MAO PR 15th Anniversary Party 9/9/13 & Skingraft Runway Show 9/10/13

In the middle of New York Fashion Week, we attended MAO PR's Fifteenth Anniversary Party at Cherry, co-hosted by photographer Patrick McMullan and model and muse Pat Cleveland. MAO co-founders Mauricio and Roger Padilha invited a wonderful roster of guests which included their clients and the movers and shakers in the fashion industry -- as expected, with a huge overlap between the two!

Mss Vee made an appearance and gave us a big hug.

Seated at the power table at the very back center of the room: Paul Von Ravenstein, Patrick McDonald, Pat Cleveland, Corey Grant Tippin and Pat and Paul's daughter -- Anna Cleveland Von Ravenstein. Both of the Cleveland ladies opted for platinum blond wigs for the occasion.

Host Roger Padilha with Maria Ayala and Alexander Thompson.

Gazelle Paulo stopped partying with Perez Hilton and other heavy hitters long enough to say hi and pose for a photo with us. She is hard to lose in a crowd.

Robert Richards and dandy-about-town Patrick McDonald flank one of their friends.

Victor-John Villanueva, whom we first met at the Whitney's Yayoi Kusama show, wearing his alter ego medallion (himself in an Andy Warhol wig), and his friend, in a Karl Lagerfeld printed tee. More about us with Victor and his medallions in a later post.

Notice what two of the models in this contingent are holding? Our card!!! From the left are: Yemi Docemo, Jordan Copeland, Mass Fall, Jeeho Bae and one of their friends.

Kayvon Zand and Keenan Brill.

Sandy Long, in maribou, had the most amazing, long, fluffy white eyelashes, and reminded us of Ilona Royce-Smithkin. (Nonagenarian Ilona makes her own inch-long flaming red eyelashes from her own hair.)

Anna Evans and one of her friends.

Pat Cleveland, Corey Grant Tippin, Anna Cleveland and one of their friends. Anna followed in her mother's footsteps and is also modeling.

Artist Marco Santaniello and artist and model Caty Wooley.

Markus Kelle, whom we always photograph in an amazing outfit at the Easter Parade, rocked braids and zippers like nobody's business.

Valerie and two gents check out the scene.  Note the shorts on the fellow on the right.

Jean met the two gentlemen in silver. Formal shorts (one of the NYFW trends we noticed) make an appearance again on the fellow on the right!

We turned the tables on photographer Dustin Pittman, whom we run into all the time, to show you his fab Edie Sedgewick tee shirt.

Ricardo Felix.

Amanda Lepore sang Happy Anniversary in her parody of Marilyn Monroe's "Happy Birthday, Mr. President". Little did we know this was the prelude to a strip-tease!

Things definitely heated up as the show went on!

Suzanne Bartsch made a grand entrance.

Constance Sherman.

It wouldn't be fashion week without running into Jared (left)! We spotted him and his friend right away in the crowd.

Loved this yin-yang jacket on this redhead talking to designer Phillipe Blonde (left) and Nate Webster.

When we were leaving Cherry, this this dapper gentleman, Baron Perez, noticed Valerie's big boot, and offered to get us a taxi. (This is no small feat during Fashion Week.) Before we scampered off into our cab and headed home, we posed for a photo with him.

SKINGRAFT Runway Show 9/10/13

In the midst of all the fashion week frivolity, reality raised its ugly head. On the morning after the MAO party, when Valerie visited her podiatrist for a checkup on her ankle, she was surprised (shocked - well, peeved, actually) to learn that the "chip" she was diagnosed with is doctorspeak for fracture. She was ordered to keep her ankle raised above her heart. Hard to do at a fashion show (and most other places as well, it turns out). So, that's basically why Jean flew solo on Tuesday evening September 10th for the Skingraft runway show on a pier on the Hudson River.

The People:  Mauricio Padilha, one of our hosts from the evening before, was running the backstage and producing the show. Grace under pressure is best description of his demeanor. He was equally calm at the Katya Leonovich show at Lincoln Center. What is his secret?

Valerie's unused ticket was put to very good use! I ran into JohnTheFame and invited him to sit with me. I was really interested in his perspective on the show.

Seated right next to us was Stuart McConaghy, Editor-in-Chief of Tape Magazine. What an absolute sweetheart.

Before the show, I shamelessly schmoozed with the other guests. Regular readers of this blog will recognize a lot of the usual suspects! Kayvon Zand appeared in full regalia. Check out the eyes. When Kayvon goes, he goes big.

Artist Marco Santaniello was squiring the lovely Brooklyn artist and model Caty Wooley.

Robert Richards sat right across the runway from me at the show. We'd just seen each other at the MAO party.

Although I hadn't met Jillian Mercado until the Skingraft show, I had seen her at the MAO party the night before.

Mss Vee, wearing a formal black ensemble, and Ricardo Felix made the scene.  Check out the footwear.

And this lovely gent goes by the name of Savage.

I absolutely loved the white and black number that these two ladies were working that evening.

In this shot of Marco, you can read his tee-shirt. He introduced me to his friend Karina De Jesus.  Check out her coverage of fashion week at www.beachanddress.com.

I met these two handsome gentlemen but can't for the life of me remember their names. (It's a b*tch getting old.)

The Runway Show: Although these photos are out of order from the runway show, I've arranged them into three themes: long, fluid dresses; long shorts; and short shorts. I absolutely adored this white, flowing dress. It was positively dreamy.

This yellow dress was a stunner.

White chiffon with leather is a terrific combination in the hands of the Skingraft team.

Formal shorts showed up on the runway, topped with a black and white leather jacket with wonderful detailing on the sleeves.

Shorts (this time in leather) are definitely a hot item for Spring/Summer 2014. I'd wear the leather short-sleeved hoodie in a heart beat.  OK, I admit I was distracted. I have fashion A-D-D. Check out the gent sitting right in front of me on my right with the long hair, beard and glasses.  AND check out the guy across the runway with the great grey hair and black tee-shirt.  There was fashion in the bleachers and on the runway.

Black and white sweatshirt top and skirt paired with black and white sandals.

Shorts are also going to be big for women in Spring/Summer 2014. These black leather shorts with those sky-high heels and long legs are a winning combination.  Not exactly what "women of a certain age" will be wearing, but fun to look at on the runway!

Loved this outfit which combined a longer chiffon layer over the longer leather shorts.  I know at least one of my girlfriends who could rock this look -- albeit in lower heels!

I posed for a shot with Anna Evans and Kayvon before heading home for the evening. The weather was so nice, I walked all the way home.