Arizona Costume Institute

🥂💍 ACI Holiday Luncheon | Raffle Ticket Items

The ACI Holiday Luncheon, featuring guest speaker Christian Siriano (), is approaching quickly on Monday, December 9, at the Arizona Biltmore Resort (), so make sure you don’t miss out on PRE-PURCHASING your raffle tickets online for our LUXURY chance-drawing and avoid waiting in the queue the day of the event!  

🎟️ Pre-purchased tickets will be available at check-in. Pre-sales end December 2nd at 11:59 pm. Tickets will also be available to purchase at the door.

📣 What you could win:

WIN AN EXCLUSIVE EXPERIENCE AT NEW YORK FASHION WEEK!

🎟️ 2 Tickets to a Christian Siriano Runway Show + access to a VIP Reception

🚨 A live auction for these tickets will be held immediately following the Luncheon Program (This live auction and all of the raffle items are ONLY AVAILABLE for guests attending the luncheon.)
 
🎟️ Tickets will also be available to purchase at the door.

Get tickets in the link in bio 👆

Thank you to everyone who has generously supported Arizona Costume Institute’s 2024 Holiday Luncheon.
 
Image credit: Images courtesy of Wunderkind (); Image courtesy of Neiman Marcus (); Image courtesy of Estate Watch and Jewelry ()

📣 ACI is pleased to announce the 2024 Holiday Luncheon Honorary Chair and Ambassadors!

The 2024 ACI Holiday Luncheon will be held at the Arizona Biltmore Resort on December 9th. This year’s event will honor Valley philanthropist Jacquie Dorrance.

Lauri Termansen, Hillary Sher, and Oscar De las salas will serve as the ambassadors of the annual fundraising event. In their roles, Termansen, Sher, and De las salas will assist with fundraising efforts and spread awareness of ACI, the Holiday Luncheon, and the fashion program at Phoenix Art Museum.

The luncheon has become the Valley’s most anticipated fashion fundraising event of the year that raises vital support for fashion exhibitions, education programs, and acquisitions at Phoenix Art Museum. This year’s event will feature designer Christian Siriano.

❗️Tables of 10 for the 2024 ACI Holiday Luncheon are sold out.

🎟️ Limited individual tickets can be purchased by clicking the link in bio: https://11000a.blackbaudhosting.com/11000a/ACI-Holiday-Luncheon

Image credits: Images courtesy of Phoenix Art Museum.

Make a Splash 🌊 👙😎

This , admire these slaying swimsuits from different eras of fashion history! From the 1970s (left), to the 1930s (center) to the early 1900s (right), there is a clear delineation of how the garments fits the wearer, and how that illustrates the social mores of the time, as well as the practicality of the garment in the water.

Do you think these bathing suits were simply worn for leisure, or do you think they were practical enough for actual swimming?

Image credit: Giorgio di Sant'Angelo, Swimsuit, 1978-1979, lycra, Gift of Mrs. Kelly Ellman; Unknown, Bathing Suit - Women's, 1930s, wool, Gift of T**i Halle; Unknown, Lady's bathing suit, 1906, cotton, piping (white), Gift of Mrs. Mona Mackley

🔥Fearlessly Functional Feline Fashion🔥

This , check out this puuurfect Japanese firefighter coat, depicting a fearsome scene of a growling tiger. The garment was previously featured in the exhibition Beauty and Function: Japanese Folk Art from the Mayro-Strelitz Collection.

During the Edo period (1615–1868), firefighters were highly respected in Japanese society due to their necessity in urban environments, where wooden buildings and crowded homes experienced frequent accidental fires. This reversible coat is a characteristic hikeshi-banten of the period that firefighters would have worn during their duties. As they fought fires, they would wear the plain side of the coat. After the fire was extinguished, they’d reverse the coat and wear the decorative side, symbolizing a successful outcome.

The above coat depicts a growling tiger, which could symbolize strength and fearlessness. It is an outstanding example of the concept of mingei, which was developed in 1920s Japan by philosophers and craftspeople to challenge the narrow definition of art and uplift the beauty of everyday objects created by average people.

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🔥 Don’t forget this is the last week to see the most current Asian installations and exhibitions: The Collection: Art of Asia and Princely States of the Punjab: Sikh Art and History before they close this Sunday, August 11! 🔥

Image credits: Installation views of Beauty and Function: Japanese Folk Art from the Mayro-Strelitz Collection, 2022, Phoenix Art Museum.

Work cited: ”Japanese Firemen’s Coats (19th century),” The Public Domain Review. https://publicdomainreview.org/collection/japanese-firemans-coats-19th-century/

Take a peek 👀 inside the PhxArt fashion collection, with this bathing suit that made a scandalous splash💧by leaving nothing to the imagination! This 1964 ”topless” design was created by American fashion designer Rudi Gernreich, modeled by actress Peggy Moffitt, and photographed by William Claxton. The wool swimsuit (YES, wool!) made waves due to its racy design that spoke to the sexual revolution of the 1960s 🌼

Did you know that as far back as the 1910s, wool was actually a very common and fashionable bathing suit material? The textile’s fiber density makes it highly water repellent, and its use for swimwear only became less common when synthetic woven fibers became more widely available. 🐑

Image credit: Peggy Moffitt modeling the topless swim suit designed by Rudi Gernreich, 1964. Photograph © William Claxton, LLC, courtesy of Demont Photo Management & Fahey/Klein Gallery Los Angeles, with permission of the Rudi Gernreich trademark; Rudi Gernreich, Black wool "topless" bathing suit, wool, Gift of Kelly Ellman.

The historical uniform of the matador is like no other, almost instantly recognizable as the “Spanish bullfighting costume.” Originating from the 18th century, the ensemble--known officially as el traje de luces (“suit of lights“)--features brilliant gold detailing. In fact, there can often be 12 miles of gold thread embroidered into an individual suit.

Worn by toreros, or Spanish bullfighters, the hand-sewn garment is made using traditional techniques passed down through generations within a family business. As many as 50 people can work on one suit for several months, requiring skilled and frequent fittings with the torero to perfect the fit of the garment, which is expertly stitched through seven layers of fabric that help protect from a bull’s puncturing horns. Today, very few people in Spain specialize in crafting the ensemble.

Originally, the design for los trajes de luces was greatly influenced by traditional attire worn by members of the Spanish lower class. They were often adorned with galos de platas, a similar design to military badges worn by nobles, to indicate the toreros’ status as hometown heroes.

The design of the “suit of lights” changed significantly when the Spanish artist Francisco de Goya created bullfighting-inspired works. In them, he formed an amalgamation of the suit design with styles from the French court. The design continued to evolve through the ages, and by the 19th century, silver thread replaced gold to denote bullfighters that were not at an elite level of fighting.

Even though bullfighting is viewed as highly controversial in modern society, the artistry of los trajes de luces still inspires haute couture designers to this day.

Check out the incredible opulence of the suit on view now in The Power of Pink exhibition through July 7! Learn more at: https://phxart.org/exhibition/pink/

Image credit: Installation view of The Power of Pink, 2024. Phoenix Art Museum.