo}} skirt.<ref name="Jill">{{cite book |last1=Liddell |first1=Jill |title=The Story of the Kimono |date=1989 |publisher=E.P. Dutton |isbn=978-0525245742 |page=28}}</ref> ([[Takamatsuzuka Tomb]], 7th century)
File:Yokohama Silk Museum 048.JPG|Replica of the dress of the leftmost figure in the preceding picture; {{transliteration|ja|mo}} with stripes and frill
File:Yokohama Silk Museum 047.JPG|Replica of the dress of the center-right figure in the preceding picture
File:Yokohama Silk Museum 046.JPG|Contemporary men's dress, with green {{transliteration|ja|hō}}, white {{transliteration|ja|hakama}}, and {{transliteration|ja|[[Kanmuri (headwear)|kanmuri]]}} cap. This reconstruction is probably outdated; the {{transliteration|ja|hō}} should be shorter, with a short pleated frill beneath, as in the women's costume.<ref name=iz2_1/>
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The [[Asuka period]] began with the introduction of [[Buddhism]], and the writing system of [[Chinese characters]] to Japan; during this time, Chinese influence over Japan was fairly strong.<ref name="LtK"/>

Judging by the depictions in the [[Tenjukoku Shūchō Mandala]], during the reign of [[Empress Suiko]] (593–628), male and female court dress were very similar. Both wore round-necked front-fastening {{transliteration|ja|hō}} with non-overlapping lapels, the front, collar, and cuffs edged with contrasting fabric, possibly an underlayer; the {{transliteration|ja|ran}} skirt, above knee-length, had a matching edge. Below the {{transliteration|ja|ran}} and extending below it to about knee length, a more heavily pleated contrasting skirt called a {{transliteration|ja|hirami}} was worn. Below the {{transliteration|ja|hirami}}, men wore narrow {{transliteration|ja|hakama}} with a contrasting lower edge, and women wore a pleated {{transliteration|ja|mo}} long enough to trail.<ref name=iz2_1/>

The [[Takamatsuzuka Tomb]] ({{circa|686 CE}}){{refn|name=686CE|<ref name=iz2_1/> (around the end of [[Emperor Tenmu]]'s reign and the beginning of [[Empress Jitō]]'s reign; the usual date for the transition is 686 CE).}} is a major source of information for upper-class clothing of this period. By this time, the {{transliteration|ja|hō}} lapels overlapped (still right side over left), and the {{transliteration|ja|hō}} and {{transliteration|ja|mo}} were edged with pleated frills, replacing the {{transliteration|ja|hirami}}. {{transliteration|ja|[[Kanmuri (headwear)|Kanmuri]]}} (black gauze caps stiffened with lacquer) were being worn by male courtiers, and were regulated in the 11th regnal year of [[Emperor Tenmu]] (~684 CE); this fashion persists in formal use into the 21st century.<ref name=iz2_1/>
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=== Nara period (710–794) ===
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<gallery mode=packed heights=200>
File:Yokohama Silk Museum 058.JPG|Women's dress, with overvest, overskirt, waist sash, and [[stole (shawl)|stole]]
File:Yokohama Silk Museum 057.JPG|Men's dress, with {{transliteration|ja|[[Kanmuri (headwear)|kanmuri]]}} hat, {{transliteration|ja|hakama}}, ornate sash, {{transliteration|ja|[[shaku (ritual baton)|shaku]]}} and sword
File:Jidai Festival (cropped to Wake no Hiromushi and children).jpg|Children's dress, late 8th century, 2005 reconstruction
File:鳥毛立女屏風1.jpg|In contemporary art
File:Jidai Matsuri 2009 480 (cropped to central figures).jpg|Nara court dress with stole, apron and overvest, 2009 reconstruction
</gallery>
|caption=[[:Commons:Category:Clothing of the Nara period|More pictures]]|border=no|align=center}}
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<gallery mode=packed heights=280>
File:Jidai Matsuri 2009 488 (cropped to subject).jpg|{{transliteration|ja|Tarikubi}} collar, and lower garments outermost
File:Jidai Matsuri 2009 487 (cropped to subject).jpg|{{transliteration|ja|Agekubi}} outer collar, with upper garments outermost
</gallery>|border=no|align=right}}

Nara-period upper-class clothing was much simpler than some later styles, taking no more than a few minutes to don, with the clothing itself allowing for freedom of movement. Women's upper-class dress consisted of a left-over-right lap-fronted top (over a similar underrobe),<ref name="LtK"/> and a wrapped, pleated skirt ({{transliteration|ja|mo}}).<ref name="sora"/><ref name=Foutfits>{{cite web |last1=Badgley |first1=Joshua L. |title=Women's Outfits |url=https://sengokudaimyo.com/garb/womens-outfits |website=Sengoku Daimyo}}</ref><!--or {{transl|ja|[[hakama]]}} (trousers).<ref name=Foutfits>{{cite web |last1=Badgley |first1=Joshua L. |title=Women's Outfits |url=https://sengokudaimyo.com/garb/womens-outfits |website=Sengoku Daimyo}}</ref>? not clear--> Women also sometimes wore a lap-fronted overvest, and a narrow rectangular [[Stole (shawl)|stole]]. Men's upper-class dress had narrow, unpleated (single-panel) {{transliteration|ja|[[hakama]]}} (trousers) under a loose, mandarin-collared coat ({{nihongo||袍|hō}}),{{citation needed|date=October 2021}} with elaborate hats of stiffened open-weave black cloth ({{transliteration|ja|[[Kanmuri (headwear)|kanmuri]]}}). Clothing was belted with narrow sashes.<ref name="sora">{{cite news |last1=Rogers |first1=Krista |title=Dress like an aristocrat from the Nara period at new costume rental shop in Nara【Photos】 |url=https://soranews24.com/2015/12/14/dress-like-an-aristocrat-from-the-nara-period-at-new-costume-rental-shop-in-nara%E3%80%90photos%E3%80%91/ |access-date=16 October 2021 |work=SoraNews24 -Japan News- |date=14 December 2015}}</ref>

Nara-period women's clothing was heavily influenced by [[Tang-dynasty]] China. Women adopted {{nihongo3|"drape-necked"|垂領|tarikubi}} collars, which overlapped like modern kimono collars, though men continued wearing round {{nihongo3|"high-necked"|上領|agekubi}} [[mandarin collar]]s, which were associated with scholasticism, only later adopting {{transliteration|ja|tarikubi}}. Lower-body garments ({{transliteration|ja|mo}} and {{transliteration|ja|hakama}}) had been worn under the outermost upper-body garments, but now, following the newer Chinese fashion, they transitioned to being worn on top (again, by women, but not yet by men).

