Fashion Postcards

18th Century Gowns in Store from the Museum of Costume in Bath

When I visit an exhibition of fashion in the museum, I am often tempted to buy the exhibition catalogue, but sometimes they are so heavy that I know that it will tip my luggage into the overweight category. At those moments, I often will buy a handful of postcards - just to remember the highlights. I have a box full of them and I also occasionally get one in the mail (like the beautiful one from the Museum of Costume in Bath, which I have yet to visit).

Here are some of my favourite fashion postcards.

YSL from YSL Foundation in Paris

The House of VIktor&Rolf, Barbican Gallery in London

College Fashions in Vogue, August 1937

Cover Vogue, Inccorpoating Vanity Fair August 15, 1937

Fashion magazines have used the back to school theme as inspiration for their August issues for many years. I recently found an issue of Vogue dated August 15, 1937 with College Fashions as the theme. 1937 was a turbulent year in history with the Spanish Civil War, the Hindenburg disaster, the disappearance of Amelia Earhart and the rise of Stalin. In spite of the unrest, all was rosy on the fashion front.

Published twice a month, there were three Vogue magazines at the time- American, French and British. Edna Woolman Chase was Editor-in-Chief of all three. 

The August 15, 1937 issue of the magazine was 166 pages and features a model wearing a green and red plaid wool dress that is "reminiscent in style of the Grossman jersey dress, adopted by the emanticipated woman of 1918", but with the "casual chic of youth in its pleated skirt and white pique collar." 

The magazine features college themed advertisements as well as editorials on topics like: 

Voted most popular

College endowment

Compulsory for campus

Cut out for college

School directory

Autumn landscape colours

Puzzle parties

Most likely to succeed

Professor Shop-hound

Where to find me now

Dear friends,

It has been a while since I've posted here. After much of my blog was copied onto other sites, I lost some of the joy of sharing my research, reviews and opinions on this forum. I've been tweeting, posting links on the Costume Society of Ontario Facebook page and writing articles for Modeconnect. I also accepted the post of Fashion in the Museum columnist for Worn Through where I am writing a bi-weekly column. I've never been busier or more in demand, and yet something feels like it is missing.....

The End of a Blog?

I started blogging in 2008 and for the most part, it has been an incredible adventure. I attended exhibitions and events that I would not necessarily have had access to. I learned how to craft an article, conduct an interview, and find an audience. More importantly, I gained friends from around the world that have shared my passions, as well as my successes and my sorrows.  

There was a time when I looked forward to writing a post and I included my photos and my artwork freely. In October of this year, when I discovered that much of my blog had been copied onto other sites, without permission or attribution, I was utterly bereft. The experience robbed me of the joy that I once felt in writing a post, and I am not sure whether it will ever come back. Plus, the heavy curatorial demands of my job at Ryerson, my new responsibilities as the editor of the Costume Journal, and invitations to write for Selvedge Magazine and for Modeconnect make me feel even less inclined to continue on this forum. That doesn't mean I won't come back, but for the foreseeable I shall be absent on this platform. I invite you to stay in touch on Pinterest, Facebook or Twitter. 

                                                                       With my best wishes, 
                                                                                  
                                                                                      Ingrid Mida

Notice of Temporary Interruption

Dear friends and loyal readers,

It recently came to my attention that the entire content of my site is being copied on several other blogspot addresses. I am pursuing legal action on the matter to shut this down. Depending on how long it takes for Google to react, I am, for the time being, suspending my blog posts on Fashion is my Muse!

I find it very upsetting that this has occurred since I have written content on this blog for 5 years now, without commercial aims, in order to share my passion for and knowledge of costume history, fashion and art. If this is not resolved in short order, I may have to restart on another platform. In the meantime, I encourage you to follow me on either Twitter or Facebook. I am also the social media manager for the Costume Society of Ontario and post links to exhibition and fashion related content there. I also welcome your emails at fashionismymuse@gmail.com.

I hope you will join me through one of these other social media platforms.

Best wishes,
Ingrid Mida

Last Chance to See

The summer is drawing to a close as are a number of exhibitions of fashion in the museum. The list includes:

Surreal Body Gallery from Impossible Conversations: Schiaparelli and Prada at the Met
Photo courtesy of the Costume Institute at the Met

Impossible Conversations: Schiaparelli and Prada at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York closes TOMORROW Sunday, August 19, 2012. My review of the exhibition was published on Fashion Projects and can be read here.

What's new?

Charlize Theron, Golden Globes 2012

Watching tv has become a guilty pleasure, especially with a list of deadlines and a stack of reading I'm supposed to do.... But I had to track the red carpet of the Golden Globes and took notice of the key trends:
* mermaid shapes 
* headbands
* chandelier-like earrings
* spectacularly high heels often concealed by dangerously long hems

None of these trends work for me.  From experience, I know that mermaid shapes mean the hem drags along the floor, causing a tripping hazard and picking up the dirt! Headbands give me a headache as do big earrings. And high heels only work if I don't have to stand up for more than 20 minutes or walk more than the length of a room.

In a way, the sea of elegant gowns was a bit of a yawn, but I did laugh hysterically when Ricky Gervais mentioned Kate Middleton = Oscars and Kim Kardashian = Golden Globes.

As I predicted, my inbox continues to surprise and 2012 is already shaping up to be an interesting year even though I seem to be in a blogging fog and I have yet to attend any exhibitions. I think reading the erudite writing of Baudrillard and Foucault is taking over my brain and sapping me of my blogging brain power.  In lieu of blog posts, I'm working on a new project in my studio - making a tutu out of mesh and working on a book proposal (plus my thesis).  In the works for Fashion is my muse! is a list of must-see fashion as art exhibitions for 2012. Stay tuned!  As always, I welcome your comments and emails.

Notice of copyright: 
All text and images on this blog are the copyright of Ingrid Mida, unless otherwise noted. The copying of posts, images and/or text without proper attribution is violation of copyright and legal action will be pursued.

How Georgia Became O'Keeffe: Lessons on the Art of Living

 

There are many, many books on the life and work of Georgia O'Keeffe - so many in fact that there are multiple pages of listings on Amazon.... Her visionary brilliance as an artist, her fierce independence as a woman, and her turbulent relationship with Alfred Steiglitz give her a mysterious aura that fascinates us all. It is almost a wonder that there is anything left to write about her. And yet, this did not faze Karen Karbo when she decided to put her own spin on the life of this artistic legend. 

Karen Karbo is the author of The Gospel According to Coco Chanel and How to Hepburn. She has a unique gift for biography, crafting a narrative that both delights and amuses the reader, as well as mining that person's life for nuggets of inspiration and life lessons. (Read my January 2010 interview with her here). When Karen wrote to me about her new book, I knew that I had to put down my scholarly journals and get this book, especially since Georgia O'Keeffe's flowers were a huge source of inspiration in my earliest painting attempts. Not yet available in Canada, I ordered How Georgia Became O'Keeffe: Lessons on the Art of Living on Amazon and it has been my company in the wee hours of the morning during my latest bout of insomnia.