From Said to Poiret: Orientalism in another guise

Having previously come across Orientalism in politics and literature, it is with surprise that I flicked through an '...isms' book on fashion. Edward Said's paradigm has been used in all sorts of academic fields, and I have been particularly interested in applying it to the social/cultural politics of modern Turkey, and diasporic literature in Germany. The common theme throughout was the almost omnipresent, pervasive nature of power that extended through language and other symbols, which were ingrained into Western historical discourse.

But although Orientalism in the realm of fashion has the potential to be as prejudiced and misplaced as Chinoiserie was, its positive influence on style and aesthetics deserves attention. And furthermore, Orientalism as a cultural trend came to the fore at one of the most important and intricate periods of modern European history - at the turn of the 20th century. The nation-state project which would lead so disastrously to the First World War, was accompanied by a Communist revolution in Tsarist Russia and the final collapse of the Ottoman Empire. The modernist movement that followed the Great War came to epitomise the exciting yet vulnerable times that epitomised the whole of Europe in flux, politically (as documented extensively), but also socially and culturally. The commercialist instinct of the industrialised nouveu riche further complicated existing aesthetics and regional ideas of beauty - style marketing had arrived.

Paul Poiret's 'Sorbet' evening dress, 1912

The short-lived Orientalist trend that came and went in under two decades still has resonance today, with Paul Poiret and Serge Diaghilev being key proponents of it. While political history and ideology seeks to forget this short period in favour of a longer master narrative of the 20th century, it is a relief that remnants of the cultural history of this period survive to this day, and continue to be reinvented and reinterpreted. Powell and Pressburgers' classic, "The Red Shoes" was based on the wonderful colour and vigour of Diaghilev's Ballet Russes ballet productions; while Paul Poiret is commonly recognised as one of the most influential designers in the 20th century. Art is often submerged into history but can offer solice and meaning to one's life journey, as epitomised by this classic dialogue in "The Red Shoes":

- "Why do you want to dance?"
- "Why do you want to live?"

See relevant links:
Criterion Collection essay on "The Red Shoes"
Metropolitan Museum of Art essay on Paul Poiret
Diaghilev at the V&A