Lets Build A Gallery

Rather then spending my blog post talking specifically about Vicki's dress, I am happy to have the opportunity to design my own space for the First Person Arts gallery exhibit. As of right now all of us involved in the item histories only have a modicum of control over the final presentation of our objects. This week gives my classmates and I an opportunity to design a space for the objects on our own terms. Since I am lucky or unlucky, depending how you look at it, to not have my item included in the actual exhibit this is a fun way for me to put my object and myself into a space for all to see.

Mission Statement-Take Home Message-Storyline

 Everyday objects have the power to create a window onto a world unknown, a story untold, a life unexplored. It is through those windows that we share our lives and experiences with others. Everyday people shaped our past; they guide our present and inspire our futures.  This exhibit aspires to give everyone the knowledge that even the most meager objects can hold extraordinary meaning for people like you and me. So explore the stories here today and be a part of the stories of tomorrow, because your story matters. 

Organization-Everything In Its Place

            The objects in this exhibit offer an opportunity for unique organization. While some of the more common ways to organize a gallery (categorically, chronologically, analogous, compare/contrast, etc…) can be successfully used, our objects need an organizational strategy all their own. That strategy involves recognizing the objects as priceless pieces of history. Their common theme in all this is that they are priceless to only to one person. They are items that could other wise be over looked by you and I. Were it not for the meaning they hold for their owners, these common, everyday items would hold no value. The storytellers behind the objects see them as an invaluable piece of their lives.

            So, not unlike the designers at First Person Arts as well as several of my classmates, I have chosen a gallery design that puts the object into their natural environments: a kitchen, bedroom, living room, a den, a closet, a desk etc….

Inventory-Put It All In 

 Since the entire idea behind this exhibit is that each piece, every little object matters, there is no question about what is to be included. Each item, even the alternates are to be put into the exhibit. No one piece is less important then another, regardless of who decided what is and is not of consequence or holds greater intrigue. Each visitor can decide what items are meaningful to him or her and which ones are not. 

Lets Get Motivated-Look & Feel

            The exhibit space will be designed much like a modern day IKEA store with individual rooms and spaces to be explored. There will be bedroom doors to walk though, desk draws to be pulled open and closet doors that need sliding in order to reveal the objects. Each item will find a home of its own where visitors can easily imagine it actually living. While walking though the space, visitors will have the opportunity not just to read the items descriptions and stories but also to hear them read by the owners of the objects themselves. An audio tour, not unlike the ones we find at art museums around the country, will be made available to the exhibits visitors. The idea is for visitors to feel at home in each of the objects settings. You’ll be able to sit on the bed in the bedroom, put your feet up in the office chair or sit down at the kitchen table. Objects are all around us, even in the homes of the exhibits visitors and we want them to start to think about their own special items and how they could fit into this gallery space. 

 ** Blueprint to follow

 

 

Moving Forward

During each decade we can see a resurgence of a period of fashion that has come before it. During the late 1990's there was a revival of 1960's fashion, presently I have noticed a significant reappearance of the fashions of the 1980's. With the cyclical nature of fashion, it is not unreasonable to think that Vicki's vintage dress could have new life here in the 21st century.  Over the past several years, I have noticed an appreciable rise in the number of young adults wearing vintage clothing. Men and women are shopping at thrift stores, consignment shops and vintage clothing boutiques in hopes of finding a garment from the past worth wearing today.

The cape and the cloak, two garments similar in their basic design and use, are nearly as old as the history of clothing itself. Simple garments, capes/cloaks are designed to protect the wearer from the cold, wind and rain. So, it is no surprise that these items have seen their popularity rise and fall and then rise again over the years. Capes or cloaks, like the one that accompanies Vicki's dress, have been familiar garments throughout centuries of fashion history. Each has undergone changes to keep up with current fashions, much like the cape/cloak that is part of Vicki’s outfit was cut to match the length of the dress and is made of matching and complimenting fabrics.  It is more a fashion accessory then simple protective clothing, but it still holds on to its basic roots as a protective covering.

Modern perceptions of the cloak and cape tend to be more towards seeing them as garments used in historical contexts and in periods of history gone by.  Movies with period piece costumes, television shows about underworld mysteries with vampires and demons and books that tell tales of Victorian periods like the Sherlock Holmes series, tend to come to mind when we think about cloaks and capes. Many today might also call to mind a cloak or cape in reference to their use during popular Renaissance fairs. 

I realize I have spend most of this blog talking about the cape rather then the dress, but it seemed most relevant to this weeks topic. The dress, while decidedly of vintage construction is not too far in style from something you might buy today. It is short and sleeveless and shows a good deal of skin. There is no dated pattern or style to speak of so it could possibly go unnoticed.  The only element to the dress itself that could date it stylistically would be the faux velvet fabric. But, even then, with the resurgence of the 1980’s fashions, it could be overlooked and seen as something from that decade. 

Most importantly I think the focus on the cape or cloak is what makes the outfit noticeable and unique.Without it, the dress could go relatively unnoticed in today's fashion world.

Perhaps, with a little bit more context

So, despite my initial hesitation to do so, I finally broke down and read the story that went along with Vicki's dress.

The story unfolded much like I was expecting. Based on my initial investigation of the dress I had surmised that it had been homemade and based on the zipper pull, was constructed somewhere between the mid 1950's and late 1960's.  My assumptions gained some validity after having read the dresses story. I found out that it was indeed made at home, by Vicki’s mother, and that it was sewn for a Christmas dance Vicki attended during her junior year of high school.

