Theodora Richards makes like a leopard at the Wooly downtown….

They flocked in droves — cliques of cool kids and old journalist cats — to the farewell party for Rebecca Guinness, an heiress to the Guinness beer family and Vanity Fair party writer. Guinness, who has maxed out on partying in NYC, is heading back to jolly ol’ London next week where she’ll continue to write (about parties!) for VF. She’s a nice lass and has put so many of these kids and media hounds in her online columns, maybe they were hoping for one last plug at last night’s fete at the Wooly. As I circled the events-only space decorated as a 1920′s parlor/secretive boudoir, my mind went to turkey and who’s heading where for Thanksgiving, a mere day away.

Theodora Richards– fetching in her vintage cat coat from Geminola (Lorraine Kirke’s West Village store)– spoke of heading back to Connecticut for a traditional family Thanksgiving with Rolling Stones dad Keith Richards and model mom Patti Hanson.  Ditto Paul Sevigny, also headed with family to Connecticut.

Songstress Rebecca Shiffman pushed back her brown Botticelli locks and grinned. “My whole family, we’re going for Indian food this year. Some restaurant on West 10th Street.” I wondered if they’d find turkey curry. And Ms. Guinness, while invited by American friends to a traditional feast, told me she was more excited about brunch. I couldn’t hear over the din of the music– a deejay blasting Biggie Smalls and Morrissey– if Guinness said brunch at Pastis or Payard. Either way, there seemed to be some nice pastry involved. Of course in New York, new traditions are made every moment.

Rebecca Guinness ready to head back to London, but not before Thanksgiving brunch!

Tom Ford –real earthy dude under the hood — in a piece by “it boy” artists Dan Colen and Nate Lowman

Who doesn’t want to be Tom Ford? The gay, but super masculine and meticulous designer, who rebirthed Gucci from Italian licensing oblivion and took over for a stint at YSL, makes some of the best men’s clothes and fragrances on the planet. And now, critics have it, he’s scored (even Oscar buzz!) with his movie, A Single Man. Hell, even straight cock on block art stars like Dan Colen and Nate Lowman (who dates Mary Kate Olsen) parody this guy as a god among us.

Tom Ford can do anything. At least, I was briefed at dinner last night with a former executive from the Independent Film Channel. Apparently, said IFC executive hosted Ford, and while dubious at first, since he’s a fashion bloke and all, Ford sold him in less than an hour.  “I was convinced he had what it takes.” The guy told me. So he bought into the film for distribution. “It’s not the same with Madonna.” He went on. “Every film she does, sinks. No one will touch her.” Not that Madge needs IFC sales distribution, but apparently Ford has scored.

The flick, in limited release second week of December, portrays a gay man played by Colin Firth (and modeled after Ford) who loses his lover to sudden death and strikes up a friendship with a comely lass, aka Juliane Moore.

Ford stated at the private preview in Midtown NYC: “I am fortunate enough to have experienced extreme materialism in my life, but the point of the film is to remind us of the little things in life — not some new shoes you bought or a new car. Life’s about living in the present. We live in an artificial world. In the fashion business, you live in the future for the next collection. But when I spend time on my ranch in New Mexico with the sun above me and the rattlesnakes growing under the bush — I appreciate the present.” Indeed.  Given the following trailer, it looks like living in Ford’s “present” moment equals a visceral sensual tour de force.

Pièce de résistance from Pierre Hardy, and antidote to the chunky strapped heel… SUBLIME!

I’ve done a little survey among “it girls” around town and they’re sticking with their chunky heels.

The Italians like Sergio Rossi prefer more refined Fifties-chic pumps. And even though the whisperings around Versace say that the dresses look trampy and they’re ready to toss Donatella, the line put out a gorgeous, rounded red pump this season that spells sexy on a dance floor. My favorites among the refined include Christian Louboutin’s glitter infused black pump with electric blue tips and an equally stellar black mini sequined bootie with a gold nose. The pièce de résistance goes to Pierre Hardy with the sequined boot above. A STAR IS BORN.

Still gals like French Vogue daughter Julia Roitfeld stand by their black Balenciaga boots and gladiators. Love the fat platforms that YSL makes with the distorted curvy bottoms favored by social denizen Genevieve Jones. She also goes for fat Dolce platforms. More on the chunky tip, seen here on stylist Natasha Royt in YSL and in Rodarte’s latest, her pal Martin, a muse (yes, he’s a stunning platinum guy and best pal of designers threeASFOUR).

