Closet Cases

The temperature in suite 1128 of the Regency Hotel Wednesday morning was on the steamy side. And it wasn’t just a slow-going air-conditioning system. Nina Griscom and Carolyne Roehm were an hour into a two-day joint closet sale (think of it as the chicest of spring cleanings) and things were already heating up. In the suite’s living area, holding Griscom’s wares including vintage Yves Saint Laurent linen jackets, a leather Azzedine Alaia jacket and an embroidered Richard Tyler vest top, a woman tried on a pair of Manolo Blahnik pumps.

“I want them even though they’re too big for me,” she said.

“You have great legs,” egged on her friends.

Over in the bedroom (a third room housed jewelry from Kirat Young), Roehm’s offerings included a runway’s worth of Oscar de la Renta (a lime green silk dress, a metallic silver knit frock and a black feather trimmed cocktail number, among them), plenty of Roehm’s own colorful shifts and knits and a camel Celine shift dress tagged at $400.

“Does anyone want a doughnut?” asked Roehm, clad in a crisp white blouse and black slacks. (Only someone with her whippet slim figure could combine black tie attire and baked goods.)

As blonde ladies in knee-high boots and tweed dresses fingered the racks, Griscom’s husband, Leonel Piraino, popped in to support her.

“Oh no, you brought him!” said Roehm in mock distress that it would affect her sales. “That’s not fair.”

She needn’t have protested. As Griscom peeked in to survey Roehm’s room she offered one downside to emptying out one’s closet.

“Half my profits are going to end up here,” she laughed.

Nina Griscom and Carolyne Roehm’s Closet Sale will be on May 9th & 10th, from 10am-7pm at the Regency Hotel, 540 Park Avenue. (Consult the concierge in case the suite number changes.)