WAG Magazine December 2012

december 2012

Donna Karan headlines a sparkling season The iceman cometh

The Rangers’ Henrik Lundqvist

The Glitterati

Laurie Davis, Sorab & Roshi, Simon Teakle

A dazzling dozen

Bill Clinton, James Bond, Keira Knightley‌

bedazzled A gem of a historian Elyse Zorn Karlin

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December 2012

bedazzled 12 Dazzle shines, warms 34 Icy hot – and burns 43 Zen and the art of Donna Karan 14 a dazzling baker’s dozen 58 J House – Dessert for the eyes 18 Creating one-of-akind wonders 60 A real-life Shangri La 20 Truffle triumphant 62 This Prince is a party princess 22 Sold on sizzle the glitter fairy 65 Red, white and (Swedish) blue 26 A gem of a career 66 Tasty venture 30 Cosabella: Anything but unmentionable 68 Doughnuts to dollars 24

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December 2012

32 wear

Features

Mothers of the bride who shimmer quietly

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Holiday form

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Simon says … it’s time to sparkle

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Inspired entertaining

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72 wagging

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71 wine&dine

That wine, that special moment, ahh

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Dazzling with a little cosmetic help

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Dazzling gifts

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We wonder: What is the most dazzling gift you have given or received?

81 watch

We’re out and about

88 class & sass

With Martha Handler and Jennifer Pappas

8 Meet the visitors 10 Editor’s letter Cover photograph: Designer Donna Karan speaks onstage during the 2010 CFDA Fashion Awards at Alice Tully Hall, Lincoln Center. (Photograph by Andrew H. Walker/Getty Images.)

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Greg Fernandez, Rick Johnson, Rochelle Stolzenberg, Dan Vierno and Konstantine Wells

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PUBLISHER/CREATIVE DIRECTOR Dee DelBello MANAGING EDITOR Bob Rozycki EDITOR Georgette Gouveia SENIOR ART DIRECTOR Caitlin Nurge Harrison DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY David Bravo CLASS & SASS COLUMNISTS Martha Handler • Jennifer Pappas STAFF PHOTOGRAPHERS Sinéad Deane • Bob Rozycki

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waggers

DAVID BRAVO

Sinéad Deane

Cappy Devlin

PATRICIA ESPINOSA

Alissa frey

martha handler

sarah hodgson

GEOFF KALISH

debbi o’shea

Bob Rozycki

Jennifer pappas

ERIKA SCHWARTZ

Mary Shustack

MICHAEL ROSENBERG

Zoë Zellers

new wagger Andrea Kennedy, Maltese cross pin of cabochon aquamarines, peridot and diamonds. All pieces are mounted in 18 karat gold and signed Sorab & Roshi. Photograph courtesy of Sorab & Roshi.

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a solar-powered San Diego native, has penned lifestyle, art, media, business and marketing pieces for publications in Miami, Los Angeles and Sacramento. A New York newbie, Andrea earnestly explores her East Coast home and offers a fresh perspective to regional magazines and organizations.

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editor's letter Georgette Gouveia

January 2012

NOVEMBER 2012

PAULA ZAHN IN TUNE WITH THE ARTS

Josie Natori light, Breezy, sexy fashioNs

CINDY JOSEPH

all keyed up John Ford is master of the 88s

psych-oh!

We’re on the couch

time to

STELLA MCCAFFREY DESIGNS

estraDa brothers make fashion waves

ALEX DONNER

in the key of life

Choices MADE For the younger set

lighten up

Steven Visscher gives ‘Boardwalk Empire’ punch

Double-take

Model for the ages

the zeN of Jeff Bridges Bam!

August 2012

From the bar to baton

MARY JANE DENZER

Grande dame of retail

MONEY ANGEL Stephanie Newby

tony Award winner ted sperling

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Must be Mick

tv’s money man aDam Johnson virginity as a gooD thing? tom beebe makes you wanna look swinging on kiawah islanD

we love

In this the month of all things bright and beautiful, WAG sets out to scintillate with some of the most dazzling people, places and things of 2012.

To dazzle – which comes from the word “daze” – doesn’t always have the best of connotations, as you’ll see in our by now signature introductory essay. There’s a little larceny at the heart of the word.

Yet there’s no deception in our dazzlers. Though they are capable of showstopping artifice, buoyed by spectacular technique, they are at the core people of quality whose art comes from the heart.

Perhaps no one better crystallizes this than our cover subject, Donna Karan, whose clothes can slink or sizzle but whose work today also focuses on the Urban Zen Center and paying tribute to sculptor Stephan Weiss, the late husband who was her business partner, rock and soul mate. As Karan tells Zoë Zellers, “There’s too much ego in the world, and it gets in the way of giving back and making a difference.”

That selfless spirit pervades our baker’s dozen of dazzlers – actors, athletes and activists who understand that what really shines comes from within. They are people like Malala Yousafzai, the Pakistani girl who stood up to the Taliban and risked death in her quest for women’s education and self-determination. What magnificent courage. That’s dazzle.

OOPS

The photograph of girls wearing Stella M’Lia party dresses on Page 56 of November WAG was not credited. It’s by Beth Nixon, whose work is so good we decided to give you another look at it.

Sounds like — Kat McKee on page 89 became Kat McGee. Our apologies.

mag.com WHERE CLASS MEETS SASS FIND OUT FOR YOURSELF

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Of course, being WAG, we have to have our fling with bling, too. Yet even here, the experts will tell you that all that’s gold doesn’t glitter. As Greenwich jeweler Sorab Bouzarjomehri of Sorab & Roshi shares with Patricia Espinosa, “If someone comes into my store and asks how many pennyweights of gold is in here, you’re not my customer. You don’t go into a gallery and ask how many gallons of paint are in this painting. It’s irrelevant to what the art is.”

Port Chester-based jewelry historian Elyse Zorn Karlin would agree, revealing to Mary Shustack: “I’ve seen collections of costume jewelry that are so fabulous you could pass out.”

In the end, it’s the love that you bring to the challenge at hand – be it a performance or a pair of earrings – that makes someone or something truly dazzling.

Speaking of which, I have the pleasure of introducing Wagger Andrea Kennedy, a West Coast transplant who has a way with words and a style all her own. This month she plumbs the incandescence of some sparkling gowns, along with that of gorgeous New York Rangers’ goalie (and fashionable man about town) Henrik Lundqvist.

Welcome, Andrea.

And on behalf of her and the rest of our beloved WAG staff, I wish you a dazzling season.

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Dazzle shines, warms – and burns

By Georgette Gouveia

W

hat makes someone or something dazzling?

Is it virtuosity or a kind of sleight of hand? Maybe it’s a little of both.

It’s a bit confusing, but then, that’s the nature of dazzle, which comes from the word “daze” – “to stupefy, stun or bewilder.” To dazzle, Webster’s New World Dictionary says, is primarily “to overpower or dim the vision of with very bright light or moving lights.”

The Christian Bible and Greek mythology contain striking examples of this kind of dazzle. The Gospels of Matthew, Mark and Luke recount the moment of Transfiguration when Jesus appears to the disciples Peter, James and John on a mountaintop in all his divine glory – his face “dazzling as the sun” (Matthew), his clothes “dazzlingly white” (Mark and Luke).

Mark writes that Peter, the leader of the Apostles, “hardly knew what to say, for they were all overcome with awe.”

The 15th-century German artist Matthias Grünewald captures something of this effect in “Christ Rising,” a panel from his Isenheim Altarpiece, in which he suffuses Jesus in shades of yellow, amber and gold.

At least Peter, James and John survived their close encounter with divinity. In the back-story of Dionysus, the Greek god of wine and ecstasy, philandering

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sky god Zeus has an affair with the Theban princess Semele, who becomes pregnant with Dionysus. When she’s six months along, Zeus’ jealous wife, Hera, instigates Semele to pressure her secretive lover to reveal his true nature. (A girl’s gotta know what she’s gotten herself into, right?)

Whereupon Zeus goes all thunder and lightning, killing Semele, but not before his clever son Hermes saves the baby, sewing him up in his father’s thigh for another three months’ gestation.

To dazzle – or bedazzle – then, is to reveal the utter radiance within, which can be, as we shall see, a mixed blessing.

“Astonish me”

Short of godhead, though, how do we humans dazzle?

With brains, talent, creativity, passion and industry, which yield extraordinary achievement and invention – the underpinnings of civilization. Nature in itself can dazzle, but it really needs the action of civilization to offset it. Think of the difference between a diamond in the rough emerging from the earth’s womb and a cut, polished Tiffany gem. “Étonne moi,” the impresario Serge Diaghilev challenged the choreographer George Balanchine – “Astonish me.” And Balanchine would, in works whose speed, amplitude and dissonance helped define the 20th century. But then, artists and athletes,

engineers and entrepreneurs have been doing this for millennia. Think of the enduring pyramids, the soaring cathedrals, the theatrical spectacles of “Sun King” Louis XIV, the pyrotechnical operas of Mozart and Wagner, the edgy, erotic abstractions of Picasso, the special effects of the movies and the digital innovations of Bill Gates and Steve Jobs. These are all dazzlingly different accomplishments containing two common elements – vision and great technical know-how.

Technique is often at the heart of dazzle. At the inauguration of the Smith Center for the Performing Arts in Las Vegas, broadcast recently on ThirteenWNET, violinist Joshua Bell played the fiendish showpiece “Gypsy Airs” by Pablo de Sarasate. Bell’s fingers flew up, down and over the instrument – plucking, vibrating, cajoling, conjuring – as the work shifted moods, tempi and dynamics. It certainly was a dazzling performance in the sense of “a brilliant display,” deserving of the standing ovation it received.

But Bell – clad in black pants and shirt, the beads of perspiration on his intense face his only adornment – saved the fireworks for the instrument.

And that is what makes dazzle fascinating. It isn’t always accompanied by a ta-dah! temperament, though it certainly can be. In London this past summer, we were treated to both approaches as U.S. gymnast Gabby Douglas sparkled in every way, while Michael Phelps quietly eclipsed his more glamorous teammate Ryan Lochte to become the most decorated Olympian to date. A few weeks earlier in the same city, Roger Federer had regained the No. 1 ranking and the Wimbledon crown with an understated elegance

that his more expressive rivals – Novak Djokovic, Andy Murray and Rafael Nadal – do not possess. (See related story.)

Razzle-dazzle ’em

Among the best-known contrasts of quiet dazzle and ostentatious display is that of Abraham Lincoln’s plainly eloquent three-minute Gettysburg Address and Edward Everett’s flowery two-hour oration – though in his “Lincoln at Gettysburg,” Garry Wills tells us that both speeches were in keeping with the program for that occasion. Still, at Gettysburg, Everett placed his tome of an address on a table beside him – then famously ignored it to show he had memorized it. Lincoln simply read his prepared remarks.

One was concerned with the dignity of his appearance; the other, with that of those he commemorated.

You don’t have to be showy to shine; and what shines isn’t necessarily showy. Which brings us to razzle-dazzle – “a flashy display intended to confuse, bewilder or deceive.”

“Give ’em the old razzle-dazzle, razzle-dazzle ’em,” crafty lawyer Billy Flynn sings in the musical “Chicago.”

“Long as you keep ’em way off balance, how can they spot you’ve got no talent,” he concludes. “Razzle-dazzle ’em, and they’ll make you a star.”

In the film version, Richard Gere’s Billy tap-dances hard, quite literally, to get his guilty clients acquitted of murder, his fleet footwork in a three-ring circus serving as a metaphor for the fast-talking he’ll do in another circus atmosphere – the courtroom. He’s dazzlingly victorious, of course – this is, after all, a marvel-

ously cynical Bob Fosse musical – but at what price?

Entertainment may be served, but justice? Never.

Dazzle can deceive. It’s a sometime dance with the devil, as in the movie “Bedazzled,” and guess who leads in that little pas de deux.

But perhaps dazzle is never more deceptive than

“Give ’em the old razzledazzle, razzle-dazzle ’em.

Long as you keep ’em way off balance, how can they spot you’ve got no talent.

Razzle-dazzle ’em, and they’ll make you a star.”

— Billy Flynn

to the dazzler himself. How many spellbinding entertainers and athletes – the Judy Garlands and the Mickey Mantles – found themselves bewitched, bothered and bewildered by addiction and shattered relationships?

Still, we don’t care. As Billy sings, we want the razzle-dazzle, the romance, for to dazzle or be dazzled is to be touched by the sun.

And we gravitate to that warmth, that light, whether we are kissed or burned by it. n

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dazzling A

baker’s dozen

From Queen Elizabeth II’s Diamond Jubilee and the Olympics to Felix Baumgartner’s historic skydive and James Bond’s golden “Skyfall,” there was plenty of shock and awe in 2012. But sometimes what dazzled most lay in the quiet, the understated – an everyday Pakistani girl standing up to the Taliban and an American president reminding us that all human beings are created equal and free.

In 2012, the dazzling demonstrated that a great idea, met with courage and resilience, may be the most stunning thing of all.

Felix Baumgartner – When it comes to dazzling, it would be hard to top setting the world record for skydiving from a height of 24 miles at an estimated speed of Mach 1.24. With his thrilling Oct. 14 jump, Baumgartner became the first person to break the sound barrier without a vehicle.

James Bond – Ian Fleming’s seminal spy capped off 50 years of leaving movie audiences shaken and stirred with “Skyfall,” featuring kinetic action sequences and a kaleidoscopic production design, anchored by Daniel Craig, who continues to excel as 007. But it’s the postfeminist plot – an unusual Bond quest involving mothers and sons and the most compelling villain this side of Dr. No – that proves that nothing dazzles quite like reinventing an icon.

Bill Clinton – Whether you’re a Democrat or a Republican, you had to admit “the Big Dog” was once again the leader of the pack, giving what some pundits said was the best speech of both conventions. Meanwhile, his Clinton Global Initiative continues to be the byword in bipartisanship, attracting both President Barack Obama and Gov. Mitt Romney as it strives to improve the lives of 400 million people in 180 countries with a commitment of $73.1 billion.

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Anderson Cooper – As anyone who has ever watched his profiles on “60 Minutes” can attest, this peripatetic newsman doesn’t mind swimming with Michael Phelps – or with sharks. The silver-maned host of CNN’s “Anderson Cooper 360°” made his bones with his moving coverage of Hurricane Katrina and was on the scene once again with Sandy. Neither hurricanes nor blustery pols can dampen his ardor for the truth. Yet he is equally candid on the other side of the mike, as his charming David Letterman appearances attest.

Gabby Douglas – With sparkling outfits, an infectious smile and a bubbly personality that suits her nickname, the U.S. gymnast twinkled in London, quite literally. But she saved her most scintillating moments for the all-around competition. With grit and versatility, she captured gold – and America’s heart.

“Homeland” – Of all the many incandescent manipulations that define Showtime’s multiple Emmy Award winner – about a former Marine POW suspected of terrorism (Damian Lewis) and the CIA agent obsessed with him (Claire Danes) – none is more powerful than the way the writers manipulate the audience. Case in point from season one (on DVD) – the moment when Lewis’ Sgt. Brody teaches his captor’s young son the words to “Take Me Out to the Ballgame.” It will have you balling.

Keira Knightley – The 21st century’s answer to Audrey Hepburn, Knightley has bent it like Beckham, tangled with pirates in the Disney franchise and played Austen’s proud, prejudiced (but lovably spirited) Miss Elizabeth Bennet. Now, though, she shifts sumptuously into another gear as one of literature’s most complex adulteresses in “Anna Karenina.”

Lincoln – His name, one for the ages, needs no further luster from us. But that hasn’t stopped Americans from trying to enhance the golden patina. In the spring,

Honest Abe got the camp treatment in “Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter,” combining two things we love. This season, he’s being Spielberged in the acclaimed Oscar front-runner, “Lincoln,” starring double-winner Daniel Day-Lewis.

Michael Phelps – This was supposed to be the flashier Ryan Lochte’s year. But after a slow start at the Summer Games in London, Phelps became the most decorated Olympian to date. His finest moment, however, came out of the pool when he told the clearly crestfallen Lochte, who cost the Americans gold in the 4 x 100 relay, “You did a good job.” That generous gesture showed leadership and character.

The Royals – Well, what can you say after you say Olympics and Diamond Jubilee? Sure, there were bumps.

Pesky paparazzi. Pippa’s taste in boyfriends. Harry’s discovery that what happens in Vegas doesn’t necessarily stay there. But Wills and Kate carried on with aplomb, while Good Queen Bess proved to be the best Bond girl of all.

Denzel Washington – Has this Mount Vernon native ever given a bad performance? From Malcolm X to the bad-to-the-bone cop in “Training Day,” Washington has left an indelible mark on the psyche of the moviegoing public. This season, as the Oscar race heats up, he takes off in “Flight,” as a pilot whose heroism and addictions are all of a piece. The oft-onscreen bad guy is known for his good deeds off, serving as national spokesman for the Boys & Girls Clubs of America and supporting the Boys & Girls Club of Mount Vernon.

Malala Yousafzai – Few qualities dazzle the way courage does. Standing up for women’s education against the Taliban, the Pakistani activist nearly paid with her life.

Now recovering from a gunshot wound to the head, Malala has proved herself to be one of the most inspiring teenagers this side of Joan of Arc.

Photo by Mark Davis/Getty Images

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Tiffany & Co. – Nothing says dazzling quite like a diamond engagement ring – or any bauble – from the Fifth Avenue fixture, 175 years young in 2012. Adding to its sheen this year – the announcement that the sparkling emporium has created a collection of platinum-set diamonds and pearls for Baz Luhrmann’s “The Great Gatsby,” bowing next summer. n

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10/12/12 1:52 PM

Creating one-of-a-kind wonders

By Patricia Espinosa

n a neighborhood brimming with jewelry stores in all hues, Sorab & Roshi, Greenwich’s new kid on the block, has created an identity all its own. With its bold, chic and structural designs, the jewelry house has garnered the attention of a well-heeled clientele looking for something a little different.

Situated just off the top of Greenwich Avenue, the atelier has been dazzling its customers with exquisite oneof-a-kind jewelry designs since opening its doors in May. “The level of sophistication and understanding for fine things exists and the neighborhood is fantastic,” says designer and co-owner Sorab Bouzarjomehri about his new digs. The jeweler was previously at Yellow Monkey Village in Cross River.

Dynamic duo Bouzarjomehri and his wife and business partner, Roshi Ameri, established their eponymous brand in 1988. He is the artist and she runs the business.

But really, she is his muse.

When I meet the couple at their store, they buzz me into a treasure trove of unspeakable beauty. I set my focus on Roshi, who is dripping in Sorab & Roshi jewelry, one piece more astonishing than the next. Suddenly, I have an overwhelming urge to try on Roshi’s rose gold pavé pink tourmaline and white pavé diamond spiral rings that were designed to connect. With a knowing smile, Roshi takes off her rings and hands them to me. I slide them on my finger and marvel at them.

“When I look at my pieces, they have volume, color, size and movement. To me, these four elements have to exist if I want to put my stamp on it,” Sorab says.

Indeed, his pieces have so much movement, he says they are still alive. He pulls out a fish to show me that it’s swimming and then a butterfly that’s flipping its wings.

“Jewelry is art to me, and we’re selling it as art. I’m not selling two carats of diamonds and five pennyweights of gold. If someone comes into my store and asks how many pennyweights of gold is in here, you’re not my customer. You don’t go into a gallery and ask how many gallons of paint are in this painting. It’s irrelevant to what the art is.” Spoken like a true artist.

That’s why he says his best customers are those who appreciate art and collect it.

“They’re the ones that really understand. They love what they get and the fact that it’s one-of-a-kind and they’re the only one that has this piece,” he says.

The making of a jeweler

Sorab Bouzarjomehri and his wife and business partner, Roshi Ameri. Photograph by Sinéad Deane.

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As a young boy growing up in his native Iran, Sorab recalls how he was always good with his hands and had a great imagination. When he came to the U.S. after high school in 1974, he studied civil engineering at the Univer-

sity of Minnesota (where he met Roshi, who was studying jewelry design and surface fabric). Then he earned a master’s degree in industrial engineering from the University of Wisconsin. He never expected to get into the jewelry business – unlike Roshi, who knew exactly what she wanted to do and had already landed a coveted internship with Henry Birks, the Canadian version of Tiffany & Co. Sorab bounced from one career to the next. There were jobs in engineering and stints in both men’s and ladies’ fashion before he finally discovered jewelry.

