At just after 8:30 p.m. on Tuesday December 9, the burlesque performers showed up at Raoul’s. 8:30 p.m., yes, seems early to see a little bit of titty. And yes, Tuesday also seems early in the week to see a little bit of titty. But shimmy and sashay they did—to a jazz rendition of Britney Spears’s …Baby One More Time—with one dancer even climbing atop the spiral suitcase near the bar.
It was an occasion to throw propriety to the wind: The SoHo bistro’s 50th anniversary. Although Raoul’s has often been described as a downtown institution, now, it felt like an indisputable fact. While the neighborhood has transformed from warehouses and art galleries to designer boutiques and chain megastores, the dark and moody Raoul’s has remained the same—as has much of its clientele. In the seventies, it became a go-to late-night spot for the Belushis, Aykroyds, and many other cast members from Saturday Night Live. Half a century later, it remains a haven for artists, creatives, and New York City’s cool kids.
We handled the tabs, the price histories, and the marketing spin. If it’s the lowest price all year, we marked it.
How to make Black Friday a good deal:
There are two approaches to using Black Friday sales to your advantage. You can 1) buy fewer, higher quality items at a more attainable price, or 2) take advantage of the pricing for buying quantity: upgrading your work or gym attire, replacing your underwear, etc. all in one go.
Black Friday is basically a sale with a panic attack attached. It’s loud, urgent, and determined to convince you that a toothbrush with six interchangeable heads will change your life.
Here’s a better way in. Primer’s men’s style “Pick Two” framework of affordability, ease, and quality can help make sense of the mess. Most of the time you get two. Black Friday is when you might actually swing all three.
That’s the real opportunity, buried under the fake markdowns and 37 open tabs.
The problem isn’t the way the sales are dressed up like emergencies, which culturally we’ve begun to see through. Yes, some retailers inflate prices just to “slash” them back down. It’s theatrical. But plenty of good brands use the weekend to offer their only actual discount of the year.
At a minimum, even when the price isn’t the absolute cheapest of the year, it will be cheaper than the normal going price. Which makes Black Friday the one time that you can get “easy” along with “affordable” and “quality”.
What makes the weekend useful is how it speeds everything up. Instead of waiting months for something to go on sale, you get a condensed window where prices make more sense. Better materials, solid construction, and things that usually feel a little out of reach suddenly land in budget range. You can skip the endless search for a “deal” that never quite arrives in your size.
It’s also when the slow, thoughtful shoppers finally get rewarded because nearly every brand that’s been sitting in your saved tabs decides to play ball at the same time. Instead of waiting and comparing one-off promotions all year, this is the window when everyone shows their hand.
It also lowers the risk of trying something new. A better sweater brand, a less terrible coffee maker, looser fit pants. Holiday return policies help.
The best move is to have a simple list. Things you already know you need or stuff you’ll use every day. Winter coats. Bedding you’ve postponed replacing for two years. The good storage bins. Expensive software subscriptions. Maybe a few gifts so you’re not panic-buying novelty hot sauces in mid-December.
That alone will save you money, time, and the stress of wondering if expedited shipping includes Sundays.
Black Friday is only chaos or a scam if you walk in without a plan and your expectations aren’t adjusted. It can actually be useful in a way that makes the rest of the year a little easier.
→ A bad deal: Buying something just because it’s on sale.
→ Smart spending: Taking some time to find things you’ve needed or will need while they’re on sale. Today’s the day.
The holiday season is upon us, and as you navigate gift-giving this year, remember that while some believe bigger is better, that’s not always the case when it comes to a thoughtful gift. Oftentimes, the best—not to mention the most luxurious—things come in small packages.
For the upcoming holidays, put in the extra effort to find her the most delightful petite presents. The perfect stocking stuffer isn’t kitschy—it’s a tiny treasure that you’ve put thought into. Whether she’s all about self-care, is the consummate bookworm, loves being in the kitchen or simply appreciates all of the finer things in life, there’s a charming gift out there to tuck into her Christmas stocking that is far from bland. If you’re concerned about finding a pint-sized yet considerate holiday gift, you’ve come to the right place. From indulgent perfumes and sparkly jewelry to chic sunglasses and plush purses, these are the sophisticated and adorable stocking stuffer ideas that she’ll absolutely love for the holidays this year.
If you’ve ever wanted the famously exclusive Hermès Birkin bag, now’s your chance. On December 15, a Birkin 35 in black box calf leather with gold metal trim will be auctioned off by Orne Enchères at Hôtel Drouot in Paris.
A status symbol featured on everything from Sex and the City to Real Housewives, the Birkin bag is named after late actor and singer Jane Birkin, who died on July 16, 2023. The specific bag being auctioned belonged to Birkin, who later gave it to her best friend, photographer Gabrielle Crawford. Crawford will donate the proceeds to help finance the “future Jane Birkin Foundation.” The bag is estimated to go for as much 100,000 to 120,000 euros.
“It is in homage to this friendship, to the hectic adventure that was their life together, that Gabrielle has decided to entrust these souvenirs to the auction in order to continue Jane’s philanthropic battles and to create a foundation in her name,” reads a statement from Orne Enchères.
According to the press release, the Birkin 35 in black box calf leather was “one of the first bags offered by Hermès” to Birkin. According to Crawford, Birkin used this bag every day for years and it “became a sort of mobile warehouse.”
“Gifts from all over the world hung from the handles—bells, Japanese lucky charms,” the press release continues. “It weighed a ton. But she and it were inseparable. She never forgot it.” Eventually, Birkin gave it to Crawford, her best friend of nearly six decades.
