The Week in Parties
♦ As we've heard, the financial crisis isn't stopping the benefit crowd from turning out, and Tuesday night's New Yorkers for Children Annual Fall Gala managed to rake in $1.85 million with the help of Mariska Hargitay, Julianne Moore, Juliana Margulies, Christine and Steve Schwarzman, Andrew Saffir and Daniel Benedict, Campion Platt, Lauren Remington Platt, Annelise Peterson, Adam Lippes, Patti LaBelle, Annie Churchill, Oscar de la Renta, Moises de la Renta, Julie Macklowe, Nancy Jarecki, Hope Atherton, Olivia Palermo, Holly Dunlap, Denise Wohl, Frederic Fekkai, John Demsey, Jeff Zucker, Gillian Hearst Simonds, Kelly Killoren Bensimon, Zac Posen, Lola Schnabel, Tory Burch and Lyor Cohen, Robert and Nanette Lepore, Isabel and Ruben Toledo, Olivia Chantecaille, Gillian and Sylvester Miniter, Julia Restoin Roitfeld (pictured), Zani Gugelmann, Peter Davis, Lydia Fenet, Bettina Zilkha, Stephanie Winston Wolkoff, Dayssi Olarte de Kanavos, Meredith Melling Burke, Muffie Potter Aston, Jamee Gregory, Heather Mnuchin, Aerin Lauder Zinterhofer, Jamie Tisch, Amanda Cutter Brooks, Marjorie Gubelmann, Poppy de Villeneuve, Jennifer Creel, Marina Rust Connor, Sylvana Soto-Ward, Jessica Joffe, Taylor Momsen, Blake Lively, Jimmy Fallon, Kevin Liles, Beyoncé and Jay-Z, Gayle King, Gilles Mendel, Maggie Betts, Topper and Tinsley Mortimer, Monet Mazur and Alex de Rakoff, Joy Bryant, Kelly Klein, Sylvana Soto-Ward, Horacio Silva, Patrick McMullan, Fabiola Beracasa, and Angel Sanchez. [The Daily, Park Ave Peerage, PMc]
♦ Last night was the opening of the Assouline bookstore at the Plaza. Enjoying the selection of art, fashion and photography books: Reinaldo and Carolina Herrera, Hayley and Jason Binn, Delphine and Reed Krakoff, Lee Radziwill, Thierry Despont, Prosper and Martine Assouline, Daniel Boulud, Catherine Malandrino, George Lois, Kelly Killoren Bensimon, and Bettina Zilkha. [GoaG, PMc]
♦ After a long delay, fate dictated that Todd English would open his Libertine bar in Jason Pomeranc's Financial District hotel Gild Hall this week. Peter Davis, Topper and Tinsley Mortimer, Andrès and Lauren Santo Domingo, Matthew Moinian, Michael Marz, Kathryn Neale and Sam Shaffer, Melissa Bent, Hud Morgan, Fabiola Beracasa, John and Eleanor Ylvisaker, Danny Baker, Diego Garcia, Charlotte Ronson, Dani Stahl, Shoshanna Lonstein Gruss, Dori Cooperman, Rory Guinness, Ali Wise, Byrdie Bell, Simon Hammerstein, Bonnie Morrison, Jackie Astier, Thom Felicia, Elise Overland, Douglas Hannant, and Hope Atherton partied like the world wasn't falling apart. [PMc, GoaG]
♦ Also on Wednesday night, Vanity Fair hosted a party at the Tod's store on Madison Avenue to benefit the Watermill Center. Peter Davis, Amanda Hearst, Luigi Tadini, Lisa Anastos, Kristian Laliberte, Anisha Lakhani, Douglas Marshall, Patrick MacDonald, Melissa Berkelhammer, Dori Cooperman, Stephanie Wei, Campion Platt, Lauren Ezersky, Tracy Stern, Susan Shin, Rufus Wainwright, and Liam McMullan all showed their support. [Paper, PMc]
♦ That same evening, the Cinema Society and Dior Beauty screened Battle in Seattle, starring Charlize Theron and written and directed by her boyfriend Stuart Townsend, at the Tribeca Grand. Treading the red carpet: the film's stars Michelle Rodriguez and Ray Liotta, Andrew Saffir, Selita Ebanks, Val Kilmer, Byrdie Bell, Bettina Zilkha, Nigel Barker, Tinsley Mortimer, and Bruce Weber. [The Daily, Wireimage, PMc]