Faux Fortuny Pleats
"Necessity the mother of Invention"
Living in Melbourne can be a long way from accessing designer products. Thirty years ago, the average Australian was not aware of or interested in Mariano Fortuny except the local librarian and me, fortunately things have changed.
I found a book about his textiles in the public library when I was still at school. I read the book from cover to cover and fell in love with the pleated silk dresses that he designed. Fortuny was an inventor, artist, photographer, textile and set designer. He developed a secret technique to finely pleat silk inspired by the ancient Greek statues, which he then had made into the most beautiful dresses you can imagine. Unfortunately the secret for producing these pleated wonders died with him. "Delphi" Fortuny pleated dresses appeared in international art auctions and were highly sought after and therefore very expensive. The only way to have something like this was to have an attempt at making it yourself, so over the years people have experimented to recreate these pleated textiles. A Welsh clothing company produced costumes for the film " Wings of a Dove". They appear in one scene with Helena Bonham Carter and her friend wearing the dresses in a gondola in Venice, absolute heaven. The best versions are made by the Venetian company 'Venetia Studium', but long before I was aware of these there was my version. I looked at the illustrations of his patented machine and it reminded me of a smocking machine we used in our sewing classes at school. You can do smocking without a pleating machine and so I have developed a technique to hand stitch them and set the pleats permanently with steam. So I call my effort "Faux Fortuny" and turn the pleated fabrics into scarves with hand beaded edges. My version is a little more chunky than Fortuny's ,but they have a rich ripply look,reflecting the light as it lands on the folds.
Living in Melbourne can be a long way from accessing designer products. Thirty years ago, the average Australian was not aware of or interested in Mariano Fortuny except the local librarian and me, fortunately things have changed.
I found a book about his textiles in the public library when I was still at school. I read the book from cover to cover and fell in love with the pleated silk dresses that he designed. Fortuny was an inventor, artist, photographer, textile and set designer. He developed a secret technique to finely pleat silk inspired by the ancient Greek statues, which he then had made into the most beautiful dresses you can imagine. Unfortunately the secret for producing these pleated wonders died with him. "Delphi" Fortuny pleated dresses appeared in international art auctions and were highly sought after and therefore very expensive. The only way to have something like this was to have an attempt at making it yourself, so over the years people have experimented to recreate these pleated textiles. A Welsh clothing company produced costumes for the film " Wings of a Dove". They appear in one scene with Helena Bonham Carter and her friend wearing the dresses in a gondola in Venice, absolute heaven. The best versions are made by the Venetian company 'Venetia Studium', but long before I was aware of these there was my version. I looked at the illustrations of his patented machine and it reminded me of a smocking machine we used in our sewing classes at school. You can do smocking without a pleating machine and so I have developed a technique to hand stitch them and set the pleats permanently with steam. So I call my effort "Faux Fortuny" and turn the pleated fabrics into scarves with hand beaded edges. My version is a little more chunky than Fortuny's ,but they have a rich ripply look,reflecting the light as it lands on the folds.
The pale grey cashmere jumper that inspired this soft coloured scarf.
This cashmere mix jumper works well with this inky green scarf. I hand stitch the tiny beads to enhance the hem. I like to keep my scarves in place with a vintage brooch and I always wear some beads to finish the outfit. These two items belonged to my mother who taught me about the finer things in life.
This little vintage jumper from 1961 has a lovely satin binding and bow but it still needs a scarf to keep out the chilly breezes. My mother bought this for her honeymoon, a boat cruise to New Zealand. The red glass beads belonged to my partner's mother.
This is a wool and cashmere dress, this scarf is made from a translucent Italian silk, that is beige shot with celadon green. It is a very delicate colour. The necklace is from the 1920s and belonged to my grandmother.
The scarves hanging on pegs on my front door. The shorter ones are approx. 95cm long allow for a single knot when worn and the longer 110cm allows for a double knot .
