
Most fashion shows feature diva designers, selfie-mad celebrities, thumping soundtracks, and Anna Wintour perched stoically in the front row. Maybe a Kardashian or two for good measure.
Boston’s biggest glam get-together is more down to earth. On Sept. 12, the Hotel Commonwealth hosts the 13th annual From Fenway to the Runway, a fund-raising fashion show and luncheon featuring Red Sox players’s significant others. Proceeds benefit the Red Sox Foundation, the team’s official charity.
Roughly 19 Red Sox wives, fiancees, and girlfriends will sport glad rags courtesy of Bloomingdale’s. But unlike a typical fashion show, each model chooses her outfits and can show up anytime after 8:30 a.m. on the big day for makeup and hair from Grettacole, no other prep required.
There are no runways, either. Instead, models strut between tables in the ballroom and sit among audience members for lunch.
“These aren’t professional models,’’ the Red Sox Foundation’s Gena Borson says. “They just have fun with it.’’
A live auction caps off the event. This year, guests can bid on experiences, like tickets to David Ortiz’s final regular-season game. His wife, Tiffany, is the show’s honoree.
The actual modeling process is equally democratic, says Bloomingdale’s Darlene Marquez Reddick.
“This is a fashion show where the talent are personalities,’’ she says. “They’re choosing what they feel happy in. This is different than a fashion show where models showcase trends; it’s about each woman feeling like herself.’’
Each model told Bloomingdale’s their sizes and what they liked to wear; the shop, in turn, pulled outfits for them to try on a month or so in advance.
Expect leopard prints (in for fall) and plenty of outfits in Bordeaux (one of the season’s top colors). Each model received a fitting a couple weeks before the big day, and then it’s go time, no other rehearsals required.
Tiffany Ortiz will don an Oscar de la Renta dress — “feminine and classic,’’ says Bloomingdale’s fashion director Brooke Jaffe. Shannon Wright chose a Barbara Bui zipped cardigan. Bui is also known for her leather leggings. Designs from Michael Kors and Carolina Herrera might also make appearances.
The best part? While those designers and players are famous, the guests need not be: Anyone with $250 can buy a ticket for the good cause.
Kara Baskin can be reached at kcbaskin@gmail.com.