Jeanne Beker Bounces into Burlington

Jeanne Beker moderates a fashion show at
the Gerry Weber store in Burlington 

There were two fashion shows last night inside the new Gerry Weber store at 442 Brant St.; the first, a professional show of Gerry Weber separates executed on a portable runway arranged for the grand opening; the second, a display of fashion put on by the guests themselves who circulated through the maze-like clothing racks, listening to live music, checking out the designs, and sipping champagne.

Jeanne Beker moderated the event with all of the skill and charm we've come to expect from this Canadian fashion icon, taking time to pose for photographs and sign copies of her second book, Finding Myself in Fashion.

The only thing missing from this fashion event was hats!

Where to Find a Couture Concert Gown in Toronto

Norma Shephard at a millinery
event, Kingston On

I took a break from Frantic Fashion yesterday to visit Toronto's cool and and calm oasis of style that is Rosemarie Umetsu's atelier.

I can't show you yet which fabulous couture gown we were there to have fitted for a local soprano, but let's just say it is the frock equivalent of my Black Widow tulle chapeau from Lilliput.

The very chic and personable Umetsu specializes in performance gowns, and the professional singers who have found their way to her 'appointments only' salon are more than happy with what they find there.

As we entered the Davenport Rd. atelier, we were greeted warmly by Umetsu herself. The shop itself was just as welcoming.

Perhaps it's the writer in me, but I was struck most by the dramatic wooden floor, painted in cream coloured cursive script on a black background. And the dresses...well, see for yourself.

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Tilted Treasures: Maria Curcic's Spring Line

Let me show you some millinery from Maria Curcic's spring line. She is certainly doing her utmost to bring back old-time millinery charm. Secured to either a chignon strap or a supporting headband, these tilted treasures reference the cheerful little doll hats of the early 1940's.

As always, I find the labels as enticing as the hats themselves. I often select a Maria Curcic hat to wear for my Mobile Millinery Museum appearances. Can you guess which one OK, which ones I have my eye on now?

Curcic's hats are all one of a kind and reasonably priced, so if you want to snatch one up before they are gone, you'd better hurry.

Hmmm...will it be Look at me, Showtime, Spring Roses, Show Thief, In a Knot, Green with Envy, or Blue Fusion?  Oops, I forgot Sassy Pants, How is a girl to decide? I'll let you know after I make my purchase. (Images courtesy of Maria Curcic)

     

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How to Get that Titanic-era Silhouette

Here's what our fore-mothers wore under those gorgeous Edwardian gowns. This period corset in lace trimmed satin, creates a straight silhouette from nipple-line to knees.

The generous waist gave women a needed break from the cinched in corsets of the Victorian period (see image at right), but they weren't completely free from restrictions, as many of these corsets underpinned hobble skirts that were popular for a time.


I am packing up today for the first of our Unsinkable Fashion exhibits where we'll show some beautiful Titanic era gowns and have some fun talking about the underpinnings.  

I'll be sure and take my camera.


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Start a Vintage Glove Collection

Jean Paul Gaultier  

I began collecting vintage gloves over ten years ago and had amassed approximately 300 pair even before I established the Mobile Millinery Museum & Costume Archive.

Gloves and hats go hand in hand (forgive the pun), but are an interesting collectible unto themselves, particularly when paired with glove boxes. I teamed a few pair with hats in my collector's guide, 1,000 Hats, but withheld the rest for a future book on gloves alone.  

Gloves fell out of fashion two generations ago, marking them as a novelty artefact with many vintage costume collectors who are only beginning to appreciate this personal item of apparel for its variety of workmanship and design.

From early fashion gloves of delicate net, lace, silk, satin, & taffeta, to 20th century doe-skin, mink, and rayon examples, there is something for everyone, including couture examples from the likes of Elsa Schiaparelli and Jeanne Lanvin.

Gloves can be an easy and inexpensive entrée into the world of antique costume collecting. Not only does their small size make for easy storage and display, but iconic examples, emblematic of a particular historic period, can stand in for an entire costume, which would be more difficult to obtain, conserve, or exhibit.

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Glove Story

Jean Paul Gaultier

When I was approached by Early American Life magazine to write an article on the history of gloves, I didn't know how I would fill my word quota, but I plunged into the assignment full of enthusiasm for a subject that had fascinated me ever since I began collecting vintage gloves for the Mobile Millinery Museum &Costume Archive (we have several hundred pair of 19th & 20th century gloves (doeskin, silk, rayon, leather, fur, satin & velvet) in an array of colours that Crayola® would envy.   

Did you know …  

·        Etiquette dating from the early 1600's dictated that wedding gloves should be sent out to friends and family with the announcement of nuptials.

·        Mourning gloves stood in for funeral invitations. 

·        Archaeologists exploring the tomb of King Tut, found linen gloves amongst the artefacts buried with him.

·        Feudal landlords bestowed working gloves on their tenants at harvest time.

·        Catherine de Medici introduced gloves to the French court when her personal perfumer devised a manner of infusing leather with fragrance. (tanners had previously relied upon urine or foul-smelling brains).  

I pulled an Edwardian tuxedo out of the archives yesterday, in preparation for a series of Titanic-era costume exhibits that will begin this week. In the breast pocket was a pair of gentleman’s gloves in doe-skin leather with contrast stitching. I guess no-one had thought to check the pockets when the piece was accessioned.

I was thrilled to find them.  

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The British Mod Coat-Dress That Snagged Me A Husband

Doing it up "Proper" in 1973

1968: I remember hippies passing through town in “Make Love, Not War” t-shirts, peace sign-wearing draft dodgers strumming guitar in our living room, and the chaos and exhilaration of a Mandala concert at our local “Y”. And I remember a phone call from a boy I’d never met, asking me if I was the girl in the coat that “looks like a barber shop pole.” I defended my red, white, and blue fashion statement with its bold centre-front zipper, but I gave the caller a chance. 

We talked for four hours and twenty minutes on the phone, and two weeks later when I agreed to meet this stranger who had stalked me at school, there was a great deal of speculation concerning what he looked like. On the appointed day, my little sister beat me to the front door, flung it wide open, and announced, “OOOH, He’s got freckles!”

The rude greeting didn’t deter him; in fact; that British Mod coat-dress, which my mother made to resemble one in Seventeen Magazine, snagged me a husband. We got 'hitched' at a Sadie Hawkins dance at school and hung on to the $5 marriage certificate and phony wedding band Jim bought, until we did it up proper five years later.

Today, we’re the proud parents of three grown children and although we’ve been through a lot together, inside I’m still the girl who was happy to get married at the Sadie Hawkins dance, in braids and a scratchy old potato sack.  

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Titanic Inspired Hats

From Maria Curcic's (Le Chapeau Rouge) Titanic-inspired collection, which she has named Iceberg Ahead. An elastic chignon secures this Vintage straw with silk cabbage roses. I purchased it for the series of Titanic era costume exhibits I am touring with this month, for the Mobile Millinery Museum.

What a charmer. I cannot say enough good things about the workmanship that goes into Maria Curcic's hats. Last year at one of the Royal Wedding Teas, as I was unpacking my exhibit in 90K winds, my hat took off in a gust, headed for the Ottawa River.

I took off in pursuit (and in heels), was struck in the neck by a tree branch (that's a story for another day), and recovered the hat, flattened and crushed against a Frost fence (the hat, not me).

I planned to send it back to Maria for repair, but as soon as I took it indoors, it popped back into it's original form.

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