“Three Women in Kimonos” by Baron Raimund von Stillfried Circa 1876

I have long been obsessed with fashion statements from around the world.  What one might find odd about another cultures fashion I find intriguing, beautiful, and well curious.  The Japanese Kimono is one of those items that draws my attention time and time again, the beautiful fabrics, designs, and the women that wear them capture my attention ever so slightly.  I’ve come to admire this fashion that has endured the test of time, a fashion that has dominated the Japanese fashion world for well over the last 1400 years.  The Kimono has been a staple of Japans culture from somewhere after the 5th or 7th century AD.*  A kimono is a loose garment that hangs over your body, and is traditionally fasten at the waist by a sash.  Kimono’s variate from different fabrics, to differences in texture, purpose, and ceremonial distinguishing.  The Kimono is a very alluding garment, it is both ascetically pleasing and profoundly intriguing.  The garment alludes to the idea that the female form which cannot be seen at plain sight does exist beneath the overlaying fabric, it suggests that something is there without actually seeing it, which in it’s own way is more attractive then wearing tight clothes to turn eyes.  The kimono has long become a staple of the east and has stood style and fashions test of time with dignity and grace.  The garment has drawn westerner fans throughout out the years, case and point HRH the Duchess of Cambridges’ abridged Jenny Packman version on her tour of Southern Asia.

Middleton in Jenny Packman

Kimono inspired art “The Kimono” by William Meritt Chase (1885)

*  Information for this fact from Encyclopedia of the Exquisite Page 97; and Wikipedia

Picture sources 1/2/3

I’m obsessed with the Printemps Christmas windows. The chic Parisien store has 74 specially commissioned Dior dolls dressed in some of the house’s most iconic creations.

Scroll through the Dior videos to enjoy the opening & get a peek at the dolls’ creation!

Enjoy, and don’t hesitate to comment.

The SCAD’s Museum of Art “Little Black Dress” exhibit shows patrons the history of the standard in many women’s closets

   In the 1920′s Coco Chanel made the “little black dress” a standard in the fashion world. In 2012 the SCAD Museum of Art decided to show this history of this dress, and its various incarnations. The collection not only has dresses from designers such as Prabal Gurung, Zac Posen, Tom Ford, Diane von Furstenberg, Yves Saint Laurent, Stella McCartney, Prada and Balenciaga, but famous historical designers such as Mariano Fortuny, famous for his Delphos dresses, and Pierre Cardin with his layered silk taffeta dress. The exhibit is not only a line up of white mannequins in black dresses but also incorporates art pieces, such as Rachel Feinstein’s, “Puritan’s Delight.” This makes the dresses become not only applied art, but raises them to the status of fine art.

The museum backdrops the mannequins with a bright, lush, red, which makes the black dress pop as a focal piece. These pieces are not only art, but historical pieces, with many of the dresses becoming icons of an era, or worn during pop culture history. The SCAD shows a timeline of the evolution of different silhouettes in the world of fashion. This exhibit blends fashion, art, and history to tell a story about our culture and perhaps where the next turn in fashion may lie.

Read More:

Forbes

SCAD Museum of Art

article by Brigitte Stephenson

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I first stepped over the threshold of Platt Hall two years ago and the hours I have spent there since have been a total enchantment to me.

In one of the prettiest buildings in England is housed a collection of costumes expressing the hopes and dreams, as well as the duties and orderliness, of the town and country people of the region during the 18th and 19th centuries. The poignancy of the collection  is heightened by the fact that the era it represents coincides with the focus on calico printing on Manchester itself.

I appreciate the local bias of the work, with many examples taken from Manchester, Cheshire and the North West. I love the fact that the book strays well beyond costume into social history and offers, for instance,  a fascinating insight into the polemics around the employment of women in heavy industry. There are many examples of working clothes, including a lovely photo of the pit-brow ladies of Wigan who, in the mid-19th century were sensibly wearing trousers to work.

Of course, there are examples of calico prints that remind the reader of early Laura Ashley designs, but there are also gentlemen’s fob chains, instructions on how to tie neck clothes and a reminder of the enormous trade in clothes for mourning at a time when the average age of death was 29.

This book published by Laura Ashley, is a great read. It covers the silks and satins that were bequeathed in wills and altered many times over the years to adapt to new fashions,  the second hand trade and the shoddy industry, based in Dewsbury, West Yorkshire, tailoring, laundry, holiday wear and much more. It is also a great advertisment for Platt Hall- it’s worth a visit!

Fabric of Society by Jane Tozer and Sarah Levitt is on sale at Oxfam Wilmslow for £3.99.

The British Regency period (1811-1820: when The Prince of Wales became Prince Regent), has been described as the most explosive and creative.

Akin to the 1960’s; enormous changes in culture and society all fused together in one enormous burst of energy.

The battle of Waterloo was won. London was completely re-designed. Turner and Constable were painting, the waltz was introduced (highly risky dance for that era), and Jane Austen and Lord Byron were inspired by the life surrounding them to write.

The glamour, the tastes, scandal and gossip, opulent aristocrats, blossoming middle classes, monarchs, decadence, the celebrity culture, the drugs and drink (minus the rock and roll); it was a celebration of youth culture and of course the fashions. The Regency era was an age of exuberance and creativity, but also of excess and deprivation.

The Dandy – Dress Etiquette and Suit Style

Amid all of this was there was rise of the ‘Dandy’, a fashion etiquette and new wave of style.

