Interesting Stuff

Posted on by
Reply
Image courtesy of the U.S. National Library of Medicine

In honor of Black History Month and the upcoming World War II exhibit at the Museum of Texas Tech University, we have chosen to highlight the life achievements of Dr. Charles Drew, a leading innovator of the 20th century in blood plasma processing and storage.

Born on June 3rd 1904 in Washington D.C., Drew stood out as a talented athlete. He graduated as a four-year letterman from Dunbar High School showing potential for a career in sports coaching and administration. He attended Amherst University both running track and playing football.

Image Courtesy of the Smithsonian National Museum of American History

 While a professor of chemistry and biology at Morgan State College, Drew decided to pursue a life-long dream of attending medical school. He enrolled in the Medical School of McGill University in Montreal, Canada, graduating in 1933 second in his class with both his doctorate of medicine and masters in surgery. Drew then pursued multiple internships at hospitals in Montreal, Howard University and Columbia University, where he earned a Rockefeller Fellowship in 1938. This opportunity allowed him the resources to pursue his research of blood composition and storage. With World War II burgeoning in Europe, Drew developed a process in which plasma could be dried and preserved in mass quantities, making it easily accessible on the battlefield. Drew was chosen as the medical supervisor for the plasma collection effort for the American Red Cross in both Great Britain and the United States. In 1942, a controversial ruling regarding the segregation of blood by ethnicity caused Drew to resign from his position. He then accepted simultaneous offers for a position as a surgeon at Freedmen’s Hospital and a professor of medicine at Howard University.

Image Courtesy of the U.S. National Library of Medicine

Dr. Charles Drew died in a car accident on April 1st 1950 at the age of 45. He will always be remembered for his significant contributions to the wartime effort, as well as racial equality in the medical field.

Object of the Day

Posted on by
Reply

Two-Piece Navy, Wool Riding Habit, 1870s

Most women who chose to ride in the 19th Century were of more than moderate means.  A lady would be required to be fitted for a riding habit of the latest style trends, and to have a horse specifically trained to carry a woman sidesaddle.  The tightly fitted, plain bodice and less full skirt of this riding habit is indicative of the changing style of the women’s riding habit to suit the Victorian era fashions of the 1870′s.  Before, riding habits were of varying colors, more voluminous in material, and more feminine lines.  Often times, though, the long and picturesque skirts would prove dangerous to both the riders and the horses.  By the mid-1870′s, the bodice styles of riding habits became more severe and masculine, and shoulder seams at their natural point rather than dropped.  The skirts, too, became less full, and riders would wear chamois or soft leather breeches under her skirts to have a more secure seating.

Early 1870's stereoveiw of French ladies wearing riding habits while mounted. From the collection of Leila Hidic.

This riding habit within the collections of the Museum of Texas Tech University has a fitted bodice, pointed in the center front and has a bodice opening which fastens with brown leather, buckled straps in the front.  The high-standing collar, sleeve cuffs and squared tails in the back are also trimmed and fastened with the buckled leather straps.  The long-trained skirt has two gores; an unusual cut with an inset that cups to allow space for fitting over the horn of the sidesaddle.

Exhibit News

Posted on by
Reply

Today is the first Friday of the month and that means it’s time for the First Friday Art Trail. Today we will be replacing the center dress with this 1938 wedding gown.

This ivory marquisette and lace wedding gown, slip and veil was worn by Jane Richards for her marriage to Alton Wade on August 20, 1938, at St. James Episcopal Church in Lakewood, Ohio.

Don’t forget to vote for your favorite wedding dress here or at the museum for the dress that will be featured in the center May 2012.

Object of the Day

Posted on by
1

Three Ballerina Boudoir Dolls, 1920s

The notoriously dubbed “roaring 20s” marked a vibrant shift in fashion trends and, thus symbiotically, the social scenes of both Europe and the United States. Suppressed alcohol regulations encouraged an underworld of rebellion and exploration. Shoes gained inches to highlight dresses cropped short of the ankle. Sleeveless dresses with plunging necklines accentuated the daring “bob” hairstyle. Bee-stung lips in deep hues of reds and purples accompanied elaborated costume jewelry. Silent films and photographic tabloids were revolutionary in informing the mass public of the latest crazes and took much credit for the changing times. They illuminated the faces of the new generation and worked to inspire the newfound freedom.

Courtesy of Getty Images

The boudoir doll grew in popularity around 1920. Owned by young women between late teenage years and early 30s, these dolls were not made for play. Instead, they sat on the bed or lounge couch of the young lady. Boudoir dolls were typically larger than others, ranging from twenty to thirty inches from toe to head. They were dressed in sumptuous attire that reflected the swankiest styles of the elite. Women tended to their dolls as cherished children, combing their hair and redressing them as fashions changed. Boudoir dolls served to symbolize the new modes of dress while simultaneously marking the glamorous personal style of their owners.

Alexandria Danilova with her boudoir doll. Courtesy of Getty Images.

The three ballerina boudoir dolls in the Museum of Texas Tech collection were made in France in the 1920s. They have entirely cloth bodies, silk-woven hair strands and minutely hand-painted faces. Their dresses form tulip shapes of faded pink and yellow linen. These dolls mark the popularity of the ballet in the early 20th century as a “see and be seen” social function. Moreover, they accentuate their owner’s informed and stylish taste.

