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!

 

.

I have nothing to wear!!! (aka Closet 12-step Program)

Knowing how to put together a garment is undoubtedly freeing and empowering, but it's real hard to make it work for you without knowing some organizational basics like keeping your closet from becoming a source of Young Frankenstein's nightmares.

This may be a "work in progress" - meaning there will be updates.  But I wanted to start with the basic method I use to organize my clients' wardrobes that has made their closets so functional for them.

Yikes!!!  Is this the closet of a green-lovin' redhead or what!!!! Oh wait I see a spec of red in there (albeit tomato)!!!!!

1. We all live by color - some colors are good on us and some are bad.  Find out what your color is and stick with it.  I've seen a white suit on a beautiful red head, and it clashes like crazy - a natural oatmeal looks terrible on a peaches-n-cream raven-haired beauty.  But put that white suit on that  raven hair, and natural oatmeal on that red-head, and they shine.  Colors do mater.
2. What is your life style - and this will change with your life.  You're that single, sassy lass who's never w/o a dress for a date,  then before you know it, suddenly you're running carpool and that LBD (little black dress) doesn't seem to fit your bod, much less your carpool extravaganzas.  Where are you now?.....are you single and like to be social?....are you single and like to be discriminating?....are you a mommie running carpool?.....are you getting the kids ready for college?.....are your kids' friends getting married and the wedding invites are running out the mailbox?.....are you empty nesters traveling?.....have you found that wonderful "retirement" home next to a beach?  See, even if you are the same person through all of these stages of life, each stage has a completely different wardrobe need.
3. What side of the casual/formal scale do you tilt?  Every one of us has a casual and formal mood, but do you tend to be more casual?....is your work more casual?....or formal?  These answer will help you figure out what's best for your wardrobe.
4. Something just as basic as how do you like to dress?....do you like to toy around with your clothes and create different ensembles with the same separates?....do you like to put on the suit and charge out the door?  This can also help you figure out what's going to work in your closet and what doesn't.

OK - not quite like the MMPI test, but almost!!!!  You should have a pretty good idea about what sort of life you lead, your colors, and what you need to work in your closet.

Cleaning out your closet

This isn't as hard as you think.  I know.  I can hear the collective groan right now.  This will take about 3 hours, and put on some peppy music, and you'll work right through it. 

1. Make up your mind what organization or thrift shop is going to get your goodies.  I use Goodwill, cause they don't call me endlessly, and because they really do use most of their money and donations to do good for others, but whoever - Jr. League Thrift Shop - the local reseller down the street - find out what they require (usually cleaning and on hangers) and get set up to make a donation which they will adore!!!
2. You're going to start with 4 categories:
   1. Absolutely no way this is going back into the closet - Goner
   2. This was my aunt's most favorite - Think About It (TIA)
   3. Out of season, but works in my wardrobe - Seasonal Storage
   4. In season, I love it, it works - Keeper
3. Now time to start.  Don't get too sidetracked, and make these stacks as you go along.  If you're not sure about whether you can give something up?.....will I use it again?.....it's one of my most favorites and I had the greatest time in it 20 years ago?.....then put it in the TAI (Think About It) stack....deal with that later.  The Goners go to the thrift shop or donations.  The Seasonal Storage goes out of your closet temporarily, and voilá - look at the space you have in your closet.
4. Next.  Go through and look for holes - no, not moth holes (although you can do that too), but do you need a white blouse?.....do you need a black pair of slacks?.....do you need a classic navy skirt (you better not be a red head looking for that navy skirt unless you have a neutral on top - remember colors)?  Check out what you might need to fill in, and this is your "want list".  Now you're prepared to really do some serious sewing and some serious wardrobe management.
5. TAI  - This can be a multi-purpose stack.  You can keep some of these things or you can do away with them.  The bottom line.  If you don't wear these in a year, you probably don't need them and they probably don't fit in your lifestyle.  I don't care how many pounds you loose and how many good times you had in that LBD from your college years, it isn't going to work for you now.  An updated and age-appropriate (which is an entirely other blog), will be much more functional for you.

OK, we all have those moments when we're in the fabric district of NYC when we instantly have this puppy-love infatuation with a piece of fabric....a dress....a style....whatever!!!  Actually, I'm pretty much OK with this.  But here's the bottom line.....if you walk away and are still thinking about it or do you see something better in the next shop?  Is it still on your mind weeks later?  Guess what - that ain't infatuation...that's true love!!!!  What I usually do is write down the info and number - merchants can do phone/internet orders as well as in person.

I know this is a lot of info in a short space - I'll probably do lots of editing here,  but these are effective methods I've used to cull out the most packed and useless closets I've done.  They really work, and it takes usually 3 hours. If you keep up with this and go through your closet seasonally, it takes about an hour - 2 hours a year and what do you get?

• You know in a flash what you need in your closet and what you don't - no more buying that 4th pair of black pants.
• Every item you have in your closet works for you
• Your closet is "hiding" anything any more, you can find stuff - finally!
• You actually do save time and a lot of stress.  You know what you need, you get it - you know what you have and don't need.  No more over-crowding.

Basically your life is a lot simpler, you'll loose weight, and you grow richer - OK, the weight and richer thing are probably exaggerated, but the simpler part is NOT!!!!

Good luck, and post your stories here - would love to hear some great horror episodes  - - "OHMIGOSH - I didn't know that thing was in here!!!."  It's also fun to hear the kids comments "Mother - you didn't actually where THAT  (while pointing to your beloved LBD) did you?"

