Let the Good Times Roll
(NEW YORK) Fashion magazines, much like their staffers, are an ever-increasingly fickle bunch, so is it any wonder that the of-the-moment venues that have staged dozens of stylish get-togethers since their debuts--the Gramercy Park and Bowery Hotels--are reportedly quiet on the holiday party front this season? After all, remember the days of La Esquina?
With Jane having folded--Brandon Holley so famously held her magazine's final party in Brooklyn--the sometimes-awkward office holiday parties are all in Manhattan this year. And with the exception of Meatpacking District hotspot Socialista, which will host Allure in its upstairs lounge space on December 11 ("Red lips are back for the season," a magazine spokeswoman mused of the dress code), the Elle Group, including Elle and Elle Décor, on Dec. 17 (although Elle Décor editor-in-chief Margaret Russell and publisher Dan Ragone are hosting their own combined dinner as well, this one for their editorial and sales teams at Daniel Boulud's new restaurant on Dec. 10.) and Vogue, along with its offshoots Teen Vogue, Men's Vogue, and, for the first time this year, Vogue Living, the following night (a spokesman declined to comment), the venues are as varied as Tinsley Mortimer's nightly outfit changes.
Portfolio editor Joanne Lipman will host her magazine's first official holiday party on Dec. 11 at Runway of all places, a fashion-inspired lounge that shares its name with the magazine in The Devil Wears Prada. The intellectual scribes over at The New Yorker will get their grub on at Hill Country, the BBQ restaurant in the Flatiron District, where bluegrass band The Defibulators will play (a date was not released out of fear of "psycho stalkers," as a magazine rep put it). Vanity Fair, meanwhile, will stick to tradition, with Graydon Carter hosting cocktails followed by a proper seated dinner in early January at Sidecar at P.J. Clarke's (bypassing his own Waverly Inn for the second year in a row). Publisher Edward Menicheschi, however, will entertain his deep-pocketed isers on Dec. 10 at 632 Hudson, the 5,000-square-foot venue perhaps best known for having been the host apartment for the 2001-2002 cast of MTV's The Real World.
While the folks over at Travel + Leisure will savor the newly renovated Royalton tonight, Condé Nast Traveler's staff will converge at Dell'Anima, the new Italian trattoria in the West Village, on Dec. 12, with more than one employee guaranteed to leave a tad more tipsy than they arrived, given the eatery's wine list that features 100 bottles of hard-to-find Italian wines.
On the men's front, GQ's holiday party will take place on Dec. 13, hosted by editor-in-chief Jim Nelson and vice president and publisher Peter Hunsinger at Passerby in the Meatpacking District. Details editor Dan Peres and publisher Chris Mitchell will get down at the Bowery Bar (aka B-Bar & Grill) the night before, while Esquire will be relegated to the Hearst Corporation's second-annual group celebration on Dec. 17 at its Eighth Avenue tower. This year's theme is "All that Glitters," and the party, expected to draw 1,300 to 1,500 employees, will be split between the third floor lobby atrium and the Picasso-laden 44th floor. According to a spokeswoman, décor will come courtesy of Matthew David Events and food will be catered by Restaurant Associates while Andrew Andrew will deejay. Among the Hearst treats: a six-foot tall cupcake tree and a bar full of candy.
CosmoGIRL! editor Susan Schulz, however, will have an extra treat for her staff. She's hosting her own get-together in addition to the Hearst Tower shindig at a location TBD. "I'm going to have everyone bring a goofy hat and do an exchange," she said via email. "Something about wearing a hat makes you want to let loose and head to the karaoke machine! Maybe it's that you already look ridiculous, so you might as well act ridiculous. It's a great way to end the year!"
Self's staffers will be "Letting the Good Times Roll" with editor Lucy Danziger and publisher Kimberly Kelleher at the Chelsea Piers bowling lanes on Dec. 12. According to a magazine spokesman, the magazine had its own "perfect game" in 2007: the best year in history for ad pages and the sixth rate base increase in six years. That same night, Cookie will party at Cantina on the Lower East Side (invitations read: "Felicidades Cookie Holiday Party--Entrada Admits One"). The following night, Wenner Media titles, including Us Weekly, Men's Journal, and Rolling Stone, will toast the year at The Madison in the Flatiron District (let's hope Jann Wenner actually makes it this year).
New York Media (parent company of New York magazine, nymag.com, New York Weddings, and New York Look) will have its holiday party Dec. 13 at the Cub Room in SoHo, a stone's throw from their new downtown offices at 75 Varick Street. V magazine and V Man will host a joint holiday party at the uptown home of executive editor Julie Anne Quay with editor-in-chief Stephen Gan, Cecilia Dean, and James Kaliardos of Visionaire on December 19, in celebration of the 50th issue of V magazine and the holidays. The décor and food will be V-shaped, and staffers will also be treated to tree trimming, Secret Santa, and surprise carol performances.
Lucky will be at the new uptown Pop Burger on Dec. 11, the first magazine to host a private party held at the new space (the magazine was also one of the first to host a party at the original downtown spot when it first opened, a magazine spokeswoman noted). Domino will gather at editor-at-large Tom Delavan's apartment the next night, where guests are asked to comply with the "bring your own ornament party" to create a Domino tree. The next night, and back by demand, W's editorial team will be treated to a karaoke party in the East Village at Death & Co (uplifting name, no?). The magazine's publisher, Nina Lawrence, will spearhead a slightly more posh party at Soho House the night before. Glamour, meanwhile, will celebrate on Dec. 17 at Tillman's in Chelsea--their invite boasts a model in a Dior dress supported by four men in tuxes and reads, "Men in tuxes to carry you home, not included," while Nylon has opted for a lunch on Dec. 14 arranged by Smart Catering at Spanish tapas eatery Pamplona's on 37 East 28th Street ("It's a Friday, so we can get off early for the weekend!" a dutiful employee pointed out).
Over at Paper, meanwhile, Kim Hastreiter and David Herskovits have opted to take the Vanity Fair route--out of necessity. "We haven't even gotten it together to plan!" said Mickey Boardman, the magazine's deputy editorial director. "Last year we had it in January as a sort of 'better late than never kind of thing.'"
Sadly, both Time Inc. and The New York Times have decided not to offer company-approved drink fests--presumably for staffers to wallow in recent job cuts. An "Ambassador's party" for isers of the Grey Lady, however, will take place tonight at Tenjune.
