In preparation for a week full of galas and Halloween parties, I pull some pieces from designer Elisse Hanssen. Rooted in self-expression, storytelling and sustainability, her label Elisse Cara blends vintage inspiration with contemporary silhouettes to create whimsical yet refined designs. As a designer, draper, pattern maker and sewist, Elisse creates her garments from scratch, with a focus on craftsmanship, individuality and quality over quantity.
Designer Feature: Elisse Cara
Elisse’s inspiration speaks to my own feelings about fashion and personal style. She tells me she is deeply inspired by the nostalgia of girlhood and the joy of dressing up.
“Fashion has always been a way for me to express my personality, and I want people to experience that same excitement when they wear my clothing. With The Cara Collection, I wanted to capture the feeling of being a little girl who loved experimenting with clothes and expressing herself through what she wore. That inspiration comes through in the playful prints, puff sleeves, rounded silhouettes, and proportions throughout the collection. I love taking elements that feel familiar or nostalgic and reinterpreting them in a way that feels fresh and relevant to the woman I am today.”
Elisse Hanssen, Elisse Cara
True to the designer’s inspiration, the dress I’m wearing tonight is reminiscent of a princess’s ball gown, with an exaggerated silhouette and rose-petal print. I am brought back to my favorite childhood pastime of playing in my dress-up box. My sister and I would obsess over the shiny princess dresses, accessorizing each look with butterfly clips, feather boas and glittery tiaras, before making our parents watch a runway show through the living room.
Lacing up the corset, I feel the same sense of excitement and wonder that the dress-up box once brought me: the feeling that I can do or be anyone if I just have the perfect outfit. The thrill of turning my life into a fairy tale simply by dressing the part. Only instead of shiny polyester, I’m stepping into a one-of-one designer dress. And instead of plastic costume jewelry, I’m wearing diamonds.
Learn more about Elisse Cara Designs at elissecara.com.
Museum of Arts and Design Gala
This week kicked off strong with the Museum of Arts and Design’s annual gala. I absolutely adore my outfit tonight: an entirely unique piece created with fabric from a vintage tablecloth Elisse sourced from an antique shop in Norway. With the exaggerated silhouette and the romantic print, the overall effect feels very Dior meets Tim Burton, in the best way. I accessorize with jewelry from Samma Diamonds: a sparkling emerald-cut tennis necklace with matching earrings and custom pink and red diamond rings.
The MAD Gala spans several floors, giving guests the opportunity to explore the different exhibitions before heading up to the top two floors for dinner and celebrations. I wander through a preview of John Procario: Freeforms – Sculptural Explorations in Wood and Light, featuring bentwood sculptures incorporating LED lighting. A few floors up is Nike: Form Follows Motion, featuring designs and prototypes from the brand’s archives and an improvisational dance performance by the Renegade Performance Group.
Other installations and experiences include Jessica Lichtenstein: ReWilding, where guests created personalized keepsakes in collaboration with xTool, and Alice Riehl’s monumental porcelain installation Herbarium Interior, accompanied by an olfactory experience by perfumer Alexandra Monet. Artists in residence Karen Lao and Esther Jihye Cho have also opened their studios for intimate looks into their work.
The guests’ attire is far more inventive and theatrical than your standard gala; you can tell the room is full of artists.
Thursday evening I get ready to head down to Casa Cipriani for another gala. I’m wearing another whimsical, romantic Elisse Cara gown. This one also features a floral corset, as well as some elegant draping with sheer blue fabric for added drama. I adore added drama. I decide this floral corset is also desperately in need of some diamonds, and I select a very special Samma Diamonds necklace featuring an intricate flower pendant of diamonds and sapphires. I layer it with another diamond pendant and add two diamond cluster earrings.
