Monica D. Murgia

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Find of the Week: B. Altman

June 23, 2015 / 1 Comment

A great design or work of art has an element of timelessness.  It may be difficult to tell if it was made last week or 50 years ago.  I recently purchased this handbag because it possessed a classically beautiful silhouette.  It was hidden among some average purses, but still stood out.  The black leather was smooth yet sturdy, the hardware was elegantly understated, and the size was perfect for everyday use.  It gave the impression of a chic New Yorker, but I suspected it had a bit of a past.  Peering inside, it was fully lined in pigskin and had a label that read: Made in England exclusively for B. Altman & Co New York.  These details provided insight to when the handbag was actually made.  B. Altman was a New York department store started in 1865.

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Founded by Benjamin Altman, the luxury department store started as a family owned dry goods store on the Lower East Side of Manhattan.  The Industrial Revolution introduced new technologies, including railways and sewing machines.  These impacted the fashion industry by reduced the cost of shipping and created ready-to-wear clothing and accessories, which were more affordable and accessible.  B. Altman did so well that the store expanded to a larger location in 1877, and then again to 365 Fifth Avenue in 1920.  The department store was known for its: “fine, conservative selection of top-quality and top-label merchandise, for its pleasant ambiance and for exceptional customer service” (New York Times).  It opened 6 other branches on the East Coast, in mall locations in Cincinnati, Philadelphia, Short Hills, Paramus, White Plains, and Manhasset.  B. Altman offered ready-to-wear designer clothing, or commission custom-made designs.  The store’s also offered private label merchandise, like the handbag I found.

 

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B. Altman was never classified as a trendsetting in terms of its merchandise.  It stocked classic, well-made items.  The store had a successful 124 year run, but filed for bankruptcy in the 1989.  As I considered the history of B. Altman, I pondered the fate of contemporary department stores today.  It’s difficult to ignore the changing landscape of retail.  I grew up in the heyday of the American mall; a time when brick and mortar businesses flourished.  The great power of these physical locations was their siren call: it was a location where, regardless of age, you could socialize safely, see new fashions or products, and get a few errands in.  The lure of consumerism was so subtle and beautifully infused in these spaces.  Grab a cup of coffee with a friend, walk around, and buy a new shirt.  While the intention may not have been to make a new purchase, the progression was natural.  It’s difficult to resist giving in when the item is in your hand, or fits so well in the dressing room.

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Logo and image courtesy of The Department Store Museum.

And with the strong economy of prior to 2008, discretionary incomes allowed most consumers the routine splurge of a new piece of clothing or gadget.  Enter the financial crisis.  We’ve all felt the effects, although some more than others.  Every person I talk to still feels shell-shocked.  Economists intellectualize this as “another bubble”-  that tempting pie-in-the-sky idea of going to college so you can gain skills for a meaningful career, or buying a house for your family to provide stability.  When the bubble burst, the economy toppled.  Millions lost their homes due to sub-prime mortgages. Entire industries were moved off-shore to cut costs.  Job opportunities shrunk.  Students entering the workforce couldn’t get jobs, nor could their educational loans be discharged in bankruptcy.  The prices of necessities inflated while wages shriveled.  Businesses adapted to the virtual arena to stay afloat.  The paradigm shifted.  Some retailers have managed to stay afloat.  Others, like The Gap, have uncertain fates.  This classic American retailer announced that it would be closing a quarter of its North American brick and mortar locations.  Will all physical stores eventually close their doors, like B. Altman?  Every time I make a purchase, I realize I’m navigating a new space.   I have to make my dollars go farther than before, and the way in which I spend my money is like casting a vote.  My tendency is to support brick and mortar stores.  There is something immensely enjoyable about trying on clothing and accessories in person.  Mostly because it offers the surprise of finding something you didn’t know you were looking for, like this handbag.

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Posted in: american fashion, fashion, Fashion and Identity, fashion history, find of the week, history, Vintage Tagged: accessories, B Altman & Co, B. Altman, department stores, economic history, economics, economy, fashion, fashion design, fashion history, Find of the week, history, leather handbag

Ineffable: Liberty, Equality, & Compassion

April 28, 2015 / 1 Comment
I avoid watching TV, especially the news.  The focus of most major channels is on entertainment.  When the news actually does get discussed,  the story is sensationalized or intentionally displayed in a negative light.  Most current events filter into my awareness via email, social media, or during my elevator ride in my office building.  Yesterday was a day like any other.  I walked into the elevator, and stared at the electronic display on my accent to the office.  I saw a brief snippet about riots in Baltimore.  Nothing more.  I considered how strange this was.  There was no context to what was happening.  My first thought was: “Rioting is an extreme.  It doesn’t happen for fun.  It’s happening because people are frustrated.  Riots are a last attempt to be heard and understood.”
Peaceful Protestors in Baltimore.  Image courtesy of http://mic.com/articles/116524/outrage-over-baltimore-riots-completely-misses-the-point

