FIDM Museum Blog

Accessories from The Helen Larson Historic Fashion Collection

The Annette Green Fragrance Archive Presents:
Accessories from The Helen Larson Historic Fashion Collection

Shoes
Europe, c. 1800
Leather, canvas & ink
Helen Larson Historic Fashion Collection
L2011.13.534AB

We are delighted to announce the opening of Accessories from The Helen Larson Historic Fashion Collection, now on view in The Annette Green Fragrance Archive. This new exhibit complements A Century of Millinery Style: Hats from the Helen Larson Historic Fashion Collection, 1820s - 1920s. Both exhibits are drawn from Helen Larson's exceptional private collection. Surveying footwear, fans, gloves, purses, and hats, these objects demonstrate Helen Larson’s acquisition prowess and appreciation of fashion history. From a pair of 1860s men’s floral Berlin woolwork slippers to a 1930s crimson reptile skin handbag, the importance of adornment is not lost on the viewer of this visually striking installation.

Accessories from The Helen Larson Historic Fashion Collection is FREE and open to the public Monday through Saturday, 10am–5pm. The exhibition is located in The Annette Green Fragrance Archive, on the second floor of FIDM's Los Angeles campus. Check-in is required at the security station on the ground floor. 

*There are no fragrance related objects on display at this time.*

Ferragamo Tavarnelle lace high heels, mid-1930s

Salvatore Ferragamo
c.1935-36
Permanent Loan, FIDM
2009.25.2AB

Fantasy footwear flourished during the 1930s, and Salvatore Ferragamo (1898-1960) was the leader in crafting shoes from unusual materials. At this time, his luxury output was completely handmade and custom fitted to individual clients--a perfect balance of style and comfort. The uppers on this pair are Tavarnelle needlepoint lace, a Tuscan specialty produced just outside Florence, Italy.¹ Often used in white for decorating undergarments, Ferragamo commissioned a colored version with pink and blue blossoms on a field of brown twigs and green foliage. The pliability of the lace must have delighted the wearer, as it easily allowed her feet to contract and expand in motion, and did not bind her toes tightly like fully-enclosed models.

1 Piacenti, Kirsten Aschengreen, et al. Salvatore Ferragamo: The Art of the Shoe, 1898-1960 (New York: Rizzoli, 1992) 47 & 79.

Adolfo hat, c. 1973

Fall is officially here! After the autumnal equinox on September 22, the days get shorter and the nights get longer. Even in Los Angeles, there is sometimes a chilly bite in the air. Naturally, we've got to start dressing for the weather--coats, sweaters, scarves and hats are on the agenda. In honor of the changing season, today's post features an early 1970s felt hat by Adolfo.

Adolfo
c. 1973
Gift of Anonymous Donor
99.40.1

Though Adolfo (b. 1933) once claimed that he “never enjoyed making hats,” they were his entrée into the fashion industry.¹ Born in Cuba, Adolfo Sardinia immigrated to New York in 1948. Almost immediately after his arrival in New York, Adolfo began work as an apprentice milliner at Bergdorf-Goodman.  For the next decade, Adolfo toggled between Paris, where he apprenticed for both Balenciaga and Chanel, and New York, where he worked as a hat designer for Emme Inc. In 1962, Adolfo opened a New York millinery salon where he designed made-to-order hats for individual clients and ready-to-wear hats for retail distribution. He soon expanded his business into custom clothing, designing for socialites C.Z. Guest, Nancy Reagan, Betsy Bloomingdale, the Duchess of Windsor and others.

Side-button boots, 1870s

The Victorian woman's wardrobe was divided into a dizzying array of categories. Morning, visiting, walking, evening, traveling, shopping, and mourning are just some of the activities and circumstances that demanded a dedicated ensemble. Understanding the difference between a dress for morning and a dress for traveling was valuable knowledge that helped a woman maintain her social standing and good reputation. For those women who needed help unraveling the specifics of dress and social etiquette, guidebooks such as The Ladies' Book of Etiquette, and Manual of Politeness (1872) and Etiquette: What To Do, and How To Do It (1885) offered detailed tips on polite manners and proper dress. Generally speaking, most 19th century etiquette manuals urge women to avoid excessively showy dress, and to ensure that accessories, fabric, hairstyle and other details are harmonious and suitable for the occasion. Though etiquette manuals offer startlingly detailed guidelines regarding most aspects of dress, they barely mention footwear. This is also true of the leading 19th century fashion magazines Godey's and Harper's Bazaar; these publications mentioned footwear, but relatively infrequently.
Side-button boots
c. 1870-79
Museum Purchase
2010.5.16AB

Crochet can hat, 1968-1970

We try to approach every object in the FIDM Museum collection with a critical, evaluative eye. But how do you maintain the necessary scholarly distance when confronted with a hat made from beer cans? It's hard not to smile, or at least raise an eyebrow when you see this creative hat.

