Karen Winslow Interview: Sewing Pattern Illustrators Part 3.

1970s Karen Winslow fashion illustration for McCall's 4170 Misses Jacket and Pants.

From the desk of Toile La La at Art Fashion Creation:

Here, you have recently seen two posts featuring the story and artwork of fine artist Karen Winslow, a former sewing industry fashion illustrator.  Today's post presents Part 3: the Karen Winslow Interview.

From 1970 to 1977, Winslow was an artist for Simplicity, McCall's, and Butterick patterns, illustrating clothing for children, teens, and misses - with pen, marker, gouache, watercolor, and charcoal.  Her work appeared in the big pattern catalogs and on sewing pattern envelopes - as well as in monthly booklets - and in Earnshaw's Review, a children's fashion industry magazine (one of her favorite jobs).

During the time she created these illustrations, Winslow attended the Art Students League from 1972-1978 to learn to paint.  It was odd to "switch gears", says Winslow, "One form of art was very commercial, and I used outline to make figures that were stylized and flat. The other form was serious, and I tried to create an illusion of light, form and space in a realistic manner."  Freelance fashion illustration was the bridge from sewing industry illustration to Karen's focus on fine art painting today.  Along with her husband Jack - at Winslow Art Studios, she currently teaches painting workshops and spends time with her children and grandchildren (who frequently model for alla prima portraits).

Over the course of our interview/conversation - it was especially interesting to hear Winslow's observation of the industry's transition from illustration to photography for promotion of sewing patterns.  "Photography began to play a bigger and bigger role in the pattern industry, with illustrations and photographs sharing the same page," says Winslow.  She mentions that around 1974, McCall's began to offer "Sew for Fun" patterns, offering projects primarily for teens:  "This is where photography appeared more and more."

I met Karen after she left a comment at an Art Fashion Creation post mentioning the mysterious and unknown sewing pattern illustrators.  Karen and I discussed the lack of artist attribution on sewing patterns and never really came to a conclusion about artist anonymity.  The lack of attribution is still a mystery, but Wilson says she did manage to include her signature on a few illustrations - which you will see at post's end.

Toile La La: Karen, how did you find your way into sewing pattern illustration and did you study specifically for pattern illustration?

Karen Winslow: When I decided in high school that I wanted to be an artist, my parents were very worried.  Since I liked drawing people, the guidance counselor suggested fashion illustration, and assured them that I could get a regular job doing art.  So, after high school, I studied fashion illustration and advertising design at the Fashion Institute of Technology.  At the school, I concentrated on fashion drawing and figure drawing.  You were not specifically trained to do illustrations for pattern companies, that was just one arena that used illustrators.  Since it was one of the only areas that used color illustrations, I applied to pattern companies and had my first job - in 1970 - as a design department "sketcher".

Sketchers worked for the designers, drawing out the designer's ideas.  Pattern companies took their cue from what was popular:  the "new" colors, fabrics, skirt lengths, pant widths, waistlines, etc... .  They would copy a popular design, but simplify it down to a few key pieces for sewing enthusiasts.  I worked specifically with the children's designer.  These drawings were rendered in full color, but not published.  Instead, these illustrations were sent to the art department, and another illustrator would then produce the drawing that would go into the catalogs and on the envelopes. 

I really wanted to be in the art department, not the design department.  I was more interested in the art part, rather than the design aspect...which I found a little odd, since (in fact) designers were just copying clothes that were already ready made.  I don't think it really bothered other sketchers.  I wanted to be an illustrator - illustrators were paid better than sketchers and their work was published in the catalogs.  So, eventually, I applied to be a staff artist - which was much better for me. This was in late 1971, and my work started appearing in sewing industry catalogs and envelopes.

TLL: I am interested in hearing about your work environment and whether you worked with other illustrators in a studio near the garment designers, or if you completed assignments in your own home studio. Please describe your artist lifestyle during the sewing pattern fashion illustration years.

K. Winslow: As a sketcher, I worked in a room with the children's clothing designer and another sketcher.  We each had our own drafting tables, taboret, brushes and paints.  When I started working as a staff artist, I worked in a room with about 5 other artists.  Again, we all had our own drafting tables and supplies.  Of the 5 in the room, 2 of them were "correction" artists.  A correction artist is like a proof-reader and does not illustrate.  The correction artist checked my illustration to make sure buttons were spaced correctly, widths, gathers, top-stitching, etc... were in correct proportion for the clothing.   In other words, a pencil skirt couldn't look like a flared skirt.

As a staff artist, I was not working with a designer anymore...I was part of the art department, and I was given assignments by the art director.  Some illustration assignments went to freelance artists and the rest were done by staff artists.  I worked staff, honing my skills and experimenting with techniques for about a year and a half.  My husband went to the Art Students League and learned to paint.  After deciding I wanted more from my art, I quit my staff position and began freelancing in order to go to the Art Students League 5 days a week.

