A Rodarte Exhibit

Last weekend I shopped the boutiques along Robertson Blvd. in West Hollywood--always a favorite haunt of mine.   It's not the clothes in the shops that I've been dreaming about all week, rather it's the exquisite gowns and tutus designed by Kate and Laura Mulleavy displayed at the MOCA satellite behind the Pacific Design Center.

You enter a dark hole of a space and nine black garments are suspended in mid-air.  The three Odile tutus twirl around as if embodied by ghosts.  The long black gowns are collages of vinyl, silk, lace and alpaca wool.  There is a hushed reverence as a handful of people circle the clothes, gawking, dying to touch, knowing it's strictly forbidden.  "Stay behind the line," a security guard barks.  "No pictures."

I blurt out, "Oh, I want this dress," and I am totally mortified.  A well-dressed older woman smiles back at me.  "Me, too," she says.

Upstairs the eeriness is washed away by bright lights, white walls and the creamy dresses from Rodarte's Fall 2010 White Collection.  Again I am mystified at how cohesive a blending of wool, gauze, silk and pearls can be.  It's the addition of twine to the short red and white dresses in the last grouping that delights me the most.  The sublime is interwoven with the ordinary.  It is what I strive for every day of my life.