Workshops
Higbee Gallery | Jean L. Druesedow, Director
When Shannon Rodgers and Jerry Silverman donated their collection of costume and decorative arts to Kent State University, they included an extensive group of fine laces, some of which had been collected by Shannon's mother. Two additional gifts have had extraordinary examples of seventeenth and eighteenth century lace. The first, in 1995, was the transfer of costumes and textiles from the Allen Memorial Art Museum at Oberlin College. The second, in 2004, came from Jo A. Bidner of Brooklyn, New York. We are grateful to these and other donors who have added exceptional pieces to the museum collection over the past two decades.
Creating the exhibition has provided special opportunities for students, staff and volunteers alike. Kelly Schultz, a senior Fashion Merchandising major and Cynthia Lynn, who recently received her B.A. degree in Fine Arts with a theatre design minor, spent the summer studying the laces. Kelly prepared the initial descriptions and object lists and planned the "Lace Exploration Days." Cynthia studied the laces in preparation for designing the exhibition as part of her professional portfolio development. She also did the faux marbleizing and detail painting in the exhibition. Kate Rieppel assisted with dressing and photographing the mannequins. Special help in the identification of the various types of lace came from Elizabeth Kurella, a noted authority on lace and respected author. Elizabeth spent two days with us in Kent pouring over the collection and helping us learn about the complexities of lace. We are extremely appreciative of her generosity and knowledge. Virginia Buckley, a lace-maker in the Kent community, spent many hours untangling the bobbins on our bobbin lace pillows. I would like to express my thanks to the Museum's dedicated staff, all of whom assisted in the preparation of the exhibition. In the end, we have gained an increased understanding of lace and lace-making and remain in awe of those who crafted such remarkable examples of this particular textile art.
A love of the natural world and a reverence for the materials he uses has led Dean Harris to create sculptural jewelry that has struck a cord with his clientele since the inception of his company in 1998. His graceful approach produces organic shapes, fluid lines and geometric compositions that are at times Spartan in a field defined by extravagance. Fascinated by the deeply psychological need we have for adornment, and attentive to fashion's growing informality, he believes that "anything can be jewelry."
With an opened-mind and adventurous spirit, Dean Harris explores his craft. Trained in fashion design at Los Angeles Trade Technical College, Dean tried his hand in the fashion, theater and television industries on the West Coast before moving East in 1996. Working in New York for a company that produced fashion shows worldwide, he met stylists and editors who later served as catalysts when he launched his company in December 1998, having taken only a few classes in jewelry-making at the Fashion Institute of Technology. While working on fashion shows for Marc Jacobs, an association that lasted seven years, he met Brana Wolf, a stylist for Louis Vuitton, in Paris. She asked to see his jewelry and loved it. The next thing he knew, his jewelry was on the September 1999 cover of Harper's Bazaar! With this cover and six pieces of jewelry, he went to Barney's New York to test his luck. After complying with their request to see more pieces, he brought in twenty items and a continuing retailing association began. The fashion world embraced him and, after only a year in business, the Council of Fashion Designers of America (CFDA) bestowed on him the Perry Ellis Award for best new accessory designer. It all started with gold wire. Reminiscent of the phoenix's fiery death and rebirth from its ashes, gold's astonishing recovery from oxidation through polishing inspired Dean to play with the precious metal. Captured by its warm color and glow, he hammered wire into hoops of different shapes. The work evolved into rings, earrings, bracelets and necklaces with an appealing hand-crafted quality and light weight. The wire grew into a vine and, to catch the eye, he added beads and stones.
From his urban jungle, the artist continues to bring beauty to the world. Studying old and new materials, Dean constantly experiments with organic elements, metals and minerals including rare woods, fossils, mammoth ivory, beetle wings, coconut beads and porcupine quills. Further recognition has ensued: in 2003, his branch tiara was displayed at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. In 2004, he dedicated himself fully to his craft and was the only jeweler among the ten finalists for the CFDA/Vogue Fashion Fund. In 2005, this grant competition was documented by Douglas Keeve in the film Seamless. The same year, his work was included in Sample, a book published by Phaidon Press that showcased 100 designers to watch in the new millennium. With great pride, we present the work of this emerging American creator.
