Inside Out – San Angelo Museum of Fine Arts

Inside Out

An Exploration of Women’s Status and Roles in American Society as Reflected in Fashion from Foundation to Silhouette

Inside Out An Exploration of Women’s Status and Roles in American Society as Reflected in Fashion from Foundation to Silhouette

San Angelo Museum of Fine Arts San Angelo, Texas The Ben and Beverly Stribling Special Exhibition Trust

Laura Romer Huckaby Lisa Louise Jones Howard J. Taylor with essays by: Annette Becker Maureen Dowd Michaele Thurgood Haynes Linda Harral Neal T. Hurst Lisa Louise Jones Linda Kornasky John Rogers Devon Stewart Melanie Talkington original artwork by: Anne Timpano photography by: Brooke Mulkey

Inside Out An Exploration of Women’s Status and Roles in American Society as Reflected in Fashion from Foundation to Silhouette

San Angelo Museum of Fine Arts

Inside Out: An Exploration of Women’s Status and Roles in American Society as Reflected in Fashion from Foundation to Silhouette An exhibition organized by the San Angelo Museum of Fine Arts, San Angelo, Texas.

Exhibited in San Angelo, Texas from September 20, 2018 – March 24, 2019.

Copyright©2019 San Angelo Museum of Fine Arts.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or information storage or retrieval systems without the expressed written consent of San Angelo Museum of Fine Arts and the publisher.

ISBN: 978-0-578-46337-7 www.samfa.org Exhibit Sponsors: The Ben and Beverly Stribling Special Exhibition Trust San Angelo Cultural Affairs Council Texas Commission on the Arts Foster Communications Company Printing The Inn at the Art Center Additional Sponsorship for this publication: FMH Foundation, Midland On the cover: Anne Timpano, Venus as Super Hero ©2018.

Linocut on Kozo paper, 16 inches high x 8 7/8 inches wide Frontispiece: Anne Timpano, Venus as Cover Girl ©2010.

Linocut on Rives paper, 11 inches high x 8 inches wide Publication Design: WinshipPhillips First edition, 600 copies.

Contents 9

Introduction and Acknowledgments Howard Taylor

SECTION ONE: ANTHOLOGY OF ESSAYS 15

19

27

33

42

A Tribute to Cecilia Neuheisel Steinfeldt 1915-2013 Linda Harral The Underclothes of the Roman Woman Devon Stewart “Her Shape She Owes to Steel and Whalebone:” Building a Female Fashionable Form 1700-1800 Neal T. Hurst

SECTION TWO: CATALOG OF THE EXHIBITION 81

CHAPTER ONE:

The Federalist Period 1790-1820 Revolution and Freedom: Clothing and the American Identity 87

CHAPTER TWO: The Victorian Period 1790-1820 Structurally Engineering the Female Silhouette

95

CHAPTER THREE:

The Roaring 20s Upheaval and the Jazz Age 101

The Tortured Mechanics of Eroticism From The New York Times, July 14, 2013 Maureen Dowd

CHAPTER FOUR: The War Years 1941-1945 Women in the Workforce

107

CHAPTER FIVE:

The Diary of a Corsetière Melanie Talkington

49

Rational or Fashionable: Changing Ideas about Dress and the Active Body Annette Becker

57

Politics, Patriotism and Protest Movements: An Evolving Relationship Between Women and Their Undergarments Lisa Louise Jones

69

Anne Timpano’s Venus Series

Corsets and False Calves: Fashionably Reshaping Women and Men Michaele Thurgood Haynes

45

63

74

Isadora Duncan’s Modern Dance and Underwear Linda Kornasky Brassieres: A Collector’s Perspective John Rogers

The 1950s Grace Kelly and Housework in Heels 113

CHAPTER SIX:

The 1960s and 70s Counterculture and Feminism 121

CHAPTER SEVEN:

The 1980s and 90s The MTV Era: Underwear or Outerwear?

127

CHAPTER EIGHT:

The Contemporary Age What Goes Around, Comes Around 134

Production Photos

136

Installation Photos

138

Checklist of the Exhibition

142

Bibliography

144

Acknowledgments and Credits

146

Opening Night Photos

8

Introduction and Acknowledgments Howard J. Taylor

The exhibition Inside Out and its accompanying publication, produced by the San Angelo Museum of Fine Arts, was inspired by Cecilia Steinfeldt. Cecilia spent 60 years as an instructor, historian and curator at the Witte Museum in San Antonio, Texas. She was widely recognized as the first lady of Texas Art and passed away on May 22, 2013 at the age of 97. In 1995, I was making arrangements with Cecilia for a loan exhibition from her institution. During our conversation, she suggested the idea of an underwear exhibit and she showed me some of the many undergarments in the Witte’s extensive collections.

This idea lay dormant for about a decade, until I was having a discussion with patrons Bev and Ben Stribling, who work with the museum to underwrite significant exhibitions. Among a number of ideas I presented was the concept of an underwear exhibit. The Striblings strongly endorsed this idea. It was, however, problematic because the museum did not possess any related objects and our staff did not have the curatorial expertise to pursue this.

Later, I had occasion to meet Tanya Wetenhall, the wife of friend and fellow museum director John Wetenhall. Tanya is Assistant Professor of Design History at the Corcoran School of the Arts and Design at George Washington University, specializing in the areas of costume and fashion. She has worked as an independent curator, and also worked for the noted designer Fernando Sanchez. With support from the Striblings, I engaged Tanya’s help. She outlined a concept based on the idea of the external silhouette that women strove to achieve through the ages and how undergarments helped create the desired silhouette of various eras. It was still a long time before we were able to go forward with the concept.

9

While contemplating this undertaking, we became aware

to pursue an exhibit based strictly on American fashion,

of other underwear exhibits, such as a major show at the

beginning with the post-revolutionary period and lead-

Museum of Decorative Arts in Paris, a history of women’s

ing up to the present day.

underwear at the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York, and an exhibit about the Munsingwear Company

There were several years of travel to other museums and

at the Minnesota Historical Society. Though each of those

universities, auction houses and private collections across

exhibits was beautifully organized and displayed, I

the US, Canada and England in pursuit of the objects that

felt that our exhibit should engage broader sociological

comprise the exhibit. We also consulted with and sought

themes as well as fashion-as-art and fashion history.

the input of many scholars, curators, artists, and fashion and costume experts. Steven Porterfield, who works

I then had the good fortune to meet Lisa Jones, a native

extensively with museums and film producers and appears

of San Angelo who worked for a leading auction house

regularly on Antiques Roadshow, was particularly helpful.

in Washington DC, and had extensive experience with

He offered his wonderful insights, put us in touch with

costume and fashion. I decided to engage Lisa as an

prospective lenders and donors, and made significant gifts

independent curator to work with us on this exhibition.

and loans to the exhibit himself. However, the majority of

In addition to her research, writing, and conceptualizing

the people we consulted with were women, several of

the exhibit, she also represented us at auctions and sales

whom are featured in the anthology portion of this catalog.

and assisted in acquiring loans for the exhibition. Our

Their voices come through loud and clear. This is an ex-

museum is also fortunate to have a remarkable Assistant

hibit about women and developed primarily by women.

Director/Collections Manager, Laura Huckaby, who

10

combines a great depth of knowledge about art history

We have been able to bring together numerous objects

with an ability to do insightful and engaging writing,

and aspects of culture that help describe the influences

along with strong design abilities. Laura served as the

that were seen and unseen in the evolution of women’s

chief editor of all the exhibit content and this catalog. She

undergarments. Our museum likes to take a broad-rang-

also negotiated the loans and oversaw the installation

ing approach to exhibitions. Besides fashion-as-art and

team. She was tirelessly assisted in her research by Emily

history, our exhibit places great emphasis on the struggle

Grover. Lisa, Laura, and I comprised the core team lead-

for women’s rights in our culture. Throughout the show

ing the development of the exhibition and from there,

there are also interesting artifacts that help contextualize

the broader concept of the exhibit evolved. We decided

each of the major eras that we have highlighted.

LAURA ROMER HUCKABY

Laura Romer Huckaby grew up in Burlington, North Carolina. She has a B.S. in Art Education from Appalachian State University in Boone, NC, and a Master’s degree in Art History from the University of North Carolina – Chapel Hill. She joined the staff of the San Angelo Museum of Fine Arts in 2012, to care for their rapidly growing collections of ceramics, Spanish Colonial art, Texas art, and American glass, and to work with the Director on exhibits. She has been the Collections Manager at the museum since June of 2012, and the Assistant Director since March of 2015.

Along the way, we encountered some challenges in try-

and interpreted, including their underwear collections if

ing to convince certain institutions to loan us objects,

they had them! She was in the vanguard of those in the

which in most cases were not on display, hadn’t been in

museum world who believe we have an obligation to

years and maybe never will be. Some seemed to feel that

work together for the benefit of all of our communities

women’s underwear was a taboo subject or somehow

and we are very pleased that her institution, the Witte

inappropriate, some ignored us, and others put up insur-

Museum of San Antonio, continues to adhere to that

mountable barriers for a small institution like ours. There

belief. The Witte and its staff were very helpful to us in

were naturally many reasonable concerns about conser-

lending important works for this exhibition.

vation and handling (textiles have very particular needs), and we went to extraordinary lengths to ensure this would

We are deeply grateful for the time, assistance, advice,

not be an issue. For example, we engaged one of the most

support, and generosity of dozens of individuals and

sought-after independent professional museum dressers

institutions who made this exhibit and its publication a

and costume conservators, Tae Smith, who formerly

reality. In addition to those I have listed above, there are

worked for the Metropolitan Museum. Tae led a team

many more who have played an important role in this

that meticulously prepared and dressed all of the man-

project. We hope we have listed them all in our acknowl-

nequins and mounted the costume items in the display

edgments and credits section on pages 144 and 145, but

cases. We also worked with Austin Art Services of Austin,

if we missed anyone, the fault is not a fault of gratitude.

Texas and they did an extraordinary job in the fabrica-

With a project of this magnitude, we would require many

tion of the exhibition.

more than the 148 pages of this book to adequately acknowledge, describe, and praise the contributions of

Cecilia Steinfeldt believed that the things museums col-

each of the many people who made this possible. To all

lected should not only be stored and cared for, but seen

of you, thank you.

11

HOWARD TAYLOR

Howard Taylor has been the Director of the San Angelo Museum of Fine Arts since its beginning in 1984. Prior to that, he was the Assistant Director of the Philadelphia Maritime Museum and earlier, the Chief of Interpretation at the Buffalo and Erie County Historical Society in Buffalo, New York. He has also served as the president of the Museum Council of Philadelphia, the president of the Texas Association of Museums and a member of the governing board of the American Alliance of Museums. The San Angelo Museum of Fine Arts was a 2003 recipient of the nation’s highest award for museums: the National Museum Service Medal from the Institute of Museum and Library Services.

SECTION I Anthology of Essays

14

“Howard, would you like to see my underwear?”

As funny as this unexpected invitation was, Cecilia Steinfeldt planted the idea for this exhibition with Howard Taylor during his visit to the Witte Museum’s collections in San Antonio. Cecilia was widely known as The First Lady of Texas Art for her vast knowledge of Texas art and artists, the books she authored and the exhibits she

A Tribute to Cecilia Neuheisel Steinfeldt 1915-2013

curated on that subject, but her research and expertise encompassed Texas history, furniture and material culture, textiles and costume, including American women’s under-

Linda Harral

garments. Cecilia considered fashion and dress to be prime documents of social history, worthy of study and exhibition. This exhibition at the San Angelo Museum of Fine Arts was developed from her suggestion years ago to Director Howard Taylor.

Over a lifetime of research for countless museum exhibitions, lectures and several books, Cecilia accumulated an incomparable mental Rolodex and many file cabinets of notes, clippings and articles of relevant facts and interesting anecdotes. Every word of each of her books was written longhand, in beautiful cursive script. She loved the objects entrusted to her care, and enjoyed the stories they told and the lessons they could teach. For all her scholarly research and publications, she was by no means a dry academic; Cecilia had a wicked sense of humor, and memory like a steel trap. Together they provided years of interesting workday luncheon conversations, and at dinners and parties her stories could become even more entertain-

Fig. i

Cecilia Neuheisel Steinfeldt Photo Courtesy of the Witte Museum.

15

SECTION I: ANTHOLOGY OF ESSAYS

•

A Tribute to Cecilia Neuheisel Steinfeldt

ing. For over a half century she was a rich source of useful

artists today. She was active in the San Antonio art scene,

information about Texas history, material culture, art and

and was one of the few women artists included in the

artists, many of whom she had known well. She seemed

groundbreaking 1936 Texas Artists Exhibition at the Texas

to have met just about everybody who was anybody. She

State Centennial Fair. She was particularly proud that San

remembered all the juicy tidbits, and relished the telling.

Antonio collector Marion Koogler McNay purchased the

She met Georgia O’Keeffe, whom she did not like at all,

first painting Cecilia ever sold; that work remains today

and fifty years later, she still bristled when O’Keeffe was

in the collection of the McNay Art Museum.

mentioned. She loved parties and could usually be found holding court, surrounded by her many admirers. She was

She married Eric Steinfeldt in 1939, the same year she

particularly happy in the company of tall attractive men

became the Witte’s Curator of Exhibits, and the following

with good minds, a proclivity for charming men that did

year she added Librarian to her duties at the Witte. Her

not wane as she aged.

son was born in 1945 on V-J Day, and she left the Witte for several years to care for him while he was young.

16

Her family moved from Wisconsin to San Antonio in 1923

During these years she had to give up painting as it was

and Cecilia took her first childhood art lessons at the Witte

impossible to keep a rambunctious toddler away from the

Museum. Her artistic talent was encouraged by her parents,

easel and out of the paints and solvents. But her creative

but because there was no money for college in the depths

urge was strong, as was the need for a little extra income

of the Depression, she took advantage of an opportunity

for the young family, and she took up enamels, which

to study art in Mexico City, with tuition and supplies un-

required less space and could be worked on at the

derwritten by the Mexican government. There she studied

kitchen table during daylight and fired safely at night

under Carlos Merida for a year, and formed a lasting friend-

after her child was asleep. When she returned to the

ship with the artist. While in Mexico she met Diego Rivera,

Witte Museum staff she also taught weekend art classes

whose work and charisma she admired, and his wife Frida

at the Witte as a San Antonio Art Institute Resident

Kahlo, whom she did not hold in such high esteem. She

Instructor, and was appointed Curator of History in 1960.

attended parties at their home and met the other great

Her friend and mentor Eleanor Onderdonk, Curator of

Mexican muralists and their artist friends. She returned to

Art at the Witte Museum, supported her appreciation

San Antonio and in 1936 began teaching art classes at

of Texas art and material culture, and encouraged her

Witte Memorial Museum for $3 a day. Some of her pupils

research, eventually leading to the publication of Cecilia’s

pursued painting as a career and are well-known Texas

book, The Onderdonks: A Family of Texas Painters. As

Curator, she strengthened the Witte Museum’s Texas

of fine exhibits at the Witte and primary research for her

history and material culture collections of furniture,

books. Cumulatively, these have done much to advance

decorative arts and textiles, including historic clothing,

recognition and appreciation of Texas art and craftsman-

quilts and needlework, and amassed a fine collection of

ship on a national level, and have helped educate a new

Mexican needlework and published it in her embroidery

generation of connoisseurs and collectors. On another

workbook Patterns with Potential. She established the

level, she and the annual Fiesta gown exhibit of 1990 were

Textile Conservation Lab at the Witte, and also organized

parodied in a week-long series of the “Nacho Guarache”

The Witte Wonders, a volunteer group of skilled needle-

cartoon strip in the San Antonio Express-News.

women to preserve the textile collections and help mount exhibitions. Cecilia’s career at the Witte Museum spanned

Eleanor Onderdonk’s encouragement of Cecilia’s work was

a period of 60 years. Her 1977 exhibition of Texas furni-

carried forward to countless artists, historians and others

ture and decorative arts still stands as a benchmark for

in the museum world and beyond. Cecilia’s literary legacy

the subject, and her book on the Witte’s collection of

includes multiple monographs on Texas art, decorative arts,

Texas art, Art for History’s Sake, is acknowledged as a

and history, all listed in the bibliography. She provided me

leading reference work. She retired as Senior Curator at

with good career advice, honed my research skills, taught

age 80 to become Curator Emeritus, but continued to

me how to fundraise, dress mannequins, write exhibit

research and write, publishing her last book, on Seymour

labels, manage collections and Boards of Directors, and

Thomas, at age 90. The Cecilia Steinfeldt Fellowship

assuaged my fears of public speaking: “Remember, if you’re

for Research in the Arts and Material Culture is awarded

100 miles from home you can be an expert in anything.

annually by the Texas State Historical Association to

Wendell Garrett told me that years ago, and he was right.”

honor Cecilia and her career studying Texas art and material culture.

Cecilia Steinfeldt was a remarkable woman, a good friend and mentor, and I count myself lucky to have worked

Cecilia and Eric travelled extensively across Texas for

for her and to have enjoyed her good company over the

years, uncovering hidden treasures of Texas furniture,

years and to have learned so much from her. She would

folk art, decorative and fine arts in small towns and

be pleased to see the fruition of her exhibit suggestion

barns, dusty shops and antique stores. These excursions

and to know her legacy continues with this fine exhibi-

and her friendships with knowledgeable collectors and

tion and its accompanying publication.

dealers fueled her love of Texana and resulted in years

Linda Harral ISA AM was curatorial assistant to Cecilia Steinfeldt at the San Antonio Museum Association for 5 years, and maintained a friendship with her until her death. She was Curator of Historic Fort Stockton, and since 1994 has worked as a personal property appraiser specializing in antiques and fine art, and owns Casagrande Appraisals LLC.

17

18

The Underclothes of the Roman Woman Devon Stewart

In antiquity, as today, clothing served as an important sign of an individual’s standing in the community.

For both women and men of ancient Rome, choice of clothing and adornment broadcast the individual’s national or ethnic identity, citizenship, social rank, profession, wealth, or religious office.1

19

Fig. 1

“ BIKINI GIRLS ” MOSAIC (Coronation of the Winner), late third or early fourth century AD, from the Villa Romana del Casale, near Piazza Armerina, Sicily.

SECTION I: ANTHOLOGY OF ESSAYS

•

The Underclothes of the Roman Woman

The Romans drew a close connection between an indi-

wore undertunics.The subucula is one variety of undertunic

vidual’s appearance and their behavior, and clothing bore

perhaps worn by both sexes.3 Other types of women’s un-

important moral connotations. Actors, pimps, and other

dertunics may have been linked to age or marital status:

unsavory types, for example, were forbidden from wear-

the indusium (or intusium) has been associated with

ing the toga, a symbol of Roman citizen identity. High-

Roman matrons, while the supparus (or supparum) is

ranking women were expected to adorn themselves in a

mentioned in connection with girls or brides.4 The foun-

manner appropriate to the dignitas of their families and

dational undergarment worn by Roman women of all

husbands, but too much ornament might paint a woman

social classes was the strophium (or fascia, ola, taenia,

as frivolous or wasteful. Married women, matronae, were

or mamillare), a length of cotton or linen fabric worn

expected to remain largely covered while out in public,

wrapped around or perhaps under the breasts and tied at

ensconced in ankle-length tunics and wrapped in volu-

the back.5 The strophium provided support and shaping,

minous mantles; indeed, as married women, matronae

and it could be used to either enhance or compress the

were entitled to wear the stola, a shapeless woolen

breasts to achieve the wearer’s desired look. Ovid, for

garment worn over the outer tunic, both as a marker of

example, advised small-breasted women to boost their

their respectable status and to further conceal their form

bustlines with the strophium, presumably by wrapping

from prying male eyes. Ancient sources such as Seneca

extra length around the chest,6 while Martial desired

and Juvenal, among others, make clear that just as the

that his mistress use a strophium to compress her large

concealment of the body signaled a woman’s virtue, the

breasts so that they might fit in his hands.7

visibility of the body advertised a woman’s sexual availability.2 In Roman culture (at least as it is reflected in the

There is little evidence suggesting that Roman women

largely elite male sources), female adornment and female

regularly wore underwear, though they likely wore a vari-

sexuality were closely intertwined. Those same associa-

ant of the subligaculum, or loincloth, during menstruation.

tions also extended to women’s undergarments. Literary

Martial’s description of Lesbia’s tunics riding up between

sources point to women’s undergarments as symbolic of

her buttocks (“constrained by the twin Symplegades of

female sexual restraint, sometimes to the chagrin of their

your ass as they enter your oversized, Cyanean buttocks”)

male partners. Visual representations of women’s under-

provides a humorous description of what may have

clothes, however, offer a less moralizing perspective.

been a common complaint.8 A pair of leather “bikini bottoms” discovered in a Roman well in London likely

20

Beneath their outer garments, Roman women (and men)

belonged to the costume of a female acrobat or performer,

rather than to the daily wardrobe of a Roman woman.9 Like-

all her clothing on, including her strophium, during their

wise, the “briefs” worn by the female athletes in a mosaic

sexual encounters,15 while Propertius delighted in his

from Piazza Armerina (Fig.1) likely represent a version

lover’s naked breasts.16

of the subligaculum, or loincloth, worn during exercise or physical competition rather than on a daily basis.10

The surviving visual evidence offers a different perspective.

