Editing Kimono (section)

====Shōwa period (1926–1989)====
[[File:Cha-baori (easy haori) 1957.jpg|thumb|A 1957 clothing ad, showing postwar {{transliteration|ja|kitsuke}} standards for women, which promoted a neater, more standardised appearance]]

While kimono were no longer common wear for men, they remained everyday wear for Japanese women until [[Japan during World War II|World War II]] (1940–1945).{{r|Valk|p=17}} Though the Taishō period had seen a number of invented traditions, standards of {{transliteration|ja|kitsuke}} (wearing kimono) were still not as formalised in this time, with creases, uneven {{transliteration|ja|ohashori}} and crooked {{transliteration|ja|obi}} still deemed acceptable.{{r|Valk|p=44-45}}

During the war, kimono factories shut down, and the government encouraged people to wear {{transliteration|ja|[[monpe]]}} (also romanised as {{transliteration|ja|mompe}}) – trousers constructed from old kimono – instead.{{r|Valk|p=131}} Fibres such as rayon became widespread during WWII, being inexpensive to produce and cheap to buy, and typically featured printed designs.{{citation needed|date=August 2021}}<ref>Salusso, C. J. (2005). Rayon. In V. Steele (Ed.), ''Encyclopedia of Clothing and Fashion'' (Vol. 3, pp. 81-84). Charles Scribner's Sons.</ref> Cloth rationing persisted until 1951, so most kimono were made at home from repurposed fabrics.{{r|Valk|p=131}}

In the second half of the 20th century, the Japanese economy boomed,{{r|Valk|p=36}} and silk became cheaper,{{citation needed|date=August 2021}} making it possible for the average family to afford silk kimono.{{r|Valk|p=76}} The kimono retail industry had developed an elaborate codification of rules for kimono-wearing, with types of kimono, levels of formality, and rules on seasonality, which intensified after the war; there had previously been rules about kimono-wearing, but these were not rigidly codified and varied by region and class.{{r|Valk|p=36}} Formalisation sought perfection, with no creases or unevenness in the kimono, and an increasingly tubular figure was promoted as the ideal for women in kimono.{{r|Valk|p=44-45}} The kimono-retail industry also promoted a sharp distinction between Japanese and Western clothes;{{r|Valk|p=54}} for instance, wearing Western shoes with Japanese clothing (while common in the Taishō period) was codified as improper;{{r|Valk|p=16}} these rules on proper dressing are often described in Japanese using the English phrase "Time, Place, and Occasion" (TPO). As neither Japanese men or women commonly wore kimono, having grown up under wartime auspices, commercial {{transliteration|ja|kitsuke}} schools were set up to teach women how to don kimono.{{r|Valk|p=44}} Men in this period rarely wore kimono, and menswear thus escaped most of the formalisation.{{r|Valk|p=36, 133}}).

Kimono were promoted as essential for ceremonial occasions;{{r|Valk|p=76, 135}} for instance, the expensive {{transliteration|ja|[[furisode]]}} worn by young women for {{transliteration|ja|[[Seijinshiki]]}} was deemed a necessity.{{r|Valk|p=60}} Bridal trousseaus containing tens of kimono of every possible subtype were also promoted as ''de rigueur'', and parents felt obliged to provide{{r|Valk|p=76}} kimono trousseaus that cost up to 10 million yen (~£70,000),{{r|Valk|p=262}} which were displayed and inspected publicly as part of the wedding, including being transported in transparent trucks.{{r|Valk|p=81}}

By the 1970s, formal kimono formed the vast majority of kimono sales.{{r|Valk|p=132}} Kimono retailers, due to the pricing structure of brand new kimono, had developed a relative monopoly on not only prices but also a perception of kimono knowledge, allowing them to dictate prices and heavily promote more formal (and expensive) purchases, as selling a single formal kimono could support the seller comfortably for three months. The kimono industry peaked in 1975, with total sales of 2.8 trillion yen (~£18 billion). The sale of informal brand new kimono was largely neglected.{{r|Valk|p=135, 136}}