Marilyn Monroe once said, “Give a girl the right shoes and she can conquer the world.” The Hospice of the Golden Isles Auxiliary has learned that if you hold a fundraiser that involves shoes and wine, the community can benefit in amazing ways! This year will be the third year for Wine Women & Shoes Benefiting Hospice of the Golden Isles, the sipping, shopping, fashion show-luncheon extravaganza that has proven to be an incredibly popular and successful tool to raise money for HGI.
On Saturday, February 20th from 11:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m., you can sip and shop a designer marketplace at The Cloister on Sea Island, while a new batch of handsome Shoe Guys circulate with the latest in glamorous shoes and accessories on silver trays. There will also be a silent auction with fantastic items waiting for your bid. Once you and your friends are seated for the luncheon and fabulous fashion show, those charming Shoe Guys will keep the world-class wines flowing at the table. Shoes, handbags, accessories, and jewelry will be available for purchase from vendors that include Alma Handbags, Cloister Collection, Cloth + Label, Evelyne Talman, Gunner’s Daughter, Julie Bee’s, Love Thirteen, PK Collection, Shackelford Shoe Boutique, Sparkle n’ Bloom, Susie O’s Handbags, and Ward and Whitney. The designs are absolutely swoon-worthy!
And speaking of swooning, everyone knows that nothing inspires passion in a woman quite like an amazing pair of shoes. To learn a little more about the women working behind the scenes of this year’s event, we invited them to tell us about their favorite shoes:
I took ballet for 20+ years and loved every minute of it. It was my heart and gave me so much more than just learning how to dance, like an appreciation for the arts, confidence to stand in front of people, charisma, and ability to express myself through movement. They say every girl feels like a princess in pointe shoes and dancing. I felt that way every time I put on those shoes. - Lora Lee Frazier
I gave my 6 year-old daughter, Charlotte, a pair of ballet shoes and she has worn them around the house and to sleep for the past two months. Her enthusiasm for ballet has encouraged me to recently join an adult ballet class and purchase my own pair of ballet shoes. – Tara Harper
I have a weakness for shoes. My friends will tell you that when I find a pair that I love, I get every color in the same shoe. I just love shoes! I also adored playing dress-up as a child, and heels were a must to complete my fashionable look! - Cissy Thompson
White Keds! I lived in them in college, upon the recommendation of my mother, who did the same thing when she was in college. For me, it was the early 80s and the days of “The Preppy Handbook,” so they were perfect. I still wear them today. They go with almost anything! – Sharon Proudfoot
Without a shadow of a doubt, my all time favorite shoes were my Land's End clogs – the wooden ones that made just the right amount of obnoxious clunking as you walked down the halls of school. I think I had a pair in every color imaginable. They made me THAT much taller than all of the boys, so naturally they were the best. - Jeanie Beth Baxter
I'll never forget my first pair of Jack Rogers. Platinum Navajos. I think I wore them every day the first summer I had them! They're in shoe heaven now thanks to a puppy with an appetite for quality leather. - Heather Kingsley Burrell
I used to love “The Wizard of Oz” and had a pair of red sparkly heels like Dorothy's. I wore them everywhere! From that point on, I have always loved getting dressed up with some snazzy heels! - Anna Hopkins
Through the years I've had several favorite pairs of shoes...clogs from San Francisco to boots snagged from a vintage store in Denver, but my latest are from a good old-fashioned department store: Frye slip-on leather loafers. My mom gave me a tan pair for Christmas and since then I've ordered more, including gold! For my life they’re a perfect fit. - Stephanie Jacobs
My mother gave me a pair of her peep toe heels when I was 6 years old. I loved to wear them so much and would even wear them to drive the go-cart I had then! I have given them to my daughter and she loves them just as much. They still have a blue streak on the back from the go cart pedals. - Mary Catherine Sexton
My cousin and I grew up best friends and had a matching pair of hot pink, pointed toe, glitter jelly shoes. We had pink skirts and hair bows to wear with them. We dressed up, danced and played so joyfully in those shoes. We even wore multiple colors of stacked layered socks with our jelly shoes when winter began! – Keri Anderson
As part of the Wine Women & Shoes fundraiser, there are also Crowdrise sites (crowdrise.com) for the Shoe Guys to compete for “King of Sole” and, new this year, a “Queen of Sole” addition for our stylish local ladies. The man and woman who raise the most money in donations during the campaign will be crowned during the Saturday event. Additionally, you’ll want to wear your own show-stopping footwear that day because will be judges circulating and evaluating bodacious boots, power pumps, sassy stilettos, classy classics and more to choose a “Best in Shoe” winner from the attendees. If you want to bring home the prize, be sure to put your best foot forward!
For more information about Wine Women & Shoes 2016 and to purchase tickets, visit winewomenandshoes.com/goldenisles. Follow them on Facebook for updates too!
