Tours

Welcome to the Tours Department of your Costume College weekend.  Taking a Tour with us is a great way to get to know other attendees! If you don’t know a soul when you arrive, you will by the end of the tour.

Signing up for Tours:  Tours are treated just like the workshops and require pre registration, so check your scheduling and preferences very carefully before signing up!!!  (Like all workshops, tours are not transferable, and you cannot sell your spot.)  Only Costume College registered students can sign up for tours.

Tours, like workshops, are an additional fee, which includes transportation, snacks and water onboard the bus.  Please contact the Tours chair for more information about specific tours, timing, etc.

All tours gather in the lobby of the hotel, and depart at a specific time.  Tour return times vary due to LA traffic.

Minors: All minors regardless of age must be accompanied on the tour by a parent or guardian.  Both minor and parent/guardian must purchase tickets to the tour.

Tour Registration opens May 2025.

Thursday Tour Details      Monday Tour Details 

An Exciting Journey from the 18th to the 20th century!

Join us for this exclusive, exciting costume experience!  The journey begins as we head downtown to the Gallery of the ASU-FIDM Museum. Curator Kevin Jones will give an in-depth presentation with his well-known humor and enthusiasm. Kevin will answer questions and delight us with little known stories about the exhibits. We will individually stroll through a fabulous display of 18th to 20th century costumes from the Museum collections. The final treat is an opportunity to examine with eyes and hands the Museum Study Collection of modern and historical clothing.

Next, we head to the Santa Monica Mountain foothills to view the exhibition “Diane von Furstenberg: Woman Before Fashion” at the Skirball Cultural Center. A detailed talk during the ride about this fashion icon of the mid-20th century will prepare us for the feast of fashion we will then explore. Then home again, home again, jiggedy jig.

This tour includes bus, presentations, admission to the exhibits, water and snacks. Our journey runs from 8:30 a.m. to approximately 4:30 p.m.  Cost is $95 per person. Tour participants will receive optional research materials and internet links. Lunch is not included. Suggestions on where lunch may be purchased will be provided to attendees. 

You won't want to miss this fabulous day.

Downtown Los Angeles Fabric District Tour 

Once again, Costume College will be offering a tour of the Fabric District in Downtown Los Angeles.  Whether you are looking for natural fiber fabrics to create historical garments or fabrics to realize your fantasy dreams, you will find what you need there.  There is hardly any fabric, trim or tool you can imagine that you can’t find with a little guidance (from me) and a native guidebook.

An air-conditioned bus will transport you from and back to the hotel on Monday, August 4th.  The bus leaves the hotel promptly at 9:00 AM and will leave town to go back to the hotel promptly at 3:00 PM.  Traffic being what it is in Los Angeles, punctuality is important.  Travel here is not so much a function of distance as it is time of day.

As we will be traveling in over the road bus, there will be plenty of room for all of your purchases (or your luggage if you are planning to head straight to the airport on your own from downtown.)  The buses park all day in a centrally located place so that you can store your purchases while you continue shopping or if you would just like a comfortable place to sit down and take a break.  Light snacks and water are provided on the bus.

Prior to the tour, you will receive your e-copy of the Native Guide Book listing the names, addresses and variety of items sold in most of the larger stores.  (Hard copies of the book will not be available.) The book will also contain the names and addresses for some of the local eateries.

The fee for this all-day shopping extravaganza is $40.00.  If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me, Natalie Meyer, at [email protected].