Sandra Stillwell Goes to New Orleans, Pt. 4

One tour down, two to go! Today we start at The Presbytère Museum on Jackson Square. As you enter, you can see Fats Domino's piano, which was rescued from his house after Katrina.



There were also vintage gowns and costumes:



Vintage Mardi Gras "jewels," like this crown from 1933:



I really enjoyed seeing the vintage costume sketches by the talented Helen Clark Warren:





Outside in Jackson Square, you just never know what you might see:





Last tour of the day was of the 1850 House Museum; my favorite part was the staircase.



Gorgeous interiors!



Of course, the fun is all in noticing the details:



Friday dinner was titled "The San nicholas Touch," featuring fashions inspired by San nicholas. Here's a shot of the centerpiece, "The Captain's Wife":



Available for pre-order were Beignets and Coffee:



Lady of the House:



and Private Supper:



Sandra with Louisiana State Museum curator Wayne Phillips, who gave a fantastic talk about San nicolas.



Wayne at the Podium, talking about San nicholas, who went by "San":



A few of San's sketches:





I don't even want to know what San had underneath his costume here!



The best part of the Convention was making new friends that have the same crazy interests! Here are Darin and Larry from Houston:



The Centerpiece for the movie, Elvis' "King Creole," was "Hard Headed Woman" sporting an Illyria wig. She looked very much like Carolyn Jones from the film!



The appropriately themed paper miniatures that were at almost every meal were astounding!



Still more to come!

See more Sandra Stillwell Belle of New Orleans Convention photos at my website.

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Sandra Stillwell Goes to New Orleans, Pt. 3

Sorry for the delay between installments...I am still processing the thousands of photos I shot in New Orleans; yikes! It is now Friday breakfast, titled "Spanish Influence." The centerpiece was two color variations of "The Crystal Ball."



Influenced by a Cristobal Balenciaga design (get the clever meaning of the title?), these outfits displayed a high level of craftsmanship. The Ilaria wig cap was icing on the cake.



The other outfits available for purchase/pre-order greeted guests as they entered the ballroom:



Castillo in Tweed was a favorite of mine:



Designer supreme George Sarofeen is shown posing Capricho:



My studio shot of the same doll:



Encanto was another favorite, modeled by Ivy:



Attendees received Grand Via in blue:



Most of the outfits seen here are available on Sandra's website for purchase.

Dinner at Antoine's moved to the diorama where she expertly posed on the balcony:



Those who braved the humidity from the ballroom balcony were afforded this view of the St. Louis Cathedral in nearby Jackson Square:



A few other shots of attendees, including this one of Jennifer from Pennsylvania on the left and Rosanne Gillis on the right. I so enjoyed getting to know Jennifer and talking about future plans to visit the Barnes museum in Philly together.



Wayne Nilson, Diane Wagner, and Bennett Mazor. They were a trio of evil when it came to enabling room sales! As if Sandra's fashions weren't bad enough!



As you can see here, everyone was loving Sandra's creations. Wallets and pocketbooks were buzzing.



After breakfast, the touring began. Our group started at the Louisiana State Museum on Chartres Street:



Led by curator Wayne Phillips, we were given a peek into the costume archives. What an amazing opportunity.



Costumes, couture...plenty to take a gander at!



It was fascinating to see the vintage inspirations for some of Sandra's designs...in person!



LOVE the vintage labels!









The vintage sketches that preceded the costumes are works of art:



Robert Yoder captured me taking photos:



...and the resulting image:



He also got one of me with Sandra; probably the only shot of me at the Convention to prove I was there. Thanks for sending to me, Robert!



Next up: A tour of The The Presbytère!

See more Sandra Stillwell Belle of New Orleans Convention photos at my website.

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Sandra Stillwell Goes to New Orleans, Pt. 2

Thursday night was the opening reception, titled "Under the Spell of New Orleans," which included an appetizer/dessert reception. The centerpiece featured Gene Marshall wearing "Dinner at Antoine's." Despite its simplicity, it was probably one of my favorite outfits. I was fortunate enough that my tablemates allowed me to purchase this one.



The inspiration for it was this photograph from Town and Country Magazine, circa 1958.



And yes, Antoine's Restaurant is still around!



Michael presented Sandra with a beautiful floral tribute:



Michael makes the events so much more fun with the games that he hosts from the podium. You can also tell he gets a kick out of doing the daily reveal under the large box:



"Under Her Spell" was an amazing tribute to the Voodoo culture in New Orleans, and specifically modeled after a costume Angela Bassett wore as Marie Laveau in "American Horror Story Coven."



How about a closer look?



Also available for purchase were Krewe Member:



Blithe Spirit:



Tableau in three colors:



and finally New Orleans Carnival:



All are available on Sandra's website for purchase.

This INCREDIBLE diorama was available that night for the guests who had brought dressed dolls. It made an amazing photo opportunity!





To wrap this post up, how about a few shots of those who attended?











And a sneak peak for my next installment:



MUCH more to come!

See more Sandra Stillwell Belle of New Orleans Convention photos at my website.

Follow my Gene Marshall, Madra Lord, Zita Charles, Violet Waters, Trent Osborn, Poppy Parker, and other classic movie star doll updates on Twitter.