September 16 – It’s always feast or famine, and right now we’re stuffed. Smack in the middle of Fashion Week, and a few days after his wife, Marie Claudinette, showed her clothing line, Wyclef Jean celebrated his new album, The Preacher's Son. Music industry legend Clive Davis co-hosted the party, Patti Labelle joined Wyclef in song, and a bunch of notables were in the audience. Why they couldn’t do it at the Bryant Park tents is beyond us, (or better yet, next week).

Sophia Loren went easier on us, screening her 100th film at the Bryant Park Hotel, directly across the street from the tents. (In fact, Narciso Rodriguez stepped out of a limo, staring confusedly at the crowd of paparazzi that should have been waiting for his fashion show. We’ll be right over, Narciso.) Anyway, Sophia’s 100th film, Between Strangers, marks the directorial debut of her son, Edoardo Ponti. Loren, dressed simply in a suit with a diamond necklace, looks incredible at 70. Must be that red wine thing we’re always hearing about.

The same evening, Woody Allen’s newest, Anything Else, premiered with stars Christina Ricci, Jason Biggs, Stockard Channing and Danny DeVito on hand. Sam Rockwell, George Stephanopoulos, Anh Duong and Isaac Mizrahi all skipped the Narciso Rodriguez show to be there.

September 13 - Elusive author J.T. Leroy actually showed up for his Fashion Week bash at Coral Room, albeit disguised in blonde wig and sunglasses. Indie actors Leo Fitzpatrick and Natasha Lyonne and art-rock god Casey Spooner read from Leroy’s work. Leroy’s art-rock band Thistle performed for the crowd that included Courtney Love, Damon Dash, Matthew Modine, Julia Stiles, Mick Rock and Rufus Wainwright. We arrived late, and found Love at a table in the club’s VIP area. At one point she left the club and went outside, went over to Damon Dash’s car, touched the driver, almost grabbing his lapels, and said, “I’m white! I’m white! Jay-Z wouldn’t let me into his party!” (Jay-Z was partying that evening at his bar 40/40.) The surprised driver said and did nothing, and Courtney went back into the bar, where she was appeased by a flack, stayed for another hour or so, then got into a Town car and left. Needless to say, we were shocked. We had no idea Courtney Love was white.

September 12 - At the opening party of the elegant Salvatore Ferragamo boutique on Fifth Avenue, we played a game of who’s wearing Ferragamo? Anh Duong: “No. My shoes are Valentino. Shhh. Don’t tell anyone.” Ivana Trump: “Actually, I’m wearing…What is this? [To boyfriend Rossano Rubicondi, who checked the label.] Prada and Valentino handbag.” David Copperfield: “Uh, I think my underwear is Ferragamo.” Karolina Kurkova: “I’m wearing YSL and this great Ferragamo bag.” Alek Wek (big smile): “Ferragaaamo!” Connie Nielsen: “Ferragamo.” Drag hostess Brini Maxwell: “Chad Evans.” Labels undetermined but having a blast: Damon Dash, Bridget Hall, Kyle MacLachlan, May Anderson and the entire Ferragamo clan (although we can make a good guess in their case.)

September 10 – Even Nicole Kidman gets starstruck. At the premiere of The Human Stain, Kidman was clearly in awe of her date, screen legend Lauren Bacall. At one point the two even kissed. (Take that Madonna and Britney!) When a reporter asked Kidman who she thinks is sexy, she thought for a moment, and then said, “Oh boy, I’d better not answer that. When I answer that I end up getting married.” (Is that how she met Tom Cruise?) And gentlemen, if you want Nicole to think you’re sexy, try sending her some Chinese food, because she enjoys that when spending a quiet evening at home. Meanwhile, Kidman upheld her image as a fashion icon, wearing a man-tailored suit by Hedi Slimane of Dior Homme. Her costar in the film, Gary Sinise, said that Philip Roth’s book was difficult to transfer to the screen: “You’re limited, and you have to choose your scenes in this particular picture.” No word on who's sexy to him either.

September 8-9 – Gwen Stefani, singer, actress, garmento (garmenta?). The No Doubt lead singer, who is currently shooting a film with Leonardo DiCaprio and Cate Blanchett, is now a fashion designer. Her new clothing line, L.A.M.B., will be in stores in eight to nine months, but check out the photo at left for a preview. For those who can’t wait, Gwen’s line of bags, L.A.M.B. for LeSportsac, is available now, and she’s been promoting it around town, at Macy’s and later at a cocktail party at The Four Seasons. This is a one-time deal with LeSportsac, so get yours now before it becomes a collector’s item.

