A short, white-haired, grandmother, Emily Hadeed, brings fun and laughter to what for some can be a very serious art-form, fashion modelling. A regular model for the Syrian Lebanese Association of which she is a long-standing member, Emily bounces along the ramp to whatever the beat of the music, soca or otherwise always wearing a wide and infectious smile on her serene face.
And last Wednesday when the group hosted its well-attended charity event where a delicious Arabic buffet luncheon was followed by Peter Elias' Spring/Summer 2001 Collection, Emily, for me was the pick of the models. Her three outfits included an elegant black evening three- piece crepe suit, a sand coloured silk suit, and orange patterned dress with matching bolero.
The hard-working group which amongst their many, many charitable deeds, annually distributes hundreds of hampers at Christmas and a list of donations to individuals and groups mid-year, is helped by the fact that most of their fundraisers are held at members' homes, this last one took place on the joint-lawns of Minerva and Alma Sabgas' St Clair homes.
Guests were welcomed by Linda Hadeed, President of the Association, while Vanessa Sabga-Aboud saw to it that an orderly flow of diners from the forty tables, approached the buffet meal which incidentally had been prepared by the members themselves. After a tasty assortment of Arabic rice, green salad, melongene salad, stuffed cabbage rolls, humos, yoghurt, kibees and grilled chicken, delicious Arabic sweets were served.
It was truly a most enjoyable and relaxing way to spend mid-day, mid- week. Lorca Gatcliffe did a good job presenting the various fashion sections, with models from the Association, some of whom are mothers of four and five children, and one or two professionals, like Lisa Johnstone and Michelle Khan.
The many sections which flowed smoothly on and off the Norman Sabga's patio within one hour, started with black and white 'optical illusions', followed by Madonna-style, snug fitting pants with glittered side seams, worn with glitter tops in pastel shades of lilac, pink and blue. Barbara Mouttet's green top and black slinky pants was one of the outstanding pieces in this section and showed that women of any age can wear Madonna. From this first section, it was quite obvious that the days of very high spindle heels are back in footwear. The tailored earth tones proved once again that on a hot day, these are the colours which are synonymous with the word "cool."
Green seemed to be the predominant colour in Elias and his mother Janet's Collection, although there were psychadelic prints of the 70's, the stronger colours of the "Up Tempo" section, and an unusual range of burgundy reds for the evening gowns of the Finale.
If photographer Bert Allette and I had a choice for model of the day, it would have been Newsday's own Lara Pickford-Gordon, who was celebrating her birthday in a lovely bright red dress with black jacket.
Happy Birthday Lara.