I Do

Thanks to kids and age, my memory has begun to fade. But thanks to Paula’s last post, I was reminded that I have the very same Diane Von Furstenberg wrap dress she referenced hanging in my closet. This got me to thinking: DVF definitely warrants more than just a mere mention on BSB.

My first introduction to DVF and the wrap dress was in a fitting room at Nordstrom in downtown Portland, Oregon. I was walking through when the re-launch tour of the DVF wrap dress was happening. It was 1997.

I was put in a fitting room by the Diane Von Furstenberg, and when I walked out she looked at me wearing her signature dress and gushed. I think I might have timidly said, “Really?” totally unsure of myself and exactly who she was.

It was a confusing time in my life. I had just gotten married, was living in a city I didn’t really like, couldn’t find work as an advertising art director, and for some weird reason, was still wearing my “wedding hair” which I had grown out to match my wedding vision which had turned out to be a wedding disaster.

I was not a DVF girl.

I loved the silhouette of the wrap dress but did not like the prints they came in at the time. I wanted to buy the dress that Diane had me try on, as a story to tell, but I didn’t really have the disposable income, nor the confidence of conviction.

That is not very DVF.

If you read or hear anything about DVF, you will learn that she is an advocate for all women and is totally committed to empowering us with her clothes and the causes she dedicates herself to. Ms. Furstenberg is a total inspiration and exactly the kind of gal that BSB puts on a pedestal to pray at the alter of. (You should read more about her here.)

As I’ve gotten older, I now understand DVF and finally hear what she was trying to say to me way back when. I just wish I was who I am now when I met her so long ago in that Nordstrom fitting room. Not only would I purchase the entire collection, I’d give her a hug and say, “Thank you.”

However, my transformation to confidence had to wait a few months until I started work as an Art Director again at a little agency in SF, which coincided with the Fall collection of the newly released wrap dress on bluefly.com. The chevron print circa 1998 was perfect for me, and I knew then that I was going to start kicking some serious ass. Happily my journey continues today with my 14-year-old wrap dress still hanging in my closet, not far from reach and ready to make a statement.

Paula’s DVF dress may have delivered a husband, but my DVF dress delivered me confidence. Which is a fashion “I do.”

You can find all these dresses and more at dvf.com. Happy shopping!

The classic DVF Wrap Dress…

…available in some pretty fantastic prints.


3 Responses

  1. kellypagnac@yahoo.com'
    Kelly

    The fact that you had the strength NOT to buy the dress (in the wrong print) from the designer herself shows you were trending in the DVF direction– being true to your own strong womanly vision!

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