W hen we lasttook leaveof our

errant adventurer (me), Iwas spinning a fanciful lit-tle yarn about CChheerr. So,here ‘tis: Cher’s 62ndbirthday brought all sortsof fans out of the wood-work. Some I never wouldhave expected—little oldladies with blue hair fromthe U.K. and the like—alongside die-hard fans ofthe here-and-queer vari-ety that you just knewwere going to be there.Now, months before Cherqueried about turningback time, my friendJJiimmmmyy JJaammeess already hadbought tickets on-line tothis concert. Jimmy hadalso (by way of his long-time best-y, LLaarrrryyEEddwwaarrddss, a.k.a. HotChocolate) booked a gigat PPiirraannhhaa, arguably thechicest gay bar to hit ourshores in some time, veryhip, very swanky andoverseen by a kid with a good head on his shoul-ders named JJoohhnnnnyy BBaaccoonn. Who knew that overthe past couple of months, La Bacon had smug-gled a bevy of gaiety (BBrriittnneeyy SSppeeaarrss, AAnnddyy DDiicckk,JJaanniiccee DDiicckkiinnssoonn, PPeerreezz HHiillttoonn, etc.) into the club’sposh little voyeuristic mezzanine sky boxes? Smartcookie, he…. So I dragged my new pal BBiillllyy GGiillbbaanneeIIIIII to Piranha (my first time), and we had a blast.Jimmy’s show was cute, quick, and when he sanghis hit single “Fashionista,” he had those boyssinging along to every word. When the show wasover, La Bacon brought over a number of Cher’sdancers. They were sweet as the day is long: MMaarrlliinn,TToovvaarriiss and his friend KKoommooddoo and one of Cher’sawe-inspiring aerialists, MMaaxx. We then played aquick round of “It’s a Small World” because justnights earlier I had met two of Cher’s girl dancers,MMeellaanniiee and SSuuzzaannnnee. This conversation was thefirst time I had heard TToomm BBrreeiittlliinngg referred to as“VVaanneessssaa’s husband,” and I got a particularly bigchuckle out of it. By the end of the night, we’d

been offered after-show passes, so after the follow-ing night’s concert, we got to go backstage andpartake of Cher’s birthday cake (which was a fabu-lous confection). After cake we headed to SSppaaggooand dined on EErriicc KKlleeiinn’s delicious Wiener schnitzeland that chocolate soufflé that brings a tear to myeye (and adds an inch to my ever expanding waist-line). Talk about going out on a high note!

Moving right along, we come to one of myfavorite charitable endeavors, the annual Flair forCare luncheon and fashion show to benefit theNNaatthhaann AAddeellssoonn HHoossppiiccee and co-sponsored byVegas magazine. What really does it for me is thatone can visit the hospice and see the people whoare affected by one’s donations. It’s really quiteincredible. So, every year, SSuussaann MMoollaasskkyy, JJaanneeSScchhoorrrr and BBeetthh WWeeiinnbbeerrggeerr team up and bring

DIVA LAS VEGASBY MICHAEL SHULMAN

44 VVeeggaass August 2008

Clockwise from left: Oscar de la Renta’s “blue bride”; Jane Schorrand Leora Blau at Wynn Las Vegas for the Flair for Care fashionshow; Gloria Fine at Wynn at the Flair for Care raffle to benefit the Nathan Adelson Hospice.

It’s an afternoon ofprêt-à-porter realness.

Bright Lights, Big Charity Fabulous Benefits, Sparkling Couture and One Rather Unusual Film

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together some of the bright-est lights of Las Vegas philan-thropy, and with the invalu-able assistance of NNeeiimmaannMMaarrccuuss and WWyynnnn LLaass VVeeggaass,they put on an honest-to-goodness fashion show. It’san afternoon of prêt-à-porterrealness, served up with anappetizer of frenzied rafflebuying and a dessert of rafflewinning. This year’s fashionshow featured the Fall ’08collection from OOssccaarr ddee llaaRReennttaa, highlighted by hissending out the ceremonialbride in cascading ruffles ofroyal blue—a “blue bride,” ifyou will. Oh, the irony! Mean-while, nearly $800,000 wasraised that day, and somegood fun was had, as well.Brava, ladies!

