Letter From Last Night: Actress Alison Pill On Her Visit To Fashion-Land

Actress Alison Pill, who currently stars opposite Edie Falco Off-Broadway in This Wide Night, attended last night’s CFDA Awards (and, naturally, after-parties) with Chris Benz. Below, a few photos from the duo from the prep to the party—with commentary from both.

Alison Pill: We had a fitting in the morning, and luckily Chris makes clothes that fit me. It’s almost like there’s no need for a fitting for his stuff since it hangs so nicely. But his elevator doesn’t have those little security mirrors in the corner.
Chris Benz: It only has the camera, so you can’t look at your hair on the way down.

CB: In the courtyard outside the awards, they had these big orange ottomans—these islands that literally you could lay down on, they were so big. So we just planted out there.
Style.com: Juggling Champagne and cigarettes is a pro-level move. Did you get anything on your dress?
AP: No, it stayed relatively pristine!

CB: That (above) was at the Boom Boom Room. It always feels like some crazy fashion prom—you can’t even believe that literally every single person who has anything to do with fashion is in the same room [Ed. note: including Style.com editor-at-large Derek Blasberg, right], which is what I think is so miraculous about the CFDAs and the parties surrounding it. My friend Mike Nouveau, who’s terrific, was DJing, it so I had a feeling it was going to be a smash even before we got there. We arrived and our entrance song was Shakira’s “She-Wolf.” We were BBMing [BlackBerry messaging] with the DJ on our way down to select it.
Style.com: Alison, how do fashion after-parties compare with their film or theater counterparts?
AP: They’re very similar, but the people are better dressed. I had no idea who anybody was, [so] it was sort of funny to see what the designers actually look like. I guess as a rule, I’d say they’re much better looking than I would have imagined. It’s like many behind the scenes things in theater or film—you’re kind of surprised when people are good looking. But as a general rule, it’s a very good looking crowd of people.

—Matthew Schneier