In 718 CE, the [[Yoro clothing code]] was instituted, which stipulated that all robes had to be overlapped at the front with a left-to-right closure, following typical Chinese fashions.<ref name="kimono inspiration">{{cite book |last1=Stevens |first1=Rebecca A. T. |last2=Wada |first2=Yoshiko Iwamoto |title=The kimono inspiration: art and art-to-wear in America |location=Washington DC, San Francisco |publisher=The Textile Museum, Pomegranate Artbooks |date=1996 |edition=first |isbn=0-87654-897-4 |oclc=33947597}}</ref>{{rp|133–136}} China considered right-over-left wraps barbaric.<ref name="LtK"/> This convention of wear is still followed today, with a right-to-left closure worn only by the deceased.<ref name="kimono inspiration"/>

In 752 CE, a massive bronze Buddha statue at [[Tōdai-ji]], [[Nara (city)|Nara]], was [[Buddhābhiṣeka|consecrated]] with great ceremony. The ceremonial clothing of attendees (probably not all made in Japan) was preserved in the [[Shōsō-in]].<ref name="LtK"/><ref name=bamforth>{{citation |last=Bamforth |first=Chris|title=The capital delights of Nara | newspaper=[[The Japan Times]] |date=26 May 2006 |url=https://www.japantimes.co.jp/life/2006/05/26/travel/the-capital-delights-of-nara/#.W-emJuKIaSo}}</ref> Most of them close left-over-right, but some abut or overlap right-over-left. Collar shapes include narrow, round or v-shaped. There is craftsmen's clothing in {{transliteration|ja|asa}} (domestic [[bast fiber]]), with long, round-collared outer robes. Richer garments in silk are ornamented with figural and geometric patterns, woven and dyed; some have flaring sleeves. Aprons, {{transliteration|ja|hakama}}, leggings, socks and shoes have also been preserved.<ref name="LtK"/>

Social segregation of clothing was primarily noticeable in the [[Nara period]] (710–794), through the division of upper and lower class. People of higher social status wore clothing that covered the majority of their body, or as Svitlana Rybalko states, "the higher the status, the less was open to other people's eyes". For example, the full-length robes would cover most from the collarbone to the feet, the sleeves were to be long enough to hide their fingertips, and women carried fans to protect them from speculative looks.<ref name=raiment>{{cite journal|last1=Rybalko| first1=Svitlana |title=JAPANESE TRADITIONAL RAIMENT IN THE CONTEXT OF EMERGENT CULTURAL PARADIGMS |journal=Cogito  |volume=4 |number=2 |date=June 2012 |pages=112–123 |url=https://www.academia.edu/3435310  	|url-access=registration |access-date=October 29, 2016}}
</ref>
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=== Heian period (794–1185) ===
During the [[Heian period]] (794-1185 CE), Japan stopped sending envoys to the Chinese dynastic courts. This prevented Chinese-imported goods—including clothing—from entering the [[Heian Palace|Imperial Palace]] and disseminating to the upper classes, who were the main arbiters of traditional Japanese culture at the time and the only people allowed to wear such clothing. The ensuing cultural vacuum facilitated the development of a Japanese culture independent from Chinese fashions. Elements previously lifted from the Tang Dynastic courts developed independently into what is known literally as "national culture" or {{nihongo|"{{transliteration|ja|kokufū}} culture"|国風文化|kokufū-bunka}}, the term used to refer to Heian-period Japanese culture, particularly that of the upper classes.<ref>[https://www2.nhk.or.jp/school/movie/clip.cgi?das_id=D0005310767_00000 平安時代の貴族の服装] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210819153341/https://www2.nhk.or.jp/school/movie/clip.cgi?das_id=D0005310767_00000 |date=2021-08-19 }} [[NHK]] for school</ref>

Clothing became [[junihitoe|increasingly stylised]], with some elements—such as the round-necked and tube-sleeved {{transliteration|zh|chun ju}} jacket, worn by both genders in the early 7th century—being abandoned by both male and female courtiers. Others, such as the wrapped-front robes, also worn by men and women, were kept. Some elements, such as the {{transliteration|ja|mo}} skirt worn by women, continued on in a reduced capacity, worn only to formal occasions;<ref name="Dalby Fashioning Culture"/> the {{nihongo||裳|mō}} grew too narrow to wrap all the way around and became a trapezoidal pleated [[Train (clothing)|train]].<ref name="Fgarments">{{cite web |last1=Badgley |first1=Joshua L. |title=Women's Garments |url=https://sengokudaimyo.com/garb/womens-garments |website=Sengoku Daimyo}}</ref> Formal {{transliteration|ja|hakama}} (trousers) became longer than the legs and also trailed behind the wearer.<ref name=Foutfits/> Men's formal dress included {{transliteration|ja|agekubi}} collars and very wide sleeves.<ref name="LtK"/>

The concept of the hidden body remained, with ideologies suggesting that the clothes served as "protection from the evil spirits and outward manifestation of a social rank". This proposed the widely held belief that those of lower ranking, who were perceived to be of less clothing due to their casual performance of manual labor, were not protected in the way that the upper class were in that time period. This was also the period in which Japanese traditional clothing became introduced to the Western world.<ref name=":4" />{{dubious|date=October 2021}}

