FIDM Museum Blog

Win a copy of Paris 1962!

 

Hello readers!

Paris 1962: Yves Saint Laurent and Dior, Christian Dior, The Early Collections documents the world of early 1960s haute couture. Featuring images of tastemakers, fashion icons and the garments themselves, it offers a glimpse into an exclusive and glamorous world. Thanks to the FIDM Museum Shop, we have one copy to give away to a lucky reader!

If you'd like a chance to win, post a comment about your favorite designer. It doesn't have to be a designer who works in the haute couture tradition, but you need to specify what it is about that designer that captures your affection. Post your comment by or on Friday, January 14, 2011. We'll chose one winner at random.

Good luck!

 

Mainbocher

 

Based on his experience as a Paris-based illustrator for Harper's Bazaar and editor of French Vogue, Chicago-born Main Rousseau Bocher (b. 1890) decided that he was entirely capable of opening his own couture house. He did so in 1930, first contracting his name to Mainbocher. Within 4 days, Mainbocher began to receive orders. Though Mainbocher was known to the fashion establishment due to his work as an illustrator and editor, opening a new couture house with minimal technical experience was a bold move. Years of apprenticeship and skill-building with an established couturier were the more usual path to success. Relative inexperience coupled with the start of what became a decade-long depression might have discouraged a less confident and focused individual. Despite these apparently unfavorable circumstances, Mainbocher went on to have an extremely successful career based on his ability to "dress women like ladies."¹

At the start of World War II in 1940, Mainbocher closed his Paris salon and moved to New York. Though he intended to stay only for the duration of the war, he worked in New York until his retirement in 1971. In New York, as in Paris, Mainbocher's clientele (always referred to as friends) were drawn from the most elite echelons of society. Gloria Vanderbilt, Diana Vreeland, C.Z. Guest and Babe Paley were among his New York clients. Due to a policy of accepting new clients only through personal recommendation, Mainbocher's salon was known as the most exclusive in New York City. Further reinforcing the impression of exclusivity was the lack of advertising. Rather than placing ads in fashion periodicals, Mainbocher relied on word-of-mouth publicity.

Mainbocher's garments were created in the strict tradition of haute couture. Clients selected a garment or garments based on the models seen during the daily 3 p.m. showing at the salon. A personalized garment was then created specifically for the client and fitted over several weeks. Due to their high-quality fit, construction and fabric, Mainbocher's garments were extraordinarily expensive and long-lasting. A 1961 Vogue feature on Mainbocher noted this, suggesting that anyone interested in Mainbocher's work carefully weigh the "spectacular longevity of Mainbocher's clothes as a good, long-range-economy argument for paying prices among the highest in the world."²

Evening gown
Silk
Mainbocher
1956-58
Gift of Lillian Tucker
2006.858.1

Traveling in High Style, part 2

Dani Killam, Assistant Registrar, wrote this post about the process of packing an exhibit for shipment to another museum. To read more about how we organize and prep for this process, read our recent post Traveling in High Style.

“It’s a puzzle!” This phrase is often used in the FIDM Museum office when talking about organizing the collection. The packing and shipping process for High Style: Betsy Bloomingdale and Haute Couture was no exception. Packing each box offered its own unique challenge, while still fitting within the larger puzzle. All the crates were finally shipped out to the American Textile History Museum in Lowell, Massachusetts last week. It took two full weeks of non-stop packing to complete the hands-on task of getting all objects ready for the trip across country. High Style will be on exhibit at the ATHM from August 14, 2010 until January 2, 2011.

The shipment consisted of framed works of different sizes, loose ephemera, miscellaneous items and the actual garments that all needed particular and separate attention during the packing process. Once it was determined which box and in what order the garment was going to be packed, there was a quick discussion as to what the garment required for optimal storage during shipment. This green chiffon gown by Marc Bohan for Christian Dior seemed like it was to be one of the easier pieces to pack because of its silhouette and space requirements.

Evening gown
Silk chiffon crepe with metal and plastic paillettes
Marc Bohan for Christian Dior
Fall Winter 1964-65
Gift of Mrs. Alfred Bloomingdale
77.116.4

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

Koos van den Akker

In a Koos van den Akker garment, fabric is always the focal point. Not just a single luxury fabric, but a riotous mix of fabric patches and panels combined into a surprisingly unified whole. According to the designer, his garments always "start with the fabric. Silhouettes come later."¹ Though van den Akker apprenticed at Christian Dior from 1963-1965, his work demonstrates little interest in a precise fit, one of the traditional concerns of the haute couture. Nor is van den Akker interested in the interaction between garments and the human body, declaring that "shapes are not really what I'm interested in."² Instead, van den Akker prefers to use his garments as an arena in which to explore the visual and tactile qualities of different textiles.

