autumn newsletter 2014 - dressandtextilespecialists.org.uk · the pool of talent in the uk and...
TRANSCRIPT
Autumn Newsletter 2014
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Contents Page
News 3 – 4
Exhibitions and Events 5 - 21
Books 21-25
Front cover image: detail from a man’s waistcoat, originally from Malta c. 1880. Part of the Chichester collection at Arlington Court.
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News
HANNAH SUTHERLAND WINS QEST SCHOLARSHIP FOR BRITISH CRAFTMANSHIP Hannah Sutherland, 23 from Derby has been awarded a £14, 385 Queen Elizabeth Scholarship to enable her to train as a Textile Conservator. Hannah was presented with her certificate on 3rd June 2014 by Alec McQuinn, President of the Royal Warrant Holders Association. The Queen Elizabeth Scholarship Trust (QEST) was endowed by the Royal Warrant Holders Association to advance education in modern and traditional crafts and trades in the UK. Scholarships of up to £18,000 are open to men and women of all ages and are awarded twice a year. Since 1991, the Trust has awarded £2,435,285 to 335 craftsmen and women aged between 17 and 50+ to develop their skills through study, training and work experience. Fifteen awards were made this spring and an additional five artisans have been appointed QEST Apprentices. The total funding given this Spring was £203,385. Hannah is a skilled needlewoman, knitter and a textile maker with a passion for costume in film, theatre and culture. Originally from Derby she studied Art and Design at Burton College and then graduated from Wimbledon College of Art (UAL) with a First Class degree in Costume Interpretation. Following an internship at the Victoria and Albert Museum, London, Hannah was invited back to work as an Outside Professional Assistant on various fashion exhibitions, including The Glamour of Italian Fashion. The QEST funding will ensure Hannah can take one of eight places in the MPhil Textile Conservation course at the Textile Conservation Centre, University of Glasgow. It is the only course in the UK specialising in the conservation of textile objects. Hannah hopes to fulfil her ambition to work either in the USA or the UK as a specialist in conservation and the display of garments. QEST, the charitable arm of the Royal Warrant Holders Association, was established in 1990 with money contributed by its members, to mark the 90th birthday of Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother and the 150th anniversary of the founding of the Association. The Trustees look for well thought out projects, which will contribute to
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the pool of talent in the UK and reflect the excellence of British craftsmanship as symbolised by the Royal Warrant of Appointment. Application forms for QEST Scholarships can be downloaded from the QEST website: www.qest.org.uk. Background information: Queen Elizabeth Scholarship Trust: www.qest.org.uk
Royal Warrant Holders Association: www.royalwarrant.org Additional information: Hannah Sutherland – [email protected], hannahsuthers.com 07828 319910
Costume Photographer Required Dorset County Museum (DCM) is organising a costume exhibition for 2018. The project will cover a time period from the 1790s to 1928 and will bring together clothing and images from DCM’s costume collection, as well as loans. We are looking for an experienced photographer of costume and accessories to photograph a small selection garments and accessories for pre-publicity images to publicise the exhibition. The work would take place between October 2014 and February 2015. For more information or an informal chat about the role, please contact Lucy Johnston Dorset County Museum High West Street Dorchester Dorset DT1 1XA Tel: 07777667707 or email [email protected]
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Exhibitions and events
London
Dress and Textile Specialists Conference 2014
Cloth: Past, Present and Future. 25th -26th September at the Clothworkers’ Hall and Centre, London
Please note that booking for our annual conference has now closed.
Early Textiles Study Group – 14th conference Crafting Textiles from the Bronze Age to AD 1600: A tribute to Peter Collingwood 10-11 October 2014 Franks Room, Wellcome Collection Conference Centre, 183 Euston Road, London NW1 2BE For updated programme and booking form: www.earlytextilesstudygroup.org For other enquiries please contact: Frances Pritchard Conference Organiser Whitworth Art Gallery, The University of Manchester Oxford Road, Manchester, M15 6ER, UK Email: [email protected] Royal School of Needlework, Hampton Court Palace, East Molesey, Surrey KT8 9AU www.royal-needlework.org.uk Or Contact Belinda Egginton T: +44(0)20 3166 6941 Inspired by the Garden 8th September 2014 to 20th March 2015. The Royal School of Needlework (RSN) will be exhibiting a display of embroideries with a garden theme. The exhibition takes place in the RSN Studio at Hampton Court Palace. Pre-booking is essential so please go to the website or contact Belinda Egginton.
