Vintage European Geisha

This is one of my many obsessions in life - collecting period postcards of European women dressed up as geisha! I have always loved Japan and have visited twice. After my first trip, I happened to come across a real photo postcard of a group of Victorian girls dressed in kimonos and so the interest was born. I was intrigued to know why they were dressed like this, but obviously standing in a farmers field somewhere in Southern England!

Until the mid 1800's, Japan had remained a country closed to the outside world. Under military pressure from both America and Great Britain, its borders were finally relaxed and all things Japanese became fashionable and remained so right into the early 20th century.

Art and architecture was influenced (Whistler's paintings; Aubrey Beardsley's line drawings and Charles Rennie Macintosh's architecture). And so the mania for the "Japonaise" style began. Liberty's took up the style in their homewares; William Morris was influenced by their printing styles and even Gilbert & Sullivan took on the judicial system in the Mikado!
At home, the general public wanted to be fashionable, but often were ill advised. Not many had been to Japan and the information on Japanese culture was patchy at best. Women took to wearing the soft "bun" styles of Japan at the turn of the 20th century (think the Gibson girl) and started to dress up for photos in what they thought a kimono should be. Unfortunately it is a complex garment and difficult to put on - so many of my photographs show ladies who have improvised (with hysterical results). This wasn't limited to the public - actresses of screen and stage also got on the band wagon - and got it beautifully wrong.

See my collection on Flickr http://www.flickr.com/photos/harcourt/sets/72157604040530732
(but please do not use the images without my permission!)