After a Fashion
Wynn bares all, Sills trumps Ivana, and when Stephen wishes for something, it comes true
By Stephen MacMillan Moser, Fri., July 13, 2007
A MODEL MAYOR It seems like just yesterday that our mayor, Will Wynn, strutted down the runway at Antone's wearing a silk smoking jacket and pajama pants from our own Made in Heaven collection. Our hunky leader slyly pushed the jacket back to reveal his shoulders, and by the time he made it to the end of the runway, he was completely shirtless, and the audience was a happy, howling mess. And now look what we hath wrought: Wynn will be soon be appearing on the pages of Esquire magazine modeling a hip pin-striped suit from Prada. The Esquire folks were all over Austin during South by Southwest back in March and, by a fluke, wound up hanging out with Wynn, who showed them a great time. When they found out that Wynn would be attending the big U.S. Conference of Mayors meeting in L.A. a couple of weeks ago, they contacted Wynn out of the blue and asked him to model for them (contrary to another story making the rounds). Wynn agreed if they would help him promote energy efficiency – so apparently Austin will be getting additional coverage from Esquire soon. That's the story, straight from the horse's mouth, as it were. Wynn was quick to remind After a Fashion that "I remember where I got my modeling start." Awww.
BURNING DESIRE It was a lovely surprise when Your Style Avatar was mentioned in a gushing love letter from a devoted reader, complimenting us on the success of our "desire to see Austin become Houston/Dallas." Such a sweet thing to say, but it leaves us a bit confused. First off, we have no idea where "Houston/Dallas" is. We know where Houston is, and we know where Dallas is, but they are completely different cities hundreds of miles apart. We are not acquainted with any such place called "Houston/Dallas" and certainly do not desire that Austin become something we've never heard of. We do, however, love the idea that all we have to do is desire something for it to become true – sort of like The Secret but much more diabolical. If only it were that easy. We've desired many things that did not come to pass: We've ardently desired that bicyclists would not ride down the middle of Barton Springs Road at 15 mph, but it still happens. We've ardently desired some of the valuable "predeath" Versace shirts that keep turning up on eBay, but so far none has appeared in our mailbox. We've ardently desired a housekeeper, driver, and personal assistant, but our house is still a wreck, we still have to go buy our own cigarettes, and no one has printed out our schedule for the day. Besides, if we did have the power that the dear reader ascribed to us, the first thing we would do is wiggle our magic nose and turn ourself into Anna Wintour.
R.I.P. BEV We were saddened at the news of Beverly Sills' death. Working in an NYC couture salon on Madison Avenue about 15 years ago, we had the opportunity to work with Beverly and her friend Ivana Trump. The two were chairing some gala and were looking for dresses to wear when they happened into the shop. Ivana was nice, but Beverly was really cool. After an hour of trying on possibilities, Ivana got down to brass tacks and made it clear that she should be given a dress free of charge in exchange for the privilege of having her wear it. We passed on that option, and Ivana left. Beverly stayed behind, and we worked on a number of sketches for her. Though after several meetings, she decided on a dress from somewhere else, she sent us flowers and a sweet note thanking us for our kindness. Beverly could have acted like the grand diva she was, but she was a very thoughtful, gracious, and sincere lady. Buh-bye, Bubbles.