I studied Classical painting at the Art Students League from 1972 to the beginning of 1978, while doing freelance fashion illustration for a living during the same period.  Since I was no longer a staff artist, I worked alone and all of my freelance work was done in my apartment in Brooklyn.

TLL: Did you have illustration mentors or experienced industry artists who encouraged or guided you?

K. Winslow: I didn't really have mentors, per se, but my colleagues were always willing to offer suggestions or technical aid, if needed.

TLL: If you sew, was that knowledge an asset to your illustration?

K. Winslow: Yes, I did sew simple things, and I guess the knowledge helped with the illustrations.  It is good to understand construction and how seams or fabric are supposed to behave.

TLL: Here are several questions to generate memories: Please describe a typical day working as a sewing pattern illustrator...
Did you work from live models or photographs?
Did you discuss illustrations with the pattern designers?
Were you interested in fashion design... creating inspiration boards, or ever making design suggestions to the pattern manufacturers?

K. Winslow: On staff, a typical day would be receiving an assignment, dressing the sewing mannequin in the mock-up garment, scribbling out ideas for figures,  and having these approved by the designer and the art director.  Then, this rough draft went to the correction artist.  Tracing paper was placed over the rough draft and corrections were made on this.  The drawing was then returned to me, and I incorporated the corrections into the finished illustration.   Small swatches of various fabrics, as well as clipped photos of shoes, hairstyles, bracelets, etc. provided by the designers were used to create the finished pieces.  The finished illustration then had to be approved by the designer, art director, fashion director, and others.  If approved, the illustration was published as a catalog page and envelope.  Turn-around was about a week, but could be less. On staff, I received feedback right away.   When I freelanced, I had to pick up my assignment, which included a mock-up garment sewn in muslin, the designer's sketch, the swatches and the magazine clips of accessories, etc.  Then, I went home and worked up a rough draft to return the next day or so.  The correction artist marked the corrections, then I would return to pick up the corrected rough draft before working on the final colored illustration.  With time constraints and deadlines, I often stayed up all night working on the finished product in order to meet the deadline.  

Coming up with various layouts and poses for the figures was challenging.  I poured over magazines trying to get ideas for poses, and I used a mirror... getting into a pose myself to refine what I wanted.  When I freelanced, I sometimes could get a model, but mostly, I used the mirror. 

Since I was in the art department, the art director, or assistant art director conveyed what the designer wanted... the look, the feel, etc.  When I worked as a sketcher with the children's designer, she often asked for suggestions or opinions about designs, and that was fun.  In the art department, I was only expected to translate the designer's idea into a nice, easy to read, illustration.

TLL: Karen, you previously  mentioned the pattern designers specified exact ages for children in your illustrations. Were there many more specifications or suggestions regarding your artwork? Did the art director provide you with fashion tearsheets or other pattern artwork as inspiration?

K. Winslow: The ages, hairstyles, accessories, shoes, etc. were chosen for particular looks and provided by the pattern designers.  In my experience, the artists were given photos and color swatches for everything.  I was free to interpret these, as well as pose and compose my figures, in my own way... as long as it showed the clothing in its best light. 

TLL: As a sewing pattern illustrator, did you meet any pattern artists with considerable experience in the industry?

K. Winslow: I only really saw other illustrators when I worked on staff.  With freelancing, you are on your own.  I have stayed in touch with one always helpful and lovely illustration buddy who was with me at Simplicity and McCall's, then went on to teach at the Fashion Institute of Technology and Parsons.

I transitioned entirely to painting by 1979 - selling my work through various galleries.  Some of my illustration friends continued to work in the industry for much longer.  Josie Vargas and Bina Abling both worked at McCall's with me.  Josie and I worked in the design department at Simplicity.  To my knowledge, they still work in the industry, although they primarily teach - for the Fashion Institute of Technology and Parsons. 

TLL: What obstacles - if any - do you feel may be specific to the life of a female artist? And then, what qualities might a female artist contribute which might set her apart from that of male counterparts?

K. Winslow: While I was illustrating and going to school to learn to paint, I did all this before I had any children.  One of the most difficult things about being a female artist is juggling family.  Once you have children, getting to paint or illustrate is harder.  Your time is no longer your own.  In my particular family, my husband is also a fine artist.  So, when our children came along, we took turns painting and taking care of the kids.  I became a very fast painter, and I learned to paint and talk to kids at the same time.  This skill helped a lot when I began teaching.  I can paint and answer questions at the same time.

TLL: Of your illustrations - which are your favorites, why?

K. Winslow: I have been digging out whatever illustrations I've stashed away, and many of them have taken a beating.  It is hard for me to say which illustrations were my favorites.  I liked trying different things, and I enjoyed whimsical aspects.  Earnshaw's Review (the industry magazine for kid's clothing) gave me the widest berth in interpreting and I could illustrate the clothing in more creative ways, so they were extra fun.

