@@garrettrobinson3826 First of all, Netflix has a show called 'The Repair Shop' that goes in-depth on how a few crafts are done by the masters. But as the title says, it's more of a repair than the making of items. But second, UA-cam is the perfect platform for everything Bernadette does. Netflix would offer a contract limiting the creator from ever going back to the original concept, and butcher the editing. For a good amount of money, sure, but creative freedom is valuable as well.
I'm making the shift away from Amazon for several reasons : #1 I'd rather buy "American made 🇺🇸" & #2 I'm not at all happy with Chinas attitude towards the USA. Bernadette is a GENIUS, but she may never be recognized for that genius as long China still possess the ability to under cut $$ at every turn.. If it's imported.. I just take a pass & I'll just shop "Made in America" 🇺🇸 .
@@lynnrichardson353 China‘s companys are just following the rules of capitalism like every american company does too. Capitalism in it‘s core doesn‘t care about people, it cares about how to make cheap and sell high and you can‘t criticeze china for simply competing with the local shops. You can however criticize chinas laws for making it possible for companys to practically enslave their own people for a penny a day. Yet most other countrys aren‘t perfect either. The minimum wage is barely enough to survive and that should not be the goal. So yeah, support your locals if you want, but make sure they aren‘t ripping off their workers as well, otherwise you just support the same kind of behaviour in america that you criticise in china.
I love that the mechanical press has a two-handed push switch on either side of the machine, so the operator can't accidentally get his fingers squished!
My only qualm is that it makes it inoperable by people who only have strength or use of one arm/hand. Could it be modified for differently abled workers?
Thank You! As a modern sewist and hobby enthusiast in California I find places like JoAnns Fabrics soul crushing. I long for some of the options I see more in Europe, so knowing a place like this exists gives me hope and options that are not mass manufactured for my projects. So again thank you for using your platform for good. P.S It is me who has watched your modernized Victorian walking skirt vid dozens of times to help me with mine, and while my hand felling skills need work, I have come a long way because of you. So thanks for that also!😊
Could I *theoretically* get some of my mothers wedding dress-a silk polyester blend mid 90’s monstrosity- made into these lovely fabric flowers? Cause my mom already told me and my sister we could take parts of it to incorporate to our own dresses. And this would be a beautiful way to do it.
Not only she finished the gorgeous dress but she also gave visibility to a craftsmanship business in decay, and she did all of it without breaking the calm and aesthetic atmosphere of her videos.
I'm almost embarrassed to say that I remember, when I was a kid, this.. inability to grasp how many of the objects around us are made, step by step, by actual people, and do not just pop out of an extremely sophisticated factory-type machine. Although now I know that it is absolutely NOT the case, getting to take a close look at the inner workings of various crafts and the people behind them is just fascinating! Thank you so much Bernadette! Loving this documentary-series ❤️
@marialena I come from a rural area where schools are commonly surrounded by farms. I remember a teacher asking us where milk comes from and the first answer was, "From the grocery store," even though we could plainly see cows grazing just a few yards away. This was back in the 70's. It's even worse now. How did we come to embrace this disconnect?
Children don't necessarily know where things come from, it's the innocence of childhood. But as long we grow in age and curiosity, there's nothing wrong with that.
@@Nicole-zy4vb ah sorry but I'm not so old that slavery was still legal in the United States when I was a kid. Also I don't recall any of us kids being forced to work on the dairy farms. Mostly we were shooed away because we made a mess and upset the animals and the farmers didn't want us breaking the milking machines by playing with them. I don't think they had secret kid slaves that they kept from going to school with the rest of us.
@@lorisewsstuff1607 If you think that is bad , you should try Jamie Olivers series about food revolution , where he tries to get people to eat healthy food in the US . he actually showed preschool kids the most gross kind of procedure you could possibly imagine , with all the bits and pieces nobody wants to eat and made something that resembles chicken nuggets and just because it was in a familiar shape , they prefer to eat that , over lean meat. And to top it all off, kindergarten kids could not recognise a potato or a tomato! I’m still shocked at that show even though I’ve watched it like 100 times it’s like a car wreck you can’t look away. On the bright side I’m half Greek and half German so I can speak for at least a few people on both cultures. My German side is from the north of Germany and my Greek side is from Crete , where i mostly grew up. even though most kids at my school did not grow up at a farm , a lot of us still have relatives like grandparents or a house in some kind of village and usually needed to help with gathering the olives or feeding chickens or something like that so in my generation even though I grew up in the 90s it wasn’t as bad as the show I described or what you described seems to be so maybe there is hope yet.
My mom's dad was the middle man between the fabric factories and the clothing designers. So he would buy the fabric sold by the fabric companies on bolts and then sell them to the fashion designers and clothing companies at a slight markup. This meant my mom and her sisters constantly had clothes that hadn't even hit the runways yet in the late 50s early 60s. He did this up until the early 70s when the fabric factories cut out the middle man and went straight to the clothing designers or started shutting down and went overseas. I think he retired in the late 70s early 80s. He died in 2011 and I miss him and his stories a lot. He also served in WW2 as a marine at Iwo Jima.
I think my favorite thing is the safety switch on the electric press. You can see that it only goes down when both switches are pressed, and they're far enough apart that you need both hands, ensuring that your hands _aren't_ under the press when it's actuated.
I've seen something like that twenty-something years ago on a paper-cutting press in Europe. It's probably a standard safety feature on this kind of machines.
@@hermenegildakociubinska6665 Probably introduced after a young woman in Scotland managed to amputate both her hands on a paper cutting machine. It seems about the right time frame for it to have happened.
Isn't it so simple and yet so smart! Delightful. Injuries in manufacturing are a massive issue. I appreciate simple safety features that don't impede production.
@@somebodyelse138 I find it really hard to think about in developing nations where they are being paid pittance, poor safety standards, and one wrong move you lose a thumb and can't work. Well there goes the income for the whole family. I don't understand why money is often put above health and safety. (I'll keep my fast fashion rants to myself for now - otherwise I'll have my own TedTalk).
@@Tazzie1312 Oh my god seeing so many improperly masked faces gave me such anxiety. Cover your mouth AND nose! Also, even if you've had a negative Covid test, you should still wear a mask! A negative test doesn't protect you from future infection. It doesn't even mean that you definitely don't have Covid! It just means that Covid was not detected at the time of testing!
If there’s ever a company where you can FEEL the care being put in, it’s this one. I know my family’s gonna look at me like I’m crazy when we take a NYC trip in the future and I ask to go see the garment district for no other reason to admire
Same, lol😂 I already say to my friend from New York (Centerport) IF I have ever going there, I'm gonna visit Garment District...(because Bernadette popularized it haha)...and he is like how on earh you know that place.... It was extinct decades ago (maybe like in the 80s)! I was just haha, lol'd. I'm gonna visit anyway!
I once took a class through UCLA extension just to get a behind the scenes view of the Los Angeles garment industry. While at a sewing guild convention in San Francisco, I signed up for a designer studio tour. I need more of these adventures in my life. Virtual visits will have to do for now.
If and when I ever get to New York, I'm spending at least one day and every penny I can get away with, in the garment district. Fabrics, lace, buttons, embellishments- I don't care if I have to mail my clothes back home so I have room in my suitcases, but I'm going to splurge on all the goodies!
The word 'artificial' today has really negative connotations, and I kind of associate it with warnings on processed food. But this video really reminds me of the word's roots in art and the process of making things. There's wonder in the fact that many beautiful things are made by human hands, that they had to be engineered rather than just springing up from nowhere. Really neat stuff.
I love the idea of using fabric from a grandmother’s wedding dress for flowers in a wedding bouquet! My Grandmother’s dress did not survive storage, but my mother’s did, although not well. It would have been right for it to have made something for my or my brothers daughters to carry her memory.
I was not aware this art even exists beyond the plastic flowers. This is so cool to learn about. I sure hope it will be preserved for many years to come partially thanks to you too.
