Before and After: Inspired by Erte

If you've never heard of him, Erte was a 20th-century artist and designer in an array of fields, including fashion, jewellery, graphic arts, costume and set design for film, theatre, and opera, and interior decor.  

I stumbled upon a book of his fashion illustrations in a thrift store, and immediately fell in love with his elegant art deco fashions.  I wanted to be the models in his drawings, draped in swathes of rich fabrics.  Inspired by his sweeping lines, I tried to recreate a few of his pieces in a more modern mode, from all upcycled materials.

 Taking the basic idea of two squares of fabric joined to a triangular top, I updated the drawing at left to produce a ruffled and lacey dress.  Folding the squares gave a two tiered look, and the lacy dangles of the scarf turned bodice accented the drape and flow.  A strappy sleeveless look gave more freedom of movement than the original, and a good backdrop for accessorizing with a shawl or shrug.

 Repurposing a tank top into the bodice for this dress smoothed out the gathers and sleeve accents of the original, drawing all attention to the dramatic swoops of the skirt.  I kept the rings, but eschewed the tasseled cord in favor of cute velvet ribbons.  Most of Erte's drawings are only available in black and white, but I like to imagine them in rich tones like this.

 Erte came up with some fabulous accessories too.  Instead of stripes of ebony and orange, I appliqued a vintage doily to a panel of black velvet.  The dark fabric shows through the cutwork in wonderful contrast.  The cord and tassels became a black and silver chain, zigzagging through loops of satin cord.

History in the Finding

I shop at thrift stores a lot.  Really, a lot.  Clothes, books, decor items, cookware, raw materials for my shop; most of the goods I buy come from second hand shops.  This is partly because I am cheap and refuse to pay full price for new when perfectly serviceable things are available used.  Mostly, however, I shop at thrift stores because they can offer some hidden gems found nowhere else.

Sometimes these gems are beautiful and unique vintage clothing, or really high quality kitchenware for a bargain, and sometimes the value of a find is in it's history:

This snazzy old polyester tie is from a Clothing shop less than 2 miles from my house.

I don't know who anyone in this wedding party is, but I love this sort of old record of style.  From their clothes to the very frame, the style and taste of the era is readily apparent.

I know nothing about this book or it's author, but like the wedding photo above, I love what the styling of the cover says about the time it was written in.  .

Vintage Craft Book Feature: Around The World in 80 Sweaters (1988)

Another of my many needlework hobbies is the collection of vintage craft books.  Found in dusty corners of second hand shops, in pride of place in used book stores, these old tomes often contain beautiful nuggets of crafting wisdom, and a heaping helping of vintage charm.  Reviving the techniques, tips and retro projects is just one more way for us to bring back the wonders of the handmade.

Around The World in 80 Sweaters - 1988

As the name suggests, this book is filled with designs inspired by cultural art and fashion from many different parts of the globe.  The designs are grouped by region, and each section begins with a two page spread describing the following designs and their inspiration.  Bordering the write up is a wonderful collage of vintage photos, swatches, fashion drawings and other objects that give a clear idea of the designer's creative process.  

More fashion drawings accompany each set of patterns, showing off possible variations of every sweater.  The artist clearly had a type she was designing for, as every drawing in the book features the same square faced, block shouldered blonde.  At the back of the book is a really helpful collection of diagrams showing all the measurements and pieces of each sweater.  These are wonderful to have when making sweaters like these to help ensure a good fit.

Overall, even though some of the designs are quite dated, I found a lot to like in this book.  Some of the colorwork and construction techniques were very neat and could easily be adapted to more modern designs.  My only real complaint was that in many of the photos the models were posed in ways that hid most of the sweater they should have been showing off.

                       

Free Pattern Collection II

Here's the past few weeks' free pattern tracings collected together for your convenience, Enjoy!

Vintage Craft Book Feature: Needlework Patterns From The Met (1976)

Another of my many needlework hobbies is the collection of vintage craft books.  Found in dusty corners of second hand shops, in pride of place in used book stores, these old tomes often contain beautiful nuggets of crafting wisdom, and a heaping helping of vintage charm.  Reviving the techniques, tips and retro projects is just one more way for us to bring back the wonders of the handmade.