TLL: I'd love to hear any other favorite memories you want to share from your life as an artist.

K. Winslow: One of my funny memories as an illustrator was having a nom de plume.  A person designated to "approve" my illustrations thought "Karen's" line work was a bit too cartoony, so I developed my charcoal/wash style as "Lorraine".  Sometimes an illustration assignment was a toss-up between Karen and Lorraine. Either way I got to do the drawing.  The art department all knew, and we all thought it was pretty funny.
I sent in my bill as Karen, not Lorraine. 

Memorable things in the fine arts would be getting a major article in American Artist magazine (February 1991) and being invited to a museum in Japan to do drawing demonstrations to help celebrate Culture day (1992).

TLL: When viewing today's styles, are there any particular designers or trends you think might be nice illustrations or painting inspiration?

K. Winslow: Today's styles...um, I am a pretty practical person...after all, everything I own at some point gets paint on it, and I live in a very rural place.  So, practical ensembles of shirts, jeans, and clogs seem to make up my wardrobe.  If I could paint or illustrate a style... well, like most people, I loved Downton Abbey, and seeing those styles was amazing. For me, Downton Abbey was like seeing a John Singer Sargent portrait come to life.  I would love to paint this.  The colors, cuts, drape, hats... everything was so lovely!  I personally love the styles in the 1920s and 1930s.

TLL: Did the pattern companies maintain illustration archives, Karen? I'm sure they must have maintained archives for the actual flat patterns and maybe even for the written instructions (which also changed with the times), but - speaking personally, to have witnessed an archive of sewing pattern illustrations would be heavenly! If a sewing pattern illustration museum existed, I would never want to leave.

K. Winslow: They had archives for a while.  Some of the illustrations were up on the walls as decoration, when I was there, but these were usually ones that were selling the most patterns.  Here's an odd fact, the sweatshirt pattern I illustrated (with the 4 figures) was one of their top sellers for a while, when I was working for McCall's.  I thought that was really weird... really.  I wondered - who would sew a sweatshirt? I found out that a lot of illustrations were donated into other archives (I think Parsons had some), but eventually they were thrown away.  Josie recognized and managed to salvage some of my black-and-white Butterick illustrations when they were being tossed.

Karen Winslow 1970s fashion illustration for McCall's 4220 hooded-jacket and top.

  TLL: Karen, from an early age - did you know you wanted to be an artist - or that you were already an artist? Was fashion illustration a goal to which you aspired, or did fashion illustration find you?

K. Winslow: As a child, I loved to draw and never had enough paper.  As a little girl in the 50s, I looked forward to getting my Betsy McCall paper dolls and making loads of extra outfits for her.  That, to some degree,  subconsciously influenced me to illustrate fashion. As a fashion illustrator then, I always felt like a grown-up playing with paper dolls... especially when I illustrated the children's clothes.

TLL: To expedite your illustration work, Karen - did you develop illustration templates for yourself... for instance, assembling poses, faces, gestures which you could reuse - or use again with minor adjustments?

K. Winslow: I did repeat some poses, but I always worked them afresh...using myself as a reference.  Art directors might suggest a look or a feeling, but I was left to my own devices, for the most part.  They were interested in getting clear pictures of the clothing construction in a visually pleasing way.

TLL: Karen, we never really came to a conclusion about the omission of pattern artist's names.  Did you request attribution for your illustrations?

K. Winslow:  I think I asked once about signing work... the response, I believe, was something like this:  If you signed the illustration, people would believe that you designed the outfits.  The bottom line for pattern companies was selling patterns.  It was a product, and for a long time artists got to present the product.  Perhaps, it was just cheaper to present the product with photographs, or they thought the patterns would sell better showing real people wearing them.  

Here are a few of Karen's illustrations - some with signatures:

Karen Winslow 1970s McCall's 4104 Misses dress and top fashion illustration for sewing pattern.

  

Karen Winslow 1970s McCall's 3663 Girls bell-bottom pants fashion illustration for sewing pattern.

Karen Winslow 1970s fashion illustrations of Kenzo designs for the sewing industry.

Karen Winslow 1970s fashion illustrations of Betsey Johnson designs for the sewing industry.

Karen Winslow 1970s  illustrations of children's fashion trends for the sewing industry.

Karen Winslow 1970s fashion illustrations of children's clothing designs for the sewing industry.

Karen Winslow 1970s children's sewing pattern illustrations.

Karen Winslow 1970s fashion illustration for Butterick.

Karen Winslow 1970s fashion illustration for Butterick.

Karen Winslow 1970s fashion illustration for Butterick - notice signature in weave of wicker chair.

Karen Winslow 1970s fashion illustration for Pandora.

Karen Winslow 1970s fashion illustration for Pandora - zoom-in of signature beside roller-skate.

