Irenebrination: Notes on Architecture, Art, Fashion, Fashion Law, Science & Technology

New Year's Eve Dream Guests from "The Man Who Came to Dinner" (1942) by William Keighley

The Omicron variant of COVID-19 has been spreading really fast all over Europe and many countries have cancelled public events to welcome the New Year, shutting down also nightclubs. While most people have arranged private dinners and parties, it looks like for many of us this will be a rather somber New Year's Eve, especially for those who must self-isolate. The best way to take the blues away in such cases? Watch an old film and dream about the perfect party and who you may invite to it.

In "The Man Who Came to Dinner" (1942) directed by William Keighley, the house-bound protagonist is intent on organizing a radio show, for example, with very special guests.

Based on the eponymous 1939 Broadway hit by Moss Hart and George S. Kaufman, the film tells the story of New York radio personality Sheridan Whiteside (Monty Woolley, who starred in the Broadway version of the play; the character was inspired by celebrated critic and Algonquin Round Table member Alexander Woollcott), who breaks his hip after slipping on the icy steps of the house of the Stanleys, a prominent Ohio family.

The Stanleys are at first honoured to have the convalescent Whiteside with them recuperating during the Christmas holidays, but, soon, things change. Whiteside is indeed a self-centered and hilariously vicious man who starts behaving tyrannically with the house residents and visitors.

Monstrously rude with everybody, especially with his poor nurse, he actually loves his Hollywood friends. His devout and efficient assistant Maggie Cutler (Bette Davis) also becomes one of his victims when she falls in love with local journalist Bert Jefferson (Richard Travis). Fearing Maggie will leave him, Whiteside tries to sabotage the romance by getting poolside siren and actress Lorraine Sheldon (Ann Sheridan; the character was inspired by musical stage actress Gertrude Lawrence) between Bert and Maggie. Whiteside will eventually redeem himself, but fate will turn against him (and the unfortunate Stanleys...) at the very end of the film. 

Where is the New Year's Eve connection? Well, as mentioned earlier on in this post, at a certain point in the film, Whiteside tries to organise his Christmas and New Year's Eve shows and, for the latter he tells Maggie he wants to invite a wide range of guests, including "Jascha Heifetz, Helen Hayes, Schiaparelli, the Lunts, Dr. Alexis Carrel, with Haile Selassie on shortwave from Addis Ababa." That sounds like a very intriguing list of people that includes a fashion designer, a violinist, actors, a French surgeon and biologist and an emperor. 

There is also an interesting fashion twist in the film: the costumes were designed by Orry-Kelly and while Bette Davis seems to wear sensible clothes that help the actress turning into an efficient secretary, Sheridan adds a touch of glam in her feathery attire, and evening gowns. Sheridan's evening gown with hand-shaped buttons seems to evoke Schiaparelli's designs, while her black dress with two minimalist metal bars decorating the neckline is extremely modern and elegant.

So focus your attention on the clothes in this film if you're a fashion fan, but on the witty and funny dialogues as well (try watching it with subtitles if you think the rhythm of the dialogues is too fast). The film is a bit long, but wicked Whiteside will be a joy for all the cynics among us. And check out the exasperated nurse who, after dealing with Whiteside, announces towards the end of the film that she is going to leave the nursing profession.

"I became a nurse because all my life, since I was a little girl I was filled with the idea of serving a suffering humanity," she tells him. "After one month with you, Mr. Whiteside...I'm going to work in a munitions factory. Anything that I can do to help exterminate the human race will fill me with the greatest of pleasure. Mr. Whiteside, if Florence Nightingale had ever nursed you, she would've married Jack the Ripper instead of founding the Red Cross." Have a stylish and fun New Year's Eve! 

Sequin Fireworks: Halston, Fall 1980

While in some countries public celebrations for New Year's Eve were cancelled due to Covid, others have decided to opt for alternative ways to usher in the new year, and eliminated firework displays in favour of drone light shows.

If you still prefer fireworks, though, but won't be able to see any this year for these reasons, well, dream about them through fashion with this Halston tulle ensemble embroidered with glittering sequin fireworks. The evening ensemble is from Halston's Fall 1980 collection and it is now in the FIDM Museum archive.

