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Interview: G. Bruce Boyer, co-curator, author + editor

By The Museum at FIT
In Interview
Tagged with G. Bruce Boyer tailoring video
On 3 Apr | '2014

G. Bruce Boyer. Co-curator, writer, and editor

This week we’re delighted to bring you an interview with the co-curator of Elegance in an Age of Crisis, G. Bruce Boyer. Bruce has been a writer and editor for over 30 years. He began his writing career in 1971, when he submitted a story on the Duke of Windsor to Town & Country, soon after becoming the magazine’s men’s fashion editor for 15 years. Bruce has published several books on menswear, including Elegance: A Guide to Quality in Menswear (Norton, 1985), Eminently Suitable, (Nortion, 1990), Fred Astaire Style (Assouline, 2006), and Gary Cooper: Enduring Style (Powerhouse Books, 2011). Feature articles by Bruce have appeared in several national and international magazines: Esquire, Harper’s Bazaar, Forbes, The New York Times, The New Yorker, Departures, and many more. For more Bruce, take a look at these fabulous interviews with him on Ivy Style and Keikari.

– Your essay on men’s tailoring in the book [Elegance in an Age of Crisis] talks about concurrent movements in London and Naples. Was there a cultural “need” for these two movements or were they isolated in their concerns?

BB: The years after 1914 produced a perhaps unparalleled shift in people’s lives. Over ten million were killed in what was called The Great War, another estimated fifty million died in the so-called Spanish Influenza pandemic following the war; and then of course came The Great Depression starting in 1929. It’s no wonder that incredible change and experimentation were in the very marrow of the 1930s zeitgeist. There were new concerns in hygiene and aesthetics, travel and sport, family life, work, and education. Virtually no aspect of life was left unaltered. We look to the men’s clothing experiments in London and Naples because they were the ones that bore the most fruit and are still with us today. The drape style of English tailoring and the deconstructed style of the Neapolitan school have, over the ensuing years, been the most successful. At the moment it’s the Neapolitan style which seems to hold the lion’s share of fashion in menswear, but there are many aficionados of the London drape cut as well. Between them, they make up the majority of the tailored clothing seen on the street today.

Savile Row - Tailoring at Henry Poole and Co., London, England, UK, 1944. Copyright IWM Non-commercial license. A view of the workroom at Henry Poole and Co., showing tailors at work on various types of jacket, including a naval officer's jacket, second from right on the rear row. The men are all sitting on the workbenches, some cross-legged, the garments resting in their laps as they work.

Savile Row – Tailoring at Henry Poole and Co., London, England, UK, 1944 | CC Wiki / © IWM Non-Commercial
“A view of the workroom at Henry Poole and Co., showing tailors at work on various types of jacket, including a naval officer’s jacket, second from right on the rear row. The men are all sitting on the workbenches, some cross-legged, the garments resting in their laps as they work.” – IWM via CC Wiki

– What advice do you have for anyone who wants to learn more about men’s tailoring?

BB: There are today a number of well-written books available on the history and direction of men’s clothing. Books by Alan Flusser, Michael Anton, Farid Chenoune, Bernhard Roetzel, and—modesty no virtue—me, among them.

– Can you tell us a bit more about the music featured in the videos?

BB: The musical score accompanying the exhibition is comprised mainly of hit songs from the American songbook, songs that were considered beautiful at the time and that have stood the test of time. There is an emphasis on American jazz and jazz musicians simply because it was the popular music of the day: the most lively, innovative, and influential. I continue to believe that jazz is one of America’s greatest gifts to the world.

– Do you have a favorite ensemble from the exhibition?

BB: I have two favorite ensembles from the exhibit. One would be the tweed plus-four suit made by Peter Sheppard for himself. The other would be the cream silk double-breasted dinner jacket from the atelier of Rubinacci. Both, to my mind, have a timeless elegance, and I would wear them both today.

Anderson & Sheppard wool tweed three-piece sport suit, 1935, London, lent by Steven Hitchcock. Copyright MFIT. Photo by Eileen Costa

Anderson & Sheppard wool tweed three-piece sport suit, 1935, London, lent by Steven Hitchcock. Photo by Eileen Costa. © MFIT

London House tussah silk classic Neapolitan jacket, 1930s, Naples, lent by the Rubinacci Museum. Copyright MFIT. Photo by Eileen Costa

London House tussah silk classic Neapolitan jacket, 1930s, Naples, lent by the Rubinacci Museum. Photo by Eileen Costa. © MFIT

– And finally, please give us 3 words which describe this exhibition for you.