Karen Winslow 1970s fashion illustrations of Kenzo designs for the sewing industry.

Karen Winslow (signed) 1970s fashion illustration for McCall's children's apron/tote bag accessory.

Karen says, of the illustrations above:  "If you look closely at the cover of the Butterick booklet with two women seated on a wicker chair (June 1974), I signed "WINSLOW" in the base of the chair as part of the weave.  That booklet was the first one I illustrated for them.  I did a lot of freelance work for Pandora and signed the little promotional postcard.  On the little back view for children's apron/tote accessories - I signed "KAREN" on the bag."

TLL: Karen, in addition to favorite subjects, artistic mediums, and preferred colors - would you like to mention artists you admire?

K. Winslow: I love to paint a good illusion of light, whether it is landscape, still life or portrait, my real subject is light.  Painting people is always the most challenging...and I love painting people.  I am primarily an oil painter, but I enjoy switching mediums.  I like all colors, but earth tones seem to find their way into most of my work.  As a fine artist, I like Rembrandt, Vermeer, Velasquez, Sargent, etc.

As an illustrator, I love Jessie Wilcox Smith, NC Weyth, Lisabeth Zwerger, Blanche Fisher Wright, and E. H. Shepard.  A post featuring Winslow's admired artists and illustrators appears here. 
TLL: Do you have any book recommendations for people interested in fashion illustration, or can you recommend fine art technique books?

K. Winslow: Books...well, I would always have people look at good illustrations.  Look at, not just fashion, ... but line and graphics.  Yes, I suggest students of art and illustration consider and look at all types of illustration and good paintings (go to museums) to see how other artists worked, so that visual problem-solving skills are improved.  Painting and illustrating incorporate designing with line and tone.  Studying the way other artists draw - and practicing a lot - will help improve your own drawing skills.  Fashion illustration, especially for patterns, is a very narrow slice of the overall field of illustration, and an even smaller view of the field of art in general.  Artists should be open to learning.  Being an artist is a life-long journey... you never quite arrive.  There is always room to improve and grow.

Bina Abling, a former illustration colleague at McCall's and now a teacher at FIT and Parsons, went on to write a book about fashion illustration.  Abling's Fashion Sketchbook has had many editions, and it apparently is a practical, standard text in most fashion illustration classes.  Bina also has very helpful fashion illustration videos on YouTube. 

Looking at anatomy books or books on figure drawing, I think, is most valuable.   Andrew Loomis wrote some of the most practical books on figure drawing and illustration.  He was an illustrator of the 1940s/50s, and he wrote several terrific books on drawing, one being:  Figure Drawing for All It's Worth.  It was out of print for many years, but that along with some of his other books are now being reprinted, and they are worth buying!

TLL: Were you to mentor or advise a young person interested in fashion illustration today, describe your recommendations - or basic plan.

K. Winslow: My recommendations would be to learn to draw.  Study with someone you admire and learn all you can.  Go to museums.  Go to the Society of Illustrators website.  Soak up books with great drawings and illustrations.  Nothing beats drawing from a model.  Learn to draw figures well enough to be able to draw them out of your imagination.  If you use photos, use them as references, not to copy, but to get ideas for poses. I don't think you can suppress your personality. It will emerge, even though the technique or purpose may change.

Both commercial and fine art are very competitive. Being successful is a combination of skill, hard work, marketing, and more often than not... luck, or being in the right place at the right time.

TLL: Karen, I have really enjoyed seeing your artwork - your 1970s fashion illustrations and your current paintings at the Brushwork blog as well.  It is fascinating to learn all the details involved in the process of converting a clothing design to a fashion illustration one sees decorating the face of a sewing pattern.

K. Winslow: We may never know the many sewing pattern illustrators of the past, Toile La La - but they created a wonderful record of who we were and how style changes.  I am glad I could help shed a little light on how the pattern illustration industry worked in the seventies!
 

Revolutionary Prom Idea: The New Prom Date.

Prom - Please now Imagine the word Prom spoken by Tim Curry - perhaps after he's eaten too many wonderful, sticky, gooey, yicky candies and is offered yet one more.

Prom spoken by Tim Curry using his A Series of Unfortunate Events reading-voice.

Prom with its scurrying and hurrying flurry of excitement about who will be seen with whom and the plight and the doom thereafter.

Prom with its too tight too shiny too too too-ness whizzing by in a stretch limousine woofers-thumping hot-tubness.

Prom with its unfortunate accidents of excess indulgence.

Now Please Imagine the New and Improved Prom Date: A Stack of Books.  No worries of the cummerbund or tie or boutonniere matching your dress and corsage.

The books won't vomit on you after too many post-prom liquor-infused melon-balls.

