Kimono Vanishing Tradition: Japanese Textiles of the 20th Century [Hardcover]

Cheryl Imperatore (Author), Paul Maclardy (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 2001

Kimono is a generic term for traditional Japanese clothing; it means thing to wear. This book provides an overview of some traditional garments, introduces types of designs found in twentieth century kimono that are still available, and presents wearable art inspired by kimono from contemporary artists. The text gives price ranges for items that would be reasonable in a store or gallery, and explains what to look for when collecting. As kimono disappear from Japanese wardrobes, they are becoming increasingly collectible. Each of the fourteen chapters opens with the definition of the type of apparel covered therein (including simple, everyday, formal, etc.) as well as their use in Japanese life. The terms are further explained in the Glossary. Over 525 color photographs display brilliant and subtle textile designs and demonstrate beauty in mens, womens, and childrens garments and accessories. Textile and clothing designers will find a wealth of inspiration here. Vintage clothing enthusiasts will be enthralled.

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

The authors (founders of Arise Inc., a vintage kimono supplier) predict that the kimono, a traditional Japanese garment, will become increasingly collectible as it disappears from Japanese wardrobes. This book surveys different types of kimonos and other related traditional apparel and wearable art. Over 500 color photographs illustrate the beautiful variety of textiles used to create the kimono, and the text explains the uses of each style. Each image is presented with a date, time period for the clothing, and an expected price range for its purchase. The authors don't cite sources for the information they provide, and it appears that much of it is anecdotal, gleaned from working within the industry. Although the images are appealing, the lack of authority for the information provided makes this a marginal purchase. Jennifer Mayer, Univ. of Wyoming Libs., Laramie
Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc.

About the Author

Paul MacLardy and Cheryl Imperatore are co-founders, and Paul is the current owner, of Arise, Inc., one of the worlds largest suppliers of vintage kimono.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 255 pages
• Publisher: Schiffer Publishing (February 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0764312286
• ISBN-13: 978-0764312281
• Product Dimensions: 11.3 x 8.9 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.6 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 2.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,081,252 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

36 of 36 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Great photos, no editing, marginal information, March 4, 2002

By 

Jane G. Beckman (San Jose, CA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Kimono Vanishing Tradition: Japanese Textiles of the 20th Century (Hardcover)

As a 25-year kimono/textile collector and enthusiast of Japanese traditional culture (not to mention former vintage dealer), I give this book both stars for the gorgeous photos.

The book content, alas, is a mess. First off, I doubt it was edited. There are numerous typos and spelling errors (e.g. "Japanes"), grammatical mistakes, and captions that will tell you to look at something that's not in the photo! (What green kumihimo tie? No ties were shown!)

An editor needs to clean up the author's writing, as some sentences make no sense, and grammar mistakes are rife. I was reminded of the "junior high essay bloopers" that make the rounds. I'm not sure if it's fuzzy thinking or just bad writing, but the author also seems to confuse colors, techniques, and fabrics, as I found several sentences that were the moral equivalent of saying "Growing on trees, green apples are a kind of pie." (An example: "Lined entirely in white with accents at hem and sleeves of flowing sage green called bokashi." [sic] Would you know that bokashi is a technique, not a color?) At one point, tsumugi is identified as a kind of ikat(!). There are also numerous misidentifications, the most obvious one (to me) being a characteristically early Meiji kimono being identified as Taisho era (~60 years apart). No rationale is given for assigning dates (for example, design elements, placement, fabrics, techniques, linings, etc., are valuable clues in dating a kimono). There are also context statements presented without justification (i.e. "may have belonged to a geisha/been a wedding kimono" etc.). The most baffling was a 1920's wedding kimono that said "Probably a rental." Since rental wedding kimono are a post-WWII phenomena, why would you conclude a 1920's kimono was a rental? As for the value figures, pricing is either artifically inflated (some price guides do this in an attempt to jack up the market) or heavily regional to Washington D.C. On the West Coast, full retail would be half or a quarter of what is listed. Kimono shows/sales would be much, much less. EBay auctions would be a fraction. The bibliography is also very short and fluffy, mostly focusing on kimono as art and actual wearing, with "When Art Became Fashion" (L.A. County Museum of Art) as the sole historic source.

