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One Enchanted Evening: A new book celebrates gowns from the Darnell Collection

One Enchanted Evening by Charlotte Smith is illustrated by Grant Cowan.

If you don’t already know Charlotte Smith, you’re in for a treat. She has become the face of vintage style through the charitable and educational fashion shows, museum exhibitions and lectures she presents worldwide. Charlotte owns the Australian based Darnell Collection, one of the world’s largest and most significant historical dress collections in private hands. And along the way, she’s shared her treasures in a series of books, Dreaming of Chanel, Dreaming of Dior and, the latest, One Enchanted Evening, each focusing on a selection of her favorite dresses.

The Darnell Collection, an incredible archive of gowns, hats and other accessories that range from rare early 18th century pieces to the cutting edge designer fashions of today, was bequeathed over a decade and a half ago to Charlotte by her American godmother, Doris Darnell. Doris had collected exquisite dresses for 70 years. As a teenager, Charlotte adored visiting her fashionista godmother, but she never expected to inherit her extraordinary collection.

Lucile gown, once in the Darnell Collection, now owned by Randy Bigham, as illustrated by Grant Cowan in Charlotte Smith's new book, One Enchanted Evening.

It wasn’t long before the Darnell Collection became as much a passion for Charlotte as it had been for Doris. Fully dedicated to sharing dress history, Charlotte has kept its legacy going through fashion industry liaisons in her adopted country. She works with the Australian Fashion Council and was lately named an Ambassador of Fashion for Multicultural Australia. Through donations and select purchases, the Darnell Collection now includes over 8,000 garments from 32 nations, and the span of frocks is broad – there are homemade garments with a humble heritage and fabulous creations from some of the greatest designers of the last century: Lucile, Chanel, Dior, Pucci, Westwood and Versace.

I’m proud of a personal and unique link to the Darnell Collection. I may be the only private collector who’s had the privilege of acquiring an item from it. Charlotte doesn’t generally sell any of the remarkable gowns that came into her custodianship, but in the case of one rare item, she made an exception. It was a Lucile design, dating to about 1910-12, a beaded chiffon evening dress coveted by me, but which may not have appealed to another collector. Why? It was damaged and so extremely fragile that it could never be safely displayed upright. In fact, when Charlotte loaned the dress for the 2016 Canadian exhibition, Lucile – Fashion, Titanic, Scandal, for which I consulted, it was only shown resting in its box.

The following year Charlotte and I worked out an arrangement by which I would buy the dress to restore it over time, as it would take a while and cost a great deal. It must have been the love I demonstrated for this delicate ruin that assured Charlotte it would have a good home with me. I’m grateful to Charlotte, and although I know it wasn’t an easy decision for her, I believe Doris would have approved of her parting with the dress, knowing it would be cherished by its new owner and restored to its former glamour.

Charlotte Smith, director of the Darnell Collection and author of One Enchanted Evening.

Recently, I asked Charlotte about her work with the Darnell Collection and her beautiful new book, One Enchanted Evening (Affirm Press, $39), now available via Amazon. The hardcover book is in a handy small format, is encased in a beautiful gold and white jacket, runs to 267 pages, and features the bold and sumptuous illustrations of Grant Cowan.

Randy Bryan Bigham: What has been the most fulfilling aspect of your work with the Darnell Collection?

Charlotte Smith: The hands-on learning over the years! When the collection arrived in Australia in 2004, I wasn’t familiar with the history of fashion. I loved fashion — in the ‘80s I constantly shopped at designer outlet stores, buying clothes by Versace, Lolita Lempika, Oscar de la Renta, Ralph Lauren, Caroline Herrera, Guy Laroche. I appreciated fine tailoring, luxury fabrics, superior detailing, but I never really thought in depth about what I was buying and wearing.

It never dawned on me that the past inspired the present when it came to fashion styles.

When the collection arrived — all 70 enormous boxes, weighing over 1200 kilos! —it felt like Christmas every day for three months as I unpacked. As a complete novice, I was fascinated by hats adorned by enormous white feathers; dresses that were made of the softest silk and which had cowl necks. There were pairs of shoes that didn’t seem to have a left and right foot, jewellery made from plaited hair, and zips that went up the side of the dress. Other dresses only had snaps. I was totally fascinated and craved to know more about what I had inherited.

Along with the collection, I also inherited hundreds of fashion books and vintage museum brochures, mail order catalogues, and old newspaper clippings about fashion designers. I used these to begin my fashion education.

English designer Katrantzou designed this digitally printed dress, one of the most avant garde creations in the Darnell Collection.