How is this important? Well, the ‘Dandy’ shunned traditional elaborate aristocratic styles of the time; wigs, breeches and powder were replaced by simplistic elegance. In short, this was when the plain black suit and ‘tie’ became the epitome of the male wardrobe; embracing masculinity and not femininity.

The person responsible for introducing and establishing this modern men’s suit, and fashion necessity was the infamous George Bryan “Beau” Brummell (7 June 1778 – 30 March 1840).

Beau Brummell became an iconic figure in Regency Britain. The arbiter of men’s fashion, and also a friend of the Prince Regent, the future King George IV; this friendship enabled Beau to entrench what might have been dismissed as an insignificant, and fleeting fashion faux pas into mainstream culture. Beau’s ideas were propelled; taking root in society, they had substantial influence.

Brummell was responsible for making a generation rethink their style choices, and ingrained a fresh sense of what fashion was. Men had never before embraced the understated. Perfectly tailored dark coats, polished boots (with Champagne of course), and full-length trousers rather than knee breeches and stockings, and above all immaculate shirt linen with an elaborately knotted cravat; a must of the ‘Dandy’.

The Beau Brummell ‘Dandy’

Beau’s personal habits were as fastidious as his fashion choices. Attention to detail was a prerequisite for any ‘Dandy’, and it was claimed he took five hours a day to dress. Cleaning his teeth, shaving, and daily bathing were part and parcel of achieving the style, just as much as the clothes.

Brummell’s dictum eventually exerted an influence upon the ‘ton’. The ‘ton’ a term used in reference to Britain’s higher echelons of polite society during the Regency era. The word is derived from the French word meaning ‘taste’ or ‘everything that is fashionable’. The full phrase is ‘le bon ton’, meaning good manners or ‘in the fashionable mode’; the characteristics which epitomised the ideals held onto by the British ‘ton’.

Once the ‘ton’ had adopted the style it then became the must for every self respecting fashion conscious man. Brummell’s niche fashion etiquette then became global; making an impression on all fashion from that day to this.

Bronze Statue of Beau Brummell in Jermyn Street, London

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© Bex Houghagen and The Savvy Senorita, 2012. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Bex Houghagen and The Savvy Senorita with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.

Garthwaite, Anna Maria. Design for silk weaving. Watercolor on paper. 1747. Victoria and Albert Museum.

Save for a few biographical tidbits, very little is known about the life of Anna Maria Garthwaite (1690-1763), the daughter of a clergyman who left home in 1726 to live with her widowed sister.  In 1728 the pair moved to the Spitalfields district in London, where Anna Maria would work as a freelance artist, creating over 1,000 watercolors throughout the course of her career, which she sold directly to the local master silkweavers.  Many of those designs have been preserved at the Victoria and Albert Museum, and some even include technical instructions, date, and to whom the design was sold.

It is not known how Anna Maria developed her artistic skills, although there is early evidence of her abilities in a papercut that can be found at the V&A.

Garthwaite, Anna Maria. Papercut. 1707. Victoria and Albert Museum.

However, there is a great disconnect between a papercut done by a teenager and a sophisticated understanding of how silk weaving could translate a design on paper.  It is nothing short of intriguing that a spinster with no formal artistic education could not only penetrate England’s silk weaving industry, but be a major influence on textile production.

Anna Maria created watercolors, which were sold to the weavers, who would transfer the designs to the loom.  While the V&A houses over 800 of Anna Maria’s watercolors, there are a handful of surviving garments and textiles that can be matched to her designs.

Anna Maria’s design for a man’s waistcoat, which was sold to master weaver Peter Lekeux, and the resulting garment. Left: Garthwaite, Anna Maria. Design for silk weaving. Watercolor on paper. 1747. Victoria and Albert Museum. Right: Man’s Waistcoat. Textile by Peter Lekeux, design by Anna Maria Garthwaite. Silk, wool, metallic. 1747. Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Anna Maria’s design, dated April 22, 1744, was sold to Mr. Gregory, who wove the silk. As with many gowns of fine materials, those made of Anna Maria’s designs were often cut and altered for new wearers or to reflect changes in style. Left: Garthwaite, Anna Maria. Design for silk weaving. Watercolor on paper. 1744. Victoria and Albert Museum. Right: Woman’s gown. Textile design by Anna Maria Garthwaite. Brocaded silk. Made 1744, altered 1780s. Victoria and Albert Museum.

Fabrics made from Anna Maria’s designs were so prized they were cut and altered into more fashionable silhouettes as much as a full century after they were woven. Left: Garthwaite, Anna Maria. Design for silk weaving. Watercolor on paper. 1742. Victoria and Albert Museum. Right: Woman’s gown. Textile design by Anna Maria Garthwaite. Brocaded silk. Made 1742-43, altered c. 1840. Albany Institute of History and Art.

We at FIT are lucky to have a dress made from textile of Anna Maria’s design right here in the Museum’s collection:

Robe a l’anglaise. Silk damask. Ca. 1775, textile 1751. Museum at FIT.

