Mangling the Met

Whispers has been to three Metropolitan Museum Gala Balls. It was before Vogue's Anna Wintour took over. We once accompanied artist Andy Warhol who at the time was probably the most outrageous guest. But that was a different era in New York City were we once lived and have visited many times.
The heady days of New York in the 70s and 80s have long past as the city has picked up an homogenized "Westfield" shopping centre feel to it much like most of the Mediterranean resorts including the once exotic Morocco where fascinating cities like Tangier and Marrakesh are almost indistinguishable from Manchester or Melbourne. Every bit of local 'colour' now has a forced tourist attraction feel to it especially when you see billboards advertising Gucci or Fendi near the old souks. The days when Whispers sat alone at a tiny Marrakesh coffee shop and within an hour found ourselves invited for drinks at Yves St Laurent's magnificent house and dinner with Madame De Gaulle are long past. Now St Laurent's house is a museum.
When designer Jasper Conran opens a hotel in the old city you know the good days have finally passed.

The Greek writer Taki Theodoracopulos, an admitted snob, has ripped into the Met's Gala Ball in only the way he can. But he's spot on.

"Once upon a time, the Metropolitan Museum’s gala ball was fun. Serious social-climbing multimillionaires competed openly for the best tables and for proximity to blue-blooded socialites like C.Z. Guest and her ilk. Pat Buckley, wife of William F., ran the show with military precision, allotting the best seats to those who had paid a fortune for them, but also to those who were young and handsome and whose pockets were not as deep. I used to be a regular. Then something happened. Anna Wintour took over after Pat’s death and the party turned into a freak show no self-respecting circus would allow on its premises.

Last week the uglies were out in force, the newspapers and glossies revealing themselves as fake-news purveyors by calling the show exclusive and impossible to get an invitation to. Do the people who write such crap take the rest of us for total idiots? The Met Gala is reserved for a few D-list celebrities, fashionistas, and advertisers. Proper souls wouldn’t be caught dead on the premises, especially near the Kardashian table. The ugliness of some of the attendants assaulted one’s frontal cortex, and I only saw the photos; imagine the horrors of seeing it live. Clinging like a barnacle to the Met’s hull, Anna Wintour’s horror show diminishes a great American institution. The freak show should be staged in Times Square, in the exact spot where the peep shows of old used to be."

Ouch !

You can read the rest here.

Wintour Blues

She's the Queen of the fashion world but many are criticizing Anna Wintour and US Vogue

magazine for proclaiming that Kim Kardashian and Kanye West were the Best Dressed at Wintour's increasingly down-market annual Met Gala ball in New York.
Says Vogue: "It’s not the first time that Kim Kardashian and Kanye West have coordinated their style. You might say it’s an art form that the pair has honed in their downtime, often subtly matching their off-duty looks with his-and-hers monochromatic ensembles, but little can compare to the stunning fashion moment they orchestrated on the Met Gala red carpet tonight" 
Oh yeah? Kim managed to make this ultra expensive Balmain dress look, well cheap. As for Kanye's Fear of God outfit- those tragic slashed jeans were passe even when they were in fashion.

Purveyor of uber smart Polish Vodka Vitek Czernuszyn who doubles up as the husband of Australian style queen and Bauer publishing maven, Australian Women's Weekly editor Deborah Thomas says : "Kim and Kanye declared best dressed at the Met Ball - REALLY?

In a desperate panic at the loss of circulation and relevance amongst the under 30 year olds, American Vogue has resorted to courting the Kardashian's for their enormous following amongst the vacuous young. I guess you can't blame them for doing what they think is necessary to save the venerated 125 year old title- though the compromise in their integrity is considerable".
 Harsher words come from former Australian fashion expert and now top selling author Maggie Alderson who said of Kim'n'Kayne "American Vogue has just lost all its credibility, as far as I'm concerned. How is this well dressed anywhere? Let alone the Met Ball. Tragic - and craven." Ouch.
As for Sarah Jessica Parker's interesting white outfit Maggie simply said : "lost for words".

Slipping Standards ?

One aspect overlooked in the reporting of the glamorous fundraising event  to aid The Costume Institute in New York, the 2015 Met Ball which is chaired by the Queen of New York Society Vogue high priestess Anna Wintour, was the inclusion of guests who normally wouldn't get a look-in at the snooty end of New York society.
Whispers has attended a few of these events and even at a ticket price of $25,000 a head, there is a waiting list of the well heeled anxious to crash into Big Apple society. Two celebrities that have been denied a seat in the past were finally allowed to put their ample assets on show : Kim Kardashian and Beyonce were first-timers at the gala with it's Chinese theme to reflect a current costume exhibition on show. Also there was Wendi Murdoch and her daughter Grace.

