Fashion Trip to Portland (again)

This weekend I went to Portland for a Costume Society of America event (which it feels like I JUST did). I took the train (duh) but this time didn’t stay in the Ace Hotel because all their cheap rooms were booked. So instead I got a decent rate at a Mariott hotel and got to sleep in a giant, fluffy bed.

Six pillows all for meeeee!!!!

The only bad thing about the Mariott was that when I asked the concierge for directions to the Portland Art Museum (less than a mile away) he had to look up the address and then struggled to find it on the map.

The CSA event was in two parts. First, a docent tour Italian Style at the art museum. It was a touring exhibition from the V&A and full of high glamour. Photos weren't allowed, so you’ll have to just enjoy this giant Dolce & Gabbana banner outside the museum.

Byzantine. Realness.

I sort of felt bad for our docent, whose script was clearly not intended for people who already knew a lot about fashion history.  There was one pretty awesome new piece of information though: apparently Emilio Pucci went to Reed College and his first design job was making uniforms for the college ski team.

Besides the fashion, the best moment on the tour was when a conservator in the group spotted a centipede crawling on one of the platforms near the garments. She grabbed the only piece of paper nearby, leapt onto the platform, and mercilessly squashed it.  The piece of paper turned out to be the docent’s notes.

#GreatMomentsInPestManagement

In the afternoon we had the option to sign up for something called the “Portland Style Tour.” We went by bus to four stops:

1. The Dehen Knitting Company

This was probably my favorite stop. Dehen is a heritage brand that was started in 1920 and makes school sweaters, letterman jackets, and cheerleading uniforms, as well as their own line of classic styles. They had these totally cool knitting machines from the 1950s and the floor was slippery with fabric fuzz which of course made me think of...

Tragically, I was not romanced by the mill owner and so had to move on to the next stop...

2. Portland Garment Factory

This was a more modern factory concept: two women who saw the need for a factory that would do small runs for local designers as well as bigger projects for companies who want their stuff made domestically. It is a brilliant idea and they seem to be doing well.

Starting with this stop all our speakers where young and hip and occasionally spoke in Portlandia-worthy quips. The best from this location: “Inspiration struck while I was touring with my husband’s band…”

3. Adam Arnold Studio

I knew a little about Adam Arnold from the Fashioning Cascadia exhibit I saw last time I was in Portland. Basically he is designer who does only bespoke work, and our tour guide described him as a “local eccentric.” You can get a sense of what the visit was like from the following facts:

-No shoes were allowed in the studio space

-We were provided with tea and shortbread cookies he had baked

-He handed out his card which had a picture of him at 5 years old, dressed as a cowboy

-When asked about his influences and other favorite designers he answered “I pretty much get inspired by everything but fashion and designers.”

Some of it was a bit eyeroll worthy, but I also sort of wanted him to be my friend and have him make things for me.

4. Michelle Lesniak Studio

http://michellelesniak.com

So, apparently this woman won Project Runway? This was way beyond when I stopped watching. The designs we saw in her studio space were nice and she seemed like a talented person who probably wasn’t the villain of her season. However, I had a hard time not rolling my eyes at the following comments:

“I didn’t study fashion. I come from an art background.”

“I don’t follow trends. For me it is emotional.”

I know what she is trying to say, and great designers have to have creative minds that produce ideas that are all their own. But isn’t there always someone on Project Runway who says this? And then their stuff ends up being pretentious and unwearable or totally derivative even though they are convinced NO ONE HAS EVER MADE THIS SHAPE BEFORE EVER.

Also the whole “I don’t follow trends” and “I don’t get inspired by fashion” is buying into this whole idea that fashion is “bad” and so they are "different" and above all that. Hey, guess what-- small, DIY, “artisanal” designer operations ARE a trend. You are part of the fashion system AND THAT IS OK.
Also:

Could It Be...?

One of the projects I'm working on right now is an inventory of the shoe collection. It has been very exciting to come across items from Seattle businesses and pieces that are just downright fabulous. But this week we were presented with a little bit of a mystery.

On Friday this relatively benign pair of shoes was up next to be photoed, measured, and condition checked:

My intern, faithfully updating the record in the database stopped and commented, "So...in the description it says 'Shoes said to have been made for Julie Andrews in the 20th Century Fox Movie The Star'...what does that mean?? Did Julie Andrews wear those shoes???"

Instinctively skeptical, I brushed it off. (MOHAI also has a bloody scarf that Mrs. Lincoln apparently was wearing on the night of the assassination. I looked into it and there is a 98% chance of that claim being totally hooey).

