With retro looks all the rage, Douglas E. J. Fredricks, a fashion historian and Palm Beach, Fla., socialite, will come to Portland this Friday to host a vintage fashion show and trunk sale at the Quimby Colony.
Fredricks owns the Groovy Palm Beach Vintage boutique and is frequently featured in the society pages of Palm Beach publications. His passion is mid-century designer looks for women.
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The show will present pieces from Fredricks’ permanent collection as well as a few items from his shop. Modeled by local artists, the fashions will highlight designer creativity from the 1960s to the early 1980s.
“I will feature the two great print designers of the 20th century: Emilio Pucci and Lily Pulitzer,” Fredricks said. “Those are my favorites.”
During the show, Fredricks will call particular attention to four periods in mid-century fashion design. These include the Camelot period in the early ’60s, the hippie era in the mid-’60s, the mod era in the late ’60s and the psychedelic era in the early ’70s.
“I’ve tried to pick iconic pieces that really tell the story of the moment” when they were created, he said.
For Fredricks, the appeal of mid- 20th-century design comes from its functionality in today’s society.
“Not only do I love it, but I feel it’s so street-worthy and so wearable today,” he said.
Fredricks comes to Maine because of his personal friendship with philanthropist and Burt’s Bees co-founder Roxanne Quimby, who owns a home in Palm Beach. Quimby’s most recent venture is the nonprofit Quimby Colony, which provides an artist-in-residence program for people involved in the culinary arts or fashion scene.
“Roxanne Quimby met him in Palm Beach because she’s interested in vintage couture and found that he has a wealth of knowledge,” said Danielle Smith Bruce, Quimby Colony’s development director.
The Quimby Colony, headquartered in the old Roma building on Congress Street, has one culinary and three fashion artists-in-residence.
Fredricks predicts that the runway will pop with color during the show.
“The mid-’60s through the 1970s saw an explosion of new man-made textiles, such as polyester, acrylic and rayon, which took color so well and so much better than natural fabrics,” Fredricks said. “That allowed for a tremendous palette.”
The show will feature about 20 pieces on the runway. After the show, a trunk sale will offer more than 100 pieces from Fredricks’ store priced from $50 to $150. The trunk sale continues on Saturday.
Bruce said tickets to the event are selling fast, and recommended those interested in attending reserve a seat in advance.
Those who attend just may leave with an old look that has become new again.
Staff Writer Avery Yale Kamila can be contacted at 791-6297 or at:
akamila@pressherald.com
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