[Awen Moonshine]

Lol... I'm very self conscious at the best of times and so I tend to stick to the rules more ^_^;;

They can be heavy, but it's more that there are a lot of things that go into wearing kimono. There are multiple ties to keep things in place, padding to make you more tube-like if you are more shapely, not to mention trying to get things to sit right and stay put XD But it all depends upon how traditional you want to be with it and what sort of kimono you are wearing.

For example wearing Yukata is very simple as you'd only need a few ties (himo) the cotton kimono (yukata), the obi (normally a hanahaba or half-width obi) and maybe a slip to wear underneath.
Whereas if you wanted to wear a Furisode (kimono with almost floor length sleeves) which is very formal and designed for young unmarried girls you woud require much more like a Juban (kimono undergarment), a more formal type of obi, the furisode kimono, several tyes, collar stiffeners, obi stiffeners, obiage and obijime (the scarf like fabric above the obi and the thin rope seen on the obi) plus an obi makura (translates as obi pillow is used for tying the obi in certain styles), tabi (split toe socks) and zori (shoes)... ^_^;;