It’s Thursday, which for me, means I’ll be getting my copy of The Voice-Tribune shortly. Here in Louisville, The Voice dishes up coverage of great local events and I love looking at all the pictures to spot friends and check out what everyone was wearing. Around town, the Voice has become well-known for its annual Best Dressed event. I was lucky enough to be nominated a couple years ago (unfortunately while I was pregnant – boo) and got to walk the runway at the always fun and fabulous event. Seriously, each year they transform the Marriott into something you’ve never seen before.
The lady behind The Voice-Tribune is publisher Tracy Blue. Since taking over the paper in 2007, she has transformed it from a neighborhood weekly to a community paper known for featuring the best events, note-worthy causes and local sports. I am lucky enough to work with Tracy Blue at my 9-to-5 gig and I thought it would be fun to feature her here on LWW. Since Best Dressed is right around the corner (August 25 – grab tickets here) and the nominees have begun being announced – I thought we’d catch up on some of her favorite things about their signature event.
The Voice-Tribune Best Dressed Winners 2011
How would you describe Best Dressed to someone new to Louisville or someone who doesn’t know about the event?
The Voice-Tribune’s Best Dressed of Louisville is an annual charity event that combines two things this city is really great at – fashion and philanthropy. It follows a highly visible campaign beginning right after Derby with the announcement of local “best dressed” citizens in the categories of men, women and couples. By having nominees, it really helps peak the community’s involvement in the entire production. People love being recognized and we love to pay tribute to all the fine local boutique establishments and the fashionable patrons who support them.
This is your 5th year hosting Best Dressed, is there anything that stands out what do credit for the events success and longevity?
I think the main reason The Voice-Tribune has had such success with the Best Dressed of Louisville event is both the nominee process and the product itself. We collaborate with Douglas Riddle and Ron Wolz of Bittners to make each years’ event bigger, better and more fun than previous years. I think people have started to see this pattern, and really look forward to seeing what we pull out of our bag of tricks. It’s a fabulous way to end the summer.
What’s your favorite part of Best Dressed?
My favorite part would have to be the night-of. Even though our team is involved with every little detail, from décor to talent – it is still a really cool feeling seeing it all come together. I’m proud of the work we do and I think it shows in the product.
Tracy Blue – Publisher, The Voice-Tribune
When will you all announce the nominees?
We began announcing nominees in the June 7 issue of the paper and we will keep revealing nominees in all categories for a total of 9 weeks.
Editor’s Note: You can see the nominees here and check back each week as they release more!
How are the winners selected?
Once open nomination comes to an end (August 2nd) we will have all nominee’s photos posted to our website for voting. People can vote for their friends and / or family members once a day, every day until August 23. Once the voting ends the computer tells us who rallied enough of their friends to vote for them.
What do you think is unique about Louisville fashion?
I think the most unique part about Louisville fashion is that it’s a huge secret to how absolutely fabulous it really is. Out of town visitors can walk in to a boutique they’ve never heard of and find 5 of their favorite, high end designers. Louisville fashion, and the boutique owners themselves are creative and really offer a huge variety. Louisville has great taste – year round, but we definitely get to see it on 2 specific Saturdays. The 1st Saturday in May at Derby and the last Saturday in August at Best Dressed.
Where will you be shopping for your best dressed look?
I haven’t decided yet. I usually don’t find my outfit until about 3 weeks out – so I’ll start looking soon!
Best Dressed 2011 at the Louisville Marriott Downtown
What styles/trends do you think we’ll be seeing at this year’s event?
We’ve seen everything from leather jumpsuits to ball gowns at Best Dressed so I don’t have a clue what we are in for this year. Which is definitely part of the fun. I love seeing members of the community, old friends and some new faces get all dressed up and come support us!
When will the voting begin?
Voting will begin as soon as the last nominees are revealed (August 2).
Tracy & Jonathan Blue – Photo by Josh Meredith
You can stay up to date on all the Best Dressed latest by visiting the Voice’s site. Congrats to all the nominees that have been released, I’m still hoping to see some of the friends I nominated on the list later this summer! Make sure to grab your tickets and I’ll see you there in August!
p.s. – The Voice-Tribune is a client at my 9-to-5 job but I was neither paid nor perked for this post. I just thought it was something fun worth sharing with you all!
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