@@CustomFabricFlowers I loved what you said about your father and his worry over his tools that had been handed down to him.... I bet his father worried too.
This makes me appreciate my grandmother’s style. She made all her street clothes from patterns. Vogue suits with satin lining, pearl buttons, covered seams, funny things inside to make lapels sharp, collars do things, she made frogs for oriental suit style. At the end, these glorious wool suits looked haute couture and she would add a silk flower corsage to the lapel. She used an ancient treadle Singer machine. The flower was like her signature. She was so gifted and I was too young to appreciate. I wonder where all those lovely silken flowers are now? This company may have made them. 1950 and 60s.
That is amazing!! And while you may have been too young to appreciate her talent at the time, it sounds like you've really learned to appreciate it as time has moved on and I'm willing to bet that means a lot to her, wherever she may be now 🙂❤️
Bernadette - CBS Sunday Morning needs to pick this up. Bravo for the journalism, not to mention the to die for dress. Long live our craftspeople, tool makers, laborers and the creative and curious.
I am now like, what can I order from this fascinating and extraordinary business? I also now dream of a movie set in the flower making shops of the 19-teens. Bernadette Banner as historical dress consultant. In at least one scene, a female character put her corset on OVER HER COMBINATIONS, laces it up comfortably, and gets on with her life. Ooo, making flowers for the hats of local suffragettes!!!
I want to write a novel about Queen Mary's first visit to Balmoral, when she was a young girl and Victoria wanted to check if she was a good enough to marry her grandson. I would totally ask for Bernadette to be the costume designer for the BBC adaptation.
He said they use the same tools. Can u imagine holding the same tools that your great grandparents used? What a beautiful and tangible legacy that's been passed down. I love how history connects us
I just made an apron that contained the tools or supplies from four generations of women in my family, going back to my great-grandmother's 1922 Singer sewing machine. It's a very special feeling indeed. I also own and occasionally use my grandmother's bobbin lace supplies, and what I love even more than the bobbins and the pillow is the handmade bags and covers for everything. Looking after your tools and taking the time to make a bag that perfectly fits them shows so much care, it's wonderful.
Lol. My coworkers were tripping yesterday when I said I still used grandmother's Kitchenaide mixer. I've had it for over 20 years, I have no idea how long she had it. The thing it possibly older than I am.
Fantastic documentary! When doing research on child labor in New York at the turn of the century, flower making was always a job I came across. It's so fascinating to learn about the original process!
Yep--there's a whole facet of this story I didn't have time to go into for this feature, but there's still so much to be explored in workers/worker treatment area. I found a statistic which I couldn't quite work into the video--but 77% of the flower workers they surveyed in the 1913 report were women under the age of 25, and 14% of those were under the age of 16; fortunately by the time the 1913 report was written, there were the beginnings of stricter labor laws and worker's unions forming in NYC, so there were strict laws against overworking underaged employees (and the survey seemed to find that factories were adhering to this); but child workers seemed to populate a substantial percentage of the flower trade earlier in the 19th century, particularly in London. Anyway, this is a massive subject and the more research I did, the more mindblown I was about just how big of a story artificial flower making was!
Fun fact: wreath making is still one of the few jobs where child labour is considered acceptable in the US! Discovered that a while ago while watching an interesting doc on child actor laws.
@@bernadettebanner I recently read a novel about a seamstress that escaped Paris at the beginning of WWII. The author spent enough verbiage describing the process that I could almost see it in my mind's eye. So lovely to actually see the process on video. Thank you for a well-presented overview!
Probably children were sought out to make the tiny fiddly bits because of small fingers. I hate thinking of all the terrible burns they must have gotten.
This is actually a skill that's been passed down my family! My grandmother and mom make them out of foam paper for long lasting and have all the tools here!😲😲😲🤯🤯🤯
This is one of the reasons that a strong middle class is so important. The more people are secure, the more people will be able to afford carefully made, beautiful items such as these flowers--and the more people will consequently be employed by small manufacturers. I really hope that the information age helps bring about a renaissance of this kind of product, made by real, highly-skilled people, accessible to a growing number of consumers. It occurs to me that centralized fast fashion only really works if the general public can't afford better. Style replaces quality in the modern day, in a sort of Vimes Boots Theory way that's very insidious. I hope we can build a world where we cherish arts like this as they deserve.
You've been in my head. Admit it. I could have written exactly the same words, including mentioning Sam Vines. My conclusion of all this is buying less stuff and from regional manufacturers in better and, if possible, organic quality. At least, avoiding Amazon wohld be a good start. Greetings from northern Germany!
@@MrDonkrypton - There are, however, many small businesses who sell through Amazon, just like through Etsy. A blanket rebuff of Amazon could harm those little guys, too.
"centralized fast fashion only really works if the general public can't afford better." Unfortunately this isn't correct. Even people who can afford better often won't pay it, partly because cheapness is so heavily emphasized, partly because of how much higher-end items are now made in Chinese sweat shops (high-end no longer refers to quality, but to name, and a disgustingly high amount of high-end name-brands are made in the same sweat shops) and how much stigma there is around pricier items, especially in tougher economies (spoken as someone who was Kate Spade and Tory Burch and other such brands for purses and Hervé Leggier dresses--I keep this stuff concealed because showing any of it in public is seen as crass, and yes, I've had a couple comments on my purses). Fast fashion became popular when people still could afford better. What happened was that the mindset shifted from having fewer pieces of better quality to having more pieces of lower quality. Quantity over quality became the name of the game. We all know people who claim they can't afford better than $10-pieces from Goodwill, but then they have a closet loaded with 100 pieces of stuff, mostly crap they never wear. They'd prefer to spend $1,000 on 100 pieces since the price *feels* cheaper at $10 each even if they only ever really wear 10 pieces, but if you suggest spending $100 on a higher quality piece, suddenly they can't afford that, even though that $1,000-closet for 10 wearable pieces effectively works out to $100 spent for each piece that gets wear. because andwardrobes But even the American upper middle class emphasizes more pieces at lower prices in trends meant to die out in months rather than fewer pieces of higher quality that are classics that can be accessorized to still be on trend.
I actually used to make fabric flowers when I was 10 years old. There was an afterschool "club" where we could use the special irons and tools for flower making (small manual ones). There were many of these activities offered in my school in eastern Europe.
@@sy-zu4uz I used to take it for granted until I realized it's not the same everywhere. I think its really important to learn to make things with your hands. It makes it so much easier to adult :D
I found a beautiful wool coat at an antique shop last month, and after watching this I've decided that it is in need of a beautiful flower brooch. I've just ordered one from their Etsy shop! And now, mere moments after I order it, I'm off to stare at my mailbox until it arrives.
I feel you! The Etsy shop provided an excuse to finally get a brooch to pin my various shawls (I'm a knitter, shawls are easy, pretty, and like crack for most of us) shut, because OH MY GOD, SO PRETTY!!!!
You are a credit to historical documentaries. There is so much here to love and appreciate as a person whose family was part of fashion in various ways and whose family immigrated to this country. I hope the love of artistry will not only continue but increase, because so much of "modern" life is sterile, boring, mass produced and soulless. Art stirs the soul and beauty the senses. We could all use more of that in our every day life. Thank you for showing us what was and I hope you are inspiring creators as to what can still be, with a twist!
Other then now having an unknown desire to have lots of silk flowers, I found this fascinating to see from a construction stand point. I have a feeling that in the near future I might be buying some. We’ll see. I love the dress, the flowers really pull it together and make it whimsical but also elegant at the same time.
If these guys can afford it, they should get in contact with someone who does iron molding, so they can copy these molds in case the original ones are damaged beyond repair. These are so beautiful, and I can absolutely se why they are scared they might get damaged over time. A copy will hopefully make them less scared, and will make sure later generations can keep using them
The way molds and such used to be made are nearly indestructible. Things weren't always made with the intent of them needing to be replaced. Things used to be made with the intention of it lasting forever. This is why so many antique sewing machines still work perfectly fine while modern machines often don't last longer than a decade. If a piece is somehow damaged, it would cost less to either repair that individual piece or get that individual piece replicated than to preemptively just copy thousands of molds that have already lasted over a century.
