Eat Street Style at Head to Toe Salon 9/25

by Kate Iverson

The Eat Street Style fashion show at Head to Toe Salon last Friday night was a colorful, snazzy sampling of vintage looks from Nicollet Ave boutiques Blacklist Vintage, Lost and Found and Head to Toe. l'etoile was lucky enough to tag onto the event as a sponsor, and Beth, Juleana, Stephen and I had come early to help Vanessa and Jen from Blacklist get their choreography down and shoot some fun pics of the models in their stylin' gear.



The fact that all three boutiques used real customers as their models added a fun, down-to-earth element to the show. Blacklist owner Vanessa Messersmith joked "I would actually love it if one of them fell; these are real people who are definitely not professional models!" The models, who ranged in shapes and sizes, were all great sports, waiting patiently as the boutique owners and the Head to Toe hair stylists primped them for the runway -- which was actually a stage in the front of the shop.

Not sure what to expect as far as attendance, by 7:30pm I was happy to see the small space packed to the gills with well-heeled peeps, the majority of whom were new faces. Red wine and beer flowed and sushi donated from nearby Azia Restaurant was noshed while attendees waited for the show to start. Blacklist owner Vanessa Messersmith introduced the show, which featured two rounds of looks from each boutique -- one casual round and one evening wear round.



One of the most dazzling looks featured model Paul, a charismatic drag queen whose shaved-to-the skin hair (or lack thereof) and dramatic makeup made a striking statement when paired with a slinky black and gold sequined evening gown from Blacklist Vintage.

The finale look featured a hardwear-heavy steampunk look from Blacklist embellished with goggles, lots of wire, a Tomb Raider-esque gun belt and a tattered black parasol, worn by a lithe black model/customer who totally rocked the look.

The event moved over to Azia's Caterpillar Lounge for champagne toasting, potsticker eating and good conversation with the models, boutique owners and other such local luminaries including songsmith Jeremy Messersmith, designer Laura Fulk, local theater actors Dylan Fresco and Julia Fairbanks Thompson, and many more.