à la russe

The early 1920s saw Western fashion start to experiment with Eastern elements. With a large Russian population now living in Paris following the Bolshevik Revolution, major couturiers such as Chanel sought inspiration from the costumers of the Russian ballet and elements of traditional Russian dress suddenly became a part of mainstream fashion. As a result of fabric shortages post war, embroidery became very popular as it was an affordable way of adorning dresses with an elegant design and enabled designers to use the simpler fabrics that were available. Embroidered dresses and blouses modeled off the traditional Russian peasant style were popular for their exotic appearance and nostalgic charm.

I love this style not only because of the association with my homeland, but because peasant dresses are the most comfortable dresses to wear, especially in this climate. While there are quite a number of authentic 1920s dresses available in this style, there are also some great reproductions too and with the cost of 1920s vintage as it is, not to mention how frail it is to actually wear...I would recommend going for a reproduction.

In an ideal world I would have loved to pack this dress on a visit home to Russia, to photograph it in the lupin field near our house, but sadly as it is I will not be going back this year so photos in the Australian outback had to do. Not quite the same, but how sweet is that cockatoo? I didn't even notice he was there until we finished taking photos - if you look carefully he is photobombing in the third last photo! We took these photos at my favorite hiking trail, the morbidly named Slaughter Falls. As you can imagine all sorts of urban legends surround this place about slayed picnicking couples and the rumor of a lady in white being seen, but not this afternoon, no, just me in this lovely embroidered white frock.

Wearing:

The Deco Haus - Dress

Bait Footwear - Shoes

reverefolie - Bebe Earrings courtesy of reverefolie