 
Right : Wendi & Grace Murdoch

Pictures by Nicholas Hunt & Clint Spaulding for 
Patrick McMullan.com

www.patrickmcmullan.com
www.pmc-mag.com

Photography by Nicholas Hunt and Clint Spaulding for PatrickMcMullan.com - See more at: http://pmc-mag.com/category/out-and-about/#sthash.x3sgLaSL.dpuf

In Vogue

Kirstie Clements joined Vogue 25 years ago in a position where so many begin : as a receptionist. Until mid 2012 she had been editor for a decade until one day last year she was shown the door.

Mark Coppelson,Deborah Thomas & son Oscar

Kirstie was a regular sight around Sydney & Melbourne and attended the New York, Paris and London fashion shows. When she wasn't hobnobbing with Valentino or jotting down fashion tips from Karl Largerfeld she was deep in conversation with Anna Wintour.

 As you can imagine, she has a tale to tell and her biography of that era : The Vogue Factor has just been published. The Shuttle has now spotted 3 people reading it on buses and the underground. The book's blurb says : (The Vogue Factor ).. is an insider's account of the beauty and fashion industry, the truth about starving models, the glitz and glamour of the business, and how current media regimes are killing off the fashion bible.

We've read 4 chapters and have to agree-it's rivetting and at the launch party, (the book was launched by Deborah Thomas) some of Australia's most powerful fashionistas turned up to pay tribute to Kirstie- with one  GQ editor cutting his Bali holiday short to attend.

Supporting their mum: Kirstie's sons Sam & Joe

Robyn Holt, Grant Pierce,Nancy Pilcher

Debbie Coffey & Kerri-Anne Kennerley

Kirstie with Cate Blanchett

                        

Royal Updates

Most Fascinating MBE Recipient of The Year :

April Ashley who was Britain's first transgender model received her MBE from Prince Charles at Buckingham Palace. Looking for all the world like a Dowager Duchess straight from the set of Downton Abbey, Ashley received the honour for her services to transgender equality.


Ashley married Lord Rowallan in 1970 but the potty peer was granted an annulment on the claim he didn't realise April was once a Liverpudlian sailor.

The Shuttle once accompanied Ms Ashley to a Berkley Square Ball where she kept the late Princess Margaret occupied in conversation whilst we assisted pop singer Marilyn over the fence.
Ashley says she had a string of Hollywood lovers including the late Michael Hutchence. On the night of the Berkley Ball she snared a handsome young city  type gent and had her way with him in the Shuttle's Fulham living room. As we escorted him to the door when he left to go to his city bank job in the morning he asked:"I know she's famous, what is her name again?"... " oh yes she was a James Bond girl,.just tell you pals at the bank you've been banging April Ashley all night" we replied.

Wackiest New Political Party

Proud Monarchist , the fragrant David Flint has announced the launch of a new political party CANdo to bring back capital punishment, a tougher line on refugees and all the other policies of the US Tea Party.
Confirmed bachelor Flint also wants a referendum on gay marriage and has voiced his support for wacko Senator Corey Bernardi who reckons legalising gay marriage may lead to bestiality and other such outrages.

Flint has been joined in his endevour by right wing mining magnate Hugh Morgan and our favourite shock jock Alan Jones who was recently ordered to apologise to the Muslim community on his radio program by ACMA which co-incidentally Flint was forced to resign from when he was head of the media watchdog and was discovered writing passionate  letters of support to Jones whilst he was being investigated by ACMA during the infamous Cash For Comments scandal.

""I've been called a perma-tanned Indonesian-born blow-in" says Flint of his critics. Indeed, the Shuttle well remembers a much younger Flint blowing into the infamous Paddington gay pub the Windsor Castle when he was just a mere lad.
Best Diplomatic Appointment

Bringing style back into diplomacy. It seems almost certain that Vogue supremo Anna Wintour will be appointed by Barack Obama as the American ambassador to the Court of St James.

Other famous Ambassadors to Britain include Australia's Sir Les Patterson !

NY Photographer Honoured

The career of the legendary New York snapper Bill Cunningham , now 81 years old, was celebrated when he was awarded a Medal of Excellence at the Waldorf Astoria hotel at a charity gala that raised over a million dollars for Carnegie Hall's Well Music Institute.

