Soho

London is swinging again thanks to bride and princess-to-be Kate Middleton. Millions are hanging on her every move — where she shops, where she primps, what she eats and drinks. Although the couple live (part of the time) in a rented farmhouse in North Wales, Middleton and Prince William will likely move to London's Kensington Palace at some point in the future. And Middleton certainly spends a lot of time in London — especially now that the wedding is a month away — mostly in the swish neighborhoods of South Kensington, Chelsea, Knightsbridge and Mayfair, all of which are in close proximity to Hyde Park and the Buckingham and Kensington palaces.

When it comes to doing business in China, Hollywood is well acquainted with the perils of piracy. Now it appears that architects must also be wary of unlicensed copying while in that country. Architect Zaha Hadid is reportedly dealing with a pirated design being built in the inland city of Chongqing. The copied structure may be completed before the original in the Beijing area is finished, according to Germany's Der Spiegel.  Hadid designed the Wangjing Soho, scheduled to be completed in 2014, according to the London architect's official website.

Soho, that entertaining London neighborhood bordered by Oxford Street, Regent Street, Charing Cross Road and Leicester Square, is rapidly changing its reputation from scarlet to chic. Streets once lined with peep shows and strip joints are increasingly inhabited by intriguing clothing boutiques, specialty shops and fashionable bistros patronized by sophisticated Londoners, including film makers and theater people who work in the district, on Wardour Street and Shaftesbury Avenue, respectively.

NEW YORK - Anton Chekhov is always with us in the theater. But this summer his work has been especially prevalent, serving as an inspirational model for such contemporary playwrights as Tracy Letts, Andrew Upton and Annie Baker. Having recently returned from a stifling hot busman's holiday in New York where I saw two productions of "Uncle Vanya," the Baker adaptation at Soho Rep and the Upton adaptation courtesy of the Sydney Theatre Company at the Lincoln Center Festival starring Cate Blanchett, I can't help pondering the meaning of this Chekhovian preponderance.

In his sweetly ominous "After Hours" (selected theaters), director Martin Scorsese catalogues our fears. Social fears of seeming wimpy and being dateless and alone for ever . Nice sensible urban fears of dark lonely city streets, of muggers, predators and the New York subway system at a late hour. Then he shuffles them and deals a personal-size comedy, so relentlessly exact that it's hilarious.

Husband-and-wife designers Eric Martin and Diane Moss-Martin, co-founders of moody Los Angeles-based brand MartinMartin, chose a blinding white color palette for their first-ever boutique — an optically striking choice, considering that their collections are almost wholly all-black looks. The lofty space is about as minimal as it gets, echoing the label's pared-down aesthetics. The white walls are roughly 18 feet high, backdropping unembellished wall shelves and a dramatic, industrial-style clothing rack that runs from floor to ceiling down the length of the store's interior.

When it comes to doing business in China, Hollywood is well acquainted with the perils of piracy. Now it appears that architects must also be wary of unlicensed copying while in that country. Architect Zaha Hadid is reportedly dealing with a pirated design being built in the inland city of Chongqing. The copied structure may be completed before the original in the Beijing area is finished, according to Germany's Der Spiegel.  Hadid designed the Wangjing Soho, scheduled to be completed in 2014, according to the London architect's official website.

New York has SoHo. The North Pole has ho-ho. And we have WeHo-- the unofficial nickname for West Hollywood, where attire and attitude intersect in trend town. From strategically ripped jeans to Marilyn Manson tees, WeHo is home to a trend a minute-- especially along Santa Monica Boulevard. Here, the SM strip is not only rich with cafes, clubs and shops but also ripe with fashion-- retro, metro, futro. Just drop in and soon you'll see why this is your ticket to Creative City, 24/7 natch.

Here are more of the newest and brightest hotels to open recently in New York City. Prices quoted are for a standard double in early January. Ace Hotel, 20 W. 29th St., (646) 214-5750 or (212) 679-2222, http://www.acehotel.com, has a cavernous lobby jam-packed with the in crowd, Stumptown Coffee Roasters, the Breslin Bar & Restaurant (by the same people who created the Spotted Pig downtown) and a range of room styles (including the economy bunk-bed model). $209. The Chatwal, 130 W. 44th St., (888)

Since the release of the May 21 issue of Time magazine - the one with an attractive if rather indignant-looking young motherbreast-feeding a nearly 4-year-old child on the cover - much of the country has been abuzz with both admiration and condemnation of the child-rearing philosophy called "attachment parenting. " Known for its hyper-protectiveness, not to mention its plain-old hype, attachment parenting concerns itself with issues like the benefits of home schooling, the value of "co-sleeping" and whether disposable diapers and store-bought baby food are instruments of neglect.

