← Dressed: The History of Fashion
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- [00:04]
April Callahan
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- [01:00]
Cassidy Zachary
The History of Fashion is a production of Dressed media With over 8 billion people in the world, we all have one thing in common. Every day we all get dressed.
- [01:15]
April Callahan
Welcome to Dressed the History of Fashion, a podcast that explores the who, what, when of why we wear. We are friends, fashion historians and your.
- [01:24]
Cassidy Zachary
Hosts, April Callahan and Cassidy Zachary, Dress listeners, welcome to Part one of a two part episode dedicated to one of the most important, prolific and revolutionary designers in the history of Euro American fashion. He also happens to be my all time favorite designer. And of course I'm speaking about the one, the only Pachay.
- [01:48]
April Callahan
And if you're thinking hold up, they've already done an episode on Pare in the past, you would be correct. He was actually the subject of our eighth episode of the very first season of this show all the way back in 2018. It has now been almost eight years since then, so we have a lot more to say about this fashion icon and legend.
- [02:14]
Cassidy Zachary
Yes we do. And known as the King of Fashion in America and La Magnifique in France. Both are fitting titles for a man who more or less ruled over Euro American fashion at the dawn of the 20th century. He is a designer as famous for his radical and groundbreaking designs as for the immersive world he created, where the lines between fashion and art, the past and the present, blurred in a visual and sensory cacophony unlike anything fashion had ever experienced before.
- [02:44]
April Callahan
Another fitting moniker for Pare, the Leonardo of Fashion. And this was a title given to him by one of my favorite designers, Elsa Schiaparelli, who he befriended and mentored in the 1920s when she had just newly arrived in Paris from New York City, and he basically was the person who encouraged her to become a fashion designer. She was destitute when she arrived in Paris, he provided her wardrobe for her and and mentored her. So Poiret was certainly a Renaissance man by all accounts of the word. He was a force of personality, vision and industry. And he wore many hats, not just as a fashion designer, but also as an interior designer, a painter, a musician, an actor, a patron of the arts. He was a major art collector. He was also an author.
- [03:34]
Cassidy Zachary
And Poiret was instrumental in not just revolutionizing women's fashion at the dawn of the 20th century, but but transforming the very concept of fashion itself. And he effectively laid the groundwork for the modern fashion industry that we are all indebted to today. For instance, he played a defining role in not just bringing about the advent of modern fashion, but also modern fashion, photography and illustration. He was also the first designer to launch his own cosmetics and fragrance lines, and the first designer to define lifestyle branding through his interior design school and design firm.
- [04:07]
April Callahan
Part of the reason why we have so much more to say about Paris is this summer we had the pleasure of seeing the new exhibition dedicated to his work this summer in Paris, obviously, while we're conducting our annual fashion history tours. And this exhibition, which is basically a retrospective of his work dedicated solely to him, was curated by Marie Sophie Caron de la Carriere and her team at the Musee des Arts Decorative. And the exhibition is entitled Pas par Fashion is a Feast, at least in its English translation. And it is still on view, dress listeners, at the Musee des art decoratifs until January 11th of 2026. And wow, what can we say? This is a massive exhibition. It takes up two floors of the museum. It features hundreds of incredibly rare and precious objects that really speak to not only the career and work of Poiret, but also his life. And he really, truly is one of the most important fashion designers in history.
- [05:08]
Cassidy Zachary
And as the exhibition title suggests, this exhibit is truly a feast for the senses and a real treat for Poire fans such as April and I, who have seen so many of these pieces immortalized in photographs and illustrations, but have never seen them in person. So just to see that many Poiret pieces in one space and to be able to commune with them, it was truly a special experience, really a once in a lifetime experience that I personally will not soon forget or recover from, perhaps. Exactly. I'm still recovering from it. And because this exhibition was so revelatory, it seemed like the perfect opportunity to revamp our 2018 Poiret episode and really update it with this new information that we've learned not just from this exhibition, but in the past seven years since that episode first aired. And this also gives us a chance to share with you dress listeners descriptions of all the wonderful objects we experienced in this exhibition.
- [06:02]
April Callahan
And as wonderful as this exhibition is, and you all have already heard me briefly mention this on the show before on our Paris Recap episode, Cass and I both had some thoughts about the show. Not exactly capturing the romance, the playfulness and the far reaching significance of this larger than life figure who transformed women's fashion in the early 20th century. Within the exhibition there are large swaths of his biography that are missing and to be fair, capturing the breadth and expansive reach of Pare's life. The scandals which sometimes swirled around him. Yeah, he was a character. All capitals. Right. This is no small order. So that's part of. One of the reasons why we wanted to do this episode is to really fill in some of those gaps that we saw in the exhibition. We with the knowledge of who he truly was. Right.
- [06:55]
Cassidy Zachary
Yes. He cannot really be contained in that exhibition, nor can he be contained in this episode. And it's a two part episode and I still could not get it all in. And it also, I should say, primarily focuses on Poirot's work in the Pre World War I era, which was a period when he was at the height of his influence, the height of his celebrity. And I must say that there is a wonderful exhibition catalog in both French and English that expands on a lot of the themes in the exhibition. All I'm not entirely sure when it's going to be published in the U.S. i bought my English copy from the Musee des Arts decorative gift shop, so you can do that there as well dress listeners, or you can wait till it's published in the US later this year. And so we are going to be citing this exhibition catalog as well as the exhibition across these two episodes, in addition to numerous other primary and secondary sources, including Pare's multiple memoirs and numerous articles written during and after his death, as well as the catalog that accompanied the 2007 Poiret exhibition, Poiret, the King of Fashion at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. And then we will also be referencing Palmer White's really incredible 1973 biography of Poiret. And I have to say, when I first wrote this episode many years ago, I did not have my hands on Palmer's book. And that is unfortunate because it is a wealth of primary source material and, and it was actually written with the full consent and help of Poiry's wife, Denise, who we'll discuss more in a bit. She gave Palmer access to Poiry's personal diaries and letters and so we are now able to quote from that in this episode.
- [08:34]
April Callahan
With all of that being said, you can view this two part podcast episode as a great companion piece to the exhibition if you've already seen it or you're gonna see it in the future. It was really cute, Cass. We got guided tours when we were at the exhibition and I think it was one of your guides was like, hey guys, I listened to your podcast to prepare to give you this tour.
- [08:57]
Cassidy Zachary
Thanks.
- [08:58]
April Callahan
Thanks guys. So basically in these next two episodes we are endeavoring to bring to life a man who truly lived his life to the max and in full color. He spared no expense in his pursuit of all things beautiful, perhaps even extravagant and gluttonous at certain points. From the most famous designer in the world in the Pre World War I era to dying in poverty and relatively obscurity in the next World War II, Poirier's life is as beautiful as it was tragic. He was truly a man who rose brilliantly and then crashed with equal flourish.
- [09:34]
Cassidy Zachary
So without further ado, this is the story of the rise and fall of the man, the myth, the magnificent Paul.
