# Fine pattern

小紋 komon

![Fine pattern](https://www.furoshiki.com/swatches/komon.svg)

Not one motif but the family of tiny all-over repeats (same, gyōgi, tōshi and others) first worn on samurai formal dress; it reads as plain from afar, so it is quietly elegant.

Late Muromachi period; flourished in Edo (1603–1868)

Komon are tiny repeats stencil-dyed with rice-paste resist through paper katagami, many cut in Shiroko and Jike in Ise. Paintings show komon workshops thriving by the late Muromachi period. In Edo, daimyō houses each adopted a fine 'fixed pattern' (sadame-gara) for their kamishimo, so retainers could be identified by it; the Edo 'three' (same, gyōgi, kaku-dōshi) became formal. Townspeople, restricted by sumptuary edicts, embraced subtle komon too, giving the name Edo komon.

Edo komon is a designated traditional craft of Tokyo and is worn as semi-formal kimono.

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Source: https://www.furoshiki.com/patterns/komon/