The History of the Kimono Robe as Loungewear in Western Fashion
The history of the Japanese kimono as Western loungewear is longer and more fascinating than most people realize. It did not begin with the vintage revival of recent decades, or with the bohemian embrace of Eastern aesthetics in the 1960s and 70s. It began more than three hundred years ago, when the first Japanese silks reached European shores through the Dutch East India Company and immediately captured the imagination of anyone who encountered them.
Woman's katabira (summer robe), Japan, 18th century, ramie, silk, gilt paper-wrapped thread, plain weave, embroidery, stencil printed, and hand painted, Honolulu Museum of Art.
The Eighteenth Century: Aristocratic Dressing Gowns
From the late seventeenth century onward, Japanese kimonos arrived in Europe as luxury trade goods and were immediately repurposed as dressing gowns by their aristocratic owners. The Japanese banyan — as the kimono-as-dressing-gown was known in England — became one of the most fashionable garments of the eighteenth century. Wealthy men had themselves painted wearing them, draped over a chair or worn loosely open over indoor dress, as a sign of cosmopolitan sophistication. The comfort of the garment, the extraordinary beauty of the silk, and its exotic origin all contributed to its desirability.
The Victorian and Edwardian Periods
The Aesthetic Movement of the late nineteenth century, with its deep engagement with Japanese art and design, renewed Western interest in the kimono as a garment. Liberty of London imported Japanese kimonos from the 1870s onward and sold them as dressing gowns to an educated, artistic clientele who were simultaneously discovering ukiyo-e prints, Japanese ceramics, and the design philosophy that would eventually become Art Nouveau. The kimono's influence on Western dress design during this period was profound — its straight lines, its flat construction, and its system of surface decoration all left deep marks on the Aesthetic and Arts and Crafts movements.
Hollywood actress Mary Pickford, wearing a kimono, reading a letter, by Hartsook Photo, S.F. - L.A., 1918.
Hollywood and the Glamour Robe
Hollywood's Golden Age adopted the kimono-as-robe with characteristic enthusiasm. Studio costume departments dressed stars in elaborate silk robes for publicity photographs and on-set wear, understanding that the kimono's combination of luxury, color, and exotic association made it the perfect garment for projecting a certain kind of glamorous, leisured femininity. The silk kimono robe became a fixture of the Hollywood boudoir aesthetic — as inseparable from the image of the pampered, beautiful star as the vanity table and the chaise longue.
The Tradition Continues
At ThisBlueBird, we have been part of this three-hundred-year tradition since 2002 — hand-selecting vintage Japanese silk kimonos for their beauty, quality, and wearability, and pairing each one with a hand-made silk sash. Worn as a robe, a loungewear layer, or a dressing gown, a vintage silk kimono is one of the most beautiful things you can own. Browse our vintage kimono collection and vintage kimono cardigans to find yours.
