Despite the cold, New York remains the most festive city this time of year. Tourists from all over the world descend to see the big Christmas tree at Rockefeller Center, or to ice skate around it. In our special Hudson slideshow, we’ve featured that famous tree as well as a red lit one from the Standard Hotel in the West Village, where you can now also skate in the front as well, just for this season!  But, perhaps nothing is more famous than Manhattan’s store windows. This year, Barney’s decorated with miniature celebrity chefs. Saks chose to feature colorful elves. And Bergdorf Goodman picked a Lewis Carroll theme. What else can we say, but Merry Christmas and good vibes for all holidays!

Another jewelry designer, Brian Crumley, dropped into NYC last week with packs of some of the most unique metallic, beaded, chained, and zipped wonders to hit the planet.  (He did a little back room sale at VPL.)

If you’re looking for a statement gift this Christmas– perhaps the one thing that could transform a wife beater and your fave pair of Hudson jeans into something unforgettable — Crumley’s the one!

The eponymous line, called simply, Crumley, combs the depths of Brian’s visual imagination. He splits his time between Austin Texas and NYC where he lived for a long while; where initially he was working as a photographer and playing in the fashion scene and shot as a young gun by photographer Steven Klein.

Check out all the cool Crumley on his online store: CRUMLEY

“Ho, ho, ho and a bottle of rum!” Well, Santa may not exactly hum that tune. It’s more like a pirate’s song, but a combination of both Santa and pirate style fit holiday cocktails hosted by jewelry designer Stefania Pia at the Castor & Pollux boutique in the West Village. Guests included Brooklyn musicians, artists, and fashionistas who drank wine and spirits and nibbled on Austrian cakes and Panettone (Italian holiday danish) while checking out Pia’s (literally) ornamental jewelry.

Not only did she create actual paintings found in corners of the store, but she hung her colorful — often neon painted — necklaces on the Christmas pine in the window. Check out the yellow hobby horse and all the red tchotkes! They’re very cool paired with tees, sweaters, and jeans and can turn something plain into a look instantly.

As for the pirate in the house, Pia’s friend Billy Leroy, the owner of NYC institution Billy’s Antiques in LES stopped in. He had just come from a photo shoot for men’s designer Adam Kimmel, who shot him on a Harley.  (See Billy in pic above with the jewelry designer.)

So, if you need something unique this Christmas, check out Pia’s jewelry at Castor & Pollux, 238 W. 10th Street, and Billy’s Antiques, 76 Houston St.

Director Julian Schnabel and girlfriend Rula Jebreal, guests of honor at Cipriani Downtown

‘Tis the season to be jolly, or something like that, and holiday parties have been popping up all over town. In NYC, some art galleries are hosting extra cocktails; designers are doing special shopping and drinking nights; and at Cipriani in Soho, the Italians served up a five course meal, with director/artist Juian Schnabel and his girlfriend, Palestinian writer Rula Jebreal at the center table. (Before meeting Schnabel and now spending much time in NYC, Jebreal lived in Rome.)

Other guests  assembled in the second floor private room on West Broadway included Greek shipping hier (and Paris Hilton’s ex)  Stavros Niarchos, a nephew of Gianni Versace, jewelry designer Stefania Pia, and a sculptor named Arturo, who claimed her made the bull down on Wall Street.

A lot of the ladies wore red coats and dresses, the Italian guys donned gold watches, and everyone feasted on the continuous dishes coming out of the kitchen that included eggplant parmesan, artichoke salad, beef carpaccio, pasta with four cheeses, prosciutto ham, and tiramisu. Given the food, every day could be a holiday. As the Italians say, “Mangia, mangia!” (“Eat! Eat!”) (Check out some of the Cipriani specialities below)

Diego Garcia sings the single, “You Were Never There” at Don Hill’s, NYC

Singer Diego Garcia– formerly the front man of Elefant– has gone solo and has returned  to his Latin roots. The Argentinian boy was raised in Detroit and then attended Brown University, where he met the love of his life, fashion designer Laura Poretsky, a beautiful red head with perfect cheekbones. With the advent of Elefant post college, Diego and Laura played a roller coaster ride of on again, off again. He became and “it boy.” She became engaged to a real estate mogul. But then he finally woke up and won her back.  Now, they’re married with a baby girl born last year.

Diego played a solo show at Don Hill’s last week (see video above) and explained his now sound, which cannot be extracted from his love story.

