We did it first: kaftans
From ancient beginnings to Liz Taylor’s go-to garment, the elegant and exotic kaftan is now swishing its way back onto the fashion rails once more
Glamour has never been more comfortable than in a kaftan. After all, when else has a garment, often bejewelled and bedazzled beloved by royals and Hollywood, been quite so reminiscent of a dressing gown? Its free-flowing comfort is the ultimate ruse in a world of tight dresses and ill-fitting evening outfits, shouting out luxury and class!
Their origins go back to ancient times when these loose-fitting tunics would be worn to keep cool in the African heat. They then acquired their high-class associations during the Ottoman empire when they were worn by queens and sultans, the colours and decorations indicating the rank of the person who wore them.
But it was the Fifties when kaftans headed west as Christian Dior and Balenciaga experimented with a free-flowing kaftan look.
It caught on and by the Sixties, kaftans were everywhere, helped largely by the hippie movement adopting them as their own. But they were also coveted by another group – the fashion elite – perhaps spurred on by the advice in a 1966 edition of Vogue that kaftans were now the essential item of all jetsetters and “beautiful people”. Its editor Diana Vreeland said: “Here are the most becoming fashions ever invented: the languor of the seraglio clings to them; leisure and repose emanate from them.”
In no time, kaftans had their official poster girl – Elizabeth Taylor – whose wardrobe seemed to provide a neverending supply of impossibly luxurious kaftans, usually made in precious antique Middle-Eastern fabrics. She even wore one for her second wedding to Richard Burton in 1975.
Bianca Jagger, Grace Kelly, Talitha Getty and Mama Cass also signed up to the garment’s easywearing charms. Even the blokes wanted in, as Demis Roussos and The Beatles started to wear kaftans.
But Princess Margaret was the one to give the kaftan the ultimate royal seal of approval with a range that nodded to the current trends. The Queen also wore a shimmering salmon pink kaftan for a state visit to the Middle East in 1979, but it seems her majesty later passed it onto her younger sister as the garment was later found in Princess Margaret’s wardrobe after she passed away.
Today, the kaftan is lighting up the catwalk and has been snapped up by celebrities such as Susan Sarandon and Beyonce, all making the most of one of summer’s biggest trends.