Crawford and Birkin met in 1964, at a photo shoot for the Daily Mail’s 1965 “Girls to Watch” promotion. “My friendship with Jane was unique and irreplaceable,” Crawford told Paris Match last year. “A true friend gives you self-confidence. We played that role for each other for 58 years…. She said I was her antidote to disaster.” Crawford wrote a 2024 biography of Birkin, C’est Jane, Birkin Jane.
Le sac Birkin mis en vente par la maison Orne Enchères à l’Hôtel Drouot le 15 décembre 2025.Clemens Klenk
New York’s grande dame, The Pierre, knows how to throw a soirée. Last night, the elegant Taj Hotel celebrated 95 years as a beacon of Upper East Side glamour with a ‘Red Diamond’ gala that brought together residents, diplomats, stars and influencers for an unforgettable evening of vintage Manhattan magic.
Nearly 500 guests, from silver-haired luminaries to fresh-faced Gen Z tastemakers, donned black tie finery to toast The Pierre’s storied history in its famous ballroom. Sipping champagne beneath glittering chandeliers, partygoers were transported to a more gracious era, when the hotel played host to everyone from Elizabeth Taylor and Aristotle Onassis to Audrey Hepburn.
The entertainment was a love letter to old New York: A Marilyn Monroe impersonator cooed while Deanna First sketched partygoers and professional ballroom dancers swirled across the stage in a swish of satin and sequins. Historic treasures, like archival photos and a $195,000 0.6-carat pink diamond, were displayed without fanfare (or security).
Getty Images Deanna First.
But while the gala paid homage to The Pierre’s glamorous past, the crowd reflected its vibrant present. Among those spotted in the sea of tuxedos and gowns: hotel residents, foreign dignitaries, reality TV stars, Instagram celebrities and even the odd baby or two nestled in couture-clad arms. The evening proved that after nearly a century, The Pierre can still create indelible Manhattan moments.
Courtesy of Lola Tash Lola Tash and Jessica Wang.
“I was transported back to the galas of the Gilded Age,” Lola Tash told Observer. The Canadian actress and brains behind the satirical, relatable meme account My Therapist Says was “reminded once more why New York is magical.”
Getty Images Prince Mario-Max Schaumburg-Lippe.
“The Pierre is my American Home away from home,” Prince Mario-Max Schaumburg-Lippe told Observer. His godmother lived in The Pierre, the prince said, noting “the happiest of my memories are right here” and calling the historic property “the hotel love of my life.”
Courtesy of Grace Aki Grace Aki.
Experiencing the hotel’s cinematic history firsthand was a highlight for Grace Aki. The gallery of treasures glowing behind glass displays made the night “all the more special,” Aki told Observer.
“Like stepping into history,” was how Viola Manuela Ceccarini described the event. “The elegance, the legacy and the energy in the room—witnessing generations of excellence converge under that red diamond, a symbol of timeless prestige and the enduring spirit of New York.”
Courtesy of Lori Altermann The star of the show poses with Lori Altermann.
“Everywhere I turn, I see New York’s elite—beautiful celebrities and even Marilyn Monroe!” quipped Lori Altermann. “The fashion, the food, the hotel—everything is fabulous!” Altermann told Observer. “It’s a celebration of luxury,” said Namani Shqipe.
But when the couple made their formal entrance as husband and wife at their reception that evening, Princess Charlene had swapped her wedding dress for a slinkier gown (also Armani) and added a glittering diamond tiara which features a “spray” of diamonds like a “wave breaking over her head”—in a nod to the Princess’s preroyal career as an Olympic swimmer.
The piece, featuring pear-shaped diamonds, was commissioned as a gift by Prince Albert II and dubbed the “Diamond Foam Tiara” by its maker. On the evening of her nuptials, Princess Charlene wore the tiara towards the back of her head, as an elegant addition to her swirling chignon. Last night, it was worn in a more 1920s style at the front of her head—a signal, perhaps, that she didn’t want this major tiara moment to be missed.
Princess Charlene originally wore the tiara swept to the back of her head for her wedding reception
Pascal Le Segretain/Getty Images
Any references made by Princess Charlene to her wedding day are always significant as she and Albert have faced near constant public scrutiny of their relationship. Reports swirled in the days leading up to the wedding that Charlene had gotten cold feet, but the rumors were denied and their big day went ahead as planned. The three-day proceedings began on June 30 with a concert by The Eagles. This was followed by a civil ceremony on July 1 in the Throne Room of the Prince’s Palace, for which Charlene wore a custom-made aquamarine Chanel suit. Then finally there was a religious ceremony on July 2, when Charlene wore an off-the-shoulder Armani Privé gown with 40,000 Swarovski crystals, and which was attended by supermodels, sports personalities, and world leaders. As photos from the wedding began to circulate, there was commentary on how visibly upset Charlene appeared (the newly titled princess was photographed with tears in her eyes)—but she brushed these rumors off, insisting all brides are emotional on their wedding day.
As Ferris Bueller once told us, life moves pretty fast. If you don’t stop and look around once in a while, you might miss it.
Formula 1 racing can move even faster, and no celebrity wanted to miss it. Gordon Ramsay and Nina Dobrev were among the crowd that descended on Las Vegas this week for the 2025 Formula 1 Las Vegas Grand Prix, not to mention popular drivers like Lewis Hamilton. Twenty drivers from 10 teams will compete to see who is the vroomiest of the vroom, completing 50 laps of a circuit that will see them whizzing past Sin City landmarks like the Bellagio fountain and the Sphere as drivers hit speeds of 200-plus miles per hour on the Strip.
