I try to keep my personal life out off of FashionHistoria as much as possible. Today, that is simply not possible and I need to use this space to honor a lost friend and fellow dreamer, Ethaan R.A. Boyer.
He was a friend who has become an inspiration, a dream, and a legend. Though not directly related to fashion history, his work often appeared on his screen-printed t-shirts and fabric. I shared his love for design, art, and craft. He will be greatly missed by his family, friends and the Santa Fe art community at large.
Update: A Memorial Fund has just been established in Ethaan’s memory to help support both his wife, and to create a lasting memory of his character, spirit and talents. More information here.
Beverly Lemire, Professor of History and Henry Marshall Tory Chair at the University of Alberta, recently edited a new research resource, The Force of Fashion in Politics and Society: Global perspectives from Early Modern to Contemporary Times in The History of Retailing and Consumption series with Ashgate Press. It provides ten essays in three sections, that were developed out of a panel at the International Economic History Congress, Hesiki in 2006. That session focused on “Fashion, Material culture and Economic Life: Perspectives Across Time, Place and Politics.”
The three sections are basically: Early Modern Europe, Nineteenth Century, and Global fashion. Sample essays are:
“Fabricating the domestic: The Material Culture of Textiles and the Social Life of the Home in Early Modern Europe” by Giorgio Riello
“Fashion Sprayed and Displayed: The Market for Perfumery in Nineteenth-century Paris” by Eugenie Briot
“Designing, Producing and Enacting Nationalisms: Contemporary Amerindian Fashions in Canada” by Cory Willmott
Here is a bit more on the volume, taken from the introductory chapter, written by Beverly Lemire:
“This interdisciplinary volume contributes to a wider comparative assessment of fashion, a multi-facted phenomenon, expressed in various cultural forms. Fashion as a catalyst of material change, as a visible sign of distinction, has a complex past and an equally dynamic and contentious present. Though fashion’s impact is not restricted to dress, the ebb and flow of clothing styles have historically been the most controversial of all the practices in virtually every cultural community. Political economies and cultural discourses of fashion present equally fertile dynamics, having shaped industries, defined communities and sparked conflicts. yet, the study of fashion is still not comfortably situated within all precincts of the academy. This omission is illustrated, for example, in a recent volume on global history; the absence of ‘fashion’ in the subject index reflects the still partial recognition of this pivotal topic, despite the fact that the themes addressed in this text, like the global trade in sugar or the industrialization of textile production, were themselves shaped by the social and cultural forces of fashion in various regions of the world. Scrutinized and problematized in some academic quarters, fashion is ignored and disdained in others reflecting the historic discomfort with the result. At the same time issues surrounding expressions of fashion have frequently been highly politicized. Gender, institutional and imperial politics were among the dynamics that shaped the scholarly reception of this subject, leading to its acceptance (or rejection). However the tide is turning and the intricate cultural and economic forces underlying this phenomenon are more broadly recognized. The chapters included here reflect this new scholarly trajectory reclaiming fashion from the margins, exploring its cultural, economic and social force across time and place. Fashion has shaped markets, defined material priorities and brought profit or loss to its mediators; the fashion for one commodity over another defined consumer markets. These and other topics are explored in this collection.”
Leonard Maltin’s blog highlights this exhibit honoring Cecil B. DeMille (one that has been on display at the USC School of Cinematic Arts since September). The building is open to the public, and the exhibit continues through March 16.
Maltin notes, of the above Rambova sketch:
“Natacha Rambova (née Winifred Shaughnessy) is best remembered as Rudolph Valentino’s wife, but she was also a talented artist who designed memorable sets and costumes for a handful of films including DeMille’s Forbidden Fruit (1921). Several of her original ink-and-watercolor originals are on display at USC.”
As many of you know, the focus of much of my research has been on Natacha Rambova’s design career (including her costumes for Broadway, Opera, film, as well as fashion ) I knew these sketches existed, but still I wish I had a trip planned to Los Angeles to see them in person.
By Luisa V. Yefimova and Tatyana S. Aleshina (Vivays Publishing)
Publication Date: January 9, 2012
For anyone with an interest in the beautiful folk costume and decadent fashions of Russia – this is a sumptuously illustrated, and informative new book from Yefimova and Aleshina.
