Dec. 1, 2004, 8:36PM
How the ladies who lunch love cold weather -- the climatic green light for pulling out the furs! And pull them out they did Tuesday for the Friends of Child Advocates Angels of Hope luncheon.
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Fur collars, fur cuffs, fur coats and fur wraps. Real fur and faux fur. It seemed that every table in the Westin Galleria ballroom enjoyed at least one fashionable splash of animal pelts or a reasonable facsimile.
Once past the rare sartorial display in our semitropical city, we could focus on the cause at hand -- raising funds, a net $208,000, for the nonprofit, which serves abused children. Ellie Francisco chaired and Shelly Ann Marks co-chaired the event, which drew 580 guests.
Most notable among the well-heeled men and women -- designer Carolina Herrera, who, courtesy of Neiman Marcus, brought in her spring and summer 2005 collection for runway viewing.
Taking the onstage spotlight were luncheon honorees Ellie Sweeney, Child Advocates board chair and a court-appointed advocate volunteer, and Bob Devlin, general manager of Neiman Marcus. The store also was honored.
Fur standouts -- Donna Bruni in burgundy-hued Carolina Herrera skirt and blouse with matching fox wrap, Ceron with a red fox throw worn over his pinstripe suit, and Denise Bahr in a lynx wrap trimmed in white fox.
subhed: Royal treatment
King Juan Carlos' jaunt through Texas last week was not all diplomatic work and no play. The day before lunching with President George W. Bush at his Crawford ranch, the Spanish king and Queen Sofia stopped off in Houston for dinner with longtime friends.
Mica and Bob Mosbacher, a sailing buddy of the king for decades, opened their River Oaks manse for a late-night feast with friends. In addition to Mosbacher family members, the guest list included Louise and Dr. Denton Cooley, Trebie and George Francisco and others.
subhed: Artful action
Landscape painter Juan Muñoz of Querétaro, Mexico, has landed in town with 100 of his vibrantly colored paintings, which go on display today at One Allen Center. Wednesday night, he was to be honored at a cocktail reception at Lucho in Uptown Park where owners Patricia Sturion and Hector Villarreal rolled out the red carpet and hung 50 of the paintings on shop walls for guests to see.
Muñoz' paintings will be on display in the second-floor gallery at One Allen Center through the end of the month.
subhed: Star struck
The Hobby Center's Zilkha Hall had almost as many stars in the audience as onstage during the recent weekend run of Pippin. Meredith Baxter, Timothy Bottoms, Polly Bergen and Sheryl Lee were front and center one evening to see their film co-star Ben Estus strutting his stuff on stage.
The 13-year-old student at St. Francis Episcopal Day School is a key player in On the Rocks, which began filming here just before Thanksgiving. Thus, the stars in the Zilkha Hall audience. The film is the story of a successful actor whose life is changed by his young co-star (Estus).
The rising talent appeared in Pippin as a member of Theatre Under The Stars' Apprentice Conservatory Training@TUTS program.
subhed: On the circuit
Charity fund-raiser Carolyn Farb is touting her new book, The Fine Art of Fundraising (Emmis Books, $16.99) and sharing a few fund-raising secrets at locations across the city in the coming weeks. Tonight she is signing books at Design Within Reach on West Gray, and late Saturday morning she pushes the pen at Rice Epicurean on San Felipe. Sunday afternoon and early evening, Farb signs in at DeLape Designs in Clear Lake. The book signings continue into the new year.
Farb's fund-raising tally has reached $30 million, according to book promoters, since publication of her first work, How to Raise Millions: Helping Others and Having a Ball.
The current book is dedicated to the memory of her son, Jake Kenyon Shulman, who died unexpectedly in September.
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