FIT Institutional Repository

To coincide with The Gallery at FIT exhibit, The Women of Harper's Bazaar, 1936-1958, organized by the graduate students in the Fashion and Textile Studies: History, Theory, Museum Practice MA program, displaying issues of Harper Bazaar held by the Library's Periodicals Dept.

Focusing on the period between the country music’s recognition as a distinct category of music in the 1920s and its evolution into a polished and solidified genre in the 1950s, I will discuss the segregation of Black and white singers into the categories of hillbilly and race music and the resulting changes to the artists’ wardrobe. I will look at the dress of the rural Mississippi Delta and Appalachian regions where both genres emerged from. I will consider the influence of record labels, touring shows, and the artists themselves on the musician’s visual branding. A particular focus will be placed on the leading artists in the country and blues genres during this time and the representations of gender within these artists' wardrobe and the subtext of these style choices. I will then discuss how country musician’s initial dress shifted into a more distinct country costume due to blues and pop sounds encroaching on the country music genre in the 1940s and 1950s and how the blues genre and the typical blues musician has become romanticized due to white scholarship of the genre.

Christian Dior-New York Inc. (CD-NY) was established in 1948 as a ready-to-wear line designed by Parisian couturier Christian Dior for the American market. Although it was designed by the head designer of the Paris house for the first half its history, by the early 1960s , when New York-based CD-NY designers started to design the line, it became more of a Seventh Avenue brand. This successful line lasted almost twenty-four years, and became an important part of the American fashion industry. Christian Dior-New York inspired other ready-to-wear lines by Paris couturiers in the postwar era, such as Jacques Fath and Pierre Balmain. This qualifying paper tells the history of Christian Dior-New York and the designers who created it, from its start in 1948 until its closure in 1972. In the last chapter, the characteristics of existing CD-NY garments are studied, and compared with garments from other Christian Dior lines.

This study examines and explores traditional Kazakh dress and fashion during the nineteenth century – a period of significant cultural and social change in Central Asia. Drawing on a range of historical sources, including ethnographic travel accounts, photographs, and museum collections, and considering the historically nomadic culture of the Kazakh nation, the paper examines the various elements of Kazakh dress and its social, cultural, and economic significance. Discussions follow with respect to the use of natural materials such as wool, leather, and fur, as well as the role of dress in signaling social status and identity. Additionally, this paper provides an overview of the impact of external influences, such as Russian colonization, including under the Soviet Union, on Kazakh dress traditions. The paper observes that despite the challenges posed by external factors, traditional Kazakh dress persisted as a symbol of cultural identity and continuity in the face of rapid change. This project is focused specifically on Kazakh attire, separate from the broader category of Central Asian clothing, and aims to provide more clarity on what distinguishes Kazakh dress from its regional neighbors.

As this research project primarily relates to the author’s native country of Kazakhstan, its original contribution and perspective adds to the existing scholarship on this topic, most of which is by Soviet anthropologists and ethnographers and in the Russian language. The paper was written using English, Kazakh, and Russian (including Old Russian) language sources, with some produced in Kazakhstan (including Soviet Kazakhstan). The project aims to deepen knowledge about specifically Kazakh garment traditions for an English-language audience by increasing understanding of this nation’s history, culture and people

This paper focuses on the reproduction of a seventeenth-century English embroidered bookbinding in the collection of The Metropolitan Museum of Art (The Met). The first part of the paper reviews a small group of successful practice-led research projects and considers them as a group. This section promotes the research of important scholars, many of whom work outside of academia, by recognizing common approaches across their projects and identifying methods that could be useful for conservators looking to include reproduction as part of their conservation practice. Following an auto-ethnographic approach, the second part of this project documents my experience analyzing materials and techniques, sourcing materials, and reproducing sections of the original bookbinding by implementing the methodologies reviewed in the first section of the paper. For the final section, I, a trained textile conservator, reviews and analyzes their extensive hands-on process and considers the possibilities practice-led research presents for the field of textiles and fashion conservation.

