ACI Annual General Meeting, April 11th, 2012

Hello all!  I hope you all are surviving the summer temperatures that have arrived.  With summer arriving that means that the regular season of the Arizona Costume Institute is coming to an end.  Last month on April 11th, we had our Annual General Meeting.  If you've never attended I would encourage you to mark your calendars for April 10th of 2013 when our next AGM will be held, as always, at the Phoenix Art Museum.  For those members who are new to the ACI or those who are considering, the AGM is a great way to get to know the ACI a little better and get to know the incoming executive board that is elected into office on that day.  This year we welcomed:

Gail Adams - 2012-2013 President
Jan Herwick - 2013-2014 President Elect
Andrea Severson - 2014-2015 President Elect
Karen LeDonne - Recording Secretary
Lois Alberts - Corresponding Secretary
Donita Young - Treasurer
Natalie Kaan - Past President/Nominating Chair
Ronna Beeson - Member at Large
Eileen Sullivan - Member at Large

We're all very excited to keep the momentum going that 2011-2012 President Natalie Kaan and her Board of Directors started and make the coming season as wonderful and exciting for our members as this past season has been.  If you're not yet a member of ACI or ACI Nouveau this is a perfect time to join and we always welcome seeing new faces at our events.

The other fun part about the AGM is that we also get to hear from our fabulous curator, Dennita Sewell, on all the incredible things the Fashion Department achieved throughout the year.  This year we recapped the two exhibitions, Giorgio di Sant' Angelo (Sept 17, 2011-Feb 12, 2012) and The Sea (on display until July 15th).  Dennita also shared some of the wonderful new pieces the department was able to acquire for the collection.  For those who weren't in attendance, here's some pictures to show you what you missed.

xx
Andrea

"Ready. Set. Summer."

Please join ACI Nouveau for a very special event at Scottsdale Fashion Square on May 9th at the Madewell store at 6:30pm for an evening of fashion and fun!

Starting in 1937 as a "workwear company" known for their denim, Madewell has branched out to include fabulous downtown-chic looks perfects for the modern fashionista.

Be sure to check back here and our Facebook page for more details.

Deborah



A-Listers Among Us

Saturday I had the very great pleasure of attending Southwest Shakespeare Company’s one night only presentation of An Evening with Kevin Kline. The event included Kevin Kline reading sonnets and excerpts from various Shakespeare plays all revolving around the subject of love with three of the Company’s actresses.

Justine Hartley looking stunning in velvet

The performance was stellar.

Mr. Kline graciously answered dozens of questions from the audience after the performance in addition to smiling and posing for every photo opt requested of him as he was bombarded by fans before and after the performance. Perhaps the most charismatic person I have ever encountered, it was an absolute pleasure to spend the evening watching Kevin Kline do what he does best.

A bit taller than I imagined, I was delighted to find out Mr. Kline’s over the top personality and signature mannerisms in his films are all part of the real man.

Not to be left out, Mariette Hartley, well known actress and mother of Justine Hartley, one of SSC’s own, was also in attendance posing for pictures and watching her daughter act alongside a Hollywood great.

Probably the biggest star to come to Mesa since…well…ever, I was not about to miss the opportunity to get all dolled up and tote out my camera for the A-Lister invasion.

My best attempt at a model pose

As I stated in my last post, I took inspiration for my outfit from Natalina Grybowski. I tried to reflect some of her bold prints and shapes with the tiers in the dress. When I requested one of her looks for my birthday my mother scoffed at me so I think this is as close as I’m going to get.

I felt obligated to apologize to the people sitting behind me for the high bun, I wasn’t thinking of them when I was putting the look together.

One of the two velvet capes that made it out for the night

One thing I noticed about the night was how many women were wearing velvet. I guess women seized what was probably the last opportunity to drag out the material for the season. I was honestly surprised  at the number of velvet looks that made it out for the night.

Another velvet look

And for some shameless self indulgence, some pictures of myself and friends with Kevin Kline.

Deborah

My mother with the Man

Some of SSC's amazing actors

I finally got my picture at the end of the night

Fresh New Designer for Spring

If ever you're looking for a little inspiration or just a good distraction at work, I highly recommend Lost at E Minor. My brother referred me to it and I have been hooked ever since.