These garments and fragments of textiles are testaments to Anna Maria’s role in the evolution of the British silk textile industry, and the hundreds of watercolors she produced, including technical notes, are testaments to her savvy business acumen.  At a time when French silks were in vogue, but Parliament prohibited their use in England, Anna Maria riffed off of French designs and followed the Rococo aesthetic with an added English flair.  When Parliament prohibited anything other than British textiles to the Colonies, Anna Maria’s designs became highly sought after, as fashionable American women demanded only the latest in design.  The fact that garments made from her fabrics were cut and altered to fit new bodies and reflect new silhouettes in fashion reflect the value placed on the figured silks attributed to her design.

English Heritage plaque at 2 Princelet Street, London.

Resources

Lazaro, David E.  “Fashion and Frugality: English Patterned Silks in Connecticut River Valley Women’s Dress, 1660-1800.”  Dress Vol. 33.,  2006.

Rothstein, Natalie.  Silk Designs of the Eighteenth Century in the Collection of the Victoria and Albert Museum.  London: Thames and Hudson, 1990.

Not letting the rain dampen their spirits – our Pearly Queen gets the teams’ knees up in Soho Square!

This was definitely true of our brilliant clients who had a whirlwind tour of the trendiest London hotspots in a bespoke, fashion-themed treasure hunt.

The teams were sent out into the heart of our capital armed with all the tools they needed to hunt for clues, snap fashionista photos and search for our ‘stylish’ characters – taking them on a trip down memory lane of some of the best (and, of course, worst) fashion eras throughout history.

Our Mary Quant-esque character shows the teams some flower power in Carnaby Street

Although the rain was persistent, the group were kept in high spirits by our team; dancing to Abba tunes at Piccadilly and giving it their best ‘Knees up Mother Brown’ renditions with our pearly queen in Soho Square.

“Clients are never quite sure what to expect when we hijack their normal work day, and on a Monday morning they can always look a little unsure at first – but our team have boundless enthusiasm that is sure to liven up any group, so everyone always returns to the office giggling mischievously with a new-found bond and plenty of hilarious photos to remember it all by!”

Kate Packham, Event Manager

 

If you think your team would benefit from an early-week energiser, or an afternoon adventure around your area, why not have a look at our award-winning treasure hunts, or call our lovely sales team on 0845 006 06 06 for some ideas.

Less voluminous and cumbersome, 2 piece dressing came about (bodice & skirt), one-piece shirtwaist dress. Lighter textiles, sheer, delicate lace, intricate embroideries.

War-torn teens  – lifestyle changed and fashion weathered the storm. Women got down to working in factories, delivering mail, nursing soldiers, needed more freedom. Hemlines were shorter (reaching mid calves) and waist-lines repositioned higher. Sturdy practical cottons, lines and woolens were in favor over delicate fabrics (except special occasion).

Corset was slowly abandoned and brassiere was invented.

Schoen, Erhard. Tailor and Seamstress, not before 1491 – 1542. Woodcut print, 279 x 180 mm. From The Illustrated Bartsch, volume 13, commentary, German Masters of the Sixteenth Century: Erhard Schoen and Niklas Stoer.

Yes, this print depicts a tailor and a seamstress.

The Tailor:

Hail to you, beautiful seamstress, come along with me to Norway. There to dress the lansquenets well; and want to earn a good deal of money, while you prepare the shirts of silk, embroidered with gold; you’ll make more money in a month than as a seamstress in a year.

The Seamstress:

If you would be a good fellow, I’d dare to be liked by you. I would not have my friends stop me. I hope that we will both prosper. You will make garments according to the lansquenets custom; divided, split and cut apart; of silk, damask, and velvet; from this we will gain honor and wealth.

These verses reflect the historic relationship of the tailor and the seamstress, where the tailor would design clothing for both sexes, and the seamstress would be responsible for garment construction and finishing. So, what changed in Paris in 1675?

Plan De La Ville Et Fauxbourgs De Paris Dressé sur les Observations AStronomiques de l’Academie Royale des Sciences et sur les Operationes Geom. De Guillaume Del Isle de la meme Academie, 1716.  Copper engraving handcolored with watercolor, 49 x 63 cm. From the University of Washington Libraries. Special Collections Division. Found online.

According to Ann Hollander, in Sex and Suits, in the 1660s:

In the modest bourgeois vein, women’s dress was sober and self-contained while men’s was assertive and dashing, even in dim colors.

Such differences went along with a profound split that occurred in the craft of tailoring during the reign of Louis XIV, a split that had very lengthy effects. In 1675 a group of French seamstresses successfully applied for royal permission to form a guild of female tailors for the making of women’s clothes–to become the first professional dressmakers. Louis approved, believing that the dignity of French women would be well served by such a development, which permitted scope for their talent, respect for their modesty, and independence for their taste. Increasingly thereafter, as all of Europe copied French fashion and fashion methods, women dress women and men dressed men.

So what happened when women started to dress women?

After the foundation of the dressmakers’ guild, and the spread of the idea that female dressmakers were appropriate for the making of women’s clothes, male tailoring proceeded as before according to craft tradition, but only for men, while dressmaking provided larger ornamental possibilities for women. A difference in the way clothes were conceived and made for the two sexes came into existence for the first time, a separation that profoundly affected both the character and the reputation of fashion for the next two centuries, and that still survives.

Without the skills and the knowledge of the male tailors, the dressmakers continued to rely on the tailors to create foundation garments for women. The dressmakers used skilled handwork and excellent draping skills to create extreme fashions, adding volume and accessories without making major alterations to the basic shape of the dress.  At the same time, the tailors continued to refine the cut and shape of men’s clothing, and as a possible reaction to the excess of lace and trim in women’s fashion, chose to use more neutral colored fabrics and to create simplified silhouettes.

