dogi

[Lisa]

Where could one acquire a good quality dogi (keikogi and hakama) online and what price range would I be looking at?

 

[Swordlady]

I don't remember how much I paid for mine (I bought my set ten years ago), but Kiyota Company's stuff is pretty good. That is also where I bought my iaito. They are based in Baltimore, Maryland. You can't order their stuff online; you have to request a catalog and order by phone.

Stay away from e-bogu. A few of my fellow kenshi got their dogi from them, and aren't very happy with the quality.

I'm not sure what the going rate is for a decent dogi nowadays. Maybe around the neighborhood of $150 total?

 

[xMarishltenx]

If you can obtain the pattern or know how to figure it out, you can always sew them up yourself. It will turn out somewhat cheaper. Just make sure you get tough material, such as canvas.

 

[Aikironin]

you can also go to www.bujindesign.com mostly Aikido related but good quality stuff for Iaito as well. Tozando.com is from Japan but they have an english website. Again good stuff.

 

[pgsmith]

Where could one acquire a good quality dogi (keikogi and hakama) online and what price range would I be looking at?

Hi Lisa,
Here follows my list of web sites to which I refer students when they ask. I have dealt with all of these in the past, and have been impressed with their wares.

Depending upon just what you are looking for in a hakama, there are many different options. If you are looking for ease of use for daily practice, I would recommend an aikido hakama in 100% polyester. They wear well, practically fold themselves, and can be tossed into the washer when dirty. A little bit nicer is tetron. It feels and looks a bit like silk, but being a man-made fiber is easy to care for. The heavier weight tetron, the better it looks and moves. Indigo dyed cotton is very traditional and wears and ages nicely. It also tends to bleed, so if you sweat alot during practice, you can come out looking like a smurf! For formal dress for demonstrations and such, striped formal hakama with montsuki is the way to go. Prices can range dramatically. A decent quality dogi and hakama will run you about $90 each. Formal dress hakama and montsuki can run to about $300 each.

I will second Aikironin's vote for Bujin. They make good quality stuff, and are the only way to get a ladies cut hakama without going custom.
Mugendo Budogu has great quality stuff. However, since all of there stuff is very good quality, it is a bit pricey ... http://budogu.com/shopsite_sc/store/html/page2.html
Daimyo Outfitters has pretty decent prices for custom made outfits ... http://home.att.net/~daimyo.outfitters/open.html
E-bogu has very inexpensive stuff, but it is of lesser quality also. If you just want something inexpensive, they are worth looking at. Good customer service also ... http://www.e-bogu.com/
Sword Store also carries good quality dojo wear ... http://www.swordstore.com/
Tozando runs the whole spectrum from relatively inexpensive to very high quality. They can be hard to talk with though as they only have one English speaker at their store to answer all of the emails that they get. ... http://www.tozando.com/en/index.html
SDK Supplies up in Canada always has decent stuff ... http://sdksupplies.com/
I also used to buy stuff from East Coast Martial Arts Supplies, but they are currently rebuilding their web site and I have no idea when it will be back up ... http://www.ecmas.com/

I've no doubt that there are other good stores out there, but these are ones that I've had good experiences with.