1 00:00:02,279 --> 00:00:06,960 Speaker 1: Happy Saturday. Last week we name dropped French fashion designer 2 00:00:07,040 --> 00:00:09,760 Speaker 1: Paul Poiret and are behind the scenes on Is It 3 00:00:09,880 --> 00:00:13,280 Speaker 1: or a Duncan? Holly talked about his designing clothes for 4 00:00:13,320 --> 00:00:15,320 Speaker 1: her and her daughter and I was kind of like, yeah, 5 00:00:15,360 --> 00:00:20,200 Speaker 1: that makes total logical sense. It seems like a good 6 00:00:20,200 --> 00:00:23,040 Speaker 1: time based on that's a poll our episode on poire 7 00:00:23,360 --> 00:00:26,760 Speaker 1: Out of the Archive. Yeah, and this episode originally came 8 00:00:26,800 --> 00:00:33,600 Speaker 1: out on jun We hope you enjoyed. Welcome to Stuff 9 00:00:33,640 --> 00:00:43,680 Speaker 1: You Missed in History Class, a production of I Heart Radio. Hello, 10 00:00:43,720 --> 00:00:46,199 Speaker 1: and welcome to the podcast. I'm Holly Frying and I 11 00:00:46,200 --> 00:00:49,800 Speaker 1: am Tracy. Today we're talking about one of my favorite 12 00:00:49,840 --> 00:00:52,880 Speaker 1: designers of all time. Yes, yes, who is that Paul 13 00:00:52,920 --> 00:00:54,920 Speaker 1: poire I thought it might if you really want to 14 00:00:54,920 --> 00:00:58,440 Speaker 1: friendship up, but I won't do the full pronunciation throughout 15 00:00:58,440 --> 00:01:01,920 Speaker 1: the podcast because it starts to get a little His 16 00:01:02,320 --> 00:01:07,039 Speaker 1: famous quote from was I am an artist, not a 17 00:01:07,120 --> 00:01:10,240 Speaker 1: dressmaker like he He's one of those people that when 18 00:01:10,280 --> 00:01:13,120 Speaker 1: you study him, you wonder if he came off to 19 00:01:13,240 --> 00:01:16,440 Speaker 1: people around him as super conceited and blustering. Yeah, I 20 00:01:16,480 --> 00:01:18,720 Speaker 1: was gonna say that doesn't sound pretentious at all. But 21 00:01:18,840 --> 00:01:21,240 Speaker 1: he also was a really hard worker and he really 22 00:01:21,240 --> 00:01:24,959 Speaker 1: did innovate, So maybe his confidence was just all built 23 00:01:25,000 --> 00:01:27,559 Speaker 1: off of knowing that he was going to plow through 24 00:01:27,680 --> 00:01:32,800 Speaker 1: and some actual success and not just grandiose statements. Yeah, 25 00:01:32,880 --> 00:01:35,280 Speaker 1: and indeed, I mean his work, which was often very 26 00:01:35,280 --> 00:01:37,560 Speaker 1: outant guard for the times, changed the fashion world in 27 00:01:37,600 --> 00:01:41,040 Speaker 1: really significant ways. And people may not know his name 28 00:01:41,280 --> 00:01:44,440 Speaker 1: unless they're really into historical fashion, but odds are you 29 00:01:44,440 --> 00:01:48,360 Speaker 1: would recognize his designs. Um. You know, his silhouettes tend 30 00:01:48,400 --> 00:01:51,800 Speaker 1: to be very long and narrow skirts sometimes pants topped 31 00:01:51,800 --> 00:01:55,880 Speaker 1: off with these very dramatic tunics that tended to be wider, 32 00:01:56,560 --> 00:01:58,400 Speaker 1: so the top portion of the silhouette tended to be 33 00:01:58,440 --> 00:02:00,960 Speaker 1: wider than the bottom um and they were really the 34 00:02:00,960 --> 00:02:03,960 Speaker 1: height of fashion in the nineteen teens, in the early 35 00:02:04,200 --> 00:02:07,640 Speaker 1: heading into the early nineteen twenties. A lot of his 36 00:02:07,640 --> 00:02:10,760 Speaker 1: his designs are actually done by other artists at the time. 37 00:02:10,760 --> 00:02:12,480 Speaker 1: He collaborated with a lot of them. So if you 38 00:02:12,520 --> 00:02:16,200 Speaker 1: look at drawings by Erte, a lot of those are him. 39 00:02:16,320 --> 00:02:19,360 Speaker 1: Uh Aribe who he worked with him, we'll talk about briefly. 40 00:02:20,120 --> 00:02:23,160 Speaker 1: Uh those drawings that are sort of famous, and they're 41 00:02:23,200 --> 00:02:26,799 Speaker 1: like just pre flapper era people recognize, but they may 42 00:02:26,800 --> 00:02:29,120 Speaker 1: not realize that a lot of those are Paul Poire, 43 00:02:30,040 --> 00:02:32,720 Speaker 1: and even the ones that aren't are often influenced by 44 00:02:32,720 --> 00:02:35,639 Speaker 1: the things that he was doing in fashion. So he 45 00:02:35,760 --> 00:02:40,120 Speaker 1: was born in eighteen seventy nine and Laisal. His father 46 00:02:40,320 --> 00:02:42,320 Speaker 1: was a cloth merchant, so he got a lot of 47 00:02:42,320 --> 00:02:46,040 Speaker 1: exposure to fashion in his early life while his family 48 00:02:46,120 --> 00:02:49,200 Speaker 1: was working class. Yeah, and his father sent him at 49 00:02:49,200 --> 00:02:51,560 Speaker 1: a very early age to apprentice with an umbrella maker 50 00:02:51,639 --> 00:02:53,680 Speaker 1: because as a working class family, they wanted him to 51 00:02:53,680 --> 00:02:57,040 Speaker 1: have a skill. Uh. But young Paul would actually gather 52 00:02:57,080 --> 00:02:59,160 Speaker 1: the small scraps left over at the end of the day, 53 00:02:59,200 --> 00:03:02,600 Speaker 1: the little pieces of silk left over from the umbrella cuttings, 54 00:03:02,639 --> 00:03:06,080 Speaker 1: and he would make clothes for his sister's dolls. So 55 00:03:06,120 --> 00:03:08,960 Speaker 1: he was doing fashion and small scale pretty early in 56 00:03:09,000 --> 00:03:11,840 Speaker 1: his life, and that's a pretty perfect use for umbrella scraps. 