Peaceful Protestors in Baltimore. Image courtesy of http://mic.com/articles/116524/outrage-over-baltimore-riots-completely-misses-the-point

As I exited the elevator, I decided to look into the matter.  It took a while for me to discover what had happened.  The internet was flooded with chaotic stories.  None of them mentioned why the citizens of Baltimore had taken to the street.  The only focus was on the violence.  These accounts quickly started to hurl blame and fear, with no real investigation of the cause.  It took me a while to arrive at root of the issue: the violent manslaughter of Freddie Gray.  This is not the first case of racial profiling and senseless killing.  Yet the details of these stories are somehow always swept under the rug.  The story becomes sensationalized and diluted.  The media presents the message in such a way that people not directly experiencing the matter can’t really understand what is happening.

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Ninth-grader Tremaine Holmes shakes hands with Captain Erik Pecha in front of the Baltimore Police Department Western District station during a protest against the death in police custody of Freddie Gray in Baltimore April 23, 2015. Sait Serkan Gurbuz/Reuters

The many stories I sorted through painted a picture of fear and blame.  None of them seemed to express any truth.  I looked and looked for something that made sense to me.  I decided to pay attention to the photographs surrounding the matter.  I saw people that were frustrated; people that wanted to be heard and appreciated, not be turned into a villain that would be hunted and killed.  I saw parents desperately worried about the safety of their children.  I saw people working to promote peace by shaking hands.  I saw groups congregate bravely and open-heartedly ask for compassion and understanding of their experience.

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Photo by Samuel Corum, Anadou Agency ,Getty Images. Image courtesy of http://www.cnn.com/2015/04/28/us/baltimore-riots/

 

Yes, there may have been hot-headed people rioting out of frustration.  Those people may not have been able to express their emotions in a healthy, constructive way.  Yet there were countless people seeking understanding in a peaceful way.  Let us not ignore that message:  We are all souls in human form.  Each of us wants the liberty that is only available through compassion and equality.  We all want a fair chance to be understood and make our own unique path in this life.  This is a birthright for all human beings regardless of age, gender, race, or religion.

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Photo by Bishop Cromartie. Image courtesy of http://www.cnn.com/2015/04/28/us/baltimore-riots/

Let these images remind us that we are all capable of compassion, understanding, and creating solutions when we ditch our fear and blame. Let us work together, bravely, and create a real solution.

Many thanks to the artists, writers, and photographers that captured and shared these moments of truth.  Your vision and bravery are appreciated.

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Posted in: art, art history, artists, artists i love, Ineffable, Inspiration, made in america, photography, political agenda Tagged: american history, compassion, equality, Freddie Gray, freedom, history, human rights, ineffable, liberty, photography, Protest

Historically Accurate Costuming

February 26, 2015 / Leave a Comment

There is a great video that illustrates the difference between fantasy and historically accurate costuming.  Character development in film and animation is largely controlled by garments.  Illustrators and costumers are faced with a challenge of making the character believable and accurate, while still appealing to modern tastes and fashions.  Reconciling historical and modern tastes can be a challenge.  This is largely due to the fact that ideal beauty changes over the course of time.  (New to my site?  You should view my previous posts, Movies, Beauty, & Ideal Beauty and A Return to the Ideal.)  The video shows Disney characters alongside with what their actual everyday garments would have been.  I think each of these looks is great, although I prefer the historically correct versions better.  Enjoy!

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Posted in: art, fashion, Fashion and Identity, fashion and the body, Fashion as art, fashion history, Teaching Tagged: beauty, costume design, costumes, costuming, fashion, fashion and the body. ideal beauty, fashion history, history

Silly things

April 14, 2012 / 10 Comments

History and art are two subjects that are taken very seriously.   Perhaps too seriously.   If you’ve read any of my posts for WornThrough.com,   you’ll know that my teaching philosophy includes lots of entertainment and humor.   This week, I was lucky to come across lots of funny material that makes art and history fun.   It’s just too good not to share.

