5 Days of Dresses: Day 5

Hat, 1940-45. Olive green velvet; gold upholstery cord trim; gold painted rooster-foot ornament.

I know it's not a dress but I couldn't resist featuring this hat as my final post on the Brooklyn Museum exhibit. It's a replica of the John P. John-designed hat for Vivien Leigh as Scarlett O'Hara in 1939's Gone with the Wind. You all remember the scene where she wore this hat, don't you? Scarlett is going to visit Rhett in jail and wants to look as rich and foxy as he remembered her so she makes a dress and hat for herself to wear using the green velvet drapes from her beloved home, Tara.

Apparently some crafty hat wholesaler negotiated the rights to reproduce Gone with the Wind hat styles like this one (I love the rooster feet, hilarious!), under the name John Frederics, Inc. I'm trying to imagine American women of the WWII-era running around in this Civil War-era Scarlett O'Hara knockoff but I just can't see it.

I couldn't find a picture of Scarlett in the original hat so I'm using a picture of another great scene, where Rhett comes to propose marriage to Scarlett, who is faking sadness over the recent death of her husband Frank Kennedy, a man she stole from her sister Suellen and married strictly for his money. I watched Gone with the Wind so many times when I was a teenager I have a whole portion of my brain devoted to the dialogue and I used to listen to the soundtrack for fun!

Fiddle dee dee.

Hat from American High Style: Fashioning a National Collection at Brooklyn Museum until August 1, 2010.

www.brooklynmuseum.org

5 Days of Dresses: Day 4

Charles James, "Butterfly" Ball Gown, 1955. Smoke gray silk chiffon; pale gray silk satin; aubergine, lavender and oyster white tulle.

Another Charles James stunner. It needs to be seen from different angles to get the full impact.

The dress weighs eighteen pounds (it's a gown and a workout! I love multitasking fashion!) and has twenty-five yards of tulle.

From American High Style: Fashioning a National Collection, at Brooklyn Museum until August 1, 2010.

www.brooklynmuseum.org

5 Days of Dresses: Day 3

Gabrielle Chanel, Cocktail Dress, circa 1965. Black silk chiffon; wide black satin ribbon; black silk crepe de chine; black lace.

Because I have bad lust for almost all things Chanel, I can't help featuring this flirty dress from 1965. It seems like with the right shoe (something edgy to undercut all those ruffles, perhaps?), you could wear it today.

From American High Style: Fashioning a National Collection, at Brooklyn Museum until August 1, 2010.

www.brooklynmuseum.org

5 Days of Dresses: Day 2

Charles James, "Diamond" Evening Dress, 1957. Ivory silk satin; beige faille; black silk velvet.

I love this dress the more I see it. First of all, I think I'd look great in it. Second, it reminds me of something I might see Betty Draper in on Mad Men. She'd look great in it too.

From American High Style: Fashioning a National Collection, on view at Brooklyn Museum until August 1, 2010.

www.brooklynmuseum.org

5 Days of Dresses: Day 1

Charles Frederick Worth, Evening Dress, 1862-65. Lavender silk taffeta; white silk satin and tulle; black velvet ribbon.

The House of Worth was the first maison de la couture and is famous in fashion history.

From Jan Glier Reeder's book High Style: Masterworks from the Brooklyn Museum Costume Collection at The Metropolitan Museum of Art:

"Charles Frederick Worth (1825-1895), was a charismatic and artistically gifted Englishman, who moved to Paris early in his career. Using his astute business sense, he capitalized on mid-nineteenth-century technological innovations such as the transatlantic steamship and the sewing machine. He was a primary force in transforming the French fashion system from a series of independent dressmaking shops into a major international industry."