The result? A complete distinction between menswear and women’s wear.

For more information, please see the following sources:

Crowston, Clare Haru. Fabricating Women: The Seamstresses of Old Regime France, 1675–1791. Durham, N.C.: Duke University Press. 2001.

Hollander, Anne. Sex and Suits. New York: Kodansha International, 1994, pages 65 – 67.

]]> http://glitterswalloffame.wordpress.com/2012/09/24/fashion/ Mon, 24 Sep 2012 12:35:09 +0000 Glitter's Wall http://glitterswalloffame.wordpress.com/2012/09/24/fashion/ http://whatwilltheysay.wordpress.com/2012/09/18/end-of-the-summer-but-its-definitely-a-new-beginning/ Tue, 18 Sep 2012 16:57:01 +0000 Vasilia http://whatwilltheysay.wordpress.com/2012/09/18/end-of-the-summer-but-its-definitely-a-new-beginning/ Stephen Fry tweeted ‘It’s that conker and fallen leaves back-to-school weather.’

My favourite season is definitely the autumn. Where I live now the autumn is basically a shawl in my and bag and being able to sit on the sofa without sweating. However, back home in London the autumn would be about colour, a different light in the afternoon and the amazing rustling sound of walking through the layers upon layers of fallen leaves.

Autumn is essentially also about starting again. It’s ironic that really it should be spring time in which we feel this way, but I think I can vouch for most people when I say that most go against nature and for humans the autumn is when we start a new job, a new class, a new idea, new music… by this of course I mean the Mercury Music Prize.

Last year it was won by the impeccable PJ Harvey for her majestic and magnificent album ‘Let England Shake’. This year is a bit of a muddle and I haven’t heard much of the albums. However, this is actually what I love…finding out about new artists and falling in to a whirlwind romance with an album or two which usually lasts until the next Mercury Music Prize competition.

Fashion is also a big deal in September. Vogue historically produced it’s biggest ever issue in  September 2007 I believe and in general the September issue for most magazines is the largest issue of the year, providing a style guide for designers and seasons ahead. If only Oscar de la Renta could be an option!

Parliament also decides to return to session in September after a rejuvenating break. The public is always waiting with bated breath at the prospect of our members of parliament having the energy to sort out the pickle that we all find ourselves in now and again…errr. Anyway…

So people of culture and wonder and style and beyond enjoy this wonderful time of year!

As we are in the second decade of new millennium, let’s indulge in little bit of retrospection, the key moments in fashion, triggered by various socioeconomic movements during the 20th century. For what we know of the history of fashion until the end of the 19th century, it was mostly a fascinating footnote to the history of art. Much has changed and evolved in the history of fashion in the 1900s. It’s a stirring, exotic trip with detours aplenty — from the Fallper girls of the ’20s in their Channel dresses to the sheer elegance of Maharani Gayatri Devi’s pastel chiffon sarees, to the innocent candy colored can dresses of the ’50s Americana to the dark, stylish paired down dressing of the ’90.

When the century dawned, fashion was an exclusive enterprise, the pursuit of the wealth. The lower tiers of the society settled for garments that were more often than not entirely family hand-made-downs or stitched at home. With time, however, networks of neighborhood tailors began to evolve into a retail history and the boom followed by boutique selling. Today, garments are laser cut by computers and sourced from all over the world and can easily be bought sitting in the comfort of one’s home via the Internet.

Each decade of  this century ushered greater progress. “During the ’20s, one of the greatest influences on dress code was the movement towards equal status for women. Hence, a new breed of business-like women emerged and made corresponding demands on their dress, says A.K.G Nair, Director, Pearl Academy of Fashion. “The obvious choice for silhouette veered towards drop waist or box and the choice of color was black and grey and the fabrics preferred were silk and georgettes. “he says.

“In India, the fashion scenario was in confusion as it was a turbulent period of conflicting ideologies, when the consciousness of an Indian national identity was beginning to find political expression and the struggle for Indian independence was getting momentum, says fashion diva Ritu Kumar. Thus the fashion trends within high society, read the loyalty, was strongly influenced by the British with the result that Western clothes became a status symbol.

The ’30s heralded the idea of socialism, communism and fascism and women’s fashion became more and more feminine in keeping with conservative ideas. “However, this period also saw the emergence of the vamp and the culture of cabaret, “says Nair, noting that hence the dresses became more body hugging and the colors deep and dark in tune with such themes.

The establishment of the Indian cinema also proved to be the strongest influence on the fashion in the decade. Due to the Western influence, the use of angarkhas, choghas and jamas diminished considerably by this time, although the ceremonial pagri, safa and topi were widespread as ever. “They had been replaced by the chapkan, achkan and sherwani, which are still standard items of formal dress for Indian men today, “says Kumar.

“The women even though were accepting change, continued to wear their peshwaz, kurtas, ghaghras and odhnis at religious and ceremonial festivities, sometimes using imported fabrics but using mostly traditional hand woven fabric, “says Asha Baxi, Director, Fashion Design. National Institute of Fashion Technology (NIFT).

In the ’40s, it was Christian Dior, who turned fashion upside down with a new shape, with the bosom pushed up and out, a pinched waist and hips emphasized with short fluted jackets. “It was also a decade marked by the second World War and the ensuing independence of India with the result that women’s clothing was simple and functional, “says Nair.

