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Adult Hradcore | 2013/10/03 00:15

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Pornography Pussy | 2013/10/02 22:47

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mulberry outlet | 2013/09/29 13:37

<p> </p>eGHZmFyID44mYu00M5dZQhYaAu%2FAmgJCGfYy66NCsZ3y2%2BCd8epkdQj2UKN14xi7V2f6zvgZ4FLzuHlXFqCtvHEMfu8cnurHR%2Bk7huUTK5GduMziZZw2K6rSnCeVSnLO4kIuB5Ua5hfpX3jCUjpesONZAp5v%2FZYto0CpL2BNQDbLKBQntDL%2BG2ZKPlg9r%2BFV<p></p><p><br> Click the image above to view the full photogallery. Our correspondent has finally broached the gates of the Prada sample sale. "It's pretty orderly in here," she reports. Clothes are priced as marked, and there are fitting rooms. We don't expect the place to stay tidy for long, though. The...<br> <br> <br> </p> <p></p>Actually, the items mentioned taste pretty good. I ate worms, beetle larvae and python when I lived in Nigeria many years ago. People ate the worms, fried in oil, lightly sprinkled with salt, in the same way people here snack on potato chips. It took me a year to work up the nerve but when I finally did I began to eat them as regularly as everybody else. Beetle larvae were eaten raw or fried. They literally walked across the plate but, like the worms were delicious too. I ate python stew in my husband's village. After the snake was beheaded, skinned and eviscerated, it was cooked with palm oil, tomato, cayenne pepper, and a green veggie, called Bitter leaf. It was then, served over rice. The meat was succulent but, there was not enough of it - like eating a chicken back. <br><br>Being from the South, I've eaten plenty of rabbit and buffalo, as well as tortoise and alligator. Buffalo is like beef delux and a heck of a lot more healthy. Rabbit is also a tasty meat that is healthy. <br><br>In my view, regardless of what is eaten (as long as it is not human), whether it tastes good or not really depends on the cook.<p></p><p>MILAN - The Prada winter fashion show was pure entertainment from the real live actors modelling the clothes, to the huge red-carpeted runway set in the ballroom of an invented palazzo, to the eccentric and at times dramatic outfits.</p><p>Such Hollywood A-listers as Adrien Brody, Willem Dafoe, Gary Oldman, Tim Roth, Emile Hirsch and Jamie Bell walked the runway with a naturalness that confirmed their talent as perfect players in the Prada pageant.</p><p>Most of the actors wore the collection's staple overcoat, long, black and elegant with wire-rimmed sunglasses tucked like a handkerchief in the breast pocket.</p><p>Only Adrian Brody donned a double-breasted red overcoat with a black velvet collar and fur-trimmed lapel, and sported matching red-lensed, round sunglasses.</p><p>Overall Miuccia Prada's winter 2013 collection presented Sunday, the second day of the four-day Milan menswear preview showings, spoke of a man who likes to be both eccentric and mysterious, is quite sure of himself and at times a bit of a snob.</p><p>He wears brooches that look like medals on his jacket, prefers vests to sweaters and likes the arrogance of a high stiff collar on his white shirts. He's not embarrassed to wear underwear as outerwear and toss off his overcoat to reveal a pair of boxer shorts paired with a tuxedo shirt and gartered knee socks.</p><p>Somewhat of a dandy, he prefers his hair long, as is tempted by the eccentricity of a moustache.</p><p>Leave it to Miuccia, who every season proves to be the most creative of Italian designers, to put on a show where despite the thrill of Oscar-winning actors playing the part of models, the clothes still kept the leading role.</p> <br><p>It's late at night and a friend takes out a small Prada pouch; in it - his collection of pharmaceuticals, he's got everything from Adderall to Xanax, throw in some Vicodin for good measure. I'm there with my best friend, it's a rainy day, we've rushed over, the meds have mixed and we're on the rescue. Making sure he's okay. </p><p>Last year, over the summer, I was with a friend in the park; we were joined by an acquaintance, who pulled out a backpack full of little boxes, clear and full of multi-color pills. This is the newest trend, bags of pharmaceuticals handed out like candy corn. I heard, through the grape-vine, that brings harrowing news, that he was discovered naked in bed, his heart given out. </p><p>I briefly dated someone, by briefly, I mean, we met ... had a drink. He was cute enough to drag home, make out and kiss, then he became too comfortable. Confessions poured out. He'd only had one drink, maybe two. He was on Lexparo, he gushed this quickly, the glazed look in his eye was striking and frightening, he rattled on about his latest suicide attempt with surprising ease. Needless to say there wasn't a second get together, I tried to kick him out - yet it was one hell of an effort. I should have known the look, the washed over smile that's both eerie, sometimes human, but mostly bland. Someone on an SSRI never seems to have a sparkle in their eye. </p><p>Last year (or was it two as well), in one of the most harrowing moments of my life, I crashed off Celexa, my shrink at the time, had referred me to a sort of ambivalent psychotherapist that took my money and gave me a prescription, after prescription. I discovered the calming effects of a small dose of Ativan at that time. He took out his pad, gave me pills and never followed up. Then one day my insurance ran out, because I was a waiter, and was instantly fired, because that's just what happens. Let me also note, that it's very uncommon for waiters in New York to have health insurance. </p><p>Crashing on Celexa was this mind numbing - altering concept, I wrote about it , a blow by blow of each sullen moment, as the drugs strong hold left me weak and listless, I understood first hand, how people could easily commit suicide when withdrawing if unsupervised. To this day, I get about one person a week, asking for help, reaching out in desperation because the drug hasn't worked or they're trying to quit.</p><p>Most just chose to comment and leave their story, take a moment to read them. This drug, even though it seems to mask depression, giving the illusion of normal so important in our culture, is nothing but a wrapping, a shroud for the mind, a mist of detachment. I liken it to a pink sheet wrapping my emotions, when the drug wore off, all at once - the torrents of happiness and sadness and those things that I've never been able to control well - came gushing. During withdrawal, it acted as a permeable membrane, allowing only sadness. How masterful these drug companies are. </p><p>Now scientists are developing Orexin A, that's supposed to cure the need for sleep. Originally developed for the military, there are net rumors that it will be available by prescription. I'm sure it'll be the next Adderall. </p><p>I'm sitting at my favorite bar, having my vodka soda, talking to my hot bartender crush. We're talking about the new hot nightlife trend, Adderall. At cocktail parties it's whispered about, it's a better high then coke and you're more in control. Someone is trying to convince someone to get it for them. Someone has it, there are rumors, it is wanted. The hot bartender is telling me he has a source, he winks. It's ever so mysterious. He tells me, he likes to take it, when he's cleaning his apartment, it's better for focus. I imagine him dusting in the buff and sigh. Someone else mentions, "it's great for weight loss, that's what all the skinny celebs are taking". </p><p>Most everyone I know is on a pill or trying to get one; everyone I know is trying to cure something. My friend, with the Prada pill bag, was trying to cure a broken heart. This most impossible promise, that everything will be fine if you just take a pill. </p><p>A few months ago, I went to my primary care physician. I confessed I was a bit bummed. He causally offers a prescription for Lexapro, tells me it's great. I cringe; try not to run out of the office screaming madly, I explained the hold it had on me. He smirked, "it couldn't have been that bad". </p><p>Rapidly, a pill will mask the symptoms of everything; we will forget who our natural selves are; as we pop big pharma like they're M&Ms. I'm happy I'm detoxing shortly, no booze, just tea. I've always been a watcher and observer, trying to balance the writerly need to experience and the compassionate need to listen to stories and understand. </p><p>Gawker has called us the creative classes. But I don't think pill-popping is confined to just the artsy types. Dash Snow comes to mind. But it's rampant in CEO culture, with the wealthy, with those that have access and want to try new things. After all, pills are expensive, so pill-popping is for the rich. </p><p>Our culture pushes us to try the newest latest shinny object, weather it be tech, clothing, accessory or drug. Then again, aren't they all sort of the same thing. </p><p></p><p>Check out the book,<br>[]</p><p>My blog and other work,<br>[]</p> <p> Follow Alex Geana on Twitter: </p>As an investor, this interests me a lot. Amazon seems unstoppable. However, high fashion is tough. When I bought myself a Prada suit at Barneys for my birthday, I was surprised to find out that I wear a 36 Prada suit jacket (but I wear a 38/40 in Paul Smith and Zegna). Also, Barneys tailored the suit for me after I bought it. <br><br>Designer clothing is one of thing you can't really showroom, because fit is everything. Fit matters less in a pair of LL Bean jeans than it does in a Lanvin blazer or a Gucci shirt. <br><br>I stopped ordering designer clothing from Bluefly, because I could never get the fit right. However, I still order designer shoes from Bluefly, because a shoe size is a shoe size. <br><br>If Amazon can work out some sort of avatar-based virtual dressing room, it'll put department stores out of business. Barneys is already on the ropes. I love Barneys. I love Amazon too, but I never see any super models when I'm shopping at Amazon.<p>We know the ; but what would you do-woo-woo for a different kind of Ice Cream Sandwich, Android 4.0 perhaps?</p><p>While you can attempt all manner of feats to obtain a Klondike Bar, there's not much to get Google's Ice Cream Sandwich (the announced in October) if your own an older Android smartphone. Samsung's Galaxy Nexus smartphone was and comes pre-loaded with ICS; it remains with Ice Cream Sandwich, as owners of non-Galaxy Nexus and non-Nexus S phones await their updates. </p><p>So when can you expect Ice Cream Sandwich to be available on your Android phone? Below, we've rounded up the latest, manufacturer by manufacturer:</p><p>SONY</p><p>If you've got a Sony Xperia, Ice Cream Sandwich should be arriving at the end of March or beginning of April 2012. In , Martina Johansson of Sony Ericsson provides a timeline for the roll-out, writing that Sony's developers are busy "merging...current Xperia software with the new features in Android 4.0." The big update is due in a few months and will come first to the Xperia arc S, the Xperia neo V and the Xperia ray; these will be followed by the Xperia arc, the Xperia PLAY, the Xperia neo, the Xperia mini/mini pro, the Xperia pro and the Xperia active. </p><p>Basically, all your Xperia devices are going to get Ice Cream Sandwich eventually, ; there is no firm release date for the Tablet S as of yet, however. </p><p>By way of explanation for the wait, Johansson also lays out the process for integrating Android 4.0 with Sony's own software. Since many mobile manufacturers place their own skins or flavors on top of Android (think Motorola's MotoBlur or HTC's Sense), it takes some time to satisfactorily combine the two. These bullet points serve as a nice primer on the ICS delay for all manufacturers:</p> <p>SAMSUNG</p><p>Samsung's Galaxy Nexus already has Ice Cream Sandwich, of course, and most Nexus S phones should have already received an over-the-air update. The status of Android 4.0 for other Samsung smartphones is less clear. Here's what we know, for now:</p><p>- Samsung Nexus S phones on December 16. If you own a Nexus S, you should be using an Ice Cream Sandwich device at this point.<br>- The Samsung Galaxy S II of 2012, as will the . <br>- The Samsung Galaxy S and Samsung Galaxy Tabs were both on track for Ice Cream Sandwich, until they weren't, until they were again, maybe. Basically, Samsung claimed that they would update the Galaxy S and Galaxy Tab to Android 4.0 and then announced that they would not, due to the limitations of the device's RAM and ROM to run both ICS and a bit of touch-interface software called TouchWiz simultaneously. Now, apparently bowing to consumer pressure, Samsung is re-examining ICS for the Galaxy S and Galaxy Tabs, . </p>UPDATE: As of January 3, Samsung said it will not introduce a full ICS upgrade for the Galaxy S smartphone.<p>LG</p><p>Ice Cream Sandwich updates to LG devices will start in Q2 2012 (that's some time between April and June) and will come in two phases.</p><p>1. In the first phase, the Optimus LTE, Prada Phone by LG 3.0, Optimus 2X, Optimus Sol, myTouch Q and Eclipse will all get ICS. This will begin in Q2 2012.<br>2. In the second phase, the Optimus 3D, Optimus Black, Optimus Big, Optimus Q2 and Optimus EX will be updated. That will start in Q3 2012, or some time between July and September 2012. </p><p>Missing from the list, : the LG Nitro HD, the G2X, the Thrill 4G, the DoublePlay, the G-Slate and the MyTouch. </p><p>MOTOROLA<br></p><p>There's not a boatload of Motorola ICS info -- especially on specific phones -- though the company, which Google recently agreed to acquire, is gearing up to push forward Google's newest mobile OS to its handsets. </p><p>- The Motorola Droid RAZR will get Ice Cream Sandwich in early 2012, . <br>- The Droid Bionic and all Xoom tablets will be upgraded to ICS eventually, . <br>- No updates on the Droid X or Droid 3, the Atrix 4G or the Photon 4G; Motorola says it is "planning on upgrading as many of [its] phones as possible."<br>- On specific devices, a post on the official Motorola website from December 7 had this to say about specific devices and ICS: "[O]ver the next month we will be determining which devices will get the upgrade and when -- and we will communicate this as information becomes available." It's been about twenty days since that pronouncement; look for additional details and decisions about individual Motorola phones and Ice Cream Sandwich, then, within the next two weeks. </p><p>HTC</p><p>Finally, we come to HTC, maker of several well-selling Android handsets, including the popular HTC Evo. is all we've heard:</p>Ice Cream Sandwich is coming in early 2012 to a variety of devices including the HTC Sensation, HTC Sensation XL and HTC Sensation XE, as well as the HTC Rezound*, HTC EVO 3D, HTC EVO Design 4G* and HTC Amaze 4G* through close integration with our carrier partners.<p>We also got a glimpse of what is supposedly one of HTC's first Ice Cream Sandwich phones, the HTC Ville, . BGR says the Ville is set to launch in April. </p><p>-----</p><p>And that's almost everything we know on the mobile Ice Cream Sandwich front! Developing and testing a new Android operating system can clearly be a difficult and lengthy process for the manufacturers, so all of this is subject to change and could become irrelevant overnight. In the meantime, we'll keep you updated on all the latest major developments in the Android 4.0 world as the news breaks. </p><p>Also on HuffPost:</p> <br><p>The is definitely a time to experiment with fashion, but model Anja Rubik took experimenting to a whole new level on Monday night.</p><p>Rubik, who showed up on the arm of designer Anthony Vaccarello, was also wearing one of his creations: a cream-colored satiny dress with gaping holes in the, uh, chest and lower abdomen areas. Not only was Anja doing our favorite meme, , but when we saw her in person on the red carpet, we were afraid more than just her leg was going to pop out.</p><p>It's not like Anja's afraid to show her body -- she posed for the . But, first , and now Anja... is there about to be a whole new trend? Are hipbones the new cleavage?</p><p>And ... there's no way she's wearing underwear with that, right? Just sayin'.</p><p>Check out Anja's dress below and weigh in: is her look a fashion home run?</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>Click below to see the rest of the!</p><p><br> </p> <br><p>When we watched dance her fashionable butt off in a new music video for H&M, we started thinking about how much we love when models and editors shake it for the camera. </p><p> with Anja Rubik to celebrate the relaunch of Vogue Paris' website, Raquel Zimmermann has and it's no secret that </p><p>Take a look at the fashion videos below and let us know which is your favorite?</p><p></p><p>Want more? Be sure to check out Stylelist on , , and .<br><br><br></p>Coco Chanel and Anna Wintour both managed to become living incarnations of that 20th-century obsession (that we now take entirely for granted),...<p>If we were asked to assemble our dream dinner party, our fantasy guests would likely include Anna Wintour, Sarah Jessica Parker and Michelle Obama.</p><p>The crazy thing is, it's actually happening. As you might have heard, in New York on June 14 -- and as it turns out, our favorite Vogue editor-in-chief will be in attendance as well.</p><p>The good news? There are invites up for grabs for . The bad news? Anna Wintour is making the whole thing sound very, very intimidating in </p><p>The clip, released by the Obama 2012 campaign today, was filmed right in Anna's famously cavernous office for maximum scare-factor. And despite wearing a cheery scarf around her neck, Anna keeps her voice clipped and cool and offers nary a smile.</p><p>Geez, as if meeting SJP, FLOTUS, POTUS and Anna wasn't already nerve-wracking enough.</p><p>Would you dare to dine with Anna? Check out the video above. If you'd rather embrace Anna and Obama from afar, you can pick up some (see the pics below!)</p><p>And if you're more of a Romney fan... well, . Seriously.</p><p></p><p>"Sporty" is rarely a word we associate with . But and the woman turns into a expletive-spewing, beer drinking, foam finger-wearing sports maniac!</p><p>Well, sort of. Wintour, an avid tenis fan, engaged in some moderate cheering and even cracked a smile at Wimbledon 2012 this weekend, which she attended with partner John Shelby Bryan. The editrix watched from the Royal Box (you know, ) and socialized with Important People including Miroslava Vavrinec, Roger Federer's wife. (Anna's a big Federer fan, .)</p><p>So what does the ruler of the fashion world wear to a tennis match? Prada, of course. We stand corrected: it was Marc Jacobs!</p><p>Check out Anna going (moderately) wild for her favorite sport.