July 2005

July 23rd 2005
Florence, Italy

Hello Girls!  The picture to the right is of our fabulous customer Brenda Wilson looking gorgeous in her HOLLYWOULD at the Newport Yacht Club Summer Gala.  I have stolen this photo from our favorite website Style.com, which you should always visit for the latest trends and party photos.  I have also taken the (probably illegal) liberty to steal the fantastic Style.com article written by Sarah Cristobal, just in case you missed the soiree...

Style.com- Party Coverage - by Sarah Cristobal: 

Eat your heart out, Southampton. A truly jet-set crowd gathered last weekend in Newport, R.I., for a lavish dinner hosted by Louis Vuitton that raised $350,000 for the International Yacht Restoration School. The French fashion house solidified its relationship with the sport 20 years ago, when it established the LV Cup, a semifinal of sorts for the America's Cup. In typical LV fashion, no expense was spared; coordinators flew in plush roses from Chestnuts in the Tuileries in New York, cases of Château de La Chaize Beaujolais from France, and virtuoso violinist Eugene Draw from Toronto.

Five hundred guests—including America's Cup regatta director Dyer Jones, LV Cup ambassador Bruno Troublé, and IYRS trustees Charles Townsend and Brenda L. Wilson—gathered under the glow of a setting sun. They walked a path of crushed seashells, passed white-tuxedoed waiters carrying silver trays with flutes of (what else?) Moët & Chandon White Star Champagne, and entered a warehouse on the school's grounds that was revamped for the occasion, its metal-sheathed walls contrasting with the scarlet-covered tables. This is our best event yet, exclaimed executive chairman John S. Johnson, as he admired attendees dressed in what the invitation called Gilded Age-inspired or summer elegant attire.

In addition to a silent auction of fine wines and framed photographs, the evening featured live bidding headed by a Christie's expert. Dessert came early for Troublé, when his wife, Melanie, noticed how a recently restored 12-foot Beetle Cat sailboat piqued his interest. She promptly won it with a bid of $10,500. Happy birthday, Bruno, she yelled, then advised a waiter to fill her wine glass. I just spent ten grand. Keep going.

After dinner, as Draw dazzled the audience with his electric-violin version of the White Stripes' Seven Nation Army, Newport's own Kimberly Jones danced her way into a possible wardrobe malfunction. My dress keeps falling down! she said of her off-the-shoulder, polka-dot YSL number. But it didn't stop her from going for another twirl.

July 16th 2005
NYC via Florence, Italy

I have just recieved word from our store in New York City, and it sounds like the HOLLYWOULD INSANE SALE is more insane than ever before.  Apparently Rachel, who has been working the door, has been offered bribes from women who don't want to have to stand in line to shop.  So far today she's been offered cash, a free manicure & pedicure, and free blow-outs, and we're all getting worried she might start getting offers she can't refuse!  What's next?  A free trip to Paris? 

Tomorrow (Sunday) is the last day of the sale, so if you haven't been yet you've still got time.  You may have to stand in line, but we promise the deals are worth the wait!

July 14th 2005
Florence, Italy

Our annual “Insane Sale” started today in NYC, and I am sadly back in Italy and am missing it!  For those of you who don’t know, the HOLLYWOULD Insane Sale is every chic New Yorker’s must-attend event of the summer, and it has started today and runs through this Sunday.  The girls in the NYC office said it’s been so crazy today that they haven’t had time to do anything but sell, sell, sell; although one of them was nice enough to send me this report: 

“Insane Sale officially insane. Line down the block since 11am. People trying to sneak in saying that their mom is inside. Your MOM? Only if she’s a 16 year old Russian supermodel.  Super foxy guy braves line to shop for his girlfriend. Everyone here offers to be his new girlfriend in the event she doesn’t like her HOLLYWOULD shoes. Ladies fight over last remaining tiki-man flip flops.  Success!!!!”

We love you all.  Enjoy the sale!