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Almost since the start of embroidery, capturing flowers and the natural world has been an irresistible subject for stitch. Embroidery lends itself perfectly to capturing the textures, colours, shapes and movement of nature and on show will be beautiful pieces of work including traditional floral interpretations and a host of more unusual embroidery subjects from vegetables and fruit to fungi. The exhibition will feature historic work from the RSN Collection together with current embroideries by RSN students and tutors - all inspired by the natural world using a wide variety of stitched techniques. Historical pieces date from the 18th century and the exhibition will come right up-to-date with pieces submitted in Summer 2014 for the RSN Degree, Certificate and Diploma courses. Pieces in the exhibition will include the silk shading technique, also known as ‘painting with a needle’, as well as canvaswork, blackwork, metal thread embroidery, crewelwork, raised embroidery and more. We will also be exhibiting at the three autumn Knitting and Stitching Shows. We’ll be showing work by RSN Certificate, Diploma, Future Tutors and Degree students as well as demonstrating embroidery and running Learning Curve workshops in all three venues in Blackwork and Mountmellick Whitework. Come and visit our stands at • 8 -12 October - Alexandra Palace, London (Stand TGC1 in the West Hall) • 30 October - 2 November RDS Dublin (Stand TG6) • 20 - 23 November, HIC Harrogate (Stand C290) Advance booking for the workshops is essential through the show’s website: www.theknittingandstitchingshow.com
For Worship & Glory at Ely Cathedral: 4 to 28 February 2015 A unique exhibition of Ecclesiastical Embroidery from the collections of the Royal School of Needlework and Ely Cathedral Monday – Saturday | 9am – 4pm and Sunday | 12noon – 4pm Price £8.00 | Student £2.50 (includes Cathedral entry) Children under 16 free when accompanied by an adult
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More information at www.elycathedral.org For bookings email: [email protected] or T: +44(0)1353 660349
Textile Society's London Antique Textile Fair Sun 12th October 2014 10.30am - 4.30pm (trade from 9.30) Chelsea Old Town Hall Kings Road, London, SW3 5EE Our London fair is becoming well established now, and is sure to build on the success of previous years. Its success is so important as it allows us to continue with our programme of bursaries and awards that support students, museums and others working in textiles. In a short period of time this annual fair has become a firm favourite with designers, stylists, collectors and the many people who enjoy antique textiles of all types. The fair has dealers from the UK and Europe who will be offering a vast range of quality textiles and costumes and related items. There will be wonderful ethnic fabrics to decorate your home, vintage clothes and accessories to party in, antique costumes, textiles and trims to treasure forever and much more for you to enjoy. Textile Society's 32nd Annual Conference Textiles, Communication and Politics 7 Nov - 9 Nov 2014 Wellcome Centre, Euston Road, London Our 32nd conference, which takes place over the weekend of Remembrance Sunday, in the centenary year of the First World War, will explore the theme of textiles and politics. Visit www.textilesociety.org.uk for further information. Alke Schmidt: Tangled Yarns William Morris Gallery, Lloyd Park, Forest Road, London, E17 4PP 020 8496 4390 www.wmgallery.org.uk The Gallery is open Wednesday to Sunday, 10am - 5pm; admission is free.
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Wednesday 15 October 2014 – Sunday 25 January 2015 A new exhibition at the William Morris Gallery this autumn will explore the politics and morality of the textile industry and cotton trade, from the 18th century to the present day. Each work in Tangled Yarns, a specially commissioned show by Walthamstow-based artist Alke Schmidt, examines a different episode in the industry’s complex - and often brutal – history, combining found fabrics with painting, stitch or print. The earliest story is that of the violent campaign by English weavers against imported Indian cotton in the early 18th century, when gangs attacked women wearing patterned cotton gowns or petticoats. Elsewhere, classic Morris prints have been subverted to remind us how Morris & Co, through its supply chain, was linked to the cotton mills of 19th century Lancashire. Recent events explored by Schmidt include the collapse of the Rana Plaza factory building, which killed 1,138 Bangladeshi garment workers. Using both narrative and more abstract approaches, Schmidt reveals how the trade is intertwined with issues of race and gender, exploitation and violence. Each piece incorporates a different fabric, chosen for its association with the story being told and used as a canvas, sculptural medium or object in itself. Schmidt deliberately cultivates the tension between the works’ thought-provoking subject matter and their delicate, often decorative, appearance. Explaining the background to the show, Schmidt said: “The initial idea was to relate working conditions in the British textile industry during Morris’s lifetime to those in the industry today. But once I started researching the history of the cotton trade, I stumbled upon other compelling stories that I just couldn’t let go.” Schmidt is publishing a blog to run alongside the exhibition: https://www.a-n.co.uk/blogs/tangled-yarns Events at the Gallery Is fashion still to die for? (panel discussion) Wednesday 12 November 2014, from 7pm Free, booking required Eighteen months after the Rana Plaza collapse, what has changed in the way fashion is produced and sold? And what can industry, governments, campaigners and consumers do to help improve working conditions? Panel includes representatives from Labour Behind the Label, Source and the Ethical Fashion Forum. Talking Textiles – Fair Fashion? (ethical fashion workshops for GCSE/BTEC students) Wednesdays 5, 12, 19 and 26 November 2014, 10am-12.30pm Led by Schmidt and fashion lecturer Fenella Magnus, students will explore the issues behind high street fashion and how artists use fashion and design to create a political message. There will be a showcase event at the Gallery to display finished work. Stitching in Time – a cameraless film workshop Saturday 17 January 2015, 10.30am – 4.30pm To co-incide with Tangled Yarns, this hands-on workshop will explore how artists have used stitching onto film as a way of articulating labour processes and the politics of cloth. Participants will experiment with the technique, using needle and thread to make ‘cameraless films’. No previous experience required. Led by no.w.here and filmmaker Rosalind Fowler.
