THE MOST Juxurious and one of
the oldest of fabrics, lace has en-
joyed a long and illustrious histo-
ry.

® According to romantic legend,
lace began with a rose and a
woman’s Jove. A gallant’ knight
would present his lady with a rose
On the eve of battle. As the days
wore on, the rose’s beauty faded
and its petals dropped, she would
stitch each fallen petal to the rose,
till petals turned to dust and a bit
of lace was all that remained.

@ The craft of lace-making can
actually be traced back to the ear-

LIFESTYLES

ing can be traced to early

ly Egyptian empire when
Pharoahs’ tombs were furnished
with net and lace.

@ Lace was used as modest
adornment by the rich and power-
ful in Europe until the mid-1500s
when the trend-setting Henry I
cf France commissioned a large
lace ruff to conceal his scarred
neck. Courtiers followed suit and
soon fashionable aristocracy
everywhere were sporting metres
of lace supported at the neck by a
metal stand or starched — stiff,
making dining nearly impossible.

@ The white or black lace man-

tila worn by Spanish women of
the 19th century was a symbol of
a woman's dignity and, as such,
could nat be confiscated for
debts.

@ Lace as a symbol of purity
made its way onto wedding
dresses in the mid-1800s, A full
set of bridal laces was considered
like a dowry as the pieces could be
removed, used and reused to trim
the woman’s finest dresses for
life.

@ Bobbins used for making lace
— made of wood, bone, brass,
silver, gold or glass — were often

Historical references often added to gowns

From page 39

By then, the Scottish-born
Morton was no longer working
with antique lace.

“1 wasn't able to keep up with
that kind of production, so we in-
corporated the look. with new
laces,” she says from her pastel
pink showroom with a view of the
ocean through clouds of creamy
tulle and taffeta.

But even the new laces have a
look of the old.

Much of the lacework used to
edge camisoles, trim brassieres
and embellish. peignoirs comes
from Switzerland, where old
drawings are taken from a lace-
_making company’s archives and
are reworked by Morton to pro-
duce motifs and shapes that work
with her current collections.

When the recession hit in the
early ’80s, Morton looked to the
States for potential business.
Visiting buyers in New York — ‘I
took a garment bag and started
knocking on doors’? — she im-
mediately met with success, land-
ing accounts with retail giants
Bloomingdales, Henri Bendel and
Bergdorf Goodman.

“The sales we lost here we
picked up in the States,’ says
Morton, wo continued to make a
name fe. herself with American
buyers through. our most recent
recession. :

Customers are also, evidently,

Amey

Bullock

warming to the Christine label
(the company’s sales in the U.S.
have doubled in the last year) and
the roster of famous owners of
Christine lingerie now includes
Cher and Madonna (who pur-
chased a black lace teddy), Liz
Taylor (gold peignoir) and Lauren
Bacall (silk pajamas).

But all this success south of the
border hasn't prompted Morton
to bundle up her laces and move
her 20-year-old business to
America’s fashion capital.

“] think that you can spend a
week in New York and get all in-
spired,”’ says the 42-year-old,
“but it’s very hard to keep up the
pace.

“Pm a fairly quiet person and |
like to be peaceful. And 1 find
West Van very peaceful.”

Besides, Morton’s second-floor
offices at 18th and Marine are just
a short stretch of the seawall from
the lace-filled Dundarave home
she shares with her husband,
businessman David Farris, and
their three young children.

Morton puts iugether 40 group-
ings a year, ranging from the
basic silk tanks and slips of the
Garbo line, to sleepwear in white
cotton lawn trimmed with pure
lace and tiny rosettes, to the de-
cadent lace and silk charmeuse
peignoirs of her trousseau line, to
funky silk. georgette beli-bottoms
and chemises in ice cream shades
of mint, strawberry, vanilla and

Michele
Davies

chocolate.

But where she can really bring
in historical references and play
with bits of antique lace and trim
is in her bridal wear collection,
which accounts for about 10% of
her business, mostly through word
of mouth.

The custom-designed gowns
range fom $800 to $2,500, with
the majority priced between
$1,500 and $2,000,

Several of the gowns have been
featured in top fashion and bridal
magazines and the fashion pages
of major U.S. and Canadian
dailies: ‘‘This one was shot in the
mountains of Colorado for Brides
magazine,’? Morton says of a silk
velvet hooded cape.

“And this one was photograph-
ed for the New York Times,’’ she
says pulling off the rack a simple
gown inspired by an Edwardian
riding costume.

Often brides-to-be will bring in
mother’s old gown “‘or grand-
mother’s old Jace that the’ve saved
and would like incorporatcd into
their dress.’’

When they do, Morton is more
than happy to transform the
treasured keepsakes into new
heirloom-quality pieces that are
sure to be enjoyed for generations
to come.

For more information about
Christine & Co., phone Christine
Morton’s studio at 922-0350.

Tiffany
Gilmore

Mocdad

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Outside entrance
between

decorated with names or mottos,
and made to commemorate a
marriage or a birth. At death, a
lacemaker's bobbins were passed
on to friends as a remembrance.

weer

@ Lace curtains hung in a win-
dow signalled the wealth of a
home's inhabitants the
wealthier the family, the more
elaborate the design.

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