Dumbarton House Lecture and Dior Resort 2010

Last night's lecture by Mary Doering at Dumbarton House was excellent and a wonderful accompaniment to the current exhibit there, Preparing for the Ball (see these previous posts). Mary discussed a number of interesting topics relating to the development of textile design and production, trade, women's and men's fashion, women's and men's everyday dress, and hygiene. I ended up feeling sad that it was only an hour long. I would have loved to hear her delve more into menswear and the shift from visual ostentation to luxury defined by quality of material and construction, which began in the eighteenth century and became a definitive change after the French Revolution. Mary did not focus solely on the United States, but explored the trade network that surrounded America and western Europe during this time (England, France, India, China, the Carribean as a port, etc.). Textile trading and manufacturing really drove global trade and technology in many ways: the British, for example, tried to create a cotton weaving and printing industry to rival India's, but struggled to make their dyes colorfast (a trick the Indians had mastered by understanding mordants, the metallic compounds added to many dyes that make them bond to their substrate textiles). Every garment and textile from this time period is a mystery to interpret, since they could have been woven in one place, printed in another, sewn in yet another, and then sold somewhere else.

On a different topic, I am very enamored of John Galliano's Resort 2010 collection for Dior. While I'm not crazy about the model's hair, the clothing is very reminiscent of traditional 1950s Dior daywear. It may not be the most avant-garde of collections, but I would love to wear pretty much everything in it. Some of the pieces could be interpreted as a little mature, but I think it's all downright classy.

What do you think? Do you like the collection or is it too stodgy for you? What fashion events are you planning on attending this summer?

A Revolution in Fashion: Clothing of the Federal Era Lecture at Dumbarton House

Tonight from 7:00-8:30 I'm heading to Dumbarton House in Georgetown for a lecture by collector Mary Doering on Federal Era costume (see this post). I am looking forward to seeing what she talks about! I wonder if she's going to focus on America, since that is the region to which "Federal Period (approx. 1780-1820)" really applies-- it encompasses Directoire (1795-1799), Consulat (1799-1804) and Empire (1804-1814) in France. It was truly a "revolutionary" period in many ways, since the French revolution had a huge impact on fashion in the West-- Fashion had previously been closely associated with the French luxury industries, which were in turn closely associated with the aristocracy, which was not "in style" during or just after the revolution!
I will update after the lecture. Is anyone else attending tonight?

Garments and Textiles from the Federal Period at Dumbarton House

Before I write about yesterday's Dumbarton House tour, I want to cover Linda Eaton's excellent presentation on the textile trade and the federal period from last Thursday. Gleaning the most interesting tidbits from my copious notes was difficult, since everything she spoke about was fascinating to me (I did, after all, write my thesis on George Washington's attire...), but here are some of the most insightful bits:

-the textile industry comprises both agriculture and manufacturing, since it includes both the farming process (cotton, linen, wool) and the weaving/finishing/printing processes . It therefore serves a unique place in the development of a fledgling nation like the United States during the federal period.

-Because textiles were frequently woven, finished, and worn in different places, tracing the origins of a garment or textile can be particularly tricky. Even the subject matter of a textile's imagery can be deceiving-- textiles with motifs of American Independence were printed for the French market in the mid-1780s!
- City directories can be a useful source of research information. Eaton used the New York City directory, which identifies trades, to find 8 calico printers in the city in 1811.

Eaton spoke about dyestuffs, printing methods, types of textiles, and a number of other fascinating and specialized topics that I won't recount here- but needless to say, it left me with many ideas for research and a deeper appreciation for Federal Period garments and textiles that leads me to the next topic- last night's tour!


