ALL DRESSED UP

Underneath it all

2012-02-27T23:26:00.000-05:00

Adam and Eve wikigallery.org

I have a confession to make. In my youth I wore bloomers. You can all stop howling with laughter right now. Before you ridicule me, let me explain. Bloomers were part of the uniform we were required to wear at the Anglican all-girls school I attended in Jamaica where I grew up. Wearing bloomers under our skirts was enough of an embarrassment without having to reveal our nasty little secret on the school’s annual sports day when our skirts came off to the snickers of the boys from another Anglican school who were much more entertained by our bizarre attire than our athletic prowess.

According to Wikipedia, bloomers were originally designed in the early 1850s by a lady called Elizabeth Smith Miller of Peterboro, New York who was, not surprisingly, an early pioneer of the vulcanized rubber girdle. Ouch, can’t say I’m loving this lady. However, in fairness to her, the reason for the invention of the fashion atrocity called bloomers was to preserve decency without hindrance to physical activity. I suppose that’s what my school had in mind.

My school bloomers weren’t as long as the lace-edged, cotton example at right or some that were even longer than those. They were an ugly leaf green that served to put me off wearing green for the rest of my life. But I won’t linger on this pet peeve of mine as there’s loads about underwear to share and it’s all very interesting.

There are those who may claim Adam and Eve were the first to cover themselves for decency’s sake, but as far as we know, the loincloth was the first undergarment worn by human beings. The remains of a simple leather loincloth dating back 7,000 years have been found by archaeologists. The ancient malo of Hawaii, which passed between the legs and then wrapped around the waist, was similar in style, as are some of the Japanese fundoshi. There was another style of loincloth called a cache-sexe. This was a triangle of cloth with strings or loops, which fastened the triangle between the legs and over the genitals. King Tutankhamun of Egypt (1341-1323 BC) was buried with linen loincloths such as these.

The loincloths I mentioned were worn by men. Since my intention today is to talk about women’s underwear, let me not stray too far from the subject. We know that in 100 AD, Roman women wore a kind of loincloth called a subligaculum for athletic activities. Roman women wore nothing under their chitons, but they did also wear strophiae (breastcloths of leather or cloth) when participating in sports. Here is a mosaic from the Piazza Armerina in Sicily showing a woman wearing a breastcloth and subligaculum.

After the fall of Rome, it wasn’t until the early 19^th century when women started wearing any form of underwear remotely resembling panties. I don’t know about you, but I find that surprising. The only form of women’s underwear, until the 16^th century when stays, petticoats and farthingales arrived on the fashion scene, was a linen garment resembling a nightgown called a shift, later called a smock or chemise. So, when did drawers, the predecessor of today’s panties, enter the picture? From all accounts, they emerged at the start of the 1800s. Called drawers because they were drawn on, they sometimes came below the knee. Pantalettes, the longer style of drawers with frills, was only worn by girls after the 1830s.

We can’t talk about the evolution of underwear without at least a fleeting mention of corsets. When I look at the corset and its descendent the Longline bra, I can’t help thinking how many centuries it has been since we women have had the desire to re-shape our bodies for fashion’s sake. In mid-March, I’ll have more about that, so make sure to come back and visit.

Spanish Farthingale 1545

Elizabethan Farthingale 1590s

Rope, bent rope and whalebone were used as stiffeners.

DO YOU KNOW THESE ANSWERS?

1. In what year was the Wonderbra designed?

2. In what year was the thong designed?

Sources:
http://www.localhistories.org/womenund.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bloomers_%28clothing%29
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Undergarment

Romancing the stone – famous gifts of love

2012-02-07T21:48:00.000-05:00

The Hope Diamond

It now lies in solitary splendor in a secure case in the Smithsonian Natural History Museum in Washington, a work of art whose visitors are only outnumbered by the Mona Lisa's. It weighs a whopping 45.52 carats. Yes, I’m talking about the Hope Diamond, the most famous diamond in the world. The history of the Hope is long and accounts of ownership are conflicting. One story has it showing up in France in the hands of a French merchant-traveler named Jean-Baptiste Tavernier who is said to have acquired it in India and sold it to King Louis XIV in 1668 or 1669. At that time, it was known as the Blue Diamond of the Crown of France or simply the French Blue. Though I searched, I could find nothing about the gem having been given to a lady during its years in France. However, lack of evidence to that effect didn’t deter this romantic and I followed the French Blue for a century and a half to England where the beginning of its history can be definitively fixed as the year 1812. Some believe it was at one time the property of George IV whose mistress, Lady Conyngham, stole it after his death. But there was still nothing to tell that any woman had worn it, not even the shady lady herself. However, hope springs eternal, so on I plodded, at last arriving at the purchase of the French Blue by a wealthy London banker named Henry Thomas Hope. The stone stayed in the Hope family for more than fifty years during which time it got its present name. It was at the end of this chapter of the diamond's history that I at last found what I was looking for - the first woman to have worn it - American musical theater actress May Yohé. How the famous songstress came to earn this unique distinction is a story in itself. When and where she met him, I don't know, but May became the mistress and then the wife of Francis Hope, the last member of the Hope family to own the gem. It was not worn again until its purchase in 1911 by Washington Post scion Edward Beale McLean and his mining heiress wife Evalyn Walsh McLean. Evalyn Walsh is the only woman other than May Yohé to have worn the most famous diamond in the world.


