The number of attendees at Thursday’s Stiletto Strut at Neiman Marcus Downtown might have seemed a bit less than last year’s, but that was understandable. For the past three years, SS has benefited the American Heart Association and grown in popularity each year. But Neiman’s decided that with so many organizations in need, it would be wise to let others have a chance to join the fun. So this year The Family Place was selected as the beneficiary.
With the Agather girls (mother Elaine and daughters Bradley and Lorene) chairing the event and NMD’s Shelle Sills and her staff managing the
operations, it was going to be smooth walking. Even the weather was playing along perfectly. Just to make sure the fun factor would be alive and well, they called in Todd Fiscus to serve as sole-master of ceremonies. To do this he brought along his pink moving van to serve as a rallying point at the Commerce entrance for the ladies.
But first there was the warm-up. No, the gals didn’t do pushups in couture or sprints through the Zodiac Room. Well, a couple of them did do pickups in the cosmetics departments resulting in a casualty when a bottle of blue nail polish hit the marble floor in the designer bag area. Had this happened anywhere else, cardiac arrest would have set in. Ah, but this is magical NM where anything can be handled seamlessly. After staffers cleared the broken glass and blue polish for safety sake, NM operations manager John Collinsworth nonchalantly said it wouldn’t be a problem because of the floor coating. By Friday the floor would back to simple perfection. (Editor’s note: A firsthand check verified that nary a spot of blue could be seen the following Tuesday.)
Back to the gals and their preparations. Upon arrival and the mandatory hugs and kisses
with Todd, the guests received goody bags from greeter Donny Boaz, who had just completed his role of preacher in the pilot of Good Christian Britches.
Yes, the ladies wore their nicest outfits, but seriously all eyes were on shoes. All the names were there including Louboutin (Karissa Schuler, Leslie Gunawan Johnson, Leigh Bailey, Christine Martin, Elaine
Agather), Tory Burch (Blaire Hohenshelt), YSL (Becky Dondero), Prada (Lauren Auffenberg Hill, Lynn McBee, Kaki Roach, Claire Emanuelson), Manolo Blahnik (Vicki Chapman, Lee Bailey), Chloe (Lauren Chapman), Stuart Weitzman (Tia Wynne), Alexandre Birman (Bradley Agather), Gucci (Paige Nash), Ferragamo (Kelsey Swingle Robertson), Jimmy Choo (Muffin Lemak), Diane von Furstenberg (Lorene Agather), Guiseppe Zanotti (Piper Wyatt), Guess (Natalie Costa) and Jessica Simpson (Elizabeth Tripplehorn).
After a good “hydrating,” the ladies marched out the door with DJ Jen Miller playing “These Boots Were Made for Walking.” To prevent last year’s almost oops when a Dallas transit bus nearly mixed it up with the chic troopers, NMD security had blocked Main Street both ways for the ladies to have their way.
They looked stellar as they started their round-the-block march, but that head-held-high feeling showed signs of waning by the time they made their way back to homebase sharing Commerce with evening traffic. Ah, come on. Three-, four- and five-inch heels weren’t made for power walks.
Perhaps that’s why Sally Hoglund in her decorative sneakers and Sydney Hoyl in her adorable flat sandals never missed a step and were the envy of all.
Suggestion for next year: Have the guests bring an old pair of shoes to donate to The Family Place’s residents.