BB: Elegant (obviously), intelligent, and sophisticated.

Stay tuned for more behind-the-scenes interviews, and be sure to tweet us with #1930sFashion.

-MM

Winter Olympics III: Activewear and Style

By The Museum at FIT
In Object post
Tagged with activewear bobsled Lake Placid olympics skiing video
On 10 Mar | '2014

The streamlined silhouettes of the 1930s form much of the foundation of modern dressing as we view it today. Guided by resurgent classical ideals of proportion and the art moderne aesthetic, designers embraced harmony and grace, creating clothes that ran sinuously along the curves of the body. In addition to the long, lean lines created in the form of languorous couture evening gowns, activewear in the 1930s marked a new attitude toward sporting, movement, and the body.

While the scale and scope of the Lake Placid Olympics in 1932 may seem quaint by today’s standards of hyper-performance gear—with teams actively emphasizing the role their attire plays in competition—new technology in the form of synthetic fibers such as Lastex® in 1931 invoked its own emphasis on movement and performance in 1930s sport. The Ski Togs ensemble from Saks Fifth Avenue, on view in Elegance in an Age of Crisis, has ease of movement embedded in its design: vertical darts on the jacket and an elastic band at the waist promote both fit and comfort, principles which, in a marked break from the turn of the century, were no longer antithetical. The 1930s woman was fit and fashionable; she participated in sports such as swimming, skiing, tennis, and golf, often in international competition alongside men. As Assistant Curator of Costume & Textiles Ariele Elia notes in her essay in the book accompanying our exhibition, the “Chamonix” style ski pant, a straight leg trouser with a stirrup, was so-named after the first Winter Olympics held in 1924 in Chamonix, France. The purpose here was to invigorate and celebrate the active body, and nowhere is this purpose more evident than in Olympic competition.

Woman’s ski ensemble, Ski Togs, Sak’s Fifth Avenue circa 1935, New York, 96.69.38, gift of The Dorothea Stephens Wiman Collection. Copyright MFIT. Photo by Eileen Costa

Woman’s ski ensemble, Ski Togs, Sak’s Fifth Avenue
circa 1935, New York, 96.69.38, gift of The Dorothea Stephens Wiman Collection. Photo by Eileen Costa. © MFIT

Lake Placid 1932, opening ceremony | © Olympic.org

The gold medalist USA bobsled team | via Raleigh DeGeer Amyx Collection

The USA men’s bobsled team, pictured above, certainly look dapper in their woolen, double-breasted ski jackets, worn at the Lake Placid Winter Olympics in 1932. One of the 105 originals made is housed in the collection of Raleigh DeGeer Amyx. These jackets bear a striking resemblance to pea coats you might see on the street today, and in 2010 Ralph Lauren cited them as his inspiration for designing the US team’s official opening ceremony uniforms at the 21st Winter Olympic Games in Vancouver.

Ironically, the much-discussed speed skating uniforms of 2014 have perhaps more in common with the bodysuit donned by the charming, stilt-skated performer at the 1932 Lake Placid opening ceremony than they do the speed skaters of ’32.

The sweaters worn by gold medalist skaters Sonja Henie (Norway) and Karl Schäfer (Austria) embody a brisk combination of sport and design: ribbed knit and modernist Art Deco graphics.

Sonja Henie (Norway) and Karl Schäfer (Austria), gold medalists in ladies’ and men’s singles figure skating at the 1932 Olympic Games | Bundesarchiv, Bild 102-13104 | CC-BY-SA

Gold medalist Sonja Henie on the podium at the Lake Placid 1932 Olympic Games (© Copyright Press Association Ltd.)

And back to our ski jacket—the practical, even stolid, navy blue of the ski ensemble belies a form of ebullience not visible when worn: a bold color print lining on the inside of the jacket. As a form of intimacy known only to the wearer, the lining is a fitting metaphor for the ethos of the 1930s: if the outer appearance served almost to efface, to show quiet dignity in times of crisis, the lining exudes dynamism and panache—the combination of wit and whimsy required to survive in the face of uncertain times.

Interior of woman’s ski jacket, Ski Togs, Sak’s Fifth Avenue circa 1935, New York, 96.69.38, gift of The Dorothea Stephens Wiman Collection. Copyright MFIT. Photo by Eileen Costa

Interior of woman’s ski jacket, Ski Togs, Sak’s Fifth Avenue, circa 1935, New York, 96.69.38, gift of The Dorothea Stephens Wiman Collection. Photo by Eileen Costa. © MFIT

Until next time, tweet us with #1930sFashion with your thoughts and impressions on the exhibition.

-MM