Question about japanese yukata/kimono....?

Question:

tomorrow i'll be wearing a yukata (summer kimono) for the first time for a school performance . im just wondering do u wear a singlet or something underneath it? Is it complicated to put it on? and, what do i do if the yukata is too big because i think the ones we have are all free size, and im small for my age so im afraid it'll be too long or something? is there anyway to fold it or anything? LASTLY, how do u do your hair when wearing a yukata? any not-too-complicated japanese hairstyles?? :) THANK YOU.

Answer:

Technically speaking, there are special slips made for wearing under yukata and kimono. However, you can get away with something like a full-body dress slip or a low-necked t-shirt (or tank top) and a skirt slip if you don't have a proper yukata slip.

There are many many videos on YouTube about how to put on yukata. I would start with this one: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kCZtGi21y… (the link to the second half should be on the right or should pop up after the video ends). If you don't like those two, search YouTube for "how to wear yukata." Some basic rules include that you must ALWAYS cross the yukata left over right, that the front panels should completely overlap, and that women's yukata will have a special tuck at the waist (called an ohashori) that appears as part of the process of adjusting the yukata to your height.

You can do pretty much anything that you want with your hair. Most people these days don't wear traditional Japanese hair styles, even with kimono -- and definitely not with yukata. Any kind of up-do that pulls your hair up off your neck will be fine. You could consider adding a few cloth flowers to your hair (thing the kinds you can find at places like Claire's) if you have them, though any kind of decorative hair items (like ribbons or pretty combs) will work for yukata. However, you should avoid chopsticks and pretty much anything that looks like them like the plague. Chopsticks are not used as hair accessories in Japan and are totally inappropriate for wearing with kimono and yukata.