Claire Kennedy Design

50's fashion from the V & A in London

After WWII, when women wore simple, very conservative and excrutiatingly sensible clothing to support the "war effort", designers went nuts. They used tons of fabric and had a blast with feminity.   Lauren Bacall didn't hurt!  She brought "The Look" to a new height when during her movie with Humphrey Bogart she perfected the fashion trend.  Granted it was a trend, which I'm not high on, but a classic one that had a lot of great style and endurance. The design on the left is Dior's with Humphrey & Bacall (in her traditional "The Look" form) on the right.

The V & A (Victoria & Albert Museum in London), put on a fabulous exhibit, almost exclusively European, of some of the more well-known designers who elevated fashion again after the long war in Europe.

With books like Balenciaga, Dior by Dior and The Little Dictionary of Fashion, obviously something no well-dressed lady of the time could do without, the era is once again in vogue.   During this time, designers were dictators.  You wouldn't dream of venturing out your front door without the appropriate accessory, jewelry, and garment for that particular occasion.  And although they were the last word in fashion, most of them had a great responsibility not to abuse or joke about their vocation and turned out magnificently made and well thought-out garments.  All that changed in the 60's & 70's, but during  the 50's the designers ran the show!

I never made the exhibit, not for want of going, more for the lack of time and finances, but you can visit the V & A shop online and peruse through some of the gems from the exhibit.  During this period, I was first introduced to fashion.  I remember my wonderful glam aunts being as impeccably dressed as they were fun and gay to be with.  What fun to have all these ladies as mentors.  One is still alive and her son has immortalized her here.  She cut a wide path in her day, and even today still has the elegance of her time.

A letter to Ruthie

OK - it's not a letter - it's an email - don't be so picky!!!  But this was such a passionate subject with me, I decided to put it in my blog!

My cousin runs a very spirited and fascinating blog and, this letter (OK email) shows up in comments as to why Ruthie (the daughter of one of my cousin's frequent commenters) wants to view "Project Runway", even though it may not be the best TV out there.  Below is her letter, and below that is my response to Ruthie.(Pardon me, Ruthie, but I paraphrased a little.)

The TV program that I wish to watch is, "Project Runway". It is the person behind the designs that I want to understand. What motivates individual to design clothing that appear to be, uncomfortable, hard to maintain, immodest, and in the case of the average human being unflattering? Why is it that there is not   a glut of clothing that makes the wearer feel good when it is worn?

Realizing the perfect dress will never replace my mom's warm hugs.  I still wonder, why in all the crazy designs out there, why isn't someone creating clothing that feels like a hug when you wear it. A pair of   jeans, that make you smile to have them on. Shouldn't clothing be designed so   that it makes the dumpiest of woman feel better about herself? I want to know what goes into the creative process and if it is all about style, or if the   designer sees the process as a blending of clothing for the body and a boost   for the soul. I like GAP clothing, it makes me feel good when I wear it. But, I'm tall, slender and have long long legs. What about the girls in my class who don't fit the model used for GAP clothing, for whom the shirts fall in   unflattering creases, whose thighs are long and straight but who have curvy body parts, what can they wear to feel good about themselves?

Isn't feeling good about yourself, one step in feeling closer to your creator? So shouldn't design be seen as a mission?  

Ruthie

Dear Ruthie,

A very insightful letter.  What makes it more insightful, is that I will bet you're not the only one who has had these thoughts - a lot of customers have had the exact same thoughts.

Being in the fashion industry for almost 30 years, I approach this from a somewhat independent and renegade view (compared to the normal fashionista).  To understand where we are today, you have to do a little history. 

Art is one of those funny things that runs on perception and on what the critics say.  Every once in a while something will bust through and make it in spite of the critics; for example, when the Met Opera in NYC put on a production of The Magic Flute by Mozart by Julie Taymor, who had recently done The Lion King on Broadway, it was panned by the critics.

Wow - isn't this creative!
It was a smattering of costumes & puppets - very creative and very innovative.  The opera was so successful that it survived in spite of the critics, and today the opera has been modified to a shorter length, done in English and every holiday season is put on especially for kids as a fabulous opera-intro for kids with very positive results. 
As an opera purist, and fan, I love this particular production of the Magic Flute.  It's so creative!

The point is that most art forms, visual, performing, and design are run by the critics, mostly because the rest of us don't have the time or energy to look at all the works to ascertain for ourselves if this or that artists is valid or worth buying or supporting.

In the fashion industry, the editors of the major fashion magazines (Vogue, Bazaar, Elle, W, etc.) are the critics of the fashion art form. So what happens?....editors of fashion magazines begin to have more and more power over what the fashion industry turns out.  A perfect example of the fairytale "The Emperor's New Clothes," which every aspiring, or current fashion designer should read and know by heart, lest they be the fool in the fairy tale!

To the defense of fashion magazine editors, they see everything, to the point, that they are so desperate for "something new" to sell their magazines, that sometimes fall for the new, not really thinking whether or not it's viable, or (heaven forbid we even think of this) pretty, let's not talk about comfortable or pleasing to view.

