Wealthy Women's Frocks at the deYoung Museum

The Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco occasionally program fashion exhibits that have ranged from the spectacular (Guo Pei at the Legion) to the embarrassing (Nan Kempner: American Chic at the deYoung). Fashioning San Francisco is the latest entry, a look at haute couture outfits worn by Bay Area society women over the last century which have been donated or lent to the museum, and it's surprisingly delightful.

The exhibit is in the strangely configured, zigzag space on the museum's top level, which has been softened with floor to ceiling drapery. The opening pieces are from early in the 20th century when French designers were de rigeur for an American society woman at a fancy function. Pictured is the 1924 Evening Dress by Jeanne Lanvin (1867-1946), worn by Barbara Donohoe Jostes (1898-1993), an Atherton matron.

The clothes from this period are a reminder that Americans tended to be shorter and thinner 100 years ago. Pictured are two pieces by Jean Patou (1887-1936): the Afternoon Dress worn by Imogen Abbott Mendoza (1894-1949) and the 1932 Evening Dress worn by Barbara Donohoe Jostes (1898-1993).

This small section of gowns takes one back to the Jazz Age faster than anythng short of the actual music of the time. Pictured is the 1927 Evening Ensemble: Dress and Slip by Louise Boulanger (1878-1950), worn by Ethel Harriman Russell.

They are also just plain gorgeous. Pictured is the 1916 Evening Dress by Callot Soeurs (four 19th century sisters who opened their own fashion house), worn by Ethel W. Sperry Crocker (1861-1934), the grande dame of San Francisco society in her time.

The bulk of the exhibit focuses on more contemporary ensembles, and the display throughout is well-designed and witty.

Half the fun of attending the show is watching the attendees discussing their favorites with friends along with a dollop of gossip about their previous owners.

Christine Suppes is a 70-year-old Palo Alto writer who has been collecting fashion like others collect paintings, and this exhibit is filled with many of her treasures, which she has donated to the museum. Pictured is the 1994 Evening Dress by John Galliano (b. 1960), worn by Christine Suppes.

The Japanese designer Junya Watanabe (b. 1961) from Comme des Garçons is featured with two pieces: the 2015 Jacket, worn by Norah Stone (1938-2019) and the 2008 Coat worn by Georgette "Dodie" Rosekrans (1919-2010).

Society doyenne Rosenkrans, according to an amusing obituary in Harpers Bazaar (click here), was something of a madcap. The article begins: "It's hard to get noticed at the restaurant Le Voltaire in Paris. But for the late San Francisco doyenne Dodie Rosekrans, it was as simple as child's play and just as fun. One instance among many: an evening in the late 1990s when she swept in on the arm of her devoted husband, John, wearing an explosion of feathers that nearly swallowed up her tiny five-foot frame. It was a couture creation aptly dubbed the Firebird by its designer, Jean Paul Gaultier. "People were climbing on banquettes to get a better look," says friend and decorator Hutton Wilkinson. "Of course, I have no idea how she ate, since the feathers stuck out eight inches past her fingers." The obituary ends with: "What Rosekrans will be remembered for most is her sense of adventure. There was little she refused to do, except wear vintage, even from her own sensational archive. "If an old lady shows up in old clothes," she once said, "she just looks old."

Another name that might be familiar is Joan Quigley, a Pacific Heights Junior League socialite who became infamous when it was publicly revealed that she was Nancy Reagan's astrologer guiding all White House scheduling after an assassination attempt on the president. After she was unceremoniously dumped and demeaned by Nancy, she wrote a book called What Does Joan Say?. It's a real possibility that the right-wing Republican astrologer may have singlehandedly brought about the end of the Cold War when she read Gorbachev's astrological chart and advised Nancy that her husband should stop calling Russia "the evil empire" and instead start talking to the smart, empathetic Russian leader. Pictured is the 1977 Evening Ensemble: Blouse and Skirt by Yves Saint Laurent (1936-2008), worn by Joan Quigley (1927-2014)

One of the more glamorous San Francisco socialites over the decades has been Denise Hale. In a 2022 article titled The Last Empress, David Downton writes: "The only woman I fear in America is Denise Hale,” said Andy Warhol. He had a point. San Francisco’s reigning social empress is known for her “deadly Serbian memory” and whiplash opinions. “With me it’s simple; I do or I don’t like you,” she says. If she does, doors spring open, connections are made, and mountains moved. If not, you might want to try Milwaukee." Pictured is the 1991 Evening Ensemble: Top, Skirt and Stole by Gianfranco Ferre (1944-2007), worn by Denise Hale for her 20th wedding anniversary, a custom design and gift from the designer.

The first internationally famous Russian supermodel Tatiana Sorokko (b. 1971) lives in the Bay Area and is represented by the 2007 Ensemble: Infanta Gown and Cape by Ralph Rucci (b. 1957), worn to the 2007 San Francisco Symphony Opening Night. She has been quoted thus: "Style is inborn. Fashion you can learn. Fashion is all around. It is fleeting. It goes by. Style is your core and soul. You have it or you don't. You can educate yourself as much as you want, but I don't think you can truly possess it if you didn't have it from the beginning." As somebody who was not born with that particular gene, I agree completely.