Japanese fashion : a cultural history Toby Slade

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Introduction: modernity, fashion and Japan : Modernity ; Global fashions and national cultures -- Japanese clothes: events and tendencies : Sartorial modernity ; Nakedness and covering it ; Decency ; Foundational choices: Yōga and Nihonga ; 'Westernization' and Japanese fashion ; Consumption -- Japanese menswear: masculinity and sartorial statecraft : Uniforms and the state ; Suits: modern and classic masculinity ; The suit in Europe and America ; Embourgeoisement and civilized centre ; The Japanese suit ; The Rokumeikan -- Japanese womenswear: femininity and modernity : Taishō decadence and the Moga ; Sportswear, swimwear and movement ; Cosmetics and substance ; Hairstyles: the first experiments ; Kimono reform and traditional identity ; Time -- Conclusions: a theory of costume for Japanese modernity : the economics of aesthetics ; The recurring problems of fashion ; Functional explanations ; Meaning and identity in fashion ; The struggle for status in fashion ; The economics of fashion ; Fashion as communication ; Dynamic theories of fashion ; Diffusion in fashion ; Cyclic fashion ; Erotics in fashion ; The Zeitgeist in fashion ; Fashion as aesthetics

"Japanese Fashion examines the entire sweep of Japanese clothing history, from the sophisticated fashion systems of late-Edo period kimonos to the present day, providing possible theories of how Japan made this fashion journey and linking current theories of fashion to the Japanese example. The book is unique in that it provides the first full history of the last two hundred years of Japanese clothing. It is also the first book to include Asian fashion as part of global fashion as well as fashion theory. It adds a hitherto absent continuity to the understanding of historical and current fashion in Japan, and is pioneering in offering possible theories to account for that entire history. By providing an analysis of how that entire history changes our understanding of the way fashion works this book will be an essential text for all students of fashion and design"