INDExtra

IND styling

by Amanda Bedgood

IND Style Awards create some serious fashion moments

There were so many Moments at the IND Style Awards. (Yes, Moments.) The kind that you capture in your mind with your own internal camera. Perhaps "iconic" is too grand a word, were you not there to witness the event.

The evening opened with a bang. In the words of managing editor Walter Pierce, no woman since Cleopatra has ridden in such style as Robin Hebert, who was charged with putting together the IND Style Awards. For her relentless hard work Robin was surprised with a scepter and throne and carried down the runway by four strapping young men in gold lame. (A real scepter covered in flowers.) And she looked the part of queen in a floor length paisley dress and ruby red lips.

Crystall Coroy, IND cover girl, felt like the belle of the ball. In my words, "she's almost too cute to look at." For the runway she wore a flirty black dress and mile high heels. And she arrived for the evening in a vintage blue dress with funky sleeves that was revamped for the occasion by the ladies at Sky Blue. (The short dress was once an evening gown.) As she made her walk on the runway to Magic Carpet Ride, I could feel that internal camera snap a pic of her smiling face.

Carol Blanda was smashing in blue on the runway in a dress from Partners and arrived in another black dress from Partners with leather details. And Mallory Acrey floated more than walked the runway in an asymmetrical leopard print dress and her signature shoe  tall nude heels.

The men were as dapper as they come with Jim Gibson in a sharp suit, Andre Broussard in his own hip take on the suit and Mohit Srivastava in a cool neutral jacket that stayed true to his minimalist approach to dressing. And the iconic Geno Delafosse had that gazillion watt smile on full blast with his starched jeans.

Off the runway, we were slack jawed at Aimee John who wore a dress of her own design. A beautiful pink creation with embroidered red flowers and a shape that was as modern as it gets.

On the runway there were some amazing pieces we're dying to wear this fall. A Nikki Poulos jumpsuit topped with a vest from Vanessa V., Tall fringe boots of two different varieties on ladies from Brother's and Shoe La La. Leopard pants from Herringstone. A flowing black and white print top from kiki we'd rock over some leather leggings. A long sleeved printed maxi from Knotting Hill. A precious little blue cobalt dress from Hemline. And for the men we were loving the rolled cuff of an otherwise serious pant from F. Camalo and the undone cool vibe on a bearded model from Maven.

The final dress of the fashion show has been on my radar since I first locked eyes with it (some pieces of clothing do actually look back at you) in the window of Harold Clarke the leather and feather dress, which a beautiful model rocked with full attitude to the beat of Paparazzi. That internal camera did a few clicks for her turn.

The ladies of Revolution Hair Salon wore sleek black and the biggest and baddest of hair dos. The long voluminous ponytail was a favorite.

While the fashion was certainly on the runway, the best fashion is the kind that was happening in the seats of the show (or even backstage as Simone Foreman of Images Model and Talent Agency proved in a beautiful dress of black spots). Sharon Moss in emerald green. Bria Papia in a black feathered dress. Laura Ketteringham in metallic shorts.

My fashion brain is still trying to process the overload from last night and that internal camera is steadily downloading. Stay tuned to the IND for more photos from the endless stream of style mavens captured by real cameras.