Books & Resources, Interwar Years (1920s-1930s), Uncategorized

“A to Z of Style” by Amy de la Haye

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Amy de la Haye, better-known to many fashion-scholars as the co-author of, Fashion Since 1900, and Professor of Dress History and Curatorship at the London College of Fashion has just published this A to Z of Style book with Abrams. De la Haye calls this a “quotationary” and it includes A to Z listings of quotes from famous designers, stylists, historical publications as well as the fashionable elite on specific topics from as far back as 1850.

When I first saw this short, gift-book-style publication, I was concerned that de la Haye was abandoning her academic roots, but after reading her introduction and a few of the entries, my fears subsided. Her work remains academic, but also entertaining.

"A" page layout (via Emma Farrorons blog - click for more)

A to Z of Style is a both fun and useful reference for casual readers and researchers alike. In many ways, it functions as a mini-encyclopedia. Entries are often accompanied by contextual notes explaining a vestigial garment no longer in use for context and better understanding. Longer entries provide a greater understanding of a person or era. An example entry:

PERFUME: “To find the name of a perfume is a very difficult problem because every word in the dictionary seems to be registered. The colour flashed in front of my eyes. Bright, impossible, impudent, becoming, life-giving, like all the light and birds and the fish in the world put together, a colour of China and Peru but not of the West – a shocking colour pure and undiluted. So I called the perfume ‘Shocking.'” (pg 94).

While most historians find line-illustrations to be problematic for documentation purposes (they usually impart the stylistic references of the current era onto historical objects), the illustrations provided here by Emma Farrarons are of specific objects in the collection of the V & A. A complete list of the objects depicted, with accession numbers is included at the back of the book.

A to Z of Style offers a creative and entertaining way to learn the history of fashion, without loosing the academic rigor we expect from the V & A and Amy de la Haye.

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Books & Resources, California & The West, Knitting & Yarn Arts, Museums & Exhibitions, Uncategorized

Kaffe Fassett: Dreaming in Colour (An Autobiography)

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A Chenille and Lurex dress Fassett knitted with actual pearls, in front of one of his needlepoint tapestries. (1970s)

The new book, Dreaming in Colour, an autobiography by Kaffee Fassett, presents the story of this well-known, eclectic textile designer. Born in Big Sur, California, Fassett designed knitwear for Bill Gibb, the Missonis, and private clients (including Lauren Bacall and Barbara Streisand).

Though he trained briefly as a painter, his creative outlets have also included a wide-range of other textile arts, including needlepoint, rug-making, tapestries, costume design, yarn and fabric design, as well as quilting. He was also the subject of a rare, one-man retrospective show of his textile work at the Victoria & Albert Museum in 1988. Though one can’t exactly call him a California designer (he’s lived in England most of his adult life), it’s clear his work was often inspired by California.

Kaffee Fassett in front of the Jars Tapestry, with a couple of his knits from the 1980s (Chapter opener for "The Glorious Eighties", pg 130)

Dreaming in Colour is a full of brightly colored photographs and illustrations of not only Fassett’s textile work, and illustrations, but also historical photographs. The chapters are laid out historically, and begin with a discussion of his “Childhood in California (1937-1956)”. They continue on to discuss “England in the Swinging Sixties” and “The Glorious Eighties,” among others: often focusing on the dress and textile history of those periods.

One interesting aspect of the book is how the photo-collages in each chapter show his development as a designer. Family photographs and artwork by other family members are juxtaposed by representations of his own work – showing a direct line of influence (such as a painting by his sister Holly of the Big Sur coastline shown alongside a handwoven fabric of the 1990s inspired by the colors of the ocean at Big Sur).

Those looking for previously unpublished information on Fassett’s design inspiration, history and art are sure to find their answers in Dreaming in Colour. It’s also a marvelous book for those in need of inspiration for their own art and craft endeavors.

Camp chairs Fassett covered with needlepoint florals, he called them "Gibson Girls" (1985-87)
The Hollyhock Tapestry, commission for the Stamford Shakespeare Company (9 X 6 feet), a more recent project.
Bordered Diamonds from "Simple Shapes Spectacular Quilts" (2010) by Kaffe Fassett
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Books & Resources, California & The West, Film & Television, Friends and Colleagues, Interwar Years (1920s-1930s), Museums & Exhibitions, Uncategorized

Katherine Hepburn’s Costumes: A Book and An Exhbition

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Katherine Hepburn: Rebel Chic

Jean L. Druesedow, director of the Kent State University Museum and former curator at the Costume Institute, has provided a marvelous essay in Katherine Hepburn: Rebel Chic, the new marvelously illustrated book out on the film-stars on and off-screen style.

Jean L. Druesedow, curator of "Katharine Hepburn: Dressed for Stage and Screen."