Since the release of the May 21 issue of Time magazine - the one with an attractive if rather indignant-looking young motherbreast-feeding a nearly 4-year-old child on the cover - much of the country has been abuzz with both admiration and condemnation of the child-rearing philosophy called "attachment parenting. " Known for its hyper-protectiveness, not to mention its plain-old hype, attachment parenting concerns itself with issues like the benefits of home schooling, the value of "co-sleeping" and whether disposable diapers and store-bought baby food are instruments of neglect.

NEW YORK - A New Jersey man who was a teenage store clerk when 6-year-old Etan Patz vanished 33 years ago Friday told police he lured the boy into the store with promises of a soda, strangled him, then dumped the body into an alley - a dramatic confession that could solve one of the country's most chilling missing-child mysteries. New York Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly, speaking at a news conference Thursday night, said Pedro Hernandez, 51, of Maple Shade, N.J., had spoken to investigators for more than three hours, that his confession had been videotaped, and that Hernandez had told people over the years that he'd been involved in a horrible crime.

Police and FBI agents Thursday were pursuing a possible new lead in the disappearance of Etan Patz, the little boy whose disappearance from a Manhattan street more than 30 years ago ushered in the use of milk cartons to publicize the plight of missing children and left the nation with one of its most haunting mysteries. New York police spokesman Paul Browne confirmed that officials planned to dig at a site in Manhattan's SoHo neighborhood, near where Etan was last seen on May 25, 1979.

Donald Trump is so annoying that it's extra annoying when he gets something right. Nonetheless, here's what Hotel Chatter had to say about the 46-story Trump SoHo New York when it opened two years ago: "Undeniably Trump but the spacious rooms, Fendi furniture, Hudson River views and giant soaking tubs have won us over. " Now Trump SoHo at 246 Spring St. has a one-day sale that discounts the pricey room rates and throws in a few cocktails too. You have to stay two nights, but with those views, who wouldn't want to?

Drink like a Golden Globes nominee, or at least like someone invited to Soho House's pre-awards party on Friday, by making this celebratory sparkling drink. It's called the Grey Goose Le Fizz and it's a simple combination of smooth vodka, fresh lime juice and soda water mixed with the floral freshness of elderflower liqueur. After a few of these you'll be writing your own acceptance speech, you know, just in case George Clooney doesn't win and you're needed in a pinch. -- Grey Goose Le Fizz by Soho House 2 parts Grey Goose vodka 1 part Elderflower liqueur 1 part freshly squeezed lime juice Soda water Shake and strain into a champagne flute, top with soda water.

The 2009 launch of the Pendleton Meets Opening Ceremony collection introduced the nostalgic wool brand to the fashion crowd and inspired the creation of this season's Portland Collection. Boutique retailer Opening Ceremony, with locations in Soho, Los Angeles and Tokyo, has collaborated with dozens of brands since opening its doors in 2002. It launched its own Opening Ceremony collection, which is also sold in stores such as Barneys New York and Saks. Co-founders Carol Lim and Humberto Leon have become such influential tastemakers that in July they were named the new creative directors for the Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton-owned French fashion label Kenzo.

What could be more natural for an emigre writer than to find things in his adopted country strange to the point of surrealism? And what could be more natural, if the writer is Russian, to call on his native literature's rich traditions of the surrealistic, the comic and the piercingly sad? Zinovy Zinik, like most of the narrators of these five stories, is a Russian Jew who lives in London.

When I discovered I was pregnant with our second child, I pulled out the storage bin containing the maternity clothes from my first pregnancy and was instantly depressed. After nine months of wearing a Diane von Furstenberg maternity wrap dress and Lilly Pulitzer maternity shift in heavy rotation — and I mean heavy in every sense — I couldn't face another pregnancy in these same few outfits. But at $300 for designer maternity dresses I would wear another half a year at most, I wasn't prepared to splurge on an entirely new pregnancy wardrobe.

Here are more of the newest and brightest hotels to open recently in New York City. Prices quoted are for a standard double in early January. Ace Hotel, 20 W. 29th St., (646) 214-5750 or (212) 679-2222, http://www.acehotel.com, has a cavernous lobby jam-packed with the in crowd, Stumptown Coffee Roasters, the Breslin Bar & Restaurant (by the same people who created the Spotted Pig downtown) and a range of room styles (including the economy bunk-bed model). $209. The Chatwal, 130 W. 44th St., (888)

Husband-and-wife designers Eric Martin and Diane Moss-Martin, co-founders of moody Los Angeles-based brand MartinMartin, chose a blinding white color palette for their first-ever boutique — an optically striking choice, considering that their collections are almost wholly all-black looks. The lofty space is about as minimal as it gets, echoing the label's pared-down aesthetics. The white walls are roughly 18 feet high, backdropping unembellished wall shelves and a dramatic, industrial-style clothing rack that runs from floor to ceiling down the length of the store's interior.