A Closet of Authenticity

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(Above) Front of dress.

(Above) Back of dress showing newspaper backing.


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AS IS PRONE TO HAPPEN IN MY SEARCH FOR THE BEAUTIFUL AND SUBLIME, I CAME UPON THIS amazing collection of handmade paper doll dresses on eBay made by a little girl who was born in the 1890s in Portland, Oregon. The eBay seller gives us the provenance of this collection and states that the creator was a girl whose name was Alda Carlson. Young Alda never married and kept almost everything from her childhood in the late Victorian and Edwardian eras. This was her entire collection of dolls and handmade paper dresses that she made over 100 years ago, using crepe paper, wallpaper and sweetly applied lace, trim and ribbons. In many cases, she used newspaper as a backing for the dresses and a few are dated to 1905 and 1906, when Alda would have been about 10 -12 years old. Alda passed away at the age of 93 and the collection was acquired by the present owner who is selling it now on eBay. The entire collection consists of 5 dolls and over 80 handmade dresses.

I am impressed not only by the fact that this collection is so extensive, but the beauty and authentic love, care and use is something you cannot buy or recreate. These dresses are precious reminders of female childhood at the end of the 19th century and the dawn of the 20th. Hours and hours of creativity mimic the elaborate fine dresses of the day, some being this young dress designers own vision on fashion. And while the dolls themselves are store bought, it’s the doll of the little black child that is the rare one in this bunch.

I could go on and on about the visual beauty of these little icons of fashion, the honest, straight-forward and loving detail I see, but I am going to let my readers revel in these lovelies with no more commentary. Just... look.

Find this item on eBay here.

Marit Fujiwara: A Rising Star

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I DON'T TALK ABOUT FASHION ENOUGH ON THIS BLOG, MAINLY BECAUSE I HAVE NO REAL STYLE of my own when it comes to clothes. That’s just a fact. Clothes for me are something I just do not want to put a lot of thought into. Going to high school in the 60s and art school in the early 70s meant blue jeans and tees were the norm. I guess I never really changed a lot. But that doesn’t mean I do not appreciate and admire beautiful, artful and stylish clothes on both men and women.

So when I spotted these clothes by Marit Fujiwara, a textile design graduate of the Chelsea College of Art and Design, I was impressed. These dresses are like paintings, swirling swaths of color and beautifully balanced. Unlike abstraction by happen chance, these pieces are meticulously crafted in extreme detail, yummy and wonderful.

The only thing I miss is seeing a model wearing one of these works of art.

The Process of Design

SURFING AROUND THE WORLD, LOOKING FOR THE COOL STUFF (so you don’t have to), I FOUND THE DESIGN WORK OF TAMER KOSELI, who was born in Courtepin, Switzerland in 1985. What I liked here was his display of his entire thought process—something that we might learn from.

Since 1994 Tamer has been living in Turkey. He works as a freelance designer and tries to mix East-West cultures in his works.

Koseli says “Since childhood, I was impressed by the Swiss Legacy, pictograms, posters and especially the font Helvetica.”

HIS PROJECT IS CALLED, WISHES OF 20th CENTURY and following is Tamer’s description (I have corrected some of his use of the English language for better understanding):

“Wishes happen... wishes not happen... Is there any century in human history without wishes? The students who take the occurence of wishes from (the 20th century) to days as a design problem, during the design phase of project they convert the project from surface of cube to 3 dimensional product. For these reason when I began to design the logo, poster, tee and tree I built everything on cubes. In our country people make a wish and attach a fabric on tree. We have a lot of wishes about past centuries but I think we must hope for the future... This tree came out based on idea, the visitors of our stand (Milano - Salone Satellite E37) write their hopes and post it on tree. I like that the tree turns green with hopes.”

Nick Cave: Moving Towards the Fantastic

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NICK CAVE IS A FIBER ARTIST, PERFORMANCE AND CONCEPTUAL ARTIST. Transcending class, race and sexuality, Cave’s fantastic costumes completely conceal him in a shamanistic, protective covering. He has been quoted: ‘I believe that the familiar must move towards the fantastic. I want to evoke feelings that are unnamed, that aren’t realized except in dreams.’ His work, which builds upon the collective power found in historic African ceremonial costumes, Mardi Gras and Carnival costumes—is powerful art of this day. Cave calls his works “Sound Suits” because of the sound his costumes makes when he performs.

Cave, who studied fiber arts at the Cranbrook Academy of Art, is Associate Professor and Chairman of the Fashion Department at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago.