There is a huge difference between the L.A. and NYC celebrity soiree scene, which I realized at the Juicy Couture store opening on 5th Avenue the other night.
As I breezed past the glamorous Juicy Couture designers Pamlea Skaist-Levy and Gela Nash-Taylor and headed upstairs during the extravagant bash, I thought, this would never happen in L.A.! In Hollywood, nearly ever A-list event has a V.I.P. area which always ends up becoming over crowded and messy. People feel left out, people that should be in there aren't and people that shouldn't get in find a way. It's never good.
In New York, while celebrities will usually have booths or tables at clubs, at the upscale cocktail parties, socialites, musicians, celebrities and us normal folk mix and mingle among the masses. Granted, not just anyone can get in the party.
Extravagant, is an understatement for this bash. Balloons flooded the ceiling, ballerinas were dancing in tutus throughout the store, there were violin players, hundreds of cupcakes and 5-tiered cakes, appetizers, champagne and at least 30 young guys dressed in top hats, suit jackets and boots over jeans holding umbrellas lined up along the red carpet in place of a gate. It was magnificent.
As I politely asked Blake Lively and boyfriend Penn Badgley if I could sneak by them, scooted past Sarah Michelle Gellar, passed by Sarah Silverman, Emma Roberts, Jason Lewis and Jessica Szohr, chatted up Molly Sims on the carpet and was just feet away from Martha Stewart who popped by for a quick photo op with the Juicy girls to show her support ("She's our idol!" one gushed. "Juicy loves Martha!" shreaked the other. "Martha loves Juicy!" Martha smiled back before whispering, "Your store is very cute."), I realized, this is how it should be. Equals. Granted none of us really are the same. The socialites have more money than the celebs, the celebs have more fame than the socialites, the musicians have the real talent, and we journalists, document it all.
Thus, we are all individually important. While in Los Angeles, the "Let them eat cake" mentality exists, in New York, everyone secretly knows they need each other. Thus, we all ate the cake - and cupcakes.
