Tina D'Souza, David Sutphen

Location: The W Hotel

Photos by Tony Powell

Style Profile: A soigné crowd celebrated the much-anticipated premiere of a documentary by R.J. Cutler that zeroes in on Vogue editor Anna Wintour as she and her impossibly hard-working staff put together the famed September 2007 issue, the largest in the magazine’s history. Of course, the screen style legends were nearly eclipsed by the evening’s very chic guests at the after-party hosted by the Gilt Group. Stylistas: Mary Barth, Lindsay Czarniak, Jessica Gibson, Omar Popal, and Ylan McClintock.

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The W Hotel Washington and John Legend put on a grand opening performance, Pollywood style

By Michael M. Clements

Operatic performers set a classical mood. Photo by Tony Powell

Purple lights flooded the historic Beaux Arts exterior of the officially opened W Hotel Washington on a perfect fall evening. There was a formidable red carpet with a large logo-emboldened step-and-repeat with a special “VIP-only” entrance – for those worthy of being photographed in front of said corporate logos; photographers who waited patiently outside the velvet rope for the star power to roll in; and black-clad PR mavens with clipboards and headsets greeting guests with “Are you on the list?” Indeed, it was an event game-planned straight out of film screening/celebrity restaurant openings of Los Angeles and New York. But, this isn’t Los Angeles or New York. It’s Washington. Not to say Washington can’t be chic. It can be. But we don’t have to be Los Angeles or New York, or Miami for that matter. In fact, we revel in not being any of these cities because of how hard they try sometimes. If the opening of the W Hotel Washington proves anything, it’s that Washington is continuing to develop its unique Pollywood style – and that, is a good thing.

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Washington’s fashionistas get a slice of the Big Apple at the premiere of “The September Issue”

By Kevin Chaffee
Photos by Tony Powell

Darcy Jones, Nathaniel Fogg, Alexandra Wilkis Wilson and Alexis Maybanks. Photo by Tony Powell.

It may have been the doggiest of the dog days of August but that didn’t prevent local glitterati from turning out for the Washington premiere of “The September Issue” Wednesday night. ?

Invitation e-mails were sent only a few weeks ago for the much-anticipated event hosted by the online shopping website Gilt.com at the Landmark E Street Cinema, which was filled to capacity to see Vogue editrix-in-chief Anna Wintour in action as she forged the famed September 2007 issue of her magazine from scratch over a sixth month period. Why famed, you may ask? Answer: the 800-plus-page issue was the largest in Vogue’s history and the cause of much celebration in those pre-recessionary times. ??

Guests enjoyed the behind-the-scenes action as Wintour and her staff forge ahead to final deadline, arguing over photo spreads, dismissing carloads of expensive designer duds as “simply not for us,” tossing out $50,000 fashion shoots, and making snide comments behind each other’s backs. Much to everyone’s surprise, the real star of the show wasn’t Wintour at all, but the magazine’s longtime creative director, Grace Coddington, a fabulously frowsy redhead in her late 60s who couldn’t care less how she looks in a mirror or anywhere else. The flamboyant Andre Leon Talley also captures a few scenes, all of which he plays for laughs. My personal favorite: the obese Talley futilely trying to lose weight on a tennis court as a hunky instructor lobs balls his way. Biggest surprise: the total non-role played by European Editor-at-Large Hamish Bowles, who never gets a single word on camera.??

The W Hotel is Washington’s new oasis of chic, and the 200 or so guests who showed up for the post-screening party must be commenced for their effort to replicate the height of New York chic (mile-high heels, short skin-tight dresses) despite the sticky weather. Spotted sipping rose Champagne and taking the tiniest little bites of lobster: White House staffer Mona Sutphen, Biden communications director Courtney O’Donnell, deputy social secretary Sally Armbruster, CNN’s Michelle Jaconi, Fox Channel 5 anchor Will Thomas, Katie Rost, sports reporter Lindsay Czarniak, Amy Baier, Anais de Viel Castel, Paul Wharton, Annie Groer, and Mary Barth.

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