Stager Gallery | Dr. Anne Bissonnette, Curator
In August 1939, Madeleine Vionnet (1876-1975) presented her last collection in Paris before closing her house of couture. At the age of eleven, she had become a seamstress' apprentice and had discovered the gift of her hands. Talented, inquisitive and determined, she was a première d'atelier by age nineteen. The female body became the center of her art when she began developing garments through improvisational draping directly on models at the House of Callot Soeurs, which she entered in 1902. A modéliste (designer) at the House of Doucet in 1907, she was inspired by the dancer Isadora Duncan to create garments for uncorsetted bodies worn by barefoot models. Although hired to bring fresh ideas, her minimalism caused alarm. Her desire to purify clothing would not be indulged until she launched her own house in 1912 and revolutionized the world of fashion.
The House of Vionnet was reborn in 2007. The challenge this presented is the reason for our exhibition. How do you resurrect a firm created by a genius of garment engineering and one of the most gifted and original designer of the twentieth century? Very carefully. Times have changed and Madeleine Vionnet's structural and aesthetic revolution has now been internalized. Clothes that do not hinder the body but cling to it like a second skin no longer shock. Sixty-eight years after she retired, her work remains innovative, thoroughly modern and unsurpassed. Since 1991, the maze of Madame Vionnet's mind was brought to life through the research of Betty Kirke. The Vionnet paradox—simplicity and complexity combined—won the respect of a new generation. Beyond her study of the bias, the flexible yet unsubstantial diagonal direction on the fabric's grid, her skillful combination of geometry and anatomy as well as the unprecedented attention she paid her medium, cloth, led to countless discoveries that changed the fit, ease and motion of clothing. Vionnet's twenty-five years of experience and knowledge of all aspects of garment construction and design enabled her to break the very traditions she inherited. Seeing the body as a three-dimensional entity composed of geometrical shapes, she developed a system of cutting, tucking, pleating, twisting, wrapping, looping and tying the fabric to correspond to these shapes. Her concern for structure, balance and movement freed women's bodies and established a timeless ideal of beauty inspired by the golden section, the Ancient Greeks' law of proportion.
We present to you a selection of garments from the new Vionnet's first collection, Spring-Summer 2007, designed by Sophia Kokosalaki. Through her eyes we explore the legacy of Madeleine Vionnet. Through economy of means, a bodice is cut from a circle. Inspired by the rose, Kokosalaki gives a classic Vionnet design a new twist. Drawing from the beauty of various materials, garments are artfully draped, proving once more that wisdom, grace and elegance never go out of style.
Alumni Gallery | Dr. Anne Bissonnette, Curator
The body of work created by Charles James from 1926 until his death in 1978 has become a touch stone in the history of fashion. Distinctive, colorful and extreme are terms that describe both the clothes and the creator. While much could be said about Charles' personality and lack of business acumen, this exhibition aims to study specific garments from the collection of the Kent State University Museum, The Ohio State University, The Goldstein Museum of Design and Mount Mary College. Aware of his contribution to twentieth century aesthetics, Mr. James encouraged his clients to donate his garments to museums. Early on, he believed in the mission of the design laboratory at the Brooklyn Museum where the first exhibition of his work was presented in 1948. Based in educational institutions, our collections also aim to share with others the works of masters of fashion. A hundred years after his birth, his legacy lives on.
Highly sensitive to beauty and guided by uncompromising idealism, Charles James made fabric obey his will. Always placing ideals before practical considerations, he padded, lined, interfaced, boned and wired cloth and devised numerous construction techniques to build fanciful gowns that transformed women into visions of gracefulness and elegance. Born in comfort within Edwardian society, his paradigm of beauty drew heavily on the decorative aspect of nineteenth-century womanhood and the clothing construction of this era. Like those he inspired, such as Christian Dior, who used James' work as inspiration in his New Look collection of 1947, he put himself above his medium and generated garments that, although visually intoxicating, returned women to an era of discomfort and subjugation. His talents were nonetheless widely sought and his custom-work for clients and collaboration with manufacturers led to new silhouettes that had enormous impact on the fashion industry. His eye for color resulted in unexpected combinations, in which pumpkin and mauve coexisted, linings added drama, and layers of tulle in many colors produced mysterious results. His ability to drape cloth, at times directly on a person, was at the heart of some of his most important work. Yet his legacy in the twenty-first century lies overwhelmingly in his ability to cut the cloth to produce abstract and complex shapes brought to life through experimentation and imagination.
