By Tove Hermanson,
March 16th, 2010 at 3:10 pm
(History of Dress)
I recently gave a lecture on cross-dressing to a terrific sociology class at FIT (and yes, I wore the outfit above), and I had such ridiculous fun (and stress!) researching it that I thought I’d share with the blogosphere to spread the wealth. You don’t get the pleasure of my witty repartee, but you do get a decent, if slightly inferior, substitute. I do want to give the disclaimer that this is not even close to a comprehensive, in-depth study of cross-dressing, but rather a quickie pictorial romp through the ages. (I am also concentrating on Western fashion, which is, I acknowledge, an additional shortcoming of this essay, with the Eastern cultures embracing bisexual skirts for so long. So be it.) I included examples of both clothing that was actually considered cross-dressing in its own day, and garments that were perfectly hetero-normative then, but appear to be borrowed from the opposite sex to our modern eyes.
I’m not going to spend much time on the ancients, but I would be remiss if I didn’t point out that it took many hundreds of years to develop sex-specific clothing styles, and though the ancient Greeks and Romans from which we came did have differentiation between sexes in their draped garments (the women’s breasts were covered while men’s chests might be exposed, for example), those variations were relatively slight, immediately drawing attention to the fact that sex-specific clothes is a societal construct that was honed — as gender roles and expectations were — over time. Mighty, manly Zeus (below) wears a draped himation that could be just as easily worn by a woman, were the front flap pulled up for modesty:
Zeus marble statue wearing himation
The Medieval houppelande was a loose bodied, floor-length coat with narrow sleeves that became a symbol of gender non-specificity in the late 14th/early 15th centuries:
Les Petites Heures de Jean de Berry Duke Jean de Berry departing on a pilgrimage Bourges, c.1412
Marie de Gueldre depicted as the Virgin Mary (in a houppelande), 1415
Men wore jewelry off and on, and in the mid-16th century, they often wore a single dangling earring along with their wide, padded breeches that resembled puffy skirts. Whatever femininity this might have indicated was counter-balanced with hyper-masculine pointy beards and codpieces (which were not uncommonly erect, in case you had any lingering doubts of a man’s virility). The pointy beard mirrored the triangular waistline, and punctuated by the essential phallic sword accessory, further drawing the eye to the crotch:
"Boy with a Greyhound" by Paolo Veronese, c.1570s
It has been hypothesized that the exaggeratedly stuffed breeches of the 16th century was a sartorial salute to (or at least an acknowledgement of) an age of powerful female monarchs including Elizabeth I (1533-1603); Catherine de’Medici (1519-1589); and Mary, Queen of Scots (1542-1587). In the mid 1580s (just a couple years before the portrait below), Philip Stubbs wrote that apparel is a signifier of biological and social differences between the sexes. I find this somewhat hilarious, given that male clothes had so many feminine features (skirt-like breeches, emphasis on curvy legs, nipped waistline, elaborate embroidery, long hair), and also that King James I of England (1566 – 1625) — who succeeded Queen Elizabeth I — was quite probably homosexual or bisexual and it was known that he bestowed favors upon the male peacocks of the court.
Sir Walter Raleigh by H., 1588
Henry Wriothesley, Earl of Southampton, 1594
There was a growing acceptance of licentious aristocratic behavior in the 17th century in which the choice of sexual partner was not necessarily restricted to male or female, but could incorporate relationships with boys alongside mistresses without jeopardizing the ideals of “manliness.” The man below has something of the feminine about him with his loose, baggy pantaloons, festive sash, lace garter bows, and pointed toe pose with fist on hip, but this was nothing out of the ordinary for the time:
Male attire was designed to emphasize the soft, curvy lines of the male physique rather than sharp angles at this time — ironically, women wore corsets that virtually flattened their busts. Both sexes wore lace neck ruffs; lace wrist cuffs; coiffed, longish hair; and high waistlines with short pantaloons which emphasized elongated, shapely legs (hoes were often padded to achieve desired visions of muscularity):
George Villiers, 1st Duke of Buckingham by George Villiers, c. 1616. Archetypal Jacobean dandy
King Louis XIV (1638-1715) was aesthetically extravagant in many regards (the Hall of Mirrors in Versailles is testament to that), and clocking in at only 5′ 4″ tall, he undoubtedly assisted the height of men’s shoes: some of his own were 6 inches high! As modern women know, heels also help produce flexed, shapely calves which were still very much in the style of the Sun King’s time. In 1663 the English court adopted the periwig, further feminizing the men of the time (the pointed toe pose should be familiar):
King Louis XIV, 17th Century
As the century wore on, the periwigs remained, and though men’s legs were increasingly covered, the longer garments that covered them resembled female outerwear, not unlike the unisex Medieval houppelandes, but with modern embellishments like enormous cuffed sleeves:
James Craggs the Elder by John Closterman c. 1710
Post 1700, homosexual behavior was increasingly constructed as a depraved activity associated with a minority of effeminate men; by the 1720s extreme bodily gestures, affected mannerisms in speech and contrived magnificence in costume had come to indicate sexual preference (and perversion). Post-1720, the effeminacy of the previously innocuous “fop” was identified with the effeminacy of the sodomite, adding a significantly more judgmental layer to the language of male attire. The bitter irony is that there was still significant gender crossover in dress. Compare the gentleman below to his female partner: the full skirted frock coat resembles her own skirt; the wide cuffs mimic her lace ones; their gracefully pointed toes meet between them; and the long, coiffed hair is covered for modesty by the woman but styled and flaunted by the man.
detail of The Dancing Lesson by P Longhi, c. 1760
The Macaronies of the latter half of the 18th century were often accused of effeminacy, with their outrageously tall powdered wigs, the rosettes on his shoes, and the teeny-tiny three-cornered hat perched atop his sculptural headdress. Macaronies followed the general styles of the time, but typically with tighter silhouettes, often employing vertical stripes to emphasize sleek lines, as in this man’s tights:
The Macaroni. A Real Character at the Late Masquerade, by Philip Dawe, 1773.