Most of the images depicting women in the strophium deal

Material evidence for Roman underclothing is scanty, so

directly with sex or sexuality, whether embodied in the

evidence for their use and the values attached to them

form of Venus, goddess of love and sexuality, or in the

takes two forms: textual and visual. Both types of evidence

much franker depictions of sexual encounters between male

have limitations. The texts that mention female under-

and female partners that appear in a variety of media in

clothing were written exclusively by high-ranking Roman

Roman art. Unlike the literary sources, these images were

men, or the men who worked for them; no female per-

commissioned and viewed by a much wider audience of

spective on the clothing of ancient women survives. As a

men and women from different levels of society. As such,

result, the literary sources reflect their male authors’ per-

they reflect a different set of values than the literary sources

spectives, which often center on the sexual mores or the

discussed previously.

sexual desirability of the female body as exposed or revealed by her clothing. Sources often link the strophium

Although Venus frequently appeared partially draped or

with female sexual restraint or chastity. Virtuous Roman

entirely nude, several compositions based on Hellenistic

matrons were said to keep their breasts bound even dur-

prototypes depict the goddess in her undergarments.

ing sex with their husbands,11 echoing Martial’s complaint

Images of Venus tying on her strophium with the help of

about a woman so respectable that she wore her long,

small erotes appear frequently on Roman terracotta lamps,17

concealing public clothing even at home.12 Catullus, on the

and a terracotta statuette in Baltimore shows Venus in a

other hand, implies that prostitutes did not (or at least

strophium accompanied by Eros.18 One of the best-known

did not always) wear a breast band,13 in keeping with their

depictions of Venus in her undergarments comes from a

apparent preference for revealing clothing and filmy fab-

house in Pompeii (I.11.6-7). The so-called Venus in a

rics.14 These sources follow the more general association

Bikini (Fig. 2) was discovered in a small cupboard in

between appearance and character or behavior in Roman

either the atrium or the tablinum of the house.19 The

culture. Not all Roman men embraced this moralizing

marble statuette depicts the goddess bending over to

perspective, however. Martial lamented that his wife left

adjust her sandal, a Hellenistic composition frequently

21

SECTION I: ANTHOLOGY OF ESSAYS

•

The Underclothes of the Roman Woman

reproduced in a variety of sculptural media. She leans against a statuette of the ithyphallic god Priapus, while Eros sits at her feet, delicately touching her raised left foot. The artist enhanced the graceful form of the goddess by the addition of the gilded “bikini” for which the statue is named.

The goddess wears a golden band around her breasts, held up by straps that cover the shoulders and the tops of her arms. From the straps hangs a long chain that crosses at the star-shaped motif at her navel. Venus does not wear bottoms, for the gilding at her pubic triangle does not continue over her buttocks. Instead, the gilding at the groin draws attention to her sex, much as the gilding on Priapus’s phallus. The statuette’s domestic context, fine quality, and rich materials attest to its function as an object of aesthetic rather than erotic delight for the viewer.

Also related to Hellenistic artistic traditions are the images of sexual intercourse that appeared regularly in Roman houses and public buildings, such as baths, taverns, and brothels, as well as in other media, such as mass-produced ceramics and medallions.20 Beginning in the Augustan period, artists revived, enriched, and expanded on the repertoire of sexual images (depicting same- and oppositesex couples) developed in the Hellenistic period.21 Scenes range from moments of erotic tension preceding sexual activity to explicit images of sexual intercourse. In some of these images (though not all), female participants wear the strophium, as in a scene (Fig. 3) from room 43 22

of the House of the Centenary in Pompeii (IX.8.6).22 There,

VENUS IN A BIKINI

Fig. 2

Marble, first century AD. Naples, Museo Archeologico Nazionale, inv. 152798.

Fig. 3

Male-female couple on a bed, fresco, circa 60-79 AD. From Pompeii, House of the Centenary (IX, 8, 6), room 43, south wall, central picture.

right

subjects are—or are not—prostitutes. Indeed, even the sexual images from Pompeii’s brothel (VII.12.18) depict some of the female participants wearing the strophium.

They, like the related compositions from domestic contexts, seem to represent not the realities of the brothel in which they were displayed, but rather a fantasy of elite luxury called to mind by their Hellenistic models.23 Indeed, sources such as Ovid and Suetonius confirm that paintings of a sexual nature were an expected part of the decor of a well-appointed home.24 In this context, then, the strophium does not necessarily bear the same connotations of sexual restraint or female chastity implied in the literary sources, for the images themselves do not necessarily reflect a Roman experience or expectation of sex. Rather, they belong to the broader, eclectic visual culture of Rome, the female subject straddles her male partner, who reclines

which often appropriated and transformed models from

with his right arm raised above his head in a gesture of

other cultures and time periods, particularly those of the

erotic repose. She is nude except for her breast band and

Greek world. Yet, as Clarke noted, Roman sexual images

several pieces of jewelry, including an arm band and anklet.

differ from their Hellenistic predecessors in treating both

The couples’ lovemaking takes place in a comfortably

the active and the passive partners as subjects, both en-

appointed room, with a small erotic painting known as a

gaged and even tender, rather than subject and object.25

tabella hung high on the wall above the bed. Although

In this respect the images reflect an evolving attitude

some scholars have argued that the strophium indicated

towards sex, at least among some Roman viewers.

a woman’s respectable status, thus identifying scenes such as that from the House of the Centenary as one of socially-

As in many societies, Roman clothing (both outer and

condoned marital sex, similar compositions depict their

under) materialized many aspects of the wearer’s identity,

female subjects both with and without the breast band.

including personal character. Yet the moralizing discourse

The sexual images largely share the same context, iconog-

on female adornment prevalent in literary sources reflects

raphy, and setting, with nothing to suggest that the female

the attitudes of only a small segment of Roman society,

23

SECTION I: ANTHOLOGY OF ESSAYS

•

The Underclothes of the Roman Woman

that of elite men. Discussions of undergarments especially reflect men’s attitudes towards female sexuality and sexual availability. Visual imagery, which was more widely available and representative of the values of a broader segment of society, represents women’s undergarments as merely part of the iconography of sexual images derived from Hellenistic models. Both the images’ display contexts and their content affirm that the images are less connected to the realities of Roman sex than to they are to the aesthetic value attached to their Hellenistic models. Despite this, the sexual images must at least generally conform to Roman attitudes towards sex and sexuality, given the frequency with which they appear in a variety of contexts.

In this, then, we can see that the Roman discourse on female sexuality as embodied in women’s underclothing perhaps was not so meaningful to a wider Roman audience. Surely if the sexual restraint of women was a widespread concern, garments such as the strophium would appear more consistently among the visual evidence.

24

NOTES: 1

2

3

For Roman clothing generally, see Judith Lynn Sebesta and Larissa Bonfante, eds., The World of Roman Costume (Madison: The University of Wisconsin Press, 2001). See also Jonathan Edmondson and Allison Keith, eds., Roman Dress and the Fabrics of Roman Culture (Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2008).

Seneca the Elder, Controversiae 1.2.3; Juvenal, Satires 11.

171-3. See also Kelly Olson, Dress and the Roman Woman.

Self-presentation and Society (New York: Routledge, 2008), 93-95.

Kelly Olson, “Roman Underwear Revisited,” The Classical World 96, no. 2 (2003): 202-03; Olson 2008, 52. On the subucula as a male garment, see Horace, Epistles 1.1.95-6 and Suetonius, Augustus 82.

4

Olson, “Roman Underwear,” 202-03.

5

Alexandra Croom suggests that the strophium was bound under the breasts to uplift them. See Alexandra Croom, Roman Clothing and Fashion (Stroud, Gloucestershire: Tempus, 2002), 95. Tacitus (Annals 15.57) confirms that the strophium was worn by freedwomen and slaves as well as freeborn women.

6

Ovid, Ars Amatoria, 3.274.

7

Martial 14.134.

8

Martial 11.99, from Shackleton Bailey, trans., Martial, Epigrams, Vol. 3. (Loeb Classical Library, 1993).

9

Leather “bikini” briefs, leather, first century CE. London, Museum of London, inv. 21233.

10

11

John R. Clarke, Looking at Lovemaking. Constructions of Sexuality in Roman Art, 100 B.C. – A.D. 250 (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1998), 102-103; Olson 2008, 53.

12

Martial 11.104.7.

13

Catullus 55.11-12.

14

Olson, Dress, 94-95.

15

Martial 11.104.7

16

Propertius 2.15.5.

17

Goldman, 201, 233-35.

18

Statuette of Aphrodite with Eros, terracotta, 125-100 BCE. Baltimore, Walters Art Museum, inv. 48.1946.

Dericksen Brinkerhoff, Hellenistic Statues of Aphrodite (New York: Garland, 1978), 63.

19

Renata Cantilena, Le Collezioni del Museo Nazionale di Napoli. La scultura greco-romana, le sculture antiche della collezione Farnese, le collezioni monetali, le oreficerie, la collezione glittica (Rome: De Luca, 1989), 146-47.

20

See Clarke for Roman sexual images generally.

21

Clarke, 55.

22

Ibid., 161-69.

23

Ibid., 196-206.

24

Ovid, Tristia, 2.521-28; Suetonius, Tiberius, 43.2.

25

Clarke, 118.

Norma Goldman, “Reconstructing Roman Clothing,” in The World of Roman Costume, ed. Judith Lynn Sebesta and Larissa Bonfante (Madison: The University of Wisconsin Press, 2001), 233-34. For the villa generally, see Andrea Carandini, Andreina Ricci, Mariette De Vos, and Maura Medri, Filosofiana. The Villa of Piazza Armerina: The Image of a Roman Aristocrat at the Time of Constantine (Ann Arbor: The University of Michigan Press, 1982).

25

Devon Stewart is Assistant Professor of Art History at Angelo State University. A lover of history, Dr. Stewart chose to study the history of art because of images’ particular power to communicate, express, and persuade.

She specializes in ancient Roman art, and has worked extensively in Italy, conducting research, teaching, and excavating in Pompeii.

26

The eighteenth-century woman lived during a time of interesting and often exaggerated fashionable shapes. From wide hoops to cork rumps and conical torsos women engineered their figures to achieve the prevailing style. Not every garment that gave women their shape adhered only to fashion, many provided practical support and protected the exterior garment from soiling. From the nude body to fully dressed, eighteenth century women’s underwear

“Her Shape She Owes to Steel and Whalebone:” Building a Female Fashionable Form 1700-1800

played a critical role in constructing a fashionable silhouette.

Upon waking in the morning, a woman would first put

Neal T. Hurst

on her shift. The shift, typically made from linen, covered the body from neck down to below the knee in an “A” line shape. Shifts played a critical role in helping to keep the wearer’s exterior clothing clean, providing a barrier from the oils and perspiration that the body produces. Cut using simple geometry of squares, rectangles, and triangles, many women could produce their own shifts, but some women chose to purchase shifts ready made from seamstresses or storehouses.

After the shift, the woman would put on her stockings and garters. Stockings worn in the eighteenth century were made in a variety material including linen, cotton, wool, and even silk. Stocking knitters experienced mechanization of their trade as early as the late sixteenth century. By the eighteenth-century most women wore machine made frame knit stockings, but women could also make or purchase hand knit stockings.

TIGHT LACING , OR FASHION BEFORE EASE

Fig. 4

John Collet, London, England, circa 1770, black and white mezzotint engraving with period hand color, accession #1969-111, image #TC1990-47. The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation. Museum Purchase.

This 1770 London caricature pokes fun at those who take fashion to the extreme. It shows a woman in her shift, under petticoat, and pocket with three servants helping to tighten her stays. Viewed through a twenty-first century eye, this may look like a normal method of dressing, but in fact it was rarely practiced in the eighteenth century.

27

SECTION I: ANTHOLOGY OF ESSAYS

•

“Her Shape She Owes to Steel and Whalebone”

Unlike men, who could wear under-drawers and wore

from whalebone (baleen), to pasteboard, bents (a stiff

breeches with garters that fasten below the knee to hold

reed), and packed thread (stiff cord or twine). While many

up their stockings, women typically did not wear any

women possessed the skills of sewing, the art of stay

underwear below the waist, thus the need of separate

making relied on the expertise of taking measurements

garters. Period illustrations show women using a variety of

and patterning. Most women relied on stay makers to make

simple ribbons tied above the knee to keep the stockings

their stays, whether fine and fancy or plain and every-day.

in place. With the basic undergarments on the body, a woman could then begin to build her fashionable shape.

Hollywood often becomes the authority and teacher of historic fashions through movies, but it is important to

Since the seventeenth century, women had worn boned

remember that stays differ greatly from corsets and were

bodies, covering them from the fullness of the bust down

not intended to cinch the waist. Stays generally created a

to the waist. By the turn of the eighteenth century, women

conical shape to the body, terminating at the waist with

referred to this garment as a pair of stays (Fig. 5). Women

fingers that splayed out over the hips. They could lace

of all social classes and children, both boys and girls, wore

with eyelets in the front or back, or even on the sides. Stays

stays. For the gentlewoman it provided her the fashionable

changed in shape and style throughout the century. Stay

shape, for the working sort it provided much needed back

makers advertised their wares in the Italian, French, and

support, and for children it taught posture at a young age.

the English Fashion. In 1774, Philip Vickers Fithian, a tutor working in Virginia, remarked on the new fashioned stays

28

Stay makers, a primarily male dominated trade, constructed

he saw Ms. Betsy Lee wearing. Fithian wrote that she

a variety of different stays for women, from specialty

seemed “pinched up rather too near in a long pair of new

horseback riding stays to every-day full or half boned

fashioned stays.” He continued, “the late importations of

stays. The stay maker took a series of measurements off

stays, which are said to be now most fashionable in Lon-

the woman’s body and created a flat pattern. Stays con-

don, are produced upwards so high that we can have

sisted of one or two layers of linen within and exterior

scarce any view at all of the Ladies Snowy Bosoms; and

fabric often made of wool, silk, or linen. Once the layers

on the contrary, they are extended downward so low that

were cut out, the stay maker would baste them together

whenever ladies who wear them…I think, cause a friction

and mark out the boning pattern. In order to give shape

of some part of the body against the lower edge.”1 As

and support, stay-makers inserted boning into the indi-

fashion changed for gowns, the under garments reflected

vidually stitched channels. The boning materials ranged

the new style.

Throughout the eighteenth century, women accentuated

in 1747 written by “Sophronio” claimed that, “neither is

various parts of the lower body. The hoop or hooped

this fashion [for hoops] more ornamental than convenient.

petticoat that tied around the waist over the stays, with its

Nothing can be imagined more unnatural, and conse-

flat front to back shape yet wide width, created the iconic

quently less agreeable.” The writer continued, “And what

fashionable silhouette in the first half of the century. This

precautions must a modish female take even to enter at

fashion allowed women to show off large scale woven

the door of a private family, without obstruction? Then, a

patterned silks and to command space. While certainly

vivacious damsel cannot turn herself round in a room, a

a distinctive shape to the period, many outspoken letters

little inconsiderately, without over-setting everything like

published in newspapers denounced the wearing of this

a whirl wind.”2 Fashion does not always err on the side

extravagant style. One letter published in the Derby Mercury

of practicality.

WOMEN ’ S STAYS

Fig. 5

England, 1770-1785, cream silk satin (exterior), grey and ivory silk ribbon (center front trim), silk threads (construction), cotton (lining), silk grosgrain ribbon (binding and top exterior loops), baleen (boning), grey silk tape (bottom exterior loops), linen (internal layer), accession #1960-729, image #DS1994-0206. The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation. Museum Purchase.

This cream colored silk satin pair of stays that lace at center back are fully boned in baleen to provide structure and to give the fashionable conical shape to the body. This garment, unlike the later corset, does not manipulate the waist.

29

SECTION I: ANTHOLOGY OF ESSAYS

30

•

“Her Shape She Owes to Steel and Whalebone”

Hooped petticoat makers constructed hoops out of vari-

wearer, some hoops became practical and excellent areas

ous materials including linen and silk. Cane or thin iron

for storage. Hooped petticoat makers enclosed the bottoms

or steel wire covered in textiles created the distinctive

and sides, and left slits in the tops of hoops to provide

flattened oval shape, but it remained important that the

ample storage and yet maintain the fashionable shape.

hoop was light and held its structural integrity (Fig. 6).

Slits left in the sides of the petticoat and gown provided

Due to the large width taken up on either side of the

access to these capacious pockets from the exterior.

WOMEN ’ S HOOPS

Fig. 6 above

Fig. 7 facing page

England, circa 1785, glazed linen, coarse linen (used for casing), cane, linen tape, linen thread, accession #1968-646,4, image #D2018-JBC-0330-0027. The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation. Museum Purchase. These small hoops went around the waist of a woman to hold the skirts out to the side to provide fashionable width. This example, while very small, may have gone under a later 1780s style gown with the point in the back.

Rushworth, R. (printmaker), The Bum Shop, Published July 11, 1785, London. Courtesy of The Lewis Walpole Library, Yale University.

In the second half the eighteenth century, hoops shrunk

such as stay makers and hooped petticoat makers changed

in size to almost nothing. In the mid-1770s a new fashion

construction techniques and materials depending on the

for wearing cork rumps pushed the fullness of the hoop

new styles, but also needed to understand older styles

completely out to the backside of the women. In one

for those who did not change. Stays remained in fashion

instance an author described women taking large pieces

through the late eighteenth century, but fell from style once the new neoclassical shape became popular and required a corset. Likewise, hoops also fell from fashion with the adoption of the neoclassical form with its columnlike shape. As fashion continues to revolve and evolve, what we find beautiful and attractive will change.

of cork and suspending them from their stay straps so that “their waists may seem the smaller and the more delicate.”

Other accounts poke fun at the amount of cork employed in the rumps. In 1778, the Hampshire Chronicle noted a fashionable young lady who tripped and fell into the

NOTES: 1

John Rodgers Williams, ed., Philip Vickers Fithian Journal and Letters 1767-1774, Student at Princeton College 1770-72 Tutor at Nomini Hall in Virginia 1773-1774 (Princeton N.J., C.S. Robinson & Co University Press, 1900), 192-193.

2

The Derby Mercury, Friday 14 August 1747, https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/ (accessed November 10, 2018).

3

The Leeds Intelligencer, Tuesday 10 December 1776, https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/ (accessed November 10, 2018).

4

The Hampshire Chronicle, Monday 6 July 1778, https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/ (accessed November 10, 2018).

Thames, but to the onlookers’ surprise she swam “like a fishing boat, half immersed and half above water” as the “immoderate sized cork rump” kept her afloat.4 The fashion for cork rumps lasted little over a decade, providing ample material for satire (Fig. 7), until they, too, floated out of fashion.

Fashion changed very quickly, and women’s underwear that created that shape altered rapidly as well. Artisans

Neal Hurst received his B.A. in history from the College of William and Mary and his M.A. from the Winterthur Program in American Material Culture at the University of Delaware. He served as assistant curator on the inaugural exhibition for the Museum of the American Revolution in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. In August of 2016, Neal joined the curatorial team at The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation as the Associate Curator of Costume and Textiles.

31

Corsets and False Calves: Fashionably Reshaping Women and Men Michaele Thurgood Haynes

“Fashion allowed for the amplification or reduction of certain characteristics, and hence it acquired a reputation among its detractors for being a means to trump nature. Man took his silhouette into his own hands, modeling his appearance according to the desires of the times.”

Englishwoman’s Domestic Magazine, December 18681

33

Fig. 8

COURT DRESS ( BACK VIEW ) England, circa 1750, silk, metallic thread. Accession Number C.I.65.13.1a–c. The Costume Institute, Metropolitan Museum of Art. Purchase, Irene Lewisohn Bequest, 1965.

SECTION I: ANTHOLOGY OF ESSAYS

•

Corsets and False Calves

Clothing has been used for centuries to remake the

did proper men become restricted to the three-piece suit

human body into what is culturally deemed attractive.

in dark colors with only a bit of color in a tie and pocket

Females have worn corsets to create a desired shape,

handkerchief.

and men have worn carefully cut, shaped, and padded garments to enhance their natural silhouettes. Such re-

There are only a few articles of clothing that have not

shaping of the body is part of being sexually attractive

been worn by one gender or the other at some time and

but it also helps to ensure gender identification. Every

place. The codpiece is the best example of a male-only

society in every period restricts certain elements of per-

garment. Often the one piece of clothing that a fashion

sonal appearance to one gender or the other, but these

history student will remember is the codpiece, a fine

designations may change through time. Everyone wears

example of “sartorial overcompensation.” 3 For centuries,

trousers now, but no matter how often fashion designers

male genitalia have been tucked away into the safety of

push skirts for men on the runway, skirts remain

trousers, but in the 15th century men wore hose, one on

markedly female.

each leg with the tops attached to the bottom of the tight-fitting doublet, leaving only the thin layer of fabric

Gendered Clothing

of the braes (underwear) to prevent exposure. As long

Until the late Middle Ages, both sexes in the western

as the doublet covered the buttocks, all was well, but in

world wore loose fitting gowns. The cuts and details dif-

the 16th century the doublet grew shorter and male pri-

fered, but men and women wore the same category of

vate parts were often visible.4 A triangular piece of cloth

garment. Men did not wear what would eventually be-

was sewn to the front of the stockings, creating a gusset

come trousers until they began to wear hose in the 15th

or pouch to encompass and hide from view the offend-

century. At that point a dichotomy was established that

ing anatomy. Early ones were cut from thick linen that

prohibited women from wearing any bifurcated garment

kept a pouch shape, but later ones were stuffed and

in public until the bicycle craze of the 1890s.2

embroidered to create an eye-catching protuberance.

Valerie Steele points out that “through its form and

34

Outside of the basic division of garments: men in pants

decoration the codpiece makes the penis the central

and women in skirts, many clothing characteristics were

point of male dress,” 5 as seen in a portrait of English

shared over the next several centuries. Trims such as

King Henry VIII (Fig. 9). The pictured monarch embodies

embroidery, ribbons, and laces were worn by both

the masculine ideals of the Renaissance with the help

upper class men and women. Not until the 19th century

of a short robe worn over a doublet ornamented with

WORKSHOP OF HANS HOLBEIN THE YOUNGER , PORTRAIT OF HENRY VIII , 1537-1547

Fig. 9

Oil on panel. WAG Inventory Number: 1350.

Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool. Purchased in 1945.

