Kimono : a modern history

314 Pages·2014·21.42 MB·English

by  Milhaupt

k imono
terry
satsuki
milhaupt

Kimono

k imono
terry
satsuki
milhaupt
REAKTION BOOKS
To Chie, Tsuru, Grace, Joyce and Karen
Published by Reaktion Books Ltd
33 Great Sutton Street
London ec1v 0dx, uk
www.reaktionbooks.co.uk
First published 2014
Copyright © Terry Satsuki Milhaupt 2014
e publishers would like to thank e Great Britain Sasakawa Foundation
for its support in the publication of this work
All rights reserved
No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system,
or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying,
recording or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publishers
Printed and bound in China on acid-free paper by C&C offset printing Co., Ltd.
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
iSBN978 1 78023 278 2
C
oNTeNTS
iNTRoduCTioN 7
One The FouNdATioNS oF A KiMoNo FAShioN iNduSTRy 31
Two ModeRNiziNG The KiMoNo 56
Three ShoPPiNG FoR KiMoNoS, ShAPiNG ideNTiTieS 97
Four The KiMoNo ideAL MiGRATeS WeST 139
Five KiMoNo deSiGNeRS 179
Six eveRydAy ANd exTRAoRdiNARy, TheN ANd NoW 229
References 249
Bibliography 275
Acknowledgements 287
Afterword 289
List of Illustrations 291
Index 303

i
NTRoduCTioN
Recognizable by its T-shaped outline, fluttering sleeves and flowing
vertical panels draped from the wearer’s shoulders, the kimono
embodies Japan, real and romanticized, familiar and foreign.
in the popular imagination, the kimono often represents an unchanging,
tradition-oriented, eternal Japan. But how and when did the identification
of the kimono as Japan’s national costume occur? Why is the kimono more
closely associated with the female than the male body? What processes led
to the transformation of the kimono from an everyday garment to an icon
of Japan?
A review of the clothing worn by models on the covers of ‘Ladies’
Companion’ (Fujin no Tomo), one of Japan’s leading twentieth-century
women’s magazines, provides a visual barometer of shifting post-Second World
War attitudes towards the kimono. of the women featured on the covers from
1949 to 1956, more are shown wearing Western-style clothing than Japanese.
From 1957 to 1962, the models themselves appear more cosmopolitan, their
hair colour becoming lighter and lighter until it is rendered almost blonde and
their facial characteristics more closely resembling Caucasian rather than Asian
features. From 1967 to 1992, only one or two covers per year feature a woman
wearing a kimono. however, without exception, the first issue of every year
depicts a woman wearing a formal kimono ensemble. us, from the late
1960s until the early 1990s, the kimono was primarily promoted as a costume
suitable for special occasions such as New year’s celebrations or Adult day
ceremonies held in January, linking the kimono more closely with ‘tradition’
rather than ‘fashion’.1
visual artefacts such as the covers of ‘Ladies’ Companion’ reveal how
the T-shaped silk kimono came to take on a symbolic meaning in the second
half of the twentieth century. valued as a ceremonial garment and national
costume, it continues to be worn in its traditional form for special occasions.
however, since the beginning of the twenty-first century, women from a
new generation have started to be drawn to it for less formal, more fashion-
oriented reasons. To this younger generation of women, the clothing that
their grandmothers and even their mothers might refer to as yōfuku, or
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kimono
‘Western-style’ clothing, is as familiar as it is to their American and european 1 Cover of Utsukushii
contemporaries. To a select group within this younger generation, the kimono Kimono(Spring 2003),
published by hachette
is an appealing alternative to the clothing they grew up with. in contrast
Fujin Gahō.
to their mothers and grandmothers, who favoured newly manufactured,
2 Cover of Kimono Hime
classic kimono fashions, some of today’s younger generation prefer vintage,
(April 2003), published
second-hand kimonos. Aware of the generational differences among kimono by Shotensha.
consumers, magazine publishers now cater to particular market segments.
in 2003, 50 years after the publisher Fujin Gahō released the first issue of
‘Beautiful Kimono’ (Utsukushii Kimono), a new magazine called ‘Kimono
Princess’ (Kimono Hime) hit the news-stands. Whereas ‘Beautiful Kimono’
had emphasized classical and high-end kimonos worn primarily by women
in their forties, fifties and sixties, the new publication focused on a younger
market(illus. 1, 2). e title Kimono Hime, written with the word ‘kimono’
in romanized letters (which are usually reserved for foreign words), followed
by the Chinese character for ‘princess’ (hime) targeted the newly emerging,
kimono-buying women in their twenties and thirties. Kimono Himeempha-
sized a new ‘kimono look’ that often featured the brightly coloured, bold
patterns popular in the 1920s and ’30s, styled in edgy, unconventional
combinations.
Reflecting contemporary trends, the kimonos featured on the pages of
Kimono Himeare not exclusively promoted as ceremonial wear, but rather are
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