Though the wig in and of itself is deliciously ridiculous, remember that Marie Antoinette (175501793) was commissioning equally tall wigs (for women, it’s true):
The 1830s brought male girdles that created feminine wide hips and nipped waists (again). Dandy Beau Brummell (1778 – 1840) is credited with creating the modern 3-piece suit with full-length trousers replacing shorter breeches, fitted, tailored clothes, and downplaying flamboyant color in favor of more muted, “masculine” tones. With this feat he also accelerated the separation of male and female fashion crossover. Likewise, the implication of caring about appearance now became associated with the “weaker sex,” whereas in previous centuries men were expected to primp and preen — and for the results to look like they did. Flamboyance was now expressed more subtly in brightly patterned accents like neckwear and waistcoats.
dandy, 1822
Dandies c. 1840s
I’m taking a huge leap in time now, assuming that readers are far more familiar with the 19th and early 20th century male fashions and already understand how relatively monochromatic and plain they became after Brummel’s time. With the sexual revolution of the 1960s and Glam Rock of the 1970s, there was a revival in experimentation with sexuality and gender identities. Young men once again wore ornate and ostentatious clothes that often made explicit references to days of yore when the adult population favored the resplendent over the conservative. To wit, Earl Lichfield emulating 18th century male (and yet effeminate with embroidery and ruffles) below:
Thomas Patrick John Anson, Earl of Lichfield, 1968
Open bisexual and hugely influential David Bowie (and other glam rockers) deliberately pushed gender boundaries by applying makeup, lengthening hair in deliberately female styles, and wearing high heels. Though the music movement had (and maintains) an impressive following, the gender role-play was viewed by the general public as subversive act of abnormal sexuality.
David Bowie in The Man Who Sold the World cover, 1970
Allow a detour into Tove’s childhood: at the dentist’s office in the early 1980s, I picked up a small pin of Madonna with ratty, teased bangs, heavy eyeliner and thick eyebrows. I treasured it and wore it on my daily backback. I was absolutely flabbergasted to learn from my best friend (who was a sage 3 years older) that the image was not Madonna at all, but Boy George, a regularly cross-dressing man I hadn’t heard of before!
Boy George, 1980s
Madonna, 1980s. (I know the difference now.)
On the heels of the revolutionary ’70s, the reactionary conservative Regan/Thatcher ’80s gave way to a new generation of cross dressing men, but this was mostlylimited to pop / rock stars like Georgie here, and those associated with the New Romantic music genre including Roxie Music and Adam and the Ants (whose frontman favored an 18th century pirate/aristocrat look with lipgloss and eyeliner):
Adam and the Ants
Current revivals of cross-dressing for men have dwindled again, I’m afraid. Fashion exhibitions like the Met’s “Men in Skirts” (2003-04) confirms that men in skirts are anomalies to be studied behind glass, these days. However, the Utilikilt is a modern-day skirt for the man “man enough” to wear it against gender pressures, with a manifesto including “The Utilikilts Company does not accept preconceived limitations as our own.” Interestingly, it is geared towards men in construction as opposed to gay, fey, or transvestite men, offering comfort, ventilation, cargo pants-like pockets and optional built-in tool belts. Interestingly, it has been adopted by some subcultures like punk and goth kids that are known for experimenting with gender roles in dress:
Um, and also this adorably dorky (but admirably self-possessed) highschooler:
highschooler in utilikilt
These days fashion remains a female preoccupation in the public’s eye; men supposedly dress for fit and comfort rather than style, and women commonly “make over” their men, keeping gender roles solidly separate in philosophy and image. It’s only been in the last few years that male fashion has swung back to embracing decorative, colorful elements (which the Utilikilt does not). However, I see this as a corporate marketing ploy rather than the ideal acceptance of polymorphous sexuality or the understanding of sexism as dictated by fashion. Marketers simply wanted to capitalize on the largely untapped male market (and the higher income-earners to boot) for what have become “female” products: makeup, accessories, hair products, etc. And thus, the metrosexual was born — a term indicating a heterosexual man who nonetheless adorns himself (like gay men or straight women are supposed to do).
metrosexual, 2000s
As a final note, gender flexibility in dress has almost always been more acceptable for the elite classes (this was certainly true of the 17th and 18th centuries, and perhaps today as well), where it might be viewed as “eccentric” rather than “deviant.” For middling classes, clear distinctions between feminine and masculine dress signified precious respectability, so they were therefore more reluctant to adopt gender-ambiguous trends. Though I am sickened by the capitalist manipulation it seemingly took to accept a teeny tiny bit of cross-dressing into mainstream fashion culture in the form of the metrosexual, I hope this small step develops further to legitimize gender blurring in dress (because as you can see, we have a strong history of cross-sex trends), and dissolving ideas of “heterosexual normalcy,” and opening the creative channels of personal adornment to all economic strata.
