Biochemist by Day, Fashion Designer by Night: Spotlight on L-Shandi

Beltsville, Md.-based business is among 80 designers and boutiques represented at this year's Crystal Couture.

A Beltsville, Md., woman who is a biochemist by day and fashion designer by night is among 80 businesses represented at this year's Crystal Couture fashion show and sale. Lara Akinsanya, who owns the online business L-Shandi, designs, creates and sews custom clothing and is promoting select pieces at the Crystal City event. Her clothing will be on display from 6 to 10 p.m. Saturday, wrapping up a five-night exhibition at the annual Arlington fashion show. This year, it's on the 12th floor of 251 18th St. Akinsanya typically has 500 pieces of clothing ready at any given time, and takes about 60 pieces with her to shows. She also makes a handful of custom creations each month. “I know every single one of my designs,” Akinsanya told Patch. “…

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PHOTOS: High-End Fashion Show, Sale Kicks Off in Crystal City

Through Saturday: Free makeup, hair makeovers; runway shows every 15 minutes from 6 to 10 p.m. nightly.

Crystal City will sparkle a bit more this week. Now in its fifth year, Crystal Couture kicked off Tuesday night. More than 40 Washington-area designers and boutiques will be there on any given night through Saturday. Organizers expect about 4,000 people to visit the 12th floor of 251 18th St. for the high-end fashion show and sale. Put on by the Crystal City Business Improvement District, or BID, this year's event showcases 26,000-square-feet of vacant office space that's been transformed with a 400-foot runway that wraps around the room, a bar, a photo booth, various booths for the boutiques and free makeup and hair makeovers in the center of the room. "It's phenomenal," said Angela Fox, the BID's chief executive. "The runway turned out …

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Crystal Couture: Fashion Show Returns Bigger and Better

Free makeovers, near-nonstop runway shows and more than 40 booths take over a new space in Crystal City.

For five nights this week, Crystal Couture will take over the 12th floor of a Crystal City office building — bringing dozens of boutiques and a wraparound runway that will go almost nonstop from 6 to 10 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday. "A lot of people are intimidated by going to fashion shows. But this is a really fun, laid-back means at which you can get out there and shop and hang out with your friends," said Angela Fox, chief executive of the Crystal City Business Improvement District, or BID. "You don't need to come dressed to the nines. It's very open and accommodating." That's two key qualities of the what the BID bills as the Washington region's "hottest fashion show and high-end trunk sale." Now in its fifth year, Crystal Couture …

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Arlington Life & Style

Kate Middleton and our Clothes-Shedding Culture

Kate Middleton is part of a generation increasingly comfortable with removing clothing in public.

The debate over privacy versus paparazzi in the Kate Middleton topless photo fiasco got me thinking about our gradual acceptance of people wearing less and less in public. Anyone who runs or bikes on trails throughout Arlington knows what I’m talking about. With every passing year, people are exposing more flesh — especially women. I remember in the 1980s when leotards and leg warmers were considered sexy and provocative. And even those were reserved for dance or aerobics classes inside. People who went jogging wore T-shirts, tank tops, shorts and sweat pants. Now, you see women running outside, in public, in bras. Yes, bras. I always found it funny that putting the word “sports” in front of the word "bra" changed people's perception about…

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