Today was a busy day for us at Costume College. For our class on Charles Worth, we brought two original Worth dresses from our collection: one an evening gown from the late 1880s – early 1890s and a wedding gown from the late 1870s. We’ll be posting more about soon, so in the meantime, we salute you Mr. Worth! 🙂
At the hotel bar after the class….
Here’s a little promotion for Costume College. I’ve laid my suit out and I’m ready to go. It should be a lot of fun. 🙂
It’s been a bit quiet here lately and I sincerely apologize- I’ve been furiously working on a series of presentations that I will be giving at Costume College. What’s Costume College? It’s an annual three-day costuming arts convention sponsored by the Costumer’s Guild West and it covers all periods and genres.
And if you attend my classes, you get these snazzy ribbons for your convention badge…
Last year, I gave a presentation on Paul Poiret entitled “The King of Fashion: The World of Paul Poiret” which gives an overview of his early career and I had such a fun time with it that I decided to reprise it again for 2018 and it scheduled for Friday, July 27 at 3:30 pm. But wait, there’s more…
Also on Friday, July 27 at 12:00, I will also be giving a presentation on Charles Worth, entitled “Man-Milliner: The World of Charles Worth” which will give an overview of his career. Finally, on Saturday, July 28 at 9 am, I’ll be giving a presentation in Elsa Schiaparelli entitles “Shocking: The World of Elsa Schiparelli.” Stay tuned for more!
Iam pleased to announce that three of my class proposals have been accepted for the upcoming 2018 Costume College on July 26-30, 2018. Held annually in late July, Costume College is an event devoted to costuming in its many forms, whether historical, fantasy, or somewhere in between. Classes and presentations consist of both lecture and hands-on workshop formats and are all taught by volunteers. For the past several years, I’ve been giving presentations on various aspects of costume to include American Army uniforms of the WWI Era, Paul Poiret, and Couture of the 19th and early 20th Century.
This year I will be reprising my Paul Poiret presentation (revised and expanded) as well as presentations on designers Charles Frederick Worth and Elsa Schiaparelli. While Worth and Poiret make sense, given our primary areas of emphasis, Elsa Schiaparelli seems a bit of a stretch…well, not so! Here at Lily Absinthe, we are interested in all eras of fashion and we draw inspiration for all eras when it fits the particular design objective we may have in mind and especially when it comes to designers who came after the Belle Epoch.
Schiaparelli in particular has always been a source of fascination for both Karin and I in that she combined the shocking and outrageous with the practical and down-to-earth ranging from surrealist-inspired shoe-hats and immaculately tailored suits and elegant evening dresses. Moreover, we’re fans of her widespread use of pink- she even has a distinct shade of pink she named “shocking pink.” 🙂
July is a ways away but I’ll be busily preparing my presentations and it promises to be an exciting time. More to follow! 🙂