35

SECTION I: ANTHOLOGY OF ESSAYS

•

Corsets and False Calves

slashes, through which fabric is pulled and puffed creat-

mous to the modern mind with corsetry, did not emerge

ing the desired broad shoulders and chest. The white

until the 1860s with new construction techniques that

belt is carefully draped to draw more attention to the

emphasized the bust. The corresponding width of hips

uniquely masculine element, the codpiece.

was created by full skirts. The length of the corset remained relatively short through the middle of the

In addition to specific garments and styles assigned to

century as the skirts continued to become more volumi-

men and to women, society always dictates an ideal

nous. During the bustle period of the 1870s to 1890, the

feminine and ideal masculine body. For centuries, the

corset became longer, covering and restraining the hips.

cut and fit of garments (with the help of undergarments) have augmented, restrained, and generally altered the

The only time after the invention of the corset that

natural body to conform to society’s standards.

women escaped its laced restraints before the 1920s began in the 1780s when a more natural silhouette,

Creating the Gendered Body

influenced both by an increased interest in classical

Female breasts have been compressed and pushed up

antiquity and by the French Revolution, was deemed

or down by under and outer garments for centuries.

fashionable. The Empire style dress with a high waistline

While corsets per se did not appear until the 16th cen-

and narrow skirt set the fashion for most of Europe.

tury, the laced closings in 15th century European gowns

Some women threw away their corsets entirely, but many

created a close-fitting bodice. In the first half of the 16th

continued to wear quilted ones, albeit boneless. All too

century, aristocratic women began to wear “whalebone

soon, however, boned corsets were again mandatory.

bodies,” bodices that incorporated vertical insertions of whalebone, horn, or buckram.6 Central to keeping the

In contrast to a woman’s upper torso, which was at

garments and underlying body smooth and rigidly up-

times totally covered and at other times somewhat ex-

right was the insertion of the center front stay or busk

posed due to low-cut necklines, the lower half of the

made of ivory, wood, or bone. Once invented, corsets

female body was always hidden with only an occasional

pushed breasts into the desired location and compressed

view of an ankle well into the 20th century. Worn be-

and elongated the waistline.

neath those full skirts were different devices to create specific oval or circular shapes. The earliest was the

36

The desirable relative size of bust to waistline varied

Spanish verdingale or farthingale that first appeared in

through the centuries, but the hourglass figure, synony-

Portugal in 1468.7 Originally an outer garment or skirt,

by end of the 15th century it had become an undergar-

Fig. 10), could supposedly support a full teacup and

ment with concentric circles of whalebone, rattan, or

saucer without spillage. Bustles could be simple padded

reed creating the bell shape.

cushions placed at the curve of the lower back and attached at the waist or more complex devices consisting

In the 18th century, a new silhouette was created by

of bands of steel which collapsed when the wearer sat

panniers or side hoops that held skirts out horizontally

down and sprang back into shape when she stood up.

to the sides. The most extreme form, worn with formal

Interestingly, in the midst of the excesses of the bustle,

court dress (Fig. 8), could be five to seven feet in width,

some hint of female legs does emerge briefly from 1878

while those worn for every-day extended a foot or more.

to about 1883 when the cuirass bodice, a long jacket fit-

Women usually had to turn sideways to get through

ting smoothly over the hips, was the fashion.8 The close

doorways, but some panniers were hinged to allow

fitting jacket over a bustled skirt with fullness pulled to

the wearer to pull up the contrivance for mobility. The

the back intimated the presence of the lower portion of

Empire look, a result of the French Revolution, elimi-

a woman’s body, even allowing the shape of her thighs

nated the width of skirts, but by the 1820s skirts began

to be discerned through the layers of fabric.

to broaden again. Multiple petticoats were needed to support the ever-increasing yardage. The introduction of

Women are not the only victims of fashion. Male bodies

the cage crinoline in 1858, with its spring-steel hoops,

have been less frequently restricted or enlarged through

eliminated the need for the heavy petticoats, and skirts

undergarments but often have been enhanced through

grew even larger. By the late 1860s, the skirts were so

tailoring. Clothing can alter the wearer’s silhouette

full that the fabric was pulled to the rear in a large pouf

through cut and fit, such as the case of the houp-

that developed into a bustle in the 1870s.

pelande, an over garment of the late Middle Ages that exaggerated the chest area with wide sleeves and multi-

The bustle underwent different configurations until its

ple layers of fabric. Padding, whether soft cotton

disappearance around 1900, but all depended on under-

wadding added to the shoulders or rigid pieces of card-

structures to create the appearance of volume over the

board inserted into the lining of 16th century doublets,

buttocks and to support the weight of the draped fabrics

has a long history of altering the appearance of the male

and yards of trim. By the third, and most extreme, bustle

body. Foreshadowing the female bustle, in the 17th cen-

period of 1884-1890, a properly arranged bustle (such as

tury men placed a small horsehair pillow at the top of

that on a ca. 1885 dinner dress by Madame Grapanache,

the pleats of justaucorps, knee length coats, to create the

37

desired enlarged silhouette.9 Padding and cut continued

provide back support, and an upright posture was a

to be used to alter or at least flatter the natural male

symbol of male morality.13 This didn’t exempt the fash-

body throughout the following centuries and are used

ion from ridicule, however. In a cartoon from 1819

today in bespoke suits.10

(Fig. 11), a dandy, a man unduly devoted to style and fashion, wears shoulder pads and a corset under his

Once hose developed into breeches, an amazing num-

tightly fitted coat, and pads on his hips and calves under

ber of variations were worn over the centuries. They all,

his narrow trousers.

however, drew attention to the lower leg sheathed in silk stockings. The French Revolution led men to adopt the ankle length trousers worn by working men, but shapely calves were still in demand since fashionable pants were narrow fitting until the middle of the 19th century. If nature had not endowed a man with appropriately muscular legs, false calves made of pads of fabric could be strapped on the legs. Later, stockings were made with an inner lining stuffed with fabric.11 These bulges were all important since the physical strength of a man was believed to be revealed in his calf.12

Early in the 19th century, male fashion called for a snugfitting jacket and vest, narrow waistline, and narrow legged trousers, putting plump men in a predicament.

Previous fashions had usually provided some kind of enveloping garments that could hide the bulges, but not now. So, male waist belts or cinches came to the rescue.

These could be eight to ten inches wide or more, often with whaleboning and laces. They were as effective at restraining flesh as were female corsets. Their use could be justified since soldiers were known to wear stays to

MME . GRAPANCHE , DINNER DRESS

Fig. 10 left

America, 1884-86, silk. Accession Number C.I.63.23.3a, b. The Costume Institute, Metropolitan Museum of Art. Gift of Mrs. J. Randall Creel, 1963.

ANONYMOUS , LACEING [ SIC ] A DANDY

Fig. 11 right

England, 26 January 1819, Hand-colored etching. Drawings and Prints, Accession number 69.524.35.

Metropolitan Museum of Art. Rogers Fund and The Elisha Whittelsey Collection, The Elisha Whittelsey Fund, 1969.

39

SECTION I: ANTHOLOGY OF ESSAYS

•

Corsets and False Calves

Gender Neutralized Beginning in the 1960s, clothing became less fitted, eliminating the need for undergarments that mold the body, a trend that continues today. Additionally, as jeans and T-shirts were worn by both males and females, a small market for “unisex” clothing developed. Although that term is now passé, there has been a resurgence of interest in “gender neutral” clothing, including neutered undergarments. Briefs with what appear to be flies are marketed to both men and women as are thongs, including lace versions.

However, gender specific body ideals certainly have not disappeared. The hourglass figure has been reintroduced through the celebrity of the Kardashians, Jennifer Lopez, Nicki Minaj, and Beyoncé, who have all helped bring curves back into the spotlight, leading to brisk sales of “waist trainers.” Lest males be left out of this throwback to gender stereotypes, there are multiple web sites offering dozens of modern versions of codpieces. One even offers a “detachable snap front codpiece” for a standard pair of boxers. Perhaps as gender roles become ever more flexible some people will always need the security of gender specific clothing and underwear.

40

NOTES: 1

Norah Waugh, Corsets and Crinolines (London: Batsford, 1954), 105.

2

There was an earlier attempt to adopt sensible Turkish trousers worn under a calf length tunic, the bloomer outfit, but it was worn only by a small number of women. Even after the breakthrough in bicycling outfits, it would be another fifty years until pants on women became acceptable even for work or leisure wear.

3

Bernard Rudofsky, The Unfashionable Human Body (New York: Van Nostrand Reinhold, 1971), 56.

4

In 1463 in England, Edward IV’s parliament made it compulsory for a man to cover “His Privy Members and Buttokes.”

Victoria Bartels, “What Goes up Must Come Down: A Brief History of the Codpiece,” Cambridge University, published April 30, 2015, https://www.cam.ac.uk/ research/features/what-goes-up-must-come-down-a-briefhistory-of-the-codpiece.

5

Valerie Steele, Fashion and Eroticism: Ideals of Feminine Beauty from the Victorian Era to the Jazz Age (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1985), 40.

6

Valerie Steele, The Corset: A Cultural History (New Haven: Yale University Press, 2001), 7.

7

Axel Moulinier and Sophie Vesin, “Women’s Undergarments and the Submission of the Body in the Sixteenth Century,” in Fashioning the Body: An Intimate History of the Silhouette, ed. Denis Bruna (New Haven: Yale University Press, 2015), 57.

8

Phyllis G. Tortora and Sara B. Marcketti, Survey of Historic Costume, 6th ed. (London: Bloomsbury, 2015), 396.

9

Aurore Pierre, “From the Doublet to the Justaucorps: The Male Silhouette in the Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries,” in Fashioning the Body: An Intimate History of the Silhouette, ed. Denis Bruna (New Haven: Yale University Press, 2015), 98.

10

Websites for bespoke suits always discuss fit as the major benefit of a custom made suit: “Fit is always the most important thing about a suit, as it has such possibility to flatter a man–to make him look leaner, stronger and sharper.”

In “Suit Style 1: The Difference between Bespoke, Made-to-Measure and Ready-to-Wear,” Permanent Style, posted April 29,2016,https://www.permanentstyle.com/ 2016/04/whats-the-difference-between-bespoke-made-tomeasure-and-ready-to-wear.html.

11

Sophie Lamotte, “Corsets, Stomach Belts, and Padded Calves: The Masculine Silhouette Reconfigured,” in Fashioning the Body: An Intimate History of the Silhouette, ed. Denis Bruna (New Haven: Yale University Press, 2015), 203.

12

The continuing importance of shapely calves for men is evidenced by the wide number of websites claiming to know the secret of such development. Typical is the website for Legion Athletics, which boasts that if you want “thick, diamond-shaped cows as quickly as possible, then you want to read this article.”

Mike Matthews, “4 Calf Exercises That’ll Give You Calves You Can Be Proud Of,” Legion Athletics, posted May 27, 2016, https://legionathletics.com/calf-exercises.

13

Lamotte, “Corsets,” 200. Also Steele, The Corset, 38-39.

41

Cultural Anthropologist Michaele Thurgood Haynes was a curator at the Witte Museum for 15 years and now teaches part-time at the University of the Incarnate Word. The focus of her writings is personal appearance, particularly clothing worn in rites of passage and festivals.

Consider recent reports about Ritu Tawade, a city official in Mumbai who has responded to the horrific rapes in India by crusading to remove lingerie-clad mannequins

The Tortured Mechanics of Eroticism

from store windows, fearing they incite rape.

From The New York Times, July 14, 2013

home to many racy lingerie stores, compelled them all

It was only two years ago that Saudi Arabia, hypocritical

to employ women instead of men.

Maureen Dowd In “The Heat,” Melissa McCarthy’s Boston cop warns Sandra Bullock’s F.B.I. agent that her Spanx squish internal organs. It’s the same argument a bloomer brigade of PARIS—The French may feel shaky about the underpin-

feminist reformers used in the belle époque to denounce

nings of the economy. But about the underpinnings for

corsets—stays that stayed around for 500 years.

the body, they are as rock solid as the Arc de Triomphe.

Jean Cocteau wrote amusingly in 1913 about the women During a summer when the French are drooping, the

at Maxim’s: “It was an accumulation of velvet, lace, ribbons,

best uplift can be found in the Louvre complex at the

diamonds and what else I couldn’t describe. To undress

Museum of Decorative Arts, which has mounted a daz-

one of these women is like an outing that calls for three

zling exhibition on undergarments and embellishments

weeks advance notice, it’s like moving house.”

dating from the 14th century on: corsets and bustles, hoops

42

and push-up bras, crinolines and codpieces. The exhibit,

Denis Bruna, the curator of the exhibit, said he has stud-

titled “Behind the Seams, the Mechanics of Underwear:

ied the human form in art through the centuries and has

An Indiscreet History of the Silhouette,” provides a fasci-

read countless ancient texts instructing women to be

nating contrast between the industrial-seeming tools

beautiful and men to be virile. He even tried on the inti-

used to shape the body and the sexiness that results.

mate items from the time of the ancient régime.

Only a French museum would take fine washables so

“It feels good,” the 45-year-old said in French with a droll

seriously. The word lingerie, after all, derives from the

smile. “It makes you stand up very straight. You feel noble.”

French word linge, meaning “washables.”

He explained that the hard corsets were mostly worn by Seismic social changes have always been reflected in

aristocratic women who wilted standing at court all day

fashion, and the politics of lingerie can be incendiary.

and needed bracing. If you were rich and had servants, you

could have stays laced in the back (in the squeezing-the-

were ugly and sheathed them in pantaloons. The shape

breath-out-to-get-back-an-18-inch-waist style of Mammy

represented a pedestal base to make the top prettier.”

and Scarlett O’Hara). Lower-class women had their stays in the front, so they could lace them on their own.

Finally, in the World War I era, Coco Chanel began helping women come into their own, unstrapping them from

As though women weren’t trussed up enough, the rigid-

their hourglass constrictions and sheathing them in supple

ity was accentuated by a busk, a concave piece of metal,

jersey. Maybe that’s why you see Chanel’s image here

horn or whalebone that was inserted into the front of the

more often than Joan of Arc’s.

corset to hold the torso erect. Sometimes these busks had portraits or love messages engraved on them.

Yesterday’s aristocratic underwear morphs into today’s fetishistic outerwear. The show illustrates the influence

The most wince-worthy displays: iron medical corsets

of the ancient fashion on modern designers, including

from the 16th century for correcting curved spines;

a Vivienne Westwood bustle frock and an Alexander

miniature corsets worn by infants and toddlers, because

McQueen corset dress.

physicians of yore insisted that children’s soft bodies needed support; and corsets for pregnant and nursing

Mirabile dictu, there are even new variations on Renais-

women (the latter with little shutters).

sance codpieces, or braguettes, a bragging-rights style bound to disappoint. “They’re already being sold in gay

The Marie Antoinette “grand habit” silhouette, with the

shops in France and on the Internet,” Bruna said.

wasp-waist corsets often made from bone at the roof of the whale’s mouth, and 12-foot-wide paniers at the hips

It was commonly thought that the point of lingerie was

were so broad that the side cages had to be retractable

to incite the lust of men. Yet, as this exhibit shows,

by hand so the ladies could get through a door. Was this

women have also used underwear to assert their power

why French doors came into fashion? Picture them all

and status.

crashing into one another at court.

As we celebrate Bastille Day, note this: The mannequins The paniers were balanced by pouf hairdos, built on a

wearing the aristocratic undies have no heads.

scaffolding of horsehair and wire, covered with powder and topped with toy sculptures like a little farm or a

© 2013 The New York Times. All rights reserved. Used

battleship.

by permission and protected by the Copyright Laws of the United States. The printing, copying, redistribution, or

“The lower parts of the woman’s body were less noble,

retransmission of this Content without express written

so they were hidden,” Bruna said. “They thought the legs

permission is prohibited.

43

The corset has always held an air of mystery, intrigue and eroticism. It embodies a curiosity to know more about this strange and peculiar garment. What is it that entices people to wear it for hundreds of years? Why does the corset’s power still continue to thrive into modern times?

The Diary of a Corsetière

These questions have gone through my mind over the last thirty years as I continue to find answers and learn more

Melanie Talkington

about the elusive corset.

You truly have to experience the corset on a personal level to gain some understanding. That moment when it is wrapped around your torso and you’re feeling the gentle hug, as the strings are pulled inward to mould

“I get much pleasure studying the pieces in my collection and am always fascinated by the tiniest details and learn so much from each piece. I love them all for the stories and lessons they share.”

your body into its form.

The corset is essentially a sexy back brace—it pulls your back upright, as it straightens your spine, and you are lifted into the corset. Gentle pressure is placed on your lower abdomen, pulling your stomach up and inwards, giving you a complete and instant tummy tuck, leaving a flat stomach in its place. Pressure around your waistline gently draws in at the sides as you see your figure begin to take shape from the gentle pressure of the corset. Your ribs begin to taper and your bust is lifted. The image of yourself in the mirror is slightly shocking—you have instantly transformed into an hourglass. Your breath is shortened from shock and restriction, yet you feel somewhat like a butterfly emerging from its cocoon.

45

MULTIPLE LAYERS OF VICTORIAN UNDERGARMENTS , 1890 S . MELANIE TALKINGTON COLLECTION , VANCOUVER , BRITISH COLUMBIA , CANADA .

Fig. 12

Under-most layer: Combination undergarment, cotton lawn with lace and ribbon insertions; Second layer: Under-petticoat, striped cotton; Corset: Cresco Corset Company, Michigan, Corset with hip lacing, steel bones. Outer undergarment layers: Cotton lawn corset cover, Polished cotton outer petticoat.

The corsets of the 1890s, which were longer than earlier corsets and came down lower on the hips and torso, had steel bones that tended to break at the hip. Cresco’s hip lacing ensured that didn’t happen.

SECTION I: ANTHOLOGY OF ESSAYS

•

The Diary of a Corsetière

You wonder if you can move in this new form, is it safe?

slimmer version of yourself, reminiscent of younger days.

Will I fall? Can I sit? You are flooded with feelings and

You feel slimmer, sexier, lighter, amazing!

questions and curious to know if it’s ok to allow yourself to venture down this new path. You begin to move and

This experience happens daily in our Lace Embrace Atelier

take some steps, your legs still work, it’s still you, just

on historic Main Street in Vancouver, BC, as curious people

different. Your breath begins to calm, and you can start

walk through the door wondering what this unusual shop

to breathe deeper, you feel secure, hugged, supported.

is all about. So many dainty and girly things on display,

You try sitting down, you can bend, but you move in a

corsets plain to colourful and trimmed with lace, hand

more upright posture, you feel like a lady from the days

embroidered or constructed of sleek leather. Coquettish

gone by. Images of your ancestors and black & white

pieces you may glimpse in a movie or the Moulin Rouge

family photos flash in your mind. You definitely can’t bend

are all on display in this shop, complete with a museum

at the waist as you did before, you find it’s more com-

dedicated to corsetry and lingerie in the back.

fortable to be perched upright on the edge of the chair

46

instead of slumping forward in the familiar way. You are

I too had the same curiosity, but sadly no shop I could

erected through your torso, forced to sit up straight—

step into for the experience. I found gossamer bustiers

your mother would be so proud. It feels quite liberating

with flexible bones and hook backs, but nothing like a

to be so upright, a fresh perspective, viewing the world

true steel boned corset. I began researching the history

as you perch on the chair observing these new sensa-

of fashion, when did corsets become fashionable? Who

tions in your body and feeling—how do you feel? So

wore them and why? I wanted to see and hold an original

many new sensations, yet strangely, it all feels exciting

Victorian corset in my hands, instead of looking at a grainy

and new, you are ok, you are not feeling oppressed and

black and white image in a book. The image didn’t explain

unable to breathe like the movies tell you. All is great

enough—what did the back look like? The inside? What

actually! Wow, not at all what you expected! Everything

colour and fabric is it made of? The seed was planted and the

is serene, you are secure and still adjusting to this new

curiosity grew. I started reading and studying all I could on

sensation. You get up to try walking around, it feels the

the history of fashion, learning about each era and how the

same, yet lighter, you feel you need to look down to be

fashions changed, each era required not only new gowns,

sure of your footing as the ground feels farther away...

but also new undergarments which determined the final

the world feels like a new place from this height. And then

shape of the wearer. How could an undergarment do

you glimpse yourself in the mirror again—is that me? A

this? Modern undergarments are not capable of this feat!

What did the Victorians know that we don’t? How did they

new tools were required to make such a small garment—

achieve this in such genteel times? After much research,

the front fastening busk closure, the eyelets to lace up the

I can’t say they were conventional in the least—they were

back, the steel boning imported from France where they

artisans, masters of their trade and extremely skilled to be

have produced corset boning since 1888 (and have an

able to create patterns that could manipulate the torso

adorable robot I named Herbie to assist with their manu-

into a variety of shapes. We are conventional in our fashion

facture). Finally all of the pieces came together and with

by comparison!

much suspense, I was able to try on my first Victorian reproduction corset and experience how a Victorian

I finally found my very first antique corset; scarlet red

woman felt in her corset. I was hooked! I wanted more

wool from the 1860’s with a faint stamp from the manu-

antique corsets to study and pattern.

facturer on the inside, completely moth eaten and quite fragile with black bones sticking out that are brittle and

The next I found was a white cotton pointed cincher belt

chewed. A perfect study piece, I finally got to see and

style, followed by one with ribbons wrapping around the

touch a piece of whalebone, how strange—it’s black!

body to emphasize the smallness of the waist. Then the

Not white or ivory like you would expect bone to be.

first French corset arrived—black with pink and yellow stripes and patterned in an unusual way that created an

Whalebone is not actually from the bones of whales, it’s

optical illusion to make the torso V shaped, the waist

the baleen from their mouth, used to filter krill when they

appear excessively small and the hips rounded, much like

feast. These plates of baleen can be quite long and fibrous

an ice cream cone.

on one end. It is made up of keratin, the same protein that makes up your fingernails and hair. There are multiple

The collection continues to expand with over 300

baleen plates in the upper jaw of baleen whales that were

examples, and my favourites are the French corsets—so

split into a variety of thicknesses and then cut into varying

much colour and joie de vivre. Of course I couldn’t stop

widths and lengths depending on their placement inside

at collecting corsets. Lacy white petticoats, bust bodices,

the corset. How fascinating and sad that this massive

falsies, bustles, hoops and stockings are included to com-

mammal was being used to shape the body!

pletely understand the fashionable woman of each era.

I carefully patterned the antique corset onto paper and intensely studied it to make an exact replica. So many

Melanie Talkington has been an avid collector and researcher on the history of women’s underpinnings for over 30 years. Her boutique, Lace Embrace Atelier, was established in Vancouver, BC in 1997; where she designs and creates bespoke corsetry for clients around the world, and film and television. www.laceembrace.com, www.antiquecorset.com

47

48

Historically, fashionable dress has exerted control over the body. Undergarments and garments nip in, fill out, or reshape the body into an idealized form, affecting the wearer’s posture and mediating how we move through the world. While these styles make up the canon of fashion history, they have often been challenged and countered by radical designs celebrating active and liberated bodies.

Rational or Fashionable: Changing Ideas about Dress and the Active Body

These alternative garments provide a more flexible relationship between a garment and a body, using materials

Annette Becker

and construction techniques that allow for movement and adaptability. As form gives way to philosophy, these garments have inspired the liberation of women in social, political, and athletic spheres. This essay explores the tension between fashionable dress and active bodies, offering examples of innovative American designs that have made indelible marks on the world of fashion.

