Weekend Review: Young Originals

Young Originals / Rebecca Jumper Matheson
Lubbock, TX: Texas Tech UP, c2015.
240 p.

This is a book about style, but in a very particular way -- it's all about the creation of a "teen" fashion category, created by American designer Emily Wilkens. 

In the early 40s, Wilkens arose from a career in fashion illustration and designing for children, to become a breakout success in the new area of teenage upscale ready to wear. She started out designing some stage costumes for a play in which the character laments being in between 'children' and 'junior miss' sizes for her clothing - Wilkens realized that this was a real life problem as well and set out to bridge that gap. 

She was very successful, both at designing and at connecting her business to opportunities like boutiques in department stores and lots of promotion. She was very active in the 40s and 50s, but kept working into the 80s, although later on she was more of a health/spa influencer, as I suppose we'd call it now. Her approach was focused on youth and health as the appeal of her clothing and of teens in general. Her aesthetic was the sporty, lean American look, throughout her career. Some of her prescriptive statements in an book aimed at teens that she wrote in the 60s doesn't sit well these days - she says, for example,  ‘All men admire a slender beautiful figure, and there’s no one thing that spoils a girl’s looks, fun and popularity as much as excess weight’. 

This book is really fascinating, however, as a study of a designer that is almost unknown today. It's comprehensive and includes many black and white images as well as a centre insert of some colour images. The author bases her research both in archives (press clippings, designs, etc) as well as on extant Wilkens pieces in various museum collections. The concept of teen fashion is well explored and there was quite a bit of fun information here that was new to me. While this is an academic book, it's written in an engaging manner for the interested reader. I'm glad I found it thanks to my library! 

 

Black Community Quilts at Toronto's Textile Museum

If you are in or near Toronto, make some time to get to the Textile Museum this month! There is a beautiful exhibit on until April 28, called The Secret Codes: African Nova Scotian Quilts, curated by David Woods. There are some gorgeous historical pieces as well as modern quilts, all with lots of context to learn from. 

I stopped in when I was in Toronto recently and really enjoyed it. There was a variety of styles and techniques in the more than 35 quilts on display, and there is always lots more to check out in the Museum shop and textile reuse centre. 

I was drawn in by so many details - stitches, quilting, colour choices, stories - and I love that the exhibit is big enough to have breadth but not so big that you feel overwhelmed. It's a great visit. 

One of my favourites was this one, called Amelda's Prayer. So beautiful! 

But there were so many to enjoy.

This traditional quilt was really interesting to me for the details. All that black edging on the stars is blanket stitch. I don't remember seeing this kind of accent before and love it. 

This was the only real abstract of the show and I thought it was great. 

So many representational quilts as well. All fabulous. 

I really enjoyed this show and wish I could have made it to one of the special events they had in conjunction with it. Oh well -- I did get to enjoy it! Try to get there if you can. 

Vyshyvanka Day and big plans for 2024

Vyshyvanka Day is a relatively recent celebration, held on the 3rd Thursday of May each year. The aim is to celebrate traditional Ukrainian embroidered clothing. The idea of Vyshyvanka Day was suggested in 2006 by Lesia Voroniuk, then a student of Chernivtsi University, and has grown to involve all of Ukraine and the Ukrainian diaspora across the world. 

I've worn my store bought Vyshyvanka the last couple of years (a gift from my sister). But as I have mentioned previously, I would like to make my own to wear next year! So I'm planning on starting now, to hopefully get it done by next year ;) I won't be making a fully traditional, heavily embroidered one, since I don't have those skills. But I have a few patterns to try out for the base, first, and then I'll choose some less complex embroidery that I want to add. 

Here are a few patterns that I already have in my stash, which might work with some small changes or adaptations. I hope to try them out and see how I like the fit before choosing the one I like best to embroider. 

First is this older pattern, Simplicity 3786. While there are some pintucks in the centre panel, I do like the sleeve and overall silhouette of the view she is wearing.

Simplicity 3786

Next up is this more recent McCalls 8042, which I picked up in a sale just recently. I really like View C but am not quite sure about that neck ruffle bit. Probably would change that!

McCalls 8042

I also have two Indie patterns that have potential -- one is the Love Notions Rhapsody Blouse. This gives a little bit more of a modern shape to the traditional blouse, which I might like.

And the other, which might be the most likely of all of these to be the one I use, is my recently purchased Poppy Blouse by PatternScout. 

There is also the option of making the blouse in the traditional manner, which is just following body measurements and cutting mostly rectangular pieces. There is an example of this in the book Ukrainian Embroidery, by Ann Kmit, which I might follow. Or if I'm lucky enough, I might be able to take a sorochka pattern class with Myroslava Boikiv from Toronto. 

With all of these options, I see some fitting muslins in my future. Then, on to deciding on the embroidery patterns -- and that's the more complicated bit, both the choosing and the stitching! And that's why I'm starting a year ahead :) 

Weekend Review: The Dress Diary of Mrs. Anne Sykes

 

The Dress Diary of Mrs. Ane Sykes / Kate Strasdin
London: Chatto & Windus, c2023.
303 p.

This is a new book I've been eagerly awaiting! I've heard so many interviews with the author on many stitching and sewing podcasts, and first saw a mention of this upcoming book in Threads magazine last year. It's finally out, and my library got a copy :)

If you are interested in history, clothing, textiles, and material culture, you'll love this one. The author was given an unusual scrapbook, which was full of snippets of fabrics from across the lifetime of Mrs. Anne Sykes, stretching from her wedding day in 1838 onwards. These snippets had little annotations, but because Anne Sykes referred to herself in the third person, Strasdin had difficulty finding out who had created this book and the context for it. But in one entry only, Anne Sykes referred to herself in first person, and that helped Strasdin crack the code. 

