Twenty-two robes, and three words for them: kaftan for the loose open robe, chapan for the straight Uzbek coat, kimono for the short square-sleeved wrap that borrows the Japanese name. All are cut from straight panels of handwoven ikat with the pattern running down the body, most from cotton ikat at $70–110, the rest from silk-cotton adras and shoyi up to $226; several are lined in plain ikat or cotton and have pockets, and the listing says which. Most are one size, made to order in Tashkent in 18–25 days, with custom lengths and sleeves on request.
Worn as a dressing gown, a beach cover-up, an evening coat or a housecoat, which is roughly how Bukhara wore them too.
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A chapan is four straight panels — two fronts, a back, and the sleeves — seamed selvedge to selvedge, so on a 40 cm ikat each panel is one loom-width and the repeat sits whole down it. The traditional coat has no buttons: it hangs open or is tied with a sash, the fronts overlap left over right, and the hem, cuffs and neck are bound with a narrow woven tape. The robes in the Smithsonian and the V&A are exactly this, lined in printed cotton and quilted for winter, and a Bukhara man of standing wore three or four at once. Our chapans keep the cut and the binding, drop the quilting, and are lined in plain ikat or cotton; our kaftans are the same panels without the overlap, and the kimono-style pieces are the panels shortened.
Cotton robes are cool, washable and $70–110 — the summer kaftan and the dressing gown. Silk-cotton robes at $160–226 have the drape and the glow for an evening coat over a plain dress, and want a hand wash or the dry-cleaner. The fabric pages show the same cloths by the metre.
Most kaftans and kimono-style pieces are one size, cut generously; chapans and the blazer come in S–XXL. Length is the thing to specify: a kaftan is usually mid-calf, a chapan knee to mid-calf, a kimono wrap hip-length — tell us your height and we cut to it. Made to order in Tashkent, 18–25 days, then tracked airmail. The chapans and robes post on the blog goes into how they are worn.
Cotton: delicate wash at 30 °C or by hand, dry in the shade, iron on the reverse. Silk-cotton: hand wash or dry-clean. Lined robes, dry-clean by preference.
A loose, open-fronted or pull-on robe cut from straight panels of handwoven ikat, the pattern running down the body. Alesouk's are sewn to order in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, from cotton ikat at $70–110 or silk-cotton at $160–226.
The traditional Uzbek straight coat: open front overlapped left over right, tied with a sash, hem and cuffs bound with tape, usually lined. Alesouk's chapans are cut the traditional way from handwoven ikat and lined in plain ikat or cotton.
Most kaftans and kimono-style robes are one size, cut generously; chapans come in S–XXL, and any piece can be cut to your height and sleeve length on request.
18–25 days to make in Tashkent, then tracked airmail: USA 9–18 working days, Europe and the UK 8–16, elsewhere 10–20.
Cotton robes, yes, delicate at 30 °C; silk-cotton robes by hand or dry-cleaned; lined robes dry-cleaned by preference.
Yes, worldwide by tracked airmail from Uzbekistan once the robe is made.
