Inside 1950s Couture: Charles James

By Heather Vaughan, July 14th, 2010 at 5:00 am (History of Dress, Museum Life, Uncategorized)

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.

More Information:
Charles James (Fashion Memoire)

High Style: Masterworks from the Brooklyn Museum Costume Collection at The Metropolitan Museum of Art

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Jobs: Museum Positions

By Lucy Collins, July 13th, 2010 at 12:58 pm (Jobs, Museum Life, Uncategorized)

(1. Collections Fellow, Cranbrook Art Museum

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:

Cranbrook, Human Resources

P. O. Box 801

Bloomfield Hills, Michigan 48303-0801

or email humanresources@cranbrook.edu

(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

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Call for Contributors: Muslims in American Popular Culture

By Lauren Michel, July 12th, 2010 at 5:00 am (Conferences and Calls for Papers)

Image credit:  Yusuf Islam (the musician formerly known as Cat Stevens)

This call for contributors appears to cast a wide net, one which includes fashion, adornment and appearance.

Muslims in American Popular Culture: A three-volume reference set titled “Muslims in American Popular Culture” (MIAPC). The first collection of its kind, MIAPC will be marketed mainly to university, public, and secondary school libraries.  We are looking for articles of various lengths on a wide variety of topics within the categories of contemporary American Muslim entertainment, communities, social concerns, religious expression, and politics.  This is to be published by Praeger, through Greenwood Publishing Group.

The first round of articles is due on October 15, 2009, and we will be reviewing abstracts on a rolling basis. Completed articles will be guaranteed a place in the collection based on dates received and accepted. Please send abstracts or questions to:

Anne Richards, PhD, aricha31@kennesaw.edu, Department of English, Kennesaw State University, GA, or

Iraj Omidvar, PhD, iomidvar@spsu.edu, Department of English and Technical Communication and Media Arts, Southern Polytechnic State University, GA

POTENTIAL TOPICS TO BE ADDRESSED BY “MUSLIMS IN AMERICAN POPULAR CULTURE”

Note:  This list has been edited to reflect those relevant to dress and appearance.  Contributions on many other topics relevant to the scope of the book series are welcomed as well.

• Clothing and adornment
• Veils, headscarves, burkas, hejabs, etc.
• Henna, harquus
• Cliches such as Persian carpets, deserts, harems, geniis, magic lamps, Baghdad, Bedouins, Oriental despots, the Crusades
• Belly dancing
• Typical stores within large metro areas
• Places of Worship and Religious Accommodations
• Stereotypes
• Individuals

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On Teaching Fashion: Summer Reading

By Lauren Michel, July 9th, 2010 at 5:00 am (Book Reviews, Teaching)

I have recently come to the conclusion that I am hopelessly and quite happily addicted to collecting books.  My book shelves are filled to overflowing, some are filled two-deep, and I continue to make weekly trips to the library and regular stops at my favorite used book shops.  Am I delusional about the amount of time available in any given day to devote to reading?  Yes and no.  During the school year, I do not have a lot of time for what my fifth-grade teacher called ‘pleasure reading.’  This summer, however, I have discovered many pleasurable hours free to devote to catching up on reading Vogue magazine, W, Women’s Wear Daily, the latest fashion textbooks, background reading for my discipline, and those books read just for enjoyment’s sake.

One of the first books I picked up this summer was The Secret Life of Oscar Wilde by Neil McKenna, and I have concluded that there is very little of Wilde’s life that was ever secret, but I have found the book to be a useful introduction to the life of Wilde, as it is a chronology of events in his personal life during the writing of each of his major works, and an in-depth look at his trials and imprisonment and the Victorian view of male homosexuality.  On the subject of fashion specifically, there is even some good basic coverage of the origin and meaning of the wearing of green carnations, and the general wearing of the color green by gay men in Europe in the nineteenth century.

