Cinematic Couture at Somerset Mall: A serendipitous visit reunites us with Jane Austen costumes (and more!)

A bit of "serindipi-tea" brought us to another great costume exhibit at Somerset Mall

With less than a fortnight before we leave on our own Jane Austen adventure across the pond, we connected once again with costumes from the screen adaptions of "Pride and Prejudice" and "Emma" as we had over a decade ago at Somerset Mall. Although this wasn't a planned outing, and I was without my daughter and BTS Marketing and Ops Manager, Rachel, it was a worthwhile experience to take in this exhibit featuring over forty costumes, spanning forty years, of period dramas.  And, while Jane Austen films are well represented, they aren't the only ones featured in the "Cinematic Couture" collection.

Gwyneth Paltrow's Emma  (left)

Anna Taylor Joy's Emma

In a serendipitous adventure, or as we at BTS prefer to call it, "a bit of serendipi-tea", I had a regularly scheduled hair appointment this weekend with my favorite stylist, Mari, at the third floor salon in Somerset. While adding a bit of color to a few grey tresses, Mari asked if I had seen the costume display on the first floor.  I hadn't - at least this year. In fact, it was so long ago that I wasn't in need of Mari's color magic.

Barb next to Mr. Darcy's coat

Rachel points to Kiera Knightly's "The Duchess"

In 2010, Rachel and I planned a trip to Somerset Mall to see another costume display, this time, the focus was on wedding dresses from period movies  (see our blog: And the Oscar for the best Austen bride goes to. . .).  While the highlight for me was having such close proximity to Mr. Darcy's jacket, worn by the handsome figure of Colin Firth, what struck us both was the very petite sizes of most of the dresses. 

 "The Duchess" costumes - another Kiera Knightly dress in current exhibit

While there is no suit coat of the quintessential Mr. Darcy in the current display, there are still many gowns worn by women portraying Austen's leading ladies. Viewers can compare the dresses worn by both Gwyneth Paltrow as well as Anna Taylor-Joy's in their respective portrayals of "Emma".

The outfit of another imposing Austen character, Lady Catherine de Bourgh, is also featured. Worn by Judi Dench in the 2005 version of Pride and Prejudice, the director, Joe Wright, as noted in the exhibit, worked with costume designer, Jaqueline Durran, to adjust the fashions to a slightly earlier era than the novel's publication date of 1813. Wright found the empire style "very ugly", so looked to the time Austen finished her first draft, 1797.  At that time, the waist was lower and closer fitting which Wright found much more attractive. 

Bette Davis' dress (far right) from "Death on the Nile" (1978) is one of the oldest costumes on display.

And, while there are no gowns of Kiera Knightly as Elizabeth Bennet in the same 2005 "Pride and Prejudice", she is not forgotten. Two different dresses worn by Knightly in "The Duchess" were on view:  one in the 2010 exhibit and another in the current display.

Other period films in "Cinematic Couture" range from as far back as 1978's "Death on the Nile" (dresses of both Bette Davis and Angela Lansbury) to as recent as 2021's "The Electric Life of Louis Wain" (costume of "The Crown" actress, Clair Foy).

A recent add to the collection, dress worn by Claire Foy in "The Electric Life of Louis Wain" 

Kate Millea,  General Manager of The Somerset Collection, quoted in The Detroit Free Press (Julie Hinds/September 12) referred to "Cinematic Couture" as "reatailtainment", a mix of retail and entertainment.  The exhibit comes from Cosprop, a renowned London costume house, which was also responsible for previous displays at Somerset, including the bridal dresses Rachel and I viewed in 2010.

The Free Press article notes that with the popularity of recent blockbusters, "Oppenheimer" and "Barbie", there's a renewed excitement about going to the movies. It's a great time to connect with the costumes that contribute almost as much to the story as the writers and actors.

With that in mind, I'm thinking, could there a be a Barbie fashions experience on the horizon? If so, I'll surely plan to attend in advance - leaving less to serendipity and, surely, much more to Mari. 

The Cinimatic Couture on display at Somerset until October 1

Cinematic Couture  is currently on display at The Somerset Collection's North Grand Court and runs until October, 1, 2023.

