THE PARTY OF THE YEAR

IMAGES AARONS/GETTY SLIM American opera singer Karen Davis arrives at the Palace Hotel, St. Moritz, 1978.

A new book featuring more than fifty never-before-published images focused exclusively on fashion called, Slim Aarons Style, has been published by Slim Aarons’ Archivist/ Getty Images Curator Shawn Waldron and Fashion Writer Kate Betts, with foreword by Designer Jonathan Adler (Abrams; October 2021; U.S. $85.00; Hardcover).

INSIDE THE MET GALA

BY R. COURI HAY

I’VE COVERED THE MET GALA AND ITS INSPIRING SHOWS FOR OVER FOUR DECADES. Originally, I went as the guest of legendary Vogue Editor-in-Chief Diana Vreeland when Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, Mrs. William F. Buckley, Nan Kempner and Bill Blass were the gatekeepers behind “The Party of the Year.” In that era, the guest list was dominated by the ne plus ultra of high society, as opposed to the sizzling celebrity fueled fanny basher it is today. Back then I bought tickets at $500 each as opposed to the $35,000 they cost today. During that elegant time, one thousand bright young things came in after dinner to dance at $100.00 each! Vreeland told me she loved their “pizzazz.” I miss that exciting aspect of the party that brought a new generation into the museum. I also remember the time Nan sat me next to Gianni Versace when he didn’t speak English, but we still became lifelong pals. In 1974, with flesh-baring TV lights behind me and my microphone in hand I asked Cher, “Are you naked under that dress?” to which she winked, “Does it matter?” Of course, it did and Cher and her nakeddress by Bob Mackie was front-page news; flash forward to 2021 andKendall Jennerwore the almost identical see-through dressby Givenchy,and it was still a knockout forty-seven years later.

PARTY

Billie Eilish, Amanda Gorman, Timothee Chalamet, Naomi Osaka at the entrance featuring a facsimile of a grand oak tree