Fabiola Beracasa | The New York Observer

Models Mob the Met!

Tue, 05 May 2009 14:48:24 -0400

The theme of this year’s Met Costume Institute Gala—i.e., the Oscars of the East—was “the Model as Muse,” and the weedlike mannequins floating up the red carpet in weapons-grade shoes and teensy get-ups appeared only moderately more human than the “superheroes” that inspired last year’s ball.

Molly Sims called her elaborate gold Dolce & Gabbana minidress “fashion-forward, taking a chance, shorter than short, short, short.” She was also wearing a necklace by jeweler-of-the-moment Tom...

Fashion Week's Brave Face

Tue, 17 Feb 2009 19:48:35 -0500

At Diane von Furstenberg’s afternoon show on Sunday, Feb. 15, the front-row guests simply would not settle down—but perhaps everyone was simply thrilled they didn’t have to put their sad faces on in sympathy for the economy. “We need this!” said Project Runway mentor Tim Gunn, glancing around the tent at Bryant Park. “We need people feeling ‘up’ this week! People were speculating that it was going to be, oh, you know, down and...

Elise Overland Calls Her Presentation More of an 'Event'; Bring on the Open Bar!

Sun, 15 Feb 2009 22:24:57 -0500

Elise Overland's presentation on Valentine's Day was not exactly a presentation in the traditional sense. The models, wearing mini dresses, leather gloves and colorful lambskin blazers, spent time standing on a platform, but also took three walks down a runway throughout the course of the hour and a half "presentation."

Ms. Overland had warned us that it wasn't going to be a typical presentation.

"I hate to say that my show is a presentation because...

Young Socialites Leaving the Parental Nest--Or Not

Mon, 05 Jan 2009 11:45:06 -0500

Ambitious twenty- and thirty-somethings in New York working in creative fields are living with their parents instead of getting a place of their own, reports Page Six Magazine. The magazine cites the celebrity examples of socialites Fabiola Beracasa, 32, and Charlotte Ronson, 31, who just this year left their respective parents' lush residences--socialite Veronica Hearst's on the Upper East Side and Ann Dexter-Jones's duplex in the West Village.

But since Ms. Ronson, a successful...

Harvey Weinstein Banking on Americans' Love for a Good Cry

Tue, 25 Nov 2008 11:57:22 -0500

"I hope you brought tissues," said Brooke Geahan, whose Accompanied Literary Society hosted a screening of Stephen Daldry's The Reader at the Tribeca Grand on Monday, Nov. 24. "It's a crier!"

Mr. Daldry's film is an adaptation of German writer Bernhard Schlink's bestselling novel starring Kate Winslet, Ralph Fiennes, and 18-year-old David Kross. The story focuses on an underage boy's brief affair with an older woman, who he re-encounters years later when...

What Did Everyone Do on Halloween?

Mon, 03 Nov 2008 14:41:09 -0500

While Allison Sarofim's annual Halloween party took place the weekend before Halloween, most people celebrated on the actual day since this year it fell on Friday--and there were plenty of masquerades and balls for New York's socials to attend. Some stopped by the several parties going on around town, while others camped out and grazed on bottle service at one location. Here's the Daily Transom's roundup of who went where, as what, and with...

Bleeding for Zaha: Chanel and Karl Lagerfeld Can Only Hope to Contain Her

Wed, 22 Oct 2008 16:45:39 -0400

In an age where Damien Hirst errata have joined gold and United States government bonds in the shrinking pantheon of safe investments, can contemporary art still be dangerous?

More to the point, can contemporary art be dangerous when it's held in something of a polyurethane uterus, a haute-culture billboard designed by deconstructivist goddess Zaha Hadid, deposited on Rumsey Playfield in Central Park (after stints in Hong Kong and Tokyo), and...

The Transom in Print, Oct. 15, 2008: Socialite Halloween!; Kim Hastreiter's Book on Geoffrey Beene; Chris Wilson's Tall Tale

Wed, 15 Oct 2008 10:15:44 -0400

Irina Aleksander called around to find out the costumes prominent New Yorkers are wearing this Halloween. Celerie Kemble's going to need a lot of hairspray!

Ms. Aleksander also moseyed down to Diane von Furstenberg's meatpacking district store, where the fashion empress was throwing a party for Paper mag's Kim Hastreiter's new book about Geoffrey Beene.

