Fashion at the Gallery : a Guild Visit

Sometimes my local Garment Guild has meetings that are more like outings! To close this season we had a tour of a fashion exhibit newly installed at Gallery Stratford.

  This is a pop-up exhibit by the Fashion History Museum, which doesn't currently have a permanent home -- although it will soon have a retail & workshop space open right in our downtown. 

Curator Jonathan Walford gave us a tour & it was so fun to hear the stories behind the French couture pieces in the show, from Worth to Courreges. There were some amazing pieces - Balmain, probable Balenciaga (the original), Karl Lagerfeld, a Dior, Jeanne Lanvin and much more. Even a gown by the Callot Soeurs! We all enjoyed it so much. 

If you are going to be in Stratford before it closes on October 11, try to see it. The other 2 exhibits on are also fascinating - one on jewelry inspired by Canadian women, & one on historical photography. All so beautiful! 

Inspired by Measha Brueggergosman

Weekend Review: Keeping Up Appearances

 

I'm always interested in fashion history, so I picked up this book from my library and dug right into it. It is exactly what it says: a look at fashion codes between the two World Wars, and how they delineated class. I think it's understood from the title and cover images that it is entirely focused on the UK - but if not, it is definitely 100% England focused. 

With a lot of research (the bibliography is lengthy!) and some fun additions like editorial cartoons of the time that poke fun at fashion topics, this is an interesting read. There were descriptions of the minutiae of dress and how even a glove or a tie had so much cultural meaning. She brings up Rational Dress societies and how they tried to change men's dress habits, with very little success -- menswear seldom changes much, or quickly. There was a photo of a man striding down a street in white knee length shorts and an open shirt, surrounded by men in full suits and hats, giving him a bit of a stink eye. The photo makes you realize how startling it would have been to see that "Rational Dress" outfit in context, and why it wasn't quickly adopted. 

Another thing I appreciated was that the author used novels as part of her research. She quotes some parts of Rosamond Lehmann, Dorothy Whipple and Nancy Mitford, all authors I've read and so these felt resonant to me. I enjoyed the addition of fiction and cartoons into an otherwise quite academic book. I felt that it was a little dry, a little too detailed at times, so these elements helped give it more of a popular read feel. 

Overall I enjoyed this one and it made me very glad that dress restrictions are not quite so particular these days! 

Weekend Review: Madly Marvelous: the Costumes of the Marvelous Mrs. Maisel

 

The funny thing about me picking up this book is that I have only seen the first two episodes of this show. I couldn't get into it at all. But the outfits are amazing - and really the only reason I tried to watch this! 

This book, by costumer Donna Zakowska, is fascinating nonetheless! I really enjoyed it. It covers many seasons, so if you are currently watching or plan to, you may find some spoilers. Otherwise you are good ;) I liked the way it was arranged, showing the progression of the costuming with the character development. There were some sketches of the outfits, and explanations of how and why Zakowska decided on a specific look. And then lots and lots of beautiful photos of the outfits that Mrs. Maisel wears throughout. Good closeups of some of the details and fabrics for those of us looking for that, too. 

But it's about more than just the main character. There are sections about other characters (namely her manager and her mother and a bit about the men too) where the costume decisions are explained. Zakowska saw the outfits that she was putting people in as reflections of their characters and their emotional states, and wanted to communicate it to viewers, even if as a subtle or subconscious message. 

And I was shocked at how detailed she got -- with the main characters of course, but also for the extras. SO MANY extras and so many outfits. And all had her eye over them before they were approved to be on film. 

If you're interested in movie costuming, and in one of the most notable shows for wardrobe in recent times, you'll really enjoy this too. I am proof that you don't need to have seen the show to get a lot of this book. I thought it was beautifully put together with plenty of photos to engage the reader, and was a great read for anyone who loves clothes. 

Weekend Review: Vintage Fashion

 

Vintage Fashion / Ottilie Godfrey
London: Arcturus, c2013.
128 p.

I picked up this little book at the library -- I mean, look at that cover! It's so charming. The subtitle of this one is "Classic 20th Century styles and designs", and it does sort of live up to that. It covers the vintage eras of the 20th C., namely the 20s to the 80s. Each chapter covers the highlights, with famous names of the decade, particularly memorable looks and trends (including models), and lots of photos. 

It's entertaining to flip through, even if it is really focused heavily on Europe and North American designers and fashions, and features so many of the models of those eras.

