All dressed up with nowhere to go? Not if you were among the 860 who donned fabulous frocks, creative chapeaux — or both — and headed to Luncheon by Design or Women With Hattitude on May 4.
The Seawell Ballroom at the Denver Performing Arts Complex was bursting at the seams as a predominantly female crowd of 700 showed off millinery masterpieces that ran the gamut from elegant to outrageous while raising $20,000 for the Women’s Voices Fund.
“I feel like we’re at the royal wedding,” observed Jill Behr, incoming president of the Denver Center Alliance, as she looked out at a sea of feathers, flowers, bows, fruit, vegetables — even a toy parrot — that decorated hats of various sizes, shapes and colors.
Prize winners included Willie Parrish, whose bronze confection was voted Sunday Best; Sharon Magness Blake, whose oversized red-bow fascinator was deemed Exquisitely Elegant; and Ryta Sondergard, who snared the Wildly Whimsical title for a Carmen Miranda-inspired topper that Sondergard jokingly described as “more nutritional than fashionable.”
Meanwhile Luncheon by Design brought 160 fashionable femmes to the Denver Art Museum to hear Ken Downing, the very personable senior vice president and fashion director for Neiman Marcus, deliver an entertaining and informative talk that touched on fall trends, highlights from the Paris and Milan shows and fashion as art.
Event chairs Lauren Cannon Davis, Alexis Shipman Hart and Lin Lee are still determining the net income but predict it will be a “sizable sum” for the museum’s Department of Architecture, Design & Graphics.
“It was an interesting year,” Hart said at the patron party held the night before at Bob and Mary Sue Hawk’s spectacular Downing Street penthouse, which is on the market for $7 million. “We had fewer hard-cash sponsorships but a plethora of in-kind donations . . . like tonight, when Shanahan’s is donating this wonderful buffet.”
Luncheon by Design is one of the fanciest daytime events in Denver, and the menu was as every bit as chic as the designer outfits worn by such supporters as Kalleen Malone (Rena Lange), Arlene Hirschfeld (Fendi) and Alessandra Schulein (Paredes).
Restaurateur Kevin Taylor drew from a Neiman Marcus cookbook for recipes that included Chicken Caprese Salad and a trio of chocolates — mousse, ganache and crème brulee — for dessert.
Joanne Davidson: 303-809-1314 or jdavidson@denverpost.com.
