Le Code de la Mode

Dress codes today are almost non-existent but it was not so long ago that to be deemed fashionable, a woman had to make an enormous investment in time and money in her wardrobe.  In the 19th century, the books on etiquette often included several chapters on the topic of dress. Clothing was the way a society woman defined herself showing that the wearer had the time to devote to the many changes of costume required in a day and also had the financial means to do so.

Le Moniteur de la Mode, February 1879, pg 55

"A society woman who wants to be well dressed for all occasions at all times needs at least seven or eight toilettes per day: a morning dressing gown, a riding outfit, an elegant simple gown for lunch, a day dress if walking, an afternoon dress for visiting by carriage, a smart outfit to drive through the Bois de Boulogne, a gown for dinner, and a gala dress for evening or the theatre. There is nothing exaggerated about this, and it could be more complicated still at the beach, in summer, with bathing costumes, and in autumn and winter, with hunting and skating costumes, if she shares these wholesome activities with men." (Despaigne, Henri. Le Code de la mode, Paris, 1866, pg. 85)

For the "comme il faut" woman of the nineteenth century, "dress was a veritable science to which she devoted a third of her day." Attention also had to be paid to the codified progression of attire with simplicity and restraint expected for day dress and increased formality and opulence expected in the evening.

Society women hardly ever walked which is something that still seems to define the fashionable set today, given the dominance  and demand for unwearable high heels by the most fashionable shoemakers of our time (Louboutin, Jimmy Choo, Manolo Blanik et al).

Shoes as Art by Lesley Haas

The boundary between fashion and art is one that many artists find fascinating. Artist Lesley Haas explores that margin with her extraordinary paper creations. Lesley has an extensive exhibition history and her work is owned by such prestigious collections as the Museum of Arts and Design in New York, The Royal Library in The Hague, and The Free Library of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Two of her paper dresses will be on display at the Smithsonian International Gallery in Washington in the Revealing Culture exhibition June 8 - August 29, 2010. The Opening Reception will be held on Wednesday, June 9, 2010 at 8 pm. Lesley has created shoes using a material she calls vegetable papyrus and kindly agreed to an interview.

OFF BEET  Size 8 

Vegetable Papyrus - Sweet Potato, Red Beet 

by Lesley Haas, 2000

Ingrid: What is vegetable papyrus?
Lesley: Vegetable Papyrus is an extension of hand papermaking, Dr Ragab of the Papyrus Institute in  Cairo experimented by making papyrus from vegetables and was quite successful. A few artists caught on and started creating paper from this most fascinationg material. I've made shoes, wine goblets, ballet toe shoes, scrolls, etc from vegetable papyrus using red beet, pumpkin, sweet potato, red and white cabbage, carrots, sweet peas and more. When very fresh and newly made, these objects are beautifully transluscent in the sunlight. The red beets turn an exquiste magenta and the purple cabbage turns deep blue with turquoise and green streaks...quite the light show! But as these colors are fugitive and vegetable papyrus is kind of an expanding and changing artwork. After years    red beet will change to brownish red and carrots turn white, pumpking turns pale orange and sweet potato turns toward pale yellow. It is as fragile as glass and sensitive like any natural, organic material.

RED BEET SERIES Size 8 / Child Size 3

Vegetable Papyrus - Red Beet

by Lesley Haas, 1999

Ingrid: Are these shoes styled after a particular period?
Lesley: My interest in shoes is mostly reflected by the shoe fashions of the 12th -18th Century. I've had visits to the Shoe and Leather museum in  Offenbach outside Frankfurt, Germany, that has a  large shoe collection.  I particularly like ankle boots, and used my own as molds for my vegetable papyrus shoes. 

Ingrid: Why are you drawn to work with paper?

Lesley: After visiting an early papermaking exhibition at MOMA, I was smitten seeing paper used as an art medium and I've traveled the "Paper Road" ever since. The tactile and textured surfaces and rough deckled edges of paper attract me and I wanted to learn and become involved with this medium.  

Ingrid: What is the most challenging part of working with paper?

Lesley: A huge challenge to me has been finding an affordable studio where I can make handmade paper. Papermaking requires a space where it doesn't matter about getting wet! These days I am working dry, smaller and with alot of a recycled papers in a very confined space.

BAROQUE, Size 8 

Vegetable Papyrus -Pumpkin

by Lesley Haas, 2000

Ingrid: Where do you find your inspiration?

Lesley: Generally my inspirations comes from conversations with artist friends, sometimes its turning the pages of my mom's old fashion magazines and also the challenge of varied exhibition entries. When I have the opportunity to travel I see art is many forms and materials.

