Getting dolled up and wearing the latest fashions up and down the catwalk isn’t an everyday occurrence in Texarkana.

But some notable locals will don this year’s coolest fall clothing at the Red Cross benefit fashion show from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. Nov. 7. Held in the Great Room at Texarkana College, the Frosted Follies Luncheon and Fashion Show raises funds for vital Red Cross work.

Once again, Dillard’s will supply the autumn wear for the event. And this year there are some definite trends.

“Fall fashions, we’re seeing a lot of bright colors, a lot of trendy looks, the shorter sweater dresses, a lot of the swackets. They call them swackets, those short jackets,” said Nina Meadows, assistant sales manager in the women’s department at Dillard’s.

“You’re going to see a lot of embellishments, a lot of jewelry that’s sewn into the tops and all. Not real gaudy, but real feminine lines.”

She said the leather-and-sweater combination is popular in red, pointing out where they fill the racks.

“The ladies love them,” she said.

One of the popular clothing lines now, said Meadows, is Reba, the clothing collection from country music artist Reba McEntire.

“She’s doing a lot of the metallic kind of stuff on her tops,” said Meadows about the decorations, also pointing out the fringes, too, that adorn her clothing. “It looks really good,” she said.

Meadows said the way her jeans fit is popular—“mostly women that have a little curvature, not really straight ... but still small and petite.”

There are also definite favorites in fall fashion for men.

“The biggest thing right now in men’s fashion, what they’re asking for in Polo and Cremieux, are sweater vests. The argyle pattern sweater vests are real popular, and grays and blues and burgundies. Burgundy is a big color this year,” said Debra Ardwin, a Daniel Cremieux specialist in the men’s department at Dillard’s.

The preferred style is the sweater vest with a button-down and the collar out, combined with a pair of jeans.

“To step it up they’ll do a blazer or a sports jacket over it,” said Ardwin.

For the casual look, the big jeans with holes in them that were so popular in the 1980s have made a comeback, she said. Also popular are the fashionable T-shirts from Ed Hardy, which come in bright colors with wild designs.

“It looks like tattoos on a shirt,” said Ardwin. “Purples, yellows, pinks. Quite expensive, but it’s really a big thing.”

Models will select their own clothing to wear and to promote on the runway, but they’ll be guided to don something that portrays this year’s trends. Each model will show off two outfits.

It’s also a chance for models to try on something new and feel different for a day.

“If you pick it out and really like it, it shows all over your face,” said Meadows.



(Today is the final day to reserve a seat at the Luncheon and Style Show. It costs $15 to attend. Call the Red Cross chapter in Texarkana to sign up: 903-793-5602.)