- [09:42]
April Callahan
Pourret Paul Pour was born in Paris on April 20, 1879, to parents Auguste and Louise. Pare lived with his parents and his three sisters above his family's thriving textile business, so fashion was in his blood in some shape or form. And he also tells us in his memoirs that despite having three sisters, his only friends in these impressionable young years were his dog, his cat, and the house servant Edmond, who made the young paire toys out of scraps of wood when he wasn't also collaborating with him, helping him get into mischief.
- [10:20]
Cassidy Zachary
Needless to say, Poirier was quite the curious child. He says that, quote, boredom was unknown to him and he kept himself entertained for days on end, especially in the gardens of his grandmother's country home that he would visit frequently with his family. And in one of the most endearing stories from his memoirs, Pari speaks about countless hours spent trying to extract scents and colorful ink from the myriad of flowers that surrounded his grandmother's home. And he kept these floral prizes in boxes, only to find days later, to his utter disappointment, that nothing was left of his beautiful scents but rot and mildew.
- [10:54]
April Callahan
Paris actually grew up in a bustling and exciting Belle Epoque, Paris, which was alive with architectural and technological innovations. We have the test drives of some of the first automobiles, the building of the Eiffel Tower and three world fairs. And all of this provided the backdrop for a childhood lived in intellectual and artistic pursuits. Pare was not the best student, which is also interesting. This comes up again and again, sometimes with these designers. He excelled at some subjects and basically failed at others. But his best education seems to have come from outside of school. He spent many a day admiring sculptures and paintings at the Louvre and other museums and galleries, where he was exposed to the rebellious and vibrantly colorful art of the anti establishment Fauve movements and the Nabis movement. Artists who were really pushing forward the boundaries of art. And art had such a profound effect on the impressionable Pare, as did theater. He spent many nights at theaters such as the Comedie Francais, where he watched plays starring the period's leading performers such as Regent and Sarah Bernhardt.
- [12:03]
Cassidy Zachary
And thus to a Poiret's great life passions, art and theater were cultivated from a very early age. But so too was his admiration of women's fashion. And Poiret wrote of his youth, quote, women and their toilettes drew me passionately. I went through catalogs and magazines burning for everything appertaining to fashion. I was very much a dandy, and if I sometimes forgot to wash, I never forgot to change my collar.
- [12:30]
April Callahan
At the age of 18, Paris dreams of attending university were actually crushed by his father, who apprenticed him somewhat against his will to a friend who was an umbrella manufacturer. And according to Poirier, this was an action intended to break his considerable pride. Needless to say, he and his father did not necessarily get along. The best were constantly butting heads. At this time, Poiret basically wanted to pursue his artistic pursuits and his father really wanted him to have more of a practical career. Poirot begrudgingly went to work for this umbrella manufacturer who he says took place pleasure in giving him the lowliest of tasks, like sweeping the floor and repairing holes and umbrellas. Pari actually wrote about this in his diary at the time. He said, quote, I've never been so bored and frustrated. I don't give a damn about anything anymore. I'm dying of boredom. My eyes are starved. Maybe a touch dramatic, which as we.
- [13:30]
Cassidy Zachary
Will learn, is a very Poiret. So it's actually thanks to Palmer White's book that we know that Poiret's love for the storied quote unquote Far east was also nurt around this time. So between umbrella deliveries, Poiret went time and time again to an exhibition that was on view of so called oriental rugs at a local department store. And he wrote in his diary at this time it was, quote, an orgy of colors, an outburst from the Orient, a fresh breeze from the countries of the sun. End quote. Poirot was constantly inspired by the world around him and it could not be contained, no matter how soul sucking the umbrella work was. And he actually collected scraps of umbrella silk whenever he could, and he took them home to experiment with creating dresses of his own in the miniature. And the first incarnations of Poiret's imaginative confections took shape on a 15 inch wooden doll given to him by his sisters. And I've always loved the imagery this evokes because you can just imagine this determination of a young man so entranced by fashion that he just has to create it, even if it is on this small scale.
- [14:35]
April Callahan
Yeah. And that's, I think that's a common theme with some of these quote unquote, creative geniuses across all genres. Right. Of arts and culture. They are so suited and obsessed with the thing that they love, they can't help but make it. Right.
- [14:51]
Cassidy Zachary
Yeah. You also see this with Yves Saint Laurent, who made paper dolls. Right. When he was young as well.
- [14:56]
April Callahan
Yeah. Yeah. Poiret also began to put his fashion designs to paper, not just on his miniature doll. And it was not long before he began to shop his designs around to the local fashion houses between umbrella deliveries and of course, behind his father's back and the haute couture. And Madame Charie was the very first to see this young designer's potential and to purchase his sketches, which she would then convert into her own creations.
- [15:24]
Cassidy Zachary
And.
- [15:24]
April Callahan
And Madame Charie's recognition was quickly followed by other prestigious fashion houses, including the House of Worth, Paquin, and finally that of Jacques Doucet, all of which were conveniently situated next to one another on Paris's Rue de la Paix. And this is a very famed fashion street. You have heard us mention it many times on the show. It was basically the epicenter of Paris haute couture at this time. And Doucet was so impressed by the young budding designer Pare that he offered him a full time position. And this was even secured with the approval of Pavre's father, who eventually conceded to his son's ambitions after meeting the formidable and charming Jacques Doucet.
- [16:06]
Cassidy Zachary
And I don't know about you, April, but I have always found it quite interesting that Doucet was not at all bothered by the fact that not only did Poiret have zero experience working in any fashion establishment, much a prestigious haute couture house. Poirot did not even know how to sew. Yeah, but this did not concern Doucet, who clearly recognized Poiret's potential, his raw talent. And then he threw him immediately into the mix, which Poirre says was like a dog into water. Not as an apprentice, not as a salesman, or even as an assistant designer. No. Doucet made Poiret head of his tailoring department.
- [16:49]
April Callahan
We have to sit with this for a second and really think about the significance of this, because we have to remember at this time, dress listeners, haute couture houses were more or less divided into two departments. We have the FLE department for draped garments, which include evening gowns, and also we have the taileurs for tailored articles of dress. So this was no small task for Poiret. He was essentially in charge of overseeing the design of, of capes, cloaks, two piece suits which were known as tailor mades or tailleurs, which were all produced by the house of Desee for their very high end clientele. And he has no tailoring experience.
- [17:32]
Cassidy Zachary
But.
- [17:32]
April Callahan
He did incredibly well, especially after one of his designs, a rather majestic hand painted black and white cape, was worn on stage to rave reviews by one of his childhood idols, the famed actress Rejan. Henceforth, his reputation was immediately established.
- [17:49]
Cassidy Zachary
Yes, and add to say, Poiret received valuable training in the fashion arts. He also found inspiration in Doucet the man. How Doucet lived his life. Poiret at this time was not even 20 years old. He was still quite impressionable. And he was infatuated with Jacques Doucet, who was 26 years his senior and whom Poiret described as the perfection of handsomeness and elegance. Doucet was always impeccably dressed and he was an important fashion designer as well as an esteemed art collector. His valuable art, furniture and book collection included, most famously Picasso's Les Demoiselles d', Avignon, which is now in the collection of the Museum of Modern Art in New York. And today, Jacques Doucet is actually remembered more for his art and book collections than he is as a fashion designer.