Ingrid:  What drives you to create?

Lesley: My drive to create is something that has been in me pressing emotionally and outwardly. It took a long time to break through in actual acheivement with a tangible result, whether by making my early handmade picture frames, that I made hundreds of at my first studio in Heidelberg, Germany and moving to finally making paper and onto creating my dress Raw Suffering of a Woman many years later.  When I opened my first studio, it was a relief to finally be able to get those creative energies released. I am a late bloomer. 

SHE TURNED INTO A PUMPKIN Size 8

Vegetable Papyrus - Pumpkin, Red Beet

by Lesley Haas 2000

Ingrid: What is your earliest memory as an artist?
Lesley: Both in my elementary schoolyard on summer days drawing and coloring with broken crayons, I generally had my hands in some kind of art project. And hanging out incessantly in my high school art room. It took me quite a few years to break through a barrier I had when I younger to actually "create".

Ingrid: What artist living or dead would you most like to have a conversation with?  What question would you ask them?
Lesley: Alan Shields - I would ask him what prompted him to sew on paper?? !!  So many including me have followed suit and taken his lead to sew on paper. I once had a short opportunity to meet him in Baltimore, MD and mentioned how he was the first to sew on paper and he didn't even realize that he started that technique. He so unfortunately has since passed away.

 WOMEN'S SIZE 8

Vegetable Papyrus- Red Beet

by Lesley Haas, 1999

Ingrid: Who is your best critic?
Lesley: My son.

Ingrid: What frame of mind do you have to be in to produce art?
Lesley: When I am truly inspired with an idea that I want to bring to fruition, I can move ahead and finish an artwork. I need peace of mind and time to put my ideas into motion. Sometimes it's a dealine that pushes me when I am not terribly inspired.

Ingrid: You feel happiest when?
Lesley: When I am with my son and when people buy my work. For me that is a true compliment!

Ingrid: People would be surprised to learn that?
Lesley: That I am my mother's caregiver...!

Ingrid: Do you have a mantra?
Lesley: Keep on keeping on...

Ingrid: What book are you currently reading?
Lesley: Ways of Seeing by John Berger

Ingrid: What's next for you?
Lesley: Hopefully something new and exciting! Exciting is the operative word.

TOE SHOES Child's Size 3

Vegetable Papyrus - Red beet, Satin Ribbons

by Lesley Haas 1999 

To see more work by Lesley Haas, visit her website here. 

On a Pedestal at the Bata Shoe Museum (Part II)

The shift from chopines to high heels that occurred in the 16th century is also an important part of the exhibition On a Pedestal at the Bata Shoe Museum.  In the 1590s, the heel was adopted in Western dress and worn by men during riding to help secure the foot in the stirrup. How this fashion spread to women is somewhat unclear.

Copyright of Museum of Fine Arts Boston 2010

During this period, some of the shoes appear to be an odd combination of a small platform and a heel. I asked curator Elizabeth Semmelhack to explain how these slap-soled shoes came to be:

Copyright of the Royal Ontario Museum 2010

"When heels were first introduced into Western dress from the Near East their original purpose was embraced.  Heels kept the foot in the stirrup when horse back riding.  However, when the rider dismounted, his high heels would sink into the mud. So in the early 17th century, men began to slip their high heeled shoes or boots into a pair of flat-soled mules to prevent their heels from sinking into the mud.  The wearing of mule with shoes or boots did prevent the heel from sinking into the mud but when the wearer attempted to walk a loud slapping sound could be heard made by the sole of the mule slapping against the heel of the shoe or boots---similar to the noise that flip flops make I would guess. Women’s fashion followed men’s in the early 17th century so they too began to wear slap-soles but women’s slap-soles often feature the heel secured to the mule sole so that they did not make noise when they walked.  This was okay for women’s footwear because women had no need to separate their high heeled shoes from their mules as they were not going to go horseback riding." 

Copyright of the Bata Shoe Museum 2010

I was particularly taken with this lovely boy's shoe (shown below) with jaunty ribbons and a painted red sole which conveyed socio-political status and privilege. (Note: Christian Louboutin was not the first shoemaker to paint the soles red!).

Copyright of the Bata Shoe Museum 2010

Visit the Bata Shoe Museum before September 20, 2010 to see this unique exhibition On a Pedestal. The beautifully written and lavishly photographed exhibition catalogue On a Pedestal, From Renaissance Chopines to Baroque Heels by Elizabeth Semmelhack is available at the museum gift-store (416-979-7799 for phone orders) and also on-line from this art books website.