FIDM Museum Blog

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

 

Charles James jumper, 1956

 

A recent New York Times article on designer children's wear described the 1956 fashion show that launched Charles James's line of children's clothing. While fashion editors enjoyed cookies and sherry, James (wearing a purple tweed suit) narrated the presentation of tiny jackets, capes, shirts, pants and sun suits, all designed for children 0-18 months.¹ For those familiar with the extreme shape of a Charles James gown, the idea of James designing children's clothing might seem incongruous, if not downright strange. Well-established in both the United States and Europe, James designed ball gowns, cocktail dresses, evening dresses and coats in the painstaking tradition of haute couture. His clients included Millicent Rogers, Gypsy Rose Lee, Babe Paley and other prominent women of style and wealth. What prompted Charles James to design children's clothing?

According to Charles James scholar Elizabeth Ann Coleman, the reason is simple: Charles Jr, James's first child, was born in the spring of 1956. James might have been anticipating fatherhood as early as 1954, the year he designed maternity ensembles for retailer Lane Bryant. Using stiff taffeta, James designed a black tunic dress and a yellow, gray and white trouser ensemble for expectant mothers. The interplay between fit and flare that defines so many of James's garments was easily translated into maternity clothing. The flame red Charles James maternity evening coat pictured in a 1956 issue of Life magazine is nearly identical to his black velvet Balloon evening coat.

Child's jumper
1956
Charles James
Museum Purchase
2008.5.23

Though James's designs for adult women usually prohibited expressive mobility, James didn't impose the same expectations on children. Made from soft cotton textiles, the cut of his children's wear responded to the needs of an active baby or toddler. Sleeves were designed for freedom of movement, while pants featured extra gussets, allowing room for a diaper. All designs were fitted on Charles James Jr. Like the jumper pictured above, many of the designs featured buttons for both function and decoration. The curved drop-front panel is typical of the line, which featured rounded silhouettes and incorporated curved seams and curved panels of fabric for shaping.

Created in collaboration with the Alexis Corporation, these were not haute couture garments for children. James designed prototype garments which were then patterned and put into mass production by the manufacturer. By the end of 1956, the line retailed in about 30 shops nationwide, with each small garment bearing a label that read "Designed by Charles James" or "Shaped by Charles James." In 1957, the line received royal recognition when Princess Grace of Monaco (aka Grace Kelly) visited Charles James's New York salon. Expecting her first child, she purchased an array of baby sun suits, shirts, and shorts in a variety of fabrics.

 

1 The fashion show is described in detail in the October 20, 1956 issue of The New Yorker.

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

Balenciaga hat, 1960

 

Throughout the 1950s, etiquette dictated that women wear hats for everything but the most informal occasions. Whether running errands, meeting friends for lunch, shopping for a new frock, or attending a meeting, the hat was a necessary accessory. A complete ensemble also included gloves (usually white) and matching handbag and shoes. By the end of the decade, increasing informality in dress and the popularity of larger, more elaborate hairstyles meant that hats were no longer strictly required. In 1960, Vogue noted this shift: "In another generation, we heard "you're not dressed if you don't wear a hat," but the obvious truth is that many smart women are now beautifully, though, hatlessly, dressed, wearing marvellous hair as a substitute."² Instead of wearing hats because they were socially necessary, Vogue encouraged its readers to wear hats because they were an opportunity for "chic women to acquire extra chic."² By end of the 1960s, however, women's hats had become largely irrelevant to mainstream fashion.

Cristobal Balenciaga
Fall 1960
Museum Purchase
2003.5.45

Embroidered bodice, c. 1905

 

Bodice
Silk net with embroidery
Gift of Deane Funk
87.286.1

Made from ivory silk net embroidered with an allover floral pattern, this elegant bodice gives the impression of being completely sheer. Actually, the bodice is lined with a layer of ivory silk, thus preserving the modesty of the wearer. Though the bodice itself is made from a fragile, insubstantial textile, it was worn over a rigid foundation: the S-bend corset. This corset, with its flat front and steel busk, forced the hips back and the bust forward into a distinctive S-shape. The resulting silhouette idealized the body of a mature woman, featuring a full monobosom, tightly cinched waist, and full, rounded hips. This silhouette dominated women's fashion from 1900 until about 1908, when it was gradually replaced by the unarticulated, upright lines of the empire silhouette.