In the twenty-first century, fashion scholarship has pushed for a more inclusive study of the history of fashion. Although there has been an increased focus on the study of Asian American designers, prior research has yet to account for earlier Japanese American designers that appeared on a wider scale in the mid-twentieth century. Early Japanese American contributors to the fashion industry were present at least almost 100 years ago in the 1930s. Although the internment of 120,000 Japanese Americans stunted the capabilities of this community, those with an interest in fashion were able to unify under a period of duress. The presence of fashion classes and shows throughout internment camps presents a determination for the creation of beauty amid imprisonment. Following their release after World War II, numerous women went to work within the fashion industry and achieved high levels of success, unfortunately all of which are forgotten today. Japanese American designers such as Linda Kinoshita were multitalented, and served many roles such as designer, seamstress, and entrepreneur. The following research resurfaces these successful designers not just among the Japanese American community, but also forms a more holistic understanding of American fashion history. Although unified in aspirations, each of these women created fashion in a unique approach and demonstrated individualistic career paths.

Orinoka Mills was a textile mill founded by the Solomon brothers in 1890 in Kensington, Philadelphia. Orinoka produced a wide variety of woven fabrics during what is considered the golden age of the Philadelphia textile industry. While these textiles can be considered relatively new as historical objects, they are just as important in the history of textiles as those from the previous centuries.

This paper is separated into three chapters; first, discussing the history of Orinoka Mills and Philadelphia’s textile industry, second, an in-depth study of Orinoka mills and lastly, a survey of the archives and the mill’s designs. The primary research for this paper was conducted by interviewing a selection of Orinoka employees from different areas of the business for firsthand perspectives and through reviewing Orinoka Mills’ textiles and paper archives. The intent was to study the history of Orinoka Mills in the context of the textile industry in the twentieth century. Orinoka and other mills in the region made a lasting impact on the textile industry. Their histories are important to document, and examples of their textiles should be conserved and archived today.

The recent history of a U.S. mill is worthy of in-depth study while we still have the opportunity for first-hand accounts from designers, managers, customers, and trade journalists. Studying and publishing more literature and scholarly sources on these contemporary woven textiles will be an invaluable source for students, museum visitors and industry professionals. As an example, Kravet. Inc. presented an exhibition of textiles from its archive collection at the New York School of Interior Design in 2019 featuring multiple Orinoka Mills textiles and related objects. Phyllis Greer stated in her review of the exhibition Every New Textile Has a History ”Though we might not think of these items as rare historical documents now, someday they will be. Many of these items show the process and communication behind the designs.”

Westernwear refers to a style of dress inspired by the workwear of cowboys from the United States which is made up of various influences from Spain to Indigenous peoples of the United States, developing into one broad visual identity. The cowboy who wears this dress is a central character in the mythology of the American West. The myth of the West is strongly tied to American individualism, solidified with western expansion during the nineteenth century, and grew with the rise of the United States as a world power in the twentieth century. As an export, the American cowboy and iconography in an international context is seen as a representation of the country rather than just a region. Once abroad, the mythology tied to the image of the cowboy may be reinterpreted according to its non-American viewer.

This non-American reinterpretation is the focus of this paper’s research to discuss westernwear coming to high-end fashion catwalks by way of foreign film production, musical stage costuming, continued reimagining of the cowboy’s iconography through film and television and finally joining fashion’s vocabulary via foreign fashion designers. The timeline will use these key cultural moments of international exposure and uses of westernwear to be then translated into high-end fashion in both Europe and the United States from 1965 to 1995. Westernwear’s reimagining and appropriation into the global fashion’s world in the late 20th century follows the downfall of the glorification and romanticization of the iconography of the cowboy. The cowboy represents America on the international stage so in turn the use of westernwear references in fashion is a commentary on where the United States stands politically or economically internationally.

The Sari is perhaps the most recognizable and influential garment from the Indian subcontinent. Despite its extensive influence and complex history within international fashion, it is often solely associated with Orientalism—an association which has caused the nuances of its history to be overlooked. This paper begins with an overview of the Sari and then goes on to analyze a variety of sources, primarily articles from the fashion press and extant garments, to understand the major and minor ways in which the Sari influenced Paris fashion between 1910 and 1940. It highlights the Parisian designers and their clients, who contributed to its popularity in fashion. It reconstructs the Sari’s journey in context with the major developments of early twentieth-century fashion, beginning with Avant-Garde Modernism around the 1910s to the Neoclassical Modernism of the 1930s. In the process, it illustrates the Sari’s many roles; as medium, influence and ultimately as a fashionable garment in its own right. This paper advocates for a more nuanced approach to studying fashion history—one which moves away from essentialized views of “East” and “West.” The understanding of the extent of the Sari’s influence on and presence within Paris fashion is a step towards reducing its isolation from mainstream fashion studies.

