Vintage Miscellany – July 28, 2019

It was 1935, and despite this peaceful scene overlooking Florence, there was something rotten in Italy.  But that does not seem to have affected Wally’s (second from right) “happy and educational” visit.

And now for some more current events…

•   Can it be true? The 2020 spring exhibition of the Met’s Costume Institute is to be based on the Met’s own collection. I’m imagining a sort of greatest hits show featuring much of what has already been seen in recent years, but one can hope for some rarely seen treasures.
•   And there will be an exhibition this fall showing off the collection of Sandy Schreier, which has been donated to the Met.
•    Of all the sports women have participated in over the years, tennis seems to be the most fashion forward.
•    This article about Red Wing boots shows just how hard it is to re-shore manufacturing.
•    Playtex, maker of spacesuits
•    A new book highlights the story of the destruction of the largely Jewish fashion industry of Berlin in the 1930s.
•    How can a a pair of 1972 Nike shoes be worth $437,500?
•    And will Babe Ruth’s uniform top them in price?
•    Fashion historian Kate Strasdin has written a great post about the usefulness of social media in historical research.
•    Museum workers are unionizing to help secure better pay.  Just because a person works for a non-profit does not mean that they should be asked to work for sub-standard pay.
• 
  Here’s Wally again, this time in Pisa with her Italian hostesses, the “cultured & aristocratic Guisti girls”. I love how all the hats are tilted at the same angle.

Vintage Miscellany – July 7, 2019

Today’s photo comes from a small group I have that shows a circa 1915 family at a lake-side cottage. I bet they had fish for dinner that evening.

And there’s a bit of news:

• •   I’ve already written about the Nike shoe situation, but I do want to report that it was a major discussion at the July 4th party I attended.
  •    You can own Princess Diana’s sweatshirt, but hurry, the auction is this week.
  •    In less than a week Kim Kardashian announced that her new shape wear line would be called Kimino, there was a huge outcry, and she announced that she’d be choosing another name.
  •    Ravelry, a site for yarn crafters, has banned posts and projects that support the President.
  •    “It’s time for Colonial Williamsburg to get serious again.”
  •   Lottie Barton “clothed Baltimore’s affluent women and dressed two presidents’ wives, Frances Cleveland and Caroline Harrison.” Learn about her.
  •  I think it’s about time for me to do another post about cultural appropriation, putting it into historical context.
  •  One of my favorite podcasts, Ben Franklin’s World, has a new episode called “Shoe Stories from Early America”.
  •   Zack has never wanted to dress normally, and we should all be glad.
  •    Converse is rethinking the Chuck Taylor shoe.
  •    One of the best cotton mill villages is now on the National Register of Historic Places.
  •    Here are some fabulous vintage and antique photos of women fishing. Thanks to Julie Z. for the link.

Vintage Miscellany – June 23, 2019

The woman in the photo above presents a bit of a clothing mystery. She’s wearing a mid 1930s bathing suit under a pair of slacks, with a neat rope tied at the waist. It would be several years in the future before a woman appearing on the street wearing pants would be accepted, not to mention that bare top. Yet there she is, lounging on the steps of a substantial building, as if it were the most natural thing ever.

And now for some news…

•   I’ve written much about how modern designers are often influenced by artworks. The latest exhibition of Manolo Blahnik shoes pairs shoes with eighteenth century art.
•   We’ve come to expect non-traditional fashion choices from the Trumps.
•   And on to another First Lady, Martha Washington’s 1760s bathing gown exists.
•   If you are confused as to why the CFDA awarded the Barbie doll an award, join the club.
•   Why was the thought of women in the nineteenth century wearing pants such a big deal?
•    Not surprisingly,there is debate over Nike’s larger size mannequins.
•   Babe Ruth’s 1920s baseball jersey sold for $5,640,000.
•   Much of the estate of designer Oleg Cassini will be sold at auction on June 27.
•    Fast fashion is alive and well, and here’s the $1.26 bikini that proves it.
•   Designer jeans creator Gloria Vanderbilt has died at age 95.  A former student of mine is a flight attendant and frequently has Anderson Cooper on his flights. Cooper asked where Mark was from, and when he told him Western North Carolina, Cooper said that as a child his mother spent a lot of time at a family home near Asheville and had great memories of the place. It only later dawned on Mark that Cooper’s mother was Gloria Vanderbilt, and the family home was the Biltmore House.
•   The Fashion Museum of Bath has lost their lease, and it’s possible the artifacts might go into storage until a suitable new site for the museum is located.

