Wednesday, December 30, 2009

HAPPY NEW YEAR to all, from all of us at HUVC!

I know we have been remiss (mea culpa).. but be assured that the conclusion of  HOSE ME DOWN will be out next week and you will find it as entertaining  as the rest of the series has been!

We have two pieces of exciting news: 
First, Helen has been spending the month of December beginning our newest venture, a web presence on ETSY,  (a craft and vintage website) to sell our eclectic and immense collection of items ( ever-growing!) from decades of  buying and hoarding (smile)!!!

We have been listing  every fun category imaginable including greeting cards, artwork, quirky decor and home accessories, books, jewelry, old items in their original gift boxes, trim, ephemera, collars and cuffs, china, ...and of course, clothing will be coming soon in a big way!


You can find us at vintagepickle.etsy.com


Our second bit of news is that Helen's half-hour interview on the New York City cable show "Something to Offer" will air this coming Saturday, January 2 (also on February 6) at 7:30 PM on Channel 56 (Time Warner) and Channel 83/84 (RCN).

If you live out of New York, you can also access the show via video-stream at the same, exact time through www.mnn.org ( go to "programs" or "channel" and find the show  "Something to Offer" at 7:30 PM)




 Until we communicate again with you next year, we wish you a peaceful and happy 2010, and invite you to join us, Helen, Masha, Kristen and Allyn,  at our holiday lunch cum gift exchange we had at year's end!!!!

 




Tuesday, November 17, 2009

HOSE ME DOWN : THE MEN - or - Why I Love My Cod Piece ( part III)


Now back to the men………

Pants were actually not a men’s fashion staple until after the 18th century, developing from the hose and breeches that men wore in the 15th through 18th centuries and even before that, tunics.

12th century tunics were about knee-length, and men often wore loose-fitting above-knee cloth hose underneath that fastened to drawers or were held in place by leg bands. By about 1350, the hose became progressively tighter and even more fitted, and rose in length as the tunic shortened in length (!) (see tunic at left)

(Below right, men's earlier longer-length tunics)




The shortened tunic eventually rose all the way to become the snug-fitting buttoned jacket called a doublet that was worn from the late 14th century to the mid 17th century. Like many of today’s fashions, doublets were originally considered an undergarment:  in Medieval times they were worn UNDER a tunic, only to ultimately become outerwear, not unlike many contemporary fashion trends!  


Re-capping parts of our first “Hose me Down” installment:
.  during the early Medieval period, “breeches” meant drawers, hose or underpants.

.  up to the 16th century, the word "breeches” evolved into referring to both the outer garments AND undergarments.

.  finally in the 16th century, the word “ hose”, (or “hosen”) separated into two garments: upper hose or breeches and nether hose or stockings - thus “ breeches” finally came to describe the knee-length outer garments worn by men. Again, a reflection of how inner garments became fashionable outer garments!


The doublet (seen at right) was a padded garment for the upper body that narrowed at the waist, often had matching sleeves tied at the shoulders by points and often flared at the hips to accentuate the man’s “ideal figure” at the time (hips were “IN!”). They attached by ties to breeches (which extended beyond the knee) and trunk hose (only as high as the mid-thigh).

In the 15th century, gentlemen could not catch even a glimpse of ladies' stockings but ladies happily had an unobstructed view of men’s hosed legs up to the top of their thigh, so men had to make their legs as attractive as possible. Doublets became shorter and tighter, and hose grew so much longer and higher that they ultimately had to be refitted for modesty by the attachment of  a codpiece (see below left)






By the end of the 15th century, the long, tightly-worn hose became slightly puffed above the knee: they were stuffed with hair, rags or bran - padded and ballooned in size in order to stand puffed outward, like pumpkins. (see example below, worn with a flared doublet) Shorter versions of men’s hose were also padded, since not only hips but GIRTH was fashionably de rigeur at the time. 


 Even codpieces, which started out as a flap of fabric, grew in size to more “stylishly grander proportions” as the 16th century progressed.  

Henry VIII of England began padding his own codpiece, which caused a spiraling trend of larger and larger codpieces that only ended by the end of the 16th century. 

Legend has it that  men of greater rank needed extra bleachers in the House of Parliament to accommodate the lords’ increasingly fashionable girth!