Those are solid brass. They will LAST, just try asking Lofty Pursuits the candy co in Tallahassee, FL still using antique candy molds or Kokomo Opalescent Glass in Indiana still using the EXACT same glass texture rollers that were used for glass LC Tiffany purchased for his lamps and windows. Saddest part is/was a lot of those type of molds and presses were melted down to make bullet casings for the war effort.
This whole time I thought the flowers on 100+ year old dresses and hats were real flowers because I thought silk flowers were a relatively new invention. Learn something new every day
Such gorgeous talent that's being lost because we take it for granted that it'll always be there. Thank you, Bernadette for giving us a glimpse into this gorgeous world that I didn't know existed and now will loving support, much to the annoyance of my husband. Flowers for EVERYONE!! The cats, the bookcases, the mantle and even the man...he'll be decorated whether he likes it or not!
In Vietnam, some schools make you take a class in crafting flowers. They’re not as elegant as these beautiful Victorian ones, but all of the vases in our home are filled with artificial flowers that my mom and aunt made themselves.
Loved this. More of this please. Also the idea of people getting family wedding dresses turned into flowers seemed wonderful to me. Especially for dresses that have been damaged.
This shop is amazing I’ve been going to them for over 10 years to make floral crowns and flower clips just for myself ( not whole sale) and they are so nice and great prices not to mention the flowers are stunning.Adam is so sweet and I use to bring my kindergarten students for field trips. Can’t say enough nice things about them.
I'm glad that you give these artisans a well deserved spotlight. I hope your attitude and mentality towards clothing and the clothing industry will rub off on society and cheap fashion falls out of fashion. It changed my view completely and I'm thankful for that.
I've been a Florist for over 40 years so I felt so humble to hear a tiny bit of history about this wonderful company. I pray this company is still around another 100 years from now💐❤💐
Is there a "Garment Center" Museum? Is someone planning one? As more & more of these crafts get replaced, I just hate seeing the history lost & think it's very important that it is preserved in some form.
@Modern Jewelry Creators - In the early 1970s, I remember walking through the garment district, having to dodge messengers wheeling huge racks and racks of clothing all over the sidewalk and street with a determined purpose. I see none of them now.
This is so interesting. I love the fact that they were able to take the flower molds and use them in modern machinery. I imagine most of the molds are cast iron so they would be very heavy. Now I'm going to have to check them out on the internet.
This video was top notch. I have never had a second thought about an artificial flower, other than not really liking them aesthetically. I now have been inspired to see them in a different light and see how much they really can add that special touch to a garment, hairstyle or what have you. So much more than the faded, droopy, outdated bunch stuffed into a broken flower pot lining someone's walk. Bernadette's right, there is a special story behind everything and if we can take the time to acknowledge that then our "things" may once again become treasures.
M Jean, I agree with you! I have never liked artificial flowers -- but I now realize that my dislike was fed by bad, mass-produced artificial flowers. The artistry found at M&S Schmalberg has opened my eyes to new possibilities! Thanks go to Bernadette for her investigative reporting on this niche business.
My grandmother made flowers in her home with her mother and sister. My grandmother graduated from eighth grade and started her job making flowers to help support her family.
GUYS!!! GUYS GUYS!!! THEY ARE ON ETSY!!! YOU CAN ORDER FLOWERS FROM THEM ON ETSY!!! AND THEY SHIP TO CANADA!!! Im seriously so happy about that. I want to keep these business and practices alive, they are so important culturaly speaking. Much like Lofty Pursuits (candy making channel that uses a lot of real Victorian hard candy presses) these companies offer us a chance to understand our past and, to a degree, understand ourselves as creatures who have come a long way in a reletively short time. Its fasinating, beautiful, and even a little noble to actively work to keep these practices alive.
I loved how you closed with how a lot of consumers don't think about the people and production process that goes into the things they buy. My family runs a small, private, specialty beef business, that focuses on no antibiotics, no hormones, an regenerative land management. It really bugs me when people just assume the food they want is in the grocery store, and they don't give a single thought to how that food was grown/produced or who did it. Fast fashion is to you what processed, mass produced food is to me.
A HUGE thanks to Adam for allowing us all behind the scenes to see the exciting process! Absolutely loved this video Bernadette, I hope we'll get to see another like this format! :)
Because of this channel, I’ve steadily come to realize just how precious each item of clothing is in detail, material, and design - something fast fashion has totally desecrated. It’s a shame that so many from my generation did not not grow up appreciating quality and instead have a marred view of how clothing should function and feel. Thank you Bernadette for showing us how wonderful and important craftsmanship is.
Yes! I’ve never been able to get over the sheer amounts of clothing that people buy, week after week. And all of poor quality, synthetic fabrics and shoddy construction. They will admire someone else’s well made (or even just better made) garments, but state that they “can’t afford something like that.” It completely escapes them that they actually spend far more in a year for their endless supply of cheap stuff than the person whose clothing inspires jealousy.
@@Lucinda_Jackson Exactly what I've been saying for YEARS. Sadly the emphasis is now on quantity over quality, even if that means spending more on crap that's already falling apart when you buy it.
I came across to this channel at the start of the pandemic and here I am now appreciating the craft more than ever and waiting for Bernadette's update haha
I've seen the knockoffs and I always thought that's what they all look like, kinda cheap plasticky and not very pretty. But these are gorgeous, I especially love the ones made out of velvet. I think custom stuff was a pretty good idea too, it's a pity I don't live anywhere close. Hope they survive.
This series of love letters to the Garment District is so heartwarming. Someday when Ye Plague subsides, I need to find an excuse to come up ton NYC and buy ALL THE THINGS.
As a professional flower maker I would thank you to make our work more visible ❤️ And I also would like to say that actually, the hardest part of our work is finding tools, that are monopolized by collectioners instead of being utilised 😅
This really should be on pbs! I've always associated flowers with either gardens or the flower section of arts and crafts stores. All the flowers shown and the process of making them was beautiful. And way more complex than i thought. I really enjoyed watching this!
I completely didn't notice that the orange flower was covering a camera until the end when it was pointed out. Thank you for sharing this piece of history in our modern world!
3 flowers on the way to me and I AM JUST GETTING STARTED. Thank you so much for grounding us into what is real. Feels like an anchor in these crazy times.
Just wow, never considered using flowers, my attention is all in the flowers. I wish hats would come back in a big big way, those with flowers and feathers. Another Bernadette wonderfully original subject, I do like.
I would LOVE LOVE LOVE to gown up in those dresses and hats those ladies are wearing in the film footage clips. Most everything on the market is built cheap, doesn’t look like they should and doesn’t cut it for the full experience. I want new AND real. ....and before anyone comments- yes. I wouldn’t mind wearing a corset! Pin me up!
Oh my goodness this was so interesting! It's fascinating to see how you can adapt to a modern era whilst also preserving what makes a traditional craft special. Also the editing of this video was perfection 👌
When I was a child in the 60's, we used to go on holiday at the Belgian coast. Children used to make artificial flowers out of crepe paper and sell them for a currency of shells. Each town would have a different currency, depending on the rarity. I wonder if it still happens? I can still make them and have taught many children
My aunt taught us when we were kids. I can remember many rainy weekends being taught different flowers and leaves. 😁 thankyou for bringing back that memory.👍
So wonderful how he's carrying on his families business. Not begrudgingly, but with pride and enthusiasm. His people would be and are very proud of him, I'm sure.
I love the idea of having someone make the flowers for you instead of buying fake or silk flowers that may not be the color or fabric you want. I normally buy the flowers I want to use in whites or the palest colors available then buy fabric paint and actually paint them mixed with a ratio of water so I could control the opacity and tones of the color that will be as close to my desired shade. Maybe I should have someone make the flowers for some dress in the future.
