Silk Stockings With Snake Embroidery. Symbolism In Art Nouveau Fashion

Silk stockings with a snake motif embroidery Place of manufacture: France Manufacturer: Unknown Date: c.1900 Location: Victoria & Albert Museum, London

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​Art Nouveau fashion beginnings are rooted in the late 80s of the 19th century.  Since then the ancient garters were replaced by suspenders, which were fastened to the corset. As a result, the process of getting dressed became particularly quite niggling, but nevertheless the goal was achieved. Also it helped to create S-bend silhouette and it was an ideal shape of that times. Suspenders and stockings of Art Nouveau fashion era were driven by the further development of women's underwear. Stockings of Art Nouveau era came into the spotlight and their decorative role significantly increased. Manufaturers of clothing accessories launched a wide range of stockings, which were adaptable for different occasions. Stockings of the late 19th century and early 20th century were carefully matched to each dress. At that time it was very fashionable to wear more casual cotton or wool fiber stockings which, according to sportswear style, were plain or with dot or stripe patterns. 

Most fashionable ladies usually supplemented their evening dresses with French de luxe silk stockings that were embroidered or adorned with openwork lace inserts. That is why the black silk stockings with applications, embroidery and spangles  were cutting edge and striking. It was considered as attractive to wear stockings that were decorated at the instep part - so that in the rare cases, when the long skirts were slightly raised above, they also exposed silk stockings with the brightly decorated parts. For evening festive occasions ladies chose the most exquisite silk stockings.
Snake motif that runs spirally around the leg, became especially widespread soon after the Exposition Universelle (Great Exhibition EXPO) of 1900 in Paris. Such motif, depicted in sequin embroidery,  had first appeared during that exhibition and the new Art Nouveau trend was officially launched.
Art Nouveau fashion during its peak around 1900 and up to 1914 demonstrated trend of wearing stockings that were fantastically decorated with openwork inlays. On average, they were black silk lace stockings with a wide range  of motifs, including the plants, straw strands, tiny flowers, as well as the anchors and cobwebs which were so popular in the context of Symbolism.

Snake Motif  of the Art Nouveau Fashion Era and Symbolist Art  ​

Range of ornamental motifs in the Art Nouveau era, especially during the turn of the century, came from Symbolist art and its perception of female image. Visually that could be linked to the role of "mythologised" image of female from the fine and applied arts, and  graphics. 
Lady in the Symbolist art was quite unusual and wonderful creature. She could transform her appearance and turn into comical and ironic embodiment of the negative as well as to visualize the ethereal lightness and exquisite radiant aura. She was Femme Fatale (in French - fatal woman) whose ability to embody the "eternal femininity" and at the same time the negative, sinful aspects, was quite amazing. And those features of Femme Fatale were  widely used in the art of fin de siècle (in French - end of the century) era ( Parute E. Stila un modes enciklopēdija - Jumava, Riga, 2010 - p 482. ). 

Orientalism

Snake motif was borrowed from the traditional culture of India. It perfectly fitted in the world of Art Nouveau imagery and therefore the rise of its popularity can be found even in the most discrete garments of that time; also in accessories and clothing items, such as, stockings. Significantly, evening gowns and casual outfits of the Art Nouveau era, were matched with black stockings. That was quite contrasting with the habit of the previous era, especially in the middle of the century when the most preferred stokings were white. The bustle era of fashion, however, showed interest about brightly colored stockings. Black background of stockings created a significant connotations with the art and history of ancient Egypt - with famously fatal queen Cleopatra. Blackness allowed to stand out the bright stones and glass beads, which glistened almost in the all fashion accessories of the era. Therefore, black background and spangles highlighted decorativeness of Art Nouveau fashion stockings. In all this was something that resembled of Indian culture akin to that special imagery of Art Nouveau fashion. It was also an amazing ability to add some Oriental feeling to all items of fashion. From this point of view, Orientalism apparently even competed with inspiration sources from Japanese culture.
Art Nouveau ornament aesthetics with curved and flowing lines also was fully correspondent to the oriental playfullness of glamorous, iridescent snake whose role, in the  symbolism at the  turn of the century era, had its own, very important place.  
Snake as a Temptress

Image of snake as a temptress, embodiment of sinfulness and finesse was widely used in the creative works of many artists. Among them - Alphonse Mucha, Franz Stuck, Gustave Moreau, Pierre Puvis de Chavannes, Odilon Redon, Aubrey Beardsley, Gustav Klimt and also Latvian artist Janis Rozentāls. 

Dualism

Dualism of Art Nouveau era was tended to reflect the typical image of Femme Fatale.  It was dualism, which did not hesitate to depict the strange beauty of this woman, showing her as a sinful, even horrific and appalling creature thus making another statment of aestheticism & concept of beauty at the age of fin de siècle. 

Nowdays, already with the distance of time, we are looking back to the glittering stockings with a little bit frightening snake motif like an amazing evidence of the past.
And... we must conclude that, the ladies of Art Nouveau fashion era and their dress makers ,really had a good sense of humor. ​

References & Further Reading: 
1. collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O139659/pair-of-stockings-unknown/
2. https://www.wikiart.org/en/artists-by-art-movement/art-nouveau

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