Hot Brazilian Designer Swoops Into Houston for a Swanky Tootsies Dinner

Icy caipirinhas, flowery prints and an invitation-only flock of fashion influencers set the stage for Brazilian designer Patricia Bonaldi to introduce her spring frocks at a swank dinner party at Tootsies, which, by the way, was one of the first retailers in the country to carry her whimsical PatBo collections.

Social media darling Lyndsey Zorich, the force behind L. Avenue blog, put together the 40-person guest list, invitees targeted for their stellar sense of style. So in a Rio frame of mind, Zorich toasted Bonaldi in Portuguese, a toast that she had learned as part of a wedding in Brazil.

Tootsies Gown Room morphed from slick contemporary to tropical paradise with swaths of greenery hanging vine-like above the farmhouse tables, which were centered with long expanses of greenery and white flowers including the oh-so-tropical anthurium in white. Bramble & Bee created the lush design.

Bonaldi, a social media phenom with more than 1.3 million followers, posted highlights of the evening on Instagram, noting in one post, “Today is a big day for me. It’s very special. Tootsies was one of the first stores who believed in my work and bought my brand, so this is very special.”

Special, indeed. Culinaire Catering served a Brazilian-inspired dinner that included Sea Bass Moqueca and “Tio João” Brazilian long grain rice and for dessert Crème de Papaya (tiny glasses of frozen papaya dessert topped with Crème de Cassis) and Chocolate Brigadeiros (chocolate caramel fudge truffles rolled in sprinkles). The Brazilian Caipirinhas were provided by the nation’s Avuá Cachaça.

Welcoming the trés fashionable clutch were Tootsies owner Norman Lewis and creative director Fady Armanious.

Dinner guests: Lindley Arnoldy, Ting Bresnehan, Mary Patton, Beth Zdeblick, Kathleen Jennings, Melissa Juneau, Jennifer Swallen, Candace Thomas, Melissa Sugulas, Mary Ann Hebrank, Nielo Chow, Amanda Boffone, Bethany Buchanan, Stacy Johnson, and Kyla Phung.