Dress Up, never gets old.
Ever since we were little girls, Annie and I LOVED (and note: still love) to play dress up. Standing tall and pretty in our Mothers’ high-heels, (a.k.a. “pumps” back in 80’s) sporting their 1985 oversized sunglasses, and rolling the sleeves and belting whatever bright turquoise or loud purple dresses that were hanging within our reach. ANYTHING pink, the brighter the better, would inevitably end up in ‘roshambo’ challenge.
We still, to this day, play dress up together. Moving on from raiding our Mothers' closets, we mix and match our favorite pieces and with a little help from our PR designer friends and Team Zoe, we add a bonus fashion-flare. A personal, more recent, favorite dress up was: “Okay, we could totally pull this off, if I was Ashley and you were Mkat and we were the MC’s for Karl Lagerfeld’s archive collection debut in Moscow!” Yes, we were full of laughs in our faux fur and handbags the size of a week’s long travel. A bit over the top, we realize, but you simply can’t take the gitty little girls who love to dress up out of us. We were (and still are) full of imaginative dreams.
The Early Years…Or as some may say, The Before:-)
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| What can we say; the early years' "dress up" was inspired by The Bill Cosby collection. We’ll be auctioning off the sweaters soon enough, so get bids in for your “holiday ugly sweater party” fast! |
And here we are, The Love Ball!
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Among Fashion’s finest, playing dress up in our Valentino loaners. Just as happy and excited as the days in our Mothers’ shoulder padded fuchsia frocks. |
I’ve been fortunate to experience all sorts of gatherings from Galas at the Regent Beverly Wilshire to Beef & Beers at the local fire hall, each fun in their own way. BUT never have I ever been to a Ball and seen a scene quite like this. The Love Ball, exciting and new, was a fairytale dream come true.
Invites accompanied by THE WHITE FAIRYTALE Story Book
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| The White Fairytale Love Ball, a charity event that took Founder, Natalia Vodianova, two years in the making partnered with the Valentino family to create an extravagant evening to raise awareness and beaucoup de Euros for: The Naked Heart Foundation, who’s mission is to provide a safe and inspiring environment in which to play for every child living in urban Russia. Naked Heart Foundation |
Fashion’s own Fairytale: Top 45 designers’ created their idea of a “Fairytale Princess.” Each one-of-a-kind was modeled on the runway and then auctioned off raising 2.3 million Euros for the incredible cause!
Our favorite creations from the White Fairy Tale: Vivienne Westwood, Louis Vuitton and Stella Mc Cartney.
Getting Love Ball Ready
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| Valentino White Gown: Check! Jouer Blush Lip gloss: Check! Iphone/ Camera: Check! |
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| Glam Team: Kate Lee (Makeup) Sam and Cynthia (Hair) |
And now the fairytale unfolds.....
Once upon arrival, in a far off castle outside of Paris, France, The Emperor, himself, Mr. Valentino, hosted Fashion’s finest in his private chateau for an evening of dinner, dancing and redcarpet-runway magic…
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| On the red, in the red?!...The Broke & Fab annecdote for the eve: Olivia Palermo and I shared our mixing and matching. I confessed I paired the Valentino gown with Circa 2006 Banana Republic strappy shoes, she then shared she paired her 2009 Valentino gown with her Circa 2010 Armani Exchange blazer. We then exchanged high-fives. |
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| Ladies & Gentleman, our stunning MC for the evening! |
Valentino’s private Archive Collection. PINCH-US-NOW!
Walking in a White Fairytale Land…Pure magic!
I never thought I was the girl who would want ice sculptures and over the top table settings at my wedding…well, tonight I second-guessed myself. Wedding stock just went up:-)
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The Runway Favorite: Vivienne Westwood. |
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| My new fabulous friend and fellow Los Angelina, Anne Crawford. |
To: Anne,
Thank you for sharing in great conversation, fabulous people watching, and the dinner of caviar dreams with toasts of champagne wishes. Tonight, I did indeed eat and sipped my month’s rent.
In addition to fun-fabulous, Anne, my table included: Fashion Photographer Patrick Demarchelier and who’s who from Vogue...Yes, that's right, Vogue! One woman said, "Yes, we've met before, haven't we...?" I thought, 'Sure! If we can count when I saw you in "The September Issue" at the Landmark Theater at the Westside Pavillion two Octobers ago?!' I smiled and said, "No, I get that a lot though. It's such a pleasure." I was utterly flattered. We later toated and shared an "oooh" and an "ahhh" in the runway fun!
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One of my favorite modern day, Supermodels from the spreads of Bazaar. I felt like I was five year old at Disneyland meeting Cinderella. She so kindly took off her heels for photo with me. The Clock struck Champagne-Thirty and the dance floor was packed. Brian Ferry took center stage and there Annie, Adam and I were with, you know, Tommy Hilfiger, Caroline Seiber, Valentino and friends dancing the night away. Groove Armada DJ spun and went to the wee hours. |
And we continue to live very happily and extremely grateful ever after!
Sweet dreams!
Love,
Meredith
