Spring 2024 Exhibitions:
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Organza – Sheer Delight
Wie in einem Traum, bin ich verzaubert!
It is like one of those dreams where you’re
enveloped, enchanted, and the dream is reality.
The dress astounds me, how it’s brought to life, lovingly recreated
from the artist’s imagery to be a fresh celebration of her mother’s memorable
achievements in the world of haute couture design.
So long as those memories live, her mother’s radiance is alive.
She steps from the canvas, becomes a physical presence,
all the more in three (or even four) dimensions.
I see the pink silk roses, but I can close my eyes and smell
the Diorissimo floral fragrance my own mother wore.
She, too, is alive in my personal memories. Please, do not pinch me!
Poem by Steve Keteltas 8 Feb 2024
Poet Steve Keteltas and Susanne Nielsen
( German Text - translation follows)
The silber-graue Organza Kleid (9.2.24, Susanne Nielsen)
In langen Naechten naehte sie ihre selbst entworfenen Kleider,
das silbergraue in Organza war von allen das Schoenste. Die Lagen des
durchsichtigen Stoffes liessen den Rock leicht und elegant erscheinen, wenn sie
sich mit ihrem Verlobten ueber die Tanzflaeche des Veldener Schlosshotels drehte.
Die duftige Stola und die pfirsichfarbenen Rosen am Dekoltee unterstrichen ihre
Schoenheit und Frische! Kein Wunder, dass sie mit diesem Kleid zur “Rose vom
Woerthersee” gekuert wurde, mit einer goldenen
Medallie, Flasche Sekt und roten Rosen!
So ein Kleid war der Traum vieler Frauen in den 50er Jahren,
der Zeit des Wiederaufbaus! Design-Talent hatte sie, aber auch Glueck! Denn
ihre Arbeit bei einer Fotografin fuer die Modezeitschrift “Der Neue Schnitt” oeffnete
ihr die Tueren zur Welt der Haute-Couture. Ihre Entwuerfe, wie das silber-graue
Kleid und die bunte Bluse mit grosser Schleife, die als Tasche diente, erschienen
in der Zeitschrift. An huebschen brunetten Models erschienen sie! Es war der
Start einer eigenen Design-Karriere.
Uns sie selbst trug die Originale stolz noch lange Zeit!
The silver-gray Organza Dress (9.2.24, Susanne Nielsen)
In long nights she sewed the ball-gowns she had designed
herself; the silver-grey organza one was the most beautiful of all. Multiple
layers of sheer fabric made the skirt appear light and elegant as she twirled
around the dance floor of the Velden Schloss Hotel with her fiancé. The
fragrant stole and the peach-colored roses along the neckline emphasized her
beauty and radiance! No wonder she was crowned the “Rose of Woerthersee” in
this dress, and presented with a gold medal, bottle of champagne, and red
roses!
A dress like this was the dream of many women in the 1950s,
the time of rebuilding existances! She had design talent, but also luck! As
assistant to a photographer for a fashion magazine, “Der Neue Schnitt”, the
doors to the world of haute couture had opened for her. Her designs, such as
the silver-gray dress and the colorful blouse with a large bow that served as a
bag, appeared in the magazine. Pretty brunette models showed them off! It was
the start of her own design career.
She kept the originals and proudly wore them for a long
time!
Pasadena City juried Art Show
____________________________________________ An Invitation to
an opening Reception
Faculty and Staff Exhibition
Rao Musunuru MD ART GALLERY
PHSC West Campus, Library Bldg. PHSC , 10230 Ridge Rd. New Port Richey, Florida 34654,
Thursday, July 11, 5-7:00 pm
in it Susanne Nielsen exhibits
Susannenielsenarts.blogspot.com
My Mother's Dresses Series - Part 3
(5 (of 12) Paintings and Recreation of the 1950’s Dresses)
Faculty/Staff Exhibition: June 10th – July 25th, 2024 ( hours: Mon-Thurs. 11:00 am-4:00 pm)
PHSC West Campus Art Gallery, Library Bldg. PHSC , 10230 Ridge Rd. New Port Richey, Florida 34654,
https://phsc.edu/campus-life/rao-musunuru-md-art-gallery
_______________________________________________________
THE PROJECT
My Mother's Dresses Series
FIVE of (12) "My Mother's Dresses" painted (and recreated dresses shown)
The change from the female silhouette from the masculine, almost militarily strict figure of the 1940s with broad shoulders, the exaggerated bust, the barely defined waist, the undefined hips, the high hem of the skirt and the shoes with rounded toes, thick soles and strong steep heels to the exact opposite was inevitable: the immediate past had to be forgotten and replaced by a new, significantly more promising reality. The image of women underwent a fundamental change. Fashion had become an obvious representation of women's “reclaimed,” traditional role in society and the family. The female figure was “exaggerated”; The result was an emphatically feminine, elegant silhouette. For most women, however, this could not be achieved without “aids”: the body-shaping, modeling underwear was placed around the bust like an armor. The corset found its way back into fashion. The underskirt or petticoat gave the dresses the intoxicating width and support they needed. The wide skirt was more suitable for young, slim women, while the tight skirt - the other dominant line of this decade - was more suitable for more mature ladies.
The difference between morning and afternoon attire still existed. The morning was reserved for household chores; In the afternoon, ladies dressed elegantly to visit exhibitions, go shopping or to have tea or coffee with friends. The cocktail party, known from Great Britain and the United States, also became increasingly popular in Germany, and with it the cocktail dress, which - sewn from fine materials, with a short skirt hem, often décolleté and richly decorated - increasingly replaced the exclusive evening gown for festive occasions. Accessories that were precisely coordinated with the clothing were essential and had a high fashion value.
Even though there was, initially, resistance to the new body-hugging fashion-silhouette among women, especially in England and the USA, its triumph could no longer be stopped. Parisian haute couture regained a leading role in the 1950s - despite all the competition, particularly from Italian Alta Mode - not least through the work of gifted couturiers such as Christian Dior, Jacques Fath, and Cristobal Balenciaga. It was particularly the wealthy American customers who made Parisian fashion an export hit. Germany maintained a relative independence from Paris, but was only able to evade the fashion dictates radiating from there to a limited extent. Paris remained the fashion metropolis from which inspiration and impulses came.
In contrast to the French, the German couturiers, most of whom had established themselves in Berlin, preferred bright colors and unusual patterns. They were soon able to develop a wide-ranging collection on an international level. But their creations were also out of reach for most women: influenced by the couture designs, by the film stars, and pop singers, models and mannequins, they often fulfilled their fashion dreams by sewing them at home or had them sewn for them by seamstresses.
The main source of information for women interested in fashion were fashion magazines, which quickly processed the suggestions from haute couture, films and fashion fairs into their own designs. Product espionage in the ateliers of the big couture houses was not unusual at a time when fashion was gaining particular importance in all social classes. The clothing regulations that guaranteed elegant, ladylike and always appropriate clothing with matching accessories could be gleaned in detail in the fashion journals.
Text from Catalog of 15 garments/Schenkung Heiliger to Museum fuer Angewandte Kunst /Craft Museum Cologne, Germany
Photos : CUPCAKE 1950s Party , June 27, 2024
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