Kimono: A Modern History

Highly recommended for anyone interested in textiles, their history, and use throughout Japanese recent (18th century to today) history. Knowledgeable, scholarly, but with the general reader in mind, the late author put together an outstanding book with many color photographs--not just the usual, but many from not only museum collections, but also private collections. This book is being considered the catalogue for the current "Kimono: A Modern History" exhibit at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City that will run through January 5th. While not all the kimono are featured, those in the exhibit can be viewed on the Museum's website. More detailed history of how today's young Japanese began to reclaim their traditional dress, but also adapt it to their own particular fashion needs, with comments on their creativity. A worthy addition to anyone's library as an additional special insight to the traditional dress in Japan. It includes the influence of kimono on not only present-day Japanese designers but western designers like Bonnie Cashin.

I bought this to learn more about kimono after a trip to Japan (in which I fell in love with the artistry and ended up buying two). It's written as a scholarly text, but is engrossing and interesting. For those who haven't read the author's note, the original author sadly died before completing the work, and her husband and publisher finished it for her. It clearly meant a lot to the author and that brought a tear to my eye.

This should not be mistaken for a coffee table book on kimono (though it would look good there too) as it is the first true history of the modern kimono. Rigorously researched and accessibly written it should be enjoyed by anyone interested in kimono.

It appears that in order to keep the price down, the size of the book and the lovely photographs did not fully communicate the beauty of the kimonos. Nevertheless, the text was very informative, and a handy magnifier helped with the gorgeous weaving and embroidery detail.

This book helped me write my final research paper for my cultures of east Asia class. Love reading about the Japanese and the history of the Kimono.

this is an exquisite and impressive compilation of the history of kimono. the colored illustrations are very high quality, the text is so exact and well researched. this book will be highly prized in our family's collection.

Amazing book. The pictures are beautiful and so colorful. Beautifully written and the history is very interesting. Anyone who owns or wishes to own or is curious about Japanese kimonos should buy this book.

a fantastic book, scholarly, complex, and fascinating

I really wanted to like this book. I'm obsessed with kimonos - I own nearly 200 - and wear them regularly, dressing in proper kitsuke. I read everything I can find about kimono and Japan. But this book is deadly, deadly dull - crippled by the disease that affects so much academic writing these days. I'm about halfway through now and I remember why I gave up last time - it's just quite tedious. The endless abstract nouns ('transportation systems' rather than 'roads and railways') leave me constantly re-reading paragraphs after my mind's wandered. It's such a shame. The author knew her stuff and if you were studying for a degree in kimono history, this might be the book you'd be required to reach for as a texbook, but for a general reader it manages to be informative without actually being interesting (it might have been advisable to leave out some of the endless information, actually). Decent pictures, though the format is a bit small. Liza Dalby's book on kimono is a much better read than this and deserves a better edition with colour photos.

Interesting and complete

libro molto interessante

Eccellente. Con un'introduzione al kimono antico e una storia di quello moderno. pieno di notizie e riferimenti ad altre opere. Ben illustrato. Peccato che sia disponibile solo in brossura.