Home Life in Tokyo

by Jukichi Inouye

We now pass on to the making of the male unlined kimono, as naturally it is of the simplest form. In the first place, the length of a kimono varies with the size of the wearer; it is not only his height, but his condition as well, that has to be taken into consideration, for broad shoulders, a thick chest, and rounded hips require more cloth, longitudinally and laterally, than a body of the same height but with less flesh. The usual length is about four feet six inches for the average Japanese whose height is five feet three or four inches. The two body pieces are first placed side by side and sewn together half the length, the edge sewn in being about half an inch; and then at the end of the seam the pieces are cut two inches and a half and folded down at that width all along to the free ends, so that when they are spread out, there is a channel five inches wide along half their length. They are then folded in two so that the free halves are exactly over the sewn halves. The outer edges are then sewn from the end up to a point a foot and five inches below the fold. The sewn halves form the hind part and the free halves the front of the kimono. Next, the pieces for the gores are sewn on from the end along the free edges of the body pieces. The skirt is stitched, and the kimono, which is now an inch or so less than five feet, is tucked in to the required length at the hips where the tucking would be concealed under the obi, or sash. The edge of each gore is stitched to a certain height which depends upon the length of the kimono, and from this point to the top of its juncture with the body piece the gore is turned, and the triangle thus formed is folded again and again so as to be enclosed in the band which is next sewn on over the folded edges of the gores and round the breast and neck of the body pieces. The band itself is made by folding the band piece lengthwise into two and turning in the edges. The upper band which serves as an anti-macassar is then sewn over the main band around the neck. The sleeves have in the meantime been sewn into oblong pieces a foot and seven or eight inches long by ten inches wide. The outer edge has been sewn together for nine and a quarter inches from the bottom, the remainder being hemmed round to allow the hand to pass through; and the inner edge, of which two and a half inches have been stitched at the lower extremity, is now sewn on to the body piece.

The dress is now complete. Sometimes when the cloth is slightly short of measure, it cannot be made in the way just described. The body pieces are taken at lengths which admit of but little tucking at the hips; and the gores are cut slantwise, leaving no triangular pieces to be folded in. But in that case, when the dress is remade, the same parts of the gores will be exposed, whereas if the gores are oblong, they can be reversed so as to expose the parts which were formerly folded in and are therefore practically new.

THE KIMONO, REAR AND FRONT VIEW.

These dresses can be taken to pieces and remade so long as the cloth is not worn out; and as they can be made to fit most persons by judicious tucking in or letting out, they are often washed and remade for others than the original wearer. As the maximum length of the body pieces is about ten feet, a cloth of the usual length would be too short for those who measure more than four feet ten or eleven inches from the nape of the neck to the ankles. A spare person, five feet eight inches in height, might just manage to make himself a dress out of a cloth of the usual length; but a man of a greater stature or of the same height with more flesh would have to get a cloth specially woven for him or buy a double length. Moreover, if a cloth is too short for the height, it would also be in all probability too narrow for the sleeves, which would then require a strip to be sewn on to cover the arms.

The unlined dress of coarse bleached cotton, known as yukata or bath-dress, is the simplest and most comfortable for summer wear. It is worn immediately next to the skin without underwear of any kind, and is washed whole every few days in midsummer. It is commonly white or blue with stripes, spots, or other simple designs. If the dress is of silk, hemp, or of a better kind of cotton, an underwear of bleached cotton is put on. This resembles the kimono in form, only that it is much shorter, coming down only to the thighs, and has open sleeves and no gores. The unlined kimono is worn when one goes out in summer; the yukata is mostly for home wear or put on for a walk in the evening. The unlined clothes are worn through midsummer from the middle of June until the latter half of September.

The lined kimono differs from the unlined in having a lining, which is usually of dark-blue silk or cotton. The lining is first made separately from the covering, and its pieces, which are similar to those of the other with a slight shrinkage in the measurement to allow for its being the inner side, are stitched together, except at the edges of the sleeves, skirt, gores, and the inner border of the body pieces, which are sewn on to the corresponding parts of the outer cloth. The band of the latter covers both cloths; and at the opening of the sleeves a stiff piece of cloth trims the edges as that part is apt to be rapidly worn out from the movement of the wrist. The underwear is the same as in the case of the unlined kimono. The lined kimono is worn for a shorter time than the unlined, in fact, for about a month at the transition from the unlined kimono to the wadded and vice-versa. The lined kimono was not recognised by the old-time etiquette which did not sanction any intermediate dress between the unlined and the wadded; but of its comfort as a demi-saison costume there can be no question.

The wadded kimono is the most important of all as it is worn for a longer period than the others. It is simply the lined kimono wadded, and is made similarly to it. When the two halves, the outer and the inner, have been stitched separately, they are first joined together at the skirt, turned inside out, and spread on the floor. The wadding is then put on the outer half, the lining is brought over and sewn on, and finally the whole dress is turned back the right side out. The lining is made narrower than the covering as it remains inside, but is slightly longer to allow for the bulge of the wadding. The wadding may be of floss-silk as when it is desired to keep the dress thin and light; or it may be of ginned cotton with a thin coating of floss-silk; the floss-silk is needed because if the wadding were only of cotton, it would fall in the course of time and gather at the skirt, whereas the floss-silk adheres to the cloth with such pertinacity that part of it oozes out through the texture of the cloth and forms little white lumps on the outside.

The wadded clothes are worn double in midwinter. The under-dress is of slightly smaller dimensions than the upper. It is usual to make its body of a less stiff material than the other, for if it were as stiff or thick, it would be uncomfortable to wear. Hence, the gores, the skirt, the band, and the wrist-ends of the sleeves, that is, the visible portions, are made of stiff stuff; but the rest is of softer silk or cotton.

Under the lower kimono is worn a doublet, thickly wadded and coming down to the knees. It is made of inferior silk and has a black silk band. Under this is the same underwear as in the case of the lined kimono. The doublet has sleeves like the kimono. The merino undershirt is now frequently worn instead of the Japanese underwear; it is certainly warmer than the other which lets the wind and cold enter through its open breast and sleeves, but it cannot be said to add to the picturesqueness of the national costume. Merino drawers are also worn; they are useful as the skirt is often on a windy day blown aside and exposes the legs to the cold.