Art enthusiasts and fashionistas packed into not-yet-open Shine on Saturday night to kick off the third annual Charleston Fashion Week. The eatery’s austere facade hid any evidence of a party as guests lined up outside the back door. Those who arrived an hour after the six o’clock start time had little trouble getting in, but it was a different story altogether for fashionably late souls. As the night waned on and the line surged, the bouncers implemented a one in, one out policy. Unfortunately, no one was in any hurry to leave the party inside. Shine’s decor is a tribute to fashion in and of itself, with kitchsy wallpaper patterns, a menagerie of chandeliers, and an art deco bar that channels the ostentation of the Rat Pack era. The price per head was a modest $5 donation to the Margo Kaufman Gallery, which sponsored the party and showcased its Modified Dress Project. The south wall of the venue was filled with artfully engineered dresses created from T-shirts, oxfords, and polos and altered with paint, screen prints, and 3D embellishments. Many of the creations, priced at an average of $200 a piece, were already marked with a sold symbol well before the lights were dimmed. Looks like Margot is right: fashion is art. —Angela Hanyak
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