Charles James, iconic mid-century fashion designer
On May 5, 2014, celebrities gathered at the Metropolitan Museum of Art's Costume Institute Gala to celebrate the exhibition, Charles James: Beyond Fashion. The dates of the exhibition itself are May 8 - August 10, 2014, in the Metropolitan Museum of Art's Lizzie and Jonathan Tisch Gallery in the Anna Wintour Costume Center as well as some special galleries on the first floor.
Pictured above is a replica of one of the ballgowns, modeled by Elettra Rossellini Wiedemann at a press preview for the exhibit.
The original ballgown is one of the key pieces in the exhibit. The gown, sometimes called the four-leaf clover ballgown, was designed for socialite Austine Hearst by Charles James in the early 1950s. Charles James considered the gown, which is made of cream satin and black velvet and weighs fifteen pounds, to be his best creation. James was especially well known for his ballgown design and construction, which are considered almost sculptural in nature.
Charles James was born in Britain in 1906, but he moved to New York in 1939, and he eventually became known as America's first couturier. The fashion designer was self-taught. He got his start in the fashion world designing millinery, but he was a disorganized perfectionist, who often had trouble maintaining a business operation, even though he was a talented fashion designer, and his business endeavors often met disastrous ends.
His early experience with millinery design, which involves fabric manipulation, may have helped him later in designing dresses.
According to Harold Koda, head of the Met's Costume Center, Charles James "forced material to do things that Dior or Balenciaga would never imagine." Many Paris haute couture designers were admirers of James including both Cristóbal Balenciaga and Christian Dior, who credited James with the inspiration for his famous "New Look."
Charles James is best known for the evening gowns he created during the late 1940s to mid-1950s although many of his other fashion designs, such as his coats and tailored suits. are equally notable. Many of the ballgowns referenced Victorian styles, and he used techniques based on Victorian underpinnings--the corset, crinolines, and the bustle--along with his own draping, seaming, and fabric manipulation methods to design and perfect these magnificent gowns.
Among the other James' creations that are of note is the body conscious "taxi dress," in which James placed a zipper around the dress, According to James, a woman could easily unzip the dress while riding in a taxi. Another invention he's known for is the puffer jacket. He created his original "puffa" jacket in 1938, and it was made of quilted satin and filled with down. In my opinion, today's puffer jacket is one of the ugliest garments out there, but, to give credit where credit is due, James' jacket was widely admired and imitated, and it does have some practical uses.
Charles James' reputation remains that of a couturier. His intricate, hand-sewn designs were draped, rather than made from flat patterns based on sketches, and they took hours and hours to make. His few excursions into ready-to-wear were disasters because of his perfectionism, and he probably wouldn't have survived long in today's rough-and-tumble world of commercial fashion design, which relies on ready-to-wear garments and fashion accessories to do the heavy lifting needed for any fashion designer's business to stay afloat.
Although many designers credit James as an inspiration for their work, Charles James was all but forgotten by most people until the Metropolitan Museum of Art's Anna Wintour Costume Center's exhibition, Charles James: Beyond Fashion revived his memory in the fashion world.
Pictured above is a replica of one of the ballgowns, modeled by Elettra Rossellini Wiedemann at a press preview for the exhibit.
The original ballgown is one of the key pieces in the exhibit. The gown, sometimes called the four-leaf clover ballgown, was designed for socialite Austine Hearst by Charles James in the early 1950s. Charles James considered the gown, which is made of cream satin and black velvet and weighs fifteen pounds, to be his best creation. James was especially well known for his ballgown design and construction, which are considered almost sculptural in nature.
Charles James was born in Britain in 1906, but he moved to New York in 1939, and he eventually became known as America's first couturier. The fashion designer was self-taught. He got his start in the fashion world designing millinery, but he was a disorganized perfectionist, who often had trouble maintaining a business operation, even though he was a talented fashion designer, and his business endeavors often met disastrous ends.
His early experience with millinery design, which involves fabric manipulation, may have helped him later in designing dresses.
According to Harold Koda, head of the Met's Costume Center, Charles James "forced material to do things that Dior or Balenciaga would never imagine." Many Paris haute couture designers were admirers of James including both Cristóbal Balenciaga and Christian Dior, who credited James with the inspiration for his famous "New Look."
Charles James is best known for the evening gowns he created during the late 1940s to mid-1950s although many of his other fashion designs, such as his coats and tailored suits. are equally notable. Many of the ballgowns referenced Victorian styles, and he used techniques based on Victorian underpinnings--the corset, crinolines, and the bustle--along with his own draping, seaming, and fabric manipulation methods to design and perfect these magnificent gowns.
Among the other James' creations that are of note is the body conscious "taxi dress," in which James placed a zipper around the dress, According to James, a woman could easily unzip the dress while riding in a taxi. Another invention he's known for is the puffer jacket. He created his original "puffa" jacket in 1938, and it was made of quilted satin and filled with down. In my opinion, today's puffer jacket is one of the ugliest garments out there, but, to give credit where credit is due, James' jacket was widely admired and imitated, and it does have some practical uses.
Charles James' reputation remains that of a couturier. His intricate, hand-sewn designs were draped, rather than made from flat patterns based on sketches, and they took hours and hours to make. His few excursions into ready-to-wear were disasters because of his perfectionism, and he probably wouldn't have survived long in today's rough-and-tumble world of commercial fashion design, which relies on ready-to-wear garments and fashion accessories to do the heavy lifting needed for any fashion designer's business to stay afloat.
Although many designers credit James as an inspiration for their work, Charles James was all but forgotten by most people until the Metropolitan Museum of Art's Anna Wintour Costume Center's exhibition, Charles James: Beyond Fashion revived his memory in the fashion world.
Source...