Hamish Bowles, European Editor at Large for Vogue Magazine and Editor in Chief of Vogue Living, is, without question, one of the world's leading authorities on fashion and interior design. We recently had the privilege of hearing him speak on collecting couture clothing, one of his great passions, as well as partying and dining with him.
Hamish's whistle stop tour of Dallas began with Myra Walker, Curator and Director of the Texas Fashion Collection, picking him up at the airport and whisking him to the Mansion on Turtle Creek for a chic little lunch with Joyce Goss and myself. We wanted Hamish to see the Mansion to prove that we do have one old-ish building in Dallas.
During lunch we got the entire scoop on this year's Party of the Year at the Costume Institute. It turns out the Queen Rania of Jordan was there with her usual assortment of security guards. Tom Ford, who apparently didn't get the royalty protocol memo, rushed up to her and started smothering her in kisses. Needless to say, the security team wasn't happy. Next, Myra took Hamish back to his hotel to rest and freshen up a bit to get ready for his lecture at the Meadows Museum of Art. The auditorium at the Meadows only accommodates a little over 100 people and there were more than 150 who wanted to get in, so a few feathers were ruffled when the museum staff was forced to turn away the overflow.
After the lecture, Hamish's allergies were getting the best of him, so he made a quick pit stop at a drug store for some Claritin before heading over to Stanley Korshak for a swell little fundraiser for The Fashionistas. Hamish arrived fashionably late and was greeted by our local paparazzi and Crawford Brock, Korshak owner, and his staff. Close to two hundred people came out to meet Hamish and celebrate the launch of the Grey Goose Fashiontini - which was designed by Brian Chatham of Nick & Sam's especially for The Fashionistas. The following day Rob Brinkley, of Paper City fame, gave Hamish a tour of Dallas homes and that evening Joyce Goss hosted a dinner party at Kenny Goss and George Michael's Highland Park home. Some of the lucky few that attended the dinner were Brian Bolke, Faisal Halum, Rajan Patel, Kim Kroll, Bill Dillon, and Robyn Wise. Doss Alexander was in charge of late-night entertainment, which Hamish thoroughly enjoyed. You'll have to ask Doss for the details on that one.
Nicholas Ghesquiere and Myra Walker
Harold Koda, Curator in Charge at the Costume Institute at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, sent me an invitation to come to a private tour of the "Poiret: King of Fashion" exhibition with a special appearance by Nicholas Ghesquiere, Creative Director of Balenciaga. I had met Harold a couple of months ago when he was in town for the Balenciaga Symposium, which was in conjunction with the Balenciaga exhibition at the Meadows Museum. Since my name isn't Cate Blanchett, I figured I wouldn't have another opportunity to meet Nicholas, so I pulled my son Dallas out of school, and off we went to New York. We met up with Myra, who was in town with 20 of her fashion design students from the University of North Texas, and jumped into a Bentley, - graciously provided by the St. Regis Hotel - and headed up to the Met.
Harold greeted his 30 or so guests, who were all members of the very exclusive Friends of the Costume Institute, and walked us through the impeccably produced show which consisted of a number of pieces Poiret made for his wife/muse, Denise, who, by the way, wasn't a fan of wearing underwear - a very radical way of dressing at the turn of the century! After the talk, we retired to another gallery for cocktails and a discussion between Nicholas and Harold. There were some Balenciaga's on display and the discussion revolved around the possibility that Cristobal Balenciaga was influenced by Poiret who was 16 years his senior. Nicholas wasn't convinced, but he did say that he would undoubtedly be influenced by Poiret's work. Harold did see affinities and summed up his position by saying "How can you be the son of a fisherman living in a little fishing village, be gay, be an artist and not like Paul Poiret?" Good point. After the discussion, Myra and I had an opportunity to visit with Nicholas who we found to be charming and a little bit shy. We, of course, were gaga.
Mary McCartney and Dallas Dillon
Speaking of gaga, my first true love in the fifth grade was Paul McCartney. Forty-four years later I wind up having a dinner party for his fashion photographer daughter, Mary McCartney. Mary came to Dallas because Goss Gallery had the first U.S. exhibition of her work, "Mary McCartney: Playing Dress Up", which is on display until June 17th. I have admired her work for some time - particularly the images of Kate Moss dressed in Stella McCartney pieces - but meeting the artist was quite a thrill for me. In addition to being extraordinarily talented, she is extraordinarily lovely. Mary and her adorable boy friend Simon arrived at my home after her opening and made themselves comfortable on the sofa. I sat between them and we chatted like we were old friends. Kent Rathbun of Abacus restaurant served a buffet dinner for 40 people and everyone sat out on the balcony enjoying a beautiful spring evening and convivial conversation. Some of the guests were Kenny Goss, Robin and Steve Ladik, Catherine and Patrick Colombo, Lance Avery Morgan of Brilliant Magazine, and Melinda Knowles. By the way, Mary has her father's eyes.