Druesdow’s essay, “Working Relationships: Costume Design and Katherine Hepburn,” is an in-depth look at the collection of garments worn by Hepburn, but also examines her interactions with designers such as Walter Plunkett, Howard Greer, Muriel King; Valentina; Cecil Beaton; and of course, Adrian. It also documents many of the too-often-ignored Broadway designers she worked with throughout her life. However, the essay begins by highlighting how these physical garments came to be ‘saved’:

Katherine Hepburn in "Without Love" (on Broadway), 1942. Costume Design by Valentina

Her personal letters and papers reveal that many of the costume designers and wardrobe attendants who worked with her held her in high regard. . . . Upstairs in Hepburn’s New York City home there was a closet reserved for this collection of costumes she had worn on stage and screen. The contents of the closet were separated from the other wardrobe, and when the town house was closed, these special garments were carefully inventoried, packed, and placed in a Connecticut warehouse. The collection spans nearly the entirety of her career with six stage productions and twenty-one films represented, as well as garments worn for publicity photographs. (The collection in accordance with her wishes was given by her estate executors to an educational institution, and now is housed at the Kent State University Museum in Kent , Ohio).” (88-89)

The book not includes wonderful research and background information for the film costume history enthusiast, but also includes film stills and photographs of extant garments, costume design sketches and notes, and other historical ephemera.

A complimentary exhibition, “Katherine Hepburn: Dressed for Stage and Screen” is now on view at New York Public Library (through January 2013).

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Books & Resources, California & The West, Film & Television, Friends and Colleagues, History in the Making, Museums & Exhibitions, Uncategorized

Critical Studies in Fashion and Beauty (Volume 1) Brief Review

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Edited by UC Davis professor Susan Kaiser (along with Efrat Tseëlon of the University of Leeds and and Ana Marta González of the University of Navarra); this publication – part book and part journal – seeks to further the Fashion Studies debate with both interdisciplinary and international slants. Critical Studies in Fashion and Beauty is a well-illustrated journal that includes exhibition reviews, articles and editorials by a dozen different authors on such topics as “Revisioning the Kimono” (Sheila Cliffe); “Russian Immigrant Women and the Negotiation of Social Class and Feminine Identity through Fashion” (Alexandra Korotchenko and Laura Hurd Clarke); and “Auction Prices of Fashion Collectibles: What do the mean? (Diana Crane).

Crane’s piece on fashion as collectible object was a particularly interesting editorial, especially this:

Aesthetic criteria for evaluating fashionable collectibles and fashionable clothing in general are underdeveloped, as indicated in a recent review of scholarly works on fashion (Gonzalez 2010). Most scholarly discussions of fashion theorize the characteristics and effects of fashion that is in fashion, rather than the aesthetic criteria of fashion collectibles. in fact, most such discussions ignore the possibility and implications of fashion collectibles. Analysing fashion collectibles is different from recounting fashion history. The latter tends to be a description of a succession of creators and styles.” (145-146).

Her piece also discusses the role of ‘celebrity endorsement’ in the valuation of fashion collectibles; the roles museums play; as well as some brief background analysis. It will take me a while to get through the other articles here, but they are valuable and informative works. If you’ve read other articles here, I’d love to know your thoughts on them.

 

 

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Books & Resources, Friends and Colleagues, Interwar Years (1920s-1930s), Uncategorized

A copy for me! Fashion: The Definitive History of Costume and Style

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I’ve just received my very own copy of Fashion: The Definitive History of Costume and Style (DK publishers – and the Smithsonian)! It’s so exciting to see ones name in print, especially alongside such well-respected and well-known historians, authors and researchers.

It really is an amazing resource, and very well done (covering the history of fashion from Prehistory to the present day). Below are my snapshots of a few of the sections I wrote – including some writing on mod fashion, 1950s ball gowns and cocktail dress. You can order a copy on Amazon now and get $20 off…

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Books & Resources, Uncategorized

Now Available: Me in “Fashion: the Definitive History…”

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Available as of yesterday (October 1, 2012) Fashion: The Definitive History of Costume and Style (DK publishers) was a joy to be a part of this past April and May.

I contributed several sections – including some writing on mod fashion, 1950s ball gowns and cocktail dress, as well as section on 1970s women’s trousers. You can order a copy on Amazon now and get $20 off…

 

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Books & Resources, California & The West, Film & Television, Uncategorized

Dressing Marilyn: How a Hollywood icon was styled by William Travilla

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Dressing Marilyn: How a Hollywood Icon Was Styled by William Travilla

By Andrew Hansford with Karen Homer

(Applause Theatre & Cinema Books)

What I found unique about this book was not the abundant photographs, or costume illustrations depicting a glamorous Marilyn – that was to be expected. What I didn’t expect was the level to which that glamor was removed, and the details of the real objects described and illustrated. Author Andrew Hansford is the manager of the William Travilla archive, and like a true archivist, is interest lies in the ‘state of the artifact’.

