CONTENTS
CONCEPT textiles in fine art 12 THE SOUND OF CLOTHES In an article first published on showstudio.com, fashion historian Maria Echeverri explores the relationship between sound and fashion. Illustrated by Mark Lazenby 65 FIELD TO FASHION Alison Welsh blends the textiles and traditions of two countries Joyce Dixon finds out how her latest project began 71 THREAD AND THRIFT Dr Sue Marks admires Mandy Pattullo’s Quilts Photographs by Alun Callender
INDUSTRY from craft to commerce 28 SILK SCREEN Ptolemy Mann visits the Whitchurch Silk Mill Photographs by Alun Callender 33 MAKING TIME Mary Lisa Gavenas, former senior editor at In Style magazine, pinpoints the new appeal of dressmaking and the people behind the revival. Portraits by Richard Nicholson 37 THE COMMERCIAL PATTERN Innovations in Home Dressmaking Professor Joy Spanabel Emery, Curator of the Commercial Pattern Archive at the University of Rhode Island, traces the evolution of paper patterns 96 PICTURE PERFECT For Wes Anderson the devil is in the detail Beth Smith discovers costumes, sets and props take centre stage in this director’s films
S I LK SCREEN
Ptolemy Mann visits the Whitchurch Silk Mill
An enormous silk bow stands alert on top of Kate Winslet’s hat. It has a beautiful majestic stature, woven with fine charcoal grey stripes undulating across the surface. It’s stealing the scene and yet all of us who saw the film Titanic would have had no idea that this ribbon was woven on looms from exactly the era it’s depicting, using the same now rare techniques.
In fact when the impressive list of film costumes that Whitchurch Silk Mill has provided cloth for is reeled off, you suddenly realise that almost all of the best cinematic costume drama moments were made authentic due to this small, perfectly formed mill in Hampshire. Nicole Kidman in PortraitofaLadystands upright and constricted by cascades of meticulously embroidered maroon ruffles that hug her curving shape. The colour of Gillian Anderson’s eyes echoes precisely the shade of her silk gown in Bleak House, Dickensian to the core. Francesca Annis, austere and white wigged in Cranford sports a moiré striped taffeta dress; these fabrics are truly sumptuous and have a life of their own.
Although evidence from the Doomsday Book suggests woollen weaving mills were established in Whitchurch as early as 1086, the current mill on its existing site was built around 1815. It passed through several hands until silk manufacturer William Maddick developed the three floor factory space we see today. He sold it around 1846 to the Chappell family who for several generations ran the mill. Production appears to have peaked around the 1860s but declined thereafter due to a European silkworm disease and increased French export taxes on silk.
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Below: ID#40883, Dubarry, 1935
Right: ID#4344, Simplicity, 1953
Previous page: ID#20714, Hollywood, 1943
with a desire for Parisian elegance, Butterick reached out to the family-oriented middle class and rural customer. As a tailor, Butterick began with men’s and children’s garments, but soon included ladies’ patterns. In addition, he patented his “invention” and was the first to offer patterns in a range of sizes.
Before the birth of these legends, numerous sewing manuals were published on both sides of the Atlantic from as early as 1789. These ranged from instructions and pattern diagrams for garments made from squares and rectangles to children’s garments. Fashion periodicals also flourished in the mid-19th century. These touted the latest fashions, often included diagrams for a variety of garments, advertised available dressmaker patterns and, in some instances, included full-size patterns as supplements to encourage subscriptions.
Sewing manuals, such as The Art of Dressmaking, Containing Plain Directions in Simple Language from the Fitting of the Pattern to the Finish of the Dress (1849) and The American Ladies’ Memorial (1850) contained instructions for making a paper pattern. Authors emphasized the need for girls to learn dressmaking early. They suggested practising on dolls – as they lie very still to be fitted. The instructions were primarily for bodice patterns since the skirts of the period were rectangles that were pleated and/or gathered to fit the waist.
The groundwork was completed by the 1860s. Paper patterns were recognized as a useful tool for dress making. The sewing machine was becoming more accessible and postal services on both sides of the Atlantic expanded to accommodate distribution of fashion periodicals and patterns. Demorest and Butterick were profitable and imported publications
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In 1887 John Hide bought the mill and began weaving for Thomas Burberry, who was married to his sister-in-law. His son James inherited and ran the mill from 1905 and began weaving the silk linings, in 22 colours dyed on site, for the famous Burberry raincoats. Throughout two world wars weaving continued at Whitchurch; everything from plain silk for insulation cables to a silk scarf and tie for the Kray Brothers in the 50s. In 1956 Stephen Walters and company took over and ran the mill from a distance at Sudbury, still producing fabric for Burberry; and later Ede and Ravenscroft who made academic and legal gowns, see issue 46, and in turn became the next owners in 1971. By the mid 1980s the business was diminishing but at the eleventh hour – before being sold for development – Hampshire Buildings Preservation Trust stepped in and saved the mill.
