#the last hurrah

Fashion Friday:   Sixty Drawings of Haute Couture

The is the final post by Intermedia Arts MFA student Christine Westrich who spent the the entire Spring 2022 semester mining the primary resources of Special Collections and the American Geographical Society Library as inspirations for creating new fashion designs. It has been a rich and engaging experience. Here are Christine’s culminating observations:

Haute couture never fails to impress on Anna Wintour’s red carpet of the Met Gala. Just a few days ago, the Spring 2022 theme of Gilded Glamour posed a great atelier challenge:  to dress in themed opulence or to curb the nines in restraint of today’s pandemic/war/climate calamities? 

A breeze through the runway photos show that Instagram won the day with celebrities donning nothing short of costume ecstasy with Billie Eilish’s feathered décolleté by Gucci and Megan Thee Stallion’s winged caplets by Moschino. Lizzo’s wondrous caftan by Thom Browne brings thoughts to the late André Leon Talley, the lovely protege of Diana Vreeland and the man behind Vogue elegance.

These styles are orchestrated for their line, shape, and color. While ostentatious, they are cleverly choreographed for the camera. The monochromatic pinks of Valentino and unfussed Tom Ford silhouettes give homage to the sculpturist images of Robert Mapplethorpe who often chided his muse Patti Smith to deconstruct her flair so he could capture a timeless polaroid.

Whether the dress statement of Mayor Eric Adams to end gun violence in the wake of the NYC subway shootings, or Hillary Clinton’s ode to Clara Barton and Harriet Tubman, clothing is a means to influence, to power, a means of manipulation as described by John Berger in 1972.

Over this Spring term, I completed sixty fashion drawings under my design moniker “chch”, which arouse just such drama; the dominance and brawn of past civilizations inspired in illustrative gowns for our modern era. From Egyptian gods to Middle Age saints to pre-common-era princes, these designs challenged my thoughts on the exploitation of dress.

Daily, we face the decision of what to wear, considering how we may look walking to Colectivo, sitting on a work stool or looking back to an admirer. These choices reveal our inner playwright and expose us on life’s stage of these non-quarantine days… coquettish, audacious, or perhaps hiding in plain sight.

And should such an extraordinary Met Gala invitation arrive on my doorstep, I would gladly construct one of my sixty costumes to wear and proudly compete in its outsider aesthetic against the pomp of a Milan fashion Maison. Of course, some days it feels best to give up on this visual communication problem of couture, of being under the lights—and in this case—I find my authentic self by joining society via the old-fashioned telephone.

A very special thanks to Senior Lecturer Kathleen Donnelly who provided me with expert costume construction know-how while emphasizing stage awareness and no-nonsense grit, both earned through years of theatre productions.  

Thank you to the UWM Head of Special Collections Max Yela for his impeccable fashion taste and to Special Collections Department Manger Alice Ladrick for her kindred conversation on all things Milwaukee.

Viewmy previous ten posts on historical fashion research in Special Collections.

View more Special Collections’ Fashion posts.

—Christine Westrich, MFA Graduate Student in Intermedia Arts