Think you know everything about one of the most literate first ladies in recent history?

Not until you've picked up Reading Jackie: Her Autobiography in Books by William Kuhn, about the late Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis and her life as an editor and bibliophile.

Around Valentine's Day, there is invariably randy banter online among literary geeks about poetry's sexiest verses.

Of course, the bad boys like Byron and Shelley get their fair share of shout-outs, but surprisingly the one poet, in my mind, who understood the aphrodisiac effects of the written word the best...

The Washington National Opera, a hub of high culture in the nation's capital with fans including Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Michael Chertoff, is bracing for a year of high drama.

Last fall, it was announced that the legendary Placido Domingo, who has served as the WNO's artistic director and ambassadorial...

Costume designer Liz Vandal never imagined her childhood fascination with bugs would come back to haunt her in adulthood, but when the producers of Cirque Du Soleil's new show "Ovo" contacted her she knew she had found an "extraordinary opportunity".

"Ovo" takes the audience into the mysterious underworld...

Apparently Project Runway's Tim Gunn is trying to "make it work" with fashion designer Isaac Mizrahi, although I doubt you'll see the two having tea together any time soon.

Just weeks after being quoted in the press calling Mr. Mizrahi "a terrible, terrible,...

Lauren Weisberger, the literary "it girl" whose 2003 roman a clef The Devil Wears Prada became an international bestseller and was the basis for the popular chick flick of the same name, is expecting her first child, but that is not stopping her from hitting the road promoting her most...

Still basking in the glow from the warm reception of her latest film "The Kids are All Right," a radiant Annette Bening was in Washington, DC Sunday evening to accept a prestigious award for her contributions to Shakespearean theatre.

Ms. Bening, who has played some of the Bard's best known...

Fortunately, there are a few remaining soirees that are just too high brow for reality stars and their ubiquitous camera crews, and the Washington National Opera's annual season opening gala is one of them.

A tasteful dusting of VIP's from the political, media, and philanthropic worlds turned out at the...

One of the best parts about the changing of the seasons is getting that inevitable email from my friend Liberty Jones, a publicist for Washington's venerable Neiman Marcus, inviting me to her twice annual beauty preview event where my colleagues and I sample various luxury products and fragrances awaiting their...

I thought I'd seen all the knockoffs: Jackie sunglasses, jewelry collections, shift dresses, and, of course, the endless array of Jackie inspired self-help books, but a new Washington-area bakery says the time has come to pass Jackie's torch into the world of culinary delights.

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Passionate sex, classical music, and high fashion all in one film? Can it be? The French film Coco Chanel and Igor Stravinsky, about the affair between the legendary composer and fashion designer is finally making its United States debut this summer. It opened in New York and Los Angeles on...

I received an unusual lagniappe in a brown paper envelope the other day -- a lip gloss that is being touted as "politically correct."

HMMMM... Politics and lipstick. An incongruous pairing in the extreme, but far be it for me to throw out a free beauty product due to my...

Chief Justice of the Supreme Court John Roberts says wearing the "right" labels is not among his chief concerns.

Of course, fashion does not need to be a big priority when your "work uniform" is a long black robe, but even when he steps out on the town at dazzling...

Oscar de la Renta, the senior statesman of top fashion designers, favored by first ladies for decorous state dinner gowns with a dash of red carpet glamour, made a rare public appearance in the nation's capital recently for his first Washington fashion show in several years at Neiman Marcus.

The throng of parties surrounding the White House Correspondents Dinner is charmingly known as "the nerd prom" by Washington insiders.

As I surveyed the guests at the Thomson Reuters McLaughlin Brunch at The Hay Adams, I noticed that the attire of some took on a decidedly geeky élan.

An arch...

Dana Perino may be just over five feet tall, but that did not stop her from taking her inner Gisele Budchen for a walk at a charity fashion show in Washington on Saturday night.

As club music pulsated and photographers clamored at the end of the runway, the former White...

The record-breaking winter of 2010 and the havoc it has wreaked on our faces may be coming to a much-celebrated close, but now isn't the time to let the dermatological guard down.

Luxury skin care companies are debuting fresh products with cutting edge ingredients allowing you to spring forward to...

Mervis Diamond Importers, one of the most established jewelers in Washington, DC, which prides itself on its "family values", has launched a special line of engagement and wedding rings for same-sex couples in anticipation of gay marriage becoming officially approved in the nation's capital.

The DC City Council passed legislation...

I had the rare pleasure of dining out last week at K Street favorite Teatro Goldoni with two darlings from the world of television who were using their cachet to lobby against slaughtering horses for human consumption.

Wendie Malick, the star of "Just Shoot Me!," was seated to my right,...

When Bravo's The Real Housewives of Washington, DC makes its hotly awaited debut this year, keep your eyes open for a cameo appearance by a fashion designer.

What? Did you say fashion designer?

This is, after all, the DC housewives we are talking about here, not the sleek Manhattanites, whose...