August 2003

August 28th 2003
London, UK

When your first words of the morning are ''Where am I and how did I get here?'', you know its been a long, long night. Unfortunately, as an airline stewardess nudged me towards consciousness around 7am today, those were the only words my brain could form. Her answer, amidst laughter from surrounding passengers, was ''London, honey'', which sent my head spinning as I slowly put back together the puzzle pieces of my mind.

My night began yesterday afternoon in NYC when my friends Joe Sweeney & Abby Klein stopped by the HOLLYWOULD store for a visit. As I told them about the flight I had to catch the following morning I realized that there was really only one way to make sure I made it to the airport by 6:30am, which was to stay out all night. I suppose the more professional approach, since I was traveling for business, would be to hit the hay early and just get up on time. But waking up early is not my forte and its certainly not as much fun.

So, after packing my bags and throwing on a long neon orange halter dress and flip-flops, I met Abby and other friend Wendy (of cult rock star brand Built By Wendy) at my favorite lower east side haunt, The Hat. The Hat is a great spot because they have a Slurpee-style margarita machine, and serve drinks to go in take-away coffee mugs. Genius. After slurping down a few too many, we staggered to some other bars until we made it to our destination, Hole. Not a nice name for a bar, and the name fits the place perfectly. All I really remember from Hole was a swirl of lights, more drinks, more music, and making drunken crank calls from cell phones. I almost called Janice Combs (Puffy's mom), but luckily had just one ounce of sobriety left and refrained. Love you Janice, but you didnt want that call.

Because Wendy & Abby are mature adults, they knew when to say when and decided to head home around 2am. Of course, I had no option but to continue my evening, and fortunately ran into my old pals Bun & Delmaur (their real names!) as I was walking the girls home. Since it happened to be Delmaurs 31^st birthday, the boys were ready to celebrate which only meant more force-fed drinks for me, and an almost total black-out for the rest of the evening. Of course, there are moments I recall, like heading to the bar Lit (which described us), then heading back to Hole, and then, at 5am, ending up in a hotel room at The Royalton with the cast of Making The Band.

Luckily Bun & Delmaur are fantastic babysitters, and while I wanted to stay with the Making The Band band forever, the two boys begged me to go home, get my bags, and head to the airport which is how I ended up wasted, in a long neon orange halter dress and flip-flops, at JFK airport. Here's where the story gets ugly

I remember thinking, as I lay passed out on the floor of the departure lounge, that I should put on my neck pillow, sleeping mask, and earplugs while I waited. Not such a bad idea, and as the stewardess came to help me board the flight, I simply kept my neck pillow in place, removed my ear plugs, put my sleeping mask on top of my head (like sunglasses), and headed for Business Class.

As I stood in the aisle amidst a sea of men with laptops and business suits, a couple of facts were beginning to dawn on me: My make-up was smeared.  My hair was a mess.  I was wearing a long neon orange halter dress and neck pillow.  I was traveling in Business Class.  It was 7am on a Thursday.  And, I was wasted.  And just as those thoughts were floating through my brain, the stewardess asked me if I needed help with my bag to which I loudly slurred, ''NoThanxxxYou''. With my little display of booze impaired speech, the business men around me began pointing whilst mouthing ''Soooo Drunk'' to one another.

One of the business men, trying to push me further, asked, ''So, where are you going on vacation?'' When I replied, ''ItzaBiznezzTrip'' they all began mouthing ''Soooo Fired'', at which point I promptly decided to pull my sleep mask down over my eyes and put my ear plugs back in my ears. Ahhh, much better. Where before I had been standing in the aisle drunk, now I was standing in the aisle drunk, blind, and deaf. At this point I had two choices (a) to raise my mask in order to find my seat or (b) to keep my mask in place in order to give the impression I knew what I was doing when I initially put it on. I opted for 'plan b', so with sleep mask on eyes and ear plugs in ears, the stewardess escorted me, Helen Keller in a neon orange halter dress, to my seat.