Henry VIII was THE sartorial animal, in 1519 said to be the best dressed sovereign in the world according to  Sebastiano Guistinian , the Venetian ambassador at the  time.  Records show that he was a compulsive buyer, who constantly changed his attire. (below, Henry VIII, with his royal codpiece)


In 1516 alone, he bought 175 pairs of satin shoes, velvet slippers, and leather boots, wooing his women with his purple and crimson stockings made for him of yard-wide silk taffeta. Alas, woven silk had far less stretch than woven wool or knit, thus conformed less to the leg and were less comfortable to wear.

At the time, the finest needles were being produced in Spain and Italy, allowing for more elegantly detailed work. Stocking importer and founder of the Royal Exchange, Sir Thomas Greshman,  presented  Henry VIII  a "payre of long Spanish silke stockings, a luxurious article of raiment." as a gift.  At the time, this was a gift as worthy of a monarch’s acceptance as a monarch being given a jeweled crown today.  Henry VIII  became the first sovereign of England ever to wear a pair of knitted silk stockings.

Women, of course, became positively mad for silk stockings! In Erondell's 1605 book The French Garden  “for English Ladyes and Gentlewomen” written in dialogue form,  Lady Ri-Melaine call
"where be my stockens? Give me some clean sockes, I will have no woorsted hosen, showe me my Carnation silk stockins" 

Stockings were even buried with their royal owners:  1562, Eleanora of Toledo’s (see her at right) stockings were buried with her in her in her tomb and in 1603, two pair of stockings were found in the tomb of Duke Barnium XII of Brandenburg, Germany.

One of the writers of the pamphlets commonly distributed in 16th century England was a Londoner named Philip Stubbes (1555-1610). He was a Oxford and Cambridge-educated strict Puritan who castigated social practices of the time that were unfit for “true Christians”. His 1580's periodical  “ Anatomie of Abuses”  was critical of the Elizabethan fashions, habits and sexual mores of the time, and included  a tart tirade against what he considered the shameful and costly craze of buying increasingly sheer and fancy stockings.







"the time hath beene when one might have clothed all his body well for lesse then a pair of these neither-stocks wil cost."



...and then continued his tirade against the folly of silk hose

"…then have they nether-stocks to these gay hosen, not of cloth (though never so fine) for that is thought to (be) base, but of …silk thred, and such like”


Castigating the women in particular, his periodical raved:

"… yes, they are not ashamed to wear hose of all kinds of changeable colours, as green, red, white, russet, tawny, and else what not. These thin delicate hosen must be cunningly knit and curiously indented in every point with quirks, clocks, open seams, and everything else accordingly."

copyright © 2009 by helen uffner


...next installment of Hose Me Down coming soon!

..and in the meantime, below is a typical meal at Uffner Vintage (featuring Allyn and Helen): lobster (courtesy of a thankful client), anything having to do with chocolate (a gift from a fan of HUVC...thanks, Joe!!!!), flowers (yet another gift from same fan) and a great sunset (a gift from nature)!




 

 

Friday, November 6, 2009

A Brief Respite From "HOSE ME DOWN": We play "catch-up" on our current projects


We are taking a break in our 4-part "HOSE ME DOWN" series to let you know what we have been up to recently!







The Web’s DFR (Daily Fashion Report) for Thursday, October 29, 2009 mentions the uber-dry-cleaner “Madame Paulette” with its recent window exhibition of vintage designer couture and a photo of, YES, you guessed it….OUR Pierre Balmain evening gown, right in front! Above, a close-up photo of the magnificent hand-work!

In our project news:

THEATER:
. In the spirit of Halloween, did you catch “The Happy Embalmer”, part of  the NY Musical Theater Festival?


To the left are Kristen and the show’s designer, Paul Carey, trying on their chapeaux! 

. Another interesting project was supplying 1960’s and 1970’s men’s and women’s clothes for a 45-minute excerpt of James Lapine’s musical “Mrs. Miller Does Her Thing” for pre-Broadway grand opening of the new AT & T Performing Arts Center in Dallas, Texas.

. We sold antique victorian lace to use in creating Angela Lansbury’s dress for the Broadway-bound A Little Night Music” . To the right, assistant designer Tracy Christianson.



. Florencia and Sigfus came in to rent Victorian camisoles, corsets, bustles and a jacket for  a very special “Works in Progress” series at the Guggenheim Museum. Obie Award winner Birgit Huppach stars in Miss St.’s Hieroglyphic Suffering”  on  November 15th and 16th. At left, they are studying the bustle they will take.

BOOK COVERS: 
. 1950’s clothes for “Wide Awake Princess”, a young adult book.

