Design – Art History Insider

Egyptomania: Fashion’s Conflicted Obsession

An Interview with AHMP alum and Cleveland Museum of Art (CMA) Assistant Curator Darnell-Jamal Lisby, by Dina Pritmani, Friday April 21, 2023.

Darnell-Jamal Lisby, Cleveland Museum of Art Assistant Curator of Fashion and Curator of Egyptomania: Fashion’s Conflicted Obsession, currently on display at the Cleveland Museum of Art, sat down with Dina Pritmani, AHMP (’24) to answer a few questions. Darnell joined the CMA in 2021 to develop projects rooted in fashion studies that range across the museum’s various curatorial departments. Before coming to the CMA, he had gained experiences and worked at other institutions such as the Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum, The Costume Institute of The Metropolitan Museum of Art, where as a MuSe intern he helped research the 2018 landmark exhibition Heavenly Bodies: Fashion and the Catholic Imagination, and The Museum at FIT. Darnell is a proud AHMP alum, who has published extensively on academic and mainstream platforms, including the Fashion and Race Database, Cultured magazine, and Teen Vogue. Starting out with an AAS in Fashion Merchandising, he received his Bachelor of Science in the Art History and Museum Professions (AHMP) program here at FIT before continuing finishing his MA in Fashion and Textiles Studies: History, Theory, Museum Practice, also at SUNY FIT.

The Main Entrance of the 1916 Wing of the Cleveland Museum of Art in Spring.
By zenbikescience – Flickr: art museum, CC BY 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=25746245

DP: Many Congratulations on the Egyptomania exhibition! Thank you for taking the time to do the interview. I would like to know more about the background of the exhibition. What inspired you to organize an exhibition with this theme? Why is the topic so important?

D-JL: Like most people, ancient Egyptian culture intrigues me as well. After seeing a handful of recent collections by different ateliers, inspired by ancient Egyptian art, I thought it would be pretty timely to execute the project. Additionally, when I started curating the show, it was the 100-year anniversary of the discovery of Tut’s tomb, so again, I thought it would be timely to produce this exhibition.

Darnell-Jamal Lisby, Assistant Curator of Fashion, Cleveland Museum of Art, graduated from the AHMP program in 2016.

*Egyptomania: Fashion’s Conflicted Obsession* is currently on display at the Cleveland Museum of Art until January 24, 2024. Installation View. Photograph Courtesy of the Cleveland Museum of Art.

DP: How do you create a narrative or theme for an exhibition, and what strategies do you use to engage and educate your audience?

D-JL: Like any curator, you try to find glaring stories that connect the various objects I was thinking about compiling for my checklist. One of which was about cultural appropriation and if it applies to the use of ancient Egyptian culture as inspiration. Finding topics, like cultural appropriation, that connect with contemporary events are accessible ways to engage the audience. Furthermore, I used the broader topic of ancient Egyptian art and culture as inspiration for fashion to peak audience’s interest and then guided them to the denser topics like cultural appropriation and identity.

*Egyptomania: Fashion’s Conflicted Obsession*. Installation View. Photograph Courtesy of the Cleveland Museum of Art.

DP: Could you walk us through the process of curating the exhibition, from selecting the artwork to designing the installation?

Well, it can get complicated, making it difficult to convey in a few short words. With said, I looked at different topics that I felt inspired to explore such as, cultural appropriation, the identity of ancient Egyptians, and how we and audiences over time connect with ancient Egyptian culture. From there, based on the budget I was given, I had to be very deliberate about which contemporary fashions spoke to the topic as well as ancient Egyptian art from the Cleveland Museum of Art collection that helped support the theses. Additionally, I had to lay out the history of Egyptomania and early Egyptological research that spurred the Egyptomania movement; thus, I had to pull examples across the CMA collection from decorative arts to drawings to help develop that foundation. As part of the CMA strategic plan, which strategic plans help guide the mandates of each museum employee, I also had to think about an intervention in our CMA Egyptian gallery (The second photo attached is of the intervention). Interventions are ways that you can bring outside art into permanent collection galleries, emphasizing new ways to analyze various works of art and collections. I wanted to have one of the fashions that I chose displayed in the Egyptian gallery, in which I chose a Givenchy ensemble from the fall 2016 collection the Givenchy archive graciously allowed me to use. Some of the other houses I displayed include Chanel, Balmain, and Cartier. Additionally, I wanted to highlight Egyptian fashion design voices, so I incorporated two gowns by Egyptian designer Yasmine Yeya for her house Maison Yeya and a purse by Sabry Marouf. Once I developed the checklist, I had to develop the didactics, illuminating what I found in my research that I was developing as I chose the checklist. Once the didactics went through rigorous edits, then it was time to work with the exhibition design team to create the physical show. I worked with them to create the blueprints and what inspirations I wanted to evoke. Lastly, in conjunction with the conservation team, headed by Sarah Scaturro, who was the former chief conservator of the Costume Institute, we figured out what type of dress forms we wanted to use. We also partnered with renowned costume dresser, Tae Smith to help dress the forms. After that, the rest is history… All things considered, the point is that each part of the process requires collaboration with departments from project management and exhibition design to production and conservation. To reiterate, every decision always comes back to the budget. Because I’m starting the fashion department here at the CMA, jumping to have the same budgets as somewhere as the Costume Institute at the MET is unrealistic, so I had to manage what I could with what I was given to do my best to give audiences the best experience as possible.

DP: Who inspired you to become an art curator, and how did you get started?

D-JL: After studying Andrew Bolton’s career way back in high school, it was his journey that encouraged me to become an art and fashion curator. I started just like you, in the Art History and Museum Professions program at FIT, taking in every bit of education and internship experience I could. After finishing the program, I matriculated into the MA in Fashion and Textiles Studies FIT Graduate program, and again, I absorbed as much as I could through my education and internships.

DP: What are some of the challenges you face as a curator, and how do you navigate issues such as limited budgets, conflicting stakeholder interests, and ethical considerations?

