Monday night, the director's council of the Museum of the City of New York threw a cocktail fund-raiser for the uptown institution. With the Three Graces as the theme, chairs Valesca Guerrand-Hermès, Anne Grauso, and Celerie Kemble, along with guests Zani Gugelmann, Ivanka Trump, Tinsley Mortimer, Lauren Davis, Fabiola Beracasa, and Eleanor Lembo Ylvisaker sported floaty frocks from sponsor Nina Ricci. Kemble, in a ruched lavender number, admitted that she had missed most of the previous week's activities, save for gal pal Lela Rose's collection. "I only go to the shows of the people that matter to me. I have to work!"

Work was also on the mind of Nina Ricci's Lars Nilsson, who flew in from Paris for the event, only to return the following morning. "Thank God we have an extra month," said the designer, whose spring show is less than three weeks away. Nearby, fellow clothier Tory Burch was cajoled onto the dance floor by her date, actress Kerry Washington, who couldn't sit still once Aretha Franklin's "Respect" hit the speakers. "I've always loved this museum, ever since I was a little girl," said the Bronx-born beauty. "It's so funny. I just bumped into three girls that I went to Spence with—what a small world!"

Two nights later, a Valentino-clad Dayssi Olarte de Kanavos admitted that it was her public school education that motivated her to become involved in New Yorkers for Children. The charity raised $1.4 million and drew 700 people to Cipriani on 42nd Street for its biannual gala. "I attended Forest Hills High School," she said. "There were kids there who had no one to turn to, couldn't afford a book or anything."

Supporters including Oscar de la Renta, Diane von Furstenberg, and Jerry and Jessica Seinfeld came out to watch Russell Simmons accept a business leadership award from Mayor Bloomberg. Later, Lenny Kravitz introduced the evening's headliner, Melissa Etheridge. "I don't know many of her songs," admitted Andrew Saffir, after she had finished her set. "But she was good!"

—Sarah Cristobal