Recently, they featured Australian designer Natalina Grybowski in their fashion section. I am absolutely in love with her work now! She has such a meticulous eye for detail and the femininity of the chiffons, the soft structure, and the prints take what's in style for spring to the avant-garde. The prints give me a "painting the roses red" feeling and the stark whites are stunning.

Some of my favorites from her Hybrid collection are below. While not exactly accessible to us here in Arizona, I am definitely going to use some of her aesthetic to inspire my outfit for an event this weekend.

Deborah

I want to be an Almond Hershey Kiss!

Saturday I had the pleasure of attending Cattle Track Couture: Fashion by Rachael Ellis. I never knew such an incredible place as Cattle Track Compound existed in Arizona. Located near the 101 and McDonald Rd., Cattle Track Compound has been a haven for artists to live and work in the desert since the 1930s.

The exhibit focuses on the work of Rachael Ellis as part of a celebration of pioneer women and Arizona’s centennial. Teacher, horsewoman, mother, painter, costume designer; Rachael Ellis sewed an entire wardrobe for her daughter Janie, as well as many pieces for herself, her family and friends, and over 3000 pieces she made as a costume designer.

The show features some of Janie’s favorite pieces from her wardrobe ranging from girly party dresses of her youth to a unique pair of pants her mother sewed with a large slit up the side to suit her life as a dancer in New York.
In addition, the exhibit showcases numerous pieces from the 19^th century that Rachael altered to fit women today.

Never receiving professional training, Rachael and Janie worked together to create outfits for her from existing commercial patterns. Rachael was truly a pioneer woman; growing up in what was at the time the middle of nowhere and raising her children there as Arizona grew around them.

As Janie tells the story, Rachael learned to sew because she did not want to take Home Ec in school. She went so far as to request a note from her doctor to excuse her from the class. Apparently the doctor only agreed to sign the note if Rachael promised to still learn to sew at home and it is clear she made good on that promise.

The mother daughter bond is palpable in this exhibition. Walking through the exhibit, listening to Janie talk about her mother, it is easy to feel the love only a mother and daughter can have. Janie speaks very candidly about her upbringing and her parents.

Both being teachers in addition to artists; educators apparently were not permitted to marry at that time so as Janie frankly puts it, “they lived in sin and kept their jobs.”

The attention to detail in the show is wonderful. With the help of Dennita Sewell, Fashion Design Curator at Phoenix Art Museum, family and friends, Janie made over 70 dress forms to display the garments. Unique touches such as displaying the various trims and tools Rachael used and even creating mock-cameos for the 19^th century gowns with Rachael’s picture are what makes this show so special.

Seeing all the amazing pieces made me think of all the outfits my mother has sewn for me. Every Halloween she made our costumes from scratch, even indulging my desire one year to be an Almond Hershey Kiss rather than plain because I wanted to be gold.

Having an older sister and a cousin the same age as me we had a lot of matching outfits. Matching dresses, matching socks, matching pj’s, matching Halloween costumes…maybe that’s why I strive to be an individual in the way I dress now?...

Open from now through April 30^th, Cattle Track Couture is definitely not to be missed (see below for visitor information). Take your mom and thank her for all the embarrassing outfits and stellar Halloween costumes over the years.

--Deborah

Cattle Track Couture: Fashion by Rachael Ellis

March 10 – April 30

10 – 5 Tuesday – Saturday

Cattle Track Compound

6105 Cattle Track Road

Scottsdale, AZ 85250 

For more information email: info@cattletrackcouture.com

My Zatchels Satchel, I'm in love!

Last semester, while doing a seminar paper on fashion blogs I found this great fashion blog run by two women living in Glasgow, Scotland, called Kingdom of Style. Check them out here. While reading through there blog I stumbled upon this great site to order custom made satchels. Well, actually two sites, each of the blog mistresses had their favorite. Queen Michelle posted about the Cambridge Satchel Company (see here) and Queen Marie favored Zatchels (see here).

After looking at both sites I decided to go with Zatchels and ordered my very own, beautiful red leather satchel, like this one.

What's so great about a Zatchels satchel you may ask? Well, let me tell you!