The books won't grope you as the lights dim, or sneak a feel as they pin your corsage... they have no hands with which to do these things.  Books are full of page after page of goodness and knowledge.  Books don't look at you - with disappointment because you don't want to do what they want you to do and they do not frown when you don't look like they want you to look.  A book is a book and you are in charge of choosing it wisely and can very easily drop it in the library's book-drop if you don't like it.  Can you do that with any other prom date?  I think not... although, it might be nice.

For a start, if you'd like a prom date who does all the talking - look for any of Lemony Snicket's Series of Unfortunate Events audiobooks - some are narrated by Tim Curry.

Here is an imaginary prom photo - imagined by Toile La La... maybe it is Toile La La - in another time, or dimension... all the details are not quite there... the scene (typical of imagined time) is hazy.

Books:  The New Prom Date - illustrated by Toile La La at Art Fashion Creation, February 2013.

A large park - somewhere in France, not in the hustle and bustle... but somewhere discreet.  The early morning is crisp with fog - with droplets of moisture in the atmosphere.  It's chilly enough for the complexion to produce a natural blush and glow. The sky: grey-white with puffs of dove-blue clouds - rain is in the forecast, but still hours away.

Someone has thoughtfully canopied a grove of trees. Lush, green nature provides the prom scenery. Scattered among verdant leaves and fragrant flora are elegant sofas.

Birdsong and the sound of fountains decorate the air.

The Look Here:
Hair - Marie Antoinette piled-high with powder. Embellished with pink velvet flowers and silver leaves.
Maquillage - Silver eye-gloss, silver lip-creme... nothing else.
Scent - peppermint, spearmint, clove.
Sofa - Porcelain-pink high gloss scrollwork, linen vintage toile print.
Dress - Bisque white taffeta with pale tulle overlays, black velvet ruched waist - accented with dove-blue velvet rose and black tulle flourish.
Gloves - Porcelain pink soft, brushed cloth.

The Footwear and The Books are concepts with potential, still being imagined. 

This imagined foot attire is - in concept - like boxer's fist-bindings, but the fit is comfortable and secure... "mummy boots" is a name that comes to mind.  Mummy Boots are soft and suede-like with visible wrappings, zip-on or slip-on:  a dancer's best friend.  Dance in them for hours, then get back to your books.

Why don't you create your own date?  Write some books or fill them with sketches or make fake books from trompe l'oeil-ed packages or papier mache.

Stay tuned for DIY prom-formal fashion ideas in an upcoming Art Fashion Creation post. 

(And here they are - all 25!  Ideas for creating your own look from head to toe... you don't even have to sew.)

And now... a poem:

PROM... it

rhymes with

VOM... IT.

But not with a stack of books for a prom date.

Think Like a Man - Part 1 - Lane Motor Museum.

When my husband excitedly revealed we would be visiting Lane Motor Museum in Nashville, Tennessee - my genuine (internal) reaction was, "I'll have to make the best of it."  What a delightful surprise when the museum proved me wrong:  Instead of being bored to tears, I was greatly disappointed when it was time to leave!

At the end of this post, you'll find the museum link - with history of the collection and photographs of a large portion of Lane's holdings. To whet your car-museum appetite, here are a few of my own photographs from inside the museum.

Whereas my lovey was most enthusiastic among the motorcycle exhibits, my Lane favorites were the microcars - but you will see instructions for a wind-powered vehicle... absolutely fascinating - like a Wright Brothers/da Vinci-mobile.

Lane Motor Museum microcars.  Photo Toile La La.

Lane Motor Museum microcars.  Photo Toile La La.

Lane Motor Museum microcar.  Photo Toile La La.

Lane Motor Museum microcar.  Photo Toile La La.

Lane Motor Museum microcars.  Photo Toile La La.

Lane Motor Museum vehicle - windpower! 1932 Helicron.  Photo Toile La La.

I would love to have a test-ride in this wind-power-mobile, but do question the clarity of visibility with a propeller whirring at the car's snout.

Want to try building your own propeller-car?  Near the car pictured above - and a 1919 Leyat Helico - was this 1925 Popular Mechanics Press "Building a Wind Wagon" magazine excerpt:

Lane Motor Museum Wind Wagon display.  Photo Toile La La.

An aerodynamic 1936 Harris Steam Car.

Puttering around in my wee microcar, I would not want to tangle with this behemoth-of-an-automobile: the 1936 Harris Steam Car.  At the large end, you will see the headlights of the Harris.  It looks to me as if it were designed by the Italian Futurists of the past - and it does not look aerodynamic - with that honking-big prow.  Ouch!

 Here's a Lane Motor Museum link, so you can visit online.

Diana Vreeland Companion Post.

Her peers have compared her to "a toucan", "a bird of paradise", "an aztec crow", and called her "super-fresh".  Diana Vreeland said of herself - "I've always had a strong kabuki streak".