Construction, Craftsmanship and... Hardware

Exhibitions can be great occasions for museums to buy new pieces and expand their collections. For example, after showcasing an embellished gown by fashion designer Claes Iversen (Århus, Denmark, 1977) in its "Haute Bordure" exhibition (that closed in July this year), the Fries Museum, in Leeuwarden, The Netherlands, recently purchased the dress.

Currently based in Amsterdam, Iversen studied at the Royal Academy of Art in The Hague, obtaining his master's degree at ArtEZ Institute of the Arts in Arnhem in 2008, with a collection that he showed during Paris Fashion Week. 

The strapless gown bought by the Fries Museum was part of Iversen's 2014 collection that comprised eight pieces and, if you look at it from a distance, it may not strike you as incredibly innovative especially for what regards the silhouette that calls to mind classic designs from the '50s.

Yet, look at the gown closely and you will realise that the embellishments are very unique: the designer combined indeed beads, rhinestones and crystals with lasered Perspex plates and metal objects such as screw eyes, washers and scissors, elements that you may find in a hardware shop rather than in an atelier. The hadware materials, combined with more classical elements, perfectly work as a rather unusual yet perfectly balanced and aesthetically pleasing, geometrical decoration. 

By mixing glamorous and delicate materials with hardware pieces, the designer tried to make a comment about craftsmanship and construction, after all, a dressmaker and an ironmonger can be considered as artisans, so why not paying homage to these professions by reuniting their "tools" in one creations? 

You can still take a virtual tour of "Haute Bordure" at this address - it was a rich event as it provided an overview of four centuries of handmade embroidery in Dutch fashion, so sit down, relax and have your unique tour of this exhibition from your sofa.

Image credits for this post

1. Claes Iversen, Strapless grey interlock eveningdress with a dégradé embroidery of various materials,  plexiglass, metal hardware, stones, Swarovski elements, sequins & beads (collection: 8 pieces), 2014. Photography: Jacob van Rozelaar. Styling: Mark Lentelink. Hair & make-up: Magdalena Loza. Model: Marije Kea.

2 - 4. "Haute Bordure" Exhibition, Fries Museum. Foto: Ruben van Vliet.

Sartorial Flourishes in Art: "Portrait of a man wearing a large hat" by Andrea del Sarto

In yesterday's post we looked at inspirations coming from art, so let's continue the thread with a painting by Andrea del Sarto, the "Portrait of a man wearing a large hat".

The artist's delicate sfumato technique was inspired by Leonardo and his portraits shared with his religious compositions a coloristic sensibility. In the case of this work, probably painted in the 1520s, Andrea del Sarto put emphasis on the sitter's attire: he wears a broad-brimmed hat, and we can see a voluminously sculpted upper sleeve under his mantle (the sort of clothes you may see in Pontormo or Rosso Fiorentino's paintings in which it is not rare to stumble upon a ballooning sleeve...).

These trends disappeared in the following years and Florentine gentlemen started favouring smaller berets and tighter, often slashed, sleeves.

While the identity of Andrea del Sarto's sitter is unknown, his elegant attire points at his wealth and elevated social standing, besides, being dressed in the traditional colors - red and blue - of the Medici coat-of-arms, he was probably part of the family. Some historians and art critics believe indeed the sitter may be Ottaviano de' Medici (1484-1546), a member of the cadet branch of the Medici family, a hypothesis that may be confirmed by the casket of wax seals on the table (probably symbols of authority and high station, both of which Ottaviano de' Medici enjoyed).

Part of an auction that will open at the end of January 2022 at Sotheby's, the painting is estimated between 2,000,000 - 3,000,000 USD. Looks like grand sartorial flourishes are definitely in.

Art Inspiration: "Happy Hours" by John William Godward

It is difficult to find happiness in this troubled world and with Omicron spreading faster than any other Covid variant. Yet, if you're having your Christmas break at the moment, try to rest and have some joyful time, maybe getting inspired by art and by the colours spotted in a painting. An example? "Happy Hours" by John William Godward (1861-1922; bear in mind the life of the painter wasn't that happy and, frustrated about his art not being fully acknowledged and his family rejecting him for his artistic choice, he committed suicide).

Stylistically Godward was similar to Sir Lawrence Alma-Tadema, most of his paintings are indeed portraits of young women in classical settings. Like Alma-Tadema, Godward also put emphasis on classical architectures and classical dress, to give his works the stamp of authenticity. It is therefore easy to spot in his works finely pleated pastel gowns evoking the ethereal beauty of Fortuny's designs. The young woman in "Happy Hours" wears one of such gowns in a gold yellow shade (with a pale blue hem), a colour that goes perfectly well with the festive season.

