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

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

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/

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.

Realistic dance wear would be fantastic and a baladi coat would more cunning and alluring than the usual scant bikini top!

*Curtsies* in thanks to you for this fascinatingstory-telling insight into your mediumapparel.

Oh I've been dreaming of making an turkish dress for me in mesh,I have some pictures saved for reference, but I am so lazy/busy that I haven't started it *blushes*.

Women in pants! *faints* (Just kidding :P)

This is a great article, thanks for sharing it. The painting examples illustrate it perfectly

Oooh, fascinating! The movie Belle brings to my attention another lovely example of Turquerie, in the portrait of the protagonist which inspired the director.

http://www.pinterest.com/pin/482166703828428481/