By Monica Sklar,
May 19th, 2008 at 11:27 am
(Uncategorized)
I rarely shamelessly plug a product, but this weekend, while I was at a mall, I made it over to a Gap to check out the Whitney Biennial t-shirts they’ve produced. I had seen the ads, and they looked pretty cool, but it was hard to tell what the shirts were really like from the promos. In person they are quite nice, in various men’s, women’s, and unisex cuts, as well as different types of approaches to traditional jersey cotton t’s-some are thin, some thicker, some more brushed, some almost silky. Plus they’re cheap at $28. The designs are the heart of the t’s of course, and one of my favs was the Kenny Scharf one with graphical images from the 60s, including those little Eve figures with the wide doe eyes, dressed mod from head to toe and dancing their little hearts out. I actually have these posters framed, and had them hanging for years, although a former roommate said their big eyes would follow him around the room and scare him. Anyway, my absolute fav is the Kiki Smith shirt-which I bought. It’s more like a blouse, with a smooth and silky texture more like a blend than the 100% cotton which it is. It’s crème with nature-inspired graphics and on the back says, “The whole world is watching.” They run generous too, as I bought a medium in the Smith shirt, and would have bought the Scharf one as well but the large was surprisingly pretty big and they were all out of most of their stock—the salesgirls said the previous day someone came in and bought piles of every image (eBay I’m sure). I was interested in the Chuck Close as well, but they didn’t have it.
Anyway, in addition to just telling you about a new shirt I bought, I just wanted to comment on the idea of getting the artists to do designs. For years now it’s been the trend du jour for high end designers to go “low end” with every high end store then jumping on board to feature the items and bring the whole thing full circle (which is a little funny). I’m fairly down with this concept, although it works sometimes better than others. My John Varvatos Converse are magical, and my Luella Bartley Target tank is quite cute, but a lot of the other Target designer lines are pretty shady quality and many of the other stores don’t seem to do much in the way of anything interesting with the blending of “high” and “low.” The H & M stuff is ok, but nothing to get in those 6am lines for. Plus, although it’s a smart concept, I think the whole matching game is getting a little played out, as half the time I’d rather just go to Nordstrom Rack, Saks Off 5th, Neiman’s Last Call, or Loehmans and try to find the designer goods so marked down they end up as cheap as the Target or H &M prices and no quality or design details are lost (hence, the Marc by Marc Jacobs T I’m wearing as we speak which was $29.99).
But, I like this idea of the Whitney Biennial artists and the Gap. You cannot buy that kind of art on clearance at some sort of art version of Nordstrom Rack, and it does seem like an egalitarian venture. I always think artist challenges where everyone has to play off the same theme, or use the same materials, are intriguing, and bring to light core talents and strengths. Also, I think there’s something particularly modern and refreshing about spreading their art throughout the malls of America, and onto the web of course, breaking down the sparkling walls that surround NYC, which a lot of people (including me) think are crumbling anyway. It’s a smash at artistic and intellectual elitism, which I’m always a supporter of—even if it is a Gap marketing campaign at heart. Plus it’s just a great looking and fitting shirt, which can be hard to find.
Click here to go to the Whitney Biennial 2008 site.
Comments
By Heather Vaughan,
May 15th, 2008 at 9:00 am
(Book Reviews, Uncategorized)
May book Highlight
Custom Kicks
by Kim Smits and Matthijs Maat(Paperback – May 15, 2008)
The newest in a long line of books on tennis shoes, Custom Kicks, appears to be primarily an art/coffee table book, whereby 150 artists and illustrators were invited to customize a pair of shoes for inclusion. The Amazon description claims that the “main focus is on the artwork but the text examines the trend.” The art and design publishing house Laurence King produced the book, and it was the brainchild of Kim Smits and Matthijs Maat of Maki, a design firm in the Netherlands that makes graphic t-shirts. More details (including interior art ) is available from the Cartel Agency Blog.
