YoI'm standing between Usher and Emily Blunt, who tells her husband, John Krasinski, that she's cold. Not far away, I see Jennifer Lawrence chatting with a friend. Then I see Sydney Sweeney. And Kim Kardashian. We are all in a queue. Not only to enter the Vanity Fair Oscar party but to take photos on the red carpet that currently stretches between us and its entrance. It takes me longer than it should to realize that no one needs to take my photo. So I tiptoe past everyone trying not to look too much like the Pink Panther until I get to the door, where I end up having to wait because Jessica Biel and Justin Timberlake are going to take a photo with the Haim sisters.
Tina Brown, doyen of the magazine industry and former vanity fair editor, once said that a journalist should always “feel like an outsider.” Nowhere does that sentiment seem more appropriate than when that journalist is at a Hollywood party. But it's not just any Hollywood party. The Vanity Fair Oscar Party is the behemoth of A-list soirées, attracting the most stellar celebrities from all industries spanning film, fashion, music, sports and politics.
Tonight, the range runs from Nicholas Cage and Roger Federer to Nancy Pelosi and Kylie Jenner. A post-Oscar hum fills the room next to them. As predicted, oppenheimer sweeps the rankings, earning seven wins, including best film. More surprising, perhaps, is Emma Stone's best actress award (many opted for Lily Gladstone), which is accompanied by a major wardrobe malfunction: “My dress is torn,” she whispers into the microphone when accepting her award. Understandably, she changes her clothes for the after party.
Having started as a post-ceremony dinner in 1994, the event has long been recognized as the hottest ticket in Tinseltown. It all started after the death of legendary talent agent Irving “Swifty” Lazar, who had hosted an exclusive Oscar after-party since 1964. Noticing a gap in the Hollywood social calendar, vanity fairThen-editor Graydon Carter decided to team up with producer Steve Tisch to co-host an event at Morton's Steakhouse, a restaurant in Beverly Hills now occupied by Cecconi's.
At that time there were only about 40 guests. Tonight, there are more than 500, many of them holding those famous golden Oscar statuettes: Billie Eilish, who, at 22, makes history tonight by becoming the youngest person to win two Academy Awards, walks past at me with his lodged in his elbow. I tell her she's a great accessory. “That's all!” She laughs before walking away to talk to Euphoria's Hunter Schafer.
“It's like the magazine vanity fair comes to life,” says Radhika Jones, editor-in-chief of vanity fair and host of their famous and exclusive after-party. “We're celebrating the Oscars, so of course Hollywood is well represented,” he says of the guest list. Every year, vanity fair publishes a special issue before the ceremony, selecting some of the season's biggest stars for the cover; The current crop includes Bradley Cooper, Natalie Portman and Barry Keoghan, who arrives tonight with his rumored girlfriend, Sabrina Carpenter.
It's like Vanity Fair magazine has come to life.
Radhika Jones, editor-in-chief of Vanity Fair and host of her famous exclusive party
“Of course, the movies change every year, which is good because it keeps things fresh,” Jones says. What does it take to earn a spot on the guest list, plus an Oscar nomination? “We closely follow the cultural conversation and look for people from all fields who are intriguing, influential and fun,” she adds. “We're always looking to strike a balance between party regulars and first-time guests.”
Unlike most celebrity events, which are, let's face it, just another extension of work, with endless streams of interviews, photo shoots and branded content creation, Vanity Fair's Oscar party has maintained a somewhat nostalgic and old Hollywood, free of everything. the pomp and pageantry that would otherwise make attendance exhausting. Once inside, the only obligation is to enjoy.
“For all the nominees who have been on the awards circuit, this is finally a time to let your hair down,” Jones says. “The atmosphere is celebratory, but without pressure. And for those who arrive with an Oscar, tonight represents the culmination of a dream. “It’s one of the most memorable nights of their lives and we lean into that vibe.”
It also seems particularly significant given that this year marks the 30th birthday of Vanity Fair's Oscar party. As a result, the event has become even more ostentatious, with tighter security (I'm given multiple passes just to approach the entrance) and a new artistic edge, with creative director and designer Will Cooper brought in to help out during the long party. . -time architect Basil Walter to take things to the highest levels, in terms of decoration.
