Fashion – Page 2

April 12, 2019

Culture and Creativity Collide at Fashion Exhibit in Israel

During a trip to Israel, I visited the National Museum in Jerusalem. The museum was having an exhibition featuring 150 costumes which combined to form a historic display of the vibrant and complex tapestry of Israeli society. The exhibit, titled “Fashion Statements: Decoding Israeli Dress,” opened in June 2018 and will close in April 2019.

The exhibit showed that fashion belongs equally in domains of art as well as consumerism and is a rich source of information about the culture from which it stems. This can be gleaned from the artists’ choice of material, colors and designs. The exhibit sets out on a journey to share the advances in Israeli fashion during the late 19th century and how these works affect Israel’s piece of the global fashion industry today.

The Designers

While all of the pieces in the exhibit represented Israel, the work of each artist was unique to them.

A featured designer, Liora Taragan, creates designs that blur the line between clothing and jewelry. She draws inspiration from history of fashion, Jewish symbolism, and Victorian and Palestinian embroidery. Worked into her pieces, you’ll find feathers, coins, seashells and many other unique materials.

Also featured was Maskit, a legendary Israeli brand that played an important role in integrating traditional crafts into fashion design. It was founded by Ruth Dayan, its first and most prominent designer, in 1954. She launched the brand to create job opportunities for immigrants who were experts in a variety of handicrafts. It connected experienced designers with traditional embroiderers, weavers and silversmiths who collaborated on producing attractive modern items. Dayan also hoped Maskit would ensure preservation of the international crafts.

One of the collections was called the Keffiyeh Collection after the checkered black and white scarf that is worn around the neck or head in Palestine. The designer, Roju Ben-Josep, featured dresses made of red, white, and black keffiyeh fabrics incorporating Bedouin (a group of nomadic Arab people) embroidery and Hebron (a Palestinian city on the West Bank) glass decorations. Her collection symbolized hope for peaceful coexistence between the cities that inspired her work.

The clothing plays off of the traditions and atmosphere of Israel. Tali Kushnir found her inspiration in the work clothes of British and Jewish workers in Palestine at the beginning of the century. The tents of the Bedouin and the colors of the Negev (a southern region of Israel) were the sources of inspiration for an iconic coat she created, featuring a large flowing shape made with handwoven wools and knitted coils.

These designers were able to find inspiration all around them and feel a deep need to preserve their culture, as well as its artists. Whether pulling from their religion or the local materials available to them, the designers featured in Fashion Statements were able to come together to present a united view of what fashion means in Israel. It was wonderful to get a glimpse of the country and its history through fashion.

~ Kendra Mochel, past president of the Princeton Chapter, also served as VP

February 23, 2019

The French Jacket Experience

The allure of the classic French jacket – its mystique has captivated for years.

Long before rediscovering garment sewing several years ago, I admired this garment for its timeless elegance on the outside, never understanding that the magic on the inside is the real story. Quilting lofty bouclé to silk lining with rows of stitches that are all but invisible from the outside produces a sumptuous quality double-layer that hugs the body almost like a sweater and feels like heaven to wear.

While creating this garment is a lengthy process with a great deal of hand sewing, (many have estimated it to take anywhere from 70 to over 100 hours), none of the steps are particularly difficult. Many find the slow and steady pace to be relaxing and contemplative, thoroughly enjoying the rhythmic repetition, the time-honored techniques and the effort of perfecting one stitch after another.

If one were ever to splurge on materials and trims, this is the time!

Given the amount of labor invested, only the best will do. Quality bouclé can be sourced at many online retailers – some of the more popular are:

Linton Direct UK
Elliott Berman
Mendel Goldberg
B&J
Emma One Sock

You’ll still be thousands of dollars ahead in the end. Did you know that the price of an off-the-rack Chanel original averages around $5,000 and the made-to-measure haute couture version begins at upwards of $15,000 to $20,000?

For anyone interested in trying these techniques for the first time, Blueprint’s class (formerly Craftsy) “The Iconic Tweed Jacket” by Lorna Knight offers great value and an approachable starting point. I was thrilled with the success achieved on my first jacket and came away with the confidence to move to the next level.

For a full-on couture experience, Susan Khalje’s class, in-person or on-line, is thought by many to be the gold standard. True haute couture methods are employed throughout and her three-piece sleeve with vent allows for prominent placement of featured trim and fancy buttons, both authentic hallmarks of Chanel.

