After a Fashion

At Ballet Fête*ish, Eric and Maria Groten (seated) are flanked by Mandarin Flower Co.'s designers, Victoria Avila (l) and Sofia Avila (r), with mama Rosa Maria in back. Mandarin's flowers are to-die-for. Or to-get-married-for. Or to send a loved one (or maybe yourself). (Photo by Tiburzcio Herrara)

FÊTE*ISH I'd known about it forever it seemed, but I'd been too tired to really give it much thought. Suddenly it was 5pm, and I was supposed to be at the Austonian by 7pm for one of the year's major events, the Ballet Fête*ish thrown by Ballet Austin. I can't think of another event that I've attended as regularly, and each Fête seems bigger and better than the last. But usually I am more prepared than I was this year. Ballet Austin's new season opens with Swan Lake and The Firebird, so the theme was feathers – black and white. Damn. I'd just done feathers at Mark Mueller's Peacock Party not too long ago and was all feathered out. Or so I thought. Suddenly, two hours before the event, I was in a panic about what to wear. Should I try to whip together a mask of feathers glued to my sunglasses? Should I wear three white ostrich feathers à la the Duke of Windsor? Or should I just stay in bed and sleep through it all? I did have feather boas I could wear, but somehow I just didn't feel like wearing lime green or baby blue or turquoise. But then my sister Margaret reminded me that she had several black feather boas, and my eyes lit up, and it all fell into place; I'd trim the lapels of my black Ralph Lauren jacket with a black boa and see what happened from there. I had a white satin shirt that I knew I wanted to wear with it, black velvet pants, and, of course, my cowboy boots. Clasping a large Chanel brooch to my collar, I was thrilled with the look – and the amount of time it took me to pull it all together. But then I was too tired from the preparation and considered just staying home. But that was out of the question. I'd recently run into glamorous Becky Beaver, who was chairing the event, and she nailed me down about coming, so it was a must-do, even if it was raining pretty seriously. Arriving at the Austonian, I boarded the construction elevator with a number of other feathery and bespangled guests; we were sprinkled with rain as the elevator took us high into the sky. I began to feel less and less like a swan or firebird and more and more like a condor flying up to its nest high in the Andes. Deplaning at the 33rd level, we were greeted by what appeared to be a very large tutu, but upon closer inspection, it was made entirely of calla lilies. Gazing around the room, there were black and white calla lily "sculptures" everywhere – notably suspended from custom-made chandeliers with the flowers hung upside down. With the 360-degree view of the world and the rain and lights twinkling below us, it was simply breathtaking. These were not like any flowers we've seen at most events; the sculptures were flights of fantasy created by the Mandarin Flower Co. (www.mandarinflower.com), a local family-run operation that has been around for about six years. Two gorgeous twentysomething girls, sisters Sofia and Victoria Avila started the company after growing up watching their equally gorgeous mother, Rosa Maria Avila, a floral and event designer. It was a real pleasure to sit with the family at dinner (along with my old friends Eric and Maria Groten and Frank and Nina Seely) and to see the sheer delight on the designers' faces as people practically lined up to compliment them. The Mandarin Flower Co. – remember that name. Becky Beaver wore a fabulous Marchesa gown in black and gold and ruled the night like a queen. With so many old friends there, it felt like old home week and portends a pretty dazzling social season (including Tribeza's Style Week and the Long Center's bigger-than-big event coming up). But even if there was only one event I attended this season, it would have to be this party. Cheers.

WORD HAS IT ... that Tribeza magazine, recently purchased by Dale Dewey and his beyoncé, Karen Landa, is pulling out all the stops for its upcoming fashion week. Sounds like its opening event, Tuesday, Sept. 22, is going to be an enormous fashion show (featuring 110 different looks) and that all the models and the production designer are from L.A. and beyond. Sounds essentially like the formula established by the founders of the magazine but with some huge changes that promise to give Austin a kind of fashion show that we rarely see around here. With vendors in tents around the Long Center and a whole lot more, the week sounds pretty fab.

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