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OCMS Original Costume Museum Society

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Calendar of Events
Calendar view of both OCMS and related events

Past Events
Listng of our past events we were proud to present

OCMS Events

Winter/ Spring 2012 Programs

Sunday, January 15:

Highland Fever: The Tartan Epidemic

Most people associate tartans with Scotland, where the patterns represent clan affiliation, but tartan fabrics have been popular since time immemorial in almost every culture with a weaving craft. Portugal, India, and China all have strong tartan traditions. In Europe, tartans became widely popular in the 1850s, primarily due to Queen Victoria’s affection for Scotland and its people. Ivan Sayers, Honorary Curator of the OCMS and renowned fashion historian, will explore why and how the tartan fad developed. Nineteenth- and twentieth-century garments made of tartan fabrics will be displayed. Select twentieth century garments will be worn by live models. Come and find out why tartans are not necessarily plaids nor plaids tartans.

Time: 2:00 – 4:00 pm Place: Hycroft, 1489 MacRae Avenue, Vancouver
Tickets: $20 per OCMS member; $10 per OCMS student member; $22 per non-member

Tickets available at the door. General seating.

Highland Fever

Sunday, Febuary 26:

Vancouver Fashion Up Close and Personal

New design trends, new designers, and even some old, but good, stories will be the topics under discussion as Marilyn Wilson, editor of Fame’d Magazine (Vancouver) and Raine Magazine (New York) shares her knowledge about and enthusiasm for contemporary fashion. Hear about the struggles of new designers. See examples of new and unusual clothing trends from the collections of several local designers. Wilson’s immersion in the Vancouver and international fashion scene will make the program personal and lively.

Time: 2:00 – 4:00 pm Place: Hycroft, 1489 MacRae Avenue, Vancouver
Tickets: $20 per OCMS member; $10 per OCMS student member; $22 per non-member
Tickets available at the door. General seating.

Sunday, April 15:

Beyond Pretty: Rei Kawakubo and Comme des Garçons

When avant-garde, Japanese designer Rei Kawakubo of Comme des Garçons introduced her deconstructed clothing in the 1970s, she transformed Parisian catwalks and began the Japanese "fashion revolution" of the 1980s. Characterized by a sculptural aesthetic and a use of unconventional materials, her clothing often incorporated unfinished seams or holes. Corey Mah, graduate of Emily Carr University and self-described fashion junkie, illustrates Kawakubo’s rise to fame and her inventive style using examples of her work, including a man’s bias-cut suit, a silk sleeve armlet, a boiled polyester jacket, pleather perforated shorts, and whimsical accessories. Key pieces of men’s wear and women’s wear from Comme des Garçons and diffusion lines Homme Plus, Comme des Garçons X H&M, Robe de Chambre, PLAY, Shirt, and Junya Watanabe illustrate the exceptional artistry and commercial success of the “anti-fashion” style that started in Japan and then went global. This program is generously sponsored by “THE AUTOMAT.CA New and vintage style for a fabulous life”

Sunday, May 6:

The Art Deco Woman: from Cubist to Streamlined

Fashion is an endless series of actions and reactions. In the years prior to Word War I, fashionable women exaggerated their figures with corsets and padding worn under closely-fitted garments. After the war, women minimized their natural shapes and hid them inside loose, sack-like clothing. This understatement and stylization of the body reinvented the concept of the perfect body type – the Art Deco Woman. Ivan Sayers will discuss the aesthetics of 1920s art deco fashions and the logic behind this development. He will also discuss the gradual changes which occur as fashion adapted the pure geometry of art deco style into the more physically revealing and sensuous clothing of the streamlined style of the 1930s. A live fashion show of 1920s and 1930s garments makes this program special.