Vintage Miscellany – May 13, 2019

This photo was added to my collection for a couple of reasons. First, the poster in the background is for the Colonial Theater, which was the name of the one theater in my hometown. Not that I think this was taken in Canton, NC, but the girl on the right sure looks a lot like my high school classmate Deborah.

The best reason for owning this photograph is because of the sweater “Deborah” is wearing. If I can’t have the sweater, at least I can have the photo of it.

And now for some news…

• •  Recycled tee shirts should soon be a reality.
  •   Here’s another reason to buy only vintage cashmere.
  •   The Western shirt just keeps on going.
  •   There is a Fashion Transparency Index. See how your favorite brands fit in.
  •   Meet five French millennials who hand-stitch couture.
  •   What is the value of a clothing collection?
  •    “Nike is taking tangible steps to grow women’s basketball.“
  •   Is it time for a Laura Ashley revival?
  •   I wish I could be as brave as Dolly Shepherd.
  •   “Holy shit, that is some old-timey racism.”
  • And finally, it’s that time again – the Met Gala and the new “blockbuster” fashion exhibition of the Met’s Costume Institute. This year’s theme is Camp, which I was all excited about until I realized the show is not being sponsored by LL Bean.  All kidding aside, I thought this was an exceptionally hard theme, especially since most attendees of the Gala are interested only in looking good.  From what I saw, the idea of camp was just not fully recognized on the red carpet. Some have argued that the same is true of the exhibition.
  • I’m pretty sure I’ll not make it to New York this summer. I try to save trips into the city for when there are exhibitions that really interest me. From what I have heard from attendees of Camp, it is structured a lot like the (hated by me) Punk exhibition of several years ago.  That is, there’s a bit of historical dress at the beginning just so a few iconic pieces (Poiret lampshade dress, anybody) can be trotted out before the onslaught of clothing made within the past ten years, some of which is still hanging on the racks at Saks. And to whoever first thought of stacking exhibits in tiers, a pox on you! Can you imagine putting the Monets and Cezannes and Leonardos ten feet above eye level? If fashion is art, then treat it as such.

Vintage Miscellany – April 20, 2019

The 1910s and early 1920s were an awkward time for women’s bathing suits. They were getting smaller, and the proportions often just look off. But here’s a young woman who looks great on the beach with her stripe-trimmed bathing suit and jaunty hat. I like to think that the stripes are red and white.

And now for the news…

•  Project Runway stirred up a bit of a kerfuffle by the use of the term “old lady” in reference to out-of-date or dowdy clothes.
•   I’m pretty sure I’ve posted this before, but if you are in need of reading material, The Journal of Dress History is available free online.
•   There is now an Instagram account that tells us how much celebrity preachers pay for their sneakers. I love the internet.
•   Please, no more Coco Chanel picture books!
•   Is the oft repeated “fact” about the fashion industry being the second largest polluting industry actually true?
•    “A metal detectorist has unearthed a gold hat pin that may have links to King Edward IV.”
•   “If you are going to try and replicate a certain aesthetic that belongs to an indigenous culture, bring these groups into your supply chain and create sustainable jobs.”
•   Follow The Threads, which opened at Glasgow’s Lighthouse Museum is a textile lover’s dream.
•   Want to see some old sweaters?
•   With the burning of the National Museum of Brazil and Notre Dame, and the closures of several important museums, it is past time to be concerned about the protection of artifacts.
•   There is a link between fashion and vaccinations.

