Carla Bruni

Any other week, the arrival in New York of the Republican vice presidential nominee, Sarah Palin, and France’s first lady, Carla Bruni-Sarkozy, would have been huge news. The pair—possibly the two most-watched women in the world right now—certainly did get their share of headlines, but their trip was overshadowed by the bad news coming out of Wall Street. Still, they attended fancy parties, met world leaders, and even double-dated! (O.K., we made the last one up.)

With their visit came more discussion of their respective wardrobes. Some talked about how Ms. Bruni might have upstaged Catherine Zeta-Jones with her simple royal blue dress and flats at the Elie Wiesel Foundation Humanitarian Awards dinner on Monday.  read more »

First lady of France Carla Bruni-Sarkozy arrived in New York Monday morning with her husband, French President Nicolas Sarkozy, for the opening session of the UN General Assembly.

Being a pair of regular old tourists in the big city, the two went for a morning jog in Midtown--"Bruni turned heads in a skintight sports top that bared her washboard belly as the seemingly winded president struggled to keep up in an oversized soccer jersey that covered a pair of way-too-short shorts," the Post reported--visited the Guggenheim, and then headed to the Metropolitan Museum of Art for a luncheon for the White House Symposium on Advancing Global Literacy.  read more »

Burberry has launched a web-only waiting list for its metal spike clutch. [Vogue UK]

Ralph Lauren's show last Friday was the first Fashion Week show ever for LeBron James. [WWD, previously] 

Erin Wasson tells Cory Kennedy that homeless people have the best sense of style. [Nylon TV via The Cut]  

Carla Bruni-Sarkozy wore Christian Dior last week when her husband, French Prime Minister Nicolas Sarkozy, greeted Pope Benedict XVI on his first visit to France. [WWD]  read more »

In April, we told you why New Yorkers care about Carla Bruni, 40-year-old model-turned-pop-star-turned-first lady of France. Now the "21st-century amalgam of Jackie O, Lady Di and J-Lo" is coming out with her third album, Comme si de rien n'était this week. The title translates to ''As if Nothing Happened,'' and it refers to the under-the-radar manner in which Bruni recorded the album over three weeks last winter, according to an article in Entertainment Weekly.

The reporter Missy Schwartz had a light-lunch kind of interview with Ms. Bruni, which resulted in lots of explanatory paragraphs and paraphrasing and not many quotations from Ms.  read more »

The September issue of Vanity Fair features French first lady Carla Bruni-Sarkozy on the cover and yet again poses the question, Is she the new Jackie O.? In the piece, written by Maureen Orth, Ms. Bruni is painted as a modern sort of woman who values her independence, remains friends with her many lovers (and their wives!), and prefers a president who wears blue jeans.

Read on as Ms. Bruni's explains herself and Karl Lagerfeld declares her the most enviable first lady.

On her independence:
“I think it is a major duty for a woman to be independent. Independence was my obsession when I was 20.  read more »

Women’s bodies are revolting! I don’t mean that the way it sounds. The girls of the world have simply had enough. They are mad as hell and they are not going to take it anymore. Anarchy and change are in the air.

But what exactly is going on? Is the super-skinny trend coming to an end? Are real women—remember back when being naturally curvaceous was good thing?—about to make a giant comeback? Are Michelle Obama’s arms too thick or too thin? Will Angelina Jolie’s womb continue to burst with babies? Is the anorexic-but-busty trend—that ho look against which I inveighed in my most recent book, Eccentric Glamour (Simon and Schuster, $24), finally beating a retreat? So many questions!  read more »

Let’s start with the ho trend.

Brasserie Cognac's owner Vittorio Assaf is having to introduce a children's menu because neighborhood couples like Brooke Shields and husband Chris Henchy; Jeff Gordon and wife, Belgian model Ingrid; and designer Eric Villency and wife Kimberly Guilfoyle keep bringing in their toddlers. [P6]

Michelle Williams is reportedly making a film about Heath Ledger for daughter Matilda starring his friends and co-workers, who will share anecdotes of the late actor. [NY Daily News]

French President Nicolas Sarkozy's model wife, Carla Bruni, reportedly said she'd like to be pregnant. [The Cut]

When Russell Simmons breaks up with you and makes you move out of his home, he'll help you find an apartment and take you furniture shopping first.  read more »

French first lady Carla Bruni reportedly is of two minds about her marriage to the French president, Nicolas Sarkozy, and its effect on her pop music career.

"If people don't listen because I married the president of the republic, I understand," she said of her new album, Comme Si De Rien N'Etait (As If Nothing Happened), in a pre-release interview in Paris this morning. "If they do listen because I married the president of the republic, I will be delighted." 

