 
  
 BABE IN BLUE: Lady Gaga arrive

s at the CFDA Fashion awards at the Lincoln Center's Alice Tully Hall in New York.
                     It seems the fashion crowd, especially when fully decked out for the  Council of Fashion Designers of America awards, can be pretty  intimidating: CNN anchor Anderson Cooper said so, actress Naomi Watts  said so, and even Lady Gaga said so.   
          On stage to accept her award as the year's top style icon, a soft-spoken, maybe even teary-eyed Gaga said she was nervous.   
          "All of you made me feel like a star before I was," she told the  audience at Lincoln Center that boasted bold-faced names such as Marc  Jacobs, Anna Wintour, Diane von Furstenberg, Donna Karan and Michael  Kors.   
          She talked about how important fashion was in her life as a pathway to self-discovery, artistry and confidence.   
          As a teenager, she'd save her money to buy vintage Thierry Mugler  from a neighbourhood thrift shop, checking in with the salesman  regularly to make sure her favourite pieces hadn't sold while she was  raising the cash.   
          She planned her outfits for Friday night parties as if she was going to the Oscars, she said.   
          "As much as this award means to me personally ... I just want you to  know how much this means to young Americans," Gaga said.   
          But the music star and style risk-taker, wearing a corset get-up by  Mugler, a label now helmed by her friend Nicola Formichetti, got her  swagger back as she recalled getting the text message from Wintour that  she was picked for the prize.   
          She said she thought the message was from a friend named Anna and  replied with a bleep-worthy response. The text back from the Vogue  editor-in-chief said, "How lovely".   
          That led to laughter - and so did Cooper's montage of his early days as a preteen model.   
          Cooper, a longtime friend of CFDA president von Furstenberg, said he  decided to show his photos to prove his fashion cred since he was  acting as master of ceremonies.   
          "There was no way you'd be critical," he joked, "or that's what Diane said, anyway."   
          Watts, dressed in a metallic T-shirt-style gown by Francisco Costa  for Calvin Klein, presented the top womenswear honour to Jack McCollough  and Lazaro Hernandez of Proenza Schouler.   
          But she seemed to find the awkward walk across a long stage  intimidating in her high heels. "That was easy," she said as she reached  the podium. "Fun doing it in a room full of supermodels."   
          Top models Doutzen Kroes, Karlie Kloss, Miranda Kerr, Alessandra  Ambrosio and Chanel Iman were indeed in the house, on the arms of their  favourite designers. Karolina Kurkova, in a striking hooded jumpsuit  made of green sequins, read the names of the winners in the Swarovski  emerging-talent categories: Eddie Borgo for accessories, Robert Geller  for menswear and Prabal Gurung for womenswear.