Nearby, children were struggling with an oversize billiards table.

“Yeah, sorry! There are kids everywhere!” Ms. Astley said. “I always tell my friends to bring their kids. It’s all about kids at TeenVogue! My girls are over there.”

She pointed to two lean preteen beauties slithering quickly across the pool table, wearing T-shirts and unruly blond ponytails. “No, I don’t give them style advice. They’re not interested in style advice. They dress themselves and I think they look great. I love to see what young people choose to wear, even 7- and 10-year-olds.”

Socialite Amanda Brooks’ kids scrambled after the young Astleys. A pool ball shot off the table toward one of the doorways; it went unnoticed as the photographers clamored after designer Vera Wang, who had just made her entrance with her daughter, Josephine Becker, who interned at TeenVogue last summer. “I haven’t read the book yet, but I will,” Ms. Becker said.

Is she planning to go into fashion?

“I haven’t really decided yet, but considering who my mom is, there is a pretty good possibility.”

Many in the standing-room-only crowd nodded appreciatively at the Thai-born, Omaha-raised designer’s draped fabrics and eye-popping prints, worn by models sporting samurai-inspired hair (more Lucy Liu in Kill Bill than Tom Cruise in The Last Samurai, thankfully.)

Among the seated, Bee Shaffer stood in for her mother, Vogue editor Anna Wintour, who was undoubtedly off to Queens to ogle Roger Federer in the men’s title match at the U.S. Open (Mr. Federer would go on to lose to Juan Martin del Potro in five sets). Along with Ms. Shaffer, Vogue was well represented by society mavens Lauren Dupont and Amanda Brooks, the latter of which was spotted chatting up Wendi Murdoch.  

Model-socialite Elettra Rossellini Wiedemann was in attendance, along with late arrival Rachel Zoë, the stylist, who paused to exchange kisses with a few people in the front row. But it was Ciara, who wore a stunning purple dress accessorized by a bodyguard, who made the runway her own.

After giving Thakoon a rousing ovation, the audience fled what was quickly becoming an intolerably muggy space. Among the throng was chef Rocco DiSpirito, who was checking out his first Fashion Week event of the year. He’d met Thakoon’s brother, a photographer, earlier that day at a shoot for a new book due this spring, and sounded glad he’d decided to tag along.“I loved it. I liked the color and his willingness to take chances. And the fabrics," Mr. DiSpirito said. "I wish we’d had some of those at the shoot this morning.”

After the crowd had dispersed, blinking into the late afternoon sunshine, venerable Times man-on-the-street photographer Bill Cunningham captured a few straggling fashionistas (and their shoes) with his famously throwback gear.

Event producer Tom Palmer, a friend of the hosts—he has produced Mr. Lim's fashion show for the past four years—was given less than a week to orchestrate the bash.

"They wanted it to be a celebration of having lived in the time of an influential and an inspiring person. That was the only creative direction they gave me as far as the spirit of the party," Mr. Palmer told the Transom by phone the morning after the party.  "It was meant to be something that would make Michael proud."

Mr. Palmer worked for free, with some resources donated by the hosts' friends and acquaintances. "Phillip really liked the idea of a smoke machine," he said. "He thought it would be a very Michael Jackson thing to have."

About 300 hundred guests were expected; upward of 500 showed up throughout the course of the evening, including designer Carlos Mota and Richard Chai; socialites Genevieve Jones, Bee Shaffer, Derek Blasberg and singer Lissy Trullie; plus "lots of fashion assistants," reported one guest, "which is always fun." (Another attendee thought he spotted socialite Allison Sarofim in the crowd. Volunteer DJs played "Thriller" and "Beat It" and "Don't Stop Till You Get Enough," while the accompanying videos were projected on the wall.

Mr. Palmer wore black loafers, a black jacket with zippers, and a white T-shirt. "I did my best to have that bad look," he said. Mr. Lim was also outfitted in a ripped white T-shirt, loafers and sequined white socks. Ms. Brooks wore a black fedora and a vintage '80s jacket, which Mr. Palmer guessed was probably Oscar de la Renta. 