Rational or reform dress is one of fashion history’s favorite starting points for departure from fashionable dress. As early as the 1840s, pioneering suffragettes and health reformers championed bifurcated clothing for women, dubbed “bloomers” in honor of activist Amelia Bloomer.

Offering an alternative to the layers of petticoats or cumbersome cage crinolines needed to support the decade’s popular voluminous silhouette, this “Bloomer costume” included a shortened dress with matching trousers. While freeing the legs and hips from cumbersome skirts was key, promoters of reform dress also encouraged health corsets or “sanitary” bodices as an alternative to tightly laced corsets.

JAEGER SANITARY WOOLEN SYSTEM

Fig. 13 left

Corset bodice of undyed wool and ribbed cording, England, circa 1890, wool, mother-of-pearl, metal, cotton thread, boned.

Accession number T.229-1968. The Victoria and Albert Museum. Bequeathed by Miss E. J. Bowden.

49

SECTION I: ANTHOLOGY OF ESSAYS

•

Rational or Fashionable

Health reformers like Dr. Gustav Jaeger (Fig. 13) champ-

autonomy and political freedom, narrowing the difference

ioned physical education, promoting healthful diets and

between men and women’s clothing and women’s shifting

exercise alongside innovative garments with breathable

clothing decisions from the decorative to the practical.

fabrics to promote healthy skin, flexible materials to move

Proponents of the reform dress advertised their style—

with the wearer, and wide shoulder straps to redistribute

demonstrated with an image (Fig. 14) of Amelia Bloomer

the weight of garments.

in an issue of The Water-Cure Journal—as an alternative to the sickly, thin, cartoonishly-proportioned figures promoted in fashion plates. The popular press depicted wearers of reform dress as ugly and mannish, devoid of feminine graces and a threat to social stability. While nearly all suffragettes stopped wearing reform dress because of the negative attention it brought to them and their cause, many health reformers continued wearing it through the late nineteenth century. Additionally, this bifurcated dress was widely adopted in single-gender spaces like women’s colleges, used as a bathing costume for swimming and at health spas, and worn as a gym suit while engaging in increasing popular exercise regimes.

In the 1880s and 1890s, newly invented safety bicycles allowed women freedom to navigate the world and inspired another wave of bifurcated garments. Much like reform dress, bicycling costume was often comprised of long trousers, often with a knee-length skirt. However,

50

Early reform garments represented a physical and philo-

many innovative people developed methods of adapting

sophical shift for their wearers. These adaptations to

skirts to free their legs and keep fabric out of their ride’s

fashionable dress facilitated more healthful living, allowing

mechanical components. Patents for bicycle skirts show

freer movement and an escape from cumbersome and

hooks or drawstrings to breech or temporarily hike up the

restrictive clothing. Ideologically, they represented bodily

bottom hem, fastenings to open and close slits in the front

Fig. 14

“ THE AMERICAN AND FRENCH FASHIONS CONTRASTED ” The Water-Cure Journal (October 1851): 96.

and back, and tiers of undulating ruffles or pleats to dis-

epitomized in the New Woman. Popularized by Charles

guise bifurcation. These innovations allowed their wearers

Dana Gibson’s illustrations of the playful but powerful

greater safety and freedom to move through public areas.

“Gibson Girl,” this fictional character had gained freedom

Alice Louisa Bygrave emphasized both the practical and

in both public and private spheres through educational,

fashionable requirements of this clothing, stating in her

athletic, and perhaps sexual pursuits. Her body was not

cycling skirt patent application (Fig. 15) that her innovations

a model of fragility but instead engaged in healthy and

would “provide a skirt as proper for Wear when the wearer

active pursuits like bicycling, tennis, and skating. Together,

is on her cycle as when she has dismounted.”

these characteristics were cast as intriguing but ultimately threatening and undesirable for marriage. However, the

The independence granted by bicycles and this modified

New Woman and her bifurcated clothing served as an

dress created tension within polite society, which was

icon from the 1890s-1910s, a time of societal change that

51

Fig. 15

ALICE LOUISA BYGRAVE , “ CYCLING SKIRT ” American Patent No. 555428, February 25, 1896.

52

fostered movements leading to greater freedom and ulti-

editor Diana Vreeland to describe the fashion “earthquake”

mately suffrage for women.

created by youth culture at that time. Favoring a youthful, nubile body over a mature and curvaceous ideal, these

Addressing the pragmatism of active clothing more

revealing garments often exposed the body with short

directly, the budding American fashion industry introduced sportswear in the 1930s and 1940s. Increasingly popular outdoor and active leisure, restricted budgets during the Great Depression, and wartime austerity inspired great innovation, creating a form of practical dress dubbed the “American Look.” Much like the adjustable bicycle skirts, sportswear demanded adaptability in design. Paring away merely “pretty” details in favor of wraps and ties, these garments could easily be customized to fit to the wearer’s body. Belts defined the waistline and worked with the wearer’s proportions, allowing one design to flatter many figures. Wardrobes made of separates—coordinated skirts, blouses, swim dresses—made selecting an ensemble appropriate for different environments much easier and more affordable. Layering extended the times of day and seasons when garments could provide comfort. Playsuits and swimwear by designers like Claire McCardell offered options for active leisure activities like going to the beach and picnicking (Fig. 16). This new sportswear was responsive to the active lifestyles of its wearers, putting aside fussiness in favor of functionality.

Hyper-feminine styles of the 1950s offered a springboard for fashion revolution, inspiring the body-conscious styles of the 1960s “youthquake,” a term coined in 1965 by Vogue

CLAIRE MCCARDELL , SUN DRESS AND JACKET

Fig. 16 left

From collection of sportswear separates, circa 1947, The Texas Fashion Collection, University of North Texas.

NORMA KAMALI , ENSEMBLE OF WHITE COTTON KNIT

Fig. 17 right

Circa 1980. The Texas Fashion Collection, University of North Texas.

53

54

skirts, cutaways, and other abbreviated styles. Designers

comfortable and efficient movement. Inspired by the

like Rudi Gernreich engaged fashion as a platform for

frustration of jogging in an underwire bra, Lisa Lindahl

social change, introducing body-liberating garments that

sewed two jock straps together to create the “jogbra,” the

found their shape through the wearer’s form rather than

first sports bra. Following this 1977 innovation, the rising

through foundational undergarments. Inspired by his

popularity of gym culture sparked trendier versions of

background as a dancer, Gernreich introduced stretchy

sports bras, including compression-style garments that

double-knit wool to the fashion world, offering a fabric

incorporated Spandex, like the Gilda Marx Breathables

option that engaged with the moving body. He introduced

Bodywear bra exhibited in Inside Out (Fig. 7.7, pg. 123).

thong underwear and created two iconic garments that

The visibility of active women inspired fashion designers

liberated the breasts, a topless bathing suit dubbed the

like Norma Kamali (Fig. 17), an American designer who

“monokini” and the no-bra bra, a nylon brassiere that

recast her brand to address women with active lifestyles

allowed the breasts to take their natural shape (Fig. 6.10,

starting with her 1980 collection of designer sweats. These

pg. 117). Advancing his body-positive message to a

fashion options speak to a desire to both engage in and

more philosophical extreme, Gernreich championed

support women’s public participation in sports.

for unisex styles that would allow for liberation inside and outside the world of fashion.

Today many wardrobes include sweatshirts and yoga pants for everyday use, tying our clothing to this lineage of

Social revolutions of the 1960s resulted in another land-

active dress. High designers like Riccardo Tisci (Fig. 18)

mark change for active fashion: the passage of Title IX,

partner with activewear companies to combine elevated

a law prohibiting discrimination on the basis of sex in any

aesthetics with high performance materials, resulting in

federally funded education program or activity. This cre-

innovative garments like leg sleeves made of boldly pat-

ated new opportunities for women to engage in sports,

terned compression fabric. Others garments move past the

many of which required specialized garments to facilitate

practical and into performance, with popular athleisure styles making reference to athletic endeavors but designed with the intention of being worn for leisure activities.

Fig. 18

RICCARDO TISCI FOR NIKE

While the trend of taking active clothing outside of the

Activewear ensemble, 2016, The Texas Fashion Collection, University of North Texas.

gym and into the public sphere is not without its critics, fashion history reminds us that active bodies will continue to challenge fashionable dress.

Annette Becker is the Director of the Texas Fashion Collection at the University of North Texas, a repository of nearly 20,000 historic and designer garments and accessories. Becker holds an MA in Art History from UNT and has professional experience as a curator and educator in museums around the United States.

55

Most people probably do not associate politics, patriotism or protest movements with women’s undergarments, but the history of the last two hundred years has shown a direct relationship among all three ideas and the changing styles of women’s undergarments.

Women’s fashion during the late 18th century was fairly uniform amongst western nations. Dresses with cinched, restricted bodices and voluminous skirts were the norm.

English and French courtiers seeking an audience with the

Politics, Patriotism and Protest Movements: An Evolving Relationship Between Women and Their Undergarments

king or queen were admitted based upon their wardrobe, which spoke to their social position and wealth. For

Lisa Louise Jones

women, that meant wearing a mantua, an extravagant dress with exaggerated hoop and skirt. A mantua was burdensome to wear and equally as difficult to navigate as it required women to enter sideways through a door (Fig. 8, pg. 33). Soon a significant historical event in France propelled a change: the French Revolution in 1789 and the subsequent dissolution of the monarchy and decimation of the aristocracy via the guillotine of the Reign of Terror. In fact, the French Revolution provides one of the best examples of the way politics influences fashion.

The revolution was rooted in the ideal of the first famous Republic, that of ancient Athens. Politically, the idea of democracy and self-governance emerged, and a new fashion emerged from the chaos of revolution, one that emulated the simplicity of the ancient Greeks and Romans.

Many women abandoned the heavy, flamboyant clothing associated with the aristocratic lifestyle. It was certainly

FREEDOM TRASH CAN

Fig. 19

At the 1968 Miss America Protest. Alix Kates Shulman Papers, David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library, Duke University. Photograph copyright Alix Kates Shulman; used with permission.

57

SECTION I: ANTHOLOGY OF ESSAYS

•

Politics, Patriotism and Protest Movements

particular Juliette Récamier, whose influential Parisian salon discussed the political philosophy of Jean-Jacques Rousseau and The Enlightenment. Her portrait (Fig. 20)

by Jacques-Louis David, painted in 1800, epitomizes the new fashion and era, later known as the Empire period.

More familiar to us is Joséphine de Beauharnais, wife of Napoléon I, credited with popularizing the style.

The changes are important for several reasons. The most important is that this new fashion change was instituted and implemented by women; it is considered the first time a woman had direct influence over the style of her dress and undergarments. It also shows how a historical event directly impacted fashion and undergarments. And it is important that the fashion in question is a revival from a previous age.

America had experienced its own political revolution,

58

safer to be seen as less aristocratic and more comfortable.

winning independence from England and the monarchy

In the place of formal court-inspired dress, women adopted

in 1783. With newfound independence, Americans wanted

simpler dresses inspired by ancient Greek and Roman

a new style of dress. From the American perspective, the

clothing, ones that were high-waisted, in light, sheer

country was shrugging off its Colonial past and embracing

muslin and cotton. The new fashion required new un-

independence from England. President Thomas Jefferson,

dergarments. Layers of petticoats and hoops once used to

1801-1809, wanted America to break with European aris-

support voluminous skirts were replaced by the barest

tocratic customs and dress. He was keen to create a new

and thinnest of shifts. Occasionally, a short stay, or corset,

American identity through dress, and he explored the

was worn around the bust, but freedom of movement was

question of what it meant to be an American, and how to

the essential statement. First credited with the new fashion

dress as an American. America’s founding fathers studied

was a group of young ladies called Les Merveilleuses, in

and admired ancient democracy and instituted those

PORTRAIT OF MADAME RÉCAMIER ( NÉE JULIETTE BERNARD ), det.

Fig. 20

By Jacques-Louis David, 1800. Oil on canvas.

Musée du Louvre, Inventory number 3708.

beliefs into a fledgling country. France was the style

first Rank, are leaders of the fashion, but they Show

influencer of the world. Their fabrics and fashions were

more of the [word illegible] than the decent Matron

imported throughout the world, including America. Addi-

or the modest woman.1

tionally, America’s women also approved the newer, less

Regardless of the occasional outrage, this fashion would

fussy fashion. By all appearances, most American women

survive in America until approximately 1820.

embraced the new Empire fashion, including the immodest near-lack of undergarments. First Lady Abigail

The next occasion for American women to respond to

Smith Adams, however, was not a fan of the new fashion.

shifts of historical significance in relation to their fashion

In a letter to her sister, Mary Smith Cranch, dated 1800,

and undergarments is during the 1940s and the subse-

she wrote:

quent outbreak of World War II. As American men went

The Stile of Dress...is really an outrage upon all de-

off to war, women showed solidarity under strict material

cency. I will describe it as it has appeared even at

rationing laws. Their dresses and suits, free of embell-

the drawing Room—a Sattin petticoat of certainly

ishments, emulated a military look, with simple tailoring,

not more than three breadths gored at the top,

and clean lines. Nylon, a new synthetic material intro-

nothing beneath but a chimise over this thin coat,

duced in 1939 for undergarments, was repurposed for

of muslin...made so strait before as perfectly to show

wartime necessities including parachutes, tents and tarps.

the whole form, the arms naked almost to the shoul-

After the bombing of Pearl Harbor, America boycotted

der and without stays or Bodice...and the “rich

silk imported from Japan. With few resources at their

Luxurience of naturs Charms” without a handker-

disposal, American women resorted to sewing and

chief fully displayed...when this Lady has been led

knitting new sets of undergarments and recycling their

up to make her curtzey, which she does most grace-

older ones.

fully it is true, every Eye in the Room has been fixed upon her and you might litterally see through

The war also saw women enter the workplace in un-

her....[Most of the other ladies also] wear their

precedented numbers, replacing men sent off to fight.

Cloaths too scant upon the body, and too full upon

Many of these jobs were in factories making munitions,

the Bosom for my fancy, not content with the Show

aircraft and other important assets important to winning

which nature bestows, they borrow from art, and

the war. Women wore coveralls over their silky stockings

litterally look like Nursing Mothers....The Lady de-

and undergarments. Propaganda posters and pin-ups from

scribed & her Sister, being fine women and in the

the era (Fig. 21) depict women in the factory changing

59

SECTION I: ANTHOLOGY OF ESSAYS

•

Politics, Patriotism and Protest Movements

rooms trading their day clothes for coveralls, encouraging them to work for the war effort. It’s a titillating image, one of power and sexiness in American women. It demonstrated that American women could work tough jobs and remain feminine in a masculine role. And the jobs were tough and dangerous. Female workers needed comfort and support from their undergarments in order to move and work properly. The Corset Guild of Great Britain was founded in 1943. The group went as far to petition 10 Downing Street to release much needed material for appropriate corsetry. Ultimately, corsetry was classified under “Essential Works Order,” a victory for British women working in factories.

In America, a more novel approach was taken with the creation of the Saf-t-Bra (Fig.4.9, pg. 104), introduced by Willson Goggles, Inc. in 1943-44. With the American

Subsequently, America thrived in a post-war era. The

focus on safety and protection, just as the right tools

1950s were a time of economic growth and stability. As

were required for the job, the right undergarments were

comfortable as the 1950s seemed to be, the 1960s were

required for the workers. The Saf-t-Bra, and similar ex-

poised to be the decade of turbulence and change. The

amples, used hard plastic in lieu of soft material to cover

emergence of the Civil Rights movement and feminism,

the breasts. It was worn over cotton padding and under

the assassination of two Kennedys and Martin Luther King,

coveralls to protect female workers from flying shrapnel

Jr., and America’s involvement in Vietnam propelled the

and stray hot rivets. Although the extent to which the

1960s and its youth to respond to societal changes that

Saf-t-Bra was produced and worn is unclear, it demon-

were happening quickly. As seen in prior examples,

strates that once again women were at the forefront of

fashion changed with society, as did undergarments.

demanding change in their undergarments to meet their fashion and comfort needs.

60

The use of psychedelic drugs and the popular Mod subculture influenced bold, colorful patterns in under-

ART FRAHM , “ COVER - ALL BEAUTY,” 1944

Fig. 21 above

Published by Louis F. Dow and Company.

San Angelo Museum of Fine Arts.

garments, most notably by designer Emilio Pucci. Of course,

decisions, and ironically, dress codes. Today, there are

many women eschewed undergarments altogether, a direct

protests incorporating undergarments that, in a #metoo

influence from the Hippie subculture and its embrace of

world, send a powerful message, such as the “Slut Walk”

unconventional appearance and rejection of societal

protests against sexual harassment, assault, and victim

norms. The Feminist movement embraced the new pop-

blaming. In preparation for the 2016 summer Olympics

ular method of showing disfavor with one’s government

in Rio de Janeiro, artist Marco Freitas placed 420 pairs

through protest. Protests of the 1960s were not unusual.

of ladies’ underwear on the beach, representing the

Martin Luther King, Jr. used protests to great effect to high-

number of women raped every 72 hours in Brazil.

light racism and unfair treatment of the African-American population and to propel the Civil Rights movement into

Since the American Revolution, American women have

the foreground of American politics. Students protested

evolved in their roles and created a new gender identity

America’s involvement in Vietnam. Now, feminists had

for themselves. As women embraced their new identity

their opportunity with the 1968 Miss America pageant in

in post-colonial America, helped lead their country to

Atlantic City. Their protest involved setting up “freedom

victory in the 1940’s, and have actively participated in

trash cans” (Fig.19) around the venue in which women

protests as an emerging political force in the last 100 years,

could place the trappings of their sex, including fashion

a common thread emerges, that women have always

magazines, cosmetics, and bras. The effect was so pow-

had political self-awareness and are not shy in creating

erful that an urban legend evolved to include women

change in fashion and undergarments to their social,

setting fire to their bras. The myth of burning bras as a

professional and personal benefit.

form of protest pervades to this day with contemporary feminists staging bra burnings as an homage to the 1960s.

Among the posters at the January, 21, 2017 Women’s March in Washington, DC, were some that read “Do I really have to burn my bra again?”

New protest movements have emerged in response to

NOTES:

cultural and political shifts. Many now include protesters

1

in their underwear registering their displeasure against a myriad of causes: economic disparity, civil injustice, sports

“From Abigail Smith Adams to Mary Smith Cranch, 15 March 1800,” Founders Online, National Archives, last modified June 13, 2018, http://founders.archives.gov/ documents/Adams/99-03-02-0617.

Lisa L. Jones is from San Angelo, Texas. She graduated from Baylor University with a BA in French and Art History and received a Diploma in Fine and Decorative Arts from the Renaissance to Modernism from Christie’s Education, London. She currently resides in Washington, DC where she works as an Art and Antiques Appraiser and auction consultant. Her areas of expertise also include vintage and contemporary fashion, couture, and accessories. She also lectures on the auction market at American University Washington College of Law and The George Washington University Law School.

61

62

Dancing in underwear for enjoyment happens everywhere —in films, music videos, internet memes, and, of course, real life. Professional dancing in costumes resembling underwear similarly has impacted dance history in many ways. For professional women performers, the art of dance has developed since the early 1800’s in tandem

Isadora Duncan’s Modern Dance and Underwear

with—and as a source of encouragement for—the fashion shift that converted underwear and sheer nightwear into

Linda Kornasky

outerwear. This history begins with Marie Taglioni,1 the ethereal, sensually virginal ballet dancer who debuted a gauzy, white net, calf-length petticoat as costume outerwear—the first tutu—in 1832 Paris as the breakout star of the ballet La Sylphide, i.e., the air spirit (Fig. 23). This history spans through to our era’s singer/dancer Madonna, who wore delicate see-through lace corsets, aggressively pointy cone bras and kinky leatherwear undergarments in her 1980s and 1990s music videos. The most influential professional women in dance, from bawdy burlesque to high-brow classical ballet, have often performed in what was and is scandalously considered to be underwear by the audiences of their day.

Accordingly, in the early 1900’s, as fashion reform encouraged a new generation of women to reject the restrictive corsets and layered garments of their mothers’ generation during the previous century, Isadora Duncan —the incomparable mother of modern dance and pioneer of dance education for girls—boldly strode forward to innovate the wearing of undergarments in dance per-

ISADORA DUNCAN , CIRCA 1914-1918 .

Fig. 22

Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs Division, Arnold Genthe Collection: Negatives and Transparencies, Reproduction number LC-G401-T01-1476-002.

63

SECTION I: ANTHOLOGY OF ESSAYS

•

Isadora Duncan’s Modern Dance and Underwear

formance and in high fashion, making this fashion shift a

a “torso encased in whalebone” as well as “an aura of tulle

crucial spur for a new art of dance. In her paradoxically

ruffles about her thighs” and maillot stockings.2 Even

timeless and radically innovative choreography, Duncan

today, classical ballet costumes for female dancers

ingeniously translated the sensory joy of freeing the waist

combine tutus of different shapes with leotard tops that

and the lungs from corsetry and the unburdening of the

create closely fitted waists. In fact, the visual interest of a

female body from the weighty layers of under and outer

voluminous, springy tutu relies in large measure on the

garments in conventional late 1800’s dress fashions into

contrast between the tutu’s width and the contracted waist-

a liberated art of modern dance.

line, with corset lacing often visible, above it.

It is generally known today (surely, at least, by anyone familiar with the ballroom scenes in the epic Civil War film Gone with the Wind) that women’s social dancing during the middle of the 1800’s in the United States was commonly done in tightly laced corsets, worn with multiple petticoats, as well as sometimes with cage crinolines as scaffolding, under heavy dresses. The endurance needed by women engaged in extended periods of physical exercise in such restrictive and weighty clothing strikes people now as extreme (albeit glamorous perhaps as well). However, it is less often considered today that professional dancing by women in the 1800’s was also performed in corsets. The first distinctive ballet costume for female dancers early in that century featured not only Taglioni’s iconic “Romantic” tutu (essentially a gauzy petticoat), but also the snugly cinched corset that her slender, waifish figure accommodated. As John Martin, the first major American dance critic, notes, by the time of Isadora Duncan’s early career in dance in the early 64

1900’s, a ballerina’s definitive look was firmly established:

( CHOREOGRAPHIC WORK : TAGLIONI , F ) Jerome Robbins Dance Division, The New York Public Library. New York Public Library Digital Collections.

