There's a lot of photos of captions in this post, so yes
Click on photos to embiggen!
The Museum of History and Industry at Lake Union is where it's at this summer, with the Seattle Style Fashion/Function exhibit, now through October 2019.
Love that button!
A museum can only really tell the story with the items that are donated to it.
MOHAI has been around for many years, only recently relocated to the former Navy Reserve Armory. It's hosted many traveling shows, and more than a few original ones.
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| photo MOHAI |
This is Clara Berg's show, and she should be very proud of her work here.
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| Clara Berg in action |
Ms Berg gives a quarterly lecture/presentation of clothes in the collection, usually organised by theme or reflecting an exhibit in the museum (Dior and The Great War come to mind). I make a point of attending all of them and I try very hard not to be that person who stands in front of the clothing and blocks your view.
The theme of the show is largely the history of fashion in Seattle, as told through the pieces they have in the collection.
As with most local museums, the collection is at the mercy of the things that are available.
Some of these items have been donated, some loaned.
We start with the weather.
Which means rain.
It's more myth than reality now, but it's the story we like to tell about ourselves.
And as ever, click on the photos to make them bigger to read the captions.
Let's start at the real beginning of this town. When there was actual weather.
There are some similar items at the Burke Museum of Anthropology at the University of Washington, but I rather like that we have a full reproduction made by a first nations artist. Rainwear of all kinds.
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| Different textiles for different eras. Cedar to gore-tex |
This really is quite funny. I mean, REI is not known for kidding around, but this is funny enough that I recommend you not have anything in your mouth when you watch it.
But what's right next to the Zip All?
Hey, fellow donor and former coworker Mary Ann Dobratz! Just another average Seattleite with valuable stuff to donate.
This visit is really just a cursory glance of the things that caught my eye.
I promise to go back and dig in deeper.
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| Color coordination: Seattle Woolen Company and John Doyle Bishop |
John Doyle Bishop was the MAN in Seattle clothing. He wasn't a designer, but a retailer who made the taste of his era. His shop was very important in setting the fashion trends in town. I never saw the inside of his shop (too young) but I knew who he was and what he meant just from hearing how other retailers talked about him, how the newspapers wrote him up.
There's no way I don't get the red shirt and the white dress into this post.
Novelty print love
But back to the history.
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| The prototype puffer of Eddie Bauer? |
I would like to interrupt this post by mentioning that down is equally useless in the rain.
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| Eddie Bauer. No, there's no Mr REI. |
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| REI gaiters. Not the Frostline ones. |
A little family history of midcentury Seattle sports wear. Every city has a story of the clothing manufacturers, the dressmakers, the stylemakers. There's some of that in this exhibit, but we'll come back to this later.
A nice preview of the show:
Seattle style New MOHAI exhibit showcases city's eclectic style and where it came from
(there's a nice video clip of Ms Berg on this page)
There is a lot to this show that I am not getting to here, as I just didn't take enough photos and notes.
But let's skip to the finale:
Those are my shoes
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| I did not agree to the part about the baby doll dresses, but I was outvoted. That's fine. Not my show. |
Oh, yeah, they are right by some other stuff you might know.
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| Cobain gear and a flannel shirt |
But what made ME squeeeee?
Lindy West's wedding dress.
She is my hero.
There are pieces missing of this puzzle. The show can only present the story told by the pieces that have been donated.
Mary Ann and I did. You can, too. Don't live in Seattle? I'll bet there's a local history museum near you that needs something you've been trying to figure out what to do with. You won't get rich, but history might.
And in the meantime, there's a host of events at the museum related to this exhibit.
Next up:
https://mohai.org/event/refashion-clothing-repair-fair/
I will see you there
And in the meantime, there's a host of events at the museum related to this exhibit.
Next up:
https://mohai.org/event/refashion-clothing-repair-fair/
I will see you there
How fantastic! I love clothing to be exhibited from a historical point of view. We all wear clothing, not just the privileged few who can afford couture.
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