Miss Stylologist: Valentino's 36 Hour Weekend Extravaganza

For the house's 45th anniversary, Valentino chose Rome as the destination to showcase his collection, amongst a slew of other events. The weekend festivities started off with Friday's Ara Pacis Museum exhibition opening followed by a dinner at the Temple of Venus, and continued on Saturday with the presentation of Valentino's fall 2007 couture collection, with a black-tie ball at the famed Villa Borghese to end it all.

If you haven't already figured that this was a weekend in fairytale wonderland, I assure you that the following statement, written by Tim Blanks for style.com, will help you with this ethereal notion - "...convincingly recreated the Temple of Venus with fiberglass columns. The stunning illusion was compounded by the looming (real-life) Colosseum, which provided a surreal backdrop for an aerial ballet of Valentino-clad sprites, followed by a display of fireworks. Then, for Saturday's ball...guests who believed they'd entered a beautifully preserved classical structure. Except...the interior as an Art Deco palace in Shanghai... and people were probably still dancing as the Sunday sun rose over Rome."

Valentino had quite a loyal weekend following, everyone from Uma Thurman and Sarah Jessica Parker to Anna Wintour and Andre Leon Talley, to Italian and New York socialites were front and present, wearing, of course, Valentino. And four separate events meant four separate Valentino outfits. Looking through the images, it looked like a Valentino costume history class, making appearances were current gowns, beaded '90s dresses and archived dresses dating back to the late sixties. What a great way to spend a weekend in July, wouldn't you say?

Sarah Jessica Parker