Partyhopper

How adorable does Carrie Underwood look in our July issue’s music special? I was impressed that Carrie invited me to do the interview before her process of getting gorgeous for our photo shoot was complete. She was still in the early stages of hair and makeup, with a head full of curlers. Of course, she looked just as adorable. But what strikes me most about Carrie is not her natural beauty or her impressive pipes but rather her confidence. Granted, she has a Best New Artist Grammy on her trophy shelf, but it doesn’t always prove to be a good luck charm for the young artists who win it.

Photos by Mark A. Neston

Carrie Underwood

But Carrie has excellent role models: She chose to accessorize her shoot for In Style with vintage vinyl from Dolly Parton, Tammy Wynette and Patsy Cline. “I still like to put on old 45s and listen to my record player,” Carrie told me. “It used to be in my sister’s bedroom. And after she graduated from high school, it became mine. Yeah, it’s rustic—it’s not a high-definition stereo-quality type of thing. But it’s still charming.”

James and Carrie

Carrie is extremelly charming, as you can tell. “Oh, gosh, we had all kinds of records in our big random collection,” she recalled. “We had Johnny Cash, we had Elvis and I even remember listening to Air Supply!” But Dolly struck a personal chord with Carrie: “She’s a huge personality that exceeds, you  know, her persona. She’s got this mega-awesome personality that just makes you smile when you’re anywhere near her. I’ve actually never even met her, though. I’ve done several things with her, so I’ve been around her, but I’ve never had the opportunity to go introduce myself—mainly because I’m too shy!”

“Dolly has done amazing things in several fields, including television and movies,” Carrie added. “People like and respect her and they don’t have anything bad to say about her. I just think she’s somebody that young women in country music should model their careers after.”

As a fellow Dolly fan, I fully expect that Carrie will have a similarly long career ahead of her. I, for one, can’t wait to hear her new album that’s due out this fall. I have a feeling that Carrie’s CD will strike a chord with Dolly as well. This might be the beginning of a mutual fan club!

What's your favorite Carrie Underwood song?

-- James Patrick Herman

Sorry for the delay, but PartyHopper has been sidelined by carpal tunnel syndrome—a blogger’s worst nightmare! Yesterday after work I endured an acupuncture appointment (despite claims to the contrary, it really does hurt) and then I hit Lorraine “Queen of Bling” Schwartz’s party at the Monkey Bar, which was, oh, about a million times more fun than having sharp needles plunged into my hands. All of the A-list divas—Beyonce, J. Lo, Liz Taylor—love Lorraine, and many of her celeb fans turned out the help her celebrate her new monkey-inspired jewelry collection.

I walked in right behind J. Lo and her entourage, then made a beeline for the VIP room, stopping briefly to chat with hipster designer and foodie Mark Ecko (who shared the highlights of his recent trip to the Aspen Food & Wine festival) en route to a cozy couch where I took a seat in between the fabulous Tina Knowles and R&B ingénue Cassie. Tina, who has more energy than anyone I know (except for maybe her daughter Beyonce) told me about her latest fashion line, Miss Tina, which will be launching on Aug. 15th. She already oversees both the House of Dereon and Dereon junior lines and she also found time to design bling-y monkey outfits especially for this party. I don’t know how she does it all but go, Miss Tina!

Tina and James
Photo by Johnny Nunez/WireImage

Photos by Mark A. Neston

Cassie and James

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Eve’s new album, Here I Am, doesn’t come out until August 7th, but luckily for all of the Eve fans out there, you can see her in our new July music issue. She’s rocking a hot-pink frock by her favorite designer, Dior’s John Galliano. “It’s my favorite color,” Eve told me at the photo shoot. “This dress made me feel like a princess!” How will Eve’s latest album make you feel? Like shaking your tambourine, of course.

Special thanks to In Style photo editor Lisa Martin for snapping this photo of me and Eve--and for all of her help and hard work, which resulted in seven fabulous photo shoots for our annual music special. Lisa, you rock!

-- James Patrick Herman

Remember Robert Palmer’s “Addicted to Love”? I wasn’t a fan of the song but I adored the video, which featured an all-model band. The other night I saw the Plastiscines, four jeunes filles from Paris who look like they just stepped off the runway, but clearly they’re more at home rocking out on the stages of venues like N.Y.C.’s Irving Plaza.