A Concise History of Art. Image courtesy of https://www.facebook.com/Shahram.Design

This concise history of art summarizes the change in aesthetic values, while poking fun at the art world.   Be sure to read the captions.   My favorite?   The title under Impressionism: Homicide des Mouches a la Gare de Saint Marie-sur-la-Seine un Dimanche Matin de Printemps.   A title doesn’t get more Impressionist than that!

Seat Assignment: Lavatory Self-Portraits in the Flemish Style by Nina Katchadourian. Image courtesy of http://laughingsquid.com

As a fashion historian, I absolutely LOVE this series of self-portraits by artist Nina Katchadourian.   To pass the time during long flights, the artist goes to the lavatory, adorns herself in tissue paper costume, and creates hilarious self-portrait photos in the style of Flemish Renaissance paintings.   She calls the series Seat Assignment: Lavatory Self-Portraits in the Flemish Style.     Katchadourian said:

While in the lavatory on a domestic flight in March 2010, I spontaneously put a tissue paper toilet cover seat cover over my head and took a picture in the mirror. The image evoked 15th-century Flemish portraiture. I decided to add more images made in this mode and planned to take advantage of a long-haul flight from San Francisco to Auckland, guessing that there were likely to be long periods of time when no one was using the lavatory on the 14-hour flight. I made several forays to the bathroom from my aisle seat, and by the time we landed I had a large group of new photographs entitled Lavatory Self-Portraits in the Flemish Style.

Seat Assignment: Lavatory Self-Portraits in the Flemish Style by Nina Katchadourian. Image courtesy of http://laughingsquid.com

 

Margaret, the Artist's Wife by Jan van Eyck c. 1439.

 

Portrait of a Young Woman by Rogier van der Weyden, c. 1445

 

Seat Assignment: Lavatory Self-Portraits in the Flemish Style by Nina Katchadourian. Image courtesy of http://laughingsquid.com

Self-portrait by Rembrandt, c. 1669

 

Self-portrait by Rembrandt.

 

 

Seat Assignment: Lavatory Self-Portraits in the Flemish Style by Nina Katchadourian. Image courtesy of http://laughingsquid.com

 

Self-portrait by Katharina van Hemessen, c. 1542

 

Seat Assignment: Lavatory Self-Portraits in the Flemish Style by Nina Katchadourian. Image courtesy of http://laughingsquid.com

 

Seat Assignment: Lavatory Self-Portraits in the Flemish Style by Nina Katchadourian. Image courtesy of http://laughingsquid.com

 

Follower of Antoon van Dyck (Antwerp 1599-London 1641) Portrait of a Lady. Image courtesy of http://www.musees-strasbourg.org

 

"Amsterdam has a half-seedy/half-glam, but utterly awesome, underworld. You can get a tattoo and get fondled at the same time. It's the most magical place on earth." Image and caption courtesy of TheFashionSpot.com

And in the spirit of fun, you MUST read TheFashionSpot.com   Writer Nika Mavrody has become my favorite writer of all time.   She not only reports on the latest fashion news, but her editorial copy is witty and brilliant.   Her article, Dutch Vogue’s First Editorial Honors Amsterdam had me laughing so hard tears streamed down my face.   Other articles I’ve enjoyed by Mavrody are the “deliciously humiliating” Flour-Bombing of Kim Kardashian:

"On the other hand, I've never more enjoyed a news story about Kim Kardashian. It turns out flour-bombing, while fundamentally harmless, is deliciously humiliating: I can only imagine the scene backstage post-incident, the star's entourage falling all over themselves trying to wash the clumpy wet flour out of her over-processed hair." Image and caption courtesy of TheFashionSpot.com

 

and Charlotte Free’s philosophy on body hair:

When a reporter asked if her recent shoot for Terry Richardson, which included a close-up photo of Free licking her unshaven armpit, was "a feminist statement," the model responded in the affirmitive. Image and caption courtesy of TheFashionSpot.com

I will never be able to dissociate Charlotte Free from the infamous photo she took for Terry Richardson, which showed her licking her unshaven armpit and smiling lasciviously into the camera. A small portion of my brain is just scar tissue imprinted with the image, and Terry and Charlotte are welcome to take that as some kind of compliment.

In some comments to The Guardian, Free said the picture was a feminist statement, and mentioned that she only shaves her body hair “once in a blue moon for a really big job.”

I wish Katchadourian and Mavrody were my friends!  

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Posted in: Uncategorized Tagged: art history, dutch vogue, fashion, fashion history, history, humor, kim kardashian flour bomb, lavatory self-portraits in the flemish style, Nika Mavrody, Nina Katchadourian, seat assignment, silly things, the fashion spot

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