Vintage Miscellany, July, 2020

Well, the miscellany is back, thanks to several of you who have been regularly feeding great links to me. I hope to be able to share links once a month, so if you run across any good fashion or textile news, please pass then on to me.

The pandemic has made me so grateful for the internet. Many groups and museums and fashion historians have really stepped up with online content. My favorites have been live programming, such as conversations between historians and museum personnel. I’ll be sharing a few of these.

Between times, my long range project list has really dwindled. Most importantly, I have almost finished repairing and quilting a pieced quilt top my Grandma Lizzie made in the early 1940s. There’s a story that I’ll be sharing when I get it finished.

And now, the news…

* The National Arts Club in New York has been an excellent resource for live programming. They add events on a regular basis, and many are about fashion.  After they air, the programs are put on their YouTube channel. Here’s a recent conversation with an actress who portrays Hollywood designer Edith Head.

*   Just how is the pandemic changing fashion?

*   The Barbara Brackman blog is always interesting. Read this post on polka dots.

*  Brooks Brothers is the latest retail establishment to file for bankruptcy.

*   Another group that has had some excellent online content on fashion and cultural history is Jane Austen & Co. They recently hosted a presentation by Hilary Davidson on dressing in Austen’s time. The next presentation is about crafting in Austen’s time.

*  The excellent BBC series, A Stitch in Time with fashion historial Amber Butchart is now showing on Amazon Prime.

*   There is a new and improved Fashion and Race Database.

*   The one-day Willi Smith exhibition lives on in digital form.

*  The Georgia O’Keeffe Museum posted an online presentation,  The American Look: Georgia O’Keeffe and the Fashion of Her Time.

*  “The Gwillim Project Online, which centres around the unpublished correspondence and artwork of two sisters who lived in Madras at the beginning of the nineteenth century…” presented a program on the sisters’ correspondence concerning textiles and clothing.

* Finally, wear a mask.

 

Vintage Miscellany – May 27, 2020

I hope that this finds all of you well. I hope that if you do go to the beach, that you are like the two women above. Keep your family to yourselves, and no one gets hurt.

I have been writing these Vintage Miscellany posts since June, 2010. That’s almost ten years, but in internet years it’s many, many more.  I know I’ve posted in the past that I get most of the links from Twitter. Twitter has always been a great place for gathering information, but unfortunately, it is now a place where the most vile falsehoods are being allowed to be posted by those in power. So until Twitter does something about the crazed posting by the president of the USA, I’ll no longer be using the platform.

Unfortunately, that means I will have to really cut back on posting links to fashion history and fashion issues articles. I do hope to do posts on fashion exhibitions and events once the world returns to some sort of normality. I’m not holding my breath.

So, here’s the last Vintage Miscellany as we have known it until the world is once again made safe for Twitter.

•  As they reopen, museums are getting creative in their solutions to separating large groups of people.
•  I don’t understand the appeal of collecting sneakers/trainers, so here’s a BBC video that helps explain the phenomenon.
•   Here’s a great listen about the first woman to receive a US patent.
•   CNN drops a bombshell: The world is paying a high price for cheap clothes.  Makes one wonder where they have been for the past fifteen or so years.
•   Here’s a look at the amazing Apocalypse Tapestry.
•   “Can you curate a fashion exhibition from home?“
•   Historian Alison Matthews David talked about our clothing and disease.

Vintage Miscellany – April 14, 2020

I hope all of you are experiencing beautiful roller skating weather. I also hope that you are in a place where you can safely enjoy the weather. And most of all I hope you are in a place where people and your government are taking this crisis seriously.

•  I follow a lot of museums and historic sites on Instagram, and they are all working hard to keep people engaged with their sites. I suspect that it’s a bit much, but if you need more stimulation, here’s a page that collects links to some of the online resources.
•   If that doesn’t keep you busy, here’s another group from the Costume Society.
•   Or just go straight to the Met.
•   The State Archives of North Carolina is looking for volunteer transcribers of historic documents.
•  For fans of Tim Gunn and Heidi Klum, there new series, Making the Cut, is now showing on Amazon Prime. It is similar to Project Runway, but because it’s on Amazon, all the annoying product endorsements are missing. Except the Amazon plugs, of course.
•   The Journal of Dress History is online and free to read.
•   A British couple is taking their daily walk wearing historic costume.
•   Led by Christian Siriano, many fashion businesses are busy making masks.
•   And finally, here is a fascinating look at junk history memes, and how the truth is so much more interesting than fake history.

