Moroccan dresses and their influence in the fashion!

[Monalisa]

Agneta Fisher in Dress with Moroccan Tulle Skirt
Légende d'origine: Agneta Fischer wearing white marocain dress with black tulle skirt, by Callot Soeurs, and short white gloves.

[Monalisa]

1-Woman in Lelong Gown with Shirred Skirt in moroccan crepe
Légende d'origine: Woman wearing a crepe marocain dress with a draped bodice and shirred skirt front by Lelong.



2-Four Women in Designer Dresses and Capes Under Awning in moroccan crepe
Légende d'origine: Four women under canopy at a building entrance, wearing: a pale green flecked crepe marocain frock, with white pique collar and flower, and attached shoulder cape, by Berthe; a blue and white pin-dotted crepe de Chine dress and cape with plain blue lining, by Goupy; a sleeveless black crepe de Chine dres with cape jacket and long sash ties, by Mirande; a navy crepe dress and cape lined with matching polka-dotted silk, by Goupy.

[Monalisa]

1&2-Behind the Scenes at Maxim's
Models wear creations by young Moroccan designers Meryam Slimani and Magda Ademe and wait to go on stage for the "Bal des Sultans" evening organized by Cyril Le Grix.


3-Behind the Scenes at Maxim's
A model poses with a creation by young Moroccan designers Meryam Slimani and Magda Ademe for the "Bal des Sultans" evening organized by Cyril Le Grix

[galuhcandrakirana]

I like this thread thanks for created it Monalisa.
The traditional clothes of Marrocan are very interesting and colourful....

[abir]

Originally Posted by Monalisa

Thanks abir for the nice pictures of the circassian dresses and the informations.


I don't exclue that the moroccan traditionnal dresses got many influences from other cultures,but the thing which does from it what they are now is the specificity of the moroccan culture,so you can't find the same dresses in the closer countries for example algeria or tunisia,the "takchitas" are a specificity for morocco.

You are welcome Monalisa.

Yes, it does exist kaftans similar to Moroccan dress. Maybe the word Kaftan is used in Arab countries (also circassian, turkish ... ) but the details of the dress itself was used in different cultures in Asia, Middle East and Africa. The Kaftan is defined as "a long loose piece of clothing, usually with a belt at the waist, worn by men in Arab countries, a woman's long loose dress with long wide sleeves".

So apart from the actual influence of the "Moroccan dress" on fashion, I wouldn't consider it's the only inspiration of the designers, since embroidery, sleeves, edges of the kaftan have long history, and still used in different costumes in the world, so it's not unique of the Moroccan dress.

Embroidery

Embroidery and most other fiber and needlework arts are believed to originate in Asia and the Middle East. Embroidery and the embellishment of clothing is certainly a time consuming practice which necessitates that there be actual time to do it. For groups of humans living in marginal areas, subsistence would take precedence over leisure activities. For humans living in areas in which subsistence was much easier, there was time to develop the art. Initially, it may have all started as a way to enhance and, at the same time strengthen seams.

In 1964, a Cro-Magnon hunter's fossilized remains were found at a dig in Sungir near Vladimir, Russia, dating to 30,000 B.C. His fur clothing, boots and hat were heavily decorated with hand stitched horizontal rows of ivory beads. This example would seem to indicate that the idea of couching; whether it was bits of something or a cord of some type, has been around for at least as long as embroidery itself.

Chinese bead embroidery in Siberia, dating from between 5000 and 6000 B.C., include elaborately drilled shells stitched with decorative designs onto animal hides. Mosaics of Byzantium, 500 A.D., depict embroidery of clothing with silk thread, precious stones and pearls. It is possible the Chinese thread embroidery from 3500 B.C. was the origin of thread embroidery, as we know it today. Historical documents record the use of embroidery in China as early as 2255 B.C.

...

from http://www.vertetsable.com/demos_bigfive.htm

[abir]

About edges on the Kaftan ... and inspiration of Moroccan dress with edges ans slits & Nicole Kidman dress in post #12.



