Artful Celebrations
“That guy’s a chick magnet,” a Secret Service agent said of Bill Clinton. Stars and socialites party at the Frick and beyond.
Thanks to the economy (or no thanks, depending on how you look at it), frivolous affairs all but disappeared from the social schedule this winter, leaving only the stalwart events hosted by big arts organizations.
The Frick Collection held its annual Young Fellows Ball, sponsored by Monique Lhuillier, Ivanka Trump Fine Jewelry and Roger Vivier. A junior set including Tinsley and Topper Mortimer and Byrdie Bell donned tame interpretations of the evening’s Les Liaisons Dangereuses theme, save one woman who wore a towering white wig. Lake Bell, meanwhile, took in the Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot works. “There’s a painting here called The Lake,” she said. “I’m trying to get my date to buy it for me.” Afterward, the party moved to the St. Regis hotel for an impromptu show-tune sing-along.
A few nights later, Liev Schreiber was an honorary chair at the TriBeCa Ball, which benefits the New York Academy of Art. Justin Timberlake showed up but didn’t stay for dinner. Bill Clinton made a surprise appearance during dessert, sending jaded New Yorkers into a frenzy. “That guy’s a chick magnet,” observed one of his Secret Service agents.
That’s probably not exactly how he is seen by daughter Chelsea, who attended the School of American Ballet’s Winter Ball a week later. She was joined by Sarah Jessica Parker, Blake Lively and White House social secretary Desiree Rogers. “We want to do a poetry slam [for the White House],” Rogers revealed. “It’s my job to stay ahead of the trends.”
The next night Valesca Guerrand-Hermès and Amanda Brooks hit the Museum of the City of New York’s Winter Ball. Versace sponsored the event, which meant there were gowns slit up to here and down to there. “I’m totally taped in,” said Heather Mnuchin. “With extra tape in my bag.”
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