Liaisons Dangereuses at the Frick Collection

Yesterday was a perfect spring day, one of those “sunny and mild” concoctions. No wonder, signaling so rightly a fresh start to the social season, was the Frick Collection Young Fellows Ball!

This year’s theme… Les Liaisons Dangereuses, inspired by the recently reopened and relit Fragonard Gallery at the Frick mansion. “The Progress of Love”, a remarkable series of paintings by the 18th century French artist Fragonard, was commissioned by the infamous mistress of Louis XV, Madame du Barry. The panels were to be installed in one of her smaller salons at the Château de Louveciennes. However, Fragonard objected to her request to make the young lovers in the pictures to look like her and the not-so-young king. When the panels were completed, Du Barry declined to take possession of the commissioned work and Fragonard was paid an indemnity of 18,000 livres!

Fragonard kept the panels at his home in Grasse, never selling them, and where more than a century later they were discovered by the British art dealer Sir Joseph Duveen, who then brought them to Henry Clay Frick, the latter purchasing them and installing them in his new mansion.

Last night love was definitely in the air, or at least a craving for weddings, judging by the surplus of huge white dresses! The exception, as always, was Ivanka Trump, who opted for a dreamy beige Monique Lhuiller Spring 2009 strapless gown, that had a ruffled skirt, and a contrast sash tied to the waist. She looked stunning! Monique Lhuiller herself wore of course her own designs, but her strapless teal gown looked so out of touch! I couldn’t help but wonder whether she really did design Ivanka’s dress…

The evening was an enormous success, with over 600 gorgeous people ignoring the Uptown seat prices, in order to mingle in the Galleries and in the splendid blue-lit Garden Court. The Education Program of The Frick Collection received a boost of nearly $300,000 thanks to all the generous guests!

After grooving through some DJ DL’s handsome tunes in my Valentino gown on a moving-light rococo projection on the floor, and then realizing that my sudden dizziness must be also somehow related to those Ivanka-sponsored Vodka lemony drinks, it was time to dash off to the La Perla after party at St Regis. Upon arrival, there was Champagne, and encore …Champagne! Enough for me to join in the singing next to the piano in an impromptu sing-along!

Caribbean Holidays

I have just returned from the sunniest & most delightfully entertaining St Barths. And what a long party that was! I can’t remember the last time I drank so much champagne! Oh yes I do actually… ;-)

I flew in with my darling friend Miss V, who had invited me to stay at the gorgeous Aigue Marine villa overlooking St Jean Bay. Our first stop was the Hermès store in Gustavia, as I once again forgot my clutch at home! And because it was supposed to match my orange Narciso Rodriguez dress, I simply could not show myself at the Gagosian party without it! So we ended up purchasing a few other items of interest. Who can resist Duty Free? Just as we were walking out of the boutique, in comes Satsuki! That’s Daniel Craig’s Satsuki. We discovered that they were also going to Larry’s party, so since we were going to catch up with her at the party anyway, we didn’t want to take up anymore of her precious shopping time.

On Sunday night, Larry Gagosian’s party at Nikki Beach was truly spectacular. The Kings of Leon flew in for the occasion, and even Roman and Dasha disembarked off the Pelorus. I met up with some very familiar faces, spent a couple of hours gossiping with friends on the deck, and drank way too much champagne! Unfortunately that’s all I remember. Next morning over breakfast, the always excessively frank Miss V was reciting to me the next sequel to my nightly adventures, but I couldn’t believe my ears, so from that moment on, I decided to ignore whatever was said or whatever might have happened on that sultry night. And to drink a little less champagne next time…
I spent most of my daylight hours catching up with friends at the Case de l’Isle for lunch or lounging by the Isle’s pool. My disappointment for Taiwana remains, so I was definitely not to be seen on their territory. Then on Tuesday night, it was la grande fête aboard Octopus. Paul Allen had once again surpassed himself with the guest list, and it was truly a feast for the eyes! The highlight was undeniably Bon Jovi’s jam session! Oh, and naughty Miss V managed to snap a redhead girlfriend of hers sitting next to Mr Soros. Over breakfast next morning, I was told that apparently she wasn’t just sitting next to him… Shall I really believe everything I hear over breakfast?
On that same morning, being New Years Eve, my dear Miss V announced that she was jetting off to Aspen for the evening’s celebrations, as she simply could not refuse a last minute dream invitation. So I had the villa completely to myself, and was instructed to do absolutely anything I wanted! Anyway, I was planning on attending Saif’s party at Nikki Beach that night. I did end up drinking too much champagne though, but it was such a great party! Mariah Carey sang a few songs while Beyoncé was waving her arms around, visibly enjoying herself. Timbaland and Jay-Z did a little rap number just after midnight. Then halfway through the night, while dancing my heels off, I bumped into Charlotte! No, it wasn’t my excessive champagne drinking, it was indisputably the other Charlotte! I hadn’t seen her for a whole year, and we had a lot to catch up on. But I just couldn’t work out why I hadn’t seen her earlier at the party!

By the time I woke up on the 1st of January, it was already dinner time. Miss V had left me a Happy New Year message, informing me of her prolonged stay in Aspen. So I invited Charlotte to take advantage of my empty villa for the remainder of my stay, and since she was going back to New York in a few days time too, she agreed to replace Miss V as my jet buddy…