Creative Process Journal: Cutting the Fabric for the Marie Antoinette Dress

Cutting the fabric for the Marie Antoinette dress (Photo by Ingrid Mida 2011)

Yesterday was the day to cut out the pieces for the robe a la francaise. Although I'd made a dress in this style in mesh once before and was able to use the pattern from that project, this time was a little bit trickier. As a post-modern mash up of fabrics, the intent was not to use a single fabric for the entire gown but to mix up the colours. Using different fabrics is a statement about authenticity and veracity making it clear that this is not Marie Antoinette's dress. But which colours for which pieces? I had to recut some pieces more than once because the beige print did not have the same pop as the other more vibrant fuschia pink and brown, or the lime green and fuschia.

The cut pieces for the Marie Antoinette dress (Photo by Ingrid Mida 2011)

I was so intent on this process that I did nothing else for six hours straight.  I was so energized by this project that I did not even notice the time and I did not take a washroom break nor did I have lunch! As much as I love reading, for one day I loved NOT reading....

Number of hours: 6
Project time clock: 21.5

Creative Process Journal: Bricolage and Choosing Fabric

The Swing by Fragonard

Bricolage is a French term that literally means "making do", using whatever materials are on hand. This term can also be used to describe the cultural practice of taking items and using them in a way that they were not intended to create a subversive or resistant meaning - like taking safety pins and using them for body ornamentation.

My choice of fabric for the Marie Antoinette dress project is a form of bricolage. I purchased some toile de jouy fabric in Paris about two years ago (remember this post?) and it has sat in a drawer in my studio ever since. As upholstery fabric, it was a little too thick to embroider easily, and it has sat unused - until now. Although it is on the heavy side, I am hoping the weight of the material will give the dress a quality of gravitas. Since the dress will require over 20 metres of fabric, making do with materials on hand is a relevant cost consideration.

Toile de Jouy Fabric from Paris

This fabric references the iconic painting of the 18^th century called “The Swing” by Jean-Honore Fragonard (1732-1806) from the Wallace Collection. In this painting, a young woman dressed in a peach-coloured silk gown sits in a swing hung from a tree in a fantastical dream-like garden while her lover admires her from below. One shoe flies off of her foot as she flies through the air. Painted in 1767-1768, the painting embodied erotic connotations at the time, but the dominant hegemonic reading of this work has changed to now represent romance and femininity. And while the painting as a referent predates Marie Antoinette’s reign as Queen of France and the fabric does not replicate the image, but reinterprets it, the reference embodies the frivolity and romantic notions of the period. As well, the vivid pinks in the fabric tie into the pink of third wave feminism. 

I'm going to have to think about how to add a subversive or resistive element to how I use this fabric.... That part is still up in the air at this point. 

Project Clock: plus 1 hour (painting and fabric analysis)     

Total to date: 14 hours

The 18th Century Back in Fashion

Maison Christian Dior (f/w 2004-2005 on left and f/w 2007-2008 on right)

The extreme silhouettes, elaborate trimmings, and pouf hairstyles of the French Court dress in the 18th Century have served as a rich source of inspiration for haute couture and ready to wear fashion designers like Vivienne Westwood, Yves Saint Laurent, Karl Lagerfeld, Azzedine Alaia, Alexander McQueen and others. In an exhibition called The 18th Century Back in Fashion at the Palace of Versailles, original garments from that period have been shown alongside the modern interpretations to demonstrate the influence of the 18th century on contemporary fashion.

18th Century Period Dress from the Exhibition

Presented by the Musee Galleria inside the Grand Trianon pavillion, I can only imagine that it is the most perfect setting in which to show this exhibition. Sadly, my schedule will not allow me to see it in person. But I lingered on the website, studying the exhibition floor plan and watching the exhibition videos more than once. I also ordered the exhibition catalogue (even though the shipping cost was as much as the book itself).