D-JL: I think the biggest challenge is just getting institutions to understand the value of fashion in the art historical realm because once that’s understood, life becomes easier from budgets, stakeholders’ interest, and ethical considerations. As mentioned, budgets can be tough, but at some point, you must go with the flow and know that God will provide a path moving forward. Philippians 4:6-7 is one of my favorite quotes to reference, “Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.” Of course, everyone’s path to peace is different, but this is my recipe. I think understanding that also understanding that in a place like Cleveland, which is not a fashion center, my work is going to be a slow burn to get a certain level of international recognition that leads to various degrees of support, from financial to cultural. And that’s okay. I think most people think they’ll be the next big thing, but staying true to yourself and going along with the process will take you where you need to be. I think, especially when I was an AHMP major, we could change the world. That’s still true, but it’s going to take a lot more politicking than one can imagine. Also, being one of the Black curators in the world involved in this work and heading my own department is a blessing certainly that I thank the CMA for, but also using my platform to expand representation in fashion and pulling up others along the way is what I live for.

DP: What are some of the most memorable exhibitions you’ve curated or participated in, and what made them stand out for you?

D-JL: When I helped curate the Willi Smith: Street Couture exhibition with Alexandra Cunningham Cameron and Julie Pastor at Cooper Hewitt, I had the best time exploring the stories of all the people Smith knew during his life and how much they loved him. It was those stories that helped develop the exhibition and accompanying assets. When I curated the Egyptomania: Fashion’s Conflicted Obsession, I found all my research discoveries very exciting too, like understanding that the ancient Egyptians were unified by religion, not racial identity – as race is recent construct in our human history. I also loved dressing the mannequins and physically mounting the exhibition, seeing all the work we did at the CMA come to life.

DP: How do you see the role of fashion curators evolving in the future, and what do you think are some key trends and challenges facing the field?

D-JL: Fashion curators will continue to push boundaries, including searching for new topics that lean into contemporary culture to discovering new contributions by unsung figures and cultures, because fashion is such an accessible medium that touches on so many audiences’ lived experiences. I think the biggest challenge right now for fashion historians is not being afraid to tackle dense topics. As curators, our jobs are to make a complicated topic layman. Moreover, looking to diverse perspectives and celebrating a broader degree of contributions is very important and will help solidify fashion as a critical part of academia.

DP: Thank you so very much for taking the time to answer the questions. Many Congratulations on Egyptomania: Fashion’s Conflicted Obsession!

Egyptomania: Fashion’s Conflicted Obsession will be on display at the Cleveland Museum of Art until January 24, 2024. The exhibition website has more information and extras on related events and more. Follow the work of Darnell-Jamal Lisby.

About the Author

Dina Pritmani is a junior at FIT’s AHMP program, and currently a Facilitator in The Museum at FIT. Dina is passionate about Western Asian Art, jewelry design, and learning about ways to decolonize museums. The interview was an opportunity to discuss these aspects with a Museum Professional as part of an assignment for MP 361 “Museum Professions and Administration.”

Current favorite exhibitions in New York City

The African Origin of Civilization at The Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Thannhauser Collection at the Guggenheim Museum.

What Shall I Wear: A Fashion Guide Ahead of its Time

By Emma Sosebee, Monday, April 10, 2023

What Shall I Wear? The What, Where, When, and How Much of Fashion was the only book Claire McCardell wrote in her lifetime; just two years before her death, the book was originally published in 1956 by Simon and Schuster of New York. Accompanied by a variety of delightful illustrations created by Annabrita McCardell––whose specific relation to the designer is now unknown––the text is quite practical in essence. Witty and sincere, the book reads like a fashion advice column: from how to tie a scarf to suit one’s figure to sharing the importance of creating a signature look, McCardell used her professional insight to help American women in the 1950s dress with intention for any occasion. Though developing a sense of fashion may feel elusive due to the industry’s ever-changing trends, McCardell’s belief was that any woman could train her eyes to recognize good style and get her wardrobe in line; all it takes is a good teacher.

Fig. 1 Cover of the 1st edition of *What Shall I Wear? The What, Where, When, and How Much of Fashion,* by Claire McCardell (1905–1958). Published in 1956 by Simon and Schuster, New York. Illustrated by Annabrita McCardell.

Fig. 2 The designer’s biography, located at the back of the book.

What is most interesting about What Shall I Wear is how much of the book remains appropriate for women’s lives (and, really, anyone interested in fashion) today, despite its 67-year-old status. As a product of an America quite different from the contemporary period, the book obviously has its moments of traditional 1950s thought––from glove etiquette to suggestions for appeasing one’s husband. Nevertheless, many of the designer’s ideas about fashion and how women should dress were relatively progressive for her time. In the first chapter, “What is Fashion,” McCardell addresses what I would argue was her most important philosophy: that clothes are for real people, and should therefore be designed in ways that are fully functional for the wearer. She adds that clothes are “made to be worn, to be lived in. Not to walk around on models with perfect figures.”

Fig 3. “What is Fashion?,” chapter 1, page 11 of Claire McCardell’s 1956 *What Shall I Wear.*

On a similar note, the designer also uses her introduction to remind her audience that there is no such thing as a “type” to fit into––if something in fashion does not feel right, there is no reason to force yourself into a certain style just because it is popular on the runway or the city streets. She recommended women wear the fabric or silhouette they feel best in, have fun, and play around. Fashion, though it can be intimidating to the average person, “isn’t meant to be taken too seriously.”

Instead of trying to confine women to a particular style––in which she very well could have used the book to only promote her latest collections––McCardell’s What Shall I Wear humbly served its readers by acting more as a general fashion guide. Better yet, it helped women of all ages to regain a sort of individual agency; to the American designer, understanding Fashion with a capital ‘F’ was not about conformity. A person’s chosen style should reflect their own imagination, thought, time, and energy. In other words, “The more yourself in your clothes, the better.” Evidently within her sportswear she stressed physical ease, but McCardell also hoped to impart the importance of “mental ease.” Above all, a woman should wear what makes her feel confident and comfortable.

With chapters on what clothes to pack for different trips, suggestions for mothers worried about their teenagers’ following certain trends, and even a helpful glossary of fashion-associated terms the designer labeled as ‘McCardellisms,’ What Shall I Wear was a necessity for 1950s women who were looking to both develop their personal taste and to understand the fashion world at large. The book’s reissue in 2022 with a foreword by contemporary fashion designer Tory Burch speaks to McCardell’s continued relevance within the industry.