57 00:03:13,000 --> 00:03:19,480 Speaker 1: In his fashion career officially started Couturier Madeleine Chari brought 58 00:03:19,600 --> 00:03:23,959 Speaker 1: twelve of his designs, and shortly thereafter Poire was hired 59 00:03:24,000 --> 00:03:27,520 Speaker 1: by Couturier Jacques du Say as a junior assistant, and 60 00:03:27,520 --> 00:03:29,920 Speaker 1: he quickly worked his way up to head of tailoring 61 00:03:30,400 --> 00:03:32,880 Speaker 1: in that group, and he was so successful in his 62 00:03:32,919 --> 00:03:37,320 Speaker 1: position that he was eventually tapped by Doucet to take 63 00:03:37,360 --> 00:03:41,160 Speaker 1: on jobs designing costumes for stage actresses, and he made 64 00:03:41,160 --> 00:03:44,080 Speaker 1: a really big name for himself doing this. Um there's 65 00:03:44,120 --> 00:03:46,880 Speaker 1: one particular garment that's often referenced, which is a mantle 66 00:03:46,960 --> 00:03:49,880 Speaker 1: he made for a play entitled Zaza, which was worn 67 00:03:49,920 --> 00:03:54,320 Speaker 1: by actress Gabriel Jean, and it was black tool layered 68 00:03:54,360 --> 00:03:57,520 Speaker 1: over black taffoda, and it was painted with white irises, 69 00:03:58,320 --> 00:04:01,520 Speaker 1: and it made a big splash and it was um 70 00:04:02,800 --> 00:04:06,600 Speaker 1: allegedly very impactful in terms of the emotional moment of 71 00:04:06,600 --> 00:04:10,680 Speaker 1: the scene in which it appeared, and Poiret sort of 72 00:04:10,680 --> 00:04:12,960 Speaker 1: started to realize that he could actually be using the 73 00:04:13,040 --> 00:04:16,159 Speaker 1: stage as a runway to showcase his own designs and 74 00:04:16,240 --> 00:04:18,560 Speaker 1: build a following. So he kind of became famous for 75 00:04:18,600 --> 00:04:21,279 Speaker 1: these garments he was making for actresses. It's kind of 76 00:04:21,360 --> 00:04:24,400 Speaker 1: double a double edged sword, though, because it's rumored that 77 00:04:24,440 --> 00:04:27,760 Speaker 1: when he was working with celebrated actress Sarah Bernhardt, that 78 00:04:27,880 --> 00:04:31,200 Speaker 1: he was overheard by the actress while he was making 79 00:04:31,240 --> 00:04:34,960 Speaker 1: fun of her and she had him fired. But that's 80 00:04:35,279 --> 00:04:38,000 Speaker 1: again kind of a cloaked in rumor. Part of history. 81 00:04:38,040 --> 00:04:40,240 Speaker 1: Some histories of him will say that happened, some we'll 82 00:04:40,279 --> 00:04:44,000 Speaker 1: not because at the same time, which was nine undred, 83 00:04:44,440 --> 00:04:47,159 Speaker 1: Poiret also had to report for a military service, which 84 00:04:47,200 --> 00:04:50,679 Speaker 1: was mandatory. So it's entirely possible that the Bernhard stories 85 00:04:50,720 --> 00:04:54,160 Speaker 1: just gossip that took advantage of that timing. Regardless of 86 00:04:54,240 --> 00:04:56,400 Speaker 1: how he left, the job to say had been really 87 00:04:56,480 --> 00:04:59,560 Speaker 1: encouraging of his activity and his style. So it was 88 00:04:59,640 --> 00:05:04,679 Speaker 1: pretty tragic that he left the world for a while. Yeah, 89 00:05:04,720 --> 00:05:07,920 Speaker 1: I mean, any creative type that gets a lot of encouragement, 90 00:05:08,160 --> 00:05:11,080 Speaker 1: that's like a perfect situation. So to unfortunately step out 91 00:05:11,120 --> 00:05:14,080 Speaker 1: of that is not ideal. But he only had to 92 00:05:14,160 --> 00:05:16,680 Speaker 1: do his year of mandatory service and when he returned 93 00:05:16,720 --> 00:05:19,640 Speaker 1: to Paris in nineteen o one, he was hired almost 94 00:05:19,640 --> 00:05:21,960 Speaker 1: immediately by the House of Worth, and that was one 95 00:05:21,960 --> 00:05:25,120 Speaker 1: of the most prominent design houses in Europe. Um if 96 00:05:25,160 --> 00:05:27,760 Speaker 1: you look at fashion plates of the Victorian and Edwardian 97 00:05:27,800 --> 00:05:31,039 Speaker 1: eras many of them, many of the styles and fashions 98 00:05:31,040 --> 00:05:32,560 Speaker 1: will be credited in the House of Worth. I mean 99 00:05:32,600 --> 00:05:35,880 Speaker 1: they were huge, uh, And at the time Poiret was 100 00:05:35,960 --> 00:05:39,240 Speaker 1: hired into the firm, Charles Frederick Worth, who had founded 101 00:05:39,279 --> 00:05:42,360 Speaker 1: the fashion house had already passed away, and his two sons, 102 00:05:42,440 --> 00:05:45,760 Speaker 1: Jean Philippe and Gaston, had taken over. Unlike his time 103 00:05:45,800 --> 00:05:48,599 Speaker 1: working under du Say, he didn't get a lot of 104 00:05:48,680 --> 00:05:51,360 Speaker 1: encouragement at Worth. Instead of taking advantage of all this 105 00:05:51,480 --> 00:05:55,039 Speaker 1: theatricality and dramatic style that he had really cultivated, the 106 00:05:55,080 --> 00:05:57,920 Speaker 1: brother's Worth put him to work on pretty mundane stuff. 107 00:05:58,400 --> 00:06:00,599 Speaker 1: He tried to inject his style. Don't know what he 108 00:06:00,640 --> 00:06:03,360 Speaker 1: was doing, but that was not really what the Worth 109 00:06:03,440 --> 00:06:06,520 Speaker 1: clientele were looking for. They were used to getting stylish 110 00:06:06,520 --> 00:06:10,400 Speaker 1: clothing that was guaranteed to be seen as stylish and 111 00:06:10,520 --> 00:06:13,719 Speaker 1: not just experimental stuff. They were not ready for the 112 00:06:13,760 --> 00:06:16,360 Speaker 1: avant garde. No. The good thing, though, is that he 113 00:06:16,400 --> 00:06:20,320 Speaker 1: did have an incredible confidence. Even through the rough times 114 00:06:20,360 --> 00:06:22,440 Speaker 1: at House of Worth. He was certain that he was 115 00:06:22,480 --> 00:06:25,000 Speaker 1: going to move on to better things, and even when 116 00:06:25,000 --> 00:06:28,279 Speaker 1: clients were complaining that he was making ugly, crazy clothes, 117 00:06:29,480 --> 00:06:33,280 Speaker 1: he was really unflappable about it, which is pretty impressive 118 00:06:33,279 --> 00:06:36,720 Speaker 1: and astonishing. Uh. And in nine three he finally took 119 00:06:36,760 --> 00:06:38,680 Speaker 1: his future into his own hands and he opened his 120 00:06:38,720 --> 00:06:42,960 Speaker 1: own shop. And because Pare had charmed many clients, uh, 121 00:06:43,120 --> 00:06:45,719 Speaker 1: he actually had a great many fans in high places. 