Detail, Vogue, November 1, 1963. Photo: Gene Laurents.
Whether you’re going out or staying in, palazzo pyjamas are perfect for New Year’s Eve. “Pyjama Game—the palazzo persuasion,” a 1963 Vogue editorial photographed by Gene Laurents, features two Vogue Couturier patterns for evening pyjama ensembles.
Both patterns are by designers based in Rome: Federico Forquet and Irene Galitzine. Vogue 1260 by Forquet is a sleeveless, draped evening dress that’s slit to reveal slim, matching pants. The original was apricot silk crêpe (click to enlarge):
Vogue 1260 by Federico Forquet, Vogue, November 1, 1963. Model: Marola Witt. Photo: Gene Laurents.
From Galitzine, Vogue 1220 is a three-piece pyjama ensemble consisting of a top and skirt in black cut velvet shot with Lurex paired with trousers in white crêpe. The bold, rope necklace is by Brania:
Vogue 1220 by Galitzine, Vogue, November 1, 1963. Photo: Gene Laurents.
As always, details could be found in the back of the magazine:
Back views of Vogue 1260 and 1220 in Vogue, November 1, 1963.
All the best for 2016!
Detail, Vogue, November 1, 1963. Photo: Gene Laurents.
Maggie Cheung in Wong Kar-wai’s In the Mood for Love (2000) Image: WWD.
This year’s big Costume Institute exhibit, China: Through the Looking Glass, broke the attendance record previously set by Savage Beauty in 2011 to become the Met’s most-visited costume exhibit. (See WWD.) Andrew Bolton’s catalogue, illustrated with original photography by Platon, is available from Yale University Press.
Andrew Bolton, China: Through the Looking Glass. Fashion, Film, Art (2015) Image: Yale / Google Books.
One of the show’s major draws was Wong Kar-wai’s art direction, with styling by William Chang Suk-ping. (See Rosemary Feitelberg, “Chinese Arts Examined at the Met” or read the press release here.) Like Matthew Weiner’s Mad Men and mid-century American dress, Wong Kar-wai’s In the Mood for Love (2000) and 2046 (2004), with costume design by William Chang, have virtually defined the image of mid-century Hong Kong fashion.
It’s possible to find vintage sewing patterns showing a Chinese influence, especially cheongsam patterns, from about the 1950s on. The earliest Vogue patterns I’ve found that show a Chinese influence date to the early 1960s.
Two circa 1962 Vogue patterns I’ve had in the shop got me thinking about early ’60s Chinoiserie. One is for a cheongsam and pants, the other for a cocktail dress and sheer cape or ‘Ming’ stole:
Interestingly, although Vogue 5571 is clearly a pattern for a cheongsam or qipao, the envelope text says nothing to identify the garment as Chinese. Vogue 5648, on the other hand, calls its voluminous coverup a ‘Ming’ stole—a garment for which I can find no evidence whatsoever.
The Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) is known for its voluminous clothing. Vogue 5648’s Ming stole has deep, two-piece sleeves and back fullness released from gathers at the neckline. Here’s the back view:
Balenciaga evening wrap, 1954-55. Image: Metropolitan Museum of Art.
By contrast, the instantly recognizable cheongsam or qipao is a product of the modern period, a hybrid garment with a complex history traceable to Manchu dress in the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911).
Vogue Patterns’ mid-century Chinoiserie seems inseparable from the context of the Cold War. In 1962, it had been just over a decade since Mao’s 1949 proclamation of the People’s Republic of China. The Hollywood films Love Is a Many-Splendored Thing (1955) and The World of Suzie Wong (1960) had helped popularize the cheongsam in the West with their depictions of love affairs between an American man and a qipao-clad Chinese woman in mid-century Hong Kong.
Jennifer Jones wears a cheongsam on the poster for Love Is a Many-Splendored Thing (1955) Image: Wikipedia.Nancy Kwan wears a cheongsam (upper left) on the poster for The World of Suzie Wong (1960) Image: IMdB.Nancy Kwan on the cover of Life magazine, October 24, 1960. Photo: Bert Stern for Paramount Pictures. Image: Google Books.
For more on the cheongsam/qipao see Juanjuan Wu, “Reinvented Identity: The Qipao and Tang-Style Jacket,” chapter 6 of Chinese Fashion: From Mao to Now (Berg 2009).
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