May Yohé (Wikemedia)

The Hope made for interesting reading, but there seemed to me to be a rather cold practicality surrounding its ownership that dampened any romantic notions I may have had about this most fabulous of all diamonds. I was on a search for gifts of love, not family investments. But soon enough, along came knight in shining armor Richard Burton to the rescue of romantics. Burton's first gift of jewelry to Elizabeth Taylor was the 33.19-carat Krupp Diamond in 1968. Lucky Liz.

Evalyn Walsh McLean

The Krupp Diamond was by no means the most extravagant dazzler Burton lavished on his true love. Those of us who came of age in the sixties will recall his headline-making present of a 69.42-carat pear shaped diamond which became known as the Taylor-Burton Diamond. Check out the TV interview with Richard and Liz at the bottom of the page. In the interview, Burton does dare to utter the dirty word "investment", which made my heart sink - until I found the real-life fairytale, which comes next. But first, here's Liz wearing her rock.

The Duke and Duchess of Windsor

And now for that fairytale.
Not that long ago, there was a prince who fell head-over-heels in love with a commoner. His name was Edward and hers, Wallis. He was destined to become king of England. She was an American socialite and a divorcee, which didn’t make her a good candidate for becoming queen as you can imagine. While Edward and Wallis were courting, he became king and it seemed that would be the end of that. To everyone’s great surprise, he gave up the throne to marry the woman he loved. The royals turned blue with indignation and the rest of the nation fell into a faint, but Edward and Wallis lived happily ever after as the Duke and Duchess of Windsor - in a land not too far away, but far enough from all the flack they'd left behind.

Considered the greatest romance of the 20^th century, the love story of Edward VIII and Wallis Simpson was documented with gifts of jewelry, many bearing inscriptions of important moments together. I wish I could show many more, but to give you an idea of how dazzling these gifts were, here's the Duchess' flamingo clip of diamonds and precious stones created by Cartier in Paris in 1940.

We all love Cinderella stories, don’t we? Or let's just say a lot of us do. William and Kate’s wedding on April 29, 2011 was a case in point. In the United Kingdom, TV audiences peaked at 26.3 million viewers with a total of 36.7 million watching part of the coverage. The ceremony was viewed live by tens of millions more around the world, including 72 million on YouTube. Two friends of mine flew all the way from Miami to London to witness the event, which was celebrated at more than 5,000 street parties throughout the UK. And William didn’t disappoint those with an eye for good jewelry when he popped the question months before the big day. Onto Kate's slender finger he slipped the ring his father had given his mother – a dazzling 18-carat blue sapphire surrounded by diamonds. Now, that's what I call romantic.

Kate and William making history

P.S. Because of time limitations I wasn't able to share all the wonderful jewelry from around the world that I came across. For example, the Ashanti women of Africa receive gifts of jewelry for every important stage of their lives, from birth to childbirth. I hope to include them in a post some time later this year. In the meantime, Happy Valentine! May your Valentine's Day be filled with love!

Please don't forget to Google+ or share this post if you enjoyed it!

Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton TV interview: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0RzBMJZlyiI

Sources:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hope_Diamond#History

http://famousdiamonds.tripod.com/taylor-burtondiamond.html

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1296909/For-sale--Wallis-Simpson-jewels-charted-romance-King-Edward-VIII.html#ixzz1ldS6NZTW

The Most Expensive Boots In The World

2012-01-31T01:39:00.000-05:00

I was about to take a trek through the history of boots when I stumbled upon an article in Forbes Magazine that stopped me in my tracks. The article is entitled “The Most Expensive Cowboy Boots” (see link below).The paragraph that really jumped out at me was this one: “Tres Outlaws in El Paso, Texas, once clocked a customer for $75,000 for a pair whose mind-boggling design traced the history of Mexico, including $18,000 worth of gold and silver coins from various historical eras. The design alone took 100 hours, the hand-carving another 300 hours and the color and dye work an additional 200 hours. As pricey as those boots were, Tres Outlaws has another pair on order that will run even higher.” Even higher? I don’t know about you, readers, but I doubt I’d cash in my life savings to be that well shod, though there’s obviously a market for thoroughbred boots.

