The annual Capitol Concours d'Elegance 2012 took place at the Capitol Mall on Sunday June 10. The motor classic event was presented by Wells Fargo Bank. A (pardon my French) Prelude d'Elegance Haute Couture Classic Automobile and fashion show featuring delectable hors d'oeuvres took place the night before. The Tiana Vega Concours d'Elegance Collection was featured at the Prelude d’Elegance on Saturday, June 9. The haute couture event took place at Sacramento's Shriners Hospital for Children. Classic cars were paired with the Tiana Vega collection making this an exquisite showing for the audience at Shriners. Guests were also able to set appointments with designer Vega for custom fit

A Pop Up Boutique drew several hundred visitors to their event during May’s Second Saturday. Luxe Hair Lounge + Day Spa gathered several designers to a showcase celebration at its Midtown location. POP Boutique celebrated a grand opening for Sacramento’s first Pop Up Boutique. Invited designers included Tiana Vega Collection, Love by Janelle Cardenas, Samuel Parkinson, Nelli Rosh, Maisha Bahati and Haute Baubles. Musical guests drew many passer-bys to the event with live DJ music by Soul Puncherz. Once visitors were drawn in by the music they stayed to enjoy the designs of local talent. Luxe Salon & Spa also offered complementary consultations and provided delicious refreshments. The

Art Several art galleries throughout Sacramento hold monthly artist receptions usually on the Thursday before their respective Second Saturday Art Walk. During this time guests can attend gallery receptions and enjoy intimate conversations with artists. Sol Collective, in celebration of its 7th anniversary, is hosting the work of several artists. An opening reception was held on Friday March 9. Art by Shaun Burner, Jose Di Gregorio, Dana Iske, Miguel Perez, Trent Liddicoat, Carson McWhirter, and Trisha Rhomberg will be on exhibition at Sol Collective until April 14. Sol 7 is the first art exhibition of the year at Sol Collective and features an exhibition consisting of various style

July’s Second Saturday was the place to be for music, art, socializing, fashion and a zombie walk. During summer more people take to the Streets of Midtown to enjoy Second Saturday events. Vendors and artists move their venues each month. Many artists move their work from one Art Walk exhibit to the next looking for places to hang their artwork for a month. Other artists have established studios or areas where they exhibit on a regular basis. Local musicians find a street corner to play and then have a show at night clubs as Second Saturday begins to wind down. Law enforcement presence is reassuring and helps to know they’re patrolling the area. This month I walked the streets waiting f

The Urban Hive on 1931 H Street was the site for a fashion “Design Vendetta”. Four student designers competed for a spot in the upcoming Designing Dreams Fashion Show in August. Rodrigo Trujillo Calderón, Jacqueline Anaya, Samuel R. Parkinson and Linda Vang competed at Saturday night’s event. Each student designer was given the same amount of fabric and other items to design and create an outfit in an hour. The designers had their own sewing machines and were assigned a model to work with. As people began to arrive at the Urban Hive they were able to enjoy some hors d'oeuvres and drinks. VyVy Nguyen’s work payed off as everything was well organized for this Midtown Sacramento event à l

Sweet Dreams Foundation recently completed a dream room for Jackson Grant. Jackson is a resilient little boy who has endured leukemia and here is his story as described by the Sweet Dreams Foundation. In the spring of 2009, Hayley and Lance Grant noticed a severe change in their son Jackson. He started moving slow, wanting to be held all the time and the little light in his eyes began to fade. They went to the pediatrician and were given antibiotics to clear up any infections. Jackson awoke the next morning to his left eye swollen shut! After their visit to Mercy Folsom ER they were informed that their son had leukemia and needed to be immediately transferred by ambulance to UC Davis Chil

