How to wear a kimono

The length is alright, but the sleeves are a tad too long and the body too wide. To achieve the 'tubular' body for kimono wear, I've even wrapped some cloth around her waist to bulk her up a bit.

Obviously putting the inner layer into the outer coat before wearing makes the whole process easier. It's almost impossible to wear the first layer then the outer coat because the material is not elastic and hence you can't bend the doll's arms backwards after u put the first layer on.

Tie a piece of ribbon around to secure the inner layer. Make sure it's LEFT OVER RIGHT. You don't want to hold a funeral for ur doll =X
It should look like 'y'.

Same goes for outer coat. Note the 'y'.

Put on the obi. Since mine is ready made, I just velcro it on. As for the obiage (?), do a few twists before tying a single knot at the front. Stuff the loose ends into the obi.

Finished product. You can fold in the outer coat so that it don't trail on the floor. Since this is a 2 piece set, it is deliberately worn like that to show the different layers. If it's a yukata or a 1 piece kimono, you have to fold it in or else ur doll will look as if she's wearing a bath robe. Therefore, yukatas are made longer than the length of ur doll so you can fold it in. If u purchased a yukata that fits ur doll right without folding in, then it's visually less appealing (IMO). I've seen many dolls in bathrobe style yukatas. Probably the the tailor isn't japanese or hasn't research into traditional japanese garb.

Back view: lovely obi =D You can see the cloth buckling under the obi. That's because the kimono is too big for Kira. I deliberately push the 'folds' behind so it looks better in front. As I mentioned above, u need a 'tubular' body for the kimono/yukata to fit well. The best body shape would be SD10/13. In case of more grown up SDs, some owners rather dress their SD17 (guys only) in kimono and top it with a long hair wig. Therefore DD owners will have even more problems dressing their dolls in kimono/yukata (big bust, thin waist, full bottoms - hourglass figure is nono for kimon wear). That being said, some yukatas for DDs are cut in a way to accomodate their full figures =D

Sadly Kira has to model the kimono without her wig =( She's getting floppy and can't hold her pose without a stand. Even propping her up against a pillow is hard work.
Will update this post when I get her stand and rest of the stuff. In the midst of moving back from Australia.