Issue link: http://digital.copcomm.com/i/1124767
Spring 2019 The Costume Designer 51 By Anna Wyckoff O ne of my earliest memories of period garments was from a trip with my mother to the Victoria and Albert Museum in London. I was a teenager, but still remember the ephemera—a 1920s gold foil crown with graceful leaves, spindly fans made of bone, trimmed in ostrich plumes, the tattered damask and jeweled buckles of a pair of Louis court shoes. Nothing informs good design like viewing garments firsthand. Seams and construction details, invisible in illustrations and photographs, reveal them- selves. The very presence of a piece—from a diaphanous Napoleonic court dress, a button-encrusted Carnaby Street jacket, to the faded ink of an early magazine—projects an indescribable feeling. It is almost like the residue of the past still clings to the object. In a world where a few keystrokes can summon an army of images, few things thrill like the real thing. Unbeknownst to many, our partners at the Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising [FIDM] have opened their world-class collection for research. All that is needed is an appointment. I recently toured their facility and was struck by the meticulous preservation practices. A crepe frock from the late sixties captured my imagination. There was nothing ordinary about it. This was not surprising, given the designer was William Travilla—the same mind that clad Marilyn in the unforgettable white pleated halter for The Seven Year Itch and the hot-pink sheath with an oversize bow for Gentleman Prefer Blondes. The dress was whimsically patterned in cream and cadmium red to look like a brick wall. A photograph would have only captured the graphic quality. What it wouldn't have revealed is that in this couture garment each rectangle of "brick" and line of "mortar" was an individual color blocked piece and the dart- ing of the dress was hidden along seams. It was remarkable. Kevin Jones, curator of the FIDM Museum, says, "What a character is wearing is going to be the first thing that people see, often even before the characters speak. That's what the film and television is all about, this incredible visual and the storytelling. That's why it's important for us at the FIDM Museum to be able to provide easy access to historic gar- ments. Historic garments are the garments from yesterday and 400 years ago." FIDM Museum Research Library The Secret Resource "The museum is a nonprofit foundation. So we are open to the world or study that includes Costume Designers, fashion designers, dress historians, and anyone who is interested in studying what is worn on the body. Our col- lection encompasses men, women, and children. We have everything from head to toe, from accessories to undergar- ments. There's so much that is on the surface that people look at, but underneath there was so much more going on—from today's Spanx, to 200 years ago, the corset being worn. Studying the actual garments, seeing how they morph and change over time is more than just looking at clothing. It shows how they change the body, suggests movement, interactions with people, social mores, and economics." Photos: Anna Wyckoff and FIDM