Decorative Arts Center of Ohio, all photos by Matt Shiffler
Roll out the Red Carpet
Glamourous Hollywood garments are on display – some making their first public debut – at the Decorative Arts Center of Ohio’s exhibit, Distinctly Paramount: Fashion & Costume from the Paramount Pictures Archive.
By Matt Mitchell
Ageless Artistry
The Decorative Arts Center of Ohio, located in the Reese-Peters House in downtown Lancaster, showcases unique exhibitions by local and regional artists. The gallery walls are filled with eclectic celebrations of the past, present and future of art in design.
Start your visit in the lower gallery by admiring mood boards dedicated to specific cultural aesthetics and smaller collections on display, like artifacts from the Academy Award-winning film Rocketman. Then, explore more colorful treasures on the second floor in the Double Parlors and Rising Room. Finally, at the top of the spiral staircase you’ll find the main exhibition area, currently housing “Distinctly Paramount: Fashion & Costume from the Paramount Pictures Archive” — an exhibition dedicated to studio-created costumes and purchased fashions worn on-screen.
Start your visit in the lower gallery by admiring mood boards dedicated to specific cultural aesthetics and smaller collections on display, like artifacts from the Academy Award-winning film Rocketman. Then, explore more colorful treasures on the second floor in the Double Parlors and Rising Room. Finally, at the top of the spiral staircase you’ll find the main exhibition area, currently housing “Distinctly Paramount: Fashion & Costume from the Paramount Pictures Archive” — an exhibition dedicated to studio-created costumes and purchased fashions worn on-screen.
With pieces from films as new as Mission: Impossible — Fallout and Rocketman, some costumes on display are being featured to the public for the first time.
The Hollywood Effect
From June 5, 2021, through January 2, 2022, Hollywood costumes and fashion unearthed from the Paramount Pictures vault are ready to dazzle viewers. Sorted by color and then by pattern, each garment tells a unique story. Sketches and quotes from figureheads of the fashion industry, like Chanel’s Karl Lagerfeld and Dior namesake Christian Dior, decorate the walls, showcasing the creative process. iPads stationed at the entrance of each of the five rooms provide more information on select costumes and fashions.
Ready for Their Close-up
At every turn, there is couture designed by Valentino, Roberto Cavalli, Alexander McQueen and Nolan Miller. Pieces on display were worn by Hollywood stars of the past and present, like Ben Stiller, Allison Janney, Eva Gabor and Joan Collins — for films and television shows like Zoolander 2, The Man Who Knew Too Much and Dynasty.
Christina Applegate’s bold-patterned, multicolored day dress worn in Anchorman 2 is a collection standout. The polyester garment was designed by the famous Emilio Pucci. You’ll recognize Elton John’s signature style in the sequined polyester suit with satin lapels, designed by Julian Day and worn by Taron Egerton in Rocketman. Vanessa Kirby’s off-white, silk trench coat from Mission Impossible — Fallout was designed by Jeffrey Kurland and is one of two featured pieces worn by Kirby.
The highlights of the collection come from 8-time Academy Award-winning costume designer Edith Head. She made her name in Hollywood by collaborating with high-profile stars and directors, including creating Grace Kelly’s wardrobe in Alfred Hitchcock’s Rear Window. Head’s sketches adorn the walls of the exhibit, and copies of her Vogue magazines are on display alongside the white garments.
Make sure to note Martha Hyer’s patterned silk dress from Wives and Lovers, designed by Head in the middle of Hollywood’s Golden Age. Bob Mackie’s sketch of Eva Gabor’s dress from A New Kind of Love is featured on the poster for the exhibit.
In the Know
The collection was curated by former Lancaster resident and current Paramount Pictures Costumes and Prop Archivist Randall Thropp. Appearing throughout the exhibit on each room’s iPad, Thropp is your interactive virtual guide, giving museum-goers in-depth trivia about select garments.
In this exquisite collection, Thropp brings Paramount Pictures’ legacy in fashion and costume to the Midwest.
Before Thropp joined Paramount, he spent 17 years as a costume supervisor and design assistant — working on the HBO series Tales from the Crypt and Stephen King’s The Shining series on ABC. Thropp was also one of the original collaborators on the hit off-Broadway musical Tony n’ Tina’s Wedding.
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Each gallery displays distinct colors and patterns.
Save The Date: Take Part in the Magic
Participate in special programming throughout the run of the exhibit, including:
- Aug. 14, 12:30–3 p.m.:
- Sept. 18, 11:30 a.m.–1:00 p.m.:
- Oct. 2 or Oct. 3, 1–2:30 p.m.:
- Nov. 6, 12:30–3 p.m.:
- Opening Nov. 6:
House of History
Built in 1835 for William James Reese and his wife, Mary Elisabeth Sherman, the eldest sister of Civil War General William T. Sherman, the Reese-Peters House has long been known as the finest house in Lancaster. The “Mansion on Main Hill” is a stark amalgam of Federal and Grecian architecture — which resulted in an interior inspired by Minard Lafever’s Modern Builder’s Guide. The Rising Room on the second floor is named after former owners, Philip and Caroline Rising, and decorated in an Eastlake Style. Philip and Caroline’s grandson, Philip Rising Peters, left the house to be used for the community upon his passing in 1954, and it was restored to its original splendor in the late 1990s.
Learn about fashion’s impact on the world through significant copies of Vogue magazine.
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