A typical detail layout from Dressing Marilyn by Andrew Hansford

It’s a gem of a book for anyone interested in the real objects of popular culture: depicting not only the beautiful ‘idealized’ garments, but also the state they are in today, including rips, stains, holes, and even lipstick marks. Most books that include collection images don’t include what goes on the condition reports. For this alone, I love this book.

Dressing Marilyn begins with a biography of designer William Travilla, who created costumes for Marilyn onscreen and off, and follows with two+ page spreads on seven of Marilyn’s most famous film costumes, followed by two smaller sections titled ‘personal dresses’ and ‘further classics’. Each of the seven costumes is explored and discussed in-depth, both photographically as well as with historical research, documentation,  and text. It truly is a marvelous resource for anyone looking to hunt down the details of Marilyn Monroe’s wardrobe and film costume history.

For more, see the review by Kate Finnegan in the UK Telegraph.

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Books & Resources, Friends and Colleagues, Uncategorized

Special Issue of Textile: Trade and Transformations of Secondhand Clothing

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Ever wondered what happens to your clothes beyond the charity bag?

Edited by anthropologists Lucy Norris and Julie Botticello, this special issue of Textile reveals the enormous scale, value and impact of the international secondhand clothes trade, a global economy that most know very little about.

The topic is approached from a variety of disciplinary perspectives, including historical insights into the expansion of the trade, ethical considerations of charity clothing practices, and economic analysis of how value is added to clothes and profitable relationships maintained. The contributors analyse specific localized practices and, crucially, place these within the broader context of global networks and markets.

Click on the following link to read the Introduction – Free:
Trade and Transformations of Secondhand Clothing: Introduction
By Lucy Norris

Articles in this issue cover subjects such as international trade, recycling, street vending and papermaking! Click here to see the full table of contents.”

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Books & Resources, Uncategorized

Tuesday Teaser: Artists’ Textiles 1940-1976

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Artists’ Textiles 1940-1976 by Geoff Rayner, Richard Chamberlain, Annamarie Phelps (published July 15, 2012) is primarily a visual resource, with some biographical information on the designers and designs. There is, however, introductory text and explanatory chapter-openers (as well as bibliographic and other reference info).
The press seems to like it too, and Midcentury magazine notes, “What makes this book so special is the extent and quality of the beautiful images within it; page after page of inspiring design with three gate-fold pull-out spreads. With informative and well-researched narration from Rayner, Chamberlain and Stapleton, this title is a must for anyone maintaining a well-stocked design library and would also make a worthwhile addition to any stylish coffee table”
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Books & Resources, Knitting & Yarn Arts, Uncategorized

YSL & Mondrian

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Yves Saint Laurent 1960s Modrian Inspired Dress (Click for source and additional clothing)

In September 2011, I embarked on what would become a very long knitting project – completed this month, July 2012. It was titled “Mondrian Skyline” and can be found in The Ohio Mills Knitting Book. It appealed to me for a number of reasons – I could wear it, simple construction, easy fitting, but most importantly it appealed to my sense of fashion history.

On August 2 1965, Yves Saint Laurent  created a series of the color-blocked wool and jersey shift dresses, inspired by the Dutch Abstract Impressionist, Piet Mondrian, dubbed the ‘Mondrian Look.” With this design, YSL was capitalizing on the growing interest in minimalist and mod fashion of youth. Harper’s Bazaar referred to them as ‘the dress of tomorrow’ and quickly found their way into the mass-market.

Mondrian inspired dresses by Yves Saint Laurent, with a Mondrian painting in the background. Click for source

But, his Mondrian dresses were not as simple as they appeared. As Richard Martin and Harold Koda have noted, his genius was not only the artistic reference, but in using the color blocks to both accommodate the body and hide the seaming (this is, in fact where my knitted attempt failed – seaming is not my strong suit and my final product is a bit ‘wiggly’). This might be, because YSL’s dress was not actually ‘just’ a shift dress. It in fact, ‘boasts a defined shape and interior construction that allows the double-faced wool jersey to yield gently to the lines of the body. That structure is ingeniously hidden.” (Rubenstein, 128)

References:

Martin, Richard and Harold Koday. Haute Couture, New York : Metropolitan Museum of Art : Distributed by H.N. Abrams, 1995.

Mackrell, Alice. Art and Fashion: The Impact of Art on Fashion and Fashion on Art, London: Batsford, 2005.

Rubenstein, Hal. 100 Unforgettable Dresses, New York: Harper Desgin, 2011.

 

 

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