Boy's Suit c. 1936

Frederick Jackson made this watercolor and graphite work, Boy's Suit, sometime in the 20th century. What a curious drawing! It’s like a dress rehearsal for a future garment, a ghost of fashion yet to come. I can imagine Jackson at his drafting table, considering this little outfit, the blush of pink watercolor blooming across the page, layer upon layer. He's almost willing it into existence, trying to conjure a real object. The weight of the sleeves, the drape of the fabric. And then, to the side, these ghostly outlines! An echo of the pink suit, a suggestion of other possibilities. Like a painter making studies for a larger work, Jackson teases out the different angles, refining his vision. Maybe he was thinking about the history of clothes, the way fashion repeats and reinvents itself. Or maybe he was just trying to make something beautiful and useful and new. Either way, it makes you wonder: What conversations are we having with the past when we create?