Chanel by Karl Lagerfeld, spring/summer 2005

The exhibition runs until October 9, 2011. If you are lucky enough to be in Paris, I'd wager a bet that this is an exhibition worth visiting. For more information, consult the Palace of Versailles website here.

Thomas Gainsborough and the Modern Woman

Mrs. Sarah Siddons, oil on canvas, c1785 by Thomas Gainsborough
National Gallery London

Although it may seem to be a contradiction of terms to describe an 18th century woman as "modern", this exhibition of paintings by Sir Thomas Gainsborough (1727-1788) at the San Diego Museum of Fine Art illuminates the painter's progressive ideas about women. One of the notable paintings on display is his portrait of his two daughters, Mary and Margaret, who both hold sketchbooks in their hands reflecting his ambition for them to have their own careers as artists and independent women.

Many of the other portraits on display are of women with notorious reputations including the beautiful cello-playing Anne Ford, the dancer Giovanna Bacceli, the infamous Duchess of Devonshire, and the courtesan Grace Dalrymple,  mistress to both of the French Duke of Orleans and the British Prince of Wales (the future George IV) and who also survived imprisonment in the Bastille during the French revolution. The exhibition highlights Gainsborough's depiction of these sitters as self-assured and "modern" women.

Not only was Gainsborough progressive in his portrayal of these women but his brushwork is a forerunner to impressionism. His loose painterly brushstrokes in the gowns worn by the sitters conveys a sense of movement and an underlying sense of the body within these larger than life portraits.

Mrs. Ann Ford, oil on canvas c.1760 by Thomas Gainsborough
Cincinnati Art Museum

I have to say that standing in the middle of the ten portraits by Gainsborough in this gallery is nothing short of glorious. The works come from a diverse group of museums including the National Gallery and the Tate in London, the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, the National Gallery of Art in Washington, and the J. Paul Getty Museum and the Huntington in Los Angeles. Also on display are 18th century stays and two gowns from the Cincinnati Art Museum.

I was mesmerized by the story behind the portrait of Ann Ford (shown above). An accomplished cello player, she played the instrument "side-saddle" style because putting it between her legs would be unseemly. Being a cello player myself, I can attest to how difficult this would be. And yet, she played well enough to play concerts. In Gainsborough's portrait of Ann Ford, her cello sits in the background and he conveys the sparkle of her beauty and her accomplishments by adding crushed up glass blended into his oil paints for her dress.

Giovanna Baccelli, oil on canvas c1782 by Thomas Gainsborough
Tate London

The other painting that caught my eye as the portrait of the dancer Giovanna Baccelli (c1782). She is depicted in costume for the ballet Les Amans Surpris (The Surprised Lovers). Her yellow and blue robe a la polonaise is very much like the costume that I acquired from the Opera Atelier. Remember this post?The dresses are uncannily alike and I'm guessing that my costume was inspired by this painting by Gainsborough.

Thomas Gainsborough and The Modern Woman is on at the San Diego Museum of Fine Art until May 1, 2011. If you cannot get there, a beautiful exhibition catalogue is available.



The San Diego Museum of Art
1450 El Prado
Balboa Park
San Diego, CA 92101


Photo credits: Images from the San Diego Museum of Fine Art.

Out of the crate: Fashioning Fashion at LACMA

Timeline Installation photo by Ingrid Mida 2011

There are only a matter of weeks left to see The Fashioning Fashion exhibition at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. This extraordinary display of garments and accessories spanning 1700 to 1915 is unparalleled in its importance to fashion history due to its breath, its quality and the excellent condition of the pieces. Included in the nearly 160 examples of fashionable dress, undergarments and accessories are a number of extremely rare pieces. And while the exhibition catalogue Fashioning Fashion illustrates each and every garment in the collection in lavish photographs, there is really nothing like being there to fully appreciate the workmanship in these garments and accessories.

