Cartier: "La Style et l'Histoire"

Thanks to Francoise Dumas and Anne Roustang, who had the kindness of inviting me (and who are the best organisers in Paris), tonight I was able to enter the magical world of Cartier.

Only four hundred guests. from all corners of the world: Mónica Bellucci, Joely Richardson (stunning in an Alexander McQueen), Kristin Scott Thomas, Albert de Monaco, Juliette Binoche, the dukes of Cadaval, Hubert de Givenchy (still so good looking), former President of France Valerie Giscard d'Estaing, ambassadors and also Nick Taylor, from Duran Duran. All of them, and many more, were chosen to do a first tour around this incredible exhibition of the best and most iconic pieces of the legendary French jewellers.

My eyes could not stand such overwhelming beauty… The tiaras that belonged to queens and princesas, the necklaces specially done to the Maharaja of Patiala, Liz Taylor's pieces and those from the Duchess of Windsor (the flamingo brooch!!!). I had to return several times to the cabinets to appreciate the details and the magnificent work of craftmanship. 

The organization of the Gala was also excellent. Two very long tables, for two-hundred guests each and a menu designed by star-chef Jean-Pierre Vigato.

Everything was impeccable. I was happy to bump into Agatha Ruiz de la Prada and her daughter Cosima, who was wearing an incredible red dress designed by her mother. 

As gift, we received the catalog of the exhibit, which will be open till February 16th (totally worth it) and a beautiful foulard which I'll use to wrap my loyal computer when travelling…

PS. I wore the Oscar de la Renta dress I've previously used for Foundaleu's Gala in Buenos Aires.

My week in Bs. As...

What a week!

So many things to do in Buenos Aires: social meetings, runway shows and even a Ballet Gala.

The 39th Edition of BAAM (Buenos Aires Alta Moda) began this past Monday. An average of 3 runway-shows a day, a total of 26 presentations, all of them impeccably orchestrated by Héctor and Manu Vidal Rivas.

I went to three of them (Teresa Calandra's, DOT by Laurencio Adot's and Clarin Mujer's) and, as usual, I had lots of fun. 

Summer looks, by Teresa Calandra.

On Tuesday night I went to the ACE Awards ceremony at the El Nacional theatre, where I had the pleasure of bumping into the greatest stars of Argentine theatre, such as Agustín Alezzo, Marilú Marini, Oscar Martínez, Cecilia Roth, Leonor Manso and many more. But mostly I had the chance to share the joy for the awards given to "Le Prenom", a production by RGB, which received the Best Comedy award and the Best Direction award for Arturo Puig. As I've witness, from the very start, the adventure of bringing to Buenos Aires this French piece, I felt proud of my brother-in-law's great job. Congrats Gustavo!

On Friday I've been at the 3rd Gala de Ballet de Buenos Aires, at the Coliseo Theatre, where we enjoyed the performance of a group of very young and talented dancers from around the world: the Russians Sergei Polunin and Daniil Simkiin, Argentines Luciano Barrirero, Pablo Fermani, Juan Pablo Ledo, Colombian Oscar Chacon and Canadian Jason Reilly, among others. All of them outstanding.

The theatre roared in applauses.

Ready to go to the Coliseo.

Finally, after such a hectic week, I spend this Sunday watching TV in my bed!!!

Grammy Awards 2013: My favourite looks...

Beyonce, wearing Lorraine Swartz's jewels. And Rihanna, with an Alaia Haute Couture dress...

The Best and Worst Dressed of 2011's Academy Awards.

I could not miss this year's Oscars... although as I'm in Paris, the time difference with L.A. is huge... 9 hours!!!

So I was just able to see something before surrendering to late night sleep. Above all, I got to see much of the Red Carpet that, for us, women, it one of the most attractive parts of the TV broadcast. 

As usual, I liked best the lighter and brighter dresses... As actresses arrive very early to the Kodak Theatre (around 3 p.m.), darker dresses don't look so well under the sun and the light of day.

Anyway, here's my choice of the best and worst dressed:

Best

1. Halle Berry. She wore a nude embroidered Marchesa that was really divine.

2. Cate Blanchett. A Givenchy Haute Couture dress, very original and "très chic." And she had the right haircut, the right height... just perfect.

3. Hilary Swank. I do not like her body type that much, but I adored her Gucci Première dress, grey, with sequins and feathers.

