My Great Uncle

I just found out that my great uncle had the largest vintage dress collection in North America.
No wonder where I get it from! :o

He even wrote book on vintage clothing I believe to be called "100 Years of Candian Fashion".

Unfortunatley he died a couple of years ago, before I ever got the chance to meet him. I am not sure what happened to his collection, although I heard that alot of it has been donated to museums.

This is just something I thought I would quickley share with all of you.

Nicola

 

Now doesn't that make more sense! How interesting, and I wonder if anyone here would know him?

Let us know if you find out more!

 

Very cool! Does anyone in the family have a copy of the book?

 

That is so neat.

Now you have me searching for this book but the only thing I can find is reference to it in a book at Amazon.

 

I can't find anything on the internet about it either. His name was Allen Suddon. After he died there was a exibition of all his dresses.

Everyone in the family got a copy of his book, but I have not found ours yet.
A copy of the book was also donated to all of the library's in the area.

 

Is this your G-uncle? Different spellings of his first name, but it's the same person!

 

Yes it is!
I spelt his first name wrong, thank you for taking the time to look it up.

 

That is no neat!!!! It's too bad you never got to know him but at least you know where you inherited your interest from
I'm a firm believer that things other than hair/eye color, body shape and skin color get passed down through our genes, your family is proof of it!

Lei

 

How very very cool, Nicola.

Too bad you never got a change to meet him.....but how awesome that you share the same passion.

Gail

 

You're very welcome. I enjoyed it.

Very interesting reading about your Uncle. Now to keep a look-out for his book!

 

I heard he was a very fun person, and I am really missing out.

 

Fantastic! I thank everyone so much. I look forward to hear what Jonathan has to say.

 

I knew your uncle although I wouldn't say we were close. I probably visited with him a few times over the fifteen years I knew him, as well as seeing him at all the vintage clothing sales and also through business related ventures when I borrowed from his collection for various exhibitions.

His collection was good, although he himself admitted he was more of an acquirer than a collector and never got rid of anything. There were boxes and boxes of children' white dresses, petticoats and bits and bobs of stuff along with exquisite items. His house was packed -- the entire basement, two bedrooms upstairs and wherever there was a nook or cranny to fill, like under the stairs. He always had 3 or 4 mannequins dressed in the living room of his VIctorian home. Over the years I probably saw half of his collection and there were some very good items, a green silk evening dress from the 1860s with white satin piping that was the prettiest I have ever seen. An apple green silk taffeta dress from the 1820s with vandyked frills on the skirt, an orange black striped wool suit made by a seamstress appointed by the Russian Imperial Family dating from about 1914, a trained dress worn for presentation to King George and Queen Mary in 1923... lots of things too many to mention.

His collection did go to Ryerson University (SEE UPDATE), where it is still in storage. I have no idea what they hope to do with it but they aren't moving quickly. One of his dresses, a Dior couture cockatil dress was sold to the ROM and is in their collection. His library went to a dealer in Toronto and it has never surfaced so I suspect it was sold to a library somewhere. He rarely ever got rid of anything from his collection so I don't think there are any other recipients of items around other than a stack of French Hat magazines from the 1960s he gave me that I still have.

His wife, Mary, is still alive as far as I am aware but she had little interest in his collection. Although I think they had a wonderful relationship from what I could tell, her interest was in the garden and not his collection. His son was also a collector of Royal memorabilia but he passed away maybe 15 years ago, so collecting does run in your family.

The book 100 years of Canadian Fashion was not written by Alan, but by Caroline Routh. She illustrated the book with many examples of clothes from Alan's collection, as well as few from other collectors, including mine.

I think I still have a few magazine clippings about Alan, and I can send them off to you if U2U me your address, or email me at [email protected]

Jonathan

 

I have seen copies of the book at used book stores and can pick one up for your if you want.

 

Ok, I had first been told that he had just edited it. Although, a couple of days ago I visited my grandma(Alan's sister) and she insistead that he had written it. I am sure that I have a copy, it is probably just in the basement somwhere
It is very cool that you knew him, I appreciate all of the information.

 

Update:
It turns out that only a small portion of the Suddon collection ended up at Ryerson University. After Alan's death in 2000, the collection was sold by Mary Suddon to Kathy Cleaver, a Ryerson Unversity professor, for a nominal sum with the understanding that it would be going to the University to create a fashion resource centre. The dean at the time had no interest in creating a research centre and so Cleaver put the collection into a storage facility. Unfortunately, while it was in storage both a mouse and moth infestation decimated much of the collection. Also, over the years, Cleaver sold off some pieces to pay for storage costs, which is how the ROM acquired the 1948 Dior. No agreement was ever reached with Ryerson and Cleaver eventually retired from the university with failing health. In 2012, Cleaver's daughter called in an American auctioneer to dispose of the best of what remained, including the couture and the best quality Victorian clothes. Many of the older Canadian provenanced garments were sent to Canadian museums (McCord, ROM, and the Toronto Historical Board mainly) and what was left over went to Ryerson University in Toronto and the Fashion History Museum in Cambridge, Ontario. Karen Augusta in New York is currently selling off the best Suddon pieces through her auctions (A 1920s Vionnet reportedly sold for US $80,000!)- you can search 'Suddon' in her online auction catalogues to find what pieces came from your uncle's collection.

 

I met Alan Suddon at a vintage show in Seattle probably in the 1980's. He was charming and his knowledge was awesome.
Marian