Sunday, October 26, 2008

Thurgood Marshall College Fund Fashion Show 08







Last night I had the pleasure of participating in the 3rd Annual Front Row Fashion Show for The Thurgood Marshall College Fund. The show was held at New York's Roseland Ballroom. The call time for the models was 3pm so I decided to meet up with Gwen DeVoe and ride downtown together.

We met at the 125th St Station on St Nicholas and other than a few moments of witty repartee with a homeless female dope fiend (simply hilarious ya'll) and watching her pose for a picture the ride downtown was pretty much uneventful.

We exited the D train at the Seventh Avenue stop and quickly made our way into Roseland. We stopped briefly in the vestibule to check out a few dress forms, artfully draped in multi colored fabrics and pinned into dress shapes; and then we headed backstage to meet up with designer Douglas Says. One of the first people I ran into was producer Aminah Benjamin, who was holding it down in the back along with the rest of the Ground Crew.

We found Douglas easily and after a quick briefing on what we'd be wearing in the show, we headed over to the refreshment area to get a quick snack before going over to hair (lol..well not me for hair) and makeup. I retrieved a shrimp salad wrap, a small mixed salad and a Fresca and took a seat on a stool to chat with Diva & Douglas. We'd been talking about 10-15 minutes before we heard some squealing behind us....we looked up and saw makeup artist Tara Taylor, who was absolutely overjoyed at the sight of us. We both got excited quickly as well, because we knew at the sight of Tara that our faces were going to be DONE-DONE-DONE!!!!
After finishing up my lunch, I quickly made my way to the makeup area where Tara was waiting for me. The look for the show was a black smoky eye with a red lip. I sat back and got comfortable as Tara began to work her magic. When she finished I barely recognized myself! Diva (Gwen) sat in her chair next and I decided to walk around to see what I could see.....

The WHAT: The Thurgood Marshall College Fund hosts its 3rd Annual "FRONT ROW Fashion Show celebrating the Spirit of Innovation in Fashion and featuring the couture designs of some of today's top African-Americans designers. FRONT ROW also honors the top African American professionals and style icons that have advanced and influenced style around the globe.
The WHO: Featured Designers:

-- Miguel Antoinne
-- Steven Cutting
-- Sean John
-- Johnny Vincent
-- Kevan Hall
-- Xiomara
-- Stephen Burrows
-- Tracy Reese
-- Douglas Says
-- SIXXfoota
-- Edward Wilkerson for Lafayette 148 New York

The Honorees:

-- Audrey Smaltz-Fashion Entrepreneur
-- Beverly Johnson- Supermodel
-- Tyson Beckford- Supermodel/Actor
-- Ross Burton-International Make-Up Artist
-- Oscar James- Famed Hairstylist
-- Keith Major-Famed Photographer
-- Ashley Stewart Stores -Full Figured Specialty Retailer

As I walked around the backstage area, it was a little bit of a reunion for me, as I was seeing a lot of folks that I hadn't seen since my early days as a plus model working "the underground". My plus sized Divas were in full force on this night: Jeannie Ferguson, Miss Sarah from IPM, Wendy McKenzie, Adrienne Washington, Angellika Morton, Kemi Lyles. Tonight's show also showcased Gwen "Diva" DeVoe's (CEO DeVoe Signature Events) return to the runway!!

My straight sized Diva's were also in the house....Roz, Lu, Stacy McKenzie and Shailah Edwards. At around 6pm all the models were gathered for a brief run through and it was over quicker than you could say boo. The show was scheduled to begin at 8pm and after a brief delay, the host of the evening's festivities, Tamara Tunie (Law & Order SVU) took the stage. I got to talk briefly with honoree Audrey Smaltz, who looked absolutely stunning in a Douglas Says custom designed dress in a midnight blue tie dyed print. Also backstage helping out was swimwear designer Roger Gary & Leonard Davis (sporting a cute new do')

New Jersey based designer Linwood Allen opened the show with his risque swimwear and the crowd went crazy!! Approximately 12 designers showcased their clothing but there was only one segment featuring plus sized women and that was Douglas Says - and let me tell you family....when WE hit that runway the crowd went UP!!!! They showed us an amazing amount of love ya'll. The runway was very long and you could see my sisters strutting like proud peacocks when we got our "walk" on. It was all love on that night....

And speaking of love....I wasn't the only one who noticed the LACK of drama in the backstage area for this particular show. Unlike fashion shows in the past (RTR heh-heh) there wasn't any of the "So who's gonna do the makeup for the plus size girls?" crap this go round. Everyone got the same treatment across the board and NO ONE was stuck in the position of having to do their own hair or makeup (which is often the case for my juicy gals).

After the show, Diva, Tara & I decided to hang around and check out the after party upstairs in the lounge. I decided to change into a simple dress and some red patent leather boots with fishnet hose. Diva was rocking a leopard print dress that I was TOTALLY coveting! We gathered up our bags and headed up to the balcony. We hadn't got anywhere near the lounge before folks began stopping us to tell us how much they enjoyed the show! We managed to find some empty spots by the bar and decided to put our suitcases under the bar so we could work the room unencumbered. It was packed and I grabbed a bartender and immediately secured 3 glasses of champagne (courtesy of Moet & Chandon, the drink sponsor for the event).

I took my camera out of my bag and quickly scanned the room to see if I could get some interesting shots for this blog...Among those upstairs in attendance: Bethann Hardison, stylist Carlton Spence (looking FABU in a turquoise fedora with a purple band!), Devon Christopher (Bleu Magazine), Photographers Keith Major & Donn Thompson, Actors Taimak (The Last Dragon) & Tamara Tunie (Law & Order SVU); Harriet Cole (Ebony Magazine), male model Renauld White, designers Donna Dove, Duane Fish & Linwood Allen, model Janine Green & her husband Phillip and I saw my home girl Muzette's nephew Jason, who also worked backstage for the show.

Oddly enough the bar ran out of champagne (er...how does the drink sponsor run out of liquor for an event??) about an hour and a half after the party began and only had red and white wine left...lol...and then they ran out of that about an hour after running out of bubbly!.....and we decided to head over to Mickey D's for a quick bite cuz we were starving!

We were a little tipsy and very animated and let's just say that the meal in McDonald's was er...interesting. We ran into a group of young people who were students at the Academy of Dramatic Arts and we chatted them up as we ate. One young sister (Janelle, I think she said her name was) who had come to NYC from Chicago with a friend gave us 16 bars of a song she'd written and we were QUITE impressed....this chick has real talent fam!

By the time we finished a steady rain had begun to fall and we decided to share a taxi uptown together. We dropped Tara off at a church on Amsterdam Ave where she'd parked her car and Diva and I talked all the way to my place....we both agreed that this was the most fun we'd had in a long time!!! Thanks for asking me to participate Douglas, it was awesome. It really was!


"What sculpture is to a block of marble, education is to the soul."

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