John Galliano isn't in town very often so after his Christian Dior cruise collection show last night at Gustavino's, which included wide-legged gold-lamé pants, voluminous tiered skirts, and giant hats, we would not rest until we spoke to him. Since we don't speak fluent French and weren't clad head to toe in Dior (hard to imagine, we know), we were fearful our attempts to become BFFs with Galliano wouldn't come to fruition. Finally, we squeezed past a security guard and his well-heeled French posse and basked in Galliano's glorious presence. As we were about to get all chatty about our day, the economy, and the last movie we saw, the security guard warned us our interview time with Galliano would be brief. We resisted clinging to Galliano like a fashion loon and politely asked what he expected from his visit to Georgia today, where he'll receive the André Leon Talley Lifetime Achievement Award from the Savannah College of Art and Design. "I’m told it is really spiritual," he said. "André is going to show me around. I’m really looking forward to it." How cute! Would they play golf? Take a ghost tour? Enjoy a picnic of fried green tomatoes and chicken-salad sandwiches? "I’m really looking forward to meeting the students. I’m very excited. I was a student myself, as you know, and I want to share with them my life experiences — the ups, the downs, the passion you need to carry through. The passion will carry you through." Clearly he knew how we managed to get near him last night. — Randi Eichenbaum

This morning feels like the day after prom, except we didn't just lose our virginity and we're not dying of hangover (kidding — or are we?). Last night at the Costume Institute gala, the Soirée for the World's Most Fabulous People in the World's Most Fabulous Dresses (or, this year, perhaps the Bat-Cave Ball), we worked the red carpet like a street corner on Saturday night. That is to say, we didn't actually attend. But we already know what happened inside anyway: Victoria Beckham smiled on the down low, everyone was jealous of Katie Holmes's bob and Gisele's body, and guests politely picked at their food. And it's not like the red carpet wasn't without its humor: Just take Lady Wintour's alien-walk entrance, for starters.

Obviously, we all love to ogle and gawk at pictures of the celebs at last night's big affair, but that doesn't quite capture the special night in all its shrieking grandeur. Thus Jada Yuan hit the red carpet, camera in tow, so that we might share with you the sparkly mêlée: See Anna shimmer; watch the Kaiser saunter! Plus Coco Rocha, Anja Rubik, Jessica Stam, Emily Mortimer, Fergie, and Zac Posen all came by to chat, as did Lynda freaking Carter. Of course Anna thought to invite the real Wonder Woman — what, you think this is the first time she's thrown a party or something?

Related: Party Lines: The Costume Institute Gala

The theme for last night's Costume Institute gala was challenging: superheroes. Oddly enough, it turned out to be the one time when nobody wore their underwear outside their pants, but stars were inspired to experiment — with very varied results. Our favorites? Zac Posen and Kate Mara's cartoon primary colors, Christina Ricci's rose tones, and Anna Wintour's alien queen look. But who forgot to tell Mary-Kate Olsen that Phyllis Diller isn't a superhero? To see 56 looks from last night's red carpet, click on the Party Lines slideshow. We've got red-carpet video of Coco Rocha, Fergie, Jessica Stam and the original Wonder Woman, Lynda Carter, too.

Party Lines: The Costume Institute Gala [NYM]
Party Lines Video: The Costume Institute Gala [NYM]

Don't expect a Versace diffusion line at H&M while Donatella heads the label. She told the crowd at the New York Times' TimesTalk series yesterday that though she's been asked to do a lower-priced line, she refused. "I respect everyone who does it," she said. "But the reason I didn't do it is because I work very hard to put the Versace line in the luxury section. I think to put the Versace line in H&M would confuse the brand." The talk was a rare opportunity to see Versace with her guard let down. She explained why she started wearing very tight leather clothes. "I think I was very shy," she said. "I've had a lot of pain in my life. And sometimes I did that so people wouldn't get too close to me." That pain stemmed from the death of her brother Gianni, which she numbed with drugs during what she called a very lonely time in her life. "Nobody is superwoman or superman," she said. "You need to say, 'I have a problem.' And everything gets better."

And did you know Donatella wasn't always so blonde, tan, and blingin'? It's true! When she was growing up in Italy, Gianni dressed her up like a doll and took her to clubs. "Gianni told me, 'Why don't you do some highlights?' By eleven and a half, I was a little blonde. By 14, I was blonder. By 16, I was platinum," she said. Versace also reminisced about her visit to the White House Correspondents' dinner, where she had hoped to meet Barack Obama. But she did meet President Bush, whom she called a "very simple man."

Could there be a more fitting crowd with which to discuss Miley Cyrus's Vanity Fair picture than those who attended American Society of Magazine Editors' awards ceremony last night? We hit up the biggest honchos in the room to get their opinions on the brouhaha, and guess what they had to say?

Former Vanity Fair editor Tina Brown: "I just thought, 'There Annie [Liebovitz] goes again! Driving up sales!'" she said. "I saw her here tonight and I congratulated her. I said, 'Great job. Now just put one of those out every quarter.' It's terrific for newsstand and it gets Si [Newhouse] off your back."