To be able to hold in my hand a rare and old garment or accessory as I leaf through a fashion book is the best way to learn. I still do this and find myself completely transported back in time as I read about various designers, knowing I have their garments in my collection.

RBB: Of the modern dresses, from the last decade or so, which is your favorite and why?

CS: A red, digitally printed, ribbed silk cocktail dress by English designer Mary Katrantzou.

Katrantzou graduated from St Martins School of Design in London in 2008 after switching majors and schools. Originally, she was studying architecture at Rhode Island School of Design. Her graduating collection sold out immediately.

Katrantzou’s architectural background is apparent in the shapes of her designs as well as in her interest and skill at placing her patterned fabrics strategically on the body. With her bespoke, hyper-realistic 3-D images, digitally printed onto silk and cotton fabrics, she creates shape through illusion. She is acknowledged as a ground breaker in the art of digital printing.

She is also well versed in the history of fashion and often references past decades. The red dress in my collection has a 1930s or '40s peplum, a modern take on a 19th century bustle, and a high neck referencing the Edwardian era. The dress is a masterpiece by one of the most talented young designers in the world.

RBB: Of the truly period gowns, say pre-1960, which do you like best and why?

CS: An Irish crochet lace tea gown by Anna Dunlevy of Cincinnati from 1907.

Anna Dunlevy was a dressmaker during Cincinnati’s golden age of dressmaking at the beginning of the 20th century. She was a savvy business woman as well as being gifted at conceptualizing fabulous gowns without any formal fashion illustration training, let alone fashion education.

The Dunlevy dress in The Darnell Collection was worn by Charlotte Glenn and was made as part of her trousseau when she married John McMullin in 1907. It is a work of art and made entirely by hand, a show piece from the Belle Epoch with elaborate detailing, a mono bosom bodice, and an extravagant train.

In her heyday, Dunlevy employed up to 200 women in her workshop, many of them Irish immigrants who’d followed their husbands, brothers or fathers to Ohio to escape the dire financial situation in Ireland at the end of the 1800s. Many of these women were destitute and they sought work, and it became a major social and economic problem for cities like Cincinnati.

Tea gown by Anna Dunlevy of Cincinatti, made for the 1907 trousseau of Charlotte Glenn McMullin.

Realising something had to be done, conscientious citizens of the city banded together to devise a way to find employment for them. One idea was to teach them, and in some cases re-teach them, the art of Irish lace making. The industry thrived and, subsequently, Cincinnati became as renowned as Ireland was for elaborate crocheted lace.

RBB: Of the designer gowns, which are the ones you are most proud of in the whole collection, and which of the ones you’ve included in this book do you appreciate the most?

CS: My Pierre Balmain haute couture gowns from 1950 and 1970.

Balmain studied architecture at Ecoles des Beaux Arts before leaving school to work under couturier Edward Molyneux, who was, of course, trained by Lucile.

His quote, “Dressmaking is the architecture of movement” sums up perfectly my black velvet and silk faille gown from 1979. The label in the dress reads ‘Balmain Ivoire.’ I assume the dress was made as a one off to coincide with the launch of his eponymous fragrance ‘Ivoire’ that year.

My other Balmain dress, included in the book, is a stunning 1950s ball gown with elaborate metallic thread and crystal bead embroidery by Maison Lesage.

A generous donor gifted both of these dresses to the collection. This is extra special to me, as the collection’s second custodian, to know my godmother Doris Darnell’s legacy of safe guarding special gowns has resonated with a new generation of donors who feel the collection is still a worthy repository for priceless pieces of fashion history.

RBB: Of the personal stories included in this book, which are the most moving and/or relatable?

CS: The stories about “Project Runway” Vietnam winner Hoang Minh Ha and Vietnam’s only couturier Dang Thi Minh Hanh.

I stumbled upon both designers’ clothing when I spent a few days in Ho Chi Minh City to host fashion events showcasing Australian wool in fashion. Very conveniently, Vietnamese designers’ collections are sold under one roof — in the Vietnam Designer Shop — which is enormous and more like a warehouse.

More and more, I find fashion becoming homogenised. As a collector of fashion and as the current custodian of The Darnell Collection, my legacy will be to include indigenous designers who tell their countries’ stories through traditional pattern, colour, construction, textiles, embellishments and types of garments.

Minh Ha and Minh Hanh create exquisite garments, full of references to their country and its heritage, using traditional skills and craftsmanship. These dresses are an important part of the collection. They show how fashion can bridge the past with the present. Minh Hanh and Minh Ha’s gowns make my collection truly international.


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