FIDM Museum Blog

How do curators dress when doing research?

Our curators go the extra mile when they’re researching an exhibition!

Wearing historically accurate dress, inside and out, Kevin Jones and Christina Johnson recently attended the Jane Austen Evening in Pasadena, CA. Sponsored by the Society for Manners & Merriment, this annual event consists of dancing, refreshments and entertainment in the spirit of Jane Austen’s era. Aside from enjoying an evening out, Kevin and Christina had a serious mission: field research for FIDM Museum's Fall 2013 Empire & Romantic exhibition, which will focus on the years 1800-1835. The lifetime of celebrated author Jane Austen (1775-1817) coincides with this era, so the Jane Austen Evening was the perfect opportunity for Kevin and Christina to kick-off their research.

This photo captures Kevin and Christina in their reproduction ensembles. Christina wears a gown of plum silk based on a French fashion plate and flat leather dancing slippers with ribbon ties. Kevin wears a white shirt and cravat, fall front breeches, waistcoat (vest) and dress coat. Their ensembles were designed by Mela Hoyt-Heydon, friend of the FIDM Museum, union costume designer for the entertainment industry and faculty member at Fullerton College Theatre Arts Department. Most of the costume elements were designed by Mela for a stage production of Jane Austen's 1813 novel Pride and Prejudice.

After attending the Jane Austen Evening, Kevin understands why gentlemen of Jane Austen's era always brought a change of linens to Assemblies: dancing is a cardio workout! Also, it's tiring to keep your arms in the proper dance position all evening. Christina learned that wearing a corset greatly improves a lady's deportment, and that fans are necessary after an evening of dancing in a packed ballroom.

Stay tuned for occasional updates as Kevin and Christina develop themes and select objects for this 2013 exhibition. They’re on the hunt for enlightening resources describing the dress and society of 1800-1835. If you know of something useful, send us your suggestions!

 

20th Annual Art of Motion Picture Costume Design opens February 14, 2012

 

The FIDM Museum is proud to present the 20th Annual Art of Motion Picture Costume Design exhibition. Celebrating the art and industry of costume designers, this exhibition presents more than 100 costumes from twenty films released in 2011, including all five Academy Award nominees for Best Costume. Selected costumes from Anonymous, The Artist, Hugo, Jane Eyre, W.E, Immortals, Super 8, Warhorse and other films provide an up-close view of the costumer's art.

The exhibition will also showcase classic film costumes from the FIDM Museum collection and the Department of Recreation and Parks, City of Los Angeles, Historic Hollywood Collection. Some of these same costumes were featured during the first Art of Motion Picture Costume Design exhibition in 1993. Worn by Fred Astaire, Ingrid Bergman, Jean Harlow, Marlene Dietrich and other Hollywood legends, these historic objects celebrate the history and glamour of Hollywood costuming.

 

One last look at 2011--Alexander McQueen peacock dress

 

Before we get too far into 2012, we wanted to mention one final blog post from 2011. When we compiled our Top Five Posts of 2011, our post on Alexander McQueen's peacock dress was an extremely close runner-up. This post trailed very slightly (one page view!) behind our fifth most popular post on Lucile. McQueen's creation was a favorite during our recent FABULOUS! exhibition and we wanted to give you one more chance to revisit it before we begin posting new content for 2012.

All of us at the FIDM Museum thank you for your continued support of our many endeavors! We wish you the very best in 2012. Our next project is the twentieth anniversary Art of Motion Picture Costume Design exhibition, opening February 14, 2012. More on this exhibition soon!

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Alexander McQueen's famed peacock evening dress, currently on display in FABULOUS!, is a crowd favorite. Visitors routinely beeline straight for the frothy dress, which resides on a rotating platform in the third and final gallery of the exhibition. We commissioned it from the Alexander McQueen atelier in 2010 and it took about 7 months to create. It is one of only three extant versions of the dress. And do you see those shoes? These replica shoes, based on those worn with the peacock dress during its runway presentation, were created by our mountmaker extraordinaire.