 

Vintage Miscellany – March 31, 2019

As a girl going to school in the 1960s and 70s, and later as a public school teacher, I’ve experienced both sides of the dress code debate.  In 1971 a lawsuit against my school system forced it to amend the code to allow facial hair for males and pants for females. Even then there were rules. We could only wear pants that were part of a matching set, with a tunic top or vest that came down to the hips.

By the next year we figured out that the new rules were not going to be enforced. By my senior year in 1973, we were wearing the forbidden jeans. I can remember the first day I wore jeans to class. I spent the entire day worried that I’d be sent home to change. My mother had even tried to talk me into taking a change of clothes with me to school.

But the day passed uneventfully, and before long all the girls were wearing pretty much what we wanted. I’m sure that the school officials figured out pretty quickly that a pair of jeans was preferable to the extremely short skirts of the day.

•  Maybe that’s why the insistence of a charter school in North Carolina that pants on girls is somehow counter to the “traditional values” of the school seems so puzzling. The ACLU sued the school on behalf of three girls, and last week a court ruled that the rule was a violation of the Constitution’s equal protection provision.  Evidently the school’s administration thought they could take state tax money as a charter, but still pass rules based on their religious beliefs.
•  In other dress code news, we go to British Columbia, where a dress code for the Legislative Assembly written  in 1980 is being used to tell women not to bare their arms. A bare armed protest was staged the next day.
•   The National Portrait Gallery in Washington, DC, has a new exhibition, Votes for Women: A Portrait of Persistence , which can be seen until January, 2020. included in older displays.
•   Marks & Spencer has developed a played based on the history of the store, using clothing from their archive and replicas.
•    The popularity of period dramas on TV and in film has created work for historical consultants.
•    There are quilts, and then there are quilts.
•    How one museum is reconsidering the out-dated notions included in older displays.
•    What happened when the Soviet government in the 1920s considered a post-revolutionary fashion for women. 
•    Here’s the fascinating story of Eliza Hamilton, and how her clothing style “froze” when her husband Alexander was killed.

Vintage Miscellany – March 17, 2019

That’s Ma in the middle, surrounded by Hella, Ruza, and Nebbs. The date wasn’t recorded, but I’d say right around 1940. Ma has decided that she is going for comfort over fashion, though I’d love to know the color of her dress. Hella is wearing the ubiquitous blue overalls of the era, so great for gardening and outdoors work of all kinds. Sporty Ruza has earned a letter for her sweater paired with a fantastic pair of nautical inspired trousers. And little Nebbs is attired in what was almost a uniform for little boys, a sailor suit.

The young women’s clothes are currently having a bit of popularity, with the overalls in particular being a hot item. I have been lucky to have found two pairs in the past, which is especially good because today I’d have to pay a small fortune for a pair.  If you love the look, a pattern is available from Decades of Style.

Lots of news this week:

•   Does digital overload have a connection to the current popularity of fashion exhibitions?
•    “I want people to understand that you don’t have to understand or even agree with other people’s authenticity or truths, but we must all respect each other.” Billy Porter on his Oscar ensemble.
•  Yes, women did climb mountains in long skirts.
•  And, yes, they are still doing it.
•  Fashion forensics is a real thing.
•   A new Edx course by Laurel Thatcher Ulrich is coming up in May. Women Making History: Ten Objects, Many Stories.
•    Twitter helped save thirty tons of buttons from going to the garbage dump.
•    What can museums do when they have too much stuff?
•   The thrift store is not an option for museums, but they are reaping the fruits of all the Marie Kondoing in private residences.
•    I’m glad I’m not the only person who thinks all hipsters look alike.
•    In  praise of museum seating.
•    Cycling in the City: A 200–Year History, is on view at the Museum of the City of New York through October 6, 2019.