They’ll about skinny jeans, Sally Hershberger-style shags and ‘70s-inspired jams. Tres cool! Unlike those gals in Palmer’s backing band, the Plastiscines can actually play their instruments as well as sing. And did I mention that they have great hair? Aside from their own raucous songs like “Lost in Translation” and “Loser” (sadly, losers are an international phenomenon), they also performed a cover of “These Boots are Made for Walking” that made me forget all about the version that Jessica Simpson released. Merci beaucoup, ladies!

-- James Patrick Herman

Nelly Furtado brought a taste of Miami to N.Y.C. when her “Get Loose” tour hit the theater at Madison Square Garden—think palm trees, sexy Latin rhythms and hot backup dancers who looked like they just stepped off Ocean Drive. She also brought back the ‘80s briefly when she sang a totally awesome cover of Blondie’s “Heart of Glass” (it managed to sound completely different from the ska-tinged version that Lily Allen will probably be performing at Roseland tonight). I loved this unexpected treat as well as the white guitar she rocked (it matched the stage, natch). It’s hard to believe that the Grammy-winning single mom is 28: She still looked like a kid herself when she changed into a football jersey for a performance of her anthemic “Forca” and kicked soccer balls into the audience. But then when she launched into “Maneater” for a rousing encore, it was clear that Nelly is definitely all grown up. If you happen to miss Nelly on this tour, you can catch her in In Style’s new July issue, coming soon to a newsstand near you.

-- James Patrick Herman

Breakfast at Tiffany’s Holly Golightly may have been the original party-hopper and if there was ever a sequel written to that classic novel, the title Dinner at Cartier comes to mind. A glamour girl like Holly would’ve loved last night’s rooftop party at the Cartier Mansion on Fifth Avenue, where I was seated next to one of my favorite young designers, Phillip Lim. The red carpet alone made me feel like I was back at the Academy Awards, what with Oscar winners like Rachel Weisz and nominees such as Julianne Moore and Djimon Hounsou walking by me. They were followed by Debra Messing, Eva Mendes, Spike Lee and Rosario Dawson, who was talking about her recent trip to the Cannes Film Festival.

The music industry was also well-represented with country music’s power couple Tim McGraw & Faith Hill—they were making it a date night, and a visit to a jewelry store seems like the greatest date ever. Also on hand was Rihanna (we haven’t seen each other since our photo shoot in Barbados—”I don’t recognize you without your bikini,” I joked to her) and Usher, who I last saw at the Cove Atlantis resort in the Bahamas. “I just bought a new place in Atlanta, but I’m never there to enjoy it,” Usher told me. He also shared some plans for his New Look Foundation, an educational summer camp for underprivileged kids.

Rosario Dawson and Usher
Photo by Sherly Rabbani and Josephine Solimene

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What’s better than partying like a rock star? Partying with a rock star, of course. And when one of my favorite rockers, Pete Wentz, celebrated his birthday last night after Fall Out Boy’s concert at Jones Beach, I wasn’t about to miss it. Pete has a lot going on outside of the music biz—he’s designing a DKNY line for his pal Donna Karan, he has a clothing line of his own, he’s interested in pursuing an acting career and I suspect that it’s only a matter of time before he has his own signature fragrance to boot. Or maybe a makeup line for other young men who enjoy wearing “guyliner.”

Pete Wentz and Ashlee Simpson
Photo by Jamie McCarthy/WireImage


Photo by Mark A. Neston

The latest addition to Pete’s growing empire is an East Village bar called Angels & Kings. I wonder if he’s following in the footsteps of his music mogul friend, Jay-Z, who opened the popular 40/40 club—perhaps we should start referring to Pete by a hip-hop-style nickname. (P. Wentzy, anyone?). Angles & Kings is remarkably unpretentious. Think: Dive Bar Chic. The walls are lined with mug shots of incarcerated music icons such as Jimi Hendrix, James Brown and Frank Sinatra; there’s sexy red lighting that makes everyone look good, a gong behind the bar and, of course, a great juke box with something for everyone—including fans of Amy Winehouse, Fiona Apple, Michael Jackson, Nas, Billy Joel (!) and Foreigner.