Sticking with my alwaysprevalent theme of luxurioustidings from the land ofthings that sparkle in thenight, I find myself reportingon the goings-on at the Couture jewelry show that took place for a week at Wynn LasVegas. I was fortunate to have as my guide SSaakkss FFiifftthh AAvveennuuee’s senior buyer of finejewelry, Mr. SSccootttt MMaarrttiinn, who is a veritable rock-’n’-roll star in the trade. At one pointI looked at him, saying that I was convinced people were pointing and at anymoment someone would rush over and ask for his autograph. His droll response: “Ithappens all the time: It’s called a purchase order.” Don’tcha just love a guy who’squick on his feet? Every big name in the precious-jewelry game was there: de Griso-gono (boasting the prototype for FFaawwaazz GGrruuoossii’s new $350,000 digital watch withmechanical movements and a cuff in the form of a starfish constructed of sapphires

and diamonds), DDaammiiaannii, di Modolo, JJuuddiitthh RRiippkkaa (thanks, LLoovveeee), SStteepphheenn WWeebbsstteerr(whose muse, CChhrriissttiinnaa AAgguuiilleerraa, performed in his honor at PPuurree), KKwwiiaatt (showing offtheir incredible 100-year-anniversary collection, wherein their gifted director ofdesign, JJaanniiccee DDeeBBeellll, went through the house’s archives, selected one classic piecefrom each decade and reinterpreted it with a contemporary flair—that ‘30s rock-crystal necklace with tapered baguettes is screaming out to me, “I’d look great on ared carpet!”), Shamballa Jewels (whose MMaaddss and MMiicckkeell KKoorrnneerruupp were known to allas those two hottie twins from Denmark who combined beads of emerald, ruby, sap-phire and wood with balls of pavé diamonds, resulting in Zen-influenced jewelry

with a disco slant—it wasthe closest this Jewish boymight ever come to gleefullyfingering a rosary), DDoorriissPPaannooss (who just gets betterand better), RRoossaalliinnaa LLyyddsstteerr(launching her new Rosesand Thorns collection), IIlliiaassLLaallaaoouunniiss (whose Greciandesigns remind one that yel-low gold, while havingcome back into fashion,never ceased being stylishto those in the know), theconvivial SSccootttt KKaayy (who isreinventing men’s jewelry),MMaarrccoo BBiicceeggoo (whose cre-ations are imbued with somuch joie de vivre that it’sakin to taking a huge doseof St. Johnswort) and thatclever JJaammeess DDeeMMaatttteeii andhis peeps at ViewPoint, whoshowed in their bootheverything from two ofOOpprraahh’s faves—Toy Watch(think the Jelly Kelly ofceramic watches) and PPhhiilliipp

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It was the closest thisJewish boy might ever come to gleefullyfingering a rosary.

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Clockwise from above left: Jewelry designer Scott Kay and Saks Fifth Avenue’s Scott Martin with Allison Zeiss at Wynn Las Vegas for the Couture show; George Maloof and Gillian Wynn Early at Simon Restaurant & Lounge for the Harper’s Bazaar/Bertolucci dinner; Elizabeth Blau, Bertolucci CEO Philippe Belais and Miss France 2008,Valérie Bègue, at the dinner; Nancy Houssels and Susan Molasky at Wynn Las Vegas for the Flair for Care event.

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SStteeiinn (brings peace and well-being to wearers)—to twoof mine, DEOS Diamond (which allows personal expres-sion in a whitewashed world) and SSeevvaann BBiiççaakkççii, betterknown simply as Sevan, who might possibly be themost mind-blowingly brilliant artisan I’ve ever met. Iknow a lot of people, and more per-capita “creative”sorts than most, and then I met this man, who floatseffortlessly to the top of the sea of designers. This year,at the 13th Annual Town & Country Couture DesignAwards, Sevan received his in the coveted category ofBest in Colored Gemstone Design, as he has done foreach of the past three years. His designs are so intricateand beautiful, in fact, that nobody at the conventionbegrudges him his success (and lemme tell ya, this canbe a rather catty group). To the contrary, Sevan contin-ues to generate the highest number of votes in the his-tory of the Couture design competition.

