Just Because

Frosty Fashion At Sprinkles Cupcake Wars

By Maxine Trowbridge in Just Because 1 Comment Tags: , , ,

If I see another cupcake it will be too soon, well, only if I have to frost and decorate it—eating one is another matter entirely. This past Saturday, I had the amusing task of frosting and decorating one hundred Sprinkles cupcakes, but all in the name of charity—for the Sprinkles Cupcakes Big D’s “Big News” Cupcake Wars.

My chosen charity was Fashion Group International of Dallas, my goal to raise funds for Career Day, 2012. This annual event provides educational outreach programs to students seeking careers in the fashion and lifestyle industries, and awards local talent with over $35,000 in scholarships funds.  Since Dallas lists such fashionable business as Neiman Marcus, J.C. Penny, and Fossil, to name only a few—it seems a worthy cause indeed to support local education.

 The Cupcake War prize $5,000, but if you didn’t win, you still received $1,000—totally worth it!  The challenge—to decorate the cupcakes in the theme of your charity, hmmm, well, how was I going to do that!

I was allowed one team member to support this frosty fashion challenge, so I asked fellow FGI Dallas Board Member Chuck Steelman, PR Manager at Neiman Marcus Willowbend—surely his nifty style knowledge would sparkle over these cupcakes.

I worked on my cupcake designs for two weeks, no, I am not kidding, one word—competitive. I planned in great detail the spring and summer 2012 fashion attack that these poor cupcakes were about to endure.

 

I chose runway styles that would interpret best into a cupcake—sheer organza, pleats, polka dot, geometric and floral prints, monochromatic and bold colors—bring it all on little cupcake! The presentation? I was left with no choice other than the most obvious, a cupcake runway show, wearing the best of spring summer trends. Perfect!

 

The outcome—Christopher Kane, Alice + Olivia, Ashish, Cynthia Rowley, Altuzarra, Blumarine, Zero + Maria Cornejo, Alberta Ferritti—strutted their chic cupcake styles down the runway.

So who was sitting front row on this mini-masterpiece? My fellow Cupcake War competitors, and Cupcake War winner Clarice Tinsley, with Amy Vanderoef, Roni Proter, Meredith Land, Brittany Cobb, along with the judges, Sprinkles founder Candace Nelson, Jackson, Kimberly Schlegel Whitman and Toni Rivard, in little mini-me edible rice faces. What a frosty delight!  More details to come on PinkMemo.

The Founder’s Cut: vbeauté, in it to win it.

By Maxine Trowbridge in Just Because 1 Comment Tags: , , , , ,

I interviewed Julie Macklowe founder of vbeauté back in December, and finally posted the story vbeauté: The ‘It’ Kit on PinkMemo this week. Evidently cloning oneself is still not available, so yes; it took a month to get this published, oh well. Better late than never!

Brian Bolke owner at boutique Forty Five Ten, asked me to meet with Julie and sample her new beauty line vbeauté. So I headed to the boutique with Starbucks in hand, iPad ready, and Julie and I got beautifully acquainted.

 Vanessa Cornell, Allison Aston and Julie Macklowe.

Fashion and art are both my Achilles heel—so I found it hard not to get distracted on that topic, rather than the matter at hand. While I am in awe of vbeauté, and Julie’s entrepreneurial endeavors, add Alexander McQueen into the conversation and I break out in a cold sweat.  Macklowe collects ball gowns, and with four pieces showcased in the Alexander McQueen exhibit Savage Beauty, and a recent visit to Dallas to attend the opening of The Fashion World of Jean Paul Gaultier: From the Sidewalk to the Catwalk exhibition at the Dallas Museum of Art, this ‘It’ girl, knows a thing or two about fashion and art.

Julie Macklowe, Nisa Amoils and Alison Brod.

As Julie informed me, “The most important thing about collecting fashion—it really tells you about a time period, and I love going back and looking at what people wore in different eras.” Julie and her husband, Billy, also collect younger artists, especially photography, and with vbeauté officially launched, Julie plans to rejoin the Whitney’s photography acquisitions committee. “I love photography, and supporting the arts and fashion—what is life without that?” I couldn’t agree more.

So, Brian meets Julie, Julie visit’s Dallas—so how did this stylish coupling occur, one might ask? Naturally the answer was perfect, “I met Brian at Fashion Week, I sat next to him at a show—my friend Becca Cashon Thrash connected us first. Brian was one of the first retailers I spoke to about carrying my prototype ‘It’ Kit.” Voila, kismet!

With the entrepreneurial bug in full swing with vbeauté and a recent investment in BaubleBar, Julie boldly states, “anyone who is an entrepreneur is in it, to win it.” A women on a mission! Read the article on PinkMemo.

California Turk Style

By Maxine Trowbridge in Just Because No Comments Tags: , ,

So far weekly blogging on my personal blog is not off to a good start, my friends wailed at me “why would you do that to yourself, don’t you have enough to do on PinkMemo!” Well, yes I do, more than I can keep up with, but there is something liberating about not being pink everyday. So today is JustMax with a hint of Pink….

I met Trina Turk a couple of weeks ago, she was lovely to chat with—we probably hit it off because I was tip toeing barefoot in her new Dallas store wearing a TT ensemble when she arrived. Needless to say, I had to make my purchase before we got cozy on the sofa, amidst divine pillows from her residential collection. Read my little chat with Trina Turk a Mid Century Californian on PinkMemo.