Last Sunday, the hip and chic staff of Off the Cuff magazine invited the public to attend an ever so classy Gatsby-themed brunch in the Questrom School of Management’s (née SMG) Trustees Ballroom.
If you haven’t gotten the chance to take the grand elevators up to the ninth floor, you’re definitely missing out. The view of Boston is definitely something you need to see. Guests had the chance to get their pictures taken – after all, it’s not everyday you dress like you’re from the twenties. Then, they were directed through the double doors to a simple brunch set-up of finger sandwiches, cookies, and fruit, among other small foods.
With a few roundtables around the room, guests were encouraged to mingle and get to know new people. It was interesting to see the different ways people interpreted Gatsby fashion. The range included full out flapper dresses to long, lacy dresses to pant suits.
After some mingling, Vince Calvi, president and editor-in-chief of Off the Cuff, came up to give a few words about how far the magazine has really come since its conception. He then introduced Cris Cordero, creative director for the magazine, who talked about her vision for the upcoming fashion show.
“I wanted to pay tribute to all those people…who hate being in the spotlight. Nobody ever says thank you,” Cordero said. “We used the color white as a metaphor. White is the color that combines all the colors in the world.”
The fashion show itself was unique and thought provoking, similar to the magazine itself.
Models came out in varying shades of white with paper mache masks over their heads. Each mask had a single word on them like “girl” or “stubborn”. While this was slightly off-putting, the fashion show came alive as different words joined or clashed together.
For example, “stubborn” was a girl wearing boxing gloves. As she started dancing in the middle of the room, “adaptable” came on and began to follow her lead. When “introvert” came in, she crouched towards the floor — clearly shy with the attention. Then, “extrovert” walked in with extreme confidence. Upon seeing “introvert”, he helped her up and brought her to the center of the room.
Though unorthodox, it spoke volumes to those in the room. At the end, all of the models took off their masks and revealed themselves.
The audience then got the wonderful opportunity to see what the printed cover would look like for the second ever edition of Off the Cuff magazine.
Musical performances began afterwards. The audience was treated to some jazzy tunes reminiscent of the twenties. A crowd favorite – The Dear Abbeys – even graced the stage, performing a few pieces, including Uptown Funk.
Overall, for such a new and upcoming magazine, Off the Cuff put on a great and classy event. We at Her Campus can’t wait to see what the future holds for them!