Talking, texting or tweeting on your phone is the worst in any social situation. I went to a lunch during Paris Fashion Week, and I managed to steal a few moments with Lee Radziwill - who I think is perhaps the classiest woman alive - and she said this is her biggest pet peeve too. So I'm in good company.

Derek Blasberg

Categorized in : Thinking Pet Fashion

With her first Oscar nomination for her portrayal of Lisbeth Salander in The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, Rooney Mara gave fashion fans a new Gothic-chic muse.

Derek Blasberg

fashion tattoo girl

I grew up in the Midwest, so I have sort of an honorable moral code. But I moved to a city and joined a sort of fast crowd. A lot of people who grew up in the city sort of arent aware of manners and other ways of life and common decency.

Derek Blasberg

moral common people

Getting last-minute cancellations can put a black cloud over an event before it has even started. If it's a large, casual cocktail party, then I'll often not say anything until the next day. But if you're not able to make it to a small, seated dinner, you have to call the host - there's nothing worse than an empty chair at a table.

Derek Blasberg

black party say-anything

I think the sort of person you want at a party is someone who is self-aware, polite and has a basic knowledge of table manners. And that goes for both men and women.

Derek Blasberg

party men thinking

If you are going to worry all night, you should let the hostess know that you're coming for cocktails and leaving when everyone sits down for dinner. If you do need to call to check in, people will understand, but excuse yourself from the table and head to the ladies room to do it.

Derek Blasberg

worry night people

If it is a cocktail party, I think bringing your partner, husband or wife is fine. To a certain extent, when someone throws a party, they expect to have people over. If it's a seated dinner, though, you should check beforehand. Asking to bring your partner is fair. Asking to bring eight friends from college is not. A good hostess will always accommodate extras and stragglers, but she'll never forget who brought them.

Derek Blasberg

party husband college

Often times if you're bored, the other person is probably bored too.

Derek Blasberg

bored

Often times I'll quickly dash off an email or text message when I leave a party. A particularly enjoyable evening, however, that warrants a thank-you note or a phone call. I always say a handwritten note is the ultimate hallmark of a classy woman. But an email is better than nothing.

Derek Blasberg

text-message hallmark party

A good party is one that is designed to entertain and bond friends. The bad parties I've been to are the ones that are held to impress other people.

Derek Blasberg

impress party people

I know it's not particularly tech-savvy of me to suggest a camera that doesn't have a touchscreen, but I think when it comes to candid shots of nights out with friends, there's nothing better than a disposable camera.

Derek Blasberg

camera me candid friends

Still teenagers, Harry and Peter Brant II have never disappointed when I've seen them out and about in New York, Paris, and Venice (Which is where all schoolkids go on field trips, right?) They're not afraid of wearing brooches, capes, embroidery, and even a dab-bing of makeup.

Derek Blasberg

new never go makeup

I don't have some sort of moral dilemma with coming as a guest to an event or a fashion show.

Derek Blasberg

show some moral fashion

Sometimes I wish that Anna Wintour didn't know I existed.

Derek Blasberg

i-wish know wish sometimes

I try to go home to Missouri every couple of months. I do that because I like my family, of course, but my mom doesn't know who Carine Roitfeld is. And as much as that horrifies me, it's a good way to keep your feet on the ground.

Derek Blasberg

good me family home

I feel like I have been portrayed as if I was standing outside Cipriani hoping someone picks me as their plus-one.

Derek Blasberg

feel someone me standing

I am aware that most 27-year-old writers do not co-host galas in their hometowns.

Derek Blasberg

aware am i-am most

I try to wear a watch all the time, because I think guys get the short end of the stick when it comes to jewelry and accessories. A watch is a very chic men's item, and you're sort of wasting it if you just look at your cell phone.

Derek Blasberg

look you time men

I stumbled upon the 3x1 shop because it's a few doors up from the 'V' magazine offices on Mercer. The store is intense: They can take your measurements, and the sewers are right there behind glass making what amounts to a couture pair of jeans.

Derek Blasberg

glass behind your doors

I used to sleep in the T-shirt I wore during the day and whatever ratty old gym shorts I could find on the floor. But one year for Christmas, someone gave me a very chic, comfortable pair of pajamas from Brooks Brothers, and I realized the error of my ways.

Derek Blasberg

day me christmas sleep

Even on vacation, Rihanna's easy breezy chic is not complete without a red lip.

Derek Blasberg

without vacation red easy