“I made the record to survive,” he says. “I had to heal my heart. In other words, I had to get my girl back. It was time to write a record that only my story could tell. Artists like Sandro, Roberto Carlos and Julio Iglesias were early pioneers in what I like to refer to as a movement of romanticism in music. It only made sense for me to pick up where they left off.”

“For the last four years, I’ve been following my instincts in search for a new sound,” Garcia continues. A sound that could properly deliver my message on love, or I should say, the ‘malady of love.’ Minor keys, cello, nylon classical guitars, light drums, and wooden tambourines helped create a vibe for me to whisper the words into her ear.”

“So with each new song came a little healing until I eventually started feeling ‘better.’ The irony is that as soon as I accepted closure, my heart opened up and the sound was born. I was ready to love again.”

Last week, twenty or so creative folks assembled around long tables at the Smile restaurant on Bond Street to break bread together and to check out Araks Yeramyan’s new look book for her lingerie line, Araks.

Julie Gilhart, former Fashion Director at Barney’s, hosted the group, many of whom were chosen by Yeramyan, then given disposable cameras and asked to interpret certain pieces of the new Spring line. You can see some of the stunningly surprising results here shot by Gilhart (red tank on wooden beach fence); model Adina Fohlin (the gal in the yellow); filmmaker Cheryl Dunn (girl with dog and Asian girl in floral print); photographer Martin Lidell (girl in black panties); Last Magazine co-founder, Magnus Berger (purple pieces); and menswear designer Robert Geller who shot the stunning photos of his wife in bed.

I’m featuring them because they’re sexy, just like Hudson jeans! Girls can totally rock some Araks with any pair of Hudson jeans or shorts this Spring, inside or outside, any way you cut it.

People get kooky at Art Basel, especially those trendies who make it to the Le Baron club late at night.  (Note the neon top hat in the slideshow that marks the space.) Intrepid shooter Gavin Doyle captured some of the flavor. Check out the tattoo action. Pete Miszuk inked his arm with the name of his pal, deejay Mike Nouveau. Seems like Gavin’s pal Ali stole the disco ball on the last night. Lola Schnabel, an artist in her own right, kisses a mask with NYC sweetheart Annabelle Dexter Jones. But my favorite pics are the “hair shots:” artist Nate Lowman with some Fifties-esque James Dean vibe and Annabelle with deejay Harley Viera Newton being silly.  You can spot all these folks now back in the brrrrr cold of Manhattan this week, but they’re still glowing a bit more sun kissed than the rest of us.

Shanae Grimes seen in LA wearing the Collection Zipper Skinny in Bleach Blue.

My pal and budding photographer Gavin Doyle did the rounds at Art Basel, Miami Beach and I picked some of his best black and whites with an eye to the vibe and style.  ”it gal,” Misshapes deejay Leigh Lezark seemed to favor tees and little skirts. She was spotted at the Vman party at Coco de Ville. Guys are still wearing fedoras and jackets, the latter a must for deejay and well dressed man Mark Ronson, who spun at Liv, the new club in the Fountainbleau. Artist Lucien Marc Smith sports a vintage looking white shirt with billowy sleeves and fat suspenders. Alexander Dexter Jones — deejay Ronson’s baby brother — makes his mischief on the turntables at the party for Tokion, the art and culture mag. And a tall, thin, cool looking Jefferson Hack, editor of Another Magazine, hosted a screening of Marco Brambilla’s film, “Evolution” at the Standard Spa.

Above: Images from (mostly) Scope and one from Nada art fairs, Miami, shot by Olivia Wolfe

This season, I personally did not make the rounds at Art Basel Miami, that three (really five) day art fair in Miami where collectors check out work from all over the world. The party goers this year ranged from Lanvin designer Alber Elbaz, actress Susan Sarandon, the Schnabel family and photographer Bruce Weber, to Michael Stipe and curator Jeffrey Deitch. Beyond the cocktail swilling tripping over lounge chairs at places like the Standard and Delano hotels, some revelers actually surveyed the myriad works on display, not just at the main fair but also at ancillary Nada and Scope fairs.

The work in this slide show — shot by Olivia Wolfe, a fine artist in her own right — gives a smattering of some of the brightest eye candy. All of the pieces pictured here appeared at Scope with the exception of the painted head of  Mercedes Heinwein, which showed at Nada. Check out the skull hitting the wall, Erik Foss’s alphabet formed by porn images, and my favorite: “Get Rich. Sleep Till Noon. And Fuck ‘em all,” by  Andrea Stanislav. **To note: Erik Foss also owns the Lit Bar in the East Village! And you thought that guy was just a rockin East Villager!