Elle editor Robbie Myers: "She's a million dollar industry. She sells out crowds all over the world. She's a huge international star. She has blue jeans on and a sheet. Really? There was never a point when Vanity Fair wasn't fine with those photos. We know they were fine with it because they published it."

Last night we bumped into Tinsley Mortimer, sipping cocktails at the opening party for the new Vertu cell phone boutique in the recently refurbished Plaza Hotel. So we put our glossiest smiles on, approached, and introduced ourselves. "It's funny, when you speak with New York you never know which way they are going to go," she said, backing away. Well, on our honor, Mrs. Mortimer! "They sorta walk that middle road where you don't know if your interview is going to go good or bad." We assured her we'd be nice, but she didn't seem convinced. "When someone is outright nasty to you that hurts," she explained. "I really try not to have a negative outlook. I mean, I'm not going to say I'm not disappointed when I read something bad about myself."

Dear Readers:

We would like you to know we can now die knowing we lived a full and vibrant life. Why, you may ask? Well, we're pleased to present you with two of the most coveted of all interviews, ever. Yes, we're talking about Hills power couple Heidi Montag and Spencer Pratt. They positively radiated fame and success at the premiere party for Harold at 1 Oak last night and we were lucky enough to bask in their glorious glory. Just when we thought standing next to them couldn't get any better, we mustered up the courage to speak to them. And you know what? We found out they read us! They really do read us!! We hope you enjoy our moment with them as much as we did:

Spencer: You're with New York magazine? No, no way. You're the "fugly girls"?
New York: Are we the Fug girls? No, we're not the Fug girls.
Spencer: You're not those fugly girls? Because I'm not too happy with the fugly girls. They're mean, and they're disrespectful. They've got these … fashion girls — the fashion girls, they're fashion!
New York: Right, we know who they are. But no, we're not the Fug girls.
Spencer makes a move to retreat, and just when we think we've lost him, he turns back around!
Spencer: So what's up?
New York: Glad you asked! You're fresh from the White House Correspondents' Dinner in D.C. What did you do while you were there?
Spencer: We checked out all the, uh, the … sights. I don't know, we literally had, like, five hours.
New York: So you actually went to the dinner, right? We heard you skipped the dinner or weren't let in?
Spencer: We had the governor of Florida at our table! You really heard we didn't go?

Vera Wang said the ladies she's dressing for the Costume Institute gala aren't getting into the ball's superhero theme, but the lucky ladies donning Alexander Wang and Diane Von Furstenberg will. This is Wang's first year attending the ball, and he wouldn't reveal who he's dressing, but he told us last night at the Parsons Benefit at the Grand Hyatt that he was pumped about the theme. "If it was like Paul Poiret or something like that," said Wang, citing last year's theme, "I would not have known what to do.… It’s something that’s so formal, and then they pick superheroes and people are like, 'What the hell am I supposed to do?'" Wang, who "rarely, rarely" dresses up himself, wouldn't reveal too many details about his lady's look. "It’s definitely not a dress, I can tell you that much. That’s all I’m going to give away," he said. "That’s why I got happy, because I was like, 'Yes! I don’t have to design a dress!'"

We asked Furstenberg if she thought dressing according to the theme at this party was important. "No, no, but I mean, since it is superheroes, then why not?" she said. She added she'd dress all the ladies at her table in outfits inspired by Wonder Woman. We can't wait. — Randi Eichenbaum

Related: Previewing the Costume Institute's Superheroes Exhibit

Waris Ahluwalia has been wearing makeup for about ten years, he told us last night at Chanel's Tribeca Film Festival Party at the Greenwich Hotel. "I'm only telling you this because it's New York Magazine, but I'm actually 68," he quipped (he's not, he's in his thirties). We asked if his friends would be into man makeup, like Jean Paul Gaultier's new male cosmetics line, Monsieur. "No, no. I stopped hanging out with the theater group a long time ago," he said. Oh, har! Ahluwalia also shuns the men-in-tight-pants trend. "I love trends," he said. "Doesn't mean I have to follow it." Other trends Ahluwalia dislikes include the overusage of words like "bespoke" and "luxury." "Everyone just calls things that. Bespoke olive oil?" he said. "I saw an ad in Wired for the new Acura. That ad was four lines, and they said 'luxury' fives times."

Christy Turlington, on the other hand, would rather see men wear makeup than get plastic surgery. "Men's plastic surgery seems to be a growing thing. I see it everywhere. It's freaky! I'd rather see a man — I got my own husband, mind you — in makeup," she said. So if she's down with man makeup, how about the proliferation of men in tight pants and women's jeans? "Oh, wow. Mine doesn't. My 2-year-old doesn't, and my husband doesn't. Not in my house," she replied. Thank God someone's keeping her 2-year-old out of the tight-pants section. The last thing we need are baby hipsters tripping us at Whole Foods.