This was such a wonderful episode, Bernadette. I wish that we valued these crafts people as much as we value athletes. In another life, I worked for Monet Jewellry, and at that time, we employed several model makers who would bring the jewellry designers' renderings to life. They would make roughly 5-10 models, and then ship them to hand crafters in Pawtucket, RI. There generations of people "mass" assembled the costume jewellry for us. Sadly, those model makers were sacked and the manufacturing and assembling was shipped offshore.
Me earlier this week: You know, I kinda miss when I would wear a flower in my hair (pre-pandemic.) I should start doing that more often. *UA-cam sends notification for this video*
I had an elderly babysitter when I was 3. Mrs. Terry knew how to make artificial flowers and taught me. My favorite part was helping her make garlands.
The guy is sooo happy to be finally able to talk about vintage flower making process with someone who understands. Its like how i feel when i finally find that one person who also watches anime
I will remember to visit Schmalberg whenever i visit the City and bring a few of these extraordinary flowers back to europe 'cause they are gorgeous and don't need to hide behind those made in Paris.
I was thinking of ordering artificial flower bouquets are my guest bedroom. I was gonna buy it, as you said, in the 'ether', but I think I wanna buy them from this shop now. They seem lovely!
Many people dry their bouquets, but imagine being able to display it forever with it looking just as beautiful as on your wedding day. That would be amazing. And knowing the amazing craftsmanship that went into creating it too is a great bonus. Would really make for a special piece.
Both my sister and youngest daughter used silk flower bouquets for this reason. If they were going to spend that much money on flowers they wanted them to last.
Thank you so much for taking the time and effort to show all of the thought, design & human production required to make flowers. They create such gorgeous floral designs! We hobbyists use much less intricate dies to cut paper flowers and other images out. The time required to use inks to softly color the papers, a stylus & soft foam background to form the petals takes much time and skill, and the end results can still look much less like real flowers. Bravo for sharing the video with us, and for the company who stuck through thick and thin to still contribute these beauties for all to use and admire! 👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽🌸💐🌹
That is a truly fascinating look into a sadly dwindling artform. It is sad to think that so much history, knowledge and skill was lost each time one of those manufacturers closed. Thank you for showing us that this beauty still exists in it's classic form
I hope to one day find something that I love, to put my hands to like Bernadette loves her work. Always so well researched and thought out and crafted with love and care. This also gave me a better understanding of why artificial flowers are so expensive.
The love and passion for his business /craft is oozing from his every pore! The care and love he has for his past, present and future is refreshing. I'd work for him in a second!
I DO have a corset construction which requires flowers along the edges. Now i feel more inclined to wait until I can afford proper ones, and not just buy the plastic in retail stores 💙
WOW, I hope this company may continu for many more fruitfull years. It is an art that I wish would not be lost. We need artisan like them. We need wonderful people like them, to teach new future artisans how such beautiful things were made. I appreciate your Work Bernadette, and making US aware of such people who still work in today world with traditions from a time ago (not so far away) that are worth saving for our future generations. Sending you wonderful Virtual HUGS from an older man in Canada...
Holy moly, THIS needs to be a Netflix series 👌
HARD agree. This is exactly the sort of content the world needs: an in-depth, personal How It's Made for the lesser-known crafts of the fashion world.
@@garrettrobinson3826 First of all, Netflix has a show called 'The Repair Shop' that goes in-depth on how a few crafts are done by the masters. But as the title says, it's more of a repair than the making of items. But second, UA-cam is the perfect platform for everything Bernadette does. Netflix would offer a contract limiting the creator from ever going back to the original concept, and butcher the editing. For a good amount of money, sure, but creative freedom is valuable as well.
Agree!!!!! This is amazing!!
History is fascinating when you get to see the time and people involved in the work.
I would love to have a series of craftsfolk telling the history of their trade. And explaining the skills involved
It broke my heart when he was talking about seeing his samples as mass manufactured knock offs.
You & me both
Amazon and China are notorious for this
I'm making the shift away from Amazon for several reasons : #1 I'd rather buy "American made 🇺🇸" & #2 I'm not at all happy with Chinas attitude towards the USA.
Bernadette is a GENIUS, but she may never be recognized for that genius as long China still possess the ability to under cut $$ at every turn.. If it's imported.. I just take a pass & I'll just shop "Made in America" 🇺🇸 .
It's horrendous, and I hate big businesses for this shit right here
@@lynnrichardson353
China‘s companys are just following the rules of capitalism like every american company does too.
Capitalism in it‘s core doesn‘t care about people, it cares about how to make cheap and sell high and you can‘t criticeze china for simply competing with the local shops.
You can however criticize chinas laws for making it possible for companys to practically enslave their own people for a penny a day.
Yet most other countrys aren‘t perfect either. The minimum wage is barely enough to survive and that should not be the goal.
So yeah, support your locals if you want, but make sure they aren‘t ripping off their workers as well, otherwise you just support the same kind of behaviour in america that you criticise in china.
I love that the mechanical press has a two-handed push switch on either side of the machine, so the operator can't accidentally get his fingers squished!
Yes, I noticed this, also! Intelligent process!
My only qualm is that it makes it inoperable by people who only have strength or use of one arm/hand. Could it be modified for differently abled workers?
@@ReignBeauofTerror could probably modify it with a knee or foot press
@@ReignBeauofTerror meh I don't think many disabled people with their hands would be working in factories tbf
@@theparrot6516 they won't even have the option if tools are only usable by able-bodied individuals.
Bernadette: using her youtube power to showcase artisans and small businesses. I'm here for it.
She is an amazing person!
Not all heros wear capes 💖
Hear Hear!
Thank You! As a modern sewist and hobby enthusiast in California I find places like JoAnns Fabrics soul crushing. I long for some of the options I see more in Europe, so knowing a place like this exists gives me hope and options that are not mass manufactured for my projects. So again thank you for using your platform for good.
P.S It is me who has watched your modernized Victorian walking skirt vid dozens of times to help me with mine, and while my hand felling skills need work, I have come a long way because of you. So thanks for that also!😊
Just a new shop for me to scope out when I go back to NYC....yay!!!!!
"There are stories behind everything that was ever made." I don't know why, but that sentence really appeals to me.
It makes the creation of a 3 year old doll of my hair from my shower and brushes sound more profound than just fucking creepy.
Her name is Harriette.
@@tibicenlinnei4014 I can't say I appreciate the existence of a nightmare doll, but I definitely appreciate the name!
@@duncanaldrich2573 Well she appreciates you...
...especially when you're sleeping.
👀❤
@@tibicenlinnei4014 welp, I'm going to be sleep deprived for the next few weeks. . .
Could I *theoretically* get some of my mothers wedding dress-a silk polyester blend mid 90’s monstrosity- made into these lovely fabric flowers? Cause my mom already told me and my sister we could take parts of it to incorporate to our own dresses. And this would be a beautiful way to do it.
It would be perfect!
That's a really nice idea!
Karolina Zebrowska is coming to haunt your dreams
Beautiful idea 💖
@@CustomFabricFlowers you're amazing and I love what you do! Do you have a website I could check out?
Not only she finished the gorgeous dress but she also gave visibility to a craftsmanship business in decay, and she did all of it without breaking the calm and aesthetic atmosphere of her videos.
Bernadette is the master. This video is perfection.
Indeed....and all while wearing a mask. Would that we were all so calm and efficient.
I'm almost embarrassed to say that I remember, when I was a kid, this.. inability to grasp how many of the objects around us are made, step by step, by actual people, and do not just pop out of an extremely sophisticated factory-type machine. Although now I know that it is absolutely NOT the case, getting to take a close look at the inner workings of various crafts and the people behind them is just fascinating! Thank you so much Bernadette! Loving this documentary-series ❤️
@marialena I come from a rural area where schools are commonly surrounded by farms. I remember a teacher asking us where milk comes from and the first answer was, "From the grocery store," even though we could plainly see cows grazing just a few yards away. This was back in the 70's. It's even worse now. How did we come to embrace this disconnect?
