The White House Correspondents Association Dinner got under way about an hour ago, and the city has been crawling with celebrities all weekend, including the Jonas Brothers and OMG Justin Bieber (who I only knew about by reading The New York Times…god I’m old). Just heard that Joe and Kevin Jonas and JUSTINOMG are all wearing Brooks Brothers this evening – Joe in the line’s Fitzgerald tux, Kevin in a Black Fleece number, and Justin in Golden Fleece. Fitting for Washington, where the suits (albeit the line’s boxier, less sophisticated, notinvitedtotheVanityFairparty friends) are omnipresent. I’ll be snapping photos and hanging out with (my girl) Scarlett Johansson at Niche Media’s Capitol File Magazine after-party tonight, so, coverage to come!

Walker Lamond of Rules for My Unborn Son, one of my most favorite stylish (and wise…) men-about-town, is hosting a little get-together Wednesday with VP of men’s design at J.Crew, Frank Muytjens. J.Crew’s head women’s designer Jenna Lyons has been getting so much press attention recently that it’s nice to see Mr. Muytjens get out from behind his book-crammed, refreshingly unassuming office. (Side note: Jenna Lyons and I share an identical philosophy on pants, I realized, flipping through a recent Lucky magazine; that is, go big – dramatic wide-legs, major volume, super skinny – or go home.)

Frank Muytjens, photo courtesy ACL

This flier is probably meant to be emailed as opposed to posted, so here at the details:

J.CREWREQUESTS the PLEASURE of YOUR COMPANY
for SOME SINGLE MALT (AND A BIT of STYLE TOO)

Our head men’s designer Frank Muytjens will be on hand to talk shop.
(ask him about the elements of a great suit, what’s in
our Secret Wash or other burning questions…)

Wednesday, April 28th
6–8pm

Hosted by:
Grant Allen
Vinoda Basnayake
Matthew Donohue
Walker Lamond
Andrew Reese
David Smith

J.Crew Men’s Shop
3222 M St. NW
Washington DC
Kindly RSVP to: 212 209 2737

Guests will received 15% off all purchases (exclusions may apply)

A few months ago I had the pleasure of meeting designer Norman Ambrose at Neiman Marcus. It was a random weekend day, I was there as part of errand-running, but I knew his work from last year’s Spring preview, where I saw one of his impeccable hand-beaded gowns for the first time. Aside from being enormously talented (he’s not yet 30) and sharply-dressed (he prefers the trad-but-slim-cut stylings of Tom Ford suits…for now, til he ventures into menswear), he’s wonderfully gracious and funny.

His line is so fantastically ladylike and classic, reminiscent of the days when women dressed for lunch, dinner and cocktails. Fittingly, he imagined an heiress making her trans-Atlantic voyage for his Spring collection.

Such shameless romance and fantasy! His off-white silk gown was inspired by what he called the “intelligent elegance” of Grace Kelly in To Catch a Thief. Designing with glamour in mind is in his DNA: after fleeing Europe during WWII, his grandmother came to California and worked for silver screen designer Irene Lenz.

Norman asked a model to slip into this dress while we talked. The lining on this incredible party dress is just one example of the thoughtful details that set his pieces apart – the drape falls away from the body just so, and the coral lining creates a flattering pink glow on the exposed skin. Built-in lighting. Genius (I might add that Dorothy Draper often lined her curtains in pink to, I assume, achieve something of the same effect).

With a classy outfit or with something more casual and surprising, I love love love this “peony” evening jacket.

I’m so ready for Spring, can you tell (and look closely, the merchandise is already hitting stores)?! Since we are still in the throes of the cold winter months, though, I’m loving this iteration of the iconic YSL Le Smoking.

Lost Boys owner Kelly Muccio knows great clothes, and she clearly knows what men will look great in them – namely, the droves of Washington men who shop there – and now, the (very attractive and ahem, agile) men of our hometown soccer team, DC United. Muccio gathered the team, some of the best new clothes of the season, and shot them for the store’s fall lookbook – being unveiled tonight, in just a few short hours, at the Georgetown shop. The details on the party: Rodney (top – love this look) and Devon (love the fingerless gloves! not so sure about the cargos, but he had me at the lumberjack shirt) will be there with the team starting at 8, and then the crew heads over to the Degrees Bar at the Ritz, where the boys will guest bartend in style.

Thank the waitstaff.

Last night I attended a party celebrating the release of Walker Lamond’s book, Rules for my Unborn Son, at the at the amazingly gorgeous home of his friends Meg and Chris Ferguson on Dumbarton Street. Walker’s been here on the blog a time or two, and over at Washingtonian, and now he’s well, everywhere. Walker’s one of my favorite men in town, and such success couldn’t have come to a nicer, cooler person. The book is witty, useful and full of life tips for not just how to be a good man, but how to be an interesting, charming person. The advice goes far beyond rules for men – anyone can and should take notes. A sampling of wisdom:

Be subtle. She sees you.
Know the proper time to wear a tuxedo. It’s more often than you think.
Dance with your partner, not at her.
The best thing to do in the rain is be quiet and listen.
Don’t show off. Impress.

