First Ever Santa Barbara Evening Couture Exhibit

Written for Advanced Beat Reporting course at UC Santa Barbara

SANTA BARBARA, California —Beneath the Santa Barbara Historical Museum’s exhibit floor lays a vault that houses between 4,000 and 6,000 shoes, shawls, suits, and couture clothing pieces collected over the course of 40 years. For the first time, the museum is bringing these pieces out of the basement. The temporary exhibit titled “Seasonal Soirées: Santa Barbara’s Evening Couture 1880-1990,” focuses on Santa Barbara’s extensive history with high fashion, from the launching of Salvatore Ferragamo’s career to the star-studded clientele of local boutiques, shedding light on the city’s illustrious journey through high fashion.

“In this fantastically fun exhibit, party dresses take center stage,” says Darcia Harward, the museum’s executive director. The collection, meticulously curated by Sharon Bradford, an History Museum board member, and her team over the course of five days, spans over a century and features 20 elaborate gowns.

Donated by locals these pieces provide a unique glimpse into the fashion evolution of Santa Barbara. Complete with designers like the late 1800s Charles Frederick Worth, 1950s Pierre Cardin, and 1980s Arnold Scaasi, the feature is a trip through time with each dress reflecting the social rules and norms of that period.

Dresses such as the Madame Eugenie garnet satin evening dress, owned by Montecito local Carol Parshall, date back to the 1880s are characterized by high necklines, tight corsets, and large skirt bustles that emphasized their backside. British designer Charles Worth created the black glamorous 1890s lace gown on display. House of Worth was a premier couture design atelier who pioneered the sewing of branded labels into custom made items. “It was no longer sufficient to have a beautiful dress crafted for you with the finest material. Now it had to bear the prestigious mark of the House of Worth,” Harward said of the turn of century trend.

The only piece not donated by a Santa Barbarian, but on loan, is a pair of “harem pants” by Paul Poiret. Provided by from the family of the early 20th century Santa Barbara civic leader Katharine Dexter McCormick, the pants became a symbol of the women’s rights movement of the 1910s. According to Bradford, McCormick, an advocate for women’s suffrage and family planning, would hide birth control in the bagginess of the pants and smuggle it to Europe where birth control was almost unheard of.

“I love that women decided one day to stop straining themselves with corsets and started binding their chests and wearing shift, shapeless pieces of art,” Bradford said of the transition to flapper dresses in the 1920s. She points to the rarity of the dresses, most being made specifically for the individual who purchased them. “When I look at these dresses, I just think about how special these women must’ve felt.” she said. 

House of Reville, a British atelier, has a signature dress featured in the exhibit. The sequin-embellished shift dress was a gift from the Estate of Kathleen Burke Hale, a Santa Barbara philanthropist and war volunteer. London tailors Reville and Rossiter designed the dress, which was Queen Mary in 1911 for the coronation of King George. Eventually the House of Reville and House of Worth merged in Paris.

The 1930s through 50s are represented in the form of a gown designed by Zoë de Salle, one of the most esteemed New York couturiers. The gold lame art deco style gown with a sheer black stole on display is a gift to the museum from her daughter. De Salle’s success earned her rankings with names like Chanel and Schiaparelli.

Pierre Cardin and Arnold Scaasi also have their pieces presented in the exhibit. Cardin was famous in the 60s and 70s for his Space Age designs featuring geometric shapes and patterns. A New York City designer for First Ladies and celebrities, Scaasi was notorious for his intricate embroidery and sequinning. With over 40 gowns gifted to the museum from Scaasi, The History Museum has received more than 40 gowns as gifts from Scaasi, making it is the only museum of its size in the nation to receive his creation.

“We wanted to embrace the glamor of Santa Barbara events and give a glimpse into couture clothing spanning a century.” Sharon Bradford said. Due to the fragility of many of the pieces featured in the exhibit, the collection is only up until April 21st.