It’s safe to say that Tampa got a little bit more fashionable last Friday night at The Armature in Tampa Heights, where Fashion Week Tampa Bay hosted its third annual runway show featuring established and emerging local designers.

Filled with flashy Audis and all of Tampa’s well-dressed, The Armature building, a large vacant brick structure formerly the warehouse for Tampa Armature Works, provided a cool industrial backdrop to the stark white fashion tent where the runway show took place.

Once inside the tent, there was the undeniable sound of fashion buzz, as model-like creatures with red lipstick chatted with their business-suited counterparts, and dressed-up girlfriends with cocktails in hand looked simply excited to be a part of it all.

J. Cagua Swimwear hit the runway first with sexy swimsuits that were in-your-face “Miami.” Besides a beachy-glam green and-black one-piece that zigged and zagged in all the right places, we weren’t that impressed. We found ourselves more interested in the bright neon makeup and high ponytails with glow sticks attached like little barrettes, ready-made for an all-night seaside rave.

Nina Verklas’ designs for Bambina by N.V. started off with a male model in tight purple spandex shorts with glittery panels at front and back — eye-catching, to say the least. For the rest of the collection, Verklas stayed true to her rocker-chic aesthetic with boldly cut dresses and bathing suits accented with chains and charm. Everything seemed to be well-made, and certainly wearable. It was easily one of the most retail-ready of the collections shown.

Helen Gerro’s funky, dramatic gowns were a bit much for our tastes. We got the concept, and actually liked the painted designs on luscious taffeta, but honestly wished the colors had been a bit more toned down. Who wants to look like a mango swirl popsicle at this year’s charity gala? The dress forms were absolutely flattering, but we were constantly confused by the conventional necklines and cheap ribbons that seemed to have been attached as an afterthought. If anything, we could call this wearable art.

We never thought pastels could be so naughty until Essence Flowers sent out a bunch of paper-thin jersey dresses so short we got a better glimpse of the Tampa Bay Bucs cheerleaders’ backsides than we usually do when they’re wearing their cheerleading uniforms. The collection was as cute as the cupcakes who modeled it, and a crowd-pleaser bar none.

As promised, K. Hendrix showed a line of party-girl sequins that got a lot of eyes sparkling. Her adorable reworked vintage capelets were dangerously styled over bare tops and skimpy bottoms. They left us wishing we were as tall and beautiful as the models that were wearing them in order to pull them off. There were also a few tattered sequin dresses that, at first, seemed haphazardly put together, but then revealed themselves to be pretty little wonders.

Fashion Week veteran Pat McGhee also sent down some military-inspired runway looks, and Terri Funaro closed out the show with a bridal collection fit for your typical South Tampa socialite. Fashion Week Tampa Bay was uniquely Tampa, indeed.

Check out CL’s Chip Weiner’s photos from the show here.

This article appears in Sep 23-29, 2010.