Les Petites Dames de Mode

“LES PETITES DAMES DE MODE” (THE LITTLE LADIES OF FASHION) EXTENDED TO SPRING OF 2008 AT VENTFORT HALL

An extraordinary exhibit the likes of which the Berkshires has never seen, featuring 59 stunningly beautiful miniature “fashion models” that portray the history of women’s fashion from 1855 to 1914. John R. Burbidge, retired Senior Designer of the famed Priscilla of Boston, began the painstaking work of creating his 29-inch tall “ladies” almost 30 years ago, and each is a masterwork. The outfits, exquisite in every detail, are all completely original designs by Burbidge, who after extensive historical research imagined himself working as a designer in a bygone era.

“The popularity of our ‘Ladies’ has been quite overwhelming,” said Ventfort Hall’s Executive Director Jeffrey Folmer. “People have been flocking here from near and far, many sharing their awe and disbelief. Comments generally run somewhere between ‘do you realize what you have?’ to ‘this is worthy of any major museum in the world!”

A contract to extend the exhibit through the end of May, 2008 was signed today. John R. Burbidge, the 85-years young creator of the 59 “mini-masterpieces” on display commented, “This has been a match made in heaven – Ventfort Hall provides the perfect backdrop for my Ladies.” He wryly adds, “Mind you, they’re very particular, and won’t live in just any old mansion. They are at home in the Museum of the Gilded Age.”

The show’s 29-inch “fashion models” are almost half-life size, each one a meticulously-crafted masterwork. Collectively they portray the history of women’s fashion from 1855 to 1914 in a dazzling array.

Mr. Burbidge, Senior Designer (retired) for the famed bridal house of Priscilla of Boston, started his project in the 1970’s, and the exhibit represents the culmination of almost 30 years of research and exacting effort. A member of the Costume Societies of America and England, Burbidge was first inspired by an exhibit he visited as a World War II GI in Paris. He later visualized a series of historically-correct costumes on a group of “perfect little ladies,” reduced in scale, wherein one could enjoy in a sweeping glance the fashionable elegance of a time gone by. Amazingly, each outfit is an original design by Burbidge who after extensive study, imagined himself working as a designer of the period.

Lois Brown, a Lenox resident and long-time volunteer docent at the museum stressed that, “It’s hard to capture in photos or words what Mr. Burbidge has created. Everyone who sees it agrees; you simply have to ‘experience’it.”

Mr. Burbidge will also make two appearances at the “Weekend of the Gilded Age” Sept 14-16. He’ll be a special guest at the “Sarah Morgan Soiree” on Friday evening (hosted by Anita Heller) where he will provide personal tours of his exhibit, and he will also appear at the “Gilded Age Celebration” on Saturday the 15th along with two or three of his Victorian Ladies, appropriately attired of course.

Burbidge is the author of "Les Petites Dames de Mode: An Adventure in Design," published by Reverie, which is fully illustrated with his own photographs of his fashionably-dressed Little Ladies of the Victorian and Edwardian eras. The book is available in the Ventfort Hall museum shop.