Meet Cornelia

Cornelia Powell—author, guest speaker, fashion historian, and wedding folklorist—has been the keynote speaker at Winterthur Museum, Biltmore Estate, Goodwood Museum, Stephens College, Auburn University, and at other venues around the country. Whether the costume focus was The Crown, Downton Abbey, the Suffrage movement, or 400 years of corsets, it became a presentation of “femininity, dress, and power.”

Speaking at a Vintage Fashion luncheon, 1990s

Recognizing a historic cultural shift following the 1981 royal wedding of Prince Charles and Lady Diana Spencer, Cornelia created a bridal art-to-wear store for the emerging modern woman. Open during the 1980s and ‘90s, the nationally celebrated Atlanta store became pivotal in changing an outdated wedding industry.  

Cornelia's namesake bridal art-to-wear store c1980-90s

During this time both Ms. Powell and her shop were featured in numerous magazines and books including Hearst Publication’s The Business of Bliss: How to Profit from Doing What You Love, introducing women entrepreneurs as presented in Victoria magazine.

Booksigning for "The Business of Bliss" 1990s

Cornelia’s experiences working with thousands of women during these years led to writing articles and books focused on the intimacy of woman-centric, transformative rites of passage, including The End of the Fairy-Tale Bride: For Better or Worse, How Princess Diana Rescued the Great White Wedding.

In this pivotal, between-the-worlds time of universal changes, of feminine wisdom rising, we are hearing calls to “think with the heart” and Cornelia’s writing follows that energetic impulse. In addition to working on The Spiritual Mission of a Princess, a book she calls her own “spiritual mission,” Cornelia is a contributor to the Common Sentience series of books, Portals by Freddy Silva and Goddess by Anodea Judith, from Sacred Stories Publishing. She is a former associate fashion editor at Vogue magazine and served for years on the Board of Directors of the Costume Society of America. 

After 30 years in Atlanta, Cornelia moved to the Western North Carolina Mountains in 2008 and now looks out at the world and its ever-inspiring landscape from her writing loft nestled on a steep, green mountain ridge.  She claims growing up on a farm in south Alabama, including visits “up the road” with two extraordinary grandmothers, gave her a “wondering” quality about finding beauty in the everyday of Mother Nature. ~

For more information, contact Cornelia