122 00:06:46,240 --> 00:06:49,520 Speaker 1: The King of Portugal allegedly sent two white mules to 123 00:06:49,600 --> 00:06:52,840 Speaker 1: the designer for the opening of his boutique in Ruabart, 124 00:06:53,440 --> 00:06:56,880 Speaker 1: and they stood outside on opening day, like the doors 125 00:06:56,880 --> 00:07:00,040 Speaker 1: were just flanked by these two mules. Just kind of 126 00:07:00,120 --> 00:07:05,680 Speaker 1: wonderfully odds. They're perfectly theatrical to his designs. In nineteen 127 00:07:05,720 --> 00:07:09,279 Speaker 1: o three, broke with a major fashion rule by ditching 128 00:07:09,440 --> 00:07:13,800 Speaker 1: petticoats entirely. Yeah, I mean that's huge. We think of 129 00:07:13,840 --> 00:07:16,480 Speaker 1: it today and it seems like, well, you don't need 130 00:07:16,520 --> 00:07:19,400 Speaker 1: a petticoat, but you did then. Yeah, Well, and that's that. 131 00:07:19,680 --> 00:07:22,080 Speaker 1: This was if you were out without a petticoat, It 132 00:07:22,520 --> 00:07:24,800 Speaker 1: wasn't just that your clothing didn't look right. You were 133 00:07:24,840 --> 00:07:30,600 Speaker 1: being immodest and indecent without petticoats on. Yeah. Uh. So 134 00:07:30,760 --> 00:07:32,560 Speaker 1: he carried on for a couple of years in his 135 00:07:32,600 --> 00:07:35,760 Speaker 1: new shop, and in nineteen o five Pare married his 136 00:07:35,800 --> 00:07:38,320 Speaker 1: wife Denise, and the pair had really known each other 137 00:07:38,400 --> 00:07:41,800 Speaker 1: since childhood. She was not exactly known to be like 138 00:07:41,800 --> 00:07:43,720 Speaker 1: a great beauty. She had really been kind of a 139 00:07:43,720 --> 00:07:47,280 Speaker 1: simple girl from simple beginnings, because remember his childhood started 140 00:07:47,280 --> 00:07:50,640 Speaker 1: in very simple places. But through her marriage with Paul, 141 00:07:50,720 --> 00:07:53,640 Speaker 1: she really became something of a style icon, and she 142 00:07:53,760 --> 00:07:56,360 Speaker 1: served as his muse. Uh. And she would wear her 143 00:07:56,560 --> 00:07:59,600 Speaker 1: his fashions as the pair toured Europe and eventually other 144 00:07:59,640 --> 00:08:03,520 Speaker 1: places together. Um. And they had five daughters together throughout 145 00:08:03,520 --> 00:08:07,160 Speaker 1: their marriage and later in life. Uh. Paul would say, 146 00:08:07,160 --> 00:08:10,680 Speaker 1: sort of unkindly of Denise. She was extremely simple, and 147 00:08:10,720 --> 00:08:12,760 Speaker 1: all those who have admired her since I made her 148 00:08:12,800 --> 00:08:15,280 Speaker 1: my wife would certainly not have chosen her in the 149 00:08:15,360 --> 00:08:18,120 Speaker 1: state in which I found her. That makes me angry. 150 00:08:18,160 --> 00:08:20,840 Speaker 1: It's a little snarky, but things did not. I did 151 00:08:20,960 --> 00:08:23,240 Speaker 1: not say Rosie with the two of them forever, but 152 00:08:23,360 --> 00:08:25,080 Speaker 1: for a while she was his muse, and I think 153 00:08:25,160 --> 00:08:27,440 Speaker 1: she became the style director of his design house for 154 00:08:27,480 --> 00:08:31,920 Speaker 1: a while. And you know, he really clearly loved the 155 00:08:32,000 --> 00:08:34,120 Speaker 1: female form and love to dress it and wanted to 156 00:08:34,160 --> 00:08:36,960 Speaker 1: free it from a lot of the things that people 157 00:08:37,000 --> 00:08:39,520 Speaker 1: were kind of watted up in terms of the rules 158 00:08:39,559 --> 00:08:42,800 Speaker 1: of clothing. Yeah, there were lots and lots of layers, 159 00:08:43,480 --> 00:08:46,000 Speaker 1: and Denise was a huge pardon kind of that movement 160 00:08:46,040 --> 00:08:59,959 Speaker 1: towards a freer mode of dress. In Pre produced an 161 00:09:00,000 --> 00:09:03,839 Speaker 1: album of fashion designs. It was illustrated by Paul Iribe 162 00:09:03,840 --> 00:09:08,520 Speaker 1: called simply rope. To Paul Plory. At this point in 163 00:09:08,559 --> 00:09:13,240 Speaker 1: his career, Grecian clothing and Japanese kimonos and certain caftin 164 00:09:13,320 --> 00:09:16,160 Speaker 1: styles from Middle Eastern and North African cultures were really 165 00:09:16,240 --> 00:09:20,000 Speaker 1: influential in Paris designs. He wanted to make garments that 166 00:09:20,120 --> 00:09:24,240 Speaker 1: used simple rectangles instead of really complicated shapes. He developed 167 00:09:24,360 --> 00:09:28,360 Speaker 1: lots of designs that celebrated the so called Direct War revival. 168 00:09:28,600 --> 00:09:33,800 Speaker 1: Slouett so very columnar and n six was also the 169 00:09:33,920 --> 00:09:38,120 Speaker 1: year that he did something again controversial, when he replaced 170 00:09:38,120 --> 00:09:41,320 Speaker 1: the corset as a foundation garment for his designs with 171 00:09:41,320 --> 00:09:46,599 Speaker 1: a much less restrictive girdle. And this is a huge deal. Um, 172 00:09:46,640 --> 00:09:48,679 Speaker 1: this is like a kin to women burning their brawls 173 00:09:48,679 --> 00:09:50,520 Speaker 1: in the sixties, except it was a man doing it 174 00:09:50,559 --> 00:09:54,719 Speaker 1: for fashion. Well, and it really happened. But you know, 175 00:09:54,800 --> 00:09:57,640 Speaker 1: in terms of like the cultural touchstones that people think of, 176 00:09:58,400 --> 00:10:00,839 Speaker 1: this is really big to basically say the undergarments are 177 00:10:00,880 --> 00:10:03,480 Speaker 1: stupid and wrong, let's get rid of those. We're going 178 00:10:03,520 --> 00:10:07,480 Speaker 1: for a more natural shape. Um, no petticoats, no corsets, 179 00:10:07,840 --> 00:10:11,920 Speaker 1: complete mayhem. Really in terms of what had gone before, Yeah, 180 00:10:11,960 --> 00:10:15,040 Speaker 1: and again it wasn't just about what the clothes looked 181 00:10:15,080 --> 00:10:17,800 Speaker 1: like it was about all these ideas of modesty that 182 00:10:17,880 --> 00:10:21,679 Speaker 1: were tied to it and in decency and like what 183 00:10:21,679 --> 00:10:24,280 Speaker 1: what good ladies of quality wore when they were going 184 00:10:24,480 --> 00:10:27,080 Speaker 1: out and he threw those out the window. And he 185 00:10:27,160 --> 00:10:30,600 Speaker 1: wasn't the only designer, we should say, doing these things, 186 00:10:30,960 --> 00:10:34,480 Speaker 1: like Vienna was doing similar stuff, but he was kind 187 00:10:34,480 --> 00:10:36,400 Speaker 1: of so outspoken about it, and he had such a 188 00:10:36,440 --> 00:10:38,640 Speaker 1: flair for the dramatic that he got the most attention 189 00:10:39,200 --> 00:10:41,720 Speaker 1: in the press and societally for what he was doing. 