During the later Heian period, various clothing edicts reduced the number of layers a woman could wear, leading to the {{transliteration|ja|[[kosode]]}} (lit., "small sleeve") garment—previously considered underwear—becoming outerwear by the time of the [[Muromachi period]] (1336-1573 CE). 
{{Image frame|content=
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File:Genji emaki TAKEKAWA.jpg|In the late Heian period, the {{transliteration|ja|[[jūnihitoe]]}} consisted of many layers ({{transliteration|ja|hitoe}}) worn over a plain {{transliteration|ja|[[kosode]]}} and {{transliteration|ja|[[hakama]]}}<ref name="Bardo">{{cite book |last1=Fassbender |first1=Bardo |last2=Peters |first2=Anne |last3=Peter |first3=Simone |last4=Högger |first4=Daniel |title=The Oxford Handbook of the History of International Law |date=2012 |publisher=Oxford University Press |location=Oxford |isbn=978-0198725220 |page=477}}</ref> ([[The Tale of Genji]], 12th century).
File:Genji emaki YADORIGI 2 (cropped to center).JPG|The courtiers in the foreground are wearing their {{transliteration|ja|hitoe}} off-the-shoulder, showing the {{transliteration|ja|kosode}} beneath.
File:Genji emaki 01003 009.jpg|{{transliteration|ja|Tarikubi}} collars on husband and wife, in their home. Note red {{transliteration|ja|[[hakama]]}} of standing woman.
File:Fujiwara no Michinaga 2.jpg|{{nihongo||[[wiktionary:指貫|Sashinuki]]}}/{{transliteration|ja|nu-bakama}} and {{transliteration|ja|agekubi}} collar in men's court dress
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=== Kamakura period (1185–1333) ===
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File:Fugen Ten Rasetsunyo (Nara National Museum) (cropped to five Rasetsunyo figures at bottom right).jpg|[[Samantabhadra (Bodhisattva)|Fugen]] and the [[Ten Rasetsunyo]], detail. Note red and purple {{transliteration|ja|naga-bakama}} with trailing waist ties.
File:Empress Shoshi and son (cropped to Shoshi and son).jpg|[[Empress Shoshi]] and son, 13th century illustration. Pale pleated {{transliteration|ja|mō}} train
File:Eshi no soshi (Tosa Mitsuoki), part 1.png|Simple unisex everyday dress, {{transliteration|ja|kosode}} and {{transliteration|ja|hakama}}, matching
File:Gaa0-ksge3.jpg|Carpenters in common dress, 1309; {{transliteration|ja|kosode}} and {{transliteration|ja|hakama}} do not match.
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=== Muromachi period (1336–1573 CE) ===
=== Azuchi-Momoyama period (1568–1600) ===
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File:Matsuura-Byobu-by-Iwasa-Matabei.png|The {{transliteration|ja|kosode}} worn as outerwear. Note wider cut, and unisex narrow obi and shorter sleeves. Matsuura {{transliteration|ja|[[byōbu]]}}, {{circa|1650}}
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Originally worn with {{transliteration|ja|[[hakama]]}}, the {{transliteration|ja|kosode}} began to be held closed with a small belt known as an {{transliteration|ja|obi}} instead.<ref name="Dalby Fashioning Culture"/> The {{transliteration|ja|kosode}} resembled a modern kimono, though at this time the sleeves were sewn shut at the back and were smaller in width (shoulder seam to cuff) than the body of the garment. During the [[Sengoku period]] (1467–1615)/[[Azuchi-Momoyama period]] (1568–1600), decoration of the {{transliteration|ja|kosode}} developed further, with bolder designs and flashy primary colours becoming popular.{{citation needed|date=October 2021}} By this time, separate lower-body garments such as the {{transliteration|ja|mō}} and {{transliteration|ja|hakama}} were almost never worn,<ref name=Foutfits/> allowing full-length patterns to be seen.

===Edo period (1603–1867)===
[[File:Plum Blossoms at Night (Yoru no ume).jpg|thumb|The overall silhouette of the kimono transformed during the Edo period due to the broadening of the {{transliteration|ja|obi}}, lengthening of the sleeves, and the style of wearing multiple layered kimono ([[Utagawa Kuniyoshi]], ''Plum Blossoms at Night'', woodblock print, 19th century).]]

During the [[Edo period]] (1603–1867 CE), both Japan's culture and economy developed significantly. A particular factor in the development of the Edo period was the early [[Genroku]] period (1688–1704 CE), wherein "[[Genroku culture]]" - luxurious displays of wealth and increased patronage of the arts - led to the further development of many art forms, including those of clothing. Genroku culture was spearheaded by the growing and increasingly-powerful [[chōnin|merchant classes]] ({{transliteration|ja|chōnin}}); the clothing of {{transliteration|ja|chōnin}} classes, representative of their increasing economic power, rivalled that of the aristocracy and samurai classes, brightly coloured and utilising expensive production techniques, such as handpainted dyework. {{transliteration|ja|[[Rinzu]]}}, a [[damask]] fabric, also became the preferred material for kimono at this time, replacing the previously popular {{transliteration|ja|nerinuki}} plain-weave silk, which had been used to create {{transliteration|ja|[[tsujigahana]]}}.<ref>Ishimura Hayao et al. ''Robes of Elegance: Japanese Kimonos of the 16th-20th Centuries''. [[North Carolina Museum of Art]] (1988), p. 1. {{ISBN|0-88259-955-0}}.</ref>

In response to the increasing material wealth of the merchant classes, the [[Tokugawa shogunate]] issued a number of sumptuary laws `for the lower classes, prohibiting the use of purple or red fabric, gold embroidery, and the use of intricately dyed {{transliteration|ja|shibori}} patterns.<ref>[https://www.jstage.jst.go.jp/article/fiber/64/7/64_7_P_242/_pdf 町人のきもの 1 寛文～江戸中期までの着物] Mami Baba. Sen'i gakkaishi vol.64</ref> As a result, a school of aesthetic thought known as {{transliteration|ja|[[iki (aesthetics)|iki]]}}, which valued and prioritised the display of wealth through almost mundane appearances, developed, a concept of kimono design and wear that continues to this day as a major influence.

From this point onwards, the basic shape of both men's and women's kimono remained largely unchanged.<ref name="Dalby Fashioning Culture"/> The sleeves of the {{transliteration|ja|kosode}} began to grow in length, especially amongst unmarried women, and the {{transliteration|ja|obi}} became much longer and wider, with various styles of knots coming into fashion, alongside stiffer weaves of material to support them.<ref name="Dalby Fashioning Culture"/>

In the Edo period, the kimono market was divided into craftspeople, who made the {{transliteration|ja|tanmono}} and accessories, {{transliteration|ja|tonya}}, or wholesalers, and retailers.{{r|Valk|p=129}}

===Modern period (1869–), by regnal era===
==== Meiji period (1868–1912)====
{{main|Japanese clothing during the Meiji period}}
{{Image frame|content=
<gallery mode=packed heights=thumb>
File:Ootuki family 1874.jpg|alt=Three men in kimono and {{transliteration|ja|haori}}|Part of the Ootuki family in kimono, 1874
File:Gensei Kajin Shu by Yoshu Chikanobu 1890.png|alt=Women in a variety of Japanese dress; one woman in Western dress; a schoolgirl in {{transliteration|ja|hakama}}|Assorted types of kimono, Western dress, a court lady in {{transliteration|ja|[[:Commons:Category:Keiko (dress)|keiko]]}}, and a schoolgirl in a high-collared shirt, kimono and {{transliteration|ja|hakama}}. All wear both purple and red. 1890.
File:1912 May Ishikawa Setsuko.jpg|alt=Large family portrait|Family of [[Horiai Setsuko]], May 1912, some in European dress, some in kimono, some wearing {{transliteration|ja|hakama}}. Women's {{transliteration|ja|hakama}} spread from the court as part of [[reform dress#Japan|Japanese reform dress]].
</gallery>
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In 1869, the social class system was abolished, and with them, class-specific sumptuary laws.{{r|Valk|p=113}} Kimono with formerly-restricted elements, like red and purple colours, became popular,{{r|Valk|p=147}} particularly with the advent of synthetic dyestuffs such as [[mauvine]].

Following the opening of Japan's borders in the early Meiji period to Western trade, a number of materials and techniques - such as wool and the use of synthetic dyestuffs - became popular, with casual wool kimono being relatively common in pre-1960s Japan; the use of safflower dye ({{transliteration|ja|beni}}) for silk linings fabrics (known as {{transliteration|ja|momi}}; literally, "red silk") was also common in pre-1960s Japan, making kimono from this era easily identifiable.

