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Friday, April 12, 2019

Best-Dressed Parents at the [Fire]ball 🔥🔥

I have a lot of work to do but can't resist a quick post about last night's Fireball, the fundraiser that happens every three years for Nishuane and Hillside Schools in Montclair. [Nishuane is grades K to 2; Hillside, the feeder school, is grades 3 to 5. Punchy went to both and is in her last year. We have loved these schools.]

The big-ticket fundraiser was held this year at The Grove, a gilded catering hall in Cedar Grove. The event raises money to buy computers and other important things for the two public schools. 

The night features a silent auction, live auction [winning bid for your child/children to ride to school in a police car, nearly $1,000], raffle baskets and more. Dan and I were drawn to a table with a wine bottle pull and gift card pull. [Sis did the wine bottle pull when we went to an event in Connecticut. You pay a flat flee and choose a gift-bagged bottle, ranging from ordinary good to high-end $$ excellent.] We each paid $20 and chose a sealed envelope from a selection that included gift cards valued at up to $50. My lavender envelope revealed a $25 Target gift card! Dan pulled a $15 Fandango [movies] gift card.

As I've mentioned, our early-bird tix were $90 each; full price was $125. Dan put on a nice Ted Baker suit and dressy black shirt. I wore a vintage black knit dress I found at a thrift store in Princeton back when Figgy was sick and attending a day program near there.....actually, I bought it for Dad's funeral [it was March 2011], since he died right in the midst of her illness. The dress is feminine and pretty with an open neckline and a Missoni knitwear look near the hem, which hits several inches above the knee.

But the young[er] moms! Wow! 💄👩🏻‍🎤 💅🏻💍👗👗👠👡 Here's where I feel the fanning flame of mothering a fifth grader at age 58. Now, some of these parents, like a couple we know, were there to support the K to 2 school, Nishuane....they have two children, 5 and 3 years old, so they are just starting out in the school system, with a kindergartner.....I swear, the mom reminded me a lot of Moey’s daughter, Laura, who is 23 and gorgeous.

Check these looks, some on mothers closer to my age than to 30:
  • Off-the-shoulder evening gowns, the better to see soft, youthful skin and arms toned from the gym, lifting babies or both.
  • White bodice/black bottom above-knee cocktail dress with full skirt and high silver sandals on dedicated, hardworking & charming PTA President Leslie Wade, who has a daughter in Punchy's grade. The sleeveless dress was so pretty, with a fabric rose perfectly perched on the left shoulder seam. [I had time to observe the dress details closely because Leslie was leading the ceremony.]
  • Black lace top, skinny tapered pants and high heels on one mom friend--she also had some strands of beautiful "fairy hair," a trend in town. I forget the fairy hairstylist's name, but she comes to Montclair and charges about $40 to put strands of fairy color/glitter in your hair and it lasts for months! It started with the daughters but then the moms wanted it. It looks so pretty in mom C's long brunette hair with highlights and in other mom C's long and lovely curly blonde hair. I want fairy hair, too, and plan on getting it. [Mom, these are things that rich people do, Figgy just said when I told her. I offered to treat her to fairy hair, too. But my two friends who have it are hardworking, not rich, I told her. You have to stop being chronically irresponsible with your money, Fig said. It doesn't make you a bad person, it's just something you have to keep working on. I don't know if she reads my blog, with $pending details.]
  • Short, bright, feminine and sleeveless Lilly Pulitzer-style print [but not LP brand] dress. So alluring. [I have a pretty pink and blue print Lilly faux-wrap dress with 3/4 sleeves that I could have worn, but my belly felt bloated, so preferred my reliable black. Maybe Lilly for Easter Sunday. Hope so.]
  • Perfect hot pink short dress with tulip sleeves [aka bell sleeves]. I love the bell sleeve trend. All the better for showing off charm bracelets and Swarovski crystal wrist wraps. #smooch 💋
  • Flirty wrap dress with side-tie belt in really cute colorful print. Didn't recognize brand.
  • Long black dress that hit mid-shin, with spaghetti straps.
  • Slim floor-length gown with black lace accents on my new friend; we just met this year through our girls.
  • It did look like some moms came straight off the bus or train from work in NYC, but even they were stylin' in skirts, tops and heels [some booties]. Likewise, many dads were in suits. 👔👞
  • Black leather or faux leather jackets over dresses. I had one, too.
  • Flowery dresses.
  • And other hair notes: I was not the only woman who sprang for a blowout. Long hair blowouts are especially in, with soft twirls at the bottom, no tight curls. 
  • Me? I was the one in black who temporarily lost her husband, who was getting us drinks, because seats at the little round cocktail tables were so hard to find, and I sat down when I could, with four strangers, to cut the slice of lamb on my plate. :)
I have to get to work and life.

Signing off with your PTA fashion report,
Alice




4 comments:

  1. Love that report! And you both sound gorgeous, I must say!

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  2. So glad you enjoyed the event -- especially for a good cause! I am going to suggest the wine/gift card pull for one of our upcoming fundraisers. Great idea! Love, Lin

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    1. Hi Lin. Yes, do suggest the pulls! People donated the gift cards and bottles of wine.....I guess the profit margin is less for the organization, though, because the buyer pays a flat fee instead of buying a ton of raffle tickets, you know? As buyers, we liked that higher win margin...we knew we would get something for our $20 bills, you know? Love, Al

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