• Dochugi: Dochugi are long jackets, designed to be worn on top of kimonos but they also look great with western world style clothing, over casual jeans, with smart trousers or dressed up with a skirt or dress

 

• Fastening: Dochugi do not require an obi or sash. They have a tie on the inside and one on the outside

 

• Storage: The Japanese take great pains to store their traditional garments with the utmost care, which is why they stay in such exceptional condition. Some of my Japanese garments have large, white stitching (shitsuke) round the edges. The Japanese put these stitches in to keep the edges flat during long periods of storage, these stitches just get pulled out before wearing the garment. Hang up your kimono for a few hours prior to wearing to remove fold creases. Cedarwood or lavender essential oil keeps moths away, don't get it on the fabric, apply near it, on the box, wrapper, drawer etc or on a tissue.

 

• Length: Dochugi are long jackets, most are upper from thigh length to just below mid thigh length. Check length measurement above then measure from the base of back of your neck down to judge length on you

 

• Storage: Hang up your garment for a few hours prior to wearing, to remove fold creases. They should also be hung out to air 4 times per year, if not worn frequently. Hang your garment to air for a day or so immediately after purchase too, as it will have been stored for a while. The Japanese take great pains to store their traditional garments with the utmost care, which is why they stay in such exceptional condition. Some of my Japanese garments have white stitching (shitsuke) round the outside edges. The Japanese put these stitches in to keep the edges flat during long periods of storage, these stitches just get pulled out before wearing the garment.
• Cedarwood or lavender essential oil keeps moths away, but don't get it on the fabric, apply near it, on the box, wrapper, drawer etc. or on a tissue nearby.

 

• Cleaning: Be very cautious about washing kimonos. All cleaning is done entirely at your own risk, as is standard with all vintage garments and items. I would advise only dry cleaning for silk ones and for most synthetic ones, cotton ones may be dry cleanable too but select your dry cleaner carefully and take their advice before deciding if you want to try dry cleaning it. Some synthetic textile or cotton kimonos can be gently hand washed but the dyes can run even in some of those, so consider that before washing but, if you decide to wash, only cool hand wash very gently, do not rub, just gently squeeze the water through it a few times, do not wring, Use a detergent made for colours, not one for whites, as they contain bleaching agents. Do not machine wash, it can rip off the sleeves, but if you hand wash you can briefly machine spin it to remove excess water before hanging it to dry but do it on its own, separately from other items. All forms of cleaning are done at own risk. In Japan many kimonos, especially silk ones and any ceremonial ones, are cleaned by specialists in kimono cleaning, often by a special method called araihari, where they take it completely apart, clean the pieces, then sew it back together again.

 

• Colour: Please be aware that different monitors display colour slightly differently. Therefore the colour in the photos and description is a guide only.