Wedding Bells

While the world's paparazzi have gathered in Venice to catch a glimpse of Hollywood heart throb George Clooney's wedding to Amal Alamuddin, New York ex-pat Aussies are heading to Central Park today for the nuptials of ex-Sydneysider Rupert Noffs and his partner Matty Bennett.

Noffs has been living in New York for four years and has been overseeing the set-up of his burgeoning shoe empire Gideon Shoes, favoured by young Hollywood types like Justin Timberlake, and which runs as a charity to aid young Aussies to enter the fashion world. Profits are ploughed back into the Street University in Sydney's western suburbs run by his older brother Mathew. He is also the grandson of the late reverend Ted Noffs the much loved founder of the Kings Cross' Wayside Chapel.

Rupert Noffs with partner Matty Bennett & mum Mandy Noffs in the middle

Ted Noffs

Wedding gossip :
# There is much talk amongst Hollywood insiders that Clooney's eventual plan is a run for Governor of California with many remarking that wife Amal 
Alamuddin has the charisma of Jackie Kennedy. 
 # One guest at the Noffs' nuptials will be top US publicist and reality TV star Kelly Cutrone who has guided Gideon Shoes to US success. Cutrone had a famous run-in with Sydney gossip scribe Ros Reines as we detailed in 2011.
# Rupert's grandmother was the flamboyant turban-wearing Double Bay identity Lois Rodie who owned the popular Coral Lea boutique.                                                

It's Raining Men

Joel & his Great Gastby look

The Sydney Opera House-splendid in the sunshine, gloomy in the rain. It bucketed down tonight at GQ’s Men Of The Year Awards.  We didn’t let that stop us attending yet another red carpet shindig where nice statuettes are handed out at another excuse for a celebrity turn out.

Maybe not quite as celeb heavy as the UK awards in October with Johnny Depp, Keith Richard, Duran Duran and Bradley Cooper, or the LA awards with winner Jay-Z, Justin Timberlake, and Michael Fassbender.

We did have Jack Thompson, Alex O’Loughlin, Rachel Taylor and this year’s Man Of The Year-Joel Edgerton who is currently filming in Baz Luhrmann’s The Great Gatsby (in glorious 3D) around Sydney.

Xavier Samuel at GQ

Jay-Z

Rachel Taylor

Speaking of which-I wish Baz would choose his dates better when filming around Centennial Park (which is standing in for Long Island in the movie). Last Saturday, trying to get to Paspaley Pearl’s Polo In the Park was a nightmare with streets blocked off and hundreds of sightseers hoping to glimpse Leo DiCaprio (he was only there on Thursday but you can catch him bike riding through Centennial Park in the afternoons. But not in 3D)

Carey Mulligan : Best Dressed

She's just taken up residence in Sydney for the next few months-beautiful British actress Carey Mulligan who is to star opposite Leonardo DiCaprio in Baz Luhrmann's $120M 3D re-make of The Great Gatsby.

Now she's been named in Vanity Fair's International Best-Dressed List 2011 alongside HSH Princess Charlene of Monaco, Justin Timberlake , Carla Bruni-Sakozy, Lady GaGa, HRH The Duchess of Cambridge, Colin Firth, Stavros Niarchos and the Shuttle's favourite The King of Bhutan.
Photographs : Vanity Fair (C)