With fluid materials, Charles James created three-dimensional structures that defined his times and helped him find his own path, distinct from those that preceded him. He had the courage of his convictions and sought difficult answers based on body, cloth, and the space between and around them. A perfectionist, he worked tirelessly on improving a design over many years. Though it could seem that the viewer derives more joy from his garments than the wearers, James succeeded in transforming a woman's body into an icon of femininity. Nature subsided. The aesthete and the poet entered.
Blum Gallery | Jean L. Druesedow, Director
The traditional formal costumes of Japanese men in the modern era continue to reflect an aesthetic that developed as a result of strict sumptuary laws promulgated during the late Edo Period in the eighteenth century. These edicts forced the wealthy but non-aristocratic urban population to camouflage their wearing of luxurious colored silks by using them as linings under plain, dark, but expensive silk garments. This resulted in a more subtle sense of luxury that was restrained and certainly less obvious than that flaunted by the Samurai class. The social repression of Edo Japan had far-reaching effects on all aspects of society, not only clothing. The aesthetic that developed was one of connoisseurship, of the cognoscenti, and the national habit in manners, discourse and dress became one of indirection and discretion. In Japan, as in most societies with severe sumptuary laws, when the rules permitted flamboyance, such as in the uchikake worn by brides at their wedding receptions, the clothing tended toward the extravagantly garish. Along with understatement came systems that established degrees of formality and an understanding of what kinds of apparel were appropriate for specific occasions. For example, all formal kimono must be of glossed silk, and the number of crests on akimono might vary from one to five with more crests indicating a higher degree of formality. The formal haori, or short coats, in this exhibition retain the sense of hidden luxury with brocaded linings worked in gold thread and complex patterns in images that would be known only to the wearer.
When we think of Japanese traditional dress, most of us think immediately of the term kimono. However, kimono is a relatively recent descriptive term and means simply "object to wear." The term resulted from the complexities of Western influence on Japanese traditions during the Meiji Period (1868-1912). The upheaval caused by the "opening of Japan" to the West after almost three hundred years, brought sudden changes in political and social structures. Whereas under the shoguns dress was prescribed and indicated the wearer's place in the social order, once Western dress was adopted for official functions, what had been understood previously suddenly needed to be reconsidered. Kosode had been the term used for the basic garment for both men and women of the elite urban population. With the adoption of Western dress by men within the power structure, traditional garments, now called kimono, were relegated to the status of ethnic dress, and became less and less a part of men's public lives.
Palmer and Mull Galleries | Dr. Anne Bissonnette, Curator
As we gaze upon others, we can learn much about ourselves. Like a beam of light distorted through a crystal prism, our understanding of other cultures is filtered through our own. The inherent transparency of a lens does not infer objectivity. The photographs presented in this exhibition are part of the series The North American Indian written, illustrated and published between 1907 and 1930 by Edward S. Curtis. The twenty volumes and portfolios from the Stan Hywet Hall & Gardens collection aimed to be a comprehensive record of a people whose way of life was, according to Theodore Roosevelt in the first volume's foreword, "on the point of passing away." Through these images, and with artifacts in the Kent State University Museum and the Valerie and Dean Hugebeck collections, we can focus on Native American identity and address the issues of subjectivity and idealism in the act of collecting and exhibiting cultural material and in the work of Edward S. Curtis.
There are multiple storytellers. A limited number of individuals were chosen as subjects by the photographer, whose work was then sought by collectors, and these combined voices were further narrowed through the curatorial process. Through selection, interpretation and juxtaposition, the narrative is seldom objective. This story is fragmental and told by a costume historian in the twenty first century. People and adornment are its focus. In today's multicultural familiarity with body modifications such as ear, nose and tongue piercing, tattoos and scarification, a new appreciation can be gained of what was once considered strange. Broader views of gender have also impacted how hair, clothing, cosmetics and jewelry can be used by both men and women as a marker of individuality and collective character. This enables a far different viewing of Curtis' work than would have been the case a hundred or even twenty years ago. The artifacts on display are historical documents, but they are also portraits of individuals whose voices, though filtered, can be heard, and whose culture and sense of identify are proudly displayed through sartorial means.
