TodayGet ready to be 'Beadazzled'
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Article RatingA steady stream of visitors came to the opening reception Thursday for a new show of beaded garments at the Shippensburg University Fashion Archives and Museum.
The show, “Beadazzling,” features clothing drawn entirely from the SU collection, including items from the late 1800s through the 1970s.
A longtime volunteer at the museum, Charles Loucks, said the show was “the most stunning show I can remember” at the Fashion Archives. “It's just extraordinary,” he added.
The show was developed by the new director of the archives, Karin J. Bohleke, with the assistance of graduate student Elizabeth Homistek. Bohleke said the staff and volunteers were considering a show around the theme of “handmade” when they opened a box with a black jacquard silk, beaded dolman. The black fabric has swirls of satin weave in set in a textured background, and the maker added beads along the edge of the satin areas.
“It's sumptuous and gorgeous,” said Bohleke.
Popular in 19th century
Beading has been popular in American fashion at various times. Bohleke said bead embellishments were popular in the 1860s and again in the 1880s, remaining stylish but not as popular in the 1890s. Beaded garments were very popular in the 1920s “flapper” era. The show also has several garments from the late 1950s through the 1970s, another period when beads were used.
Homistek, a graduate student in communications, was interested in working on a project and did a lot of work on the show, including convincing Bohleke to remove a partition that broke up the exhibit area and drafting family members to paint the gallery walls a pale blue. Her academic interests are in the area of visual, nonverbal communication.
“She really allowed me to change the space around,” said Homistek.
The reason she was interested in working on the exhibit is that clothes convey messages without using words.
“We assume certain things about each other” based on clothing selections, she says. “Every person has their own style.”
Homistek was eager to show a range of styles in the exhibit. “It is also a visual experience for the person who comes through the door.”
There were 100 pieces to choose from for the exhibit, but Homistek discovered some didn't fit the mannequins. A red wool suit in the exhibit has a 22-inch waist.
Modern designers could learn
The suit also interested Bohleke, who said the garment is actually four different parts. There is a square, black velvet yoke, a bodice, a skirt, and a collar.
“I love the combination of wool and velvet,” said Bohleke.
She says modern clothing designers could learn from older garments. She pointed out the workmanship in a gold brocade bodice with brown, wide-wale corduroy sleeves. The brocade has an asymmetrical design, but the motifs of the design were cut and placed to make the main back panels of the bodice look symmetrical. Beadwork in silver-toned glass and cut-steel beads embellishes the back of the collar and the center back of the waist.
Contemporary, mass-produced clothes don't go to the trouble of matching fabric, said Bohleke, because it wastes the fabric and costs too much. In addition, many people don't think about how clothes will look from the back, she said. The black dolman jacket has a tie inside the jacket to pull the back of the jacket snugly against the wearer, which helps create a tapered line above the skirt's bustle.
Bohleke's favorite dress in the exhibit is a black chiffon flapper dress with intricate, patterned beading in white, grey and black.
She said one dress that many staff members liked is a pleated blue chiffon dress from the late 1960s with a wide band around the midriff in white and rhinestone beading.
In addition to the 27 beaded garments in the show -- mostly dresses -- there are more than two dozen accessories on display, including beaded purses, hats embellished with beads, and more.