</p><p>PHOTOS:</p><p></p><p></p><p>Want more? Be sure to check out HuffPost Style on , , and .</p><p>Radar:</p><p>Although head Vogue-ette Anna Wintour has previously made light of her ex-assistant Lauren Weisberger’s best-selling roman a clef, we hear the Devil may care after all. Sources say Wintour has been doing everything in her power to ensure the film version of The Devil Wears Prada fizzles—even threatening to blacklist some of the fashion world’s biggest names if they agree to do cameos.</p><p>When Wintour got wind that producers had been recruiting major designers for walk-on roles, sources close to the film say she unleashed a flurry of phone calls intimating to the aspiring thespians that they’d be persona non grata in the pages of her high-end glossy if they participated. </p><p></p><p>Hey, remember that time when ?</p><p>Yes, it really happened. On Wednesday night, the Vogue editor-in-chief found herself in Colbert's unflatteringly lit, garishly decorated studio (so very un-Vogue), sitting for an interview for an episode of </p><p>And of course, because Anna is made of pure magic and genius and all things cunning and clever, her "Colbert" performance was actually quite charming. Despite Colbert's protestations -- "Don't suck me into your gay world!" -- Anna managed to get Stephen smiling... and knocked him down a few pegs. </p><p>Colbert was all, "I don't really trust Prada, because my understanding is the devil wears Prada. And this is a Christian nation, madame!" And Anna was all, "That movie was so last year. Really, we've gone way beyond that movie." Stephen, you just got served. </p><p>Not one to be deterred, Colbert also made sure to ask the burning question we've all been dying to ask Anna:</p>"Is there ever a time you can not care about fashion? Do you ever just say to yourself, 'Today, to hell with this!' put on your zebra-striped sweatpants and go to Long John Silvers and just lose yourself in a pile of batter fried shrimp?"<p>See how Anna responded (as well as her thoughts on ) in the clip above. </p><p></p> <br><p> is rumoured to be pregnant with her first child. </p><p>The 29-year-old Devil Wears Prada actress and her fiance Adam Schulman reportedly arranged a dinner in New York on Thursday night to announce the happy news to family and close friends.</p><p></p><p>A source told RadarOnline.com:</p><p>The party celebrated into the wee small hours at the Picholine restaurant on Manhattan's Upper West Side and, according to the source, the actress was said to have a visible baby bump.</p><p> they said.</p><p></p><p></p><p>The couple - who have been together since 2008 and engaged since November last year - have yet to set a date for their wedding.</p><p>Meanwhile, has revealed how much fun she had playing Catwoman in the forthcoming Batman film, The Dark Knight Rises.</p><p>She told The Daily Record: </p><p>> IN PICS: PREGNANT CELEBS<br></p><p>Also on HuffPost:</p><p>SAN JOSE, Calif. &mdash; An attorney for Apple told a jury Tuesday that bitter rival Samsung faced two options to compete in the booming cellphone market after Steve Jobs introduced the iPhone to critical acclaim in 2007: Innovate or copy.</p><p>Samsung chose to copy, making its smartphones and computer tablets illegal knockoffs of Apple's popular products, attorney Harold McElhinny claimed.</p><p>Samsung "has copied the entire design and user experience" of Apple's iPhone and iPad, McElhinny told a jury during his opening statement at the patent trial involving the world's two largest makers of cellphones.</p><p>In his opening statement, Samsung attorney Charles Verhoeven countered that the South Korean company employs thousands of designers and spends billions of dollars on research and development to create new products.</p><p>"Samsung is not some copyist, some Johnny-come-lately doing knockoffs," he said.</p><p>Verhoeven asserted that Apple is like many other companies that use similar technology and designs to satisfy consumer demands for phones and other devices that play music and movies and take photographs.</p><p>For example, he said several other companies and inventors have filed patent applications for the rounded, rectangular shape associated with Apple products.</p><p>"Everyone is out there with that basic form factor," Verhoeven said. "There is nothing wrong with looking at what your competitors do and being inspired by them."</p><p>A verdict in Apple's favor could lead to banishment of Samsung's Galaxy products from the U.S. market, said Mark A. Lemley, a professor and director of the Stanford Program in Law, Science, and Technology.</p><p>A verdict in Samsung's favor, especially if it prevails on its demands that Apple pay its asking price for certain transmission technology, could lead to higher-priced Apple products.</p><p>The witness lists of both sides are long on experts, engineers and designers and short on familiar names. Apple CEO Tim Cook is not scheduled to testify.</p><p>On Tuesday afternoon, Apple designer Christopher Stringer wrapped up the first day of testimony discussing his role in helping create the company's iPhone and iPod during his 17 years at the company.</p><p>Dressed in a tan suit, the bearded and long haired designer said because of Apple's desire to create original products, he and his co-workers surmounted numerous engineering problems such as working with the products' glass faces in producing both products over a number of years. Stringer said he was upset when he saw Samsung's Galaxy products enter the market.</p><p>"We've been ripped off, it's plain to see," Stringer said. "It's offensive."</p><p>Trial resumes Friday with the testimony of Apple senior vice president for marketing Philip Schiller.</p><p>Cupertino-based Apple Inc. filed its lawsuit against Samsung Electronics Co. last year and is demanding $2.5 billion in damages, an award that would dwarf the largest patent-related verdict to date.</p><p>The case marks the latest skirmish between the two companies over product designs. A similar trial began last week, and the two companies have been fighting in other courts in the United Kingdom and Germany.</p><p>In the patent case, U.S. District Judge Lucy Koh last month ordered Samsung to pull its Galaxy 10.1 computer tablet from the U.S. market pending the outcome of the patent trial. However, she barred Apple attorneys from telling jurors about the ban.</p><p>Apple lawyers argue there is almost no difference between Samsung products and its own, and that the South Korean company's internal documents show it copied Apple's iconic designs and its interface.</p><p>Samsung counter-claims that Apple copied its iPhone from Sony. In addition, Samsung alleges Apple is using some of Samsung's own inventions without payment, such as a computer chip at the heart of the iPhone.</p><p>Samsung lawyers also stressed the company has been developing mobile phones since 1991, long before Apple jumped into the market in 2007.</p><p>Also at issue at the trial are some of the most basic functions of today's smartphones and computer tablets, including scrolling with one finger and zooming with a finger tap.</p><p>Tuesday morning's proceedings began with a bit of drama.</p><p>First, a juror pleaded with the judge to be released from the trial, saying she suffered a panic attack and spent a sleepless night after belatedly discovering that her employer would not pay her salary while she served. A sympathetic judge granted her request and left the jury with nine members.</p><p>Then the judge rebuked John Quinn, one of Samsung's attorneys, for refusing to stop a line of legal argument the judge said she had ruled on numerous times.</p><p>"Mr. Quinn, don't make me sanction you," the judge said as the lawyer continued his argument. "Please. Please. Please, take a seat."</p><p>Quinn relented and sat down, but his tenacity underscored the high stakes of the trial that is costing both sides millions of dollars in legal fees and expenses. Battalions of lawyers from prestigious law firms are working overtime to file myriad court documents.</p><p>The most senior lawyers on each side charge upward of $500 an hour for their representation</p><p>Legal experts said that most patent disputes are resolved way before trials that can bring unpredictable and ruinous verdicts.</p><p>"A patent case of this magnitude has the possibility of impacting phone technology for years to come," said Manotti Jenkins, a patent attorney with no stake in the trial. "Given the substantial revenue that is generated by smartphone technology, companies are likely to prompt more litigation of this type and continue to use the courts as an attempt to protect and expand market share."</p><p>Like most normal people everywhere, we adore Miranda Priestly -- so ruthless but with a heart of gold! Anne Hathaway -- so bumblingly green but then wins in the end! The clothes -- so chic!</p><p>Well, at least they were chic six years ago in 2006, when the lovable flick was first released and we first rooted for Andy Sachs to survive at Runway in all of her argyle skirting and earnest ambition. The most iconic okay, the best scene in the movie is the montage set to Madonna's "Vogue" of Hathaway morphing from frumpy duckling to Chanel-feathered swan with a little help from Runway's sample closet.</p><p>But we recently watched the movie again at a girls' night, and as we quoted most of the movie's lines back verbatim, we kept analyzing the film's fashion. In six short years, what hath time and trends wrought of all those statement necklaces?</p><p>Of course, trends from 2006 haven't quite yet garnered the LOL-ness we usually reserve for looks from 20 years ago. (We can't wait to see what people think of ombre hair in 2032.) We suspect the tweed newsboy caps aren't gracing too many heads these days, but some of the movie's style -- red lips, blunt bangs -- seems here to stay.</p><p>We can't decide on our own, so check out the slideshow below (and watch the Vogue scene!) and tell us which looks you think are still trendy in the comments.</p><p>PHOTOS:</p><p></p><p></p><p>The Wall Street Journal:</p><p>Pope Benedict XVI is appealing to a new group of admirers: marketers seeking not blessings but pontifical product placements.</p><p>Since his election last year, the pope has been spotted wearing Serengeti-branded sunglasses and brown walking shoes donated by Geox. He owns a specially engraved white Apple iPod, and he recently stirred much publicity with a pair of stylish red loafers that may or may not be from Prada.</p><p></p> <br><p>wwd.com:</p><p>Stylists like Rachel Zoe, Arianne Phillips and Nancy Steiner are used to earning top dollar to make celebrities look camera-ready. But recently they had the tables turned on them, posing for painter Kimberly Brooks as part of her new series "The Stylist Project." And much like her aesthetically attuned subjects, Brooks took a highly detailed approach in rendering their likeness. </p><p></p> <br>Click here to leave a comment.HuffPost High School welcomes a lively, thoughtful debate in the comment section. Keep in mind that the articles here are penned by young authors, so please keep criticism respectful, and help us to keep this a safe and supportive place for writers of all ages to contribute.<p>I had my very own Carrie Bradshaw moment this week: I bagged a Balenciaga for 25 quid! The Shrug - oh yes, handbags this posh have their very own names - nestled on my arm as I dashed between meetings. It whispered sweet nothings as we sailed around the supermarket and even brought glamour to a sweaty, crowded bus journey. Standing room only? An armpit shoved in my face? With The Shrug by my side I could rise above it all. </p><p>Needless to say, our love affair didn't last. After discovering that designer bag rental is the latest credit-crunch way to remain on-trend, I hired The Shrug for a week to add some oomph to my outfit at a very posh function. Just like Cinderella, however, my bag was on the clock. As midnight chimed we scuttled home, then tearfully parted company next morning, when I lovingly wrapped The Shrug inside The Jiffy and posted it back to its rightful owner. </p><p>Still, my few days with the Balenciaga reminded me that, in these cash-strapped times, it's more important than ever to find short-cuts for living the high life. After all, just because the economy has nosedived, we don't want to, do we? Sure, our budgets might be getting tighter than our skinny jeans, but that doesn't mean we're ready to stop having fun. Recession or not, we still want a home that looks great, a wardrobe to rival Carrie Bradshaw's and enough left over to enjoy a special dinner at the end of a hard week. Not easy on a credit-crunch salary, but I'm on a mission to prove that it's possible to find ways to wear Prada on a Primark budget.<br> <br>Every week in Skint in the City I'll be sharing my efforts to live like a million dollars on a less-than-wonderful wage. From feathering my nest for free to grabbing the luxe look for less, I'll bring you a warts-and-all account of my adventures in riding out the recession with style and passing along all the tips I learn along the way, such as where to ferret out the best spa deals and how to cut corners when it comes to entertaining friends. </p><p>Having spent years living on a titchy salary in some of the world's most expensive places, including Barcelona and St Tropez, I've learned plenty of tips from my continental sisters; such as how to buy Pucci and enjoy supper at the must-go restaurants while living on the slimmest of budgets. I've learned to decorate apartments on a shoestring in some of Europe's property hotspots, but it's not been plain sailing. Just recently, for example, I fell in love with the tobacco-coloured walls of a Parisian bistro and set about trying to recreate them at home. The result? Let's say it was more Scunthorpe Working Men's Club circa 1952 than a 1930s bistro by the Seine. </p><p>Still, now that I'm happily settled back in Glasgow, my quest to bag the high life on a shoestring budget continues. Week by week, I'll be road testing ways to live like a million dollars on a credit-crunch wage and finding out how to cut corners without anyone noticing - and I want to spread the news.<br> <br>This week's been a busy one. As well as renting The Shrug for a fraction of its retail price I also arranged a house-swapping holiday. Yep, I've just agreed to hand over my home to a total stranger and her family, in return for using her place in Malaga over Christmas. Free accommodation and all we pay is the flights. Barmy or brilliant? Time will tell. Her house comes with a pool, so swapping Glasgow's southside for southern Spain seems like a no-brainer - on paper at least. </p><p>In preparation I'm now packing away all the things that are too good / embarrassing / shabby to share with my guests, and cleaning the house like it's never been cleaned before. The thing is: can I trust my fellow-swappers not to trash the place? In my quest to save a few quid, have I gone too far? My guests have assured me that they're very laidback, but some of their recent questions are making me wonder. I'll let you know how it goes. </p><p>You can read more tips for living stylishly on a budget at .</p><p>Follow Ashley Lennon on Twitter:</p><p>NEW YORK &mdash; Lauren Weisberger has made another deal with the devil.</p><p>Simon & Schuster announced Thursday that the author of "The Devil Wears Prada" has a sequel planned for next April.</p><p>"Revenge Wears Prada: The Devil Returns" continues the adventures of former magazine assistant Andrea "Andy" Sachs, now a bridal magazine editor, and the imperious boss she thought she had escaped, Miranda Priestly.</p><p>Published in 2003, "The Devil Wears Prada" was adapted into a hit film of the same name starring Meryl Streep as Miranda and Anne Hathaway as Andy.</p><p>Weisberger is a former assistant at Vogue and Miranda is widely considered a fictionalized version of editor-in-chief Anna Wintour.</p><p>By Linda Rosenkrantz for </p><p>Want to give your baby a name that truly telegraphs a sense of style? One way is by going directly to the world of high fashion: representing several different cultures, the names of many 20th/21st century fashion design icons prove to be exceptionally distinctive, diverse, creative and inspirational. Here are the Nameberry picks for best :</p>Community Notice:We've made some changes to our badge program, including the addition<br>of our newest badge: Community Curator.From big, bouffant hair at Prada to smoky &quot;rock chick&quot; eyes at Pucci and Cavalli, take a look below for the lowdown on the biggest trends to emerge from Milan Fashion Week.Click here to leave a comment.HuffPost High School welcomes a lively, thoughtful debate in the comment section. Keep in mind that the articles here are penned by young authors, so please keep criticism respectful, and help us to keep this a safe and supportive place for writers of all ages to contribute.<p>History was made in dramatic style on Sunday as Ben Ainslie won his fourth consecutive gold medal, making him the most decorated Olympic sailor of all time.</p><p>Huge crowds came to watch the talented 35-year-old as he battled the choppy seas in his Finn dinghy named "Rita".</p><p>Ainslie has beaten the current record held by great Dane Paul Elvstrom who won four golds between 1948 and 1960. </p><p>Together with the silver medal he won in 1996, Ainslie now has an incredible five Olympic medals in five consecutive Games.</p><p>Danish Sailor Jonas Hogh-Christensen gave the Brit a run for his money but Ainslie managed to finish in the top spot.</p><p>Speaking after the race he described himself as "speechless" and made a special mention to Hogh-Christensen's performance.</p><p>However, when asked if he'd be sailing again in the 2016 Olympic Games, he replied "never say never, but I'd be surprised if you see me in Rio".</p><p>Earlier in the day British hearts were broken on the water as Sweden denied Iain Percy and Andrew Simpson gold in the Star class.</p><p>The defending Olympic champions sailed exceptionally throughout the week and came into the medal race with an eight-point lead over Brazil's Robert Scheidt and Bruno Prada.</p><p>However, it was Sweden, not Brazil, that proved Percy and Simpson's undoing as the Brits lost their crown to Fredrik Loof and Max Salminen.</p><p>The British pair came into the medal race with a comfortable lead, knowing fourth place or better would guarantee them gold.</p><p>They also needed to finish sixth or higher should third-place Sweden win the medal race, which, unfortunately for Percy and Simpson, they did.