New York, November 9, 2009 – Glamour magazine’s 2009 Women of the Year Awards were as thrilling as ever, honoring distinguished women like Maya Angelou, Amy Poehler, Stella McCartney, Rihanna, Maria Shriver and Michelle Obama.  Presenters included Bill Clinton, Michael Douglas and Catherine Zeta-Jones.  Each speech was more moving than the last, and comic Amy Poehler had everyone laughing, but Tyra Banks took the cake when she introduced tennis great Serena Williams with the following anecdote:

“A couple of days ago I went to the Madame Tussaud’s Wax Museum here in New York City.  So I’m walking around, checking everything out and this one figure caught my eye; and I know the real person and have even broken bread with her before, but I never really felt comfortable enough to, like, really just, like, stare at her and, like, admire her strong biceps.  And, like, I wanted to grab her biceps when I was at dinner with her, and I wanted to just kind of like pull her dress up and really, you know, get a close up of those amazingly taut legs and…the booty.  You know, I wanted to…really, like, damn, mine are nowhere near that toned!  And of course I wasn’t going to touch her at dinner, but here I am at the Wax Museum.  So my dream came true: I started to squeeze the biceps and squeeze the legs and squeeze the booty, and I was, like, oh my god, I was in heaven!  And then these little girls actually came up to me, and they were like, ‘Tyra, what are you doing?’  They were like, you’re so not cool, you’re not supposed to be touching the exhibit.  And I was, like, you guys, I can’t help it.  This woman is so amazing, and she’s so powerful, I cannot help myself.”  

New York, October 30, 2009 – “I think tonight is about all the greenery that Bette brings to the city, and then of course the cherry on the cake is Crosby, Stills and Nash, so it’s a Woodstock kind of night,” Michael Kors, costumed in full hippie regalia, told us at Bette Midler’s Hulaween Ball. 

Whoopi Goldberg kicked things off.  “You know, I have cats, so I don’t need to f--k with trees.  But I know people love to see them,” Whoopi told the dinner crowd.  Bette, whose costume was a “show ghoul”, said she was shocked that so many people showed up for the benefit.  “Because when I made my calls, so many people told me to go f--k myself,” she said before launching into her trademark foul-mouthed fundraising schtick, laced with songs and stand-up comedy. Midler made her way among the tables, embarrassing people into buying trees for the project.  Katie Couric, wearing a Kate Gosselin wig, pledged some money, but demanded in return that Midler sing a lullaby for her “eight children.”  Bette promptly launched into “If I Were a Rich Man.” 

CSN took the stage, and Graham Nash said, “I bought a $2,500 tree. Of course, the only plant David [Crosby] ever bought was some weed.”  The crowd sang along to Goodbye Ruby Tuesday, and by the time they did Teach Your Children – dedicated to Bette’s daughter, Sophie – everyone was dancing in the aisles.  

New York, October 29-30, 2009 – Backstage at this weekend’s fabulous Rock & Roll Hall of Fame 25th anniversary concerts, celebrities checked out the swag in the gift lounge. 

Bacardi, the “official spirit” sponsor, was a big hit.  While Steve Van Zandt, Lenny Kravitz and Bruce Springsteen signed commemorative bottles to be auctioned off for charity, Alan Cumming and Billy Joel swigged it straight and Penn Badgley had a Cuba Libre. 

All eyes were on New Moon hottie Chaske Spencer when he stopped at the Cult of Individuality jeans station – everyone was hoping he would drop his pants and try on a pair.  No such luck, but they are sending him a pair of skinny jeans.  Tiny Christian Siriano fits into Anoname women’s jeans. 

Aretha Franklin wished she’d gotten the AMC movie pass a few days earlier – she said she’d just seen the Michael Jackson documentary This Is It at one of their theaters.

Schott NYC outerwear was a hit with Bonnie Raitt, Fergie, David Crosby, Jackson Browne and Ana Ortiz.  Tom Hanks quipped, “Where were you when I was poor?  I have enough money to buy anything in the world, but nothing pleases me more than getting a free coat!”