4. Anne Hathaway. Because of the red vintage Valentino (I have one very similar) and because she arrived hand in hand with Valentino himself. Very "top."

5. Michelle Williams. A Chanel, nude and young, very nice.

Worst

1. Nicole Kidman. She wore a 2009 Haute Couture Christian Dior dress that looked too stiff... I hated it... and the shoes... red!!

2. Helena Bonham Carter. What can I say?... A costume by Collen Atwood, black and sinister. We forgive her because she is English and such a great actress.

3. Penélope Cruz. She is one of my favorite and most beautiful actresses in Hollywood, but after giving birth to her son just a month ago, such a shinny dress did not look good on her. A very vulgar L'Wren Scott outfit.

4. Sharon Stone. I usually love the way she dresses, but yesterday, her black Dior, made her look like Morticia Adams.

5. Scarlett Johansson. An awful Dolce & Gabbana purple lace dress, with transparencies... not good...

Just a few words about the men... Not only he's a great actor, but Colin Firth is also handsome and elegant... tall, chic and married to an Italian.

Lousy host, yet very sexy, James Franco is better as an actor and writer than as a showman. 

I loved Jeremy Renner, ugly and tough, but interesting and sexy. He's the supporting actor of "The Town," which I've already seen twice.

My beloved Javier Bardem has gained too much weight... Does not look good on him...

Max Ryan.

I'm sure many of you did not know him until today...
Max Ryan is a British actor, age 43, who in "Sex & the City 2," plays Samantha's new love interest.
And the truth is that with my friends we were absolutely moved by this gorgeous guy who appears out of nowhere in the middle of the desert. And we didn't know him!!!
So now we do, we now from where he is from, his age and that he has previously been in "Kiss of the dragon," "Death Race" and "The League of Extraordinay Gentlemen."
I believe that from now on, and after his exotic and sexy character, we will never forget him!!

Sanremo Festival: Final Chapter

After five intense nights and the special appearance of guests from all over the World, from Jennifer López to Mary J. Blige, Michael Jackson's choreographer and a dozen songs... Sanremo Festival ended in a complete scandal!

And everything because of the televoting!

Let me tell it to you: in the past, music specialists, singers, composers and producers were part of the Jury. But for some time now, it's the people voting from home who decide who wins... They even have the power to put back in contest those who were previously eliminated. This is what happened with the trio of Prince Emanuele Philiberto de Savoia, who's a really nice, distinguished guy, but he sings like a dog... even worst, he's not even singing at all and he's just starting at this. I appreciate his effort... but there were a lot of really talented professionals in contest, such as Enrico Ruggeri or my favourite Malika Ayane, who have been doing music since childhood!

So, huge scandal at the Ariston Theatre, with the orchestra tossing to the air the pages of the scores while the audience was booing loudly... Never-before-seen here!!!

Malika was eliminated and the three final contenders were the Prince's trio and two other young singers, known here for having participated in other TV contests.

Back to televoting... and the winner is...?
Valerio Scanu, an almost twenty years boy with a romantic ballad... 

Valerio Scanu, the winner.

The runner-ups?

The trio!!! Can you believe it?

This morning people were already talking about some kind of cheating, involving the purchase of hundreds of telephone votes... By who? It's a mystery now...

Anyway, Malika Ayane won the Critics Award, which she totally deserved.

For next year's Festival, I would avoid the televoting or at least, put it under surveillance. 

As for the hostess, Antonella Clerici, she brought the highest ratings in the history of the broadcast of the Festival. However...
How can I put it...?

... I've never seen anyone worst dressed on stage than her...!! Poor Gai Mattiolo, who was in charge of her costume design... All those dresses had nothing to do with a slightly overweighted woman... in fact, they made her look fatter!

However, she seems to be what the Italian people want... apparently...

Audience and orchestra protesting...

Sanremo Festival: Chapter 1

As a child, one of the most awaited events was the Sanremo Song Festival!  I wished for it with a mixture of excitement, pleasure and curiosity...

Do remember that I lived in Montepulciano, a small, antique and chic town, but a town after all, where nothing ever happened, and by the end of the 60s... Internet was very far from existing in my life!

Anyway, I loved preparing my dolls for the big event, to sit them next to me in front of the TV set (which, obviously, was black & white). Beautiful night dresses and gowns were required. I loved it all... the music, the singers, the scandals...

Many decades have gone by now and I come across the Festival once more... I thought I have forgotten all about it... But I'm in Europe, and I've been to Italy the past couple of days, and EVERYONE there was taking about the big musical event of the peninsula! 