I yearned to see Diana Vreeland: The Eye Has to Travel - and was willing to travel to see it.  Alas, what a travesty... there wasn't a movie theater within driving distance showing the movie - too bad, the world could use a lot more Diana Vreeland thinking.  So until the movie arrived in the mail, the next best thing was to read D.V.: Diana Vreeland.  And I did - ravenously, which fired my desire to see the movie - so I read the book a second time.  The book inspired numerous little studies, because Vreeland references such a wide variety of... everything you can imagine.

But let's just examine a few:

her passion for the beauty of armor - 

Metropolitan Museum of Art helmet.

Metropolitan Museum of Art helmet... notice the mermaid.

See Josephine Baker and her pet cheetah Chiquita.

Mistinguett - 

the particular shade of red found in the caps of children in Renaissance paintings -

John Singer Sargent's The Mosquito Net - 

D.V. says, "the expression on the woman's face is the most delectable thing..."

"mad" King Ludwig and Swan Country in Bavaria, Germany -

D.V. tells us he dined with the busts of royalty... and floated in a golden seashell boat.

 Bakst - who designed many costumes for Les Ballets Russes - 

The beauty of Maurice Chevalier - 

nineteenth century Hungarian military uniforms - 

 Grace, charm, and manners of the Geisha - 

Kabuki theatre -

Memorial for Danzo Ichikawa IV by Shibakuni Saikotei and Hokushu Shunkosai depicting 1824 Heike Nyogo-ga-shima at Osaka Sumi-za.

John Singer Sargent's Lord Ribblesdale - 

Ida Rubinstein - When Diana Vreeland was a child, she saw Ida... Ida with her Medusa head of curls tamed by black tulle veiling her kohl-rimmed eyes... Ida with her hands hidden in an enormous, black fox muff.

 the demimondaines of Paris - 

La Contessa Castiglione.

And We Cannot Forget All those colors in D.V.'s head - 

Toile La La searches for Diana Vreeland's colors mentioned in D.V.: Diana Vreeland.

Vreeland speaks of dull ochre, cobalt blue, greige, Renaissance child's cap red, Bahia sky blue, Persian pink.  There's jade green, Bakst orange, taxicab yellow, Japanese purple, cafe au lait, violent violet.  Scotland-rose pink, beloved brown, snuff, Molyneux gray, and Incan pink.

She loved the colors in Leningrad... of the onion domes in medieval Russia - Moscow.

Remember the green of England is "a little deeper" than that of France.  

Vreeland was a fan of nineteenth century Regency colors - buff, sand, fawn, snuff.

D.V. tells us the Eskimo does not think of one shade of white, but seventeen!  She tells us color "depends on tonality" and upon light.  Diana was mesmerized by the pink to blue shifting colors of Mont Blanc and felt the constantly transforming Mont Blanc reflected - in a sense - her own temperament - and really, everyone's.

She found Balenciaga's colors at their best in the light of Basque country.  She noticed the sky of Bahia was the same color as that of Hong Kong.  She tells us the Japanese imagine a different purple - one that is currant red with a smidge of violet.  Vreeland loved color - and painted all the doors in one house different colors.

Diana's presence is almost tangible in her words, delivered with the rhythm of an upbeat, worldly, confidante - who just happens to be part of the three-steps-ahead In-crowd.  Dancing, rhythm and movement - she says, allowed her to Dream.

She says she was told she was ugly... by her mother - of all people!  Not So!  Diana is Magnificent.  She patterned herself after the charming kabuki actors, particularly Tamasaburo Bando - a man who knew how to be a very feminine woman.  She took to heart 'the first rule that a Geisha is taught is to be charming to other women'.

Diana believed in glorious artifice, and that one's faults should be turned into assets... "a strong face comes from the inner thinking" when it comes down to the nitty-gritty.  "Don't be boring, be inventive" - she encourages us all.

Diana thought vulgarity had potential... it could be genius - "Vulgarity has vitality!"  She wasn't afraid to be a wee-bit naughty - visiting the off-limits museum in Pompeii, where she was inspired by a thong-sandal.  Or visiting the Tunisian red-light district, which sounds like something from a movie... Klimt perhaps.

Her compliments can be interesting... Vreeland praises Clark Gable's shetland pony eyelashes, but then - too bad, his head was "too big".

As she chats, there in D.V., we learn about her idea to publish a backwards Vogue, hear her praise chutney... and consomme too, and contemplate seeing sixty-five thousand brown eggs.  A larder would be a fine place to dwell:  Diana has a way of setting one's brain-cogs spinning.  So many things... she finds fascinating:  clothing of the '30s, bias-cut, Queen Mary's up-up-up posture, zebras, white peacocks, Elsie Mendl's topiary animals, snoods, jousting, blue jeans, freckles, purifying rain, purifying music, the tango, De Gaulle, science - "the only thing that brings us forward", bushy-haired men in hats, red camellias, rouge.