- [18:36]
April Callahan
And a fun fact, one of the major art history libraries in Paris actually has an entire division named after Jacques Doucet because of his book collection.
- [18:46]
Cassidy Zachary
Amazing.
- [18:47]
April Callahan
Anyway, so basically, Poiret set about creating himself in Doucet's image. He was his role model. He ordered custom made suits for himself. He enjoyed the finer things in life, dining, expensive restaurants, attending the theater, and the taking of a lover. Doucet emphasized to Pare that the latter was particularly important, and perhaps not for the reasons you might immediately think dress listeners, a beautiful woman could be a walking advertisement of Poe's designs for Doucet. Poiret's first of many lovers was actually a Doucet client who was a wealthy American actress who provided pairet with, quote, the fragrance of my youth and taught me English. This actress would also prove to be the beginning of the end of Poiret's time at Doucet, because Jacques Doucet discovered that Paris was allowing his lover to have the designs he created for her under the guise of Doucet actually made up at a much less expensive dressmaker. Little shady.
- [19:55]
Cassidy Zachary
That certainly did not ingratiate Poiret de Doucet. Nor did the complaints of one of Doucet's most important clients. Poiret's demise at Doucet was officially secured when he took liberties to attend, uninvited, mind you, the dress rehearsal of a play starring a very famous Doucet client, Sarah Bernhardt. And when Poiret and his friends were discovered at the back of her theater, they were unceremoniously kicked out. And Sarah herself notified Doucet personally of Boiret's embarrassing indiscretion. And his time at Doucet ended shortly thereafter. Although it must be said, Poiret and Doucet would very much remain friends. And actually, Doucet would later become a Poiret client. But that'll come to you in part two.
- [20:36]
April Callahan
Oh, I did not know that. Fun. Okay, so after leaving to say Parquet had to serve his compulsory military service for a year. He described himself as a, quote, poor soldier. And he spent most of his time concocting maladies to get out of duties. And after 10 months in service, he was released. And in 1901, he once again made the rounds at the fashion houses on the Rue de la Paix, seeking employment, this time landing a job at Doucet's neighbor down the street, a name that you will certainly all have heard of, the founding father of haute couture. And all about this will be revealed after a brief word from our sponsors. Cass, I think it's pretty safe to say that many of us at this moment are feeling stress due to not only our own personal lives, but also perhaps some global events. Personally, my sleep schedule has been all over the place.
- [21:38]
Cassidy Zachary
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- [22:07]
April Callahan
Well, it's no wonder then why the Calm app has over 2 million 5 star reviews. So join Cass and I in navigating the everyday as the best version of yourself. Calm your mind, change your life. Calm has an exclusive offer just for the listeners of our show. You can now get 40% off a Calm premium subscription at calm.com dressed. That's an amazing value.
- [22:34]
Cassidy Zachary
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- [22:48]
April Callahan
Cass. It's about to get chilly outside and that means it's just about time to start to get cozy. And with clothing layers from Quince, you can also do that sustainably.
- [22:59]
Cassidy Zachary
That's right, dress listeners. Quince uses top tier ethical factories and cuts out the middlemen so they deliver luxury quality products at half the price of similar brands.
- [23:09]
April Callahan
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- [23:29]
Cassidy Zachary
Yes. And dress listeners, you too can find your fall staples at Quint's. Go to quince.com dress for free shipping on your order and 365 day returns. Now available in Canada too. That's Q-U-I-N-C-E.com dress to get free shipping and 365 day returns. Quince.com dressed welcome back. So after Poirier's military service, he went to work at the House of Worth, which at this time was under the leadership of Charles Frederick Worth's sons, Jean Philippe and Gaston, their father having died in 1895. So whereas Gaston stuck to the more business side of things, Jean Philippe picked up where his father left off, designing those luxurious, extravagant evening gowns for which the house's name was synonymous. And he really had no interest in designing the more practical, less exciting everyday items of clothing also required by their clientele. And this is something his brother Gaston humorously referred to as fried potatoes. Enter one Paul Poiret, who was quite eager to, quote, become the potato fryer for this great house and took to absorbing and learning as much as possible.
- [24:45]
April Callahan
But for Poirot, designing, quote, unquote fried potatoes, no matter how high end those potatoes were, it didn't hold his interest for very long. So to keep his creative interest piqued, he began experimenting with incorporating non Western fashion silhouettes into his work. And in particular, he designed a style of coat cut along the straight lines of a Japanese kimono, but with Chinese inspired embroidered cuffs he liberally appropriated from the dress practices of two different Asian cultures. And the coat silhouette was nothing new, but its incorporation into European haute couture was.
- [25:24]
Cassidy Zachary
Whereas Charles Frederick Worth himself had incorporated Japanese motifs and even Northern African fabrics into his designs, he had never taken the silhouettes of those cultures literally. He always designed within the tailored corseted silhouette that remained popular throughout the latter half of the 19th century. And so Poiret's coat represented a radical departure for contemporary fashion. And the prestigious house of Worth and their distinguished clientele were not quite ready for it. And case in point is when a Russian princess was shown the kimono inspired cloak, she instantly proclaimed it a horror. And that was then that Poiret knew that his time at Worth was probably nearing its end. And after that, he left Worth to set up his very own haute couture house. And he took his budding Orientalist vision and his controversial coat with him.
- [26:15]
April Callahan
From the get go of this new venture, Parquet was determined to set himself apart, quite literally. And in 1903, thanks to a fairly sizable loan from his mother, he was actually able to open up his own couture house. And he did so somewhat away from the fashion epicenter of the Rue de la Paix. He set up shop at 5 Rue Aubert. And he writes, quote, it was here that I began to receive artists and to create around me a movement. End quote.
- [26:45]
Cassidy Zachary
And Poirier writes that success found him very quickly. He says, quote, in a month I was known, and all Paris had stopped at least once before the shop that was henceforth famous. End quote. And this fame is something he attributes to both his all star clientele, which included famous actresses such as his passe d' you say? Client, Ray Jean, but also his enticing whimsical window displays, which change seasonally to evoke everything from an autumnal forest of Fontainebleau to a winter fairyland.
- [27:12]
April Callahan
As for his early designs, Pachhre's controversial coat or cape was a cornerstone of his collections from the get go, known in his various incarnations as Reverend or Confucius. And how does the saying go? Cast one princess's horror is another's masterpiece?
- [27:30]
Cassidy Zachary
Exactly.
- [27:31]
April Callahan
Paris writes that, quote, every woman bought at least one, and this was the design that had horrified the Russian princess. He goes on to say, it was the beginning of the Oriental influence in fashion of which I made myself the apostle, end quote. And while this is certainly true, and we are going to talk more in detail about his specific brand of Orientalism, in a bit, in reality, the majority of Pare's earliest designs under his own name. So we're talking 1903, 1904. They are very much in keeping with mainstream fashion at that time, which still had this corseted waist and the wide floor length, tulip shaped skirts and also that S bend silhouette that really defined the early 1900s.
