W articles from December 2005

W archives from December 2005

So plaid to see her go.(The Month in Fashion)
December 1, 2005... My holiday wish list: a Bob Mackie costume, macabre sneakers and proper yachting togs. The fashion industry was taken by surprise in October when the news broke that Rose Marie Bravo, Burberry's charismatic chief executive officer, isn't...

Setting sale.(The Month in Fashion)
December 1, 2005... In September Tommy Hilfiger celebrated his 20th anniversary in business with a big bang, staging a fashion show featuring 100 models followed by a party with entertainment by the Black Eyed Peas. All of this hoopla, however, couldn't distract...

Chics ahoy.(yacht designers collections)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2005... In designing his first collection for Tod's, Derek Lain was inspired by one of recent history's most glamorous vessels: Marlin, the 51-foot mahogany motor yacht that once belonged to John F. Kennedy and is now part of Tod's chairman and CEO...

Farewell, Field's.(The Month in Fashion)
December 1, 2005... For months industry observers have been speculating as to whether Federated Department Stores Inc., which completed its merger with the May Department Stores Co. in August, would drop May's Marshall Field's nameplate. The retail mammoth wasted...

Rainbow collection.(The Month in Fashion)
December 1, 2005... In one of her most famous quips, Diana Vreeland decreed that pink was the navy blue of India. But who knew that the black of Japan? "Fashion in Colors," an exhibit opening at the Smithsonian's Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum in New York...

Monograms and monographs.(The Month in Fashion)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2005... Louis Vuitton's largest store to date, which reopened in October on the Champs-Elysees in Paris, allows shoppers to better their minds while improving their wardrobes. The flagship features an upscale bookshop that stocks the house's much loved...

In and out.(The Month in Fashion)
December 1, 2005... Another season, another round of musical chairs in The Birth of Modern Luxury the fashion industry At the Milan collections in late September, Christian Lacroix took his last bow for Emilio Pucci. After three years as its artistic director, he...

Foot fetish.(usage of footwear)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2005... It was only a matter of time before Alexander McQueen designed his own sneaker collection: The famously cheeky Londoner owns about 450 pairs of sporty kicks and wears them constantly, even to glittering soirees. Of course, his...

Costume drama.(Bob Mackie fashion designer)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2005... Bob Mackie has been responsible for some of the most memorable fashion moments onscreen: the quirky costumes for the Carol Burnett Show and the Sonny and Cher Comedy Hour, Sharon Stone's drop-dead-sexy gold dress in Casino and the enormously...

Pretty young thing.(Julia, Roberts)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2005... In 1988, when Julia Roberts took on the role of Daisy Araujo in Mystic Pizza, she dyed her light hair dark brown and put on a few extra pounds in order to give her pizza-wielding waitress character curvier dimensions. But fiddling with her look...

Her mother's daughter.(hair dressings)
December 1, 2005... Heads swivel when Mamie Gummer walks by. Her hair is so blond, her beauty so ethereal, so delicate, so... familiar. At 22, and just out of Northwestern's undergraduate theater program, she bears an uncanny similarity to Meryl Streep. ...

December.(Party Central)(David Monn)
December 1, 2005... Although many serf-respecting historians would laugh--or perhaps shudder--at the thought of giving them serious study, parties speak volumes about a society at any given moment. Both the grand affairs, like Truman Capote's 1966 Black and White...

The comeback Kate.(Readers React)(Letter to the Editor)
December 1, 2005... Thank you for featuring Kate Moss on your November cover and in the photo spread "Amazingrace." I think that the fashion industry's recent chastisement of her is unfair. It's no one else's business what people do in their personal lives. She's...

Hudson rally.(performance of an actor )(Brief Article)
December 1, 2005... It was nice to see how Kate Hudson and her husband, Chris Robinson, have been able to remain so in sync and down-to-earth while being artists and parents in the public eye ("Kate Hudson: Homegirl," October). Kate came across as someone who is...