And Spencer Morgan rang his old friend Chris Wilson to find out the real story behind his scandalous tale of...

Crash Virgins

Tue, 23 Sep 2008 20:11:06 -0400

“I have zero investments, for better or for worse,” said 26-year-old Ben Zoltowski, a senior print project manager at the advertising agency McCann Erickson. “I feel like New York is already difficult enough to live in financially! I’m used to living paycheck to paycheck and living frugally, because we sort of have to. Most of us have to!”

Mr. Zoltowski, who lives in Williamsburg, went to Ithaca College...

The Best-Dressed at the New Yorkers for Children Benefit

Wed, 17 Sep 2008 13:24:38 -0400

Sep. 17, 2008 The Best-Dressed at
the New Yorkers
for Children Benefit

On Tuesday, Sept. 16, the post-work crowd on 42nd Street was treated to a procession of coquettish cocktail dresses and floor-sweeping evening gowns worn by Manhattan's uptown set as they exited their chauffeured cars--or pedicabs as we saw in the case of one unfortunate couple--into Cipriani's...

Cecilia Dean Tells Us About Her New House, But Rachel Zoe Won't Tell Us Much of Anything

Thu, 11 Sep 2008 13:13:03 -0400

Wednesday night's party on the Mini Rooftop in Chelsea thrown by V magazine in honor of its new issue was a downsized version of last week's Interview magazine bash—same crowd, different venue. The only difference was that everyone appeared a little more worn down by the elaborate Fashion Week festivities that have taken place since.

The roof—a new addition to New York's hip party venues—has a grassy knoll in the center with...

Bandage-Dress Blues: Wardrobe Malfunction Wreaks Havoc at Herve Leger

Mon, 08 Sep 2008 11:07:37 -0400

On Sunday afternoon, Sept. 7, at Herve Leger's Spring '09 show, the Daily Transom was—shivers of excitement!—seated across from a front row filled with uptown gals.

From left to right, in exact order, were: Genevieve Jones, Derek Blasberg, Fabiola Beracasa, Lauren Remington Platt, Zani Gugelmann, and Maggie Betts. (One of the chairs was labeled "Arden Wohl," but alas she never showed.)

Ms. Platt, clad in...

Pretty Polo Players, Sans Ponies, Prance Around Soggy Hamptons

Tue, 05 Aug 2008 18:37:38 -0400

Even though the Bridgehampton Polo match on Saturday, Aug. 2, was canceled due to rain, Hamptons socials still tottered onto the muddy fields in flowing white summer dresses and 3-inch heels. The Transom spotted the beautiful Argentine polo player and the face of Polo Ralph Lauren, Nacho Figueras, posing for photos with bevies of giddy ladies.

“It’s a shame because we have people here, but there’s not much for...

'Shrooming at the Submercer: Was There Funny Fungus at Knitwear Scion's Shindig?

Tue, 18 Mar 2008 19:38:55 -0400

On Friday, March 14, the socialites Lauren Santo Domingo and Derek Blasberg took knitwear heiress Margherita Maccapanni Missoni out for an intimate dinner at their favorite Italian restaurant in the West Village—they wished to keep the exact location a secret—to celebrate her imminent move to Paris. Afterward Ms. Santo Domingo and Mr. Blasberg coerced Ms. Missoni into getting a nightcap at the Submercer, where they had assembled a secret group of revelers.

Orchestrated by...

Derek Blasberg Plumps Up Socialite-Journalist Boomlet

Fri, 04 Jan 2008 16:23:17 -0500

When did journalism become THE hip hobby for New York socialites? In addition to Fabiola Beracasa’s show-and-tell gig for New York, Derek Blasberg, the ubiquitous man-about-town, is blogging for Style.com. Today he writes about the forthcoming Trovata pop-up store in the back of Earnest Sewn’s boutique on Washington Street in the Meatpacking District.

Mr. Blasberg, who reportedly dates former Vogue assistant Lyle Maltz, kicks his post...

Fabiola Beracasa Shows Off Semen Necklace, Pink Dress at Met

Fri, 04 Jan 2008 13:57:16 -0500

Who knew socialite Fabiola Beracasa was such a stellar broadcast journalist? In addition to her tireless circuit of charity events, Ms. Beracasa took time out to host a sneak peek at the Met’s “blog.mode: addressing fashion” exhibit, which runs through April 13.

