Image by TheDigitelImage by 20090326-cfw.jpg You can view all of the photos directly over here. -- If you were out there taking picture or video, share in the comments.
Read more stories on this subject in our Charleston Fashion Week topic page.
Charleston Fashion Week is here and Digitel interns Charlotte Gutman and Brian Wilder are on the scene and bringing you rival takes on the night.
Here's their take from Wednesday night's show, followed up with a final take on the night from Stella French. -- You can follow all of their showdown on our Charlotte vs. Brian topic page.
And keep on scrolling down for more coverage links than you can shake a stick at.
Charlotte Gutman
All five boutiques tonight drove me into a fashion frenzy. The second night almost seemed more energetic than the first. Despite some technical difficulties, the models and the media crew really powered through it.
My favorite show of the night had to be Billy Reid. Although I probably appreciate the male models for slightly different reasons than my opponent, Brian, I thought they really rocked their outfits and the runway in style. That linen suit with the purple shirt and brown bowtie looked phenomenal.
Two Brunettes also really impressed me. The hippie-chic, sexy vibe paired with the outrageous hair really enticed me to these two friends' choices for their store.
Puppies and long, studded cigarette holders credited Mary Porter's House of Couture with much creativity. I love the puppies, but I hope tonight was the last Alpo show for the week after last night's doggie debut.
It is absolutely worth it for these stores to participate in CFW's events, because they get their name out there, and people get to see their clothes on locals. I know I'll be heading to 2 Brunettes soon even if only to poke around and express my enthusiasm regarding their show.
Make sure to stay tuned for the next three nights and watch out for our twitter updates!
-- CMG
Follow her tweets @cowtongue
Brian Wilder
After the proverbial whirlwind that was day one of Charleston Fashion Week ’09, I felt that there was no other way this event could go but up, and boy was I right. Day two consisted of a handful of shows by some of Charleston’s most noteworthy boutiques like II Brunettes, Copper Penny and Mary Porter Couture.
Under the impression that a simple blog entry would not do the second day’s events any justice, I compiled a timeline of the more notable (and quotable), happenings under the main tent:
6:42 p.m. -- Seats found. Front row has never looked so…right. Uptown Magazine is absolutely nowhere to be found, but that’s quite alright. I suppose The Digitel will just have to represent in full force tonight.
6:58 p.m. -- Running a tad bit behind schedule. Luckily, those lovely cocktail waitresses have an incredible sense of telepathy. Oh? Would I like a ‘Fierce’ cocktail, you say? Yes, please, and thank you.
6:59 p.m. -- Just for the record, never underestimate a drink with such fashion-oriented name like ‘Fierce,’ for it will only lead to insurmountable amounts of embarrassment in the end.
7:23 p.m. -- Boutique NV just finished showing their collection and there are definitely a great deal of pieces that I can see the young, fashion-conscious Charlestonian woman wearing within the next few weeks.
7:25 p.m. -- Brief intermission. Someone spilled fierce all over the floor. My fierce, at that. Ahem, excuse me sir, in the camouflage work boots, my retribution will be quite swift.
7:35 p.m. -- Mary Porter, who looks like she could moonlight as a Madame, takes us back in time to Hollywood’s glory days of the late 1940s and early '50s. With legends such as Audrey Hepburn serving as Porter’s muse, it would have to take a woman with immense confidence to pull off this look in earnest.
7:45 p.m. -- Highlights from the Shine launch party and Stiletto Stampede event are shown on the big screen. I take this time to scan the crowd and lay eyes on a figure of unrelenting beauty: Emerging Designer’s judge, Dana Campbell. If could roll Dorothy Dandridge, Lena Horne and Eartha Kitt into one, you would most assuredly get Mrs. Campbell. Boy!
8:15 p.m. -- After an extended intermission, and a hefty amount of ‘social lubricant’, the show starts back up with one of the most major glitch of all glitches. The motor powering the projection screen is failing to roll itself back up! A few of the taller-that-life models are forced to improvise for a brief moment until the problem is solved. Crisis averted. All is finally well.
8:35 p.m. -- After the II Brunettes showing, I am vaguely reminded of Emily Bargeron’s hippy inspired collection from the night before. In the end, I suppose it comes down to whose collection is more practical. II Brunettes wins this race by a hair.
8:45 p.m. -- Break time, yet again! At this point, my head is swimming. Not sure if it’s from my apparent Katie Kern overdose (check my tweets from last night), or the absurd amount of Fierce that I’ve been consuming for the better half of two hours, but I am still lucid. For now…
8:55 p.m. -- Copper Penny is about to show when I get word from my cohort, Stella French, that one of the models, who favors Devon Aoki just a tad, is only 15 years old. Guilt immediately falls over me as I feel that I ogled said model just a little too much. Where’s my drink?
9:10 p.m. -- Copper Penny finishes up and I am not all that surprised about what I saw. The collection was very Charlestonian in design. But there was something rather different about a few of the pieces; some possessed certain flair about them. I then realized that boutiques are finally getting into a spring state of mind. Finally.
9:12 p.m. -- The piece de resistance, Billy Reid was up next to round out the show. This is where my male insecurities came into play, because as soon as male model, Chelsie Ravenell, walked the runway, I’m pretty sure about 20 or so women proceeded to throw their figurative panties on stage. Hey, I have dreadlocks, too. This is bullsh*t! If it’s any consolation, the three-piece suit he was rocking shall soon be mine. Quote me on that one.