During the [[Meiji period]], the opening of Japan to Western trade after the enclosure of the Edo period led to a drive towards Western dress as a sign of "modernity". After an edict by [[Emperor Meiji]],{{citation needed|reason=Previously given reference of "Edict 399 in the year 1871" does not support the abolition of kimono in certain job roles|date=February 2020}} policemen, railroad workers and teachers moved to wearing Western clothing within their job roles, with the adoption of Western clothing by men in Japan happening at a much greater pace than by women. Initiatives such as the {{nihongo|Tokyo Women's & Children's Wear Manufacturers' Association|東京婦人子供服組合}} promoted Western dress as everyday clothing.

In Japan, modern Japanese fashion history might be conceived as a gradual [[westernization]] of Japanese clothes; both the woolen and worsted industries in Japan originated as a product of Japan's re-established contact with the West in the early Meiji period (1850s-1860s). Before the 1860s, Japanese clothing consisted entirely of [[kimono]] of a number of varieties.{{citation needed|date=July 2020}}

With the opening of Japan's ports for international trade in the 1860s, clothing from a number of different cultures arrived as exports; despite Japan's historic contact with the Dutch before this time through its southerly ports, Western clothing had not caught on, despite the study of and fascination with Dutch technologies and writings.

The first Japanese to adopt Western clothing were officers and men of some units of the shōgun's army and navy; sometime in the 1850s, these men adopted woolen uniforms worn by the English marines stationed at Yokohama. Wool was difficult to produce domestically, with the cloth having to be imported. Outside of the military, other early adoptions of Western dress were mostly within the public sector, and typically entirely male, with women continuing to wear kimono both inside and outside of the home, and men changing into the kimono usually within the home for comfort.<ref name=Jackson95>Jackson, Anna. "Kimono: Fashioning Culture by Liza Dalby". Rev. of Kimono: Fashioning Culture. Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London 58 (1995): 419-20. JSTOR. Web. 6 Apr. 2015.</ref>

From this point on, Western clothing styles spread outwards of the military and upper public sectors, with courtiers and bureaucrats urged to adopt Western clothing, promoted as both modern and more practical. The [[Ministry of Education]] ordered that Western-style student uniforms be worn in public colleges and universities. Businessmen, teachers, doctors, bankers, and other leaders of the new society wore suits to work and at large social functions. Despite Western clothing becoming popular within the workplace, in schools and on the streets, it was not worn by everybody, and was actively considered uncomfortable and undesirable by some; one account tells of a father promising to buy his daughters new kimono as a reward for wearing Western clothing and eating meat.<ref>Dalby, Liza. (Mar 1995) "Kimono: Fashioning Culture".</ref> By the 1890s, appetite for Western dress as a fashion statement had cooled considerably, and the kimono remained an item of fashion.

A number of different fashions from the West arrived and were also incorporated into the way that people wore kimono; numerous woodblock prints from the later Meiji period show men wearing bowler hats and carrying Western-style umbrellas whilst wearing kimono, and Gibson girl hairstyles - typically a large bun on top of a relatively wide hairstyle, similar to the Japanese {{transliteration|ja|[[nihongami]]}} - became popular amongst Japanese women as a more low-effort hairstyle for everyday life.

By the beginning of the 20th century, Western dress had become a symbol of social dignity and progressiveness; however, the kimono was still considered to be fashion, with the two styles of dress essentially growing in parallel with one another over time. With Western dress being considered street wear and a more formal display of fashionable clothing, most Japanese people wore the comfortable kimono at home and when out of the public eye.<ref name=Jackson95/>

====Taishō period (1912–1926)====
Western clothing quickly became standard issue as [[kokumin-fuku|army uniform]] for men<ref>{{cite web |author=更新日：2010年11月25日 |url=http://www.ndl.go.jp/horei_jp/kakugi/txt/txt00477.htm |title=戦時衣生活簡素化実施要綱 |publisher=Ndl.go.jp |access-date=2012-07-22 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080616143836/http://www.ndl.go.jp/horei_jp/kakugi/txt/txt00477.htm |archive-date=2008-06-16}}</ref> and school uniform for boys, and between 1920 and 1930, the [[Japanese school uniform|{{transliteration|ja|fuku}} sailor outfit]] replaced the kimono and undivided {{transliteration|ja|hakama}} as school uniform for girls.{{r|Dalby Fashioning Culture|p=140|q=By 1924, girls' school uniforms began to move away from the kimono-and-hakama outfit to the uniform skirt and middy-blouse seen today.}} However, kimono still remained popular as an item of everyday fashion; following the [[Great Kantō Earthquake]] of 1923, cheap, informal and ready-to-wear {{transliteration|ja|[[meisen]]}} kimono, woven from raw and waste silk threads unsuitable for other uses, became highly popular, following the loss of many people's possessions.<ref name="Taisho Kimono">{{cite book |last1=Dees |first1=Jan |title=Taisho Kimono: Speaking of Past and Present |date=2009 |publisher=Skira Editore S.p.A |location=Milano, Italy |isbn=978-88-572-0011-8 |edition= 1st}}</ref> By 1930, ready-to-wear {{transliteration|ja|meisen}} kimono had become highly popular for their bright, seasonally changing designs, many of which took inspiration from the [[Art Deco]] movement. {{transliteration|ja|Meisen}} kimono were usually dyed using the [[ikat]] ({{transliteration|ja|[[kasuri]]}}) technique of dyeing, where either warp or both warp and weft threads (known as {{transliteration|ja|heiyō-gasuri}})<ref name="Taisho Kimono"/>{{rp|85}} were dyed using a stencil pattern before weaving.