190 00:10:42,880 --> 00:10:45,720 Speaker 1: But when you mentioned the modesty issue, that brings us 191 00:10:45,760 --> 00:10:48,080 Speaker 1: to a scandal that took place. Yes, there was a 192 00:10:48,080 --> 00:10:53,079 Speaker 1: scandal in nine nine involving uh Poire and British Prime 193 00:10:53,120 --> 00:10:56,640 Speaker 1: Minister H. H. Asked With and his wife. The story 194 00:10:56,679 --> 00:10:58,920 Speaker 1: goes that lady asked With was a fan of Paris 195 00:10:59,000 --> 00:11:01,360 Speaker 1: work and invited him to show his designs at ten 196 00:11:01,480 --> 00:11:05,560 Speaker 1: Downing Street. As is sometimes the case with fashion shows, 197 00:11:05,600 --> 00:11:08,360 Speaker 1: things got a little bit out of hand. Rumors started 198 00:11:08,400 --> 00:11:11,840 Speaker 1: to spread of really wild happenings and models running around 199 00:11:11,920 --> 00:11:16,000 Speaker 1: the famed residents in various states of undress. The scandal 200 00:11:16,320 --> 00:11:20,040 Speaker 1: really nearly caused ask With resignation, and it came to 201 00:11:20,080 --> 00:11:25,400 Speaker 1: be known as the Gowning Street scandal. And then um, 202 00:11:25,600 --> 00:11:28,040 Speaker 1: once that blew over and we moved forward a little 203 00:11:28,040 --> 00:11:32,360 Speaker 1: bit to nineteen eleven, we really hit what is in 204 00:11:32,400 --> 00:11:36,120 Speaker 1: the history of Paul Pore a huge, huge year. First, 205 00:11:36,679 --> 00:11:38,760 Speaker 1: he did something that had never been done before, which 206 00:11:38,760 --> 00:11:42,640 Speaker 1: is that he expand his brand, and that's not something 207 00:11:42,640 --> 00:11:45,360 Speaker 1: we normally attribute to things that were going on in 208 00:11:45,400 --> 00:11:47,560 Speaker 1: the early nine hundreds, like the idea of a fashion 209 00:11:47,600 --> 00:11:50,960 Speaker 1: designer having a brand. Uh. And he produced a fragrance 210 00:11:51,000 --> 00:11:54,120 Speaker 1: line that was named after his daughter Rosine, and it 211 00:11:54,160 --> 00:11:57,439 Speaker 1: was really successful and it eventually became Fragrances and Cosmetics 212 00:11:57,440 --> 00:12:00,480 Speaker 1: and continued to selve very very well. He he also 213 00:12:00,559 --> 00:12:03,880 Speaker 1: opened a decorative arts school for underprivileged girls, which was 214 00:12:03,920 --> 00:12:06,440 Speaker 1: called a Cole Martin, and that was named after another 215 00:12:06,480 --> 00:12:09,800 Speaker 1: of his daughters. He used the artwork the girls produced 216 00:12:09,840 --> 00:12:12,760 Speaker 1: to create fabric prints, which they sold in a shop 217 00:12:12,800 --> 00:12:16,520 Speaker 1: adjacent to the school. This really delights me. Yeah, I 218 00:12:16,559 --> 00:12:19,720 Speaker 1: feel like it was the spoon Flower of the kind 219 00:12:19,760 --> 00:12:22,360 Speaker 1: of and it really ended up becoming like a lifestyle 220 00:12:22,480 --> 00:12:25,240 Speaker 1: brand at that point because it also they also sold 221 00:12:25,240 --> 00:12:29,240 Speaker 1: things like stationary and you know, small little house items 222 00:12:29,240 --> 00:12:32,320 Speaker 1: there that had often used the designs of these girls, 223 00:12:32,800 --> 00:12:36,840 Speaker 1: and so his sort of home line became known as 224 00:12:36,880 --> 00:12:41,880 Speaker 1: the Martin Group. After this school and the the attached 225 00:12:41,880 --> 00:12:46,280 Speaker 1: store just really cool, uh. And then he invented around 226 00:12:46,280 --> 00:12:49,160 Speaker 1: in nineteen eleven what was called the Robe de Minute, 227 00:12:49,760 --> 00:12:53,040 Speaker 1: and this is again one of those things that is 228 00:12:53,080 --> 00:12:55,640 Speaker 1: so simple but really mind blowing for the time. It 229 00:12:55,720 --> 00:12:58,240 Speaker 1: was basically a simple column of silk cut almost like 230 00:12:58,240 --> 00:13:00,720 Speaker 1: a T shirt, and it allegedly took only thirty minutes 231 00:13:00,760 --> 00:13:04,960 Speaker 1: to assemble, so compared to the structured Edwardian fashions that 232 00:13:05,000 --> 00:13:07,720 Speaker 1: were still pretty prominent at the time, this was basically 233 00:13:07,760 --> 00:13:09,840 Speaker 1: like walking around in a nightgown. So to show up 234 00:13:09,880 --> 00:13:12,440 Speaker 1: at an evening party in this, which was usually what 235 00:13:12,559 --> 00:13:15,839 Speaker 1: his wife did, she was like wearing his really kind 236 00:13:15,880 --> 00:13:18,160 Speaker 1: of cutting edge designs before anyone else did, which is 237 00:13:18,160 --> 00:13:21,160 Speaker 1: why she became a fashion icon. Really was pretty brazen 238 00:13:21,200 --> 00:13:24,680 Speaker 1: and took a lot of bravado and it was um 239 00:13:24,920 --> 00:13:27,640 Speaker 1: ultra revolutionary. But again we should point out that it's 240 00:13:27,679 --> 00:13:29,600 Speaker 1: not on its own. He's not the only one doing 241 00:13:29,640 --> 00:13:32,120 Speaker 1: these sorts of things. This is also around the time 242 00:13:32,160 --> 00:13:36,600 Speaker 1: that Italian designer Mariano Fortuni was producing his really ultrasimple 243 00:13:36,880 --> 00:13:40,000 Speaker 1: Grecian style silhouettes that took advantage of his secret and 244 00:13:40,080 --> 00:13:45,119 Speaker 1: famous silk pleading techniques. So there was this um aesthetic 245 00:13:45,160 --> 00:13:49,920 Speaker 1: developing in fashion circles for simpler but really beautiful garments 246 00:13:50,760 --> 00:13:54,760 Speaker 1: um in this Grecian columnar style. Yeah, and if you're 247 00:13:54,800 --> 00:13:58,679 Speaker 1: not really familiar with with what Edwardian fashions look like, 248 00:13:59,240 --> 00:14:02,640 Speaker 1: we can just they were very fitted and think of Titanic. Yeah, 249 00:14:02,720 --> 00:14:06,720 Speaker 1: think of Titanic, very fitted, many layers of underpinnings underneath 250 00:14:07,120 --> 00:14:10,760 Speaker 1: that there's just a laggling on. Yeah. Fussy's a great word, 251 00:14:10,920 --> 00:14:13,520 Speaker 1: like you really had to have help to get into 252 00:14:13,600 --> 00:14:17,319 Speaker 1: your clothes, and not so much the case even though 253 00:14:17,360 --> 00:14:19,800 Speaker 1: the lines were simpler. I think people think of Edwardian 254 00:14:19,840 --> 00:14:23,240 Speaker 1: clothing is being simpler because it's the next phase after Victorian, 255 00:14:23,280 --> 00:14:25,720 Speaker 1: which was very fussy and everything had a Brazilian tassels 256 00:14:25,760 --> 00:14:30,560 Speaker 1: on it. Um, the clothing got the lines got simpler 257 00:14:30,600 --> 00:14:33,520 Speaker 1: and sharper, but and there wasn't as much crazy embellishment, 258 00:14:33,880 --> 00:14:36,280 Speaker 1: but all those layers were still there. So you still 259 00:14:36,280 --> 00:14:39,680 