THE ARCHITECTURAL PERFECTION

We provide methods and tools to aid in the development and production of new shapes in dressmaking. This component shows how to create individually basedcontemporary designs, enabling a more precise fit for natural bodies. By focusing on proportions and molding fa- bric directly on the body, James devised new ways to drape the silhouette and create significant designs with a perfect fit. His work was uniquely sculptural because he invented new techniques for turning twodimensional fabrics into threedimensional forms.

We invite you to get an understanding of what made James’ designs so spe- cial and how his innovative principles and technical achievements can be applied today.

PUBLICATION: “CHARLES JAMES ─ THE COU- TURE SECRETS OF SHAPE“

EDITED BY DOROTHEA MINK, HOMER LAYNE AND IRIS MARIA VOM HOF

412 PP.; 566 BLACK-WHITE AND COLOUR ILLUS- TRATIONS; 22,5X29,5 CM

http://spectorbooks.com/the-couture-secrets-of-shape

“All of my seams have meaning — they emphasize something about the body.” An endless diversity of designs is pos- sible from the combinations and per- mutation of its parts; design is built from listed parts that have been successful in other garments. There should be slo- pers for every shape, silhouette, or type of garment, and its component sections: sleeve, skirt, bodice, or armhole.

A knowledge of how to combine master patterns is essential in the translation of a sketch to a finished garment. A true fashion designer fuses in his imagina- tion the choice of the master block with the knowledge of how the garment is affected by posture, the movement of its wearer, by the grain of the fabric, and the ultimate placement of seams in order to create a new product beyond the area of experiment.

Charles James devised Platitudes, which are flat pattern pieces or part of a pattern piece, to find lines on the body that can become seam lines in a garment. A Platitude works like a ruler for the body. It helps create a shaped seam or design line that circulates smoothly around the body and, in many aspects, avoids rightangled seaming. The Platitude could be a shoulder strap, a contoured belt, or any section of a pattern which has a smooth curvilinear shape. Such Platitudes could be used to create a neckline, an Empire seam, or a hip-yoke seam on a garment.

Placing the Platitude on a body or dress form can inspire one to visualize a new design line not related to the original pattern piece from which the Platitude wasdeveloped. The application of this procedure can produce numerous new designs. If the Platitude does not com- plete the intended line or cut of a new seam, it is easy to extend the lines of the Platitude to complete an encircle- ment around the body.

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Charles James created the Platitude as a tool to use when developing of new designs. The original Charles James Platitude on the left was made from his Contoured Belt. He also used this sha- pe as an inner belt in many of his de- signs (for example, the Diagonal-Waist Pants or the Figure-8 Skirt).

To create your Platitude, use the adap- ted version for the Sarah Dress Form. Following the philosophy of a unique and natural body, adapt the measu- rements of the supplied pattern to the measurements of your model or dress form to create a perfect fit. To assemble your Platitude, use fusible interfacing that has been fused together, at least four layers, alternating with straight to bias grains.

Creating a mirrored Platitude is the best way to see a complete new seam or detail that spans the whole body when developing a unique shape or design. Views in the top row of photographs show a single Platitude, while the two views at the bottom show a mirrored Platitude encircling the body.

The mirrored Platitudes are used by placing the widest edges at the center front waistline level. The waistline on the form runs in the middle of the wide edge of the Platitude. They can be placed higher or lower, depending on what you like. All of the Platitudes are to conform to the body or the dress form, flattening them as much as possible, as they follow the plains of the body. Use the upper, lower, or both edges of the Platitude when determining seam lines for a new design.

Use the mirrored Platitudes to create
a curved seam that starts at the center front waist level and then dips below the waistline, ending near the hip-line level at the center back. If the mirrored Platitudes do not meet, they can be mir- rored again, extending the line, so they cross at the center back. If not mirrored, the extensions could continue in any direction toward the center back.

To create an Empire seam line, place the narrow ends of the Platitudes at the center front of the dress form as pictured. Keep as flat as possible to the plains of the dress form or body, allowing the Platitudes to curve around the body creating new seams or design lines.

To create a design line above the bust, start by placing the narrow ends of the mirrored Platitudes at the center front of the dress form above the bust line. Ma- neuver them around the body to create an upper edge of a strapless under- bodice, the top edge of a bodice, or dress with shoulder straps. Extend the edges to the center back until they meet, or cross, forming a complete line around the body.

Place the narrow ends of the Platitudes as pictured in the upper-left photograph. Allow the Platitudes to conform to the plains of the body, creating a design line to your liking. The edges of the Platitudes can be extended to meet at the center front and the center back. The back could become a V-shape or rounded like a normal back neckline.

The front could be extended under the bust at an upward angle to meet at the center front, forming an upward point or any other line you like. This line could be used as the edge of a vest or filled in to cover the bust area for a dress or jacket.

Examples of Charles James’ Platitudes are made of hard paper or stiffened canvas. The canvas versions are made with three layers of fusible interfacing on straight to bias grains making them pliable but firm.

