Isaac Mizrahi

Parties, if one has the energy to attend them after viewing collections all day, are a mainstay of New York Fashion Week. On Valentine's Day, Victoria Beckham, right, feted Allure magazine's 20th anniversary at a tony bistro called Minetta Tavern. She unexpectedly showed up with David Beckham, her husband, who had on a dark plaid suit and wide tie. "He looks like he just stepped out of an ad," offered a reveler in the bar area, jammed with well-known faces.

Kiefer Sutherland and his delightful gal pal, Siobhan Bonnouvrier, a fashion editor at Allure, were squeezed into one corner. Author Simon Doonan and his boyfriend, Jonathan Adler, the interior designer, chatted with Kelly Ripa and Mark Consuelo. Iman, looking as youthful as the first day she arrived in New York, stood catty-corner beside designer Tory Burch.

Linda Wells, Allure's alluring Editor in Chief, later seated beside the Beckhams at dinner, dinged her glass and made a speech about "loving" her 20th-anniversary cover girl, Victoria Beckham. Did RSVIP mention that the steaks were enormous and delicious? Fun fete.

There is serious baby fever in Hollywood. Starting this Sunday at the Golden Globes, more baby bumps will be taking a turn on the red-carpet than you can shake a stick at. Victoria Beckham. Natalie Portman. Penelope Cruz. Gretchen Mol. Mariah Carey. Jewel. Pink. Jennifer Connelly. Rachel Zoe. And, just yesterday, Kate Hudson announced she had a bun in the oven. With so many expectant celebs, TV show Extra compiled a list to keep everybody's due date straight. We're, of course, more concerned with what they'll be wearing.

You might think this many women with child during awards season could foil a designer's grand ambition to see his/her couture gowns on the red carpet. Think again. Designers have pregnancy down. Remember Catherine Zeta Jones in 2003? The word "luscious" came to mind when the nine-months-pregnant star walked the Oscars in a low-cut chocolate-colored gown with beaded straps. And it was a coup for Versace.

My friend and colleague Amy Tara Koch published a book last year called Bump It Up and, in it, are great style tips courtesy of designers and fashion insiders.

"Half of pregnancy has to do with attitude," Filipa Fino, accessories editor at Vogue, told Koch. "I just refused to give in to feeling dowdy. And therefore, I did not look dowdy!"

From the NY Observer:
--Martha Stewart's former apartment at 173 Perry Street recently had a $2 million price cut to $13.9 million. The listing is here.
--Voice over artist and CBS announcer Wendell Craig and his wife Nancy Good have just bought a two-bedroom co-op in Morningside Heights for $1.695 million.
--Tina Fey, has sold her 500 West End Avenue apartment for $2.15 million to lawyer Jack E. Pace III and wife, Colleen Ann Tully. Fey and her husband Jeff Richmond, purchased the two-bedroom in 2004 for $1.9 million. In 2009 they purchased a $3.4 million four-bedroom apartment in the same Upper West Side neighborhood. She also recently sold a studio apartment which she used as office space for $550,000.
--Socialite and Bernie Madoff victim Dorris Carr Bonfigli has sold her Fifth Avenue penthouse. She listed it just before Christmas 2008 for $11.3 million. The home at 930 Fifth Avenue recently sold for $7.5 million. The buyers are Dutch artists Wouter and Ann Kourijn.
--The late author Louis Auchincloss' Park Avenue apartment has sold to a financier for $3.905 million.
--The new plans to revise the penthouse at Robert De Niro's Greenwich Hotel in Tribeca have gotten the Landmarks Preservation Commission's seal of approval.
--Hockey player Henrik Lundqvist has sold his 20th-floor duplex in The Bromley at 225 West 83rd Street for $1.68 million. He bought the property in 2006 for $1.75 million.
--David S. Winter and his wife Elizabeth paid $26 million for a fifth-floor co-op at 778 Park Avenue.
--The Tribeca home of convicted Ponzi schemer Hassan Nemazee has sold for $3.15 million.
--German singer Ute Lemper and her husband Todd Turkisher, have bought the penthouse at 125 West 76th Street for $1.64 million.
--Jennifer and Peter Bernstein have bought the second floor of a two-floor duplex that was previously listed for nearly $15 million for $2.2 million.
--Gossip Girl producer Joshua Safran has sold his apartment at 77 White Street for $1.76 million.
--Martin Broughton, the CEO of British Airways, purchased a $2.9 million apartment in the Schwab House on Riverside Drive from John and Tania Secor.
--Harper's publisher John R. "Rick" MacArthur recently dropped $5.05 million on a three-bedroom apartment in The Kenilworth at 151 Central Park West was originally put on the market for $5.495 million.
-Jimmy Fallon and his wife, producer Nancy Juvonen, listed two seventh-floor apartments at the oldest New York City co-op building, 34 Gramercy Park East, for $3.75 million but the listing soon came off the market and public records show no sale of the yet-to-be-combined units. Now the couple purchased a $1.35 million eighth-floor apartment in the same building.