Children don't necessarily know where things come from, it's the innocence of childhood. But as long we grow in age and curiosity, there's nothing wrong with that.
@@Nicole-zy4vb ah sorry but I'm not so old that slavery was still legal in the United States when I was a kid. Also I don't recall any of us kids being forced to work on the dairy farms. Mostly we were shooed away because we made a mess and upset the animals and the farmers didn't want us breaking the milking machines by playing with them. I don't think they had secret kid slaves that they kept from going to school with the rest of us.
@@Nicole-zy4vb I have no clue what you're on about. I don't think you read my first post before you replied to it.
@@lorisewsstuff1607 If you think that is bad , you should try Jamie Olivers series about food revolution , where he tries to get people to eat healthy food in the US . he actually showed preschool kids the most gross kind of procedure you could possibly imagine , with all the bits and pieces nobody wants to eat and made something that resembles chicken nuggets and just because it was in a familiar shape , they prefer to eat that , over lean meat. And to top it all off, kindergarten kids could not recognise a potato or a tomato! I’m still shocked at that show even though I’ve watched it like 100 times it’s like a car wreck you can’t look away.
On the bright side I’m half Greek and half German so I can speak for at least a few people on both cultures. My German side is from the north of Germany and my Greek side is from Crete , where i mostly grew up. even though most kids at my school did not grow up at a farm , a lot of us still have relatives like grandparents or a house in some kind of village and usually needed to help with gathering the olives or feeding chickens or something like that so in my generation even though I grew up in the 90s it wasn’t as bad as the show I described or what you described seems to be so maybe there is hope yet.
My mom's dad was the middle man between the fabric factories and the clothing designers. So he would buy the fabric sold by the fabric companies on bolts and then sell them to the fashion designers and clothing companies at a slight markup. This meant my mom and her sisters constantly had clothes that hadn't even hit the runways yet in the late 50s early 60s. He did this up until the early 70s when the fabric factories cut out the middle man and went straight to the clothing designers or started shutting down and went overseas. I think he retired in the late 70s early 80s. He died in 2011 and I miss him and his stories a lot. He also served in WW2 as a marine at Iwo Jima.
I think my favorite thing is the safety switch on the electric press. You can see that it only goes down when both switches are pressed, and they're far enough apart that you need both hands, ensuring that your hands _aren't_ under the press when it's actuated.
I've seen something like that twenty-something years ago on a paper-cutting press in Europe. It's probably a standard safety feature on this kind of machines.
@@hermenegildakociubinska6665 Probably introduced after a young woman in Scotland managed to amputate both her hands on a paper cutting machine. It seems about the right time frame for it to have happened.
Isn't it so simple and yet so smart! Delightful. Injuries in manufacturing are a massive issue. I appreciate simple safety features that don't impede production.
@@lauren8627 People whinge about 'health and safety gone mad' but they really have no idea what dreadful injuries are prevented by such measures.
@@somebodyelse138 I find it really hard to think about in developing nations where they are being paid pittance, poor safety standards, and one wrong move you lose a thumb and can't work. Well there goes the income for the whole family. I don't understand why money is often put above health and safety. (I'll keep my fast fashion rants to myself for now - otherwise I'll have my own TedTalk).
The five dislikes were from Parisian flower makers.
Or for all the slipping masks lol. Too many noses hanging out.
@@Tazzie1312 Oh my god seeing so many improperly masked faces gave me such anxiety. Cover your mouth AND nose! Also, even if you've had a negative Covid test, you should still wear a mask! A negative test doesn't protect you from future infection. It doesn't even mean that you definitely don't have Covid! It just means that Covid was not detected at the time of testing!
@@crankysister I'm with you. It was uncomfortable.
Lol, you think the employees at Lemarie or Parafection even care
@@hectorrobertocontrerasmiranda I mean, they should. You can't save a dying industry if the artisans in the industry actually die.
This is like “how it’s made” but even more entertaining
It’s got heart and soul.
If there’s ever a company where you can FEEL the care being put in, it’s this one. I know my family’s gonna look at me like I’m crazy when we take a NYC trip in the future and I ask to go see the garment district for no other reason to admire
Same, lol😂 I already say to my friend from New York (Centerport) IF I have ever going there, I'm gonna visit Garment District...(because Bernadette popularized it haha)...and he is like how on earh you know that place.... It was extinct decades ago (maybe like in the 80s)! I was just haha, lol'd. I'm gonna visit anyway!
I once took a class through UCLA extension just to get a behind the scenes view of the Los Angeles garment industry. While at a sewing guild convention in San Francisco, I signed up for a designer studio tour. I need more of these adventures in my life. Virtual visits will have to do for now.
Yup, when I can finally go to NYC again I absolutely need to stop by too.
Make sure to stop by MOOD!
If and when I ever get to New York, I'm spending at least one day and every penny I can get away with, in the garment district. Fabrics, lace, buttons, embellishments- I don't care if I have to mail my clothes back home so I have room in my suitcases, but I'm going to splurge on all the goodies!
The word 'artificial' today has really negative connotations, and I kind of associate it with warnings on processed food. But this video really reminds me of the word's roots in art and the process of making things. There's wonder in the fact that many beautiful things are made by human hands, that they had to be engineered rather than just springing up from nowhere. Really neat stuff.
How about "Faux Flowers" :) that would sound even lovelier?
@@laurielegrand3162
Eternal flowers
@@ragnkja perfect :)
That is so true. That is "the original artificial" we see in the video.
I love the idea of using fabric from a grandmother’s wedding dress for flowers in a wedding bouquet! My Grandmother’s dress did not survive storage, but my mother’s did, although not well. It would have been right for it to have made something for my or my brothers daughters to carry her memory.
I was not aware this art even exists beyond the plastic flowers. This is so cool to learn about. I sure hope it will be preserved for many years to come partially thanks to you too.
So glad to see someone is still making flowers out of non-synthetic fibres 💚
I appreciate how they've made the process safer while maintaining the traditional methods of constructing the flowers.
This was like the haute couture version of Mister Rogers's crayon factory tour. (Aka the highest compliment one can pay!) Very much enjoyed this!
lol thank you!
That was always my favorite part of Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood! This definitely made me think of that.
@@CustomFabricFlowers I loved what you said about your father and his worry over his tools that had been handed down to him.... I bet his father worried too.
This makes me appreciate my grandmother’s style. She made all her street clothes from patterns. Vogue suits with satin lining, pearl buttons, covered seams, funny things inside to make lapels sharp, collars do things, she made frogs for oriental suit style. At the end, these glorious wool suits looked haute couture and she would add a silk flower corsage to the lapel. She used an ancient treadle Singer machine. The flower was like her signature. She was so gifted and I was too young to appreciate. I wonder where all those lovely silken flowers are now? This company may have made them. 1950 and 60s.
WOOW Thats so cool!! Do you still have those beautiful suits!? 😲😯😊🥰
Sadly no, but she was buried in her very best. I don’t remember much about where things went.
That is amazing!! And while you may have been too young to appreciate her talent at the time, it sounds like you've really learned to appreciate it as time has moved on and I'm willing to bet that means a lot to her, wherever she may be now 🙂❤️
Amazing ✨👀
Bernadette - CBS Sunday Morning needs to pick this up. Bravo for the journalism, not to mention the to die for dress. Long live our craftspeople, tool makers, laborers and the creative and curious.
Beautiful process
We need to preserve businesses like this, for the world is poorer without them
Thanks for saying that
I am now like, what can I order from this fascinating and extraordinary business? I also now dream of a movie set in the flower making shops of the 19-teens. Bernadette Banner as historical dress consultant. In at least one scene, a female character put her corset on OVER HER COMBINATIONS, laces it up comfortably, and gets on with her life. Ooo, making flowers for the hats of local suffragettes!!!
