When National Geographic approached Academy of Couture Art for an interview about famous parties past and present and what was worn, we could not think of anyone better than our very own Costume History professor Douglas SPESERT.
At Academy of Couture Art, we go much more in-depth on costume. We break it down into three quarters and take it to the next level in the bachelor years to haute couture garment and accessory analysis.
When it comes to famous parties past and present fashion is certainly in mind. For the National Geographic series, particular interest was on the woman that comes to a couture mind, Marie Antoinette.
Douglas SPESERT was thrilled. Questions of cost, make, and fabric were something quickly accessible. “I’ve been teaching this for years.”
“At that time, a typical dress that would be worn at a masked ball might be about 6500-8000 livres; about the cost of a Mercedes nowadays. The average tailor’s salary was only about 4 livres a month while the best paid seamstresses employed by other firms earned about 450 livres a year. You can see the astronomical costs for the materials and embellishments.”
“Connecting the past to present with a human character and contemplating the decisions behind everything are fascinating.”
Douglas SPESERT holds a Master of Fine Arts in Theater Arts from a UCLA and a Bachelor in History from UC Santa Cruz. His professional background spans a broad range of theatre, television, film, opera including costume design highlights with Showtime, HBO-Def Jam, Lionel Richie Production, Reebok, Don Giovanni (LA Opera).