NEW YORK — Movers and shakers at the Citymeals-on-Wheels 19th annual Power Lunch for Women on Friday used the occasion to pledge allegiance to their favorite designers.
Ahn Duong and Anne McNally turned up in dresses by Diane von Furstenberg, one of this year’s honorees. The designer had the luxury of showing off her own work by wearing one of her patterned suits with knee-high boots.
Before a reading from her title role in “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf” at the Rainbow Room event, Kathleen Turner, who accented her Giorgio Armani pantsuit with a blue ribbon in memory of the Citymeals-on-Wheels’ founding board member, Preston Robert Tisch, said she is a die-hard Armani fan. “I love his pantsuits. They last for years and years.”
Donna Hanover also went with a pantsuit, in her case, one from Nicole Miller. “She’s a great friend and a great designer,” she said.
Janice Combs upped the designer-friend plug by wearing a floor-length, fur-trimmed Adrienne Landau coat and scanning the packed room with the designer at her elbow in a similar coat.
Joan Collins, the only woman wearing a white fedora or fishnet stockings, said she picked up her gray belted suit from “someone at Saks.” Like many others, she warmed up to the crowd with a martini. Amanda Brooks was more of-the-moment in a Proenza Schouler skirt and short-sleeved sweater. Katie Couric also kept things casual with a skirt and oversized cardigan.
Bobbi Brown, another honoree, sported a Dolce & Gabbana pantsuit with shoulder pads, but admitted that J. Crew is more her speed. As for whether powerful women dress differently than not-so-powerful women, she said: “Absolutely not. Normally I wear jeans and dirt boots. The more powerful you are, the more confident you feel. It’s not about power suits, it’s about finding your own style.”
The artist Michele Oka Doner appeared to have hers in the bag. Elegant in a black Morgane Le Fay coat with a large brooch, she said of her black handbag: “It’s a Louis Vuitton basket weave. I have had it for years, but it’s not quite vintage.”
One of the best-dressed women in the room, Gloria Steinem, looked like she wasn’t even trying. The author said she had no idea who designed the brown jacket she wore with a brown T-shirt, brown corduroys, a silver cowboy belt and an olive knitted shawl. Like Brown, Steinem doesn’t think powerful women dress to impress. “Not if they can help it,” she said.