Speaker 1: had on your bloomers and your pantaloons and a chemise 260 00:14:39,720 --> 00:14:42,120 Speaker 1: and a corset and possibly a corset cover and then 261 00:14:42,120 --> 00:14:46,560 Speaker 1: a gown, possibly an undergown, you know, petticoat, I mean all. 262 00:14:46,720 --> 00:14:48,840 Speaker 1: And he basically got rid of all of that and said, 263 00:14:49,000 --> 00:14:52,200 Speaker 1: just wear a simple silk sheath. It's fine, I mean 264 00:14:52,760 --> 00:14:55,960 Speaker 1: And everybody was like, what, that's bold to do? What? 265 00:14:58,440 --> 00:15:01,880 Speaker 1: He was sparked by a just an exoticism after traveling 266 00:15:01,880 --> 00:15:05,920 Speaker 1: to Moscow in nineteen eleven. This was a huge influence 267 00:15:05,920 --> 00:15:08,560 Speaker 1: on his work from this point. Shortly after he came 268 00:15:08,600 --> 00:15:12,560 Speaker 1: back to Paris on June nineteen eleven, he hosted the 269 00:15:12,960 --> 00:15:17,000 Speaker 1: historically famous party called the thousand and Second Night. There 270 00:15:17,040 --> 00:15:19,200 Speaker 1: was allegedly a new translation of The thousand and one 271 00:15:19,280 --> 00:15:22,080 Speaker 1: Night's making the round in Paris at the time, although 272 00:15:22,080 --> 00:15:24,160 Speaker 1: we haven't really been able to confirm that. In time 273 00:15:24,160 --> 00:15:28,360 Speaker 1: for this episode, guests were required to attend in Persian 274 00:15:28,400 --> 00:15:31,560 Speaker 1: styled clothing or they had to be Uh. They had 275 00:15:31,600 --> 00:15:35,680 Speaker 1: to allow the host to dress them once they got there. Uh. 276 00:15:35,840 --> 00:15:38,520 Speaker 1: This was actually a ploy on Poires part. He was 277 00:15:38,640 --> 00:15:40,880 Speaker 1: dressing his guests in his new line of designs that 278 00:15:40,880 --> 00:15:44,240 Speaker 1: were inspired by his travels um specifically a production of 279 00:15:44,240 --> 00:15:47,520 Speaker 1: Scheherazade he saw at the Ballet Roust and his newfound 280 00:15:47,520 --> 00:15:51,400 Speaker 1: interest in Orientalism, and it's it's really sort of where 281 00:15:51,720 --> 00:15:55,360 Speaker 1: I think this party and this line of clothing is 282 00:15:55,880 --> 00:15:58,840 Speaker 1: really where his style kind of gets put under the 283 00:15:58,880 --> 00:16:01,400 Speaker 1: magnifying class in terms of the future, Like that's what 284 00:16:01,480 --> 00:16:03,720 Speaker 1: a lot of people associate with him or the is 285 00:16:03,760 --> 00:16:06,800 Speaker 1: that line of clothing, and that's actually where he debuted 286 00:16:07,040 --> 00:16:09,840 Speaker 1: the harem pants that he became famous for and the 287 00:16:09,920 --> 00:16:13,600 Speaker 1: lampshade dresses that he is also known for today. The 288 00:16:13,680 --> 00:16:16,560 Speaker 1: lampshade dresses really, when you say that, I think sometimes 289 00:16:16,560 --> 00:16:18,640 Speaker 1: people that might not know have a hard time picturing it. 290 00:16:18,920 --> 00:16:22,600 Speaker 1: They really were these tunic style dresses that had wire 291 00:16:22,720 --> 00:16:25,080 Speaker 1: in the hem to pull them out from the body 292 00:16:25,120 --> 00:16:28,240 Speaker 1: so it looked like a lampshade um. And these less 293 00:16:28,280 --> 00:16:31,760 Speaker 1: confining shapes actually became incredibly popular and they kept Party 294 00:16:31,920 --> 00:16:35,040 Speaker 1: very busy filling client orders. Even though they were completely 295 00:16:35,080 --> 00:16:38,240 Speaker 1: crazy and way beyond what had been going on in 296 00:16:38,280 --> 00:16:41,560 Speaker 1: fashion previously. People just really jumped on it. They loved 297 00:16:41,600 --> 00:16:43,400 Speaker 1: it well if you had a chance not to be. 298 00:16:43,720 --> 00:16:46,520 Speaker 1: And of course it was all those layers of clothing. Yeah, 299 00:16:46,600 --> 00:16:49,320 Speaker 1: because we've we've talked a lot before about how what 300 00:16:49,360 --> 00:16:52,240 Speaker 1: people think of is. Of course it's often not how 301 00:16:52,280 --> 00:16:54,720 Speaker 1: they were actually worn, right. It was not really a 302 00:16:54,720 --> 00:16:57,840 Speaker 1: tight lacing thing that we think of today, but it 303 00:16:57,920 --> 00:17:00,320 Speaker 1: was still a lot of clothing. All that stuff that 304 00:17:00,320 --> 00:17:04,320 Speaker 1: you're wearing is really heavy and and once you get 305 00:17:04,320 --> 00:17:06,520 Speaker 1: out of all of that and realize that you can 306 00:17:06,560 --> 00:17:09,600 Speaker 1: walk around your life without twenty five pounds of fabric 307 00:17:09,680 --> 00:17:12,480 Speaker 1: hanging off of your body, it's pretty liberating. Well, and 308 00:17:12,520 --> 00:17:14,640 Speaker 1: it's also worth mentioning I think that this was all 309 00:17:14,680 --> 00:17:18,359 Speaker 1: happening in the summer. Like the idea of suddenly being 310 00:17:18,800 --> 00:17:21,399 Speaker 1: free of all of that extra clothing in the hottest 311 00:17:21,440 --> 00:17:23,919 Speaker 1: time of the year, which it would have been for 312 00:17:24,000 --> 00:17:27,080 Speaker 1: Europe at the time. Um, that's got to be pretty appealing, 313 00:17:27,160 --> 00:17:31,639 Speaker 1: and I'm sure that factored into the success the quick 314 00:17:32,080 --> 00:17:44,440 Speaker 1: acceptance of these very new styles poire and and He's 315 00:17:44,480 --> 00:17:46,720 Speaker 1: traveled to the United States, where they were received with 316 00:17:46,840 --> 00:17:50,240 Speaker 1: great delight by the fashion crowd. He gave a series 317 00:17:50,280 --> 00:17:52,600 Speaker 1: of lectures in Manhattan, and the two of them toward 318 00:17:52,680 --> 00:17:55,440 Speaker 1: department stores and showed off all the latest designs from 319 00:17:55,440 --> 00:17:58,600 Speaker 1: their collection. It's interesting to know I was looking at 320 00:17:58,600 --> 00:18:01,320 Speaker 1: something while I was prepping for this that said that 321 00:18:01,359 --> 00:18:06,200 Speaker 1: he found um American women too thin and not very fashionable, 322 00:18:06,720 --> 00:18:08,520 Speaker 1: but they seemed so eager. He was fine with it. 323 00:18:08,560 --> 00:18:12,480 Speaker 1: He was, we can work with this. Also in nineteen thirteen, 324 00:18:12,520 --> 00:18:14,520 Speaker 1: he turned once again to his roots in the theater, 325 00:18:15,200 --> 00:18:20,440 Speaker 1: and most notably he designed costumes for Jacques Rochepin's Laminarette, 326 00:18:20,840 --> 00:18:23,159 Speaker 1: and he once again saw the opportunity to use the 327 00:18:23,160 --> 00:18:25,840 Speaker 1: stage as a runway, and he put his lampshade to 328 00:18:25,920 --> 00:18:28,000 Speaker 1: Knicks front and center. So even though it had been 329 00:18:28,000 --> 00:18:29,600 Speaker 1: a couple of years at that point, those were still 330 00:18:29,680 --> 00:18:33,040 Speaker 1: very popular and he was still pushing them, uh and 331 00:18:33,200 --> 00:18:36,520 Speaker 1: you know, doing very very well as a theatrical designer. 