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Help w/University Vintage Stash?
Hello all-
I've just found this newsgroup and am hoping someone here can help me out. Let me explain... (and yep... I've checked the FAQ and poured through many old messages before posting this.. so hopefully I'm not being trollish...) I work in the costume department at a college in Wisconsin. We have a large storage of vintage clothing dating, near as we can tell from a brief glance, back to the 20's or so. Another student and myself have decided to do an independant study involving the clothing. We would like to catalog the clothing by year, repair what damages we can, organize and store the items correctly. So far, I've found a few websites on caring for vintage clothing as well as some books on the subject. What I'm lacking, though, is a way to date the clothing. I've found numerous sites and books on Victorian-or-before garments, but they all seem to be lacking on the 20's through 60's. I know a few basic features of the different eras (low waists in the late 20's, etc.), but would like to find more specific characteristics. Does anyone here know of any websites or good books on the subject? If so, please let me know... by email, if possible. ) Thanks so much in advance.... -Alex Moehagen |
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#2
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Help w/University Vintage Stash? A few thoughts on the subject of costumes: One of my sisters once bought what she thought was a Victorian dress, paid a pretty penny for it. Closer examination proved it to be a very nice reproduction, probably made for stage wear. The odd thing was the much smaller size of it ---few people are that small nowadays. Some of the notions and stitching methods used were a dead giveaway that it was a more recent reproduction, though. When we toured the aviation museum in Dayton, Ohio, I was amazed at the petite sizes worn by all of the pilots during WWI. At the time, I was a size 10 myself, and the uniforms looked tiny, small waists and chests. With shoe sizes topping out at men's 8/9, they looked smaller than my then-current women's 8 & 1/2 shoe size. The sizes of lasts used in shoe-making has changed over time, so my shoes could well have been larger. Is this costume collection insured, with an up-to-date valuation? Recently, the costume dept. at one local high school burned, destroying all of the costumes. (I had contributed some of my finds during the time DD#1 was in their acting program.) You might run a check online, looking at vintage patterns from the eras, and comparing them to your costumes, although I have seen few patterns dating before the 30's. There is a costumer's bible, though. Someone here will probably come up with the title, I cannot think of it. It may well be worth hiring a professional to evaluate the age and worth of the costumes. Costumes are possibly much altered over time, and it might prove very difficult to come up with an accurate estimate of their age. Funny sig, BTW. Cea shrugging --- (AtlasCoughed) snip I work in the costume department at a college in Wisconsin. We have a large storage of vintage clothing dating, near as we can tell from a brief glance, back to the 20's or so. Another student and myself have decided to do an independant study involving the clothing. We would like to catalog the clothing by year, repair what damages we can, organize and store the items correctly. So far, I've found a few websites on caring for vintage clothing as well as some books on the subject. What I'm lacking, though, is a way to date the clothing. I've found numerous sites and books on Victorian-or-before garments, but they all seem to be lacking on the 20's through 60's. I know a few basic features of the different eras (low waists in the late 20's, etc.), but would like to find more specific characteristics. Does anyone here know of any websites or good books on the subject? If so, please let me know... by email, if possible. ) Thanks so much in advance.... -Alex Moehagen |
#3
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Maybe these will help:
http://www.costumes.org/history/100p...osthistpage.ht http://www.pastpatterns.com http://www.oldpatterns.com http://www.vpll.org http://www.costumegallery.com/research.ht Good luck Beck - Kitty Fluf Posted via MooTal http://mootalk.com |
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I have a book called "20th Century Fashion" by John Peacock, who was senior
fashion designer for the BBC. It was published in 1993 by Thames and Hudson so no ISBN number. Covers everything from Couture wear, bridal wear, day wear, under wear and accessories from 1900 to 1990. See http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/...400248-7234227 "Kitty Fluff" wrote in message om... Maybe these will help: http://www.costumes.org/history/100p...sthistpage.htm http://www.pastpatterns.com/ http://www.oldpatterns.com/ http://www.vpll.org/ http://www.costumegallery.com/research.htm Good luck! Becky -- Kitty Fluff Posted via MooTalk http://mootalk.com |