I enjoyed the overview; if you know fashion already, you're going to be familiar with nearly everything in this book, but there were a couple of photos that I hadn't seen before, and it was nice to be able to study some representative examples closely. 

Not a must have, but a fun book to look through from the library. Lots of great details to enjoy, and a bare bones historical tour for those new to the field. 

Weekend Review: Dorothy Grant, an Endless Thread

 

Dorothy Grant: An Endless Thread / Dorothy Grant
Victoria, BC: Figure 1 Publishing, c2024.
176 p.

I came across this book in my library's online catalogue; until then I hadn't heard of Dorothy Grant. I'm so glad I found this! Grant is a West Coast Haida designer from what is now Alaska. She began designing in 1989 with her show called Feastwear, which launched her into a very successful career selling first in a boutique, and then via trunk shows and bespoke items.

This book is partly a memoir of her career and partly a look-book of her many pieces and designer lines. There are photos of many Indigenous celebrities and leaders wearing her work, as well as politicians -- one image of Governor General Mary Simon greeting Pope Francis during his visit to apologize for Residential School harms has her wearing a white Dorothy Grant capelet that echoes the Pope's robes, something I found fascinating.

Grant's work has also been collected by museums and galleries. Her designs incorporate traditional Haida motifs as well as garment types and kinds of embellishments like shellwork and embroidery, or traditional spruce root weaving. They play those elements off of modern design to create amazing pieces. 

This book was put together for a retrospective at Haida Gwaii Museum in 2024, so there are also essays by the curator, India Rael Young, and Haida repatriation specialist and museologist Sdahl Ḵ’awaas Lucy Bell, alongside some of Grant's own reflections and memories, and those of her longtime assistant, Haida curator and artist Kwiaahwah Jones. All this, plus the many large photos, make this book a wonderful read, with so much to examine. I really enjoyed it. If you can find a copy, I would recommend it to any fashion lover. 

You can find lots of fascinating information and fashion on Dorothy Grant's website, too,

(Flip through with more images, details and a short video interview with the author can be found on the publisher's website) 

Weekend Review: From the Rez to the Runway

 

From the Rez to the Runway / Christian Allaire 
TO: HarperCollins, c2025.
272 p.

Christian Allaire (author of The Power of Style) has just published a memoir about his rise from Ojibwe teen from Northern Ontario to Vogue fashion writer -- and it's a great read! He's really honest about the trials and tribulations of reaching his goals, recognizing both his own hard work and his luck. As well as the support he received from his family and community. 

He shares how he was always into fashion, reading magazines, watching Fashion Televison & admiring Jeanne Beker, and dressing himself as style-forward as he could with thrift store finds and more. He decided to go into fashion journalism and headed to Toronto, where he found himself one of the few Indigenous students in the journalism program, and certainly in the fashion journalism subset. 

During school he also interned and worked very hard to make connections that might lead to work or further opportunities - he seems to have had endless energy and drive at this time. In this section, he mentions that the professors told him he shouldn't be working, that he should be focusing on academics instead - but that it was all the work he was doing that led to the footholds he was able to get in the industry. This is a great point for many students to think about. 

When he moves to New York to take on some internships, the stories get wilder, until he realizes he needs to take control of his life and manage addictions, so that he can succeed instead of burning out and disappearing. There are lots of entertaining stories during his internship years, including one at a magazine where a roomful of Chanel couture was inadvertently destroyed (not by him), or when a celebrity wore all the designer clothes from a shoot home, and Christian, an intern, had to go get these pieces back to return to the designers in the morning. 

But he also shares stories of how being true to himself and his Indigenous community led to opportunities, especially at Vogue. His pieces on the Santa Fe Indian Market and a variety of Indigenous beaders, designers, jewellers and more were big hits, and he was able to parlay this into the right role at just the right time. And when the book ends, he is giddy, at the peak - he's on the red carpet at the Met Gala, interviewing guests. 

This is an engaging memoir from an important voice in the fashion community right now. I enjoyed the structure and the progression of the book and thought it was well done, incorporating a variety of stories for someone so early into their career. Definitely worth a look!

Weekend Review: Supreme Models

 

Supreme Models / Marcellas Reynolds 
NY: Abrams, c2019.
240 p.

Something a little different today - rather than strictly sewing, this is a book about fashion. It's a beautiful book, full of fashion images from varied magazines. It's laid out as a series of features on, as the subtitle says, "Iconic Black Women who Revolutionized Fashion". This collection of models covers those from the early days -- the 60s and beyond -- to current, new faces on the runway. 

