DVF for CMB

I love weddings, especially when my family is involved. They are always filled with love, laughter, and lots of dancing. On Saturday I attended my cousin’s wedding. What an event! The venue was gorgeous (as was the bride of course!) the band was amazing, and the food plentiful.  It was the perfect excuse for an amazing dress to finally come out of the wardrobe and make a fantastic public debut.

I’m pretty sure the entire family started figuring out what they would be wearing to the highly buzzed about wedding the moment their engagement was announced… Ok maybe it was just me. When the invitation read “Black-tie optional “my initial reaction was ecstatic.  What girl doesn’t love a chance to go all out, right? Then the questions started flowing and panic set in.  I definitely go for a long gown right? Is a short dress inappropriate? I don’t want to look like I’m trying to walk a red carpet, but I don’t want to be underdressed.  I was a mess.

Then, as if by magic the Diane von Furstenberg “Tadd” dress entered my life.  The long flowing gown in featherweight chiffon was perfect for a May wedding.  The length, movement, and amazing draping at the neckline and back make this dress incredibly elegant.  The light color, and playful print are understated enough to make me feel like I won’t end up on Fashion Police.  A few added details of my own, such as a tassel belt and a flowered hair piece, and I had my perfect “Black tie optional” look. 

Not to mention, it’s also one of the most amazingly comfortable dresses I’ve ever worn, a key feature for dancing the night away.

 A Diane von Furstenberg dress was the perfect choice for a wedding.  That incredible sense of feminine energy and confidence she infuses into her clothes definitely took over the moment I slipped the dress on. I definitely owe that little extra pep in my dance step to the dress.  OK, OK , maybe having a devastatingly handsome dance partner had something to do with it too.

The celebrated women’s wear designer came to my wardrobe rescue on more than one occasion this month.  DVF’s “Handy” dress in brick red proved handy in deed when I needed a dress for Easter festivities hosted by my bf’s family.  This is the perfect dress for events involving significant members of your significant other’s family. It is fashion forward enough to show you’ve got taste, but not enough so that they think their son has brought home Lady Gaga. The length and silhouette are just covered up enough to be family friendly,  but that glow you get from wearing the perfect dress will make you look that much more special to the special someone you’re really trying to impress.  It’s the ideal dress for poised, yet seemingly effortless dressing. The blousy top and billowy sleeves keep you comfortable, not constricted. Yet, the drop waist elongates your trunk making you look longer and leaner without needed to squeeze into a form fitting dress. To top it off, there are pockets hidden on either side of the pleating at the waist. Every dress is better with pockets.

It’s that unique pleating that really makes this dress though; it is truly an eye-catching detail. It’s also this type of detailing that will contribute the price of a garment.  This dress is the same price as the one I wore to the wedding, yet it has significantly less fabric, no underpinning, and no print. This is because pleating is an intricate and meticulous process that is mostly done by hand. It takes a skilled hand to execute pleating like this, and in these locations, yet still have the surrounding areas lay so perfectly flat.

It’s this incredible attention to detail, these subtle nuances, that make both of these DVF pieces great wardrobe assets. They are versatile, effortless, go-to pieces when you need to feel like a million bucks. In any creative field, you always leave a little piece of yourself in everything you produce. In Diane von Furstenberg’s case, her liveliness and remarkable self-confidence are woven into the very fabric of her clothes.  It maybe just because I appreciate the intense zest for life I know the designer herself possesses, but when I put these pieces on I feel like a little bit of that is transferred to me. And let’s be honest, the perfect accessory to every outfit is confidence.