Heart Truth Red Dress Fall 2011 Review
Photo: Getty Images
All the ladies in red, lined up after the show.
SHOW: Heart Truth
THEME/INFLUENCE: Heart disease awareness
HAIR AND MAKEUP: Bobbi Brown for Bobbi Brown Cosmetics (makeup), Sabrina Michaels for Bumble and Bumble (hair), and Pattie Yankee for Dashing Diva (nails)
OVERALL TAKEAWAY: High energy and hope
FRONT ROW: Matthew McConaughey, Susan Sarandon, Bill Rancic, Lisa Rinna, Kat DeLuna, Nigel Barker, Miss J Alexander, Jay Manuel, Johnny Weir, and Carson Kressley
Since 2003, the Red Dress Collection has been the unofficial kickoff to Fall Mercedes-Benz New York Fashion Week. As the centerpiece event of the Heart Truth Campaign, which raises awareness of the risk of heart disease in women, the annual show brings together a mix of entertainment insiders, TV personalities, actresses, singers, and more.
Littered with New Jersey Housewives and flocks of ladies decked in their best bright-red cocktail attire, Lincoln Center was complete mayhem gearing up for this year's show.
A bevy of ladies swanned down the runway in red, kicked off by Dancing with the Stars's Julianne Hough, who wore an embellished one-shoulder Swarovski gown (the only custom piece in the show). The Hills star Audrina Patridge attempted an uncomfortable shuffle down the runway in a skintight (clearly too tight) Badgley Mischka number while 30 Rock's Katrina Bowden was all legs in a short Oscar de la Renta belted minidress.
In a curve-hugging Zac Posen design, Dita von Teese rocked her famous hourglass, which was even more comic-book curvy in person. When FashionEtc asked how she felt on stage, von Teese shrugged and gave her signature sultry smirk, "Fun!"
NBC News anchor Ann Curry walked the runway in a one-shoulder Carmen Marc Valvo gown. After the show, she told us, "Backstage they told me to try and do something sexy, so while I was walking I kept trying to do a sexy move or something, and I was imagining everyone in the audience going, 'Is that seriously all you got?'"
Photo: Getty Images
Natasha Bedingfield, Patti LaBelle, Ann Curry, and Cat Deeley backstage
With her partner McConaughey watching from the sidelines, Camila Alves glowed in a hippie-chic Kaufmanfranco design. Patti LaBelle walked to her song "New Attitude" in a slinky lingerie-inspired Zang Toi ensemble while Suzanne Somers danced down the runway in a flirty Ina Soltani minidress.
Natasha Bedingfield closed the show in a silky Nicole Miller halter dress, singing a beautiful rendition of her hit "Strip Me" and starting an enthusiastic wave through the audience.
A selection of the dresses worn on the runway will be available for auction starting today at ClothesOffOurBack.org; all proceeds go to the Foundation for the National Institutes of Health.
SEE THE FALL 2011 RUNWAY COLLECTIONS