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Victoria & Albert Museum, Cromwell Street, London SW7 http://www.vam.ac.uk/ Wedding Dresses 1775-2014. 3 May 2014 - 15 March 2015. The exhibition will trace the development of the fashionable white wedding dress and its treatment by key fashion designers such as Charles Frederick Worth, Norman Hartnell, Charles James, John Galliano, Christian Lacroix, Vivienne Westwood and Vera Wang offering a panorama of fashion over the last two centuries. The exhibition will highlight the histories of the dresses, revealing fascinating details about the lives of the wearers and offering an intimate insight into their circumstances and fashion choices. http://www.vam.ac.uk/b/blog/here-come-brides Fashion and Textile Museum, 83 Bermondsey Street, London SE1 3XF T: 020 7407 8664 | E: [email protected]
Knitwear in Fashion – Chanel to Westwood 19 September 2014 – 18 January 2015 Inspirational vintage fashion knitwear from the 20th century. Highlights include 1920s Chanel jersey, 1930s woollen swimwear, 1970s Bill Gibb and conceptual garments from 1980s and 90s designers Comme des Garçons, Vivienne Westwood and Julien MacDonald. An exciting combination of famous names and visually exciting pieces, the exhibition charts the influence of art movements Pop, Punk and Deconstruction alongside new knitwear technologies and design innovation.
The South East.
FASHION STATEMENTS, Romantic, Outrageous and Classic fashion. 20th September 2014 to the 5th September 2015 Chertsey Museum, 33 Windsor Street, Chertsey, Surrey KT16 8AT Tel. 01932 565764. www.chertseymuseum.org
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A themed exhibition which draws on the rich resources of the Olive Matthews Collection to bring you garments which epitomise romantic, outrageous and classic style. A wonderfully diverse and inspiring range of pieces, dating from the 18th century to the late 1980s, will be on show. Admission to the above displays is FREE Fashion Accessories Gallery featuring shoes, fans, hats, bags, parasols, lace, shoe buckles and jewellery with items from the 17th century to the present day. Look out for a beautiful linen cap featuring exquisite black work embroidery and dating from 1700 – 1720. Please note that the Fashion Gallery will be closed between the 31st August and the 19th September, reopening on the 20th September 2014.
Ashmolean Museum, Beaumont St, Oxford OX1 2PH 01865 278000 www.ashmolean.org
The Eye of the Needle.
The Eye of the Needle will display, for the first time in public, a selection of eye-catching, virtuoso 17th-century embroideries from the internationally renowned Feller Collection, together with outstanding examples from the Ashmolean’s own holdings.
These remarkable embroideries include colourful raised and flatwork pictorial panels, beautiful samplers and household items such as boxes and cushions and dress accessories including caps, coifs and gloves.
The exhibition will explore the context in which these dramatic and technically exacting works were made, examining their importance in creating the ideal goodly and godly woman through the discipline of painstaking embroidery, reinforcing both social status and appropriate behaviour.
Exquisite objects in their own right made with colourful silks, pearls, and semi-precious stones, the embroideries also reflect the religious, political and social concerns of the English Civil War period.
Waddesdon Manor, near Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire, HP18 0JH 26 March-26 October 2014 Wednesday to Sunday, 10-5pm (grounds), 12-4pm (house weekdays), 11-4pm (house weekends) www.waddesdon.org.uk Telephone: 01296 653226
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Image caption: Tatted buttons based on 18th-century buttons collected by Baroness Edmond de Rothschild; © Photo and design: Jennifer Williams Continuing our contemporary programme, lace-makers and selected artists have been invited to respond to the collection at Waddesdon, which includes historic lace acquired by Baroness Edmond de Rothschild (1853-1935). While examples of lace and accessories from the 17th to the 20th centuries are displayed, the new works are inspired by aspects of Waddesdon as diverse as architecture, automata, porcelain and panelling and are shown in the historic interiors, challenging the traditional concept of lace. Materials and techniques will be explored through a range of events, including lace demonstrations, ‘drop-in’ and bookable workshops. Artists working with or inspired by lace will be featured in the shop.
