On Sept. 15, the Southern Women's Show will be opening with a fundraiser for Dress for Success, called Look at Her Power. If you are unfamiliar with Dress for Success, the mission is to equip women who are disadvantaged by providing them with professional attire, a network of support and the career development tools to help thrive in work and in life.

Look at Her Power will offer private shopping at the show, along with drinks, dinner and a truly inspirational fashion show where DFS clients model fashions from Belk and tell stories of their newly found success. Maureen O’Boyle, WBTV anchorwoman, will be emceeing the event evening featuring speaker Sheri Lynch, author and award winning radio show host. The evening will also be joined by Andie McDowell, award-winning actress and L’Oreal spokeswoman, who will present the Paradigm Award sponsored by L’Oreal Paris.

As if you need any more reason to attend this fabulous, charitable event, you will enjoy complimentary wines and champagne and tasty bites from Lateada's and Brio Tuscan Grill prior to the fashion show sponsored by Belk.

Tickets are $40, but are available online now for $32.50 with an early bird discount (and with the purchase of a ticket comes a swag bag that is worth the ticket price alone!)

This is a fashion event in Charlotte that you do not want to miss.

If you're a Wendy Williams wannabe, then you know the talk show host is hanging out in Charlotte today. This afternoon, she was at Concord Mills, but don't fret, tonight she'll be at Phoenix hosting a party.

Head out tonight to hang out with the "Queen of Media" — maybe some of her celebrity style will rub off on ya. It's a known fact that she loves her wigs — someone ask her how she deals with her various mops of hair in this heat.

You gettin' hitched soon? I wouldn't be surprised.

I've recently come unto that age where everyone I know is either getting married or having a baby. This year alone, I've got four weddings to attend (that means four new dresses, yay!). While I'm all about celebrating the love of two people, what makes this age hard on me is the "When are YOU going to get married?" inquiries I'm starting to get. In fact, just this past weekend when I was visiting home, the pastor of the Korean church I attended from the age of 9 to when I moved away at 22 stopped me in the hall to talk nuptials:

Pastor: Oh Kimberly, it's so good to see you.

Me: You too, Pastor.

Pastor: When are you going to get married?

Me: Oh, I don't know. Maybe later. I'm in grad school right now, working on my masters.

Pastor: Oh, OK. I will pray that you will get married after you finish school then.

Me: Oh, gee ... Thanks.

But alas, I know there are a many a bride out there in Charlotte who is busy planning her magical day. My suggestion to you would be to check out the Bridal Showcase, happening this Sunday, Aug. 7, at the Charlotte Convention Center. This year, they celebrate their 10-year anniversary.

Here you will see more than 100 wedding professionals as they showcase their products and services. If you need ideas for fashion, photography, honeymoons, flowers, catering, bakers — or whatever else it takes to make a wedding happen ... you know I have no idea, with my shamefully unmarried self — this is the place to be. A grand finale fashion show will be presented by Men's Wearhouse and David's Bridal.

Time: 12 p.m.-5 p.m.
Tickets: $12 at the door or $10 online (Buy now and save $2)

Bridal Showcase 2011 from Crown Alley Films on Vimeo.

Editor's Note: Advanced online ticket sales have ended, but there will be a limited number of tickets at the door.

The Beautiful People ... Part Deux is the second annual fashion event produced by The Family Conglomerate (TFC), and this year it's going to be bigger and better. On Thursday, Aug. 11 at 6 p.m., all of the Queen City's beautiful and fashionable people will come together at Georges Brasserie in South Park (4620 Piedmont Row Drive) to show off their treasure chest of all thing sparkling.

This event is all about glitz and glamour, so crack open your jewelry box and pile it on. The night will include a fashion show of looks from Flow by Tara Davis and Lotus boutique paired with jewelry by Queen Cleopatra and Bella Originals. The styling creations of Lavish Hair Spa and M2 Salon will complete the looks, and don't miss the fabulous shoes designed by Joey Hewell of J Studio. Attendees of the event will enjoy a jeweled nail bar sponsored by Siditty Kitty Nail Boutique, a sparkly lip gloss bar featuring the iMpact Cosmetic creations by Stanley Owings, hand and foot massages by Euphoric Conceptz LLC, and an oyster and pearl dig, where a portion of the proceeds will be donated to The Red Pump Project-Charlotte. Music will be provided by Shani B of Audio To Go.

Tickets are $20 for runway seats (although we hear these are almost sold out) and $40 for VIP and can be purchased at thebeautifulpeople.eventbrite.com.

