Last night Gradient Magazine frequency -2had their launch party at new hotspot Citrine. The party reached full capacity by 9:30, so you know it was a good one… The event was sponsored by Inocente Tequila that provided complementary signature drinks “sunrise” and “peach margarita” and the deejay provided mostly house tunes, that were a little too progressive trance for me, but everyone seemed to be enjoying it.

(l-r. Alan Vinogradov,Kipton Cronkite,Barris Vinogradov, Matt Fried)

The bar was packed, the crowd was a a good mix of your hipsters, your fashionistas, your socials, and everyone else who came to support Gradient Magazine (and the open bar). Overall, great crowd, great open bar, one of the better parties I have been to recently.

(Matt Fried & I)

Last week I attended the opening of Anonymous Gallery down on Broome St. The event featured a debut exhibition entitled “PLAF–Autonomous Mechanisms” with works by groundbreaking “interventionist” artists Eltono and Momo.

I sipped on a cosmo / tequila drink, which was sponsored by Patron Tequila, while I saw art work that consisted of photography, videos being projected onto a nearby wall, and of course traditional artwork that was catching the gazers eye by its colorful display.  

(Timo Weiland and I)

While guests sipped on tequila based drinks, Arten was providing the music and copies of Spread Magazine were found throughout the gallery to provide some reading pleasure to the guests once they were doing viewing the artwork. After celebrating the opening of the gallery guests headed to nearby The Randolph for the after party.

(My cousin James and I)

Last Friday evening I attended a fashion show by new hot designer Kesh, held at the Anonymous Gallery down on Bowery. Kesh, a designer and DJ who hails from the UK, has found her fashion land on the backs of stars such as Kanye West, Mariah Carey, Lupe Fiasco and more…

The fashion show, which had a great turn out despite the unfavorable weather, displayed the hottest pieces from Kesh’s spring / summer 09 collection. The house music that filled up the Anonymous Gallery was provided by Chromeo and Marcus Udagwa. Complimentary copies of Fader Magazine found its way to the hands of the attendees, as did complimentary glasses of wine provided by Barterhouse.

Next up for Kesh is a clothing collaboration with Chromeo to be sold at your nearest Urban Outfitters.

 I am not a big TV person, except for my Gossip Girl on Monday night’s; finding me in front of the TV is a very rare thing. Last night I made an exception as I was exhausted from running around all over the city, in four inch heels no less (why are there such weird people on Sixth Avenue?). I gave in and watched the first thing that appeared on my TV… “Project Runway”.

I don’t watch “Project Runway”, pretty much at all, I just know who Cristian Siriano is because he has an excellent publicist, but besides that… umm Heidi Klum owns it? And there was some drama that involved Nina Garcia and that was all over Perez Hilton?

Well last night (which probably was a re-run) Diane Von Furstenberg was on as a judge. And the first thing I thought was, “really? DVF? I thought you were… higher class than that…”

So is being on a reality show a sell out? Low class? You will never see Halle Berry, or Brad Pitt, or Tom Cruise do a reality show, mainly because they don’t need the money. In fact Brad Pitt donated $14 million to charity… So who is on reality shows? Umm people who need the money (and the fame), not exactly the upper of the upper class…

So to my shock I see DVF on there, with way too much plastic surgery done she isn’t able to really show any expression, and I just think “why are you selling yourself out?” It’s not like she is up and coming, or is going bankrupt anytime soon, but her? I would think Alexander Wang, who is still making a name for himself - and a brand- would be on there before her… I felt as if I was watching Valentino sell himself… but we all know Valentino would never do a reality show.

So why is DVF selling out? She has a promotional contract with American Express, she hired Whitney Port from “The Hills” and Socialite Olivia Palermo to be fake publicists at her company so they can film “The City” and now she is a guest judge on “Project Runway”, next to Michael Kors??? How many years ago did Michael Kors go out of style? Is DVF loosing a lot of money because of our rough times?? I don’t know what the back story is there but…really DVF?

 Reality TV is to make the Paris Hiltons of this world, people do it because they need a stepping stone to be where they want to be… you are already there. Trust me.

( Vaughn Massey, one of the designers Lara Meiland, Kathryn Bohannon, Rachel Wolkowitz, and Maggie Katz)

 Last Wednesday, September 10, New York’s socials and brides in the making headed to Lara Hélène Bridal Atelier to celebrate the bridal brand’s feature in INSEAM, a documentary series that explores the real life business of up and coming designers.

The series is hosted by Eric Villency and sponsored by Cotton Incorporated. The documentary records the professional and personal lives of the design duo of Lara Hélène: Lara Meiland in New York and Lisa Hélène Meiland in London, where she resides.

( Rachel Wolkowitz and Carrie Cloud)

A fashion week party is nothing without the requisite army of guest hosts. Melanie Charlton Fascitelli, Carrie Cloud, Di Petroff, Vaughn Massey, Kathryn Bohannon, Maggie Katz and Rachel Wolkowitz did not disappoint in hosting duties, wearing their own custom evening gowns designed by Lara Hélène to honor the occasion. Kristian Laliberte also hosted the event, heightening the male glamour quotient, and Veuve Cliquot provided champagne to toast the occasion.