This qualifying paper is an investigation into the past and current state of how commercial dry cleaning (solvent cleaning) is being used as a treatment option in textile conservation. Literature on the topic of dry cleaning in conservation is for the most part dated. Additionally, there is a barrier of entry into treatment as machinery is expensive and requires working with someone who owns and knows how to operate the equipment. An update on the current uses of dry cleaning in the conservation field and changes in the dry cleaning industry would be beneficial to those wishing to expand treatment options for collections in their care. Investigating the topic of solvent cleaning will be accomplished through tracing developments and literature review to better understand where commercial dry cleaning stands in the field of textile conservation in terms of application. This text will also act as an overview of how to process works so those interested in utilizing dry cleaning as a treatment have a resource that combines several areas of research.

This qualifying paper explores the history of Dutch embroidered samplers, focusing on common imagery, and discusses a cleaning treatment for a c. 1820 Dutch embroidered sampler. Of particular interest in this paper are popular embroidery motifs, the importance of embroidered samplers in women's lives, methods for addressing tidelines caused by water contact, and mounting for future display. The sampler is in the collection of an FIT Adjunct Instructor, and will return to her possession after treatment.

This qualifying paper documents the conservation treatment of a Qing Dynasty Ao (late nineteenth-century Chinese Han women’s robe). The robe is now part of the Graduate Study Collection and is available for research.

The first section of this paper looks at the historical context of this style of robe as well as the meaning of the different decorative motifs and embellishments seen on the garment. The second part of the paper is a complete documentation of the condition, treatment proposal, and treatment report.

To conclude, this paper assesses the treatment along with an overview of the different ideologies of compensating for loss to justify the treatment options. The research thoroughly discusses the choices that lead up to the decisions made during treatment. The conservation treatments involved included: hand stitched underlay and overlay supports, adhesives, custom dying, and rehousing.

Despite the striking life and career of the English-born fashion editor, illustrator, and designer Isabel “Babs” Willaumez Rawlings (BWR) (1902 -1986), her contributions are still underrepresented in fashion history. Having started her career at French Vogue in 1933, she would change over to American Vogue in 1935 until her departure in 1946. BWR was at Vogue during the time when other prominent fashion editors were working, such as Edna Woolman Chase, Bettina Ballard at Vogue, and Carmel Snow and Diana Vreeland at Harper’s Bazaar. As the wife of two men with successful fashion careers, the illustrator René Bouët-Willaumez and the photographer John Rawlings, her name often appears in connection with them. However, she was a talented woman in her own right; the primary sources that exist suggest she was an influential editor and deserves to be the focus of a fashion studies paper.

BWR’s ideas often appeared in American Vogue in stories which she illustrated herself. She contributed to many editorials where she communicated ideas put into practice in her own wardrobe. Her three “Signature–‘Babs’ ” articles from 1944 demonstrate her instinctive personal style. Through editorials such as “Suits” and “Painters’ Scarfs and How to Wear Them,” BWR’s process is revealed; she reworked the same concept over years until it was perfected. Her use of accessories is why the word consistent can be used to describe her personal style. Having all the qualifications of a tastemaker of the 1930s and 1940s, BWR also acted as a collaborator with the designers who custom-made some of her clothing. This is the first study of the life and career of an influential American fashion editor and thus contributes towards a more complete history of twentieth-century fashion.

In their 2022 exhibition entitled In America: An Anthology of Fashion, the Metropolitan Museum of Art displayed a ball gown by Marguery Bolhagen (1920-2021) and utilized a photograph of its installation to advertise their exhibition. The exhibition offered little information on the designer and discussed the client and donor of the dress in greater detail. Little record existed discussing Bolhagen’s work; beyond her role as a ready-to-wear designer for Bergdorf Goodman beginning in 1965, she was relatively unknown. Despite this, her work is held in institutions throughout the United States, including the Met, the Museum of the City of New York, and the Historic Costume and Textiles Collection at Ohio State University. The aim of this paper is to consider her importance to fashion historians and the public.