It was the early ’80s and costume jewelry was all the rage, so the newly minted designer began buying every imaginable type of stamping – presses used to create designs in costume jewelry – and practiced perfecting his technique every night after work for six months before launching his line of 25 earrings and 10 rings under his Monarch label.

Starting at 81st Street, he worked his way down Madison Avenue in Manhattan, knocking on every door trying to sell his line. His tenacity paid off when three stores said yes, including Ylang Ylang, which happened to be the hottest faux jeweler at the time.

The Monarch line was plated in 22K gold and embellished with vintage crystals, rhinestones and buttons.

“It’s what you see now. It’s what’s in fashion today,” Roshi says.

American jewelry designers. (Roshi was managing its Park Avenue store then). For six years, Sorab sat at his bench next to 40 of Trianon’s jewelers, working his way up until finally becoming a master jeweler. It was then that he and his wife launched Sorab & Roshi.

Diamonds in the air

Through one of his wife’s business connections, Sorab met Barnett Robinson, a pioneer in the colored gemstone business, and was able to persuade him to forge a partnership: Robinson would supply the fine stones and materials and Sorab would design and make the jewelry.

Within a year, he had designed 40 pieces. Three were picked up by Tiffany & Co.; two were selected by Fortunoff, landing on the cover of the store’s Christmas catalog; and one made the cover of National Jeweler magazine.

Not bad for his first year in the fine jewelry business.

Still, the designer wanted to refine his skills. So he took a class at The Fashion Institute of Technology in Manhattan, where a professor suggested he get a job at one of the fine jewelry houses.

He took the advice and got a job at Trianon – the parent company of Seaman Schepps, one of the oldest

Remarkably, Sorab uses no sketchbooks. All his designs are created “from his imagination.” So to get that imagination running, each summer the virtuoso rides his Harley Davidson on a week-long trip. By the time he returns home, he’s dreamed up his collection.

“One thing I will say is his ideas never dry up,” says Roshi, who is her husband’s greatest champion.

Each year the new collection is made up of 60 to 80 new creations, including a statement piece, which is the artist’s personal expression of what he is thinking politically at the time.

For 2013, he’s designed a pin with an American eagle holding a much smaller dragon made of black and white diamonds, coral, abalone and pearl, representing the artist’s belief that the United States will soon outstrip China and return to dominance in terms of its economy, technology and production.

Each piece has its own magic, but all Sorab & Roshi designs are marked by their structural engineering. Because keeping the stones together without seeing any metal is no small feat.

“If you look at the jewelry, most of the structure is in the back of the piece rather than in front. So it’s as if the stones are suspended in air,” the designer says with a smile.

For more information, visit sorabandroshi.com. n

Pictured above: Left, a multi-strand, faceted-ruby-bead necklace on a pavé diamond double snake clasp. Right, a pavé diamond butterfly pin with carved pink tourmaline wings. All pieces are mounted in 18 karat gold and signed Sorab & Roshi. Jewelry photographs courtesy of Sorab & Roshi.

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Truffle triumphant Perseverance a key ingredient for Mamaroneck chocolaterie

By Georgette Gouveia Photographs by Sinéad Deane it comes as no surprise that Maria Valente – owner of Chocolations, a chocolaterie in Mamaroneck – is a huge fan of the movie “Chocolat.”

“Oh, yes, yes, yes,” she said. “I watch it to inspire myself.”

And like Juliette Binoche’s sensuous Vianne Rocher, who seduces a rather prim French village with her delectable confections, Valente has a knack for correctly guessing which sinfully sweet, meltingly creamy bonbon is your favorite.

So amid the white, milk and dark chocolate bark she set out when WAG visited her shop for coffee recently, Valente offered up some of her special sweet potato truffles for us to try.

Heaven. Rapture. Ecstasy.

More important, though, Valente is like the movie’s heroine in that her chocolate shop is a place of community, one from which entrepreneurial women like herself can draw strength.

“My dream is to help other women get started,” she says, much like the lifeline and push she got from a $10,000 Eileen Fisher grant and a 15week course at the Women’s Enterprise Development Center (WEDC) in White Plains. When Valente thanked Fisher at a luncheon the clothing designer gave for grant recipients at her Hudson River home, Valente told her that she was running on empty before securing the funds. And Fisher in turn recalled a time early in her career when she, too, faced a zero balance only to receive a check for $300 for work she had done some time before. Some things are signposts of what is meant to be.

Valente, who grew up in the Eastchester-Scarsdale area, seems to have been destined for chocolate.

“My mom was always a great baker,” she says. “I can remember we went to a bakery in the Bronx (one Easter), and they had these chocolates on display.

And my mother bought each of her daughters one of the fine chocolates, each one a different animal shape.”

(Valente got a hen.)

Soon Valente was buying chocolate and baking with it. One of her sisters began making chocolates for sale but ultimately moved on. With two small children, Valente made chocolates at home for sale while working other jobs and even attending law school. (“Hated it,” she says.)

20

Maria Valente

Chocolate kept singing its siren song. So Valente studied at The French Culinary Institute, now The International Culinary Center, in SoHo as well as WEDC. “Then finally I got the nerve with very little money – very little money” to open a shop on Mamaroneck Avenue in Mamaroneck. That was five years ago.

Three years later, the shop relocated to Boston Post Road. The place is a bright, comfortable affair – all chocolate and cream colors – with inviting armchairs and tables, specialty shelves and glass display counters revealing Valente’s versatility. While there is every kind of chocolate treat imaginable, made on the premises, Chocolations is

known for its truffles.

At Chocolations, there are 40 varieties of truffles, with Valente rotating flavors in and out seasonally. (Hello, peppermint and gingerbread.) There’s even a beer-infused truffle sure to be a hit on game day.

Valente uses American chocolate – preferring its “brighter, fresher” taste to that of European chocolate – along with thousands of molds for unusual creations. She once made a chocolate mold of a man’s face and a 10-pound chocolate “sand castle” that cost more than $500.

And what of erotic chocolates?

“I’ve been asked, but I don’t make them,” Valente says. With young women working in the shop, the mother in

her, she says, draws the line there.

Besides, there’s plenty to choose from at Chocolations, which is about so much more than chocolate. From noon to 5 p.m. on Tuesdays and Saturdays, there’s afternoon tea, a collaboration with Leslie Allick of the former Lola’s Tea House in Pelham. (Chocolation’s furnishings are from Lola’s.) In January, there will be biscotti as well, courtesy of Cathy Schauber.

It’s yet another example of women helping women, just like in “Chocolat.”

Now if only Johnny Depp would walk through the door.

For more, call (914) 777-3600 or visit chocolations.com. n

A Lifetime of Beautiful Smiles

For many families in Westchester, we’re the only dental office they’ve ever used. We’re proud of this fact. We believe the reason so many of our original patients bring their own children to us can be summed up in one word: trust. Advanced Dentistry of Westchester has been creating beautiful healthy smiles in Westchester County for more than 4 generations of patients. Throughout the years, our patients have received top quality preventive and restorative treatments — all while enjoying the personal touch of a family dental practice offering the latest in advanced technology.

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If you want to learn about the advanced technologies we use or the comments from our patients visit our web page at www.ADofW.com and visit us on

163 Halstead Avenue • Harrison, NY 914.835.0542

Sold on sizzle Mark Stevens offers ways to succeed

I

By Georgette Gouveia Photograph by Sinéad Deane

n the conference room of Mark Stevens’ offices at the palatial 800 Westchester Ave. in Rye Brook, there’s a painting of Marilyn Monroe.

“Everyone who met Marilyn was dazzled by her,” says the marketing guru. “It’s a metaphor for how you sell yourself. People don’t want to buy things they like. They want to buy things they love. You don’t buy things you can live

without.”

For 18 years, Stevens has helped clients ranging from financial firms to pharmaceutical companies to nightclubs make the transition from like to love as CEO of MSCO. He’s had a lot of time to think about what makes an individual or a corporation a dazzling sell. His initial philosophy might be summed up in the song title “That’s Entertainment.”

Consider Las Vegas resorts developer Steve Wynn, he says. Wynn inherited bingo parlors from his father, who told him that they were not in the gambling business, but show business. Or onetime Bloomingdale’s head Marvin Traub, who thought of Bloomie’s not as a retail biz, but an entertainment one.

“So you say to me, ‘Well, we’re in the tire business.

We’re not in show business,’” Stevens says. “But the employees’ uniforms can be clean. The sitting area can be attractive and you can serve coffee. When you have a website, you have to see change. We call this a touch-point map. Each point has to be fantastic.”

Don’t think for a moment, however, that Stevens is advocating mere cosmetic change.

“Forget ‘dress for success,’” he says. “The most important quality is curiosity, listening to others. You’re interesting, because you’re interested.”

Stevens remembers approaching former President Bill Clinton at a Chappaqua eatery a year and a half ago. Stevens asked if he could sit down and the two wound up chatting.

“He looks into your eyes,” Stevens says. “It’s not an act.

He wants to know what you’re thinking. That’s dazzle.

That’s the Marilyn Monroe effect.

“Most people come in with an agenda and go into the hard sell. …But the great salespeople never sell anything.

The great salespeople say, ‘I’m going to see Joan Smith and find out how she sees the world.’ It’s a wonderful journey.”

Stevens helped the wealth management firm Clarfeld understand this, taking the company from the notion that it was a group of stock jocks to the idea of a collection of confidants. Indeed, its name is Clarfeld Wealth Strategists & Financial Confidantes.

“The confidant part is key. You ask yourself, ‘What’s the compelling story?’ That’s dazzle.”

Stevens learned about dazzle the hard way. He grew up in a lower-middle-class neighborhood in Queens, sharing a bedroom with his sister. His father was a Willie Loman type, “a man way out there in the blue, riding on a smile and a shoeshine,” as Arthur Miller wrote of Willie in “Death of a Salesman.”

A smart man, Stevens’ father became a salesman when he was forced financially to drop out of medical school.

“People loved him because he was gregarious, but he had no strategy for building wealth.”

He died when Stevens was 17, leaving the family $84 and no life insurance.

22

Mark Stevens and Sky.

Growing up, Stevens would often go fly-fishing with his father in the Armonk-Bedford area. After, they’d stop in Bedford to buy a present for his mother, who was left out of these jaunts. It gave the young Stevens time to look around at the spacious Bedford homes with their baronial fireplaces.

“I saw another world, one of dazzle.”

At 7, he vowed he would one day live there. Some 10 years later, with his family facing poverty, he made another vow – to have the guts to face life head on and take risks.

So he began to build companies that he then sold for a profit. He started with a business column he sold to Newsday and other papers and eventually to Universal Press Syndicate. Another company, Synergy, helped to license accountants to sell financial products. Dissatisfaction with the marketing companies he hired inspired him

to found MSCO and also write “Your Marketing Sucks,” one of several books.

In the early days of MSCO at 709 Westchester Ave., he burned the midnight oil. Recently, he sold “a significant stake” in the company, a move that allows him to remain CEO. After he and wife, Carol Ann, raised sons Harly and Justin in Chappaqua, Stevens made good on his promise to move to Bedford. There he and Golden Retriever Sky like to sit by the family swimming pool, even in the dead of winter. You get the feeling that Stevens is still that kid from Queens who can’t quite believe he made good in Bedford.

Might he and Sky go fly-fishing one day? Perhaps. But for now, they’re content with Stevens’ pool, or rather, Sky’s.

“He thinks it’s his,” Stevens jokes, “and he just lets us use it.” n

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23

glitter The

fairy

24

Laurie Davis and her ornaments shine

By Mary Shustack Photographs by Sinéad Deane Spend any time with Laurie Davis and it’s almost guaranteed you’ll emerge with a newfound sparkle.

That added glow is due to a few things – her infectiously upbeat personality, her seemingly endless creativity and a very literal sprinkling of glitter.

Call it an occupational hazard. You really can’t visit GlitterWorks Studio, the thriving business based in Davis’ Wilton home, and leave without a hint of that extra glimmer on you.

“You’re wearing black…” she says with a knowing laugh as WAG checks in with her on a recent morning.

Perhaps not the wisest choice when you are going to see “The Glitter Fairy.” But it makes for the first of several lighthearted moments during a visit that explores the meticulous process behind the “gloriously glittered ornaments and whimsies.” The unique quality of her work has earned her showcases in a selection of local boutiques and even several television appearances with Martha Stewart.

This season is her busiest, with holidayornament production taking up most every moment, though the company is indeed a year-round affair.

Many ornaments are designed to grace a Christmas tree, though they might just as easily hang from a sconce during warmer months. A glittering sea star might hang from a window, while a sparkling watering can or wheelbarrow can accent a floral design. A sparkled artichoke easily turns from a place-card holder to a gift for a dinner-party guest.

In addition to her signature ornaments, Davis draws on her graphic-design background to create limited-edition GlitterWorks Studio greeting cards that carry not only a hint of glitter but often also clever wordplays and vintage images.

“This is my old kitchen from before we renovated our house,” Davis says, as she walks a visitor through the home she shares with architect-husband Winslow Kosior and into the studio itself. “We have turned it into a winter wonderland.”

For those who like nothing more than a bit of sparkle, it is indeed quite the wonderland. Jars are filled with glitters that carry fanciful names ranging from pink Champagne to tropical rain, baby’s breath to abalone. There are dozens of rolls of double-faced satin ribbons from the noted San Francisco company Midori – it imparts “a quality feel,” Davis says – while boxes labeled with everything from chicks to “duckies,” dragonflies to hummingbirds create tall stacks.

There is a common thread in the varied elements.

“Our whole thing is to make things that are beautiful,” Davis says. “People are overwhelmed with junky stuff at big-box stores.”

Here, everything is done by hand, with attention to detail.

“I have decided not to outsource and go to China and all that,” she says. “Everything we do has to be as perfect as we can make it.”

All the products share a certain aesthetic, says Pam Lillis, Davis’ colleague, who’s known as “Assistant Glitter Fairy.”

“The problem is everything Laurie makes is absolutely beautiful,” she says, adding she tries to resist but has filled her own nearby home with GlitterWorks Studio creations. “I love the product.”

The glitter business began in 1999.

When Davis – who earned a fine art degree from Syracuse University and taught art – became a mother, she wanted to work closer to home.

Making children’s clothing eventually morphed into this new creative endeavor, which quickly found her creating glittered faux fruit first as teacher gifts and then as items for sale at schools and shops.

“It started out very traditionally with the natural colors, the greens and the reds and the golds,” she says, noting the business has steadily grown – and creatively expanded – over the years.

Today, Davis thinks nothing of accenting a plum-colored ball with a hot-pink ribbon or tying an orange ball with a stretch of teal.

“People have now become a little more open to different colors,” she says. “I don’t follow trends. I just do what I think is beautiful and what my customers ask me to do.”

It’s that unexpected mix and ability (and willingness) to customize her work that set her apart.

Though she is best-known for her sig-

nature golden pear, even that item is up for customization.

“If you want a pewter pear with silver ribbon, we can do that,” she says.

It’s easy, since Davis is drawing from a selection of some 300 shades of non-glass glitter.

Even traditional balls are made unique.

They might have elegant lettering that spells out names, words such as “gratitude,” puns or even ZIP codes.

The creations, which retail from $16 to $50, are designed for a discerning customer.

“We’ve always kind of considered them a collectible,” Davis says.

That’s no doubt due to their underlying artistry.

“It’s not just throwing glitter on something,” she says, going on to explain intricacies ranging from opaque versus transparent to large flake versus small.

Carol Muraskiewicz has been carrying the creations of GlitterWorks Studio for years at Palooza, her Fairfield gift, framing and décor boutique.

“I saw some of her things and said, ‘I love them,’ and have been keeping in touch with her ever since,” she says.

Mainstays at Palooza include glittered letters, with a selection of beach-themed clear balls (filled with sand and other seashore finds and emblazoned with the names of local beaches) just in for holiday shopping.

“It’s all hand-done, and it’s done to perfection,” she says.

Davis is always thinking ahead, finding new outlets for her creativity, from a new design to a new venture. A book is in the planning stages, as is an expansion of the greeting-card line.

Davis says her company draws on her personal history.

Growing up first on a farm in Pennsylvania then in upstate New York, she remembers an excitement always associated

“Our whole thing is to make things that are beautiful. People are overwhelmed with junky stuff at big-box stores.”

Here, everything is done by hand, with attention to detail.

“I have decided not to outsource and go to China and all that.

Everything we do has to be as perfect as we can make it.”

— Laurie Davis

with Christmas, especially the tree itself.

“Our parents made it very special,” she says.

The tree would be decorated, with the young Davis brought in for the big reveal.

“To me, it was this magical moment… I think that planted the seed, that feeling of wonder when those French doors opened.”

It’s that same spirit that she hopes her own ornaments evoke.

But there’s no time to dwell on sentiment on a busy morning at GlitterWorks Studio.

As the disco music is cranked up to add a bit of exuberance during a photo shoot, Davis takes a moment to glance at her surroundings.

“Glitter lends a sheen to other things you cannot achieve any other way, including floors,” she says.

But you know that for Davis, any glitter, no matter where it falls, is just part of the magic.

For more on Laurie Davis and her creations, including a list of local boutiques and her own online shop, visit glitterworksstudio.com. n 25

Elyse Zorn Karlin at home in Port Chester, adorned with her own jewelry.

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A gem of a career

By Mary Shustack Photographs by Bob Rozycki

E

lyse Zorn Karlin’s career has a built-in dazzle factor.

She lectures on jewelry.

She writes about jewelry.

She curates exhibitions about jewelry.

And her enthusiasm about her chosen field is palpable.

She will detail the thrill of holding a spectacular diamond ring worth $2 million at one moment then discuss the effect of a historical piece the next.

“To hold a piece of jewelry in your hand and know it’s 2,000 years old is incredible,” Karlin says.

But it’s not about a piece’s monetary value.

“I’ve seen collections of costume jewelry that are so fabulous you could pass out,” she says.

And sharing that history, one she never tires of delving into, is what keeps her so enthused about her chosen field.

On a recent afternoon, Karlin dips into a bag of her own treasures, creating a sparkling dining room-table vignette in her 1920s Port Chester home.

Drawing out each piece from a velvet pouch or hinged box, she shares its story, explaining what made it special to her.

There’s the stickpin with a royal provenance, a tie to Queen Victoria’s family.

There’s a brooch with an enameled image of a dancer, an exquisite piece of miniature art. There are necklaces and pendants, earrings and bracelets. Some are studies in artistic simplicity, others elaborate designs crafted with precision and flair.

All carry a meaning far deeper than their surface beauty, which is the heart of why Karlin is so captivated by her chosen field.

An early start

“I was collecting when I was 12 years old, believe it or not,” she says.

Accompanying an interior-decorator aunt to antiques shops, Karlin found herself drawn to gems.

“She was looking at paintings and objects for her clients and I was looking at jewelry.”

Karlin, who has a particular fondness for jewelry of the Arts and Crafts tradi-

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tion, says all jewelry offers a look into a culture, into the wearer’s personality and into the time in which it was made.

Raised on Long Island until her family moved to Teaneck, N.J., Karlin was singular in her approach to jewelry, even at an early age.

“I can remember when I was in high school I would wear a piece of antique jewelry every day, and everyone looked at me like I was nuts.”

Karlin’s interest in art was also cultivated during this time, when she and childhood friend Mona Brody (the pair recently teamed up to lecture on “The Art and Jewelry of Frida Kahlo”) would skip out of high school in Teaneck and take the bus into Manhattan.

“We never went to the movies. We didn’t go shopping. We went to museums.”

That early love, though, would become a key part of her professional life as well.

A journalism graduate from the University of Missouri, Karlin was working in advertising, in direct marketing in Manhattan, when she followed an interest in

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jewelry history. She started to learn more and write about it.

“All along the way I took courses and seminars. You never stop learning about history.”

Eventually, she would become president of the American Society of Jewelry Historians.

Spreading the word

Today, there are countless publications and projects. She is co-director of the Association for the Study of Jewelry and Related Arts, which puts out the quarterly Adornment, The Magazine of Jewelry & Related Arts, as well as a monthly digital newsletter. She serves as the publisher and editor-in-chief.