I was out cold until six hours later, when I awoke only to wonder where I was, and how I had gotten there. I cannot be trusted.

August 22nd 2003
New York City

So much gossip, so little time!

First, it seems the folks at InTouch magazine have been reading this very diary.  If you havent read InTouch, you are missing out on thought provoking articles with titles such as, Celebrity Breakouts and The Mary Kate & Ashley Olsen Empire.  Needless to say, we love InTouch.  However, when they reported last week that beautiful starlet Gabrielle Union had been shopping chez HOLLYWOULD, we knew they were up to trouble.  Since we never report celebrity visits to press and no one else had been in the store when she stopped by, we knew they had to have gotten their scoop from this diary (see July 16).  What we cant understand was the fact that they also reported that she spent $1600 here, which she didnt.  Gabs, we love you and were sorry they made you out to look like a crazy spender.  InTouch, if you want to get your dirt here, stick to the facts!

Speaking of dirt A certain fashionable music mogul who will go unnamed has become infatuated with HOLLYWOULD shoes as of late.  Yesterday, for example, she sent her drummers brother down to our store to buy her a plethora of shoes.  He arrived with nothing but a zip-lock sandwich bag tucked into his cargo pants - filled with $6,000 cash!  Sorry InTouch, you wont get her name, but my goodness we love our customers!

While were on the subject of loving our customers, I must tell you that the gorgeous Shiva Rose was shopping chez HOLLYWOULD this week.  Shiva is a favorite of every designer, not only because she has great taste, but also because the girl cant help but look stunning in everything she wears!  Keep an eye out for Shiva in HOLLYWOULD.

And because I promised news of drunken escapades I will tell you this:  Last night while partaking in serious boozing at The Red Room with a gang of kids from KCD, Versaces Victor Glemaud got up to use the restroom and came back wearing nothing but a vest and Gucci zebra striped speedo.  Since I didnt have a camera, I will paint the picture here: 

        The Red Room = pool hall style bar for the sporty after-work crowd

        Victor Glemaud = hugely tall, dark black man with afro

These are the kind of visions that, much like car accidents and fires, one remembers forever.

August 19th 2003
New York City

Hello ladies!  Its been sooooo long since Ive written and Im happy to say that the Diary Strike (see July 31) is officially over.  No, we havent yet found our CEO (so please keep spreading the word), but its just that I have so much to tell you!

For example, today the worlds coolest, most beautiful girls, Liv Tyler & Mary Alice Stephenson, stopped by the HOLLYWOULD shop to get some shoes.  Now, Ive worked in fashion for a long time, so Ive met my fair share of beautiful girls and I must tell you this: beauty and coolness do not usually mix.  Its nothing against beautiful girls, but for the most part they usually arent the most exciting gals in town, and have very little to offer to the conversation other than good looks.  However, on a rare occasion you will meet someone who is not only drop-dead gorgeous but also fun, laid back, and just plain cool and Liv & Mary Alice fit this description.  The kind of girls that make you wanna drink cheap beer and sing bad karaoke. 

In other news, some of the HOLLYWOULD girls here have been getting phone calls from starlets wondering when they can buy fall.  This is cause for excitement because its usually stylists making calls on stars behalves instead of the starlets calling themselves.  However, now that Mena Suvari has Maggies direct line and Courtney Love has Erins, the girls chez HOLLYWOULD are becoming BFFs with all the girls chez HOLLYWOOD (California).  Oh la la.

And, if youre wondering what the most requested HOLLYWOULD item is for this fall, it seems everyone is in love with our Gold Lolita Ankle Boot.  We have already sold out of just about every size in our store, but luckily you can find it in the Neiman Marcus catalog (see picture right).  To order, call 1-800-825-8000 and refer to item 61C.  They are super comfy, run true-to-size, and look fab with a pair of jeans, wool trousers, or cute knee-length skirt.  And as Im sure you girls already know, gold is a must must must for this fall!

More updates of drunken escapades later this week . xoxo.