Speaking of pretty blondes and clothing, at the premiere of the movie Dummy,
a dressed-down and pig-tailed Daryl Hannah insisted that she wasn’t well dressed enough to be photographed. We convinced her that she looked great, and she relented. Also looking pretty good were Dummy’s stars Adrien Brody, Milla Jovovich, Illeana Douglas and Vera Farmiga.

Another dressed-down star, Drew Barrymore, turned up for the premiere of Sofia Coppola’s latest, Lost in Translation, starring Scarlet Johansson and Bill Murray. And so, it seems, did everybody else. At the screening and after party at the Maritime Hotel: Gina Gershon, Laura Linney, Lili Taylor, Janeane Garofolo, Debbie Harry, Kelly Klein, Helmut Lang, Donna Karan, Julian Schnabel and Josh Hartnett.

September 7 – At the New York premiere of the movie Once Upon a Time in Mexico, we met Jane Krakowski wearing Costume National, Melanie Griffith in sexy floor-length red Gucci, Salma Hayek in form-fitting black Donna Karan. Antonio Banderas and Anna Kournikova were both wearing clothing designed by someone called I Don’t Know. Must be Italian. We didn’t find out what Mary Stuart Masterson and Sharon Osbourne were wearing. Johnny Depp wore a pinstriped dark suit with v-neck t-shirt, a scarf around his waist peeking out under the jacket, and battered boots. At the after party at Guastavino, Depp didn’t show up, but Australian-born actor Marco Leonardi (Cinema Paradiso, Like Water for Chocolate) wondered why everyone was speaking to him in Spanish, since he’s Italian. What we want to know is what happened to the mole that used to be smack in the middle of Enrique Iglesias’ face?

September 3 - 4 - We spent two days in Washington, D.C. with Britney Spears, Mary J. Blige, Aretha Franklin, Aerosmith, Good Charlotte and assorted politicos at the NFL’s (that’s the US National Football League to you foreigners) season kickoff festivities. When a reporter asked Britney her opinion of using the Washington Mall – federal land – for commercial and advertising purposes, an NFL flack jumped in and said, “This is not what we’re here to talk about”. What we thought were casts on Britney’s feet were just mutilated socks: “My feet were cold. I had flip-flops on, so I cut a hole in the toes so I could put socks on.” Britney also said that Madonna had given her the diamond “B” necklace a few days before their famous MTV kiss. We didn’t get to ask Britney’s grandfather what he thought about her girl-girl kiss on international TV. That evening, we stumbled upon Mary J. and Britney doing sound checks, which is when we got the close-up photos at left (at the next day’s live concert we were stationed, oh, about six miles from the stage). The rehearsals were taped as backup in case of torrential rain the next day, but nature cooperated. Oh yes, Britney’s shorter hairdo was a wig. At the press conference, members of the military introduced the performers, who were asked if they knew anyone serving in the armed forces. We weren’t paying much attention at this point, but Mary J. had some family member or other who’d served, the Good Charlotte guys knew some, and we think Britney did not. Feel free to correct us if we’re wrong. Happy football.

September 3 - Ah, September. Back to school, back to work. Even back in time. This afternoon we traveled to the 1980s when Rosie O’Donnell and Boy George, collaborating on the upcoming Broadway musical Taboo, made their first public appearance together at Broadway’s first-ever Internet press conference. We were warned that only questions pertaining to Taboo would be entertained; the computer’s “delete” button would be liberally employed when other topics were introduced. Taboo is partly about Boy George’s early 1980s rise on the London scene, but in the stage production George portrays the late, equally flamboyant performance artist Leigh Bowery. Taboo was a hit in London; let’s see what Rosie’s infamous tyranny will do for the U.S. version.

That evening, people who were mere babes in the 1990s turned out to celebrate that decade’s decadence at the premiere of the indie film Party Monster. Macaulay Culkin, Seth Green Chloe Sevigny, Wilson Cruz and Natasha Lyonne all appear in the movie, along with some of the original club kids. Wilmer Valderrama is in the film, and his That 70s Show costars Mila Kunis and Danny Masterson joined Anne Hathaway, Rachael Leigh Cook and Rosario Dawson for the premiere and party at the club Plaid.