This past Friday night, I was invited to attend the Dallas Fashion & Lifestyle Awards hosted by the Fashion Group International. It was a purple carpet event - you just had to find it (the carpet I mean). The awards featured fashion shows and booths for local design talent, including of course, Louise Black from this past season of Project Runway. It was a great a place to mingle and look at the current wave of fashion. For Dallas, it's black - lots of glamorous black.But as glamorous and glitzy as the night was, funny thing: when I told my friends and a few other fashionistas about the event, they didn't even know that Dallas had its own Fashion Awards and their faces were a bit (O.o). How are we suppose to turn ourselves into a fashion capital when key events like these aren't in everyone's mouths?? Maybe it was the $75 ticket. For a Recessionista like me, it made it impossible to take my girlfriend and/or my photographer.
If you're a big Runway Geek like me and the catwalk seduces you like Angelina Jolie in black leather and lace, the fashion show did not disappoint. The designer line-up included local design celebrities like Abi Ferrin and Oscar Fierro. Abi Ferrin has always been a personal favorite of mine due to her combination of knits and girlishness. 
Her large sweater to the left can make you feel small and held while other pieces can make you feel classy and confident. I also enjoyed the wearibility of Nha Kahn's garments (pictured below). They were just the right amount of flashy that I could see a Dallas socialite wearing them.
The night was spectacular, though. There were awards for Fashion Design (Matthew Earnest) and Accessories Design (Danielle Taylor) as well as Retail (V.O.D.). The sponsored mixed drinks were the Purple Cadillacs and the Pink Memo in honor of MC Katrina Szish of Pink Memo. The swag bags included totes and lotion. Maybe it was the economy, maybe it was the marketing, but I heard that the turnout wasn't as big as expected. At the end of the night, I was just happy that I had found some familiar faces and we had enjoyed our time. 
