Cut! Costumes and the Cinema

The Bowers Museum in Santa Ana opened a costume exhibit in December (!) that I have been trying to find time to visit for the last two months.

Well, the day finally arrived and I spent a glorious day at the Cut! Costumes and the Cinema before it ends on March 10th.

Front robe is from 2004 film Finding Neverland worn by Kate Winslet

The exhibit consists of 43 costumes, worn by 30 actors in 25 different films. The common thread is that all the costumes were created by Cosprop in London.
Cosprop specializes  in "the creation and provision of period clothes for film, television and theater".
There is a fabulous explanation of how authenticity is created by the correct textiles, trims, and hand sewing that would have been used during the historic period that is the setting of the story.

The exhibit isn't ALL gowns...AAARRRGG, can you say Johnny Depp as Captain Jack Sparrow from Pirates of the Carribean!

Never even heard of this 2006 film The Prestige that Scarlett Johansson got to wear this GORGEOUS jacket, top and skirt. 

Seriously you could wear the jacket today with a pair of jeans and look great!

The color and volume of this gown made it a real eye catcher but, again I don't have any recollection of the 2006 movie Land of the Blind that allowed Lara Flynn Boyle to wear this amazing gown.

The information card said she cried when she took it off for the final time.

I'd cry too.

This is one of my favorite time periods at the beginning of the 20th century. This lovely ensemble is from the movie Howards End and was worn by Emma Thompson. 

I loved the novel by E.M. Forster and the movie was almost as good.

Almost all millinery from this time period are scrumptious!

I couldn't resist sharing this delightful hat worn by Amy Adams in the 2008 Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day. 

Sometimes it's easy to overlook details and accessories when you're overwhelmed by the number of beautiful garments. 

Luckily no-flash photos were allowed so I could capture every little thing. 

And the Winner is...

Apparently out of the incredibly, amazing, beautiful array of costumes only these costumes actually won an Academy Award in 2009 for costumes.

The costumes were from the 2008 film  The Duchess  starring Keira Knightley.

Many of the other lovely gowns were nominated for Academy awards and BAFTAs but, the competition must be fierce for this to be the only winner... so far.

Of all the pretty dresses this one was my favorite. 

It was worn by Minnie Driver in the 2004 film Phantom of the Opera 

The colors were so unexpected, especially since I LOVE that weird acid green.

*note, my top matches the dress :)

After viewing all these wonderful gowns I now have a long list of movies that I somehow missed and now very much want to see.

I'm sure it will be interesting to see the static costumes in action!

Still more to see...

The Bowers Museum building is a gorgeous Spanish style structure that was built in 1931 on land already donated to the city of Santa Ana by a late 1800's developer named Charles Bowers. It was never used as a private residence but, opened it's doors as a museum in 1936.

The permanent collection is full of beautiful artworks by mostly local artists who have donated works. My mother-inlaw tried to donate a family heirloom painting once but, was turned down :(

Besides the costume exhibit there is a FABULOUS exhibit of 50 drawings by Maurice Sendak celebrating 50 years of his work. 

This exhibit will end April 28, 2013.

Also included in the price of admission is a scrimshaw exhibit of incredibly wonderful pieces carved by American whalers during the late 1800s. The items range from everyday pieces to decorative and the intricacy of the pieces is just amazing! The item pictured is a thread swift (?).

I love scrimshaw and I wonder if the old hippie in Jullian who makes scrimshaw ( Nov. 21, 2011 post titled Scrimshaw Encounter ) has been to this exhibit?

Exhibit will end July 7, 2013

These fantastic huge golden objects are earrings (!) from Mali.

Apparently such earrings are passed from generation to generation and obviously represent wealth.

Talk about bling!

After a thoroughly enjoyable leisurely perusal of all things great and small at the Bowers Museum my good friend and I concluded our visit with a very delicious lunch at the museum restaurant.

Good time, good friend, good food = a good day

Parbal Gurung for Target

Target began its ad campaign for the Parbal Gurung designer line a couple months ago with a February 8th launch date. 

But, who the heck is Parbal Gurung?

Sketches for Fall 2011

 I knew Parbal Gurung had won the CFDA/Vogue fashion award in 2011 but, where did he come from...
Parbal was born in Singapore but, raised in Nepal. He apparently studied fashion at FIT in New Delhi, India and finished his fashion education at FIT in New York. He spent five years working at Bill Blass and then two years at Cynthia Rowley before launching his own line in 2009.

Spring 2012 look

So now Target had targeted ( LOL ) Parbal Gurung for one of its famous designer launches. He likes pretty, feminine, romantic looks so the previews of the upcoming line on the Target website were enticing. A great selection of prints, solids, separates, dresses, shoes and jewelry that mixed together very well.

So I marked February 8th on my calendar and began to wait...

Target Reality Check

I actually made it to a Target store in the OC by 10am the first morning of the Parbal Gurung launch. Unfortunately the store had opened at 8am ( ! ) and there was very little merchandise left of the line. Also a worker told me I couldn't take any pictures :(
So the next day I visited a Target in Riverside County ( what's up with Riverside? ) and of course there was LOTS of Parbal Gurung in clothes and shoes and I forgot to look at jewelry.

Super cute Gurung dress on a super cute model.

This lime green, ruffled dress tempted me but, since I'm not super cute I decided not to try on the super cute dress. Also, I've noticed in these Target designer lines the fabric is not very nice. It's definitely how the price is kept low but, it really feels like one step above acetate. It's some weird polyester blend and the whole dress would probably melt into a little ball if you burned it.

I did really love this print that Parbal Gurung used in many of his garments. He is masterful at mixing colors and motifs. Also the cut of all the garments were very good for a variety of body shapes and sizes.

I optimistically decided to try on this dress because it was so cute and the print was so great but, alas it was also so short. I believe it was Tim Gunn who said "no minis after age 35" and I wholeheartedly agree. I thought about tights for a split second...
So the reality check is that young hip designers basically design for young hip girls and who can blame them.
So I left Target Parbal Gurung-less but, it's always fun to see a fashion line and witness that creative process at the street level.

On The Road to California

On a wet, rainy day my mom and I made our annual outing to the huge 

Road to California Show.

The show is a four day extravaganza of all things fabric with an emphasis on quilts.

We try to attend every year and it is always an inspiring, amazing, enjoyable experience.

Notice the antique crazy quilt behind my mom.
It is made from millinery scraps by a long ago relative.

The moment upon entering the Convention Center in Ontario, California you already know it's going to be a great show.

Great amounts of fabric,

Great demonstrations,

Great new ideas,

Great new products,

And great crowds of people!!

Hoffman Challenge 2012

Every year Hoffman Fabrics selects one of its prints and challenges creative types to make memorable garments and projects. Viewing the winning entries at The Road to California is always a highlight of the show. 

This lavender floral print was the 2012 challenge fabric.

Many ideas from one fabric.

Quilting techniques incorporated into a garment.
Best of both worlds.

This skirt is made from rows of selvage edges sewn vertically.
This new, novel use of selvage edges is becoming popular.

Feeling creative?
Here is the Hoffman fabric for the 2013 Challenge.
Go the the Hoffman website for rules.

The garments were a nice diversion but, lets get to the reason that thousands of people pack the halls of the giant convention center...

The quilts!