Silk Lotus Flower

Mary McFadden Exhibit in D.C.

August 10th, 2009 in sewing, design, embellishments, embroidery

Susan Khalje, contributor

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Mary McFadden combines a broad range of cultural references with her elegant style.

A dramatic black and white gown uses McFadden’s signature pleated fabric.

Asian influences are clear in this quilted coat; narrow parallel lines of quilting are another McFadden signature.

Mary McFadden combines a broad range of cultural references with her elegant style.

Photo: Susan Khalje

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Harold Koda, curator of the Costume Institute, Metropolitan Museum of Art has said, "McFadden’s designs convey her deep interest in distant cultures and times….(she) reflects in her designs an archeologist’s fascination with the cultures and narratives expressed through art."

There’s currently a fascinating exhibit at the National Museum of Women in the Arts in Washington, D.C. Mary McFadden: Goddesses runs through August 30. Visit the museums's blog for more information.

I’ve long been an admirer of McFadden’s elegant garments, and the way she combines a broad range of cultural references with her elegant style.

The designer is now 70, and had been a unique contributor to American fashion since her New York debut in 1974 (she closed her showroom in 2002). The exhibit contains 40 of her couture gowns, along with the many of the textiles and objects that have inspired them. Her inspiration is wide-ranging - from Egypt to South America to Central Asia to China to Ireland and beyond – and it’s fascinating to see how she works these references into her garments - in silhouette, in fabrication, and in embellishment.

I first came face-to-face with one of her garments years ago. A client had a Mary McFadden gown that needed to be altered. It was a fairly typical McFadden design – the skirt out of the finely pleated polyester charmeuse (her signature fabric), the bodice strapless and heavily embroidered. The bodice had to be taken in, and I was interested to see just how such heavy embroidery had been supported. Once I got inside, I could see that heavy crinoline (imagine heavily starched gauze) had been used as one of the inner layers. It made sense – had the underpinnings been any less sturdy, the bodice would have lost its shape, and the garment would have lost is clean, sculptural feel.

A beautiful book accompanies the exhibit (Mary McFadden – High Priestess of High Fashion), and in it McFadden says, "My goal has been to give an art form to dressing by virtue of creating some of the most beautiful hand-painted fabrics and developing new areas in pleating and quilting that have not been done before on Seventh Avenue."

A dramatic black and white gown uses McFadden’s signature pleated fabric

Detail of black and white dress.

Asian influences are clear in this quilted coat; narrow parallel lines of quilting are another McFadden signature.

A Fortuny-influenced gown.

Detail of Fortuny-influenced gown.

Some of the objets in McFadden’s collection

A garment from her Native American collection; the edges are delicately bound with bias silk.

Again, bias binding simply and elegantly finishes this garment.

Sections are joined with delicate piping.

A macramé shawl.

Macramé bodices.

Typical McFadden embroidery.

posted in: sewing, design, embellishments, embroidery

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Comments (4)

JaniceCM writes: Mary Mcfadden is by far one of my favorite designers. I have also been heavily influenced by other cultures in what I sew,and have,since the 1970's, followed her incredible designs. Gorgeous!
Thanks,
Janice Morrill Posted: 12:34 pm on October 10th

jofre146 writes: I am particularly fascinated by her use of macramé in addition to her emphasis on quilted and embroidered embellishment. While the large scale macramé pieces she used tend to date the clothing to the 70's, her work inspires me to create micro-macramé sections which will add a rich, Byzantine look to Fortuny-pleated gowns. Posted: 11:19 am on August 11th

LisaS2 writes: Hi Susan!

I love these. Gorgeous details. The third photo from the bottom would be a stuning wedding gown in white/ivory, still with the gold embroidered bodice treatment. Dresses like this make me want to get married again - to the same man, or course...

be well,

lisa
Lisa Shepard Stewart
www.CulturedExpressions.com Posted: 11:15 am on August 11th

lonieberg writes: The creations of Mary McFadden are truly awe inspiring! As a professional Alterations Lady, I am constantly encouraged by the designers and by the gowns and creations that I get in to work with. Each time, I learn something new about construction and design, (and I have a few tricks up my sleeve of my own). McFaddens use of fabric texture and pattern makes her truly unique...Aloma Cronberg........Aloma's Alterations, Laramie, Wyoming. Posted: 10:22 am on August 11th

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