Art and fashion enchant at Pageant of the Masters

When people think of an alliance between art and fashion, the Met Gala, a fundraiser where celebrities wear over-the-top outfits to benefit the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Costume Institute in New York, may come to mind.

Now, art meets fashion in Laguna Beach at this year’s Pageant of the Masters production, titled “A La Mode: The Art of Fashion.”

In its 91st year, the pageant succeeds once again in bringing something novel, namely the role that fashion in all its permutations played and still plays in art and culture worldwide.

In a departure from the traditional presentation of tableaux vivants, or living pictures, the pageant opens with a fashion show, with actors playing the part of celebrity attendees: Vogue editor Anna Wintour, with her perpetual bob and sunglasses, is surrounded by other presumed A-listers taking in fashions that recall styles ranging from Katharine Hepburn’s severe suits to Grace Kelly’s ball gowns, while the paparazzi swarm.

The production then goes on to the renowned living pictures, revisiting historical fashion trends through recreations of artworks – paintings, sculptures, photos, even jewelry – with costumed volunteers carefully posed in each piece just like in the original work.

The show illuminates featured artists’ works as well as the clothing aesthetics of their times. Note the women’s enormous bustles in James Tissot’s “Too Early” or John Singer Sargent’s stir-causing “Madame X” in her elegant black gown with plunging neckline.

Jean-Honoré Fragonard’s “The Swing,” with a young woman clad in layers of petticoats and tossing her pink slipper coquettishly at her lover – revealing her bare ankle, was simply scandalous in the 18th century.

Speaking of shoes, footwear gets its due. The audience sees a wooden clog like the medieval hoi-polloi might have worn, the trendy pointed long-toed shoes of the 14th century, delicate jeweled slippers and sandals, and, as the crowning glory, the artistry of Alexander McQueen’s 2010 “Angel Shoes.” Those heels sure aren’t made for walking, but the visual effect is stunning.

Just as stunning are replicas of Art Nouveau jewelry. Aptly named “Bewitched and Bejewelled,” the segment features pieces of jewelry such as Gaston Lafitte’s “Butterfly” brooch that are breathtaking in their enacted life-size reconfigurations.

The audience also witnesses a tribute to the acclaimed Hollywood costume designer Edith Head and her memorable collaborations with director Alfred Hitchcock. Think of Tippi Hedren in “The Birds” and Grace Kelly in “To Catch a Thief.” Winning eight Oscars for her costume designs, Head bears the distinction of being the most awarded woman in Oscar history.

The show maintains a sense of anticipation by not following a chronological script. Hence, “Golden Throne of King Tut,” the first tableau vivant, is followed by “Family of Henry VIII” with the monarch’s enormous proportions bolstered by the craft of his tailors and skills of 16th century weavers.

After portraits of George IV by Thomas Lawrence and a young Queen Victoria by George Hayter, scenes shift to French fashion houses, notably “Cinq Heures Chez Paquet,” by Henri Alexandre Gervex, from 1906.

The show switches gears after the intermission and gives fashionable men their turn, starting with Thomas Gainsborough’s 1770 painting “The Blue Boy.”

Jumping two centuries forward comes a magical mystery tour through Swinging London with Mods and Rockers and their birds (girlfriends) strutting down Carnaby Street. Photographs of young men decked out in Edwardian finery and of the Beatles and the Rolling Stones in their form-fitting trousers will evoke nostalgia among boomers.

Closer to the present, one sees via colorful photographs that clothes do make the man among “The Playboys of Bacongo,” a township on the Congo River in the Republic of Congo.

After that is “The Art of the Kimono,” the garment common in Japan for either sex.

And finally, there’s the pageant’s usual ending with Leonardo Da Vinci’s “The Last Supper.”

Pageant director Diane Challis Davy wrote in a statement: “Modern fashion shows are very theatrical, and designers are always pushing the envelope of outrageousness and showmanship. That appeals to me.

“The 2019 Dolce and Gabbana runway show was an extraordinary spectacle,” she wrote. “I’ve also been inspired by the annual Met Gala ball and shows like ‘Project Runway’ and ‘Fashion Police.’ But I will never forget to appreciate the craftsmanship and the hard work that goes into fashion: designing, pattern making, stitching, embellishing … it is art.”

The Pageant of the Masters

Where: 650 Laguna Canyon Road, Laguna Beach

When: Through Aug. 30

Information: 949-497-6582 or toll free 800-487-3378, or visit foapom.com

Originally Published: August 4, 2024 at 5:32 p.m.