From the NY Post:
--The apartment where actor Heath Ledger lived in New York City is unofficially back on the market for $5 million. The 4,400-square-foot unit at 421 Broome St.has been gut-renovated but still needs a lot of work.
--"Saturday Night Live" star Bill Hader recently checked out an $8,400-per-month, two-bedroom, two-bathroom unit at the Philip Johnson-designed Urban Glass House at 330 Spring St.
--Fashion designer Isaac Mizrahi is in contract to buy a two-bedroom, two-bathroom condo in the prewar Emery Roth-designed building (where Cameron Diaz has a place). The apartment's most recent asking price was $2.25 million and Mizrahi bought a one-bedroom, one-bathroom unit on the same floor earlier this year for $1.1 million. The seller of both apartments is Jack Kliger, CEO of TV Guide and former CEO of Hachette Filipacchi Media.
--Courtney Love was hopping to buy Milla Jovovich's $7.5 million townhouse at 100 Greenwich Ave. but a mystery last-minute higher bidder claimed the price.
--Justin Timberlake paid around $6.4 million for his new three-bedroom apartment at the Soho Mews. His apartment at the Pearline Soap Factory is still on the market for $5.25 million.


From the Wall Street Journal's Private Properties:
The Portabello estate in Corona Del Mar, California was listed for $75 million in 2006 but has sold for $34.1 million, according to records. The WSJ says that the buyer also gave the seller a property valued at around $7 million.

Allman Brothers Band drummer Butch Trucks has been trying to sell his home in Palm Beach, Florida for a while now. it was once listed at $4.8 million but Trucks and his wife are now asking $3 million for the six-bedroom home which is less than a five-minute walk from the beach. The listing is here.



From the NY Times:
Georgina Bloomberg, the younger daughter of Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg bought a co-op at 101 Central Park West for "very close" to the $4.15 million asking price.

During the inaugural fashion week at Lincoln Center, the Mercedes-sponsored tents where the shows take place were almost identical to the old structures at Bryant Park, but more airy, with a glass atrium in the center and 30 percent more space.

The monolithic rectangle in the far left corner of the plaza at Lincoln Center that introduces the tents looks as if it were carved from white stone and balanced on a tornado shaped point. But the structure is an optical illusion. It is a metal box, stabilized from behind and covered with white vinyl that looks like marble.

Inside the tents, fresh computers print out paper tickets for the tide of fashionistas and celebrities who are invited to shows-Carmen Electra, Kelly Rowland, Rumer Willis.

The private Mercedes lounge was designed by interior guru Carlos Mota using Iman's new fabric line; colorful zebra-skin and peacock-feather patterns upholster couches and ottomans. Photos of Iman by Bruce Weber and Peter Beard on the walls are from Iman's private collection.

Across the street at an atrium space, WWD (Women's Wear Daily) would later showcase its 100th anniversary by featuring retro designs by Thakoon and other hip designers to be sold by Gilt Groupe.

From the Wall Street Journal's Private Properties:
--Virginia winemaker Patricia Kluge has put her 300-acre English country estate in Charlottesville, Virginia on the market for $100 million.
--The widow of William Rubin, who is credited with playing a crucial role in shaping the collections of New York's Museum of Modern Art, has listed a 13-acre estate in the south of France for €6.15 million. The home, shown above, is about 12 miles northwest of Saint-Tropez and overlooks the village of Plan-de-la-Tour where Johnny Depp has a house. The listing is here.
--Former Bear Stearns chief operating officer Alvin H. Einbender, 80, has cut the price of his Manhattan apartment, a onetime gym in the former New York City Police Headquarters downtown. It is now listed at $19.95 million which is 33 percent off the original listing price in May 2008. The listing is here.


--A Beverly Hills home which once belonged to Oscar Award winner, Richard Dreyfuss is on the market for $1.999 million. The listing is here.

From the LA Times Hot Properties:
--Actor Larry Hagman and his wife, Maj, have listed their longtime home in Ojai. The 43-acre property is on the market for $11 million. The property website is here.
--Los Angeles Lakers forward Lamar Odom has listed his Manhattan Beach home for $2,399,000. The listing is here.
Designer Stephan Basil Yacobian has listed his Spanish Colonial in the Hancock Park area at $1,595,000. The listing is here.
--A 1920 Spanish-style hacienda in Brentwood owned by actor Dylan McDermott and actress Shiva Rose has sold for $6.5 million. It was listed at $11 million in August 2008 when we first checked it out as an estate of the day.

--A 1929 Spanish-style estate in Bel-Air that traces its Hollywood history back to silent film star Colleen Moore is listed for sale at $15.95 million or for lease at $39,000 a month. The listing is here.
Actress Ali Larter of the NBC sci-fi drama "Heroes" has purchased a home in the Hollywood Hills for $2.925 million.