Of course, the championship race isn’t just about the race itself: The Grand Prix schedule is jam-packed with VIP events for guests to enjoy while they’re not watching the drivers, and there are plenty of chances for stars to show off their fashion, not to mention enjoy the city’s top-notch entertainment and culinary scenes.
They say that what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas, but for this bevy of celebrity F1 fans, we’ll make an exception, just this once. Ahead, some of our favorite stars who came to the races.
A curated set of upgrades and essentials for men who appreciate thoughtful design, good materials, and pieces made to last.
Thanks to Thursday Boot Co. for supporting Primer’s mission and partnering on this piece.
Some men collect things, others refine them. He notices fabrics, he has opinions about sneakers, he knows exactly which sweater in his closet feels right on a bad morning, and how a room looks when it is finally not full of random objects. Buying a gift for that man does not need to be complicated; it just needs taste and a bit of editing.
Think of this guide as a shortlist of upgrades, pieces that feel considered and practical on purpose, with small luxuries that make getting ready or winding down feel a little more composed. These are gift ideas for men who appreciate good style, the ones who care how things look and feel, even when no one else is paying attention.
That might be a father who wants dependable staples and good shoes, a boyfriend or husband who keeps an eye on menswear trends, a brother still building his wardrobe, or a friend who always gives excellent recommendations. Men like this are not difficult to shop for, they simply like things that work well, last more than one season, and earn their place in daily use.
Give them that, and the gift tends to take care of itself.
In the architectural age of minimalism and millennial gray, a wild and whimsical antidote made of old clinker bricks and jumbled shingles sits on a quiet street at the edge of L.A. and Culver City.
Formally, the spellbinding property is named the Lawrence and Martha Joseph Residence and Apartments, named after the Disney artist and his wife who obsessively spent three decades building it. But locals call them the Hobbit Houses — fitting, since they look straight out of a J.R.R. Tolkien novel.
The complex looks comically out of place amid Culver City’s commercial corridor along Venice Boulevard. It’s surrounded by modern apartment buildings, boxy and inoffensive, built to blend in with today’s taste.
A bathroom in one of the Hobbit houses in Culver City adorned in glass tiles and ornate fixtures.
Amid that urban blur, the Hobbit Houses beg for your attention.
An electric lamppost flickers, mimicking fire. The tree in the front yard features a face, with eyes and a nose. The homes are filled with quirky leaded glass windows, uneven angles and heaps of wood shingles, resembling a thatched straw roof.
This year, the property hit the market for the first time. Offers poured in, and it sold to perhaps the most fitting possible buyer outside Bilbo Baggins himself: real estate agent Michael Libow.
At $1.88 million, Libow didn’t have the highest bid. His main qualification was that he owns and lives in one of the finest examples of Storyboook style in the region: the Witch’s House, a medieval-looking masterpiece that is more befitting a “Hansel and Gretel” adaptation than the streets of Beverly Hills.
The broker, seeing his connection to the style, promoted Libow to the seller, an out-of-state bank trust. The Hobbit Houses were his.
Michael Libow peers through a heavy wooden door of a Hobbit house that he purchased in early 2025.
“It’s like a companion piece to my own home,” Libow said. “It’s a little oasis in a city that’s been overdeveloped.”
Now that he owns both, Libow has declared himself, tongue-in-cheek, the “King of Storybook,” and said he intends to protect the property and be a spokesperson for the style.
“This is my legacy: bringing a little bit of joy to as many people as I can,” he said. “It’s about preservation, but it’s also about bringing a sense of awe and wonder to the world.”
The Hobbit Houses are one of Southern California’s finest examples of Storybook architecture, a fantasy style that fittingly emerged in L.A. in the 1920s around the start of Hollywood’s Golden Age. Inspired by cinema setpieces and centuries-old European cottages, architects designed playful homes with turrets and gables on the outside and nooks and crannies on the inside. When done well, the finished product looks lifted from a fairy tale.
A cat digs around on the roof of a Hobbit house in Culver City.
Disney artist Lawrence Joseph built the Hobbit Houses from 1946 to 1970. Over the years, the property developed a lore all its own. He rented out spare units to Hollywood tenants such as actor Nick Nolte and dancer Gwen Verdon, and the place also housed one of the men who kidnapped Frank Sinatra’s son (authorities found most of the ransom money Sinatra paid, $240,000, in one of the units).
Lawrence died in 1991, and his wife, Martha, got to work protecting the property. She obtained landmark status in 1996 and donated an easement to the Los Angeles Conservancy, ensuring that it can’t be remodeled or torn down.
The property, which includes nine units across four buildings, needed some work when he bought it, so Libow and his property manager, Ben Stine, have spent the last few months playing a developer’s version of “Minesweeper,” trying to make small improvements for the tenants — electric work, a tankless water heater — without disrupting anything protected by the L.A. Conservancy easement.
The Hobbit Houses came with a 15-page report detailing all the things protected on the property: not just the buildings themselves, but also the facade, landscape features and the interiors, including the custom furniture that Lawrence carved himself. Even the wallpaper can’t be touched.
“Protections within a structure are very unusual. I’ve never seen anything like it,” Libow said.
Detail of the flooring inside a Hobbit house in Culver City.
That means for renters, much of the furniture is included with the rent. The latest vacant unit — a two-bed, one-bath with a den — includes bar stools and a rocking chair that Lawrence carved.
The house is wrapped in clinker brick, a term for when clay bricks are set too close to the flames when being fired in a kiln, giving them distorted shapes and colors. Such bricks were sometimes trashed in older architectural eras, but these days, they’re prized for the unique look they bring to buildings, and perfectly natural for Middle Earth architecture in Culver City.
Inside, Lawrence’s sailing background shines through with nautical-themed interiors. A ship’s wheel serves as the chandelier, hanging above vertical-grain boat-plank floors that lead to a galley-style kitchen with a curvy bar.