Next came Christian Lacroix: The Diary of a Collection by Patrick Mauries, which I recently received as a gift (lucky me!).  The book is a visual treat, and is essentially a scrapbook of Lacroix’s Spring/Summer 1994 Haute Couture collection, with full details on his inspiration and design processes behind it, including his sketches and excellent photos of antique textiles and modern fabric swatches.  Quality images of the finished looks (rather than in-progress-mostly-finished-polaroids) would have made the book complete.

Coming up on my reading list are two textbooks, Fashioning Society: A Hundred Years of Haute Couture by Six Designers by Karl Aspelund and Menswear: Business to Style by Michael P. Londrigan (to be read in between comic books and graphic novels from my local library, of course).  Leave me a comment and let me know your suggestions for summer reads, and perhaps I will cover one in a future post.

Photo Credit:  The Woman in the Woods on flickr.

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Modernism and Fashion

By Lucy Collins, July 8th, 2010 at 12:43 pm (Uncategorized)

I’ve recently been thinking about the idea of Modernism as self-reflexivity. As art critic Clement Greenberg heralded the work of the Abstract Expressionists, he claimed that the importance of their work was due to a sort of Modernist self-critique, a search for purity in art – which in this case boiled down to highlighting the flatness of paint on canvas.

This Kantian notion of critique pervaded the work of the painters such as Jackson Pollock and Morris Louis as they sought to re-imagine the process of applying to paint to canvas.

In light of these concerns, I’ve been wondering about the exact moment of Modernism in fashion? Has it even happened yet? Following from the Abstract Expressionists who used the very medium of paint to critique and redefine painting itself, when, or how, does fashion use the very fabric of clothing to critique itself? I’m inclined to think these issues of sustainability that continue to flutter around the fashion endeavor these days are calling for this sort of critique. Maybe it is time for a re-definition, but can it occur from within fashion? If so, how?

I think about early examples of deconstruction in fashion, when designers began to display seams on the outside and unfinished, raw edges, perhaps commenting on the very process of design and manufacture of clothing.

What other ways can fashion begin to use tools specific to the industry to draw attention to the most important and most essential elements of clothing and design?

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Exhibition Review(s): Hawaiian Fabric & Fashion

By Heather Vaughan, July 7th, 2010 at 5:00 am (Exhibitions, History of Dress, Museum Life, Uncategorized)

Since my trip to Hawaii last year, where I visited the Lyman Museum, I’ve become increasingly interested in Hawaiian history and their material culture. So when I had the chance to visit a more local exhibition covering a similar topic, I jumped at the chance.

The San Jose Museum of Quilts & Textiles current has three exhibitions on view in relation to Hawaiian fabric and textiles. They are Alfred Shaheen: Fabric to Fashion; Wendeanne Ke’aka Stitt: Contemporary Kapa and an unnamed Special Events Gallery showing of hand-stitched Hawaiian quilts. It should be noted here, that though it might appear that there were very few wall panels of text for any of the three shows – a gallery guide was available (to borrow and for sale – $.6.50) which filled in much of what was missing. It is well worth it to borrow the guide at the admissions desk, or to purchase one.

After paying our admission and entering the exhibition a friend and I stopped in the first gallery, where Wendeanne Ke’aka Stitt: Contemporary Kapa was on display. Theses are flat textiles made of various natural fibers. While at the Lyman museum in Hawaii, I learned that traditional Ka’pa cloth was:

“made from the mulberry tree, and then decorated by either block print, immersion dye, panting, overlay or cord snapping. ‘Plants, animals, and even dirt were ground in a stone mortar to get every color imaginable.’”

In this contemporary display, however, the pieces were made from a mix of local and Hawaiian materials including Black Walnut, Hawaiian red dirt, Queen of the Knight Black Tulips, and backyard Mulburries. When examining the cloth, one naturally wants to be able touch and feel the texture (especially the machine quilted ka’pa made with vintage cotton).  Happily, several samples of ka’pa cloth were provided – it’s a surprisingly soft fiber. Also much appreciated, was an in depth wall-panel that explained in detail how the cloth is made, with photographic examples. I had not realized that Ka’pa is the only bark cloth that goes through a fermentation process!

