Artful Afternoon
Once again the Alamance County Arts Council will host an outstanding and noted speaker for our Artful Afternoon Lecture series. The first Artful Afternoon lecture was held in 2002 with Carol Cadou, Vice-President of Collections for the Mount Vernon Estate and Gardens. Each year following, the Arts Council has had the great fortune to bring a series of lectures to Alamance County for Artful Afternoon. The event is held in February and has successfully secured outstanding lecturers who are noted for their contributions in the art and literary world.
Mark you calendar!
February 14, 2012, Noon, Alamance Country Club
Past Speakers
February 11th, 2011 with Molly Rogers
The event will be held again at the Alamance Country Club on February 11th. This year’s speaker will be Molly Rogers who grew up in Graham but now lives in New York where she has been involved in television and stage production. She is the daughter of George and Dixie Rogers. She will bring to us her stories of life in New York’s world of art and television production.
SKETCH PAD: Molly Rogers
BY PEGGY HARRIS
It’s time for folks in Alamance County to do a little bragging about one of our children. Molly Rogers grew up in Graham, attended Meredith College, and graduated from UNC Chapel Hill. She is the daughter of Dixie and George Rogers. Dixie is one of the cornerstones in the docent program at the Captain White House, so Molly is also very important to all of us. After graduation, Molly went straight to London, England---alone---and explored the vibrant music and fashion scene there. Molly admits that being so young helped her to make this courageous career journey. Today, Molly is a costume designer for TV and film with an Emmy award to her credit. She calls New York City and Miami Beach her home but her styling projects take her all over the world. Now, SKETCH PAD will tell you the exciting story of how she got to this illustrious position.
After her two year stint in London, Molly returned to conservative Graham, N.C. and her parents with the pink hair that was so popular at that time in London. The pink hair is a story in itself, but SKETCH PAD will skip those details.
While in London Molly had read about Patricia Field and her infamous NYC clothing store. Molly once again bade Alamance County good-by and headed for New York City with $300 in her pocket and a desire to work for Patricia Field, who was the reigning fashion queen of downtown New York. That very afternoon she went directly to Patricia Field’s store in Manhattan and, wonder of all wonders, Patricia herself was in the store. Molly introduced herself and told Pat that she wanted to work for her. Patricia said, ”Can you fold tee shirts?” Bingo, Molly was hired and from that day on Patricia has been a pivotal person in Molly’s life and remains so today.
Since partnering with Patricia in 1984, Molly has had diverse job experiences from working with Brad Pitt as a young unknown to fitting Meryl Streep . Molly explains that it is important to build your reputation and in time your expertise will build its own credibility. Word of mouth is her best business card. If you are interested in pattern making, textiles and technical subjects, one should go to a fashion institute, however, if your interest lies in costume design, just get a job and do it! It’s the familiar story of starting in the mailroom!
Molly and Patricia became the design team for all six years of the HBO TV series “SEX AND THE CITY”, the two ‘SEX AND THE CITY” feature films, “Confessions of a Shopaholic”, numerous TV shows including ABC’s “Ugly Betty”, and an Oscar Nomination in Costume Design for “THE DEVIL WEARS PRADA”. She has been nominated 6 times for an Emmy for Outstanding Costumes, and has won that award once for the third season of SATC. 2011 has Molly wondering if her next project could win her a second Emmy…she needs bookends! Maybe some day!!
Molly continues to be in great demand for her work and her originality in design. At the moment she works with Patricia styling all of the North American and South American advertising for PayLess Shoe Stores. Molly tells SKETCH PAD that buying $2000 shoes for Sarah Jessica Parker and styling for the PayLess Shoe store account is an exciting aspect of her career…she never knows what she’s doing tomorrow!!
Our readers will surely be happy for Molly and proud of her hard work. She is living proof that our educational facilities in Alamance County are indeed capable of producing young people of integrity and perseverance in the adult modern business world. Molly will be the guest speaker for this year’s Artful Afternoon luncheon to be held at Alamance Country Club on February 11, 2011 Molly is looking forward to taking us behind the dressing room curtains with a few “insider tales” . GOOD LUCK MOLLY! All of us at the Captain White House will be waiting to hear about your next exciting adventure.
