BGuthrie Photos: DC -- GWU -- Museum and Textile Museum -- Exhibit: Inspiring Beauty: 50 Years of Ebony Fashion Fair

DC -- GWU -- Museum and Textile Museum -- Exhibit: Inspiring Beauty: 50 Years of Ebony Fashion Fair:

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Description of Pictures: Inspiring Beauty: 50 Years of Ebony Fashion Fair
Through July 24, 2017
For fifty years, the Ebony Fashion Fair shaped a new vision of black America through contemporary fashion. This exhibition of stunning ensembles by leading designers tells the story of the fair’s creator Eunice W. Johnson, who overcame racial prejudice to bring global fashion to African-American audiences. Developed by the Chicago History Museum in cooperation with Johnson Publishing Company, LLC, presented by the Costume Council of the Chicago History Museum, and toured by International Arts & Artists, Washington, D.C.

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Copyrights: All pictures were taken by amateur photographer Bruce Guthrie (me!) who retains copyright on them. Free for non-commercial use with attribution. See the [Creative Commons] definition of what this means. "Photos (c) Bruce Guthrie" is fine for attribution. (Commercial use folks including AI scrapers can of course contact me.) Feel free to use in publications and pages with attribution but you don't have permission to sell the photos themselves. A free copy of any printed publication using any photographs is requested. Descriptive text, if any, is from a mixture of sources, quite frequently from signs at the location or from official web sites; copyrights, if any, are retained by their original owners.

