THE OBI, SQUARE AND PLAIN.
The obi, or sash, is about four inches wide and varies in length from twelve feet and a half to fourteen. It is usually of the same material on both sides and can be worn either side out. It is stitched along one edge and stiffened with a padding. This is the regular sash, commonly called the square obi; but when we are at home, go out for a walk, or visit an intimate friend, we prefer another kind of sash, which is a piece of white crêpe, about ten feet long and varying in width from a foot and a quarter to two feet, and stitched at the ends to prevent their fraying. It is much more comfortable than the other.
The haori, or outer coat, is worn over the kimono. It comes down only to the knees or a little lower. It has no gores in front like the kimono. The neck-band runs down to the skirt. The haori is open in front and the band falls straight from the shoulders on both sides, so that there is no need for gores in front which are required only for folding over; but there is a narrow gore on either side coming down from the lower extremity of the sleeve to the skirt. The sleeves of the haori are just large enough to enclose those of the kimono. At the skirt the body pieces are turned in and form the lining of the lower part of the haori; and so the full length of a cloth, that is, about thirty-five feet, is taken in the same way as in the making of the kimono. The upper part of the haori and the sleeves are lined with another material; that for the upper part is often of bright colours or embroidered; it is, in fact, the only portion of the male dress where the usual rule of sober colours is not strictly adhered to, and people who aspire to be chic sometimes use for the lining a more expensive material than the outer cloth. Unlined haori which are made of silk gauze or similar thin stuff for summer wear, are woven shorter than the others to dispense with the skirt-lining. The haori for winter wear is sometimes wadded with a thin layer of floss-silk. About fifteen inches down the neck, a small loop of the same material as the haori is stitched on to the band on either side, and to this a silk cord is fastened and tied in the middle to keep the haori from slipping off. Sometimes the cords are made in a knot or a bow and fastened to the loops by hooks at the ends.
THE HAORI.
The haori worn on a visit or on formal occasions is usually black and adorned with the family crest. The crest is found on three or five parts of the haori, one in the middle of the back over the seam, and one each on the back of the sleeve, and if there are five crests altogether, one each on the breast of the body piece between the band and the sleeve. The crest is of various forms and is about an inch from end to end. It is invariably white; the white cloth is specially dyed for the purpose so that the crest is the only portion left undyed; but sometimes ready-dyed cloths with white disks for the crests are bought, when the crests have to be drawn on them, or if they have no such disks, the crests are sewn on.
Haori for common wear have no crests and are plain, twilled, or striped and of sombre hues, though not necessarily black. Those for home wear are often much longer than ordinary haori and are thickly wadded with cotton. They are also without crests.
The hakama is a sort of loose trousers. Either leg is made by joining along the nape five pieces of cloth about a yard long, four of which are of the full width of the cloth and the fifth of half that width. The skirt is sewn by turning in the edge three times to stiffen it. The two legs are joined in such a manner that the half-width pieces form the inner side and the lowest point of the fork is about twenty-two inches from the skirt. In front a longitudinal plait is made an inch or so to the left so that its edge is in the middle; two more plaits are made to the left and two to the right, and a third on the latter leg under the middle fold. A similar but deeper plait is made behind on either leg, that on the right having its edge in the middle. These plaits are not stitched, but merely hot-pressed so that they can be opened at will; and as they are much deeper at the skirt than at the top, they give free play to the legs when walking and make the hakama appear to fit more closely than it would without them. The upper half of the hakama is open at either side, the fork at which is of about the same depth as that in the middle. The top of the front half which is about a foot wide, is sewn on to the middle of a band which is folded and turned in to the width of half an inch and is about eleven feet long, thus leaving a free end five feet long on either side of the front half. The back, the top of which is narrower than that in front, is surmounted with a piece of thin board on which the cloth is pasted with starch mucilage. This board has also a narrow band, two feet long, on each side. The hakama is lined or unlined, but never wadded.
