CFW 2010: Saturday

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Bridal 2010: Saturday by Reese Moore

Backstage Pass

A behind-the-scenes look at Saturday's Bridal Couture shows.

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A late night at Shine with the CFW after party crew resulted in two things: a great time with Charleston’s fabulous fashionistas and a love affair with my snooze button the next morning. The latter resulted in a mad, breakfast-less dash to Marion Square for the Bridal Couture show, and probably explains why the first thing I really noticed walking into the tents was the table of delicious little nibbles from Newton Farms Catering. Signature cocktails, chocolate-covered strawberries, and bite-size tarts... Was I still dreaming? No, I was working, and I ran backstage to avoid being late.

Once my foodie fervor passed, I took a look around. Stepping into the tents for the Bridal Couture shows was really like stepping through the looking glass. The romantic, elegant space was hardly recognizable as the repurposed Style Lounge. A whimsical runway ran down the center of the tent, the far walls were flanked with vendor tables, gauzy fabric billowed from the ceiling, and a chic crowd filled the entire space to capacity.

Backstage, however, was a totally different story. The hair and makeup team still ran a incomprehensibly tight if not outwardly chaotic ship, but the dressing rooms had all but exploded. Enormous swaths of white fabric swelled out from each dressing area, ivory and silver satin heels lay tangled on the floor, and heaps of pearls and rhinestones sparkled amidst the mass of veils and runway props. In perfect juxtaposition to this messy romantic backdrop, determined-looking models hurtled around backstage with their billowing skirts and trains tucked under their arms like varsity football players.

And if it was up to me, I’d nominate every single one of the Bridal Couture models for a CFW Heisman. Modeling in CFW requires the reflexes and stamina of a professional athlete, and if you’ve seen any of these models sprinting around backstage or leaping over each other to execute quick changes, you know what I’m talking about. The Bridal Couture models, however, are doing the exact same things in enormous dresses that are often larger than they themselves. In addition to the pure physical encumbrance, our chilly March weather took a turn for the warmer on Saturday. While this was great for the college coeds lying in the grass on Marion Square, it was murder on the poor girls inside the tents. Still, after an absolutely exhausting week of shows and despite the heat, stressful changes, and heavy dresses, everyone backstage worked as a team and produced an unforgettable afternoon of bridal couture shows. Kudos!

If the Bridal Couture show was the toughest, grittiest part of fashion week, the remainder of CFW was nothing but smooth sailing. The Saturday night shows were met with thunderous applause, and congratulations to both Marysia Reeves for her fantastic runway show and Larika Page, this year’s winning Emerging Designer! The stress and exhaustion that had been building throughout the week was magically dispelled the moment the first model took to the runway, most likely because the Fashion Finale was the shimmering light at the end of the glamorous CFW tunnel.

How on earth do I describe the Finale? Telling you about the awesome music, the gorgeous crowd, the flowing cocktails, and the chandelier-decked main tent would hardly do it justice.

After mingling and a couple of cocktails - thank you Grey Goose! - it was time to let loose a bit. Fellow photographer Lee Morris spontaneously grabbed me and pulled me up on the runway (ripping the strap on my metallic purple minidress, argh!), and suddenly we were engulfed in a pulsating sea of models, stylists, designers, and party-goers alike. I spotted fellow CFW blogger-photographer Diana Deaver, Rock the Runway winner Antwuan Whitney, and model Laura Fielden dancing in my cramped corner of the platform, and as the euphoric crowd began jumping up and down on the runway in unison someone turned to me and shouted, “This is incredible!! What on earth do we do next week?” I had to laugh and shrug; just enjoying the moment was more than enough for me!