Miss Fisher Con 1920s Fashion

By Jean Martin
GBACG 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 third year of the convention, which started in Las Vegas, Nevada, in 2017 and then went to Portland, Oregon, in 2018.

Miss Fisher Con is organized by the Adventuresses’ Club of the Americas (ACOTA) and the 2019 Miss Fisher Con was held from July 25 through July 27 at the Westin San Jose. The Westin was the perfect venue with its Art Deco exterior and interior. The lobby was elegant and made for the great space to lounge around, chat with new and old friends, and have photos taken.

The first event on Thursday night was a Welcome Reception in the Atrium Room. Only a few people dressed in 1920s fashion, this era being the setting of the “Miss Fisher’s Murder Mysteries” Australian TV show, but those who did were quite impressive. If you haven’t seen Miss Fisher, I highly recommend it as it is charming, fun and romantic. It is also inspiring to see a strong, independent woman solving mysteries with aplomb and enviable fashion sense.

Friday was a busy day with lots of interesting programming. The first of which was a panel in the Grand Ballroom (all the programming was held in this room) with the composer of the soundtrack of the show, Greg Walker. He even played some of the music from the show. I had a photo taken with him in my 1920s pink day dress.

The next panel I went to was the “Touring Miss Fisher’s Melbourne” by ACOTA board member Kirsten Comandich and Miss Fisher Philes podcast hosts Jo Jo Stilleto and Mary Holste. They were very entertaining and I vicariously enjoyed photos of the filming locations and the stories they shared with us. I didn’t know Melbourne had a Gold Rush as well and since the economy didn’t prosper as much as San Francisco did after its Gold Rush, a lot of the infrastructure of the city has remained as it was like in the mid-19^th century. It’s a wonderful location for filming the show and for history buffs. I would love to visit Melbourne someday. The three ladies also showed photos of their time as extras in the Miss Fisher movie, which they were able to participate in after they donated to the movie’s Kickstarter.

Liz Martin, who is well-known to many in the Bay Area as the Costume Director at Dickens Fair and who is also a costume designer for local theater groups, did a demo on “How to Hack an Amazon 20s(ish) Dress.” She used several dresses as examples and also had a couple of models. Liz also had a booth in the vendor room and I bought a couple of items from her (a vintage 1930s pink dress and a vintage kimono).

Despite my reluctance to go to the next thing on the program, a workshop called “Every Lady Needs a Headpiece,” I wound up going to it as I met the instructor Kitty Felde the night before and I thought she was a lovely lady and we had a lot in common. I’m all thumbs with crafty stuff, but I wound up making a pretty 1920s headband to go with the outfit I had on using the materials that were donated by the attendees.

For the sit-down dinner, I dressed up in a 1920s pink beaded and fringe dress that I got from Amazon and I got a lot of compliments for it. The Masquerade was held after the dinner and I enjoyed the various costumes that the contestants wore. The emcee for the Masquerade was Boudicca Todi who was dressed in a jaw-droppingly elegant 1930s gown and headdress. She looked like an Old Hollywood movie star.

The Masquerade judges included Jo Jo Stilleto, Mary Holste and Greg Walker. There were three categories: Haute Couture (more than 75% custom elements), Prêt-à-Porter (majority store-bought elements) and Ensemble (group costumes). They did add a Best in Show award, which went to Bryce and Carolyn who I’d made friends with at the con. They cosplayed as Phryne Fisher and Detective Robinson based on an episode where the two were at the beach. Bryce and Carolyn’s baby Ariel as adorable wearing the same costume as her mom. Their family garnered loud cheers from the audience for their creativity and sense of fun.

On Saturday I took it easy and didn’t really attend any panels in particular. I went around the vendor room and dropped in and out of some panels. I was saving my energy for the big event that evening, an optional, open-to-public murder mystery held at the Rosicrucian Egyptian Museum.

Peter Overstreet and his production company, League of 13 Entertainment, put on three interactive shows entitled “The Curse of the Black Scarab.” I attended the last one, which got a bit tricky as it started to get cold and dark toward the climax and denouement. Each of the shows had random culprits, weapons and location similar to how the game “Clue” is played. Some people like myself and my husband, Christopher Erickson, wore 1920s attire. This time I wore a black beaded Amazon dress that drew even more compliments. So yes, Amazon dresses are perfectly acceptable for 1920s costuming!

We knew several people in the cast who were very professional and wore great costumes that personified their characters. We also knew some people who came just for this event. We formed a team with them. We didn’t win, some of the games were difficult, but we had a great time going around the Egyptian-inspired grounds of the Rosicrucian searching for clues.

All in all, I enjoyed the Miss Fisher Con in San Jose and may attend a future one depending on the location and the timing with work, activities, events and travels. The next one, the Miss Fisher Con 2020, is this summer in Richmond, Virginia, on July 9-11. I wish I could go as I’ve never been to Virginia, but July is one of the busiest times of the year for me at work.

But it shouldn’t be too long before I venture into Miss Fisher fashion again as I’ve kept in touch with several local Miss Fisher fans and we’re hopefully planning to watch the movie when it comes out, and of course we’ll be dressing up for it!