In Pursuit of Fashion: The Sandy Schreier Collection at the Met

Offering Bearer, Egypt, c.1981 - 1975 BC.

Egyptian-inspired evening dress, Madeleine & Madeleine, c. 1923.

Evening dress, detail.

Recently, DH and I took a fantastic group tour, Fashion in Art with Special Exhibit: The Sandy Schreier Collection  at the Metropolitan Museum in New York. I used the Events menu to find this tour.

I blogged about the first part of the tour here, and this post explores the Schreier collection of 20th century fashion, with a focus on pieces which reference historic costume or have interesting narratives. Also, I feature items which just appeal to me; after all, it's my blog.

Now, the first image in this blog is a 4,000 year-old representation of ancient Egyptian dress. The second image, of an evening dress by Madeleine and Madeleine, clearly references the Egyptian revival motifs which became all the rage after the discovery of King Tutankahmun's tomb in 1922, not to mention silent film star Theda Bara's portrayal of Cleopatra in 1917.

While the 1920's dress features a girdle of an Egyptian-inspired bird delineated in fake jewels, the silhouette of the dress is thoroughly 1920's.  While the ancient dress clings to the body, showing every curve, the flapper-era dress falls straight and away from the body, with no accent on the bosom; only the bird motif girdle creates a feminine emphasis at the hips.

Mariano Fortuny Y Madrazo, more widely known just as Fortuny,  was another designer who translated aspects of ancient dress into contemporary fashion. His famous Delphos dress, an elegant straight gown whose infinite tiny pleats skimmed the body, references ancient Greek female attire.  Fortuny still exists and made some of the outfits for Downton Abbey.

Marble statue of a woman, Greek, 4th century BC.

Fortuny gown and tunic, 1920's.

Downton Abbey Delphos-style dress by Fortuny.

So clearly, fashion designers, just like artists in many media, looked to the past for inspiration, one theme of this exhibit. Another theme is the manner in which designers respond to economic or political conditions.  Some of the garments were designed by Gilbert Adrian, a busy Hollywood designer best known by the monomym Adrian.  The ensemble below was designed during World War II, when Regulation Order L-85 (scroll down to the "Dressing for War" section) put limitations on the use of silk, among other fabrics. So, designers used alternative materials such as rayon, seen in this burgundy sheath style dress.  Fringe, however, was unrestricted, so could be used with abandon.

Rayon dress with fringe, Gilbert Adrian, c. 1943.

Adrian, who designed Judy Garland's blue-and-white gingham outfit in the Wizard of Oz, also produced one of my favorites in the show, below.

Rayon dress with printed cats, Gilbert Adrian, 1944.

The garments exhibited also featured examples of amazing handwork - beading, embroidery, passmenterie and so forth, and it's great to see this craftsmanship celebrated, on accessories as well as clothes.  It's also time to be no longer ashamed of the decorative impulse.  Imagine the dress below on a Bright Young Thing out on the town and dancing, fringe flying and light sparkling on the beads.

Evening dress, French or American, c. 1925-28.

Helmet hat, 1920's. 

As noted in the exhibit, hats and other accessories  made couture a bit more inclusive - these items of clothing were independent of body shape and offered a way to experience a bit of high fashion with less of an investment.  Hats were also a way to introduce a little bit of levity into the fashion equation.

Hat, Philip Treacy, 2003.

You may remember admiring Treacy's hats at the wedding of Prince William and Katherine Middleton in 2011.  Within the compass of headgear, Treacy exhibits a lot of creativity.

Well, this post covers just a fraction of  the items on view, and, judging from the crowds, this is a popular exhibit.  The Met is lucky Ms. Schreier is donating much of her collections to its Costume Institute.  There is a catalog available.

I'll book-end this post with a view of another Egyptian revival-inspired garment which, if given to me, I would never take off. 

Evening coat, detail, French, 1923-28.  This view captures the glimmer of silver lamé.

Fashion in Art tour at the Met

Marble statue of a woman, Greek, 4th century BC, with our wonderful guide.

Recently DH and I caught a tour at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Titled Fashion in Art with Special Exhibit: The Sandy Schreier Collection, this 1 1/2-hour tour, led by a terrific guide whose name I didn't catch, sadly, took us all over the museum. We time-travelled, too, from ancient Egypt to Second Empire France.

Item #1 - Marble statue of a woman. Location: Great Hall
Our first stop was a statue with draped and pleated clothing depicted marvelously in stone.
Her robe, or chiton, represents finely pleated linen. In ancient Greece such  fine pleats were created by dipping the fabric into vegetable-based starch, folding the wet fabric around a pole and then drying the assembly in the sun.
Around her body, and draped over her left arm, she wears a himation, like a cloak, made of wool and hence less finely pleated or folded than the  thin linen.
A cord tied under her bosom gives an elegant silhouette to her outfit and holds everything in place.
The goddess Artemis is sometimes shown with a cord like this, but our guide said this is more likely Themis, goddess of custom and law.

Item #2 - Bust of Alexander Menshikov. Location: Gallery 551

Alexander Menshikov, unknown artist, c. 1704.

Alexander Menshikov rose from humble beginnings to become a military leader and advisor to Peter the Great. At the time, Tsar Peter was heavily influenced by the culture of the French court under Louis XIV.  French courtiers were clean-shaven and wore wigs, following the example of the balding Louis, so Peter wanted Russian nobles to abandon their traditional facial hair and emulate the French.  Those who did not were fined. Alexander's armor serves only a decorative purpose, and is illustrated with scenes from the life of another famous Alexander, Alexander the Great.  The frothy jabot at his neck is a fore-runner of the modern necktie and adds to the sense of motion imparted by the slight turn of the head. Clearly a successful military man, he also exhibits the status conferred by courtly dress.  Fun fact - according to our guide, these huge wigs are the origin of the phrase "Big Wig".