Native American culture was, and still is, alive and ever changing. Curtis embarked on his journey to capture and document the lives of the Native peoples of North America in 1889 amidst devastating political legislation designed to "civilize Indians." Frontier expansion, industrialization and globalization had already caused unprecedented changes in Native American lives. Fearful of the impending doom, yet reverential, Curtis' vision was a product of its time and was marked by the imaginative and emotional appeal of the heroic, adventurous, remote, and mysterious. Through the lens of his camera, an idealized world took shape where, as an outsider and an artist, many of his own perceptions distorted his initial factual intentions. At times staged and inaccurate, his haunting photographs captivated his contemporaries and have shaped our vision of the First Nations to this day. Paradoxically, his search for what he considered to be "primitive life" was funded by industrialists whose efforts accelerated the onslaught of modernization. Franklin Augustus Seiberling, the co-founder of the Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company, was among the captains of industry who subscribed to and received Curtis' work in installments. At Stan Hywet, his magnificent country estate with its engineered views of nature, Mr. Seiberling could, through Curtis' work, further distance himself from the growing urban chaos. Though criticized by archeologists and historians early on, Curtis' body of work covers over 40,000 photographs as well as linguistic terminology, songs, oral histories and sound recordings and continues to appeal to both scholars and the general public despite its flaws.
The "broad and luminous picture" Curtis offered the viewer is not unlike the acts of collecting and displaying artifacts, which remain riddled with imperfections. Though these activities help to preserve pieces of history and fuel public interest, they are nonetheless selective approaches that can narrow our vision and understanding of world cultures. The visual compositions, the artifacts collected, and the stories told are a legacy that continues to be questioned and examined.
Broadbent Gallery | Dr. Anne Bissonnette, Curator
Blue of indigo is the key to a continuing story that links the past and the present. Considered one of the finest dyes of the ancient world, it continues to be among the most beloved colors. A dominant force in fashion, indigo denim is now ubiquitous, and serves to further the trend for informality in clothing as it draws from its utilitarian roots. Though indigo dye was found in an Egyptian mummy's bandages from ca. 2400 BC, the dye's use is said to have originated in India where the earliest archeological evidence dates from 2000 BC. Its original popularity is partly explained by the rare ability of some indigofera plants to generate an intense coloring matter with an almost universal capacity for fixation to cloth without the use of a mordant. Grown in tropical, subtropical and some temperate climates, indigo's history is embedded in many cultures, which serve to make it one of the most appealing and popular dyes of all time.
The importance of indigo is far-reaching as it brings together natural history, science, technology, economics, politics, art and spirituality. An essential part of the human experience, colored garments served to camouflage stains and dirt on work clothes long before it expressed individual choice. The dark shades that were possible with indigo dye, and its colorfastness, made it popular in eras when washing was sporadic. The plant's leaves also had various medical uses, such as treating snakebite in Japan, which transferred to indigo-dyed cloth a protective function against reptiles for farmers working in the rice fields.
As indigo became synonymous with the working classes in many countries, it gained a considerable place in the global economy. Explorers and merchants sought it and, by the last quarter of the nineteenth century, chemists tried to unravel its mysteries. By this time, the indigo market was dominated by Britain through its Indian colonial plantations, which were the Empire's most profitable Asian industry. In 1877, Adolf Baeyer synthesized indigo in Germany. Though he won a Nobel Prize in 1905 for his continuing work on the molecular structure of indigo, it was the Swiss Karl Heumann who found an industrial method for producing the artificial dye, in 1897. This shifted world economies and affected political powers as well, but it did not detract from indigo's magnetism. If anything, it made it stronger.
As the sun sets and the sky turns shades of indigo blue, the universe seems contained in a color that guards its mystery. From the exchange of blue beads for human lives in the African slave trade to the deeply emotional melodies called the blues, many respond to this color in a visceral manner. Selected contemporary creators have kindly participated in this exhibition. Their work in fashion design and fiber arts can thus be seen within a global and historical perspective. Through this microcosm as changeable as the ocean, immerse yourself in nature's deepest blue.
Tarter-Miller Gallery | Jim Measell, Guest Curator
Initially called "Iridescent Ware" by the Fenton Art Glass Company in late 1907, this innovative glassware typically featured a vivid metallic sheen of changing hues on pressed glass articles made in highly-patterned molds. The secret behind Fenton s Iridescent Ware was a special spray of metallic salts on the glass while it was very hot.
Within a few months, other glassmaking firms followed Fenton into the marketplace. The new iridescent products from Fenton and these other companies were immensely popular in the United States from 1908 to about 1915 and were even exported to several foreign countries.
