I couldn’t help but wonder about that. It’s gotta take a while. And I thought I was good at undoing hooks. 
“Inspecting the Toe.”
Weird that the chick in that photo is wearing a coat over her kimono. I would have thought it was warm enough by itself. Or that if you needed a coat, you’d wear something different than a kimono that day.
I had a conversation on just this subject with one of my students when I was working as an English teacher in Japan. I don’t speak Japanese anywhere near well enough to be sure about common usage, but according to my student while it is true that a yukata is an article of clothing and thus literally a “kimono” (“thing to wear”), modern Japanese people wouldn’t ever refer to yukata as a type of kimono. “Yukata is yukata.”
I have only worn full kimono once in my life, and not when I was living in Japan. When I was in college I was friends with an older Japanese lady who was taking classes at my school. She offered to dress me up in a kimono for the school’s international festival. I went over to her place and stood there with my arms out for about half an hour while she wrapped and tied everything onto me. I can see why this isn’t something many people are willing to do everyday anymore.
In Japan, it’s rare enough to see someone in kimono out on the street that others will turn to look at them. If you’re not in Kyoto then the kimono-wearer is almost always a woman who studies traditional Japanese music or dance and is dressed for a lesson, rehearsal, or performance. In Kyoto, odds are you’re seeing a tourist who’s dressed up as a geisha. There are a number of places in Kyoto where you can be professionally dressed and made up as a geisha, have a professional portrait made, and then go walk around the city a bit. It’s also possible to see some real geisha walking around in Kyoto, but they’re outnumbered by tourists.
Coming of Age Day in January is the only time I ever saw many kimono-wearers out in public at once, as it’s still common for young women to wear a kimono for the occasion. Young men almost always wear a Western style suit. I also saw little girls in kimono for the Shichi-Go-San festival. Again, little boys tend to wear formal Western style clothes for this holiday.
She’s in San Francisco. It gets cold. And there are indeed coats meant for kimono. The men’s formal attire requires one. Michiyuki and haori are the two main ones (michiyuki is women’s attire only). Also, if the weather is bad, you want something to protect your kimono. They make clear plastic raincoats, usually michiyuki style I believe.
Lamia, every now and then you hear about someone who chooses to wear kimono as an every day thing in Japan. I think the last one I heard about was a male college student.
Have you ever thought about applying for the JET program? Sounds like you’d be a shoe-in.
Ahh. “Kimono Toe”.
I applied last year and didn’t get in. I’m trying to decide if I should apply this year.
Do you usually wear your hair pulled back and/or bunned (sorry, don’t know the correct terminology there) with the kimono or is hanging down just as good?
Have you had any accusations of cultural appropriation? How do you react to them?
I applied one year and was flat-out rejected. The next time I was wait-listed and never got upgraded. Now I’m in Japan on the program. You really should try again, and let me know if you need any help with the process. Gambatte (do your best).