Director Bruce LaBruce and I are both January Capricons so we celebrated our birthdays together at the venerable El Quijote restaurant in New York on my birthday, January 11.
Artist Superstar Marco Santaniello & Japanese pop sensation Crystal Kay.
Bruce with artist and designer Simone Valsecchi who flew in from Rome to spend time with his boyfriend--and to attend my birthday party!
Screenwriter and actor Rinaldo Rocco and I. Rinaldo lives in Rome but is working on a project in New York.
Pretty on the outside.
Desi Santiago and Zaldy
I wasn't that hungry so I just ordered something small.
Mark Morgan Perez, Simone, Luca Cruz Salvati and Katie Degentesh.
Susanne Oberbeck of No Bra, BLaB and Jason Thome.
Viva Ruiz and friend
Desi, Zaldy and singer Carole Pope
The boys in the band
Patty Powers and friend
Billy Miller of Straight to Hell fame and Carole Pope
Writer Bruce Benderson (right) with his date
Celebrity chef Corey Sabourin and author Nancy Stout
Poet Katie Degentesh and Hurricane Isabel
Since the theme of the night was more or less "The Boys in the Band" we ended the night at Julius' where the opening scenes of the film were shot in 1970.
From l'Égypte to Gay Paree, here is my year in pictures...
Pyramid Club
Last February, at the suggestion of my friend Susan Sabet, editor of Cairo-based fashion magazine Pashion, I jetted off to Cairo to cover Susan's Cairo's Fashion Night at the First Mall of the Four Seasons Hotel. Of course I made the requisite trip out to see the Great Pyramids. Tourist numbers have been very low since the tumult that erupted in Cairo during the first anniversary of Mubarak's ouster, so my experience at the Pyramids was quite existential.
For years I've fantasized about visiting the Great Sphinx of Giza and I did find his gaze mildly terrifying.
"I am standing in the sun I wish that I could be a silent sphinx eternally. I don't want any past only want things which cannot last and I can't even cry though God knows how I try - a sphinx can never cry and sphinxes never die." - Amanda Lear, The Sphinx
During my stay in Cairo, my friends Ahmed and Daki of the jewelry brand Sabry Marouf took me on a whirlwind tour of Islamic Cairo aka Fatimid Cairo. It was definitely a trip into the past.
Ahmed took this photo of me, for some reason I was feeling sassy.
With Ahmed (pictured) and Daki for some traditional mint tea and sheesha pipe at al-Fishawi, the most famous ahwa in Cairo.
After we left Fatimid Cairo, we drove near to Tahrir Square and I jumped out of the Ahmed's car to take photos of this women's protest. They are protesting against the institutionalized sexism of the Muslim Brotherhood and their government-organized sexual assault. (They send teenage boys into the Square to sexually harrass women to discourage them from protesting.) Work it, sisters!
On another day, I had a very meditative visit at the Citadel of Saladin. This was my favorite mosque, because it has an understated elegance. It was completely empty save for a mullah who pointed out some details for me. Built in 1318, the Mosque of Sultan al-Nasir Muhammad ibn Qala'un is the only Mamluk (Egypt during the Middle Ages) work that Mohammed Ali didn't abolish.
Inside the walls of the Citadel.
An elegant gentlemen in the Al-Rifa'i Mosque, one of the "twin mosques" not far from the Citadel, where the Shah of Iran is entombed.
Susan Sabet, organizer of Cairo's Fashion Night, at the event at the First Mall in Giza. We sipped Egyptian champagne (which is actually quite good) and I met lots of interesting young designers and cosmopolitan Cairenes.
Ahmed and Daki of Sabry Marouf. They showed me their fantastic collection of neo-Pharaonic jewelry.
I work as a copywriter for Tiffany & Co. so it was fun to toast the Cairo boutique where I chatted with Hibba Bilal, the director of PR of the Four Seasons at the First Residence. I stayed at this luxe hotel for three nights--my room had a view of the Pyramids!
Hibba and I (and Ricky Martin looking over my shoulder) outside the Bulgari shop.
One of the craftsmen at the Azza Fahmy jewelry workshops outside of Cairo. Ms. Fahmy is the Middle East's leading jewelry designer and is known for breaking down barriers in design. In 1969, she became the first woman in Egypt to be permitted to train as an apprentice with the masters in Khan El Kahlili, Cairo's jewelry quarter.
