Ballgown Tales — the True Stories (Broken Zippers Included) Behind Houston’s Most Memorable Gala Dresses

Since the pandemic shutdown of our major social events, our ballgowns, both previously worn and those waiting for their debut, hang in our closets with a mood of longing. When will they rock the red carpet? When will they bedazzle photographers?  When will they twirl across the dance floor?

As the time approaches for the return of the black-tie gala (delta variant willing), we revisit some of the most interesting stories behind the gowns that have been featured in PaperCity in recent years.

These are stories of drama, determination and one heart-stopping broken zipper moment.

A Worldly Ballgown

Most recently on our radar was the Oscar de la Renta sheath, with an international backstory, that Phoebe Tudor wore as chair of the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston gala, held in May. Tudor had tried on the sample at a trunk show in New York on March 11, 2020, only days before the COVID-19 shutdowns. Months later, she tried to track down the dress. Unfortunately, it never went into production and the sample was the only one.

Ultimately, she contacted Oscar de la Renta CEO Alex Bolen, whom she had met and developed an acquaintance with at the MFAH luncheon/style show that she had chaired in 2017. He was able to track down the dress at a trunk show in China and retrieve it for Tudor.

“It traveled the world before coming to be,” Tudor quips.

A Gala Chair With True Grit

Absolutely unheard of in the annals of ball chairwomen, Dr. Kelli Cohen Fein was still in a quandary over what to wear only nine days before she was to helm the 2013 Houston Ballet Ball. “The Rite of Spring” theme of the gala was a stumbling block, not to mention that the fashionably formidable Lynn Wyatt was honoree and her close friend, famed designer Carolina Herrera, would be La Wyatt’s guest.

It was the gala chair’s husband, Martin Fein, who found the solution via a photo he spotted of actress Lucy Lui from the Academy Awards. She wore the perfect choice for “The Rite of Spring” —  a sky blue gown embellished with floral garlands designed by none other than Herrera.

Alas, the gown was not in production as yet. Call back in September, Fein was advised by the New York office. Determined, Fein says she called the atelier 10 times the same day before finally reaching the manager. Not possible, the manager said. The gown was a sample and remained in the closet of the actress in Hollywood.

Wednesday morning before the ball, Fein says, “I hit the desperation pedal and accelerated full throttle on my kamikaze sartorial mission.” She sent an eloquent plea to the manager explaining the various components of her desire and pleading, “Please — I’m channeling Frida Kahlo who once said ‘I’m the kind of woman who if she wants the moon will go up and get it down herself.’ ”

It worked. The gown arrived in “a treasure box bigger than a horse-drawn carriage,” Fein recalls.

It was accompanied by this note: “Our privilege and pleasure to facilitate your outrageous dream come true. Voila – Lucy Liu’s actual sample gown – the only one is existence. Please note — only minimal basting allowed in length as necessary. Not a stitch to be added or removed anywhere else on the gown. Must be returned overnight by angels immediately following the ball. Go and have a ball at the ball!”

“Absolutely a Cinderella story at every turn,” Fein says.

Fashion Guru Takes Charge

Since their days as undergraduates at Brown University Best Dressed Hall of Fame honoree Dr. Yvonne Cormier and fashion guru André Leon Talley have been fast friends. So when it was time for Cormier to select a ballgown for the 2017 MFHA Grand Gala Ball, Talley insisted on making the selection. After all, the evening was saluting Oscar de la Renta and Talley had curated the museum’s exhibition The Glamour and Romance of Oscar de la Renta.

“André insisted that I get this dress,” Cormier recalls. “I called him and he said, ‘Darling, come from Houston to New York and I will put you in THE  dress (an ankle length lamé cloqué gown sprinkled with red poppies) and you will be custom fitted.’

During the fitting with Talley and Cindy Tully and the ODLR team, Talley focused on the ballgown’s bountiful petticoat, Cormier recalls. His concern included “how it looks when standing still and the flow when walking and adjusting the hem length to reveal the shoe.”

And, ah, the shoe. Following the fitting, the duo were off to Manolo Blahnik to order evening pumps made from the poppy fabric.

“Two months later, I get a call, ‘Your shoes are ready,’ ” Cormier says.

“Somebody asked me do I feel like Cinderella? And I said, ‘No’ because when it turns midnight, I’m keeping my shoes and my dress. It’s really special. I feel like a princess.”

Costume Change — Ballgown Style

With her duties as chair of the Houston Ballet Ball in 2017, the always-best dressed Hallie Vanderhider opted to follow the theme of the evening — a tribute to the company’s Swan Lake — with dual ballgowns. She opened the evening in a stunning Naeem Khan couture gown in black with 3,500 natural coque (rooster) feathers — a la Odile, the black swan — and a train so voluminous that she had to don the gown behind the scenes at the gala. It was even too grand a swath to fit into her chariot, a spacious Bentley.

As the night wore on, Vanderhider changed into something more conducive to a seated dinner and dancing — a fuschia organza ballgown plumed with matching ostrich feathers, this delicate frock by Monique Lhuillier.

Then the Zipper Broke

This story dates back to the days of the Houston Oilers yet it remains one of the most frightful ballgown tales of all time. The gorgeous Patsy Fourticq was chairing the March of Dimes “Great Balls of Fire” gala at the Hyatt Regency Downtown with the inimitable Chubby Checker as headliner. She had dug deep into the discretional income fund to purchase one of designer Bob Mackie‘s magnificent, billowing ballgowns for the special evening.

It was a stunner with a Kelly green velvet, off-the-shoulder top and a billowing, shimmering skirt made from miles of midnight blue tulle. As she walked out of her hotel suite, soon to be belle of the ball, the zipper split open. No worries, A friend sewed it together using the mini-sewing kit found in the suite bathroom.

Later as Patsy and Greg Fourticq welcomed guests to the hotel ballroom, the zipper split again, with guests all around. Quelle disaster! Taking Mackie’s maxim, “Dare to be noticed,” a bit too over the top.

Luckily, a pair of the Fourticqs’ close friends were in attendance. As the father of four active children and a dentist, he always travels with sutures, which saved the day. Patsy made it to the ladies room off of the ballroom where her friend managed to secure the dress to the extent that she danced on stage with Chubby Checker.