The book is then made up of chapters describing the scrapbook itself, or sharing the history of some of the textiles included (like the cottons that made Anne Sykes' family's fortunes), and also an explanation of Singapore's colonial society (where Anne and her husband lived for a few years after their marriage). Then, some of the chapters explore the other people who Anne included in her book, especially the ones who show up repeatedly with many swatches. 

Thankfully for a book of this kind, there is also a central section with many colour plates of various fabrics from the original. It was fascinating to see them all, and I found some of them quite striking and not what you'd expect from the mid-1800s -- one in particular looked so art deco I was shocked to see it there. My favourite was the green and red checkerboard on the bottom row below -- striking indeed! I'd buy that fabric today if I saw it out there :) 

This is more of a social history inspired by Mrs. Anne Sykes' diary, than a straightforward story of the scrapbook and Anne Sykes herself. Strasdin takes us on many side journeys into textile and social history while also explaining and outlining how she did her research and found more about the people mentioned in the scrapbook. That was quite a feat as she had just begun when Covid hit and she had to do most of the research online and via email/phone calls to libraries and archives. 

But if you are a history fan, or a dressmaker yourself -- or both -- I think that you'll enjoy this approach. It's very readable and has both the colour plates in the middle and some other images throughout. It's a fascinating way to explore this era in history, through a physical artifact that survived for nearly 200 years somehow, and made its way to the author. Definitely one to look for!

Weekend Review: History of the Paper Pattern Industry

A History of the Paper Pattern Industry / Joy Spanabel Emery
NY: Bloomsbury Academic, c2014.
272 p.

I have owned this book for a long time, and was surprised to realize that I'd never shared it here! I was reminded of it when I recently read Wade Boissoniere's book about patterns from the 50s, and so I pulled this off the shelf and revisited it. 

It's written by Joy Spanabel Emery, who was a professor at the University of Rhode Island. This university has a large pattern collection, which has merged with a few others to create the Commercial Pattern Archive.

This read is a bit of a mixed bag -- interesting to the reader who is already inclined to want to read about this, but a bit dry in style, and really follows the economic ups and downs of pattern companies as its main focus. 

Still, I enjoyed finding out all about the varied companies and their successes, failures and merges. An additional chapter past the 2010 cutoff would be fascinating with all the massive merger/buyouts of pattern companies in the recent past. 

It focuses quite a lot on the early days of patterns, as they were created and became a 'thing' in home dressmaking. As the blurb for the book states, "their history and development has reflected major changes in technology (such as the advent of the sewing machine), retailing and marketing practices (the fashion periodical), and shifts in social and cultural influences."

And this really does sum up the book quite well, although it really should have stated that it is primarily American history, with only a passing mention of some European companies as they relate to the American ones. It does show how patterns changed, from trade secrets to home instruction for professional sewers to more of what we are familiar with today, envelope patterns for home sewists. And there is a section at the end which shows a sample pattern from the 1850s to the 1960s; this is fascinating, showing the covers and the scaled pattern pieces. There are illustrations throughout, which does add to the interest.

It's a good intro, but be aware it's dry, and there are numerous typos, which I find distracting in an academic text. I'd really like to read more a cultural history on sewing patterns in the home sewing world, but this is more focused on industry. So it this a must-have? Probably not, but if you can find one to borrow and read through, I think most avid sewists who are familiar with patterns would be at least a little bit engaged and learn something new!

Weekend Review: Framing Our Past

 

Framing Our Past: Canadian Women's History in the 20th Century /
ed. Sharon Anne Cook, Lorna R. McLean, Kate O'Rourke
Montreal: McGill-Queens UP, c2006.
532 p.

I borrowed this book from my library recently & didn't expect to share it here! I wanted to read it because my undergrad degree was in Canadian history and I enjoy reading women's history, and I recognized some of the contributing authors. But there were some really fascinating pieces in this book that deal with textiles and women's work. 

The book is quite large & heavy - not a bedtime read! But it's really well done. It's a collection of many, many short pieces by academics on a wide variety of topics, broken up into thematic sections. Most are between 3-5 pages; this isn't deep exploration, rather short overviews or essays on many themes. It's easy to skim these a few at a time, and the book goes by quickly despite the number of chapters. And there are a lot of great photos, too!

For sewing readers, there are a good handful of intriguing entries. You can see the entire table of contents at the publisher's book page, but the ones that stood out to me were mainly in the last section, "Earning Their Bread". This had a number of pieces on women using sewing, pattern-making & millinery as a career. These were: 

• Creative Ability and Business Sense: The Millinery Trade in Ontario by Christina Bates 
• Our Mothers' Patterns: Sewing and Dressmaking in the Japanese-Canadian Community by Susan Michi Sirovyak 
• Federica and Angelina: Postwar Italian-Canadian Couturiers in Toronto by Alexandra Palmer
• Fabrications: Clothing, Generations, and Stitching Together the History We Live by Kathryn Church

These were all fascinating in their own way, but it was the piece on Japanese-Canadian sewing that first brought me to this book. It was mentioned in another book I was reading (can't remember which one) which caused me to search out where I could find this article. That was an illuminating article about the preponderance of sewing and dressmaking in the Japanese-Canadian community, and how it helped many women to survive financially, even during the shameful years of Japanese internment during WWII. I learned very little of this kind of domestic-focused history during my studies; much of the women's studies I took focused on non-domestic topics but I am very glad to see things changing and more of the daily life of women being studied and explored. 

The others ranged from the rise and fall of millinery as a good living, a study of two Italian couturiers who had successful high-end shops in Toronto, and a story of an academic daughter reconnecting with her seamstress mother via curating a museum exhibit.

