Fabulous Fashion: From Dior’s New Look to Now
Philadelphia Museum of Art
October 16, 2018–March 3, 2019
If you ask art lovers about the term haute couture, most would likely resort to a list of familiar adjectives to set the visual tone of their reply. Stylish, elegant, classy, exquisite, sensual, hip, sassy, glamorous, etc., etc. Describing "fashion" is easier than achieving a satisfactory definition.
All of the above "superlatives" are applicable to to the Philadelphia Museum of Art's just-opened exhibition. Fabulous Fashion: From Dior’s New Look to Now is a superb exhibit, a feast for eye and mind.
Ed Voves, Photo (2018) View of the entrance to the Fabulous Fashion: From Dior’s New Look to Now exhibit at the Philadelphia Museum of Art
There is an element of irony to the term haute couture, certainly relating to its second word. To American ears at least, couture denotes Old World sophistication. The basic meaning is quite mundane, a very "work-a-day" French word.
To be exact, a French haute couture garment is a unique, hand-fitted dress. However, the incredible amount of work involved in a high fashion "ready made" garment makes the distinction less meaningful than one would think.
High fashion sewing, in either form, entails a great deal of meticulous work: creating patterns, handling fabrics, cutting, stitching, fitting and all the other delicate tasks involved in turning a fashion designer's concepts into reality. It is this "sewing" which makes these dresses "works" of art.
In the case of the New Look of 1947, Christian Dior and his dedicated staff helped reawaken a sense of beauty in a war-ravaged world. Other designers, stressing femininity and romanticism, followed suit. Fashion tastes have certainly changed since then and the Sexual Revolution has challenged some of our conceptions of beauty. Yet, when we look to the models coming down the runways, we still expect to see beautiful people and beautiful clothing and our expectations are usually met.
Ed Voves, Photo (2018) Kristina Haugland, curator of Fabulous Fashion
Kristina Haugland is the Le Vine Associate Curator of Costume and Textiles at the Philadelphia Museum of Art. She organized Fabulous Fashion along thematic lines, much as a fashion house does when a new collection is introduced. Wisely, she begins with a comparison of two signature House of Dior ensembles.
The New Look began in 1947 with a striking two-piece dress (below, right) designed by Christian Dior. The trim waste and full skirt emphasized traditional feminine attributes. Made from pale pink silk and satin (which looks burnished gold in the exhibit), Dior's dress proclaimed that the wartime shortages of rich materials were a phenomenon of the past.
Ed Voves, Photo (2018) Fall/Winter Suit,1998, designed by John Galliano (left)
Two-Piece Dress, Spring 1948, designed by Christian Dior
According to the insightful exhibition text, Dior's New Look dress "redefined high fashion’s feminine ideal. To emphasize his new shape, the shirt has diagonal shoulder seams and stiffened tails that tuck in, while the skirt has a stiff lining and bands of topstitching."
By comparison, the House of Dior Fall/Winter ensemble from 1998 stressed modern urban living, combining jaunty flair with a sense of luxury. A "ready-to-wear" outfit, it was created from a wide range of materials, including dyed wool to resemble a fur collar. A lot of effort and skill went into this process, undercutting any negative comparisons about using "faux" versus organic components.
Ed Voves, Photo (2018) Tina Leser's Sea Fan Fantasy Evening Dress,1947
A surprising number of twentieth century fashion designers worked or were born in Philadelphia. Their creations are featured prominently in the exhibition. I was particularly impressed by the artistry of Tina Leser's hand-painted "underwater" design of large sea fans on a billowing blue blouse and skirt.
Ed Voves, Photo (2018) Detail of Tina Leser's Sea Fan Fantasy Evening Dress,1947
Made the same year as Dior's "New Look" dress, Leser's Sea Fan Fantasy shows how trends in fashion respond to wide-spread feelings or emotions, in this case a yearning for adventure and romance after the austerity and regimentation of the war years.
Ed Voves, Photo (2018) Gallery View of Fabulous Fashion exhibit Ralph Rucci's 2001 Stingray Swan evening dress is at center
The full, flowing skirt continues to have a long life, outlasting the "conventional" 1950's by many years. Another Philadelphia-born designer, Ralph Rucci designed the Stingray Swan evening dress for the Chado 2001 spring/summer collection. Shown in striking midnight blue at center, this dress covers everything that the "mini" skirt left bare. Yet, it is one of the sexiest evening gowns of the Fabulous Fashion show.
Another sensational dress demonstrates that an eye for color and integrity of design can work with a short skirt or a long one. In 1952, Ellsworth Kelly utilized the hard-edged color blocks that had figured in his breakthrough painting the previous year, Colors for a Large Wall. The 1952 work was a set of panels made from brightly dyed cotton.
When he had completed his fabric art creation, Kelly had leftover material. With the help of designer, Anne Weber, he juxtaposed leftover strips of color on a simple, yet elegant sleeveless dress that reached down to the calves. Kelly declared his intention of of "getting color off the wall and having it walk around the room.”
