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The Fashion History Museum’s first fundraising event!

Join us for a fundraiser luncheon at 1 p.m. on Saturday, August 15th, 2009 at the Artisinale Café and Bistro at 37 Quebec Street, Guelph Ontario. Starting with a wine reception, a luncheon follows of local and seasonal cuisine prepared and served with French flair by Chef Yasser Qahawish. Tickets are $75.00 and a tax receipt will be issued for the balance after cost.

Following lunch is the opening of our exhibition Open Drawers, 2009: Highlights from the Fashion History Museum’s First Year of Acquisitions at the Guelph Civic Museum, 6 Dublin St. South (within walking distance of the restaurant.) The opening will be from 3 p.m. – 5 p.m. on August 15 and will remain on display daily from 1 – 5 p.m. until August 30. The display will range from a late 18th century dressing table from the Liberty’s of London family to fashions by Worth, Biba, Westwood and Versace. Jessica Biffi, the young Canadian designer who appeared on Project Runway Canada, will present one of the dresses made from her design for the Winners challenge on the show. Her dress will inaugurate the Fashion History Museum’s collection of contemporary Canadian clothing known as our History in the Making collection. Refreshments will be served and there is no charge for the opening, although donations will be gladly accepted.

If you would like to attend the opening we hope to see you there, and if you would like to attend the luncheon that precedes it, please contact as at either 519.267.2091 or 647.328.0017 or email us – we accept cheques, money orders, and if you are signed up with paypal we can send you an invoice. There are only 65 tickets still available so order early if you plan on coming, we expect to sell out.

Well maybe not MY generation (I was only 8 in 1969), but for the generation who didn’t trust anyone over 30 and who are now passing 60, the Waterloo Regional Children’s Museum currently has an exhibition entitled ‘Talkin’bout My Generation’. This exhibition explores the fashion, music and youth revolution of the 1960s, contrasting youth concerns of that era with youth concerns today. The Fashion History Museum was able to be a part of this review with a loan of ten garments that show a range of late 1960s styles from a Trudeaumania dress and Courreges shift to patchwork denim and a photoprint pantsuit depicting the crowd at the Woodstock concert.

There are plans by the Children’s museum to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the Woodstock concert on August 15 - The Fashion History Museum will be having its own celebration that day as well, with the first official fundraiser lunch and exhibition opening at the Guelph Civic Museum (but more about that coming soon, so stay tuned.) If you have a chance to visit Kitchener this summer do check out the Children’s museum exhibition - other than fab clothes there is also an amazing ‘Hippie’ art poster collection of emerging bands from the era, as well as photographs, concert ticket stubs, and other ephemera commemorating the late 1960s. The exhibition closes September 7.

Richard Tam dress, 1968 of gold and silver silk ribbon applique textile

Image from May 1968 advertisement for Richard Tam fashions at Sara Fredericks

While screen shopping today I found a dress on Couture Allure that was by Richard Tam. I knew the name sounded familiar and then I noticed an advert for Richard Tam in the listing and it was my dress! There is nothing better than finding a period illustration of a garment in the collection!

Richard Tam was only in business for seven years. His first couture collection for Spring 1965 was shown only months after the 24 year old designer graduated from Stanford University. He worked out of San Francisco counting that city’s social set as his client base, as well as celebrities like Ethel Kennedy, Dinah Shore, Dina Merrill, and Polly Bergen; he also sold his designs through stores like Bergdorf Goodman and Sara Fredericks. Tam closed up in 1972 and moved to Greece for several years before returning to San Francisco where he worked as an interior designer until his death in 1990.

It’s a wonderful dress and coat set. The woman who owned the version in the collection referred to it as her ‘cigarette paper’ dress but the dress is actually made of an appliqued lurex and gold silk blend organza ribbon.

