In what could have been a scene lifted straight from the campy set of Gossip Girl, there we were at the Metropolitan Opera for Tommy Hilfiger’s after-party-cum-25th-anniversary-celebration when a natty Chuck Bass (aka actor Ed Westwick) swooped in and made a beeline for the bar, whereupon he got his party on with a hot blonde in tow.

Befitting the milestone, Hilfiger & co. pulled out all the swanky stops, erecting both a giant LED screen bearing the designer’s initials and a massive American-flag topiary. Male models garbed in blue blazers and khakis flanked the entrance like hot preppy soldiers, while The Strokes capped off the evening’s festivities with a set of old faves.

Close to night’s end, as clusters of backpacked, newly off-duty mannequins bobbed their heads to the music, cameras suddenly began snapping furiously. “Is it Iggy Pop?” one model shouted over the din. “No, dude,” his companion bellowed. “It’s ZZ Top!” Clearly our clueless cutie hadn’t gotten a good glimpse of Billy Gibbons or his infamous beard.