Object: Fancy dress costume
Designer:
Paul Poiret
(1879 - 1944)
Date: 1919
Medium: Silver gauze, red chiffon, lavender brocade, pearls, feathers, pink satin, silver lamé, and rhinestones
Country: France
Credit Line: Gift of Mrs. Katheryn Colton
Object number: 74.36.29
DescriptionTurkish style harem costume: Crushed silver gauze tunic with attached pale purple and silver cummerbund, and deep red chiffon trousers; Matching pale purple brocade turban edged with pearls and with enormous red feather and ruby at center front; Slippers in pink satin and figured silver lamé decorated with rhinestones and rubies; Gem encrusted fake scimitar in silver lamé; and coordinating auburn wig
Label Text:The French couturier Paul Poiret always hotly denied that he had been influenced by the Ballets Russes. Although the historical evidence contradicts his claim to have pioneered the “Oriental” look in fashion, he certainly played an important role in popularizing it. Poiret designed this costume for a fancy dress party in 1919.
In Collection(s)
Exhibitions:
- Femme Fatale: Fashion and Visual Culture in Fin-de-Siècle Paris
- Exhibitionism: 50 Years of the Museum at FIT
- Homage to Poiret
- Fashioning the Modern Woman: The Art of the Couturiere, 1919-1939
- Dance and Fashion