Orientalism in Fashion Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Orientalism in Fashion - Essay Example The essay "Orientalism in Fashion" concerns the fashion and orientalism. One can attribute this invasion of Oriental elements into European art and fashion to Paul Poiret and his imaginative and bold style that he pioneered in the decade leading up to the First World War. After inaugurating his fashion house in 1903 on the rue Auber, Poiret’s business grew quickly. Parisian women found the clear lines and simple forms of his designs very appealing. Poiret is the first couturier to â€Å"raise the waist in women's dresses, recalling Empire lines and thereby creating an elongated silhouette, like a cue stick.† The invasion of oriental elements into Parisian fashion was so pronounced that by 1913, one can see everywhere loose-fitting waists, oriental chemises or Russian blouses, drawn into â€Å"a sash of velvet or satin, or where there is no sash, a band of embroidery encircles the hips to give the same effect." At the time Paul Poiret was establishing his career in fash ion design there was a sense of stagnation and limitation in fashionable expression for women. At the turn of the century when Poiret opened his couture house, women’s figures â€Å"were not only divided in two by a whalebone corset, but also constrained by masses of fabric†. Poiret went about changing this condition and hence freed a generation of women from constricted dresses. His wife and muse Denise was also his foremost model for trying new design prototypes. What Poiret wanted to achieve was to bring back the classical dressing sensibilities. that he so admired and assimilated into his aesthetics. He first encountered classical paintings at the Louvre as a school boy. His unique design style shifted the emphasis to the shoulders; the waist was raised to a considerable degree. His style reflected the neo-Grecian Directoire sensibilities of erstwhile art patrons Empress Josephine and Lady Hamilton. To accentuate the contours of the body Poiret employed fine fabric s such as silk, tulle and muslin. He also reduced the hemline into that iconic model called the hobble skirt. (Web 2007) The Oriental elements to Paul Poiret’s designs were manifest in his use of gold, fur, fringes and turbans – some of which are being reinvented contemporarily at Prada. Poiret’s embrace of Oriental elements reached its peak in Paris with the unveiling by Leon Bakst of the Ballets Russes. One of the stand-out designs in the years preceding the First World War is the Persian themed designs that were seen during the 1002nd Night party in 1911. Exhibiting his showmanship during the event, Poiret dressed up as a sultan and locked up his wife in a golden cage. As usual she modeled his latest creation: harem pants. Poiret was flooded with orders for these pants. Women saw in them an avenue for liberty, if only to let them dance to the emergent cultural craze for the tango. (Web 2007) Art 1. Two Dresses by Paul Poiret (Plate 2 from Les Robes de Paul Po iret), illustrated by Paul Iribe, 1908. The significance of Poiret’s Orientalist designs emerges from their widespread cultural effects. For example, the sultan harem pants were in such vogue that respected architecture journal commented and illustrated Poiret’s works through the artful photographs of Edward Steichen. The journal article went on to praise Poiret’s work as an â€Å"

Cameron Mackintosh and Megamusical Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 4000 words

Cameron Mackintosh and Megamusical - Essay Example The paper begins with a brief introduction of the great figure. It attempts to elucidate the nature and specific characteristics of a megamusical and proceeds to present a detailed overview on the subject shedding light on international trends in megamusicals and the role played by the critics' reviews and the scholarly courses in its development. Then specific role and tremendous effort of Cameron mackintosh has been brought to light and in the end a brief summary of his remarkable achievements is presented. Mackintosh, Cameron born was a British theatrical producer who oversaw the era of the international "megamusical" in the 1980s and 1990s, becoming the world's most prominent and powerful impresario. Mackintosh was born on Oct. 17, 1946, in Enfield, Middlesex, England, to Ian Mackintosh, a Scottish timber merchant and jazz trumpeter, and Maltese-born Diana Tonna Mackintosh, who had been actor Nigel Patrick's secretary when the couple met in Italy during World War II. Eight-year-old Mackintosh was taken to see a production of the musical Salad Days, after which he demanded to speak to the author, Julian Slade, who gave him a backstage tour and instilled in the boy a fascination with theatrical production. Mackintosh studied stage management at the Central School of Speech and Drama in London but left after one year. He became a stagehand at London's Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, cleaning the auditorium after performances to earn extra money. His first West End presentation, a 1969 revival of Anything Goes, failed. In 1976, however, his production of the musical revue Side by Side by Sondheim ran 781 performances in London before transferring to Broadway, his first stateside effort. (Lawson, 1999) Before we move further to discuss his journey with the development of Megamusical, it is preferable to present a detailed overview of the overall development of the megamusical and combine Mackintosh's role along with it. Megamusical: An Overview Sternfeld (2006) explains in detail that the term may appear to be comical, like many other neologisms, but to describe the content in this paper it may be most precise and accurate. This term Megamusical actually refers to the type of musical genre which today is the prominent compulsion on the Broadway and got attention in the decades of the 1970's and 1980's. This paper doesn't use this word for the first time, as in the 1980's it began to appear on the New York Times. By different reviewers and journalists, the tag was sometimes selected sarcastically and has originated its way into theater analysis and olden times. There exist a number of synonyms such as extravaganza, blockbuster musical and spectacle show, however, the most accurate is the megamusical. The surroundings of the show and the show itself are the aspects that differentiate a megamusical from a common musical. The most prominent of the genres of the megamusical in the 1980's were the sports style as sports were of significance in those days, however, over the years it has evolved into other flourishing genres. However, a sturdy constancy materializes as an assembly, but a megamusical doesn't demonstrate all of the characteristics of the