Vivienne Westwood...the final countdown!

My class's long-awaited exhibition opens two weeks from today! The curators are scrambling to finish the wall text, the exhibition designers are overseeing the installation, and the rest of us are helping out however we can. Once it opens a lot of the pressure will be off, but we will have tours to lead and an event to plan for a large group of high schoolers.

Did I force you to read about the exhibition yet? Well, if not, here is the press release (written by me and then heavily revised), and here is a shorter blurb from the museum website (written by me and then lightly revised).

Solved and Unsolved Mysteries

Sometimes grad school can make me feel like I am part of some kind of fashion detective agency. Besides the fact that I can go all CSI on a piece of fiber, I really enjoy the thrill of the chase when I am doing research. Here are some cases I am working on now.

Case #32: The many brands of John Doyle Bishop

When I was writing my thesis proposal, one of the key pieces of information my advisor was interested in was what brands JDB sold in his shop. Since I haven't found any business records, I mainly rely on what I can find out from actual garments. Between MOHAI and items I've seen listed on ebay, I now have a running list of names that are confirmed and those that are likely. I can confirm a name when I find something that has both the maker's label and John Doyle Bishop's. Like this:

But there were many cases (particularly with items at MOHAI) where the garment only had one label, and the donor provided the other information. That is strong evidence but not proof, since donors can be forgetful or might be repeating incorrect information from someone else (proof positive- the donor who believed they had a bloody scarf from the Lincoln assassination).

As my list of confirmed and likely brands grows, I've been doing research about each one so that I can better understand the kind of business JDB was buying from. Before I started this project, names like Pauline Trigere, Ben Zuckerman, Ben Reig, and Maurice Rentner meant almost nothing to me. But I have since discovered that they were all very successful and respected luxury ready-to-wear brands in their day. I also learned that Pauline Trigere stayed young by standing on her head every morning and dating men in their 20s. But those tidbits might not make it into my paper.

Case #47: The mark on the teacup

For our decorative arts class we were each assigned an object from FIT's study collection. I picked this pink teacup:

Which has this mark on the bottom:

As we learned our first day of class, there are apparently huge reference books full of makers marks that you can page through when you need to identify something. I pulled a few for porcelain and was surprised when I came across the answer relatively quickly. Because the mark was hand-done it can look slightly different each time, but this is certainly the mark of porcelain from Derby.

Case #36: George Taylor, where were you in 1926?

I've gotten started on my research of the "hemline index" and have already run into a major mystery. If you google "hemline index" many of the articles (mostly fluff pieces in newspapers) mention an economist named George Taylor and say that he first presented the idea in 1926. The problem is that I can't find any information about what he actually said. No articles cite the original source, and I suspect that they are all just getting their information from each other. There is some information on the web about the George Taylor in question, but he didn't really rise to prominence until later- in fact, in 1926 he was still in school for his Phd. I've tried to find books of his writings, but a library search for "George Taylor" brings up thousands of unrelated hits. This mystery remains elusive and unsolved.

On the plate for the final semester

Here is the rundown of my courses that started this week:

Exhibit- Plan and Interpretation: As far as workload goes, this will be a class in reverse. The exhibition that we have been working on since August goes up March 8, so our heaviest workload is right now. Once it opens we’ll have events to manage and tours to lead, but the bulk of the work will be done. There will be a bit of follow-up once it closes in April (yes, all this work for a one month show) tapering off to no work at all in May. Click here to see the press release for the show.

Modern Textiles: For our first week we visited a show at the Museum of Art and Design and talked about the questionable distinction often made between high art and craft. It seemed like a promising start. The interesting thing about this class is that our professor is the head of our rival program at NYU. That either proves that our program is superior somehow, or we are about to be majorly sabotaged.

Advanced Curatorial- Acquisition Theory and Practice: The funny thing about this class, is that it has almost nothing to do with the title. It should really be called Grab Bag of Things We Think You Should Know. That is not necessarily a bad thing. It sounds like the course was built around feedback from alums regarding knowledge and skills they wished they had acquired in grad school. The first part of the class will essentially be a crash course in Decorative Arts. The reasons being that A) Many of us will probably end up in small museums where we will be expected to manage more than textiles and clothing and B) Traditionally the study of dress has fallen under the umbrella of Decorative Arts, so future employers often expect textile people to be knowledgeable in that area as well. I think it is going to be fun. Our professor seems great and I’ve already been assigned a pink teacup to research. The dec arts portion only lasts until April, and then we get another teacher coming in to drill us on terminology that they think we should know. I’m not sure what that will be like, but I envision myself making flashcards to remember what a dolman sleeve looks like as opposed to a raglan one.

