The Lockwood-Mathews Mansion Museum will host its annual Tea on Sunday, Nov. 13, 2 -4 p.m. titled, Fashion Influencers Across History: Social Tea. Co-chaired by LMMM Trustees Pam Murrin and Victoria Vandamm, this event will feature a luxurious whirlwind of delicious refreshments, a silent auction, a hat contest, and a fascinating talk by award-winning scholar and author Kathleen Craughwell-Varda. Doors will open at 1:30 p.m.
Ms. Varda will introduce attendees to American fashion icons and present-day influencers who have defined, now and through the centuries, American style. With no monarchy to emulate, Americans have long been drawn to women who possessed style, charisma, and grace. Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis possessed these qualities in abundance. This presentation titled, “Looking for Jackie: American Fashion Icons,” will provide an examination of American women who were the “Jackies” of their era, women who, since the 1800s, have had a similar impact on American fashion. The lecture will reveal how these women”™s distinctive personal styles captured the imagination of the American public and influenced popular fashion.
Kathleen Craughwell-Varda is a museum consultant in New York and Connecticut with more than 30 years of experience specializing in historic textiles. She earned an M.A. in costume history from New York University in conjunction with the Costume Institute of the Metropolitan Museum of Art. She lectures widely on costume and textile history and conservation and has written articles on women”™s history for several exhibition catalogues. Ms. Varda is currently the director of Conservation ConneCTion, a program based at the Connecticut State Library that focuses on preserving Connecticut”™s cultural collections by identifying and developing a statewide plan for collections care needs and providing learning opportunities for collecting institutions.