Caftan, 8th–10th century
Caucasus Mountain regions
Silk, linen, and fur; Coat: H. 56 in. (142.2 cm), W. 60 in. (152.4 cm); Leggings: H. 32 in. (81.3 cm)
Harris Brisbane Dick Fund, 1996 (1996.78.1)

The original linen coat (caftan), preserved in part from the neck to the bottom of the hem, is made of finely woven linen. A decorative strip of large-patterned silk is sewn along the exterior and interior edges of the caftan. A minute fragment of lambskin preserved as the caftan's interior attests to its fur lining. The woven patterns on the silk borders of the caftan include motifs such as the rosettes and stylized animal patterns enclosed within beaded roundels, which were widespread in Iranian and Central Asian textiles of the sixth to ninth century. The colors used in the textile include a now-faded dark blue, yellow, red, and white on a dark brown ground. The decorated silk fabrics are a compound twill weave (samit in modern classification) and the body of the garment is plain-weave linen. Two slits running up the back of the caftan make it particularly suitable as a riding costume.

From http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/ho/06/..._1996.78.1.htm

and http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/ho/06/..._1996.78.1.htm

[abir]

What I found till now are pictures from Musuems or detailed descriptions of how was the Kaftan in some regions in Middle East/Asia.

I wonder how was the Moroccan dress decades ago so that we can compare it with Ottoman/Caucasus/Circassian Kaftan. That could be interesting.



Ottoman Kaftan (entari)

• Caftans of various styles were the main item of dress for both men and women.
• Caftans are fairly simple in construction and tailoring, using mostly straight seams; it was the quality of the fabric that was intended to impress (although the majority of surviving caftans are of plain material).
• They generally have round necks, sometimes with a small stand-up collar.
• Women’s caftans likewise had round necks: styles that had low round or square necklines or even came under the bust date to the late 18th century. 16th century caftans did not expose the bosom.
• They usually have buttons to the waist, either jewelled or covered in the same fabric as the caftan. The buttons fastened through loops rather than buttonholes, often attached to frogging in braid or similar fabric across the chest. This frogging seems to be more prevalent on men’s garments than women’s, although it found on caftans of both genders.
• Caftans were usually three-quarter to full length, although shorter knee length caftans were worn for sport or battle.
• Women also wore a shorter hip to thigh length caftan called a hirka under or sometimes over a full-length caftan.
• Sleeves were short, wrist or ankle length. Short sleeves came to the elbow, with a curved cutout in front where the arm would bend. Wrist length sleeves extended just past the fingertips, and were worn bunched up at the wrist and fastened tightly with buttons (This type of sleeve could also be detachable, to mix and match with short-sleeved caftans). Ankle length sleeves were purely decorative, falling empty behind and worn only on the outer garment.
• The sultan and his court would frequently wear three caftans: one with wrist length sleeves under another with short sleeves, under another with decorative ankle length sleeves, so their contrasting fabrics could all be seen and admired.
• Women tended to wear wrist length sleeves, with short sleeves only on the outer garment. They did not seem to wear ankle length sleeves at all. (Early 17th century illustrations depict women with decorative flared turned-back cuffs, which be easily achieved by buttoning the sleeve differently at the wrist; it seems likely this was also a 16th century practice.) Sleeves split all the way to the elbow and hanging open did not come into fashion until the 18th century.
• Women’s caftans did not seem to have the overlapping triangular front gores of the men’s caftans: however, these gores are present on a surviving outer caftan from the Topkapi Saray Museum.
• Women’s caftans seem to have been tailored quite close to the body. Several 17th century illustrations depict caftans being worn fastened with only every third or fourth button, so as to gape open and show off the fabric of the hirka underneath; it is probable this was also a 16th century practice.

Fabrics

• Fabrics ranged from light silks, satins and cottons to sumptuous polychrome silks and gold threaded brocades to Italian style velvets and velvet brocades, the more colourful the better (dark or sombre colours were uncommon).
• Solid colours, moiré, subtle jacquard patterns, triplet spots, stylised tiger stripes, ogival designs and especially naturalistic and stylised floral patterns were all popular. Checks and stripes are almost never seen.
• Caftans of lighter weight materials were worn closer to the body, with the heavier fabrics being the outer layers.
• Cotton was the usual lining material, with fur sometimes used to line a heavy outer coat. Silk facing was used at the neck, cuffs, hem and side slits, and was usually a contrasting colour to the caftan and lining fabrics.
• Apart from the quality and cost of the fabrics, there was little difference in the styles or articles of dress between rich and poor, nor between those of Muslims and non-Muslims.