Queer eye for the straight guy.(Gyllenhaal, Jake's career watch)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2005... Jake Gyllenhaal is a talented actor with a brilliant career in front of him. I look forward to watching him grow, and it's amazing he's made so many unusual, provocative choices at such a young age. However, as a gay man, I was frustrated...

Lone star leisure.(Readers React)(Letter to the Editor)
December 1, 2005... Thank you for your article about Houston socialites ("Houston Chronicles," August). It's nice to see that you don't have to live in New York City to enjoy that kind of lifestyle. It was a great read and I applaud W for acknowledging different...

Busted.(Letter to the Editor)
December 1, 2005... I hold your magazine very high in the realm of fashion and art, which is why I'm rather puzzled by your recent spread "Xtra" (October). The layout depicts a young woman with exaggerated, or, as the story puts it, "audaciously augmented"...

Girls gone wild west.(three days trip for cowgirl's paradise of the Mountain Sky Guest Ranch)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2005... This fall a group of 27 Hollywood wives and their friends spent three days in the cowgirl's paradise of the Mountain Sky Guest Ranch near Yellowstone National Park in Montana. Inveterate horsewomen Judy Ovitz, Heather Thomas, Angela Janklow...

Tiny Baubles.(UNCENSORED)
December 1, 2005... Martinis are usually served with an olive, or more recently, with a slice of Granny Smith apple. But the Diamond Martini at the InterContinental Dubai's Palm Grill Bar makes the drink even more special. It's garnished with-what else?-a...

Great Scott.(performance of an actor)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2005... Don't expect Jeremy Scott to pursue an acting career. The fashion designer makes his debut in Larry Clark's new film, Wassup Rockers, to be released in April, as a lecherous fashion photographer who meets a comically violent demise. But...

Higher plane.(Cocktail parties )(Brief Article)
December 1, 2005... Cocktail parties in London are so over. Rather than indulge in champagne and small talk, the brainier members of UK society are tackling the big issues of the day at Intelligence Squared, a debating session that meets on average once a month at...

Air apparent.(UNCENSORED)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2005... Avion, a members-only private jet shuttle service, has put a new twist on the L.A.-New York commute. The company, launched earlier this year by veteran Beverly Hills travel eat Gary Mansour whose clients include Tom Cruise, Renee Zellweger,...

Hot seat.(UNCENSORED)
December 1, 2005... A nosebleed seat is the new status symbol. With tickets in short supply for the Stella McCartney show in Paris, Robert Polet, Gucci Group chief and McCartney's boss, volunteered to stand. Not to be outdone, Delphine Arnault, daughter of LVMH...

Casa Blanca: the forecast for the resort season? It's a veritable blizzard of white--no parka or boots needed.(Trend)
December 1, 2005... In certain fashion circles, the story of why one-named jewelry designer Kazuko dresses all in white is well known. For years, the creator of delicate crystal-and-wire pieces wore only black, down to her socks and underwear--even to summer in...

All together now: variety is the spice of life and the essence of fashion. With their wild swings of mood and opinion, the European spring collections offered a feast of multiple personalities.(Fashion Flash)
December 1, 2005... Consistency, said Oscar Wilde, is the last refuge of the unimaginative. That pithy fashion lover of letters might well have been musing on the spring 2006 collections. Last fall, a new sobriety emerged in fashion, one many expected to...

Basic instincts: Jean Touitou, the brains behind the Paris-based cult collection A.P.C., does things his own way, from clothes and music to a decidedly unusual tea.(Fashion Flash)
December 1, 2005... Jean Touitou, creative director of A.P.C., has a thing for names. His favorite wine, for example, is a red Chateau Chasse-Spleen because it translates to "chasing the blues away" in French. Similarly, he's scouting locations for a second...

In her own fashion: Irish designer Lainey Keogh has always taken her own path-decorative, eccentric, emotional and right in step with fashion's current romantic mood.(clothing information)
December 1, 2005... In Lainey Keogh's spacious Dublin design studio in the former headquarters of the National Bible Society, abundant visual stimuli--fabric piles, photo collages, paintings--both charm and intrigue. At one end, a wall of shelving filled with...