Moving through to the special exhibition gallery was an unnamed show of hand-sewn Hawaiian quilts. Small labels next to each beautifully done quilt named the artist, the date and materials used but didn’t provide much in the way of curatorial direction. Additional information on the meanings of the forms was provided in the gallery guide. Our favorites were the Red Giner and Plumeria with Maile Leis – both by Chieko Nakagawa.

One small quilt by Carol Kamaile, Chinese Money Tree, was the artists ‘first’ attempt to design and complete a Hawaiian quilt – it took her five years to complete.  I’m still trying to comprehend the skill and attention required by this extremely high-quality hand sewing.

Moving into Alfred Shaheen: Fabric to Fashion exhibit our mouths gaped and gasped at the colors of the textiles and fashion that lay before us. The exhibit seemed to flow beautifully through a rainbow of colors. Most examples dated to between the 1950s and 1960s though several garments from the 1980s were also included. Much ephemera, including advertisements, buttons, original hanging tags, and long beautiful bolts of vintage fabric.

If you like Mad Men at all, this exhibit is for you. Over and over again, the silhouette was the familiar, glamorous wasp waist of Betty Draper. New Look and wiggle dress silhouette’s abounded, in both dresses and swimwear. Men’s shirts and some children’s clothing were included as well.

It seems Shaheen was the cornerstone on which Hawaii’s garment industry was built (when he started his business there in the late 1940s). Much of the exhibit shows quite clearly the connections between East & West. The design of the garments include Watteau backs, Nehru collars, pagoda sleeves, sari-style draping, Chinese characters, as well as obvious inspiration from Egypt and India (especially in the later years). All this intermingles with what we now think of as traditional Hawaiian motifs – Plumeria, Hibiscus and other tropical flowers especially.

Shaheen apparently also sent his textile designers all over Asia and Polynesia to gather inspiration. The effect was an exotic look, that incorporated ethnic textiles and traditional techniques. I don’t want to give away too much here, and if you’re in the area I STRONGLY encourage a visit – you won’t be disappointed (so long as you get that gallery guide!)

I must, unfortunately, point out a few problems that proved too distracting to this otherwise enchanting experience. Most of these have primarily to do with the dressing of the garments, and to some degree the exhibition design. What wall panels were available were too long to hold a general museum-goers attention. Generally speaking, wall text shouldn’t be more than 300 words long, and the 2 or 3 panels that I saw were much, much longer than that. Given the sparseness elsewhere in the exhibit, the curator(s) could have spread their text out a bit more. I also found it frustrating to have to refer to a gallery guide, when an extended label would have worked nicely (and would have saved the museum money on photocopies).

Primarily though, my problem was the way the garments were displayed. Too often, garments were displayed on mannequins that were not the appropriate size (either too big or to small). To compensate for this, dressers folded and pinned dresses along side seams. Given the layout, and viewers ability to walk 360 degrees around a garment (a rare treat!) it would have been better if the design were uninterrupted.

It was particularly irritating on the pocketed yellow dress pictured above. The eye was naturally drawn to the pockets, but the dress was folded at the sides, stunting the effect and drawing the viewers attention to the problematic fit. Some of the smocked sundresses pulled at the back, indicating that they were also on incorrectly sized mannequins. So too were several of the floor length dresses folded along the back seam (when the interest was the back!)

My other issues with the exhibition related primarily to the use of plastics in the display. In some instances, I understood that they were trying to recreate a boutique look, as laid out by the Shaheen manual (a copy was provided at the exhibition). However, as you can see from the image above, the effect did a huge disservice to the clothing displayed and frankly, looked sloppy. It also emphasized the ’boutique’ or ‘shopping’ feel of the exhibition – a common enough problem when museums display garments. Having vintage Shaheen garments for sale in the gift shop didn’t help this problem either.

