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05/03/2024 | News release | Distributed by Public on 05/03/2024 14:10

Stitching Together the Past

Stitching Together the Past

Shaw Hutton (CGS'23, CAS'25) in his South Campus apartment with several original creations, including a pink dress he constructed using historical sewing techniques.

Fashion

Stitching Together the Past

CAS architectural studies major Shaw Hutton creates 18th- and 19th-century garments using historical techniques

May 3, 2024
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The first time Shaw Hutton took scissors to fabric was in fall 2021, just after arriving at BU as a college freshman. Hutton (CGS'23, CAS'25), an architecturalstudies major, was asked to make a costume for a friend who wanted to attend a Halloween party as Marie Antoinette and requested him to create a gown befitting the French queen's notoriously lavish style.

The party was eventually canceled, the dress, tragically unworn by his friend. But the experience of making it was enough to transform Hutton's life.

"I got very intrigued by how people make these outfits as historically accurate as possible, by all the research that goes into creating them, and how they relate to today's couture society. So I just went with it,," he says nearly four years later.

To date, Hutton has created more than a dozen historical dresses. While he dips in and out of time periods-from the stiffly elaborate gowns of the mid-19th century to the kicky skirts of the 1920s and '30s-he says he's drawn most to the turn-of-the-century styles of the Belle Époque period. It was a time of enlightenment for European art and science, spanning from the 1870s tol World War I, and it led to a proliferation of creative energy, technological advances, and industrialization.

"I love how they built the Eiffel Tower, they invented electricity, they invented the recording of sound-it was just all the era of new inventions. Everyone was in a very creative mindset before World War I," Hutton says. As for the fashion: "I love the bright colors, the light and airy touches, and even the garishness. Every single outfit back then was unique."

Many of the dresses Hutton has constructed-and in many cases, sold to fellow historical fashion fanatics-are based on archival sources and are often fabricated with period-accurate sewing techniques (though he's no slouch with a sewing machine, either). He uses repurposed vintage and thrifted fabrics in deep blues, creamy yellows, and vivid reds, and many of his garments are fitted with corset boning, another speciality skill he had to learn.

"Honestly, I just learned [everything] using YouTube," he admits. "If it's a cheaper material, and if I want to make something on a deadline, I'll use more modern techniques, though I'll try to combine it with historical techniques to make it look nicer."

Hutton was determined that one his dresses in particular be constructed with total period specificity, and today it's the pride of his collection. A shocking pink number complete with floral appliques, corset boning, and several layers of petticoats, it's illustrative of Hutton's design chops-and his dedication.

"I honestly just like to do things where I'm like, oh, God, I know I'm gonna hate this [process], so I'm just gonna do it," he says. "I feel like I'm such a perfectionist all the time. I hear that's a good trait, and sometimes I hear it's a bad trait."

Hutton brought the pink dress, along with a few others, to a recent class of the graduate course Cultural Histories of the 19th Century, taught by Rachel Mesch, a CAS professor of French and director of undergraduate romance studies. His gowns were to serve as a real-life demonstration of the concepts discussed in an assigned reading, Emile Zola's 1883 polemic Au Bonheur des Dames(The Ladies' Paradise).

Visiting the CAS class Cultural Histories of the 19th Century, Hutton brought along some original antique pieces of clothing from his personal collection, i this Victorian mourning dress among them. Photo by Rachel Mesch

The novel "tells a story of the invention of the department store in the 19th century, and one of the main themes of the class is mass culture and its rise in that era," Mesch says. "The newly opened boulevards in Paris put women on display, and people would watch the fashions go by, but it takes so much for women to look like that, and it intersects with so many other issues."

Broad-spectrum cultural changes in the late 19th century meant changes for garment-making as well. In the mid- to late 1800s, fine clothing was made by high-end couturiers, such as Charles Frederick Worth; by the 1900s, it was also mass-produced for an emerging middle class and sold in department stores.

"To see Shaw put together the dresses in front of us, layer upon layer, it just really brought the [descriptions] to life," Mesch says. "We went back to the book and started noticing the descriptions of women trying them on in the department store."

Hutton wasn't there only to show off his work-after spending years learning to make clothes, researching their historical contexts, and interacting with fellow practitioners on social media, he was able to answer student questions as a bona fide expert.

"A couple of students were interested in the silk process-how the silk was sold by its weight and not by the actual yardage-and they had questions about color and the design," he says. "I also discussed how lighter colors reflected well against a gas flame and how a walking suit or something worn in the daytime would have been a richer color."

Mesch was so impressed with Hutton's creations and his presentation (she says the class just didn't want him to leave) that she also invited him to visit her undergrad course Gender & Authorship.

Hutton brings his works in progress and sewing materials to campus at the start of each school year and transports them home in the summer. Photo by Cydney Scott

"The way that he could speak about the clothes by referring to the boning and the stitches, and could drop in French words, and talk about the origins," Mesch says, "showed me this wasn't someone who was justinterested in the aesthetics, but had a deep knowledge and appreciation-and a lot of grit."

But Hutton isn't a costume design major; fashion, at the moment, isn't in the cards for him professionally-although he acknowledges that anything could happen in the future. Meanwhile, he's continuing to work on a degree in architectural studies. But he does see similarities between the two fields.

"Architecture is similar to fashion in that you can see how things are constructed and built, and the techniques used in the past that aren't used today-and you have to construct a base, have an idea, and then put it on paper," he says. "Of course, you can't just create a building from scratch. That's why I like fashion, because you can actually have a prototype of a product in your hands."

For now, Hutton will continue to make clothes for fun and take commissions via his Etsy shop. As for his future career, historical preservation is something he has his eye on.

"There are a couple of buildings in New York City that restored all of the original features," he notes. "Just like fashion, they refer back to older styles, and they're still loved by everyone."

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  • Sophie Yarin

    Associate Editor, BU Today; Managing Editor Bostonia

    Sophie Yarin is a BU Today associate editor and Bostonia managing editor. She graduated from Emerson College's journalism program and has experience in digital and print publications as a hybrid writer/editor. A lifelong fan of local art and music, she's constantly on the hunt for stories that shine light on Boston's unique creative communities. She lives in Jamaica Plain with her partner and their cats, Ringo and Xerxes, but she's usually out getting iced coffee. Profile

  • Cydney Scott

    Photojournalist

    Cydney Scott has been a professional photographer since graduating from the Ohio University VisCom program in 1998. She spent 10 years shooting for newspapers, first in upstate New York, then Palm Beach County, Fla., before moving back to her home city of Boston and joining BU Photography. Profile

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