</p><p>Britain entered the final leg of the race in sixth but slipped away in the last 100 metres to finish eighth, handing Loof and Salminen gold on the Nothe Course.</p><p>Percy and Simpson had begun the race strongly and rounded the first mark in fifth, with main pre-race rivals Scheidt and Prada eighth.</p><p>The Brazilian pair moved up to fifth at the second mark, but Percy and Simpson remained in front and crossed the mark four seconds ahead.</p><p>The Brits were having to hold their nerve to keep Scheidt and Prada at bay, but opened up a three-place gap with a marvellous turn at the third mark. Sweden rounded the fourth mark in the lead and Great Britain in fifth, while Scheidt and Prada were ninth of the 10-boat fleet.</p><p>Percy and Simpson's attention soon turned to Sweden instead, who threatened their gold medal position.</p><p>The Brits needed to finish sixth or higher if Loof and Salminen won the medal race, but suffered on the final downwind as they went from as high as fourth to finish eighth overall to mean ended up with silver.</p><p></p><p></p><p>Justifying a massive shoe collection may just be the central conflict between women and men, but now it's become a major issue in one woman's public divorce.</p><p> that , a professional poker player and self-proclaimed "," is being sued by her ex-husband for failing to report during their divorce proceedings. Beth's shoe collection includes around 700 pairs of Louboutins and it's even been featured on an episode of MTV's Cribs. (Related: Does anybody else remember when Beth Shak was on ?)</p><p>The shoe connoisseur's ex-husband Daniel Shak claims he never knew about all of these pricey heels and that Now we're sure their Fifth Avenue pad was a decent size, but we can't help but wonder how 1,200 pairs of shoes can be hidden in any New York City apartment? And isn't it just so typical of a guy to be completely oblivious to a woman's amazing shoes? Beth told the New York Post:</p>I’m shaking my head over this whole thing. He is saying he didn’t know the closet in our master bedroom existed.<p>Beth doesn't seem to be too shy about her stockpile, last year. Apparently, it took a national television segment to get her ex-husband's attention, because he now claims that he's entitled to 35% of her estimated $1 million shoe assortment. </p><p> for more information and tell us what you think in the comments below.</p><p></p><p>Check out Beth Shak's massive shoe collection!</p><p></p><p>Want more? Be sure to check out HuffPost Style on , , and .</p><p>The came and went, with dozens of stars walking the treacherous Metropolitan Museum steps. But after two hours of the step-and-repeat routine, was nowhere to be seen. </p><p>We waited and waited, for at least 30 minutes. Maybe Blue Ivy couldn't get a sitter? Maybe she and Jay-Z were simply watching the livestream from their Tribeca pad? </p><p>But of course, in Beyonce came, accompanied up the stairs by none other than Andre Leon Talley. And the dress was worth the wait: a dramatic black lace Givenchy confection, almost completely sheer from top to bottom. Seriously, you could see the outline of Bey's entire lower body. Did Tina Knowles have a say in this?</p><p>It was a much racier, more complicated look than we were expecting -- and we can't decide how we feel about it. Check Beyonce's dramatic entrance. Do you love this look?<br><br></p><p></p><p></p><p><br></p><p>Also on HuffPost:</p> <br><p></p><p>Celebrity minions really do get all the best jobs don't they? Just who doesn't want to be Beyonce's professional tail feather fluffer?</p><p>As Bey made her red carpet return at last night's impossibly glamorous Schiaparelli And Prada: Impossible Conversations Costume Institute Gala (aka the Met Gala), her first outing since giving birth, she needed a little help showing off her, errm, understated gown.</p><p>The dress, made by Givenchy couture, was embellished with hundreds of crystals and featured a huge feather train.</p><p></p><p>Let's hope she wasn't moulting all over that red carpet. </p><p></p><p>> IN PICS: THE MET GALA 2012 RED CARPET<br></p><p>Also on HuffPost:</p> <br><p>The 2012 Met Gala red carpet was dazzling per usual, with style showstoppers like Rihanna, Rachel Roy, Paula Patton and Solange Knowles killing the red carpet with their fabulousity. </p><p>But it would be Solange's big sister aka Sasha Fierce aka Queen Bey akathat would steal the show...Beyonce!</p><p>Can we just reflect on the fact that on January 7, 2012 the mega star gave birth to beautiful baby and on May 7, 2012 she stepped out in a gorgeous sheer gown?</p><p>Sure, she has a team of people helping her get back to bootylicious form for her --but bravo all the same. </p><p>The ultra see-through black lace Givenchy design was a little bit Las Vegas showgirl and whole lot of fabulous! Super sexy yet still sophisticated. </p><p>The 30-year-old "Love On Top" singer was escorted down the massive red carpet by none other then our favorite Vogue editor-turned-reality show star Andre Leon Talley. </p><p>Beyonce is hands down the best-dressed star in our eyes. What do you think?</p><p>Check out Queen Bey's amazing ensemble and ALL of the looks from the star-studded event in the slideshow below...</p><p></p><p></p><p><br></p> <br><p>Beyonce has given fans a sneak peek at her next music video for her single I Was Here, filmed in the General Assembly Hall of the United Nations, with some stunning photos of her performing on stage.</p><p></p><p>The video will debut on World Humanitarian Day, 19 August, to shine a spotlight on humanitarian work and encourage people around the world to get involved by doing something good for others.</p><p></p><p>Earlier this week the Crazy In Love singer met with Secretary General Ban Ki-moon inside the UN General Assembly Hall in New York City, where they discussed the new campaign.</p><p><br>Beyonce posted this photo of herself with Secretary General Ban Ki-moon on her Facebook page</p><p>She is 'donating' the video to campaign bosses in a bid to encourage one billion people around the world to get active in their communities. </p><p></p><p>SLIDESHOW: Beyonce performs for the first time since giving birth...<br></p><p>As every student is made well aware of on a daily basis, internships and work experience places are proving increasingly crucial to opening doors and opportunities in later life and with 50,000 more graduates than in 2007, competition is fiercer than ever. With one in three entry-level jobs being taken by graduates who have already carried out work experience placements and internships at that particular company, it is clear that it's time to start climbing the arduous ladder.</p><p>I do however question whether companies offer these ludicrously sought after placements to ardent employees simply in return for slave labour with no further prospects or whether work experience provides an insight into the 'wonderful world of work.' Besides, many people maintain the view that the best intern and work experience opportunities in fields like politics, finance and the media are going disproportionately to those who are already privileged and well connected.</p><p>As I am sure you have guessed from me writing this feature, I want to enter the viscously competitive world of journalism and the media and anyone in my position knows the work experience application drill. One must dedicate at least four hours to sending out 'generic' and overly zealous covering letters to every newspaper and magazine under the sun. It is also crucial to ensure that you have appropriately edited the name of the company in each mail (an embarrassing error made by one of my friends when writing to Elle magazine explaining how she would 'love to undertake work experience for Cosmo'; pretty awkward.) Then, one must await their fate. Subsequently, an incoming email immediately lights up but after four years in 'the work experience game' I am never naïve enough to get my hopes up. This is outcome number one, one which I have come to refer to as 'why did you even bother?' and usually comes from a prestigious magazine like Vogue informing you that your meticulous effort of an email has 'bounced' because the recipient's inbox is full. That is, 'full' of thousands of pitiful, neglected emails just like yours for spaces that have already been filled by journalist's brother's-girlfriend's-17 year old-sister who have no clue what they want to do in life but are quite fond of the idea of sitting at a desk and gossiping about celebrities in their school half-term. If your email doesn't 'bounce' then you may be confronted with outcome number two: a reply informing you that your recipient is 'out of office and will reply to you upon their return' (cue a slight lift in your hopes) '...but if you are emailing regarding work experience, there are no available placements until the year 3000.' Great.</p><p>I have, however, occasionally been lucky enough to experience outcome number three: an offer of a weeks work experience which literally feels like Christmas and your birthday all at once until you realise that after spending thousands of pounds on a degree you are jumping for joy at the prospect of working for free; weird. This week can evolve into one of two situations. Either five days of pure boredom in an office full of 50-somethings who perceive you as nothing more than an inconvenient good-for-nothing hopeful whose only purpose is clearing out old newspapers or making tea. You then proceed to stare at a computer screen until your eyes psychically ache, read the most obscure news articles about flying cats and use the spare time 'constructively' to delete over 1,000 junk emails whilst pondering all the people you could stalk on facebook if only you weren't surrounded by prying eyes. Or, your week could evolve into an extremely worthwhile and enjoyable experience with people who are genuinely grateful of your free labour and sincere interest in your chosen field. I was lucky enough to experience this warm and welcoming reception at Now magazine. The office was super-swanky with a grand reception hall adorned with marble floors serving as the perfect catwalk for the 30-something's in their Louboutin court shoes armed with Blackberry in one had and skinny latte in the other. Celebutante gossip flew around the office all day long and luckily I was seated near the editor listening in for all the latest on Chez and Ash's relationship whilst nonchalantly carrying out my assigned research on the potentially more controversial and far more cerebral papal visit. My week culminated in an interview with Drew Barrymore and Justin Long followed by 'question time', better known in the media world as shameless stalking and a firing of questions at The Saturdays. Upon my departure I wrote a standard thank you card with a cheeky 'I hope to see you again soon' line and on I went, only to be replaced by another hopeful intern a week later. The whole week was uncannily similar to a scene from 'The Devil Wears Prada' and the yummy mummies always arrived late to the office, but made up for it by leaving even earlier. This was the moment when I decided that I most definitely wanted to write slander about tinsel-town and get paid for doing it.</p><p>In today's incredibly competitive labour market, work experience matters more than ever when it comes to securing that first climb up the networking ladder and it really is crucial to get your hands on some even if it means making tea for snooty old men.</p><p>One crucial thing I have learnt from work experience is that when/more to the point IF I land a journalism job, I will spare a thought for the bright-eyed, over dressed young faces in my office plonked next to the photocopier with fear and confusion in their eyes. Been there, done that, time to do it all again, for free.</p><p>Follow Bianca London on Twitter:</p>eGHZmFyID44mYu00M5dZQhYaAu%2FAmgJCGfYy66NCsZ3y2%2BCd8epkdQj2UKN14xi7V2f6zvgZ4FLzuHlXFqCtvHEMfu8cnurHR%2Bk7huUTK5GduMziZZw2K6rSnCeVSnLO4kIuB5Ua5hfpX3jCUjpesONZAp5v%2FZYto0CpL2BNQDbLKBQntDL%2BG2ZKPlg9r%2BFVeGHZmFyID44mYu00M5dZQhYaAu%2FAmgJCGfYy66NCsZ3y2%2BCd8epkdQj2UKN14xi7V2f6zvgZ4FLzuHlXFqCtvHEMfu8cnurHR%2Bk7huUTK5GduMziZZw2K6rSnCeVSnLO4kIuB5Ua5hfpX3jCUjpesONZAp5v%2FZYto0CpL2BNQDbLKBQntDL%2BG2ZKPlg9r%2BFV<p>Are we at the dawning of the Asian model? Are Liu Wen and Shu Pei on their way to Naomi Campbell or Kate Moss's iconic status? Judging from the kind of work the two models are getting, it seems that fashion has found new leading ladies in these Chinese beauties. </p><p>Wen is the first Asian face of cosmetics giant Estee Lauder. She also appears in the new Gap ads. Pei, while being the face of Maybelline, also appears in almost every leading magazine this month as the face of Vera Wang. They joined Du Juan as China's best-known model exports. </p><p>For its December 2010 issue, U.S. Vogue had a spread featuring eight Asian models, namely, Juan, Tao Okamoto, Lee Hyun, Hyoni Kang, Liu Wen, Bonnie Chen, So Young Kang, and Lily Zhi. It was a move that was, like most things in fashion, met with applause and criticism. There were those who approved of Anna Wintour's effort to be inclusionary in the pages of her magazine, which is almost always completely white-washed, and there were those who viewed the gesture as an act of tokenism, a way to appease those who clamor for diversity. Vogue has featured Asian models in every issue since.</p><p>For his spring couture show for Givenchy, Riccardo Tisci, one up majority of the fashion designers by having an all-Asian lineup. Before Tisci, this move was unheard in the international fashion arena where Asian models were limited to one or two at most shows, with the exception of Prada, which had not cast an Asian model for its runway show until recently. Prada is a late adapter when it comes to diversity. It had its first black model only a couple of years ago, in 2008 to be exact, after decades of runway shows.</p><p>Asian male models too are on the rise. Louis Vuitton cast its very first Asian model Godfrey Gao for its spring campaigns, following similar castings from Prada, Ermenegildo Zegna and Giorgio Armani. In fact, before everyone jumped on the Asian bandwagon, Giorgio Armani was one of the firsts, if not the first, big-name contemporary designer to appoint an Asian model as the star of his ads. In 2008, Japanese-Chinese actor Takeshi Kaneshiro fronted the Emporio Armani campaigns. Louis Vuitton, Prada, Zegna and Armani all have significant presence in Asia and consider China one of their biggest markets worldwide.</p><p>It's hard not to take notice of the Asian fever that's gripping the market. All that's missing is a Vogue Italia All Asian issue similar to their best-selling Black Issue. Is Franca Sozzani working on one?</p><p>There have been models of Asian descent in the past. Perhaps the most popular is Filipina Anna Bayle who has been dubbed the first Asian supermodel. Of course, the incomparable China Machado ranks up there too. There's also Tina Chow and Devon Aoki. But never has there been such a resounding Asian force in the international fashion scene as there is now, which begs the questions: Are brands signing up Asian faces to gain a better hold of the growing Chinese consumer market? Is this their way of relating to their new consumers who lapped up luxury goods on a daily basis?</p><p>If so, how come Louis Vuitton decided to have Caucasian models in its seemingly 1920s Shanghai-inspired ad campaign for its women's clothes and not three of the eight models Wintour chose to feature in her magazine? Or is Louis Vuitton still banking on Asia's colonial mentality and Asians' aspiration for white skin and blond hair to sell its cheongsam heavy and panda printed collection? Who would sell more Louis Vuitton cheongsams? Wen and Pei or the Mandarin collar garbed trifecta of white models (Freja Beha Erichsen, Kristen McMenamy and Raquel Zimmermann) in Louis Vuitton's campaign?</p> <p>Follow Blue Carreon on Twitter:</p><p>Nicola Formichetti is on an Asian tour. A couple of weeks ago, I met him in Hong Kong for his pop-up Nicopanda store. During my one-on-one with him, he revealed to me that he was going to Bali for a quick break right after the store event. On Twitter, he took his followers on holiday with him via the photographs he tweeted of Bali's sights and beaches. Today, he was in Singapore for the week-long fashion festivities in the city. </p><p>First on his agenda was a sit-down conversation with British fashion journalist Colin McDowell, who has been a strong supporter of Singapore's fashion scene. The conversation is part of a series of talks and workshops for the Asia Fashion Summit. Tomorrow, he will show Mugler's fall 2012 collection, which he said he has tweaked for Singapore's Audi Fashion Festival. </p><p>Below are the highlights from the McDowell-Formichetti conversation:</p><p>On his fashion education...<br>I did not study fashion. I moved to London and I lied to my mom and told her I wanted to study architecture. I stayed at the university for one week and I went clubbing for the next three years. I don't recommend that to anyone. </p><p>On breaking into the fashion industry...<br>I started working in a cutting-edge store in SoHo in London and that's where I met everyone. Working in a store and being a shop assistant, if you don't know what to do and you like fashion, I think it's a great way of getting into the business because you do windows, cleaning, and everything. That was my school for two years, working in a shop and that's how I met people in magazines and designers.</p><p>On being half-Asian...<br>I am 34 years-old, but I look younger because I am half-Asian.</p><p>On the impact of social media...<br>I love the whole digital world we are going to. I loved when the bloggers were sitting front row and typing and the editors were, "Argh"... I loved it. I loved the fact that we are all on the same level now. So you have to be good at what you do.</p><p>On Twitter's reaction to his work...<br>It's like your friends telling you if they like something you did. It's so fast. I get to talk to so many people through social media. </p><p>On meeting and working with Lady Gaga...<br>I was listening to her music three or four years ago. She was known, but not famous. I saw her in an outfit that looked like she copied it on Style.com. I wanted to do a shoot with her but many magazines declined. V magazine agreed, but nobody wanted to lend me clothes because she wasn't cool. Too vulgar. People were really quite against her. Very few were supportive like Alexander McQueen and Prada. Prada always says she likes bad taste. Now that I think about it, maybe she likes Lady Gaga because she likes bad taste. </p><p>Gaga made my creations alive. That was very exciting for me. It was like my creation had a voice. </p><p>On working at Mugler...