Greta Gerwig posing on the red carpet at the Vanity Fair Oscar party
(Getty)
The result is a stunning custom-made crimson-lit Mughal tent at the Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts in Beverly Hills. Inside, the atmosphere revolves around a huge oval-shaped bar serving white negronis, espresso martinis, and what tastes like the best champagne money can buy. Venture outside and you'll discover a heated patio with a decorated pizzeria in the back. It is here that I find someone who kindly offers to light my cigarette; It's later in the bathroom that I realize that someone was a filmmaker and son of Francis Ford Coppola, Roman Coppola.
Such is the caliber of the Vanity Fair Oscar party that guests are said to spend months preparing, undergoing every possible treatment and adjustment imaginable to look good on that red carpet. I have three days. So after arriving in Los Angeles, my first stop is with facialist to the stars, Dr. Barbara Sturm, for her special Oscar facial, which includes lymphatic drainage (reduces puffiness), cryotherapy (improves tone muscle) and a device that provides oxygen. to my face (chubby and firm). Her other clients over the weekend? Florence Pugh, Mark Ruffalo and Issa Rae.
The Hollywood experience continues at my hotel: the incredibly luxurious Waldorf Astoria in Beverly Hills, which is flanked by a regular stream of blacked-out SUVs, ferrying various industry VIPs around town before the big night. Upon entering my spacious room, which is decked out with Aesop toiletries, a private terrace, and one of those bedside buttons that control the curtains (like the one on the The holidays), is enough to make me feel like an Academy Award winner. It is here that I pace frantically for several hours, preparing for the most surreal evening of my life.
The dress code is simply “black tie.” For my outfit, I enlisted the help of Net-a-Porter and decided on a sheer floor-length dress from The Attico, which is receiving praise from Meghann Fahy and Allison Williams, paired with a Manolo Blahnik clutch and high heels from Nodaleto. Enough to pass as intelligent, but not so imposing that you risk falling in front of Ryan Gosling. After a stellar performance of his eponymous Barbie song at the ceremony, Ken himself will sadly not be attending the after-party; “It was great,” Mark Ronson says of his performance with Gosling between bites of an In-N-Out burger; They are famously served to guests throughout the night.
Olivia in her custom-made Net-a-Porter ball gown on her private terrace at the Waldorf Astoria in Beverly Hills before the party.
(Olivia Petter)
There's not much dancing (Vanity Fair Oscar party stalwart Emily Ratajkowski tells me this is normal), but I do see Callum Turner looking animated as Dua Lipa's song from the Barbie soundtrack plays, “Dance the Night Away.” the speakers. The two are rumored to be dating.
Suffice to say, my evening with Hollywood's finest is a lot of fun. But being at a party where you don't know anyone is not easy. Social anxiety is on par with what it might be at a distant relative's wedding or barmitzvah, except that relative might be Steven Spielberg, Emma Stone, or Christopher Nolan, who has nothing to say about it. oppenheimerHis surprising success, apart from the fact that he is “having a fun night.” Later, I see him watching the dance floor from a booth with Matt Damon, two golden statuettes standing on the table in front of him.
However, there are fragments of normality. It's like watching guests dazzle each other (I hear two musicians gushing to Greta Gerwig outside) and losing track of their dates: Trevor Noah, Chloë Sevigny and Kate Berlant are looking for theirs when I meet them. Then there's the A-list actress's assistant who comes up to me in the bathroom to ask if I have a tampon.
It's comforting to see that everyone seems as happy to be there as I am. “No one here is better than you,” whispers an older woman I befriend at the bar as I nervously hover. “Come out and know that she is on the same level as everyone in this room; Deep down, everyone is just as overwhelmed as you.” It's advice I manage to hold on to for most of the night, although it diminishes a bit when someone introduces me to Donatella Versace.
At 1 in the morning, people start filtering out. There are other parties, with a group of models who have taken off their high heels and tell me they are going to one that Beyoncé and Jay-Z are throwing at the nearby Chateau Marmont. Others are venturing into one hosted by Madonna and her manager and friend Guy Oseary. I order a taxi and call at night, waiting in an exclusive “Uber lounge,” arms tightly crossed. Because Blunt is right: it's a little cold outside the party.