In this clip, Ms. Beracasa has a conversation with Andrew Bolton, curator of the Costume Institute for the past five years. And there are some very...

Editor Lauren Davis to Marry Andrés Santo Domingo in Fantasy Wedding

Tue, 18 Dec 2007 15:41:26 -0500

Throwing a blowout, V.I.P.-laden wedding less than a month after Harvey Weinstein’s outrageous nuptials is a gutsy feat. For Vogue editor Lauren Davis, though, it’s as easy as one, two, three…million dollars. Her January 8 ceremony is going to be held in Cartagena, Colombia, the home country of her fiancé, Andrés Santo Domingo, an heir and music industrialist.

Ms. Davis’ nine bridesmaids will each be...

Socialites Shop for Lifestyles at Michael Kors' New SoHo Shop

Tue, 11 Dec 2007 12:54:45 -0500

Michael Kors knows a thing or two about self-promotion. His personal publicity from Project Runway may have created someone new for you to hate--but it created someone new! And last night he used his star-power to attract not just small-screen celebrities but bona fide New York socialites to toast his new SoHo boutique on Prince Street.

The 48-year-old father of the neon metallic sandal has decided to bill the joint “our first Lifestyle store,”...

Socialites Dress Down! For Charity

Mon, 19 Nov 2007 17:17:31 -0500

Last week, the socialite-heavy charity New Yorkers for Children hosted its annual “Wrap 2 Rap” afternoon benefit. We weren't there but, reliably, Park Avenue Peerage was and they just posted their pictures.

It was perhaps most notable because the "what is she wearing?" line does not apply: to get down and dirty with the present-wrapping (for underprivileged kids), the young ladies who are known as fashion plates donned oversized gray athletic T-shirts with...

Trick or Treat! Halloween Costumes of the Rich and Semi-Famous

Wed, 31 Oct 2007 17:43:29 -0400

For your Halloween pleasure, we offer socialites in ridiculous outfits, via Park Avenue Peerage. Allison Sarofim’s famed annual Halloween party last weekend brought droves of familiar names to her West Village townhouse. The hostess, who strutted her stuff around her velvet-draped first-floor in a peacock costume, was joined by guests like Fabiola Beracasa (dressed as autumn), Alexis Bryan (a bumblebee) and Jennifer Creel (an angel). Apparently not one to pinch pennies...

Fabiola On China: 'Feel the Oppression!'

Fri, 26 Oct 2007 11:19:46 -0400

Fabiola Beracasa just returned from a trip to Beijing, where the socialite was a special guest at a Karl Lagerfeld for that Fendi fashion show atop the Great Wall.

Last night she was wearing suede boots, short pantaloons and a corseted top—all black and all Fendi—to a ball to benefit RXArt, a charity that puts art in hospitals, that was held on the third floor of a brick building on the corner of West 15th...

At Burberry, Sashaying Socialites Shop for a Cause

Wed, 10 Oct 2007 14:53:59 -0400

The seemingly ubiquitous Manhattan socialite Fabiola Beracasa stepped out of the elevator at the third floor of Burberry's 57th Street flagship store about 7:30 last night wearing a knit top under a zig-zag print dress and elbow-length black patent-leather gloves.

She was a co-host of a party taking place at the store after hours, benefiting New Yorkers For Children, a charity that raises money for children in foster...

25 Little Socialites

Sun, 03 Dec 2006 19:00:00 -0500

Derek Blasberg insists that he has nothing to do with SocialiteRank.com. In fact, it’s one of the reasons that Mr. Blasberg—he’s a sort of fashion-writer/socialite-walker hybrid who has oft been accused of being behind the dishy, girl-ranking Web site—went to India. To prove, once and for all, that he’s not behind the site. “Going to India for a month without phone or Internet access was even more appealing as I could finally escape any...

The Transom

Sun, 18 Dec 2005 19:00:00 -0500

The New Ride

“If it wasn’t for this snowstorm, we’d probably have more of the Beverly Hills crowd flying in, and it’d be even sicker. But it’s always pretty wild,” said Matt—he didn’t give a last name—the men’s-room attendant at the nightclub Marquee. He was dressed in a white three-piece suit for work, and his voice was bassy and radio-announcer reassuring. “Looking sharp,” said a well-dressed man as he took a paper towel from...