Raevenfea

Maker of various fabric things

This is a static export of a blog I put on ice many years ago, that still has personally relevant content. No promises can be made around linkrot, styles, or working functionality.

Posts categorized: Finding

Worth & Mainbocher Online Exhibit

Posted in Finding

  • Couture
  • Exhibits
  • Fashion
  • Victorian

The Museum of the City of New York has an absolutely wonderful exhibit online at the moment: Worth & Mainbocher, featuring photos and information on many garments by these two master couture houses.

It’s a dangerous time-sink, with the ability to do some very super zooming on many of the garments—you can really see the details. Some even include shots of the interior. I love it. The interface is a bit clunky and slow otherwise, but don’t let that deter you.

I have no doubt that if you’ve seen a Worth gown (I’m not as familiar with Mainbocher), you’ve wanted to see how it was constructed—this gives you the opportunity to get up close. They even have the famous “Electric Light” fancy dress gown worn by Mrs. Vanderbilt II (complete with photos of the inner bodice).

So really, just get over there already.

April 18th, 2012

Charles James: Genius Deconstructed in Chicago

Posted in Finding

  • Couture
  • Exhibits
  • Fashion
  • Interesting link

I wish I’d learned about this before our trip to MO, because we could have swung through Chicago, but for those of you who can get to Chicago before April 16, 2012, there is a fabulous exhibition of couture fashion by Charles James at the Chicago History Museum.

Now, while I love looking at designer clothing, gowns alone won’t usually inspire me to want to trek halfway across the country for an exhibit, but this is more than just a show of his designs. The curating team used advanced imaging techniques and intense study of the construction of three iconic dresses in order to show visitors how the gowns are structured—and James’ designs are often very complex in structure. There are also touchable displays—the team painstakingly created prototypes of different aspects of the construction.

January 20th, 2012

 

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