SKU: 85707717693
josephine baker gold dress

josephine baker gold dress Baker, Josephine. (1906–1975)] Banana Belt and Headdress, worn at the – Schubertiade Music and Arts

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josephine baker gold dress Baker, Josephine. (1906–1975)] Banana Belt and Headdress, worn at the – Schubertiade Music and ArtsTwo iconic items from the celebrated entertainer, including one of her famous banana belts, this example circa 1930 1950 with gold sequins on the side, apparently worn by her at the Casino de Paris. Former ORTF, SFP Collection. The belt is in heavily worn but stable condition. Ten banana forms are attached, presumably of a larger original number, to a yellow fabric strip. Remnants of sequin detailing remain though most have perished. The filled gold

Two iconic items from the celebrated entertainer, including one of her famous banana belts, this example circa 1930-1950 with gold sequins on the side, apparently worn by her at the Casino de Paris. Former ORTF, SFP Collection.

The belt is in heavily worn but stable condition. Ten banana forms are attached, presumably of a larger original number, to a yellow fabric strip. Remnants of sequin detailing remain though most have perished. The filled gold fabric forms are mostly in stable condition with some creases and small tears and loose threads around the seams.  10 x 14 x 1 inches. Provenance: Former ORTF, SFP Collection. Truly, one of the most iconic items in performance history. 

Sold together with an extraordinary fruit turban headdress with rhinestones and pearls, also from the collection of Josephine Baker.  Inscribed to label with inventory number and the ORTF insignia, "Achat Granier - Joséphine Baker, 30163 OJ83." The painted fruits with significant chipping and some losses, some elements partially loose but stable overall. 27 x 22 x 15 inches. Provenance: Former ORTF, SFP Collection.  One of the extraordinarily elaborate feather and fruit headpieces which were part of the performer's signature costumes. 

Baker was most noted as a singer, while in her early career she was a celebrated dancer. She was given the nicknames the "Black Venus" or the "Black Pearl", as well as the "Créole Goddess" in anglophone nations, while in France she has always been known in the old theatrical tradition as "La Baker." Around 1930, she "began a long and successful collaboration with the Casino de Paris. The Casino was not as famous as the Folies Bergère, but it was still a first-class music hall. Its seasonal productions were extremely lavish, and in no time, Baker re-established herself as the leading star of the Parisian stage." (Alan Schroeder, "Josephine Baker: Entertainer," p. 48)

The Office de radiodiffusion-télévision française (ORTF; lit. 'French Broadcasting and Television Office'), was the national agency charged, between 1964 and 1975, with providing public radio and television in France. When ORTF was divided into 7 smaller organizations, the SFP (Société Française de Production) took control of some of the archives. 

"The image of a dancing Josephine Baker, clad in pasties and a skirt made from replica bananas, is something of a cultural icon. However, today, the skirt’s meaning is very different than when Baker first wore it in 1926. Baker donned the revealing–and according to certain early 1900s moralists, ‘degrading’–skirt when she was still making a name for herself on the international stage. Her performances in the skirt soon gained her fame and fortune that she then used to fight Nazis in France and structural racism in America. As a performer, Baker used her sexuality and hyper awareness of image to manipulate her audience’s sexist and racist fantasies, and deployed them to build a platform for herself to dismantle the very social systems and cultural beliefs that they stemmed from.

Baker’s La Danse Sauvage quickly made her the star of La Revue Nègre. She appeared almost naked, clad mostly in feathers, swinging her hips as her equally exposed partner Joe Alex beat a drum. With rhythmic thrusts and sensual sways, Baker’s movements embodied the sexual language anthropologists projected onto nonwhite bodies. Her audience loved it. “In the short pas de deux of the savages, which came as the finale of the Revue Nègre, there was a wild splendor and magnificent animality,” performance attendee and dance critic André Levinson said. “The plastic sense of a race of sculptors came to life and the frenzy of African Eros swept over the audience. It was no longer a grotesque dancing girl that stood before them, but the black Venus that haunted Baudelaire.”

Only a year later, the dancer donned her famous banana skirt for Folies-Bergére’s civility/primitivism-themed La Folie du Jour. Sixteen rubber bananas hung from a low-slung belt around the dancer’s waist. Along with matching pearl necklaces and jewels, the iconic costume brilliantly appeased and critiqued her audience’s most lurid fantasies. The skirt’s phallic appendages evoked France’s colonial involvement in both the rubber and banana trades. It seemed to present Baker as a colonial sex object, but in doing so highlighted the exploitative nature of the economic and political orders that made her one. Plus, the allegory-loaded skirt’s silhouette subverted ballet’s proper tutu.

