Dress

Paul Poiret

ca. 1925 · silk, leather · Costume Institute

The influence of Sergei Diaghilev's Ballets Russes and specifically of Léon Bakst, its renowned costume and production designer, on the work of Poiret was elided and, on occasion, dismissed categorically by the couturier. However, the exuberant imagery of Diaghilev's theatrical productions was in perfect concordance with Poiret's love of vivid colors, dramatic effects, and fantastic exoticism. This short evening dress with a zigzag pattern appears to conflate Near and Middle Eastern costume in its details but cites with astonishing closeness a costume designed by Bakst for Nijinsky. A sketch for Nijinsky's role as the Hindu prince in Diaghilev's Le festin (1909) shows a fitted tunic with cap sleeves worn over tight trousers. Poiret's design with a gold- lamé plastron-shaped insert at center front, which disrupts an angled decorative waistband, is a direct reference to Bakst's drawing. The designer, however, has modified Bakst's costume in other details. The sleeves in the original costume are excised, and the whole garment is elongated to calf length. Poiret has relaxed the line of Bakst's tunic and introduced a body-skimming ease. By pleating fullness along the bottom edge of the insert, he created movement in the skirt. Poiret underscored his evocation of royal India through his selection of a richly rainbow-patterned lamé that recalls the gold-shot silks of maharajahs.

Artist

Paul Poiret

Date

ca. 1925

Medium

silk, leather

Culture

French

Department

Costume Institute

Credit line

Gift of Mrs. Kenneth Maconochie, 1951