Dresses Will Captivate Brides, Fashion Industry at JCCC
College Information and Publications 9/14/05 Dresses Will Captivate Brides, Fashion Industry at JCCC • First is the Paula Varsalona Heart of America Wedding Dress Sale. If you are interested in a unique wedding dress or vintage clothing, you have a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to purchase a bridal dress from approximately 200 gowns created by Paula Varsalona, New York wedding dress designer, from 4-7 p.m. Oct. 14, 2005 in The Black Box Theatre of the Carlsen Center, JCCC. Admission is free. The theater will be an open dressing room. This is the first and only time the collection, dating from 1978 to the mid-1980s, will be on view or on sale. These dresses have never been worn except on the fashion runway. Varsalona, internationally recognized as one of the leading couturier designers of bridal apparel, is known for her quality craftsmanship and attention to detail with hand-rolled organdy flowers, fine silk and imported Alencon lace. The dresses, originally retailing at $2,500, will be priced from $100-$500 at JCCC’s “salon.” Most dresses are sizes 8-10 (or 4-6 in today’s sizes). Many of Varsalona’s gowns include a matching jacket. Other Varsalona wedding accessories, like veils and head pieces, will also be sold. • The second event is a seminar on the pictorial history book of Hollywood nuptials, Hollywood Gets Married, presented by the author, Sandy Schreier, fashion historian and owner of the largest private collection of 20th century couture. Schreier’s entertaining presentation, featuring narrative and book photos, will be from 7:30-8:30 p.m. Oct. 14, 2005 in The Polsky Theater. Cost for the seminar is $25 ($15 students), available by calling the Carlsen Center box office, 913-469-4445. Schreier has designed costumes for the Supremes, accessories for Yves Saint Laurent, and styling for stage and screen, including Bette Midler’s tours. Her designs have appeared in Vogue and Bazaar magazines. She has curated costume history exhibitions at museums worldwide. Her exhibit, Chic to Chic, broke attendance records at the Detroit Institute of Arts. Pieces of her collection have been exhibited at the Louvre, Paris; The Hermitage, St. Petersburg, Russia; and the Art Institute of Chicago. In Hollywood Gets Married, Schreier chronicles the glamour and glitz of Hollywood nuptials, from Grace Kelly and Prince Rainier to Julia Roberts and Lyle Lovett, from the original Father of the Bride to Four Weddings and a Funeral. With slides and narrative, Schreier takes her audience on a sentimental and humorous journey through the most memorable unions of the 20th century. Copies of her book, which contains 100 color and 100 black-and-white photos, will be on sale after her lecture. • Following the seminar will be the conclusion of the Paula Varsalona Heart of America Wedding Dress Sale – an auction of one wedding dress from Varsalona’s new line and one mother-of-the-bride dress/cocktail dress, each with a retail price of $3,500. The dresses will be fitted for the buyer either in Kansas City or New York. The collection of Varsalona dresses came to the Fashion Group courtesy of the designer herself. Varsalona, a native of Kansas City, Mo., received a bachelor of fine arts degree in fashion design from Washington University in St. Louis, and in 1975, Varsalona founded her own bridal fashion house in New York City. Anne Brownfield, Overland Park, representative for Bill Blass, New York, and curator of vintage clothing for the Fashion Group, conceived the idea of the wedding dress sale. “The dresses are absolutely beautiful. They have expensive beading and lace, with long trains, silk, satin and lots of tulle,” Brownfield said. “The couture look is back with the dropped waist and hems that are short in front, longer in the back. The majority of the dresses are white, with some in ivory, and have been stored in acid-free boxes.” For more information about Captivating Bridal Images, call the JCCC Foundation office, 913-469-3835. |