Stepping into the Christmas Holidays in Vintage Shoes

In yesterday's post we looked at a green hat conjuring up the Christmas atmosphere, let's remain in the realm of accessories for another day with two pair of shoes (both from the collection of The Museum at FIT) in which the same shade prevails.

The first one was designed by André Perugia (1893-1977): dating around 1930-1932, the Art Deco painted gold pumps featured a bold, geometric green kid leather zigzag pattern inset and Louis style heel.

The second image refers instead to evening shoes from 1979 by Halston (1932-1990): the evening sandals, in bright emerald green satin and silvertone metallic leather, featured a sensual metallic cord ankle tie and sharply tapered high heel. Which one would you choose to step into the Christmas holidays?

Christmas Moods in a Vintage Hat by Robert Dudley

Red is traditionally considered as the Christmas colour par excellence, but green is another shade linked with the festive season as it evokes evergreen plants used at Christmastime, symbolising also good luck and health through the holidays and into the new year. So, to get into the Christmas mood in an alternative way, let's look at a vintage hat by New York milliner Robert Dudley. Well-known in the '40s and the '50s, Dudley operated the Chez Robert salon at Saks Fifth Avenue and his own shop, Robert Dudley Originals, on the East Side of Manhattan.

Born in Rochester, Dudley moved to New York as a young man to pursue a career in the theatre, but then decided to become a milliner when he used an old felt hat to create a new one for a friend.

Dudley's clientele included many theatre and society figures and he designed hats for several films, including "Rebecca" (1940), the romantic psychological thriller directed by Alfred Hitchcock. Dudley then became an interior designer and was active in the field until his death in 1992.

The hat in this post seems to be constructed by assembling six emerald green and pine green felt swirls in the same sizes and dimensions. The clever construction ended up framing the face of the wearer in a lovely way, while the conical shape of the hat vaguely called to mind that of a Christmas tree.   

Unusual Christmas Presents: Shimacho Book

It's that time of the year again, Christmas, and if you're looking for an unusual present for a dear one who likes fabrics, textiles and fashion, try something original and unique such as an antique swatch book. A Japanese Shimacho could be a great idea: the word literally means "stripe album", the Shimacho is indeed a sort of reference scrapbook in which weavers would paste small and usually striped cotton swatches.

Fabrics were mainly indigo dyed, so that the colour range went from pale blue to blue-black, with all sorts of shades in between, even though darker nuances prevailed as sumptuary laws in Japan dictated how a person could dress and most people were only allowed to wear dark, somber colours with very little pattern.

So quite often these textile scrapbooks mainly featured bits and pieces of hand-woven cotton in dark shades and at times in patterns such as stripes, checks and kasuri (Japanese ikat).  

The Shimacho featured in this post, from Tohoku region, Meiji 26 (1893) is currently available from Tatami Antiques, an independent online marketplace for Japanese antiquities that often offers intriguing textile pieces and ideas for both fashion and interior designers (the item is sold by antique dealer Yamanome).

Temporary Sets & Props? Waste Not, Says Milan's Spazio Meta

Fashion runways, photoshoots, trade fairs, exhibitions and art installations have got something in common: they run for a very (or a relatively) short time, leaving behind a pile of waste in the form of sets and props. 

Worried about this aspect, set designers Martina Bragadin and Margherita Crespi (a third member of the group, Benedetta Pomini, recently joined in) tried to find a solution and came up with Spazio Meta, a Milan-based start-up that recycles materials and sets from temporary events.

Located in the Bovisa area (address: via Don Minzoni 9), the name of this start-up comes from the Greek preposition μετά, meaning "after" or "beyond" (no relation with the new Facebook name, as Milan's Meta opened before Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced that his company was rebranding as Meta).

Milan's Spazio Meta mainly works with art, design and fashion companies and creators: after an event, they get in touch with Meta that collects their waste materials, cleans them, divides them per type, cuts them (if necessary) in its own in-house workshop and then sells them to its customers, that go from students to professionals. Materials are sold by the kilo or per single piece, and most of them are in good conditions and they are very affordable as well (carpeting can be as cheap as 1 euro per Kg).

