Tuesday, October 21, 2014

Oscar de la Renta 1932-2014

Oscar de la Renta passed away yesterday at his home in Kent, Connecticut.  He was 82 years old.

I think there is no doubt that Mr. de la Renta's legacy will be his gorgeous and lush cocktail and evening dresses.  They were not complicated or intellectually challenging but designed to make a woman look and feel her best.  And what woman/girl does not feel lovely in silk faille and gowns richly embellished with beading, feathers... They were always feminine and flattering and perhaps safe - which is certainly one of the reasons he dressed four first ladies - and just this month, Mrs. Obama wore Oscar for the first time.

This is one of my favorite photos from Vogue that is really a summation of Oscar de la Renta's world: it was photographed at his home in Kent in his famously beautiful garden, with his step-daughter Eliza Reed Bolen and two other young society women, Marina Rust and Aerin Lauder.  Mikhail Baryshnikov dives into the pool.  The ladies are in gowns and while Mr de la Renta may have dressed their mothers, he stayed relevant for their daughter and granddaughters too. 


My daughter the morning of  her 2013 4th grade graduation wearing Oscar de la Renta and a fascinator her Spansih teacher made.  I think Oscar would have approved...


xo, Juliana

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