I’m so excited by the potential of this upcoming exhibit: To Dye For: A World Saturated in Color, which opens to the public at the Fine Arts Museum of San Francisco, de Young on July 31, 2010. This fashion exhibit is the first in many years to pull from the museums own collection and to be fully conceived in house. If we hope to have more of these kinds of exhibits from the de Young, it is important to support these efforts. I am thrilled to be able to bring you an early preview of this exhibit tomorrow morning. I will be reporting what I see at @fashionhistoria – watch for my tweets starting at 10am.
According to the press materials:
A truly cross-cultural presentation, this exhibition showcases objects from a variety of diverse cultures and historical periods, including a tie-dyed tunic from the Wari-Nasca culture of pre-Hispanic Peru (A.D. 500–900), a paste-resist Mongolian felt rug from the 15th–17th century, and a group of stitch-resist dyed 20th-century kerchiefs from the Dida people of the Ivory Coast. These historical pieces are contrasted with artworks from contemporary Bay Area artists like Judith Content, Ana Lisa Hedstrom, Angelina DeAntonis and Yoshiko Wada.
Also included in the exhibition is an elegant tie-dye evening gown from Rodarte’s 2009 collection and an ikat trench coat from Oscar de La Renta’s 2005 collection. Both looks foreshadowed the current spring/summer trend of tribal-infused fashions such as Dries Van Noten’s and Gucci’s ikats and Proenza Schouler’s and Calvin Klein’s tie-dyes.
*Oscar de la Renta, (American, born Santo Domingo, 1932) Trench coat, 2005 Coat: Silk; warp-faced plain weave, warp-resist dyeing (ikat) Belt: synthetic raffia, leather; crocheted Gift of Mr. Thomas L. Kempner
For details on the position below, contact Frankie Ng at tcngf@inet.polyu.edu.hk
Position:
A 3-year full-time PhD studentship for a project titled “A Study on Structural Optimization and Colour Mixing System of Digital Jacquard Textiles Based on Full-colour Compound Structure” is available at The Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU).
The research student is expected to have a master’s degree (or BA (Hons) of 1st Class Honours), a good understanding/knowledge on weaving technology and/or colour/optical science.
If you have anyone in mind with similar background/knowledge who would like to pursue PhD study in Hong Kong, s/he can contact the Frankie Ng (for more information, etc.). The PolyU offers a stipend of around HK$13,500/month for PhD student to undertake research. The starting date is immediate and/or the earliest possible of the research student.
Paris: City of Light. International fashion capital. Epicenter of fashion as we know it.
This post is for anyone burning with that particular desire often possessed by the aspiring designers in my classrooms: the desire to see Paris. Did I say often? Try always.
Here are some of my favorite resources for fashion scholars preparing for a first visit to Paris, particularly those unfamiliar with the culture and the language, and those travelers making their trip as a pilgrimage to fashion’s holy city.
General Travel Guides
For a general travel guide, I prefer Rick Steves’ Paris. He updates it yearly, and while Steves is solidly embraced by baby boomers, the guide is also hip enough for generation y and good for families with children of all ages. A great companion is his pocket-sized French Phrase Book and Dictionary.
French Culture
If you are unfamiliar with French culture, start studying. Now. Knowing something about the culture and history of the great nation of France will make all the difference in terms of how much you get out of your trip. You will see more, learn more, and appreciate more, which of course is why you are going there in the first place. One book I recommend is Sixty Million Frenchmen Can’t Be Wrong by Canadian and American husband and wife, Jean-Benoit Nadeau and Julie Barlow.
Museum Exhibits
You may want to (make that should) plan your trip around an important exhibition, or simply visit as many fashion exhibits as possible. This year, until August 29, the Petit Palais, the City of Paris Museum of Fine Arts, is hosting the world’s first large Yves Saint-Laurent exhibition, The World of Yves Saint-Laurent. Check the Fashion and Textile Museum at the Musée des Arts décoratifs at the Louvre, and the Musée Galliera (the City of Paris Fashion Museum), for their current shows, and visit the Pierre Cardin Museum.
Shopping in Paris
If you are going to Paris to shop (and if you are reading WornThrough, I imagine you are at least halfway considering it), then you will want to know where the various shopping neighborhoods are, plus where to find what you want, and quickly. Think you can plan your tour of the little boutiques of Paris with a google search? Think again. Many, if not most, of Paris’s unique shops do not maintain an internet presence. Therefore, I recommend you pick up more than one guide to the type of shops you seek, with the shops organised by arrondissement. (For those unfamiliar, Paris is divided into municipal districts, or arrondissements, numbered from 1 to 20.)
