On January 14th, 2012 over 1000 people gathered for the 18th Annual Hair O’ The Dog Black Tie Party at the Hotel Westin Philadelphia and I was lucky to be among the party goers.
What the heck is Hair O’ The Dog? Well, the expression, “Hair of the dog” refers to an old school method of curing a hangover. Basically, the concept is that you have a drink “the morning after” and it slows down the body’s natural “withdraw” process; thus, lessening the effect of a hangover. Baby steps instead of cliff jumping. The founders (Daniel Cronin and Rob Molinaro) of HOD chose the name because of the party’s proximity to New Year’s Eve. Apparently this is how Philly collectively solves its NYE hangover. How’s that for brotherly love!?
Despite the fact that Hair O’ The Dog has a longstanding reputation for being Philly’s swankiest party this was my first time attending. Where have I been for the best 17 years? Clearly in the wrong place, because this party was by far one of the best I have attended in the city of Philadelphia. The atmosphere was classy and sophisticated but fun. It’s rare that you find an event of this caliber that isn’t stuffy. Or a party that fun and wild that isn’t also a little scary. But the lovely staff of Hair O’ The Dog pulled it all off with the perfect mix of excitement.
There was something for everyone. Aside from the standard appetizers and drinks there were specialty cocktails and fancy hors devours, a photo booth with festive props for camera whores like me and Kate and even a bottle service lounge presented Cheerleaders that featured the sexy DJ Licious.
Everyone was dressed to the nines and the Philly fashionistas were out in full effect rocking both designer and custom outfits from Herve Leger, BCBG and even Philly’s own Nicole Miller and Aci Nae just to name a few.
There were multiple rooms with different entertainment which included live music by Drop Dead Sexy combined with The Legendary DJ Johnny Looch, a dance floor rocked by the sounds of DJ BEAT STREET and the DYNAMIC DUO of Adrian Hardy and Manny Roman, and even live pop art by painters Glenn Stevens and Perry Milo. But I honestly had a lot of fun in the hallways too, there was so much going on that no area was boring, not even the bathroom (but I’ll keep those details to myself 
).
Just as important as the fantastic atmosphere were all the fabulous people in attendance. Kate and I had the pleasure of snapping some photos with some of our favorite Philly movers and shakers. Here are a few highlights.
Ken Davies, owner of City Fitness in Northern Liberties where me and Kate have been getting our “FIT” on recently. (F.I.T. stands for functional interval training and WE Fit is City Fitness’s one of a kind group training classes. City Fitness just opened up a new location in the Graduate Hospital area.
Susie Celek and Julie Dorenbos of Skin Palette who sprayed tanned Kate and probably hundreds of the attendees before the event. Kate promised Julie that she would wear anything BUT white….Opps! In the end the dress surived and wouldn’t have looked even half as good without that perfect spray tan!
Ed Knight Culinary Deliveries in West Chester (my FAVORITE pizza place and my FAVORITE chef).
Brian Nagele who owns and operates Kings Oak Lane restaurant and just recently bought Arrow Swim Club which will now operate under the name of North Shore Beach Club and will be making all sorts of fun changes. Starting with slashing the original $1000.00 membership to $500, but only for a limited amount of people, so get your application for membership in soon!
Kate with teacher and model Tara Marie and Lauren Harris, Preston and Steve calendar cover girl.
Tom Domalski, owner of Whisper nightclub along with bottle servers Jess and Sam. And, Matt Nadu of the CW crew.
Whisper Club and G Lounge were the hosts of the official after parties which rocked on until 3 and 6 am respectively. I decided to go to Whisper but the party once well under way when I arrived and it was a great time as usual. Kate made it to g and had this to say about her first HOD experience …
“Hair of the Dog was such a nice change of pace from my normal “nightlife” routine. It was great to see a lot of people I don’t see out regularly and the attendance was large enough that I met lots of new friends as well! It was the perfect chance to stretch those social “butterfly” wings from their current winter hibernation. And despite the self-induced stress of waiting till the last minute to find something suitable to wear, I still always love an excuse to dress up.”
Special thanks to Seth Birch of www.phillyinvolved.com for providing addtional photos!
Looking back, I wish I had given myself a “good talking to”. “Listen little girl! Suck it up! If you do this now, life will be so much richer when you’re older!”
The scene was set for an enchanting wedding and reception at Nortre Dame. (Courtney and I joked that Reves de Fleurs might be “the honeymoon”.) This exhibit was so extravagant and romantic that, if I were getting married, I’d be tempted to order the whole display. Lucky for me, and for my checkbook, that day remains a distant glimmer. (Perhaps I could content myself with a “horticultural dream-catcher” for my “trousseau”.)
“Hey, that looks like you!” Courtney pointed out a curvy “shadow art” figure. (I’ve been known to occasionally make my own shadow art, dancing with my silhouette at G lounge.) Michael Bruce Florist: “Urban Graffiti Shadow Art” would win my “most interesting exhibit” award for 3 reasons. The “pre-shadow” figures looked nothing like the shadow they created. I found that particularly impressive. There was a “Go Green!” recycling theme to it. And, finally, it was pleasingly playful –The Can-Can dancer was, for instance, made out of, well, cans!
