Dressing to the Nines in Vintage Style to Honor Costume Design
Blue hair, “Mammy Yokum” boots, molting mink stoles, vintage hats and the requisite array of pashmina shawls (if you haven’t invested yet, hang in there, dear hearts; the ticket on those swanky serapes is becoming as volatile as the stock market). They were all on display, the full gamut of 20th century fashion history at the Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising on Sunday night--much of it worn by the guests.
More than 700 braved the showers to attend the cocktail party celebrating the Institute’s new 10,000-square-foot museum galleries and the school’s eighth annual homage to “The Art of Motion Picture Costume Design.”
Featured are costumes from 17 films of 1999, including the five best costume nominees for this year’s Academy Awards. The exhibition is a paradise for old-movie buffs too. Along with the clothes from “Austin Powers II” and “Titus” and even Stuart Little’s computer-generated mouse duds, the exhibit includes a lavish collection of gowns by Tinseltown legends: Adrian, Edith Head, Irene, Cecil Beaton, Travis Banton, Irene Sharaff and Walter Plunkett--many on loan from avid collectors Larry McQueen and Glenn Brown, who were among the attendees along with actress Jane Withers.
Withers, whose designer daughter, Kendall, is a Fashion Institute grad, has a humongous warehouse of Hollywoodiana. She owns a pair of Fred Astaire’s first tap shoes, and her own clothes from “Bright Eyes” with Shirley Temple in 1934. “I have marvelous things. I love ‘em all,” she said, “especially the adorable clothes worn by Marilyn Monroe and Betty Grable.”
Several current designers were on hand: three-time Oscar nominee Colleen Atwood (“Sleepy Hollow”); Joseph Porro (“Stuart Little”); Judianna Makovsky (1998’s “Pleasantville”); Arnold Schwartzman, the Academy’s graphic designer and Oscar-winning documentary filmmaker; Deborah Nadoolman, designer for “Coming to America” and “Raiders of the Lost Ark”; Bernard Kester, of the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, who designed the Fashion Institute’s gallery space, and venerable L.A. couturiers Gustav Tassell and Michael Novarese. This exhibition is a treasure and free to the public. “We worked our tail feathers off,” said curator Maggie Murray as the last guest departed. “It was worth it.”
The exhibit is open 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Saturday, closing April 28, at 919 S. Grand Ave., Los Angeles; call (213) 624-1201.
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Actor Henry Winkler and his wife, Stacey, were the special valentines honored by USC’s School of Social Work at the second annual Celebration of the Heart Dinner on Feb. 14. The couple, longtime advocates of children and youth in Los Angeles, were recognized for their role in establishing Children’s Action Network, an entertainment industry organization which focuses on children’s issues.
Janet Luna, a USC graduate student, received the first Winkler scholarship. Luna, who plans to work in early intervention-prevention services for at-risk children, credits her mother with her career choice: “She’s been taking care of foster children since I was in the eighth grade. She’s shown me what it means to make a difference,” she said. “I’ve had many foster brothers and sisters who’ve taught me what strength and resilience really are.”
Also honored was University of Michigan professor Sheldon H. Danziger. A social economist nationally known for his research on poverty, welfare reform and mental health, he received the first $10,000 Flynn Millennium Year Prize. Professor Michael Jackson of Los Angeles was awarded the distinguished alumnus award. Rhoda G. Sarnat was recognized for her long and distinguished career in field education. And Maria P. Aranda of the USC faculty was honored for her studies in gerontology.
Janet and Stanley Imerman chaired the evening, which featured a short concert of lilting love songs by a quintet of supernovas from USC’s Thornton School of Music.
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Not quite sure what “dress to the bee’s knees” means on an invitation . . . Is that the same as the “cat’s whiskers?” Dunno, but that was the prescribed code of attire for the Roaring ‘20s benefit staged by members of the Circle of Friends of Pasadena’s Kidspace Museum. The historic Chateau Bradbury in Monrovia was the perfect setting for a Jay Gatsby/Daisy Buchanan bash. More than 500 donned chemises and headache bands, straw boaters and plus-fours to shimmy to the beat of Dr. Feelgood and the Interns of Love. Nicole Beadles and Heidi Johnson co-chaired the event, and report that they banked $125,000.
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The Colleagues, those chic ladies who lunch every Valentine’s Day to benefit Children’s Institute International, honored Constance Towers Gavin and her husband, John Gavin, former ambassador to Mexico, at this year’s do, which featured the Badgley Mischka spring collection staged by Saks Fifth Avenue.
Patt Diroll’s column is published Tuesdays. She can be reached at pattdiroll@earthlink.net.