Each feature gives the name and working dates of the model, the main designers & magazines they are known for, then a summary about them. About half of the entries have more in-depth info, and some feature interviews as well. And of course, there is at least one brilliant image of each woman. 

This was put together by fashion stylist (and former male model) Marcellas Reynolds. He talks about how important seeing black women on the runway was for him as a young man, leading him into fashion as a career. And his joy in this world and the women involved shines through. 

If you love fashion history and beautiful images, and want to learn about the development of Black-friendly modeling agencies & the powerful women behind them as well, this is a great read. It's inspiring and entertaining. Perfect mix! 

Weekend Review: Heart On My Sleeve

Heart on my Sleeve / Jeanne Beker
TO: Simon & Schuster, c2024. 
256 p.

This memoir by Canadian fashion icon Jeanne Beker was a delight. Unlike a traditional memoir, this is structured as a walk through memory, tied to specific pieces of clothing. It highlights how something we wear can carry history and family with it, beyond just being a piece of clothing or an accessory. I really liked this concept and the way it was carried out. She shares an item, then talks about how she got it and the resonances of the piece. Each chapter has a line drawing to illustrate it, drawn by her own artist daughter. And this book sounds just like she's talking to you - the style is intimate and authentic, highlighting both the glamorous parts of her career and her personal challenges. 

I've read her earlier memoirs (such as Finding Myself in Fashion), and some of the stories here are repeated from those earlier books, but still just as enjoyable. The chapters are short, but cover a range of life moments. From the satchel her parents brought with them when they immigrated as Holocaust survivors, containing the small amount of family items they still had, to a Chanel dress given to her by Karl Lagerfeld, this book moves from touching and serious to funny & fashion-related. The pace is good and the book shares so many elements of her life, from her parents, partners and children, to the many famous fashion people she met and befriended in her many years of hosting FashionTelevision. 

There are some great moments included, from the unexpected generosity of Karl Lagerfeld (one of my favourite stories from past books too) to her interviews with fashion greats or music luminaries like Paul McCartney, Keith Richards and more (she worked on MuchMusic before fashion). I really enjoyed the way she started with her wardrobe and let each piece draw out recollections - we all have the experience of knowing just when and where we wore something, and what the meaning of it was to us; some pieces that we've kept forever because of that, and some that we could never wear again. 

This covers fashion history, Canadian history (a fun story about Pierre Trudeau, for example), family stories, and traces the development of Canadian media in a way, too. I thought it was a great read, and one I'd recommend to anyone interested in fashion or Canadian women's lives - especially if you were a fan of FashionTelevision in the old days like me ;) I think it's also of interest to sewists because we really feel the connection to our clothing and can understand the concept of this book fully. Enjoyed this one! 

Weekend Review: Young Originals

Young Originals / Rebecca Jumper Matheson
Lubbock, TX: Texas Tech UP, c2015.
240 p.

This is a book about style, but in a very particular way -- it's all about the creation of a "teen" fashion category, created by American designer Emily Wilkens. 

In the early 40s, Wilkens arose from a career in fashion illustration and designing for children, to become a breakout success in the new area of teenage upscale ready to wear. She started out designing some stage costumes for a play in which the character laments being in between 'children' and 'junior miss' sizes for her clothing - Wilkens realized that this was a real life problem as well and set out to bridge that gap. 

She was very successful, both at designing and at connecting her business to opportunities like boutiques in department stores and lots of promotion. She was very active in the 40s and 50s, but kept working into the 80s, although later on she was more of a health/spa influencer, as I suppose we'd call it now. Her approach was focused on youth and health as the appeal of her clothing and of teens in general. Her aesthetic was the sporty, lean American look, throughout her career. Some of her prescriptive statements in an book aimed at teens that she wrote in the 60s doesn't sit well these days - she says, for example,  ‘All men admire a slender beautiful figure, and there’s no one thing that spoils a girl’s looks, fun and popularity as much as excess weight’. 

This book is really fascinating, however, as a study of a designer that is almost unknown today. It's comprehensive and includes many black and white images as well as a centre insert of some colour images. The author bases her research both in archives (press clippings, designs, etc) as well as on extant Wilkens pieces in various museum collections. The concept of teen fashion is well explored and there was quite a bit of fun information here that was new to me. While this is an academic book, it's written in an engaging manner for the interested reader. I'm glad I found it thanks to my library! 

