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As seen in Lucky, InStyle and Vogue: Houston now has a DesignerSocial. Mark your calendars for the three-day pop-up at Sloan/Hall featuring pre-owned handbags and accessories from Chanel, Herm��s, YSL, Balenciaga, Louboutin and more, December 12 through 14. A VIP cocktail/shopping party is December 12. Bring in a bag for trade-in ��� you���ll receive shopping credit that evening ��� Zadok Jewelers is blinging up with designers Kiki Furst Antonini of A & Furst December 14 and 15, and Rina Limor with her ���ne gemstone jewelry (we love her bangles) December 19 and 20 ��� Arhaus Furniture, known for handcrafted home goods (think sofas, cabinetry, bedding, library furnishings ��� classics and one-offs), opens a 19,000-square-foot store in February at the corner of Westheimer and Post Oak Boulevard. It���s the company���s 43rd store in the U.S. ���The Houston Design Center at 7026 Old Katy Road holds its ���fth annual Deck The [ [ Tables Holiday Tabletop Tour December 3 through 9 with cooler-than-cool Dallas-based event planner Todd Fiscus opening the event December 3 with a 5 pm presentation on holiday decorating and entertaining at Alkusari Stone showroom, Suite 229; seating is limited, and reservations required. Information thehoustondesigncenter.com ��� Linda Cunningham now exclusively carries PHLOX New York handbags fashioned from exotic skins ��� Elizabeth Anthony/Esther Wolf in Uptown Park welcomes L.A. designer Lourdes Chavez December 12 and 13 ��� Uptown Park���s newest addition is Apricot Lane, a men���s and woman���s boutique with celebrity-inspired apparel, accessories, handbags and gifts, located near Caf�� Express ��� Elsewhere in Uptown Park, M Penner has opened Houston���s ���rst (and Texas��� largest) shop-in-shop for Swedish luxury shirt maker Eton, marked with a big event early this month; details 713.527.8200 ���Speaking of Uptown Park, trot on over on Tuesdays, December 4, 11 and 18, 5 to 8 pm, to shop extended hours, with live music, food trucks, receipt rewards promotions, free valet parking, complimentary gift-wrapping and more ��� Saks Fifth Avenue now carries Tom Ford���s private-blend unisex fragrances, nail lacquers and lipsticks ��� Tanger Outlets Italian Intrigue Matt���s Music Hall What We���re Listening To With the arrival of one remarkable study of Florentine creation, Houston is having an Italian moment. The Houston Museum of Natural Science���s ���Gems of the Medici��� exhibit (through March 31) presents striking engraved and carved gems from the House of Medici���s vaults. The Florence-based Medici family had a penchant for collecting objects that had previously belonged to sovereigns and members of the church. Extraordinary items on display include a 17th-century bust of a female Moor rendered in luscious baroque pearls, enamel, agate and diamonds (pictured); an early-15th-century carnelian creation, carved in the negative, that hauntingly depicts a Dominican friar known for his cautionary homilies; and a late-17th-century touchstone vase showing an intimate embrace between a gilt bronze cupid and a silver swan. Italian or French Goldsmith, bust of a moor Houston Museum of Natural Science, 5555 Hermann Park Dr., rendered in agate, baroque pearls, diamonds, 713.639.4629; hmns.org. Seth Vaughan enamel, second half of the 16th century, at HMNS COLLECTION RIENZI, MFAH The Other Romney H aving trouble imagining any other Romneys in the wake of the presidential election? Then let us introduce you to preeminent British painter George Romney (1734 ��� 1802). One of the leading English artists of his day, Romney is known for his stately and elegant portraits of late 18th-century nobles and members of London���s fashionable society. Explore Romney���s oeuvre in ���Visions of Fancy: George Romney, 18th-Century Paintings and Drawings,��� through January 20 at Rienzi, the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston���s house museum. Works range from striking portraits of army of���cers on a towering scale to Romney���s 1783 sketchbook, which has never before been on view at Rienzi. 1406 Kirby Dr., 713.639.7800; mfah.org. Seth Vaughan COLLECTION MFAH, �� ARKADY SHAIKHET ESTATE, MOSCOW, COURTESY NAILYA ALEXANDER GALLERY, NYC The Show to End All War Arkady Shaikhet���s Partisan Girl, 1942, at the MFAH After a decade of research, reviewing more than one million photographs and traveling to 17 countries, the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, opens an exhibition that is more than an art show. When ���War/Photography��� unveiled on Veteran���s Day, November 11, it was a battle cry to end all wars. The vast, broad-ranging tour de force is spearheaded by a curatorial team led by Anne Wilkes Tucker, the MFAH���s world-recognized Gus and Lyndall Wortham Curator of Photography, who is joined by photographer and Glassell School of Art instructor Will Michels and MFAH curatorial assistant for photography Natalie Zeit. Presented for analysis and impact are nearly 500 objects (photographs, albums, magazines, books and vintage camera equipment) culled from 280 photographers (photojournalists, military photographers, artists and amateurs) spanning 28 nations, con���icts on six continents and more than 165 years. The searing, poignant and heroic images range from the Mexican-American War and the Crimean War to today���s hot spots of global combat. The ground-breaking exhibition is organized not chronologically but by nuanced themes. From the classic and iconic (the American ���ag raised over Iwo Jima, a portrait of Winston Churchill and the photographs of the late Tim Hetherington, who was killed in Eastern Afghanistan in 2011) to the newly timeless Marlboro Marine of 2004, snapped