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Fashion dolls
By GUY D’ASTOLFO
YOUNGSTOWN
The history of fashion — and the fashion industry — is on display in an exhibition that opens today at the Butler Institute of American Art.
Titled “A Century of Fashion,” the exhibit consists of 16 “fashion dolls,” each about 40 inches tall and clothed in the highest couture of the 19th century. It occupies a room in the museum’s Americana galleries.
The fashion dolls are the work of Pete Ballard, who donated the pieces to the museum a couple of years ago. They are just now going on display in an exhibit that includes information plaques.
“Each doll [in the Butler exhibit] represents the epitome of fashion of its era,” said Ballard, in a phone interview from his Peterstown, W.Va., home.
Ballard is a nationally renowned costume designer, doll maker and painter. Two of his paintings are in the Butler’s permanent collection. The 85-year-old will be at the museum today from noon to 2 p.m. for an opening reception.
Louis A. Zona, director of the Butler, said the exhibition will delight visitors of all ages. “Visitors will visually be able to experience the evolution of fashion of the 19th century,” he said.
Ballard shed light on the role fashion dolls played in the industry in the 1800s.
“The point is, they are fashion dolls, not dolls,” he said. “These were used casually for hundreds of years, but it got serious in the 1800s. It was a way for fashion houses to advertise. They would send the dolls to an area with a representative, and take orders. They did this in the colonies, with the dolls arriving from England.”
The Butler exhibit includes at least one doll for each decade. The dolls, which in many cases are clothed in antique fabrics, include hats and accessories: a parasol, a peacock fan, jewelry, hand muffs, handkerchiefs and other items.
“Accessories are very important and sometimes very hard to get,” said Ballard. “I have a jeweler in Vegas who gets me antique sterling silver parasol handles, cane handles and other items.”
Sometimes Ballard acquires antique garments and uses the material. “I won’t ruin a garment, but sometimes they are partially rotted, and you can use part of it,” he said.
Ballard has worked as a museum costume historian and conservator, and strives for complete accuracy. He will find dresses from fashion plates in old publications and copy them down to the last detail. He also obtains jewelry, ribbons, feathers and other items from a variety of sources.
“I really hunt and research to get the exact silhouette,” said Ballard. “I want it to be accurate and fun.”
In addition to his work with museums, Ballard has enjoyed parallel careers in both teaching and the arts. As a young adult, he worked in the theater, designing costumes for summer stock productions. He was offered opportunities to go into professional theater costume design but chose not to go that route.
In his career, Ballard pioneered efforts to help museums understand and preserve their costume collections. He worked with the late Sheila Blum, curator of costume at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York.
Ballard said he is the subject of a documentary film, and his visit to the Butler today will be filmed for it.