How are Kimonos perceived in the west?

[Tolstoy]

Greetings,

I'm someone who doesn't really care much about fashion, if people think my clothing is not 'cool' or so. I wear clothes for comfort, or I use clothing as propaganda. However, I still care about the image I project, we have a tendency to form an image of a person based on what we see at first, which is normal, and naturally as I am a social person, I don't want to project the 'wrong' image, although this might seem contradictory to what I first said, it's more me being unclear then anything. Although I do love art, I have never really seen much beauty in the clothes that are generally considered 'fashionable', for they are usually meant to make the person 'sexy' more then anything. But kimonos on the other hand, seem comfortable and are (or can be) beautiful. The price seemed a bit too much for me at first but Ebay has some good prices.

But anyhow, to end the rambling, for the question.
I plan to buy one and see how I like it comfort-wise, but if I do like kimonos in this aspect, as a male, I wonder how people will perceive someone casually wearing a kimono. I do not want people to generally assume that I'm a cross-dresser or such things. I can expect a few situations where some crude people asks me if I'm 'gay' in an insulting manner or so, those I don't mind what they think of me, but I don't wish for my friends or "conaissances" to assume that I went to the 'other side'.

Well, I could probably write more to try to explain what I mean but the post would probably be too long, and still imprecise.

Thank you for your time,
Best wishes.

 

[Da Monstar]

In west west, Cross-dressers are looked upon as gays. Because the closest you get from the average look for a male, is gothic appearence. Goth is, from what I know, the only really clothes you can wear and still be accepted as a "normal" person in the western society.
I think especially in Denmark will people think that a guy wearing a kimono must be a homosexual cross-dresser.
This also includes any sort of the J-rock outfits or Gothic Aristoucrats (or whatever the male Japanese Gothic Lolita style is called).

 

[Ewok85]

Kimonos are constrictive and generally not very versatile to wear, one of the reasons why the Japanese moved away from wearing them and started wearing more western styled clothes.

Wearing a Kimono doesn't make you a cross dresser.... no idea where you could get that idea from, but people will think your weird

 

[yukio_michael]

You're probably looking for something more close to a yukata than a kimono, but nonetheless, the image of a western man wearing a kimono in public in the west, is a little odd---- like wearing a full poncho and a sombrero out to go grocery shopping.

I've never understood why people thought that the whole 'fashion thing' was conspiring against them--- there are plenty of people out there who don't care about fashion, (in japan, that would be the Akihabara otaku population----), hell, that's what places like Old Navy are for--- so just buy some pants and be comfortable knowing that you don't look out of place.