 

Weekend Review: Dressing the Resistance

 

Dressing the Resistance: the visual language of 
protest through history / Camille Benda
NY: Princeton Architectural Press, c2021.
208 p.

I've been meaning to read this for quite a while; now is a good time for it. This is a wide ranging book of social protest via clothing and the signification of a piece of clothing (or lack of it). Benda explores many movements from across cultures, from 1970s anti-war protests to revolutionary France to farmer protests in India and much more. She's focused on style - how a look was chosen, what was the significance, and why a dress-oriented protest stood out. 

There are fascinating sections on the use of colour in various protests, from orange in Ukraine to pink in India. There are discussions of the use of gender expectations in clothing and how that could be subverted to make a point, as with the male protesters in India who donned women's saris during sit-ins or gatherings. Or of the use of a 'uniform' for protestors, to easily identify a stance and to create mass impact. I wasn't thrilled by the inclusion of far right protestors alongside those who try to make life better; there were a couple that slipped in, and although their visual impact is also notable, it's not what I think of as 'protest'. 

Colours and thematic dressing were in full force for UK suffragists in the last century, as they had white, purple and green as shared colours, and some wore dresses printed with newspaper articles to highlight their cause. I found the connection of craft with protest particularly interesting; Benda links handcraft like knitting and crochet, millinery or banner making, to various movements. 

This is a colourful book in itself, with many photos to illustrate her points. It's a pleasure to look through, with such a visual record of different protests over so many different issues. Overall I found it a good read with so much of interest to those who believe that clothing can be a key signifier of identity or communication. Benda also refers to many other fashion historians and their work throughout, so this could lead you to many more books to explore. Definitely worth picking this one up. 

Weekend Review: Taylor Swift Style

 

Taylor Swift Style / Sarah Chapelle
NY: St Martins Griffin, c2024.
352 p.

This book came in to my library recently and I thought I would check it out. I'm not a Swiftie - I don't know much about her songs or persona other than the general stuff everyone knows. So I thought it might be interesting to see how her style works for her. 

This book was written by Sarah Chapelle, a blogger who has been writing the blog Taylor Swift Style for over a decade. There is a note at the beginning that this book is not officially endorsed by Taylor Swift or her team, it's put together by this blogger and it is her perspective. 

I found it quite fascinating, as I was not familiar with Taylor Swift's varied looks or 'eras' by album. This book does a good job of laying things out chronologically and explaining each album and its matching style, along with Taylor's life circumstances around each one. I feel a lot more knowledgeable about Swift's work and career now, so I don't sound so out of it when talking to music fans ;) 

Chapelle also talks about the haircuts and makeup choices that follow the fashion, and how it all works together. There is discussion of  'easter eggs' even in Swift's fashion that will lead superfans to speculate on what's coming next. It's clear that Chapelle is one of those superfans and sometimes the text here gets a bit fangirly for my tastes, but overall it is very informative and knowledgeable and really interesting. 

I did enjoy most of this book, and the 200 photos included really make it. I would have liked to hear a little more about the fashion houses that Swift works with and find out more about that aspect, but I guess that would have to come from Swift's team in another book. I liked seeing the evolution of her style and the many examples of how she creates personas for each album, and how the fashion is a big part of her messaging. Also I found a couple of dresses that I'd love to recreate for myself!  

A fun read if you're into celebrity fashion and the way that clothes can tell a story. I was reminded of Dolly Parton's book Behind the Seams, and think these two are both engaging fashion stories. 

Going Down Memory Lane with Paper Dolls

When I was going through some boxes of old stuff recently, I came across a book of paper dolls that I had forgotten I ever had. How it has stayed with me this long, I'm not really sure! But it was a delight to take a look through it. They even had accessories like a picnic table & croquet set 😄

It was a gift when I was quite young; I really loved Holly Hobbie, Strawberry Shortcake and similar things when I was young -- this set of paper dolls falls into the same general area. I guess my style preferences were quite clear! 

There were four dolls, each slightly different, with colour themed outfits for each. I hadn't even punched out some of the outfits!

But the most delightful thing about finding this old book was that when I opened it, homemade outfits fell out. I had not remembered doing this at all, but I think my interest in clothing started early! Looking at these, I do recall that my Mom would have us tape a doll to the window, and then we could trace outfits around the shape, and spend a lot of time colouring them in and adding decorative details. I'm sure she was happy that we had something we were focused on for so long ;) 

Do you remember paper dolls? Or did you have another way you showed an early interest in clothing and design? 

