Confessions from the Velvet Ropes

America's Next Top Model Cycle 18 premiere with Kelly Cutrone & Kelly Osbourne featured a 19-year old black Elton John and the reincarnation of Pocahontas, jumping on trampolines for middle-America's amusesment.

Dear tele-trannies & fashion fans in the flyovers:

I never watch the ridiculous "America's Next Top Model" but I tuned in to the season premiere last night to see my friend Kelly Cutrone, best-selling author and owner of People's Revolution PR company, who has been chosen as one of the judges (replacing Andre Leon Talley). I'm not here to do a recap--I'll leave that to the parasitic TV bloggers--as I'm sure you can watch the episode on Hulu. I will say that Cutrone did a right-on job with her savvy, seasoned advice for the young contestants and I'll never say a bad word about Kelly Osbourne because I revere her father and adore her mother.

However, I can't resist logging in my drive-by comments regarding the segment where the models were dressed as either American or British archetypes (this season pits girls from the US and the UK against each other), and then asked to jump up and down on a trampoline while being filmed by sixty cameras. (For a 3-D effect....the money they throw away on these shows could go to feeding several African countries and then some.) The girls were expected to mimic the precise facial expressions and mannerisms of each icon they were imitating, while jumping. How on earth a 19-year old girl is supposed to possess insight into the likes of Andy Warhol and Pocahontas (which, in a racist jab, the judges imposed on the show's Native American girl) is beyond me. The judges were unrealistically harsh on the contestants, which I suppose is all part of the show's cartoonish appeal. (They acted like they had cocktails with the real Pocahontas, who died in 1617, on a regular basis and therefore understood her intimately.)

I'm surprised they didn't set fire to the contestants and then pour molasses on them while they were jumping up and down....and then berate and humiliate them for not projecting the exact same facial expressions, body odor and souls of Jackie Kennedy and Elton John.

Ciao,

Glenn Belverio

Kelly Cutrone & Diane Pernet on MTV, Michael Musto's Anniversary Party with Joan Rivers, and the Scope Cocktail hosted by People's Revolution at Quality Meats in NYC. Photos by Glenn Belverio

 
Above: Diane at the SCOPE cocktail at Quality Meats

Dear Readers,

My friend Diane Pernet was in town last week for SCOPE and we had a very Warholian afternoon at Kelly Cutrone's loft where MTV interviewed Diane & Kelly about the Oscars and Lady Gaga's new "Telephone" video.

 
OFF WITH THEIR HEADS! Diane & I ready ourselves for our next victim. 

At the cocktail, I was delighted to meet fellow Shaded View contributor Dustin Pittman. We chatted for a long time and of course he had the best stories about photographing Mick Jagger at a show in the early '70s and really that was just the tip of the Chanel iceberg. After the cocktail he took me to a party for Michael Musto...it was just like the old days again.

 

Joan Rivers hosted Michael Musto's 125th anniversary as a scribe at the Village Voice. By the way, did you hear about Joan's date dropping dead in front of her during dinner at Le Cirque recently? Seriously. She made a joke about how it was the first time he saw her in the light so it was too much of a shock for his heart. But really, having a date drop dead at Le Cirque? That is SO glamorous. I am jalouse.

 
Dirty Martini came out to do a little dance to commemorate Musto's 225 years in the nightlife biz. At one point during the night I rested my champagne flute on what I thought was a nifty end table made out of faux-petrified wood. I later learned that it was Cindy Adams.

 

Earlier on the evening Diane & I had tea with our friend Pierrot Carrilero at the Tribeca Grand Hotel

 

 
On Monday, I had breakfast with Diane at Pain Quotidien before popping in at Kelly Cutrone's. We thought it would be a short visit but we ended up staying for 4 hours.

Kelly relaxing in her loft

 

Kelly & Diane in Kelly's bed being prepped for their MTV interview

 

     

Love,

Glenn Belverio   

Rihanna wears Alexandre Vauthier during her live performance for X Factor on November 29, 2009

 

Dear pop priests & priestesses,

My friends at Station Service, a Paris showroom that reps cutting-edge designers, sent me these gorgeous shots of Rihanna wearing a dress by one of their French couturiers, Alexandre Vauthier, on the UK show "X Factor."

Vauthier honed his skills working for Parisian fashion masters Jean Paul Gaultier and Thierry Mugler. During Paris Couture Week last January, Vauthier presented his first couture collection at La Maison des Metallos. Electronica artist Roisin Murphy walked in the show and wears his creations during public appearances.

Alexandre & Roisin 

While I was in Paris this past September, I couldn't resist modeling one of Vauthier's couture pieces--a sumptuous fox-fur cape with gold beading by the prestigious house of Lesage--during a visit to the Station Service showroom.

Later,

Glenn Belverio 

Kelly Cutrone's Birthday Party at Southside in New York with "The Hills"/"The City" cast: Whitney Port, Ali and Erin, November 20, 2008

 
Above: Kelly Cutrone and Whitney Port at Southside

Dear Readers,

One of my favorite people in the whole wide world, Kelly Cutrone, had her blowout birthday bash this past Thursday night at Southside in downtown Manhattan. There were lots of surprises, like Kelly's kick-ass DJ set and a filming for the new "The Hills" spinoff, "The City." New York is still where the action is, kids.

For a full report, please visit A Shaded View on Fashion

Later,

Glenn

Juicy Couture New York flagship store opening, November 6, 2008, with Gela and Pam, Martha Stewart, Gossip Girl cast, Sandra Bernhard, and the New Humility.

  
Juicy sandwich! Me with Pam and Gela of Juicy Couture

Dear juicy fruits,

A few nights ago I attended the spectacular opening of the new Juicy Couture flagship on Madison Avenue. I chronicled the night at length for Diane Pernet and it can be read here: A Shaded View on Fashion.

Ciao,
Glenn Belverio

 
Above: Martha Stewart at Juicy