Skinny Dip is the new Wednesday night hang at the Soho House rooftop. Dubbed as a mix of “dance, opera, hip-hop burlesque, cabaret, pop, performance art, and synchronized swimming with international designers showing looks from their summer collection,” this event missed the mark and did not deliver! I arrived an hour in, and for the most part, it was just another night in a bar and most of the guests I spoke to conferred.
There were multiple problems. First of all, for a launch to be a success promoters have to do an open bar for at least a couple of hours. If press and VIPs have to buy drinks there is nothing to keep them in your venue as it doesn’t feel special. Secondly, the fashion show was far too early in the evening. If you have an eight o’clock start, the show should kick off at least an hour later to make sure guests have arrived and are well lubricated. Thirdly, the entertainment was a very mixed bag. The drag queen hostess was a sad hot mess who couldn’t sing to save his Life! Everyone just ignored or moaned over his wack performance! The burlesque gals, particularly the lovely Tiffany Valentine, were awesome. Tiffany works with fire, which is a marvel to watch! But aside from a bad drag queen and some burlesque, none of the exciting things on the flyer went on. On the first night, EVERYTHING advertised should have been offered.
Celebrities in attendance included Kiefer Sutherland, who is far shorter than I imagined him and Rainn Wilson from “The Office”. (Soho House has a no photo policy, designed mainly for celebs, so I didn’t bother them for pics.)
All in all, Skinny Dip has potential to be a great summer event because of the lovely setting. But it is in desperate need of some creativity on the part of the organizers to make it more rousting. When you advertise burlesque with fashion and multiple DJs on the Soho House rooftop, which has a pool, TGATP expects to have a complete blast! It was all too blasé.