Weekend Review: Private Label

 

Private Label / Kelly Yang
NY: HarperCollins, c2022.
404 p.

I wanted to read this one because of its link to fashion -- the main character, Serene, is the daughter of a fashion designer, Lily Lee. And the fashion house is a big part of the story. 

Serene is 17, still at high school, and she also works at her mother's business - interns, really. It's difficult to see how she manages both, timewise, but you just have to go with it. She's also dating a big blond surfer, one of the popular kids, and hangs out with the popular girls, even though she is the only Chinese person in her entire area. Until Lian Chen shows up. He's moved to this California town with his family, thanks to his Dad's new job. But his parents are quite traditional, and both he and his little sister spend most of their free time prepping for college entrance exams. Well, they're supposed to be prepping, but his sister skips lots of her prep to go to a dance studio, and Lian is trying to become a stand-up comic. 

The good things about this story are the main characters - they are interesting and developed well. Their struggles with being Chinese in a bland white California town are clearly drawn, even if some of the other characters are a bit one dimensional in order to keep the story going. Serene's boyfriend is obviously a jerk right from the beginning, but she goes along with it. When she meets Lian there is an instant attraction but it's not really explained much, and it's hard to see how someone who has worked so hard to be one of the popular crowd would just suddenly flip to dating one of the very out crowd. Plus, how does she even have time for dating?? 

Lots of issues; her mother is diagnosed with cancer, and names Serene as the new head of Lily Lee, despite their investors' objections. The company investors want to sell; Lily wants the company to stay small and independent, and a couple of the board/investors are pretty cartoon villianish. Serene is also trying to find her birth father, in China, while dealing with her snobby social circles and her soon-to-be ex posting nudes of her online. Meanwhile, Lian is trying to develop his dreams of stand-up, against his parents' very clear expectations, and he's dealing with bullying and loneliness in America. Plus trying to date Serene on the q.t. without his parents finding out. 

I found it a quick read with some interesting themes. But I did feel like there was a bit too much going on at times, and also that the romantic teenager elements clashed a bit with the Serene-as-business-maven parts. I'm not sure that both were equally believable. But as a teen read, it's quick and with lots of glamour, teen angst and rebellion to attract readers. A light summer pick with some more intense themes included. 

Weekend Review: The Missing Pieces of Nancy Moon

 

The Missing Pieces of Nancy Moon / Sarah Steele
London: Headline, c2020.
416 p.

This is a typical kind of British family saga, in that there are multiple generations involved, family secrets, and a young woman at the heart of it all. But it's also particularly fascinating since it includes two women who are fashion sewists, lots of talk of dresses, fabrics and vintage sewing -- the structure of the book depends on it. 

As the book begins, Flo is at her grandmother's funeral. She was mostly raised by her gentle grandparents, so this is particularly wrenching for her. Also, her marriage is cracking up due to a miscarriage she had in the last year. All the sorrow is getting to be too much for her. 

She decides to stay at her grandmother's house after the funeral for some alone time, and wandering about, looking for an old sewing machine she knows must be there somewhere (Flo is one of the sewists in the book) she stumbles across a box of vintage patterns in her grandmother's bedroom closet. Flo has never seen it before, and as she opens it, she discovers a seamstress named Nancy - who is unknown to her. 

Nancy is from her grandmother's generation; the reader certainly knows a lot more about Nancy Moon than Flo does. It's a long trek for her to find out more, and that is what the book is all about. Flo's husband goes to American for a teaching gig, leaving her at loose ends; with the encouragement of her friend Jem, she decides to travel across Europe, following Nancy's path as much as she can from what she can decipher from the sewing patterns, which have postcards, ticket stubs and fabric tucked into the envelopes. She also decides she is going to duplicate the dresses that Nancy made so that she can wear them on her trip. 

While we don't see or hear much about Flo's process of making the dresses (pretty quickly I'd say) we do follow her to Paris, and then to Venice and beyond, as she tries to replicate Nancy's movements and research where and what and why. Each section, based on a location, moves back and forth between Flo's era and Nancy's, and we get to engage with both of them and their varied experience in different decades. It's also interesting to read it this way, as the reader can follow Flo's investigations and see whether she's on the right track or not. 

