Location: Tootsies

I had such a great time helping out with the Little Black Dress Designer muses as they selected their dresses and met their designers at an afternoon tea at Tootsies. The nine beautiful ladies chosen to be this year’s muses are Diane Caplan, Dominique Sachse Florescu, Lily Jang, Chris Goins, Rita Garcia, Gracie Cavnar, Joy Sewing, Romy Mitchell and Molly Johnson Stone. All of these women are not only fashionable, but movers and shakers of Houston. They recently gathered together at Tootsies to choose their favorite black dress out of the nine designs. After each dress was carefully chosen, the ladies met their young designers and the next step is to personalize their LBD’s to fit each muse. I had the privilege of participating in the last LBDD event and my designer, Joubaier Joubert, and I have since become dear friends!! The bottom line is this competition gives these young designers the opportunity to work with real customers.

In addition to the muses and designers, Jeff Shell was also hosting the three chosen mentors, notable designers David Peck, Paola Contreras and Steve Guthrie. These mentors will help give experienced guidance to the young designers through the entire process.

The Little Black Dress never goes out of style, inspiring the world since 1926. Like its namesake, the LITTLE BLACK DRESS DESIGNER competition gives students and emerging designers the chance to re-imagine a fashion icon for a chance to win academic scholarships, brand funding and incredible opportunities for real-life career networking. The competition was founded in 2008 by Jeff Shell, director of Houston-based modeling and acting firm Neal Hamil Agency. Since the competition’s founding, LBDD has awarded more than $100,000 in scholarships to Texas students. The Little Black Dress Designer Foundation is a 501(c)3 organization.

Professional designers, luxury retailers and sartorial-savvy media personalities take on the tough task of selecting the talented top designers, offering their expertise and experience to our aspiring fashion entrepreneurs. Little Black Dress Designer is so special and relevant because it threads together the academic and professional worlds of fashion.

Look for these ladies to be presented next Spring in a show with their modified LBDD’s for all of us to see! Stay tuned for further details 🙂

email [email protected] for more information and check out their FB page and website www.LBDD.org