FIDM Museum Blog

Versace Mare bikini, c. 1994

According to the inimitable fashion editor and curator Diana Vreeland, a bikini reveals "everything about a girl except her mother's maiden name."¹ As Vreeland noted, bikinis are defined by their scant coverage and are rarely more than a few triangles of fabric stitched or strung together. Though the bikini is now a widely accepted type of swim and beachwear, it took years for the bikini to go from scandalous to unremarkable. Bikinis, or bikini-like garments, appear in ancient Roman murals, and relatively modest two-piece suits were worn in the 1930s, but the scanty modern bikini didn't appear until 1946. Sources differ, but it seems that the revealing swimsuit was introduced almost simultaneously in summer 1946 by haute couture designer Jacques Heim and engineer/fashion designer Louis Réard. Heim called his scanty two-piece suit the atome, while Réard labeled his the bikini. Both names made reference to the US military's July 1946 nuclear tests on Bikini Atoll, a low-laying island located in the South Pacific. Réard's name for the revealing swimsuit stuck, and a new style of swimwear was born.

Bikini
Gianni Versace/Versace Mare
c. 1994-1999
Gift of Dorothy Washington Sorensen
S2010.1110.83A-D

Evening dress, c. 1926

No matter what your feelings about director Baz Luhrmann's new cinematic adaption of  F. Scott Fitzgerald's classic American novel The Great Gatsby, you can't deny that the film is generating interest in 1920s fashion. Though reaction to the film itself has been mixed, retailers, fashion bloggers, and magazine editorials all display symptoms of Gatsby fever. Retail collaborations pay homage to the era while also promoting the film. The Great Gatsby, a new collection from Tiffany & Co., features sparkling jewelry designed in collaboration with The Great Gatsby's costume designer Catherine Martin. Brooks Brothers has also introduced new styles based both on 1920s menswear, and the new film version of Gatsby. Though it remains to be seen how much the film and its costumes will affect mainstream fashion, it's interesting to see fashion history encroaching on popular culture.

Evening dress
c. 1926
France
Gift of Roxanne Wilson
2003.1.2

Memorial Day Exhibition: "Freedom's On Me"

Freedom's On Me
Presented by the FIDM Chapter of the Student Veterans of America

Open Daily
May 25, 2013 - June 1, 2013
10 am- 5 pm
Open Memorial Day
Free to the Public

Commemorating Memorial Day and members of the US Military fallen in Iraq and Afghanistan, Freedom’s On Me is an exhibition of poster art featuring poignant, stylized portraits of soldiers who were killed in action. Created by FIDM Graduate Poto Leifi, the posters are reminiscent of the patriotic posters displayed in America’s downtown storefronts during World War II. The title of Leifi’s special art project Freedom’s On Me is a patriotic twist on the expression, “Drinks are on me.” Learn more about Leifi's project on the artist's website.

Freedom’s On Me opens at the FIDM Museum on Friday, May 24, 2013 at 11:30 am. The opening event will include a public ceremony, a Color Guard, greetings from the City of Los Angeles Mayor’s office, and a welcome from the artist Poto Leifi. To attend the opening event, please send an email to RSVP@FIDMmuseum.org.

Printed cotton parasol, c. 1909-1919

Two women posed for this casual outdoor snapshot, c. 1911. Their nearly identical ensembles of short-sleeved middy blouses and ankle-length skirts suggest summertime leisure. Though popular as school uniforms for children, middy blouses were also worn as women’s sportswear. The loose fit made swinging a racket or holding an oar much easier, and also set the mood for watching spectator sports. The slight rumpling of their middy blouses suggests these women have recently engaged in some kind of sporting activity. The parasols add a colorful accent to these casual ensembles.

Snapshot
c. 1911
Gift of Kathryn Alessio Estate

Out & About: Fred Astaire's tuxedo on exhibit at the RISD Museum

In today's post, FIDM Museum Registrar Meghan Grossman Hansen describes the process of preparing objects for transport to exhibitions at other institutions. FIDM Museum has an active loan program, and we often have 1 or more objects on exhibit at museums near or far. Beginning April 28, see a tuxedo worn by Fred Astaire in Artist/Rebel/Dandy: Men of Fashion at the RISD Museum in Providence, Rhode Island.

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We are always excited to see the FIDM Museum collection travel. Most recently, we sent Fred Astaire's tuxedo to join many other dapper gentlemen in Artist/Rebel/Dandy: Men of Fashion, an exhibition at the RISD Museum (April 28 - August 18, 2013). Featuring more than 200 objects, this exhibit traces the history and persona of the dandy, with a focus on well-known fashionable men.

