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Alexandria Symonds

By Alexandria Symonds 1/04 1:29pm

Shindigger

The Met Premieres The Enchanted Island on New Year’s Eve

“This is kind of the only big social event in town tonight,” The Observer’s tablemate remarked over lobster salads on the Metropolitan Opera House’s Grand Tier on New Year’s Eve. He was quite right: with many of the usual suspects hunkered down for the season in Palm Beach and Vail, a single elegant event—the Met Gala—was enough to accommodate all the brave souls left in town who preferred evening gowns and Champagne to pajamas and prosecco. Read More

1 By Alexandria Symonds 9/13/11 9:16pm

Not-So-Custom Tailored

The Ludlow Suit. (Jackie Snow)

Ludlow Calling! J.Crew Déjà Vu

Late into a wedding reception last fall, four male friends gathered around the bar. Like the bride and groom, all four were Dartmouth graduates, guys in their mid-twenties who’d moved to New York after finishing college. Having already been through the most pressing catch-up conversation, their talk turned to matters of fashion: one of them, eyeing another’s slim-fitting suit, asked, “Hey, man—is that a Ludlow?”

He was asking whether his friend’s suit was the most popular cut sold by J.Crew, the Ludlow. Of course, it was. So was his own. Another of the group piped up that he, too, was wearing a Ludlow. Only the fourth said he didn’t own one, unintentionally throwing off the group’s sartorial superfecta. Though, judging from the suit’s ubiquity of late, it was only a matter of time. Read More

By Alexandria Symonds 2/01/11 11:49pm

Events

Shindigger: Antiques at the Armory

Men's Fashion Week may have wrapped up in Paris on Wednesday, but a few New York gents invented an entirely new trend Thursday evening at the Park Avenue Armory: suits paired with duck boots. The Observer spotted several guys at the Winter Antiques Show's Young Collectors Night sporting the fashionably questionable but seasonally necessary Read More

By Alexandria Symonds 12/15/10 1:17am

Shindigger

No Chill in Wonderland

"I wear a gown once a year, and this is the party," Cristina Greeven Cuomo declared on Friday evening at the New York Botanical Garden's Winter Wonderland Ball. Ms. Cuomo, group editor of Niche Media, chose well--in terms of both the gown, a perfectly figure-hugging, strapless, midnight-blue Luisa Beccaria number, and the party she wore Read More

By Alexandria Symonds 12/01/10 3:04am

Shindigger

Diamonds and Champagne With Marvin

New York social types would have been forgiven for extending their holiday weekends and staying in on Monday night--we're confident that even today, some enviable leftovers still remain in Upper East Side fridges. But Manhattanites are a tireless bunch, and they showed up in droves to a cocktail party hosted by Marvin Hamlisch and his Read More

By Alexandria Symonds 11/03/10 1:36am

Shindigger

Masked Mayhem: Cornelia Guest, Nathan Gunn and Veronica Webb Visit Richard Branson’s New Jersey Lair

"It's kind of American Psycho meets Eyes Wide Shut," mused the DJ at Natirar, the sprawling New Jersey estate currently owned by Sir Richard Branson, when The Observer asked him to describe his musical strategy for the masquerade ball held there on Saturday night. The evening's festivities--a high-black-tie masked gala benefiting the Susan G. Komen Read More

By Alexandria Symonds 10/20/10 1:58am

The Shindigger

Honors for Angela

"She never says anything!" Kate Mulleavy said of her sister, Laura, wrapping up her acceptance speech for their shared Bill and Maria Bell Young Artist Award at the National Arts Awards on Monday evening. Kate wore a signature all-black outfit--cardigan, crocheted top, trousers and flats--to receive the award, which was presented by Sonic Youth co-founder Read More

By Alexandria Symonds 10/06/10 1:22am

The Shindigger

Comedy Central Laughs for Charity

The party-reporting business tends to make a person sensitive to hyperbole--so when we heard about "Night of Too Many Stars," a live show and auction hosted by Comedy Central at the Beacon Theater on Saturday to benefit autism education, we were skeptical. But The Observer is happy to report that there were just enough stars Read More

By Alexandria Symonds 9/24/10 4:30pm

The Shindigger

Why Georgina Bloomberg Stays Out of Politics, and Fabiola Beracasa and Moby’s Best Dog Stories, at the Humane Society Gala

The Humane Society is not a hypocritical organization -- and so the cuisine served at its benefit gala Wednesday night was, fittingly, vegan. (Munching on seitan chops, The Observer barely missed the meat and cream.) The event packed 525 animal lovers, including Topper Mortimer, Prince Dimitri of Yugoslavia, Hunt Slonem, Sharon Bush, and co-chairs Amanda Read More

By Alexandria Symonds 9/22/10 10:15pm

The Shindigger

Jack Goes Boating and Desert Flower: The Middle East, Muscle Memory, and “Surrendering to Matt Weiner”

Beautiful women bombarded The Observer this past week at the premiere for Jack Goes Boating (Philip Seymour Hoffman's directorial debut) and a screening of Desert Flower (which tells the story of Somalian model Waris Dirie), despite less-than-optimal weather at both screenings. Makeup guru Bobbi Brown came to Desert Flower prepared with tips for dressing in Read More

By Alexandria Symonds 9/15/10 7:06pm

Paul Johnson-Calderon Takes a Cue from Scarlett O’Hara

At a party and presentation last night for IMPROVD, The Observer spotted Paul Johnson-Calderon sporting a bit of an uptown/downtown ensemble: blazer and bow tie up top; cutoffs, knee socks and sneakers down below. And in the middle: black nail polish. "Goth is coming back, I think," Mr. Johnson-Calderon explained, "So I did the Dior Read More

By Alexandria Symonds 9/15/10 6:47pm

Parties

What Does Heaven Look Like to Terence Koh?

At the 10th-anniversary party for Style.com last night, it seemed statement jackets were the order of the evening: immediately upon entering the party, we ran across the artist Terence Koh, who was wearing an immaculate white one with befeathered shoulders. He looked a bit like an art-world angel -- and he informed The Observer that Read More