I enjoyed the descriptions of the dresses that open some of the chapters, and the discussion of style and fabrics and individuals who are highlighted because of the statements they make with their wardrobe choices. The author has included a gallery on her website that shows all the vintage covers of the patterns she discusses in the book, if you want a good look at the outfits that both Nancy and Flo are making. 

There a few moments in this book in which coincidences strain credulity, but overall it was an engaging read with some good character development. And the settings are also quite lovely to read about! If you like books about family secrets and sewing, I'd definitely recommend you give this one a try. 

Weekend Review: Mrs. Harris Goes to Paris

 

Mrs. Harris Goes to Paris / Paul Gallico
NY: Bloomsbury, 2022, c1963
320 p.

I've always known about this book but didn't read it until recently; I finally picked it up when this movie cover edition crossed my desk at the library. It's a fairly short book but it was a delight to read. It was published in the 60s but there isn't too much in it that is terribly dated to ruin it, which is always nice. 

Mrs. Harris is a London char-woman who is always positive and down-to-earth. She has her regulars who she cleans for; some are lovely and some are, well, not so much. But when she's cleaning Lady Dant's apartment, she sees the most beautiful thing she's ever seen in her life: a Dior dress. She determines at that moment that she is going to have one, despite how ridiculous it sounds. 

And so she embarks on a savings journey, squirrelling away every extra penny and even going to the track. After two years of determination, she heads to Paris on her quest. But there is so much she doesn't know, like that you don't just walk into Dior like it's Woolworths and pick up a dress off the rack. But fortune favours the bold, and despite barriers in her way, she is put in the path of so many people who decide to help this charming lady. And she passes any help and good fortune she has on to others, too, taking joy in the small things of life and valuing love and connection. 

There are some events near the end that I wished the author had decided differently about, but in the main this is a charming book with a sense of joy and community, leaving you with a definite feel-good vibe. I thought it was full of the delight of Paris and of course of Dior and dressmaking in general -- there are employees and customers of Dior who befriend and help Mrs. Harris, and even a cameo by the great man himself. There are dreamy descriptions of dresses and fabrics and ateliers, as well as of the beautiful streets and markets of Paris. It's so lovely. 

I enjoyed this one so much that I immediately watched the new movie. Unfortunately it doesn't have the same uplifting charm; it highlights a little more of the disappointments and dissatisfactions in the story. It was a good film and Leslie Manville was great as Mrs. Harris, but there is no real 'edge' to the book while there is in the film, and perhaps it was because I had just finished the book two days before the film that I wasn't completely taken with it. I'd say that with this one, as with most book to film experiences, be sure to read the book first if you can ;) This edition also included a second novel, Mrs. Harris Goes to New York, but that one is missable. There is none of the charm of dressmaking and Paris, and it definitely loses something for it, becoming more sentimental than delightful. Stick with Paris and Dior and you'll enjoy the reading!

Weekend Review: Willi Smith, Street Couture

 

Willi Smith, Street Couture / Alexandra Cunningham Cameron, ed.
NY: Rizzoli Electa, c2020
256 p.

Willi Smith: Street Couture is a companion to the exhibition Willi Smith: Street Couture, which was very briefly on view in person at Cooper Hewitt in 2020 but has a full online exhibit to experience!

It's a great read in its own right, and it was enjoyable to pore over the images. 

It's made up of 21 different sections, plus an introduction and timeline, and each chapter takes on a different aspect of Willi Smith and his fashion career. From personal recollections to examinations of his design aesthetic, retail growth, creation of sewing patterns, to even a look at the graphic design used by his company Willi Wear, there is a huge variety of intriguing info laid out here. There are also lots of images; Rizzoli does these kinds of books so well. It's a great overview of Willi Smith and the ways in which his designs were shaped, sold and have remained so fresh. 

I really became fascinated with Willi Smith earlier this year when I used a vintage Butterick pattern to make my project for the Black History Month Pattern Designer Challenge. I loved this pattern, and had known a bit about him but I felt that I wanted to learn more. This was a superb resource to do just that! 