Next week, I’ll dissect female cross-dressing in history, which, though superficially similar in concept, has had different implications of oppression.
3 Comments
By Lucy Collins,
March 16th, 2010 at 10:05 am
(Jobs, Uncategorized)
The Art Institutes in the following cities are seeking adjuncts to teach Fashion Design, Retail Management, Merchandising, and/or Fashion Marketing.
- Houston, TX
- Novi, MI
- Henderson, NV
- Durham, NC
- San Antonio, TX
- Fort Worth, TX
- Nashville, TN
- Fort Lauderdale, FL
- Austin, TX
Please visit here for more information.
Comments
By Monica Sklar,
March 15th, 2010 at 5:00 am
(Conferences and Calls for Papers)
CALL FOR PAPERS
“Fashion In Fiction – The Dark Side”
October 8 – 10, 2010
Drexel University’s Antoinette Westphal College of Media Arts & Design
&
The Mid-Atlantic Region Costume Society of America
Philadelphia, PA.
Keynote speakers include Andrew Bolton from the Metropolitan Museum of Art
Roland Barthes proposed that fashion was not a just an industry, but also a set of fictions. Barthes did not wish to ignore the economic function of fashion, but rather underline fashion’s mythic dimension and suggest that fashion is a language in itself. Fashion and fiction have long existed in close proximity; writers have been driven by their experience of fashion and fashion has been developed through and by literary tropes. What makes dress and fashion such a fascinating subject for writers? How are fashion’s mythologies constructed and disseminated through fictional texts? How does fashion relate to art, popular culture, business, the body, consumer studies, and those who might read it as a form of text?
This interdisciplinary conference seeks to investigate the role that fashion has played in our culture. These “mini-narratives” can include fiction, non-fiction, cultural and historical studies, and other types of comparative, descriptive and/or empirical research. In particular, it will examine the dark side of fashion discourse, assessing the role, function, and purpose of clothes, fashion movements, style, and image in creating narratives within narratives. The dark side of fashion can include such obvious topics as gothic, punk, the color black, and vampires. Other topics that have traditionally been viewed as “dark” include polyester fabric, couture knock-offs, deviant fashion advertising, sweatshops, and child labor. Authors are also encouraged to define their own meaning of “dark”.
Papers fitting the conference theme are sought from those engaged in the fields of fashion studies, social sciences, humanities, creative writing, media, cultural studies, design, philosophy, and business.
Papers, work-in-progress and workshop proposals are invited.
Possible topics may include but not limited to:
· gothic
· feminist versus feminized discourses in fashion and display
· animated texts
· fashion in crime fiction
· graphic novels
· the semiotics of fashion
· historical fiction
· queer readings of fashion
· mystery
· textiles
· the color black
· marketing
· the body/body image
· consumer studies
· new media
· script and cinematic texts
· metaphor/metaphorical fiction
· subcultural style
Abstract Deadline: June 1, 2010
Submission Process: Those interested should send an abstracts of no more than 500 words. Everyone will be notified of acceptance by July 1, 2010.
Peer Review: All abstracts will be peer-reviewed. Those abstracts accepted for presentations will be published online as well as in the conference proceedings.
Paper Submission for Possible Publication: Those interested in having their papers published may submit the entire manuscript for possible book publication.
Click here for more details or email Dr. Joseph H. Hancock, II.
1 Comment
By Lauren Michel,
March 12th, 2010 at 5:00 am
(Teaching, Videos)
This term, one of my classes is a basic fibers and textiles course. If you went to college or university and studied fashion design, you have probably taken this course yourself. One way to illustrate many of the topics in the course is through films and video clips. Above is a film made by Welsh sheep farmers and sponsored by Samsung, one of my favorites to introduce the topic of sheep and, therefore, wool. Nevermind that the majority of my students are too young to know what pong is (or is that was?).
There are many films you may wish to add to your library which are not the typical $150 for 15 minutes of video produced by educational film services. The films below are relatively easy to find and relatively inexpensive.
Mill Times
Mill Times
with David Macaulay: This begins with a simplistic discussion of how fiber became clothing for people living on farms in Colonial America over 200 years ago and covers the rise of textile miles in the United States, including early mill technology and workers’ rights. The film alternates between the main educational program and an animated fictional account of an Englishman who opens a mill in New England (no, it is not Samuel Slater, just someone very similar). I always skip the animated part of the film, 1) because it is not essential for conveying the facts, and would be a waste of valuable class time, and 2) because the costumes of the characters are so historically inaccurate it almost hurts my eyes to look at them. Cartoon characters’ costumes aside, the rest of the film is quite good, in terms of its historical facts and coverage of America’s early textile industry.
