Parties You Will Never Get Into

This year’s Australian Vogue Party at Fox Studios was one of the best shindigs in all of 2009. And how could it not be? After all, 2009 marked the 50th successful year for Vogue Australia.

The party was a great success. The fact that Audrey Wilder Sang and Jenny Kee twirled around with glee were signs that the party was an absolute blast. It was one of the simplest ways to sum up the magazine’s opulent celebration. The iconic designer, Jenny Kee, had taken the stage in a burst of colors, commencing the glamorous festivities.

But before the guests, of whom there were around 700, had witnessed the impromptu podium dancing, they were greeted upon their arrival at the studio’s soundstage by none other than the chief executive officer of News Limited himself, John Hartigan. Along with the News Limited CEO came a charged line-up of male models and Kirstie Clements, the classy editor in chief of Vogue Australia.

Upholding Vogue’s superior standards, the party served the guests—all 700 of them—a magnum of Moet and Chandon while they were prettily seated in King Furniture. So far, Vogue standards on this side of the globe have never failed to anyone’s wildest expectations. It comes as a small surprise that the company has gone through 50 years of success and glamour.

The guest list in itself was one of the main reasons the party was so brilliant. Parties seldom become boring when the likes of Cate Blanchett, Megan Gale, Miranda Otto, and Collette Dinnigan are in attendance. In addition to that bunch, the who’s who of Australian fashion were also found present at the event. These included Kit Willow, Jayson Brundson, Lydia Pearson and cover girls Abbey Lee (who were all dressed in Max Azria), and Nicole Trunfio (who was clad in Louis Vuitton).

Vogue never fails to impress. Year after year, it brings together people like Hamish Bowles, Grace Coddington, Virginia Smith, and Jeffrey Steingarten into one big bash no one would easily forget.

Vogue’s annual holiday shindig happened on a Wednesday night in Standard Hotel’s well known eighteenth floor, the Boom Boom Room. As the temperatures went down, the merry revelers gathered around the bar poised at the center of the glamorous space. The room was filled with bartenders clad in white jackets and serving glasses of Moët for everyone.

Apart from the free-flowing champagne, the place itself was a reason to feel festive. The Boom Boom Room’s windows, which stretched from floor to ceiling, offer a view of New York City’s breathtaking skyline. Although the place didn’t really need more embellishments, several people had taken the time and extra effort to dress up the place in order to suit the Christmas theme. A white peacock was placed as a finishing touch to the Christmas tree while mistletoe twigs hung from the room’s ceiling.

A bunch of New York A-listers along with Vogue writers, editors, assistants and all the people behind the magazine’s glossy pages indulged themselves in spirited conversation and drinks. The party served as one of perfect excuses to mix vibrant fashion, great drinks, celebrities and bona fide stylistas and tastemakers.

Aside from the much awaited party thrown by Vogue, the eighteenth floor of the Standard Hotel had served as a venue to celebrate the launching of Sasha Lazard’s “Myth of Red” concert series. The promising songstress had celebrated the launch of her concert series along with other fellow musicians including John Mayer, Maggie Rizer and P. Diddy himself.

While the guests of the Vogue Christmas party were served magnums of champagne by white-jacketed bartenders, the party frolickers of the Myth of Red Party were served with unlimited Bang Bang cocktails, the evening’s drink of choice.

In the end, the Devil does indeed wear Prada.

Clothed in Prada Cruise, American Vogue’s deified editor-in-chief Anna Wintour heralded the premiere of The September Issue with close friends and VIPs. The long-gestating documentary played August 19 at an invitations-only screening party hosted by Wintour in New York City.

Moviegoers were a roll call of fashion overlords. Designers Oscar de la Renta, Marc Jacobs, Donna Karan, Vera Wang, Jack McCollough, Jason Wu, Lazaro Hernandez, Richard Chai, Georgina Chapman, Zac Posen and Thakoon Panichgul all made sure to attend, lest they enrage fashion’s legendary “Nuclear Wintour.”

Insiders considered the screening party one of the most important dates for fashion in 2009. After all, the R.J. Cutler-directed documentary is a voyeuristic chronicle of Vogue’s September 2007 edition, one of the thickest magazine issues of all time.

A flood of people vied for a ticket to the premiere, which included a private dinner with the Vogue editrix herself. Despite the limited invites, folding chairs had to be hauled in the venue at the Museum of Modern Art for extraneous viewers.

Wintour accorded the September 2007 cover girl her seat of honor at the screening party. Sienna Miller, who graced the cover in a now-iconic shot by Mario Testino, calmly sat front-row as Wintour impaled her onscreen with icy putdowns.

Indeed, this is the film where Wintour famously dismissed Miller as being “too toothy” for Vogue.

If there were any acrimony between the two, nothing of the sort was seen at the premiere. Arriving with daughter Bee Shaffer, Wintour closely accompanied Miller on the red carpet, the actress clad in a sky-blue mini-dress by Thakoon.

Renée Zellweger, who was also a Vogue cover girl, was included in Wintour’s guest list, along with P. Diddy, Cassie, and Alexa Chung. Models Karlie Kloss, Chanel Iman and Caroline Trentini also came.

Not to be missed at the party were Wintour’s famous Vogue subordinates, Andre Leon Talley and Grace Coddington.