Ms. Bruni knows how to walk the fine line between minx and missus. A Jackie O look-alike who met the Queen of England in a conservative Christian Dior gray suit and pillbox hat, the 40-year-old has had lovers including Eric Clapton, Mick Jagger, Jean-Paul Enthoven and his 26-year-old son, Raphaël.  read more »

Josh Schwartz has denied rumors of a Taylor Momsen-headlined Gossip Girl spin-off. [E!]

Grey's Anatomy's Katherine Heigl says she withdrew her name from the Emmy nomination list because she was not given Emmy-worthy material by the show's writers. [LA Times]  read more »

Carla Bruni says she was seduced by Nicolas Sarkozy's "physique and intelligence" in a new book, Carla and Nicolas, The True Story. [P6]

Ethan Hawke can't get out of jury duty. [P6]  read more »

Until last Thursday, when a nude photograph of Carla Bruni, the 40-year-old model-turned-pop-star-turned-first lady of France, sold at Christie’s for $91,000, more than 20 times its expected price, Ms. Bruni hadn’t been the subject of much conversation among New Yorkers. But over the last week, her name popped out of pursed lips at cocktail lounges and long lunches across the city, as men and women started to catch on that a new icon of fashion, sex and sensibility—a 21st-century amalgam of Jackie O, Lady Di and J-Lo—was emerging across the Atlantic.  read more »

Carla Bruni's nude photo taken by Michel Comte sold for $91,000 at Christie's yesterday. [NY Daily News]

The ex-wives of Jason Kidd, Patrick Ewing, and Eddie Murphy were overheard discussing a "First Wives Club" type reality show over drinks at the Gansevoort Hotel. [P6]  read more »

Elton John's fund-raising concert for Hillary might be a federal violation of campaign rules. [Washington Times via Radar]  read more »

Having broken up with Jason Preston, Marc Jacobs is on the prowl and a drama queen. [P6]

France's first lady Carla Bruni-Sarkozy's nude portrait taken by Michel Comte in 1993 will be auctioned at Christie's on April 10th. [NY Daily News]

Is there discord in the Mortimer home? Tinsley and Topper arrive separately to the Young Fellows of the Frick Collection midnight breakfast after party last night and avoided each other while there. [P6]  read more »

Steve Aoki, DJ to the LA hipster-elite, releases his first mix album today, the obliquely named Pillowface and His Airplane Chronicles, a Cobrasnake soundtrack populated by the Pitchfork-crowned Justice, Klaxons, Bloc Party, MSTRKRFT, Peaches, and the like. Released in part by his own label, Dim Mak, the album will answer that long-held question, what does ironic '80's glam thrift chic sound like? Judge for yourself. Here's a taste, part of a live performance where he mixes Justice and MSTRKRFT—dare I say it sounds fun?

 read more »

The future Mrs. Sarkozy may no longer have anything “future” about her. Carla Bruni, the 40-year-old former supermodel who has been dating recently-divorced French President Nicolas Sarkozy, reportedly married the politico last week. A French newspaper, L’Est Republicain, apparently “had good reason” to publish reports today that the doting duo have already tied the knot during a small ceremony at the Élysée Palace in Paris.

An unnamed “source close to a witness who attended the ceremony” reportedly contacted the media outlet to say that the wedding, a “small, very private” affair, was held in the presidential residence last Thursday. Mr. Sarkozy’s spokesman, David Martinon, declined to offer a comment on the, er, hearsay.

Recently, Mr. Sarkozy, 52, commented publicly on rumors of his forthcoming nuptials, saying, “There is a strong chance that you will learn about it once it's already been done.”

French President Nicolas Sarkozy wiggled out of answering questions about his reported new flame, a singer and former model named Carla Bruni. While visiting a museum in the south of France today, Mr. Sarkozy, 52, who divorced his second wife last October, spoke to journalists about the area’s natural environs. In a move both bold and clever, a reporter jumped on the topical opportunity to squeeze fresh news from the imposing politico. “Speaking of the environment, I understand yours has changed,” they said to the figurehead. Upon hearing this, Mr. Sarkozy reportedly became tangled in the branches of a nearby tree, using the snag to end the Q&A session early.

His supposed romance with the 38-year-old heiress to a tire fortune has gripped the nation for the last two days, sparked when they were photographed together at Euro Disney over the weekend. At a press conference sometime later today, another reporter asked him if the media maelstrom surrounding the relationship irked him. “You want me to comment on the media?” Mr. Sarkozy asked in return. When he was pressed further, the president shot back: “No, I'm not bothered.” He was then rushed out of the room by his team of bodyguards.  read more »