10/10 I need this film to exist 👀
Can we please crowdfund this!!!
I want to write a novel about Queen Mary's first visit to Balmoral, when she was a young girl and Victoria wanted to check if she was a good enough to marry her grandson.
I would totally ask for Bernadette to be the costume designer for the BBC adaptation.
I'm usually kinda effy about the suffragette movement, but this sounds too good not to exist. If this doesn't come into existence soon, I'll riot!
Lots of flowers I hope!
He said they use the same tools. Can u imagine holding the same tools that your great grandparents used? What a beautiful and tangible legacy that's been passed down. I love how history connects us
4 generations...
Not too far off from what my fams cast iron pans are
I just made an apron that contained the tools or supplies from four generations of women in my family, going back to my great-grandmother's 1922 Singer sewing machine. It's a very special feeling indeed. I also own and occasionally use my grandmother's bobbin lace supplies, and what I love even more than the bobbins and the pillow is the handmade bags and covers for everything. Looking after your tools and taking the time to make a bag that perfectly fits them shows so much care, it's wonderful.
Lol. My coworkers were tripping yesterday when I said I still used grandmother's Kitchenaide mixer. I've had it for over 20 years, I have no idea how long she had it. The thing it possibly older than I am.
@@EluraCorenBooks
The fact that it still works is a testament to its quality.
I like that he knows the names of his employees. That just lends an extra bit of homliness to the work environment.
I've known them since I was a baby
Agreed!
Fantastic documentary! When doing research on child labor in New York at the turn of the century, flower making was always a job I came across. It's so fascinating to learn about the original process!
Yep--there's a whole facet of this story I didn't have time to go into for this feature, but there's still so much to be explored in workers/worker treatment area. I found a statistic which I couldn't quite work into the video--but 77% of the flower workers they surveyed in the 1913 report were women under the age of 25, and 14% of those were under the age of 16; fortunately by the time the 1913 report was written, there were the beginnings of stricter labor laws and worker's unions forming in NYC, so there were strict laws against overworking underaged employees (and the survey seemed to find that factories were adhering to this); but child workers seemed to populate a substantial percentage of the flower trade earlier in the 19th century, particularly in London. Anyway, this is a massive subject and the more research I did, the more mindblown I was about just how big of a story artificial flower making was!
Fun fact: wreath making is still one of the few jobs where child labour is considered acceptable in the US! Discovered that a while ago while watching an interesting doc on child actor laws.
@@bernadettebanner I recently read a novel about a seamstress that escaped Paris at the beginning of WWII. The author spent enough verbiage describing the process that I could almost see it in my mind's eye. So lovely to actually see the process on video. Thank you for a well-presented overview!
Probably children were sought out to make the tiny fiddly bits because of small fingers. I hate thinking of all the terrible burns they must have gotten.
@@doris1826 That sounds like a great novel. I'd love to read it. Mind telling me the name.
This is actually a skill that's been passed down my family! My grandmother and mom make them out of foam paper for long lasting and have all the tools here!😲😲😲🤯🤯🤯
This is one of the reasons that a strong middle class is so important. The more people are secure, the more people will be able to afford carefully made, beautiful items such as these flowers--and the more people will consequently be employed by small manufacturers. I really hope that the information age helps bring about a renaissance of this kind of product, made by real, highly-skilled people, accessible to a growing number of consumers. It occurs to me that centralized fast fashion only really works if the general public can't afford better. Style replaces quality in the modern day, in a sort of Vimes Boots Theory way that's very insidious. I hope we can build a world where we cherish arts like this as they deserve.
You've been in my head. Admit it. I could have written exactly the same words, including mentioning Sam Vines. My conclusion of all this is buying less stuff and from regional manufacturers in better and, if possible, organic quality. At least, avoiding Amazon wohld be a good start. Greetings from northern Germany!
@@MrDonkrypton - There are, however, many small businesses who sell through Amazon, just like through Etsy. A blanket rebuff of Amazon could harm those little guys, too.
Unfortunately, the middle class is decreasing as the disparity between rich and poor grows larger.
Don Krypton I refuse to buy from Amazon!
"centralized fast fashion only really works if the general public can't afford better." Unfortunately this isn't correct. Even people who can afford better often won't pay it, partly because cheapness is so heavily emphasized, partly because of how much higher-end items are now made in Chinese sweat shops (high-end no longer refers to quality, but to name, and a disgustingly high amount of high-end name-brands are made in the same sweat shops) and how much stigma there is around pricier items, especially in tougher economies (spoken as someone who was Kate Spade and Tory Burch and other such brands for purses and Hervé Leggier dresses--I keep this stuff concealed because showing any of it in public is seen as crass, and yes, I've had a couple comments on my purses). Fast fashion became popular when people still could afford better.
What happened was that the mindset shifted from having fewer pieces of better quality to having more pieces of lower quality. Quantity over quality became the name of the game. We all know people who claim they can't afford better than $10-pieces from Goodwill, but then they have a closet loaded with 100 pieces of stuff, mostly crap they never wear. They'd prefer to spend $1,000 on 100 pieces since the price *feels* cheaper at $10 each even if they only ever really wear 10 pieces, but if you suggest spending $100 on a higher quality piece, suddenly they can't afford that, even though that $1,000-closet for 10 wearable pieces effectively works out to $100 spent for each piece that gets wear.
because
andwardrobes
But even the American upper middle class emphasizes more pieces at lower prices in trends meant to die out in months rather than fewer pieces of higher quality that are classics that can be accessorized to still be on trend.
I actually used to make fabric flowers when I was 10 years old. There was an afterschool "club" where we could use the special irons and tools for flower making (small manual ones). There were many of these activities offered in my school in eastern Europe.
Wow im so jealous 🥺 my school only focuses on academics unfortunately.
Awesome!
@@sy-zu4uz I used to take it for granted until I realized it's not the same everywhere. I think its really important to learn to make things with your hands. It makes it so much easier to adult :D
This changed my opinion of artificial flowers.
as long as you buy from small businesses such as these...
I found a beautiful wool coat at an antique shop last month, and after watching this I've decided that it is in need of a beautiful flower brooch. I've just ordered one from their Etsy shop! And now, mere moments after I order it, I'm off to stare at my mailbox until it arrives.
Mood 🤣 I hope your coat is nice and warm and you get to enjoy it lots 💕
@@lowercase_ash Thanks! It goes down to my knees so it’s super warm. I love it so much! 🥰
I feel you! The Etsy shop provided an excuse to finally get a brooch to pin my various shawls (I'm a knitter, shawls are easy, pretty, and like crack for most of us) shut, because OH MY GOD, SO PRETTY!!!!
You are a credit to historical documentaries. There is so much here to love and appreciate as a person whose family was part of fashion in various ways and whose family immigrated to this country. I hope the love of artistry will not only continue but increase, because so much of "modern" life is sterile, boring, mass produced and soulless. Art stirs the soul and beauty the senses. We could all use more of that in our every day life. Thank you for showing us what was and I hope you are inspiring creators as to what can still be, with a twist!
Other then now having an unknown desire to have lots of silk flowers, I found this fascinating to see from a construction stand point. I have a feeling that in the near future I might be buying some. We’ll see. I love the dress, the flowers really pull it together and make it whimsical but also elegant at the same time.
We hope so!! Thank you
@@CustomFabricFlowers I was looking at your Etsy shop last night. So pretty!
@@elisabetfinlayson8539 Thanks!!
I just want to have flowers in my hair now XD
If these guys can afford it, they should get in contact with someone who does iron molding, so they can copy these molds in case the original ones are damaged beyond repair. These are so beautiful, and I can absolutely se why they are scared they might get damaged over time. A copy will hopefully make them less scared, and will make sure later generations can keep using them
The way molds and such used to be made are nearly indestructible. Things weren't always made with the intent of them needing to be replaced. Things used to be made with the intention of it lasting forever. This is why so many antique sewing machines still work perfectly fine while modern machines often don't last longer than a decade. If a piece is somehow damaged, it would cost less to either repair that individual piece or get that individual piece replicated than to preemptively just copy thousands of molds that have already lasted over a century.
