Houston's most stylish women feted at Best Dressed luncheon

Like flowers in spring, the Bayou City's most sartorially- and altruistically-inclined were in full bloom for theHouston Chronicle's 33rd annual Best Dressed Luncheon and Neiman Marcus Fashion Presentation, featuring designer Jason Wu and benefiting March of Dimes. Taking cues from fundraising dynamo and luncheon chair Rosemary Schatzman, many of the 700 attendees donned bold florals and colors for the occasion at the Hilton Americas hotel downtown.

The lights in the fourth-floor ballroom dimmed promptly at noon as Chronicle Chairman Jack Sweeneywas joined onstage by Senior Editor Melissa Aguilar to laud the 10 2015 Best Dressed honorees. One-by-one, the accomplishments of Denise Bush Bahr (wearing Oscar de la Renta), Kristy Bradshaw (in Victoria Beckham), Katie Mattingly Brass (in Gucci), Gracie Cavnar (in Elie Saab), Gina Gaston Elie (in Roksanda Ilincic), Allie Fields (in Valentino), Duyen Huynh Nguyen(in Emilia Wickstead) and Carol Linn (in Lanvin and Peter Pilotto) were read aloud as each woman made her way down the catwalk. Kelli Cohen Fein, wearing an ivory and lace Jason Wu dress, and a Louis Vuitton-clad Cynthia Petrello also were inducted into the Hall of Fame.

Pictures: purple bridesmaid dresses

Not to be outdone, fashion designer Jason Wu -- in his first Houston appearance -- sent a parade of fall looks down the runway to the delight of audience members. Camera phones snapped picture after picture of peekaboo hemlines, deconstructed wool, textured leather, chocolate brown fur hoods and architectural heels.

After the show, Wu took his seat between fashion icon Lynn Wyatt and his partner, Gustavo Rangel. Wu and Rangel, who met 10 years ago at a friend's New Year's Eve party, will jet off to Tulum, Mexico, on Friday for some R&R. Of his runway show, Wu said he's doing more luxurious fur -- from vests to full-length coats -- than ever, and called his collection "romantic and sexy."

Auctioneers Warner Roberts and Scott Evans then took the stage for the live auction, offering a package including tickets to Wu's spring show in New York this September, along with first-class airfare from United Airlines and dinner at STK. It fetched a whopping $15,000 from Connie Kwan-Wong. Raffle chairs Phyllis Williams and Vanessa Sendukas stepped on stage as well, with Neiman Marcus' Bob Devlin, to draw for raffle prizes such as a shopping spree at Neiman Marcus, a Drybar membership and a private dinner at TABLE on Post Oak, among other generous gifts.

At the conclusion of the program, many guests lingered to peruse the Jason Wu pop-up shop in the ballroom's foyer, and collected individually boxed cupcakes.

The soiree raised more than $580,000 for the March of Dimes -- a huge success by all counts, and a 45-percent increase from last year's tally.

Among the stellar supporters: Sue Smith, Sheridan Williams, Pat Breen, Kelli Blanton, Yvonne Cormier, Donna Vallone, Dancie Ware, Diane Lokey Farb, Martha Turner, Lora Clemmons, Chloe Dao, Alicia Smith, Gina Bhatia, Gayla Gardner, Tiffany Smith, Jana Arnoldy, Ursaline Hamilton, Mandy Kao, Donae Chramosta, Jana Fant, Diane Lokey Farb, Isabel David, March of Dimes Houston executive director Hallie Winnie, Leisa Holland-Nelson and Divya Brown.

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