Basho to Spun Steel
Basho To Spun Steel : Comtemporary Japanese Textile Design: This one is older (1998) and only available on VHS, but do not let that turn you off, and do consider adding it to your collection. Perhaps, if you are an instructor, you can have your media services department on campus translate it to DVD for you, if you no longer have a video cassette player for your classroom. It begins with Japanese artists handcrafting yarn and fabrics, using techniques that are centuries old, including raising silkworms, reeling cocoons, spinning yarn, collecting natural dyestuffs and dyeing, and handweaving. It then transitions into textile production with current technology, including modern computerized looms, heat-setting, and roller printing, including fabrics commissioned for Issey Miyake. I like to use this film because of the wide variety of examples it has which correlate with typical lecture topics in a class like this one.
Real Men Knit
Real Men Knit
: This film never fails to amuse and engage my classes. First, it amuses them, and then, second, it intrigues them and holds their attention. It is basically a brief history of knitting and men’s traditional and current involvement in handknitting, first as an industry, and today, as a hobby, or for some, as in the case of Kaffe Fassett and Brandon Mably, who are among the interviewees in the film, the craft from the point of view of successful textile designers (if you missed my post on Kaffe Fassett, my college is not far from his home town, Big Sur, and in my classes I promote him every chance I get). The film is also an excellent segué into a discussion of gender and gendered crafts and technologies.
Lastly, below are two versions of a 24-second film of alpacas on a Devonshire farm. The first one I came across several years ago when preparing a lecture on specialty hair fibers. The second one I discovered recently, when I went to look up the first one in preparation for another lecture. My students definitely responded positively to both of them in a recent class meeting. You will have to let me know which one you like best.
Comments
By Kat,
March 11th, 2010 at 5:00 am
(Exhibitions)
“ELEMENTS OF STYLE: FASHION AND FORM AT THE BEINECKE”
Through March 27
Yale University [New Haven, CT]
This exhibit pays homage to Strunk and White’s classic grammar primer, “The Elements of Style,” first published 50 years ago, and considers the idea of style as it relates to sartorial expression and prose/poetic form — the role of clothing and design in literature and everyday life, and the artful way in which words appear upon the page. “Elements of Style” highlights literary artifacts such as Gertrude Stein’s embroidered waistcoats and Muriel Draper’s hats, while it also draws attention to the evocative relationship between text and texture, fabric and paper, as well as the book artist’s continued fascination with sewing and the decorative arts.
Click here for more details.
“OUR FACE FOR THE WORLD: THE CLOTHING OF JAMES AND ELIZABETH MONROE”
Through March 31
The James Monroe Museum and Memorial Library [Fredericksburg, VA]
This exhibit highlights how the Monroes used fashion: it was the good impression that the Monroes made at the French court, where fashion and image was everything, that allowed the United States to retain France as a powerful ally and eventually to complete the Louisiana Purchase. Appearance was important at home, as well: the Monroe family had to change their style to fit the American view of what a statesman and President should be. It was their public appearance during the Monroe Administration that created the presidential image that we still have today. Everything from the suit that James Monroe wore during the negotiations for the Louisiana Purchase to Elizabeth Monroe’s wedding gown will be on display.
Click here for details.
“LACE IN TRANSLATION”
Through April 3
The Design Center at Philadelphia University [Philadelphia, PA]
These European and Canadian art/design teams explored
the historic Quaker Lace Company collection of The Design Center at
Philadelphia University for inspiration, and were commissioned to create
new, site-specific works for installation in the Center’s galleries and on
its adjoining grounds.
Click here for details.
*Thank you to the Costume Society of America for this information.
Comments
By Heather Vaughan,
March 10th, 2010 at 5:00 am
(Museum Life)
The responses to my January post on storage issues facing museums with costume collections, were both interesting and insightful. It seems that even more institutions are preparing to move their collections than I had originally anticipated. It became clear, however that a discussion of museum deaccessioning policies was needed (deaccessioning is regularly a part of pre-move collection evaluation). As Lauren mentioned on Monday, many have received notice that Augusta Auctions would be hosting a large auction of items deaccessioned from several reputable museums, including the Brooklyn Museum’s Costume Collections (Auction preview in New York is March 23rd, and the sale is the following day).
Deaccesioned: Printed Lame Opera Cape, Mid-1920s (Augusta Auctions)
According to the Oxford English Dictionary, the term “De-accession” did not appear in the English language until the early 1970s.
De-accession:
“trans. To remove an entry for (an exhibit, book) from the accessions register of a museum, library, etc., usu. in order to sell the item concerned. Also absol.
1972 N.Y. Times 27 Feb. II. 21/2 The Museum of Art recently de-accessioned (the polite term for ‘sold’) one of its only four Redons. 1973 Time 26 Feb. 43/2 ‘De-accessioning’ pictures the barbaric museum jargon for preparing to sell. 1974 J. GOLDMAN Man from Greek & Roman v. 33 You deaccessioned, you took something off your shelves and sold it. 1981 Times 16 Feb. 4/1 The sale of Japanese art included a group of 38 lots of Japanese lacquer ‘recently de-accessioned by the Metropolitan Museum in New York’. 1987 London Rev. Bks. 19 Mar. 5/4 Curators may soon be tempted to start..‘de-accessioning’ what their recent predecessors have..acquired.
Hence as n., the act or process of de-accessioning; de-ac cessioned ppl. a., de-ac cessioning vbl. n.
