Talk about novelty prints - how's this one for politically incorrect!!!!

Jonathan

Jonathan

VFG Member
Talk about novelty prints - how\'s this one for politically incorrect!!!!

This would get a designer in a LOT of trouble these days!

Here is a pic of a dress from 1947 done by Adele SImpson which uses a print of a page from the Koran. I remember about 15 years ago seeing a paper wedding dress designed by a fashion student in Boston that used printed pages from the bible and that caused a bit of an uproar! This dress however, would probably cause every Kentucky Fried Chicken outlet from Dubai to Jakarta to burn to the ground!

<img src=http://home.cogeco.ca/~kickshaw/Koran.jpg>
 
Agreed!!! Very chic (en francais sil vous plait), or dare I say, shiek.

Deborah
 
Well...down here in this part of the country there are folks that have bible versus printed on neckties, blouses and the like (from the maker). It is not seen as blasphemous but viewed as celebrating the message. Lots of ministers wear them.

Maybe the fact that the dress 15 years ago was made of actual pages versus the image of the words printed on fabric that caused the stir (destruction of a Bible versus reproducing what's in it). Unless i am misunderstanding and it was on fabric.
 
This reminds me of some of the Tina Leser prints that were talked about in a workshop last summer. I love the matching head scarf, but just found myself wondering if I'd know it was a head scarf if I found it with the dress. I'd probably be trying to use it as a shawl.
 
That's fabulous - I want it!!

I'm aware of a 50s (late 50s I think) Shaheen print which also adapted the kind of Kufic Arabic writing seen in mosque tiling for a border print. I've yet to get a closer look to see whether it spells out 'god is great' or not.

Apart from the short sleeves here, in some quarters this could almost pass for suitably modest clothing... as long as you got that headscarf fixed right, of course.

It reminds me of the 'sari-dress' done by Louella Ballerino for Sterne's in 1946 - same close-draped figure and headscarf accessory. I'd love to know whether this was a trend running through a few designers - it looks like it might have been.

L
 
update

Here's the Shaheen. I think it does kind-of begin to say 'god is great' in there. Although on the skirt it's upside down. now since I live just round the corner from a major (nay, notorious) London mosque, I could just try strolling down the street... :duh:

(it might be fine, except that this tunic does bare one's belly-button if you don't have the requisite high-waisted cigarette pants)

<img src="http://vintagevoyager.noirboudoir.com/newlisting/shaheentunic4.jpg" width=450>

<img src="http://vintagevoyager.noirboudoir.com/newlisting/shaheentunic15.jpg" width=400>

:)

L
 
When that dress was made, they probably figured the Koran folk would never see it. The world is a lot smaller now.


...hee hee...KFC...
 
The world is a lot smaller now.

You know what it reminds me of? (now i know..totally different..and a totally nonreligious vein) but in the "exotic flavor that would make no sense or be offensive to the actual culture" realm....

At a local restaurant, there is a young lady from japan that is always wearing t-shirts that she brought with her. And in Japan, as in some other parts of the world near there, it is trendy to have sayings in english on clothing, even if they are not properly put together. Surely, english is now taught in many schools there and there are students and business people that visit here or live for short stints, but the US and UK are still a far off place to many folks.

Sayings on shirts we have seen her wearing:

First one:
Pretty Girl (heart symbol) Smile
Mini-Piano

On this on another shirt:
Happy Smug
Pawky(?) Smile

Certainly, there are kids here who are thinking its cool to have Japanese and Chinese lettering on things...and they just trust that it means something "cool"
 
When I worked at Bata there were flip flops being sold in Pakistan that had a modernist bell design printed on the insole. If you squinted at it and turned it on its side and looked at through gauze with a couple of pints of whiskey in you, you could say the design sort of, kind of resembled Allah. This of course was a huge upset and the scribes who told the people that Bata was spitting on them by making them step on the name of God every day resulted in a riot where 12 people died. I can honestly say I have seen the design of the bells, and how Allah is spelled and they really were not similar at all. In fact, the design was inspired by Arabic writing, but there was no intention to make it resemble the name of Allah. Bata is in business and wants to sell shoes, not insult them! Bata pulled the shoes and stopped putting designs that might be interpreted incorrectly.

