Theatre De La Mode

 (images from enchantedvintageclothing.com and blogs.starbulletin.com)

During the aftermath of the Second World War, French Couturiers struggling to survive gathered together to bring couture fashion back to the public. These couturiers created the Theatre De La Mode, a touring exhibit of hand crafted fashion dolls made from wire with plaster heads and hands.

 (images from enchantedvintageclothing.com ) 

They sent abroad an estimated 200 handcrafted dolls all over Britain and the United States. These dolls were all dressed in the latest fashions, and were all posed together in front of little miniature sets like modern day editorials. These dolls had incredible amount of details put into their little outfits, they all had proper lining and included all the details you see in life sized garments. Theatre De La Mode raised money for war victims and promoted French couture fashion overseas.

  (images from enchantedvintageclothing.com ) 

for more on Theater De La Mode pleases vist the following blogger.

Using an artist’s mannequin and our research from the week before on the culture sign post youth culture, we were asked to create our own mini Theatre De La Mode doll. I created a little gathered skirt with lining and a wrap around top with beading for decoration, inspired from Harajuko girls of Japan.

 

 

Interview with Fashion designer Rachael Cassar

Fellow blogger Censura and myself had the great pleasure of interviewing Rachael Cassar from the Eco fashion label by the same name, so here is our interview with Rachael Cassar..  

   (photo from nedavanovac.wordpress.com)

How did you become interested in Fashion designing? 

From a very young age I started experimenting with the way I dressed and put things together. I started taking things apart and re-working them to my own personal taste. I soon developed a fascination with gathering different materials and textures and playing around in my room for hours trying to create the vision I had in my head. At the age of 15 I started attending any course I could find to do with designing. After high school I went straight to UTS to study Fashion and textile design. Graduating with a few awards, I decided to launch my own label the following year.
 

(photo from rachaelcassar.com)

What’s the inspiration behind your ecological approach?
I have always been an upcycler/recycler before I even knew what those terms were! From a very young age I got such a kick out of taking things apart and re-working to my taste, bringing an old thing back to life. This extended to jewellery where I became obsessed with finding broken cheap pieces and then fixing them ‘saving’ them in a way.

 
During my 4-year Fashion and Textile Degree at UTS, I always knew I was different in terms of my process and how I liked to create my designs. I never felt comfortable going about the conventional way of creating fashion apparel and quite often felt uncomfortable and somewhat like a Freud. After learning about the devastating affects that the Fashion industry has had and is having on our environment, I knew I couldn’t continue with this chosen career unless I stayed true to my own way of creating and my passion for re-using/up-cycling. 

In my final year I experimented and created a High- end range made from 90% recycled materials. I got a great response all round which confirmed to myself and to the people who thought I couldn’t pull it off that I had the ability to make a range that didn’t sacrifice anything that I myself love about fashion aesthetics for a sustainable product. Luxury should not be sacrificed for sustainability. Aesthetics should not be sacrificed for sustainability. Design should not be sacrificed for sustainability. Detail should not be sacrificed for sustainability. It is all about problem solving and creating an equally appealing product.

(photo from ethicalstyle.com)

Who is your favourite designer?

Hands down Alexander McQueen. He was a true visionary. The Fashion world has lost a true creative   

 

 (photos from rachaelcassar.com)

How do you feel about celebrities getting all the high-end free goodies when they are the people who can afford the goodies?

It is unfortunate that this is how the fashion industry works. For example I have my previous collections in a showroom in LA, they have been there for a year now. Celebrities have worn my pieces, stylists have borrowed them for shoots but poor old designer back here has not made any money, it’s all for PR. Especially with pieces like mine, and for an emerging designer- celebrity status can really help make people start to pay attention to your work. So for me, I'm just waiting for a piece to be worn on the red carpet which will probably bring about more work. 

(Photos from rachaelcassar.com) 

Do you come up with concepts for designs first or is it more of an unplanned thing? How do you bring your inspiration to reality?  

Yes I come up with a theme/concept first, then I source/gather materials inspired by this idea.
The fun part begins where I start designing straight on the stand (mannequin) I do not hand draw my designs. It’s more about playing with the fabrics, sculpting it to produce shapes and details that are all in my head. It’s all about the materials.

 

(photos from rachaelcassar.com)

What do you hope to have achieved in the industry, 10 years from now?
I hope to be able to do this for a living for the rest of my life. I hope that Australia embraces new designers. We tend to have a handful of designers that dominate the industry, this needs to change! There needs to be more out there for new upcoming designers that don't have enough money to exhibit their brands at fashion weeks- we all need opportunities. I hope to have someone who believes in my work, my ethic and my creativity to financially help me open a concept store- the first high end Eco fashion boutique in Australia. This is my dream, but one I can't really envisage happening in the near future. 

 

(photos from rachaelcassar.com) 

What do you have to say to the next generation, particularly for those hoping to follow in your footsteps?

I would say, Do not get into this field if you are  not passionate, not doing something different and not willing to work for nothing!!! This industry needs people who are dedicated at producing exciting, new Eco fashion. Not the fashions of the past. The fashion industry is not built to accept designers like me. It goes against the foundations of how this industry works. I do not create mass volumes of fashion, I only create one offs which goes against mass consumption which means less profit for anyone involved. I want Eco fashion to be valued just as the conventional fashion industry is, by the industry and public! 

 (photos from rachaelcassar.com)

~I would like to thank Rachael for the time she took out of her busy day to answer these questions for us in such great detail. If you would like to learn more about Rachael's work please visit her website.

Culture Sign Post Activity - Youth Culture

Over the last week our class has been researching different "Culture Sign Posts" and how the media has influenced a trend in fashion. Our group choose to do Youth Culture, so here is our presentation on youth culture.

