Sandra Stillwell's Golden Age of Couture — Nashville, August, 2010

The first thing I want to say is that I will probably go to every event that Sandra organizes in the future. This talented lady wove an amazingly detailed tapestry by combining the best of the location with a fabulous event. She organized visits to top Nashville locations that related to our purpose. Presentations at meals were relevant and interesting. The fashions Sandra had created for the centerpiece dolls and for our event souvenirs are beautiful and so abundant I can hardly believe it.
I shot more than 400 pictures, many of them not so impressive. It takes alot time to go through them and post. Interior shots at Cheekwood and the Frist were not permitted


Cheekwood
 The Cheekwood mansion was huge and we were told that just one small family of four lived there in it's day. There was a Chihuly installation out-of-doors. I think if I hadn't seen a mind-blowing Chihuly installation in Pittsburgh a few years ago, I would have been more impressed with this one.

Ryman Auditorium 
The history of the Ryman Auditorium and the Grand Old Opry is fascinating and I recommend going to their websites to read about it. I do not follow country music but I certainly learned a great deal of interesting facts. 

Country Music Hall of Fame

Frist Center for the Visual Arts
The Frist Center is housed in an Art Deco United States Post Office with spectacular marble work, wrought iron gratings, doors and moldings. This is truly an impressive building aside from the exhibit. The Golden Age of Couture exhibit at the Frist Center was very special. I finally got to see four of the Theatre de la Mode mannequins in person. Madame Lachasse was beyond belief. Her teensy leather gloves were handsewn and still in perfect condition. She had tiny silk stockings and a cigarette case with pastel colored cigarettes! The miniatures created to go along with her wardrobe fascinated me. 

Display Dolls
Imagine walking into a ballroom filled with nearly 200 Genes, Madras, and assorted other dolls from the Ashton-Drake and Integrity Gene Marshall lines! Impressive, right?

Chez Manuel More about Manuel can be found on the internet. He has a long history of designing bling-y fashions for country western stars and other well-known personalities and performers.

Crawford Manor  Cheryl Crawford debuts her Crawford Manor collection of 16" resin dolls.

W Club Exclusive Doll Avantguard BIJOUX

Bijoux is a French word meaning a small, dainty ornamental piece of delicate work or, as the adjective bijou, it describes something delicate, elegant or highly prized. That's a nice name for a doll.

This new Avantguard doll is described by Integrity as follows:

The Exclusive W Club Bijoux AvantGuards Doll wears a dark fuchsia satin gown with black contrasting embroidery, orange chiffon inserted accent panels and striking black netting. A dramatic sprinkle of gold on her eyes makes this doll the shimmering bijoux that she is. The fabulous tapered black bob wig delicately shapes her face. The jewelry that accents this fashion consists of a necklace with three black roses and matching earrings. To complete the ensemble, Bijoux wears black platform skyscraper shoes.

The price is $185. which is $40 less than prior releases. What happened? Is the price seeking the correct level at last?

Integrity Announces New Monogram Doll and Fashion

By the time this post is published (it's on automatic) I will be in Nashville, Tennessee for the Golden Age of Doll Couture event.  Members of the W Club get these announcements and are asked to wait until a specific time and day before sharing the information. So, this is being written on Tuesday evening and publication is on time delay.
The dressed doll is called "Extravagance." It is a limited edition of 300 with a SRP of $150.

The fashion is called "Escapade." LE 300. SRP $99.

I'm looking at it like a gift set. One doll and two complete outfits with a wig, nice accessories and very pretty clothes for $249. A little lingerie would have been a bonus but when I see it as a gift set, the price becomes more reasonable.