Monies jewelry

 

Bracelets
Mother of pearl
Monies
1990-2000
Gift of The Muriel Pollia Foundation
2006.868.9A-C

Since the early 1970s, Gerda and Nikolai Monies have used fossils, petrified wood, animal bone, seeds, beach stones, jute and other organic materials to create dramatic, sculptural jewelry. Based in Copenhagen, their eponymous jewelry house produces two collections each year: Production and Unique. Based on seasonal themes, Production is a line of handcrafted multiples, while Unique (as the name suggests) is a collection of one-of-a-kind jewelry. The organic materials that give Monies jewelry its character are globally sourced and then crafted into jewelry that enhances the innate characteristics of each material. The mother of pearl bracelets pictured above show evidence of this philosophy. Though mother of pearl can be polished and tinted to a uniform appearance, each bracelet varies slightly in color, texture and shape. The variations suggest the organic processes that created the mother of pearl while also enhancing their visual appeal

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.

FABULOUS! catalogue wins Best of Show award

 

We are delighted to announce that the FABULOUS! catalogue was awarded Best of Show at the 2012 Print Excellence Awards. The catalogue was printed by Clear Image Printing, who went above and beyond in their execution of the catalogue. Clear Image worked closely with exhibition co-curators Kevin Jones and Christina Johnson, and FIDM Publications staff to ensure that the FABULOUS! catalogue would be much more than a simple document of the exhibition.

Sponsored by the Printing Industries Association of Southern California, the annual Print Excellence Awards celebrate excellence in print media. To win Best of Show in this judged competition, entries must be outstanding, flawless and receive the highest overall score from the award judges. According to the judges of the Print Excellence Awards, the catalogue "demonstrated a printing company's ability to transform paper into a beautiful piece of visual communication. First, the printed dust jacket, then printed cloth cover, and finally page after page of wonderfully executed renditions of photography and text. Incorporate a variety of fold-out [pages] and you have a piece that earned Best of Show." 

Written to accompany our 2011 FABULOUS! exhibition, the catalogue presents a selection of recent FIDM Museum acquisitions as a 200-year overview of fashionable dress, including women's, men's, and children's attire. The FABULOUS! catalogue includes full-color images, introductory essays by exhibition co-curators Kevin Jones and Christina Johnson, and a timeline that contextualizes developments in fashionable dress. The catalogue features the array of garments and accessories that were on display in FABULOUS!, along with bonus images of objects not included in the exhibition.

Eager to get your own copy of the FABULOUS! catalogue? We still have a few available in the FIDM Museum Shop.

 

Fred Astaire's dancing shoes

 

Tap Shoes
Worn by Fred Astaire, c. 1930s
Suede, leather & metal taps
Department of Recreation and Parks, City of Los Angeles/FIDM Museum
L88.1.125AB

By the time he first appeared in a Hollywood film in 1933, Fred Astaire was already an experienced and popular performer. Born in Omaha, Nebraska in 1899, Astaire first encountered dance classes as a toddler, when his older sister Adele was enrolled in ballet classes. Their parents believed that Adele might be talented enough for a performance career, so when the children were only 5 and 7, the family moved to New York. The family (still using their original name Austerlitz) had no connections in New York, very little money, and the name of a dance academy recommended by Adele's Omaha dance teacher. Whether by design or happenstance, once the Astaire family settled in New York, Fred and Adele were both enrolled in dance classes. Fred and Adele's teacher felt that the children had some talent, and developed a brother-sister act for the siblings. Changing their last name from Austerlitz to Astaire, the siblings began performing a comedic dance act on the vaudeville circuit.

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.