Worn to Dance: A 1920s Fashion and Beading Exhibit at Lacis Museum of Lace and Textiles
By Kij Greenwood Buckle up your dancing shoes and throw away your cares, because the Twenties are coming back around! Almost one hundred years ago, the Jazz Age saw dramatic social change in America. A new generation of women was, for the first time ever, voting, driving, spending their own money, smoking and drinking in public, bobbing their long hair, […]
GBACG Open House 2020 Review
By Christopher Erickson GBACG Board Member-At-Large The Greater Bay Area Costumers Guild (GBACG) recently held their 2020 annual open house on Sunday, January 26, in the Albany Veteran’s War Memorial Hall in Albany, California. As it is also the 30th year of GBACG organizing events, the open house had a few special arrangements this year including a catered lunch. As […]
Miss Fisher Con 1920s Fashion
By Jean MartinGBACG Finery Editor With “Miss Fisher and the Crypt of Tears” premiering at the Palm Springs Film Festival last month and it’s imminent arrival in theaters (on February 27, 2020) and streaming (Acorn TV starting on March 23, 2020), I am reminded of the Miss Fisher Con that I attended last July in San Jose. It was the […]
At Home with Josephine at Malmaison: An Early 19th Century Soiree
Event Review and Photos by Christopher EricksonGBACG Board Member-at-Large The most recent GBACG-hosted event was a salon in the theme of the Napoleonic era held at The Bellevue Club next to Lake Merritt in Oakland, California, on Sunday, October 20, 2019. The event was held in the Mural Lounge with a view of Lake Merritt Wildlife Sanctuary. The Mural Lounge […]
Nectar and Ambrosia: Day with Dionysus on Mount Olympus
Event Review by Christopher EricksonBoard Member-at-Large The most recent wine tasting event that the GBACG hosted was a Greco-Roman themed gathering held at the lovely GV Cellars in Fairfield, California, on Saturday, August 10, 2019. The event was well attended. The event space was a porch outside the winery with a view of the Green Valley vineyard fields and mountain […]
Book review: Seventeenth Century Women’s Dress Patterns vol. 2, Jenny Tiramani and Susan North, editors
by Sahrye Cohen, First published for the July/August 2013 issue of Finery Book two of Seventeenth-Century Women’s Dress Patterns, edited by Susan North and Jenny Tiramani, continues the same meticulous documentation and fantastically detailed x-rays and photographs as book one. This volume contains an open gown, jackets, busks, linen bands and eighteen pages detailing the construction of a pair of […]
Book review of Embellishments by Astrida Schaeffer
by Catherine Scholar, First published for the May/June 2013 issue of Finery Victorian costumers, brace yourselves! There’s a whole new world of inspiration and practical assistance coming your way. I recently had the privilege of previewing the first three chapters of Embellishments by Astrida Schaeffer, an upcoming book that details, well, embellishments. On late Victorian gowns. In here’s-how-you-do-it detail. Interested […]
Book Review: Icon’s of Men’s Style by Josh Sims
by George McQuary, First published for the September/October 2012 issue of Finery Since Beau Brummel, peacockery in men’s clothing has been shunned, innovation foresworn. The only changes in men’s clothing are in functional adaptations for industry, sports and military, which then slowly cross over into men’s fashion. Take aviator glasses. Created to solve a certain set of industrial problems (pilot […]
Book Reviews: Vintage Hairstyling and Retro Makeup by Lauren Rennells
by George McQuary, First published for the July/August 2012 issue of Finery Lauren Rennells’ book Vintage Hairstyling: Retro Styles with Step-by-Step Techniques, 2nd Edition can be used in two ways: First, as a look book. Take it to your favorite hair stylist, point at a picture, and say “Make my hair do this for tonight”. Or you can take the […]
Pattern Review: The One Hour Dress
by Carol Wood, First published for the May/June 2012 issue of Finery So, you want to get dolled up for the the Gatsby Picnic or Fiddles and Roses? Maybe you just want a pretty little somethin’ somethin’ to slip on for a special occasion? The clock is ticking, so you think, “Golly, there’s that pattern for the One Hour Dress […]
