Kimono. Even Japanese formal clothes are works of art. The examples below are of traditional-styled wedding kimonos, which have even more artistry and detailed handiwork than kimonos worn in public (which are also lovely, see examples below). They are of silk, with striking, hand-sewn overall designs, and thus are very expensive. They have wide collars, long flowing wing-like sleeves, with a bottom hem that reaches the floor, weighted by a hidden cylindrical pocket across the entire bottom to hold it down. New ones are usually worn once, then sold or given to one’s factory or company which then loans them out to employees for their own weddings.
Kimonos are kept closed by a sash (Obi). It is wound around the upper waist area. Obi themselves are beautiful and highly valued for their detailed designs. They are often collected in the West for display or use as table runners, displayed architecturally to decorate banal spaces, or to exhibit them without wearing them. Unlike Western design, the obi is not chosen to coordinate with the kimono but as complementary to it in its contrast (see examples below).
