5ehex: Österreichische Postsparkasse (1882), Otto WagnerThe Vienna Secession 

Morsel in the form of Poiret

Simon Callow as Paul Poiret... maybe sometimeI’ve just reblogged a few Poiret-tagged images - an action about which I feel, frankly, quite ambivalent.  

OK right so doubtless, his clothes are some of the most beautiful ever produced in the modern history of fashion. They are cross-disciplinarily interesting and important for a whole host of reasons - primarily, I think many would agree, for their sympathy to the female body both aesthetically and mechanically.  Obviously I’ve never put one of those things on but it looks like it would look good, and it looks like it would feel good. When you look at Poiret dresses, you realize how utterly irrelevant most highbrow modern fashion is. These clothes would look nice on basically anyone.  Wow wait you’re right fall 2012 Alexander Wang - I would look great in a below knee front slit oxblood leather skirt. Ha! Ha! You can keep your anorexic BMI, I want Paul Poiret back. Empire waists! Forgiving sleeves! Plunging decolletage! From a man who did not hate women… (If you’ve got a fat decolletage, there might be a problem…). Best of all, ankle lengths for the um tendonically gifted members of society. 

I didn’t want to post about highbrow fashion because, no matter what anyone says, I can’t think of a time when it’s been in any way democratic. But Poiret probably did good stuff for us. Bye bye corsets, hello trousers. Thanks Paul.  I do not believe in progress in fashion, just as I do not believe in human progress. I do, on the other hand, believe in a series of pitched battles fought over the freedom of the bodies of women and girls, and I think it’s clear that in his extremely small, expensive and snobby corner of the world, Poiret did his part to hold the side up.  It’s probably safe to assume that his aesthetic innovations helped contribute to the translation of female comfort into something approaching a right - one not vaunted so often these days, but at least it’s on the table.

P.S. nothing intrinsically wrong with corsets these days. Girlcrush post on Valerie Steele to come eventually.

P.P.S. THIS IS NOT GOING TO BE A FASHION BLOG! 

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yeoldefashion: The most famous fancy dress party of the 1910s was held in Paris by the legendary designer Paul Poiret of the night June 24, 1911. Called “The Thousand and Second Night” and themed on One Thousand and One Nights, costumes were not only encouraged, but required. If guest arrived un-costumed, or Poiret determined their costumes did not fully support the party’s theme, they could choose to don a costume designed by Poiret or were asked to leave. Most of the women’s costumes Poiret designed for the event, including the one pictured, featured scandalous harem pants, something that would influence mainstream fashion to introduce the hobble skirt soon afterward.

acadiaego:

What goes around comes around. First dress from Madame Gres c. early 80’s and the second dress is by Paul Poiret c. 1912. 

fashionhistory101: Poiret “Sorbet dress,” “Lampshade Tunic,” or “Minaret” dress, 1913
maudelynn:  Model Dinarzade in a dress by Poiret, by Edward Steichen, c.1924. Courtesy Condé Nast Archive, New York © Condé Nast Publications
pinkagony: Paul PoiretThe Mandarin Coat 1923 Black wool twill with chain-stitch embroidery. Lining of black crepe de Chine Kyoto Costume Institute