Belts and sashes (uçkur)

• The Ottomans were unusual among Islamic cultures for not treating the belt as a symbol of martial power and prestige. Belts are rarely shown in painting before the 17th century, and were not a conspicuous part of male civilian dress.
• Sashes were made of a folded and seamed length of linen, measuring approximately 2m long by 15 cm wide. They featured elaborate gold-embroidered end panels, around 12-15 cm long.
• Several 16th belts in the Topkapi Saray Museum are presumed to be women’s. They are of ivory, silver or mother of pearl plaques, joined by links or mounted on leather. The are elaborately decorated with gold or silver scrollwork, and set with jewels. Their length would indicate they were worn around the waist, not the hips.

From http://www.redkaganate.org/clothing/ottocloth.shtml

[abir]

Moroccan princesses (in Paris) and Prince Charles (London) wore bornos ...
Bornos may have Berber/Carthago/Roman origin ... so most likely North Africa and Mediterranean

Pictures from Corbis and gettyimages.


24th June 1969: Prince Charles, eldest son of Queen Elizabeth II and the Duke of Edinburgh, in the coronet, mantle and regalia which he will wear at his investiture as Prince of Wales at Caernarvon Castle. The mantle is in royal purple silk velvet lined with silk and ermine. The coronet was presented by the Goldsmith's Company of the City of London.

Fashion inspirations: bornos/cape/coat ...

The white one: NEW YORK, UNITED STATES: A model wears "The New Legend" bone suede cape, cream silk liquette and "Outlaw" bias embroidered skirt at the Catherine Malandrino Fall 2002 show in New York 10 February 2002.

The felt cape: NEW YORK, UNITED STATES: A model wears a felt cape, wool ribbed turtleneck and corduroy flared jeans at the Marc by Marc Jacobs Fall 2002 fashion show in New York 12 February 2002.

Dress in red: MILAN, ITALY - SEPTEMBER 30: A model wears a dress from Roberto Cavalli's Spring/Summer women's 2003 collection September 30, 2002 in Milan Italy.

[Layla27]

Originally Posted by abir

Moroccan princesses (in Paris) and Prince Charles (London) wore bornos ...
Bornos may have Berber/Carthago/Roman origin ... so most likely North Africa and Mediterranean

What the moroccan princess is wearing on top of her takchita is called Selham not Bornos. Bornos is a Tunisian word if I am not mistaken.
The selham is part of the moroccan traditional dress. Moroccan women wear it on top of their Takchitas when they are invited to weddings, and other kind of official ceremonies. It can be made from silk or from whool.

[Layla27]

Originally Posted by Monalisa

Nicole Kidman wearing a nice dress from YSL Yves saint-laurent,the influence from the sleevless moroccan caftans!


P.S:YSL is born in algeria,and living in morocco from the early 80's in the famous villa "majorelle" in marrakesh,so the influence is understundable!

I am not a fashion expert, but to me this dress looks inspired from oriental dresses (i.e., chinese, hong kong may be) than from the moroccan kaftans

[abir]

Originally Posted by Layla27

What the moroccan princess is wearing on top of her takchita is called Selham not Bornos. Bornos is a Tunisian word if I am not mistaken.
The selham is part of the moroccan traditional dress. Moroccan women wear it on top of their Takchitas when they are invited to weddings, and other kind of official ceremonies. It can be made from silk or from whool.

Lovely Layla27 ... thanks for poiting that :)
I add the following on "Pre-Islamic Foundations of Maghribi Clothing".

