COMPLETE YOUR COLLECTION
by Blog Editor, Selvedge
Image: Cover of Issue 73 Decorative . Photography by Elizaveta Porodina.
Do you have any gaps in your Selvedge Magazine collection? If so, you're in luck as you can now receive 25% off all our back issues when you buy six or more.
Selvedge Magazine is 105 issues young and we're still going strong! Who knew there was so much to talk about in the world of textiles? (We did of course...) However, with 104 possible magazines to choose from, we've curated some of our back issues into content collections to help you find what you're looking for. Keep your eyes peeled for more selections over the coming weeks of our sale.
Use the code JANUARYSALE22 at checkout to redeem this offer.
The Costume Collection
Image: Set Design (1954), Natalia Goncharova
He's behind you! As the name suggests, this issue explores all things performing arts. From intricate paper theatres, and the origins of Pantomime, to the art of puppetry and conserving the beautiful stage and costume design of Natalia Goncharova and the Ballets Russes, this is the issue for theatre lovers.
In the issue, we explore New Mexico’s key sights with the Alexander Girard Folk Art collection, the handmade wardrobe of Georgia O'Keeffe, the British tradition of Morris Dancing and ideas around cultural appropriation.
This issue takes a deep dive into the most decadent of decades; the 1920s, with a survey of the exhibition The Jazz Age at the Fashion and Textile Museum, from curator Dennis Nothdruft who introduces us to the glitz and the glamour. Dani Trew examines how contemporary designers are taking inspiration from the era and Sarah Jane Downing traces the history of the sequin from Elizabethan times to the present, demonstrating that the appeal of the shiny is nothing new. Further back we discover Opus Anglicanum, the height of English embroidery and the ultimate mastery of goldwork and how contemporary designers such such as Alice Archer interpreting the art form in a new and relevant way.
We also look behind the scenes at the detailed costumes made for TV and film by Cosprop as well as their hard-wearing yet equally impactful designs for staged productions. On another scale entirely we talk to the costume designer Deborah Cook who designs in miniature for animation, an approach not dissimilar to that used for fashion dolls since the thirteenth century. Finally Jane Brocket reflects on the symbolic power of embroidery in literature.
Image: Emi Wada and Zhang Yimou's costume designs in House of Flying Daggers (2004)
Spending less time outside in this cold weather means we can return to neglected cultural pursuits. To remind you of what you may have been missing, in this issue we feature Erika Turunen and The Finnish Ballet. We also visit Freed Ballet Shoes and discover the pain behind the performance. The cinema can be a refuge in colder months and the Oscar winning costume designs of Emi Wada and Edith Head have ensured we find there an escapist fantasy of glamour and beauty. Legends in costume design past and present, they worked in different genres but both created unforgettable screen images.
Image: Lily James as Cinderalla as designed by Sandy Powell
Long January evenings provide the ideal opportunity to indulge in a little escapism. Nothing lifts the spirits quite like losing oneself for an hour or two in a play or a good film. For us at Selvedge, it is often the costumes that steal the show and enable us to escape into another world. In this issue Nicola Donovan explored the work of costume designers Sandy Powell, Colleen Atwood and Jacqueline Durran, who, between them, have 23 Oscar nominations.
Every costume designer has a different approach to the process, and Jenny Tiramani is another professional with a distinctive ethos. After leading a highly skilled team at Shakespeare's Globe Theatre, Jenny Tiramani has devoted the last decade to studying and teaching the accurate reconstruction of historic dress. In her article, Ready for their close-up, she explains the role of her recently founded School of Historical Dress and why accuracy is important in the theatre and on screen.
Yes this offer also applies to some of our more recent issues! In this issue we pay homage to 'dressing up' and the clothes that make us feel good. From the Oscar de la Renta gown that drowned Billie Eilish in a captivating ocean of tulle, to the sugar pink trapeze dress, designed by Molly Goddard and worn by Killing Eve's fabulously clad villain, played by Jodie Comer, Lydia Caston examines and traces the origins of these exaggerated concoctions.
We get a glimpse of old-world Hollywood as Virginia Postrel muses on the quality of glamour, with its shifting form and eternal pull. No matter the genre, dresses tell stories: their messages can be read in novels, TV shows, red carpets, and films, where they cement characters and plot in our imagination. In this issue, we also unpick embellishment; from the sequins and plumes that adorned glamorous women and fueled enormous industry, to the work of Des Midinettes of Paris.
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This offer will end on 31 January 2022. Use the code JANUARYSALE22 at checkout to redeem this offer.