DVF 40: Journey of a Dress

“April 9, 1970

Diane:

I think your clothes are absolutely smashing.

- Diane Vreeland, Editor In Chief, Vogue”

I think it was maybe a little over a month ago that I first got wind of this incredible exhibit at LACMA in the historic Wilshire May Company Building.  It was one of those things where you just do a double take.  Be still my heart, an entire exhibit celebrating forty years of the one and only, almighty iconic Wrap Dress by Diane von Furstenberg. 

In case you hadn’t noticed, my Working Girl logo is wearing a wrap dress, inspired by this very dress.  I picked a wrap dress for her because it is my most favorite go to work outfit choice.  I will elaborate why shortly, but as you can guess, this exhibit is of monumental excitement for me.  Major *SWOON*

My personal love affair with the DVF wrap started in 2001.  Long after having been established in the fashion industry, it was during my Bluefly.com binge surfing when Bluefly had first launched that I took real notice of the DVF wrap dress.  I would spend hours looking at all the beautiful designer shoes daydreaming of owning them one day.  And of course, to complete my power work look, I’d fixate on the gorgeous Johnny collar wrap dresses by this Diane von Furstenberg lady.  Being a designer novice still, but a quick study thanks to Sex in the City, I quickly became more and more enamored by these wonderful creations. 

I was earning a little over $40,000 a year back then and paying $100 for a dress plus shipping, even on sale, was still beyond my means.  I kept trying so hard to pay off enough of my credit card to be able to charge it.  It took me about five months and then finally, I did the financially irresponsible thing and maxed out my credit card to buy my first Diane von Furstenberg wrap dress, complete with Johnny collar and three quarter sleeve in the geometric printed jersey fabric.

Ten days never felt so long to wait for mail.  But when it finally arrived, it was worth every agonizing suspenseful moment since my shaky, sweaty hand clicked on “Place Order”.  The dress fit oh, so perfectly.  And by that I mean, it made my curves go from “has some problem areas, must work out more” to “va va voom”.  It made my figure sexy but was completely professional at the same time.  I could be taken seriously in my work meetings but also be stylish and womanly at the same time.  I’d never worn anything like it.  And I never wanted to wear anything else.

Holly Brubach wrote the story of the journey of this dress displayed in the Exhibition room.  And because in no way can I express the most important significance of this dress more eloquently, I will just simply quote her verbatim.  “For the women of the land had gone to work.  Heigh-ho! It was the 70’s, and en masse they left their sculleries and their hearths for careers in finance, law and other fields that had been the province of men.  Wearing a wrap dress by the princess – an entrepreneur herself – the women went on job interviews, they went straight from the office out to dinner; they went around the world, washing the dress at night in their hotel room’s bathroom sink.  Requiring no help with a zipper in back or hard-to-reach hooks and eyes, the wrap dress epitomized not only the spirit of women’s liberation but of sexual liberation, too: in two minutes flat, a woman could be dressed and out the door; in even less time, she could be undressed.”

Yes, this is where Beyonce’s ‘Run The World (Girls)’ should start playing in your head.

I’m sharing my photos (using my Canon 6D) of the exhibit that consists of the main entrance lobby, a hallway with a history in photographs, advertisements and movie still frames of the wrap dress, various photographs and artwork of Diane von Furstenberg taken by Annie Lebowitz among others and the amazing Andy Warhol paintings in the Art Salon, the main Exhibition with the collection of 40 years of wrap dressed mannequins, and finally the shop where you can purchase some DVF items (no dresses), and print out your Instagram shots with the hashtag #JourneyOfADress.  You can also see the photos from opening night on the PhotoBooth wall and upload your Wrap Story on ipads.  You may not be able to make it out to see the exhibit before it closes on April 1^st, but you can still share your wrap story at http://www.dvf.com/wrapstory.  I would love if you shared your story here too in the comments. :)

 

Sexy Bitch DVF

All the pretty dress...

Jersey! And sequins! And leopard! Oh my!

Pop...smile and fly!

My first DVF is here on display!

A sequin sheer back

Sexy, strategic sheer cut outs on a halter wrap

Vogue Dress sewing pattern

Above: Amy Adams in American Hustler, Below: Iman on the runway

Lady Madonna

Zooey Deschanel

Amy Winehouse

 

FLOTUS with the family

Lady Obama

 

Janice Dickinson - yeah, i know...

DVF, left, DVF mannequin, right

Jerry Hall

Cheryl Tiegs, Vogue

  

#JourneyOfADress Instagram
 Printer & Photobooth wall

My Instagram Prints

Store Merch

The exhibit is so incredibly amazing.  It is inspiring.  It is moving.  It is empowering.  It is liberating.  It is a perfect celebration of a landmark contribution to fashion.  Thank you Ms. von Furstenberg.

*hearts*