At Fashion's 'Oscars,' Gaga Was ... Nervous

On stage to accept an award as the year's top style icon, a soft-spoken, maybe even teary-eyed Lady Gaga said she was nervous. CNN anchor Anderson Cooper and actress Naomi Watts also agreed: The crowd at yesterday evening’s Council of Fashion Designers of America awards felt pretty intimidating. But the music star and style risk-taker got her swagger back as she recalled getting the text message from Anna 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."

"All of you made me feel like a star before I was," Gaga told the audience at Lincoln Center that boasted bold-faced names such as Marc Jacobs, Diane von Furstenberg, Donna Karan, and Michael Kors. As emcee for the evening, Cooper also went back to his early days, revealing to the audience photos of him as a preteen model. Watts, dressed in a metallic T-shirt-style gown, even admitted the walk across the long stage was intimidating in her high heels. "Fun doing it in a room full of supermodels," she said. (More Council of Fashion Designers of America stories.)