Coat (Pattern) c. 1937

Curator: This pencil drawing on paper, created around 1937 by Mae A. Clarke, is titled "Coat (Pattern)". It offers a fascinating look at the technical side of fashion design from the period. Editor: My first thought? It's so understated, almost ghostly! Like a whisper of a dress, waiting to be brought to life. There's a delicacy in those lines. Curator: The pattern pieces, meticulously rendered, suggest so much about women's roles in the 1930s—the importance of dressmaking skills, the focus on frugality during the Depression, and perhaps the creative outlet it provided. How fashion intersects with both the everyday and major events in history. Editor: Absolutely! It's practical art. I imagine someone poring over this pattern in their kitchen, maybe with a radio playing in the background. Each snip of the scissors feels like a little act of rebellion, refashioning not just fabric but their own narrative. There's a real tenderness in this simplicity. Curator: There's also something inherently modernist in its geometric forms, if you will. While functional, the clean shapes speak to a larger artistic engagement with abstraction and the streamlined aesthetics popular in the Art Deco era. It resists pure functionality, flirting instead with stylish geometries that mirrored social change. Editor: You’re right, that tension’s compelling! A functional blueprint almost becoming its own stylish statement. To me, it reads like a forgotten treasure, a peek behind the curtain of couture…or perhaps *almost*-couture, where creativity meets economic realities. It almost whispers tales of personal resourcefulness through tough times! Curator: Considering how much of women's labour, especially within domestic spheres, is erased from traditional art historical narratives, considering an item like this opens exciting possibilities for revising that legacy. Editor: Yeah, totally. Makes you wonder about all the art happening in the spaces that official narratives overlook! And the magic made in these unseen patterns is really just as remarkable. Curator: Exactly. Looking closely here invites reflection on the intersection between class, gender, and labor… Editor: While also just being kinda dreamy, and lovely... Curator: ...a dreamy beauty embedded within systems. Food for thought, absolutely.