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When I woke up this morning, I was pretty sure that I had dreamed the whole part of last night where I went to a remarkably friendly and not-too-crowded fashion party at the Standard hotel and drank vodka from a beaker that was served to me by a bartender in a white lab coat and danced to the Spice Girls and "Mmmbop" and watched an eight-minute animated film voiced by Kathy Bates and Christopher Lloyd and listened to Tavi Gevinson sing a rendition of Neil Young's "Heart of Gold" that left the room basically speechless. But it seems video documentation has emerged. So I must accept that these things did happen sometime last night around 11 p.m. The crowd was Internet-heavy — Gevinson and her blogger friends share a collegiality that gave the event a rare warmth, unless that was just the martinis I drank and the cupcakes I ate — so I guess it was appropriate that I went with two friends I "met" on Twitter. Internet friends are the best friends, aren't they? The film is called Cadaver and it packs a punch. Also, the Winklevii were there. But I didn't see either of them. I was too busy twirling around on the dance floor. More »
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Nightlife. Everybody knows it's like junior high for legal adults, where the beautiful and the connected are whisked past velvet ropes while the dutiful and well-dressed-but-unknown are left to stand in the cold, saying futilely, "But I'm on the list!" More »
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Josh Siegel brings you animal art every Monday. Add your own requests in the comments, and maybe Josh will draw an animal for you. More »
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While lots of holiday parties are mostly about fun, togetherness, and hot cider, they may also include expressions of the host's religion. Below, a few tips for attending parties of faiths different from your own — and for hosting a friendly, meaningful affair. More »
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During the holiday season, one event sometimes crops up that's potentially even more stressful than a long dinner with your extended family. I refer to the high-school reunion. And whether you'll be attending this year or sometime in the years to come, we have tips for you. More »
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The fraternity responsible for throwing a party that encouraged invitees to dress like sexy Pilgrims and Indians has apologized for acting sort of racist. As an added bonus, they've reached out to the on-campus Native American student organization and refrained from calling for a round of high fives in the process. Progress? More »
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When you're single, hanging out with coupled friends can be awkward. You don't want to break up with your friends when they enter relationships, but you don't want to be the third wheel, either. And what about "couple-y" social functions where everyone seems to have a partner? Never fear, we have tips for you — and for couples, too. More »
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We've all been there: trapped in a seemingly neverending conversation with no obvious way out. How do you escape without hurting the other person's feelings. Never fear — whether you're at a party, on the phone, or stuck in an email chain, we have exit strategies for you. More »
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I learned last night that when you get Iris Apfel and Ira Glass in the same room, good things happen. The party co-hosted by Tavi Gevinson and Ari Seth Cohen, the man behind the old-people-with-a-mad-knack-for-dressing-up blog Advanced Style, is the most fun fashion party I've been to in a while. There were home-made cardboard bangles being given away on trays, and the whole room sang "Happy Birthday" to a woman born in 1912. There was cake. Which people actually ate! And there were so many people who were dressed to the nines. Not because they were editors who were showing off their four-figure freebies from Luxury Brand X, not because they were bloggers who'd triangulated this season's trends in search of some lens attention from Tommy Ton or Scott Schuman — but because their clothing represented something essential about themselves, something they were choosing to highlight. I looked around the room, and I saw women who looked like individuals. Who'd excavated their finery from the backs of closets. Who wanted to wear a turban or a gold-threaded brocade suit because dammit, it looked good on them. Fashion is so often made to be about fitting in, and here were people who wanted to stand out. It was strangely heartening. More »
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Everyone has the occasional terrible, horrible, no good, very bad mood. Unfortunately, your mood doesn't necessarily cooperate with your career or social calendar, and one of the terrible secrets of being a grown-up is that you can't blow important people off without engendering their disdain and ultimately harming yourself. But don't worry! You can MacGyver your way through having to hang out with dumb jerks you hate, crabbypants. More »
