Cavalli's Natural History

(NEW YORK) Roberto Cavalli added spice and sizzle to the Upper West Side Tuesday night by arriving on the arm of Anne Hathaway to The American Museum of Natural History's Winter Dance. He was promptly surrounded by dance chairwomen Fabiola Beracasa, Tinsley Mortimer, Arden Wohl, Claire Bernard, and Amanda Hearst, who, after graduating from Fordham University in December with an art history degree, revealed that she's moving to Madrid in April for two months to work at Cosmopolitan en Español.

"Oooh, I'm having a total flashback to high school," Hathaway declared, as she and boyfriend Raffaello Follieri admired the grand venue and its countless exhibitions. Spotting Erin Fetherston, the actress made a beeline to say hello. "When I went to your show in February and told press that my dad was in the hospital, the paparazzi stalked the hospital," she revealed. "But while they were all parked illegally, the police gave them all tickets."

Dinner, served in the Hall of Biodiversity, featured a fitting natural backdrop to the silk palm-print fabric tablecloths and napkins (genuine sea anemones served as napkin rings). Sci-fi-inspired floral centerpieces that flanked guests like Cynthia Rowley, Barbara Bush, Jackie Sackler, Stavros Niarchos, Vladimir Roitfeld and Lily Donaldson, Jessica Stam, and Margherita Missoni. Cavalli, meanwhile, held court in the cozy Rainforest Corridor, where informational displays were replaced by leopard print projections alternating with the designer's logo.

Talk, naturally, centered around the night's lush gowns, which ran the gamut from Hollywood siren to full-on jungle print wild. "I love 1930s Hollywood glamour," said Tara Subkoff, decidedly less downtown and more Marlene Dietrich. "I love a good gown. I wear them at home. In private." "I pulled it out of the archives," Beracasa said of her short number, which had Jill Kargman doing a double-take. "I need to get some eyelashes and catch up," she laughed. "It's nice not to be in a ponytail and sweatpants." Alex Kramer, however, upped the ante with a dress that not only respected the "Enchanted Forest" theme, but cost only $200. "I got it at a vintage flea shop in Southampton," she said. "It felt like the right time to bring it out." Amy Greenspon broke into a fit of giggles while being teased about not wearing her go-to Proenza Schouler. "Shh, don't tell Jack and Lazaro," she joked. "They're up in the Berkshires right now."

Before embarking on the dessert and dancing portion of the evening, held underneath the 60-foot blue whale in the Hall of Ocean Life, where an Hervé Leger dress sold for $5,000 in the silent auction (Cavalli, for his part, ponied up tickets to his next show in Milan, along with dresses, men's clothes, and a lunch at the Just Cavalli Café), Hathaway relished the opportunity to relax for a few days. "I just shot my new Lancôme campaign with Peter Lindbergh," she said, her eyes sparkling with excitement. "It's funny, because my first time getting my makeup professionally done was at a Lancôme counter at the mall."

Happy with not only her complexion but with her dress, Cavalli, even sans cigar, seemed at home as he patrolled the space. "It's my dream to have my art in a museum, so I am happy my clothes are on display tonight," he observed. "How beautiful does Anne look? Much better than at the Oscars!"
JIM SHI