[A] delightful and comprehensive feast of kimono cultural knowledge ... In addition to its wonderful historical sweep, [Cliffe's volume] offers immense and often personal detail about the intricate stages of making, finishing and accessorising a kimono ... The achievement of a true aficionado.

Times Higher Education

The Social Life of the Kimono animates the flat textile that the western world is used to seeing on display in clothing collections as works of craftsmanship and art, demonstrating how it is, in fact, fashion with styles that change and reflect the social, industrial, and economic influences of the moment. In conjunction with textile art resources on kimono and guides for dressing, the reader would gain a solid base of information with which to understand the Japanese kimono.

Journal of Dress History

The Social Life of Kimono does cover well-trodden ground in parts, but it mixes in new information and hints at future projects by (Sheila) Cliffe, making it as tantalizing as the glimpse of a hidden collar on a kimono wearer as they run to catch their train in downtown Tokyo.

H-Net

Shatters antiquated views of Japan's traditional garment ... Cliffe's passion for kimono is infectious, and her deep knowledge on the subject – both academically and aesthetically – is nothing less than inspiring.

Tokyo Weekender

The Social Life of Kimono gives a unique insight into [the] making and meaning of this complex garment.

Love Sewing

Tracing the history, economic role, cultural impact, and social uses of kimono, Sheila Cliffe's valuable contribution to the sociology of fashion is a real treat. Comprehensive yet detailed, this book, with its generous collection of beautiful and colorful plates of kimono, should grace the shelf of anyone who appreciates this icon of Japanese aesthetics.

Brian J. McVeigh, author of Wearing Ideology: State, Schooling and Self-Presentation in Japan