Gathering

Enough straight talk. Asymmetrical drapery is throwing fashion quite a curve. "Ruched fabrics are very figure flattering and hide almost anything you don't want to show," says Lisa Lynch, owner of the chichi Ports & Company boutique in Cohasset. Ruched knit jersey with spandex is her favorite this fall. "It's seasonless, doesn't wrinkle, and goes from day to evening," Lynch explains. For softer shaping, consider cascading necklines or loosely draped, cross-body silhouettes fastened off to one side of the waist or hips.

Mourners fired guns in the air as thousands poured into the streets Monday in northern Lebanon for the funeral of a Sunni Muslim cleric, whose killing sparked intense clashes in Beirut and raised fears the crisis in Syria was spilling across the border. The Beirut street battles overnight killed at least two people and wounded 15, and were the most serious clashes in the capital in four years. The streets were calmer by Monday morning but some shops remained closed and many parents kept children home from school.

Festivals offer an opportunity to taste the offerings of several wineries in one place. The second annual Connecticut Wine Festival will include 15-18 wineries. A dozen are expected to participate in the Shoreline Wine Festival . Connecticut Wine Festival July 31 and Aug. 1 Goshen Fairgrounds, Goshen www.ctwine.com/index.php?events Shoreline Wine Festival Aug. 14 and 15 Bishop’s Orchards Winery 1355 Boston Post Road, Guilford www.shorelinewinefestival.com/

US Representative John F. Tierney, a Salem Democrat, will be among the area officeholders and candidates in this year's state election scheduled to speak at a regional breakfast Sunday. The event, sponsored by the Wakefield Democratic Town Committee and open to all area Democrats and interested others, will be held from 8:30 to 11:30 a.m. at the West Side Social Club, 4 Harrington Court. For more information, contact Betsy Sheeran, the committee chairwoman, at betsysheeran@rcn.com.

Quincy College hosted a Government Day on Wednesday at its Quincy campus, inviting former Quincy mayor and adjunct Quincy College professor Jim Sheets, as well as Mayor Thomas Koch, state Senator John Keenan, , and Quincy City Council President Michael McFarland. The event was organized along with Henry Rubin, dean of the Academic Division of Liberal Arts at Quincy College, as a way to bring reality into the classroom. Speakers visited an American government class and a US history class.

The book's not out yet, but guests at a party hosted by the Improper Bostonian got an eyeful of Bill and Kerry Brett 's soon-to-be-released "Inspirational Women of Boston. " Portraits from the book were on display at Mitchell + Gold, where guests included Chris Cooper and wife Marianne Leone Cooper , Linda Pizzuti Henry , Stacey Lucchino , Kristina Lyons , former Globe sportswriter Jackie MacMullan , Wahlberg matriarch Alma Wa hlberg , US Attorney Carmen Ortiz , TV types Lisa Hughes , Bianca de la Garza , and Emily...

Enduring fashion doyenne Marilyn Riseman was among the party people who made the scene at the opening fete for the new Ann Taylor store at the Prudential. The celebratory shindig was held in the 32d floor penthouse at The Clarendon, the Robert A.M. Stern-designed condo complex in the Back Bay. Also there were Elements of Style blogger Erin Gates, StyleWeek Providence cofounder Rosanna Ortiz Sinel, and fashion writer Erin Souza.

A bill designed to crack down on human trafficking is making its way through the Statehouse. On Wednesday, the House is expected to debate the measure, which would create the crime of human trafficking in Massachusetts, one of just five states without its own trafficking law. Attorney General Martha Coakley has pushed for tougher laws aimed at those who profit from the sex trade. She said human trafficking is the fastest growing type of criminal enterprise, in part because state penalties are light and the young people pressed into...

Pockets of fans are gathering as close as they can get to the church where Whitney Houston's funeral will be held in her New Jersey hometown. Police in Newark have blocked off streets in every direction surrounding the New Hope Baptist Church. Outside that perimeter, a few mourners are gathering Saturday morning. They include fans who have traveled from as far as Washington, D.C., and Miami. Some other fans are setting up card tables to sell silk-screened T-shirts with Houston's image and her CDs. Houston, who was 48, died Feb. 11 in California, the day before the...

Five candidates for Episcopal bishop of Rhode Island have been introduced to 375 priests, deacons and lay people at a gathering that fielded questions on issues ranging from the blessing of same-sex relationships to how the candidates would exercise their authority of bishop. Whoever is chosen at a special convention scheduled for June 2 at St. Paul's Episcopal Church in Pawtucket will need to have his or her election ratified by deputies and bishops at the U.S. Episcopal Church's General Convention in Indianapolis in July.