After enjoying Cairo for 6 days (my visit to the Museum of Egyptian Antiquities was a standout), I jetted down to Aswan, located on the most beautiful stretch of the Nile, in the middle of the golden Nubian Desert. This view is what I woke up to every morning as I stood on the terrace of my royal suite at the Sofitel Legends Old Cataract Hotel. Agatha Christie wrote Death on the Nile here. At night, the only sound one hears is the drumming of the Nubian tribes on Elephantine Island, which you can see in the photo above.
During my stay in Aswan, I took an idyllic cruise in a felucca on the Nile. We sailed past the Mausoleum of Aga Khan.
Moi and the Nile on my suite's terrace. To my left is the original building of the Old Cataract Hotel, now called "the Palace Wing."
When one winters in Aswan, it is absolutely essential to visit the mind-blowing Temples of Ramses II in Abu Simbel, near the border of Sudan. A 3-hour drive through the Nubian Desert is required to get there. Because of the drop in tourist numbers, my arrival at the temples was quite surreal--I was the only one there! Not even a guard. Just two black dogs languishing in the sun. (Lucky for me they were friendly dogs!)
When I told Camille Paglia about it, she remarked that I must have felt like a British archeologist discovering it for the first time in the 19th century! More accurately, I felt like I was in a Ray Harryhausen film! All it needed was a Bernard Herrmann soundtrack.
Inside the Temple of Ramses II
A charming building in one of the Nubian villages on Elephantine Island.
My hotel wasn't keen on the idea of me wandering around alone in Aswan's Fatimid Cemetery (which dates back to the 9th century AD), but I went anyway. The caretaker of the cemetery took me on a tour of the graves.
The pièce de résistance was this tomb of an important imam, decorated with hsbd-irty, or artificial lapis lazuli, which is considered humanity's first synthetic pigment. It was developed in ancient Egypt during the Fourth Dynasty, c.2575-2467 B.C., when it used to decorate the tombs of the Pharaohs.
When the caretaker showed me this blue-dusted tomb, I was struck with a jolt of déjà vu. I then realized I had visited this site in a dream a few years ago.
Little Egypt
In July, I flew to Rome to cover Alta Roma fashion week for Diane Pernet. One of the highlights was our exclusive tour of the ateliers where the costumes and sets for the Rome Opera are created, at the Circus Maximus.
Even the fake set for the Mouth of Truth knows I'm a big, fat liar.
Below the Roman Opera ateliers is an ancient temple of Mithras. Popular before the Christians drove it out around the 5th century, the cult of Mithras was an all-male cult comprised of working-class and military men. After a bull was slaughtered and sacrificed, the animal's blood would pour down like a waterfall from the ceiling. As an initiation rite, the strapping, naked young military men would bathe and frolic and wrestle around in the deluge of blood. Now that sounds like a party!
I ran into fashion designer Paola Balzano at the A.I. Artisanal Intelligence exhibit at the show-stopping Palazzo Altemps, home of Angelica Library which, starting in the 17th century, became the world's first lending library.
Inside the library, Paola's dresses are up on the catwalk in the background. The skull sculpture is by Davide Dormino.
Musician Diego Buongiorno and I at the A.I. exhibit. Diego's latest piece is The Bush, an innovative project that puts both music and narrative together, which he devised, wrote, composed, arranged and produced.
After attending the sensational Jean Paul Gaultier show at Santo Spirito in Sassia (a communion-wafer's throw from the Vatican), we were invited to a dinner in Monsieur Gaultier's honor by Italian Vogue at the breathtaking Galleria Borghese. Above is one of the museum's most famous sculptures, The Rape of Persephone by Bernini. It certainly was a delight to be able to wander through the galleries at night while the museum was closed to the public.
Reunited: me and journalist Rebecca Voight arriving at the dinner.
We Are a Photograph
My biggest thrill of the night was meeting disco goddess Amanda Lear. JP Gaultier created the costumes for her recent one-woman show in Paris. I've been a big fan of her music for years. In September I read her amazing memoir, My Life with Dali. It is absolutely the best book to read while on holiday.
La Dolce Vita, Indeed
Dining under the stars: the enchanting table setting in the Villa Borghese gardens. I was over the moon for the caramelle arancia e cannella con vellutata di spinaci and the operatic sfogliata caramellata di millefoglie con crema chantilly e fragole, coulis di frutti di bosco. Yum!
