R S V P / ORANGE COUNTY : All the Fun of ‘An Affaire to Remember’ : A dinner, fashion show and casino night in Newport Beach are expected to net $80,000 for CHOC’s outpatient clinic in Orange.
Those little knit dresses that have made the Irvine-based St. John a famous name in fashion were everywhere at a gala staged by the Cinderella Guild of Children’s Hospital of Orange County.
Event co-host Neiman Marcus presented a fashion show that featured models clad in the new fall collection from St. John, while many of the more than 300 guests wore their favorite St. John dresses to the benefit Friday at the Newport Beach Marriott. Called “An Affaire to Remember,” the $100-per-person dinner, fashion show and casino night was expected to net $80,000 for CHOC’s outpatient clinic in Orange.
Seeing Double
Sparkling St. John gowns and cocktail suits were the preferred attire of the women. When two guests, guild president Lynn Voigt and Claire Ringer, surprised each other by turning up in identical black St. John gowns, they just laughed it off.
“I’m going to hide on the other side of the room,” Ringer said. “This is St. John. What are you going to do?”
Said Voigt, “Everyone here has excellent taste.”
Guests gambled for prizes at a makeshift casino and bid for items at a silent auction before adjourning into the hotel ballroom.
As a tribute to the movie classic “An Affair to Remember,” event organizers led by chairwoman Gail River chose a sleek black and white New York-style decor for the ballroom. Black and white slipcovers adorned the chairs, while crystal vases filled with white flowers decorated each table. Guests were served a dinner of filet mignon, chicken stuffed with crab meat and, in honor of the Cinderella Guild, a chocolate slipper filled with white chocolate ice cream.
Fall Preview
Orange County isn’t the only place where St. John can be seen at most dressy functions, said Marie Gray, St. John founder and designer, who attended with her husband, Bob, the company chairman and CEO.
“I just got back from Washington, where I attended a congressional wives luncheon. There were a lot of St. Johns,” she said. “I think women like them because they work for a lot of different occasions.”
She sported--what else?--a black St. John suit with a high-neck white blouse covered in tiny crystals that didn’t make it into the fall collection.
Models showed off Gray’s latest designs, including plenty of black and champagne gold gowns, cocktail suits, tunics and vests.
Staging a fashion show was a first for the 46-member Cinderella Guild of Newport Beach. In past years the guild has raised money for CHOC by offering a tour of elegant Orange County estates.
“It was so much work, and it was difficult to get people to agree to open up their homes for tours,” Voigt said. “We were looking for a new event, and then Neiman Marcus approached us with the idea of a show.”
Among the guests were: Matt Schafnitz, the auctioneer, and his wife, Tina; pianist Jim Roberts; Carol Horowitz and Billur Wallerich from Neiman Marcus; Dennis and Joni Allison, Michael and Marcia Birney, Robert and Ruth Borders, Carola Campbell, Lynn Cancilla, Thomas and Dorothy Doan, James and Bette Dobrott, Steven and Lee Drummy, Gerald and Etelka Greer, Scott and Mary Lou Hornsby, Earle and Sonia Ike, Elliot and Kim Lazarus, Hans and Doris Linhardt, Thomas and Jean Mahoney, Robert and Fran Morgan, Louise Schwennesen, Wanda Shelton and Robert and Kay Stockmar.
