Today’s photo comes to us from 1935. I’ve posted it before, some years ago, but it illustrates so well what I’ve been spending so much of my time on lately. If you think I’ve not been posting here as often as I once did then, you would be correct. I’ve been up to my neck in old magazines and books, looking for accounts of women wearing pants in the years before 1935. I’ll be sharing my findings, along with other great things I found along the way as posting here gets back to a more normal schedule.
And now for the news…
- There is an interesting article at time.com about the history of casualness in American clothing. The author mentions that a resurgence in bike riding in the late 1920s brought about the wearing of culottes, which led to shorts. It’s an interesting concept, and one that I’ve never before encountered. More research is needed in this area.
- The Museum at FIT has a new state-of-the-art storage facility. I’m jealous.
- Here’s a great article that reminds us that saying a certain designer “invented” a garment is probably not entirely true.
- After PETA exposed inhumane practices at a sheep farm in Argentina, high end designer Stella McCartney and outdoor clothing maker Patagonia have cut their ties with the supplier.
- Hats off to Lydia Baird and Willa Tsokanis, two FIT students who decided to do something about all the textile waste generated by the school.
- Textile conservation is hard work.
- Not as remembered today as much as her protégée Diana Vreeland, in her day Carmel Snow was the Anna Wintour of fashion publishing.
- The reason that you may not be able to immediately tell whether a garment is new or vintage may be because there is little difference.
- “If the problem is awareness, let’s all sign a social contract saying we will use our smartphones and apps to change the way the world sees people.” That is only one of the very smart things in an article I almost did not read. Hopefully you will be able to get past the photo of a naked Kim K. and look for the wisdom in the article.
The Vintage Traveler 
That story about Morphew is fascinating. They have an Etsy shop (pretty well-stocked, too, though the article makes it sounds like purchase is only by appointment) and I recently posted one of their 1960s dresses to my Tumblr account. I think most vintage sellers have (knowingly or not) sold items to people in the fashion industry who are copying designs or prints.
I guess designers are just like filmmakers in their love of recycling old things.
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I’ve sold many pieces of vintage fabric to fashion designers and fabric designers, big and small. Some copy the originals almost exactly. I think its great, but I do smile when I see it released as ‘the latest new thing’.
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I’m a big fan of Carmel Snow, so it is nice she is getting more press lately. And I love the photo, especially the button detail on the right.
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Thank you for the Carmel Snow story…Avedon is /was correct “Stars” were not permitted-you were either talented or not- more over you were rewarded and acknowledged for your work and expertise . There were no short cuts and the Anne Baxter roles (All About Eve ) types were shown the door -not handed titles they did not deserve. Much less – after “receiving ” the title -undermining and “Getting Even” ! and publicly erasing their predecessor. It has been quite a show- only this story is yet to be acknowledged.
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Love that picture! It reminds me of a picture of my grandma wearing jodphurs in the thirties.
If I remember right, The Way We Wore has a room absolutely jam packed with fabric, trim, etc., that designers can use as inspiration. And they’ve been around a lot longer than Morphew.
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