The fabulous Tiana Vega Trunk Show Collection was exhibited at Crush 29 in Roseville. The first Tiana Vega Collection Trunk Show allowed guests to view the collection on June 9. What exactly is a trunk show, you may ask? A trunk show is a special event, such as the one held at Crush 29, where an artist or designer puts on a special showing for customers. They give loyal customers an opportunity to view a designer’s collection and socialize with the designer and guests.  Tiana Vega along with Dave Icarangal, Vice President Tiana Vega Collection, were at Crush 29 to welcome guests to the event. VyVy Nguyen, Events Coordinator, was also on hand to make sure things ran smoothly and the Swee

Chic and stylish locals gathered for Sacramento Fashion Week’s Finale Designer Showcase at the Elks Tower Ballroom Saturday night. The showcase, hosted by KCRA reporter Kristin Marshall, started at 8 p.m., featuring work from established designers. The fashion show ended at 10 p.m. The Elks Tower Ballroom turned into a high-profile fashion event, with screens set up in front of black curtains, visually useful for the audience to admire a designer’s work. Many photographers snapped pictures of the models strutting down the brightly lit runway. A.M.P.E.D. Entertainment group kicked off the show with lyrical ballet and energetic hip-hop dance performances. The audience of around 250 peopl

Several designers, hair and make-up artists, models and photographers got together to celebrate the start of Sacramento Fashion Week. A Launch Party that officially kicked off Sac Fashion Week was held Thursday night at the Lounge on 20. Magnum Opus is the producer of this event. After months of preparation the Emerging Designer Showcase will feature the works of Aubrey Jade, Brenda Vie, Faatui Toele, Kira Martinson, Maisha Bahati, Nkaujer Jules Thor and Noognuv Thao. The fashion show, featuring local designers, will take place at the Elks Tower Ballroom. The Finale Designer Showcase will take the stage on Saturday evening. The event will also take place at the Elks Tower Ballroom. Sacra

Like young children on Christmas Eve the excitement of opening presents on Christmas day is just too much. They just cannot wait for the break of dawn to run and start opening their presents. Aimee Milota got to experience Christmas in August. The adorable 8 year old girl was the recipient of the Sweet-Dreams Foundation work and dedication to design a dream bedroom for Aimee. Aimee has been fighting Xeroderma Pigmentosum (XP) since birth. XP makes a person extremely sensitive to direct exposure to the sun’s ultraviolet radiation. This prevents Aimee from playing outdoors during the day with other children unless she has adequate protective clothing. This is almost impossible since most kid

The First Annual Designing Dreams Fashion Show at Sacramento’s Memorial Auditorium went off without a hitch. The Tiana Vega Collection was the anchor piece of the fashion show. Tiana and six other designers participated in this gala event that was co-produced by Couture Connections. Beautiful designs were modeled down the runway, something that the Memorial Auditorium has not seen since the early 1940’s.  (Tiana Vega) Couture Connections did a fantastic job putting together this show that has been in the works for months. Everyone associated with Couture Connections did a great job greeting guests, distributing literature, escorting media and VIP guests to exclusive sections of the show.

July’s Third Saturday event at the Downtown Plaza, courtesy of Sacramento News and Review had a full schedule of music, dance, fashion, comedy, art and most important booths from local vendors selling arts and crafts. Tais and Adam Saake hosted the event. This is the first time I’ve seen both of these guys together and they seemed to have developed an almost stand –up comedy act working off each other. They helped the event go smoothly as they introduced act after act and gave vital information about the vendors and the show. I think Adam and Tais have a good stage presence together. Musical performances for the show were put on by Walking Spanish and Michelle Waugh. I got a chance to wat

Four student designers went head to head in competition to see who was the top designer at Harlow’s for the first ever Design Vendetta, Wednesday. The designers, Tamika Bellamy, Jules Thor, Yennie Zhou and Faatui Toele, were given an hour to complete an outfit based on the fabric and material they were randomly given. At the end of the hour, two designers were picked for the final round. “The four finalists will be competing tonight for a spot in the fashion show in August,” said Dave Icarangal, the vice president of Tiana Vega. Starting at roughly 8:30 p.m., Rickey Sanchez, the announcer for the evening as well as Couture Connection’s marketing director, asked how excited the audience