The South West
Modesty with Downton Idiot Lace (2014). Detail, ink on paper. Copyright Teresa Whitfield
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Theresa Whitfield: Drawing Museum Lace. Salisbury and South Wiltshire Museum, The Close, Salisbury. September 13th 2014 to February 7th 2015 Teresa Whitfield’s highly detailed lace drawings occupy an unusual space between reality and fiction. Characterised by a close resemblance to real fabric, the work references a time before the industrial revolution, when hand-made textiles were part of everyday domestic life for women. Using white ink on paper, the painstaking drawing process she uses bears a striking resemblance to the process of using thread so that the drawings are more like a re-enactment of lace-making than simply a likeness of the object itself. By employing a low-tech labour-intensive process such as drawing, Whitfield’s work prompts discussion about the loss of craft skills in a digital age and provides audiences with a visual understanding of the impact of these changes. Drawing Museum Lace is the outcome of two years research by Whitfield into the Downton Lace collection at The Salisbury Museum. The collection represents a once-thriving industry that has now all but vanished in the face of modern invention. The drawings will be displayed alongside the lace patterns that inspired them, and a video showing the intricate drawing process employed by Whitfield
The Fashion Museum, Bath Assembly Rooms, Bennett St, Bath, BA1 2QH
Tel: +44 (0) 1225 477789 www.museumofcostume.co.uk
GEORGIANS: Dress for polite society. 25 January 2014 - 1 January 2015. The Fashion Museum’s special exhibition for 2014 celebrates the museum’s situation in the Georgian Assembly Rooms in Bath. The new exhibition will present a selection of the finest fashions worn by those attending Assemblies, and other glittering occasions of 18th century life. The exhibition will include over 30 original 18th century outfits and ensembles from the museum’s world-class collection, including gowns made of colourful and richly patterned woven silks, as well as embroidered coats and waistcoats worn by Georgian gentlemen of fashion. A highlight of the exhibition will be a trio of wide-skirted Court dresses dating from the 1750s and 1760s (held out by cane supports known as panniers, from the French word for baskets), the early years of the reign of King George III. The Grand Finale of GEORGIANS will include 18th century-inspired fashions by five top fashion designers: Anna Sui, Meadham Kirchhoff, Vivienne Westwood, Stephen Jones, and Alexander McQueen. All are influenced by the 18th century aesthetic, and all (in different ways) show how the elegance and grace of Georgian dress continues to inspire fashion today.
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David Sassoon. A Life in Fashion - Bellville Sassoon Lorcan Mullany. 25 Jan 2014 - 1 Jan 2015. In 2011 British fashion designer David Sassoon donated his archive of hundreds of fashion drawings from the late 1950s to the 2000s to the Fashion Museum in Bath. This generous gift charts the history of the firm Bellville Sassoon Lorcan Mulanny as one of London’s top couturiers, and represents an unparalleled record of a life in fashion. Three years later in 2014 this special display at the Fashion Museum celebrates both the gift of the archive to the museum, and the three extraordinary designers - Belinda Belville, David Sassoon, and Lorcan Mullany - who together have run this uniquely British fashion house for over 50 years. Twenty five choice evening dresses have been assembled by Mr. Sassoon, each one lovingly kept across the years by Bellville Sassoon’s loyal clientele, and now borrowed back especially for the display at the Fashion Museum in Bath. A centre piece of the display in Bath will be three ensembles designed by Bellville Sassoon for Diana, Princess of Wales, including the cantaloupe melon silk ‘going-away’ outfit, which she wore as a young bride in July 1981.
The Fashion Museum’s Dress of the Year 2013. 11 April 2014 onwards The latest Fashion Museum Dress of the Year has been unveiled. In 2013 the museum asked celebrated fashion blogger Susanna Lau of www.stylebubble.com to make the selection. Susanna’s choice as Dress of the Year 2013 is a sugar pink silk organza dress from leading British designer Christopher Kane's Spring/Summer 2013 collection. The on-the-knee sleeveless dress is embellished with cut-out white machine-made lace panels to which are affixed jewelled roundels, made up of hundreds of tiny pink diamantes. Strips of black duct tape are attached all over the front of the garment – a bold heavy detail against the delicacy, lightness, and brightness of the dress.
Killerton House, Broadclyst, Exeter, Devon, EX5 3LE Telephone: 01392 881345 http://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/killerton
The Nature of fashion. 15 February – 31 December 2014 Find timeless, historical garments transformed from natural fibres to catwalk fashion in our latest costume exhibition 'the nature of fashion'. This latest exhibition highlights the skills and processes involved in creating intricate cotton, wool, linen and silk garments from raw materials.
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North of England
Gallery of Costume, Platt Hall, Rusholme, Manchester M14 5LL Manchester City Galleries www.manchestergalleries.org Something blue…wedding dresses 1914-2014. 1 August 14 – 15 March 15
An intimate exhibition exploring a hundred years of wedding dresses from the Gallery of Costume's expansive collections. The exhibition will showcase a selection of dresses, each accompanied by a contemporary wedding portrait. The unusual and unconventional choices of a range of British brides will be shown, focusing on the personal stories of individual women.
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MANCHESTER GALLERY SHOW 19 June 2014 - June 2015 COTTON COUTURE: 1950s commissions from Ma n c h e s t e r
The Gallery of Costume houses a remarkable collection of designer dresses and suits commissioned by the Colour, Design and Style Centre of the Cotton Board, a Manchester- based organisation aiming to promote the use of cotton in fashion and to expand the export trade. The Centre c oncentrated on exhibitions, shows and commissions to promote cotton in fashion. The surviving outfits were all designed for the catwalk, and were created by the leading London and Paris couturiers of the 1950s. They exemplify the best of cut and silhouette for high-end fashion. By the 1940s/50s, cotton was viewed pre-eminently as a fabric for summer dresses or children's wear, or else for underwear. It did not spring to mind for stylish evening outfits, which were invariably made of silk, or for tailoring, which was usually in wool. The Cotton Board deliberately challenged these established views by commissioning ball gowns, cocktail dresses and tailored suits, all in a striking range of different cottons. The effect of this publicity is unclear; what is evident is the demonstration of the immense versatility of cotton in all its myriad of finishes.
