Joyce Rudolph
Seeing the finished designs at the Las Floristas Headdress Ball is
nothing short of overwhelming. These 6-foot-tall creations are bursting
with flowers of all varieties and colors and surround women adorned in
lavish gowns.
It's hard to decide what to look at, as one sits in the audience, much
less remember each flower petaled delicately onto the frame.
Two Burbank designers had entries in this year's gala, "All That
Glitters," which was held April 28 at Merv Griffin's Beverly Hilton Hotel
in Beverly Hills.
Veteran designer Clark Jellison and his partner, Kelly Burke, showed
"The Glittering Dawn of the 3rd Millennium," worn by mannequin Maggie
Simms of Toluca Lake. Husband and wife, Vynss and Lisa Gonzales,
displayed "The Glittering Road to Oz," modeled by former Burbank resident
Sandy Wessel of Yorba Linda. It was the couple's first time in the large
headdress competition.
Vynss said there were a few hurdles along the way.
"But we bounced back and gave it our all," he said.
One big hurdle was the truck they rented to carry the headdress over
the hill broke down along the way. The tow truck never arrived and they
were stranded for 4 1/2 hours, Vynss said. Eventually, his crew came to
the rescue. It took four trips to get all the materials to the hotel but
Vynss said he didn't let that ruin the experience for him.
He also wasn't disappointed he came away his first year without a
trophy. This year's Sweepstakes award went to veteran designer Modesto
Busto of Fountain Valley.
"Competition was very good. We're going up against pros," Vynss said.
"It's for fun. It's for charity -- for the kids."
The gala brings in about $350,000 a year for handicapped children at
the Las Floristas clinics at Rancho Los Amigos National Medical
Rehabilitation Center.
"And there's always another year and I think I'm ready," Vynss added.
The Gonzales' design featured a huge crown with Emerald City bursting
out of top and the yellow brick road spiraling down around the mannequin.
At the bottom were a pair of ruby slippers. Yellow, pink, silver, green
and white were the colors interpreted by the floral materials of crushed
straw flowers, crushed chili peppers, statice, daisies, roses, six types
of orchids and lilies.
Jellison he was extremely proud of his design, a sunburst surrounded
by an abstract rainbow. He used five varieties of orchids, delphinium (a
blue flower), birds of paradise and orange slices in the orange part of