The ’50s saw the dawn of art colleges and schools, which became places of rebel, and hence in silhouette, narrow waist and balloon skirts with bouncing patterns were in vogue. Even, the Indian woman turned bold but still true to her national dress. Also due to the freedom struggle and the espousal of khadi by Gandhiji, khadi garments became a rage giving a boost to the sagging handloom industry, according to Asha Baxi.

The ’60s one of the most shock-filled decades of the century, saw sweeping fashion and lifestyle changes that reflected the mercurial passions of the times. “This decade was full of defiance and celebration in arts and music and cinema, marked by a liberation from constraints and new types of materials such as plastic film and coated polyester fabric got popular, “says Nair. Besides, adds Bax,” tight kurtas and churidars and high coiffers competed with the mini-skirts abroad and at the same time, designers understood the need of the moment to launch cheaper, ready-to-wear lines. The sixties was the era that accompanied synthetic materials like nylons, polyesters and rayon. In this era, even the sari turned into a form fitted array and the choli turned skimpy and daring, giving the women a more sensuous look.

One of the most “revisited” and “retro” periods in the fashion, the ’70s is often called the “me decade.” It saw the beginning of “anything goes” culture with the result that fashion became another form of self-expression and bold colors with flower prints were adapted in tunics, with shirts and bell-bottoms, says designer Manav Gangwani. As drug culture became a mass phenomenon, psychedelic colors were garish, the shoes were tall and hazardous and silhouettes were extreme and the dressing of the ’50s was definitely out.

“The 70s also saw the export of traditional material with the result that export surplus was sold within the country itself and hence, international fashion came to India much before the MTV culture,” says Baxi. Synthetics became popular and the disco culture had a profound influence on fashion and the clothes became as flashy as the mirrored ball that spins over the dancers.

In the ’80s, the big money ruled. It was the era of self-consciousness and American designers like Calvin Klein became household names. In India too, silhouettes became more masculine and the salwar kameez was made with shoulder pads. Says Baxi, “Power dressing and corporate look became dominant dress code.” The influence of cable TV became more prominent and the teenage market boomed with youngsters going in for the trendy look, which in turn influenced the elders. In the mid-80s even the Indian male was introduced to the royal grandeur and comfort of ethnic wear giving kuta, chudidar, band gala, sherwani and jodhpuri jacket a fashion boost. It became fashionable to go the ethnic way, not only for ghazal and for qawali nights but also for formal occasions and even to office.

The ’90s the last decade of the last millennium, was one of the extremes. The excess of the early decade gave way to the drastic pairing down and stripping away in the hands of German designers like Helmut Lang and Jil Sander. “Perhaps the biggest fashion news of the ’90s has been the ascendancy of the younger generation of designers into the mainstream. The decade also looked for independent women with comforts, poise and   confidence as key features,” says Nair.

Fashion in India was no longer considered just a means to cover the body but also presented the best-dressed image to the world in numerous Indian as well as foreign labels.

The decade also saw the revival of ethnicity with films too becoming more discreet and launching a “back to ethnic” look. While on the one hand the new drive for information technology popularized the corporate look, an ethno-cultural revival made people again go back to the traditional forms of art and crafts. States Baxi, “As it is Indian fashion is extremely alive and whatever the decade or the century, it is here to stay. For not only it is comfortable, practical and aesthetically beautiful but has changed with time with the result that it has, in the past century, and will in the coming one, remain contemporary,” she sums up.

Source: India Tribune Saturday, Sep 01st

YSL Mondrian day dress, Autumn 1965.

In 1965, Yves Saint Laurent designed a collection of clothes in wool and jersey inspired by dutch artist Piet Mondrian. The planimetry of the dresses was conceived like a canvas and set in blocks – just like the artist used to set his paintings – with the only use of the three primary colours + white divided by horizontal and vertical black lines.

The dresses are not only a clear homage to one of the most famous contemporary artists of his time, but also show a brilliant use of the graphic technique, since the colour-blocking allows to accommodate the body, shape it and also clear all the seaming (isn’t it genius?).

Back in the days, Harper’s Bazaar referred to them as ‘the dress of tomorrow’ and quickly found their way into the mass-market. The collection became so popular that it inspired a range of imitations from then on – shoes, bags and even swimwear (like Austrelian designer Sarah Schofeld’s 2010 beachwear collection).

The Mondrian dress was shown again in 2002, during the Yves Saint Laurent retrospective haute-couture fashion show at the Pompidou Centre in Paris, and is now stored at the MET Museum- gifted by Mrs. William Rand.

[Yves Saint Laurent dresses] they should be looked at more as works of art. They are not really for wearing, they are more for museums.” said Patricia Frost, director of Christie’s textile department.

Mindful of the success of the Mondrian dress, the French maison has now decided to release a makeup collection inspired by Mondrian works as well, with palettes made up of pop colours and geometric design.