My interest in Russian fashion stems from both a love of folk costume and detailing (which is copious in this book), from Natacha Rambova’s fascination with Russian culture and arts (especially the Ballet Russes), but also because of the strong Russian ex-patriot influence on Parisian fashion in early 20th century. Given these interests, and the recently opened exhibition on Russia here in California (at the Sonoma County Museum of Art) and the anniversary of Fort Ross (settled by Russians), it seems appropriate to delve deeper.
Written by two staff-members of the State Historical Museum in Russia, both are experts in the field of Russian costume and fashion history. Here’s what the pair have to say on the differences between Country and Town clothing in Russia:
“The history of costume in Russia has one essential feature. At the turn of the 18th century Peter the Great, the young reforming tsar, remotely and uncompromisingly decided the destiny of Russian costume. He forced the upper strata of Russian society by decree to wear European dress. Only the peasants and the Orthodox clergy were excluded from the decree. And so, while the gentry adopted the latest Paris fashions as far as their finances allowed them to, the Russian peasants continued to wear their distinctive traditional garb. Thus costume in Russia was divided into two types: traditional Russian dress and fashionable town clothes of the Western European style.”
Dress belonging to Empress Elizaveta Petrovna, 1750s, France (left – see note 1) and Peasant Woman’s festive dress, Late 19th-early 20th Century, Yeleski district, Orlov province (right – see note 2).
“All Russian peasants, as well as town commoners and merchants favouring the manners and customs of former times wore traditional Russian dress, which was essentially Russian national costume. Fashionable town clothes were made in the Parisian style, yet not without partiality for bright colours, fancy patterns and a generous amount of trimmings. There was a general fondness for shawls, kerchiefs and wraps, which were skillfully combined with fashionable dress. . .”
Peasant woman's outer dress - corsetka; Late 19th-early 20th century Voronezh province of homespun undyed cloth. (see note 3)
“While national dress and urban costume differed in their basic features, they developed under the same social conditions and evolved in parallel. During the lively celebrations of public holidays on the country estates of the gentry, and at fairs int he towns, aristocrats came into contact with peasants and merchants. By associating with their neighbours and being part of a group containing all kinds of people, those who were interested in costume formed a kind of association. This provided fruitful soil for mutual influence by the folk and town style of Russian costume on each other. Thus, details of fashionable costume such as a low neckline and fully rounded, elbow-length sleeves of the woman’s shirt, and also outer clothes of a fashionable cut became prominent among traditional clothes. At the same time, articles of folk handicrafts such as embroidery and lace began to be used in decorating town clothes.” (8-9)
Much of what is included here corresponds with the notion of country and town influencing each other – and what is evident from the photographs is the appreciation held by all classes for intense detailing and decorative elements – Lace, embroidery, brocade, applique, pearls, fur, beading and quilting appears on every kind of clothing, for all ages and all genders. It is a beautifully produced book – and I’m thrilled to be able to share it.
Image Notes:
1. “Dress belonging to Empress Elizaveta Petrovna, 1750s, Franc. Restored with remnants of a crimson silk suplice. Silk, embroidered with coloured fabric, ornamentation, tinsel, lace. This silk dress from Empress Elizaveta Petrovna’s wardrobe was recreated by the Museun’s restorers from a church vestment. Only its front part, the skirt and part of the bodice survived. It was made of heavy reddish-orange silk of French manufacture with a self-coloured floral pattern. The Museum’s masters restored the dress from the empress’ portraits and fashion plates of the period. It is a ball dress with a narrow bodice compressing the waist and a low-cut neckline both in front and at the back. The elbow-length sleeves are of the French needle lace ‘point d’Argentan,’ and the same lace is used for trimming the neckline.” (112)
2. “Peasant woman’s festive dress, blouse, homespun skirt, apron, late 19th – early 20th century, Yeletski district, Orlov province. The blouse has straight inserts, a short body, with sewn-on collar, long sleeves with frilled cuffs. It was made from homespun linen, decorated with embroidery and cotton threads in a cross. Calico strips were sewn into sleeves. The homespun check wollen skirt, has a woven pattern band at the hem. A sleeveless, straight-cut ‘curtain’ apron with back, was made from homespun red-patterned sackcloth, with sstrips of structural embroidery sewn on, cross-shaped embroidery, lace and calico. Strips of red and white cotton fabric decorate the border of the hem.” (89)
3. “Peasant woman’s outer dress — corsetka. Late 19th-early 20th century, Voronezh province, made from homespun undyed cloth. The foreground shows a Voronezh corsetka seen from the rear – a long garment with knife pleats and decorations on the belt in the form of patterned ‘little discs’ sewn to the cloth. The ends of the sleeves are decorated with embroidery made from factory-made materials.” (95)
This past weekend I made a trip up to Sacramento to visit the Crocker Art Museum – and mainly to see their exhibit on California plein-air paniter, Edgar Payne. However, I was quickly reminded that fashion history can pop up anywhere (I have had similar reminders while on jaunts to other unfamiliar California Museums). In this case, I was particularly excited because so much of the work related not only to fashion and clothing history, but also to California history.
