Parties You Will Never Get Into

Reinstituting Britannia on American soil, Prince Harry of Wales mounted his steed for a special polo engagement May 30 in New York City. The game highlights His Royal Highness’ two-day visit to America, only his second time ever.

New Yorkers, from the well-heeled to the ordinary, filed on ferries bound for Governors Island to gawk at the royal. His Royal Highness, 24, last visited America when he was just a child.

Prince Harry, playing in Nick Roldan’s team, floored Black Watch, which was led by Argentine polo champ/Ralph Lauren model Nacho Figueras.

While the game had princely overtones, everybody was welcome. Commoners, many of whom had never seen a prince before, watched the game for free west of the gargantuan pitch. The polo match raised funds for Sentebale, Prince Harry’s nonprofit group benefiting Lesotho.

Saturday’s game was far from classless though. While dressed-down spectators enjoyed the game from bleachers, a different scene was at play across the pitch.

Swilling founts of Veuve Clicquot, aristocrats lunched inside air-conditioned tents, where table seats cost $50,000 each. Organizers also indulged guests with blankets and lawn chairs for some leisurely sprawling on the lawn.

Moët Hennessy USA chief executive Mark Cornell was on hand to take care of drinkers. St. Regis’ star chef Sandro Micheli concocted the fare, which included cream tea, asparagus salads, gourmet cookies, and other pastries.

Deferring to tradition, guests donned their best summer finery, the women donning hats of all shapes. LL Cool J even traded rapper’s wear for a waspier ensemble. Meanwhile, Polo Ralph Lauren’s David Lauren witnessed his company’s logo come to life.

New York First Lady Michelle Page Patterson did the match’s throw-in. Later, during the halftime breather, flat-shoed guests ceremonially trod on the horse-made divots.

Pop royal Madonna, escorted by shutterbug Steven Klein and her two sons, breezed in around this time, amid commotion. Louis Vuitton’s Marc Jacobs sat beside the singer, some distance away from fellow designer Donna Karan. Models Hilary Rhoda and Alek Wek strutted around the tent.

Now on its second year, the Veuve Clicquot Manhattan Polo Classic gathering also drew Vikram Chatwal, Veronica Webb, Byrdie Bell, Joann Pailey, Rachel Roy, Dustin Yellin, Sophia Hesketh, Peter Brant, Samantha Boardman Rosen, Lucy Sykes Rellie, Cornelia Guest, Amy Sacco, Matt Lauer, Kate Hudson, and Chloë Sevigny.

Fuchsia and pink heated New York City as its fashion, business, and showbiz authorities showed up in full support of a fundraiser by the Breast Cancer Research Foundation (BCRF). Titled “Hottest Pink Party Ever,” the party ordered invitees to show up dressed in the color on April 8, 2008 at the Waldorf-Astoria.

Gwyneth Paltrow wore a fabulous outfit in the prescribed color. She was one of 1,200 faces who swarmed the hotel’s gathering, which was underwritten by the Hearst Corporation, Time Inc., Wrangler, and Condé Nast Publications.

Elizabeth Hurley, who is married to Indian entrepreneur Arun Nayar, donned a pink-tinged sari to the event. She also emceed it and publicly acknowledged BCRF Founder and Chairperson Evelyn Lauder.

She was all praises for Lauder, whom she called the “hottest gal of all.” Evelyn Lauder’s niece, Aerin Lauder Zinterhoffer, assisted her as she went onstage to give a speech. Aerin is Estée Lauder’s granddaughter.

BCRF’s Chairman of the Executive Board of Scientific Advisors, Dr. Larry Norton, also spoke to the assembly. He related his experiences as Director for the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center’s breast cancer programs.

Sir Elton John brought the house down in a seismic show with his band. John’s mini-concert honored is good friend, the late Linda Stein. Stein was a member of the BCRF Advisory Board. John had partner David Furnish in tow.

The night’s other ostentatious guests included Project Runway winning designer Christian Siriano, and world class designers Vera Wang, Tommy Hilfiger, and Donna Karan.

BCRF also enticed David Alan Basche, Padma Lakshmi, Dee Ocleppo, Myra Biblowit, and Katrina Bowden to attend the important event. Television’s ambassadors included Deborah Norville, Carson Kressley, and celebrity chef Rocco DiSpirito.