- [28:14]
Cassidy Zachary
And Poiret conveniently omits this fact from his memoirs. But that he designed in this silhouette is something confirmed not just by numerous fashion photographs of his work from around this time and other promotional materials, but also surviving garments, two of which are featured in this Musee des Arts Decoratives exhibition, both from 1906. And these two designs represent some of the earliest surviving examples of Koire's work. So it's really cool to see them in person. And the first is this blouse and skirt ensemble named evec. And the second is this pale gray blue linen dress named Gavarni, with a row of buttons running center front from the neck to the hem. And then there's these two buttons at either side of the bust. And the waistline on this blue linen dress has been moved to just below the bust, even though it's still in this corseted silhouette. And this is an homage to neoclassical styles of the early 19th century. An homage. It's slight, but it's there.
- [29:14]
April Callahan
You see the inklings.
- [29:15]
Cassidy Zachary
Yes, perhaps.
- [29:17]
April Callahan
And the Gabarni dress is particularly significant in that it represents an important transitional moment in Parhe's work. It's straddling the past, where he adhered to contemporary fashion's rules at that time, and also the near distant future, where he would completely shatter and redefine these rules. Poiret writes in his memoir, quote, it was the age of the corset. I waged war upon it, end quote. And in 1906, the year these ensembles that we were just discussing were both made, this is the year that this corset war began and Pare's design aesthetic would radically change, inspired into existence by a person that would make a seismic impact on not just the trajectory of Paris life and work, but modern women's fashion as we know it.
- [30:07]
Cassidy Zachary
In 1905, Poiret married a 19 year old young woman by the name of Denise Boulot, six years her senior. The couple had known each other since they were children, their parents having been friends and business associates. And then when they were reintroduced as young adults, Poirier was immediately drawn to this pretty, intelligent young woman from the country provinces. She would become his greatest model and muse. And on the eve of their marriage, Poiret wrote Denise a letter and he expressed his love and his undying devotion. And he says, I dream of marrying you because I see in you something more than a devoted companion. Of course, you are the lovely creature who constantly provides my imagination with assistance, who gives me encouragement and a vital purpose to work. So he was already at this time seeing her as a muse.
- [30:54]
April Callahan
And Poiret told Vogue in 1913, quote, unquote, my wife Denise was my inspiration for my dress theories. It was she who inspired me to preach and follow the creed of simplicity. She is the expression of all of my convictions. Slim, dark, uncorseted, untouched by paint or powder, untrammeled by high heels, pointed shoes or tight gloves. End quote. And she really was this all natural, effortless beauty and the antithesis of Hare's highly polished clientele. And Poirier would describe his future bride as, quote, extremely simple, but I had the designer's eye and I saw her hidden graces.
- [31:32]
Cassidy Zachary
It was after their marriage that Poiret says, we constantly went to antiquarians and to museums, and we worked ceaselessly to enrich the cultivation of our minds, to sharpen our sensibilities. Then we traveled to study, and all the museums of Europe were familiar to us. Italy captivated us at the contact of so much beauty. My conquest, and he's talking about Denise became more precious and transformed herself. She revealed herself to herself. She was to become one of the queens of Paris.
- [32:01]
April Callahan
And this is a fitting moniker, because if Paret was the king of fashion, Denise was absolutely its queen. And her significance to his work cannot be underscored enough. And she really only ever usually receives this side footnote in the narrative of his life. But we're going to expand upon her importance in part two of this episode. But suffice it to say that this exhibition and a huge amount of the Pacher pieces that reside in private and museum collections all around the world would not be there without her foresight, because she saved all of her clothes that her husband made for her across three decades. And she really was his primary model in Muse. And it was she who inspired her husband to dramatically alter his design aesthetic and ultimately rechart the course of women's fashion.
- [32:52]
Cassidy Zachary
Yes, she is so important. And more on that coming your way. So in 1906, the same year Poiret was moving his successful house to larger premises at 37 Rue Pasquier, Denise began to appear in public in Poiret's designs without a corset and without stockings.
- [33:13]
April Callahan
Shocking.
- [33:14]
Cassidy Zachary
So this is perhaps normal to us today, but it would have been unthinkable in 1906. And I actually think she wore these, took a child's christening, which, again, also shocking. And so she was quite shocking to those who she encountered. And the following year, in 1907, Poiret presented an entire collection of columnar corset free gowns, largely inspired by classical Greek and Roman ideals and dress. And whereas the then fashionable silhouette of the day, as we've already spoken to, revolved around this corseted waist, Poiret moved the waistline to just below the bust, effectively relocating the point of the dress's support from the wearer's waist to her shoulders. And this is a shift that changed the entire silhouette of women's fashion. So from that corseted hourglass silhouette to more columnar, think Bridgerton era, think a la Regency, right?
- [34:03]
April Callahan
As Poirot tells us, quote, while studying the sculptures of ancient times, I learned to use one point of support, the shoulders. Where before me it had been the waist. Fabrics flowed from this ideal point like water from a fountain and draped the body in a way that was entirely natural. End quote. Now, devoid of cumbersome petticoats and corsetry, these dresses fell from the model's shoulders, as Cass had just said, uninterrupted in these columnar lines to the floor. And this really is a drastic and striking contrast to that hourglass silhouette. And you have heard us say this again and again on the show. We're going to say it again. We cannot stress how revolutionary this was, that shift in support of a woman's dress to the shoulders when for centuries upon centuries it had been. The waist is one of the crowning hallmarks of modern fashion, to which all of our comfort largely remains indebted to today.
- [35:01]
Cassidy Zachary
Now, as I already mentioned, with the a la Bridgerton, a la Regency era reference, Poiret silhouette was not entirely new, just new to the 20th century. He was taking direct inspiration from the neoclassical styles of the early 19th century. So a century prior, where designs themselves had found inspiration in the draped and fluid styles of ancient Rome and Greece, hence the term neoclassical. Right. During the period 1795 to 1799 and into the 1810s, women had similarly discarded their heavenly constructed fashions in favor of high waisted flowing chemise gowns modeled on Grecian Roman dress.
- [35:41]
April Callahan
And Poiret was not necessarily the only designer finding inspiration in that neoclassical silhouette of years prior. He was actually one of a handful of visionary designers experimenting with corset optional neoclassical silhouettes. And collectively the work of designers including Poiret, but also Madeleine Vionnet, Jeanne Paquin and Lucille Lady Duff. Gordon really pushed fashion toward modernity with this clothing that promoted ease of movement, comfort and practicality over corseted distortions of the body.