Jeannie Crocker's broach (by Tiffany & Co), c1880
The rooms devoted to the history of the Crocker Art Museum itself held the largest ‘cash’ of fashion related objects. These were full of fascinating and beautiful pieces relating to Margaret Crocker and the rest of the Crocker family, including three stunning 1870s-80s broaches (two by Tiffany and Co.), a related portrait of Margaret Crocker wearing one of the broaches (dating to 1877), an 1860s hair wreath, and a group of Crocker family photographs, among other things.
Several other paintings in the museum’s California history collection held my interest for more than a few minutes, including two lovely portraits, one of Little Miss San Francisco (painted in 1853) and another of Mary Blanche Hubbard by California artist Mary Curtis Richardson (painted in 1889 and reminded me of John Singer Sargent’s work and which the museum compared to Whistler).
Little Miss San Francisco by Charles Christian Nahl, 1853Portrait of Mary Blanche Hubbard by Mary Curtis Richardson, 1889
On other floors, I found still more examples of fashionable and ethnic dress – from African Kente Cloth (Ghana) and an Indigo-dyed man’s robe (Nigeria) to Japanese tomesode (a type of kimono) and 17th century samurai armor to an Indonesian Spirit Costume (Papua) made almost entirely of rattan.
All-in-all, I thoroughly enjoyed my visit to the Crocker Art Museum and loved the surprises I found there. I hope you’ll enjoy the small set of photos from my visit below (including the full labels for each object)
Jeannie Crocker’s broach (by Tiffany & Co), c1880
Little Miss San Francisco, 1853, by Charles Christian Nahl
Portrait of Mary Blanche Hubbard by Mary Curtis Richardson, 1889
*Convalescence by William Hahn, 1873 (San Francisco’s Temple Emanu-El and the First Congregational Church can be seen in the parlor window)
I recently received a note from a reader, describing her trouble finding information on upcoming fashion and textile exhibitions on view in California. So, I thought I’d share what I know with readers. Quite a variety of exhibits are available across the western states: exhibitions of film costumes, exhibits using old techniques in new ways (embroidery and knitting), historical design aesthetics (including ‘California’ design and the Aesthetic movement), as well as contemporary body art (tattoos!). Quite the range to choose from. Please feel free to comment if you’ve been to any of these or others you think readers should know about:
The FIDM Museum is proud to present the twentieth anniversary Art of Motion Picture Costume Design exhibition. Celebrating the art and industry of costume designers, this exhibition will present more than 100 costumes from twenty films released in 2011. The exhibition includes selected costumes from all five 2011 Academy Award® Nominees for Costume Design: W/E, Hugo, Jane Eyre, The Artist, and Anonymous. The exhibition also showcases classic film costumes from the FIDM Museum collection and the Department of Recreation and Parks, City of Los Angeles, Historic Hollywood Collection. Some of these same costumes were featured during the first Art of Motion Picture Costume Design exhibition in 1993.
Common Places features three objects from LACMA’s permanent collection which transform printed works on paper into one-of-a-kind embroideries: a seventeenth-century valance, a cigarette silks quilt, and Alighiero Boetti’s Mappa. The resulting textiles articulate contemporary aspects of global phenomena and suggest that far from being a recent development, globalization has deep historical roots that extended into the home and everyday life.
This exhibition is the first major study of California midcentury modern design. With more than 300 objects—furniture, ceramics, metalwork, fashion and textiles, and industrial and graphic design—the exhibition examines the state’s role in shaping the material culture of the entire country. Organized into four thematic areas, the exhibition aims to elucidate the 1951 quote from émigré Greta Magnusson Grossman that is incorporated into the exhibition’s title: California design “is not a superimposed style, but an answer to present conditions…It has developed out of our own preferences for living in a modern way.”