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The Gallery has about 60 outfits donated by the Cotton Board, nearly all from the 1950s, and many also have a contemporary fashion release photograph showing the costume being modelled. The 1953 outfits also appear in a surviving film clip of the original l catwalk show, a copy of which is kept by the NW Film Archive. British designers Hardy Amies, Michael Sherrard, Digby Morton, John Cavanagh and Victor Stiebel created dresses alongside some of the great Parisian couturiers : Jean Patou, Jean Desses, Jacques Griffe, Pierre Balmain and Pierre Cardin. A representative group of about 25 outfits will be shown in the Manchester Gallery, with a large screen on one wall showing the catwalk footage. The design of the installation will need to take account of the issues of open display and incorporate psychological barriers to touching. Fashion is the most popular of all exhibits, and these costumes have not been seen in Manchester since a small show at Platt Hall, 1985-7. Designer in Focus: John Bates at Jean Varon Walker Art Gallery, William Brown Street, Liverpool, until Autumn 2015 A display of 13 outfits by one of the most innovative and influential British designers of the 1960s and 1970s. It features both day and evening wear. http://www.liverpoolmuseums.org.uk/walker/exhibitions/john-bates/ Admission FREE Open 10am-5pm every day Drip Dry! Synthetic Fibres in Fashion Sudley House, Mossley Hill Road, Liverpool, until Spring 2016 A display of 13 outfits from the 1920s to the 1990s, focusing on the impact of man-made fabrics on fashion. It includes a rare ‘Beatles’ dress from 1964 and a typical shell suit from the 1990s. http://www.liverpoolmuseums.org.uk/sudley/exhibitions/drip-dry/index.aspx Admission FREE Open 10am-5pm every day
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Style from the Small Screen The Lady Lever Art Gallery, Port Sunlight, Wirral 10 October 2014 – 18 January 2015 A display of 10 outfits from the period 1912-1922, created by leading costumiers Cosprop for the hugely popular TV series, Downton Abbey. There are a further 6 historic outfits included from the collections of the National Museums Liverpool. Admission FREE Open 10am-5pm every day
Red Work: Rachael Howard 11 October 2014 – 31 January 2015 Waterside Arts Centre, 1 Waterside Plaza, Sale, Manchester, M33 7ZF www.watersideartscentre.co.uk Join us for this major solo exhibition by acclaimed textile artist Rachael Howard. Rachael records and celebrates the joys and frustrations of everyday family life in new large-scale work inspired by 19th century redwork story quilts - for her the Instagram of their day. With innovative audio labels by sound artist Nigel Piper, this is a fun and engaging exhibition with events for artists, curators and families. Curated by Jenny Waterson, Red Work is available to tour nationally in 2015, beginning at the Williamson Art Gallery & Museum, Birkenhead in the Spring. For more information contact: [email protected] Exhibition Events Booking required for all events Exhibition Opening, 11 October, 2 - 4pm Meet artist Rachael Howard and curator Jenny Waterson. Welcome speech by Michael Brennand-Wood at 2.30 pm. Sketch My World – a Family Friendly Big Draw event, 18 October Join Rachael Howard in a morning or afternoon session of sketching your world and contribute to a communal art work to be displayed in the gallery. Covetous Covered Buttons, 8 November, 1 – 4 pm Make your own silk button collection with Rachael Howard. Curator’s Talk, 15 November, 2 – 2.45pm Join exhibition curator Jenny Waterson for a tour of the exhibition. Artists’ Talk, 27 November, 7-9pm A Creative Industries Trafford event with Rachael Howard and Nigel Piper.
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Gawthorpe Textiles Collection at Gawthorpe Hall, Burnley, BB12 8UA http://www.gawthorpetextiles.org.uk. Email [email protected] or telephone 01282 773963.