Bill &Anna Wintour

Cunningham is one of the last residents of the few apartments in Carnegie Hall and he has been a fixture on New York streets and at fashion shows and parties for decades.

The movie on his life (trailer below) should be required watching for the coterie of Aussie publicists who often exude a demeanour far grander than their clients and armed with their precious 'communications' degrees, really have no clue what the business is all about.
Sydney must be one of the few major cities of the world where the unkempt aggressive paparazzi are taken seriously by many publicists and public relations 'experts'.

Sarah Jessica Parker

At red carpets openings. movie premiers and such  the press pen will be packed with ghastly paparazzi - the same snappers who prowl the streets and beaches of Sydney, are aggressive, rude and have nil interest in their subject apart from the few dollars that may be made from a picture.

There are probably four genuine photojournalists in Sydney who operate like Cunningham , who have respect for the people they photograph yet are shouldered aside by the bores of the pap world. These snappers tend to like getting to know their subject, often chatting to them and building up a rapport. The paps on the other hand are mostly filling their files with generic snaps of celebrities for future use.
 But who are we at the Shuttle with a combined 100 years of experience to tell these woolly newbies how to work?                              
 Photographs : www.patrickmcmullan.com

Subo, Anna Wintour and More

Susan Boyle is in Sydney for an exclusive appearance on X Factor.  
Sony boss Denis Handlin took her on that all important harbour cruise yesterday to meet Susan's local family members and fans. What a sweet lady.
It's difficult to reconcile that the down-to-earth Subo is one of the major recording stars of the last ten years.

Meanwhile Vogue editors from around the world were summonsed to Tokyo by 'she who must be obeyed'- Anna Wintour for Japan's Fashion Night Out last Friday night and they complied.
Wintour reckons Japan is a major player in the fashion world and who are we to argue ?. Also in attendance Jonathon Newhouse  the chairman of Conde Naste International , publishers of Vogue.

Here's a snap of the 18 Vogue editors from all over the globe. Our own Kirstie Clements is second from the left.

Vogue Editors (left to right): Yolanda Sacristan, Spain (seated), Kirstie Clements Australia (middle), Anaita Adajania - India (back), Christiane Arp, Germany (seated), Angelica Cheung, China (standing), Franca Sozzani, Italy (seated), Mitsuko Watanabe - Japan (standing), Anna Wintour, America (seated), Emmanuelle Alt - France (reclining), Alexandra Shulman - Britain (seated), Victoria Davydova, Russia (standing), Anna Harvey, representing Brazil and Greece (seated), Seda Domanic - Turkey (seated), Myung Hee Lee - Korea (seated), Rosalie Huang -Taiwan (standing), Eva Hughes, Mexico and Latin America (standing), Paula Mateus - Portugal (seated)

New York, New York-If I can can make it there...

   Daniel Garofali, Matty Bee, Joan Rivers, Rupert Noffs

Twitter & Face book-it's like having a neighbour permanently gossiping over the back fence. No-one escapes your gaze.
The Shuttle has been keeping up with former Sydneysider Rupert Noffs who it appears, has settled nicely into an apartment in Manhattan to the extent of mastering  that all important staple-chicken soup!. Helping out is ace New York publicist Kelly Cutrone whose contacts are next to none in the USA.

Glee star Kevin McHale in his Gideon Shoes NYTimes

According to our new York spy Rupert's also been doing the rounds: fashion week, top night spots, Halloween parties, meeting Beyonce and Joan Rivers, fighting with Lindsay Lohan over a taxi -as one does- but more importantly, promoting Gideon Shoes, the business set up by he and his brother Matt Noffs.

For those not yet in the know, Rupert and Matt are the grandsons of Sydney saint the late Rev Ted Noffs who started the Wayside Chapel in Kings Cross in 1964.

Matt and Rupert have parlayed that charity spirit into Gideon Shoes, the fantastic and stylish shoes that are made ethically in Australia. That means no slave labour in the Third World (or here!).

Respected US writer Naomi Klein tried to tell the world decades ago that ethical manufacturing was the way to go. Local shareholder activist and journalist Stephen Mayne has been saying likewise.

Rupert and Matt started Gideon Shoes in order to fund The Street University, the kid's retreat in Western Sydney set up by Matt and wife Naomi. 11.000 kids a year are benefiting from the Street University and in 2009 they were given the seal of approval with a visit from then PM Kevin Rudd and HRH Prince William.