.  “My Name is Mary Sutter”, a wonderful story about a 1860’s young woman with aspirations 
to become a physician.

.  1920’s and 30’s evening clothes for a series of teen book covers for Alloy Entertainment.

Wide Awake Princess Art Director Donna poses to the right

INTERNET:
. Comedy troupe Sidecar came in for a late 1950’s MAD MEN spoof they filmed for Atom.com, Comedy Central's internet site called MILK MAN!!!!


Catch it NOW on  http://www.atom.com/funny_videos/milk_men_trailer/

To the left, actors try on their 1950's lady-like clothes and below, the comedy crew poses...see if you recognize the actors and clothes in the skit!!!  It is a dead-on spoof of Mad Men!







COMMERCIALS:
. Below, Rabiah picks dresses for Cointreau web commercials made up of short films taking place in various years:  We provided clothes for the 1923 & 1948 segments!



. We did another web commercial for NJCAREERDOOR.com, a site that helps direct school seniors & college freshmen with their career options as they continue their education.

. Another large, fun project was a print ad for the History Channel: we costumed turn-of-the-century laborers pictured working on the Statue of Liberty. Can’t wait to see it!

FILM: 

. Kevin Jordan came to pick out some Victorian menswear for Danny Aiello and Jerry Stiller for a film he wants to raise interest for called “Flickerbox”.  Our own Kristen was on set to dress the actors!  Kristen and Kevin at right

. We also rented 50’s and 60’s items for “White Irish Drinkers”, an indie film currently filming in New York City.

TELEVISION:
. Masha and Kristen took charge of pulling clothes for Abe Lincoln, Clarence Darrow and William Jennings Bryan, among others,  for “God in America”,  a PBS series filming in Massachusetts. Our staff often independently pulls for the designers (for a fee)when the design team can’t come to New York themselves.

MUSIC VIDEO:
. We rented Victorian to 1930’s girdles, blouses and menswear (hmmmmmm!) for a video for “Mother Says”

Small jobs, sales and single rentals are treated as courteously as big-ticket films:

. a 40’s blouse rented toHow to Make it in America, a new HBO series about young people
 in NYC who obviously are hip enough to occasionally dress in vintage

. early spectacles rented to a PBS Nova show called “The Pluto Files”

. sold items and rented Edwardian clothes for copying for “The Three Sisters” at Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park

One of the perks of our business is to be invited to the many shows we work on! The staff all enjoyed being invited to the dress rehearsal of “Brighton Beach Memoirs” (which sadly closed) and a preview of “After Miss Julie” ( Helen went to opening night!)…we loved both productions!

The next blog with be a return installment of "HOSE ME DOWN."....wait until you read Henry VIII's  shopping list...what a peacock!!!!






Wednesday, October 28, 2009

HOSE ME DOWN - Queens Elizabeth poo-poos the knitting machine (part II)


The first ”stocking machine” was invented around 1589 by a English clergyman, William Lee of Nottinghamshire.

Legend tells us that Lee had fallen in love with a young village lady who sadly didn’t return his affections, SO consumed was she with teaching students the womanly art of knitting worsted stockings. He became determined to invent a machine that could knit, thereby making her obsession passé and her free time only devoted to him. 

(at left, an example from the Uffner hose archives: early cotton hose w. partially-finished hand embroidery on a stamped pattern)

He left his curacy to devote years towards creating this new “stocking frame” machine and promptly sought the patronage of Queen Elizabeth. Alas, she turned down Lee’s  invention, stating that she was not only upset at the rough results (the machine could only knit 8 loops to the inch - too coarse for silk)  but its use would deprive the poor hand-knitters of their occupation and might add to the growing hordes of  unemployed. 

 To the right, a sample from the Uffner hose archives: hand-made cotton stockings with beaded (yes, beaded!) initials! 

Though the Queen still maintained her love of silk stockings, by 1577 she switched to wearing only knit worsted hose to support the local Norwich knitters.The Queen wrote to a lord of the realm:

"Had Mr. Lee made a machine that would have made silk stockings, I should, I think, have been somewhat justified in granting him a patent for that monopoly, which would have effected only a small number of my subjects, but to enjoy the exclusive privilege of making stockings for the whole of my subjects, is too important to be granted to any individual." 

