Max Tilke – Oriental Costumes. Their Designs and Colors

Автор: Max Tilke
Название книги: Oriental Costumes. Their Designs and Colors
Формат: PDF
Жанр: Мода и дизайн
Качество: Изначально компьютерное, E-book

The history of costumes has now become an indispensable factor in the study of cultural history. But not only the learned specialists are interested in this branch of human invention which has by no means been exhaustively investigated. Ever-widening circles, such as artists, craftsmen, fashion firms, and the theatrical profession are becoming increasingly interested in it. True, much new and valuable work has been done, since Hermann Weiss laid the first foundations in his “Kostümkunde” (1860-72) for the investigation and definition of costumes in connection with the general cultural life of the various nations. Yet, in turning over the leaves of the various books dealing with costume-lore one is struck by the fact that there is yet something lacking. The real dress itself. That is, we obtain but little information as to the shape of the dress itself, as to its cut, and the connection of the single parts. But even the few patterns in the books especially devoted to the subject of costumes are nearly always completely neglected. Reconstruction of patterns from old oriental costumes are few and far between. They do not do justice to actual discoveries, because the investigators allowed themselves to be unduly influenced by the schematic forms of representation of the old artists without having a general conception of former and present parts of dresses and costumes.
We cannot reconstruct unless we can compare. For this reason it, was first necessary to gather as complete a collection as possible of new and old patterns of garments used by all nations. On journeys in North Africa, Spain, the Balkans, and the Caucasus the material found in the European museums and private collections was completed, and finally united into a collection. I exhibited my first collection in 1911 at the Lipperheide Costume Library of the Berlin “Kunstgewerbe” Museum. The heads of the museum were so much interested in my collection that it was purchased for the library with money provided by the state.
Our illustrations of costumes, which are to be continued, only present a part of all the former and present types worn in the orient. But an attempt has been made to select the most conspicuous and particularly characteristic forms of each country, and thus at least to provide a general view of the general character of oriental costumes. The reader will have no difficulty when looking carefully at the various plates, and comparing them, to find out the types of costumes belonging to certain cultural areas and to recognize their geographical distribution. Inspection of the plates will soon show how costumes resembling one another are distributed over great geographical areas, but also that there are great differences among the costumes of one and the same country. History, it is true, teaches us that peoples have migrated since the earliest times, have crowded each other out, and intermingled. But everything that is recognized as akin could not have been invented in one region and have spread from there. Where human intelligence found similar requirements and the same climate, the same form of costume had to be evolved in spite of local modifications.
In studying a costume one should at first see how many seams are marked or emphasized by ornamental decorations. Attention should not be paid to such seams that are the incidental result of lack of material or similar causes. The shape of the sleeves, the opening for the neck, the fastenings, ornamentation, and colour of the garments should then be scrutinized. The most ancient dresses are the most simply cut, and have the fewest seams. Complicated costumes can be traced back to a characteristic nucleus which remains if one substracts all adjuncts recognizable by seams. It is interesting to note that these costume nuclei– which I shall term original forms–resemble those still worn to-day. Many of the original forms seem to belong to certain cultural circles, others to have been generally used. As many nations are still living in circumstances that are similar to those of ancient times, it is easy to understand that ancient costume shapes have been retained. In the same manner as excavations devulge various strata of cultural epochs, so do the garments of certain peoples consist of costume types of different cultur al circles and epochs.