So popular has the River Oaks tennis tournament poolside luncheon become that members of the chichi River Oaks Country Club had to share their tables this week. Quelle horreur! But for those who managed to get through the incessantly busy reservation phone lines and pal up for a table, it was sheer bliss.
The coterie of ladies and a few gents in their best spring threads created an eye candy tableau on an overcast day in which temps were just right. Only a few light sprinkles, timed ironically to coincide with the runway music "Let the Sunshine In," dared to dampen the energized vibe.
Wait staff, carrying trays of champagne and pink vodka cocktails, maneuvered through the crush of tables delivering the libations to the young and the chic, the blue bloods and the fashionistas that populated the colorful scene. The cognescenti among them ordered chilled bottles of the wildly popular Whispering Angels rosé to accompany lunch.
It was all in keeping with the day's theme, La Mode sur Terre Battue (fashion on clay). Applause, applause for luncheon chair Libbye Morrell and for fashion show producers Lenny Matuszewski and Tamara Bonar and their team.
Highlight of the social event of the spring was the Tootsies runway presentation, which wowed the crowd with scores of ensembles for morning, noon and night. Galvanizing Tootsies as designer hotspot were oh-la-la pieces by J. Mendel, Oscar de la Renta, Monique Lhuillier and Talbot Runhof. As Fady Armanious explained, "We wanted to go back to basics — luxurious, beautiful, and feminine. It's glamour and embellishment versus trendy."
Tootsies' Mickey Rosmarin was among the gents making the scene that included Tenenbaum's Tony Bradfield and Kevin Black, plus Ceron, Joe Cleary, John Eads, Michael Dellinger, Bill Hurt, and hearthrob tennis player Feliciano Lopez.
Fashionistas turning heads in their stunning outfits included Stephanie Cockrell, Jana Arnoldy, Alice Mosing, Kristen Nix, Lauren Snyder, Lilly Cullen, Janet Hobby, Aliyya Stude, Courtney Sarofim, Martha Finger, Becca Cason Thrash, and Brenda Love.
Among the River Oaks regulars in the luncheon were Lilly Andress, Cynthia Allshouse, Cathy Brock, Lynda Transier, JoLynn Falgout, Becky O'Connor, Mary Eads, Betty Hrncir, and Kathryn Smith.
Bronwyn Greer, tennis star Feliciano Lopez, Libbye Morrell.
