Kosode

Though its component parts directly parallel those of the kimono, its proportions differed, typically having a wider body, a longer collar and narrower sleeves.

[1] Originating in the Heian period as an undergarment for both men and women, the kosode was a plain white garment, typically made of silk, worn directly next to the skin.

Following dress edicts designed to decrease the number of layered garments worn at court, the kosode gradually became outerwear from roughly the Kamakura period onwards.

[3] The kosode's proportions – a wide body and comparatively narrow sleeves – gradually evened out over time, before coming to resemble those of a modern kimono around the Edo period.

The sleeves on some women's kosode also got longer and began to detach from the body below the shoulder, a style allowing the obi to become wider over time.

Re-enactors wearing kosode at the Jidai Matsuri in 2011
Two line drawings of a kosode and a kimono. The kosode has a long, wide collar, a wide, stout body, a roughly-triangular overlapping front panel and short, squat sleeves with a rounded edge. The kimono has wider, square-shaped sleeves, a thinner body, a shorter, thinner collar and a rectangular front panel intersected by the collar.
Comparison between a kosode (left) and a modern-day kimono (right).
An annotated line drawing of a kosode.
  • Parts of a kosode (clockwise from top):
  • The collar ( 襟 , eri ) ;
  • The sleeve ( 袖 , sode ) ;
  • The body ( 身頃 , migoro ) ;
  • The overlapping front panel ( 袵 , okumi ) .
A drawing of a woman sat on a tatami mat wearing a number of layered white and red kosode.
Oichi wearing a kosode with another kosode stripped off the shoulders.