To celebrate finally FINALLY being able to do something other than wake up, go to work, sit in front of a computer, come home, sit in front of the laptop, go to bed, repeat - I went to Ireland. :-) On Saint Patrick's Day weekend. Because if there is anything I need after this semester, it's a good drink and good music. Ireland, thankfully, has both!
While in Dublin on Monday, I saw that one of the lesser known museums,
the Little Museum of Dublin had a fashion display going on. It was on Irish fashion designers of the 1950's through the 1970's. Although that's later than I'd normally do on this blog, I figured it would be an excellent gateway back into actually blogging - and not writing 20 page papers on malware.
The museum is all about Ireland's transformation in the 20th Century. It goes through Ireland's time as a part of the UK, the Easter Rebellion, and the Troubles with a focus on the earlier 20th century. However, the exhibit "Ireland's Fashion Radicals" goes into the emerging fashion designs from the post War era.
This lovely 1950's suit is the first garment to greet you into the exhibit. I'm sorry I didn't get all the names of the designers - me being me, I was more fascinated by the cuts and the weaves of the garments. This gingham blue outfit has a lovely waistcoat, blazer, and narrow skirt for the era.
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| Back of the same outfit. Notice the center seam |
Really, there were a lot of 1960's outfits in the exhibit but I loved this coat! The orange ties at the sides are pretty simple but the off center opening was VERY popular in the 1960's. I also just love the bright, sunny color.
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| To me, this other coat looks drab in comparison |
See? Ties!!! Okay, you can also see the seam lines which I was attempting to get a good photo off. There is a breast dart/cut along the princess like seams on the sides of the coat to give it a nice shape overall. Still...TIES!!!
All these garments were also 1950's and 1960's. The red skirt is quilted but it's the gray skirt and shirt I fell in love with.
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| Close up of the quilting |
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| 1960 House Dress by Sybil Connelly |
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| The point at which I realized "I might want to remember some of the designer names" |
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| Close up of the embroidery and lace details on the gray skirt. The center medallions are lace and the embroidery weaves back and forth around them. |
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| Close up of the blouse that was paired with the gray skirt. |
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| Close up of the bottom of the embroidery on the gray skirt. Did I mention how much I love this? |
Next was the exhibit case. Inside were examples of tweed, string, and fabric swatches. I guess they kept it locked up because Ireland heard I was coming and I would play with the fibers....
Then there were the ball gowns. The red one I really liked because it was so weird. It took some elements of the 1930's and put them on a late 1940's gown. It laces up the front and has those crazy ruffled sleeves. It was one of the more interesting pieces.
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| Really, this is the front of the gown. I double checked. |
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| Close up of the sleeve detail |
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| Waistline and pleat detail. The skirt is separate as you can see the waistband under the bodice. |
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| Close up of the hem of the red dress from 1948. |
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| The other two dresses. The gray and gold was lovely but pretty typical for 1950's evening fashion. The black and blue had a lovely floral embroidery detail all over the skirt. |
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| Floral embroidery |
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| Back of the black and blue gown |
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| Bodice of the black and blue gown |
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| It's the pleats that really make this dress special and different from most 1950's evening gown designs. |
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| All three evening gowns were designed by Irene Gilbert. |
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| This dress was interesting. It reminds me of the later 1970's "prairie" styles but it's still clearly late 1960's. The skirt looked very harsh and heavy even in person but the bodice seemed lighter even though both were clearly the same material. |
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| Close up of the bodice. |
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| Bodice Back |
The second half of the room was pretty much devoted to the late 1960's/into the 1970's. The leftmost floral dress? I LOVE it. Wait until you see the close ups of that beauty.
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| One of the many exhibit photos on the walls. |
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| Late 1960's outfit. What was interesting about this one is the sleeves. They fall at 3/4 length but are actually open at the elbow down. |
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| Close up of the embroidery on the jacket. |
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| Close up of the sleeve |
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| Behold! The fur of the marabou! :-) Pretty standard late 1960's/early 1970's evening gown. Really, this almost looks like something that would have been worn on the original Star Trek. Still, I really love the elongated sleeves and the flow of the material. Wait until you see the back of this gown. |
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| Cuff detail |
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| This was so completely amazing to behold. Pictures don't do it justice. The fabric appears to be painted and the various cuts of the fabric make you realize this isn't as simple as it looks at first. |
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| Curved cut to a v-front on the upper bust of the gown. |
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| Zipper and back curved cut |
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| Sleeve and slanted cut along the hip towards the middle front and back |
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| Dropped v-cut in the center front |
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| Pretty normal 1970's tweed coat except for the fabulous book of kells inspired patterns |
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| Close up of the patterns |
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| Maxi skirt time! Okay, so I'm a sucker for pink and green together. Really, green and pretty much every other color. Green is not my favorite color but I love it paired with other colors. |
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| The mid-drift top appears to be crocheted. There weren't any visible seams. |
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| The maxi skirt consisted of a patchwork of green and pink cotton (?) with pink and green ribbons, run through lace, covering the seams. |
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| Close up of the back shoulder of the mid-drift top |
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| Back of the maxi skirt |
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| There was no good way to get a good photo of this outfit due to the lighting. The maxi skirt is a lighter purple with faded pink and black flowers. |
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| It's the top that really makes this outfit. The crochet on this was just fabulous. |
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| Close up of the maxi skirt embroidery. |
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| The back of the outfit. Ignore the color - I was trying to get a good detail of the back buttons on the blouse. Thankfully, that came out! |
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| 1980's cocktail dress. |
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| 1970's knitted garments. There is a part of me that loves the pink knit pants and there is a far greater part of me that hopes this is never in style again. |
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| Crop top in purple |
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| Knitted striped tunic with matching knit pants |
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| Sparkly pink knit pants |
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| Okay, I've got admit the basketweave knit is pretty cool but....ugh.... |
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| Back of the striped knit tunic |
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| I admit, I'd probably wear the purple crop top if I thought I could get away with it. I love the pearl button detail! |
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| And back to the fur of the marabou!!!! (Yes, I know it's feathers) The back of the dress is way more interesting than the front. The dipped back with the gathers must have made this seem airy as it moved. |
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| I realized I didn't get a good photo of the back of the red suit at the start of the exhibit. |
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| The seams on the jacket and the skirt match. That alone takes talent. |
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| The nice thing about this late 1950's/early 1960's swing coat is the back detail. It's very similar to some late 16th Century designs. |
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| More on the airy burgundy dress - I wanted to show the piecing. |
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| ...And that even the exhibitors couldn't zip it up... |
I hope everyone enjoyed the photos! I know it's a lot later than I'd normally share and also breaks the no museum rule but this was such an interesting exhibit that I thought everyone might want to see some of the garments. Plus, grad school is over - I'm breaking all the rules!!!!