Explore the Collection: Elegant Edwardians. Textile and Costume Treasures from our Collection with the Curator. In this exciting Exploration Day held in the atmospheric library at the heart of Gawthorpe Hall you will spend the day with the Curator looking closely at costume and textile items from the fabulous Gawthorpe Textiles Collection. Be inspired by the beautiful clothes, accessories and textiles from those last days of Empire at the beginning of the 20th century, with elegant day dresses, wedding dresses and evening wear. Beautiful underwear, bags, parasols, shoes, headwear and lace complete the picture and we will look at some of the textile treasures which would have been made and used in the Edwardian home. With full opportunity to see each item in depth, you are welcome to bring your camera and pencil to capture inspiring details from these beautiful textiles. You will also receive study notes to take home. Group Size: a maximum of 12 attendees. Explore the Collection: Twinkling Twenties and Flirty Thirties. Textile and Costume Treasures from our Collection with the Curator. In this exciting Exploration Day held in the atmospheric library at the heart of Gawthorpe Hall you will spend the day with the Curator looking closely at costume and textile items from the fabulous Gawthorpe Textiles Collection. From glamorous beaded dresses to enchanting evening gowns we will open a window into the fascinating period between the wars looking at costume and accessories from this world of Bright Young Things! We also have fascinating household textiles from the sewing basket to the sitting room to the bedroom, including crochet, knitting, patchwork, embroidery and lace. With full opportunity to see each item in depth, you are welcome to bring your camera and pencil to capture inspiring details from these beautiful textiles. You will also receive study notes to take home. Group Size: a maximum of 12 attendees. University of Leeds International Textiles Archive, St Wilfred’s Chapel, Maurice Keyworth Building, University of Leeds, Leeds LS2 9JT. www.leeds.ac.uk/ulita
0113 343 3919 [email protected] Around the World in 80 Textiles: celebrating the tenth anniversary of ULITA
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30th September-28th November 2014
To celebrate a decade since the opening of ULITA at St. Wilfred’s Chapel, this exhibition showcases the scope of the archive by presenting costume and textiles from all the countries featured in ULITA’s collections.
All items selected for display have not been exhibited since the opening in 2004. The exhibition highlights some of the fascinating donors’ stories, including: the adventurous Professor Barker, who brought together one of ULITA’s finest collections – of nineteenth century Chinese textiles; and the amazing embroiderer Louisa Pesel, whose work was inspired by her extensive travels. ULITA has its origins in a university research collection brought together in the early twentieth century. With substantial recent additions, this exhibition provides an opportunity to view the diversity of motifs, symbols, patterns, techniques and constructions found in the world of textiles. Countries represented include Britain, Turkey, France, Hungary, Greece, Denmark, Moldova, Romania, Egypt, Morocco, Nigeria, Iran, Indonesia, Pakistan, India, Japan, China, Peru and Mexico. Notes:
• This is a FREE exhibition • ULITA is open on Tuesdays-Thursdays 09.30-16.30 • Visits can be arranged by appointment on Fridays and during the Summer
vacation period. • The exhibition is curated by Jill Winder
The Bowes Museum, Barnard Castle, Co Durham DL12 8NP [email protected] Birds of Paradise: Plumes & Feathers in Fashion. 25 October 2014 – Spring 2015 This luxurious and elegant exhibition celebrates the art of the plumier and feathers in fashion and haute couture. Featuring extravagant catwalk creations and elegant eveningwear together with exquisite shoes and chic accessories from Christian Dior, Cristóbal Balenciaga, Alexander McQueen, and Gaultier the exhibition is sure to enthral and delight.
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The Midlands
Northampton Museum & Art Gallery, Guildhall Road, Northampton, NN1 1DP Telephone: 01604 838 111 www.northampton.gov.uk/museums WW1 Exhibition – A shoe maker goes to War. 2 August - 9 November 2014 In July 1914 almost ten thousand men joined the Northamptonshire regiment. One month later Britain was at war with Germany in what was called "the war to end all wars." This exhibition will look at the stories of some of the shoemakers who fought and how their absence affected those they left behind. Produced in partnership with the Northamptonshire Regimental Association and the Northamptonshire Yeomanry Association. This exhibition is in conjunction with the Conflict and Community project supported by the Heritage Lottery Fund Palimpsests . 15 November - 25 January 2015 What is the meaning of the worn shoe and why is it so powerful? An abandoned child's shoe on a pavement, a pile of shoes at a holocaust memorial, a wedding shoe worn once then packed away; why is the worn and used shoe such a resonant and poignant object? Why do images of worn shoes evoke discussions of memory and loss? Palimpsests explores ways that shoes become vessels or records of memory and why the imprint or trace of a body demands that we collect. This exhibition is curated by artist and footwear designer, Ellen Sampson.
Northern Ireland
Ulster Museum, Botanic Gardens, Belfast, County Antrim BT9 5AB 0845 608 0000 www.nmni.com The Age of Liberty Friday 13 June 2014 to Sunday 19 April 2015 Step into the wardrobe of the early 1900s as women were freed from their corset and unleashed into an age of liberty. Admire the beautiful fabrics and elegant embellishments of exquisite gowns with an exhibition that showcases the rich and exotic opulence of a glamorous silhouette.
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Costumes Parisiens Friday 13 June to Sunday 30 November 2014 Take a glimpse into the opulent fashions of Paris in the early 1900s with this exquisite exhibition of fashion prints from 1912 to 1914 on loan from the Chester Beatty Library in Dublin. Through an array of beautiful illustrations created for the fashion magazine Le Journal des Dames et des Modes, explore the glamorous world of Paris haute couture.
International
Material in Motion
10th North American Textile Conservation Conference: New York, New York
November 16th – 20th, 2015
For conference description and abstract submission information please visit http://www.natcconference.com. If you have questions please email us at [email protected].