One of the guests at the dinner was Simone Valsecchi. A true renaissance man, Simone has collaborated with Jean Paul Gaultier, Peter Greenway, Gianfranco Ferre and others and works as a stylist and also curator and collector of museum-quality dresses starting from the 7th century. He was a lender to the Museo Fortuny for the exhibit "Diana Vreeland After Diana Vreeland."
It was fun to see Susan Sabet again and we discussed the situation in Egypt at length during dinner.
Sisters Are Doing it For Themselves--and God
On another day, I was treated to a bespoke, hisory-laden tour of Medieval Rome by Roam Around Rome, a boutique tour company. Our first stop was the Basilica of Santi Quattro Coronati--the 4 Holy Crowned Martyrs.
The Basilica's hidden Romanesque cloister.
Paolo and Antonio of Roam Around Rome.
Ceiling of the Basilica di San Clemente, founded in the 4th century.
One of the main reasons to come to Rome, it goes without saying, is the food.
(She's In A) Bad Mood
On my last night in Rome I attended the opening of the new Ermanno Scervino boutique. Asia Argento, whom I adore, was there promoting her album Total Entropy.
Before Asia arrived at the party in a burst of glorious punk-rock impudence, as if she had been shot from a cannon, the soiree was a rather soigné affair. Men in expensive suits and women dressed as if they had raided Halson's closet floated in circles around the crowded room through champagne bubbles and a DJ set of fabulously louche '70s disco. Such a refreshing change from the typical New York fashion party, where douchey faux-hemian "DJs" try and fail to spin their way out of a wet reclaimed hemp paper bag...and everyone is dressed like they're competing in a Chloe Sevigny costume challenge.
The DJ booth at the party which doubled as Asia's stage.
In New York we have a plethora of bland, generic Duane Reades. Rome has this. (Located next to Leon's Place, the official hotel of Alta Roma this season.)
Sunset at the Temple of Vesta.
I always go to Europe for holiday in September and this time around I went to Paris to visit friends. Frédéric lives in a glamorous penthouse with a vast terrace that overlooks the Eiffel Tower. I offered to make us some of my world-famous Belgronis™ but since Frédéric had limited spirit options, we went into War-time rationing mode. We made do with some gin and red vermouth. Since he didn't have a proper cocktail shaker, I had to mix the cocktails in a wine decanter with a swan-like neck. Not easy to get the ice cubes in there! But we ended on a high note by drinking my Belgronis™ from Fréd's Christian Dior crystal tumblers.
The view from Fréd's terrace at night.
I stayed for two glorious nights at the Hôtel de NELL in the center of Paris. The star of my room was a Japanese bathtub carved out of a single block of raw marble, bathed in natural light. The tray, seat and footstool are made from the lightest Oregon myrtlewood. I thought the seat was a bit strange but then again, I've never taken a bath in Japan!
I dined in the NELL's formidable restaurant, La Régalade Conservatoire, with Rebecca Voight. I chose as my main the scorpion fish fillet cooked in a bouillabaisse with snow peas and shaved fennel. Supèrbe!
Meanwhile, at the Folies Bergère the gilded tuchas of the iconic Art Deco can-can dancer was being polished for maximum shine.
Because it's just not a trip to Paris unless you drink Champagne with Diane Pernet at Café de Flore on the Rive Gauche.
Diane & Akiko Hamaoka, the Mayor of the Marais. And Lemon!
Après Champagne, Diane and I embarked on a magical mystery tour of Paris with Akiko. One of our stops, L'Hotel, was where Oscar Wilde uttered his (disputed) last words, "These curtains and I have been fighting a duel to the death. One of us has got to go" or "Either this wallpaper goes or I go." Or, more likely, "WHAT a DUMP!"
We passed by the majestic Tour Saint Jacques and Diane was amazed that she actually walked through tourist-y Les Halles, where she was barraged with gawking gasps and boorish commentary. But Diane is stoic, as am I, so it rolled off her like water on a duck's back. And we had a good laugh and exercise.
I think this might be how the day started out: the healthiest vegetarian lunch you can possibly imagine at The Tuck Shop. This zucchini soup rocked my world.
The divine Puurple Rain! She works hard for the money at the TUCK SHOP (which she co-owns)! Bringing vegetarian delights to the Croque Madame-stifled masses....
