obi

Through the centuries, the unisex garment evolved from an underlayer for the upper class to become outerwear, sashed with an obi but featuring smaller sleeves that aided physical activity — helpful for the samurai warriors.

Think garden party for the daytime looks, with pretty embroidered shoes and hats complementing ensembles of unstructured jackets and textured trousers accented by obi belts.

They value efficiency and aesthetics above all other considerations, and they end up a graveyard of lost opportunities: How will the jacket or the obi interact with the buckram?

Inside, men’s corsetry, obi belts and cummerbunds cinch the waist, a silhouette that is mimicked in the dramatic hourglass tailoring of coats and jackets with curved waistlines and broad shoulders.

“The present is a gift,” she said, fan tucked in her obi — the wide kimono sash — pink and white parasol in her Hello Kitty shoulder bag.