FIDM Museum Blog

A docent's view of the 20th Annual Art of Motion Picture Costume Design exhibition

 

Today's post is by our Docent Coordinator, Sarah Repetto. Sarah schedules, coordinates and leads tours of the 20th Annual Art of Motion Picture Costume Design exhibition. Sarah's post provides fascinating insight into how visitors interact with the costumes on display.

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I was listening to NPR the day before the Academy Awards and heard a movie critic refer to a common thread amongst all of the 2012 nominees for best picture. Each of these films prominently features the idea of nostalgia. From Hugo to The Artist, many of 2011 films looked to the past with earnest longing for days gone by. Coincidentally, as a tribute to the 20th anniversary of the Art of Motion Picture Costume Design exhibition, FIDM Museum curators Kevin Jones and Christina Johnson have incorporated highlights from FIDM Museum collection and Department of Recreation and Parks, City of Los Angeles, Historic Hollywood Collection. This includes items such as Mae West’s dizzyingly high 7-inch tall platform heels and a Spanish matador jacket worn by Rudolph Valentino in the 1922 film 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

FIDM Museum intern catalogs croquis

As we described in this post a few weeks ago, interns and volunteers are a tremendously important part of the FIDM Museum. We appreciate their varied efforts on behalf of our many objects! Today, recent intern Jasmine Helm describes her work with our collection of croquis.

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As an art history major with a desire to pursue a Masters in costume studies, I needed to gain more experience working with costume objects. Therefore, applying for a summer internship at the FIDM Museum made perfect sense. FIDM Museum staff welcomed me with open arms, and decided they wanted to use my fine art expertise to help catalog their collection of croquis.

In fashion, a croquis is a quick sketch of figure wearing an outfit. Each season designers send croquis to top clients, who use them like a catalog. The FIDM Museum has a collection of about 800 croquis. Many of the croquis are connected to Betsy Bloomingdale's haute couture collection. A large number date from 1976-1992, when the House of Dior was under the direction of Marc Bohan and then Gianfranco Ferre. A small group of 1962 Balmain croquis are in the collection as well. Marc Bohan for Christian Dior
Autumn/ Winter 1982-1983
Ink, gouache, and colored pencil on paper
Gift of Mrs. Alfred Bloomingdale
FIDM Museum Special Collections
SC2006.116.88 (illustration for 2006.116.6AB)

FIDM Museum intern researches image copyright

Interns and volunteers are an integral part of the FIDM Museum. From conducting curatorial research to sewing labels in garments, assisting with organizational projects and helping out during exhibit installation, interns and volunteers offer invaluable support to our many activities. We have been extremely fortunate to work with a number of dedicated volunteers and interns over the years. In this post, intern Daniel Mejia describes some of the contributions he made to the FIDM Museum during his summer 2010 internship.

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I contacted the FIDM Museum hoping they would take a chance on a Slavic Studies major with no real experience in fashion, but a passion for museums. Luckily, the Museum took me on as a summer intern, and I got to work on some really interesting projects. This post will focus on the some of the research that I did.

First off, I researched the copyright status of certain images. This was an amazing opportunity because I will be attending law school in the fall, with the ultimate goal of working as a lawyer for museums. Museums face legal issues all the time, and, of these issues, copyright law is one of the most common and often one of the most difficult to navigate. It can be hard to know whether an illustration found in a magazine or a photograph in a museum’s collection can be freely reproduced. Copyrights are separate from the objects and images to which they apply, so, for example, just because a museum owns an original photograph does not necessarily mean it owns the copyright to the image. Museums must be vigilant about making sure they have the right to reproduce any image that appears in their publications, whether this means acquiring the copyright, requesting permission from the copyright holder, or determining that the copyright has expired. Here are a few examples of copyright situations.

Photograph by Michel Arnaud of Gianfranco Ferre for Dior, Autumn-Winter 1989-90
FIDM Museum Special Collections