I enjoyed the range and the organization of the book. There are discussions of his personal life, his business(es), partners, the actual clothes, his design visions, and a very relevant chapter on his work with McCalls and Butterick and why he believed that sewing patterns were an important part of his business. In that chapter, the authors point out that Willi Smith's mother and grandmother both sewed and he saw that you could be fashionable without being rich -- his position was that his designs were for the everyday person on the street, that they should be accessible. And as part of that, he respected home sewers. In fact, his viewpoint is quoted in this chapter: 

Smith respected the home sewers’ awareness of their bodies and willingness to take risks, and saw this audience as more intimately connected to fashion as a means of individual expression than the ready-to-wear shoppers who followed the colors and trends of the runway. He understood how choosing the pattern, selecting a custom fabric, and assembling the full garment allowed many possibilities for invention.  (you can read the full article about his patterns at the Willi Smith Archive)

I also appreciated that the book covers his strong relationships and support from both his sister Tookie (a model) and his business partner Laurie Mallet. The women in his life were huge supporters who helped him succeed, and it is acknowledged and shown here. There is also a frankness about his personal life as a gay black man in the 80s, which is such a key element of his work as well. And it affected his career, as he was one of the many victims of the AIDS epidemic, dying at far too young an age. 

I'd definitely recommend this book, as it is full of information, personal anecdote, fashion talk, and wonderful images. And if you can't find it, do check the online exhibit as much of it can also be found there. Enjoy! 

Weekend Review: Dress Code

 

Dress Code / Véronique Hyland
NY: HarperCollins, c2022.
288 p.

This is a book of essays by a fashion journalist, one which I picked up mainly because I was intrigued by the mention of "Millennial Pink" on the cover -- I hadn't realized that this journalist coined the term. It's a phrase that always makes me think of Connie Willis' novel Bellwether, about a fad researcher, in which "PoMo Pink" plays a big role.  

In any case, I ended up really enjoying this collection. It's broken up into four sections: 

• Underpinnings: Why We Wear What We Wear (five essays on trends, themes in fashion, fads and influence etc)
  
  
• The Top Layer: Fashion and the Wider World (four essays on how fashion shows up in everyday life, and how it's used in presenting the self in many settings)
  
  
• High Heels: Dressing Up for the Patriarchy (three essays on the male gaze, fashion in women's lives vs in men's, and politics and fashion)
  
  
• Moon Boots & Jumpsuits: The Future of Fashion ( three essays on how we are all dressing the same way, in life and in work settings, and musings on bodily expectations for women)

I found many of these intriguing, and the book was a lot more focused on the ways that fashion affects everyday life than I'd expected. From uniforms to dressing for court, she really digs into the way we can not opt out of "fashion" in life. There is also more political content than I'd anticipated, and it really brought up some great points. Patriarchy, sexual exploitation, equality -- lots of interesting conversation going on. There is also, of course, fashion oriented talk, like the discussion of how Millennial Pink started to appear everywhere (like on the cover of this book!) But even that has a deeper, societal meaning than simply being a colour fad. 

I enjoyed the way the book was organized, and thought the themes were developed well. There were one or two pieces that I found less engaging, but overall, there was something to discover in each one. There is history to back up her theses, there is discussion of contemporary events and fashions, there is politics and forecasting -- just about everything. I'd recommend reading this book bit by bit, not all at once, as it's easier to think about the essay you've just finished if you give it a bit of space. It's a good one to pick up between other books, to read one or maybe two essays. 

It is also very readable; the author is a journalist, not an academic, so her work does move along quickly and keep your interest. The essays are not very long so overall it's an accessible read that touches on topics that you don't have be a fashionista to understand and be interested in. It's more about fashion in many corners of daily life, so I think many readers would enjoy this one. I'd recommend it to anyone interested in how fashion threads its way through our lives. 

Weekend Review: By Her Own Design

 

By Her Own Design / Piper Huguley
NY: William Morrow, c2022.
367 p.

This is a novel based on the life of Ann Lowe, a Black designer who sewed for high society; she's probably best known for Jacqueline Kennedy's wedding dress. However, 'best' known is still not widely known, and when author Piper Huguley discovered her story she decided to write a novel to spread her story. 

Huguley has written three earlier novels, all romance, and that shows in this book. The first half of the book, as Ann is growing up and experiencing her two marriages (she was first married at 12 years old), is rich and dense with detail and emotion. The genesis of her desire to be a designer, and the development of her sewing skills at the feet of her mother and grandmother, is all laid out, explaining Ann's devotion to her dreams of being an artist. The relationships between Ann and her mother, grandmother, and sister are deeply drawn, followed with the appeal of her two husbands and then her love for her only son -- all these elements are compelling reading. 