<br>Creative director sounds amazing but I am just a collaborator. I just have a great team, a great atelier. And I just sort of help them out (laughs...), I do more than that. <br>I got the call two years ago and I declined at the very beginning. Thierry Mugler was my absolute favorite and I didn't want to insult him. I was very scared. Gaga convinced me to call them back.</p><p>On building a brand...<br>It has to be pure and has to come from you. If you think about money too much at the very beginning that's not a good way to start. We creative people should focus more on creative and money will just come. </p><p>On suffering for his craft...<br>I always go in as if it's the first time, as if I am 18 and living in SoHo. I don't suffer.</p><p>Read more from me on </p> <p>Follow Blue Carreon on Twitter:</p><p>Over the past few months, college presidents from across the country have founded a unique literary genre. Writing separate but nearly identical letters to their respective communities, countless presidents have hailed the virtues of a liberal arts education and the inherent strength of their institutions. They have lauded their resilience and their hope for the future. And then, mixed in there somewhere, they slip in another little detail: "We're out of money."</p><p>One cliché employed by all of these presidents is that the ivory tower is not immune to the economic recession. Indeed, colleges and universities--private and public, large and small--have quite a bit to worry about these days. With the declining markets, they are seeing higher costs of borrowing, an impact on the size and quantity of donations, and sinking endowment revenue. Revenue from endowments often account for a sizable chunk of operating budgets, often covering about one-third of annual expenses. Many colleges and universities have set records in the last couple decades for generating unprecedented returns from an asset-allocation mix that looks very different from what most individuals typically maintain. Many of the wealthiest institutions tend to be light on blue chip stocks and treasury securities, and heavy on illiquid assets, such as private-equity, hedge funds and real estate and commodity holdings. This means that returns are heavily correlated with market performance; when times are good, their endowments swell. But nowadays, not so much.</p><p>Colleges who promise need-based financial aid will also see unpredictable rises in spending as individual families find it increasingly difficult to pay steep tuitions. Compound all of this with the escalating costs of energy--the energy required to heat countless dormitories and academic buildings through a cold winter--and you begin to see a bleak future for America's colleges and universities.</p><p>In some ways, the financial crisis is more difficult for these non-profit educational institutions than for businesses. Colleges are held to higher moral standards than businesses--perhaps rightfully so. Students and faculty are hesitant to apply corporate models to their beloved institutions. Many view universities as havens from the world of fiscal concerns, where the life of the mind and the lives of students are protected above all else. They are even more uncomfortable with the traditional corporate solutions to balance budgets: increase prices, cut programs and layoff workers.</p><p>College administrators are thus faced with some difficult decisions. Even Harvard University, with an endowment greater than the GDP of some small countries, is facing the largest budget shortfall in its 372-year history. Harvard College will have to trim its 2009-10 operating budget significantly, to the tune of $100 million, freezing salaries and postponing searches for most tenure-track faculty.</p><p>Similar concerns exist at smaller liberal arts schools. At Vassar College, I am Editor-in-Chief of The Miscellany News, the campus newspaper since 1866 (). Vassar has lost about $250 million from its endowment over the past few months, and like many comparable institutions (Amherst, Williams, and Wesleyan) it will need to trim next year's operating budget accordingly.</p><p>This is the difficult part.</p><p>Conversations about budget cuts almost always create sharp divides between a college's constituencies. Faculty members suddenly distrust administrators, administrators begin to fear alumnae/i reactions, and students may begin to resent their alma mata for cutting a particular office or program.</p><p>Despite student protest and complaints, Arizona State University will unceremoniously end contracts with more than 200 adjunct instructors. At Williams College, athletes are worried that budget cuts would affect their equipment and travel costs. Bowdoin College plans to freeze non-essential campus construction beginning next year. At Wesleyan University, the administration has made a controversial proposal to increase its enrollment by about 120 students over four years in order to take in an additional $3.9 million in revenue. Many students and alumnae/i fear that this will mean larger class sizes and a diminished quality of education.</p><p>Vassar, too, has been forced to make controversial budgetary decisions. Last week for example, some alumnae/i and students questioned a plan to not renew the contracts of two adjunct professors in the English Department. These professors were liked by students, and specialized in the popular area of creative writing. The elimination of these two positions, the College has said, is part of larger need to reduce spending on faculty salaries by about $750,000 in 2009-10. While some have complained that the move will harm the creative writing program, administrators maintain that the staffing plans will only mean a reduction in 70-80 courses out of the 1,200 or more that Vassar offers, and that this move is necessary to balance the budget.</p><p>After interviewing students, staff, administrators, faculty and alumnae/i, I find myself at somewhat of an emotional crossroads on the issue. On the one hand, I see students rightfully indignant when the economy threatens their favorite professors or programming. "Why would they cut something so essential? Why can't they cut something else, anything else?" Part of me starts to get angry right along with them.</p><p>A few hours later, I'll interview an administrator, chomping at the bit to ask them pressing questions. Then I'll notice their slumped posture--visibly exhausted and anxious, bags under their eyes and coffee cups overflowing their trash bins. They are, I quickly realize, working themselves as hard as they can to ensure the financial future of the College, often staying late hours and weekends. Suddenly I become empathetic. After all, aren't these administrators being asked to do the impossible, to balance budgets that cannot possibly be balanced?</p><p>Everyone has watched the news for the past few months, but somehow few people expect national events to affect students' experiences in America's colleges, or students' ability to afford those colleges. Tufts University has not only given up construction of new sports and laboratory facilities, but its chief financial officers are considering eliminating the school's need-based admissions policy. "The target of being need-blind is our highest priority," Tufts president Lawrence Bacow told The New York Times in November. "But with what's happening in the larger economy, we expect that the incoming class is going to be needier. That's the real uncertainty." The University's latest prediction is that the financial aid budget will need to rise by about $4 million next year. Students have been up in arms about revoking financial aid, but the administration feels like it has its hands tied. "Everyone is going to have to sacrifice," Bacow told the school's concerned student government. Schools of all sizes will almost certainly have to become more need-sensitive in their admissions this year, and will likely be offering smaller aid packages. Tuition will likely increase at many schools too, making it increasingly difficult for many to achieve a college education.</p><p>Kalyani Phansalkar, a sophomore at William & Mary College, knows that first hand. Phansalkar was unable to register for spring semester classes because the College was quickly forced to raise tuition as the economy sank. "My parent's budget is still tailored to the former tuition," she wrote in her college newspaper. "The difference between the two prices remains outstanding."</p><p>Her sense of hopelessness was matched only by that of William and Mary's President Taylor Reveley. "No other college or university in America has had to overcome more adversity than William & Mary," he wrote in his community letter, as if trying to reassure himself as much as the students and faculty. "We will be fine."</p><p>Higher education will be hurt by the economy. Students will receive less aid, non-tenured faculty will be let go, and support staffs will shrink. But the key to mitigating these truly unfortunate financial realities will be communication and discussion between administrators, employees, graduates and students. One letter from the president bemoaning the loss of the endowment--along with vague predictions of budget cuts--is not enough. College administrators should make sure to be as transparent as possible. Despite the crippling decline of Wesleyan's endowment, their president Michael Roth has met with the student government multiple times in the past few months, and issued information through blogs, letters and even Web site dedicated to the financial situation with an informational video. Wesleyan will be forced to make extensive budget cuts, but at least no one will be kept in the dark.</p><p>Seeing the early effects of the financial crisis on the macro and micro levels, I'm reminded of a lecture I saw at Vassar in 2006 by Williams College economist Gordon Winston, discussing research on the economics of higher education that he completed with Vassar president Catharine Bond Hill, argued that colleges are "part church and part car dealer." (The more technical term is donative commercial non-profits). On the one hand, colleges are businesses that charge prices for their services and operate under financial constraints. On the other hand, they are charitable institutions that receive donations and subsidies from individuals and the government. Though they charge a price for their product, that price (tuition) is heavily subsidized and does not nearly cover the production costs (hiring the faculty, heating the buildings, etc.) Fundraising professionals will frequently remind students that although the sticker price of an education might be between $30,000 and $40,000, the actual cost of delivering that education is closer to $60,000 or $70,000.</p><p>As Winston implied, institutions of higher education do not, and should not, emulate a corporate economic model. Colleges and universities not only are driven by financial concerns; these institutions are driven by idealism. Dedication to financial aid, to public service, and to ideas--all of these attributed strengthen education in America, even if they don't necessarily benefit colleges' bottom lines. While hastily announced price increases or layoffs might be acceptable in the corporate world, they do not apply so neatly to the realm of higher education. Even in a time of economic peril, liberal arts education demands discussion and debate. Difficult choices will certainly have to be made, but administrators across the country should remember to balance their role as church and car dealer.</p><p>These lofty moral standards demanded by students, faculty and the public are costly to institutions, but they ultimately help college administrators set priorities in a time of fiscal crisis--because unlike AIG, Lehman Brothers or General Motors, America's colleges cannot afford to fail.<br></p><p>Politico:</p><p>In a room just off the Oval Office, Brian Mosteller carefully pens a to-do list on a little white notecard. In the coming hours, he will monitor all the comings and goings in the West Wing, as well as all the practical details of those events. And so his list mixes the monumental and the mundane.<br></p><p></p> <br><p></p><p>Carey Mulligan and Marcus Mumford have been notoriously private about their relationship, but the pair came out of hiding last night to make their first public appearance as a married couple.</p><p>They were spotted sneaking out of the Metropolitan Museum of Art's Costume Institute Gala afterparty in New York, along with pal Florence Welch in the wee hours. </p><p></p><p>With his arm around his new wife, the couple looked loved up as they posed for the waiting paps. </p><p>Wearing a stunning sparkly gold frock, Carey was also seen earlier in the evening proudly flashing her big rock as she posed on the red carpet.</p><p></p><p>The couple wed in a private ceremony last month, which took place in a converted barn on a working farm in Bridgwater, Somerset - glamorous, we know - but some star power was added by guests Sienna Miller, Jake Gyllenhaal and Colin Firth.</p><p>> IN PICS: THE MET GALA 2012<br></p><p>Also on HuffPost:</p> <br><p>Ever since became the creative director at in 2008, the French fashion house has become one of the most highly-regarded brands. Known for minimalist clothing and accessories, Celine's leather bags and shoes have appeared on everyone from to . </p><p>But the has us scratching our heads, especially when it came . Unlike the wood platforms and nude-colored loafers of previous seasons, Celine's latest collection featured blue, red, lilac and yellow furry stilettos, shoes with trompe-l'oeil toes and sandals that remind us of those Adidas slip-ons that are a mainstay by pools everywhere. <br> <br>Check out the craziest shoes from in the slideshow below, and keep clicking through for more outrageous footwear from fashion week so far:</p><p></p><p>Want more? Be sure to check out HuffPost Style on , , and .</p><p>A Chinese restaurant in Kentucky has been closed down by officials after roadkill was found inside its kitchen, reports say. </p><p>Last week, customers dining at stuffed inside a trash can that was dragged into the establishment's kitchen. </p><p>"It was really disturbing. There was actually a behind the garbage can,” one customer told WTVR.com. "There was like a tail, and like a foot and leg sticking out of the garbage can and they wheeled it straight back into the kitchen." </p><p>Environmental health inspector Paul Lawson was soon called in to verify this gruesome claim.</p><p>According to WTVR.com, Lawson said that when he entered the restaurant's kitchen, he stumbled upon "." </p><p>"Upon arrival, I confirmed they did have a deer carcass in the facility,” he said.</p><p>Lawson told Lex18.com that the animal " by the time he arrived, which raised "many health and illness" concerns. </p><p>Officials say the restaurant owner's son admitted to bringing the deer -- which had allegedly been roadkill found along Interstate 75 -- "," Lex18.com reports.</p><p>The restaurant was immediately shut down and the owner's son was cited for having a "." </p><p>“They said they didn’t know that they weren’t allowed to,” Lawson said, adding that he was concerned that the restaurant has brought roadkill onto its premises. </p><p>According to WTVR.com, the owners of the restaurant told Lawson that they had intended "." </p><p>But this was little consolation to some patrons.</p><p>"I don't think I'll ever eat Chinese food ever again," said one customer who says she was dining at the restaurant when the deer carcass was hauled in. </p><p>Lawson said the after an inspection proves that it has been completely cleaned and sanitized, WYMT reports.</p><p>Though some customers of this Kentucky restaurant were thoroughly repulsed by the thought of a roadkill feast, dead animals peeled off the tarmac is the food of choice for some daring diners. According to an earlier report by The Huffington Post, a U.K. man named for more than three decades. </p><p>In the United States, it is legal in some states to -- whether that be for the dead animals' pelt or for food.</p><p>PHOTOS: ANIMALS IN THE NEWS<br></p><p>Also on HuffPost:</p><p> is perhaps not the most demure of celebrities. She's , and -- all on national television. But, while filming her in Los Angeles last week, it looks like she's managed to combine all three of those style trademarks plus an added bonus: huge mesh cutouts.</p><p>We're not talking about small detailing here. We're talking gaping, side boob and rear-revealing holes all over her dress. That's certainly one way to get attention for your upcoming single. paired the LBD with towering hot pink heels and a matching pink ombre 'do (but since , we suspect it was a wig).</p><p>The 31-year-old singer during the shoot, but we really didn't know what we were in for until we saw these latest photos. Now we're definitely curious to see the actual video and whatever ensembles she'll be wearing. Could she possibly beat the bizarre risqué factor of this dress? Well, if anyone could, it's definitely our girl Christina. But we still have one more lingering question: Why is she holding a baseball bat?</p><p>Check out the photos below and tell us what you think of this, um, interesting look.</p><p>PHOTO:</p><p></p><p>Its finally here- MUSIC VIDEO shoot day!!!!!!!!! Get ready guys!!!!!!!!!! </p>— Christina Aguilera (@TheRealXtina) <p>Check out our roundup of the wildrest dresses of all time. Do you think Christina's should be added to the list?</p><p></p><p>Want more? Be sure to check out HuffPost Style on , , and .</p><p>We always hold our breath when steps onto the red carpet: will she carefully clothe her curves or surrender to a cascade of ill-chosen ruffles?</p><p>In other words, will she repeat , widely declared a fashion flub?</p><p>Tonight on the , she just might have: the "Mad Men" star wore another Christian Siriano frock with yet another strapless top, another low-cut neckline and another wave of ruffles down her side. Even the folds on the bust line appeared to be the same, as if Siriano cut the torso off the 2010 dress and stuck it on the new one.</p><p>After , we're stunned Hendricks would choose to (partially) resurrect it. Sure, she toned down the flouncy-ness. But the cut and even the color were nearly identical, leading us to wonder if this dress will be received as critically as the first.</p><p>But Hendricks probably doesn't mind, considering she still loves the original Siriano pick. , "I thought that dress was stunning. I stand by that dress to this day. I had just gotten back from my honeymoon, and I felt beautiful in those pictures." So why not repeat it? </p><p>Check out the two dresses and tell us what you think! </p><p></p><p>See the rest of the fashion!