From Fig Leaf to Fashion Avenue
History
meets the runway.
On Thursday, May 10th, I raced out of work to
drive up to the Mattatuck Museum Arts and
History Center (www.MattatuckMuseum.org)
in Waterbury, Connecticut. The museum was
putting on a specially curated exhibit of
women's clothing from the last century, a
cocktail reception in the galleries, and a
runway show. Plus, the museum set up a boutique
after. Shopping, baby!
First stop: Adri
What really spurred me to rush out of work at
5pm (BeSewStylish.com deadlines: tomorrow is
another day!) was the Mattatuck's access to the
archives of the Coty Award winning designer,
Adri. I wasn't disappointed by the sheer
elegance of her minimalist designs. To read more
about Adri, see
www.Post-Gazette.com.
The museum's curator Cynthia Roznoy and
archivist Ann Winn spent some time giving me a
tour of the other garments on display, a few of
which are shown below. I gulped down some finger
food, then headed upstairs for the main event:
the fashion show.
A truly professional runway
I've attended quite a few fashion shows in my
career, from Bryant Park to small, casual
affairs at sewing shows. The Mattatuck's
production was the best small show, by far. The
runway was bathed in soft light and decorated
with flowers, the white chairs mimicked Bryant
Park, and the DJ spun the perfect tunes.
WTNH TV anchor Jocelyn Mimenta and stylist
Andrea Ward (www.AndreaWardrobe.com)
worked together to introduce the models, and
offered up plenty of fashion tips. Their energy
was truly contagious. And I don't know how they
prepped the models, but the local volunteer
models' of all shapes, ages, and sizes' owned
that runway. They strutted their stuff like
Gisele, Heidi, and Tyra.
Shop 'til you drop
Next, the fashions and accessories featured on
the runway were displayed, boutique-style, in
another area of the museum. I was drawn to the
easy jersey knits in Yansi Fugel's current
collection (www.YansiFugel.com),
but luckily for my bank account, I left my debit
card at home.
And, oh, did I mention the walls of buttons?
The Mattatuck is also home to the Waterbury
Button Museum. One room is covered, ceiling to
floor, with 10,000 buttons from all over the
world. It's a BeSewStylish.com dream!
Photos by Randy Clark, Mattatuck Museum
