Tinsley Mortimer | The New York Observer

City Opera's Big Night: They Seem to be Adopting Wainwright

Fri, 06 Nov 2009 12:58:40 -0500

Opening night at New York City Opera felt like New York City Opera can sometimes feel: like the Metropolitan Opera, but scrunched up. Rather than unfolding majestically along Lincoln Center like the Met's, City Opera’s red carpet was crammed into the lobby. Then, when the gala ended, those who hadn’t been invited to the post-concert dinner had to squeeze past tables crammed with flowers, candles, and salads before emerging into the cold November night.

...

Tinsley's Reality

Thu, 29 Oct 2009 09:58:59 -0400

With bitter dismay, the Post reveals this morning that Tinsley Mortimer's impending reality show will be "as fake as her platinum blond mane."

One incident of fakery recounted by a Post source:

"Tinsley and her friends were being filmed watching [owner] Albert Trummer do his regular fire show [where he sets absinthe aflame] when one of the producers stepped in to spice it up.

"The producer whispered something in a friend's ear and she immediately began fighting...

Tinz to Take TV

Fri, 25 Sep 2009 16:36:10 -0400

We have just learned that socialite Tinsley Mortimer will be getting her long-rumored reality show. Dreams really DO come true, especially for the rich and famous.

The CW--where she guested last season on Gossip Girl--has ordered eight half-hour-long episodes, none of which seem likely to address actual Mortimer...

Golden Girls Heather Graham and Tinsley Mortimer Lend Natural-History Museum Spider-Silk Opening Some Glitz

Thu, 24 Sep 2009 16:24:03 -0400

The last human being to wear Spider Silk, a textile stronger than steel and made from the silk of the golden orb spider, native to Madagascar, was one of Napoleon’s wives. She sported Spider Silk gloves. Two hundred years later, on the evening of September 23 at the American Museum of Natural History, socialite Tinsley Mortimer picked up where French aristocracy left off and valiantly wrapped a shawl made from the silk of 40,000...

Tinsley Mortimer's Hamptons Plans Include 'A Lot of Meat'

Thu, 02 Jul 2009 13:36:29 -0400

At Tinsley Mortimer and Elizabeth Meigher’s pre-4th of July party at the Samantha Thavasa boutique on Wednesday, July 2, socialites admired Ms. Mortimer’s handbag designs while discussing weekend plans for the forthcoming mass exodus out of the city.

“I’m either going to to Bridgehampton or my place in the Adirondacks,” Ms. Meigher said. “We have a small family island with no phone and no TV in the Adirondacks. If I go to the...

Report: Tinsley and Topper Mortimer Will Stay Together and 'Start a Family'

Wed, 08 Apr 2009 12:12:56 -0400

Despite the numerous Page Six reports about their rumored divorce, New York socialite Tinsley Mortimer and her hedge-funder husband, Topper Mortimer, are not separated and are, in fact, working things out.

That’s according to Ms. Mortimer’s recent interview with Avenue magazine, titled “Tinsley Talks,” in which she tells the glossy:

“We have felt our way through some difficult times and transitions, but we love each other...

Reviews of the New Tinsley Mortimer Are In!

Tue, 24 Feb 2009 00:37:11 -0500

In January, the Daily Transom reported that the socialite Tinsley Mortimer's attendance at galas and cocktail parties was dwindling. In the first half of 2008, Ms. Mortimer was photographed attending 30 different parties; in the latter half of 2008, she was photographed at only 15. At the time, Ms. Mortimer was rumored to be going through a separation from husband Topper Mortimer due to his alleged "promiscuous ways," and so we figured that was...

Fashion Roundup: Bloomberg's Friends, Tinsley's Bangs, LiLo's Night Out

Wed, 18 Feb 2009 16:58:32 -0500

Mayor Bloomberg, Caroline Kennedy, and Joel I. Klein showed up Giorgio Armani's store opening last night because Mr. Armani is donating $1 million to The Fund for Public Schools. [WWD]

Recently separated Tinsley Mortimer, mostly absent from the society scene as of late, showed up at Baby Phat (of all places) with new bangs and heavy eye make-up. [The Cut]

Yesterday's G-Star show ended with a reading of Joy Division's "Candidate" by actor Benicio del...

