Forum Activity for @merry-chase

Turquerie a la Baroque (Attention tailors and seamstresses!)

General Discussion

Turkish trousers, or chalwars, are common enough in SL, but they usually come with a bikini top--presumably for bellydance, but real raqs sharqi dancers know that a baladi coat is more authentic dance attire than a bikini top. So that would make a large market for your outfit, o designers, if such a thing as realistic dance wear caught on in SL.

I couldn't find any chalwars that would fit under a coat with the right cut, so I had to go with leggings. Ideally there would be two mesh pieces, designed to fit together, long coat over loose trousers. The outfits with some sort of filmy dress between coats and trousers are nice, too.

Turquerie a la Baroque (Attention tailors and seamstresses!)

General Discussion

Please make free with the fashions, furniture, tiles and textures on this pinterest as a launch pad for your love affair with the exotic east. http://www.pinterest.com/merrytricks/

Turquerie a la Baroque (Attention tailors and seamstresses!)

General Discussion

Okay, Granadian, not Grenadine, but I do like a splash of pomegranate syrup!

Turquerie a la Baroque (Attention tailors and seamstresses!)

General Discussion

I had some compliments and questions regarding my costuming for last Sunday's phantasmagoria seance in Rocca Sorrentina, so I'd like to share with you now my inspiration.

First, here's the outfit I wore:
In RP, my name, Merry Chase, is short for Xiamara Remedios bint Iskandar y Pacheco (o MacNeil) de Chase. Thank gods for nicknames, eh? S'anyhow. That name places me as an Andalusian, and my backstory is Moorish Spanish with a wee dash o' Nova Scottish. (Yes, a Baroque era personality can be as much a mutt as my modern self!)

So, when Mercury asked me if I would be interested in the role of medium, I thought, if I am to play a spiritualist then my spiritualism will come from the Moorish, north-African, Grenadine, and Arabian influences.

I took a look around the internets and found some wonderful images and resources showing the popularity of "Turquerie" in the baroque fashion world. Here's a sampling...

...the fashion was much popularized by travel illustrations...

"Two 18th century Turkish women, pastel by Jean-tienne Liotard , who visited Turkey with a British ambassador in 1738. Unlike their baggy trousers, the huge pattens worn by the women would not have struck contemporary Europeans as remarkable, as Western women wore similar overshoes." - Wik i

...having caught on in Europe already two decades prior to the above...

Lady as a sultana,c 1720 Nicolas de Largielle

...herself, Madame Pompadour, was painted in Turkish trousers...

Madame de Pompadour as a sultana,1747 Carle van Loo

...and the exotic affectation is still popular, "today" ...

Lady in Turkish dress,c. 1780 Angelica Kauffman

So there you have it, my friends. Turquerie was not just for us Moors. Please explore this fashion trend further, especially if you're a designer in SL. I would love to see more Turkish trousers, baladi coats, turbans, and turn-toed slippers. I had to hunt like crazy for weeks to find the pieces of my ensemble. Let's bring back this fashion!

For more information, an article at cornell.edu illustrates and expounds on this trend going back in Europe to as early as the 12th century. (Face it, my palefaced friends-- you got a whole lot of your culture from Byzantium.) http://char.txa.cornell.edu/influences.htm

Yours for Enlightenment,

Merry

updated by @merry-chase: 07 Jan 2017 06:10:43AM

A big ~Thankyou~ and Post Mortem on the Phantasmagoria Seance

Communty News & Events

Oooh, another big thankyou --- I've just been flipping through the photos. Many thanks to all who shared shots.

A big ~Thankyou~ and Post Mortem on the Phantasmagoria Seance

Communty News & Events

Thank you all so much! I'm delighted to hear so many others enjoyed it - I sure had fun. Our success was definitely due to group effort, behind the scenes and in the audience, believers and skeptics and spooks alike! A testimony to the dedicated RP of Rocca.

A big ~Thankyou~ and Post Mortem on the Phantasmagoria Seance

Communty News & Events

And I do hope Mercury is game - far more of the work during the event was his doing than might be known!

A big ~Thankyou~ and Post Mortem on the Phantasmagoria Seance

Communty News & Events

I've been asked if I might do this again sometime, and I think I might! So if anyone has suggestions for the improvement of a Phantasmagoria v. 1.2, I would be grateful! Any and all critiques welcome.

A big ~Thankyou~ and Post Mortem on the Phantasmagoria Seance

Communty News & Events

An excellent description. Of course much of the success is owed to your ongoing work, yours and Sere's --- and everyone in Rocca, who have been so dedicated to realistic RP.

In another life I lead tours and created living history events in historic parks, and never did I have a more perfect group to play with, so well committed to their roles and the period.

Today's event was a collaboration of, how many? Twenty or so creators. Kudos to all!

A big ~Thankyou~ and Post Mortem on the Phantasmagoria Seance

Communty News & Events

Many thanks to all who attended and roleplayed the Phantasmagoria seance today in Rocca Sorrentina, and especially to Sere, Aldo, Mercury and Conte F, who were involved in advance preparations.

Special thanks also to Aphrodite, Candace, the Conte, Lasorgne and others who came prepared with questions and objects from their departed or missing loved ones. There were others with questions and comments too -- some inquisitive, some impertinent! ---and I'm sorry I was not able to answer all, but I think together we did a good job of creating the atmosphere of an 18th century Phantasmagoria seance. Much credit to all who participated!

I had a lot of fun, and learned so much. Thanks most of all to Mercury who conceived of the idea and kindly invited me to play the role of Medium. I hope he, and all of you, had as much fun as I did.

That is, if seeing visions of people massacred is fun...? But it was after all our Baroque version of the modern horror film!

updated by @merry-chase: 12 Jan 2017 02:12:21AM