"The Oracle" or "The Seductress"

Firstly, let me start by saying that today’s post will be a bit different… So please read this post very carefully as by its end I will need your assistance…

The other night I had the pleasure of dining with my friend Stella Schnabel… Stella is a wonderful budding actress and also the daughter of internationally acclaimed artist, Julian Schnabel. Now don’t ask me how and why I just happen to know the daughters and/or sons of all of these famous celebrities, artists and/or socialites – it just goes with the territory of being a designer living and working in New York City. We are all like little creative moths buzzing around the same energy and/or light source… Anyway, Stella and I were meeting up to discuss the possibility of her delivering the monologue in our upcoming Mal Sirrah Spring/Summer 2008 online presentation which will consist of a mix of video footage and still photography. I am strongly considering Stella as she is a very interesting young woman with varied passions, social interests and indulgences. She also possesses the soul of a person that has lived on this earth many times before. There is something about the expressiveness in Stella’s face that is absolutely captivating and alluring. In my mind I have dubbed her Stella “The Seductress”.

We enjoyed a lovely dinner at the Italian hot-spot, Bar Pitti, which is located at Sixth Avenue between Bleecker and Houston Streets in Greenwich Village. Personally I am more of DaSilvano’s guy which is located so close to Bar Pitti that at times you don’t truly realize the difference. I also personally find DaSilvano’s interior to be much better for people watching; not to mention the portions are much smaller. Having said that, I will admit the food at Bar Pitti seems much more authentic. It often reminds me of my travels around Italy to those small provincial eateries that you can find on the side of any of the winding roads. Much like my travels around Italy, there are times when I still fell like a tourist in this world of fashion, beauty and art. I believe it is due to the tourist factor that my outsider’s perspective always seems to be very different from the rest of the pack and allows me to look at these matters minus rose colored Prada and/or Gucci glasses. But as usual, I digress…

So after dinner Stella and I began to walk up 6th Avenue where we ran into one of my dearest friends on the planet, Andre J.

Andre J is like “The Oracle” of over-the-top New York cool, trend and nightlife. When I think of it he is much more than that for me…. Andre J is actually Love, Sunshine and Karma incarnate. If you ever wanted to behold a tangible entity that personifies these aforementioned intangibles, simply shake the hand or stand in the presence of Andre J – I promise you - this man is pure love. I absolutely love him...

After I introduced Stella to Andre and he began to chat wildly about his day's escapades, a few moments later I caught a glimmer in Stella's eyes and a serene peacefulness come across her face. I knew at once that she too had fallen under Andre J’s hypnotic almost Stevie Nicks like spell. These two had never crossed paths before, however, these photos below were taken moments later and tell a much better story than my feeble words could ever dare attempt:

However, before we were allowed to proceed on our journey, Andre insisted that Stella and I follow him back across the street to the windows of Barnes & Noble Book Store located on the corner of 8th Street and Sixth Avenue; and guess what was in the window – a picture of Andre J as featured in the book “New York Look Book” (Come on… You guys must remember… It’s the same book I featured last week that I discovered in the windows of Bergdorf Goodman). There was Andre J – in all his wonderful, fabulous and black glory… We all stood in front of the window and shared a moment....

Stella then suggested that we all go off to her favorite haunt, Beatrice Inn, for a nightcap. So off our little crew went arm in arm as if were heading down the yellow brick road to see the all knowing Oz. By the time we reached the door of Beatrice Inn we had all reached a sort of kinship which can only be achieved by people that share a particular and common trait – we all felt like outsiders that would never fit in anywhere - not Bar Piiti or DaSilvanos, not Bungalow or Socialista, and definitely not Beatrice Inn... However, as people like us always do, we pressed forward...

However our stay at Beatrice Inn was much briefer than any of us could have ever anticipated… The vibe on this particular evening was all wrong – our vibe that is… We were sharing a very special moment and didn’t want anything to disturb it. Therefore we decided to shake the cool, hip, speak-easy vibe of Beatrice Inn for a random café just around the corner…

As we sat outside enjoying an unseasonably warm evening and chatting away like three school kids, I suddenly realized that I might have a bit of a dilemma on my hands… Which one of these wonderful energies would I allow to deliver the monologue for Mal Sirrah? “The Oracle” or “The Seductress”…

This is where I need your help… I have to choose which one of these individuals I will use to deliver the monologue for the Mal Sirrah Spring/Summer 2008 presentation and find myself at a personal crossroads… I know that it is not completely fair based on the limited information you have been provided above, however, it is this sort of distance that this selection requires. Please email me your vote at (CS&B@malsirrah.com) so that I may factor in the results when making my overall final decision… So I ask you, who will it be – “The Oracle known as Andre J” or "The Seductress known as Stella Schnabel” - - - you decide???