She tells us about her friend - Christian "Bebe" Berard - their walks to see the wall of animals at a rundown chateau... we can see the animals too, she says, in Jean Cocteau's movie La Belle et La Bete.  Vreeland says Berard's eyes were the clearest in the world.  Eyes that gazed to the heavens.

Clack-clack-clack, Vreeland remembers the sound of post-war Parisian wooden-soled shoes.  She speaks of times past, but also imagines surfing - and in the movie, we learn she has a penchant for skateboards too.

One thinks perhaps she may have presented armadillo-armor outside, but inside - she cared.  Through description alone, we know it was very sad to know the demise of Margaret Case... with her buttoned-up raincoat, handkerchief, and slacks. "Neat as a pin."

She wasn't skimpy with perfume:  "Do you notice any scent on me now?... if you have to sniff like a hound, it's not enough!"

I don't think I've read any autobiography with such interesting and ryhthmic banter... her friend's names, the place names, the way she presents this life of hers is fascinating to hear:

Sidi bou said, sadi-bey, legs diamond, baby face nelson, pretty boy floyd, lulu, fruity, chips channon, leo, mona, villa malcontenta, dodero, morvyth, buzo, dolly, penati, frisco, babs... Andy Warhol's friend Ming Vase. My...dear...sir...said slowly. "Listen! Can a duck swim?"... that's her way of saying - yes. You just have to read about it all yourself - including her cure for the hiccups called "Worshiping the Moon".

One is mesmerized by the descriptions:  An Aubrey Beardsley white palace with white peacocks - on the Mediterranean, with orange and lemon trees and oleander, with birds flitting in and out of stone lace columns, and gardenias floating in a rivulet in the hall, and outside - the moon reflecting in the sea.

Or... the polar bear is white, the ice is blue, and the sky is midnight blue.  Sometimes her conversation is fairytale dreamy.  When you see the movie, watch her eyes... dreamy and imagining, thinking, thinking, contemplating.

After reading D.V.'s book, I too - want a bathtub-desk covered in papers - like that of the Duke of Windsor.

Here are a few of Diana's beauty and health secrets:

• The French language - a very facially-physical language - is naturally face-lifting.
• Healthwise - "Never lose sight of your gallbladder!"
• The secret of the beauty of the great cocottes and demimondaines is "...they took in the morning air."  They were outside by eight-thirty in the morning and in the bed early.
• A love of music is a great purifier.
• Stretching, a good massage, alternate-nostril breathing, and tea are recommendations.
• Establish goals:  People become "stooped... if there is nothing toward which they are walking".

Then, see the movie -  Diana Vreeland: The Eye Has to Travel.  You hear the fantastic, dramatic, unique voice.  You see her.  You see her accomplishments, her visions realized.  The soundtrack is perfect.  And if you watch the dvd, it is wonderful to know there are bonus interviews with people closest to Vreeland.  Watching her friends - reveals other facets of Vreeland... they remember her voice, her mannerisms, her quirks, her individuality... a true pleasure.

She had the moon and sixpence, the world was her oyster, she was hunky-dory, a bit of all right, unafraid of the risque or the outre - Diana Vreeland... Harper's Bazaar, Vogue, The Costume Institute of The Metropolitan Museum of Art.

If you enjoyed this post, you might also like my Why Don't You Breathe Like Diana Vreeland Post which explains how to practice alternate-nostril breathing... Vreeland's health secret mentioned on pages 90 and 91 of her autobiography D.V.



 

Savion Glover: Sound Your Shoes.

The crowd has gone and I'm still clapping for Savion Glover's SoLe Sanctuary.  Rhythm-rhythm-rhythm is smack-dab center spotlight in Glover's show - but, there is the conscious balance of stillness too.  No Busby Berkeley pretty girls, no glitz and dazzle - or musical shenanigans to pad the performance... because here - with Savion Glover - are the feet and the legs and the heartbeat, ears and memory of a tap-dancing hoofer who knows his art - the art of pure rhythm pouring forth from his soul to his soles.

Savion Glover SoLe Sanctuary program flyer - with addition of blue.

Reading the program flyer, prior to the show - there was promise the performance would be good - for the text itself was full of rhythm and thought:  "Entering the Monastery of His Out'ness, Gee Oh Dee, Tranes Tribute, Holy Strings, The High Priest of Gone, Improvography, Directed and Choreographed by Spirits Known, Meditation on the Art of Tap" - and listen to these rhythmic names... "Little Nuk Nuk, Cat Daddy".  And the performance overview:  "Savion Glover's Reverence for the Art of Tap is Put to the Stage Literally in the Form of a Living Altar... ."

If you are a fan of tap, rhythm, percussion, drum, bass - You just have to see SoLe Sanctuary for yourself.  The miraculous, glorious racket Glover - and hoofer Marshall Davis Jr. - make with their feet, I can only aspire to create with my typewriter.

