Carolina's Calling

(NEW YORK) Trivia: Gillian Miniter was one of the original founders of the Apollo Circle, the Metropolitan Museum of Art's under-40 club. But in recent years, the elite group's annual benefit suffered from an onslaught of competing events that were conveniently located downtown (which even the uptown set is favoring these days). Calling Carolina! The beloved Mrs. Herrera signed on as sponsor for the second time this year, and tout à coup, the event became hotly ticketed.

Last night, Herrera herself enjoyed a private dinner before heading over to the Met to join a bevvy of beauties like Tory Burch, Ivanka Trump, Elise Øverland, Marina Rust, Amanda Ross, Meredith Melling Burke and Tinsley Mortimer, further prettifying one of the most gilded rooms in Manhattan. Editorial types like Sarah Meikle, Kate Lanphear and Joann Pailey all sported Herrera's Spring 09 confections, rendering the scene a spitting image of one of Vogue's location shoots, à la that Kirsten Dunst/Marie Antoinette spectacle shot at Versailles. (Grace, are you listening?)

Meanwhile, an artsy breed of revelers came courtesy of everyone's favorite social networking site. "Are you here because of Facebook?" the photographer Sean Donnola asked one hipster, who appeared flummoxed at the high society swilling champers in his vicinity. "Nah, Paul Sevigny," the dude responded, pointing to the DJ booth where the man himself was churning out tunes.

Øverland best embodied the evening's uptown/downtown vibe. "After the Met, I went over to the Schnabel event with Terence Koh and rolled myself in his white paintings with Yvonne [Force Villareal], Ann [Dexter-Jones] and Todd [Eberle]," she confessed the morning after. "I had forgotten my house key and checked into the Soho Grand at 3 a.m. wearing monkey fur with paint all over it. I had to buy new clothes for my morning meeting--I'm now wearing a kimono and Mao shoes from Canal Street." Poor Elise! Carolina to the rescue?
ASHLEY BAKER