As Separation Rumors Swirl, Tinsley Mortimer Stays Home While Topper Loses Weight

Mon, 12 Jan 2009 11:22:43 -0500

Tinsley Mortimer and her husband, hedge funder Topper Mortimer, are reportedly telling friends that they've been separated since December. And according to Page Six, Mr. Mortimer is responsible for the split.

A unnamed source "close to the couple" tells Page Six, "Tinsley was getting fed up that their 'don't ask, don't tell' agreement was being violated by [Topper's] promiscuous ways."

Judging from this quote, a part of the Mortimers' marriage "agreement" was apparently that...

How to Dress Up Like a Socialite for Halloween

Thu, 30 Oct 2008 14:21:28 -0400

If you don't feel like being yet another Ashley Dupre, Sarah Palin, Don Draper, or Dick Fuld for Halloween this year, consider a costume that you can whip up in less than 24 hours that will no doubt impress your social-climbing friends: the New York socialite.

Throwing together a socialite costume overnight is easy. Most of what you'll need is probably already in your closet--or your friend's closet--and it has the attractiveness and comfort factor...

Tinsley Mortimer's Brand Extensions, Explained

Mon, 13 Oct 2008 16:15:19 -0400

As you may recall, New York's queen bee Tinsley Mortimer has been acting as "lifestyle director" for B+B Investment Group, a real estate-focused private equity fund run by Ilan Bracha. If it may have seemed unlikely that Ms. Mortimer would be willing to step foot in something so dreary as the headquarters of a real estate company (in Plum Sykes's The Debutaunte Divorce, a character based on Ms. Mortimer says, "I only dress for...

The Peacocks of Paris Fashion Week

Fri, 03 Oct 2008 11:23:36 -0400

Now that New York Fashion Week is but a distant memory, the front rows of Paris Fashion Week—which ends Oct. 5—are crowded with editors, socialites and actresses. At the Balmain show, Derek Blasberg sat alongside Milla Jovovich and Paul Anderson. French Vogue editor Carine Roitfeld and her daughter Julia Restoin-Roitfeld attended the Christian Dior Spring 2009 show, and Tinsley Mortimer made an appearance at Christian Lacroix. Even the ubiquitous Leigh Lezark is over there...

Topper and Tinsley Mortimer Heading for Divorce, Says Radar, But How Do We Know It's for Real?

Fri, 26 Sep 2008 15:25:40 -0400

"Are Tinsley and Topper Mortimer getting a divorce?" Radar wondered this afternoon. In an un-bylined item, they quoted an unnamed socialite who said, "[The rumor] is definitely going around … I've heard from her friends that it's happening sooner rather than later." Apparently, "multiple pals of the Park Avenue parvenus" support the claim.

Of course, predictions of the perfect-looking-but-apparently-odd couple's demise have been popping up for a while now, so it's hard to say...

Todd English Cracks the Whip at Libertine

Thu, 18 Sep 2008 12:40:02 -0400

What a great week to launch a new restaurant in the Financial District!

“We’re all nervous about what’s happening with the economy, but we’ve got to charge through it,” said chef Todd English, dressed like an urban Johnny Cash in all black, as he celebrated the opening of his latest eatery, Libertine, at the Gild Hall hotel on Gold Street on Wednesday night.

“There’s no right...

Gossip Girl's Josh Schwartz Doesn't Have a Problem With Racy Ads, or Jay McInerney

Tue, 02 Sep 2008 19:43:30 -0400

“While we haven’t pulled in blockbuster ratings, we have helped create an identity for the network—or rather, an identifying show for the network,” Josh Schwartz, the 32-year-old creator of the CW network show Gossip Girl, told the Transom via phone from his office in Burbank, Calif., the other day. To New Yorkers’ alternate delight and horror, the new season of Mr. Schwartz’s show began on Monday evening with guest appearances by Tinsley Mortimer and...