Flying coach: Reed Krakoff's knack for appealing to the masses is steering Coach to new heights.(Fashion Flash)
December 1, 2005... Reed Krakoff has a dirty little secret. Before taking the helm of Coach as creative director nearly a decade ago, he had never designed a handbag in his life. Good thing he's a quick study. Krakoff now spends the better part of his days...

School's out: academic delinquents? Hardly. Fashion's dropouts are at the head of the class.(designers education)
December 1, 2005... Albert Einstein once mused, "The only thing that interferes with my learning is my education." Since then, those not keen on the collegiate experience have argued in like terms when telling their parents why they're dropping out of college or...

Worn again. (Style Bytes: Second acts for a trio of designers-and denim jeans, to boot.(Fashion Flash)
December 1, 2005... Visitors to Pastis, in Manhattans Meatpacking District, should take note of the waitstaff's trappings because re-creations of their jeans--wear. tear and all--are coming to a store near you. The entire front-of-house staff has been outfitted...

Chris crossing. (Style Bytes: Second acts for a trio of designers-and denim jeans, to boot.(Fashion Flash)
December 1, 2005... After just four years as part of the design duo behind Christopher Deane, Christopher Crawford has been tapped to design a private-label collection, Freda, for the British retailer Matches. The collection mixes his classic, feminine style with...

Almost famous.(Style Bytes: Second acts for a trio of designers-and denim jeans, to boot)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2005... WHO Debra Rodman, founder of the yoga-inspired label Yogini, licensed out her activewear line earlier this year so that she could design an eponymous collection of flirty, romantic dresses and embroidered coats. FASHION FLASHBACK Rodman...

Wynn Smith. (Style Bytes: Second acts for a trio of designers-and denim jeans, to boot.(Fashion Flash)
December 1, 2005... Wynn Smith may have stopped designing--his collection Wink folded in 2004--but he certainly hasn't checked out of the fashion arena. Smith has simply switched gears, taking the stylist's route with friend and former Wink creative director John...

Q+A. (Style Bytes: Second acts for a trio of designers-and denim jeans, to boot.(Fashion Flash)
December 1, 2005... W: You moved to Wichita a year ago, after you closed up shop. Why the change in scenery? WS: Sometimes in the back of your mind there's, like, a voice telling you that maybe it's time to move on. That's sort of what I was feeling--I need...

Graphic detail: strong color combinations and big shapes are back with a vengeance.(chain-link bag gets new punch by pairing white quilted leather)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2005... In 1965 Yves Saint Laurent was among the first designers to get graphic when he cribbed from Piet Mondrian's iconic blue, yellow and red color blocks for a simple shift. The dress, now a prized piece of fashion history, was a driving force in a...

Wrist and reward: with his own brand riding high, watch designer Christian Bedat is winding up Gucci and Boucheron, as well.(Accessories Flash)
December 1, 2005... Tucked behind a locked metal panel in an expansive vault underneath a bank in a village just outside Geneva lies a treasure trove of watchmaking history: dozens of rare timepieces, most of them Rolexes and Patek Philippes, some in duplicate....

Mood indigo: certain jewels have a knack for capturing the blues.(Accessories Flash)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2005... Blue can describe an emotion--the basis for since-my-baby-left-me songs--and also naughty films. It has christened bands (The Moody Blues) and seminal albums (Miles Davis's Kind of Blue) as well. Blue's meaning is no less varied in the jewelry...

Full of Binns: Maverick jewelry designer Tom Binns brings his iconoclastic approach to fine jewels.(Accessories Flash)
December 1, 2005... Who is it now?" a voice bellows from the depths of a Paris showroom. Tom Binns, the boisterous, Belfast-born costume jewelry designer, storms by a bevy of influential New York buyers huddled around a glass showcase to pull a visitor into his...

So fine: with a new boutique and headquarters, Mimi So hits the big leagues.
December 1, 2005... For most growing designers, fielding a personal phone call from Tom Ford would be like receiving a blessing from the pope. So when Mimi So picked up the receiver at home one day in 2002 to hear Ford, then the creative director of Gucci Group,...

