Nancy and Nelly demonstrate that you can be a diva at any age… and that style keeps you young! Happy Mother’s Day to two beautiful divas.

The fashion show featured spring and summer looks from the Art of Style’s collection. In the commingling of lovely clothes, shared sense of community, and the painful reminder of human mortality, a lesson emerged for me. Style can be an expression of human resilience and strength. It can reflect the ability to find and embody beauty, despite the suffering in life. And it can inspire others to do the same.

Here are some of my favorite looks from the show. Photographs by Michael Helms.

For Women:

White pants, with a white or multi-colored top. So chic and carefree!

Tiered, satiny evening skirt. Love the bold, tangerine tango color!

White dress shirt with rolled sleeves, bow tie, grey slacks, black shoes, and black belt. This look says “I’m sexy (and successful) and I know it.”

Grey dress shirt with rolled sleeves, black slacks, black belt, black shoes, and sunglasses. Two words: Smart bad-ass.

This diva from Tallahassee succeeded so beautifully I wanted to go back to the hotel and change after I saw her outfit:

Love her outfit! Her dress is unfussy in a way that travels well and hits the right, laid-back note for a vacation, while still flattering. The stripes on her dress obliquely reference the French nautical t-shirt, which calls to mind warm-weather vacations, but re-worked as a dress the look is fresh and original. Her ballet flats are classic, elegant, and perfect for walking. (Her shoes and handbag both match the stripes on her dress.) A bracelet and sunglasses add a touch sparkle, and dark nail polish adds a little contrast. Such a glamorous, comfortable vacation look!

As an aside: this diva was incredibly nice, as was her family. Her boyfriend jestingly asked me why I hadn’t asked to photograph him for the blog. He argued that his sneakers were looking especially white, and his t-shirt, which came in a convenient three-pack, was new. So this is a shout-out to the diva’s boyfriend: your aviator sunglasses were very cool!

I cannot recommend this thought-provoking and introspection-inducing exhibit enough. In the event that distance (or time) prevent you from visiting this treat, though, here are some of the displays and concepts that I found most intriguing:

• A 1980′s women’s power suit: The thick, bulky shoulder pads that came into vogue in the 1980′s emerged from women’s entry into the workforce, and their struggle to fit into (and succeed within) the heavily male corporate world. Shoulder pads created a more masculine silhouette.
• A wedding dress from the 1930′s: Lengthy wedding dress trains began as a way for the bride’s family to showcase their wealth – by destroying costly, precious fabric by dragging it across the ground.
• An evening dress from 1909: Napoleon’s 1798-1801 campaigns in Egypt and Syria created a fascination with the Middle East. Parisian fashion reflected this with intricate, “oriental” detailing.
• Tanning trends. Before the Industrial Revolution, when most people worked outdoors in agrarian professions, pale skin was a coveted symbol of the leisure class. During the Industrial Revolution, as the hoi polloi moved indoors to factory work, tanning trends changed. Tan skin now communicated the leisure to lounge while others labored.

What current cultural forces influence your appearance and attire? (Feel free to post your response to this question!)

This photo doesn’t do justice to how incredibly hip and original this diva’s ensemble was. Her plum-colored jumpsuit had a wrap top, which criss-crossed in back and then tied around her waist. Loved the symmetry of her blue evening heels with her blue fedora. Her earrings and bracelets added just the right amount of sparkle, without disrupting the easy, downtown cool of the look.

This Diva radiates red carpet glamour, from her sweeping floor-length dress to her scintillating peep toe heels. It could be her lovely outfit, or it could be my knowledge that she helps local charities through Models for Charity. Appropriately, Ann Clinton was among the Top 25 Most Stylish!

This gentleman, Marquelle Turner, was among the Top 25, and you can see why at a glance. Love how the white dress shirt allows the burgundy bow tie to really pop, how the bow tie and blue pocket square highlight colors in the blazer, and the contrast of the silky fabrics and shiny lapel pin against the matte material of the coat. Read some of his incredibly eloquent thoughts about personal style on a different blog here.

Carolina STYLE magazine launch party (continued).

Love the pairing of these divas’ dresses, in shimmery, sensual fabrics, with bondage-y high heels! The diva in the middle is among the Top 25 Most Stylish.

It was a form of spiritual ecstasy. The Carolina STYLE magazine launch party, held at Spy Raleigh on Friday, April 20th, honored the Top 25 most stylish people in the Triangle. The Top 25, their friends, and other celebrants all turned out in appropriately stylish form for the occasion. Every outfit was gorgeous and original. The room was a riveting sea of wearable art, satiating some core, emotional need in me for beauty and creativity. Stationary living models, wearing clothing from local boutiques, mirrored the visual feast in a curiously postmodern display of art reflecting life reflecting art.

The Top 25 list, which celebrated the irresistable blend that is style and substance, honored civic-minded individuals whose contributions to the community are matched by their sartorial style. Appropriately, proceeds from the party went to the Susan G. Komen Foundation to fund breast cancer awareness and research.

It’s my pleasure to bring you a sequence of five posts (here, here, here and here), featuring some of my favorite looks from the evening.

Kendra Leonard, activist in the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society and owner of the Art of Style (see previous post on the Art of Style), is featured here on the left in the Brightly Twisted dress, available at her boutique.