1973 Newsweek 29 Jan. 76 Richard F. Brown, director of Fort Worth’s Kimbell Museum of Art, felt that..the ‘principle’ of de-accession is right although he might ‘disagree with the particular object chosen for de-accession’. 1973 Art in Amer. Jan.-Feb. 24 In order to illustrate..Mr. Hoving’s policy, he should show all the de-accessioned works. 1973 New Yorker 31 Mar. 83/1 Money gained through sales or ‘de-accessioning’, in museum parlance is often used for acquisitions. 1976 Times Lit. Suppl. 24 Dec. 1604/2 The acquisition by Mellon from the Hermitage of famous paintings… This early twentieth-century instance of sensational ‘de-accessioning’ as it was to be uneuphoniously called by later adepts of the technique.”
Obviously, there is controversy tied up in the notion of a museum vetting its collection. One of the best ways to combat controversy is to have a clear and transparent accession and de-accessioning policy. Whenever money exchanges hands, legal issues arise, and should be considered as well. As with previous posts, my intention here is to provide readers with resources for further research.
Deaccesioned: Embroidered Blue Silk Chinese Export Shawl, Early 20th Cent (Augusta Auctions)
A good discussion of the ethical and budgetary issues associated with de-accessioning are discussed in this article from the San Jose History Association. They outline some key criteria involved when evaluating an object:
- “the object is not relevant to the museum’s mission,
- the object has deteriorated beyond usefulness,
- the object is hazardous to other collections or staff,
- there are multiple examples of the same object in the collection, and
- the object is wrongly attributed or fake.”
Example policies can be found by joining the Museum Documents Listserve, along with other useful policies regularly set by museums. An article by Derek Fincham, of Layolla University College of Law, titled “Deaccession of Art and the Public Trust” outlines many of the legal aspects of de-accessioning (but be warned, it is 54 pages long). The National Parks Service discusses it’s policy on Deaccesioning in Volume II of its Museum Handbook. Other resources include a number of books, articles and thesis projects. None of these, however, seems to directly address specific issues relevant to costume and textile collections.
Deaccesioned: Two Pair D'Orsay Evening Shoes, 1920-1930 (Augusta Auctions)
For those currently involved in the deaccessioning/moving process, consider these questions (I encourage you to respond to any in the comments below):
- What do you think is the best way to prevent controversy and ethical dilemma’s with respect to de-accessioning?
- What is your institutions policy? How does it relate to your museums mission and collection policy?
- How often do you de-accession? What is your process for decision-making?
- What departments/professions are involved in the decision-making process?
- Whom do you notify when de-accessioning?
- Do you keep records of items that you have de-accessioned? What sorts of information do you keep?
- How does ‘budget’ play into the decision to de-accession an object?
- If private individuals purchase the objects, are they given any provenance records? Are they told of any potential contamination? (or are contaminated articles disposed of differently?)
- What special concerns apply to de-accessioning articles of dress?
- Are employees of the given institution permitted to purchase (or otherwise obtain) de-accessioned items?
- What else do you think is important for the Museum community to consider? What do you feel the general public should know?
Additional Resources:
Anderson, Gail. Reinventing the Museum, Historical and Contemporary Perspectives on the Paradigm Shift. AltaMira, 2004.
Knell, Simon J.Museums and the Future of Collecting. Ashgate, 2004.
Malaro, Marie. A Legal Primer on Managing Museum Collections, 2nd Edition. Smithsonian Institution Press, 1998.
Weil, Stephen, ed. A Deaccession Reader. Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution Press, 1998.
Weil, Stephen. Rethinking the Museum: and Other Meditations. Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution Press, 1990.
*Deaccesioned: Sophie Pink Satin Damask Ballgown, 1947 (Augusta Auctions)
1 Comment
By Lauren Michel,
March 8th, 2010 at 5:03 am
(Conferences and Calls for Papers, History of Dress, Museum Life)
Kimono, 1870s
Coming soon is the Augusta Auction Company‘s latest antique and vintage clothing and textiles auction. Preview in New York City on Friday, March 23rd and Saturday, March 24th. Auction starts at 12 noon March 24th. If you can not be in New York City for the auction, despair not! Absentee, phone, and internet bids will be accepted. Nearly 400 catalogued lots, this auction is especially interesting as its contents are consignments from a number of prominent American museums, including: Brooklyn Museum Costume Collection, Museum of Fine Arts – Boston, Chrysler Museum (Virginia), Montclair Art Museum (New Jersey), and the National Heritage Museum (Massachusetts).
Two Mainboche Lamé Dresses
The sale features antique clothing, accessories, Asian & middle Eastern garments & textiles, rugs, tapestries, lace, ecclesiastical objects, and more from the 15th to 20th centuries. If you visit the Augusta Auction Company web site, you can view online galleries of consigned items, with more to be posted over the next few weeks. The auction catalog is schedule to be posted online March 10th.
The following information comes from an email sent by the auction company:
Lots to be sold include rare textiles and clothing objects from the 15th Century right up to the 1990’s, including…designs from many of the top fashion names of the twentieth century – Elizabeth Hawes, Bonnie Cashin, Halston, Claire McCardell, Chanel, Ferragamo, Mainbocher, Phillip Hulitar, Sarmi, Stavropoulos, Galanos, Elizabeth Arden, Rudi Gernreich, Eta Hentz, Pierre Cardin, Balenciaga, Zandra Rhodes, Geoffrey Beene, Lilly Dache, Gucci and many others.
