"Look at this fabulous sight," said Neue Galerie co-founder Ronald S. Lauder as he proudly surveyed the scene at the museum's winter gala on Tuesday night. "It could almost be Vienna at the turn of the century or in the 1920's." Among the elegant time travelers on hand were gala co-chair Liya Kebede, Hilary Rhoda, Dr. Lisa Airan, and Lauren duPont, but none of the socials and supermodels—many in Gucci, the evening's sponsor—could compete with the luminous beauty of the evening's star: Gustav Klimt's Adele Bloch-Bauer I. The golden portrait of the Viennese hostess, which Lauder acquired for a reported sum of $135 million in June, was hands down the most popular girl at the party. Still, it was another Klimt, The Black Feather Hat, that captured the attention of first-time Neue visitor Margherita Missoni. "I told Aerin [Lauder Zinterhofer] that I wish I could have it in my home," said Missoni. "And she replied by telling me that it used to hang in her grandmother's bedroom."

A few blocks south, at the Metropolitan Museum, friends, family, and admirers of the late Nan Kempner, including Joan Collins, Bob Colacello, and Lars Nilsson, gathered to pay homage to New York's queen clotheshorse. "It's a wonderful, fantastic view of twentieth-century design," said Deeda Blair of the exhibition of her socialite pal's clothes, accessories, and jewels, aptly titled American Chic. "Nan and I would sometimes order the same couture outfits at the same time," Lynn Wyatt recalled. "We had to check in with each other to see who was wearing what when. But my closet doesn't look like this. I have to show this to my husband, so he can see mine's not so bad after all!"

Many of the evening's most committed partygoers then descended on the yet-to-open Lower East Side eatery, The Box, where Samantha Boardman Rosen and Marjorie Gubelmann Raein were hosting a private dinner for Chanel's latest fine-jewelry collection, Les Perles de Chanel. Slated to open in February, Simon Hammerstein and Serge Becker's cabaret-style venue was a big hit with the seen-it-all crowd, thanks in part to the elaborate decor designed for the evening by Carlos Mota. Trees and shrubbery lined the interior, and rose and gardenia floral arrangements adorned each table, and then there were the candelabra wrapped in pearls. After a dinner of seared black cod and braised short ribs, Julia Stiles took to unraveling the gems. Scarlett Johansson, too, was in an acquisitive mood. "I don't have enough Chanel jewelry," confessed the actress. "Not yet, anyway."