The Forbes article put me on a whole new track, which led to a story about football fans doling out tens of thousands of pounds for three pairs of match-worn boots belonging to soccer stars Rio Ferdinand, Wayne Rooney and John Terry. According to footy-boots.com, Ferdinand planned to auction them to raise funds for his charity the Live Dream Foundation. For the occasion, John Terry’s Umbro Speciali’s were embellished with 2,374 jewels, including 27 carat of white diamonds, 11 carat of sapphires and 84 black diamonds. Not to be outshone, Wayne Rooney’s Nike Total 90 Laser II’s sported 2,576 gems with more than 10 carat of white diamonds and 31 carat of black diamonds. Ferdinand’s boots were in the same league – 2,494 stones, gold-tipped laces and spray paint graffiti by no less than film producer and former musician, Goldie. As it turned out, the boots didn’t fetch the estimated price. Rooney’s sold for Â£18,000, Terry’s for Â£20,000 and Ferdinand’s for Â£22,000.

Wayne Rooney’s Nike Total 90 Laser II’s

Manolo Blahnik Alligator Boot

The sky seems to be the limit when it comes to men's boots. What about women’s boots then? The priciest pair I found are by Manolo Blahnik (who else?) and made of alligator skin, finest alligator skin, I should point out. This fashion discovery shattered any remaining hope of historical research for this post as off I went in search of other designer boots to see how much they cost. I confess I got sidetracked when I came upon a pair of Gucci woven leather boots on Net A Porte - and a sensational ocelot bootie by Alexander McQueen. As you can see from the pictures below, I took a detour from price and eventually ended up focusing on style.


Gucci's woven leather boot $3,750

Alexander McQueen's ocelot bootie $1,695

No Price Tag

http://www.forbes.com/2006/04/03/cowboy-boots-expensive_cx_ns_0404feat.html

I'll be back mid-February with
the next post. See you then.

These boots were made for...

2012-01-17T22:21:00.004-05:00

I love boots. I’ve always loved boots. I have memories associated with boots. A pair of black, knee-high boots played a starring role in of one of the most memorable evenings of my life. Don’t ask, because I’m not about to tell, not at this time anyway. Perhaps I’ll write a short story about that event one day.

My favorite pair of boots ever was a pair of bejeweled Gianni Versace evening boots that were way too rich for my pocket. Try as I did, I couldn’t locate a photo of them for this post. Having given up on finding the Versace boots, I set out to gather as much information as I could to share with you. What I unearthed is endless… hip boots, knee-high boots, thigh-length boots, wedge boots, chap boots, moccasins, desert boots, dress boots, cowboy boots, go-go boots and granny boots, not to mention fashion boots of every sort. Then there are Wellingtons, Russian boots, Chelsea boots, engineer boots (what are those exactly?) harness boots, hiking boots, motocross boots, mountain boots and motorcycle cop boots. The list continues with mountaineering boots, racing boots, ski boots, snowboard boots, snow boots, touring boots and wetsuit boots, in addition to combat boots, hobnail boots, jungle boots, logger boots, Galoshes, logger boots, steel-toe boots, hip-length wading boots for fishermen, and riding boots, which are not to be confused with jodhpur boots. For brevity’s sake, or at least some attempt at brevity, I haven’t named them all here.

Needless to say, boots have been around for centuries. How many centuries is the question. An article in The Daily Mail about a boot that’s 5,500 years old may provide an answer. "Created more than 5,500 years ago at the dawn of civilization, this perfectly preserved brown leather lace-up is the oldest shoe in the world."

Shown below is the runner-up on my list of ancient wonders of the world of footwear - a pair of Oxhide boots from Loulan, Xinjiang, China dating back to the Former Han dynasty, 220 BCE. If you ever visit China, you’ll find them on display at the National Museum in Beijing. I think they’re worth a visit to the museum, don’t you? Second runner-up are the terracotta boots (below right) from the early geometric period, which were used for the cremation burial of a woman in 900 BCE. At Ancient Agora Museum in Athens.

Source: Wikipedia

Source: Wikipedia

I've just barely scratched the surface of the subject, so I’ll be back with more about boots at the end of the month. Until then, how about a short quiz? If you know the answers, please post them in comments.

Who said the following?

a) I didn't just want to be Frank's daughter who sang Boots.

b) A lie travels around the world while truth is putting on her boots.

What is the origin of the term bootlegger?

Boots appear in a lot of idioms. Here are some. If you know others, please share. The more, the merrier.

To give someone the boot

The boot is on the other foot now

To put the boot in

And for the fun of it, a trip back in time to 1966
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yRkovnss7sg

For Auld Lang Syne

2011-12-27T23:01:00.007-05:00

Should auld acquaintance be forgot,
and never brought to mind?
Should auld acquaintance be forgot,
and auld lang syne?

For auld lang syne, my jo,
for auld lang syne,
we’ll tak a cup o’ kindness yet,
for auld lang syne.

I’m such a sentimentalist I get all chocked up and teary every time I hear Auld Lang Syne. It never fails to remind me of old times, of friends I’m no longer in touch with, and of loved ones departed. But on the stroke of midnight on December 31 as we sing the familiar words, how many of us will remember they were written by the Scottish poet Robert Burns in 1788 and set to the tune of a traditional folk song that has become the New Year’s Eve song? How many of us even know that auld lang syne means “old long since” (old times)?