 

There were also a couple of articles of interest to fellow sewists in the first section, "Living Women's Lives", which covers a surprising number of artistic topics, from reading clubs in Winnipeg to specialists in Inuit art, to Alice Peck, May Phillips, and the Canadian Handicrafts Guild, by Ellen Easton McLeod. All of these were must-reads for me; I didn't read all of the articles in the other sections, but did skim most of them. What a great find, and I'm so lucky to be able to access academic books via Interlibrary Loan, because otherwise they are way too expensive to explore! 

If you're also a history buff and are intrigued by elements of women's history like these ones, I recommend this book. The pieces are not overly academic - ie, they are mainly quite readable - and cover a huge range of interest. And the sewing related bits are fascinating!

Weekend Review: Blueprints of Fashion

 

Blueprints of Fashion: Home Sewing Patterns of the 1950s / Wade Laboissonniere
Atglen, PA: Schiffer, c1997.
176 p.

This was a fun discovery I made recently via OpenLibrary. It's a history of home sewing patterns, focused on the 50s, created by a man who was a collector and a costumer. It's so pleasing to look through! 

There's text for about half of it, and then images of patterns divided by types of clothing for the second half. It's so great to see all the examples, many of which were patterns I've never seen before. Looking at all the details was entertaining -- although only the front of the pattern envelopes are shown, without many examples of line drawings or pattern information. 

The text consists of some history of how paper patterns were used in schools and in the sewing world in general, specifically in the US. It's really only looking at the US, but still has lots of interesting info. The final bit is a little section on monetary values of patterns, but this book was written in the 90s and that info is now out of date and not very useful other than as historical data. 

I enjoyed reading this, with the details of different pattern brands and how they were marketed and sold to consumers. He goes over which patterns focused on designer knock-offs (the more expensive ones!) and which were more aimed at everyday wear, as well as those made for schools and home ec students. I thought the organization of the book was well done, and I learned about a couple of small, short-lived pattern companies I hadn't known about before. 

A good find and one that will entertain anyone interested in the history of paper patterns, or just in looking at LOTS of full colour pattern envelope images. 

Weekend Review: Worn

 

Worn: A People's History of Clothing / Sofi Thanhauser
NY: Pantheon, c2022.
304 p.

When I recently read and reviewed The Fabric of Civilization recently (which I enjoyed) I also asked readers for suggestions for a similar book that would cover more than European history. Reader M-C recommended this title, and they were spot on with this one. I loved this fascinating book! 

The book is also a history of textiles, but focused more on how textiles both influenced and were influenced by fashion & the norms of varied civilizations. It is sorted into five general sections, organized as: Linen, Cotton, Silk, Synthetics, Wool. In each of these areas, Thanhauser delves into the history of each as a fibre, and then moves on to discuss the effects of each on social structures. She talks about colonialism, trade, environmental issues, slavery, poverty, exploitation, and many areas that might not seem obvious at first glance. It feels like she was determined to explore as many of the threads of these stories as possible. 

It was well told, too -- the narrative was easy to follow and compelling to read. She is a writer and essayist, and a professor of writing, so the style and the actual writing are smooth, letting the story shine. She knows how to develop a scene, with memorable detail and lots of human interest. I never felt that I was reading a dry history, but more one that affects us every day, and she is able to show that through the details she highlights. 

And she brings this right up to the present - the exploitation and damage done by many of these textile industries is still going on, from Uyghur slavery to produce cotton in China to laissez-faire use of pesticides affecting migrant workers in Texas. And we all know about the flaws in the fast fashion system. 

This is a great read. It will inform you, and engage you, and you'll learn a lot from it no matter how many of these kinds of books you've already read. I liked the balanced approach, and the wide spread of content covering experiences in all areas of the world. Definitely a great choice for this subject area. 

Weekend Review: Fashion on the Ration

Fashion on the Ration / Julie Summers
NY: Profile, c2015.
240 p. 

This was a fantastic read, a history of (mainly) women's wear in Britain during WWII. If you're interested in fashion history, you'll love it. I was able to get my hands on it thanks to the wonders of Interlibrary Loan. 

It's broken up into a series of themes; clothing rationing and coupons, women's uniforms, CC41 and Utility clothing & the involvement of high fashion designers in making utility clothing acceptable, make do and mend, fashion magazines during the war years, and the idea of beauty as a morale booster. That's just a quick overview. There is so much in this book, and the bibliography and notes are extensive to lead you on to more. 

Unfortunately there are just a few photos included; while they are wonderful I'd have loved to see even more examples of what she was talking about. I enjoyed the fashion images but also the advertising posters and packaging. So fascinating! One of the photos features a Utility dress by Norman Hartnell. I had to look twice because it seemed very familiar to me. Then I realized it's because it's basically Butterick 6450 (which I've made) though most likely without elastic since that was also rationed for the war effort. 

It's very well written -- keeps you reading like it's a novel. Summers goes into personal stories to illustrate her topics, including excerpts from letters. There was one woman who wrote such delightful letters to her husband that I quickly checked the bibliography to see if I could get my hands on them -- sadly they were manuscript only at the Imperial War Museum archives that the author used. These personal elements, newly shared, make the book particularly engaging. There are also excerpts from Vogue and the newspapers about the patriotic duty of dress and beauty at this time, which bring a feel of the contemporary realities for people trying to make sense of the complicated and ever changing coupon system (as an aside, the endpapers are printed as coupon sheets and it's really neat!) 

