Clothing, Culture & Context (Design Gallery)

Save the date for a special Design Gallery exhibition of selected materials from the Helen Louise Allen collection that explore the milieu of ethnicity, gender, religion and politics upon apparel design of the Indian subcontinent.  The complex interplay of design and identity is illuminated by selections of adult and children’s clothing, crafted artistically with metallic thread, delicate embroidery, and other embellishments of texture and fabric.
In addition to the selected apparel, the exhibition will include an online exhibit, videos and related programming.

Design Gallery events are free and open to the public.

What: Clothing, Culture, Context in South Asia:  Selections from the Helen Louise Allen Textile Collection
When:  Opening Reception: Friday, September 6, 2013 (5:00 - 7:00 PM);
Exhibition: September 8 - October 20, 2013
Where: Ruth Davis Design Gallery, Nancy Nicholas Hall (1300 Linden Drive)
For photo credit, visit the Design Gallery pages.

Get your Gatsby On!

Vintage fashion is all the rage.  Find inspiration from the pages of the library’s selected titles featuring fashions and interiors from the Roaring Twenties.  Browse these books at our entrance level display table or from your desktop with our Pinterest board, "Fashions from The Great Gatsby".

With thanks to Rebecca L for sparking the Gatsby in all of us with this selection of texts and board.

Portfolio Showcase, UW Design Studies

Visit the Ruth Davis Design Gallery for this year’s annual Portfolio Showcase!

Each academic year, students in Textile and Apparel Design and Interior Design are invited to submit portfolios of their best work to faculty for review--a required process of these respective degree programs.

Examples from these portfolios, which may include sketches, garments, computer-drafting and installations, will be placed display in the gallery from December 7 until January 8.  A public reception will be held on Friday, December 7 (5:30-8:00 PM).

What:  Portfolio Showcase
When: Public Reception, Friday, December 7 (5:30-8:00 PM)
Where: Ruth Davis Design Gallery, Nancy Nichols Hall (SOHE), 1300 Linden Drive
Gallery Hours: Tuesday (10:00 AM-4:00 PM); Wednesday-Thursday (10:00 AM-6:00 PM); Sunday (noon-5:00 PM)

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Catch the CreativeBug!

DIY Crafters never fear--there are how-to videos for all of us!  The CreativeBug site has brought together a variety of craft artisans who share their inspiration, tips and tricks in video format so that you, at your own pace, may similarly craft a project.  While introductory chapter content can be viewed for free, subscribers to the site ($25.00 per month) enjoy unlimited access to all site workshops.  A percentage of monthly subscriptions are donated to a variety of non-profit arts programs.

But, if you are given to crafting among like-minded individuals, there are many venues in the Madison area (and some quite near to campus) where you can find supplies, take a workshop, or simply spark your creativity by browsing some fine examples.  See what these spaces have to offer:

Anthology

Glitter Workshop

LakeSide Fibers | Sow’s Ear (Verona)

Sewcial Lounge

What will you make today?  Reply to this post with your suggestions about other favorite crafting spots.

P. S. There are any number of titles from campus library collections (many to be found in Steenbock stacks) that can inform your creative endeavors. Run a search of the Library Catalog (try a "Words Anywhere" search) on your craft or hobby-of-interest or speak with your librarians for assistance. Should titles from our campus collections be out to other users, do consider searching the UW System or Madison Public Library.

By Women, About Women: Stories in Fabric

There is still time to take in the exhibition, "By Women, About Women: Stories in Fabric" at the Kohler Art Library. This exhibition, organized by Isadora Gabrielle Leidenfrost (Ph.D candidate, Design Studies), brings together textiles and textile-inspired artists’ books from the Helen Louise Allen Textile Collection and the Kohler Art Library. The exhibition will remain in place until May 31, 2011.

Curator statement (from the Kohler exhibition page): "By Women, About Women" is a celebration of our identity, creativity, grace, and style. There are only a few creations in history that fulfill every human necessity and our need and love for fabric is so ubiquitous that we don't even realize that it is our greatest human invention. Textiles are as omnipresent as our stories; they are intrinsic to every society around the world, giving form to what we feel, do, and how we understand life. "By Women, About Women" is an exhibition that showcases the patterns of women's lives. Whether it is an example of women's fashion, a crazy quilt, a story about housework, or how women have put their "best figure forward," "By Women, About Women" evokes the nuances of women's lives, rumors, gossip, and old wives tales.

Wedding Fashion

The media cloud hovering above the British royal family during this past week’s nuptials generally sparks interest, not only regarding a very particular dress, but also in that of contemporary and historic wedding attire.

Should you be planning your own wedding or have an interest in how wedding fashions have evolved culturally, consider a few of these titles, below, from the Steenbock Library collection. Speak with your librarians for assistance finding these and more.

Author: Monsarrat, Ann.
Title: And the Bride Wore ...: The Story of the White Wedding
Publisher: New York: Dodd, Mead, 1974, c1973.

