Tonight is the fourth annual Design on a Dime Benefit hosted by Housing Works (the country’s largest non-profit, minority-controlled AIDS service organization) and Real Simple Magazine. 30 renowned interior designers will create unique vignettes from donated, brand new, high-end products -all of which will be available for purchase at 50-80% off the retail price. Tonight’s exclusive VIP opening celebration will offer cocktails, hors d’oeuvres, live entertainment and preview shopping. The 2 day sale will open to the public tomorrow at 10am. This year the event is co-chaired by Maggie Gyllenhaal, a host committee that reads like the society pages of W mag and designers from Thom Felicia (adorable gay man the Army of M.E. hit on in an elevator once -we have a thing for the unattainable) to Ernest de la Torre (whose vignette is pictured here). The Metropolitan Pavilion 125 W. 18th St. betw. 6th & 7th Ave. Click HERE for tickets.
Last night in London the unveiling of the first Oxfam designer boutique took place in Westbourne Grove. Many cool designers showed support: Jonathan Saunders, Henry Holland, Giles Deacon, Christopher Kane and Stephen Jones. Each of them were commissioned to reconstruct donated garments into new, one-off designs that will be auctioned on Ebay to raise money. The stores (2 more to open in West London this summer) will stock donated designer items, fair trade and green collections, and garments reworked by students at London College of Fashion. After the store launch, said cool kids went over to Bungalow 8 to party and dance to DJ sets by Mr. Holland and Roisin Murphy. The boutique will open to the public this Saturday (10 May). In American English: Imagine all the hidden designer items buried in a Salvation Army or Goodwill extracted and placed in a boutique setting but still benefiting the causes. It has the potential to be a stylists dream.
If it’s difficult to read: May 8 & 9, 10a-6p, 601 W26th St. (betw. 11th & 12th Ave.), 17th Floor, Suite 1750. Cash and Credit Cards only.
Boots, sandals and shoes that were priced between $200-$850 are dramatically reduced to $75-$150! Today 10a-7p, Thurs. May 8, 8a-7p, and Fri. May 9, 8a-2p. At the Metropolitan Pavilion, 125 W18th betw. 6&7 Aves.
Really? With a theme of superheroes and fantasy at the Met’s Costume Institute Gala last night, most of the stylists dressed celebs in muted, stone-colored palettes of browns, creams and whites. Okay, I can see going against the obvious but it makes for a boring red carpet. I hate dropping this name but Katie Holmes made up for any lack of color -did you know in art, the most contrasting two colors are the orange of her dress and the blue of her shoes? Very bold and brave of her -too bad she’s a brainwashed robot. As always, every minor to major celebrity was present -seriously, if a bomb went off television and film would have to just shut down for a while. You’re going to be bombarded by these today so I’ll keep it to a minimum…the queen and her Bee were in usual form…
In case you weren’t here last weekend
(Coachella)
Listen here (& buy anywhere)
The Army of M.E. did some productive stuff besides just partying this weekend. There was Yelle at Highline…okay, that’s pretty much a party and we didn’t go to it -we sent others on our behalf as we were busy hanging out with adults further downtown, kinda (see previous post). But we also stopped by the Made in HK pop-up shop which will be in Soho for the month of May -we peeked in on the opening event last Thurs. (May 1) but kept walking. We’re not being mean, we just had somewhere else to be. Stop by for the best of Hong Kong wares (181 Lafayette) and walk a little further north and peek through the windowed facade of Otto Tootsie Plohound because their store is closing and everything is on sale (273 Lafayette). We also virtually stopped by SHOWstudio to see the first few installments of Kate for Agent Provocateur and then decided we’d go see it in its entirety tomorrow at Milk. We love Nick (Knight), everyone loves Kate and we’ve always loved the revolutionary ideals behind Agent Provocateur. Everyone is overly blogging about this but the only one doing it right is Style File…I know, we are plugging the hell out of them today. They are just all over it (we must ring them and find out what their nasty, green hangover drink consists of because our purple one is obviously not cutting it today).
Yes, it’s usually a Monday morning briefing, but the Army of M.E. was, um, sore (hungover) from a long weekend of military training (partying). It seems the diligent ladies over at Style File beat us to the story (hey, they get paid!) but it seemed Jefferson (Hack) & Anouk, Agyness, Gareth, et al. were two steps in front/behind us when we hit the following:
The Kills killed on Thursday despite a minor fire, or something that required a visit from the FDNY. And what is up with the re-incarnation of Webster Hall’s coolness? This is like the umpteenth amazing event/performance I’ve been to there this year. I’m so glad I still have this tee I got for free years ago and ripped up and wore as a parody. It’s always been a good venue I suppose -sans Saturday night Jersey-fests.
Saturday night’s Another Man dinner at Patroon was a welcomed splendor of (mostly) successful, clever men (we saw you imposters riding your friends’ coattails in attempt to crash) and the few fabulous women who admire them. The room brewed with intoxicating conversation until one voice became inescapable. It seems Simon Woods was in a debating mood (can’t fault that) and it cost him a coffee stain on his white shirt -we hear the culprit was (former V mag/new Ingrid S.) Interview’s Christopher Bollen. Woods is a huge Hillary fan (Clinton -if you were thinking Duff, please leave now) which is fine and all (not really), but the Army of M.E. has a low tolerance for agenda pushing -particularly on behalf of politicians. Look, there should have been a civil war between the red and blue states when Bush was elected for the second term is all we’re saying -any tiff now is completely in vain, the time for war amongst each other has passed.
Political, or any other intelligent thought was staved off upon arrival at the Tribeca Grand for the annual Seven party. Yeah, they have more than one party but this is the big one they usually throw around this time of year. The Army of M.E. brought Seven & TGH together as allies many moons ago and it’s been party perfection ever since! Our loves Tommy S. & Joseph Q. hosted Gareth P. & the usuals (MisShapes, 2 Many DJs, etc.). Here’s the flyer -it has a five point star like our clandestine logo. For some juicy insight to what Mr. Pugh’s inspiration is for his S/S ‘09 collection in the fall click over to Style File -who he leaked to…
We’re fine now, all hydrated, products de-puffing the eyes and looking forward to how things unfold at the biggest party of the year at the Met tonight…
Want to go to the old Tunnel club?
No, you’re not having a ’90’s flashback…
you’re going to a sample sale.
Orla Kiely, Soundgirl, Charlotte Ronson,
Erickson Beamon, A&G Cashmere & more.
Today through May 16
Mon-Sat 10a-7p. 269 11th Ave. bet. 27th & 28th St
That’s pronounced ‘goo-mahd’ -you heard it many times out of the mouth of Tony Soprano. It’s a slang term hailing from southern Italy referencing a man’s mistress. Well, my 100% Italian roots are showing. You can expect to hear the term more widely used and not just on Mulberry Street by large men smoking cigars. A little further west at the SSUR PLUS store in SoHo, GouMada by SSUR is hitting the tightly-stacked shelves and crowded racks. The luxury streetwear collection for women launched last year but was primarily available in Japan -where all the items are made. Click HERE to see the line at their newly-launched site or stop by the SoHo store (7 Spring St.) -because a hot GouMada won’t be around for long. Yes, that tee reads one of the Army of M.E.’s favorite words: Guerrilla. We may have to get a GouMada after all.
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