Recently in New York Category

You can now book advance reservations to Chanel's Mobile Art Exhibit online. Several time slots are already sold out, so hurry!  They are complimentary too!

It's less than a month now until it opens!

I read about this in the New York Times this morning and it sounds fabulous, I can't wait... A "Mobile Art" exhibit sponsored by Chanel and housed in a really cool futuristic art pavilion is coming to Central Park this Fall, in October.

The structure that houses the exhibit was designed by a London architect, Zaha Hadid, and has already been to Hong Kong and Tokyo; and after New York it will be going to London, Moscow and Paris.

Inside this thing which is like art itself and a draw on its own... will be 15 works commissioned by Chanel by 15 contemporary artists that are inspired in some way by Chanel's classic quilted, chain handled handbag, "the 2.55" which was first released in February of 1955.   The works include sculpture, photograhy, videos and installation pieces. The project was inspired by the 50th anniversary of the handbag... but it has taken a few years to get it together!

The structure will be in the Rumsey Playfield area of Central Park from October 20th to November 9th.  Admission will be free.

New York in the Summer, you gotta love it... Philharmonic, Opera and picnics in the Central Park, movies in Bryant Park... this year it's even better!  "The New York City Waterfalls" just opened. It's free public art, like the Gates. The project was conceived by Olafur Eliasson, a Danish artist.

They are 4 waterfalls: 2 in Brooklyn (1 at the Brooklyn Bridge, 1 at the Brooklyn Piers), 1 in Manhattan (Pier 35) and 1 on Governors Island (north shore). They are between 90 to 120 feet tall. You can see them from land or take a special Circle Line boat tour for viewing.  They have 30 min and 1 hour versions for $10 and $25.  Or New York Water Taxi has 2 options both $25, with an evening "Sunset Waterfalls Cruise" with no kids allowed (thank you) and a cash bar. The waterfalls are lit after sunset until 10 pm and will operate through October 13th.

The Met's Costume Institute Gala was last night.  The Gala kicked off the new Costume Institute exhibition "Superheroes" Imagery in Fashion (May 7 - Sept. 1, 2008).  The gala's  Honorary Chair was Giorgio Armani and Co-Chairs George Clooney, Julia Roberts, and Anna Wintour.  As usual everyone who is anyone was in attendance.
Here's Anna Wintour in an interesting silver Chanel Haute Couture dress.
   
You can see all the photos here.

Here are my votes for the best and worst dresses.
Worst: Christina Ricci in Givenchy Haute Couture

Best: I hate to say it, but Eva Longoria in Marchesa

I'm not a big fan of Eva, but this dress was a great choice. It stands out because of the color and detailing. I also liked Kelly Klein, in a green Calvin Klein Collection dress and Scarlett looked quite good in Dolce & Gabbana with a corset style top.

Okay, who would have guessed that J Crew has sold out for the season their "tangy orange" Bermuda shorts with embroidered yellow crab critters? I know this because I was on their website today to order them and they were not there, only the kelly green critter shorts are left. They are currently searching every store in the country to find my orange critter shorts for me.
Why did I dally? I knew I loved them the first time I saw them in one of the seemingly weekly catalogs they send. The reason was the very fact that they were "tangy orange". I thought this color was just too crazy to actually wear. But clearly I changed my mind because I was trying to order them today.

My feelings on orange have been changing for quite a while. My first dealings with the color include life jackets, carrots and the absolutely dreadful orange vanity in the downstairs bathroom of the house I grew up in. (yes, the house was built in the 70s!) I am quite sure that my dislike of orange continued all the way through college. It is sometime thereafter that the color started to change for me. I bought my first Hermes scarf in 2000 and I still have the beautiful bright orange box.  Hermes loves orange! How can they be wrong?

Of course I probably owe a lot to Christo and Jeanne Claude and their brilliant Gates exhibit in New York last year.

That totally did it for me, the orange juxtaposed against the bleak colors of the New York winter was brilliant and beautiful. These days orange is extremely common in both fashion and home fashion. Today I was surprised to see that a normally traditional home décor company (Peacock Alley) is offering bright orange "kumquat" linen accessories! Their show bed features a bright orange pillow against traditional blues and white.... again - brilliant!

Love live orange!