E!, a cable channel already known for flash, wanted to make a splash with new progams like Filthy Rich: Cattle Drive and The Girls Next Door, which trails Hugh Hefner and his posse. So there was water, water, everywhere at the Tropicana Bar, the poolside club du jour at the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel. E! Networks associate director of special events and promotions Wendy Schellinger and Cara Kleinhaut of Caravents created what they called a “dive in”—a first cousin of a drive-in—with clips from the new shows playing continuously on a screen erected at one end of the hotel pool as well as on flat TV monitors around the party's perimeter.
The color scheme included white and a watery blue, and embraced everything from decor to servers. More than 500 guests lounged on Jetsons-era white vinyl furniture topped with plush azure pillows, where they were served by waitresses in turquoise bikini tops and white micro-minis. Images of reflecting water were projected onto white fabric stretched into ameboid sail shapes at one end of the pool, while four white oversize lampshades trimmed with blue crystals and E! logos dangled from an aircraft cable over the pool. Scattered about were Caravents' signature white cabanas topped with blue draping over two mod, clear-crystal chandeliers. (One tent reserved for Hef and company was stocked at their request with M&Ms and a private butler.) Everywhere, arrangements of white pillar candles and white orchids floated in shallow bowls and clear column vases.
Every hour on the hour, half a dozen synchronized swimmers decked out in metallic blue bikinis performed in the pool. Throughout the evening, revelers sipped "E! Tinis" (Hpnotiq, lemon, and blue-sugared rum), as well as other custom cocktails made with Hpnotiq. While guests waited for their valet-parked cars, they poked through gift bags filled with 2BFree T-shirts, Close Up toothpaste, Kenra Platinum hair gel, Wolfgang Puck mocha latte blend, City Lips lip plumper, and Gold Digger and Too Faced cosmetics.
—Irene Lacher
Photos: Laura Kleinhenz/Docuvitae (decor); Dana Hargitay/Docuvitae (swimmers, bartender); Michael Buckner/Getty Images (DJ)
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The color scheme included white and a watery blue, and embraced everything from decor to servers. More than 500 guests lounged on Jetsons-era white vinyl furniture topped with plush azure pillows, where they were served by waitresses in turquoise bikini tops and white micro-minis. Images of reflecting water were projected onto white fabric stretched into ameboid sail shapes at one end of the pool, while four white oversize lampshades trimmed with blue crystals and E! logos dangled from an aircraft cable over the pool. Scattered about were Caravents' signature white cabanas topped with blue draping over two mod, clear-crystal chandeliers. (One tent reserved for Hef and company was stocked at their request with M&Ms and a private butler.) Everywhere, arrangements of white pillar candles and white orchids floated in shallow bowls and clear column vases.
Every hour on the hour, half a dozen synchronized swimmers decked out in metallic blue bikinis performed in the pool. Throughout the evening, revelers sipped "E! Tinis" (Hpnotiq, lemon, and blue-sugared rum), as well as other custom cocktails made with Hpnotiq. While guests waited for their valet-parked cars, they poked through gift bags filled with 2BFree T-shirts, Close Up toothpaste, Kenra Platinum hair gel, Wolfgang Puck mocha latte blend, City Lips lip plumper, and Gold Digger and Too Faced cosmetics.
—Irene Lacher
Photos: Laura Kleinhenz/Docuvitae (decor); Dana Hargitay/Docuvitae (swimmers, bartender); Michael Buckner/Getty Images (DJ)
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Details Hosts Chic, Nautical Pool Party
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