By: Mary Jo Shore and Maryanne Salvat

Mercedes Benz Fashion Week Swim descended upon the South Beach sands this weekend, with an action-packed schedule of 20 shows, featuring designs from top swimwear brands including: Poko Pano, True Religion, Mara Hoffman, Ed Hardy, Red Carter, Luli Fama and our favorite, this season’s Mercedes-Benz Presents Designer, Trina Turk, whose 60s Hollywood-glam-meets Acapulco inspired pieces received raving reviews.  The daily mix of sweltering heat and torrential rain, (c’mon, it’s Miami in JULY, what did you expect?) hardly dampened the excitement for the thousands of fashion insiders who packed the various venues at the Raleigh and trekked amid puddles to off-site shows, such as Red Carter’s at the Bass Museum and satellite swimsuit showcases such as Salon Allure and Melissa Odabash at the W; Funkshion at the Setai; and numerous events at the Webster boutique (more on these next week). Read the rest of this entry »

Sanford Ziff, Lucie Arnaz, and Harry (K.C.) Wayne Casey

By:  Mary Jo Almeida-Shore

It was the “GOOOOAAAAL!” heard around the world, followed by an “OLE!” that continues to resound in the ears, minds and hearts many Latin-Americans for whom Spain is considered “La Madre Patria.”  The World Cup victory marked the culmination of a month-long celebration of the ethnic diversity so prevalent in Miami.  This week in particular showcased such diversity with the presentation of Babalu at the Adrienne Arsht Center and the opening of the Drexel Irish Pub, located on Espanola Way, which, interestingly opened on Bastille Day! Talk about a “cultural kaleidoscope.”

Babalu: We’re “HOME!”

One of the highlights of the week was  Babalú – A Tribute to the Music of Desi Arnaz, at the Arsht Center for the Performing Arts, created by and starring Arnaz’s daughter, Lucie Arnaz; son, Desi Arnaz Jr. and Broadway heavyweights: Raúl Esparza and Valarie Pettiford. Read the rest of this entry »

Evelyn Lozada, Marnie Howard, and Angel Schmiedt

Tucked away in an unsuspecting little strip mall in the quiet, charming North Beach neighborhood is La Fee Verte (French for “the green fairy”) South Florida’s first burlesque/absinthe club.  While the average passerby on his way to one of the many quaint neighboring restaurants would probably not even notice the place, which has only a makeshift sign above the door, those with a palate for racy adventures know exactly where they’re going.

The space is tiny, yet ornate and classy, with bright red couches and banquettes and wall-to-wall paintings depicting erotic (yet tasteful) scenes. Upon entering, what is most striking, aside from the enormous chandelier, are the numerous contraptions, including ropes, scarves, and swing suspended from the ceiling- that signal-almost immediately, that you are in for one heck of a night. The entertainment includes seductive burlesque shows every half hour or so throughout the evening, during which gorgeous, scantily-dressed dancers perform atop/around/within the aforementioned contraptions. Read the rest of this entry »

Summer’s been anything but slow this year, thanks to bashes such as the ING Amigos For Kids Celebrity Domino tournament, the W Fort Lauderdale one year anniversary party and DJ Irie’s star-studded weekend to benefit Big Brothers and Big Sisters, which had local and national VIPs and celebs enduring the sweltering weather and schlepping all over town and across county lines.  More hot fun in the summertime is coming our way courtesy of Alonzo Mourning and Dwyane Wade, who are hosting their annual Summer Groove in the coming weeks and Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Swim, in mid July, which gets bigger every year.  Giving folks an added reason to wake up early, skip the gym and stay indoors is the FIFA World Cup, providing much needed business to local restaurants and bars. For a whole line-up of FIFA party places, check out this month’s Dont’Miss listings on Miamisocialholic.com. Read the rest of this entry »

Casely and Estelle perform at the W Hotel Anniversary Celebration

W Fort Lauderdale celebrated its one year anniversary on Wednesday with a private bash hosted by W Fort Lauderdale developer and CEO of DYL Group John Yanopoulos, super model Cindy Crawford and her dashing husband, nightlife impresario Rande Gerber.  The party was sponsored by Grey Goose vodka.  Lucky guests were treated to a musical performance by Grammy Award-winning recording artist Estelle, made famous by her chart-topping collaboration with rapper Kanye West, titled American Boy.  Estelle showed off her charismatic personality, inviting the audience to sing along for most of the performance of the all-too-familiar song in the hotel’s swank Living Room.  She also sang One Love, which worked everyone into a frenzy.  Before Estelle took the stage, Yonopoulos welcomed guests and gave a champagne toast alongside model, Cindy Taylor. 

[pro-player]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HWvPcQPzKf4[/pro-player]

Up-and-coming R&B/hip-hop artist Casely got the crowd dancing by singing several songs, before Estelle took over.  After the concerts, Dennis Rodman, seemingly inspired by the musical acts (or tequila) took to the stage to sing along to the music being played by the DJ.  He was particularly effusive during the dance mix of Be Somebody by Kings of Leon.

 

 

Michael Shore, Ivette Naranjo and "birthday girl" Mary Jo Shore at Cafeina

 Birthdays can be stressful, especially for Geminis, who take them way too seriously- wanting to do too many (often opposing) things at once to celebrate.  So for one Gemini in particular, it seemed fitting that the perfect place to honor the annual calendar date would be one, which much like those who share the Zodiac sign, is really lots of different places-all in one.  What better space than a clubby yet “chill” lounge/restaurant/loft/outdoor terrace/garden/art gallery, serving the best food this side of anywhere?  You know the place, it’s tucked away in a little crook of  Wynwood, known only to those  in the know- those who read the 411, and 944, and the Herald and the New Times, and Black Book…well you get it. Read the rest of this entry »