Years ago we met Niagara Falls bed and breakfast inn operators David Tetrault and Doddy Sardjito. David is also an avid vintage clothing collector who has wanted to open a museum devoted to wedding attire - an appropriate choice considering Niagara Fall’s alternate name is ’Honeymoon Capital of the World.’ This summer an opportunity arose when a developer, wanting to revitalize what was once the commercial main street (in the days before malls and box stores drew businesses away from downtowns), worked with David and Doddy to open the Niagara Falls Wedding Museum. Yesterday we got the chance to take a quick tour of the gallery.

The Wedding Museum, Niagara Falls, Canada (click to enlarge)

In one corner there is a display of traditionally inspired Indonesian wedding garments, from Doddy’s home country; the rest of the gallery is devoted to a chronological display of fashionable wedding dresses and other items typically found in trousseaus, from the early 19th century to 1995. An Ossie Clark lavendar moss crepe 70s dress faces across the aisle to a Parisian labelled wedding gown from 1911 found in Argentina (David and Doddy used to work on cruise ships and picked up treasures at every port.)

The museum is entered through a storefront gift shop managed by the very friendly Janey, without doubt the museum’s number one fan! If you are in Niagara Falls and want to go, the Wedding Museum is on Queen Street near Victoria Avenue - a little out of the tourist area but not difficult to find and there are lots of choices for restaurants in the area, not overpriced like those in the tourist zone, so its worth the trip!

When I opened my computer this morning there was a quiz about the history of undies staring me in the face, so I took the challenge and scored 9/10. I would like to dispute my wrong answer with the writer of the quiz because I know I could prove myself right (its the 10th question about the weight of underwear, which is not an exact science) Anyway, take a chance and see how you do:  Knicker Quiz

As you have probably heard by now - Barbie turned 50 in March (apparently she is a Pisces.) Its no secret that Barbie has lost some of her popularity in recent years but sales for her have sagged before and rebounded so she may very well make a full recovery yet. I was fascinated by my sister’s Barbie dolls when I was young. I wasn’t allowed to play with them but that didn’t stop me from an occasional visit on the sly. What I liked best, of course, were the clothes. In the early 1960s the clothing resembled a miniature reality, with tiny little working buttons and zippers, although I hated the gloves because they resembled mittens due to their lack of finger definition - very unchic.

Apparently my fascination was not unique. Several years ago I met Chris Stoeckle who recreates hand finished, historic Parisian couture and American designer clothes for dolls. He builds suits and dresses for two different sized dolls, both larger than the 11 inch fashion model scale of Barbie. The larger sizes allow him to get better results with the draping and detailing of the clothing.

What I didn’t know until meeting Chris is that there is a whole world of adults who still love dolls out there - enough to create more than one magazine to appeal to the various factions of collectors and creators of dolls and their clothes. I’ve asked Chris if he has considered recreating full size couture, for real people, but his scaled down versions are already taking up all his time and they fly out the door to collectors as soon as he can hand finish the button holes. But like many in the fashion biz, Chris’ talents haven’t gone unnoticed and he is now designing for a ready-to-wear line of doll clothes.

I normally wouldn’t voluntarily promote one particular clothing company but Reitmans (A woman’s clothing manufacturer in Montreal) creates an advertisement each spring and fall that pits high fashion against everyday wear and the results are hilarious! I had to share!

Barbeque

Catching the bus

airport

A walk in the park

Meeting a friend for lunch

First date

1860s plaster spoon bonnet mold, complete with an unfinished black straw bonnet. The ends of the bonnet were tacked in place on wood inserts in the mold and heat was applied to shape.

There have been few books written about hats; I guess since hats have been more out than in fashion since the 1960s everyone forgets what great accessories they were. One of the few publications on the topic is well known to fans of the chapeau - written by Sue Langley, ‘Hats & Bonnets 1770 - 1970′ was published in 1998 and graces the shelves of most collectors, museums, and libraries I know.

At the risk of using a predictable cliche, I am happy to announce that Sue Langley has thrown her hat in the ring once again with a second edition of Hats & Bonnets (click the link to order a copy from the publishers). However, this is far more than just an updated first edition - its an entirely new book featuring hat and bonnet treasures she has found in the past decade. Not only are all the images new but there is also much new research.