The use of plastic hangers to display the men’s Hawaiian shirts, and women’s bathing suits, in the gallery was unfortunate. It just looked unprofessional and too slap-dash for a professional museum to use this kind of display method. Objects displayed suspended from the ceiling seemed to be inviting patrons to touch the clothing, and frequently garments ended up touching each other, or other wall-mounted pieces.

Now, despite these shortcomings, I do think the Bay Area is lucky to have this exhibition on view. The clothes are luxurious and beautiful – especially the textile design. It is on view through August 8, in San Jose. These clothes are a rare treasure, and given the display techniques used, they aren’t likely to be around forever – so see them now while you can. For those not able to see the exhibition, here’s a brief slideshow of the exhibit:

*As an aside, collectors looking to obtain vintage Alfred Shaheen will find a surprisingly large selection on Etsy.

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Bathing Suits, Technology and Morality

By Tove Hermanson, July 6th, 2010 at 5:00 am (History of Dress)

Coney Island by Weegee, 1938

(This is an updated version of the original post.)

In weather like this (namely, 90+ degrees, little-to-no wind, and me without air conditioning), beachy escapes are on everyone’s mind. Following is a rough timeline of how women have historically bared their flesh — or not — to enjoy the sand and sun.

Classical Times

In Classical antiquity swimming and bathing was most often done nude; only sometimes were there were coverings. Murals at Pompeii and ancient mosaics show women wearing two-piece wrap-around garments that resemble bikinis; these were worn for athletic pursuits as on the woman below, who wears the crown and cradles the frond of athletic victory.

woman in athletic bikini, 4th century CE Roman mosaic

19th century

But alas, western society did not long embrace the celebrated nude of the Greco-Roman era, and for many centuries afterwards, beachwear mimicked streetwear, and submerging oneself in water was generally limited to private experiences. It wasn’t until the middle of the 19th century when water sports, sun bathing, and swimming gained momentum again. Starting around 1830, a series of changes eventually led to the participation of women in sports and in specialized clothing being developed for those sports. The Industrial Revolution hearkened an age of train travel, the invention of the sewing machine and mass-produced fabrics enabled clothing in lower price ranges, and household machines and the development of labor unions gave the working classes more leisure time to indulge in travel, sports, and sun worship in exotic locales. The Dress Reform Movement (see my earlier post on Women, Pants, & Politics) advocated shorter dresses worn over loose harem trousers (the Bloomer Costume) that allowed women greater freedom of movement, as was needed for sports and swimwear. Exercise was increasingly prescribed by doctors and advocated by writers to maintain healthfulness; exercise programs even became an integral part of women’s college curriculums.

The typical 19th century “bather” wore black, knee-length, puffed-sleeve wool dresses, often featuring sailor collars for extra-special nautical costume effect (I say this somewhat facetiously, but it was probably used as a deliberate visual device to distinguish proper day wear from risqué sportswear), and worn over bloomers (derived from the Bloomer Costume) or drawers trimmed with ribbons and bows. Accouterments included long black stockings, lace-up bathing slippers that resembled ballerina slippers, and caps. As the 19th century progressed, bloomers and dress hemlines slowly but surely crept higher. Foundation garments being the basic (however questionable) mark of sartorial respectability, it wasn’t until the 20th century that women stopped wearing corsets underneath their bathing suits. Men had swim suits so closely resembling their undergarments that they made the distinction by wearing either black wool or black-with-stripes. You can see where how term bathing suit applied — the bathing costumes were made up of many layers that were worn as a cohesive ensemble.

