Sara Tuttle shares some of her favorite (and easy!) decorating tips. Photograph by David Black, courtesy of Domino magazine.

If you caught the April issue of decorating mag Domino with Drew Barrymore on the cover, you probably got a glimpse of Washington’s own Sara Tuttle, who was featured in this year’s roundup of “The Domino 10,” a super-exclusive shortlist of innovative “decorators on the verge” across the country.

Tuttle, who has been with Bethesda-based Christina Haire Interior Design for nine years, earned accolades for her polished-meets-practical concepts. “I wouldn’t say I had one type of look,” she says. “I always try to work with my clients and make sure the design represents their style. But I do love to mix lots of accessories, antiques, vintage items, and modern pieces. Many of my clients are young families, and they’re looking for something fun and fresh.”

Tuttle is currently taking on new clients, but she notes that those in need of a fast decorating fix can sometimes do it themselves: “I do think it can be really helpful to work with a designer. Just like I don’t cut my own hair or do my own taxes, using a professional designer can help you go beyond your comfort zone and be more adventurous. But if that’s not possible, there are definitely some things you can easily do on your own.” Lucky for us, she was happy to divulge her favorite easy decorating tips:

Deniz Sarhaddi, 23

What are you wearing? “Anthropologie dress, Christian Lacroix yellow wedges and jewelry from Mexico and Swarovski. The bag is vintage.”

What’s your favorite thing in your closet? “A Manoush dress with ice-cream cones all over it.”

How would you describe your style? “Trendy but wearable. I’m a little bit more conservative than ‘trendy.’ ”

What do you think about style in DC? “I think you can wear whatever you want here. You always hear that Washington is really conservative, but I think you can get away with much more than people would think.”

Liz Lentz's opening design. All photos courtesy Marymount. Photos by Moshe B. Zuman.

As fashion lovers, we’d happily spend all our days attending student fashion shows—the energy, enthusiasm, and raw talent displayed by young designers are often unrivaled anywhere else. This year’s Marymount senior show, titled Portfolio in Motion, didn’t disappoint: A flurry of sophisticated designs, styled with a fun retro-meets-futuristic TV theme, had us immediately coveting a long list of innovative styles we’d gladly wear to our next big soiree.

Liz Lentz opened the show with a fantastic purple-and-silver dress made of overlapping petal shapes, while Lynn Matthysse and Ramona Doyle followed with an ultra-voluminous skirt and lace-ruffled tiered dress, respectively—both of which would look amazing at any high-end event. Farah Jafarzadeh also offered an excellent take on lace, a short black cocktail dress with sheer, voluminous, peasant-style lace sleeves.

Cynthia Rowley poses with NBC sports anchor Lindsay Czarniak, who was also at the Marymount fashion event. Image courtesy Marymount by Moshe B. Zuman.

We’ve long been besotted with multifaceted fashion designer Cynthia Rowley, who has lent her whimsical touch to everything from high fashion (with her own eponymous label) to cheap chic (she’s just released her second line for Target) and nearly everything in between—including baby-blue charcoal grills, books, and bicycles.

Rowley made a quick trip to Arlington Friday to receive Marymount’s 2008 Designer of the Year award, catch the school’s graduation fashion show, and spend some time personally reviewing each senior’s portfolio. In the midst of the flurry of activity, she took a moment to spill about what’s inspiring her now and why she needed to get back to New York as soon as possible.

So are you actually wearing Cynthia Rowley?
I am! My dress, shoes, sunglasses, and necklace are all my own design.

We understand your new line, Whim by Cynthia Rowley, is now being rolled out at Target. Give us the inside scoop on what to expect.
It’s a summer entertaining collection aimed at the fashionable family. There are a lot of kids’ toys, a madras-plaid inflatable pool, pink and blue garden hoses, cool beach towels, even a baby-blue Weber grill. It’s all about summer fun.

Is that your favorite season?
I definitely love summer. The hotter the better! We have a little beach house in the Hamptons where my family [including her husband and two daughters] spends time in the summer and does things like surf and play sports. I’m actually a wicked badminton player. My partner and I play all summer long.

Marymount University’s Arlington campus was brimming with perfect spring style last week for the annual graduating-senior luncheon and fashion show, Portfolio in Motion. New York designer Cynthia Rowley flew down for the day to be honored as the school’s 2008 Designer of the Year, an award that’s gone to such industry icons as Carolina Herrera and Oscar de la Renta. (Catch our exclusive interview with Rowley.)

Project Runway winner Christian Siriano popped up at the show as a surprise guest (and, if we may say, looked totally tiny and seriously fierce in skinny dark jeans and his signature shag). We even made event presenter and Channel 4 sports reporter Lindsay Czarniak lean over and show us the label of her tan-and-brown Pucci-esque printed sheath to get the designer’s name. (Unfortunately, a pesky dry-cleaning tag kept us from reading it, though she did disclose that it was from Bloomingdale’s.)

The runway show itself offered plenty of gorgeous eye candy and left us wondering if any of the student designers might take a custom order before our next cocktail event. (See our full recap of the top runway looks on Friday.) In the meantime, we spotted lots of fabulous warm-weather styles while milling about the opening reception and couldn’t help but snap pictures of a few of our favorites. See the photos below.