Coupons didn't go too far, but as she points out, clothing was still relatively expensive then, so you wouldn't be out buying five suits a season anyhow. There were workarounds that came and went; at first overalls didn't take coupons as they were work wear, but eventually even those required coupons. Upholstery fabrics didn't need coupons so there were various outfits made from those choices. She shares a story of an unfortunate woman whose new dress matched the sofa when she went to a friend's for tea. And there was lots of reworking of current clothing to create new items to meet the fashions and the need for new clothing. Of course, the rich were at an advantage because they had so much to begin with; it was the middle classes and poorer who really suffered (although she makes a point that when Utility clothing became widely available, it was often of better quality than poorer classes had ever been able to afford, so sometimes their wardrobes actually improved.) 

There are many more intriguing stories and personal bits in this book; I enjoyed the way she melded fashion history with personal stories and the wider social context as well. The huge changes that the war made to the way women dressed came from clothing shortages but also from the many changes in women's daily lives -- they were wearing uniforms in service, or work wear in factories or as Home Girls, and their need and desire for specific types of clothing evolved. 

Of course I was also interested in the make do and mend parts and the discussion of sewing related info. At this time, not only was Vogue a popular magazine, but it also had the Vogue pattern book which provided sewing patterns since home sewing was still very common. Summers quotes the Vogue pattern book early on in the book, and I could relate! 

In the autumn of 1939, the editor of the Vogue pattern book told women not to moan about the long evenings caused by blackouts, but to make the most of them by dressmaking. She encouraged the beginner to start with easy patterns because 'nothing is more demoralising than failing to produce the finished article.'

This is a great read, highly recommended. Solid history, told in a well organized and engaging narrative, with lots of fabulous fashion and sewing stories rolled in. This was so good I'll be looking for a copy of my own to keep. 

 

Weekend Review: Women's Work

Women's Work / Elizabeth Wayland Barber
NY: Norton, c1994.
334 p.

As I read the book that I talked about last week, I kept thinking about this book, which I read many years ago. I realized I'd never shared it here! So I have reread it, well, skimmed through it again and reread the parts I was most interested in ;) 

It's similar in some ways to the new book I just read, even if the focus is a bit different. Women's Work is really focused on textiles in the historical record, and how work with and on textiles was generally assigned to women. Barber shows that the role of textiles in women's lives was varied, but that one way or another, most women had something to do with the production of textiles in the ancient world and forward. 

She covers Neolithic uses of fibre -- from early thread making to later weaving and tapestry in Classical Greece and beyond. The focus is on mostly European or well-studied cultures like Egypt, middle Europe, and Greece. The range is limited to that historical context and doesn't move into later developments; it really is about the early years of textile work. 

It's the kind of fascinating book I enjoy, taking elements of social history, archeology, mythology, ethnography, and practical experience, and tracing developments using all these tools. It's a trail which follows the curiosity of the author, who herself learned to weave at a young age, which helped her to identify objects and the meaning of varied finds in the historical record. As an academic, she saw the connections which earlier (mostly male) researchers had missed: as she says, "it's hard to see what's not there" unless you know it should be there in the first place. This practical knowledge of weaving and cloth production helped her to interpret Egyptian friezes, understand early migration of technology and people, and identify simple things like why there would be a line of stones in a straight line at a dig (loom weights). 

There is one story she shares at the beginning of the book of trying to replicate a cloth from a shred found in an excavation of an early Celtic settlement -- it was a small piece and as she warped and wove her sample she realized that it was difficult because she'd mixed the process up -- her warp really should have been the weft and if she'd done it that way it would have made sense right away, both numerically and in ease of creation. It was neat to see that hands-on experimentation suddenly brought new understanding of the culture that had made that original scrap.

There are lots of great tidbits in this book, and although it is an older book now, still lots that is entertaining and informative. It makes me want to read a lot more on the subject now that there is so much more being published. Postrel's The Fabric of Civilization, which I just read, takes this story further in time, and focuses on some of the mathematical elements of weaving; The Subversive Stitch by Rozsika Parker, another older read, looks at the role of stitching or embellishing the cloth rather than weaving it but has a similar female focus. And there are many more to look at. However, as one of the original studies of cloth and women's lives, this is still a solid read with a scholarly thoroughness. I'd love to read something like this that focuses on Africa, Asia or South America, all areas that aren't covered here. If anybody knows of a specific title, please share! 

Weekend Review: The Fabric Of Civilization

 

The Fabric of Civilization / Virginia Postrel
NY: Basic Books, c2020
320 p.

This book is an overview of fabric and the ways in which it has shaped the development of civilization, whether that's related to trade, economics, social classes, gender relations, arts, history or another facet of life.

It reminds me of both Kassia St. Clair's The Golden Thread and Elizabeth Wayland Barber's Women's Work: The First 20,000 Years Women, Cloth, and Society in Early Times. She is taking a look at textiles across history, as the original tech, and notes that because textiles are so abundant we have "textile amnesia", forgetting their vital role in so many areas of life. She aims to change that. 

The book is broken up into thematic sections: Fiber, Thread, Cloth, Dye, Traders, Consumers & Innovators. It's mostly told in a conversational tone, with lots of illustrative anecdotes that make it a fun read. Some of the sections are a little technical/dry (especially the weaving ones) but overall it's informative and engaging reading. 

She illustrates how textiles, and the artisans who made and worked with textiles, shaped the world in many ways. I knew about binary code's source in weaving, but didn't know about the other elements of arcane mathematics that were created by weavers designing patterns. It was fascinating! There was discussion of the cloth trade across Europe and how those traders developed into some of the first banks and introduced techniques of book-keeping, also something new for me to learn. And the discussion of Italian silk manufacture and all the people involved in it -- including women as masters -- was really memorable.