Celebrants left the gala with $5 million in funds raised for breast cancer research.

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The Metropolitan Costume Institute Ball is an enormously star-studded event which you can definitely feast your eyes on every year.

As for this year, the party was held at the prominent Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York on May 5, 2008. The festivity was a commencement celebration of the Costume Institute’s exhibition titled Superheroes: Fashion and Fantasy, which ran until September.

The gala event was co-chaired by Vogue editor Anna Wintour, legendary designer Giorgio Armani, Academy-award winning actor George Clooney, and Academy-award winning actress Julia Roberts. In fact, the event has been co-chaired by Wintour, Roberts, and Clooney for the last 13 years; without doubt, these three have already perfected organizing this momentous occasion. This primary New York event was said to cost $7,500 per ticket.

was apparently inspired by the Superheroes theme and everyone was absolutely anticipating for Hollywood stars to show up in their designer gowns and suits. The lengthy roll of A-list stars who decided to join in the fun included Katie Holmes who came in her Giorgio Armani gown and Boucheron jewels, along with Tom Cruise; Cristina Ricci wearing Givenchy and Bulgari jewels; supermodel Giselle Bundchen in Versace and Tom Brady in Tom Ford; David and Victoria Beckham in Giorgio Armani; Jennifer Lopez flaunting her Alberta Ferretti dress; Chris Noth in his Calvin Klein Collection; Scarlett Johansson along with Dolce & Gabbana who also dressed her that evening; Fergie in Cartier jewels and Calvin Klein Collection; Jennifer Connelly in Balenciaga; Donald Trump and wife Melania Trump in Vera Wang; tennis star player Venus Williams who came in her Carolina Herrera gown; Mary J. Blige in Michael Kors and Lorraine Schwartz jewels; Eva Longoria showed up in her Marchesa and Vedura jewels, and Claire Danes wore a gown designed by Narciso Rodriguez.

The listing goes on with attendees like Blake Lively, Donatella Versace, Janet Jackson, Naomi Watts, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Mischa Barton, Hillary Duff, Kristin Davis, Amanda Peet, Stella McCartney, Kate Moss, Amber Valleta, Claudia Schiffer, renowned designer Valentino, Iman and David Bowie, Kimora Lee Simons, and Kate Bosworth.

How do you get Justin Timberlake, Jessica Alba, and Tyra Banks together? Simple. Invite them all in one big significant affair like Alicia Key’s 5th Annual Black Ball.

The 2008 Black Ball was held last Nov. 13 at the Hammerstein Ballroom of New York City. An annual benefit event, the ball is intended to raise awareness as well as to solicit support and funding for Keep a Child Alive organization. The organization finds ways to help provide life-saving anti-retroviral treatment and support services to children and families who have HIV/AIDS in Africa and in other third world countries.

This year’s Black Ball event started with a cocktail party to begin the evening’s festivities. An auction was held right after the cocktails. Later on, guests were treated to a sumptuous dinner, which featured exceptional performances by celebrity guests Justin Timberlake, Joni Mitchell, Jack White, and Emmanuel Jal. Of course, the ball’s host and Keep a Child Alive’s co-founder, Alicia Keys, also performed. She and Timberlake also serenaded their guests with a rendition of their own version of Phil Collins’ “Another Day in Paradise.”

Guests who lent their presence and support to Keys and the organization included the Gucci-clad new mom Jessica Alba, Iman and David Bowie, the elegant Queen Latifah, singer John Mayer, America’s Next Top Model’s Tyra Banks who wore a Mariah Carey-like Michael Kors gown, Timbaland, Lenny Kravitz’s daughter Zoe, Swizz Beats, Adele, and Top Chef’s Padma Lakshmi who looked beautiful in a Naeem Khan.

Alicia Keys, the 28-year old global ambassador for the organization, was herself stunning in an Armani strapless dress that she paired with an Armani python jacket.

The singer’s celebrity friends were all in praise for her dedication and commitment to the organization and pledged to support Alicia Keys in trying to raise money and awareness for the organization.

During the star-studded event, Queen Latifah was honored for her humanitarian work. The brain behind Idol Gives Back, Simon Fuller, was also an honoree.

Iman, also a global ambassador for the organization, co-hosted the cocktails while Jessica Alba was the perfect ambassador for Keep a Child Alive throughout the night.