The collection should be launched this fall, so make sure you read this blog and I’ll keep you posted with it

Bee yourself! ♥

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]]> http://helpemptymycloset.com/2012/08/26/fashion-then-now-1940s-chistian-dior-fall-2012/ Sun, 26 Aug 2012 10:57:05 +0000 helpemptymycloset http://helpemptymycloset.com/2012/08/26/fashion-then-now-1940s-chistian-dior-fall-2012/

1940s dress and two dresses from Christian Dior Fall 2012

Dictionary’s Definition: peplum [ˈpɛpləm]
1. a flared ruffle attached to the waist of a jacket, bodice, etc.
2. (Clothing & Fashion) a variant of peplos
[from Latin: full upper garment, from Greek peplos shawl]

Today’s Peplum Dresses (Courtesy of ASOS/Topshop)

The earliest peplum was an extra overskirt flounce sewn onto, and dropping from the waist.

Ladies in hoop skirts and an example of peplum in the early 19th century.

Gone are the hooped skirts made of steel casings (although our modern version of it is a crinoline/petticoat/”can-can”), and a newly adapted version of peplum in the 1940s.

1940s, Simplicity Pattern 25e

1940s

In the 1980s, the peplum returned to jackets with shoulder pads. The feminine curves were emphasized by a fitted waist and either a flounced or straight peplum, usually covering the hips and stomach.

1980s Peplum, (Simplicity Dress Pattern 8223)

1980s Peplum (Butterick dress pattern 5925)

It should come as no surprise that modern designers now borrow fashion from the past in create some of their runway pieces.

What women wore in a 1940s ad vs a dress from the Christian Dior Fall 2012 collection.

During my search for the best shoe repair shops, I came across this photo of Jan Ernst Matzeliger, a man described as the “Pioneer of the US Shoe Industry”. Intrigued by his good looks, I decided to extend my Google search and find out more about him and his contributions to the shoe industry.

First, I know zilch about the people responsible for pioneering the shoe industry. I know a little sum’n sum’n about the history of fashion, and I know for certain the history of thongs (yes, the underwear) because I did a report and presentation on them for my History of Fashion class.

Second, as an African American, I was very excited to learn that a black man not only pioneered the shoe industry with his invention of the Mechanical Shoe Laster which allowed shoemakers to produce shoes at an exponentially greater speed and number (150-700 pair per day) rather than using the services of Hand Lasters, who could only produce around 50 shoes per day; but that he also put Lynn, MA on the map as the ‘Shoe Capital of the World’. How cool is that? Massachusetts beat out Italy for the title.

So, on this day, the 125^th anniversary of his passing, I would like to pay homage to the man who changed our worlds forever.

Want to learn more about Jan Ernst Matzeliger? Google him!

Photo Credits:

Photo of Matzeliger courtesy of Britannica Encyclopedia

Machine Image courtesy of  New.inventions.org

Research from the London College of Fashion confirms what many of us thought- that wearing make-up lifts the soul- 85% of women surveyed said wearing make-up improved a bad mood day. & despite 54% of men finding red lipstick tarty, fashionistas LOVE it!

Marilyn Monroe is famous for her perfect red-lipsticked pout- in this tutorial make-up artist Lisa Eldridge gives you some top tips to recreate her iconic look & reveals Marilyn’s preferred lip colour- Insolence by Guerlain.

As you know Raf Simons recently debuted his first couture collection at Dior. In this video he describes his design approach as juxtaposing the history of the house with a modern fashion attitude. Whilst acknowledging the architectural genius of Christian Dior’s constructions Raf seeks to fuse the label’s heritage with futuristic techniques to create a new 21st century couture explains about how the cropped & slashed gowns worn over pants offer a nod to the past but with an eye very much on the future. Fab fashion illustration from Paola van der Hulst at PvdH.

read part I

Central to understanding Schiaparelli as a precursor to punk is the Surrealist concept of Convulsive Beauty, which was formulated by Andre Breton.  Breton defined convulsive beauty as an aesthetic of shock.  In Schiaparelli’s clothing and accessories convulsive beauty disrupts the stable gendered identity of the wearer, and conventional notions of attraction.  Breton defined convulsive beauty as a series of strange encounters, or paradoxes.  The classic example of convulsive beauty is the chance encounter of a sewing machine with an umbrella on a dissection table.  Breton’s description of convulsive beauty also links aesthetic pleasure to erotic pleasure.  Shock affects a viewer in a visceral way.  It is a bodily reaction.  It is what makes convulsive beauty convulse.

George Saad, Schiaparelli’s and Dalí’s High Heel Hat worn with her Lip Suit, L’Officiel, October 1937

Man Ray, Elsa Schiaparelli, 1932

Shock became practically a second signature for Schiaparelli in 1937 when she created her signature shade, shocking pink, and the perfume Shocking and the name for her autobiography, Shocking Life.   The bottle for Shocking, designed by Leonor Fini was based on the torso of Mae West, and had a sex appeal that was certainly shocking to some.