As a Bravo-Encore-Shout-Out, here is my ode to SoLe Sanctuary:

Savion Glover, Sound Your Shoes

Shiva Nataraj of Clackety-Clack

Train on Track

Percussive Locomotion

Mediatation of a Hoofer's Soul

Circle and Slide

on Life's Rhythm-Ride

Tic Toc

Clip Clop

Drum Staccato

Pizzicato

Whisper-Crash and Clatter

pitter-patter-Morse Code 

Ode

to the Universe Pulse

Om

All Sounds 

Yin-and-Yang-of-Still-and-Quick

Quick and Still, Yang and Yin

Song Stepper

Hands Together

Franz Marc's Audible, Living Color.

Franz Marc's 1914 Animals in a Landscape, which you can see here , reflects the artist's reverence for and strong connections to color.  Marc - perhaps a synaesthete - saw a world in which color contained vital emotions - and even sound.

Depicting cattle yoked to an environment of "prismatic forms" - Animals in a Landscape, recently displayed as part of Nashville's Frist Center for the Visual Arts Detroit Institute of Arts German Expressionism exhibit, is said to "symbolize the integration of all living things" within the cosmos.  Marc and other members of The Blue Rider - Der Blaue Reiter - believed colors to be imbued with spiritual values capable of battling the "corruption and materialism" of their time. Text in quotes - Frist Center for the Visual Arts audio tour commentary.

Do your color perceptions coincide with those of Franz Marc?  Here are a few of his color theories:  BLUE is male, penetrating, and spiritual - YELLOW is female, joyful, and spiritual - RED feels heavy and fierce and must be kept in check through a balance of the male and female.

Do you feel the energy or emotions of color?

Flachen-Schmuck, Rhythm, and Optical Art in Clothing.

Synchronicity, convergence - it happened after I'd been researching works of Wiener Werkstatte artists - reading about Klimt and Floge, while free-falling into Sonia Delaunay wholeheartedly:  a page 103 photo in February 2013 Harper's Bazaar literally sprang from the page, like an accordion-fold... geometric, angular, and going-somewhere.

Harper's Bazaar, page 103, "The Style: Bold Prints, Pattern Up". February 2013.

You understand what I'm talking about here - don't you? - it's that tunic and pant combo, with the jump-off-the-page zig-zag-chevron-diamond-stripe flachen-schmuck, (flachen-schmuck is German for surface decoration... this I learned while reading about artists of the Wiener Werkstatte - who were experts in flachen-schmuck).  I love the term flachen-schmuck, by the way - and have been using it whenever possible to describe anything that zing-zing pinballs my eyeballs.

Flachen-schmuck has become a flexible part of my vocabulary though, because as you well know surface decoration can be good or bad - an example occurring recently as I thought "too much flachen-schmuck" recently when I stood before a 40-foot statue - gilded and painted like Priscilla Queen of the Desert. (Not me, but the statue.)

Here's another beautifully mesmerizing example of flachen-schmuck.  It's a graphic look over which I waxed enthusiastic in this March 2012 post, when the same zing-zing pinballing of my eyeballs occurred.  At that time I was unaware of the term flachen-schmuck, but the graphic-optic patterns of the coat and curtain in Vogue's Francoise Gilot feature were eye-engaging in precisely the same way.

Francoise Gilot - Vogue, March 2012 - Tina Barney photograph.  Oscar de la Renta coat.  Gorgeous!

Since reading about Sonia Delaunay and her idea of simultaneity - which recognizes the behavior and interaction of color groups and the perceived movement that colors can create - I've been brainstorming such theories frequently.  

Look at the curtain there behind Gilot.  

Scroll up and look at the zig-zag-chevron-diamond-stripe tunic and pant ensemble.  

What's causing that rhythm?  

Maybe the colors, but as I see it - perhaps much of that graphic-optic art rhythm is a result of black and white contrasting pattern - with color introduced to the mix.  The red and orange/yellow do vibrate because they're such similar colors... one feels the heat of red and orange... a flame-like flicker.

Then, of course think about the works of Klimt - all that surface decoration.  Not really like Delaunay at all, because with Delaunay - there was more emphasis on surface interruption... interrupting the perceived planes and giving a sense of multi-dimensional depth.  Klimt's rhythmic surfaces seem - to me - more two-dimensional... a gently undulating, albeit psychedelic, plain/field.

Summing up all this flachen-schmuck, it appears there's a Wiener Werkstatte, Delaunay, Klimt, (and perhaps Futurist), surface-decoration trend already pinball-rolling.  

By the way, I would attribute the designer of the great tunic/pant combo - and have tried diligently to discover the designer - but still no answer.  If you know, please comment.  I think it's a fantastic look!  Not subtle, not discreet, not for the timid - but it absolutely emits energy.