Sketch of gown for Elizabeth Taylor (1932-2011) as “Susanna Drake Shawnessy” in Raintree County (Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, 1957); Designer: Walter Plunkett (1902-1982); Watercolor on illustration board.
Pasadena Museum of History’s Textile Arts Council is proud to partner with the curatorial staff of the FIDM Museum at the Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising, Los Angeles to present a three-part lecture series featuring fashions throughout the decades. Tickets, at $20 General, $15 Museum Members, and $10 Textile Arts Council Members, may be purchased online.
All programs begin at 6:30 p.m. in the Giddings Room at Pasadena Museum of History; doors open at 6:00 p.m. for complimentary viewing of the exhibition Fabulous Fashion – Decades of Change: 1890s, 1920’s, & 1950s and a wine and cheese reception. Please visit www.pasadenahistory.org for complete details and ticketing.
Tuesday, January 19, 6:30 p.m. — Join Kevin Jones, Curator at the FIDM Museum, for a fascinating lecture on the opulent fashion of “The Gilded Age,” a term popularized by prolific writer and social-commentator Mark Twain. The Industrial Revolution’s greatest asset—money—helped to gild American and re-gild European societies. And, for the most part, this highly reflective gloss was applied with layers of elaborate dresses and overlapping jewels worn by the ‘Dollar Princess’ daughters of these ‘Robber Barons,’ five of whom are discussed in this lecture: Jennie Jerome, Consuelo Yznaga, Consuelo Vanderbilt, Helena Zimmerman, and May Goelet.
Tuesday, January 26, 6:30 p.m. — F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby, published in 1925, reflects a time of dramatic feminine transformation. Christina Johnson, Associate Curator at the FIDM Museum, will provide an overview of jazz age fashion, Hollywood film icons, and 1920s high society. Johnson will describe how the fictional characters in Fitzgerald’s best-selling novel represent the decade’s new, fashionable ideals.
Tuesday, February 2, 6:30 p.m. — Walter Plunkett, a man responsible for hundreds of celebrated designs in more than 260 films over a forty-year period, is not a household name. Plunkett’s career as a self-taught costume designer included one of the most iconic film costumes of all time: Scarlett O’Hara’s Curtain Dress. Yet, the question remains why Walter Plunkett has not achieved the same prominence as his peers. Join us as Joanna Abijaoude, Museum Associate at the FIDM Museum, brings Walter Plunkett’s legacy out from behind the shadows and illustrates why his work made a lasting and relevant impact in the world of costume design.
Pasadena Museum of History is located at 470 W. Walnut St. (corner Orange Grove Blvd. and Walnut St.), Pasadena. Free parking is available in the Museum lot and on Walnut St. Directions and further information are available at www.pasadenahistory.org or by calling (626) 577-1660.
