Reflections on The Lost Art of Dress, by Linda Przybyszewski
“Knowledge, not money, is the key to beauty in dress.”
This has been on my want-to-read list for quite some time, and I’m so very glad I finally got round to it.
It’s both opinionated and academic, an in-depth look at how there was once a proud, educated, and forthright group of women who were embedded in the US education system through Home Economics, who taught dressmaking and style.
“By teaching dressmaking, the Dress Doctors made women into creators, not just shoppers....[The Dress Doctors’] aim was the creation of what they called “artistic repose”, the moment when the discerning eye takes in a design as a whole and finds it perfectly satisfying in colour, line and form.”
Their teachings not only honed students’ creative expression, their dressmaking skills and their ability to dress themselves well and beautifully, but it also lead to paying careers for women, independence, an ability to handle a budget, problem solving skills and a self-assuredness in how they presented themselves to the world. They also sought to teach the principles of art and an appreciation for utility equally matched by beauty.
This book is about a combination of dressmaking, art, cultural history of the 20th century, women’s independence, and fashion, and seeks to tie all the different threads together. I think it does it very very well.
I loved everything about this book.
“…by dressing well, a woman could gain ‘a basic sense of security and self-respect’ that would release her ‘from the tensions caused by concerns about her appearance. She would then be free to give her full attention to the more vital matters, for herself, and for the welfare of others.’ Dressing beautifully was satisfying in itself, because the human soul and eye craved beauty, but it was also a means to a more work-a-day end.”