About the Author

Emma Sosebee (she/her/hers) is a senior in the AHMP program and one of the curators of Claire McCardell: Practicality, Liberation, Innovation, on view at The Museum at FIT starting April 5th. Throughout her undergraduate career, Emma has developed an enthusiasm for how arts institutions care for their numerous objects. She hopes to pursue her interest in the collections management field upon graduation.

Further Reading

McCardell, Claire. What Shall I Wear? The What, Where, When, and How Much of Fashion. Abrams, 2022.

Martin, Richard Harrison. American Ingenuity: Sportswear, 1930s-1970s. Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1998.

Strassel, Annemarie. “Designing Women: Feminist Methodologies in American Fashion.” Women’s Studies Quarterly 41, no. 1/2 (2012): 35–59.

Sperling, Joy. “Dressed for Freedom: The Fashionable Politics of American Feminism, Einav Rabinovitch-Fox (2021).” Fashion, Style & Popular Culture 9, no. 3 (2022): 418-422.

McCardell: The Designer on Everyone’s Mind

A Look Into McCardell Exhibitions Past and Present

By Christina Pene, Sunday, April 2, 2023

Claire McCardell (1905–1958) is a name synonymous with American sportswear and innovation with fashion historians, though her legacy often goes unnoticed by the general public. Due to many archival holdings and past and current popular exhibitions, McCardell’s contributions to the fashion industry can be appreciated and revisited.

A bibliography highlighting McCardell’s work and additional research is available at the end of this blog post.

In 1987, the Museum at FIT hosted the first exhibition highlighting McCardell’s designs: Three Women: Kawakubo, Vionnet, McCardell, curated by Harold Koda, Laura Sinderbrand, and Richard Martin. The exhibition received renowned reviews and media attention, highlighting the work of three influential and innovative twentieth-century designers who brought attention to fashion by emphasizing women’s roles and ignoring gender stereotypes and misconceptions about fashion.

Fig. 1. Balloon romper sunsuit, Claire McCardell. 1957. The Museum at FIT, Gift of Sally Kirkland, 76.33.40. It was one of the garments on display in *Three Women: Kawakubo, Vionnet, McCardell* (1987).

Fashion Historian Valerie Steele, the current director of The Museum at FIT, commented on the work of Richard Martin, stating that the curator viewed fashion from an angle that other curators did not. Steele’s book, Women of Fashion: Twentieth Century Designers, published with Rizzoli in 1991, was inspired by the curatorial work in the Three Women exhibition. Martin examined dress and costume through a lens that didn’t take itself too seriously, like how McCardell approached her designs. Martin aimed to have museum-goers question their prejudices about women designers for the Three Women exhibition.

Across the East River in New York City, The Brooklyn Museum is no stranger to McCardell and her legacy. The Museum featured the designer’s work in their 2010 exhibition American High Style: Fashioning a National Collection, highlighting McCardell’s work among first-generation American designers. American High Style drew attention to McCardell’s skill in creating women’s clothing that adhered to wartime rationings while still putting their comfort at the forefront; without lacking style. The archives of The Brooklyn Museum contain numerous original correspondences with the fashion designer.

Fig. 2. “American High Style: Fashioning a National Collection,” at the Brooklyn Museum, May 07, 2010 through August 01, 2010 (Image: DIG_E2010_American_High_Style_27_PS2.jpg Brooklyn Museum photograph, 2010)

As of November 2022, The Maryland Center for History and Costume in Baltimore highlights McCardell in their current exhibition, Claire / McCardell. McCardell was born in the city of Frederick, Maryland. The exhibition, curated by Robyn Levy, Tory Burch Claire McCardell Fashion Fellow, highlights the designer’s ready-to-wear innovations, including spaghetti straps, pockets on dresses, and her infamous ballet flats. The Maryland Center for History and Costume displays multiple McCardell designs alongside archival materials to give an insight into her life.

McCardell was no stranger to Museum exhibitions herself. The designer participated in The Metropolitan Museum of Art’s 1950s show, Adam in the Looking Glass, alongside many other contemporary fashion designers. Adam in the Looking Glass highlighted over 600 years of menswear through historical and modern garments and paper documentation. The Metropolitan Museum of Art intended to have contemporary fashion designers in the historical show to create a link between the past, present, and future. Womenswear designers were the only ones asked to participate; The MET wanted to see what fashionable innovations womenswear designers could create for menswear of the 1950s through textiles and form.

Fig. 3. *Adam in the Looking Glass* [press releases, installation photograph, wall text] January-July 1950. Archives of The Metropolitan Museum of Art for the year 1950, Page 64.

Similarly, the Museum of Modern Art called upon the designer for their exhibition Are Clothes Modern? in 1944. The curator, Bernard Rudofsky, raised the question of whether or not women had freedom in their dress. McCardell created women’s garments that were different from the mainstream, Parisian fashion, using rectangles of fabric to make garments comfortable, affordable, and easy to wear for the exhibition, similar to the clothing she designed for the masses. The artist Georgia O’Keeffe was known to wear McCardell’s designs, and her collection was seen in the Brooklyn Museum’s exhibition, Georgia O’Keeffe: Living Modern.

Claire McCardell: Practicality, Liberation, Innovation is the newest exhibition highlighting the designer and will be on display in April 2023 at the Gallery FIT in the main lobby of The Museum at FIT. The exhibition highlights McCardell’s designs and legacy by adding mid-20th-century advertisements that illustrate the designer’s influence and innovations from FIT’s Special Collections and College Archives. The nine displayed garments come from The Museum’s Study Collection.

Check out the Maryland Center for History and Culture’s website to view their Claire McCardell digital collection.

For further reading, we have provided a Claire McCardell bibliography for your learning pleasure, which you can download here:

A-Claire-McCardell-and-Fashion-Designers-in-Museums-Bibliography-2 Download

About the Author:

Christina Pene (she/her/hers) is a senior in the AHMP program and one of the curators of Claire McCardell: Practicality, Liberation, Innovation. Her areas of interest include 18th-century costume and portraiture, and she is passionate about making art history accessible through digital media. Christina hopes to find a career that marries these interests post-graduation.

Further Reading:

“Adam in The Looking Glass” Press Release via The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1950.

Valerie Steele on Richard Martin, Artforum, February 2002.

Brush Kidwell, Claudia and Margaret Christman eds. Suiting Everyone. The Democratization of Fashion in America. Smithsonian Institution Press, 1974.

