The Transom couldn't resist cadging some free advice from Mr. Adler.  How are those predisposed to making “snap judgments” with their money supposed to stop themselves?  “You can override your gut impulses,” he said. “There are two physiological systems in decision-making, your gut one and a slower analytical one, but they are both physical components of the brain.  And you can actually trigger the slow one with sugar, by drinking lemonade!  If you are faced with a tough decision, you can sleep on it or you can drink a little sugar, and it slows you down.”

So how to explain the rash spending habits of  Jonathan, a noted carboholic? “Maybe this will be a wake-up call for me, because I am wildly impulsive,” the preppy potter said. “The only thing holding me back from squandering the Adler squillions is a lack of desirable merchandise in the world.”  (Certain fiscal snap judgments seem to be working just fine for Mr. Adler, as he will soon be opening another store in Brooklyn, despite the dreary economy.) 

Also sharing his saving tips was The Observer’s own Simon Doonan, husband to Jonathan and by extension part of the Adler family. “I would love to be the person who has thousands of pairs of sneakers,” he said. “I would love to be the male Mariah Carey.  But being so freakishly undersized, I can’t find clothes in my size.  It’s not hard for me to be parsimonious.” 

And Vanity Fair’s Amy Fine Collins? “I limit myself to only one designer [Ralph Rucci, with Manolo Blahnik shoes] … that’s the way I discipline myself,” she told the Transom. “You can’t be well-dressed without being disciplined.”

Breaking news of pop star Michael Jackson's death cast a brief haze of sadness over the party.  Mr. Doonan was visibly shaken: “He was straight, gay, black, white, thin, fat—everything,” he clucked. “Jonny and I have this big plaster bust of him that we bought at a flea market. ... It looks like a Jeff Koons, but it was really five dollars.  I’m going to rush home and put a nice bit of chiffon on it.”