“We try to go from ancient to contemporary,” she says of the broad range of topics in Adornment.

There are annual conferences and lectures and study days in between those major events. Karlin might lead a group to explore wholesale jewelry warehouses, tour Manhattan’s famed Diamond District or stop by studios of

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27

wear,” she says.

And it showcases more than the item itself.

“It says a lot about how you feel about yourself.”

It also, she adds, brings people together.

Who hasn’t complimented a stranger on a lovely pin or stunning earrings?

“That’s the thing: Jewelry takes you to so many different places.”

And it can be appreciated across cultures.

“You don’t even have to speak the same language to appreciate jewelry.”

And there is something that it does that is pretty special, too.

“It makes people feel good,” she adds.

It can also be filled with symbolism, from amulets worn to protect the wearer to tokens of love.

“We give jewelry a lot of power,” Karlin says, noting how upset someone becomes if she loses her engagement or wedding ring.

Looking ahead

A selection of Elyse Zorn Karlin’s own jewelry. She has a special love for pieces from the Arts and Crafts era.

jewelry designers.

The organization is also active in encouraging the study of jewelry history in college and through museums.

“The goal of the association is to educate people about jewelry history,” she says.

In early October, “Jewelry in the Americas” was the theme as scholars and collectors, appraisers and jewelry designers gathered at The University Club in Manhattan for a lecture-filled day. Speakers touched on everything from jewelry in the collection of a New England historical institution to the designs of a Native American jewelry artist to an upcoming jewelry exhibition in London.

The day also included a preview of “A 28

Story to Wear,” an in-progress documentary on the history of jewelry in which Karlin is involved both on-screen and behind-the-scenes.

Her books include “Jewelry and Metalwork in the Arts & Crafts Tradition” and the catalog “International Art Jewelry 1895-1925,” which accompanied a recent Forbes Galleries exhibition. She is also the co-author (with Yvonne Markowitz) of “Imperishable Beauty: Art Nouveau Jewelry.”

Markowitz is the Rita J. Kaplan and Susan B. Kaplan curator of jewelry at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. A longtime friend and colleague of Karlin’s, Markowitz has teamed up with her on projects, publications and special events. Markow-

itz is the co-director of the ASJRA. “She’s a very hard worker,” Markowitz says of Karlin. “She’s 24/7. It’s not just a job. It’s a passion. She’s been at it for decades.”

And like Karlin, Markowitz says that it’s is important to take the study of jewels beyond the visual.

“It just gives you a depth of appreciation,” Markowitz says. “Yes, they’re beautiful, but once you understand something about the context, it just broadens your appreciation.”

Jewelry as art, in art

For Karlin, jewelry offers a glimpe into a personality.

“It’s the only piece of art that you can

In recent years, Karlin has begun curating jewelry exhibitions, including “Jewelers of the Hudson Valley” and “International Art Jewelry, 1895-1925,” both at The Forbes Galleries in Manhattan.

Earlier this autumn, she presented “Finer Things: Jewelry and Accessories From the 1880s-1930s” at the Stan Hywet House & Gardens in Akron, Ohio.

Today, Karlin is already well at work on her next exhibition.

She is gathering items for “Out of this World! Jewelry in the Space Age,” set to open March 16 at The Forbes Galleries ­– everything from items made from meteorites to jewelry that actually traveled to space (courtesy of some female astronauts) to depictions of the moon and stars throughout history. It will be rounded out by a quirky mix of archival materials ranging from plastic ray guns to cereal-box rings.

“I have some costume jewelry based on sputniks from the ’60s,” she says. “It’s going to be a little bit of everything.”

Turning back to showing off some of her own pieces, Karlin again demonstrates how much pleasure jewelry can bring.

“This is by an unknown artist, but I think it’s really fun,” she says about a silvertone necklace complete with seahorse accents and a Mississippi River pearl.

“I just think you should buy good design, what you like,” she adds. “I never bought anything for investment.”

And Karlin, who will happily explain the significance of each piece of jewelry she wears herself, is not the type who must have something valuable adorning her at all times.

“I wear plastic when I fly,” she says. “I have great plastic jewelry.”

Somehow you just knew she would.

For more on the Association for the Study of Jewelry and Related Arts, visit asjra.com. n

29

Cosabella: Anything but unmentionable

By ZoĂŤ Zellers Photographs courtesy of Cosabella

30

T

This month, cue your partner to stuff your holiday stocking with something that’s sensual and useful – Cosabella’s holiday collection of lingerie. It’s the gift that keeps on giving, right?

The collection, “La Dolce Vita Act Two,” from the family-owned Italian lingerie company, takes its inspiration from the old-school glamour of New York and pairs a sense of sexy sophistication with the lavishness of fine Italian details such as lace, cashmere-blended fabrics and even soft metallic designs.

Cosabella, with its frills to thrill, is for the Sophia Loren in all of us.

This season’s rich offerings are anything but ordinary. From Cosabella’s exclusive Neiman Marcus cozy leopardprint pajamas ($130) to the Never Say Never Foxie lacy black chemise ($117) to the New Soire Push-Up Bra ($94) in shell pink, variety is abundant, while a feminine, stylish storyline is clear.

With the emergence of luxurious inner-wear as an increasingly important part of the wardrobe, lingerie companies, which actually predict color trends ahead of fashion houses, are keying in on the couture possibilities.

Cosabella accommodates the trend of low-cut shirts with the lacy straps of soft bras like the popular Never Say Never Sweetie Soft Bra ($52.50). Or

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you can match this season’s wine-toned shirt to a plum-colored Thea Bandeau Bra ($90) and Hi-Cut Bikini ($36.50) at Cosabella’s downtown Manhattan flagship store or at major department stores.

According to public relations coordinator Shanon Kogler, many customers collect Cosabella, hand wash their lingerie (an essential step) and keep it for 20 years.

“Because of the high quality of our laces and fabrics, there is really value in that rather than buying something elsewhere for half the price,” Kogler says. “It’s an investment and it’s worth it.”

Like the sexy push-up bra. Cosabella’s co-founder Ugo is a fashionably forward engineer with a high-tech approach to design so that shoppers can decide how much push-up they want and in exactly what places before selecting the style that suits their desires. This season, New Soire Molded Bra ($67.50) comes in sophisticated, jewel-toned colors and the New Soire Demi Cup Bra ($90) is a favorite, too.

And with leopard auditioning as the new neutral, Cosabella offers the sleek leopard-print Anouck robe ($140), featured in Neiman Marcus’ Christmas Book, which would benefit a woman

of any age. Pair it with the peekaboo black Kitty Soft Triangle bra with leopard straps ($72) and a black lowrider thong ($22.50). Va va voom.

“An animal print is one of those things where it’s a print that’s not a print, so anyone could really wear that,” Kogler says. “So our customer that’s 22 will come in and buy a pair of animal-print pajamas and then our customer who’s 50 will buy it. …It’s a great seller.”

For a mature and gorgeous take on this year’s sparkle and shimmer trend, ask Santa for the Cleope collection of black lingerie with either silver or copper lace-in-lace details that don’t feel stiff like so many metallic appliqués.

It would make for a beautiful way to celebrate the new year in sexy style. For the full look, get the Cleope Soft Bra, $70; Brazilian minikini, $42.50; and baby-doll negligee, $179.50.

And don’t forget to indulge yourself this season with the luxurious silk chiffon Valeria collection. Pair the Valeria three-quarter sleeved black sheer chiffon short robe with the seductive black and blush Elise Soft Bra ($72.50) and Elise low-rider hot pant ($47.50), which features a decorative shadow-effect black lace overlay in the front and a totally playful blush sheer backside

Wrap Up

that hugs just right.

Cosabella has earned many devoted customers over the years, whether it’s by offering hidden luxuries like soft, natural fibers or cashmere blends or showcasing opulence with winter-worthy velvet details on a Narini collection negligee ($154.50) and matching low-rider bikini ($43.50).

Gearing up for holiday season and Valentine’s Day, Kogler says, “We definitely get a lot of boyfriends and husbands in here and luckily in the New York store, our staff is so educated and knows our whole product range so they can give a brief personality description and they’ll know, Is she more of a pajama girl? Is this the kind of guy who’s getting a girl 20 different colored thongs?

“Sometimes people can be shy, but when you walk by our store” (or department store sections for that matter) “it doesn’t scream ‘Super Sexy Lingerie Store.’ It’s open, bright and fun.”

Cosabella lingerie is available at Cosabella’s flagship store at 220 Lafayette St., Manhattan, and at select department stores, including Neiman Marcus and Nordstrom at The Westchester in White Plains, Saks Fifth Avenue in Greenwich and The Stamford Town Center and online at cosabella. com, neimanmarcus.com, nordstrom. com and saksfifthavenue.com. n

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Bruce Museum Store

One Museum Drive Greenwich, CT brucemuseum.org

31

wear

Mothers of the bride who shimmer quietly

By Debbi O’Shea

Dress by Pamella Roland.

32

The holiday season is the perfect time to add a bit of shimmer and shine to your wardrobe. If you’re attending a gala or festive black-tie wedding, the pop of a sequin top, skirt, dress or gown has a built-in wow factor, and who doesn't want to wow a little, from time to time?

At Richards in Greenwich this season, I’ve had the pleasure of working with two mothers of the bride, who chose to shimmer, but not outshine their daughters, at the formal winter weddings.

“MOB” is one of the most challenging ready-to-wear categories.

There are several obstacles that can keep the near-perfect in-stock dress from being the one. It can be the right bodice but the wrong neckline, the perfect silhouette but lacking a sleeve, a beautiful color but not in keeping with the bride’s theme. What’s a mother to do?

The answer lies in taking a fashion leap of faith and working with an experienced expert, who can guide you through the trunk-show process. Another challenge? It will all be happening six months before you need to wear it on the opposite side of the calendar. In other words, you will be looking at velvet in June.

In addition, the samples at trunk shows are generally customfitted to the model who walked them on the runway. Frustrating as that may be to retailers and customers, the cost of replicating a season’s worth of samples in more wearer-friendly sizes is simply too prohibitive for designers. Still, there are ways to make it work. Here are some of the advantages to shopping at a trunk show: • There will be multiple color choices, (sometimes dozens) and fabric options.

• Often a sleeve can be added for a small charge or fabric purchased to create a shawl or stole.

• Measurements are taken, so the designer will be able to gauge what size will most closely match the patterns once they’re graded for production.

• For an additional fee, a completely custom gown or dress may be an option. This is truly your opportunity to design the dress of your dreams. It will include custom measurements and an initial fitting in a muslin that will barely resemble the finished product.

Both of the MOBs I worked with chose to go the trunk show route.

One mom ordered an exquisite floral jewel-toned, metallic brocade gown with a full ball skirt and matching stole. Though the sample she tried was a size 4, her gown was ordered in a size 10 and needed only minor alterations and a hem when it arrived four months later.

The other mom ordered a custom, pale gold sequin Pamella Roland gown with a full train. Initially, she had purchased something less important, but the bride wanted her mother to dazzle, so we started from scratch. During the process, we struggled to figure out the most flattering neckline and shoulder cut. One morning, I looked up in the mirror while brushing my teeth. I realized the yoga top I was wearing had the perfect cut we were looking for. Toothbrush in hand, I snapped a picture and texted it to her. She nearly died laughing when she received it but immediately had the vision to know this was it.

With the help of Richards’ seamstress extraordinaire, Sylvia, we crafted the muslin to replicate the top. Later, we decided to add a vanilla mink shrug by Oscar de la Renta as a finishing touch for the church and cocktail hour. We then decided to scoop the back a bit lower, so there would be a little surprise of skin once the shrug was removed at the reception. All of this was easily adjusted on the muslin.

In both cases, the finished gowns were exquisite, exceeding all expectations. I am so looking forward to seeing the pictures from both weddings. Here's to beautiful brides, shimmering moms and glittering guests. May all your events this holiday season be brilliant and joyous. n

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34

Hockey star Henrik Lundqvist well-suited as style star

By Andrea Kennedy Whether you call Henrik Lundqvist a National Hockey League (NHL) all-star, Olympic gold medalist, the best goalie on the globe or the finest fashionisto in the world of hockey, you’D be right.

The New York Rangers star and Vezina Trophy winner, who called White Plains home during his 2005 rookie season, has dazzled with his masterful butterfly style of tending net and record-breaking saves.

But his style off the ice has caught many an appreciative eye as well.

Though he dons the Rangers’ bold red, white and blue in the rink, about town he sports far more elegant fare. Lundqvist calls it “well-dressed with an edge.� His closet is lined with collections by the top names in men’s fashion – Calvin Klein, Hugo Boss, Prada and Tiger of Sweden. “I love long coats and ties,� he says. “That’s probably what I buy the most.�

But this native Swede wasn’t bred well dressed. Indeed, he says he didn’t give two cents about style until his teen years. Now

30 and at the top of his game – in vocation and in vogue – Lundqvist opts for outfits that make the man. “I just like wearing clothes that I feel comfortable in and that I can express myself in,� he says.

Today, it’s sharp dark suits and bright white shirts pressed against classic, solid ties. The clothing only complements a complete set of tall, dark and handsome topped with deep blue eyes and a trim, dashing beard. To this reported perfectionist, who likes every stitch in place, an ideal fit trumps a brand name any day. “For me,� he says, “it’s more important to have a great feel and fit than to have the right brand. When I look at clothes that’s what I look for.�

It’s a style sense that catapulted him to fashion recognition as Sweden’s Best Dressed in 2004 – an honor he never saw coming. “That surprised me a lot,� he says with a laugh. “I don’t see myself as a great dresser.�

Yet the man makes even his tie clip look like a million bucks.

The key, he says, is confidence – a con-

fidence that stems from a deep sense of self. “When I wear something that I really like, it makes me feel confident. Sometimes I can wear something that’s not me, or I just don't like it and that can make me feel uncomfortable. But for the most part, I feel good about my clothes.�

So does the fashion world. After his recognition as a Swedish style icon, People named him one of the “World’s 100 Most Beautiful People� in 2008 and Page Six Magazine deemed him one of the “Top 25 Best Dressed� that same year.

That’s more than could be said for many athletes, much less hockey players. While several NFL sports stars shine with fine fashion and blinding bling, most NHL pros sit on the other end of the spectrum of style sophistication. “We have a lot of work to do,� Lundqvist says. “A lot of hockey players just don’t care about how they dress. They just want to be comfortable. I respect that, but sometimes I think as a group we could try a little harder.�

For those who aim to heighten their

own sense of style – and perhaps boost their own confidence to boot – Lundqvist says no need to delete comfort from the closet. Rather, start by selecting styles suited to you, from personality to waistline. “Try to figure out what you like, who you are. You need to be comfortable in your clothes to make them look good. But every man should have a black suit and a white shirt in his closet. Start there.�

And hold on to your well-fitting jeans, he adds, but be selective – even sparing – with T-shirts. To take a page from Lundqvist’s book, try a dress shirt with contrast collar. “Sometimes I throw a T-shirt in the mix but not often,� he says.

If opting for a T-shirt, try one of Lundqvist’s designs from his Crown Collection.

Proceeds from the fan-focused line support Garden of Dreams, a nonprofit charity that helps kids facing obstacles realize their ambitions.

No self-inspired formal wear in the collection yet, but time will tell. More Lundqvist looks could only be a good thing. n

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Holiday form

Who says Liberace owns gold lamĂŠ?

This gilded evening dress by Ralph Lauren radiates Old World elegance with a high-necked halter and abundant shimmer at every flowing fold.

36

Ombre crystals grace this radiant goddess gown from stem to stern. Classic in crimson, Michael Kors’ modern matte jersey gathers about the bodice, accentuating every delicate curve of the tasteful red carpet starlet.

Donna Karan’s bombshell bustier dress flirts fun and feminine, while pewter wool pronounces every curve. Sharply sexy, a high-thigh peekaboo lures the eye while black sequins and felted fedora complete a costume begging for its own soundtrack.

Give the gift of

Fitness this year!

Winter glamour borrows the best trends of the season, spicing them with sparkle. Top names in New York City couture present glamorous gowns and body- skimming silhouettes of brights, blacks and just enough bling. Shimmering, flowing, dripping with romance, these festive frocks bring the best in holiday elegance to any black-tie affair. Born of silks and satins, sparkling and spangled, these delicious designs don’t get more dazzling.

—­Andrea Kennedy

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From Vera Wang’s bridal collection, a mermaid gown offers a subtle glimmer no less dazzling in sumptuous black.

Cascading organza scallops and a frothy tulle skirt wrap from front to dramatic dropped back.

37

Bright and borderline bizarre, a berry design in hologram sequins suits the funky fashion-forward Marc Jacobs. This luxury couture lined in silk bears a whimsical neckline with wraps of wool and faux fur. Metallic pink pilgrim loafers, ankle socks and mad hatter headwear completes the trendsetter’s eccentric ensemble.

38

Surprisingly stunning, this set of separates

by Derek Lam plays with form and structure. A fitted black lambskin shell and leather belt pair with pants so pleated they could pass for a maxi skirt. Twinkling trousers are a marriage of tweed and sequins. Naturally.

Embellished with gold bullion and beads, high-necked lace leaves little to the imagination. Oscar de la Renta’s deep gold taffeta skirt floats voluminous and highlow hemline exposes flashy footwear.

A black tweed Meki coat drips in icy ivory over a crystalembellished wool top. Fitted flannel leather-cinched shorts leave room for legs in this look by Diane von Furstenberg that’s trendy and fresh while edgy enough for any fierce femme.

The season’s military look gets magical with a midnight navy smock paneled with pewter embroidery

by Tommy Hilfiger.

Silk chiffon drapes down delicate sleeves.

A commanding elegance emanates from this cascade drape gown embroidered with fan lace by Jason Wu. Neatly structured to deliver this year’s Eastern luxe trend, the red-slash-hot pink hue delivers a ladylike splash of resplendence.

39

Simon Teakle All merchandise available at Simon Teakle in Greenwich. Store photograph by Paul Johnson. Jewelry photographs by Tony Falcone.

Simon says … it’s time to sparkle

By Zoë Zellers

Simon Teakle began his career in the fine jewelry business working for major auction houses at age 25 in London. Recently, he’s changed direction by opening his own business in a coveted retail nook just off Greenwich Avenue. The charming shop, with its largescale black-and-white photographs and salon-style seating, is an essential stop for holiday shopping, whether you’re looking to spend $250 or $250,000 (or much more).

“We wanted to create something, which was sort of discreet from the outside, but let you discover everything from the inside and I wanted something that had an informality to it but something that was rather lovely. …I think it’s nice to do something in a very calm environment. I like the idea of being there and being available but maybe not too available. That sense of discovery is really nice,” he says.

“I am incredibly low pressure with anything that I do … and maybe what I do is not for everybody. …But I want to have interesting things with a broad range that people can get excited about, and it might be an antique diamond pendant which is $650,000 or it might be a silver chain necklace, which is probably from 15, 20 years ago and is $400, so it’s a real broad range of things.”

The Brit boasts impressive international experience, a solid gemology education and longstanding client relationships from his time in the fine art auction world – first at Bonhams in London, then running an auction house in Nairobi, Kenya, and for the past 20 years working at Christie’s.

His passion, he says, has always come from curiosity, an appreciation for the history surrounding objects and, of course, the captivating dazzle of the biz.

“I liked the variety of it. I liked the melting pot of people,” he says.

“So you might be in an Orthodox Jew’s diamond cutting room on 47th Street in the morning and in a very 40

grand apartment on Fifth Avenue in the afternoon. Or you might be dealing with somebody from Asia or the Middle East or from America. …And also, I like the variety of the objects you’re dealing with and I’m genuinely interested in them.”

Simon scours the world, traveling to places like Argentina, England, Paris and California to individual clients and auctions.

“I’ve always liked the jewelry business because … wherever you go, there’s always that possibility of doing some business. You never know. So if there’s a jewelry shop in Timbuktu, you’ll find my nose pressed against the glass,” he says with a laugh.

Simon Teakle offers both antique and contemporary pieces, although Simon does address the advent of synthetic stones by saying, “You have to keep up-to-date. …

But I’m not likely to deal in (newer stones) and I hope that doesn’t sound snooty.”

Beyond striking design and sparkling spectacle, many pieces have stories that beguile clients, too.

