Monica, for Legs Diamond, prowled the runway like a jungle cat at Club de Ville's Fall Fashion Extravaganza. (Photo By Mary Sledd)
IN
As soon as we entered the security check at the airport on our way to
Houston, a big blond babe with lots of teeth gushed that my assistant
Neil Diaz and I had been "selected" for a "secondary search." Toothy hustled us into a glass cattle chute where, crowded in with some other hapless soul, we felt like lambs being led to slaughter. Needless to say, after public humiliation, no bombs were found on our persons
or in our purses, and we were released to run amok in
Space City for 48 hours. We checked into our glorious accommodations at the
Hotel Icon,
where I unwound in the wonderfully deep bathtub before meeting PR dynamo
Stuart Rosenberg of
Studio Communications for dinner at the chic, new
Strip House restaurant. The interiors are so stylish and sharp and exquisitely designed that they threatened to overshadow the food. But no, the food was divine: The steaks practically melt in your mouth; the gracious general manager hardly had to force us to try their mountainous servings of a spectacular
24-layer chocolate cake and a decadently delicious cheesecake. Make
sure to put the Strip House on top of your must-see list for Houston... Through March, the
real must-see in Houston is the
Cartier exhibit at the
Museum of Fine Arts, Houston. Don't
even try to pretend to be nonchalant as you gawk at these stones; one begins to truly understand why these creations are called "rocks" and "ice." There was the
Duchess of Windsor's magnificent gold, amethyst, turquoise, and diamond bib necklace that I've studied pictures of all my life. There were
Gloria Swanson's diamond bracelets,
Doris Duke's jewels, jewels of maharanis and queens – succulent rubies, vivacious emeralds, and honey-colored topaz!... We attended the benefit for the esteemed
Neuhaus Educational Center, dedicated to training teachers to understand dyslexia and perhaps to become therapists themselves. In the
Icon's luxe
Aventine Ballroom, we mingled with
Jaclyn Smith (honestly, the woman is so cool and composed and gorgeous, she looks like she's 30), the handsome
Clyde Drexler, the inimitable
Kinky Friedman, legendary attorney
Richard "
Racehorse"
Haynes, astronaut
Walter Cunningham.
Next week, I'll tell you all about my intimate little luncheon with
Carolyn Farb.
OUT
Returning to Austin, we drove directly to the
Club de Ville Fall Fashion Extravaganza, a benefit for the very wonderful
Sustainable Food Center. The show was vastly different than previous shows; much of the circus atmosphere was gone and replaced by a more streamlined production that put the focus back on the clothes. The changes looked good, and the addition of a great deal of new blood to the runway made the show fresh, fun, and fast-paced. Clothes were provided by
Flipnotics,
Upstairs,
Shiki,
Trio,
Legs Diamond, and
Therapy... We also stopped by
All About Diamonds on Bee Caves Road for the
Paul Morelli trunk show. Mr. Morelli's collection of diamond jewelry and other precious stones is breathtaking; some pieces bold and striking and others delicate and seductive, but all of it
very contemporary and truly dazzling, and worn in many episodes of
Sex and the City. All About Diamonds is the newest jewel-box-on-the-block and has many tempting ideas for gift giving... My dear friend
Bettie Naylor took me to see the
Rude Mechanicals production of
Cherrywood. I'm still having psychological repercussions. These 90 minutes of comedic anarchy have the pace of a demented
Laugh-In episode but with a script and characters that take you on a bumpy ride into hysteria.
Don't miss it.
MORE OUT
I wasn't
about to miss the fundraiser for the
Lesbian/Gay Rights Lobby of Texas at the glorious home of
Gary Cooper and
Richard Hartgrove. Stalwarts of community fundraising, Gary and Richard, along with
Chris Fabre, hosted LGRL's
Randall Ellis and
Sheriff Margo Frasier, who made eloquent pleas for funds to address the issues threatening gay rights. The 75 attendees were an amazing group that represented the best in Austin business and culture. Fasten your seatbelts as the
State Board of Education, with an agenda set by
Terri Leo, the homophobic harridan from Spring, Texas, decides to take us back to the Paleolithic era. Leo insists that high school and middle school textbooks define marriage as "a lifelong union between a man and a woman." The myopic Ms. Leo has already done away with words such as "partners" and "two people" to replace them only with "husband and wife." She claims she is committed to removing factual errors in textbooks – factual errors such as birth control and references to partnerships that may
not include a husband and wife. Even the book publishers balked at some of the demands, refusing to include the sentence "Opinions vary on why homosexuals, lesbians, and bisexuals as a group are more prone to self-destructive behaviors like depression, illegal drug use, and suicide." If that were true, who could blame anyone for being self destructive, depressed, and suicidal when faced with the frightening Ms. Leo? Being such a good American, undoubtedly the fun-loving Ms. Leo would just love to hear your dissenting opinion. Be sure and contact her at
[email protected].