A world-class collection of Anatolian kilims given to the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco by H. McCoy Jones and his wife, Caroline, is showcased in a choice exhibition of two dozen of the finest examples. Presented in the textile arts gallery at the de Young, the Anatolian flat-woven kilims on view, dating from the 15th to the 19th century, include a variety of design types and regional styles, as well as superb examples of artistic and visual prowess. The kilims in the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco’s permanent collection are considered the most important group of Anatolian kilims outside Turkey.
Over the past 40 years, Mary Lee Hu has affirmed her distinctive voice in the world of jewelry with her elegant, voluptuous creations. Using wire the way hand weavers use thread, Hu has blazed a trail as both artist and innovator, exploring the nexus between metalsmithing and textile techniques. Keen to metal’s ability to bend and manipulate light within a textured surface, Hu’s work is a testament to her sophisticated eye for weightless and rhythmic lines, translated into body adornment. Featuring more than 90 exquisite earrings, rings, brooches and neckpieces drawn from public and private collections internationally, this retrospective traces Hu’s evolution from her experimental designs of the 1960s to today’s creations full of light and movement.
The Cult of Beauty: The Victorian Avant-Garde, 1860–1900 is the first major exhibition to explore the unconventional creativity of the British Aesthetic Movement, tracing the evolution of this movement from a small circle of progressive artists and poets, through the achievements of innovative painters and architects, to its broad impact on fashion and the middle-class home. The superb artworks on view encompass the manifold forms of Victorian material culture: the traditional high art of painting, fashionable trends in architecture and interior decoration, handmade and manufactured furnishings for the “artistic” home, art photography and the new modes of dress.
Order and Border
Through Oct. 21, 2012
Seattle Art Museum (Seattle, WA)
Stripes are a fundamental visual element, appearing naturally in vertical lines as trees and in manmade products of all kinds, from street dividers to ornate fabrics. The stripe is so basic it is rarely given isolated attention. This installation examines how stripes decorate and structure objects, bodies and spaces. It follows the many ways that stripes are formulated—swirling, rigid, ragged, skinny or bold—and shows how they appear in a wide range of media from a multitude of cultures. These objects help us recognize the range of meanings that a stripe holds, from a minor design feature to the sign of a significant mythic journey.
Featuring work by ten artists—five known for tattoo and five known for printmaking—Indelibly Yours explores the kinship between marking on skin and the practice of drawing on a printing plate.
Following up on my post last week from the Portlandia episode featuring the material culture of the 1890s, I thought I’d tell you about a little historic side-project I’ve been working on for the last month: Learning to spin wool into yarn.
What? Why would anyone want to do that when there are so many fabulous stores to buy yarn in already? Well – I’ll tell you – it’s not something I went out looking to do. By happenstance, I got a spinning wheel as a hand-me-down from a cousin (who found it in the garage of their newly purchased house), and for Christmas, my sister gave me a bag of fleece from a farmer friend of hers in Oregon. Suddenly, I had the materials I needed – so why not learn?
Of course, I had to do some research (yeah!) and started off with a few books from the library, some video’s on youtube, and trying to understand how the machine worked. These methods helped get me started, but I didn’t get very far. I clearly needed a class, and thankfully the Piedmont Yarn shop had one available. So, for the last month, I’ve been taking a once-a-week wool spinning class from Lou Grantham, of San Francisco Fiber.
I’ve learned about washing the wool (not too much soap, not too hot, don’t put the water down the drain); preparing the fiber (using paddle carders, flickers, dog-brushes and even a drum carder), drop spindles and spinning wheels, worsted and woolen, and the most fun (for me anyway) is the difference between long draw and short draw (long draw for short fibers, short draw for long fibers).
It’s like magic to watch this messy ball of fiber to into a nice sooth piece of yarn! The only thing I haven’t quite mastered is plying – but I think with some practice I’ll get there (and I do need to learn how to dye it). Thankfully, I still have three very full bags of fleece (yessir-yessir, three bags full) to practice with.
Notice of this upcoming exhibition appeared in my inbox last week. The Tsars’ Cabinet: Two Hundred Years of Decorative Arts Under the Romanvs was organized by the Muscarelle Museum of Art at the College of William and Mary, and will be on view at the Sonoma County Museum beginning February 25.
