The Ornamented Being
Ornamented: -verb: Adorn; beautify. Be·ing: -noun: Fulfillment of possibilities; essential completeness.
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Dress (Robe de Style)
House of Lanvin (French, founded 1889)
c. 1922
Met
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“The Madeleines is a series of twelve sculptural, felted dresses made for the use of historical figures and their imaginary engagement in athletic activity. “Pleurer comme une Madeleine’ is to cry inconsolably. These Madeleines no longer cry: they are happy, finally to get the chance to participate in the game. They lift up their padded armored, felted skirts to step out on the ice, the field, the rink. Gaius Plinius Secundus(23-79 A.D.), Roman author of the ‘Natural History’ said that wool felt treated with vinegar would resist iron and fire. The Madeleines are like that too.”
-Angelika Werth
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Fencing Dress #2: Ode to Jeanne d’ Arc (Joan of Arc) (with detail), 2006–2007; merino wool, silk, antique lace, silk brocade, fencing mask, foil; handfelted.
Angelika Werth’s Madeleines
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Baseball Dress: Ode to Coco Chanel (with detail), 2009; merino wool, silk, embedded wire, deconstructed base balls, antique silk embroidery, silk, antique buttons, old linen mattress covers, baseball glove; hand-felted, deconstructed, reconstructed.
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Tomorrows theme is a modern take on some old silhouettes relying heavily on a sporting motif.
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I found my epee tonight. It’s a bittersweet memento. I fenced competitively for quite a while when I was younger. I lived for the feel of my beautiful Negrini epee casually gripped in my hand and then the call of en garde, that tense feeling of excitement. My poor epee guard has so many battle wounds!
I started researching Ladies fencing in the Edwardian era and then went farther back in the Victorian era. You’ll never believe where I ended up?! In 1348! I thought perhaps I would share my research since it’s quite fascinating!
So, en garde!
