Antique Fashion Show and Tell
04.20.06 By Deanna DahlsadOn Friday, April 14, 2006, the City of Mission Viejo Cultural Arts Series presented an Antique Fashion Show and Lecture.
Roughly 75 people attended the free event where antique clothing collector, historian, and restorer Cheri Valle shared her private collection of gowns, hats, gloves, and children’s clothing. For two hours, Valle narrated as over 30 vintage fashion outfits dating from the 1800s to 1915 were displayed. Of those, 15 outfits were modeled by real people, with the remainder, especially the older or more fragile ones, being displayed on dress forms. As you can imagine, and the photos show, the apparel amazed onlookers.
Beverly Petrella, who was at the event, said “The dresses were absolutely incredible — the colors, prints, styles and details!”
Spanning the strict social decorum’s of the Victorian Age to the liberated Gibson Girl era, the fashion show did more than make the audience ‘Ooh and Ah’ at the beautiful fashions. Spectators also gasped upon witnessing Valle layer a dress dummy with all the required foundation garments. As she did so, she outlined each item, each step. Not only did it take 20-30 minutes, but all those layers added an extra inch to the waistline! No wonder they wore corsets!
Those in the crowd were naturally impressed. “All those hooks — I’m so glad we have zippers nowadays! I’m also glad we don’t have to wear a half-dozen undergarments and corsets!” said Petrella.
It was literally a fashion show and tell.
Dru Cottrell, the event coordinator, said “Those in attendance said it was a great, informative lecture. No matter what question the audience asked, Cheri was able to provide an answer.”
Valle’s passion for fashion began as a teenager. Reading the books of Georgette Heyer she fell in love with England’s Regency Era. Thirty-five years later, Valle is a fashion historian with one of the country’s largest collections of pre-1900s clothing.
How does a person go from reading novels to a collection of nearly 1,000 pieces of hats, lace, lingerie and clothing? Like all of us, one step at a time…
Having fallen in love with the details of Regency fashions, her first step was the discovery of fashion prints from the era. One print led to another, and another… Then on one trip to the antique store she spotted and purchased a pair of antique baby shoes. Not long after, she impulsively purchased an antique dress. Now she’d made the leap from prints to dresses, and so it was easy to say ‘yes’ to the next and the next and the next…
Sounds familiar, doesn’t it.
Some of Valle’s lovely garments can be seen at “The Rancho Era” exhibit the Heritage House. The house is open the 2nd and the 4th Saturday of the month or you may schedule a private tour.
For more information on this or other programs in the Cultural Arts Series, visit the the City of Mission Viejo’s Recreation and Community Services Department, or contact Dru Cottrell, Community Services Coordinator, at (949) 470-8452.
Images © Joe Holtzman
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Article Tags: antique, arts, Beverly Petrella, Cultural, fashion, Georgette Heyer, Gibson Girl, Heritage House, Mission Viejo, Victorian================
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