Monstuke kimono are generally worn at formal occasions and you will often see them at seminars and taikai.
Hiro Sensei wearing his family kamon at the recent taikai in Japan.
These can be quite costly to add to your kimono or haori if done in the traditional method however there is an inexpensive option with the iron-on kamon as seen below:
You can order iron-on kamon like the one pictured above from places like Rakuten.
You can also request some martial arts places like Tozando to add kamon to your kimono/haori purchase. Tozando has an excellent index of kamon with English names.
The kamon in this example is Maruni Ken Katabami.
Those who do not have a family kamon have adopted the Maruni Ken Katabami (as see at the Hayashizaki Iai Jinja), which has been seen as the official Muso Jikiden Eishin Ryu kamon . There has however been some recent discussion that Hayashizaki Shigenobu's family crest may have actually been simple the Maruni Katabami:
It's very similar to the Maruni Ken Katabami but without the ken as seen on the chest plate of the statue below (at the shrine).
The banner shows the Maruni Ken Katabami, which is different than the statue, but as of the date of this post, there is no official word that one or the other is not acceptable.
A black kimono and haori set that came with a kamon on it already. This one bears the Maruni Moko crest.
Various previously enjoyed kimono and haori sets. These patterns may not be suitable for official Iaido functions such as seminars or taikai, but are inexpensive enough that if you want practice with longer sleeves, you can do so with these without breaking the bank.
On another topic, Hakama. Specifically the striped hakama, which are a formal type of hakama often worn with black monstuki kimono. These are a pant style found at House Off in Japan. Inexpensive if you don't mind previously enjoyed.
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