FIDM Museum Blog

Versace Mare bikini, c. 1994

According to the inimitable fashion editor and curator Diana Vreeland, a bikini reveals "everything about a girl except her mother's maiden name."¹ As Vreeland noted, bikinis are defined by their scant coverage and are rarely more than a few triangles of fabric stitched or strung together. Though the bikini is now a widely accepted type of swim and beachwear, it took years for the bikini to go from scandalous to unremarkable. Bikinis, or bikini-like garments, appear in ancient Roman murals, and relatively modest two-piece suits were worn in the 1930s, but the scanty modern bikini didn't appear until 1946. Sources differ, but it seems that the revealing swimsuit was introduced almost simultaneously in summer 1946 by haute couture designer Jacques Heim and engineer/fashion designer Louis Réard. Heim called his scanty two-piece suit the atome, while Réard labeled his the bikini. Both names made reference to the US military's July 1946 nuclear tests on Bikini Atoll, a low-laying island located in the South Pacific. Réard's name for the revealing swimsuit stuck, and a new style of swimwear was born.

Bikini
Gianni Versace/Versace Mare
c. 1994-1999
Gift of Dorothy Washington Sorensen
S2010.1110.83A-D

Unpack fashion history with FIDM Museum's Fashion Council

Are you fascinated by fashion history? Interested in learning more about the twentieth century's most influential fashion designers and silhouettes? We can help! FIDM Museum is delighted to announce a new opportunity to learn more about the fashion and fashion history of the twentieth century.

If your class, club, or professional organization is located in Southern California, schedule a presentation of A History of Women's Fashion: The Twentieth Century. Brought to you by FIDM Museum's Fashion Council, this lively and informative illustrated lecture will provide insight into key moments in twentieth century fashion. Participants will experience hands-on learning with selected objects from the FIDM Museum Study Collection.

Interested in learning more about this opportunity? Email Linda Plochocki, Chair of Fashion Council's Outreach Committee, at fashioncouncil@fidmmuseum.org.

 

 

Red and black ensemble, 1894-96

In the 1890s, most women’s dresses were made-to-measure. Though ready-made clothing was increasingly common, garments that required a precise fit or featured delicate embellishment were typically custom-made, either by the wearer herself, or by a trusted seamstress. Though some women had the financial means to purchase their wardrobes in Paris, most women relied on the advice of their (hopefully up-to-date) dressmaker, example gowns made in the latest style, or on printed descriptions of new fashions. Fashion magazines gave detailed descriptions of stylish garments so that women could make, or have made, approximations of the styles described. This passage from June 1894 is typically detailed: "A dainty organdie with a pale lavender ground, deeply spotted with deep purple flowerets, has two simple six-inch ruffles finishing the skirt, each ruffle trimmed with two rows of narrow moire ribbon in the deep purple shade."¹ The description continues, providing the reader with enough information on cut, material, and embellishment to enable the creation of a similar garment. Simple line drawings sometimes accompanied these written descriptions.

Woman's ensemble
1894-96
Silk
Gift of the Manlove Family
S2006.870.22AB

Gianni Versace leather suit, 1994

Schoolgirl chic with a naughty edge was a strong theme throughout Gianni Versace’s Autumn/Winter 1994-95 collection. Statuesque supermodels Claudia Schiffer, Naomi Campbell, Christy Turlington, and Nadja Auermann walked the runway clad in shiny, candy-colored miniskirts paired with fuzzy, belly-baring turtleneck sweaters and Empire waist vinyl dresses with peek-a-boo midriffs. According to WWD, the “collection included hardly an outfit that wouldn't get a girl expelled."¹ The aggressive sexuality showcased in these garments was a trademark of Versace's work. According to fashion historian Richard Martin, "Versace seized the streetwalker's bravado and conspicuous wardrobe, along with her blatant, brandished sexuality, and introduced them into high fashion."²

Leather two-piece suit
Gianni Versace
Autumn/Winter 1994-95
Gift of Dorothy Washington Sorensen
S2010.1110.1AB

Gothe evening gown, early 1950s

How do you pin a corsage on a strapless gown? This question was posed by florists in the early 1950s, when strapless evening and ball gowns were all the rage. In lieu of pinning the corsage on a shoulder strap, florists suggested creative alternatives. Create a floral medallion by tying a single bloom with silver cord, suggested a Pennsylvania florist in 1950. Or use a wire base to distribute the weight of the flowers more evenly; this solution was the idea of a Chicago floral design instructor.¹

c. 1953
Gift of Geary Roark
S2009.1000.3

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.

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.

1970s Gunne Sax dresses

 

Gunne Sax's aesthetic has been described as feminine, nostalgic, Victorian, old world and romantic. Though the brand is now closely associated with formal and bridal wear, its origins date back to late '60s San Francisco. In 1969, San Francisco boutique Gunne Sax needed a house designer. Enter Jessica McClintock, an elementary school teacher with a life-long interest in fashion. When a friend told McClintock of the opening at Gunne Sax, she applied immediately. In a testament to the freewheeling spirit of 1960s San Francisco, McClintock was hired despite her lack of formal training in fashion design or clothing manufacture. In the beginning, McClintock designed small collections of about 20 garments. Within a few months the San Francisco department store I. Magnin started retailing Gunne Sax dresses. The mood of Gunne Sax was based on McClintock's personal vision: "I brought to [Gunne Sax] my own concept of clothing based on romance--nostalgia created by a mixture of prints, ribbons, laces, muslins and braids. It was 1969, the "mini" era was ending, and the Gunne Sax "Country," "Edwardian," and "Prairie" era was beginning."¹ 

Gunne Sax by Jessica McClintock
c. 1975
Gift of Roxanne, Byrnadette & Frank DiSanto
95.817.1

Duck dress, c. 1930

 

Day dress
c. 1930
Gift of Steven Porterfield
S2007.897.39

The charming idiosyncrasy of this dress always gets a smile. From a distance, it is simply a black day dress with a 1920s silhouette and bright red applied decoration. But take a closer look and you'll see that the red decorations are actually a series of plastic badges. Each badge features a hand-painted duck! In the close-up (below) of the sleeve cuff, the painted ducks (ostriches?) are clearly visible. Looking at the close-up also makes it clear that the painted badges are an integral part of the overall dress design. They weren't slapped on as an afterthought; the dress was thoughtfully designed to prominently showcase the hand-painted ducks. Other details, including the contrast piping at the cuffs and neckline and the metallic embroidery seen below, indicate that the dress was more than a throwaway novelty.

c. 1850 blue bodice, refashioned

 

This bright blue bodice is a bit of a puzzle. Look closely at the image, and you'll probably notice something strange happening at the waist. Do you see the coarse cotton lining peeking out from below the blue silk waistband? The V-shape of the lining indicates the original waistline of the bodice, which was later altered to reflect changing fashions. This alteration probably took place about 1860-62, when a lowered V-waist went out of fashion. Keep reading to learn about another significant alteration to this bodice!

Bodice
Silk with cotton lining
c. 1850-62
Gift of the Helen Larson Estate
S2001.31.1A