Inspiring women to take action

By ALEXANDRA LUNDAHL, DAILY SUN

THE VILLAGES — Celebrities’ high-ticket red dresses will visit The Villages later this month as part of the Heart Truth red dress exhibit to promote women’s health.

The Red Hat Society is sponsoring the event at Savannah Center and area residents are invited from 1 to 4 p.m. March 26. Tickets can be purchased at all Villages box offices for $23.50, with 500 tickets available.

“The dresses are so expensive they come with their own guards,” said Linda Decker, queen bee of the Saxy Ladies Red Hat group. “They set them up on mannequins and there will be one at every corner of the banquet room.”

Four of the pricey designer dresses will be on display: one designed by Luca Luca and worn by tennis star Venus Williams; one by Kenneth Cole and worn by country singer Emmylou Harris; one by Esteban Cortazar worn by supermodel Jessica Miller; and one by elite designer Carmen Marc Valvo.

Heart Truth, a national awareness campaign for heart disease in women, designed the red dress event as a symbol of its mission, inspiring women to take action, according to Heart Truth’s Web site.

In addition to admiring the dresses, people can savor tea and pastries, listen to speakers who will discuss the dresses and women’s health, and watch a fashion show by Belk department store, Decker said.

All proceeds will go toward The Villages Regional Hospital’s catheterization laboratory, Decker said.