Rose Pink Evening Gown, 1910
If you are at all like me (and I suspect you may be, if only a tiny bit, since you are reading Worn Through), you have already asked yourself, “Why are museum pieces up for auction?”
Taken from the Augusta Auction Company web site, here is the explanation, really quite simple:
Garments and textiles offered for sale from most of the museum collections include pieces that no longer fit the criteria of the museums’ collections policies, duplicate other pieces in their collections, or are pieces that are no longer exhibited. Many have been in museum storage for decades. All are new to market and have not previously been offered for sale. The museum collections are sold to the highest bidder, free of any minimum bids or auction reserves. Proceeds from auction attendees’ purchases go directly to the museums’ acquisitions funds or to support their conservation efforts.
See? You can add a treasure to your own collection, and feel good about doing so, knowing that the proceeds from your purchases go directly towards supporting the museums.
Here are a few more of the promised highlights of the March 24th sale:
Featured items include 1940’s posters from Charles James, donated by the designer to the Brooklyn Museum, a c. 1750 Chien-Lung Imperial palace hanging, a 15th C tapestry of Roman Soldiers, a 1770 dated Aubusson tapestry, a large 19th C. Meiji embroidery depicting mythical beasts, hand-woven and embroidered shawls, 16th & 17th C. ecclesiastical textiles & silk brocades, other early European embroideries, Victorian through late 20th C garments, shoes, hats, 19th C beaded purses & 20th C pocketbooks, silk lingerie and so much more.
Even if you do not plan to bid, if you are a collector it can be useful to check the results of this auction, as they can help you to determine the current market value of any similar pieces in your own collection (although, bear in mind that the museum provenenance adds to the value of these auction items), or even the potential auction price of a special something for which you have been searching and saving up.
To tempt you, below are some examples from the online gallery.
Elizabeth Hawes Evening Gown, 1945
Embroidered Chinese Export Robe, early 20th century
Orange and Gold Stavropoulos Evening Ensemble, 1982
Four Mod Serendipity Dresses, 1965
3 Comments
By Kat,
March 8th, 2010 at 5:00 am
(Academic Research & Related, Conferences and Calls for Papers)
ARTstor Travel Awards 2010
Five research travel awards in the amount of $1,500 each
While the digital age is opening up new approaches and techniques for using images of the world’s cultural heritage as evidence in teaching and scholarship, there is no substitute for engagement with original works and sites, for research in archives that hold primary source material, or for attending conferences with colleagues engaged with similar issues. In recognition of this need, ARTstor will provide five research travel awards in the amount of $1,500 each (to be used by September 1, 2011) to help support the educational and scholarly activities of graduate students, scholars, curators, educators, and librarians in any field in the arts, architecture, humanities, and social sciences.
To be considered for a research travel award, applicants must create and submit an ARTstor image group (or a series of image groups) and a single accompanying essay that creatively and compellingly demonstrates why the image group(s) is useful for teaching, research, or scholarship. The five winning submissions will be determined by ARTstor staff. These submissions will help ARTstor to understand better the uses that scholars and teachers are making of ARTstor’s content and tools and will provide us with insights into how we can continue to improve our efforts to serve the educational community.
All graduate students, scholars, curators, educators, and librarians who are at least 18 years of age and associated with institutions that subscribe to the ARTstor Digital Library are eligible to apply for the ARTstor Travel Awards. See if your institution has ARTstor access.
Deadline for proposal application: April 1, 2010
Winners announced: May 1, 2010
Awards will be made by: June 1, 2010
Awards to be used by: September 1, 2011
Email submissions should be sent to travelawards@artstor.org.
Please email userservices@artstor.org if you have further questions.
How to register for an ARTstor account.
How to build an image group.
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By Monica Sklar,
March 8th, 2010 at 5:00 am
(Uncategorized)
Here at Worn Through we frequently talk about the professors’ side of things, how to teach etc, but once in a while I thought we should focus on what a student is up to—particularly when something truly exciting happens. Also, I wanted to highlight a student accomplishment because it is in part be a reflection of positive classroom experiences. Those of us who are teaching can learn from their successes.
Jillian Granz with Suzy Amis Cameron and James Cameron at the unveiling of Amis Cameron's dress. Photo by Jim Peck
A friend of mine and fellow UMN grad, Theresa Winge, PhD who is an assistant professor at Michigan State University, hipped me to her award willing student Jillian Granz. Theresa said she couldn’t be more proud of Jillian’s recent win of a significant design competition.
Jillian designed a gown for Suzy Amis Cameron (James Cameron’s wife) to be worn to THE OSCARS!
Theresa recently started teaching at MSU, and as part of her role there she created a new course–Innovative Approaches to Apparel Design. In this class, students created a red carpet worthy gown that met the criteria of sustainability and submitted their designs to the Red Carpet Green Dress competition hosted by Suzy Amis Cameron.
Theresa said, “Since the competition was open to anyone in the world, I prepared the students for the unlikelihood of someone winning from class. We were in it for the experience. The students designed creative and thoughtful designs, ranging from a newspaper dress to no-waste patterning gown. Each submission was a design to be proud of.”