Bragadin and Crespi started looking into the possibilities offered by waste materials a few years ago when, after an edition of the local Salone del Mobile, they realised these events left behind a huge amount of trash. The Milanese initiative is directly inspired by similar organisations that in other European countries are working along the same lines, think for example about Paris-based Réserve des arts - pour une création circulaire et solidaire.  

So far Spazio Meta has sold wood, textiles, glass, metals, plastic, plexiglass, resin, rubber and foam, but also something more exotic, such as pink sand and sky-blue or dark magenta faux fur (see also the picture in this post). The former came from a photographic set, the latter, may have been recognised by those fashion fans with a very discerning eye as the faux fur employed by architect Rem Koolhaas and his research studio AMO for the abstract set for Prada's Autumn/Winter 2021 menswear presentation.

Guess impenitent fashionistas may end up going to Spazio Meta to see if they can get a cheap piece of Prada, but Meta's founders hope that their venture will inspire people to create new artworks and designs moving not from an idea or a concept, but from already existing waste materials.

Wearable Icons, Portable Faith: "The Road to Tepeyac" by Alinka Echeverría

Today Mexico celebrates la Virgen de Guadalupe, Our Lady of Guadalupe. In a previous post published a few years ago we looked at the story of the apparitions of the Virgin Mary on Tepeyac Hill near Mexico City to Juan Diego, an Aztec Indian, in 1531.

In that feature we looked at how the image of Our Lady miraculously imprinted on Juan Diego's tilma, inspired fashion and accessory designers.

The cloak of Juan Diego is on display behind the main altar in the new Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe in Mexico City and it is venerated by millions of people from all over Mexico and the world. But the Virgin of Guadalupe, also known as "Mother of the Americas" and as the "Queen of Mexico", has inspired also artists.

In 2009, Mexican-British artist and visual anthropologist Alinka Echeverría worked on a project revolving around the Virgin of Guadalupe.

Entitled "The Road to Tepeyac", the project combined photography and social anthropology as the artist chronicled the Christian pilgrimage to Tepeyac, Mexico City, taking pictures of the pilgrims from the back.

All the pilgrims carry on their backs an image of the Virgin, printed, painted or embroidered on banners, rectangles of fabric, backpacks and so on. In a few cases the banners become part of their attire, almost cloaks reminiscent of Juan Diego's tilma. Some of them even carry large framed images of the Virgin Mary, wooden statues in glass cases or secured on their backpacks.

The project began after a visit to the Basilica de Guadalupe in Mexico City during the anniversary of the apparition of the Virgin: brought up in a secular home, while looking at the pilgrims the artist started questioning the relationship between image and belief and wondered why these pilgrims carry these image for ten days to the original site or elaborately decorate them.

The images are first and foremost visually striking as each pilgrim pays homage to the Virgin in their own personal way, so you find it intriguing to look at the colourful images and at the various ways in which that person decided to celebrate the Virgin Mary.

But then you realise there is more behind those photographs and those banners and religious icons: most pilgrims are pictured standing, a couple of them are walking on stilts, some walk on their knees, a man even carries a child on his shoulders while walking on his knees. In one case the framed image of the Virgin of Guadalupe is so large that almost entirely hides the pilgrim carrying it. The images therefore assume other meanings, as they instantly prompt you to think about pain, sorrow, repentance, hope and gratitude.

Besides, the pilgrims' journey is not just about faith, but it is also about anthropology and paganism: 12th December, the date in which the Virgin of Guadalupe is celebrated is very close to the indigenous celebrations of winter solstice and the new year.

Last but not least, the project decontextualizes the pilgrims as each of them is pictured on a white background. In this way the pilgrims stand out, so that viewers can focus on the objects they carry and on that individual's relationship with the Virgin, with faith and religion.

Yet in exhibition spaces, the images are part of an immersive installation with the pilgrims displayed one next to the other to allow viewers to reintegrate that single pilgrim in a wider context and question in this way historical, political, philosophical, psychological and anthropological issues and explore the relationship between invisible presence, intangible faith and material objects and icons.

"The Road to Tepeyac" won the 2011 HSBC Prix Pour La Photographie, an annual prize given by the HSBC Cultural Foundation in France, and a triptych of archival pigment prints from this series is currently part of Sotheby's sale entitled "Boundless Space…The Possibilities of Burning Man", exploring the works that have emerged from Burning Man's culture.