“The idea behind Storybook is to have something fanciful and whimsical, which involves movement rather than rectilinear rooms,” Libow said. “There’s barely a right angle on the entire property. Everything’s amorphous in shape.”
Detail inside a Hobbit house in Culver City.
There are no knobs to be found; doors open with hidden latches and levers. A built-in fold-down desk pops out in the living room. In the master bedroom, a “cat door” slides open to provide easy access for felines that hang around the property.
The nine units range from 200 square feet to 1,200 square feet. The vacant unit, which spans around 1,000 square feet, hit the market a few months ago for $4,500 per month.
It’s a high price for the neighborhood — most two-bedroom apartments nearby fall in the $3,000 range — but interested renters still swarmed.
“These aren’t your typical tenants that need four walls and a sink. We get a lot of people in the creative industry,” Libow said. “You’re renting a lifestyle here.”
Libow said like his own home, which serves as a regular stop for Hollywood tour buses, the Hobbit Houses are a regular resting point for people walking through the neighborhood.
“Construction workers will walk by on their lunch to look at the turtles in the pond. It’s a break from reality, even if just for a minute,” he said.
Michael Libow outside one of his Hobbit houses in Culver City.
Libow and his property manager spend a lot of time on the grounds, looking for projects or small improvements they’re allowed to make under the conservancy. But for Libow, who bought it as a collector’s item as much as an investment, it’s a labor of love.
“It’s not the most functional style of architecture, but it is the coolest,” he said. “It’s weird, but I’m weird myself. I connect with weird.”
McCurdy first met Mamdani in 2019 at at a party for Tiffany Cabán’s Queens District Attorney race. A few months later, she began volunteering on his 2020 state assembly campaign. When the pandemic hit, the Savannah College of Art and Design grad offered to help craft his visual identity: If people couldn’t meet the candidate, they could at least see him on social media. “At that point, in March of 2020, there was one single photo that we’d been using for everything: for literature, for media, for pressers, anything. A singular photo,” she says, laughing. So she started taking photos for him for his Instagram, where McCurdy estimates he only had only around 2,000 followers at the time. (That number soon went up and up and never stopped: “People love seeing the guy,” she says.)
A bottle of bubbly is the quintessential holiday gift. Whether you’re attending a festive dinner party or adding to a friend’s carefully curated collection, you can’t go wrong with a special sparkling wine. Crisp, effervescent and fizzy, this light-bodied beverage sets the tone for any celebration.
Champagne, which is exclusively made in France’s namesake region, is known for its traditional methods and strict production parameters. Typically, Champagne is composed of chardonnay, pinot noir and meunier grapes, yielding a textured palate that is bright, refreshing and acidic. However, these same characteristics are a hallmark of most sparkling wines, and though Champagne is the most famous of the bunch, California wine country is known to produce some premier bubbly.
While popular brands like Veuve Clicquot and Korbel are readily available and easily recognized, other high-end purveyors showcase the exclusivity of this timeless tipple. If you’re looking to impress the most selective of collectors, limited releases and customized bottles are the perfect alternative to your standard bottle of brut.
From a special edition Dom Pérignon to bottles engraved with personalized messages, these are the best sparkling wines to gift this holiday season.
A new nepo baby has entered the villa. 17-year-old Nell Burton, daughter of Oscar-nominated actor Helena Bonham Carter and macabre filmmaker Tim Burton, just made her modeling debut in a regal campaign featuring some dazzling heirloom jewelry. The younger Burton posed alongside her mother, 59, in a fashion shoot celebrating the 25th anniversary of the haute jewelry brand Larkspur & Hawk, with the duo dripping in over $18,000 worth of jewels inspired by founder Emily Satloff in photos obtained by People.
“I love jewelry and how it can out survive us humans, carrying stories over the decades, and over the centuries,” Bonham Carter said of the campaign in a press release. “I also basically love dressing up and make believe is what I do for a living, so when Emily asked if I’d be up for a commemorative photoshoot, I jumped at the chance of going full Georgian.” Indeed, the campaign’s jewels have featured on period dramas like Queen Charlotte.
In an especially touching twist, Nell is wearing a Larkspur & Hawk necklace that belongs to her mother: specifically, the Sadie Large Riviere piece, which Bonham Carter received as a gift from her own mother, Elena Propper de Callejón, as a birthday present. “One day it will be on to my own daughter, Nell, if she doesn’t steal it before!” the Harry Potter star joked of the heirloom piece. “My riviere will be our baton.”
The shoot marks something of a debut for Nell Burton, who has spent very little time in the public eye despite her parents’ worldwide acclaim. In 2016, she attended the premiere of Tim Burton’s film Alice Through the Looking Glass alongside her brother, 22-year-old Billy Raymond Burton. In 2019, the pair were among the guests of honor at the premiere of another Tim Burton film, Dumbo, and in 2021, they rubbed shoulders with the culturati at the Rome Film Festival. This year, the mother and daughter joined forces at the Royal Academy Summer Exhibition Preview Party, with Nell proving that she has inherited her mother’s Baroque style in a stunning pink dress.
Helena Bonham Carter, Frankie Chainey Wallens and Nell Burton attend the 1500th performance of “Cabaret At The Kit Kat Club” on July 7, 2025 in London, England.Dave Benett/Getty Images
When The Pierre Hotel opened its doors in 1930, it instantly became a playground for Manhattan’s elite. Over the past 95 years, this iconic hotel has witnessed everything from the repeal of Prohibition to jewel heists and Hollywood scandals, all while maintaining its reputation as one of New York’s most glamorous destinations. From its $15 million debut to hosting Hollywood royalty and surviving the Great Depression, The Pierre has remained a beacon of glamour in the heart of New York City since 1930.
