NYFW party pics: Blake Lively, SJP and Claire Danes at the Chanel SoHo fete

What does one wear to a Chanel boutique re-opening party? Chanel, bien sur!  Think gold chains by way of belt or bijoux, pearls (and lots of them, darling) and tweed anything. Oh, and keep that palette to a stark black and white. Throw in a camillia or two and you look, well...passable--especially in light of the style scene at last night’s re-opening of the company’s SoHo boutique.

The chiseled male cater waiters (each vaguely resembling Karl’s muse Baptiste Giabiconi) offered up trays of bubbly and spray paint canisters emblazoned with CHANEL, for those looking to channel their inner Basquiat and spray for art’s sake on the wall outside the boutique. Kind of puts a new spin on street art, non?

Inside the store, 2.55 bags made the rounds on the arms of eds, buyers and socials. Derek Blasberg (bowtie and all) held court in a corner with BFF Byrdie Bell, Bergdorf Goodman’s Linda Fargo was talking biz beside a rather beastly looking mannequin kitted out in Fall 2010’s Nanook of the North ready-to-wear and photog Patrick Demarchelier was looking ever so handsome in his just-back-from-safari getup. But where oh where was the Kaiser himself?  Well, he did show eventually, along with Hollywood’s glam gang--SJP, Liv Tyler, Claire Danes and Blake Lively, to name a few. Unfortunately, by this time I was already back uptown having dinner with the lovely folks at BCBG. Whoever said nothing good happens after 11 p.m. clearly has never been to a Chanel party.

My consolation prize?  A silk Chanel scarf with a handpainted polar bear print, interlocking CCs and all.