The fabrics that kimono are made from are classified in two categories within Japan. Gofuku ( 呉服) is the term used to indicate silk kimono fabrics, composed of the characters go ( 呉, meaning "Wu", a kingdom in ancient China where the technology of weaving silk developed) and fuku ( 服, meaning "clothing"). [18] :115 [25] a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z aa ab ac ad ae af ag ah ai aj ak al am an ao Valk, Julie (2018). "Survival or Success? The Kimono Retail Industry in Contemporary Japan" (D.Phil thesis). University of Oxford . Retrieved 24 January 2020. a b c d e Dees, Jan (2009). Taisho Kimono: Speaking of Past and Present (1sted.). Milano, Italy: Skira Editore S.p.A. ISBN 978-88-572-0011-8. Divided into kuro-furisode and iro-furisode, these are parallel versions of the formal, shorter-sleeved kurotomesode and irotomesode, but with longer sleeves. A ko-furisode with a komon-style pattern is deemed casual wear. Ko-furisode are also worn with hakama. In the modern era, ko-furisode are rare, but are sometimes worn for graduations. Most ko-furisode are vintage kimono, as in the modern day furisode are not worn often enough to warrant buying a more casual form of the dress. [41]

Shōwa period (1926–1989) [ edit ] A 1957 clothing ad, showing postwar kitsuke standards for women, which promoted a neater, more standardised appearance Fassbender, Bardo; Peters, Anne; Peter, Simone; Högger, Daniel (2012). The Oxford Handbook of the History of International Law. Oxford: Oxford University Press. p.477. ISBN 978-0198725220. Despite the low number of people who wear kimonos regularly and the garment's reputation as a complicated article of clothing, the kimono has experienced a number of revivals in previous decades, and is still worn today as fashionable clothing in Japan. Now that kimono are not typically worn as informal clothing, komon are not worn as often as formal kimono, though they have a wider range of suitable use. Edo komon are the most formal type of komon; they may have one to three crests, with a small, fine pattern that appears to be a solid colour from a distance, and so resembles the more formal iromuji.

a b c d e "Komon kimono". Kimono mochi: kimono collection. [for some reason the author used this abstract as the HTML title, so I've preserved it in the citation]The lowly komon kimono is the workhorse of the kimono wardrobe, worn for trips to town, to friends houses, in any situation which is outside of the home but informal. Despite their name, which means 'small design', komon can have large or small imagery, and the repeat can be staggered widely. painted, closely stencilled, woven, Printed, striped, spotted, shibori, silk, jinken, modern polyester--if it's a repetitive design, short-sleeved, and without kamon, then it's a komon. During the Meiji period, the opening of Japan to Western trade after the enclosure of the Edo period led to a drive towards Western dress as a sign of "modernity". After an edict by Emperor Meiji, [ citation needed] policemen, railroad workers and teachers moved to wearing Western clothing within their job roles, with the adoption of Western clothing by men in Japan happening at a much greater pace than by women. Initiatives such as the Tokyo Women's & Children's Wear Manufacturers' Association ( 東京婦人子供服組合) promoted Western dress as everyday clothing. Wada, Yoshiko (1 January 2004). Boro no Bi: Beauty in Humility—Repaired Cotton Rags of Old Japan. Textile Society of America Symposium Proceedings.

Young women are not limited to wearing only furisode, and outside of formal occasions that warrant it, can wear all other types of women's kimono which feature shorter sleeves. The term gofuku is also used to refer to kimono in general within Japan, particularly within the context of the kimono industry, as traditional kimono shops are referred to as either gofukuten ( 呉服店) or gofukuya ( 呉服屋) – with the additional character of ya ( 屋) meaning 'shop'. [26]

Susohiki ( lit. 'trailing skirt') (also known as hikizuri) are women's kimono with a specialised construction that allows them to be worn trailing, with a deep-set and widely-spaced collar. Susohiki are extremely long kimono worn by geisha, maiko, actors in kabuki and people performing traditional Japanese dance. A susohiki can be up to 230cm (91in) long, and are generally no shorter than 200cm (79in) from shoulder to hem; this is to allow the kimono to trail along the floor.

Uchikake ( 打ち掛け) are highly formal women's over-kimono, worn only by brides or onstage. The name uchikake comes from the Japanese verb uchikake-ru, "to drape upon", originating in roughly the 16th century from a fashion among the ruling classes of the time to wear kimono (then called kosode, lit. 'small sleeve') unbelted over the shoulders of one's other garments; [1] :34 the uchikake progressed into being an over-kimono worn by samurai women before being adopted some time in the 20th century as bridal wear. By the beginning of the Kamakura period, the kosode was an ankle-length garment for both men and women, and had small, rounded sleeves that were sewn to the body of the garment. The obi was a relatively thin belt tied somewhat low on the waist, usually in a plain bow, and was known as a hoso-obi. [34] During this time period, the fashion of wearing a kosode draped around the shoulders, over the head, or as the outermost garment stripped off the shoulders and held in place by the obi, led to the rise of the uchikake – a heavily decorated over-kimono, stemming from the verb uchikake-ru ( lit. 'to drape upon'), worn unbelted over the top of the kosode – becoming popular as formal dress for the upper classes. [1] :39

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Kimono are also worn by Japanese Americans, and by other members of the Japanese diaspora overseas, such as Japanese Filipinos in the Philippines (see Japanese in the Philippines). Miyoshi, Yurika. "季節の着物". kimono5.jp (in Japanese). スリーネクスト (株). Archived from the original on 12 August 2013 . Retrieved 2 July 2020. In response to the increasing material wealth of the merchant classes, the Tokugawa shogunate issued a number of sumptuary laws on kimono for the lower classes, prohibiting the use of purple or red fabric, gold embroidery, and the use of intricately dyed shibori patterns. [17] As a result, a school of aesthetic thought known as Iki developed. They valued and prioritised the display of wealth through almost mundande appearance, and the concept of kimono design and wear continues to this day as a major influence.