Odd phrase in my textbook

I'm currently trying to make my way through a not-so-easy text about Japanese clothes in ancient times, and came across a strange use of the te form I don't really get. The phrase is:

鎌から時代ごろから、下着の小袖を普段着として着た。

"Roughly from the kamakura period on, silk clothes worn as underwear..."

This is where I'm stumped. What does "to shite kiru" in connection with the "wo" after "kosode" mean? "Were worn as?", perhaps? I honestly haven't come across constructions like that yet. The "to" puzzles me, too. I can't find any enumerations or citations in this sentence. Can someone help? I'd me much appreciated.

Oh, yeah, the last sentence is "若い人はいつも洋服を着ていて，お正月や結婚式などの特別な機会にしか着物を着ない"。

What does the "ni shika" part mean?

You're right "worn as..." I just think of Nとして as "as N."

下着の小袖を 普段着として 着た
the underwear kosode was worn as casual clothing

I'm pretty sure しか is "only" and is always paired with a negative verb. I think this is translated as "they wear kimono only on special occasions" and not "they do not wear kimono only on..." even though a negative verb is used.

なるほど！ That makes sense. Thanks a lot, paper.

paper said:

I'm pretty sure しか is "only" and is always paired with a negative verb. I think this is translated as "they wear kimono only on special occasions" and not "they do not wear kimono only on..." even though a negative verb is used.

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Right, しか~ない can be thought of as "nothing but," which can make it easier to remember that it is only used with negatives. E.g. りんごしかない (there are nothing but apples); この書類を片付けるしかない (there is nothing but to finish this document); 特別な機会しか着ない (wear on nothing but special occasions).

しか。。。ない also often implies a greater sense of insufficiency or lacking than 'dake,' similar to 'bakari,' although it's impossible to say whether this would come across in the kimono example without knowing more of the context.

夕食の勘定書きをもらったときに、財布に十ドルしかない ことに気が付きました。
せっかく日本に戻ったのに、雨で里美にしか会わなかっ たのです。

Good point, Elizabeth. I was thinking about that but I guess I forgot to put it. Thanks for picking up the slack.