Cityfile: New York's Most Notable and Influential

With hype for the April opening of Topshop's Soho store going into hysterical overdrive, those in charge of managing the PR must be thrilled to see that the Brit girls in New York are patriotically unequivocal in their enthusiasm for the brand. Especially since the descriptions of the clothes they share with the Observer's Meredith Bryant are so, uh, evocative, not to mention the fact that British accents—indicated by plentiful emphatic italicization—lend authority to more or less any random string of words! More

Plum's Cunning Wiles | Given the utmost respect in which we hold writerly paragon of humility Plum Sykes, we would never characterize her as a creature capable of striking mortal fear into the heart of any man with the misfortune to behold her in the flesh. But as she herself volunteered at a Diane von Furstenberg cocktail party, being intimidating is a quality she's proud of: "If I want to use my femininity to get something from a man, I'll wear very high heels. Not to arouse him sexually. But I'm so tall—I'm 6ft 2in in heels—that it works a treat." Finally, the mystery of how she sells her writing: solved! [Times UK]

If you've had a crappy week/month/year, here's some profound and heartfelt advice from novelist-philosopher Plum Sykes: "It's good to remember to laugh at life, especially when times are hard." Before you groan and ask exactly how hard times can be when you're a pathologically overconfident and overpaid writer who's drowning in designer clothes and married to a man with millions, remember that Plum once worked for Anna Wintour, so she too has walked through life's dark and tragic abyss. And why not follow her noble example of appreciating the little things in life? "When my black tulips in a bed of blue forget-me-nots flower at my country house," she shares, "the pink champagne will come out!" There, aren't you humbled and inspired?

Let's take a moment to share Plum Sykes' pain, shall we? According to the Independent, the Bergdorf Blondes author and social fixture is now finding that her "efforts to crack the potentially lucrative American TV market are in danger of falling victim to the credit crunch." Earlier this year Sykes landed a deal with NBC to pen a sitcom about "female tycoons" called Mogulettes, which was described in the press as "Sex In the City-like." (Apparently that's a good thing.) But now, just as she puts the finishing touches on the script for the pilot, she's discovered that the show's prospects aren't looking too bright. "These are very difficult times at the moment with the credit crunch," she says. "No one has any money for anything, so we'll just have to wait and see what happens. It's a really terrible time." We're sure things will turn around soon enough. After all, she goes on to say she's looking to Tamara Mellon and Ivanka Trump for career inspiration. How could she possibly go wrong?

Happy Birthday | Both are ubiquitous on the social scene, both have hot husbands, and, as of today, both are 365 days away from turning 40. Author/socialite Plum Sykes and her twin, designer/socialite Lucy Sykes, turn 39 today. Jay-Z is also celebrating his 39th birthday. Ms. Tyra Banks is turning 35. Marisa Tomei is celebrating her 44th. Saturday Night Live's Fred Armisen is 42. And actor Jeff Bridges is 59.

Answering machine at the office of Plum Sykes.

Previously: Shoshanna Gruss, Regis Philbin, Suze Orman, Jim Cramer, George Whipple. Tom Colicchio, Cynthia Nixon, Jonathan Tisch, Nathan Lane, Hamish Bowles, Victoria Gotti,  John Leguizamo, Carl Icahn, James Lipton, Dylan Lauren, Andre Balazs, Atoosa Rubenstein, Simon Doonan and Jonathan Adler, Lewis Black, Katie Couric, and Tinsley Mortimer.

Candace Bushnell has so much to answer for. First her literary career spawned a flood of mimics. Now the same is happening with TV: Variety reports that Bergdorf Blondes author Plum Sykes is writing a TV show for NBC entitled Mogulettes, "a half-hour comedy about female tycoons." The idea for the show, which will be written with Amy Harris, came from Sykes, apparently, and not from Bushnell's Lipstick Jungle, another NBC show about, oh yes, powerful businesswomen. To be fair, Mogulettes does sound different from Lipstick: It will center around "the leader of a cosmetics empire," which was Bonnie Somerville's character in Cashmere Mafia. Anyway, Variety points out that the version of Bergdorf Blondes Sykes developed for the WB died a death so, you know, small mercies.