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Usually at Social Minefield we discuss ways to interact with people, but today we'll be talking about how not to interact — specifically, how to get alone time when you need it. People who are introverted may find that they need regular bouts of solitude to recharge, but everybody needs a breather from company sometimes. Here's how to achieve that without making your friends mad. More »
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Scientists have found that Fourth of July celebrations may affect kids' politics later in life, even turning them into Republicans! God. What, with eye-gouging sparklers and hand-disfiguring backyard fireworks, wasn't this holiday dangerous enough? More »
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Well, now we have a plot for The Hangover III: in a new trend, fathers-to-be are apparently going out for a booze-soaked last hurrah with their buddies before they become totally lame. Friends, meet the "dadelor party." More »
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Hosting a party can be a stressful undertaking. Will people come? Will they have fun? Is vomit bad for houseplants? We answer all these questions and more. More »
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Being shy makes almost any social event more difficult — and it can keep you from getting what you want out of life. But some simple tips can make shyness less of an obstacle. More »
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You had so many amazing tips and tricks for staying warm in party season that I just had to share some of them! More »
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What, you didn't think we'd neglect holiday dressing, did you? But instead of what sequin to sport, we're more concerned with how to not freeze your tucchus off! More »
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Blurring the social and the professional is always tough, and nowhere do these two blur more thoroughly — or more (potentialy) catastrophically — than at the dreaded office holiday party. Here's how to emerge with your dignity (mostly) intact. More »
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Oh J. Crew. I don't understand you. Sometimes you know exactly what I want. Often it's like you've read my mind. But the drab duds you're hocking for holiday? Sigh. Looks like it's the least wonderful time of the year. More »
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As I looked at yet another roundup of glitzy, frilly, festive holiday apparel today, I suddenly couldn't help but wonder: who's actually going to all these fancy "holiday parties?" More »
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Spoiler: the Mad Men maven's must-dos include four days of cooking and unlimited Scotch. More »
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Around the holidays, when obligation dictates party guest lists, it helps to have a mechanism in place to cope with the inevitable party where one person is way fucking more obnoxious than everyone else. How to deal? More »
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Ever feel like therapy is just too private? Now you can go to a "shrink party" and get your head examined in front of all of your friends. Kind of like a Botox party, but more fucked up. More »
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Says the NY Post, "Bored by tedious group dinners, feeling overworked and underappreciated — or simply enamored of their own awesomeness — these Peter Pans refuse to let their birthdays grow up." I'll say! More »
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Today in Social Minefield, our column on the joys and terrors of human interaction, we provide some tips and tricks for one of the most socially challenging occasions of the year: the birthday. More »
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A third Miami University sorority has been disciplined for their spring formal bacchanal — this one filled a bus with barf, trash, and slurs. More »
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At first glance, Girlcore may seem like nothing more than a bunch of Lindsay Lohan-wannabees partying it up in London and Paris. And that is part of the story. But they're also a female collective, dedicated to promoting talented women. More »
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"Welcome to the latest in unusual NYC gatherings - Life After Divorce, an event designed to help women cope when 'I Do' turns into 'I Don't Ever Want To See You Again.'" They drink cocktails called "Alimony" and "Settlement." [NYP] More »
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Last week, a bunch of Too Old For This Shit ladies went to Cancun. I was one of them. We did not witness any drug violence or beer-bonging by teen moms. But we did see the drunkest Pink impression ever. More »
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If you've got a green-skinned friend with limited understanding of earthling manners, a copy of December's Allure may be just the gift for her. More »
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As a piece in the new Texas Monthly illustrates, the traditional coming-of-age ceremony is becoming more elaborate all the time. More »