These sketches show how the Plati- tudes are used for new skirt designs. In the sketch above, Charles James has numbered the pattern sections from 1 to 7, which is a refined version of the rough sketch to the left.

Our model shows the 1972 carapace of the dress for Mrs. Carmichael in stif- fened muslin. Note that the center front section is cut on straight grain, and the side sections are cut on the bias grain.

It is "a joke about the meter," Duchamp glibly noted about this piece, but hi- spremise for it reads like a theorem: "If a straight horizontal thread one meter longfalls from a height of one meter onto a horizontal plane twisting as it pleases [it] creates a new image of the unit of length." Duchamp dropped three threads one meter long from the height of one meter onto three stretched can- vases. The threads were then adhered to the canvases to preserve the random curves they assumed upon landing. The canvases were cut along the threads' profiles, creating a template of their curves creating new units of measure that retain the length of the meter but undermine its rational basis.

In 3 Standard Stoppages, Duchamp had explored the possibility of adjusting the metric standard through a random procedure. In this large canvas he complicated that idea, multiplying the curves of the fallen threads from 3 Standard Stoppages by reproducing each one three times and positioning them in a diagrammatic arrangement. He also made the work by painting over the images on a canvas he had already used, those images being a female figure and a schematic, quasimechani- cal drawing of his ongoing project The Large Glass. The visible and semivi- sible layers of Network of Stoppages seem to contrast three representational systems: traditional figuration, chance operations, and the diagram, which maps the world without picturing it.

Charles James constructed his cages using fabric-covered metal boning. When constructing a cage, the dress form must be stabilized on sturdy card- board or a wooden panel, large enough for the planned hemline extended to the floor. The template of the hemline on the floor can be circular, oval, or

any other shape. Cut strips of oaktag paper into 1 cm (3⁄8 inch) widths. Start by placing a strip around the waist, divide equally, and mark for the number of ribs desired to create the shape. The more ribs there are, the greater the control one has over the shape. The floor template is marked in the same manner as the waist. Punch holes in the waist strip at the marked rib points. Using strips long enough to reach the floor from the waist, punch a hole at one

end of each strip. Affix the ribs to the waist strip by inserting envelope pins in the holes. Attach the end of the rib to the floor template, either with push- pins or staples at the corresponding points on the waist strip. Starting at the waist, horizontal or diagonal strips are extended around the vertical ribs to the floor. When attached, they must lie flat against one another to create a smooth surface. Allow the strips to follow their own path to the floor. Punch holes in the ribs where they intersect and insert envelope pins to stabilize the cage.

The Gothic Coat derived from a series of high-waisted, bell-shaped coats
for which Charles James received his second Coty American Fashion Critics’ Award for innovative cutting in 1954. These coats, featuring a curved seam high upon the bust, prompted The New York Times to describe them as “a perfect balance of design ‘in the round’ of almost architectural perfection.”

James once said of his five decades of work: “If I were known for only two things, it would be the celebrated dis- placement of the dart and the wall of air between the body and the fabric. All of my seams have meaning — they emphasize something about the body.” These two aspects refer to Japonism in the mid-19th century, when Japanese society collided with the Western world. The kimono constitutes the epitome of all Japanese fashion from a Western perspective. This icon of Japanese clothing has a major influence on the creation of a new silhouette with a looser fit and starkly minimized seams. While the pattern of the Western gar- ment is based on the body, the pattern of the Japanese garment is based on the fabric.

The complex cut of the famous Great Coat is a significant example and makes Charles James’ artistic approach of draping comprehensible. Working on this surface, he was able to extract an infinite variety of patterns from this basic shape by dissecting it in multiple ways. He used wide black tape or seam binding to create alternate seaming for new variations of the stuffed garment, all the while retaining the original shape.

Another astonishing aspect regarding the subject of Japonism is that Charles James, without knowing the specific concept of “Ma” from Japanese aesthe- tics, developed, so to speak, this “Ma” in conjunction with his expression “the wall of air between the body and the fabric.” “Ma” describes in the broadest sense the gap, the space, the resting space, or break between two different components or states. No less a figure than Japanese fashion designer Issey Miyake is committed to this traditional Japanese aesthetic doctrine of “Ma.” With respect to body and clothing, Miyake refers to the space and/or time between body and clothing that theater and also generates tension and energy.

First created in 1959 and produced until 1961, this coat was made in a variety of fabrics, including an elegant emerald wool bouclé, a sophisticated black wool melton, and an eccentric red-and-black bold wool plaid. The hem was pinned up on the spot to make the coat look more contemporary.

In view 1, the original seams are visi- ble. In view 3, the “wall of air” between the muslin and the dress form is shown. It has been padded out with fiberfill, fully expanding the tortoise-shaped back of the coat. The marked grain lines on the muslin help to understand the deviation of the seams. The front of the coat is molded close to the body at the Empire line. It is held against the body with an inner belt; this is only attached at the front and side seams, therefore leaving the back free. In this solid form, it now resembles a sculpture of the coat.