Ed Voves, Photo (2018) Gallery view showing Brazilian designer, Francisco Costa's reinterpretation of a 1952 dress based on artwork by Ellsworth Kelly
The original dress based on Kelly's design has not survived. In 2013, Brazilian designer, Francisco Costa, reinterpreted the Fifties' classic with a much shorter hem. The result is dazzling in its simplicity, making it one of the most remarkable works on view in Fabulous Fashion.
The 1950's has an undeserved reputation as a "gray decade." Over and over again, when you look at the dates of the works in the exhibition, many of the most colorful and innovative dresses are "Fifties" creations. I was very impressed by a sensual, body-hugging evening dress designed by another Philadelphia-born fashion artist. James Galanos created this sparkling tartan gown in 1957 from beads and sequins meticulously sewn on sheer silk crepe. There is not a hint of being "dated" with this truly classic evening dress.
Ed Voves, Photo (2018) Evening Dress,1957, designed by James Galanos
Kristina Haugland's thematic approach gives a powerful assist to art lovers like myself who are not especially knowledgeable about fashion. It also promotes a "dialog" among like-minded designers and their dresses.
Ed Voves, Photo (2018) Fashion designs (left to right) by:
Norman Norell, Todd Oldham, Geoffrey Beene and Hubert de Givenchy
The array of "metallic" dresses actually works better as a group than would have been the case had each been singled-out for attention. Here four gifted designers - Norman Norell, Todd Oldham, Geoffrey Beene and Hubert de Givenchy - used unorthodox materials like metallized plastic sequins and rhinestones on silk to create fashion "statements" which are also beautiful, wearable dresses.
The Fabulous Fashion exhibition is anchored by a multi-tiered stage which brilliantly evokes the setting of fashion shows. Haugland and the exhibition set designers further enhance the "star quality" of the exhibit by the masterful synchronization of lights.
Ed Voves, Photo (2018) Gallery views the lighting effects of the multi-tiered fashion display of the Fabulous Fashion exhibit at the Philadelphia Museum of Art
Ed Voves, Photo (2018) "Photo-op" at Fabulous Fashion: From Dior’s New Look to Now
The inspiration which empowers the world of fashion, the "haute" of haute couture, is brilliantly explored in this wonderful exhibition at the Philadelphia Museum of Art.
The Philadelphia Museum of Art is one of the few American museums with a major costume and textile department. As a result, Haugland and her colleagues were able to mount this major reappraisal of twentieth century fashion exclusively with dresses, hats and accessories from their own museum's extensive collection. Not one item was loaned from another institution.
You don't have to be a fashionista to crave further exhibitions like Fabulous Fashion: From Dior’s New Look to Now. And you don't have to be a prophet to make a prediction that we will be seeing many more such shows come down the "runway" at the Philadelphia Museum of Art.
***
Text and photos: Copyright of Ed Voves, all rights reserved
Introductory Image:
Gallery view of Fabulous Fashion: From Dior’s New Look to Now at the Philadelphia Museum of Art. Photo shows the "Color and Pattern" section of exhibition.
Ed Voves, Photo (2018) Gallery view of Fabulous Fashion: From Dior’s New Look to Now at the Philadelphia Museum of Art. Digital film projection of fashion shows dating to the period covered by the exhibition.
Ed Voves, Photo (2018) Kristina Haugland, curator of Fabulous Fashion: From Dior’s New Look to Now at the Philadelphia Museum of Art.
Ed Voves, Photo (2018) Fall/Winter Suit,1998, designed by John Galliano (left);
Two-Piece Dress, Spring 1948, designed by Christian Dior.
Ed Voves, Photo (2018) Tina Leser's Sea Fan Fantasy Evening Dress, 1947, from the collection of the Philadelphia Museum of Art.
Ed Voves, Photo (2018) Gallery View of Fabulous Fashion exhibit. Ralph Rucci's 2001 Stingray Swan evening dress is at center
Ed Voves, Photo (2018) Gallery View showing Brazilian designer Francisco Costa's reinterpretation of a 1952 dress, based on an artwork of Ellsworth Kelly. Dress was made by Calvin Klein Collection. Cotton/nylon/spandex double weave. Gift of the artist to the Philadelphia Museum of Art, 2015-5-1.
Ed Voves, Photo (2018) Evening Dress, 1957, designed by James Galanos (American, 1924–2016). Beads and sequins on sheer silk crepe. Philadelphia Museum of Art, Gift of the designer, 1957-103-1
Ed Voves, Photo (2018) Gallery View of the Philadelphia Museum of Art exhibit, Fabulous Fashion: From Dior’s New Look to Now. On view, left to right, are dresses designed by: Norman Norell, Evening Dress, ca. 1967–70; Todd Oldham, “Mirror” Evening Dress, Fall 1992; Geoffrey Beene, “Mercury” Evening Dress, Fall/Winter 1994–95; Hubert de Givenchy, Evening Dress, Fall 1982.
Ed Voves, Photo (2018) Gallery views the lighting effects of the multi-tiered fashion display of the Fabulous Fashion exhibit at the Philadelphia Museum of Art
Ed Voves, Photo (2018) "Photo-op" at Philadelphia Museum of Art's Fabulous Fashion: From Dior’s New Look to Now exhibition.
No comments:
Post a Comment