I Went Kimono Shopping

Welcome back, and for those of you who are new, welcome! Now, let's get into it!!!

I joined the kimono club at Sophia University, called Wagokoro. The people in the club are super nice and helpful. The club meets once every week so if you want to become culturally immersed, I highly suggest this club for some cute and beautiful fun. However, don't think that they provide any kimonos because they expect you to already have one or to buy one of your own. Since I really wanted to buy one before I left Japan anyway, I figured joining the club would be really fun and I would have opportunities to really go out and wear my kimono as well as learn how to wear one. Thus, my journey of finding a kimono started.

In the beginning, the club leaders will help you buy all the necessary pieces. They put up in the line chat links on Amazon for the inner wear and all the ropes and small bits that go with. They also suggested for me to buy the socks, called tabi, online. So I did and they all arrived quickly, I have to say. Japan has amazing shipping and your items come the day of or the next, usually. The club also set a poll up for some dates to go kimono shopping but the first trip I wasn't available and so I took it upon myself to go with my friend. We were really excited :D 

The things we were looking for were the kimono itself, the obi (the belt), and shoes (zori/geta). I asked in the line chat where we should go shopping and they suggested "Chicago" and "Tansuya" in Harajuku/Omotesando area. I also did some research on my own, but they stores they listed were much more helpful for my wallet and taste than the various blogs/posts I scoured online. In the area, there were 4 "Chicago" stores and they have very similar items like recurring kimono and obi in their branches but there are definitely some unique patterns. They also offer a discounted price for buying their kimono and obi set (5000yen before tax/5400yen with tax) and I picked a set out, along with an extra obi for my other kimono (which I get to later). The total ended up around $60 USD because they offer tax-free purchases and boy was I glad I brought my passport.

My friend and I hit the "Tansuya" after the "Chicago" stores and I bought my first kimono there. Why first? Well, we ended up walking back and forth a lot because we were comparing pricing and designs that we picked out. So, at Tansuya I found a really pretty kimono discounted 70% and it ended up being around $62 USD. "Tansuya" was amazing because they have professional staff and although the lady helping me wasn't able to speak English, she helped me in and out of several kimono and obi. At "Chicago", don't expect much help with fitting because it's a thrift store.

I forgot to mention, but these kimono are all second-hand. You can't really get anything cheap if it's brand new. "Tansuya" also offered tax-free but they said I wouldn't be able to wear it in Japan if I did, so I assumed it was one of those things that had to leave the country before unwrapping. "Tansuya" didn't have any kimono that would fit my friend since she's around 5'6/7. Most places probably won't have many options if you're over 165cm. Even for myself at around 160cm, that particular "Tansuya" was more on the shorter side for selection. The good thing about shopping for kimono is that there are many stores. The only thing is, you have to find them and see if what they offer is in your price range. 

Afterwards, we went to "Gallery Kawano" in Omotesando, but we didn't find anything. However, they seemed a little better equipped for English-speaking than at "Tansuya". "Gallery Kawano" doesn't offer kimono for those taller than 167cm. Honestly, I'm not sure what the cut-off is, but I asked about 167cm because I was guessing at my friend's height. If your height is suitable, they do offer rather cheap kimono around $50 USD and above. They sell obi and other things like yukata, but I didn't see any shoes. 

Keep in mind, all these stores are within 5-10min walking from each other. Although we did do a lot of walking back and forth, it was worth it to find the perfect kimono. My friend ended up getting a kimono at a "Chicago" branch different from the one I bought mine at. She had a lot of difficulty finding a kimono appropriate for her height and hip size. They were often too small but thankfully she was able to find an extremely pretty pink kimono. Again, shoes were a miss because they were either too dirty for my liking, too expensive for what they were, had little to no selection, or not in my size. Therefore, I'm still on my hunt for shoes to go with my kimono. 

Honestly, it was so fun to go hunting for kimono and I really recommend it. I hope you found this blog really helpful and I encourage you to learn more about kimono and Japanese culture because they're amazing. 

Until next time ~ ^v^