Party Of the Year

I had a wonderful experience last Tuesday, and I wasn't going to talk about it on my blog because it was a private, invitation-only  affair.  But when I saw that a blogger and reporter by the name of Miguel Dominguez  reported on this event on his own blog - and included a picture with me in it - I felt liberated to share it with you.

As you may remember, I am friends with 1980s fashion model Nancy Donahue, thanks to several connections on Facebook stemming from the discovery of my beautiful women picture blog by a few of her peers.  Well - she and hairdresser Harry King hold a reunion party every year for all the models, hairdressers and makeup artists they're friends with, and this year I was invited!  So was Mr. Dominguez, who took a lot of pictures.  I was very happy and very touched that Nancy invited me, and I had a good time.  I also got to meet someone I've adored for years.

Catherine Roberts is a model who appeared in several print ads for beauty products in the seventies and eighties but somehow got few editorial assignments, so while many people would recognize her by sight, not too many of them could tell you her name.  I remember seeing her in some of these ads when I was a teenager but I only learned her identity a few years ago, when I began to connect with all these women on Facebook. Anyway, Catherine and I enjoyed a long, friendly correspondence on Facebook but we didn't meet in person until Nancy's party last Tuesday.  Catherine was really glad to see me, and I appreciated  her warmth and sweetness.  

And I also got this really nice souvenir.    

Catherine is the one in the middle, to my immediate left; the attractive woman on the right is Sandy Linter. Although Sandy looks like a model, she's actually a makeup artist.

I've featured Catherine regularly on my beautiful women picture blog for years, largely because she's been anonymous for too long and I feel she deserves some name recognition.  In fact, some of her ads, including the ad I first saw her in, focused only on either her lips or her eyes, so you couldn't see her entire face.  She's clearly too beautiful to have only part of her face be seen. :-)  Anyway, she's a dear friend and a wonderful individual, and I'm finally glad I got to meet her in person after only being connected with her via social media. :-)

Oh yeah, I also met two other lovely ladies whom I was already connected to on Facebook.   Alas, I didn't get my picture taken with them, so these photos will have to do.

Alva Chinn is a legendary fashion model who also teaches yoga and has done some acting.  She was one of eight black American models who participated in a historic fashion show in Versailles, France in 1973 and represented a group of upstart American fashion designers that the French looked down on.  And because the American models were black, the French didn't think much of them, either.  In fact, they stole the show and showed up their French hosts.  (The above photo is from a 2011 reunion of the eight models - including Pat Cleveland, whom I've already met.)  It's regarded as a great smashing of the racial barrier in the fashion trade.  And Alva Chinn, who remains as lovely and as sophisticated as ever - not to mention a real sweetheart, as she was really nice to me when I met her - was a part of it.

So was Jennifer Brice, whom I met late in the evening.  A contestant in a Model Of the Year pageant representing the District of Columbia in the early seventies, she got immediate recognition from a modeling agency, which led to the late black star model Naomi Sims taking her on as a protégé.  Jennifer Brice became one of the most successful black models of the seventies.  The picture of her above, from the party, is my own.  And it's obvious how beautiful she still is - inside and out.  When I met her, she told me that she had followed me online and found me to be a sweet and intelligent person.

Mind you, these are only the highlights of my encounters with these beautiful women.  I'm not getting into the particulars; some details should remain private.  But I obviously enjoyed myself, and I am greatly appreciative that Nancy Donahue - who was a wonderful hostess - invited me.

And if you want to see me with Nancy (along with Sandy Linter and another makeup artist, Pam Geiger - great ladies, both) - just click here and scroll down a bit - but be sure to see all the other pictures too! :-)