When stylist-to-the-stars Rachel Zoe opens up her jewelry box the city’s fellow vintage aficionados, it’s cause for celebration. There was no talk of the crap economy last week at Decadestwo when Zoe hosted a party-cum-sale of some of her vintage baubles to benefit the Ovarian Cancer National Alliance. Instead, the crowd emitted Zoe-isms made famous by the stylist’s reality show (“ I die!” “Bananas!”). Framed childhood pictures of Zoe were set next to Chanel jackets, and a Louis Vuitton trunk displayed magazine clippings of Kate Moss and other of the stylist’s icons. Decadestwo co-owner Christos Garkinos (pictured with Rachel) chose the 200 pieces to be sold. “It was really hard to part with all of the jewelry,” Rachel said. “It’s purging for all the right reasons.” Speaking of purging, Zoe’s former client Nicole Richie showed up, dispelling tabloid reports of acrimony between the two. Others schmoozing and perusing were Jen Rade (Angelina’s stylist), Project Runway contestant Nick Verreos, and Entourage’s Perrey Reeves. Not everything sold that night; what’s left can be viewed at the store’s website (once there, search for “Rachel Zoe”).

additional reporting by Kelly Parsons

 
Shops can give away bon-bons or send out nearly nude models to mingle with customers (as Hugo Boss did in a recent Beverly Center shopping event), and we appreciate the creative efforts. But there’s nothing more magnetic than great merchandise. What Comes Around Goes Around, a New York company that has opened a boutique inside Space15Twenty, hit the nail on the head at its opening party last week. It’s a store of vintage finds from all over the planet, rounded out with an in-house line of new clothing (that looks vintage) as well as items from a handful of up-and-comers, including Esquivel shoes and Gilded Age denim. “The idea is that we want to bring you timeless things you need in your closet, says co-owner Gerard Maione. "We want to bring classic back in novel ways.”

Environment Furniture celebrated the opening of its Beverly Boulevard showroom with Ciudad nibbles and eco-cocktails (I know, I know, but they were made with special berries). The crowd of interior designers, set decorators, and greenies oohed, aahed, and took pictures of repurposed wood beds and sofas covered in reclaimed truck-top canvases. My faves: a sofa swathed in vintage Levi’s denim and voodoo scenes on the walls crafted from recycled oil drums by Haitian artist Serge Jolimeau. There is a hypnotic permanent video art installation in the back of the space, Rebeca Méndez’s At Any Given Moment, Grass. It covers the entire wall with images of swaying grass. Environment Furniture has an HD Buttercup showroom (more an of outlet store), a NY showroom and one in South Coast Plaza, but this is the brand spanking new flagship. It’s good-looking stuff.

exterior photo: Nazy Alvarez
party photo: Aaron Rappaport

The Beverly Hills Anthropologie store, until recently located in a north of Beverly Drive, celebrated its move to a larger space on South Beverly last Thursday night with a fundraiser for the nonprofit writing workshop 826LA. “We outgrew the older space,” said Sara Goodstein, Anthropologie’s PR director. “We’re farther from Rodeo and closer to Anthropologie’s quirky culture.” Flooded with natural light, the two-story boutique has a “library” of white, untitled books shelved behind glass panels. “Anyone want to buy me something?” Angel Taylor asked the crowd, after playing the sweet, light-hearted "Chai Tea Latte" from her debut album "Love Travels." Taylor, who toured with Grammy-award winner Adele last year, also did a cover of the Brit’s “Hometown Glory." Some 300 people attended the party. One man, deep in conversation, made a swooping gesture with his glass of red wine, which spilled on the hardwood floor. He never noticed. It was that kind of a night.

Have I entered Transylvania? It’s Friday the 13th and I’m at a Chateau Marmont bungalow as the sun goes down, surrounded by black rose petals, red candles, fake black crows, and red velvet cupcakes.

Designers Lauren Alexander and Gabby Applegate are debuting a clothing line called Witches. Alexander co-designs another line, the hit basics label LnA, and joined forces with Applegate to create what she calls a Victorian goth collection. It’s got a lot of lace. The items will retail for up to $400 at Ron Herman. “Gabby and I would go out together always wearing all black and people called us the witches,” Alexander says. The line “is our idea of the modern witch.”

Models in the clothing are posed in tableaux vivants on the lawn, lounging on velvet furniture and in front of vanity tables. Though they look ready for a night at a dark wave club, the designers insist the clothing is good for everyday wear, too. “We wanted to design something that you can to just throw on, it’s easy,” Alexander says. For the on-the-go goth, I guess.

Who goes to a G-Shot party? Last week there were a whopping four of us in the Bev Hills office of Dr. David Matlock. Two of us were reporters. Matlock says about 40 clients per month come to him for shots of collagen to the Grafenberg spot (AKA g-spot), at $1,850 - $2,500 a pop. (None of those women are his wife, who has not made time for the service.) The procedure, which he calls the G-Shot, enlarges the g-spot, which is supposed to heighten a woman’s sex drive and level of arousal. Maybe his clients were all getting laid instead of attending the party for his gift to their sexuality. Well, it made it easy to work the room. One woman told me Dr. Matlock had removed fat from her hips to inject onto her butt. Here she was, a few days later, ready for a G-Shot. The other party guest had just finished recovering from vaginal rejuvenation surgery and was back for her second dose. The 44-year-old said, with a straight face, that she now has the vagina of a 16-year-old. Her first G-Shot made her frisky while jogging. Actually, she felt in the mood pretty much all of the time after the procedure. Kind of like a porn star, only not getting paid for it.

Photo courtesy of LA Splash

Stylist Jeanne Yang is incubating a fashion line with her client Katie Holmes. Rachel Zoe has traded on her dresser-of-the-stars fame for book, TV, and apparel deals. But Eric Berg is doing something else with the paycheck he earns from frocking music stars (J Lo, Rihanna, Eminem). He has opened Eric Berg’s Early California Antiques, a shop near the corner of Melrose and Heliotrope in East Hollywood. (The area includes a vegan restaurant, a bike workshop, and art galleries.) “A very clear point of view” was the compliment on the lips of many of the guests at the opening party last Saturday. Rustic, colorful, and Spanish-influenced are the unifying characteristics of the collection of paintings, furniture, rugs, dishware, and lighting, most of which dates back to between 1929 and 1942. What has endeared Berg to his clients—from Diane Keaton to the Ralph Lauren stores worldwide to anyone with a spare $100 for a gift—is his passionate expertise; it’s not the snooty “here’s-why-it-costs-so-much” variety. Berg has an aficionado’s love of paintings of campfire scenes and bejeweled Mexican silver tea sets, and his enthusiasm is infectious. The store isn’t Berg’s debut. He had a spot in the Pasadena Antique Center for the past few years, but this new space is twice the size (and half the rent!). The front half of the boutique features an art show of work by Sam Hyde Harris, the late Southern California commercial artist who also painted landscapes. Art shows will rotate monthly; what better reason—besides the nearby Scoops ice cream parlor—to stop by?

For more pix, check out Tasha Adams’ blog Blackburn and Sweetzer.