Fashion's Night Out: Clash of the real housewives

Fashion's Night Out: Clash of the real housewives


Who is the real housewife: The one with the designer blowout and gold stilettos or the gal in jeans and a puke-stained T-shirt with her hair tied back in a rubber band?

Well, at least they can agree on one guilty pleasure: Shopping.

Both types crammed Christiana Mall on Thursday night for the mall’s second annual Fashion’s Night Out. The international event, hatched in 2009 to restore consumer confidence in a bleak climate, features fashion shows, in-store demos, makeup freebies, raffles and celebrity sightings. Christiana joined fashion meccas in more than 18 countries and 100 cities nationwide to celebrate. Mall officials estimated as many as 10,000 people attended the Newark event, an increase from last year.

“Last year, people just thought we were having a fashion show,” said Lori Anzivino, Christiana’s marketing manager. The event helps the mall compete with ritzier area malls, she said.

Forty-five stores stayed open until 11 p.m. and ran special events or promotions, including buy-one-get-one-free Auntie Anne’s pretzels, complimentary bra fittings at Victoria’s Secret, a Skinnygirl cocktail party at BRIO Tuscan Grille and beauty bars and pop-up shops exploring the hottest trends. A quartet of young women with painted-on blouses and leggings posed before a gaggle of male photographers. Meanwhile, “freeze models,” who were forced to stand still in five-inch heels to blaring techno music, looked visibly uncomfortable.

While the mall was abuzz with activity, some stores struggled for an audience.

“I don’t see the buying power,” said Maurice Allarey, district sales manager for the accessories chain Icing. “I think all the parents are at home biting their nails after what they spent for back to school.”

Christiana landed its own celeb this year with “Real Housewife of New Jersey” Melissa Gorga posing for snapshots and signing copies of her $10 CD.

Accompanied by her squat, beefcake husband Joe, Gorga chatted with a steady stream of mostly twentysomethings – some with children in tow – who waited for two hours in a line that backed up to California Pizza Kitchen. Some fans came from Maryland, New Jersey and Pennsylvania. Meanwhile, local celebs chef Dana Hebert, also known as Delaware’s “King of Cakes,” and 95.7 BEN FM’s Marilyn Russell attracted a not-so-critical mass.