The Reverend Lee continued to tinker with his machine and 9 years later, was AGAIN turned down by the Queen. Five years after the Queen’s death, he presented the new King of England, James VI of Scotland, with his latest samples - this time, silk stockings. Remember: James was from Scotland, which invented knitting! He took no interest - after all, his own mother

( pictured above) Mary Stuart wore hand-knit stockings to her execution:

 “Jersey hose white under socks of worsted watchett (sea blue) clocked with solver, edged at the tops with silver; both knitted."             

In 1605, The Duke of Sully, Henri IV of France’s astute minister, took a look at the invention and suggested Lee take his creation to France, where he was personally welcomed by the King.

He set up shop in Rouen with his brother, 8 workmen and 8 machines but alas, more bad luck ensued. It is said that the day he was to receive his patent, the King was stabbed to death by a fanatic religious Catholic and Lee’s patronage was immediately withdrawn. 


Spain at the time was already providing the second wife of Henri IV, Marie de' Medici, with exquisitely crafted purple, red and orange (her favorite colors) silk stockings decorated with the French lilies or the Medici coat of arms. She withdrew Lee’s protection. (at right, Henry IV)

Lee eventually died in extreme poverty, alone, in Paris. His burial place is unknown.

His brother continued Lee’s quest back in England and eventually the use of looms gradually increased until the manufacturing of stockings became a thriving national industry and England became the hosiery center of the world.

Several decades after Clergyman Lee was turned down by Queen Elizabeth,  the Framework Knitter’s Company succeeded in its petition to Cromwell for charter rights as "the promoter and inventor of the art and mystery or Trade of Frame-work knitting or making of silk stockings or other work in a frame or engine." and in 1663, the Worshipful Company of Framework Knitters was granted a Royal Charter and continues to exist to this day.




Above, it is said that William Lee is remembered, pictured together with the object of his affections ( thought to have become his wife) and a knitting frame on the coat of arms of the Worshipful Company of Frame-Work-Knitters.

The technology was so guarded by England that by 1696, it was actually illegal to export a stocking-making loom and anyone caught was fined 40 pounds (an immense sum at that time!) and had their equipment confiscated.

copyright © 2009 by helen uffner


...TO BE CONTINUED

Friday, October 23, 2009

HOSE ME DOWN! A Stocking History - Part I




Men’s socks were originally made of two pieces of woven wool cut on the bias for flexibility.

Initially separate legs held up by garters, they began to be seamed up the center-back and became known as “hose” (or “hosen”): close-fitting leggings made of cloth worn by both men and women.

Up to the 15th century, women's hose came only to the knee, but men's extended to the thigh, or even waist, as you will read later in this series of blogs. Women's hose tended to be hidden by their clothing because upper class women didn’t allow their undergarments to be painted in the 1500’s, so most painting references we have of that period are of the working class.

By the 16th century, EVERYBODY wore hose except the poorest of the poor, who are depicted in paintings wearing rags around their feet or are even barefoot. 

It is chronicled in a British journal called “Wriothesley’s” that when Henry VIII’s marriage to Jane became public, he met 2 beautiful sisters who made him sigh and say he was "sorry that he had not seen them before he was married".

 One of the sisters was Anne Basset, who became lady-in-waiting to Henry’s wife Jane (and rumored to later become one of the King’s many mistresses). 

In 1536, Anne wrote to her mother Lady Honor Lisle "Madame, I would beseech you to send me …some pairs of hosen, and a little money for my devotions."

 Her mother replies: "I send you by the bearer money… hose-cloths, because the hosier here knoweth not the bigness of your leg." 

 Men’s hose, of course, were completely visible and were either tied to a doublet (a snug-fitting buttoned jacket) or to the points of white linen underpants (called “braies”) shaped like long, baggy diapers that over time became shorter.  


Early braies had a high waist that was rolled down over a drawstring waist. Hose were secured to the braies by points, which were cords or ties with metal tips which often attached to a belt within the braies (see illustration at right)


Before the 16th  century, the word “breeches” applied to both outer garments AND undergarments but by the late 16th century, hose separated into 2 garments: men’s stockings covering the lower half of the leg were called "netherstocks" or “nether hose” and what we now think of as pants became "upperstocks", known now as breeches or trunk hose (very short breeches just covering the trunk of the body with full-length hose was worn beneath them).


Below: Truck hose and doublet 








In 1564, Englishman William Rider accidentally saw a pair of knitted worsted (yarn spun from wool, combed to lay the fibers smooth & parallel) imported stockings at the home of an Italian merchant from Mantua. He borrowed them, copied them and presented the Earl of Pembroke the first worsted stockings ever made in England.