He points to a funky silver agate ring by Sam Kramer.

“He was your original ’60s rock ’n’ roll guy. He lived in the Chelsea Hotel. He was friends with Patti Smith and Robert Mapplethorpe. He was very much a sort of artisan and I think went broke a hundred times. He was as interested in motorcycles as he was in jewelry. This is somebody whose taste is a bit more urban, but it’s still got trendy style and this ring is $850.”

While the acquisitions side of the business is fun, the heart of it is “matching up the piece to the person, because everybody has their own personality. Some people may be quite demure … and then there are other people who are very extroverted and they love dressing up and they want to look glamorous and either one is great.”

The beautiful to bizarre objects he’s collected across the globe are also worth the trip to his shop, where vintage Louis Vuitton luggage is displayed near ’60s skull book-

ends found on Long Island.

“I like that quirkiness of it. Whether it’s a weather clock or an electric guitar or skull bookends, people are always looking for unusual gifts … and I am always looking. …

The objects, so far, have proved to be very, very popular.”

He picks up a small, ornate gold rectangular object.

“This is an early 19th century snuff bottle in gold and amethyst and diamonds. In the early 19th century, you didn’t have Dove, so a lot of people stank. They didn’t have a shower twice a day. So this opens and there would have been a sponge that went in there, which would have been soaked in a perfume … and you would have opened it and smelled it (so you didn’t smell your friends). You know nowadays it’s a completely useless thing, but it’s just a lovely object.”

So is an electric guitar in the front corner of the shop.

“I saw it in New York. It was purely the aesthetic. It was the Lucite. These asymmetrical pickups. I just thought it was a really lovely looking object so I bought the guitar.

I had the bronze stand made for it, which cost almost as much as the guitar and for a guy to have that in his office or study, I mean, if my wife gave that to me, I’d be absolutely thrilled.”

Perhaps that was a holiday gift hint for Simon’s wife, Juliet, who’s also from England. The two actually met in Nairobi and now live in Old Greenwich with their five children. She’s got an artistic eye, too, Simon says, and runs the Pavilion Tent Co., which specializes in decorative, handmade tents from Rajasthan. Some were featured in the film “Rachel Getting Married.”

“She was very involved in the decoration and design of this shop. This was very much a collaborative effort,” he says.

After falling in love with the retail space, he waited for Juliet’s input before signing the lease.

“And then it all started from there,” he says with a smile.

Visit Simon Teakle at 4 Grigg St., Greenwich or simonteakle.com, or call (203) 769-5888. n

41

Ext

Exhibition@ArtsWestchester

Celebrities:

end

ed u

n t il

Jan

2, 2

0 13

We Remember them Well An exhibition of rare and vintage portraits Curated by Milton J. Ellenbogen

On View: September 21 – January 2, 2013 Combining works from prominent gallery and private collections, the exhibition showcases more than 175 rare candid photographs and exquisite studio portraits of the last half-century’s most illustrious personages. Featured are such recognizable figures as Marilyn Monroe, Louis Armstrong, Pablo Picasso, Senator Joseph McCarthy, John Lennon, and Spike Lee. Look into the eyes of Beat Generation icons, Rock n’ Roll deities, silver screen starlets, political game-changers, sports’ heroes, and social groundbreakers at Celebrities: We Remember Them Well.

Lectures and expert panels will accompany the exhibition. All photographs are for sale.

barbara & Paul elliot Jacqueline & Arthur Walker Exhibition also supported by

ArtsWestchester 31 Mamaroneck Avenue White Plains, nY 914-428-4220 Gallery Hours tue-Sat 12-5pm

www.artsw.org/celebrities 42

John Lennon and Yoko Ono, photo © Allan Tannenbaum

this exhibition made possible by the generous support of

Z

en

and the art of Donna Karan

By ZoĂŤ Zellers

43 Images courtesy of Donna Karan International and Assouline.

ou would be hard-pressed to travel to anywhere in the world and not encounter the name Donna Karan, the New York fashion maven who set out in 1985 with a simple design mission – to make modern clothes for modern people.

Three decades later, the Queen of Seventh Avenue has proved her staying power in the fiercely fanged world of fashion by, well, being her balanced self. She relentlessly reinvents the working world’s wardrobe and rethinks black beyond basics.

She’s never stagnant. But she never jumps off the deep end either.

With dazzling precision, Donna has been one of a handful who has truly defined design in America. Buoyed by a loyal following, the Donna Karan International empire has expanded to include fragrance, cosmetics, home accessories, eyewear, shoes and, of course, offspring DKNY and DKNY Jeans lines for men and women. And with strong women’s resort and spring 2013 collections, the Manhattan and East Hampton resident is nowhere near done.

Donna credits her late husband, Stephan Weiss, for all of it. Until his 2001 death from lung cancer, Stephan – an 44

intuitive, passionate sculptor of bronzes – was Donna’s great business partner and served as her company’s chief executive, guiding the lucrative sale of Donna Karan International to French luxury conglomerate Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton the year he passed away.

“There would be no Donna Karan International if not for Stephan,” Donna says matter-of-factly. “It was his vision that allowed it to grow and prosper. Beyond business, Stephan taught me the wisdom of ‘connecting the dots,’ something I practice more than ever in my home, work and philanthropic lives. While he was alive, he always put me first, putting aside his creative love – his art – to dedicate himself to our business.”

Connecting the dots

In her striking new book, “Stephan Weiss: Connecting the Dots” (Assouline, $95, 208 pages), Donna explores Stephan’s first love, his art. In conjunction with the book, she has also installed his work in his former studio, which today is home to her Urban Zen Center on Greenwich Street in Manhattan.

“Stephan has been gone 11 years, 10 years when I was working on this book. With every passing day,” Donna says, “I appreciate just how much he shaped my life.”

“Connecting the Dots” is “a tribute to Stephan on every level, including putting his art out there, exhibiting it in one place so everyone can appreciate the scope of it.”

The book’s title is clearly not just an allusion to Stephan’s habit of drawing dots on paper and connecting them to form sculptural shapes. What do the three words mean to Donna?

“Stephan taught me about connecting the dots – based on the string theory of modern physics – when I was 18. I had no idea what it meant at the time and just thought it was about his art,” she acknowledges. “Now I’m obsessed with it.

Everything I do is connected. It always was, but now I understand it’s supposed to be. You learn from the past so you live in the present and go into the future. You explore ancient cultures with a modern, global eye. You take care of the world so you can make a better world for your children and grandchildren. I love nature and it inspires my design. …There’s no separation in how you live, learn and love.

“There’s too much ego in the world, and it gets in the way of giving back and making a difference.”

Haiti, mon amour

It’s the kind of insight that spurred Donna and fellow designer Sonja Nuttall

to launch the philanthropic Urban Zen Foundation, which focuses on education, health care and cultural preservation with a nod to ancient wisdom and forwardthinking action.

Donna is genuinely inspired by what might be called her “second career” of dedicating her time and resources to social causes and says, “When it comes to touching and helping others, it’s about “the we, not the me.

“President Clinton’s first Global Initiative was the inspiration behind Urban Zen – the idea of creating a place and a space where like-minded people can come together to find creative solutions to the problems we care about most.”

Though she says, “Having a foundation is the most difficult thing I’ve ever done, I’m proud of our Urban Zen Integrative Therapy Program that incorporates Eastern therapies with Western practices. We have over 100 certified UZITs working in and around the country today.

“I’m proud of the Haitian artisan communities we are helping to develop into sustainable businesses. And I’m so grateful for all the people that donate their time, energy and expertise to help Urban Zen help others. Stephan is my cheerleader, with us every day at Urban Zen. The Urban Zen was his art studio, so I very much

feel his presence.”

Donna continues her relationship with Bill Clinton, whom she dressed in the past, through their international dedication to social issues. The two have worked particularly long hours to raise awareness and provide relief for victims of the 2010 Haiti earthquake. This year, Donna was in for quite the surprise when Clinton called upon her to design the 2012 Global Citizen Award – and then presented it to her.

“I couldn’t have been more honored and humbled,” she says, “to be given an award like that from a man and organization I so admire … there is no better gift or validation for the path I’m on – especially how it relates to the work we’re doing in Haiti.”

In her book – filled with drawings, sculpture photographs, family portraits and event images – Donna often draws on quotes from her late husband, who once said, “You have one life. Live it with passion.”

“To me, passion is about caring, creativity, community, collaboration and compassion and commitment to change – all the ‘C’ words that motivate me and Urban Zen in all we do.”

Life for the designer has been about being brave in the face of fear, loss, confusion, regret and adversity.

“The biggest risk I ever took was to open my own label. I had been at Anne Klein – established with a huge company behind me. I was set up, comfortable and successful, designing with my friend Louis Dell’Olio. But I wanted to design a small collection for me and my friends. I knew I couldn’t do it on the side of Anne Klein.

It had to be all or nothing. I was scared. I had no idea if it would work. Tomio Taki and Frank Mori of Anne Klein had to fire me to get me to go,” she confesses, but adds that soon after, “They became our partners at Donna Karan International, so it all worked out. But there were no guarantees of success going in.”

Then and today, she always keeps this message in mind, “Every problem has a creative solution.”

“There would be

no Donna Karan

International if not for Stephan..."

New York state of mind

Naturally, Donna knew design. She told women what essentials they needed in the mid-1980s, pushing materials like jersey and functional-chic wrap dresses and bodysuits and encouraging the art of layering. She’s never gotten out of touch with her demographic or mission statement.

Helping her develop that mission was her ambitious, hands-on husband. In Stephan’s obituary, The New York Times fashion critic Cathy Horyn poignantly described him as Donna’s “most trusted critic and muse.”

The two, both from Long Island, met on a blind date when Stephan was 28 and

Donna was 18.

“Stephan and I had an instant and visceral connection,” she says, and yet, “the timing was wrong. It was only years later when we reconnected that we were able to grow and develop our creative partnership. Stephan was a visionary, who took a creative approach to business. He let me focus on design and he steered the business. It was only with our beauty company that Stephan brought his artistry to the business by creating the fragrances – he was what the beauty industry calls ‘a nose’ – and, of course, sculpting the now

iconic bottles.”

Thinking about living and working in New York, the city that nurtured the couple, Donna says, “I see Stephan everywhere in the city, especially in the Village where his art studio was. That’s one of the reasons I love spending so much time at Urban Zen. His art is all over the walls.

I’m excited to share his work in the book and in the upcoming exhibits.”

Outside of Urban Zen and Donna’s company, Stephan left a great gift behind for all New Yorkers to appreciate. He dedicated an enormous bronze apple sculpture

to New York City. On a mild autumn day, kids on the West Side can be found climbing through the apple’s core to a perfect view of the Hudson River.

With her business, charities, growing family, a new book and a Zen state of mind, “I’ve got a lot of timeless mantras that I live by,” Donna says. “The first and foremost is ‘Accentuate the positive, delete the negative.’

“You can apply that to fashion or how you live your life.”

Visit urbanzen.com for more on Donna Karan’s Urban Zen Foundation. n 45

Images courtesy of Donna Karan International.

F

Resort-ing to elegance and shimmer

ashion designers have increasingly been turning their eyes toward resort season, less as an awkward in-between buying time for consumers and more as a significant opportunity to solidify spring trends. On the runways, Donna Karan International has shown a chic and refreshing collection inspired by the elements.

While her fun pink party-girl dresses are best reserved for an after-hours gathering, working women will find themselves warming up to Donna Karan’s key multifunctional, transitional wardrobe staples, which hint at brighter days ahead.

Donna knows her core audience. Her resort presentation is on point in that it offers a romantic side while remaining about dressing the urban woman.

With the exception of stunning, airy, pale-pink and hot-white cocktail dresses and full skirts, this is not a collection meant for lounging in St. Barts. Yet therein lies part of Donna’s success with her target audience. An ensemble like the plunging, crystal-encrusted blazer and casual-cool pants offers the ultimate change of pace from a heavy, earthy winter wardrobe. Still, it is so not spring. In that sense, this is a practical (yes, sparkles have become practical) resort-wear outfit that’s 46

well worth the splurge.

One of the collection’s praiseworthy efforts is its continued commitment to the color gray, a major must-have trend carried through the fall season. The elegant, serious gray is a good idea this resort season, too. Christian Dior had it right when he noted in “The Little Dictionary of Fashion” that “It is the most convenient color, too, for people who live half in town and half in the country, because, with different accessories, a gray suit or coat may be equally suitable for both.”

A bejeweled neckline on a delicate gray sleeveless blouse is unexpected and, paired with a black pencil skirt ($895) or smart, skinny leather pants ($1,595), would shine in a crowded room. Meanwhile, Donna focuses on the need for function during the workday and afterhours, showing a great gray tweed pencil skirt with a matching jacket that avoids being conservative with a sexy, plunging V and offers edginess with a fringed trim.

Donna pays attention to taffeta and sparkles in her heavily beaded black evening cocktail dresses and isn’t afraid of sheer, either. You would think it would be hard to pull off her sleek, white floorlength dresses like the Superfine Jersey Gown with pretty chain halter straps

($3,495). But remember, Donna has always been a master draper and these are worth trying on to add a little trend to your closet. The season’s white pleated cocktail dress takes a cue from the ancient Greeks and would be a good investment piece. It looks equally crisp and light with strappy heels and a sleek ponytail or, later this year, with summer sandals, gold bangles and a low bun.

Some of the season’s stars are Donna’s elegant all-black and all-white silk suits, which are anything but simple. The collection includes a white tailcoat with an oversize crystal closure shown with slim white silk pants that feel very different and more mature than the slouchy white trousers that became one of Céline’s hits last year.

A black suit jacket’s one-side shoulder ruffles are interesting and quite eye-catching. A stylish businesswoman or a fashionforward pop star would look posh in this paired with a knockout platform and special Elsa Peretti for Tiffany & Co. or Mignon Faget earrings. The gutsy girl can pull back her hair and go for a silk suit ensemble in Donna’s saturated magenta-meets-red.

It’s an absolute killer party statement.

A floor-length, architecture-inspired satin gown in this same color with a sexy strapless neckline and oversized back bow – accessorized

with white diamond bracelets – would surely get noticed at a gala event in these upcoming months. Donna Karan also gets ruched organza just right in her voluminous black Plissa strapless ball gown with a full A-line skirt and fitted bodice ($6,800).

Donna respects her roots with a clean eye, favoring a strong black-and-white contrast, which works and evokes transition in a stylish tone. The resort collection sees breezy, high-waisted double-jersey black pants ($895) harmonizing a standout bright, white lapel-less blazer with three-quarter-length sleeves and a cutaway back ($1,895). Here, inventiveness meets utter elegance in pieces that would flatter various women.

The bold buyer who wears a small size should turn her attention toward Donna Karan’s ultra-slim black blazer, which offers edge-appeal with sharp, layered, front folds, strong shoulders and an oversize tri-crystal closure.

Donna Karan’s 2013 resort collection is available now to pre-order at select department stores, including Neiman Marcus and Nordstrom at The Westchester in White Plains, Saks Fifth Avenue in Greenwich and The Stamford Town Center, or online at donnakaran.com, neimanmarcus.com, nordstrom.com and saksfifthavenue.com.

– Zoë Zellers

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The artful blend of food, décor and atmosphere are what great parties are made of.

But it’s personal touches that will dazzle your guests and turn your next fête into something truly memorable.

Get the party started with a signature cocktail. Morello in Greenwich shared its “Blueberry Smash” recipe that’s certain to be a crowd pleaser. (See recipe.)

Try setting up an auxiliary bar in your foyer so guests can help themselves to a drink as they walk in the door. Morello, 253 Greenwich Ave., (203) 661-3443.

Bring life to your party with fresh flowers that lend elegance to any room. Winston Flowers of Greenwich sets the stunning table (pictured) with luxurious winter flower arrangements that are bound to steal the show. Hand-blown Cleybergh bowls are filled with European flowers that include miniature white Calla lilies, velvety silver Dusty Miller, white hybrid Chichirica, silver Brunia, white hydrangea and seasonal pine accents.

Winston Flowers, 382 Greenwich Ave., (800) 622-0722.

Light up the evening with dramatic Dunes and Duchess black lacquered candelabras that create mood and ambience to any soirée. To order, call (205)422-0084.

Serve up festive fare that’s a cinch to prepare. Darien caterer Bash gives us the scoop on a quick and easy hors d’oeuvre that will surely impress your guests. (See recipe.) For more information about Bash, visit bashct.com.

Add a touch of sophistication and whimsy with Julia B. “Cheers” white linen cocktail napkins, hand-embroidered in silver. Set of six, $150, at juliab.com.

Recipes

Blueberry Smash 5 blueberries 1 thyme leaf 0.5oz St. Germain 1.5 oz gin 0.25 oz lemon juice Muddle blueberries and thyme, shake with ice and all ingredients. Serve over ice, float whole blueberries for garnish or skewer them on a cocktail pick.

Savory Rosemary Tartlets 1 cup seedless red grapes diced small 1 cup seedless green grapes diced small ¼ tsp kosher salt 2 tablespoon finely chopped green onion (green part only) 1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar 2 tsp walnut oil ¼ tsp minced garlic Phyllo tartlets ½ cup walnuts, toasted and chopped 8 oz Brie 1 jar of your favorite store-bought chutney Mint sprigs for garnish Preheat oven to 300 degrees.

Put grapes and kosher salt in a bowl. Place in strainer and let stand for at least 10 minutes.

Mix the green onion, vinegar, oil, rosemary and garlic. Add the grapes and mix well.

Arrange the shells on baking sheet and place ½ teaspoon of chutney, walnuts and a small slice of brie in each. Bake just until cheese melts. Remove from oven and top with your grape salsa.

Garnish with mint. Serve immediately.

way

holidays A home for all

Story by Houlihan Lawrence Photographs by Tim Lee

Presented by Houlihan Lawrence

MAYFIELD MANOR at a Glance

• Harrison • 6,422 square feet • 1.68 acres • Bedrooms: 8 • Baths: 6 full, 2 half • Amenities: New Christian’s of London kitchen, elevator serving all levels, additional 2,500 square feet on lower level, staff quarters with private entrance, garden room, pool, pond, total privacy.

• Price: $3.3 million

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fter a six-year renovation, this totally custom 1936 home has been restored beyond its original glory, providing a stunning living environment graced with the latest modern luxuries.

Gothic arches, high ceilings, reclaimed antique flooring, exquisite molding, artisan wall finishes and ornate fireplaces set a refined tone throughout the generously scaled interiors, in which no detail was overlooked. Preserving the beauty of the home’s 1930s roots while integrating a substantial and seamless expansion, the talented owner restored the original detailing wherever possible and, when new enhancements were required, made every effort to mirror the home’s original splendor.

Ideal for entertaining

Memorable entertainment spaces abound, beginning with the living room and dining room, each an exquisite backdrop for formal fun.

A glass-wrapped garden room with French doors opening to the pool terrace is another extraordinary space affording easy indoor and outdoor gatherings.

One of the home’s great charms is its easy adaptability to both grand-scale and intimate groups alike. Friends and family will revel in its generous comforts, beginning with the Christian’s of London kitchen, a heart-of-the-house tour-de-force that is sure to become a favored gathering place. Offering plenty of space for the serious chef as well as casual family life, the kitchen flows easily into a two-story family room opening to a delightful covered porch.

A cozy library and a spacious recreation room are among the many other welcoming interiors that set the home apart.

More private spaces

Eight bedrooms, including a lavish master suite, are contained within the home’s generous living space, totaling 6,400-plus square feet on two main levels and an additional 2,500 square feet on the lower level.

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Adding to the wealth of amenities is an elevator with access to all levels, staff/guest quarters with a private entrance, a three-car garage, sophisticated interior/exterior lighting and sound systems designed to ensure comfortable and elegant living.

On the grounds

The residence is nestled in a dazzling 1.68-acre setting with a pool and pond in the heart of Sterling Ridge.

Privacy is emphasized throughout the magnificently planted grounds, which delight throughout the seasons with their mixture of stone pathways, broad lawns, lush gardens and magnificent trees, including majestic weeping willow and a grove of Bradford pear trees.

A heated pool and a beautifully planted terrace provide a treasured oasis for outdoor enjoyment, while a sitting area beside the tranquil pond offers the perfect antidote for today’s busy lifestyle.

