AN exciting mix of art and fashion is showcased in The Bowes Museum’s latest exhibition which examines the inspiration behind many of fashion designer Vivienne Westwood’s ensembles.
Framing Fashion: Art and Inspiration from a Private Collection of Vivienne Westwood opens at the museum this weekend and features 12 of the fashion designer’s ensembles alongside items from the Bowes’ own collection.
The ensembles are on loan from private collector Peter Smithson, who also provided items for the museum’s previous Vivienne Westwood exhibition.
Intriguingly, visitors will learn titbits, such as the origin of the Spencer jacket, when an example from the early 19th century goes on display alongside a Westwood design.
The museum’s fashion and textiles curator, Rachel Whitworth, said the short waist jacket from Jane Austin’s day was initially worn by men.
“It is named after the second Earl of Spencer because he was standing with his back to the fire when his coat-tails caught fire, so he cut them off and invented this type of jacket that had no tails. It then became very fashionable for men.
“Vivienne took that style and made her own version, which is a kind of cross between a man’s and a woman’s jacket, in that it is worn by women but it has very big lapels and buttons which would be more typical of a man’s coat from the late 18th century.”
Even more interesting, the curator added, is that the museum’s Spencer jacket takes its own inspiration from sitters for portaits produced by the Dutch masters from the 17th century in that it features a tagged collar and puffed sleeves.
An example of where Westwood drew inspiration from art is in her “Portraits” collection from the early 1990s which was almost exclusively taken from the Wallace Collection in London.
Ms Whitworth said: “She was taking things like details from furniture, including gold inlay, even down to tassels and trimmings, as well as the paintings themselves.
“It was less about taking inspiration from what the sitters were wearing and translating it, but the actual physical nature of the paintings.”
In other cases the fashion-designer reproduced prints from the paintings of the likes of Reubens and Boucher onto items of clothing, such as scarves and corsets. Examples of these feature in the display.
Ms Whitworth said: “She even used some of their names – we have got a Gainsborough blouse and a Hals shirt, both famous artists.”
Mr Smithson was heavily involved in the latest exhibition and produced the labels for the 12 ensembles.
Also in the exhibition will be copies of Vogue magazines from the time, featuring many iconic photographs.
Of her experience in putting the exhibition together Ms Whitworth said: “What I like most about working on Westwood is the more I see and the more I get to know it, the more references I can see to fashion history and art history.
“You can get a real insight into her thinking process.
“It is exciting because the reception for the last exhibition shows there is a taste for Vivienne Westwood and it certainly brought in people who wouldn’t otherwise have visited, so it is nice to do part two with Peter’s collection again.”