On my last day in Paris, I had lunch with the delightful Angélique Bosio, director of the terrific documentary on Bruce LaBruce, The Advocate for Fagdom. I (and my alter ego) appear in the film and Angélique interviewed me for it in 2009 when I was staying in an apartment in Pigalle.
See if you can guess which one is moi in this trailer:
After my high-end stay at the Hôtel de NELL, I schlepped my cookies up to Montmartre and checked into this very homey bohemian flat that was discretely tucked away in the Passage de Abbesses. Backstage photographer Sonny Vandevelde turned me onto it.
Renting an apartment means having your own kitchen to make dinner: salad, baguette and cheese from the fromagerie around the corner. Rich and perfect morbier and pesto gouda which I only bought because of the color (the pesto flavor was too overwhelming.)
One day I had brunch with the boys--fashion designer Teddy Parra and his partner, the actor Jean-Luc Bertin--in Le Marais. I paid a visit to Teddy's boutique--where he designs and produces splendid made-to-measure men's and women's clothing--and this book was displayed in the salon. Le bulge seems to upstage everthing else in the photo.
Dali in Montmartre
I went to my friend Nancy's favorite Moroccan restaurant and on the way back I of course had to take a photo of Sacré-Cœur Basilica, or "the giant baby bottle for angels" as one anonymous poet once put it.
After Paris, I jetted over to Vienna to meet up with my friend Carole Pope and to attend MQ Vienna Fashion Week.
Detail of my suite at the 19th-century circus-themed 25Hours Hotel.
Amazon alert! MQVFW organizers Elvyra Geyer and Zigi Mueller-Matyas.
Taking in the sights backstage at the Tiberius show.
Moi avec champagne et Tiberius ostrich-leather gloves in the VIP Tent at MQVFW with Tiberius designer Marcos Valenzuela.
Carole and I paid a visit to the atelier of Austrian couturier Susanne Bisovsky and it was quite a treat!
Susanne's enviable high-ceilinged kitchen is a riot of cookie tins collected from flea markets all over the universe.
After our atelier visit, Carole Pope and I sank into some sublime apple strudel at my favorite cafe. Yes, dolls...this is MY joint in Vienna.
The cafe is tucked away behind Vienna's famed opera house.
On another day, Carole and I were treated to a rather grand vegetarian lunch at Tian in the center of Vienna. The multi-course meal included this "tea" of tomatoes and basil that was simmered in a Japanese coffee pot.
The dizzying array of dishes at Tian kept soaring higher and higher to new artistic heights. While this salad resembles a Cubist painting, it's meant to mimic a game of Tetris. Bravissimo!
J'Adore the old storefronts of Spittelberg.
Elvyra and The Shit it girl, Bonnie Strange in the VIP Tent at MQVFW.
The top of my tree: Lou Reed portrait by Marco Santaniello, Waiting for the Man ball ornament by Sameer Reddy (detail later on this post) and a Nico Christmas by Isabel Hernandez.
Dear Venii and Penii in furs,
Last Saturday was THE social event of the season: my annual tree-trimming party. To honour the passing of Lou Reed I chose the theme, "Lou Reed & the Velvet Underground."
Even though there was a heavy snowstorm, followed by an intense ice storm, raging that night, a large group of diehards tromped over to my apartment with ornaments to enjoy some of my special Belgronis™, bubbly and my signature canapes.
My legendary radis farcis au chèvre and my favorite Champagne.
I was absolute obsessed with this Velvet Underground tribute ornament made by Joy Szilagyi and Carlota Gurascier. Andy's name is stencilled exactly how it appears on the cover of the Velvet Underground & Nico album.
But even more miraculously was how she painted the other side to look exactly like Warhol's banana. And even though this is a real banana (I think!) it is much heavier and denser than an ordinary bananan and the skin feels like it's made from fine Italian leather. I want to know what she did to it!
Superstar Marco Santaniello and Supermodel Yuen C Jia. Marco had a fab show of his digital paintings up at Tazza Gallery recently. This is the first time I'd met Yuen but I recognized her from the catwalks of Malaysia Internationa Fashion Week which I attended in 2011.
Nancy Stout and Suzanne Batmanghelichi were awarded a special treat for being early arrivals: my famous Belgronis™!
