0 Lanvin and Lacroix: Recent Fashion Acquisitions

Tiered evening gown, ca. 1929
Kerry Taylor Auctions

by Nancy DeWitt
© Fountainhead Antique Auto Museum

“I can't believe we've lived in Alaska for 6 years and just now found this gem. We were totally WOWed!”  ~ TripAdvisor reviewer from Anchorage

Unless you are an antique car aficionado, when visiting Alaska an automobile museum is probably not high on your to-do list. If so, you are missing out on seeing some treasures at the Fountainhead Antique Auto Museum. Without fail, visitors are astonished when they see our collection of beautiful automobiles and antique fashions here in Fairbanks, a region not known for its automotive history or vintage haute couture.

Bradley's opera coat, ca. 1925-28
Kerry Taylor Auctions

When we started planning the museum we knew that a warehouse full of old cars would have limited appeal. So, we filled our custom-built facility with an eye-popping assortment of Victorian and Edwardian finery, flapper dresses, Art Deco gowns, and some of the most visually stunning automobiles ever to grace America’s roads in the early 20^th century. Woven among the vehicles and 100+ fashions are entertaining photographs, videos, and exhibits showcasing Alaska’s wild automotive history.

Jeanne Lanvin 1915 orientalist evening coat
Kerry Taylor Auctions

Museum owner Tim Cerny and his wife, Barbara, acquired the museum’s extensive assortment of cars and fashions from private collections and auction houses throughout North America. In December they attended the "Passion for Fashion" event with Kerry Taylor Auctions and purchased four interesting pieces for the museum. These include a circa 1929 tiered bugle-beaded evening gown attributed to French designer Jeanne Lanvin, and a circa 1925-28 Bradley's brocaded opera coat. 

The rare and early Jeanne Lanvin orientalist evening coat now in our care was reportedly exhibited in the French Pavilion of the Panama-Pacific International Exposition in San Francisco in 1915. The other piece we acquired at the auction is a stunning, 1920s gold lamé evening jacket attributed to Parisian designer Margaine Lacroix. It is covered with beaded and sequined oriental figures, and like the Lanvin evening coat, is an interesting example of Western fashion inspired by Asian and Middle-Eastern cultures.

It will be several weeks before these fashions are cataloged and placed on exhibit. Watch our Facebook page for updates!

Coming to Fairbanks to see the Fountainhead Antique Auto Museum and other area attractions? Support the museum by staying right here at Wedgewood Resort. 

Detail: Lanvin and Lacroix: Recent Fashion Acquisitions

0 Our Fashionating Museum

by Nancy DeWitt
© Fountainhead Antique Auto Museum


If our name wasn't already so long, I'd suggest we change it to the Fountainhead Antique Auto and Historic Fashion Museum. For some time we've had more fashions than cars on the floor; in fact, we presently have over 100 outfits on exhibit! I'm told that we are now have the largest fashion collection on permanent display in the western United States. If you love fashion history and haven't visited us, you are really missing out!

Originally begun as a complement to the automobiles with about ten garments on display, the collection now encompasses an extensive array of costume history. Ranging from the 18th century to the mid 20th, the collection now includes everyday wear and formal dress from 200 years of American style.



The gem is our early 20th century collection featuring Edwardian elegance, Empire Revival chic (including "Titanic dresses"), and Flapper shimmer. We presently have a number of 1920s evening dresses on display, including richly beaded and sequined shifts. We are also fortunate to host pieces from designers like Fortuny, Callot Soeurs, Edward Molyneaux, and Maria Gallenga.



We also house a notable assortment of 19th century bustled silhouettes, includible some formidable leg-of-mutton sleeved dresses from the 1890s. Our 1930s garments include bias-cut, curve hugging gowns, daywear, and tailored outfits, including pieces from designers Ceil Chapman and Hattie Carnegie.

The fashion collection does not stop at clothing. We also have a wide range of accessories on exhibit, including shoes, purses, gloves and jewelry dating back to the 18th century. Of course, no exhibit would be complete without hats. You can see some of our most interesting examples in our current exhibit, "Beauty and the Bird: A Tale of Feathers, Fashion and Our Fowl Obsession." This exhibit, originally scheduled to close last March, has been extended by popular demand.

