Tag Archive | fashion

Eye On Design: Lucite Box Handbag By Wilardy Originals

Photos By Gail

In mid-century America, molded Box Handbags like this one (circa 1955) were fabricated by the New York City accessory firm Wilardy aka Wilardy Originals, which embraced the increasingly experimental postwar design trend towards ‘scientific’ materials such as Lucite.

Wilardy Originals began in 1946 as Handbag Specialties, a collaboration between father and son team, Charles William Hardy and William Hammond Hardy. The original offices and factory were in New York, and moved to Union City, New Jersey in 1953. Charles, who was called Bill, was a wizard with mathematics and a serious business man. William, known as Will, was the artist, designer, a great motivator and a man who possessed unusual social grace. Will Hardy took over the business in the 1960s, and continued designing and manufacturing into the early 1980s.

In addition to lucite handbags, Will designed lighting fixtures for Dinico, lucite bathroom fixtures, elegant containers for Atlantic Can, a chest of drawers for Jacqueline Kennedy, chandeliers for the White House, jewelry, tableware for the Grainware Company, and even clothing. He passed away on May 24th, 2018. Find out more about Wilardy Originals at This Link!

Photographed in the Museum of the City of New York in Manhattan.

Eye On Design: Red Plastic Bandeau Top and Skirt By Pierre Cardin

Aug26

Fashion In The Space Age (All Photos By Gail)

Over the course of a seven-decade career in design, Pierre Cardin has released collections that have rocketed so far into the future they were once emblematic of the Space Age. For an example of Cardin’s influence in popular culture, look no further than the 1960s cartoon The Jetsons, where Jane Jetson’s styles look as though they could have been lifted from the designer’s showroom.

Installation View Alongside the Porthole Dress (1968), Made from Wool Crepe and Silver Leather

But perhaps it is the Jetson’s teenage daughter Judy who would have been more inclined to fancy this vibrant and fun two-piece red suit consisting of a Bandeau Top and Miniskirt made of vinyl and plastic. The top’s circular breast rings remind me very fondly of costumes worn by Jane Fonda in the 1968 film Barbarella.

Mannequin Also Wears the Wool Envelope Hat (1979)

This Out-Of-This World Design was Photographed in the Brooklyn Museum as Part of the 2019 – 2020 Exhibit, Pierre Cardin: Future Fashion.

Eye On Design: Parabolic Evening Gown by Pierre Cardin

May6

All Photos By Gail

Technically, a parabola is a symmetrically mirrored U-shape. Pierre Cardin began working with the parabola in the 1950s, particularly in the 1957 Lasso collection. With the introduction of stretch fabrics and hoops in the 1960s, those sweeping, graceful parabolic drapes became amplified, evolving into ellipses and cones.

Some of Cardin’s “Parabolic” fashions collapse flat, are easily packed, and emerge as before — like his earlier Cardine dresses, which could be twisted, rolled and stowed effortlessly into luggage. Developed alongside Cardin’s investigations into furniture sculpture, the big, sculptural shapes of the Parabolic dresses were likewise designed to be seen in 360 degrees. And since they were made of stretch fabric, they had a bounce reminiscent of his “Kinetic” dresses from 1972.

Referencing his earlier “Lasso” or “Eye of the Needle” designs done in wool and mohair, in 1990s’ Parabolic Evening Gown, Cardin creates the shape as a pink and green silk parabola.

Photographed in The Brooklyn Museum.

Eye On Design: Floral Appliquéd Evening Dress By House of Chanel

Apr29

All Photos By Gail

At the end of the 1920s, the prior emphasis on lavish surface embellishment transferred to printed textiles, which were fashioned into a variety of romantic permutations. The elegant ombre-dyed silk chiffon of this evening dress was likely created for Gabrielle Chanel at her own Tissus Chanel factory in Asnières-sur-Seine, France. The delicate manipulation of the textile in this Floral Appliquéd Evening Dress (spring/summer 1935) is evidence of the superior capabilities of the Chanel couture workrooms

The gown’s bias-cut fabric drapes and clings to the figure, gathering into delicately ruched straps at the shoulders and swelling into soft folds around the hem. Individual picot-edged florets are backed with net to create volume and strategically appliquéd throughout the garment to further enhance the printed motifs, resulting in tactile bouquets that gently flutter when the wearer moves.

Photographed as part of the exhibit In Pursuit of Fashion: The Sandy Schreier Collection, on view through May 17th, 2020 at The Metropolitan Museum of Art in NYC.

Eye On Design: Upholstered Chair Hat By Karl Lagerfeld

Apr22

Photos by Gail

Karl Lagerfeld (1938 – 2019), an avid collector of rare books, art and antiques, conceived of a series of accessories inspired by eighteenth-century French decorative arts for his autumn/winter 1985-86 collection. The fashion designer worked closely with milliner Kirsten Woodward to arrive at this Upholstered Chair Hat, and other witty translations of miniaturized furniture based on Lagerfeld’s sketched interpretations of original objects from reference photos.

The resulting hats were a playful pastiche of historical references, infused with elements of Surrealism and executed with vivid opulence that was often characteristic of 1980s fashion.

Photographed as part of the exhibit In Pursuit of Fashion: The Sandy Schreier Collection, on view through May 17th, 2020 at The Metropolitan Museum of Art in NYC.