Kao Wei Hao avec Champagne; Christopher Voigt and Helen Yun of Tiffany & Co. con Belgronis™...
Me and Nancy flanked by the world-famous Rosenberg Twins, Alan and Charles.
When the Rosenbergs arrived, I whipped out my copy of Amy Arbus' photography book which features this photo of the Twins from the early '80s.
Mohamad and his version of the V.U. banana.
Helen, Susan and my friend Marie whom I hadn't seen in 10 years. She entertained us with hilarious stories.
The legends of New York: Nancy Stout, Adrian Milton, Patrick Lehman and Brian Butterick aka Hattie Hathaway of Pyramid Club and Jackie 60 fame. There were no Emily Post readings but Hattie brought his signature downtown New York realness.
There were a few people I forgot to photograph (I was too busy serving prosecco!), like DJ Tennesse who brought some terrific Xmas song CDs that he compiled. Tennessee used to DJ at the Pyramid Club.
New York's most important dandy, Patrick McDonald arrived late--and it was worth the wait! I was feeling a bit boozy by this hour.
Yuen attempts to confiscate Sameer's controversial ornament.
The Rosenberg's draped a PUNQUE garland on my tree.
Hattie also donated a Warholian banana.
Jonny Steele impressively handmade this wooden syringe!
As an homage to Mo Tucker, Nancy brought this beautiful metal drum kit.
Because Diane Pernet could not be at my party (she's in Paris, but I will see her in Rome next month), I made this ornament out of a photo of her sitting in my kitchen when I gave a party for her in 2008. She is next to Suzanne's hot dog ornament (which was from last year's '70s NYC theme) and it's an inside joke why I paired it with Diane.
Suzanne made this Diet-Coke-can ornament because Lou Reed loved Diet Coke.
Helen brought this cute little piglet ornament. Think pink!
Christopher brought this lovely gilded piece with a monogrammed L for Lou.
Sameer's Waiting for the Man piece: the little bags of "heroin" are made from brown sugar and something else, I can't remember.
Me reflected in a big silvery ball.
Shiny, shiny, shiny boots of leather. My friend Daki in Cairo sent this S&M Barbie!
It is now a yearly tradition for Mark to hang one of his empty prescription bottles on my tree.
This ornamanent didn't make it to my tree last year (for '70s NYC theme) so it's featured now: a homemade Saturday Night Fever ornamanent sent by Penny Saranteas.
Writer and enfant terrible Bruce Benderson was feeling under the weather and didn't make it to the party--but this ornamanent is coming soon to my tree: a handmade syringe homage to Syracuse. Bruce and Lou were both from there.
Artist Scott Neary, who was also down with a cold, made this Candy Darling Cane. It will arrive on my tree soon.
My cousin Kathy Garrigan was snowed-in in Conn. so she sent me a photo of her ingenious homage to Venus in Furs: a Venus de Milo salt shaker in a Barbie fur coat!
I love this little star and you can see the ghost of Sharon Tate hovering in the background.
The party got VERY wild later on...thanks to Mo's now-infamous dou-dou shots, a Lebanese speciality. Tequila and hot sauce garnished with an olive. We had more than a few of them. Here he is with Cecilia and Mac.
I took my September holiday in Paris this year to visit Diane Pernet and other friends and then onwards to Vienna for MQ Vienna Fashion Week 2013. Here is a roundup of my stories from A Shaded View on Fashion:
Last month, I was in the glorious city of Rome--back after a 3-year absence--to cover the Alta Roma fashion week for A Shaded View on Fashion and partake of the city's myriad earthly and heavenly delights. Live! Live! Live! as Mame Dennis was fond of saying. Here is a round-up of my stories from the Eternal City on Diane Pernet's site:
The only parade I attend each year, the Mermaid Parade is refreshingly free of corporate branding, bursting with imaginative homemade ensembles (it's the largest art parade in the U.S.), full of diverse sexy people who eschew sexual labels (none of that LGBTXYZ nonsense), and is really just the perfect pagan way to begin every summer.
The madcap revelry begins as soon as one boards the F train to Coney Island...
...and then the afternoon is started at Ruby's Bar & Grill with beer, raw clams, corn dogs and surrealist sea style.
Pocket Venus!
Me hanging out at Ruby's legendary jukebox. I put on some Michael Jackson's "Beat It" which prompted an 80-year-old salty regular to jump up, thrust his hips back and forth and grab his crotch. Only in Coney Island, kids, only in Coney Island...
