I remember Sandy saying to me ‘Oh, you don’t wear your collection’ – like it was a no-no. Maybe we just have different perspectives on collecting. I thought it was rather ridiculous to just buy clothes and put them in a box. I used to wear everything.
Iris Apfel – American fashion icon.
This quote is from an article in Harper’s Bazaar titled The Collector’s Eye, Dec 2022/Jan 2023, by Allison S. Cohn. In the quote Apfel referrers to couture collector Sandy Schreier.
Here here! I agree that clothing is for wearing, not for hiding away in a closet. Although, there are pieces that just can’t be worn – for example I have a 1920s chiffon dress that is too fragile. I also have quite a few articles of clothing that belonged to my mother (vintage pieces that I remember her wearing when I was a child) and I wear many of them, but some are too big, too small, or just not my style. They have a different purpose – they are providing inspiration for my mother/daughter memoir (currently a work in progress).
I didn’t just want to be someone who bought clothes. I wanted to learn about them. So, I collected them, wrote about them, and have had a life of helping to get exhibitions off the ground.
Christine Suppes – fashion collector and the author of the book Electric Fashion (Skira), which is a photo documentary of her couture collection. Photos by fashion photographer Frederic Aranda.
This quote is from the article, The Collector’s Eye, by Alison S. Cohn, in Harper’s Bazaar, Dec. 2022/Jan. 2023.
Suppes, a resident of Palo Alto, CA recently donated more than 500 pieces of her couture fashion collection to the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco. Her donation includes pieces by Christian Lacroix, Yves Saint Laurent, and Balenciaga. (And you heard it here first, in January 2024 the de Young Museum, inspired by Suppes donation, will open a fashion exhibition featuring the legacy of some of the Bay Area’s most fashionable women both past and present.)
As a member of Costume Society of America, I have heard and read discussions about museums accepting fashion donations. Should they? What should they accept? How and where will they preserve the clothing? It goes hand in hand with the general discussion over whether or not fashion belongs in museums at all. The biggest and much debated question – is fashion art?
The truth is fashion exhibits bring in money – especially those that include popular designer names. I would venture so say that a collection of couture clothing would be welcomed at any museum.
When I was in Seattle a few years ago for a fashion history conference, I attended a fashion exhibit at The Museum of History and Industry. This regional-focused exhibit, called Seattle Style: Fashion/Function, highlighted vintage and modern clothing owned by local people mostly purchased from local department stores and boutiques. It was by no means a spectacle exhibit and that’s why I enjoyed it so much. The fashions on display gave us a peek into what the people of Seattle wore in sunny weather and in rain; to the theater; to the 1962 World’s Fair; or just to work and the grocery store. Regional style, dictated by weather, culture, and tradition, is a fascinating subject and as much as I enjoy “big fashion” and the impeccable crafting of couture, I’m also interested in everyday fashion, particularly from past eras.
I’m looking forward to the upcoming de Young fashion exhibit and learning how Bay Area style is perceived.
Sandy Schreier is known for her collection of couture fashion that numbers over 15,000 items. The story goes that when she was a child growing up in Detroit her father worked in the fur department of a high end department store. Often he took his daughter to work where she made friends with the lady customers. Before long these wealthy ladies were gifting some of their used couture gowns and everyday wear to Ms. Schreier to play dress up. Well, even then she knew she was on to something and didn’t play with the clothing but instead kept it all safe, eventually storing everything she was given a spare room of the family home.
She continued collecting, later putting an ad in the paper looking for donations. Her collection is just that, a collection not a wardrobe. She says she considers the pieces like artwork and has never worn them.
Her collection includes pieces by Balenciaga, Schiaparelli, Chanel, Alexander McQueen, Adrian … all the biggies past and present.
In 2019 Pursuit of Fashion: The Sandy Schreier Collection at The Metropolitan Museum Costume Institute displayed 80 of the 165 pieces, which Ms. Schreier has promised to donate to the institute.
Balenciaga gown, 1961. Part of the In Pursuit of Fashion: The Sandy Schreier Collection exhibition at the Met 2019/2020.
Vogue and Harper’s Bazaar were my picture books; they were my Mother Goose.
Sandy Schreier – American fashion collector and fashion historian author.
This quote is from an interview that Ms. Schreier did with the popular podcast, Dressed: The History of Fashion hosted by April Calahan and Cassidy Zachery.
Come back tomorrow and read more about Sandy Schreier.
Who else out there looked at fashion magazines as a child? My mother told me that she used to cut out images and make paper dolls. Certainly, there’s a fairytale quality to fashion magazines – the beautiful models, the extraordinary clothing, the exotic photoshoots – it’s pure fantasy. And who can resist?
OverDressed for Life 