Liza Dalby: KIMONO: Fashioning Culture

By BRENDA POOR

Many Westerners are fascinated by Japanese kimono. Made from metres of sumptuous fabrics, dyed exquisite colours and often painted with bold designs, we appreciate them as works of art and marvel at how much they cost.

Liza Dalby, author of Geisha and The Tale of Murasaki, explores Japan's fascinating national costume in her latest book.

When a Japanese person sees someone in kimono they can tell their age, marital status, personality, sexual proclivities, the time of year and much more. Too bright a colour, an unseasonal motif, too bold a pattern, a cord tied too low or too high will shock and offend.

It is not surprising therefore, to learn that there are Kimono Academies in Japan offering courses in the art of wearing kimono, and all the other garments and accessories which must accompany it.

Lisa Dalby's Kimono is a technical study of the Japanese kimono enlivened by a much broader context. After all, kimono means clothing in general, not just the sumptuous silk and brocade ceremonial costumes that the term kimono usually denotes today.

Like many aspects of Japanese culture, kimono originated in China. In tracing its development from the seventh century through to modern times, Dalby shows us Japanese history and culture from the perspective of clothing.

Particularly interesting is a discussion of the arrival of Western clothing in Japan in the Meiji era (late 19th century). The result was some intriguing clothing combinations such as men in business suits with checked shawls draped over the top.

Japan's class system is portrayed by contrasting an interesting chapter on the functional clothing worn by farmers, housewives and workers throughout the ages, with chapters portraying the fashions of the aristocracy in the Heian period. One such fashion was kimono with one sleeve longer than the other designed to trail out a carriage window.

Most pages have at least one illustration, photo, drawing or diagram which add greatly to the book's readability. Some of the kimono pictured are truly fabulous.

My favourites featured bold fans, umbrellas, sailing ships, banana leaves and waterfalls. I would have liked to see them in full glossy colour.

However, if you love Japanese culture or if you are into fashion, then I think you will enjoy this book. Skim-read the boring bits, look at all the pictures and hunt out the interesting details.

Random House

$27.95

* Brenda Poor is a foreign language teacher.