TOUCHDOWN: DRESS MESS WORTH ITS WEIGHT IN PUBLICITY GOLD

I think Shakespeare said it originally: some aspire to Touchdowns, some achieve Touchdowns, while others have Touchdowns thrust upon them. This is definitely a case of the latter – it wasn’t planned this way, but it sure turned out well in the end. The story is that of a little red cocktail dress, bought last month from a Parkdale boutique called “Champagne and Cupcakes” owened by designed Caroline Lim. The dress was purchased by a socialite named Deena Panatalone, who wore it to last week’s “Butterfly Ball” where she and the dress turned heads and caught the attention of Toronto Life magazine’s Courtney Shea, who pronounced Panatalone the best-dressed woman at the ball. But when asked who designed it, for some reason, Pantalone said “Well, me, sort of. It’s a really old vintage dress I’ve had lying around the house for years.” Lim was outraged by being denied the credit, and the controversy promptly took off online in Toronto Life’s blog comments section. It ultimately ended up on the front page of today’s Toronto Star, which tells the story of how Pantalone and her mother actually ended up driving to Lim’s shop to tearfully apologize for the fib. Reportedly, Pantalone felt the need to “elevate the story” when caught off-guard by the Toronto Life enquiry, and it escalated from there. But despite this unplanned chain of events and the initial injustice done to Lim, as a result of all the blogosphere and media attention, apparently her phone is now ringing off the hook. Gotta love a happy ending …