Squirting Grapefruits and Fingerprints: Deskey's Textiles

"Squirting Grapefruit"

Donald Deskey might be a name you are familiar with, but if you can’t quite place his work, just think Radio City Music Hall.

The interior that we now think of as the quintessential expression of Art Deco design, was actually slated to be yet another over-the-top “Rococo,” movie palace. That, of course, was before a certain designer entered the design competition with a completely different vision.

From the Radio City’s website:

Deskey invested $5,000 in a spectacular presentation of the new Art Deco style that utilized glass, aluminum, chrome and geometric ornamentation, promising a modern theatre, unlike any other in New York. Deskey won the competition and was awarded the mammoth project of designing every public area in the Music Hall, including thirty lobby areas, smoking rooms, retiring rooms, foyers and lounges ...  

Deskey himself designed furniture and carpets, and he coordinated the design of railings, balustrades, signage and decorative details to complement the theatre's interior spaces. He used a brilliant combination of precious materials (including marble and gold foil), and industrial materials (including Bakelite, permatex, aluminum and cork)

The archive of Deskey’s work at the Smithsonian contains iterations of Radio City’s instrument-themed carpet, along with many other Deco delights. These playful pastel-on-black 1930s textile designs definitely took me by surprise!

"W.P.A., or Spare Time"

"Fingerprints"

"Party Ashtray"

Then there was one more pastel on black, from 1961, and about as far from a textile design as you can get. It was the sketch for New York City’s familiar streetlight!

First Aid Bandana

Vintage work clothes, pleated taffeta ruffles, camp blankets, peasant blouses and lots of indigo. The Vintage Fashion and Textile Show in Sturbridge is a serious affair. Photography is strictly verboten, but I got a dispensation at Sarajo (formerly of Soho, currently of Maine) to photograph this WWI-era “BANDAGE FOR FIRST AID IN ACCIDENT” scarf/sling.

Infographic on a textile. Does it get any better than this?

The Photo-Fixated Fashion of Mary Katrantzou

Spring 2014

While digitally photo-printed fabric is fairly standard by now, London-based designer, Mary Katrantzou really does take it up a notch. In fact, because she designs not just the textiles, but the clothing they are made into, she’s been managing to make it new, season after season since Fall 2009.
Katrantzou finds inspiration in everything from men’s brogues to interior design photography. I'm thinking that the aesthetic might simply be called “Photoshop,” where there are no limits to possibilities of image manipulation. Details like the decorative scrollwork on banknotes or the perforations on a wingtip shoe are enlarged to colossal proportions, and the "scale tool" pours her models into gigantic perfume bottles. Nothing, be it a formal garden, a No. 2 pencil, or a skyscraper is safe from being sliced, chopped, duplicated, mirrored, and illogically reconfigured. Then, on top of the dazzling (and sometimes dizzying) print effects, the fabric is engineered into garments, with architectural precision."It's hellishly difficult to put a placement print on a bias-cut dress," said the designer when she started working with softer silhouettes.

You can see all of her collections at Style.com, where these photos are from. It seems that each season's review expresses some version of wonder as to how Katrantzou has succeeded, yet again, in causing jaws to drop.

Spring 2014

Fall 2009

Fall 2013

Fall 2012

Spring 2013

Spring 2011

Wearable Photography

Appealing photo-prints from  Agnès B ...

The World According to Marimekko

Well, the world according to Marimekko, starting with Helsinki. The map features favorite haunts of the ever-creative team at Finland's most colorful company. You won't be using this quirkily hand-drawn city plan to find specific intersections, but there are plenty of tools for that already. Check out the interactive version online. In the works: a map of Tokyo ...

"Love is Like a Cough" and other Swahili Valentines

Love is like a cough, it cannot be hidden

Kanga, the wrapped garments worn mostly by women in East Africa, are more than colorful cloths. In addition to a printed pattern engineered for the standard 1-meter by 1.5-meter length of cotton, each kanga carries an inscription, often in the form of a riddle or proverb. The messages evolved as a means for women to communicate what might at one time, have been considered unacceptable to speak out loud. Subjects cover everything from condolences to gratitude, to wishes of good luck and admonishments for gossiping. Kangas are often given as gifts. They have many uses and it is not uncommon for a woman to have a collection of them, so as to don the appropriate message for every occasion.

Many of the images here are from the Erie Art Museum, which mounted a show about Kanga in 2009. Others are from an exhibition at Arkansas State University.

So for this Valentine’s Day, during Fashion Week, within Black History Month post, here are some of the many Kanga messages around the topic of love.



When two are in love, their enemies can’t harm them


Let's be patient with one another and not fight over small things


He has promised to love me, I won’t let him down


There is somebody in the world to love for everybody


Give Us Peace So We Can Love Each Other (source)


What Are You Holding On For? He Doesn't Want You! Leave Him!
(Kanga version of “He’s just not that into you”) Photo by Amanda Lichtenstein


Let us love each other until people ask themselves (about our love)


Love Me So I Can Calm Down Already Photo by Amanda Lichtenstein


You can poison romance with too many words


It is no secret, you are my one and only

The Vested Gentress

Winking horses, yakking yaks, puppies, giraffes, frogs, and bunnies. Welcome to world of The Vested Gentress. Playful, hand-screened prints that instantly transport you to lawn parties were fresh berries and deviled eggs are always within easy reach. Think Lilly Pulitzer, but sillier and less saccharine; Vera, but sillier and less mod; Marimekko with imagery. But while those labels have storied pasts, very little is known about The Vested Gentress.


The label has developed quite a following, as ever more vintage fans discover (usually while looking for Lilly Pulitzer) these charming prints. Still, information about the company is so scarce, that I’ve yet to read anything other than what Lizzie Bramlett has had posted on the Vintage Fashion Guild site for some time now:

Vested Gentress was established in 1961 and was based in Valley Forge, Pennsylvania. Their factory was located in Trappe, Pennsylvania, about twelve miles from Valley Forge. The company was known for whimsical screenprinted fabrics. These fabrics were made into dresses, slacks, and skirts. They also had a line of golf wear. The company closed in the late 1980s.

Time for a gin & tonic!


This winking horse, probably the best known "vg" print, is irresistible both coming and going.
















































Sources: Most items are/were for sale on Etsy and eBay. Other sources include Sparkles of Life, Looking 4 Lilly, RubyLemons.