State of the Arts Category Archive: Fashion

Don't say underwear; say Munsingwear

Posted at 11:48 AM on May 9, 2011 by Marianne Combs (0 Comments)
Filed under: Fashion, Museums

Detail from a Munsingwear ad, circa the 1920s

Minneapolis was once home to one of the most successful underwear manufacturers - Munsingwear.

A new exhibit has just opened at the Minnesota History Center which exposes the inside story of Munsingwear. It's called, fittingly, "Underwear: A Brief History."

A new book published to accompany the exhibit is called "In the Mood for Munsingwear."

This morning on Morning Edition host Cathy Wurzer interviewed author Susan Marks at the building where Munsingwear was based for many years.

It turns out the key to Munsingwear's success was mixing silk with wool so that its underwear didn't itch.

My favorite part of the interview? Hearing how Cathy Wurzer says "unmentionables."

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Your weekend outlook: campy and sentimental

Posted at 8:52 AM on June 16, 2010 by Marianne Combs (0 Comments)
Filed under: Fashion

Bradley Greenwald as the lady of the house in The Mystery of Irma Vep, opening this weekend at the Jungle Theater. Photo by Michal Daniel.

Looking for a bit of nostalgia? Or maybe just some ridiculous fun? We've got oodles of both this weekend.

Jungle Theater presents "The Mystery of Irma Vep," a send-up of Victorian melodrama featuring a werewolf, a vampire and an Egyptian princess, as well as the acting talents of local luminaries Steven Epp and Bradley Greenwald. Performances run through August 1.

Ballet of the Dolls founder and choreographer Myron Johnson is a huge fan of John Waters, and it shows in his work. He describes his latest creation, "Dance of the Pink Flamingos" as "human nature at it's most perverted, danced out live on stage." You can enjoy the freak show this weekend and next at the Ritz Theater in Minneapolis.

You can check out the work of two local choreographers, Penelope Freen and Megan Mayer this weekend at the Southern Theater. Freeh is remounting her piece "We'll Survive if We Don't Protect Ourselves" which explores notions of safety and danger. Mayer's work "We Tried to Throw the Light" is inspired by The Lawrence Welk Show and '60s foreign films.

It's billed as the "first and only choreographers' evening dedicated to Hip Hop dance and its' roots in the Twin Cities." Patrick's Cabaret presents "Rooted: Hip Hop Choreographers Evening" curated by Maia Maiden and showcasing high school emerging and established choreographers. Shows are this Friday Saturday and Sunday.

Franconia Sculpture Park celebrates the summer solstice this coming Monday. Wander the park, enjoy dinner with resident artists and maybe even get your dancing shoes on. From 5pm to sunset, $10 donation for dinner.

Along the lines of sharing food with artists, Intermedia Arts is hosting its summer kickoff BBQ on Saturday, right in the middle of its art installation "We Work Here." This community project asks what does it take to make art work? How are artists and arts organizations re-imagining the creative economy? What ideas and projects does the community value, and what resources will it take to realize them?

Plan your driving wisely this weekend. The Minnesota State Fairgrounds is hosting the annual "Back to the 50s" car show, and approximately 11,000 street rods are going to be on display, and touring around the area. Add plenty of extra time to get from point A to point B, and enjoy the view.

The 2010 Twin Cities Jazz Festival livens up downtown St. Paul this weekend in Mears Park. Featured artists include Joe Lovano and US Five, John Scofield and Piety Street Band, John Ellis and Double-Wide, and trumpeter Sean Jones.

Of course this is just a fraction of what's out there on any given weekend. So what will you be doing?

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When plagiarism inspires creativity

Posted at 9:39 AM on May 28, 2010 by Marianne Combs (4 Comments)
Filed under: Fashion

Our world is filled with copyrights in order to protect people and companies from having their ideas stolen or duplicated. But do copyrights really help industries to thrive? Johanna Blakley doesn't think so. As Deputy Director of the Norman Lear Center at the University of Southern California, Blakley studies the impact of intellectual property rights on innovation, and finds that those industries unrestricted by copyrights - such as the fashion industry - thrive in the marketplace, and that "knock-offs" don't actually hinder the sales of original brands. In fact, she believes the ability to "steal" a design leads to greater creativity and a faster evolution of ideas.

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Making a living on Etsy

Posted at 1:30 PM on May 27, 2010 by Marianne Combs (2 Comments)
Filed under: Craft, Fashion, Media

Richfield artist Molly Spilane sells unique earrings, bracelets and pendants - like this anatomically correct heart - on Etsy.com under the name "Unique Art Pendants."
Model: Chesty Von Ellem - Photographer: Daniel Stigefelt

Etsy.com has fast become the destination of choice for artists of all stripes looking to sell their wares to a wide audience.