July 13th 2005
New York City

The HOLLYWOULD Insane Sale starts tomorrow and runs through Sunday, so be sure to come down & get your favorite Resort & Spring styles at big, huge, INSANE, discounts!  Yes, there may be a line down the block but we can all assure you it's worth the wait!!!

July 9th 2005
Scottsdale, AZ

When I started this diary I had no idea what a “blog” was.  I was just looking for a way to communicate with my friends and family all at once, so I wouldn’t have to answer 600 emails wanting to know where I was, what I was doing, and who, if anyone, I was dating.  Now blogs are all the rage, and the girls at the office recently turned me on to one of my new favorites at www.splendora.com/blog.  Whoever writes this fabulous blog is not only enlightening and erudite, but also expresses a deep love for Whitney & Bobby, just like me (see diary entries Dec 6, 2002; Nov 4, 2003; March 15, 2005).  OK, it might not be The Economist, but The Economist will never tell you everything you need to know about Shar Jackson, now will it?

Right now I’m in sunny Arizona visiting my little niece & nephew who happen to be the world’s cutest kids.  I’m sure you’re thinking, “they’re probably cute, but not the world’s cutest”, but I’m telling you, my niece & nephew are right up there with little Apple Paltrow-Martin, and that’s pretty darn cute. 

July 7th 2005
Florence, Italy

Our hearts & prayers go out to all of our beloved friends in London today.

July 4th 2005
Florence, Italy

Happy 4^th of July HOLLYWOULD Girls!  I hope you’re all decked out in your red, white, and blue and having a lovely time watching fireworks!  God Bless America!

July 2nd 2005
Florence, Italy

In the past week all I have done is non-stop travel, coming from NYC to Paris to Florence to London and back to Florence in a short span of days.  While all of this travel is quite exhausting, it does give me a chance to catch up on hours & hours of reading my favorite intellectual prose, such as UsWeekly, InTouch, Life & Style, Hello!, and OK! magazines.  Food for the mind, I tell you, food for the mind.

All of my “research” has led me to have very strong opinions on all celebrity gossip, and I think it’s only fair if I take this time to let you know what I think:

Tom & Katie  The answer is simple: Tom and the Church of Scientology are paying Katie to play Tom’s girlfriend.  I’ve heard through the grapevine (“grapevine” being a combination of gossip rags and friends who work in Hollywood) that Kate Bosworth was interviewed for this “role” and turned it down, as did Scarlett Johanssen who was actually interviewed on the premise of reading a movie script, and then forced into a room full of Scientologists.  The exact deal, from what I’ve heard, is that Katie will be paid $8M over the next 5 years to be Tom’s bride.  This, of course, will make Tom look somewhat stable and make Katie’s career soar. 

Jen & Vince  Sadly, there isn’t really any romance.  You can only print so many pages of that same photo on the beach (taken from a movie set) until we all realize that the romance story has no substance.  That said, Jen does deserve a new man and I’m thinking George should make the move now that his romance with Lisa is over.  We’re all on a first-name basis here, right?

Brad & Angelina  OK, here’s the truth:  Jen did not want to have kids with Brad because he was cheating.  The reason Brad has decided to leave Jen is because he’s going through the world’s biggest, most obvious mid-life crisis ever.  When a guy turns 40, leaves his wife, starts hanging out with tattooed girls, wearing leather pants, and bleaches his hair blonde, he is officially a “Mid-Life Crisis Loser”. 

My predictions?  Brad will become the next Tom and Jen will become the next Nicole.  Not great news for Brad, but fabulous news for Jen’s career - if she’s not too busy having babies with her new & improved husband George.  Tom & Katie will continue this charade until her contract with him expires.  Tom will go on to doing movies like Spy Kids, and Katie will go on to star in TV shows like Gilmore Girls, or surprise us all and win an Oscar.

There you have it, Celebrity Gossip 101.  I can't believe I don't get paid for this.