Petal to the metal: spectacular floral jewelry just might be better than the real thing.(Accessories Flash)
December 1, 2005... A fresh-cut bouquet of flowers can brighten up any day, but for something that lasts a little longer, look to these gorgeously rendered jewels. Cartier's orchid ring, from the new Caresse d'Orchidees collection, has petals dripping in white and...

Bing bang boom: Anna Sheffield's mixed-metal jewelry makes a powerful impact.(Accessories Flash)
December 1, 2005... Karmic boomerang." That's how jewelry designer Anna Sheffield describes her experience in New City. "Anything you want to do here, you throw it out there and it comes back to you," she says. I've never been anywhere that has such a return on...

Neutral territory: cream-colored accessories dazzle with unusual details.(designers way)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2005... Dark. Sober. Moody. Thanks to fall's somber spirit, terms that might typically describe a stint in rehab have become part of the fashion flock's daily vernacular, perhaps to an exhaustive degree. But resort collections, designed to smooth the...

Birds of Paradise: Bulgari's stunning new collection of diamond jewelry takes wing with a spectacular and eccentric presentation.(Accessories Flash)
December 1, 2005... It seemed like a cute idea at the time. Bulgari executives contemplating how to show off their stunning new fancy diamond jewelry collection thought that since magpies love shiny objects, why not arrange an exhibition featuring a cage full of...

Otherwise engaged: when it comes to popping the question, a classic solitaire simply won't do.(designers jazz)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2005... When a man loves a woman--in that serious, debt-inducing way--he presents her with the kind of ring he hopes will go decades without seeing the inside of a jewelry box. His choice should reflect his beloved's unique personality--and it may well...

Baby steps: after three generations, Spanish shoe label Pedro Garcia enters the limelight.
December 1, 2005... Fashion may love a fairy tale--stories of chance encounters and overnight sensations--but there's something to be said for the slow, steady ascent. When Spanish shoe label Pedro Garcia first hit the United States two years ago, it was a...

Turkish delight.(Into the Fray: A slew of jar names is enriching the jewelry world with new lines and novel techniques.)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2005... When Gurhan Orhan began designing 24-karat gold jewelry in his native Turkey 11 years ago, he ignored the conventional wisdom that pure gold is too soft to work with. He's taking a similarly rebellious tack with a new pure platinum collection....

Oscar's winner.(jewelry collection )(Brief Article)
December 1, 2005... Oscar de la Renta is adding another gem to his expanding empire, which includes everything from furniture and bedding to shoes and eyewear. This month Oscar de la Renta Jewelry debuts at the designer's Madison Avenue boutique and at Bergdorf...

Sterling reputation.(Into the Fray: A slew of jar names is enriching the jewelry world with new lines and novel techniques.)
December 1, 2005... For the past 99 years, Montblanc has distinguished itself by making luxury items with a utilitarian bent, such as its signature pen, which begat a slew of watches, leather goods and desk accessories. This fall the Hamburg company casts aside...

Golden age.(Into the Fray: A slew of jar names is enriching the jewelry world with new lines and novel techniques.)
December 1, 2005... Louis Vuitton's devoted clients, who are always clamoring for its latest offering, have cause to celebrate this fall with the house's introduction of four one-of-a-kind pieces of fine jewelry. The capsule collection commemorates the reopening...

Jolly goods: this season give the gift of the unexpected and fill those stockings with something unusual.(Shopping)(Brief Article)(Buyers Guide)
December 1, 2005... Kentshire Copper, enamel and wood box, $550 to $700 for different sizes, at Kentshire at Bergdorf Goodman, New York [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Mikimoto White gold, pearl and diamond comb, $3,350, at Mikimoto, New York;...

Keeping up appearances: when it comes to hair and makeup, not everyone believes in evolution.(Beauty Flash)
December 1, 2005... When David Abrams, co-owner of Luxelab salon in Santa Monica, California, sees a certain blond sitcom actress walk into his establishment, he knows exactly what she'll be having: the usual. The fiftysomething celeb, whose name he prefers not to...

