Have you ever seen a kimono laid flat?
A long, straight body.
Square-looking sleeves.
A long collar.
Compared with many Western garments, kimono have a remarkably straight and simple shape.
You may wonder:
“Why are kimono made with so many straight lines?”
The answer is closely connected to the long, narrow fabric traditionally used to make kimono.
This fabric is called tanmono.
Let’s look at how tanmono and kimono construction help create the familiar kimono shape.
Kimono Use Relatively Straight Sections of Fabric
Kimono are made by combining sections such as the body panels, sleeves, collar, and okumi front panels.
Many of these sections have relatively straight shapes.
Western clothing may use curved cutting to follow the shape of the body.
Armholes.
Waists.
Necklines.
Fabric can be cut into many different curves to create a three-dimensional silhouette.
Kimono use a different construction approach.
Many sections remain relatively straight.
This characteristic is often described as straight-line cutting or straight construction.
What Is Tanmono?
To understand kimono construction, it helps to know the word tanmono.
Tanmono is a long, narrow bolt of fabric traditionally used to make garments such as kimono.
The fabric is divided into the lengths needed for different sections of the garment.
These sections become parts such as the body panels and sleeves.
Because the original fabric is long and narrow, kimono construction makes use of this shape and width.
The straight structure of kimono is closely connected to the form of tanmono.
Kimono Construction Makes Use of the Fabric Width
When a kimono is made, the width of the tanmono is used to create different garment sections.
Body panels.
Sleeves.
Okumi front panels.
Collar sections.
These pieces are arranged and sewn together to create one kimono.
Of course, kimono tailoring requires detailed adjustments and skilled techniques.
A kimono is not simply made by sewing a few rectangles together.
However, the approach to fabric is different from many Western garments that use large curved cuts to create a fitted three-dimensional shape.
Kimono construction works closely with the original form of the fabric.
A Flat Garment Is Shaped Around the Body During Dressing
When laid flat, a kimono looks very two-dimensional.
So how does it fit the human body?
Part of the answer is kimono dressing.
The front panels are overlapped.
The length is adjusted.
The collar is arranged.
The fabric is positioned around the body.
Finally, the obi is added.
Rather than creating every curve through tailoring, kimono dressing helps shape the garment around the wearer.
The final kimono silhouette is created through both tailoring and dressing.
The Same Straight Structure Can Create Very Different Kimono
The basic structure of many kimono is similar.
Yet each garment can have a completely different character.
Fabric.
Color.
Dyeing.
Weaving.
Pattern placement.
Measurements.
I preserve more than 40 kimono that belonged to my grandmother.
When I unfold them one by one, their basic forms often look familiar.
But the fabrics feel different.
Their weights are different.
They reflect light differently.
Within the same simple kimono structure, every garment has its own expression.
Perhaps the simplicity of the shape allows the character of the fabric itself to become more visible.
Straight Construction Also Affects Kimono Patterns
Pattern placement is an important part of kimono design.
Because sections of fabric are cut from a tanmono and joined together, a finished kimono contains seams.
Some kimono are designed so that patterns appear to continue across these seams.
In other cases, a pattern may appear to stop or be interrupted.
Looking at kimono first as fabric and then as a completed garment can change the way you see its patterns.
The relationship between fabric, seams, and design is another fascinating part of kimono construction.
From Straight Fabric to the Human Form
A kimono lying flat is filled with straight lines.
But when someone puts it on, the impression changes.
The fabric follows the shoulders.
The body panels wrap around the wearer.
The sleeves move.
The obi helps create the final silhouette.
Straight fabric begins to move with the human body.
This transformation is one of the things I find beautiful about kimono.
Kimono Structure Is Closely Connected to Tanmono
Kimono are made using many relatively straight sections of fabric.
This structure is closely connected to tanmono, the long and narrow fabric traditionally used to make kimono.
The width of the fabric is used.
Sections are divided.
Body panels and sleeves are assembled.
Then the garment is arranged around the human body through dressing.
A flat and straight kimono becomes a three-dimensional silhouette when it is worn.
The next time you see a kimono, try looking at its straight lines.
Behind that simple shape is a distinctive relationship between fabric, tailoring, and the person who wears it.
At alo, I share simple explanations of kimono questions that may feel ordinary in Japan but can be surprisingly interesting when viewed from outside Japanese culture.
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