When the invites for this year's Museum of the City of New York party hit mailboxes earlier this month, announcing that the After Dark-themed event would be held at the Bryant Park Grill instead of the museum's 103rd Street locale, an audible sigh of relief was heard from supporters. Let's face it, many of them live closer to the Lower than the Upper East Side these days, and as brand consultant Sabine Heller put it: "Those extra 60 blocks can kill ya." The men, meanwhile, were happy to read of a "no ties" dress code, though some traditionalists insisted they felt a little naked without their neck decorations.

The outdoor cocktails, buffet dinner, and open seating added to the casual environment. Hence the shorter cocktail dresses on many of the partygoers, including Jennifer Creel, in Zac Posen; Amy Fine Collins; and Marjorie Gubelmann and Joanne de Guardiola, both in Carolina Herrera. "We just got off a plane from Bermuda," Vogue's Meredith Melling Burke, in a blue Oscar de la Renta number, said. "So we're still in vacation mode here." Others reveling in the night's more casual approach to socializing were Tory Burch, who had come straight from the office, and jewelry designer Zani Gugelmann, who had special plans for her one-shouldered Rachel Roy dress. "It's jersey, and so comfortable," she said. "I think I'm going to sleep in it."

— Derek Blasberg