One chunk should stay in the closet — Tory Burch’s ugly buckle boot — displayed after the jump! REMEMBER THE CAT, PUSS IN BOOTS… WELL HERE IT IS! SO UGLY, IT SHOULD BE RECYCLED TO HELP HUMANITY, GIRLS WORLDWIDE. (Click after the break for visual)

Left: Natasha Royt’s foot in YSL: Martin in his new Rodarte chunksters

Casey Spooner, thespian, co-founder of Fischerspooner, and now deejay, looking seductive in his own pj’s

The other night at the new Ace Hotel in midtown, a motley crew of artists and art enthusiasts gathered around to witness the unveiling of pajamas, specifically by artist Will Cotton. Cotton– who helped host a fundraiser slumber party for Creative Time — made a name for himself painting 1940′s type starlets in pin-up poses surrounded by confections. Creative Time– a group of curators and other art benefactors– were raising money to fund what they do: basically erecting public works by artists all throughout NYC. Sometimes the works are socially conscious (e.g., encouraging people to vote or to conserve energy). But this time the message at the Ace seemed to be about the down economy. If you can’t afford to buy real art, invest in a pair of Will Cotton cotton pajamas ($150)! Guests munched on late night snacks like chicken fingers and sliders on a central wooden table– economical food! Even Casey Spooner, the once flamboyant glam singer of Fischerspooner, mellowed out in a pair of exquisite gray kimono-like pajamas and deejayed in the basement.

Cotton, who normally would be found in a studio with a paintbrush, has taken up actual baking. He’ll be frosting cakes for sale at Partners & Spade this Sunday, November 22, from noon to 6 PM. If his cakes taste as good as they look on his canvases, we’re in luck.

Will Cotton pajamas, with cake imprint; for more info to purchase, check out CreativeTime

Sophie Theallet, Anna Wintour’s latest darling…

Sometimes connections mean everything. That’s what I attribute to the latest winner of the Vogue Fashion Fund, French native and current NYC resident Sophie Théallet. At this week’s CFDA awards ceremony, Théallet beat out rock frock prince, Gary Graham, and gifted creator of curve hugging black numbers, Wayne Lee, to take home $200,000 for her next collection. Théallet’s designs– especially what’s in Barney’s now for Fall/Winter ’09– are at best ho hum and at worst just plain ugly.

She may have served as the right hand girl to the shaman of the slinky black ruched gown– Azzedine Alaïa — and as an organizer and second set of eyes she may have served well. But unlike her mentor — who dressed all the Eighties supermodels in smokin’ dresses — Théallet’s own designs, this lady from the Southwest of France, creates clothes without the SEX, as in not sexy at all.

Once again we must turn our attention to Vogue Editor-in-Chief Anna Wintour who recently turned sixty. She tends to like boxy, fitted frames and so does Théallet. Her other best pal (besides Alaïa) is gifted French make up artist Francois Nars who funded Théallet’s first solo collection. So it just goes to show you kids, it really is who you know in fashion. Still I’m giving her props for the Angelique Kidjo soundtrack of  “Porgy in Bess” in an African dialect on her website. That, unlike the clothes, is a turn on.

Boring…

Sean Lennon in unique custom hat

So many men, so little time. at least that’s how I envision some of my male friends running around Manhattan between work and play. What’s the best accessory for a guy on the run? How about a Hamburg or other kind of fedora. Having eclipsed last year’s facial hair trend, the in crowds of the world — seen here in Vanity Fair photographer Todd Eberle, Purple Mag’s Gavin Doyle, photographers Bogdan Teslar Kwiatkowski and Magnus Unnar, and Camilla Staerk’s videographer hubby Barnaby Roper — won’t leave home without their toppers.

Doyle, seen in the slideshow with his model girlfriend Pernilla, opted for a Rag and Bone beauty. (R&B average about $125 at Saks.) But if you like to trail the East Village, you might just find yourself at Barbara Feinman’s little shop on East 7th Street, like Sean Lennon often does. Feinman, who once sourced Barney’s measures heads for exact custom fits and styles ranging from Trilbys to Porkpie hats. Beyond Lennon, she’s counted a few other star clients including Eve, and Glenn Close, rocking an adrogynous look. (Feinman’s hats average $250 and up from there.) She won’t allow a client to return a  hat since they’re made to measure but she gives a seven day grace period for adjustments on the final product.

Blokes on the other side of the pond have been lining up at Stephen Jone’s Convent Garden millinery. His “Jones Boy” line creates incredible made to measure caps to trilbys starting at a hundred pounds and way upward. Anna Piaggi credited Jones in Italian Vogue as “maker of the most beautiful hats in the world.”

All this hat mania with the guys makes me wonder who will star in a  ”9 1/2 Weeks” movie reversal, the scene where a smoking Kim Basinger strips for a pre-surgery Mickey Rourke… but she leaves her hat on. Some candidates below!

Art by GQ Deputy Editor Michael Hainey, a first solo show, at Thom Browne store

Much like the fashion industry– exploited on reality television and desperate to keep its cool– pairing up with the art world every other night to give it more cred, Thom Browne –the financially struggling designer who created the above ankle pant for men — has too crawled into the art loft. But he hit obviously, directly, and intimately by giving GQ Deputy Editor Michael Hainey his first solo show– Less Human, More Being — this week at Browne’s Tribeca store.