The calm before the mermaid storm...
...and they're off and running!
LOVE her typewriter tattoo!
What a trooper! Nothing is gonna stop this lady from enjoying the Mermaid Parade!
Homage to one of the best summer films ever...
First prize for most ingenius use of paper lantern from Pearl River.
Mermaid sushi!
Because nothing says summer at the seashore like Santa...
Naked Cowgirl: The Robin Byrd of the 21st century.
A little bit of a Great Gatsby vibe....
Headline to love: Nefertiti Meets Neptune on the Nile
Hunky Neptune!
Now that John Galliano is on probation, the people are finally free to design their own newspaper couture!
Upstaging Santa, another non-sequitor....
Lucky Cat tattoo!
Forget about the bobo milquetoast artisanal
mustache grooming salon hipsters who moved here last year from
Oregon....these are the real Brooklynites, bitches!
Nancy Stout and I at Ruby's.
A sea of sea people outside Ruby's.
Silver lady and a very sexy man.
The Wonder Wheel is a UNESCO-protected landmark (or something like that..)
I wintered in Egypt this past February and had a fantastic time discovering Cairo and Aswan for the first time. Here is a roundup of all the stories I posted about my trip on A Shaded View on Fashion:
Even though I spent a lot of time in 2012 stranded on the island of Manhattan, I still managed to do some continent-hopping to a bunch of my favorite foreign locales--and one city that I'd never been to before.
In January, Diane Pernet sent me to Rio again (I had to pout and beg a little bit and she finally relented because it was during my birthday) at the invitation of Monica Mendes and ABIT (Brazilian Textile & Apparel Industry Associaton). We stayed in Copacabana which is really the more authentic, egalitarian Rio experience as opposed to trendy Ipanema.
I celebrated my birthday with Rosario, Suleman and lots of complimentary champagne at the chic Fasano Hotel. (We craftily piggy-backed on a party the hotel was throwing for Mario Testino.)
And I made some new friends at the beach!
I set my camera down on the windowsill next to my bed in my room at the Windsor Atlantica so that I could jump up and capture this gorgeous sunrise on the far end of Copacabana called Leme.
Me hanging out at the treehouse restaurant Aprazivel in Santa Teresa.
In September, I took my yearly trip to the magical music-box-like city of Vienna, where I am invited to cover MQ Vienna Fashion Week.
I usually stay close to the Opera House, but this year for the first 3 nights I stayed in the rarely visited district of Margareten. After World War I, Vienna was known as "Red Vienna" because of the left-wing government that put a lot of Socialist programs in action, including municipal housing projects for the poor. There are quite a few in Margareten (and the highway that borders the district is nicknamed the "Ringstrasse of the Proletariat") and I did my own self-guided tour of the area. This one was my favorite communal housing project: the elegant Reumann-Hof, built in 1924 (above).
Lovely late-day light in Margareten.
Backstage at the Tiberius show at Vienna Fashion Week.
Designer Mariella Morgana Meyer at the "White Mask" afterparty for the Tiberius show at the fabulous Le Meridien Hotel (where I stayed for 3 nights).
One of my rockstar hosts at Vienna Fashion Week, my friend Zigi Mueller paired stars & stripes with rainboots (it always seems to downpour for one day whenever I visit Vienna).
I really enjoyed the "Reflecting Fashion" exhibit at MUMOK in Vienna's Museum Quartier. (Maria Oberfrank of MQVFW kindly supplied me with passes to all the museums.) One of the highlights was the inclusion of Elsa Schiaparelli's collaboration with Salvador Dali, the iconic lobster dress, which was very conspicuously absent from the Met Costume Institute's disastrous Prada/Schiaparelli show. Even though I am a Freudian, I was very amused by this feminist provocation (above), "Flow My Tears 1" by Mai-Thu Perret. The mirrored face is meant to reflect back all Freudian theories projected onto women, making her impervious to them.
After Vienna, I passed through Berlin for 3 days to visit my nutty "cousins" Vaginal Davis and Isabel. (Isabel has since fled the cold shoulders of the Germans and is now somewhere in sunny northern Thailand.) Isabel and I went to the Humboldt Cube museum and I took these photos from the veranda of the museum's restaurant.