 

Object of the Day

Posted on by
Reply

Blue Crepe Dinner Dress, 1930s

Detail of the chevron-studded sleeve

This dress belonged to Lubbock native, Dorothy Rylander.  She attended Texas Technical College (later to become Texas Tech University).  Beginning college in 1927, she received both a Bachelor’s and a Master’s degrees in history. Her association with TTC was interrupted for several years when she worked in the office of Texas Congressman George Mahon in Washington, DC from 1946-1953.

Ms. Rylander wore this blue crepe dinner dress during her time at the college. The bias cut of the fabric along with the cowl neckline represent common design elements of the 1930s. Alternating gold and silver square studded chevrons embellish the bell-cut sleeves.

Throughout her long and fruitful career, she contributed to several entities on campus, including the College of Engineering, the West Texas Museum and the West Texas Museum Association, and the Southwest Collection. Retiring in 1971, she remained actively involved in community organizations in Lubbock receiving both the “Freda McVay Award for Community Service” in 1981 and the TTU’s “College of Arts and Science’s Distinguished Alumnus Award” in 1988.

Object of the Day

Posted on by
Reply

RICARDE OF HOLLYWOOD, Gold toned Filigree Necklace, early 1940s

This Ricarde of Hollywood necklace dates from the early 1940′s. It is believed that this piece is a replica of a necklace worn in the movie Juarez with Bette Davis or possibly from the movie Gone With the Wind. Some Gone with the Wind researchers claim that it matches a bracelet with red stones, which was worn by Belle Watling in the movie. This necklace is beautifully designed with raised intricate fretwork and the stones are rhinestones or possibly paste.

Bette Davis in the movie Juarez, wearing a necklace that could be possibly the inspiration for the Ricarde of Hollywood necklace.

Designer Spotlight

Posted on by
Reply

LUCIEN LELONG, Grey-Blue Chiffon and Silk Wedding Dress, 1946

Mrs. Kay Boutin wore this long grey-blue chiffon wedding dress with full-gauged skirt, wide scoop neckline and chiffon bow for her wedding to Major Paul Boutin on May 29, 1946 in Paris, France.  Paul Boutin was a Major in the US Army and Mrs. Kay Boutin  was an Army Librarian with the special services. The Bride wore a white orchid in her hair, carried a bouquet of white orchids and wore long white kid gloves. The dress was made by Lucien Lelong, and this particular one was one of his designs post WWII.

This is the original Bill of Sale for the Delong wedding dress purchased on May 27, 1946, days before the wedding.

Lucien Lelong (October 11, 1889 – May 11, 1958) was a French couturier who was prominent from the 1920s to the 1940s.  He is most remembered for his heroic diplomatic efforts to sustain Parisian couture during World War II. He was elected as president of the Chambre Syndicale de la Couture in 1937, which would prove to be his greatest challenge and contribution to fashion.

As president of the Chambre Syndicale de la Couture, it was his job to negotiate with the occupying German regime. The Nazis wanted to move Paris fashion to Berlin by any means, including violence. On July 20, 1940 five Nazi officers arrived at the headquarters of the Chambre Syndicale on an ‘inspection’; five days later they broke into the building and requisitioned the archive and seize all of the  documents pertaining to the French export trade.

Lucien Lelong

Under the plan of the Nazis, Paris ateliers would be moved to Germany or Austria, where they would train a new generation of German dressmakers. The designers would also be moved. Within a generation, the Nazis expected, couture would be German, not French. Lelong pointed out that the plan was unworkable. The skills, he explained, were unteachable, that you could not transfer them, and it took decades to reach the necessary levels of craftsmanship.

This iconic photo of Lisa in a Lucien Lelong gown swinging precariously off the Eiffel Tower, was taken by Erwin Blumenfeld for Vogue 1939

By 1941 the Germans had issued textile ration cards to every design house. It was obvious that compliance with these regulations would spell the end of Paris couture. Lelong, through difficult negotiations, obtained exemptions for 12 houses. Lelong said, “Unfortunately the Germans noticed at the end of six months that 92 houses were operating, which led to more discussions. Finally we succeeded in keeping 60.” Madame Grés and Balenciaga both exceeded their yardage requirements one season and were ordered to close for two weeks. Banding together in a show of unity and force, the remaining houses finished the two collections so they could be shown on time.

Natalie Paley (Mrs. Lucien Lelong from 1927-1937) wearing a black sequined evening gown by Lelong, photo by Man Ray, 1934

Lelong is credited with saving over 12,000 workers from deportation into German war industries. Over the period of four years, 14 official conferences had been held with the Germans, at four of them the Germans had announced that la couture was to be entirely suppressed, and each time the French avoided catastrophe.

Lucien Lelong evening gown design illustrated by Rene Gruau, 1947

 Lelong employed many talented young designers and gave them the opportunity to grow professionally. Christian Dior, Pierre Balmain, Hubert de Givenchy, and Jean Schlumberger were all employed by Lelong at one time or another.

Lelong retired in 1948 and died a decade later near Biarritz. He showed a total of 110 collections during his career, and though closed his couture business, he continued a fragrance business which he had started in the 1924 and is still in existence today.