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Archive for October, 2019

Halloween Memories

Posted in Events, Fashion, Uncategorized, Vintage, tagged , , , , on October 31, 2019| 1 Comment »

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Spooky ladies who lunch. AKA Witchy Mom and Flapper Ghost. c. 2000

When I was nine or ten my mother really got into the spooky spirit and answered the door on Halloween ready to hand out candy dressed as a witch in a caftan and pointy black flats. At the time she was the only mom to dress in costume and all the kids loved it. (This was way back when Halloween still belonged to kids.)

Many years later we started a new tradition of a quiet mother/daughter celebration. We dressed in costume and went out to lunch or dinner. We were the only ones who did this and I added to the festivities by handing out candy to anyone who crossed our path.

My mother says Halloween is her favorite holiday so we continue the lunch tradition sans full costume but we might wear a spooky accessory, like skeleton earrings in silver or a black cat stole. I still hand out candy.

 

HAPPY HALLOWEEN from us to you!

 

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Fashionable Quote of the Week by Margaret Hamilton

Posted in Events, Fashion, Uncategorized, Vintage, tagged , , , , , on October 28, 2019| 2 Comments »

1016201722230562531Even witches have to have pockets. 

Margaret Hamilton (1902-1985), American actress best known for playing the Wicked Witch of the West in the 1939 film, The Wizard of Oz.

All ladies (witches too) like pockets!

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Fashionable Quote of the Week by Whitney Scharer

Posted in Arts, Events, Fashion, Uncategorized, Vintage, tagged , , , , , , on October 21, 2019| Leave a Comment »

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Lee Miller, war correspondent for Vogue, WWII.

… Lee has put herself together. She wears her new panne velvet* dress, peacock blue, tight through the hips and flaring out in graduated pleats that twirl around her legs as she walks. She worried before she arrived that it was too dressy, but now that she is here she doesn’t mind standing out. If there is one way to make herself feel better, it is by getting dressed up.

Whitney Scharer, author of The Age of Light (Little, Brown and Company).

* Panne velvet is velvet fabric with a particular finish that creates luster.

The Age of Light is a fictional account of Lee Miller’s time in Paris in the 1920s when she, an American former model and aspiring photographer, meets and starts a professional and personal relationship with Surrealist Man Ray.

I have read a lot about Lee Miller (1907-1977), who was a unique woman in her time and who led an interesting life of fashion and art, travel and war. She was hired by US Vogue magazine to photograph and write about what she was witnessing in Europe during WWII.  I must say that I prefer the non-fiction books on Miller. Although The Age of Light is well written, I found that I didn’t enjoy reading what Scharer thinks were Miller’s thoughts and feelings. It kind of spoils my own view of her. But I do like this quote.

I would recommend the biographies –  Lee Miller: A Life by Carolyn Burke and Lee Miller in Fashion by Becky E. Conekin.

 

 

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Fashionable Quote of the Week by Jin Teok

Posted in Arts, Fashion, Uncategorized, tagged , , , , , , , on October 14, 2019| Leave a Comment »

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Dress & skirt inspired by traditional Korean embroidered wedding robe with peony, phoenix, and butterfly motifs and combined with denim. Jin Teok, 1995. This piece was part of the Couture Korea exhibit.

My mother’s generation greatly valued tradition in fashion. Until the day she died, she kept her hair in a bun, as women did in the Joseon Period (1392-1910). She made her own clothes with different materials for each of the four seasons. She wore durumagi, a traditional Korean overcoat, made of silk fabrics called myeongju and jamisa in jade green. In winter she wore cotton-padded durumagi, a scarf made of silk, and rubber shoes, which I used to wipe clean whenever she was about to go out. I grew up in such a traditional family. 

Jin Teok, renowned South Korean fashion designer.

This quote is from the essay, Creating Contrasts in Korean Fashion by Jin Teok from the catalogue for Couture Korea, the exhibit at the San Francisco Asian Art Museum in 2017.

One of the things I noticed when I visited Seoul, South Korea was the contrast of traditional and modern – in the architecture, the food, the old and the young people – existing side by side. Seoul is very much a mixture and in that way it’s fascinating.