Mentors

We all need mentors.  My first one was Edith Head - who wouldn't love her.  She had this impeccable style that wasn't over-bearing, yet completely identifiable!  She didn't out shine her clients, but you knew who she was instantly.  The little icon I use on my site and on my blog is the take off of Edith - Edna from The Incredibles!  She's so much fun in the movie....dahlink!

OK - back to mentors - after Edith was Erma - my teacher.  She had gone from shoulder pads of Joan Crawford to the shoulder pads of Thierry Mugler (who could wear those should pads better than Alexis!)

I was like a sponge and soaked up all I could with Erma and she was a great teacher.  She let me go at the speed I could and it seemed sometimes like I was going at lightening speed.  I would take the cover of W Magazine to her and discuss how I was going to cut this or that line and draw this or that style and how I was going to accomplish techniques and then take the dress back to her in 2 weeks and she would critique it.  I usually got a very good grade.  She used to tell me that basically her school was practicing and practicing - sort of what I learned in music class...."Practice, practice, practice....play, then practice, practice, practice...play, etc.!"  Made sense, and I suppose it was that it was so much fun to figure out one puzzle after another that I couldn't get stumped - no matter how difficult I made the next project.  I really didn't have a need for all these clothes, I just kept making them cause I could.  And it was the freedom to know I could do anything I wanted.  My only limitation now on clothing was fabric, and if I could find fabric, then I could make it.  That is still my main problem with my clients and me - fabric.

But finally it's time I turn around and do the giving so this fall I will start teaching.  I'm really looking forward to it and especially if I can have a student or two who will really take off with the art. (BTW, my tools have never looked this neat, and will never again - this was a special "art" picture!)  I'll start teaching at the local Bernina store where I have purchased all my machines this fall.  Berninas are wonderful machines, and the local store does a fine job in setting up classes.  They are starting to get requests for clothing construction as is the local fabric shop.  We're lucky here to have a good fabric shop.

I'm going to try and include some of the highlights of these upcoming classes here!  I'm really excited about this.  I want to pass this on in a way that will make more people excited and empowered to sew.  It's never been drudgery to me, and always been exciting and freeing....so here we go!

The Seven Magic parts of design

YSL, Yves St. Laurent, when asked what was the most important facet of his designing, explained about the 7 parts of a woman's body:

1. shoulders/neck/portrait area
2. bust
3. waist
4. hips
5. legs
6. back
7. silhouette

He said that if a designer showed too many of these parts, the client would look like a tart, cheapened.  If on the other hand, too few were showing, the client would look like a bag lady.  After designing for all sorts of sizes, lifestyles and body types, it's one of the simplest and easiest rules to follow, and never fails. 

The only other rule I like to follow is fit and classic ease measurements, but that's another email. 

The older "jaded" eye

Although I've been in and out of fashion for almost 40 years, and my eye is a little jaded (having been from hip-huggers to low rise), I still believe in the classic and well-designed (which is another way to say well-cut) style. From Hubert de Givenchy (who did so many wonderful designs for Audry Hepburn's movies) to......

Yves St. Laurent, who mastered the pants suit for women, classic never goes out of style, and it's always admirable.

Designers like Oscar de la Renta, Reem Acra, Amsale, Carolina Herrera, Geoffrey Beene, Valentino, Pauline Trigere, Christian Dior are all masters of the cut and line of designs.

Dior and Bacall practically institutionalized "The Look" during the '50's.  After WWII, rationing was no longer required, and idea of a luxuriously full skirt cut with a long jacket with a cinched waist, was not only new, but original.  Bacall, in her biography, said that she created the face of "The Look" because she was more frightened than anything else, especially starring next to the handsome and established Humphrey Bogart.  Watching "To Have and To Have Not," is almost like reliving their wonderful romance.

Oscar, Reem Acra, Amsale, Carolina Herrera have all made their name in the  wedding and debutant fields and have since branched out into color and the formal wear, and even into sportswear.  The queen of classic, Vera Wang, has such a classic reputation, that she has been able to parlay it into trade name products.

Pauline Trigere had words with John Fairchild, then publisher of WWD (Women's Wear Daily - a daily rag for the fashion trade and forerunner of W Magazine), and she was hardly ever featured in any of his publications after that.  I would see her periodically in Vogue or Bazaar, the even her fabulously classic designs did not win her any press.  It must not have mattered, cause she designed and had a house named after her to her death.

Hanae Mori is another classic designer as well as Valentino.  Bill Blass is probably America's most well-known designer of classic clothes as is Halston.

I always thought the two real masters of the classic look were Yves St. Laurent and Geoffrey Beene (see "Blog Along With Me - Formal Duds").  Beene really understood cut, and St. Laurent knew is being steeped in the design world of Paris.  When St. Laurent was asked after the fall of the Iron Curtain, what women in the Eastern Block should wear on such a limited budget, he come back easily with black turtleneck and black pants, as a palette that everything can go with.

Been had a different take on classic, but was just as classic as YSL- even though it was innovative cuts and styles that made his work exceptional.  He was ahead of his time as the Japanese designers, headed by Issey Miyake, furthered the architectural and design-obsessed cuts.  Beene never became a slave to these geometric designs, he simply used them to further his own style which was completed innovative and original.

This turned out longer than I had intended, so will continue tomorrow