Bathing dress, 1858

Beaches typically segregated the sexes, either with portions of the beach or different hours of operation. “Bathing machines” were used for additional modesty: they were dressing rooms on wheels in which women could change into their swimmies, were then wheeled out into the water by horses or people, and then were lifted out into the water to bathe. Below is an amusing cartoon from an 1870 edition of Punch:

Modest Old Gentleman (who has swum out to sea and whose bathing-machine has, in the meanwhile, been walked off by mistake). “Ahem! Pray Excuse me, Madam My Bathing-Machine I think.”

And another cartoon from a postcard, closer to the end of the 19th century, showing the hilarious efforts men might exert to catch of glimpse of the women exiting the bathing machine:

1900s

By the turn of the century, bathing suits underwent a revolutionary change in styles as they ceased to be patterned after street wear and began to show a little more of the human form.

bathing costumes c. 1900

bathers by Georges Marchand, published by A. Bettembos, Dieppe, France, 1904

More athletic (and risqué) women pared down the bathing costume to be as form fitting as possible while still covering their bodies. In 1907 the Australian swimmer Annette Kellerman (1887-1975) visited the United States as an “underwater ballerina,” a version of synchronized swimming involving diving into glass tanks. She was arrested in Boston (my hometown is always Puritanical!) for indecent exposure because her swimsuit showed arms, legs and the neck. Kellerman changed the suit to have long arms and legs and a collar, still keeping the close fit that revealed the shapes underneath:

Annette Kellerman in "one piece all-over Black Diving Suit", 1906

Laughable as this costume might be to our unshockable eyes, compare this to the body stockings worn by the prostitutes photographed by E.J. Bellocqu (1873 – 1949) in Storyville, New Orleans’ Red Light district circa 1912. It’s hard to see, but this woman is wearing a full white unitard of the variety worn by burlesque performers (it’s important to note that only dark colors were used in early bathing costumes exactly because they were to be visible, and not to even give the illusion of nudity as this one does):

E J Bellocqs Storyville prostitute in body stocking, c 1912

1920s

The swimwear industry took off in the ’20s. As athleticism and slimmer figures gained increasing fashionableness (see my post on Bicycle Chic and Athletic Aesthetic), knitwear companies expanded their market from sweaters and underwear to include swimwear. With its beautiful beaches and warm waters, it’s unsurprising that the West Coast emerged at this time as a hotbed of swimsuit manufacturers with Catlina, Cole of California, and Jantzen all setting up shop there. The West Coast was not coincidentally the home of burgeoning Hollywood, and this proximity led to the early adoption and wide dissemination of new bathing suit styles in popular films and publicity photographs. Mack Sennett (1880-1960) was a slapstick comedy director whose films frequently featured his titillating “Bathing Beauties,” pictured below:

Mack Sennett's Bathing Beauties eating apples, 1922

The boyish figure favored in the 1920s affected the style of the bathings suits, which were shorter and very much mimicked men’s bathing trunks. (Note also how these bathing suits resembled the mod miniskirts of the ’60s, yet to come.) As ever, when hemlines are raised and garments tightened, modesty becomes a priority for moralists. Below is a 1922 photo of Washington policeman Bill Norton measuring the distance between knee and suit at the Tidal Basin bathing beach after Col. Sherrell, Superintendent of Public Buildings and Grounds, issued an order that suits not be over six inches above the knee (it looks like someone might be in trouble!):

1930s

Knit wool swimsuits, though infinitely more practical than the bathing costume of the 19th century, were still imperfect. They became waterlogged, droopy, and heavy when wet, weighing an average of 20 pounds (owning a vintage wool bathing suit, I can attest that the sagginess is both uncomely and uncomfortable). Technology development stepped in, and the elastic rubber fiber Lastex was invented in 1934. This new material, with natural fibers surrounding a rubber core thread, was used in undergarment corsetry and swimsuits.