It's Shark Week at BTS: Review of Broadway's 'The Shark is Broken'

The set of "The Shark is Broken" on its opening night on Broadway

It's shark week, my friends, at BTS.

Like Discovery Channel's shark-themed week in July, we at Barb's Tea Service are carving up some time this month to devote to this amazing big fish. Our inspiration:   "The Shark is Broken",  a play we saw on its opening night on Broadway last month.

Accompanied by our NY family, getting ready to see the story of behind-the-scenes of "Jaws"

"The Shark is Broken" is based on the experience of the three main actors - Roy Scheider, Richard Dreyfuss and Robert Shaw - during the filming of "Jaws". Stuck daily for hours, over a span of nine weeks-plus, on a boat just off the shores of Martha's Vineyard, the three men battle fatigue, egos, boredom and each other while they wait for the big star of the movie, the mechanical shark, to be repaired. It's also a story about the bonds of father and sons: the sometimes-complicated relationship between grand expectations and being all too human. And, Ian Shaw, the play's co-author and featured actor, knows that story intimately. He's the son and striking look-alike of English actor/writer Robert Shaw.  

Celebrating BTS Shark Week with Shark is Broken souvenirs and shark steeper

An experience familiar to many fellow Boomers, I encountered "Jaws" in high school, first the Peter Benchley novel and, soon after, Spielberg's blockbuster movie adaptation.  Incredibly, almost fifty years later, it continues to play a major role in pop culture. When we hear someone hum the familiar opening back-and-forth notes of John William's movie score, we know trouble is brewing.

It also gave us the perfect phrase for when we've underestimated a project.

So, to get a  "peek behind the curtain" is a real treat for those of us who know the movie. "The Shark is Broken" tells us that, perhaps, the biggest drama of "Jaws" took place off-screen. 

And, now to tea. My plan was to steep some newly gifted tea in my recently purchased shark-shaped steeper. Alas, today I require more of the tea blend than originally thought.

I'm gonna need a bigger teapot.

 

One of the finest museums I've ever MET: New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art is filled with treasures - Egyptian artifacts, Frank Lloyd Wright designs, Gilded Age-everything and Teapots!

Teapot exhibit in the British Gallery of the Met (my happy place)

New York is filled with many fine museums and, although I've been to several - and some a few times over - in my HMHO,  the ultimate is The Metropolitan Museum of Art, aka "The Met". It has several floors filled with paintings, ancient artifacts, period rooms, Gilded Age everything and, in the BTS world, the ultimate:  a grand teapot exhibit.

When we last visited The Met a few years ago, I headed straight for the American Wing which houses not only portraits of the Gilded Age, but actual rooms and furniture from that era. En route to the Worhsam-Rockefeller Dressing Room (from a home built on New York's West 54th Street in 1850), I admired some of the furnishings from another great Gilded Age titan, William K. Vanderbilt.

William H. Vanderbilt's desk

Rockfeller dressing room 

This summer's visit, accompanied by husband, Chris, our son, Matt, and his partner, Jenna, we hit some of the family's favorites, including the Egyptian Exhibit, the Frank Lloyd Wright room and the British Gallery. The former is where Chris walked like, yes, an Egyptian and the latter is the home to the multitude of teapots on display. 

Chris, in the Egyptian Exhibit, walking like, yes, an Egyptian

According to The Met's website, the museum, a creation of several influential Americans including lawyer John Jay, opened in 1870 at its first Manhattan location. That same year, the museum acquired its first object, a Roman sarcophagus, and added 174 European paintings.

The Met's Egyptian collection is the largest outside of Cairo

After a brief move to another location, The Met finally settled in at its current location on Fifth Avenue and 82nd Street. Since then, both its collections and its structure have expanded. While adding to its vast assortment of paintings and ancient artifacts (its Egyptian collection contains 26,000 objects, the largest assemblage of Egyptian art outside of Cairo), it's added wings and updates. The Beau Arts facade and great hall, unveiled in 1902, were designed by grand architect of the Gilded Age and museum trustee, Richard Morris Hunt. (Biltmore and Marble House were just two of the homes he designed).

