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Rating: 
Summary: Great photos, no editing, marginal information
Review: As a 25-year kimono/textile collector and enthusiast of Japanese traditional culture (not to mention former vintage dealer), I give this book both stars for the gorgeous photos. The book content, alas, is a mess. First off, I doubt it was edited. There are numerous typos and spelling errors (e.g. "Japanes"), grammatical mistakes, and captions that will tell you to look at something that's not in the photo! (What green kumihimo tie? No ties were shown!) An editor needs to clean up the author's writing, as some sentences make no sense, and grammar mistakes are rife. I was reminded of the "junior high essay bloopers" that make the rounds. I'm not sure if it's fuzzy thinking or just bad writing, but the author also seems to confuse colors, techniques, and fabrics, as I found several sentences that were the moral equivalent of saying "Growing on trees, green apples are a kind of pie." (An example: "Lined entirely in white with accents at hem and sleeves of flowing sage green called bokashi." [sic] Would you know that bokashi is a technique, not a color?) At one point, tsumugi is identified as a kind of ikat(!). There are also numerous misidentifications, the most obvious one (to me) being a characteristically early Meiji kimono being identified as Taisho era (~60 years apart). No rationale is given for assigning dates (for example, design elements, placement, fabrics, techniques, linings, etc., are valuable clues in dating a kimono). There are also context statements presented without justification (i.e. "may have belonged to a geisha/been a wedding kimono" etc.). The most baffling was a 1920's wedding kimono that said "Probably a rental." Since rental wedding kimono are a post-WWII phenomena, why would you conclude a 1920's kimono was a rental? As for the value figures, pricing is either artifically inflated (some price guides do this in an attempt to jack up the market) or heavily regional to Washington D.C. On the West Coast, full retail would be half or a quarter of what is listed. Kimono shows/sales would be much, much less. EBay auctions would be a fraction. The bibliography is also very short and fluffy, mostly focusing on kimono as art and actual wearing, with "When Art Became Fashion" (L.A. County Museum of Art) as the sole historic source. It's a gorgeous book, but deserved to be better written and edited, not to mention researched.
Jilara
Rating:
Summary: Great photos, no editing, marginal information
Review: As a 25-year kimono/textile collector and enthusiast of Japanese traditional culture (not to mention former vintage dealer), I give this book both stars for the gorgeous photos. The book content, alas, is a mess. First off, I doubt it was edited. There are numerous typos and spelling errors (e.g. "Japanes"), grammatical mistakes, and captions that will tell you to look at something that's not in the photo! (What green kumihimo tie? No ties were shown!) An editor needs to clean up the author's writing, as some sentences make no sense, and grammar mistakes are rife. I was reminded of the "junior high essay bloopers" that make the rounds. I'm not sure if it's fuzzy thinking or just bad writing, but the author also seems to confuse colors, techniques, and fabrics, as I found several sentences that were the moral equivalent of saying "Growing on trees, green apples are a kind of pie." (An example: "Lined entirely in white with accents at hem and sleeves of flowing sage green called bokashi." [sic] Would you know that bokashi is a technique, not a color?) At one point, tsumugi is identified as a kind of ikat(!). There are also numerous misidentifications, the most obvious one (to me) being a characteristically early Meiji kimono being identified as Taisho era (~60 years apart). No rationale is given for assigning dates (for example, design elements, placement, fabrics, techniques, linings, etc., are valuable clues in dating a kimono). There are also context statements presented without justification (i.e. "may have belonged to a geisha/been a wedding kimono" etc.). The most baffling was a 1920's wedding kimono that said "Probably a rental." Since rental wedding kimono are a post-WWII phenomena, why would you conclude a 1920's kimono was a rental? As for the value figures, pricing is either artifically inflated (some price guides do this in an attempt to jack up the market) or heavily regional to Washington D.C. On the West Coast, full retail would be half or a quarter of what is listed. Kimono shows/sales would be much, much less. EBay auctions would be a fraction. The bibliography is also very short and fluffy, mostly focusing on kimono as art and actual wearing, with "When Art Became Fashion" (L.A. County Museum of Art) as the sole historic source. It's a gorgeous book, but deserved to be better written and edited, not to mention researched.
Jilara
Rating: 
Summary: Excellent book for kimono collectors
Review: Lavished with full-color photographs throughout to show examples of colors and styles of kimono textiles. Hundreds of photos! It fully explains fabrics, periods, etc and includes a glossary of terms. I'm a beginner kimono collector, and this is a very useful book for my needs. The authors included suggested prices to pay for kimono -- an incredible asset! Book was published in 2001, so pricing is relatively current. People have also suggested The Book of Kimono to me, but I passed in favor of this book, because I'd rather have current info including the pricing. I'd like to address one comment in the "official review" above. The writer said: "The authors don't cite sources for the information they provide, and it appears that much of it is anecdotal, gleaned from working within the industry. Although the images are appealing, the lack of authority for the information provided makes this a marginal purchase." I disagree!! The authors are merchants actively involved in buying, selling and collecting kimono. What more of an authority on collecting could you find than that? Having spent 5 years in grad school myself, I have respect for academics, but the quote above seems to imply that this book is less valuable if it's not grounded with academic authority. I don't think academic authority is necessary; indeed, this book is more valuable without it for the purpose it was written to serve. Don't let that stop you from getting this book.
Rating: 
Summary: Big on photos, thin on useful info
Review: What I had hoped would be an invaluable resource for a collector turned out to be a coffee table book with lots of nice pictures and not much more. Descriptions such as "may be wool or silk" and "possibly Taisho" indicate that more research might have served readers well. Since many of the photos are from the private collection of the authors, who claim to be the country's largest supplier of vintage kimono, it reads more like a catelogue of their inventory than a resource book. As I said - if you're looking for more "books for looks," this is it. Serious collectors need to look elsewhere.
Rating:
Summary: Big on photos, thin on useful info
Review: What I had hoped would be an invaluable resource for a collector turned out to be a coffee table book with lots of nice pictures and not much more. Descriptions such as "may be wool or silk" and "possibly Taisho" indicate that more research might have served readers well. Since many of the photos are from the private collection of the authors, who claim to be the country's largest supplier of vintage kimono, it reads more like a catelogue of their inventory than a resource book. As I said - if you're looking for more "books for looks," this is it. Serious collectors need to look elsewhere.
Rating:
Summary: Big on photos, thin on useful info
Review: What I had hoped would be an invaluable resource for a collector turned out to be a coffee table book with lots of nice pictures and not much more. Descriptions such as "may be wool or silk" and "possibly Taisho" indicate that more research might have served readers well. Since many of the photos are from the private collection of the authors, who claim to be the country's largest supplier of vintage kimono, it reads more like a catelogue of their inventory than a resource book. As I said - if you're looking for more "books for looks," this is it. Serious collectors need to look elsewhere.
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