 The word “worsted” is said to be derived from the village of WORSTEAD in the English countryside of Norfolk, where Flemish weavers migrated to since the Conquest. Though worsted knit stockings were actually "invented" in Scotland in the 15th century, the art then moved to the continent before being “re-discovered” in England.

Tuesday, September 22, 2009

"STAR FOR A DAY"... and MORE!!!



We were excited last Monday to be interviewed for a 3-4 page spread in the English-language German teen magazine “Spot On.  The article is expected to come out in their January 2010 issue.  Each of us was interviewed and we all posed for pictures, even getting the interviewer/editor-in-chief Judy Gilbert to pose in three "leading lady" outfits worn by famous actresses in recent films...  Can you guess them?  (Can't be too hard if you have been following our blogs and Facebook fan pages!!!)





Delighted to welcome our new intern Allyn to our HUVC family!  On her first day with us she was already photographed and interviewed for a magazine!  How cool is that?  Here is Allyn posing in front of our "wall of shame" (a.k.a. "Fame"!)

If you are anything like us, you wait for film credits to roll and read playbills to the end, appreciating the behind-the-scenes people involved in production.  We like to post pictures of designers, directors and other production people who we might read about but never see, and hope you get a kick out of them too.

This month, legendary Broadway/film designer (and Yale professor!) Jane Greenwood came by- she is shopping for “Broadway Bound” and “Brighton Beach Memoirs”,
which will be playing in repertory.  We coincidentally happened to have also worked on the original 1983 “BBM” as well as the 1986 film version!  Previews begin October 2nd at the Nederlander Theater on Broadway. At right, Jane and assistant Jen Moeller pick out dresses to purchase for "Brighton Beach Memoirs", and below, Helen and Jane.

 

 Cherie Cunningham came by looking for a tailcoat for the new vampire musical “The Cure”, running for 6 performances as part of the greater New York Musical Theater Festival, (Sept. 28 - Oct. 18).  It’s a rock n’ roll fable in which two friends stumble across the world's last surviving vampires.  The show is actually teaming up with the Broadway Blood Drive on Sunday, September 20th.  Get it?  A vampire musical sponsoring a blood drive!  Brilliant marketing ploy!


 

Noted writer/director/actor and 3 time Obie-winner Ain Gordon and Tony-nominated (“Company”) actress Veanne Cox came in to look for a costume for his new piece “A Disaster Begins”.  Alas, the Victorian suit she has on was too large for her! This new one-woman play is a young woman’s account of being witness to the worst natural disaster in American history: the Galveston, Texas hurricane in 1900 which took 6,000 lives. The show will run in Texas and also in New York at the Here Arts Theater from October 9-17. (http://www.here.org)



Another project coming to us was a short film, “Until the End of the World”. Actor Christopher Wright tried on a uniform that fit him perfectly while costume designer Lauren Bates Jaffe looks on and continued to look through our men's racks. 

Other projects we recently worked on:

 

MOVIES:

.  1930’s gowns for Emily Blunt’s character in the contemporary film “The Adjustment Bureau”

.  men’s 1940’s items for the science fiction film “Recreator”

 

THEATER:

.  “Playboy of the Western World” at the Pearl Theater in NY

.  “Three Days of Rain” playing in Fort Worth, Texas

 

COMMERCIALS:

.  After renting 1930’s little boys’ clothes for a Wisk commercial, we then did a Woolite commercial for which we rented 1950’s women’s dresses and aprons (can’t wait to see them!)

1940’s and 1950’s children's and adult clothes for a print ad for the dementia medication Exelon

1930’s wool mittens for a commercial for Glade

 

CATALOGUES:

.  Victorian and 1930’s undergarments for the next Victoria’s Secret” catalogue..  Hmmmmmmm… At right, stylist Grace Koo models a silk chiffon ruffled 1930's bed jacket.

 

TV:

.  fabulous 1920’s flapper dresses to “Gossip Girl” for a segment not yet shown on TV

.  another rental to the new, contemporary USA network series “White Collar”, this time 1970’s items as opposed to the previous rental of 1930’s items!

 

INTERNET:

.  we rented clothes to the web’s “Onion News Network” for one of their faux news pieces

 

OPERA:

…and for the 4th time this year (!!!), another “Don Giovanni”, this time reset in the 1920’s at New York’s famed NY City Opera.