After the party, 69th Street was a sea of colorful cotton scarves, as guests welcomed the new chill in the air with the fashionable party favors provided by Cotton Incorporated.

( Kathryn Bohannon, Melanie Charlton Fascitelli and Maggie Katz)

Hey Guys,

So I know I never do a “Hey Guys” post but I have been enjoying the last few days of summer like you wouldn’t believe.

So what have I been up to?

Labor Day weekend in the Hamptons, welcoming new employees (finally…) at my job, rooftop / outdoor bars and my favorite orange shoes getting some last wear. And of course the Gossip Girl premiere this past Monday, which was great, and this Sunday begins a new season of Entourage.

So with all the great shows coming back, which means time to be sitting in front of the TV and no more outdoor activities, I wanted to catch my last few days of being outside and having funnnn!!

On a side note - I hear there is a hurricane coming our way this weekend?? I guess once the Hurricanes start hitting the great NYC that is pretty much end of summer and everything fun.

But do we know what starts tomorrow?

Fashion Week.

Yes get ready, because Fashion Week is always crazy, hectic, and Bryant park visits will begin tomorrow!

Xo,

Nicolette

This past Friday I headed over to the West Village to do a much needed happy hour with Cristina and Sue. We dined at Havana Alma De Cuba on Christopher St and Bleecker and sipped on mango mojitos in the outside garden, very cute, I would highly recommend it. This is actually a cute date place as well; you should check it out if you are in the neighborhood.

Catching up, and hearing about Cristina’s fabulous vacay in Miami this Labor Day Weekend (kind of jealous…), another topic came up of Sue and her studies for the LSAT. The LSAT is the dreaded test that many hopeful law students take every year, and pretty much kill themselves to get that all important 180.

In Sue’s preparation for the LSAT she subscribed to the New York Times to receive the best reading level possible (yes I know, the reading level is 7^th grade vs, 5^th grade- Daily New, but every little bit counts…)

Funny, because I was thinking of subscribing to Elle Magazine. Cristina was the first to burst into laughter and tell me that it wasn’t quite on the same level. But us friends need to help each other out, Sue can tell me big words that I wont quite understand because I am use to reading the Daily News - fifth grade reading level, and of course Elle which is probably Kindergarten reading level, and I will in return tell Sue all the latest fashion updates. I will only be able to speak one word, since my reading level will be a tad bit lower, that word will be something influential though, such as …. Plum, and of course every girl knows what that word means for this season….

Plum is in, yellow is out. After a much needed evening after work, I took some me time and went shopping last week in need for a much needed fall wardrobe. Plum is so in, as I type this I have “magenta” nail polish (has a touch of purple) and last week I was rocking “Bahama mama”, a deeper plum polish. I have picked up five new plum shirts / sweaters in the course of five days and if this declaration within every clothing store isn’t an official “fall is here”, then I don’t know what is.

Navajo / Indian theme is also in. Urban Outfitters has some great headbands with feathers attached, as well as clip on feathers to add to your hair (super cute, I am def. ordering me pair). This whole Navajo theme was declared in the Fall 08 Fashion Show of Gucci back in February.

The rocker girl and bohemian look (ironically both of my favs and mixed together this season) is also in, and also declared by Gucci from their Fall show.

Needless to say, ready or not, here comes fall!

While checking the news, news meaning Gawker, I came over a little article questioning whether Anna Wintour (Vogue Queen herself) would be getting the boot soon.

Elle beats out Vogue in the #1 department of ad sales (hey they pay the rent honey) and ad sales dropped 7% since last year. Not sure if Anna is to blame, or Mr. Bush, but that is up for debate. In addition, Teen Vogue is no longer featured on The Hills, which is just as bad as loosing all advertising whatsoever - is Anna heading from retirement? (Elle is featured on Project Runway, although with Nina Garcia’s departure this past year, who knows about that…)

This little post came up even after yesterday mornings discussion with my co-worker who asked if I worshiped Vogue as I come in day after day in my trendy working woman outfits at our boringgg job, which caught her eye. I replied - “No I worship Elle” and why do I worship Elle over Vogue? Well Vogue is too, traditional…. I like being a rocker girl, a bohemian hippie, a hipster, a clubber all in one day. Vogue goes traditional, you can even tell this with their choice of cover models ala Keira Knightly, but sometimes I like to experiment ala Mary-Kate Olsen on last month’s Elle cover.

Maybe Anna needs to resign and they need to throw someone younger, trendier, and a little bit more aware of the scene and thinking a tad bit outside the box for the next Editor at large. Whose your pick?  

Did you watch The Hills?

I watched the premiere, it wasn’t that great. This better be the last season, it is getting boring. How long is the Spencer / Heidi vs. Lauren thing going to last?

I can’t wait till Stephanie Pratt betrays Lauren, that will be good, but besides that, The Hills is so over. I am ready for Whitney to take center stage with her PR show between NYC and LA.

Till next week…