A Complete History of The Pierre Hotel
Image by Nextrecord Archives / G
The Early Days: A Playground for Manhattan’s Elite
When The Pierre Hotel opened on October 1, 1930, casting its 714-room shadow over Central Park, it instantly became the playground for Manhattan’s elite. Merely four months later, E.B. White’s Ballad of the Hotel Pierre was published in the New Yorker, describing it as home to “The little band that nothing daunts/this year’s most popular debutantes.” This was true. Prospective debutantes had started booking the ballroom for their November entrances in June, months before the luxury hotel opened.
Gabrielle ‘Coco’ Chanel posing in her suite at The Pierre during her first visit to New York City, on March 10, 1931.
Getty Images
Within a year, the film and stage star Ina Claire was sinking into a club chair at the hotel as she discussed with journalists whether she would be divorcing John Gilbert. (She claimed she would not. She would.) In 1932, Coco Chanel called The Pierre home during her first visit to New York. And that same year, the famed “Tobacco King” Arthur Mower refused to leave his Pierre bed for his stepdaughter’s early morning wedding .
Little wonder no one wanted to leave. Every inch of the 41-story hotel offered an almost otherworldly spectacle. The 60-by-100-foot ballroom where those debutantes waltzed was paneled in mirrors flanked by rose marble columns imported from French quarries. The chandeliers above sparkled with traces of ruby crystals from the room that would become known for the “swankest presentation balls” given for the city’s “spoiled darlings.” Attendees might make their way to the Grill Room, which was decorated to resemble an “undersea garden.” Wall panels and ceiling murals replicated ocean foliage, and the carpet was woven with images of seashells and sea urchins. In the upstairs dining room, paneled in hand-carved French walnut, interspersed with gold brocade hangings, Auguste Escoffier, the father of French cooking, prepared the hotel’s first meal.
Bettmann Archive Miss Elizabeth R. G. Duval, a prominent member of New York society, and Sidney Wood, a well-known tennis star, sit on the steps inside The Pierre in 1933.
From Waiter to Hotelier: The Story of Charles Pierre
But The Pierre didn’t begin in those gilded rooms. It began in a kitchen, with a Corsican waiter named Charles Pierre Casalasco, who learned the trade from his father. When Louis Sherry dined at the Savoy Hotel in London in 1903, the American restaurateur noted a young waiter watching him with eager attention. Casalasco was “awed by this former waiter who had become proprietor of a smart dining room in New York.” Sherry was so impressed with the waiter’s desire to learn more about the hospitality business that, when he returned to New York, he made Casalasco his assistant. There, the waiter quickly dropped his surname in favor of being known simply as Charles Pierre. At that time, it was almost a forgone conclusion that New York’s debutantes were introduced at Sherry’s ballroom. Charles Pierre, tasked with organizing these splendid events, became “the favorite of the younger set, married matrons and the dowagers.”
Smart set, Mrs. Robert Goddard and Mrs. Roland Hazzard, in front of The Pierre.
Bettmann Archive
When Charles Pierre opened his own Park Avenue restaurant in 1920, his devoted group followed him. In 1930, their social set husbands, like Walter Chrysler, Edward Hutton, and C.K.G. Billings, helped finance his dream, The Pierre Hotel, which reputedly cost a staggering $15 million to build. In retrospect, too much may have been spent on those underwater-themed murals. By 1932, during the Great Depression, a petition of bankruptcy was filed—but Charles Pierre was kept on as managing director to run the hotel.
Disciplined and knowledgeable with a European flair, Charles Pierre ran the hotel with aplomb.
Penske Media via Getty Images
The Return of the ‘High-Class Hotel’
When the repeal of Prohibition came in 1933, he rejoiced. No hotel man was more excited by the prospect of liquor coming back on the menu again. He declared that Prohibition had destroyed American appreciation for wine—and really any liquor that did not come from a bathtub. Now, a “new generation will have to learn all over again how to drink.” He intended to outfit The Pierre with a wonderful cellar to teach them. He planned gala celebrations. People could now gather for cocktails at his newly opened supper club, the Corinthian Room. He promised, “The next few years will see the rejuvenation of the high-class hotel.”
A young woman enjoys the luxuries of room service at The Pierre in 1943.
Getty Images
He was correct. But sadly, Charles Pierre would never see the heights to which his hotel would climb. He passed away in 1934 at the age of 55 from appendicitis. He was too weak from an abdominal infection to be saved by medicine flown in from Florida in what was described as a “13-hour airplane race against death.”
But his legacy lived on in The Pierre Hotel.
Bettmann Archive Joan Crawford at The Pierre on January 22, 1959.
Celebrities like Joan Crawford and Claudette Colbert would flock there, as well as younger disciples. By 1938, following her father’s death, the 13-year-old heiress Lucetta Cotton Thomas was spending $1,416 a month (approximately $32,000 today) to live at the hotel. Eloise at The Plaza had nothing on her. By that time, the hotel belonged to oilman John Paul Getty, who quipped that it was his “only above-ground asset.”
In 1944, the hotel—and the room prices—were the subject of scandal. It was found that munitions manufacturer Murray Garsson had housed and paid the hotel bills for key personnel in the army’s Chemical Warfare Service in what was known as “Operation Pierre.” In 1942, the decorator Samuel Marx had redone the hotel’s dining room in red, white and blue, and commissioned murals of early American life for the Grill Room, so it was certainly a patriotic wartime pick. However, officers knew that, when traveling to New York City, they had a $6 daily stipend. As even young Lucetta Cotton Thomas could have told them, rooms at the Pierre cost somewhat more. Garsson may have received $78 million in government contracts, but was imprisoned for bribery in 1949. Still, no one at the trials said that they did not like staying at The Pierre.
