Across many
cultures and civilizations, wearable art was used to signify wealth,
prosperity, nobility and royalty, as well as religious protection. Such
examples can be commonly found in Ancient Egyptian pieces such as the “Eye of
Horus” worn by a pharaoh and the Ankh, both acting as symbols for certain
spiritual belief and providing the wearer with protection and a connection with
gods. Using wearable art as a symbol of wealth is still common in many cultures;
a young Indian girl will wear a nose ring once she is married. A young Zulu
girl will wear beads to convey message to Zulu men as to whether she is
married, single, available etc other tribes in the Philippines and Africa wear
Neck rings and lip stretchers to show wealth and beauty needles to mention all
the wearable art worn by a king, queen, tribal leader, pharaoh from all
cultures throughout the world.
In western
society, we have encouraged and developed the importance of the individual over
the society or community resulting in an unusual situation where people are
free to express themselves through wearable art in an indulgent rather than a
socially functional way. The use of wearable art seems to have changed through
the ages from being the non verbal means of communicating by an individual to
their community, to being simply the way to express one’s uniqueness and
individuality. In fact, in less western civilizations and cultures, the wearing
of jewelries was not a choice that an individual could take but was a
compulsory part of day to day functioning within that culture. Today we can
choose to adorn ourselves with wearable art or not and that choice in itself is
a further expression of individuality.
Wearable art
comes today in the multitude of forms, mediums and expressions and these are so
varying in their concept and style that it would be difficult to categorize
them all. However it would be easier to firstly describe wearable art as any
item of jewelry that is not mass produced, that is hand crafted to a high
degree of finish and excellence and that is unique. Weather the wearable art is
made from precious materials or from a bicycle tire, its not important, what is
important is weather the art work is well made, is of lasting quality and is
exclusive. These are a multitude of talented artisans creating amazing pieces
of which are in many bead-weaving, metal work, wire work, up-cycled materials,
gem stones, paper etc.
People adorn
themselves with wearable art for differing reasons nowadays and although the
social reasons for wearing it have changed; perhaps there is still the sense
that art Jewelry can convey one’s personality and flair to others. Where
previously the art was of no importance and the creative process intrigues us,
and a particular artist, work can be collected and treasured because of his/her
reputation label.
Wearable art
is a unique piece of Jewelry which is one of a kind, created by an artist hand
by any material. The art or may not be functional or may be displayed in a
museum or be worn as Jewelries; but however it is displayed, it must be of
excellent quality and execution and have the potential to make the wearer feel
unique, different and ultimately exciting.
Wearable art
also known as Art-wear or “art to wear” refers to individually designed pieces
of handmade clothing or Jewelry created as fine or expressive art. The term
wearable art implies that the work is intended to be accepted as a serious and
unique artistic creation or statement. The modern idea of wearable art seems to
have surfaced more than once in various forms. Most wearable art is made of
fibrous materials and constitutes therefore a branch of the wider field of
fiber art, which include both wearable and non wearable forms of art as an
artistic domain can also include jewelry, or clothing made from non-fiber
materials such as leather, plastic sheeting, metal, etc.
Artist
creating wearable fiber art may use purchased finished fabrics or other
materials, making them into unique garments, or may dye and paint virgin
fabric. Countering the believe that art is something expensive; some clothing
artists have started local companies to produce quality art work and clothing
for a modest price. Wearable art is not restricted to Jewelry but also seen in
graphic T-shirts and even pants. The talent and skills of artists in this field
vary widely. Since the nature of the medium requires craft skills as well as
artistic skills, an advance artist may wish to study color theory, chemistry,
sewing, clothing design, and computer software such as the fashion institute of
technology in New York City.
Jewelry as a Wearable Art
Some 20th-century modern artists and architects
sought to elevate boldly ornamentation that is Jewelry to the level of fine and
original design, rather than mere decoration, craft production of traditional
designs, or conventional settings for showing off expensive stones or precious
metals. The wearable Art Movement (2004), author Marbeth Schon Explores unique
and innovative wearable art objects created by surrealists, cubists, abstract
expressionists, and other modernist artists working in the middle decades of
the 20th century.
