Imagine: the house lights are dim, the excitement is palpable and the house music is bumping. Show attendees are wearing their best: lipstick-red pumps, bubble dresses and designer denim. As the show begins, beautiful, lithe models strut their stuff on the runway modeling the latest from Oscar de la Renta, Christian Lacroix, Bill Blass, Carolina Herrera and more.
Nope, I wasn't at New York Fashion Week; I attended the fabulous Ebony Fashion Fair this past weekend right here in Madison. The "world's largest traveling fashion show" celebrated its fiftieth anniversary this year.
Besides showcasing fashion giants like Roberto Cavalli and Dolce & Gabbana, the show had a greater purpose, too: to serve as a fundraiser for the Madison Metropolitan Chapter of The Links. This worldwide nonprofit, service-based volunteer organization strives to "enriching, sustaining and ensuring the culture and economic survival of African Americans and other persons of African ancestry." Since the Madison chapter's inception in 1985, The Links have awarded over $100,000 in scholarships to Madison youth.
A good cause and good clothing? I'm in!
Hot trends I saw:
Metallics, glitz and glamour. Fantastic sequin-encrusted minidresses, a disco-shine sequin jumpsuit and a ladylike golden coat were all here.
Fur. Models were covered from head to toe—literally—in all kinds of furs. Models sported fur-trimmed cuffs on coats, a mink shrug and floor-length coats.
Animal prints. Lions and tigers and—well, OK not bears—but animals of all stripes were represented. Check out the three lovely models clad in their fashion-forward animal-print frocks.
Plaid. Plaid was the ticket in wide-leg pants, duster coats and jumpers. Many of the outfits were very matchy-matchy (i.e.: a plaid coat with matching shift dress underneath), and therefore more suited to the runway than the realway. So use just one of these plaid pieces to jazz up an outfit.
Tailored, polished looks. Check out the black belted cardigan with wide-leg pants or the elegant Grecian-inspired white shift dress with metallic accents.
Brights. The runway was an abundance of rich color: chartreuse, mustard yellow, apple red and of course, this striped, full-skirted frock. Outfits also mixed and matched colors like a mustard-yellow trench and fringed dress paired with shiny red pumps and a vibrant plum pleated shirt (paired with gray pants) and minidress.
The new swimsuit. Swimsuits were given the full-fashion treatment in metallics, stripes and animal prints. Paired with elegant caftans and wrap dresses, these pieces were practically outfits.
Embellished denim. Sequins and embroidery dressed up this wardrobe standby and made it more evening-worthy. With casual becoming more of the norm these days, I'm not surprised.
Finally, check out Elizabeth Wewerka (owner of Lady Moxie) and myself with our "posse" of male models...ha ha. These gentlemen modeled in the fashion show. Bottom photo courtesy of mandophotography.com
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