Tag: Sewing

Susan Claassen’s Conversations with Edith Head at the National Arts Club

Edith Head Tailors Sophia Loren'S Dress

I always love to visit the National Arts Club for their fancy decor and interesting programs put on by the National Arts Club Fashion Committee.  This weekend I went to see a play starring Susan Claassen, Conversations with Edith Head. She’s been touring the country telling the Edith’s story for the last few years, but this was the first stop in New York. Quotables from the play include that she would make “…the girls look better than they were…, give them more butt,” and that she always wanted to “look like Shirley Temple.” Susan made everyone laugh during the play when she stated that “several young ladies come to me in blue jeans with no underwear on underneath.” When asked about Edith’s biggest regrets, she said it was “never dressing Marilyn Monroe.”

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Susan Claassen and Malinda KnowlesJean and Valerie_malindaknowlesnetChrysanna and Friend

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Susan took me back to sitting and talking with my grandmother, who was quite a master seamstress herself. Most of us these days do not think about putting together a beautiful dress as the ready-to-wear market has taken over and most likely people will not be returning to sewing their own clothing. Lots of folk came out to see the play and many I suppose were from Edith’s era. I even ran into Jean and Valerie, mature women bloggers who looked absolutely fabulous. Most of the crowd including myself wore a summer dress or suit, falling somewhere under that Spring Garden Party look.  I also met Ellen Christine, a couture milliner, who showed off her beautiful hat for the camera. It was a great time.

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Edith-Head-9332755-1-402MV5BMzE1MzMzMTExOF5BMl5BanBnXkFtZTcwNTk0ODkyMw@@._V1._SX640_SY923_If you’re not familiar with Edith Head, you should definitely check out the play and read these 6 things to know about her;

1. Edith Head had no prior experience in art or costume design before she was hired by Paramount Pictures as a costume sketch artist in 1924.

2. She’s the most honored costume designer in American history; she won 8 Oscars and received 35 Academy Award nominations

3. Edna Mode in Disney’s Pixar The Incredibles Movie (2004) was modeled after her

4. Her trademark “sunglasses” weren’t really sunglasses, they were blue-lensed glasses that allowed her to see what a costume would look like on Black and White film

5. From 1927-1979, she dressed about every important actress in Hollywood including Dorothy Lamour, Bette Davis, Elizabeth Taylor, Audrey Hepburn and Grace Kelly

6. She presided over Alfred Hitchcock’s wardrobe department on 11 movies

 Sincerely Yours,

“Fashionably-Late”

Malinda Knowles

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Will Anyone Ever Return to Sewing Their Own Clothing?

Vintage sewing machine 008

I was doing some research for a project on Twiggy and came across an amazing Prada advertisement in which she posed upside down in what was at that time, a brand new television (and probably a fascination). I started to think about the speed of production and delivery in this digital age and began to think back to the time when ready-to-wear was not as popular. My grandmother was a master seamstress and knew how to make gorgeous garments because back in those days, they would teach women “Home Economics” at school. The topics? Manners, sewing, cooking, and cleaning. We just might need a class like this again! But in any case, I thought to myself why didn’t I spend more time watching and learning from my grandmother in the sewing room?

And then I remembered. As a child, I was absolutely afraid of the needles that would pop out of her “strawberry” cushion and the speed to which the needle would pound the fabric on the sewing machine. Yes, I remember, I was terrified as a child! Now I look back and say, yes it could be very painful if you slip up with the needle but sewing is absolutely worth it. Why? Well, you can control your fabric choices, cost of production, quality and if you’re creative, you can design your own masterpiece.

That’s all well and good but let’s get real. How many of us have time in our daily lives to sew our own clothes for ourselves and our families? It’s so easy to shop ready-to-wear online, run to the store or buy off the street if you live in New York, so why sew? As I do all my homework in preparation for producing some of my own product, I ask myself if anyone will ever really sew again in the United States? And that, my friends, in the wake of an ever increasingly interdependent global economy, will remain a question to be answered.

Sincerely,

“Fashionably-Late”

Malinda Knowles