Kristen Stewart as Princess Diana in the film, Spencer. Costumes by Jacqueline Durran.
There were much more exciting things going on in 80s fashion than the things she wore. When she first started in the early 80s, she really didn’t have a handle on what her potential was in fashion, because it was all so new and she was so young. She discovered it as she grew older.
Jacqueline Durran, British costume designer.
Ms. Durran created the costumes for the 2021 film, Spencer, staring Kristen Stewart, who is up for the Best Actress Oscar, as Princess Diana.
Come on back to ODFL tomorrow for my post on the virtual talk I attended with Ms. Durran and Kevin Jones, curator at FIDM Museum.
In 2008 when Barack Obama was running for president Oakland artist, Barbara Sandidge, created printed t-shirts and tote bags with her own pen and ink drawing. I bought the tote and still proudly carry it!
On February 6th, 1952 Princess Elizabeth, traveling in Kenya, awoke a Queen, after her father King George VI had passed away overnight in his sleep.
Queen Elizabeth II returned immediately to the UK but her coronation wasn’t until June 2nd, 1953. The lovely gown she wore that day was created by British designer Norman Hartnell, who also made Elizabeth’s wedding gown in 1947.
For the coronation, Hartnell sketched eight potential gowns before Prince Philip pointed out that his wife was soon to become sovereign to the British Commonwealth and perhaps all her lands should be represented.
The final version was made in white satin and included embroidered emblems:
Tudor Rose – England
Thistle – Scotland
Shamrocks – Ireland
Maple leaves – Canada
Wattle flowers – Australia
Ferns – New Zealand
Proteas – South Africa
Lotus Flowers – India
Leeks – Wales
Wheat, Cotton and Jute – Pakistan
For luck Hartnell added an extra shamrock underneath the skirt. For proper balance the gown demanded a complicated construction of supporting undergarments, which was created by Hartnell’s expert cutters and fitters. He himself could not sew.
Congratulations to Queen Elizabeth who celebrates 70 years on the throne, her Platinum Jubilee.
Peggy’s mother had insisted that she go to San Francisco’s best store, I. Magnin, for her travel suit. Upon entering, they made a beeline for the ‘moderate’ floor. It wasn’t ‘couture,’ one floor up, where they seldom ventured, but nor did it mean thumbing through the racks. The moderate floor came with a clothing advisor, who greeted Peggy’s mother by name, led them over to a damask-covered love-seat and asked Peggy to describe the purpose of her outfit. She was going to New York, she explained, for the month of June, staying at the Barbizon and working with Mademoiselle magazine offices on Madison Avenue. She would need to appear sophisticated while she mingled with editors, advertisers, and the New York literati. Peggy left I. Magnin with a navy two-piece dress in summer wool – a long tunic top that buttoned up the front and a pleated skirt underneath. There was even a detachable white collar.
From The Barbizon: The Hotel That Set Women Free by Paulina Bren (Simon & Schuster).
The Barbizon – the first women-only residential hotel – was built in 1927 on the Upper East side in Manhattan. Standing 23 stories tall, the Barbizon was meant to be a safe alternative for the new modern woman escaping her dull hometown to seek freedom and adventure in New York City.
In The Barbizon, Ms. Bren has detailed the rich and fascinating history of this landmark hotel. From the stories of some of the prominent residents, such as Molly Brown, Grace Kelly, and Sylvia Plath, to the link with Mademoiselle magazine and their Guest Editor program, Ms. Bren has done extensive research and crafted a compelling read. There’s a bit of everything: women’s history, fashion history, journalism history, mid-century glamour, the darkness of depression and loneliness, and more. The pages are packed and I had a hard time putting this book down. In fact, I think I’m going to read it again.
On the left: Edith Heath’s family china. On the right: Edith Heath design.
“What began as a rebellion against imported white clay more than fifty years ago is now a modern-day classic,” says Jennifer Volland, guest curator of Edith Heath: A Life in Clay on now at the Oakland Museum of California. “Edith Heath has forever changed the cultural landscape of American design through Heath Ceramics.”
Edith Heath sorting her wares.
What might be considered one of the first lifestyle brands, Heath Ceramics was founded in 1948 by Edith and her husband, Brian. A distinct style of tableware made of California clay, Heath products were (and still are) simple and practical. With her no-frills design, Edith was pushing back against the ornate European dishes that her mother collected. She called the clay used in fine china “gutless.”
