"All-around beautiful and worth picking up for anyone interested in fashion, theatre, theatrical costuming, and art." —Looking for a Good Book
"This book is an absolute delight for any fan of costume design history, and it is sure to inspire budding theatrical designers. Brilliant and colorful." — bookaddiction
A fan-bearing slave girl, a worshipper of Horus, the wife of a Russian boyar, Ceres, a mermaid, and a gypsy dancer are among the 49 theatrical costumes selected for this tribute to the work of the Russian-born, Paris-bred designer Erté (Romain de Tirtoff). Spanning the years 1911 to 1975, these extravagant, imaginative designs include costumes for well-known personalities, Folies-Bergère shows, editions of George White's Scandals, and ballets.
Many exotic and historical fashions include Egyptian, Chinese, Persian, Japanese, Russian, and French styles. The lavish, flowing costumes are complemented by different colors to create different moods: deep, lustrous purples, reds, and browns for dynamic, vibrant figures; ochre, sienna, orange, and beige for more formal characters; and pale blue, lavenders, greens, grays, and blacks for people of mystery and hidden powers. As dazzling as Erté’s color graphics and as witty as his fashion designs, this compilation merits the attention of costume designers, artists, theater people, costume aficionados, and all who appreciate the treatment of costume design as a fine art.
Born Romain de Tirtoff, the Russian-born, Paris-bred artist Erté (1892–1990) ranks among the foremost fashion and theatrical designers of the 20th century. When he produced his first lithographs at the age of 76, art lovers thrilled to discover that he had found a new medium for his extraordinary talents.
