Issue link: http://papercitymagazine.uberflip.com/i/934095
22 BY LISA COLLINS SHADDOCK PHOTOGRAPHY DANA DRIENSKY, DANIEL DRIENSKY CHALET CHIC AT THE CRYSTAL CHARITY BALL O ur city's best-dressed are well schooled in the art of taking wardrobe cues from an event theme. In a nod to chairman Pam Perella's utterly romantic homage to "An Evening in the Alps," The Crystal Charity Ball's rare-air crowd slipped into white jacquard silk gowns and snowy mink stoles. The scene felt plucked from a classic Bond movie (a black-tie shindig in a chic chalet) or a Fred Astaire flick (anything with fur trim begs for a dance number). While all the tuxedos and diamonds were instrumental in painting the picture, the setting itself is what transported one to Gstaad. The lobby of the Hilton Anatole glowed with flickering candles, evergreen trees and wintry vignettes. Champagne was passed, but many opted for cocktails served in copper mugs from a bar fashioned after a cozy ski lodge. Pre-dinner bites were headlined by a decadent spread of charcuterie, behind which a server melted traditional raclette over an open flame. For dinner, event designer Tom Addis swathed the Chantilly Ballroom in icy sheets of silver for a frosty feel, and waiters served poached-lobster salad, grilled filet in a roasted cipollini red wine demi-glace, and a sweet Swiss sendoff: Toblerone chocolate mousse sprinkled with coconut snow. SEEN: Lisa and Clay Cooley, Gene and Jerry Jones, Caren and Pete Kline, Debbie and Nicky Oates, Claire and Dwight Emanuelson, Kelli and Gerald Ford, DeeDee and Jim Lee, Lisa and Kenny Troutt, Peggy and Carl Sewell, Pat and Charles McEvoy, Linda and Steve Ivy. Kara & Randall Goss Paige Locke, Billie Leigh Rippey Clay & Lisa Cooley Gibbs & Marjon Henderson Jerry Fronterhouse, Amy Simmons Annette Simmons Justin Whitman & Kimberly Schlegel Whitman Gerald & Kelli Ford Tiffany & Paul Divis Dwight & Claire Emanuelson Vin & Pam Perella Peggy & Carl Sewell Jerry & Gene Jones