Fred Astaire was very particular about his wardrobe, with strong preferences about cuffs, jacket length, stripe width, and other minute details. He once claimed that he took each new suit to the tailor "at least half a dozen times."¹ For Artist/Rebel/Dandy, we loaned the RISD Museum a 1930s tuxedo, waistcoat, and bow tie worn by Astaire. The wool crepe tuxedo was made by Anderson & Sheppard Ltd., a Savile Row tailor still in existence today.

Fred Astaire’s tuxedo on exhibit at the RISD Museum, loan courtesy of the FIDM Museum, City of Los Angeles, Department of Recreation and Parks (L88.1.31AB). Photograph by Erik Gould, courtesy of the RISD Museum.

 

Christian Dior New York evening gown, c. 1953-55

Christian Dior's New Look, introduced in February 1947, was a dramatic turning point. Banishing the boxy suits and dresses of the World War II era, the New Look ushered in an era of exaggerated femininity. Based on shapely curves and contours, and using an extravagant amount of fabric, Dior's New Look appealed to consumers starved for luxury after the deprivations of World War II. The silhouette was instantly popular, and Maison Dior struggled to fulfill orders. Based on the spectacular success of this first collection, Dior and his business partners began enacting plans for international expansion. Eventually, Dior would open retail outlets in London, Venezuela, and New York.

Evening gown (bodice detail)
Christian Dior New York
c. 1953-55
Gift of Anonymous Donor
2003.40.31

Out & About: Visiting the Maryhill Museum of Art

Though our blog posts usually focus solely on FIDM Museum projects, today’s post explores another museum's collection. I recently visited the Maryhill Museum of Art, home of the legendary Théâtre de la Mode. Because of Maryhill’s location in rural Washington State, not many fashion enthusiasts have the opportunity to see this unusual collection. Experiencing the Théâtre de la Mode in-person was a fascinating experience, one worth sharing with all of our readers.

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Perched on a bluff overlooking the Columbia River, the Maryhill Museum of Art is a long, long way from the haute couture ateliers of Paris. Located on the southern border of Washington State, Maryhill is also a long way (100 miles) from the nearest international airport in Portland, Oregon. Despite its distance from Paris, Maryhill owns a one-of-a-kind collection of Parisian haute couture, the Théâtre de la Mode. Consisting of 2 foot tall wire dolls dressed in haute couture from head-to-toe, this collection offers a unique snapshot of late World War II Parisian fashion.

Visitors to the Maryhill will see 41 of the original dolls on display, staged in three different backdrops. Balenciaga's pearl and bead embroidered evening gown, with matching hat, is front and center when you enter the exhibition. The backdrop is Le Jardin Merveilleux (The Marvelous Garden) by set designer Jean-Denis Malclès. The original backdrop was lost, but Malclès participated in a 1989 recreation of the original set.

 

Fashion birthday: Vivienne Westwood

Happy birthday to Vivienne Westwood, born on this day in 1941! We wish her the best and look forward to many more of her inventive designs. Though Westwood's early career, which began in the early 1970s, was closely associated with punk, by the 1980s she had turned to the past for her primary inspiration. Never one for straight-forward interpretation of historic fashion, Westwood's work reinterprets aspects of history, making them relevant to the contemporary moment.

Corset & Shorts Ensemble
Spring/Summer 1994
Vivienne Westwood
Museum Purchase
2003.5.12 & 2004.5.1

 

Unpack fashion history with FIDM Museum's Fashion Council

Are you fascinated by fashion history? Interested in learning more about the twentieth century's most influential fashion designers and silhouettes? We can help! FIDM Museum is delighted to announce a new opportunity to learn more about the fashion and fashion history of the twentieth century.

If your class, club, or professional organization is located in Southern California, schedule a presentation of A History of Women's Fashion: The Twentieth Century. Brought to you by FIDM Museum's Fashion Council, this lively and informative illustrated lecture will provide insight into key moments in twentieth century fashion. Participants will experience hands-on learning with selected objects from the FIDM Museum Study Collection.

Interested in learning more about this opportunity? Email Linda Plochocki, Chair of Fashion Council's Outreach Committee, at fashioncouncil@fidmmuseum.org.

 

 

Norma Kamali fringe suit, 1986

 

Suit
Norma Kamali
1986
Gift of Liz Mazurski
2012.1142.71AB

Norma Kamali's fringed two-piece suit is a challenging, slightly eccentric, take on 1980s power dressing. During the 1980s, bland, tailored skirt suits defined women's professional dress. These power suits, derived from men's business suits, articulated the idea that dressing for workplace success meant dressing very much like a man. Power suits, with their sedate palette and uniform silhouette, also worked to disguise the individuality of the wearer. Kamali's suit, with its layers of swaying fringe and stylish bolero jacket, challenges the neutrality of the 1980s power suit.