Just like a hard drive backup. Just makes sense.
Those are solid brass. They will LAST, just try asking Lofty Pursuits the candy co in Tallahassee, FL still using antique candy molds or Kokomo Opalescent Glass in Indiana still using the EXACT same glass texture rollers that were used for glass LC Tiffany purchased for his lamps and windows.
Saddest part is/was a lot of those type of molds and presses were melted down to make bullet casings for the war effort.
Your idea is smart yeah they might last 100s of years cause it bras but accidents happen
@@mwater_moon2865 Hey fancy seeing a fellow Lofty pursuits watcher here! Just ordered their peach candy :D
This whole time I thought the flowers on 100+ year old dresses and hats were real flowers because I thought silk flowers were a relatively new invention. Learn something new every day
Such gorgeous talent that's being lost because we take it for granted that it'll always be there. Thank you, Bernadette for giving us a glimpse into this gorgeous world that I didn't know existed and now will loving support, much to the annoyance of my husband. Flowers for EVERYONE!! The cats, the bookcases, the mantle and even the man...he'll be decorated whether he likes it or not!
The gentleman needs a boutonnière that doesn’t wilt, right?
Excellent. 😎
Our flowers don't wilt. The cat definitely needs one
Ohh I know your user handle from the kittenish behaviour channel 🥰. Lovely to see you here as well!!
They'd be an excellent replacement for bows on Christmas presents wrapped in cabbage!
Unnecessary side note: Schmalberg means narrow mountain in German :)
Where else do you find the prettiest flowers?
Not unnecessary but a fun fact!
Hahaha Cool!! Thanks for that! Loved hearing that!
Love, LOVE that we got the artists' names. Craftspeople haven't gotten enough credit through the ages and I'm so happy to know these folks' names.
In Vietnam, some schools make you take a class in crafting flowers. They’re not as elegant as these beautiful Victorian ones, but all of the vases in our home are filled with artificial flowers that my mom and aunt made themselves.
Loved this. More of this please. Also the idea of people getting family wedding dresses turned into flowers seemed wonderful to me. Especially for dresses that have been damaged.
This shop is amazing I’ve been going to them for over 10 years to make floral crowns and flower clips just for myself ( not whole sale) and they are so nice and great prices not to mention the flowers are stunning.Adam is so sweet and I use to bring my kindergarten students for field trips. Can’t say enough nice things about them.
I'm glad that you give these artisans a well deserved spotlight. I hope your attitude and mentality towards clothing and the clothing industry will rub off on society and cheap fashion falls out of fashion. It changed my view completely and I'm thankful for that.
I've been a Florist for over 40 years so I felt so humble to hear a tiny bit of history about this wonderful company. I pray this company is still around another 100 years from now💐❤💐
Hi how are you doing?
I watched this with my 7yr old. He loved watching the process. He was sad to hear that the other places closed.
Me (18 ,minuts ago): I don't like artificial flowers!
Me (now): I need artificial flowers!!!
Artificial flowers arent bad as long as they arent made from brand new plastic
You mean “I hate PLASTIC” flowers because me too
Is there a "Garment Center" Museum? Is someone planning one? As more & more of these crafts get replaced, I just hate seeing the history lost & think it's very important that it is preserved in some form.
@Modern Jewelry Creators - In the early 1970s, I remember walking through the garment district, having to dodge messengers wheeling huge racks and racks of clothing all over the sidewalk and street with a determined purpose. I see none of them now.
This is so interesting. I love the fact that they were able to take the flower molds and use them in modern machinery. I imagine most of the molds are cast iron so they would be very heavy. Now I'm going to have to check them out on the internet.
Various metals - Cast iron, aluminum, brass, steel rule. Some are 50+ pounds
Why did the idea of someone cutting flowers from their grandmothers wedding dress make me tear up? 🤦♀️
I absolutely sobbed when that was said. Its such a gorgeous and touching concept!
Someone needs to stop me buying everything on their etsy page, now. What a beautiful craft!
This felt like the BEST episode of "How Its Made" lol
This was delightful to watch. And now I have a poppy pin ordered that I didn't even know I needed until I saw it. : )
Bernadette this was expertly edited. This has the feel of a professional doc. Just WOW 👏🏽👏🏽
As a socially inept person I was genuinely impressed by the "Great/Easy/Perfect/Cool" exchange.
This video was top notch. I have never had a second thought about an artificial flower, other than not really liking them aesthetically. I now have been inspired to see them in a different light and see how much they really can add that special touch to a garment, hairstyle or what have you. So much more than the faded, droopy, outdated bunch stuffed into a broken flower pot lining someone's walk. Bernadette's right, there is a special story behind everything and if we can take the time to acknowledge that then our "things" may once again become treasures.
M Jean, I agree with you! I have never liked artificial flowers -- but I now realize that my dislike was fed by bad, mass-produced artificial flowers. The artistry found at M&S Schmalberg has opened my eyes to new possibilities! Thanks go to Bernadette for her investigative reporting on this niche business.
My grandmother made flowers in her home with her mother and sister. My grandmother graduated from eighth grade and started her job making flowers to help support her family.
I hope special shops like this thrive more in the coming years. Hopefully they get used more like in Paris
If sea shanties can spread through TikTok like wildfire, I would not be surprised if artificial flowers suddenly can become fashionable.
It fills my heart with joy to see safety features like the two-hands buttons on the press at 10:07. Very impressive operation overall.
GUYS!!! GUYS GUYS!!! THEY ARE ON ETSY!!! YOU CAN ORDER FLOWERS FROM THEM ON ETSY!!! AND THEY SHIP TO CANADA!!! Im seriously so happy about that. I want to keep these business and practices alive, they are so important culturaly speaking. Much like Lofty Pursuits (candy making channel that uses a lot of real Victorian hard candy presses) these companies offer us a chance to understand our past and, to a degree, understand ourselves as creatures who have come a long way in a reletively short time. Its fasinating, beautiful, and even a little noble to actively work to keep these practices alive.
I loved how you closed with how a lot of consumers don't think about the people and production process that goes into the things they buy. My family runs a small, private, specialty beef business, that focuses on no antibiotics, no hormones, an regenerative land management. It really bugs me when people just assume the food they want is in the grocery store, and they don't give a single thought to how that food was grown/produced or who did it. Fast fashion is to you what processed, mass produced food is to me.
I remember hearing on Democracy Now how Tyson foods was not allowing their employees bathroom breaks so they had to resort to wearing diapers.
@@Violet-qf8dr that -
A HUGE thanks to Adam for allowing us all behind the scenes to see the exciting process! Absolutely loved this video Bernadette, I hope we'll get to see another like this format! :)
Because of this channel, I’ve steadily come to realize just how precious each item of clothing is in detail, material, and design - something fast fashion has totally desecrated. It’s a shame that so many from my generation did not not grow up appreciating quality and instead have a marred view of how clothing should function and feel. Thank you Bernadette for showing us how wonderful and important craftsmanship is.
Yes! I’ve never been able to get over the sheer amounts of clothing that people buy, week after week. And all of poor quality, synthetic fabrics and shoddy construction. They will admire someone else’s well made (or even just better made) garments, but state that they “can’t afford something like that.” It completely escapes them that they actually spend far more in a year for their endless supply of cheap stuff than the person whose clothing inspires jealousy.
@@Lucinda_Jackson Exactly what I've been saying for YEARS. Sadly the emphasis is now on quantity over quality, even if that means spending more on crap that's already falling apart when you buy it.
@@Author.Noelle.Alexandria
Yes...the constant desire to accumulate! The dumb 80s saying, “He who dies with the most toys wins” still applies
I came across to this channel at the start of the pandemic and here I am now appreciating the craft more than ever and waiting for Bernadette's update haha
I've seen the knockoffs and I always thought that's what they all look like, kinda cheap plasticky and not very pretty. But these are gorgeous, I especially love the ones made out of velvet. I think custom stuff was a pretty good idea too, it's a pity I don't live anywhere close. Hope they survive.