(Image from gbradford.wordpress.com)

We decided to first try and define what Youth Culture is.
Youth Culture is "a group of young people considered to be a culture class or subculture, with their own distinct styles, behaviours and interests".
 
We were then asked to go into detail about what sort of Media influenced the "Trend"(Youth Culture) and what has appeared because of it (subcultures). Our group made a list of what Media was most popular each decade along with what subcultures emerged.

{on a side note from 1910's to the 1940's there was no real Youth Culture}

1910's - Mainly newspapers and magazines. After WW1 radio emerged as a new choice, this shaped public perception of the news.

1920's - Radio, newspapers, bulletins, advertising and music.

1930's - Radio, Film and the introduction of the television

1940's - Film, theatre, radio, newspaper. Further development of the television declined due to WW2. Notable youth subcultures would be Zazou from France. Hipsters first appeared

1950's - Television. Known as the decade of the "Golden age of Television". Rock and  Roll emerged creating the "Teddy boy" youth subculture in the UK. In Japan bōsōzoku youth subculture was emerging based around motorcycle clubs and gangs.

 Youths posing in a bomb site in England

(Photo from voicesofpostwarengland.wordpress.com)

 bōsōzoku 

(photo from rakoonia.wordpress.com)

1960's - Time of political, social, cultural and psychological change. including the coverage of man on the moon's space race, civil rights issues, women's rights, student protests and TV coverage of the war in Vietnam. This was all reflected in the Media of the time such as TV, radio and advertising, with cinema being the most popular form of advertising of the time.

 Mods and Rockers

(photo from www.guardian.co.uk)

Notable youth subcultures from the US and the UK were the Mods, Rockers, Hippies, skin heads, the Freak scene and the Yippie. We also have the emergence of the Rude boy from Jamaica. The beginning of the hacker subculture in the US as well.

Hippies

(Photos from kingydesignhistory.blogspot.com)

Rude Boy

(Photo from www.stephenmalkmus.com)

1970's - Newspapers, Womens Magazines published by women, and film. (News) reporters took a stronger stance in uncovering news and revealing corruption of the government.

Punks

 (Photo from germanhistorydocs.ghi-dc.org)

  

Glam rock

(Photo from demasiadoscolores.blogspot.com 

and acidcow.com)

The hippies, the mods and rocker subculture continued to grow and change. Hacker culture changed to be referred to as "Geek culture" for a short period of time. Glam rock became the alternative for the freak scene. Skin heads split into Oi!(a punk youth based subculture) and white power skin heads (a political white supremacist and anti-semitic group). At the height of the disco era, punk rock and heavy metal music became the alternative for youths, creating two more youth subcultures, Punk and Metalhead. In Japan Lolita fashion emgered, as well as youth subculture Gyaru/Gyaruo,

 Lolita Fashion/Youth Culture

(photo from viewhair.co.cc)

Fad, Trend and Classic

What is a Fad?
An item of clothing or accessory that is regarded with greater enthusiasm  for a brief period of time, a current fad would be Jeggings. Jeggings are legging made to look like jeans, some times with fake pockets and zips added to make them look even closer to real jeans. When worn right they can look rather cute but when worn wrong they look just horrible. Jeggings bubbled up from the streets of Japan and became a major fashion fad in 2009. They are no longer sold in stores but you can still see people wandering around in them.

 

(Images from www.vacavoyeur.com.br and www.refinery29.com)

What is a Trend?
A Trend is the general direction fashion is moving towards. A current trend would be 70's fashion. 70's fashion is currently invading the catwalks again, but with a modern twist of course. Bell bottoms are back, bell bottoms came from the late 60s. Coco Chanel took sailors bell bottoms and re-created them into loose flowing flared pants for women and became a massive hit with the Hippies subculture.

(Images from frostmagazine.com and theprofashional.blogspot.com)

What is a Classic?
A classic is something that will always be in fashion. There are a wide range of classics in fashion such as the little black dress, scarfs, jeans, etc. A must needed classic for winter would be a scarf, scarves first came to being in ancient Rome and were made from woven cotton. They bubbled up from the farmers and soldiers. who wore scarves to shield their neck and faces from the elements, and to wipe away any sweat or dirt that built up on their faces during the day. Scarves then became used to show certain ranks in various cultures, with certain colours and fabrics meaning different things. Now they are a must have fashion item that we all turn to every year to keep warm while looking cool.

 (Images from www.fashion7days.com and www.theglamourai.com)

Fashion and Costume Plates

I mentioned in "Vogue History/Origins of fashion magazine" about Fashion plates, I never really went into what they are or what I meant by fashion plates. So for this article I'm going to explain what fashion plates and costume plates are briefly.

 

(image from community.livejournal.com/lamodeillustree/332462.html)

A Fashion Plate is an illustration of what is currently in fashion, and is used mainly to promote and publish possible future fashions. A Costume Plate illustrates what was once worn in the past.

 

(image from www.fashion-era.com)

Fashion plates first appeared in "The Lady's Magazine" in 1770 and became very popular towards the 19th century. The plates were printed in magazines aimed at women of the time. The illustrations themselves were hand colored by various artists employed by the magazine. The artists were given free range to color them however they wanted, sometimes leading to there being major differences in other copy's of the same magazine.

 

(image from www.fashion-era.com)

British and American fashion magazine's couldn't keep up with the creative flare of the French fashion plates, leading American and British magazine's to start importing copies of the French fashion plates to place into their magazines. This lead to British and American women being six to nine months behind in current fashion trends and styles of the time.

(image from zimmer.csufresno.edu/~monicaf/)