Vintage Miscellany – March 18, 2020

Let’s all take a break from the virus news, why don’t we? You can take a long hike, or sit there and read some news from the fashion, art,  and textile history world.

•  Is this the Jane Austin’s sampler?
•  I’m amazed by the abundance of orphaned photos I run across. Han Cao is transforming them.
•  What happens when museums and historical societies are strapped for cash?
•   The company formed by Laura Ashley is in deep trouble.
•  Sweaters are always in style on Fair Isle.
•  Make your handbag special by adding a bit of a historic document.
•  The Smithsonian has given millions of their photographs open access.
•  Holocaust survivor’s dress sewn from scavenged Nazi fabric is part of a new War Memorial display.
•  Read about Fay Fuller, the first woman to reach the summit of Mount Rainier, in 1890.
•  Here’s a peek at the Levis archive.
•  I know virtual museum visits are not as satisfying as the real thing, but when there is no other alternative, why not spend some time “exploring” the world’s treasures from the comfort of your own home?

Vintage Miscellany – February 11, 2020

My new favorite thing is a photo album I recently acquired. I only buy entire albums when they tell a story. This one tells the tale of friends on a fishing vacation in the mid 1920s.  It shows these women wearing some of the best 1920s bathing suits I have ever seen, along with some treasures like the plane ride photo above.

And now for some news…

•  The Guardian gives us a brief lesson in mending.
•   Much has been written about the conditions under which our clothing is made, so why are people still so unaware of the situation?
•    It might be time to stock up on cashmere.
•    Betsey Johnson will be telling all, I hope.
•    Just how important was fabric to human development?
•    I have a feeling that I could tear out all the walls of my house and not find a Klimt. 
•    I wouldn’t find Queen Victoria’s clothing in any of my cabinets either.
•    Canada Goose has turned to the source for the designs of a line of parkas.
•    The US National Archives was guilty of fake display.
•    Sometimes the wild stories told about an old dress turn out to be true.
•    “Is Social Media Good for History?”
•    And to end, here’s some beach art that is pure joy.

Vintage Miscellany – January 6, 2020

Undated, but from the 1940s, based on slacks, shoes and hair. Little dogs pretty much look the same.

And now some news that won’t make you scream and pull out your hair…

•  There are dangers lurking in museum storage.
•   Most objects look better when covered in needlepoint.
•   With so many museums showing only a small percentage of their holdings, many are turning to open storage.
•   I am having a hard time visualizing $470 million in fake Nike shoes.
•   It appears to be a good time to be looking for a fashion or textile curating job.  Missouri Historical Society and Museum of Fine Arts, Boston and the Charleston Museum.
•   You can now view the Historic Williamsburg clothing collection online.
•   Fashion students at colleges that have a historic clothing collection have an edge.
•   1960s fashion designer Emanuel Ungaro has died.
•    Here’s a nice collection of antique roller skating ephemera.
•   Going on a cruise? Leave that evening gown at home.

Vintage Miscellany – December 8, 2019

I collect photographs for several reasons. I love how you can glimpse into the past to see how people actually dressed, and sometimes a photo helps me assemble an ensemble of clothing and accessories. I also look for photos that help date and document items in my collection.

Between looking for old photos, I managed to read some interesting news.

•  Items from the estate of Doris Day, including clothing and costumes, will be sold at auction in April, 2020.
•  Feel free to copy this idea of an anonymous knitter in Asheville.
•  And in related news, knitting and crafting help in times of crisis.
•  Terry de Havilland, “Rock and Roll Cobbler” has died.
•   My posting about the button industry in Muscatine, Iowa, led to Liza forwarding this article to me.
•   Clothing collector Sandy Schreier’s exhibition has opened at the Costume Institute.
•   Will the exhibition of  Sandy Schreier’s collection of fashion lead to more demand (and higher prices) in the vintage fashion trade?
•   A model for clothing line Nelly Don turned out to be quite the collector.
•   What can we learn from sewing clothing from the past?
•   And here’s an article sent to me by Nann. You will love seeing this historical embroidery.