The week has been consumed by a new design. The workroom is a mess. We are delighted to take this break to share a favorite fabric from our collection, casually draped on an exhausted dress form.
Made in France, this 1950s vintage silk taffeta has a blurry outline to the print that makes it look like a watercolor painting. We've always been attracted to the effect, and fell in love with the print the minute we saw it last year at a house sale here in Washington.
A once in a lifetime experience, the sale was the work of the devoted adult children of Seymour Rappoport, son of Phillip, a textile manufacturer who immigrated from Poland in the early 20th century. Father and son had worked together and shared a love of textiles. They amassed an extraordinary collection of vintage fabrics. Several pieces were earmarked for the textile collection in the Museum of American History. Especially fantastic was the textile scholar from the Smithsonian who was on hand to answer questions.
From her we learned that the blurry effect is called a 'warp print' and is created by stretching the crosswise (warp) threads on a frame and printing them with the pattern before weaving in the solid color, lengthwise (weft) threads. The look was very popular in the the 1950s, and before that in 18th century France.
So, enjoy the fabulous fall colors and gorgeous luster of this 60 year old warp print silk. We will work on a way to transmit to you the fantastic rustle of the fabric .