Timeline Installation Photo by Ingrid Mida 2011

This collection was purchased in its entirety from two dealers who had each separately amassed collections of historic textiles and dress for more than 25 years. They wanted their combined collection go to a single museum. Director Michael Govan said "After seeing these rare objects, it was clear that we should bring the collection to Los Angeles, as my first major collecting initiatives after arriving at LACMA. This acquisition has catapulted the museum's holdings of European costume to the highest category of quality."

Lady's chemise, panier and corset 1750-1780 LACMA
Photo by Ingrid Mida

The heavy gray box-like structures displaying the garments initially seemed to detract from the delicate beauty of the garments on exhibit. But then I recognized the allusion to the garments emerging from shipping crates. The "crates" are painted gray like the neutral backdrops that costumes are typically photographed against in a museum. Raised up on platforms, the crates elevate the displays to allow easy viewing by all. And on occasion, their layout allows a playful peak at what is yet to come. Close to the ceiling of the gallery, the red lettering of the FashioningFashion labels add a punch of colour to the cavernous space and seem to reference the red steel beams of the building directly across from the Resnick Pavilion. In the end, I concluded that the contrast of the modern installation with the historic fashion pieces was a very clever thing to do and oh so LA.

Tailoring installation, LACMA photo by Ingrid Mida 2011

The white mannequins and paper wigs create neutral forms which focus the viewer's attention on the clothes and not the carrier, although some of the garments are suspended by wires with invisible mannequin forms (another allusion to modernity perhaps?)

Men's Waistcoats 18th century France, LACMA Installation photo by Ingrid Mida 2011

Normally it is easy for me to pick out a favourite garment from an exhibition but this time I fell in love with all of it. The extraordinary workmanship and beauty of the garments on display make it impossible to choose just one. So rare is it that a museum puts its entire collection on display that this is a once in a lifetime event.  I hope it stays burned into my memory.

Fashioning Fashion: European Dress in Detail, 1700-1915
Closes March 27, 2011
Los Angeles County Museum of Art
5905 Wiltshire Boulevard
Los Angeles, CA, 90036
323-857-6000

The First Fashion Blogger: Barbara Johnson's Album of Fashion

Although fashion blogs seem to be a relatively recent phenomena, the act of documenting one's selections of clothing and fabric choices goes back as far as the 18th century. Barbara Johnson, a  well-off Englishwoman from a clerical family, made detailed notes about her wardrobe for the period 1760-1823. Her album includes a detailed description of each garment, fabric swatches, information about cost and trimmings as well as clipped pocketbook engravings (plates that preceded the illustrated fashion journals) with the styles of the day. Her album survives today in the collections of the Victoria and Albert Museum. It was reproduced into book format in 1987 because it is too fragile to be handled.

Even as a reproduction, this album is important for several reasons. According to Madeleine Ginsburg, assistant curator at the V&A Museum,  "the album is unique for the length of time it covers, for the practical details and the hints it gives of the circumstances of her long and fashion-conscious life." (Essay on "Barbara Johnson and Fashion" by Madeline Ginsburg, pg. 18 from the book.)

Not only does this album reflect the changes in silhouette and style over time, it also mirrors the graceful aging of a woman who knew was appropriate for her figure. Stylish to the end, her choices of fabric, silhouette and trims reflect her status as an elegant and respected woman.

Also notable in the album are her frequent purchases of mourning dress. Apparently, 18th century mourning requirements were as strict as in the Victorian age with three periods of mourning, categorized by degree. First degree required the most sombre dress in fabrics without colour, either in black or white, without sheen and with little or no trimmings and plain white accessories. Over time, the requirements relaxed but the mourning period was typically at least a year and was adopted after the deaths of family, close friends and in certain cases for the deaths of members of the Royal Family.

This book is a fascinating archive of fashion history for the period 1754-1832 and an important resource for fashion scholars and bloggers alike.

Title: Barbara Johnson's Album of Fashions and Fabrics
Edited by: Natalie Rothstein
Published by: Thames and Hudson, 1987
Number of Pages: 208