Item #3 - Toilet Set in Original Leather Case. Location: Gallery 551

Toilet Set in Original Leather Case, Germany, c. 1743 - 45.

We had a brief stop at this elaborate dressing table set up. Members of the nobility got dressed and ready for their day with others in attendance as part of court ritual. Note the pair of tea cups - milady could share her tea or chocolate.

Item #4 - Condesa de Altamira and her daughter, Maria Agustina.  Location: Gallery 958

Condesa de Altamira and her daughter Maria Agustina, Goya, 1787-88.

The Condesa has a fashionably teased hairstyle called "hedgehog".  She also wears a fine fichu around her shoulders and tucked modestly into her bodice. Her excellent posture and nipped waist are courtesy of a corset.  Her skirt is shaped by a hoop.  Lace and embroidered silk establish her status and her young child wears lace too.  In 2014 the Met was able to present a sort of family reunion, displaying all four of the Altamira family portraits by Goya.

Condesa de Alamira, detail. Embroidery on silk at her hem.

Item #5 Josephine-Eleonore-Marie-Pauline de Brassac de Bearn. Location: Gallery 957

Josephine de Brassac de Bearn. Ingres, 1851-53.

For purposes of discussion, I'll abbreviate the title of the painting to Josephine de Brassac de Bearn.  De Brassac de Bearn was a member of the Second Empire elite, and known also by the courtesy title Princess de Broglie. Here she is prepared to go out, with her evening shawl, gloves and black cloak draped over a chair upholstered in golden damask.

The full skirt of her blue silk dress did not have a bustle but there may have been a small pillow, tied around the waist, lifting and filling out the back of the skirt, and a stiff crinoline providing more structure and volume.  Lace and ruching frame her decolletage; her sleeves are trimmed with lace and ribbons and matching ribbons, as well as feathers, ornament her hair.  The Princesse's arms are portrayed as meltingly soft and on her left wrist is wrapped by a pearl necklace functioning as a bracelet. 

Josephine de Brassac de Bearn, detail.

 
Sadly, this beautiful woman and mother of five died of tuberculosis at age 35. Her broken-hearted widower kept the portrait behind a curtain and never remarried.

Item #6 -  The Life and Miracles of Saint Godelieve. Location: Gallery 305

The Life and Miracles of Saint Godelieve, Master of the Saint Godelieve Legend, 15th c.

Next we travelled back to the fourth quarter of the fifteenth century, and learned about Saint Godelieve, a  young noblewoman born around 1052.  The painter portrayed the characters in contemporary costume of his century, and we see Godeliever's life and role changing with her dress.

Alterpiece, detail, left panel.

The story begins in the two panels above - Godelieve, a teenager, is shown in the left panel at the bottom between her two sisters.  Her parents sit at the top and are handsomely dressed in red and brocade as befits minor nobility.  Godelieve's loose, flowing hair tells us she is not yet married.  In the panel on the right she is sneaking food from her wealthy family to distribute to the poor.  Her suspicious family had a servant confront her, but, miraculously, the stolen food became woodchips, so she evaded detection. 

Saint Godelieve, detail, middle panel.

In the leftmost panel of the central part of the altarpiece Godelieve is betrothed to a knight in the service of the Count of Burgundy.  She weds the knight in the middle panel; both are opulently dressed in brocades.  However,  Godelieve continues to feed the poor, now using food from her new home. Her mother-in-law, shown in the black gown and white whimple in the rightmost panel above, tells a young maid to follow Godelieve and report back to her.

Saint Godelieve, detail, right panel.

 
Unhappy with her daughter-in-law, the knight's mother convinces her son to have Godelieve murdered by two henchman.  In the left panel above these two villains, dressed in striped hose - stripes are a sure sign of villainy - pull Godelieve out of bed.  She wears only a simple night gown over her shift as the henchman strangle her.  In the last panel, foreground, the villains tip her head first into a well, perhaps to make it look as if she drowned, and then arrange her on a bed, trying to mask any sign of violent murder.  A cult developed around her, she was attributed with four miracles, and made a saint very soon after her death. Her faithless husband remarried, but remorse seems to have overcome him and he became a monk.

Item #7 Offering Bearer. Location: Gallery 105

Our  last stop took us 4,000 years back in time, to ancient Egypt. Almost by accident archaelogists discovered an intact tomb in 1920, containing many models of Egyptian life as well as this figure bearing food for the afterlife.

Offering Bearer, or Estate Figure, c. 1981 - 1975 BC.

Depicted in mid-stride, her dress clings to her body and mimics dresses made of multi-colored feathers.  Her ankles and wrists feature jewelled bands.

Offering Bearer, back view.

After this stop we headed to the Costume Institute and the Sandy Schreier exhibit, which I will cover in the next post. Stay tuned.
This was a great tour and I wish the Met and other museums would program more of this approach to art history.

Yukigata sashiko - stitched snowflakes

Finished mat.

Just finished a sashiko project. Title is "yukigata", which translates, more or less, to snowflake pattern.

Pre-printed design on fabric and stitching diagram.

The stitching diagram. Self-explanatory.

I found this on ebay and plan to give it as a gift.

Looks good with KLM Delft houses.

DH was a consultant to KLM airlines for a time, so we have a small collection of their Delft houses given to businessclass passengers.  These charming items are actually bottles filled with jenever, or Dutch-style gin.

Close-up of stitching.