Fashion Collectables

Sue from South Wales has emailed me to tell me about her interest in collecting embroidery transfers.  She attached these images.

The first one showing the two cats is by a company called Weldons and dates February 1912.  The second shows 2 transfer booklets and a page from a womans magazine plus a transfer.  These were often given away free with magazines. The third picture shows a vintage transfer of a crinoline lady which are still very popular with collectors  today.  This transfer is dated 1931 and given away with Good Needlework Magazine.

The transfers were used to decorate clothes, pillow cases sheets and to make pictures and as Sue said in her email, "The transfers are all on very fine tissue paper so its amazing that they have survived so long.  I used to pick them up in charity shops but now they are getting very hard to find.' Sue also sent this link to Deighton Needleworks which has more information.

It's yet another one of those fascinating collecing area that certainly seems to be attracting more aand more interest. I had a quick look on eBay and found over 350 items being offered for sale.

Things have been more than a triffle hectic this week as we moved office over the weekend from Canary Wharf to Shaftsbury Avenue in the heart of London's West End. While there were many attractions about working in CW it is exciting to be back in Central London.

The first thing I noticed this morning in my inbox was news of a fashion exhibition with a difference. I've said before how much of a growing interest there is in collecting vintage clothing so an exhibition in Milan will undoubtedly attract many visitors. It will also be very appealing because all of the clothes belonged to the legendary Greta Garbo.

The exhibition is the result of a collaboration between Ferragamo, founded by the famous shoemaker, Salvatore Ferragamo, who made many of Garbo’s shoes, and the star's great-nephew, Craig Reisfeld, son of her only niece, Gray Reisfeld; with loans from museums, private collections and costume institutes.

The exhibition will be in La Triennale, Milan's design museum and runs until Easter (4 April). Besides film clips, photographs and Garbo's screen costumes there is a display called “Everyday Elegance”, in which her “closet” is opened to reveal her personal – and extensive - collection of dresses, camel coats, raincoats, hats, scarves, and gloves; the inexpensive shirts, and the trousers –  these she had made in Hollywood, by Watson, a tailorused by both Garbo and Marlene Dietrich.

The V & A is one of the must see places on any trip to London (I'm always surprised that so many people who live in London have never visited the museum). Well from this coming April there is another reason to put the museum on your list of things to do. The late Grace Kelly, one of the most popular and iconic actresses of the 1950s, will have on display items from her wardrobe. It runs from April 17th - September 26th 2010. The display will present over 50 of Grace Kelly's outfits together with hats, jewellery and the original Hermès Kelly bag. Dresses from her films, including High Society, will be shown as well as the gown she wore to accept her Oscar award in 1955. These will be accompanied by film clips and posters, photographs and her Oscar statuette. The display will also include the lace ensemble worn by Grace Kelly for her civil marriage ceremony to Prince Rainier in 1956 and 35 haute couture gowns from the 1960s and 70s by her favourite couturiers Dior, Balenciaga, Givenchy, and Yves St Laurent. In this portrait from 1955, the actress wear a dress by designer Oleg Cassini.

This 19th century wedding dress and a going-away dress that were worn in 1829 caught my eye in a Bonham's sale., The cream figured silk wedding dress has a high waist, short puffed sleeves, pleated detailing around the open neckline and a padded hem, opening down the centre back with hook and eye fastenings; the going-away dress is of a beige crepe, with a high waistline with chiffon and button detailing to the bodice and hem, with puff ball short sleeves with silk satin contrast.

Hilary Menzies, who inherited the 1829 heirlooms from her mother, said the outfits were first worn by her great-great-great grandmother on her wedding day 190 years ago. “It was worn by Davida Sutherland during her marriage to John Geddes, and the going away dress was worn during her honeymoon. I don’t know all the history, but the wedding gown was then passed down to her daughter Margaret Geddes, who we think also wore the dress. She married Thomas McLauchlin who was head of the Free Church of Scotland. Since then, the dresses have been passed down our family until they reached us.”

Mrs Menzies has decided to sell the family heirlooms because she wanted to make sure they were looked after properly.  “The dresses are so beautiful, but they are very delicate. I think if I was looking after them they’d be eaten by moths within five minutes. The family is sad to see them go but we think this will be for the best and will ensure they are preserved for many years to come.”

They are to be sold at Bonhams at their 28 July sale at Knowle and are expected to fetch between £2 and £3,000.

Kerry Taulor Auctions in Chichester will be holding an auction of antique and vintage fashion on Tuesday 10 March  it sounds like a must if you love fashion. In the basement of the West Sussex W.I. headquarters in Chichester, there was an Aladdin's cave of antique and vintage fashion from Georgian times to the present day. The vintage dress sizes tended to be quite small by modern standards and the ladies desirous of hiring them often found them to be a tad too tight or just too fragile to wear with ease. Whilst the W.I. continues to raise funds from its costume hire department, they are sticking to the more robust items and larger sizes, and the sale proceeds of the auction will be spent on repairs to the leaking roof of the listed building where the rest of the collection is housed.
 
In a similar way the Settlement Players of Letchworth Hertfordshire (a thriving amateur dramatics group) also decided that it was time to part with beautiful vintage dresses that had been donated over the years for them supposedly to wear on stage. They have remained in moth balls for decades and the Players were anxious to create more storage space.
 
There's also dresses from the collection of the late Valerie Mansfield, a renowned costume historian (Lots 1246-1268) includes a wonderful brown leather driving or flying helmet complete with goggles and face protector (Lot 1264). Every decade of the 20th century is as usual well represented with lots of affordable, wearable pieces as well as museum quality items. From the 50s we have Hardy Amies, Elizabeth Arden, Cristobal Balenciaga; from the 60s we have Biba, Pucci; from the 70s, Ossie Clarke, Yves Saint Laurent, Bill Gibb; from the 80s, Mugler, Sybilla, Comme des Garcons, Galliano; from the 90s, Herve Leger, Jean Paul Gaultier, Moschino and early Tom Ford. In addition there is a plethora of accessories including shawls, shoes, costume jewellery and bags including superb crocodile Kelly's in pristine condition.