Designer Feature: Mercura NYC
The finishing touch is a pair of one-of-a-kind glasses entirely adorned with sculptural flowers, handcrafted by Mercura NYC. I stop by their studio-slash-showroom at The Chelsea Hotel and find it absolutely stuffed to the brim with a dizzying array of designs by sisters Merrilee and Rachel Cohen. The two sisters are known as originators of handcrafted, high-embellishment wearable art, metal body sculptures, fantasy jewelry, headdresses and custom sunglasses. Every piece has a fabulous story behind it. My favorite is a hand-painted metal butterfly mask, previously worn by Jackie Kennedy in Vogue. I find the perfect pair of glasses to complement my look.
Museum of Chinese in America Gala
Tonight’s event is The Museum of Chinese in America (MOCA)’s Legacy Awards Gala, Generation Impact, honoring Broadway’s Baayork Lee with the MOCA Legacy Award and the Angel Island Immigration Station Foundation (AIISF) with the MOCA Impact Award. Hosted by journalist and news anchor Richard Lui, the gala marks America’s 250th anniversary by celebrating the generations of Chinese Americans who helped build the nation, and the generation now stepping up to carry their stories forward.
At the gala, I meet gala chair Jessica Wang, who is dressed in a stunning light blue and gold AKNVAS gown. Caviar is served out of a giant silver goblet. The program features a gorgeous piano performance from Chloe Flower.
Jessica opens the evening with a champagne toast and a meaningful speech.
“That’s what Generation Impact means to me. Honoring what the generations before us built, and making sure their impact continues.”
Jessica Wang, MOCA gala chair
She added: “For years, we’ve talked about getting the next generation involved. Well, look around. We’re here.”
The paddle auction raises more than $1.1 million in pledges.
Halloweekend in New York City
One of my favorite things about New York City is that you can walk down the street wearing whatever you want (a ball gown, no pants) and nobody cares. This is never more apparent than Halloweekend in the city. My costume (a killer doll) is really an excuse to wear another piece from Elisse Hanssen’s Cara Collection: an adorable pink polka-dot mini dress with kitschy floral buttons. I add a tulle underskirt to augment the drama, pigtails, a vintage Juicy Couture bedazzled purse and a lollipop.
Friday Night: Hot or Horror
Friday is girls-and-gays night out, and I meet my friends at Bond St, where we gossip over sticky rice and sashimi. We meet a new friend in the restroom who has a full sheet of gemstones that we stick on each other’s faces. Valerie is wearing her cheerleading uniform from high school and does a cheer in the middle of the bar. Our waiter brings us tape from the back of house to fix an emergency rip on the googly eyes of Kayla’s sexy-alien costume. We all share a cigarette from Grant’s Marlboro Man costume. It’s peak NYC energy all around.
We head over to The Nines for their Halloween “HOT OR HORROR” event. The line is wild and the bouncer is already yelling at the crowd, but Kayla works her inexplicable magic at the door and we are quickly ushered inside. The vibes are raucous and contagious, and I stay out way later than intended.
Saturday Night: Crashing Heidiween
Halloween on a Saturday in New York City has a contagious, palpable energy. The entire city is buzzing. I’m trying to finagle my way into tonight’s most coveted event: Heidi Klum’s legendary Halloween party.
Tonight’s look is built around a beautiful black and nude lace skirt by designer Claudia Amaya. I’ve paired it with a gold corset and accessorized with a cape, a pearl cross necklace and a necklace I bought just for Halloween, with three strands of pearls and strands of red beads designed to look like blood. I add a blood-red lip, and my chic vampire costume is complete.
The street outside Cathedral restaurant (the venue for this year’s Heidiween) is packed with partygoers, police and paparazzi. Suddenly a truck covered in DANGER signs backs up to just five feet in front of me. Men in hazmat suits gather around to secure the area. The back door of the truck slowly starts to rise, smoke pours out and a figure wobbles forward. It’s a giant disembodied hand, covered in blood and gore. Heidi Klum has arrived. The crowd is screaming around me. I’ve officially topped last year’s Halloween.
This Week’s Best Dressed
Photography: Danté Crichlow/BFA; Getty Images for MOCA; Yelyzaveta Kuznetsova.
