In fact, as the Japanese people used the word Kimono to indicate clothing in general sense before Western style clothing has prevailed, the word Kimono was not used to differentiate the Japanese culture from the Western culture.
実際、洋服が日本で普及する以前は、日本人は衣服一般を「着物」と呼んでいて、着物という言葉に日本文化と西洋文化を区別する意味はなかった。