Pink Sunset Fashion Show hosted at EPTX. Part of El Paso Fashion Week.
I love El Paso Fashion Week, and let me tell you why. The El Paso / Las Cruces area is ripe with talented, creative artists, designers and the like. El Paso Fashion Week is just one of a handful of fun events that give us a chance to enjoy and appreciate the work of some of these talented artists. It also gives the fashion conscience types as good a reason as any, to get decked out in their favorite styles, as a result, some of the best fashions of El Paso Fashion Week can be found not on the runways, but in the crowd. The "Pink Sunset" event proved this right as I spotted a number of beautiful people wearing some eye-catching fashions.
The theme and title for the fashion show was "Pink Sunset"... "The concept was called Pink Sunset to relate to the summer trends that meet the fall trends. The warm colors will be dominating this fall which also correlates to the pink and orange sunset we get in El Paso" said Tony Aleman, event organizer/producer.
Miriam Renteria pictured along side "Pink Sunset" producer / organizer Tony Aleman
The show was supposed to start at 6:40pm, or as the organizer ambiguously put it "should kick off right around sunset which could be approximately 6:40pm". The DJ didn't show up until 6:50 pm and it took him another 15 minutes to get his gear set-up. If it's me (as a former DJ), I make it a point to arrive AT LEAST an hour early, to get my gear set-up and test out the sound system. If I was in charge of the show, I would not rehire this DJ again. "DJ Anex" should change his name to "DJ 15 Minutes Late"
As I mentioned, sometimes the best fashion show at a fashion show can be found in the audience, but not just that, El Paso Fashion Week is a who's who of El Paso. Business people, friends and family all came out to the show, so let's take a look at some of the styles and people that caught my eye...
This latina beauty definitely stood out in the crowd, turns out she was one of the models in the show!
You can see more of her on Instagram @gisselle_lebarber
It takes a confident woman to pull off a shorts jump suit. This gorgeous woman wore it with style and class! I love it.
El Paso Fashion Week organizer Roberto Chavez. Always a fixture during Fashion Week!
Miriam is a local insurance agent, however, you can't miss the fact that she has model looks and has to have done some modeling in her past. I have been in touch with her about doing some photo shoots with me in the future and I'm very much looking forward to it.
Neida, owner of Neida's Boutique in El Paso, is flanked by Roberto Chavez and Tony Aleman
Marina is a cocktail waitress at EPTX was really gorgeous. She reminds me of the character "Fiona" from the Showtime show "Shameless". That's a compliment because Fiona is a babe.
A young photographer in training.
The light always seems to shine on Roberto Chavez!
An eye catching outfit spotted in the crowd. If you got it, flaunt it, and this girl most definitely has it going on. Where else could you wear a revealing outfit like this? A fashion show is the perfect event.
The apartment building behind the venue was a little bit of an eye sore, not too bad, but the show tried to hide it as best they could with a few balloons. They needed a few more.
With the DJ running late, the crowd grew restless.
Roberto just said something very funny, or so I assume.
One of the models smiles for my camera, anyone know her name? She was absolutely stunning. I loved her hair and make up.
Unknown model pictured with "Pink Sunset" choreographer Miss Romana.
A handsome young male model about to hit the runway.
Stephanie, assistant to Tony Aleman was extremely busy throughout the night. She deserves a raise!
Here's a good look at the venue. Initially, it appears to be a good space to hold a fashion show, but there were a few issues that I am sure the organizers were also very well aware of...
Here is a view of the back stage area. In the foreground is a small pool of stagnant water which can only be described as a "cesspool". In the background you've got a couple of garbage bins.
Backstage
From my chat with, Tony Aleman, the event organizer, this was the first time this event was held at this particular location and it was selected to "help out" a good "friend of ours that is a one of the co-owners of the bar".
The character Carlito, played by Al Pacino in "Carlito's Way" is quoted "A favor gonna kill you faster than a bullet." The take away from that is that although we may want to do favors for our friends, it might not always be in our best interest and certainly there are other venues with swimming pools that might not bring with them some of the negatives that EPTX Lounge has not the least of which was the awful smell of sewage and garbage coming from the alley behind the pool, seemingly right on top of the back stage tent where the models changed and got styled. One model I spoke to described the smell as "horrid". Granted, the smell was not as strong around the pool itself, but if I were a model or parent of a model, I might have been tempted to have pulled the plug and hightailed it out of there.
