Amanda in Vermont sent me a fantastic Vanity Fair from 1979 because it has a wonderful history of Fortuny. It also has an article on the “new” collecting area of clothing.
From the article:
“Right now we’re low-keying the fifties, ” said Julie Collier of Christies. “Chanel and Charles James will always do well, but people aren’t ready for the others yet.
The twenties and thirties are the most popular. People also like the forties because they’re what’s being worn right now, only they were better made then.You’ve got to get about 20 years away. It’s like Swedish blond wood furniture. Nobody wants it now. In about 20 years they will. With time you gain perspective, the things begin to look good.
The circle skirts of the fifties are already collectible, as is the stiff, angular, sculptured clothing of Charles James. People like anything that looks ‘of the period,’ the farther out the better. It’s like almost anything else now. Suddenly, in the past 10 years, whether it’s Art Deco furniture or old movies on TV, people are interested in everything old.”
“Antique dealers still don’t take old clothing collecting seriously, and while museums take it so seriously, the look askance at people who were them – we had to have the models wear tee shirts underneath when we showed the clothes before the Chanel sale. Collecting’s a trend, not a fad. Having discovered old designers, people won’t forget them. Everyone knows Fortuny, the classicism of his designs.
“Prices are going to keep going up. A lot of old clothes haven’t reached their true value yet. The embroidery, the lace – you used to be able to buy for five dollars what it took hours to make. Prices will become more closely related to the workmanship, more in tune with what you have to pay now. Many dealers are out there now buying on spectulation. They’ll make a lot of money when prices level out.
“Buying old clothes is still a good value for private people. If you went out today to buy one of the designers like Chanel – the way the seams are finished, the handwork on them – you’d pay a lot more. For relatively little money , compared to recent designer things, you can buy something wonderful. The private collector can come out on top , too, when he or she finds a designer costume with the label missing because serious collectors won’t buy unless the clothes have labels.”
Is it art or is it nostalgia? Is it a craze or is it a trend? The views differ. Is buying a 1947 Dior New Look – wasp-waisted, boned, flare-skirted – part of a fad that, once faded like old taffeta will leave its purchasers with an arsenal of moth repellents and closets full of disintegrating velvets for which the price was too high? Should Beenes be saved at the end of the season, Kenzo, Karl Lagerfeld, St. Laurent, surely Gres; should you be haunting sales hoping to encounter a Charles James which, like his white satin jacket praised by Dali, was bought for $6000 by the V&A? Should you get a march on the fifties with Norell, Galanos, Trigere?
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