By Madaline Sparks This weekend, in Austerlitz, New York, a passport is your ticket for a day of exploring costume, culture, and the art of hat making. And so much more it's hard to believe it's all happening in such a tiny radius. Nestled in eastern Columbia County, Austerlitz is a village of rural beauty consisting of farms, mountains, valleys, streams and small hamlets, including Spencertown. With an area of less than 50 square miles and a population of well under 2,000 residents, it is extraordinary that three cultural non-profit institutions reside there. Annually, these three organizations, the Edna St. Vincent Millay Society at Steepletop, the Austerlitz Historical Society and the Spencertown Academy Arts Center, collaborate on Intersection Austerlitz featuring a different theme each year to highlight their respective offerings. The umbrella theme this year is "Costume and Culture: Designs for Life." Exhibits, programs and demonstrations focusing on the innovation, practicality, and creativity found in fashion and fabrics from artistic, historical and literary points of view will be scheduled throughout the day.
Vintage feather trim.
The morning activities start in the art galleries at the Spencertown Academy, with an exhibit called Hats, Hats, and More Hats! Millinery designer Victoria DiNardo will display a collection of hat making materials and all the trimmings to show the step-by-step process of making a custom hat from raw materials to finished product. There will be a selection of vintage hats to try on plus a variety of her new hats for sale. She will also give a hands-on workshop on making hat trims and everyone can make your own head band/mini-fascinator, all materials supplied. Costumer Sarah Conly will be sharing her retrospective collection of millinery representing 30 years worth of operas produced at the Tanglewood Festival. Online entrepreneur Elizabeth Walters will display, and offer for sale, a large selection of her gorgeous vintage hat trims and feathers dating back to the 1900s.
The very fashionable Edna St. Vincent Millay.
On to Old Austerlitz, a few minutes away by car, where a gourmet box lunch is being served along with a program featuring Phyllis Chapman, who brings the story of noted American poet, abolitionist, and educator Lucy Larcom to life. Chapman illustrates and demonstrates the tasks involved in textile production, the development of mechanization, and the structure of a mill. There will also be demonstrations of the processing of flax into linen, wool carding and spinning, and exhibitions of wool and linen clothing, bedding, artifacts, hand-sewn miniature dresses, undergarments, and hats. Next up, everyone drives a few minutes up the road to Steepletop for an illustrated lecture: "Publicity, Celebrity, Fashion: Photographing Edna St. Vincent Millay." Sarah Parker, a Lecturer in English at Loughborough University in the UK, will speak about how Millay used fashion and photography to forge an iconic celebrity image. A reception will follow the lecture. Intersection Austerlitz Presents "Costume and Culture: Designs for LifeSaturday, Sept. 17 from 9 a.m. - 4:30 p.m Passport $35, lunch included. Children under 12 are free and a lunch may be ordered in advance for $6. Advance tickets are recommended in order to reserve a lunch. Day-of Passports will also be available at each venue; they include access to everything except boxed lunches.