Vintage Paris Couture: The French Woman’s Guide to Shopping: It would probably take me a whole month of nonstop shopping to see every place in this guide. It covers all levels of the market, from thrift or charity-style shops, to antique eighteenth-century clothing, to twentieth-century designer couture, including the Paris flea markets. Price levels are given for the shops covered. There are so many great photos in this book that I recommend you buy it even if you are not planning a trip any time soon. It makes a great smaller-sized coffee-table book for you armchair travelers. This book has a hard cover, so I recommend photocopying the pages with info on shops you are interested in, take the copied pages with you, and leave the book at home. Lighter baggage on the way there, more room for your purchases on the way home.
Paris: Made by Hand: 50 Shops Where Decorators and Stylists Source the Chic & Unique: I wanted to go to practically every shop in here. It leans towards hand crafted items for gifts and interior design, yet also covers shops with the raw materials for your own chic creations, plus apparel, including children’s apparel. Another one with great photos, it also includes some ateliers, or studios. Also happens to be paperback and relatively compact, meaning you can put it in your day bag with your phrase book.
Chic Shopping Paris: Yet another almost-pocket-sized book with great photos, and like the above, shops organised by arrondissement. Covers a variety of boutiques, including apparel and accessories, in addition to fine china, linens and flatware. In short, everything you need for an elegant Paris pied-à-terre.
Bon Voyage!
Now that you have your recommended reading, here is a brief clip from a 1986 film by William Klein, featuring three models dressing (and undressing) in the popular fashions of the twentieth century, decade by decade. They look like they are probably wearing museum pieces, which should make your inner historian cringe, but try to enjoy it for what it is, an amusing romp.
For those of you who have traveled, studied, lived, and worked in Paris, what can you recommend? How did you get there? What are your favorite places in the city? What, in your opinion, should every fashion student be sure to see?
How many dresses do we really need? This article in yesterday’s New York Times profiles several groups of people who have taken that question to heart – and taken steps to find the answer. With the continuing interest in sustainability confronting our current moment of financial crisis, many individuals are finding themselves wondering exactly how much is too much? How many outfits or articles of clothing does one person really need to feel satisfied? And another related question: isn’t having so much only making the dilemma of getting dressed much more complicated?
Although the magic number of garments varies, it seems like the number is often much smaller than we think.
The NYT piece particularly highlights folks who engaged in a “clothing diet” – limiting themselves to only wear six items of clothing for a month. Could you do it? Would you do it? And do you think the exercise would help us learn to scale it back in other areas of materialism as well? Readers, thoughts?!
Sometimes we all just need a good history lesson to brighten our day. Here, Kristina Haugland, Associate Curator of Costume and Textiles at the Philadelphia Museum of Art, discusses the subject of undergarment history for your edification (with marvelous slides). It’s about an hour and a half long. I found it engaging and very well done – do let me know what you think of it.
A recent NYTimes article on the latest Levi jeans ad campaign featuring not dead-eyed models in awkward sexualized positions, but real-life residents of Braddock, PA caught my eye. A continuation of last year’s “Go Forth” ad campaign, this one uses actual inhabitants of Braddock to show real workers in their natural habitat: a town that has been particularly hard-hit by the recession. Here’s the accompanying commercial:
Though not all the ads are quite so literal in their depiction of rural workers as the one that heads this post (namely men with heavy tools with expanses of sky and/or land), the campaign appears to be trying to tap into the history of Levi’s as the jeans of 1870s Western frontiersmen and merge it with the tough lives of contemporary men and women who are struggling with their own era’s economic hardships. “People don’t think there are frontiers anymore,” says the young narrator wistfully, “they can’t see how frontiers are all around us.”