"The spirit was exactly what we had hoped. It was just a simple celebration in that nothing was being shilled," the planner said. "Everyone who was there danced, and it got a little hot and it got a little sweaty, but everyone just let go of their egos and embraced it. Even the wallflowers that come to so many of these parties and usually just sit and watch got into it."

Anyone with especially enviable moves?

"There were a lot of earnest attempts," Mr. Palmer said. "And there was some spontaneous moonwalking."

“I cannot wait to see Michelle Obama!” said the fit morning-talk-show host Kelly Ripa, adding that she was wearing fake eyelashes for the occasion. “I love her whole physicality—she’s so tall and statuesque and good-looking!”

Ms. Ripa was wearing a strapless navy Alberta Ferretti gown with a taut bodice. “I chose it because—I know this will sound silly—but I thought it made me look busty!” she said. Asked whether her bare arms were a sartorial tribute to the first lady, Ms. Ripa giggled. “Let me tell you about the arms,” she said. “It’s springtime, but it’s very cold tonight and it’s very hard finding anything with a sleeve. Trust me!”

The actress Lindsay Price arrived in a mermaid-style dress designed by Carolina Herrera, an honorary co-chair of the evening along with Ms. Obama, Caroline Kennedy, socialite Blaine Trump and actress Renée Zellweger.

“I’m over the moon!” Ms. Price said about the sheer possibility of being near the first lady. “I think I’ll be too shy to go out of my way to meet her, but I’m happy to just be in her company.”

Behind her, be-furred Vogue editor Anna Wintour, arms crossed and sunglasses in place, was being escorted inside. Vanity Fair’s Amy Fine Collins was close behind. “I’m very excited. Not only do we have ballet tonight, but we have politics, too,” said Ms. Collins, whose upper arms were also exposed.

Calvin Klein designer Francisco Costa arrived with model Dree Hemingway, granddaughter of Ernest, on one arm and socialite Amanda Brooks on the other, each outfitted in one of his minimalist dresses. Is he hoping to woo Ms. Obama?

“Why do you think I’m here? I bought a tuxedo for this!” Mr. Costa said. “She’s proven she has a great sensibility. She’s figuring her own way out and doing an amazing job.”

Actress Mariska Hargitay proclaimed herself above all this fashion flim-flam. “I’m not obsessed with what she wears, I’m obsessed with Michelle Obama,” she said firmly before ducking inside. 

Meanwhile, Lynda Carter, the original Wonder Woman, recalled the year she attended the ballet in the company of another first lady: Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis.

“She was so chic,” Ms. Carter said. “I am excited to meet Michelle Obama. She’s just killer. And tall!”

As guests took their seats, Senator Chuck Schumer welcomed Caroline Kennedy to the stage. Ms. Kennedy in turn welcomed the much-awaited first lady, who (having snuck in through an underground entrance) appeared from behind the gold curtain in a sparkly black Azzedine Alaïa cocktail dress. A standing ovation ensued. (Real estate developer Janna Bullock even put her BlackBerry away for a moment to clap.)

After a few gracious words about the importance of “learning through the arts,” Ms. Obama headed to a private box containing Jill Biden, Ms. Kennedy and the White House social secretary, Desirée Rogers.

During the intermission, the VIPs thronged a roped-off reception area. Ripa chatted with Caryn Zucker, wife of NBC president Jeff Zucker; Ms. Wintour greeted billionaire David Koch; and Ms. Rogers huddled with anchors Al Roker and Deborah Roberts.

“There’s just something kind of special about this night to begin with, and then you add Michelle Obama on top of that and …” Mr. Roker gushed.

“You’ll really stay awake,” Ms. Roberts said.

“Yeah, normally I look at this as a good shot at napping,” admitted Mr. Roker. “But I’m thinking this is actually something I should probably stay awake for.”

Wearing a formal belted black dress, Ms. Rogers told the Daily Transom that she and Ms. Obama were enjoying the show.

“It is a great night for America, really,” she said. “To see this lovely ballet, to see these children from the Jackie Kennedy Onassis school perform for the first time, it just brings everything full circle and we’re just delighted to be here.”

Alas, there was no sign of the first lady at the glitzy intermission. And as Mr. Roker pointed out, it would be fairly difficult to clink champagne flutes with her anyway.

