Charity Event: One big kitty party

CHENNAI: They may not have created fashion history or made any statements, but they definitely proved that confidence was all that was required to get up on the ramp and walk it. A group of women, young and old, participated in the annual charity event of the Junior Agarwal Mahila Mandal,  (JAMM) on Tuesday at Hyatt Regency, Anna Salai. This year’s fundraising initiatives included an inter-club fashion competition – Aurelia, 2012 and an American auction, that marked the 15th anniversary of the club. The host performance by JAMM members was based on the theme Navarasas, where the women used one Carnatic raga to represent each of the rasas on stage.  The 14 women, walked the ramp with the confidence of supermodels, striking poses and taking turns to display their outfits and carefully straightened hair. The first team to perform, also the winning team, was club Mi Amigo. It must be handed to them that they came up with the concept of portraying the different stages of a woman’s life through their performance. The young girl in the denim outfit with her gigantic Teddy Bear was hands down one of the best performers of the afternoon. It proved that she either had a natural flair for ramp walk or had perhaps been watching a little too much of America's Next Top Model. We have to appreciate the humour that they tried bringing in through the pregnant woman and her bar of chocolate sequence, but the girl who played the teenager took it a little too far. She was over-accessorised, was handling multiple gadgets and was doing the Indian head-shake. If the group was trying to break any stereotypes, they clearly had their priorities wrong. When the three other participating teams performed, multitudes of asymmetrical gowns, saris with outrageous amounts of bling and plunging necklines were seen both on and off stage. Why, even Little Bo Peep made an appearance, hat and all. But Mi Amigo had apparently set the bar high and managed to stay on top.  In between each performance, an American auction, conducted by Virender AKA Bobby, took place.  Various stalls that sold household goods, designer footwear and clothes and accessories, among other things, were also set up at the back of the hall. The judges Sharmila Bajoria and Richa Kapoor, both of them established fashion designers, evidently had their share of fun.