Bande à part

We talk about the mesmerising Jean Dubuffet exhibition at Barbican Art Gallery in London and the wonderful works of mediumistic artist Madge Gill. See links below. ‘Chintz: Cotton in Bloom’, Fashion and Textile Museum, London (18 May – 12 September 2021): https://www.ftmlondon.org/ftm-exhibitions/chintz-cotton-in-bloom/ ‘Jean Dubuffet: Brutal Beauty’, Barbican Art Gallery, London (17 May 2021 – 22 August 2021): https://www.barbican.org.uk/whats-on/2021/event/jean-dubuffet-brutal-beauty Fondation Jean Dubuffet: https://www.dubuffetfondation.com/ Audiovisual biography of Dubuffet: https://www.dubuffetfondation.com/savie_videolistplayer.php Collection de L’Art Brut, Lausanne: https://www.artbrut.ch/en_GB/exhibition/dubuffet-art-brut Madge Gill: http://madgegill.com/ and https://worksby-madgegill.co/ Madge Gill, Sans Titre (not dated): https://www.artbrut.ch/en_GB/author/gill-madge Dress by Madge Gill at MAAS, Sidney (1940s): https://collection.maas.museum/object/167418 Madge Gill, Newham Heritage Month (May 2021): https://www.newhamheritagemonth.org/contributors/madge-gill/

We talk about Zanele Muholi’s incredible exhibition at Tate Modern in London. See links below. Zanele Muholi, Tate Modern, London (5 November 2020 – 31 May 2021): https://www.tate.org.uk/whats-on/tate-modern/exhibition/zanele-muholi Zanele Muholi: In Conversation with Lady Phyll | Artist's Talk | Tate Exchange (18 November 2020): https://youtu.be/4gzzNRKh2vs Zanele Muholi, ‘Katlego Mashiloane and Nosipho Lavuta, Ext. 2, Lakeside, Johannesburg’ (2007): https://g.co/arts/VhjExsG7BMXQrLsJA Zanele Muholi, ‘Vuyelwa Vuvu Makubetse Daveyton Johannesburg’ (2013): https://www.wellesley.edu/davismuseum/explore-the-collections/recent-acquisitions/vuyelwa-vuvu-makubetse-daveyton-johannesburg Maurice Berger, ‘Zanele Muholi: Paying Homage to the History of Black Women’, New York Times (3 December 2018): https://www.nytimes.com/2018/12/03/lens/zanele-muholi-somnyama-ngonyama-south-africa.html

We discuss the publication of Archivist Addendum - unboxed live on the podcast - and the first title in the new book series Fashion: Visual & Material Interconnections: Alison Toplis’s The Hidden History of the Smock Frock. See links below. Archivist Addendum: Fashion Interpretations: https://tenderbooks.co.uk/products/archivist-addendum Fashion Interpretations: https://sites.courtauld.ac.uk/fashioninterpretations/ Blaak: https://www.showstudio.com/contributors/blaak The Courtauld, ‘Fashion: Visual & Material Interconnections Book Series Launch’ (21 May 2021): https://youtu.be/AANXmdpT7aE Alison Toplis, ‘The Hidden History of the Smock Frock’, Bloomsbury (2021): https://www.bloomsbury.com/uk/the-hidden-history-of-the-smock-frock-9781350126114/ Alison Toplis’ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/smockfrock98/ Smocks at The Museum of English Rural Life, Reading: https://tinyurl.com/phnumvb6 Luce Moyse Ferreira, ‘Danger in the Path of Chic: Violence in Fashion between the Wars’, Bloomsbury (2021): https://www.bloomsbury.com/uk/danger-in-the-path-of-chic-9781350126299/ Alexis Romano: Prêt-à-Porter, Paris and Women: A Cultural Study of French Readymade Fashion, 1945-1968, Bloomsbury (2022): https://www.bloomsbury.com/uk/pret-a-porter-paris-and-women-9781350126190/

