The Canadian Press

In Canada, it would be like wearing a vintage ball gown to the grocery store.

So contemplating the comeback of the kimono in everyday life will be one of Jennifer Beamer's priorities as she spends the next eight months studying in Japan.

This October, the University of Alberta researcher will join 14 other students from around the world on a full Japan Foundation scholarship.

"We're starting to see that young people, in their 20s to 30s, are wanting to wear kimono every day," explains the PhD student. "And so they dress up in kimono and go out on dates, and they wear kimono to work sometimes, or wear it shopping, so doing everyday things."

The program will let Beamer improve her Japanese and soak up cultural activities such as flower arranging and kimono tying. She'll also be introduced to a host of political and social connections to try to puzzle through exactly what has brought about the rising tide of kimonos among the country's younger generation.

Her first brush with the topic came seven years ago, when she embarked on a government-sponsored program to teach in Japan. She immediately noticed some differences from her Calgary upbringing.

"When I got to Japan, I became really interested in traditional objects. Why were people still using chopsticks when there's forks? And why were people wearing kimonos sometimes, because we have all these cheap western kind of opportunities to wear clothing."

She came back to Canada with a personal collection - including a $30,000 blue and orange kimono, spun through with gold, that a friend wore at her coming-out party, and a soft pink cotton Hello Kitty kimono -- and a lot of questions.

That interest spurred a master's degree at the University of Calgary, and eventually led Beamer to immerse herself in the question of how the things we own and wear relate to both a personal and national identity.

"I have a feeling that there's a little bit of rebellion going on, and sort of a little bit of people want to look different, so they're using kimono in that sort of way, to stand out," she said, adding that globalization has led to a homogenization in which McDonald's and Starbucks are ubiquitous and everyone can look exactly the same.

"I think what's really happening is people are trying to grab on to what they think is identity, what they feel connected to."

Japanese government helps revive the kimono

Our famous lack of Canadian identity has really brought this point home, Beamer says with a laugh.

"It's always interesting to me to explain what represents Canada - macaroni and cheese? And Smarties? And little things like that, but I don't think we see a really distinct artifact."

"Many people did not want to be associated with things Japanese, so they sort of hid away all of their kimono and didn't wear it at all, and fully embraced western ideas," she said.

When it started to re-emerge in the 1970s and '80s, it was mainly for special occasions.

The government in Japan has really helped along the kimono's resurgence, she said, adding she hopes her work will also shed light on how other countries can preserve and revive their traditions.

For example, Kyoto has several programs through which people wearing kimonos can get discounts at museums and on taxi rides.

The actual kimonos themselves are also becoming more user friendly. Traditionally, it would take the better part of an hour and someone professionally trained to complete the intricate wrapping procedures to tie the garment on.

But new styles have seen clip-on bows that complete the look in an instant, as well as different fabrics and cuts that make it feasible to wear a kimono out and about.

This will also form part of Beamer's research, as she believes that trends point to more about someone than just a personal taste, touching on our sense of identity, our sense of being, our economic situation and our political situation.

"Why do people today need those already tied up kimono sashes? Why is that? Because they're too busy doing other things?" she asks.

"We can look at artifacts and try to understand what's going on in society."