Mitte is packed cheek by jowl with trendy, soulless boutiques that all seem to sell the same bougie "design" pillows and lamps for 50 euros a pop. One moment of respite was an interesting bookstore (the entrance, above) that also hosts reading.
Vaginal Davis in her studio in Schoneberg.
After Berlin, I took a 5-day holiday in Amsterdam--my first time!--and I was instanly won over by this charming little city.
House of Cheese!
Amsterdam street style
My friend Marcelo took me out to a marvelous dinner at the Silver Mirror, a restaurant that has not changed much since the early 17th century! We quaffed champagne and supped on foie gras brulee while sitting inside the fireplace. Those tiles!
View from the window of my suite at the delightfully quirky Lloyd Hotel & Cultural Embassy
My suite at the Conservatorium Luxury Spa Hotel
Happy art at the recently re-opened & re-vamped Stedelijk Museum
Me + Moet at the Amsterdam premiere of the amazing DIANA VREELAND: THE EYE HAS TO TRAVEL
Artist Scott Neary took me on a tour of "his Amsterdam."
We stopped by the Theater Tuschinski to check out the eye-popping interior.
Ilanga met me for green tea out on the terrace of the Amstel InterContinental Hotel where I stayed for one very royal night.
From pristine canal-lined streets to the gritty hutongs of dynasties past: non-stop flight from Amsterdam to Beijing!
Alice McInerney of Anywearstyle.com & I at Dada bar
Design writer Laura Houseley & Beijing Design Week Creative Director Aric Chen
Full moon over the Lama Temple
Partying with rich Communist Party brats at Baby Face
Madame Cat & Monsieur Fish at Wuhao Curated-Shop
Me & Jeffrey Ying aka Oscar Madison & Felix Unger at the Baccarat champagne toast in Sanlitun Village.
Rem Koolhaas's CCTV Tower which generates almost as much propaganda as Fox News.
Beijing's arbiter of elegance, Jeffrey Ying, gave a party for the Party on China's National Day in his glamorous penthouse.
NYC-Vienna-Berlin-Amsterdam-Beijing-NYC: This was literally a trip around the world as my return flight to NYC traveled over the Pacific. Thanks for taking this journey with me.
Above: Robert Mapplethorpe by Tom Scott, gold-dusted take-out container by Joselle Yokogawa & Mrs. Vreeland by Adrian Milton and Patrick Lehman
Dear holiday hussies, New Yawk punk-rock casualities & Studio sluts,
New York may be turning into an uninspired playground for bland honkies from the 'burbs, but on Saturday night I transported my apartment and my party guests back to the fabulously crime-ridden, decadent, gritty and glamorous '70s. The theme of my tree-trimming party this year was "1970s New York" and my guests certainly rose to the occasion with ornaments and shenanigans. The party was a mix of Old Home Week (friends I hadn't seen in years like Aaron Rasmussen & Tom Scott), new friends I met on Facebook (Carly Sommerstein, Carol Vanderkloot) and in Beijing (Charlene from Tranquil Tuesdays brought me some lovely ancient tree raw pu'er tea--it's what I drink when I'm in Beijing).
Peace in the Middle East in my kitchen!: Aaron Rasmussen, Carly Sommerstein & Mohamad A Canaan. Carly brought a dollop of Chanukah, the Communist Manifesto & Cultural Revolution porn to the party (more on that later). Mohamad, who is visiting from Beirut, quickly became the life of the party. When Mark Morgan Perez arrived later in the evening with a big bottle of top-shelf tequila, Mohamed jumped in and got us all plastered with several rounds of his take on traditional Lebanese "Dodo shots": tequila, salt, Frank's Hot Sauce, and an olive followed by a wedge of lime.
Icon alert! Justin Vivian Bond, NYC's most revered transgendered artiste, & Patrick McDonald, the Big Apple's most important dandy institution, had a long, intimate chat in the library nook of my kitchen.
Icon alert #2! Lesbian rock goddess Carole Pope blessed my pagan disco Druid tree with a splash of unholy water: unconsecrated prosecco.
Sylvia Heisel & her husband Scott Taylor (a bartender at Studio 54 in the late '70s who invented the phenomenon of shirtless male bartenders) of Postmodern Productions erected a conceptual installation in my Mao Zedong VIP Room: spinning disco balls and revolutionary Red lights! Talk about a cultural revolution!