It was during the Taishō period that the modern formalisation of kimono and kimono types began to emerge. The Meiji period had seen the slow introduction of kimono types that mediated between the informal and the most formal, a trend that continued throughout the Taishō period, as social occasions and opportunities for leisure increased under the abolition of class distinctions. As Western clothing increased in popularity for men as everyday clothing, the kimono industry further established its own traditions of formal and informal dress for women; this saw the invention of the {{transliteration|ja|hōmongi}}, divisions of {{transliteration|ja|tomesode}} (short-sleeved) kimono for women, and {{transliteration|ja|montsuki hakama}}.{{r|Valk|p=133-134|q=Noriko Harada notes that women in the early 20th century began to attend public events and formal, ritual events more, and as a result, they needed a new kind of formal wear. A particularly savvy invention on the part of the industry was the hōmongi in the Taisho era (1912-1926), which is now women's formal wear par excellence (Harada in Koizumi 2006: 39). Toby Slade writes that by the Taisho period, department stores, many of which started out as kimono shops, were involved in marketing trends in kimono style (Slade 2009: 132; see also Milhaupt 2014: 104-5). In this way, the industry was instrumental in establishing not just trends but the modern rules of the 'kimono canon' itself. Many of these rules had not existed before the 20th century. Many of these rules, such as the montsuki hakama for men, and the hōmongi and tomesode kimono for women, invented in the early 20th century, remain entrenched today. This is the reason why there is a proliferation of types of kimono for women and very few for men: the industry knew that they could no longer expect men to buy kimono, but there was a lucrative market in selling to women and creating ever-expanding types of kimono that women felt they needed to have in order to be equipped for every possible occasion.}} The bridal kimono [[Hope chest|trousseau]] ({{transliteration|ja|oyomeiri dōgu}}), an uncommon practice of the upper classes in the Edo period, also became common throughout the middle classes;{{r|Valk|p=67, 76}} traditions of kimono bridalwear for marriage ceremonies were also codified in this time, which resembled the bridalwear of samurai-class women.{{r|Valk|p=82, 93, 146}} Standards of {{transliteration|ja|kitsuke}} at this time began to slowly graduate to a more formalised, neatened appearance, with a flat, uniform {{transliteration|ja|ohashori}} and a smooth, uncreased {{transliteration|ja|obi}}, which also resembled the "proper" {{transliteration|ja|kitsuke}} of upper-class women. However, {{transliteration|ja|kitsuke}} standards were still relatively informal, and would not become formalised until after World War II.

====Shōwa period (1926–1989)====
[[File:Cha-baori (easy haori) 1957.jpg|thumb|A 1957 clothing ad, showing postwar {{transliteration|ja|kitsuke}} standards for women, which promoted a smooth, streamlined appearance]]
While kimono were no longer common wear for men, they remained everyday wear for Japanese women until [[Japan during World War II|World War II]] (1940–1945).{{r|Valk|p=17}} Though the Taishō period had seen a number of invented traditions, standards of {{transliteration|ja|kitsuke}} (wearing kimono) were still not as formalised in this time, with creases, uneven {{transliteration|ja|ohashori}} and crooked {{transliteration|ja|obi}} still deemed acceptable.{{r|Valk|p=44-45}}

Until the 1930s, the majority of Japanese still wore kimono, and Western clothes were still restricted to out-of-home use by certain classes.<ref name=Jackson95/>

During the war, kimono factories shut down, and the government encouraged people to wear {{transliteration|ja|[[monpe]]}} (also romanised as {{transliteration|ja|mompe}}) - trousers constructed from old kimono - instead.{{r|Valk|p=131}} Fibres such as rayon became widespread during WWII, being inexpensive to produce and cheap to buy, and typically featured printed designs.{{citation needed|date=August 2021}} Cloth rationing persisted until 1951, so most kimono were made at home from repurposed fabrics.{{r|Valk|p=131}}

In the second half of the 20th century, the Japanese economy boomed,{{r|Valk|p=36}} and silk became cheaper,{{citation needed|date=August 2021}} making it possible for the average family to afford silk kimono.{{r|Valk|p=76}} The kimono retail industry had developed an elaborate codification of rules for kimono-wearing, with types of kimono, levels of formality, and rules on seasonality, which intensified after the war; there had previously been rules about kimono-wearing, but these were not rigidly codified and varied by region and class.{{r|Valk|p=36}} Formalisation sought perfection, with no creases or uneveness in the kimono, and an increasingly tubular figure was promoted as the ideal for women in kimono.{{r|Valk|p=44-45}} The kimono-retail industry also promoted a sharp distinction between Japanese and Western clothes;{{r|Valk|p=54}} for instance, wearing Western shoes with Japanese clothing (while common in the Taishō period) was codified as improper;{{r|Valk|p=16}} these rules on proper dressing are often described in Japanese using the English phrase "Time, Place, and Occasion" (TPO). As neither Japanese men or women commonly wore kimono, having grown up under wartime auspices, commercial {{transliteration|ja|kitsuke}} schools were set up to teach women how to don kimono.{{r|Valk|p=44}} Men in this period rarely wore kimono, and menswear thus escaped most of the formalisation.{{r|Valk|p=36, 133}}).

Kimono were promoted as essential for ceremonial occasions;{{r|Valk|p=76, 135}} for instance, the expensive {{transliteration|ja|[[furisode]]}} worn by young women for {{transliteration|ja|[[Seijinshiki]]}} was deemed a necessity.{{r|Valk|p=60}} Bridal trousseaus containing tens of kimono of every possible subtype were also promoted as ''de rigueur'', and parents felt obliged to provide{{r|Valk|p=76}} kimono trousseaus that cost up to 10 million yen (~£70,000),{{r|Valk|p=262}} which were displayed and inspected publicly as part of the wedding, including being transported in transparent trucks.{{r|Valk|p=81}}

By the 1970s, formal kimono formed the vast majority of kimono sales.{{r|Valk|p=132}} Kimono retailers, due to the pricing structure of brand new kimono, had developed a relative monopoly on not only prices but also a perception of kimono knowledge, allowing them to dictate prices and heavily promote more formal (and expensive) purchases, as selling a single formal kimono could support the seller comfortably for three months. The kimono industry peaked in 1975, with total sales of 2.8 trillion yen (~£18 billion). The sale of informal brand new kimono was largely neglected.{{r|Valk|p=135, 136}}

====Heisei period (1989–2019)====
[[File:赤坂宿まつり (岐阜県大垣市赤坂町) - panoramio (1).jpg|thumb|A young woman wearing very formal Japanese dress, 2010; note the {{transliteration|ja|katsuyama}}-style {{transliteration|ja|[[nihongami]]}} wig with attached locks and numerous {{transliteration|ja|[[kanzashi]]}}, paired with a formal brocade {{transliteration|ja|uchikake}} overkimono.|270x270px]] 
The economic collapse of the 1990s bankrupted much of the kimono industry{{r|Valk|p=129}} and ended a number of expensive practices.{{r|Valk|p=98}} The rules for how to wear kimono lost their previous hold over the entire industry,{{r|Valk|p=36}} and formerly-expensive traditions such as bridal kimono trousseaus generally disappeared, and when still given, were much less extensive.{{r|Valk|p=98}} It was during this time that it became acceptable and even preferred for women to wear Western dress to ceremonial occasions like weddings and funerals.{{r|Valk|pp=95, 263}} Many women had dozens or even hundreds of kimono, mostly unworn, in their homes; a secondhand kimono, even if unworn, would sell for about 500 yen (less than £3.50;{{r|Valk|p=98}} about US$5), a few percent of the bought-new price. In the 1990s and early 2000s, many secondhand kimono shops opened as a result of this.{{r|Valk|p=98}}

In the early years of the 21st century, the cheaper and simpler {{transliteration|ja|yukata}} became popular with young people.{{r|Valk|p=37}} Around 2010, men began wearing kimono again in situations other than their own wedding,{{r|Valk|p=36, 159}} and kimono were again promoted and worn as everyday dress by a small minority.{{r|Valk}}

====Reiwa period (2019–present)====
Today, the vast majority of people in Japan wear Western clothing in the everyday, and are most likely to wear kimono either to formal occasions such as wedding ceremonies and funerals, or to summer events, where the standard kimono is the easy-to-wear, single-layer cotton {{transliteration|ja|yukata}}.

