Galleries

  • The Daring Mr. Daren

    The Daring Mr. Daren

    One of the greatest joys of working in a Special Collections unit is some of the discoveries you make when opening a box, that has been long tucked, safely away on a shelf, the contents of which have been seen by few—if any—in recent years. Re-discovering our Mr. Daren sketch collection (US.NNFIT.SC.43) last week put…

  • Charles James’ Musings on Poiret

                The year prior to his death, the legendary fashion designer, Charles James donated a small selection of correspondence, business records, press clippings and four original sketches to FIT Library’s Special Collections.  Over the course of several months, many letters were exchanged between James and FIT librarian Marjorie Miller detailing…

  • Showgirls, starlets and ingenues in training: Costume Patterns of the 1930s

    Showgirls, starlets and ingenues in training: Costume Patterns of the 1930s

             In the spirit of Halloween, we’ve been sharing some of our favorite costume designs from the collection on our new Instagram feed all week (@fitspecialcollections).  We found one of these costume holdings especially fun and wanted to share a little more about it as it also happens to dovetail with the…

  • Perfume+Publicity+Poiret

    We were recently gifted two very special objects: two paper publicity fans for the French perfume company, Rosine.  Established in 1911, by the avant-garde couturier Paul Poiret following a trip to Vienna where he visited the Weiner Werkstatte, Rosine was part of Poiret’s greater vision to establish himself as not only a fashion designer, but…

  • Pochibukuro Please!

         These tiny Japanese envelopes measuring a mere 3 1/2 x 1 1/2″ are called pochibukuro and were created to conceal money traditionally given as tips for services rendered.  In the Kyoto dialect the word pochi means ‘a little bit’ so the sums of money concealed in the envelope were not large; the gesture was…

  • 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…

  • 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…

  • 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…

  • The Color of Couture

    During the 1950s, L’Officiel de la Couleur des Industries de la Mode and its associated publication, Cahiers Bleu, served as trend forecasting publications for the fashion industry. As their titles imply, color forecasting was the foremost mission of both publications, L’Officiel de la Couleur being established first and Cahiers Bleu following as, “By definition, we…

  • Vogue in 1893: “Believe…only half of what you see!”

    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…