Sizing Tips...

You're not as little as you think & the kimonos are not as big as they look: Remember kids, you're an American... Most likely fast food fed instead of rice fed. The Japanese are much smaller than we Westerners. The Kimonos look like they're pretty darned big, but looks can be deceiving. 

Mihaba   The width from the shoulder to the shoulder Sodetake The length of the sleeve Take The entire length of the kimono Yuki The width from the neck to the sleeve end

How they're sold...

A lot of the time you will find that merchants are listing sizes in Centimeters. Now if we had gone metric like we probably shoulda (back in the 70's when I was still in elementary school!) then this wouldn't confuse you!  But because it probably will, here's a website where you can do some quickie conversions if you're not fond of doing math with your clothes shopping.
>> Onlineconversion.com

Now... How does this apply to getting one around yourself?

I bet you're thinking... Wow... A lot of these kimono are 23 inches along the Mihaba measurement. That means that they're 46 inches around! Well that'll be HUGE!! Heck no. It doesn't work quite that way. If you'll notice in the image above the front 'flaps' are not the same size as the back, they're much narrower.The best tip I can offer a westerner is to measure themselves from hip to hip around their back and see what number you come out with. That's the Mihaba you should be looking for or larger.

They're long!!

Yes they are. Do you wonder how the girls in Japan fit into them without dragging them around on the ground? Lots of pulling up and tying as you'll see on the bride's page. Don't worry about how long it is. If you're going to wear it properly you'll be pulling it up too!

Sleeves

The sleeve is supposed to reach your wrist. For men folk and women folk. However, it is getting harder even for the Japanese to find Kimono that have long enough sleeves. Don't worry too much about where the sleeve comes.

Decisions decisions...

How do I choose what kimono to buy? It seems like there's a million of them... Well you can start out on the kimono page for a quickie lesson on what is what in level of formality. Men pretty much have it easy for the kimono portion. You can read more about them on the groom's page.

Ugh, that seems like too much work...

Then try out a haori! You can look a little Japanese without all the tying. Just wear it like a jacket over whatever else you're going to wear. You won't be disappointed by your choices. There's a bunch of different styles and colors and materials available. The 'mihaba' measurement idea above still applies to haori. Visit the haori page for more detail.