The Eight-Day Week
Wednesday, August 27
If you spent August in your underwear like we did, eating taco takeout while ogling Michael Phelps, well, put your pants back on because tonight Bill Clinton mounts the stage in Denver to try to pull off the greatest acting job since Olivier trod the boards. And speaking of hot air, horndogs and nubile lovelies, we’re a week away from Fashion Week, that twice-yearly influx of underfed Eastern Europeans and their high-heeled, chain-smoking, Emergen-C chugging, town-car-commandeering, American counterparts, who … Gosh, we love puppies! Critter charity Bideawee hosts a parade in Westhampton, featuring face painting and a little red wagon contest, aided by Jill Rappaport of the Today show and Bash Dibra, “dog trainer to the stars,” not to mention a pack of Chihuahuas and Yorkies in Burberry sweaters and Vuitton bags, one of whom will win “Best in Show” (a dog, that is, not an owner).
The Transom
Josh Lucas, Richard Schiff, Alan Cumming Turn Pundits at DNC
DENVER—“I think the most interesting thing I’ve seen so far is all the secret deals that have been going on,” said the actor Josh Lucas at the Going Green event hosted by Bank of America on Monday night. The American Psycho star is at the Democratic National Convention, making the rounds of the Creative Coalition circuit of events. “It’s been happening everywhere. ‘I’ll give you two tickets to the J.Lo party, you give me two tickets to see Fergie on Thursday.’ It’s been happening everywhere. It’s like serious drug dealing going on.”
Earlier that day, Mr. Lucas had been in an SUV heading to one of the many events sponsored by the
The New York World
Clear the Ice! Oksana Is No Blue Baiul
On a recent Monday morning, Oksana Baiul was pulling on a pair of battered skates at the Ice House in Hackensack, N.J., a few miles from her top-floor high-rise apartment in Cliffside Park. (When friends come over and see her Manhattan view, she said, “they’re all like, ‘Mo-ther fu-cker!’”) She yanked off one American-flag-bespangled blade protector, then another, pushed up the sleeves of her fuzzy Tweety-yellow sweater and made her way onto the crowded ice, skating past five-time national ice dance champions Peter Tchernyshev and Naomi Lang; Ukraine’s Olympic aspirants Sergey Verbillo and Anna Zadorozniak; some pubescent skating students; and a pair of ice acrobats.
Men of Manhattan
The Second Most Beautiful Girl in New York
A while back, a friend of mine boasted that he was spending time with a hot transsexual. Now, my friend—let’s call him Ryan—is quite the ladies’ man. Despite his perplexing androgynous style—tight jeans, guy-liner, the occasional wig—Ryan always shows up with a gorgeous young woman on his arm.
Now he was dating a tranny, and talking about it as casually as if he’d recently begun incorporating onions in his scrambled eggs. He went on and on about how she was “totally fucking hot, man. Probably one of the hottest transsexuals in the world; it’s probably between her and some Thai boy.
Style
Late Night Tequila Tasting With Susan Sarandon!
Last night the much-discussed Hollywood contingent here in Denver, who have been lending their "visibility" to myriad events and causes all over town, congregated in the V.I.P. section of the Black Eyed Peas concert. Members of the Creative Coalition's hard-working band of entertainers—Alan Cumming, Tim Daly, Anne Hathaway, Spike Lee, Barry Levinson, Josh Lucas, Matthew Modine, Susan Sarandon—were joined by various showbiz colleagues including Jessica Alba and Hayden Panettiere in the balcony area at the Fillmore Auditorium, as Fergie & Co. shook their rumps on stage below.
Meanwhile, local nightclub impresario Jesse Morreale wondered if the glamorous crowd would have enough energy to return for another after after party at the Rockbar. read more »
Fashion Roundup: Naomi Campbell's New Brazilian Pad; Salvatore Ferragmo Designing for Nicole Kidman; Kate Moss Gets Golden
honoring Nelson Mandela.
Next week, Opening Ceremony will put American designers aside in favor of featuring young Japanese designers whom owners Humerto Leon and Carol Lim discovered on their travels through Tokyo. [WWD]
Naomi Campbell's billionaire Russian boyfriend, Vladimir Doronin, bought her a $18.5 million penthouse in Brazil. [P6]
Tom Ford is co-hosting a fundraiser for Barack Obama at the Beverly Hills home of the Creative Artists Agency’s Bryan Lourd, and Michelle Obama is slated to attend. [WWD] read more »
Vogue Says the Socialite is Dead
Whitney Contemporaries Art Party.
In this month's 8-pound Vogue (we estimated!), William Norwich writes about a new trend: the disappearance of the socialite.
Apparently our city's young women who've made their names attending galas and charity balls are suddenly opting to stay home these days. Why? Well, it seems that the weakening dollar has made the socialites want to slow down and show less of themselves in public.
