Deirdre Clancy - Costume Since 1945: Historical Dress from Couture to Street Style

Bloomsbury Academic

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This electronic edition published in 2015 by Bloomsbury Publishing Plc

First published 1996 by Herbert Press

This edition published by Bloomsbury Academic 2015

Deirdre Clancy, 2015

Deirdre Clancy has asserted her right under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act, 1988, to be identified as Author of this work.

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British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Clancy Steer, Deirdre.

Costume since 1945 : historical dress from couture to street style / Deirdre Clancy. pages cm

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN 978-1-4725-3940-3 (hardback) ISBN 978-1-4725-2424-9 (paperback) 1. Clothing and dressHistory20th century. 2. FashionHistory20th century. I. Title.

GT596.C54 2015

391.00904dc23

Typeset by Saxon Graphics Ltd, Derby

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CONTENTS

FOREWORD TO THE FIRST EDITION

Deirdre Clancy is good at clothes because she is good at people.

Her encyclopaedic knowledge of dress, her rigorous research, her diligence in execution, her inspired drawings, her instinct for the right material, the affection and respect, nay awe, in which she is held by cutters and makers alike, her years of experience across the globe in every medium, all this contributes to her greatness as costume designer; but the secret ingredient is a chemical gift based on an uncanny insight into people, whether it be fictional characters or the personalities of actors and actresses.

And she brings all this talent to bear upon this treasure-trove of a book.

Start with the drawings: there is a whiff of authenticity that comes not just from her depth of knowledge, but from an understanding of humanity. Each one is a witty take on a human being and each one tells a story. They are deadly accurate, but totally original.

Next, delve into the text. Its quickly apparent that she has written an essential reference book, not just for those interested in the past but also for the present. Its loaded with information, which is all delivered in Deirdres wry, direct and amusing manner. Most interesting to me are her easy and very accurate connections between dress and society. Back to people again.

A wonderful book, that stands proud from the over-full shelf of dry reference books.

ADRIAN NOBLE

Director, Royal Shakespeare Company

PREFACE TO THE SECOND EDITION

When you are living through your day to day life, it seems that very little of significance is happening as far as fashion is concerned, despite the hectic seasonal collections shown by the top couturiers. It is only when I look back at the collections of the last 15 years that the different character of each phase begins to become clearer.

The first edition of Costume Since 1945 was written in 1995, before the internet and the personal computing revolution had got fully under way. The difference that this has made cannot be over-stated. Research and the gathering of visual information have been totally transformed. In 1995 my sources were fashion history books, family albums, womens magazines, collections of newspaper photographs, filled out with photocopies of middle-market garment catalogues gleaned from the local library. Piles of books and boxes of papers were all over my studio! Although I still love to work with books, as the heaps of them still with me will attest, the sheer amount of fashion imagery now available on the web is overwhelming. Photographs of couture collections are posted almost immediately on Google, keen amateur fashion-lovers post extensive images on their personal blogs or on Pinterest, YouTube is awash with fashion material, and Wikipedia fills in any gaps.

The other big social movement which has continued into the twenty-first century is the rise of multiculturalism in the west and a more global, and globally connected, fashion system. The first edition was conceived as a British book, with only a few nods towards North America, and included relatively few examples of wider international influences on fashion. Like twenty-first century fashion and fashion media, the second edition of the book looks beyond the UK and US, and reflects the greater diversity of cultures and ethnic backgrounds today. I have also expanded the number of drawings to include more childrenswear, menswear, celebrity influences and fashion for older people.

Even 15 years ago I wondered how a little book of drawings could find a place among so much photographic material, and now the question is even more pertinent. Yet if you are interested in fashion, the new blizzards of information can confuse rather than enlighten. Also, by their very nature, fashion blogs tend to be about couture and the luxury end of the market, whereas my intention has always been to demonstrate a far wider range of apparel, from high end to high street. I think of Costume Since 1945 as a gateway book that will give you a visual and social introduction to the whole enormous subject.

INTRODUCTION

To view the recent past, the past of living memory, as history is a peculiar exercise. Memory may not be very reliable, but it can add unexpected insights to otherwise dry research.

The half-century since the end of World War II has seen the most rapid changes in technology, communications and lifestyle the world has ever known. These changes have been reflected in the world of fashion and in the clothing industry which are not the same thing at all. Long periods of right-wing government in Britain and the US have had the effect of creating almost as great a divide between rich and poor as existed at the beginning of the twentieth century. However, in real terms, and owing largely to the clothing industrys use of cheap immigrant labour, it is now possible to dress fashionably for less than ever before. Many ordinary people in the west have more disposable income than before the war, and a large percentage of this money is spent on clothes. And at all levels, clothes are now more likely to be discarded after one season in favour of the newest trend, rather than being maintained or adapted as formerly.