Toward the beginning of the show, EElliizzaabbeetthh BBllaauureigned proudly over a dinner party at her recentlyopened SSiimmoonn RReessttaauurraanntt && LLoouunnggee at PPaallmmss PPllaacceethrown by Harper’s Bazaar and BBeerrttoolluuccccii (I know whatyou’re thinking: Bertolucci shows at JCK and not Cou-ture—but a guy’s gotta eat…). On hand to feteBetolucci CEO PPhhiilliippppee BBeellaaiiss were the jeweler/horolo-gist’s comely directrix of marketing and communica-tions, BBeeaattrriiccee RRoouuhhiieerr, KKeevviinn MMaarrttiinneezz (associate pub-lisher of Harper’s Bazaar), KKaattee DDaavviiddssoonn HHuuddssoonn(Harper’s Bazaar accessories editor), GGeeoorrggee MMaallooooff,GGiilllliiaann WWyynnnn EEaarrllyy, JJeennnnaa MMoorrttoonn, MMeeiittaall GGrraannttzz and Bertolucci’s ambassador,VVaalléérriiee BBèègguuee (Miss France 2008), who allowed me the opportunity to show offeverything I had learned once upon a time while studying en France. I spent agood ten minutes of parlez-ing en français in a rather animated fashion with thelovely mademoiselle, and after our little tête-à-tête, I caught sight of Frau Blaujust standing there quite gobsmacked, as though she was shocked that I hadactually paid attention in class once in a while.

Finally, it was CineVegas time once more. The highlight for me found me zip-ping to the Wynn again. This time was for an evening dedicated to the work of

TTaakkaasshhii MMuurraakkaammii, whose new collection for LLoouuiissVVuuiittttoonn is known as “Monogramoflage” (monogramplus camouflage, get it?). The night began with anintimate reception at the Vuitton boutique on theWWyynnnn EEssppllaannaaddee followed by a dinner at SSWW SStteeaakk--hhoouussee, where we would witness Murakami’s animatedshort that has had artsy folks from Brooklyn to LosAngeles all atwitter. So there I was at the store, won-dering, Am I fat or is it hot in here? (an answer towhich was indubitably somewhere in the middle), andthen I proceeded down to SW. Of course, I didn’t sitfor the first hour, too busy schmoozing was I. What aroom! Jane and MMaarrcc SScchhoorrrr with AAuuddrraa HHeennddlleeyy andBBoobbbbyy BBaallddwwiinn, BBiillllyy RRiicchhaarrddssoonn,, JJrr.., with FFrraannkk TTuucckkeerrand GGrreegg JJaarrmmoolloowwiicchh, SSuussaann FFiinnee and MMaaxx SSppiillkkaawith LLiieeuucchhii and JJeeffff FFiinnee, and KKeeaa EEllvveesstteerr andJJoonnaatthhaann FFiinnee, OOrrii MMaarrmmuurr with Murakami’s hip-hopstylist and a table full of suits, LLiibbbbyy LLuummppkkiinn andDDaavvee HHiicckkeeyy, RRoobbiinn and DDaannnnyy GGrreeeennssppuunn with bril-liant portraitist TTiimmootthhyy GGrreeeennffiieelldd--SSaannddeerrss (XXXXXX:: 3300PPoorrnn--SSttaarr PPoorrttrraaiittss), DDeennnniiss HHooppppeerr, Murakami, andEEllaaiinnee and SStteevvee WWyynnnn. Where was I? Sitting alongsideNNiiccoollee RRuuvvoo at a table hosted by Wynn’s wonderful

wine director, DDaanniieellllee PPrriiccee, looking very red-state sexy in one of the most taste-ful ensembles I’ve ever seen from the house of St. John, a pink bouclé suit. Themovie aired, and I was flummoxed. I don’t want to be all EEmmppeerroorr’’ss NNeeww CCllootthheessabout this, but it appeared as though the Las Vegas cognoscenti had assembledto watch a cartoon about magic poo. I promise you this: If my friends are gonnastart showing up at cocktail parties and black-tie galas with poo clutches andturd-shaped jeweled minaudières, then I am definitely calling them out on it. Ofcourse, if Mr. Murakami has not yet had this brainstorm, I’m available as a creativeconsultant. Domo arigato, Takashi-san. Call me!

Clockwise from top left: Timothy Greenfield-Sanders withRobin and Danny Greenspun at SW Steakhouse to celebrateTakashi Murakami’s film at CineVegas; Nicole Ruvo and BillyRichardson, Jr., at the Murakami dinner; Takashi Murakamiand Libby Lumpkin at the Louis Vuitton reception.

It appeared as though the Las Vegascognoscenti had assembled to watch a cartoon aboutmagic poo.

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