The close proximity between the swimsuit manufacturers and Hollywood continued to influence each other. As Lizzie writes in her excellent piece on swimsuits, “Stars and Hollywood designers were used to advertise and promote the latest in swimwear.” Below is Carole Lombard, brash comedienne and lucky wife of Clark Gable. You can see the swimsuits are tighter, shorter, and introduce glamor to what had been previously been somewhat clunky sportswear:

Carole Lombard

Though Jean Harlowe’s white number is even skimpier (and plays with the suggestion of nudity with its white fabric on white skin), note that it is only the necklines and silhouettes that are played with — the leg hemlines remain solidly and straightly at crotch level, no higher.

Jean Harlow

1940s:

Esther Williams (1921-), who had made a somewhat oxy-moronic career for herself as a soloist synchronized swimmer in film musicals, signed a modeling contract with Cole of California in 1947 which also included an annual swimsuit design named for her. Here is a nice montage (feel free to turn the sound off) where she actually pretends to be the aforementioned Australian swimmer Annette Kellerman, among others, in The Million Dollar Mermaid (1952).

If I’ve said it once, I’ve said it a thousand times: war affects fashion. U.S. factories are often commandeered by the military during wars, using their existing facilities to produce supplies for the war effort; this was true of the swimwear industry during World War II, as well. Fabric rationing led to sleeker, more closely tailored silhouettes in day wear, and sanctioned increasingly skimpy swimwear: as Lizzie points out, “The US government actually mandated that bathing suits were to be made with at least 10% less fabric, and so the midsection was eliminated” (keeping that scandalous orifice, the navel covered!). French engineer-turned-swimsuit-designer Louis Reard created the “bikini” in 1946, macabrely named after the concurrent nuclear bomb test site on the Bikini Atoll, though some say it was an allusion to the explosive effect the midriff-baring bikiniwould have on viewers. A year after it was released in France, Reard’s bikini was released in America, though its sales were not so great, and was even outlawed in some states as a result of its scantiness.

Louis Reard's bikini, 1945

More popular in the colonies were slightly more modest bikini tops with shorts, which actually crossed the line into non-swimming casual wear.

1950s

Post WWII, there was a so-called return to femininity with Dior’s “New Look,” emphasizing curves with yards of skirt fabric, torpedo bras and stiff bodice corsetry. Swimsuits conformed to this ideal too, often with stiff strapless bodices, cinched waists, and apron-like skirts that fell over an invisible skimpier under-layer. More colors than ever were incorporated into swimwear, too, with the return of all America’s factory and supply resources.

apron style swimsuits of 1950s

On the flip side, pin up girls were regularly drawn and photographed in swimsuits, as cousin of the negligee. Below, Bettie Page models some racier swimwear, always designed by herself:

Bettie Page in animal print bikini

1960s

The 1960s heralded the dawn of the Sexual Revolution, the generation that rejected their parents’ prudish impact in the ’50s (Bettie Page very much excepted). This was the first time the female bathing suit moved its hemline above the crotch to encircle the legs rather than square them off. Bond Girl Ursula Andress became an iconic figure (literally and figuratively) in this bikini from Dr. No (1962):

Ursula Andress in white bikini in Dr No, 1962

Below is the publicity shot for Rudy Gernreich’s infamous topless “monokini:”

Peggy Moffitt in monokini by Rudi Gernreich, 1964

Even as it created a fashion sensation, it’s unclear how many women actually bought and wore this number, scandalous even today. Compare the artsy studio photo above to a photo of a model in public (with a billboard man leering at her no less!):

woman wearing Rudi Gernreich's monokini on beach, by Paul Schutzer for Time magazine, 1964

1970s, ’80s, & ’90s

The 1970s embraced less structured clothes and swimsuits, exchanging the stiff elastic ruching and bullet-bra cones for simpler, softer patterns that conformed to the wearer’s body rather than the other way around. The waistline was lowered to hover at the widest point of the hips, rather than at the thinnest point of the waist. The fabric was often unlined, exposing the outlines of nipples (see this hilarious ad for nipple enhancing bras from that period!), as can be seen in the iconic poster of Farrah Fawcett:

Farrah Fawcett photo by Bruce McBroom, 1976 LIFE photo shoot

The ’80s embraced exaggeration in all fashion: huge shoulders, tiny waists, big hair, monochromatic, etc. Bathing suits took on a distinctly geometric feel, often with strategic cutouts for some interesting looks that must’ve created creative tan lines.