Accessed October 30, 2018. http://digitalcollections.nypl.org/ items/f8c3d280-7de3-0130-07ff-58d385a7b928 SYLPHIDE

Fig. 23

As a teen-aged dancer in the 1890s, Isadora Duncan, who

the garments women already wore then as a first layer

had already begun, at a young age, to teach social dancing

underneath corsets and dresses and for night gowns, with

as a freelance instructor, was advised by a cultured family

bare legs and feet (Fig. 22).

friend that she could be the next Fanny Elssler, the famous U.S. and Europe-touring Austrian ballet dancer of the mid 1800’s (the preeminent peer and rival of Marie Taglioni), who was distinctive for innovatively introducing some torso movement, very subtle movement by current ballet standards, into her dancing style, as well as for her voluptuous bust enhanced by a tight corset (Fig. 24).3

Initially very much interested to pursue this ambition to succeed Elssler, Duncan was sent to a ballet teacher in San Francisco for training. After only a few classes, she rejected what was to her a sterile, banal stiffness in ballet’s instructional choreography and committed herself to the creation of a new, natural type of American dance that would not rely on what was, to her, the artificial acrobatics of ballet, such as spinning in a pirouette on the toes of one foot (en pointe). And her dance technique would not require dancers to restrict their lungs and torso muscles in tight corsets, their legs in chafing tights, or their feet in punishing pointe shoes. Her technique would instead begin with the idea that dance choreography

In this innovation, Duncan partly adapted the late Victo-

should emanate out of the soul via the natural movements

rian (1880’s and 1890’s) British artist Kate Greenaway’s

of the unmodified, liberated body—recalling the unpre-

empire style of dresses for girls, favored in dress reform

tentious aesthetic of the classical Greek and Roman ideal

(Fig. 25). Attesting to her influence on international art

of the strong and sacred female physique—clothed in

and fashion, when Duncan moved her dancing school

minimalist, unrestrictive, sheer and flowing chemises, like

from a Berlin suburb to a Paris suburb during the first

Fig. 24

COSTUME DE FANNY ELSSLER , RÔLE DE FLORINDE .

Jerome Robbins Dance Division, The New York Public Library. “Costume de Fanny Elssler, rôle de Florinde.

(Le diable boiteux). Ballet-pantomime.” New York Public Library Digital Collections. Accessed October 30, 2018. http://digitalcollections.nypl.org/items/0d4bbeb0-98db0131-65fe-58d385a7b928

65

SECTION I: ANTHOLOGY OF ESSAYS

•

Isadora Duncan’s Modern Dance and Underwear

decade of the 1900’s, her sensational new costume’s

nies of those cities, especially the legendary Ballets Russes,

silhouette and the freedom of movement and graceful

founded by Sergei Diaghilev, featuring the performers

deportment it made possible, helped to inspire not only

Vaslav Nijinsky and Anna Pavlova, who would, with com-

Auguste Rodin to create a series of dance-related sculp-

poser Igor Stravinsky, in 1913 present the revolutionary

tures, using her and other dancers as models, but also the

modernist dance and musical composition, Le Sacre du

great Parisian fashion designer Paul Poiret to create girls’

Printemps (The Rite of Spring), and she adventurously,

dresses and matching coats for Duncan’s students and to

but briefly, built a radically rustic, open-air school of dance

create the “Isadora Duncan evening gown,” a high-waisted

in Athens, Greece that she called the Temple of Dance.4

Grecian dress resembling a night gown, with a sheer scarf-

In her haute couture, semi-transparent chemise dance

like tunic to the knee.

costumes, she, with her troupe of student performers dubbed the Isadorables, changed dance history (Fig. 26).

In her 1927 memoir, My Life, published when she was 50 years old, Duncan explains her school’s radically new theory of dance: in place of the center of the dancer’s movement coming out of the lower waist in the back where the spine meets the hips, rigidly compressed and dramatically shaped with curved corsetry, where, she claimed, ballet’s technique required it to originate, making the dancer move like “an articulated puppet,” the Duncan dance method conceived the free, flexible center of movement to be the solar plexus. Here, just below the sternum, and thus maximizing the full flexibility of the abdomen, rib cage, pectoral muscles, spine, shoulders, neck, and

66

This fashion innovation complemented her choreography

arms, “the central spring of all movement, the crater of

in her many dance performances to packed houses in the

motor power, the unity of diversions of movements are

major cities of Europe and the United Kingdom in the

born, the mirror of vision for the creation of the dance,”

opening decades of the 1900’s. During this time, she

to which the divine message in music was delivered to

rivaled, befriended, and inspired the great ballet compa-

the dancer’s soul.5 In her own lifetime (tragically cut

KATE GREENAWAY, “ MAY ”

Fig. 25 above

Detail of a fire sidewall with her illustration of “The Months,” 1893. Cooper-Hewitt Smithsonian Design Museum, Accession No. 714.38 18612053

ISADORA DUNCAN DANCERS , CIRCA 1915-1923

Fig. 26 facing page

Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs Division, Arnold Genthe Collection: Negatives and Transparencies, Reproduction number LC-G39-T-0958-037

short by her death later in 1927, the same year her mem-

NOTES:

oir was published, in a convertible car accident when one

1

See Marie Taglioni’s profile video created by the Royal Ballet in London: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v= 0DGp0qUcuuM.

2

John Martin, Introduction to the Dance (New York: W.W. Norton, 1939), 225.

3

See Elssler’s profile video created by the Royal Ballet: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F89ijSRwTFg&index= 3&list=PLFEuShFvJzBww3lVbFABGB0HbIxNQ2TiA.

4

The Temple of Dance reopened in 1980.

See http://www.duncandancecenter.org.

she wrought in dance and in the art of fashion helped to

5

Isadora Duncan, My Life (New York: W.W. Norton, 1927), 61.

establish a new, expressive freedom in the lives of girls

6

See current performances of Isadora Duncan dancers at www.isadoraduncan.org.

of her iconic scarves caught in a wheel’s axle) and in the many Duncan schools of dance that followed upon its model, often headed by her adopted daughters who formed the core of the Isadorables, her school’s teaching methodology continues to stress lithe strength and interpretive creativity in movement, set frequently against an outdoor background of garden, forest, and seashore. The changes 6

and young women and an embrace of the wholesome appeal of buoyant, self-assured dancing while clothed only, yet more than sufficiently, in undergarments.

67

Dr. Linda Kornasky, Professor of English, teaches gender studies and American women’s literature at Angelo State University. She has published book chapters and articles about early 20th-century American writers, such as Edith Wharton, and about contemporary popular culture.

68

I have been a collector for several decades, and worked with various museums, galleries and historic sites. In 1993 the Victoria Public Art Gallery (BC Canada) exhibited 75 of my vintage movie posters. I first became aware of the brassiere’s historical importance at a 1990s exhibit in Nanaimo, BC, Canada. A few years later I bought a rare

Brassieres: A Collector’s Perspective

1920s Warner’s Egyptian bra. It reflected America’s fascination with Tutankhamun’s tomb discovery in 1922.

John Rogers

Today my collection has grown to about 400 artifacts from around the world.

Collecting antique and vintage brassieres requires an inquisitive mind to look beyond the garment’s routine function. Its incredible history was born out of the second industrial revolution (1870-1914), and shaped by many significant cultural and socio-economic shifts. Social acceptance began with the ‘proto-brassieres’ as suffragettes won their battles, then steadily adapted with the flappers, the working women of two world wars, the ‘free’ generation of the 60s and women’s financial liberation through the 70s & 80s. In its 130 odd years, the bra has evolved with new fabrics, fashion, manufacturing, and the art of persuasion (marketing). It is one of the most significant inventions by/for women and has become a pillar in the global garment industry.

Museums require specific mandates to direct staff expertise, financial resources, and make the best of limited space to document and preserve any kind of collection. Only a

PACKAGING FOR THE MAIDENFORM VARIETTE BRA

Fig. 27

Private Collection: J. Rogers, Victoria, BC Canada

69

SECTION I: ANTHOLOGY OF ESSAYS

•

Brassieres: A Collector’s Perspective

few large institutions can undertake an exhaustive study

as a whole, and have few facts about brassieres. If there

and comprehensive collection of brassieres on a national

is specific mention of bras, it is likely superficial, sensa-

scale. Some institutions like the Victoria and Albert

tional, or even titillating with many illustrations and little

Museum, the Smithsonian, and the Fashion Institute of

research.

Technology have acquired excellent examples and archival records. Fortunately, private collectors can also

Fortunately, the book Uplift: The Bra in America (2002)

help fill the void to ensure that indispensable historical

is still available. It is written by two professors, Jane Far-

artifacts are preserved.

rell-Beck and Colleen Gau, and is considered to be the most reliable source on the bra’s history in the United

A private collector’s independence offers flexibility and

States.1 Uplift has been a major breakthrough for histori-

ingenuity. We commit our own time, funds and resources

ans, curators and collectors alike. It is my principal ‘go

for research. We enjoy the hunt and the thrill of discovery.

to’ reference when considering an acquisition or further-

With a wealth of practical experience, we know where

ing my research. Without it, I would not have focused

to “mine the artifacts,” identify the ‘missing links’, and

on such a collection. I would not have done business

properly catalogue and protect the artifacts. Issues do arise.

with a New York dealer who, in turn, would not have

Sometimes we work at cross purposes with museums and

referred the San Angelo Museum to me for assistance

are not likely to achieve the strictest archival standards. The

with this wonderful “Inside-Out” exhibit. Based on the

biggest challenge, however, is that “private” collections

findings of these pioneering researchers, I diligently

only exist for about 20 years. The “social resource” values

rescued important pieces that were becoming scarce and/

of these collections could be lost forever if they aren’t

or facing irrevocable damage through wear, alterations

protected by some forward-thinking institution.

and improper storage. My initial objective was to locate and acquire the specimens identified in the book. I also

70

It is difficult to find detailed reliable information about

collect for legacy. Consider the thrill of seeing an original

antique/vintage brassieres. Most long-standing manufac-

Schiaparelli or McQueen. Photos and drawings can be flat

turers either didn’t maintain thorough historical records

and boring without the real garment. Fashion, including

or have made questionable claims about being the first to

brassieres, can only be fully appreciated and evaluated

do “X.” History is often lost when a company goes bank-

in context, content, contours and colour when the actual

rupt or is absorbed by a larger competitor. Many books

item is shown.

and articles on historical costume generalize about lingerie

My collector’s checklist is the same four basic questions

turer’s label styles can also change over the years. Items

for each discovery: Besides condition, what is or will be

from many manufacturing countries can be collectable

its historical significance? Have I ever seen it before? Will

except most of the mass-produced items after the 1980s

I ever likely see it again? Can I afford it?

(e.g. China). Information such as patent #s, the NRA symbol (National Recovery Act: 1933-35), evolving union

After asking “Why,” people then ask me, “What makes a

labels, CC41 (British Board of Trade 1941-1952), and the

bra meaningful in the collector’s eye?” First, one assesses

RN# (Registration Numbers for US businesses), are all

age, condition, rarity, and price relevance. Consideration

important dating clues.

is then given to fabrics and materials, style, function and fashion significance. Who were the manufacturers and

Patent #s are unique to brassieres. There are probably

designers? Where was it made, assembled, and sold? Fads,

thousands worldwide and still counting. Patents demon-

gimmicks and accessories are also relevant. For example,

strate there is no one country of origin for the bra; it

bosom enhancing bust pads date back to the 1900s. Sports

appeared almost simultaneously in the USA, France and

or activity bras became popular as soon as women started

Germany in the 1890s. The garment steadily evolved with

playing tennis (1900). “Bra fitting” tools of shopkeepers,

a cumulation of inventive influences, primarily from

mail order varieties, design prototypes, sales catalogues

women. Patents protected market share for that better

and advertising also add context. I have a 1955 ad in

mousetrap (or bra). Being a highly competitive market, the

which Maidenform offered a $10,000 prize for their

label patent # meant “hands off or we will sue.” One of

highly successful “I dreamed I was…” ad campaign. The

the first most successful patents was Model’s 1926 patent

contest featured their Chansonette, “America’s favorite

#1590693,2 shown in the exhibition (Fig. 3.7, pg. 98).

bra.” I wonder who won and could the prize have been for the company’s famous “wanted” slogan (Fig. 27)?

Homemade brassieres are also collectable. Along with the home sewing machine, easy to sew brassiere patterns

The bra’s label is especially important. A brassiere with-

were popular. Butterick established the highly popular

out a label is like silverware without a hallmark or a

Delineator magazine (1875-1937) with many such patterns.

movie poster without the National Screen Service number

War time and the great depression resulted in fabric short-

(pre-1980s). The label can help date an artifact. Fabrics

ages, so flour and feed companies stepped in with plain

(cotton, arnel, rayon, celanese, rubber, nylon) all have

and colourful sacks. This supply lasted into the 1950s or

different invention dates and use periods. The manufac-

so, when women faced increasingly busy lives at both

71

SECTION I: ANTHOLOGY OF ESSAYS

•

Brassieres: A Collector’s Perspective

home and work. As well, brassieres became increasingly

Antique and vintage “Made in USA” brassieres are col-

complex with patented designs, circle stitches, torpedo

lectable. While America did not solely invent the bra, it

shapes, challenging fabrics, and, of course, the underwire.

quickly became synonymous with quality. America had industrial prowess, abundance of cheap labour and raw

Collectors also look for original packaging and sales tags.

materials, innovative designers, and a thriving capitalistic

Finding a Kestos bra is great, but it is really exceptional

market. The family car got women shopping in the new

to get one in the original paper packet. Packaging offers

department stores. The dazzling array of “sophisticated”

a fascinating perspective about marketing and sales

marketing strategies (newspapers, magazines, radio, tele-

techniques that appealed to women of the day. Original

vision) promoted the sex appeal, health, fashion, and

manufacturer labels (before conglomerate take over) are

comfort aspects throughout the decades. More and more

particularly collectable. For example, the Wonder Bra “with

women used their disposable incomes to achieve the

diagonal slash” began with the Canadian Lady Corset

freedom to move. Corsets, symbols of restraint in a male

company in 1939. Shop tags remind us of famous inde-

dominated society, were replaced by bras and girdles, and

pendent department stores before mergers, and before

now we see more sports bras and thongs.

today’s on-line shopping phenomenon.

Background and personal stories add significant intrinsic

72

Famous designers such as Trigere, Gernreich, Gaultier,

value. The leather halter bra on exhibit (Fig. 6.9, pg. 117)

Pucci, McQueen and Alaia are very collectable particularly

was made by a young hippie from Oregon. She fashioned

if the garment was created when the designer was alive

the bra from old welder’s ‘leathers’ when she worked in

and producing original “works of art.” A designer’s col-

a remote area of Alaska around 1970. The flour sack bra

laboration with a lingerie company is also noteworthy.

in the exhibit shows the Robin Hood character logo

The Pucci set on exhibit (Fig. 6.11, pg. 117) is exceptional.

(Fig. 3.9, pg. 98). The company verified this logo endured

The provenance includes the original bridal shower card,

up to 1937, dating it to the Great Depression. My collected

dated December 23, 1966. This was Pucci’s first year with

examples also include: a ‘chest protector’ brassiere used

Formfit Rogers and the set demonstrates his early geometric

by British military women during the Irish uprisings; a box

designs. Rudi Gernreich didn’t just create his famous

for the first German “bustenhalter” (BH) from the 1895

“no bra” with Exquisite Form but also his “no-back” and

Berlin Exhibition and a Cadolle bra made for the Nieman

“no-side” bras. I have all of these in my collection. One

Marcus department store. Alice Cadolle, daughter of the

wonders who will be the next great bra designer.

French inventor of the soutien gorge (“bosom support”),

was awarded the coveted Nieman Marcus Fashion Award

NOTES:

in 1949.

1

Jane Farrell-Beck and Colleen Gau, Uplift: The Bra in America (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2002).

2

Farrell-Beck and Gau, 44-45.

There are still important artifacts for me to acquire. For example, antique Chinese chest binding garments were commonplace from Confucius to the 1920s. And there are many innovative entrepreneurs who aspire to create the new “edge” for the bra. Just like the protobrassieres made in Chicago in the 1890s, the N12 by Mary Haugh at Continnum is the first practical example of a 3D printed bra (Fig. 8.11, pg. 133). Highly advanced body scanning technology will soon enable precise custom-tailored bra fittings. One day these tailored scans could be 3D printed if a fabric-like filament is created to achieve long lasting, comfortable everyday wear. Regardless, these early technological achievements are worthy of preservation.

The fashions and fads of today, including brassieres, will eventually become tomorrow’s collectable relics.

This exhibit shows that private collections do offer a very valuable “data set” for social scientists, historians and patrons alike. Every collector hopes their artifacts can be preserved for prosperity. I trust I have made a case for preserving one-of-a-kind collections for this unique garment.

73

Since retiring from a career in systems development (2010), John Rogers has been collecting and researching the history of brassieres from a global perspective. His collection includes over 400 world-wide antique, vintage and modern artifacts that exemplify the garment's 130 year history and its possible future directions.

He also collects vintage movie posters, meteorites, and a wide assortment of curiosities.

Anne Timpano’s Venus Series In 2010 I began a body of work that borrows the figure of Venus from Botticelli’s Birth of Venus (ca. 1485) and reinvents her in a modern context. By placing the Venus figure in various exaggerated and often humorous configurations, I seek to raise questions about the nature of womanhood and to critique and parody aspects of our society that are manipulative and exploitative.

Sandro Botticelli, La nascita di Venere (The Birth of Venus), ca. 1485, oil on canvas. 68 x 109 in. (approx.). Uffizi Gallery, Florence 74

FRONTISPIECE: Venus as Cover Girl, 2010, linocut on Rives paper, 11 x 8 inches (image) Courtesy of the artist

ON THE COVER: Venus as Super Hero, 2018, linocut on Kozo paper, 16 x 8 7/8 inches (image)

In Venus as Cover Girl (2010), the image of Venus parodies contemporary fashion magazines that tantalize us with expectations that few of us can ever hope to achieve. This linocut print is a response to American advertising, which regularly uses female figures to entice consumers in ways that often create feelings of inadequacy among members of the very populace being targeted by the advertising.

InVenus as Super Hero (2018), the figure of Venus confronts the viewer in an aggressive stance with a broom raised overhead as if to engage someone in battle. In this linocut print, she is dressed in the clothes of a career woman with a briefcase hanging from her right shoulder. She holds a screaming baby in her left arm, while a dog howls at her from below.

This action-filled scene takes place in a kitchen setting.

Venus has assumed a herculean persona, a woman who can handle anything while remaining cool under pressure. Like so many women in modern society, she does it all: wife, mother, career woman, cook, maid, pet caretaker. She is fierce and protective of her domain and will take on all challengers, all the while an unsung hero whose daily struggles to juggle all her responsibilities often go unrecognized.

75

TheWomen through Time Series of paper dolls continues my body of work using Botticelli’s figure of Venus as a means to address the role of women in society. In this particular series, that societal role is an evolving one, as it spans two centuries from the dawn of the 19th century to the dawn of the 21st century. Throughout the series, Venus appears in female personas that are intended to demonstrate the strength, diversity, and tenacity with which women have steadfastly challenged and, more often than not, transcended societal expectations. They stood at the forefront in securing new rights

Women through Time Series

76

Venus as Dolley Madison, 2018

Venus as Susan B. Anthony, 2018

Venus as The It Girl, 2018

Venus as Rosie the Riveter, 2018

Prismacolor pencil, laser print, and feathers, on Strathmore and Kozo papers mounted on mat board 14 1/4 x 10 1/4 inches

Prismacolor pencil, laser print, and wood on Strathmore papers mounted on mat board 14 1/4 x 10 1/4 inches

Prismacolor pencil, laser print, rhinestones, feathers, artificial flowers, wood, acrylic paint, and beads on Strathmore papers mounted on mat board 14 1/4 x 10 1/4 inches

Prismacolor pencil and laser print on Strathmore papers mounted on mat board 14 1/4 x 10 1/4 inches

under the law. They campaigned for the right to vote and for the end of racial segregation. They established their own rules regarding choices in lifestyle and clothing, and they excelled in career fields previously denied them. These victories were not easily won. It took courage and perseverance, often in the face of stubborn opposition, for women to elevate themselves from passive spectators to active participants in American society.

—Anne Timpano, 2018

Venus as June Cleaver, 2018

Venus as Freedom Rider, 2018

Venus as Rock Star, 2018

Venus as CEO, 2018

Prismacolor pencil, laser print, beads, and feathers on Strathmore papers mounted on mat board 14 1/4 x 10 1/4 inches

Prismacolor, oil pencil, and laser print and feathers on Strathmore and Kozo papers mounted on mat board 14 1/4 x 10 1/4 inches

Prismacolor pencil, laser print, and glitter on Strathmore papers mounted on mat board 14 1/4 x 10 1/4 inches

Prismacolor, oil pencil, laser print, and glitter on Strathmore papers mounted on mat board 14 1/4 x 10 1/4 inches

77

After being introduced to her witty and timely artwork in May of 2018, the San Angelo Museum of Fine Arts commissioned Timpano to create “Venus as Super Hero” as the cover art for this publication, and also to create eight original paper dolls, similar to those in her “Consumermania” series, to illustrate the chapters of this exhibition. As a result, Timpano created the “Women through Time” series. For more on Anne Timpano and her work, go to http://www.annetimpano.com.

SECTION II Catalog of the Exhibition

80 1.1

Gilbert Stuart, Portrait of Dolley Madison, 1804. White House Collection/White House Historical Association.

CHAPTER ONE THE FEDERALIST PERIOD 1790 -1820

Revolution and Freedom: Clothing and the American Identity

Discarding the identity of an English

First Lady Dolley Madison (1809-

in Philadelphia, urging him and the

Colony, early Americans considered

1817) was the celebrity fashionista

other members of the Continental

the importance of clothing as it

of the period, and helped America

Congress to “remember the ladies”

reflected the new American identity.

keep up with the latest trends. The

when fighting for America’s inde-

Rejecting the requirements of “court

popular Empire style of the early

pendence, and to give women a

dress,” President Thomas Jefferson

1800s was the antithesis of the for-

voice in the political process. “We are

received the newly appointed

mal, large and cumbersome dresses

determined to foment a rebellion,”

British ambassador, Anthony Merry,

of the 18th century. The ease of the

she wrote, “and will not hold our-

at the President’s House in 1803.

new style of dressing was reflected

selves bound by any laws in which

Ambassador Merry was formally

in the undergarments: The restrictive

we have no voice or representation.”

attired in an embroidered coat and

stays and hoops of the previous era

They should have listened.

breeches, President Jefferson wore

were replaced by light chemises and

a dressing gown and slippers. Jeffer-

relaxed waistlines. Corsets (if worn

son helped establish a new, relaxed

at all) were comfortable and did

and less formal way of dressing.

nothing to cinch the waist, but very effectively pushed up the breasts.