Onto the lighting. IF I were a fashion show organizer, I am not, but if I was, I would think that it would be rather important for the viewers in the audience to be able to SEE the fashions and designs. To be fair, they were going for a orange/pink hue to the lighting to simulate the orange and pinks of a late summer El Paso sunset, however, I think a couple of decent spotlights to highlight the fashions would be nice. It was extremely difficult to make out any details and true colors of the clothes due to the dimly lit runway. The main catwalk over the pool did have a white spotlight but it had some sort of grid over the front of it which made square patterns on the faces and clothing of the models. I'm not sure if this was done on purpose but I have trouble seeing how anyone thought this was a good idea.
Here we get a good look at the "grid" being cast by the main spotlight on the catwalk. Is this the look they wanted? Is this the look you would want at your fashion show? It just doesn't look very flattering nor does it add any special look or effect that trumps the negatives.
Here we see some nice designs from "Elegance" who specializes in wedding gowns and quince.
It was refreshing to see a plus-sized model in the mix. She was gorgeous!
Little miss attitude. :)
I think these designs are from "Ninus".
Note the lighting here, makes it very difficult to see the actual colors of the fabrics.
One of my favorite designers of the evening was @shopunpop which is the creation of a talented woman named Valeria. She's only been in business for a scant three weeks but she's passionate about her designs and I love what she does with her denim jackets. I'll be following up with her to possibly do a feature video about her business.
The gorgeous Valeria. Owner of @shopunpop
There's nothing special about the above photo except that it features one of my favorite local models, Keyrah Dayana. I was happy to see her and her two gorgeous sisters, Barbie and Betzaira. Fashion shows are a great place for photographers to be reunited with some of their favorite models and make plans for future photo shoots!
I love the sweater with the flipped up color on this handsome young man.
Here is sister number two, Betzaira and here Instagram is here https://www.instagram.com/betzaira_m/
Photographer Angela, was the only photographer willing to brave to cold waters to get in the pool to perhaps get a unique perspective. Tony made the offer to me as well but I said no thanks. First of all, I don't want to take my cameras anywhere near the water and secondly, I need to work on my bikini body before I go showing it off in public. New diet starts now.
The use of a flash helped to diminish the "grid" lines but then you're dealing with recycle times on the flash and I wasn't able to fire off as many shots with the flash as I wanted to. It was difficult to keep up with the speed at which the models were crossing the catwalk. This isn't a complaint.
Barbie (above) and Betzaira (below)
Here is another good look at the grid lines being cast from the spotlight. What do you think?
Above and below... a couple more designs from Valeria's @shopunpop
As you can see by these photos, the ladies in the audience approved of the topless male models.
Ladies night out gets crazy!
Keyrah Dayana
Above, the gorgeous @gisselle_lebarber
Barbie Avila
I love jump suits because it takes a special designer to make them work. This one is from Neida's Boutique and is simply stunning.
Here's the only decent photo I was able to snap of Davida. Sorry Davida, I'll make it up to you.
Above we see a snap shop of a children's outfit available at major retailer Dillard's. The reason I include the word "major" to describe this retailer, is that you would think, that whoever is responsible for supplying the outfits for the fashion show, would be smart enough to remove the tags because that's just cheap and tacky. Truly a big fashion show faux pas. I want a name. Haha. Who is responsible for this mistake?
The audience always loves the young models!
More samples of the bad lighting.
Barbie Avila, rocking the sunglasses!
The staff at EPTX are scantily clad. They wear booty shorts and tank tops of small tank tops with bra showing.
About the venue selection:
EPTX Lounge is a bar and is not a family friendly place per se. It's a straight bar / night club. I'm not sure if Tony Aleman thought about this piece of the puzzle but these are my observations...
There were at least 40 very young children in the audience, either family members of, or participants in the fashion show. The show was held at a bar, is this an appropriate place for kids? As you can see by the above photo showing the butt cheeks of one of the waitresses, they show quite a bit of skin. I am no prude, I actually like the venue and appreciate the sexy waitresses as much as anyone, but I do not think it's the right venue to host a fashion show in which large numbers of very young kids are going to be hosted. And this is why I brought up the quote "A favor gonna kill you faster than a bullet", because the organizers admitted that this venue was selected to help out a friend and his new business but perhaps a venue should have been selected with the needs and demographics of the show placed of higher importance than helping a friend?
As I left the bar, there was a verbal altercation going on between a bouncer and an angry bar patron. The bouncer kept his cool, but the patron was shouting loud obscenities WHILE families and young children from the fashion show were leaving!
Overall, the show was great, especially considering that it was produced on a very small budget, but a small budget is no excuse for a lack of attention to details, not just big details, but small ones as well.
I love El Paso, and I appreciate the efforts of everyone involved in shows like this, but let us inspire each other to do better so that we can show off our beloved El Paso to the world in the best light possible.
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