Books
STYLE AND SATIRE: Fashion in Print 1777–1927 Catherine Flood and Sarah Grant
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From the sky-high coiffures of Georgian Britain to the languid silhouette of 1920s ‘flappers’, Style and Satire tells the story of European fashion and its most fantastical trends from two interrelated perspectives – the lavish, celebratory fashion plate, and the gloriously irreverent satirical print. Beautifully printed, hand-coloured fashion plates depicting the latest styles and fabrics first appeared in Britain and France in the late 1700s – nestled in luxurious periodicals and available for sale as desirable objects in their own right. At the same time (and often by the same artists), satirical prints gloried in the absurdities of fashion, presenting an alternative, often grotesque, vision of the fashionable ideal. Presented here as a joint history for the first time, the two genres describe an emerging, vibrant fashion culture. They themselves also evolved as art forms, first through the pages of the mass-produced Victorian periodical, and then as vibrant, stencilled images in the luxurious publications of the 1920s and ’30s. Lavishly illustrated and rigorously researched, Style and Satire presents a fresh and original history of fashion – a vital and witty addition to every fashion victim’s library. Catherine Flood is a Prints Curator in the Word and Image Department at the V&A, specializing in posters, graphics and ephemeral print. She is author of British Posters: Advertising, Art & Activism (V&A, 2012) and has curated exhibitions and displays on propaganda posters, Victorian sentimentality and fashion satire. Sarah Grant is a curator in the Word and Image Department at the V&A. She has published on eighteenth-century prints, designs, textiles and miniatures and is author of Toiles de Jouy: French Printed Cottons 1760-1830 (V&A, 2010). She co-curated, with Catherine Flood, the V&A display Fashion Fantasies (2012). SEPTEMBER 2014 ISBN 9781851778034 £12.99 PB with flaps 245 x 210 mm 80pp 39 col and 14 b&w BIC: AKT FASHION Sale: Please contact your Abrams & Chronicle Books representative or email [email protected] / [email protected] Distribution: Littlehampton Book Services Ltd, Faraday Close, Durrington, West Sussex BN13 3RB T: +44 (0)1903 828501 F: +44 (0)1903 828801 E: [email protected] http://www.pubeasy.com Publisher: V&A Publishing, Victoria and Albert Museum, South Kensington, London, SW7 2RL www.vandapublishing.com T: 020 7942 2966 F: 020 7942 2967 E: [email protected] 42 43
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Fashion in Focus, 1600 – 2009, Treasures from the Olive Matthews Collection by Grace Evans. A beautifully illustrated 152 page book featuring in-depth information about the very best pieces from the Olive Matthews Collection of dress at Chertsey Museum. Price - £11.99. Call 01932 565764 for details of how to order.
Book Reviews by June Swann
By far the most comprehensive book on shoes recently seen is by Marquita Volken: Archaeological Footwear, Development of shoe patterns and styles from Prehistory till the 1600’s, Spa Uitgevers, Switzerland, 407 page hardback, ISBN: 978-90-8932-117-6, many mostly black & white photographs and drawings, 140 pages of the Catalogue of types, each with drawings. This publishes the system the author has pioneered for archaeological types of footwear, named after the first shoe of each type found, under the term Calceology, as used by the Dutch Olaf Goubitz in 1987 for study of historical footwear - ?and no one else. With the English, continually updated, shoe trade glossaries since 1913, I automatically used those terms when I began cataloguing shoes in 1950, a practice I continually encourage all to follow – and Northampton Museum from 1977 published and sold hundreds of Thornton’s Glossary; he had been updating the trade’s glossaries for many years. So no reason to change to Dutch-invented terminology with, too often, 3 English words describing the boot or shoe by its fastening. Trade terms use the shoe pattern for definition, now proposed in this book, but using near 30 letters to identify them. The date ranges given appear to be wide, and not immediately obvious: the century is in Roman numerals, with A & B for 1st and 2nd half; a,b,c,d for 1st – 4th quarter, though some BC dates are in figures. Doubtless usage will make this system familiar, though not encouraging. 18 page Bibliography. The Index is not comprehensive. The 2 page Summary in English, French and German seems to be a useful beginning. The 6 page Glossary also includes German and French terms, though English shoemakers will not recognise a number of the terms used: needless to say, practical shoemakers did not use the terms medial and lateral, but inside and outside. It is unfortunate that ‘patten’ was chosen in place of the general term, overshoe. The latter is in the Index, but not patten. Worst of all, the captions for pictures of shoes do not include the date of the object, which busy curators will curse. The drawings of the 1630s-1670s shoes will be unfamiliar to those of us dealing with contemporary non-archaeological shoes, and very misleading for art historians.
For a useful article on Roman shoes of 142-154 AD, found in Camelon, Scotland, see Simon Olsthoorn p.70-73 in the Dutch Collect, Kunst & Antiek Journal (in Dutch), 7 good photographs of some of the (unusually) closely dated shoes, including one boot. We hope the full report can be produced in the not too distant future. Museums should be encouraged to follow the example of the Dutch Leather & Shoe Museum and provide for visitors touring the exhibition a cheaply produced booklet with drawing and caption with brief description, just as the best art exhibitions do (though rarely with picture).
