Lately I have been going to estate sales. Sunday, I went to a sale and bought a stunning beaded designer evening gown or wedding gown from the Philippines. The entire gown has gold beads and is accented of large pearl-like beads. It is heavy...weighing app. 25 lbs. The design house is Borja of La Paz St. Iloilo has been making wedding gowns for the 100 years. I tried unsuccessfully to find info on the business online except I did find the latest designer from the family. I rarely just fall in love with a dress, but this one stole my heart. I told them what I do with the costumes and they sold the dress to me for $42. The original asking price was $145. You can see the gown's beading at: http://www.costumegallery.com/beadedgown1.jpg . The entire gown has these beads...the gold beads are metal. I don't know the date of the gown but it does have a metal zipper down center back. The sleeves are short and in a bell shape like the 1890s. When I go to the university, I can put it on a dressform and photograph it properly.
This weekend I also bought a late 1940s wedding gown with a very long train, two fur hats/headdresses, three 1930-1940s velvet ladies' hats, a large lot of beaded costume jewelry (I am taking a jewelry design class and need the beads), a beautiful mink collar from the 1930s, and a little mink critter. The critter has everything in tack but the front paws. The dealer told me that women would place it over one shoulder. If the woman had more than one critter, she would hook them together and drape them over her shoulder. About half-way on the my critter's body, there is a small cord with a satin ball. Is this to connect the critters to one another? Penny Ladnier Owner, The Costume Gallery Websites www.costumegallery.com 11 websites of fashion, textiles, costume history _______________________________________________ h-costume mailing list [email protected] http://mail.indra.com/mailman/listinfo/h-costume