Staircase by Stanford White, Gilded Age architect and now featured in HBO's  The Gilded Age

Stanford White, another famous Gilded Age architect and now featured in the HBO series, The Gilded Age, is also represented at The Met.  His firm's work is showcased in the stair hall from the stately Buffalo home of Erzella Stetson Metcalfe.  White was the lead designer and the staircase, with its carved oak and cherry woodwork, per The Met, "reveal his genius for intermingling disparate decorative sources into a coherent whole".  (Just as I suspected!).

Matt and Jenna in the living room designed by Frank Lloyd Wright

However, Gilded Age architects aren't the only ones on display at The Met. Frank Lloyd Wright, a favorite of Matt and Jenna's, also gets his due. Quite different from the ornate and ostentatious designers of the late 19th century, Wright's work emphasized simplicity and natural beauty, embodied in the "Prairie Style". The Frank Lloyd Wright living room at The Met was once part of a Minnesota summer home. As noted by The Met, the windows were a point of contention between architect and client. A compromise was met; a little less intricate leaded glass in the lower panes to allow for better lake views. (I don't think there'd be a wrong answer, only "Wright" ones 😜)

Van Gogh's Cyprus, current exhibit at The Met

And, bonus, a special Van Gogh exhibit was taking place while we were there: Van Gogh's Cyprus. Our second special VG immersion in the span of a year. 

Chippendale tea table in the British Gallery

But, back to that British Exhibit filled with teapots. The assembled items and art span the time between 16th and 20th centuries. There are Chippendale tea tables to be viewed along with Georgian goblets, Wedgwood jasperware and teapots made of silver, pewter and porcelain, in all sizes and shapes. A happy place to be, indeed.

Part of the teapot collection

Jasperware at The Met

So many tea things and references. These fascinating items will be subjects for future blogs. In the meantime, I'll be enjoying a souvenir from this amazing museum:  The Met's own "Taste of British History" tea blend from Harney & Sons. While my husband may be walking like an Egyptian, I'll be drinking like a Brit while remembering my delightful visit to The Met.

Super blue moon was super, but not blue. Adagio's Bella Luna tea is super and blue!

Viewing the super blue moon 

This week, we enjoyed two rare, but super events:  a super blue moon and Adagio's super blue tea, Bella Luna. We're savoring these two experiences as we have a bit of a wait before we get a chance to see either again.

On August 30th, a super blue moon could be viewed in the dark sky. A "super moon" (according to NASA) occurs when the Moon, in its orbit, is closest to the Earth and is a "full moon".  As we noted back in our blog from August of 2021, (Adagio's Bella Luna Blue tea comes once in a blue moon) a "blue moon", in its most popular definition, takes place when there are two full moons in one month. So, to have a super blue moon is quite extraordinary. Here at BTS, we celebrated with a late evening walk and a cup of Adagio's Bella Luna Blue Tea.

Adagio's Bella Luna only available on blue moons

Bella Luan tea is super and blue!

The next super blue moon won't be back until 2037, but the next "full moon", per its other definition, will be back August of next year. That will be a "seasonal blue moon", meaning four full moons in an astrological season. 

And, as we called out in the August 2021 blog, Adagio Bella Blue tea is only sold during a blue moon, so while it won't be available until next summer, the good news is, we won't be on hold for another decade-plus.

Chris sets up telescopes at last sky viewing event in Michigan

In between this week's super blue moon and next August's blue moon, there's another exciting sky adventure happening:  the solar eclipse. Conveniently occurring near 2/3 of the BTS team's shared birthday, the date of the eclipse is April 8th. The stars have further aligned so that the entire BTS team (Barb, Rachel and Pam), along with spouses and telescopes, will be traveling to a location in Ohio in the path of the eclipse for optimum viewing. Perhaps, we'll celebrate with both tea and cake!

This year, my husband, Chris, signed us up to a local astronomy club to learn more about the night skies and our two telescopes. Our latest adventure was a camp-out weekend this month at a dark sky area in the thumb of Michigan.  We're on the start of our learning curve, but in between classes, we were treated to some pretty spectacular views of the moon and stars.  Stay tuned to more on the lune!