Lina LecaroBeauty really is in the eye of beholder, especially when a magazine is doing the beholding. Julia Roberts and Beth Ditto may be like night and day in the looks department, but both graced “Beautiful Issue” covers recently.
Predictably, the toothy superstar was on People magazine (she's got a big movie -the film adaptation to Eat, Pray, Love– coming out), while the plus-sized rock powerhouse popped cartoonishly from Paper mag's cover, styled up in one of her pal Jeremy Scott's dayglo Flintstone looks. Ditto's unconventional allure might epitomize the NYC mag's long-enduring art-tarty aesthetic, but the ish celebrated its share of traditionally gorgeous peeps too.
Last night at the Standard on Sunset, Paper's LA party for the issue brought out equal shares of both, along with the usual array of quirky, trendy, and flamboyant types their bashes are known for.
We've always felt a kinship with Paper when it comes to fashion, nightlife and pop culture coverage (indeed, we freelance for them on occasion) and as itss founder David Hershkovits (pictured above with LA club fixture Ana Calderon), mentions in the Beauty ish, we too, have sought to treat “stars like nobodies and nobodies like stars.”
Last night there was some noticeable separation between the two, but it was as subtle and seamless as any Hollywood party could be. Benji Madden and Samantha Ronson (LA's most famous velvet rope selectors) might have attracted a hub of flashbulbs throughout the eve, especially when they were on display in an elevated/isolated DJ area, but they mingled about most of the night.
And while the red carpet near the shindig's entrance saw the likes of Emma Roberts (Julia's Disney actress niece), Adam Lambert and Sam's bro Mark Ronson causing photo frenzy and gushy glances amongst some gaggles, most of the crowd–gussied up gay boys, model chicks and random revelers in their best mismatched garb–seemed absorbed in each other and the atmosphere itself. This was surely one of the most stylish soirees the Standard Sunset has seen in some time.
A live performance by recent Warner Brothers soul-pop signees Nikki & Rich (pictured above with Madden and Ronson) was promising, though their blatantly Amy Winehouse-ish opening number, “Cat & Mouse” had us scratching our head. Was Mark Ronson there because he was responsible? Turns out it was just a coincidence. Nikki's got Aguilera-strong vox and she's a cutie too (even if we overheard some glam gals in the house remark that she needs a good stylist… of course they were probably stylists themselves).
We also hear she's got quite the interesting backstory (raised by Christian pastors even more hardcore than Katy Perry's folks). With Perry-like image and song-writing guidance, the popstar potential for these two is high, but even if it doesn't happen the remixers seem to be having fun with their tunes regardless.
Other beauts we bumped into: the designers from Howl of Echo Park (above), singer Josie Cotton, Mr. Black's Lenora Claire (who tells us her birthday party there next month will have some over the top amusements, like “unicorns and shit”), designer Julia Clancey (showing in New York soon), and blogger babe Alexi Wasser, whom we profiled in the Weekly's “LA People” issue, out next Thursday. It may not have the word “Beautiful” in it, but Wasser and all the issue's subjects are something to behold.
See more photos from the Paper party here and in our Nightranger slideshow next week.
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