The _haori_, or outer coat, is worn over the _kimono_. It comes down only to the knees or a little lower. It has no gores in front like the _kimono_. The neck-band runs down to the skirt. The _haori_ is open in front and the band falls straight from the shoulders on both sides, so that there is no need for gores in front which are required only for folding over; but there is a narrow gore on either side coming down from the lower extremity of the sleeve to the skirt. The sleeves of the _haori_ are just large enough to enclose those of the _kimono_. At the skirt the body pieces are turned in and form the lining of the lower part of the _haori_; and so the full length of a cloth, that is, about thirty-five feet, is taken in the same way as in the making of the _kimono_. The upper part of the _haori_ and the sleeves are lined with another material; that for the upper part is often of bright colours or embroidered; it is, in fact, the only portion of the male dress where the usual rule of sober colours is not strictly adhered to, and people who aspire to be chic sometimes use for the lining a more expensive material than the outer cloth. Unlined _haori_ which are made of silk gauze or similar thin stuff for summer wear, are woven shorter than the others to dispense with the skirt-lining. The _haori_ for winter wear is sometimes wadded with a thin layer of floss-silk. About fifteen inches down the neck, a small loop of the same material as the _haori_ is stitched on to the band on either side, and to this a silk cord is fastened and tied in the middle to keep the _haori_ from slipping off. Sometimes the cords are made in a knot or a bow and fastened to the loops by hooks at the ends. [Illustration: THE _HAORI_.] The _haori_ worn on a visit or on formal occasions is usually black and adorned with the family crest. The crest is found on three or five parts of the _haori_, one in the middle of the back over the seam, and one each on the back of the sleeve, and if there are five crests altogether, one each on the breast of the body piece between the band and the sleeve. The crest is of various forms and is about an inch from end to end. It is invariably white; the white cloth is specially dyed for the purpose so that the crest is the only portion left undyed; but sometimes ready-dyed cloths with white disks for the crests are bought, when the crests have to be drawn on them, or if they have no such disks, the crests are sewn on. _Haori_ for common wear have no crests and are plain, twilled, or striped and of sombre hues, though not necessarily black. Those for home wear are often much longer than ordinary _haori_ and are thickly wadded with cotton. They are also without crests.