Dress from the Brooklyn Museum's American High Style: Fashioning a National Collection, one of many fine Worth dresses on display until August 1, 2010.

www.brooklynmuseum.org

Paging Rachel Zoe

Every time I see this crazy Halston tie-die caftan, made of silk chiffon and circa 1975, I think of the celebrity stylist Rachel Zoe who gushes about Halston in her book Style A to Zoe--The Art of Fashion, Beauty & Everything Glamour:

"Halston is the patron saint of glamour. First as a milliner, the Iowa-born designer created the pillbox hats that crowned First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy. But he streamlined his designs (and his personal style) into a well-tailored, simple, sleek, and utterly glamorous aesthetic that defined the 1970s--and modern fashion forever after. He's Studio 54. He's sexy chic. He's American Style."

Rachel always goes for that bohemian look so I can see her wearing this caftan with big earrings and chunky wedge sandals. Here she is at the recent Costume Institute Gala at the Met.

Halston piece from the exhibit American High Style: Fashioning a National Collection at Brooklyn Museum. Photo credit: my mom.

American High Style: Part 2

In this post I want to share a little of the history of Brooklyn Museum's costume collection and show you a favorite dress of Jan Glier Reeder, curator of the exhibit and author of the catalogue High Style: Masterworks from the Brooklyn Museum Costume Collection at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

I've learned from reading Ms. Reeder's book that the collection spans from the 17th to the 20th centuries and that the Edward C. Blum Design Lab, founded in 1948 to serve the design community, greatly influenced the development of the collection. Before then, Brooklyn Museum had two previous incarnations of the lab that allowed "a link between the art world and the industrial and design communities by giving access to the collection for study and inspiration." The first was the Textile Study Room, opened in 1918, the second was The Industrial Division, established in 1939. By the time of the Design Lab's opening in 1948, Brooklyn Museum had become known as an important center of fashion research, teaching and display and, Ms. Reeder writes, gifts to the museum's costume collection "poured in for the next twenty years."

One of the highlights of the American High Style exhibit is the Charles James section, with thirteen works on display, along with some of his sketches for dresses. James's relationship with the museum began in 1944 and Ms. Reeder told me that the designer himself is largely responsible for the museum's unparalleled holdings of his work. "He wanted clothing and related materials available for study," said Ms. Reeder, and James convinced clients and benefactors such as Austine Hearst, Millicent Rogers and Dominique de Menil to donate or purchase his designs for the collection.

Ms. Reeder pointed out his "Four Leaf Clover" ball gown, circa 1953, as a standout in the show. Because James thought of himself as a sculptor, engineer and architect, "he considered it his greatest accomplishment," Ms. Reeder said.

The white and black original, made of Ivory duchesse silk satin, ivory silk faille and black velvet, was for Austine Hearst to wear to Eisenhower's Inaugural Ball in January 1953. Since the dress was not ready in time, she wore it instead to the June coronation of Queen Elizabeth II. The dress on view at Brooklyn Museum is a copy of the original and stunning in its own right. In fact, I think I like it better than the original!

The skirt, by the way, weighs fifteen pounds.

On view until August 1, 2010

www.brooklynmuseum.org

We Are Not Amused

I will return to more complete coverage of the Brooklyn Museum fashion exhibit in the next post, but I couldn't resist putting up a picture (taken by my mom) of this 1894 dress that belonged to Queen Victoria and is featured in the show. She wore mourning black for thirty-three years after the 1861 death of her husband Prince Albert and this particular dress she wore for the christening of her great-grandson Prince Edward Albert of York, later King Edward VIII, who abdicated his throne to marry Wallis Simpson. When I saw this dress at the Press Preview I could not get over how tiny Queen Victoria was, she couldn't have been even five feet tall. The next day, when the exhibit was open to the public, I heard a museum-goer say to her friend upon seeing the queen's dress, "She was so dumpy!" Then she held up the infant she carried in her arms and showed the baby the dress too, saying, "See that? That is dumpy!"

Ouch.

Ah Brooklyn, where people are not afraid to say what they think of you, even if you are the Queen of England.