Clark, Judith and Amy De La Haye with Jeffrey Horsley. Exhibiting Fashion: Before and After 1971. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2014.

Maglio, Diane. “A brief historical overview of the first major menswear exhibition in the United States–Adam in the Looking Glass at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 1950,” Critical Studies in Men’s Fashion, 4:1 (2017), pp. 79-88, doi: 10.1386/csmf.4.1.79_1

Melchior, Marie Riegels and Birgitta Svensson, eds. Fashion and Museums: Theory and Practice. London: Bloomsbury, 2014.

Palmer, Alexandra and Valerie Steele, eds. Exhibitionism. Fashion Theory: The Journal of Dress, Body and Culture 12. Special Issue (2008).

Petrov, Julia. Fashion, History, Museums: Inventing the Display of Dress. London: Bloomsbury, 2019.

Vänskä, Annamari and Hazel Clark, eds. Fashion Curating: Critical Practice in the Museum and Beyond. London et al. Bloomsbury, 2018 (2021, paperback).

Claire McCardell: Practicality, Liberation, Innovation – The first AHMP Exhibition at Gallery FIT

“Claire McCardell: Practicality, Liberation, Innovation” will be on display between Wednesday April 5 and Sunday April 16 at Gallery FIT at The Museum at FIT at 227 West 27th Street in New York City.

Claire McCardell: Practicality, Liberation, Innovation highlights unique designs from The Museum at FIT Study Collection, introduces archival materials from FIT’s Special Collections and College Archives (SPARC) and McCardell’s now classic book, What Shall I Wear? The What, Where, When and How Much of Fashion (1956, 2022). The exhibition was conceptualized, organized and curated by our AHMP (’23) senior students Nico Frederick, Christina Pene, and Emma Sosebee during an Independent Study Course HA 499: Exhibiting Art and Fashion at FIT in the Spring of 2023.

*Claire McCardell: Practicality, Liberation, Innovation* is on display at Gallery FIT at The Museum at FIT at 227 West 27th Street in New York City until Sunday, April 16, 2023.

Introducing beautiful garments from our MFIT Study collection, the exhibition highlights important aspects and key themes throughout the career of Claire McCardell (1905–1958). We invite the visitor to engage with a leading and inspiring designer who was so popular that she was featured on the Time Magazine cover, won multiple awards, and one who remains influential in the fashion industry to this day. She is among the few woman designers in the world who was honored with a statue. In preparing the exhibition, we became inspired by McCardell’s innovative approaches to fashion design, her pragmatism, and her legacy.

The exhibition features reproductions of rare materials from FIT’s Special Collections and College Archives (SPARC) and introduces McCardell and aspects of her continued legacy.

We are indebted to The Museum at FIT colleagues and staff at Gallery at FIT who were so very generous and kind to lent us their knowledge, wisdom and practical advice. We owe particular thanks to Dr. Valerie Steele, Director of The Museum at FIT; Colleen Hill, Curator of Costume and Accessories; Michael Goitia, Senior Exhibition Manager; Gabrielle Lauricella, Campus Exhibitions Coordinator; Tommy Synnamon, Museum Installation Assistant; Zoe Taylor, Education and Collections Assistant; Tamsen Young, Museum Digital Media and Strategic Initiatives Manager; Ken Wiesinger, and everyone else from The Museum at FIT and the Exhibitions Team. We also thank everyone from the Special Collections and College Archives (SPARC) team, in particular Karen Trivette, April Callahan and Samantha Levin.

Financial and logistic support came from FIT’s Dean of the Liberal Arts and Sciences Division, and we are particularly grateful for the support from Mary Tsujimoto, Patrick Knisley, Nanja Andriananjason, and Professor Amy Werbel, acting Chair of the History of Art Department.

Take one of many bookmarks, which are installed towards the end of the exhibition and provide links to more information about McCardell.

On James Galanos (1924–2016)

By Katherine Prior, Monday, March 27, 2022

This essay is written as an assignment for the AHMP senior class “Exhibitions” project ΜΟΔΑ IS FASHION. The exhibition is on display at the State University of New York’s FIT campus Gladys Marcus Library in Spring and Summer 2022.

Fig. 1. Galanos, *Evening dress,* 1970. Silk ribbed chiffon. New York: The Museum at FIT, 86.80.1. Gift of Maurice S. Polkowitz, 1986.

James Galanos (1924–2016) designed this chiffon dress for his spring/summer 1970 collection, tapping into his Greek heritage by using fabrics featuring motifs inspired by ancient Greek pottery. This particular garment is reminiscent of red-figure style Greek pottery, which is characterized by drawings of delicate linework on raw terracotta base set against a darkly glazed background.

Motifs on the dress include lions, a sculpture resembling David standing over the head of Goliath, and swirling shapes evocative of ionic columns. The chiffon used in this collection was designed by Tzaims Luksus (born in 1932), an American designer and textile artist who was also a guest lecturer and consultant at the Fashion Institute of Technology.

Born to Greek parents in Philadelphia in 1924, Galanos began drawing from a young age. He enrolled in the Traphagen School of Fashion in New York City at the age of 18 with dreams of becoming a costume designer for film. However, he only stayed at the school for a few months before leaving in search of more hands-on experience. After a few years of working in Paris and New York, Galanos headed west to California, where he created his first fashion collection in 1951. He took the finishing techniques and workmanship he had learned in Paris and applied it skillfully to his own garments, referring to his work as “custom ready-to-wear” rather than couture. His first collection was purchased by Saks Fifth Avenue in Beverly Hills and Galanos’s renown grew from there. In 1954, at the age of 29, Galanos became the youngest winner of the Coty Award (considered the “fashion Oscars” of the time) and proceeded to win the award again two years later. In 1984, he became the first recipient of the Coty Lifetime Achievement Award.

This dress from 1970 is notable for the way that it is both distinctly characteristic of Galanos yet also daring for its time in terms of fashion trends. Chiffon was one of Galanos’s design trademarks throughout his career, and this collection showed off the smocked chiffon that he was known for. What made Galanos’s 1970 collection surprising at the time, despite its solid connections to Galanos’s typical design style, was its length. The miniskirt had been the hallmark of the 1960s, and though some designers were cautiously experimenting with longer skirts, none of them went as far as Galanos did as he ushered in the maxi skirt trend of the 1970s. Although his designs for this collection drew from the past, Galanos was designing for the future.

