Exotic Styling - Fashion Porn For Vintage Lovers

When I was clearing the book shelves at The Cottage I came across a book which must have belonged to my mum.

Wearing: 1960s St Michael nightie with quilted skirt; 1970s white leather go-go boots and a enamel horse pendant. Note the colour co-ordinated cat, Frank the Tank.

  Exotic Styling was published in 1974 but, despite us sharing the same house for eleven years I'd never laid eyes on it before. Packed full of kaftans, batik, frog fastenings, halterneck tops, soutache embroidery, crochet maxis, clothes trimmed with metallic braiding & fringing and even pom poms it was a revelation! The entire book is like a description of my wardrobe.

Exotic. The word stems from the Greek exo - outside. Anything out of its place is exotic. But in fashion, the exotic is more than something just out of its place. Its the imaginative use of colours, materials, accessories and design to suggest, rather than copy, the look and spirit of another place, another time.

It is the evocation of Japan in a kimono's gracious flow; of ancient Persia in a caftan's long, fluid lines; of West Africa in a dashiki's bold, square-shouldered cut. It is a sunburst of saffron on a turban, a broad stroke of embroidered silk for a sash, a net of filet crochet for an evening gown and a maelstrom of colour in tie-dyed cotton for a robe. 

Paradoxically, the construction of these garments does not require infinities of fuss. "To dress a woman is not to cover her with ornaments", said Paul Poiret, the designer whose revolutionary impact in the early part of the century laid the foundation for today's exotic fashion, "It is to underline the endowments of her body...to reveal nature in a significant contour, which accentuates grace. All the talent of an artist consists in a manner of revealment". 

 The book references many of the designers of the day, Ossie Clark, Halston, Jean Varon, Victor Costa, Bill Gibb ...all of whom were inspired by the exotic. 

Each beautifully photographed chapter delves into the origins of both the fabrics and the actual garments and gives detailed and gorgeously illustrated instructions so the reader can either make their own or adapt an existing pattern.

This kimono has been made by adapting a conventional dressing gown pattern using the instructions in the book and made up in two fabrics so it is reversible. Two hostess gowns in one. 

This caftan is made from three silks and conjures up visions of mysteriously veiled Bedouin chambers.  According to the book this can be made using a commercial caftan pattern with alterations to the sleeves as demonstrated further in the chapter. 

The African dashiki, with a cut as crisp as a paper doll's tunic, provides an attractive showcase for two or even three subtly patterned but colour-related fabrics. 

Whenever human beings have found themselves with time on their hands, they have shown an inclination to fill the empty moments with embellishing - walls with paintings, stories with anecdotes, clothes with embroidery. Excavations of neolithic burial mounds in Europe have revealed scraps of wool or linen beautified by the primitive doodling of a crude bone needle. Friezes on early Egyptian palaces  depict men & women in what appear to be richly embellished robes and The Vedas, the venerable Hindu scriptures of India, allude to decorative needlework. 

The proud peacock and fragile sprays of spring blossom embroidered on the border of this red satin dress are just incredible. The book includes detailed diagrams and instructions do you can do it yourself. I bloody wish!

Apparently this design is characteristically Turkish and gives Middle Eastern excitement to this Western evening bag. I'm not really a bag person but I'd love this.

I've tried and failed at crochet most of my life but the more I look at this cropped top, made from individual paisley shapes, the more I'm tempted to give it another try. Ditto the maxi skirt, halter top and skull cap. Wow!

I've found a couple of vintage copies of Exotic Styling for sale HERE. The instructions are quite scary if you're a novice like me but the inspiration is wonderful.

See you soon!