This qualifying paper uncovers the life and work of American fashion designer Marguery Bolhagen, delving beyond a striking image used to advertise an exhibition, and looking beyond her relationship to her most famous client, Austine Hearst, also known as Mrs. William Randolph Hearst, Jr. Drawing from fashion press research, object-based study, and interviews with descendants of the designer, this paper is organized into two chapters. The first chapter discusses the life of the designer chronologically from birth to death, with focus on her work in the fashion industry. The second chapter is dedicated to an examination of six objects by Bolhagen in the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s collection. The paper concludes with a discussion of the challenges presented when conducting this research, and further research avenues to be pursued. Aiming to recognizing the work of a female couturier amongst her male contemporaries, this paper contextualizes Marguery Bolhagen as an American fashion designer in the twentieth century.

The Kashmiri shawl developed over three hundred years, with each culture bringing its own unique contribution to the evolution of the Kashmiri shawl. The variety of Kashmiri shawls is endless; this can be seen museum and private collections, on auction websites and published in books. The majority of Kashmiri shawls in museums and private collections today is of nineteenth-century manufacture. The invention of embroidered shawls, which originally started as a touch-up on designs of completed shawls, started in the mid-eighteenth century. In the nineteenth century, shawl production received a powerful external stimulus and took a change of course when European attention impacted local designs and manufacture. It was during this time that piecework resulted, and culminated in the shift from atelier weaving toward mass market.

This qualifying paper will focus on three shawls attributed to Kashmir, India, analyze the use of embroidery and piecing in their construction, and review a comprehensive treatment for one. The research and treatment of that shawl, done for FT644, Advanced Conservation II, in Spring 2022, provided the inspiration for this paper. The body of this paper is a comparison of the three shawls. All three are lined, composite and embroidered - yet, are all different. All three are hand-woven in the kani weave, a twill tapestry weave with interlocking wefts, from Kashmir, India. This paper analyzes the similarities and differences of all three and the publication on Kashmiri shawl conservation treatments.

Hollywood films of the 1920s-40s included lavishly embellished costumes that reflected light from metallic embroidery, sequins and glass beads. The reflected light was augmented with feathers, fringes, and other adornments. These spectacular costumes were enhanced by headdresses and jewelry. The challenge of creating illusionary beauty was achieved by the costume designer, who imagined and executed his/her designs. In Hollywood history, there is a legendary film costume designer whose costumes are still marveled at today. He is Gilbert Adrian (1903-59) simply known as “Adrian,” who worked as the Head Costume Designer at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) from 1928 to 1941. Film scholars have credited Adrian as the most influential film costume designer, and the creator of the “Hollywood Glamour Look.” Adrian’s creations serve as cases-in-point to examine how adornment (i.e. embellishment, headwear and jewelry) augment the “embodiment” of film costumes (i.e. dress). Eighteen films from 1929 to 1941 were categorized into five groups: Reflected Light; Feathers and Fringes Abound; Modernism: Simplicity and Contrast; Hollywood’s Orientalism; and Masquerade and Musicals. The theoretical frameworks were phenomenology, Mei Mei Rado, Edward Said, and Anne Hollander among others to provide a different perspective on “embodiment.” The results Adrian achieved from his astute understanding of how fabrics and embellishments film in black-and-white are impressive. Adrian’s prolific career from film costume to fashion designer remains influential today.

This qualifying paper is an annotated bibliography of publications having to do with the technical analysis of metal threads used in textiles since 1995. For the 104 papers listed, 60 were annotated by the author, and for the remaining 43, the original paper’s abstracts were sufficient. Publications were categorized and sorted by purpose of published investigation (history, conservation, method of manufacture, etc.); and the actual technique(s) employed in each publication. Information about the type of thread construction (flat strips, metal-wrapped on fiber core, etc.), the metal content, and the application of the metal thread is described in the annotations using consistent terminology to make the document searchable. The entries are in alphabetical order by author and only publications in English are included.