It’s unclear if this book would really be that useful to historians or journalists studying the idea of customization and DIY, but the Amazon Page page starts off with an Paris Hiltonesque phrase: “Customizing is hot.” Other newish books along these lines include:
• Where’d You Get Those? by Bobbito Garcia (Reviewed by Publisher’s Weekly and the New Yorker) (September 15, 2006)
• The Sneaker Book: 50 Years Of Sports Shoe Design by Tina Skinner and Melissa Cardona (August 30, 2005) Watch for more new books this Summer – there are some goodies on the horizon.
Until next time,
Heather
www.fashionhistorian.net
Comments
By Monica Sklar,
May 14th, 2008 at 3:08 pm
(Jobs, Uncategorized)
There’s a posting for a Visiting Lecturer at Columbia College Chicago. It says it’s a one-year contract with flexibility for longer. Sounds like it might be a good gig.
They say, “The Art + Design Department of Columbia College Chicago invites applications for a one year visiting lecturer position beginning August 16, 2008 with the possibility of renewal through 2010. We seek a scholar with research and teaching expertise in theory, visual culture, modern and contemporary art preferably with an awareness of global interactions. Preference will be given to a candidate with an interest in the interchange between design and artistic practices. The position will involve teaching survey courses and more focused thematic courses at the introductory and advanced levels. Teaching load is three courses per semester with the expectations of departmental service, including advising and curriculum building. Ph.D. preferred, ABD considered.”
“For consideration, please submit a letter of application, C.V., two sample syllabi, a writing sample, three references, and a SASE to:”
Art History Search Committee
Department of Art + Design
Columbia College Chicago
600 S. Michigan Avenue
Chicago, IL 60605
Click here for more details
Comments
By Monica Sklar,
May 12th, 2008 at 9:29 am
(Exhibitions, Uncategorized)
This week the museum I work at, The Goldstein Museum of Design, is opening an exhibit on smart textiles, wearable technology , and the like, entitled, Techno Textiles: Inner Space to Outer Space. The opening reception is Thurs., May, 15, 7-9pm with a panel discussion at 8pm with Su Sokolowski of Nike and Mary Carey of Procedes Chenel International. The exhibit then runs through July 27. The exhibition examines the world of specialty textiles and how these innovative materials are being used by leading designers around the globe. Featured concepts include: Protective clothing, intelligent building materials that dynamically respond to their environment, luminous wall interiors, and fabric balloons used to ensure interplanetary probe vehicles land safely on the surface of Mars.
Although my area of study is typically socio-cultural issues, I did focus on smart textiles for my masters. What happened was that I was working on a master’s thesis about deviance/crime and dress, but it was overwhelmingly over-my-head as a master’s student with no criminal justice background. Throughout my master’s I had been taking these incredibly tough, but highly interesting advanced textiles courses, including one on “recent developments in textiles” which was fascinating. When things started to look unwieldy for my original thesis, I reviewed what else I’d been working on, and having written tons of material on all of these textile innovations throughout those courses it was a natural back-up plan to shift to that topic area. It ended up being a really rewarding area of study that I wish I published in a journal. But, I did speak twice, 2004 &2005, at ITAA , once on the entire subject, and once on an enhanced portion about thermal textiles. My abstracts are published in their proceedings which you can find here 2004 (smart textiles general) and here 2005 (thermal textiles). Both papers did retain my original interest in the human vs. the material aspects of dress, as I focused on the consumer demand for these products. I wanted to see how people feel about them and how they want to use them.
I have left this area of study as it was a bit of a diversion to begin with, but I’m glad I took that side path even briefly as the area is growing at a rapid pace. We even just hired a new professor specifically to focus on wearable technology in dress. With the our exhibit and the Cooper Hewitt exhibit from a few years back, new professors with this as their study area, and more and more dress students getting into smart textiles and wearable tech, it’ll be interesting to see where this all goes, as up ’til now it’s been mostly techies from MIT making garments that look like they’re for cyborgs.