9:26 p.m. -- End of the show and Billy Reid is my absolute favorite. I guess someone out there was listening when I asked for some more male representation. Very good deal, indeed. The crowd at this point has become a tad bit inebriated as exhibited by the lovely, young lady in the V.I.P who just spilled her martini on the older couple next to her, for the second time tonight.
9:30 p.m. -- The quote of the night, by far, is from the amazing Ms. Ayoka Lucas as she shows a modest, little news site some much deserved love. “I want to give a special shout out to the folks from The Digitel, especially!” The heavens parted and the angels sang for us tonight. This compliment was then followed by Lucas calling me out on how I wanted to take a few of the models *cough* Katie Kern *cough* home for the weekend via Twitter. No shame in my game, ladies and gents
9:34 p.m. -- The mad dash to Torch for the CFW after party begins. A chaotic mess of feathers, koozies, hair extensions and heels tumbles out of the main tent entrance. Stella and I are far ahead of the game as we score a rickshaw that gets us to the party in a true fashion.
9:40 p.m. -- With the boss's camera (and a high-heeled Stella) in tow, I make my way into the dark, but enticing abyss that is Torch. Wish me luck.
Three words in regards to day three: Saks Fifth Avenue.
Until then…
-- BJW
Follow his tweets @GQbound
The final word from Stella French
Read more stories on this subject in our Charleston Fashion Week topic page.
The schedule:
7:05 Boutique NV
7:25 Mary Porter Couture
8:05 TBD
8:25 II Brunettes
9:05 Copper Penny
9:25 Billy Reid
It’s 3 AM and I have to be at work at 8:30 AM. Time for bed. I have two very sleepy dogs at my feet, ready to cuddle.
The Charleston Fashion Week tent was amazing!!!
OK, so I am home from the Torch afterparty and just stuffed my face with some spicy shrimp nari from Earth Fare to tie myself over. All of you CFW fanatics are going to love our afterparty pics from Torch.
The amazing CFW tents were packed again today. Woot! I, of course, left the battery to the camera at my house, so my awesome friend Caitlin saved the night by bringing it to ACs. For the love of CFW, I ran from the tents of Marion Square in my gold 4 inch high heels all the way to ACs to pick that bad boy up!! Do you feel the love, people??!! I won't go on about the runway shows, because Brian and Charlotte have that covered. We all sat on the front row with our cameras and iphones in hand snapping and tweeting away. And determination pays off. Ayoka gave TheDigitel much love in the form of a shout-out from the runway!! Big success. : )
Once again those sitting in the media section got silver CFW goodie bags. Us poor media people need all the help we can get. Those beauty samples from Stella Nova - I can make those stretch out for months before busting out my bank card to replenish my supplies. Thank you! Thank you! Also inside was another cream silk Brizo scarf adorn with images of faucets. Hot! The lacy bit inside was not a thong, but instead a sweet treat from Billy Reid: gumballs. Yum! And you know you're in Charleston when you get two koozies inside a fashion gift bag! We put those to good use later in the night when we were no longer getting free drinks under the tents. DJ Arthur Brouthers kept us dancing in our seats, while the models strutted the runway to the beat.
So tonight I stuck with my McQ clothing theme: a very sexy black full-body jumper. I like to call it a "onesie," because that is exactly what it is - a "onesie" for grownups. I adorned my outfit with Mr T worthy gold chains, earrings, and rings. On the feet I had a pair of gold shoes, instead of my Nike kicks. But, hey, I already told you that! What I didn't tell you is that when I got home from the afterparty at Torch, my feet broke up with me. They were like "Stella, this torture can't go on! I feel like I am pulling all the weight in this relationship." And then I got the well maybe it's not you, it's me line and I started crying! I hope that we make up tomorrow before I hit the tents again!
Ayoka warned us all from the runway that there was limited space to get into the Torch official afterparty. But Torch is a long trek from Marion Square any day of the week - especially in high heels. Brian wouldn't give me a piggieback ride down King Street, so we got the hook-up on a rickshaw ride down King Street. There are pics to prove. Anxious CFW guests and models snaked the sidewalks of King Street trying to get into Torch. Insane. Many waited over an hour to get in. Inside the lounge drinks were flowing, gossip was flying, and everyone was dancing. Jake Butler laid the techno beats until DJ Arthur Brouthers lit up the turntables with dance-aliscious remixes of Santogold, MIA, Beastie Boys and Michael Jackson. Who doesn't want to dance to that?!! Owner of Torch, Mike Vital, invited me to get up on the bar to snap pictures, so I did. Of course! And then I danced some up there, too, before moving on to the subwoofer. Designer Swapnali Ahire, who presented her collection on the runway yesterday, was also there (in her own designs!) celebrating like a dance queen with her awesome Mom. Go on and check out the pictures. They tell the story of the night sooo much better than me!
It's 3 AM and I have to be at work at 8:30 AM. Time for bed. I have two very sleepy dogs at my feet, ready to cuddle. See you all under the tents of Marion Square tomorrow for more fashions straight from the pages of local boutiques!!
And if you can't make it, be sure to keep refreshing our CFW page which will bring you live Twitter updates from the Charleston Fashion Week scene.
XOXO
-Stella
Twitter: @SvetlanaMinx