332 00:18:36,800 --> 00:18:40,480 Speaker 1: But then nineteen fourteen changed everything for the House of Bore. 333 00:18:41,200 --> 00:18:43,399 Speaker 1: He had come to be known as La magnifique for 334 00:18:43,600 --> 00:18:47,240 Speaker 1: his innovative and original creations. But World War One saw 335 00:18:47,359 --> 00:18:50,320 Speaker 1: him once again called into military service, this time as 336 00:18:50,320 --> 00:18:53,840 Speaker 1: a military tailor, and he said to have streamlined the 337 00:18:53,880 --> 00:18:57,720 Speaker 1: production of uniforms during that time. But because he was 338 00:18:57,800 --> 00:19:01,520 Speaker 1: busy with his service and wasn't pretty seeing any new designs, 339 00:19:01,600 --> 00:19:04,359 Speaker 1: his fashion house was using the handful of ideas that 340 00:19:04,400 --> 00:19:06,440 Speaker 1: he had left behind when he went back to the army, 341 00:19:06,520 --> 00:19:10,360 Speaker 1: So they were kind of just recycling this handful of 342 00:19:10,640 --> 00:19:13,119 Speaker 1: concepts that he had to try to push out new stuff, 343 00:19:13,119 --> 00:19:15,320 Speaker 1: but they really without him at the home. It's a 344 00:19:15,320 --> 00:19:18,480 Speaker 1: bit of a struggle. In nineteen fifteen, while he was 345 00:19:18,520 --> 00:19:21,560 Speaker 1: still serving, he was able to return to Paris for 346 00:19:21,640 --> 00:19:24,280 Speaker 1: a little bit of time to design a new collection, 347 00:19:24,960 --> 00:19:28,200 Speaker 1: but two tragedies struck his family right at the same time. 348 00:19:28,760 --> 00:19:32,000 Speaker 1: His daughter Rosine died after contracting an ear infection and 349 00:19:32,080 --> 00:19:35,680 Speaker 1: his daughter Gaspar died from the Spanish flu. The new 350 00:19:35,720 --> 00:19:39,360 Speaker 1: collection didn't happen because of these two events. No new 351 00:19:39,400 --> 00:19:42,000 Speaker 1: designs came from the Poire brand until after the war 352 00:19:42,119 --> 00:19:45,520 Speaker 1: was over. This was really a turning point in Pare's life, 353 00:19:45,520 --> 00:19:48,679 Speaker 1: although it wasn't apparent how much impact it had until later. 354 00:19:49,600 --> 00:19:52,320 Speaker 1: So once he returned to his work in fashion after 355 00:19:52,320 --> 00:19:55,560 Speaker 1: the war in nine, he picked up exactly where he 356 00:19:55,680 --> 00:19:58,760 Speaker 1: left off, designing these high waisted gowns that were inspired 357 00:19:58,760 --> 00:20:01,760 Speaker 1: by other cultures and that featured a lot of dramatic detail. 358 00:20:02,320 --> 00:20:05,040 Speaker 1: He continued to produce his same style of design, but 359 00:20:05,080 --> 00:20:08,119 Speaker 1: because his aesthetics seemed to have really frozen at the 360 00:20:08,160 --> 00:20:10,560 Speaker 1: period right before he left to serve in World War One, 361 00:20:11,040 --> 00:20:14,479 Speaker 1: his lick was too outdated. Coco Chanelle had arrived on 362 00:20:14,480 --> 00:20:17,879 Speaker 1: the scene with her Little Black Dress in and the 363 00:20:18,040 --> 00:20:22,399 Speaker 1: overworked theatricality of Pire's designs was immediately seen as old 364 00:20:22,480 --> 00:20:25,159 Speaker 1: fashioned and out of mood. So that same year that 365 00:20:25,280 --> 00:20:29,600 Speaker 1: Chanelle debuted The Little Black Dress, Pire, who was desperate 366 00:20:29,600 --> 00:20:32,280 Speaker 1: at that point to save his fashion house, sold the 367 00:20:32,359 --> 00:20:35,639 Speaker 1: rights to his company to financial backers. He still worked there, 368 00:20:35,680 --> 00:20:38,439 Speaker 1: but he didn't own it, and his design really struggled. 369 00:20:39,000 --> 00:20:41,720 Speaker 1: He continued to attempt to innovate, but it seemed like 370 00:20:41,800 --> 00:20:45,000 Speaker 1: he didn't have the inspiration, so it was very forced 371 00:20:45,960 --> 00:20:48,960 Speaker 1: and his design when people describe his designs at the time, 372 00:20:48,960 --> 00:20:51,440 Speaker 1: they sound like they're kind of overworked, in a little 373 00:20:51,440 --> 00:20:56,480 Speaker 1: bit lacking. Uh. And in an effort to rekindle public 374 00:20:56,520 --> 00:20:59,359 Speaker 1: interest in his work because he wasn't bringing in customers, 375 00:20:59,760 --> 00:21:04,240 Speaker 1: he staged this huge spectacle of three decorated barges on 376 00:21:04,280 --> 00:21:07,880 Speaker 1: the banks of the sin for an art Dakaratif's exhibit, 377 00:21:08,760 --> 00:21:11,960 Speaker 1: and you know, it was this huge, big event for 378 00:21:12,040 --> 00:21:16,280 Speaker 1: part of his housewear line. But because his theatricality, which 379 00:21:16,280 --> 00:21:18,960 Speaker 1: served him really well in times of plenty, it nearly 380 00:21:18,960 --> 00:21:21,600 Speaker 1: bankrupted him when in this period when he didn't have 381 00:21:21,640 --> 00:21:23,680 Speaker 1: that much ready money and it was you know, a 382 00:21:24,160 --> 00:21:27,280 Speaker 1: period of struggle for the designer, so he couldn't pull 383 00:21:27,320 --> 00:21:29,959 Speaker 1: off those same big, crazy things that he had been 384 00:21:29,960 --> 00:21:33,040 Speaker 1: doing before because it was too expensive and people weren't 385 00:21:33,040 --> 00:21:35,639 Speaker 1: into what he was doing anymore now, especially once you 386 00:21:35,680 --> 00:21:39,719 Speaker 1: get into the twenties and the thirties, people were not 387 00:21:39,800 --> 00:21:45,760 Speaker 1: about extravagance anymore. So this is