Advanced Theory- Professional Seminar: This is one I’m really excited about. Each year the class has a theme that everyone writes a paper about. Then we all present our papers at a symposium which we plan and organize. This year’s theme is “Fashion Mythbusters” –each of our papers with research and question some commonly held myth about fashion or fashion history. I will be taking on “The Hemline Index,” the supposed connection between the height of women’s skirts and the health of the economy (I can tell you right now—the theory is totally crap). Much like DDR last semester, I can sense that this is the one I will want to talk about the most.

Then, of course, I’ll be trying to fit in a much thesis work as possible. On Tuesday I went to the office of Grace Rose, John Doyle Bishop’s niece and the owner of a scrapbook full of clippings about her uncle. I had seen the scrapbook once before, but this time I confirmed that I was allowed to print the photos I found in it. So I am now officially authorized to share this with you

In case you are unclear, this is a picture of John Doyle Bishop surrounded by other pictures of John Doyle Bishop. How can you not love him??

I'm sorry, I can't. I'm hanging out with John Doyle Bishop tonight

With classes starting on Wednesday, I am officially about to start my final semester of grad school. Well...my final semester of classes for grad school. My qualifying paper (aka thesis) still has to be written--and there is no telling how long that will take.

One of the biggest drawbacks of my program is the fact that it doesn't build in time for thesis writing. Our counterparts at NYU had a thesis writing class last semester and have something similar in the Spring. But at FIT we are on our own to squeeze extra research and writing in with the regular course load. The result? There are A LOT of "graduates" of my program who have yet to turn in their thesis after one, two, three, even four years after their coursework ended. Once you are out of school and working, I think it gets pretty difficult to stay motivated and finish work on something that has no official deadline. As much as I would like to think "Oh, I'll never end up like one of those people," I'm sure that most of those people made similar vows when they were in my shoes.

While I can't guarantee when it will be done, I look to be in good shape so far. First of all, I got my topic officially approved in December, which makes me one of just two in my class to have completed that step. Second, the nature of my topic forced me to do work over break. At first I was worried that doing something Seattle based was a dumb move. I work in a fashion library in New York, wouldn't it be smarter to pick a topic where 90% of the research could be done at FIT? But the hidden benefit of a Seattle topic was that I had to get started on research while I was there. If everything had been New York based I could have easily talked myself into not working at all (I can do it later, right?).

When I got back from Seattle I took some time off from thesis research. But then, one day at work, I got filled with an anxious desire to work hard and get this sucker done. One thing that motivated me was a short project to reorganize the FIT theses we have in our department. Now they sit across from my desk and I can't help but think "I want mine complete and sitting on those shelves! I want people to read it! I want it to be bound with my name and a little white number on the side!" The second motivating factor was a discussion I had with a researcher about my topic. I get really excited when I tell people about John Doyle Bishop and all the interesting things I've found so far. When work ended that day I couldn't wait to get home and start working.

In the weeks since, I have somehow stayed extremely motivated. I get work done most evenings, and when I look forward to the weekend I get excited imagining how much I might get through. The amount I still have to do is daunting, but I am encouraged by how inexhaustible my energy seems to be at the moment. It is borderline freakish the way I look forward to research and can't wait to be taking notes. Once the semester starts I'll have to put it on the back burner, but I am hopeful that my excitement will motivate me to make time. My goal is to get as much done as possible during the semester, and then finish it over the summer. I can't count my chicks yet, but at the moment their hatching prospects seem pretty good.

Running Around (and Such)

In case you haven't heard, Amish romance novels are hot right now. Jokingly referred to as "bonnet rippers" they are proving to be a huge cash cow for certain publishing houses. Now, if you are imagining graphic depictions of wild hayloft sex and clothes being torn off in buggies, you've got the wrong idea. They aren't that kind of romance novel. They are romance novels for people whose favorite thing about Jane Austen is not the witty dialogue and engrossing characters, but the depiction of an imagined "simpler time." Well, the Amish are supposedly the simplest of the simple--People who take being buttoned up so seriously that they consider buttons vain and hold all their clothes together with blacksmith-forged chastity pins.

