Amy Astley

Each New Year brings with it the obligatory slate of resolutions. And like some college-level sociological experiment, each New Year also brings with it a slate of stories about what famous people have resolved to either quit—smoking, say—or begin—usually something kind of boring, like marathon training or French classes. True to form, WWD recently called some executives in the magazine world to ask them what they hope to accomplish, respectively, in 2008.

Vanity Fair honcho Graydon Carter, who also happens to own a restaurant famous for its tony, truffled mac ‘n’ cheese, is working towards “less food, more exercise.” Meanwhile, Mr. Carter’s publisher, Edward Menicheschi, wants more-or-less the same thing, though he was slightly more specific, aiming to “cut back to four nights a week at the Waverly.”  read more »

It’s springtime for Oscar in autumn! We just came from Oscar de la Renta’s Pre-Fall 2008 show, held in an old church on Park Avenue and 63rd Street. It seems even Old School fashion bigwigs like Mr. De la Renta are starting to acknowledge the fact that balmy temps can, these days, extend well into November.

Sure, there were plenty of black cashmere sweaters, dark brown suede boots, tortoiseshell patent clutches and sepia wool faille jackets to whet the appetites of onlookers like Vogue’s Anna Wintour and, a few seats to her left, Teen Vogue’s Amy Astley. But what really drew a few wide-eyed gasps—and a lone clap—from the modish onlookers was the abundance of color. Bright color—in floral, sequined prints, no less! Circumambulating one another in figure-eights and cockeyed circles, tall models (in even taller boots) stomped around the platter-shaped runway as if in some nightmare runway challenge on ANTM. At least their floral cloqué brocade skirts, harlequin ribbon belts, plum silk georgette dresses and emerald silk hammered satin gowns made it easy to avoid an eminent collision.

Continue reading after the jump.  read more »