FIDM Museum Blog

Reception dress, c. 1876

 

Reception dress
1876-77
Maison Touin, Paris
Silk faille, wool & silk brocade, linen lace
Gift of John Kauke
82.405.2AB

Made by a Paris dressmaker, this purple and cream reception dress could have walked right off a fashion plate. The styling and details are up to the minute, a reflection of high fashion c. 1876. Since the reign of Louis XIV in the late 17th century, Paris had been the fashion epicenter of the Western world. In 1858, when Charles Frederick Worth and business partner Otto Bobergh established Maison Worth et Bobergh at 7 Rue de la Paix, this street and its environs became the heart of Paris' fashion industry. Maison Touin, the house that created this dress, was located at 3 Rue Ventadour, only a few blocks away from the Rue de la Paix and well-within the stylish orbit of the famous street.

World War II propaganda dress

 

Sixty-eight years ago today, on June 6 1944, over 150,000 Allied troops landed on the beaches of Normandy, France. Called D-Day, this invasion marked a turning point in World War II. At the time of the invasion, Nazi Germany occupied much of western Europe, including France. Due to Allied successes during D-Day and the subsequent Battle of Normandy, by August 1944, Paris was liberated from occupation and German forces were in retreat throughout Europe. Within a year, Allied forces had achieved military victory throughout Europe.

In light of this anniversary, we wanted to revisit our 1941 World War II propaganda dress. Made from yardage printed as a fundraiser for the volunteer British-American Ambulance Corps, it features a swirling print built around the patriotic slogan, "There'll Always Be An England." When we originally posted this dress in 2010, we were somewhat puzzled as to why this slogan was printed backwards. Our curators have recently settled on an answer to this question. Read on to learn more!

Day dress
1941
Gift of Madge Baker
2005.842.2

Claire McCardell dress, 1952

 

The FIDM Museum compact storage facility is filled with wonders. Charles Worth's c. 1878 reception gown, a beaded evening sheath by Alber Elbaz for Lanvin, Fortuny textiles and Herve Leger's mini-jumpsuit share racks and boxes with thousands of additional garments and accessories. As the caretakers of the FIDM Museum collection, we treat each object with equal attention to its longevity and well-being. That said, it's almost impossible for those of us who work with the collection to avoid having a few favorites each. One of mine is this graphic Claire McCardell cotton dress.

Claire McCardell
1952
Gift of Norma Carnahm
77.1948.008.16

Yves Saint Laurent mini-dress, c. 1967

 

Yves Saint Laurent had a talent for translating street fashion into the vocabulary of the haute couture. He demonstrated this ability early, during his brief tenure as head designer at Christian Dior. Inspired by the bohemian students, artists and intellectuals who frequented the Left Bank of Paris, Saint Laurent designed the 1960 Beat collection. Filled with black clothing, including turtlenecks, leather suits and a mink-trimmed crocodile jacket, the collection was an affront to the refined sensibilities of haute couture clients and fashion editors. Though it led to Saint Laurent's departure from Christian Dior, the Beat collection was a glimpse into the future of fashion. Saint Laurent had recognized that the fashion dictates of the haute couture were becoming irrelevant. By combining elements of street style with haute couture production techniques, Saint Laurent energized an insular world.

Mini-dress
C. 1967
Yves Saint Laurent
Gift of Laura Jarre
99.384.1A-C

 

Black silk faille formal dress, 1894-96

 

Studying period garments, fashion illustrations, reference books, and whenever possible, photographs, helps create a mental checklist against which to compare undated garments and images. Unfitted, columnar dress with elaborate beading? Start thinking about the 1920s. A women's suit with fit and styling reminiscent of menswear? Consider the styles of the World War II era. Of course, you'll need to watch out for styles that reference past fashion trends. Carefully examining labels, fabric, trim and construction details can help you ferret out whether a garment is a period original or later revival. There will always be tricky garments that defy exact dating, but understanding when specific styles emerged and declined enables researchers to date and contextualize historic garments.