==Types of traditional clothing==
{{see also|List of items traditionally worn in Japan}}

===Kimono===
{{main|Kimono}}
[[File:Gion Sayaka 1.jpg|thumb|left|Gion {{transliteration|ja|geiko}} Sayaka wearing a {{transliteration|ja|kuromontsuki}}]]
The kimono {{lang|ja|(着物)}}, labelled the "national costume of Japan",<ref name="Tradition and Innovation"/> is the most well-known form of traditional Japanese clothing. The kimono is worn wrapped around the body, left side over right, and is sometimes worn layered. It is always worn with an {{transliteration|ja|[[obi (sash)|obi]]}}, and may be worn with a number of traditional accessories and types of footwear.<ref name=Goldstein-Gidoni99>Goldstein-Gidoni, O. (1999). Kimono and the construction of gendered and cultural identities. ''Ethnology'', 38 (4), 351-370.</ref> Kimono differ in construction and wear between men and women.

After the four-class system ended in the [[Edo period|Tokugawa period]] (1603–1867), the symbolic meaning of the kimono shifted from a reflection of social class to a reflection of self, allowing people to incorporate their own tastes and individualize their outfit.{{vague|reason=This is odd reasoning and implies that people somehow had no choice before the Meiji period - which isn't true.|date=July 2020}} The process of wearing a kimono requires, depending on gender and occasion, a sometimes detailed knowledge of a number of different steps and methods of tying the {{transliteration|ja|obi}}, with formal kimono for women requiring at times the help of someone else to put on. Post-WW2, kimono schools were built to teach those interested in kimono how to wear it and tie a number of different knots.<ref name="Tradition and Innovation"/>

[[File:-Japanese Woman in Traditional Dress Posing Outdoors- MET DP155576.jpg|thumb|upright|''Japanese Woman in Traditional Dress Posing Outdoors'' by [[Suzuki Shin'ichi I|Suzuki Shin'ichi]], {{circa|1870s}}]]
A number of [[kimono#Types of kimono|different types]] of kimono exist that are worn in the modern day, with women having more varieties than men. Whereas men's kimono differ in formality typically through fabric choice, the number of [[mon (crest)|crests]] on the garment (known as {{transliteration|ja|mon}} or {{transliteration|ja|kamon}}) and the accessories worn with it, women's kimono differ in formality through fabric choice, decoration style, construction and crests.

====Women's kimono====
*The {{transliteration|ja|[[furisode]]}} (lit., "swinging sleeve") is a type of formal kimono usually worn by young women, often for [[Seijin no Hi|Coming of Age Day]] or as bridalwear, and is considered the most formal kimono for young women.
*The {{transliteration|ja|[[kimono#Uchikake|uchikake]]}} is also worn as bridalwear as an unbelted outer layer.
*The {{transliteration|ja|[[kimono#Kurotomesode and kuro-montsuki|kurotomesode]]}} and {{transliteration|ja|[[kimono#Irotomesode and iro-montsuki|irotomesode]]}} are formal kimono with a design solely along the hem, and are considered the most formal kimono for women outside of the {{transliteration|ja|furisode}}.
*The {{transliteration|ja|[[kimono#Hōmongi|houmongi]]}} and the {{transliteration|ja|[[kimono#Tsukesage|tsukesage]]}} are semi-formal women's kimono featuring a design on part of the sleeves and hem.
*The {{transliteration|ja|[[kimono#Iromuji|iromuji]]}} is a low-formality solid-colour kimono worn for tea ceremony and other mildly-formal events.
*The {{transliteration|ja|[[kimono#Komon|komon]]}} and {{transliteration|ja|[[kimono#Edo komon|edo komon]]}} are informal kimono with a repeating pattern all over the kimono.

Other types of kimono, such as the {{transliteration|ja|[[yukata]]}} and {{transliteration|ja|[[kimono#Mofuku|mofuku]]}} (mourning) kimono are worn by both men and women, with differences only in construction and sometimes decoration. In previous decades, women only stopped wearing the {{transliteration|ja|furisode}} when they got married, typically in their early- to mid-twenties; however, in the modern day, a woman will usually stop wearing {{transliteration|ja|furisode}} around this time whether she is married or not.<ref name=Goldstein-Gidoni99/>

====Dressing in kimono====
The word kimono literally translates as "thing to wear", and up until the 19th century it was the main form of dress worn by men and women alike in Japan.<ref name=Grant05>Grant, P. (2005). Kimonos: the robes of Japan. ''Phoebe Grant’s Fascinating Stories of World Cultures and Customs'', 42.</ref>

Traditionally, the art of wearing kimono (known as {{transliteration|ja|kitsuke}}) was passed from mother to daughter as simply learning how to dress, and in the modern day, this is also taught in specialist kimono schools.<ref name=Goldstein-Gidoni99/> First, one puts on {{transliteration|ja|tabi}}, which are white cotton socks.<ref name=Grant05/> Then the undergarments are put on followed by a top and a wraparound skirt.<ref name=Grant05/> Next, the {{transliteration|ja|nagajuban}} (under-kimono) is put on, which is then tied by a {{transliteration|ja|koshihimo}}.<ref name=Grant05/> Finally, the kimono is put on, with the left side covering the right, tied in place with one or two {{transliteration|ja|koshihimo}} and smoothed over with a {{transliteration|ja|datejime}} belt. The {{transliteration|ja|obi}} is then tied in place. Kimono are always worn left-over-right unless being worn by the dead, in which case they are worn right-over-left.<ref name=Grant05/> When the kimono is worn outside, either {{transliteration|ja|zōri}} or {{transliteration|ja|geta}} sandals are traditionally worn.<ref name=Grant05/>

[[File:Japanese Wedding Day.jpg|thumb|left|A couple wearing kimono on their wedding day]]
Women typically wear kimono when they attend traditional arts, such as a tea ceremonies or {{transliteration|ja|[[ikebana]]}} classes.<ref name=Jackson95/> During wedding ceremonies, the bride and groom will often go through many costume changes; though the bride may start off in an entirely-white outfit before switching to a colourful one,<ref name=Goldstein-Gidoni99/> grooms will wear black kimono made from habutae silk.