Note: From November 1976 to February 1977, FIT celebrated “Galanos – 25 years.” Among those attending the opening gala on November 23, 1976 were the Greek Ambassador and his wife, philanthropists and members of the wealthy Greek elite in Manhattan including Dora Goulandris Voridis and members of the Coumantaros family.

Further Reading

Coffey-Webb, Louise and Sandra Rosenbaum. 2005. “James Galanos.” Dress, 32(1), 66–74.

Collins, Amy Fine. 2007. “When Galanos spelled glamour.” Vanity Fair, 49(1), April 14.

Morris, Bernadine. 1970. “Galanos abandons short hems—completely.” The New York Times, February 10.

Oakley, John. 2013. The Greek Vase: Art of the Storyteller. Los Angeles: J. Paul Getty Museum

About the Author

Katherine Prior is a senior in the AHMP program and is currently interning at The Museum at FIT. Her research interests are concentrated in film, television, and media studies.

Current Favorite Reading or Art Exhibition

An exhibition I’m currently looking forward to seeing is Guarding the Art at the Baltimore Museum of Art (March 27, 2022 to July 10, 2022). It features artworks curated by the BMA’s Security department.

On Jean Dessès (1904–1970)

By Zoe Klipstein, Monday, March 28, 2022

Fig. 1 Evening dresses by Jean Dessès, The Museum at FIT, 96.112.1 and 91.135.6, Gifts of Lady Arlene Kieta and Francine Gray. Photograph: The Museum at FIT.

Jean Dessès (1904–1970), whose beautiful gowns can be found in many major museums such as the Museum at FIT, the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, and the Victoria & Albert Museum in London, began his fashion career at an early age.

Born to Greek parents in Egypt in 1904, Dessès was one of the estimated 150,000 Greeks living in Alexandria in the early 20th century. Those Greeks included writers Constantine Cavafy (1863–1933) and Penelope Delta (1874–1941). For all of them, Greek heritage played an inspirational role during their life. The Greek population in Egypt reached its peak in 1927, in the aftermath of the defeat of the Greek Army in Asia Minor in 1922.

Fig. 2 Water front at Alexandria, Egypt, from Palace Ras el Tin, between 1910 and 1926, Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division, LC-F82- 1004.

Dessès worked first for a small couture house named Maison Jane. He opened his own couture house in 1937, and gained a lot of clients after the end of WW2. Around 1955, he opened a small boutique in Athens and would permanently move to Greece in 1960. Dessès did his major work primarily during the 1950s and 60s.

Dessès was well-known for his evening gowns. Many of these gowns are held in museum collections worldwide. Some are still worn by movie stars. In 2006, actress Jennifer Lopez wore a vintage green Jean Dessès dress to the Oscars. His dresses were inspired by classical Greek and Egyptian statuary and art, while still reflecting the trends of the time. After WW2, fashion shifted drastically because of the increased availability of different kinds of fabric. This was reflected in the creation of bigger skirts with more elaborate designs. Because the war was over, women no longer were expected to work and were expected to resume their feminine image causing a shift towards a more feminine silhouette in design. The way that Dessès took inspiration from classical Greek sculpture in his designs, creates a timeless image for his work. He uses complicated pleated patterns and light, delicate fabric that could make any woman feel like a goddess.

The dress introduced in ΜΟΔΑ IS FASHION is held in the collections of the museum at FIT (96.112.1). It is a blue evening dress from 1956. The bodice is corseted and decorated with a complicated series of plates that would accentuate the wearers’ waist to achieve the desirable figure of the time. The skirt is made of layers of yellow and blue chiffon that makes the skirt have a very full and romantic feeling. It feels as though the dress was made for movement. This dress was last on display in Ballerina: Fashion’s Modern Muse in 2020 where I was able to see it in person for the first time.

While he is not as widely known today as he was then, Dessès’ dresses are still on display. An overall assessment of his career and legacy will be possible when dispersed archival and material collections can be reassembled and a biography of his life has been written.

Further Reading

Kitroeff, Alexander. 2019. The Greeks and the Making of Modern Egypt. Cairo: The American University in Cairo Press.

Leontis, Artemis, Lauren E. Talalay and Keith Taylor. 2002. What these Ithakas mean: Readings in Cavafy. Exhibition, Kelsey Museum of Archaeology. Ann Abor. The University of Michigan Press.

Mears, Patricia et al. eds. 2019. Ballerina: Fashion’s Modern Muse. New York: Abrams.

Tziovas, Dimitris. 2009. Greek Diaspora and Migration since 1700: Society, Politics and Culture. Farnham: Ashgate.

Wilcox, Claire. 2007. The Golden Age of Couture: Paris and London 1947-1957. London, Victoria & Albert Museum.

About the Author

Zoe Klipstein is a senior in the AHMP program and the Vice President of the AHMP Association. Zoe is interested in art and fashion history and wishes to one day further her education in fashion history.

Current Favorite Reading or Art Exhibition

Inspiring Walt Disney: The Animation of French Decorative Arts, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, December 10, 2021 to March 6, 2022.

On George Stavropoulos (1920–1990)

By Abigail Rodriguez, Monday, March 28, 2022

Fig. 1 Unknown Model wearing a Stavropoulos designed dress. Stavropoulos Collection Archives X 131, Fall Winter 1969-1970, Image courtesy of Fashion Institute of Technology | SUNY, FIT Library Unit of Special Collections and College Archives

The Special Collections and College Archives (SPARC) at FIT houses a large collection of archival materials including photo albums, sketchbooks and ephemera once owned by Greek fashion designer George Stavropoulos (1920–1990).

A prolific fashion designer, who owned an atelier in downtown Manhattan — Stavropoulos Corp. was on 16 West 57th Street, he crafted designs for many celebrities, including Maria Callas (1923–1977), Sophia Loren, and Emily-Angelica Papoulias, wife of the late Greek Ambassador to the United States, Georgios Papoulias (1927–2009). Stavropoulos clients included the New York Governor first lady Evangeline Gouletas, and Lady Bird Johnson. Today, his designs, especially his evening gowns, are held in collections at the Metropolitan Museum in New York and the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of American History in Washington, D.C., at Kent State University in Kent in Ohio, at the Benaki Museum in Athens in Greece, and elsewhere.

