It's a look right out of a celebrity magazine: a party venue filled wall to wall with attendees dressed head to toe -- or at least collar to ankle -- in elegant white outfits.
It's nothing short of stunning. The women, in their sassy white cocktail mini dresses or flowing white robe-like ensembles; the men, in their linen sets or dapper white suits.
The look's uniform sophistication and glamour is a strong draw for anyone who wants to feel like one of "the beautiful people." And it is a draw for many, judging from attendance at two white-attire events held in Little Rock this summer. The Firefighters All White Affair, held each June, drew a sellout crowd. A Night in White Affair, hosted in August by the Little Rock alumnae chapter of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, was also a hit.
The white-attire party season didn't end with Labor Day. Yet another All White Affair starts at 9 p.m. Fridayat Little Rock nightclub La'Changes, 3315 W. Roosevelt Road. Tickets are $10 at eventbrite.com.
Friday's All White Affair will afford attendees a last opportunity to sport warmer-weather whites, says Carla Smith, organizer and chairman of the fundraising committee for the hosts, the Queen Tiye chapter No. 18, AF&M Scottish Rite Masons.
"We thought, 'You know what, everybody loves to wear white' -- crisp clean, easy to wear," she says. White, Smith adds, "goes with everything; it's not something hard to put together. Most people have that in their closet ... they at least have some form of white."
The event is a meet-and-greet for members of the chapter, but the public is invited. "We're expecting about 300 people, so we're super excited," Smith says. As with so many other white-attire parties, it's a fundraiser. A portion of the proceeds will be donated to Ronald McDonald House Charities of Arkansas.
Online sources trace white-attire parties to gatherings of gays in Miami and other cities to raise money for HIV/AIDS organizations. Miami's The White Party -- celebrating its 30th anniversary Nov. 29 as the central event of White Party Week -- bills itself as "the world's oldest and largest HIV/AIDS fundraiser." White-attire parties have also been fueled by the White Party fundraiser hosted in the Hamptons (as well as Los Angeles and St. Tropez) by rapper and entrepreneur Sean "Diddy" Combs which attract scores of celebrities.
"I believe all-white parties have grown so popular in recent years because people want to get a feel for the Hampton's ... cool, crisp and sexy," says Maumelle fashion stylist Shari Noel. "People want to go somewhere that makes them feel sexy and carefree. Actually, attending an all-white party in the Hamptons is on my bucket list."
Arkansas came to the all-white-attire party rather late, fellow stylist Lori Snyder of Little Rock points out.
"I think that we're always the last to get everything," she says. "We're rooted very firmly in the traditional South." But when the AIDS fundraisers began and "people saw that [all-white attire] looked clean and crisp," the parties caught on," citing the Wimbledon White party held in May 2010 at the Country Club of Little Rock and benefiting The Centers for Youth and Families.
NOT JUST FOR DOVES
The fourth annual Firefighters All White Affair, held June 7 and featuring music by R&B recording artist Glenn Jones, became so big it had be moved from the Clinton Presidential Center to the ballroom of the Marriott Hotel Little Rock. It's hosted by the nonprofit organization F.I.R.E.S. Inc. -- Finding Incentives Reaching and Empowering Students -- and benefits its Emergency Medical Technician Scholarship Program.
The party rose from its organizers' desire to put on something new, says Joe Gray, chief fire marshal for the Little Rock Fire Department and executive director of F.I.R.E.S. "We used to have a Christmas party and ... everybody started having Christmas party after Christmas party after Christmas party."
Why the white-attire theme? "In the summertime, wearing white keeps you cool," Gray says. "And I guess it's kind of fashionable once you've seen it on some of the awards shows ... . We thought it was very fashionable as well, so we decided we would start having a Firefighters All White Affair. It got a real good reception from the public and we just continued to do that. ... The women especially look forward to it because they get to buy a new outfit every year" -- a dress one year, a pantsuit the next, an evening or maxi dress the next.
How do the men dress for the party? "It's always Miami Vice," Gray says, referring to the popular 1980s crime show featuring stylish police detectives Sonny Crockett -- who combined white suits with casual accessories -- and Rico Tubbs, who dressed more formally but wore touches of white from time to time. "It just makes you look cool."
White tables, stately feathered centerpieces and elongated Buddha sculptures helped create an unforgettably opulent dreamscape at the Aug. 15 A Night in White Affair, held at the Metroplex. The Little Rock alumnae chapter of Delta Sigma Theta took the idea from the White Centennial Celebration the chapter hosted in 2013, the 100th year of the sorority. The party was open to nonmembers.
Barker says she attended one other white attire party in Dallas. "I thought this was so perfect for Little Rock," she says, adding that she was further inspired by the white attire worn at actor-comedian Steve Harvey's Neighborhood (Hoodie) Awards.
A WHITE SALE
For women, fashionable white clothing isn't hard to find. The "little white dress" is in plentiful supply on apparel-retailer websites.
Noel, also a buyer for the west Little Rock boutique Jeante as well as a personal shopper, believes it's now just as important for a woman to own a little white dress as it is a little black dress. What color accessories to wear with all white? Noel, who has styled men and women for white-attire parties, says that for her more daring clients she might add "a pop of color or a fun print" via their shoes. For more conservative clients, she'd add a neutral-color shoe.
Men who'd like something more dressy than the jeans or short-sleeved linen shirt-and-trouser sets so ubiquitous as white spring-summer attire have more to choose from than they might think, says Gray, who mentions such stores as Greenhaw's, Milano's, Dillard's and J.C. Penney as good sources for men's white attire.
He says he has three white outfits with components he changes up so he won't look the same at every party. "You can just get some white slacks and a white mock turtleneck or a white button-down shirt or a white jacket. If [you] want to, you can take the jacket off."
But for certain reasons, white clothing may not be a wardrobe priority for some.
White garments are easily stained, and tend to turn yellow. And, white makes you appear larger, Noel says.
Snyder says she'd never do "investment pieces" in white because white garments tend to turn yellow. She keeps these garments in a breathable garment bag, but even then, the items must be cleaned every year in order to stay white. "Never spend a lot on white -- any kind of white ... unless you are willing to not drink and eat, and pay the money to keep [it] up," she says. "White can either be a blessing or a curse." (For those who struggle to keep white clothing clean, she suggests getting a small bottle of Mrs. Stewart's Bluing Whitener.)
Gray, who usually takes his white items to the cleaners, says he doesn't believe white gets dirty as fast or easily as people might think. But he and other organizers of the Firefighters All White Affair don't take any chances ... they keep things like spaghetti and sauces off the buffet menu.
However easy or difficult white is to care for, the stylists and party organizers all believe white-attire events will continue to grow in Arkansas.
"It was one of those things that worked," Snyder says.
Style on 09/16/2014