Fashionistas 'WOW' at Philanthropic Tootsies To-Do

Daniel Ortiz
Fashionistas 'WOW' at Philanthropic Tootsies To-Do

Karishma Asrani, Jay Lakhani, Courtney Harmon

ONE OF THE season’s most fashionably philanthropic events, the Women of Wardrobe’s (WOW) Summer Soiree returned to Tootsies last week, welcoming 300 guests who raised more than $15,000 for Dress for Success.


Touting fall collections from Love the Label and Deepa Gurnani, the gathering had guests wishing for cool weather — and catching up about where they spent the sizzling summer — while sipping Madame Zero Champagne and cocktails with Agavales tequila. Among the bites provided by local purveyors like Armandos, Kin Dee and Guard and Grace were cups of shrimp ceviche and bite-size empanadas; all was savored while a soundtrack of tunes spun by DJ Paul Paxton played in the background.

A swag bag was given to partygoers upon their departure, featuring items from Equinox, ALTO, Lemon Laine and more.

Next summer will mark the 20th Summer Soiree, which directly furthers WOW and Dress for Success Houston’s mission to empower women to achieve economic independence through networking, professional attire and developmental resources.

Mandy Bynum, Monica Guerra

Anna Kaplan, Trina Silva

Olivia Awo, Kaitlyn Dhindsa

Norman Lewis, Lauren Levicki Courville

Kristen Torrez, Catarina Bill

Annie Ghormley, Melanie Mabry

Jessica Arledge, Victoria Garcia, Hilary Baars

Caitlin Fleming, Katherine Orellana, Michael Vo

Parties

Sarah Sudhoff (photo by Katy Anderson)

SINCE THE 1970s, Houston’s cultural scene has only grown richer and more diverse thanks to the DIY spirit of its visual artists. As an alternative to the city’s major museums (which are awesome) and commercial galleries (again, awesome), they show their work and the work of their peers in ad-hoc, cooperative, artist-run spaces — spaces that range from the traditional white cube interiors, to private bungalows, to repurposed shipping containers.

Keep Reading Show less
Art + Entertainment

Matthew Dirst (photo by Jacob Power)

FOR FANS OF early music — an often scholarly lot who aren’t afraid to wear their hearts on their sleeves — bad-boy Baroque-era painter Caravaggio certainly nailed something in his dramatic 1595 painting, “The Musicians.” (Simon Schama talks about this in his TV series The Power of Art.) One look at his masterpiece, and you feel as if you’ve stumbled upon and surprised a roomful of dewy-eyed musicians, their youthful faces swollen with melancholy, with the lutist looking like he’s about ready to burst into tears before he’s even tuned his instrument. So no, you certainly don’t need a Ph.D. to enjoy and be moved by the music of Handel, G.P. Telemann, or J.S. Bach, but a little bit of scholarship never hurt anyone. Knowing the history of this music may even deepen your appreciation of it.

Keep Reading Show less