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| Tome II, V.1 Dust Jacket |
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| Beautiful binding |
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| Adding the blurbs from the front flap, as they are nearly all I could find out about Angelina Di Bello! |
It's pretty interesting; lots about how to make basic fitting and design alterations. Large, clear line drawings and instructions that are thorough, but do expect some sewing knowledge. Here are some of the interior pages:
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| Adjusting for a high bust |
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| Adjusting for one shoulder higher than the other |
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| On the next page, a numbered list explains all the different profiles of dress you will learn to make with Angelina Di Bello's courses-- and notice the television channels she also appeared on at bottom |
- In 1966, she was the only North American to be authorized by the House of Dior in Paris to make use of the Dior Pleat, which had been invented by Christian Dior to eliminate unsightly slits in the back of a garment and which Dior had copyrighted.
- Di Bello worked with Gazette fashion maven Iona Monahan to co-ordinate the fashion shows during Expo 67. She was responsible for fitting and altering the more than 800 garments that were shown during the six-month exhibition.
- In 1976, she designed and tailored the Greek gown for the women who carried the Olympic flame as well as all the hats worn by athletes in the Parade of Nations at the Montreal Games.
She also had a tv show on public television for many years, both in French and in English -- in English, the name was "Pins & Needles"; in French, "De Fil en Aiguille". According to a conversation on a sewing forum, her son Francesco (Frankie) assisted on her show and it was quite a family affair. Her husband Luigi illustrated her books and patterns and helped with the couture business -- I had wondered why his bio was included on the back of the book I just bought!
If I could have found a clip from her tv shows, I'd have shared it, but sadly, she seems to be absent from much of an online presence. Thank goodness there is enough to know that she was a busy, creative, and very successful dressmaker throughout her working life. I know I'll enjoy learning from this book, and will be keeping my eye out for the other volumes she published as well.
What a lovely find. What a treasure to add to your sewing library.
ReplyDeleteIt is lovely! I like discovering these new-to-me vintage-ish items.
DeleteI remember seeing her show on TVO in Ontario in the late 80's and early 90's, and thinking the styles were really old fashioned, but really they were just timeless classics. Her knowledge and techniques were amazing. She used to demonstrate on 1/4 scale patterns. I still remember some of the things she taught on tailoring ( hand stitching seam allowances in the collar area open to get things to lie really flat). She spoke really fast and you had to pay careful attention to everything she said. The production quality of her show couldn't meet some of the stuff that is being aired today, but nothing today matches her show for level of expertise and amount of information being taught.
ReplyDeleteThat sounds so great -- wish I could find some of them online! I can see how the styles would seem old-fashioned in the 80s, but the techniques hold, don't they?
DeleteVery interesting!
ReplyDeleteI can't believe I didn't know anything about her before this -- especially since I lived right in the area she began in! So neat to research a bit.
DeleteVery cool find!!
ReplyDeleteIt was! It's why I Iove thrift shopping regularly - you just never know what will turn up :)
DeleteAs a teen interested in sewing and tailoring, I watched her show. As others have said, her expertise precision were second to none. I would pay and arm and a leg for the show to be abailable on DVD!
ReplyDeleteI would have loved to have been able to watch her -- how nice to hear your thoughts on it!
DeleteI just started reading the first volume in French this weekend. It is has if she was just there because the writing is so simple. I was a child and was watching her with my mom. I still remember her voice. I looked to see if she had been on Youtube and did not find anything. Une grande dame.
ReplyDeleteHow nice to have the memory of her voice as you are reading. Thanks for sharing that - wish I'd have seen her shows, but I didn't know about them then.
DeleteI still have some old video of her. She was quite amazing. Unfortunately I don't have any complete seasons on video and they are poor quality. I'd love to find DVD's of the shows too!
ReplyDeleteYes DVDs would be great (thx btw!)
DeleteIt was my pleasure to have been one of her students in the early 90s when I lived in DDO. She was even better in person. I loved watching her on TVO with Franki. She was an excellent teacher.
ReplyDeleteWow, lucky you! That would have been something else. Thanks for sharing that experience!
DeleteI watched her show regularly and she was absolutely fascinating. I learned so many tips and tricks and really wish I could locate a copy of those old programs. I am going to contact TVO and maybe start a campaign to bring back the program - or at least sell copies of the show.
ReplyDeleteI wish they would sell them, or at least put some up on youtube or something. I'd love to watch her!
DeleteI tried this decades ago. I even talked to her about this and the reason TVO stopped airing her programs was that Sewing With Nancy offered her program for free while they had to pay Di Bello for seasonal playing rights. However, the shows don't compare. SwN is like a craft show for moderate hobby sewers while DiBellos program was technical and professional. If we could somehow lobby to get TVO to pay the royalty esp. with viewership of TV down it would be a godsend to have her videos back up for view. The show was not like any dressmaking show I have ever seen. They would need a lot of people phoning and writing in to ask that they carry the series again to make it worthwhile for them to pay for the copyrights.
DeleteI used to watch every show and taped many. Sadly they are gone. She demonstrated a *blouse* that she often wore under her suit jacket, no sewing just the way the material was cut. Wish I had that info now. Oh to see the programmes again!!!
ReplyDeleteThis sounds amazing. I wish I could see some of those programmes.
DeleteI contacted TVO as well about obtaining DVDs of the shows but I don’t remember getting a reply.
ReplyDeleteI wrote to the di Bello Montreal school about it & was shocked to get a voicemail from the grande dame herself thanking me for trying to resurrect her show. Unfortunately, nothing ever came of it.
Wow, amazing! I would have been stunned to get a message from her :) Too bad that there was no response from TVO, I'd have loved to see more of her show. My husband recalls her show from when he was a Quebec youngster but I never had the chance to see it.
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