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Lapmshade Tunic
Paul Poiret, 1913
The FIDM Museum
Paul Poiret was the first major Parisian couturier to design clothes meant to be worn without a corset. His inspiration wasn’t so much the idea of freeing woman, but rather bringing into the west the sexy, fetishized appeal of the exotic “orient.” Going in with this appeal, Poiret continued to push boundaries and upset sensibilities with harem pants and loose, unstructured dresses.
