Studio Davina

I love museums… In fact, while I was in graduate school I worked in a museum studies program, and used my education to provide excuses to visit as many museums as I can. My main focus, of course, is costuming; in my pursuit, I have been to London, Rome, Paris, New York and beyond seeking out exhibits.

Unfortunately, due to the nature of textiles, most costume exhibitions do not allow visitors the opportunity to take photos, and few museums have enough cash to create illustrated exhibition guides for sale. However, the web is mighty, large and mostly free, so many museums share their exhibitions with us via the web. Yeah! So periodically I surf the web looking for exhibitions and here is a crop of my recent discoveries.

From Paris to Providence: Online Exhibition of Fashion, Art and the Tirocchi Dressmakers Shop, 1915-1947. This exhibition is focused on one design house and is filled with both images of garements and details of the elaborate beadwork that was part of fashion during this era. Be sure to check out the amazing collection of flapper-style beaded dresses in the Art Deco section – Yum! Right: 1930’s handbag from the exhibition.

Gothic – Dark Glamour – Fashion Institute of Technology – I’ve got friends who embrace the Goth style and integrate it into their costuming and daily wear. I found this exhibition and recommend it whenever someone buys patterns made by the Goth Dance Diva, Tempest. There are so many inspirations throughout this lush exhibition website, but be prepared to really explore, the site itself is a work of art – and just note – turn down the volume on your computer!
Image Left: Dress by Yoshiki Hishinuma from the exhibition.

Chic Chicago – Modern Fashion from 1861-2004. This exhibition is filled with lovely lovely photos of some fantastic garments. Especially look out for the Worth and Pingat gowns. Visit the Website to read about the exhibition, but more importantly, view the Slide Show!

New York City Ballet – Bedecked Bedazzled and Bejeweled: Costume Ornamentation at the New York City Ballet – This is a great exhibition of photographic details of the embroidery, beading and applique work crafted in the costume shops of the ballet. There’s an introduction to the exhibition and a flash slideshow with images of their costumes.

Versailles – Fastes de Cour et Ceremonies Royales
Okay – Take a peek at this video of the curators and exhibition designers at work setting up an amazing exhibition of French courtly dress at Versailles. There are some stunning glimpses of the courtly wear as they appeared in the exhibition. This website has some amazing photos of the palace too!

LACMA – Images of Fashion from the court of Louis XIV – Like this amazing mantua on the right. Explore the virtual Exhibition. More information about the Mantua on the right circa 1700. This is an amazing garment, and I had the pleasure of seeing it in person when I was doing research at the Doris Stein research for my undergraduate degree. If you like more modern clothes – Check out: Breaking the Mode: Contemporary Fashion from the Permanent Collection.

Of particular interest to me, as I work on the upcoming Period Impressions book, I found a copy of the illustrated book “Habitus Variarum Orbis Gentium“(Costume of the Various Peoples of the World) by Jean Jacques Boissard 1581. His illustrations are charming and full of detail. Especially of interest to me is plate 46, “North African Women”, located at Los Angeles County Museum of Art. In this plate, you can really see the shape and hang of the Haik, a rectangular overwrap, a descendent of the Roman Palla that is still being worn in parts of Morocco today.

This spring, I worked on a lovely folkloric style ensemble for an accomplished dancer, but new performer, Sarah of Wicked Smileys. She performed with Troupe Celine twice this spring, first at Spring Rakkasah and at an Asian American cultural festival. Her ensemble is composed of four garments. Her Byzantium bra features a row of multi-colored inch-wide ribbon, 8 inch chainette fringe topped with three rows of Pakistani coins.

Sarah’s belt is an assemblage of components that began with a blue embroidered belt with a row of kuchi drops. To extend this tiny belt, we mounted a collar from Pakistan onto grosgrain ribbon and filled in the space between with additional drops. To add texture and dimension, we further embellished the belt with a row of Turkomen buttons that matched the buttons we used to accent the stretch velvet baladi dress.