I enjoyed the stories, and the commentary on textile words that are a part of our languages now. There are a few caveats about the book; it is really Europe focused, and some of the more distasteful aspects of textile history are skimmed over without much commentary -- ie: the use of slavery in the textile world, or aspects of cultural theft when looking at silk and weaving. However, it does give a wide view across many centuries of many other elements of textile history, manufacture, and its potential for the future. Recommended for anyone interested in how textiles have a core role in world history and in the tech world in many ways. It's a readable look at this topic, a great starter for further deep dives into any of the specific chapters or subjects that really speak to you. 

The author has even made a playlist to go along with this book on youtube, featuring 12 short videos on various themes from the book. Some are very short, so it's easy to view a few! 

Weekend Review: The Art of Ukrainian Embroidery: techniques and technology

 

The Art of Ukrainian Embroidery / Olena Kulynych-Stakhurska
Lviv: Misioner, c1996.
155 p.

I found this book via Interlibrary Loan - such a privilege to have access to it, as this book is nearly impossible to get one's hands on otherwise. As it is, I was only able to find it at one location in all of Canada. 

That limited access is really too bad, as this is an excellent resource book. The author has an interesting foreword, in which she explains why she thought that travelling around Ukraine to many villages and towns, talking to the remaining experts in embroidery (this was during and just after Ukraine's experience under the Soviet government) was so important. She believes that "the art of embroidery...reflects the spirit of the Ukrainian nation. Popular wisdom filled its work with innermost feelings of the soul, a deep philosophical idea that through symbols imprinted itself on the cloth." 

She also says that there are more than 100 distinct stitches in Ukrainian embroidery but that many of them are being lost to the easier and faster cross-stitch (she's not a fan). She feels that the beauty and soul of Ukrainian embroidery are entangled with these traditions and so doesn't want them to disappear. In the intro, she explains that she has been working on this project for over 25 years, and that the "techniques and technology" of the title are based on her own collections, museum collections, and the  ethnographic work she did with individuals across Ukraine. It's a book intended as a record to aid researchers, and I think it accomplished its aims very successfully.

The book itself is structured stitch by stitch, with a clear diagram of the stitch, followed by the name of the stitch -- often different depending on what part of Ukraine you're in, and those names and variations are all noted as well. Then there are basic instructions on how to complete it - I think that if you are already an embroiderer you'll have much more luck deciphering the instructions, but then I always find written descriptions of stitching harder to figure out that someone just showing me :) There are many clear images of the stitch as worked, too.

There are 155 stitches here, ranging from simple ones like backstitch, running stitch, stem stitch or chain stitch to drawn work stitches (in the style known as Merezhka) There are many variations and unusual techniques included. Interspersed are full page colour plates of examples from her collections; clothing, household linens, both overviews and details. And it's published as a fully bilingual edition, with Ukrainian and English text side-by-side.

The book is thorough and inspiring. It's really a must have if you are interested in the history of Ukrainian stitching. I'll be looking for my own copy, and hope that I will someday come across one! 

Weekend Review: Threads of Life

 

Threads of Life / Clare Hunter
NY: Abrams, c2019
306 p.

Another intriguing book on the history of stitching this week! And by another Clare. Lots of sewing and needlework enthusiasts in the UK it seems, and this book is by a Scottish writer, Clare Hunter, who has been involved in community textile projects for over 20 years.

The book looks at needlework from many different angles, in 16 chapters loosely arranged by theme -- identity, community, power, protest, art, and place, for example. In each she ranges between cultures and examples of needlework that has lasted either as a physical object or a set of techniques and traditions that are passed down. 

If you are an aficionado of textile history there won't be a lot that is new to you here, though. She covers the Bayeux Tapestry, Chilean arpilleras, folk embroidery, Hmong story cloths, and other histories that many textile art readers will know of. There are elements of other things stirred in, sometimes quite randomly, and there are many interesting highlights. The writing style is generally clear and readable, sometimes going into small flights of fancy writing, embellishing the themes. 

I found it an interesting read, making the point that primarily female embroiderers have been creating in a domestic sphere for eons, and that much of their output has been anonymous, their input undervalued. Even the stitchers of the Bayeux tapestry are unknown. Talking about how stitching is a huge part of economies and history, even while those doing it are treated like disposable cogs, is really important even now considering the fashion world. 

The flaws are mainly down to the publisher, in my view. There could have been more substantive editing going on, as there are some factual errors. There is confusion in the chapter on the Bayeux tapestry, erroneously attributing a nephew of the king as a son, a pretty major problem when the lack of succession was a key element of the battles. And my personal bugaboo, she refers to "the" Ukraine repeatedly; it is just "Ukraine". 

The lack of images in a book about a visual art is also slightly disappointing. There is a list of websites to visit at the end of the book, which will show you many images of the things she discusses in the book. But even a centre insert with some colour photos of some of the items would have added a great deal to the reading. 

This is a relatively short overview, a popular history, and so it can't go into vast detail on everything connected with needlework -- that would be a rather impossible feat. The focus in mainly on Western history, and it moves from far past to contemporary uses of needlework like Craftivism and the kind of political stitching that the author herself has been involved with for years. She has led banner making efforts for many causes, and started a Glasgow based community enterprise called NeedleWorks in the mid-80s. So her own stories of stitching and its place in her life are woven into this history, making the memoir element and her own slant on this topic clear. Some readers weren't keen on that -- I found it natural and appealing. 

Another interesting fact about this book is that it inspired Maria Grazia Chiuri of Dior in her creation of the Fall/Winter 2021-2022 collection. I think this is fascinating! You can watch the clip of her talking about it, and Clare Hunter talking about the book, below. If you like this, pop over to the Dior channel on YouTube and you can watch a whole series of short videos about this collection, including the show itself. 

