Tokyo Weekender July 2016

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BREAKING THE RULES OF KIMONO A NEW BOOK BY DR SHEILA CLIFFE SHOWS OFF THE DIFFERENT PERSONALITIES OF THIS VERY TRADITIONAL YET OFTEN MISCONCEIVED GARMENT Words by Lisa Wallin 26 | JULY 2017 | TOKYO WEEKENDER
EVERY GARMENT I WEAR IS A STORY, AND I’M JUST ANOTHER CHAPTER IN THAT GARMENT’S STORY also much more connected with nature, climate, the seasons and place. Also, a dress or a shirt and pants are kind of a done deal. You can add some earrings or something, but what you buy is basically what you wear. If I buy 50 obi, then that’s 50 different outfits with this one kimono. That’s fascinating to me. Anyone who loves the idea of putting an outfit together will become hooked on kimono.” On her own kimono-wearing style, Cliffe says, “Contrast works with kimono. I limit the number of colors I use, and those colors are almost always opposites on the color circle. I don’t look at any of the magazines telling you what’s right or wrong. If I look at those, I know I’m going to end up dressing the same as everyone else. When you do that, you lose all the power of expression. I go my own way. I think it’s normal and ordinary, but people seem to think it’s interesting. I suppose dressing is my art.” Cliffe also mentions that kimono are usually inherited, connecting people across generations. Silk is said to last a hundred years, which is roughly equal to three generations. Given its long life and the fact that silk kimono are kept for formal occasions and thus remain in good condition, being able to wear a hundred-year-old kimono is not unusual. Cliffe explains, “I pick up the old ones and wear them until they fall apart. Kimono has long been pigeon-holed as the “national costume” of Japan, and largely ignored by Western fashion academics who view it as an unchanging garment that simply serves the purpose of covering the body. It is clothing, but it isn’t considered fashion. Dr. Sheila Cliffe, who moved from Bristol to Japan in 1985 and is a professor at Jumonji Gakuen Women’s University in Saitama, aims to shatter this antiquated and Eurocentric view of the kimono in her book The Social Life of Kimono. Spoiler alert: she succeeds. Her in-depth social analysis of past and present kimono wearers, as well as makers and craftsmen in the industry, indicates kimono is part of a complete fashion system separate from the West. Cliffe’s passion for kimono is infectious, and her deep knowledge on the subject – both academically and aesthetically – is nothing less than inspiring. When asked what kimono means to her, Cliffe tells <strong>Weekender</strong>: “It’s fashion, very simply. But it’s far more interesting than Western fashion, for a lot of reasons: it’s slow and it’s three-dimensional. It caters to multiple audiences because of that. It’s TOKYO WEEKENDER | JULY 2017 | 27
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Tokyo Weekender July 2016

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