“There’s this little thing called the Secret Service that I think will keep everyone from flocking to her,” he said.

Amanda Brooks, 29, formerly the muse of the beloved society clothing line Tuleh, has schmoozed or oozed her way into the position of its creative director, without any formal fashion training. It's a sweet three-day-per-week gig whose responsibilities include choosing fabrics, giving opinions on proposed designs and a lot of going out and- oops! -winding up in party pages. Ms. Brooks, a golden-haired, blue-eyed mother of two, maintains a sort of innocent "who, me?" attitude about the latter pastime. "I don't think about being photographed when I go out," she said the other day at Café Lebowitz. "It really never occurs to me."

She was wearing a delicate black-and-white, hyacinth-patterned blouse made of the same fabric as the jacket's lining-Tuleh, of course. When not wearing the house label, Ms. Brooks favors Chanel and Marc by Marc Jacobs. "It's like the Gap for me," she said.

"I love getting dressed," she added. "As vain as that sounds."

Ms. Brooks, née Cutter, was born in Palm Beach (her parents were introduced by legendary WASP designer Lilly Pulitzer, whose splashy prints she credits as a major style inspiration) and raised in Bronxville. She attended Horace Mann, Deerfield and then Brown, where she roomed with designer Carolina Herrera's daughter Patricia, double-majoring in art history and the visual arts. Young Amanda was ostracized by the collegiate upper-crust after a freshman fling with fellow undergrad Alexandre von Furstenberg; he was dating future ex-wife Alexandra Miller at the time. Ms. Brooks refused to comment on l'affaire Alexandra to The Observer , but last year told W magazine (where her sister Kimberly is West Coast editor): "It's taken me 10 years to be able to stand in the same room with those girls."

She has gone slightly against the grosgrain of Manhattan society ever since. "I don't feel like I'm part of any group," Ms. Brooks said. "I maintain my individuality. I don't feel like part of a set group that I'll eternally be a part of, and I really enjoy that."

After college, she worked briefly as an assistant at the Gagosian Gallery. "It's shocking and humbling to be thrust into New York City at the bottom of the totem pole," she said. Soon after Chanel bought the hair stylist Frédéric Fekkai's company in 1995, Vogue writer Plum Sykes-whom she'd met while interning for the photographer Patrick Demarchelier as an undergrad-suggested Ms. Brooks for the job of reinventing the brand of accessories.

In 2000, she cracked Vogue's list of "100 Women of Style." Editor at large André Leon Talley dressed her in a huge black Tuleh ball gown. Ms. Brooks kept the dress, storing it on her couch, Holly Golightly style, when it didn't fit in her closet. A few months later, Tuleh designers Bryan Bradley and Josh Patner called to retrieve it, and she started hanging out in their living room, helping them "edit" their shows, and wearing their clothes to parties. They stayed up all night to finish the dress for her wedding to artist Christopher Brooks in 2001. The clothing "really struck a chord," she said. "They needed a cheerleader out there in the world wearing it and loving it and getting other people to wear it, and I loved doing it."

When Mr. Patner and Mr. Bradley broke up (both romantically and professionally) last year, Mr. Bradley asked Ms. Brooks to step in as creative director. This caused some off-the-record grumbling among Tuleh loyalists, who include the Lauders, Anh Duong and Tamara Mellon of Jimmy Choo. A few voiced concern that a feminine eye would change the label (me- ow! ). Others groused when Ms. Brooks moved Tuleh's base of operations from Mr. Bradley's intimate uptown apartment to a larger studio downtown, near her apartment on the Lower East Side (hello, have you people ever heard of the F train?).

But Ms. Brooks kept her cool. "I still socialize on the Upper East Side, and I have friends uptown and I love going there, but I'm really grateful to live down here," she said. "I guess that's how I socialize-a little bit uptown and a little bit downtown."

She was excited about the Neue Gallery benefit with the Lauders on the following night. "I have a great dress," she said. "But the next night, I might be at a movie or home with the kids or eating here." Inside her strappy red Chloé bag, a cell phone rang, and the new-millennial supermommy took a quick call about breast-feeding her newborn.

-Anna Jane Grossman