Spring brings out the fashions and the style
“When women are depressed they either eat or go shopping. Men invade another country.”
— comedienne Elayne Boosler
Although spring is officially here, designers plan a season ahead. So in mid-February models wore fall fashions on New York Fashion Week runways. Not so in Northeast Florida, where women prep with style shows for the here and now.
In France during the 19th century, models were called mannequins, the live version of dressmaker’s forms or dummies used to display clothing. The word “model” referred to the actual gown a designer exhibited for a client, or a prototype to be sold to a fashion buyer and adapted for the mass market. A century earlier, the first famous French fashion designer Rose Bertin, a milliner, met Marie Theresa, archduchess of Austria and queen of Hungary. The queen had 16 children, so in an effort to get at least one of them out of the castle, she hired Bertin to do a makeover for her rebellious 14-year-old Maria Antonia. Then she arranged her daughter’s marriage to an awkward teen from France, who soon became King Louis XVI.
The teen queen, known post-nuptials as Marie Antoinette, dazzled the French court wearing Bertin’s revolutionary designs that had corseted waists, hips broadened by a pannier frame and deep décolletage. She also captivated the French public with extreme hairdos that were sometimes four-feet high and once had a model of a French battleship nestled in the up-do. Although, Marie Antoinette didn’t have tattoos, a navel ring or a safety pin through her eyebrow—who knew eyebrows could fall off?—Mama was horrified. She thought her little Marie looked like a trollop.
Being in style today is as risky and pricey as then. Break-an-ankle platforms and five-inch stilettos can cost hundreds and cause injury. Nevertheless, high heels would have been useful in Versailles, where it was perilous to walk around, because the palace was filled with animals and their — umm — excrement; aristocrats simply threw their shoes away every few days.
Marilyn Monroe said: “Give a girl the right shoes and she can conquer the world.” Unfortunately Marie Antoinette wasn’t a shoe hound. After all, who could see them beneath those long gowns? She should have paid more attention to her footwear, because in 1793, her conspicuous consumption was cut short, so to speak proving once again Mama is always right.
fashion show
March is “Spring Fashion Month” at the Beaches. There’s no better way to shake off lingering late winter blues than having lunch and a fashion show with friends. A March 13 style show featuring the latest in vogue was presented by Stein Mart for Sawgrass Women’s Club at the newly re-done Sawgrass Beach Club. Lory Doolittle chaired the “Fashion Icons” affair assisted by co-chair Mary Pappas. Artistic Elsie Jones designed amazing invitations and matching centerpieces of miniature dress forms wearing fashions in black and white. Frances Trotta handled reservations for the sold-out luncheon for 184 members and guests.
Prior to bread baskets being put on the tables, SGWC president Jacquelyn Bates introduced fashionista Lana Kisiel, who moderated as models strolled among tables showing off Stein Mart’s spring showcase. “This year’s fashions show a little skin-to-win, the cold shoulder look,” Kisiel said. Models Vicki Pappas, Barbara Beason, Liz McCracken, Susie Harvick, Piper Prinzi, Tess Crosby, Frances Lynch, Patty Nimnicht and Gerri Ann Bissett wore tunics and lacy tops, city shorts and capris, patio dresses and sheaths. Some models were familiar as the store’s boutique ambassadors; they know their designers, as illustrated by their choices of styles by Vince Camuto, Nicole Miller, Jessica Simpson and Ivanka Trump. Prinzi of Mary Kay also did her fellow models’ makeup, and Zimmiz Hair Designs of Ponte Vedra styled their hair.
SGWC has more than 300 members who participate in monthly meetings at Sawgrass, book club, bridge, Mahjongg and “lunch-arounds” at various locations. To inquire about joining, contact membership chair Jeanne Pilcher at jeanne.j.pilcher@gmail.com.
annual game party
You can bet your boots members of the Christian Women’s Fellowship at First Christian Church of the Beaches had a grand time at the group’s annual game party and luncheon March 11. They brought games to play, such as bridge, Mahjongg, bunko, canasta, Scrabble, “Left, Center, Right,” and whatever they decided to play. Everyone took a break for lunch starring a “killer chicken salad” Betty Chinnis said. It wasn’t all fun and games. The CWF designates a local charity to receive the proceeds from the event. This year’s recipient was Beaches Meals on Wheels, chairwoman Billie Perritte said.
