Erte as entree to a costume gala
“It’s just St. John. I had to drive from Santa Barbara, you know,” said Hania Tallmadge of her black cape, with its fluted edge and splash of glass beads. “I had to wear something practical.”
Her ornate earrings were anything but: Gold-and-pearl clusters that cascaded to the shoulder, they’d originally belonged to Tallmadge’s aunt, the early 20th century singer and socialite Ganna Walska.
“Erte designed these costumes for her,” she said, admiring a velvet and lame gown from a 1923 production of “Don Giovanni,” part of the “Erte/Opera & Ballets Russes/Dance: Theater Costume Collection” on display through today at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, a festive backdrop for the Costume Council’s 50th Anniversary Celebration.
Not that the several hundred attendees gathered in LACMA’s central court for the March 24 black-tie event needed help in the glitter department.
“The Costume Council is the largest support group of the museum,” said former council chairman Nicole “Nickie” Ruskey, who wore an Issey Miyake dress in amethyst and a swoop of diamond earring. Current chair Nancy Fox’s gown, by Carmen Marc Valvo, had the sheen of abalone shell, and Gail Oppenheimer’s coat appeared to be made of thousands of tiny gold ingots. Who was the designer?
“I’m not sure,” she said, and bowed her head so the tag could be examined: Marc Jacobs. “But the hat is Philip Treacy,” she said of the faux white orchids encased in a nimbus of “leaves.” “He had a trunk show at Neiman Marcus, and it’s so comfortable.”
“It’s from Paris, but I hate to tell you, it’s old,” said Eva Elkins of her 1971 original St. Laurent gown of heat-set pleats, which looked as though it were made that morning, and which she paired with “just a little fox,” as in an 8-foot-long stole tossed over one shoulder.
“It said ‘costume,’ so I figured I’d wear this,” said Buzz Aldrin of the 1969 Presidential Medal of Freedom he wore, as he and space tourist Dennis Tito boarded the bus that shuttled partygoers to the dinner and dance in the old May Co. building that is now LACMA West.
“The show took more than two years to put together,” said curator Kaye Spilker, as guests dined on lobster and lamb and danced to the Frank Morocco Orchestra. “The museum owns the Ballets Russes collection -- we purchased it from Sotheby’s in London. But the Costume Council, which is the support arm of the Costume and Textiles Department at LACMA, has been hugely supportive.”
“The whole thing essentially started in the basement of the museum 50 years ago,” said Maggie Russell, one of the sponsors of the evening. “At first I thought, ‘Costume Council, gee, it seems a little frivolous.’ But you had the most important women in the city involved, and they raised $10 million, then $20 million.
“Now,” she said, “the collection has more than 60,000 pieces. When filmmakers need to know what costumes looked like in the 17th century, they come here; we’re the only ones that have the costumes for them to look at.”
And what was she wearing? “Oh, this is Escada,” she trilled about her cigarette-slim silver-and-periwinkle gown. “I saw it and thought, ‘Oh, golly, mine, mine, mine.’ ”
“I put all the lockbox stuff on,” said Phyllis Diller of her eye-sized diamond pendant, suspended from a choker of serious diamonds. “I’m here because I know all the rich people. But seriously, I believe in elegance -- that would describe tonight.”
On her way out, Tallmadge stopped by Spilker’s table. “Back to Santa Barbara,” she said, and plunked her aunt’s earrings on Spilker’s napkin.
