FIDM Museum Blog

Sketch to Screen exhibition at the Oklahoma City Museum of Art

As we told you in this post, eight costumes from the FIDM Museum collection are currently on exhibit in Sketch to Screen: The Art of Hollywood Costume Design at the Oklahoma City Museum of Art. Consisting of more than 85 original garments and accessories, the exhibition highlights the work of influential Hollywood costume designers, including Gilbert Adrian, Walter Plunkett, Edith Head and Travis Banton. Sketch to Screen closes on August 15, 2010, so you'd better visit soon if you haven't already!

For our readers who can't make it to Oklahoma City, we offer you the next best thing: installation photos of the FIDM Museum pieces accompanied by relevant segments of the audio tour. Narrated by our curator Kevin Jones, these short, informative segments are part of the Sketch to Screen audio tour. To listen, click on the link. Enjoy!

Kevin Jones discusses the gown worn by Marlene Dietrich in A Foreign Affair

Paisley strapless evening gown worn by Marlene Dietrich in A Foreign Affair
Irene/Edith Head
1949
HC 3633
Department of Recreation and Parks, City of Los Angeles, FIDM Museum
Photo by Jim Meeks, Oklahoma City Museum of Art

Kevin Jones discusses the "Suit of Lights" worn by Rudolph Valentino in Blood and Sand

"Suit of Lights" jacket worn by Rudolph Valentino in Blood and Sand
Natacha Rambova
1922
HC 4001
Department of Recreation and Parks, City of Los Angeles, FIDM Museum
Photo by Jim Meeks, Oklahoma City Museum of Art

Carolina Herrera evening gowns

Even before launching her own line in 1981, Carolina Herrera (b. 1939) had established a reputation for elegance and personal style. As an adolescent, she sometimes accompanied her grandmother on haute couture buying trips to Paris. When at home in Caracas, Venezuela, Herrera designed her own clothing, which was then brought to life by a skilled seamstress. Herrera's ability to combine purchased garments with those she designed herself earned her multiple nominations to the International Best Dressed list, along with compliments from friends and acquaintances. In 1980, Herrera was interested in launching a line of textile designs, but a meeting with Diana Vreeland convinced her to go into fashion. Herrera already had numerous friends in the fashion industry, and with the help of Bill Blass, Mary McFadden, model Iman and other notables, in 1981 she presented her first collection at the Metropolitan Club in New York City.

Evening gown
Carolina Herrera
c. 1992
Gift of Carolina Herrera
2005.844.12AB

The 'Little Girl' look and nostalgia in fashion

During the later years of the 1960s, the '"little girl" look was prominent in fashion. Many women dressed in loose, A-line shift dresses similar to those worn by little girls and accessorized with items (hairbows, headbands, flat shoes) associated with youth. Twiggy, with her childlike appearance and demeanor, is the iconic representation of this style. As described in a somewhat satirical 1968 New York Times article, designers "flipped over the princess dresses and little smocked numbers" worn by little girls and "made the dresses larger, used very expensive fabrics and put price tags on big enough to pay for a little backyard merry-go-round."¹

Smocked dress
Jeanne Lanvin
c. 1968
Museum Purchase
S2003.5.16

Traveling in High Style

Have you ever wondered how a complete exhibition gets from one museum to another? In this post, FIDM Museum Registrar Meghan Grossman Hansen fills you in on the process.

This month, the FIDM Museum’s award-winning exhibition High Style: Betsy Bloomingdale and the Haute Couture is hitting the road. A slightly modified version of the exhibition will be installed at the American Textile History Museum in Lowell, MA from August 14, 2010-January 2, 2011. If you missed the exhibition in Los Angeles, this is your chance to learn about a style icon and the haute couture process.

As the FIDM Museum Registrar, I want to fill you in on the behind-the-scenes activities of traveling an exhibition. The shipping has to be planned in great detail, from the number of objects, the size of the crates, to the size of the truck. In our case, the total volume does not warrant an exclusive truck, so we are fortunate to tag along with other artworks on an art-transportation shuttle from Los Angeles to the east coast. (Yes, there are trucks filled entirely with art objects criss-crossing the country!) Next, a packing list is planned with a number of considerations in mind: dimensions, weight, condition, and object accessibility (for instance, the order in which objects will be installed may be an important factor in where they are packed).

Assistant Registrar Dani Killam creates the packing list.

