Draped turban
[citation needed] The style of turban was initially simple, in keeping with the drape of gowns of the time, but as its popularity developed it tended to follow the fashion in hair and became progressively larger as hairstyles became more elaborate.
[2] Turbans might be lavishly decorated with plumes for balls and functions, but also for daywear – as satirised in a 1796 James Gillray cartoon, High Change in Bond Street.
[6] As part of his research Poiret visited the Victoria and Albert Museum in order to study its collection of antique Indian turbans,[7][8] declaring "I admired unwaveringly the diversity of their so logical and so elegant forms.
"[10] Its popularity survived the decade, a 1929 newspaper report on the autumn Paris fashions noted that the cloche hat had given way to the Basque beret and the turban trimmed with ribbon bows.
It was a design that could be created with minimal sewing skills and helped to conceal the hair when access to hairdressers, shampoo, and even water, might be limited.
[citation needed] The Ministry of Information in the UK showcased a turban as part of a series of photographs to promote possibilities for wartime chic during a period when utility clothing and rationing were interrupting the traditional fashion industry.
While DIY turbans were easy to construct – a wartime British Pathé film even demonstrated how to make a selection of designs with a couple of knotted scarves as part of its Ways and Means series – many materials used for making hats were excluded from the worst rationing strictures during the war, and this may help to explain the rise in whimsical hat styles for those who could afford them.
[1] Milliner Claude Saint-Cyr – who designed hats for the Queen – featured a new supple felt turban in 1956 that covered the ears and rose to a draped peak at the back of the head.
[20] In the early 1970s, the London boutique Biba featured turbans, often paired with kaftans or diaphanous blouses – a look in keeping with the prevailing trends for both 1920s/30s and eastern styles.
