The Introduction of Harem Pants in Western Fashion by Paul Poiret (Theme: Time)

Art Nouveau  

Art Nouveau

Art Nouveau (New Art) is a decorative style in art found in architecture, art and decorative art,  which started in the 1880's until the 1910's. This style is inspired from  organic motif such as flowers, leaves and nature in general by using curved and flowing lines.It originated in Belgium and France.Art Nouveau can be found even in graphic design, interior design, fashion and textiles, jewellery, furniture and many more. William Morris a British artist and reformer who  is very popular with the Art Nouveau. Morris was the founder of the Art and Craft Movement which is linked with Art Nouveau. 

         Art and Crafts Movement by William Morris 

William Morris Design 

The Art and Crafts Movement started in the 19th century in England which challenged the  Victorian era when a social reform started. Thinkers and social reformers such as John Ruskin together with designer and reformer William Morris founded this movement. During that period there was a rise in consuming manufactured goods and these were produced in mass production which led to poor designs and quality, not showing the skills of the craftsmanship. Morris and Ruskin proposed that the craftsmanship will be revived so beautiful  objects will be produced showing off the skills of these craftsmanship in contrary to the mass production objects. Their aim was to come up with a design that was pleasing and beautiful to all the people and the craftsmanship would have a decent job. 

  

Paul Poiret Fashion Designer

Poiret Design

Paul Poiret a.k.a The King of Fashion in America was a French fashion designer born in 1879 in Paris. Poiret was very modern and came up with innovative designs for women who wanted to feel comfortable and liberated in their clothing. From strict silhouettes and pale colours, Poiret introduced designs exotic designs  inspired form the oriental styles and colours, dramatic and untied dresses.He is  the creator of bohemian-chic and many of the garments seen on the runway nowadays are inspired from him. Apart from clothes, Poiret was the first that had his brand name on cosmetics, perfumes and ornaments. Many of his designs were influenced from art nouveau,  eastern countries and Sergei Diagilhev exotic Ballet Russe. In 1906 he eliminated the corset for women and in 1910 introduced the untied dress similar to a chemise. From 1910-1913 he introduced tunics, harem pants and turban to Western fashion. The materials were  light and flowy,creating a curved silhouette just like art nouveau.

Harem Pants - Time 

Modern Harem pants

The introduction of the harem pants in western fashion was controversial and seen as an attack political and social norms. It was believed that it was an attack on Western values from the Oriental but Poiret designed the harem for chic woman who wanted freedom. In relation with the theme of time, the harem pants is still popular nowadays after several years. Originally these pants  can be worn by both genders especially in the eastern side were always popular and have existed for over 2000 years. Although the harem failed, even in Poiret era, it was still used for women's sportswear. It wasn't until the late 1980's and 90's that were introduced back to the main stream by pop hip-hop singer  MC Hammer who dressed in quirky styles, this time the harem were worn mostly by teenagers. Nowadays harem pants are very in fashion, in 2009 there was the comeback and remained popular till today. By time many fashion designers included them in their collections with various styles and patterns.They can be worn, any time, any season with almost anything for day and night and even in special events.From time to time harem pants will be in vogue. We saw change in colours, patterns and even varied a bit the styles of the harem pants during the years.It was during the Art Nouveau period when designers started to introduce different culture styles in their collections.

Sequined Harem

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Tara,.2009,Paul Poiret: The King of Modern Fashion, nothing-elegant.blogspot. com [blog] 29 January.Available at : < http://nothing-elegant.blogspot.com/2009/01/paul-poiret-king-of-modern-fashion.html > 

[Accessed 25 October 2013]

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[Accessed 25 October 2013]

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[Accessed 25 October 2013]