The Plaza Hotel—the New York landmark where, as Kay Thompson wrote in her 1955 children's book Eloise, "Getting bored is not allowed"—has been closed for the last three years. But it seems its transformation into luxury apartments is nearly complete, because on Wednesday night the hotel opened its doors for another storied institution: Chanel. The extravagant black-and-white-themed banquet, fêting the U.S. debut of 20 one-of-a-kind diamond pieces from the Chanel archives, drew boldface names from every pocket of the city's beau monde. Celebrities (Christy Turlington Burns and Ed Burns, Selma Blair, Blake Lively), socialites (Fabiola Beracasa, Margherita Missoni, Tory Burch), and a smattering of art-world types like Terence Koh and Stella Schnabel all piled into the grand ballroom to check out the renovations, the gems, and, as always, each other.

Ellen Pompeo stole the show in a sequined embroidered gown from Chanel's Haute Couture collection and a 1920's-style wavy bob. "It's an homage to [Coco] Chanel," the Grey's Anatomy star explained. "I guess it's the actor in me, but any chance to play dress-up, I sort of dive right in." Selma Blair came in a close second with a black knit frock from the Paris-Londres collection. But if the guests looked seamless, the evening wasn't entirely without snags. The three-year hiatus had left the Plaza staff a little rusty—dinner was slow in coming and several guests took off before their "Eloise Mini Sundae" arrived. But others were in no rush to leave the gilded neoclassical room. "I'm happy to see the place has retained its original grandeur," Ed Burns noted. "I was terrified I'd walk in here and see that all the great craftsmanship had been torn down, and that it had been turned into a sleek new modern joint."

— Evelyn Crowley