Irene and I visited the Romantic Museum of Madrid yesterday in order to attend the workshop ‘From XIX to XXI Century: Goth Ladies and Steampunk Dandies’. Carmen Cabrejas, from the Museum, and the Spanish designer Jacqueline Pingarrón, artificer of the fashion project Jacq The Rimmel, welcomed the visitors and became the center of attention inmediatly.
I.- The museum tour
Firstly, they guided our tour through the museum explaning the evolution of ladies and gentlemen fashion during this period. Have you ever though about the influence of crinolines, corsets or bustles on modern fashion? We are certainly direct heirs of XIX century fashion. After all, the fashion industry is a product of the modern age.
Prior to the mid XX century, most clothing was handmade for individuals. Clothing design and creation was handled by largely anonymous seamstresses. Fashion design is generally considered to have started in the XIX century with Charles Frederick Worth (1826–1895), the first designer to have his label sewn into the garments that he created. Little by little design houses began to hire artists to sketch or paint designs for garments, which was much cheaper than producing an actual sample garment. In fact, many more big changes were coming…
- New materials from colonies.
- New, cheap, bright dyes that displaced the old animal or vegetable dyes.
- The introduction of the lock-stitch sewing machine.
- The emergence of clothing collections per season.
To sum up, the spread of mass production technologies with the rise of global capitalism in the beginning of the XX century was a complete game changer. As a result of this perfect storm, by 1907 clothing was increasingly factory-made and often sold in large, fixed price department stores.
II.- The round table
Secondly, we all gathered in one of the conference rooms and, after a complementary slides presentation, there was a lively discussion about Goth and Steampunk fashion, including some controversial topics such as the mourning clothing or the corsetry use -and abuse-.
This was a really enjoyable opportunty to learn, admire the impressive ‘Eugenia de Montijo‘ dress by Jacq The Rimmel and greet Jacqueline, Lady Elisabeth and Sir Jack Winchester and Vicky Hurtado among others.
Last but not least, we have no alternative but to express our gratitude and suggest a new workshop focusing on accesories, footwear and jewelry!
Bonus: If your are looking for visual inspiration about Steampunk fashion do not forget to follow us in Flickr, Pinterest, Tumblr…
JF Alfaya
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