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AMY SCHERZERMore than 70 outfits worn since 1905, from pantaloons to gym garb, fascinate and amuse a sellout crowd.
Mary Perzia found her riding suit from the late 1930s. Pat Daley slipped into her University of Georgia cheerleading sweater, class of 1947. Jo Apthorp dug out her debutante gown and her mother's mink stole.
All opened their closets for last week's luncheon and fashion show celebrating the history of Tampa Yacht and Country Club - the city's oldest, private social club.
Ten decades of memories tumbled out in handbags, white gloves and hot pants. In all, more than 70 outfits told of tea parties, formal dances, sailboat races and horse shows since the club on Interbay Boulevard opened in 1905.
"It was so dear I got goosebumps," said member Laura Darrow Frost, who attended the sellout event.
Longtime members Betty Wood and Cookie Bailey helped round up 25 models. Wood narrated the show, often embellishing the script that organizer Sharon Pizzo wrote based on the club's centennial history book. Music added nostalgia of each era, from big band sounds to Elvis, disco and rock.
The club banned the Turkey Trot at dances in 1913, Wood explained to the 220 guests. That was Cindy Rosier's cue to enter in a white cotton batiste dress, pantaloons peeking from beneath.
Apthorp's daughter East came next, in a white lace organdy dress with maribou cape that belonged to Josephine Lee, Jo Apthorp's great-grandmother. Lee passed it on to her daughter Louise Lee Johnston, who most likely wore it to tea at the club in early 1900s. The dress was made by Anne Lowe, a black seamstress from Tampa, who designed Jackie Bouvier Kennedy's wedding dress.
Susan Mueller modeled a blue-green linen design that belonged to Stella Long Lykes, matriarch of the Lykes family.
The 1920s roared in when Perzia, 90, arrived in Clara Bow style, with spit curls.
"They used to call me the it girl, you know," said Perzia, a yacht club member for more than 65 years.
Del Clarke and Elaine Newman strutted in flapper dresses, reminiscent of the days when members took the streetcar to the club and danced the Charleston.
In the early 1930s, the club added stables and an outdoor dance floor. Maggie Newman, who supplied several outfits for the show, modeled a rose crepe dress with silver and pink beading.
Mary Kay Ross remembered 1950s sock hops in a pink poodle skirt. Sarah Coates looked 21 again in a glittering pink gown that Marguerite Nettles Lester wore to a 1953 Junior League Provisional Ball.
East Apthorp reappeared in the beaded dress her mother wore as a maid in the 1967 Ye Mystic Krewe of Gasparilla court. The krewe and the club were founded in 1904 and have many of the same members. At least a dozen club commodores have been Gasparilla kings, dating back to the first pirate king, E.R. Gunby, who was commodore in 1910.
Liz Reynolds ushered in the 1960s in her mother's original Pucci print dress. Mueller and Newman looked very Jackie-O in suits and hats. Nancy Skemp's yellow brocade suit came trimmed with a mink collar.
Disco outfits and miniskirts heralded the 1970s, while glamorous clothes like those seen on the Dynasty and Dallas TV shows dominated the 1980s. The yacht club gained a new swimming pool and a $1.2-million fitness center in the 1990s, warranting models in jogging suits and tennis shorts.
Through the Depression, two World Wars, a hurricane and fire, the club has grown to 1,450 families. It has 74 wet boat slips and 73 dry-storage slips, nine tennis courts and an equestrian center with two barns. The 20,000-square-foot clubhouse features two dining rooms and a ballroom for 200.
But some things never seem to change. Opening the door at the fashion show was 105-year-old Herbert Carrington, retired maitre d', who was 5 when the club opened.
- Amy Scherzer can be reached at 226-3332 or scherzer@sptimes.com