35 Vintage Photos of Foreigner Women Posing in Kimono Dress From the Early 20th Century

The kimono is a traditional Japanese garment and the national dress of Japan. The kimono is a flat, T-shaped garment with square sleeves and a rectangular body, worn left over right unless the wearer is deceased. It is always worn with an obi, and commonly worn with accessories such as zōri and tabi socks.

Kimono are mostly made from traditional bolts of fabric known as tanmono. There are different types of kimono for men, women and children, and the style of the kimono can indicate the wearer's age, gender, formality of occasion and - less commonly - the wearer's marital status. Types of kimono range in formality from the very least to the very most formal of occasions.

In modern Japan, the kimono is uncommonly worn as everyday dress, and has steadily fallen out of fashion as the most common garment for a Japanese person to own and wear. Kimono are now most commonly seen at summer festivals, where people frequently wear the yukata, and is less commonly seen at funerals, weddings, and other formal events. The people who wear the kimono most frequently in Japanese society are older men and women - who may have grown up wearing it, though less commonly so than previous generations - geisha and maiko (who are required to wear it as part of their profession), and sumo wrestlers, who must wear kimono at all times in public.

Despite its falling popularity and reputation as uncomfortable and difficult to wear, the kimono has experienced a number of revivals in previous decades, and is still worn today as fashionable clothing within Japan.