HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Goderich Signal-Star, 1967-05-11, Page 13THE GODERICH SIGNAL STAR,,, THURSDAY, MAY 11, 1967
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FINISHING TOUCHES—Mr. Pequegnat, a professional theatrical cutter, adds' final touches to
maid •of honor Linda Blake's dress.
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By JOAN CARTER
Kitchener -Waterloo Record
When the organist struck up the
wedding march at Knox Presby.
terian Church April 22, bride.
groom David Pequegnat.didn�x.
have to look up the aisle to know.
right clo',vn to the very last thread
how „his bride Mary Blackstone,
would look.
For Mr. Pequegnat, a nativeof
Kitchener, not ' only saw his
bride's dress before the wed.
ding, ;rhe designed and made it.
But if tradition- took a beat.
ing, one 'must admit it was a
beautiful beating.
The wedding gown and those
. of the maid ,of- honor and two
bridesmaids were all authentic
1820's, ,
- And . not because this is Cen.
tennial Year, emphasized the 31.
year old designer •and'theatrical
cutter, who brought 10 years of
professional experience to bear
on the creations, but "because
we like the dress of the period
and it looks good on Mary."
His 23.year old bride, a native
Of Goderich and 4th year stud.
ent in' interior design and tex.
tiles at Macdonald Institute, Un.
iversity of Guelph; agreed.
"We studied the period to Beth.
er and discussed the design of
*the dress, selecting authentic de.
tails from the 1820.1830 period,"
she said. ,
"Then, we bought the fabric
together and David took over from
there. I was too busy writing
exams to do anything more than
appear for twice.a-week fittings."
But the bride, . didn't toss sup.
erstition entirely to the wind,
abiding by the customary "some.
thing old, something new, some.
thing borrowed, sbmeth:ngblue,"
for the ceremohy.
The old was a white ' hand.
kerchief, originally from Erig.r
land, which was given to her by
an aunt; the borrowed, a sec.
ret, and the blue, a large blue
sapphire ring surrounded by
small -diamonds, a "'wadding gift
—from hek husband.
Unlike most bridegrooms who
wander aimlessly around in
somewhat of a wide.eyed daze
as the bride.elect dashes hectic.
ally to and fro in preparation for
the big day, David Pequegnat had
no time for stupor. .'
Finding time to do gowns, es.
Designed
From the
pecially the way he wanted them,
in the midst of an already bus;
schedule was not easy. A' grad.
uate of the Traphagen School of .,
Fashion, New York, with top
honors, he is a theatrical cut-
ter with theStratfordShakespear.
can Festival Company.
The paiir left for Montreal
recently where Mr. Pequegnat
will co.ordinate costumes at
Place d' Arts at Expo and his
`wife will also be employed in
the wardrobe department.
The couple met in the summer
Of 1966 'when both were working
at Stratford.
Authentic in design, the gowns,
-atte also true to the craftsman-
ship of the period with the sew-
ing machine playing only a min.
ute role.
'.Typically 1820 were the very
high empire waists, p rftsleeyes,..
banding and decoration within the
banding.
• Silk georgette with an emVDroid.
ered dot over silk pongee made
up the body of the weddingdress,
with silk georgette over pure
silk taffeta for the five-foot train,
all hand.beaded with ,thousands of
pearls and crystal seed beads.
. Banding around the train grew
from a-one.inch width at the waist
to five inches at the bottom with
the handmade flowers and leaves
contained inside 'it also grow-
ing gradually larger. The same
banding and flower appear around
the bottom of the dress..
A stylized headband, of the
same me.terial and with each em.
broidered dot centred by a small
cluster of pearls, matched the
train. ,
Such modern.day inve Along ;:.s
zippers were ignored. Instead,
dozens of hooks and eyes..were
used. at the back, with the sleeves,
tight to the wrist, each fastened
by 12 small pearls and embroid.
ered loops.
The whole ensemble featureda
marrying together of whites and
off-whites. .
Attendants' dresses were along
similar lines with colors be.
com:ng .;Increasingly softer and
detail greater as the eye moved
_._..frorn_uthe...,out,sidei bridesmaid too
ward to central figure, thebride.
The two bridesmaids' dresses
had no sleeves,' the maid of hon.
oris had puffs, and the bride's
both puffs and long sleeves.
The off.tones in the dresses,'
whipti came out a soft blue, pink
GOING -AWAY ,FINERY—Mr. Pequegnat in double-breasted Car""din original and wife in suit
he rnadc for her leave wedding reception.
• and citron, were derived frotn a
combination of four colors and •
fabrics. Even the leaves on the
dresses became progressively
paler shades of green as- they
neared the -bride.
All carried crocheted flower
blooms from which trailed pieces
of ivy, intended to represent the
stamens of the flower,
- As guests and wedding party en-
tered the church body they pass.
ed under a seven -foot high and
seven -foot wide arbor of real
roses, again, the craftsmanship
of the bridegroom.
And David Pequegnat didn't
stop there. He alsok made his
bride a four -piece green going.
away suit of raiv India 'silk and
a perky hat, which matched per.
fectly his original Pierre Cardin*
deuble.breasted suit. For the
wedding ceremony;' h'eand his att.
endants wore tuxedos.
"If you are going to deviate
from" corivention you have to have
an experienzed person do it,"
advised the bridegroom, who has
designed and made six previous
wedding ensembles . for brides
ranging in age film 16 to 60.
"You've got to know wnat you're
doing to tamper with something
as traditional as a wedding
dress." •,
• Neither has mach use for. cur.
rent way-out mod wedding styles.
"They're usually so'',very "ex.
treme and often ugly," said the
bride, who is a d4aughter of Mr.
and Mrs. Harold Craig Black-
stone of Goderich,
' A son of Mrs. H. G. Peque.
gnat f of 225 Frederick St., Kit-
chener, °David was a winner of
the 1962 Tyrone Gii.hrie Award
for his work in the wardrobe
department ofStratfor4 follow.ng
which he spent a year •abroad
studying costume cutting mid de-
sign in theatre centres of Europe.
Rev. G. L. Royal officiated at
the ceremony. Maid of honorwas
Linda Blake ofKitchener. Brides-
maids were Judy I3eamish of Tor.
onto, and Susan Matthewman of
Pori, ,Credit.
dw,ard (Ted) Duncan of Hal.
ib Anon was best man. Ushers
were William B'ackstofie of Hous.
ton, Texas; °atrother of the bride,
David Chambers of Peterborough
and Peter Hinschberger of Kit.
chener.
Prior to the wedding, thebride
was entertained by Mrs., Frank
Donnelly, Goderich.
Ai dinner party and shower were
held in her honour by Miss Linda ,
Blake at the home. of her par.
A kitchen shower was given
in Guelph by Miss Judy Bea.
mish and Miss 'Anne Forrester.;
a linen shower by M.rs. Cather.
ine MacKendrick at the home of
her parents; Mr. and Mrs. S.C,
Anderson, Goderich, and a Idt.
chen show,,..r by Mrs. August
Boehmer .Kitchener.
At a champagne party in Strati.
ford, the bride and groom were
,presented ^with 'a purse by the em.
ployees of the Stratford Shakes.
pearean 'Festilial. After the re.
hersal, the groom's mother en.
tertained the wedding party, at a
dinner in the Bedford Hotel.
N NOT SUPERSTITIOUS -The former Mary dlackstone of Gocterich wears.
1820 -style wedding dress designed and made for her by her husband
.David Pequegricst of Kitchener.'