"We weren't expecting it, but this was a 'gold-star' attraction. The cars were superb, but the antique clothing collection was out of this world!"  TripAdvisor Reviews

Coming to Fairbanks to see the Fountainhead Antique Auto Museum and other area attractions? Support the museum by staying right here at Wedgewood Resort. All guests receive half-price admission to the museum!

Detail: Our Fashionating Museum

0 Fortuny’s Delphos Gown: The Snowflake of Fashion

by Abigail Cuculo
© Fountainhead Antique Auto Museum

Photo by Brian Bohannon 

© Fountainhead Antique Auto Museum

When looking at historic costume, the word “comfortable” does not easily spring to mind. Opulent- sure, beautiful- definitely. Romantic, stunning, intricate, and, of course, how could they breathe!? But not “comfortable.” It is rare to find a garment that combines comfort with couture. Luckily, we have two such gems in our collection, and both are now on display. With fine pleats hugging the figure in lightweight, shimmering silk, the Fortuny Delphos gown was the Versailles of rational clothing, and the two we have are in remarkable condition.

Spanish artist Mariano Fortuny’s simple, elegant, and unconventional Delphos dress made a debut in 1907. Inspired by the chitons of ancient Greece, the design reflected the fervor for neo-classicism seen during the Empire Revival. Indeed, with the columnar silhouette and fluted figure, women wearing a Fortuny resembled the caryatids of Peloponnesian architecture. Originally intended as a tea gown, the Delphos dress was driven by the ideals of the Aesthetic movement and meant to be worn without the elaborate underpinnings of the Edwardian period, relieving women of their spiral steel and cotton cages (in other words: the corset). Made in one size and easily slipped over the head, the mushroom-like pleats would expand and adapt to the wearer’s body, providing freedom of movement and making the Delphos dress incredibly comfortable- and incredibly risqué for the covered and corseted Edwardian lady.

Famous for the beauty and versatility of his textiles, Fortuny handcrafted each dress (and every feature of the dress) in his Venice studio (known as “The House of the Magician”). The silks were fashioned in a variety of dyes ranging from cool greens, blues, and purples to glowing reds and golds. Many were saturated with vibrant hues, and could be dipped up to 15 times to enrich the color. Hand-blown, Venetian glass beads were commonly attached to the side seams, weighing down the lightweight silk. To further highlight a woman’s natural figure, often the gowns would also be paired with a sash, belt, or cord of satin or velvet, printed in a design inspired by various historic cultures. The snowflake of fashion, no two Fortuny gowns were identical, and he would never use the same design or color combination on any two pieces of fabric.

The most distinctive and unique feature of the gowns- the fine pleats- were created by a secret process Fortuny never revealed. With silk being a temperamental textile when it comes to pleating, Fortuny’s method somehow managed to attain a near permanent pleat. It is believed that he finger pleated the silk when wet, possibly holding the creases in place with rows of basting along the length of the panel, then heat set the fabric with porcelain rollers. To help maintain the pleats, the dresses were rolled up and stored in little hat boxes (no folding or hanging! Woo hoo!). With each dress made out of 4-5 panels containing between 430-450 pleats, the process was incredibly thorough, and has never been successfully duplicated since.

Photo by Brian Bohannon
© Fountainhead Antique Auto Museum

So basically, Delphos gowns were handmade, luxurious, custom creations, yet you could slip them over your head, shove them in a box, and never have to worry about steaming or ironing. It was the paradox of unfussy haute couture, a paradox beloved by enlightened women for decades. Soon, the dress was acceptable outside the home and was worn as sensuous evening wear by icons like Lillian Gish, Isadora Duncan, and Natacha Rambova (please look that lady up--she is pretty spectacular!).  With devoted clientele, Fortuny produced his extraordinary gowns relatively unchanged until his death in 1949. The surviving garments have been lovingly maintained and can occasionally be seen on some of the fashion elite today. Timeless, unique, and rare, Fortuny’s gowns are prized processions of the lucky museums that house them in their collection--and we’ve got two, so stop by and feast your eyes on Fortuny’s fabulous folds!



Coming to Fairbanks to see the Fountainhead Antique Auto Museum and other area attractions? Support the museum by staying at one of the Fountainhead Hotels. All guests receive half-price admission to the museum!

Detail: Fortuny’s Delphos Gown: The Snowflake of Fashion