Techie lobbyist Tony Podesta painted his 65th birthday party red at the National Museum for Women in the Arts.

For his big night Friday, the K Street king was not particular about gifts. All he wanted were shoes, old or new, for the Soles4Souls shoe charity.

Known for his flamboyant fashion -- particularly his red kicks -- Podesta asked friends to wear red in his honor.

"I'm the Imelda Marcos of shoes," Podesta told Yeas & Nays.

Most attendees kept to the strict dress code, especially his colleagues who wore matching red loafers.

One associate gabbed to Yeas & Nays that their Giorgio Brutini shoes were purchased for the Podesta Group on Overstock.com with a price tag less than $100.

The theme party "was my wife's idea," Podesta confessed.

Heather Podesta, in bright red tights and matching peep-toe pumps, is on the board of the National Museum for Women in the Arts, where the couple has donated multiple pieces.

Unfortunately Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius didn't get the style memo: She was spotted at the event in strappy blue patent leather heels with a Band-Aid above her right eye.

Also in attendance: House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., with husband Paul, Rep. Jane Harman, D-Calif., with husband Sidney, Rep. Brad Sherman, D-Calif., John Podesta, Sen. Tom Udall, D-N.M., Rep. Shelley Berkley, D-Nev., Rep. Steve Cohen, D-Tenn., and Realtor Frank Snellings, without wife Sen. Mary Landrieu, D-La., who was home working on a water bill.