With temperatures in the 80s, the sun shining and a cool breeze off of Lake Calhoun, it was the perfect setting for the sixth annual Vita.mn Poolside Fashion Show.

Is there any key to the mysteries of history that's more accessible than fashion? Turn back the clock just ten years, and you can see yourself wearing something that you'd never wear today...but of course, everyone was wearing it back then. In the past. The past(s) is (are) where the Minnesota Historical Society makes its business to dwell, and each year the MHS celebrates fashions past with a "RetroRama" event featuring looks from a selected moment in time. This time around, though, the designers' mandate is thematic rather than periodic: the fashions on display will all be somehow related to politics. Also on tap are custom cocktails, music by the Southside Aces, and "Blingo" with Ellie Blades.

City planning guru Charles Landry says urban planners should emphasize social and cultural capital over their traditional reliance on economics alone in the development of cities. Landry, who has evaluated the livability of cities all over the world, spoke May 7 at the Cowles Center in downtown Minneapolis to begin a weeklong residency of workshops, talks and tours of the Twin Cities.