It starts with a muslin

A perfectly fitted muslin (or toile) is your best friend when beginning this project. Vogue 7975 is the pattern many use since its shoulder princess seams permit the best opportunity for bust adjustments.

Time for Adjustments

Once necessary adjustments have been made and the muslin fit perfected, it is cut apart on the seam lines and used as the jacket’s actual pattern. For optimum accuracy, each piece is thread traced along the seam lines on a single layer of fabric. Measured seam allowances are not used in couture sewing; large rough borders are cut around each piece and the thread traced lines are matched throughout construction.

Machine Quilting the Sections

Each bouclé section is then machine quilted to silk charmeuse lining and the bouclé layer is sewn by machine while keeping the lining edges free to be hand fell-stitched together on the inside. Next, each lining seam is carefully pinned and hand fell stitched closed.

The control one has by hand stitching is truly unmatched. Before falling in love with couture sewing, I would have avoided hand stitching at all costs but I now find myself including some on nearly everything I sew. Collars, cuffs, facings and basting of any sort; they all benefit greatly from the accuracy of hand stitching.

On to the Sleeves

Once the “vest” has been completed, the sleeves are similarly assembled then attached to the jacket entirely by hand. Front hook and eye closures are added and the jacket’s trim is hand applied before fell-stitching the outer edges of the lining closed.

Pockets

The desired number of pockets and their placement is determined and they are constructed and trimmed in the same manner as the jacket. Each is backed with hand stitched silk lining and matching trim is applied.

Buttons

Finally, decorative buttons are added to the sleeve vents and pockets and the iconic chain is stitched along the inner hemline. The chain is said to counterbalance the weight of heavy buttons and prevent the jacket from slipping forward on the shoulders but, primarily, it adds that special touch of luxury on the inside!

Not just for Suits

While I’ve made a matching skirt for all but one of my six French jackets, they are most often worn with jeans, proving there is a place in every wardrobe for this classic you will be proud to say you’ve created yourself. No one will believe you’ve made it!

~ Post by Julie Starr – Julie is the co-author of the Tunic Bible with Sarah Gunn. Both will be teaching at the 2019 ASG Conference in Boston.

January 25, 2019

The Dior Exhibition

Dior On a beautiful, sunny day in January, the Colorado Springs ASG garment group toured the Dior exhibition held at the Denver Art Museum. I had heard glowing reviews from other friends who had attended, but I was not prepared for the scope of the offering. A selection of more than 200 couture dresses was on display, along with many drawings, mood boards and accessories. The exhibition was even more fantastic because of the way the garments were presented, having been designed by the internationally renowned architect Shohei Shigematsu.

The first room of the exhibition had the viewers walking through a dimly-lit passage filled with toiles made up in a flat black fabric (even the mannequins were black). Something about stripping the designs of all color allowed the viewer to see the beautiful structure of the garments.

We were able to see design boards and garments by Christian Dior, who was head of the house for a short time before his death. The exhibition then showed garments and their inspiration from all the lead designers who have followed, including Yves St. Laurent. Each of these designers has contributed his or her own design esthetic to the Dior line.

Another striking room was filled with traditional toiles in white. The room was probably 25 feet tall and the toiles were hung on the wall at least four garments high. We were told that Dior drew his sketches without a lot of thought as to how they were going to be constructed. He expected his workers to be able to translate his designs to finished garments, the toile being the first step.

One room of about 20 ball gowns featured a video display above with images of celebrities in some of the same gowns. While we definitely couldn’t touch the garments, we were able to get quite close to some of them.

Part of Dior’s genius was to design and create accessories, even perfume, so that a woman could be clothed head to toe in Dior. One display had colorful columns that held hats, headpieces, jewelry, shoes, bags and what looked like doll clothes. It was a bold presentation that captured the breadth of the line.

In many cases, the designers of the House of Dior were influenced by what was happening in the greater art world. This influence showed up in fabric creation and garment silhouettes. In many rooms the Denver Art Museum showcased actual art that served as inspiration.

The final room of the exhibition was an extensive display of Dior around the world. The room was enormous with the garments standing on tiered discs. With almost 50 garments, the visual punch was intense.

We all agreed that once through this exhibition was not enough to take it all in. Perhaps we’ll be able to go again before it leaves Denver and makes its way to Dallas – the only two cities in the US to house the exhibition.

~Thank you to Cecelia Harris from the Colorado Springs chapter for this post.