The Art Of Curves at The West Side Loft

Last night I had the pleasure of attending an event called "The Art of Curves", which was a plus sized fashion event held at a beautiful space called The West Side Loft. I arrived at about 8:40pm (er...actually late for the VIP Cocktail Hour...which started at 8pm...lol). My cab pulled up and there was a long line outside to get inside...but thank the Lord Security let me go right up. I got upstairs and ran right into Mike from Bigger & Better Thangs, Inc. and he got me a VIP wristband and I hurriedly went to grab a seat...as the room was filling up quickly. As I headed to my seat I ran into my homegirl Gwen "Diva" DeVoe, CEO of DeVoe Signature Events and my girl Tonya "T-Boogie" Giddens. I wound up sitting directly across from them and after chatting and taking a few pics, courtesy of Luke Jones...Photographer extraordinaire!!! (Thanks Luke!) I headed to the bar for a..lol..pre-show cocktail. At the bar I ran into Luke's other half...Maddy Figueroa-Jones, Creative Director for Plus Model Magazine. I was feeling pretty fabulous in my "Mad Couture" original outfit from back in the day and added a yellow belt, bag & mules...(It's a shame Mad doesn't design anymore...EVERYBODY wanted to know where I got my outfit from!...(Hint-Hint Mad!!! it's time to dust off the sewing machine again!!!). While I was at the bar getting my cocktail I ran into Alicia Mitchell (MFC Top 5 finalist 2005) who told me she was doing make up for the event....and let me tell you...she did her thing! The ladies looked wonderful. I also chatted with Tasha from BGU (Big Girls United) and Monif C.'s beautiful mama! Then I heard an announcement that the show was beginning and I had to practically run back to my seat!!! But I didn't miss catching a glimpse of Miss Tanisha Malone (Miss F.A.T. 2006) with her pretty chocolate self doing some mannequin modeling alongside the runway....she looks awesome ya'll and mama is headed out to L.A. to test the waters out there as I write this blog entry...You GO Girl!!!! I wish you all the best! Also in attendance was the always fabulous Theresa Randolph of JT Productions....Word on the street is this year's Miss Full Figured NJ pageant (Usually held in December) will be her last....so all you big gals with "Pageant Dreams" swirling in your heads should give Miss Theresa a shout out!

The lights went down and the show began...I saw a myriad of beautiful plus sized women in ALL SHAPES and SIZES!!! It was really a wonderful thing to watch. The ladies modeled designs by BA Walker for Streetwalker, BGU, Bweela Steptoe's, Designs by Sakina, The Fat Girl Flea Market, Lee Lee's Valise, MEWV, Style & Pride Suerock Originals, Svoboda, The House of Sir Charles & Trentacosta.

Gracing the runway I saw a lot of familiar faces, My girl Jeannie Ferguson (the other half of BGU), Veronica Calhoun (we go WAAAAY back ya'll), The beautiful Kalyea Moss, Troy Safi, Tonya Jeter, Melina & quite a few other sisters who's names I can't remember...please forgive me ya'll!!!

I really did enjoy myself but I have two things to note: coming in at over 2 hours the show was a tad bit long for me and most of that was because the models took way too long to walk (Runway Diva tip #1 - when you see a model at the end of the runway...it's time for you to WALK...if she's headed back when you come out...YOU ARE ALREADY LATE!!!..) In the future...have someone posted backstage to call the show. And it would have been nice if someone had mentioned who each designer was in the first half..(I saw a lot of clothing that I liked...but since it all flowed with no stops...I had no idea of who's clothing I was looking at). Other than that...I thought it was a great first effort!

Kudos to you Blacque Sutherland...And thanks for the invite...I am looking forward to seeing more productions from you!

Personal Shoutouts to: The sisters from SKORCH Magazine (Jeez!!! I am soooo very bad with names ya'll for real!!!) I enjoyed the convo...stay in touch

Mike from BBT - Your Mom is AWESOME!!! Thanks for making me feel special!

Q

"Well done is better than well said."