The surrounding community

Celebrated for its expansive properties and countrylike ambience, Sterling Ridge is one of Harrison’s most desirable locales, prized for its gently winding lanes and rolling hills.

With its proximity to Manhattan, a distance of 25 miles, the area is also convenient to town, schools and the Metro-North Railroad, all just minutes away.

Residents are served by the Harrison Central School District, known for its challenging curricula, including the International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme for high school students. Several prominent private schools further augment the fine educational opportunities.

Nearby Long Island Sound and a host of country clubs, golf courses and marinas provide abundant recreational amenities while premier cultural events at nearby Purchase College offer myriad opportunities to enjoy the arts locally.

For more information, contact Dorothy Walker at Houlihan Lawrence at (914) 967-7680, ext. 338; (914) 417-8106 or dwalker@houlihanlawrence.com. n 54

POWERFUL WOMEN IN COMMUNICATIONS THE BUSINESS JOURNALS AND WAG WILL PRESENT a discussion by some of the most fascinating women in the communications field. Titled “Powerful Women in Communications,” the event at The College of New Rochelle in New Rochelle, launches the journals’ 2013 monthly programs, which will vary in format from month to month.

More than 350 guests are expected to attend to see and hear network TV and Hearst publication stars. Already on board are: Valerie Salembier, senior vice president, publisher and chief revenue officer at Town & Country, and Jean Chatzky, the financial editor for NBC’s TODAY show. Here’s where you should promote your business, display your products or services and generate new relationships. Please contact Holly DeBartolo (914) 694-3600 or email Hdebartolo@westfairinc.com.

SPONSORS

Register now. Space is limited. Email Alissa Frey at afrey@westfairinc.com or go to westfaironline.com

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INSIDE

17 January

WESTCHESTER COUNTY

BUSINESS JOURNAL

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J House – Dessert for the eyes

By Mary Shustack Tom McGovern Photography courtesy The J House

he unique tone of The J House Greenwich, a boutique hotel that opened in May, is set from the moment the automatic doors glide gently open.

You find yourself in a comfortably scaled lobby that’s more like the foyer of an incredibly stylish home. There is art. There are books.

As you settle in to sleek-butcomfortable seating, a hint of chocolate wafts through the air, a sign of decadent treats being prepared just steps away.

Who wouldn’t like to be a guest here?

And that first impression is validated when Laura Gillis, the director of sales, leads off an informal tour by confirming that the surroundings indeed reflect “a fresh, new approach.”

She points to the connecting room, saying “This is our living room,” a space where a glassed-in fireplace features mesmerizing flames that seem to arise from a sea of crystals.

And indeed, a sense of laid-back elegance and understated welcome are palpable at most every turn both here and throughout the property, from the signature restaurant, eleven14 Kitchen, to the bars and lounges, from the guest rooms to the special-event spaces … and of course, to the Chocolate Lab, a chocoholic’s dream come true, complete with chocolate fountain.

It’s a rare commercial venture that is able to combine the most contemporary and sophisticated of settings with enough warmth and unexpected touches so that a truly unique personality comes through.

The J House Greenwich has done just that, making it a dazzling destination for all kinds of holiday celebrations.

A bit to eat and drink

Many locals will likely first experience The J House Greenwich through its restaurant, bars, lounges and the Chocolate Lab, a shop and café just off the main entrance.

The lab is the place to buy sweets like green-tea chocolates or settle in with a cappuccino. During the holidays, there will be gingerbread-themed events, with dessert wine-and-chocolate events also planned.

Patrons may come for a cocktail in one of the bar areas or lounges, the most ex58

pansive being a terraced affair awaiting approval of a tenting/heating setup that will create a year-round place to gather.

The hotel offers DJ music and live jazz in different spots on select evenings.

All of this, of course, complements the offerings of eleven 14 Kitchen, where executive chef Francois Kwaku-Dongo creates a menu of seasonal American fare. The James Beard-nominated chef also showcases creations prepared with products from his own Omanhene chocolate company in the restaurant and the Chocolate Lab. The full-service restaurant, which seats 120 guests, is a study in sleek elegance with wooden accents and twinkling lights.

A lunch favorite is the pizza featuring house-smoked salmon with dill crème fraiche and salmon caviar.

“That’s a nod to Wolfgang Puck,” Gillis says. “Chef and I both worked for Wolfgang Puck.”

Dinner patrons will consider tuna steaks, duck breasts, pork chops, rib-eye steaks and more, though often the house-made pastas get the nod. These selections include the autumn squash agnolotti with shaved ricotta salata, crispy sage and pine nuts and the flat-noodle pasta and Maine lobster with tarragon and lobster-butter sauce.

There is a separate menu filled with handcrafted Bloody Mary options, a great accompaniment to an extensive brunch menu.

Dining is also available in private rooms, with an elaborate glass-encased wine vault adjacent to the special-event spaces. Stand-up Champagne tastings can kick off private parties in style.

Room service

For those spending the night, the 86 rooms echo the feel already established in the public spaces.

There is a sense of modern flair, but for every high-tech feature – from personalized iPads that control the lighting to television screens inset in the bathroom mirrors – there are luxurious pampering touches from l’Occitane en Provence products to Frette towels and robes.

Washlets combine a toilet with bidet and work by the wave of a hand combined with a discreet control panel.

And when it’s time to settle in, forget the “Do Not Disturb” signs. Here, guests simply signal a panel that lights up the word “Privacy.”

A common area shared by the rooms is known as the library and features comfortable seating, computers and free WiFi. A seasonal outdoor pool surrounded

by cabanas completes the year-round amenities.

The tradition lives on

General manager John Sheedy, also playfully known as “Guy in Charge,” says The J House Greenwich’s layout – a simple bilevel space – lends itself to such a one-of-a-kind interpretation.

Since it’s a smaller hotel, the scale actually helps create the mood. “That’s what makes us something special,” he says.

And, Sheedy adds, the property is sim-

ply carrying on a tradition, having been a Howard Johnson hotel, a Sheraton hotel and back in the 1930s and ’40s, a roadhouse.

“This space has a history of being a haven of hospitality.”

And it’s a tradition that’s continuing – with a stylishly modern interpretation.

The J House Greenwich and eleven 14 Kitchen are at 1114 E. Putnam Ave. in Greenwich. For more information, including details of holiday packages and special events, visit jhousegreenwich.com. n

“This space has a history of being a haven of hospitality.”

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A real-life Shangri La

O

By Mary Shustack

n the centenary of her birth, Doris Duke is having yet another moment in the spotlight.

And this time, it’s an extended one thanks to a renewed interest in Shangri La, her fabled Hawaiian retreat.

The five-acre estate – a celebration of Duke’s ahead-of-her-time interest, exploration and appreciation of Islamic art – is a dazzler, to be sure.

The late American heiress and philanthropist had a life (1912-1993) that often played out in public. The daughter of tobacco titan James Buchanan Duke was long known as “the richest girl in the world,” her every move followed by newspapers around the globe.

Her wealth would enable her to travel extensively in pursuit of varied interests, from art to surfing, historic preservation to, in later years, AIDS awareness.

It was on her extended honeymoon with first husband James H.R. Cromwell in 1935 that Duke cultivated an interest in Islamic art that would lead to the construction of Shangri La, which would become an integral part of her legacy.

With “Doris Duke’s Shangri La: Architecture, Landscape and Islamic Art,” (Skira Rizzoli) a traveling exhibition that continues through Feb. 17 at the Museum of Arts and Design (MAD) in Manhattan, a new generation has the chance to savor Duke’s unique eye.

The exhibition’s accompanying book – “Doris Duke’s Shangri La: A House in Paradise,” edited by Thomas Mellins and Donald Albrecht – is a vibrant reference ideal for holiday giving or as a splurge that transports you into a world of artful design.

In person, in print

Doris Duke Photo by Martin Munkacsi, 1939. Photo credit: Shangri La, Doris Duke Foundation for Islamic Art. Doris Duke Charitable Foundation Historical Archives, David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library, Duke University, Durham, N.C.

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The Duke exhibition at MAD is a gem, to be sure.

Guest curators Albrecht and Mellins, in collaboration with the Doris Duke Foundation for Islamic Art, have crafted a well-rounded look at Duke, her travels and how they affected her daring designs.

It’s a treasure trove highlighted by large-scale, newly commissioned photographs by Tim Street-Porter that bring Shangri La to life.

One can’t help but keep staring into the dramatically backlit image of the living room. As light streams in through the intricately carved panels, it’s easy to imagine simply sprawling in the exquisite sanctuary. You want to settle into the oversize couch surrounded by colorful pillows beneath evocative glass lanterns and daydream an afternoon away.

The exhibition is filled with such immediate works, objects and vignettes that clearly convey a mood.

There are floor plans, construction photographs, a scale model and even a film of Duke touring the site as work is under way. Shangri La’s sensibility is further experienced through ceramic pieces and tile panels, delicate rosewater decanters and Syrian wooden chests, carved screens and patterned rugs. Then there are the most personal touches, from Duke’s enamel-and-gem bracelets to a printed cotton dress.

And a scrapbook of the honeymoon that ignited it all shows not only the varied places she and Cromwell visited – there are hotel receipts and opera tickets as well as cards from antiques shops and jewelry boutiques from Manila to Jaipur, Hong Kong to Cannes – but also gives a glimpse into the romance of the trip.

A hand-written receipt allows you to envision the new-

lyweds at the counter of a confectionary shop in Darjeeling where they selected treats, including a half-pound of chocolates, two crumpets and two rolls.

In addition, the exhibition includes works by six contemporary artists of Islamic heritage who have participated in Shangri La’s Contemporary Artists Residency program.

After savoring the exhibition, stop by The Store at MAD (a treat in itself) and pick up the accompanying book.

This is no modest production but rather a 232-page, hardcover edition filled with 300 photographs. It is page after page through Shangri La’s terraced gardens and pools that overlook the Pacific Ocean at Honolulu’s Diamond Head, a tour that explores most every detail of the celebrated estate, from expansive shots of the dining room complete with an elaborate chandelier to the most detailed depictions of features such as the stenciled ceiling and column on the Playhouse lanai.

Enduring appeal

Clearly, the Duke legacy and its effect on home design, art and style continue.

Recently, Manitoga/The Russel Wright Design Center in Garrison offered a Manhattan lecture by MAD exhibition curators Mellins and Albrecht devoted to “Doris Duke’s Shangri La.” (Albrecht was a curator of the 2001 retrospective on Russel Wright, the industrial designer, at the Smithsonian Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum in Manhattan.)

Lori Moss, assistant director of Manitoga – Wright’s home, studio and gardens – said the evening was designed to show the link between Wright and Duke.

“With (Albrecht’s) unique perspective, Donald brought to light the connection between two mid-20th century legends,” Moss says, adding that the evening

Mosaic tile panel in the form of a gateway, Iran, probably 19th century. Stonepaste monochrome-glazed, assembled as mosaic; On Shangri La’s dining room lanai. Photo credit: Tim Street-Porter.

Living room at Shangri La by Tim Street-Porter. Photo credit: © Tim Street-Porter 2011. Doris Duke Foundation for Islamic Art, Honolulu, Hawaii.

showed that though different in mood and texture, Wright’s Manitoga and Doris Duke’s Shangri La indeed had common threads.

She further notes that Manitoga was pleased to present the lecture “in celebration of the experimental spirit and international flair that find unique expression at Manitoga and Shangri La.”

“Doris Duke’s Shangri La: Architecture, Landscape and Islamic Art” continues through Feb. 17 at the Museum of Arts and Design, Jerome and Simona Chazen Building, 2 Columbus Circle, Manhattan. Visit madmuseum.org. “Doris Duke’s Shangri La: A House in Paradise” (Skira Rizzoli, $55), edited by Thomas Mellins and Donald Albrecht, is available at The Store at MAD, the lobby-level museum shop, and at your local booksellers. n

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This Prince is a party princess

Jill Prince of Hal Prince Music and Entertainment.

Photograph by Bob Rozycki.

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T

By Andrea Kennedy fices feel like homes.”

Her environs are only fitting, since still today she embraces colleagues and clients like family.

“It’s actually not unusual for me to stay in touch with them and meet them for coffee or lunch well after their event. It’s really wonderful to be a part of their happiness.”

Prince masterminds performer bookings, audiovisual elements, scheduling, venue coordination and more for Hal Prince’s renowned tristate events. And her skill set doesn’t stop at managing expert entertainment. Musical herself, she is also a classically trained pianist who used to tickle the ivories during family singalongs. But don’t expect to see her perform onstage – or even at home.

“I don’t play for anyone,” she acknowledges. “But I will play for myself,” turning to a Debussy Arabesque when it’s time to decompress.

As with her piano skills, Prince also prefers to keep her party persona out of the limelight, letting her events and performers speak for themselves. Imagine a Rolodex of world-class aerialists, acrobats, musicians and performers; African drum circles and Harlem children’s choirs; and top Lady Gaga, Joan Rivers and drag queen impersonators galore.

“Not being a performer myself, I love surrounding myself with such talented people,” she says.

Constantly seeking top talent and elevating the quality of entertainment is part of how Prince weaves her vocation into the fabric of her identity. Off the clock, Prince says she happily offers expertise when event chatter rises among girlfriends. Even dining out, this foodie can’t help but scout for offstage talent.

She’s even booked chefs from her favorite sushi spot, Haiku.

Though she cherishes her work life – long hours and strong coffee included – her first love remains time spent with family. Her family and Jay’s continue the Prince tradition of bringing song and dance to Prince-ly occasions.

A self-proclaimed “Gleek,” Prince joins her teenage daughter for each episode of “Glee” – even reaching über-fandom by hitting the town for “Glee the Musical.”

And with her son just off to college, her most treasured times include family togetherness off the grid.

“It’s the only time I disconnect,” she says of skiing in Vermont or exploring the Italian countryside. “Vacations with my husband Matt and two children Jordan and Sarah are sacred to me.” n

EXPERIENCE. SOMETHING. REAL. DECEMBER & JANUARY at THE CENTER

Pictured: Tokyo String Quartet. Photo courtesy of Opus 3 Artists.

To Jill Prince, her company is more than her family business – it’s her family.

“I would definitely say that growing up as a Prince is like growing up in the Partridge Family,” she says with a laugh.

“Every family occasion always ended up with song and dance.”

Prince’s parents began Hal Prince Orchestras, now Hal Prince Music and Entertainment, back in the 1960s – just a handful of years after they met as performers in the Catskills. Hal, no relation to the theater director Harold “Hal” Prince, played trumpet and Anabel lent her vocal stylings.

“They were ‘Dirty Dancing’ – except they were the musicians and not the dancers,” Prince says.

The glam duo rubbed shoulders with the likes of Sammy Davis Jr. and Buddy Hackett before settling down in Westchester to raise Jill and brother Jay. To the young Jill, Saturday nights meant mom and dad heading out to perform clad in ball gowns and tuxedos, followed by a post-party play-by-play when they waltzed back in the door. And though weekend time often meant showtime, pretty much every day was a work day.

As Prince reminisces, “We grew up in a household where my mom would answer the telephone in the kitchen while making dinner, ‘Good evening. Hal Prince Orchestras.’”

Prince remembered answering phones, too, as a teen, then heading to college.

“I came right out of college into the family business,” she says. “We renamed it Hal Prince Music and Entertainment, because when I came on board, I started to book other styles of entertainment.”

Once Prince started booking DJs – with her father’s blessing – she carved a niche that prepared her to take over the business with her brother in the ’90s.

Today, Jill and Jay operate out of two office spaces – a chic townhouse in Manhattan’s Murray Hill and a charming Victorian in Mount Kisco that she (most conveniently) shares with Pour Cafe and Wine Bar. “We never pictured our business to be run out of a corporate building or a corporate park, because we are in a very personalized business,” Prince says. “We’re also creative business, so I like a creative space.”

And her clients wouldn’t trade the warmth of her surroundings – or the warmth of Prince herself – for anything.

“They love the fact that both of our of-

The Declassified A new chamber music ensemble December 16, 2pm

Tokyo String Quartet Their farewell tour January 27, 3pm

Talk Cinema See it here first Dec 4 & 18, Jan 22, 7pm

914.251.6200

www.artscenter.org

63

Wanderlust Women Travel & The Westchester Broadway Theatre PRESENT

Girls Night Out Bachelor Auction to benefit the victims of Hurricane Sandy

13

FEBRUARY

Warm-hearted men will brave the auction block to light up your Valentine’s Day Join us for tasty snacks and delicious men from 6:30 - 8:30pm Music provided by DJ Rich Drinks available

Bachelors Auction and Silent Auction begin at 7:30 pm

All proceeds from the auctions to benefit the American Red Cross Hurricane Sandy relief in the tri-state area . To suggest a bachelor or donate items for the silent auction and more information, please call Wanderlust Women Travel at 914-777-5451

$30

To purchase tickets call the box office at 914-592-2222 You must be 21+ to attend and/or participate

per ticket

All bachelors & winning bidders will be required to sign waivers at the end of the auction releasing all sponsors & related parties from any liability The American Red Cross name is used with its permission, which in no way constitutes an endorsement, express or implied, of any product, service, company, individual or political position. For more information about the American Red Cross in Greater New York, please call 1-877-REDCROSS or visit us online at www.nyredcross.org

Sponsored by: 64

magazine

Red, white and (Swedish) blue

By Zoë Zellers Images Courtesy of Lexington Company

Stars, stripes and Swedish simplicity? That’s the M.O. at Lexington Company, the Stockholm-based lifestyle brand that opened its doors last month on Greenwich Avenue. The store has a strong European following, with 26 freestanding shops in five countries and distribution to more than 900 stores in some 20 countries. But the Greenwich opening represents its second introduction in U.S. The other location is in East Hampton.

“I think this just goes to show that this East Coast-New England style is something that people all over the world really like,” says Kristina Lindhe, Lexington Company’s CEO and creative director. “We have stores in China, too.”

Lexington Company offers bedding, home accessories, tabletop accents, bathroom goods and apparel that taps into the American heritage spirit with an understated Swedish aesthetic and the luxuriousness of fine fabrics and knits.

“The name comes from the town Lexington, outside Boston, where the American Revolutionary War actually began,” Lindhe says. “I think the combination of

the East Coast design and Swedish origin offers a kind of freshness, which is very unique and stylish. It’s warm and friendly and a lot of people like the timelessness.”

They’re calling the home design brand the Ralph Lauren of Sweden with its definitive New England drive – think red-white-and-blue American prints, flannels, country cottage florals and denim. Lindhe is quick to say that despite comparisons between the companies’ aesthetics, “We want to do it in our way.”

With tight local and international competition between home goods stores, Lexington Company succeeds in celebrating craftsmanship and style at a good price point.

Bedding runs from $35 to $400. Tabletop merchandise goes for $9 to $125. Home accessories are between $39 and $275. And clothing ranges from $89 to $395.

Take a trip to the 1,850 square-foot store for inspiration on dressing the home New England-style for holiday entertaining and ideas for gifts the whole family can enjoy. Here are Lindhe’s top picks:

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Kristina Lindhe, CEO and creative director of Lexington Company.

1. Holiday sateen star frame bedding, $135 “The sateen is a really nice quality, but for me it’s even more about the design with the red border and the small white stars, which is really a decorative thing...”

2. Holiday flannel check bedding, $175 “I love the flannel, because it’s blue and red and white and in these days, when people have problems with electricity, you need something warm in a nice quality.”

3. Knitted throw with coyote fur, $895 “My favorite is our most exclusive, knitted cashmere and lambs-wool throw with coyote fur.”

4. Knitted stocking with coyote fur, $295 “If you like our throw, we have a very nice Christmas stocking in the same material so you can match it, and if you want to give something really exclusive as a present, give this stocking as a gift.”

5. Holiday kitchen towel set, $35 “This is great if you are going to a party and want to give a small gift to the host.”

6. Authentic striped Oxford apron, $39 “An apron is also a nice gift to give someone who cooks...”

7. Holiday floral sham in red or navy, $95 “The design comes from a very old symbol we use in Sweden for our Christmas pillow with embroidered flowers and it’s my personal favorite.”

8. Jeans napkin, $12 each “For decorating for the table, use denim. Blue denim napkins combined with our holiday collection is really charming in an intellectual way.”