Fourteen years after Robert Burns wrote Auld Lang Syne, Maria Nugent, the wife of General George Nugent, Governor of Jamaica, wrote an entry in her *journal, which was the inspiration for this blog.

December 30^th, 1802

Dress at 7, for the ball given to me to-night, by the Assembly, dear little George at my toilet. For the benefit of posterity I will describe my dress on this grand occasion. A crape dress, embroidered in silver spangles, also sent me by Madame Le Clerk, but much richer than that which I wore at the last ball. Scarcely any sleeves to my dress, but a broad silver spangled border to the shoulder straps. The body made very like a child’s frock, tying behind, and the skirt round, with not much train. A turban of spangled crape, like the dress, looped with pearls, and a paradise feather; altogether looking like a Sultana. Diamond bandeau, cross, &c.; and pearl necklace and bracelets, with diamond clasps. This dress, the admiration of the world over, will perhaps, fifty years hence, be laughed at and considered as ridiculous as our grandmother’s hoops and tissues appear to us now.

There is no painting of Lady Nugent’s gown, so we’ll have to make do with the picture of the two ladies on the left and leave the rest to our imagination. Aside from the gown being virtually sleeveless, what struck me as I read the journal entry was not even war seemed to prevent true-blue fashionistas from acquiring the latest fashions from abroad. Only in the case of Lady Nugent’s purchase, abroad was France, a country at continuous war with England from 1793 to 1815, except for a brief period of peace during which the gown was made. The dressmaker was the sister of England’s enemy, Napoleon Bonaparte. The client was the wife of the governor of one of England’s prized colonies. In some circles, this might be viewed as sleeping with the enemy, though admittedly we buy clothes and shoes by the container-load from China, the so-called enemy of capitalism.

Lady Nugent also mentions “hoops and tissues.” A search for these undergarment essentials took me further back in time to the mid-eighteenth century and the elaborate Rococo period with its frills and bows. Sure enough, this is when hoops were taken to their extreme in hoop petticoats called panniers (a French term for wicker basket). Often made of whalebone, panniers extended skirts to a width of several feet on either side as shown in the painting at top right. If Lady Nugent could have seen into the future, she would have been surprised to find a renaissance of those outrageously wide skirts in Oscar de la Renta’s Spring/Summer 2012 Ready-to-Wear Collection. And how surprised she would be to discover the neoclassic style of her ball gown is as in vogue today as it was on that December night two hundred years ago.

1902 2002

* Lady Nugent’s Journal of her residence in Jamaica from 1801 to 1805

Image sources:

Wikimedia Commons

http://www.perfect-wedding-day.com

http://www.marquise.de/en/1900/pics/1900/index.shtml

http://anabeatrizbarrosfan.com/runway/2002-fw/guy-laroche-fallwinter-2002/

http://www.vogue.com.au/fashion+shows/ready+to+wear/oscar+de+la+renta+2012,s8315

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SEASON OF SHINE

2011-11-28T23:40:00.038-05:00

Oh baby! Out you come! You’ve been hiding in that closet for waaay too long! Metallics are out and about, showing up any time of day or night in tops, bottoms, shoes, accessories, you name it! Aren’t you glad I let you hang around since… remind me, when was it padded shoulders like yours were in? But what’s old is new again, babe, so off that hanger with you! You and I are about to hit the town.

Yes, what’s old is new again, but isn’t that always the case? Here's 30s Hollywood vamp, Jean Harlow, in a gown of gold lamé that clings to every curve. The style could be hot off this season's runways, but the photo was taken in the 1930s when metallic lamé emerged as a designer favorite among evening wear fabrics.

Metallic fabric has a long and illustrious history, one that goes back a few thousand years. The Biblical book of Exodus records, “And they did beat the gold into thin plates, and cut [it into] wires, to work [it] in the blue, and in the purple, and in the scarlet, and in the fine linen, [with] cunning work.” The reference is to cloth of gold, the predecessor to synthetic metallic fabrics. Woven from silk yarn wrapped with a band or strip of genuine gold, this was the real thing. It is said Genghis Kahn (1162-1227) had in his possession "a piece of cloth beautiful beyond description, which he claimed was of pure gold, containing 130 shades of color."

Perhaps the great Mongolian emperor’s cloth was similar to the magnificent songket fabric of Indonesia and Malaysia shown here. It certainly existed in his time (see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Songket). Such sumptuousness also brings to mind the Field of Cloth of Gold. It is the year 1520 - June 1520 to be precise - when Henry VIII of England and Francis I of France meet in a valley midway between Guisnes and Arde in France. This excerpt from Hall’s Chronicle describes the historic meeting. “Thursday 8 June being Corpus Christi day, Henry and the French king Francis I, met in a valley called the Golden Dale which lay midway between Guisnes and Arde where the French king had been staying. In this valley Henry pitched his marquee made of cloth of gold near where a banquet had been prepared. His Grace was accompanied by 500 horsemen and 3,000 foot soldiers, and the French King had a similar number of each.”