Take Steps event
Supporters of the Crohn’s and Colitis Foundation of America rallied at Whiskey Jax to prepare for the annual Central &Northeastern Florida Take Steps event. This year’s walk to find a cure for the chronic Crohn’s disease that affects the gastrointestinal tract and ulcerative colitis that occurs in the colon will take place on Jacksonville Beach. “This is the first year we’ve held the walk at the Beach,” Take Steps director Ginger Lilley Peace said. “Former U.S. Rep. Ander Crenshaw is honorary event chairman, and his daughter Alex is ‘The Face of the Walk’ our honorary hero.” On March 16, about 30 people gathered for a kick-off fundraiser at Whiskey Jax that included hors d’oeuvres, a short presentation and silent auction.
Crohn’s is said to affect as many as 780,000 Americans being more prevalent among adolescents and young adults. More than 907,000 Americans are diagnosed with ulcerative colitis. This year’s walk themed “Fun in the Sun for a Cure” begins with registration at 9 a.m. Saturday, April 22at the Seawalk Pavilion, Jacksonville Beach. There will be food, activities, games, music and prizes. Money raised will be used to cure Crohn’s and colitis and improve the quality of life of those affected by the debilitating diseases. To register your team, go to www.cctakesteps.org/jacksonville2017.
anchor gala
The unanticipated March cold snap ended for some folks with a visit to Hawaii via the annual Project SOS (Strengthening Our Society) Anchor Gala at the Sawgrass Marriot. Greeters welcomed the more than 300 guests to the affair with “Aloha!” colorful leis and an introduction to Jack, an adorable fluffy Shih Tzu puppy donated for the live auction by Pet World owners Sharon and Mike Kassnoff. Land South Construction was the presenting sponsor for the event that began with cocktails and an extensive silent auction.
Dinner was served, and State Sen. Aaron Bean was emcee and auctioneer for items, such as an Intracoastal dinner cruise, a Bahamas ‘out islands’ mission trip and more. The star of the night was stand-up comedian John Crist, named by ChurchLeaders.com as one of the “top five comics to watch.” Former SOS youth development staff members Mat and Jennifer Pace told the audience how they impacted lives and in turn their lives were impacted as mentors teaching high school students relationship skills in after-school clubs.
SOS programs teach teens critical life skills, such as goal setting, refusal skills to resist peer pressure, avoiding risky behavior, creating healthy relationships, practicing online safety, avoiding substance abuse, dealing with bullying, self-harm and suicide, and postponing sexual activity. “It costs about $400,000 a year to mentor 10,000 teens, and we have no government funding; yet here we are 24 years and 460,000 teenagers later,” founder/executive director Pam Mullarkey Robbins said. Go to www.projectsos.com for information and to donate.
home tour
Write 10 a.m.-4 p.m., Saturday, April 8, on your calendar (or add it to your cell phone) for a day of fun touring five fashionable Ponte Vedra houses. The Legacy Trust Ponte Vedra Beach Home and Art Tour benefiting The Cultural Center at Ponte Vedra Beach highlights how art and color are incorporated in the overall architectural design of each home. It’s $35 for a map-guided tour that takes you to exclusive neighborhoods of Plantation, Sawgrass Island, Marsh Landing, Ponte Vedra Boulevard and Roscoe Road.
Tickets for a Friday, April 7, Benefactor’s Reception at the Harbour Island home of Ron and Hilah Autrey are $130 and include the tour the following day. The 11,000 square foot Autrey residence was designed by architect Richard Skinner with interiors by Schulte Design. It has outstanding views of the Intracoastal, as well as a remarkable art collection. The reception is from 6-8 p.m. Purchase tickets for the home tour and/or reception-tour on line at www.ccpvb.org or charge by phone at (904) 280-0614 x 205.
A FINAL WORD
With folks losing their heads over her fashions, Bertin folded her patterns and hit the road, eventually landing in London where she designed for European and Asian nobility. In 1845, Parisian Charles Worth was the first couturier to showcase designs using live models. Lady Duff Gordon (aka Lucile) introduced mannequin parades in London in the 1890s, training glamorous models how to walk and strike poses. The first U.S. modeling agency was opened by John Powers in 1923. If Marie Antoinette were alive today, I envision her palling around with Lady Gaga, who explains her proclivity for outrageous attire: “I’m just trying to change the world, one sequin at a time.”
Jackie Rooney is a freelance writer who lives in Ponte Vedra Beach. Contact her at rooneybin@comcast.net.