The site allows people to sell their own handmade goods, vintage items, or art and craft supplies. It costs only 20 cents to list an item for four months. When an item sells, the seller pays a 3.5% transaction fee.

In the month of April alone, Etsy.com hosted $22.4 million in sales, an increase of 78% over the same month in 2009. This past month almost a quarter-million people joined the site, which now serves buyers and sellers in over 150 countries.

Richfield artist Molly Spilane in her home studio, wearing one of her pendants.

The sellers on Etsy range from amateur knitters who want to make a few extra bucks to buy more yarn, to people like Richfield artist Molly Spilane. Spilane has been on Etsy for two years now selling custom made earrings, pendants and bracelets, and in that time she's made 5,380 sales on her Etsy site, "Unique Art Pendants." For Spilane, Etsy has enabled her to make a living out of her home studio.

My fiancé has his own career, but absolutely I could support myself on this if need be. For the first year I tried to balance this business with being a stay-at-home mom, but that didn't work. Now my daughter's in daycare, and I have business hours from 8 - 5pm; my friends know not to come over.

Brass cuff decorated with vintage bird and finished with a metal sealer
Photo by Molly Spilane

Etsy.com allows interested buyers a means to find Spilane, without Spilane doing a lot of legwork. And it's not just connected her with individual shoppers:

There are a ton of boutiques worldwide that are scouring Etsy to find artists to put in their boutiques, galleries and even museums. I've received a lot of queries from boutiques asking if I do wholesale. I now have work at boutiques in France, Germany Australia and locally at the Walker Art Center. The Walker found me through Etsy, and that's just exploded my business.

Spilane says she thought long and hard before she agreed to sell her work wholesale to galleries, rather than limit herself to direct sales with clients:

I want to be an artist in business, and not just in name only. I feel I've been able to come full circle from art school to now say that the Walker is selling my work. If somebody can sell something I made for more money and make a profit - more power to them, that's kind of my outlook.

Vintage plate series
Photo by Molly Spilane

Unlike many professional artists, Spilane does not run a separate website aside from the site hosted by Etsy. She thinks of Etsy.com as an inexpensive tool which has the power to really work for an artist. But, she warns, it does take a great deal of effort:

Find your target market; don't just throw things out there. Brand yourself, find your niche, focus on the quality of your photos and packaging. Really treat it for what it is - a business. Being your own boss is hard, so you really need to manage your time so you don't end up doing a half-assed job.

Spilane says many independent artists starting their own business have a hard time with self-promotion. But her mother, also an artist, always said "don't be afraid to toot your own horn."

Vintage science fauna seashell art print on gilded vintage dictionary page
Photo by Molly Spilane

Spilane works out of her home all day, but she says through Etsy she's also found a community of friends:

Last fall the Etsy CEO at the time came and did a meet and greet in Minneapolis and there were about 200 area artists who sell on Etsy who came to hang out and meet each other. I made some friends there, and I like to purchase from local artists, so I now buy things from them.

While Etsy has provided Spilane with a cheap and easy means of selling her work and reaching her target audience, she says there is still some room for improvement:

Etsy is relatively still kind of a new site and their members are shooting up almost every month. So for them just handling the sheer numbers is a challenge. As a seller, I think it would be cool if you could go one step further in connecting with your audience - for instance allowing shops to have their own blogs on the site to update clients about what they're working on.

Spilane has created a Facebook page and a Twitter account to further spread the word about her business, which is growing fast. She says her only real concern is that it's getting to the point that there's almost too much business for her to manage. She now has a studio assistant who helps five hours a week, and Spilane says she's researching how best to take her business to "the next level."

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Obsidian Arts takes on "sagging"

Posted at 1:23 PM on November 25, 2009 by Marianne Combs (6 Comments)
Filed under: Culture, Fashion, Galleries

Image by Stephan Paley

Obsidian Arts Curator Roderic Southall believes a good art exhibition should help us to explore cultural questions as a community. And sometime those questions are staring us all in the face, but no one is talking about them.

The question that inspired his latest exhibition "Hang Time: The Enduring, Endearing Trend," is this: Why do we react so strongly to guys who let their jeans sag below their hips? Southall says he's constantly intrigued by the amount of anger and contempt he hears from people talking about "sagging."

These youth, like every other generation before them, are simply pressing for a separate range of identity markers other than those used by their parents and elders. And yet the blantant amount of shaming that the reactions carry... the tragedy of the kind of community dialogue that it has generated. If I were asked to boil down the messages that are sent to saggers by those adults who object to it I would suggest the phrase "you low down dirty dog homo boy who lacks any positive sense of who you are . . . listen to me as I tell you how to be". I think that accurately reflects how little I think the dialogue has been worth. Why we have such a violent community dialogue about clothing in the midst of all of the other social challenges is worthy of study and, in a way, celebration

There are a few theories as to how exactly sagging came into existence. First, it started in prison because guards take away belts so inmates can't hang themselves. Second, also based in prison, it's considered a code that a guy is "available" to other prisoners. Third, it's simply a fashion trend started by Calvin Klein and 'Marky Mark' (i.e. Mark Wahlberg).

