Sergio Says! Weekly Musings from Marie Claire (and Beyond...)

2012 January 27

Obvi, Sergio had to flaunt the latest sneaks
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Sergio hits Broadway, unwittingly meets Pierre Hardy while picking up an extremely fresh pair of white kicks by the French designer, and crosses paths with Madonna--again! Two for two, darling. Keep up the good work, and send Chic's love to JoCo & MC Co.!

Sunday
A couple of my friends were invited by Broadway producer Ken Davenport to see his revival of Godspell. When one of my friends couldn’t make it, I was invited by default. My initial answer was “I don’t do musicals." A variation on “I don’t do Queens, Jersey, Staten Island, and Indian food.” But since these friends were from out of town and my choice of activities for the evening was A) sit on my couch in pajamas watching “The Bachelor” or B) sit my couch in pajamas watching Bad Girls Club or C) go to a buzzy Broadway show, I reluctantly chose Godspell. My initial thought was: “OMG, is this going to be a bunch of Jesuses running around on stage? What would my rabbi say?! How would my Jewish family and friends feel about me seeing a dancing messiah and what would they think of me listening to Christian inspired music?!” Not to fear, my people have been through much worse, so I welcomed the experience with open arms. Here’s all you need to know about the show: it’s a modern day song-and-dance version of the Gospel of St. Matthew (whatever that is). Turns out, the Godspell cast is no different than you or me—I, too, spontaneously bust out singing in the middle of the street, and I too do choreographed dance routines while hanging with my friends. All in all, the show was great. My first foray into musical theater was pretty cool, and I am slowly becoming a convert…

Monday
It seems like Madonna and I are running pretty much in the same circles nowadays. She practically begged me to take photos with her last weekend at the Marie Claire Golden Globes after party, and now I get invited to the W.E. premiere at Ziegfeld by no fewer than three different people. Obviously wherever Madge goes, I follow. This time, I brought along my BFF, Courtney, for the ride. Our seats were fourth row center—we had a prime view of the Queen of the Universe as she introduced her movie. Madonna wore Marchesa Fall 2011 and looked every inch a Hollywood film noir superstar. She was styled that evening by Bea Åkerlund, wife of the Swedish film and music video director Jonas Åkerlund, who directed M’s award-winning “Ray Of Light” video as well as videos for Paul McCartney, Metallica, U2, Smashing Pumpkins, The Rolling Stones, Beyonce and Britney Spears. Madonna looked stunning, reminding me of Marlene Dietrich meets Norma Desmond in Sunset Boulevard. The theatre was packed wall-to-wall with boldfacers, including W.E. stars Oscar Isaac, Andrea Riseborough, James D'Arcy and David Harbour, as well as M’s daughter Lola and boyfriend, Brahim. I also spotted Calvin Klein, DvF, Rachel Roy, Zac Posen and Crystal Renn, Cynthia Rowley, Gayle King, Ivanka Trump, Andrew McCarthy, Ewan McGregor, Christian Siriano and his boyfriend Brad Walsh, Donna Karan, Julia Stiles, Lady Bunny, Martha Stewart, Patti Smith, and my friend and Gossip Girl’s fashion god Eric Daman. As Madonna approached the front of the theatre, you could hear a pin drop and a thousand phone cameras going off, desperate to get a shot of the queen. While introducing the movie, M talked about working her ass off for her Superbowl performance next Sunday, and during a long list of thank you’s, she choked up and shed a few tears while talking about her mom. I can honestly say that even the third time around, I loved the movie even more. On the red carpet, Madonna also described her new era of music as the “era of LUV”… Bring it on!

Tuesday
In addition to my love for Madonna and Bloody Mary’s, I have a deep obsession with sneakers. Today I went down to the Meatpacking to Pierre Hardy’s boutique and spent some of my hard-earned cash on new kicks. Upon entering the store I was greeted by a familiar face who said hi with a French accent. “It can’t be, no way that’s Pierre Hardy,” I thought to myself. After trying on a few pairs, I decided on a white high-top with an orange zipper on the side. As I was leaving, the same mysterious French man thanked me for coming and opened the door for me. When I got back to the office, I went straight to Google and looked up Mr. Hardy. Of course that was him in the store, and just my luck I blew him off! I acted like a typical snobby New Yorker who is completely unfazed by a fashion designer. Next time, I am totally asking for a custom pair. LOL. Bonjour, Messiuer Hardy, Je m'excuse pour mon comportement grossier. J’taime!

Wednesday
Another day, another dolla! In between organizing hair and makeup for a last minute JoCo interview, picking up a pair of Chanel boots THE BOSS has been waiting on for-like-ever, and grabbing lunch at Aba Turkish Restaurant (one of my fave local eateries), I took on a role of an AT&T operator as I connected 10 different conference calls. I also previewed an upcoming Project Runway All Stars episode, uploaded MC fashion editor Nina Sterghiou’s iPod with running music, re-organized THE BOSS’ office, scheduled what seemed like a few hundred meetings and, afterwards, stuffed my face at dinner with the best roasted octopus, beet salad and to-die-for Arugula pizza with my friends Justin and Courtney at Rubirosa in Noho. All in a day’s work.

Thursday
Today I feel like a big girl in a skinny world (shout out to MC’s Nicolette Mason!): I couldn’t find anything to wear and went through six different outfits before I found “The One.” My jeans are so tight right now that I had difficulty running down the stairs while trying to catch the train to work this morning. I am in desperate need of a shave and a mani, my lunch consisted of three separate meals (a large Ratatouille soup, Catfish (meow!) with mashed potatoes and a HUGE Chef’s Special of Thai Crispy Calamari salad, not to mention 2 (!!!) pints of raspberries and an apple. I also got three new Oscar screeners: The Descendants, The Artist and The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo, one of which is bound to make me cry like a little bitch when I get home tonight in between watching Project Runway All Stars, natch. Must get myself together, Fashion Week is only a week away!

Friday
In a week that delivered stellar albums at my desk, from Elizaveta with Beatrix Runs to Emeli Sande’s Our Version Of Events, I have to talk about the one album I have been waiting for what seems like an eternity, Born To Die, the debut album from my fave new artist, Lana Del Rey. I have no patience for Lana naysayers who all sound like a broken record! Their reductive, simple, and basic responses will not change my opinion on Lana. Born To Die is a masterpiece! It’s lush and dreamy, whimsical and fresh, old-world and new. Every song is like a fairytale, a beautiful story of love, lost and found. At times Lana sounds cute and sexy—and at other times, she seems lonely and sad. The main point is that she oozes raw emotion and every song is a keeper. I am obsessed, possessed and madly in love with this album. My faves are “Dark Paradise,” “Carmen,” “National Anthem,” “Without You,” “Lolita,” and “Summertime Madness.” But you should pick up a copy when it’s out next week and judge for yourself. Trust me, Lana isn’t going away, at least not on this album. Everyone has haters, and as Lana sings the first few lines in one of my fave songs, “Radio,” “Not even they can stop me now… Their heavy words can’t bring me down,” I can’t help but agree with her. They can’t bring you down. Just keep your eyes on the prize and let haters stay mad!