BEADS AND BEADING TECHNIQUE
Bugle beads are small tubes with holes running down their centers and often silver-lined. They are graded by size one to five, which translates to their lengths in millimeters.
Glass beads: Among the oldest art forms is the making of glass beads, which dates back more than thirty thousand years. The most common modern glass bead is the seed bead. Seed beads are an example of mechanically drawn glass beads and are extruded by machine. Seed beads are usually round and come in a number of sizes, beginning at less than five millimeters, with a tiny hole for stringing or sewing. A beading needle must be used for seed beads. Seed beads are often used in costuming as a way to attach lochrosens and paillettes.
Rocaille beads are very similar to seed beads, although larger and often silver-lined.
Tambour beading is a technique that takes its name from the French word for “drum,” because the fabric is tightly stretched. The beading technique originated in 1770 to create designs for the French court. It is done by hand and performed with a hook in a wooden holder, which holds a shortened French Cornelli needle and is used to bead onto fabric that is stretched over a frame. This style of beading flourished in the 1920s and 1930s, an era that began with the flapper dress, which was heavily beaded. Popular for its time, tambour beading is now a dying art form. The technique survives because of its use in European couture ateliers. Today in the United States, this work is done almost exclusively in New York and Los Angeles by headers who are now in their seventies for design houses such as Halston and Bob Mackie.
EMBROIDERY
Cornelli-style embroidery is created using a Cornely machine—a special industrial machine—and the embroidery is known commonly as Cornelli embroidery. The machine was developed in the late 1800s by the French inventor Emile Bonnaz and first manufactured by the French Cornely Company. A Cornely machine is a chain-stitch machine that allows the operator to embroider fabric with sequins, beads, cording, braids, heavy metallic threads, and ribbons in delicate or closely worked designs. The machine manufacturer’s name is spelled “Cornely.” The embroidery style is referred to as “Cornelli,” or sometimes “Corneli.”
Goldwork is embroidery done with metal threads. Up to the thirteenth century, goldwork was reserved for ecclesiastical purposes. Later it was used on the clothing of royalty and eventually also on military clothing. It has always been reserved for special use because of the cost of the materials and the length of time the technique requires. The threads have never come from solid gold but are composed of thin sheets of gold cut into strips and wound around thin cotton strands. Thread is sold by weight, and the cost depends on the quantity of gold used. A technique called “couching” holds the gold thread in a pattern on the surface of the fabric. A stiletto tool is used to make small holes in the fabric. This technique pushes the ends of the gold thread through the fabric and holds them in place.
Jacobean style became popular in the early part of the English Renaissance. The style is known for its ornamental patterning of scrolls and its paisley designs. It is often used for patterning clothing.
Trapunto in Italian means to “embroider.” Trapunto is a type of quilting in which the design is raised from the background with a cord or yarn filler. This is done by stitching through the quilt front, the batting, and the backing in parallel rows, creating channels. These channels are then threaded with cord or yarn, thus raising the design from the background. Commercially, trapunto is done with a small machine that inserts the cord between the layers. Often the background is stippled—an effect achieved by placing small, random stitches very close together. This causes the background to lie flatter than it otherwise would, emphasizing the raised part of the design.
FABRICS
Bengaline silk: A woven fabric made with lesser amounts of silk than cotton.
Boiled wool: Wool that has been heated to make it softer than regular wool.
Brocade: A heavy, exquisite jacquard fabric with an allover raised pattern or floral design.
Chiffon: A plain woven, lightweight, sheer, and airy fabric made from silk or synthetics.
Cotton: A natural fiber that grows in the seed pod of the cotton plant.
Crepe-back satin: A two-faced fabric in which one side is satin and the other, crepe.
Damask: A reversible figured fabric with a pattern formed by weaving.
Eyelash lamé: Woven from the same materials as traditional lamé, but with long strands of the metallic fibers woven into the fabric to create a three-dimensional effect.
Lamé: A shimmering material that is created by combining metallic fibers and natural or synthetic fibers into a woven or knit fabric with a high gloss.
Matelassé: Matelassé is French for “quilted” or “padded.” A matelassé fabric is a luxury fabric made in a double-cloth construction to create a blistered or quilted surface that appears padded.
Nylon: First produced in 1938, nylon was the first completely synthetic fiber. It is known for its strength and resilience.
Organza: A crisp, sheer, lightweight, plain-weave fabric with a medium to high yarn count. It is made of silk, rayon, nylon, or polyester.
Polyester gabardine: A synthetic fabric that is smooth, strong, tightly woven, and resilient. Polyester gabardine resists wrinkling and is fire retardant. The durability and strength of many of Liberace’s most elaborately beaded costumes, their retention of true color, and the successful preservation of many of these costumes is due in large part to the choice of fabric—polyester gabardine. Never thought of as a showy fabric like silk, satin, brocade, or lamé, polyester gabardine is a perfect working fabric for elaborately beaded and fully embellished costumes.