in Fallujah, Iraq, and the always powerful Civil War lensman Matthew Brady. Through February 3, 2013, at the MFAH, Law Building, 1001 Bissonnet, 713.639.7300; mfah.org/wp. Catherine D. Anspon ���Tis the season to be jolly, and the best way to start is by attending these fabulous PaperCity-sponsored parties. On Saturday, December 1, the Menil Contemporaries continue its 25th anniversary celebration with Bleu Electrique, chaired by Isabel and Danny David, Kelly and Russell Hamman, and Linsay and Jeremy Radcliffe, at the world-class Menil Collection (menil.org/bleu) ��� Wake up the next morning, Sunday, December 2, to beautiful sounds at the Houston Symphony Magical Musical Morning at River Oaks Country Club. The tykes-friendly brunch and romp, SocialWhirl Serge Gainsbourg/Jane Birkin, Jane Birkin et Serge Gainsbourg. Gainsbourg is great year-round, but fall and winter feel especially appropriate for his ruminations on love and sex. Everyone knows the classic Histoire de Melody Nelson, but almost as good (and just reissued on CD and LP in 2010) is the sole album he cut with Jane Birkin, the French actress and his long-time lover(and Herm��s bag namesake). The record���s most popular track, ���Je T���Aime���Moi Non Plus,��� was banned all over Europe for Birkin���s convincing ad-libs during the song���s very literal climax. The 35-minute song cycle is short enough to ri���e through several times in a day; it���s addicting, timeless pop music. Jessie Ware, Devotion. The 27-year-old British singer made her name by adding vocals to songs for producers like SBTRKT, but her recently released collection is a throwback to the great records from singers like Sade and Aaliyah. Ware smartly blends her adaptable, impossibly smooth voice over tracks that mix early-2000s R&B production with a contemporary ���air inspired by artists such as James Blake, the xx and Jamie Woon. The result is a cut like ���Sweet Talk,��� a sultry whisper of a song that wanders through noticeable reference points (Prince, even Mariah Carey) while sounding totally unique. Put it on and clean your house with sophistication. George Romney���s Elizabeth, Lady Blunt, 1794, at Rienzi Curatorial Coup: has opened off I-45 in Texas City. Shop 80 brand name and designer outlets including J. Crew, Brooks Brothers and Michaels Kors ��� Tootsies kick-starts the holiday shopping season with personal appearances: jewelry designer Gelines Chapa, December 4 and 5; San Antoniobased jewelry designer Claudia Loboa, December 13 and 14; Texas-based jewelry designer Jill Reno, December 19 and 20; and local jewelry designer Katie Decker, December 21 and 22 ��� Heritage Auctions holds its Holiday Luxury Auction live in Dallas and online December 4, with 900 items, including a Gucci diamondand-gold pineapple minaudi��re, a shearling Herm��s Kelly handbag, exotic-skin Birkin bags in a rainbow of colors and a Louis Vuitton jewelry box by Takashi Murakami, with all lots starting at one dollar. Check out the action at ha.com/ luxury. ��� Kudos to Houston restaurateurs (by way of Sardinia) Lori and E���sio Farris: Their wonderful Arcodoro Ristorante and, more speci���cally, their cookbook Sweet Myrtle & Bitter Honey have been included in Cooking Light magazine���s 100 list ��� The lunchtime eatery Caf�� La Villette has quietly opened in Decorative Center Houston, run by Mariquita Combes��� beloved catering company of the same name. Megan Pruitt Winder Kendrick Lamar, good kid, m.A.A.d. city. Lamar���s of���cial debut album, on the heels of a great independent mixtape in 2011, is a marvel: 12 songs that build a narrative of the younger Lamar���s self emerging into the violent and ruthless world of inner-city Compton. He���s subtitled the record ���A Short Film by Kendrick Lamar,��� and while this would normally emit skepticism, he pulls it off. The record is as immersive as a ���lm, as textured and nuanced as a Teju Cole novel, smart and progressive in equal measure. A record that already sounds classic. Tame Impala, Lonerism. The Australian band follows up its pretty great 2010 debut, Innerspeaker, with a record that does everything sophomore outings are supposed to do: Expand their sound, build on themes, go deeper and wider. They sound like the Beatles, sure, but that actually means something here ��� songwriter Kevin Parker channels Lennon���s self-deprecating lyrics (and voice) with a McCartney ear for melodies, all wrapped up in psychedelics, simultaneously as warm as a summer car seat and comforting and cool as a favorite sweater. Headphone music, for sure. The Smiths, The Queen is Dead. What would be winter without a now-traditional jaunt through one of the bleakest yet most life-af���rming records ever made? The band is at its most pitiful, their most persnickety, and their most memorable. Morrissey never sounded so wistful, Johnny Marr���s guitar tone never sounded so crisp. A timeless piece of Manchester rock that has proven to be immeasurably in���uential all these years later. Matthew Ramirez is PaperCity���s resident playlist savant. chaired by Danielle and Josh Batchelor and Courtney and John Chapoton, bene���ts Symphony Scouts. Also included are hands-on musical experiences, an instrument petting zoo, crafts and holiday shopping for the mom and dad (specialevents@ houstonsymphony.org) ��� The gaiety continues Wednesday, December 5, with the Holiday Schmooze, a noteworthy night of Noel and philanthropy bene���tting Legacy Community Health Services. Chairs Melissa and Michael Mithoff preside, while his folks Ginni and Richard Mithoff host, and Jackson and Company provides the holiday cheer. (Gayle Alstot, 832.548.5257; galstot@legacycommunityhealth.org). Grab your coats and follow us! Erin Oppenheim DECEMBER | PAGE 8 | 2012