Novelty hat
1968-1970
Aluminum cans, acrylic yarn
Museum purchase
2003.5.42

A Century of Millinery Style: Hats from the Helen Larson Historic Fashion Collection, 1820s - 1920s

 

 

A Century of Millinery Style: Hats from the Helen Larson Historic Fashion Collection, 1820s - 1920s is the latest installation in the FIDM Museum's Larson Gallery. Twenty-five rare women's hats, bonnets, and toques fill the gallery, offering visitors a chronological overview of 19^th and early 20^th century millinery fashions. Three fully dressed mannequins illustrate the relationship between hats and fashionable day dress. Period photographs highlight a range of millinery styles, from delicate to extreme. Two hat boxes, separated by 100 years, exemplify the large packaging needed to protect these expensive, and often fragile, creations.

The Larson Gallery is open July 31 – October 20, 2012, Tuesday-Saturday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Hat
Label: J.W. Robinson Co.
Los Angeles, California, c. 1917
Metal sequins, silk velvet, dyed & lacquered stripped ostrich feathers
L2011.13.615

Day Dress
Label: Harvey Nichols
London, England, c. 1916
Printed silk, cotton organdy & cotton floss
L2011.13.975
Helen Larson Historic Fashion Collection; Proposed FIDM Museum Acquisition

 

Bakelite cherry brooch, late 1930s

 

 Cherry and log brooch
c. 1935-1940
Gift of Steven Porterfield
2010.897.49

Can you imagine a world without plastic? Overwhelmingly ubiquitous today, plastic has been in existence for less than 200 years. Prior to the last quarter of the 19th century, when plastic products became commercially available, everything was made from organic materials. Developed in the 1860s, early plastics generally replicated organic materials like tortoiseshell, ivory, wood or coral. Used to make children's toys, combs, cutlery, billiard balls, and many other functional and/or decorative objects, plastics were soon absorbed into the fabric of everyday life.

Swingin' Summer

 

Swingin’ Summer, a collaboration between the FIDM Museum Shop and Clever Vintage Clothing, pays homage to the influence of swimwear on fashion and culture. On view in the FIDM Museum lobby through late July, this installation of swimwear and casual fashions includes ensembles by Catalina, Alfred Shaheen and the Kamehameha Garment Company. This installation is FREE and open to the public Monday-Friday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Selections from Swingin' Summer are featured below. Stop by the FIDM Museum lobby to see the full installation!

 

Ocean-themed straw handbags from the 1950s. The sequin embellished bag (front) was made in Japan, and the green and gold seashell handbag (back) is from Texas.

Boudoir slippers, c. 1939

 

Boudoir slippers
c. 1939
Daniel Green
Gift of Kevin Jones
2008.155.3AB

In the 1937 article, "Mules: The More the Merrier," Vogue claimed that, "all women are slipper collectors."¹ Though this is probably an overstatement, the article indicates that in the late 1930s, slippers were much more than soft and comfy shoes for scuffing around the house. Garnet satin mules for intimate evenings at home, flat black satin slides for hostessing, red flannel canvas flats for pairing with casual slacks or shorts, and rustic fur-lined reindeer moccasins are only a sampling of the slipper styles presented in the Vogue article. Slippers were playful, spanning the gap between sensible daytime footwear and refined evening footwear.

Balenciaga hat, 1960

 

Throughout the 1950s, etiquette dictated that women wear hats for everything but the most informal occasions. Whether running errands, meeting friends for lunch, shopping for a new frock, or attending a meeting, the hat was a necessary accessory. A complete ensemble also included gloves (usually white) and matching handbag and shoes. By the end of the decade, increasing informality in dress and the popularity of larger, more elaborate hairstyles meant that hats were no longer strictly required. In 1960, Vogue noted this shift: "In another generation, we heard "you're not dressed if you don't wear a hat," but the obvious truth is that many smart women are now beautifully, though, hatlessly, dressed, wearing marvellous hair as a substitute."² Instead of wearing hats because they were socially necessary, Vogue encouraged its readers to wear hats because they were an opportunity for "chic women to acquire extra chic."² By end of the 1960s, however, women's hats had become largely irrelevant to mainstream fashion.

Cristobal Balenciaga
Fall 1960
Museum Purchase
2003.5.45