More relaxed, perhaps, but still fashion-conscious, American women

As for changing restrictive norms,

adopted the European fashions that

even prior to American independ-

followed the French Revolution, tak-

ence, American women struggled

ing inspiration from Classical ideals

for their rights: In 1776, Abigail

and in lighter materials and colors.

Adams wrote to her husband, John,

81

SECTION II: CHAPTER ONE

•

The Federalist Period 1790-1820

82

ABOVE

1.2

Blue & white striped cotton spencer jacket, ca.1815, which was worn as an outer layer, like a cardigan or bolero jacket.

It accentuated the high-waisted Empire style.

Private collection: Steven Porterfield, Midland, TX.

ABOVE

1.4

1.5 1.3

Hand-beaded knitted gloves, 1840, Private collection: Steven Porterfield, Midland, TX. 1.6

Hand-embroidered muslin collar Early 19th c., Private collection: Steven Porterfield, Midland, TX. FACING PAGE , LEFT Hand embroidered fine muslin dress, 1806.

Courtesy of the Witte Museum, San Antonio, TX. Gift of Mrs. C.P. Stafford 1939-30G.

Silver comb, ca. 1820, Private collection: Steven Porterfield, Midland, TX.

RIGHT

1.7

Evening gown, ca.1810-1815, embroidered tulle and silk. San Angelo Museum of Fine Arts. The dresses and evening gowns of the early 1800s were often very sheer or transparent. The original under-dresses from gowns like this rarely survive. The green satin under-dress displayed with this gown has been replaced at some point in its history.

Like all fashion innovations throughout history, the popular fashions of the early 1800s were not universally popular.

They met with scathing criticism from First Lady Abigail Adams (1797-1801), who described them as “too scant upon the body,”and pushing up and showing so much cleavage as to make the wearers “look like nursing mothers.”

FAR RIGHT

1.8

Satin Slippers, ca. 1835-1840. Fort Concho National Historic Landmark. Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Tom Gregg 95.15.16.

83

SECTION II: CHAPTER ONE

•

The Federalist Period 1790-1820

84

LEFT

1.9

Corset, ca.1810, cotton and walrus Ivory. Unlike 18th century stays, this corset widens at the hips and has gussets over the breasts, which allow for the natural curves of the female body. The embroidered motifs (harps and hearts) of this corset were popular decorative elements at the time.

Melanie Talkington collection, Vancouver, BC. ABOVE

1.10 Girls linen chemise, 1815. Courtesy of the Witte Museum.

Gift of Fleurette D. Rinearson 64-10-4G.

85

1.11 Cotton Corset, ca. 1810-1820. Courtesy of the Witte Museum,

San Antonio, Texas 1986-29 P (3).

This corset is displayed so that you can see the pocket in the garment (down the front center, on the inside) where a busk was inserted. A busk was a flat, rigid insert (like a long popsicle stick) which would have separated the breasts and flattened the stomach.

PERIOD CHAIR COURTESY OF RICHARD ROUND

86

CHAPTER TWO THE VICTORIAN PERIOD 1850-1900

Structurally Engineering the Female Silhouette

“Build it big”was a goal of the Victorians,

changed again, this time to the shape

which was the first women’s rights

and their ideal female silhouette was

of an “S.” Women’s bosoms and but-

convention held in America, and So-

no less a feat of structural engineering

tocks were forced up and out, using

journer Truth spoke at the 1850 con-

than the Eiffel Tower, the Crystal Palace,

a long, tight corset that squeezed and

vention. These Conventions marked

or the Brooklyn Bridge. First, reinforced

pushed the body to achieve the desired

the official beginning of the long bat-

corsets were required for the perfect

shape. Some Victorian women tried to

tle for women’s right to vote in our

hourglass figure. Then, to properly fill

change these restrictive fashions, with-

nation. Unfortunately, in the tormented

out the dress, elaborate contraptions

out much success. The “bloomer cos-

years following the Civil War, support-

made of wire, horsehair, wood, spring

tume,” named after women’s rights

ers of civil rights and supporters of

coils, and other types of stiff material

activist Amelia Bloomer, enjoyed a

women’s rights diverged. Prominent

were layered on over the corset! The

brief popularity during the 1850s.

women’s suffragists ignored the 2.2

huge bell-shaped skirts of the 1850s

million black women in America, 2

and 60s required a cage or hoop crino-

Women in the Victorian period were

million of whom had been enslaved

line underneath. After 1870, crinolines

bound, but they were also determined.

prior to the Civil War, and some even

were replaced by bustles, changing a

The abolitionist movement fought to

contested the 15th Amendment (1870),

woman’s lower half from bell-shaped

end slavery, and many of its leaders

which gave black men the right to

to protruding in the back. A popular

were women. Numerous abolitionists

vote. Not until 100 years later did black

style of sleeve in the 1890s, known as

also supported women’s rights and

and white women begin to fight side-

the leg o’mutton, sometimes needed

the leadership of the two movements

by-side for equal rights.

sleeve plumpers—bulky shoulder

initially overlapped. Frederick Dou-

cages with fabric covers. At the end

glass gave an influential speech at

of the 1890s, the ideal silhouette

the Seneca Falls Convention of 1848,

LEFT

2.1

J.C. Smith, Manufacturer, NY, Hoop crinoline, 1860s, cotton covered watch spring steel and cotton tapes.

Melanie Talkington Collection, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.

Corset, circa 1865, Cotton, steel, and reed. Melanie Talkington Collection, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.

Under layers: Chemise, Drawers, Under-petticoat. Melanie Talkington Collection, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.

The boning in this corset is made of reeds, which began to be used around this time period, along with steel. For decades, whalebone was the most commonly used material for corset boning, the rigid supports that created the corset’s shape. Whalebone, however, is not technically bone at all. Also known as baleen, it is the keratinous material found around the upper jaws of baleen whales, used to filter plankton and krill. As whales became more scarce, new materials had to be found.

87

SECTION II: CHAPTER TWO

•

The Victorian Period 1850-1900

88

ABOVE LEFT

2.2

Balbriggan Mills, Embroidered stockings, 1883. Fort Concho National Historic Landmark.

Gift of Ann H. Cunningham 72.63.137.

2.3

Accessories, 1890s.

Leather and fabric shoes; Knitted bag with cut steel design; checkered stockings.

Private Collection: Steven Porterfield, Midland, TX.

LEFT AND ABOVE

ABOVE

2.4

Accessories, 1890s.

Ebony Fan with silk embroidered strawberries; Wool felt hat adorned with feathers.

Private Collection: Steven Porterfield, Midland, TX.

2.5

Printed silk polonaise dress, circa 1868.

San Angelo Museum of Fine Arts.

RIGHT

This dress can be dated so precisely because of the shape of its skirt. The skirts of the 1850s and early 1860s tended to be uniformly round, protruding in the front just as much as the back. But the skirt on this dress is more elliptical, with more volume in the back, marking the beginning of the transition between hoop crinolines and bustles.

Prior to the Industrial Revolution, all decoration on clothing was created by hand. By the Victorian period, factory-produced printed fabrics were widely available and eliminated some of the tedious handwork required for embellishing garments.

PHOTO CREDIT:

Augusta Auctions

SECTION II: CHAPTER TWO

•

The Victorian Period 1850-1900

Victorian women wore many layers of undergarments under their clothes. A chemise and drawers, or a “combination” undergarment went on first.

In the 1880s, combination undergarments were developed to replace the bulkier chemise and drawers. The corset and under-petticoat went on next.

Then, the hoop or bustle. The corset cover (not shown) and the outer petticoat (or multiple petticoats) comprised the final layer before the outer clothing.

These last layers would ensure that corsets and bustles did not snag on the outer garments, and softened the lines created by them.

LEFT

90

2.6

Combination Undergarment: circa 1885, 1900.760.002, Dallas Museum of Fashion, Texas Fashion Collection, University of North Texas.

Bustle with springs: circa 1880, Courtesy of the Witte Museum, San Antonio, Texas. 71-86-18 G (12) Corset, under-petticoat and bustle petticoat: San Angelo Museum of Fine Arts.

2.7

1858 linen chemise: Courtesy of the Witte Museum, San Antonio, Texas. Gift of Mrs. Leslie Lentz 71-86-18 G (12). Drawers: 1870s. 2012.016.002, Gift of Kathy Cullen. Texas Fashion Collection, University of North Texas.

ABOVE

91

TOP LEFT

2.8

Horsehair crinoline, 1850s. Courtesy of the Witte Museum, San Antonio, Texas. Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Eric Steinfeldt 1986-69 G.

ABOVE

2.9

Bust improvers, braided wire, ca 1890.

Courtesy of the Witte Museum, San Antonio, Texas. Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Edward D. Sethness in Memory of the Reid Burchfield Cochran Family/in memory of Dr. Edward M. Boatner DDS 90-93 G (7).

RIGHT

2.10 J.L. Wells wire bustle, 1880.

Melanie Talkington Collection, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.

SECTION II: CHAPTER TWO

•

The Victorian Period 1850-1900

92

TOP LEFT

2.11 Kabo Corset Company, corset for evening wear, 1892. Fort

Concho National Historic Landmark. Gift of the Sol Mayer Family 87.3.1.

ABOVE

2.12 Linen chemise with Spanish lace, 1860s. Courtesy of the Witte

Museum, San Antonio, Texas. Gift of Ruth E. Dunkleberg 65-243-75 G (4) b.

The chemise, or shift, was the mainstay women’s undergarment for hundreds of years (since the Middle Ages), and its design did not change much. The purpose of the chemise was to provide a soft fabric barrier layer between the skin and outer garments. This kept rigid corsets and stiff clothing from digging into the wearer’s flesh, and also protected those outer layers from sweat and body oils.

The chemise could be laundered easily and regularly, the outer layers were usually not laundered at all.

93

ON THE CHAIR

2.13 Over-hoop Petticoat, Corset Cover.

Melanie Talkington Collection, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.

LACQUERED PAPIER MACHÉ CHAIR : C . 1850

94

CHAPTER THREE THE ROARING 20 S

Upheaval and the Jazz Age

The effects of World War I changed

punctuated with the new popularity

attitudes and everyday aspects of

of the cocktail party, despite the fact

people’s lives. The loss of millions

that alcohol was illegal because of

of young lives to war and the Span-

Prohibition! Private citizens made

ish influenza epidemic spurred an

their own liquor at home and speak-

attitude of carefree existence. In

easies and nightclubs were filled with

1920, nearly 150 years after Ameri-

drinking, dancing and the newest

can independence, women finally

craze in music—jazz. Women dared

won the right to vote—and a sense

to cut off their hair, and they smoked

of freedom. Gone were the stuffy

and drank freely in mixed company,

clothes and regimented schedule.

partying just as hard as the men. This

The new style was loose, drop-waist

footloose and fancy-free lifestyle, how-

dresses, and the desired figure was

ever, abruptly ended with the stock

more boyish. The hourglass corset

market crash of 1929. The Hollywood

and multiple layers of underpinnings

glamour of the Great Depression be-

were replaced with a bra and pair

lied the dire straits in which most of

of light, baggy knickers or a combi-

the nation found itself, but the look

nation garment called a cami-knicker.

it presented—trim women wearing

To achieve the popular gamin look

long, columnar, backless dresses,

and wear the “flapper” dress, volup-

close-cropped hair, and elegantly

tuous women donned a long, straight

smoking cigarettes in holders—evolved

corset or a bust flattener. The era was

from the fashions of the Roaring 20s.

95

ABOVE

3.2 LEFT

3.1

Blues singer Bessie Smith, 1920s.

Granamour Weems Collection /Alamy Stock Photo.

Lucien Lelong dress design published in La Femme Chic, a French fashion magazine.

San Angelo Museum of Fine Arts.

SECTION II: CHAPTER THREE

•

The Roaring 20s

LEFT

3.3

Designer unknown, Silk beaded dinner dress, mid 1920s.

San Angelo Museum of Fine Arts.

The beadwork on this silk dinner dress is patterned into an Art Deco design.

Named for the 1925 Paris World’s Fair (Exposition internationale des arts décoratifs et industriels modernes), Art Deco was a distinctive style of decorative arts and architecture created in the period between the First and Second World Wars. It combined modernist, geometric design with rich materials. The bold design on this dress divides the body into geometric sections, and the chevron shape down the center is evocative of a man’s necktie, an example of how women’s fashion of the 1920s was tomboyish in design.

96

Rich beading, gems, metallic fabrics, fringe, and sequins were popular embellishments for formal dresses of the 1920s.

ABOVE

3.4

Accessories, 1920s.

Leather shoes; Pair of shoe buckles; Kid leather embroidered gloves.

Private Collection: Steven Porterfield, Midland, TX.

97

ABOVE

3.5

Accessories, 1920s.

Cloche hat with swallow design; Silk machine-embroidered handkerchief.

Private Collection: Steven Porterfield, Midland, TX.

SECTION II: CHAPTER THREE

•

The Roaring 20s

TOP

3.7

Model bra, 1926 (top left).

Private Collection: J. Rogers, Victoria, British Columbia, Canada.

Not all brassieres of the 1920s were designed to flatten a woman’s curves. Some, like the Model bra, were meant to accentuate them. Bust flattening styles like the Boyshform (Fig. 3.10) were only successful for a brief period of time.

98

ABOVE CENTER

ABOVE

3.6

Cami-knicker (or step-in), 1920s, Jersey knit.

Melanie Talkington Collection, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.

A 1920s woman might have elected to wear a simple camisole rather than a brassiere, or a one-piece cami-knicker like this one, rather than a bra and underpants. In general, 1920s undergarments were very loose fitting and lightweight. Some women opted to wear a corselet (a long, body-slimming corset and bra top combined), on top of their camisole or cami-knicker.

3.8

Art Deco Lingerie clasps, 1920s.

Private Collection: J. Rogers, Victoria, British Columbia, Canada.

These little accessories were necessary because the lingerie of the time did not have adjustable straps.

ABOVE

3.9

Bra and panties made from flour sack material, 1930s (Depression-era).

Private Collection: J. Rogers, Victoria, British Columbia, Canada.

ABOVE

3.13 Knickers, mid 1920s, silk and lace.

San Angelo Museum of Fine Arts.

UPPER LEFT CORNER

3.10 WWI-era French Postcard.

Collection of Howard Taylor.

ABOVE

CENTER

3.12 Salmon pink silk long slip or

nightgown, 1920s.

Courtesy of the Witte Museum, San Antonio, Texas.

3.11 Boyshform bust flattener, 1924.

Private Collection: J. Rogers, Victoria, British Columbia, Canada.

OTTO WAGNER , BEECH WOOD ARM CHAIR , EARLY 20 TH C . SAN ANGELO MUSEUM OF FINE ARTS , BEQUEST OF JAMIE T. POTEET

Victorian drawers, or even the shorter, Edwardian versions with a side closure, would not have worked under the short, lightweight dresses of the 20s.

Taken from the word “knickerbockers,” knickers were the chosen underpants.

Loose, lacy, and light, these drawers are open on the sides and close at the waist with a button and a drawstring.

99

100

CHAPTER FOUR THE WAR YEARS 1941-1945

Women in the Workforce

Emerging from the Great Depression,

cited to be earning a paycheck, did

ognized as military veterans. During

America entered World War II. Women

their part to make sure the lingerie

WWII, women proved that they

entered the workforce and the war

industry stayed alive by buying new

could do anything—fly planes, build

effort in large numbers. Undergar-

undergarments, which were mar-

ships, wire electronics, fix cars,

ments did not change much from

keted to these working women.

decode enemy transmissions, and

the 1930s, but women working in

even play professional baseball.

factories and in auxiliary military

One of the many contributions made

roles demanded less constrictive and

by American women during the

more supportive undergarments.

Second World War was their service

Underpants were still somewhat

as WASPS (Women Airforce Service

loose-fitting, but hugged the body

Pilots). Between early 1943 and

more closely. Panty-girdles were

December 1944, Avenger Field in

invented to be worn under slacks

Sweetwater, Texas was the training

or coveralls. The Saf-T Bra was intro-

ground for 1,074 women who served

duced to protect women from

as pilots during the war. WASPS did

workplace accidents. During the war,

not fly in combat, but they transported

nylon was redirected towards the

military planes, carried cargo, towed

war effort and silk was no longer

targets for live anti-aircraft gun

imported from Japan. Many women

practice, and performed other vital

made their own undergarments or

functions. 38 WASPS gave their lives

repurposed older garments worn

in the service of the United States.

during the Depression. Others, ex-

In 1977, WASPS were officially rec-

4.3

Safety garb for women war workers, including the Saf-T Bra. Los Angeles, California. Acme, ca. 1943.

National Archives.

LEFT

4.1

American Red Cross Volunteer Uniform, worn by Marjorie Merriweather Post, Stein Uniform Company Baltimore, MD, 1941-42. Linen, crepe, shell, ribbon. Hillwood Estate, Museum & Gardens, Washington, DC. Bequest of Marjorie Merriweather Post, 1973 (49.98.1).

Photographed by Renée Comet. San Angelo only.

Marjorie Merriweather Post worked with the American Red Cross in both World Wars. She used her celebrity status as platform to promote the war effort, and leased her sailing yacht to the U.S. Navy for a $1 per year during the war, since, as she said, she did not have a “son to give to the war.” Her daughter, Dina, volunteered as an actress with the U.S.O.

4.2

INSET, LEFT Marjorie Merriweather Post (2nd from left) in her Red Cross Volunteer Uniform. Hillwood Estate, Museum & Gardens Archives.

101

SECTION II: CHAPTER FOUR

•

The War Years 1941-1945

ABOVE LEFT

4.4

Day Suit with fur collar, early 1940s. San Angelo Museum of Fine Arts, Gift of Diana and Vernon Ryan in memory of Leona Catharine Albers Harbert.

4.5

WASP Official Flight Uniform, worn by Doris K. Duren Muise class 44-w-3 1. National WASP WWII Museum, Sweetwater, TX.

RIGHT

102

The WASP flying uniform consisted of a jacket, slacks, a cotton shirt, a black tie, and insignia appropriate to the command in which a WASP was serving. A baseball-style cap or formal dress cap could also be worn. White shirts were worn for all dress occasions and formal inspections, and a blue shirt was worn for operational duty. Slacks were not to be worn in any public place, unless absolutely unavoidable.

WASPS were not only the first women to fly military aircraft, they were the first pilots to wear the Eisenhower, or “Ike,” jacket. As a five-star general and Supreme Commander of the Allied Forces in Europe during World War II, Dwight D. Eisenhower considered the original military uniform bulky and not practical for combat. Seeking a cleaner look, Eisenhower designed a fitted, waist-length coat to be worn in both battles and non-combat situations. The Ike jacket became standard issue for all U.S. troops in November 1944.

103

LEFT

4.6

Leather flight helmet with earphones.

National WASP WWII Museum, Sweetwater, TX.

CENTER

4.7

Aviator goggles.

National WASP WWII Museum, Sweetwater, TX.

RIGHT

4.8

WASP flight uniform cap.

National WASP WWII Museum, Sweetwater, TX.

SECTION II: CHAPTER FOUR

•

The War Years 1941-1945

104 ABOVE

4.9

Willson Safety Products, Saf-t-Bra, WWII era. On loan from Willson History Project, courtesy of GoggleWorks Center for the Arts.

The Saf-t-Bra was produced by Willson’s Goggle Works, in Reading, Pennsylvania, during World War II. Even though it was manufactured for only a brief period, the fact that the Saf-t-Bra was even designed is a pivotal piece of American history. It was a piece of workplace equipment designed specifically for women doing physically and mechanically challenging jobs— jobs which had previously been done exclusively by men.

ON CHAIR

4.10 Silk slip, 1940s. San Angelo Museum of Fine Arts, Gift of Illisa

Goldman; Seamed stockings, 1940s. San Angelo Museum of Fine Arts; Two-Tone Clutch with Lucite Heart.

FOLDING CAMP CHAIR , WWII ERA .

SAN ANGELO MUSEUM OF FINE ARTS

105

ABOVE RIGHT ON MANNEQUIN

4.12 Formfit Life Bra, circa 1943. Private ABOVE LEFT

4.11 Accessories, 1940s.

Silk scarf; Hat accessorized with feathers & faux grapes; Enameled copper leaf brooch; Copper lyre brooch by Matisse; Copper bracelet and earrings set; Satin mules.

Private collection: Steven Porterfield, Midland, TX.

Collection: J. Rogers, Victoria, British Columbia, Canada.

Munsingwear girdle, circa 1942-43.

Private Collection: J. Rogers, Victoria, British Columbia, Canada.

Satin underpants, early 1940s.

San Angelo Museum of Fine Arts.

106

CHAPTER FIVE THE 1950 S

Grace Kelly and Housework in Heels

In a decade’s time the American

pointier, strapless bras became nec-

Post-war America sought to project

woman went from riveting to vacu-

essary for the dresses and blouses

the image of success and domestic

uming. Men returning home after

of the day, and new man-made

tranquility, even as the Cold War

WWII resumed their jobs and women

materials were incorporated, along

raged. And other, stronger undercur-

went back to working in the home.

with bright colors and sexy lace

rents (that boiled over in the next

Utility-based clothing was no longer

overlay. This new ideal of feminine

decade) rippled the seemingly-flaw-

needed. In the post-war years, a

beauty was presented in a range of

less surface. Racial injustice was

new, glamorous, hyper-feminine

looks, from the provocative sweater

flourishing and the catalysts that

ideal emerged, inspired by Christian

girl, to the elegant film actress Grace

effectively began the Civil Rights

Dior’s “New Look.” The fashion

Kelly and dutiful fictional TV mom

Movement happened in the 1950s,

consisted of graceful full skirts, per-

June Cleaver (played by Barbara

including Brown vs. Board of Edu-

fectly coiffed hair, pearl necklaces

Billingsley).

cation and a brave and dedicated

and high heels, worn even during

woman, Rosa Parks, who refused

housework. Sleek, futuristic designs

to give up her seat on a segregated

were incorporated into everything,

bus in 1955.

including appliances, furniture, cars and brassieres. The ideal female silhouette was trim through the waist with a perky bust. Underwear designs that emerged in the 1940s continued into the 1950s with a few modifications: The cups of the bras became LEFT

5.1

Montamower trash burner ad from the Saturday Evening Post, May 7, 1955.

