Keep it Cool: Historical Fans

As we've been hit by quite a heatwave, what's a girl to do but to break out her secret stash of fans. The advantages of fans are numerous: you can keep yourself cool, add another accessory to your outfit, or let someone special know what you think about them.

Take this Horrible Histories' lady for instance. She knows how useful a fan could be:

The wonderful thing about fans is that they come in all shapes, sizes and color schemes. You can always find the perfect one to compliment your outfit.

So I leave you today with a collection of my favorite fans. I defer a post about the language of the fan to a later date.

Fixed fan, straw embroidery on green silk with wooden handle, 1740, England via LACMA

Folding fan, ivory and paper, 18th century, Spain via the Met Museum

Calendar fan, silk leaf printed and painted, wood and ivory handle, 1774, France via Museum of Fine Arts Boston

Brisé fan, ivory, paper and tortoiseshell, 1790–1820, France via the Met Museum

Folding fan, pierced and painted ivory, 1710-20, China for Dutch market via Cooper-Hewitt

Brisé fan, ivory, 1800s, China via the Kyoto Costume Institute

Folding pleated fan, only 17.8 cm tall and 33.6 cm wide, 1805-1810, France via Cooper-Hewitt

Brisé fan, ivory, metal and oil paint, 1800-1810, France via the Met Museum

Edouard Moreau fan, paper, parchment, paint, mother-of-pearl, metal, 1860–75, France via the Met Museum  

Fan, 1830-60, silk and tortoiseshell, France via the Met Museum  

Fan, graving colored with gouache on paper, with painted wooden sticks, 1830-1840, France via Victoria and Albert Museum

Fan, silk and ivory fan painted with roses, 1845 via Museum of the City of New York

Fan, paper, ivory, metal and glass, 1860s, America or Europe via the Met Museum  

Folding cockade (circular) fan, vulcanized rubber and silk ribbon. 1860s, United States via Cooper-Hewitt

Fan, mother-of-pearl, silk, gouache and metal, 1880-1900, America or Europe via the Met Museum  

Fan, wood, paper, wool and silk, late 19th century, French via the Met Museum 

Fan, painted silk gauze and bobbin lace leaf, with mother-of-pearl sticks and guards, 1890-1900, France via Victoria and Albert Museum

L.(?) Boillaty fan, paper, silk, lace, mother-of-pearl and gilt, late 19th century France via the Met Museum 

Fan, paper and wood, 1903, France via the Met Museum 

Fan, 'L'OCCIDENTALE', vellum; pochoir of woman holding flower in scene with ocean and mountain; illustrated by Paul Iribe, 1911 via the Kyoto Costume Institute

Fan, 1910-1920, France via the Met Museum

Fan, mother+of-pearl and silk, 1920, France via the Met Museum

Fan, silk and celluloid, 1925, France via the Met Museum

Fan, paper, wood and metal, 1925, France via the Met Museum

Fan, synthetic, feather and metal, 1925-1935, European or American via the Met Museum

Shulton, Inc. fan, paper, 1939 American via the Met Museum

Fan, plastic and cotton, spring/summer 1989, France via the Met Museum

Which of these do you like best? Or do you have your very own favorite fan? Let me know!  

Make-up History from Madeleine Marsh & Lisa Eldridge

Madeleine Marsh is a writer and historian, and I've had an eye on her book 'The History of Compacts and Cosmetics: Beauty From Victorian Times to the Present Day' for a while. So imagine my pleasure when I came across these YouTube videos from makeup artist Lisa Eldridge where she talks to Marsh about the history of makeup and goes through her very extensive collection of vintage lipsticks, compacts and rouge boxes.

 

I loved what Marsh said about Victorian era: when makeup was frowned upon, fashion and hair became a substitute for makeup and allowed women to express their personal style.

Camille Clifford, a lady with a tiny waist and big hair.

Though we all know that even then women used all sorts of ointments and some discrete rouge to enhance their features. And certainly actresses did not shy away from makeup both on and off stage.

The second video trances the history of makeup form the harsh times of wartime rationing to the hyper-feminine styles of the 50s (love the little novelty compacts!) to the make-love-not-war freedom of the 60s.    

