D AV I D PAT R I C K C O L U M B I A THE CINEMA SOCIETY a n d DONNA KARAN h o s t e d t h e a f t e r - p a r t y f o r H A P P Y T E A R S
Fern Mallis and Demi Moore
for the fare, the drinks, and the talk, and they settle in for hours with people coming and going, tables taking on new guests to fill in for the earlyrisers who’ve left by 11. And in the middle of it all was Elaine herself—unimpressed by the day—enjoying the company of her guests. The next night was the Chado Ralph Rucci collection showing at Ralph Rucci’s studio on Broadway and Spring. This was a new venue for him, having shown in the Bryant Park tents for the past few years. The studio had been set up like a smaller tent runway, all white with mirrors. It was like Hollywood in the 42 QUEST
Donna Karan and Ellen Barkin
Ashley Lloret, Omeed Malik and Susan Woo
1930s, Van Nest Polglase at RKO working on the Astaire-Rogers pictures. Real glamour. The show was called for 7 p.m. Casey Ribicoff was already there when I arrived. Ribicoff’s sense of style involves drama, beauty, impeccability, glamour, and pleasure. She wears a lot of Ralph Rucci’s clothes and, despite the classic signature of his designs, they look like her clothes, not his. She was with Robert Couturier, the interior designer. Next to him was the very pretty editor-in-chief of Elle Décor, Margaret Russell, next to the beautiful Katherine Bryan. Next to Bryan was Anne Prevost, in from
Mitchell Lichtenstein and Joyce Pierpoline
Amanda Ross and Daniel Benedict
London with her former Finch classmate, my beautiful friend Sassy Johnson, who back in the day got Halston to give the young budding designer Rucci his first big job in the business. Susan Gutfreund was there, as was Deeda and Bill Blair, Martha Stewart, and Melva Bucksbaum and Ray Learsy. Next to them I saw Fran Lebowitz, Whoopi Goldberg, and His Nibs André Leon Talley. Ralph Rucci is the Crown Prince of American readyto-wear couture, out of the fashion stream of Mainbocher, Norell, Galanos, Halston, Blass, and Beene. February 15, 2010. A
gray weekend in New York, snowless although the weatherman says more is coming in the next day or two. It’s a three-days weekend (Presidents Day) for many and the city in my part of town was quiet(er). The movie luncheon. Hostess with the Mostest Peggy Siegal was down at Michael’s at a luncheon for James Cameron, the filmmaker whose latest film, Avatar, is the largest grossing film in history. The film received nine Academy-Award nominations. There were about forty guests seated at one long table in the middle of the front room and four or five others on the side.
Pat r i c k M c M u ll a n
Andrew Saffir and Gabby Karan de Felice