Eye On Design: Zebra Punk Party Dress By Anna Sui

Apr15

Photos By Gail

To create the look of the Zebra Punk Party Dress (which was part of her Spring 2007 Punk collection), Anna Sui combined ripped mesh leggings and armlets, references to Vivienne Westwood and Malcolm Mclaren’s punk fashions of the mid-to-late 1970s. The monochrome zebra print recalls the strict dress color code of the New York clubs that Sui frequented in her youth, such as Max’s Kansas City and CBGB.

Zebra Punk Party Dress is made from Silk chiffon with a nylon petticoat, leggings and sleeves; worn with brass/glass/plastic bracelet by Erickson Beamon for Anna Sui; cowhide boots by Ballin for Anna Sui.

Photographed in the Museum of Arts and Design in Manhattan.

Eye On Design: Christian Dior, Columbine Dress

Apr1

Photos By Gail

Christian Dior’s “New Look” was central to the postwar revival of the Paris couture system. In addition to selling individual couture dresses to private clients, Dior also sold licensed copies, like this one of his Columbine dress, which was produced in the US for American department stores. The number of such high-end reproductions was limited, but there were also mass-produced garments that catered to the desire for at least “a copy of a copy of a Dior.”

The Dress Pictured Here is a Licensed Copy of Dior’s Columbine Dress by I. Magnin and Lord & Taylor circa 1947. Photographed as Part of the Exhibit, Paris, Capital of Fashion at the Museum at FIT in Manhattan.

Eye On Design: Anna Sui, Cheerleader Ensemble

Mar25

All Photos By Gail

“When I think about pinafores and jumpers and compromised purity, it’s actually quite punk. Go further back and it’s all about mod and Twiggy and dolly birds and thousands of school girls like me pouring over magazines, reading articles from the front lines of pop culture.”

Throughout her career, Anna Sui has summoned the youthful spirit of the school girl but was an edge, embracing the complexity of teen-hood. For the fall 1994 Schoolgirl collection, Sui focused on Yves Saint Laurent‘s most iconic designs, which she reinterpreted in high-tech sportswear materials.fall 1994 Schoolgirl collection, Sui focused on Yves Saint Laurent‘s most iconic designs, which she reinterpreted in high-tech sportswear materials.

Saint Laurent was also a superb colorist, as reflected in the collection’s use of bold colors. The sportswear sensibility extended to a series of outfits inspired by cheerleader uniforms, many of which Sui accessorized with pom-pom hats by James Coviello.

Jacket Front and Back Detail

Schoolgirl Collection Installation View: Cheerleader Ensemble (far right) worn with plastic/wool pom-pom hat by James Coviello for Anna Sui; Plastic belt, two necklaces, and bracelets by Erickson Beamon for Anna Sui; fishnet nylon hose and acetate/satin-covered domestic cowhide short boots by Emma Hope for Anna Sui.

Photographed in the Museum of Arts and Design in Manhattan.

Eye on Design: Lilac Headband by Adolfo

Mar18

Photos By Gail

This Lilac Headband (1960s) by Adolfo (Adolfo Sardina) recalls historical styles of the mid-nineteenth century, conjuring Franz Xaver Winterhalter’s portrait The Empress Eugenie Surrounded by her Ladies-in-Waiting (1855). At the same time, the clouds of lilac blooms and traditionally feminine bow at the center of this headband also speak to contemporaneous ideas and aesthetics, channeling the flower power movement of the late 1960s, and early 1970s, and skillfully striking a balance between moments of meticulous coordination and carefree, romantic hippie styles of dress.

Photographed as part of the exhibit In Pursuit of Fashion: The Sandy Schreier Collection, on view through May 17th, 2020 at The Metropolitan Museum of Art in NYC.

Eye On Design: Lipstick Bracelet and Brooch By Karl Lagerfeld

Mar11

All Photos By Gail

This matching Bracelet and Brooch are composed of a vibrant rainbow of resin Lipsticks that humorously assert the decorative nature of cosmetic products. While both by Karl Lagerfeld and the jewelry designer Ugo Correani were known for their postmodern sampling of objects and ideas, the tendency to inflate scale in order to invest drama was a particular strength of Correani.

In the words of Lagerfeld, “He has a magic touch. No one can compare to him . . . He’s modern, not afraid to be oversized, but with the right eye for proportion.”

Photographed as part of the exhibit In Pursuit of Fashion: The Sandy Schreier Collection, on view through May 17th, 2020 at The Metropolitan Museum of Art in NYC.

The Worley Gig

A Blog Of Neat Things!

Tag Archive | fashion

Eye On Design: Lucite Box Handbag By Wilardy Originals

Eye On Design: Red Plastic Bandeau Top and Skirt By Pierre Cardin

Eye On Design: Parabolic Evening Gown by Pierre Cardin

Eye On Design: Floral Appliquéd Evening Dress By House of Chanel

Eye On Design: Upholstered Chair Hat By Karl Lagerfeld

Eye On Design: Zebra Punk Party Dress By Anna Sui

Eye On Design: Christian Dior, Columbine Dress

Eye On Design: Anna Sui, Cheerleader Ensemble

Eye on Design: Lilac Headband by Adolfo

Eye On Design: Lipstick Bracelet and Brooch By Karl Lagerfeld

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