What: The Summer Soiree
Where: Tootsies
The scoop: More than 300 fab, fashionable, and philanthropic Houston ladies packed storied style house Tootsies for the 16th annual Summer Soiree. The chic event, put on by Dress for Success Houston (DFSH) and Women of Wardrobe (WOW), raised $22,000 for DFSH, which helps more than 43,000 local women thrive in work and life.
The WOW Summer Soiree has become the unofficial kickoff to Houston’s party season, and it showed, with guests dressing for the occasion in Hunter Bell’s fall line, CQY Denim, and Mignonne Gavigan. To spice up the party, each guest received a $25 Tootsies gift card for an inspired shopping experience. Tootsies, in turn, donated 10 percent of the evening’s sales back to DFSH.
Local do-gooders Amanda Boffone, Courtney Campo, Julie Longoria Chen, and Daniella Rodriguez served as stylish event chairs, while Mia Gradney, KHOU evening anchor and WOW co-founder, served as the energetic emcee. Partiers snapped selfies and mingled with VIP guests like Hunter Bell and Kara McCullers. Tootsies store director Shelley Taylor Ludwick, along with store owners Donna and Norman Lewis, welcomed the throng.
Guests shopped, noshed, and sipped from vendors including Armandos, Black Eyed Distilling Co., Citadel Catering, EggHaus Gourmet, Equinox, Graze, Green Fork, International Smoke, Macaron by Patisse, Modern Acupuncture, MyEventIsTheBomb, Nothing Bundt Cakes, Paloma Nails, RYDE, Shake Shack, SusieCakes, Tootsies, and Treaty Oak Distilling.
“It’s incredible to see how WOW has grown since we started it 16 years ago,” says Lauren Levicki Courville, Dress for Success Houston president. "‘Wow’ is exactly what people say when they learn about Dress for Success Houston’s mission and our growth of more than 20 programs ‘beyond the suit.’”
WOW assists Dress for Success Houston through fundraising and volunteerism. Currently, it is Houston’s largest all-female young professionals group with more than 200 ladies.
Who: The fab crown included Sukaina Rajani, Roseann Rogers, Karishma Asrani, Karina Barbieri, Katie Bode, Lexie Boudreaux, Rebecca Gentry, Tiffany LaRose, Susan Oehl, Lori Raijman, Julia Russell, Lexi Sakowitz, and a host of Houston fashionistas.
Amanda Boffone, Daniella Rodriguez, Hunter Bell, Julie Longoria Chen, and Courtney Campo.
