I visited the Bowers Museum (Santa Ana, CA) to see their special exhibit entitled: Guo Pei: Art of Couture (running Nov 12, 2022 to May 14, 2023).
I have no interest in fashion, so at first it felt like when I was a child and visited a ‘Freak Show’ at the state fair…but then I got into the beauty of the craft and the splendor of the outlandishness.
The exhibit was divided into four sections: Dreams, Devotion, Love and Faith with a seamless transition from one section to the next.
Guo Pei is an internationally renowned designer who is Chinese and interweaves her childhood memories into her fantastical designs.
Many of them listed Swarovski crystals, rhinestones, sequins, this one and another also had metal accents.
Swarovski crystals have a higher refraction index as compared to real crystal and is more like a diamond.
I learned about the embroidery techniques that were used:
Although I can remember wearing platform shoes in the 70’s, mine did not have a 3-4” arch on top of the 3-4” platform.
The accessories were as fantastical as the gowns, such as these rings:
There were several video presentations showing some of the gowns on the runway.
I thought it was interesting that this older model had two stunning escorts. Then I learned Carman Dell’Orefice (85 in this image) is the world’s oldest working supermodel.
