A “Canada Goose” is the unspoken dress code at Cornell, according to Amanda Dubin ‘18. With a steep price tag, ranging from $450 to well above $1,000, they are an elite status symbol that are distinguishable from other coats by their small red, white, and blue patch on the upper arm. Dubin argues that the Canada Goose trend is the contemporary iteration of the raccoon coat fads of previous generations. Read more on her blog post, “The Power of a Winter Coat,” on blogs.cornell. edu/cornellcostume (March 8,2018).
Worn at the Burning Man festival in 2008, the furkini was designed and sewn by James Hayes, a costume designer in Los Angeles. James and his partner, along with friends, set up “Camp Furkini” every year, and gift nearly 50 furkinis to men they call “costume challenged.” The garment design and construction is outlined in depth in the 2009 documentary, Somewhere in Between.
Designed by Ellish Furriers Nyack, this raccoon coat was likely worn in the 1920s when raccoon coats were an important fashion trend on college campuses. Amanda Dubin ‘18 researched this garment and found that it was purchased second-hand and worn by Courtney Crawford ’54, to football games at Columbia and Cornell. This coat is a great example of trends that cycle: the raccoon coat has remained popular in periods of wealth: the 1920s, post World War II, and later in the 1980s.
This jumpsuit and skirt coverup was designed by Givenchy and is made entirely of silk. The jumpsuit is a soft, puckered surface while the dramatic shirt wraps around the body with a front opening.
Tuyen Nguyen, ‘20 selected this bright pink silk ensemble because of the unique texture created by the pleating style. These repeating pleats are typically associated with the Delphos Gown, a design created by Henriette Negrin and Mariano Fortuny y Madrazo in about 1907. The design was popularly dubbed the “Fortuny Gown” and remained in production until 1950. Since then, this pleating and silhouette has been replicated and reimagined time and time again by other fashion designers like Mary McFadden, and in this case, Charles and Patricia Lester. This 1980s version consists of a pleated and beaded silk tunic, overcoat, skirt, underskirt, and purse. This unique pleating provides an interesting texture, visual aesthetic, and enables the gown to be “one size fits all” since the pleating ensures the gown can shape to the contour of many different bodies.
