Finally! Miami ranks high in a poll and it has nothing to do with joblessness, foreclosures, bad drivers, or general doomsday. According to Travel + Leisure’s 2009 America’s Favorite Cities survey, America’s most attractive people are in Miami, Cleveland is the best place for an affordable getaway, Minneapolis/St. Paul ranks No. 1 for intelligent people, and Houston is home to the best airports. Miami also was ranked No. 2 for being stylish and No. 5 for being diverse--New York was number one for those two categories. For those literal naysayers who insist Miami folk are shallow, superficial and soulless, get over it (though the poll did show a decline in Miami's friendliness and intelligence, which they listed as our worst feature). They mean most attractive on the outside.
Miami folk may not be the smartest but they sure are pretty
Finally! Miami ranks high in a poll and it has nothing to do with joblessness, foreclosures, bad drivers, or general doomsday. According to Travel + Leisure’s 2009 America’s Favorite Cities survey, America’s most attractive people are in Miami, Cleveland is the best place for an affordable getaway, Minneapolis/St. Paul ranks No. 1 for intelligent people, and Houston is home to the best airports. Miami also was ranked No. 2 for being stylish and No. 5 for being diverse--New York was number one for those two categories. For those literal naysayers who insist Miami folk are shallow, superficial and soulless, get over it (though the poll did show a decline in Miami's friendliness and intelligence, which they listed as our worst feature). They mean most attractive on the outside.
Sweet Charity
Despite a reputation for being severely shallow, Miamians really do love making a difference in the world--especially while making themselves look fabulous in the process. We've been given the insider's heads up to JustOneFrickinDay.com, a charity founded by the current face of Lancome, Elettra Wiedemann (daughter of Isabella Rosselini), which is working to equip a hospital in Kigutu, Burundi with solar energy for the term of its existence. The Italian stunner has enlisted Chris Benz, Phillip Lim, House of Diehl, Giambattista Valli, Rogan and Rag & Bone to come up with Africa- and energy- inspired t-shirts to be sold via the website starting August 25th. Elettra is already looking forward to a second round of tees which already has Yigal Azrouel on board and Miami's own golden boy, Ungaro designer Esteban Cortazar interested. Word on the street is that Jennifer Aniston loved our fair city so much that she said she'd only buy Cortazar's tee in homage.
The Devil Hates Frizz
The Chanel fashion show at The Raleigh was a splashy spectacle of stilettos, still lifes--er, models, random celebrities---a very leggy Anna Kournikova, Zoe Kravitz, Lenny's and Lisa Bonet's daughter grooving to a Prince song, Diane Kruger, Joana Preiss and Anna Mouglalis---- and socialites---some actually sporting vintage Chanel tweed and wool coats. Although we are definitely suffering the effects of second hand Silicone, Botox and Saline overload, it was a lovely affair, or as Vogue editrex Anna Wintour put it, "very chic," which either meant just that or was her polite way of saying she's seen better. The show itself got mixed reviews from fashionistas, some who loved and some who loathed the couture label's cruise collection which ranged from sleek and minimalist to razzly dazzly numbers you'd almost expect to see on a Carnival Fun Ship.
Regardless, the real star of the night was The Raleigh pool (and the synchronized swimmers who splashed in it at the show's finale), on and around which a runway snaked and catatonic, cloneish models sashayed. We sat behind Wintour, whose pate may resemble a bobble-head, but didn't move the entire time. Not a hair swayed with the ocean breezes. Perhaps because earlier today she requested Oribe to do her coif. When Oribe said he was unavailable, he had a local pinch hitter, Duber Osorio, fill in. Wintour apparently was so pleased she is returning to the salon tomorrow before she jets back off to Gotham. Osorio was thrilled to work with the fashion icon and told us, " Believe it or not I didn't use any hair product, just a touch of hairspray to take care of the fly aways. And contrary to what everybody thinks, she was pleasant and very nice the whole time."
While Wintour's hair remained firmly in place, the Kaiser himself, Karl Lagerfeld moved and shook away from the hoi polloi, which was busy indulging in deelish fare from Touch catering and bottomless glasses of Perrier Jouet, in a heavily guarded cabana and then in an even more heavily guarded Martini Bar. Towards the end of the party, Lagerfeld made his way out back, where he observed Raleigh owner Andre Balazs cutting it up on the sand to the theme from Dirty Dancing.
And while Wintour may not necessarily have had the time of her life, she did make a pit stop in the lobby, wishing Lagerfeld a good night with the requisite air kiss before retiring to her suite, all the while not a hair moving out of place. We wish we could be there in the morning to see if she suffers from bed head, but it would probably be a waste of a trip. Meanwhile 90 jet setters, Euros and Chanel groupies flown in for the event are all checking out of the hotel in the morning, but they better do so before the entire Raleigh staff is summoned to retrieve Lagerfeld's stash of multiple Chanel trunks. "You'd think he was staying here for a few months," remarked one staffer.
And as for Wintour's devilish reputation? We felt her chill at first when she breezed by us, sans entourage, and had us frozen in our tracks. She'd be an ideal remedy for a Miami heat wave, that's for sure. That said, she was characteristically aloof, but when approached by those who dared, uncharacteristically nice to everyone--at least the journalists, and to be honest, that was kind of a buzz kill for those of us who were kind of expecting and hoping she'd be a raging b-tch, especially in this humidity. Then again, she had good hair. Perhaps things would have been different if she'd experienced the wrath of Miami's ruthless, silent mood killer known as the frizzies.
The Devil Will Wear Chanel Tonight
Although the list of celebrity names are few and far between (Anna Kournikova and some French model actresses) for tonight's Chanel 2008/2009 Cruise Show at The Raleigh, it's ok, because fashion's biggest names---Anna Wintour and, of course the Kaiser, Karl Lagerfeld--will make up for the dearth. That's right, the she-devil Vogue editrex herself will be there in all her bobbed glory and we can't wait to see her. Following the party at The Raleigh, Lagerfeld and his fan--as well as 15 of his closest friends, will hit SET for a private after party. No word on whether Wintour will join, but we'll keep you posted because if she does, that will be the best fashion statement that club's ever known.