What I enjoyed most about these videos is that they use actual collectibles to illustrate what makeup and attitudes to makeup were like at different time periods. I'm almost tempted to start collecting vintage makeup myself. Just look at this cute Pierrot compact. Isn't it just the bee's knees?

TOKALON Paris gilded compact, Etsy

The only vintage-looking makeup I own is this lovely little eye shadow by Bourjois Paris from their 2008 Vintage Collection Little Round Pots. The color is a beautiful shimmering brown which is perfect for evenings out. I bought this many years ago when I was visiting France and I still can't forgive myself for not getting all of the limited edition pots with the cute 19th - early 20th century designs.

My very own Bourjois Vintage Collection Little Pot in Marron Glace 

Bourjois Vintage Collection, 2008 

If you want to emulate some of these vintage makeup styles, check out Lisa Eldridge's video tutorials. Take a look at these Tippi Hedren, Marilyn Monroe and Audrey Hepburn looks. And she has a lot of contemporary makeup tips and tricks on her website.       

The Myth of the Well-dressed Past

This is an opinion post, so brace yourself.

A recent CBS article caught my attention and I just had to comment. Every once in a while an article like 'Dressing down a culture for refusing to dress up' appears to remind us how we're all turning into a bunch of unkempt slobs and how in the ye olden days it was so much better.

Very nice, ladies, but a pair of wellingtons would  be more practical.

CBS reports that Professor Linda Przybyszewski from the University of Notre Dame teaches a course on how our cultural relationship with clothes has changed over the years and how clothes have become increasing more casual.

"Up until the 1960s, gloves were considered a requirement." says Przybyszewski. "You were considered slightly undressed if you didn't have a hat on."

Once upon a time, this was considered 'undressed'. 

That is probably true, but why stop at 1950s. If we go further back, a corset  was an essential part of a woman's outfit up until the 20th century. And if you go back far enough, stolas and chitons were a requirement. Why is it that mid-20th century dress has become the paragon of good taste to us modern slobs?  My guess would be nostalgia.

The mid-20 century is a well-documented period. There are films, photographs, fashion magazines in abundance, and there are still some people living today who remember those times. So it is a past not too remote to become irrelevant, but just remote enough to acquire a little extra luster. The nostalgia goggles make everything look better than it really was. The CBS report is illustrated with clips from old Hollywood films, where glamorous movie starts wore sequin dresses and furs while having breakfast. These images have no more in common with real 1930-1950s life than Hollywood movies of our generation have with our lifestyle. For better of for worse, most of us don't look like we've just stepped off the set of Transformers.

"And next, I'll put on some pearls and scrub the floors .."

Clothes exist as part of a wider culture and are often an expression of the social, political and economic norms. The mother from Leave It To Beaver is shown as an example of how well-dressed we all were some 50 years ago. But we mustn't forget that her sparkly appearance was an expression of the idea that a woman's role was largely ornamental. This was not the clothes she wore to work at the office, or the construction site or the police station. Her job was to be a good wife and mother and her clothes were just part of that job.

Mrs Bridge strives to be the perfect housewife. Photograph: George Marks

The clothes of the past were not particularly democratic, either. A clip from Dark Victory, which CBS uses without a hint of ironically, shows Bette Davis surveying herself in a mirror as a maid is helping her dress. And don't get me started on the ladies of Downton Abbey. Most of us today don't have maids. We can't afford custom made clothes. Dinners are no longer formal affairs. We have day jobs to go to or college classes to attend or workout at the gym. Our lifestyles have changed, our society has changed, and, naturally, our attitude to clothes has changed as well.

The maid doesn't look all that glamorous. Dark Victory (1939)

I applaud anyone who puts an effort into their outfit. It's great to see people wearing lovely vintage or handmade pieces. But that doesn't mean that I expect everyone to dress like that. The democratization of fashion has given us the possibility to dress for our own personal comfort and pleasure, and that's not a bad thing. I like that on a hot, sunny day I can go to my local park and lie on the grass wearing nothing more than shorts and a T-shirt and flip through illustrations of Modes De Paris, admiring their style, but not coveting their lives.

