fashion illustrations

Norma Wagner Uray: Fashion Illustrations features illustrations created by Norma Wagner Uray for retail advertising from the 1950’s to 1980’s.  During these decades, it was common for fashion illustrations to be included in advertising to help persuade shoppers to purchase merchandise at regional department stores.  Illustrations attracted the eye and showcased goods.  Ads portrayed a consistent image of the store, which mirrored the implied personality of their customers.  

Fashion illustrations in advertising were either line drawings or wash drawings, which are pen and ink with added gray to black watercolor tones.  Gouache, similar to watercolor but more opaque, was also used to show details.  Line drawings give the essence of a look, but use of watercolors or gouache renders details more effectively, producing a more dynamic image.  Fashion illustrations are better suited than fashion photography in newsprint as it is better suited showing details on that quality of paper.  

The process for creating an ad is a straight-forward process.  After the request for an ad, required specifications in the layout are decided.  The layout includes the copy, which is the text, the illustration(s), and use of white space, which acts as a frame.  Proofs of the layout must be approved prior to publication.  “One theme” ads showcase several items of merchandise that follow a theme, giving the impression of specialized expertise.  Ads are meant to move the eye and follow the Western model of reading from left to right, top to bottom.  Asymmetrical designs were seen as active informal, a desired quality as it is more stimulating.  This use of asymmetrical design and dynamic movement can be seen in Ms. Uray’s work.

Norma Wagner Uray: Fashion Illustrations looks at Ms. Uray’s illustrations with four themes in mind: showcasing some original illustrations, the design process, representing clothing and attracting customers through advertising/layout, and the relationships with major department stores.  She showed great variety in her designs, being able to effectively capture the look signature look of an era.  She had a sophisticated design sensibility that was especially well-suited to rendering textures such as fur, tweed, herringbone or lace.  

Norma Wagner Uray was born in Struthers, Ohio in 1926.  She graduated from Miami University in Oxford, Ohio in 1948 with a bachelor’s degree in fine arts.  She began a career in fashion illustration and specialized in full-page illustrations for a number of department stores, including Strouss-Hirshberg in Youngstown, Ohio, Rich’s in Atlanta, Joseph Horne Co. in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and Halle Bros. Co. in Cleveland, Ohio.  Her work also appeared in American Vogue magazine.  After her husband’s retirement, the couple returned to Ohio and settled in Hudson.  Mrs. Uray passed away in 2012.

The Norma Wagner Uray collection of fashion illustrations is housed in the Kent State University Fashion School.