really a downward turn. 388 00:21:45,920 --> 00:21:48,640 Speaker 1: After and then after twenty three years of marriage, Denise 389 00:21:48,720 --> 00:21:53,000 Speaker 1: Pare filed for divorce in claiming that he was just 390 00:21:53,160 --> 00:21:58,200 Speaker 1: relentlessly cruel to her. And the following year, in ninety nine, 391 00:21:58,280 --> 00:22:00,720 Speaker 1: the backers who had bought the poor a design house 392 00:22:00,760 --> 00:22:03,920 Speaker 1: just four years before, closed the shop's doors. They had 393 00:22:03,920 --> 00:22:06,159 Speaker 1: already had it with the spending and they knew that 394 00:22:06,200 --> 00:22:09,000 Speaker 1: they couldn't sustain the business, and they sold off every 395 00:22:09,040 --> 00:22:13,320 Speaker 1: assets scrap, which is sort of heartbreaking, like it was 396 00:22:13,359 --> 00:22:18,119 Speaker 1: literally sold by weight. Sad. It's really upsetting, um, but 397 00:22:18,160 --> 00:22:21,440 Speaker 1: we didn't lose everything. Pori was also unfortunately forced to 398 00:22:21,480 --> 00:22:23,800 Speaker 1: sell most of his personal assets, so the furniture and 399 00:22:23,880 --> 00:22:25,840 Speaker 1: paintings that he had had in his townhouse at the 400 00:22:25,880 --> 00:22:28,000 Speaker 1: time were sold off and he had to move to 401 00:22:28,080 --> 00:22:31,399 Speaker 1: a much smaller apartment. At this point, he turned to 402 00:22:31,480 --> 00:22:34,800 Speaker 1: writing for a couple of years. He published on Dressing 403 00:22:34,840 --> 00:22:38,080 Speaker 1: This Age in nineteen thirty and his autobiography King of 404 00:22:38,119 --> 00:22:41,720 Speaker 1: Fashion in ninety one. The publications didn't get him back 405 00:22:41,720 --> 00:22:44,359 Speaker 1: on his feet, and by nine thirty three he was 406 00:22:44,440 --> 00:22:48,440 Speaker 1: designing dresses in department stores for housewives. Yeah, quite a 407 00:22:48,480 --> 00:22:51,920 Speaker 1: step back from what he had been doing, And by 408 00:22:51,920 --> 00:22:54,760 Speaker 1: six he was discovered working in a bar. But people 409 00:22:54,800 --> 00:22:57,240 Speaker 1: that talked to him found him as confident as ever. 410 00:22:57,320 --> 00:22:59,080 Speaker 1: He really thought he was going to make a comeback 411 00:22:59,080 --> 00:23:04,080 Speaker 1: in fashion. Paul Pot died in n in poverty. He 412 00:23:04,119 --> 00:23:07,520 Speaker 1: had been living on public assistance, and Elsa Shipparelli, who 413 00:23:07,600 --> 00:23:10,119 Speaker 1: he had befriended and encouraged when she was young and 414 00:23:10,160 --> 00:23:13,760 Speaker 1: starting out, paid for his burial. And so even though 415 00:23:13,760 --> 00:23:16,560 Speaker 1: it seems that he has a sad ending, it kind 416 00:23:16,560 --> 00:23:21,320 Speaker 1: of turns around later after he's gone for a bit. Uh. 417 00:23:21,400 --> 00:23:24,840 Speaker 1: In May of two thousand five, Denise's wardrobe, which it 418 00:23:24,920 --> 00:23:27,439 Speaker 1: turned out had actually been carefully preserved by the family, 419 00:23:27,560 --> 00:23:29,960 Speaker 1: so thank goodness, it was not sold off in that 420 00:23:30,000 --> 00:23:33,800 Speaker 1: bulk um clear out that the backers had done was 421 00:23:33,840 --> 00:23:37,560 Speaker 1: auctioned off. And when this happened, it suddenly put Poiret's 422 00:23:37,600 --> 00:23:40,320 Speaker 1: designs back in the public eye, and so even though 423 00:23:40,359 --> 00:23:42,240 Speaker 1: he had been marginalized at the end of his life, 424 00:23:42,320 --> 00:23:45,600 Speaker 1: the interest in his work was like instantly reignited. People 425 00:23:45,600 --> 00:23:49,199 Speaker 1: saw these designs and it was like, how did we 426 00:23:49,280 --> 00:23:51,280 Speaker 1: ever forget this person? Like how did we let this 427 00:23:51,359 --> 00:23:55,320 Speaker 1: fall into obscurity. Then in two thousand and seven, the 428 00:23:55,359 --> 00:23:58,480 Speaker 1: exhibit poire King of Fashion opened at the met To 429 00:23:58,800 --> 00:24:02,080 Speaker 1: Great Fan Fair in ps Uh. And while party is 430 00:24:02,160 --> 00:24:05,639 Speaker 1: long gone, his impact on fashion still remains. He was, 431 00:24:05,720 --> 00:24:08,600 Speaker 1: of course the first couturier that used draping rather than 432 00:24:08,600 --> 00:24:12,119 Speaker 1: tailoring to create gowns. Uh, you know, freeing women from 433 00:24:12,160 --> 00:24:15,000 Speaker 1: restrictive corsets that have been de rigger up to that point. 434 00:24:15,480 --> 00:24:17,880 Speaker 1: And in fact, you know, in getting rid of all 435 00:24:17,880 --> 00:24:21,080 Speaker 1: of those fussy layers, he just completely changed fashion forever. 436 00:24:21,440 --> 00:24:24,439 Speaker 1: Like now, you know, of course, garments are draped, and 437 00:24:24,840 --> 00:24:27,160 Speaker 1: you know, if you watch Project Runway, you see people 438 00:24:27,160 --> 00:24:29,280 Speaker 1: that do a lot of draping techniques to create these 439 00:24:29,320 --> 00:24:32,639 Speaker 1: really flowing, beautiful gowns. That's still happening, and he was 440 00:24:32,680 --> 00:24:36,000 Speaker 1: the first that really did it commercially. He's also the 441 00:24:36,040 --> 00:24:39,560 Speaker 1: person that debuted the idea of nude stockings. Instead of 442 00:24:39,600 --> 00:24:44,000 Speaker 1: black tights. Yeah, just quite revolutionary. And now we have 443 00:24:44,040 --> 00:24:45,920 Speaker 1: options for both, but at the time it was black 444 00:24:45,960 --> 00:24:48,680 Speaker 1: tights or nothing. Both are neither, Both are neither or 445 00:24:48,720 --> 00:24:51,400 Speaker 1: does not having co drink? And he, as I said, 446 00:24:51,480 --> 00:24:53,399 Speaker 1: was the first designer who really had a brand, so 447 00:24:53,520 --> 00:24:56,560 Speaker 1: fragrance home design, lifestyle products. He was doing this in 448 00:24:56,600 --> 00:24:59,600 Speaker 1: the early nineteen hundreds, like what Ralph Lauren does today 449 00:24:59,600 --> 00:25:03,440 Speaker 1: wouldn't ever have happened without this kind of idea. Sparking 450 00:25:04,040 --> 00:25:07,040 Speaker 1: and fashion marketing was also something that he really pioneered. 