Stravropoulos’ journey into the fashion world began in Greece. Born in Tripoli on the Peloponnese he opened a boutique in Athens in 1949. According to Kasey Bland’s insightful biography, “throughout the 1950s Stavropoulos … […] … began creating designs inspired by classical Greek figures.” (In 2010, Bland curated an exhibition on Stavropoulos at Kent State University Museum).

Not only were his fashion designs inspired by his heritage, but so did his growing network of business contractors and clients continue to engage with ancient Mediterranean heritage. At some point, he was even honored for his work by the Greek embassy in Washington, D.C.

The unknown model in the photograph displayed in ΜΟΔΑ IS FASHION (Fig. 1), poses in a dress from the Stavropoulos Fall-Winter 1969–1970 collection. She stands in front of a large photograph of an ancient Mediterranean red-figured Greek calyx krater. Objects like these are on display in museums around the world such as the Metropolitan Museum of Art, in the British Museum in London and in the Louvre in Paris. Interestingly enough, one of the more iconic portraits of Stavropoulos himself preserved today features an ancient Greek vase in the background.

Promoting the same Fall Winter 1969–1970 collection, Stavropoulos’ models were also featured on the Acropolis in Athens and in the streets of the city by the Piraeus (Fig. 2).

Fig 2 Unknown Model wearing a Stavropoulos designed dress in Athens, Greece, in 1970, Stavropoulos Collection Archives X 131 Image courtesy of Fashion Institute of Technology | SUNY, FIT Library Unit of Special Collections and College Archives.

Kasey Bland’s 2008 biography of the designer introduced a wealth of materials from the rich Kent State University Stavropoulos archives in Ohio. Bland was also able to conduct an interview with Stavropoulos’ son Peter.

The black evening dress in the photograph on display incorporates a see-through mesh material gliding smoothly, surrounding the model’s arms draping with ease. Stavropoulos’ style made women wearing hid dresses look soft, and he believed women should be able to move around in high-end dresses with grace.

Fig 3 From an advertise of a Fashion show in a Florida newspaper, Clip in the Stavropoulos Collection Archives. Image courtesy of Fashion Institute of Technology | SUNY, FIT Library Unit of Special Collections and College Archives

The photograph on display in ΜΟΔΑ IS FASHION and other fashion photo shoots of Stavropoulos’ collections housed in SPARC emphasize the importance of his Greek heritage as a feature in the Stavropoulos brand and marketing. I myself am inspired by my own Mexican heritage and hope to become an advocate for my own culture one day.

Further Reading

Bland, Kasey. 2008. The Life and Career of Fashion Designer George Stavropoulos. Thesis, University of Akron.

Bender, Marylin. 1965. “Stavropoulos: A Greek Name to Drop,” The New York Times, July 10.

Schierup, Stine and Victoria Sabetai eds. 2014. The Regional Production of Red-Figure Pottery: Greece, Magna Graecia and Etruria. Aarhus: Aarhus University Press.

A collection of 150 dresses donated to Kent State University in Ohio and more material can be found here.

About the Author

Abigail Rodriguez is a senior in the AHMP program. Fascinated by the art history of Mexico, her goal is to work in an educational capacity in an art institution in the near future.

Current Favorite Reading or Art Exhibition

Japan: A History of Style, Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City (March 8 to April 24, 2022).

On Identities

By John Paul Jang, Sunday, March 20, 2022

Fig. 1 Open-toe wedge plateau shoes, Delman, c. 1940. The Museum at FIT. 71.263.3. Gift of Yeffe Kimball Slatin (1914-1978).

These open-toe wedge sandals were once owned by American artist Yeffe Kimball (1914–1978). They were designed by an American shoemaker with conscious artistic decisions to express a break with traditional women’s shoe ware and their role during World War II, consisting of motifs inspired by ancient Greek designs. The designer incorporated societal desire by combining wedge heels and Greek symbols of victory. Much has been written about their owner Kimball by scholars such as Bill Anthes and Sarah Anne Stolte in recent years. But how did she express herself in daily life through her fashion choices?

The imagery of the figures in these sandals resembles that of Greek vases containing red-figure techniques: a glazing technique invented in ca. 530–525 BCE in Corinth. In this technique, the figures were left as the earthy color of the clay, and details were added in a black glaze. These sandals only mimic the visual representation of the ancient Greek technique because the designs are stitched on. The figures depict armored warriors with courageous and active stances. Images of Greek victory were a prevalent theme in art in the 5th century BCE, such as those that appear in Terracotta Nolan amphora, ca. 480-470 BCE at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. The scene depicts a Greek victory over the Persians, which was a unique theme as mythological battles were a dominantly popular theme during the time. The scene on the sandals also mirrors ancient sculptures such as those depicted on the Temple of Aphaia on the island of Aegina, created around the same time in 480 BCE.

Fig. 2 Fallen Warrior from the pedimental sculptures of the temple of Aphaia on the island of Aegina in Greece, today in Munich, c. 480 BCE (still from Dr. Beth Harris and Dr. Steven Zucker, “East and West Pediments from the Temple of Aphaia, Aegina,” in *Smarthistory*, December 9, 2015, accessed March 20, 2022, https://smarthistory.org/east-and-west-pediments-from-the-temple-of-aphaia-aegina/.)

The blue and white colors of the wedge heels also have a symbolic character beyond its connection to modern-day Greece. Azure blue and white are the national colors of Greece as they appear in its national flag. Blue and white appear in the symbol of the United Nations established on October 24, 1945, which became a symbol of international peace and security. The artist expressed the desire for peace and unity during the turbulent time of World War II.

Wedge heels were invented by Italian fashion designer Salvatore Ferragamo (1898–1960) in 1936. In the 1930s and 1940s, shoes that revealed the toes were uncommon as they were considered immodest. The outbreak of WWII led to the shortage of materials such as leather, resulting in it only being used exclusively for soldiers’ boots. While felt, help, straw, and textiles became common materials for shoes, the invention of wedge heels provided more comfort than other kinds of women’s shoes, such as oxford heels and pumps. Wedge heels allowed women to do “man’s work” and perform masculine jobs while allowing themselves to have femininity and return to the pre-war roles. While we may not be able to answer why Yeffe Kimball chose to wear such a pair, the sandals are a testament to her complex identity.

