Collar 1936

This delicate collar design was created by Marie Famularo in 1936, using graphite and colored pencil on paper. But what might seem like a simple sketch holds a wealth of information about the making of clothes and other decorative arts. Famularo’s elegant design gives us insight into the techniques and traditions involved in handcrafting clothing. The drawing shows a kind of delicate needlework or embroidery, perhaps intended for a garment to be worn on a special occasion. The careful, repetitive process of stitching each motif would have required time, patience, and skill. The floral motif that embellishes the collar references the natural world, connecting the act of creation to a long history of botanical illustration and design. At the same time, we can appreciate the level of labor involved in the making of such intricate designs, and its relationship to a pre-industrial approach to clothing production. It shows the value that was once placed on handcrafted embellishments, before mass production dominated the fashion industry.