It's hard to be beautiful when it's soaking wet outside—your dress gets wet, your heel-clad feet are cold and your makeup gets dewy—but the guests arriving at the Waldorf=Astoria for the March of Dimes' Million Dollar Beauty Ball were prepared. Aided by strategically stocked evening bags and the restroom attendant's can of hairspray, the newly arrived guests—mostly from the beauty and fashion industries—headed into cocktails looking flawless.
Produced by March of Dimes director of special events Jennifer Rosenblatt and Twist Creative's Heidi Godoff, this year's event took on a sexy red theme to match the red logo of Cosmopolitan Cosmetics (CEO Donald Loftus was one of the evening's honorees). Red lipstick kisses were printed on the cocktail napkins, and inside the red-lit dining room, red rose and carnation centerpieces from Eliza Tuli Pierson decorated the dinner tables. A red sequin evening bag with the dinner napkin and a red lipstick tucked inside dotted each place setting. (Because there were a four different types of evening bags, a few guests couldn't resist switching their bags with different ones at tables where the guests hadn't arrived yet.)
One change from last year's event: Despite the fact that it was a ball, there was no dancing at this wartime event. "We didn't want to appear too ostentatious," Godoff explained.
The awards were presented before dinner to leave guests to enjoy the rest of the evening without interruption, but an exception was made when Naomi Campbell made a fashionably late entrance—as models tend to do—and took the stage for special honors. The catwalker donated $18,000 to the March of Dimes to meet the charity's $1,150,000 fund-raising goal for this year's ball.
—Suzanne Ito
Read about last year's event...
Read about the 2001 Beauty Ball...
Produced by March of Dimes director of special events Jennifer Rosenblatt and Twist Creative's Heidi Godoff, this year's event took on a sexy red theme to match the red logo of Cosmopolitan Cosmetics (CEO Donald Loftus was one of the evening's honorees). Red lipstick kisses were printed on the cocktail napkins, and inside the red-lit dining room, red rose and carnation centerpieces from Eliza Tuli Pierson decorated the dinner tables. A red sequin evening bag with the dinner napkin and a red lipstick tucked inside dotted each place setting. (Because there were a four different types of evening bags, a few guests couldn't resist switching their bags with different ones at tables where the guests hadn't arrived yet.)
One change from last year's event: Despite the fact that it was a ball, there was no dancing at this wartime event. "We didn't want to appear too ostentatious," Godoff explained.
The awards were presented before dinner to leave guests to enjoy the rest of the evening without interruption, but an exception was made when Naomi Campbell made a fashionably late entrance—as models tend to do—and took the stage for special honors. The catwalker donated $18,000 to the March of Dimes to meet the charity's $1,150,000 fund-raising goal for this year's ball.
—Suzanne Ito
Read about last year's event...
Read about the 2001 Beauty Ball...
At the March of Dimes' Million Dollar Beauty Ball at the Waldorf=Astoria, red rose and carnation centerpieces decorated the dinner tables, and each dinner plate offered a red sequined evening bag with the dinner napkin and a red Tony & Tina lipstick tucked inside.
Bestek Lighting and Staging bathed the Waldorf=Astoria's ballroom with red lights.
Beauty Ball honorees Gail Gordon of Macy's East and Donald Loftus of Cosmopolitan Cosmetics posed for photographers in the press room before dinner.
