A night to remember at Fashion 4 Action

I felt so flattered to be invited to the press preview for Fashion for Action at Housingworks in Chelsea on Thursday night. After two seasons of dealing with critical family health issues, a wave of lightness and anticipation washed over me for the first time in months. What makes for better guilt-free shopping than raising money to benefit people living with HIV/AIDS; I encourage my readers in NYC to visit the store before the sale ends on Monday.

The apparel, housewares, and displays are spectacular and reflect the amount of energy and commitment the community has for the efforts of Housingworks.  Most noteworthy were the gracious volunteers - Marc, David and Michaela  - who encouraged me to become a volunteer with transgendered youth, gave me an honest critique of the pieces I intended to purchase, and assisted me by personally trying on a Hugo Boss Orange military jacket that I eventually bought for Gavino.

As the flagship store filled up with Housingworks hordes of well-heeled members furiously searching for that special score, I had a sense of being part of a scene. Although I was preoccupied with taking photos and uploading them to my iPod Touch and posting to Twitter, I had a chance to shop and talk to some special folks.

While in a check out line that snaked through the store there was a celebratory feeling as strangers conversed with each other about their finds. There I met a long time survivor of HIV and others committed to issues affecting the lives of people living with HIV/AIDS. The men in line behind me selecting menswear openly solicited feedback from those of us around them. In this vein, I nearly purchased a Brooks Brothers black, pebbled leather over-sized clutch, until another woman who shopped with me for awhile suggested I follow her suit and put it back, after all she said, like an old friend, I rarely go out on the town at night.