New York, October 26, 2009 – Hugh Jackman’s biggest regret about hosting the Worldwide Orphans Foundation gala honoring his wife, Deborra-Lee Furness?  His speech was limited to three minutes.  “I could go on for hours about Deb’s work,” the Wolverine star said.  Jackman and his wife are adoptive parents, as is Mary Louise Parker, who came to lend her support to the fundraiser.  The common thread is the organization’s founder, Dr. Jane Aronson, a pediatrician who treats many of the children adopted by these high-profile parents.  WWO is dedicated to transforming the lives of orphaned children around the world in their native countries. 

East Orange, NJ, October 24, 2009 – Our high school was never like this!  Cicely Tyson unveiled the new home for her namesake school for the performing and fine arts in East Orange, NJ on Saturday, with a slew of stars cheering on the ribbon cutting.  Oprah Winfrey, Angela Bassett, Tamara Tunie and BeBe Winans took in performances in the new $143 million state-of-the-art facility, where more than 1,000 students are currently enrolled.  New Jersey Governor Jon Corzine even took time out from his contentious reelection campaign to christen the school. 

New York, October 22, 2009 – Fashion Group International’s annual Night of Stars gala lived up to its title, as usual, with a bevy of A-listers from the worlds of fashion and Hollywood at the awards dinner, this year honoring "The Storytellers."

Gwen Stefani, Michael Stipe and Jon Bon Jovi were among those who presented awards to fashion luminaries like Kenneth Cole, Diesel’s Renzo Ross and Coty’s Catherine Walsh.  Dita Von Teese wore a glittering hat designed by Stephen Jones, one of the evening’s honorees.  Mary J. Blige and James Franco presented Gucci’s Frida Giannini with an award.  Blige gushed that Giannini had accompanied her earlier that day when she opened her first Mary J. Blige Center for Women in her hometown of Yonkers, NY. 

Legendary Oscar de la Renta received the Superstar award from Vogue’s Grace Coddington and Hamish Bowles, and the Bravo channel was honored as a “fashion oracle.” 

Also floating around Cipriani Wall Street at the gala were Iman, Evan Rachel Wood, Vera Wang, Tommy Hilfiger, Emmy Rossum, Michael Kors and Eva Mendes, who stopped by briefly on her way to the National Design Awards uptown.

With Caroline Torem Craig

New York, October 19, 2009 – Donatella Versace sponsored the Whitney Gala for the second year in a row, and we absolutely swooned when she walked in with Jet Li as her date!  Is there a more fabulous couple?  Li explained that the two found common ground while working to aid victims of the 2008 earthquake in Sichuan, China.  “So this time we asked [hundreds of] children to draw a picture, and Versace put the pictures on bags and sells them, and the money comes back to Sichuan to help the children again,” LI explained.  “So we have a long relationship in helping people.”

But the fashion queen and movie king were but two of the A-list names at the gala.  Jennifer Hudson sang for a crowd that included Shakira, Gerard Butler, Mischa Barton, Chuck Close, Jeff Koons and Ellsworth Kelly.  A dance party followed the dinner - Taylor Momsen took a turn in the DJ booth – and as the evening wore on, the guest list swelled. 

Lindsay Lohan swooped in, and spent ten chaotic minutes marching back and forth across the museum lobby, trying to figure out where to check her coat and how to get downstairs to the party on the lower level.  Late in the evening, we realized that the mustachioed gentleman standing near us was none other than 007 himself, Daniel Craig. 

With Luisa Johns

New York, October 19, 2009 – Rag & Bone opened their third New York shop, at 119 Mercer Street in Soho, with a party on Monday.  The label’s designers Marcus Wainwright and David Neville hosted a gang of fashion types like GQ’s Jim Nelson and Jim Moore, as well as friends like Sienna Miller, who knows the guys from way back and has attended their runway shows.  Miller is staying in New York at this time, rehearsing for her Broadway run in After Miss Julie, which opens this week.

Photo: Caroline Torem Craig