- [36:13]
Cassidy Zachary
While not alone, Parry was by far the most radical of his contemporaries. And he says, quote, all my competitors would agree that I was the most daring of them all. He who risks his reputation by enormously extending the limits of the possible end quote. So it was really how he engaged with these historical styles that set him apart and made his designs fresh and innovative for this new century. Poirier's risk taking went beyond a more literal reference for past historical European styles. For instance, in this 1907 collection that we've been referencing, there are these bold and aggressive color combinations that would really become his signature throughout his career. He uses these royal purples, ruby reds, acid greens and yellows that stand in direct contrast to what was then the fashionable color palette, which was really pastels like pale purples. And then another example is his designs were made all the more bold and shocking by his incorporation of non quote, unquote Western silhouettes and aesthetics.
- [37:14]
April Callahan
As we have already established, Paul Fe was fascinated with this Far east or Orient, but he was by no means alone. Europeans had long romanticized, exoticized, and also eroticized cultures across the Asian, North African and Arab worlds, often conflating these cultures into a sort of fictional concept or a fantasy place known as the Orient. And we would call this cultural appropriation today. But this sort of language and these conversations around this did not exist at this time. So Pocket was basically liberally borrowing and combining these elements in his designs, often blending a variety of multicultural and historic influences to create fashions unlike anything that Euro American fashion had ever seen.
- [38:03]
Cassidy Zachary
And not one, not two, but a remarkable six pieces from this groundbreaking 1907 collection are featured in this exhibition, which is just unheard of. And looking at these pieces, it is clear that Poiry was Studying more than ancient sculpture for inspiration, he was clearly looking at historic garments and accessories. On view is this purple striped, long sleeved gown. It's entitled 1811, and it's almost identical in silhouette. Two gowns from that period. There's actually a very similar gown at the Reich Museum from the early 19th century. And then you also have his Josephine gown from the same collection, which has that empire waist. Right. It's named after Empress Josephine, wife of Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte. And this dress is cream silk. It has this gold net overlay and most charmingly possesses a pink rose at the center bust that would become a signature of Poirier's house. And we'll learn more about that in part two.
- [38:57]
April Callahan
Poirier's multicultural references are also reflected in three of these 1907 garments, with some reflecting more literal takes than others. For example, there is a brown embroidered silk velvet and applique coat that the exhibition catalog cites as quote, an exact copy down to the smallest detail of a traditional Indian coat worn by Muslim men in the Punjab, the Choga. End quote. So two of these other pour designs are less literal and include a vibrant red gown in the neoclassical silhouette, but with a fabric reminiscent of an Indian sari. And also a black waistless gown with sparkling silver overlay embroidered with Chinese inspired rondelles.
- [39:42]
Cassidy Zachary
And I don't know about you, April, but I was so overcome with emotion when I was confronted with these 1907 pieces. You see them right when you walk in almost immediately to the exhibition. I was not.
- [39:55]
April Callahan
I saw them at the opening of the exhibition, which was jam packed. And I was there with Antoine Boucher of Diktats, one of our favorite fashion historians in Paris. And we were just going around naming the dresses because we knew all the names of the dresses.
- [40:10]
Cassidy Zachary
Yeah, yeah. And this collection is aptly titled Manifesto, which I did not know before seeing this exhibition. And this is a fitting title for a collection that really put forth Poirier singular perspective and aesthetic as a designer, a vision on which he would only continue to expand on in the years that followed.
- [40:28]
April Callahan
In 1909, Pare once again relocated his couture house, this time to a majestic, late 18th century dilapidated mansion which would serve as both the home of his couture house and that of his growing family. And it was located at 107 Furbourg St Honore, near the Champs. And Paret spent a small fortune restoring the mansion to its prior grandeur. It was designed and decorated by the architect Louis Su, who carefully articulated spaces that were, in effect, Paris fashion aesthetic incarnate the walls, the carpets and the furnishing all blended French neoclassical design with Asian and Persian art traditions, with the designer's signature bold color palette. And it was here that Poiret's imaginings really took flight.
- [41:21]
Cassidy Zachary
Around 1909 was when Poiret first introduced turbines into his collections, which was a bold expression of his Orientalism inspired by Indian turbines he saw during a visit to the Victoria and Albert Museum in London. And in fact, Poirier was so intrigued by these turbines that he sent a member of his staff back to London and to the museum to study their construction up close so that he could create his own versions in a variety of colors, which he did. And this is striking because this is a time when women's hats were those large cartwheel like canvases. They had any number of bird feather and floral adornments. Right. And so Poirier is really producing these stripped down turbans that are anticipating the dramatically simplified headwear of the 1920s.
- [42:04]
April Callahan
So think Rose's hats in Titanic.
- [42:07]
Cassidy Zachary
Yes, yes.
- [42:09]
April Callahan
Cut to Par creating turbines, he really was ever the provocateur. And he continued to push the boundaries of fashion with designs that were just as controversial as they were famous. In 1910, Par introduced one of his most controversial designs, the hobble skirt, or as the New York Times reported, quote, the latest freak in women's fashion. That is actually the title of the article in the New York Times. And the hobble skirt was so called this because the hem of the skirt extended to the ground and had an opening for the feet that was so narrow that women were prevented from taking a full stride. And Paret was quite proud of this design. He wrote about it in his memoirs. He said, quote, I freed the bust, but I shackled the legs. Women complained of being no longer able to walk nor get in a carriage. End quote. And Cass, you know, I'm a huge fan of fashion satire throughout the decades and the centuries, and they had so much fun. The fashion satirist with this brief lived trend, but it was not nearly as controversial as the other trend. Pal raise started around this same time. He was instrumental in launching the jupe culotte, or pant skirt.
- [43:27]
Cassidy Zachary
He first produced it in his collections around January of 1911. And the jupe culotte is by far the most radical expression of Poiret's Orientalism, reflecting styles then worn in Algerian and Turkish Ottoman cultures. It's known alternatively as Turkish trousers or the harem skirt. And Poiret presented various versions of this bifurcated garment. You had wide legged Pants gathered at the ankle under a half length tunic. You had some that fell straight to the floor in a more tailored way resembling men's pants. And you also had versions that were draped between the legs with a very low crotch. So he went all in. He did it in a bunch of different versions.
- [44:06]
April Callahan
He also claims to have only ever intended the styles to be worn in the privacy of one's home. And he told the New York Times, quote, the idea of this new skirt is not to popularize trousers for women, but to add a little touch of orientalism to their dress. End quote. So regardless of what his intentions were, this garment was incredibly controversial. It made headlines in both Europe and America, where designers and the public alike debated the pros and cons of women's latest fashions for what at that time was interpreted as being pants or trousers, which were exclusively a male garment. To our eyes. Today, though, some of those do very much read as skirts.