 

As you can probably tell, I liked this book and found it engaging, even with a few caveats. I think anyone with an interest in this topic, especially if it's kind of new to the reader, will find it illuminating. The bibliography is also great, and a wonderful starting point if one particular area strikes your fancy. I'd say this one would make an appealing Xmas gift, wrapped up with an embroidery kit, perhaps! Definitely one that can be read in bits without losing the plot.

Weekend Review: Fierce!

 

Fierce / Jo Weldon
NY: HarperCollins, c2018
232 p.

This energetic read is a fun introduction to leopard print in many area of fashion - from politician's wives to burlesque, from movie stars to goddesses of history. It's a smallish size, but heavy with glossy paper and tons of photos and images; even the cover is shiny and metallic. It's very visually appealing! 

I enjoyed this one. The author writes well, in an entertaining style, but also compiles a lot of information on how leopard print appeared in society -- from Egyptian, Chinese or Aztec goddesses, on up to the current day. There is a nice balance of text and image in this book; often her statements are immediately supported by a photo or drawing. She refers to how leopard print is a symbol or signifier, from the far past up to the rock & roll era, as well as in burlesque and in cinema. There are lots of images of models and actresses in various forms of leopard print as well, which is always fascinating. 

There was enough text to this book that you feel like you learned something, while enjoying the trip. But what makes this book particularly special, I think, is that the author opens the book with a classification of the many spotted cats that are included when people think of "leopard print" -- from leopards to cheetahs, jaguars, ocelots and more -- and differentiates between their spot patterns. And while doing this, she also talks about each species and how vulnerable it is to extinction currently. While she celebrates the print, she also strongly discourages wearing actual furs, noting that it's actually illegal in many places now to trade in the pelts of big cats. And the book closes with this note, again, and a listing of six different cat conservation organizations that you can explore to get involved with or donate to. This is an important element to mention so clearly, so I was impressed with the thoroughness of it. 

If leopard print appeals to you at all, I think you'll enjoy this book and all its social history, plus the great fashion images and discussions. It's well organized, engaging, and just lots of fun to read. 

Weekend Review: The Devil's Cloth

 

The Devil's Cloth / Michel Pastoureau
trans. from the French by Jody Gladding
NY: Washington Square Press, 2003, c1991
144 p.

I picked up this little book on the history of stripes a while ago. It was originally published in 1991 but reissued in the early 2000s, and is written by a French scholar, although I must say this book isn't really very scholarly! A lot of suppositions and unsupported assertions, even in a tiny book. 

It started out as a pretty interesting read, with the history of the Carmelite order in France and how stripes were used to mark them out as mendicants -- the first section was the most interesting for me; as it moves forward in time the research that the chapters are based on seems like it gets more vague. This earlier era must be his specialty because these bits feel more thorough and believable. It discusses stripes in religious iconography, what they may symbolize at this time, and moves on to the ways in which stripes were representative in heraldry. All quite fascinating! 

The next section, of four chapters, covers how stripes were representative of revolution and eventually imprisonment. But it opens by comparing horizontal to vertical stripes, and how the significance of each differed. It also covers the appearance of a 'good' stripe, a fashionable one influenced by Orientalism and the vogue for African wildlife like zebras. This was a clever way to show how societal changes were affecting the use of striped fabric, and also how stripes could be mutable in their meanings. 

The final section is, to me, the weakest, only because it's a lot of theory and many notes that "this area needs more research".  It does consider why stripes are common on nightclothes in the 19th and 20th century, and how "oddballs" like artists and eccentrics embraced the stripe. Of course, the entire book is from the French perspective, so the examples are rooted in French culture, and maybe not always widely transferable. 

Still, it's a clever little book and gives some room for consideration when you're thinking about how and why we use stripes today. Is there the same kind of symbolic importance to choosing a striped outfit today, other than to suggest a nautical air? Or to nod to Chanel and the Breton tee? If you're interested in getting some background on the role stripes have held in history, for sure you could pick up this brief book and learn a few neat tidbits. Handy to have some of these facts to share in a conversation! Just don't expect an in-depth interrogation of the use of the stripe as a fashion motif across the globe -- this is more of a short history/meditation on stripes in French culture. 

What do you think? Do you like stripes, and do you choose to sew with them or wear them for any reason besides visual appeal? How about the horizontal/vertical divide when it comes to wearing stripes? And are you a regular or irregular stripe aficionado?

Weekend Review: Mend by Kate Sekules

 

Mend! / Kate Sekules
NY: Penguin, c2020
227 p.

I'm delighted to be sharing this book this week -- it's a new book on the mending trend, one that I really enjoyed! It's so colourful and funky to look at, and is a solid read both on the history and meaning of mending, and on some how-tos as well. 

The author is one of those women I envy, who seem to have limitless energy and gumption, and end up doing tons of different things. Kate Sekules is/has been a journalist and writer, a professional boxer, online clothing shop owner, PhD candidate in material culture, mending educator and more. She is cool, thoughtful and thorough in this book. 

The first half of the book is a look at mending over the ages. As we all know, fast fashion is a recent invention. Before that, textiles and clothing were valuable and sometimes scarce. Mending was just what you did. She shares textile history from prehistory to current day in a pithy way, with some intriguing stories that I hadn't heard before, like Otzi the Iceman, who was discovered mummified in the Tyrolean Alps; he's over 5000 years old and was wearing tattered pants made from a patchwork of animal skins. She talks about the professional menders in existence from Ancient Greece right up to mid-20th century England, specialists who could repair items to keep them in service and looking new. 