Marcel Vertès, Advertisement for Shocking, 1942

Steven Meisel , Model Guinevere Van Seenus wears shocking-pink Schiaparelli dress (fall 1937), silk-velvet bolero with metal embroidery by Lesage (fall 1938), and Starburst earrings, c.mid-1930s, Vogue, May 2012, http://www.vogue.com/magazine/article/elsa-schiaparelli-and-miuccia-prada-talk-to-her/#1

Schiaparelli continuously courted scandal throughout her career.  In June 1937 at the Paris Exposition Internationale des Arts et Techniques dans la Vie Moderne Schiaparelli gleefully upturned the decorum of the Pavillon de l’Elégance’s display by the most prominent couturieres in Paris.  Their work was exhibited on mannequins designed by Robert Couturier in an Arcadian landscape devised by Émile Aillaud.[i]  The style of the display had been influenced by the biomorphic branch of Surrealism.  Schiaparelli did not see beauty in these Surreal mannequins.  She thought that they were “in some respects hideous.  All one could do was to hide their absurdity under voluminous skirts.”[ii]   The mannequins looked like the hysterical women who fascinated the Surrealists.  Their massive arms gesticulated wildly with splayed fingers.  These mannequins would not do for Schiaparelli:

Wols, Schiaparelli’s display at Le Pavillon de l’Elégance, 1937

I naturally protested…Could I use Pascale, my wooden figure, and thus retain the atmosphere of the boutique Fantastique?  Certainly not, cried the pundits.  That would be conspicuous and revolutionary.  So after much discussion I went and made my own show myself.  I laid the dreary plaster mannequin, naked as the factory had delivered it, on some turf and piled flowers over it to cheer it up.  I then stretched a rope across an open space and, as after washing day, hung up all the clothes of a smart woman, even to panties, stockings, and shoes.  Nothing could be said.  I had carried out most strictly the decrees of the Syndicat de la Couture, but in such a way that on the first day a gendarme had to be sent for to keep back the crowds![iii]

Schiaparelli’s vignette excited the crowds because she had disrupted the elegance of the space by making her mannequin look like a corpse.  Harper’s Bazaar described the scene on opening day:  “Schiaparelli stretches a nude figure on the ground, partially covered by a rug of flowers.  On the opening day, someone threw a visiting card on the blanket with condolences, so now that lady has been jerked up to a sitting position, with her discarded dress and hat thrown on a garden chair.”[iv]  Even this more sanitized version of Schiaparelli’s stunt was provocative—so provocative that her display did not appear in any of the major French fashion magazines which reproduced a number of the other couturiers’ vignettes.[v]  Schiaparelli played with the Surrealist and uncanny possibilities of the mannequin, “half-alive and half-dead.”[vi]  Schiaparelli emphasizes the uncanny by showing the mannequin as a corpse.

What is particularly instructive about this incident is the way in which Schiaparelli uses the surrealist trope of the uncanny mannequin to her own ends.  Her display reflects on the cycles of fashion, and the immanence of death in the fashion system.  It also, in typical Schiaparelli fashion, serves as a shocking publicity stunt.  In the Surrealists hands, several months later, mannequins became the victims of sexual violence at the Exposition Internationale du Surréalisme.  One of the organizes, the photographer  Man Ray claimed that,

in 1937 nineteen nude young women were kidnapped from the windows of the large stores and subjected to the frenzy of the Surrealists who immediately deemed it their duty to violate them, each in his own original and inimitable manner but without any consideration whatsoever for the feelings of the victims who nevertheless submitted with charming goodwill to the homage and outrage that were inflicted on them, with the result that they aroused the excitement of a certain Man Ray who undid and took out his equipment and recorded the orgy…[vii]

Clearly the Surrealist’s provocation was tinged with sexual violence, where Schiaparelli’s display obliterates the misogyny inherent in original source.

This is a critical point to understanding Schiaparelli as a predecessor for punk, since this is precisely the practice of many punk women, both famous and anonymous.  Wendy O. Williams, for example used the hyper masculine styles of punk men to make her highly sexualized body into a literal weapon, all spikes and jagged edges.  Men could look, but touching her might prove fatal.

Elsa Schiaparelli, Claw Gloves, 1938

Art Meripol, Wendy O Williams and the Plasmatics, 1970s http://photo.net/photodb/presentation?presentation_id=329936

Poly-Styrene of the short lived X-Ray Specs, took a completely different approach, appearing on the highly masculinized punk stage in candy colored ensembles that entirely covered up her body.  The prim suits and cardigans are in high contrast to her aggressive style as a performer and wild hair.

Poly Styrene, front-woman for X-Ray Spex

Poly-Styrene used the play of opposites to create a shocking and disorienting affect.  According to Breton’s account in his novel Nadja, sometimes the shocks of convulsive beauty can be inconsequential.

In the case of Schiaparelli’s work was can see this in whimsical details such as buttons shaped like cow heads, mermaids, or pianos or in a necklace which gives the appearance of bugs crawling around the wearer’s neck .  In other cases though, Schiaparelli’s details were more akin to Breton’s capital-S Shocks: bullet casings used as buttons on a cream colored coat with details from men’s hunting clothes (1932-5) or a zipper placed provocatively across the front of a skirt (Winter 1935-36).

Elsa Schiaparelli, Evening Gown, Winter 1935-6 (Philadelphia: Drexel Historic Costume Collection, 55-33-1a)

Elsa Schiaparelli, Coat with Bullet Casing Buttons, 1932–35 (New York: Brooklyn Museum Costume Collection at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2009.300.1212)

In the mid 1930’s Schiaparelli made zippers popular, not only as fasteners, but as embellishment on her clothes.  As with their use on Punk clothing, zippers served as a provocation for Schiaparelli, they encouraged touch and interaction.  In her autobiography, Schiaparelli recalled that, “what upset the poor, breathless reporters the most were the zips.  Not only did they appear for the first time, but in the most unexpected places, even on evening clothes.  The whole [Winter 1935-36]  collection was full of them.”[viii]

Detail: Elsa Schiaparelli, Evening Gown, Winter 1935-6

Attributed to Vivienne Westwood , T-shirt, ca. 1971 (New York: Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1997.59.18)

Elsa Schiaaprelli, Evening Gown with matching shoes by André Perugia, 1933–35 (New York: Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2009.300.1168a–c)

Looking at her blue taffeta dress alongside this punk t-shit, probably designed by Vivienne Westwood, it becomes clear that the playfulness of the zipper can just as easily morph into a more threatening statement referring to the Venus fly trap or even the vagina dentate in the case of Schiaparelli’s dress.