For fun, I asked Walker to give a Rules spin to a few questions and fill-in-the-blanks (those are fun, don’t you think? I’d like to see more people bent over Mab Libs on the Metro in the morning…):

Every guy should own CORDOVAN WINGTIPS and know how to TIE A BOWTIE and BAIT A HOOK.

Every girl should own BICYCLE and know how to RIDE IT IN A DRESS.

Guys should lay off the DISTRESSED JEANS AND GRAPHIC TEES.

Girls should lay off the GROUP PHOTOS.

Favorite online sites for men’s style inspiration: A CONTINUOUS LEAN

List of men who inspire great style: BOBBY KENNEDY, THOM BROWN, BASQUIAT, JACK EVANS, YOUNG WOODY ALLEN, DAVID LYNCH, BING CROSBY, GRANDFATHERS

I could go on, but you should probably buy the book instead (for yourself, a holiday gift, the guy you’re dating). And conveniently, there’s a book signing today at the Borders in Friendship Heights from 7-8 (I’ve begun thinking in rules as I write this: – perfect your signature).

Next up, Rules for My Unborn Daughter-?!

Co-owner & man of the hour Kelly Gorsuch (formerly at Urban Style Lab) and Redeem’s Lori Parkerson, who contributed clothes for the site’s photo shoot.

Victoria Kurzweg, who modeled for the salon’s site, and Matty Taylor from the local band Tennis System.

flash…

…or no flash? Loved the hipster-poet look on the stylist from Salon Blu (center), and this woman’s embroidered tunic – her mother’s – was totally fantastic.

With Victoria Kurzweg, Jennifer Thornton and Lesley Benn.

Heaven looks like Lesley’s shoe closet. These are Chloe Sevigny for Opening Ceremony. Bitchin.’

Adam from Marvin, who got a huge hug from me for wearing Carhartt overalls last weekend at my KEYA party.

The Kennedy Brothers in Hyannis Port, 1960. Photo from the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum.

They had it in spades, didn’t they?

My friend Lex wrote to say that while on the Obama campaign, he heard that John F. Kennedy used to change his suit three times a day so he looked fresh wherever he went. Elegance + idealism = a powerful combination.

If you’re in DC, local streetwear label DURKL teams up with Palace5 to launch their limited-edition sunglasses (100 available).

If you’re in NYC, Michael Williams, author of one of my fave style-blogs-for-guys, A Continuous Lean, hosts, along with Randy Goldberg of Kempt, a very cool sounding pop-up ‘flea” complete with barber haircuts.

BIGGER version of the poster here.

{photo Steve Goldenberg}

On the Go
Fashionistas, This One’s for You
By Lavanya Ramanathan
Friday, June 5, 2009

What do you do with fashion photographs that, oddly, aren’t trying to sell clothing, a way of life or desirable body type? Honfleur Gallery, arts-support organization Ten Miles Square and the blog Project Beltway make a case that such images belong on gallery walls. “Flaunt” is their exhibit featuring 20 slick and styled photos exploring fashion’s value as costume and cultural force.

Steve Goldenberg catches scruffy scenesters on K Street at rush hour; dressed in crayon-bright garb by Durkl, the men are brilliant peacocks in a gray-and-black sea of worker drones. In the background of one, a little girl shoots a look of pure disgust at the camera: The men’s fashion makes them different, and around here, that’s undesirable. A lovely blond model tromps around in designer Taimur Baig’s red carpet-ready gown, but who can bother to notice it when the model is viciously bashing a mannequin to bits?

For this show, Ten Miles Square brought in photographers Joshua Yospyn, John Ulaszek, Meaghan Gay and Goldenberg, while Project Beltway enlisted local designers, including Baig and Dana Greaves, to pair off and create these photographs. Together, the artists and designers fashioned images distinctly in the artists’ style, which explains why the dresses in Gay’s macabre photo series of seemingly perfect women barely make it into the frame.

Though “Flaunt” is about photography, there’s no better time to see it than tomorrow night, when you can also check out some of the fashions. The exhibit closes with a runway show of clothes created by the designers; upstairs, Honfleur hosts a pop-up boutique of the designers’ wares.Tickets to “Flaunt” are $10 and must be bought in advance. 8:30 p.m. tomorrow. Honfleur Gallery, 1227 Good Hope Rd. SE. 202-580-5972 or http://www.honfleurgallery.com.