Yesterday evening, I attended a Curator's Tour of the exhibit "Preparing for the Ball: Costume of the Early Nation" at Dumbarton House, led by curators Scott Scholz and Mary Doering. Mr. Scholz is the curator at Dumbarton House, and Ms. Doering is a celebrated costume collector whose pieces comprise the majority of the exhibition. It was a delight for a number of reasons. First, Dumbarton House is a beautiful building with nicely appointed period rooms (Scholz told us that they are aiming to phase the rooms into an approximation of their appearance at the time of residence of the house's first owner, Joseph Nourse). Second, the combination of insights from Scholz, who focused on objects in the House's collection, and Doering, who focused on attire and textiles from her collection, was very enlightening. Finally, our small tour, made up mostly of costume enthusiasts, was treated to the additional expertise of two costume curators/conservators from the Smithsonian Instititute who had come to see Doering and join the tour and generously shared their knowledge with us.

My only gripe was that we didn't have enough time! There were a number of objects of interest in the house both within the exhibition and as part of the period rooms, but because we were running behind I didn't have enough time to take a good look at them all. Many of the costumes from Doering's collection had been purchased from Cora Ginsburg, the premier garment and textile dealer in the United States (now Cora Ginsburg LLC, run by Titi Halle). A quick aside- an associate at Cora Ginsburg, Leigh Wishner, sometimes guest lectures in the FIT Fashion and Textile Studies program and lent us a pair of her Louboutins for our exhibit!

My favorite pieces from the exhibit were a blue damask man's banyan (dressing gown), a green wool morning dress from about 1800-1815 (I need another look to tell more specifically!), and a white silk evening gown in Dumbarton House's collection. There are also a number of fashion plates from the federal period, many from Ackermann's Repository of Fashion (LACMA has a number of these as well).

Photo of Dumbarton House by dbking on Wikimedia Commons, licensed under Creative Commons Attribution 2.0.

Curator's Tour at Dumbarton House

Last Thursday night, I had the pleasure of attending the Curator's Choice Lecture at Dumbarton House in Georgetown. The presenter was Linda Eaton, curator of textiles for Winterthur Museum and Gardens, and she spoke about the textile trade and the federal period. It was an engaging and fascinating lecture and I will write all about it in conjunction with a post on another Dumbarton House event that I am planning to attend tonight, the "Dumbarton at Dusk" Curator's Tour led by Scott Scholz and Mary Doering. I will be at the 6 o'clock- there's one at 7 as well.
Look for a new post on both of these events in the next day or so!

Muriel King, Dumbarton House, and Marjorie Merriweather Post

Today's your last day to go see the Muriel King exhibit in NYC! If you can't make it (like me, unfortunately), explore the online exhibit.

Also, there are some great exhibits going on in the DC area that I will be trying to get to soon and blog about! The first is at Dumbarton House in Georgetown and it is called "Preparing for the Ball: Costume of the Early Nation." The exhibition features the collection of Mary Doering and is co-curated by Doering and Scott Scholtz. It runs until July 4, and there are two exciting special events that accompany it: First, curator's tours at 6 and 7 on April 28th ($5 or free for students with IDs- kudos to them for offering a student discount!). Second, there is a Curator's Choice Evening Lecture on Thursday, April 23 at 7:30 for $10 ($5 for students with ID) featuring Linda Eaton, Curator of Textiles for Winterthur Museum and Gardens. I plan on attending both, so if you're going, send me a comment and we can say hi!

The second exhibit is at Hillwood Estate, Museum, and Gardens (tagline: Where Fabulous Lives- I love it!) in NW Washington. It is called "An Invitation to the Ball: Marjorie Post's Fancy Dress Costumes of the 1920s" and will be up until July 12 (suggested donation $12, full-time college students $7). There is also a lecture by Caroline Weber, author of Queen of Fashion, on "the social aspects of costuming, especially those employed by Mrs. Post. Ms. Weber will speak about the social history of 1920s costumes and the ways that fashion has been used as a tool to assert legitimacy and power over time." The lecture is $15 for the public and $7 for students. Sounds great! Again, I plan on attending.
Finally, keep your eyes open for what Michelle Obama is wearing in Britain. I wasn't nuts about her Isabel Toledo outfit worn to see the queen- a little boring- but I loved her chartreuse Jason Wu coat and her J.Crew outfit with the celery-green skirt. I think celery is going to be a big color this summer.

Image of dancing dress, Europe, 1909, from Wikimedia Commons.