...
A second distinctive North African garment, noted in the Islamic period, is the hooded cloak, called burnus in Libya, Tunisia, Algeria, and selham and akhnif (occasionally burnus) in Morocco. There was a similar Greco-Roman garment, the paenula, a travelling cloak to which a hood - cucullus - was usually attached. Whether or not this influenced the development of the burnus/selham/akhnif is unknown. In Arabia the term burnus refers to some kind of hat or head covering. The invading Arabs distinguished between two major Berber groups, the Baranis and the Butr. It has been suggested that this may have been a differentiation between those who wore hooded garments (baranis) and those who wore short garments (butr). It is fairly clear that in antiquity and in the first few centuries under Islam, the Berbers did not wear head coverings like the Muslim Arabs. Indeed, some Berbers [men?] shaved all or part of their heads, which is mentioned in Classical and Islamic sources.

Third is the large rectangular wrapping cloth used as an outer garment by both men and women - although in different ways - from Libya to Morocco in pre-Islamic times, and continuing into the 20th century. Wrap garments have different names: in Berber (Amazight) they are a'aban, akhusi, afaggu, tahaykt, and others; in Arabic ha'ik, ksa', and barrakan. The Arabs associated these ancient Berber wrappers with similar Arabic garments, such as the izar, milhafa, etc. It is clear, however, that the method of draping these wraps is quite different in the Maghrib.

From http://home.earthlink.net/~lilinah/C...biCostume.html

[Monalisa]

Originally Posted by Layla27

I am not a fashion expert, but to me this dress looks inspired from oriental dresses (i.e., chinese, hong kong may be) than from the moroccan kaftans

you are welcome layla27 to share with us this thread even if you are not a fashion expert!


As for Nicle kidman's dress, for me it's more influence from caftan(moroccan or what ever) than chinese influence,the kaftan generally get the opned slits and there's a version sleevless only in the moroccan one,as i know the chinese style doesn't use the sleeveless clothes it's maybe from tardition, and the colar is always tight"Mao colar",i guess that yves saint-laurnet get more moroccan influence from his childhood than a chinese one!



At least,if you read the previous posts, moroccan kaftans have many influences from other cultures and the chinese culture is one of them!

[semisquare]

i like the way tachita looks, its so femmine and colorful

[Monalisa]

Originally Posted by semisquare

i like the way tachita looks, its so femmine and colorful

Yes the "takchitas" are very nice and stylish,they the lonely traditionnal dress which fashionitas adopted and got a lot of inspiration!

[sommone]

I really love the fabrics in which many of the dresses are made from, and many of the dresses are beautiful. Thanks for posting the pictures.

[abir]

Originally Posted by Monalisa

Yes the "takchitas" are very nice and stylish,they the lonely traditionnal dress which fashionitas adopted and got a lot of inspiration!

The "lonely"?

I understand that each one of us loves his/her own traditional dress, but they can’t be the only dress which inspires fashion designers, as you say
Why it should be? Is it the only traditional dress and the only beautiful one in the world?
Come on!

We have to look around us and see what others wear.
Since centuries, women around the world wear long dresses, with/without sleeves, with/without embroidery, etc.

Fashion designer inspirations are different and come from around the world: from traditional dress, from artists painting, from nature, sea … Hopefully the world is rich and designers can be inspired from different sources and from different traditional dresses.

I pick some examples from this site http://www.fashion-era.com/Trends/fa...4designers.htm, of fashion designer inspiration/influence in 2004.



Dolce and Gabbana produced limited edition 1930s inspired beaded and pleated floor length goddess dresses … (so it’s Greek/Roman inspiration).

Ben de Lisi, a master of relaxed glamour dresses, focused on halter neck or strapless evening dresses in soft fluid jerseys and crepes de chines … Picasso paintings inspired his fabric prints of hot deep pink and white or white and black fabrics swirling with geometric shapes and abstract swirls.

Betty Jackson took her inspiration from a Capri summer scene using fantastic prints that looked freshly brushed from an artist's palette.

Ronit Zilkha also showed an African selection in raw earth colours and natural accessories using cane and straw.

John Galliano at Christian Dior made a sexy modern young couture collection where Latino inspired flamenco flounces were worn with sweat tops and were in complete contrast to the formal couture evident in Lagerfeld's elegant designs …