The exhibit includes about 160 pieces, much of it by Faberge, including porcelain services, glassware, enamel, silver gilt, and decorated eggs. Many of these are grouped by tsar, which helps to illustrate major social or political trends of each tsars’ reign.
What’s nice is that there is an actual connection between Russian history and Sonoma County: It’s the 200th Anniversary of the establishment of Fort Ross. “Fort Ross was a thriving Russian-American Company settlement from 1812 to 1841. This commercial company chartered by Russia’s tsarist government controlled all Russian exploration, trade and settlement in the North Pacific, and established permanent settlements in Alaska and California.”
As you’ll see in the notice below, the opening reception is February 25, and includes a $2 discount for anyone who arrives dressed in a Russian-themed costume.
Figures of Hunter, Woman from Kamtchatka, Woman in Coat, Man from Kamtchatka, Samoyed Man, Kabardian Man, Woman in yellow; Tartar from Kazan; Porcelain; c. 1785-1800; Imperial Porcelain Factory, Russia (click for source)
The Tsars’ Cabinet: Two Hundred Years of Decorative Arts Under the Romanovs at the Sonoma County Museum
Opening Reception Saturday, February 25, 5-7pm
Vodka bar, Russian music & food, Museum members are free, $15 admission for non-members
$2 discount for wearing Russian-themed costumes
Click for source
Curator’s Tour of The Tsars’ Cabinet
April 6, 2012, 11:00am-12:00pm
A behind-the-scenes look at creating the Tsars’ Cabinet exhibition. Cost: $4 in addition to regular Museum admission.
Bruce Elliott Lecture on the Romanovs and St. Petersburg
Thursday March 7, 2012, 6:00-7:30pm
Bruce Elliott, professor and lecturer at SRJC will discuss the Romanov dynasty and the construction of St. Petersburg. Cost: $8 Members / $10 Non-Members
Family Day
Saturday March 17, 2012, 11:00am-2:00pm
Activities, hands-on crafts, and decorative arts demonstrations themed on The Tsars’ Cabinet. Free admission for children 12 and under, and free for members of the museum. Regular admission applies for all others.
Steven Bittner Lecture on Russian History and the Aristocracy
Thursday April 12, 2012, 6:00-7:30pm
Steven Bittner, professor of Soviet History at Sonoma State University, will lecture on Russian history from the 18th century to 1917. Cost: $8 Members / $10 Non-Members
For more on the Fort Ross Anniversary celebration, click here.
Opening today is FIDM’s annual Art of Motion Picture Design exhibition, produced in association with the Costume Designers Guild, which exhibits the Academy Award® nominated costume designs. This year’s nominees include:
To prepare for The Artist, Bridges watched Clara Bow in 1927's It and Joan Crawford in 1928's Our Dancing Daughters. The costume designer and director Michel Hazanavicius are also fans of the 1928 Marion Davies film Show People. "It's a slice of life at MGM from that period," says Bridges. (Click for source)
Lisy Christl for Anonymous
Mark Bridges for The Artist
Sandy Powell for Hugo
Michael O’Connor for Jane Eyre
Arianne Phillips for W.E
The exhibition not only includes the nominted designs, but also presents more than 100 costumes from twenty films released in 2011! Since this year marks the 20th anniversary of the annual exhibition, curators pulled out all the stops and include much more than just this year’s nominees. The exhibition also includes a showcase of classic film costume — including pieces worn by Fred Astaire, Ingrid Bergman, Jean Harlow, Marlene Dietrich and other Hollywood legends.
Ready to apply your business skills to an art organization? Then SDA needs you! We are looking for a high-energy member who is ready to collaborate with staff, contractors, volunteers and the Board to lead the organization poised for growth and expansion. You need to bring demonstrated management, planning and organizational skills and most importantly, the enthusiasm to make a difference. The position requires dedication, sensitivity to and tolerance of differing views, community-building skills and above all, a sense of humor. In return you can anticipate being part of a team of like-minded individuals who contribute much more than what is expected and who want to move SDA forward. Position application opens February 7, 2012 and closes February 24, 2012. Position start date is Monday, March 26, 2012 and requires attendance at the Spring Board meeting in Philadelphia April 1-3. All inquiries and applications may be directed in confidence to: secretary@surfacedesign.org