OK, so fashion editors are looking for something new. We're bouncing between new/old, pretty/ugly, androgyny/feminine, demure/nude. Why aren't there prettier designs out there?....why aren't there more designers who want to do something that's pleasing to view as well as comfortable to wear?  There are - they are just some of the old masters left who did not sell their soul to the devil to make the "trend du jour" or other fad to make their name well known.
OHMIGOSH!!!  Look at these pretty things.  I love this guy - Valentino consistently does beautiful pretty clothing year after year, and doesn't have to make ugly clothes.  People come to Valentino because they know they are going to look pretty and feel pretty.

Now to understand "why" these designers design this way - the answer to me is the age old question - to follow your own path - or that path that has been ascribed to you.  This is when we get into Cyndi's territory.  I think it takes a very strong, deep and enduring faith to withstand the "slings and arrows of outrageous fortune, (from Hamlet's "To Be or Not To Be" soliloquy).  Wow - how did we get from fashion to faith?  I think this transcends fashion.  It pertains to all areas of life, but if fashion is your vocation, then particularly to that as well.  To follow your own path, when you know it is right for you, takes a lot of courage and strength.  You must be able to hear criticism and determine if it is valuable or not.  You must be able to hear that own voice in yourself.  You must be able to stick to that voice to the point of obsession - much as Job stuck to his guns even though everyone was telling him he must have done something wrong to have incurred so much wrath from God and that was the cause of all his problems.  As a matter of fact, Job (the book in the Old Testament) is a pretty good example of why a lot of designers give up their dreams to follow someone else's only to find themselves in a horrible life of drudge.  No wonder grunge looked nice - compared to drudge, anything would look nice!  OK, that's a joke, but not really.

I'm not hugely popular, nor will I be able to ask "designer" prices for my designs.  That's not to say that I wouldn't enjoy that sort of notoriety or success - I would.  I just won't design clothes that don't look pretty. And this is not to say that one follows the other - IOW, if I don't design within the prescribed "trends du jour", then I will never make it and if I do, I will definitely make it.  Needless to say, neither one of those are really true. That sort of designing (prescribed by trends or fads) can't compete with the joy I experience seeing a bride in a beautiful dress that's PRETTY, becoming, and pleasing to view (for the bride & the guests).  I've even been known to do an all-nighter or two to meet a deadline. They are fun, although can't do them all the time! 

Here's the next challenge - you could start a trend of your own - Beautiful, comfortable, flattering clothes that are made for the "normal" figure.  After you ask yourself the question "why?", then next is to answer it - and that means making your own way to answer that question.  I agree with you - fashion can be a mission, if you stay close to your dreams and don't get sidetracked.   

OK so as to watching Project Runway.  I'll probably step on some toes here, but here goes.  I think it's OK to watch the show, but there are a lot of things to understand while watching it.  There is the concept that you have to have a lifestyle that is on the edge or at the very least experimental or different, to be a valid artist.  That just isn't so and it's important to know that.  There are a lot of adult (and some juvenile) dramatics going on - - partly for the drama of the TV series, partly for other reasons.  It's important to be able to identify real design from fads and trends.  The only way to tell that is to watch it with someone you respect, like your mom - maybe an older adult who you respect.  The thing is that there's going to be so much thrown at you at once (which is what the creators of the TV show want, so that people will want to watch it again - visual bombardment as opposed visual boredom is what the networks consider.)  You will also need someone to whom you can ask questions....why did that guy say that?.....why does that gal think that's a good design?....what's going through his/her mind when they think that's pretty?....why did he/she win and that good design lose?  And believe me that happens more often than we know.  I'll be honest with you, I haven't seen anything on the show that would really rock my socks, but please remember I've been in the business a long time - from the shoulder pads of Joan Crawford, to the should pads of Thierry Mugler - from the hip huggers of the 70's to the low-rise of the 2000's!  I've seen a lot of stuff, and very little from the grunge period and it's descendants, has been original or creative.  That's not to say there has been no creativity, there has - it's just harder to find.  Trends and fads are cyclical - unless it's classic.
This dress was designed in 1960!  I would wear it today in a minute - that's classic, but it has great design too.

Now I don't mean to make this sound that all designs and designers since Yves St. Laurent haven't been worth their salt, it's to say that there's not much that I really like.  But there wasn't much I really liked in the 70's either. We naturally go through an ebb and flow in fashion but that doesn't mean it has to be without good style, line and cut.  I've done a series of blogs on these: like style in the cut of a garment (part 1, part 2, & part 3), incorporating a look that is pleasing to wear and to view, and just some general musings on design.

This is sort of a red button with me as I resent some one editor or dictator designer telling me that my shape is "not me" or that a design is "in" or "out" - and if I don't subscribe and tout the latest "thing" then I'm "out of fashion"?  Excuse me, but that isn't going to sit well with me.  I might have taken off on an editor and probably never would have been published.  So be sure and take that into account when you're making your decision about who and what is valid and who and what isn't.

Good luck on your quest!

 

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