Political Mania and Famous Faces

I was at the Narciso Rodriguez show this evening where I met Diane English, the director of the upcoming film "The Women." She's best known for her long-running television show "Murphy Brown." Everyone has been talking politics between shows and this being an industry filled with East Coast types no one would be surprised to discover that most of the conversation has been about Barack Obama. And despite a story on "Good Morning America" that described Sarah Palin as a "fashion icon" because of her floppy up-do and her glasses, I can pretty much guarantee you that few people in this crowd are finding inspiration in her style.

I bring all this up because English was chatting with other famous folks as we waited for the show and noted that if only she still had her show... she could have such fun with this political season. I can only imagine what Murphy Brown would have to say about all of this.

Other famous faces at the Narciso show included Julianna Margulies, who is quite simply stunning in person, and Claire Danes, who never fails to look annoyed and aggravated whenever she turns up at a fashion show. Her irritation seems to be that photographers want to take her picture, which would seem to be the point of an actress walking into a room filled with media.

The highlight of the evening was dinner at Del Posto, the Joe and Lidia Bastianich and Mario Batali Italian restaurant on 10th Avenue. It was completely unrelated to the fashion shows, but I mention it because the food was quite tasty and perhaps this means I will be able to call the $28 chocolate tasting a business expense. Or not.

Read Robin Givhan's latest story from New York Fashion Week.