Now they are tackling the USA and it really is just a matter of time before the penny drops with US fashion editors-their shoes are there to stay. Already the New York Times has featured them with Glee star Kevin McHale wearing a pair. It's surely just a matter of time before Anna Wintour is spotted striding up Fifth Avenue in her Gideons.

## If top New York publicist Kelly Cutrone is on your case, it's pretty well taken for granted that success is imminent. Here is a clip from Dr Phil shown last month on Australian TV where Kelly reads the riot act to a couple of guests.

New York Fashion Week

Anna Wintour and Valentino

The New York Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week is in full swing so naturally we turn to our New York pal, top society photographer Patrick McMullan to provide us with a few snaps.

If McMullan is normally full on, fashion week brings an extra dimension. Armed with a fist full of invitations he is almost a blur rushing from one precinct to another,  often with a film crew in tow.

One event he has just covered-The Couture Council of the Museum of FIT  luncheon last Wednesday on the Promenade of the David Koch Theater at Lincoln Center to honour couturier Valentino.

Photographs : Patrick McMullan
        www.patrickmcmullan.com

Lizzie Tisch and Cameron Silver

Rod Keenan and Lisa Boone

Daphne Guinness 

 

 

 

Valentino and Diane von Furstenberg

See more at Patrick's on-line magazine PMC

Looking At Jedward's Crotch(s)

Who could forget their appearances on Britain's Got Talent, as much as we tried. The god awful Jedward, John and Edward the Irish twins who sang out of tune, danced awkwardly like marionettes and basically were just plain bad.

They've had the last laugh of course and have gone on to make millions with the help of Louis Walsh who recognises a money spinner when he sees two. And they really are quite likable in a cringe worthy way.

Now pop impresario Simon Napier-Bell has weighed into the debate with a look at Jedward's trousers, on the outside but with a few comments on what may lay within.

Napier-Bell  has launched many show biz acts in his day including some who have gone on to become legends. Like Marc Bolan and T-Rex and Wham with superstar George Michael.

He also wrote a few songs-one You Don't Have To Say You Love Me was a mega hit for Dusty Springfield and Elvis Presley and which along with Big Spender is still a favourite of drag queens the world over (Napier Bell grumbles that he never receives royalties from the drag acts)

His piece on Jedward is for the  Huffington Post and he descibes them as like "asexual Teddy bears"and gives us an amazing insight into acceptable trouser crotch levels and heights as seen in the world of rock and pop. Not unlike Vogue's Anna Wintour issuing a decree on hem levels. It should  become required reading for anyone intent on cracking Britain's Got Talent or X Factor and as Napier-Bell is in constant demand to judge pop talent quests around the world he probably knows what he is talking about.

Regular Shuttle readers may re-call we acted as a bit of a host when Simon Napier Bell visited Sydney in 2009 and ferried him to and fro to various media interviews.

Simon Napier-Bell

 One, with top TV daytime host Kerri Anne Kennerley left her reeling when she asked him what was  most outrageous thing that happened in the world of rock management and he replied-"possibly when David Bowie said he would let me  f*ck him if I would manage him". Fortunately for Napier Bell he didn't take Bowie up on the offer particularly as at the time the Thin White Duke was notable for his rotting green teeth.

Napier-Bell spends most of time commuting between a sumptuous villa in Thailand and the UK and USA where he hosts a radio show and lectures while writing some best selling books in his spare time.

KAK- shocked

His Black Vinyl White Powder is considered the definitive history of rock and pop from the 60s to the 90's and was required reading on the British school curriculum.

I'm Coming To Take You To Lunch is a rollicking read about his adventures as he attempts to (successfully) negotiate with Chinese party officials to have Wham as the first ever international pop act to appear in China, nipping in the bud the ambitions of Freddie Mercury and Queen. At the time it was one of the most talked about events on the planet.

Simon Napier-Bell is writing regular features for the Huffington Post which can be read here.
 At Simon's website you can find more about his books.
Here is Elvis with You Don't Have To Say You Love Me :

Miranda Kerr-looking fabulous

New mum Miranda Kerr and hubby Orlando Bloom attended the "Alexander McQueen : Savage Beauty" Costume Institute Gala at the New York's Metropolitian Museum last Monday as our exclusive pic from PatrickMcmullan.com shows.
See much more at Patrick McMullan's on-line magazine PMc.

All photographs by Chance Yeh for Patrick McMullan Company (c) 2011