It's a gorgeous book, but deserved to be better written and edited, not to mention researched.
Jilara

19 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Big on photos, thin on useful info, July 2, 2001

By 

Susan B. Castner - See all my reviews

This review is from: Kimono Vanishing Tradition: Japanese Textiles of the 20th Century (Hardcover)

What I had hoped would be an invaluable resource for a collector turned out to be a coffee table book with lots of nice pictures and not much more. Descriptions such as "may be wool or silk" and "possibly Taisho" indicate that more research might have served readers well. Since many of the photos are from the private collection of the authors, who claim to be the country's largest supplier of vintage kimono, it reads more like a catelogue of their inventory than a resource book. As I said - if you're looking for more "books for looks," this is it. Serious collectors need to look elsewhere.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars These authors do not understand their subject., April 18, 2011

By 

Pat Cook - See all my reviews

This review is from: Kimono Vanishing Tradition: Japanese Textiles of the 20th Century (Hardcover)

I have collected and researched kimono for many years and have been to Japan a number of times. I have an extensive library of books about kimono. "Kimono Vanishing Tradition" by Cheryl Imperatore and Paul MacLardy is the worst book written about kimono. Imperatore and MacLardy do not understand the subject that they are writing about.
They make mistakes about the decorative techniques they write about, cannot reliably identify what type of kimono they are describing, cannot reliably date kimono and should not attempt to deal with symbolism because they invariably get it wrong. Other reviewers have discussed their problems with pricing. Unfortunately, readers that don't already know about kimono will not know how much bad - just plain wrong - information they will absorb by reading the text.
The kimono on p.91 is an obvious example of how Imperatore and MacLardy do not understand the techniques they write about. You don't have to know much about kimono (all you have to do is look at this kimono) to see that they don't know what they are writing about. The pattern is described as "...shibori purple clouds and yuzen circles of colorful flowers...". Shibori is a technique where the Japanese use stitching and/or wrapping to protect certain areas of fabric from being dyed. The variations resulting from a hand done technique are part of the appeal of shibori. If you look at the kimono on p. 91 it is clear that the pattern repeats every 3 feet or so (it is easy to recognize that the pattern repeats) and that there is no variation in the"shibori purple clouds". The fabric is printed. It is not shibori. Obviously this makes a significant difference in the value of the kimono. Imperatore and MacLardy mention simulated shibori four pages later, so they know imitation shibori is made, but they can't reliably recognize it. Imperatore's and MacLardy's lack of understanding of the techniques used when decorating kimono is pervasive throughout the book.
They mix up men's and women's kimono (see pages 19 and 133).
Have you ever had a conversation with someone who was trying to impress you but was clearly out of his or her depth? That is what is going on with this book. Imperatore and MacLardy not only don't understand the subject of the book but one gets the impression that they don't recognize just how little they know.
The text suggests someone told the authors information about kimono but Imperatore and MacLardy did not take good notes and couldn't remember which notes went with which kimono. Since they don't understand what they are writing about their descriptions are often ridiculous. When you read sentences like "Jun-hitoe are single layered kimono, often woven by a method called sha..." on p.13 it is clear, if you know a bit about kimono, that Imperatore and MacLardy are clueless about what Jun-hitoe are and what sha is. That Imperatore and MacLardy have the arrogance to write about subjects they don't undersand is the ultimate disservice to people who have bought this book.
On p. 64 they seem to have been told what is going on in the vintage photograph but because they didn't comprehend the information Imperatore and MacLardy have written a nonsense description that exposes their lack of understanding.
Throughout the book Imperatore and MacLardy show they don't understand the different types of kimono by their frequent misidentifications. P.97 is an example of both kimono on the page being sadly (or amusingly if you actually know about kimono) misidentified.
You already have to have a background in Japanese culture and kimono to spot many of their mistakes in the book. Yet Imperatore's and MacLardy's inattention to spelling, typos, grammar and thought completion is indicative of the lack of quality in their descriptions of kimono.
Even casual visitors to Japan will know the name of the bullet train (p. 6).
The vast majority of books published on Japanese kimono and art correctly identify the objects on the pages. The reviewers giving positive reviews of this book presumably assume the authors have the competence of other authors. Who would give a good review of a book if they knew that the book contained a high percentage of false information?
Unfortunately, this is an unusually bad book, quite rare for the publishing industry, but since few Americans have a background in Japanese kimono and art it may not be apparent to the average reader. Imperatore and MacLardy can't reliably link a Japanese thing with either the correct Japanese concept associated with it or with the correct Japanese words associated with it. One of many such examples is on p.137. The object is unquestionably not an inro. Without a background in Japanese art how would a reader know that Imperatore and MacLardy are presenting false information? Yet, there is a great deal of literature on inro and it would have been very easy for the authors to determine that the object is not an inro. This is a typical example of the lack of competence displayed throughout the book.
The book would have been a "just fine" book with only photos and no text. That Imperatore and MacLardy wrote about a subject they don't understand, thereby disseminating a great deal of misinformation, is irresponsible. They should not be trusted to present information since so much of the information in the book is wrong.
I do not recommend this book because there are so many inaccuracies in the text and because Imperatore and MacLardy exhibit a fundamental lack of understanding about kimono.