The review on the GQ website is filled with platitudes, calling the show “a beautifully composed, emotionally resonant from the gut expression of images that haunt our inner lives.” “I see these as excavations. It’s digging down inside of me, trying to unearth.” says Hainey, of his twenty-seven works hanging between tweedy jackets and above those racks of short pants. Yeah, man, whatever. Bullocks! Browne hopes you’ll plug his clothes in GQ so he does not have to close shop in these hard economic times. (To note, I believe a gentleman would rather buy a good pair of jeans than trendy short pants in a money crisis.) And the GQ reviewer, well you’re technically paying him, so he’s also kissing arse.

The expo, up at the store through end of the month, proves laughable in an art school picking redundant subjects kind of way: scrawled paintings of horses, faceless women, and crows… so many damn crows! To quote The Raven: “NEVERMORE!”

Of course, I prefer a guy in a hot pair of Hudson jeans any day, but for those dudes in the market for short pants and a side of arty, check out Less Human, More Being at Thom Browne at 100 Hudson and Franklin Street, through November 30th.

An actual painting from the show… also the title of the exhibit

Select pieces of Victoria Bartlett’s line — like these pictured — were featured in a serious exhibit in Milan

NPR reported at the end of last week that sales of men’s underwear in the UK remained brisk. Just last spring Alan Greenspan, the former head of the Federal Reserve, told the world that we truly don’t hit an economic downturn until men’s underwear takes a dip. In the USA, it did. But how do we judge a lauded expo of female underwear by designer Victoria Bartlett that drew crowds in Milan with another show planned for NYC in 2010?  If you ask me, genius, since all women seem to be judged by the state of their undies as outies these days. (Consider them all from Lady Gaga and Britney Spears to hipster deejays wearing trashy black lace like pullovers.)

Bartlett, born in Gloucester, England (but now living in Brooklyn), adds a real sense of class and place to her original line, VPL (“visible panty line”) that gives underclothes a practical, utilitarian feel but still embraces the body in
peek-a-boo. The recent exhibit at Milan’s Dopolavoro Gallery, edited by filmmaker Douglas Keeve (“Unzipped”), exhibited photomontages of models in various poses wearing VPL. Some took on dancer Isadora Duncan’s planches or forward bends with leg held high. Others seemed not to notice the camera at all. Videos of the models played and the actual clothes were displayed as timepieces.

Unlike the American Apparel ads where barely pubescent girls perch themselves like nymphs open to violation, VPL’s girls possess a sense of self-knowing and freedom. Therein lies the art of marrying clothing with not only image but also essence. Can’t wait for the NYC show… the details are in the works.

VPL Exhibit, DOPOLAVORO Gallery, Milan

Frank Tell’s second skin leggings and jackets

Frank Tell, 22, popped onto NYC’s fashion scene a few years back as an assistant to designers threeASFOUR and Sue Stemp. Though not formerly schooled, Tell, a native of Spain, threw himself into the process of sewing details on dresses, cutting, and creating. He’s the latest wunderkind of fashion. He makes untalented boy toys of the past, e.g. Esteban Cortazar,  seem like a joke because Tell really possessed talent. With French Vogue fashion daughter Julia Restoin Roitfeld as an early supporter (Tell now shares an office with her), Tell attracted editors like American Vogue’s Meredith Melling Burke and stylist Susan Joy to his presentations. Initially, they chalked him off as an “ingenue.” But model deejay Leigh Lezark rocks his often minimal fitted dresses, and this current season, girls are fighting over his butter soft leather leggings and fitted jackets. I’ve tried the jackets with my black Hudson jeans and they’re just as hot. Note your books, girls. He’s about to BLOW UP.

From Frank Tell’s latest collection

L-R, Stacy Bendet Eisner and  Lisa Tobias, from the waists down…

When the eye roves all over Manhattan from art parties to the Boom Boom Room, the sexy bits stand out, but only if they’re done right. Case in point, Alice and Olivia designer Stacey Bendet Eisner (yes, married to son of that Disney Eisner) rocked a pair of diamante Wolford stockings and Balenciaga booties.  The Wolford diamante style can be paired with minimal black, white, or navy but still not obnoxious enough that they can’t compliment a print. Bendet Eisner topped ‘em with a black sequined glitter mini and  wooly faux fur jacket that made her look like some exotic bird. Her pal, Lisa Tobias, a stylist for Gossip Girl wore one of her staples — Armani harem pants — and incredible strappy Chloe heels. Unlike often choppy gladiators, the architectural but more delicate Chloes donate a feminine appeal. Also spotted, gal about town Arden Wohl in red lace Fogal stockings and art muse Kyle DeWoody’s evergreen cool Chanel black and white booties. Chic eye candy doesn’t get better than this.

Kyle DeWoody’s Chanel booties… ooh, la, la!