At the same time, we had a pair of Persian slippers from the 1830s in the museum collection with a blessing to the wearer embroidered on the insole of the shoe. Allah was not one of those words embroidered in the slipper but even those shoes fell under some disatisfaction from some factions of the Muslim community when they were put on display. I was surprised since the shoes were, after all, made in Persia for a local Prince or Emir, or whatever the rich ruling guy was called around there at the time. However, I thought it was interesting that their own lettering was used decoratively in the past. So rules change, and sensibilities change over time. Once we communicated carefully to the group that took offense to the slippers that these were made by their own people 150 years earlier, they calmed down. As far as I am aware, the lettering, as long as it doesn't use the word Allah in it, is okay for using decoratively, although that apparently differs depending on with whom you speak. I suspect that top dress I put the image in might be offensive since it was taken from the Koran. As long as yours doesn't it shouldn't be a problem.
 
That's really interesting.

I guess the key thing is that there as many different varieties of Muslim perception of this as there would be of Christian perceptions of a comparable issue.

And as you say, things change drastically over time. All those Persian poems about wine, 'wine' which certain contemporary individuals would like to see as a reference to 'spiritual inspiration' only now.

I have to run this past a friend who's more used to peering at Arabic calligraphy, but if I think I can read 'god is great', that means there is 'Allah' written in there. I'll report back.

I'm really pleased to have an example of this print, though. I suspect it was only used on this type of clothing - intended to have some kind of Middle Eastern style resonance as a tunic to go over trousers. I haven't seen it on a dress yet, and on this tunic it has been very precisely aligned and used.

I find it interesting that one of Shaheen's strongest influences was South East Asia, and that that merged into a use of Middle Eastern/Islamic sub-continental decoration and so on. I really wish I knew what this print's name and origin were too.

L
 
I just wanted to add a link to this beautiful 40s dress sold by Memphis Vintage (how I wish I'd caught it!!). It's another Adele Simpson, this time showing a print with a kind of pastiche Arabian Nights theme.

http://www.memphisvintage.com/adelesimpson.html

I think it shows a continuing use of this kind of combined faux-oriental (and Hawaiian-ish) styling, plus Oriental-inspired prints. I just find these combinations endlessly fascinating!

L
 
Well... I'd love to think she hadn't got it up yet, but I suspect it was sold before she filled the info in. It does have a big red 'SOLD' sign next to it :(
 
Adding a postscript to this subject, to say that my friend who *is* more experienced in reading calligraphy than me has confirmed that the Shaheen print is semi-cod-Arabic, but that the word 'Allah' as I thought, is just about visible, while the rest is illegible.

She pointed out that it's reminiscent of Ottoman kiswah decoration.

Look how close this is:
<img src="http://vintagevoyager.noirboudoir.com/blog/calgr1.gif">
It's 18th century 'thuluth' script.

The jury's still out on whether anyone would object...

L
 
Jonathan... date query

Reviving this thread (confusingly, under diff ID) so as to throw a query out to Jonathan, hello!, if you've got the time to look into it...

I'm just doing a bit of research into the extent of Onondaga silk co.'s involvement in a temporary 'Near East' design exhibit at the MMA in late 1948, and the timing of this dress (1947) fits with the planning/timing (also, because Onondaga had just been involved in an American artists 'art to textile' roving exhibition for museums and institutes in 1946-47).

Jonathan, do you have a precise mag reference and date for this image of Adele Simpson's design using the 'koran print' textile at the top of the thread? I sneakily kept a ref pic on file (it's my dream to find this dress, so...), but there's no info on it about whether it's an ad, a feature among other 'Near East' or 'Art' prints, or just a 'latest fashions' feature. Would dearly love some context, and would show much appreciation with a namecheck when I finally write this up...

Thank you!
 
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