Hello Soul Stylin’ Friends! Hello City Opera Shopping Divas!
So glad to be back, recovered from—and reporting about—our fabulous New York City Opera’s Gala Event, the DIVAS Shop for Opera Event on May 20th. See my City Opera Party Blog here, and I am thrilled to give you a Preview of this!!! my very own blog, The Dame Game!, (full-throttle version, coming soon!) As, always, the Dame loves to tease, so herewith, let me excite you with this juicy, tell-all, romp with New York’s finest, savvy thrift shop shoppers…My Icons of Soul Style.
What an intensive shopping and beauty scene.
Each time I turned around, I was hugging, styling, searching, and sipping with the best dandies, darlings, designers, and dealers around. Dare I drop a few, ahem, names? There were soooo sooo many . . .
E.V. Day, the installation artist who created 3 hanging DIVAS for us, honoring Alexander McQueen with a Madame Butterfly-esque open kimono and black lace leggings…here with Judy Rabinowitz, Moi, E.V. and Christina de Limur …
the funnest writer ever, Cator Sparks, who covered me for Full Frontal Fashion!, with his dear friend and our donor, Rod Keenan, the legendary hat designer to superstars…
Hamish Bowles, European Editor at Large for Vogue magazine, seeing, touching, and buying only the best collectibles, here with Lorry Newhouse, George Steel and Michael Bruno…more on these Icons to come…(see my fave male style icons here and my female icons here!)
the visionary designers three as FOUR interested in creating costumes for City Opera…
Amy Fine Collins, writer and a special correspondent for Vanity Fair magazine, who delightfully hard-bargained with me and the powers that be to buy a gorgeous green Ralph Rucci hammered silk ball gown…and you know I love Ralph Rucci, and my newest friend, Ralph’s sister, Rosina Rucci!
Co-chair Michael Bruno, who really enjoyed that I enjoyed selling all the clothes off my back and is brainstorming an event for us with 1st dibs, his stellar, premiere site for antiques, mid-century modern and vintage furniture,jewelry and haute couture fashion. (Can you tell that I have a crush on Michael Bruno?)
My inspiration and genius, Robert Verdi, style expert and TV personality (his new show is Adorable and I loved the Premiere party, see it ! The Robert Verdi Show) shopping with his lovely woman friend who bought the hottest full-length mink—perfect condition, of course, here with me and Jade Dressler, my soulmate and resident genius and my agent along with Kristen Paladino of The Plant.
Our darling Lorry Newhouse, snatching up Prada and other divine ditties along with her husband Mark Newhouse, who is on my best-dressed list for finding designer duds that fit perfectly (I LOVE when men have their soul-stylin’ eye on. LOVE THAT!)
Here I am dancing with Brunhilde, as illustrated by Isabel and Ruben Toledo, one of a motherlode of original illustrations of Opera characters by fascinating fashion world visionaries that were for sale that night. And, of course, I had a delicious conversation with our George Steel, Artistic Director of New York City Opera who, after I told him he reminds me of my best friend’s brother who went to Choate, admitted his prepster style secret—J. Press. So cool to know that, right?
and ta da!
Now this is a Really a Preview, see for yourselves, all the Opera action, click here darlings for my Divas Shop for Opera Preview video…
Want more? Roland Nivelais, another designer I am in love with…
…pampered me and correctly established me in one of the Shop’s high-quality, vintage furs. He was going for a ravished Grey Gardens look, imagining me on the beach with a surprise hot Eres bathing suit underneath the fur.
Austin Scarlett, with his impeccable skin and style…here entertaining me and my daughter, Phoebe.
Alex McCord, the stylish mom and star of the Real Housewives of New York City…
here with my new friend Delaina Dixon, TV journalist and recent devotee of Soul Styling, and who, exalts, as “Divaness…Delivered” and Fashion Gal, quoted me perfectly, although not as saucy as Cator’s reporting, still captured a bon-mot on how to shop smartly for thrift!
…and some of my favorite behind the scenes LoveBugs….
This is called hug your hairdresser. Yves Durif of the Carlyle Hotel makes me and so many other gorgeous women…well, gorgeous! He is also one of my male style icons…look at this suit, which he proudly claimed has Brooklyn roots.
The whole evening was heaven . . . a shopper’s dream of retail ecstasy, all assisted by the best volunteer crew imaginable and my amazing team of DIVAS Stylists…behind the scenes creating the looks for some of New York’s best Soul Stylin’ Icons!
DIVAS Soul Stylists: Susanne, The Dame, Cathy, Chica, Linda & Ilene!
Five fab stylin’ beauties who selected and carried frocks and finds, and trudged their tired tootsies all evening long in service to the highest purpose of fashion. And when we were all tuckered out and the lights went down, I took us all out for dinner so that we could chatter and gossip and regale each other with DIVAS stories and our conquests of chicness for our customers. The only people missing from that dinner were Patricia Field and the S&TC2 crew!
As great as this party was, I can even top it off for you because . . .
the Divine DIVAS shopping scene continues at City Opera Thrift Shop! Vogue Magazine’s “Best Thrift Shop in New York” is open for your Diva-ness!
Yours in Style & Pleasure,
The Dame
New York City Opera Thrift Shop
222 East 23rd Street
New York, NY 10010-4605
(212) 684-5344
Open Weekdays 10am-7pm; Sat 10am-6pm; Sun 12pm-5pm
(photos in this post by Katherine Fairfax Wright, video of Divas by Chunwoo Kae for Plant)
The Dame Game 