This series of love letters to the Garment District is so heartwarming. Someday when Ye Plague subsides, I need to find an excuse to come up ton NYC and buy ALL THE THINGS.
As a professional flower maker I would thank you to make our work more visible ❤️
And I also would like to say that actually, the hardest part of our work is finding tools, that are monopolized by collectioners instead of being utilised 😅
This really should be on pbs! I've always associated flowers with either gardens or the flower section of arts and crafts stores. All the flowers shown and the process of making them was beautiful. And way more complex than i thought. I really enjoyed watching this!
I love the fact Bernadette looks unto the history behind each thing she does. I love you girl. You got me into hand sewing. Keep up the good work .
I completely didn't notice that the orange flower was covering a camera until the end when it was pointed out. Thank you for sharing this piece of history in our modern world!
3 flowers on the way to me and I AM JUST GETTING STARTED. Thank you so much for grounding us into what is real. Feels like an anchor in these crazy times.
Hello 👋how are you doing?
Just wow, never considered using flowers, my attention is all in the flowers. I wish hats would come back in a big big way, those with flowers and feathers. Another Bernadette wonderfully original subject, I do like.
Let's do it! Bring back the HATS! 🎩
I would LOVE LOVE LOVE to gown up in those dresses and hats those ladies are wearing in the film footage clips. Most everything on the market is built cheap, doesn’t look like they should and doesn’t cut it for the full experience. I want new AND real. ....and before anyone comments- yes. I wouldn’t mind wearing a corset! Pin me up!
Oh my goodness this was so interesting! It's fascinating to see how you can adapt to a modern era whilst also preserving what makes a traditional craft special. Also the editing of this video was perfection 👌
I absolutely adore the way that they re-purposed the original equipment to keep that aspect of history in every flower! Beautiful! Chefs kiss!
When I was a child in the 60's, we used to go on holiday at the Belgian coast. Children used to make artificial flowers out of crepe paper and sell them for a currency of shells. Each town would have a different currency, depending on the rarity. I wonder if it still happens? I can still make them and have taught many children
My mother taught me to make them out of Kleenex. I have since taught others/mostly children, when long waits were making them irritable.
I just googled paper flowers Belgium and there they are. It's still happening. Several articles and plenty of pictures.
My aunt taught us when we were kids. I can remember many rainy weekends being taught different flowers and leaves. 😁 thankyou for bringing back that memory.👍
So wonderful how he's carrying on his families business. Not begrudgingly, but with pride and enthusiasm. His people would be and are very proud of him, I'm sure.
Hi 👋how are you doing?
I love the idea of having someone make the flowers for you instead of buying fake or silk flowers that may not be the color or fabric you want. I normally buy the flowers I want to use in whites or the palest colors available then buy fabric paint and actually paint them mixed with a ratio of water so I could control the opacity and tones of the color that will be as close to my desired shade. Maybe I should have someone make the flowers for some dress in the future.
Ahhhhh the dangly flowers on the shoulders of the gown are so beautiful, fabulous work magical human 🖤
This was such a wonderful episode, Bernadette. I wish that we valued these crafts people as much as we value athletes.
In another life, I worked for Monet Jewellry, and at that time, we employed several model makers who would bring the jewellry designers' renderings to life. They would make roughly 5-10 models, and then ship them to hand crafters in Pawtucket, RI. There generations of people "mass" assembled the costume jewellry for us.
Sadly, those model makers were sacked and the manufacturing and assembling was shipped offshore.
I enjoyed seeing all the presses and molds that had been passed down through the family and the guy's obvious pride over them!
Me earlier this week: You know, I kinda miss when I would wear a flower in my hair (pre-pandemic.) I should start doing that more often.
*UA-cam sends notification for this video*
I would never buy "Made in China" flowers, ick. Mr. Brand has really something precious and so very special. Thank you for letting us in.
thanks =)
I am really liking that Bernadette is featuring all these artisans!
I had an elderly babysitter when I was 3. Mrs. Terry knew how to make artificial flowers and taught me. My favorite part was helping her make garlands.
Hi how are you doing?
Im so happy they are on Etsy. Im looking for high quality silk flowers for ages. Thanks for bringing this to my attention.
Happy you found us!!
Yay for the internet making it possible to buy AND sell niche items!
The guy is sooo happy to be finally able to talk about vintage flower making process with someone who understands.
Its like how i feel when i finally find that one person who also watches anime
Keep this shop alive, wedding planners should recommend this company for wedding decorations and for the lapels for the groomsmen.
I will remember to visit Schmalberg whenever i visit the City and bring a few of these extraordinary flowers back to europe 'cause they are gorgeous and don't need to hide behind those made in Paris.
“Flower and feather factories” - they made artificial feathers back then, too? I had no idea!
Thank you for including the link to their Etsy, Bernadette! (They have *gorgeous* poppies for Remembrance Day.)
I was thinking of ordering artificial flower bouquets are my guest bedroom. I was gonna buy it, as you said, in the 'ether', but I think I wanna buy them from this shop now. They seem lovely!
This video is absolutely beautiful, B! Your hard work on this shows! And what an amazing art!
♥️♥️♥️ thank youuuu ✨
the custom order thing made me think of recreating wedding bouquets so they can last forever.
We have remade a few wedding bouquets. Most recently for a couple's 2yr anniversary
Many people dry their bouquets, but imagine being able to display it forever with it looking just as beautiful as on your wedding day. That would be amazing. And knowing the amazing craftsmanship that went into creating it too is a great bonus. Would really make for a special piece.
Both my sister and youngest daughter used silk flower bouquets for this reason. If they were going to spend that much money on flowers they wanted them to last.
Not going to lie, I thought of having mine replicated when I watched this video.
@@mythicpeorth Let's do it!
Thank you Bernadette and everyone as M&S Schmalberg for such a fascinating view of the process and skill involved.
Thank you. We were honored to be a part of this
And now after drooling over their Etsy page I'm crying for being broke😣
Thank you so much for taking the time and effort to show all of the thought, design & human production required to make flowers. They create such gorgeous floral designs! We hobbyists use much less intricate dies to cut paper flowers and other images out. The time required to use inks to softly color the papers, a stylus & soft foam background to form the petals takes much time and skill, and the end results can still look much less like real flowers. Bravo for sharing the video with us, and for the company who stuck through thick and thin to still contribute these beauties for all to use and admire! 👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽🌸💐🌹
That is a truly fascinating look into a sadly dwindling artform. It is sad to think that so much history, knowledge and skill was lost each time one of those manufacturers closed. Thank you for showing us that this beauty still exists in it's classic form
I hope to one day find something that I love, to put my hands to like Bernadette loves her work. Always so well researched and thought out and crafted with love and care.
This also gave me a better understanding of why artificial flowers are so expensive.
The love and passion for his business /craft is oozing from his every pore! The care and love he has for his past, present and future is refreshing. I'd work for him in a second!
I DO have a corset construction which requires flowers along the edges. Now i feel more inclined to wait until I can afford proper ones, and not just buy the plastic in retail stores 💙
Hi, I am so happy to see this type of videos. I learn artificial flower making in Paris and so really happy to see an American manufacture 😍
This video is going to end up costing me a lot of money isn't it
Yes it is - (borrowing hubby's you tube!) its going to cost me and him a lot too !!!!
Yeah. Yeah it is. Me too.
WOW, I hope this company may continu for many more fruitfull years. It is an art that I wish would not be lost. We need artisan like them. We need wonderful people like them, to teach new future artisans how such beautiful things were made. I appreciate your Work Bernadette, and making US aware of such people who still work in today world with traditions from a time ago (not so far away) that are worth saving for our future generations. Sending you wonderful Virtual HUGS from an older man in Canada...
me too!