Another Party, Another Year

One again, veteran fashion model Nancy Donahue and veteran hairdresser Harry King, two icons of the fashion and beauty world of the 1980s, held a reunion party in New York for fellow models and hairdressers, along with makeup artists, photographers and assorted friends.  I was one of the assorted friends invited, and of course I attended.  After paying tribute on my beautiful women picture blog to many of the models of the 1980s that I had crushes on in that decade, why would I have declined the invitation? :-) 

This year's party drew a few people who attended Nancy and Harry's 2013 reunion shindig, plus a few who didn't make it then.  Among the models who made it this year was Julie Wolfe, who appeared in several cosmetics ads in the early eighties and also graced the cover of the November 1981 issue of Glamour with an iconic pose.   

This is my own photo of her, and as you can see, lighting was a problem.  But she still looks great. :-)

Julie Wolfe was often confused with Esmé Marshall, another brunette model from that period.  Both of them had short hair and similar facial features, and I still have trouble telling them apart whenever I look at their portfolio examples.  When I met Julie Wolfe, I began saying to her that I hope she wouldn't be offended, but that she looked like . . . and then she finished my sentence: "Esmé Marshall?"  She gets that a lot, it turns out.

I also met three models I've been connected with through Facebook.  

They are, from left, Kim Charlton, Yasmine Guenancia, and Dawn Gallagher.

You'd be forgiven for thinking that Kim and Yasmine are both still modeling, but in fact they're both real estate agents. They both handle properties in Westchester County, New York, a very upscale area. Dawn is still in the beauty business; she's a beauty and wellness expert who has appeared on the QVC shopping channel, which is based in a different West Chester - the one in Pennsylvania. :-) The three of them are as joyful as the picture suggests, and it was pleasure to meet them as well as to get this picture.

And I'm really glad the lighting worked out this time.

I'm also glad I got a photo of Alva Chinn, whom you know about from my account of  Nancy and Harry's 2013 fashion reunion party, and who is also a very sweet woman.  She's also an actress, and she has a part in an avant-garde play called The Deepest Man, which is using technology and the concept of water to tell its tale.  It's rather complex, and I don't want to misrepresent it with an attempt to describe it, so I recommend that you check out the information about it here.

And here's my picture of Alva, sitting at right with designer Barbara Tate and photographer Hamid Bechiri. :-)

I also reconnected with Linda Morand, a legendary model from the sixties, whom I met an art gallery show  once. Linda is one of a handful models who archives the work of her peers, with a special emphasis on, of course, the 1960s.  Here's my photo of her. :-)

I also met Patty Owen, another model from the late seventies and the early eighties (whose picture I didn't get), as well as a few folks working behind the scenes who appreciate my beautiful women picture blog, makeup artist Joey Mills and consultant Barry Weinbaum (who appreciated my taste in women when I told him I always loved Nancy DeWeir, a model who was not at the party) . . . and I have to give a shout-out to fellow party attendee Geoffrey Saunders, a public relations consultant I already know through Nancy Donahue.

Speaking of which, here's the woman of the hour!

More lighting problems, yes, but I actually like how this came out.  The photo I took of Nancy with Dawn Gallagher (standing) and Kim Charlton came out much better. :-)  

And then there's this picture of Nancy with me, taken by Harry King . . .

Ha ha! Don't I look cute? The reason Nancy Donahue looks happy to have me at her party is because she was! She is an incredibly ebullient woman and a bona fide sweetheart, as lovely a woman inside as out. It's always a pleasure and an honor to be in her presence.

I only wish I could have flashed a smile that wasn't so crooked. :-)

As always, there were some of the moments of my time at Nancy and Harry's party that are a little too private to share here, so I won't. I'll just say that I had a wonderful time, I met a lot of great people, and I'm really, really happy that Nancy invited me and was such a wonderful hostess. :-)

For the record, the party was at Café Un Deux Trois on West 44th Street in Midtown Manhattan, so named because its street address is 123. :-)

Also there was my Facebook buddy Miguel Dominguez, who documented the night with his camera for his own blog, also on Blogger.com.  If you want to see his pictures - which include a picture of me posing with Linda Morand - just click here.  I think you'll agree from all the happy, warmhearted expressions in Miguel's photos that it was a night not to be missed and not to be forgotten. :-)