Author: Probert, Christina.
Title: Brides in Vogue since 1910
Publisher: New York : Abbeville Press, 1984.

Title: Wedding Dress across Cultures, edited by Helen Bradley Foster and Donald Clay Johnson.
Publisher: Oxford ; New York: Berg, 2003.

And, of related:

Author: Mansel, Philip.
Title: Dressed to Rule: Royal and Court Costume from Louis XIV to Elizabeth II
Publisher: New Haven: Yale University Press, c2005.

A Cozy Shelter Yarn Bombing

The School of Human Ecology’s Design Gallery is sponsoring a "yarn bombing" of a bus shelter at the intersection of State and Johnson Streets.

This "cozy shelter" installation is slated to begin on September 30th and will be completed by October 1st, to coincide with the Madison Museum of Contemporary Art, Gallery Night. Members of Madison’s Knitters Guild have loaned their talents, in garter-stitched what-nots, to this installation, with yarn products distributed and collected by staff with the Sow’s Ear. This installation project has been coordinated by Professor Diane Sheehan and Lisa Frank, Interim Director of the Design Gallery.

See the Wisconsin Radio Network report!

Be sure to visit; it will leave you in stitches!

Knit Wit

I see them everywhere…on the bus, in the lecture hall, at the coffee shop…knitting. While there have always been aficionados of the craft, knitting has found a brave new audience of artists, crafters and do-it-yourself-ers who can appreciate some good ol’ lambswool (among other fibers) and the satisfaction to be found in producing one’s own clothing and decorative items. And, what’s more, there is a burgeoning marketplace of new texts, to add to the collected classics, to inspire the contemporary knitter.

A short skein from the Steenbock collection follows below. Be sure to speak with library staff to locate these and other titles from campus collections. Should titles from our campus collections be out to other users, do consider searching the UW System or Madison Public Library.

Author: Chin, Lily M.
Title: The urban knitter / Lily M. Chin.
Publisher: New York : Berkley Books, c2002.
Call Number: TT820 C48493 2002

Author: Gibson-Roberts, Priscilla A.
Title: Knitting in the old way : designs & techniques from ethnic sweaters / by Priscilla A. Gibson-Roberts and Deborah Robson ; illustrations by Priscilla A. Gibson-Roberts.
Publisher: Fort Collins, CO : Nomad Press, c2004.
Call Number: TT825 G52 2004

Author: Newton, Deborah.
Title: Designing knitwear / Deborah Newton.
Publisher: Newtown, CT : Taunton Press, c1992.
Call Number: TT820 N555 1992

Author: Righetti, Maggie.
Title: Knitting in plain English / Maggie Righetti.
Publisher: New York : Thomas Dunne Books/St. Martin's Griffin, 2007.
Call Number: TT820 R54 2007

Title: Vogue knitting : the ultimate knitting book / by the editors of Vogue knitting magazine.
Publisher: New York : Sixth & Spring Books, c2002.
Description: 280 p. : col. ill. ; 27 cm.
Call Number: TT820 V624 2002

Wearing of the Green

Seeing as it is St. Patrick’s Day, I am sporting a green sweater. Not only is it green in color, but it is made from a sustainable fiber. As we look to outfit ourselves, now and in the future, it will be worth considering not only how our clothing is designed, but also how it is produced. The Steenbock collections offer a variety of titles to explore sustainable fashion and design. Should any of the following titles be circulating to other library users, do speak with your librarians for assistance locating additional copies or related titles.

Author: Black, Sandy.
Title: Eco-chic: the fashion paradox / Sandy Black.
Publisher: London: Black Dog, c2008.
Location: Steenbock Stacks -1st Floor
Call Number: TT497 B53 2008

Author: Crown, Fenya.
Title: How to recycle old clothes into new fashions / Fenya Crown; drawings by Kristine Campbell.
Publisher: Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice-Hall, c1977.
Location: Steenbock Stacks -1st Floor
Call Number: TT550 C76 1977

Title: Ecotextiles [electronic resource]: the way forward for sustainable development in textiles / edited by M. Miraftab and A.R. Horrocks.
Internet Links: Available through ENGnetBASE
Publisher: Cambridge : Woodhead Pub., 2007.
Call Number: Use Internet link(s) in this record.

Author: Fletcher, Kate, 1971-
Title: Sustainable fashion and textiles: design journeys / Kate Fletcher.
Publisher: London; Sterling, VA: Earthscan, 2008.
Location: Steenbock Stacks -1st Floor
Call Number: TT507 F583 2008

Title: Sustainable fashion: why now? : a conversation about issues, practices, and possibilities / [edited by] Janet Hethorn, Connie Ulasewicz.
Publisher: New York: Fairchild Books, c2008.
Location: Steenbock Stacks -1st Floor
Call Number: TT497 S87 2008