H&M Conscious Exclusive, 2013 vs. Horrockses Fashions, 1950

So whether you prefer yoga pants and tank tops or vintage dresses and gloves, the important thing is to wear what you like. And to quote Miss Galindo from Cranford (2007), "a cap that satisfies its wearer need appeal to no one else." She may be talking about caps, but the sentiment stands for all attire. 

DIY: Quick and Easy Edwardian Costume

There is a Murder Mystery event at my local library this weekend, which means we will sit in a dark room solving a ghastly murder with the help of Sherlock Holmes. Since I'm one of the hosts, I had to put together a quick and simple Edwardian-looking costume for this event.

With no time for sewing and no budget to buy/rent anything from the costume store, I just raided my closet and picked out a few items that could  pass for 'Edwardian'. Behold, the result:

Skirt-SisterS point--Blouse-thrifted, UFF--Belt-H&M--Cameo-VeroModa--Boots-Vagabond--Hat-H&M

Now, mind you, this is hardly 'authentic' Edwardian attire. But since my modest goal was to attempt a  recreation of a look that seems vaguely Edwardian, I think I managed pretty well.

Mr. & Mrs. Isaac Newton Phelps-Stokes, John Singer Sargent, 1897 

If you need a quick and easy costume for an event, Edwardian, or more specifically the Gibson Girl, is fairly easy to put together. You probably already have most of these things in your closet or could find them at your local thrift store.

Portrait of  the Spencer sisters, 1902

Look for a long A-line skirt and a button-up blouse, preferably white and frilly. Extra points if you can find one with leg o'mutton sleeves. A belt ties the whole look together (and hides the elastic band on your skirt). A hat and some simple jewellery like a string of pearls or a cameo would do nicely.

Of course, such a loose interpretation would greatly offend historical costumers, but if you just want a simple Halloween costume for Anne of the Green Gables, you can get away with cutting a few corners.  

Dress of the Week: Blue Summer Dress

I haven't done a Dress of the Week post for a long, long while. And since May is upon us and I've been scouting out some historical fashions to incorporate into my summer wardrobe, here is a summer dress from 1905 that I long to wear for a May Day picnic.

Summer dress, 1905, UK. Source: Victoria & Albert Museum 

Place of origin: Great Britain, UK
Date: 1905
Materials and Techniques: Printed striped cotton, with a yoke neck of tucked Broderie Anglaise frills and pin-tucked collar with a tape lace frill; bodice lined with white cotton and fastened with original hooks, eyes and loops; pleated belt has five bones and a hook and eye fastening concealed by a rosette
Credit Line: Worn by Miss Heather Firbank

This pretty blue and white number belonged to the fashionable Miss Heather Firbank (1888-1954),  daughter of the MP Sir Thomas Firbank and sister of the writer Ronald Firbank.

"[Heather Firbank] had beauty, and she adorned it with exquisite clothes of a heather colour to complement her name" - Miriam J. Benkovitz, Ronald Firbank: A Biography (1970)

It's very rare for dresses to survive the test of time; and when they do survive, it's often due to some unusual circumstances. In case of Miss Firbank, who acquired her wardrobe from the leading houses of the time, in 1921 her expensive clothes were packed into trunks and put in storage for 35 years. Why did she decide to pack away her entire collection of garments instead of altering and updating or reselling them is beyond my knowledge, but in 1960 Victoria and Albert Museum got their hands on the lot, which included over 100 pieces of clothes and accessories. That's quite a treasure. The collection is a glimpse into the past showing the tastes and styles of a wealthy lady between 1905 and 1920.

Summer dress, back, 1905, UK. Source: Victoria & Albert Museum 

The skirt consists of four 28-inch pieces pleated onto a narrow waistband. The bodice is pouched in the front and is a little bloused at the back. The yoke around the neck is composed of  Broderie Anglaise frills and a pin-tucked cotton infill, with a high-boned pin-tucked collar finished with a tape lace frill. The outfit is accessorized with a dainty straw hat with a blue ribbon around it and a lovely parasol. Blue and white dresses such as this one were very popular during the early 1900s for boating and seaside wear.