Black felt and green silk hat by Jeanne Lanvin, c. 1911. A leading couturier of the 20th century, Lanvin began as a milliner and was instrumental in popularizing the cloche or bell shaped hats of the 1920s, of which this is a predecessor.

An interesting snippet from this volume discusses the Society for Abolishing the Wearing of Birds. In the 1890s, even though fashionable women slung pelts of mink, fox, seal and otter around their necks, they were concerned about the use of bird’s wings from species like parrots to trim hats. Princess Alexandra of England, a fashion leader of the era, was at the forefront of this anti-feather movement.

The 416 page, all colour illustrated tome is from Collector Books. Although designed as a collector’s guide, I never pay attention to suggested retail price guides - those prices become dated after a while. For me, the value will remain in the book for its depiction of outrageous, rare, whimsical, beautiful, and sometimes even practical hats and bonnets. Sue’s collection is a treasure and her willingness to share invaluable. Alongside exceptional examples from milliners such as Jeanne Lanvin (see right), Rose Valois, Jack McConnell, Sally Victor, Lily Dache, and others, are unique novelties such as a World War II hat trimmed with velvet carrots and a beach hat a yard in width!  Hats & Bonnets 1770 - 1970 Second Edition is a valuable visual guide to the history of getting a head of fashion.

You probably aren’t familiar with the name Florence Graham but you might know her professional alias — Elizabeth Arden.

Born in Woodbridge Ontario (now a part of the city of Vaughan just north of Toronto) on December 31, 1878, Florence Nightengale Graham went to Toronto to study nursing and then joined her elder brother in New York city to work as a bookkeeper at a pharmaceuticals company. It was here that she acquired an interest in beauty culture. She opened a beauty salon in partnership with Elizabeth Hubbard in 1909 but when the partnership dissolved she retained her former partner’s first name and usurped her last name from Tennyson’s epic poem Enoch Arden.

Respectable women had been using cosmetics sparingly since the end of the 18th century. Tinted creams and powders were available but these products added only the slightest hint of a healthy glow to cheeks and lips, as if the wearer had just returned from a brisk walk. In 1912, when Arden travelled to France to learn Parisian beauty techniques, lip rouge and powder were beginning to be applied in a less subtle manner. The cinema was now a popular entertainment and actresses on the screen continued to wear heavy stage makeup, inspiring women to emulate their look. Lip rouge also came to symbolize female liberation. Suffragette leaders trumpeted the wearing of lip rouge at their 1912 rally as an emblem of women’s emancipation.

Arden profitted from supplying lip rouges and face powders to New York’s fashionable elite. She also introduced eye makeup and the concept of the ‘makeover’ in her salons, made famous by their red doors. She married an American banker in 1915 and became an American citizen. Although her marriage failed in 1934, her business prospered throughout the Depression. She made her fortune in the creation of a face cream called Venetian Cream Amoretta, as well as the Arden Skin Tonic, all promoted through commercials shown in movie theatres. The opening sequence of MGM’s 1939 film, ‘The Women’ shows patrons exercising, receiving facials and massages, taking mud baths, and having their hair styled at a salon modelled after Elizabeth Arden’s Fifth Avenue flagship salon.

In 1943, in the middle of the war, Elizabeth Arden opened a fashion business, selling clothing from notable American designers such as Charles James. Also during the war Elizabeth Arden created a lipstick called Montezuma Red for women in the U.S. Marines that matched the red of their uniform stripes. However, her patriotism came into question when it was discovered she was continuing to make money from Nazi-occupied European Salons as late as 1941.

After the war, Elizabeth Arden’s brand name became so famous that it was internationally recognized as easily as Coca Cola and Singer Sewing machines. Red door salons continued to open around the world and her products were used by everyone from the Queen of England to Jacqueline Kennedy.

Elizabeth Arden died in 1966; she was interred in Sleepy Hollow, New York. The business was resold several times to new owners, including Faberge and Unilever, but continues to operate salons and create its own products as well as perfume brands for Mariah Carey, Elizabeth Taylor, Britney Spears, and Hilary Duff