Fashion -- a la Mode, The Pop-Up History of Costumes and Dresses, by Isabelle de Borchgrave, is a book that falls into the category of "objects of my affection." I wanted to share it today because it is in line with my current obsession and our discussion of Marie Antoinette, as well as that of fashion theatres. My fascination with dolls grew out of my love of fashion at an early age, but my love of paper theatres developed later in life after I started designing paper dolls. If you love paper dolls, theatres are a natural progression. If you are not already there, this little paper confection just might be the inducement! In this book, there are seven vignettes in all, the one above as well as Egypt, At the Court of Elizabeth I, At the Opera (I have always wanted to create an opera theatre), Art of the Kimono, Coco Chanel, and Fashion as Art. It's not the best engineered pop-up book, but it is sumptuous in every other way.
Another book that might be of interest, Theatre de la Mode, an exhibit catalog memorializing the miniature mannequins of the Theatre de la Mode. The Theatre de la Mode was a collaborative among the most celebrated French fashion houses of the day, and has been said to "visually summarize the espirit de corps and espirit du temps of 1945 - 46 in clothes, accessories and theatrical sets. The exhibit originally on display at the Musee des Arts de la Mode in Paris, spent four decades at the Maryhill Museum of Art. I prefer earlier periods in fashion, but loved the theatre sets.
My first real look at antique paper theatres was on a visit to the Folk Art Museum in Santa Fe, New Mexico. At that time, their collection was housed in niches along an entry wall and protected by a glass barrier. You could see the fronts of the theatres and not much else, a tease that left me wanting to see more! A few years later, I would have the good fortune to visit Pollock's Toy Museum in London. I'm going to add a photo album at some point so that you can see a few of my pics from that visit. Pollocks has a large number of Toy Theatres on exhibit as well as reproductions for sale. You can also find reproductions for sale at Pollock's Toy Shop also in London, at Covent Garden. The toy shop is tiny but I found some real treasures there during my visit, including some reproduction jumping jacks. In fact, it was my visit there and my interest in jumping jacks (the French version of this is the pantin) that led me to design my French Laundry collection which features my contemporary interpretation of a female (Jumping Jaqueline) and male (Pantin ATC) paper doll of this sort. Great fun. In my research I learned that these articulated paper dolls were actually developed as amusements not for children, but for the wealthy! Toy theatres, contrastly, have been for generations playthings and enchantments of children, and a handful of adult collectors.
English toy theatres date to 1811, to a man named William West, a maker of children's theatres and a theatrical print publisher. He joined forces with another gentleman who had connections in the theatre which led to the creation of a Mother Goose pantomine theatre, and from there the obsession grew to include other children's and adult plays. Some of West's original creations are on exhibit in Pollock's Toy Museum.
Over the years, I have enjoyed creating a library on paper toys and toy theatres, but my favorite book is one that my husband surprised me with this past Christmas, Toy Theatres of the World, by Peter Baldwin. This book is listed on Amazon, but no editions are currently available. Imagine my surprise when my husband presented me with this rare gift. Actually, my husband was a great sport and accompanied me to both the toy museum and toy shop during our visit to London, and he found this book without any imeptus from me. You can find it on Pollock's Toy Shop web site under the heading of Toy Theatres, where you will also find some reproduction theatres for sale. I also collect reproduction toy theatres, but when I want to create a theatre of my design, these little cardboard ones can be a lot of fun. I discovered these in a shrine class I took in Federal Way, Washington back in February of 1999. My journal entry says that I signed on for classes in dollmaking and shrine building. There were over 50 people present and I was one of only four signed up for dollmaking. Art dolls were just beginning to pique the interest of the paper arts community. I chose to make dolls the theme for my shrine as well.
A few years later I reworked my doll shrine (right) to create my first paper theatre, The Theatre of Dreams. I had just completed my catalog design for the collection and my husband suggested that I create a three-dimensional version for my RSM visiting artist spot (photo below).
I warned you that I wasn't good with secrets, as you can see I am having a difficult time not sharing my current project, a petit theatre of fashion for The Queen of Tarts, a Jewel Box. Actually by sharing my "secret" I am sure to stay on task, so check back from time to time as I post photos of its progress. Unlike my Theatre of Dreams, this time I am covering all those rough cardboard edges which is the one thing I don't particularly like about them.
INVITATION: Anyone else out there intrested in designing a fashion theatre (theatre de la mode)? I think it would be great fun to have you along on this adventure and invite you all to create a theatre along with me. At some point we could even do a Theatre Zine or exhibit catalog of some kind Theatre de la Mode. Please share your thoughts here, and at some point send me your. No need to send actual theatres. This is a long term project, take your time and enjoy the process!