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When British teen Georgina Hobday decided to throw a sweet 16, she probably didn't think it would result in total devastation of her family's house - or a modeling contract. More »
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This month's issue of Glamour is all about holiday parties, and it's bound to make you wonder what kind of party guest Glamour editors would make. While we have nothing against cash-strapped guests showing up in cocktail dresses from Old Navy, a $20 ball of 100 hair elastics does not a hostess gift make. Since the editors are even budgeting food intake with a 2 page breakdown of the nutritional value of holiday foods, it seems they'd spend the entire party near the hors d'oeuvres, trying to calculate caloric content of a pigs 'n blanket vs. champagne punch. (Judging from the photo on page 198 of a woman bent over Santa's knee getting spanked, they'd go with the punch.) Did Condé Nast dodge a bullet by canceling its holiday party? Find out after the jump. More »
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Funny piece by Slate's John Swansburg about the ordeal of attending the obligatory friend's birthday dinner. We all know the economic challenges of staying solvent in an economically-diverse group, where invariably one is resentfully pushed into spending far more than intended, usually without even getting to speak with the birthday girl. "I hereby propose that the birthday dinner go the way of the $4 cup of coffee, the liar's mortgage, and the midsize banking institution," says Swansburg. We concur. And under the aegis of economic responsibility, it seems the time is right to put a stop to this festive tyranny. More »
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Fashion week officially starts today, but it kicked off last night with an event at Saks: To celebrate the 70th anniversary of The Wizard of Oz, various designers created Swarovksi-crystal encrusted shoes inspired by the Ruby Slippers. The heels are on display in the windows and on the shoe floor in the store; later they'll be auctioned off to benefit the Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation. But on to the party! There were lots and lots of shoes, of course. A "yellow brick" carpet. Many Project Runway alums, Nigel Barker and Dorothy Gale herself, after the jump. More »
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The other day I got an invitation to a wedding that specified "Beach Festive," so today's Wall Street Journal piece on the stupid trend towards increasingly vague and creative dress codes was timely. Whereas most people find the distinctions between "black tie"," white tie" and "cocktail" quite daunting enough, the article claims that "it's no longer unusual to receive an invitation prescribing a dress code of "wild chic," "beach formal," "resort dressy," "international," "creative black tie" or "safari chic." And it doesn't stop there. We learn about such head-scratchers as "High Black Tie," "Ferrari Hot," "dressy resort" and the harrowingly vague "festive attire." Here, a cheat sheet: More »
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Rick Warren is the author of A Purpose Driven Life, which is a book I haven't read nor do I intend to read because I'm a bigger believer in the motivating nature of futility. But lots of people do buy what Rick Warren is selling, so Barack Obama and John McCain schlepped to his California megachurch this weekend for a little conversation witnessed by 5,000 people and a television audience of tens of tens. But that audience included the pundit class with little else to do — i.e., not Spencer Ackerman or me, who have totally busy lives we swear! Our lives were not so busy, however, that we couldn't read everything about the talks afterwards and cut it up like little pieces of meat for you to ingest with a gooey side of Sally Quinn's crazy and the delicious dessert of lobbyists living by the letter, if not remotely the spirit, of the lobbying reform. Yum! More »
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When you think about it, the pairing of Patricia Field and Payless Shoes makes perfect sense. The stylist for Sex And The City was once known for her crazy, colorful eponymous downtown store where clubkids and drag queens could shop for the kind of mesh/pleather/day-glo ensembles not found at Banana Republic. It was a little tacky, pretty cheap, and lots of fun, which describes Payless Shoes, too. Last night I dragged Moe to the launch party for Patricia Field for Payless, where we saw Ms. Pat Field herself (at left) as well as Andre J., the bearded muse seen in French Vogue. We drank, we tried on shoes, we went home in a wheelchair. Plenty of pictures, after the jump. More »
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On Saturday, Lacoste presented its fall collection in Bryant Park, and later that night threw a big after party with A.R.C. at the ritzy Bowery Hotel. There was so much good hip hop to dance to, and a bunch of artists, DJs, and designers in attendance, all dressed to impress. (Also in attendance was some chick who was wrecked out on the patio. She hurled, and her friends had to carry her out, Weekend at Bernie's style. That's how you know it was a good party.) Anyway, check out the photos by Andrew Bicknell. More »
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