Jay-Z, Justin Timberlake help GQ celebrate its Men of the Year

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Jay-Z was in the house Thursday night, as was Justin Timberlake and Jimmy Fallon, the entire cast of ‘New Girl,’ a robust representation from ‘Mad Men’ and ‘Community,’ a handful of professional basketball players, and at least half of the ‘Harold & Kumar’ duo (the Harold half -- John Cho).

The occasion was GQ magazine’s annual party celebrating its December Men of the Year issue (Jay-Z, Timberlake and Fallon were among GQ’s 2011 honorees), an event that always manages to serve up a constellation of well-dressed Hollywood stars. And this year’s shindig packed so many style-savvy celebrities cheek by jowl into the lobby and garden of the Chateau Marmont that it felt a bit like the Oscars, Emmys and Grammys all rolled into one.

For his part, Timberlake kept things simple, wearing a wool, one-button notch-lapel navy blue suit and white dress shirt -- all from the fall 2011 Calvin Klein Collection.

PHOTOS: 16th annual GQ ‘Men of the Year’ party photo gallery

The evening’s cast solidarity award (if there were such an honor) would have to go to the stars of the new Fox sitcom ‘New Girl,’ every single one of whom turned out. Max Greenfield (who plays Schmidt on the series) was among the first to arrive, looking dapper in a trim Band of Outsiders suit (the label

dressed him for the event, which he called ‘a dream come true’). Second on the scene was cast mate Lamorne Morris (Winston) in a Ted Baker three-piece suit and Hugo Boss shirt. ‘No one dressed me tonight,’ Morris said proudly. ‘As soon as I knew I was coming here I went to the mall and got this shirt all by myself.’

The third of the ‘New Girl’ cast to cross the radar of All the Rage was Hannah Simone, the actress who plays CeCe, whom we spotted chatting with Decade Two co-owner Christos Garkinos in a vibrant pink and black color-blocked Jay Godfrey dress. ‘I usually wear a little black dress to these things,’ she said, ‘But thought I’d mix it up a little.’

We never did get a chance to ask the titular new girl -- Zooey Deschanel -- the provenance of her sparkly frock as she moved past us into the scrum of celebrity mayhem, but we rounded out our ‘New Girl’ bingo card by catching the late-to-arrive Jake M. Johnson, (fresh from a table read, he told us) sporting a Shipley & Halmos jacket.

Among the evening’s unexpected style standouts were David Arquette (in a sharp-looking three-piece suit and pocket square by Commonwealth Proper), Anna Faris in a red and white Preen with a beaded bodice design that the actress said made her ‘feel a little bit like Heidi’ and Sarah Silverman who looked, dare we say it, downright glamorous in a black dress by Los Angeles-based Ever.

Maybe it was the recent drop in temperatures, or perhaps that Thanksgiving -- the symbolic start of the winter wardrobe season -- was just one week away, but we noticed some serious scarf accessorizing going on among the menfolk including Jon Hamm, Joel McHale (‘It’s by Perpetual Flow -- they’re a Japanese company,’ McHale told us), and the guy who might just get our vote for most intriguing fashion find of the whole affair -- ‘Hot Tub Time Machine’ actor Clark Duke, who was sporting an Ermenegildo Zegna suit accessorized with a neatly knotted Lanvin scarf and a pair of blindingly white, brand-new pair of Converse Chuck Taylor’s.

‘I take a new pair fresh out of the box for a party,’ Duke explained. ‘And then I never wear them again.’ When we double- and triple-checked if he was serious -- being as we work for a newspaper and all -- he assured us, with no undue amount of solemnity, he was quite serious. ‘Look at pictures of me at events, you’ll see that I’m always wearing a spotless pair. What pops better with a suit than a brand-new pair of Chucks? These things pop!’

Duke said he had recently contemplated picking up a pair of black suede Lanvin patent-toe sneakers (which this All the Rager’s wife recently purchased for him,) but demurred when the shoe salesman told him that he’d recently sold a pair to Chris Brown.

‘I love fashion,’ Duke told us. ‘My mom is my style icon, and I think I probably spent more time in Neiman Marcus than in daycare when I was growing up.’

In a way, Duke’s silhouette, manner of dress and passion for fashion reminded us of Lanvin’s Alber Elbaz, which Hollywood might want to remember if the designer’s story reaches biopic status.

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-- Adam Tschorn

Photos, from top: Jay-Z (credit: Angela Weiss/AFP/Getty Images), Ana Faris (credit: Matt Sayles/AP) and Justin Timberlake (credit: Angela Weiss/AFP/Getty Images) were among the attendees at GQ magazine’s Nov. 17, 2011, Men of the Year party.

Max Greenfield, left, and Hannah Simone from the Fox sitcom ‘New Girl.’ Credit: Steve Granitz/WireImage.com.

Clark Duke in his brand-new, blindingly white Converse Chuck Taylors. Credit: Jeff Vespa/Wireimage.com