While it is true that Levi’s jeans have been a staple of the blue collar working man for more than a century, the idea of capitalizing on the somewhat romanticized images of poverty still strikes me as manipulative in a distinctly American way. Americans in particular, I think, are obsessed with making the casual and ordinary glamorous. Ever since the American Revolution, Americans have reveled in our self-perceived scrappiness, adventurousness, tough sportiness and casualness. Though Hollywood has always proved we can glam it up when we want to, much of the history of American fashion has been just a little more simple, a little more pared down, a little more casual. Consider quintessential American Ben Franklin (1706-1790) who eschewed the powdered wigs far earlier than popular fashion, allowing his own thinning, greyish locks to hang limply:
Benjamin Franklin by Joseph Siffred Duplessis, 1778
Compare to a French contemporary of Ben’s, whose jacket fabric has a sheen suggesting it’s silk, in addition to the meticulously coiffed and powdered wig (he was only 42 at the time of this portrait):
This very much reminds me of Irving Penn’s series “Working Trades” from the 1950s, where he photographed working class men and women dressed in their work clothes and usually with a prop to indicate their particular trades. He executed these photos just as he did with so many fashion models and celebrities, in front of his standard mottled backdrop that curiously removed them from realistic settings. Suffice it to say, I adore this series. Penn portrays each subject so respectfully, with such dignity — in some cases, downright majestically. Here are a couple in denim overalls:
Lineman by Irving Penn, 1951
Bricklayer by Irving Penn, 1950
Contrast those photos now, to the recent collections of Ralph Lauren and Jean Paul Gaultier. It was obvious that fashion designers were incorporating the “worst recession since the Great Depression” that peppered the news into their Spring 2010 collections. Though I didn’t love the clothes themselves, I thought the ideas presented were interesting. Ralph Lauren often taps into Americana and exploits America’s fascination with juxtaposing markers of the working class mixed into upper-end, designer fashion motifs. Below is an ensemble of silk satin that mimics denim in its cut and color; next to it is an interesting metallic satin gown that, from the waist up, resembles overalls, and from the waist down, standard 1930s drapey eveningwear:
During the national tragedy of the Great Depression, there was, of course, the blatant disconnect in Hollywood’s representations of Americans as well. The 1930s were known for their escapist screwball comedies, often featuring impeccably dressed society folks who seemed blissfully untouched by any economical discomfort. Satins and metallics were used liberally in women’s gowns as they displayed wealth and glittered brilliantly on the black and white celluloid; stars like Ginger Rogers and Jean Harlow were almost exclusively seen in rich, impractical fabrics and impossibly slinky styles like these below, though almost no one outside Hollywood could afford such luxuries:
Jean Harlow and Clark Gable in Saratoga, 1937
And below you can see how the light reflects off satin in movement — divine!:
All this to say, working class attire has been fetishized for centuries. Sometimes for philosophical beliefs, sometimes for political reasons, and sometimes for pure aesthetics. I don’t think Levi’s latest ad campaign is nearly as risky as they thought, but however profitable it turns out to be for them, I hope some money from the ads is circulating in and around Braddock.
Accepting entries for the 1st Annual World Maker Faire New York, September 25 and 26, 2010 at New York Hall of Science. This year’s focus is on Young Makers and we are excited to be engaging Makers of all ages around innovation, inspiration and education. We look forward to reviewing your application.
Key Points:
Maker Faire New York: September 25 and 26, 2010.
eTextile: Fashion Show deadline: 15 September 2010, contact lynne@lynnebruning.com.
Organized by the staff of Make magazine, makezine.com and craftzine.com, Maker Faire is a newfangled fair that brings together science, art, craft and engineering plus music in a fun, energized, and exciting public forum. The aim is to inspire people of all ages to roll up their sleeves and become makers. This family-friendly event showcases the amazing work of all kinds of makers – anyone who is embracing the DIY spirit and wants to share their accomplishments with an appreciative audience.
We encourage you to join the fun and enter a project to exhibit.
Entries
The first step to participating in Maker Faire is to submit an entry that tells us about yourself and your project. Entries can be submitted from individuals as well as from groups such as hobbyist clubs and schools. Please provide a short description of what you make and what you will actually bring to Maker Faire. Please link to photographs or videos of what you make. We particularly encourage exhibits that are interactive and that highlight the process of making things.
Here’s some suggested ideas for topics that we’re looking for:
Student Projects
Robotics
Music Performance and Participation
3D Printers and CNC Mill
Textile Arts and Crafts
Home Energy Monitoring
Rockets and RC Toys
Sustainability
Green Tech
Radios, Vintage Computers and Game Systems
Electronics
Electric Vehicles
Biology/Biotech and Chemistry Projects
Food and Beverage Makers
Robotics
Puppets
Kites
Bicycles
Shelter (Tents, Domes, etc.)
Unusual Tools or Machines
How to Fix Things or Take them Apart (Vacuums, Clocks, Washing Machines, etc.)
Maker Exhibit: Our standard setup for a Maker exhibit is a tabletop, approximately an 8×8 space. Use this space to display your work and/or demonstrate how you make something.
Application Form: Please go to the following URL and fill it out the entry form to tell us about your project.
