| Here's an interesting twist on the "Kevin Bacon | | | | sensitive to his father's pride and his family's |
| Game" for you: what is the connection between | | | | military tradition, he started going by his initials in |
| NYC fashion and the reign of the 16th-Century | | | | order to spare the Tyrtov family any |
| Russian Czar known to history as Ivan The | | | | embarrassment. |
| Terrible? | | | | Erte's influence on NYC fashion was soon to be |
| You may never have heard of Roman Petrovich | | | | felt; in 1915, only twenty-three years old, he was |
| Tyrtov, but if you enjoy old movie musicals from | | | | hired by the first American fashion magazine, |
| the 30s or are a devotee of early Broadway | | | | Harper's Bazaar - a publication which still reports |
| theatre, you know him by his initials, "R.T." - or as | | | | anything and everything you want to know about |
| it was pronounced in French, "Erte." | | | | NYC fashion. |
| Czar Ivan IV (who was probably no more or less | | | | Although first hired by Hollywood, prominent New |
| "terrible" than any of his contemporaries) was | | | | York producers Florenz Ziefield and George White |
| notable for transforming Russia from a small | | | | soon took note of Erte's designs. Erte was the |
| medieval kingdom into a vast, multi-ethnic empire; | | | | creator of the lavish, Art-Deco themed costumes |
| Erte's earliest known ancestors were part of this | | | | that adorned Ziegfield's girls in his Follies of 1923 |
| ruler's court and inner circle. Erte's father, Pyotr | | | | as well as George White's Scandals. |
| Ivanovich, was a Russian Fleet admiral and headed | | | | Sadly, Erte's contribution to NYC fashion over the |
| the Russian Ministry of the Navy under Czar | | | | course of his 97-year lifespan is largely forgotten |
| Nikolai Romanov just prior to the Russo-Japanese | | | | today; in fact, the largest collection of Erte's work |
| War. | | | | is to be found not in New York, but in Tokyo. |
| It was into this remarkable family that a boy who | | | | Nonetheless, Erte's sleek designs continue to |
| would grow up to define NYC fashion during the | | | | influence the world of NYC fashion well into the |
| Art Deco period was born in St. Petersburg on 23 | | | | 21st century. And for modern women who feel |
| November 1892. | | | | pressured to measure up to a corporate definition |
| As you might imagine, Erte's father had other | | | | of beauty in a commercialized world, here is some |
| ambitions for him than that of a fashion designer. | | | | advice from the master himself: "A resourceful |
| However, the young man named Roman had no | | | | woman who is almost downright plain can achieve |
| desire to pursue a naval career, and left home at | | | | the reputation of a beauty simply by announcing |
| the age of 18 to go to Paris and become a | | | | to everybody she meets that she is one." |
| designer of fine women's clothing. Nonetheless, | | | | That could be one philosophy behind NYC fashion. |