Evening dress
Fall/Winter 2008-9
Commissioned 2010
Alexander McQueen
Museum Commission
Funds provided by Karen Coombs-Jordan
2010.5.73

Johann Hummel court suit, c. 1810-14

 

Since our FABULOUS! exhibition opened in September, we've featured selected exhibition highlights on our blog. As FABULOUS! closes tomorrow, this post will be our final installment in the series. Want to revisit favorite pieces from the exhibition? Click here for a complete listing of FABULOUS! blog posts.

This final FABULOUS! post features a stunning early 19th century court suit with a fascinating provenance. Consisting of a jacket and breeches of aubergine silk velvet decorated with silk and metallic embroidery and a cream silk faille vest, this court suit would be a highlight of our collection with or without a known provenance. But its excellent condition and documented provenance make it even more historically important. Created late in the reign of Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte (r. 1804-1814/15) by handloom weavers and master embroiders, its uncut voided velvet with gold, silver, rhinestone, and sequin decoration is truly regal. It was donated to the FIDM Museum in 2008 by the family of Johann Hummel's great-great grandson, Michael Hummel. We featured a glimpse of this court suit on our blog in 2009, a few months after it was donated.

Court suit
Uncut voided silk velvet, silk faille, silk embroidery floss, gold & silver embroidery purl & frieze, rhinestone & metal sequins
c. 1810-14
Paris, France
Gift of Yvonne Hummel
2008.947.2A-C

Court gown and train, 1907

 

Ladies attending Their Majesties' Courts will appear in Full Dress, with Trains and Plumes.¹

 

Court gown & train
London, England
Redfern
1907
Museum Purchase, Funds provided by Yvonne Hummel
2008.932.19AB

Worn only during the ceremony in which selected individuals were introduced to the King and Queen, court dress was an elegant, highly regulated uniform. Adhering to the spoken and unspoken regulations governing court dress was almost as important as having the "correct" background. Each European court had its own version of court dress, which was more or less elaborate depending on the wealth of the particular court. The court gown and train pictured above are both on display in FABULOUS!, our current exhibition.

We are fortunate to know the provenance of this court gown. It was worn by American Ann Bloomfield Gamble Post during her 1907 presentation to King Edward VII and Queen Alexandra of the United Kingdom. Edward was a popular leader; his accession to the throne in 1901 transformed the somber court of his mother Queen Victoria into "an exceptionally brilliant spectacle."¹ Alexandra exerted a major influence on fashion. Presentation at their court was a eagerly anticipated social privilege.

Congrats to our FABULOUS! winners

 

Thanks so much to all of you who entered our FABULOUS! giveaway! We loved reading about your favorite fashion books. Many of you listed Fashion from the Kyoto Costume Institute as a top pick. The Fashion in Detail books from the V&A Museum were also mentioned frequently. Your favorite fashion books include lots of great titles: Dressed for the Photographer (Joan Severa), Edith Head (Jay Jorgensen), When Clothes Become Fashion: Design and Innovation Systems (Ingrid Loscheck), The Little Book of Fashion (Christian Dior) and many others. The two winners of this giveaway were randomly selected. It would have been impossible to chose only two winners from this batch of excellent submissions!

The winner of the FABULOUS! catalogue is reader Jennifer Torres. Jennifer's favorite fashion-related book is, "Janet Arnold's Patterns of Fashion: The Cut and Construction of Clothes for Men and Women, C.1560-1620. However, Seventeenth-Century Women's Dress Patterns: Book 1 by Jenny Tiramani and Susan North might be up there after I finish reading it. I heard Tiramani speak at a conference at Colonial Williamsburg and the pictures she showed from [her book] were amazing!" Congratulations Jennifer! The FABULOUS! catalogue will be in good company on your book shelves!

The FABULOUS! notecards and paper doll book go to reader Carey Hannaford. Like many of you, Carey had a hard time choosing just one favorite fashion book. In Carey's words, "My most recent purchases were the Fashion in Detail series and they are lovely to look at. I think my favourite is still The Complete Costume History by Auguste Racinte. It is huge, and shipping to Australia cost more than the book but it was well worth it." Thanks for entering Carey, hope you enjoy the FABULOUS! notecards and paper doll book!

Thanks again to all of the readers who entered this giveaway! Stay tuned to our blog for more posts about pieces included in the FABULOUS! exhibition and catalogue.