Over-exposure is suddenly so crass. read more »
Art and Life Get Blurred for Gossip Girl Fashion Designer Abigail Lorick
On September 4, former Ford model Abigail Lorick will debut her Spring '09 collection. Ms. Lorick's line, Lorick New York, is the real-life fashion line behind Eleanor Waldorf's fictitious fashion house on Gossip Girl. According to Steven Rojas, a spokesperson for Archetype Showroom (which will be producing Lorick's New York Fashion Week show), Blake Lively, Taylor Momsen, and Leighton Meester will be in attendance. But it won't be the first time that they'll be seeing Ms. Lorick's latest collection. read more »
Nina Garcia on Her Feud With Elle's Anne Slowey: "It is What It is"
On the afternoon of Wednesday, August 27, the Daily Transom headed to Saks Fifth Avenue to get some face time with Project Runway judge and soon-to-be Marie Claire fashion director Nina Garcia, who was there to promote her new book, The One Hundred: A Guide to the Pieces Every Stylish Woman Must Own.
The detailed instructions—take the elevator to the fifth floor, walk the path between Theory and Diane von Furstenberg, get to an area called Studio Services, find the first door on the right to the VIP room—were already making us giddy with the grandeur of it all. read more »
Morning Memo: Whitney Port's Already Working for DVF; Pirates Attack a Real Estate Investor's Yacht; Samantha Ronson's New Book
party last Friday.
The Hills' Whitney Port may have already started her new job working as in-house PR for Diane von Furstenberg. [NY Daily News]
Gotham magazine editor and socialite Cristina Greeven Cuomo is reportedly next in line to make an appearance on Gossip Girl. [P6]
Jonathan Leitersdorf--real-estate investor and former owner of Noho's Sky Studios, an 11,000 square foot event space where the Seinfelds got married and several episodes of Sex and the City were shot--owns a 178-foot yacht that was just attacked by pirates off the coast of Corsica. The men were carrying "rifles and guns" and made off with $200,000 in cash, jewelry, and art work. read more »
Fashion Roundup: Tim Gunn Does Not Approve of Cindy McCain's Fashion; Mark Ronson Supports His Sister; Topshop's Denim Plans
In addition to thinking that Cindy McCain's hairstyle makes her look like she's gotten a face lift, Tim Gunn now also thinks that her clothes look "duct-taped." [The Cut]
Mark Ronson will return as the DJ for his sister Charlotte Ronson's Spring 2009 show at Bryant Park in September, after Ronson sibling Samantha took over the turntables for the past few seasons. [FWD] read more »
At Jennifer Lopez Event, Rufus Wainwright Muses On Gay Politics
DENVER—Wednesday afternoon at the Denver Art Museum, Jennifer Lopez, Capitol File and Viacom honored Marian Wright Edelman for her work with the Children's Defense Fund. Before the awards presentation began, the Daily Transom spied the singer Rufus Wainwright, wearing a plaid blazer, striped T-shirt and sandals.
"I'm gay and out and proud, but in saying that I feel that the gay community could be a little more engaged," Mr. Wainwright said. "You can even spell it out. E-N-G-A-Y." Har!
"I guess one of the reasons I'm so vocal is to get some of my community out there because especially gay men-and those are the only ones I can really speak for-they tend to get a little into the lush life and the dance, the DJs, the disco music, and it's fun and everything, but unfortunately I'm a huge pessimist right now. read more »
On Craigslist, Denver Now a Playground for Eager-to-Please Obama Supporters
What happens when thousands of politics wonks descend on one poor, defenseless mile-high city for a few days? Why, lots of Craigslist posts offering or soliciting politically minded sex, of course.
Take this 39-year-old man, who is offering a "free spa quality sensual massage for Obama supporters!" He adds: "Would love to meet and greet and touch a good energy soul in for the convention. Tall and fun with a great touch."
Or the 32-year-old man staying at the Aurora Hotel who was looking for a "cowgirl": "Are you a lady voting Obama? Are you looking for a little fun tonight during the convention? Perhaps you like to cum over and "Watch" with me? I'm serious about meeting up with a good-looking lady for the afternoon/evening and if you're serious about meeting up with a good-looking guy; what are you waiting for? Get back to me!"
Perhaps this read more »
Cheers, Tears and Ongoing Tensions at the Chelsea Hotel
Residents of the illustrious-yet-embattled Chelsea Hotel will get some face time with new manager Andrew Tilley over drinks at El Quijote tonight -- including some of the tenants that Mr. Tilley and the hotel's owners have been trying to evict in recent weeks.
Meanwhile, tonight, in the hotel's grand ballroom, calling hours are scheduled for Chelsea inhabitant Angela O'Conner, 46, who was found dead late last week in a room on the ninth floor, after neighbors complained of a nasty odor.
Welcome to the Chelsea, Mr. Tilley!
It's a precarious position to be in: Since taking the daunting job several weeks ago, the former Hard Rock Hotel frontman has publicly sought to smooth over lingering tensions between longtime Chelsea tenants and the new regime, recently issuing a friendly introduction letter and read more »
Morning Memo: Jessica Alba and Friends Show Up in Denver, But Barack Obama Keeps His Distance
Tina Brown Misses Hillary Clinton; Calls 2008 Convention a 'Much Bigger Deal' Than Last Time
Entourage Filming in Queens!