San Angelo Museum of Fine Arts.

5.2

A diagram of a family fallout shelter (4-6 persons), 1958. Fallout shelters were built during the Cold War for protection from radiation, in the case of nuclear war. National Archives.

RIGHT

107

SECTION II: CHAPTER FIVE

•

The 1950s

LEFT

5.3

108 5.4

Ceil Chapman party dress, 1950s.

San Angelo Museum of Fine Arts.

CENTER ABOVE ( DISPLAY ) Samsonite, Faux-alligator train case, 1950s.

San Angelo Museum of Fine Arts.

Thanks to the postwar economic boom, travel was a luxury available to many more Americans than ever before. The American road trip, cross country train travel, and even Europe via airplane became affordable to middle-class families.

ABOVE

5.5

I. Miller Shoes, 1950s.

Private Collection: Steven Porterfield, Midland, TX.

109

ABOVE

5.6

Accessories, 1950s.

Bugle beadwork handbag; Shriner of New York brooch; Orange & opalescent glass bead necklace; Gloves; Leopard-pattern dyed goatskin hat.

Private Collection: Steven Porterfield, Midland, TX.

RIGHT

5.7

Traina-Norell (Norman Norell), Day Dress, Summer 1951. 1938.001.024, Neiman-Marcus Collection, Texas Fashion Collection, University of North Texas.

In partnership with Anthony Traina, who managed the business aspect of their fashion house, Norman Norell was instrumental in defining 1950s femininity. His clothes were known for their detail, tailoring, and high quality construction, as well as their iconic style.

SECTION II: CHAPTER FIVE

•

The 1950s

5.8

110

LEFT, ON MANNEQUIN Warners, Strapless bra with whirlpool stitch, 1950s. San Angelo Museum of Fine Arts.

Pink and black girdle, 1950s. San Angelo Museum of Fine Arts.

Embroidered crinoline, 1950s. San Angelo Museum of Fine Arts.

ABOVE

5.9

Having disappeared around 1880, crinolines made a comeback in the 1950s. In order to create the desired silhouette, skirts needed a lot of support underneath to give them the fullness they needed. The crinolines of the 1950s were made of softer materials than the Victorian undergarments, and the layers of netting or tulle made a “swishing” sound when the wearer moved, part of the 1950s image of soft femininity.

Madame Adrienne, long-line strapless bra, cup size C, 1950s. Private Collection: J. Rogers, Victoria, British Columbia, Canada.

5.10 Hollywood-Maxwell “Petal Pusher” bra, cup

size A, 1950s. San Angelo Museum of Fine Arts. Gift of the Mansell Family.

5.11 Maidenform “Masquerade” bra pads box,

1950s. Private Collection: J. Rogers, Victoria, British Columbia, Canada.

111

ABOVE

5.12 One pair of inflatable inserts, Two pairs of fabric falsies, 1950s. Private Collection: J. Rogers, Victoria, British Columbia, Canada.

The Space Race influenced the designs of everything from cars to appliances to brassieres. The headlights on cars and the ideal pointy female bust of the era seemed to take their inspiration from the nose cones of rockets. The female breast, however, doesn’t naturally resemble a rocket, so the brassieres themselves and bra accessories such as these shaped the bust line according to the ideal. The inflatable inserts had an opening at the top for a straw or a tube, which the wearer would blow into to achieve the desired volume once they were snugly inside her bra.

CHARLES AND RAY EAMES , MOLDED PLYWOOD CHAIR , DESIGNED 1947 . SAN ANGELO MUSEUM OF FINE ARTS . GIFT OF SUE MIMS

112

6.1

ABOVE

FAR RIGHT

An unidentified member of the Women's Liberation Party drops a brassiere in the trash barrel in protest of the Miss America pageant in Atlantic City, N.J., on Sept. 7, 1968.

ASSOCIATED PRESS. © 1968 The Associated Press.

6.2

Freedom Trash Can (replica).

CHAPTER SIX THE 1960 S AND 70 S

Counterculture and Feminism

In 1960, the FDA approved “the Pill”

King, Jr. and Robert Kennedy; the

formly white beauty standards. The

for use as a contraceptive. In the

Vietnam War; the Civil Rights Move-

changes and challenges of the times

decade that followed, American

ment; Black Power; student protests;

were reflected in the designs of

women began to graduate from

and the beginning of the long struggle

clothing and undergarments. Women

college and start careers at a higher

for women’s rights in the workplace

who had never attended a protest

rate than ever before. Women

and in society. The protest of the 1968

march still wore the colorful, psy-

aggressively challenged previous

Miss America Pageant in Atlantic City

chedelic patterns, short skirts, and

ideals of feminine duty, beauty, and

was a major milestone in the women’s

lightweight undergarments that

sexual norms. The widespread use

liberation movement, when the

defined the fashions of the era.

of corsets and girdles came to an

protestors gathered on the boardwalk

end and suddenly there were more

and decried the pageant as being

choices: Heels or flats. Mini skirt or

both racist and misogynistic. The

long, billowy dress. Slips and bras

organizers set out the Freedom

were optional. Pantyhose were

Trash Can, into which women were

developed for wear with short skirts

encouraged to toss bras, girdles,

and without girdles.

fashion magazines, curlers, high heels, and “other instruments of

The social and political upheaval

torture.” Simultaneously, the Miss

of the 1960s was astonishing and

Black America Pageant, a protest

explosive. It was a tumultuous and

organized by another group, was

deeply divisive era that included the

held in the nearby Ritz Carlton,

assassinations of JFK, Martin Luther

also denouncing unrealistic and uni-

113

SECTION II: CHAPTER SIX

•

The 1960s and 70s

114

LEFT

6.3

Geoffrey Beene, Linen Day Dress, circa 1967.

San Angelo Museum of Fine Arts.

American designer Geoffrey Beene founded his New York design house in 1963. His preference for simple lines and comfortable materials lent itself beautifully to the new styles of the 1960s.

ABOVE

6.4

Accessories, 1960s.

Parkridge Hat; Seed Shoulderbag; Gloves.

Private Collection: Steven Porterfield, Midland, Texas.

115

LEFT

6.5

Handbag made from Winston cigarette wrappers, 1960s.

PVH Archives.

6.6

CENTER

ABOVE

Silk scarf, 1960s.

Private Collection: Steven Porterfield, Midland, Texas.

6.7

White and gold metal HobĂŠ necklace.

Private Collection: Steven Porterfield, Midland, TX.

SECTION II: CHAPTER SIX

•

The 1960s and 70s

116

LEFT

6.8

Assorted colored panty-hose, 1960s.

San Angelo Museum of Fine Arts.

CHAIR : COMMERCIALLY AVAILABLE MODERN REPLICA OF EERO AARNIO ’ S BALL CHAIR ( ORIGINAL DESIGN 1963 )

117 ABOVE TOP

6.9

Handmade suede bra top, created from an old welder’s apron, 1972. Private Collection: J. Rogers, Victoria, British Columbia, Canada.

RIGHT

6.11 Emilio Pucci for Formfit Rogers, Undergarment set with robe, panty LOWER CENTER

6.10 Rudi Gernreich, No-Bra, ca. 1965. Private Collection:

girdle, and bra, 1966, Nylon tricot, Lycra, Spandex. Private Collection: J. Rogers, Victoria, British Columbia, Canada.

J. Rogers, Victoria, British Columbia, Canada.

Austrian-born Gernreich is credited with using “fashion design as a social statement to advance sexual freedom.”

This design was minimalistic and revolutionary, following the natural curves of a woman’s body.

In the late 1950s, Italian designer Emilio Pucci signed a contract with American lingerie manufacturer Formfit Rogers. The partnership lasted until 1979 when the company was sold. Pucci’s colorful, playful designs translated well into lingerie and influenced many other designers and manufacturers of the 1960s and 70s.

SECTION II: CHAPTER SIX

•

The 1960s and 70s

118 ABOVE TOP

6.12 “Ban the Bra” protest button, late

RIGHT

6.14 Vassarette Jr., Undergarment set of bra, bikini brief, and garter belt (not shown), circa

1960s. Private Collection: J. Rogers, Victoria, British Columbia, Canada.

1965. 1900.776.002, Donor unknown, Texas Fashion Collection, University of North Texas. Photographed by Brandon Nichols.

The man who owned this protest button took it with him to the Vietnam War. He survived the war and the button did, too.

This set shows the popularity of bright colors and vibrant patterns in the turbulent 60s, and its cut and design are equally illustrative of the changing times. The set includes a pair of bikini panties, a garter belt, a half-slip, and a bra, all made of a lightweight, comfortable material, instead of the flesh-squeezing thick rubbery stuff of the 40s and 50s. The low rise bikini panty, and omission of a girdle represent a complete departure from older trends, as does the fact that the half-slip is short enough to be worn with a mini skirt. The woman who wore it also might have chosen to leave off the garter belt, preferring to wear pantyhose—an entirely new invention at the time.

ABOVE

6.13 Pantyhose with lace bikini panties.

San Angelo Museum of Fine Arts.

119

LEFT

6.15 Modess Sanitary Belt, ca. 1970. San Angelo Museum of Fine Arts.

For thousands of years before self-adhesive maxi pads, sanitary pads (disposable, washable, homemade, or mass produced) had to be clipped, pinned, or buckled in place by another mechanism.

Commercially made sanitary belts like this one were produced beginning in the Victorian period, and did not disappear until the early 1980s. The self-adhesive maxi pad was first introduced around 1970. Tampons were first patented in 1936, but were not widely used until recent decades.

ABOVE

6.16 NegligĂŠe Set, 1970s.

San Angelo Museum of Fine Arts, Gift of Illisa Goldman.

120

CHAPTER SEVEN THE 1980 S AND 90 S

The MTV Era: Underwear or Outerwear?

The Memphis Design Movement

By 1980, women had long since

highest paying jobs. For the first time

represented an irreverent departure

proven that they had the ability to

in American history, sexual harass-

from prevailing design models of the

work alongside men, but they still

ment legislation was introduced. The

post-WWII, mid-century era, and

faced the more insidious challenges

bright, color-block designs, bold

influenced everything from furniture

of discrimination, disparity in pay,

geometric shapes, and wide, padded

to fashion. Pop icons like Madonna

and sexual harassment. The term

shoulders, worn together with short

and Selena ushered in a period where

“glass ceiling” began to be commonly

skirts and bra tops, of popular 80s and

underwear played a starring role, not

used to describe the invisible barrier

90s fashions exuded confidence and

just a supporting role. The idea of

that stopped women from reaching

ambition coupled with unashamed

underwear as outerwear became

the top executive positions and

femininity.

mainstream fashion. Women fought to break the glass ceiling wearing lacy bustiers under power suits, and also began fighting back against sexual harassment in the workplace.

In their leisure time, women showed off their aerobicized bodies in highcut lingerie, swimsuits, and leotards.

Bras and shoulders were padded once more. Underwear was worn proudly, almost aggressively.

121

LEFT

7.1

Selena 1993 © Al Rendon.

Tejano star Selena Quintanilla-Pérez launched her own fashion line in 1994.

ABOVE

7.2

1995 protest, Washington, D.C. Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs Division, Maureen Keating, CQ Roll Call.

Photograph Collection, LC-DIG-ppmsca-38888.

SECTION II: CHAPTER SEVEN

•

The 1980s and 90s

ABOVE LEFT

122

7.3

Bob Mackie, Embellished jean shorts with sheer blouse, designed for Cher. Bra: Victoria’s Secret, circa 1990.

Private Collection: J. Rogers, Victoria, British Columbia, Canada.

7.4

Chair: Michele de Lucchi, The First Chair, 1983.

Collection of Howard Taylor.

ABOVE CENTER ( DISPLAY )

De Lucchi is best known for his architectural-like furniture and industrial designs, and specifically for his work done with the Memphis Group, founded in 1980 by his friend and mentor, Ettore Sottsass. This chair is one of the Memphis Group’s earliest and most successful designs, and an example of how the Group used bright colors and bold forms, which often resemble child’s toys.

RIGHT

7.5

Olga’s Christina, Cotton/Spandex leotard in “Fireworks” print, 1983. PVH Archives.

Olga, a leading, California-based intimates designer, took a youthful turn with its Christina line. In the early 1980s, the company trademarked the Sportsbra name for the fairly new garment type and produced activewear like leotards with built-in support and tights with hidden knee pads for aerobic floor exercises. This leotard has built-in shoulder pads.

LEFT ABOVE

7.6

Gelmart, Sequined bra top, 1980s.

Private Collection: J. Rogers, Victoria, British Columbia, Canada.

123

LEFT BELOW

7.7

Gilda Marx, Breathables Bodywear bra, 1980s.

Nylon, Lycra, Spandex.

Private Collection: J. Rogers, Victoria, British Columbia, Canada.

ABOVE

Aerobic workouts for women reached peak popularity in the mid-1980s, thanks to female entrepreneurs such as Jacki Sorensen and Judi Sheppard Missett (founder of Jazzercise), and the VHS tape. Jane Fonda’s first workout video sold 17 million copies. The designer of this bra, Gilda Marx, is credited with inventing fitness fashion. As a dancer and fitness instructor, she recognized the need for more flexible, comfortable, and breathable garments.

7.8

Thierry Mugler, Skirt Suit, 1980s. 2014.014.010, Gift of Darlene Cass, Texas Fashion Collection, University of North Texas.

SECTION II: CHAPTER SEVEN

•

The 1980s and 90s

124

LEFT AND ABOVE RIGHT

7.9

White lace bra (with camisole neckline) and thong panties, mid to late 1980s. Private Collection: J. Rogers, Victoria, British Columbia, Canada.

The top of this brassiere is meant to be seen. Worn under a suit jacket or button-down blouse open near the neckline, the lacy camisole detail would add an element of sexiness and femininity to a power suit or oversized top.

RIGHT

7.10 Frederick’s of Hollywood, Bra with shoulder pads, 1980s.

Private Collection: J. Rogers, Victoria, British Columbia, Canada.

Founded in 1947, Frederick’s of Hollywood is primarily known for racy lingerie. It led the lingerie market until it was eclipsed

by Victoria’s Secret. The shoulder pads incorporated into the straps of this bra would have been a convenient means of attaining the desired late 80s silhouette, without the fear of one’s shoulder pads falling out.

125

LEFT

7.11 Hanes, L’eggs Sheer Energy pantyhose, 1980s.

ABOVE

7.12 Prohibition, Glow-in-the-dark Rave Bra, mid-1990s.

San Angelo Museum of Fine Arts.

Private Collection: J. Rogers, Victoria, British Columbia, Canada.

L’eggs were designed to be sold in supermarkets, so that a woman would no longer have to make a trip to the department store to buy pantyhose. They quickly became the top-selling brand of hosiery. The plastic egg design is hailed as one of the iconic product designs of the 20th century, but it was discontinued in 1991 over concerns about wasteful packaging.

The Rave scene reached the height of its popularity in the 1990s. Raves were organized dance parties characterized by loud electronic dance music, drug use, fog machines, and laser light shows. They were lit with black lights, hence the glow-inthe dark garments.

126

CHAPTER EIGHT THE CONTEMPORARY AGE

What Goes Around, Comes Around

Design combinations of the last two

In this era, technology has provided

the other way in our society. Social

hundred years have been incorpo-

a powerful tool for social activism.

media activism is also helping us

rated into the popular fashions of

Social media has proven it can top-

embrace the idea that any person

today. For undergarments, women

ple governments, and it has been

of any body type should be able to

are faced with an overwhelming

the platform for current discussions

wear anything they choose. Even

array of choices, ranging from no

about body autonomy, family and

with all the progress, we still have a

underwear at all, to androgynous

paternity leave, body positivity, and

long way to go before we, as a cul-

cotton briefs, to constrictive shape-

gender identity. Social media is

ture, stop shaming women for their

wear and waist-training corsets. The

credited with the unprecedented

body type, race, gender, or clothing

female silhouette we see in popular

turnout at the Women’s March on

choices.

media and advertising is surgically,

January 21, 2017. Half a million

mechanically, and digitally manipu-

people participated just in Washing-

lated. Nevertheless, women have

ton, D.C., and an estimated 4 mil-

never been so free to choose what

lion around the nation. #MeToo

they wear, and contemporary femi-

generated more than 12 million

nist movements remind us that what

posts within a day’s time. It shed

a woman chooses to wear does not

light on the pervasiveness and per-

define her, nor does it give anyone

sistence of sexual harassment, as-

permission to judge her.

sault, victim-blaming, and looking

127

LEFT

8.1

Dolce & Gabbana, Corset-style Belt, 2007. 2014.012.014, Gift of Neiman Marcus, Future Fashion Collection, Texas Fashion Collection, University of North Texas.

Dolce & Gabbana, Silk Sheath Dress. San Angelo Museum of Fine Arts.

In their fall 2007 ready-to-wear collection, Dolce & Gabbana created futuristic and highly sexualized bodies through reflective, luxurious materials and figure-hugging silhouettes that refer to S&M culture. This belt, embellished with two padlocks and keys, communicates both restraint and overt eroticism. The fact that the woman herself wears the keys (attached by a chain to the belt) signifies her control over her own body.

SECTION II: CHAPTER EIGHT

•

The Contemporary Age

128

LEFT

8.2

Tracy Reese, “Sophisticated Ambiance” floral embellished dress, Fall 2013. San Angelo Museum of Fine Arts.

First Lady Michelle Obama wore an identical dress to the ceremony to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, on August 28, 2013. As First Lady, her widely-publicized fashion choices generated criticism from some (such as those who lamented her bare arms), but gained a nation of fans who admired her style, her choice of affordable brands, and her partiality for minority and emerging designers. Mrs. Obama wore sleeveless, fit-and-flare dresses (like this one) beautifully and helped popularize the style.

129 LEFT

8.3

John Richmond, Sequined dress, Fall 2010.

San Angelo Museum of Fine Arts.

Kim Kardashian wore an identical dress to her 30th birthday party, on October 15, 2010. Kardashian is one of multiple celebrities who have encouraged women to embrace their curves and have popularized the “bodycon” (short for “bodyconscious”) style of dress.

CENTER

8.4

Tommy Hilfiger Collection, Sequined hot pants ensemble, designed for and worn by Lady Gaga, Spring 2017.

PVH Archives.

Lady Gaga wore this outfit to Tommy Hilfiger’s Spring 2017 Tommyland fashion show in Venice Beach, California. She was the target of social media body-shaming after her performance at the Super Bowl just one week prior. She responded on Instagram, “I’m proud of my body and you should be proud of yours, too. No matter who you are or what you do…

Be you, and be relentlessly you.”

SECTION II: CHAPTER EIGHT

•

The Contemporary Age

ABOVE

8.5

Chanel, Push-up bra, Gold lambskin and silk.

Private Collection: J. Rogers, Victoria, B.C. Canada.

130 8.6

RIGHT, TOP Monica and Penelope Cruz for Agent Provocateur, Lace bra. Private Collection: J. Rogers, Victoria, British Columbia, Canada.

8.7

RIGHT, BOTTOM Spanx, Booty Booster Girl Short, 2018. San Angelo Museum of Fine Arts.

In 2012, Spanx founder Sara Blakely became the youngest self-made female billionaire at age 41, according to Forbes Magazine. She started her company in 2000 because she recognized a need for toe-less pantyhose while selling fax machines after college. Her shapewear, however, is what has made her fortune.

Multiple contemporary styles hearken back to earlier times. The “cold shoulder” look is a recap of the popularity of bare shoulders in the 19th century. The Dolce & Gabbana corset belt in this exhibit calls to mind a medieval chastity belt. This garment functions as a bustle (1880s), girdle (40s and 50s), and corset (1700s – 1920) all in one.

131

LEFT

8.8

Jean Paul Gaultier for La Perla, Cone bra and panty set, 2010.

Private Collection: J. Rogers, Victoria, B.C. Canada.

Jean Paul Gaultier created the iconic cone bra worn by Madonna in her 1990 Blond Ambition tour, and 20 years later teamed up with La Perla to create a reminiscent lingerie line for retail sale.

RIGHT

8.9

CALVIN KLEIN Women’s 365 Cotton Boyshort, 2009.

PVH Archives.

SECTION II: CHAPTER EIGHT

•

The Contemporary Age

132

ABOVE

8.10 Pink Pussyhat, Hand-knit, worn at the Women’s March, January 21, 2017. Courtesy of Anthony Catanzaro, New York, NY.

Partly a description of the kitty-cat-ear shape, and also a protest against vulgar and misogynistic comments by Donald Trump, Pussyhats were worn at the 2017 Women’s March as a token of solidarity among supporters of women’s rights. The designers of the Pussyhat, Kat Coyle, Krista Suh, and Jayna Zweiman, distributed the knitting pattern over social media prior to the march, and it has since become an internationally-recognizable symbol of women’s rights activism. This particular hat was worn by a man, one of thousands to participate in the Women’s March.

133

ABOVE

8.11 Jenna Fizel and Mary Haung of Continuum Fashion, N12 3-d printed bra, 2011.

Private Collection: J. Rogers, Victoria, B.C. Canada.

N12 stands for “Nylon 12,” the material from which it is made. The N12 bikini was the world’s first ready-to-wear, completely 3D-printed article of clothing. The N12 was designed using CAD software and an algorithm that creates a fabric of interconnected circles of varying size, adapted to the changing curvature of the surface —in this case, a woman’s body.

Production Photos

134

135

Installation Photos

136

137

CHECKLIST OF THE EXHIBITION

“Dissected” Mannequin (p. 44)

Structurally Engineering the Female Silhouette

1.

OUTER GARMENTS:

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

Combination undergarment, Cotton lawn with lace and ribbon insertions, 1890s. Melanie Talkington Collection, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.

Under-petticoat, striped cotton, 1890s.

Melanie Talkington Collection, Vancouver, BC, Canada.

Cresco Corset Company, Michigan, Corset with hip lacing, steel bones, mid 1890s.

Melanie Talkington Collection, Vancouver, BC, Canada.

Cotton lawn corset cover, 1890s; Polished cotton outer petticoat, 1890s.

Melanie Talkington Collection, Vancouver, BC, Canada.

Kabo Corset Company, Corset for evening wear, 1892.

Fort Concho National Historic Landmark.

Gift of the Sol Mayer Family 87.3.1. (p. 92) Petticoat, 1880-1900, (not pictured).

