Great Fashion Feuds

March 8, 2024

It sounds like a great summer novel, but there were some great fashion feuds of the last century, and they go a long way toward showing us how fashion evolved into what it is today.  Last week, I heard from so many of you who enjoyed the fashion history of the feud between Dior and Coco, so I thought I'd go back and collect a couple of other famous feuds from the last century.  The modern-day feuds seem rather simple-minded compared to those of the past.  

Mme. Chanel wasn't always an easy person to get along with. She had another feud early on with Elsa Schiaparelli who was more artful than designer, which is probably what Chanel had against her. 

Coco vs Elsa

Coco's beginning was just as fiery as her later life.  She was put into an orphanage at a very early age, where the nuns taught her to sew. 

Here is one of the first photos of Chanel in one of her first creations.  These were the Edwardian gowns of the late 19th Century worn with copious padding and under garments with corsets that would make a cosplayer cry (and the rest of us in utter agony)!

This was the garment that Coco Chanel first designed against and wow, did she go to the complete other side.

Here she is with her first shop, a milliner, and her sister, in one of her first creations, a knit top, open sailor shirt and skirt showing more of the ankle.  It was comfortable, and easy to move in yet it had shape and was easy to wear.  

Adrienne, who was having an affair with a wealthy nobleman, always wore Chanel's garments and hence brought them to the upper class who would be looking for the most fashionable and newest looks.  

One of Chanel's most classic and enduring creations was the little black dress.  Where would we all be without the classic little black dress, and certain Audrey would be in a horrible pickle without her classic little black dress.

Designers everywhere can thank Chanel for this masterful creation.  

Elsa Schiaparelli found her place as much by coordinating with other artists of the time than her own designs. 

Although her styles were very basic, when she designed with an artist, her style became unique and what she is known for.

The jacket is based on an art piece by Cocteau, and it may be hard to see, but the woman's face is on the left side of the jacket with her blond hair down the entire sleeve, and her arm moving down the closure of the jacket with her hand over her waist.  

The collaboration with Salvador Dali was her most famous, as was the model here, the Duchess of Windsor!

Here is the play on one of Dali's painting backgrounds.  The surreal look was what this was all about.  But for me, what this emphasizes is Schiaparelli's amazingly classic design.   Here's just how amazing these dress/suit designs are.  

It looks like this outfit is from the same collection as above.  But it's not.   This is an outfit from World War II fashions.  Schiaparelli's designs were so classic that they lasted for almost 10 years.  These classic and economical designs were what lasted for so long because of their classic design and also their economical yardage during a time when everything was rationed.  

World War II wasn't very kind to Chanel, as biographers and historians have finally come clean and all verify that Chanel had a relationship with a low-level Nazi intelligence officer during the Nazi occupation of France.  Many collaborators and women who took up with the Nazis were brutally shamed after the liberation of France.  Hours after de Gaulle paraded into Paris, Chanel was picked up at her residence in the Hotel Ritz for investigation.  Unlike many other collaborators, she was released a few hours later.  When asked, she remarked that Winston had saved her.  

The real truth is probably more like, Chanel, having the insight from the Nazi intelligence that the Duke and Duchess of Windsor like the Germans and even met Hitler.  They were on their way to becoming great pals, when Hitler recruited both of the Windsors and Chanel, who was good buddies with the current PM of England (who BTW also really liked the Duke of Windsor), to reach out to England to at least capitulate like France or surrender like Poland, Austria, and Czechoslovakia.  This is dramatized beautifully in the movie, Darkest Hour, which is streaming on Netflix right now - if you watch it look at the fashions.  You can see the severity of the fashions worn in World War II.  

George V was part of the Saxe-Coburg and Gotha by their descent from Albert, Prince Consort, husband of Queen Victoria. High anti-German sentiment amongst the people of the British Empire during the First World War reached a peak in March 1917, when the Gotha G., a heavy aircraft capable of crossing the English Channel, began bombing London directly and became a household name. In the same year, on 15 March, King George's first cousin Emperor Nicholas II of Russia was forced to abdicate, which raised the spectre of the eventual abolition of all the monarchies in Europe. The king and his family were finally persuaded to abandon all titles held under the German Crown and to change German titles and house names to anglicized versions. Hence, on 17 July 1917, a royal proclamation issued by George V declared:

Now, therefore, We, out of Our Royal Will and Authority, do hereby declare and announce that as from the date of this Our Royal Proclamation Our House and Family shall be styled and known as the House and Family of Windsor, and that all the descendants in the male line of Our said Grandmother Queen Victoria who are subjects of these Realms, other than female descendants who may marry or may have married, shall bear the said Name of Windsor....

This may sound like a bunch of hullabaloo, but Queen Elizabeth, was always concerned about this, and felt that she had some family members out there that she couldn't trust, and would bring shame and derision, not including dissatisfaction with the British monarchy.  She was very keen on remaining pertinent, modern, and always in tune with her subjects.  You have to wonder if she wasn't struck by the assassination of her distant uncle as much as the Georges were at the time of the change from House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha which doesn't sound nearly as British as Windsor!