Visiting today, what strikes you first is the picturesque setting, a restrained, elegant Georgian building surrounded by shallow waterways. Crystalclear water reveals the emerald-green riverweed of the River Test, one of the most species-rich lowland rivers in England. The water is so clean it is one of the finest trout streams in the world and a place where watercress farms can flourish. The mill houses a fine waterwheel which in the 1920s and 30s was powering a generator before the mill converted to mainline electricity. Today the wheel still turns, powering pulleys and cogs throughout the factory floor; but the power supply is slow and unreliable. There are plans to restore the wheel to its former glory as it seems criminal not to be using this unique setting to its full capacity.
Whitchurch has endured extreme changes 4
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Opposite: Kate Winslet, Titanic, 1997
with pattern supplements, such as Harper’s Bazar and Le Bon Ton, were equally successful.
Other entrepreneurs were inspired to try the pattern business. One of the most enterprising was James McCall. An immigrant from Scotland, McCall introduced a wide range of patterns for all ages in 1873 and promoted them in The Queen, illustrating McCall’s Bazar Glove-Fitting Patterns to capitalize on identifiable name recognition. During the 1880s and 1890s, over ten pattern companies were created. Butterick and McCall had the strongest standing in the early 1900s. Other new companies were formed, the most successful being Vogue. Others, such as Elite, New Idea, Pictorial Review, Royal, and Standard Designer flourished for a while and then merged with one of the major companies. Simplicity was organized in 1929 and has become one of the major surviving American pattern companies along with Butterick, McCall and Vogue.
Refinements to the patterns ensued. Early patterns were hand-cut plain tissues with holes punched through the tissue to indicate the grain-line, the edge to be placed on a fold of material, fitting darts, tucks, and the like. Notches on the edges indicated which two pieces were to be seamed together. Instructions explaining how to make the garment became more detailed and were included in the envelope. The next innovation was the introduction of the machine-cut printed pattern by McCall in 1921. These had the outline of the pattern piece and all other markings printed on each piece instead of punched symbols. The advantage over hand-cut patterns was more accurate duplication of each pattern piece. At the same time, refinements in paper production and advances in
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Left: ID#35589, Simplicity, 1963
Right: ID#35758, Butterick, 1962
GLOBAL Textiles from around the world 52 DANCING TO BOLLYWOOD’S TUNE Beth Smith looks at Hindi Cinema’s influence on fashion and textiles 54 GROWING MARKET Fiona Caulfield, author of the Love Travel guides, takes us on a retail tour of Mumbai and lists her favourite shops
Entering Miss Clara’s world is probably what it’s like to fall down a rabbit hole. It is a phantasmagorical world populated by creatures which, while certainly strange, are perhaps familiar to anyone who can recall what it’s like to be a child and to possess an enquiring mind capable of epic flights of fancy. Any comparison with Alice must end there, however. This world is entirely of Miss Clara’s making – she is the conceiver, the curator, the craftsperson. And, somewhat remarkably, she manages all of this with bits of cardboard and tissue paper.
Born in 1965, Claire Guiral grew up in the countryside near Bordeaux. She cuts an otherworldly figure, her bright, colourful hippy-style clothes nonetheless betraying an open and friendly character. By the age of seven she had already created her own “small, bucolic universe”. One cannot help wondering if she has ever quite made her way back to this one.
It was Claire’s great aunt who, encouraging her in her early fantastical creations, gave her the nickname ‘Miss Clara’. Meanwhile, her mother and grandmother often sewed and would give her discarded pieces of cloth with which to make things. When her mother was expecting the youngest of two sisters, Claire desperately wanted a baby of her own, one so small that she could fit it in her pocket. “I built a small cot with paper and I waited,” she explains. “But the cot remained empty. So I picked some soft grey willow buds and 4
COHABIT stunning interiors beautifully photographed 45 WONDERLAND Miss Clara’s home is an open book Writer and photographer Joanna Maclennan is captivated by the theatrical interior of this artist’s house
ANECDOTE textiles that touch our lives 16 READY FOR THEIR CLOSE-UP Jenny Tiramani describes how she fell in love with the real thing and became a champion for authenticity in costume 20 DECONSTRUCTING HISTORY Unpicking 17th Century Womens’ Dress In this edited book extract Jenny Tiramani, founder of The School of Historical Dress, exposes the bare bones of fashion
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Beth Smith looks at Hindi cinema’s influence on fashion DANCING T O THE TUNE O F BOLLYWOOD
Now I love a rousing barn dance as much as the next person: but few MGM musicals, even the classics like Seven Brides for Seven Brothers, can compete with Bollywood (a term used synonymously for Hindi cinema) when it comes to scale, longevity and its enduring impact on popular culture. You may have detected a frisson of excitement in fashion magazines when Baz Luhrmann released his interpretation of The Great Gatsby last year: but compared to the legacy Bollywood can claim on the way people dress in India, and how they perceive their textile traditions, it’s a passing fashion footnote.