It’s now nearly 500 years since then and shine hasn't lost its allure. Heads still turn when the glimmer of gold or the sheen of silver makes an entrance.

GOT A MINUTE FOR A FASHION SHOW?
HERE'S MY PICK OF THE COLLECTIONS...

Gianfranco Ferré - Fall Winter 2011/2012
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4jyEg5f0UaQ
Jean-Paul Gaultier - Paris Fall Winter 2011
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DiSQpoHlb4s
Giorgio Armani - Fall Winter 2011/2012
http://www.youtube.com/watch?NR=1&v=JU8q-tTGxog

ALL DRESSED UP FOR THANKSGIVING

2011-11-08T23:23:00.007-05:00

"The First Thanksgiving at Plymouth" by Jennie A. Brownscombe

It's interesting to learn how people dressed long ago, but that
subject sometimes can’t be separated from history in general. And so before talking about what the Pilgrims wore for the three-day feast that eventually became known as Thanksgiving, let me set the stage by sharing an account of the event by Edward Winslow.
“Our harvest being gotten in, our governour sent foure men on fowling, that so we might after a speciall manner rejoyce together, after we had gathered the fruits of our labours ; they foure in one day killed as much fowle, as with a little helpe beside, served the Company almost a weeke, at which time amongst other Recreations, we exercised our Armes, many of the Indians coming amongst us, and amongst the rest their greatest king Massasoyt, with some ninetie men, whom for three dayes we entertained and feasted, and they went out and killed five Deere, which they brought to the Plantation and bestowed on our Governour, and upon the Captaine and others."
The famous painting by Jennie A. Brownscombe, shown above, depicts the first Thanksgiving, but it was painted in 1914 and is therefore an artist’s rendering that can’t be taken literally. So, how do we know what the Pilgrims were decked out in when they celebrated their first successful harvest? Few items the Pilgrims wore still exist, but they would have dressed in the same fashion as people in England at that time. Obviously there were different cloaks for different folks, but we have very few visual records to guide us. Virtually all paintings of that era are of the aristocracy to which the Pilgrims did not belong.
We are, however, able to paint a fairly accurate picture of the Plymouth feast where attire is concerned. Pilgrim wills and inventories describing articles of clothing are a start. In addition, The Mayflower passenger list shows several of the Pilgrims came to America with servants. This points to some of them having been of the Middle Class - skilled tradesmen and merchants. Fortunately for the fashion researcher, there is enough from that period in museum collections to give an idea of how the English Middle Class dressed.
An article by Duane A. Cline at http://rootsweb.ancestry.com/~mosmd/index.htm also gives us insight into the social status of the Pilgrims. “The Pilgrims were certainly knowledgeable of fabrics and clothing construction. In looking at the occupations of the Pilgrims we find that Isaac Allerton and James Chilton were tailors, William Bradford was a fustian-maker, Edward Tilley was a cloth-maker, John Tilley was a silk worker, Francis Cooke and William White were wool combers or carders, and Digory Priest had been a hatter in London. In addition to those clothing-related trades we know that William Mullins was a boot and shoe merchant, and Thomas Rogers was a camlet merchant.”

Putting the pieces together, we realize Pilgrim clothes were not as drab as myth would have us think. 1621 was the early Baroque period when the Cavalier style was all the rage. Although the flamboyant colors and extravagant details of high society fashion would have been somewhat toned down by Middle Class and Puritan conservatism, Pilgrim attire would have conformed to the style of the day by and large. Women’s dresses would have had shaped bodices and flowing skirts over petticoats. Men would have worn short, fitted jackets called doublets and breeches or pantaloons which ended below the knee. The rest of the leg would have been covered only by hose, except when the knee-high bucket top boots of the day were worn. Both men and women wore the popular falling ruff, a wide circular collar that fell on the shoulders and opened in a V.

As I imagine the assembly of Pilgrims for that first Thanksgiving, I see men in beaver hats with cocked brims sitting around a long table. There is a man wearing a red waistcoat, which stands out in contrast to the otherwise subdued colors worn by the group. Another has a violet velvet cloak lined with taffeta draped over his shoulders. Peeking out from beneath the skirt of the woman sitting next to him is a pair of lace-trimmed, pointed slippers that match her embroidered cap. Across the table from her, another woman wears a dress with a white ruff and sleeves with wide cuffs. She, like many women in the group, wears an apron. Although they are hidden from view, her stockings are held with garters, which unlike ours today, are long, wide ribbons wrapped several times around her upper calves before being tied securely in a bow.
What did Chief Massasoit of the Wampanoag and his entourage of ninety men wear for the occasion, I wonder? Having not read the full texts of the Pilgrims' journals for their first year at Plymouth, I can only surmise. One account describes Massasoit when the Pilgrims first saw him in March, 1621. “The great chief first appeared at the head of 60 warriors, face painted red and wearing a thick necklace of white beads, the sign of his authority.” This account makes no mention of clothes, but it’s safe to assume the Wampanoag were wearing suits of deerskin for their visit to the Pilgrims in March and again for the feast that would become one of America's most loved traditions.