Making a mount for an 1870s dolman

 

Today's post is by our Study Collection Manager and expert mountmaker, Carolyn Jamerson. In a previous post, Carolyn described the process of making floating forms. In this post, Carolyn describes the unique challenges of making a custom mount for an 1870s cashmere dolman.

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As part of the FABULOUS! exhibition, the FIDM Museum is displaying selected pieces from the Helen Larson Historic Fashion Collection, our current acquisition project. This rotation includes garments worn by royalty; anyone of lower rank than a queen isn’t making it in. One of the pieces displayed is a beautiful 1870’s cape-like dolman jacket worn by Queen Alexandra (1844-1925) of England when she was Princess of Wales.

Dolman
Cashmere, silk braid and metallic thread
c.1870
Helen Larson Historic Fashion Collection
L2011.10.9

A Step Ahead of the Competition

 

As we've discussed here, here and here, many of the objects in our collection are donated. Our donors are extremely generous, and we've been gifted with many wonderful pieces over the years. To round out our collections, we also purchase objects. In this post, FIDM Museum curator Kevin Jones describes this process and reveals how his extraordinary patience helped bring an unusual pair of 1959 Roger Vivier evening shoes into our collection. These shoes are featured in both FABULOUS! and the companion catalogue.

Evening shoes
Paris, France, 1959
Roger Vivier for Christian Dior
Kingfisher feathers & leather
Museum purchase
2009.5.50AB

Parfums Lucien Lelong: The Peter Fink Collection

 

 Parfums Lucien Lelong: The Peter Fink Collection

10 a.m.–4 p.m., Monday-Saturday

Free!

The FIDM Museum is delighted to present an exceptional collection of fragrance, cosmetics, and ephemera from the house of Lucien Lelong. Some of these objects, including a fur-covered lipstick and the Full Dress and Golden Grotto lipsticks, have been featured on our blog. This group of objects was graciously donated by Monique Fink, wife of artist Peter Fink, who worked for Monsieur Lelong as package designer and interior decorator. Mr. Fink went on to discover the camera, and became a reputable photographer and artist of the twentieth century. Parfums Lucien Lelong: The Peter Fink Collection, a new exhibit in the Annette Green Fragrance Archive, highlights selected examples of Peter Fink's work for Parfums Lucien Lelong.

"Ting-a-Ling" Perfume Bottle
Lucien Lelong
c. 1949
Gift of Monique Fink
F2006.877.45AB

A-muse-ing Fashions

 

Today's post was written by our Assistant Registrar Dani Killam. In her post, Dani explores the interplay between fashion designers and artists in two vibrantly colorful pieces from our collection: an Adrian blouse and a Halston dress. The Halston dress featured in this post is currently on exhibit in FABULOUS! and both are featured in the exhibition catalogue.

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Though created 27 years apart, our Gilbert Adrian (1903-1959) blouse and Roy Halston (1932-1990) dress share a common theme prevalent within fashion design during the twentieth century. Adrian’s blouse showcases Salvador Dalí’s (1904-1989) shattered rock motif, while Halston’s garment is covered with Andy Warhol’s 1964 Flowers print. These two pieces from the FIDM Museum collection exemplify the symbiotic relationship and transformation of inspirational role from fashion to art, and art to fashion.

In preceding centuries artists were intrigued by the fashions they observed, absorbing details and angles of sartorial wonder that we in the museum field greatly benefit from today. The significance of such relations between artist and fashion may best be represented by French painter Jean-Antoine Watteau (1684-1721). The box pleats located at the center back of a dress à la française later became known as “Watteau pleats” due to the artist’s multiple representations of this fashionable construction. In Watteau's painting The Two Cousins, the the artist's namesake pleat is clearly portrayed. Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres, Franz-Xaver Winterhalter, James Tissot, John Singer Sargent, Claude Monet, and Edouard Manet are only a few of many artists who also produced artwork portraying dress as their main focal point. Clearly, fashion has a long history of inspiring art.

Blouse
Spring/Summer 1947
Gilbert Adrian, Designer
Salvador Dalí, Textile Artist
Enka rayon
Museum Purchase
2008.25.10