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The re-opened, re-displayed Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam has published a 68 page booklet by Jan de Hond & Tristan Mostert (translated into English) on Novaya Zemla, 2013, ISBN 978 90 71450 79 2. A Dutch boat was trapped in ice on this island off the north coast of Russia from 12 October 1596 to 13 June 1597, and left behind the 8 or so shoes and slippers, here published in 1 photograph, and now similarly displayed, above my head, making detailed examination now impossible. The display designers obviously did not realise that these are of unique importance for a period where so few shoes (?only one other) are closely dated with such certainty. The shoes are worthy of a book to themselves, giving comprehensive details with photographs of the same standard.
Another comprehensive book was produced to accompany the exhibition, Birds of Paradise, Plumes & Feathers in Fashion at MOMU, Antwerp until 24 August 2014, 12 authors (including ICOM Costume members), on various aspects, impractical feathers even on shoes, 208 page hardback, many black & white and colour photographs, Lannoo Publishing, Tielt 2014, ISBN: 978 94 014 1546 0. Feathers mostly seem to have been neglected by costume historians.
An exhibition also with a very revealing, accompanying book, by Rosita Nenno: Schuhwerke Roger Vivier, published by the Deutsches Ledermuseum/Schuhmuseum, Offenbach, Germany 2014, 106 page hardback, ISBN: 978-3-9815440-2-2, excellent full-page colour photographs of the shoes, with a separate 32 page paperback with the introductory essay in German, and English translation by Inge Specht (of the Nederlands Leder en Schoenen Museum, Waalwijk, where the exhibition will be shown February 20 2015 to June 28). For those of us who saw the Vivier Retrospective exhibition in Paris 1987 and came to this rather blasé, his exquisite, wearable shoes, designed from 1930 to 1938 for the leather company S.A. Laboremus for the American market are a revelation, well worth the journey, and quite different from those we are all familiar with, and help explain Vivier’s success in post-war USA. The 2 museums concerned deserve unreserved thanks for their research into footwear unfamiliar to most of us till now. The exhibition continues in Offenbach (across the river from Frankfurt, on its metro system) to 2 November.
Lisa Goudsmit De schoen van Jan Jansen/Jan Jansen’s Shoe, 150 page paperback, pocket size, in Dutch and English, with many colour photographs of his shoes from 1961 to 2012, published 2013 by naio10 in Premsela Design Story series, Rotterdam, ISBN978-94-6208-048-5. A disciple of Ferragamo in that he aims to make shoes that do not hurt, but with sufficient unconventional materials and designs to satisfy those who prefer them.
Vivier, Jansen, Ferragamo, Perugia, Yantourny, Levine, amongst others, 1900 to the present, were shown in the S.H.O.E.S. exhibition in Rotterdam Kunsthal, February-10 May 2014, gathered from European collections. A rather unwieldy folder has small photographs of some of the shoes, as well as a full list of the 462 shoes displayed, with brief biographies of some of the makers.
Shoes, a Visual Celebration of Sixty Iconic Styles by Caroline Cox, a prolific author on fashion history, 256 page paperback, colour photographs on most pages, Apple Press,
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London 2012, ISBN 978-1-84543-454-0. Grouped under Pre-16th century (13), 12 16-18th c., 11 19th c., 24 20th c. Obviously a personal selection, which will not be to everyone’s taste, though it does begin with sandal and moccasin. Brief introduction to each term. Index.
Bernhard Roetzel, A Guy’s Guide to Shoes, h.f.ullmann publishing GmbH 2013, original title Schuh Guide für Männer, the English edition ISBN978-3-8480-0294-8, 240 page hardback, pocket size (but not for smart suits). The comments on desirability of caring and polishing shoes obviously reflect customs in Germany, and are not yet applicable in England (too many expensive-suited men on the London Underground give their character away with fashionable shoes that have not been near polish since they left the factory). If the publisher believed there is a market here for the book, perhaps there’s hope for the English yet: it does reveal a totally different world. Very brief history of shoes, many colour photographs, Index. A worthy successor to Sternke’s 2006 Alles über Herrenshuhe.
Sarah Jane Downing Fashion in the Time of Jane Austen, Shire Publications Ltd., 2013, 64 page paperback, colour photographs of pictures and prints on most pages, with only 7 articles of surviving dress, ISBN: 13: 978 0 74780 767 4. P.45 a good example of how not to stuff and photograph a pair of 1790s shoes.
I was surprised to find that Miles Lambert’s ‘Death and Memory: Clothing Bequests in English Wills, 1650-1830’ contains so few references to men leaving to relatives and friends their boots (always a lot more expensive than shoes, and do appear in wills). See Costume vol.48 No.1 January 2014, Maney Publishing, ISSN 0590-8876, p.46-59, 3. The leaflet with it advertises an available book, Valerie Steel & Colleen Hill Shoe Obsession ISBN 978-0-300-19079-3. Hardback, 200 colour illustrations, ‘extreme contemporary shoe design’.
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