Womens Mafia Fashion Show 426 West 58th St., Penthouse 1 September 9, 2009 Written and Photographed by Mark Tauriello

If attending to a fashion event thrown by the Womens Mafia on the roof of Steven Gad’s luxurious penthouse overlooking the city while being surrounded by models and fashionistas doesn’t make you feel glamorous, I don’t know what will. The evening was well attended by supporters, media, stylists, and so forth. I can honestly say I had a blast. Between photographing designs by Ali Taghavi & Kristine Gottilla, mingling with writers, photographers, and buyers of the fashion industry while being surrounded by the lights and architecture of the city, I was on a more fashionable version of Cloud 9. Marcy Clark, organizer of this event & Women’s Mafia member explained to me that she worked on her Karma all week, hoping that it would pay off so the kick off show would be a success.

Whatever she did, it worked. It was a perfect, well-attended evening with perfect weather. One thing I enjoyed most about the runway show was not so much the actual clothes that were featured, though I did enjoy their whimsical and airy flow, but I was quite impressed with the shoes from shoegasm.com and handbags from Kristina Gottilla. One bag in particular I loved was the over sized electric blue snakeskin bag modeled with a striped bikini by Balabunda. You can say I am a sucker for all things over sized, and that bag was just that. I honestly believe you could fit the beach in that bag and still have enough room to take that sexy lifeguard home too. I have always been a firm believer that an over sized purse is the best way to look thinner. Aside from the scale of this bag, I also enjoyed the fun flirty color and thought this bag was perfect for a young sassy beach babe.

Now I want to talk about the shoes. Loved them! Shoegasm was on point with their shoe designs, and provided some edge to Ali Taghavi’s sugar and spice day wear pieces. Two shoes that captured my eye were the caged heels, inspired by the YSL cage boots, and finally the bandaged heels with cut out shapes and exposed zipper on the back panel of the ankle.

Over all I thought the looks on the runway were well put together. Though all the frills and feminine qualities to the outfits were not my personal taste, I did appreciate the construction of the garments, and the over all looks put together by Wayne Harris.