<br></p><p>Want more? Be sure to check out HuffPost Style on , , and .</p><p>How to follow last year's record-breaking Savage Beauty Alexander McQueen exhibition? The Met has turned to 'Ugly Chic', surreal style, skeleton dresses, lobsters and torn flesh.</p><p>Schiaparelli and Prada: Impossible Conversations is the title of the Metropolitan Museum of Art's Costume Institute spring 2012 exhibition; launching this week with the annual Met Gala Ball. Featuring 90 designs and 30 accessories by Elsa Schiaparelli spanning the 1920s - 1950s and Miuccia Prada covering the 1980s to the present; the exhibition explores how the two designers subvert our notions of taste, beauty and glamour.</p><p>Elsa Schiaparelli, whose fashion house closed in 1954, has been eclipsed in our collective memory by her rival Coco Chanel who dismissed her as 'that Italian artist who makes clothes'. In 2012, though, Schiaparelli is enjoying a popular revival with the help of the Met exhibition and 'The Hunger Games'. One of the biggest hits of the year so far with record takings at the box office, the film heavily references her 1930s haute couture in its Capitol Citizens' costumes. This belated recognition is all good news for Diego della Valle, the chief executive of Tod's, who bought the Schiaparelli brand back in 2007 with plans to relaunch it with a perfume and accessories line. He took the opportunity this week, whilst all fashion eyes are on New York for the exhibition and Gala Benefit, to introduce French actress and model Farida Khelfa as his muse; with a new designer to be announced in September according to the New York Times.</p><p>It's somewhat ironic that Schiaparelli's business failed to survive the years of post-war austerity, yet is being relaunched amidst a period of European austerity budgets and economic uncertainty - let's hope this time round the House of Schiaparelli achieves longevity. Although it's clear the designer's influence never really went away - so many conventions of modern fashion were started by Schiaparelli: she was one of the first designers to produce ready-to-wear collections and stage runway shows using music and tall, thin models. Schiaparelli also created the wedge heel; graphic pattern knitwear featuring surrealist trompe l'oeil imagery; the signature colour 'hot pink'; even Jean Paul Gaultier's torso shaped perfume bottle is a modern homage to Schiaparelli's 'Shocking' perfume bottle from the 1930s.</p><p>Schiaparelli provoked and scandalised 1930s society - I think if Schiaparelli was still alive she would find a natural affinity with Lady Gaga and Miuccia Prada; her shoe hat and tear dress were equally shocking in their time as Nicola Formichetti's meat dress is today.</p><p>Schiaparelli and Prada: Impossible Conversations runs from May 10 - August 19, 2012 at . The institute houses a historical collection of thirty-five thousand costumes and accessories and is the home of the Irene Lewisohn Costume Reference Library, one of the world's foremost fashion libraries. The annual Gala Benefit is the main source of funding for the institute and enjoys heavy support from the fashion industry.</p> <br><p>Follow Christine Babington Smith on Twitter:</p><p>Schiaparelli provoked and scandalised 1930s society - I think if Schiaparelli was still alive she would find a natural affinity with Lady Gaga and Miuccia Prada; her shoe hat and tear dress were equally shocking in their time as Nicola Formichetti's meat dress is today.</p><p>The carpet may have been red, but at the , the color of the night was pink. SHOCKING pink, . And it was Coco Rocha who outdid everyone's pink dresses, jackets and shoes with bright pink hair. </p><p>The brunette model's ends were totally dip-dyed, popping against her yellow jumpsuit. And that jumpsuit! (and with to show for it). She finished the look with a pink top and pretty pink shoes, natch.</p><p>Chris Benz and Julie Macklowe both had pink hair, Hamish Bowles wore a pink tuxedo jacket and Paul Patton was swathed in a pale pink shade. But we'd venture to say Coco had . What do you think of her ombre strands?<br><br>PHOTOS: </p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>See the rest of the red carpet arrivals from <br></p> <br>eGHZmFyID44mYu00M5dZQhYaAu%2FAmgJCGfYy66NCsZ3y2%2BCd8epkdQj2UKN14xi7V2f6zvgZ4FLzuHlXFqCtvHEMfu8cnurHR%2Bk7huUTK5GduMziZZw2K6rSnCeVSnLO4kIuB5Ua5hfpX3jCUjpesONZAp5v%2FZYto0CpL2BNQDbLKBQntDL%2BG2ZKPlg9r%2BFV<p>London Fashion Week launched a new initiative this year, Fash/On Film, to celebrate the relationship between film and fashion. Last week a series of 'fashion films' were screened in London's Canon Cinema, interspersed with director's Q and A sessions and live catwalks. Although this venture is new, cinema's infatuation with fashion has been long-running and, until recently, unrequited. In the past two decades, films about fashion - The Devil Wears Prada, Coco Before Chanel, A Notebook on Cities and Clothes, to name but a few - have made box office hits, as well as successful documentaries. On the flip side, fashion designers are trying their hand at film or directly using it as a source of inspiration. In 2009 Tom Ford declared himself a film director with the visually stunning, albeit appallingly scripted, film A Single Man. Another new project this year, Green Cut, - a collaboration between the British Film Institute and the British Fashion Council - challenged eight famous designers, to each create a bespoke piece that offers a contemporary take on a classic film. Participants included Tom Ford, Stella McCartney and Jonathon Saunders.</p><p>In his documentary, A Notebook on Cities and Clothes, exploring the work of the designer Yohji Yamamoto, Wim Wenders starts out with the following proposition: "maybe fashion and cinema have something in common?". The film ends with the idea that the fashion designer preparing a catwalk is not so different to the film director working on his or her final edit. Both, in Wenders' words, are establishing a 'montage', a sequence of images. Montage is, arguably, at the heart of both cinema and the fashion show. A friend who recently went to a fashion show for the first time remarked that she felt like she was watching a short film. </p><p>The film world has recognised people's fascination not just with clothes per se, but with the fashion industry as a whole - with the air of glamour that surrounds it and the powerful people that run it. Now, The Devil Wears Prada and Coco Before Chanel, fun as they may be, are by no means works of art and use fashion as a storytelling device as much as a central theme. But mainstream cinema's interest in fashion is part of a broader ontological affinity between the two artistic mediums and their worlds - a correlation recognized by the earliest filmmakers. It is no coincidence that film and fashion as we know it today were born almost at the same historical moment and from the same impulse: the emerging self-conscious 'modernity' of the early 20th century, which sought new modes of expression using new technologies. </p><p>So, what exactly is this affinity? Firstly, at an ontological level both film and fashion deal with movement and the ephemeral. Fashion deals with what is 'in' - this is constantly changing and part of the attraction. The fleetingness of what is in vogue makes fashion, as Wim Wenders discovers, "by definition, always in." Clothes are also, largely, about physical movement: how they sit and move on the human frame, not on the hanger or the terrifying faceless mannequin. Hence why catwalks are the showcase method of choice and why online shopping sites provide videos of models walking in the clothes as well as photos of the clothes themselves. Early cinema was distinguished from the other six arts by its unique ability to 'realistically' capture movement: this technological facility initially became cinema's raison d'être. Shorts from the late 1990s simply show a train arriving at a station or the frenetic movement of city crowds. Bauhaus and Dada films from the early 20th century - or what we would now stigmatise as 'video art' - are interested mainly in capturing the movement of shapes, silhouettes and shadows, rather than in a strong narrative. Abbie Stephens' film for Emilio de la Morena, Traces, showcased at London Fashion Week 2012, focuses mainly on dramatic lighting and shades of black and white, drawing inspiration from these early films. Traces feels more like an early silent film or a contemporary music video than a contemporary short film. Fashion film is taking cinema back to its roots. </p><p>In recent years the fashion industry seems to have recognised the similarity between the catwalk and film; or rather, substituted the latter for the former. At Paris Fashion Week 2008, to great critical acclaim, YSL ditched the catwalk in favour of film to showcase its autumn/winter menswear collection. Presenting clothes through film has the advantage of not only allowing viewers to see the clothes close-up and from different angles simultaneously, but also of presenting the clothes - and the lifestyle and persona seemingly inherent to them - in a more stylized and therefore effective manner; for what is fashion if not self-stylization? </p><p>Increasingly more 'fashion films' are being commissioned by various designers. Is this merely another indication that the fashion world is branching out further into the area traditionally considered 'art'? Or is there something special about the relationship between the fickle worlds of film and fashion that will make it a happily-forever-after? Could fashion film ultimately replace the catwalk?</p><p>I have this completely unscientific theory about why certain celebrities attract gay followings. It works perfectly for idols like Judy Garland, Barbra Streisand, and Madonna and lust objects like Adam Levine and Chris Evans. But there is one celebrity who mucks the whole thing up: Anne Hathaway. </p><p>My theory suggests that our devotion to these stars derives from a form of gaydar. The reason some performers ping for us over others is simple: They have immediate , and we somehow pick up on it. In every way, Anne Hathaway is the whole package. She is everything we traditionally love in a female star. So why, then, is she not more universally adored among gay men?</p><p>Anne is beautiful and talented. She has a gay brother and is devoted to LGBT equality. When it comes to her film choices, she has serious gay cred: The Devil Wears Prada, Brokeback Mountain. Even The Princess Diaries is the kind of movie some gay could be reflexively quoting around a Fire Island pool party at any hour of the day or night. </p><p>She sings! She dances! Her love life is terrible! Remember when she dated that international con artist? We gays eat that stuff up. As Liza Minnelli has made clear, she who suffers most, wins. Nevertheless, Anne Hathaway lands in some kind of gay blind spot, and not just in Love and Other Drugs when Jake Gyllenhaal's nudity caused rampant tunnel vision in the few gay men who went to see it. </p><p>I keep waiting for the situation to turn around. Just this past weekend I went to see The Dark Knight Rises, in which (as many reviewers pointed out) her Catwoman ends up stealing more than just a pearl necklace. In one scene she not only wears a fabulous hat but punches some guy through it. It left me incredulous. She is working her ass off for us, in razor-sharp spiked heels, no less. Anne Hathaway practically demands that we love her. I've seen less aggressive bids for our attention on Grindr. So what more do the gays want?</p><p>I wonder if it's merely generational in this case. During the more repressed 20th century, we idolized ladies on the screen who boldly expressed themselves in ways that we couldn't. We hung on their every cutting remark, heavy-lidded stare, and padded-shoulder shrug. When Bette Davis walked across a room to shake the stuffing out of Miriam Hopkins in Old Acquaintance, she released the pent-up rage deep inside gay men everywhere. And if she doesn't give Mildred Pierce that check.</p><p>But now, in the more open 21st century, we don't need to have women of a certain age live our lives for us. Our actual experiences play out now without the need to layer our emotions on someone else's drama. We delight in Miranda Priestley's diatribe about cerulean sweaters because , not standing in for us. Soon it becomes more important to lust after Ryan Gosling in Drive than imagine ourselves as Diane Keaton in Something's Gotta Give (although, seriously, what gay doesn't want that Hamptons house?). We don't need a dame of the silver screen to grace the covers of our magazines when nice, hot straight guys like Channing Tatum or Ben Cohen will happily drop trou for our amusement. Perhaps we don't need Anne Hathaway the way we used to need gay icons, simply because we cut out the middle man (or, in this case, middle woman) in our steady march for equality. </p><p>There are some suggestions I could make for Anne, if she still wants us, ways she could improve herself in the eyes of this fickle community. (Of course, all that assumes that our failure to accept her is somehow her fault and not ours.) A messy booze problem might win us over. Her performance in Rachel Getting Married is a nice preview of what we might like to see from Anne on a future airing of Entertainment Tonight (though the Real Housewives and a thousand have pretty much soiled that grand tradition; it might be hard to break through the white noise). Perhaps a short run on Broadway? Oh, but there she is, already way ahead of us. Later this year she is appearing as Fantine in the . And she shaved her head! Shaved! And you know she didn't do that to get on the cover of Maxim. Come on, gays. There hasn't been so naked a bid for gay attention since Faye Dunaway turned the arched eyebrow into a form of divinity. </p><p>That Anne Hathaway is firing on all cylinders for us. The least we can do is get on board and enjoy the ride. For old times' sake.</p> <br><p>Follow Derek Hartley on Twitter:</p><p>MILAN &mdash; Miuccia Prada never met her designing compatriot Elsa Schiaparelli in life but the two are being united in an exhibit on the sidelines of Milan Fashion Week.</p><p>The Metropolitan Museum of Art has paired designs by the two female Italian stylists from decidedly different eras in what it calls "an impossible conversation" &ndash; impossible because it never happened.</p><p>Prada, 62, expressed surprise when asked if she had ever met Schiaparelli &ndash; only to be reminded that she had died in 1973 at age 83. The older designer's heyday was in the 1930s, making her memory much more remote.</p><p>"When I think of her, I think of the past," Prada told reporters Friday after the exhibit was introduced.</p><p>The ballroom in Milan's Royal Palace, which is adorned with statues damaged in World War II bombings, contained pairings of the two designers' dresses, showing apparent similarities that fade when their techniques and inspirations are considered.</p><p>"I honestly see more differences than similarities," Prada said.</p><p>The exhibit, which will run at the Met from May 10-Aug. 19, includes two dresses both inspired by the Indian sari.</p><p>Schiaparelli, who was influenced by the Surrealists, took inspiration from a famous 14-year-old Indian princess of the era to create a long printed orange silk chiffon evening gown that drapes lightly over both shoulders.</p><p>Prada, who is at the forefront of contemporary design and who often explores technique in her creations, was inspired by how a European traveler would interpret a sari. Her minimalist dress in golden fabric is shoulder-less with an elegant accordion side pleat.</p><p>The two also sewed insect motifs onto separate garments. Schiaparelli placed her Botticelli-inspired bugs on lapels, reflecting 1930s dinner society that put the focus on the waist up. Prada, who often focuses on the waist down, put her bug on a skirt, said curator Andrew Bolton.</p><p>Despite the exhibit, Prada said she doesn't take direct inspiration from earlier designers, like Schiaparelli, but rather from periods.</p><p>"Every decade represents a moment in the life of a person," she said.</p><p>Reflecting on Schiaparelli's era, Prada said today perhaps people are less eccentric because they have more freedom to express themselves.</p><p>"I'm interested in the limits of eccentricities, because too much eccentricity is ridiculous," she said.</p><p>The Devils Wear Prada star Emily Blunt has revealed she might be interested in revising her role as Miranda Priestly's catty assistant Emily Charlton in a sequel to the hit comedy-drama, but only if she's not forced to lose weight.</p><p><br>Emily Blunt and Meryl Streep in The Devil Wears Prada</p><p>Speaking to The Huffington Post UK about rumours that Blunt said: "What Meryl said was she'd do it if she didn't have to lose the f***ing weight, that was her quote. </p><p>"And I'd probably say the same because they made me lose weight for that. I was playing that character who was on the edge of ill thin just desperately trying to maintain her weight."</p><p>However, she added: "I feel with sequels you can be in tricky territory because that movie was so special and cool, so we'll see if everyone else wants to do it." </p><p>READ: Emily Blunt on her 'The Five-Year Engagement' co-star Jason Segel: 'He has a real repertoire for fake orgasms'</p><p>Author of The Devil Wears Prada Lauren Weisberger, which the film was adapted from, announced that she was working on a sequel to her best seller - titled Revenge Wears Prada - recently. However, progress on the book is said to be moving at a glacial pace.</p><p><br>Emily Blunt at The Devil Wears Prada premiere in 2006</p><p>In the meantime, Blunt is pretty busy. Her latest film, The Five-Year Engagement, is currently in cinemas and her next film, starring alongside Bruce Willis and Joseph Gordon-Levitt, is in post-production.</p><p>She told us: "I'm really excited about Looper coming out in September, it's a futuristic thriller and the coolest movie I've ever done.</p><p>"I'm really lucky to be in it. I play Sarah who lives on a farm and she gets embroiled in all of the time travel mess that goes on in the movie, I can't say too much about it."</p><p> </p><p>Also on HuffPost:</p><p></p><p>Meryl Streep, who plays a tyrannical fashion magazine editor in the film "The Devil Wears Prada," does not wear shoes by the Italian fashion house.</p><p>"I own one pair of Prada shoes. They make my feet hurt," the American actress told the latest edition of French magazine Madame Figaro, published at the weekend.