Chief Massasoit of the Wampanoag and his entourage are greeted by a Pilgrim.

Image of "The First Thanksgiving at Plymouth" by Jennie A. Brownscombe
courtesy of Pilgrim Hall Museum, Plymouth.
If you are interested in 17th century clothing, you might be interested in the museum's current temporary exhibition “What’s Under things? Hidden Colonial Clothing featuring a number of rare survivors of 17th century undergarments. For information, visit http://www.pilgrimhall.org/f_thanks.htm

Putting on a False Face

2011-10-16T19:47:00.002-04:00

How this year has flown. Halloween is almost here and the stores are filled with costumes, candies and all the usual paraphernalia. Houses are being decorated and jack-o-lanterns are being carved. There will be trick-or-treating and costume parties as usual. For me, the ultimate Halloween party would be a grand masquerade ball, or bal masqué as the French call it. If I had zillions and were inclined to such conspicuous frivolity, I’d be tempted to throw one of those, though it would likely be nothing in the class of the masquerade balls the French royalty threw in the late 1300s and early 1400s. Those were strictly A-list affairs, as you can imagine.
But the B-list (the upper class) was soon to have its shot at la dolce vita during the 16th century Italian Renaissance. It is those elaborate public dances of Venice that come to mind when I think of a masquerade ball. The costumes were to die for, of course, but it’s the masks that made those affairs so fantastic. Alas, the Venetian Republic fell to decadence and the grand parties came to an end. A Swiss count introduced the masquerade ball to London in 1708, but it wasn’t exactly the real Venetian deal from which Carnival and Mardi Gras are descended.
I don’t think there are any of us who have never worn a mask. But what is the appeal that masks hold for us? It could simply be that masks are in our blood. They’ve been worn by cultures around the world since time immemorial and have been made from every material from corn husks to gold.

This stone mask on exhibition at Musée de la Bible et de la Terre Sainte in Paris is from the pre-ceramic neolithic period. It dates back to 7000 BCE and is probably the oldest mask in the world. In Africa, masks were worn from as early as the Paleolithic age (Stone Age) for ritual ceremonies and celebrations. Native Americans have also used masks such as the sacred "false face" masks of the Iroquois in their traditional ceremonies since ancient times.

“False Face.” Now, there’s food for thought. I’m thinking about Venice again. At one time, the Venetians wore masks as a matter of course. They were not reserved strictly for festive occasions. This served to put all Venetian citizens on equal footing as true identities were concealed. A peasant could pose as a prince and vice versa. An equitable arrangement, to be sure, but there were hidden dangers. In 1792, King Gustav III of Sweden was murdered at a masquerade ball by a masked assassin.
I confess to have once hidden behind a mask – from my ex-husband at a Halloween party a few years ago. If you’re wondering how come he didn’t recognize me, just look at those Venetian masks below. As much as I would have loved to, I wasn’t wearing one of those. But maybe I will one day…at a masked ball where everyone will be tripping the light fantastic in grand style.

African-Bambara Mask

Bolivian Owl Mask

Indian Goddess Mask from Nepal

Native American Corn Husk Mask

Nuo Mask from Southwest China

Images courtesy of Robert Ibold of Masks From Around The World. To see the entire collection, visit http://www.masksoftheworld.com/

Image of mask on exhibition at Musée de la Bible et de la Terre Sainte courtesy of Institut Catholique de Paris. Copyright Philippe Houssin.

If you have a blog, please post your link when you make a comment, so readers and I can visit you.

SWEATER SEASON

2011-09-27T14:05:00.000-04:00

As sweater season approaches three designers who transformed knits into runway hits come to mind. Every fashionista is familiar with Missoni’s knock-em-dead zigzags and Ralph Lauren’s floor-length turtleneck dresses. Those of you who have been following fashion trends from the 60s will remember Sonia Rykiel of the snazzy striped sweaters and clingy dresses. Also designer of the Poor Boy Sweater, Rykiel was the first to put seams on the outside of garments. Love that look. Rykiel was dubbed the “queen of knits,” but it was Coco Chanel (above left) who created the turning point for knitwear when she used jersey to create suits for women way back in 1916. Prior to Mademoiselle Chanel’s stroke of genius, jersey was designated to the pedestrian role of men’s underwear.

As I delved into where and when knits originated, I realized I was diving in deep. Knits are a lot of ground to cover in one post. Knits existed as early as 300 BCE when the Paracas and Nazca cultures of Peru were knitting hats and shawls. Also among the oldest samples of single-needle knitting are the patterned sandal socks of the Coptic Christians of Egypt in the 4th century CE. The earliest knitted items in Europe we know of were made by Muslim knitters employed by Spanish Christian royal families. Among them is a pair of knitted gloves, which were found in the tomb of Prince Fernando de la Cerda, who died in 1275. Archaeological finds and tax lists from medieval cities in Europe and England show the spread of the popularity of knitted goods from the 14th century onwards. By the 1400s, there were knitting guilds all over Europe and by the mid-16th century, stockings had become somewhat of an undercover fashion statement for women. Eleanora de Toledo, wife of Cosimo de Medici, was buried in a pair of lacy, red silk stockings. Queen Elizabeth 1 of England (1533-1603) also favored silk stockings. Needless to say, Her Majesty’s were custom knitted for her.