Socialites To Celebrate Book About Socialites

Thu, 14 Aug 2008 15:39:37 -0400

Via Park Avenue Peerage -- Tinsley Mortimer and actress Emmy Rossum, along with Vogue, will co-host a party celebrating the release of New York Times Styles writer Tatiana Boncompagni’s new novel Gilding Lily (out on September 9th from William Morrow/Harper Collins) at the Tahari store on West Broadway. Also expected to attend are socialites Jennifer Creel, Christian Leone, and Lydia Fenet, among others. The book—the story of a suburban girl’s marriage to the scion of...

Muffie's Swish Beach Club Mulls Tinsley and Topper

Tue, 22 Jul 2008 19:50:39 -0400

Prominent socialite couple Tinsley and Topper Mortimer have been “proposed” for membership at the famously stuffy Southampton Bathing Corporation—or as it’s nicknamed, “Beach Club”—immortalized both in Tom Wolfe’s 1987 The Bonfire of the Vanities and the movie Born Rich, Jamie Johnson’s seminal journey into the pickled minds of young rich people. (“I brought three Jewish girls to the club today for lunch,” golfer Ray Floyd’s lil’ gal Christina told the camera. “Who knows? I...

Tinsley Mortimer Pimps Out Her Dentist

Fri, 18 Jul 2008 17:01:14 -0400

We might not have even noticed this item if it weren't for the handy new Cityfile blog pointing us to it, but it seems that Tinsley Mortimer has expanded her PR superpowers to promoting not only herself, but also her dentist.

According to W magazine, the socialite sent out a letter to her friends and acquaintances—in other words, all of the Upper East and West Sides—recommending her dentist, Dr. Steven Butensky.

...

Morning Memo: Kirsten Dunst's Guys; Tinsley Mortimer's Gigs; Anna Wintour's Advice

Thu, 17 Jul 2008 08:52:26 -0400

Depending on which day you read the papers, rehabilitated Kirsten Dunst is chasing Into the Wild actor Emile Hirsch, or maybe Drew Barrymore's ex, Justin Long. [P6]

CNBC interviewed Tinsley Mortimer as the "socialite-turned-entrepreneur," who designs handbags, lip gloss and clothes. Apparently she's huge in Japan! [Park Avenue Peerage]

Anna Wintour has offered to "discuss her career, stories of former successful Vogue interns and give advice on how to do well in the...

Five Questions: Tinsley Is Meant for Hollywood! Or, At Least, a Brooklyn Soundstage

Tue, 24 Jun 2008 17:42:38 -0400

This afternoon, the Daily Transom rang up Peter Davis, Tinsley Mortimer's brother-in-law, to inquire about Ms. Mortimer's upcoming role on Gossip Girl. It turns out that unlike Lydia Hearst, who played a character in the show, Tinsley's role is a cameo!

So What's Tinsley's role on the show?

She's playing herself. I think it's sort of tongue-in-cheek. Tinsley lives the life these kids portray on the show only they're much younger of course....

Tinsley Mortimer To Appear On Gossip Girl

Mon, 23 Jun 2008 14:40:21 -0400

Tinsley Mortimer was spotted shooting an episode of CW's Gossip Girl this morning, wearing a white dress alongside co-stars Blake Lively and Taylor Momsen.

Of course she's not the first of Manhattan's "socials" to appear on the show: Lydia Hearst was in last season's finale. But then it's not Ms. Mortimer's first time filming for television: Page Six recently reported that MTV shot a reality show featuring Ms. Mortimer that was then killed because...

Morning Memo: MTV Rejects Tinsley Mortimer; Anne Hathaway Cuts Loose

Fri, 20 Jun 2008 08:47:35 -0400

MTV reportedly shot a reality show featuring socialite Tinsley Mortimer, but the project was killed because she just got dressed and went out to parties every day. [P6]

Kelly Cutrone responded to The Observer's commenters' questioning of her age by scanning her driver's license. She is, in fact, 42-years-old as she had told Meredith Bryan. [The Cut]

Christie Brinkley went to New York Supreme Court yesterday to ask...

