ooh! on the grounds of untrammelled kitsch-y orientalism, I like!
<u>Indian/Moghul</u>-ish rather than Arab.
Although 'Arab' may spring to mind as the first term to use for Eastern-looking characters, it's not usually the most correct term for the type of prints used in Western clothing.
Basically, the illustration style used in literary manuscripts that usually gets borrowed for this kind of print is generically known as <b>Persian</b>.
It was schools of drawing across Iran and Afghanistan where the style, feeding off influences from further east, originally really got going.
By virtue of being a classy feature of the Persian court culture that everyone aspired to, this kind of illustration, and the schools that produced it, were transplanted to the West in the Ottoman court of Turkey, and southwards into the Moghul courts of India.
The style of figures, turbans and surrounding decoration here are very Indian. It looks like one of those 60s-70s maxi dresses where the makers tried to source 'authentic'-looking Indian cotton with an ethnic print.
As far as I can see, the first American fashion uses of these really, properly Indian cotton prints start in the mid-late fifties (and I can't remember how that relates to independence and the transfer of cotton manufacture from Lancashire to India, but it does somehow...). Then in the 60s they *really* kick off.
Some of the styles using these fabrics borrow from sari fashions too, but I guess this is more of a classic peasant maxi shape.
You can tell I'm really interested to see this! Sorry about the loooong essay (even though ridiculously generalised)!
Lin
What a wealth of information, Lin!! You are wonderful!! Thank you. 