Life might have turned out quite differently for Melanie Talkington if she'd listened to her mother and slept through the second feature at the drive-in.
"I was always allowed to watch the first movie, but the second movie, I was supposed to sleep in the back seat," said Talkington. But on one particular visit to the drive-in when she was eight years old, Talkington disobeyed her mother. From her perch in the back of the car, she surreptitiously watched the most mesmerizing movie she'd ever seen: The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas.
"It had all of these women running around a brothel in their lingerie," she said, laughing. "It was amazing." After the movie, Talkington wanted to know how Dolly Parton achieved her stunning figure. That's when her mother let her in on an age-old fashion secret: corsets.
Fast-forward a few decades, and Talkington is corset royalty. She's the cinch-waisted dynamo behind Vancouver's Lace Embrace Atelier (which she founded in 1997), and the owner of the world's largest private collection of antique corsets. "I've learned so much from corsets," Talkington said during a recent interview in her East 16th Avenue store.
Her passion knows no bounds: Talkington went head-to-head with New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art for a 115-year-old red satin corset, and won. The antique corsets in Talkington's collection ("I've lost count, but I have well over 200") are not actually worn. Instead, Talkington builds patterns from the corsets, which she then uses to make replicas for custom and off-the-rack sales.
"I'm a treasure hunter," said Talkington. "I have the best of the best."
Now Talkington's treasures are going on tour. This summer, 40 corsets from Talkington's collection will be displayed in the Louvres Musée des Arts Décoratifs as part of a larger exhibition about the mechanics of underwear. According to Talkington, Europeans have eagerly collected 18th century fashions but neglected pieces from the 19th and 20th centuries, considering them too modern to warrant attention or collection; as a result, Talkington (a connoisseur of Edwardian corsets) has been able to fill in the museum's gaps.
"The earliest one that they borrowed was from 1820, and they go up to a 1950s bullet bra," says Talkington, who transported the corsets to France in her carry-on. The exhibition kicks off with a gala on July 4 and runs until the end of November.
But Talkington — whose custom and off-the-rack corsets have appeared in films such as Sucker Punch, on television shows like True Blood and Once Upon a Time, on burlesque stars like Dita von Teese, and on countless non-celebrity women and men — wants Vancouverites to be able to access and appreciate her collection, too.
Hence this Sunday's Antique Corset Exhibition and Historic Fashion Show III at Hycroft Mansion. All proceeds from the May 26 event — which features a fantasy fashion show (complete with a dressing sequence), a mini exhibition of some of Talkington's most prized pieces, a silent auction, a Victorian photo booth, aperatifs, chocolate, and a deejay spinning jazz tunes — will go towards transforming the back of Talkington's shop into an antique corset museum.
Much of the necessary renovations have already occurred, and Talkington hopes to open the museum in early 2014.
Talkington urges partygoers to don their favourite corsets, fancy frocks or ball gowns. "The idea behind our events is to give people an excuse to pull out that one thing they never wear," said Talkington. "It's nice to express yourself with fashion."
Tickets are $25 in advance or $30 at the door. For tickets click here.