451 00:25:07,080 --> 00:25:08,719 Speaker 1: He was a person that was out there doing his 452 00:25:08,720 --> 00:25:12,200 Speaker 1: own pr telling people how great he was promoting his brand, 453 00:25:13,040 --> 00:25:16,000 Speaker 1: which no fashion houses were doing that way at the time. 454 00:25:16,440 --> 00:25:19,119 Speaker 1: Some have said that we would not have the avant 455 00:25:19,200 --> 00:25:21,840 Speaker 1: garde designers of today if there had been no poor A. 456 00:25:22,840 --> 00:25:25,399 Speaker 1: Imagine a world without Jean Pon Jean Paul Gautier. I 457 00:25:25,440 --> 00:25:27,080 Speaker 1: think you don't want us to do that. I wouldn't. 458 00:25:27,080 --> 00:25:34,440 Speaker 1: I would cry, I love and pants for ladies. Yes, um, yeah, 459 00:25:34,560 --> 00:25:37,399 Speaker 1: that wasn't really happening. Prior to that. There were some 460 00:25:37,440 --> 00:25:40,480 Speaker 1: sporting costumes in late Victorian an early and Wardian era, 461 00:25:40,560 --> 00:25:43,240 Speaker 1: but it usually involved bloomers that were cut a little 462 00:25:43,240 --> 00:25:46,480 Speaker 1: more like pants under a full dress, so you could 463 00:25:46,800 --> 00:25:50,280 Speaker 1: do sporting things and not expose anything, but you still 464 00:25:50,320 --> 00:25:53,320 Speaker 1: add on a jillion layers and yards and yards and 465 00:25:53,359 --> 00:25:56,800 Speaker 1: yards of fabric. So he just completely revolutionized the way 466 00:25:56,840 --> 00:26:00,359 Speaker 1: we dress. And it's sort of interesting because we think 467 00:26:00,440 --> 00:26:04,640 Speaker 1: today of core um as being other. I think most 468 00:26:04,640 --> 00:26:06,480 Speaker 1: people on the street don't think of that as being, 469 00:26:06,680 --> 00:26:08,720 Speaker 1: you know, the thing that really influences their day to 470 00:26:08,760 --> 00:26:11,920 Speaker 1: day fashion. But he was kind of doing this influencing 471 00:26:12,040 --> 00:26:15,520 Speaker 1: even though it was in more tour circles, and it's 472 00:26:15,560 --> 00:26:19,560 Speaker 1: echoed out you know since then. It reminds me of 473 00:26:19,600 --> 00:26:22,800 Speaker 1: Downton Abbey, and there's an episode in which Lady Sybil 474 00:26:23,280 --> 00:26:30,080 Speaker 1: comes to dinner. Yes, yes, Paul, I love, I love 475 00:26:30,160 --> 00:26:32,960 Speaker 1: I love his work. I highly encourage anybody to um 476 00:26:33,480 --> 00:26:36,960 Speaker 1: go googling and looking for pictures of it because some 477 00:26:37,119 --> 00:26:39,800 Speaker 1: of it's just mind blowing. He also did do some 478 00:26:39,880 --> 00:26:42,400 Speaker 1: really really skinny skirts that were hard to walk in. Yeah, 479 00:26:42,520 --> 00:26:45,080 Speaker 1: we wor't forgive him of we were talking about that earlier. 480 00:26:45,119 --> 00:26:46,960 Speaker 1: But have we have all of these getting rid of 481 00:26:47,000 --> 00:26:49,160 Speaker 1: restrictive layers and getting rid of course it's and getting 482 00:26:49,200 --> 00:26:51,560 Speaker 1: rid of all these things that bind people, and but 483 00:26:51,640 --> 00:26:54,400 Speaker 1: then having these skirts that were so so tight that 484 00:26:54,440 --> 00:26:57,639 Speaker 1: you couldn't really walk in them. I have a theory 485 00:26:58,200 --> 00:27:00,480 Speaker 1: that is unsubstantiated. I haven't done the reas to prove 486 00:27:00,520 --> 00:27:03,280 Speaker 1: or disprove it, but I wonder because he was so 487 00:27:03,440 --> 00:27:08,720 Speaker 1: influenced by Asian cultures such as he knew them um 488 00:27:09,000 --> 00:27:12,920 Speaker 1: and you know, it's considered very um much a part 489 00:27:12,960 --> 00:27:16,280 Speaker 1: of like Geisha culture, to take the very tiniest steps. 490 00:27:16,320 --> 00:27:18,639 Speaker 1: It's part of like the delicate and graceful way that 491 00:27:18,680 --> 00:27:20,919 Speaker 1: Geisha move and their shoes are actually designed to kind 492 00:27:20,960 --> 00:27:23,080 Speaker 1: of promote this sort of movement. And I wonder if 493 00:27:23,080 --> 00:27:25,320 Speaker 1: he was trying to mimic that a little bit in 494 00:27:25,400 --> 00:27:29,359 Speaker 1: a more western style. But I don't know. I'm I'm 495 00:27:29,400 --> 00:27:32,280 Speaker 1: just speculating it. I hate skirts like that because I 496 00:27:32,280 --> 00:27:35,200 Speaker 1: am tall lady. I take very giant steps all the time. 497 00:27:35,240 --> 00:27:38,520 Speaker 1: You're a long striker. I have two skirts that I 498 00:27:38,520 --> 00:27:40,920 Speaker 1: bought at the same time, not realizing when I tried 499 00:27:40,960 --> 00:27:43,000 Speaker 1: them on that they were going to cause me not 500 00:27:43,080 --> 00:27:45,480 Speaker 1: to be able to do that. I have never worn 501 00:27:45,600 --> 00:27:47,679 Speaker 1: them since getting them home from the store. So, for you, 502 00:27:47,800 --> 00:27:51,480 Speaker 1: pants or things that don't have a hymn that keeps 503 00:27:51,520 --> 00:27:59,880 Speaker 1: me from blocking. There you go. They so much. Bring 504 00:28:00,000 --> 00:28:03,040 Speaker 1: winning us on this Saturday. Since this episode is out 505 00:28:03,040 --> 00:28:05,000 Speaker 1: of the archive, if you heard an email address or 506 00:28:05,119 --> 00:28:07,480 Speaker 1: Facebook U r L or something similar over the course 507 00:28:07,520 --> 00:28:10,800 Speaker 1: of the show, that could be obsolete now. Our current 508 00:28:10,880 --> 00:28:16,080 Speaker 1: email address is History Podcast at i heart radio dot com. 509 00:28:16,080 --> 00:28:19,280 Speaker 1: Our old how Stuff Works email address no longer works, 510 00:28:19,640 --> 00:28:21,880 Speaker 1: and you can find us all over social media at 511 00:28:22,000 --> 00:28:25,080 Speaker 1: missed in History. And you can subscribe to our show 512 00:28:25,200 --> 00:28:28,639 Speaker 1: on Apple podcasts, Google Podcasts, the I heart Radio app, 513 00:28:28,720 --> 00:28:35,000 Speaker 1: and wherever else you listen to podcasts. Stuff you Missed 514 00:28:35,000 --> 00:28:37,479 Speaker 1: in History Class is a production of I heart Radio. 515 00:28:37,800 --> 00:28:40,360 Speaker 1: For more podcasts from I heart Radio, visit the I 516 00:28:40,440 --> 00:28:43,640 Speaker 1: heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to 517 00:28:43,680 --> 00:28:44,520 Speaker 1: your favorite shows.