We talk about the work involved in preparing dress and textile objects for a museum collection. See links below. Dress and textiles at the Museum of London: https://www.museumoflondon.org.uk/collections/about-our-collections/what-we-collect/dress-and-textiles London’s Fashion Alphabet, Museum of London: https://www.museumoflondon.org.uk/museum-london/londons-fashion-alphabet Kim Philpotts’ 1980s/90s clothes: https://tinyurl.com/79t5zpzn Halima Khanom, ‘What Muslims Wear’, Museum of London (18 March 2016): https://www.museumoflondon.org.uk/discover/what-muslims-wear Museums and Galleries Commission, ‘An illustrated guide to the care of costume and textile collections’ (2000): https://collectionstrust.org.uk/resource/an-illustrated-guide-to-the-care-of-costume-and-textile-collections/ Resources from DATS (Dress & Textile Specialist network) for identifying and cataloguing dress and textiles: https://www.dressandtextilespecialists.org.uk/dats-toolkits/ and https://www.dressandtextilespecialists.org.uk/links/

We discuss the new Netflix series on Halston - just how accurate is it? And how will they turn fashion design into entertainment? See links below. Daniel Minahan (director), Jeriana San Juan (costume designer), Halston (2021): https://www.imdb.com/title/tt9569546/ Leigh Nordstrom, ‘Cutting the “Halston” Cloth’, WWD (14 May 2021): https://wwd.com/eye/lifestyle/halston-netflix-costumes-ewan-mcgregor-jeriana-san-juan-1234822920/ Netflix Staff, ‘The Fashion Behind Halston’ (13 May 2021): https://about.netflix.com/en/news/the-fashion-behind-halston Maureen Dowd, ‘Ewan McGregor: Dahling, He’s Halston!’, The New York Times (7 May 2021): https://www.nytimes.com/2021/05/07/style/ewan-mcgregor-halston-netflix.html Molly O’Donnell, ‘Jessie Franklin Turner: American Fashion Designer (1881-1956)’, Maine Historical Society (3 December 2019): https://mainehistory.wordpress.com/2019/12/03/jessie-franklin-turner-american-fashion-designer/ Exhibition: ‘Halston and Warhol: Silver and Suede’, The Andy Warhol Museum, Pittsburgh (18 May – 24 August 2014): https://www.warhol.org/exhibition/halston-and-warhol-silver-and-suede/ and ... BBC World Service, People Fixing The World, The detection dogs tracking poachers and Covid-19 (27 April 2021): https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/p09fsrjh Walter Benjamin, ‘True Dog Stories’, Excerpt from Radio Benjamin (3 December 2014, first broadcast some time between 1927 and 1933): https://hazlitt.net/longreads/true-dog-stories

We discuss the problematics of Mahogany - the 1975 Diana Ross star vehicle that combines fashion, politics and melodrama. See links below. Berry Gordon (director), Diana Ross (costume design), Susan Gertsman (wardrobe coordinator: Ms Ross), Jay Hurley (costumer), Annalisa Nasalli-Rocca (wardrobe supervisor), Mahogany (1975): https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0073335/ Richard Dyer, ‘Diana Ross’, Marxism Today (June 1982): http://banmarchive.org.uk/collections/mt/pdf/82_06_36a.pdf Success: Richard Dyer on Diana Ross [and Beyond] (1982/2016): https://vimeo.com/150268022 Oybò Untuned Socks: https://www.oybo.it/

We remember Alber Elbaz and his wonderful design sensibility and talk about the amazing jewels on view at Bonhams this week. See links below. Present & Correct: https://www.presentandcorrect.com/ AZ Factory Show Fashion by Alber Elbaz (26 January 2021): https://youtu.be/wssdl8xlZSk AZ Factory: https://www.azfactory.com/ Geoffrey Beene: A Duet of Fashion + Movement, Phoenix Art Museum (2021): http://www.arizonacostumeinstitute.org/geoffrey-beene-virtual-unveiling-fundraiser Loïc Prigent (director), The Day Before: Lanvin (2011): https://distribution.arte.tv/fiche/LANVIN__-_LE_JOUR_D_AVANT and https://youtu.be/FcYDtlQNtWc Bonhams Jewels: https://www.instagram.com/bonhamsjewels/ John Brogden at the V&A: https://www.vam.ac.uk/articles/jewellery-designs#slideshow=93099346&slide=0 Fashion and Fancy Dress (The Messel Family Dress Collection at Brighton Museum): https://brightonmuseums.org.uk/discover/2015/02/26/fashion-and-fancy-dress-2/

