The Buzz: The Week That Was

As the media twittered (and tweeted) about the appropriateness of Wanda Sykes' jokes at the White House Correspondents' Association Dinner, and the U.S. Senate held hearings about who knew what when about torture, the local party circuit picked up steam:

-- It's called Obsolete, but the new design store by Ray Azoulay (right with Vanessa Getty), who's partnering with Blackman Cruz and Therien on Potrero Hill, is anything but outmoded. In a climate where design shops are closing, the turnout of 500, many of them members of San Francisco's interior-design cognoscenti (David Kensington, Shirley Robinson, Kendall Wilkinson, Jonathan Straley, Ed Hardy), showed that there's big demand for the Victorian and avant-garde furniture and decorative objects like an English kitchen settee, circa 1790, for $17,000 offered by Azoulay, who hails from Venice in SoCal and has a big Hollywood clientele. "Obsolete's got a different vibe. It's a breath of fresh air," said party co-host Vanessa Getty. Petite bites by Wolfgang Puck catering, Grey Goose cocktails and William Hill wines kept everyone's spirits high.

-- First fashion: Washington Post Pulitzer Prize-winning Fashion Editor Robin Givhan has a new beat: covering the cultural and social aspects of the first family, particularly Michelle Obama and her many, many cardigans. Givhan, who once worked at The Chronicle as a fashion writer, told New York Magazine recently that she'd like to "put her into a broader context and try to get at some of the issues about race and class that she brings up." Givhan will continue to write her weekly Sunday column for the Post.

This article appeared on page J - 1 of the San Francisco Chronicle