#6
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Hi Alex
I sure agree with Peaches about Dover Publications. I took extensiv courses on the History of Fashion in the last year while getting m Fashion Design training. So this topic is still fresh in my mind an notes. I had difficulty finding the website at the time for Dover s here it is http://store.doverpublications.com/b...es--collecting costume--textile.htm I absolutely LOVE Dover's books and have many myself. They are ver REASONABLY priced. I understand their store in NYC is just a delight They have a wonderful philosophy about sharing art with th masses....many without copyrighting Please keep in touch in you have any difficulties....I MAY be able t connect you with my instructor who is pretty near an expert in thi area. Her class was dazzling.......I'll never be the same! (In a goo way...lol! Beck - Kitty Fluf Posted via MooTal http://mootalk.com |
#7
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Everyone-
Thanks so much for all the great info!! I'm hoping that I can talk the costume shop supervisor into a few book purchases but, failing that, I'll buy the things myself. My hope is that my partner-in-crime and I can, at the VERY least, stop the deterioration of the garments. They're crammed into a closet so tightly that you can't pull them out. A beaded 20's dress on a hanger smushed in with lord-knows-what... makes me want to sob!! But thank you all so much. I had no idea there were so many references around, or that you could buy books of old catalogs (which was my first thought...). BTW, I'm photographing much of the clothing today and will be posting some of the pictures on my website. If anyone here would like to see the project in action, go to: http://www.geocities.com/lexerfly/ Hopefully I'll have the pictures up soon. Right now the site is just a journal. Not for long... muwahahaha.... ahem. Thanks again. -Alex Moehagen |
#8
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On 09 Dec 2003 14:38:42 GMT, AtlasCoughed wrote:
My hope is that my partner-in-crime and I can, at the VERY least, stop the deterioration of the garments. They're crammed into a closet so tightly that you can't pull them out. A beaded 20's dress on a hanger smushed in with lord-knows-what... makes me want to sob!! AARGH! On hangers, yet??? Does your school happen to have a textiles and clothing department? They often have someone with at least some knowledge of textile conservation. Kent State, for instance, has a wonderful program: http://dept.kent.edu/museum/staff/care.html There's also a Textile Conservation list hosted by Smithsonian; see: http://www.lsoft.com/scripts/wl.exe?...ISTSERV.SI.EDU These are professional conservationists who might also have some advice or resources to suggest to you. Kay |
#9
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On 9 Dec 2003 22:42:06 GMT, Kay Lancaster wrote:
AARGH! On hangers, yet??? snip Mmn - that rather makes me weep, too. Hanging a beaded dress can rip it to shreds. As a first port of call, you might want to get all those garments off the hangers, layered with acid-free tissue and gently rolled or folded, with acid-free tissue between every fold, and stored away from the light with a good moth repellent. I use plain old lavender bags, plus a can of Doom when necessary, and store items on wooden shelves lined with unbleached calico. I do hang lighter-weight garments, but nothing beaded, sequinned, bias-cut or metallics like the lamés. Trish |
#10
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Trishty wrote:
On 9 Dec 2003 22:42:06 GMT, Kay Lancaster wrote: AARGH! On hangers, yet??? snip Mmn - that rather makes me weep, too. Hanging a beaded dress can rip it to shreds. As a first port of call, you might want to get all those garments off the hangers, layered with acid-free tissue and gently rolled or folded, with acid-free tissue between every fold, and stored away from the light with a good moth repellent. I use plain old lavender bags, plus a can of Doom when necessary, and store items on wooden shelves lined with unbleached calico. I do hang lighter-weight garments, but nothing beaded, sequinned, bias-cut or metallics like the lamés. Trish I've come over all faint at the very idea of hangers! Arrgh indeed! Museums will tell you where you can get acid free boxes for storing this sort of thing. And do, DO layer with tissue! Sharp creases are not only a bugger to get out, but can damage the fabric: it can split along the crease. And don't use any old dry cleaners to clean them! You need to hunt up a specialist: pricey, but worth it! -- Kate XXXXXX Lady Catherine, Wardrobe Mistress of the Chocolate Buttons http://www.diceyhome.free-online.co.uk Click on Kate's Pages and explore! |
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