Fashion Week Tampa Bay geared up strong Thursday night with eight designers' shows hitting the runway inside the Sheraton Tampa Riverwalk.

Cameras flashed. Models strutted. Deal Divas Stephanie, Nicole and Colleen were in the front row to catch the action. That gave us a great view of all the fashions. It also brought us very close to the bathing suit-clad models' bottoms and near-flashes of their private bits in high-cut dresses. Maybe that's why Anna Wintour wears sunglasses.

Here we are headed into the show. A very nice bartender took our picture. We asked him to make us look skinny.

We promised photos from inside the shows. We now deliver.

While we would have enjoyed a tad more color (we do live in Florida!) from Trineice Cagua's black-and-white swimwear, we were feeling the back-view of some of the suits. Asymmetric and knotted backs on her two-piece suits were cute enough to never see a drop of water.

We loved this Troy Anthony outfit (it was Colleen's favorite!) for the bold color and contrasts and because it was something we could actually wear on a regular basis. Anthony used a lot of animal prints (also see his hot pink gown below). Actually, everyone seems to be loving spots right now. There were A LOT of animal prints in the crowd and on the runway. That's not necessarily a bad thing, but it made us like the trend a little less now that it's spreading like wildfire.

Ben Chmura and the green tights. OMG. 

Nicole is so buying a pair of green tights this fall. Chmura, the resident avant garde of last night, sent models down the runway in futuristic jackets, chains and green tights -- even the guys sported the leg wear. We liked his workmanship.

There will be more fierceness on the runway tonight, starting at 7 p.m. Deal Divas Letitia and Dalia will be in the house, so stop by and say hello or check back here for more highlights.

Deal Divas Nicole and Colleen

(Photos taken by the very talented Nicole. Front-row seats come in handy for these sorts of moments.)