Last Night’s Parties: John Hamm’s Hat, Matthew Williamson’s Book, Dries Van Noten’s New Digs

Thursday’s party circuit was dedicated to the men of fashion. Oh, and John Hamm.

First up was legend Dries Van Noten, who opened his new boutique on Bergdorf Goodman’s third floor. The space, which currently houses his masterful, ’50s-inspired Fall 2010 collection, is decorated much like an apartment, with a definite oriental flair. “It’s inspired by what we have in Paris,” he told me. “It’s very personal–I wanted to make it look more like an apartment. Like you’re visiting someone’s private world.” There’s a mix of contemporary, mid-century, and Chinoise pieces.

Draping the furniture, of course, are clothes. It felt like everyone was dressed in Dries, including Bergdorf’s gorgeous fashion director, Linda Fargo. While the circle skirts and strong shoulders are important, Van Noten’s pièce de résistance for fall–and spring, for that matter–is certainly the shoe. The distinctive square heel makes them irreplaceable. The designer said that they were created to balance the silhouette of the clothes. “When you see it from the back it looks like a normal heel. I didn’t want to do a wedge because we’ve already had that. I always try to play with what we’re wanting and what we already have.”

Soon enough, it was time to head downtown to the Meatpacking District, where Matthew Williamson was celebrating the launch of his new book, Matthew Williamson, written and edited by legendary fashion writer Colin McDowell. Fans and friends were gathered in his expansive 14th Street store, where Williamson was kind of enough to sign copies. “They flew out the door,” said his rep regarding the evening’s complimentary copies. (Good news, we’ll be giving one away to a lucky Fashionista reader sometime soon.)

Unfortunately, while focusing on fashion gods Van Noten and Williamson, I missed out on a screen god. Mr. John Hamm attended the cocktail party to celebrate J.Crew‘s new Upper East Side Men’s Shop. (Probably more importantly to the fashion crowd, GQ‘s own god, creative director Jim Moore, and J.Crew’s head menswear designer Frank Muytjens were also on hand.) Apparently, Hamm’s appearance was unexpected and he stayed the whole night.

The night was pretty epic. I met Dries Van Noten. Hung out with Matthew Williamson. But to even spy John Hamm would have made it legendary.