“Goddesses from the Machine”: The Fashion Show on Film

In 1913, the first time a New York Times journalist saw a filmed fashion show of couturier Paul Poiret’s work, he described the models drifting across the screen as “goddesses from the machine.”1 The film magically brought the viewer into the garden of Poiret’s Paris couture house, where his models moved about in a dream-like way, showing off gorgeous, beautifully crafted garments that were, perhaps most astonishingly, in color. The phrase “goddesses from the machine” captures the sense of wonder that was still very much part of the filmgoing experience in the early 1910s. The models were “goddesses” not only because they represent the aesthetic and sartorial ideal of their day, but also because they appeared to be emerging from a netherworld, a beautiful unreality that was not part of the viewer’s everyday life. On still another level, the writer alludes to the contrast between the cold machine and the warm bodies of the “goddesses” – bodies that appear so real yet remain cloaked in an aura of mystery. This conjures up a vision of the models literally marching out of the projector and the phrase also reflected the contemporary fascination with film technology.