Baywatch reigned the small screen in the 1990s. Everyone remembers the Baywatch babes running in slow motion in their bright red, high-cut, low-cut lifeguard swimsuits:

Pam Anderson and Yasmine Bleeth in Baywatch

1990s to now

Since the 1990s, bathing suits have more or less leveled out. Leg holes have generally lowered to a less crotch-pulling height, but we’re in the throws of a nouveau ’80s, so I’ve seen a resurgence of those cutout bathers.

Bathing suit technology has been in the headlines in the past decade due in great part to the press everything Olympics-related generates. Though it’s too expensive to be used for leisure beach activity, Speedo’s LZR swimsuit, invented in 2008, has caused much ruckus among competitive swimmers in recent years. Its corset-like sleek design (it’s said to necessitate 3 people to help a swimmer get into it!) and lasered seams eliminated so much water drag and shaved precious milliseconds off speeders’ times that it was ultimately banned as a kind of performance enhancer that competitors who had non-Speedo sponsors could not wear.

And on that note, I’m off to my local pool to escape this cursed heat, in my Esther Williams vintage-style swimsuit.

Further Reading:

• The Shifting Tides of Seaside Posdtcards – bathing suits as seen in vintage postcards (you need to scroll halfway down the long page to find the right post)
• The California Swimsuit

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Call for Entries: Project IMA – Fashion Unbound

By Kat, July 5th, 2010 at 5:00 am (Conferences and Calls for Papers)

Call for Entries
Project IMA: Fashion Unbound
Indianapolis Museum of Art
October 22, 2010 / 7 pm

The Indianapolis Museum of Art is inviting artists and fashion designers to submit original, one-of-a kind-works for inclusion in Project IMA: Fashion Unbound, a runway fashion show organized by the IMA. The theme for Project IMA: Fashion Unbound is uncanny silhouettes and unexpected materials. Utilizing re-purposed or used materials is strongly encouraged.

Eligibility

Project IMA: Fashion Unbound is open to all artists ages 18 or above. Entries must be the exclusive work of the submitter or submitting team, completed within the last three years or created for this show. All works must be wearable objects to be modeled on a runway, and must exhibit unique, innovative, inspirational and creative artistry.

Evaluation will be based upon creative uniqueness, the originality of the work and the quality of the overall submissions.

Submission

Application form must accompany all submissions.  Please email ProjectIMA@imamuseum.org for an application form.

The application is limited to two entries; one or both may be used in the final runway show.  Submissions must be accompanied by high quality digital images or proposed in illustrations accompanied by written descriptions. All submissions should identify artist, contact information, and primary construction materials.

Please submit all materials to ProjectIMA@imamuseum.org by August 20, 2010.

Requirements

• Models for the runway show must be provided by the artists.
• Mandatory attendance for both artists and models: Run-Through / Wednesday, October 20, 2010 from 3-5 pm, Runway Show / Friday, October 22, 2010, from 4:30 pm to the close of the event
• Artists must be willing to participate in collaboration with any and all IMA staff in regard to video recording, interviews, blog postings, and any other supplemental activities deemed appropriate by the IMA Public Affairs, New Media, or Textile and Fashion Arts departments.

Awards

Best of Show: A juried award of $500 will be presented the night of the fashion show
Audience Choice: One entry will be selected for recognition by the audience (Award TBA)
*Best in Show and Audience Choice may be awarded to the same artist.

