Sartorial Sights Sounds & Smells

177 stories – “runway”, 66 stories – “fashion design”, 5 stories – “celebrity stylist”, 6 stories -”fashion stylist”

Sights, sounds, and smells

Every HistoryMaker is asked to describe the sights, sounds, and smells of their childhood. This question allows them to transport themselves, the interviewer, and the viewer back in time to an immersive experience. Because of the plethora of clips describing sights, sounds, and smells, I decided to narrow it down to fashion industry professionals sharing their sensory memories.

In 1989, Teri Agins started The Wall Street Journals’ fashion beat and eventually became their senior special writer. After retiring from the journal, she worked for magazines like Vogue and Essence and authored fashion books. Agins talks about the smells she remembers from childhood: her mother was not a good cook and she and her siblings were “latchkey kids”, meaning they came home from school and had to entertain and feed themselves. “We came home every day from school, walked home and then, and our lunch, we couldn't use the stove. So, it was chili or something it might have been in a thermos. We would go into the refrigerator and get the Hi-C and we would drink the Hi-C for lunch and then we would have to lock the door and stuff and then leave and walk back to school.”

Little girl playing piano

For sounds, she recalls the brand-new piano her mother bought because of their family philosophy against antiques, “my mother never wanted anything used. Because that's that whole stigma of growing up but anyway she did buy a piano at Jenkins Music Company, I think it was like eighteen hundred dollars so it was a lot, it was a really nice piano and we took piano lessons from Mamie Lewis [ph.], a black piano teacher. The lessons were $1.50, we went on Wednesdays. And we had to have--I had a half an hour lesson and my sister had one, we had them back to back. We took piano lessons all through like--I took them all through college--I mean all through high school.”

Fashion consultant Bethann Hardison is known for pioneering more inclusive beauty standards within the fashion industry. She worked for publications like Harper’s Bazaar and Allure in the 70s and even produced popular television shows like Living Single. She recalls the joyous sounds of her childhood, “Sounds would be laughter, laughter, lots of laughter, sounds would be laughter and singing. That would remind me of my childhood.”

Chitterlings

Hardison’s memories of smell are not as pleasant, “smells, I can't smell anything. I don't want to say chitterlings because I didn't like them. (Laughter) I wouldn't let them make them in the house, but that could remind you of your childhood because there was a time or two they tried to get you to eat that. So, you can remember that, yeah.”

Hardison remembers the sights of the city around her, “a guy standing on the corner (laughter) playing skully. Skully is, is a top, a bottle top that you, you make a diagram on the ground with chalk, and you shoot them into boxes. It's a street, it's an urban--I mean, if you live in the city, it's just what kids do, playing stoop ball, hitting, throwing the ball against--these are things you remember. And handball against a wall on, any wall that you can find, a church wall, any kind of wall that has a wall.”

Designer, milliner, and couturier B Michael designed hats for the 80s soap Opera Dynasty and Whitney Houston’s costumes for the movie Sparkle. He describes how his sight memories shaped who he is today, “sights would be, again, you know, especially being in rural Connecticut, so it was always about wooded and earthen and so on and so forth, and today I still love that kind of scenic, if you will.”

1,2,3,4 cake

Michael recalls a cake that his grandmother made as a childhood smell, “my grandmother, for instance, baked a cake that she called one, two, three, four cake and it meant, one cup of this and two of something else. So, I can still remember what that would smell like if it's, you know, in the oven.”

Little girls playing dress up

Fashion designer Tracy Reese whose clientele includes the likes of First Lady Michelle Obama and Beyonce, describes her sensory memories. “Sights, sounds, and smells. I remember being outside a lot. You know, by the time we came back to Detroit, I was a little more independent (unclear) and we were just outside all the time, playing with friends and you know, putting on little plays in the backyard and playing dress up and, you know, having a seance across the street at (laughter) Colleen's [ph.] house. Or you know, we had a lot of great neighbors and so there was just, you know, probably all the kids within a two block, at least, length of the street were super friendly and played together and that was a big memory. I, I remember too, that, you know, on the weekends we always had lessons, so we had, we'd go to the Y [Young Men's Christian Association] and you could pick, you know, they had that Saturday program for children and you could pick three classes, so I would swimming and art, and then I would decide do I want to take knitting or do I want to take--you know, there was always a choice of three and Erin [Erin Reese Burks] always took gymnastics, Leslie [Leslie Reese] always had dance, so that was like Saturday, you know, chores and then we'd go out for lessons and then come home and play”