I won’t linger on stockings, which were, incidentally, worn by both men and women during those times. So, let’s move onto the sweater, that garment we take so much for granted. The first information I found on sweaters was in the 17th and 18th centuries when knitting had become such a huge cottage industry in the Scottish Isles that entire families were involved in making sweaters among other forms of knitwear. It is the Scots to whom we owe the colorful and elaborately patterned Fair Isle sweater, which was a staple garment of Scottish fishermen. Off the west coast of Ireland, the wives of the fishermen of the Aran Islands were also knitting away to keep their men warm while at sea. If you own a genuine hand-knitted Aran sweater you know you paid considerably more than you would have for the manufactured version, because machines can’t reproduce many of the complex patterns found in the hand-knitted Aran sweaters. But did you know many of the traditional stitch patterns have a special meaning? For example, the honeycomb pattern is the symbol of the hard-working bee; the cable pattern is for safety and good luck and the diamond pattern is a wish for success and wealth. Nice to know if you’re planning on giving someone a sweater.

I have a navy blue cardigan, which I never gave more than a minute’s thought until writing this post. Next time I slip it on, I’ll think of James Thomas Brudenell 7th Earl of Cardigan who is remembered for two things, the first being his incompetence as a military officer. History buffs are no doubt aware it was Brudenell who led the doomed cavalry assault in the Crimean War, which Tennyson eulogized in his poem, “The Charge of the Light Brigade.” During the Crimean campaign, Brudenell and his officers wore a buttoned-up sweater coat that became known as a cardigan. It's true the cardigan was around before then. During the 17th century, it was popular with fishermen of the British Isles and also in France. But it was the 7th Earl of Cardigan to whom we owe its lasting popularity. We can forgive old Tom a military blunder or two can’t we?

SEXY SWEATER GIRLS
Hollywood stars Lana Turner “The Sweater Girl” and Jane Russell transformed the sweater into a sizzling hot fashion look in the 1940s and 50s.

Under it all, the bullet bra.

Check out Missoni's 2011 Fall Winter Collection plus a fashion show from the 50s.

MISSONI FALL WINTER
http://www.missoni.com/ing.html
1950s SWEATER SHOW
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OcDvt1aT4CI

Will be back mid month with the next post, so please drop by again.
And please share or Google+1 if you like my blog.

Why They Called Me Imelda

2011-09-15T13:33:00.000-04:00

There was a time when I had what you might call a shoe fetish, though mine paled in comparison to Imelda Marcos’ addiction. Accounts vary, but the former first lady of the Philippines is reputed to have owned more than 5,000 pairs of shoes. Certainly it is a fact 2,700 pairs of her shoes were left behind in Malacanang Palace when the Marcos couple fled their country. While under attack for such mind-boggling excess, Mrs. Marcos claimed in defense, “I did not have three thousand pairs of shoes, I had one thousand and sixty.” Okay then.

I admit to once having around one hundred pairs of shoes. Miniscule though my collection was compared to Mrs. Marcos’, it was large enough for friends to fondly bestow the nickname of Imelda upon me. In lieu of the real thing, they gifted me with scores of shoe collectibles, ranging from exquisite ceramic replicas to a pair of salt and pepper shakers. Shoe cards, shoe calendars, shoe soaps, shoe tee shirts and shoe everything else you can imagine were added to the collection over the years. Now safely stored in my garage (because I no longer have shelf space for them) they’ve become as much of my past as my shoe shopping binges. Also tucked away in a safe place, is the farewell card from my last place of employment. Dominating the front of the card is a life-size painting of a sandal. As you might guess, there’s a story there….and here it is: the shoe addict will stop at nothing to find a shoe they want, need, AND MUST HAVE in their size. The dear friend who indulged me by accompanying me on this quest will remember the search that took us from one end of Miami to the other, desperately seeking the pair of shocking pink sandals, now immortalized on a goodbye card.

But back to Imelda Marcos. Having once been a shoe addict, I have a sense of what drove her to such extremes. For the shoe addict, shoes are more than attire for your feet, more than the component of an outfit. Shoes are Cinderella’s glass slippers. They are Dorothy’s ruby slippers, one pair of which sold for $15,000 in an MGM auction and are now on permanent exhibition at Washington’s Smithsonian Institute. Another pair was originally owned by Roberta Bauman from Tennessee. This pair was sold by Christie’s for $150,000 in 1998. A third pair of the ruby slippers were auctioned, again by Christie’s, for $666,000 on May 24, 2000.

