RVA Fashion Week

Wow, its been a minute since I've blogged, thanks to all my faithful readers who continued to follow and come to my site week after week! I felt uninspired for a while as far as blogging is concerned, so I've been putting my time and energy into other aspects of my life. However, with the warm weather at our heels and Summer knocking at our doors I'm feeling more and more inspired, and what better event to pull me out of my blogging rut than RVAFW. If you've been a follower of BarclayINC for the past few years, you'll know that I've attending RVA Fashion Week the past 4 years! I feel like the fashion and art scene has really grown in RVA, I'm noticing more and more bloggers sprouting up in my city, there's tons of dope musicians, and just an overall growth of creative individuals flourishing! You can catch me Sunday at the Dress for Success 4th annual Recycled Fashion Show- Untailored Elegance which will be held at Diversity Community Center.

 

Dress for Success Central Virginia

Untailored Elegance

Sunday April 24th @ 2pm

1407 Sherwood Ave

Richmond, VA 23220



First Fridays: Dress For Success Central Virginia - Look Book Launch Party

All my RVA folks- while you're out and about during First Fridays this week make sure you stop by Blue Bones (Vintage Store) and check out the Dress for Success Central Virginia - Look Book Launch Party! I know I'll definitely be dropping in to check out the festivities; the event serves to promote awareness of the Dress for Success Central Virginia organization and all of its many services, advertise for future events such as the 'Shop for Success' sale (July 18th & 19th)  in addition to celebrating the work of the artist who contributed to the Look Book. Drinks and refreshments will be provided- so come out and shop for some dope vintage threads, network with some great people, and support a wonderful organization!

Blue Bones 

322 W Broad St

Richmond VA

Dress for Success: Red Carpet Runway Recap

I had the pleasure of attending the Dress for Success: Red Carpet Runway fashion show last Friday, it's an annual fashion presented by the organization to help raise money and bring awareness to the cause. This was my second year attending the show and instead of attending as a blogger, I was actually one of the judges on the panel this year along with Clovia Lawrence from 105.7 Kiss FM, Tara Hawkins from Style Weekly, Troy Michel with The CW Network, and Angela Patton from Camp Diva. It was such an honor to meet these ladies and be on the judges panel with them. Every time I attend a Dress for Success event I end up networking with lots of influential women from right here in Richmond, its always nice to meet people who are passionate about what they do! The Dress for Success team including Jonathan Copeland, Shantell Malachi, Melissa Ross and so many other amazing people put on an excellent show every year; and for such a great cause! If you're not already familiar with the Dress for Success mission, it's to assist disadvantaged women by providing them with professional attire, career development, and a network of support to help them have a smooth transition back into the work place! This organization has helped so many disadvantaged women right here in the Richmond area, and you can help too by donating your gently used suits, dresses, and shoes along with volunteering your time. Visit dfscentralvirginia.org for more information on how you can assist this wondering organization. Being that I was a judge on the panel, I didn't have my camera in tow as I usually do, but I still managed to snap a few pics!

Myself along with the other lovely judges!

Dress for Success: Red Carpet Runway

One of the main reasons I love being a blogger is that it has put me in the presence of so many wonderful people! I cant stress this enough but blogging is definitely a great way to network with folks, you just never know who you're going to meet! With that being said I'm super excited to be covering the Dress for Success: Red Carpet Runway showcase this year. This is the 3rd annual event, I had the pleasure of attending and covering the event last year, it was a great experience. I got to meet some powerful ladies from the Richmond area, including one of the owners of Rumor's Boutique which is a great vintage store in the city. I love the Dress for Success mission which is to assist disadvantaged women by providing professional attire, along with a supportive network and career development tools to make the transition back into the work place a lot smoother. If you live in or near the RVA area please come out and support this mission, the event will be held at The Canal Club, Friday April 17th at 6:30pm. Tickets are $20 and 100% of the proceeds benefit Dress for Success Central Virginia!

For more info or to purchase tickets visit

www.501auctions.com/dfscvafashionshow

Dress for Success: Rock Your Red Fashion Show

So, for the past few months I've been posting info on the Dress for Success Rock Your Red Fashion Show, I attended the event last week and was really amazed by the mission of this organization. As I had stated in previous post Dress for Success is an organization that provides professional attire to women looking to get back into the workforce. During the fashion show one of the recipients of such services actually spoke to the audience, and explained how Dress for Success assisted her by providing her with a beautiful suit and apparel to interview with when trying to make her way back into the working world! I was really touched by her sincere appreciation for the role that Dress for Success played in helping her get back into the work force! I also got a chance to meet the event organizers and other key players with the Dress for Success organization, they're some absolutely amazing women that encompass such a genuine and compassionate spirit for what they do. Here are a some pictures and special moments that I captured during the Rock Your Red Fashion Show!

Mary Kay Vendor

www.uniquecreations.com

Was greeted with the program and a bottle of OPI polish

This was during a segment in which the ladies were modeling some not so professional attire that had been donated to Dress for Success. (I thought this was a really fun segment)

A client of Dress for Success sharing her story of how the organization assisted her in making her way back into the workforce.

So mad this picture came out blurry but these are some powerful business women in RVA, there's Marshe from Rumors Boutique (2nd to the right)  and Ranee Kamens of Simplify Me (2nd to the left)

Announcing the winning designers of the show!

Special birthday surprise for Melissa!

Loved my goodie bag, it was packed with tons of Sephora, Michael Kors, and other great products!!

BarclayINC

If you're in the RVA area and would like to donate professional attire to Dress for Success please email centralvirginia@dressforsuccess.org 

Special thanks to Melissa the Dress for Success Fashion Show Coordinator she was my point of contact throughout this event, she really welcomed me upon us meeting the actual night of the fashion show (after communicating through email for months), she introduced me to everyone and really made me feel like I was part of the team!

Dress for Success Central Virginia Presents: Rock Your Red Fashion Show

Dress for Success Central Virginia will be hosting a fashion show on April 2nd right here in the RVA, the Rock Your Red Fashion Show will take place at The Canal Club! Dress for Success is currently looking for designers to participate in the show, there is a $25 submission fee and the top 3 designers will receive a prize! They are also looking for vendors as well as accepting donations for the show; so let me tell you a little bit about why you should participate or attend this wonderful event. Dress for Success Central Virginia is an awesome organization who's mission is to provide professional attire and career development to women who are making their way back into the workforce! For more information about participating or attending the Rock Your Red Fashion Show you can email me directly at barclaygirl@gmail.com or email Dress for Success Central Virginia at fashionshow@dfscentralvirginia.org.