Tinsley Mortimer Says Being Nice Will Help You Lose Weight

Thu, 19 Jun 2008 11:28:57 -0400

“Park Avenue is a state of mind, not a location,” said Dr. Stuart Fischer. The graying founder of the Park Avenue Diet Center, with his small, intense eyes and professional tan, looked the part of socialite-whisperer as he stood in the foyer of a fifth-floor room at Townhouse 2 at 807 Park Avenue Tuesday night, his blue shirt and tie accentuated by the blue-brown zebra striped curtains against the windows, greeting...

Morning Memo: 'Carrie Bradshaw' Moves to Brooklyn; Sarah Jessica Parker is Staying in the Village, Though

Wed, 02 Apr 2008 07:53:35 -0400

Manhattan has gotten too expensive even for Carrie Bradshaw. Sarah Jessica Parker tells The Daily News that the outer boroughs is where it's at now for young things trying to imitate the idealized lifestyle her character once advertised. [NY Daily News]

Ladies and gentlemen, Robert DeNiro's extravagant Greenwich Hotel is now open. Rich and famous only please, no regular folk. [NY Daily News]

Tinsley Mortimer makes an appearance on the cover of Page Six...

Socialite Slapdown: Round I Sees Olivia Palermo Triumphant

Tue, 01 Apr 2008 14:40:52 -0400

When Park Avenue Peerage posted an item about the Young Fellows of the Frick Collection gala yesterday, the site’s commenters went a little nuts.

One commenter said, “Byrdie Bell rocks, nobody even comes close!
“I have known Serena [Merriman] my entire life and the girl is 100% completely full of herself,” said another. And there was this one: “Byrdie, Tinsley, Barbara look stunning!” And...

Tinsley and Topper Face Off!

Wed, 26 Mar 2008 14:55:24 -0400

...

Morning Memo: Obama and Pitt, Jolie and Clinton, Cousins; Tinsley and Topper Not Talking?

Wed, 26 Mar 2008 09:04:11 -0400

Having broken up with Jason Preston, Marc Jacobs is on the prowl and a drama queen. [P6]

France's first lady Carla Bruni-Sarkozy's nude portrait taken by Michel Comte in 1993 will be auctioned at Christie's on April 10th. [NY Daily News]

Is there discord in the Mortimer home? Tinsley and Topper arrive separately to the Young Fellows of the Frick Collection midnight breakfast after party last night and avoided each other while there. [P6]

Lowbrow MTV reality...

'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...

Why Can't I Get Just One Frick? At Museum's Big Ball, Tinsley Is Tired

Tue, 18 Mar 2008 19:35:53 -0400

A couple of hours into the Frick Collection’s Annual Young Fellows Ball on Thursday, March 13, socialite powerhouse Tinsley Mortimer seriously needed a break.

It had been a long week of benefits. The American Museum of Natural History on Tuesday (which Ms. Mortimer had helped chair), then the Museum of the City of New York on Wednesday, now this, which she was also co-chairing.

The blond beauty was sitting on...

Tinz TV? Dior's Diaphanous Socialite Considers Reality Series, Hates Tabloid Media

Fri, 28 Dec 2007 15:23:02 -0500

Tinsley Mortimer might become the next T.V. phenom. It seems the 31-year-old socialite is considering starring in her own series, a reality number with a “fashion bent.”

Even though Ms. Mortimer is toying with the notion of broadcasting her daily life, she’s not too keen on the media. In today’s WWD, Ms. Mortimer says that tabloids are filled with a bunch of lies. And though she...

New York's Hottest Society Clan of 2007!

Thu, 20 Dec 2007 13:54:09 -0500

Who can claim the title of 2007’s most socially social New York society clan? In a major year-end party wrap cobbled together by Style.com, the aesthetically-inclined Web site asks—and, thank gawd, answers—that very question.

On one side of the party divide is the Peter and Minnie Davis/Tinsley Mortimer team. (Mr. and Ms. Davis are, for those who didn’t know, Ms. Mortimer’s siblings-in-law.) On the other:...

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...

