FASHION OPENING NIGHT : Orchestrating Dress : Ventura County Symphony fans show up in everything from evening gowns and tuxedos to jeans and tennis shoes.
For as long as I can remember, I have believed there must be a list of totally ignored laws of physics that explain odd but indisputable occurrences in the universe.
Such as: The chances of the peanut-buttered side of the bread landing on the rug are inversely proportional to how long ago you shampooed it.
Or: The number of stains on a little boy’s shirt will increase in proportion to the number of times he is told to stay clean.
And: The types of events people attend are directly connected to how they feel about getting dressed up.
The last one, it seems to me, affects a lot of people everyday.
People who abhor the thought of wearing anything but polyester or jeans tend to stay away from formal events that require more elegant attire.
Clothes, their outfits seem to say, exist to protect them from sun or wind.
On the other side are people who love the idea of getting gussied up to be seen and assessed.
For them, a gala event such as opening night at the opera or the symphony is a chance to indulge--if only for a few hours--the feeling of being sophisticated and glamorous.
They are distinctly different types and go to different places. And never, I have always thought, would the twain meet.
Obviously I thought wrong.
Saturday, the Ventura County Symphony celebrated what it had promoted as “the gala opening of its pearl anniversary season” at the Oxnard Civic Auditorium.
In observance of the orchestra’s 30th year, a black-tie optional dinner was planned for the two hours before the performance. Afterward, a news release announced, the gala would move to the auditorium for music from Spain.
So just how gala was the gala? One look at the wide range of outfits told the story.
Concert-goers wore everything from evening gowns and tuxedos to jeans and tennis shoes.
One woman, who apparently couldn’t make up her mind which category she fell into, wore a chic red suit with gold-tone buttons--and curlers under a red scarf.
“I guess we haven’t really established ourself as an orchestra that requires you to get all dressed up,” said Karine Beesley.
Part of it, Beesley said, may be due to the hall itself, which “certainly doesn’t have the grandeur of Davies Hall (in San Francisco) or the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion (in Los Angeles).”
On the other hand, she added, “we don’t want people to feel they have to dress a certain way to enjoy the music. We’re trying to make the concerts accessible to everyone.”
How do concert-goers feel about that? As expected, there were differing viewpoints.
“When I go to the symphony, I feel that I’m going to something special. I really feel people should dress up,” said Gertrude Becker of Oxnard, who was dressed in sleek, understated elegance with a simple black velvet suit adorned only by a rhinestone musical note pinned to her shoulder.
“It used to be that people here dressed up, but in the last 10 years they’ve dressed more casually,” she added. “Why, I’ve even seen shorts.”
Chris Churchill of Ojai, dressed in jeans and a sport jacket that looked new, had a different perspective. On his way into the auditorium, he admitted that this was his first classical music concert.
“I thought it would be hoity-toity, but it’s not,” he said, adding that he was attending the concert to fulfill a music appreciation class requirement at Ventura College. The instructor of the class is symphony Conductor Frank Salazar. “This is really about as dressed up as I get,” he said.
All of which just makes sense to Carlos Gonzales, who was one of three men--including the conductor--who showed up in a tux.
“For Oxnard, I think it’s all we can expect,” he said of the casual blend. “Still, the symphony has been around for 30 years. Something must be keeping it alive.
“Obviously, it’s not the clothes.”
* THE PREMISE
Ventura County is teeming with the fashionable and not so fashionable. There are trend makers and trend breakers. There are those with style--personal and off the rack--and those making fashion statements better left unsaid. Twice a month, we’ll be taking a look at fashion in Ventura County--trends, styles and ideas--and asking you what you think. If you have a fashion problem, sighting or suggestion; if you know a fashion success or a fashion victim, let us know. We want to hear from you.