We marvel at the amazing hairstyles, hats, handbags, and clothes (designed by Marcel Rochas) in Jacques Becker’s 1945 film Falbalas, set in a Paris couture house. See links below. Jacques Becker (director), Marcel Rochas (gowns), Falbalas (1945): https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0035853/ Marcel Rochas: https://www.instagram.com/rochasofficial/ and https://rochas.com/en/in-the-eyes-of-marcel/ Violette Leduc, ‘Cette oeuvre d’art fugitive: Une Vitrine’, Pour Elle (1 January 1942): https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k4226919w/f9.item (about Annie Beaumel) Alexander Fury, ‘The Fascinating Woman behind Hermès’ Window Displays’, AnOther (9 November 2017): https://www.anothermag.com/fashion-beauty/10351/the-fascinating-woman-behind-hermes-window-displays (about Annie Beaumel’s ‘pupil’ Leïla Menchari) Recueil. “Falbalas” film de Jacques Becker (1945): https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/btv1b10516145p Marie Claire (15 March 1944): https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k4701341r/f1.image (cover with hat by Gabrielle) Josée de Luca (director), Alex et Marie (1993) – short film about the hairstylist Alex Archambault who also was behind Simone Signoret’s hairstyle in Jacques Beckers’ ‘Casque d’or’ (1952) Paul Thomas Anderson (director), Mark Bridges (costume design), Phantom Thread (2017): https://www.imdb.com/title/tt5776858/

We talk about two films featuring the mesmerising Anna May Wong: Piccadilly (1929) and Daughter of Shanghai (1937). See links below. Ewald André Dupont (director), Piccadilly (1929): https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0020269/ Robert Florey (director), Daughter of Shanghai (1937): https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0028770/ Costume worn by Anna Mae Wong in Daughter of Shanghai: https://www.christies.com/en/lot/lot-5634636 Brian Taves, Daughter of Shanghai, Library of Congress (undated): https://www.loc.gov/static/programs/national-film-preservation-board/documents/daughter_shanghai.pdf Jean-François Staszak, ‘Performing race and gender: the exoticization of Josephine Baker and Anna May Wong, Gender, Place & Culture, Volume 22, No. 5 (2015): http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/0966369X.2014.885885 Thuy Linh Nguyen Tu, ‘Forgetting Anna May Wong’, Wasafiri, Volume 19, Issue 43 (2004): https://doi.org/10.1080/02690050408589931

We all need some light relief, so join us (again) to play ‘If I Was a Painting’. See links below. Jacques-Louis David, Madame Récamier, née Julie (known as Juliette) Bernard (1777-1849), known as Portrait of Juliette Récamier, Musée du Louvre, Paris (1800): https://www.louvre.fr/en/oeuvre-notices/madame-recamier François Gérard, Portrait de Juliette Récamier, Musée Carnavalet, Paris (c. 1805): http://www.carnavalet.paris.fr/fr/collections/portrait-de-juliette-recamier-1777-1849 Jan van Eyck, The Arnolfini Portrait, National Gallery, London (about 1434): https://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/paintings/jan-van-eyck-the-arnolfini-portrait Hans Memling, The Donne Tryptich, National Gallery, London (about 1478): https://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/paintings/hans-memling-the-donne-triptych Oorijzers – ‘Ear-irons’ – Part 1, Atelier Nostalgia (27 September 2016): https://ateliernostalgia.wordpress.com/2016/09/27/oorijzers-ear-irons-part-1/ John Singer Sargent, Mr. and Mrs. I. N. Phelps Stokes, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York (1897): https://www.metmuseum.org/toah/works-of-art/38.104/ Wash Westmoreland (director), Andrea Flesch (costume designer), Colette (2018): https://www.imdb.com/title/tt5437928/ James Jacques Tissot, Frederick Burnaby, National Portrait Gallery, London (1870): https://www.npg.org.uk/collections/search/portrait/mw00932/Frederick-Burnaby François-Hubert Drouais, Madame de Pompadour at her Tambour Frame, National Portrait Gallery, London (1763-4): https://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/paintings/francois-hubert-drouais-madame-de-pompadour-at-her-tambour-frame Otto Dix, Bildnis der Journalistin Sylvia von Harden, Centre Pompidou (1926): https://www.centrepompidou.fr/cpv/resource/cjyXKB7/rzEpd6 August Sander, Sekretärin beim Westdeutscher Rundfunk in Köln (1931): https://art.rmngp.fr/fr/library/artworks/august-sander_sekretarin-beim-westdeutscher-rundfunk-in-koln_epreuve-gelatino-argentique_1931