SOMETHING’S HAPPENING HERE: BAY AREA ROCK ‘N’ ROLL 1963-73 Through August 28 The Museum of Performance & Design [San Francisco, CA]
MPD charts the magic time in the Bay Area rock scene from the folk-infused early ’60s to the last days of the Fillmore West in an in-depth examination of this incredibly diverse era; charting its trajectory, identifying its causes and effects, dispelling its myths, and offering a fresh look at this well-known subject. This rich era is evoked using a wealth of rarely seen footage, posters, images, and costumes.
For more information, refer to Heather’s writeup of the MPD’s exhibit panel discussion.
YVES SAINT LAURENT Through August 29 The Musee du Petit Palais [Paris, France]
This exhibit will feature about 250 of Yves Saint Laurent’s designs from 1962 to 2002. A selection of objects, drawings, photographs and films will explore the richness of this work and the power of inspiration speaking to the constant exchange Yves Saint Laurent had with painting, sculpture, theater, opera, literature and cinema.
STAVROPOULOS
Through September 5, 2010 The Kent State University Museum [Kent, OH]
This exhibit focuses on George Stavropoulos, a New York fashion designer who built a multi-million dollar business on his signature, floating chiffon dresses. His self-titled label produced eveningwear and daytime styles for the wholesale, ready-to-wear market, from 1961 to 1991. Stavropoulos, born in Greece, believed in classic design and found inspiration in the simplicity of ancient Greek sculpture. Stavropoulos initially became known for dressing Lady Bird Johnson during her White House years and created looks for other popular figures throughout his career.
A few weeks ago, I posted on my experience looking inside 1950s Dior pieces at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. This week, I want to draw your attention to a designer who was even more interested in re-shaping the female form than Dior in the 1950s: Charles James. As I’ve mentioned, In the Spring of 2003, I was fortunate to have a costume history class with Professor Elizabeth Morano, author ofSonia Delaunay: Art into Fashion. On one particularly unique day, we got to look inside the ‘four-leaf-clover’ dress – along with a few other James pieces.
_
"Four-Leaf Clover," Charles James, 1953, C.I.53.73.
Brooklyn Museum Costume Collection at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Gift of the Brooklyn Museum, 2009; Gift of Mrs. Cornelius V. Whitney, 1953
While indeed the outside of this gown is phenomenally beautiful – especially the naturalistic and floral reference in the skirt, juxtaposed with the architectural lines of the bodice – it is the inside that reveals the true genius of Charles James. Below, you can see the photos we took of the inside construction of the skirt.
Handily enough, the MMA has several drawings depicting the exact construction and materials used to create this tour de force of design and fashionable architecture. Not only is the bodice heavily boned, but the skirt is as well – providing a heavily contrived and immobile piece. I distinctly remember wondering aloud with classmates about the practicality of wearing the dress – how could the wearer get to the party without sitting down in a car?
Brooklyn Museum Costume Collection at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Gift of the Brooklyn Museum, 2009; Gift of Mrs. Cornelius V. Whitney, 1953 (also above image)
The Metropolitan Museum of Art now houses two of these gowns, in addition to a slightly different and more elaborate version (as well as accompanying sketches). Visit their collection database to see them, here. Ohio State University also has a version of this gown worn by Mrs. William Randolph Hearst. Gayle Strege of Ohio State University did a marvelous research project on the construction and history of a ‘Four Leaf Clover” dress between 2003 and 2007. Her work focused on exploring, in detail, the interior and it was incorporated into the 2007 Charles James Exhibition at Kent state. (Until last week, much of her research was available online but was removed to make way for Kent State Museum’s new website).
I asked Strege to talk to me briefly about her research. Here’s what she had to say:
The thing that intrigued me the most about looking inside the gown was its understructure and discovering the overlapping layers of 4-5” wide horsehair braid (used in millinery) used to create the stiffness required to maintain the shape of the understructure. So many different types of stiffening materials were used to create the armature upon which James draped his satins, velvets and taffetas, including the braid, boning, horsehair canvas and non-woven interfacing.
Gina Bianco, a textile conservator in NYC, spent a lot of time with our James dress and noted several alterations to it as well as interesting construction details. She definitely saw James the milliner in this dress—especially in his use of materials to create his very 3 dimensional structures—like you would a hat. She likened the bodice to the crown of a hat and the skirt as a very wide brim—held out and reinforced with various stiffening materials.
Below are two images from Strege’s work with the dress that was at Ohio State the Brooklyn Museum** (do click on them to enlarge for details):
The other gowns that the class looked at that day revealed James’ consistency in form and use of materials – and also on his steadfast desire to remake a woman into an idealized silhouette. As you can see from the photo below, the gowns retain their shape on the hanger – acting more like sculpture than flat textiles.
