Last night, I was invited to attend a trunk show of the collections of my pal Darrell Cortez and Designer Bill Johnson at Bill Johnson Studio. First of all, Bill has a gorgeous house. He is not only a fashion designer but he is an artist. So he practically made all of the furniture in his house. He also had the most amazing drapes (silk dupioni with fringes hanging throughout the fabric). Just gorgeous.

So I walked around to view Bill's collection of menswear. I loved his explanation of his line. He told me that he wanted it to have that "futuristic retro feel." Trust me, it did. So did he. He had on a fab retro outfit and fab shoes. He also restores vintage leather. He had some amazing pieces including this drop dead gorgeous leather coat with a fur color. But I missed getting his picture because he was totally working the room.



I was very excited to see Darrell Cortez's lookbook of his Spring 2010 line called "Capetown." I went to his first showing of his "Capetown" line and it was so fab. I love how he is brave enough to mix patterns in menswear. Take a risk guys! Could you just please take a risk!?!

Darrell Cortez (on the right) and one of the guests

Model John Barnes (with the green striped linen suit) and one of the guests








One of the Founding Editors and the Marketing Operations Director @ TheSmugger.com


But the best part of the evening for me was the conversation that I had with Darrell Cortez, the Editor and Marketing Manager from TheSmugger.com, model John Barnes, and some of the other male guests. It started out with a little history about the usage of the word "Haute Couture," which is reserved for design houses in Paris, only (with the exception of Ralph Rucci - the only American designer allowed to formally use the term). There was discussion about Ready-to-Wear and other fashion industry information. But the conversation got hot when we started to talk about what's missing from the menswear scene here in DC. I was ranting about how guys here don't take risks. That they follow whatever said "Rapper of the Minute" is wearing and go with that. We talked about how we can redefine the term "urban wear" here in DC. How can we expand it to encompass the sort of sophistication that is severely missing from the men's fashion scene in DC.

Enter TheSmugger.com. TheSmugger.com is a D.C.-based lifestyle men's blog. These guys say that they are devoted to changing how men in this city look at fashion. They want the urban look to be a little street, a little sophisticated, and each man's unique statement of who he really is. So much so that they are calling the men who can successfully blend all three, the "urbane male." Bring on the urbane male, please. Again guys, take a risk! So I told them that I am holding them to task, as I am with District Cut, another fab D.C. menswear blog. We women will be forever thankful to you if you guys successfully show men the way to dressing better, caring about their image, and maybe a few lessons in chivalry. Or am I asking for too much?