The 2008 Black Ball event was able to raise a total of $2.4 million.

Heidi Klum’s reputation for throwing outrageous Halloween costume parties has become quite legendary. Since Halloween 2000, the German supermodel’s soirees have gained cachet as Fright Night’s to-be-seen-at-parties.

Her tenacity in dressing up has always been the event’s main feature. In the past, she appeared as Lady Godiva, a gilded alien, a larger-than-life apple, and last year, as a diabolic cat.

On the party’s ninth year, Heidi Klum dressed up as the fearsome Hindu deity Kali. For this persona, she was colored blue from head to toe by face paint and body stocking. Brandishing swords, a fanged Klum irreparably looked the part with eight arms jutting from her, one of which held a severed head. Human fingers embellished her waist as girdle, while a necklace of shrunken heads hung from her. Inevitably, the constant Victoria’s Secret favorite easily snatched the Best Costume prize during her own party.

Heidi Klum’s ghoulish celebration took place on Oct. 31, 2008 at the hip watering hole 1 Oak in Lower Chelsea, New York City.

Austin Scarlett, who was a contestant on Klum’s Project Runway reality series, kept the Oriental vibe strong with a geisha outfit. Fellow Project Runway alumnus Christian Siriano turned up as villainess Cruella de Vil, whose partner, cameraman Brad Walsh, gamely dressed up as one of the 101 Dalmatians. Actress Jessica Alba appeared with a wig; her husband Cash Warren donned a military fatigue and an afro cut. “So What” singer Pink also dropped by Klum’s bash as a sad clown — on her way to more parties that same night. Anja Rubik, Caroline Winberg, Jesse Williams, Sarah Hughes, Kelly Killoren Bensimon, Peter Concotti, and Marc Bouwer were also on the guest list.

Heidi Klum’s musician-husband Seal was likewise in the mood for some All Hallow’s Eve fun. He came as a Genghis Khan-like warrior, while their three children went as Spidermen and a bumblebee.

The guests at Heidi Klum’s 9th Annual Halloween party enjoyed the cocktails sponsored by Absolut 100. The ostrich-leather seats and oak-embellished ceiling of 1 Oak added glamour to the already plush event.

Heidi Klum says her “scary goddess” costume was recommended by her assistant, who reminded the supermodel of her trip to India in 2007.

Fashion designer Marc Jacobs threw an extremely exclusive Fashion Week after party at Robert de Niro’s Greenwich Hotel in Tribeca. Known for throwing big bashes without really thinking up on the guest list, this September 2008 New York Fashion Week after party was a different one. For starters, the party was divided into two groups. One group gathered at the open bar while Jacobs and select friends partied in the back courtyard.

Second, while the group of people huddled closely at the bar danced, mingled, and enjoyed their merrymaking, the designer and his friends, including actresses Winona Ryder and Kirsten Dunst, and director Sofia Coppola, savored a three-course steak dinner. The meal was served to them in style by a uniformed staff. Although there were about 100 guests, not all were invited to the exclusive family-style dinner table.

Jacobs threw the party to celebrate the success of his Fashion Week show where models sashaying to Gershwin’s “Rhapsody in Blue,” paraded the designer’s latest masterpieces. Jacobs’ collection combined grunge with gleaming fabrics, Hollywood glamour, and vintage looks. The designer also acknowledged all the celebrities who attended his shows like Winona Ryder, Jennifer Lopez, Sofia Coppola, Martha Stewart, Joel Schumacher, Anne Hathaway, Elijah Wood, Kanye West, and Nicole Richie. Not all these celebrities were invited to the party, though, as even Lord of the Rings alumna, Wood, had a difficult time getting into the after-show bash.

Hathaway, who essayed the role of an ugly duckling-turned-fashionable princess in The Devil Wears Prada, did not join the other celebrities at the fashion show but was present at the tightly-guarded after party. She had to miss Jacobs’ show because she was at the U.S. Open. She had her fill at the party, though, even if she had to leave early.

Other celebrities and A-list guest who found their way into Marc Jacobs’ Fashion Week After Party at Greenwich Hotel included Jessica Simpson, fashion stylist Rachel Zoe, Perry Farrell of Lollapalooza, and Sonic Youth frontwoman Kim Gordon. Jacobs’ business partner, Robert Duffy — who revealed that he and the designer have not eaten in 24 hours — was also around.