Bettmann Archive Ginger Rogers gets her Daiquiri-toned French lace dress fitted by its designer, Richard Meril, in preparation for the “Prestige Award from France” fashion show at The Pierre Pierre.
1950s Glamour and The Birdcage Bar
By the 1950s, the hotel had reached new heights of glamour. Chief among the novelties was The Birdcage, a plexiglass bar suspended above the rotunda. It was splashily advertised as “a rendezvous for cocktails.” Charles Pierre, who once prophesied that people would flock to his hotel for drinks, would have been pleased.
In the coming years, the hotel would not only be home to the city’s toniest citizens, but Hollywood royalty. Joan Blondell noted that, when her dog “gave birth to seven puppies, the manager of the Pierre hotel assisted the vet in delivery.” Audrey Hepburn stayed there throughout the filming of that quintessential New York movie, Breakfast at Tiffany’s. During those years, she was feted at the hotel with a gala hosted by Countess Alexandra Tolstoy. The meeting would inspire one of her future roles in War and Peace.
Audrey Hepburn, who won Hollywood’s Academy Award for her performance in the film “Roman Holiday,” is ecstatic after finally receiving her Oscar at a special ceremony in at The Pierre. Sharing her enthusiasm is fellow winner William Holden
Bettmann Archive via Getty Images
The fact that in 1958 the hotel became a co-op, where guests could buy apartments, only added to its appeal. Especially as those apartment owners included Aristotle Onassis and Elizabeth Taylor, the thought of visiting New York from Middle America may have been exciting on its own. The thought of running into Elizabeth Taylor in the lobby of the hotel you were staying at was almost overwhelming.
Penske Media via Getty Images Bill Buckley and Nan Kempner at an annual gala held at The Pierre.
Jewel Heists and Fashion Royalty
By 1967, the hotel underwent a transformation also fit for royalty. The new owner, Peter Dowling, commissioned Edward Melcarth to paint the rotunda’s iconic trompe l’oeil mural. Inspired by 17th-century palaces, Melcarth claimed that he wanted to “make people feel very special and important when they walk into this room. The figures are heroic in scale because I want to rehumanize man as an individual. We’re not digits on a computer card.” The people in the mural, accordingly, were not confined to the past. The painting features columns and Greek gods in recline, alongside “a hippie boy and mini-skirted girl” meant to depict a modern Adam and Eve. Rather to her surprise, Melcarth’s mural also boasted a depiction of former First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis. (Kennedy asked to be removed from the picture. Melcarth accommodated by partially disguising her, but a discerning visitor can still spot her image.)
Pat Nixon leaving The Pierre to go shopping.
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Visitors would get a less agreeable thrill when burglars broke into the hotel on January 2, 1972. On that day, four reportedly well-dressed gunmen pulled up to the hotel in a limousine. They handcuffed a variety of employees and guests. After, they proceeded to clean out 47 safe deposit boxes containing approximately $3 million in jewels, before departing, again, in a limousine. The men were arrested within a week, and the jewels recovered, though police recalled it as being one of “the biggest and slickest hotel robberies ever.”
Penske Media via Getty Images Karl Lagerfeld at The Pierre in the 1970s.
The flurry of reportage around the jewel theft only increased the hotel’s allure to the fashionable set. In 1970, the designer Karl Lagerfeld, a habitué of the hotel, would say, “I discovered New York from The Pierre . . . Distances in the city were measured only by how far they were from The Pierre.” He did not have to go far to see his friends. Givency, Yves Saint Laurent and Valentino were all regulars—Valentino even bought St. Laurent’s Pierre apartment in 2007.
Getty Images Andy Warhol outside of The Pierre in 1985.
Pat Nixon, not to be outdone by Jackie, had designers bring their creations to her while staying in a suite at the hotel. In 1975, Betty Ford went to see the first Chanel Fashion show in the country, held, predictably, at the hotel Coco herself had loved. By 1976, Jackie Kennedy was on the premises once more, this time with Valentino for his show benefiting the Special Olympics. Television Dynasty star Joan Collins showcased her hats at the hotel in 1985, with Andy Warhol in attendance. The hats were lovely, but did prompt a reporter to wonder, “When, besides for lunch at the Pierre, would someone wear a large straw hat?” This seemed as much an inducement for many to lunch at The Pierre as it was for them to do away with hats.
Getty Images Richard Nixon at The Pierre in January 1969.
The Pierre on the Silver Screen
By the 1990s, the hotel again found itself connected to Hollywood, although this time in front of the scenes. Al Pacino twirled in The Pierre ballroom for the famed tango scene in 1995’s Scent of a Woman. The penthouse served as the Anthony Hopkins character’s home in 1998’s Meet Joe Black. And, following the $100 million renovation The Pierre underwent in 2013, it was featured in the heist movie Ocean’s 8. Considering its legacy, there could certainly be no more fitting hotel for a film about a group of well-dressed female jewel thieves.
Jacqueline Kennedy with American diplomat/businessman Sol Linowitz outside of The Pierre.
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Ron Galella Collection via Getty Dionne Warwick and Burt Bacharach at The Pierre.
Today, the hotel is celebrating 95 years, an admirable accomplishment in a city where new establishments seem to pop up nightly. Perhaps part of its success has to do with the respect its owners have shown towards its storied legacy. Right now, the restaurant offers a tribute to Auguste Escoffier, and the mural, lovingly repainted in 2016, ensures that the rotunda is considered one of the most romantic rooms in New York. The details and owners may have changed, but The Pierre remains as glamorous and beloved as it was by those long-ago debutantes and Charles Pierre Casalasco himself.
