You Like Me! You Really Like Me!

Eat your heart out, Judy Garland (and perhaps also Jim Carrey in his "classy" impression of her Oscar Awards speech). What exciting news could prompt this kind of introduction? *Drumroll* I am proud to announce that several of your Etsy Austinites will be participating in Austin Fashion Week in July! This will be an event that is widespread throughout Austin and will involve countless boutiques, salons, local designers, photographers, stylists, and models. Between now (I believe it's now; launch787.com alludes to "Thursday" as being the starting day for voting) and July 18th, Austinites will be able to vote for their favorite designer participant in Austin Fashion Week. Launch787.com lists all the details for voting as well as events during AFW. FashionWeekAustin.com also lists all of the participants of the event, and this is where you can vote for all your favorites (salons, boutiques, photographers, models, designers).

Each designer is paired with a salon or boutique for which they will have a display set up from July 13-18 showcasing their best stuff. Each salon/boutique involved in Fashion Week will host a soiree cocktail event during the week to show off their place as well as the designers' work to the Austin public. The Sunday after fashion week, July 19th, there will be a hotsy totsy awards show at the Long Center (Dell Hall, 5:30-9:30pm) followed by a swanky after party at the Sky Lounge on Town Lake (9pm-12pm, almost exclusively for participants of AFW). Personally, part of me is way too excited (about this) for my own good and already contemplating what to wear.

Here's a few more layers added to the cake. Shoppers who participate in AFW can purchase what is called a "Passport to Fashion" for $20 and receive a 10% discount at all the participating salons and boutiques during the week of July 13-18. When they make a purchase, they receive a stamp on their passport. Cute, huh? I wish I would have thought of that; puts so many clever ideas I've had to shame. The more stamps they receive on their passport, the more chances they have at winning a $5,000 shopping spree. If I wasn't participating and feeling semi-broke, I would be all over this like Lucille II/Liza Minnelli on Buster Bluth (for all you Arrested Development fans paying attention). The other juicy tidbit is that the designer who is deemed best of the best by all voters will receive a prize (I'm assuming monetary, but it's not explicitly stated in the guidelines) from the sponsors of the event. The great part for you guys? You don't have to buy a passport to participate in voting and root for your favorite designer!

So, if you want to check up on your Etsy Austin gals during Austin Fashion Week, here's where we'll be:

-Anne Marie Beard of Anne Marie @ Urban Groove Salon
-Kim Sae-Eua of Broken Ear Productions @ Betty Sport
-Pauline Walsh Jacobson of Coral Reef Dreams @ Roxann's Specialty Boutique
-Camille Jackson of Diamonds and Guns by Action Jackson @ Urban Betty Salon
-Valeri Abrego-Liszewski of Jinxedaposed Clothing/Jinxy DV-8 @ Trends & Traditions
-Malissa Long of MLW Malissa Long Wearables @ Baldwin Beauty School
-Robbie Kaye Dodson of Parsimony @ Austin Handmade Market
-Cindy Chuang of Sweet Potato Island @ Thomas Saverio Salon & Spa
-Rachel Olan of SoRo Designs (photography, no location assigned)

Whew! That's a lot of EA gals in the batch! With 63 designers competing, we have about a 1 in 8 chance of having one of them take home the title! With that in mind, good luck designers!

Action Jackson out.