The items in this case represent a selection of materials that center matters of fashion, national dress, and principles of style. These items range from the early 19th to the mid-20th centuries, and across eight different national contexts. Fashion provides a uniquely visual and tactile snapshot of the lived experience of history, and the breadth of items in this case index some of the many ways clothing has been used within print media: from works of corporate advertising to works of individual education; from records of cultural customs to records of family history.
Victor Ladies Tailoring Company. Fashion book of Victor Ladies Tailoring Co.
This item is a catalog of cloth samples and garment designs from the early 20th century. A woman of status who received this catalog would be able to place an order for a suit or dress, specifying her measurements and the swatched fabric she would like the garment to be made from. These catalogs were common in London and France during the 1880s and 1890s, but bespoke garments of this kind were less popular in the US until the late 1910s and early 1920s.
One Hundred New Styles for Women and Children. 婦人子供 新裝百姿.
This poster is from the Japanese magazine The Woman’s Friend (婦人之友). This “fashion panorama” illustrates 81 numbered garments for Winter, Spring and Fall, and Summer, including undergarments and a wedding dress. According to the bookseller for this item, the date of distribution is given as January 1, 1927, and the date of printing December 10, 1926. This means that the “Taisho 16” described on the poster was never to be, as the Taisho emperor Yoshihito died on December 25, 1926. The new year foretold on the poster would instead take place in the Showa period (under Taisho’s son Hirohito).
Tingqua. Twelve Chinese gods.
Although this item does not take fashion as its subject in the way the other items in this case do, it nonetheless offers insight into the styles and motifs of garments, specifically those of late 19th century China. This album contains twelve drawings of Chinese deities, executed in brightly colored gouaches with gold and silver leaf on pith paper.
The artist Tingqua, also known as Guan Lianchang (ca. 1809-1870), was a leading artist of the Chinese export painting business active in Canton (Guangzhou) in the 19th century. The fashion of these deities is carefully designed and detailed, and the dress for each deity is intended to reflect status, power, and associated symbols for each god.
This particular image is likely of Zhao Gongming, one of the gods of wealth. His robe shows dragons in a black sky with blue clouds above a blue and black sea with a lavender flower.
Shoberl, Frederic (Ed.). The world in miniature.
These two items are part of the series “The World in Miniature” which details the dress and customs of various nations, as recorded by English travelers from the late 18th and early 19th century. Countries and regions are divided into sections within the series (England, Ireland, Scotland, Asiatic Islands, South Sea Islands, etc.). Each individual book within the series includes color plates throughout, as well as detailed descriptions of garments and their associated status or purpose. Displayed here are books from the sections on Africa and Turkey.
Three hand drawn sketchbooks of Military Uniforms.
This leatherette hardcover scrapbook is one of three in a series. Each scrapbook contains colored pencil drawings attached to each page and written descriptions detailing the military uniforms and fittings of pre-20th century Europe. There is one scrapbook each for England and Germany. The scrapbook displayed contains a mixture of uniforms worn in America and various European countries and includes detailed replicas of military uniforms for battles fought between 1700 and 1900. According to the bookseller for this item, these sketches were drawn by a Canadian gentleman as an aid in preparing precise miniature soldier replicas.
Kurnentz Schrier, Gerri. Apparel Design: Fashion Institute of Technology coursework.
This item is from a three-ring binder of materials related to a young woman, Gerri Kurnentz Schrier’s, coursework at the Fashion Institute of Technology in the late 1950s. The binder contains materials for two courses in “Apparel Design” and “Pattern Drafting & Design,” including syllabi and handouts distributed by the instructors, as well as Kurnentz Schrier’s notes and assignments. The displayed pages are examples from her selection of patterns drawn on graph paper, with a color illustration pasted in to show what the pattern piece would look like. Patterns are accompanied by a typed page with written instructions.
Redlin, Elaine. Portfolio of original fashion illustration.
This is a selection from a larger portfolio of illustrations by Elaine Redlin. The portfolio includes a total of seventeen original ink and colored pencil sketches with 24 leaves of holograph text, all on paper mounted to stiff card boards. There are eight sketches under the heading ‘Historical costumes’ (including the example here), and nine titled ‘Costumes for types and occasions.’ According to the bookseller for this item, the detailed text, in fine cursive, “examines the basic principles of garment and costume features and accessories with a significant emphasis on stouter and larger figured women.”
Müttis Fleiss
This remembrance album includes 22 pages of fabric swatches accompanied by pencil and crayon drawings of children wearing garments made from the fabric, along with mounted black and white photographs of the children. The children (two girls and a boy) are presumably the children of the woman who assembled the album, “Müttis” or “mommy” Fleiss from Germany. Captions throughout the album describe the garments illustrated, and list dates for when the children wore each outfit. This item is uniquely wholesome, and the fabric uniquely adorable.