In the 1950s, this glassware was being eagerly sought by collectors. Stories abounded that some articles had been used as prizes for midway games, and the phrase "Carnival glass" was coined. National and regional collector clubs were formed, and there has been great interest in Carnival glass ever since.
Who Made Carnival Glass?
Shortly after the innovative "Iridescent Ware" was introduced by the Fenton Art Glass Co. in late 1907, four other American glass manufacturers created their versions of this novel product.
The H. Northwood Co. unveiled its Golden Iris in mid-1908, and the Imperial Glass Co. had Rubigold and Peacock on the market in the fall of 1909. The Dugan Glass Co. and the Millersburg Glass Co. entered the marketplace soon thereafter.
A few other companies made small quantities of iridescent glass, but these five--Fenton, Northwood, Imperial, Dugan and Millersburg--were the major manufacturers.
Fenton Art Glass Co.
Williamstown, West Virginia
Founded as a glass decorating firm in Martins Ferry, Ohio, in May 1905, the Fenton Art Glass Co. soon found itself unable to obtain the glassware it needed to fill orders. The company constructed a factory in Williamstown during the fall of 1906 and began making glass there on January 2, 1907. Brothers Frank L. Fenton and John W. Fenton headed the concern, and they were soon joined by three more siblings--Charles Fenton, James Fenton and Robert Fenton. Still in business today, the Fenton Art Glass Company now ranks among the world s foremost producers of handmade colored art glass. Members of the third- and fourth-generations of the Fenton family currently hold key management positions.
In October 1907, glass industry trade publications described Fenton s newest glassware as having "brilliant prismatic effects" and "a metallic lustre much like Tiffany glass." Fenton factory manager Jacob Rosenthal and a glassworker named John Gordon worked together to create this innovative product. Called simply "Iridescent Ware" by the firm, the new glassware was sold to wholesale houses such as Butler Brothers and Blackwell-Wielandy. The company s letterhead stationery proudly proclaimed Fenton as "Originator ofIridescent Ware."
Frank L. Fenton worked closely with decorating foreman Charles Fenton and mould shop foreman Clarence Rosenthal to design the firm s earliest products in Iridescent Ware. These ranged from plain items with hand-painted floral or geometric decorations to intricate patterns imparted to the molten glass by cast iron moulds.
Fenton revived its production of "Carnival glass" in 1970, and the company continues to introduce new items in this distinctive glass treatment on a regular basis.
H. Northwood Co.
Wheeling, West Virginia
Headed by brothers Harry Northwood and Carl Northwood, this company was heir to a rich tradition of glassmaking. Before immigrating to the United States from England in 1881, Harry had worked closely with his father, John Northwood I, who was a celebrated carver of cameo glass and served as art director at the renowned Stevens & Williams firm near Stourbridge in the West Midlands of England.
Harry was an employee at the Hobbs-Brockunier Glass Co. in Wheeling and at the LaBelle Glass Co. in Bridgeport, Ohio, before heading his own firms during the 1880s and 1890s in Martins Ferry, Ohio; Ellwood City, Pa.; and Indiana, Pa.
Following the lead of Fenton, the Northwood firm introduced its "Golden Iris" in 1908. This vivid orange hue is now called Marigold by those who collect Carnival glass. Within a year or so, the Northwood firm had two more iridescent colors, Florentine and Pomona, on the market, and these were soon followed by Azure, Emerald and Pearl.
Most of the patterns for the company s glassware were designed by Harry Northwood, and many Carnival glass collectors prize articles in his Grape and Cable motif. Numerous Northwood iridescent pieces carry the firm s distinctive trademark, an underlined capital N within a circle: [trademark here? see p. 36 or p. 44 of book].
The deaths of Carl and Harry Northwood in 1918 and 1919, respectively, reversed the fortunes of this successful glassmaking enterprise. The firm went into receivership, followed by bankruptcy proceedings, and it ceased operations for good in late 1925.
Imperial Glass Co.
Bellaire, Ohio
With the enthusiastic backing of the Bellaire Board of Trade in late 1901, industrialist Edward Muhleman brought together a group of investors and formed the Imperial Glass Company Sales of the firm's stock were slow, however, and construction of the new glass factory was not complete until early 1904. Factory managers Thomas Shelley and John Owens were in charge of the organization s day-to-day operations, and they likely worked with mouldmaker Carl L. Dorer in designing the patterns for the Imperial s initial glassware lines.
