Start spring with a clean slate and don a lovely little white dress. A combo of flirty and fancy, the perfect LWD is just as important as the classic black cocktail ensemble. If your closet is lacking, look no further than Vera Wang’s spring collection, packed full of ivory shifts, dancing skirts and embroidered jackets.

Fundraising took center stage at the Steppenwolf Theatre’s annual gala May 4. The night started in the Downstairs Theatre, where more than 600 guests — including co-founder Gary Sinise and board chair Nora Daley — got a sneak peek at Steppenwolf’s newest production, “Head of Passes.” The party then moved to event space Blackhawk on Halsted for drinks, dinner, dancing and a live auction, which featured star-studded items like dinner with “The Good Wife” actor Josh Charles. The event helped raise $1.1 million for the Theatre’s educational and community programs.

The Hilton Chicago (720 S. Michigan) was overrun with lions May 8, but guests had nothing to fear — it was a traditional Chinese Lion dance, performed at the Chinese American Service League’s 24th annual gala. Co-chaired by Michael Tang and Michael Ferro, chairman of Sun-Times parent company Wrapports, the bash was filled with delicious food from some of the city’s top chefs — Charlie Trotter, Art Smith, Tony Hu and Hsing Chen each created a course.

Hay bales, sunflowers and a banjo player set the scene at The Women’s Board of the Lyric Opera’s “Celebrating Oklahoma!” event, inspired by the opera’s latest production. Nearly 200 guests dug into a family-style Southern picnic at the May 9 bash, passing around a traditional pickle board, fried chicken, mac and cheese and pecan pies crafted by chef Art Smith. Co-chairs Trisha Rooney Alden and Jacky Ferro, whose husband is the chairman of Sun-Times’ parent company Wrapports, mingled with attendees before the Lyric’s cast put on a performance of the musical.

The Chicago skyline just got a little more stylish with the recent opening of the K2 apartments (365 N. Halsted). To mark the occasion, Splash, in partnership with the Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago, helped welcome more than 400 guests to the upscale residence to sip cocktails and tour apartments and penthouses (starting at $1,650) with interior designs by Adrian Smith + Gordon Gill, Morgante Wilson and Design for a Cure. 

This week: The League of Chicago Theatres’ Spring Gala, John Waters at Harris Theater, the Chicago Memorial Day Parade and more.

Models dressed as flappers with long strands of ‘20s-style pearl necklaces welcomed guests to AMC River East (322 E. Illinois) May 6 at Chicago’s first official screening of Warner Brothers’ “The Great Gatsby”, sponsored by MarCon Communications. The film was introduced by the Sun-Times’ Bill Zwecker and Chaz Ebert, who spoke of late husband Roger Ebert’s love for F. Scott Fitzgerald’s classic story. Afterwards, attendees sipped cocktails, snacked on light hors d’oeuvres and continued the celebration over at Maxim’s (24 E. Goethe).

Chelsea Clinton took an afternoon off from her doctoral studies at Oxford University to speak at the Jewish United Fund’s Women’s Division Spring Event luncheon May 9. The sold-out event, themed “The Power of Caring” and chaired by Deborah Schrayer Karmin, drew more than 1,000 women to the Hilton Chicago (720 S. Michigan) and raised nearly $700,000 for the JUF annual campaign. 

Cheers to Amy Stoken on her new role as regional director of the Chicago office of the American Jewish Committee. She succeeds Dan Elbaum, who was appointed director of AJC’s regional offices and assistant executive director.

I spend a lot of time on planes, you guys. What better way to spend those hours confined with a bunch of strangers than to analyze all of the personalities surrounding me? Can you identify with any of these frequent flyers?