Everyone went home a winner Wednesday night when CultureMap Houston presented its first annual Stylemaker Awards, following in the elegant footsteps of our sister website CultureMap Dallas.
As many as 200 fashion-oriented guests poured into Tootsies in West Ave to see what look the Stylemaker finalists would wear and which one would take home honors in the People's Choice competition. That would be Karina Barbieri winning the most votes from readers in our online voting and Holly Alvis taking home honors as the judges' choice.
Tootsies provided gifts for the two winners — an Ashlyn'd sandy box Lucite clutch for Barbieri and for Alvis a Furla mini crossbody bag.
Among the crowd in attendance, Staci Henderson won the loudest applause — a prolonged ovation that moved her to tears.
Also showing off their fashion savvy as they talked to guests about the mannequins they dressed for the occasion were Stylemaker finalists Maryam Afshari, Bryce Kennard, Valerie Dittner, Carrie Brandsberg-Dahl and Alex Martinez. The ladies dressed their mannequins in fashions from Tootsies while the gents dressed male mannequins in the latest men's styles from Tootsies' neighbor, Rye 51 — all showing their unique sense of style. They received $100 gift cards from the retailers.
Tootsies' creative director Fady Armanious welcomed the throng while Clifford Pugh, CultureMap editor, introduced the eight featured finalists as well as semifinalists Fifi Phi, Rekha Muddaraj and Ryan O. Harris, who each received prolonged ovations from the audience.
A whirl of photographers and fashion bloggers added to the energy that was fueled by the sounds of DJ Bizonee and the food and drink from SlimRitas and Corner Table.
The fashionable mix included Chita Johnson, Dr. Neil Badlani, Austin Alvis, Marissa Garza, David Arpin, Carlos Barbieri, Alana Skinner, Quang Henderson, Justin Hellyer, Sverre Brandsberg-Dahl, Sandra Manela, Sri Yalamanchili, Michael Pearce, Dr. Franklin Rose and Diane Nguyen.
Holly Alvis and her friends.
