Russian Dancer in Egyptian Costume from the Early 1900s

Written by Teresita Blanco (The Artsy Sister)

This is a nice beautiful Egyptian dancer. Her costume was not too accurate. Rather, it was the Russian approximation of what Europeans expected of Egyptians. The Russian dancers of those days were influential in the development of modern fashion, with the short hair and the oriental fabrics and patterns. 

This is well noted in the dressed of the 1920s. They were flat surfaces with hundreds of elaborate patterns. It was made in mimicry of the attires worn by the Russian dancer. They all wanted to get away from the sensibilities of the previous 1000 years. No more corsages and constricting clothing for the little ladies. 

This is one of the few times where attires took a huge step forward. If you look through history books on the subject, you see a soft procession of dressed. Then come the 20th century, and BAM! Everything looks different and interesting. The same magic is being tried these days. However, the general public is strongly resisting it. 

Aside from the sobs who bought into those terrible designs, the general public and the more level headed elites are doing their own thing. All in all, Jeans are still a thing, and there is no need to go crazy with reinventing the wheel. As for me, I am trying to bring back dresses. I am so sick of jeans. 

As for the dancer, it took a decent amount of time to draw her. The original dancers of that time period were on the chubbier side. They were a bit like Rubenesque maidens. Shaving was also not a thing, so I changed my figure to match my modern sensibilities.