Clothing Liberation

The following post is an excerpt from the book Clothing Liberation: Out of the Closets and into the Streets by Laura Torbet, published in 1973 by Praeger Publishers, New York. Laura Torbet holds the copyright to all photographs and words included in this excerpt. Front and back cover photographs are by Mort Engel and Laura Torbet.

1. Janet Wolfman makes a lot of her own clothes and accessories. The flowers on her jeans were cut from big drapery and slip-cover prints. Much of the stitching was done by machine, but what the machine didn’t reach she did by hand. She also made her purse, sewing up a little pouch from scrap leather, painting a design on the sides and fringing it with strings of glass crow beads. The handle is crocheted.

2. Robert Williams’ suede patch jacket was custom made for him by his girlfriend. It’s all bright leather and suede sections pieced together and joined with machine-zigzagged stitching in varicolored threads. It fits beautifully because the pattern was made from one of Robert’s own jackets. As you can see, she used the leftover scraps to decorate his pants [next photo].

3. This lined patchwork vest was made entirely by hand by Lynne Graham, a member of the Hog Farm Commune. Most of the Hog Farm people make their own clothes, because they like to recycle as much as possible, clothes pollution being no minor offender these days, and because it’s the most inexpensive way to dress individually.

4. Yes, folks, it’s a man in a snakeskin suit. Leonard Schneir has been making clothes for himself and his friends for several years, and lately he has been working with every kind and color of snakeskin he can get his hands on. This suit which was made by sewing snakeskin to an old pair of pants and a shirt, has every color imaginable, gold silver and copper snakeskin, and in some areas Leonard hand-painted following the contours of the skin.

5. This heavily studded denim jacket was made by Marlene Birnbaum, a free-lance writer, poet, inventory (her latest is an adult board-game). She says she used to have twice as many studs on her “MARS” jacket, but it was too heavy to wear.

6. Leonore has a traffic-stopper of a denim jacket. She did nothing more (or less) than completely cover it with campaign and slogan buttons, medals, 1940s jewelry, military insignia and all sorts of fantastic things from her vast collection.

7. Cynthia Sinclair remade this skirt using about one yard of flannel.

8. Pop top vest made by Laura Torbet.

9. This tank top is made from dish-rags.

10. Millie’s dress was made from old dishtowels – plain linen for the top, terrycloth for the skirt.

11. Lydia Hamza made this hand-embroidered jacket for Charles Emmons, adding a little at a time over a period of a year. The white denim is the perfect backdrop for these soft-colored designs of flowers, birds, water, a sailing ship. The jacket is just about falling apart so he is going to buy another white denim jacket and carefully stitch the embroidered sections of the old onto the new and keep his work of art.

12. Lee Howard’s jacket is my favorite. It’s really a spectacular example of how to turn a plain and common garment into something unique. Lee is a designer of just about everything imaginable (of APA Association in NYC) and his jacket is an example of good design and painstaking work. First the jacket was bleached in a gradation of light to dark. The wraparound (the design is continuous all around) scenery was done by machine zigzagging in bright colors. The moon is machine stitching and the stars are railheads graded from large to small sizes. He’s working on a jacket that is light at the top, dark at the bottom, has a wraparound New York Skyline with the Goodyear Blimp over the Empire State Building.

13. Bunny Love and her son Calvin are cartoon freaks. Their jeans and jackets were done completely by hand with simple embroidery stitches. Calvin has the Road Runner on his jacket, while Bunny is a Disney delight with Donald Duck and Mickey Mouse rampant.

14. This knockabout knapsack was done in acrylics on a cheap army surplus bag. The shiny primary colors in a dragon motif are really fitting for the shape of the bag, Warren Leon is the artist.

15. Vanessa Neeley’s mother, Angel, made her overalls. They had been cutoffs and she just sewed on the legs from a newer pair of Vanessa’s jeans which she had already appliquéd, patched and studded. The little Mao jacket has red heart-shaped buttons and little embroidered designs on the collar and back.