A visit by former Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty and a video speech by presidential candidate Mitt Romney's wife, Ann, are aimed at building excitement among 2,500 Michigan Republicans gathering in Detroit for this weekend's state convention. Party activists will gather Friday night and Saturday at Cobo Center to choose delegates and alternates to the Aug. 25-30 Republican National Convention in Tampa Bay, Fla. Not all of the delegates will have voting rights since Michigan Republicans have been stripped of half their votes because they held their presidential primary before March 6. ...

Government leaders past and present gathered in Washington to do what they do best about the nation's deficit woes: talk. At an annual "fiscal summit" Tuesday in a capital city that seems almost comically unable to function, much less take action to trim benefit programs and defense spending or raise taxes to close a crippling budget gap, a crowd of the converted listened to Washington elite: Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner, former President Bill...

Five candidates for Episcopal bishop of Rhode Island have been introduced to 375 priests, deacons and lay people at a gathering that fielded questions on issues ranging from the blessing of same-sex relationships to how the candidates would exercise their authority of bishop. Whoever is chosen at a special convention scheduled for June 2 at St. Paul's Episcopal Church in Pawtucket will need to have his or her election ratified by deputies and bishops at the U.S. Episcopal Church's General Convention in Indianapolis in July.

MILTON — To the sound of bagpipes and church bells ringing in unison across town, Milton Town Meeting members filed one-by-one into First Parish in Milton Monday evening, gathering in the same venue as residents did centuries ago. The unusual gathering in the church was part of a celebration of the town's 350th anniversary. Town Meeting continued Tuesday at Milton High School, after only six of the 41 warrant articles were passed Monday night. Before Monday's session, several Milton High School students led the singing of "The Star Spangled Banner," and Joseph Manning was presented...

SAN DIEGO - With border crossings at a 40-year low, the Border Patrol announced a new strategy Tuesday that targets repeat crossers and tries to find out why they keep coming. For nearly two decades, the Border Patrol has relied on a strategy that blanketed heavily trafficked corridors for illegal immigrants with agents, pushing migrants to more remote areas where they would presumably be easier to capture and discouraged from trying again. "The jury, for me at least, is out on whether that's a solid strategy," Chief Mike Fisher said.

Attendees at the Vermont Foodbank's annual conference are expected to hear that demand for the services of its anti-hunger programs are up by 15 to 20 percent. The Foodbank's executive director, John Sayles, says that at the same time, donations of food and money to the Barre-based organization are down. Sayles says food being made available by federal commodity programs has been reduced significantly. The result is the Vermont Foodbank is struggling to serve its network of 280 food shelves, meal sites, senior centers, shelters and afterschool programs.

Coup Boston, the new online-only quarterly founded by Alexandra Hall and focused on food, fashion, beauty, home design, and travel, had its launch party at Moksa the other night. Pictured at the gathering are Christina Sack (right), a stylist with Alan Bilzerian, and AJ Williams (far right), owner of AJ Williams Events.

Beautiful and young is a sought-after combination, and gala-goers possessing both qualities were plentiful at the Gardner Museum's annual "New Victorians" party over the weekend. The gathering of young patrons with a passion for the arts was a benefit for programming at the Gardner.

The literary conference known as the Muse and the Marketplace was the place to be for aspiring and established writers over the weekend. Held at the Park Plaza and hosted by Grub Street, the two-day confab covered all aspects of the craft, and presenters included a slew of celebrated scribes, agents, and editors. The keynoters were "How the García Girls Lost Their Accents" author Julia Alvarez and Richard Nash , publisher of Red Lemonade and former overseer of the influential Soft Skull Press, but also addressing the crowd were authors Anita Diamant , Hallie and Delia...

A throng of theater types gathered at Oberon Monday for a reading of "8," a new play by Dustin Lance Black chronicling the trial involving California's Proposition 8, the initiative banning same-sex marriage. (The event was sponsored by the American Foundation for Equal Rights and Broadway Impact, and hosted by the ART.) The cast was led by Tony-nominated actor Gavin Creel, and a bevy of Boston thespians, including Larry Coen, Karen MacDonald, Marianna Bassham, John Kuntz, Kerry Dowling, Steven Barkheimer, and Maureen Keiller.