Satin Bodice c. 1938

Curator: Lillian Causey, c. 1938, "Satin Bodice". What strikes you immediately about this drawing? Editor: I see potential—it has the quality of a day dream! But in practice? Well, it’s a design, clearly a blueprint, caught somewhere between technical drawing and romantic vision. Curator: Right, it is very much caught between function and form. A design rendered in light pencil and watercolor on toned paper. There are two nearly identical bodices presented, one in peach, the other a light blue. What can you say about that contrast? Editor: The colours whisper more than they shout. They are pale as if bleached under a forgotten sun. Like faded memories. The cut, though, is sharp, almost architectural... very severe, especially on the baby blue one. Curator: The lines delineate structure but the soft washes of color are suggestive, almost anticipatory of fabric and wear, pointing to an unseen wearer, someone of particular style. This would very likely be for theatrical or cinematic costume design. Editor: Oh! Imagine these corsets stiff with satin and bone, pulling everything in. Perhaps, there's a silent critique about the labor, the restriction, even a violence encoded in elegance... all those seams and stays and tiny, perfect stitches done by who-knows-who in what conditions. Curator: Exactly! Think of the skilled labor required. Someone translated this airy sketch into pattern pieces, someone else painstakingly stitched it together. Consumption always has production costs that should be carefully observed. The whole idea of "satin" and "bodice" screams out luxury, and someone somewhere paid the price. Editor: Well, despite the dark undercurrents, these designs do spark the imagination. I feel almost tempted to start stitching away myself... if only to see if I can wrestle them out of this purgatory of good intentions and pretty colours. Curator: Precisely. A tangible reminder that these drawings were never purely abstract things, but intended for bodies. Editor: It leaves me both grounded and strangely adrift, but wanting to learn how to translate ideas into materiality.