Japanese Kimono

Question: When is which Kimono worn?

I have a character in my manga that I want to dress in a kimono (at the start, anyways). However, as far as I know there are several different types of kimono, but all I know is 'a yukata is a summer kimono'. So, are there many versions, and if so what occasions are they for? And could a character wear a short kimono and still look right?

Answer: For women:
- Yukata: Summer wear or bath wear at onsen at any time of the year. Made of cotton. Worn with hanhaba and/or heko obi.
- Komon: Very informal kimono with a small, repeating, all-over pattern (may look like a yukata, but made of silk or polyester). There are many subsets of komon, such as the Edo komon, which has a pattern done in tiny white dots and looks like a solid color from a distance. Worn with Nagoya obi or a very nice heko obi. This is also where you start to see the need for other accessories (juban, obi age, obi jime, obi ita, obi makura, tabi, zori) that aren't usually worn with yukata.
- Iromuji: solid-colored, casual-to-semi-formal kimono. The specific formality depends on the number of crests (0, 1, 3, 5) and the specific accessories worn with it. Typically worn with a Nagoya or fukuro obi. A very good choice for tea ceremonies.
- Tsukesage and Houmongi: Semi-formal to formal. They are two different kinds of kimono but their usues usually overlap. Usually worn with fukuro obi. In a pinch, a houmongi is a good substitute for a more formal kimono, but just how well it works depends on a lot of factors (e.g. if you're the sister of the bride you probably shoudln't wear a houmongi to the wedding, you should shell out the cash to rent or buy a tomesode or furisode).
- Tomesode (iro and kuro) and furisode: Very formal. Think of them as evening gowns, though they can be worn to any very formal occasion at any time of day. Furisdoe have long sleeves and are meant to be worn by young unmarried women (some say the cutoff is age 25, some say 30, some say until you're married no matter what age...Look to your character's age and the time period to decide if furisode would be appropriate). Irotomesode are worn by younger married women, and the base color is usually some color that isn't black. Kurotomesode are worn by older married women, and the base color is always black. Irotomesode and kurotomesode have shorter sleeves and the pattern is only on the hem. All are worn with fukuro obi or maybe maru obi.
- Special kimono: For a wedding, a bride might wear a kakeshita in a solid color under a white or multi-colored uchikake. She might change into a hikifurisode for the reception. Many modern brides wear Western gowns instead of Japanese clothes, or might wear Japanese clothes but switch to Western clothes for part of the reception. Geisha, maiko, and tayuu/oiran have special kinds of kimono too.

I don't know as much about men's outfits except to say that if you ever see a guy wearing kimono with haori and hakama, that's a fairly formal outfit.

I wouldn't put a character in a short kimono unless you're writing a pre-World War 2 story, or unless your character is in some way unusual or inappropriate in her behavior. I have seen girls tuck their yukata up so that the hem reaches the knees, but it's not very common. It's more common for a girl to accessorize her yukata to express her personal style preferences, using things like fancy attachable collars or obi decorations to do so. Wearing any other kind of kimono hiked up short would be extremely scandalous and inappropriate. An exception would be if she wears the Wa-lolita style of Lolita, in which case her kimono-inspired dress would probably fall to her knees.

Kimono Story part 2