A haori kimono jacket is an exquisite, easy to wear, traditional Japanese jacket that looks wonderful worn either casually with jeans or dressed up with evening wear. It's a long Japanese jacket, with deep, kimono style, swinging sleeves; always in lovely fabrics, often with lavish designs on the back. Men's haori have the sleeves attached most of the way down the body, like their kimonos do, and tend to be plainer on the outside than women's ones but men's often have exquisite designs on the lining. Haori kimono jackets, unlike kimonos, do not need a sash or obi; they are either worn open or loosely fastened at centre front with a himo tie but, although the Japanese don't wear them with a sash, they also look fabulous cinched in at the waist with a belt. Haori kimono jackets mix perfectly with western world style clothing, so are a great way of adding that touch of Japan to your wardrobe.

Haoris seem to be a well kept Japanese secret. We, over here in the West, all know about their lovely kimonos but few have ever even heard of haoris and it was long after I started my kimono collecting that I discovered these jackets that the Japanese sometimes wear on top of their kimonos.

I was focused only on kimonos, but eventually I bought a haori, just to see what it was like. From then on I was hooked. I love that I can now wear something so clearly Japanese with my everyday type clothing, something that's very striking and so different from what I see other people wearing. I think of them as one of Japan's secret treasures.

* Visit the
Women's Haori section of my site*

* Visit the
Men's Haori section of my site*

* See lots of versatile haori being modelled, on my Featured Blog Page:
Haoris Galore - stylish haori kimono jackets being modelled *

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