A Trip to NY

I made a quick trip to NY last week in order to attend Bravo's The Fashion Show finale taping.

Merlin Castell being ushered into a white van after the show. No, it's not a van to the crazy house. At least I don't think it is...Johnny R was in there, too.

Of course I manage to squeeze in a few other fun things: a sniffing tour of the new goodies at Bergdorf and Saks; dinner at Otto with Laura K, David Dust, and the fabulous Roz;

(A white van, usually used to herd reality-show competitors from place to place, in front of Parsons. David and I snooped around but didn't catch Tim Gunn, Heidi Klum, or anyone who appeared to be a Project Runway Season 7 designer. Rats.)

lunch at Fraunces Tavern after the TFS show with Laura, Roz, The Scarlett, Nancy T, and Malan Breton; and shopping with Laura, Scar, and Malan.

Malan took us to Jeffrey, in the Meatpacking District. The store is a mecca for fabulous shoes, including Manolos, Louboutins, Gucci, Dior, Prada, etc.

I have no place to wear such shoes, so after trying on a few pair, I wandered over to the fragrance and cosmetic area at the front of the store, home to brands like L'Artisan Parfumeur, Chanel, and Comme des Garçons. I found a lone bottle of Six Scents No. 4 Gareth Pugh and snatched it up - I had been contemplating its purchase for a few weeks now and couldn't resist. As the Chanel rep applied some new eye and lip colors on me, we chatted about The Fashion Show and the Real Whoreswives of New Jersey. I don't watch that show (nor any of the Whoreswives) but I had seen the second part of the reunion and at least knew who the hated Danielle was. Plus she was at the TFS taping that morning, not surprisingly segregated from the rest of the Whores.

After Jeffrey, we wandered down the street to the Matthew Williamson store. His stuff is so gorgeous! Here are examples of his wares for sale, the first from Fall '09 and the second from Summer '09 collections.

Despite the fashionable fun, I was glad to get home to my darling hubby....

Resort 2010 - Badgley Mischka

Badgley Mischka is all about the party dress, and their 2010 resort collection is business as usual. Here are some of my faves.

Resort 2010 - Carolina Herrera

Carolina Herrera's Resort 2010 collection was full of elegance, 30s silhouettes, and lots of orange. I quite like everything, even if orange is probably my least-favorite color.

Here are my very favorites from the collection.

2009 CFDA Awards

The fashion world's Oscars, a.k.a. the CFDA Awards, was held on Monday at Lincoln Center. The place was teeming with starving models and fashion designers, and here's what some of them wore.

Actress Blake Lively wore a simple hot pink Michael Kors dress, a far more age-appropriate and less-slutty look than the one she wore at the Met's Costume Institute Gala.

Model Doutzen Kroes wore Zac Posen. It's a bit over-the-top, as Posen is wont to be. I find it tacky.

Heidi Klum in Michael Kors. Although she seems a bit matchy-matchy, I think it's a typical Heidi look.

Model Lydia Hearst is wearing Marc Bouwer. I think she looks like she should be auditioning for an ice dancing competition. Or maybe a part as a fairy in the Hobbit movie. She looks so fragile and skinny in that diaphanous material.

Maggie Grace wears Christian Siriano. I like it.

Molly Simms wears a Dolce & Gabbana Marilyn Monroe-print dress. I think she pulls it off, but wished she had done something more with her hair. It looks like she just came home from the gym and only had time to throw on the dress.

Padma Lakshmi wears a lovely J. Mendel gown that is far too long, and jewelry from her own line. Apparently peach/skintone is the new black.

Fabiola Beracasa is wearing Proenza Schouler under a horrible feathered cape and with purple suede booties. What was she thinking? She looks like a crazy person.

Robert Tagliapietra and Jeffrey Costello of Costello Tagliapietra (catchy) dressed as pot-bellied lumberjack bears.

The Lauren offspring - David, Dylan, and Andrew, dressed appropriately for the occasion, in tuxedos and a gown.

Meanwhile, Daddy Ralph only had time to dress his upper half, and Mommy Ricky Lauren borrowed something from Michael Jackson to go with her casual white jeans and platform wedges.

Resort 2010 - Isaac Mizrahi

Isaac Mizrahi sent out his 2010 Resort collection last week - it's a regular pastel-a-palooza, apart from a few black & white looks. I'm kinda loving it, apart from that yellow dress which looks like it's made from cellulite. What do you think?

Women In Film's 2009 Crystal + Lucy Awards

Judging by the lack of real star power (with few exceptions) at this event, it was a non-event. But still, there are dresses to rip.

Michelle Trachtenberg's shiny print dress reminds me of the foil wrappers on mini chocolate Easter eggs. And I think the black shoes and black goop around the eyes is so harsh. The whole look is just not working.

Not long ago I saw an episode of The Equalizer ca. 1985. Melissa Leo was really a pretty young thing back then. Today, well, I like her dress but think the color is too close to her hair and skin color. And I'd like to see her with bangs.

Mary McCormack looks terrific with her sleek hair and happy face. The dress is a little drab though.

I love Keke Palmer's dress - it's bold and bright and summery without being tacky or too casual...

...which is how I feel about Heather Locklear's dress. Looks like she threw it on after lying around the pool all day. Her hair looks kinda mangy, too. What happened to the Preference? Isn't she worth it anymore?

Jodi Foster looks gorgeous. Perfect. Love the darker hair. Holly Hunter looks painfully thin, and I think she's getting a bit too old to wear her hair that long. She obviously does not employ a stylist.