- [44:49]
Cassidy Zachary
Yes, yes. Hence the name Jupe culotte pant skirt. And needless to say, the Jupe culottes was a very short lived fashion statement. They were very controversial, but they were worn by some of Poiry's boldest clientele and that includes his, his ever fashion forward wife. To our great delight, there are two versions of the Jupe culotte featured in the Musee des Arts Decorative exhibition. One of which is this bright red silk velvet backless culotte dress that I must say, April, I have seen many times in photographs. I never realized that one, it was from 1911, which is very early. I always thought it was 1920s, and two, I never even realized that it was a bifurcated garment. Speaking to your point, you can't really tell that it's pants and it's paired with this fur collared, embroidered and fringed manila shawl. And it was apparently worn by niece to a party. And something that's so great about seeing these pieces in person is that you really can admire how simply they are constructed. And I'm not saying this actually to downplay the construction techniques that Poiret used in any way, because Poiret's approach to garment construction is actually one of his greatest contributions to Euro American fashion. In addition to representing a complete break from mainstream fashion styles, mainstream fashion colors, Perret's work also shattered centuries of Euro American dressmaking conventions that had traditionally relied on tailoring and complex pattern making to create a garment. Conversely, Poiret draped directly on the body to produce dramatically simplified lines inspired by both classical antiquity as well as construction techniques found in a variety of non European cultures including Japanese, Chinese, Indian and Turkish.
- [46:26]
April Callahan
Turkish forms of dress by 1910 was producing the furrow or sheath gown made from a single length of fabric telling Vogue in 1913. I like a plain gown cut from a light and supple fabric which falls from the shoulders to the feet in long straight folds like dense liquid, just touching the outline of the figure and throwing shadow and light over the moving form. End quote. And one particularly striking sheath like evening gown from 1910 is featured in the exhibition and it's called La Valliere and it is an homage to Yves La Valliere, the famous actress of the period and favored Poiret client. Looking at this dress it is easy to see how Paris earned the moniker quote the profit of simplicity. Even though if you look at it a little bit closer, it reveals itself to be anything but but simple. The garment is made of cream silk and accented with purple at the lapels cut in a T shape from one large rectangle of cloth. The placement of a wide sash like belt draped at the hips portions the otherwise straight dress into a blousoni top. And it also has this columnar skirt.
- [47:39]
Cassidy Zachary
In the exhibition catalog the dress is shown modeled by its owner and the best model for Poiret's avant garde designs. And of course I'm talking about Denise who wore it to a performance at the Palais Garnier opera house. This photograph is incredibly helpful because it reveals how Denise styled it and she did so very simply. She's wearing a matching turban, she has this very dainty choker necklace and silk satin shoes which are revealed thanks to the fact that the hem of the dress skirted her ankles. And Denise is so incredibly striking in her modernity and she is way more at home in the 1920s than she is in 1910 where she wore this at the Opera house where everyone else would have been wearing typical evening gowns at this period which were fitted and fussy by comparison. They would have had wide ground sleeping skirts. They would have been adorned with any combination of pearls, sequins and beads. And it's really fun to imagine how people would have stopped and turned to look at her when she arrived at the Opera house corset list bearing her ankles. How other women would have longed to have been her. She is quite the breath of fresh air.
- [48:47]
April Callahan
Yeah. And for those of you who have already been on or will go on in the future, one of our Paris fashion history tours, we go to the Palais Garnier and really that entrance way was designed specifically for this to see and be seen. So just imagine if you've already been to the Palais Garnier, walking up those steps. Really amazing. Okay. Speaking again to the simplicity of garments construction, many of Poiret's designs are essentially composed of rectangles of fabric simply sewn together. And these were often inspired by the Japanese kimono, the Greek kaichan, more than any other traditional dressmaking techniques that were European. Those, of course, relied on multiple pattern pieces to mold and fit and tailor the garment to the wearer. And Harold Koda, curator of the 2007 PKE exhibit at the Minute Met, said that Paris approach to construction, while simple, represented, quote, a revolution in dressmaking. It was a strategy that dethroned the primacy and destabilized the paradigm of Western fashion. End quote. And the irony, of course, being that he was using non Western construction techniques to do this.
- [50:02]
Cassidy Zachary
Exactly. And this leads us to addressing something that is very important to acknowledge when discussing Poiret's work, work within the context of these quote, unquote, birth of modern fashion in Europe and America in this pre World War I era. This sort of freedom in dress might have been groundbreaking to Euro American women, but these values existed in numerous cultures for centuries prior to being used by Poiret. It's very important to make that distinction, especially considering that Eurocentrism continues to dominate fashion history narratives and institutions to this day, where the clothing from Japanese, Chinese and Indian cultures, to name a few of the many cultures Pari took inspiration from. All of these types of dress are labeled as, quote, ethnographic art versus fashion. And thus they don't get the same attention and care as they deserve as these vibrant living fashion cultures in their.
- [50:52]
April Callahan
Own right and also within museum collections oftentimes are siloed within those cultures departments, not within the fashion collections itself. Not always, but often enough to remark on it. Yes, it's also important to put Par's work in context of the period in which he lived. This was an era ripe with various European colonialist and imperialistic pursuits that made it possible for Pare and his clients to literally play dress up in other people's cultural heritages. And as scholar Minha Tifam points out in her essay Sake Paul Palais, Magical Techno, Oriental Race, Clothing and Virtuality in the Machine Age. She says, quote, during this period in which labor and natural resources were being plundered to aid France's colonial expansion, Oriental designs were also viewed as valuable raw resources that could be mined and reprocessed for the benefit of French creativity and innovation. End quote.
- [51:55]
Cassidy Zachary
So in this way, Poirot's designs, while quote, adding a touch of Orientalism, as he claims to do time and time again, can be viewed, as Pham points out, as, quote, simultaneously liberating and fetishistic. On the one hand, his designs enabled and enacted proto feminist bodies and mobilities, thereby liberating European white women from crinolines and corsets. And on the other, the same technology of white feminist liberation was premised on a racially sexualized stereotyping of the Oriental. And quote, quote, now do I believe Poiret believed he had a genuine reverence for these cultures? Absolutely. He collected and idolized the art. He's quoted time and time again sharing his reverence, such as when he told the New York Times, quote, the art of dress comes out of the East. It is in the east that all artistic revolutions are born. End quote. But today, this is going to read to us as being filtered through an uncritical lens, right? That hybridized various cultural, artistic and fashion practices into to a fictive, exoticized and often eroticized east or Orient, quote, unquote. So it would be really irresponsible for us not to acknowledge this and contextualize this properly, especially since so many scholars are doing such important work on this topic. And if you want to take a deeper dive into this topic, I'll put a link in our show Notes to two different interviews, one with the Fashion and Race Database founder Kimberly Jenkins, and the other with Vicki Pass, which is called Fashioning White Femininity. So if you want to learn more, look for those links there. More parade complexities and controversies coming your way. Dress listeners, after a brief sponsor break.
- [53:38]
April Callahan
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Cassidy Zachary
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April Callahan
Me too.
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Cassidy Zachary
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April Callahan
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- [55:38]
April Callahan
Welcome back dress listeners. It is important to note here that Pare was as popular as he was controversial, and the nature of his designs meant that his name was all over the press for every article singing Paris praises as the quote, high Priest of the Beautiful or the quote, prophet of Simplicity. There were also other articles railing against the eccentricities of his designs, and Pore's past employer, Jean Philippe Worth, was one of the biggest critics of Poirier's designs, calling them everything from hideous and barbaric to, quote, vulgar, ugly and wicked. It's really the wicked part here that gets me, for good or bad. However, the controversial nature of Hare's work meant that it was constantly being talked about in the press, meaning his name and his designs were being broadcast around the world. And while the more fashion forward adopted his avant garde designs, his contemporary designers, including Jean Philippe, adapted them in a way that made them more palatable to a wider population. And this really exerted Poirier's influence across Europe and America, where he had also become a veritable celebrity, whether that be infamous or famous, notorious or otherwise.
