American Yardage

Cheney Brothers - Manchester, Conn.
Meteor Shower
1913
roller-printed silk
National Museum of American History, Washington DC

A.H. Straus & Co. - New York
Peruvian
1917
discharge-printed silk
National Museum of American History, Washington DC

A.H. Straus & Co. - New York
Saracenic
1917
discharge-printed silk
National Museum of American History, Washington DC

Cheney Brothers - Manchester, Conn.
Zantine
1917
roller-printed silk
National Museum of American History, Washington DC

Cheney Brothers - Manchester, Conn.
Sweetbriar
1917
roller-printed silk
National Museum of American History, Washington DC

Duplan Silk Corp. - New York
Floral Clusters
1921
silk-satin crepe
National Museum of American History, Washington DC

 Martha Ryther for H.R. Mallinson & Co. - New York
Development of the Loom
1923
block-printed silk
National Museum of American History, Washington DC

Cheney Brothers - Manchester, Conn.
Mysore
1925
roller-printed silk
National Museum of American History, Washington DC

H.R. Mallinson & Co. - New York
Crater Lake, Oregon
1927
roller-printed silk
National Museum of American History, Washington DC

H.R. Mallinson & Co. - New York
Flower Market of the Madeleine
1928
roller-printed silk
National Museum of American History, Washington DC

H.R. Mallinson & Co. - New York
Betsy Ross / Liberty Bell
1929
roller-printed silk crepe
National Museum of American History, Washington DC

Joe Martin for Schumacher & Co. - New York
Bird Zoo
ca. 1949
screenprinted cotton
Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum

Cheney Brothers - Manchester, Conn.
Antique Satin
1951
silk satin
National Museum of American History, Washington DC

Alexander Girard for Herman Miller
Ribbons
1957
screenprinted linen furnishing fabric
Art Institute of Chicago

David Jamison
Park
(repeat image of Park Avenue, New York)
1990
printed polyester and viscose
Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum

Wallace Sewell for Designtex - New York
Clerkenwell
2014
wool
Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum

Wallace Sewell for Designtex - New York
Myddleton
2014
wool
Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum

From far, from eve and morning

    And yon twelve-winded sky,

The stuff of life to knit me

    Blew hither: here am I.

Now– for a breath I tarry

    Nor yet disperse apart  –

Take my hand quick and tell me,

    What have you in your heart.

Speak now, and I will answer,

    How shall I help you, say;

Ere to the wind's twelve quarters

    I take my endless way.

– A.E. Housman (1896)

American Frocks

Anonymous American Needleworker
Two-Piece Day Dress
ca. 1815-25
silk satins (striped and solid)
National Museum of American History, Washington DC

Anonymous American Needleworker
Wedding Gown
1847
silk taffeta and embroidered silk chiffon
National Museum of American History, Washington DC

Anonymous American Needleworker
Summer Dress
ca. 1855-65
printed silk gauze
National Museum of American History, Washington DC

Anonymous American Needleworker
Ensemble worn by Mary Todd Lincoln
1861
silk velvet and silk satin
National Museum of American History, Washington DC

Anonymous American Needleworker
Wedding Gown
1867
silk satin and needle lace
Victoria & Albert Museum, London

Anonymous American Needleworker
Ball Gown worn by Minnie Maddern Fiske in silent film Becky Sharp
1915
embroidered silk
National Museum of American History, Washington DC

Anonymous American Needleworker
Evening Gown worn by Mrs Woodrow Wilson
1915
beaded silk crepe, silk satin and silk velvet
National Museum of American History, Washington DC

Anonymous American Needleworker
Evening Gown worn by Mrs Woodrow Wilson
1916
brocaded silk satin and tulle
National Museum of American History, Washington DC

Anonymous American Needleworker
Wedding Gown
1927
beaded silk satin crepe
National Museum of American History,
Washington DC

Anonymous American Needleworker
Coconut Grove Caricature Dress
(depicting silent film stars)
ca. 1927
printed silk
National Portrait Gallery, Washington DC

Anonymous American Needleworker
Child's Dress
ca. 1930-40
silk satin
Anacostia Community Museum, Washington DC

Anonymous American Needleworker
Wedding Gown made from a World War II Parachute
1945
parachute silk
National Museum of American History, Washington DC

Ruth Hensinger
Wedding Gown made from a World War II Parachute
1947
parachute nylon
National Museum of American History, Washington DC

Ann Lowe
Dress
ca. 1960
silk taffeta and silk chiffon
National Museum of African American
History and Culture, Washington DC

Oleg Cassini
Evening Gown worn by Jacqueline Kennedy
ca. 1962
embroidered and beaded silk satin
National Museum of American History, Washington DC

Carolina Herrera
Dress
ca. 1987
printed silk with ribbon trim
National Museum of American History, Washington DC

Arnold Scaasi
Evening Gown worn by Barbara Bush
1989
silk velvet and silk satin
National Museum of American History, Washington DC

    In my own shire, if I was sad,

Homely comforters I had:

The earth, because my heart was sore,

Sorrowed for the son she bore;

And standing hills, long to remain,

Shared their short-lived comrade's pain.

