A charming collection of ten antique-style dresses inspired by local, late 19th-century publications and whipped up by Guadalajara’s internationally-renowned designer of wedding attire, Alberto Rodriguez, is showing at downtown’s Casa Museo Lopez Portillo until April 26.
Rodriguez’s studio windows in the heart of Guadalajara’s “designer row” (Avenida Vallarta between Americas and Enrique Diaz de Leon) sparkle with eye candy and he is in great demand by local novias who can afford to have him design their wedding gowns.
Perhaps this is why he was selected to create the dresses for a new film “Leyendas del Panteón Belén” (“Legends of the Belén Cemetery)” – Guadalajara’s venerable burial spot.These film costumes make up the exhibition at Casa Museo Lopez Portillo, a graceful house turned museum that dates from the late 18th century. (The museum, incidentally, is just a few blocks from the Belén cemetery, which is now used mostly for historical and cultural activities and is currently closed, although one can admire its ornate gates and peek inside for a taste of the style within.)
Rodriguez designed the dresses by researching old magazines, photos and books, and tailored them for specific figures (mostly petite) and even for specific occasions. Placards detail if a dress was intended for a picnic, a house party, a dance, or a paseo (stroll). The delightful, light blue picnic dress is amusing to the modern sensibility that may find this level of formality at a picnic difficult to imagine.
All the dresses are just as pretty, if not prettier, from the back as from the front.
A lovely, plaid dress is said to be in the English style, while an ornate, black party dress was designed for a widow, their placards point out.
The film featuring Rodriguez’s creations, “Leyendas del Panteón Belén,” will be shown at Casa Museo Lopez Portillo at 6 p.m. Friday, March 21, with free entry. (Running time 1 1/2 hours.)
A few days later, designer Rodriguez, who is said to normally be a very private person, headlines a conference at Casa Museo Lopez Portillo, “Moda de Leyenda” (Style of Legends). 8 p.m., Thursday, March 27. Free entry.
Casa Museo Lopez Portillo, Liceo 177 between San Felipe and Juan Manuel. (33) 1201-8720. Open Tuesday to Saturday, 10 a.m.–5 p.m., Sunday 10 a.m.–3 p.m.
Alberto Rodriguez’s store is at 1300 Avenida Vallarta (3 blocks east of Chapultepec). Some ready-to-buy attire is on sale there without appointment.