Only days after making it home from our honeymoon I chained myself to the couch with my iPad and a cup of tea and caught up on months of blog posts. Unfortunately there were a lot of things I missed out on including the Colette Laurel competition and the international sewing swap on Kestrel Makes. But I was just in time for a wonderful Melbourne sewing bloggers excursion to the Hollywood costumes exhibition at ACMI.

It was great to meet some new Melbourne sewists and see the amazing work at the exhibition. Unfortunately I didn't get a photo of the group and we weren't allowed to take photos of the exhibition. So I got nuthing to show ya! But I can describe my impression of the exhibition. Firstly, it was busy! In the end I missed a little section because I couldn't handle all the people and the traffic jams in front of the costumes. That section wasn't of that much interest to me anyway as the costumes were from movies like Brokeback Mountain where the items were sourced instead of sewn. Secondly, it was a little creepy. The mannequins had tv screens as heads with very slow moving head shots of the actors who wore them, complete with eye twitches and blinks. Yep - creepy! Thirdly, it was dark and the walls were black. I couldn't see anything of the famous little black dress from Breakfast at Tiffany's. sigh

But, the costumes were lovely and they were what we were there to see! I was very surprised by how raunchy and revealing some of the costumes from the 20's were. It turns out things got a little crazy for a while there before some strict codes came in and made movies all conservative again (until recent times). It was also interesting to see the colourful garments that were destined for black and white movies. Overall there was some amazing, intricate and imaginative work, oh to have a Hollywood budget for my sewing projects. The sequins, the beads, the pleats, the complicated patterns and pieces, the head pieces, the period features, the fabrics! Just stunning.

So if you haven't been yet I definitely recommend it. I would also recommend trying to pick a quiet day.
Huge thanks to the lovely and super organised TJ at the Perfect Nose for organising and everyone else who attended (including Jenny & Emily) I look forward to seeing you again soon, especially if it includes another meal at Cookie.

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