The photo is of the NuMetrex Heart Rate Monitoring Sports Bra that has tiny electrodes woven into its fabric that can detect heart rate and display the results on a watch.
3 Comments
By Heather Vaughan,
May 11th, 2008 at 11:36 am
(History of Dress, Uncategorized)
I am fascinated by popular culture, in particular, the history of it. Given the fact that at some point every celebrity seems to eventually turn to fashion design to market their personal style (Gwen Stefani, The Olson Twins, Jennifer Lopez), I am always interested in the history of this practice. One early innovator in the transition from Hollywood to Fashion was Natacha Rambova, just prior to the Great Depression.
As many of you may be aware, my research focuses on the design career of Natacha Rambova (I also previously co-curated an exhibit on her work). I’m happy to report, that I’ve just had an article published in the just released issue of Dress (by CSA) that synthesizes the research I completed for my Masters Thesis in Visual Culture from NYU. Just to give you a little more information on the topics I am interested in, below is a (very) brief introduction to her work.
Natacha Rambova is mostly remembered for her tabloid-worthy marriage to actor Rudolph Valentino, and for her work as a Hollywood costume designer in the 1920s. Few people are aware that Rambova was also a New York fashion designer in the late 1920s and early 1930s. Based on her personal sense of style, she designed exotic clothing based on a wide variety of historical and cultural interests.
Born in Utah in 1897 as Winifred Shaugnessy, she was raised in San Francisco and educated in Europe. She adopted the name “Natacha Rambova” while a dancer for Theodore Kosloff’s Russian Ballet and shortly before her 1917 arrival in Hollywood. After meeting the Russian actress Alla Nazimova, Rambova began her film career, designing films including Camille (1921), Salome (1923) and Monsieur Beaucaire (1924).
Rambova created stylized costumes and sets in Hollywood, but became well-known for her strong opinions and over-bearing personality. In Hollywood this was a problem, but in New York her strong personality helped her to succeed as a fashion designer. Rambova opened her first shop in June of 1928.She drew inspiration for her designs from the traditional dress of exotic countries, romantic time-periods, and her own distinct personal style. While she disassociated herself from Parisian couturiers, Rambova’s designs did reflect her interest in international styles, mythology and mysticism as well as her European sensibilities and education.
Her clients included actresses, socialites, personal friends and, as The New Yorker described them, “intensely individualistic,” women and those who were “very sure of their personalities.” Her list of clients included Broadway and Hollywood actresses such as Beulah Bondi, Aline MacMahon Stein, and Mae Murray. Rambova’s decision to close her shop in late 1931, after just four years of business was likely influenced by both the Depression and the declining interest in Russian-inspired clothing.
On another note, after my last post on the history of fashion during recession and war, I asked the question – what will the future bring? One possible answer is: The past, specifically as the New York Times suggests: Steampunk.
Until next time,
Heather
www.fashionhistorian.net
Comments
By Monica Sklar,
May 8th, 2008 at 2:22 pm
(Jobs, Uncategorized)
If you’re in the NYC area, FIT is looking for people to teach courses on costume history and costume design. Send your info to: Human Resources
FITM,
Seventh Avenue at 27th Street,
NY, NY 10001-5992. Also, here in the Twin Cities, College for Visual Arts is looking for someone with a design background, especially fashion, to team teach an intro to design course. Contact me if you’re into it and I’ll send you to the right person.