Backstage Pass.(Beauty Buzz: Jane Larkworthy shares a sensory-overloaded cache of goodies.)
December 1, 2005... Is Lancome going pro? In response to requests from professional makeup artists for bolder shades with a variety of finishes, the company has created Color Design, a collection of intense eye shadows and lipsticks in nine textures that would be...

Good as gold.(Beauty Buzz: Jane Larkworthy shares a sensory-overloaded cache of goodies.)
December 1, 2005... Good as Gold In Paris she's called a "cosmetic medicine specialist," but simply translated, Odile Lecoin fixes women's skin, and she's been tending to complexions for more than 10 years from her cozy locale in the 16th arrondissement. She...

Paradise island.(Beauty Buzz: Jane Larkworthy shares a sensory-overloaded cache of goodies.)(Brief Article)(Book Review)
December 1, 2005... India licks, mother, model and hotel owner on Harbour Island in the Bahamas, is challenging many popular notions of beauty in her latest book, Island Beauty (Pavilion). "In the Bahamas, every kind of hair, body type and skin is accepted" she...

Choc full.(Vere Chocolate taste much)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2005... Vere chocolate is to the typical candy-rack variety as just-picked fruit is to canned: There's no comparison. Free of preservatives, Vere is derived from arriba cocoa, harvested in the Ecuadoran rainforest. Arriba beans have a full-bodied...

Vanilla shake.(Beauty Buzz: Jane Larkworthy shares a sensory-overloaded cache of goodies.)
December 1, 2005... There's nothing plain about perfumer Susanne Lang's approach to vanilla. This holiday season Lang has gathered her favorite incarnations of the tasty scent for the Vanilla Collection, a kit containing nine varieties, including Vanilla Sugar,...

Models of perfection: flawless faces and sublime tresses grace spring runways.(Beauty Flash)
December 1, 2005... Backstage at the spring 2006 fashion shows in New York, Paris and Milan, the air was thick with Elnett hairspray, MAC loose powder dusted unfinished floors, and hunched-over, black-clad hair and makeup assistants rarely spoke except when spoken...

Black and white and red all over: oh, so many ways to heat up and cool down this holiday season.(buyers guide)(Buyers Guide)
December 1, 2005... Talon Show Perfect red nail polish is always a classic. Chanel Nail Colour in Barcelona Red fits the bill. $16.50. At Bloomingdale's. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Face Plants A Shu Uemura Swarovski crystal delicately placed on the...

A bite in the piazza: an Italian wine family brings pink walls, raw fish and other gastronomic joys to the city of Alba.(Going Out)
December 1, 2005... As Italian piazzas go, the Piazza Risorgimento in the Piedmont city of Alba is textbook. The redbrick Gothic duomo looms over the medieval city's cobblestones. Slender stone towers cut into the blue sky. And gay-haired women peer out from their...

Wrap parties.(Eye)
December 1, 2005... Usually West Coasters don't complain about the heat, but chilled champagne came as welcome relief for Teri Polo when she helped Diane yon Furstenberg open a new Melrose Avenue boutique in 90[degrees] weather. "My wrap dress is sticking to my...

I am woman: in Transamerica Felicity Huffman plays a man undergoing the ultimate change of life.(EYE)
December 1, 2005... A writer can't help but be suspicious when a newly hot actress chooses to meet for an interview at a frumpy little Burbank yarn store, which she claims is one of her favorite hangouts. Is she making an all-too-obvious attempt to appear...

London times.(EYE)
December 1, 2005... "Donatella Versace gives the best parties on the face of this earth," raved a bejeweled Mariah Carey at her pal's fete for the reopening of Versace's Sloane Street store. It was a welcome night off for the diva, who claimed her fall London trip...

