Is plus-sized kitsuke possible?

In my last non-photo post I talked about the measurements you need to determine whether or not a kimono will fit you and some of the difficulties that my by encountered by potential kimono-wearers whose bodies are larger than typical Japanese bodies. It can be very difficult to be plus-sized and to participate in kimono-wearing activities, since kimono rarely come in larger sizes -- especially more formal kimono. However, that does not mean that kimono-wearing is entirely impossible. Depending on your specific size, you may be able to find kimono at the larger end of the usual spectrum and wear them by relaxing rules regarding how much the two front panels should overlap. Unfortunately you don’t have much leeway in this -- only a couple of inches, really, but for many people that could be enough. If that won’t work for you, you may be stuck with hunting around for larger yukata and komon (and accepting that larger formal kimono are so rare that I personally have never seen one). If you have the skills or the access to someone who does, you might also be able to make your own kimono as well. Many shops that sell kimono also sell kimono and yukata fabric. Depending on where you live, you may even be lucky enough to have a kimono store nearby that could make a kimono for you, though this option might be very expensive and is probably quite rare outside of Japan. Just be aware that, depending on your size, you may need more than one bolt of fabric and it can be difficult to get matching bolts.

“Where can I get a kimono in size Y?” or What you actually need to know to figure out if that kimono will fit you

A common question I see is where someone can get a kimono that will fit. This is a reasonable question, though a bit difficult to answer, especially for non-Japanese people (who are often larger than Japanese people). One thing that makes answering this question difficult is the simple fact that kimono are not sized like Western clothing. But what exactly does that mean?

Western clothing is usually labeled with a size, such as M or XXL, 12 or 26, 16/18, or whatever special system a particular store or brand has developed (e.g. many items sold in Torrid use Torrid’s own sizing system of 0-5, which roughly corresponds to the sizes 12/14-28/30 found in other stores). Western-style clothing in Japan follows a similar system. Kimono usually do not. When you’re buying a kimono, knowing your Western clothing size is largely irrelevant. You need to know your measurements. At the very least you will need to know your height and your hip or waist measurement. For the hips/waist, you will also need to take into account the fact that a properly-worn kimono or yukata wraps around your body and overlaps in the front, so that the outer edge of each front panel lines up with the opposite side seam. That’s a lot of extra inches you need to account for if you want the kimono to fit! You might also want to know your “wingspan,” the measurement from one wrist to the other with your arms outstretched, so you don’t wind up with a kimono that fits like a t-shirt.

Once you know these measurements, where do you find a kimono that fits you? Well, you can try some of the resources I listed in my second post, but depending on your size it may be difficult or impossible to find a ready-made kimono that will fit you. This is simply because Japanese people tend to be smaller than non-Japanese people, not only in terms of weight but also in terms of build. As a result, most of the clothing items available from Japan -- including kimono -- are smaller than those made for a Western market. Add to this that most second-hand kimono were probably made for a specific person and you can see the difficulty involved in finding a kimono to fit your measurements. It CAN be done. I know plenty of people who have done it. But it helps to be aware of these things when you’re hunting for your kimono. Keep in mind that if you’re substantially larger than an average Japanese person (e.g. you’re very tall or you’re plus-sized, like me) that your options might be very limited. I have found yukata in my size, and one polyester komon in a Japanese 5L (which was still too small for me when I wore an American 3X regularly), but I have never seen more formal kimono in my size and I had to have both of my komon custom-made.

Good luck in your kimono hunt, and if you find any good resources please let me know!

Kimono resources: Kitsuke information

So now you have a kimono, or are thinking of getting one. But what kind should you get? What are the different kinds, anyway? How do you know what matches it? And how the heck do you put a kimono ON anyway? Here are a few resources that I have found. Feel free to add your own favorites in the comments!

Books:
Unfortunately, there aren’t all that many kitsuke books available in English. I only know of two, actually: “The Book of Kimono” by Norio Yamanaka, and the more recently released “The New Kimono” by Nanao Magazine. Both books are excellent additions to your kimono and kitsuke library, but I prefer “The New Kimono” because it has the same step-by-step pictures instructions found in Japanese kimono magazines, along with instructions for each step written in English. Which makes perfect sense, since the book is a collection of translated articles from a Japanese kimono magazine. Both books are available on Amazon.com.

Magazines and mooks:
If you’re willing to venture on to the Amazon Japan, you can buy Japanese kimono magazines and mooks, ranging from those that cover general topics to specialty items like bridal magazines and yukata magazines. Some of these are only instructional in nature, some are only to demonstrate current styles and advertise products, and some are a mixture of the two. I’ll be reviewing some of the Japanese books from my own collection as we go.

Websites:
- The Immortal Geisha forums are usually my go-to place for all kitsuke questions, from basic instructions to matching to motif identification. They’re also a great resource for anything related to geiko and maiko.

- YouTube is a surprisingly good source of kimono-dressing videos. Some, like the one from Ichiroya (which I think is technically about yukata dressing) are meant to be instructional, while others are not. Keep in mind that just because a video is about dressing in yukata doesn’t mean it’s useless if you want to dress in kimono -- the most basic rules of kitsuke are the same no matter what. Start by searching for “kimono dressing.”

- Kimono Market Sakura has videos on wearing yukata. But please be aware that the model is wearing a juban under the yukata (and they don’t show instructions for putting that on). There isn’t necessarily anything wrong with have a juban under your yukata. In fact, it’s something of a modern style and is one of the things you would do to bump the yukata’s formality up a notch so you could wear it to, say, a summer beer garden. But it’s not standard yukata-wearing practice.

- Yukatalism is a Japanese website with some animated GIFs of several obi musubi that can be worn with yukata.

- Wikipedia is actually a decent starting place for information on the different kinds of kimono.

- The kimono encyclopedia on Japanese Lifestyle has a good, short breakdown of information on the different kinds of kimono.