Wednesday, January 20, 2010

Kimono Shopping: Real or Fake? Materials




If you're looking for a kimono online, whether it's a gift or for a costume or just because you like to have or wear them, it's important to know how to tell a real from a fake because the people selling don't always know themselves (or are counting on the fact you don't know). There are a lot of ways to tell, so I'll be returning to this topic every now and then and adding to it.

So what materials are real kimono made from?

They're made from, depending on the formality, 100% cotton, wool, silk or high quality synthetics. The purple kimono above is a beautiful example of a silk shibori one.

Fakes are often made of satin, cheap polyester or very shiny silk, and include fake "obi" belts made of the same cheap materials and even pattern.

Ready to play Spot the Fake? Click on these Ebay "Japanese kimono" auctions and see if you can pick out which are real and which are fake, based on material alone. :)

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(Highlight this line to see the answers: 1. Fake 2. Real 3. Fake)

Image copyright Ichiroya and used with permission

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