From Cityfile's Buyers and Sellers:
--Israeli-born entrepreneur Beny Alagem has closed on the sale of his three-bedroom apartment at 15 Central Park West. Alagem and his wife Adele bought for the unit $15.4 million in April 2008 and listed for $24 million last June but ended up selling for $19.9 million. The buyer is Stuart Peterson, an early investor in YouTube, who set the record for purchasing the most expensive home in Bay area in 2006.
--via Curbed, Armon Bar-Tur, a managing director at SafeHarbor Capital Partners, and his wife Rebecca, have put their townhouse at 92 Charles Street on the market for $14.5 million. The listing is here.
--Broadway costume designer William Ivey Long has sold his Chelsea townhouse for $4.75 million.
--Former General Electric CEO Jack Welch has closed on the purchase of an apartment on the 46th-floor of One Beacon Court next door to the apartment he already owns. He paid $8.3 million for the apartment, or nearly $1 million less than what it was first listed for back in February.
--Aubrey Barth, a managing principal at Lazard Alternative Investments, and his wife Meredith, have paid $3.3 million for a three-bedroom co-op at 1128 Park.

From the NY Post:
--As we mentioned a few weeks ago, Kimora Lee Simmons, has reduced the price of her home in Saddle River, NJ, to $16.5 million. After she sells she plans to buy a Manhattan residence.

--"Iron Chef America" judge Karine Bakhoum, known as the "Iron Palate," has put her three-bedroom, two-bathroom co-op on East 69th Street on the market for $2.35 million. The listing is here.

--Designer Isaac Mizrahi has been spotted checking out an apartment at the ultra-luxe 200 11th Ave. building. Domenico Dolce, half of the Dolce & Gabbana design team, recently closed on two penthouses for $29 million. Mizrahi checked out a three-bedroom unit listed for $6.413 million. The listing is here.

From the NY Observer's Manhattan Transfers:
--Developer Bruce Ratner has picked up a three-bedroom oceanfront house off Long Beach's Arizona Avenue. He paid $2 million to a Manhattan couple, Seema Kalia and hedge fund manager Vedula Murti.

--From BrickWork: The London Property Blog:
--Singer Robbie Williams may be selling the Wiltshire mansion that he bought at the start of this year for as much as £1 million loss according to The Sun. The Compton Bassett House is an 18th-century manor which was once the country home of Lord Norm Foster of Thames Bank (the architect of The Gherkin and others).
--James Hewitt, once the 'most hated man in Britain' when he tried to sell Princess Diana's love letters to him, has listed his bachelor pad in South Kensington for £865,000. The listing is here.

From Move Trends:
The former Studio City home of Neil Patrick Harris is back on the market. He sold the home for $1.325 million in 2007 and it is now listed for $1.149 million. The listing is here.
--A Beverly Hills post office area home that once belonged to actor Ed O'Neill is back on the market for $1.995 million. The listing is here.

From Berg Properties Big Time Listings:
"X-Files" creator Chris Carter has paid $5.45 million to purchase a three-bedroom home in Santa Barbara, California.

From the Real Estalker:
--Colin Hanks has picked up a Spanish-style home in Los Angeles for $1,025,000.
--Actor Henry Simmons has listed his Los Angeles home for $1.397 million. The listing is here.

From AOL Real Estate:
--The home next door to Barack Obama's home is now listed for $1.849 million. The property website is here.

From Zillow Blog:
--Former Alaska governor turned memoir author Sarah Palin and husband, Todd, are building something on the parcel they purchased on July 14, 2009 about 10 days after Palin announced she would resign as governor. The building is right next to the Palin home in Wasilla.

La Palmerie, an estate we showcased as an estate of the day back in January when it was listed at $26.5 million has closed for just $12.8 million. A source reports that the builder had to come to the closing with cash to finalize the deal. The original land owner who sold the property to Clark French to build this estate is the son of the new owners that purchased the estate.

This bright burst of spring color is the tote bag and scarf set created exclusively for the New York Times by designer Isaac Mizrahi. Vivid red twill and leather are paired with a tangerine hued silk chiffon scarf and a bright yellow New York Times signature medallion, the color combination inspired by the New York Times building designed by architect Renzo Piano. Only 600 are available (through the New York Times store) and each comes numbered with a cotton storage bag and gift box for $299.

Okay, not sure where to start on this one... I know designers make a living by pushing the limits of fashion and being the first to find and recognize new trends, but handbags on our heads? Isaac Mizrahi seems to really like the idea, as he has chosen to put more than a few of them on his models and in his fall/winter 2009 collection. The hats/bags themselves are pretty simple in basic leather, featuring nothing much more than rich fall colors and two stiff, skyreaching handles plus, of course, the large hole in the bottom where your head goes.

Add some interior zip pockets, though, and you could make for a super-convenient way to carry essentials like lip gloss and some spare cash around at a party.

Via Book of Joe