Significant work had been done on metal thread analysis prior to 1995 by some pioneers in the field: Norman Indictor, Robert Koestler, Mary Ballard, and Marta Járó. A compilation of what has been published since 1995 was needed, especially in light of new analytical equipment now available in labs. Hence, this bibliography starts at 1995.

A brief history of metal threads and the development of manufacturing methods is included as well as a brief overview of some of the past developments in metal thread analysis. However, this paper is not intended as an exhaustive compilation of all papers written about the history, manufacture, or conservation of metal threads. In order to be included in this bibliography, some form of analytical technique investigating metal threads must have been employed. Some papers may coincidentally examine coatings and organic substrates, but those were included only if they also performed metal analysis.

In 1856, the New York Daily Times reported that a person named Charley was arrested in New York City and sentenced to “two months imprisonment on Blackwell’s Island” for vagrancy and wearing men's clothing. Charley—who was identified as Harriet French—was one of the many civilians who were subjected to the cross-dressing laws that appeared across the United States throughout the end of the nineteenth century. At the same time these laws were being enacted, gender impersonation acts were growing in popularity thanks to Vaudeville, giving gender performance a public platform. Actors, like Ella Wesner, gave paid public performances where they were praised on stage for the illusions they were able to cast. Wesner was one of the performers cited as not only having worn men’s clothing during her performances, but was known to wear men’s clothes in public, and was ultimately buried in men’s clothes as requested in her will. This paper will use Charley and Ella Wesner as a lens to examine how fashion plays a role in the construction of gender and consider the necessary narrative expansion needed in fashion history scholarship.

Ana de Pombo (1889 -1985) was a Spanish born fashion designer living and working in Paris, France in the 1920s-1940s. Popular and well known in her time, she is little known by historians and the public today. At the height of her career in the mid-1930s, de Pombo was the lead designer for the House of Paquin (1891-1956) where she successfully incorporated the popular artistic movement, flamenco, into her designs. De Pombo’s side career as a flamenco performer gave her awareness of the popularity of the art form and provided her with intimate knowledge of ways to use common flamenco imagery in her work. This qualifying paper explores the connection between Ana de Pombo’s interest in flamenco and her evening wear designs for the House of Paquin.

Seguimos Aquí: Indigenous Fashion in Latin America, translated to “we are still here,” is a proposed traveling exhibition that will be the first to highlight fashion created by living Indigenous Latin American designers. Showcasing the creativity and talent of five designers and four Latin-owned luxury labels collaborating with artisans from Central and South American countries will emphasize the makers’ craftsmanship and innovations. Ensembles, costumbrismo art, literature, photographs, and museum artifacts will provide historical context for the designers’ work. Media will include interview clips with the designers and artisans, runway coverage, and behind-the-scenes content on the creative process. Accompanying biand tri-lingual didactic text, in order of the Indigenous language, official language, to English, is vital to consider inclusivity and respectful public engagement for all visitors.

Composed of four thematic sections, Perspectivas Cambiantes (Shifting Perspectives) will begin by challenging how we define terms such as dress, fashion, traditional clothing, and costume. This section will demonstrate shifting perceptions of Indigenous people and fashion with examples from the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. The second section, Resistencia (Resistance), will highlight the importance of Indigenous representation and the lack thereof in the fashion industry. In Respeto (Respect), emphasis on the many hands involved in a brand's identity is central, honing in on fair trade models. The final section, Revolución (Revolution), will showcase current initiatives to help preserve the passing of craft traditions to the next generations and speaks to where the future of Indigenous fashion is going without the limitations of a “non-Western” label. An exhibition checklist, along with exhibition design, public programming, and catalog proposal, is included.

This qualifying paper traces the most recent quilting revival in America from the 1970s through modern-day and examines the circumstances of early and late Revival quilters, with exploration into whether early and late Revival quilters are indeed part of the same quilting movement. Investigating the factors that sparked the revival in the Seventies, and the evolution of the quilting industry that grew around Revival Quilters in the years that followed, characteristics of quilters are defined as the decades progress and the nature of Revival Quilting changes. Quilters’ dialogs with the growing quilting industry affect commercially available products in the hobby market, as well as the output of those who engage with the craft and how quilts are created.