Silk: A natural filament fiber produced by the silkworm in the construction of its cocoon.
Velvet: A constructed fabric in which the cut pile stands up straight. Velvet is commonly made with a filament fiber for high luster and smoothness.
Wool: Fabric made from the fleece of sheep, cashmere from goats, or the specialty fibers of the camel, alpaca, llama, or vicuna.
Liberace in his cream and silver electric jacket with matching pants.
FUR
There is great controversy over the killing of animals for their fur. The use of fur for clothing, however, has a long history.
Chinchilla: The chinchilla is a rodent native to the high Andes of South America. The fur is very soft, silky, and dense, and it mainly ranges from gray to slate blue. Chinchilla fur has the highest hair density of any fur, with more than twenty thousand hairs per square centimeter.
Ermine: The winter phase of the weasel, ermine is a silky white fur with black tips. Ermine was once the fur of royalty, for whom it was reserved as a symbol of virtue and purity.
Fox fur is found all over the world. Clarity of color is important in fox fur, as are the fullness and density of the underfur and soft sleekness of the guard hairs. Red fox is the least expensive fur, platina and white the most expensive. Blue fox colors range from a blue-brown to a real blue, as well as white with blue highlights.
Lynx is characterized by white fur with subtle beige markings. The whiter the fur, the greater its value.
Mink: Soft and lightweight with lustrous guard hair and dense, soft underfur, mink are primarily farm-raised. Mink fur is available in a wide range of natural colors.
Sable are a kind of marten—a weasel-like mammal. Russian sable is the most prized fur in the world, renowned for its legendary silky quality, rarity, and light weight. Prime sable is deeply furred with even, silvery-tipped guard hairs. The color is a rich brown with a blue cast. Golden sable has a reddish or amber color.
Liberace at Radio City Music Hall.
“Upside-down” Monkey Fur: Made from the pelt of the black-and-white colobus of central Africa, this fur is very long (reaching lengths of five inches), sleek, and shiny. It looks and feels eerily like human hair. Monkey fur was popular from the mid-nineteenth century through the 1940s. It was used upside down, resulting in a curl to the hair. Monkey fur is now illegal under the Convention of International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES).
MAKING THE FUR GARMENT
Constructing a fur coat takes more than fifty hours of skilled work. A completed fur may have up to ten thousand seams when finished. The creation of a fur requires meticulous workmanship and a number of steps:
Every coat starts out as a design on paper. From this pattern, the number of skins needed is calculated, pelts are then chosen, and the furrier matches the alignment.
During the “letting out” process, a pelt can be lengthened. Each pelt is cut into narrow, diagonal strips that are sewn into a longer and thinner shape, retaining the color and markings of the original pelt. This process is one of the secrets of making a supple, flowing garment.
The pattern is then traced onto the hide and the pelts are then joined together. Next the furrier passes the coat under clippers to ensure that every hair is cut to the same length.
After the coat is cleaned, the finishing stage begins. The lining is inserted into the garment and the final tailoring touches are completed.
FEATHERS
Coque is the French word for “rooster,” and the term “coque feather” refers to the rooster’s tail feather. Coque feathers are available in white and “natural.” If dyed, white coque feathers produce a bright and rich color. The feathers are long and sturdy and retain a soft, delicate look. They are available loose or in strands stitched to matching ribbon.
Ostrich Feathers: The ostrich is a large, flightless bird native to Africa but farmed around the world. Ostriches are raised primarily for their feathers. The ostrich feather is unique in its durability, softness, and flexibility. The feathers can be bleached or dyed any color. Ostrich feather fringe is created by stitching the herls, or hairs, from wing feathers onto matching colored ribbons. They are generally one- or two-ply and measure four-and-a-half to six-inches long from tip to tip. There are approximately thirty to thirty-five feathers per inch. French curling of the ostrich feather is an extremely time-consuming method that is almost obsolete. It is done on fringe and complete wing feathers. The herls of the feather are drawn singly over the edge of a knife, which functions much like a curling ribbon. The result is a small curl, which makes a much fluffier feather.
Turkey Feather Boas: Turkey boas are made from quality turkey feathers with wide tips. The feathers can be bleached or dyed any color and are sewn onto a cotton-covered wire.
PAILLETTE
Paillettes are available in a myriad of colors, including metallic, with one hole for attachment.
PEARLS
Imitation pearls are manufactured from glass, ceramic, shell, or plastic. Plastic pearls are most commonly used for costuming. Plastic pearls can be dyed with fabric dye.
Flat-back pearls are a whole round pearl split in half.
Baroque pearls are pearls that have an irregular shape.
RHINESTONES
Named after the Rhine River on the German–Austrian border, the rhinestone is made from glass, paste, or quartz. Production of rhinestones began in 1892 when Daniel Swarovski received a patent for a machine that automatically cut the stones.