Low and behold one of the students in the class, Jillian Granz, did win and Suzy Amis Cameron would wear the gown it to the Oscars!
Jillian Granz-Photo by G. L. Kohuth
Here is the link to the story and short video clip from MSU.
Jillian works on Suzy's fitting-Photo by Jim Peck
I spoke with Jillian over email to get some details of her experiences with the competition, as well as some insight into her design process and thoughts on fashion education. Below is our conversation:
Please fill us in on the basic info of the contest.
The contest is called Red Carpet Green Dress and it was to raise money for a school that Suzy Amis and her sister Rebecca founded called Muse. The school is a green school and teaches students about sustainability so the dress had to be sustainable as well. I participated in the contest for my class Special Topics: Innovative Approaches to Apparel Design.
Please tell us about your garment, inspirations, palette, fabric choices, etc./Why do you think your garment was selected as the winner?
The dress was inspired by no-waste patterning. I had to do alot of research on sustainable fashion and after finding this technique I found that it was really appealing to my design aesthetic. The dress was also inspired by Suzy Amis, she was the client so i did follow some of the silhouettes that she typically wears and also some colors that she suggested she liked.
What are some of your experiences with fashion design, particularly with formalwear?…Tell us about your fashion education at MSU–what year are you, what are your focus areas, favorite classes, etc.
Michigan State has a really great Apparel and Textile Design program. It is my last year at MSU, and there are so many new classes being offered that I didn’t get to take that it makes me sad I am graduating in May and can’t take them! We really focus on women’s wear and I have just really started to design more formal wear than seperates/more casual looks.
What are your carer plans after graduation?
After graduating I am still not sure what I am going to be doing, or where exactly I want to go. Hopefully this competition will get my name out there and it will still be fresh in people’s minds when i am searching for a job.
Do you follow pop culture, celebrity culture?–how meaningful was it for you to have this garment selected to be worn in the public eye?
I do follow pop-culture and celebrities a little bit. I do like to keep an eye out for what they wear on the red carpet and things like that so it is really exciting that my dress will be worn on the red carpet, as scary as it is too.
What role do you think your fashion education played in your preparedness to enter and win this competition?
I really think that my education played a large role in winning the contest. If not for the class that i am in i wouldn’t have heard about the contest at all. I really think that us doing these more public contests is great and taking a class about innovative ideas in fashion is really great and the fact that we discussed sustainable design and no-waste patterning really helped in my design process.
Note-I grew up in Michigan, went to Michigan State for my first year of college, and later attended Wayne State Univ. for my B.S. an Eastern Michigan Univ. for my M.S. Michigan is an awesome place with a highly sophisticated, cool, unique, and edgy design sensibilities, as well as has its finger on the pulse of what is going on internationally. However, being a state so rocked by economic and social forces, long before the current meltdown, it is tough for an aspiring fashioninsta to get ahead and accomplish all of her goals. This has created a very DIY approach to fashion, which works parallel but not often intermingled necessarily with some of the more mainstream outlets for fashion such as bigger budget affairs and high end designing and retailing. Plus, although the world loves Detroit’s music scene, our fashion scene has struggled to get exposure. In this it is easy for someone with fashion interests to get mired in frustration and feelings of defeat due to lack of immediate opportunities.
My point is that for a fashion student to set a lofty goal achieve it gracefully, beating out national competitors, is a real coup, and speaks for the hidden gems around the country, such as in Michigan. Not everything is on the coasts, no offense to them. Applause to Jillian for reaching such heights and Theresa for empowering her students with the know-how to blast off!
1 Comment
By Monica Sklar,
March 5th, 2010 at 5:00 am
(Academic Research & Related)
This is probably the last semester of my graduate studies (although I may chip away at that dissertation for a few months into the summer) so I figured it was a good time to reflect on what grad school was like. We receive a lot of emails to the blog from potential and current students, as well as faculty discussing grad school issues, so why not jot a few thoughts down in some posts. On a monthly basis I’ll write this new column that will probably be passed onto a current grad student come fall.
To start….One of the things on my mind this semester has been the idea of getting involved in your institution or other arenas within the field during grad school. I’ve been thinking it over lately as my calendar is packed with meetings of committees I’m on, societies I belong to, and whathaveya. Sometimes these things prove themselves highly significant, and other times one has to wonder…I’m writing this from a student point of view, not a many-years-on professional’s point of view, so I have to speculate what will prove valuable in the long run. But, some things have already proven themselves worthwhile or not in the short run and I think I have a decent take of the direction things are moving with some of these endeavors.
Overall, I think getting active and trying out a bunch of things during school is really fab because it gives you some first hand experience and simultaneously is doing service within your community which is generally a good thing.
Speaking from the point of view of an aspiring professor, there are no would-be professor internships. You cannot go off to NYC or London for the summer and give being a professor a try. Yet much of grad school, particularly at the PhD level is training would-be profs. So the best you can do is get as involved as possible during graduate school to see which angles you like within the field, trying to weed through the pros and cons. Try to figure out if you like research, teaching, committee work, advising, administrative stuff, grant writing, and other tasks. Also, it is good experience if it turns out you’re not interested in being a prof, but like certain aspects, you can grow those aspects in other careers incorporating say grant writing for a nonprofit, or costume history research into museums, publishing, or design.
I thought I’d address a handful of ways to get involved, but obviously there are tons.