The only thing that gave me pause was the fact that there were marks on the soles that looked like they had once been taped with masking tape. That is a short-term solution for giving shoes some traction on a smooth floor--often seen on shoes worn for fashion shows or in the theater.

Then there was a second pair with a similar claim in the description:

These also had tape marks, including on the inside. AND they looked like they may have been painted to go from red to gray. All touches consistent with quick-fixes for costuming purposes.

Then there was something else nagging me. Guess who donated the shoes?

Who else?

John Doyle Bishop, connoisseur of the fabulous and friend to the rich and famous, seems to be JUST the kind of person who would enjoy owing a pair of shoes worn by an icon.

Seems about right

The more I thought about it the more I thought it COULD BE. I mean, it's not like the record was claiming that these were Dorothy's ruby slippers. As fabulous and amazing as Julie Andrews is, Star! was not a big hit and Hollywood churns out hundreds of movies each year. Clothing pieces worn by stars in lesser-known pictures must end up somewhere. 

In total, there were actually four pairs of shoes and one hat in this donation, all claiming to be from this movie, all worn by Julie Andrews, all donated by JDB. I did some research and the costumes for Star! were done by Donald Brooks, the New York-based fashion designer who also did costumes for movies and the stage. And GUESS what Seattle store sold Donald Brooks??

This is a sketch from the Seattle Times advertising a special showing of Donald Brooks clothing at John Doyle Bishop's store in 1968- the year that Star! was released. 

I don't think that this evidence is conclusive but I think it makes the claim plausible. What do you think? Obviously the next step is to find a copy of the movie and scrutinize the footwear!

New York is a Great Place to Vist

“New York is a great place to visit…” the tourist saying goes, “but I would never want to live there.”

This phrase has been repeated by many and derided by many more. I actually heard someone say it on my airplane, who then proceed to talk about their experience staying in a hotel in Times Square. GURL. Of course you can’t imagine living there.

Well, after spending most of last week in New York I would like to submit my own version:

New York is a great place to live, then leave, and then come visit.

A few months ago I got an email from a friend I lived with at Menno House asking if I would have any interest in an April or May visit to NYC. I had been seriously thinking about a spring visit and this was exactly the push I needed. We got another friend involved and booked a room in the guest part of Menno House.

It was a perfect setup. We were all familiar enough with the city to be comfortable navigating the subways and the neighborhoods, and since we had already visited many of the sites there was no pressure to pack in everything. But we were still tourists, and so had fun doing new things and splurging on activities when we felt like it. If you want to have a wonderful time in New York you should definitely live there for a couple years and then come back for the visit.

Some highlights:

Mad Men exhibit at the Museum of the Moving Image

Pretty good over all although smaller than I expected and some of the objects weren't labelled or didn't have much information. They assumed every viewer was a huge fan of the show and would recognize each piece. But, for example, there was an outfit in the “Betty” section that was totally unfamiliar to me. When did Betty wear velour hot pants?? Or was it actually a Sally outfit on an adult mannequin?? I would post a picture, but photography wasn’t allowed and I am nothing if not a museum rule-follower. So here is a gif of Bob Benson in his short shorts:

The rest of the museum was loads of fun and perhaps better than the Mad Men exhibit. I usually skip interactives but they several which were very clever and enjoyable.

Ate a mind-blowing wrap in a chair swing 

Falafel, pickled red onion, toasted sun­flower seeds, pick­les, and sesame sauce all wrapped in a fig dough tortilla which was cooked fresh in front of me. WHUT. The weird chairs suspended from the ceiling actually weren't that comfortable but we sat in them anyway.

Went to the Museum at FIT and was reminded that I am not universally against mannequins with heads

#BaldandFabulous

Also: YSL. Chicken Print. Realness.

Saw Kinky Boots on Broadway

There were multiple times when my brain was screaming I AM SO ENTERTAINED RIGHT NOW. Also, I was doubly entertained with the men who were sitting behind us who were very vocal about their enjoyment. When the main drag queen character would appear onstage in something fabulous they would audibly emote things like "YESSSS" and "SHUT. UP." 

Which we were all thinking anyway

So Much Fun Time with Friends

What I miss most about NYC is the people. Great classmates, great coworkers, great housemates, great mentors. Why you all gotta be so far away? Oh wait, I guess I was the one that moved...

American Spirits!

Only ONE DAY LEFT before American Spirits : The Rise and Fall of Prohibition opens at MOHAI!!!

I've been doing lots to prepare. First of all, I got a haircut.

A 1920s-inspired bob and it looks AWESOME.