9. His and hers Lexington holiday sweaters, men’s $225, women’s $195 “I have to say, two of my favorite things from this collection are our Christmas sweaters with reindeers on them...”

10. Women’s holiday robe, $189 “I love our really nice women’s robe for our holiday collection that’s white and long and is made with velour, which feels (and looks) so nice.”

Shop at Lexington Company at 73 Greenwich Ave., Greenwich, or online at lexingtoncompany.com. n 65

Tasty venture

66

By Georgette Gouveia Photographs by Sinéad Deane

Dana and Rui Correia – the handsome duo behind the success of Douro Restaurant Bar in Greenwich. (inset on opposite page) Salmon à la Plancha, dusted with smoky pimentón, parsley and sea salt, roasted potatoes, sautéed kale, lemon and extra virgin olive oil.

Grilled Mountain River venison loin, sweet potato moosh, roasted brussel sprouts, sunnyside quail egg, Red Zinfandel reduction.

C

hef Rui Correia is a man dazzled by water. Whenever he and wife Dana would visit her family on the Jersey shore, Rui would barely stop to say “Hi,” she says. He’d just plunge into the Atlantic. The family didn’t mind, Dana adds. They knew he’d be whipping up a table-size pan of one of his signature paellas for them later.

Water is perhaps his destiny. He was born in a hospital overlooking the Douro River in northern Portugal, which lends its name to Douro Restaurant Bar in Greenwich. The eatery – which Rui and Dana own with his cousin Maria Correia and her fiancé, Ron Shemesh – brings a contemporary Portuguese touch to Greenwich Avenue.

“I like to use different Mediterranean flavors,” says Rui, who also makes periodic appearances on the “Today” show. “I wouldn’t say there’s anything traditional about what I do. I present it in a modern way.”

Patrons might, for example, order a peniche – a seafood stew, named after the Portuguese city – accompanied by Italian couscous. Rui’s take on the paella is a case of variations on a theme, with paellas featuring spare-rib bits, duck for the autumn/winter months or the soupier consistency of the jambalaya. During a recent visit to the sedately modern establishment – a chocolate, cream and slate-colored af-

fair with carafes on display – WAG sampled the Valencia paella, after the Spanish city where the dish originated. It’s a spicy, hearty blend of saffron rice, baby shrimp, peas, cilantro and chorizo, a pork sausage generously flavored with paprika.

The Portuguese, and their fans, love their chorizo as well as linguiça, an even spicier, paprika-laced sausage; pão, a savory basic bread; massa sovada, a divine sweet bread similar to challah or Italian egg bread; and caldo verde, kale soup; washed down with an assortment of ports and other wines. It’s a cuisine that despite its share of starches and sweets like flan is essentially a healthy one, emphasizing fruits, vegetables, white meats, fish and olive oil. And now, thanks in part to Douro, others are discovering the joys of Portuguese food as well.

“People who come in find it’s much more approachable than they thought it would be,” says Dana, who is of Italian and Portuguese descent and brings a wealth of experi-

ence to the front of the house.

Rui has been an apostle for that approachability almost since he came to these shores at age 9. He had already been around his grandparents’ restaurant in Portugal. So it was perhaps inevitable that he should attend the New York Restaurant School in Manhattan and hone his skills at Union Square Café and Gramercy Tavern, two of the restaurants owned by Danny Meyer, whom Rui admires for his cuisine and business savvy. Then it was on to opening Café Porto in Yonkers, where he grew up. For four years, he concentrated on serving pastries there.

After five years as executive chef at the former Oporto restaurant in Hartsdale, Rui decided to strike out on his own, with the help of Maria, a business analyst.

“I just believe in him so much and not just because he is my cousin,” Maria says.

“His food has a flavor all its own. We took a gamble, but we’ve hit a home run.”

Maria convinced him that he should look at Greenwich, a community with a

sophisticated palate. Rui – who now lives there with Dana, as does Maria – fell in love with the place.

“It’s the closest thing to being in Manhattan without being in Manhattan,” he says.

For almost two years, Douro had a home on West Putnam Avenue in Greenwich. For the past year, it’s been on Greenwich Avenue and Fawcett Place, a prime spot.

“What’s nice about this location is that it’s right across the street from Richards,” Maria says.

“Having it here took us to the next level,” Rui says. “Business has been great.”

Among his patrons is NBC executive Jim Bell, who invited him to cook on air. It’s one thing to stand the heat in the kitchen of your own restaurant. It’s another to be in the pressure cooker of live TV. But Rui took to it like, well, a duck to the Douro River. That was two and a half years and eight appearances ago.

The recipe for his TV success?

“The viewer has to get what you’re doing and you have to be able to do it all in three and a half minutes,” he says.

“Plus, I don’t think I’m a shy person.”

Something for which we foodies are grateful.

Douro Restaurant Bar, at 363 Greenwich Ave., Greenwich, offers a guest chef wine dinner once a month, with a special prix fixe menu. For more, call (203) 8697622 or visit dourorestaurantbar.com. n

inTRodUces

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67

Jacqueline&Heath

68

Jacqueline and Heath Lachman, owners of Topps Bakery and Topps Wine and Liquor.

Jackie’s makeup

by Mary Gordon.

Doughnuts to dollars Couple adds golden touch to Bronxville endeavors

By Georgette Gouveia Photographs by Sinéad Deane Winston Churchill once said that meeting Franklin D. Roosevelt was like uncorking your first bottle of Champagne.

Heath and Jacqueline Lachman give off some of that same sparkle and effervescence.

She’s an outgoing Midwesterner (by way of Cleveland). He’s a laidback New Englander (by way of Norwalk). Together they’re a one-couple stimulus package in the tiny, tony village of Bronxville as the owners of Topps Bakery and the new Topps Wine and Liquor.

“We’re taking stores that are great businesses that were run by great families and giving them a fresh face,” Jackie says.

That face-lift began six years ago when the pair learned that their neighbors’ children – who worked for Topps Bakery – might lose their jobs if the shop, a Bronxville institution, closed. So Jackie and Heath sprang into action and bought the bakery.

Later, Heath became friends with the owner of the nearby Wine and Spirits Emporium of Bronxville, another village mainstay. When he heard that she wanted to sell,

he took advantage of an opportunity again, remodeling and renaming the shop.

The six-week-old Topps Wine and Liquor brings a hip SoHo touch to sedate B’ville, with a woody but airy design punctuated by touches of Tequila Green, a tasting bar and a dedicated music space featuring a black lacquered piano. The look is the brainchild of Yonkers-based retail-store designer Whitney Vlasaty – she of the Vince Camuto stores – in collaboration with the handy Heath, who turned wine barrels and cartons into shelves, pedestals and table legs.

Owning a liquor store as well as a bakery makes sense for this cosmopolitan couple.

“We’re foodies,” Jackie says. “We’ve eaten our way around the world.”

The two knew anything about baking or liquor when they started. What they knew, however, was how to sell. Jackie had been in marketing (with several TV networks, including AMC and CMT, as well as Better Homes and Gardens magazine); Heath, in advertising (with Meredith Corp. and Clear Channel). They did their research and discovered something interesting: The average income of the people

who walk by the bakery and liquor store is $191,000 annually. Clearly, there was gold in them thar stores.

Despite the long hours, the flexibility of being merchants allows the couple to be hands-on parents to two young schoolage children.

“I run it like a franchise,” Heath says of the bakery. “I have people in the back doing the baking and people in the front doing the selling.”

But make no mistake about it, he and Jackie are equally hands-on as owners. They can tell you exactly why they’ve doubled sales at the bakery, taking well-loved recipes and updating them a bit to create 221 scrumptious scratch products a day. They include iced bear-shaped cookies, crumb buns, buttery meltaway cakes, seasonal petits fours and industry-acclaimed apple pies and cinnamon jelly doughnuts. No wonder individual customers and country clubs alike are clamoring for the goodies.

Heath – who’s great-great-great-grandfather Charles Smylie I founded the company that created Twizzlers licorice – is taking a similar approach to Topps Wine

and Liquor, refreshing the inventory as well as the space.

Consulting with Ronnie Mostero, a Mount Vernon resident who runs operations for Christie’s wine storage facility, Heath features vintages and other potables from around the world, including those that make it into The Topp 7 on the front table, because they’re great gifts, interesting finds, fun items or just part of “the lore of the store.”

The store will always give a nod to French wine as the couple have an affinity for it. Heath traveled throughout the Bordeaux region and even proposed to Jackie on a bridge overlooking the vineyard of Château Bélair-Monange.

So perhaps meeting Jackie and Heath isn’t so much like uncorking your first bottle of Champagne as it is like sipping your first bottle of Château Bélair, which will always be available in the store, a tribute to a couple who are a real tonic.

There are tastings at Topps Wine and Liquor, 98 Pondfield Road in Bronxville, from 4 to 7 p.m. Fridays. (914) 337-5090. Meanwhile, check out the offerings at Topps Bakery, 106 Pondfield Road. (914) 337-4258. n

Call us for your next private party louiesrestaurantbar.com 69

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wine&dine

That wine, that special moment, ahh

By Geoff Kalish, MD

I

s it possible to be bedazzled by a wine? Not just to experience a profound palatal pleasure but be truly head-over-heels in love with a wine’s bouquet, flavor and the skill that went into fashioning it?

For me, the answer is a resounding yes. It was about a year ago in Sicily when I sampled a glass of 10-year-old Planeta Chardonnay. I had tasted older wines made from the Chardonnay grape before, but none had this product’s golden yellow color, heady bouquet of baked apples, rich, complex, earthy taste of melons and herbs and memorable finish with notes of butter and honey. I wondered if it was the wine alone or the seductive charm of the moment – sipping it along with my wife, the winemaker and her brother in a tasting room in a 100-year-old estate set amid scenic vineyards near the west coast of Sicily. So I re-tasted it at dinner that evening and was once again enchanted by its aesthetics and the way it mated perfectly with the likes of grilled branzino and pasta with eggplant and ricotta.

I’m sure others have experienced this phenomenon of being intensely and somewhat quizzically impressed by the brilliant qualities of a particular wine at perhaps a particular moment. But what types of wine could do this – only older products, top-flight premium vintages or boutique bottlings, etc.? To gain some insight into this question, I surveyed friends, relatives and professionals. Here’s what they said:

“My most unforgettable wine experience took place two years ago on a trip with my wife, Lorena, to Santorini, Greece,” recounts Armonk resident Nick Livanos, who with his family owns a number of first-rate restaurants, including Moderne Barn and the City Limits diners. “We were at the fourthgeneration, family-owned Argyros Estate tasting a number of vintages of Vinsanto, a sweet white made from a blend of sun-dried grapes. I still remember the 1989 (vintage) that had flavors of roasted peaches, chocolate and fig preserves balanced by a salin-

ity typical of the terroir of the region.

Combined with the vistas of Santorini, sipping this wine was a gone-to-heaven experience.”

Good friend Jerry Rosenthal, a retired intellectual property expert and Pound Ridge resident, notes, “One of the ways I feel I’m drinking an extraordinary wine is when the quality far exceeds the price I paid for it. One such wine for me was the 2009 Borsao Tres Picos Granacha from Spain. This was a wine purchased for $7.50 a bottle that had a surprising depth, complexity and memorable finish for such an inexpensive wine. Even more surprising for a wine of this price is that it’s improving with age. The only problem is that others are discovering the wine as indicated by the increase in price for the 2010 vintage bottling. Hopefully, the price stays low so I can continue considering it bedazzling.”

bedazzling. For example, on our most recent anniversary, my wife and I had a bottle of 2008 Marquis d’Angerville Volnay Fremiets. Although young for a red Burgundy, the enchanting wine elevated the evening with a seamless blend of enlivening acidity and savory tannins.”

Echoing the sentiment that an exceptional wine at a special event makes for a bedazzling experience, my daughter Jill Spinak, a Katonah resident, says, “I was on my third date with my husband-to-be, White Plains lawyer Rob, and we went to Veritas, a New York City restaurant notable for its wine list.

Looking to impress him, I wanted to

order a wine that would be exceptional.

Although I had enjoyed some of the California Martinelli wines, I had not had their Jackass Hill Zinfandel and thought it would be very cool to say ‘Jackass Hill’ to the waiter. The wine was delicious, as was the date, and now after 10 years of marriage and two kids, we still order Jackass Hill when we find it on a wine list.”

To add to my understanding of this phenomena, I’d be interested in hearing about readers’ bedazzling wine experiences – which can be relayed to me through the comments to this article following the online version of this magazine (wagmag.com/category/ wine-dine). n

“I’m often asked if I have a favorite wine,” relates wine writer and Manhattanite Charles Scicolone. “It’s a very difficult question to answer, because with different foods and at different times I enjoy different wines. However, if I really had to name one it would be Fiorano Rosso, a wine made by a prince – Alberigo Ludovisi – and fit for a king.

This is a rare full-bodied wine vinified traditionally from Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot grapes grown close to Rome in Lazio. In my opinion, the best Cabernet-Merlot blend ever made in Italy and one of the most outstanding in the world, it has great depth, dominated by flavors and aromas of leather and cherry. Produced commercially until 1995, when for unknown reasons the prince pulled out the vineyards, I continually search shops in Italy and the Internet for bottles, and when I find one, it’s a memorable experience.”

Another wine writer and educator, Waccabuc resident Tyler Colman, says, “For me, pairing a special wine with a milestone evening is a recipe for 71

wagging

Prepping your pet for the holiday portrait

By Sarah Hodgson

N

ow that Thanksgiving has passed, I’m starting to plan the holiday photo shoot. We’ve added several pets to the family pack since last year, so I see great potential. Several of my suggestions – all of us gathered around the dog sled wearing fake antlers and dressing up as shepherds and sheep – have been met with skepticism from the two-legged pack members.

My practical husband likes the traditional in-front-of-the-tree portrait, and my son thinks we should drape ourselves with multi-colored flashing lights. But my daughter and me? We’re pet dressers to the core.

The key to a successful photo shoot is planning. Before the shutter starts to click, I will condition the newbies to sit still for short periods of time. Young and inexpe-

Beagles are that rare breed that can sprout antlers for holiday photos rather than resort to fake ones. Photo illustration by Carolyn Rozycki.

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rienced, they’re not as used to costuming as my older guys and may fuss at first. But to be a part of this pack, you need to be able to wear a costume, pose for photos and march in the annual Halloween parade. Lured with treats and encouraged with praise, they will come to enjoy these occasions.

Our most recent rescue, a cat named Tim Tim Jeremy, is not sharing the love with our German Shepherd. I’m working to ease my dog’s predatory urges and my cat’s deep suspicion of him. I’m making progress but don’t look for a warm, fuzzy cat-riding-the-dog photo from my family this year.

All of this preparation begs the question: Why? Why do we dress our pets and try to include them in the family photo every year? Is it really necessary?

No, of course not. But we do it anyway.

And while it’s probably not as much fun for the pets as it is for the people, it doesn’t have to be an arduous and unpleasant experience for either.

Go to any pet store between October and December, and you’ll see all sorts of costumes and accessories to dress your pet.

You can arrange for photo shoots with Santa and sign up for Halloween parades.

We humans are quick to spend money on silly things that make us smile and bring people together. But what about the pets forced to wear these adornments? If they had voices, what would they say?

I can only speak from personal experience. As a trainer who has sat in on her fair share of holiday photo shoots for both clients and friends, I have been witness to the best shoots and some of the worst. It all comes down to positive conditioning.

What pets want during the holidays – and year-round, for that matter – is attention. They’ll settle for (but not thrive on) negative attention – the screaming, chase-me-around-the-table, hold-still, come-back-here type. But like kids, your pets will shine and cooperate more with positive attention. Whether the goal is to condition your dog to tolerate a yearly photo shoot, participate in your daughter’s American Girl Doll tea party, or to make a cameo as Barney at your toddler’s birthday party, there are some very cool and fun ways to do this.

First, find something your dog relishes.

Dice up some bits of liver or crumble a favorite dog treat. The goal here is a little tongue-melting reinforcement that can be handed out again and again to condition your pet’s cooperation. If you can get your hand on a clicker, use it for this purpose. With a clicker, you click first, treat second. Click treat, click treat until your pet associates the reinforcement.

Second, introduce the adornment or costume. Let your pet scent and handle it first. Yes, a puppy may mouth the reindeer antlers and a kitten my grab and claw them. But if you scream and jerk him away, he’ll develop a negative association with it. Pups and other pets have sensory capacities beyond our understanding that do not include sight. Most animals must smell and touch things to recognize them.

If your puppy mouths the object, lure him off with a treat, and spray the item with a bitter tasting liquid found at pet stores.

Initially reward and praise your dog until he thrills to the sight of the item as indicating fun time with you. If you have an extra person on hand, ask him to reward your dog as you dress her. If you’re doing this solo, use a Lickety Stick or a spreadable treat like peanut butter to reward your dog as you’re handling her.

Sit in a chair or kneel down and gently guide your pet so you’re facing her spine, not her face. After you’ve positioned yourself next to or behind your pet, calmly place the adornment over her back or head. (Standing and staring face-to-face with an animal looks confrontational and often elicits fear, not cooperation.)

Many pets will itch, mouth at or claw their adornments initially. This is normal.

Your frustration will be attributed to the adornment so stay positive and calm.

Make your pet jolly with rewards or social interactions to get her focus on you. Dress your pet several times before camera time.

Once your dog is showing pleasure, use a command like “Picture day” or “Who’s my pretty girl?”

When the day comes, organize and position the shoot before placing the costume on your pet. Have extra treats on hand to lure and reward your dog between takes and during the photo shoot itself. While there are many ways of handling your pet, rewards, play and fun guarantee a shot in which everybody is smiling. n

wanders

By Cappy Devlin Photographs courtesy of Las Vegas News Bureau 73

Every August, I spend a week at the famous Bellagio hotel because Cappy’s Travel is a member of the exclusive Virtuoso travel network, and we hold our yearly get-together in Vegas with the top luxury travel advisers and suppliers. We work all day at Virtuoso Travel Week and play all night.

In its November issue, Condé Nast Traveler reviewed the top 15 hotels and resorts in Las Vegas. The top five were the Wynn and Encore for their amazing views of the Strip; the Four Seasons for its spa, staff and views; the Palazzo Las Vegas and the Venetian for their luxurious experiences, dining options and well-appointed rooms; and the Bellagio for its Tuscan-inspired design, the Bellagio Conservatory & Botanical Gardens, and the Fountains of Bellagio. More than 1,000 fountains

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at the Bellagio dance to music ranging from Pavarotti to Sinatra. Showtimes are every half-hour, or every 15 minutes at peak times.

When you think of Las Vegas, you think of the casinos. In the casinos, there are more games today than ever before, so let the cards, chips and dice fall wherever they may. Penny slots are just about everywhere and most casinos have a high-limit room where you can throw down bigger bucks. Today you can play blackjack just steps from a go-go dancer. And the cocktail waitresses are very pretty, too.

The next morning, you might want to book a massage at the Canyon Ranch SpaClub on the fourth floor of The Venetian and The Palazzo. For a lavish way to unwind and re-energize, go to The Spa at ARIA.

But there is so much more in Vegas that people all over the world want to go and see. The lights, the sounds, the pulsating energy make you fall in love with Vegas. There are hundreds of weddings taking place there each year. You can have your ceremony performed by Elvis at the Viva Las Vegas Chapel or go high style in the chapel at Ravella at Lake Las Vegas.

If you think you don’t have enough dazzle, there’s the recently opened Neon Museum. Home to a collection of more than 150 neon signs dating from the 1930s, the museum is the largest one of its kind in the world.

If you can stay longer on your Vegas vacation, you would enjoy an adventure tour of the Grand Canyon, Hoover Dam, Valley of Fire, Lake Mead or our national parks, for a change of pace.

Vegas is a shopping paradise, especially if Lady Luck is with you in the casinos. The 140 stores at Las Vegas Premium Outlets downtown – including Adidas, Calvin Klein, Ann Taylor, Guess and Tommy Hilfiger – offer savings of 25 to 65 percent. This indoor mall, at the southern end of the strip, is complete with two food courts and an indoor carousel. Crystals at City Center is a 500,000-square-foot retail and dining district and is certainly one of Vegas’ premier shopping experiences.