1.) One way to get really involved is that you can teach adjunct, which I did for a few years and strongly recommended as a great trial period. It’s a good way to get your feet wet, focus on the classroom, and develop some teaching skills. It’s also a route to get a feel for what style personality you want to be show as a teacher, i.e. how involved or detached, how nice or strict, supportive or distant, etc. Let’s be real, that stuff takes figuring out. You also get practice at projects, syllabus development etc, in fairly low risk situation as there’s no tenure, promotion, or advising involved, you’re just responsible for that one class.
Being TA or instructor via your grad program is highly recommended as well, and often is good because you get tossed into classes you may not have hand picked and have to learn to teach anyway. Adjunct work sort of takes it to another level because there is little supervision and advice the way there is with TA work. It’s all you. I’d say do both if you can.
2. Being on committees at your school is another way to get some experience. This is only an option at some schools, but it might be worth asking if your school doesn’t offer this option up because they may let you sit in. My school PhD school encourages grad students to sit on committees; my Masters school did not. Since I didn’t get this chance during my Master’s I’ve soaked it up during my PhD to mixed results. I’ve served on 4 committees and often it’s been more than one at a time. I don’t know if I’d suggest doing that. One a year is plenty. They can be quick, or surprisingly time consuming.
Basically, they are groups of faculty, staff, and sometimes students who meet regularly on a topic such as curriculum, events, budgets, etc. Honestly I haven’t loved all 4 and have found that like everyone else there are aspects of university life I enjoy more than others, and hopefully when I’m a full-time prof I can pick and choose my committee work wisely based on these experiences. Committees give a grad student huge insight into politics, budget, competition, and repetitiveness throughout the universities and the organization and disorganization that is throughout. They also help you develop a higher profile and build your relationships within the institution and sometimes with outside parties that often are on them like alumni and local design professionals. This can be a great way to make networking connections if you haven’t worked in those arenas.
But, note that you should try to be on those that are at times the truly work for you and on topics that honestly interest you because these can also be a huge waste of time as you struggle to fit meetings into your calendar on a topic you don’t want to work on. If you can, scope out who is on the committee first, as there is sometimes a vast difference in whether faculty and staff see you as a interactive adult with valuable contributions representing the graduate student perspective, or an interloper or child taking space who is stupidly doing this for free (remember-this is part o what they’re getting their salaries to do, and we’re paying tuition for this time).
That said, some committees are extremely worthwhile and you’ll come out of that time feeling accomplished, well connected, and newly educated in the intricacies of the field in ways the classroom cannot prepare you for. Student groups, honor societies, and the like can prepare you in some of the same ways as you mingle with peers and get some resume lines, but if you can be part of something with people who are at many points in their careers, instead of exclusively your peers, it’s a good birds-eye view of your potential future.
3.) A third way I wanted to chat about getting involved was participating in research beyond the classroom. Whether you want to be a research school or a teaching school, there’s going to be some research involved. Plus, you’ll be teaching aspects of research within many of your classrooms. If you decide not to go the prof route, there’s often still some research involved in lots of other careers in our field.
Taking research you’ve done in a class and extending it is one option. Try to present it at a conference, write it into a manuscript for publication, or if it started a little rushed or thin, consider the class project a pilot and redo it bigger and better. But only do all this with projects you actually care about. I’ve gotten a little stuck extending some projects I’d be fine with letting go of, and let go of some projects I wished I published on (but now the data is a pretty old), so be careful with how you manage your time.
Another option for research is to get onto team projects that professors or classmates are working on so you can participate without over-extending yourself. Careful again of time management, as team projects require lots of meetings etc, but, often you can get a lot more done in a group than on your own, and it’s a way to delve into some topics to broaden what themes you pursue and what methods of research you’re familiar with.
One final way to get into research is to be a participant in other people’s research. I’ve done this a bunch. It helps others out as everyone is always looking for human subjects, and gives huge insight into the research process from many angles. It has made me a better researcher to have occasionally been on the other end of the interview questions, the survey scales, the camera, and the body scanner. Careful what permissions you give, because if these are your colleagues you may see your name or image up in lights at a national conference alongside a quote you wish all your current coworkers didn’t see. So make sure to be thoughtful about your privacy, but, again, participating can really give you an empathetic view of your future subjects and ideas about what you’ve liked and disliked about others’ research strategies.
So there’s a ton of other ways to get involved. Graduate assistantships, national and regional societies, jobs, blogs, are just a few. Find one or two each year and mix it up. You may find you are surprisingly perfect for something that was unexpected, or a terribly fit for something on paper you thought you’d love. You’re paying a ton for this time, and probably not getting much in salary in return (trust me, I know how much those RA positions pay…urgh) and so you want to maximize your tuition dollar. It’s not to say you cannot try things out throughout your entire career, I certainly plan to, but it’s nice to do it while in grad school with the limited risk and more of a trial-and-error attitude. Perhaps it can help us zero in on where we’ll be our most successful. And again, much of this is service work, which is a contribution to making the general community of our field stronger and how can you not support that.
For future Rat Race posts I’ll talk about things like choosing a research subject and collaborators, maintaining your personal life during hectic schedules, and whatever else is on my mind. If you’ve got a subject you’d really like to know about drop me a line.
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