I've also been dressing mannequins and putting new things on display. I added a fabulous Helen Igoe dress into the exhibit (it is a traveling show from the National Constitution Center but there was some spots to add in local stuff). And on Monday I updated the 1920s case in the core Seattle history exhibit. It also looks pretty great.

So for contrast, remember when that case looked like this?

The concept for this case was

"Getting Murdered By Two Thugs Outside the Speakeasy"

Well now it looks like this!

The alley is the same, but the label text is about clothing for 

"Drinking Out" vs. "Drinking at Home."

There is a lot of interesting stuff going on here, but here is a feature you won't read about in the label text-- There is an optical illusion that is almost as cool as that dress that broke the internet a few months ago. The gray fabric covering the necks of the mannequins (which appears light gray on the left and dark gray on the right) is THE SAME FABRIC I KID YOU NOT. I even held up a swatch of it to convince myself and it was like it magically changed color as I moved from mannequin to mannequin.

SO WIERD!!

This is not just how it looks through my crappy camera, that is how it looks IN PERSON.

So if you are in Seattle go see American Spirits, April 2 to Aug 23rd, and stop by the 1920s section in the Seattle history permanent exhibit and prepare to have your mind blown by swatches of gray fabric. 

In the Shadow of the Dome

This weekend I took a trip to Tacoma with my mom, and was perhaps more excited than a Seattleite is allowed to be about visiting Tacoma. (For my out-of-state readers, Tacoma is a large city about an hour drive south of Seattle. The two cities got in a vicious fight in the 19th century regarding a transcontinental railroad terminus and we've been throwing shade at each other ever since).

My mom's choir had a concert on Saturday and a late rehearsal the night before, so a bunch of choir members decided to stay the night in between. I came along in order to hear the concert and hopefully visit a museum while we were there. And Tacoma really rolled out all its grandeur for this trip. We stayed in a hotel with a glorious view of the Tacoma Dome:

(what this photo doesn't capture is the grime on the window)

But I was still excited about what Tacoma had to offer because it is home to the Washington State History Museum, which happened to have a clothing exhibition on view! The show was called Pomp & Circumstance: The Clothing of Transformation and when I heard about it I thought the concept was brilliant. It was all about special occasion clothing, which is exactly what every history museum has coming out of its ears. So why not put your wedding dresses, christening gowns, uniforms, inaugural gowns, and weird ceremonial gear from fraternal organizations on display together and come up with a theme that encompasses it all? GENIUS.

WORK IT GOV GREGOIRE

The exhibit was a little smaller than I expected and it looked like it had been put together on a tight budget, but there was a lot of interesting and unexpected stuff. It was the perfect topic to showcase their collection and I was really impressed by the loans they got. Including...

IS THAT...

 JINKX!

Mannequin dressing nitpick though: I would have put this dress on a slim male mannequin. If you add foam boobs to existing mannequin boobs you get: 

AGGRESSIVE FLOATING TORPEDO BREASTS

After basking in all the clothes, it was time to check out their core Washington State history exhibit which I hadn't seen since the 8th grade. It was light on artifacts and heavy on sets and props. Not my cup of tea but I realize that school groups are a huge part of their audience, and sitting inside a fake covered wagon is way more engaging for a kid than a real wagon wheel behind glass. But where they really lost me was with the full-size plaster people. These things were like creepy mannequins taken to the NEXT LEVEL.

So many plaster ruffles...

That is one pissed-off frontier drag queen

So remember how I said that there is a bit of a rivalry between Seattle and Tacoma? Because obviously Seattle is better and Tacoma is just bitter about it? 

Well, since this was an exhibit about the history of Washington State they obviously had to at least mention Seattle. So how did they do it? 

Welcome to Seattle! Land of hopeless slums!

Yep, they put the spotlight on Seattle for the section on the Great Depression, illustrating the era with a reproduction "Hooverville" shack. When you went inside there were two plaster men talking about how everything was terrible, accompanied by an audio track of heavy rain falling on a tin roof. 

NICE TRY TACOMA.

Estate Sales and Home Visits

Last weekend Olivia and I were walking around our neighborhood and saw a series of signs about an ESTATE SALE just a few blocks away. It was a nice day and we didn't have much to do, so we followed the arrows and ended up at an old Capitol Hill mansion with a long line of people waiting outside. Our interest had only barely carried us far enough to walk to the house, so when we saw that waiting was involved we decided to just go home.

I mean, we left the house when there was still Kimmy Schmidt to binge watch

YOU CAN'T EXPECT MORE FROM US

But I kept thinking about that giant house and what could be inside, and so later in the afternoon I went back on my own. It was just one hour before they closed for the day and there was STILL a line. I heard people around me talking about how they had heard it was "amazing" and "worth the wait" and how the house had to be 7,000 square feet at least. When I finally made it inside...