Curious to know what you're getting into? The video below is from TFC's last event, the Sole to Soul fashion event at the Gantt Center, which took place in July.

Sole To Soul Event from Patrick Abernethy on Vimeo.

Takeover Friday takes over a recently opened furniture store in South End, and if you're into home decor and good people, this is where you want to be tonight.

High Cotton Home Co. is hosting Takeover Friday, the traveling party mixer, for anyone who wants to come mingle and see some really nice furniture and accessories. (Curious to find out what kinds of things they offer? Check out interior decorator Emily Clark's blog from a recent meet-up hosted at High Cotton a few weeks ago.)

But just because you're going to be surrounded by all this fabulous furniture and home decor, don't feel pressured into spending all the money you've got. Remember, it's a catered party with cocktails that just happens to be in a furniture store. Patrons, friends, co-workers and future business partners of High Cotton Home Co. will all be there mixing it up and meeting each other.

But on the other hand, there will be some hard-to-refuse discounts. Tonight only will you be able to get 20 percent off all accessories and 10 percent off all furniture you see on the floor.

Get there between 7 and 8 p.m. and your first drink is on the house. After that, it's a cash-only bar.

The party goes from  7 p.m. to 11 p.m.

High Cotton Home Co.

2137 South Blvd.

There's no better excuse to buy yourself some jewelry than by saying, "I'm supporting a good cause."

Ruby's Gift (2910 Selwyn Ave.) is featuring local artist and designer Sharla this Saturday, July 16.

The event will showcase her collection, "Designing For Hope." The jewelry has earthy characteristics like leaves and trees, as well as beads that will draw you in with their bright greens, aquas, oranges and reds. You won't feel guilty treating yourself if it's for a purpose — a portion of the total sales will go to her charity.

The profits will help fund her trip to Africa coming up this month. She and her two sons plan to travel to Swaziland in Africa where many people  suffer from HIV and AIDS. They plan to help garden, plant orchids, build homes and  medical centers.

The event is followed by the Benefit Party from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m., which includes wine, snacks and a silent auction. Take this opportunity to meet Sharla and learn more about her cause.

An RSVP to the event is encouraged but not required. To send your RSVP, click here to their Facebook page.

For more information about Sharla and her cause visit http://d4hope.com.

When I got notice of this event, I already started thinking about what shoes I'm going to wear. Should I wear my shiny red pumps or my shiny black wedges? Hmmm ...

You'll want to put some thought into your shoe choice as well if you attend Sole to Soul, presented by StyleMayvin, Flawless Makeup Art and TFC, happening this Thursday at 6 p.m. Upon arrival at the sophisticated Harvey B. Gantt Center, guests will experience the 360 Shoe Cam. Ladies, make sure those ankles are lotioned up. It would be too embarrassing if viewers were too distracted by crustiness to notice your fab footwear.

This networking event will also feature a shoe fashion show by Elle VJ Boutique and live musical performances by Venah S, Cleo Jones and Shameka L. Dwight, plus so much more. The cover is $5, which goes to a worthy cause — education and outreach programming through the Hewitt Education Fun.

People ask me all the time, "So what is a Trunk Show exactly?" I was surprised to find that there are lots of folks who really don't know. Unlike a traditional fashion show where attendees are invited to preview the designs on the runway, at a trunk show you can actually make purchases. In fact, that's the whole point. In most cases you still are able to preview the merchandise before it's made available to the public, so it's pretty exclusive.

Anyway, if you love jewelry, you're gonna love this. Here's your chance to attend the Sylvia Benson trunk show. If you've been to Fresh Boutique lately, you know that they recently started carrying Sylvia Benson designs. Her pieces are intricate and beautiful, and she's a North Carolina native. I have simply fallen in love with these "Amour" earrings, and I sincerely hope they are available when I arrive. The designer creates everything from earrings to necklaces, bracelets, charms, rings and even hair accessories.

Tomorrow, July 9, from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., Fresh Boutique will host the Sylvia Benson trunk show, and believe me, this is an all-day event that you don't want to miss. Purchasing a piece that you simply can't live without from the collection will also give you the added bonus of making clothing purchases from Fresh Boutique at 25 percent off. AND ... it just keeps getting better. Come by during lunch time (11 a.m.-2 p.m.) and grab a couple of blackened fish tacos and more from the Roaming Fork Gourmet food truck. Then, the day wouldn't be complete without a little something sweet. Fresh Boutique is also hosting the Southern Cake Queen and if you haven't experienced the sweet confections that emerge from that little pink food truck ... make plans to be there tomorrow. Fashion, food and sweets ... what could be better?