Good news for charity-ball vets and aspiring landed gentry: Vanity Fair’s picks for their annual Best-Dressed List have hit concierge desks and bodega racks everywhere. Naturally, there are the usual glamazons and gentlemen you would expect to see appear in such a parade — Georgina Chapman, Carla Bruni, Brad Pitt, Anne Hathaway, H.R.H. Princess Letizia of Asturias, and so on. But there are a few out-of-left-field winners, some duds, and a peppering of head-scratchers in the bunch, as well. Credit where credit is due — we’re not so sharp as to have thought to single out dapper fellows such as Cy Twomby and Lapo Elkann, or the charming, surprising Eké Udé. Then again, we wouldn’t have included the tepid investor Ogden Pipps II, the rather rote Alejandro Santo Domingo (another investor), Renée Zellweger (so unreliable, that one), or even Stacey Bendet (of Alice + Olivia). It’s a balance of the graceful and the garish best displayed in a simple red-carpet image of David “Son of Ralph” Lauren holding hands with girlfriend Lauren “Niece of W.” Bush. She looks flawless in a black, satiny V-neck gown with plunging armholes and minimal accessories. He sports what appear to be studded leather jeans, a lumpy, wide-lapelled tux jacket, and the puffy pirate shirt made popular in Seinfeld. Guess sometimes it’s the name, and not even the man, that makes the clothes.