There is a section in the middle about some of the current day menders and stitchers who are leading this field and encouraging people to embellish and repair their clothing, as well as use these techniques in a political way, to focus on sustainability and such. This is a great chapter, and while I have already heard of many of the people highlighted, there were also some new finds to research further! I loved seeing the varied approaches and focus areas of each person; they take a slightly different tack in each case, and show that there is room for everyone interested in this topic. 

And then most of the second half of the book gets down to practicalities. How do you mend -- whether it's patches, darning, visible mends, embroidery, upcycling or even needle felting, there are instructions, lots of photos to follow step by step and a lot of encouragement. She's clear that creativity and trying things out are the perfect approach, it's not a strict follow-these-rules kind of book. I love some of the down and dirty fixes, like sticking a pocket on top of a hole or stain if it's a pocket friendly location. So quick! And she talks about where to harvest mending materials from, ie: an old blouse that isn't repairable any more can be cut up into patches or reinforcements for underpatches. It's very frugal and resourceful, and I found it inspiring. Also, at the end of this section there is a massive chart of the kinds of items you might want to mend, the kind of damage, the appropriate materials and the appropriate techniques that might work best for that type of fabric or garment. Massive -- it's four pages long! Plus there's an adorable "periodical table" of mends too. 

I liked the approach of this one. It's not just another book on mending your jeans with sashiko inspired stitching. In fact she hardly mentions jeans. I loved the combination of history, social consciousness, and hands-on instruction. Plus she's a great writer and knows her topic inside out. Add in the plethora of bright, clear photos, and it's a real hit. Recommended. 

If you want to see some of the inside of this book, go to the publisher's page and click the "look inside" button. It brings up a window to scroll through that gives you a good idea of what the book is like. 

Weekend Review: The Rarest Blue

The Rarest Blue / Baruch Sterman & Judy Taubes Sterman
Guildford, CT: Lyons Press, c2012
305 p.

This book is a mix of ancient history tracing the path of Murex dyes across the centuries, a scientific treatise of dye and colour perception, and specific tiny points of Jewish law and history. It works, to a point.

It looks at the search for tekhelet, a specific sky blue dye that is required in Jewish law to dye threads to attach to one's prayer shawl. Sterman goes into what the dye was, why it was important to Hasidic Jews, how it was made in ancient days (discovered by the Minoans, traded by Phoenicians, worn by Roman elites, used in Jewish religious tradition), and the effort by Hasidic rabbis over the last two centuries to recover the secrets of how this dye was made. 

The search for how Murex dyeing works was fascinating, even though it's also quite disturbing, being dependent on mutilating live snails and discarding them after the one precious gland is harvested. There was no real discussion about the ethics of this practice or any moves toward a more sustainable method of harvesting the important chemical -- but when religion gets involved in things, other considerations often get tossed out the window. That is my own observation, not something that is discussed in this book.

The history of blue and purple dyes is interesting and exciting; I recall Lydia, the seller of purple, in the bible and how that mention always intrigued me as a child. And of course the history of Minoan and Phoenician culture is always fascinating, at least to me. The details of how the dye is made is both compelling and disgusting -- who knew that the smell was so bad that a woman whose husband became a dyer after they were married was entitled to a divorce if she wanted one! I found these parts great reading and very informative. 

However, there didn't seem to be strong organization in this book, it talks about a lot of different things and sometimes themes and timelines get mixed up, at least for this reader. It also feels like it goes on a little too long; the chapter on the physics of colour perception could have easily been dropped without being missed. 

If you are interested in dyes and their cultural relevance, this is a good read. Keep in mind that the authors are also head of the Ptil Tekhelet Association, an organization dedicated to selling this rediscovered tekhelet dye and the threads required by this obscure biblical directive, so they might not be as objective about its importance as another person would. But they do know what they're talking about when it comes to how this dye was recovered from the mists of history and put back into production. 

This was an unusual find and one that I learned quite a lot from. Pretty interesting that I was reading this while making my latest super blue dress!

Weekend Review: A Red Like No Other

 

A Red Like No Other: How Cochineal Colored the World /
ed. by Carmella Padilla & Barbara Anderson
NY: Skira Rizzoli, c2015.
319 p.

Since I'm on the subject of colour this month, I finally brought this book home from the library to read -- I've been meaning to for years! But it's quite large and heavy, a classic art book, so I had put it off again and again ;)

But I'm glad I finally dug in, because it's fascinating, though the content is almost as heavy as the actual physical weight of it. It's a look at Cochineal through the ages, as the sub-subtitle says: an epic story of art, culture, science, and trade. 

It's an exhibition catalogue from an exhibit on the history of cochineal put on by the Museum of International Folk Art in Santa Fe. And as such, it is packed full of amazing images from the exhibit, ranging over centuries, from prehistoric to modern uses, and examples of natural dyes used to create red tones revealing why cochineal was so prized for its stable reds and variety of shades it could produce. 

Of course, because it's a set of essays by over 40 scholars, there is no real narrative, just a loose arrangement of themes and timelines that combine to give a vast picture of the reach of cochineal in global history. The exhibit was inspired by the museum director reading a book called "A Perfect Red: Empire, Espionage, and a Quest for the Color of Desire" by Amy Butler Greenfield. And if you're looking for more of an exciting narrative about cochineal, this is probably the one to reach for (I have my eye out for it now).

But this art book is full of fascinating historical information, and has exemplary illustrations -- I learned a lot about things I didn't even know I was interested in! One of the first essays was called "Three Reds: Cochineal, Hematite and Cinnabar in the Pre-Hispanic Mesoamerican World" and I found it so intriguing. 

