Customer Reviews

Kimono Vanishing Tradition: Japanese Textiles of the 20th Century

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

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

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.

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.

While this book is nice to look at, it is clearly written from the standpoint of those who have
little real scholarly enthusiasm or fervent for their subject (or for grammar and editing!). It's too bad that a book on Kimonos which combines beautiful photography with a worthy text has yet to be published.

Lavished with full-color photographs throughout to show examples of colors and styles of kimono textiles. Hundreds of photos! It fully explains fabrics, periods, etc and includes a glossary of terms. I'm a beginner kimono collector, and this is a very useful book for my needs.

The authors included suggested prices to pay for kimono -- an incredible asset! Book was published in 2001, so pricing is relatively current. People have also suggested The Book of Kimono to me, but I passed in favor of this book, because I'd rather have current info including the pricing.

I'd like to address one comment in the "official review" above. The writer said: "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." I disagree!! The authors are merchants actively involved in buying, selling and collecting kimono. What more of an authority on collecting could you find than that? Having spent 5 years in grad school myself, I have respect for academics, but the quote above seems to imply that this book is less valuable if it's not grounded with academic authority. I don't think academic authority is necessary; indeed, this book is more valuable without it for the purpose it was written to serve. Don't let that stop you from getting this book.

If you, like me, are enchanted by the designs and workmanship that go into the making of these lovely garments, you will really enjoy this book. Wonderful color photos, informative text - everything you might want to aid in your appreciation of this amazing form of wearable art.

This was my first book on the subject of kimono . It is great for the new kimono fan and an invaluable inventory for 20th century kimono. Great photos and good content. Not an encyclopedia (never was intended to be) but a great primer! Nice people too! I look with interest to their next book!
Robin Cahill
Hanagumo
The Kimono Collector