</p><p></p> <br><p>NASHVILLE, Tenn. &mdash; A mutt who sat on doggy death row for more than a year before given a reprieve is now officially free from government captivity and headed toward TV stardom.</p><p>Prada, the 4-year-old pit bull mix that was ruled vicious and ordered put down, was released Thursday from Nashville's Animal Control facility, where the dog had been held since January 2011.</p><p>Prada was ordered put down after attacking several other dogs. A judge spared the dog's life after the Villalobos Rescue Center in New Orleans agreed to take the animal.</p><p>The center is featured in Animal Planet's reality TV show "Pitt Bulls and Parolees," which puts ex-convicts and abused dogs together so both man and animal can be rehabilitated</p><p>"Prada loves these people," Nicole Andree, the dog's former owner said after a representative from the rescue center came to Nashville to collect the dog.</p><p>Andree, a 35-year-old childless real estate agent, fought a lengthy court battle to spare the dog, vowing never to stop until she got Prada off death row. But she had to agree to give up her beloved pet to save the animal's life. The judge lifted the death order after Nashville lawyers said they would not object if Prada went to the rescue center. The dog, however, must stay there for the rest of its life.</p><p>Andree says she plans to visit Prada at the center. She believes the dog will have a good life there.</p> <br><p>New York TimesGina BellafantePosted Monday June 19, 2006 at 10:11 AM</p><p>Former NYT fashion reporter Bellafante sasy "The Devil Wears Prada" is an accurate depiction of the fashion industry, seeing in it echoes of her own experience falling in love with clothes and working with people singularly obsessed with the industry from spouting stats on hemlines and supermodels to assistants pulling all-nighters in order to advance up the chain. Bellafonte is silent, however, on specific details of her own experience and whether she had her own Miranda Priestly barking ridiculous demands in her ear at 4 am. In other news, thank goodness being a size 6 is acceptable for blogging.</p><p>Related: Tales from the beauty-mag trenches: Jolie in NYC ( and ). </p><p>For this new series, I'm taking a look at my inspired pieces for the season. Lucky for you, I'm going to be delving into my wish list and picking out my favourite pieces from both sides of Regent Street.</p><p>Let's start with a bit of honesty. Knitwear for winter is about as innovative as pastels for spring. But really, this season is a great friend of the jumper. The pull for wool is inevitable, and I couldn't love it more.</p><p>Winter dressing is fun. I like to think of it as an exercise in wearing all your favourite clothes at once, a thought that is far too exciting. This season, pair your winter warmers with an oxblood pencil skirt (FYI, it's the new colour), go for simple chic skinnies and ankle boots for super-adorability, or contrast over lace for the ultimate autumn texture. The season has rocked up in tones and shades; we said au revoir to colour blocking and bonjour to textures. From animal embellishments to Jil Sander's real Baseball-luxe, you are totally spoilt for choice with this little lot.</p><p>Autumn Winter 2012 cooked up an excellent banquet of wooly treats, treating everyone to a piece of the action. There's the boyfriend knit, a dose of pop-art chic and happy to go slogan-crazy pieces that are just dying to get in your wardrobe. That's just as well really, as there's a real possibility that I have forgotten what it's like to be cold. London never seems to get quite cold. The underground is a melting pot, and a good brisk tourist-dodging walk is not only good for your temperature but your legs, bums, and tums too. </p><p>To match your fabulous winter wardrobe, with the all new demi-heel and trouser suit, slip one of these beauties and snuggle down into winter. You can thank me later, I'm just loving each and every one of these fabulous jumpers.</p><p><br></p><p><br>Try a little bit of what you fancy from Moschino Cheap and Chic, such a cutie (£407 at )</p><p><br>Keep it simple with DAY Birger et Mikkelsen's easy knit, perfect to add to your essential autumn collection (£135 at )</p><p><br>Channel Acne's royal purple in this simple yet fashionably effective jumper, perfect for an on or off-duty look. (£190 at )</p><p><br>The real sportsluxe from Jil Sander (£310 at )</p><p><br>Pay homage to the season's obsession with animal knits in By Malene Birger's adorable sequinned lion jumper (£225 at )</p><p><br>K is for...KENZO. And quite right too in this gorgeous autumn shaded jumper (£205 at )</p><p><br>Get ahead of next season as Fashion Month arrives with this perfect striped chunky knit from Urban Outfitters. Very Marc Jacobs, darling (£55 at <br>)</p><p><br>MWAH. Love from Markus Lupfer. So much love for these amazing knits that are definitely making it into my winter wardrobe... (£290 at )</p><p><br>Keep it simple with See by Chloe's divine red knitted sweater (£285 at )</p><p><br>Snuggle down in Topshop's slouchy grey jumper, with the perfect metal complement for a little rough edge. Oh so lovely... (£55 at )</p> <br><p>Follow Eleanor Doughty on Twitter:</p><p>There are moments in fashion when you recognise something that will change the landscape of our fair industry. It happened at Jil Sander in September 2010 when Raf Simons transformed neon colours into a palatable concept with that skirt. But now, the new 'it' item has arrived, storming catwalks and constructed by the real who's who in fashion. If you are looking for the defining autumn addition then this is it. Seriously. Introducing, the trouser suit.</p><p>It sidelined for years before being exalted once more, hidden in a midday shadow by asymmetric skirts and outdated preconceptions of what a trouser suit should look like. Upon the entrance of Vanessa Axente, walking in Prada's AW12 show, the revolution re-began. A black trouser suit adorned with jewels at the ankle and lapel broke us in gently to the print extravaganza that followed. </p> <p>Muiccia Prada's collection read like the spoof school uniform rulebook, a guide of how not to dress. Breaking all the rules your mother ever taught you about getting dressed (unless your name's Allegra Versace), it defiantly stepped out in the midst of our braver, pattern clad bodies. Described by some as genius, others as so-bad-it's-good, there is no doubt that, as standard, Prada delivered a show stopping collection. Thank goodness the show didn't stop, the two-tone wedges weren't slowing down.</p> <p>This autumn, the trouser suit isn't just about coordinating prints. It's a lesson from Italy about how and why to wear trousers; the collections are instructive and precise. In a distinctly less 1999 Ally McBeal mode, trousers are now eye-catching, powerful yet feminine. And really, what more could you want from your new sartorial best friend?</p><p>Like many fashionable themes, this trend would not have emerged without a great pinnacle of style. All hail Yves Saint Laurent. Changing womenswear from the moment his 1966 summer show opened, the tragic genius revolved the perspective of women in trousers. Yves' changed the world; the masculine black tie uniform was transformed into a palatable piece of high fashion. Yves produced the sexiest form of masculin/féminin; it will never be seen again. Original hipster Francoise Hardy had a set ordered specifically, a testament to the chicness of 'Le Smoking'. Only Saint Laurent himself might have known just how much impact that suit would have. </p><p>Blame the recession, if you will, for 'useful' fashion's renaissance. Queen Phoebe [Philo, of Celine] designs for real women in mind, making clothes that present solutions, not make us wonder 'where can I actually wear that?' The trouser suit ticks that box, the ultimate sexy-in-your-boyfriend's-clothes glamour combined with an oh-so practical edge, practically tipping the cap to high fashion. And it was everywhere. <br> <br><br>Celine pulled out jumbo oversized coats that juxtaposed tapered trousers, all characteristically architectural, ranging across the colour spectrum. In contrast, standing proud amongst an array of well-established houses is a K-Mid favourite in Emilia Wickstead. Not edgy like Acne, or the cool, streamlined Celine solution, the New Zealander's endlessly chic display was effortlessly all there, light and breezy but sensible. Sensible is truly the word. Her simple yet effective, soon-to-be classic additions to the every day woman's closet don't pull the power card out of the pack, but just subtly lie there. An understated collection, like the designer herself perhaps, but the one and only pair of trousers in there showed what pastels for autumn are all about.</p><p>Stella McCartney intertwined a casual rock baroque mode with everyday clothes of the working woman. Introducing the pantsuit as an accessible addition, Stella's are much less 90s grey pinstripe and so, so much more elegant yet undeniably cool. But do we expect any less from the Queen of British luxury? I think not. Trousers have regained dignity as something to be desired and cherished. Merci, Mrs Prada.</p> <p><br>Some trends do not lend themselves to maximum appeal, but like almost no other, you can rely on the trouser suit to work for you. Yes, you. From wide legs that do flatter, to uber-chic ankle-grazers, there's plenty happening. If you're in any doubt, ask yourself what would Yves want. He'd want you to go for it. So do. It suits you.</p><p>Images courtesy of Jil Sander, Prada, Miu Miu, Celine, Emilia Wickstead, Stella McCartney.</p> <br><p>Follow Eleanor Doughty on Twitter:</p><p>Dressing 'casually' can be a problem. Like many things, the more thought you put into it, the room there is for error. Highlights of my recent fashion discoveries include the sad realisation that my Rive Gauche blazer is the only thing to pull off big shoulders, complex layering assumes the look of one going hiking, and the effortless colour blocking tactics are only possible with precision training, and an unlimited tonal wardrobe. To the latter sentiment, one (and by this I mean me) may resemble one's seven-year-old self's paint palette. And that's not something I'd like to remember.</p><p>Thinking about what to wear in the morning is often just a little too complicated. Stick to what you know usually works best, often sufficing as the solution to my frequent ensemble dilemmas. This season, I sense a real solution. Introducing minimal maximisation... or rather, the rise of the oversize. </p><p>I realise that excessively large sized clothes may not be immediately appealing. Like layering they are fraught with difficulties largely associated with 'does my bum look (too) big in this?' Despite this, that very exclusive nod to fashion is all there in the act of the oversized. Be not fooled, this is no excuse to gorge on Godiva's delectable chocolate-covered strawberries, or to stop that excellent running habit you've adopted. Whether I'm referring to the one in Louboutins to the bus stop, or the 5k I'll leave to you.</p><p>Husbands beware, the 'Bridget, that's not your coat' trend can be actually be put into practice, making extensive appearances on the catwalk and reducing models to their even more skeletal selves. Roksanda Ilincic literally pulled out all the stops with almost inflatable looking coats, going Olympic-style sumo against the oversized trend. Championing more of a bedtime than Olympic Park vibe, Chloe matched the covetable Parisian sensibilities with a British sporting edge in creating a very comfy collection of coats, while Celine fell back on elegant yet minimalist functionality, as is their timeless mission. </p> <p>Pair an oversized boyfriend blazer with a slick pair of trousers for the perfect complement to the new season a la the queen of casual chic and those wedged trainers, Isabel Marant. The Parisian worked an almost impossibly chic boyfriend blazer with simple skinny trousers and stilettos for her take on oversized. Now who said fashion was tricky?</p><p>Not everyone chose macho man for their autumn theme song; Raf Simons' last collection for Jil Sander generated a well-deserved standing ovation from the Milan crowd, exhibiting perfect large scale minimalism. The absolutely divine pastel coat, seemingly more at home in your grandmother's dressing up box than the catwalk, sealed Raf's place in fashion history.</p> <p>Coats were not alone in this trend's domination. Prada showed the ultimate high fashion geek chic brogue, super high, and super clumpy yet ultimately powerful. Almost so bad they're fabulous, Prada's shoes literally lift you into the fashion limelight. A broad selection of large than life tote bags more suited to a weekend in the Cotswolds than a trip to Waitrose with the kids emerged. We've all done it, bought a huge handbag and proceeded to fill it with as much as possible. This is regrettable yet inevitable position to be in, and made all that easier by Valentino's Mary Poppins effect hold all.</p> <p>In a strange sartorial hybrid, the rise of the oversize signals minimalism within a much larger idea. While shapes might be overbearing, concepts are minimal, forming the perfect combination of micro macro. Minimalism, the chic Parisian's favourite, favours a simple way of living and dressing that can be easily incorporated into AW12's biggest and boldest trend. </p><p>In a season that celebrates the waist, we are treated to a splendid array of cuddle-me coats. Thomas Tait's wide collar pea green number was almost as inviting as MaxMara's maximum lengths in coordinating colours while Commes des Garcons struck a floral chord with a cape-like piece, enough fabric to wrap up half the finale girls. During all of this, the clean architectural lines we have come to expect have not been forgotten in construction. Big, bold and beautiful does not signal the end of tailoring, it has simply streamlined to perfect the utterly sensationally casual in oversized looks.</p> <p>So if Michelin men don't take your fancy and Chloe's dressing gown look is just a tiny bit too appealing, invite Raf Simons into your life and champion oversized simplicity. With that coat, you barely need a dress. Cough, did I really suggest that? Financially viable though, let's be honest.</p><p>Images courtesy of Roksanda Ilincic at Starworks, Chloe, Celine, Isabel Marant, Jil Sander, Prada, Valentino at Karla Otto, Comme des Garcons, Thomas Tait.</p> <br><p>Follow Eleanor Doughty on Twitter:</p><p>This year, more than any other year, I woke up starving. I was fasting. The smell of ' bagels in the toaster forced me to stay in my room and linger in bed just a bit longer (I don't do well with temptation). You see, I don't fast on a regular basis. But, I am Jewish and my family and I observe the holiday of . . Jewish people traditionally observe this holy day with a 25-hour period of fasting and prayer. This is the holiest of holidays and we make the obligatory visit to the temple. It's ironic (or actually sad) that the Temple is normally less-than-full. However, on Yom Kippur, the sanctuary is standing room only. By the looks of the overflowing parking lot, most of us would do proud as we have chosen to "</p><p>As I got dressed and applied a little makeup, I cursed the headache that was taking over. Apparently, my head (and energy level) missed my morning cup of coffee. However, fear, tradition and a guilty conscience reminded me that fasting (and repenting) was not a choice. I grew up in a traditional Jewish home. My own (always stylish) mother always led the way by example. A simple, classic black or beige St.John suit was as "flashy" as my mom got on this holy day. This holiday was about repentance, she often reminded me. No need for too much makeup, or a fussy dress. I often looked at the Jewish women who had chosen not to fast, or not to participate in prayer. I did not recognize many of the faces, and wondered if they were new to the community? Draped in their fanciest frocks, which often included a large and elaborate hat-and-purse combo, a fashion show of sorts often took place in the sanctuary. I remembered my mom's elegant and appropriate style, and got dressed in a loose-fitting black Tahari dress. No belt or ruffles, just a plain dress.</p><p>As I walked out my front door, my friend-slash-confidant-slash-keeper of secrets, the UPS man, bumped right into me. I could not resist the urge to open the box right away, and boy, was I glad I did. The box contained a highly anticipated pair of black patent leather peep-toe Prada pumps. It would be a sin not to wear my new shoes! I put them on right away. I thought about my mom's flat sandals. She often reminded me that this holiday required a lot of repeated sitting and standing. Never mind, I thought. I can still wear these new shoes. Like I said, I'm not great with temptation.</p><p>This year, my husband and I were given an honor, and we needed to be standing on the bimah at 11 a.m. sharp (the bimah is a pedestal located in the front and center of the temple). As I jumped out of my car and started to walk, I realized that these new pumps were extremely tall and dare I say -- uncomfortable. My legs shook and my toes started to ache. I was already regretting more than just my sins; how would I sit and stand all day in temple? How would I ever walk in front of the entire congregation without falling? I barely made it inside the temple before my name was called out, and my husband and I walked to the bimah to read from the Torah. Not only was my walk up to the front of the temple painful and scary, but my time standing on the bimah was even more difficult. As I read the passages, all I could think about were my shoes. I was in pain and hoped nobody could tell.</p><p>PHOTO:</p><p></p><p>Thankfully, I did make it back to my seat without falling. Throughout the rest of the service I complained (internally) and wondered: Should I sit down and rest my feet, or take my shoes off and remain barefoot? I did neither, and opted instead to suck it up and deal with this ridiculous situation. I mentally chastised myself and wondered if perhaps this same shoe existed with a lower heel, or if my new shoes were even refundable? Of course, this question led me to do a quick search on my iPhone. (Don't worry: The sound was off and the entire search lasted no more than five minutes). It wasn't long after my Google search that we were back in the car on the way home. I couldn't help but to feel badly about the morning's service. Yes, I had fasted, and I had attended the Yom Kippur service. However, while I had been physically present, my mind and thoughts were not where they needed to be. I obviously had more in common with the fancy-frock females than I wanted to admit.