In October 1909, Imperial launched two iridescent glass colors to compete with the Fenton and Northwood concerns. Originally called Rubigold and Peacock, these iridescent treatments are respectively known as Marigold and Amethyst Carnival glass by today s collectors. Within a year or so, the company was trumpeting its Azure, Helios and Old Gold iridescent products as well. The Imperial firm printed large catalogs regularly, and its iridescent glassware was exported to England, where it enjoyed good sales.
The onset of the Great Depression almost ended the Imperial s days, but the enterprise emerged from receivership as the Imperial Glass Corporation in 1931, and many employees held stock in the newly-organized firm. The success of its Candlewick and Cape Cod glassware lines kept Imperial going for several more decades.
In 1973, the Imperial plant became part of Lenox, Inc. In 1981, Lenox sold the plant to Arthur Lorch, a businessman who specialized in rescuing manufacturing companies in distress. His efforts proved to be unsuccessful, however, and the Imperial was resold twice more before finally being liquidated in 1984.
Dugan Glass Co.
Indiana, Pennsylvania
With the financial help of a wealthy uncle in late 1903, brothers Thomas and Alfred Dugan purchased all of the assets of the former Northwood Works of the National Glass Co. combine. The Dugan men had immigrated from England in the early 1880s, and they had worked closely with Harry Northwood for quite some time. Both Dugans had been employees in the Northwood plant since early 1896, and both were well-versed in glassmaking and had held management or supervisory positions. The factory they purchased was in good repair, and the first Dugan products appeared in January 1904.
When Fenton, Northwood and Imperial were producing and selling iridescent glass successfully, the Dugan firm decided to compete with them. In late 1909, a glass industry trade publication mentioned Dugan s "Pearl Iris" and described it as an "iridescent effect on opalescent, which makes a very beautiful and attractive line." This Carnival glass color, now called Peach Opalescent by collectors, is the iridescent hue for which the Dugan firm is best known. A few Dugan products can be found with the company s trademark, a capital D within a diamond.
Other iridescent treatments from the Dugan firm were originally given exotic names such as these: Alba Lustre, African, Aurora Iris, Golden Cameo, and Neola. Although the Dugan men left the firm in late 1912, production of iridescent glassware continued. By mid-1913, the firm was renamed and operated as the Diamond Glass Co. Alfred Dugan returned to the company in early 1916, and the firm continued to make iridescent glassware until it was destroyed by fire on June 27, 1931.
Millersburg Glass Co.
Millersburg, Ohio
John W. Fenton left Fenton Art Glass in Williamstown, West Virginia, in mid-1908 to promote the idea of a new glass plant in Millersburg. This venture quickly caught on with local businessmen, many of whom became investors in the enterprise. Sales of stock financed the purchase of land, and groundbreaking for the new glass factory took place on September 14, 1908.
The Millersburg-area newspapers reported on every aspect of the plant s construction, and there was much local interest when the state-of-the-art facility was completed in May 1909. The first glass products were crystal, but the Millersburg plant soon decided to ride the wave of enthusiasm for iridescent glassware that had been started by Fenton Art Glass in 1907-08.
In early 1910, the Millersburg company brought out its line of "Radium" glassware. One trade publication described its "brilliancy" as "all the soft colors of changeable silk." Patterns for the new Radium ware were probably designed by John W. Fenton, and there is evidence that some of the firm s products were exported to England.
The Millersburg Glass Co. struggled financially from its outset, and many creditors pursued legal actions against the company during 1911. The firm went into receivership and then into bankruptcy, but one of the key stockholders purchased all of the company s assets with a view to resuming glass production. The Millersburg Glass Co. was reorganized as the Radium Glass Co. in late 1911, but production lasted only a few months before the plant was shut down in May 1911.
Higbee Gallery | Jean L. Druesedow, Director
The period between 1875 and 1914 was tumultuous in both Europe and the United States. At the time, no one thought of it as a specific era, but in hindsight it has been called the "Gilded Age." In France it has been known rather nostalgically as La Belle Époque, the "Beautiful Time."
During the last years of the nineteenth century, there was an increasing divide between rich and poor. Thorstein Veblen (1857-1921) published his Theory of the Leisure Class in 1899, which gave the world the term "conspicuous consumption." There was expanding imperialism by Western European nations, with Queen Victoria declared Empress of India in 1877, and the Berlin conference of 1884 convened to attempt to settle rival claims to parts of Africa. The United States participated in this tendency, gaining Puerto Rico and the Philippines as a result of the Spanish-American War of 1898. At the same time the art world saw upheaval with the advent of Impressionism and subsequent modern movements. New forms of musical composition and dance were equally controversial. The audience rioted in 1913 at the first performance by the Ballets Russes of Stravinsky's ballet, Le Sacre du printemps, The Rite of Spring.
