1879-1944 Paul Poiret

[DosViolines]

Evening dress
French, ca. 1925,
attributed to Paul Poiret

Pale green silk crepe embroidered in an allover geometric design in silver, gold, and clear beads and silk threads

Kent State University Museum
Gift of Martha McCaskey Selhorst
KSUM 1996.058.0346ab




dept.kent.edu

[DosViolines]

hiandlomodern.com

[DosViolines]

thecampuschronicle.com

Poiret coat offers glimpse of history, raises questions

By Monique Bos

Savannah residents Leftwich and Ursula Kimbrough have loaned a coat by noted French couturier Paul Poiret to the Savannah College of Art and Design.

The coat, which Leftwich Kimbrough estimates was made around 1925, is on display through the end of the summer in the first-floor Photo Gallery at the Earle W. Newton Center for British-American Studies in Kiah Hall, 227 Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd.

Kimbrough said the coat’s original owner was a relative of his through marriage, Mary Sefton Thomas. Thomas’ father, Vincent Thomas, trademarked and ran the Harriet Hubbard Ayer cosmetic company until his death around 1920. His widow Lillian commissioned stained glass work for his mausoleum; the glass artist was Robert Dodge, brother of Kimbrough’s grandfather, painter William de Leftwich Dodge. Ultimately Lillian Thomas and Robert Dodge married, and Mary Thomas and Kimbrough’s mother grew up together on Long Island.

“It was a very interesting family,” Kimbrough said.

Lillian Dodge continued to run HHA until around 1950. “She made all kinds of toiletry articles for ladies,” Kimbrough said. She “was considered to be the highest paid woman executive for her time in this country.”

Lillian Dodge herself was interested primarily in altruism, Kimbrough said. “Her intention was not to be an extremely wealthy person, although she became that. Her true intentions were … a lot of philanthropic interests.”

Her daughter, owner and likely purchaser of the Poiret coat, “just grew up in the lap of ultimate luxury,” Kimbrough said. “She was very cultured, very distinguished through the exposure she had from her mother and the people they came into contact with.”

Kimbrough said the family’s wealthy background explains how they were able to purchase items by such noted designers as Poiret, even though this coat was probably made after his peak period.

“It explains why she owned this coat,” he said. “They were very fashionable.”

Both mother and daughter traveled widely to such locations as Paris, London and Rome, Kimbrough said. The coat contains an Italian retailer’s label, but he is unsure whether it was purchased in Italy or another country.

This is one of the questions about the coat that he hopes members of the SCAD community can answer. His loan of the coat is “for the college’s benefit but also hopefully to enable someone to research it a little bit,” he said. “I thought it would be a good idea to take the coat out of its box and give it some exposure and maybe get some background.”

He also is interested in knowing more about the era in which the coat was made, when exactly it was purchased and what materials were used in the manufacture.

In the Newton Center, the coat is flanked by two images from noted fashion photographer Richard Avedon, whose work is on display in the upstairs Print Gallery as part of “Special Edition: Fashion Photography from the Rhoades Collection.”

Poiret (1897-1944) is credited with introducing more comfortable fashions for women after the corsets and restricting designs of the Victorian era.


Photos by Charlie Ribbens
A coat designed by French couturier Paul Poiret around 1925 is on loan to the Savannah College of Art and Design by Savannah residents Leftwich and Ursula Kimbrough. The coat will be on display at the Earle W. Newton Center for British-American Studies through Sept. 30.

[DosViolines]

Robe de chambre de Paul Poiret
1924



Robe de Paul Poiret "Les Régates"
1925


raoul-dufy.com

[DosViolines]

Cape manteau de Paul Poiret ornée d'un dessin signé Raoul Dufy, 1926.


fr.ca.encarta.msn.com

[DosViolines]

Vestido Eugéne, criação de Paul Poiret em 1907.


moda.terra.com.br

[DosViolines]

Paul Poiret
Coat
Label: Paul Poiret. Rue Pasquier 37 Paris

c. 1909

Black silk satin; crochet and bobbin lace; black lace lapel with tassel; yellow silk habutae lining.


kci.or.jp

[DosViolines]

A striking 1917 military-style velvet and fur-trimmed evening coat of blue silk designed by Paul Poiret


doylenewyork.com

[DosViolines]

Blue Silk Velvet and Silver Stenciled Tabard Dress, Paul Poiret, c. 1912
The Western Reserve Historical Society
Gold Lamé Pumps with Rectangular Rhinestone Buckle, c. 1930s
Gift of Mrs. Mary Jeffrey Strudwick


costume.osu.edu

[DosViolines]

I saved the best for last

Dinner dress, 1922–23
Paul Poiret (French, 1880–1944)
Navy-blue and red silk faille, gold metallic bullion buttons
Gift of Mrs. Muriel Draper, 1943 (C.I.43.85.2a,b)


metmuseum.org

[Miss Galliano]

some beautifull pieces.. I lvoe this thread..
thanxx guys for these pictures

[Mutterlein]

Key Words when I think of Poiret:

Orientalism (middle eastern style garments, asian embroidery, etc)
Exoticism (the above but much more overt)
Women's Dress Reform (the slow waning of the corset's prominence)
Historicism (a return to more classical ways of dressing and perceiving the body, in line with Vionnet and Fortuny).

good luck

[Miss Galliano]

well these are the good words and therms ...

[DosViolines]

Paul Poiret Garnet Silk Velvet Robe Shakespeare
French, mid 1920s
Referencing the medieval, dropped peaked waistline girded by plaited metallic gold cord concluding in velvet pompom, set-in fluted sleeve with cuff point revealing gold lame lining, bodice draped to center front seam, deep V-neckline front and back, gold lame modified shawl collar overlapping to faux bow at back, gathered skirt with handkerchief hem piped in gold lame, unlined, size 6, labeled: Paul Poiret a Paris and linen tape: 72993/Mme.White/Helene/R. Shakespeare.
Estimate: $4,000-6,000

doylenewyork.com

[DosViolines]

Poiret Rich Silk Crepe de Chine Late Day Dress
French, mid 1920s
The long sleeved chemise underdress in deep magenta with a mushroom pleated sleeveless overdress sewn in wide bands of red fuchsia centering a band of blue fuchsia, the cuffed sleeves in corresponding colors, a deep magenta front tab elaborately embroidered with gold thread running from neck to hem and dissecting a wide low belt of same, size 6, labeled: Paul Poiret a Paris and linen tape: 69699 M. White/Helene Tervenche(?).
Sold for $7,170
doylenewyork.com