The Headmistress: Suzanne Perron

21 April 2013

The Wedding Gowns

This is a follow up to the post last week on some of the gowns designed by New Orleanian Suzanne Perron.

She is a wonderful dressmaker, artist, designer who designs very high end gowns for Carnival Queens and maids, debutantes, and brides. Currently there is an exhibition of a dozen plus a few of the gowns at the LSU Museum of Art in Baton Rouge. If you live in the area, this is something not to be missed!
(While I was a little disappointed that the veils were not included, I have noticed that lately veils don't seem to be as prominent as they once were).

Suzanne Perron - Photo from the LSU Museum of Art

Her wonderful book, Designing in Ivory and White, takes a much closer look the construction of these gowns, and traces their development from sketch to muslin sample to the intricate handwork that provides the exquisite finish. It is a lovely, lovely book. Brides, Carnival queens, maids, and debutantes are featured.

The LSU Museum exhibit has three of the wedding gowns on display. I tried to get as many pictures as I could, even from the back, as the beautiful work doesn't just stop in the front! I hope you'll enjoy these!

Gown #!:

Gown #2:

This is the actual bride in the gown, a picture from the book.

Gown #3:

The exhibit also has a number of her sketches:

This was a fabulous exhibit! Thank you so much for enjoying it with me!

13 April 2013

Gowns Fit For Queens!

I don't know about you all, but I still love all things Queens and Princesses. Today, I spent a good part of the afternoon at the LSU Museum of Art in complete wonderment over the Suzanne Perron exhibit. Ms. Perron is a dressmaker, artist, designer extraordinaire who lives in New Orleans and designs gowns for debutantes, carnival queens and maids, as well as wedding gowns. Since I have no access to the grand carnival balls in New Orleans, I have only seen some of these gowns in the pages of (what's left of) the New Orleans paper. So, when this exhibit was announced, I knew I had to see it!

LSU Museum of Art

Preceding this exhibit, I purchased her book, Designing in Ivory and White, which gives a glimpse into the extraordinary work and detail that go into these gowns. Each is a work of art, and one can only wonder as to the fortune paid for each one!

I hope those of you who appreciate dressmaking and artistry (and queens, princesses and brides) will enjoy these photos. I took many, many more and it was difficult choosing which ones to include here!