Needlework Patterns From The Metropolitan Museum of Art - 1976

Apologies for the fuzzy edges, this is a BIG book and it didn't fit well on my scanner.  As the title suggests this tome is filled with patterns for needlework derived from textiles in the Metropolitan Museum of Art.  The beautiful crewel on the cover is one fine example.

One thing I really enjoy about this book is that it has a photo of the original alongside the modern derivation.  Sometimes the modern interpretation is only a small part of the original design, or uses different techniques, but it is always wonderful to see where and when the original came from.

This Pastoral Landscape is one of the first patterns in the book and initially I was worried they would all be needlepoint recreations.  I think needlepoint is lovely, but I do like some variety in my needlework.  I was not disappointed with this book.

From amazing crewel bed curtains, to intricate Chinese silk embroidery, to Peruvian needlework, this book certainly has variety.  Even just from a textile art history perspective, this book is packed with treasures.  To have modern interpretations of these patterns as well is an absolute treat.

I think my favorite thing about this book, however, is the stitch glossary.  Not only is it extensive, covering every stitch used in the modern patterns and then some, but it also has an example of a historical textile for each stitch.  Clear instructions and illustrated diagrams make the stitch easy to learn, and the delightful pictures of it in use are perfect inspiration.  All in all this book is a feast for the creative mind of any needle artist or textile enthusiast.

 

Don't Underestimate Giggle Value

I shop at thrift stores a lot.  Really, a lot.  Clothes, books, decor items, cookware, raw materials for my shop; most of the goods I buy come from second hand shops.  This is partly because I am cheap and refuse to pay full price for new when perfectly serviceable things are available used.  Mostly, however, I shop at thrift stores because they can offer some hidden gems found nowhere else. 

Sometimes these gems are beautiful and unique vintage clothing, or really high quality kitchenware for a bargain, and sometimes the value of a find is simply that it made me laugh when I saw it:

                        

             

The best part is knowing that somebody somewhere once bought these new, on purpose.  I love trying to imagine who it was and what their house must have looked like :)

Vintage Craft Book Feature: The Country Diary Book of Knitting (1987)

Another of my many needlework hobbies is the collection of vintage craft books.  Found in dusty corners of second hand shops, in pride of place in used book stores, these old tomes often contain beautiful nuggets of crafting wisdom, and a heaping helping of vintage charm.  Reviving the techniques, tips and retro projects is just one more way for us to bring back the wonders of the handmade.

The Country Diary Book of Knitting - 1987

As the title and the illustrations on the cover suggest, this is inspired by The Country Diary of an Edwardian Lady by Edith Holden.  The knitting patterns are grouped by season and surrounded by the beautiful watercolor illustrations of the original.  Taking inspiration from the natural world, each knitted project feels at home in it's given season.  I really like the way this book is meant to mirror the naturalist's diary.  Coupled with the illustrations, it really gives a certain richness to the designs, a deliberateness that is easy to lose in a large book with lots of patterns.  It feels like each design was created and chosen with purpose, not just to fill pages.

All of the garments have an interesting blend of 1980's and 1900's styling which weirdly enough makes them seem a little more modern.  There are certainly some good ideas and designs to be found here.  Many of the sweaters are designed to be layered, and when paired with modern garments I think they would work quite well.

Borrowing from older styling seems (at least to me) to make these designs fit better into contemporary fashion than most vintage knitting books I come across.

Enough waxing poetic, this book has a lot of substance as well.  The charts and instructions for each project are very clear and thorough.  Even if you don't like the styling of a particular sweater, it would be easy to reuse some of the stitch patterns and color charts on a different project.

There are also a lot of designs for children, and I find them even more timeless than the adult sweaters.  From kids clothes to accessories and even knitted toys, this book has a large selection of goodies for the younger set.  Some of them seem easy enough to start a young beginner on.  What better way to get them excited about the craft than to make something for themselves?

 

Even for non-knitters, anyone who has read and enjoyed The Country Diary of an Edwardian Lady would likely enjoy a flip though this as well.  All of the pictured and illustrations are lovely.  The retro styles have aged better than most, and the instructions are clear and detailed enough for even a novice to find a project they can enjoy.