It’s traditional that sorority pledges go through a program that both unites them and challenges their sense of humor before final initiation. From flying kites to being interrogated by upper classmen, they suffer through all types of experiences.
Evidently this routine is not part of the plan for the new members of the Crystal Charity Ball. For their official get together with the sisterhood, they didn’t have a Monday night dinner at the sorority house. Nope. They attended an Escada fashion show at Debbie Oates’s place in Preston Hollow. This was not the normal drill. Usually the annual show is held in the Escada shop in Highland Park Village, but due to renovations, there just wasn’t enough space.
Alas, even Debbie’s generously sizable place was challenged to accommodate all the women, both Crystal Charity Ball members and Escada models and personnel. So the Oates garage was transformed into a changing area complete with carpeting. Just imagine couture clothes, stylists and picture-perfect models dressing up in your garage.
CCB Chair Connie O’Neill got things started by welcoming one and all with the adorable new pledges Janie Condon, Margaret Hancock, Paige Slates, Peggy Meyer, Kristina Whitcomb and Suzanne Droese seated in a row sans Kristi Hoyl, who couldn’t make it. She’ll probably have to write a review of this month’s Vogue and Harper’s Bazaar to make up for it.
When Connie put a shout-out thank you to Debbie for hosting the event, there was no Debbie. A few minutes later, the hostess snuck in and admitted that she had been sampling the food provided by Lisa Garza.
Before the fashion show began, New Member Liasons Nancy Carter and Emilynn Wilson came forward with top hats and a multitude of wands. They called each of the pledges up to receive their wand to magically raise funds for CCB. Wouldn’t you just love to have one of those wands?
Then it was time for the show. With Dallas Escada boutique manager Melinda Rathke watching from the
sidelines, the show was underway with Escada’s Hector “the Latin from Manhattan” Carrasquillo describing details of each piece. The colors, fabrics and designs received high marks from the gals, especially newbie Peggy Meyers. She was wearing a jacket that was shown in the show.