Here’s my interpretation of the dress of the wonderful abstract painting “Girl from Eydtkuhnen II” (1927), by the amazing Finnish artist Helene Schjerfbeck which I wore for the exclusive preview of opening of the new exhibition “Schjerfbeck and Fashion”, which opened at the Villa Gyllenberg in Helsinki on February 14th 2024. See my previous post about how I became involved in this project.
This rather unusual bolero dress, which was a novelty in the 1920s, in silk crepe de chine, features joining panels of fabric, in this case, in different colours with the technique known as “faggoting”, a very popular thing in the Twenties, which could be made by hand or as in this case, by machine. It creates an interesting patchwork effect. The bolero top attaches to the front only. The light yellow main dress also features a beautiful accordion pleating on the skirt, in this case my homage to Clara Bow, and the skirt she wore in the film “It”, also made in the same year as the painting. The light blue belt, with a bakelite vintage buckle, fashionably placed on the lower hip brings a lovely balance to the elaborate bolero front.
The Vintage Dressmaker 