Houston’s Storybook Party

Oh, how they partied through the looking glass! More than 500 revelers slipped through the mylar “mirror” entry to the Corinthian for the Children’s Museum of Houston “Mad Hatter’s Ball,” a theme that inspired not only some very wacky attire but also more energy than that of Lewis Carroll’s mad tea party.

Who would have imagined that adults could have such fun with a children’s storybook motif? That would be the chairs — Elva and Truett Akin and Monica and Greg Meeks. It was their idea which gave way to the over-the-top whimsical decor, created by design talent Rebekah Johnson, and to the radical headwear favored by many in the thirtysomething and fortysomething crowd.

You have to agree that when Jack Blanton Jr. and Jack Blanton III both get into the hot glue guns to create their own zany hats, this theme had to have captivated just about everyone. Dad’s was a wild chapeau of purple feathers and son’s a top hat with lights. Wives, Leslie and Claire, donned party hats as well.

After posing for party photos, the Queen of Hearts, the Mad Hatter himself, the Duchess and the March Hare circulated through the scene where fascinators, top hats, tiaras, and wide-brimmed wonders were de rigueur.

Applause, applause to underwriting chairs Caroline and John Harrell and Lyndsey and Bret Zorich and to auction chairs Kelly Sklar and Liz Stephens, whose combined efforts helped the museum reach $955,000 in proceeds, making it oh so easy to dance the night away to the beats of Skyrocket.

Tripping down the rabbit hole: Auctioneer Jeff Smith and Kathryn, museum board president Geoff Bracken and Shelley, Courtney and Bill Toomey, Tiffany and Rick Smith, Katherine and Paul Murphy, Melissa and Michael Mithoff, Heidi and Marcus Smith, Winnie and Nic Phillips, Joel and Rocky Mafrige, Candace and Brian Thomas, Ting and John Bresnehan, and Stephanie von Stein with Ralph Burch.