The 2019 edition of Designers Choice Fashion Preview -- "live music, fashion and fun for a cause!" and featuring actor Morris Chestnut as host -- will take place April 6 at the Metroplex, 10800 Colonel Glenn Road in Little Rock.
This 12th-anniversary evening will begin with a VIP reception at 6:30 p.m., which will include a meet-and-greet with hosts, heavy hors d'oeuvres and bar. VIP ticket holders will also enjoy special seating and swag bags. Doors open at 7 for general-admission guests to enter and stroll the red carpet.
The fashion show starts at 7:30 and displays the talents of Bruce Davis, Crystal Hamilton, Dalun Smith, Donna Brown, Markia Herron, Nichelle Terry, Oliver Michael Fitzpatrick and Tremaine Pollydore. Featured boutique will be Tonia Grant's Bag it Up Boutique. Guests will also be treated to the "DCFP All Stars": Korto Momolu, Ruby Moore, Shonda Ali Shamaa and Teiraney Ousley. The Rodney Block Collective will provide music. Also, according to the Facebook event page, this year's event is a "Blackout" party. Black and/or glowy neon color attire is encouraged.
Tickets are $40 general admission, $75 VIP. All proceeds go to the Timmons Arts Foundation, dedicated to restoring visual arts and music education opportunities to public-school students. Foundation activities for this year will include a Cultivating the Arts Youth Summer Camp fashion design class with Momolu. Visit DCFP12.Eventbrite.com.
PASSION FOR FASHION
The sixth Passion for Fashion Style Show, a fundraiser for the Horace Mann Transitional Class of 1972's Edwin L. Hawkins Scholarship, will take place from 5-7 p.m. April 14 at the Centre at University Park, 6410 W. 12th St. in Little Rock.
This event includes a reception followed by the show, which will be divided into different scenes. "Bollywood in the Rock" will highlight Indian attire provided by Arundhati Reddy, former owner of the boutique Glam East. "Of Just Do It: Kneel" will showcase Nike attire styled to recognize the marketing genius of the brand. "Off to the Races" will feature the latest hat craze and coordinating outfits for this year's horse races. "Leather Forever" will display leather fashions. "Midnight Love" is the show finale. Tickets are $20 general admission and may be obtained by calling Carolyn Brooks, (901) 289-3104, or Carl Vault, (501) 416-6523.
The Horace Mann Transitional Class of 1972 consists of students who attended the former Horace Mann Senior High School for their sophomore and junior years, then were reassigned to other schools as a part of Little Rock School District desegregation efforts.
NORTH BY NORTHWEST
Northwest Arkansas Fashion Week is coming of age. It's beginning to look as big and splashy as New York Fashion Week. More shows and events than ever are planned for the Spring 2019 incarnation, to be held April 3-6 in Bentonville.
Here's the schedule.
Wednesday, April 3:
• Pecha Kucha at Crystal Bridges, hosted by NWA Fashion Week and Arkansas Arts & Fashion Forum, 7--9 p.m., Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, 600 Museum Way, Bentonville. Speakers: Lance Cheramie, University of Arkansas; Shaul Cohen, Jordache, New York; Zach Freeze, Walmart; and Alyssa Bird, Regenerous Designs. (Pecha Kucha presentations are fast-paced presentations featuring 20 slides shown for 20 seconds each.) The event is free.
Thursday, April 4:
• NWAFW x Bridal, the fashion week's first bridal event, 6:30-9:30 p.m., 21c Museum Hotel, 200 N.E. A St., Bentonville. Tickets, $35-$60.
• NWAFW x Active, the week's inaugural athletic wear showing, 6:30-10 p.m., Record, 104 S.W. A St., Bentonville. Tickets: $45-$150.
• NWAFW x After Party, 21c Museum Hotel. DJs: Brock Entertainment and Ambrosia Johnson. Tickets: $25.
