Patriotic Acts of Consumption: Lucile (Lady Duff Gordon) and the Vaudeville Fashion Show Craze

Abstract

Between December 1917 and May 1918, one of the leading acts on the Keith vaudeville circuit was Fleurette’s Dream at Peronne , a fashion show featuring a dozen mannequins and a million dollars in clothing. Staged by British couturier Lucile (Lady Duff Gordon), the self-proclaimed inventor of the modern fashion show, the twenty-eight minute “playlet” was a celebration of fashion’s excesses and a clever promotional vehicle for the designer’s gowns. But as Lucile repeatedly emphasized in her stage appearances and newspaper interviews, Fleurette’s Dream was not a fashion show: it was a war drama created for the express purpose of raising money to rebuild French homes destroyed in the war. In framing the act in this way, Lucile aligned theatrical spectatorship and fashion consumption with the ideals of philanthropy, humanitarianism, and patriotism. Read against the US government’s wartime call for campaign and thrift, Fleurette’s Dream at Peronne becomes much more than a lavish spectacle wrapped up in a convenient war disguise. Through the medium of the vaudeville fashion show, Lucile advanced a pro-consumption message that actively refuted attempts to shame women for purchasing dresses, jewels, and other display commodities. Fleurette’s Dream at Peronne thus offers fascinating insight into the production of female citizenship during World War I and the evolving relationship between consumption and patriotism.

Establishing Fashionthropy: A History and Analysis of Fashion and Philanthropy’s Convergence

“…But the show's popularity in Toronto suggests that "Fleurette's Dream" affected, and perhaps hastened, the shift towards the naturalization of the 'citizen consumer,' made tangible in the form of escapist entertainment imbued with war and charitable rhetoric as an acceptable way to support the war charities while also indulging in fun and fashion. Like TOMS and (RED), "Fleurette's Dream" is also an example of consumption philanthropy, but more so it provides a historical instance of corporate sponsorship as Lucille's original designs held a valuation of up to $1 million USD (Schweitzer, 2008).…”

Innovación educativa en la moda: esencia, evolución y aplicaciones pedagógicas y creativas en el desfile

“…El segundo momento trascendental para entender la pasarela data de 1901, cuando Lady Duff-Gordon modificó el desfile habitual. Para rentabilizar más las nuevas propuestas de su salón de costura (llamado Lucile), decidió presentar sus prendas en un teatro, titulando la colección Gowns of emotions; el desfile se ideó como un espectáculo con proscenio, telón, música, iluminación, invitaciones, programas y poses teatrales (Schweitzer, 2008). A partir de 1903, el desfile dejó de ser un evento elitista destinado solo a las compradoras de la alta costura, para convertirse en una muestra más pública, celebrada en grandes almacenes.…”

Introduction

“…The study of fashion and costume design is often linked to discourses of national identity, particularly when addressed from an industrial standpoint. Much of the available scholarship addressing this conflation of ideas focuses on the United States, France, and Italy (Landy 1986;Paulicelli 2004;Schweitzer 2008;Arnold 2009;Pouillard 2011;Pouillard 2016;Lundén 2018). Chiara Faggella enters in dialogue with Italian scholarship through a case study of the films Il Signor Max (Astra Film, 1937) and I Grandi Magazzini (Amato-Era Film, 1939).…”