Tinsley Mortimer Immortalized in Costly Cotton

Mon, 17 Dec 2007 12:21:02 -0500

Watch out, Ernest and Calvin! There’s a new jean company in town. Considering the labyrinth of hip denim brands already out there vying to cover your quads, any newcomers better have a gimmick or two stuffed up their, um, leg. Enter Aristocrat, a line that has—no joke—gone and named one of their styles “Tinsley,” after, of course, the one-and-only Ms. Mortimer. (Like the characters in a childish prep-school manuscript, other styles...

Byrdie Bell Alights on Socialite Consciousness, Cracks It Like a Twig

Mon, 17 Dec 2007 09:47:08 -0500

Like a mighty rainstorm over the parched Sahara, yesterday’s Page Six Magazine profile of Byrdie Bell offered sweet promise to Manhattan’s socialite landscape, which has grown decidedly athirst for new blood. And though Ms. Bell’s been around, smiling for Patrick McMullan at glittery galas for a few years now, our understanding of her was just that—rather two dimensional. Not so anymore. In just three short pages, Gawker’s soon-to-depart Joshua David Stein gives us exactly...

Kristian Laliberte Wants to Measure Your 'Substance' With New Web Site

Thu, 06 Dec 2007 14:04:00 -0500

To be honest, party boi Kristian Laliberte has fallen off The Daily Transom's radar recently. In fact, we were mere millimeters from forgetting about the guy altogether. And then he sent us something so darling, so mind-blowing, it would be a crime not to share.

It seems Mr. Laliberte, a publicist of sorts, mourns the loss of Socialite Rank, the posthumous Web site that once assigned...

Tinsley Mortimer On, In Southern Mag

Wed, 14 Nov 2007 16:45:20 -0500

Sales of Virginia Living’s December issue are sure to spike, at least in this city, because Tinsley Mortimer will grace its cover. Inside the magazine, readers can find an eight-page photo spread that was shot near Richmond (Ms. Mortimer’s hometown) at the Tuckahoe Plantation—the same place her ancestor Thomas Jefferson was apparently reared. To take a gander at Ms. Mortimer in all her Southern-Gothic glamour, click on the link below.

Tinz Fetes Chloé With Chilean Peonies

Fri, 09 Nov 2007 14:04:08 -0500

After an extensive interior renovation, the Chloé store on Madison Avenue re-opened this week. We didn’t get to go to the welcome-back Wednesday night party, co-hosted by Vogue, but Park Avenue Peerage was there and they just published their report. Their usual collection of party pictures begins with an unusually-smiley Tinsley Mortimer.

Perhaps the socialite is all-grins because earlier that day, Ms. Mortimer had hosted a luncheon for...

Musto Lets Loose! Tells of the Night Tinsley Tried to Queer-Block Him!

Tue, 02 Oct 2007 18:51:50 -0400

Does Tinsley Mortimer have a beef with the gays? According to bespectacled Village Voice columnist Michael Musto, the golden-tressed socialite pushed his button—the wrong one—backstage at the People’s Choice Awards last winter.

“[Mr. McMullan] has lots of pictures of Tinsley Mortimer, who once spoke to me rather rudely, I thought,” Mr. Musto said during a sweaty party celebrating super-paparazzo Patrick McMullan’s new coffee-table book, Glamour Girls, at the Whitney Museum on...

The Public-Relations Princesses

Sun, 14 Nov 2004 19:00:00 -0500

Lauren Davis, the golden-haired scion of a bottled-water fortune, was swooshing uptown in a cab from her West 30th Street office, discussing her job as the director of public relations for the fur-centric fashion house J. Mendel. Ms. Davis, 28, who has co-chaired the American Museum of Natural History's Winter Dance for three consecutive years, doesn't consider herself a publicist. "A young girl who is out and about and loves fashion and really believes...

The Society Seamstress Returns

Sun, 17 Aug 2003 20:00:00 -0400

What's coming between women and their Calvins, Donnas and Ralphs? A big fat pincushion. In an age of global brands, when the windows of Madison Avenue increasingly mirror those on Rodeo Drive and Avenue Montaigne, personally tailored clothes-or "custom," as it is known, as if Edith Wharton had suddenly wandered into Starbucks-are becoming the quiet status symbol of choice for those who can afford them.

With demand accelerating for clothes that fit just so-clothes...