Luxury retailers include Louis Vuitton, Gucci, Tiffany, Prada, Christian Dior, Hermès and Cartier, along with boutiques for Tom Ford, Donna Karan and Lanvin. Invigorate yourself by savoring the enticing creations from celebrity chefs such as Wolfgang Puck and Todd English, while Crystals has the first Mastro’s Ocean Club

in Las Vegas. Crystals features elaborate water and ice displays and a 70-foot-tall tree house.

The Miracle Mile Shops at Planet Hollywood is a 1.2-mile retail and entertainment complex at the heart of the strip featuring 170 specialty stores, 15 restaurants and three live entertainment venues. The nearly 2 million square feet of shopping bliss at Fashion Show Las Vegas boasts seven anchor stores and 250 specialty stores and restaurants. There is even a projection screen for multimedia shows at night.

Las Vegas is truly the entertainment capital of the world. There is no other city that can compete with its events, concerts and shows. There are now seven different Cirque du Soleil productions, ranging from the interesting to the bizarre to the risqué, and the theatri-

cal productions like “Le Rêve – The Dream” and “V – The Ultimate Variety Show” are fantastic. You can’t miss favorites like Blue Man Group, Terry Fator, Frank Moreno and Elton John, plus Penn & Teller and David Copperfield, who bring magic to Vegas.

In the evening, there are adults-only shows like “Fantasy” and “Crazy Girls.” But don’t miss “Jubilee!,” the classic Vegas showgirl extravaganza. Be sure to leave time to enjoy Las Vegas’ sizzling nightlife, at The Chateau Nightclub and Gardens at Paris, and Marquee Nightclub & Dayclub at The Cosmopolitan.

Let’s just say it’s always hip to party on the Strip.

For more, visit Cappy’s Travel at 195 N. Bedford Road, Mount Kisco. Call (914) 241-0383 or email Cappy@travel-by-net.com. n

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well

Dazzling with a little cosmetic help

By Michael Rosenberg, MD

It’s the little things that count.

With the holidays just around the corner, many of us are so focused on others that we forget about ourselves.

There are a number of smaller treatments and procedures that are available that can fit into this season and it seems appropriate to review some of them at this time. If recovery and downtime are critical concerns, the best approach to consider are the so-called lunchtime treatments, consisting of micropeels, relaxants and fillers. All are relatively fast treatments that do not require anesthesia and we’ll review each in turn.

Two of the most important things we can do to maintain the appearance of our skin is to avoid prolonged and unprotected sun exposure and to stop smoking or better still, never start it. The three factors that have the most negative effect on the appearance of our skin are sun exposure, smoking and aging, and only two of these are under our own control. On the proactive side, a good regimen for skin care should include washing to remove the top layer of dead skin and moisturizing to prevent skin damage. Often, adding topical medications including retinoic acid to increase skin turnover and hydroquinones, or so called “bleaching agents,” to even out the pigment in our faces can be extremely helpful. Combining these with a micro-dermabrasion and one of the physician-prescribed skin care regimens can optimize the results. The nicest part is that other than micro-dermabrasion, these treatments can be done in the comfort of your own home.

Arguably the most significant medical breakthrough in improving the appearance of aging or damaged skin was the recognition that muscle relaxants, properly used and in safe dosages, could remove natural skin lines and creases. Certain areas on the face, such as the brow, glabellar area (base of the nose), and Crow’s feet areas (laugh lines around the eyes) are all in fact the result of hyperactivity of the muscles of facial expression. Generally not critical for function, these muscles help animate our faces, and are used in expressing feelings and emotions. When these muscles are hyperactive, the overlying skin forms creases or lines at right angles to the action of the muscles. For many of us, these chronic lines make us appear tired, angry or older. The muscle relaxants, such as Botox and now Dysport, cause the activity of the treated muscle to weaken for about three months. The overlying skin creases soften or disappear and so with a quick injection the skin appearance can be significantly improved.

Treatments are done in the doctor's office and take 10 to 20 minutes to complete and typically cost $300 to $400 per

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area treated. We use a topical anesthetic at the injection site and tiny insulin syringes for the injection so there is minimal discomfort during the procedure and almost none afterwards. Patients can resume their normal activities later that day and can return in about three months for another injection if they choose to repeat the procedure.

The next breakthrough was the development of filler injections that were made of hyaluronic acid, the other major component of subcutaneous tissue. The most frequently used agents are Restylane and Juvaderm, and they function similarly. A topical anesthetic is applied to the area to be treated and then the filler is mixed with local anesthesia and is injected with a small needle under the skin. The most commonly treated area is the nasolabial folds and marionette lines, which are “valleys” between the nose and upper lip and alongside the lower lip.

These perioral lines are treated with one to two syringes of the filler. The effects are immediate and can be quite dramatic. Ice is applied to the injected sites to prevent bruising and the patient can resume normal activities that same day as there is essentially no recovery period. The effects usually last around six months, and patients are charged by the syringe, anywhere from $500 to $700.

The fillers have also been used to augment the lips and fill in hollow areas below the eyes, but patients should be aware of the possibility of overfilling and lumpiness in these areas. In case of a problem the filler will be gone in about six months, so the effects are not permanent. If you are really unhappy with the results of the injection, an injection of a hyularonidase can speed up the resorption of the filler. That being said, the ease of injection, generally excellent results and minimal discomfort and post-treatment problems have all combined to make the filler injections one of the most common plastic surgical procedures performed today.

I would like to complete this column with a review of an intriguing, new approach to correct the loss of contour and fullness associated with aging. These injectables fill in depressed areas by stimulating the bodies’ own production of collagen to replace the missing tissue. The most commonly used treatment in this category is Sculptra, and because its effects can last up to two years, it is becoming an increasingly popular choice in cosmetic surgery.

Treatment sessions take about 20 minutes each and usually three sessions are required to complete the course of treatment. The Sculptra is mixed with local anesthesia before injection to minimize any discomfort during the procedure. The result can last up to two years, after

which the treatment cycle can be restarted. Areas that are treated include the nasolabial folds, cheeks and temporal area (which can be particularly dramatic). Afterwards, there are no limits on activities, though patients are asked to massage the area for five minutes, five times a day, for five days (the rule of fives). Like any other procedure, there are potential side effects, which should be considered before proceeding with treatment. In addition to redness, discomfort or bruising at the injection site, small lumps can sometimes be noticeable under the skin. Thus it’s very important to investigate the background and training of your treating physician. For the well-chosen patient, treatment can restore a more youthful appearance with minimal downtime. Each treatment session costs from $800 to $1,200.

Along with a good skin care program and where necessary laser rejuvenation and Botox, Sculptra can play an important role in nonsurgical facial refreshment.

Please send any questions or comments to mrosenberg@nwhc.net. n

Succeeding as a healer, against all odds

T

oday, more young women than ever are dazzled by the idea of becoming doctors. They dominate medical schools as they do many other professional schools and higher education in general. It’s a far cry from 150 years ago when Elizabeth Blackwell made history as the first woman admitted to an American medical school.

And it’s a far cry from the early 1970s when I applied to medical school in the midst of a changing society.

Despite a new wave of feminism then, I hit all the roadblocks possible – men trying to avoid the draft and getting priority acceptance; ratios of approval to medical schools strictly enforced (my school had a 35 student limit for both women and African-Americans at the time); sexual discrimination because I was pretty; and recommendations from many an interviewer that I get married and give up the ridiculous idea of becoming a doctor.

I know many smart, hard-working women who just gave up. Fortunately for me, I was among the lucky ones who had family support and the fire in the belly to pursue my dream of becoming a doctor.

I did get into medical school and ignored the discrimination that was all-pervasive. For decades when asked if I ever encountered discrimination, I always said no, because I refused to see it for fear that it would stop me from going forward.

I never expected that once I became a physician – having graduated cum laude and gained admittance to AOA, the medical students’ honor society – once I had proven my ability to absorb and translate the interminable hours of training into clinical practice, once I proved myself a good, caring and decent human being – that the discrimination, sexism and glass ceiling would follow me and get even more difficult to ignore.

My first job out of medical training was as the director of emergency medicine at Westchester Medical Center in Valhalla. The tower of beds had recently opened and the hospital hadn’t even been designated a trauma center when I got there at the age of 28 in 1978.

My boss – the chairman of the Department of Medicine at New York Medical College, the medical school affiliated with the hospital at the time – was primarily focused on getting more patients and bill-

By Erika Schwartz, MD

ing more. Although early on in the deterioration of the health care system, I was faced with the priority of the bottom line ahead of patient care right from the start of my career.

As a woman who went into medicine because I wanted to help people, I found the approach disturbing. For four years, I worked hard to get the medical center certified as a tertiary trauma center, to start an ambulance and helicopter medevac program and to create a new specialty soon to become emergency medicine.

Finally, when I decided to go into private practice to be closer to my patients and become part of their lives, my boss called me into his office and told me how it would cost him at least twice as much as he was paying me to get a replacement. He did tell me I was good at running the ER, ambulatory care, employability screening and employee health, but I was also cheap and he was not happy to have to pay someone more to do the jobs.

He did get a replacement, a man who was paid at least twice as much as I made.

As for me, I just kept on moving forward in my quest to be a better doctor and help more people.

To this day, as I enter the year that I become president of SUNY-Downstate College of Medicine board of managers, I still take care of patients, write books and give talks, but I am more honest when I reflect on how difficult it has been to get here.

I mentor young women and teach them to believe in themselves and not accept discrimination as an excuse to dissuade them from becoming physicians or lawyers, or anything they want to be.

I also make sure to remind women that becoming a physician should never mean they must behave more like men, as many women doctors told me when I was young.

Indeed, I tell women to hold on to our femininity, caring and humanity and stress that nurturing empathy. They are the qualities that make us better doctors and better healers.

And from where I stand, 35 years into this profession, it’s these qualities more so than the scientific data, the harsh training and the male-dominated system that have made me the doctor I am.

For more information, email Dr. Erika at Erika@drerika.com. n

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when&where THROUGH SUNDAY DECEMBER 30 A HOLIDAY CLASSIC

The New York City Ballet performs George Balanchine’s “The Nutcracker,” performance times vary; David H. Koch Theater at Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, 20 Lincoln Center Plaza, Manhattan. Tickets start at $29. (212) 496-0600, nycballet.com.

THROUGH SATURDAY JANUARY 5 ‘CRAFT-TASTIC’

An exhibition and sale of handmade goods, gallery hours: 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesdays through Fridays, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturdays; Pelham Art Center, 155 Fifth Ave., Pelham. (914) 738-2525, info@pelhamartcenter.org.

‘HOLIDAY MUSIC AND THE HOLIDAY OF CHRISTMAS’

A seasonally inspired performance with tunes for the harp, French horn, trombone and voice, 2 p.m.; Saint Paul’s Church National Historic Site, 897 S. Columbus Ave., Mount Vernon. (914) 667-4116, nps.gov/sapa.

SATURDAY DECEMBER 15 ‘THE MALONE BROTHERS’

A performance by a new rock band features a collaboration between brothers Dave and Tommy Malone, 8 p.m.; Emelin Theatre, 153 Library Lane, Mamaroneck. $35. (914) 698-0098, emelin.org.

SUNDAY DECEMBER 9 IN TRUE HOLIDAY TRADITION

Trinity Presbyterian Church presents its annual Christmas concert “A Westchester Christmas,” 4 p.m. (snow date Dec. 16); School of the Holy Child, 2225 Westchester Ave. E., Rye. trinitychurch.cc.

LIN LAUDED

The Katonah Museum of Art (KMA) Himmel Award & Lecture event honors Maya Lin, 5 p.m. reception, 5:30 p.m. lecture; Chappaqua Crossing auditorium, 480 Bedford Road, Chappaqua. $75 nonmembers, $50 KMA members, $15 students.

(914) 232-9555, ext. 2968.

MONDAY DECEMBER 10 PULLING BACK THE CURTAIN

A film screening of the award-winning documentary “I Believe You: Faiths' Response to Intimate Partner Violence” by Emmy Award-winning filmmaker Deborah Goshner Vinik, 7 to 9 p.m.; Jacob Burns Film Center, 364 Manville Road, Pleasantville. (914) 773-7663, burnsfilmcenter.org.

THURSDAY DECEMBER 13 THROUGH SUNDAY DECEMBER 16 ‘A MERRY MULBERRY STREET MUSICAL’

A romantic comedy directed by Brian Bianco; 8 p.m. Dec. 13 to 15, 2 p.m. Dec. 16; The Dressing Room Theatre, 1349 Newfield Ave., Stamford.

(203) 461-6358, curtaincallinc.com.

FRIDAY DECEMBER 7 TO SUNDAY DECEMBER 9 ‘NUTCRACKER ’12’

The Purchase College Dance Company performs a variation on the holiday classic, mixing live performance with animated projections, 7:30 p.m. Dec. 7, 1 and 7:30 p.m. Dec. 8, 1 and 5 p.m. Dec. 9; Performing Arts Center at Purchase College, 735 Anderson Hill Road, Purchase. (914) 251-6200, artscenter.org.

SATURDAY DECEMBER 8 MUSIC MARATHON

The Music Conservatory of Westchester’s Performathon features a holiday crafts fair and a variety of works performed by more than 150 conservatory students, 10 a.m. to 7 p.m.; Music Conservatory of Westchester, 216 Central Ave., White Plains. (914) 761-3900, mcwperformathon.org.

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FRIDAY DECEMBER 14 ‘GALLERY CONVERSATIONS’

Tour and discuss works in the Pelham Art Center’s latest exhibition with gallery manager and co-curator Laura Nicholas, 4 p.m.; Pelham Art Center, 155 Fifth Ave., Pelham. (914) 738-2525, info@pelhamartcenter.org.

‘HOLIDAY EXTRAVAGaNZA’

New Haven Symphony Orchestra’s holiday concert, 8 p.m.; Fairfield University, Quick Center for the Arts, 1073 N. Benson Road, Fairfield. $40, $35.

(203) 254-4000, fairfield.edu/newseason.

‘GREAT BIG BROADWAY CHRISTMAS’

John Treacy Egan returns with an evening of traditional holiday fare, musical comedy and special guests from The Great White Way; 8 p.m.; Emelin Theatre, 153 Library Lane, Mamaroneck. $40.

(914) 698-0098, emelin.org.

Grand Staircase at the Lockwood-Mathews Mansion Museum. Photograph by Jennifer Rose.

SUNDAY DECEMBER 16 THE HALLS ARE DECKED

A Holiday Open House at the Lockwood-Mathews Mansion Museum with events for the family; noon to 4 p.m.; 295 West Ave., Norwalk. $5. lockwoodmathewsmansion.com.

‘METROPOLITAN KLEZMER’

Celebrate the last day of Hanukkah at the Emelin, as the award-winning Metropolitan Klezmer performs, 3 p.m.; Emelin Theatre, 153 Library Lane, Mamaroneck. $32. (914) 698-0098, emelin.org.

‘WINTER POPS’

Broadway stars sing love songs from past and present musicals, 3 p.m.; Performing Arts Center, Purchase College, 735 Anderson Hill Road, Purchase.

(914) 682-3707, westchesterphil.org.

FRIDAY DECEMBER 21 ‘HAPPY HELPING-DAYS’

March of Dimes’ Soirée and Silent Auction, 7 to 11 p.m.; Digital Arts Experience, 170 Hamilton Ave., White Plains. $55 at the door, $40 in advance. happyhelpingdays.eventbrite.com.

worthy Dazzling gifts Note: Price may not reflect current sale prices. Price and availability at locations may be subject to change.

A FINER STAY Retreat to the new J House Greenwich contemporary boutique hotel and dining destination, which offers luxurious amenities, including the eleven14 Kitchen with an outdoor fireplace and cascading water feature and the Chocolate Lab shop and café, J House Greenwich, 1114 E. Putnam Ave., Greenwich. Jhousegreenwich.com.

‘BABY’ A Louis Vuitton purse with sequin embroidery on a wool base, $3,160 retail, Louis Vuitton, The Westchester, 125 Westchester Ave., White Plains. Louisvuitton.com.

‘BULLEIT FRONTIER WHISKEY WOODY-TAILGATE TRAILER’ An entertainment system and pullout bar, designed by interior designer Brad Ford, features leather furnishings and rich wood, $150,000 retail at Neiman Marcus, The Westchester, 125 Westchester Ave., White Plains.

Neimanmarcus.com.

CLASSIC FIT For a timeless look and a relaxed fit, the Brooks Brothers Madison Fit Windowpane 1818 Suit is $1,098.

Locations are in White Plains, Scarsdale, Greenwich, Stamford and Darien. Brooksbrothers.com.

DIAMOND & PEARLS The Betteridge Estate Collection: Van Cleef & Arpels ‘Lamballe’ diamond and pearl drop necklace, $220,000; matching earrings complete the ensemble, $50,000.

Betteridge, 117 Greenwich Ave., Greenwich. (203) 869-0124, betteridge.com

DONNA KARAN MODERN CLASSICS HAZE CRYSTAL WAVE DECORATIVE PILLOW A cotton/silk decorative pillow with down filling and sparkling glitz, $188 regular price, Bloomingdale’s, 175 Bloomingdale Road, White Plains. Bloomingdales.com.

ESPRESSO MACHINE The stainless steel Jura J9 One Touch Espresso Machine produces rich coffee beverages with the push of a button, $3,625 retail, Bloomingdale’s, 175 Bloomingdale Road, White Plains. Bloomingdales.com.

FESTIVE RINGWEAR Lalique’s new gold Gourmande ring, $295. Lalique.com.

GLITTER PUMPS The Manolo Blahnik BB Glitter Pump, Silver, features a pointed toe and 4” heel covered in glimmering silver glitter, $655 retail, Neiman Marcus, The Westchester, 125 Westchester Ave., White Plains.

Neimanmarcus.com.

GOLDEN NAILS A clear nail polish with 18K gold flakes by Sephora by OPI, $30 retail, Sephora, The Westchester, 125 Westchester Ave., White Plains.

Sephora.com.

Westchester Ave., White Plains.

Maccosmetics.com.

HUDSON PARK FAUX FUR THROW Luxurious and comfortable blanket décor available in a variety of colors, $250 retail, Bloomingdale’s, 175 Bloomingdale Road, White Plains.

Bloomingdales.com.

INDULGE Red Door Spa’s Triple Rose Hydrating Body Treatment includes the most healing properties of essential rose oil, $130. Red Door Spa, locations in White Plains and Darien, reddoorspas.com.

INTRICATE GLASSWORK Lalique’s Elysees Bowl in clear, $3,950. Lalique.com.

METAL FLOWER CLUTCH An Alexander McQueen clutch with multilayered metal flowers and a skull clasp with rhinestones, $3,425 retail, Neiman Marcus, The Westchester, 125 Westchester Ave., White Plains. Neimanmarcus.com.

PLUM PUCKER The M.A.C. Cosmetic’s Pro Lip Palette/6 Select Plums features a variety of shades for dazzling lips, $40, M.A.C. Cosmetics, The Westchester, 125 Westchester Ave., White Plains.

Maccosmetics.com.

inside and out. The following holiday package is valid through Dec. 31 – a (12-pack) 50-minute Swedish massage and Equinox conditioning facial, $1,080. Locations in Mamaroneck, Scarsdale, Darien and Greenwich. Equinox.com.

PRIVATE JET CHARTER Magellan Jets offers a variety of gift options, including a 10-hour Hawker 400 XP for $43,500, a limited edition 10-hour G550 Card for $175,000 or stocking-stuffer gift cards, valued at $10,000, for only $7,770. Magellanjets.com.

‘VERY RICHE’ These Christian Louboutin silver shoes have a 4.7” heel and signature red leather sole, $3,995 retail, Barney’s, 600 Madison Ave., Manhattan. Christianlouboutin.com, barneys.com.

STIRLING ENGINE 1900 MERCEDES A fully operational sportscar (6 1/2” L x 3 1/2” W x 4” H) with solid brass, stainless steel and aluminum, $1,000. Hammacher.com.

VROOM! One drive and you will experience what enthusiasts of the AMG Performance line of Mercedes-Benz vehicles already know, exhilaration.

Mercedes-Benz of Greenwich, 261 W. Putnam Ave., Greenwich. Mercedesbenzgreenwich.com.