San Angelo Museum of Fine Arts.

The Federalist Period 1790 – 1820

Revolution and Freedom: Clothing and the American Identity OUTER GARMENTS:

7.

8.

9.

Evening gown, circa 1810-1815, embroidered tulle and silk. San Angelo Museum of Fine Arts.

Hand-embroidered fine muslin dress, 1806.

Courtesy of the Witte Museum, San Antonio, Texas.

Gift of Mrs. C.P. Stafford 1939-30G. Blue and white striped cotton spencer jacket, circa 1815.

Private Collection: Steven Porterfield, Midland, TX.

UNDERGARMENTS:

10. Corset, circa 1810, cotton, walrus ivory.

Melanie Talkington Collection, Vancouver, BC, Canada.

11. Chemise, circa 1810 (reproduction).

Melanie Talkington Collection, Vancouver, BC, Canada.

12. Cotton corset with busk pocket displayed, circa 18101820. Courtesy of the Witte Museum, San Antonio, Texas.

1986-29 P (3).

13. Girl’s linen chemise, 1815. Courtesy of the Witte Museum.

Gift of Fleurette D. Rinearson 64-10-4G. OTHER ITEMS:

138

The Victorian Period 1850 – 1900

UNDERGARMENTS:

14. Hand-embroidered muslin collar, early 19th c.

Private Collection: Steven Porterfield, Midland, TX. 15. Silver comb, circa 1820.

Private Collection: Steven Porterfield, Midland, TX. 16. Hand-beaded knitted gloves, 1840.

Private Collection: Steven Porterfield, Midland, TX. 17. Satin slippers, circa 1835-1840.

Fort Concho National Historic Landmark.

Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Tom Gregg 95.15.16.

18. Period chair courtesy of Richard Round.

19. Printed silk polonaise dress, circa 1868.

San Angelo Museum of Fine Arts.

UNDERGARMENTS:

20. J.C. Smith, Manufacturer, NY, Hoop crinoline, 1860s, cotton covered watch spring steel and cotton tapes.

Melanie Talkington Collection, Vancouver, BC, Canada.

21. Corset, circa 1865, cotton, steel, and reed.

Melanie Talkington Collection, Vancouver, BC, Canada.

22. Chemise, Drawers, Under-petticoat, 1860s.

Melanie Talkington Collection, Vancouver, BC, Canada.

23. Over-hoop petticoat, Corset cover, 1860s.

Melanie Talkington Collection, Vancouver, BC, Canada.

24. Horsehair crinoline, circa 1850s.

Courtesy of the Witte Museum, San Antonio, Texas.

Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Eric Steinfeldt 1986-69 G. 25. Linen chemise, 1858.

Courtesy of the Witte Museum, San Antonio, Texas.

Gift of Mrs. Leslie Lentz 71-86-18 G (12).

26. Drawers, 1870s. 2012.016.002, Gift of Kathy Cullen.

Texas Fashion Collection, University of North Texas.

27. Combination Undergarment, circa 1885. 1900.760.002, Dallas Museum of Fashion, Texas Fashion Collection, University of North Texas.

28. Bustle with springs, circa 1880. Courtesy of the Witte Museum, San Antonio, Texas. 71-86-18 G (12).

29. John Wannamaker and Co., Corset, circa 1900.

San Angelo Museum of Fine Arts.

30. Bustle petticoat with train, 1880s.

San Angelo Museum of Fine Arts.

31. Linen chemise with Spanish lace, 1860s.

Courtesy of the Witte Museum, San Antonio, Texas.

Gift of Ruth E. Dunkleberg 65-243-75 G (4) b.

32. Bust improvers, braided wire, circa 1890.

Courtesy of the Witte Museum, San Antonio, Texas.

Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Edward D. Sethness in Memory of the Reid Burchfield Cochran Family/in memory of Dr. Edward M. Boatner DDS 90-93 G (7).

33. J.L. Wells wire bustle, 1880.

Melanie Talkington Collection, Vancouver, BC, Canada.

34. Pomeroy Surgical Corset, circa 1900.

San Angelo Museum of Fine Arts.

35. Lumbar support corset, mid 20th c.

San Angelo Museum of Fine Arts.

36. Checkered stockings, circa 1890s.

Private Collection: Steven Porterfield, Midland, TX. 37. Balbriggan Mills, Embroidered stockings, 1883.

Fort Concho National Historic Landmark.

Gift of Ann H. Cunningham 72.63.137.

OTHER ITEMS:

The War Years 1941-1945

38. Wool felt hat adorned with feathers Private Collection: Steven Porterfield, Midland, 39. Knitted bag with cut steel design Private Collection: Steven Porterfield, Midland, 40. Leather and fabric shoes Private Collection: Steven Porterfield, Midland, 41. Ebony fan with silk embroidered strawberries Private Collection: Steven Porterfield, Midland, 42. Lacquered Papier MachĂŠ Chair, circa 1850.

San Angelo Museum of Fine Arts.

Women in the Workforce

TX. TX. TX. TX.

The Roaring 20s

Upheaval and the Jazz Age OUTER GARMENTS:

43. Designer unknown, Silk beaded dinner dress, mid 1920s. San Angelo Museum of Fine Arts.

UNDERGARMENTS:

44. Knickers, mid 1920s, silk and lace.

San Angelo Museum of Fine Arts 45. Salmon pink silk long slip or nightgown, 1920s.

Courtesy of the Witte Museum, San Antonio, Texas.

FIC 2018-11.

46. Cami-knicker (or step-in), 1920s, jersey knit.

Melanie Talkington Collection, Vancouver, BC, Canada.

47. Model bra, 1926.

Private Collection: J. Rogers, Victoria, BC, Canada.

48. Boyshform bust flattener, 1924.

Private Collection: J. Rogers, Victoria, BC, Canada.

49. Bra and panties made from flour sack material, 1930s (Depression-era).

Private Collection: J. Rogers, Victoria, BC, Canada.

OTHER ITEMS:

50. Art Deco Lingerie clasps.

Private Collection: J. Rogers, Victoria, BC, Canada.

51. WWI-era French Postcard. Collection of Howard Taylor.

52. Leather shoes.

Private Collection: Steven Porterfield, Midland, TX. 53. Pair of shoe buckles Private Collection: Steven Porterfield, Midland, TX. 54. Cloche hat with swallow design Private Collection: Steven Porterfield, Midland, TX. 55. Kid leather embroidered gloves Private Collection: Steven Porterfield, Midland, TX. 56. Silk machine-embroidered handkerchief Private Collection: Steven Porterfield, Midland, TX. 57. Otto Wagner, Beech wood arm chair, early 20th c.

San Angelo Museum of Fine Arts, Bequest of Jamie T. Poteet 2015.18.11.

OUTER GARMENTS:

58. American Red Cross Volunteer Uniform, worn by Marjorie Merriweather Post, Stein Uniform Company Baltimore, MD, 1941-42. Linen, crepe, shell, ribbon.

Hillwood Estate, Museum & Gardens, Washington, DC. Bequest of Marjorie Merriweather Post, 1973 (49.98.1).

San Angelo only.

59. WASP Official Flight Uniform, worn by Doris K. Duren Muise class 44-w-3 1, National WASP WWII Museum, Sweetwater, TX. 60. WASP flight uniform cap.

National WASP WWII Museum, Sweetwater, TX. 61. Leather flight helmet with earphones.

National WASP WWII Museum, Sweetwater, TX. 62. Aviator goggles. National WASP WWII Museum, Sweetwater, TX. 63. Day Suit with fur collar, early 1940s.

San Angelo Museum of Fine Arts, Gift of Diana and Vernon Ryan in memory of Leona Catharine Albers Harbert.

UNDERGARMENTS:

64. Willson Safety Products, Saf-T Bra, WWII era. On loan from Willson History Project, courtesy of GoggleWorks Center for the Arts.

65. Formfit Life Bra, circa 1943.

Private Collection: J. Rogers, Victoria, BC, Canada.

66. Munsingwear girdle, circa 1942-43.

Private Collection: J. Rogers, Victoria, BC, Canada.

67. Satin underpants, early 1940s.

San Angelo Museum of Fine Arts.

68. Silk slip, 1940s. San Angelo Museum of Fine Arts, Gift of Illisa Goldman.

69. Seamed stockings, 1940s.

San Angelo Museum of Fine Arts.

OTHER ITEMS:

70. Hat accessorized with feathers & faux grapes Private Collection: Steven Porterfield, Midland, TX. 71. Silk scarf Private Collection: Steven Porterfield, Midland, TX. 72. Enameled copper leaf brooch Private Collection: Steven Porterfield, Midland, TX. 73. Copper lyre brooch by Matisse Private Collection: Steven Porterfield, Midland, TX. 74. Satin mules Private Collection: Steven Porterfield, Midland, TX. 75. 2 Piece copper bracelet & earring set Private Collection: Steven Porterfield, Midland, TX. 76. Two-Tone Clutch with Lucite Heart Private Collection: Steven Porterfield, Midland, TX. 77. Coty, New York, Compact with rouge, powder, and lipstick, WWII era. San Angelo Museum of Fine Arts.

78. Folding camp chair, WWII era.

San Angelo Museum of Fine Arts.

139

The 1950s

The 1960s and 70s

Grace Kelly and Housework in Heels

Counterculture and Feminism

OUTER GARMENTS:

OUTER GARMENTS:

79. Traina-Norell (Norman Norell), Day Dress, Summer 1951. 1938.001.024, Neiman-Marcus Collection, Texas Fashion Collection, University of North Texas.

80. Ceil Chapman party dress, 1950s.

San Angelo Museum of Fine Arts.

94. Geoffrey Beene, Linen Day Dress, circa 1967.

San Angelo Museum of Fine Arts.

95. Handmade suede bra top, created from an old welder’s apron, 1972.

Private Collection: J. Rogers, Victoria, BC, Canada.

UNDERGARMENTS:

UNDERGARMENTS:

81. Warners, Strapless bra with whirlpool stitch, 1950s.

San Angelo Museum of Fine Arts.

82. Pink and black girdle and embroidered crinoline, 1950s.

San Angelo Museum of Fine Arts.

83. Hollywood-Maxwell “Petal Pusher” bra, cup size A, 1950s. San Angelo Museum of Fine Arts.

Gift of the Mansell Family.

84. Madame Adrienne, long-line strapless bra, cup size C, 1950s.

Private Collection: J. Rogers, Victoria, BC, Canada.

85. One pair of inflatable inserts, Two pairs of fabric falsies, Maidenform “Masquerade” bra pads box, 1950s.

Private Collection: J. Rogers, Victoria, BC, Canada.

96. Vassarette Jr., Undergarment set of bra, bikini brief, and garter belt (not shown), circa 1965. 1900.776.002, Donor unknown, Texas Fashion Collection, University of North Texas.

97. Emilio Pucci for Formfit Rogers, Undergarment set with robe, panty girdle, and bra, 1966. Nylon tricot, Lycra, Spandex.

Private Collection: J. Rogers, Victoria, BC, Canada.

98. Negligée set, 1970s. San Angelo Museum of Fine Arts, Gift of Illisa Goldman.

99. Rudi Gernreich, No-Bra, circa 1965.

Private Collection: J. Rogers, Victoria, BC, Canada.

100. Modess Sanitary Belt, circa 1970.

San Angelo Museum of Fine Arts.

101. Assorted panty-hose, 1960s.

San Angelo Museum of Fine Arts.

OTHER ITEMS:

86. Bugle beadwork handbag Private Collection: Steven Porterfield, Midland, TX. 87. Shriner of New York brooch Private Collection: Steven Porterfield, Midland, TX. 88. Leopard-pattern dyed goatskin hat Private Collection: Steven Porterfield, Midland, TX. 89. Gloves Private Collection: Steven Porterfield, Midland, TX. 90. Orange & opalescent glass bead necklace Private Collection: Steven Porterfield, Midland, TX. 91. I. Miller shoes Private Collection: Steven Porterfield, Midland, TX. 92. Samsonite, Faux-alligator train case, 1950s.

San Angelo Museum of Fine Arts.

93. Charles and Ray Eames, Molded Plywood Chair, Designed 1947. San Angelo Museum of Fine Arts.

Gift of Sue Mims R2012.2.

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OTHER ITEMS:

102. Parkridge hat Private Collection: Steven Porterfield, Midland, TX. 103. Seed handbag Private Collection: Steven Porterfield, Midland, TX. 104. White and gold metal Hobé necklace Private Collection: Steven Porterfield, Midland, TX. 105. Gloves Private Collection: Steven Porterfield, Midland, TX. 106. Silk scarf Private Collection: Steven Porterfield, Midland, TX. 107. Handbag made from Winston cigarette wrappers, 1960s.

PVH Archives.

108.“Ban the Bra” protest button, late 1960s.

Private Collection: J. Rogers, Victoria, BC, Canada.

109. 1968 Freedom Trash Can (replica).

110. Commercially available modern replica of Eero Aarnio’s Ball Chair (original design, 1963).

The 1980s and 90s

UNDERGARMENTS:

The MTV Era: Underwear or Outerwear?

126. Monica and Penelope Cruz for Agent Provocateur, Lace bra. Private Collection: J. Rogers, Victoria, BC, Canada.

127. Spanx, Booty Booster Girl Short, 2018.

San Angelo Museum of Fine Arts.

128. Jenna Fizel and Mary Haung of Continuum Fashion, N12 3-d printed bra, 2011.

Private Collection: J. Rogers, Victoria, BC, Canada.

129. Chanel, Push-up bra, Gold lambskin and silk.

Private Collection: J. Rogers, Victoria, BC, Canada.

130. Calvin Klein Women’s 365 Cotton Boyshort, 2009.

PVH Archives.

131. Jean Paul Gaultier for La Perla, Cone bra and panty set, 2010.

Private Collection: J. Rogers, Victoria, BC, Canada.

OUTER GARMENTS:

111. Thierry Mugler, Skirt suit, 1980s. 2014.014.010, Gift of Darlene Cass, Texas Fashion Collection, University of North Texas.

112. Olga’s Christina, Cotton/Spandex leotard in “Fireworks” print, 1983. PVH Archives.

113. Bob Mackie, Embellished jean shorts with sheer blouse, designed for Cher. Bra: Victoria’s Secret, circa 1990.

Private Collection: J. Rogers, Victoria, BC, Canada.

114. Gelmart, Sequined bra top, 1980s.

Private Collection: J. Rogers, Victoria, BC, Canada.

115. Gilda Marx, Breathables Bodywear bra, 1980s. Nylon, Lycra, Spandex.

Private Collection: J. Rogers, Victoria, BC, Canada.

116. Prohibition, Glow-in-the-dark rave bra, mid-1990s.

Private Collection: J. Rogers, Victoria, BC, Canada.

UNDERGARMENTS:

117. White lace bra (with camisole neckline) and thong panties, mid to late 1980s.

Private Collection: J. Rogers, Victoria, BC, Canada.

118. Hanes, L’eggs Sheer Energy pantyhose, 1980s.

San Angelo Museum of Fine Arts.

119. Frederick’s of Hollywood, Bra with shoulder pads, 1980s.

Private Collection: J. Rogers, Victoria, BC, Canada.

OTHER ITEMS:

120. Michele de Lucchi, The First Chair, 1983.

Collection of Howard Taylor.

The Contemporary Age

What Goes Around, Comes Around OUTER GARMENTS:

121. Dolce & Gabbana, Corset-style belt, 2007. 2014.012.014, Gift of Neiman Marcus, Future Fashion Collection, Texas Fashion Collection, University of North Texas.

122. Dolce & Gabbana, Silk sheath dress.

San Angelo Museum of Fine Arts.

123. Tommy Hilfiger Collection, Sequined hot pants ensemble, designed for and worn by Lady Gaga, Spring 2017.

PVH Archives.

124. John Richmond, Sequined dress, Fall 2010.

San Angelo Museum of Fine Arts.

125. Tracy Reese, “Sophisticated Ambiance” floral embellished dress, Fall 2013. San Angelo Museum of Fine Arts.

OTHER ITEMS:

132. Bathing Suit Barbie doll, Fashionista Barbie dolls.

San Angelo Museum of Fine Arts.

133. Pink Pussyhat, Hand-knit, worn at the Women’s March, January 21, 2017.

Courtesy of Anthony Catanzaro, New York, NY. Anne Timpano’s Venus Series 134. Venus as Super Hero, ©2018, linocut on Kozo paper.

San Angelo Museum of Fine Arts.

135. Venus as Dolley Madison, 2018, Prismacolor pencil, laser print, and feathers, on Strathmore and Kozo papers mounted on mat board. San Angelo Museum of Fine Arts.

136. Venus as Susan B. Anthony, 2018, Prismacolor pencil, laser print, and wood on Strathmore papers mounted on mat board. San Angelo Museum of Fine Arts.

137. Venus as the “It Girl”, 2018, Prismacolor pencil, laser print, rhinestones, feathers, artificial flowers, wood, acrylic paint, and beads on Strathmore papers mounted on mat board. San Angelo Museum of Fine Arts.

138. Venus as Rosie the Riveter, 2018, Prismacolor pencil and laser print on Strathmore papers mounted on mat board.

San Angelo Museum of Fine Arts.

139. Venus as June Cleaver, 2018, Prismacolor pencil, laser print, beads, and feathers on Strathmore papers mounted on mat board. San Angelo Museum of Fine Arts.

140. Venus as Freedom Rider, 2018, Prismacolor, oil pencil, and laser print on Strathmore and Kozo papers mounted on mat board. San Angelo Museum of Fine Arts.

141. Venus as Rock Star, 2018, Prismacolor pencil, laser print, and glitter on Strathmore papers mounted on mat board.

San Angelo Museum of Fine Arts.

142. Venus as CEO, 2018, Prismacolor, oil pencil, laser print, and glitter on Strathmore papers mounted on mat board.

San Angelo Museum of Fine Arts.

141

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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS AND CREDITS

Exhibit Sponsors: The Ben and Beverly Stribling Special Exhibition Trust San Angelo Cultural Affairs Council Texas Commission on the Arts Foster Communications Company Printing The Inn at the Art Center

The design, fabrication and installation of this exhibition was a team effort involving dozens of individuals.

We wish to acknowledge the following people: Exhibition Concept, Design, Research and Writing: Emily Grover, San Angelo Museum of Fine Arts (SAMFA) Collections and Research Assistant Laura Romer Huckaby, SAMFA Assistant Director and Collections Manager Lisa Louise Jones, Consulting Curator, Washington DC Howard Taylor, SAMFA Director Tanya Wetenhall, Assistant Professor of Design History, George Washington University Garment Dressers: Tae Smith, costume and textile expert and professional museum dresser, New York City Christina Ewald, museum preparator and assistant to Ms. Smith, New York City Melanie Talkington, lender to the exhibition and corset maker Assisted by: Laurel Banta, Sharon DeLong, Kim Richey

Additional Sponsorship for this Publication: FMH Foundation, Midland

Education and Interpretation Team: Bekah Coleman, SAMFA Curator of Education Marsalis Mahome, Videographer Lacey Morris, SAMFA Studio Educator Ashley Perales, SAMFA Studio Educator Bailey Upton, SAMFA Studio Educator Mount Makers: Polina Bradham, jewelry maker and designer, San Angelo, TX Vicki Hardin, ceramicist and jeweler, San Angelo, TX Joe Morgan, sculptor, San Angelo, TX

Publication Design | WinshipPhillips.com Publication Photography | Brooke Mulkey Original Artwork | Anne Timpano Printing | Nieman Printing

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Exhibition Graphic Design: Blanca Hernandez, SAMFA Graphic Designer Exhibition Fabrication: Austin Art Services, Austin, TX: Kirk Anders, Jeremy Burks, Zane Baerenrodt-Hayspell Anthony Creeden, Lacee Duke, Jared Mahoney Mike Stephen, Jozef Winemiller, Matt Winters

Installation Team: Matt Mueting, SAMFA Facility Manager and Preparator Shaydee Watson, SAMFA Cultural District Manager Bobby Watson, SAMFA Assistant Preparator Gallery and Facilities Preparation: Logan Brewer, SAMFA Facilities Assistant Jennipher Garrett, SAMFA Facilities Assistant and Groundskeeper Joel Quintella, SAMFA Maintenance and Security Chief Finance and Administration: Jan Mulkey, SAMFA Business Manager Desiree Schwartz, SAMFA Development Officer and Assistant to the Director Marketing: Mary Claire Rizzardi, SAMFA Marketing Manager SAMFA Interns and Volunteers: Avrey Curry Cassandra Schultz Lisa Simpson Micala Troncoso Lenders and Sources for the Exhibition: San Angelo Museum of Fine Arts Fort Concho National Historic Landmark, San Angelo, TX Hillwood Estate, Museum and Gardens, Washington, D.C. National WASP WWII Museum, Sweetwater, TX John Rogers, Victoria, British Columbia, Canada Melanie Talkington, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada Steven Porterfield, Midland, TX PVH Archives, New York, NY The Texas Fashion Collection, University of North Texas, Denton, TX The Witte Museum, San Antonio, TX

We would also like to thank the following individuals and institutions for their contributions, their expert guidance and advice: Cory Bratton and Bob Ross of Augusta Auctions Be Theatre Heidi and Connolly Brooks Charlie Whitaker of Charles A.Whitaker Auction Co. Neal Hurst of Colonial Williamsburg Jessica Reagan of the Costume Institute, Metropolitan Museum of Art Jeff Elliott Colleen Hill of the Fashion Institute of Technology Bob Bluthardt and Cory Robinson of Fort Concho National Historic Landmark Levi Landis, Nova Harris, and Julie Stopper of GoggleWorks Center for the Arts Illissa Goldman, dealer of antique lingerie, New York Michaele Haynes Kate Markert, Howard Kurtz, and MJ Hagan of Hillwood Estate, Museum and Gardens Brandon Mansell Bill Matthieson Joel Mulkey The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston Ann Hobing and Ann Haub of the National WASP WWII Museum Steven Porterfield, Costume and fashion expert and owner of The Cat’s Meow, Midland Vanessa Garver and Lauren McClain of the PVH Archives John and Maureen Rogers Richard Round Diana and Vernon Ryan STEAM Central at Stephens Central Library Annette Becker of the Texas Fashion Collection Marise McDermott, Amy Fulkerson, and Leslie Ochoa of the Witte Museum

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Opening Night Photos

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San Angelo Museum of Fine Arts San Angelo, Texas

San Angelo Museum of Fine Arts