TAKING IT TO THE NEXT LEVEL
Fun and fabulous Social Hollywood hosts its first event tonight for members of its new invitation-only private club, Level II. Since bursting onto the scene last April in the former Hollywood Athletic Club space with a blowout bash for Paper magazine, Social’s Jeffrey Chodorow and Melissa Richardson have hosted countless premiere parties, benefits, fashion events and an Emmy soiree. But you know the downside: how painfully long it takes to get your car when it’s time to go. That’s why one of the perks of being a Level II member is preferred valet parking. Also included: your own private concierge, unlimited access to the second level of the club, invitations to special events like food and wine tastings, access to premium tickets for concerts, games and shows and discounted rates at the Argyle salon and spa and for limo and private jet transportation.
Social Hollywood, 6525 W Sunset Blvd, LA (323) 462-5222

DONATELLA DOES RODEO
Don’t even think of going near Rodeo Drive next Thursday night unless you have a coveted invite to the Walk of Style’s evening honoring Donatella Versace and her late brother Gianni Versace.  The night’s events, hosted by Rupert Everett, include a dinner reception, the Walk of Style? Award ceremony, special surprise musical performances, and a live auction of the new Versace Lamborghini Murciélago LP640 Roadster benefiting the Elton John AIDS Foundation--the perfect vehicle in which to induce molten rivulets of envy from autophiles.
For those with a short memory, the house of Versace was founded by Gianni in 1978. He rose to worldwide prominence and became the hot-hot-hot Hollywood designer when Liz Hurley wore his sexy, black safety-pinned dress to the 1994 premiere of Four Weddings and a Funeral with then-beau Hugh Grant. Since Gianni’s shocking murder at his villa in Miami in 1997, Donatella has been creative director of the Versace Group. Hurley is expected to attend (along with Sharon Stone, Prince and many other devotees) but Maya Rudolph, who does a droll Donatella impersonation on SNL, may or may not attend.

The Versaces are the ninth and tenth honorees of the Walk of Style award, following in the formidable footsteps of other fashion luminaries including Giorgio Armani, Salvatore Ferragamo, Mario Testino, Tom Ford and Herb Ritts.
And just in time for all the festivities—and exactly when you thought Rodeo had gone all Guess?—comes the revamped Versace door at 248 North.
Versace Plaque Unveiling, 5 pm Wednesday February 7, 2007, 248 N. Rodeo Dr., BH
Rodeo Drive Walk of Style, 7:30 pm, Thursday February 8, 2007 
 

PARK CITY, PARTY TIME
Unless you really must, who wants to wait outside in the teen-degree cold to see a movie when you can wait and see it in a nice, warm screening room in LA, without passersby hustling you for tickets? As it has been for years now, Sundance 2007 was more about the parties and the swag suites than the films. Getting a dinner reservation anywhere on Main Street required a strategic plan, a credit card deposit and the greasing of palms, but for a high-level crowd of 250 people every night during the festival, Chefdance was the place to be for dinner. Taking over the downstairs restaurant at Harry O’s, Chefdance showcased the culinary chops of top toques nationwide including Kerry Simon (Simon LA and Las Vegas), Joseph Ojeda and Michelle Bernstein (Social Hollywood), Gerry Garvin (G. Garvin’s), Todd Mark Miller (STK) and Shawn McClain (Chicago’s Spring).  Guests could view kitchen preps live on big screen monitors throughout the buzzing room. Choreographing a timed, four-course dinner for 250 is challenging under the best of circumstances, but the staff pulled it off with aplomb in crowded and a bit chaotic conditions. Some of the flavor: Simon’s dinner featured a savory roasted butternut squash soup with dried fruit chutney, lamb porterhouse and molten chocolate cake, perfect fortification for the long night of partying still ahead.
Up in the hills of Deer Valley, a green carpet led to Spin Shoppe, Double Platinum and Shag Hollywood’s Green House, not to be confused with the similarly-named lounge on Main St. 
 

