June 2005

June 25th 2005
Nolita, NYC

I love Nolita in the summer.  Those of you who live in NYC know there isn’t any better place than Nolita on a summer afternoon, and those of you who don’t should really come and see.  “NoLIta” stands for “North of Little Italy”, and in the summer the local contingent of first generation Italian-Americans bring out their folding chairs and set up checker games and tailgate parties right in the middle of the sidewalks.  The local kids play in the fire hydrant sprinklers and ride bikes in the streets, and the local police turn a blind eye to anything that might technically be illegal but still looks like fun.  It may as well be Sicily.

Nolita is also the best place to people-watch, and on any given day you’re bound to run into hipsters & celebs in abundance.  Today, for example, on my way to get lemonade I ran into my pal Wendy Mullin of cult brand Built by Wendy (see diary entry Aug 28, 2003) who was with her pal Sophia Coppola.  Talk about style.  And if that’s not hip enough, yesterday while getting my daily corn on the cob from Café Habana I ran into Maroon 5 bassist Mickey Madden (see diary entry Aug 19, 2004) who was hardly recognizable thanks to his new hairdo.  Men with hairdos rule.  And if you hipsters still aren’t impressed, other Nolita locals include David Bowie & his beautiful wife Iman, as well as Vincent Gallo and Moby.  They’re all so hip they need a replacement; and that’s hip.

Today I’m off to Italy, which is far less hip but certainly not short of men with hairdos.  Stay tuned…

June 24th 2005
New York City

New diary entry coming tomorrow.  In the meantime, here are more fabulous photos of our party at Maurice Villency, taken by photographer Jennifer Schaperow.  You all look gorgeous in your HOLLYWOULD!  To see more photos of Maurice Villency furniture, visit www.mauricevillency.com.  My personal faves are the sectional couches, which can be made to order in any color and are absolutely divine...

June 15th 2005
New York City

Big shout-out to everyone who attended last night’s party at Maurice Villency, especially those of you who came wearing HOLLYWOULD, including the magnificently beautiful and talented Maggie Gyllenhaal who looked stunning in our newest little black dress!  Other girls who looked gorgeous in their HOLLYWOULD were Cristina Cuomo, Hope Atherton, Gigi Stone, Lily Atherton, Claire Bernard, Elisa Lipsky, Genevieve Jones, Kate Schelter, Lily Rafi, Melissa Berhelhammer, Sabine Heller, Tracy Stern, Whitney Chasey, and Gillian Hearst Shaw.  Thank you girls for coming and looking to-die-for in your HOLLYWOULD!

The party was to launch our new Resort 2005 “Lune de Miel” collection which won’t hit stores until November but was perfect for a steamy night.  My fantastic co-host for the evening was Eric Villency, whose store Maurice Villency is everyone’s favorite place to shop for elegant modern furniture.  I especially like the couch/chez-lounge combos, which I’m told can be made in custom colors & fabrics.  Am thinking coral linen with white trim might just do the trick.

Other fabulous party attendees included Tinsley Mortimer, Tatiana Papanicolau, Coralie Charriol Paul, Laurie Baur, Elisabeth Loomis, Serena Torrey, Elizabeth Stokin, Patrick McDonald, Kaitlyn Copanch, Prince Max, Nick Papanicolau, Lauren Remington, Ines Delgado, Hank and Bruce Greenberg, Nolan Olsen, Derrick & Kirk Miller, Lauren Turek, Emma Shilling-Law, Anait Serobian, Ben Wilson, Jess Bolkcom, Tiffany Westlie, Sarah Schoknecht, Anna Knoell, Tatiana Homonoff, Hollis Witherspoon, Matt Whitson, Imran Ahmad, Will Golden, Andrew Leroy, Brooke Lyons, Jackie Terrebone, Gloria Cuttone, Molly Malgeri, Liz Goldenberg, Hilary Geary, Hanuk, Sparrow, Hudson Morgan, and a long list of other beautiful people that I will probably remember tomorrow when the fog finally clears.   

The “fog” mentioned above was caused by dangerously good margaritas served with everyone’s new favorite tequila, Centenario, which had all of us in the mood to party ‘til the break o’ dawn.  From Maurice Villency we all headed to the HOLLYWOULD afterparty at NYC’s newest hot spot The Garden, which is an outdoor lounge that is sure to be packed out all summer long.  ‘Big ups’ to The Garden for hosting us.