Getty Images A view from Central Park of the Pierre (left) and Sherry Netherland hotels on Fifth Avenue, Manhattan, New York City. Both buildings were designed by Schultze and Weaver.
Hand picked standouts I’ve worn, tested, or featured, all discounted for a short window.
Huckberry only runs one site wide sale each year, which makes this a rare chance to grab pieces on sale that may be excluded during other promotions. The fifteen percent off applies to the staples many readers already know from Primer, along with a few items I consistently rely on. Nothing here is filler. Every pick is something I own, have used in outfits, or have recommended often enough that it earned a place, but be sure to check the rest of their gear for other good finds.
This list moves through the items with quick notes on why they work, how they fit into real outfits, and what makes them worth considering at this price. If you have been waiting for the moment to upgrade essentials or add one or two thoughtful pieces, this is the most straightforward time to do it.
These are my go to charcoal pants. If you’ve followed Primer for any amount of time, you know how versatile gray pants can be when you need something that works casual or dressed up. Same familiar five pocket layout as jeans, only done in brushed cotton twill with two percent spandex. I have the straight fit and wear them a lot.
Clear vintage inspiration here, very post World War II, mid century. Made from boiled wool with a cropped trucker length. The wool texture gives it that same refined look you see on pea coats or top coats, just in a waist length form that’s easier to wear day to day.
I’ve featured these before in khaki. Think of them as the love child of a chino mixed with a lightweight hiking pant through a heritage military lens. Super comfortable. The pleated knees help with mobility, though they aren’t something people really notice while you’re wearing them. Lightweight and very easy to wear.
Made in the USA for a little over twenty bucks. Hard to find something American made at this price. Comes in seven colors and works as a straight swap for the one we used in Fall Getup Week’s Casual Modern Layers in City Weight.
Comes in four fits. If you’re adding new staples, straight or classic are the safest picks for a modern fit. Designed to feel broken in right away since they’re prewashed, with two percent stretch for comfort.
I really like the look of this one. The green works great with the dark brown lining, which you only see when the collar is open. Feels like a Barbour style jacket in a cropped waist silhouette, which makes it more approachable for guys in warmer climates or anyone who wants something that reads more casual than the traditional longer style. Just a very classic, classy jacket.
One of the jackets that helped put Flint and Tinder on the map. I had one in a color they don’t make anymore and it was great. Well made, has shown up in plenty of TV shows and movies, and it’s made in the USA. With 15% off, it’s a good time to pick up something higher quality that also supports domestic production.
I have these in the HD Classic fit as part of trying out higher rise, fuller cut jeans. They feel pretty close to a Levi’s 501 experience. Selvedge denim with one percent stretch, which helps without changing the feel. Especially on sale, they’re an easy recommendation.
I featured the navy version a lot in our summer outfits. That color is mostly out of stock now, though the olive, brown, dusty blue, and natural options are all solid picks. One hundred percent linen that behaves the way good linen should. If you’ve read my article on why some linen sucks, this one is on the better side of that.
I’ve featured this several times this year. It has a playful handmade pattern that feels vacation ready without looking like a costume. One hundred percent cotton, soft, and easy to wear. Out of season right now, but at this sale price it’s worth grabbing for spring.
You’ve likely seen one. Maybe even worn one. Maybe admired one on the wrist of someone who calls his boat a “tender” and uses “summer” as a verb.
Before it became the uniform of real estate developers and hedge fund whisperers, the Submariner was just a very good idea with very good timing. Rolex released it in 1953, right when recreational diving was becoming a thing people did on purpose, for fun. Jacques Cousteau had written The Silent World, scuba was suddenly accessible, and watches that didn’t flood were useful. The Submariner wasn’t the first dive watch, but it was the first to make being waterproof look refined.
Then James Bond wore one. Sean Connery, in a dinner jacket, flipping up the cuff to reveal a no-crown-guard Submariner on a too small nylon strap in 1964’s Goldfinger, did more for Rolex than any ad campaign could.
That association stuck. Even now, when most divers wear computers, and most Submariners never get wet, the watch carries a kind of licensed danger, like someone who’s polite but used to be very good at bar fights.
Collectors obsess over details the rest of us would need a loupe and a minor in typography to notice: serif versus non-serif fonts, lug widths, bracelet codes, crown guards, no crown guards.
These things signal era, rarity, and whether someone paid five figures for something that once cost less than a good stereo. But the Submariner’s charm is this: it works as well at 300 meters as it does under a French cuff. It’s not flashy, unless you know what you’re looking at. Which, frankly, is the whole point.
November 6 was Maude Apatow’s big day. The actor—who in May 2026 will be able to claim hyphenate status with the theatrical release of her directorial debut, Poetic License—received Max Mara’s Face of the Future Award at the Chateau Marmont.
She accepted it wearing, obviously, Max Mara (a black turtleneck and pink petal skirt from the brand’s spring-summer 2026 collection, to be exact) as a crowd that included Kate Hudson and Sarah Paulson (also wearing Max Mara) clapped on. Given the fashion-brand-ness of it all, you’d be forgiven for thinking this was just a fashion-brand thing. But considering the impressive list of past recipients—over the past 20 years, the Face of the Future Award been awarded to names like Gemma Chan, Elizabeth Debicki, Rose Byrne, Hailee Steinfeld, and Emily Blunt—is somewhat of a bellwether on the bright young things of today that will become the household names of tomorrow.