Blouse
c. 1976
Koos van den Akker
85.423.1
Gift of Devra Korwin

Norman Norell flower coat

"Flower power" is usually associated with the late 1960s hippie aesthetic, but flowers were actually a popular decorative motif throughout the decade. The early years of the 1960s witnessed a proliferation of stylized and patently artificial floral forms, while real or "natural" flowers dominated the late 1960s. Often used as a motif in textile designs, flowers also appeared as three-dimensional embellishments on garments and accessories. Elaborate headdresses and hair ornaments made particularly good use of artificial flowers during 1964-65. The hand-dyed silk organza flowers on this 1963 Marc Bohan for Christian Dior evening gown are an early example of 1960s flower fever from the haute couture. The April 1, 1965 issue of Vogue praised floral patterned garments for evening wear in an editorial titled "The Garden of Evening." This flower-covered Norman Norell evening coat, though not featured, would have been a perfect fit for the Vogue editorial. Hand-dyed silk flowers in shades of pink and white are stitched to the coat, which is lined in pink silk. A center-front opening is hidden by the oversize flowers.

Evening coat
Norman Norell
c. 1965
Gift of Clarissa Dyer
2003.794.3

The Little Black Dress

During the nineteenth century, black clothing was usually worn to signify a special status, i.e. mourning, religious piety, extreme poverty or a position of economic and social authority. Because many professional men adopted black suit coats after 1850, black clothing was also associated with masculinity. Though women certainly wore all-black on some occasions, these ensembles were usually worn for specific activities, such as mourning or equestrian pursuits. Black slowly began to enter the realm of fashionable dress in the late nineteenth century when it was adopted by a few daringly audacious women for day and/or evening dress. The infamous black dress worn by Virginie Gautreau in John Singer Sargent's 1884 painting Madame X, though shockingly revealing for the 1880s, is a prescient vision of what would become one of the twentieth century's most iconic garments, the little black dress.

Black dresses slowly gained ground through the early years of the twentieth century, earning the nickname "little" as the elaborate embellishment of late nineteenth century dress gradually dropped away. A November 23, 1906 society feature in the New York Times titled Society Women Wear Black indicates that all-black dress was fashionable but was still considered novel enough to inspire comment. During World War I, mourning dress was so widespread that black dresses were, almost necessarily, created in tune with the latest fashions. For the many women who worked outside the home during World War I, black garments were also a practical choice for everyday dress. Black also entered the fashionable lexicon via the work of Chanel, who presented a collection consisting primarily of black dresses in 1919. Others, including Poiret, Lanvin and Fortuny were also experimenting with the potential of black during this same period. By the late 1920s, the little black dress had become a wardrobe essential.

The images below feature a selection of little black dresses from the FIDM Museum collection. When looking at these images as a group, an impressive continuity is apparent. Despite slight differences in silhouette the primary characteristics of a little black dress, simplicity and an understated elegance, remain the same from decade to decade.

Evening dress
Silk taffeta
1927-29
Transfer from the Museum at FIT
2004.291.21

FIDM Museum Shows Off at Debut

Our post today was written by Meghan Grossman Hansen, FIDM Museum Registrar.

Last month the FIDM Museum participated in the Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising’s annual Debut fashion show—but calm your fears, there were no models sauntering down the runway in fragile historic clothes. High Style: Betsy Bloomingdale and the Haute Couture was the inspiration for an elegant display of FIDM Museum Study Collection garments donated by Mrs. Bloomingdale. This selection of colorful dresses included evening, cocktail, and day dresses worn by the style icon to notable events. Like most of her haute couture pieces donated to the FIDM Museum, many of the garments on display were designed by Marc Bohan for Christian Dior.

The completed FIDM Museum display at Debut.

Refashion

As a concept, fashion is based on the appeal of the new. Every season, silhouettes, colors and shapes are re-combined in an effort to create garments of such great appeal that you will replace (or at least supplement) your existing wardrobe. With the appearance of inexpensive, mass-market retailers that stock their racks with "fast fashions", it has become even easier to fill your closet with garments that resemble the latest runway offerings. Though the savvy shopper is often encouraged to pursue quality over quantity, it is far too easy for many shoppers to believe that new clothes = a new me.

In recent years, consumers and creators of fashion have begun to look at the issue of fashion consumption with a more critical eye. Some creators and producers of fashion struggle with what sustainability and eco-fashion can mean on a practical level through altering production methods or utilizing eco-friendly textiles. Many consumers have taken the issue into their own hands by purchasing only second-hand garments or sewing their own clothes. Others engage in wardrobe refashioning or remixing, a concept which promotes rethinking your closet by recombining or altering those garments you already own.

Refashioning or altering garments to update their style or function is not a new concept. Until the mid-to-late 20th century, most garments were costly enough that they were worn until no longer functional, passed on to someone else or refashioned. In the FIDM Museum collection, we have several examples of garments that have been reimagined to suit the changing needs of the wearer.

Day dress
1853-54
Gift of the Helen Larson Estate
S2001.31.18A-C