Of course after World War II, when Dior came to prominence and the Chanel un-retired and returned at the ripe old age of 70 years old, she re-entered the fashion business with her famous Chanel Jacket.  She was so ostracized in France, that the re-opening was expected to be a huge flop.  The emergence of the American press - in particular Carmel Snow and the English market, saved Chanel and made her into another fashion icon again.  

The Coco/Elsa feud was more about being excellent, and the feud made both designers better than they would have been otherwise.  Being so exact and accomplished in their field meant neither one was better, even though each tried to be.  Today when you look at many rivals or teams whether it's Lennon/McCartney, OU/Texas, or even Jacqueline and Lee Bouvier, they all are more competitive than real feuds.  We, the public, were definitely the beneficiary of the Elsa/Coco feud in that we got a classically design suit that lasted for over 10 years from Elsa to get us through World War II, and personally I will be forever grateful for knit being introduced into women's clothing as well as the LBD!

The Famous Dear John Letter

During Europe's Golden Age of Couture, America had its own golden age of fashion, specifically in the 60s, 70s and 80s.  This was the pinnacle of the Fabric District in New York. 

In the later part of the 19th Century, lower Manhattan had become a go-to place for Jews escaping to better conditions in America.  They settled south of Houston (pronounced how'-stahn not hew'-stahn as in Texas).  Hence the "south of Houston" remarks to denote the difference between the working class and the upper classes in upper Manhattan Island.  If you visit New York, visit Mendel Goldberg Fabrics, south of Houston.  Not only are the fabrics to die for, but the whole atmosphere is priceless.  Alice is there in all her glory and will help you through any garment.  Granted, the price will cause you to gulp a little, but her fabrics are one-of-a-kind and are truly from the couture houses in Europe.  

But that's only part of the fun.  When they had a fire in the store, they discovered part of the back of the old building that dated back to early 1800's.  They have glass over that brick part (walk in the back of the showroom, and you won't miss it).  These old buildings were housing the workers and those who moved from Europe to have freedom in the US.  Alice is the descendant of the original founders of the store, so you're not only buying fabulous fabrics (it IS THE place to get Chanel fabric and lining for your Chanel jacket) you're also buying in a deeply historical building.  Check out Alice's End Cuts for some remarkably great deals on fabrics.  

The Jewish sector was the center of beautifully made garments.  It housed the merchants and families who made and sold those garments.   The Fabric District was created after the famous Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire, located south of Houston.  The employers of the factory had many problems with employees leaving the various exits, so they locked many of the doors.  The building caught on fire, and we all know what happened in the World Trade Center, and it must have been as devastating then as the World Trade Center is to us today.  People jumping out of the building, unable to get out, were fairly common stories.  

After the fire, new buildings were erected north of Houston to provide much more humane and better facilities.  The windows were practically from floor to ceiling and the rooms huge to provide huge daylight.  Wages and safety measures were passed and enforced, and America ended up with a well-paid workforce and produced some of the finest clothing at the best pricing in the world.  Clothing from the fabric district had the famous Ladies Garment Workers Union label. 

They were immensely proud of their work and this label.  I had many pieces of clothing with this label, meaning the garment would last 10 or even 15 years.  These were when clothes were made well, from fine fabrics, and at an affordable price.  Being a garment worker in the garment district was a great job.  

As a quick side note, today, the Fabric District is becoming one of the new areas to live.  Those large windows make for gorgeous views of the East River on the east side and the Hudson River on the west.  These "loft" type spaces are a huge seller now, however the residents don't like fabric stores in the "lobby" of their apartment buildings.  Most fabric stores are moving to New Jersey, leaving the Fabric District more of a residential area.  However it is much safer than it used to be with Hell's Kitchen on the west and the Meatpacking district to the south, a hangout for the underworld of New York City.  Today both areas are newly discovered and revitalized, only adding to the safety and enjoyment of walking the streets in the Fabric District.  As a youngster, I had been warned not only not to stay in the area, but also to walk directly to my store, and call a cab and wait for the cab to come before trekking out into the street by myself.  The last time I was there, with friends, we meandered around, walked to and from dinner and our hotel in the Fabric District, without a care and feeling relatively safe.  

 

As the Garment District grew in the 50s and 60s, so did the magazine writers, editors, and publishers.  All wanting to capitalize on the growing economy of beautifully made clothing, they came as arbiters of what was appropriate and what was junk.  IN a way I miss that today, but this was the 70s in New York fashion, and back then the editors had the final say.  If they didn't like your designs, you didn't get any publicity - they were that powerful.

Think of Carmel Snow's mini-contribution of renaming the Dior 1947 show, "The New Look."  This was just the beginning.  Fashion editors told the public what color was correct, the hem length, the jacket length, the fabric type, and everything in between.  You couldn't dress right without knowing what was in first.  Hence, the titans of  Diana Vreeland, Richard Avedon, Carrie Donovan, and Carmel Snow.  Anna Wintour today lives off these editors' reputations.  

