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Elegant Visions

Photo Talbot1913/1913

The State Tretyakov Gallery

The State Tretyakov Gallery
Moscow, Russia

Elegant Visions
A great writer once said that fashion does not always depend on whims. More often than not it presents the dictates of the time, in which it emerges. Feverish, delicate, and easily yielding, our epoch is distinctly manifested in various characters of our contemporary dresses. While some of them reflect renewed harmonious pleats, whose pure art has been given to us by the Tanagra figurines, others create volume in straight skirts that are elegantly ruffled at the bottom, a la Lancret. Although some take us back to half-nudity dating from Directoire, most of them remain faithful to the playful girlish nature of Claudine at School by Sidonie-Gabrielle Colette.
Only quite recently female fashion has been inspired by the dazzling magic of Russian ballets with their beautiful rampancy of manners and colors. It is to them that we owe the original and artistic impressions of Bakst’s designs. We were especially affected by the amazing Scheherazade. Not only have Parisian ladies borrowed its fabrics and colors, but they have also given up on their snow-white skin for the brownish passionate paleness of Sultan Shahriar’s wives. They will eagerly give up, if they haven’t already done so, on their golden hair color for the sake of blue-black Persian hairdos. The poignant colors of Paul Albert Besnard’s paintings have come at an opportune moment, to reinforce the sudden passion for tawny idols enwrapped in exotic aromas and shimmering fabrics that had been praised in Baudelaire’s verses. In this Asian influence you should also be looking for the attire that has been embraced by a certain category of modern women. They emphasize the protruding belly instead of hiding it, the way they did yesterday, and with their figures barely wrapped in soft leotards they walk swinging their hips a la Oriental temple dancers.
Illustrations
(Left) The dress is made of the charming combination of silk veil decorated with pearls, with a monotone capote. The blouse is divided into two models — the upper one, from the shoulders to the wrists, and the lower one, where the broad belt forms a large knot at the back. A Parry model.
(Right) The fabulous ivory Charmeuse silk satin dress with delightfully ruffled cuffs that turn into a long train with a triangular ending at the front. The laced Damascus silk bodice of the same hue is decorated with fox fur. A Doucet model.

Details

  • Title: Elegant Visions
  • Creator: Photo Talbot
  • Date Created: 1913/1913
  • Physical Dimensions: cuffs, bodice
  • Provenance: Photo Talbot
  • Type: newspaper
  • Medium: silk veil decorated with pearls, monotone capote, ivory Charmeuse silk, laced Damascus silk, fox fur.

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