I''m not a big fan of Jennifer Aniston because, well, I think she's a big nothing. But she looks hot in this dress, and her usually too-stringy-looking hair looks good too. Well done.

Oops!

Sorry I haven't posted here much this week, but I'm kinda preoccupied with my latest endeavor, All Top Chef. And of course there's also Blogging Bravo.

63rd Annual Tony Awards

The stars were out for the 63rd annual Tonys, held at New York's Radio City Music Hall. And what did they wear?

Stockard Channing, while lovely, has wide shoulders and narrow hips which this dress only emphasizes. A fuller skirt might have worked better to make her look less like she's trying out for the Giants.

Piper Perabo took a page from Scarlett O'Hara's book and wore a dress fashioned from curtains - some old 70s drapes, by the looks of it.

Marcia Gay Harden looked terrific - green is a great color for her.

Where to begin with Lauren Graham's dress? Why the bow in the awkward post-crotch position?And why is she wearing such a lumpy and obvious bra? The color is...interesting, but maybe a tad too shockingly bright.

Kate Burton decided to eschew formal wear altogether and wore her nightie instead.

Jessica Lange looks great. That's how one wears a bright color.

I like Edie Falco's dress until it gets to the hem, at which point it looks like a wrinkled duvet.

Dolly Parton has had so much work done, she's starting to look like Madame. And her ensemble is typical Dolly - pink, somewhat frothy, a bit of bling. Nothing surprising there.

I want to like Chandra Wilson's dress, but the color is just not working for me.

Let's forget the color and head on to the parade of ever-popular black.

Gina Gershon, on the arm of the lovely John Stamos. Despite the halter, that dress is so serious-looking. She needs a shot of color.

Jane Fonda looks great, and I like that she doesn't feel the need to show off her (probably still toned and fabulous) arms.

I think Bebe Neuwirth looks too severe in black. And I hate the matchy matchy shoe and waist flowers.

Anne Hathaway looks like she's gained a few ounces - her arms don't look like sticks. While flouncy skirts like that always remind me of dead birds and Phyllis Diller, this girl looks good in almost everything. Even black.

Ok, enough black - back to one last shot of color. Allison Janney looks fantastic. Pretty, even. Love the dress, love the color.

2009 MTV Movie Awards

As usual, the MTV Movie Awards were attended by a bunch of...err...young people. (Don't you love how I don't even pretend to know them? When I was young and hip, I didn't have access to MTV. Now that I'm a cranky old fart, I don't care. Would my life really be richer if I watched "The Hills?" No, I didn't think so.)

But, I'm not entirely clueless...

Sacha Baron Cohen showed up as his latest character, Bruno, and made a general spectacle of himself. I've seen people dressed like this in the tents at Fashion Week, so he's only slightly an exaggeration.

Rumer Willis - a case of a genepool gone awry - was sporting red hair and a dress that made her look like she had been thrown through a Church window. Fail.

Once again, Paris Hilton does her impersonation of that famous tower in Pisa, while her dull-looking-yet-handsome boyfriend, Doug, attempts to keep her from falling on her ass. If she leans over any farther, and we'll see...oh, unspeakable horrors. It's a better outfit than the ones she wore at Cannes; at least she's not wearing a diamond necklace on her head.

Miley Cyrus looks so ladylike in this dress. I almost don't mind the nude shade on her, but I think something more colorful would be prettier. 

Leighton Meester. Uh. Um. Wouldn't this look so much nicer if it were all opaque? I mean, I understand that sheer is supposed to = sexy, but this dress looks like she's trying to wear the new line of Spanx all at the same time. And what's with the flappy things at the waist? Are they pockets? 

Kristen Bell is cute, and this is a cute dress, but I don't know if it works on lil Kristen. It would be sluterrific on Heidi Klum, however. And hmm...reminds me a little of Reco Chapple's winning outfit on episode 4 of The Fashion Show (which reminds me of Leanne Marshall's winning dress from the Saturn carparts challenge).

Another tiny cutie, Hayden Panettiere, in another little black dress. This time, I don't like the dress at all...it looks ill-fitting? Crooked? Sloppy? All of the above?

Audrina Patridge's dress appears to be one-sleeved; can't tell with all the hair going on. Anyway, it's completely meh. But I do like very much that she lightened her hair - it makes her pale blue eyes look less-scary.

Love the boots, kinda like the top although it's reminding me of redesigned hospital scrubs, and hate the tight pants/leggings. And the red lipstick.

Chris Isaak's date is the best-dressd of them all.

Cannes 2009, part deux

Stars (and nobodies who somehow managed to get an invitation) congregated on the red carpet for the Inglourious Basterds premiere. 

Sharon Stone came dressed as a middle-aged tart.  No telling if she wore panties or not.

Diane Kruger wore a pretty silver and white dress and entirely too much black crap around her eyes.

As skinny as she is, Michelle Yeoh still managed to look somewhat lumpy under her dress. Or is that her hip bone jutting out? Eat a cheeseburger, will ya?

Paris Hilton looked as ridiculous as ever in far too much jewelry, and posing as if she has something severely wrong with her pelvis.  Her latest romantic victim, Doug Reinhardt, looks a bit shell-shocked.

I think Joss Stone's dress is cute, but she didn't bother to wash her hair. And the shoes are really hideous.

This chick, Jana Pallaske, looks like she's wearing the elminated design from a Project Runway challenge involving vacuum cleaner bags, duct tape, and feather dusters.

Amazing - Angelina Jolie is not wearing black! Unfortunately, nude doesn't suit her either. A shame because it's a sexy dress.