Further Reading

Anthes, Bill. 2006. “Becoming Indian: The Self-Invention of Yeffe Kimball,” In Native Moderns. American Indian Painting, 1940–1960, edited by Nicholas Thomas, 117–42. Duke University Press.

O’Keeffe, Linda. 1996. Shoes: A Celebration of Pumps, Sandals, Slippers and More, New York, Workman.

Olds, Lauren. 2001. World War II and Fashion: The Birth of the New Look. Constructing the Past, vol. 2, no. 1, ser. 6, 47–53.

Stolte, Sarah Anne. 2019. “Hustling and Hoaxing: Institutions, Modern Styles, and Yeffe Kimball’s ‘Native’ Art,” American Indian Culture and Research Journal 43 (4): 77–92.

About the Author

John Paul Jang serves as the Senator of the Art History and Museum Professions Program. She is the Student Chair of the School of Liberal Arts and Sciences DEI Committee, and is the founder of the Art Historian and Museum Professional Association (AHMPA).

Current Favorite Reading or Art Exhibition

I was impressed to see Sophie Tauber-Arp: Living Abstraction at MoMA (November 21, 2021 to March 12, 2022). Beyond her avant-garde craftsmanship about which I learned in Professor Weinstein’s Dada & Surrealism class, I love her playful experiments in colors and geometric composition.

On George Stavrinos (1948–1990)

By Richard Montañez, Sunday, March 20, 2022

Except for Brad Hamann’s Moonfall (2010), and a series of video interviews with his sisters, not too much has been written about the life and career of Greek American fashion illustrator George Stavrinos (1948–1990).

Stravrinos was born as the last of seven to parents who immigrated from Greece to near Boston in March 1948. Rising to great success in the 1970s and 80s, Stavrinos died of AIDS related complications in August 1990 at a hospital in New York City. Today, FIT’s Special Collections and College Archives (SPARC) houses some fourteen of his original illustrations. They entered SPARC through his friend, FIT Illustration Professor Rosemary Torre. Other original Stavrinos illustrations are kept at the Leslie Lohman Museum of Art in New York.

“My parents gave us a very European upbringing. …[…]… I went to Greek school after regular American school, where we were taught to read and write Greek …[…]… I served as an altar boy for seven years in the Greek Orthodox Church.” (Stavrinos, in an interview with Nathan Fain, 1978).

Well known in the world of commercial fashion illustration, Stavrinos produced works for the likes of Bergdorf Goodman, Barney’s, and The New York Times. He also crafted illustrations for Gentlemen Quarterly and Blueboy, referencing classic images of gay American erotica and lifestyle, often through representations of archetypal masculinity and handsomeness. Stavrinos visited relatives in Heraklion in Crete on at least one occasion in 1969 and 1970 before he moved permanently to New York City in 1973. Throughout his career, Stavrinos produced illustrations for magazines that were marketed toward gay men, openly referencing his own sexuality in a time of intense discrimination against LGBTQ+ people.

Figs. 1 and 2. Figure in suit by Charlotte Neuville: suit jacket has four square buttons, For Lord & Taylor, Signed, 1989. Stavrinos, George, “Charlotte Neuville Suit,” *SPARC Digital*, accessed March 20, 2022. Archaic Kouros from Greece, c. 590-580 BCE, marble from Naxos. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Fletcher Fund, 1932 (32.11.1). The exact circumstances of the modern discovery of the kouros are unknown. It was owned by the German collector Jacob Hirsch (1874–1955) and has traces of original paint.

The illustration that I chose from his oeuvre is of a figure in a Charlotte Neuville suit, particularly because it is so androgynous in appearance. The illustration is from 1989 and was created only a few months before his death. The work is a testament to Stavrinos’ ability to confidently navigate different kinds of fashion and advertising spaces and their attitudes toward queerness or mixed gender expression. Not only does the figure emulate queerness through the garment they are wearing, but they also are sporting a non-conformist hairstyle which pushes this narrative further. This is particularly interesting when considering ideas about masculinity and homosexuality that can be traced all the way back to ancient Greece, a prominent part of Stavrinos’ heritage.

In his illustrations of both men and women, he utilized sources of inspiration such as Minoan, Archaic and Classical Greek sculptures and standards of beauty, which, at least for men, have been reproduced, reused, and recoded into gay culture for as long as homosexuality has existed. To my mind come the many surviving statues of Kouroi (young men), excavated in Greece and now on display in the National Archaeological Museum in Athens. One can almost imagine Stavrinos, who lived in a studio on a top floor corner apartment on 76 West 86th Street near Manhattan’s Central Park for many years, walking to the Metropolitan Museum of Art to draw the Greek kouros on display here since 1931.

Fig. 3 Stavrinos, third from the right, with friends in 1978. From Nathan Fain, “George Stavrinos, Illustrator,” *Christopher Street,* November 1978, 16–25. FIT Library, Fashion File-Illustrators – Folder Stavrinos, George.

Stavrinos’ images, particularly in erotica, can often depict displays of power, dominance, and in certain cases, invitation, which can change depending on the viewer and their own perception or fantasy of the image of the model. In this case, with a more femme-presenting figure, it becomes especially clear that they are purposely constructed to be more stoic or solid in appearance to emulate a certain kind of masculinity within women.

In 21st century contexts, we now have a clear understanding that menswear or references to menswear are not automatically indicative of power and agency within anyone, but Stavrinos’ illustrations exude timelessness regardless. In considering what were more personal aspects about his life and why he drew the subjects that he did, the subtle choices that were made in his commercial works are reminders of the influence queer life had on him during his lifetime and how they inspired him to continue working.

Fig. 4 The author with the Stavrinos illustration set in FIT’s SPARC in March 2022.

Acknowledgments

I am grateful to April Callahan, Curator of Manuscript Collections and Associate at the Special Collections and Archives (SPARC), Gladys Marcus Library at FIT, who facilitated access to the original drawings of Stavrinos.

Further Reading

Hamann, Brad. 2010. Moonfall. The Life and Art of George Stavrinos. Based on the author’s M.F.A. Visual Arts Graphic Design thesis at Marywood University.

Fain, Nathan. 1978. “George Stavrinos, Illustrator,” Christopher Street, November 1978, 16–25.