Baker was not the only performer on the nightclub circuit to perform African-inspired dances or wear revealing clothing, but she possessed a unique understanding of the racial and power dynamics underlying Paris’ obsession with jazz. She was “a creature neither infrahuman nor superhuman but somehow both,” American poet E.E. Cummings wrote. “A mysterious unkillable Something, equally nonprimitive and uncivilized, or beyond time in the sense that emotion is beyond arithmetic.” Baker embodied an ever-changing character that audience members like Cummings hoped to simultaneously dominate, tame, and embody. " (Courtney DeLong, CR Fashion Book, "Remembering Josephine Baker's Cultural Impact, Banana Skirt, and Beyond")

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Lisa B.
Natrona Heights, US
★★★★★ 5
OUTSTANDING
Format: Kindle
This was very, very good. The world is vast and characters are complex. There is a good plot with a whole lot going on. This is well written. Good twists and turns and some heart breaking moments. You will love these characters, they have heart and loyalty. I am hoping that there will be several more books. We've yet to see anything from the Sea Court but only a mention of them here and there. The Wood Court was given a quick couple of scenes, and only as far as some warriors, we've yet to enter their court and the Shadow Court, I'm not sure if they will be a force for good or bad, but they definitely will play a much bigger role moving forward. This is primarily the Ice and Air Courts. Told in multiple views, which I loved, it gives you a chance to see things from different eyes. There's alot of political maneuvering and deception. I loved it and will pick up the next book as it becomes available. If you like The Fae and the courts, you should love this. I think the author has mucn in store for us.
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Reviewed in the United States on March 8, 2020
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Jessika
Carnegie, US
★★★★★ 4
Definitely worth the read!
Format: Kindle
After taking a deep breath and taking in that wicked twist of an ending, I have finally composed myself. My first thought when I started this book was that I love Reyna's character. I was intrigued by her connection with her familiar and the Ruin that is plaguing her land. It came as no surprise that she took her sister's place in an attempt to protect her. When they reach the Air Court everything slows down. This is where it was iffy for me. First of all, I like multiple POV's in books however 7 is a bit much. It starts to interrupt the story line. I felt like I was finally making progress connecting with one character, then it was switched to another person. I felt they all had necessary or pertinent information but not necessarily were they all POV worthy. The only other thing that annoyed me was that Reyna constantly was " trapped." She would rush off without thinking, only to need rescuing. She is brilliant in a fight, but she really doesn't think through anything. Lorcan is amazing. I know he might be on the "bad" list, but his background is so interesting. Eislyn(Reyna's sister) is really so sweet, but calculating. I enjoyed her and Thane's dialogue. The author did an amazing job with the imagery in this book. Everything was so detailed it was easy to fall into the scene. I love unexpected twists and while part of the ending I expected, I wasn't expecting how it took place. All in all, I found it very entertaining and I am very invested in continuing this series. Favorite quotes: "The truth may be twisted but never false." "Who was she if she was not the enemy of the Air Court? What was her purpose of she no longer has that?" "In a war-torn land, love was always a lie."
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Reviewed in the United States on March 4, 2020
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KAB
Belleville, US
★★★★★ 5
Great Read!!! Great story!!!
Format: Kindle
The series is long, but Ms. Wolfhart does a fantastic job of weaving this tale while bringing so much to the characters. Surprises and plot twists along the way to keep you intrigued. There is some graphic sex, but is no way the focal point. Grammar was excellent (a rare find with a lot of self publishers) with only a few noted errors. I rarely give 4 stars, let alone 5.
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Reviewed in the United States on April 30, 2021
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Elisa
Louisville, US
★★★★★ 3
Sadly, DNF
Format: Kindle
I read this thru KU. I LOVED the synopsis. And then I began reading... and it was a DNF at 68% after picking it up and putting it down several times because I really loved the main female character. *****SPOILERS***** Pros: The world is unique, intriguing and fun. The primary female character is bad-a** but not a b*tech or a mary sue. The primary female has depth. I really want to know what happens to her even tho it's been weeks and I don't remember her name. The villains to the point I read are pretty good -- an ever present threat of mysterious and possibly many culprits. Cons: Way, way too many points of view. I stopped counting at 7. It's the prime reason why I don't care about most of the characters or remember their names even when I like them. There's just too many points of view so almost none of the characters have enough book space for the author to properly develop them. This literally killed the book for me. Actually it killed my desire to read. For weeks. The main male is more villain than hero. He agreed to marry the main female then locks her up & eschews her for her sister, all while bad mouthing her as unfit to rule when he never spent any time with her getting to know her. He is actually unfit to rule as he is blind to the woes of his own kingdom and starts off a peace mission to secure a ceasefire through marriage by murdering an inn full of people in her country for no real reason. Plus, he constantly makes promises he does not keep. And it's gross of him to pine for the sister behind the main female's back. ***** As much as I really wanted to see what happened to the main female character, it wasn't enough for me to keep trying to slog thru this book. There was a lot of potential here that just fell short. Hence, 3 stars.
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Reviewed in the United States on June 19, 2021
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MaryBeth K
Louisville, US
★★★★★ 5
Fae Courts with High Intrigue
Format: Kindle
This book is one that just builds and builds and then surprises you to no end. You may think you know the villains and then you are jolted in another direction. Princess Reyna is a real gem, strong of character, a fierce fighter, and loyal to her family and kingdom. Just when you think she and Lorcan, well you know, the plot is flipped. Can't wait to see where this goes in book two.
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Reviewed in the United States on July 7, 2023

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