Kimono

This was such a fun thing to do with my daughter, who loved the well-oiled machine of ‘getting dressed in a Kimono’ in Kyoto. These type of shops are found all over Japan, as locals also use them for weddings and other ceremonies. Here are some photos of us picking our kimonos – we were not allowed to take pictures of the dressing process as you are in a communal room with other scantly clothed ladies. From here follows four stories of rather pampered bliss (?) as you get coaxed into many (seemingly unnecessary) layers as you move from one floor to the next. I think they did warn me to ‘pull in my stomach’ just before they jerked the whole business tight, but because the dresser spoke only Japanese I didn’t quite get that bit. This was the closest I’d ever get to a real antiquated corset, and I enjoyed the experience for all of an hour before I could breathe again 😉