'Seventeen' Party Makes Friends Friendly
Did we know that West Village gastropub-whatever hotspot Spotted Pig had a third floor? We did not, but the gals at Seventeen did, and so they threw the tiniest of parties there last night to celebrate new editor Ann Shoket's first issue. Entrance through the rear, as they say! The top floor is like a cute Parisian apartment, with an open kitchen, two refrigerators, a hell of an oven. And so how was extremely tall editor Ann Shoket's day? "Meetings, meetings, meetings, meetings, meetings, and then a party!" the East Village gal said. She was in a two-tone dress, white in the bodice, black to the knees, black hose, undistinguished but not untoward shiny closed-toe heels.
Elizabeth Dye, who came over from Hearst PR last June to handle "special projects," was herself wearing that thing where you have a dress over jeans. She didn't know what we were supposed to call that either. Did all the special projects editors of the world's magazines ever get together and figure out just what made a project special? "It's such an ominous title!" she said. "It's a new frontier." Today she will launch podcasts. It was she who arranged for a Seventeen editor to judge on America's Next Top Model. It was suggested that maybe Tina Brown was right all along about synergy, just maybe too early, or too big-headed?
There was a short surprise speech, by Joanna Saltz, executive style editor. "It's been a pleasure this far. Ann's big thing is that 'It's fun to be Seventeen' and it has been a lot of fun—this far."
There are a lot of blondes at the magazine.
A server passed among the ladies, offering a pink-inflected cake. Were any of them really going to eat cake in front of each other? "We have to offer it, though," the server said.
And then Jossip blogger Debbie Newman met Radar's Jeff Bercovici. (For those paying attention to the minutia, Radar is in some spat with former Jossip blogger and current Page Sixer Corynne Steindler.) Debbie has a big-earrings and head-banded Arden Wohl sort of look, which perhaps affects every girl of their generation from the same high school.
Debbie was nervous. "I feel like there's stuff that precedes me," she said to Jeff about the spat. "Well, there is stuff that precedes you," Jeff said. Friends! Maybe!
It was like a blogger party really! Except Niche Media honcho and Wall Street heir Jason Binn was there, his tie all the way up. "There's an hour-long wait downstairs," he said of the Spotted Pig. "They're fucking killing." There was a reporter from the Wall Street Journal. And Portfolio. And someone from the New Yorker breezed by. So you see what was up. Meanwhile, Edward Burns was downstairs in the Spotted Pig proper.
In the corner of the room was a big poster-size version of Seventeen, which some people were signing like a yearbook. "You didn't know it was like my bat mitzvah," said Ann.
One wrote: "We are so happy about the really FUN Seventeen! -xo Holly."
And another:
"Ann [heart] all the Fun & love [heart] [peace sign] Richie Rich."