Washington DOES have a Fashion Week

I've only heard about it - never really attended a DC Fashion Week event - which is weird since I do love fashion. I think the DC Fashion Week has always been overshadowed by that of New York Fashion Week - and in the past, it's usually at this time that I'm desparately looking to see which Project Runway finalists have put out for their runway show in New York.

I heard that they did have a Project Runway finale - unfortunately, because the latest season hasn't been aired on either Bravo or Lifetime, the finalists and their talents are still unknown. But I digress.

My friend asked me if I wanted to attend a show for DC Fashion Week. Let me put things in perspective for those of you not familiar with the DC version of Fashion Week. From my understanding, it is put together by a local designer, Ean Williams. He brings together local designers to put together a two hour runway show two times a year (spring and fall). I don't expect you'll ever see DC Fashion Week advertised as the Mercedes-Benz DC Fashion Week - nor will you ever see a runway show featuring Anna Sui or Betsey Johnson. For this latest spring fashion week, there were only four events - Menswear Show, Fashion Industry Networking show, African Students Fashion Show and the Couture Collections. We signed up to attend the Couture Collections.

I really didn't know what to expect. Would there be celebrities? (No.) Would Michelle Obama be there considering she's the newest fashion sensation to hit DC? (No.) Would there be some relative unknown designer that would wow me with their creations? (No.)

Most of the designers have been designing for over 10+ years. They all have their own style but unfortunately, I was not really wowed by any of their works. I would say out of the 10 designers that showed, I would probably only consider purchasing something from two of the designers. The first half of the show left a lot to be desired - there were things being shown that I could've found at 'Frederick's of Hollywood' or 'Hot Topic.' There were colors being used that haven't been 'it' colors since 1987 (who said peach was coming back?!). There were dresses that I think you could find at sketchy Chinese massage parlors. Some of the foreign designers, who hailed from countries like Siberia, Mongolia and Pakistan (to name a few) were so distinctive in their designs that their outfits weren't very 'ready to wear.' But then again, you have to remember we were at the couture collection show....but I didn't see how any of the stuff that was shown could be designated as couture.

Let's move onto the models. These were not NY Fashion Week caliber models - I will put that out there right now. They were all skinny (I swear one was like a size negative two) and tall and apparently they all had to supply their own shoes. So here were some problems - you had models in their own shoes (usually black, platform-like, stripper shoes) wearing more ethnic looking outfits...it didn't look right. You had super-pale girls wearing all the sorbet-colored outfits which washed out the models and did nothing flattering to the outfits on display. I see how designers are very particular about the models that wear their clothes - I didn't understand why the designers here weren't as particular....there was a body of like 30-something models - so it's not like you couldn't find ONE that would make your outfit really stand out.

There were three models in particular that really caught my attention - in a not-so-good way. One model came out and at first I didn't think anything of her - but towards the middle of the show, she started reminding me of John Leguizamo, in drag, in 'To Wong Foo....' . There was a second model (the size negative two) that was basically marching up and down the runway - we're talking high steps and prancing - it started to remind me of a horse. And then the third model that irked me...let's just say that when she first came out, my friend asked if that was a man or woman and all I could say was ''All the Single Ladies' by Beyonce keeps playing in my head when I see her.'

During the show, even though the runway music was turned on loud, I could still hear such a ruckus going on behind the curtains, or backstage. I thought a fight broke out at one point. I heard someone calling something to attention cause every so often, you would hear two claps....but the noise backstage never died down. It was distracting and annoying - they should have thought about putting more of a separation between the stage and the changing/prep area.

All in all - as my first fashion runway experience - it was just that...an experience. I think I need a taste of NY Fashion Week to see what it's really suppose to be like.

DC Fashion Week - their motto is 'Establishing Washington as the Center of International Fashion.' I think it's still got a long way to go....before toppling the likes of Milan, Paris and London.