James Galanos cocktail dress, c. 1955

During the 1950s, French haute couture was a dominant force in fashion. Elite American women traveled to Paris and purchased their wardrobes directly from renowned couturiers, while many others experienced haute couture through mass-produced versions of the latest French styles. This was a strength of the American fashion industry; producing stylish and affordable garments in large quantities, whether the latest haute couture copies or playful sportswear. Only a very few American designers worked in the style of the haute couture, producing meticulously crafted garments on a limited scale. Los Angeles' own James Galanos (b. 1924) was one of these designers. In 1954, when Galanos first presented a collection in New York City, fashion critics noted that his "cut and detail smacked of Parisian couture."¹

Cocktail dress
James Galanos
c. 1955
Gift of Susan Lister
S2007.894.1A-C

Evening glamour, c. 1922

Evening dress
c. 1922
Gift of Laura Stoneman
96.657.2

During the 1920s, nightlife was an important aspect of popular culture. In the United States, the Prohibition of alcohol led to the rise of speakeasies, where patrons could dine, dance and drink in an atmosphere of illicit pleasure. Glamorous evenings required eye-catching garb, such as the beaded velvet evening dress pictured here. As described in this post on the 1920s silhouette, the favored silhouette for both day and evening wear was slim and straight, uninterrupted by the curves of the body. Dresses were reduced to two simple panels of fabric, joined at the shoulders and side seams. For evening, these flat panels became canvases on which beading, sequins, embroidery and other embellishments created abstract or pictorial imagery.   

Pantsuit dressing, c. 1972

As described in this recent post on our Sonia Rykiel tunic, women gradually adopted trousers as everyday dress in the 1970s. While the Sonia Rykiel tunic demonstrates a somewhat ambivalent acceptance of trousers, this tan wool pants suit from our Study Collection would have been worn by a woman entirely convinced that trousers were here to stay.

Two-piece pants suit
c. 1973
Gift of California Hospital Medical Center
S2007.165.11AB

Sybil Connolly

The handling of homespun fabric in a sophisticated manner is the forte of Sybil Connolly.¹

In 1953, Irish designer Sybil Connolly was "discovered" by a group of American department store buyers and fashion reporters visiting Ireland. Having worked as a dressmaker in London and Dublin since the late 1930s, Connolly was actually an experienced designer. Connolly's designs were a hit with the American visitors, and she was invited to the United Stated to present her work. In March of 1953, Connolly arrived in Philadelphia to present a collection at Gimbels Department Store. Inevitably, the showing was scheduled for St. Patrick's Day.

Though her first collection featured a variety of well-received suits and day dresses, it was a ball gown of finely pleated Irish linen "of a quality so fine it was almost chiffon-like in weight" that received the most attention.² As her career progressed, Connolly's consistent use of this same lightweight, pleated linen became a trademark. In 1971, almost 20 years after Connolly's first visit to the United States, women attending a Sybil Connolly trunk show in New York were still enthusiastic about her pleated linen dresses.

Evening dress
Sybil Connolly
c. 1971
Gift of Jane Tucker
S2009.967.5

Yoshiki Hishinuma

Popular conceptions of Japanese textile design usually focus on textiles similar to the sky-blue stenciled and embroidered silk seen in this 19th century kimono dressing gown. Made of natural fibers and featuring patterns and motifs borrowed from the natural world, these textiles are the work of skilled artisans trained in a variety of techniques, including weaving, dying, painting and embroidery. The resulting textiles are prized works of art, demonstrating the importance of textile traditions and workmanship to Japanese culture.

Lovely as they are, these textiles are only one branch of textile creation in Japan. In the early 1980s (just as Japanese fashion designers emerged on the world stage) Japanese textile designers began experimenting with new, often synthetic, textiles. Capitalizing on Japan's strong history of textile design and manufacturing, designers used both traditional and invented techniques to create and manipulate new textiles into existence. Like their traditional predecessors, these textiles are produced using time and labor intensive techniques.

Yoshiki Hishinuma
c. 2000
Museum Purchase
2005.5.31

Texture in fashion

Color and pattern are usually the first aspects of a garment to catch the eye, closely followed by silhouette. But what about texture? Though texture might not be the first thing we notice, it plays an important role in establishing the mood of a garment. Would a roughly woven cotton textile be appropriate for a glamorous evening gown? Maybe, but it would take a talented designer to offset the rustic, outdoorsy mood of the textile and craft it into a glamorous evening ensemble. A smooth and glossy silk textile would seem equally out of place on a weekend camping trip.

Like colors and silhouettes, textures go in and out of fashion. Slippery, synthetic textures dominated the late 1970s, while starched cottons and stiff silks were popular in 1950s fashions. Do popular textile textures affect the spirit and culture of the era in which they are popular? Though it's impossible to directly pinpoint this relationship, it's certainly an intriguing train of thought. With that in mind, take a look at this selection of different textile textures from the FIDM Museum!

Evening or wedding gown (bodice detail)
1852-54
Gift of the Helen Larson Estate
2001.31.6