Wednesday 27 June 2012

Feininger Basket Weave

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"Why do you never smile? Because it hurts my lips" -George Harrison in A Hard Day's Night
I'll work on smiling and looking less terrified, I promise.
The boxes are packed, and the fridge is almost empty. I'm moving this Sunday or a bit earlier, I don't even know yet. July 1st is the main moving day in Montréal, and everyone's waiting on the whole town to get a confirmation as to when they're moving--I'm unfortunately part of this circle this year, but the stress will be over soon.

I've been wanting to show you this dress for a while, but never got around taking photos of it until last month. Beside its general shape and fantastic basket-weave pattern, what I really like about it is its obvious history. I managed to authentify its age with the help of the Vintage Fashion Guild's label directory; it's most likely from the late 40s or early 50s. However, it has been hemmed shorter at a later date, most likely (or rather, I like to think!) in the mid to late 60s. I also like to think it was a hand-me-down from a mother to her daughter, who modified it for it to be 'au goût du jour' in her time. As for myself, I found it at my favourite charity shop, where it was mistakently placed in the children's section.

I also need to tell you about the shoes! I bought them to replace a really old pair that was full of holes but that I still sheepishly wear once in a while. I was initially drawn to the first pair because it was "something The Horrors (at the time of their first album) would wear (!!!!!)" (exclamation marks because I was 17 and a big fan and very excited). The replacement pair most certainly had to fill these requirements. I found them barely worn on etsy, they're very comfortable, and their quality is excellent.

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Impossible to find without the watermark, from here. In person, it is particularly hypnotising. I had to run back to have a last look at it before the gallery closed.
It's been raining off and on for the past few days, and I have started wearing the pictured sweater out again. I wore the above outfit to one of the last days of the Lyonel Feininger exhibit at the Musée des Beaux-Arts de Montréal, back in May. While Feininger was known for his comic strip work, his Gothic/medieval inspired paintings as well as his architectural cubism, his works that struck me the most were the wooden toy village he made for his sons, and a study in transparence of varicoloured pieces of glass, pictured above. He was also in charge of the graphic arts department at the Bauhaus, and I managed to view a part of the BBC documentary on the matter at the gallery--if you know any place where it would be available in full online, please let me know! 

6 comments:

  1. I sincerely thank you for posting that quote about smiling. I can relate all too well. Also, I really really love your blog!

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    1. Thank you! I'm so glad you commented so I could discover your blog. I really love it as well!

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  2. Smiling to yourself is a bit weird I find. I don't come across anything like how I am in real life in photos. I just find smiling to myself far to darn strange. But that dress is super duper awesome! I'd be pretty happy if I got to wear that cardi during my exam today too!

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  3. those shoes are just great!

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