Can Foreigners Wear Kimono? What Japanese think of Cultural Appropriation

[Warpy]

9. I own a patchwork jacket made from kimono silk from worn-out kimonos

and I've made myself a couple of haoris, one with Japanese fabric I found in a specialty store. They're good transitional season jackets and I especially love the haoris and how you can stash things in the sleeves--shuttles, knitting notions, a small car.

I got the patchwork jacket because it is beautiful and it's one of the few beautiful things I've ever owned. The kimonos were beyond repair and their second life in a jacket is appropriate but not appropriation. The haoris I made are simply practical jackets and extremely comfortable as they're traditional work clothing.

I'd never do the full kimono because they're heavy and too hard to walk in. I can admire them on other people. However, it's clothing, beautiful clothing, and no more cultural appropriation than the jeans and t-shirts worn by the kids being interviewed in that video.

(Kimonos had a good fashion run in the 1920s when they were used as at home leisure wear over silk pajamas. That wasn't cultural appropriation, either)