</p><p>I used my time in temple to worry, complain and Google my style choices and quandaries. I am ashamed of this, and wrote this post as a confession (I know, it's a little late). This whole Yom Kippur/shoe episode got me thinking about a bumper sticker I recently saw. It read, "Don't judge me because I sin differently than you do." Prior to this Yom Kippur, I had not understood the elaborate hats or makeup. Now I get it: We have to each make a conscious effort to be present and honest with ourselves. I knew where I needed to be, and Saks.com was not it. So, I apologize now for the sins of last year, and promise to do an extra good deed (or two) to make up for style sins. </p><p>Want more? Be sure to check out HuffPost Style on , , and .</p><p>www.mydaily.co.uk:</p><p>Elle MacPherson wore an absolutely stunning Prada dress to the launch of Britain and Ireland's Next Top Model in Soho. Unfortunately, when you opt for a look this memorable, you should probably make sure that another celebrity hasn't already nabbed your big moment.</p><p>Like Eva Mendes promoting her movie The Other Guys back in November 2010, for example.</p><p></p> <br><p>At the beginning of The Devil Wears Prada, Anne Hathaway's character explains the reason she ended up at Runway is because the choice was between there and an Auto magazine. At times when I have least to do, I like to think I got the work placement Anne turned down.</p><p>If you're going to stage a fashion comeback, where better to do it than the ?</p><p>The brand, co-star of the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s new Costume Institute exhibit, is on track to be revived by its current owner, Diego Della Valle. Women's Wear Daily reports that Della Valle, who purchased the rights to the long-dormant brand in 2007, and is on the hunt for a head designer. "The designer’s introduction," says the press release, "will take place in October."</p><p>According to WWD, will be the first products to hit shelves in February 2013. </p><p>The Elsa Schiaparelli brand has laid dormant since 1954, although Schiaparelli herself lived until 1973. An Italian native, "Schiap" began designing in Paris in the late '20s and grew to become one of the most prominent designers in the '30s -- even more prominent, some would argue, than her peer and rival Coco Chanel. ( "that Italian artist who makes clothes.")</p><p>Schiaparelli's fashion house suffered from World War II and she shuttered the business in 1954. But her name and legend lived on for fashion lovers and, in 2006, Della Valle purchased Schiaparelli's trademarks and archives with an eye on resuscitating the brand.</p><p>And it would seem now is the perfect moment. The exhibit, which kicks off tonight with the , puts the two Italian design legends in conversation, comparing their work and suggesting new ways to understand their designs. </p><p>To compare the two idiosyncratic designers might literally be an impossible undertaking ("They are not taking into consideration that we are talking about two different eras, and that [Schiaparelli and I] are total opposite," ). But it is undoubtedly good for Schiaparelli, whose name is lesser known in the contemporary fashion world. The Costume Institute's new exhibition will not only honor her legacy but also put her name on the public's radar -- so what better time to push the brand back in stores?</p><p>Read more about -- and check back here this evening for coverage of the Met Gala, where the museum will officially unveil </p><p>Discover Elsa Schiaparelli in the vintage photos below:<br></p><p>Want more? Be sure to check out HuffPost Style on , , and .</p> <br>eGHZmFyID44mYu00M5dZQhYaAu%2FAmgJCGfYy66NCsZ3y2%2BCd8epkdQj2UKN14xi7V2f6zvgZ4FLzuHlXFqCtvHEMfu8cnurHGtdTrlO6FQ53rI4f%2FNo7oyXAvVcpcAPr4kIuB5Ua5hfpX3jCUjpesONZAp5v%2FZYto0CpL2BNQDbLKBQntDL%2BG2ZKPlg9r%2BFV<p>"I was lying underneath him just crying with laughter," says Emily Blunt as we sit in a London hotel room discussing fake orgasms.</p><p>She's talking about the hilariously awkward scene in her latest film, , where her on-screen fiance, Jason Segel, tries to have sex with her after hearing some very bad news.</p><p>Blunt laughs: "Every time he'd change it, so each fake orgasm came with a different sound or a different facial expression. It was that dreadful anticipation each time of not knowing what he was going to do next. I was in tears… he did like 12 takes, it was ghastly. He has a real repertoire for fake orgasms."</p><p>"Is that from experience?" I ask. "It must be, right?" the Golden-Globe winner and Devil Wears Prada star jokes.</p><p><br>Emily Blunt is one of the current crop of British stars carving up a storm in Hollywood</p><p>British actress Blunt isn't usually seen in rom-coms - which she says are "something you've got to be careful with" - and when producer Judd Apatow (Bridesmaids, Knocked Up) previously tried to snare her for projects she turned him down, so why did she say yes to The Five-Year Engagement?</p><p>"I think it was just the right time and it was the right part. I really wanted to work in that style of comedy, very improv-based comedy, because I think that's where you get between two people the best most natural, most true-to-life depiction of what a relationship actually is and it gives a sort of messiness that's true to love. </p><p>"This film didn't have the same sort of glossiness that most romantic comedies have, where it's some dreadful premise." </p><p>In the film Blunt plays Violet, an academic who goes after her dream job. The problem is she's just got engaged to a chef named Tom (Segel). The story looks at what happens when this seemingly perfect couple keep getting tripped up on the long walk down the aisle. </p><p><br>Emily Blunt with co-star Jason Segel, who made her "cry with laughter"</p><p>"If it had been the other way round and the woman was the one making the sacrifice, then people wouldn't kick up such a fuss, but I remember when I started to do press for this film people would say 'God, Violet's so selfish,'" says a fiery Blunt. </p><p>Equality is a topic that comes up twice in our interview. The Adjustment Bureau star - who made it down the aisle almost two years ago to wed (US version)The Office's John Krasinski - asks: "Why not have it all? You can have it all, you can flourish and have your dream job and you can get married. It's a struggle but that's all part of the fun. I think it's about time there was more equality and men just have to be OK with it. Male egos just have to get on with it."</p><p>And when I ask her what she thinks about people saying women can't be funny in films, she cries, "Oh give me a break!" before adding: "We're not given parts where we are allowed to be. </p><p>"You're usually given the little lady at home who is kind of a square and you're enabling the guy to run around and save the world being hilarious. </p><p>"It's great Bridesmaids happened… I think Hollywood had this preconception that only funny men get bums on seats and that theory has kind of been shattered."</p><p>Blunt's obviously enjoyed her foray into comedy and she admits she'd like to do more but "doesn't quite know when," adding: "I don't know if I'm going to rush into another romantic comedy, but I'd like something else with a comedic element. I think that type of genre can get quite fatigued."</p><p>Proving her diversity as an actress, Blunt gives me a hint of her next film, starring alongside Bruce Willis and Joseph Gordon-Levitt. </p><p>It's a far cry from the overpopulated rom-com genre: "I'm really excited about Looper coming out in September, it's a futuristic thriller and the coolest movie I've ever done.</p><p>"I'm really lucky to be in it. I play Sarah who lives on a farm and she gets embroiled in all of the time travel mess that goes on in the movie, I can't say too much about it." </p><p>The Five-Year Engagement is in cinemas 22 June. </p><p><p><p><p></p><p>Want a career in fashion or beauty journalism? Forget writing skills -- think Queen Bee aggression.</p><p>"I'm sorry, who are you? I don't believe we've met," says my editor to me about five minutes before I leave her magazine premises and my job as her fashion and beauty intern for good. I've been in the job for a day and a half.</p><p>A knee-jerk reaction you might say, but I only needed this short amount of time to know that there was little opportunity for me in an environment where the chief editor had no clue who I was, the web editor used her lunch hours to consult her plastic surgeon, and the editorial assistant felt it catastrophic that her fingernail couldn't be manicured because it was in plaster. <br> <br>Many probably had some reservations that Lauren Weisberger's 2003 New York Times bestseller The Devil Wears Prada, and 2006 film of the same name (starring Meryl Streep) were a tad far-fetched in their overly-catty representation of the fashion and beauty magazine industry, both after all being categorized as light-hearted stylish comedies despite their rumored basis on a real life scenario. Sadly however, such a scenario is not so comical when its reality is experienced, with many large and well-known publications valuing over skills of writing and creativity an individual's ability to be artificial and aggressively theatrical in their appearance, manner and role within an editorial team. </p><p>Speaking to others who have undertaken fashion and beauty internships, it is clear to see that the process is a matter of survival rather than enjoyment. </p><p>"Unfortunately my [work] experience was quite similar to what you described as it was in the body and soul section -- so full of catty women who weren't very friendly at all. Needless to say I haven't been in touch with them," says Annabel Smith who undertook a placement at a national newspaper following her time as a student at Leeds University. </p><p>For an intern trying to break into the business, experiencing this environment for the first time can be soul destroying -- their mere existence is only acknowledged if another member of staff wants something. So why do some fashion and beauty journalists feel the need to intimidate office newbies or interns through ego-fueled theatricality? And why is there such a strong desire for a clear staff hierarchy within their offices? (The intern being placed at sub-basement level).</p><p>Women can sometimes be rude or difficult when interacting with other women in order to assert authority. Professor Fiona Wilson from the University of Glasgow claims that research has found some women to have "Queen Bee Syndrome" when in managerial positions. This theory is based on a beehive containing one superior Queen Bee surrounded by other subservient bees (known as drones). </p><p>Traits associated with Queen Bee Syndrome include a woman distancing herself from other female colleagues, or refusing to help other women climb up the workplace hierarchy. A woman may use this tactic to retain power, or (if she is in a mixed gender office), because she feels that aggression or an "alpha female" approach is key to progression and promotion in male dominated territory.<br> <br>During my brief stint as a health and beauty intern, the main thing that struck me was the frequent evil glare administered by my colleagues against the atmospheric office backdrop of eerie, tense silence.<br> <br>As psychotherapist Dr. Robi Ludwig explains: There are multiple social cultural reasons for this kind of behavior. There are fewer women in top spots of employment compared to men. Women in positions of power may see other younger women with their life ahead of them as a threat. For that reason they do not wish to embrace or encourage interns. Instead, they see a newcomer as a potential replacement for their own position.</p><p>Discussing her research and communication with others on this issue, Dr. Ludwig also mentioned that both men and women generally found that working for a male boss was more enjoyable. In men and women the marked boundaries between social and professional life are also very different. In women, it is far more complex. One minute two female colleagues can be speaking intimately about personal issues, the next they can be talking about hard business. Because of this, emotions can run higher in a female-dominated environment, meaning the potential for more misery.<br> <br>"We are also less accepting of 'bitchy' women than we are to aggressive, power-orientated men. Men are generally less intimate, less competitive, and less likely to think of another employee as a threat to their territory or position. This may be due to self esteem, which also appears stronger in men," she added.</p><p>Interns considering a fashion or beauty journalism career shouldn't take the awkward silences and catty comments too seriously... in some instances they clearly (and unfortunately) come with the job. Female employers may pay close attention to your writing and research skills too, though sadly not necessarily for the positive reasons you're thinking. </p><p>Follow Emily Louise Overy on Twitter:</p><p> (in Prada) and inside, the 21-year-old actress talks Hermione, her admiration of Patti Smith and her own ties to the design community. The glossy writes that Watson has deliberately championed the work of "newer, edgier designers, such as Hakaan Yildirim and Erdem Moralioglu," and Emma explains, "I thought, If people are going to write about what I'm wearing, then I would wear young British designers who need the publicity." </p><p> her three-time collaboration with fair-trade clothing company People Tree:</p>"It was such hard work," she admits with a laugh. "I didn't realize what I was taking on. I was doing twelve-hour days on Harry Potter and then coming home to work for two more hours, sizing and cutting designs." She even paid to have the clothes photographed properly and supplied three of her friends to be the models. A few months ago she received a call from Alberta Ferretti, who wanted to collaborate with her on an eco-friendly line called Pure Threads. Emma was so happy, she says, "I practically cried."<p>Check out Emma in Vogue and to read the rest, . And take a look at .</p><p></p><p>WATCH: </p> <br><p>Eva Mendes stepped out to the "The Other Guy" photocall in Madrid on Thursday wearing -- a teal-and-black striped, strapless dress with brocade print on the sides. Way to get it while it's hot! Or before it even came out of the oven.</p><p>She paired the frock with black, peep-toe stiletto platforms.</p><p>Check out Eva's dress -- scroll down for a side-by-side with the runway look, shown at the end of September -- and tell us what you think. </p><p></p><p></p><p></p> <br><p>American actress Eva Mendes has let down her guard down in an interview with Marie Claire, describing Ryan Gosling as "amazing" and revealing her supe...</p><p>After Alexander McQueen in 2011, is paying homage to Italian designers Elsa Schiaparelli and Miuccia Prada. The exhibition Schiaparelli and Prada: Impossible Conversations will explore the striking affinities between these two iconic women from different eras.<br><br>In the galleries, emblematic ensembles by Schiaparelli and Prada will be presented with videos of imaginary conversations between the two designers directed by Baz Luhrmann, focusing on how both women explore explore similar themes in their work through very different approaches.<br><br>"Given the role Surrealism and other art movements play in the designs of both Schiaparelli and Prada, it seems only fitting that their inventive creations be explored here at the Met. Schiaparelli's collaborations with Dali and Cocteau as well as Prada's Fondazione Prada push art and fashion ever closer, in a direct, synergistic, and culturally redefining relationship."<br><br>~~Thomas P. Campbell, Director and CEO of the Metropolitan Museum of Art<br><br><br><br>Drawn from The Costume Institute's collection and the Prada Archive, as well as other institutions and private collections, signature objects by both designers will be arranged in seven themed galleries.<br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br>The exhibition is on view from May 10 through August 19, 2012, preceded on May 7 by The Costume Institute Gala Benefit.<br>Via </p> <p>Follow Evelyne Politanoff on Twitter:</p><p>MILAN &mdash; Everything is coming up flowers on the Milan runway.</p><p>Floral references during the second day of Milan Fashion Week womenswear previews on Thursday ranged from the graphic motif to romantic bouquets or jungle foliage.</p><p>It's not a sexy season. Collections for next summer are more romantic than racy and sheer fabrics suggest more than they show.</p><p>The silhouette is loose and flowing &ndash; with skirt lengths both baby-doll short and granny-dress long. Trousers, too, are wide with the 1960s palazzo pajama making a comeback. Sporty shorts and pedal pushers are often paired with feminine blousy tops. A pastel palate kept the looks demure, while gold, silver and bronze add flash.</p><p>Bows and ribbons lend romance to the season, cinching waistlines, gracing floppy hats or wrapping an ankle. But the flower grabs the headlines in most of the shows &ndash; setting a wide range of moods.</p><p>PRADA</p><p>Miuccia Prada &ndash; one of the fashion world's most out-of-the-box thinkers &ndash; for next summer takes apart the kimono to discover its most basic silhouette. Then, she puts it all back together again to come up with a full collection of imperial outfits.</p><p>The central motif of the new collection is a graphic flower, often with a bright red center, which appeared on bags, tops, dresses, wraps and eyewear.</p><p>Prada has reinterpreted the Japanese Geisha sandal complete with split-toe tabi sock, which she crafted from leather with a zipper up the back, suggesting they could be footwear in their own right.</p><p>The impact of the entire collection was otherworldly, a reflection of Prada's reach for conceptual fashion where idea trumps fit. The kimono showed up as a wrap, a top tied neatly in the back, a skirt formed out of panels or just a simple tunic dress. Fabrics were shiny silk and satin.</p><p>Shoes were over the top, wedge and platform sandals, always worn with the tabi sock at times in contrasting gold and silver. The latest Prada palate includes soft pink and sage but the basic color scheme stuck to black, white and gray &ndash; all the better to show off the flower emblem and highlight red accents.