A visit to a great exhibit and work of various kinds

 We actually went someplace yesterday! We went to the Bard Graduate Center to see the exhibit Goddesses in the Machine, an exhibit about fashion in the silent movies. I am happy that I created the link to the exhibit because the virtual exhibit is almost as good as going in person.

The exhibit is wonderfully curated. The seated figure in a vitrine shares her bench with visitors watching clips of silent movies including some about how to properly wear a hat when attending a movie, (You put your hat on your lap during the movie.).

I am going to assume that all of you are going to click on the link and virtually attend the exhibit. So I don't have to be comprehensive here and have the luxury of just pointing  out some things that particularly appealed to me.

SHOES!!!

I just loved the shoes.

 

Below are ,"Spans", a brilliant invention . Spans are clip on show straps, in this case bejeweled that allow you to turn any pair of pumps into a pair of dancing shoes. The straps hold the shoes securely onto the wearer's foot.

You could add decorative shoe clips to change up your shoes. For a brief moment in the 1980s I owned a couple of pairs of shoe clips that I wore on my pumps to spiff them up for dressier occasions.  They weren't nearly as lovely as the ones in the exhibit.

Or you could invest in several pairs of  Spans to spiff up your shoes.  

Party shoes in gold kid! Could anything be more elegant?

These pilgrim shoes were worn by Mary Pickford.

I even saw footwear that I would wear in my actual life and not just in my fantasy life.

I was completely smitten by this dress. The base of it is a simple bias cut silk dress--almost a nightgown that is covered by gathered tulle "shingles" that range from ivory at the top to black at the hem.

This dress must have looked beautiful filmed in black and white. The shading of the tulle is also practical, the hem of one's dress is bound to get soiled when dancing and the soil will just show less on black than on white.

An added surprise was the name of the designer, Frances Spingold. I attended Brandeis University. The theater,  Spingold Theater, designed to supposedly look like a top hat was donated by Frances and her husband.

I had no idea, until I saw the exhibit, that the donor was a noted theatre and movie designer.

My husband, was of course charmed by Theda Bara's costume.

Just a bonus look at the beautiful staircase at the Bard Graduate Center. 

Going to a museum is always a burst of energy for my work. Right now I am working away on restoring Jerry's atara.

The appliqued hand dyed silk had broken in some of the letters. 

It seemed that the easiest solution was to embroider over the broken silk. I am chain stitching using a mix of different colored rayon embroidery threads .I love how the mix of colors in the needle give a slight iridescence.

The original silk was hand painted and each letter had a range of colors in it. 

The letters on this side of the atara were appliqued with metallic/silk organza in a shimmery teal green.

I am surprised at how much I am enjoying the process of restoring this piece. One thing that makes it easier, is that I know the original intent of each detail. So substituting something  that may look different but does the same thing has been a pleasant puzzle to solve.

My goal is to make this atara last until Jerry's 120th birthday.

And on a completely unrelated note, this is today's bread.

It's a pumpernickel raisin loaf made with rye flour, unsweetened cocoa, and carraway seeds. I dusted white flour over the loaf before scoring the crust.