No shoe collector would be surprised at such a sum being laid out for the pair of shoes that are among the most treasured and valuable of all film memorabilia. I confess I would die to own the ruby slippers. But more precious by far are the shoes my mother wore when I was a young child. I remember a pair of bottle green suede pumps in particular. Perhaps my lust for shoes began on the day I sneaked my four-year-old feet into them and wobbled precariously across the floor. I've come back full circle to that day. Walking in high heels has become a precarious undertaking. And yet, I confess to recently yielding to the temptation of a pair of black patent leather pumps with impossibly high heels. I knew I’d never wear them, but I couldn’t bring myself to return them. One day, I removed them from their box and placed them on the top shelf of my desk. After a few months, someone asked what on earth they were doing there. How would I have explained what only a shoe addict would have understood?

Platform shoes made yet another comeback in 2011, but did you know they date back to the 16th century when the courtesans of Venice wore them to protect their feet from dirty streets? The style was called the "Chopine" back then and they were sometimes as high as 20.” Ouch. Think even Lady Gaga couldn’t walk a block in those babies.

Who wears the pants around here?

2011-09-01T09:53:00.001-04:00

This morning, I got out of bed and mindlessly pulled on a pair of jeans. Since I live in the country and am semi- retired, a pair of jeans usually covers any situation a country girl might encounter during a humdrum day. I have a few famous women to thank for my no-brainer decision on what to wear - Marlene Dietrich and Katherine Hepburn being the first that come to mind.

But before I talk about some of the women to whom we owe the wonderful freedom of pants, let me tell you how my day started. My first task (after downing a cup of coffee) was to go on a hunt for my cat, Sam, who is sick and on a medication avoidance vigil. I found the king of my little jungle positioned safely under a shrub, which he knows I couldn’t crawl under, not even on a wish. As I write this, he is still in his safe place, waiting patiently for me to forget the whole nasty business of shoving a vial of antibiotics between his feline fangs. You’ll soon see who wears the pants around here, Sam.

Medicating Sam is nothing short of an Amazonian feat,which brings me to something I discovered about the Amazons that has some bearing on the subject of pants. There’s an Ancient Greek vase in the British Museum upon which is painted an Amazon wearing…you guessed it…pants. This vase is dated 470 BC. Whether the Amazons existed is a subject of debate, however, here’s food for thought. According to Wikipedia, “Trousers first enter recorded history in the 6th century BCE, with the appearance of horse-riding Iranian peoples in Greek ethnography. At this time, not only the Persians, but also allied Central Asian peoples such as the Bactrians, Armenians, and the Tigraxauda Scythians are known to have worn them. Trousers are believed to have been worn by both sexes among these early users.”

Moving fast-forward into the 20th century AD,we see the emergence of pants as popular female attire. Although I couldn’t find a photo of Bette Davis in pants, she was among the vanguard of Hollywood stars who transformed what had been the exclusive domain of men into a fashion statement for women during the 1930s. However, showing up at functions in menswear wasn’t the only way in which Davis was a pioneer. She was the first female president of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, the first woman to receive a Lifetime Achievement Award from the American Film Institute and the first person of either sex to receive ten Academy Award nominations for acting. Other women who dared to wear pants at a time when such a thing was sure to raise eyebrows were Joan Crawford, Katherine Hepburn and Marlene Dietrich who appeared in her signature men's suits on and off screen.
But were these famous movie stars the first modern women to break through the barrier that divided men and women’s clothing? I think not as I recall a story my grandmother once told me. She was invited to a dance and could not afford a gown. Determined not to miss the event, she borrowed a suit from a friend’s brother and went dressed as a man. This took place before Grandpa started courting her. I don’t remember the exact year they married (after a long courtship), but my mother, their first child, was born in 1922. I can therefore safely say Grandma arrived at that dance dressed in men’s clothing quite some time before the dawn of the year 1920, considerably more than a decade before Dietrich set the stage for men’s-style suits.

It would be remiss of me to omit the pit brow girls who scandalized mid 19th century English society by wearing pants for their work at the Wigan coal mines. The pit brow girls weren’t the only 19th century women to break the rules where fashion was concerned. Here on the other side of the Atlantic, the cowgirls were also wearing trousers as they rode the ranches of the American West. Thanks to these women who paved the way for us, we have our pick of pants, from the flowing harem style to skin-tight jeans. They’re available in every imaginable fabric from linen to metallic lycra. And what about shorts, you ask? Well, that’s another story. I’ll save that one until summer.

Do you know how much Dorothy's ruby slippers sold for at a Christie's auction in 2000? I'll be writing about that and more in my mid-month post, so please come back and visit.

Elle Magazine’s pants line-up for Fall:
http://www.elle.com/Elle-Shops/Elle-Shops/Products/%28designers%29/Alexander+Mcqueen/%28categories%29/Pants+%26+Shorts

The new men’s look trend at Net a Porter:
http://www.net-a-porter.com/?cm_mmc=GoogleUS-_-Brand%20-%20Alone%20EX_US-_-ALONE%20-%20Net%20A%20Porter-_-net%20a%20porter