Dinner With Huma Abedin and a Bit of Texas in the Hamptons
“I’m back trying red,” Huma Abedin shared, talking about her look and lipstick, which has been the subject of many takes.
The author and longtime aide to former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was wearing a bright yellow floral sheath dress from One/Of by Patricia Voto, and standing next to the pool at a private home on Wednesday in Sagaponack, N.Y., where she was co-hosting a small dinner for Métier, the London-based lifestyle and accessories brand with a stealth wealth spirit.
“I went through this detox period where I started wearing nudes,” she said. “And it is really funny, people recognize me less when I don’t have lipstick on, and it is nice to be incognito, but I’m like, ‘Let me try it again,’” she said, adding, “It feels great.”
Ms. Abedin, who is also a contributor to MSNBC, was more reserved about the indictments against former President Donald J. Trump. “Do I have opinions? Yes. But they’re not ones that are valid in this moment because the justice system should prevail,” she said.
But she did explain, in part, why she was out in the Hamptons. Ms. Abedin said she related to Melissa Morris, the founder of Métier, who didn’t initially see herself as a designer. (Ms. Abedin also liked the bags.)
“I’m certainly standing in a place that I could have never dreamed of,” Ms. Abedin told attendees during dinner, crediting the encouragement of others. “So, as much as I can pay it forward, I like to do that.”
At dinner, held on the property of Susanna Lachs, a former lawyer, and Dean Adler, a real estate investor, full luxury was on display. About 60 people sat at a long table in an English-style garden, under a canopy of tea-stained Japanese lanterns, by a koi pond. Attendees ate tomato and peach salads, summer crudités and striped bass.
The crowd included the model Pat Cleveland; the actors Dasha Nekrasova, Cara Buono and Denée Benton; the designers Tanya Taylor and Batsheva Hay; and the television journalists Tamron Hall and Jacob Soboroff. Guests were given personalized leather luggage charms.
What were you thinking about when you got dressed tonight?
“Comfort and nudity, because I’m so lazy in the summer, I think my body should feel the breeze. ”
Pat Cleveland
What were you thinking about when you got dressed?
“I wanted to wear something that was like, Hamptons-y and was wealthy-woman-coded, so this is from the Brock collection.”
Dasha Nekrasova
What were you thinking about when you got dressed?
“I was thinking breezy and colorful. But I was a little concerned it would be a little too weird for the Hamptons crowd, but I also don’t care.”
Batsheva Hay
Days later, on Saturday night in Bridgehampton, N.Y., artists and patrons rode golf carts up a long, hedge-lined path to an event for Ballroom Marfa, the West Texas contemporary art and performance space. The institution was holding its Summer Party, a benefit celebrating its 20th anniversary.
“New York is one of the bases of where our supporters are and our artists are, too,” said Daisy Nam, the executive director and curator of Ballroom Marfa. “We meet them where they are, and hopefully they’ll come back to Marfa and keep coming back.”
Ballroom Marfa, which was founded in 2003 by Fairfax Dorn and Virginia Lebermann, supports established and emerging artists, and plays a key role in the creative community of Marfa, Texas, an eclectic desert town of about 2,000 residents.
The gathering of more than 150 people, held on the grounds of Ms. Lebermann’s home, included the curator Yvonne Force Villareal, the model Cory Kennedy, the actress Karen Pittman, the poet and artist Arden Wohl, the artists Jonah Freeman and Leo Villareal (husband of Yvonne) and the designers Lisa Perry and Meruert Tolegen. The benefit raised more than $400,000.
Attendees were served yuzu margaritas by Ms. Lebermann’s pool before moving to a long, winding table for dinner. The meal featured summer vegetables in mole verde, prepared by Yann Nury, a chef who operates La Résidence, an invitation-only dining room. Carla Fernández, a Mexico City-based artist and designer, fashioned the décor and table settings.
Mr. Freeman recalled the impact of his 2008 exhibition at Ballroom Marfa, “Hello Meth Lab in the Sun,” a collaboration with Justin Lowe and Alexandre Singh.
“It completely changed my life,” he said, adding, “We gave this proposal for this installation idea that was the craziest thing that we thought anyone would ever do, and didn’t think they would go for it. And they went for it, and the show set the course for a whole body of work.”
Marfa, he said, is a place where it can feel like you’ve dropped out: “It is appealing when you’re coming from these big urban centers of culture and pomp and circumstance and status games,” he said, adding, “All that is sort of stripped away and the noise comes down.”
How did you want to feel tonight?
“I always want to feel comfortable, but I also want to feel elegant. And I’m quite picky, and I’m not someone who can just put a dress on and feel very comfortable, especially with the mosquitoes.”
Cory Kennedy
What were you thinking about when you got dressed?
“I love monochrome. I think one color, you can never go wrong. And also, this is the color of the sky, and this is what God came up with, and I can wear it.”
Zane Lynch
How did you want to feel tonight?
“I wanted to have kind of a mystical but, like, glamorous Western vibe, so this feels to me like I’m walking through a desert on a horse with no name.”
Yvonne Force Villareal
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Katie Van Syckle is a senior staff editor at The Times. More about Katie Van Syckle
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