Tying an Obi

One of the most complicated parts of wearing a kimono is tying the obi. When you get it right, it looks great, so here’s a short how-to on putting on your kimono and wearing you obi.

In the picture on the left here you can see that to start, you just need to let the kimono hang loose before you try anything special with it.

You must first take the right side of the kimono and drape it over your hips then wrap the left side over it. Remember that: right over left. If you do it the wrong way, you're folding it the way they put kimono on dead people.

Next, take a strip of fabric (string and ribbon work well, but fabric strips untie more nicely than the other two) and tie it around your waist, securing the kimono. Tuck the little tails around the tie so they don’t stick out.

Now find the two slits in the side of the kimono that should be below the sleeves and above your first tie. Stick your hands in each one and chop down in front, puffing out the front of the kimono, then do the same in back, and then one more time in front. Now you have a nice straight skirt and a smooth neck line.

Next, take a second strip of fabric and smooth out the top of the kimono all nice and pretty, then tie the second one about 4 or 5 inches higher than the first, keeping the top in a nice, smooth look.

Now it’s time for the actual obi. You start by draping it over your left shoulder as shown. You have to experiment with your obi to see how far down your back it needs to hang. Some obi are folded over then bound together at one as just one piece, not folded (if you have one of these, you should be able to tell). For these, the fold must face down when you wrap it around yourself. The end to hang over your back would be the part that is just one layer.

Then you take the part in front and start wrapping it clockwise around you, pulling it really tight. If you can’t breathe, then it’s good enough. No really, it will loosen up when you tie the bow, so tighter is better for now. Some obi are long enough to go around more than once, so go right ahead if yours is long enough. Be sure, when you are wrapping yourself that you don’t wrap around the back tail of the obi, just let if hang loose.

Next pull the end you haven’t used yet back over your shoulder and in front of you then take the other end of the obi and tie them in a nice knot in front. Once again, make sure it’s nice and tight.

Now comes the tricky stuff. Take the end that you had over your shoulder just a few moments ago and take the end of it and begin to fold it inwards in about foot long sections. Once you’ve folded it all the way in, twist it around so that it’s centered on the knot but horizontal like the rest of the obi.

Then hold that part of the obi in place like shown here and fold the other part in half (the hot-dog way, if you like those terms) so it’s half as wide. Now comes the tricky part.

I’ve kept this picture nice and big so you can see what’s going on here. Take the part you folded in half then pull it around and down the back of the first ‘bow’ section by pulling it down behind the know that you tied. It should go between the knot and the smooth part of the obi. Then repeat this until all of the ‘tie’ part has been wrapped around the ‘bow’. If you have a little too much of the ‘tie’ such that you can’t go around again, fold it up and tuck it behind the bow.

Now you have the bow tied. It’s on the wrong side! No worries, now you just suck it in and grab the obi by the top and slowly rotate it around you until the bow is centered on your back.