The book is broken up into 7 sections, and each is really a book in its own right. The 7 topics are all centred on cochineal -- the colour and the insect that creates it -- in varied time frames. Starting with Pre-Columbian & Early Contact Americas (since the source of cochineal is Mexico and South America), it moves to Global Trade, then Science, Textiles, European Art, the Colonial Hispanic Americas, and finally brings us to the Modern World. There are 4 - 6 essays in each section and the number of pieces contributed really gives a wide view of the topic. 

This is not a book that you're likely to read cover to cover, or in a weekend. But as a beautiful book to look through, dipping into different essays over a couple of weeks and picking up varied facts and enjoying the illustrations in particular, it's a good one. If it wasn't so expensive I'd say it would be a great coffee table book. As it is, I recommend that if you think this sounds good, you give your local library a go. Much more affordable that way! 

Weekend Review: Mauve

 

Mauve / Simon Garfield
London: Faber & Faber, c2000.
224 p.

I first read this book a decade ago, but while reading Fibershed recently, I starting thinking about dyes and natural vs aniline options, local vs. corporate and so on. And that reminded me of this fascinating book all about the origins of aniline dyes, so I picked it up and skimmed through it again. Enjoyable once more! 

It tells the story of William Perkin and his discovery in 1856 of the first successful aniline dye (made from coal tar derivatives) -- the colour 'mauve'. He made this discovery accidentally; what he was really trying to do was to create a synthetic form of quinine to treat the malaria that was still rampant across the British Empire. His willingness to experiment with the actual results lead to mauve.

I always enjoy science history, and this was a good example of a popular science read. But additionally, a large part of Perkin's success was due to the fashion world taking up this colour, leading to competition from French textile makers and fashion designers. I thought that this was an entertaining and thorough book, both times! It focuses on William Perkin, but goes beyond simply his life, his discoveries and his business to show how the new colours (and the new industry) shaped fashion, economies, and even wartime innovations, including explosives.

The writing is clear and relatable, making the life of this young chemist fascinating and the world of academic vs. commercial chemistry actually quite intriguing. Garfield covers the specific science of the dyes, but also the relevance to society as a whole, in so many areas. He also shows how it was both Perkin's actual discovery and his willingness to risk a scientific career on making a commercial success of his colour that changed the way chemistry was perceived, making it a more obvious choice for students who wanted to make money at their work. (Perkin was 18 when he discovered mauve, and his father staked everything to create a factory in which William, his brother Thomas and their father all worked -- and they made a LOT of money.)

Garfield even talks about the environmental effects of this surge in dye-making. He records that the stream outside Perkin's factory would change colour every week, and that a factory in France was convicted of poisoning villagers downstream with arsenic. He follows the industry from the moment that mauve became a fashionable mania (shortly followed by another chemical dye from France called magenta) to our present day experience of taking multiple colours for granted. Influences such as war (the desire to dye uniforms surprised me), or fashion, or hard chemistry all have a place in this story, and keep it from being too narrow or dull.

I really enjoyed this book, and would recommend it to anyone curious about how such aniline dyes came about, or how our need to colour our world in a multitude of hues has shaped so many areas of our societies. There is one section, in which Garfield is sharing a list of registered colours via the National Bureau of Standards, Washington DC, that sounds like poetry. A gorgeous and evocative list of names and sources of colour!

Well-written, not complicating the story with overly scientific explanations and yet not minimizing the importance of the science, this is a great general read. Lots of great "dinner party tidbits" in this one -- I always love a science book that makes you sound smart in general conversation ;) I know that I am looking at all the colours in my environment a little differently now.

(parts of this review come from my thoughts over at The Indextrious Reader the first time I read this book)

Weekend Review: Champagne Supernovas

Champagne Supernovas / Maureen Callahan
Touchstone, c2004.
288 p.

Another look at a decade in fashion, this time the 90s, with a focus on two designers (Marc Jacobs & Alexander McQueen) and one model, Kate Moss. Coming after the lengthy biography of Lagerfeld and St Laurent of The Beautiful Fall, I found this one a bit disappointing.

Author Callahan is a pop journalist, and the style and appearance of this book both make me think of magazine articles about these people and the style of the 90s. It was interesting but felt more magazine than in-depth investigation. It was still quite interesting, though! 

Just like the Paris scene in the 70s and early 80s, the people in this American/English scene in the 90s were equally messed up. The level of drug use and sexual shenanigans are just unbelievable; it feels tawdry and cheap in this book while somehow less so in Paris in the 70s -- perhaps the extra decades give a bit more distance from it. 

Callahan gives the background of each of the three people she's using as her touchstones, and why they were such a powerful part of the way fashion shifted in the 90s. Each of them was self-destructive and willful, and did things against the ruling ethos. It's why they shifted things in the wider world, but in their personal lives it wasn't so great for them. Drug use, depression, angst, and in McQueen's case, eventually suicide, were results. 

But this isn't a book that is based on extensive interviews and research into the psyches of these three people, rather, it's a look at their biographies insofar as they fuel the way they work in the fashion world. She shares their upbringing and the weaknesses each one had as a result -- each one had the drive to create their own style and way of being (and each one sounds like a nasty person to work for/with, at times). McQueen's attraction to ugliness and violence in his life and his fashion is outlined, and there are images of some of his earlier important shows. And Marc Jacobs' ground-shifting grunge collection (which was panned when it was revealed, which I recall quite well) is discussed and shown too. Kate Moss just seemed to embody the new breath moving through the fashion world with her gaunt, grungey heroin chic appeal. 

Perhaps I didn't enjoy this one quite as much since I don't really like any of the three characters. I always found McQueen's fashion sense ugly and somewhat revolting; the other two are shallow compared to earlier designers & models, and I just don't feel as interested in them. So while this was an interesting look at the state of fashion in the 90s, and I felt that I did learn a few things, the gossipy tone and more surface approach to the theme made it just okay.