Monday, April 5, 2010

Tips for Kimono Newbies: Lord of the Rings

As you get into wearing kimono, you'll find there are some rules that you can bend pretty heavily and not have anyone look at you too funny, but the one you absolutely can't break is the following:

Lord of the Rings
Look, It's a Rhino!
Leftover Rice (from Ichiroya's videos)

or the original these are meant to help you remember...

Left over Right.

This refers to how the kimono crosses at your throat: kimono are always, always worn with the wearer's left over the right. When other people look at you, they should see the letter "y" at your collar.

Right over left is only done for corpses. In recent years in Japan, the younger generation's unfamiliarity with wearing kimono regularly has led to a new misconception among some that one alignment is for men, and one for women. This isn't true, and the older generations or kimono wearers will usually point this out if the topic comes up.

It's also a neat way to see if photos have been flipped. If you've ever seen a pro kimono wearer (geisha come to mind) wearing right over left, you can virtually guarantee it's because someone flipped the image.

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