In respect to the age of the dress, I was able to use the story to approximate the time of the dresses construction. I cannot say for certain Vicki’s age, but she seems to be in her mid to late fifties or perhaps even early sixties. Regardless of her precise age, any age within that range would still place the year when the dress was made within the years I had first assigned to the dress (mid 1950’s – late 1960’s).

As for the ownership of the dress, other then for a short stint in college when the dress was likely not to have been taken to school with her, it appears to have stayed in Vicki’s possession. In order to provide the dress for the exhibit Vicki said she had removed it from storage in a trunk. She described the dress as being a “wrinkled mess” at first and had to carefully iron it in order to bring it to the story circle. This makes me think that it may have been in that trunk for a long time. The first time I went to look at the dress, Vicki mentioned that the dark marks on the capes white fur were probably from being in storage.

The dresses being in storage until it appeared for this exhibit makes me think that at some point it may have been stored somewhere other then in Vicki’s care. It’s possible that when Vicki out grew the dress, her mother may have stored it away until Vicki had a place of her own to put it. Many people use their parent homes as storage. If this were the case with Vicki, then the dress would have belonged to her but was in the possession of someone else for a period of time.

Since Vicki has grown up and no long fits into the dress, its original use has turned from that of a practical nature (formal attire/clothing), to one of more sentimental value. Its use today is emotional rather then physical. While it is possible for the dress to still be worn, it seems more likely that it will serve as an emotional reminder and valued memory for Vicki of her mother rather then as a fashion statement.

 

First things First

     Since my first object (Andrew's plaque) is no longer part of the exhibit, I have now begun my research on Vicki's dress and coat.

     I was over at First Person Art's today and got some one on one time with the dress and its accompanying cape. So, after a lot of looking, feeling, measuring and smelling, this is what can be said:

     The dress:
          Has some weight to it, next time I may visit with a scale to see just how much.

          The waist is 24 inch's, making it about a size 4 US today.  The bust is 29 inch's. The total length of the dress including the spaghetti straps is 38 3/4 inches. Length from the waste is 23 1/2 inches. The dress would come somewhere to or just beyond the knees. There are pleats on the front and back beginning at the waste line. The straps are thin. The left strap has an applied bow made of the same fabric as the straps and dress.

         When I took a look inside the dress it appeared as if it had been homemade using a sewing machine and by hand methods.  There are no manufacturer tags, no cleaning instruction tags, no interior markings at all. The dress has no lining to hid the seams. It looks like there is ample fabric left for alterations to be made, or as a result of previous alternations. In other words if someone grew, it could be let out. There is ample room to let the hem down nearly another three inches. The bust out two inches and the waste another two inches.

          The fabric is solid red velvet. The likely hood of it being real velvet (made 100% of silk) is slim. The cost of pure velvet is very, very high. It is probably a combination of silk and rayon, a mixture commonly used to simulate velvet fabric. The fabrics reverse side (interior of the dress) is not velvet. This is what makes me think it is not real velvet. The stitching is also done with red threat. There is red fabric (smoother, not velvet) lining the interior bust area, about 3 inches wide all the way around. 
 
         There is a zipper on the right side of the dress which goes from the top right under the arm to several inches below the waste line with a small metal hook at the half way point. The hook, like those you would find on a bra closure attaches to a loop of red fabric on the other side of the zipper.

          The zipper on the dress gave me a little incite into the age of the piece. The zipper is metal, and is made of either brass, aluminum or nickle. Today, most zippers are made of nylon or other plastic combination's and usually are marked YKK for the zipper manufacturer who produces nearly 90% of the worlds zippers. The pull on the zipper of Vicki's dress was not YKK but was marked with the name "conmatic" in a diagonal pattern with lines on either side of it. The zippers manufacture date was between 1954 and the mid 1960's and was produced by the Conmar Products Corporation. Originally based in Newark, NJ Conmar brand is now owned by a fastening company in New York City.  The zipper was marketed to be the first snag free zipper and was commonly used on men's military and civilian jackets. The zippers came in silver and gold. This zipper is silver on the interior of the dress and was painted red on the outside with a red zipper pull.

     The dress is clean, but shows some age. It has no strong smell but when I put my nose up to it I could detect that "old clothing" smell you notice in vintage clothing stores in an old closet.

     The Cape:
          Initially I thought this was going to look like a traditional coat. There was not image of the coat, just the dress. So, when I arrived to the First Personal Arts office I was surprised to see that it was not a coat at all but a cape.

          The cape is made of the same fabric as the dress. It is reversible however and has a white/ivory faux fur/fluffy cotton interior. The cape is 46 inches long and comes about 1/4 inch below the hem of the dress. There is one closure point at the top of the cape near the neck. There is a matching 2 inch button on both sides (red on the red, white on the white). The two different colors look like they were separately made and sew together using white thread. Each side has two pockets, one for each hand.

           There are sleeves on the cape. They look like a 3/4 length style. They measure 19 3/4 inches from the neck to the end of the sleeve. The neck itself unfastened is 26 1/2 inches and 16 inches when buttoned closed.  The entire cape is 40 inches long.  The cape tapers from the bottom to the top with the bottom measuring 76 inch round gradually transitioning up to the neck (26 1/2-16 inches).

          The red side of the cape is in similar condition to the dress. The white/ivory side shows a bit more wear with some gray patchy marks throughout. 

         The smell of the cape is consistent with the dress. The weight of the cape is considerably greater then the dress.
       

OK, so I never knew I could say so much about a dress. I'm moving forward and am going to contact the zipper company to see if I can narrow down the zippers exact date. The back says "made in USA N 44" but I was unable to find anything about those markings. I'm hoping the manufactures can point me in the right direction or at least tell me what the N 44 means.


Victoria-