Edith Heath: A Life in Clay is an exploration of Edith and Heath Ceramics and the impact both continue to have on American aesthetics. Using photos, advertisements, vintage Heath pieces, various equipment, and a documentary video, this exhibit takes us through Edith’s journey from childhood to artisan to designer to successful businesswoman. (And for me Heath Ceramics are so appealing with their simple chic lines and earthy colors, to look at them is like enjoying a sweet treat.)
Edith Heath in the early 1940s.
Potter and designer Edith Heath (1911-2005) started her life (the second of eleven children) on an Iowa farm where she learned to make everything by hand, from the clothing she wore to the food she ate. She attended college in Chicago and became a teacher. When she and her husband moved to San Francisco in 1942, she attended California School of Fine Arts (known today as San Francisco Art Institute) and that’s where she learned about, and fell in love with, ceramics.
Mid-century California livin’ with Heath Ceramics. The photo in the back is of Edith entertaining outdoors. The dress on the left belonged to Edith and was designed by her friend Evelyn Royston.
Edith was all in and not only did she study how to make pottery, she studied the elements of different clay and experimented with glazes. She was asked to exhibit at the Legion of Honor Museum where a buyer from Gump’s admired her work, bought the collection for the store, and set her up in a studio Gump’s was operating in Chinatown. But it was hard for her to keep up with the demand for her handmade wares so she soon shifted to molds and machines, which her husband designed and made himself.
Edith was criticized by her fellow artisans, who claimed that art could only be handmade, but she disagreed with them saying that it’s the design that counts and “Good design doesn’t depend on whether something is made by hand.” With new capacity to fill larger orders the couple opened their own operation, Heath Ceramics, in Sausalito.
In the 60s Edith worked with local architects and began to make tiles and in 1971 Heath Ceramics contracted with a new chain of restaurants, Victoria Station, to provide their dinnerware. This lucrative deal led to more restaurant contracts, including with the famed Chez Panisse in Berkeley. Also in the 70s, the company began to make buttons and beads, which Edith called “kiln fillers.”
I met Interior Decorator Heather Cleveland at the exhibit press preview and she shared with me that she first learned about Heath from her stylish grandmother, who always set an impressive dinner table. Heather, who is in-the-know about what’s in vogue for the modern home, says that mid-century is still hot and Heath Ceramics is the perfect fit. Heather herself has been collecting Heath for several years, one piece at a time.
She isn’t the only one! Edith sold Heath Ceramics to husband and wife team, Robin Petravic and Cathy Bailey in 2003 and the company still thrives, making Heath tableware in the original Sausalito location. Based on the response I got from my early FB and IG posts about the exhibit, Heath Ceramics is well known and loved.
Edith Heath: A Life in Clay runs now through October 30, 2022 at the Oakland Museum of California. If you know about Heath, you will learn more, and if you’re new to the world of Heath prepare to have an overwhelming desire to reset your dining table!
Textiles and yarn did not have enough structure and volume, but clay I found was and is just right. I like its substance, its malleability, and its color.
Edith Heath (1911-2005), American ceramicist, designer, and founder of Heath Ceramics.
Come back to ODFL tomorrow for my coverage of the new exhibit at the Oakland Museum of California, Edith Heath: A Life in Clay.
I was sad to hear that fashion great, André Leon Talley, died of a heart attack on January 18th. He was 73.
Recently I read his latest memoir The Chiffon Trenches (Ballantine Books). What a life he had – he studied French literature and spoke the language fluently; he worked with Diana Vreeland, Andy Warhol, and later Anna Wintour; he lived in Paris and worked there as a correspondent reporting on fashion for WWD; he was creative director at Vogue magazine. His many friends included Karl Lagerfeld and Oscar de le Renta.
His life it seemed was charmed and yet, it wasn’t easy.
Both Wintour and Lagerfeld (people he considered good friends) dumped Talley, in 2013 he was let go from his position as the red carpet interviewer at the Met Gala, and he encountered racism and homophobia throughout his career.
He said in a radio interview that grace and style were his armor.
Grace and style (and a little sadness) were certainly what I saw from Talley at the Press Preview for the San Francisco de Young Museum’s Oscar de la Renta retrospective exhibit in 2016. He was the guest curator for the exhibit and in speaking to the press he expressed great admiration and affection for de la Renta, who was the first to take a young Talley under his wing. It was a lasting friendship, perhaps one of the few in the fashion trenches. (The celebrated designer died in 2014.)
Talley’s message of grace and style is something to remember. I don’t think anyone travels though life smoothly. The journey has obstacles and challenges of many kinds and putting on that suit, dress, hat, helps elevate the spirit on those particularly rough days. At least that’s what works for me.
Thank you, Mr. Talley. Your grand sense of style will be missed.
OverDressed for Life 