Calendar

August 20, 2010 Entries must be received electronically by Indianapolis Museum of Art.
August 27, 2010 Notification of acceptance sent to artists by e-mail
October 20, 2010 / 3-5 pm RUN-THROUGH (mandatory)
October 22, 2010 / 7 pm Project IMA: Fashion Unbound (4:30 pm call for models and artists)

Click here for details.

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Worn Through’s 3rd Anniversary!

By Monica Sklar, July 2nd, 2010 at 5:00 am (Uncategorized)

We at Worn Through are happy to report 3 years and still going strong! I’d like to say “Thanx!” to our fabulous readers for their interest, devotion and insightful comments and emails.

I cannot believe our niche little corner of the world is up to about 15,000 hits a month, over 350 facebook fans, and over 100 Twitter followers. If you’re interested in reading the blog through those means please sign up!

It’s been a really productive year for all of us at WT, as you can see from my recent post about our personal/professional happenings. I’d like to extend my gratitude to WT‘s contributors who always manage to fit fun, educational, and glamorous posts into their busy schedules. I’d also like to thank our first intern Kat, who helped tons with general planning/site housekeeping, getting together posts, and keeping us up to date with CFPs and exhibit announcements.

Below you’ll find some of our favorite posts of the past year. If you didn’t catch them the 1st time around now you can glance through our 2009-10 highlights. And after that…on to year 4!!!

*POSTS BY ME (MONICA):
The ongoing series Rat Race had two posts so far Grad Student Life: Have One! and Grad Student Life: Get Involved

I’ve also done some interviews this year that have been fun with designer Zandra Rhodes, stylist Phillip Bloch, and student Jillian Granz who won an Oscar dress competition.

*POSTS BY HEATHER:
Her Issues in Dress Collections series included four posts. Here is a link to the final piece which references the previous three.

Also check out Quilts: The Historical and The Personal and Travel, Leisurewear, and Claire McCardell

*POSTS BY TOVE:
Michael Jackson’s death was obviously a huge story that happened just about exactly a year ago. Who Inspired Michael Jackson’s Fashion?

Madonna and Lady Gaga certainly aren’t the only ones who’ve used lingerie as daywear. Innerwear as Outerwear

*POSTS BY LAUREN:
Her series of teaching posts has had great range. Check out this one: Dickens Christmas Fair

And from a totally different perspective…Teaching World Textiles and Textile Design History

*POSTS BY LUCY:
This posts on veils from last week garnered a huge amount of discussion. check out her posts and all the comments.

A floral post to get us all thinking about summer.

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Exhibits!

By Kat, July 1st, 2010 at 5:00 am (Exhibitions)

“HAWAII’S ALFRED SHAHEEN: FABRIC TO FASHION”
Through August 8
The San Jose Museum of Quilts and Textiles [San Jose,CA]

This is a retrospective of Hawaiian textiles and aloha wear manufactured by Alfred Shaheen on the island of Oahu over a 40-year period featuring 100+ objects. Stunning yardage representing the textile designs Shaheen produced, and key examples of the garments that visually conjure Hawaii’s complex cultural history will fill all three Museum galleries. In addition to textiles, the exhibit will showcase archival photos and ads that illuminate how the textiles and garments were designed, manufactured and marketed.

Click here for details.

“SKETCH TO SCREEN: THE ART OF HOLLYWOOD COSTUME DESIGN”
Through August 15
The Oklahoma Museum of Art [Oklahoma City, OK]

This exhibit highlights the artistic contribution of the costume designer to the American motion picture industry and features 60+ original garments, accessories, sketches and photographs from the silent era to the present.

Click here for details.

“TYING THE KNOT– NEW CASTLE NUPTIALS SINCE 1784″
Through August 30
The Amstel House and Old Library Museum [New Castle, DE]

This exhibit features 15 wedding dresses and wedding accessories dating from 1784 to 1935.

Click here for details.

*Thank you to the Costume Society of America and the James A. Michener Art Museum for this information.

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