So I decided to take this week to enjoy this incredible kermess: a true symbol of my beloved Italy in 2010.

To begin with, Festival's nights, which used to be three, are now five.

The live broadcast lasts three hours minimum and has already shown princes (Emanuele-Philiberto de Savoia, already a winner of 2009 Dancing with the stars, is presenting with Tuscan singer Pupo and a tenor a lousy version of "Italia, amore mio," which, in case you don't know, is about the exile of the Savoia, ex kings of Italy), queens (yesterday's guest of honor was Queen Rania of Jordan, stunning in her black Armani Privé, who happily talked about her humanitarian work, relaxed and visibly in love with Italy), Susan Boyle (the talented English singer who's a complete success in spite of her looks) and even Dita Von Teese (the famous stripeuse presented a show in which she ended with an olive in a huge Martini glass, with almost no clothes on - but hey, not entirely naked... it's the RAI, remember?).

Dita Von Teese

Special Guest, Queen Rania of Jordan

And then, of course, there's the singers, all of whom present new songs to compete for the grand award of this year's Sanremo Festival, which celebrates its 60th edition. 

My personal favorite?

Malika Ayane. Lovely song. A true symbol of today's Italy. Her father's from Morocco and her mother's from Milano... When I was little it was enough to come from Naples to be considered a foreigner...

Thank God the World changes...

I must say something about the Festival's hostess: Antonella Clerici, a very blond, curvy Italian of 46, who used to have a daily cooking TV show around noon.

She moves very spontaneously around the huge stage (which no longer is black & white but instead very colorful and full of lights) and is not afraid to laugh at her own gaffes. 

I'll keep watching tonight and tell you all about it tomorrow...!

Malika Ayane's song

Golden Globes 2010... under the rain!!!

And for once, we had a rainy Golden Globes...
How weird to see all those Hollywood stars under umbrellas, so like normal people...
I know that they are common mortals like us, but seeing them on screen, playing so many different roles, gets you under the impression that they are immune to stuff like rain, cold or any other human misery...
But yesterday it rained hard in Los Angeles and all those actresses who chose curly, wavy or straight hair-dos, had it difficult! Or as Young Victoria's Emily Blunt put it: "I'm English, I'm used to it..."
Anyway, the rain took nothing from a ceremony that was traditional, elegant and glamorous as always...
There were so many fantastic dresses that I get confused... All I can say is that there was a clear tendency to one-shoulder straight long dresses... Of those I saw plenty! They were just like the one I want to wear for the big wedding party I have in Paris on February 6th... But I want mine in red!
I loved the dark green Dior that Marion Cotillard wore and it went perfectly with her chignon...
I also liked Penélope Cruz, who's one of my favorite actresses and looked charming yesterday with her black Armani Privé and her loose hair.
Awful was Nicole Kidman's beige Nina Ricci... it matched her skin tone!
On the contrary, and not because she's Italian as myself, I liked what George Clooney's girlfriend, Elisabetta Cannalis, wore: it was a creamy Versace, that went well with her skin type.
I saw many Elie Saab (a libanese designer who works in Paris), various Roberto Cavalli and some Marchesa (like Kate Hudson's)... also a lot of mistakes!
As for the men, my favorite was Thomas Jane... He's not so popular here yet but he's gonna be a huge star... You must see his TV series "Hung."
I also liked Robert Downey Jr., a great actor and quite goodlooking. Among the elders, Jeff Bridges was OK.
All in all, it was a nice show, an entreé before our main course: the Oscars, coming soon in a month...

Marion Cotillard's Dior

Penélope Cruz by Armani Privé

Robert Downey Jr., nominated for "Sherlock Holmes"

PS: I'm thrilled by the Foreign Film Golden Globe awarded to Michael Haneke's The White Ribbon... great movie!

Nacha Guevara and her shoes...

Last days of parties here in Punta del Este... that is, last days of events followed by journalists from Caras and Gente... there's still going to be private gatherings...

Or at least, I hope so...

Tonight, at Yoo, the building designed and decorated by Phillippe Starck, in the theatre near the magnificent pool on the first floor, the active and efective guys from Mass+ Group (Wally Diamante and Facundo Garayalde) gathered a group of people to attend a show by Nacha Guevara, with Alberto Favero by the piano.

Julio Bocca, Ricardo Piñeiro and many others (but not that many) were among the invited.

