2 dresses - 1 country - which?

Thanks Suzanne! Yes, Iran. Glad you say 70s on the second.

I'd be interested in any close parallels (patterns, dresses) people have seen for the red party dress. I'm pretty sure it was made up for a hotel boutique, but have no context for it other than that.
 
I love the print on the 2nd one, and, yes, 70s. The red is strking as well. I don't have anything like it, but the style itself looks pretty classic and I imagine the gold embellishment adds more of an ethnic/region-specific look to it.
 
thanks all - I almost parted with the Achick dress a couple of times, then came to my senses. Yes, I've wondered about the golden mesh and how that would be interpreted...

Carrie, you mean these kind of things?

http://www.etsy.com/listing/48277140/vintage-50s-hand-bag-purse-persian-print

I've thought that in the past - there seems to have been a whole range in this particular fabric. Problem with abstract ornament is that one needs to find an ad in order to confirm the 'inspiration', or possibly just the marketing...
 
I adore your blog, and I love your interest in Middle Eastern things - I find myself fascinated by these things too.

My thoughts on seeing the two dresses veered towards Iran too.

My little bit of googling turned up German Wikipedia site that says Ramsar is a city in northern Iran, on the shores of the Caspian Sea (a regian which I think used to be and probably still is popular as a holiday destination). The site talks about an imperial palace (there's a pic) and "the old hotel Ramsar". That all sounds like your hotel boutique theory is right :D.

Karin
 
Aha, Karin, excellently-googled! I couldn't make out whether it was a hotel *in* Ramsar, or whether it was named, you know, 'Hotel Ramsar' like 'Hotel Bristol' and so on. The other hotel name is also a town south of Isfahan, but I concluded that it must be a Tehran hotel... probably.

All those resorts on the Caspian are kind of a little like ex-Soviet Black Sea resorts - a little 70s, a few municipal monuments, hints of a lost world. Visited one in the mist once... didn't see the sea!
 
btw thanks so much for compliments on the blog - it means a great deal to know that it's being appreciated, especially when I'm concentrating on a bit of a niche area...

Having hoarded a few of these things for quite some time, it also feels constructive to air pictures so that they're out there for discussion. Sad to say, there's plenty more to come...
 
I think it's great that you have this kind of "niche" and found something that interests you especially! And it's good to see someone have such a lively interest in these things in this age where so many Middle Eastern countries are universally seen as "bad" as well as everything to do with this culture. When I see through the things you show, how just a few decades ago, nobody thought anything bad about this, and how these things were eagerly welcomed into Western fashion, how they were regarded as desirable... I wish everybody would see this and that maybe this would open some people's minds (when I think of the debates going on in my country... after all, we introduced the prohibition of minarets last year - don't want to get political here, but still :flaming: - some people just seem to throw everything into the same basket!).

Can't wait to see more - keep 'em coming. There's just so many interesting things to learn on this forum!

Actually I'd love to go to Iran once, because of the monuments etc.
I have been to Uzbekistan, which had been a dream of mine for some time - I had a picture of the Registan square in Tashkent in my head, and that was it. Well, that was one of the best trips ever that I took, and as bad as the government that's in place there is, as wonderful are the people, and the monuments are just... breathtaking!

Karin
 
Karin,
Thanks so much! "a few decades ago, nobody thought anything bad about this". Exactly, I think al'America (the book, link in the blog somewhere) put it really well: something along the lines of 'when the Arab world was the stuff of American dreams, not its nightmares'.

There's a whopping new minaret on Brick Lane, actually. I'm sure there are some who are complaining about it, but I think it looks stunning. One never tends to hear the call to prayer though.

Uzbekistan -that's on my 'must go to' list! I've been dying to go there for years, but trying to find some kind of spurious work-related excuse.... How wonderful that you got to go. But 'back to Iran' is also on the list. It's a long, long list, to be completely honest...

Having said that, I'm off for a quick unexotic break in the mountains. So I'll be going quiet for a short while. Have much that I'm excited about writing about when i get back though. My new twitter account might be the first thing to wake up on my return... one more avenue for chat and procrastination - fatal!

Happy 4th July weekend, to everyone who's observing the holiday. Happy summer to everyone else!
L
 
when the Arab world was the stuff of American dreams, not its nightmares
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Yes, I find that a very good way of putting it too!

Maybe they're not allowed to use loudspeakers on that minaret? I know that happens in other countries, so you would hear the prayer call only when you're right there. I wandered into Brick Lane more or less by accident on my last trip to London a few years ago, and found it very interesting.

Uzbekistan is great - especially in September, when it's harvest- and wedding-season. We met a lot of wedding parties that went to the big monuments to the country's historical heroes to take photos, and whenever they saw us (I was traveling with a group), they wanted us in the picture too. There were Americans in our group too, but that never mattered to anyone - they were happy for any foreigners to come, especially in places where they're not so used to tourists, like the Ferghana Valley. The women dress colorfully and the traditional beauty-ideals make for a very unique look - it really felt so different from all I knew, and I enjoyed that very much. The traditional handwoven silks and the embroidered wall-hangings are just gorgeous. I carried several kilos of silk home for myself and my mother :D.

Karin
 
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