Clinton Campaign Went Pfft, But Arianna Huffington Perpetuates Liberal Pantsuit Legacy

The second of Arianna Huffington’s New York parties for her subtly titled book, Right Is Wrong: How the Lunatic Fringe Hijacked America, Shredded the Constitution, and Made Us All Less Safe, published by Knopf, took place at the Upper East Side store of Italian designer Domenico Vacca on the evening of Monday, June 23. (The first was on May 9 at the Chambers Hotel, co-hosted by Rolling Stone publisher Jann Wenner and former Viacom CEO Tom Freston.)

Ms. Huffington, who was dressed in a tan pantsuit and an off-white silk blouse designed by Mr. Vacca, said she met the designer one year ago at a Tribeca Film Festival dinner, where she was introduced to him by friend and TFF president, Jennifer Maguire Isham.

“She said to me, ‘Domenico makes the perfect shirt,’ and she said it with such confidence and passion, as if it were the only shirt,” said Ms. Huffington, who now owns Mr. Vacca’s shirts in every solid color (prints aren’t her thing, she explained). “I had given up wearing shirts, especially on television, because you would see yourself later and the collar is flipped, and flopped, and withered. Compared to the major issues we’re dealing with, a perfect shirt is a great thing.”

Mr. Vacca, meanwhile, called Ms. Huffington an inspiration. “Like Arianna, my muse is a successful woman, who gets up in the morning wanting to do something that fulfills her,” he said. “She is powerful and secure, but has femininity and style, which is lacking today because everyone wants to be naked and young.”

The Transom was surprised to find cuddly Craigslist founder Craig Newmark mingling with the swells. “I’m not normally on the Upper East Side at a place as expensive as this,” he conceded. “I prefer to do all my New York shopping at Daffy’s.”

ialeksander@observer.com