I was reminded that giant houses full of stuff are never quite as fun as they sound.

And I should know.

At the museum we sometimes get calls from potential donors who don't have one specific thing they want to donate, but are cleaning out their grandma's/parents'/beloved neighbor's house and want the museum to come and take whatever they want. On paper, this sounds AWESOME. Room after room of stuff for the taking!!! But having gone on a few home visits, and I gotta say, it's not all it is cracked up to be. Here is why:

#1: It is overwhelming

We all own too much stuff. I share a two bedroom apartment and wherever there is space I have filled it with stuff. If I lived in a 7,000 square foot house I would fill it with stuff. Some people have the energy to hunt through mountains of stuff to uncover that one awesome find (these people are usually expert thrift store shoppers) but I am not one of them. I loose energy really fast when faced with sorting through piles of stuff to find that "gem."

#2: There is too much pressure

Estate sales foster impulse buys and competitive shopping--you had better grab that thing and commit to it before anyone else does. For museum home visits the person hosting you wants you to commit to taking as many things as possible, and taking it quick. We don't say yes to every offered home visit because we often don't have the staff resources to do it within the timeframe they need ("everything has to be gone by Friday!"). They are usually experiencing a mix of grief and stress: facing the loss or declining health of someone they love and just wanting this damn house cleaned out already. You taking armloads of stuff assists with both problems: they can be comforted knowing that the legacy of their loved one will be preserved by a museum, and you will be reducing the number of things they have to get deal with themselves. You want to make them happy, but you aren't excited about taking tons of stuff because...

#3: It is mostly things that you don't want and/or have too much of already

Table and bed linens, dishes, well-used polyester clothes, MORE DISHES. There are always so many dishes. Dishes can be cool and interesting but the Seattle Art Museum has already won the prize in this town for doing an amazing display of dishes and there just isn't a need for MOHAI to go there.

I ended up not buying anything at the estate sale. But I have taken things during museum home visits that I was genuinely excited about. So I can't pretend that I am immune to the siren call of "a house full of stuff."

Amazing future museum artifacts are out there...waiting...perhaps just beyond that wall of monogrammed towels...

Dressed for the Sea

I've been having blog writer's block because I don't feel like anything BIG has been happening lately. I haven't made any new discoveries about John Doyle Bishop, no new bug nightmares have occurred at work, and I haven't fallen in love with any new shows or movies. It is sort of like when a friend who has recently gotten married or started a new job or had a baby is like "What's new with you!?!?!" and the only appropriate response is "nothing." Because you can't follow "My body just produced this tiny human!" with "I tried out this new brunch place. It was ok."

But that doesn't mean that life is bad. John Doyle Bishop is still magical to me, it is a blessing that there haven't been any new bug crises, and I love watching movie/tv favorites for the umpteenth time. I mean, why watch something new when Strictly Ballroom is quite possibly the perfect movie?

FEEL THE RHYTHM. DON'T BE SCARED.

Mostly, stuff has just been chugging along, being great. Our big 2015 effort to reorganize and improve the shoe storage is well underway. I'm totally digging our new database. The big vacuuming project from last year is nearly done and all my volunteers are rocking at their new projects. Last week we had an all-staff retreat and it was actually pretty productive. 

Ooh wait! I do have a story about that one!

Before the retreat we were asked to submit a photo of an artifact "that reflects you but that others might not immediately associate with you." Assuming that this would be used for some sort of icebreaker guessing game, I was beside myself trying to comply with that last part. Any garment or accessory I picked was going to be a dead giveaway, ESPECIALLY if I picked something in storage that no one else knew about. Over lunch, us collections and library staff started coming up with the silliest possible options. Could we pick a mirror? What about the creepiest artifact photos in the database? That broken doll that is just a jumble of parts? What about that box that is full of random pieces of wood? That weird 1950s toy that looks like an elephant eating a baby?

Collections staff! Are you not taking this seriously!?!?!

I ended up picking one of our ship's figureheads-- the male one. I picked it for several reasons. One: I remember seeing it on display at MOHAI when I was a kid, long before I knew I was into museums or history. Two: I like artifacts with weird hidden stories. It is unusual to have a male figurehead on a ship, and this one was made to represent its owner. He originally had a beard, and when the ship changed hands, the new owner (who only wore a mustache) had him "shaved" by carving away the beard. 

And Three: Since I am one of the few people in Seattle who doesn't love camping and hiking and kayaking in the great outdoors I appreciate this guy's style. He is strapped to the front of a boat but he still took the time to dress up. I feel that. He is my spirit figurehead.