While some Bollywood films do deal with topical and sensitive issues, it’s fair to say the typical incarnation usually features lavish sets, elaborate costumes, exuberant dance and a healthy dash of melodrama. It’s an irresistible combination for anyone with a taste for glamour.
Bollywood has been producing films for over a hundred years. The first, Raja Harishchandra, 1913, was during the silent era. With the advent of sound that film’s popularity exploded. During the political turmoil of the 1930s and 40s movie makers provided desired escapism: but it was in the following decade, as colour films became firmly established, that Bollywood first flexed its muscle and asserted its strength as a cultural, and fashion force.
An exception to the colour rule but unarguably part of the "Golden Age" of Hindi cinema is Mughal-e -Azam (The Emperor of the Mughals), directed by K. Asif in 1960. Originally filmed in black and white, (digitally coloured and re-released in 2004) the film’s costume and set design soared beyond this early limitation. Writing in The Hindu, Syed Muthahar Saqaf explains why the film regularly tops polls of the best Bollywood films; “No stone was left unturned to make it grand. Outstanding craftsmen from different parts of India were employed. The best Delhi tailors were brought to Mumbai to design the costumes of Akbar (Prithviraj Kapoor) and Salim (Dilip Kumar), the delicate jewellery worn by Anarkali (Madhubala) was crafted by goldsmiths in Hyderabad, a silver artisan from Kolhapur created the crowns, designers from Surat stitched the zardosi on costumes.”
The epic love story of Prince Salim and Anarkali, a court dancer, were more than a box office smash. In a time when few Indian women had access to fashion magazines or television this film, and others like it, was a vital source of information and influence. Mughal-e-Azam sparked fashion trends that continue today; a websearch for “Anarkali” produces hundreds of garments on offer that can be traced back to this film about a legendary slave girl.
In The Berg Fashion Reader, Dr Vandana Bhandari explains further; “The public’s romance with movie fashion started with Indian Independence in 1947. The puffed sleeve blouses worn by Devika Rani in the early 1950s were revived in the 1970s when Sharmila Tagore reintroduced them in the movie Amar Prem (1971). It was also in the 1970s that the salawr kameez gained universal appeal. When Bhanu Athaiya designed a tight, short kameez and equally tight churidar (trousers) worn with a chiffon dupatta for movie heroine Sadhna, the nation followed the style.” More than that, they clamoured for it; there were hearsay reports of women in Delhi sending their tailors to watch the film just so they could copy the design.
In 1982, with the release of Gandhi, Bhanu Athaiya gained an Oscar for costume design and triggered another revival. This time it was Khadi, the hand-spun and hand-woven fabric championed by Ghandi as a means of India's economic and spiritual revival. Aged 85, Bhanu Athaiya is still creating costumes as consultant on the mythological television saga Mahabharat, and continues to look to tradition. “Mahabharat will revive Indian handicrafts and weaves. Ancient techniques have been used to achieve the various looks,” she predicted. Fellow designer Nidhi Yasha agreed; “It took a study of over 450 books and four years of work to arrive at the look and feel of the show. Extensive study of ethnicity, fabrics, drapes and costume was undertaken.”
Today links between costume and fashion are clearest in the work of Sabyasachi Mukherjee, a designer poised between both worlds and at home in each. He has shown at London, Milan and New York Fashion Weeks, garnering rave reviews for collections featuring Indian textiles in a modern context, such as bandhani, gota work, block printing and hand dyeing. At the same time his designs for Sanjay Leela Bhansali's film Black earned him the National Award for best costume designer. Sabyasachi has since designed costumes for a further eight films and regularly dresses actresses for the red carpet. And if you think all that’s missing from this man is a little philanthropy, then you’re wrong. Sabyasachi’s recent initiative is a non-profit project called ‘Save the Saree’ which is supported by Bollywood actresses Aishwarya Rai Bachchan and Vidya Balan. In an effort to revive this traditional garment Sabyasachi has launched a range of handwoven sarees, and all proceeds go directly to the weavers of Murshidabad. Could Bollywood’s influence on textiles be any more direct?
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Bollywood: The Greatest Love Story Ever Told, 2011
Directed by Rakeysh Omprakash and Jeff Zimbalist
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