Michael Fragoso

Summer socializing started off on an 18-story high note this week with the grand opening of Susanne Bartsch’s much anticipated seasonal saturnalia "On Top," at the Top of The Standard Hotel. The event kicked into full tilt right out of the gates, and within minutes of Ms. Bartsch’s arrival, she had mounted the bar and was excoriating the crowd to “WORK!” in her trademark Swiss-inflected English. Her lofty perch also provided an excellent perspective from which to view her star-spangled Blond’s corset, which I came to find was as dangerous as it was beautiful when she dismounted the bar via my shoulders, digging several glittery, brilliant corners of hand-crafted corsetry into the back of my neck. Oh well, it’s not a good party unless you’ve got the scars to prove it...