Wearable art is by its very nature
difficult to define. It could be called artwork for the body, but this does not
acknowledge its complex relationship to the art world, the fashion world, and
the world of craft. Wearable art is separate from mainstream fashion, yet
remains related to it. Although wearable art take varied forms, and employs
diverse techniques such as knitting, leader tooling, weaving, dyeing, and
sewing, it shares a spirit of fantasy, craftsmanship, and commitment to
personal vision
During the
1970s, “wearables” were generally unconventional works that celebrated the
intimacy of creation through the highly individual artistic language. This
intensely personal and narrative nature of wearable art distinguishes it from
the earlier manifestations of artist created garments that appeared beginning
in the nineteenth century. Although it was not a direct linear development,
wearable art owes its emergence to the climate of artistic of artistic
expression cultivated by earlier avant-garde dress movements beginning a
century before.
In the
nineteenth century, the pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood, formed in 1848 by John
Everett Millaise, William Holman Hunt, and Dante Gabriel Rossetti, was one of
the collective efforts by artists to create alternative dress. In response to
an increasingly industrialized society and mass-produced, cheap goods, the Pre-Raphaelites
deliberately sought inspiration in medieval and Renaissance art; they encourage
their wives, mistresses, and models to wear clothing modeled after earlier
styles. These historically inspired garments appeared in their paintings and
provided a sharp visual contrast to the prevailing Victorian fashions of
tightly corseted bodies with full, bell shaped suspended over petticoats and
hoops. William Morris shared in the voluminous and constricting fashions of
Victorian England. The man most closely associated with the British art and
crafts movement. Like the Pre-Raphaelites, Morris sought to revitalized art and
dress through a return to simplicity and hand craftsmanship inspired by
historic models. Morris admired the paintings and decorative art of the Middle
Ages and advocated simple, pictures, which he felt was more complimentary to a
woman’s natural form. His wife, Jane, was known to have adopted a form of plain
dress without cossets or hoops. Effort to create alternative dress for women
without the armature of hoops, bustles, and corsets has been at the forefront
of the concurrent dress reform movement. This movement emerged in the
mid-nineteenth century and concerned itself primarily with Health and comfort.
Rather than the appearance of dress. In 1870s and 1880s, advocate of Aesthetic
Dress championed a natural line in dress formed from soft, droppable fabrics
without corsets or bustles.
Rejecting the garish colors produced by the aniline dyes prevalent in contemporary fashion, advocate of Aesthetic dress preferred muted earth tones in moss greens, browns, yellows, and peacock blues. Aesthetic dress took a variety of forms. Some garments incorporated smocking and puffed sleeves in vaguely Renaissance styles, while others suggested “classical” drapery. Another strong influence on artist during the late nineteenth century Eastern art, particularly Japanese woodblock prints and stencil- printed fabrics. Fascination with Eastern goods went along with this Japonism. Alternative dress in the form of anti-fashion for artists and intellectuals. James McNeill Whistler had a strong hand in designing the fashion of hi s sitters and, in fact, created a Japonesque dress worn by Mrs. Florence Leyland in her 1873 portrait entitled Symphony in flesh color and pink. Aiding the efforts of the Aesthetes was Arthur Lazenby Liberty, who became a mecca for artist and enthusiasts seeking imported decorative arts from the near and far East, as well as fabrics in the soft greens, yellows, and browns so favored by aesthetic dressers. In 1884, liberty appointed the architect Edwin Godwin to direct a dress department thereby making artistic dress available to the public. Liberty’s created a line of their own dresses with high waistlines and loose, puffed sleeves reminiscent of the Regency period of the early nineteenth century a forecast of the direction that mainstream fashion would take in the Early 1900s. In the 1880s artistic dress gained a certain level of acceptance in mainstream fashion.
Widespread acceptance of the tea gown, a loose, uncorseted informal gown worn at home, was one of the crowning achievements of Aesthetic Dress advocates. However the British Arts and Crafts Movement led to efforts to expand reform and artistic dress. In 1890, the Healthy and artistic Dress Union was formed. Several dresses were designed in the classical mode by Walter Crane. The British Arts and Crafts movement had a strong impact in American and stimulated a call for dress reform there. Chief spokesman for the American arts and Crafts movement, advocated beauty, comfort and simplicity in dress in the journal The Craftsman, which had broad appeal to middle-class Americans. A number of progressive artists and architects associated with art. An extension of the artistic effort to create unified interiors. The Belgian Architect Henry van de Velde designed dresses for his wife, as did the American architect Frank Lloyd Wright.
