There are so many things to appreciate in this post. I love her shoes and whole look in that first photo, the trousers and matching booties, that Monastic dress is so beautiful, the mention of Willi Smith again, the striped legging and top combo on the Life cover and the leggings under the dress - that is THE WAY to wear leggings. And Georgia in that dress - god that woman had style. Love the Concorde! Thank you for the inspiration and fashion history details.
Loved reading this. It is transformative to see some of these garments in person. I had always read about Bonnie Cashin and admired her aesthetic and pioneer role in American fashion. Then I saw a few of her clothes in that Met exhibit (women dressing women? Is that what it was called?) and I was blown away. I could not stop thinking about it until I bought one of those leather coats with toggles ♥️.
I remember taking some post war history class in college that focused on the radical changes to how women were treated during that period (lots on this topic out there) that actually included content on Dior vs. Chanel and how he took women back decades after Chanel had liberated them. Women acquired a lot of agency during the way because society needed them to (all the young men were gone) so when the men came back….we got suburbs, nice kitchens and cinched waists.
Yes! I picked up an amazing Cashin wide wale corduroy skirt suit whose jacket has the turnlocks on TRR. McCardell and Elizabeth Hawes had pieces in that Met exhibit, "Women Dressing Women." I liked that show a lot, wrote about it here: https://www.blackbirdspyplane.com/p/the-power-of-just-looking?
The wartime gains were so quickly undone... Luckily the pharmaceutical companies came to the rescue in the '50s to help them forget the progress that had been made.
Thank you for introducing me to McCardell. I’m mad that I didn’t know about her sooner! I am totally enamored with her clothes and ethos, that Georgia O’Keefe dressing is truly stunning to me. Learning about her is what I love about fashion, it’s another lens through which to observe our past and present. Thanks spyplane 💕
Glad it resonated! If you haven’t yet, definitely take time to click through the collection of her stuff on The Met. (I added a link to it at the end of the post)
There are so many things to appreciate in this post. I love her shoes and whole look in that first photo, the trousers and matching booties, that Monastic dress is so beautiful, the mention of Willi Smith again, the striped legging and top combo on the Life cover and the leggings under the dress - that is THE WAY to wear leggings. And Georgia in that dress - god that woman had style. Love the Concorde! Thank you for the inspiration and fashion history details.
Loved reading this. It is transformative to see some of these garments in person. I had always read about Bonnie Cashin and admired her aesthetic and pioneer role in American fashion. Then I saw a few of her clothes in that Met exhibit (women dressing women? Is that what it was called?) and I was blown away. I could not stop thinking about it until I bought one of those leather coats with toggles ♥️.
I remember taking some post war history class in college that focused on the radical changes to how women were treated during that period (lots on this topic out there) that actually included content on Dior vs. Chanel and how he took women back decades after Chanel had liberated them. Women acquired a lot of agency during the way because society needed them to (all the young men were gone) so when the men came back….we got suburbs, nice kitchens and cinched waists.
Yes! I picked up an amazing Cashin wide wale corduroy skirt suit whose jacket has the turnlocks on TRR. McCardell and Elizabeth Hawes had pieces in that Met exhibit, "Women Dressing Women." I liked that show a lot, wrote about it here: https://www.blackbirdspyplane.com/p/the-power-of-just-looking?
The wartime gains were so quickly undone... Luckily the pharmaceutical companies came to the rescue in the '50s to help them forget the progress that had been made.
Thank you for introducing me to McCardell. I’m mad that I didn’t know about her sooner! I am totally enamored with her clothes and ethos, that Georgia O’Keefe dressing is truly stunning to me. Learning about her is what I love about fashion, it’s another lens through which to observe our past and present. Thanks spyplane 💕
Glad it resonated! If you haven’t yet, definitely take time to click through the collection of her stuff on The Met. (I added a link to it at the end of the post)
I would die for the swimsuits in these photos.
If only they made things like that now! You *can* find some 1950s playsuits (not by McCardell, just in a similar style) but they are generally quite small and not as sophisticated, like this https://www.etsy.com/listing/524327685/1950s-vintage-cotton-swimsuit-playsuit?
Oh i am so excited to read this …
only read the first few paragraphs but feel elated that someone is giving voice to the long buried truth about American genius C Mc C !!