jennylafleur (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
jennylafleur) wrote2006-11-17 02:18 pm
jennylafleur) wrote2006-11-17 02:18 pm
Winterthur & Cosprop
I am ashamed; I haven’t yet posted anything about my trip to Winterthur and the Fashion and Film exhibit! I have sat down to do it a few times this week and managed to get distracted by other things. Bad Jenny!
Our day was wonderful! It ended up just being B and I but that was fun. A sister day - yay! I was a bit skeptical about making it a day trip but not having the means to stay overnight that was our plan. It turned out just fine, about 3 hours each way but we had plenty of time to have a relaxing day and still see all we wanted to. We even stopped for a sit down meal and a bit of Twelfth Night shopping on the way home. :> B and I talked, giggled and sang to my Christmas CDs the whole way. Fun! The drive was pretty and simple, we managed to avoid all the traffic and were only delayed by B’s small speeding ticket. :P
The Winterthur property was really lovely. We had the perfect day, mid 70s & mostly clear skies… the perfect autumn day to be tramping about in the leaves. The house itself was interesting, I was glad we spent the extra to do that. The house is so extensive that you don’t get a tour of the whole thing but choose a specific tour of a specific floor. We were on the 6th floor – all guest rooms, bathrooms and the library. The house is grand but on a small scale (not the Breakers!) and so crammed full of antiques that the group sizes are small, no more than 5. It made for an intimate tour were you could stop were you wanted, look at what you wanted (no ropes and barriers) and ask the questions you want. Our tour guide was very knowledgeable and friendly too.
My favorite room was one of the early ones, full of William & Mary furniture and 18th century crewelwork. There were curtains, bed hangings, a coverlet and a pocket all in glorious period crewelwork. I could have spent hours in there just looking at the stitching! I also loved the room with the 18th century silk embroidered coverlet. It was gorgeous, just like a mans vest with gold spangles all over. Insane!
It was also fun to walk through the rooms and image what it would have been like to be a weekend guest in the 1920s & 1930s when the house was in its heyday. Between the house tour, the damp autumn atmosphere in the grounds and the gowns we saw in the exhibit B and I were very much in the mood to watch Gosford Park when we got home!
The Exhibit was really fun. It was amazing to see interpretations of historic costume by professionals. I loved to see how other costumers recreate period clothing. My favorite part was looking at the use of trims and fabrics – lots of good ideas and tips! Although I have to admit that it did strike me that film and theater costumers sometimes have an easier job than I do. As a costumer/reenactor when the public sees me it’s close up, within a few feet. There are cheats the film costumer can make that I could never get away with! Still there are a few cheats I noticed that I’m going to give a try!
I was hoping that the exhibit would help me narrow down what to do for my Fire costume but really it made it worse – I now have more ideas not less! B asked me what my favorite frock was and it was hard to choose. I loved just about everything I saw, even the styles I don’t actually like were fun to examine up close. Surprisingly I think my favorite was the sea-foam green gown from the Golden Ball (which I’ve never seen). It was not one I went to the exhibit to see but I loved it on first sight. It was one of the few I looked at and thought “Oh I would look good in that – I want!”. I also loved the Far and Away dress. It was a gorgeous piece of workmanship, the way the fabrics had been used was just flawless. It was a darling style too I though. My inner Edwardian was obviously having a field day! :>
The Jefferson in Paris riding habit was lovely. The jacket was a silk-linen blend and the skirt a silk-wool blend. I’ve decided I really need to try and find those fabrics and try them! The back was even prettier than the front, a pity there aren’t great pics of it online.
The Sense & Sensibility gown was truly a work of art and a delight to see. The way it was cut was just gorgeous. I need another robe now to try a few things out!
If you have the opportunity to go see the exhibit do it – it was well worth the day. My only complaint was the price, a bit pricey if you ask me. To do the exhibit and the house was $20 and from Va we paid about $15 in tolls plus gas. I hate toll roads I really do. Still I wouldn’t have missed it for anything!
PS Many thanks to![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
padawansguide for collecting images from the exhibit (where pics were allowed) in one place. Also many thanks to those who shared their pics with Maggie and us all!! It was a bummer not be able to photographs myself but knowing I could come home and find some anyway was wonderful!
