CHICAGO BOTANIC GARDEN HARVEST BALL 2011

 Harvest Ball Co-Chair Kimberly Burt, Riley O'Neil, Peyton Merrill

Annie Barlow and Julie Selakovitch -Auction Co-chairs

Guests sipped on Moët champagne

The Guild of the Chicago Botanic Garden held its Thirteenth Annual Harvest Ball recently on the beautiful, early fall grounds of the Chicago Botanic Garden. Over 500 guests attended the black tie garden party, raising $450,000 for the Learning Center, which provides educational programs for teachers and youth from pre-Kindergarten through 12^th grade.

Events co-chairs were  Kimberly Burt of Chicago, Peyton Merrill of Winnetka and Riley O’Neil of Chicago

The live auction, held over dinner, featured items such as an intimate cocktail reception for twenty that cames with a $10,000 gift certificate from GRAFF, five-night stay for two at the Four Seasons Resort, Nevis, West Indies; a weekend stay and tickets to the 2012 Kentucky Derby; and a family vacation to A Bar A Ranch in Wyoming.

Calihan Catering provided dinner and flowers were designed by Botanicals

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STAND UP FOR FAMILY CHICAGO SCREENING

Stand Up for Family a comedy special that was conceptualized by American Family Insurance hosted its premiere party here in Chicago. The event was held at the Vertigo rooftop lounge of the Dana Hotel and it was well executed. The purpose of this project, which is in it's second year, is to "present an outlet for clean entertainment the whole family can watch and enjoy" said Michelle Huff whose Huff Ent was in charge of public relations for the project. Bill Bellamy of Last Comic Standing will host the comedy special which features comedians Rodney Perry, Donnell Rawlings, Tony Roberts, and Mark Viera.

 Guests in attendance included: Adrienne Samuel-Gibbs of Ebony Magazine, Bill Bellamy, Darnell Rawlins,Raijean Stroud, Tony Roberts, Rodney Perry, Lil Rel, Chris Crawford and Emilio Ayala of Vital, WEEN co-founder Valeisha Butterfield, Mitzi Miller of Jet Magazine, Art Sims, Dwayne Maddox Regional Media Mgr. for American Family Insurance, Niena Drake, Kiratiana Freelon, Dr. Renee Matthews, Errol Dunlap, Anika Jackson, Jeffrey Beckham, Michael Kolawole,
 Royale Watkins who MC'd the nights' festivities.

DJ Sadie Woods got the crowd warmed up and DJ Commish wrapped up the night.
Sandi Robinson and Matt McCahill of Dana Hotel were also instrumental in making it a successful night!

 

Stand Up For Family launches nationwide on Friday Sept. 30 please make sure to check it out,

 your stomach will be in stitches!

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GUCCI MUSEUM OPENING IN FLORENCE

Actress Li Bingbing  PPR CEO François-Henri Pinault

 Blondie

Emily Browning and Max Irons

Camilla Belle

Gucci attracted the best of the best in the Fashion world to the opening of their new museum in a Florentine palazzo, Piazza della Signoria. Guests already in town for Milan fashion week attended the lavish ceremony. Some guests not pictured include: InStyle Magazine E.I.C Ariel Foxman,

JENNIFER HUDSON WEIGHT WATCHERS CENTER OPENING

 Chicago Native Jennifer Hudson along with Chicago Mayor Rahm Emmanuel  and Alderman Will Burns held a ribbon cutting ceremony to officially open the new Jennifer Hudson Weight Watchers center in the Kenwood area of Chicago.

The singer and Weight Watchers spokesperson has shed over 70 pounds with the help of their program.

photo: Daniel Boczarski for Wireimage

MILAN FASHION SP/S 2012 POST #2

GIORGIO ARMANI SP/S 2012

From AP: “A pearl of a lady” is how designer Giorgio Armani defined his 2012 woman.
His Spring/Summer 2012 collection at Milan fashion week was created out of fabrics that have the iridescence of a precious pearl and the lightness of a feather. ---->>>

GLAMOUR & CLARINS BEAUTY EVENT MACY'S WATER TOWER

Glamour Magazine along with Clarins Beauty hosted a "Do's of Skincare " event at Macys Water tower over the weekend.

photos: Barry Brecheisen for Wireimage

MILAN FASHION SP/S 2012 POST #1

VERSACE S/S 2012

  From Style.com:

 The mood was set by the luminescent glow that illuminated the garden at the Via Gesù show space. It was like the light from a swimming pool. And into that glow stalked the tawny-maned goddesses who have roamed the Versace landscape since time immemorial. "The meeting of old and new Versace," Donatella said. That meeting could mean something as elemental as neoprene and plissé in the same outfit. Or shorts where a pelmet mini would have once sufficed. And the gold studs were clearly something Donatella felt an affinity for, if the outfit she wore to take her bow was any indication.

And that may be the collection's greatest plus. There is no way to judge it outside its own context—and that context is Donatella. Those Lucite platforms? Pure blonde. The fractured starfish that anchored Sigrid Agren's bifurcated gown? The plissé pastels? The Reggio Calabrian white with the Greek inflection? All of it an element in some way of Donatella's own design history. Which makes this collection a test of the power of personality in fashion.

 

JIL SANDER SP/S 2012

From Vogue UK:

Raf Simons is of the intellectual school of fashion – his collections frequently display painstaking thought and deep aesthetic vision far beyond the realm of simply clothing – but he has a knack of making it really look good, even if the cerebral spiel isn’t for you.
We walked in to take our seats today over geometric blocks of blue, yellow and black gravel – “shoe wrecker gravel” exclaimed Sophia Neophitou-Apostolou as she assessed the damage to her (gorgeous) new orange Alaias.
And then we were treated to a show whose pure simplicity was refreshing and whose unique point of view made us feel as if fashion week had just begun – quite a feat when we’re only half way through Milan and a monster Paris Fashion Week is still to come.

photos: Wireimage