Zac Posen Masquerade Ball

Before I write about last night's Halloween party, I wanted to write about the event Liz and I went to the night before - which will explain why I was so tired for said Halloween party.

I was reading a Daily Candy email a couple months ago and it mentioned an upcoming charity ball put on by the Young Patrons of Lincoln Center. They were honoring the amazing designer Zac Posen. Zac designs for ALL the celebrities these days - dresses, bags, shoes - you name it! His show at fashion week was THE one to get into. He's also super young - only 28 years old!

Anyway, I decided to cover the story for Better TV. I asked Liz to come along as my assistant because 1) I knew it'd be more fun with her there and 2) Sometimes when you're stuck on a red carpet, you need people to do things for you. She agreed.

I found out a few weeks before the event that Uma Thurman would be giving out the award to Zac at the event. Bonus! Always good when you cover an event to have an A list celebrity in attendance.

The event was held in the Time Warner Center's Allen Room. If you ever have the opportunity to attend an event there, do it, no matter what the event. You won't be sorry. The glass walled room looked out over Columbus Circle and the park. Dazzling at night. My photos are a little blurry due to the low light, but you can get an idea.

There were three levels and each level had its own bar and food station.










And at the top level you had your silent auction items. From trips to luxury Vegas hotel The Wynn to designer bags made by Zac Posen, there was a mouthwatering array of goods up for grabs. Sadly we are too poor to do any grabbing!

I really liked this dress, though.





After wandering around a bit, it was time to go back out to the red carpet and wait for the celebs to arrive. The thing you need to know about celebs and the red carpet is the lesser celeb you are, the earlier you arrive. Not sure how the powers that be work it, but it's true everytime. That meant Uma would come last. But she couldn't come too late, we assured ourselves. After all, she was giving the presentation. And the presentation was set for 9:30.





This woman is an actress on Law and Order. I don't watch the show and I'm too lazy to look up her name now. Anyone?





I was more excited about the Gossip Girls, to tell you the truth! Nicole Fiscella, who plays Isabel Coates, and Amanda Setton, who plays Penelope. We LOVED both their outfits and they were really friendly and fun to interview. Now I've met four of the actors on the show. Just gotta get Blake Lively someday!!







And Amanda's shoes were beyond awesome.




We also interviewed two Olympians - who won silver medals for fencing. I think Liz had a crush on the dark haired one.





Next came Zac Posen himself. Sans Uma. He was adorable though. And super friendly. Wearing a coat of ermine and a mask he made himself. He talked about dressing Uma - a goddess of our time.





Now we just had to wait for Uma. So we waited. And waited. They brought dessert out. Liz snagged us some candy apples.







We began to get bored. Standing on the red carpet for three hours will do that to you. So we took some masked photos while we waited.







Then we were told that Uma was too nervous to come out on the red carpet before her speech (huh?!) and that she'd come out for photos AFTER her presentation. Meaning we had to wait LONGER. Grr. Doesn't she know I want to go home and to bed? Halloween is tomorrow and I want to be well rested!

So she gives her speech and presents Zac with his award.





And then, after another wait, she finally comes out on the red carpet. I think Liz took some video with her camera - so hopefully she'll post that soon. But to recap it was about five seconds of prancing around with Zac - no talking to the media - and then running off the carpet yelling peace and love. Three hour wait for THAT!

Bleh. The world of celebrity is just so ridiculous. It's like a power play. She was sitting around at 9pm, but knew the photographers would wait all night if they had to, so she decided not to make an appearance. Just so disrespectful to them and their time. And then to not even talk to us after making us wait so long...well, I can't say I am going to look at her in the movies the same way again.

I do want to point out that none of this is the fault of the Young Patrons of Lincoln Center. They put on a great party and everyone seemed to have a good time. Their publicist, Kate, was really helpful and good at keeping us up to date. I felt a little bad for her with the Uma thing. After all, she was just the messenger.

Anyway, that's about it. Overall a fun night. I'll post the Better TV story when it's finished!





Marianne