As new tools and technologies change, the ways in which quilters engage with the craft evolves dramatically. While post-millennium quilters find their foundations in the quilting revival of the Seventies, increasing developments in technology and the internet give them unprecedented access to peer dialog and educational materials. New avenues to careers in quilting, grounded in YouTube, social media, and e-commerce, begin to emerge. In light of this exceptional level of access to the quilting community, sewing supplies, and pattern material, the author seeks to redefine post-millennium quilters, proposing a new term scholars may use to refer to them: Connected Quilters.

The subject of this paper is the conservation treatment of a pair of c. 1865 red silk boots. The contents of this paper describe the identification, testing procedures, treatment proposal, and conservation treatment of the boots.

This qualifying paper includes both the historical and analytical study as well as the conservation treatment of a rank badge of the Qing Dynasty (1644-1910). This rank badge was chosen from the Graduate Study Collection of the Graduate School of The Fashion Institute of Technology, State University of New York. Since the textile had no label or record of provenance, it was approached as a complete unknown textile needing basic research. Historical research, issues of documentation, conservation ethics, condition reports, treatment proposals and reports, handling and storage practices will all be discussed in this thesis, as well as the methodology selected for the analytical study and conservation of a textile such as this Chinese rank badge.
Research was done to identify the origin and date of the textile and to understand the textile in its historical context. In Chapter I, a brief history of rank badges is included in order to understand the historical background of the textile. The style and structure of the rank badge were analyzed in view of the connoisseurship study in Chapter II. Some rank badges in other museum collections were also examined as comparative examples of a certain style.
Scientific methods were studied and tested to decide on an appropriate conservation treatment. Before making a decision on a conservation treatment, necessary scientific analyses and tests were done in Chapter III, employing optical microscopy and Schweppe’s dye test methods for material identification. Chapter IV covers the normal flow of conservation practice and documentation, from making a condition report to a storage proposal. Also covered in Chapter IV is the code of ethics in textile conservation to be used as a guideline to make sound conservation plans.

An unattributed ethnographic flat woven textile in the Graduate Study Collection at the Fashion Institute of Technology was without provenance and was purported to be South American. The textile was in fair condition but could no longer be handled easily for student study due to its several major tears and losses. The goal of this paper is to document the textile's cultural context and its conservation treatment that will enable it to be returned to active use in the collection.The first chapter of this paper discusses the historical and cultural context of the textile. Comparanda are examined for similar stylistic traits, motifs and formats. The motifs and woven structure are documented and compared to the Andean tradition of textiles, and specifically to the tradition of mantles. The second chapter of this paper details the conservation treatment of the textile. In fair condition, the textile was in need of stabilization for continued use as a study object. The condition report and treatment proposal are included along with the treatment report. The textile is now stabilized and rehoused for storage in the collection.

The purpose of this paper is to provide a snapshot examination of fashion archiving practices at United States corporations, as of the years 2019 – 2022, describing the history of their origination, current uses, and challenges today and in the future. The paper argues that archives are the core identity of a corporation and a valuable asset, which when invested in, can support many sectors of the business, generating revenue for the company, directly and indirectly. The argument is solidified through a range of methods including literature drawn from scholarly archival journals, publications on corporate business archive practices, case studies on corporate marketing and publication relations / communications strategies, newspaper articles highlighting trending topics, and interviews with designers, marketers, archivists, conservators, and scholars. Despite a large number of archival societies, graduate programs, and growing interest in archives at fashion brands, to date, there has been little formal scholarship on the topic. Furthermore, the scholarship available often describes the topic from one perspective, when fashion archives specifically, are multifaceted. A quick review of index pages of roughly three hundred fashion marketing, branding, and management books at the Gladys Marcus Library at FIT returned only two books that had a mention of historians, librarians, archives, or heritage. By reviewing literature and speaking with individuals across departments — marketing, public relations, design, and archives, the paper aims to codify the value of archives from all sectors. This paper is written from the perspective of a fashion and textile collection management and conservation graduate student whose former career in nonprofit marketing and database management spurred an interest in the nuances of this field. This unexplored topic along with the resurgence of archival reissuing, vintage-inspired, and nostalgia fashion, and the unprecedented event of a global pandemic, makes the topic of this paper timely and relevant.