In Vienna, Secessionist painter Gustav Klimt collaborated with his wife, Emilie Floge, herself a dressmaker, to create costumes. Wiener Werkstatte cofounder Josof Hoffmann was known to design not only interiors of his clients’ homes, but also their clothing.
Rejecting the garish colors produced by the aniline dyes prevalent in contemporary fashion, advocate of Aesthetic dress preferred muted earth tones in moss greens, browns, yellows, and peacock blues. Aesthetic dress took a variety of forms. Some garments incorporated smocking and puffed sleeves in vaguely Renaissance styles, while others suggested “classical” drapery. Another strong influence on artist during the late nineteenth century Eastern art, particularly Japanese woodblock prints and stencil- printed fabrics. Fascination with Eastern goods went along with this Japonism. Alternative dress in the form of anti-fashion for artists and intellectuals. James McNeill Whistler had a strong hand in designing the fashion of hi s sitters and, in fact, created a Japonesque dress worn by Mrs. Florence Leyland in her 1873 portrait entitled Symphony in flesh color and pink. Aiding the efforts of the Aesthetes was Arthur Lazenby Liberty, who became a mecca for artist and enthusiasts seeking imported decorative arts from the near and far East, as well as fabrics in the soft greens, yellows, and browns so favored by aesthetic dressers. In 1884, liberty appointed the architect Edwin Godwin to direct a dress department thereby making artistic dress available to the public. Liberty’s created a line of their own dresses with high waistlines and loose, puffed sleeves reminiscent of the Regency period of the early nineteenth century a forecast of the direction that mainstream fashion would take in the Early 1900s. In the 1880s artistic dress gained a certain level of acceptance in mainstream fashion.
Widespread acceptance of the tea gown, a loose, uncorseted informal gown worn at home, was one of the crowning achievements of Aesthetic Dress advocates. However the British Arts and Crafts Movement led to efforts to expand reform and artistic dress. In 1890, the Healthy and artistic Dress Union was formed. Several dresses were designed in the classical mode by Walter Crane. The British Arts and Crafts movement had a strong impact in American and stimulated a call for dress reform there. Chief spokesman for the American arts and Crafts movement, advocated beauty, comfort and simplicity in dress in the journal The Craftsman, which had broad appeal to middle-class Americans. A number of progressive artists and architects associated with art. An extension of the artistic effort to create unified interiors. The Belgian Architect Henry van de Velde designed dresses for his wife, as did the American architect Frank Lloyd Wright.
In Vienna, Secessionist painter Gustav Klimt collaborated with his wife, Emilie Floge, herself a dressmaker, to create costumes. Wiener Werkstatte cofounder Josof Hoffmann was known to design not only interiors of his clients’ homes, but also their clothing.
In the Early Twentieth Century, unconventional
artistic dress had achieved a certain level of acceptance. Wearing of artistic
dress had even become a badge of distinction, bestowing upon the wearer an aura
of progressive ideals, Intellectualism and good taste. These attribute were
particularly accorded to the wearers of Fortuny dresses. Fortuny was born into
the family of Spanish painters living in Venice, created Renaissance and medieval-inspired
printed velvet gowns, as well as a simple columnar pleated silk dress inspired
by ancient Greek sculpture. The latter dress, called the Delphos, was patented
in 1909 and was produced, with slight variations, through the 1940s. Fortuny
dresses became synonymous with simplicity, elegance, and timeless beauty and
were favored by members of artistic and intellectual circles. As the century
progressed, a number of avant-garde painters also turned to the medium of
fashion for artistic expression, viewing garment as the perfect form of kinetic
and visual tableaux. Simultaneist and Rayonnist artist Sonia Delaunay and
Natalia Goncharova tried their hand at fashion design and worked for the
Parisian couture houses of Heim and Myrbor, respectively. Even more extreme
were the 1913 dress designs of Italian futurist Giacomo Balla and the
mass-produced work clothes created by Russian constructivists Varvara Stepanova
and Elexander Rodchenko.
