Cityfile: New York's Most Notable and Influential

Well, this will certainly soften the blow of a certain Gossip Girl actor thinking he was Vera Wang's husband: Last night, Alexander Wang won the $200,000 CFDA/Vogue Fashion Fund prize, awarded by a panel of judges including Diane von Furstenberg, Vogue's Anna Wintour and Sally Singer, Coach's Reed Krakoff, Jeffrey Kalinsky, Theory's Andrew Rosen, and Barneys' Julie Gilhart. At the 5th anniversary ceremony held at Skylight Studios, a crowd including André Leon Talley, Tommy Hilfiger, Vera Wang, John Galliano, Charlize Theron, and Juliette Lewis saw the 24-year-old New Yorker beat out the competition, including runners-up Lisa Mayock and Sophie Buhai of Vena Cava and Albertus Quartus designer Albertus Q Swanepoel. [WWD, Vogue UK]

What could be a nicer way to ease into the week than seeing Chace Crawford's adorable face pout in pseudo-concentration as he applies himself to a fashion quiz put to him by a kindly patronizing lady from Grazia magazine? Chace doesn't get many of the questions—Which are the world's fashion capitals? What is the difference between a wedge and a stiletto? Who is Alexander Wang?—right, which should establish his heterosexuality once and for all. Even if the snugness of his t-shirt and the prettiness of his bangs might beg to differ.

Spotted | Karl Lagerfeld looking over a street vendor's wares on Prince Street this weekend ... Chace Crawford hailing a cab in SoHo ... Jennifer Garner and daughter Violet leaving Matt Damon's apartment building on Lafayette Street ... Kelly Ripa leaving ABC studios in Midtown ... Jessica Alba holding hands with husband Cash Warren while carrying baby Honor ... Heidi Klum and Seal walking on the street on Friday... Naomi Watts and Liev Schreiber taking a stroll in NoHo ... Matthew Broderick walking son James to school in the West Village ... Kate Winslet standing on the sidewalk ... America Ferrera sipping coffee on the set of Ugly Betty ... Agyness Deyn walking with some friends ... Julianne Moore taking her daughter trick or treating on Friday afternoon in the West Village ... Katie Holmes and Tom Cruise going to lunch at Balthazar ...  and Ryan Reynolds crossing the finish line yesterday in Central Park.

Spotted | Kirsten Dunst offering a smile to photographers while walking in the Village ... Tom Cruise waving at photographers and later carrying Suri as he headed to the West Side heliport ... Claire Danes carrying grocery bags ... Alex Rodriguez walking through Midtown ... Rachael Ray's husband kissing her on a red carpet ... Mariah Carey and Nick Cannon walking into the theater to see In The Heights ... Mario Cantone pretending to drink out of a pink shoe at the SATC DVD release party ... An unhappy-looking Bono getting out of a car ...  Drew Barrymore making her way through a crowd with her hand on Chace Crawford's arm ...Kate Winslet acting goofy with friends ... and Gwyneth Paltrow leaving a party for her new PBS show with Mario Batali.

♦  Martha Stewart has been busy wielding the ax. First she fired one of her show's directors; now she's cut her longtime hairstylist/makeup artist, allegedly because the staffer was spending too much on makeup and hair dye. [P6]
♦  The doctor who has been treating DJ AM and Travis Barker since their plane crash on Friday says both men should make full recoveries. Four others died in the wreck and investigators now suspect a blown tire was the cause. [People, LAT]
♦  Ron Perelman and Pat Duff are still fighting in court over their daughter Caleigh. It seem the teenager is still skipping out on those court-ordered visits with her mom. [P6]
♦  Lindsay Lohan will be a judge on the first episode of next season's Project Runway. [NYDN]
♦  Tina Fey was a big winner at the Emmys last night. You can check out a full list of winners here. [ET]More

Spotted | Poor Diddy stepping in dog poop while his bodyguard glares at the paparazzi photographers capturing the embarrassing moment ... Blake Lively and Chace Crawford filming a scene on the set of Gossip Girl ...  Terri and Bindi Irwin getting out of an SUV in front of their hotel ...  John and Cindy McCain on the set of Rachael Ray's show ... James Taylor carrying a shopping bag in Midtown ... Celine Dion signing autographs for fans outside her hotel ... Regis Philbin and Kelly Ripa shooting a segment outside ... Katie Holmes on stage for the opening night of her play and then leaving dinner with Tom Cruise afterward ... and David Blaine and Donald Trump announcing Blaine's next stunt inside Trump Tower.

• Gordon Ramsay says he's partnering with Victoria Beckham to open a restaurant in LA. Yes, a restaurant. Whether she'll actually taste any of the food served there is anybody's guess. [P6]
• Kirsten Dunst tells Harper's Bazaar that the real reason she went into rehab earlier this year was because of depression, and because she's "enormously co-dependent." [People]
• Mariah Carey's former record producer is writing a book about their four-year relationship although Carey's lawyers are hoping to put a stop to it. [P6]
• Behind the scenes video from Ellen DeGeneres's wedding to Portia de Rossi. [NYDN]
  

• Raffaello Follieri is expected to appear in court later this morning and plead guilty to wire fraud and money laundering, a deal that will land him a jail term of 51 to 63 months. [NYP]
• Anne Hathaway says she "spent a week in shock" when she first found out about Raffaello Follieri's arrest. [ET]
• Jeremy Piven, who is decamping to New York for a Broadway role, was overheard saying he wants to take over Sean Avery's old apartment on 19th Street. [P6]
• Star Jones and Al Reynolds hammered out a divorce settlement yesterday. The settlement leaves Al with almost nothing thanks to the "air tight" pre-nup he signed. [P6]
• Wedding alert? Samantha Ronson told partygoers at the Chateau Marmont that "by the end of the year, my love will be Mrs. Ronson." Lindsay says she's looking forward to buying a home "with someone." [The Sun, People]
• Sarah Palin's oldest son Track was addicted to OxyContin? That's what the very reputable National Enquirer says! [Enquirer]

