Unbeknownst to most folks, there was a public preview of the Voltage '08 fashions at last night's 10,000 Arts Party. Mostly I spent the evening being a bugaboo to the models backstage. (Don't they look irritated?) But I also managed to take these snapshots of the looks:
My favorite dress of the night was this casual number (above) by Annie Larsen. This piece is very youthful, which is in accordance with Larsen's previous work. However, what truly captured my heart was the defined waistline. And that's no belt, my dears. It's stitched right into the dress. This, I think, makes it friendlier for wearers who are getting up there in years ...
The above dress is by Amanda Christine, who seems to be gaining more and more momentum as well as a fan base. You can buy her clothes at Cliché, mind you.
This ensemble seemed fairly characteristic of designer Laura Fulk--what with the asymmetrical cuts and juxtaposition of fabrics. However, I found it to be much more feminine than her previous work, probably because of the transparent top and the fur shrug.
George Moskal is genius. It's as if he innately knows how to flatter the female form. Here's something I recently learned (through the grapevine) about him: His day job is designing Liz Lange maternity clothes for Target. Suddenly I see why the tent dresses jump to me from the clearance racks.
And finally, here's what's new from Katherine Gerdes, who is still up to her old tricks as far as draping goes. However, she's added a new twist, as you see here: hand dying the jersey fabrics.
The 10,000 Arts party was fun, but seemed disjointed. I didn't even know about the Voltage Fashion preview on Northrop's stage until it was nearly over. It was in the far corner, backstage almost, and kind of hidden. Seemed the event lacked interior signage or people to steer the crowd to the different happenings that were taking place in the cavernous space.
The event was advertised to take place from 7-10 pm in one spot in the Rake's site, then it noted 7:30 pm in another place. Long lines formed at the cheese and fruit vendor, but seemed after 8 pm, all the vendors packed up and went home. It gave the signal that the event was over, so my friends and I took off. I felt bad, as I spotted Scott Matteo playing flamenco guitar to a vary sparse crowd in the auditorium.
Hey, it was free, so really, I thank you for providing the swell swag bag and a chance to run into friends in the arts. I just wanted the event to get people really pumped up about going to check out future arts events, which I'm not sure it really did. Seemed people were mostly concerned about eating and drinking, as it was a post-work sort of affair and people needed their nourishment and beverages -- can't blame 'em as it was one of the most frigid nights of the year. As far as future Rake events, I think you'd fare better in a smaller space and ditching the VIP table. That seemed to hold up the line and name tags were scattered about, difficult to find.
Just some suggestions, take it for whatever it's worth.