It was certainly an eventful week of posts concerning possible Doug costumes. Wasn’t it? So, what did we learn? Well, the general consensus was that the costumes that looked like they were originals from “The Magic Show,” were more than likely from the touring version.

Abb Dickson, in addition to owning a generally massive costume collection independent of Doug, did indeed own the touring show costumes. In addition, others may have come from Doug’s college tours, or from other magicians’ shows. 

However, Drew did inform me that one of the costumes’ labels does say “Debby” on it, leading me to believe there’s only one person who could have worn that one. In the end, all of Abb Dickson’s collection is a wonder to behold, and a gift to magic history!

Before we turn the lights off on this one, Drew wanted me to mention that it was his girlfriend Kay Stogner that owns the pieces. Below I’m posting a short essay she wrote shining more light on all of these unique pieces, and how they came into her life. 

“My name is Kay Stogner, and I’m a vintage clothing collector.

I met my best friend Hunter Knight over our shared love of vintage clothing, both of us gravitating towards the funky and colorful looks of the late 60s and 70s. When Hunter told me that her grandmother “Mimi” had an airstream full of vintage clothing that needed help cleaning out, I jumped at the opportunity. Any vintage lover knows that’s not something you pass up on. Hunter and I spent all day in the heat pulling out pretty typical vintage clothing, including button downs and tee shirts. It wasn’t until we moved to the back of the trailer that we realized we had struck gold.

Suddenly, we were surrounded by colors and textures we had never seen on clothing before. We pulled out capes, jumpsuits, even a wizards hat, it just kept getting better. We were in awe. These pieces were unlike anything we had ever come across. Mimi explained that the costumes we had found were once Abb Dickson’s, a magician and a close friend of hers that had passed away. We brought the clothes home, and immediately they became staples in my wardrobe. I wore them around for years before doing much research on them at all. I had looked into Abb Dickson when Mimi told us, but that didn’t get us far…How could these costumes be so exciting and not better documented?

After a deep dive I finally found one photo that reminded me of the clothes we had. It was of a pair of shoes with colored stars drawn on them. The photo came from a site called “The Doug Henning Project,” and then suddenly everything clicked. At the top of the article about the shoes was a photo of the pants I had been wearing for years next to Doug Henning himself. From there, it didn’t take long to find more photos of all the amazing outfits we had. They were possibly seen on stage in Doug’s shows on Broadway, even on TV. Now knowing the origin and significance of all of these outfits, we knew they had to be celebrated and shared with the world. What better way than to put on a magic show of our own? One inspired by none other than Doug Henning himself? A curious showing of the magical outfits, and some illusions of our own to pay homage.”

Special Thanks to Kay Stogner and Drew Perlmutter. 

To see more of these costumes, please click: HERE