The Manhattan Vintage Clothing Show is a venue patronized by New York designers who go there for inspiration. It seemed essential that the Campaign for Modern Lace be waged at this event so I threw myself on the mercy of Molly Carroll who permitted me to sit with her at her booth and even provided a free pass under pretense that I was her helper. Being weak in the presence of the temptation to buy lace, I was fearful that this would turn into the most expensive campaign stop yet. But I felt it essential that the design world be exposed to modern lace in the form of Susan Lambiris's Heraldic Peacock, so throwing personal concerns aside, I sat at the booth for two days. It was quite an eye opener, as the designers all dress in an utre fashion. Not one, but two of them seemed to be attired in outfits inspired by Hop Sing of Bonanza, namely as Chinese coolies. One woman, who was easily 60, was dressed like Little Bo Peep. I actually got to see Betsy Johnson in the flesh, having sent so many dollars her way when my daughter was buying prom dresses. The designers from Anthropology told me they were going to be designing something in co-ordination with the Philadelphia Museum's lace collection. (Or did I just dream this?) The high point of the second day came when a man asked Molly what she could do to help him outfit three simultaneous productions of White Christmas with sweaters and outdoor wear from the 1940's and she was able to say, "You have come to the right place. I live in Buffalo and have a lot of outdoor wear." Heraldic Peacock did draw some admiration, although, not unfortunately from Betsy Johnson. I thought this was quite a coup considering how unbelievably outrageous the jewelry of the show attendees was. Heraldic Peacock is a very dramatic piece as you can see from the new picture that has been posted on my arachne webshots album Devon's Campaign for Modern Lace. Devon
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