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Embroidery for Me!
A curious little catalog came to our attention recently after it was determined that it was in need of some minor conservation. Titled in French, published in Switzerland, written in English and priced in English £s, Broderies Universelles, is a mail order catalog offering “dresslengths” of crêpe de chine and crêpe…
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Sports et divertissements
During the 1910s and 1920s, Paris was a hotbed of artistic experimentation. The hierarchy of artistic mediums seemed to dissolve away as painters collaborated with dancers, fashion designers with decorative artists, and—in the case of Sports et divertissements— illustrators with musicians. The musical scores and illustrations seen here are reproductions of…
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Havana Nights: Eric de Juan designs for Josephine Baker
I’m sure that most of you have heard by now about the extensive renovation of The Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Costume Institute, which has been recently renamed the Anna Wintour Costume Center. The $40 million renovation encompassed not only the public gallery spaces, but also the department’s highly-specialized library. Last year, we were…
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Vogue in 1893: “Believe…only half of what you see!”
We love the admonition illustrated on the cover of the November 16, 1893 issue of Vogue that cautions the nascent deb in her dealings with potential suitors; the sentiment to “believe nothing of what you hear and only half of what you see,” seems to apply not only to matters of the heart, but also…
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Seymour Moss jewelry designs
These exquisitely rendered sketches depict the designs of American jeweler Seymour Moss (1919-2011), who began his career under the tutelage of his father, owner of the American Charm Company. After serving in the Army in WWII, Moss returned to New York City and founded MOBA, which produced gold and gemstone “high-fashion” jewelry that retailed in…
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Galerie des Modes et Costumes Français: 1778-1787
First issued during the reign of Marie Antoinette, the fashion and costume plate series Galerie des Modes et Costumes Français has been called “the most beautiful collection in existence on the fashions of the eighteenth century.” Beginning around 1778, the Parisian print merchants Esnault & Rapilly began issuing this series of engravings at irregular…
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The Automaton of Marie Antoinette
Material Mode isn’t quite sure how we missed seeing this at The Metropolitan Museum of Art earlier this year, but we’re kicking ourselves. This 18th century automaton was presented to Marie Antoinette in 1784, created by master furniture maker David Roentgen. Roentgen enjoyed considerable favor with the Queen, not only did she patronize him to…
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Meetings, Meanings & Mainbocher
This invitation to a fashion show at the Mainbocher couture house in Paris measures a mere 5 1/2 x 7 inches, but the story this simple piece of paper tells is much grander than cursory inspection belies. Issued to Michel Weill of San Francisco, the carte d’invitation has been stamped GARANTIE D’ACHAT—’guaranteed to purchase’—a stipulation…
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Hattie Carnegie: The Big Business of High Fashion
Born in 1886 in Vienna, Austria, the petite (4″ 10′) dynamo, Henrietta Kanengeiser would grow up to become one of the leading figures in American fashion for more than four decades. After a fire destroyed their Vienna home in 1892, Henrietta’s family relocated to the Lower East Side of New York City—Henrietta the second of…