Diana Dew
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Diana Dew(June 25, 1943 – February 8, 2008) was an Americanfashion designerrecognized in the 1960s for pioneeringelectronic textileswhich incorporated electronic components into wearable clothing.[1][2]She created clothing that was battery powered and able to light up by adjusting a control knob.[1]Dew's clothes were the precursor to more modern electronic textiles which useLED technology.[3]
Early life
[edit]Diana Dew was born on June 25, 1943, inMemphis, Tennessee.From the age of four to fourteen, she worked as afashion modeland attended theMemphis Academy of Art(now Memphis College of Art). She spent a year atBard Collegestudying method acting, before moving to theUniversity of Floridato study engineering. Dew temporarily created stage costumes for Memphis' Front Street Theater before moving toCaliforniaand enrolling at theUniversity of California, Berkeley.[citation needed]
Fashion design
[edit]Dew returned toNew York City,where she participated in the East Side folk music scene and dressedJoan Baez.She then moved to Boston and started the cloth brandIsis,but she could not attract young customers that could afford her high-end creations. Following the suggestion from a modeling agency, she became a designer for Puritan's Paraphernalia business in the late summer of 1966,[1]and later created her own company,Experipuritaneous.[4]
Her creations, which involved "pliable and removable plastic lamps" powered by rechargeable nickel-cadmium batteries, could stay lit for up to 5 hours.[3]The pace of the strobe-like flash, which projected a psychedelic light display, was controlled through apotentiometerworn at the waist. Her clothing premiered in February 1967 at the Paraphernalia store inNew York City.[4]
The use of electricity in her designs was not without problems, as expressed byBrigid Berlin,"Diana Dew, the electric-dress designer for Paraphernalia, had those dresses where the tits would light up; or you could flash the crotch and that would go off. But they weren't fool-proof, and one night two girls went totally off in Max's! I mean, right off. They went BOOM! It's true."[3]
Dew rose to prominence as a musician's costume designer. She designed clothes for the trippy bandBlues Magoosthat would light up as the music became louder on stage. One of these outfits is currently housed in aSmithsonian Institutiontime capsule, which will be opened in 2065 as an example of 1960s art.[5]
Dew's work was featured in the seminal show "Body Covering"at theMuseum of Contemporary Craftin New York City in 1968, which explored the link between technology and clothing.[6][7]
Later life, death, and legacy
[edit]After a brief tenure withCreamcheese,an all-female rock band that performed in Dew's designs,[4]Dew devoted her time and energy to hydroponic sprout cultivation and raising her three boys. She was married twice.[2]In February 2008, she died at home and was cremated. She was survived by her three sons.[8]
Images of her fashion are included in theNational Museum of American Historyarchives.[9]One of her dresses was featured on the AmericanPBStelevision program,Antiques Roadshow(season 24, episode 12).[10]
See also
[edit]References
[edit]- ^abcHoffmann, Frank; Ramirez, Beulah B. (June 23, 2014).Fashion & Merchandising Fads.Routledge. p. 73.ISBN978-1-317-95291-6.
- ^abDew, Allen Powell (2018).Book of Dew: the Dew surname in the United States with variations in spelling Dew, Due, Dewes, Dews.Allen Powell Dew. p. 1067.ISBN9781387544363.
- ^abcFlood, Kathleen (April 11, 2011)."The Original Creators: Diana Dew".Vice.RetrievedFebruary 26,2023.
- ^abcHoffmann, Frank; Ramirez, Beulah (June 23, 2014)."Electronic Clothes".Fashion & Merchandising Fads.Routledge.ISBN978-1560230311.RetrievedFebruary 16,2019– via Google Books.
- ^Kopp, Bill (December 12, 2014)."Psychedelic Resurrection: The Blues Magoos Interview, Part 2".Musoscribe.
- ^Smith, P. Body Covering. Museum of Contemporary Crafts, the American Craft Council, New York, NY, 1968
- ^"Diana Dew, designer, at" Body Covering "exhibition opening".ACC Conferences, Exhibitions and Fairs (the 1960s),American Craft Council.
- ^Brandes, Wendy (December 21, 2010)."LIGHT UP WITH TRON: LEGACY, TIGER MORSE, AND DIANA DEW".Wendy Brandes Jewelry Blog.RetrievedFebruary 6,2019.
- ^"Diana Dew's designs".National Museum of American History.RetrievedFebruary 26,2023.
- ^"Antiques Roadshow".PBS.RetrievedFebruary 26,2023.