November 2, 2024

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Pre-Oscar Make-Over! Celebrity Hairstylist Dennis Stokely Does an Amazing Makeover on a Friend!

Celebrity hairstylist Dennis Stokely has been a Contributing Editor to LA-Story.com for several years.  Dennis took a break from LA-Story.com  and went into quarantine  (like most of us) as the pandemic was evolving into a super-scary health emergency.  In the last 6-8 weeks, Dennis and I have had several conversations on the phone and via email to talk about a great event that he set up in Savannah and he turned the results of this event into a fun and upbeat article that has me smiling.

 

RETURN TO GLAMOUR! Red-Carpet Stunners to Strut at the 93rd Academy Awards

 

LA-STORY contributing editor  (and celebrity hair stylist) DENNIS STOKELY gears up for his annual “BEST” & “WORST” LOOKS at the OSCARS with a stunning surprise MAKEOVER  for a former roommate in his hometown of Savannah, Georgia.

 

Like most industries, Covid-19 brought the business of fashion and red-carpet events to a standstill. People across all walks of life fled their offices and normal way of life, hunkered down in points across of the globe waiting for the world to heal.
Fashion seemed very irrelevant during the nervous, unknowing days of the pandemic. Leaving Los Angeles became a reality for thousands of people and “red carpets” all across LaLaLand were rolled up and collected dust in studio warehouses all over the city.
If ever there was a time to shout, “Hooray for Hollywood”, it’s now!
Vaccines and lower Covid cases helped breathe a sigh of relief into the hearts and souls of millions of people. As if on command, Hollywood shows up with the Super Bowl of red-carpet events with all the glitz, glam, and gossip that the world NEEDS right now!

 

Brad Pitt and Zendaya will be presenters. And this year’s nominees, the most diverse in Academy history is exactly the fun, feel-good event fashionistas, soccer moms, and couch potatoes worldwide are craving!

 

Dennis Stokely in Los Angeles.

 

 

LA-STORY contributing editor DENNIS STOKELY spends most of his time these days in the Savannah/Hilton Head area in the Southern US. He re-connected during Covid-19, via social media, with a long-lost roommate, Mhendi McConnell, from Aspen Colorado,  and surprised her with an over-the-top MAKEOVER.

 

“I lost my desire for all things red-carpet during the pandemic. Reconnecting with Mhendi was fashion fate! I was bored and uninterested in dressing up and creating glamorous looks.  We met through mutual friends at a bar in Savannah, became friends and soon after we were roommates in a big pink Victorian home in Savannah with several other college students.”

 

Mhendi also became a hairstylist. Now, the most sought-after stylist in Aspen, appearing on E! Entertainment television and working solo for over 25 years.

 

 

“Covid-19 shut down the industry so a MAKEOVER story was a great re-boot prior to my upcoming OSCAR story!”

 

SOJOURN IN SAVANNAH!

Dennis put together an impromptu GLAM-SQUAD– and this glam squad is so incredibly gifted!

 

Dennis booked  Dennis Fields  (AKA MOTION) as Mhendi’s makeup artist for this fabulous makeover

 

 

Long before the global phenomenon of RuPaul’s Drag Race,  Savannah Drag Queen Lady Chablis put “drag” on the national stage as a star character in the New York Times “Best Selling” novel and Motion picture, “Midnight In The Garden of Good and Evil.”  Co-star with Lady Chablis and also a Savannah Drag Queen, Motion (Dennis Fields) continues to perform weekly in Savannah.
 
 


Here’s Dennis with Mhendi and he’s  doing her hair!

 

 

Here’s the finished hairstyle that Dennis Stokely did on Mhendi!


 

One of the key elements of a makeover typically includes clothing and Dennis asked noted fashion designer James Hogan (James Hogan Couture)  for help with this great  “Makeover” event!

 

 

Hogan is a unique designer and creates one-of-a-kind outfits.  He started working as an apprentice for a famed celebrity designer when he was still in high school. He attended FashionInstitute of Technology in NYC.  Celebrity model IMAN wore a dress of his and the Henri Bendel store contacted him about his designs.
From that point on, his designs were in demand by celebrities as well as women who valued couture designs. Stores like Barney’s, Bergdorf Goodman, Neiman Marcus and  Saks Fifth Avenue carried his designs.   Hogan’s designs are currently exclusive at his stores in Worcester, MA, and Savannah, GA.

If you want to see some of James Hogan’s designs, check out his Instagram. The designs are gorgeous!

 

 

 

Here’s the last photo of I have Mhendi and she looks simply phenomenal !!

 

 

Thank you to Dennis Stokely for this article. It’s been incredible to see how these three men all worked together to give Mhendi an amazing makeover!!

 

 

Stevie Wilson
LA-Story.com

Want to leave a comment or ask a question? Please send an email to stevie.wilson@LA-Story.com

 

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