And bound for the same bourne as I,

On every road I wandered by,

Trod beside me, close and dear,

The beautiful and death-struck year:

Whether in the woodland brown

I heard the beechnut rustle down,

And saw the purple crocus pale

Flower about the autumn dale;

Or littering far the fields of May

Lady-smocks a-bleaching lay,

And like a skylit water stood

The bluebells in the azured wood.

    Yonder, lightening other loads,

The seasons range the country roads,

But here in London streets I ken

No such helpmates, only men;

And these are not in plight to bear,

If they would, another's care.

They have enough as 'tis: I see

In many an eye that measures me

The mortal sickness of a mind

Too unhappy to be kind.

Undone with misery, all they can

Is to hate their fellow man;

And till they drop they needs must still

Look at you and wish you ill.

– A.E. Housman (1896)

Contrived in France

House of Worth
Evening Gown
ca. 1882
silk satin and silk chiffon
Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum

House of Worth
Evening Cloak
1889
embroidered silk with dyed and beaded lace
Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum

House of Worth
Evening Gown
ca. 1893
silk satin, silk chiffon and silk velvet
National Museum of American History, Washington DC

Maison Goupy
Day Dress
1919
printed cotton and silk velvet
Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum

Callot Soeurs
Evening Gown
1922
beaded and embroidered silk
National Museum of American History
Washington DC

Callot Soeurs
Evening Gown
ca. 1923-26
printed and beaded silk velvet and lace
Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum

Christian Dior
Wedding Gown
1956
silk taffeta, silk tulle and lace
National Museum of American History, Washington DC

Cristóbal Balenciaga
Cocktail Coat
1956
silk gros-de-Naples
Museo Cristóbal Balenciaga, Getaria, Spain

Cristóbal Balenciaga
Ensemble (Sweater and Skirt)
1957
wool knit
Museo Cristóbal Balenciaga, Getaria, Spain

Cristóbal Balenciaga
Coat
1960
wool
Museo Cristóbal Balenciaga, Getaria, Spain

Cristóbal Balenciaga
Evening Gown
1960
embroidered silk gros-de-Naples
Museo Cristóbal Balenciaga, Getaria, Spain

Cristóbal Balenciaga
Ensemble (Blouse and Skirt)
1961
silk crepe
Museo Cristóbal Balenciaga, Getaria, Spain

Cristóbal Balenciaga
Day Dress
1968
wool crepe
Museo Cristóbal Balenciaga, Getaria, Spain

Hubert de Givenchy
Evening Gown
1982
cotton knit with nylon tulle and plastic sequins
Philadelphia Museum of Art

Emanuel Ungaro
Evening Ensemble
1989
jacket: silk-cotton twill and rayon velvet
skirt: embroidered silk satin
Philadelphia Museum of Art

John Galliano for Dior
Suit
1998
wool and silk, with wool faux-fur
Philadelphia Museum of Art

Giambattista Valli
Two-Piece Dress
2014
silk taffeta and silk tulle
Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum

    They which forewent us did leave a room for us, and should we grieve to do the same to those which should come after us?  Who, being admitted to see the exquisite rarities of some antiquary's cabinet, is grieved, all viewed, to have the curtain drawn, and give place to new pilgrims?  And when the Lord of this universe hath showed us the various wonders of his amazing frame, should we take it to heart when he thinketh time to dislodge?  This is his unalterable and unevitable decree: as we had no part of our will in our entrance into this life, we should not presume of any on our leaving it, but soberly learn to will that which he wills, whose very willing giveth being to all that it wills; and adoring the Orderer, not repine at the order and laws, which all-where and all-ways are so perfectly established that who would essay to alter and amend any of them, he should either make them worse or desire things beyond the level of possibility.  All that is necessary and convenient for us they have bestowed upon us and freely granted; and what they have not bestowed nor granted us, neither is it necessary nor convenient that we should have it. 

– William Drummond of Hawthornden, from A Cypress Grove (London: Hawthornden Press, 1919, reprinting the original edition of 1623)