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Specific picture descriptions: Photos above with "i" icons next to the bracketed sequence numbers (e.g. "[1] ") are described as follows:
1. GWMEBO_170501_010.JPG: 50 Years of Ebony Fashion Fair For fifty years, Ebony Fashion Fair brought the world's most exclusive fashions to black audiences nationwide. A spectacle of glamour and performance, the traveling fashion show grew out of the pages of Ebony, the best-selling magazine of Chicago's Johnson Publishing Company (JPC). Similar to the publication, the fashion event provided eager audiences with transformative images of African Americans as beautiful and successful. Ebony Fashion Fair reflected changes within black America. In the middle decades of the twentieth century, African Americans challenged centuries of racial segregation and discrimination. Despite civil rights victories, images of black achievement remained rare. Through its innovative work in Chicago, a city where black businesses and culture thrived, JPC presented a powerful, new vision of what was possible for African Americans.
2. GWMEBO_170501_025.JPG: Christian Dior Day Coat 1964-65
3. GWMEBO_170501_049.JPG: Laura Biagiotti Day ensemble 2006-07
4. GWMEBO_170501_058.JPG: Givenchy Evening ensemble 1974
5. GWMEBO_170501_068.JPG: Hanae Mori Evening ensemble 2001-02
6. GWMEBO_170501_076.JPG: Erreuno Day ensemble 2002-03
7. GWMEBO_170501_087.JPG: Missoni Day wear 2006-07
8. GWMEBO_170501_093.JPG: A Way to Look African Americans have historically used clothing to signify personal dignity and identity even when both were denied by the larger society, an idea Mrs. Johnson well understood. She believed that attention to one's entire ensemble -- the perfect wrap, hat, and shoes -- was essential. These fine fabrics, furs, and bold patterns wowed audiences, epitomized affluence, and provided examples of how to confidently present one's self to the world -- from head to toe.
9. GWMEBO_170501_098.JPG: Jean-Louis Scherrer Day ensemble 2000-01
10. GWMEBO_170501_102.JPG: Jean Patou Day ensemble 1986-87
11. GWMEBO_170501_112.JPG: Angelo Marani Day ensemble 2005-06
12. GWMEBO_170501_118.JPG: Bill Blass Day ensemble 1996-97
13. GWMEBO_170501_126.JPG: John H. Johnson
14. GWMEBO_170501_142.JPG: Eunice Walker Johnson
15. GWMEBO_170501_146.JPG: Christian Lacroix Cocktail ensemble 1987-88
16. GWMEBO_170501_149.JPG: Paco Rabanne Cocktail ensemble 1993-94
17. GWMEBO_170501_151.JPG: Yves Saint Laurent Evening dress 1979-80
18. GWMEBO_170501_156.JPG: Stephen Burrows Evening dress 2007
19. GWMEBO_170501_163.JPG: Tilmann Grawe Cocktail dress 2003-04
20. GWMEBO_170501_184.JPG: Vivienne Westwood Ball gown 2002-03
21. GWMEBO_170501_195.JPG: Henry N. Jackson Ball gown 2005
22. GWMEBO_170501_201.JPG: Christian Dior Evening ensemble 1968-69
23. GWMEBO_170501_208.JPG: Emanuel Ungaro Bridal gown 1996-97
24. GWMEBO_170501_216.JPG: Valentino Evening ensemble 1978-79
25. GWMEBO_170501_226.JPG: Givenchy Evening dress 1997-98
26. GWMEBO_170501_230.JPG: Cutting-Edge Fashion: Mrs. Johnson treated Ebony Fashion Fair audiences to all of fashion's possibilities, including provocative and innovative looks that weren't available at local department stores. She and her staff traveled to the world's fashion capitals to purchase cutting-edge designs to delight and entertain. The colors, materials, and unique shapes of these garments reflect the drama for which the show was known. They provided visual treats that left some wondering, "Where would I wear that?" and others asking "Where can I get that?"
27. GWMEBO_170501_233.JPG: Pierre Cardin Evening dress 1988-89
28. GWMEBO_170501_236.JPG: Emanuel Ungaro Evening dress 1987-88
29. GWMEBO_170501_240.JPG: Krizia Cocktail ensemble 1981-82
30. GWMEBO_170501_243.JPG: Pierre Balmain Cocktail ensemble 1988-89
31. GWMEBO_170501_248.JPG: Coat by Dimitrios Suit by Giorfio Cosani Evening dress c 1981 (coat), 2002 (suit)
32. GWMEBO_170501_255.JPG: Todd Oldham Evening dress 1997-98
33. GWMEBO_170501_257.JPG: Bob Mackie Evening ensemble 1984-85
34. GWMEBO_170501_263.JPG: Sarli Cocktail ensemble 1999-2000
35. GWMEBO_170501_275.JPG: The Body Attitude Unaccustomed to bold displays of the body, early audiences gasped at backless, skintight, and see-through ensembles. But as the years progressed, they grew to expect gowns that came dangerously close to giving too much away. Mrs. Johnson chose garments that provided thrills coming down and leaving the runway. Daring looks celebrated black women's bodies in ways that challenged audiences to use clothing to embrace and accentuate their curves.
36. GWMEBO_170501_278.JPG: Azzedine Alaia Evening dress 1986
37. GWMEBO_170501_284.JPG: Naeem Khan Evening dress 2008-09
38. GWMEBO_170501_294.JPG: Patrick Kelly Evening dress 1986
39. GWMEBO_170501_316.JPG: Workin' the Runway
40. GWMEBO_170501_332.JPG: The Power of Color Bright red, vibrant yellow, deep purple -- colors with the ability to arrest and enhance appeared regularly on the Fashion Fair runway. Brilliant color palettes drew attention to the models' rich and varied hues and helped show black women that color was for them. This was especially bold in the show's first years, since dark skin was rarely celebrated. Mrs. Johnson's use of color proved that black was beautiful before the cultural revolution of the late 1960s made the statement commonplace.
41. GWMEBO_170501_334.JPG: Yves Saint Lauren Evening ensemble 1977-78
42. GWMEBO_170501_342.JPG: Guy Laroche Evening suit 1972-73
43. GWMEBO_170501_349.JPG: Chloe Evening dress 1983-84
44. GWMEBO_170501_366.JPG: Fabrice Coordinating cocktail ensembles 1990
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2017 photos: Equipment this year: I continued to use my Fuji XS-1 cameras but, depending on the event, I also used a Nikon D7000. Trips this year: Civil War Trust conferences in Pensacola, FL, Chattanooga, TN (via sites in Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Tennessee) and Fredericksburg, VA, a family reunion in The Dells, Wisconsin (via sites in Ohio, Indiana, and Wisconsin), New York City, and my 12th consecutive San Diego Comic Con trip (including sites in Arizona). For some reason, several of my photos have been published in physical books this year which is pretty cool. Ones that I know about: "Tarzan, Jungle King of Popular Culture" (David Lemmo), "The Great Crusade: A Guide to World War I American Expeditionary Forces Battlefields and Sites" (Stephen T. Powers and Kevin Dennehy), "The American Spirit" (David McCullough), "Civil War Battlefields: Walking the Trails of History" (David T. Gilbert), "The Year I Was Peter the Great: 1956 — Khrushchev, Stalin's Ghost, and a Young American in Russia" (Marvin Kalb), and "The Judge: 26 Machiavellian Lessons" (Ron Collins and David Skover). Number of photos taken this year: just below 560,000.
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