Fashion was most influenced by French styles, and the silhouettes changed several times within each decade beginning with a high, full bustle in the 1870s, narrowing to a tight, slim silhouette with a long train around 1880, and back again to a bustle in the mid 1880s that critics likened to a "tea table," and cartoonists depicted as garments worn by women with four legs. The 1890s were characterized by trumpet shaped skirts narrow at the waist and wide at the hem, and changing sleeve and bodice silhouettes. The sleeves grew until reaching the full blown "leg-o'-mutton" in the mid-1890s, and then collapsed into the bishop sleeve of the early twentieth century. Bodice shapes were defined by corsets that forced the body into an "S" shape by 1900. A new version of the neo-Classical silhouette appeared around 1907 when the fashionable shape straightened and narrowed with the waist placement rising. Bridal fashions followed these trends, adding a romantic flourish or an historic reference dictated by the whim of the bride and the sense of what was considered to be appropriate wedding apparel.
The explosion of World War I in Europe in 1914 has been identified as the defining moment when La Belle Époque ended. The devastation the war wreaked on Europe, the extraordinary loss of a generation of young men, the economic consequences, and the end of long established empires, all signaled the end of the era.
Alumni Gallery | Elizabeth St-George, Guest Curator
Early eighteenth century silk design is marked by the evolution of textile motifs towards greater naturalism. While floral ornamentation had consistently appeared in Medieval and Renaissance silk decoration, these forms were heavily stylized. Semi-naturalistic flowers begin to appear about 1700, after which a tendency towards more naturalistic forms accelerated until the middle of the century. The beginning of the eighteenth century is also noted for the production of "Bizarre Silk," named for the asymmetrical arrangement of exotic motifs and odd color combinations. The resulting informality of "Bizarre Silk" patterns greatly complemented the increasing naturalism in silk design.
During the 1730s, an entirely new style developed marking a dramatic shift in French silk design. Silks of the 1730s are characterized by large and completely naturalistic fruits and flowers often depicted in relief. This new style can be linked to the beginning of the career of Jean Revel (1684-1751), one of the most renowned and technically sophisticated Lyonnais silk designers. Revel and other contemporary silk designers also focused considerable attention on how textile motifs were rendered in thread. Instead of depicting flat, single colored motifs, designers of the 1730s conceived motifs more three-dimensional in appearance through shading or gently blending contrasting shades of color.
Having developed naturalism to its fullest extent in the 1730s, silk designs of the 1740s and early 1750s returned to a more stylized manner of depicting forms, a trend that continued through the end of the century. The scale of fruits and flowers also diminished and silk designers played with a lighter composition by organizing meanders of flowers, ribbon, lace or fur patterns across the fabric. While meanders of the 1740s tend to flow more freely through the space of the fabric, meanders of the early 1750s are more static in nature. The lighthearted charm and vigor that develops in silk designs during the 1740s is characteristic of mid-eighteenth century Rococo silk production.
Although the designs are not as stiff as their predecessors, silks of the late 1750s and the 1760s are designed with a similar formula of meanders and smaller, stylized motifs. Meanders of this period are commonly arranged parallel to one another creating an asymmetry across the vertical axis of the fabric. This contrasts greatly with the rigid vertical symmetry employed in silk designs of the 1740s and early 1750s. The 1750s also marks the beginning of the career of Phillip Lasalle (1723-1804), another extremely successful Lyonnais silk designer who is credited with being the first to utilize the fur patterns that were extremely popular in the late 1750s and 1760s.
Owing significantly to the rediscovery of Pompeii and Herculaneum in 1748, neo-classical themes became increasing influential in textile design at the end of the eighteenth century. While small, stylized flowers remained, the meanders that were popular in earlier decades were gradually replaced by straight lines beginning in the 1760s. During the late 1760s and 1770s meanders scattered with floral motifs curled above or between rows of stripes. By the middle of the 1770s, the floral motifs that were once contained within meanders were now dispersed across or within stripes creating a stiffer composition that contrasts greatly with the airy designs that were popular earlier in the century.