Both the Westwood and Schiaparelli garments draw attention to the erogenous zones of the wearer, while at the same time making the viewer self-conscious of his gaze through the tease of the zipper.  Many of Schiaparelli’s garments were designed to call attention to the sexual gaze of the viewer.

Elsa Schiaparelli, “Falsies” evening dress, brown wool crepe with gold braid, 1936 (London V & A, T.36-1964)

Malcolm McLaren and Vivienne Westwood, ensemble worn by Adam Ant c. 1977-8, AngloMania: Tradition and Transgression in British Fashion , The Costume Institute at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 2006 (photograph by Joseph Coscia, Jr.)

Ray Stevenson, Siouxsie Sioux in “Tits” T-shirt by Malcolm McLaren and Vivienne Westwood ,1976

For example, in 1936 she designed a series of dresses on which she appliquéd decorative padding over the breasts.  This decorative detail mimicked the padding often sewn into a custom couture gown to enhance the breasts.  This was a particularly humorous gesture at a time when larger breasts were coming back into fashion and women were using “falsies.”  More than just a clever joke, this gown confronted viewers who looked at the wearer’s chest, with fake breasts as opposed to the real thing.  Not only is the viewer made aware of his own sexualized gaze, but also of the ways that fashion literally constructs the body.  We can see precisely the same gesture in a t-shirt from Vivienne Westwood and Malcolm McLaren’s punk shop, printed with the photographic image of breasts.  The shirt as worn by Adam Ant around 1977, recreated in The costume Institute’s exhibition Anglomania, works in the context of a shocking gesture of gender bending, paired with a combination of a kilt and bondage trousers.  Worn by Siouxie Sioux, the shirt calls attention to the sexualized gaze of an audience member looking at her breasts.  The shirt confronts the viewer with their fantasy of seeing through the shirt to the breasts beneath, making him self-conscious of his gaze.

Elsa Schiaparelli, Mirror Jacket, Winter 1938–39 (New York: Metropolitan Museum of Art, C.I.50.34.2

There were many other ways in which Schiaparelli created garments which addressed the sexual gaze.  Mirrors were one favorite device of the designer.  For instance, a dinner suit with lavish embroidery by Lesage her winter 1938-39 collection, depicted two shattered mirrors surrounded by gold embroidery in the form of baroque frames over the breasts of the wearer.  The Mirror Jacket intervenes in the conventional roles of the woman as object looked at, intercepting the viewer’s gaze and turning it back onto him.  The woman turns from object into a subject staring, or perhaps winking back at the man who tries to ogle her breasts.  We can see the kinship of Schiaparelli’s designs to the gesture of punk fashion in a number of places, all centered around using fashion to return the objectifying gazed.

For Winter 1949-1950 she created a series of dresses which tease viewers with revealing décolletage.  This slinky evening gown in a dark maroon color called “Forbidden Fruit,”  appears to be slipping down to reveal a pale pink brassier embroidered with gold and laden with crystals.

Nina Lean, Model Shari Herbert wearing Schiaparelli’s “Forbidden Fruit” evening gown, in Time, October 10, 1949

A dress for day with a low v-neck reveals a bright turquoise brassiere underneath.  These dresses were designed as the popularity of Dior’s new look reached it’s zenith.  Schiaparelli was vehemently opposed to the return to order and femininity represented by the wasp waists and full skirts of the new look.  The Chicago Tribune explained, “while the rest of the world tries vainly to invent a brassiere which doesn’t show with the deep V necks, Schiaparelli publicizes this intimate little harness in bright gay colors, and even sports several in velvet with fur trim.”[ix]  The revealing dresses of the Winter 1949-50 collection mocked the new styles of Dior.  Schiaparelli turned these highly feminine looks into provocation, once again finding ways to stare back at the sexualized male gaze.

Sex, Malcolm McLaren & Vivienne Westwood’s shop open from 1974-76, London (from left: Steve Jones, unknown, Alan Jones, Chrissie Hynde, Jordan, and Vivienne Westwood)

Her looks clearly presage the “underwear as outerwear” looks of punk, and help to reveal the transgressive potential of these looks and their aggressive sexuality.

The purpose of this comparison between Schiaparelli and punk is not necessarily meant to suggest that punks were looking to her for inspiration, but rather that we can see both punk style  and Schiaparelli’s work in a different way by looking at them side by side.   What is most instructive about this comparison are the similarities between these two historical moments.  I think that both the shock tactics of Schiaparelli and the provocations of punk were in part a response to the failed utopianism of the periods that preceded them, the Jazz age of the New Woman, and the Hippie movement of the 1960s.  Both periods held the promise sexual liberation, gender equality, and lasting social change but did not deliver.  Both Schiaparelli, and the particularly the women of punk in the 1970s were responding to this hopeless utopianism with provocative fashion which upended gender convention in far more radical ways than did the flappers or hippies.