Each bag is handmade, per order, in the UK. You decide what color you want, what size, whether you want to add a handle or not, and within about 30 days (mine took only about 10) a pretty, shiny leather bag arrives at your door. Well, unless you order one of the distressed leather bags, then it probably won't be that shiny, but nice and crackly instead. :) They come in a variety of shapes and sizes and every color, finish, and print you can imagine. The combinations are endless!

These are not bags to order on a whim, the 16" size satchel like I ordered will set you back about $150 USD (including the extra for the handle, plus shipping). I waited months to order mine since discovering them back in October. But for a custom made leather bag, shipped from the UK, that will last me practically forever, this is just the thing to make me feel a little happier about going to school each week.

Each satchel is shipped in a custom sized box and has it's own dust cover to store it in when you're not using it. I ordered mine in red and just looking at it makes me happy. :)

You also get a certificate of authenticity detailing when it was made and by whom and a bag number. I'm so giddy over my satchel I might just frame this! Ok, not really, but still, I'm in love.

I used it on my teaching days and it fits my class files and 13" MacBook Pro nicely, with enough room on the side to fit my charger. On ASU days it fits my iPad and text books just fine with room for a water bottle.

As Queen Marie said, this bag will, "make going anywhere, feel more fun, even school!!!!!" I agree. :)


xx
Andrea

The post originally appeared on http://researchandramblings.blogspot.com/

Book Review: The Sartorialist

I'm reading so many books right now for school, but every now and then something completely fun creeps in. Last semester I had the chance to read Retail Hell for a class (I still can't believe that book was homework!). If you missed my review for that, read it here.

There've been a few others than have managed to sneak into my reading pile and I thought I'd share some with you. Well, the ones that don't have long and complicated titles and aren't about rhetorical theory. :)

Today I'd like to share with you The Sartorialist by Scott Schuman. Published by Penguin Books in 2009 you can find it in paperback form on Amazon for $16.50 or wherever you like to get your books. This book magically found it's way into my Amazon order at the start of the spring semester with a bunch of text books (I don't know how that happened :) How strange!).

The book is a collection of images that first appeared on Scott's blog of the same name, check that out here (seriously, check it out, it's amazing). I first found Scott's blog when I was researching fashion blogs for my seminar paper last semester. I ended up going with a different blog for the paper but bookmarked The Sartorialist on my computer and return to it frequently. His images are amazing.

The book is just as brilliant as his blog, featuring images of fashion on the street. Random people he crosses paths with in New York, Paris, Milan, and more. These aren't all models and celebrities (though they do make the occasional appearance) but mostly are just everyday people.

What I love about this book, and the blog, is seeing all the different ways that fashion and style is interpreted by people around the world. What you will find in the pages of this book are not bland copies of what you see within the pages of the top fashion magazines. Instead, you will find interesting, unique, quirky, beautiful people, dressing for themselves and expressing themselves through their clothing. As Scott says in the opening pages of his book, "I have been sharing photos with my audience on a daily basis for the past four years, and over the course of that time I have begun to see my images more as a social document celebrating self-expression than as a catalogue for skirt lengths or heel heights" (5).

Part of my research at school is examining the rhetoric of fashion, what we wear, why we wear it, and what our choices say about ourselves and our personalities. This book is a perfect case study for that research. Most of the outfits I see I wouldn't wear on my own, because they don't speak to my personality. But the outfits I see make me think a little differently, and a little more outside the box, about how I might combine items in my own closet. Scott goes on to say in his introduction, "I hope that, while looking at the images in this book, you will begin to see fashion and style in a different light: that you make it yours, let yourself get inspired and experience a deeper enjoyment of your own sartorial expression" (7). That is exactly how I feel as I go through this book.

Another great thing about this book? It's mostly pictures. So for my poor burnt out brain, at the end of a long day of studying, or even as a mid-study brain vacation, flipping through the pages is pure visual heaven! I really don't have any time to read books that aren't part of my class reading list, but with The Sartorialist, whether I have 5 mins or 50, I can enjoy the book and not feel like I have to take a ton of time to get back into it.

This book is a must read/look for anyone with a love of fashion and art. You won't regret the purchase. And when you're done, just visit the original blog for more! (In case you missed that link above, I'll give it to you again, you have not excuses now! Check it out here.)

xx
Andrea

This post originally appeared on http://researchandramblings.blogspot.com/