- [56:55]
Cassidy Zachary
Yeah, and we're going to talk about that more in Part two. But this negative press did not actually bother Poiret, and if there was one thing he understood and understood well, incredibly well, and used to his advantage, it was publicity. And he once told Fantasio magazine that, quote, I never believed in the advantages of publicity. If I received a great deal, it was offered to me for nothing, as I was never a man to pay for being talked about, end quote. In reality, Poire did in fact pay for publicity. He just ingeniously disguised it in one way or another. And in the same interview, he reveals that, quote, instead of putting out vast sums for publicity, as did all the other businessmen of my day, I prefer to give a great celebration. It was not enough to be lavish. It was necessary to be unique. End quote. And Poiret spared no expense in his grand fetes, which in turn received considerable coverage in the press.
- [57:51]
April Callahan
One thing that is really important to understand about Paris is that he loved to have fun. And these parties were partially a launching pad for some of his more avant garde designs. Partially a fun excuse to escape into his fantasy lens of his imagination, which he poured into his work. So for one of his very first parties, each guest was given a role in the mourning ceremony of the Sun King, Louis XIV and dressed accordingly. Poiret, of course, played the royal tailor, which is a bit of irony given his role at Doucet. Right. And at another party, the Fete de Bacchus, a giant celebration thrown by Pa in 1912, there were 300 costumed gods, goddesses and nymphs that danced until the morning and a forest transformed into Olympia for the occasion. And the revelries included performances by the celebrated dancer and Poiret friend and cast. I'm going to drop some hot goss here. Rumored lover, Isadora Duncan.
- [58:52]
Cassidy Zachary
Yes. More on Poiret's personal life coming your way in part two. And I just want to say again, what a treat to find both Poiret and Denise's costumes from this party at the Musee des Arts Decoratif exhibition. Poirier and Denise welcomed their guests dressed as the Greek gods of wine and reverie, Bacchus and Bacchante. And there's actually wonderful photographs, so we do know what they looked like as well. And Poiret had this incredible gold coiled wig and body bearing white draped tunic which is on view in the exhibition, as well as Denise's tunic, which the exhibition text reveals to have been cut from a Fortuny Gnosis shawl printed with Cretan inspired motif. And while the exhibition credits the shawl to Mariano Fortuny, we all know dress listeners from our previous episode this season, that this shawl was something Fortuny created with his partner in life and work, his wife, Henriette NA Green. And I actually find Denise and Henriette to be kindred spirits. April, in more ways than one. They are both modern women of the artistic avant garde whose own contributions to modern fashion has been overshadowed by their much more famous husbands. And both of these women are incredibly important to the history of fashion. So I was really pleased to see this connection here. And it is definitely ripe for more investigation, like how do these women know each other, if they knew each other at all?
- [60:13]
April Callahan
And what we must say, as far as I know, Denise was never a designer. She was more of style icon, Right?
- [60:20]
Cassidy Zachary
Yes. But without her, his designs arguably would not exist. Right, yeah.
- [60:25]
April Callahan
So this Fette de Bacchus party was undeniably spectacular. But it was one party in particular's thousand and second night party that would really prove to be his most grandiose spectacle. And it is of course based on the collection of Arab language folk tales known as the Thousand and One Nights. This might be more familiar to most of us as the Tales of the Arabian Nights. He changed the title from 1001 Nights to a Thousand Second Night. And this party would go down in history as one of the greatest parties ever thrown in 20th century Paris.
- [61:02]
Cassidy Zachary
Then it is here where we will be concluding today's episode, which you might have noticed dressed listeners is a little tad longer than normal.
- [61:10]
April Callahan
We told you we had lots to say.
- [61:12]
Cassidy Zachary
Yeah. And to save from making Poiret's episode a three parter, four parter, honestly, his life could be its own series. So we're concluding with this really incredible party with where 300 costume guests attended this party which forced the five senses to full attention with a phantasmagoria of intoxicating splendor and spectacle. Poiret himself reigned as the self described swarthy white bearded sultan. He was dressed in a jewel encrusted silk turban, a gray silk caftan edged in skunk fur, and he wore ruby velvet slippers on his feet. As the aesthetic of this party was strictly enforced, costume was of utmost priority and Poiret even had costumes on hand. Should you as a guest not meet his expectations for his Persian paradise, he would essentially redress you.
- [61:59]
April Callahan
Upon arrival, guests encountered Denise as the, quote, queen of the harem, encased in a giant golden cage, surrounded by her ladies in waiting. And Denise's costume, which consisted of a plumed velvet turban and a sheer wide hoop skirt over these voluminous jup culottes, as we have already referenced, is actually immortalized in numerous photographs and illustrations. And in fact, her turban still survives at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, or lacma, as do many other costumes from the party, which are in the collections of the Kyoto Costume Institute in Japan and also the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City. And one of These costumes is actually on display at the Musee des Arts Decoratives.
- [62:42]
Cassidy Zachary
And for this party, each room of Poirier's fashion house was decorated more elaborately than the next. For instance, the great tragedian De Max told stories from 1001 nights in one room bedecked in $3 million worth of borrowed jewels. But it was really in the garden that the real magic unfolded and a theater spectacle that Poirier describes as, quote, a confused mass of silk stools and igraph that sparkled iridescently like stained glass in the moonlight. End quote. The garden was transformed into an exotic paradise, complete with a Persian bazaar, a pythoness, fortune teller, even a butcher, and a potter. Leaping water fountains were lit from below in a rainbow of colors. The grass shown with pillows and carpets provided for lounging guests. The air was scented with incense and myrrh, and peacocks and pink flamingos roamed freely on the ground. There was even a hidden orchestra that serenaded the crowd, while mimes and ballet dancers entertained them.
- [63:40]
April Callahan
The party was really the epitome of the unbridled indulgence and luxury that defined this Pre World War I era, as perfectly described by Parquet's contemporary, the British fashion designer Lucille Lady Duff Gordon, who said of it that it was, quote, a Paris of lavish entertainments, of magnificent, of salons which rivaled the past, a Paris where music and wit and conversation flourished. It was a Paris of great wealth and of almost unprecedented extravagance.
- [64:10]
Cassidy Zachary
This party also clearly reflects something that might be on the minds of some of you, which is the influence of the Russian ballet troupe the Ballets Russes, which took Paris by storm beginning in 1909, and whose Orientalist productions were particularly significant to the trajectory of Poiret's work.
- [64:26]
April Callahan
Work.
