Ruth Tarvydas: red roses and a timeless legacy

By Ellie Griffiths The Perth Fashion Festival has paid tribute to the late Ruth Tarvydas, with a display of more than 40 of her most spectacular designs. Before a crowd of 640 fashionistas, the Perth Symphony Orchestra invited guests into an atmosphere of excitement, awe and anticipation before host Samantha Jolly opened the show. Bringing the audience to an awed silence, journalist Di Bauwens read a poem she wrote for Ruth after hearing the loss of her closest friend. Rocketing Perth into the international fashion scene, Ruth acquired an ever-growing list of A-list celebrities and personalities, including dear friend Bree Maddox. “I thought the tribute show would be difficult to watch,” said Bree. “Instead it brought back so many happy memories and I spent the show giving my partner a running commentary on all the dresses, and where I’d worn them, and the laughs Ruth and I had shared. “It was brilliant and she would have absolutely loved it.” Bree described the Tarvydas Collection as a simply stunning collection that made women feel elegant, bold, sexy, feminine and beautiful. Models paraded the hand selected dresses down the runway, featuring berry coloured lips and sheer-black fascinators to finish the look. Putting her entire soul into collections over her 40-year long career, Ruth is admired by many as an inspirational fashion figure. Recent Bachelor of Arts (Fashion) graduate from Curtin University, Katie O’Neill, spoke of Ruth as one of her fashion idols. “Fashion is such a hard industry to get into, let alone continue for years in on a global scale,” said Katie. “Ruth’s legacy is enough motivation for me to strive to make my own mark in the industry, which is why she was, is, and will be one of my fashion idols.” [youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1QglwPgPlyk]