Two-piece formal dress
1894-96
Gift of The Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising
87.25.1AB

Bubble silhouette, 1958-59

 

Cocktail dress
1958-59
Gift of Steven Porterfield
S2007.897.8

In March 1958, Vogue lauded the new variety in fashionable silhouettes: "a whole lovely flight of new forms--winged, floating, or held slightly away from the body in some mysterious way. It is the variety of shapes that marks these Paris collections."¹ In the accompanying 20-page editorial, readers were introduced to St. Laurent's A-line trapeze dress for Dior, Cardin's bubble hem skirt suit, Madame Grès empire-waist chiffon day dress, and Chanel's slim, two-piece wool suit. The hodge-podge of silhouettes presented in the article suggests that Christian Dior's 1947 New Look silhouette was finally being surpassed by new approaches to the body. The 1958 Vogue article credited the availability of varied silhouettes to the body-skimming chemise dress, which had become popular the previous year.

Chains of Chanel

 

Gilt chains are a recurring visual theme in the Chanel lexicon. Beginning in the 1920s, Gabrielle “Coco” Chanel promoted costume jewelry as an alternative to jewelry made of gold and studded with pearls and precious stones. Chanel didn't just promote costume jewelry, she also wore it herself, pairing bold necklaces of faux pearls, gilt and glass stones with her straightforward daywear. In a famous 1937 photo by Horst P. Horst, Chanel casually reclines and her necklaces fall to the side. Who cares if they are real or faux? In 1938, it was said that her " "gold" necklaces were the biggest and most flamboyant in Paris."¹

After 1953, when Chanel emerged from retirement, she applied gilt chains to her garments and accessories for both decorative and functional purposes. The now iconic quilted leather Chanel bag with a chain strap was first introduced in 1955, and is often called 2.55 because it was released in February 1955. Based on a bag Chanel used in the 1920s, this modest rectangular bag has a chain handle that can be slung over the shoulder, or carried at the elbow. A Chanel suit also features a gilt chain, though it is frequently hidden from sight. The jacket always features a lightly quilted lining with a gilt chain hand-stitched to the interior hem of the jacket. The appearance of chain is echoed in braided trim that is often used to reinforce and decorate cuffs, collar and pockets of the suit jacket.

Chanel
Karl Lagerfeld
1985
Gift of Barbara Bundy
2006.37.4

In his designs for Chanel, Karl Lagerfeld has often reworked the iconic signatures of Coco Chanel. In this black wool dress, Lagerfeld pays homage to Chanel by layering trompe l'oeil chains at the waist of a sleeveless black wool dress. A mix of leather, gold embroidery and bugle beads, the chains reference Chanel’s love of costume jewelry and the casual, carefree way that Chanel wore her own jewelry. The simple silhouette and black ground serve as the perfect foil for the richness of the appliqued belts.

 

1 "New Costume Jewelry" New York Times 30 Jan. 1938: 80.

 

Down Under!

 

Today's post was written by FIDM Museum curator, Kevin Jones. In this post, Kevin describes the reason behind his recent trip to Australia.

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Once in a while a curator has the privilege of traveling to another museum to install a garment that is being loaned to an exhibition. Generally, the borrowing institution is within driving distance. I just returned from such a trip last week and while I didn’t drive my car, I did go by bus…that is, by Qantas Airbus, the largest passenger plane in the world that can transport more than 500 people at a time. My destination was Bendigo, Australia, in the southeast province of Victoria, one and a half hours outside of Melbourne. The Bendigo Art Gallery just opened the exhibition Grace Kelly: Style Icon (11 March – 17 June 2012), which traveled nearly as far as I did, coming from the Victoria & Albert Museum in London, England. An overview of the gallery and the exhibition can be read here.

View of the Bendigo Art Gallery

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

 

Originally posted in July 2010, this c. 1955 James Galanos deserves a repeat appearance in honor of St. Patrick's Day. With its vibrant emerald green color, it is easily one of the greenest garments in our collection. Enjoy!

 

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

Silk chiffon evening dress, 1975

 

Evening dress
1975
Silk chiffon & silk crepe
Gift of Phyllis Wayne
S2007.915.1AB

Purchased in 1975 at Sak's Fifth Avenue Beverly Hills, this dress was worn by the donor to a family wedding. After the wedding, it was packed away and never worn again. In 2007, the original wearer donated it to the FIDM Museum. Consisting of two layers of pale, bias-cut, silk chiffon over a silk crepe slip, the dress is in excellent condition. The silhouette is deceptively demure, with thigh-high slits at each side of the skirt creating unexpected drama. The rounded shape of the hem is echoed in the sleeves, of which the lower portion was left unstitched to create a petal effect. Throughout the garment, picot edge seams are held together with hand-sewn stitches spaced 1/2 inch apart.