Handmade: green asa no ha kantan eri
Making another "easy collar" for wearing kimono.
Typically, a person wearing kimono will put an eri shin (collar stiffener) in the collar of the juban layer, if they want to keep it shaped instead of "casual" like super-low formality or like kimono were worn 100+ years ago.
I hate the shape, I hate having to adjust the juban to get it to sit right, I hate the whole "having to put it in a second layer of collar in the juban to not damage the visible collar fabric panel," just all of it.
maiko, of course, have a solution! Being a performer, they get makeup on things, sweat more often, etc. The inner collar needs to be able to come off and be washed differently than the rest of the kimono layers, like how handmade clothing was long ago. Edwardian clothing, which sometimes had velvet ribbon, needed the ribbon to be detached for every single wash. This is not that different. It's just how clothing was, once.
But this is super-easy. That eri shin goes inside the easy collar and everything else falls into place. No stress on the juban. Sometimes you don't even need one! And the easy collar is machine washable if you put it in a garment bag. Treat it like any other cotton item. I wash almost everything on cold water. The soap is what does the cleaning, just like washing your hands but for two rinse cycles.
Put on the cotton layer, which like a linen shift, absorbs moisture and body odor. Then put on the easy collar and decide how low it will be set based on the loops in the back. THEN put the juban over it, THEN your kosode. You can also wear this with yukata, giving the yukata the appearance of "daily wear" instead of "festival wear" by adding the simple cotton patterned collar.
This is a very light, easy way to maintain the summer quality of a yukata while elevating it to (almost) komon status. It especially looks good with some of the more traditional but modern yukata, like this indigo one from the 80s or so.
Looks pretty good, right? It's all rectangles and they're fairly easy to make if you have a machine. If doing it by hand... you're going to be awhile. I think the one I'm making now has been like, 3 hours at least. On a machine, maybe two hours, including cutting and ironing. Ironing seriously makes a difference.