“I honestly can’t believe my name is being spoken in the same sentence as them,” Apatow says, her eyes wide and bob sharp while sitting in the distinct brown and pink suites at Sunset Tower.
She’s several weeks out from filming the hotly anticipated Euphoria season three. Still, the thought of talking about it with a reporter sends her into a fit of anxiety: “Oh my god, I’m so scared to say anything,” she says, hiding her face in her hands. “I guess everyone knows this, but it’s like five years in the future. So we’re all out of college and living our lives and in the workforce. I have a full job.”
Maude Apatow with a cocktail at Los Angeles’s famed Sunset Tower.
It’s made for the long season between iced coffee and hot chocolate.
Mornings feel easier now, the kind that let you reach for something light without second-guessing it. In warmer parts of the country, fall doesn’t bring much weather to talk about, just a change in pace. You start to want texture, softer fabrics, clothes that look seasonally right without adding heat. A tan jacket fits that balance, structured enough to look intentional, easy enough to wear through the afternoon.
Underneath, a white Oxford that’s been softened by a few washes, jeans with a lived-in feel, and a braided belt that adds a small bit of detail. Desert boots tie it together, useful and relaxed, ready for whatever the day turns into.
At the banquet in honor of Haitham Bin Tariq, the sultan and prime minister of Oman, Queen Letizia of Spain looked like something out of a painting. The sovereign paired a dreamy cobalt blue gown with a tiara made of platinum, pearls, and diamonds that has been in the royal family for generations.
Last time Queen Letizia had worn a tiara at home in the Royal Palace was back in 2023. The Queen and King Felipe welcomed Colombian President Gustavo Petro, and for the traditional banquet the sovereign favored the a red Carolina Herrera dress and the gracefulness of the floral tiara that belonged to Maria Christina of Spain. In that same jewel collection resides Queen Letizia’s latest “Russian tiara” she wore for the Sultan of Oman’s state visit to Spain.
Queen Letizia’ Cartier Loop Tiara is thought to have first belonged to Queen Maria Christina of Habsburg-Lorraine, created in 1886. She held regency over Spain from the death of her husband, King Alfonso XII, until the accession of her son, Alfonso XIII, in 1902. The style, which features pearls set in a series of diamond loops has been handed down through generations of Spanish royals, and was a favorite of Letizia’s mother-in-law, Queen Sofía.
Some jewelry experts believe that the tiara was a gift to then-Archduchess Maria Christina of Habsburg-Lorraine for her wedding to King Alfonso XII of Spain. In reality, historians now seem to agree, it would be a personal commission from Maria Christina who became regent after the death of her husband since her son, Alfonso XIII, had not yet been born when his father passed away.
King Felipe and Queen Letizia with the Sultan of Oman, Haitham Bin Tarik, during the gala dinner in his honor at the Royal Palace, November 4, 2025, in Madrid, Spain.Europa Press Entertainment/Getty Images
Were there any styles or designers that you had to convince Michelle to wear? Were there any looks she was ever skeptical about?
She is pretty open-minded, in a way, and she’s also really practical. She’s not going to do something where she can’t move, she’s super uncomfortable, or she’s super hot. She’s very interested in, “What’s the weather? What’s the venue? Who’s going to be there?” My philosophy is, like, let’s see what the potential in a garment is. Even in this last photo shoot that came out, I had Jason Wu make this beautiful dress from his most recent collection, and she just didn’t feel great in it and wasn’t really open to exploring it, which made me extremely sad. So after the fitting, I took the dress and I was just thinking, How can we make this work? Because I really wanted Jason to be included in this—he’s an amazing designer, his work is solid, and the dress is beautiful. We ended up turning the dress into a top and pairing it with some sort of reconstructed jeans from Sami Miró, and she eventually got on board. But what I do is, I convince, I prepare, and then I also prepare to be disappointed.
In the book you mention that you never got attached to anything. That’s hard to do, I can imagine.
It is only because the attachment isn’t about that fashion has to be this or that. That is not necessarily how I feel. Although I do admire and really, truly respect so many houses, designers, and brands, it’s not so much about the parts of fashion that are glamorous and flashy. It’s just more about what can work for her, right? Woman to woman, I don’t want to make another person uncomfortable, especially a client. There are limits. I kind of know where I can push her and where I need to just say, “Okay, we’re just going to do what works,” because it’s more important for her to be comfortable than to be a fashion plate.
Still, the gala’s unofficial theme, not apparent in the white roses and grilled branzino, was most definitely Wicked, in honor of the Prince Rainier III Award winner, Jon M. Chu. In a call ahead of the gala, the director—who rocketed to fame with Crazy Rich Asians before tackling the two-part Oz tale—explains how his 2001 Princess Grace Award funded an ambitious senior thesis, complete with a 20-piece orchestra, a choir, and dancers. The musical that resulted was the “thing that unlocked my whole career,” he says. Agents and managers saw it; Steven Spielberg did too. “When you are the recipient of generosity as a young artist, you don’t forget it because you need it so badly,” says Chu, who now sits on the foundation’s board of trustees.
Back in the ballroom, the musical theater veteran Jessica Vosk, who had a nearly yearlong run as Elphaba on Broadway, sang a medley from Wicked. The auctioneer peddled a pair of tickets to next month’s New York premiere of Wicked: For Good, with Chu sweetening the pot: “I will grab you by the hand on that carpet, and I will walk you to whoever we see and get you in there!” It sold for $55,000. Bowen Yang, who explained that Chu cast him in the Wicked films despite “bravely” forgoing an audition, was a presenter alongside the musical’s composer and lyricist, Stephen Schwartz. The costume designer Paul Tazewell, who earned a historic Oscar win for his work on Wicked, was there too.
