Dita

Chicago History Museum Visit to See Sally Rand's Fans

Added 2023-02-16 20:40:29 +0000 UTC

Dirty Martini and I had the opportunity to have a private visit at The Chicago History Museum to see Sally Rand's feather fans and some other archival photos she donated. Apparently when Sally first tried to donate her fans from the 1939 Chicago World's Fair sometime in the 80's, the museum refused, thinking she wasn't important enough, or that she was too risqué, which is absurd. Anyway, they are made with celluloid staves, which have warped into a curved shape since then, which is usually the case with these early feather fans. They are permanently affixed to the boards now, but they say they also have one other single fan of hers which is still flat, and they are hoping to exhibit all of these items in 2024. There are also some wonderful photographs, and we also saw some of the couture clothing, including a Bes-Ben hat collection, and the Ebony Fashion Fair collection, which is a really fabulous bit of fashion history. I recently heard about this woman from Ebony Magazine from the André Leon Talley book (the audiobook read by him is one of the best things EVER) and he speaks about traveling to Paris with Eunice Johnson to shop MAJOR couture, and she would present fashion shows back in the States featuring these couture clothes on Black models. For those interested here is more about Ebony Fashion Fair: https://www.ebony.com/fashion-fair-fashion-trends/

Photos are courtesy of The Chicago History Museum, and a few by me. 💋