#HarpersBazaar, January 1, 1915: "The impression prevails that the dressmaking establishments in Paris have entirely suspended work. This is not the case. Although many of the famous couturiers have gone to the front, some creators of fashion still remain in the workrooms, behind closed doors. The selling force in many places has been lessened, as there is practically no effort benign made to sell gowns to Parisiennes, but the creations continue to find their way to North and South America. The designs on these pages, for example, were produced in the establishment of #PaulPoiret and other couturiers have sent designs [from the war front] so that there will be no interruption in the supply of fashions direct from Paris." Poiret's designs, illustrated here by #Erté, stand in start contrast for the prevailing trend for a shortened, flared skirt. #1915fashion #1910sfashion #fashionatwar #atwarwithfashion #fashionhistory #fashion #fashionillustration
British couturier Lucile Lady Duff Gordon joined the panoply of voices that predicted the end of French dominance in Fashion at the outbreak of WWI, declaring the war as the perfect opportunity for American designers to come into their own, as she had. So confident was Lucile, that she publicly rejected the crinoline silhouette presented unanimously in the Fall 1914 French haute couture collections, declaring in her monthly #HarpersBazaar column, featured here, that the flared, short skirt was "an outrage on the female form divine." Lucile instead encouraged women to maintain the narrow skirt as seen here in her designs featured in the November 1914 issue of Harper's Bazaar. #1914fashion #1910sfashion #fashion #fashionphotography #fashionhistory #theartofdress #atwarwithfashion
It is hard to imagine a time when New York City was not a world fashion capital and yet prior to WWII, the city's designers largely lived under the auspices of Paris--the acknowledged "dictator" of fashion. Many saw the outbreak of WWI as an opportunity for American fashion designers to finally come into their own: Vogue, November 1914: "With Paris sorely stricken, and all possible European successors in like plight, New York has thrust upon it the unique honor of designing fashions, and so, in the manner of Paris, will hold its first great opening." Vogue's much lauded #FashionFête, a fundraiser for the French Red Cross, infuriated French fashions designers who had long found an ally in the American fashion magazine and unwavering support by American women--some of their most important clientele. So powerful was the influence of these designers, that Vogue held a second Fashion Fête the following year, this time featuring exclusively French, not American, designs. Featured here, #GertrudeVanderbiltWhitney, a fashion tastemaker in her own right and a judge for Vogue's first Fashion Fête. Brushing up on my WWI research before heading to NYC tomorrow for the panel Fashion, Anxiety, Society: Gender @bardgradcenter in conjunction with their exhibition French Fashion, Women and the First World War. #fashionhistory #atwarwithfashion #fashionatwar #1910sfashion #1914fashion
Please join us for a live recording of @dressed_podcast this Thursday @bardgradcenter where we will be in conversation with @katestrasdin and and Dr. Margaret Darrow as part of the center’s Fashion, Anxiety and Society series where we will be discussing the role of gender, fashion and the First World War. The talk is in conjunction with the Bard Graduate Center Gallery’s fall exhibition French Fashion, Women, and the First World War curated by @filatures and on view now until January 5th, 2020! You can get tickets at www.bgc.bard.edu/events. Hope to see you there!
IMAGE: “La Marseillaise” illustration by Étienne Drian for a special 1915 edition of #Gazettedubonton issued during World War One, in the collection of @fitspecialcollections.
#theartofdress #fashionandtheartofpochoir #atwarwithfashion #fashionhistory #drian #etiennedrian #1915fashion