I think I can speak for at least some Mennonites when I say this mainstream fascination with our Amish brethren is both amusing and a little unnerving. People tend to treat the Amish as somewhere between weirdo freaks to gawk at or representatives of an adorable moral utopia. So my sense of morbid curiosity was trilled when my mother got me an Amish romance novel for Christmas. Her choice was Linda Byler's Running Around (and Such) which is part 1 of a 3 book series called "Lizze Searches for Love." The selling point of this book is that it is written by a real Amish writer, and published by one of the main Mennonite Publishing houses (Good Books, from Intercourse, PA-- seriously).

So I read it. And it was terrible. I was hoping that either a) it would end up being surprisingly good or b) it would be hilariously campy. Instead it committed the worst of book sins- it was just boring. First of all, nothing actually happens in the book. There was no story arc, rise in tension, or really any event that seemed to carry over to be important later. Major plot points included:

-Mam gets really sick! But then she is fine.

-One of the horses gets really sick! But then it is fine.

-Lizzie starts a new school and meets new people! But then she graduates and doesn't see those people again.

-Lizzie is worried about getting snowed in at a neighbor's house! But then someone takes her home and it is fine.

-Everyone goes skating!

Secondly, very little of this book has anything to do with romance. Yes, it is book 1 of 3, so I didn't expect the first in the series to end with a wedding, but the presence of strapping Amish lads was downright pathetic. The back of the book lures you in with the promise of three thrilling suitors: shy Stephen, charming Amos, and the mysterious (and non-Amish!) egg truck man. Well, SPOILER ALERT, Stephen shows up on one page about half way through and then surfaces again near the end of the book, Amos doesn't show up until page 272, and the egg-truck man was a major two-chapter disappointment. He turns out to be a sketchy middle-aged man with an Amish fetish who tries to put the moves on Lizzy when she smiles at him too much. And as a grand reminder of the drawbacks of "old-fashioned" views on women and sexuality, Lizzie's family makes her feel like a whore for "flirting" with the man when CLEARLY the blame lies with the dude who thinks a smile gave him a pass to get handsy with a 15 year-old. Anyway, instead of secret glances exchanged at church and stolen kisses in the barn, most of the book features the main character complaining about her chores and how she can't be "perfect" like her older sister. I think this is supposed to make her "spirited" and "quirky" but she comes off as annoying and whiny.

In the end, I think the mistake was going with an Amish writer. Authenticity can only hurt the genre. An Amish romance should be full of muscles rippling during a barn raising and bonnets coming askew in a stiff gust of wind- not detailed descriptions of what it is like to pluck feathers off a chicken. Plus, the Amish only get an 8th grade education. Not to sound like an East-Coast elitist, but maybe their writing skills aren't top notch.

So maybe next time I should go with one written by an Englisher. There are certainly plenty to choose from.

Long Overdue Room Pics

I couldn't think of an interesting topic for this week (besides the ever-popular "Seriously guys, it is really cold here") but then I realized I never posted pictures of the cozy closet I live in.

Come take the tour! This is the view from the door:

Then if you follow me up the ladder to the bedroom...

...and that's it! There are a few drawbacks, but overall I really like my room. New York can feel so huge, and there is something comforting about having a tiny nook to call my own.

Ah, Seattle!

Earlier this week I returned to New York from my wonderful holiday break in Seattle. I had a difficult task this year. Unlike my 2009-10 break in which I spent six luxurious weeks on the West Coast—this year I had only two weeks to juggle friends, family and thesis research. Frankly, I think I did a pretty good job. On the research front I spent two days at the UW library, two at MOHAI, and one interviewing a former seamstress in John Doyle Bishop’s shop (she is now 89). My parents probably wish they had me at home more, but I did spend some wonderful days and evenings enjoying my parents cooking, watching astounding things on their new Blu-Ray player, and appreciating the fact that they seem to never get sick of my constant chatter. The days around Christmas were spent exclusively at their house, with the day after Christmas being the epic Messiah sing-along. I also spent some wonderful time with friends, perhaps the highlight of which was a 3-day trip to a cabin near Mt. Rainier to celebrate New Year’s. It was gorgeous. Below is an actual picture taken of our view while we were there:

Pretty nice, huh? Even so, I prefer this one:

Much better!

Even though I am liking New York more and more, Seattle still feels like home. I am, however, looking forward to spending January in New York. The semester doesn't start until February, so I'll have a few weeks to enjoy the city and have less work hanging over my head. I'm excited to see what 2011 will hold!