Rule breaker: artist James Siena has his own ingeniously complicated, utterly mesmerizing way of painting.(EYE)
December 1, 2005... James Siena collects antique manual typewriters became he's fascinated by clever innovations like the shift and backspace keys. He counts the number of breaths he takes on his morning runs over the Brooklyn Bridge and near his country house in...

Short circuit.(EYE)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2005... Every charity-circuit fixture turned up primped and prompt to the Museum of the City of New York's "summer" party held in September, including Nina Griscom, Marjorie Raein, Lauren duPont, Gigi Mortimer and Renee Rockefeller. Tory Burch arrived...

Windy city: at the southernmost tip of Spain, Tarifa is attracting kitesurfers and the world's other beautiful people.(EYE)
December 1, 2005... What lures visitors to Tarifa, an ancient Andalusian town at the tip of Spain, becomes obvious on the drive from the airport in Jerez de la Frontera. It's whispered in the whir of the huge power-generating windmills that line the sun-bleached...

Generation next.(EYE)
December 1, 2005... In Milan Miuccia Prada, Donatella Versace, Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana toasted a new generation of talent at the Vogue Fashion Fund dinner. "It's great to see everyone together," said a smiling Versace. Burberry's Christopher Bailey,...

A very fine house.(EYE)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2005... In Paris social; circles, home furnishings designer Lisa Fine is known for her fantastic dinner parties, contagious laugh and love of exotic travel. determined to conquer the Silk Road, she spent the past seven years roaming Asia and the Middle...

Word of the manor: when he took over his family estate, Lord Egremont eschewed farming for the writer's life.(EYE)
December 1, 2005... Max Egremont's grand estate in southeastern England, which has been in the family for about 850 years, wasn't always the pile of joy it is today Although the 57-year-old Egremont had grown up at Petworth in the hills of West Sussex, it was a...

Power lunches: New York prep schools serve their students meals even the Bouley crowd would love.(EYE)
December 1, 2005... Avocado soup with pesto creme, chili-rubbed sea bass with apple cilantro relish, baked butternut squash with honey and coconut rice pilaf. This isn't a prix fixe menu at Per Se, and it's probably not dinner at your house either, unless you have...

Le smoking hot.(EYE)
December 1, 2005... "It seems like a homecoming," marveled Loulou de la Falaise at the opening of Smoking Forever, the exhibit at the Pierre Berge--Des Saint Laurent Foundation devoted to the couturier's version of the tuxedo. Indeed, it was just like old times...

What makes a party these days?(PARTY PEOPLE)
December 1, 2005... Some would say the FOOD and drink--Chateau Haut-Brion 1995, anyone? Others would argue the DECOR--dinner served under a desert tent! A white patent-leather dance floor! Still others would claim it's the music or even the HUNKY WAITSTAFF (often...

Guess who's (not) coming to dinner: it is too much to expect that your evening's hosts will actually be there?(the invitations)
December 1, 2005... IT IS A RUNNING JOKE WITHIN A CERTAIN SEGMENT OF NEW YORK society that no one bothers to visit the Museum of the City of New York unless they're in black tie. The so-called "summer party" at the museum, a tradition of the past 20 years, is one...

Making the list: after ruling the scene at the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel's scandalously hot Tropicanan Bar, Amanda Scheer Demme ups the ante with her ultra-exclusive club Teddy's.(the club queen)
December 1, 2005... NO," SAYS AMANDA SCHEER DEMME, CREATOR AND MISTRESS OF the Tropicana Bar. Demme is holding court in her private poolside suite at the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel, home of the Tropicana, which, as Demme herself will tell you, is currently...

Puttin' on the glitz: with his talent for making spaces twinkle, sparkle and shine, party producer David Monn is having a golden moment.(the planner)
December 1, 2005... SIXTY-FIVE STORIES ABOVE ROCKEFELLER CENTER, INSIDE NEW York's heavily mirrored Rainbow Room, burly workmen are climbing ladders and swinging hammers, the very picture of masculinity. Look a bit closer, however, and there's something wrong with...

