Survival in Winter

Hajimemashite! Lumikettu desu!
This is my very first blog and my very first blog post, I hope you will understand that I will be making mistakes from time to time and find patience. This first blog post will be about how I wear kimono during winter here in Finland, where the avaridge temperature is about -20C.

My first layer of cloth consists a pair of long underwear and if it's cold or windy a long sleeved shirt. Your arms will be the place that suffers the most so it's important to shield them. I also use a turtleneck, sleeveless knitted shirt if I'm wearing just for fun. My padding is made from a folded towel so that goes over the undergarments.

From Fuyou

From The New Kimono by Nanao Magazine

The next layer is the juban. If it's very cold I usually layer my kimono by putting a yukata under the main kimono. If it's really cold, you can use an unlined wool kimono too. The extra layer keeps the warmth, but the cotton yukata also breathes well so it will not be unbearably hot while inside. Layering will make the ohashori very bulky, so you need to fold the inner collar. This also works as an extra padding.

Layering and the fold is shown in pictures.

When going out, shield your neck with a scarf and wear a hat to shield your head and ears. Glows are a good thing to have. You can wear a haori, michiyuki or a cape, it's recommandable to wear a jacket. Wether to wear shoes or zori/geta is up to you, but mostly during winter I wear shoes. I have a bad blood circulation in my feet and so my toes freeze very quickly. Once it was very cold and I had 4 pairs of socks and still my toes were numb with cold when I got home from work. If you have warm feet, you can manage in zori/geta, but if you have cold feet and the weather is really cold, I recommend a good, warm pair of shoes.

From Noppin

Noppin seems to have fleece lined tabi and mink zori available. They look rather cute.

And so, these are my humble advices on winter and kimono. I hope you have found some help with these and can enjoy kimono even in winter.