After a Fashion
How many times did Stephen wear that suit? Come along to the premiere of the Domain and this year's Texas Film Hall of Fame.
By Stephen MacMillan Moser, Fri., March 16, 2007
ALLEY-CATTING I was at there at 8:30am on Wednesday. I know, I can hardly believe it myself. But the allure of having Breakfast at Tiffany's was too much, so I dragged myself out of bed, put on the suit I'd worn the night before, and flew up the freeway to find this place, the Domain, that I'd never been to. (Note to self: Never again take the Braker exit off MoPac.) The event was the Tiffany & Co. opening, Breakfast at Tiffany's, and I was not the only one who trekked up there that morning. The place was jammed, as a matter of fact, and for many of us, it was our first glimpse of the Domain. Everything looked beautiful, like a village all its own, ready to burst open to customers. Pretty charming, I have to say. Tiffany had the cool cachet and luxe interiors we expected, and the cases were brimming with dazzling baubles and trinkets. The store promises to do bang-up business here. Across the "street" was Louis Vuitton and a host of other retailers and restaurants, and to the right, anchoring the site, is another temple of fashion, Neiman Marcus. Thursday's opening of Neiman's was at night – a very different view of the Domain and definitely a "big brooch" affair. So I dug out my biggest, most sparkly piece and hit the road. Ablaze with light, Neiman's looked like opening night at the Metropolitan Opera. As far as the eye could see, it was a sea of gowns and tuxes in every department of this palace. The reaction had to have been everything the store could have hoped for, and, yeah, I really liked it. On to the sponsor party for Texas Film Hall of Fame: Well, the outfit was good, so I had to work it – which was truly faboo. We visited with Rick Linklater (we joked about the preparty being our annual reunion) and gathered 'round while Betty Buckley sang "Amazing Grace," sipping wine and basking in the slow glow of the calm before the big event, the Texas Film Hall of Fame on Friday.
THOUGHT FOR THE DAY How much does Linda Evangelista get paid to get out of bed these days?
FAN OF FAME It just seems like one long party after a while, and it's exhausting. Sometimes I have to recover for days afterward. And my crew of girlfriends that I see at all these parties? I don't know how they do it, when they have husbands and children to take care of, as well as the relentless party circuit. Sometimes you just say, "No," like I did for the Austin Film Society's Texas Film Hall of Fame After Party. No, not one more party, thank you. But we had plenty of party at the TFHOF Awards to last us a few days. This was not the wildly youthful TFHOF with over-the-top presentations of yesteryear and glamour so thick you could eat it with a spoon. Not the free-wheelin' days of backstage hijinks and onstage craziness. No, it was a more mature, more circumspect TFHOF, more meaningful and sincere, if you will. Of course, as a tribute to Ann Richards, there was a certain somberness about the event, but the mood was celebratory rather than mournful. Ann's dear friend Liz Smith emceed the night, and there's no question that Austin loves the old gal. Liz received a TFHOF Award back at the very first show seven years ago. Ann had introduced her lavishly back then in 2001, and they were both pure magic together – and that magic was readily apparent. Lily Tomlin spoke movingly of Ann (I think Lily is a goddess), as did Lance Armstrong and Anna Deavere Smith. Dixie Chicks Martie Maguire and Emily Robison were honored, as were handsome and affable Bill Paxton and the lovely Betty Buckley, who was so gracious and beautiful, she just knocked my socks off. And then there was Ann-Margret: You could hardly hear her, but you didn't need to. She was inducting her movie State Fair into the TFHOF, done up like a rootin' tootin' cowgirl in her red-and-black fringed jacket, pants, and boots. With her hair artfully arrayed, tinted aviator sunglasses, and a cowboy hat pulled waaay forward, she was ageless. What a woman. What a night.
