the pageant of ambition

The Amazing, Attention-Grabbing Outfits of Lisa Falcone

In today’s Times, Robin Pogrebin takes great pains to suggest that until Lisa Falcone and her husband, hedge-fund billionaire Philp Falcone, donated $10 million to the High Line a couple of weeks ago, no one knew who they were. Their donation, she said, was “the debut of a major new donor on the New York scene,” and until it happened, the couple was just another pair of bland, tanned faces in a sea of inconsequentials.

Although the Falcones have given money before to the High Line and other organizations, they have usually done it less conspicuously. But little by little Ms. Falcone — along with her husband, No. 296 on the Forbes list of the world’s billionaires — is stepping into the spotlight, beginning the transition from one wealthy patron among many to the kind of highly visible player sought after by the city’s leading arts organizations


This is just snobby. Sure, the donation may have stirred some ye olde WASPs to pay attention. But as far as the Falcones stepping into the spotlight “little by little”? As far as them being inconspicuous? We beg to differ! Before they decided to grab the mike at the High Line event and deposit a wad of cash into the right hands, the Falcones had done everything to become “highly visible,” short of grabbing the sun and physically shining it upon themselves. Last year, they dropped $49 million on the obscenely large and expensive Guccione mansion. Philip acquired a 20 percent stake in the Times and insisted this guy be on the board. Lisa was even in the Look Book! “If I teach my kids to be casual, then fashion will die,” she said then. “And I’m not going to let that happen on my watch!” And boy, has she kept her promise! Since then, Lisa has arrived at every single social event looking like she was styled by a team that included RuPaul and Lady Gaga. If Pogrebin didn’t see her out there, we are sorry to inform her that she may be actually legally blind. Here’s a look at some of Lisa’s greatest and most over-the-top looks throughout the past few years.

The Amazing, Attention-Grabbing Outfits of Lisa Falcone