dress
date: label: Date made
content: 1970 - 1975
notes: label: Description
content: Dress; white with brown, blue and pink print; full length; long sleeve cut in one with side bodice; sleeve slightly bell shaped; round neckline with slit opening in center front outlined with red beads; neckline area decorated with mussel shells; self tie belt attaches at side and ties in back; gathered skirt also has mussel shell trim at hemline; inner facing of right back bodice has "King 74" in white and left front bodice facing has "for Sherry" embroidered in orange
label: Description
content: Displayed in the exhibition "Craft Multiples" at the Renwick Gallery, which ran from July 4, 1975 to February 16, 1976.
label: Description
content: According to documentation provided by the artists, this batiked dress is the combined effort of Carol and Duffy King. They have produced a series of these dresses, varying in color, batik design and decoration.
label: Description
content: To make this type of dress, they begin with a natural fiber of unbleached cotton muslin which is first washed to remove any fillers that might be present. Each dress section is then batiked using Inkodye and a wax mixture of beeswax and paraffin. The fabric is waxed, dyed, then exposed to sunlight to set the color, making this a time consuming process, as the procedure is repeated for each color application. Also, the final color may be applied two to three times to obtain the desired depth. On completion of the dye process, the wax is removed from the fabric by ironing, cleaning and a final washing which also removes any dye that may not have been absorbed. The garment is then decorated, in this instance, by couching on metallic thread and embroidery of outline stitch and French knots using DMC Perle 8 thread. The neckline is decorated with handcrafted glass beads from Africa applied with a blanket stitch using embroidery thread which has been waxed for added strength. California mussel shells (Mitilas Californianus) are gathered on the beach, cleaned, drilled and sprayed with a resin coating and added to the garment. The garment sections are sewn together by machine using French seams, lining the yoke and facing the cuffs.
label: Description
content: Duffy and Carol work together to select the basic design and cut of the garment, then they work individually, with Duffy producing the batik and Carol doing the sewing. This allows each to make creative decisions in their particular phase of production as well as making decisions together. Their work was exhibited at the Newport Harbor Art Museum (now the Orange County Museum of Art) sometime in the early 1970s.
label: Description
content: Duffy became interested in batik after reading a library book on this medium. He began experimenting with this medium, working intermittently, but it took him about six years to find a truly successful dye. It was at that time that Carol became interested in the potential of the batik fabric as clothing. She left her nursing career to make clothing utilizing this fabric. Her interest in sewing began at the age of thirteen when she was taught to make her own clothing and she has continued to sew since then. The clothing they produce is sold primarily at the Renaissance Pleasure Faire, a crafts fair held twice a year in California. At first they only used small sections of batik fabric as yokes and cuffs on caftan like garments, but gradually they incorporated more batik fabric to make entire garments. Both Duffy and Carol are self taught craftsman and gain knowledge primarily through experimentation and repetition.
label: Location
content: Currently not on view
setName: label: See more items in
content: Home and Community Life: Costume
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: 1983.0337.00005
label: accession number
content: 1983.0337
objectType: label: Object Name
content: Dress
label: Other Terms
content: Dress; Entire Body; Main Dress; Female