My friend who is very fond of tea ceremony lessons said, "It's nice to wear Kimono (着物), but it requires high maintenance and cost a lot". True. Kimono is usually made of silk and it cost quite a lot if you take them to professional cleaning shops each time you wear it. Besides, if it rains...it will have stains all over...
In old days where Kimono was commonplace, formal ones made of silk were so expensive that people had only a few chances in their lives to wear them. In the Edo (江戸) era, people except nobles were banned from wearing silk products. Later, luxury Kimono called Kosode (小袖) became popular among merchants, however, they still wore washable cotton or linen ones daily.
My mother and grand mother used to take care of their Kimono at home. After New Year's Day or any events where they wore Kimono, they would wipe the collars and cuffs with benzin, give a good airing for a day or two, fold them very carefully, and finally put them in a chest. Unless there were major spots or smears, they never hired professional Kimono cleaning called Shikkaiya (悉皆屋).
Today, we also do not have much opportunities for wearing Kimono unless you take classes of Japanese traditional arts, such as tea ceremony or Japanese dancing. Therefore, we YUMEYAKATA recommend our rental Kimono which is very convenient for any occasion from casual to formal.
Click here to see the blog by a Former MAIKO, "Do You Know?"
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