1) Of the many fashion parties over the weekend, none was bigger than Calvin Klein's 40th anniversary bash on the High Line last night. Among the fresh-from-Bryant Park faces present: Francisco Costa, Kimora Lee Simmons and Djimon Hounsou, Brooke Shields, Lindsay Price, Kim Raver, Eva Mendes, Halle Berry, Naomi Watts, Ellen Pompeo, Molly Sims, Alan Cumming, Aerin Lauder Zinterhofer, Anna Wintour, Bee Shaffer, Bryan Adams, Bijou Phillips, Claire Danes and Hugh Dancy, Fabien Baron, Ashley Olsen, Cynthia Nixon, Carlos Souza, Linda Fargo, Casey Spooner, Erin Fetherston, Ellen von Unwerth, Estelle, Rachel Zoe, Fern Mallis, Glenda Bailey, Jared Leto, Coco Rocha, Esther Canadas, Joy Bryant, John Leguizamo, Jay Manuel, Julia Restoin Roitfeld, Jessica Szohr, Kevin Bacon, Kelly Killoren Bensimon, Leighton Meester, Lydia Hearst, Martha Stewart, Ethan Hawke, Olivia Chantecaille, Padma Lakshmi, Rosario Dawson and Stephanie Seymour. [NYDN, NYO, PMc, GoaG]More

• Drama abounded at DKNY's show yesterday: PETA protestors burst onto the runway, shouting and brandishing placards—to the apparent amusement of André Leon Talley—while Petra Nemcova's new bangs rendered her unrecognizable and therefore unmolested by the media. Meanwhile the rather random celebrity trio of Winona Ryder, Christina Ricci, and Nicole Richie were regaled with "combinations of electric blue and black, neon pink and yellow anorak dresses, parachute pants and color-blocked knits" and a finale led by Donna Karan's five-year-old granddaughter Stefania. [The Cut, Fashionologie, NYDN, Telegraph]
  
  
• Diane von Furstenberg's clothes had to compete for attention with a ridiculously A-listy audience: Uma Thurman and Arki Busson, Mr. DVF Barry Diller, Venus Williams, Jennifer Lopez, Eva Longoria, Lee Radziwill, Graydon Carter, Fran Lebowitz, Ray Kelly, Tina Brown, Tim Gunn, Leighton Meester, and Anderson Cooper took in a show heavy on frou-frou femininity, low on working girl-chic. Then at the after-party, Whitney Port and Olivia Palermo were being filmed for whatever Hills-spinoff is in the works. [On the Runway, Racked, WWD, The Cut]

• Designers must be clawing each others' eyes out to get Gossip Girl cast members at their shows. Well, score one for Rock and Republic, which has confirmed Chace Crawford will be in attendance. Maybe he'll turn up with Amanda Hearst, whom he was allegedly trying to "cozy up" with this past weekend. [Fashionista]
• As for gold medalist Nastia Liukin, she'll be at Peter Som, Isaac Mizrahi and Cole Haan. She's also launching a clothing line and will also be making an appearance on GG, naturally. [WWD]
• A series of sketches is the first glimpse of Isaac Mizrahi's new clothing line for Liz Claiborne, which will be in stores in January. [Fab Sugar/WWD] 

When Chace Crawford and Ed Westwick are confronted with the fact that everyone wants them to be totally gay for each other (or indeed for anyone), they're forced to tap dance along a thin line between enthuasiastically avowing their absolute heterosexuality and not in any way alienating their fanbase. (Says Ed: "It's not true, but hilarious... People project their fantasies...") For women, though, the issue is just not so stressful: Queen B. Leighton Meester, for example, is delighted to be a Sapphic object of desire. More

• Michael Lohan is is convinced his daughter is drinking again, and that Lindsay's relationship with Samantha Ronson is to blame. In other Lohan family news, Samantha may be writing a book about her relationship with Lindsay—whose 48-year-old father recently popped the question to his 24-year-old girlfriend, Erin Muller. [MSNBC, E!, OK]
• MSNBC personalities Joe Scarborough, Keith Olbermann, Chris Matthews and David Shuster don't get along much, in case you haven't heard the news. [P6]
• Tragic news: More than two years after they first got engaged, Michael Bolton and Nicolette Sheridan have called it quits. [NYDN]

Spottings | Beyonce showing up to watch her sister Solange perform at the J&R Music Fest in City Hall Park ... Chace Crawford leaving his trailer on the set of Gossip Girl ... Jennifer Aniston shopping for jewelry at Fred Leighton ... America Ferrera dressed up as a softball player on the set of Ugly Betty ... Kid Rock performing with Lynyrd Skynyrd on Good Morning America ... Wesley Snipes walking out of Spice Market ... Katie Holmes leaving rehearsals with a cup of coffee in hand ... and John Mayer walking out of Nobu.

Spottings | Gisele Bundchen leaving her townhouse in the West Village ... Veronica Webb chatting on her cell phone while walking downtown  ... Michelle Williams pushing Matilda in a stroller through their Brooklyn neighborhood ...  Ed Westwick, Penn Badgley, and Chace Crawford filming scenes for Gossip Girl up at Columbia ... Katharine McPhee waving to fans outside MTV ... Ron Kuby walking down Third Avenue ... Miranda Kerr riding on the back of Orlando Bloom's motorcycle on the street downtown ... and Katie Holmes attending a rehearsal for her upcoming show.