It was fun, mainly because of the general mood, very relaxed, with people sitting on comfortable couches and sofas, listening to the music.

Nacha, of course, was fantastic as ever, full of energy and youth.

I was marvelled, though, by her Christian Louboutin shoes... with lace and extra high heels. Definitely a pair of his latest collection which I don't have and have included on our Object of Desire section some time ago...

They looked great on her...

Ok, so Good Night to you all.

I'm exhausted.

Nacha's Louboutin

A night with Julio Iglesias...

Last thing I imagined this morning is that I would end up going to the first of three shows Julio Iglesias is offering at the Conrad Hotel, in Punta del Este...

I haven't thought of him in years... except when, from time to time, I check the Hola at the hairdresser and see pictures of his wonderful family and his absolutely perfect five children.

As for his music... well... I grew up listening to him, but now the oldest band I follow is Coldplay!!

But today, when a journalist friend came home for my usual summer interview for her TV program and said that she had tickets, we decided to go.

Entering the Conrad lobby is a show itself... it feels like being in Las Vegas (although, as I told you before, I've never been to Vegas... but did see many movies!), and I loved that atmosphere, as if  we were somewhere else in the World. Among the audience I saw Valeria Mazza, who's not giving interviews these days because she does not feel like wearing make-up, and Ricardo Fort's mother, who very much feels like doing so...

But above all, I loved seeing once again the most popular Spanish artist on Earth. Or at least, he used to be...

The show was well produced, with a couple of Argentine tango dancers, and two very, very beautiful choir girls... One of them, the one from the Dominican Republic, could perfectly well run for Miss Universe or even challenge Megan Fox. And there was also a solo singer, with a voice similar to that of Leona Lewis, and a great orchestra.

And then, there was him... the same voice still, or maybe better, I think...

His look is stuck in 1973, though: black jacket, and a black vest with four buttons. It killed me. And his hair... so abundant and... dark. I'm not being mean about this... it's just some considerations on style.

The audience, though, mainly between 35 and 70 years old, seemed not to care about those details...

And he is such a professional, always joking about himself, age and sex, and still kissing the women on stage with him, vampire-like, as if sucking youth from them... no exaggerations here...

But we loved it. After 40 years of shows (how many has he done? 6.000... 10.000?), he still has it.

A true artist.

Sigfried and the others...

... And so came the sun!

Finally, after days and days of grey skies, rain and fog, today we had a wonderful sunny day...

And Punta del Este is a fabulous place with sun, and an awful one with lousy weather.

As any other place, one might say. But I don't agree...

Why?

Because it is my theory that everything men did in this place is mediocre, while everything Nature did here is grandiose.

And with the sunny weather, along came the turists and visitoris. Brasilians, Argentines, Paraguayan and celebrities...

That's a new category of visitors for Punta del Este. And I mean top celebrities as those who go to St. Tropez, St. Barth, Miami or Marrakech. The first one to show up was Kevin Bacon, with wife Kyra Sedgwick. But his visit was a matter of timing... he is in fact shooting in Argentina.

It is said that Uma Thurman is in José Ignacio; so is Naomi Campbell and Eva Herzigova; that Bruce Willis is to arrive on January 4th to be DJ in a private party.

And I found out today that Richard Gere is, not exactly in Punta, but in Minas, Lavalleja. It seems that that particular place in Uruguay has a Budist temple (more like a retreat, actually) near Aguas Blancas, 30 km from town. Gere is a loyal follower of the Dalai Lama and the Budist religion. He was even seen doing some groceries at the Ta-Ta supermarket.

Monday night I went to have dinner at Marismo, an open-air restaurant beyond José Ignacio, which is my absolute favourite place in the East. Tables under the stars, lit only by candles, a campfire in the middle and your feet sunk in the sand. Small menu: only six or seven options to choose for starters, main courses and desserts. It's worth the 35 km to go and return from my house!

And just that very Monday at Marismo I run into Alfredo Etchegaray having dinner with a couple from Las Vegas: he was very blond and was wearing a white jacket with golden drawings.

I don't know why but he reminded me of Sigfried of Sigfried & Roy, the famous illusionists from Las Vegas, the ones with the white tigers! I never got to see them, and I never been to Vegas... but in that dark night at Marismo, I thought of Sigfried.

And it was him!

So I was told later...

Sigfried, having a canle-lit dinner at José Ignacio...