If an after party can be recapped, it’s usually pulled from an array of smoke-stained photos, smudged with fingerprints and mysterious lipstick marks. My desktop was stacked this morning with exactly these images from Shipley and Halmos.

The event took place down on Church Street and was a huge success, considering the new cards in my wallet, the new contacts in my Blackberry, and cabbies that understood English in both directions.

At the single door entrance stood the maitre d’ with a book like the Bible. Beyond her ran a long corridor, where men in skinny jeans and square-shouldered blazers courted dames in simple chiffon minis and sheaths. We moved to the bar to fill the void between our right hands and our lips.

The lighting was dim, and the crowd appeared alive and seemed to move with the same beat the DJ was spinning. Smoky eyes hid behind loose curls while exaggerated costume jewelry jumped for attention. It was an evening of flirtatious glances and uninhibited movement.

So here’s to these New York nights we live for, the affairs we hope will never die, and the collection that stands behind Shipley and Halmos Spring/Summer 2010.

Xo

Preston