Whatever initiated it, "sagging" has lasted close to 20 years. And Southall thinks that makes it even more interesting:

Clothing style-trends usually move onto and off the fashion stage in short order. Sagging has a staying power that has surpassed many trends that have swept through and, for a period, defined what black people thought about themselves. That fact is pretty significant because it indicates that sagging is a long term response and reflection of its adherents... and the adherents that follow them by almost a generation.

Recent attempts to ban sagging from the streets have sparked even more controversy and debate. Can you be arrested for your fashion? Does the fact that you look like you might have done prison time make you a criminal?

Obsidian Arts' exhibition looks at the controversy and animosity surrounding the fashion trend, and excerpts interviews with "saggers" about why they wear their jeans the way they do. Their general response?

A) it's comfortable
B) I like the way it looks
C) I can show off my collection of silk boxers

The exhibition also features music about the fashion, including Betty Wright's song "Pull your pants up!"

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"Hang Time: The Enduring, Endearing Trend" is on display through January 30 in the lobby of Pillsbury House in Minneapolis.

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Fashion icon Zandra Rhodes has designs on Minnesota Opera

Posted at 4:58 PM on September 23, 2009 by Euan Kerr (1 Comments)
Filed under: Fashion, Music

For someone who has been at the center of the fashion world for three decades, who has nine honorary doctorates, and holds the rank of Commander of the British Empire, Zandra Rhodes is very approachable.

She also has very pink hair.

Rhodes is one of those people who can pick up a conversation with anyone and soon find a common interest. We chatted away for a while about how she was initially put off when she heard Garrison Keillor reading on the BBC, but now she loves his work.

For the last few days Rhodes has been seeing the sights around downtown St Paul between rehearsals for the Minnesota Opera's production of Bizet's "The Pearl Fishers."

She designed the sets and the costumes for the show which is set in Sri Lanka. As you might expect from someone who is known for her use of dazzling color, and printed fabrics, it's a vibrant rainbow of a production with every surface adorned with an image or pattern.

Rhodes, who had just flown in from London where she had been showing her latest clothes at Fashion Week, first tried her hand at opera design in 2001 when the San Diego Opera invited her to do the costumes for "The Magic Flute." She was asked to return three years later by the San Diego company to do "The Pearl Fishers." It's that production which is about to open in St Paul, although Rhodes says she thinks the show and the set and costumes have matured, and look better than ever.

Rhodes was, in a way, born into the design business. Her mother was a fitter for a Paris fashion house, and taught at Medway College of Art in England, where Zandra was later to graduate with a major in printed textile design.

Her wild use of color and pattern was too much for the British fashion establishment, so she went out and set up her own business, and soon became a leading designer during the punk era. She was a favorite of Princess Diana's, and her creations have been worn by everyone from Jackie Onassis to Paris Hilton.

The designer will be the star attraction of "An Evening with Zandra Rhodes" tomorrow evening at the Ordway.

She will also be one of the featured guests at "Punk and Pearls" a Salon Series presentation which presents elements of "The Pearl Fishers" at the Ritz Theater in Minneapolis on Friday evening at 7 and 9pm. Tickets for this event are free, but reservations are required.

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Greening fashion, one day at a time

Posted at 10:49 AM on July 6, 2009 by Marianne Combs (2 Comments)
Filed under: Fashion

How often do you wear the same outfit two days in a row? How about for an entire year? Sheena Matheiken is making social commentary and raising money for charity by wearing the same dress everyday for a year (she's actually wearing seven identical dresses, one for each day of the week).

Matheiken aims to prove that being fashionable does not necessarily mean consuming irresponsibly. She accessorizes to the hilt: different shoes, belts, hats, and tights, as well as multiple layers of frocks and smocks. But all of her accessories come from vintage shops, hand-me-overs, E-Bay, or donations from small stores looking for a mention on her site.

Matheiken was inspired to launch the Uniform Project by her childhood in India, where she was obliged to wear a school uniform. Kids quickly found their own ways to stand out by how they wore their uniform, and what they wore with it.

Matheiken is partnering with the Akanksha Foundation, which brings educators to children living in India's slums. Each day she puts a dollar in her "tip jar" and she encourages visitors to her website to donate as well. In the first 66 days of the Uniform Project she's raised $4,358, helped a little by coverage she recently received from PBS.

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