WAS REWARDED with the chance to cover the legendary Night of 100 Stars, Hollywood impresario Norby Walters’ noteworthy gala at the Beverly Hills Hotel. And I was ready for it, tastefully armed with a red carpet-red Sue Wong dress, Taryn Rose ruby slippers, Timmy Woods evening bag, a manicure and pedicure from the Frédéric Fekkai Salon Red Carpet event, a handy make-up kit from Stila, brows perfected by Damone Roberts and some required bling from Pandora Jewelry and Elisa Ilana Designs—along with required camera and a pad of paper and pen.
   Though a mix of young and old Hollywood mingled at the 15-year-old viewing party at the landmark Beverly Hills Hotel (the Pink Palace, as locals call it, which also played host to the fabulous New Zealand film industry party just two nights before), this finalé was just the tip of a multi-faceted iceberg that included the über-hot-ticket party hosted by Elton John and A-list only parties from such trend-setting US magazines as Vanity Fair and InStyle.
   At Night of 100 Stars, there were many names of interest from Young Hollywood types (Thora Birch, Amber Tamblyn, Sean Kanan, Edward Furlough) to reality TV stalwarts (Traci Bingham) to politicians (US Sen. Norman Coleman, along with actress wife Laurie Coleman) to past Oscar nominees and winners (Shirley Jones, James Woods, Shirley Knight, Gary Busey). And as any astute publicist will tell you, it’s all about name-dropping.
   For many people—A-list and otherwise—some names that got the biggest buzz were the award show suites and dishing out truckloads full of fashion, beauty and cocktail-related gifts. The People’s Choice Awards’ Smartwater Lounge and pre-Grammy lounge hosted by Distinctive Assets were the little lounges that could, given tsunami-like weather conditions. Attendees were rewarded for their perseverance beyond the products. At the People’s Choice event, Ben Affleck (or one heck of a strapping lookalike) made an impressive appearance, while at the Grammy’s event at Staples Center, lucky visitors had the chance to hear Gwen Stefani and the Black Eyed Peas rehearse. Though retro is always popular in music, the fashion focus at Distinctive Assets’ fêtes was on updating the wardrobe. Though many accessory designers have figured out how to replace unsightly ’80s fanny-packs with sleek wallet-belt attachments, Karibags ups the chic quotient several notches. Though some of Kari Alexander’s belts are casually elegant, her show-stoppers marry together European designer sleekness and all-American street style. Her Seattle belt was bold pewter metal with an eye-catching puch of blues, while the Miami belt had a definitive Chanel look. The Los Angeles Sexy belt updated Madonna’s ‘Material Girl’-era æsthetic. With crystals and rhinestones being red-hot accompaniments to jeans, Alexander had plenty of those styles on hand as well, dressed up even further with faux fur, leather or silky pouches. (See www.karibag.com.) If you want to shy away from the hailstorm of initial-riddled designer bags, Gina Alexander (www.ginaalexander.com) and Tomisue (www.tomisue.com) make it easier than ever. While Gina Alexander converts your favourite photos into great everyday totes, purses and wallets, Tomisue lovingly frames them for evening in gleaming Swarovski crystals.
   Adding more voltage to this suite’s bling factor was Bejeweled, a line of, well, jewelled tops. What sets this line apart is that they don’t just limit the adornment to boy-beater Ts. A whole selection of fabrics and styles were offered, from a stretchy off-the-shoulder T with butterflies to a button-down cowboy-style shirt with fun tattoo motifs. Another timely accessory was the scarf watch, created by Jacqui Chazen (www.jacquichazendesigns.com), a summery timepiece replacing the leather or metal wrist band with pieces of vintage silk scarves.
   Given the flash of most of the offerings, it seemed to make sense that their jean offering in both their People’s Choice and Grammy Suites, MOGG jeans (created by Shelly Moeller and inspired by musician Nigel Mogg, whose credo is ‘God Save the Jean’), featured a simple, no-frills design in a go-with-everything medium wash. At both the Distinctive Assets’ Suite and Grammy Style Studio (anchored by the PR company Couch–Nobelius, which also featured choice offerings from Tommy Hilfiger, Ted Baker, Stitches Jeans and Henry Duarte), the jewellery company Royal Order (www.chevronroyale.com) effectively brought bold Goth-inspired silver to a wider crowd, thanks to some delicate feminine offerings and hip renderings of the Star of David where you’d normally find a cross (though they’ve got that, too!).
   Kari Feinstein Public Relations and Star magazine teamed up for a lounge at the Viper Room with rock-and-roll style from Virgins, Saints and Angels (www.vsadesigns.com), adorable bling from charm bracelet purveyor Pandora (www.pandora-jewelry.com) and some sexy cowgirl tops, cashmere sweaters and bum-loving jeans from the fresh denim label J and Company (which also made an appearance at the über-exclusive Monkeys in Pants lounge during Oscar Week), Tarzana-based Smooch, Inc., anchored by Fifth Dimension vocalist Van Jewell, not only provided some fun tees and jewellery, but also a mission to raise money for music education in public schools (www.smoochinc.com). For the boys, there were some choice threads from Donn Mason and for summer, pert Madagascar-made raffia totes in yummy sherbet hues from Angele H.•

Elyse Glickman is a regular correspondent to Lucire.

See this story with Courtney Kretchman’s behind-the-scenes info on how the stars were pampered in the April 2005 print edition of Lucire, out in Auckland on April 6 and other parts of New Zealand soon after. To make sure you don’t miss out, click on the image at right to subscribe or buy a single copy. (Click 'Yes' if pop-up boxes appear—you're being switched to our secure server and it is completely safe.)

TOP: Kate Winslet behind the scenes, covered by America Online. RIGHT, FROM TOP: Morgan Freeman in David Webb jewellery. Nick Lachey at Silver Spoons. James van der Beek at Silver Spoons. Kiera Chaplin in Smooch. Esai Morales at VSA Designs. Sean Faris at the Star suite. Ian Somerhalder.