Who Let The Cows Out Of The Dress Barn?
by Jerome du Bois, with Catherine King On November 11, Catherine and I sat in a darkened hall and listened to Dennita Sewell, Fashion Curator at the Phoenix Art Museum, describe her latest exhibition, “After Dark: 100 Years of the Evening Gown.” She accompanied her talk with a slideshow, and at the end, as the last slide appeared on the screen, representing the very latest, most recent evening fashion, Catherine drew her breath in so sharply the woman in front of us turned her head curiously. I was curious, too. On the screen was a shop window with dim views of dresses behind it and, inscribed on its glass face, one word: “Rodarte.” Catherine whispered to me, “Those fat sisters.” Ah! Now I knew what she was talking about. Rodarte –Kate and Laura Mulleavy– is the latest word in bad fashion, in the line of Alice Roi and Heatherette and Imitation of Christ. And Dennita Sewell was all excited about them. Rodarte was the cherry on top of her Hundred Years of Eveningwear lecture. Sewell gu
