Dress to Live

"The fashion world is changing all the time. You can even see the approaching revolution in clothes." ~Diana Vreeland

It was Sunday morning when I read the press release from Samuel Goldwyn Films. Two days before, while I was in the throws of producing the Peace Couture fashion show for The Spring of Tampa Bay, a film opened at Tampa Theatre...one that I absolutely had to see: "The Eye Has to Travel," a documentary celebrating Diana Vreeland.

Instantly, plans were set in motion. In the sprit of "The Eye Has to Travel," I would spend the day solo, urban-style in downtown Tampa, complete with lunch on the sidewalk at Taco Bus, and my camera lens fixed on whatever struck my fancy (see City Fix for the pics)—before strolling towards Tampa Theatre to "meet" a kindred spirit.

So who is this Diana Vreeland character? Beginning in 1937, she spent 25 years as the fashion editor of Harper's Bazaar before becoming editor-in-chief of Vogue and finally crowning her fashion reign in grand style at the Metropolitan Museum of Art's Costume Institute. During her career, she launched beloved supermodel Twiggy on the scene and she published the first picture of Mick Jagger. "Those lips!" she exclaimed without finishing the thought. Enough said.

What I found most fascinating from the film is that Diana is credited for being the first to recognize fashion as art. Pause. Let that sink in. She also appreciated fashion photography as an art form before it caught on as such. Had I been there at the start of this wonderfully radical thinking, I would have screamed from the rooftops: She's on to something!

Diana Vreeland was onto lots of things, including this gem of wisdom that rocked my world. To mimic how she delivered the line, which is to say totally convincingly with no pause or breath, I'm temporarily abandoning the comma: "There is only one really good life and that's the life that you know you want and you make it yourself."

I know what she means.

Another favorite moment of the film came from a far more whimsical remark but one as true as any I've heard: "A new dress isn't going to get you anywhere, it's the life you live in that dress."

Agreed. Case in point:

For local fashion brand SoLily's recent "Glitterama" fashion show featuring the inaugural "Sparkly Hippie" collection, I channeled my inner Jimi Hendrix with a 70s maxi dress (procured locally at Sherry's Yesterdaze). Just as an event invitation sets the tone for the coming party, what you wear to that party affects your experience of the festivities. In the case of SoLily's "Sparkle Festival," at PUSH Ultra Lounge, I got to wear a great, theme-appropriate dress (with combat boots underneath), strut around with my face painted (a la Tawney's Artful Bodies) and once seated, I got to shake a tambourine.

I'd say that dress gave me a great night out. Or is it the other way around?