Passion for kimono

Kerry Porter demonstrates dressing in a kimono at a workshop at Schedel Arboretum & Gardens, where her kimono will be displayed through July 10. THE BLADE/JEREMY WADSWORTH Enlarge | Photo Reprints

Her hobby began when she paid $100 -- a large sum for a 20-year-old -- for a kimono she found online. Turned out, it was a fake.

Kerry Porter didn't know it at the time, but after years of research, she realized its seams didn't have the uniformity of a genuine Japanese kimono.

That experience serves as a cautionary tale she relates when speaking about the pastime she's passionate about eight years and dozens of real kimono later. (Note: kimono is both the plural and singular form of the word.)

"It's a living, breathing art," says Ms. Porter of Maumee. "I like the people it attracts and I like the textile art."

She started the Northwest Ohio Kimono Society, an informal group that meets monthly, with another local kimono fan, Katrina Conte, and since the first meeting in April, the group has had a few field trips to which participants, wear beautiful regalia. (Her blog is at ohiokimono.wordpress.com.)

Gorgeous fabric and ritual are inherent in kimono culture, which is evaporating in Japan, she says, but popular in the United States. The group even has drawn a smattering of teens who enjoy anime, Japanese animation. People also decorate with kimono, and seamstresses and quilters prize their luxurious fabrics.

This hand-painted juban would be worn under a man’s kimono. THE BLADE/JEREMY WADSWORTH Enlarge | Photo Reprints

Twenty of Ms. Porter's kimono are displayed at Schedel Arboretum and Gardens through July 10, along with about 30 netsuke, small carved objects once worn with kimono, from the Schedel's own collection. It's been a popular exhibit, says Veronica Sheets, event coordinator at the gardens. She was surprised when about two-thirds of the 75 people who attended the show's opening reception April 10, both women and men, showed up in kimono.

Ms. Porter suggested the display after touring the Japanese garden in Schedel's 17 acres just outside of Elmore. At a kimono demonstration she gave in May, a bridal party planning to wear them at their wedding, came to get tips. Ms. Porter also has been asked for advice by a local high school student who wore one to her prom.

Kimono are T-shaped, straight-lined robes worn so that the hem falls at the ankle. Sleeves are long and wide. They're wrapped around the body, always with the left side over the top right (except when dressing the dead for burial), and are secured by a sash called an obi, tied at the back. They generally are worn with traditional footwear and split-toe socks.

The Japanese aren't as cagey as the Scots when asked about what's worn under a kilt. A light cotton under-robe is worn to protect the kimono's delicate silk from perspiration stains, as well as other undergarments. Like kilts, kimono are draped in nostalgia and relegated to special occasions such as weddings, graduations, and funerals. When kimono developed about 1,300 years ago, wealthy women would wear 12 to 42, one atop the other, rendering them barely able to move.

"It was the most extravagant Japanese period," Ms. Porter says.

Kerry Porter, right, of Maumee teaches a kimono class last month at Schedel Arboretum & Gardens near Elmore. Ms. Porter is dressing Ashley Pruchinski of Cleveland in a traditional Japanese kimono. THE BLADE/JEREMY WADSWORTH Enlarge | Photo Reprints

She notes the comments on a Japanese woman's blog: kimono are expensive (a fine, new one can cost $10,000 or more) they're not suited for an active lifestyle; they're uncomfortable when riding in cars; they're difficult to clean (they're taken apart, cleaned, then resewn by hand), and tricky to put on (no buttons, zippers, knots, or velcro; only long silk ties). Moreover, they're encumbered by multitudes of rules spelling out who can wear which colors and patterns and when.

"And there are different schools of rules," says Ms. Porter, who loves costumes and Halloween. As a teenager, she made herself a Boba Fett costume when the Star Wars special editions were released and wore it to the theater.

Growing up at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, she was friends with the kids next door whose Japanese mother piqued her interest. "She was often in a yukata, an informal house kimono, usually a cotton print. She had a lot of traditional objects, including dolls and a kimono collection."

Ms. Perry's husband, Carl Mackert, has learned how to assist her when assembling her own kimono, which can take time. Some Japanese even hire kimono dressers. Mr. Mackert's kimono is a high-sheen dark bronze, hand loomed with images of dragons, Mount Fuji, and a forest. Nature and mythology are traditional themes but she's seen Godzilla, Jaws, and Disney princesses on some kimono.

"I love [images of ] fans, but my favorite designs are water themes, especially waves and koi fish," Ms. Porter says.

She also has a large collection of books about kimono, Japanese tradition, and mythology. Along the line, she started a small business to build on her speaking engagements and to sell kimono: ohiokimono.com.

Her biggest challenge? "I don't speak or read Japanese," Ms. Porter says. She tried learning on her own without success. Starting out, she often mispronounced Japanese words until people corrected her.

Nor has she been to Japan.

"If I had my way, I'd go abroad and study under a kimono maker," she says. "That will never happen. Who am I kidding? [I have] a mortgage and kids."

The kimono exhibit continues through July 10 in the Brown Welcome Center at Schedel Arboretum & Gardens, 19255 West Portage River S. Rd., Elmore. Admission: $10 adults, $6 for children ages 6 to 12. Hours: 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tuesday-Saturday; noon to 4 p.m. Sunday. Information: 419-862-3182 and schedel-gardens.org.

Contact Tahree Lane at tlane@theblade.com or 419-724-6075.