American High Style: Part 1

Brooklyn Museum opened an exhibit celebrating their renowned costume collection called American High Style: Fashioning a National Collection, on view May 7 until August 1, 2010. It's a sister exhibit to this year's Costume Institute's show, American Woman: Fashioning a National Identity, on display at the Metropolitan Museum of Art from May 5 through August 15, 2010. The Brooklyn exhibition is a celebration of both their 23,500 objects, acquired over a hundred years of collecting and the partnership they've entered into with the Met to share the collection, while also having it remain available to the Brooklyn Museum for exhibition.

The Brooklyn exhibition includes 85 masterworks from the mid-19th century to the late 20th century, along with accessories and sketches, and includes works by Charles James, Charles Frederick Worth, Elsa Schiaparelli, Claire McCardell, Bonnie Cashin, Norman Norell, Elizabeth Hawes, the milliner Sally Victor, as well as pieces by Dior, Chanel, Balenciaga, Lanvin and Halston.

Before the collection was transferred to the Met in January 2009, it was the subject of an intensive three-year assessment and photographic documentation, led by Jan Glier Reeder, the curator of the exhibit, along with ten team members. Ms. Reeder is also the author of the catalogue High Style: Masterworks from the Brooklyn Museum Costume Collection at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, which is broader in scope than both exhibits, a gorgeous book filled with color photographs and the history of the museum's costume collection.

I got to attend the Press Preview on Thursday, which was so fun and a great break from my stay-at-home mom routine. I also got to interview Ms. Reeder, who told me for this exhibit she narrowed the 23,500 objects in the collection down to 4,000 and from there pared it down to the 236 total objects on display, playing up the strengths of the collection while sharing the story of how the Brooklyn Museum came to be in possession of one of the finest costume collections in the world.

Come back to see me in a day or two because I am going to share this story with you and show you individual pieces from the exhibit, some my favorites, some pointed out to me as particularly noteworthy by Ms. Reeder.

Also, for anyone who wants my company at this exhibit, pick a date and let's go. I could see it at regular intervals all summer long.

While I work on the next post here is a picture from the opening of the exhibit, featuring works by Charles James (the red), Norman Norell (the gold) and Charles Frederick Worth (the striped).

Brooklyn Museum
200 Eastern Parkway
Brooklyn NY 11238
718-638-5000
www.brooklynmuseum.org

Hours: Wednesday-Friday, 10am to 5pm
1st Saturday of each month, 11am to 11pm
All other Saturdays, 11am to 6pm
Sunday 11am to 6pm

Admission: Contribution, $10
Students and Seniors 62+, with ID, $6
Children under 12, free

Strollers are permitted in this exhibit, as long as space permits

Fashion Walk of Fame: Charles James

Here is the plaque about Charles James, who I knew nothing about until recently when I started seeing his name pop up in various magazines as inspiration for young designers like Jason Wu, who designed Michelle Obama's Inaugural gown.

His plaque reads:

This Anglo-American couturier is widely regarded as one of the greatest fashion designers in history. Having begun his career as a milliner in the 1920s, James later incorporated the sculptural techniques of hat making into his dress designs. His juxtaposition of opulent fabrics and unparalleled color combinations was enhanced by his inimitable and complex constructions. James' engineered garments came as close to works of art as anything ever made in the realm of fashion.

Brooklyn Museum has a large collection of Charles James' dresses, some of which will be on display in the new exhibit American High Style: Fashioning a National Collection, opening May 7 until August 1, 2010, so check back for more information and details, and, hopefully, pictures. In the meantime, here is a dress called "The Sirene" I found in the book Charles James, by Richard Martin, who says:

"The most celebrated of all James's gowns is an exercise based on the wrapping of pliant materials around a rigid inner structure. The bust and the central part of the dress front are supported by an infrastructure, also draped so as to create the illusion of an unrestricted and fluid form."

All I can say is look at that draping, look at all those tiny stitches! With the nude color and the sexiness this dress seems very modern to me. I could picture Angelina Jolie wearing this on the red carpet, for instance, or Halle Berry. I don't think this dress will be in the Brooklyn Museum exhibit to see in its entirety, the book says it is owned by The Museum of Fashion Institute of Technology, gift of Doris Duke.