Velvet Revolver was set to play the house its first night, but a death in the family of one of the band members necessitated a last-minute cancellation. LA’s Daredevil Jane stepped up to fill Scott Weiland and Slash’s shoes and entertained with an acoustic set. Other nights saw Sienna Miller and Steve Buscemi celebrating their upcoming Interview with a VIP dinner, and Justin Timberlake hosting a dinner for his mom. Earlier in the day, house guests sampled a buffet of products and services from Robbie French Designs, Hollywood Lips, Tarte Cosmetics, Hollywood Diet, 2 B Free, Disney Vintage, Dessert Essence—a great organic body products line, Dermacia, Girlie Designs, Max Azria, Izze, Motley Bird and Tommy Hillfiger. Tommy’s brother Andy, one of the few men in a sea of beautiful women during happy hour, was displaying an adorable navy blue and white striped bikini with an anchor embroidered on the butt, invoking momentary thoughts of warmer climes where scarves and gloves live in the drawer and never come out. 
One of the most desirable guest lists on which to get your name was for the Motorola Late Night Lounge in a cavernous space a block behind Main St., which unlike the typical Sundance party, allowed for a refreshing amount of breathing room. For those not drinking, dancing and networking up a storm, reps from Nintendo showcased a new Wii action game that required a certain level of sobriety to properly navigate. 

COLD HANDS, GOLDEN DAYS
Awards season festivities in LA got off to a chilly start a few days before Sacha Baron Cohen stole the show at the Golden Globes. At Silver Spoon, reps from Kama Sutra, Dermalogica, Nioxin, Xtreme Lashes and Carrol Boyes shivered in the wintry cold, while Etienne Aigner got lucky with a warm spot inside a private residence in Beverly Hills, all the better to showcase the line’s eye-catching leather and canvas riding boots. The Four Seasons played host to the HBO Luxury Lounge, where guests got their beauty on courtesy of L’Oreal, and InStyle, which featured brows by Anastasia, eyelash extensions—if you had the patience to lay still for 90 minutes in a frosty tent—and amazing makeup from Sisley. Kari Feinstein’s Style Lounge rocked with cool vendors like Rubber Duck snowjoggers, Magic Bullet, Spread, Pour Moi and Jaime Pressly, while Primary Action’s Liberace suit featured Diesel, ABS, Ed Hardy, Dermacia makeup and Country Girl. At the Platinum Guild event, guests were riveted by the 50-carat sparkler designed by Jacob the Jeweler (worth $1.5 million) and other blingy baubles, many of which were quickly snatched up by nominees to wear on the red carpet leading into the Beverly Hilton. 
 

Brow Diva Anastasia working her magic at InStyle at the Four Seasons

It’s always a blast to hit the Golden Globe afterparties at the Beverly Hilton, running into everyone you know and want to meet in the lobby, in line for the elevator and of course, at the bars and in the bathrooms. The hurdle is the race against time. Everyone except InStyle unceremoniously shuts down by about midnight. Perhaps the liquor budget runs out by then. This year, HBO did amazing things with the pool area and NBC/Uni gave the parking garage rooftop space a huge dose of elegance with guards keeping a close watch over vintage Cartier tiaras and brooches on display above the dance floor.

TOPPING THE BOX
Despite Patrick Goldstein’s umpteenth Los Angeles Times article about how YouTube is completely decimating the entertainment industry as we know it, there still isn’t much new worth watching on Google’s $1.65 billion baby since the hysterical Justin Timberlake/Andy Samberg “Dick in a Box” SNL digital short hit at Christmas. (Unless you really get off on watching a guy eat Mentos, drink a Pepsi and spew.) Don’t get me wrong: aside from intellectual property issues, all the cool old archival stuff being made available is revolutionary. It’s going to be a rare piece of authentic “user-generated content” that finally breaks through the digital divide and enables the ‘net to become a star-making machine.

SAD, BUT TRUE
Observation from an LA-based male model: “All the models just go to New York [Fashion Week] to get fucked and get free drinks, because they sure don’t get paid much to do runway.”