Ralph Rucci, out with his “Autobiography of a Fashion Designer,” says:
“I’m from Philadelphia. In college, I studied philosophy, was into art, and while researching happened upon a very Balenciaga-ish photo of a bride in a gorgeous gown.
“I became obsessed with fashion. I bought fabric. Worked on my mother’s sewing machine. Cut and dressed on my sister.
“My first job was in Halston’s workroom handling toiles. Impatient, I only stayed a year and began my first collection in 1980, thanks to a divine aunt who loaned me $10,000.
“The tailoring was poetic, all on the bias. I still have those archival samples stored in The Bronx. Sometimes I actually sneak a pattern and reuse an idea.”
Couture hints?
“For overweight ladies, lycra is a privilege. Also, no plaids. Nobody should wear plaid. I mean, we aren’t talking Field & Stream. If you’re not tall, it’s about how you carry yourself. Height has nothing to do with it. Shorten sleeves so more wrist bone shows and slim the trousers. As for age, I detest judging fashion as though something’s not for a certain age. Everything is timeless.”
Ever screw up anything?
“Ohhh, once I nearly cried. I had a hand-painted print with chiffon edge fringed. I didn’t know the dress somehow never got finished and out on the runway walked the model. We were all hysterical.”
And opinions on the wardrobe of Mrs. Obama and Mrs. Prince William?
“Criticizing any woman in public life is off-limits. I don’t talk about them. I actually prefer them to talk about me.”
STATE Sen. Liz Krueger raising funds for a mayoral run . . . Sinatra fans gathered at Patsy’s Italian Restaurant to remember his 96th birthday . . . In 10 more minutes, NYC will announce its 50 millionth tourist for 2011 . . . Designer Domenico Vacca opening DV, a 4,000-square-foot members-only club in Miami’s Setai Hotel . . . Want to know what the world’s coming to? Spending last weekend — together, sight-seeing in Virginia’s Colonial Williamsburg — Judge Judy, Joan Rivers and C. Adams.
HEED some generosity if considering toilet water or cheapo ties for gifts: Paul Simon’s hit album “Graceland” profits went to South Africa’s anti-apartheid causes . . . Sean Connery donated $1.25 million plus 12.5 percent of the gross of a James Bond fee to the Scottish International Education Trust . . . Keanu Reeves went for Harley-Davidson motorbikes for Australia’s “The Matrix” crew.
Bruce Willis sent 12,000 packets of Girl Scout cookies to troops in Afghanistan . . . Ben Affleck handed one assistant director keys to a Mustang . . . After visiting the Dalai Lama in northern India, Pierce Brosnan funded a Kathmandu vocational school for exiled Tibetans . . . Bob Barker presented Harvard with $500,000 to establish an endowment fund for the study of animal rights.
Jim Carrey donated $1 million to 9/11 World Trade Center families . . . Bruce Springsteen, $190,000 to make repairs for hundreds of low-income homeowners . . . Bill Gates’ Microsoft deputy Steve Ballmer gives “millions to Israeli charities and the same to the West Bank.” . . . Angelina Jolie’s $700,000 went to the Afghan Refugee Fund.
David Geffen’s $200 million in “Shrek” take went to UCLA’s medical school . . . The Museum of Contemporary Art copped $100,000 from Leonard Nimoy . . . Tom Cruise helped a small rural New Zealand school . . . Sinead O’Connor, taking to Dublin’s streets with $1,000 to help the poor, went around, spotted a homeless person huddled under a newspaper pile and thrust a wad of notes at him.
Sandra Bullock enriched the Red Cross Disaster Relief Fund by $1 million . . .
Kirk Douglas handed a mil to his alma mater for minority scholarships . . . With Denzel Washington it was $5 million to his LA’s West Angeles Church of God . . . David Schwimmer issued a grant of $250,000 for a theater company he helped begin.
For Mick Jagger, $100,000 so kids in his old school could buy musical instruments . . . Anthony Hopkins, $1 million to the National Trust to purchase part of Mount Snowden, “one of the world’s most beautiful places.” . . . Athens, Ga, native Kim Basinger underwrote lighting at the tennis complex . . . Alan Alda put in $265,000 to buy the Children’s Museum land in the Hamptons’ East End.
Ray Charles gave his university $2 million to support entertainment scholarships . . . Yoko Ono enriched John Lennon’s old school by 30,000 pounds . . . For Kid Rock, proceeds from a Norfolk, Va., concert went to families of military personnel killed in the USS Cole attack.
MORE gifts. Bill O’Reilly’s new best seller “Killing Lincoln” is the year’s best read. Now Daniel Day-Lewis plays Abe in an upcoming movie. Now’s a Hunt Slonem mural-size portrait of him and his family at 57th Street’s Marlborough Gallery. Enough already with Lincoln. How about a biopic on President Millard Fillmore?
THIS lady’s phone is registered in her dog’s name. For privacy and protection, she didn’t want her address listed with her name. So a telemarketer calls. He announces: “You are the lucky winner of a free dance lesson.” The phone owner laughed. The fluffy poodle barked.
Only in New York, kids, only in New York.