Our day was wonderful! It ended up just being B and I but that was fun. A sister day - yay! I was a bit skeptical about making it a day trip but not having the means to stay overnight that was our plan. It turned out just fine, about 3 hours each way but we had plenty of time to have a relaxing day and still see all we wanted to. We even stopped for a sit down meal and a bit of Twelfth Night shopping on the way home. :> B and I talked, giggled and sang to my Christmas CDs the whole way. Fun! The drive was pretty and simple, we managed to avoid all the traffic and were only delayed by B’s small speeding ticket. :P
The Winterthur property was really lovely. We had the perfect day, mid 70s & mostly clear skies… the perfect autumn day to be tramping about in the leaves. The house itself was interesting, I was glad we spent the extra to do that. The house is so extensive that you don’t get a tour of the whole thing but choose a specific tour of a specific floor. We were on the 6th floor – all guest rooms, bathrooms and the library. The house is grand but on a small scale (not the Breakers!) and so crammed full of antiques that the group sizes are small, no more than 5. It made for an intimate tour were you could stop were you wanted, look at what you wanted (no ropes and barriers) and ask the questions you want. Our tour guide was very knowledgeable and friendly too.
My favorite room was one of the early ones, full of William & Mary furniture and 18th century crewelwork. There were curtains, bed hangings, a coverlet and a pocket all in glorious period crewelwork. I could have spent hours in there just looking at the stitching! I also loved the room with the 18th century silk embroidered coverlet. It was gorgeous, just like a mans vest with gold spangles all over. Insane!
It was also fun to walk through the rooms and image what it would have been like to be a weekend guest in the 1920s & 1930s when the house was in its heyday. Between the house tour, the damp autumn atmosphere in the grounds and the gowns we saw in the exhibit B and I were very much in the mood to watch Gosford Park when we got home!
The Exhibit was really fun. It was amazing to see interpretations of historic costume by professionals. I loved to see how other costumers recreate period clothing. My favorite part was looking at the use of trims and fabrics – lots of good ideas and tips! Although I have to admit that it did strike me that film and theater costumers sometimes have an easier job than I do. As a costumer/reenactor when the public sees me it’s close up, within a few feet. There are cheats the film costumer can make that I could never get away with! Still there are a few cheats I noticed that I’m going to give a try!
I was hoping that the exhibit would help me narrow down what to do for my Fire costume but really it made it worse – I now have more ideas not less! B asked me what my favorite frock was and it was hard to choose. I loved just about everything I saw, even the styles I don’t actually like were fun to examine up close. Surprisingly I think my favorite was the sea-foam green gown from the Golden Ball (which I’ve never seen). It was not one I went to the exhibit to see but I loved it on first sight. It was one of the few I looked at and thought “Oh I would look good in that – I want!”. I also loved the Far and Away dress. It was a gorgeous piece of workmanship, the way the fabrics had been used was just flawless. It was a darling style too I though. My inner Edwardian was obviously having a field day! :>
The Jefferson in Paris riding habit was lovely. The jacket was a silk-linen blend and the skirt a silk-wool blend. I’ve decided I really need to try and find those fabrics and try them! The back was even prettier than the front, a pity there aren’t great pics of it online.
The Sense & Sensibility gown was truly a work of art and a delight to see. The way it was cut was just gorgeous. I need another robe now to try a few things out!
If you have the opportunity to go see the exhibit do it – it was well worth the day. My only complaint was the price, a bit pricey if you ask me. To do the exhibit and the house was $20 and from Va we paid about $15 in tolls plus gas. I hate toll roads I really do. Still I wouldn’t have missed it for anything!
PS Many thanks to
padawansguide for collecting images from the exhibit (where pics were allowed) in one place. Also many thanks to those who shared their pics with Maggie and us all!! It was a bummer not be able to photographs myself but knowing I could come home and find some anyway was wonderful!
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http://i68.photobucket.com/albums/i31/costumersguide/Jefferson%20in%20Paris/JeffersoninParis.jpg
This is the costume that is a replica of one in the KCI collection. It's pretty exact. It's probably in that book of yours..
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Yeah it's in both Revolution in Fashion and Fashion I think, so pretty. It was also recreated in the Aristorcrats & Affair of the Necklace and by this costumer (http://www.mauritia.de/en/rococo/jacketgilet.html) - I don't even want to know how much that cost!
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I never saw pics of it in Affair of the Necklace - I will have to go look!
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http://www.freewebs.com/dregae/bluestrollingdress.htm
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Which tour did you take? I've been on all of them and I still can't remember which is which. Did you get to use the little service elevator that the staff uses? That thing is pretty cool. And the badminton court. I want one of those. ;)
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