Jean Cocteau, Pablo Picasso, and even Ferdinand lager took turns designing garments in the first quarter of the twentieth century. During the 1910 and 1920s, poets’ writers, artists, socialists, feminists, and philosophers flocked to this shabby neighborhood to share their progressive ideas on life and art, that found expression in the clothes they wore. Greenwich Village became synonymous with bohemian and alternative fashion that included uncorseted, straight tunic dresses, loose jackets, and bobbed hair for women. Greenwich Village artists appear to be particularly associated with the revival of the batik technique that became a popular form of artistic dress decoration during the late 1910s and 1920s. this anti fashion provide a link with the European artistic dress movements of the previous century and set the stage for Avant Garde experiments in dress later in the twentieth century.
In 1930s, a renewed interest in hand weaving led to a revival in that and other textile crafts in America, Particularly after World War II. And it’s linked to the wearable art movement of the late 1960s and 1970s. This weaving revival was particularly accelerated by the arrival of a number of Bauhaus-trained Europea n Émigrés in America during the 1930s and 1940s. such as Anni Albers and Marianne Strengell who joined the teaching staffs of the Black Mountain College in North Carolina and Cran-brook Academy in Michigan, respectively. A generation later, their students pushed the boundaries of textile arts even further through their radical, off-loom woven sculptures of the late 1950s. Exploring the power of weaving, plaiting, dyeing, embroidery, knitting, and crochet, these fiber artists imbued the ancient techniques with new, expressive possibilities. Their creations paved way for the wearable art carried on the exploration into textile techniques of the larger, inclusive fiber art movement.
Jean Cocteau, Pablo Picasso, and even Ferdinand lager took turns designing garments in the first quarter of the twentieth century. During the 1910 and 1920s, poets’ writers, artists, socialists, feminists, and philosophers flocked to this shabby neighborhood to share their progressive ideas on life and art, that found expression in the clothes they wore. Greenwich Village became synonymous with bohemian and alternative fashion that included uncorseted, straight tunic dresses, loose jackets, and bobbed hair for women. Greenwich Village artists appear to be particularly associated with the revival of the batik technique that became a popular form of artistic dress decoration during the late 1910s and 1920s. this anti fashion provide a link with the European artistic dress movements of the previous century and set the stage for Avant Garde experiments in dress later in the twentieth century.
In 1930s, a renewed interest in hand weaving led to a revival in that and other textile crafts in America, Particularly after World War II. And it’s linked to the wearable art movement of the late 1960s and 1970s. This weaving revival was particularly accelerated by the arrival of a number of Bauhaus-trained Europea n Émigrés in America during the 1930s and 1940s. such as Anni Albers and Marianne Strengell who joined the teaching staffs of the Black Mountain College in North Carolina and Cran-brook Academy in Michigan, respectively. A generation later, their students pushed the boundaries of textile arts even further through their radical, off-loom woven sculptures of the late 1950s. Exploring the power of weaving, plaiting, dyeing, embroidery, knitting, and crochet, these fiber artists imbued the ancient techniques with new, expressive possibilities. Their creations paved way for the wearable art carried on the exploration into textile techniques of the larger, inclusive fiber art movement.
In the late Twentieth Century,
wearable art is also the product of a unique climate of cultural and social
change that occurred at the end of the 1960s. it came during the period that
witnessed the flourishing of performance and body art concurrent with the
rejection of traditional haute couture in favor of more democratic fashions inspired
by hippies and street style. Makers of wearable art in the late 1960s and 1970s
did not attempt to influence universal trends in fashion. Rather they choose to
express a singularly personal vision of dress a notion that separates them from
earlier artistic dress. At the heart of the wearable art movement was the
rejection of traditional hierarchies in art that elevated fine art over craft.
In the 1970s, wearable art incorporated materials that had traditionally held
craft associations, embracing the formally “women’s work” of textiles as fine
art. Paramount to wearable art in this early phase was the utilization of
traditional techniques such as sewing; leather tooling, weaving, knitting, and
dying were suddenly enriched by the dimension of storytelling, such as in the
fantastical, painted and tooled-leader garments of Nina Vivian Huryn. Other
artist like Janet Lipkin, Sharon Hedges, and Norma etc reinvigorated
traditional crochet and knitting, producing new, voluptuous and organic wearable.
One of the most pervasive forms of wearable that emerged in the 1970s was that
of the Kimono. With its wide, untailored panels it provided the ideal surface
for showcasing two- dimensional treatments.
