Luckily, interior designer/author Betty Lou Phillip’s home overlooking Turtle Creek was big enough to easily accommodate the 100 guests like Emilynn and Claude Wilson for the 12th Annual Writer’s Garden Symposium and Luncheon patron party on Tuesday, November 13. The sizable crowd was to be expected. After all, the house alone was a draw, but there were also the authors, who would be speaking the next day at the Women’s Council of the Dallas Arboretum fundraiser in Rosine Hall.
After being welcomed at the front door by Women’s Council President Linda Spina and Betty Lou’s Norwich Terrier, Bentley, the guests discovered art historian and landscape designer Colta Ives in the formal living room in a floral print mandarin jacket next to a table filled with her “Public Parks, Private Gardens” for autographing.
Just down the entry hall was willowy brunette Carolyne Roehm in an off-the-shoulder tomato red dress totally captivating a group of five fans.
In a hallway leading to the kitchen, Susan and Tom Stanzel were seated happily on a loveseat. Susan smiled saying, “Don’t you love all the Rembrandts?”
And speaking of the walls, over the main floor’s elevator was a large sign reading “Ascenseur.”
In the towering library, one would have thought it would have been filled with Betty Lou’s own books on interior design and other heady literature. Sure, there were rows of Who’s Who In America, but a good number of the books were tailor-made for munchkins alongside photos and little hand imprints.
Standing nearby were Stanley Korshak’s Ann Sappington in a “vintage Herrera” black coat talking with fashion producer Jan Strimple about her interviewing Zandra Rhodes at Korshak the week before. Ann and Jan told how they had gained their appreciation and understanding of fashion over the years thanks to preeminent designers like Rhodes and their clients. One of the keys to successful dressing was the importance of the fit that could only be truly achieved thanks to a skilled tailor.
But it was an early evening because the next morning’s symposium and luncheon kicked off at 9:30.