Jin Teok started her fashion career in 1965 and has been called a “pioneer of Korean fashion.” Known for blending the silhouettes and motifs of traditional Korean clothing with modern fashion, Teok designed the uniforms for the Korean 1988 Olympic teams and a few years later she designed the Asiana Airlines flight attendant uniforms. She has participated in many international fashion shows, putting Korean fashion in a global spotlight.

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From Fabric to Paper: Traditional Korean Art Exhibit With Youngmin Lee & Steph Rue

Posted in Arts, Events, Uncategorized, tagged , , , , , , , on October 9, 2019| 3 Comments »

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Youngmin Lee and Steph Rue.

Last week I had the pleasure of attending the opening reception of From Fabric to Paper, an exhibit of works by bojagi artist Youngmin Lee and hanji artist Steph Rue at The Consulate General of the Republic of Korea in San Francisco.

 

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The two artists were recipients of the Alliance for California Traditional Arts Apprenticeship Program. This exhibit features both their individual work and the pieces they worked on together over the summer.

 

 

Bojagi is traditional Korean wrapping fabric and hanji is traditional Korean handmade paper. Ms. Rue says when she was in South Korea studying hanji she constantly saw bojagi, which is made of fabric scraps and used to wrap gifts, store things, and carry objects. Once something common and used every day, it has now become an art form. Intrigued, she wanted to learn more.

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Indigo Study. These are traditional pouches men would have carried in the Joseon Period (1392-1910) in Korea. These are made with mulberry paper, silk, and ramie fabric.

She says she was excited to have the opportunity to work with Ms. Lee, who is considered a master in bojagi making. With a degree in fashion design Ms. Lee came to the craft after moving here from South Korea more that twenty years ago. She says that living in another country moved her to the traditions of her own culture. Now, she shares her knowledge of, and passion for bojagi by teaching classes all over the Bay Area.

This is a lovely exhibit and well worth a visit to The Consulate General of the Republic of Korea in San Francisco, 3500 Clay St. @ Laurel. On now through December 27, 2019. Open hours are Monday-Friday 9-5. And it’s free.

On another related topic: today (October 9th) is Hangul Day in South Korea. Hangul is the Korean alphabet. Koreans celebrate their alphabet because at one time there was no written Korean language and only scholars could read and write Chinese characters. Hangul was created by King Sejong in the 1400s to allow everyone the opportunity to read and write in their own language.

Hangul Day is a national holiday in South Korea.

Happy Hangul Day!!

 

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Fashionable Quote of the Week by Cho Hyo-sook

Posted in Arts, Events, Fashion, Uncategorized, tagged , , , on October 7, 2019| Leave a Comment »

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Reconstructed woman’s hanbok (traditional Korean clothing) based on a 16th century garment. Ramie, polyester, and silk. From Couture Korea exhibit, San Francisco Asian Arts Museum 2017.

Traditional Korean clothing is imbued with many kinds of beauty: natural, understated, symbolic, elegant, and exotic. Of these, natural beauty is the most important. Since ancient times, Koreans have found pleasure and happiness in nature rather than in attempting to conquer nature, and this may be reflected in Korean fashion. As seen in its full-flowing and ample shapes and rhythmical curves, Korean clothing stresses comfort and natural style, unlike the closely fitting, structured silhouettes of its Western counterparts. 

Cho Hyo-sook – vice-president of Gachon University in South Korea.

This is a quote from Hyo-sook’s essay Clothing in Harmony with Nature, which I read in the catalogue for Couture Korea, the 2017 fashion exhibit at the Asian Art Museum in San Francisco.

One year ago this month I traveled to Seoul, South Korea on a ten day textiles tour. What an adventure it was and still is as I continue to read and learn about Korean history and culture, in particular the traditional crafts.

I like Hyo-sook’s comment about the importance of nature reflected in traditional Korean clothing and the idea of enjoying nature instead of conquering it. I think we are now, with Climate Change, suffering from the results of decades of trying to control nature.

As I see natural beauty in Korean clothing, I also see control and restriction in western clothing or at least western clothing of the past such as tailored suits, fitted dresses, buttoned up shirts and ties, vests, and so on. Modern clothing is much less restrictive but the production of it is a major polluter to our sadly ailing earth.

 

 

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