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In case you haven’t heard, Rihanna’s new CD, Good Girl Gone Bad, came out today and I think it makes the perfect summer soundtrack. Despite her album’s title—and the fact that the singer got in touch with her inner-Madonna when she performed her hit “Umbrella” at the MTV Movie Awards—I’m pleased to report that she’s still a very nice girl. Even after enduring countless costume changes and the sun began to set on our all-day photo shoot in Rihanna’s native Barbados, she was all smiles. (You can see the gorgeous results in our upcoming July issue as well as in the summer issue of our magazine for style-savvy young adults, Your Look.) Maybe if I got to spend more time in Barbados instead of in rainy New York, I would have a similarly sunny disposition—because in Barbados, the only “Umbrella” you need is the kind that opens above your lounge chair on the beach. (Or the mini kind that tend to accessorize a rum punch cocktail.)

-- James Patrick Herman

Check out Rihanna's "Umbrella" remix.

Rihanna in Dolce & Gabbana
Photo by John Shearer/WireImage

James and Rihanna

Call me crazy, but when I watch the Oscars, I’m more interested in seeing what everybody wears than finding out who wins. So I can hardly wait for the 25th annual CFDA (Council of Fashion Designers of America) awards, which are sort of like the Oscars of the fashion industry—it’s all of the glamour without any of that distracting talk about movies. And while the wattage isn't as spectacular, plenty of fabulous stars turn up up to cheer on their favorite designers. Tonight they’ll include our stylish new pal Padma Lakshmi plus the Olsen twins, Uma Thurman, Heidi Klum, Debra Messing, Ellen Barkin, Eva Mendes, Claire Danes and her dashing boyfriend Hugh Dancy. (I recently met Hugh at the Calvin Klein store, so I have a feeling I know what he'll be wearing). Even Oprah will be there to present Ralph Lauren with the first-ever American Fashion Legend Award. Wow! Who wouldn’t want to get an award for being a fashion legend? No disrespect to the members of the Academy but that almost seems cooler than winning an Oscar.

Hugh Dancy at the Calvin Klein boutique

This is one of the only award shows that is held in New York instead of in L.A., so it’s a great way for stars to show their support for N.Y.C. as well as for the fashion biz and—as an added bonus—they get to promote literacy (the ceremony will be held at the Public Library, which isn’t quite as popular a destination as, say, Bungalow 8 for this crowd). The CFDAs also provide a good excuse for actresses to borrow a fabulous dress to wear and, perhaps, keep. And there’s certainly nothing crazy about that.

-- James Patrick Herman

Okay, so this isn’t a new picture, but I can’t imagine that anybody is going to complain about looking at Adrian Grenier. I first met the photogenic actor star at last year’s Toronto Film Festival—where this pic was snapped—while he was promoting his directorial debut, Shot in the Dark. Maybe you watched it on HBO after Entourage last night? This is not to be confused with the 1964 Blake Edwards comedy of the same name, which was about the bumbling Inspector Clouseau. Or A Cry in the Dark, the 1988 drama in which Meryl Streep uttered the line: “A dingo ate my baby.” It’s actually a touching documentary about Adrian’s search for his estranged father and it proves that he is much more than just a pretty face. Not that there’s anything wrong with that.

-- James Patrick Herman

We’ve been having so many great “meet & greets” lately that I’m wondering if we should start a new reality show called Top Meet & Greet. Today’s special guest to the In Style office was Top Chef host, author, actress and former model Padma Lakshmi, who gave us a sneak peek at the new cookbook she has coming out this fall: Tangy, Tart, Hot & Sweet. She also shared highlights of last night’s Fifi Awards, A.K.A. “the Oscars of the fragrance industry.” Sean Combs won for his Unforgiveable by Sean John scent, and I have a feeling that there’s a signature fragrance in Padma’s future—she currently makes her own from a mix of Neil’s Yard organic essential oils. Another beauty tip? “Use honey as a facial mask in the shower—it’s a great smoothing agent,” Padma said, and I would definitely follow any beauty advice that this gal has to offer. It’s hard to believe that a self-proclaimed foodie can be so skinny but Padma assured us all: “I eat like a pig!”

-- James Patrick Herman

Padma and James
Photo by Nicole Logan


Puffy
Photo by © Patrick McMullan, All Rights Reserved