Tim Harding is another artist who has excelled in this format in the past three decades producing rich garments from sandwiched fabrics, manipulated to reveal layers of color and texture. Validation of this nascent art form arrived with the landmark exhibition “Art to Wear: New Handmade clothing” held at American Craft Museum in New York City in 1983 this came ten years after Julie Dale’s had established her Artisan’s Gallery continues to showcase excellence in wearable art. Wearable works exhibited greater emphasis on surface imagery, rendered in a more controlled, graphic style. Wearable art in the 1990s and early twenty-first century continue to expand and gain greater acceptance in mainstream fashion. To some, the wearable art movement in the early 2000s is a splintered and unrecognizable entity, exuberance, and integrity of the heady days of the 1970s and early 1980s.
To others wearable art has merely evolved into a larger more diverse entity. Artists making wearable’s in the twenty-first century continue to explore techniques, but also show a new interest in computers and other technology. Moreover, wearable art has moved closer to mainstream contemporary fashion, revealing a stronger shared vision. A haute couture designers such as, John Galliano and Alexander McQueen move increasingly into the “art-for-the-catwalk” realm, so wearable artists have exhibited greater practicality and business acumen in their garments, thereby appealing to a wider audience interested in craftsmanship, quality, and uniqueness in garments.
Tim Harding is another artist who has excelled in this format in the past three decades producing rich garments from sandwiched fabrics, manipulated to reveal layers of color and texture. Validation of this nascent art form arrived with the landmark exhibition “Art to Wear: New Handmade clothing” held at American Craft Museum in New York City in 1983 this came ten years after Julie Dale’s had established her Artisan’s Gallery continues to showcase excellence in wearable art. Wearable works exhibited greater emphasis on surface imagery, rendered in a more controlled, graphic style. Wearable art in the 1990s and early twenty-first century continue to expand and gain greater acceptance in mainstream fashion. To some, the wearable art movement in the early 2000s is a splintered and unrecognizable entity, exuberance, and integrity of the heady days of the 1970s and early 1980s.
To others wearable art has merely evolved into a larger more diverse entity. Artists making wearable’s in the twenty-first century continue to explore techniques, but also show a new interest in computers and other technology. Moreover, wearable art has moved closer to mainstream contemporary fashion, revealing a stronger shared vision. A haute couture designers such as, John Galliano and Alexander McQueen move increasingly into the “art-for-the-catwalk” realm, so wearable artists have exhibited greater practicality and business acumen in their garments, thereby appealing to a wider audience interested in craftsmanship, quality, and uniqueness in garments.
EXAMPLE OF WEARABLE ART
Not all garment created as wearable art are made from
traditional fibers or fabrics, and not all such artworks are meant for ordinary,
practical use. Performance and conceptual artists have sometimes produced
examples which are more provocative than useful. Trashion is another branch of
extraordinary wearable art. The Portland Oregon trashion collective, junk to
funk has been using creating outrageous art garments out of trash.
A known example is Electric Dress, a ceremonial wedding dress
like costume consisting of mostly of variously colored electrified and painted
light bulbs, enmeshed in a tangle of wires, created in 1956 by Japanese artist.
This extreme garment was something like a stage costume. Not really wearable in
an everyday practical sense, it functioned rather as part of the artist swearing
the piece while mingling with spectators in a gallery setting.
Wearable art has the following function:-
1. It has the ability to do something while it is being worn.2. It has the ability to blur the boundaries between human body and the environment through camouflage or transformation of form, colour or texture.3. It always has a message to give out to the audience and usually signifies a lot of thingsCHARACTERISTIC OF WEARABLE ART1. ColourChoose a dress that is going to complement your skin tone. Avoid colours that are en-trend but do not flatter you. In this case you want to choose a flattering and transitional colour.2. FabricFeel the fabric against your skin. It is best to try them and stick to fabrics you know look chic on you and stay away from fabrics that add bulk.3. FitThe fit is one of most important characteristics of a dress because a poor fitting dress is an unfashionable dress. Know your best assets, and if you need a little help, our beautiful stylist and wellington store manager Laura, will guide you and let you know what works best for you.4. StyleThe style of your dress says a lot about your personal style. You need to look to what makes the dress stand out. To help you choose which one will be the ONE, you can book an appointment in store with any of our Taylor stylists.
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