- [64:26]
Cassidy Zachary
The ballet's creator, Sergei Dieglehev, essentially reimagined ballet within the framework of an extravagant production in which innovative choreography combined with exciting music, set and costume designs create a visual symphony unlike anything Parisian audiences had ever seen. And Sergei infused the ballet with distinctly Russian elements, but also those associated with a romanticized, exotic east or Orient, as we've discussed many times at this point, and this is highlighted in his productions such as Cleopatra and Scheherazade.
- [64:57]
April Callahan
These productions, notably the fantastic sets and costumes by Leon Basque, enraptured Parisian audiences and permeated the Zeitgeist of the era, influencing all aspects of culture, not the least of which was women's fashion. In one of his memoirs, the Glass of Fashion, Cecil Beaton remembered the seismic impact of the ballet. Russell quote, A fashion world that had been dominated by corsets, lace, feathers and pastel shades soon found itself in a city that overnight had become a seraglio of vivid colors, harem skirts, beads, fringes and voluptuousness. What could be more stark than a revolution that overnight guillotined prettiness and set exoticism upon the throne? Go, Cecil.
- [65:44]
Cassidy Zachary
He is quite the one for words. And of course, who reigned over this revolution but the king of fashion himself. Himself, Poiret. And as the most visible purveyor of the Orientalist trend, Poirier and Basque's work was often compared to one another's at the time. But Poirier always vehemently denies ever being directly influenced, although he did acknowledge, quote, I would not be surprised if it had a certain influence on me, end quote. But for most of us today, the influence appears undeniable.
- [66:12]
April Callahan
And while the Ballet Russe production certainly did not not spark unique brand of Orientalism, it absolutely set it on fire. And this was an Orientalist aesthetic that was propagated by Pae, not just in his fashion designs, but, as we have also established, his costume designs, which were not limited to his extravagant parties. He also designed costumes for some of the era's leading theater productions. But the lines between his costume designs and his fashion designs frequently got blurred. For instance, Poiret created a stage costume for Jacques Rich Ben's play le Menarette in 1913 that was a combination of a tunic and his now infamous jupe culotte, or harem pants. But in this particular version, the skirt of the tunic was shaped like a lampshade and used wire at the bottom to flare the fabric away from the.
- [67:04]
Cassidy Zachary
Body like a literal lampshade. It looks like a lampshade. Now, this silhouette was nothing new, and in fact, a similar version had been worn by Denise for the Thousand and Second Night Party, as we just discussed. But what made this particular La Minarette version significant was that Poiret boldly adapted it for inclusion in subsequent fashion collections. And the most famous incarnation of this dress is the silk satin sorbet gown that you've heard me speak about many, many times. And the popularity of this design is evidenced by the fact that three versions of the sorbet gown survived. And needless to say, the lampshade silhouette was a huge hit, and not just with Paris clientele. It was not long before other designers incorporated it into their collections, inspired to their own imaginative feats of design and playing with seemingly endless variations where any hip shape and color combination was possible. This is a really fun period in fashion history. This sort of collective playfulness in design produced two of fashion's greatest experimentative years in fashion. In my opinion, 1913 and 1914 are truly wild.
- [68:12]
April Callahan
And these are the years just before World War I, which was certainly exciting time in fashion and one over which Pare held immense influence and dress listeners. We have barely touched the surface, even.
- [68:26]
Cassidy Zachary
If it doesn't feel like it more.
- [68:27]
April Callahan
Than an hour later. We have barely scratched the surface of Pare's many innovations during this period. And so today we have focused on introducing you to Paris and his groundbreaking avant garde aesthetic. And in our next episode we're going to explore the ways in which he ingeniously expanded his influence beyond fashion and really redefine the role of the fashion designer and laid the blueprint for today's modern fashion industry in the process. So that does it for us today. Until next time, may you consider your fashion blueprint print next time you get.
- [69:01]
Cassidy Zachary
Dressed and dress Listeners, we are super, super excited to announce our truly special, ultra exclusive day tours of New York City are up and running. You can join us December 3rd through 5th and step back in time and into the beating heart of American fashion and costume history. We are going to be visiting museum fashion exhibitions. We're going to be going behind the scenes of world class fashion collections, meeting museum curators, past dress guests and expert costume designers. This is a new addition to the tour and this edition of our New York offerings takes us to for the very first time, the Metropolitan Opera, who is opening their doors to us and created a very special experience just for us where we tour their current costume exhibition as well as go behind the scenes into their costume workshops. So please consider consider joining us for this one of a kind special experience created exclusively for Dressed and if you'd.
- [69:57]
April Callahan
Like to learn more about each day's itineraries. So there's three unique days you can join for one, two or all three days. You can head over to dressedhistory.com also as a reminder, you still have a few days left to sign up for Cassidy's what Women Wore to the Revolution class, which is starting this Sunday, October 19th, and also my weekly fashion history tours of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City. Please head to restpodcast on Instagram or Rest Podcast without the underscore on Facebook to check out the visual content associated with each week's episodes.
- [70:36]
Cassidy Zachary
And remember, we always love hearing from you, so if you'd like to write to us, you can do so@hellorusthistory.com. dressedhistory.com is also our website where you can sign up for our monthly newsletter, our in person tours and online fashion history courses. And you can check out whatever else we have up our finely tailored sleeves.
- [70:54]
April Callahan
We get so many questions from you all about our recommendations for fashion history books, so if you are interested you can always find a link in our show Notes to our Bookshop Bookshelf. So that address is bookshop.org and there you can find over 150 of our favorite fashion history titles.
- [71:15]
Cassidy Zachary
And do you love Dressed but want to skip the ads? You can now sign up for Ad free listening with any tier on our Dressed History Patreon.
- [71:23]
April Callahan
We are also excited to now be part of the Airwave Network and their premium ad free history subscription Airwave History plus available on Apple Podcasts. The subscription brings dress and also 27 other popular history podcasts ad free for just $5.99 per month. More information on Patreon and Airwave is available at the link in our bio.
- [71:46]
Cassidy Zachary
Thank you as always for tuning in and more Dressed coming your way very soon. The History of Fashion is a production of Dressed Media.
- [71:58]
April Callahan
Arc Raiders, a multiplayer extraction adventure video game set in a lethal yet vibrant future of As a raider scavenging the remnants of a derelict world, you settle into an underground settlement hoping to thrive. You jump on the chance to start over. But doing so means you must return to the surface where Ark machines roam and survivors motives remain dangerously unclear. But if you're brave enough, who knows what you might find. Play the Server Slam open test from 10-17-19 on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X and S and PC Limu and Doug.
- [72:31]
Cassidy Zachary
Here we have the Limu Emu in its natural habitat, helping people customize their car insurance and save hundreds with Liberty Mutual.
- [72:41]
April Callahan
Fascinating. It's accompanied by his natural ally, Doug. Limu is that guy with the binoculars watching us.
- [72:49]
Cassidy Zachary
Cut the camera. They see us. Only pay for what you need@liberty mutual.com Liberty Liberty Liberty Liberty Savings Very unwritten by Liberty Mutual Insurance Company and affiliates. Excludes Massachusetts.