Ball Gown, Charles James, 1949, Met, CI, 57.31.1.
The Museum at F.I.T. also has a number of gowns by Charles James gowns and the American High Style exhibit at the Brooklyn Museum currently has a large selection of Charles James on view.
(The above photo, and many more of the exhibits are available at C-Monster.net)
*”Four-Leaf Clover,” Charles James, 1953, C.I.53.73.
**Correction from Gayle Strege: On the photos: “they are not of our dress at OSU, but of the one at the Brooklyn Museum. I was researching it with reproducing the understructure in mind since OSU’s dress arrived here with the understructure in pieces, with other pieces missing. The great thing about it is that it was Austine Hearst’s dress, and the first one of this type James did.”
Unless otherwise noted, all photographs were taken by the author.
Cranbrook Art Museum is at an exciting and pivotal moment in its 80-year history as it completely restores its landmark Eliel Saarinen-designed building and completes a new 20,000 square-foot Collections Wing. The Museum, which is closed for the construction project, will reopen in stages in April and October 2011. Working collaboratively with the Director (who also serves as the Chief Curator), Registrar and Preparator, the Collections Fellow will research collections and acquisitions and assist with the development of their documentation, storage, care, conservation and inventory, as well as their display and interpretation within the new Collections Wing; help move the collection into the new Collections Wing; work with the Director to develop the temporary exhibitions and programs for the reopening; assist with the “2010 Graduate Degree Exhibition of Cranbrook Academy of Art”; develop collections-based education programs for Cranbrook Schools and regional students; assist with the representation of the collections on a new website; and provide tours of Saarinen House and the Cranbrook campus.
Ideal candidate should have an M.A. in Art History, with an emphasis on 20th-century art and a specialty/interest in the decorative arts and design; excellent speaking and writing skills; attention to detail; strong computer skills (Microsoft Office and PowerPoint); collections database experience (TMS) preferred. Previous curatorial experience or internships preferred. The 39-week (approximately 10-month) fellowship begins August 16, 2010, and ends June 3, 2011 (starting and end dates somewhat flexible). $17,750 salary with a modest apartment in Saarinen House provided (no pets or smoking permitted). Applications reviewed until position filled.
Send letter (including Fellowship and career goals), résumé, writing sample, references and completed Employee Application (which can be downloaded from the Employment page of our website at www.cranbrook.edu) to:
(2. Research Assistant, The Costume Institute at the Metropolitan Museum
The Costume Institute seeks a Research Assistant who will be responsible for the preparation and dressing of mannequins for a photography project. The primary responsibility will be to systematically record costume objects. Successful candidates will have knowledge of costume history, experience with TMS, excellent interpersonal, communication skills and experience with object handling and storage. Demonstrated experience in the care and handling of historic costume and accessories is necessary; ability to dress 18th, 19th and early 20th Century mannequins and prepare objects for photography is desired; sewing and garment construction skills experience are an asset. Knowledge of care and
handling principles, materials and techniques used for the dressing and
presentation of costume objects is a must. MA degree in Museum Studies
preferred.
Please send cover letter, resume, and salary history to employoppty@metmuseum.org
as a Word attachment only with the position title in the subject line.
* image of Nina Ricci dress courtesy of the Met Costume Institute
*
by Canadian and American husband and wife, Jean-Benoit Nadeau and Julie Barlow.
: It would probably take me a whole month of nonstop shopping to see every place in this guide. It covers all levels of the market, from thrift or charity-style shops, to antique eighteenth-century clothing, to twentieth-century designer couture, including the Paris flea markets. Price levels are given for the shops covered. There are so many great photos in this book that I recommend you buy it even if you are not planning a trip any time soon. It makes a great smaller-sized coffee-table book for you armchair travelers. This book has a hard cover, so I recommend photocopying the pages with info on shops you are interested in, take the copied pages with you, and leave the book at home. Lighter baggage on the way there, more room for your purchases on the way home.
: I wanted to go to practically every shop in here. It leans towards hand crafted items for gifts and interior design, yet also covers shops with the raw materials for your own chic creations, plus apparel, including children’s apparel. Another one with great photos, it also includes some ateliers, or studios. Also happens to be paperback and relatively compact, meaning you can put it in your day bag with your phrase book.
Covers a variety of boutiques, including apparel and accessories, in addition to fine china, linens and flatware. In short, everything you need for an elegant Paris pied-à-terre.
*
