\u201cI\u2019m back trying red,\u201d Huma Abedin shared, talking about her look and lipstick, which has been the subject of many takes.<\/p>\n
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 M\u00e9tier, the London-based lifestyle and accessories brand with a stealth wealth spirit.<\/p>\n
\u201cI went through this detox period where I started wearing nudes,\u201d she said. \u201cAnd it is really funny, people recognize me less when I don\u2019t have lipstick on, and it is nice to be incognito, but I\u2019m like, \u2018Let me try it again,\u2019\u201d she said, adding, \u201cIt feels great.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ms. Abedin, who is also a contributor to MSNBC, was more reserved about the indictments against former President Donald J. Trump. \u201cDo I have opinions? Yes. But they\u2019re not ones that are valid in this moment because the justice system should prevail,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
But she did explain, in part, why she was out in the Hamptons. Ms. Abedin said she related to Melissa Morris, the founder of M\u00e9tier, who didn\u2019t initially see herself as a designer. (Ms. Abedin also liked the bags.)<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m certainly standing in a place that I could have never dreamed of,\u201d Ms. Abedin told attendees during dinner, crediting the encouragement of others. \u201cSo, as much as I can pay it forward, I like to do that.\u201d<\/p>\n
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 crudit\u00e9s and striped bass.<\/p>\n
The crowd included the model Pat Cleveland; the actors Dasha Nekrasova, Cara Buono and Den\u00e9e Benton; the designers Tanya Taylor and Batsheva Hay; and the television journalists Tamron Hall and Jacob Soboroff. Guests were given personalized leather luggage charms.<\/p>\n
Pat Cleveland<\/p>\n
Dasha Nekrasova<\/p>\n
Batsheva Hay<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
\u201cNew York is one of the bases of where our supporters are and our artists are, too,\u201d said Daisy Nam, the executive director and curator of Ballroom Marfa. \u201cWe meet them where they are, and hopefully they\u2019ll come back to Marfa and keep coming back.\u201d<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
The gathering of more than 150 people, held on the grounds of Ms. Lebermann\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n
Attendees were served yuzu margaritas by Ms. Lebermann\u2019s 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 R\u00e9sidence, an invitation-only dining room. Carla Fern\u00e1ndez, a Mexico City-based artist and designer, fashioned the d\u00e9cor and table settings.<\/p>\n
Mr. Freeman recalled the impact of his 2008 exhibition at Ballroom Marfa, \u201cHello Meth Lab in the Sun,\u201d a collaboration with Justin Lowe and Alexandre Singh.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt completely changed my life,\u201d he said, adding, \u201cWe gave this proposal for this installation idea that was the craziest thing that we thought anyone would ever do, and didn\u2019t think they would go for it. And they went for it, and the show set the course for a whole body of work.\u201d<\/p>\n
Marfa, he said, is a place where it can feel like you\u2019ve dropped out: \u201cIt is appealing when you\u2019re coming from these big urban centers of culture and pomp and circumstance and status games,\u201d he said, adding, \u201cAll that is sort of stripped away and the noise comes down.\u201d<\/p>\n
Cory Kennedy<\/p>\n
Zane Lynch<\/p>\n
Yvonne Force Villareal<\/p>\n