FashionEtc.com November 23rd, 2024

The invitation was too delightful to resist: the Royal Shakespeare Company performing a 20 minute version of The Tempest, at the superb Southampton home of Lise and Michael Evans. Lise, a statuesque blond who looked stunning in Roland Mouret, greeted us warmly at the door as we entered. I asked her what motivated her to support this wonderful organization, in such an original and special way.

“Friends of ours invited us to a similar event at their home last fall. We were asked if we’d like to host an event, and knowing that the money we agreed to give would go to the RSC teaching Shakespeare in the inner city (specifically at The Children’s Storefront School), we did not hesitate to commit. Apart from it being for a good cause, it is so much fun—I'd do it again just for the entertainment factor!” said Lise with a smile.

The evening began with cocktails. Joanne and Roberto de Guardiola, Ros and Fran L'Esperance, and Alex Kuczynski and Charles Stevenson were excited for the program to begin.

“Don't you love my shoes? Don't you love my shorts? Evening shorts are the only way to go,” said Kuczynski, proudly displaying the canary yellow Alice + Olivia silk shorts and brown tank top she had bought earlier in the day. The shoes were striped, stripy, vertiginously high wedges. I was happy we were sitting down, exhausted just looking at them.

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The Hamptons have long been known as a haven for artists and collectors alike, and last weekend was a good one for both groups, beginning with ArtHamptons, the International Fine Art Fair in Bridgehampton. Opening night was buzzing with art fans who came to see everything from the Kate Moss portraits at the Danzinger Projects booth to Eric Firestone’s Jorge Fick paintings. Collectors Beth De Woody and Joanne Cassullo were present at the opening July 7th, so I knew I was in the right place.

The Parrish Art Museum held its Midsummer Party benefit on July 9th. The Southampton museum will be moving its headquarters further east to a state-of-the-art facility currently under construction in Water Mill. “It's all about the new Parrish,” said Patrick McMullan. “It’s one of the great parties of the summer, where the art establishment is joined by the young who's-who of Southampton.” It went on until the wee hours of the night.

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The developers of The High Line, Manhattan’s elevated park, seem to get everything right, and their first annual summer party was no exception. Coach Men’s Collection hosted the evening, hence the waiters wearing leather aprons serving up Coach luggage tags.

The leather aprons weren’t very summery, but the new season was on everyone’s mind. Paz de la Huerta insists she has no need to escape the city’s summer humidity and, er, fragrance. “I love New York in the summer. It’s my favorite time, actually. I love the humidity and I love just wandering around the streets,” the native New Yorker said. “When I was a teenager I would bump into one person and go on an adventure – this High Line, I used to come up during the summers and we would do graffiti with my friends back in the day.”

Twilight hunk Kellan Lutz’s youthful summers were exactly the opposite, if also on the smelly side. “We had a cow and pig farm, and my favorite summer thing to do was water the pigs,” Lutz said. “I had so much energy growing up, I’d go out to the pigpen, I’d sit there for hours, out of trouble, and just water the pigs. The pigs are huge, they’d shake off and I’d get all muddy.”

Penn Badgley, just back from a surfing trip in Nicaragua; Jessica Szohr, toting a burgundy Coach clutch, Sean Avery and Rachel Dratch all enjoyed the balmy weather on the High Line. T Magazine’s Sally Singer arrived with musician David Byrne.

Design duo and longtime couple Jeffrey Costello and Robert Tagliapietra claimed that they took New York’s legalization of same-sex marriage in stride. “We expected it,” Costello said. So did they pop the Champagne when they heard the news? “I just put my hand out and said, ‘I don’t see anything,’” Costello deadpanned, glancing at his ring finger. “I thought he was going to surprise me with the Taylor-Burton diamond.” Joking aside, they are thinking about rings. “We just talked to our friend, the jeweler Phillip Crangi,” Tagliapietra said. “I think we’re going to get him to do custom rings for us.”

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Breathtaking beaches, acres of fertile farmland, dunes, marshes, Stanford White homes: The East End of Long Island is one of the most beautiful places on earth. OK, I'm biased, but I've been deeply attached to the Hamptons since childhood.

Anything else that upsets its the fragile ecosystem also upsets me, and there are plenty of culprits: McMansions, water pollution, strip malls, amusement parks. I know that if we don't act, and act fast, the ocean will be so polluted in 50 years that we will neither be able to fish nor swim, and our beach resorts will become ghost towns.

Luckily I'm not alone: For 40 years, the Group for the East End has been fully committed to preserving and restoring the environment on both the north and south forks of Long Island. And to that end, more than 400 like-minded people came to support this wonderful organization at its annual benefit at the Wölffer Estate Vineyard, in Sagaponack, on June 25.

Guests, among them were Nicole Miller and Kim Taipale, Andre Balazs, Zack Bacon, and Stephen Drucker, mingled, bid on silent auction items, and sipped on bellinis. "I support the group because I live here and I love it. We need to protect and preserve the East End, not only for ourselves, but for generations to come," said philanthropist and event committee member Frances Schultz.

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