Funeral kimono ({{transliteration|ja|mofuku}}) for both men and women are plain black with five crests, though Western clothing is also worn to funerals. Any plain black kimono with less than five crests is not considered to be mourning wear.

The "coming of age" ceremony, {{transliteration|ja|[[Seijin no Hi]]}}, is another occasion where kimono are worn.<ref>Ashikari, M. (2003). The memory of the women’s white faces: Japanese and the ideal image of women. ''Japan Forum'', 15 (1), 55.</ref> At these annual celebrations, women wear brightly coloured {{transliteration|ja|furisode}}, often with fur stoles around the neck. Other occasions where kimono are traditionally worn in the modern day include the period surrounding the New Year, graduation ceremonies, and {{transliteration|ja|[[Shichi-go-san]]}}, which is a celebration for children aged 3, 5 and 7.

====Seasons====
Kimono are matched with seasons. {{transliteration|ja|Awase}} (lined) kimono, made of silk, wool, or synthetic fabrics, are worn during the cooler months.<ref name=Jackson95/> During these months, kimono with more rustic colours and patterns (like russet leaves), and kimono with darker colours and multiple layers, are favoured.<ref name=Jackson95/> Lightweight cotton {{transliteration|ja|yukata}} are worn by men and women during the spring and summer months. In the warmer weather months, vibrant colors and floral designs (like cherry blossoms) are common.<ref name=Jackson95/>

====Materials====
[[File:Kimono backshot by sth der.png|thumb|upright|Formal {{transliteration|ja|tateya musubi obi}} knot]]
Up until the 15th century the vast majority of kimono worn by most people were made of [[hemp]] or linen, and they were made with multiple layers of materials.<ref name=Yamaka12>Yamaka, Norio. (Nov 9 2012) The Book of Kimono.</ref> Today, kimono can be made of silk, silk brocade, silk crepes (such as {{transliteration|ja|chirimen}}) and satin weaves (such as {{transliteration|ja|[[rinzu]]}}).<ref name=Yamaka12/> Modern kimono that are made with less-expensive easy-care fabrics such as rayon, cotton sateen, cotton, polyester and other synthetic fibers, are more widely worn today in Japan.<ref name=Yamaka12/> However, silk is still considered the ideal fabric for more formal kimono.<ref name=Jackson95/>

Kimono are typically {{convert|39|-|43|in}} long with eight {{convert|14|-|15|in}} wide pieces.<ref name=Nakagawa63>Nakagawa, K. Rosovsky, H. (1963). The case of the dying kimono: the influence of changing fashions on the development of the Japanese woolen industry. ''The Business History Review'', 37 (1/2), 59-68</ref> These pieces are sewn together to create the basic T-shape. Kimono are traditionally sewn by hand, a technique known as {{transliteration|ja|wasai}}.<ref name=Nakagawa63/> However, even machine-made kimono require substantial hand-stitching.

Kimono are traditionally made from a single bolt of fabric called a {{transliteration|ja|[[tanmono]]}}.<ref name=Jackson95/> {{transliteration|ja|Tanmono}} come in standard dimensions, and the entire bolt is used to make one kimono.<ref name=Jackson95/> The finished kimono consists of four main strips of fabric — two panels covering the body and two panels forming the sleeves — with additional smaller strips forming the narrow front panels and collar.<ref name=Nakagawa63/> Kimono fabrics are frequently hand-made and -decorated.

Kimono are worn with sash-belts called {{transliteration|ja|obi}}, of which there are several varieties. In previous centuries, {{transliteration|ja|obi}} were relatively pliant and soft, so literally held the kimono closed; modern-day {{transliteration|ja|obi}} are generally stiffer, meaning the kimono is actually kept closed through tying a series of flat ties, called {{Transliteration|ja|himo}}, around the body. The two most common varieties of {{transliteration|ja|obi}} for women are {{transliteration|ja|fukuro obi}}, which can be worn with everything but the most casual forms of kimono, and {{transliteration|ja|nagoya obi}}, which are narrower at one end to make them easier to wear.

==={{transliteration|ja|Yukata}}===
{{main|Kimono#yukata}}
[[File:Asagao Festival 004.JPG|thumb|right|A couple in {{transliteration|ja|yukata}} buy [[morning glory|morning glories]] at the [[Ipomoea nil#Morning glories in Japan|Asagao Festival]] in [[Tokyo]].]]
The {{nihongo||浴衣|yukata}} is an informal kimono worn specifically in the spring and summer, and it is generally less expensive than the traditional kimono. Because it was made for warm weather, {{transliteration|ja|yukata}} are almost entirely made of cotton of an often lighter weight and brighter color than most kimono fabrics. It is worn for festivals and cherry blossom viewing ceremonies.<ref name=":5">{{Cite web|url=http://www.japan-talk.com/jt/new/traditional-fashions|title=16 Traditional Japanese Fashions|last=Spacey|first=John|date=July 11, 2015|website=Japan Talk|access-date=November 15, 2016}}</ref>

==={{transliteration|ja|Hakama, obi, zōri}}===
{{main|Hakama}}

The {{transliteration|ja|hakama}}, which resembles a long, wide pleated skirt, is generally worn over the kimono and is considered formal wear. Although it was traditionally created to be worn by men of all occupations (craftsmen, farmers, samurai, etc.), it is now socially accepted to be worn by women as well.

The {{transliteration|ja|obi}} is similar to a belt, wrapping around the outer kimono and helping to keep all of the layers together, though it does not actually tie them closed. {{transliteration|ja|Obi}} are typically long, rectangular belts that can be decorated and coloured in a variety of different ways, as well as being made of a number of different fabrics. Modern {{transliteration|ja|obi}} are typically made of a crisp, if not stiff, weave of fabric, and may be relatively thick and unpliant.

{{transliteration|ja|[[Zōri]]}} are a type of sandal worn with kimono that resemble flip-flops by design, with the exception that the base is sturdier and at times forms a gently sloping heel. {{transliteration|ja|Zōri}} can be made of wood, leather and vinyl, with more formal varieties featuring decorated straps (known as {{transliteration|ja|hanao}}) that may be embroidered and woven with gold and silver yarn. These shoes are typically worn with white socks usually mostly covered by the kimono's hem. {{transliteration|ja|[[Geta (footwear)|Geta]]}} are sandals similar to {{transliteration|ja|zōri}} that are made to be worn in the snow or dirt, featured with wooden columns underneath the shoes.<ref name=":5"/>

==={{transliteration|ja|Suteteko}}===
Beginning in 1881, Japanese men wore ''{{ill|suteteko|ja|ステテコ}}'', a kind of underpants named after a song. Kaori Shoji of the ''[[Japan Times]]'' wrote that they would be "best be described as a loose, thin, crepe cotton version of [[long johns]]."<ref name=Shoji>{{cite web|last=Shoji|first=Kaori|url=https://www.japantimes.co.jp/life/2012/07/17/lifestyle/suteteko-hanging-out-in-underwear-is-a-cool-way-to-survive-the-summer-heat/|title=''Suteteko'': Hanging out in underwear is a cool way to survive the summer heat|newspaper=[[Japan Times]]|place=[[Tokyo]]|date=2012-07-17|access-date=2024-08-02}}</ref> Initially men used it under kimono. By 2012 new variations of it emerged. Shoji stated that in 2012 the garment still emotionally symbolized the summer, even though there was a sense of embarrassment around it; she stated that it was more common until the 1990s.<ref name=Shoji/>

==Design==

===Designers===
Multiple designers use the kimono as a foundation for their current designs, being influenced by its cultural and aesthetic aspects and including them into their garments.

