A ‘Come as They Were’ Costume Ball

Forget trendy ball gowns and tired penguin suits.

Guests attending the elegant California Heritage Ball were invited to dress Early California-style--in costumes depicting the clothing worn between 1769 and 1850.

“People are tired of black-tie--that has been the buzz on the charity circuit for the last year,” said Peggy Goldwater Clay, co-chairwoman with Linda Irvine Smith of the gala on Saturday at the Pelican Hill Golf Club in Newport Beach. “My goal is for everybody to come to this [annual] event in costume and realize how wonderful it is to get out of yourself--become another character for an evening. It’s great fun.”

Sporting a rakish black felt hat and a white shirt trimmed with a flounce of fine lace, philanthropist Joan Irvine Smith dressed as the owner of a ranchero. “I came as myself,” she quipped.

The benefit raised about $50,000 for the Mission Pageant Foundation, sponsor of the annual Capistrano Pageant at Mission San Juan Capistrano. The two-act play--to be held on the mission grounds between July 28 and Aug. 6--combines music, drama and comedy to weave a tale about the early life of the mission.

Pageant highlights include enactments of the founding of the mission by Father Junipero Serra, the Battle of San Pasqual and the results of the earthquake that destroyed the mission’s Great Stone Church. Proceeds from the pageant will be used for mission restoration and preservation.

Foundation president Harvey Smith dressed as an early California soldier for the gala, which drew about 200 guests. “The pageant celebrates the cultural heritage and history of California,” said Smith. “It’s a wonderful musical that features eight beautiful musical pieces.”

Guest Jim Frassett also dressed in the red and blue uniform--accented with shiny brass buttons--worn by the soldiers of early California.

Dressing in a historical costume gives a person “a sense of really living during a historical time instead of just reading about it,” said Frassett, whose wife, Kim, wore a deep-blue silk frock embossed with velvet roses. “It’s a tremendous use of your imagination to be able to transport yourself back 200 years. It’s as close to that time as you will ever get.”

The mission also was the beneficiary of the party last week that launched the 13th annual Southern California Spring Garden Show at South Coast Plaza in Costa Mesa.

About 1,000 people sampled appetizers cooked up by local restaurants and cruised exhibits featuring the latest in landscaping trends.

Up for ooohing and ahhhing: everything from an alfresco office--complete with desk, computer and stainless steel bulletin board--to a romantic, flower-bedecked setting for a Gold Rush-themed wedding.

Trends included garden water elements ranging from a gushing waterfall to a stream trickling under a see-through glass panel encased in a wood deck.

Don and Trudy Durant of Monarch Beach sampled artichoke salad and pasta from Maggiano’s before touring the garden exhibits that included mission-style arches topped with bougainvillea. “We’re here to support the mission,” Trudy Durant said. “We can’t think of a more meaningful thing to support--it has so much history.”

Guests also included mission administrator Jerry Miller, and his wife, Liz. “It was a challenge to get those mission arches through the doors,” Jerry Miller said. “But we’re glad they’re here. They help us tell our story.”

For pageant information: (714) 979-1190.

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Ann Conway can be reached at (714) 966-5952 or by e-mail at ann.conway@latimes.com.