REAL HOUSEWIVES OF NEW YORK CITY
Recently, celebrity stylist and media personality Derek Warburton hosted the "Real Fashion, Real Runway" Runway Show benefitting Bottomless Closet charity. Celebrities such as Kate Gosselin, Aviva Drescher, Jaslene Gonzalez, Ajay Rochester, Mandy Kirby, and Shontelle (who also performed her ballad "Impossible") walked alongside 21 "real" women from the charity in top designers such as Marchesa, Badgley Mischka, Nicole Miller, Lela Rose, Carlos Miele, and many more. Shontelle opened the night as she sang her smash hit "Impossible" live as the crowd sat in amazement. It was a powerful night in support of a very worthy cause.
An organization that helps women get back on their feet after they have been homeless/abused/incarcerated/laid off, etc, the women from the charity truly had a Cinderalla moment as they took to the runway on the rooftop of the Empire Hotel. Following the show, guests enjoyed a complimentary open bar courtesy of Ramona Pinot Grigio.
About Bottomless Closet : Bottomless Closet offers an innovative approach to workforce preparation for disadvantaged New York City women transitioning from unemployment and public assistance to work; services and programming offered through a personalized/one-on-one approach helps eradicate many of the barriers New York City women face in their search for, and retention of, employment. Women are referred through a network of partner organizations once they have a job interview scheduled; Bottomless Closet’s programming is designed to support the transition to work. Comprehensive services include the selection of high quality interview attire, 1:1 resume review and interview preparation as well as a broad workshop curriculum that promotes professional development, financial management and personal enrichment. Bottomless Closet’s goal is to enable and empower our clients so they may secure and maintain employment, overcome the challenges of poverty and ultimately reach self-sufficiency. Derek Warburton has been involved with Bottomless Closet for nearly 5 years now and has helped over 500 women. I host a monthly, two-hour workshop called "HOW TO BE DEREK FABULOUS" that helps prepare women for job interviews. With your help, we can change a woman's life by providing clothing that is interview- appropriate and can lead to a successful job. I started working with Bottomless Closet because these women and their circumstances are part of my personal real life story. I grew up with a displaced mother. We were homeless for 8 months when I was 14 years old. I lived in a tent with no electricity, water or bathroom. I dug our open sewer. But the real story was that my mother had a job the entire time. She was not abused, nor did she do drugs. She was a hard working single parent who got behind on rent. It is a slippery slope to homelessness. I wanted to do my part in caring for these women who became stigmatized due to their circumstances. Bottomless Closet helps NYC women take the steps necessary to turn their lives around. During the workshop, we spend the first hour on self-esteem building by going around the room discussing all of our challenges. This is a heart wrenching experience. You are never so shocked and moved as being in a room full of women and having one of them admit for the first time that they ran for their lives because their partner was beating them and their children. Many stories are similar to this, but we also hear about how they have gotten jobs, their children are prospering again, and, with the many questions of "what do I wear?", we move on to the makeover part of our session. The women "shop" with me in the Bottomless Closet boutique, as my team and I prepare them for interviews with wardrobe.
Bug eyed Ramona Singer of Real Housewives of New York has confirmed that Cindy Barshop will be the new addition to the series. Barshop is the owner of the Completely Bare Salon in the city and is also a mother of twins.
Singer is said to be happy with her new co-star but let's be serious. If Barshop starts to get more air time apples will be thrown. Bethenny or not, there will always be drama. No complaints here.
A bull stands with its head bowed under a grated window on the far end of the room. Paint splatters on its back appear as though a Technicolor rain recently fell, leaving a stained reflection of a dreamlike thunderstorm. Snapping back into reality, I asked artist Brian Farrell what the story behind the ground-grazing bull was. He explained, in imaginative reflection, that the life-sized animal came by way of a dismantled art exhibit on Park Avenue in Manhattan which was then acquired by his brother and given to Brian as a painting project. Since then, children and their parents have joined him in his studio in Long Island City for a chance to add their creative brushstrokes to the bull in hopes of adding color to the stark white canvas.
Bethenny Frankel apparently had another life long before she joined cast of The Real Housewives of New York City. The new wife and mother was previously married to Peter Sussman in 1996, but divorced after just eight months of marriage. Frankel said they had been best friends for five years before they began dating for two years, and subsequently got married. She views her short-lived "disaster" of a marriage as a learning experience that eventually helped her find her great love. Frankel's new reality show "Bethenny Getting Married?" premieres tonight on Bravo at 10/9c.
The Real Housewives of NYC season 3 finale was surprisingly boring last night.
First of all, the lunch between Bethenny and Jill was very predictable from the words exchanged to the tears shed. Hopefully they can work out their differences in the future because there is a small void in my life where their friendship used to be.
LuAnn's performance of her hit single (just kidding) "Money Can't Buy You Class" was ...um...yeah.
Kelly Bensimon keeps the craziness coming with her latest attempt at playing the victim. She recorded a 36 second homemade PSA about systematic bullying, a.k.a. a recap of her recent trip to the Caribbean with fellow housewives of New York City. The Season 3 finale airs tonight at 10/9c on Bravo.
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