No one but no one would give you the side eye if you were to don a purple-pastel Marie Antoinette-style wig and hoop skirt and walk down most any street in Los Angeles.
After all we don't bat a single eyelash, nor cast one judging look, when we see Iron Man or Charlie Chaplin walk down Hollywood Boulevard. Southern California is a city that holds costuming close to its look-at-me heart, and the Los Angeles Opera has long been at the forefront of that fashion-fun fabulousness.
So when the opera lines up rack after rack of harlequin-appropriate breeches, royal ruffs, courtier costumes, and other outfits worn by characters on the grand stage of the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, any SoCaler who leans dressy gets pretty dang jazzed. And dresser-uppers about town'll be plenty jazzed on Saturday, March 28 when the LA Opera Costume Shop hosts a moving sale.
Hmm. Maybe we don't mean "jazzed" so much as "aria'd." That works.
The shop, which is plum-full of plummage-y capes and dresses and bits and bobs, is leaving 330 S. Alameda Street, its "longtime home," and headed for another capacious space in the area. This means that you, dear devotee of theatre-ready togs, win. Well, you win if you make for the sale, which is on for but a day.
"Over 1,000 costumes on 90 racks" will roll out, so look for "handcrafted hats, uniquely designed shoes, numerous masks" and other accoutrements of an eye-catching nature. As for the prices? They start at two dollars, on the accessories table, and push towards $650 for "complete costumes."
And, yes, there is a Diva Rack, where the outfits worn by opera luminaries may be found, cooed over, and possibly purchased, if you have the diva-style dough.
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While a two-buck fashion find sounds fun, we do dream of strolling down Sepulveda or Beverly in a complete opera costume. Maybe not during a heat wave, but on a cool, foggy, June Gloom day? We'd consider it.
As would many a costume-loving SoCaler.