Despite the fact that I had made a pledge to stay out until sunrise, by midnight I was feeling the effects of one too many ounces of Centenario and decided to head home.  It wasn’t until late this morning that I remembered having pizza in an East Village diner all by myself in my long gown while managing to make best friends with the entire pizzeria staff, none of whom spoke a lick of English or any language remotely recognizable.  It’s amazing how a slice of pizza and a few shots of tequila can break down all cultural barriers.  This recipe could very well be the key to world peace.

For those of you who attended the party and don’t see your photo, fear not, there will be more photos posted this weekend.  Thank you all for representing HOLLYWOULD style!

June 9th 2005
New York City

So much to tell and it’s only Thursday! 

My week began on Monday night with the CFDA Awards.  I was lucky enough to take supermodel Maggie Rizer as my “date”, and she looked beautiful in our new HOLLYWOULD Resort 2005 floor-length yellow dress.  As most of you know, Maggie has been super-famous for being super-beautiful since she was about 17, and despite all of her fame & beauty she is one of the most down-to-earth, smart, fun supermodels around.  Other super-stars in attendance included P.Diddy, Liev Schrieber & Naomi Watts, Nicole Richie, Kate Moss, Mandy Moore, Heidi Klum & Seal, Catherine Denuve, Eva Mendes, Iman & David Bowie, Gretchen Mol, Claire Danes, Sarah Michelle Gellar, and many, many more, which you can view on everyone’s fave fashion website: Style.com

Tuesday night I headed straight to New York’s chicest brasserie, La Grenouille, for the launch party of André Leon Talley’s newest book, A.L.T. 365+.  We all love André from his pages in Vogue, so we can only imagine how fabulous his new book is going to be.  Note to self: head to store this week to buy A.L.T. 365+.  Other party attendees included Ivanka Trump, Anna Wintour, Iman, Melania & Donald Trump, Michael Kors, Diane Von Furstenberg, Donald Trump's Hair, and many, many more fashion stars which, again, you can view on everyone’s fave fashion website: Style.com

Last night I headed to the Free Arts NYC Auction Benefit Party at Phillips de Pury & Co, which was hosted by Naomi Watts, Mary Alice Stephenson, and Amy Sacco.  For those of you who don’t know, Free Arts is a magnificent charity, and I highly suggest spending a day volunteering with your local Free Arts team.  For more information visit their website at freearts.org.  The auction was fantastic, and some lucky person snagged a HOLLYWOULD dress, bag, and shoes, while I managed to win a large polaroid photo of the one & only (real) Beyoncé.  Also in attendance were Zac Posen, Eva Mendes, Mickey Rourke, Karolina Kurkova, Jacob the Jeweler (master of bling), and HOLLYWOULD’s favorite girls Kate Schelter, Leslie Smith, Gloria Cuttone, and Elisabeth Gutowski.  After the party we all headed to Café Florant for cheeseburgers, fries & wine, which proved to be a winning combination. 

Am headed to bed early tonight as this party treadmill is definitely impairing my ability to… what is that word?... oh yeah... WORK.

June 5th 2005
New York City

Tomorrow night is the big CFDA Awards gala, and we’re all sooooo excited.  For those of you who don’t know, the CFDA Awards are The Oscars of fashion, and are attended by a myriad of A-list celebs (like Renee Zellwinger, Sarah Jessica Parker, & Nicole Kidman), A-list models (like Kate Moss, Maggie Rizer), and A-list designers (like Ralph, Donna, Calvin, Oscar, Carolina).  Normally I would never get invited to such a VIP event, but tomorrow night I get to go because I have been nominated for the Swarovski Award for Accessory Design.  Thank you Swarovski!

Those of you who are true HOLLYWOULD devotees know that I have been to this event once before (see diary June 4, 2003) and had a magnificent time.  Now that I know how the event works and what to expect, I have a few goals I would like to accomplish:

• Meet Ralph Lauren, because he’s King.
• Hang out with P.Diddy, because he’s Emperor.
• Only have one drink/hour, for obvious (no-dancing-on-the-table-at-VIP-events) reasons.
• Be in bed by 2am, because I have to be at work by 8:30am the next day. Ugh!

Will keep you posted on the big shin-dig come Tuesday morning, so stay tuned…