Having a Royal Ball

Crowns and tiaras were de rigueur when Santa Barbara’s Pacific Pride Foundation hosted its 6th annual sold-out biennial Royal Ball at the Rosewood Miramar.

A record 425 guests partied the night away in the crystal chandelier-hung ballroom, magnificently decorated as a Platinum Palace by Montecito event wizard Merryl Brown, raising around $450,000 for the charity’s various programs.

As servers brought out a pile of eclectic canapés, partygoers, dressed in a variety of colorful and creative costumes, quaffed wine and champagne.

The fun fest, co-chaired by Lynn Brown and Justine Roddick, featured Los Angeles deejay Alex Merrell and an entertaining boy band, Elevate, who sang from a repertoire of Elton John, George Michael, and Queen songs, accompanied by an energized dance quartet.

A silent auction featured trips to Palm Springs, Mexico, and Hawaii, and first-class roundtrip tickets to New York for a three-night stay at the Carlyle Hotel, another tony hostelry in the Rosewood collection popular with the Royal Family.

KEYT-TV weather guru Alan Rose conducted the “ask” part of the program, which raised more thousands for the worthy cause.

Just 48 hours later my erstwhile New York Magazine colleague, Anna Wintour, longtime editor of American Vogue, hosted her annual Costume Design Institute gala at Manhattan’s Metropolitan Museum, with the theme Camp:Notes on Fashion, which I used to attend regularly in the ‘70s and ’80s when it was run by two of the Big Apple’s grand dames, the late Pat Buckley and Nan Kempner.

As to which of the events was the most camp remains to be seen.

Among the heaving hoard at the Left Coast event were Colette Schabram, Leslie Ridley-Tree, John Daly, Mara Abboud, Kevin Marvin, Rod Lathim, George Leis, Catherine Remak, Jeff and Margo Barbakow, Fred Brander, Barbara Ben-Horin, Mindy Denson, Mimi deGruy, Roger Durling, Dirk and Debbie Etienne, Doug and Marni Margerum, Pat and Ursula Nesbitt, Tom and Karla Parker, Thomas Rollerson, Gina Tolleson, Steve and Caroline Thompson, Bruce Heavin and Lynda Weinman, Harry and Judi Weisbart, Bryce Corcoran, Scott Harcourt, and Bryan and Lisa Babcock.

An absolute blast…