SWAN EMBELLISHED MANOLO BLAHNIKS The 4” satin pump has crystalbeaded vine work, $1,295 retail, Neiman Marcus, The Westchester, 125 Westchester Ave., White Plains.

Neimanmarcus.com.

SWAROVSKI CRYSTALLINE TREASURE BOX A sparkling clear crystal box, $420 retail, Bloomingdale’s, 175 Bloomingdale Road, White Plains.

Bloomingdales.com.

TIME IS GOLDEN The Everose Gold Datejust Rolex, covered in diamonds. Rolex.com.

TRULY GIFTED This holiday season, share the feeling

WRAPPED UP IN BLING Decorated pinecones turn an average gift wrapping job to extraordinary, $7, Bruce Museum store, 1 Museum Drive, Greenwich. Brucemuseum. org.

OH BABY! This 18k white-gold diamond tennis necklace from the Norman Covan Baby Diamond Collection is available at Matero Fine Jewelry, $14,850 retail, 238 Saw Mill River Road, Route 100, Millwood. Materofinejewelry.com.

GOURMET GIFT BASKETS Gourmet gift baskets created by Holbrook Cottage in Briarcliff Manor featuring a wide selection of home and personal accessories from cheese boards and knives to wine coasters and stoppers, Holbrook Cottage, 1253 Pleasantville Road, Briarcliff Manor. Holbrookcottage. com.

‘HAUTE & NAUGHTY LASH’ A two-in-one mascara by M.A.C. Cosmetics, $20 retail, M.A.C Cosmetics, The Westchester, 125

PANTHIÈRE DE CARTIER BROOCH An 18K white-gold diamond panther brooch with 252 diamonds, two emerald eyes and a black onyx nose, $28,000 retail. Cartier.com.

of total relaxation at The Spa @ Equinox, which features luxurious and calming treatments to help unwind stress and revive the body

YELLOW GOLD TIME The Buccellati 18K yellow-gold Bukhara bracelet watch, $39,400 retail, is available at R&M Woodrow Jewelers, 21 Purchase St., Rye. Woodrowjewelers.com.

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wit wonders: What is the most dazzling gift you have given or received?

“Things my kids make me.”

“Flowers from my water garden.”

— Lauren Daly — Ann Mead Parent outreach educator, Danbury Public School Administrator, Early Childhood District, Danbury resident Extended Learning in Danbury, Danbury resident

“Received a horse, a Cleveland Bay.” — Robyn Goldenberg Director of marketing and administration, Strategy Leaders, Chappaqua resident

“Diamonds.”

— Michelle Nedwick Logistics specialist, Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, Tarrytown resident

“A new computer.”

“One Christmas morning, I woke up to paper — Howard Landeck airplanes hanging in the living room. My parSales director, Cartridge World, ents announced that we were leaving in two Hartsdale resident days to go to Disney World.”

— Kim O’Donnell Sales marketing manager, Morton’s White Plains, “An engagement ring, given.”

Fleetwood resident — Josh Levin Private practitioner, Riverdale resident “Given – crystal Candelabra; received – dia“Brought my two girls to the Hamptons. I mond jewelry.”

—Kendra Porter wanted to show it to them. We had a ‘girls’ Owner of Honor You, Hartsdale resident weekend.’

— Laura Loughlin Owner, Loughlin Personnel, New City resident “A sapphire diamond ring. It was beautiful.”

—Sandra Rampersaud Realtor, Rand Realty, Eastchester resident “A Dyson vacuum. It was the best thing ever.”

— Allison Madison Owner, Reinhart Madison Approach Staffing, “A Gucci watch with diamonds.”

Yorktown resident — Shamese Shular Owner of Shu Books, Norwalk

mead

nedwick

o’donnell

porter

Compiled by Alissa Frey. Contact her at afrey@westfairinc.com.

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watch Singer, not the song

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“I have a strong sense of self-worth,” said Ramona Singer, one of the stars of Bravo’s “Real Housewives of New York City.”

And how. The glamorous Manhattanite (by way of the Hudson Valley) has no shortage of opinions, which she’s happy to voice.

“To be dazzling,” she said, “is to stand out in a good way. …It’s part of my personality. I like to dazzle. Some people call it being feisty. I call it being dazzling.”

When it comes to sparkle, Singer is as multifaceted as a gem. There’s her Tru Renewal skin care, True Faith Jewelry, Ramona Singer Collections on Amazon and Ramona Singer Jewelry for HSN. But fashion and TV are not her only fortes. As “RHONY” fans know, Singer likes her glass of Pinot Grigio. So it was no doubt inevitable that she would go into winemaking herself. Ramona Pinot Grigio, made in Italy’s Veneto region, successfully bowed last year.

Now Singer complements it with Ramona Red: Sangiovese Merlot Blend ($14.99). Produced in Tuscany, it’s described as a velvety marriage of luscious fruit and spicy oak, tartness and sweetness.

Both vintages received a tasting recently at Zachys Wine and Liquor Inc. in Scarsdale, where a steady stream of fans of the show turned out to sip and see.

“I love the little catfights and to see what they’re wearing, naturally,” said Marion Fanelli of Valhalla, who bought a bottle for her sister-in-law.

Tracey Dibrino of Scarsdale seconded that. “I just love to watch the fashion, and it’s always entertaining to see the interactions with each other.”

Dibrino – who stopped by with her mother, Elena Dibrino of Yonkers – also gave the white a thumbs up, pronouncing it “light and crisp.”

Working with Opici Wines, Singer is totally hands on about every aspect of her vintages, from production to packaging, as she is with all of her businesses.

The Fashion Institute of Technology graduate and onetime Macy’s buyer started her first company at age 29.

“I’m a perfectionist and control-freak,” she said.

Perhaps that’s because she had little control growing up in Staatsburg in Dutchess County, where her mother was an abused wife with few options. Singer made certain that she herself became emotionally and financially independent. Today, she strives to ensure that women and children do not experience what she did by fundraising for such organizations as Sanctuary for Families and encouraging a strong bond between her husband, Mario, and their daughter, Avery.

Singer’s also involved with an organization that builds schools for children in Africa.

Driven and energetic, Singer likes the Hamptons’ lively social scene, but she also savors her downtime – reading, exercising and listening to music.

“I’m realizing later in life that the most important things are that you are happy and healthy. Without that, nothing else matters.”

– Georgette Gouveia Photographs by Sinéad Deane.

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Ramona Singer and Violeta Garcia Randy and Howard Landeck Barbara Strati and Frank Musto Phillip Piranio, Alex Javadi and Alex Leritz Lizabeth Medina and Andres Mondragon Mary Gadomski and John Roland Sanchez RoseAnn Sofia and Sandi Dufficid Anthony Menna, John Dawson and Austin Taranto Jackie McDavid and Gretchen Hormer Edward Kearney and Michelle Culhane-Kearney Kerrie, David, and Lincoln Hayes Lisa Taubes and Emily Kuschnar Ezio Vippolis and Natalie Vukel

All identifications are from left unless otherwise noted.

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watch Salute to leadership

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The Westchester County Association recently honored members who’ve gone above and beyond the call of duty in service to the community.

Richard D. Schaab Sr. and Sy Schulman were honored in memoriam. The awards were part of the association’s Fall Leadership Dinner, held at the Doubletree Hotel Tarrytown.

Photographs by Lynda Shenkman Curtis.

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Stephen Karp, Paul Savage and Charles Hellmich Catherine Gasteyer and Caryn Cosentini Marissa Brett and Jody Rollins APEX honoree Joel Seligman and Al DelBello Elizabeth Maitland, Bill Brenner and Lucy Banko Mark Rollins and Kelvin Brenya Paula Mandell Roslyn Schulman and Dan Schulman Lisa Barner and Gina Pachlin Malcolm Couzens Westchester County Executive Rob Astorino and Robert Weisz William Harrington and William Mooney Apex honoree Ron Belmont Brendan Meyer APEX honoree Marialisa Zywotchenko APEX honoree Judith Spitz

IN THE SPOTLIGHT, AT LONG LAST

After two postponements because of bad weather, the 2012 Fairfield County CFO Awards ceremony was finally held at The J House in Greenwich. The award was a first for Fairfield County and it is anticipated that it will become an annual event. A dozen were nominated with the three awards going to K. Oni Chukwu, Brian R. Feidt and Donald Janezic Jr. Photography by Sinead Deane.

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Anthony D. Ceci Jr. and Richard Free Greg Pastor, Shannon Legere and Mike Archer Peter Gioia and Brenton Elliott Scott DeFilio, Bill Creaser and Anthony DeCandido Bill Donovan, Kevin McNamara and Jill Crowe Tom Czako and Steve Moran Janet Patti and Kevin Patti Donna Feidt and Dave Greco James N. Parker and Christopher Cortese Kevin Kearney and Gary Purpura K. Oni Chukwu and Michael Carter Thomas S. Santa Chris Bruhl Amy Fischer Douglas Polistena and Todd C. Howe Eunice Bigelow, Donald Janezic Jr. and Cindi Bigelow Anthony Rampersaud, Jonathan P. Marwell and Donald J. Parkis Jerry Landau and Steve Kirn Patrick McCabe and Michael Marcinek Elle Chukwu, Barbara Koons and Leslie Koons

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watch Ship-shape event

More than 500 guests turned out for ArtsWestchester’s “All Decked Out” event Nov. 17 at 800 Westchester Ave. in Rye Brook. The cruise ship-themed gala was inspired by the dramatic prestige of the iconic building.

Robert P. Weisz, CEO of RPW Group, was honored for his continued support of the arts in Westchester.

Photographs by Leslye Smith.

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Diana Gould with ArtsWestchester board member Debbie Simon and her husband, Alan.

2. Karin Meyers, Lauren Elliot and ArtsWestchester board member Barbara Elliot.

3. ArtsWestchester gala honoree Robert P. Weisz surrounded by his family, from left, Andrew, Cristina, Alexandra and guest Nina Wright.

4. David V. Ring, managing director, enterprise banking First Niagara Financial Group (and dinner chair) 5. ArtsWestchester board President Jacqueline Walker with New York state Assemblywoman Amy Paulin.

6. New York state Sen. Andrea Stewart-Cousins, ArtsWestchester CEO Janet Langsam and Communications Director Salina Le Bris.

7. ArtsWestchester board member Lawrence Salley and his wife, Sandra, with ArtsWestchester board member and gala chair Betty Himmel.

8. Lynda Shenkman Curtis and Brian Elder.

9. ArtsWestchester board member Bob Wiener and wife, Sherry.

10. Camille and Mauro Romita.

11. Irwin and Judith Kallman.

12. Jean and John Ritacco with Linda and Stephen Reitano.

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A ‘beaut’ of an evening

Over 50 years, the White Plains Beautification Foundation has raised more than $4 million to add subtle grace and splendid color to a lovely city. At the annual fall gala, founder Brian Wallach recalled how former first lady and early conservationist Lady Bird Johnson – whom he affectionately called “Lady Bug” – hailed him as her “ally” and the White Plains program as the finest of its kind in the nation. The pride in that accomplishment was on display as 160 foundation members and guests enjoyed stuffed roast pork, turkey and ravioli alfredo at the newly revamped Westchester Hills Golf Club. Among the silent auction items – a Yankee pinstripe children’s car designed and donated by John Iodice of Riemann Auto Body Shop and signed by his friend, Bombers’ closer Mariano Rivera.

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John and Colleen Iodice Beth and Brian Wallach Barbara Vrooman Karen and Michael Quinn, Jean Bello

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Tasteful opening

Butterfield 8, with locations in Manhattan and Stamford, recently opened its doors in downtown White Plains. Officials and business and community leaders attended the ribbon cutting and evening party, where they tasted some of the restaurant’s signature fare and cocktails.

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White Plains Mayor Tom Roach and Executive Director of ArtsWestchester Janet Langsam Jeff Dziak, general manager of The Ritz-Carlton, Westchester; Frank Miele of The Ritz-Carlton, Westchester; and Butterfield 8 owner John Gazzola Kevin McCarthy, John Gazzola, George Oros, Kevin Plunkett and Bill Mooney III Erin Griffin Loosen and Renee Brown

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watch Cocktails and tails

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SPCA of Westchester held its Top Hat and Cocktails Gala Fundraiser to raise funds for the shelter animals at the SPCA in Briarcliff Manor. More than 300 guests and their canine companions attended the event at the Ritz-Carlton in White Plains. Honorees were Rachel Rockefeller Gumina of Pleasantville, Barbara Kobren of Briarcliff Manor and Mason Santomero of Bedford.

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Honorees Rachel Rockefeller Gumina and Mason Santomero John and Lisa Manuele Nina and Paul Warren Anne Speiser Barbara Kobren and Jody Rawdin Clare Rockefeller Pierson and Peter Humphrey Canine guests

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Fresh and direct

Jason Ackerman, founder and CEO of FreshDirect, was the guest speaker at the UJA-Federation of New York’s Westchester Business and Professional Division Fall Breakfast. Ackerman spoke about FreshDirect’s model of using technology to shorten the farm-to-table time of food delivery and the importance of corporate responsibility and community involvement. The event, which drew 150 guests, took place at Willow Ridge Country Club in Harrison.

Photographs by Regency Studios.

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Judith Stern Rosen Debra Weiner and Richard Blaser Harris Markhoff and Udi Sadan Sula Pearlman, David Weiner, Jason Ackerman, Mitchell Ostrove and Heidi Widom Richard Lubkin, Ron Burton and Lynn Bagliebter

Smart reason for celebrating

More than 400 people attended Yonkers Partners in Education’s fifth anniversary gala, which was held in a luxury tent on the rooftop of the Cross County Shopping Center.

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Maria Sorrentino, Mary Calvi and her husband, Yonkers Mayor Mike Spano Karen Edmonson and David Westin Michael Sabatino and Taryn Duffy

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Striking a blow

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Nyack Hospital recently held its “Blow Away Breast Cancer” rally to promote breast health awareness and raise money to provide services to underserved women in Rockland County.

Photographs by Risa B. Hoag.

4. Nyack Mayor Jen Laird White and Dr. Patricia Joseph

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A mental health day

The Mental Health Association (MHA) of Westchester held its annual benefit, “Autumn on the Hudson,” at X2O, Xaviars on the Hudson. The event raised $120,000 to support MHA’s mental health services. Some 175 guests gathered for cocktails, cuisine by Peter Kelly and the sounds of the Curtis Winchester band.

5. Kathie Collins, Mary Beth Morrissey, John Allen, Georganne Chapin and Dr. Amy Kohn, CEO of MHA

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Comedy tonight

The Norwalk Concert Hall was the recent venue of the Comedy Night benefit for Keystone House Inc. Stage and screen star Tommy Davidson headlined the event to increase the audience’s awareness of Keystone and the psychosocial services it provides to the community.

6. Tommy Davidson with Valerie Williams, Keystone’s executive director

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Luminous

In celebration of leadership and commitment, Andrus recently held its 10th annual “Light Up the Night” benefit dinner at The Ritz-Carlton, Westchester. Some 200 guests attended the event, which raised more than $245,000 for Andrus’ services for children and families.

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Walking to cure

Yonkers Raceway’s historic half-mile harness track was the site of the Walk to Cure Diabetes, sponsored by the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation. The event, which featured more than 2,000 Empire City Casino employees and volunteers, raised nearly $700,000.

7. Alana's Army team

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8. Bill Harrington; New York state Sen. Andrea Stewart-Cousins and Nancy Ment, president and CEO of Andrus 9. Elizabeth Bracken-Thompson and Ann Tucker

Want to be in Watch? Send event photos, captions (identifying subjects from left to right) and a paragraph describing the event to afrey@wagmag.com.

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class&sass The holidays are indeed bedazzling. They are full of lights, sounds, smells and other stimulating sensations. If you allow them, they will sweep you up into the joyous feelings of the season. It is my favorite time of year. I still love going into the city to experience the buzz and thrill of it all – the windows on Fifth Avenue, the clip-clop of horses’ hooves in Central Park, the skaters twirling beneath the twinkling lights of the grand tree at Rockefeller Center, the aroma of chestnuts in the crisp, blustery air. My heart is full of hope and wonder… until I head to the airport and find myself thrown into the turmoil and chaos of holiday travel. And then I really do wonder (since we’ve successfully decoded the human genome) why do I still have to take off my shoes? of my favorite things to do during the holiM One days is to go to the international arrivals area of JFK to people-watch. It’s a never-ending stream of exuberant souls greeting their long-lost relatives, lovers, newborn grandchildren, etc. It never fails to bring tears to my eyes and it always helps me put perspective on the holiday chaos and craziness. I know it sounds deranged to choose to go anywhere near an airport during the holidays, but the utter joy that abounds there has to be experienced to be believed. Best part: You don’t have to take off your shoes to partake of the fun.

This year when I’m standing shoeless, being patJ ted and probed because the wire in my bra has set

J

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By Martha Handler and Jennifer Pappas

off the alarm once again, (I always forget something.

The last time it was a comb resting in my unruly hair), I will try to look around and see the joyous faces of loved ones being reunited. I really never thought of it that way. I have noticed, however, how pleasant the security personnel have become in the airports. Is it because they get to see so many people disrobe and do so much patting down?

You’ve experienced “pleasant security personnel”?

M I’m betting that’s because you always look totally hot and put together – even when you’re just going out to collect your mail. Did I ever tell you that I run and hide when I see you around town, because I generally look like crap? But I’m trying to pick up my game for the holiday season. So where do you suggest I go to look dazzling for my upcoming soirées?

Well, that’s awfully sweet of you to say. It’s probJ ably just because I’m from the South and in the South, the glam thing is drilled into a girl from the time she starts walking. Women don’t even venture out to get their mail unless they have at least put on lipstick. Southern women have perfected the art of looking like they’ve just rolled out of bed, rosy-cheeked and coiffed. And although I don’t agree with you about your ever appearing disheveled, I do agree with you about the hassles of dress shopping. I have a secret weapon, though, which I will begrudgingly share – the Elephant’s Trunk in Mount Kisco. Have you ever been?

I hadn’t been there in years but just went recently and it was a joyous experience. Just love the owners, Rafael and Robert, who’ve managed to stay in business for more than 40 years. (They were the first to bring faded blue jeans to Westchester.) They’ve got something for everyone, from hip and trendy cocktail dresses to stunning and stylish mother-of-the-bride gowns to tuxedos for men. You can even take an elevator (dressed in your gown and in bare feet) to the lingerie (i.e., Spanx) store below to have them fit you with whatever you might need to finish your ensemble. But perhaps the best part of all is the saleswomen. They are experts at finding dresses that will accentuate your best qualities while hiding the others and will swoon over you, making you feel like a million bucks.

M

Wag Up: • (M) Boots and chunky heels – They are comfortable and flattering.

• (J) Holiday parties – Because I love dressing up.

I always have. The frillier the better. It’s one of the greatest aspects of being a girl.

Wag DOWN: • (M) Guys who leave the toilet seat up.

• (J) Getting stripped, de-shoed, poked and patted down at airports during the jolly holidays, which make those days very un-jolly indeed.

Email Class&Sass at marthaandjen@wagmag.com. You may also follow Martha and Jen on Facebook at Wag Classandsass or access all of their conversations online at wagmag.com.

IntroducIng the brIstal

the best of assIsted lIvIng noW comes to WhIte PlaIns s Another Quality Community By The Engel Burman Group

s

I share my stories with new friends, now that I live at The Bristal.

Alma, Resident of The Bristal

“I grew up in the music business and it feels like yesterday that I was finding new acts for Rudy Vallee. Perry Como was my good friend and thought me an up-and-comer at 20.

By the time Frank Sinatra breezed by my office at Capitol Records, I had worked my way up to the Professional Department that handled all new music. Then one day I met Marilyn Monroe. My heart jumped! Before I knew it 50 years had sped by like a taxi on 8th Avenue.

Now I listen to my music and share stories with my “family” at The Bristal. I’ve earned this comfortable life.”

Hear more about Alma’s glamorous life. Tune in at thebristal.com/lifestories

now open!

305 north street, White Plains (914) 681-1800 | amiller @ thebristal.com

t h e b r I s ta l . c o m o t h e r l o c a t I o n s : east meadow | east northport | lynbrook | massapequa | north hills | north Woodmere | Westbury Licensed by the NYS Dept of Health. Eligible for Most Long Term Care Policies. | All photos are representational of typical communities of The Bristal.