Clothes Encounter

Santa Barbara Historical Museum’s Costume Council, which is restoring hundreds of clothes that have been stored in the museum’s 10,000-sq.-ft. basement for decades, hosted a lunch featuring Pulitzer Prize-winning author Bill Dedman, whose book Empty Mansions – about the late copper heiress Huguette Clark and her imposing 23-acre cliffside estate, Bellosguardo – was a New York Times bestseller, and costume conservationist Sharon Shore, who has worked at the Huntington Museum in Pasadena and the Louvre in Paris.

On display was a 12-layered Japanese-style costume made for Clark by Marsh and Company of Santa Barbara and a sheer silk 1900s bodice worn by noted civic leader Pearl Chase.

Dedman also revealed that much of the original art at Bellosguardo was sold at auction at Christie’s in New York, and he had bought one of Clark’s original works of a Japanese girl, which he was lending to the newly formed foundation chaired by Dick Wolf, producer of the popular Law & Order TV series.

Among the supporters noshing on chicken, salmon, and couscous in the courtyard were Sharon Bradford, Marcia Constance, Sally Enthoven, Denise Sanford, Roxi Solakian, Alixe Mattingly, alongside Nancy Hunter and Cheryl Ziegler, council co-chairs.

Two for One

Starr-King Parent Workshop is hosting a celebration on Sunday, October 21, at Skofield Park to celebrate two milestones – its 70th year of operation in our Eden by the Beach and the retirement of assistant director Suzanne Rebstock, after more than two decades.

Yolanda Medina-Garcia, executive director, says: “Suzanne is well-known for her exemplary professionalism and dedication. She has been a role model for parents, interns, and staff on how to be present and savor every opportunity to connect with children.

“Suzanne’s passion for life has inspired parents and children alike.”

Since its founding, the organization has hosted more than 2,450 families and been a guiding light in early childhood education in our tony town through the decades.

Miss(ing) Fortune

TV talk-show titan Oprah Winfrey and her good friend, CBS morning show anchor Gayle King, attended one of the world’s most opulent weddings in France last month, I learn.

The peripatetic pair joined in the glamorous nuptials of Princess Ameera Al-Taweel, 34, to Saudi businessman Khalifa bin Butti al-Muhairi, 39, at the historic Chateau de Vaux-Le-Vicomte, 30 miles outside Paris.

But the luxurious occasion was marred when Ameera, ex-wife of Prince Al-Waleed bin Talal, the grandson of the first Saudi king Ibn Saud – worth $18.7 billion and owner of the George V in Paris and the Savoy in London – lost more than $1 million worth of jewelry while staying at the Ritz over the wedding weekend.

Sightings: Actor Bradley Cooper at the Riviera Theater…Oscar winner Kevin Costner and family making a return visit to Olio Pizzeria…Oscar winner Jeff Bridges checking out SOhO.

Readers with tips, sightings and amusing items for Richard’s column should email him at richardmineards@verizon.net or send invitations or other correspondence to the Journal.