PREFACE

The inspiration of garment design from historical account has not been short and few in the influence and concept of conceiving and designing the numerous lines in the Funhouse Collections.

For instance, imagine you are looking through the window of time seeing the original Shakespearean enactments at the Rose Theatre in the Elizabethan age, or the decadence and lust of the masked bails in picturesque Venice. Well, could you imagine Marie Antoinette at Versailles, daydreaming times for the couturiers to interpret, or the coronation of Napoleon and Josephine in their rainments all weighted down heavily with gems and jewels? And, of course, one cannot forget the elaborate dress of the Florentine aristocracy in the Renaissance and last but not least those Lords and Ladies of the Tudor Court of Hampton Palace.

Hollywood's approach and inspiration from historical events has been evident, as well, and the end products have been magnificent and monumental, almost shadowing other movies from contemporary times about insignificant and shallow subjects. Directors, producers, script writers and set designers deserve great credit when a germ of an idea, or some documented far fetched incident that happened several centuries ago, are able to bring their world into ours today in movies and films such as the allegory in Gormenghast, or the world of fashion, hairstyles and Mozart in Amadeus, slices of life from the Renaissance and the 16th century in Elizabeth and Everafter, or the lush and grandeur in Orlando and Valmont. The path to the Carpathian mountains and the petrified peasant villagers of Transyvania and virgin brides scantly claded in flowing white satin and chiffon gowns in Bram Stoker's Dracula. What about the richness of color and costumes in Restoration, Queen Margot or England in Shakespeare's time in Shakespeare in Love or maybe 15th century France in the times of Joan of Arc in The Messenger or the intrigue, desire and mystery from the late 18th century in Affair of the Necklace? In The Three Musketeers the very well execution of humor and betrayal, the history and suspense, and the romance and lavish sets and outfits, or in Ridicule where wit is the ultimate weapon as found by a simple country aristocrat in the court of Louis XVI and let's not forget Quills where the seductive Marquis deSade banished to a Parisian asylum in seclusion writing, ranting and raving his spicy sexy poetry.

The wealth and richness of these fashions not only lend inspiration but still have an incredible impact and a thirst of appreciation for its beauty, artistry and finery of these period costume pieces and like wine these historical artifacts keep getting better and more cherished with time.

From gothic to romantic,
From Bohemian to Victorian,
From mythical to mystical,
From misalliance to Renaissance,
From comic to historic,
From Venetian to Catalonian,
From fantastical to theatrical,
From zodiac to elegiac,
From knights to maidens and gods
to goddesses
do not always dress in pure white veils:
as every poem written and every poet stresses,
but rather all black down to the fingernails.
All the lords and ladies and gentlemen
And princesses.

From artisan to courtesan,
From carnival to medieval,
From fetish to clownish,
From Aesopian to Utopian,
From cavalier to buccaneer,
From gentility to nobility,
From troubadour to conquistador,
From Ionian to draconian,
From lavishing to ravishing,
From Byzantine to Halloween,
indeed the beautiful people only dress in black:
whether fast forward or flashback
everyday is like the day of Halloween.