A bakery

Dori Wilson, the first Black runway model in Chicago, describes growing up in the windy city. “I remember the smell of the Wonder Bread bakery, or something that's over on 51st. See, I know that there was--I remember the smell of that bakery, I remember the sounds of the water hydrants in the summertime on the street. I remember lots of people congregating on corners. I know that we used to go and shop and buy the excess Hostess CupCakes and Twinkies and things from that Wonder Bread, what do you call those, the resale shops. I remember that from when we lived around the 51st Street area. I remember going swimming in the summers at the outdoor park at Washington Park [Chicago, Illinois]. Then when we moved east to 43rd [Street] and Oakenwald [Avenue], it was a place that's right by the lake [Lake Michigan], and I remember that there was an overpass where you can--it's still there--where you can walk and go directly to the lake. The sights and the smells. I remember the smell of barbecue, of things cooking, barbecue cooking, I remember that”

Bacon cooking

She has a rather melancholic tone as she moves on to another olfactory memory, “And the smell of my mom's kitchen was always wonderful. There was always something in the kitchen to eat, and we woke up to the wonderful smells of bacon, and my mother [Fannie Brown Wilson] could make a certain kind of toast, and I remember that we would go in the kitchen, and our food was always there, and came home from school and it was always something wonderfully smelling in the kitchen, that, I really remember that. And I miss that, too.”

Jazz Singer Nancy Wilson

Glenn Tunstull is a fashion illustrator, painter, and New York native. He worked for major magazines such as Vogue and Marie Claire and was the first and only Black illustrator at Women’s Wear Daily. He illustrates his upbringing in Detroit (where his family relocated) through his senses, “Well, certainly music, certain songs by [HistoryMaker] Nancy Wilson, Aretha Franklin, just certain color--lights, blue lights, red lights take me right back. It's the funniest things I get--I'll be triggered by, but I can't, can't think of all of them right now. But, there are certain songs, even the time of year. Like, I, I have to listen to Nancy Wilson at Christmastime because that's just what's part of it, you know.” He goes on to describe the color sights that spark memories, “the hue of the living rooms that I found myself in, our living room, Christmas lights like that. The parties, you know, they were always the basement parties with the red lights and the sweaty walls, you know. And, you know, they were funky and fun, you know, so I like that.”

Hearing each HistoryMaker detail their past through their senses gives a vivid look into their world. Each of them have the fashion industry as their commonality but their sights, smells, and sounds are each rich and unique.

Student Ambassador Update

Group Photo from Black History Poetry Contest

This week I hosted the Black History Month Poetry Showcase. It had to be rescheduled for March 14th because of a power outage on campus in February but despite the delay it turned out quite well. I explained the digital archive and had each attendee log in, search the archive, and look at a few clips. The three contestants read their poems and the winners were announced. I also gave away some of the promotional materials. Thirteen people attended and we gained followers for the Instagram account through the event as well.

Teri Agins (The HistoryMakers A2014.009), interviewed by Julieanna L. Richardson, January 16, 2014, The HistoryMakers Digital Archive. Session 1, tape 1, story 13, Teri Agins describes the sights, sounds and smells of her childhood, pt. 1

Teri Agins (The HistoryMakers A2014.009), interviewed by Julieanna L. Richardson, January 16, 2014, The HistoryMakers Digital Archive. Session 1, tape 2, story 1, Teri Agins describes the sights, sounds and smells of her childhood, pt. 2

Bethann Hardison (The HistoryMakers A2013.190), interviewed by Julieanna L. Richardson, July 15, 2013, The HistoryMakers Digital Archive. Session 1, tape 1, story 14, Bethann Hardison describes the sounds and smells of her childhood

Bethann Hardison (The HistoryMakers A2013.190), interviewed by Julieanna L. Richardson, July 15, 2013, The HistoryMakers Digital Archive. Session 1, tape 2, story 1, Bethann Hardison describes the sights of her childhood

B Michael (The HistoryMakers A2014.106), interviewed by Julieanna L. Richardson, May 10, 2014, The HistoryMakers Digital Archive. Session 1, tape 1, story 5, B Michael describes the sights, sounds and smells of his childhood

Tracy Reese (The HistoryMakers A2016.093), interviewed by Harriette Cole, December 2, 2016, The HistoryMakers Digital Archive. Session 1, tape 1, story 10, Tracy Reese describes the sights, sounds and smells of her childhood

Dori Wilson (The HistoryMakers A2010.029), interviewed by Larry Crowe, May 25, 2010, The HistoryMakers Digital Archive. Session 1, tape 1, story 8, Dori Wilson describes the sights, sounds and smells of her childhood, pt. 1

Glenn Tunstull (The HistoryMakers A2007.261), interviewed by Adrienne Jones, September 13, 2007, The HistoryMakers Digital Archive. Session 1, tape 2, story 4, Glenn Tunstull describes the sights and sounds of his childhood