WHILE smoking a cigarette outside the New York Public Library on Monday night, at the end of a press line where a modest number of celebrities and large contingent of the American fashion industry were dutifully talking about dresses, Fran Lebowitz, the satirist, was asked what she was wearing.
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That was pretty obvious, suggested Ms. Lebowitz, who had been asked to emcee the annual awards night for the Council of Fashion Designers of America. A cream-bordering-on-ivory dinner jacket. White shirt. Black pants. Duh.
"Do you mean who made this?" she asked. Her outfit was by Anderson & Sheppard, a bespoke shop on Savile Row. Did she know how to spell that?
"I should," she said. "I write them enough checks."
Since it was announced that Ms. Lebowitz would introduce the awards, there had been some concern (and some hope) that the writer, a fixture in the fashion scene since the era of Studio 54, would name names, or at least skewer a few of those familiar faces among a crowd that is keenly sensitive to the slightest slights. Instead, she paid tribute to an oft-worn comment about accessories made by Coco Chanel: "I never wear a tie," Ms. Lebowitz said. "Because I believe when a woman gets dressed for the evening, she should leave at least one thing to the imagination."
The note Ms. Lebowitz struck for the evening, then, could be described as zippy. Responding to criticism within its ranks that the awards show, the designers' version of the Oscars, had become an egocentric snore, the format was shuffled this year so that the trophies were handed out at the beginning of the night and the dinner came way at the end. Famous people who were not designers — or only part-time designers — were largely pushed to the side. At one point, three of them were made to stand on stage to present an award to the best women's designer of the year, each wearing a dress by one of the nominees. Clearly, the event producers had been influenced by reality television.
Maggie Gyllenhaal wore a see-through green patterned Proenza Schouler top, looking like a turtle in pajamas. Victoria Beckham appeared to have broken out with a love rash in a dress made of hundreds of cutout hearts by Marc Jacobs. And Eva Mendes wore a clean white column by Francisco Costa, the women's designer at Calvin Klein. When the envelope was opened, Ms. Mendes let out an enthusiastic yelp — her designer won — while Ms. Beckham visibly pouted. She could not help but wear her hearts on her sleeve.
The other awards were handed out in rapid order. Tom Ford, following a lengthy visual display of his advertisements in which naked women grab the crotches of clothed men, was named men's designer of the year, and Tory Burch, who makes those flats with her logo on the toe, was given the nod for accessories. Swarovski, the crystal company, also presented awards to younger designers, to the Rodarte label designed by the sisters Kate and Laura Mulleavy for women's wear, to Scott Sternberg of Band of Outsiders for men's and to Philip Crangi for accessories. Ms. Lebowitz made a particularly funny observation on the awards for young designers, which are usually given out with a disproportionate degree of seriousness.
"I'm sure we would all agree the fashion industry's obsession with middle age has gotten entirely out of hand," she said. "If you're a day under 40, you can't get a second glance in this crowd."
Special awards were also given to the designers Carolina Herrera and Dries Van Noten; to Candy Pratts Price, the executive fashion director of Style.com; and to Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg, who helped negotiate a deal to keep the 7th on Sixth fashion shows in Bryant Park through 2010.
Mr. Bloomberg, the subject of a fashion critique in The New York Times on Monday, made fun of himself, noting "my skinny jeans are at the cleaners, and my gladiator sandals are being resoled." But with his tuxedo, he wore a light purple bow tie that some thought was kind of big for his neck, which drew lightning bolts from the audience.
"Is it lilac?" asked the illustrator Ruben Toledo. "Or lavender?"
"That's a tough one," said Calvin Klein. "It's like the palest lavender."
Katie Lee Joel, the wife of Billy Joel, said she it looked as if the mayor had tied the knot himself. "The imperfection is what makes it interesting," she said.
Ms. Lebowitz kept her opinions to herself.
"Despite whatever reputation I have, wholly undeserved to the contrary, I would never insult someone right to their face," she said. "I believe in talking behind peoples' backs. That way, they hear it more than once."
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