ROCKPORT — The Shalin Liu Performance Center dialed up a new interpretation of "performance" Thursday, when organizers featured a clothing-and-crafts exhibit, followed by an evening fashion show and a cocktail party.
Visitors arriving from noon through 8 p.m. to observe colorful new fashions in summerwear and, conversely, handsome vintage dresses from more than a century ago. Models were imported for the formal fashion show at 7 p.m. in the center, and a cocktail party followed.
The production, dubbed "Barefoot at Rockport, A Day-long Celebration as Fashion as Art." The event, the first of its kind here, appeared to bring new faces and additional energy to the year-old musical venue.
"We wanted to have a program that would bring new people into the buildings, and have designers and craftspeople here who might be helpful to each other," said Corina Belle-Isle, an entrepreneur who orchestrated Barefoot at Rockport.
Belle-Isle is a resident of Wellesley, and, in the past year, has been in Rockport helping with the creation of the Eugene Quinn Studio Gallery here.
Her event was broken into four sessions.
From noon until 4 p.m., craftspeople and clothes designers displayed their wares on the third floor of the performance center.
From 2 p.m. to 4 p.m., there was a "summer whites fashion show" at the Rockport Art Association.
A key organizer of this segment was Pamela Bynum, a volunteer and a patron at the performance center who provided close to a dozen vintage dresses for young women to model in the association's building.
This part of the day was dubbed Project Dress, and visitors could bid on handsome white vintage gowns, with a portion of the proceeds scheduled to benefit the Art Association and Rockport Music.
Bynum said she buys vintage dresses off eBay, and cleans and restores them.
"This is a fun event that brings people together, and in this case, shows visitors what some of the women's wear of a century ago looked like," said Bynum, who was attired in a handsome period dress and snappy straw hat.
"Women of a century ago had wonderful outfits and accessories, and some of them are shown here today," she said.
Model Katharine Worth, for instance, wore a maternity garment from 1861. She is expecting early this fall.
"When they asked (weeks ago) if I would considering modeling, I mentioned that I was expecting," she said. "It worked out well, because they had this dress for me from many years ago."
The Dress Project exhibit was a collaboration between Virginia Fitzgerald of the Dress Project and Eugene Quinn of the Eugene Quinn Studio.
The evening fashion show was broken into themes that included the following in the first segment: The Boys and Girls of Summer, Bobby's from Boston, a contemporary look at vintage; Good Morning Sunshine, Alan Rouleau Couturier, women in Alan's custom shirts; Day Trippers, Bolivia Trading Post, men and women's casual wear; and The Girl Next Door, Jennifer Reale, summer dresses and separates.
The second half included Night Swimming, Daniela Corte, bathing suits and summer dresses; Jonathan Joseph Peters with Jewelry by Alexa Cache, women's clothing; Garden Party, Bobby's from Boston, contemporary vintage; and Dance with Me, Fiandaca, evening couture.
Several merchants said that the all-day event was a noble first effort for a new kind of entertainment at the center.
"It's good for me to be here, because I can meet people and spread the word of what I have to offer." said Gwendolyn Gleason, who creates evening, formal attire and bridal dresses and gowns.
Renata Fryshara, who offered contemporary art and jewelry on the third floor of the center, remarked, "It's the first year, and people mostly are just looking at this moment.
"I have a gallery in town," she noted, "and maybe the people who come in here will find their way sometime into the store."
Dyke Hendrickson can be reached at 978-283-7000, x3451, or a dhendrickson@gloucestertimes.com.
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