~ May 2014 ~

This is big -- not because it is at the Met or that some gowns are the size of a city block but because he was an architect in the truest sense, without concern for the sale or customer vanities.  Many years ago, F.I.T. 

Now

Then

hosted a Symposium on architectural designers and James was one of those featured along with Balenciaga.  All the living Dress Doctors were there -- the last of the bunch -- Still have all my notes and photos! Like Balenciaga, Vionnet and a few others, James always made the gown or the coat (his most famous pieces) say much more about the wearer than the garment. People wore them not to make themselves merely look good but to make themselves actually be more than they were. One acquired agency and intelligence at a time for women when being a person and not a role was a tough call. Now too many only want to be a body (often the low-hanging fruit of fashion, no pun intended) -- witness the Met Gala at the James opening -- see photos at right. Please see this show and/or order the book -- read all the words.  Start with this NPR story.  And check out my James Mantle pattern for a small piece of the magic!  The good news is that Georgina Chapman of Marquesa (who did some of the best James-like pieces at the Gala) and Harvey Weinstein have struck a deal with James' relatives to revive the brand, so maybe being dazzled isn't history. And, lastly, check this video of the 1982 James runway show at the Brooklyn Museum -- you'll see the gowns modeled. 

Charles James Fashion Show with Halston 1982 - From the Videofashion Vault | Videofashion

Fashion Week
Alas, designers are not our friends this season; women are starting to resemble pixels or men -- square, flat, straight, with lots of corners.  I cannot quite decide whether this is because the dominant ideal on the planet still is the male silhouette or whether designers really just want to dress men period or maybe they lack the skill to curve or fit or maybe it is the complete saturation of tech rigidity in the culture -- who knows, but it doesn't make a girl feel like one. In any case, I wouldn't waste my most curvy years on homogenized flat clothes, no reward there.

 
Loved this not-so-crazy idea. Having spent 4 years making patterns for inflatable costumes, I know this is so do-able.  Without the machine to blowup the balloon, you can still make an enlarged balloon "body" out of coated rip-stop nylon (stitch 14/in).  Inflate it, cover it with a lining and then proceed to apply the hot glue (or stitch through the layers) and have a personal masterpiece.  Too cool.

Inner Fashion - Production Line at C-fabriek

For many years the fashion industry simply acted as though divine inspiration came from the air and one would be fabulously rich if one acted inspired enough -- and it was an act. Somehow the manufacture or performance of the product or how to sell it was for those not "inspired" enough to design. Fashion schools bought this idea, fashion week was a free for all, designers acted as though they were the only gifted souls responsible for such amazing clothes and the US professional fashion industry, especially NYC, saw business leave town and found itself competing with amateurs.  The Council of Fashion Designers of America watched it happen.  Well, now they have a grip in four parts (Fashion Week, education, manufacturing and partnerships) to raise the bar and banish the non-productive fantasies that have produced the worst dressed US population in many an era.  (Just a small example:  I'm teaching a retired attorney to sew because he wants to go to Europe and not look like an American -- the guy is passionate enough to tackle the learning curve himself.)  Fashion teachers need to "speak truth to power", the power of admissions officers, and stop letting students believe that they can be designers without knowing how to cut and construct, just to sign'em up and get the money. The CFDA may have just rescued an industry -- BIG CHEERS!

Sincerely,