Comments
By Monica Sklar,
May 4th, 2008 at 12:56 pm
(Exhibitions, Uncategorized)
“TEXTILE HEIRLOOMS FROM THE INDUS VALLEY” Through May 11 at the Worcester Art Museum [Worcester, MA], 19th and 20th century embroidered garments and functional textile objects handmade by women of ethnic and cultural groups living near the Indus River lifeline [in present-day Pakistan, western India and southeastern Afghanistan] will be displayed. Web Site “MAKING A SPLASH: AMERICAN BEACH FASHIONS, 1850 – 1920” Through July 13 at The Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art [Hartford, CT], this exhibit will display original costumes, period photographs, and prints to explore fashions worn at the American seaside in the Victorian and Edwardian eras. It will examine the roots of American bathing costumes in reform dress, for water cures and private exercise, and exploring the beach as a setting for relaxation, public recreation and the promenading the latest fashions. Web Site “YVES SAINT LAURENT” Through September 28 at the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts [Quebec, Montreal, Canada], this exhibit will spotlight the 40 years of the Yves Saint Laurent Haute Couture house. With some 150 accessorized designs, the exhibition will also feature drawings, photographs and videos. Web Site “EXTRAORDINARY COSTUMES FROM FILM AND TELEVISION” Through May 18 at the Oshkosh Public Museum [Oshkosh, WI],”Out of this World: Extraordinary Costumes from Film and Television” will include 19 costumes from popular adventure and science fiction Hollywood blockbusters. Web Site “THE MANY CULTURES OF NORTH AFRICA” Through May 18, “Between the Sea and the Desert: the Many Culture of North Africa” showcases the Textile Museum’s [Toronto, Ontario, Canada] rich and diverse Northwest African collection of rugs, shawls and garments for the first time. Web Site “TREASURES FROM THE BATA SHOE MUSEUM” Through May 31 at the Bata Shoe Museum [Toronto, Ontario, Canada], “Chronicles of Riches: Treasures from the Bata Shoe Museum” will display the contents of the Museum’s storage vaults for a rare view of exceptional artifacts. Web Site “SEMINOLE PEOPLE OF FLORIDA: SURVIVAL AND SUCCESS” Through June 1 at the Museum of Florida History [Tallahassee,FL], this exhibit will provide a glimpse into Seminole history, culture, and artistic traditions from the mid-1850s to the present, including 150+ artifacts, historical photographs, colorful graphics, a recreation of an early 20th century trading post and a traditional Seminole dwelling. Web Site “THE HIGH STYLE OF DOROTHY DRAPER” Through June 23 at the Museum of Art [Fort Lauderdale, FL], this exhibit examines the life and career of the American interior designer whose outsized personality, extravagant designs and business sense made her one of the most influential tastemakers and powerful design magnates of the mid-20th century. This retrospective features rarely seen drawings, sample books, vintage photographs, furnishings, and products from some of her most famous projects. Web Site “INDIAN JEWELRY FROM THE SUSAN L. BENINGSON COLLECTION” Through May 11 at the Phoenix Art Museum [Phoenix, AZ], “When Gold Blossoms: Indian Jewelry from the Susan L. Beningson Collection” will showcase Indian jewelry from the 17th to 19th centuries. Primarily from south India and made of gold, the works include rings, anklets, hair pendants, jeweled crowns, ivory combs and a gold throne. Web Site “MINIS, MAXIS AND MODS” Through May 16 at Fashion on Main at the University of North Texas [Dallas, TX], the Texas Fashion Collection at the UNT College of Visual Arts and Design presents this free exhibition of ready-to-wear and designer clothing from 1965 to 1975. Web Site
2 Comments
By Monica Sklar,
May 4th, 2008 at 9:52 am
(Uncategorized)
I have been totally swamped with papers and projects as it seems like it’s been finals time for weeks now, and that it’s never ending. I’m taking three classes, and they’ve staggered, for better or worse, all their projects, exams, and papers starting from late April thru mid-May. At this time I’m working on an annotated bibliography on arts based and narrative research methods, a focus group project and term paper on employed adult punks (my dissertation topic), and an experiement of sorts for which I went to the Mall of America for a day and tried to document everything ‘punk’ for sale I could. It was exhausting to tell you the truth. I’ve put some images below.
Comments
