Animal Print

Throughout history, kings and other high people have used animal print rugs and such as a sign of status just as mounted animals are kept as trophies. Fabrics with patterns and colors imitating the skins of animals were made into fashionable dresses as early as the eighteenth century, when elaborate silk designs emulating exotic furs intertwined with expensive lace to evoke a sense of luxury and wealth.  Animal prints and skins were widely believed to convey power to the wearer. Characteristics associated with a particular animal were thought to be transferred to the wearer. In the 1920s, animal print became vogue when glamorous movie stars like Joan Crawford brought the style into popularity. After World War II, leopard print clothing was mass-produced and gained popularity from Christian Dior, who once advised women, “if you are fair and sweet, don't wear it.” Animal print became popular for women in the United States in the late 1960s during the Bohemian movement. In these photos we see a zebra print occasional chair coordinated with decorative pillows in a master bedroom.