[[Issey Miyake]] is most known for crossing boundaries in fashion and reinventing forms of clothing while simultaneously transmitting the traditional qualities of the culture into his work. He has explored various techniques in design, provoking discussion on what identifies as "dress". He has also been tagged the "Picasso of Fashion" due to his recurring confrontation of traditional values. Miyake found interest in working with dancers to create clothing that would best suit them and their aerobic movements, eventually replacing the models he initially worked with for dancers, in hopes of producing clothing that benefits people of all classifications.<ref name="Bonnie English"/> His use of pleats and polyester jersey reflected a modern form of fashion due to their practical comfort and elasticity. Over 10 years of Miyake's work was featured in Paris in 1998 at the "Issey Miyake: Making Things" exhibition. His two most popular series were titled, "Pleats, Please" and "A-POC (A piece of Cloth)".

[[Yohji Yamamoto]] and [[Rei Kawakubo]] are Japanese fashion designers who share similar tastes in design and style, their work often considered by the public to be difficult to differentiate. They were influenced by social conflicts, as their recognizable work bloomed and was influenced by the post war era of Japan. They differ from Miyake and several other fashion designers in their dominating use of dark colors, especially the color black. Traditional clothing often included a variety of colors in their time, and their use of "the absence of color" provoked multiple critics to voice their opinions and criticize the authenticity of their work. American Vogue of April 1983 labeled the two "avant-garde designers", eventually leading them to their success and popularity.<ref name="Bonnie English"/>

===Aesthetics===
The Japanese are often recognized for their traditional art and its capability of transforming simplicity into creative designs. As stated by Valerie Foley, "Fan shapes turn out to be waves, waves metamorphose into mountains; simple knots are bird wings; wobbly semicircles signify half-submerged Heian period carriage wheels".<ref>Foley, Valerie. "Western fashion, Eastern look: the influence of the kimono and the qipau." ''Surface Design Journal'' 24, no. 1 (September 1, 1999): 23-29. ''Bibliography of Asian Studies'', EBSCO''host'' (accessed November 3, 2016).
</ref> These art forms have been transferred onto fabric that then mold into clothing. With traditional clothing, specific techniques are used and followed, such as metal applique, silk embroidery, and paste- resist. The type of fabric used to produce the clothing was often indicative of a person's social class, for the wealthy were able to afford clothing created with fabrics of higher quality. Stitching techniques and the fusion of colors also distinguished the wealthy from the commoner, as those of higher power had a tendency to wear ornate, brighter clothing.<ref>Carpenter, John T. "Weaving Kimono Back into the Fabric of Japanese Art History." ''Orientations'' (October 2014): 1-5. ''Art & Architecture Source'', EBSCO''host'' (accessed November 9, 2016).
</ref>

==Influence on modern fashion==

===Tokyo street fashion===
{{main|Japanese street fashion}}
[[File:制服 (5346443876).jpg|thumb|right|{{transliteration|ja|[[Kogal]]}} girls, identified by shortened [[Japanese school uniform]] skirts]]
Japanese street fashion emerged in the 1990s and differed from traditional fashion in the sense that it was initiated and popularized by the general public, specifically teenagers, rather than by fashion designers.<ref name="Japanese street fashion">Aliyaapon, Jiratanatiteenun, et al. "The Transformation of Japanese Street Fashion between 2006 and 2011." ''Advances In Applied Sociology'' no. 4 (2012): 292. ''Airiti Library eBooks & Journals - 華藝線上圖書館'', EBSCO''host'' (accessed October 29, 2016).</ref> Different forms of street fashion have emerged in different Tokyo locales, such as the [[Lolita fashion|''rorīta'']] in [[Harajuku]], the ''[[Koakuma Ageha|koakuma ageha]]'' of [[Shibuya]] or the ''[[Gyaru]]'' subculture fashion style.

Lolita fashion became popular in the mid-2000s. It is characterized by "a knee length skirt or dress in a bell shape assisted by petticoats, worn with a blouse, knee high socks or stockings and a headdress".<ref name="Japanese street fashion"/> Different sub-styles of lolita include casual, sweet, gothic, black and {{transliteration|ja|hime}} ("princess").<ref>{{cite book |last1=Peirson-Smith |first1=Anne |last2=II |first2=Joseph H. Hancock |title=Transglobal Fashion Narratives: Clothing Communication, Style Statements and Brand Storytelling |date=15 July 2018 |publisher=Intellect Books |isbn=978-1-78320-845-6 |page=179 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=q7irDwAAQBAJ&dq=lolita&pg=PT179 |language=en}}</ref> ''Kogyaru'' or ''kogal'' is another Japanese street fashion based on a Shibuya club-hostess look. Women with this style tan their bodies and faces to a deep brown colour, and will frequently use light lipstick to accentuate the darkness and brownness of their complexion. The {{transliteration|ja|[[kogal]]}} trend is found in both Shibuya and Harajuku, and is influenced by a "schoolgirl" look, with participants often wearing short skirts, oversized knee-high socks, and sparkling accessories.<ref>Black, Daniel. "Wearing Out Racial Discourse: Tokyo Street Fashion and Race as Style." ''Journal of Popular Culture'' 42, no. 2 (April 2009): p.241. ''Humanities Source'', EBSCO''host'' (accessed November 16, 2016).</ref>

== See also ==
* [[Culture of Japan]]
*{{transliteration|ryu|[[Ryusou]]}} – traditional Okinawan clothing
* {{transliteration|zh|[[Hanfu]]}} – traditional Chinese clothing
* {{transliteration|ko|[[Hanbok]]}} – traditional Korean clothing
* {{lang|vi|[[Vietnamese clothing]]}} – traditional Vietnamese clothing

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
{{Commons category|Clothing of Japan}}
*[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c2UWzVjdjQE Video about Traditional Japanese Wear]
 
{{Japanese clothing}}{{Timeline of clothing and fashion}}{{Japanese (samurai) weapons, armour and equipment}}
{{Portal bar|Japan|Fashion}}

[[Category:Japanese clothing| ]]