In 1895, Swarovski set up a factory in Wattens, Austria, and began producing rhinestones of superior quality. Swarovski rhinestones are genuine lead crystal and are the rhinestone of choice, offering high reflectiveness and brilliance. They are available in a wide range of vibrant colors.
The appeal of a crystal rhinestone is the stone’s ability to catch and hold the light. Only Swarovski stones were used on Liberace’s costumes. In 1982, to show their appreciation to Liberace, the Swarovski family presented Liberace with a massive lead crystal rhinestone of 115,000 carets and 134 facets. It weighed more than fifty pounds and was the world’s largest rhinestone at the time.
Colors
Rhinestones come in a wide variety of bright sparkling colors, but the most popular rhinestone by far is the crystal rhinestone, which looks like a diamond, colorless and clear.
The second most popular rhinestone is referred to as “crystal AB.” The color, inspired by the northern lights (aurora borealis), was created in 1965 when Swarovski collaborated with French designer Christian Dior on the first color “effect” for rhinestones. A special coating is applied to the stone to create an iridescent effect, so that it reflects different colors as it moves. When AB coating is applied over a colored stone, the result is the same multicolor prismatic effect, enhanced by the original color of the stone.
Cutting
Tin cutting is a high-precision method for cutting a stone that creates the depth and brilliance of the stone. This method is superior to “fire polished.” Fire polished only molds the glass so its facet edges are not overly sharp.
Foils
Foil refers to the backing applied to a stone. A stone back can be foiled in silver, gold, or with no backing at all. Foiling the stones reflects radiance and color from the stone.
Rhinestone Banding
Rhinestone banding is a connected row of stones with each stone set in a plastic cup. Available in single rows as well as multiple rows, the stones have pointed backs, but they are set into the banding so they lie flat. Stones are connected to one another and rows are connected to others with either solid or elastic thread. Liberace’s black diamond mink cape is lined from top to bottom with rhinestone banding.
Settings
There are two types of settings: rim set and Tiffany style. The first is used for flat-back stones and the second for pointed-back stones. Most settings are available in a silver or brass finish and come in a variety of lengths and sizes.
Rim-set mountings enclose the stone on the front side with a solid bezel, a band of metal that holds it in place. Prongs are pushed through the fabric to the back and folded over against the fabric.
Tiffany-style mountings attach the stone from the back of the fabric. Most of the setting is on the back and only the small prongs that hold the stone in place can be seen. The setting is inserted through the fabric from the back and crimped over the stone’s edge.
All rhinestones on Liberace’s costumes are either rim set, Tiffany set, or sewn-on.
Sizing
Rhinestone sizes are specified using a universal jewelry trade nomenclature, “stone size” (ss) scale, which correlates to a millimeter diameter ranging in size from ss5 (1.7 to 1.9 millimeters in diameter) to ss48 (10.9 to 11.3 millimeters).
Originally, sizing was based on a centuries-old method of pearl sizing. Pearls were placed on plates with holes punched in them, and the pearls that fell through the holes were sized according to the hole they fell through. This is where the “pp” designation of sizing comes from, with “pp” standing for pearl plate. Pearl sizes range from 3pp up to 35pp.
Today, both sizing methods continue to be in use. Typically, smaller stones will be sized in “pp” and the larger stones in “ss.”
Styles
Although rhinestones are available in a wide variety of shapes, sizes, styles, and colors, there are only two basic types of rhinestones: point back (or chaton) and flat back (or chaton rose).
Chaton rhinestones are round with pointed backs. They are the most brilliant and fiery of all rhinestones. Chatons are set in Tiffany-style mounts.
Flat-back rhinestones are the most frequently used in costuming. They are faceted on the front surface, and the flat backs are foiled to produce an extraordinary brilliancy.
Jewels are large rhinestones of various sizes and shapes. They are available in flat back or pointed back, with holes for stitching, and as drop jewels with a hole in the top used to attach them to the fabric or to additional beads for a longer drop. Other shapes are teardrop, pear, navette, and oval. Three-dimensional shapes are called “pendants.”
Liberace promotional photograph.
Chaton roses are round, flat-back rhinestones with a mirror coating on their backs. These stones can be heat set, glued, rim set, or Tiffany mounted. They are the most popular style of rhinestone.
Flat-back, sewn-on rhinestones come in a variety of shapes and sizes, from round to teardrop.
Lochrosen are round, flat-back rhinestones with a hole in the center for sewing to the material. The center hole allows a bead to be attached to the center of the stone.
Margaritas are the same as lochrosens, except with flower-shaped edges.
SEQUINS
Sequins are available flat or cupped. Spanish sequins are the highest quality sequin, manufactured in color and not dyed. Commercial grade sequins greatly vary in quality. They are often dyed and will lose color over time.