What a dish: for the haute couture crowd, Sydney Albertini's bespoke plates are it.(the table)
December 1, 2005... AS A YOUNG GIRL ATTENDING HER GRANDMOTHER'S DINNER PARTIES in Paris, Sydney Albertini was witness to a repeated social indiscretion: the guests furtively peeking at the underside of the elegant plates. "It always made me chuckle," she says. "I...

Tray Jolie: who cares if the hors d'oeuvres are cold--as long as the waiters are hot.(the help)
December 1, 2005... IT STARTED AS JUST ANOTHER GIG FOR DARRELL HARTMAN. THE TALL, unassumingly attractive 24-year-old from Maine was pouring drinks at a fashion stylist's wedding, one of the many freelance jobs he had as a catering waiter after graduating from...

Rena's renaissance: Londoners brace themselves as society's party princess, Rena Sindi, moves in.(the hostess)
December 1, 2005... THIS PAST FALL RENA SINDI MOVED TO LONDON. AND TRUE TO form, the ebullient heiress (formerly of Manhattan and, most recently, Singapore), known for her love of theme parties, disco dancing and dressing up, immediately threw one of her famous...

Dinner disasters: Randy chefs, pretentious hostesses, cocktails spiked with Ecstasy: even the best-planned dinner parties are often recipes for trouble.(the mishaps)
December 1, 2005... MANY YEARS AGO, LOS ANGELES DECORATOR PAUL FORTUNE WAS in the kitchen, rattling the pots and pans as he prepared dinner for friends including Richard Gere and agent Ed Limato. As the appointed hour approached, Fortune's stove suddenly "blew...

Dramatic arts.(services of Setsuko Klossowska de Rola)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2005... The fashion shoots featured this month have a theatrical bent, with clothes sure to write some surprising narratives of their own. The first, "Bewitched," is an evocative mix of influences, including 18th-century and medieval silhouettes and...

Bewitched: mysterious flowing dresses and robes blend 18th-century and medieval elements that conjure up images of gypsies, fairies or even sorceresses.
December 1, 2005... Yves Saint Laurent's white silk chiffon dress and cape, at Yves Saint Laurent, ysl.com. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Miu Miu's white and blue cotton dress, at select Miu Miu stores, 888.977.1900. Early Halloween vintage top hat; Mokuba...

Lavida Lopez: Mexican megacollector Eugenio Lopez is increasingly devoted to young artists, but his Los Angeles home is a shrine to his first loves: Rauschenberg, Twombly and Judd.
December 1, 2005... "A house should not revolve around the art," says Mexican supercollector Eugenio Lopez. "The art should fit into the house." That's saying something, coming from Lopez. Since the 37-year-old heir to Mexico's Jumex fruit juice fortune began...

Glamtastic! Striking day and evening looks reminiscent of the Eighties, worn with big hair and ethereal jewelry, are ideal to showcase dramatic beauty.
December 1, 2005... [this page] TAO's cream wool and lace corset, at Comme des Garcons. New York; Maxfield, Los Angeles: A'marees Newport Beach. California; Missoni's tan silk and cashmere dress, at Missoni. New York Loree Rodkin chain; Marisa Perry pendant....

Magic mountain: in a tiny village atop the Alps, Setsuko Klossowska de Rola, the elegant widow of legendary painter Balthus, and her glamorous daughter, Harumi, are hosting young victims of abuse at Switzerland's largest chalet. With 37 rooms, a perpetually kimono-clad proprietress and scores of pets--including a roomful of free-flying canaries--it's an enchanted wonderland with an eccentric touch.
December 1, 2005... Nestled in the green hills near Gstaad, the tiny Swiss town of Rossiniere is so small that it doesn't have a cash machine and so postcard pretty that it could be an alpine mirage. A steep lane zigzags through its gingerbread houses. The sound...

Razzle dazzle.(GLITTER)
December 1, 2005... Fads in jewelry come and go, but for the last few seasons, the necklace has had a stranglehold on the fashionable and the famous. Sarah Jessica Parker donned a sparkling collar at the premiere of husband Matthew Broderick's new Broadway hit,...