Vintage Weekends V

We're just about smack dab in the middle of Summer and chances are your weekends are filled with ways to try and keep cool. But when you need a break from the beach, the pool or have had your fill of BBQ, stop into one of these fantastic exhibits. Museums are always air conditioned!

Bath, England
John Bates: Fashion Designer - July 14, 2006 to August 28, 2006 - Museum of Costume, Bath - A major fashion retrospective of the work of John Bates, who designed under the name Jean Varon from the 1960s to the 1980s, takes place in July and August 2006 at the Museum of Costume.

London, England
Sixties Fashion - June 6, 2006 - February 25, 2007 - Victoria & Albert Museum - This exhibition explores the development of Sixties fashion from the mid-1950s to the early 1970s, linking it to London's different fashion districts and celebrating the contribution made by young British designers to a world-wide fashion revolution.

Phoenix, AZ
Art in Hand - Judith Leiber Handbags - April 22, 2006 - August 27, 2006 - Phoenix Art Museum - Judith Leiber, a leader in couture handbags, has created more than 3,000 different designs in a career that began in 1963, and over 100 of them can be seen in this exhibition. Best known for her signature crystal covered minaudieres – small ornamental cases for a woman's cosmetics, jewelry, or personal items – in the fanciful shapes of animals, fruits or anything that inspires her fancy, Leiber’s handbags also are hailed for their incomparable originality and flawless hand craftsmanship.

Hartford, CT
Revivals: Costumes for Song and Dance - March 11, 2006 - August 13, 2006 - Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art - In this exhibition, the word "revival" has a dual meaning: a new production of something old, and the return of original splendor. The new from old is represented by Raoul Pené du Bois' design sketches and costumes for the 1971 Broadway revival of the flapper-era musical comedy No, No, Nanette. The return to original splendor is exemplified by creative restoration techniques used on costumes from Serge Diaghilev's 1921 Ballets Russes production of The Sleeping Princess.

Kent, OH
Oscar de la Renta: American Elegance - May 11, 2006 - May 27, 2007 - Kent State University Museum - The Kent State University Museum has been the recipient of three important gifts from Oscar de la Renta that encompass his career. In 1983 he presented the founders, Shannon Rodgers and Jerry Silverman, with 45 pieces from his Spring 1982 collection. Again in 1986 he presented 38 pieces from the earliest phase of his career beginning with dresses he created for Jane Derby in 1965. In response to a request to lend dresses from a current collection for this exhibition, Oscar de la Renta has given the museum four spectacular pieces from his Spring 2006 collection. The exhibition is drawn from these gifts and those of other donors and spans his career from his arrival in New York in 1963 until the present.