The most ruthless of those fashion editors was John Fairchild.  At any one time or another he panned Giorgio Armani, Bill Blass, Hubert di Givenchy, and another beloved designer,  Geoffrey Beene.  They all learned to take it on the chin and learned that they couldn't have their business without Fairchild's blessing and advertising.  At the same time, Fairchild took on a pathetic rag and made it into a must-have for every fashionista out there, and he wanted every woman in the world to have his take on fashion.  

I remember opening my W to see all the latest looks and what I would make and wouldn't.  Part of that group was Pauline Trigère.  There wasn't anything that this woman did that wasn't gorgeous, and even researching this little newsletter today - I'm sitting here going down the rabbit hole of - wow, that's great, wow, I need to do that one, wow, love that look - still today they are gorgeous. Her style was impeccable, always lady-like, and who wouldn't wear one of these fashion styles above today - they are gorgeous!  Amazingly enough many of the above photos come from an homage to Trigère at her death from, none other than WWD, John Fairchild's flagship publication.   

Soon designers were inviting fashion editors to view their fashions before the real show, to get a preview so that they could explain their fashion to the editors - get their okay and that way there wouldn't be the surprise the next morning when the fashions were panned.  This was very common practice, and became almost an institution in it's own. Editors had instant access to the designers and the designers knew they couldn't get the word out better or faster than through an editorial in one of the fashion magazine during the September or May Issues.   It was the "fix was in" if you obeyed the rules and sucked up nice to the fashion editors.  The editors really did do their jobs well, and when cr*p showed up on the runway, they called it like it was.  I miss that today cause I see way too much of that stuff when the Instagram influencers and social media queens with umpteen gazillion followers replaced the seasoned, smart editors.  Not that the editors didn't have it coming, but there was a use for them.  

Trigère was a headstrong woman, having escaped Nazi Germany in 1936 with her family, and stopped off in New York with no intention of staying, but went to work with Adele Simpson, which was a common name in the 60s and 70s for fine clothing.  After some success, she borrowed money from her brother, having divorced her husband, and started her own firm.  Instantly, it was plain that she would be a hit, and off she went.  

Inevitably, Fairchild took in after Pauline because either he couldn't help knock down a very powerful designer or just wanted to flex his publisher's muscles - who knows?  Instead of being flattered, after all, Fairchild wouldn't go after anyone - it had to be someone of influence - or the attack would be meaningless.  Pauline did not like it and told him so.  Ergo, she was banned from Fairchild publications, and no matter how many ads she bought and no matter how many editorials she got in those other fashion magazines, as she said, "They think I'm dead!"  

Several years later, Pauline's ad man came to her one day with this note in Pauline's trademark red ink, her pen, her signature turtles, and in her writing.  She looked at it, and many of her fellow designers warned her away from it and she would be committing fashion suicide, but she did it anyway.  An alert art editor of the Times saw it a couple of days before publication and turned it into the business section with the headline "Zee Sheet Heet Zee Fan!" in the New York Times Business section and blew the whole campaign into the sky.   By the following day, everyone congratulated and praised her for doing it, including those other editors.  Obviously, Fairchild had over-estimated his reach, and his egregiously long ban of Trigère was way overboard. The rest of the fashion world rebelled and said, "Enough - time to stop the feud!"

Looking back on some of these feuds with the benefit of 20-20 vision, they were a lot of fun.  There was an article in the W Magazine written by simply "Suzy" that was gossipy and all about fashion, where the word "fashion victim" was first coined and fits so beautifully, even today.  It was said to be John Fairchild's little toy.  He had his comeuppance from Trigère and decided to become more anonymous!

I miss the days when the editors, who were schooled in design, shape, fashion, and art, knew what they were doing.  When a group gets that much power, it corrupts, which happened here.  At the same time, we're bludgeoned daily with this new thing or new fashion trend when it's more of the same junk that seems so prolific.  There's no editing at all, and it's sort of like everything is turned out whether it's good or not.  Hence, the reason for Anna Wintour's popularity and still the need for Vogue Magazine.  I continue to subscribe to see the fashion shows of the likes of Armani, Zac Posen, Jason Wu, Tom Ford and other "sane" designers.

For a treat, do yourself a favor and do a Pinterest search or Google Image search for Pauline Trigère, and you will be shocked at the plethora of gorgeous clothes this woman has designed over her life.  She reminds me a lot of Carolina Herrera, another designer to Google.  

And now that I've finished I can reward myself with that black hole of fashion looking at more of Pauline Trigère's beautiful clothing - making notes and planning some more gorgeous looks inspired by her style.

The SewingArtistry Resource Library is designed to contain information to not only make your sewing better, but to aid in you fitting and flattering your shape, size and style.  Check it out. 

Look for future classes coming in 2024
The Core Pattern Shirt, (one of my favorites for woven core pattern that you can make into a myriad of different garments), 
Basic Knit Top (core pattern class for knit basic tops, shells, tees, dresses, and tunics)
 

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