Since I do own a parasol and a similar straw hat (all it needs is a ribbon), I just need to find a blue dress with lace to recreate this look.

Source: Victoria and Albert Museum 

More about Heather Firbank and her wardrobe

Dress of the Week: Carousel Fancy Dress

Sometimes you come across a costume so brilliant, so fabulous, so spectacular that you immediately fall in love with it and decide to elope to Gretna Green. Like today's Dress of the Week, the unbelievably intricate Carousel Fancy Dress

If nothing else, this dress would get first prize for most effort. Thecostume, probably from early 20th century, has the lady dressed in a skirt with horses going around the hem and an organ just above it. The hem of the skirt is adorned with frills and attached to a very high waist with bejeweled strings. The huge hat with lanterns and large beads represents the roof of the carousel.

If you think that this costume looks strangely familiar, you are not wrong. You may be thinking of Manish Arora carousel dress worn by the ever whimsical Kety Perry.

While I don't have the time to construct anything so elaborate for Halloween this year, I will certainly look into for our next costume party.

Dress of the Week: A Midsummer Night's Dream Costume

Do you like theater? I adore it! And after my theater group had successfully performed a production of Shakespeare in the Park, my head has been full of theatrical costumes. So, this week we shall look at this lovely frock worn by Helena of A Midsummer Night's Dream in 1914.

Theater Costume, 1914, British. Source: Victoria & Albert Museum 

Theater Costume, back, 1914, British. Source: Victoria & Albert Museum 

Date: 1914
Artist: Norman Wilkinson
Materials: Crêpe-de-chine, fringe and beads
Techniques: Sewing; Macrame

The dress was made by Norman Wilkinson for director Harley Granville Barker who earned himself a place in theater history books for his creative approach to stage and costume design. Unlike his contemporaries who tried to recreate historical costumes and 'realistic' sets, Barker went for highly stylized scenery and costumes that suggested period dress but were influenced by the fashion trends of the time.

Barker lucked out with his production of A Midsummer Night's Dream since the 1910s were a time of Empire Revivalism with its linear silhouette and interest in ancient Greek and Roman styles. This was perfect for a play set in the woods near Athens.

The dress above was made for Lillah McCarthy who played Helena and was worn by her for the final scene of the play. It is white crêpe-de-chine with pink stenciled flowers that give it a more folksy feel. The outfit was was worn with mauve shoes and red beads and a wreath of flowers decorating Helena's hair. I love how this dress imitates Grecian style yet still remain very 1910. The stenciled flowers add a bit more color and make it very fun.  

Source: Victoria & Albert Museum 

Dress of the Week: Edwardian Bathing Suit

The weather was rather warm the other day and I had the pleasure of going to the beach and enjoy some sea bathing. It was pleasantly refreshing and the only thing I could have wished for was this striped blue, white and red bathing suit.

Bathing suit, front, 1900-1910, British. Met Museum  

Bathing suit, back, 1900-1910, British. Met Museum 

Date: 1900–1910
Culture: British
Medium: cotton
Dimensions: Length at CB (a): 37 in. (94 cm) Length (b): 31 1/2 in. (80 cm) Length (c): 27 3/4 in. (70.5 cm)
Credit Line: Purchase, Irene Lewisohn Bequest, 1977

Sea bathing for its therapeutic and medicinal value was around since the 17th century, but became really popular in the 18th century. The history of the bathing suit is very long, and I will leave it for another post. Suffice it to say that by the 20th century the beachwear became less cumbersome, more playful and and lighter. However, modesty while swimming was still on everyone's mind and modern bikinis and onepiece suits were still a long way away. 

This pretty cotton number looks very lightweight and has a playful sailor motif going for it, which was common for swim suits and beachwear of the time. It consist of a short tunic-like dress with a stylized sailor collar and a belt and a pair of bloomers gathered just below the knee. The blue, white and red color scheme make it really fun. While swimming in this would be difficult and it may get heavy and deformed when wet, this could be a pretty nice outfit if all you want to do is lounge around on the beach, stroll along the shore and generally look adorable.    

Source: Met Museum