To get the rich, dark appearance that Sarah craved, we used a vivid red double-plush 4-way stretch velvet cut with the grain going upwards. Because the velvet had such a great hand and enough stretch to really mold around the body, I kept the cut simple, with shaping down the side seams and no darts. The neckline was cut low below the bust to reveal the bra. To add style and make the garment look beautifully polished, we added the sumptuous finishing details of fully lined sleeves and Turkoman buttons. The result is simple and elegant.

Sarah already had a functional pair of black harem pants. On her feet, she choose to wear classic Hermes style sandals. I also crafted jewelry using a kuchi drop with her signature Smiley motif and a pair of earrings.

But, what makes this collaboration so effective is the amazing headdress Sarah created to match this ensemble. Her work is breathtakingly complex and lovely.

Ultimately, this ensemble took into account Sarah’s figure. The long lean lines of red velvet emphasized Sarah’s height and the black fringe on her bra helped her waist appear slim and sculpted. Being stretch velvet, it’s both easy wear and easy care (machine wash, hang dry.) I look forward to seeing her wear it in the future.

Need a Headdress?
Wicked Smileys by Sarah Lyons

Need Harem Pants?
Simply Stylish by Kathi Richards

Need a Byzantium Bra?
Byzantium Collection Bra by Davina
Dress, Belt, Jewelry by Davina

The Dancing with the Stars season is almost over, and Threads Magazine has posted a fantastic interview with the designer of all those sizzling hot costumes, the Emmy Award winning Randall Christensen. The gallery on his website has both front and back images of his designs, including many a fantastic ensemble that can be transformed, adapted or just used as is for belly dance. Although the prices are steep, I know many a dancer who has paid a princely sum for a unique costume.

I – for one – am totally inspired by his designs and really enjoyed his interview! Other pieces on him and his designs include:

Buddy TV has a great interview with Randall Christensen on their site.
Phoenix New Times – Another Article about the designer

His website is not to be missed! You could own a costume from Dancing with the Stars like the one on the left. Perfect for a sexy zambra mora, flamenco fusion, or Gypsy inspired performance. Totally couture!

#68L-0106-CA-JF
Peasant Top/Floral Skirt Latin Dress. Worn by Edyta Sliwinska Dancing the Paso Doble in Show #4. Size S. Price: $3200.

I’ve been recently spent some quality time working on a research project. A book I began quite some time ago, is rapidly reaching its deadline, and so I dusted it off and started looking through my notes. To refresh my mind, I took a moment to do a quick internet search for new sources, and I found a few things that you might be interested in. I hope you enjoy these links and find them as valuable and interesting as I do.

This upcoming book Period Impressions for Dancers and Musicians will be a handy resource for SCA members, Renaissance Fair performers and performers looking for historic folkloric costumes to wear during traditional dances. Look for more information for

~ Davina ~

Metropolitan Museum of Art hosts the Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History which has images, contextual articles that presents the flow of art history. There are quite a few articles about the Middle East, Islamic art and its relationship with the west. I particularly love this textile fragment. Read more about it and other works of art on their website.

If you are interested in the traditional dress of Saudi Arabia, there is an excellent website hosted by the Mansoojat Foundation, a UK charitable organization whose mission is to preserve and document the traditional clothes of Saudi Arabia. Their website is filled with gorgeous images of thobes from various parts of the country, with documentary text and descriptions. It’s worth taking some time to check it out.

The entire book, Oriental Costumes, their Designs and Colors by Max Tilke from 1922 is available for view from the Reference Department of the Indiana University Libraries.

Tilke’s finely rendered drawings of traditional garments from accross North Africa, the Middle East, Asia Minor, Central and Eastern Asia. His drawing allows us to identify the textile as an Ikat, and you can see the locations of the seams. This book is an excellent tool if you are trying to create a period dance piece, or are looking for models to inspire a historical costume.

Italian promotional poster – From Russia with Love – including fantastic belly dance image and Gypsy chick fight. Which got me wondering – what does the English language version look like? So I looked around and found the US version… Check out the differences in what the belly dancer is wearing. In the US version her costume belt is far lower and she is drawn with more clarity and detail. The artwork looks less like the same artist, and more like it was “redrawn” to produce a more aesthetically or culturally appealing message.

If you are interested in seeing