: 15 Chinese textiles were readily tailored into Western-style garments. : 15 Imported porcelain from China depicted how clothing was worn in China while Imported Chinese textiles led to fascination in Europe due to the technical skills found in the weaving, hand-painting, and needlework of Chinese silk. In the 17th century, Chinese luxury items, such as Chinese textiles and porcelain, were introduced in Italian port cities, Portugal, England, and Holland these items were what Europeans used to informed themselves about the customs and cultures of the East. Russian actress wearing chinoiserie fashion, 1838 As China was considered as the greatest empire in the 17th and 18th century, China and Chinoiserie became in vogue in Europe Chinoiserie in this period, however, was the result of a conscious attempt in making "oriental culture" acceptable to the taste of Europeans. The 17th to 18th centuries, Western fashion was greatly enriched by the various items which were imported from the East which led to the introduction of new patterns and new possibilities in Western dress and was immediately imitated by mills found in England and France. Chinese gold thread technology were later introduced the West and adopted by Italian weavers in their goldwork. : 618 According to British records dating to the late 19th century, gold foil was the ordinary form of precious metal which was used in embroidery and was a Chinese invention wherein Chinese people invented the process of laying a thin gold leaf on paper before rolling it around a silk thread. In the 16th century, Chinese brocades were exported from China to Europe to make the vestments of priests in Roman Catholic cathedrals. : 90 The introduction of items, such as painted silk, pearls, and umbrellas, from China were also sped up in the1400s through the sea routes. Ĭhinese silk which was manufactured in China to fit European taste continued to be imported in Europe this import increased even more in the late 17th century as direct maritime trade was established between China and Europe. These Chinese influences in fashion were illusions created by Italian craftsmen who had started to produce in Lucca and had appropriated Chinese cultural symbols, such as the lotus flowers, pomegranates, peonies, florets, phoenixes and dragons. : 95ĭuring the Italian Renaissance period (14th to 17th century), imperial China was seen as a refined civilization which was equal to Europe except for religion and as very advanced in terms of science, technology, architecture, and culture as such, Italian elites would dress in Chinese fashion to show off their wealth. : 90 However, the import of raw silk from China continued to remain significant. : 122 From the eleventh century, the art of sericulture was spread to Italy and to Southern France. : 90 The secret of sericulture was eventually smuggled out of China in the 6th century by the Byzatine empire, which then became an important component of the Byzantine industry : 95 and allowed the Byzantine empire to gain monopoly of silk in Europe. : 4 The art of sericulture itself originated in China and was introduced in the West to the Byzantine Empire. : 4 Silk from China, as well as textiles from India and Turkey were extremely popular among the European royalty. : 546 The early contacts of Europeans with China had also directly influenced their fashion. Luxury goods had been entering European countries from China since the ancient times. Main articles: Chinese auspicious ornaments in textile and clothing, Chinese ornamental gold silk, and Chinese embroidery If it was an unrequited colonialism, the West's passion for China abides today in the continuing aesthetic fascination for that Far East land It never possessed the dragons, butterflies, or pagodas that it admired and emulated. Trade provided products, but even more importantly, the West copied the Oriental land that it had never conquered. The imagining of China was always more fanciful than real. Throughout its history, Chinoiserie in fashion was sometimes a display of cultural appreciation but at times, it was also associated with exoticism, Orientalism, cultural appropriation, Western imperialism, and colonialism, : 16–19 and eroticism. : 546 Western Chinoiserie was also often mixed with other exotic elements which were not all indigenous to China. Since the 17th century, Chinese arts and aesthetic were sources of inspiration to European artists, creators, : 52 and fashion designers when goods from oriental countries were widely seen for the first time in Western Europe. Textiles patterns and motifs, garments, and accessoriesĮurope ( Italy, France, United Kingdom), America ( United States, Canada, Mexico)Ĭhinoiserie in fashion refers to the any use of Chinoiserie elements in fashion, especially in American and European fashion. Satin evening dress in Chinese dragon print by Tom Ford for Yves Saint Laurent Rive Gauche, 2004
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