Kaltsas, Nikos. 2002. Sculpture in the National Archaeological Museum, Athens. Los Angeles: J. Paul Getty Museum.

Richter, Gisela and Irma Richter. 1936. “The Archaic ‘Apollo’ in the Metropolitan Museum.” Metropolitan Museum Studies, 5 (1934–1936), 20–57.

Stavrinos. Clarity of Vision. Stavrinos’ sisters Venetia, Sandra and Debbie talk about the love and admiration they had for their brother (the video is accessible on youtube here).

About the Author

Richard Montañez is a senior in the AHMP program at FIT. His interests include queer art history, the decolonization of museums, and curatorial artists.

Current Favorite Reading or Art Exhibition

“Faith Ringgold: American People” The New Museum, New York City, February 17, 2022 to June 5, 2022.

On Despina Messinesi (1911–2003)

By Frida Loyola, Sunday, March 20, 2022

A type written letter with her hand written signature, sent by Despina Messinesi (1911–2003) to Thomas Drew at the Galleries at FIT on March 23, 1975, is preserved in accession files with The Museum of FIT. The letter informed Drew about the original whereabouts of the ensembles she had just donated. These ensembles included a New Look 1951 dress by Christian Dior and a 1955 Jean Dessès chiffon.

Fig. 1 Evening dress, Christian Dior 1951. Gift of Despina Messinesi, The Museum at FIT 75.86.5.

Like something out of an Audrey Hepburn movie. (Stephen Miller 2003).

From a 2003 obituary and other archival documents preserved, we learn that she was born as Despina Georgia Plakias to Greek immigrants from Ioannina in a suburb of Boston in 1911. She lost her father at the age of 11.

Fig. 2 Despina Plakias, then 18 years, as Monsieur Beaucaire in the Senior Play of the 1929 class, on the left. “Despina and Doris stand together; German Play,” June 1929, *Abbot Collections*, accessed March 20, 2022.

An early photograph shows the 18 year old Despina dressed up as Monsieur Beaucaire for a student theater play at Abbot Academy in Andover, MA. Based on a 1900 novel, the novel gained new fame in a silent movie with Rudolph Valentino in 1924 which in turn served as the inspiration for the play. The Andover Townsman from June 7, 1929 described Despina’s performance as “outstanding …[…]… With charm of voice, expression and manner, her Beaucaire dominated every situation with a simple, easy grace.”

In the same summer of 1929, Despina traveled to Greece, visiting her grandmother. Here she met her future husband, the wealthy Greek shipping magnate Miltiades Leon Messinesi (born 1895), and got married. Messinesi’s father was a former General Consul in London. According to a news feature submitted by Despina’s brother John Plakias to the New York Times in 1931 she began living in Athens in Greece around the same time. During these years, she continued to travel and began to work as a fashion reporter in Paris.

As Artemis Leontis has shown in her brilliant biography of the American Hellenophile Eva Palmer Sikelianos (1874–1952), the 1930s brought a new wave of great interest in Greek fashion to New York City. The city was excited about Greek fashion. Thanks to a friendship with curator Gisela Richter, the Metropolitan Museum of Art featured an exhibition on Palmer Sikelianos’ fashion creations in the summer of 1937, and two years later the Greek government lent a number of original ancient Greek sculptures to the World’s Fair in Queens in New York City.

During all these years, Despina “Madam Milto Messinesi” traveled back and forth between Athens, London, Paris and New York. She moved back more permanently to New York City in 1941, and began to work for Vogue shortly thereafter. A funny story relates to her first day at work in April 1941 and was described by the biographer of her obituary as follows:

Hired at $25 a week, she actually took off her first day of work in order to run a publicity stunt for Greek war relief, leading a herd of flower-bedecked donkeys through New York’s streets and to the Ritz. Coming into the Vogue offices the next morning, she was surprised to find that everyone seemed to know her already. Then she learned why: A half-page photo of her hugging a donkey had appeared in that morning’s paper.

Photographs from the event at the Ritz Carlton Hotel are preserved. I was able to identify and read most of her Vogue articles and collected information on the dresses she donated to the FIT Galleries. In her own voice she introduces herself as a “little shop-hound, size 10,” to the Vogue readers in April 1944.

Over the next decades, she became Vogue‘s main fashion editor, traveling places far and wide. During these decades, she became known for her sense of elegance. Ensembles owned by The Museum at FIT today including the black dress 77.17.3, possibly by fellow Greek diaspora designer Jean Dessès, a silk satin with polychrome ribbon, silk floss embroidery, and rhinestones by Christian Dior 1951 (75.86.5), or dress 81.232.1 by Christian Dior New York 1954 were part of her fashionable wardrobe, and made her indeed appear like out of an Audrey Hepburn movie.

Fig. 3 Despina Messinesi modeling and writing. From *Vogue*, April 15, 1944, vol 103 (8), pp. 80-81. A copy of the volume owned by the FIT periodicals collection is on display in the exhibition.

Vogue featured her work on the royal Greek family, and several travel stories, sometimes from Greece, are part of her oeuvre. Today, The Museum at FIT and The Metropolitan Museum of Art house Messinesi’s donations. Her dresses are as diverse as fascinating and include a pair of American underwear pants from 1916, a fine woolen dress by French fashion designer Emanuel Ungaro (1933–2017) from the late 1960s and others. The voice of her writings for Vogue remains in FIT’s Library periodical collections. And the rest, as they say, is history.

Further Reading

Leontis, Artemis. 2019. Eva Palmer Sikelianos: A Life in Ruins. Princeton: Princeton University Press.

Miller, Stephen. 2003. Despina Messinesi, Long Time Editor at Vogue, 92. Obituary, July 2003.

O’Shea Borrelli, Laird. 1997. “Dressing Up and Talking about It: Fashion Writing in Vogue from 1968 to 1993,” Fashion Theory 1.3 (1997), 247–59.

About the Author

Frida Loyola enrolled in the AHMP program after attending the Pink symposium in 2018 at the Museum at FIT. She plans to blend her design experience with Museum Studies and work as a Fashion Historian.

Current Favorite Reading or Art Exhibition

One of my favorite, and recent, exhibitions was The Salem Witch Trials: Reckoning and Reclaiming at the Peabody Essex Museum. The trials serve as an example of injustice and intolerance in our country’s history and remind us that history can indeed repeat itself.