INTERVIEW | Sheila Cliffe Life and Passion: All Wrapped in Silk

Sheila Cliffe, widely known as KimonoSheila on Instagram, is an innovator who revitalizes the kimono, highlighting it not only as a celebration of culture and history but also as a means of expression. By re-contextualizing the kimono, Sheila has crafted a way to keep the garment in demand by older and younger generations alike.

Cliffe is both a kimono expert and the author of the JAPAN Forward "Kimono Style" column. She is also a prolific writer of books and other materials. She is presented here in a two-part interview exploring her experience as a researcher and stylist. Excerpts follow.

First of 2 parts

Kimono as a Lifestyle

What is the best part of incorporating kimono into your life?

I know there are a lot of parts to put together with kimono, but it has saved me so much stress when I go out. I don't have to think about whether it is a short dress day or a trousers day. If I go out to meet someone, it's always a kimono day. In winter, a thicker kimono. And in summer, when I put on a kimono, I know I'm going to be protected from the sun. It's of course going to be modest. So, there are a whole lot of major decisions that I feel released from.

It's my way of expressing myself, putting these elements together in a really interesting arrangement that maybe says something different. And when I style my kimono, I enjoy thinking about what would make the person I'm meeting happy.

Can you share a highlight from your research in kimono?

I just bump into people all the time and some of them just smile. Others say, "Oh that looks cool you know it suits you so well" or some people ask "Are you Sheila? I started going to 'kitsuke' lessons because of you," and, "I started my kimono journey because of you."

That makes me want to cry. So it's not just one still moment that's precious to you but the people in the community.

*A kimono with a grape vine motif. (©Sheila Cliffe)*

Sustainability

What is the value of buying a second-hand kimono?

I love things with history and that idea of sharing. When I see a second-hand kimono, I look at it and I try to imagine styling it, and ask: "Could we share our journey together?" Then I just see what the kimono answers. If I'm nervous about it or it doesn't seem to pop, then I don't get it. But if I see something in that kimono that speaks to me, then I take it home.

I'm giving them another piece of life. They are not just a piece of my story, I'm a little bit of their story. They've been somewhere else and someone else has worn them. And someone else has and probably had lovely experiences with them or maybe sad experiences.

Hopefully, they'll be part of someone else's history one day, and the cycle will continue. That's the real beauty. It's not like 'furugi' [used clothes] making fashion sustainable in general. Again, it comes back to the [kimono] community, and how we can share our experiences.

*A second-hand obi featuring peony and bats. (©Sheila Cliffe)*

Would you consider kimono to be a more sustainable form of fashion?

It's sustainable for sure. Silk has to degrade at a certain point, but they do last a lifetime some say you can wear them for three generations. Another factor is because the shape doesn't change, it doesn't get old-fashioned. Compared to Western trends where the silhouette changes so frequently, kimono fashion is slower and more gentle.

The way it is worn also contributes to its longevity. Kimono has many parts. Even if the kimono looks a little old-fashioned, you can make it new with the choice of obi and other accessories. It can cross the generations in a way that Western clothing doesn't.

Style

Have there been style choices that you wish you hadn't executed?

When I started out learning, someone dressed me in an Oshima Tsumugi kimono, which is very dark brown. To the unpracticed eye, it might seem not a very interesting kimono. Now that I have studied kimono for so long, I know it's a special kimono. But at the time I wanted to wear some kind of flashy obi with silver and gold in it and I now know that that was not an appropriate choice for that kimono.

It's funny, the first thing I bought was a red nagajuban, it wasn't a kimono at all. Later, the first new kimono I bought was very expensive for me at the time, but I would never choose [the same one] now.

*Pages from Sheila Cliffe's book, "Kimono Style." (©Sheila Cliffe)*

Styling is a learning process. This is true of all fashion, not just kimono. I always say that fashion is a journey. As you develop and go through different experiences, what you like changes along with you.

When styling a kimono, what concerns you the most?

I'm hypersensitive to color coordination. That's a big part of my coordination, to make something harmonious with colors or to make two colors purposely pop against each other.

People like to think coordination is so hard. But a lot of people choose to wear the basics, such as a white collar or white tabi. I prefer to see those as part of the coordination and go from top to toe with styling. However, that's not breaking any of the fundamental principles. There are instances I like wearing a white collar with a Homonngi. But sometimes I'll use an off-white one or one with colored embroidery, so I'll break the rules just a little.

I also wear jewelry, earrings, and hats with kimono, which is to purists not appropriate. But Japanese people have been wearing kimono with hats for a long time, and it's very reminiscent of Art Deco. They wore boots with kimono as well, so I'm not doing anything particularly radical.

Coming next: Part 2 of the Interview with Sheila Cliffe

Author: Natasha Takahashi