Friday, April 5:
• Meet & Greet with Northwest Arkansas designer Rosie Rose, 5-6 p.m. in the lobby of Arvest Bank, 201 N.E. A St., Bentonville. Rose's gowns will be on display in the bank lobby through May 10. Free.
• NWA Fashion Week x Ready to Wear, the fashion week's first show "dedicated to a shoppable runway" and featuring vendors and designers, 6:30-10:30 p.m., Record. Tickets: $50-$220. (An after-party is in development.)
Saturday, April 6:
• In Conversation: Gabrielle Korn, editor-in chief for online magazine Nylon, 2-4 p.m., Haxton Road Studios, 222 S.E. Second St., Bentonville. Attendees will participate in a group activity to envision a fashion magazine for NWA. The event is free; space is limited.
• NWA Fashion Week x Avant Garde, 6:30-10:30 p.m., Record. In the spotlight: Arkansas and Oklahoma designers whose creations "are on the cutting edge of creative apparel." Following: An after-party in partnership with restaurant The Holler. Tickets: $50-$220.
For more information, featured designers/stores and ticket information, visit nwafw.com.
REVIEWS
Recently submitted to us for your approval -- samples of fashion and beauty items found online:
• Products from Woosh Beauty (Wooshbeauty.com), a convenience-driven line of cosmetics with familiar products in never-seen-before incarnations along with never-seen-before beauty gadgets. Woosh's Fold Out Face Palette ($45-$99, without and with brushes) is a mega-compact that includes foundation, concealer, contour and blender powders, highlighter, blush, and eye shadow/liner. "I like the portability of the kit," says a co-worker who agreed to review the kit. "Everything you need, right there. Two shades of cover-up and base were provided to mix if I needed to make the right color. The blush and eye shadow colors were flattering." The base/foundation, in powder form, "was a bit drying," she noted, but didn't think this would present a problem in the summer. The reviewer also liked the lip gloss, which she found easy to apply and also found to be moisturizing without being sticky. Meanwhile, I tried the Flex & Curl Mascara ($20), with its two-in-one wand that offers straight and curled positions to add volume and length to upper lashes and provide easier access to lower ones. The mascara itself doesn't go on as thick as I prefer, but I won't say somebody won't find this mascara handy.
Other Woosh products, $8-$29: Even Eye Stencils for perfect eye shadow and eyeliner; the Mascara Shield to guard against mascara "accidents"; the Corner Brush Eye Stamper with V-shaped brush for flawless eyeliner and smoky eye shadow looks; Spin-On Lip Gloss, complete with paint roller-like applicator; and the Eyeliner Wheel.
• Enticing unmentionables from Viva Voluptuous (Vivavoluptuous.com), a plus-size lingerie line with glamorous, nicely constructed pieces at working-class prices. Among the offerings are the Red or Black Ecstasy Harness Plus Size Lightly Padded Bra and Ecstasy Strap Plus Size Panties. Thin, sturdy accent straps run over the bust and between the bra's main straps and rise above the panty. And it doesn't have to be Valentine's season for the Black/Red Romance Lace Plus Size Unpadded Bra and matching Romance Lace Plus Size Panties, black garments decorated with red and pink hearts. Both bras are $29; both panties $17. The website also includes a Gentleman's Guide to buying lingerie for that special Rubenesque woman.
• An Arkansas Derby-ready hat from the 98-year-old Tenth Street Hats (Tenthstreethats.com). The now-sold-out Lippizan style -- whose name brings to mind those magnificent show horses, the Lippizaner Stallions -- provided an example of the impeccable workmanship of these hats. The lightweight, double-layer, stunning straw piece is close to 2 feet in circumference and accented with a sinamay-fabric bow and matching feathers. Too bad it's out of stock ... but check out Tenth Street Hats' Kentucky Derby collection of women's and men's race-day-ready toppers. Among the standouts are the flirty, flower-accented Falabella ($100, three color choices), the regal Shire ($85, black or ivory with pearls and rhinestones and epic bow) and the men's Paddock ($140), a straw boater with nautical-stripe band.
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High Profile on 03/24/2019