Once Ann has shaken off the relationships that are holding her back, though, and sets a course for her new life in New York, the story moves more quickly, skimming over a lot of the many storied years Ann spent running various shops and designing for a multitude of famous people. There are highlights of some of the most dramatic moments of her later life - the Kennedy wedding dress and a closely averted disaster, the loss of family members, a retrospective gala for her in her later years -- and each moment is certainly affecting. But the second half focuses less on her personal life than the beginning. 

Still, I really enjoyed this book. The writing brought this woman to life, and evokes an era in which her success was much more unlikely than otherwise. Huguley captures small things that really illuminate the wider world, and Ann is a great character to follow through the many changes across the 20th century. And even better, if you're intrigued, you can look into more about the real Ann Lowe and see some of her work after you've finished the novel. I think this is a great introduction to her life and story, and would recommend for any fashion lovers. 

Weekend Review: Clothes-Pegs

 

Clothes-Pegs / Susan Scarlett
London: Dean Street Press, 2022, c1939.
206 p.

This is a reprint of the first romance by Susan Scarlett, the pen name of well known author Noel Streatfield. She wrote a dozen romances under this name, and I was obviously drawn to this one! 

It's the story of Annabel Brown, a nice girl from a middle class English family who works as a seamstress at Bertna's, a higher end fashion house, to help with family finances. Annabel is also young, slender and lovely, which works in her favour when one of the mannequins (models) from downstairs quits, and the owner needs a quick substitution. She decides to pull Annabel from the sewing room to the front lines, so to speak, and gives her a quick training to become of one of the four models showing off new collections. 

Two of these models are catty, the other is fairly mysterious but kind to Annabel. And on one of Annabel's first turns in her new job, she sees wealthy Lord David de Bett in the audience and falls for him at first sight. Of course she also catches his eye, despite the fact that he's there with the Honourable Octavia Glaye, who isn't very honourable in real life; she is really quite awful! This scene reminds me a little of the beginning of The Grace Kelly Dress by Brenda Janowitz. 

A cross-class romance ensues, with ups and downs and misunderstandings, as in all good romance novels. But Annabel's goodness overcomes class lines, as well as David's obsession with the madonna/whore complex. He is the sticking point in this book for me; he's not good enough for Annabel, jumping to unsubstantiated conclusions about Annabel near the end and only relenting when he finds out the truth accidentally from someone else. It felt a little icky for a reader of today, really. Other than his character, though, this story was charming - the Brown family is the heart of it and Annabel's work as a seamstress and as a mannequin are both frothy with clothing description and the way clothes make a woman feel. Bertna's was a delight to read about and while the romance felt a little clunky, the rest of it - especially the family interactions - was enjoyable and engaging. Definitely worth a look. I found this one through my library's online collection so perhaps you will be able to as well! 

Weekend Review: Finding Myself in Fashion

 

Finding Myself in Fashion / Jeanne Beker
TO: Penguin, c2011
230 p.

Canadian readers will recognize this author immediately! Jeanne Beker is an icon in the Canadian fashion scene, as the long-time host of FashionTelevision among many other roles.

This memoir from a decade ago covers 40 years of her work in the tv world -- and this is an interesting mix, because it's about fashion but really more about fashion from the perspective of a journalist than someone on the inside of design house. It sheds another light on this world. 

Jeanne was always energetic and ambitious, and she chronicles her youthful character and escapades that led to her work in theatre (she's a trained mime!), radio, and then eventually tv. She moved into fashion journalism after working in the music field at MTV for a while, and that gritty energy helped her make FashionTelevision into a more interesting show than a simple model host might have. Plus she had all sorts of interesting connections from her earlier work to bring into their show. 

I really enjoyed reading about the work angle of this book -- it was fascinating to see her career trajectory, and how she also lost her job due to ageism -- still happening in the tv world for sure! But she found other fashion focused work to move to. She shared stories of meeting fashion greats like Karl Lagerfeld or Alexander McQueen, and shared how her down-to-earth persistence got her access and built relationships. The story of how she was sent to interview Karl early on, while hugely pregnant, was quite entertaining -- and she got an original Chanel out of it! 

The book also talks a lot about her personal romantic relationships, from the breakdown of her marriage to the many dates and relationships she had after that. I wasn't as interested in this element of the book at all, but these stories do round out the picture of her life and how her work affected all parts of it. 

If you want a look at the fashion world from another angle, and you also fondly remember watching FT and Jeanne Beker, this might interest you too.