Ooh, little bit of gossip/observed weirdness to start off the day. We got word from one of our sneaky insiders in New York about attending the big Kips Bay Decorator Show House going on now until May 23rd. While there, our informant wandered into uber-interior-designer Mario Buatta's spot at the show and observed this odd bit:

Yesterday, I went up to the Kips Bay Show House, which shows of a range of tasteful and over-the-top interior design. Mario Buatta designed a clubby sitting room with a heavy dog motif. He was there yesterday, too. One of the women on the tour knew him and asked him if he had a dog. "No," he said. "I have a pet cockroach. Want to see it?" and then he pulled out a little plastic cockroach on an elastic string. The ladies thought it was funny. So, if your readers want to know how to impress rich socialite clients, they should try your standard junior-high joke shop novelties.

Also noted by our overcoated sneak:

I also learned that goatskin makes terrible wall-to-wall carpeting, as we were still brushing off the hair from Larry Laslo's master bedroom design at dinner. It's like all of the hassle of a dog with none of the fun.