Fashion For Breakfast

Today's Fashion History Delight:  

 Poiret Frees Women from the Corset

Paul Poiret changed fashion history as he was the first one to put out a line of dresses that did not require women to torture themselves wearing those horrible restraining corsets.

In the turn of the century dresses were designed with the specific need of a corset in order to get the desired look the dress was designed for.

The beautiful dress above was designed by Poiret in romantic, flowing fabrics to create a beautiful and comfortable look for women that did not require them to wear a corset. 
The silhouette of the dress is slim and high-waisted creating a look that was modern in design for his time. 

Poiret collaborated with Georges Lepape to illustrate his collections, as Poiret was one of the first to use fashion magazines to display his work. 

The turn of century called for media to inform the world of new fashion developments--and in 1892 Vogue was born in New York.

Above are some sketches of Lepape's work of Poiret's fashion. 

Poiret is also famous for bringing harem pants to the fashion world and the "lampshade" tunic.
Poiret has made a huge influence on fashion history and his concepts are still relevant in today's fashion trends--harem pants, turbans and lampshade tunics are reflections of his exotic creations that are saturarted in the marketplace today.

Credits:
Fukai, Akiko, Tamami Suoh, Miki Iwagami, Reiko Koga, and Rii Nie. Fashion: a History from the 18th to the 20th Century. Koeln: Taschen, 2002. Print.
Lepape's sketches via google images