Marisa Crawford, now a photographer and former stylist whom I assisted back in the day, and her daughter Justine were the first VIPs admitted into the Mao Room. Marisa's uncle, Paul Morrissey (yes, THE Paul Morrissey) recently screened his comeback film at Lincoln Center, which I attended at Marisa's invitation.
Artist Scott Neary, Persian intellectual Suzanne Batmanghelichi, moi avec Andy Kaufman, and Justin (who was on the floor looking for her diaphragm after it fell out of her purse.)
Nancy Stout, author of the soon-to-be-released Cuban revolutionary Celia Sanchez biography, and her pal Antonia van Drimmelen engage in dialetical Marxist Melba Moore hijinks. Do the hustle!
Sizzling hot soul sisters Joselle Yokogawa & Danielle deciphered the conundrums of the Mao Room.
Knitwear designer (right) Tom Scott won the tree-topper award this year with his Robert Mapplethorpe ornament. A Satanic star for my tree--take THAT, Jesus!
Patrick Lehman won the Charles Nelson Reilly look-a-like contest with more than a little help from his Chester Weinberg scarf and witty repartee.
Antonia & Christopher Voigt discussed Tibetan Buddhism while keeping a safe distance from the Mao Room (and as David Hemmings documents it).
Glamour puss & Eve Kitten creator Nancy Bacich & Patrick cooled their heels in my boudoir-slash-office.
Musician and radical guitar-pedal inventor Johnny Steele and his girlfriend showed up dressed for a night at the Mudd Club circa 1978!
Tom's sublime Robert Mappelthorpe ornament reigning supreme at the top of my tree (sharing the title with Joselle's glam take-away carton...)
Old-Skool East Village diehard artist John Toth battled his way through drunken, vomiting frat boys on the street to deliver his hip-hop graffiti ornament to my party!
Scott Neary made this ornament because he wants the world to know: I Saw Bette at the Palace!
Santa Claus is subjected to a terrifying "The Fly" fate after he's morphed with Factory casualty Edie Sedgwick. Ornament by Corey Sabourin.
My Truman & Andy ornament & Carol Vanderkloot's NYC taxi. Goes well with Andy considering all his excrutiatingly boring taxi ride documentations (how much he paid for each ride or who paid for him instead) in his diaries.
Joselle's glam-bam-thank-you-ma'am New York Dolls shoe ornament.
Viva Angela! Nancy Stout made this ornament that documents "On October 17, 1970 FBI agents arrested Angela Davis at the Howard Johnson Motor Lodge in New York City. President Nixon congratulated the FBI for capturing a 'dangerous terrorist.'" !
More from Nancy: Fidel Castro's 1979 visit to New York purportedly cost the city $170,000 in overtime for 2,000 policemen! But what I want to know is: Did Fidel get turned away at the door of Studio 54?
Christopher Voigt brought some groovy interior design to the party, which he interprets as a 1970s Nativity scene...the "virgin" in this case is on birth-control pills....
A hot dog (love the glitter mustard) and dolls--sounds like a typical '70s New York snack! (Suzanne brought the hot dog; Mark brought the empty prescription bottle.)
Bruce Benderson brought the Crisco to the party--but my house rule required that it be used only in the hallway or outside. I didn't want any greasy fist marks ending up on my champagne flutes and antique sconces!
Carole Pope's punk decoupage creation is centered around "an inflated used condom"....or so the legend goes. (I can't imagine Carole putting her mouth ANYWHERE where a cock was.)
Aaron's high-concept ornament is supposed to be me when I'm 70....or me in the '70s....or something like that....
Elegant disco cocks by Cator Sparks
Vintage Hello Kitty toy from Nancy Bacich.
Rachel Spaeth brought an ornament that's supposed to be "how a disco ball looks after a night of doing too much coke" and Johnny got all pre-hipster DIY punk rock and just made his ornament from the PBR he drank at my party (he brought it himself--I would NEVER serve PBR at one of my parties!)
Bruce & Justin
The boys in the backroom: Patrick McDonald, Patrick Lehman, Cator Sparks and friend.
Marisa Crawford brought a Chinese-character version of Mao's Little Red Book
The aforementioned Cultural Revolution porn that Carly brought!
I love getting presents at my Xmas parties! Danielle gifted me a a St. Germain & Cava cocktail kit!
