IKKO’s Kimono Transbeauty

IKKO’s Kimono Transbeauty

Today’s post is provided by Dr. Jan Bardsley, Professor Emerita, University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill. Jan is well known for her captivating studies of Japanese women, from beauty queens to housewives and now, most recently, to maiko. Her forthcoming monograph,...
My First Kimono

My First Kimono

Mother bought me a kimono of my own for my birthday. When she understood my love of Japanese dance and my deep and growing interest in Japanese culture, she wanted me to have a kimono. She had one. Or at least she had, had one. When she lived in Japan in the 1950s a...