</p><p>The collection was decidedly warm weather, but Prada also devised wraps and three-quarter sleeved coats, often of fur, for chillier climes. Here too, the flower motif made the difference. The basic bag was a small summer shopper &ndash; more for the boutique than market</p><p>EMPORIO ARMANI</p><p>Emporio Armani is Giorgio Armani's second line aimed at a younger client, and that is just where the "maestro" was headed in his latest spring-summer collection.</p><p>Teenage models strolled down the runway in sweet pastel silk shorts, their curly hair brushing the shoulder of the matching tapered jacket. Ballerina flats tied in a demure silk ankle bow, dainty leather driving gloves, and a sporty pastel bucket bag completed the ingenue look.</p><p>In his show notes, the designer called his spring style "clean."</p><p>Natural colors with touches of opaque gold and bronze underlined the down to earth feel of the collection.</p><p>There is a good deal of layering in the Emporio collection, with fluid knit-wear, silk tops and jackets with small shoulders and a barely marked waist combining with either a short skirt or a pair of soft straight pants gathered at the bottom, to create a well put together, young look.</p><p>BLUGIRL</p><p>Romance is in the air at Blugirl. It's in the sheer fabrics, silken ribbons and golden lockets.</p><p>But if all that gives the impression of pastoral innocence, not so quick.</p><p>In fashion notes, the label that targets a younger audience said the collection was inspired by the "ethereal dreamy girls" in the photography of David Hamilton, whose best-known work features grainy images of young women, often nude or semi-nude.</p><p>Designer Anna Molinari's collection is as long on lace, organza and eyelet materials, as it is short on undergarments.</p><p>Molinari layered sheer over sheer, animal prints under plain, creating a romantic effect without ever really covering up. Underneath she fitted silken culotte panties with lace trim and nothing more. Silk ribbons were tied prettily around the waist, or around floppy brim hats.</p><p>The silhouette was loose, but lengths varied from short skirts and culottes to maxi-dresses. Pleats and ruffles added shape and volume. Shades were decidedly pastel, until evening hit, and then Molinari turned to gold sequins and beading.</p><p>The look was completed with high-heeled lace-up leather booties in colors ranging from pastels to gold.</p><p>MAX MARA</p><p>Whether in leopard prints or safari wear, the Max Mara woman is the hunter not the hunted.</p><p>The Max Mara collection evokes the jungle, where foliage prints provide natural camouflage for the animalistic spirit ready to spring &ndash; a mood captured in curve-hugging dresses in stripes of spotted and floral prints.</p><p>The silhouette is both free, with loose blouses of light fabric, and controlled, with fitted skirts that often finish below the knee. Safari touches are present throughout, including large pockets, rolled-up sleeves and button tabs on shoulders.</p><p>Blouson tops have large, lightweight hoods, for taking quick cover to scurry away, unrecognized.</p><p>In keeping with the theme, the collection's palette is rooted in earthy tones like camel and olive green, complemented by leopard, floral and sometimes plaid prints as well as icier tones of blue and green.</p><p>LOS ANGELES -- Federal customs officials have stopped more than 20,000 pairs of counterfeit luxury shoes from tip-toeing into the U.S. from China.</p><p>U.S. Customs and Border Protection Spokesman Jaime Ruiz says four shipments of fake Christian Louboutin (loo-boo-tan) shoes were seized Tuesday, and another shipment was seized July 27.</p><p>Ruiz says the shoes could have sold for a total of $18 million in the U.S.</p><p>The vaunted French designer's shoes come in an array of colors and styles, often commanding thousands of dollars per pair from well-heeled customers.</p><p>Celebrities and royalty have been known to wear Louboutins, which have red soles.</p><p>The knockoff shoes were likely destined for swap meets or sale through websites.</p><p>Ruiz says the shoes were very good counterfeits and will likely be destroyed.</p><p>Also on HuffPost:</p>eGHZmFyID44mYu00M5dZQhYaAu%2FAmgJCGfYy66NCsZ3y2%2BCd8epkdQj2UKN14xi7V2f6zvgZ4FLzuHlXFqCtvHEMfu8cnurHR%2Bk7huUTK5GduMziZZw2K6rSnCeVSnLO4kIuB5Ua5hfpX3jCUjpesONZAp5v%2FZYto0CpL2BNQDbLKBQntDL%2BG2ZKPlg9r%2BFVeGHZmFyID44mYu00M5dZQhYaAu%2FAmgJCGfYy66NCsZ3y2%2BCd8epkdQj2UKN14xi7V2f6zvgZ4FLzuHlXFqCtvHEMfu8cnurHR%2Bk7huUTK5GduMziZZw2K6rSnCeVSnLO4kIuB5Ua5hfpX3jCUjpesONZAp5v%2FZYto0CpL2BNQDbLKBQntDL%2BG2ZKPlg9r%2BFVeGHZmFyID44mYu00M5dZQhYaAu%2FAmgJCGfYy66NCsZ3y2%2BCd8epkdQj2UKN14xi7V2f6zvgZ4FLzuHlXFqCtvHEMfu8cnurHR%2Bk7huUTK5GduMziZZw2K6rSnCeVSnLO4kIuB5Ua5hfpX3jCUjpesONZAp5v%2FZYto0CpL2BNQDbLKBQntDL%2BG2ZKPlg9r%2BFVi have enormous respect for daniel radcliffe (who reminds us that young people CAN have character) and everybody loves emma watson, but rupe was always my favorite in the hp movies.... <br><br>Life is so lonely. I am a 50-year-old doctor. I’ve been living alone since my wife passed away 2 years ago. Maybe I should get going so I got a profile on …… r?chh??k??. ? om …… under “denver50”. It’s the best place to meet CEOs, pro athletes, doctors, lawyers, investors, entrepreneurs, beauty queens, fitness models, and Hollywood celebrities. Maybe you can take a try.<br><br>it doesn't hurt that he's pretty hot, too... - but he really could use some help with his hair and clothes...<p>We've teamed up with Greta Larkins, the genius behind the brilliant Tumblr in a weekly series of animated runway shots.</p><p>In this , Larkins takes on a pink and orange metallic trench from spring 2013 collection for at . While we know the British model (and Burberry face) has a tiny waist naturally, we can't stop staring at this mesmerizing image. Is the new corset?</p>Want more? Be sure to check out Stylelist on , and .<p><br>For previous Fashion Gifs, take a peek in our gallery below: <br><br><br></p><p>We've teamed up with Greta Larkins, the genius behind the brilliant Tumblr in a weekly series of animated fashion shots.</p><p>This week, FashGif takes on this long striped dress from collection which was presented during . Does this dizzying print make you feel like you're seeing double, too? </p>Want more? Be sure to check out Stylelist on , and .<p><br>For previous Fashion Gifs, take a peek in our gallery below: <br><br><br><br></p>my particular favorites from paris were rick owens and ann demeulemeester. beautiful, mysterious and flattering. i would buy everything from the rick owens collection and just float through life. i loved the muted colors and( black).<br>so much of paris was derivative and garish(marc jacobs for louis vuitton),....like it was all done before (and it was)and the patterns were migraine inducing.<br>and can anyone explain to why in certain collections (givenchy, miu miu, marc jacobs) the models are deliberately made to look ugly, gaunt, and very angry. i realize the clothes should speak for themselves and the models are the accessories but what is the point of the smirks and snarls??????<p>We've teamed up with Greta Larkins, the genius behind the brilliant Tumblr in a weekly series of animated fashion shots.</p><p>This week, FashGif takes on this diamond-patterned dress from collection. With a moving dress like this, you would be guaranteed a spot on our . </p>Want more? Be sure to check out Stylelist on , and .<p><br>For previous Fashion Gifs, take a peek in our gallery below: <br><br></p>eGHZmFyID44mYu00M5dZQhYaAu%2FAmgJCGfYy66NCsZ3y2%2BCd8epkdQj2UKN14xi7V2f6zvgZ4FLzuHlXFqCtvHEMfu8cnurHR%2Bk7huUTK5GduMziZZw2K6rSnCeVSnLO4kIuB5Ua5hfpX3jCUjpesONZAp5v%2FZYto0CpL2BNQDbLKBQntDL%2BG2ZKPlg9r%2BFVeGHZmFyID44mYu00M5dZQhYaAu%2FAmgJCGfYy66NCsZ3y2%2BCd8epkdQj2UKN14xi7V2f6zvgZ4FLzuHlXFqCtvHEMfu8cnurHR%2Bk7huUTK5GduMziZZw2K6rSnCeVSnLO4kIuB5Ua5hfpX3jCUjpesONZAp5v%2FZYto0CpL2BNQDbLKBQntDL%2BG2ZKPlg9r%2BFVeGHZmFyID44mYu00M5dZQhYaAu%2FAmgJCGfYy66NCsZ3y2%2BCd8epkdQj2UKN14xi7V2f6zvgZ4FLzuHlXFqCtvHEMfu8cnurHGtdTrlO6FQ53rI4f%2FNo7oyXAvVcpcAPr4kIuB5Ua5hfpX3jCUjpesONZAp5v%2FZYto0CpL2BNQDbLKBQntDL%2BG2ZKPlg9r%2BFVeGHZmFyID44mYu00M5dZQhYaAu%2FAmgJCGfYy66NCsZ3y2%2BCd8epkdQj2UKN14xi7V2f6zvgZ4FLzuHlXFqCtvHEMfu8cnurHR%2Bk7huUTK5GduMziZZw2K6rSnCeVSnLO4kIuB5Ua5hfpX3jCUjpesONZAp5v%2FZYto0CpL2BNQDbLKBQntDL%2BG2ZKPlg9r%2BFV<p>,09.27.2012</p><p>Podiatrist; CEO and President of Foot Products Enterprises Inc.</p><p>With all of the new fall styles of boots and booties available this fall it is important to make sure your feet are properly manicured and supported. Blisters in the back of the heel, corns on top of the toes, ingrown toenails and arch cramps can come back to haunt you again.</p><p>From Samantha Critchell at AP:</p><p>NEW YORK -- New York stores were jammed Thursday for Fashion's Night Out, where shoppers rubbed elbows with celebrities - sometimes quite literally.</p><p>Amateur photographers jockeyed with paparazzi to get pictures of Victoria Beckham and stood on banquettes to get a glimpse of "Top Chef" host Padma Lakshmi. The hope was that the event, a brainchild of Vogue Editor Anna Wintour, would help at the cash register during New York Fashion Week, which opened Thursday.</p><p>"It's a nice night. We're tired of waiting until the recession ends," said Stuart Weitzman.</p><p>The shoe designer played ping-pong with customers at his store, and confessed that as a former high school ping-pong champion, he was a bit of a ringer. "It relaxes me. I play two or three times a week."</p><p></p><p>Security had to close off Bergdorf Goodman's seventh floor, where Lakshmi judged a cook-off between designers including Cynthia Rowley &ndash; who made tipsy tomatoes, described as "upscale Jello shots" &ndash; and Peter Som, who made panko-fried oysters.</p><p>The winner: Lela Rose, the crowd favorite for her corn crepe topped with lobster and cilantro salsa.</p><p>"There are far more people than I was expecting, but I should have known everyone would want to meet Padma," said Linda Fargo, fashion director at Bergdorf Goodman.</p><p>The store's elevators were overflowing and women wore cocktail dresses as they snapped up hors d'oeuvres and drinks in the lobby. The Olsen twins served cocktails and Beckham posed for pictures.</p><p>"I was not expecting this type of turnout," Lakshmi said. "I was just hoping the room would be full."</p><p>Outside Tiffany & Co., all lit up in blue, people lined up for a coffee cart on the street. Inside were a DJ and Vogue editors offering styling assistance.</p><p>At Bendel's, women lined up to have red lips drawn on by Gucci Westman, Revlon's global artistic director. Eric Damon, costume designer for "Gossip Girl," helped shoppers choose accessories and posed for photos with them.</p><p>"I'm helping girls mix and match, over-accessorize and overindulge," he said.</p><p>It was difficult to judge the impact of the event &ndash; held at stores all over the city. Justin Timberlake was making an appearance at Saks, Charlize Theron at Dior, Kate Hudson at Stella McCartney. Oscar de la Renta was singing to loyal customers. Wintour herself made an appearance at a Macy's in Queens.</p><p>But everywhere, people said the event brought something much-needed back to fashion: fun.</p><p>"Fashion has been so flat. The party element hasn't been there," said Terri Coleman, partner in the brand Tuccia, who made custom sandals at Henri Bendel's in 30 minutes or less for a steady stream of clients. "This gives them a reason to have fun."</p><p>Some shoppers jumped at the chance to spend. Keith Carollo, 37, said he bought a $250 Proenza Schouler wallet and a second copy of a book he already owns by Ruben and Isabel Toledo so that he could have each signed by the designers at Barney's.</p><p>"I've been super excited. I'm a very big fan of fashion," he said.</p><p>But others came just to see celebrities.</p><p>"Tonight is a browsing night," said Jessica Evans, 27, who went to Bergdorf to see Lakshmi and the Olsen twins. "It's a little too crazy, but I will come back."</p><p>One person, at least, was in the mood to shop &ndash; Victoria Beckham: "Because I'm in New York, FAO Schwarz and toys for the kids."</p><p>___</p><p>Associated Press reporter Megan K. Scott contributed to this report.</p>Read our page.<br><br><p>Follow HuffPost Style on and become a fan of HuffPost Style on !</p> <br><p>Today I'm launching Jaime King's Picks. Every Wednesday, I will be doing a piece about my favorite stylin' things for women, men and the home. My goal is to inspire you and to share with you that the secret to true style is surrounding yourself with things that make YOU feel great. <br><br>I am dedicating my first post to Arianna Huffington who said "Jaime, we need to make flat shoes chic." Three years ago Arianna's high heel got caught in a grate and she broke her ankle. Last year I fell while doing a movie and broke my tailbone. I quickly jumped right back into my heels for my red carpet events, and this led to months of physical therapy. Needless to say, I wasn't the only victim of this epic fashion fail. Between the doctors in their lab coats and the injured women who begged to take off their sneakers and slip back into their Louboutins, the office was a fashion war zone. </p><p>Unless you're Victoria Beckham, you probably look like a drunken sailor after five minutes in these things we call stilettos. Even dear Victoria is rocking flats now on doctor's orders. <br><br>I know it may sound nuts, but I WANT TO MAKE FLAT SHOES CHIC! They are terrible for your body, cause countless painful injuries, they make your legs look insanely sexy and long, but I digress.... Slide into some fabulous flats. You know you want to! There is nothing more endearing than effortless elegance, and here are some awesome picks to start you off on the right foot.</p><p></p>Courtesy photos<p>1. Prada Oxford Loafers <br>I adore these! They are my go-to flats right now. With all the colors available, you can really make them your own. I love their boy/girl vibe. Every time I rock them, guys stop me on the street wanting them for themselves! $795, for store info.</p><p>2. Juicy Couture Lace-Up Rider Boots<br>The long clean line and the classic front laces of these boots will keep you looking pulled together and elegant. Pair them with jeans and a Burberry leather jacket or a long cashmere sweater dress and yum is the word! $425, .</p><p>3. Doc Martens Christina Flats<br>These are a great twist on the brand we know and love. The copper finish makes your little sweet dress sexier and any casual look edgier. This is the perfect shoe to highlight the metallic trend for fall. $70, .</p><p>4. Dieppa Restrepo's Lordy Loafers <br>For the boys! I know. You always get to wear "flats." Dieppa Restrepo has the coolest shoes for men and women. The Lordy is my fave for you guys. These sublime slip-ons come in a multitude of colors, making them a versatile pairing for everything from tees to tuxes. $225, .</p><p>5. Dr. Joseph's Life Steps <br>These orthotics are my new find that EVERYONE needs to know about. These in-soles have been life-altering for everyone I know who wears them, including myself. This brilliant doctor has made specific orthotics for any shoe selection. They come in three selections. One for your sports sneakers, one for your flats and one for your heels. They keep your posture aligned and when you can't resist slipping into those towering heels, slip these in and voila! Your pelvis and back will stay in place and you, my fashionable friend, will stay on the straight and narrow. $49.95, .</p><p><br></p><p>6. Eco-Friendly Synthetic Grass <br>For the home. Nothing is better for your tired feet than a gigantic heating pad! This amazing eco-friendly synthetic grass from ForeverLawn has changed my life. It's always a vibrant green, with no dirt and no watering necessary. It is my guests' number one spot to sprawl out and relax. This is my favorite way to calm a stressed body and sore muscles. In the sun, it warms up and I lay down and kick back. At night, spread out under the stars and ask a friend for a foot rub. Run your tired feet over the grass and it's like a mini-massage. Crazy, but AWESOME! And your friends will be in awe of your forever beautiful garden. $8-$12 per square foot, .<br></p><p></p><p>You could never accuse Florence Welch of being conservative when it comes to fashion and she proved just how kooky she can be in New York yesterday.</p><p>The Brit singer was spotted being interviewed for ABC News yesterday in this headache-inducing, kaleidoscope patterned two-piece which she matched with a pair of clunky heels.</p><p></p><p>And it didn't take long before she was spotted by autograph hunters who followed her around the Big A.</p><p>A few hours later she ditched the trouser suit for another eye-popping outfit when she attended the Met Gala in a tiered Alexander McQueen number.</p><p></p><p>Any other day of the week and that would have been the most talked about dress of the evening - but that honour went to Mr .</p><p>>IN PICS: MET GALA 2012<br><br>Oh well, maybe next year, Flo?</p><p>Also on HuffPost:</p> <br><p>NEW YORK &mdash; Like bookends, Elsa Schiaparelli and Miuccia Prada sit at opposite ends of a long, elegant table for their chat. There are crystal wineglasses and an ornate chandelier. They cover fashion, of course, but get into broader topics of politics and exotic places, feminism and popular culture.</p><p>The banter is lively, thoughtful and friendly, although sometimes they have very different opinions and aren't afraid to voice them. Schiaparelli says the top of an outfit is the most important because in her day (the 1930s-'40s), when Cafe Society was all the rage, women were seen only from the waist up, sitting at a restaurant table. More than 50 years later, Prada put the emphasis on what's below the belt because that's what she found more dynamic and exciting.</p><p>"The skirt has always been one of my primary focuses. Everyone knows that you have to be very beautiful from the waist up, and less sophisticated from the waist down. But to me the waist up is more spiritual, more intellectual, while the waist down is more basic, more grounded. It's about sex. It's about making love. It's about life," says Prada. "It's about giving birth."</p><p>Counters Schiaparelli: "(When I began my career, I) did not know anything about dressmaking. (My) ignorance in this matter was supreme. Therefore my courage was without limit and blind. (My) designs (became) more and more daring. Up with the shoulders! Bring the bust back into its own, pad the shoulders and stop the ugly slouch! Raise the waist to its forgotten original place! Lengthen the skirt!"</p><p>Together, Schiaparelli and Prada make a compelling "Impossible Conversation," which is what the curators at the Metropolitan Museum of Art call the unusual exhibit at the Costume Institute that opens to the public Thursday.</p><p>Inspired by a Vanity Fair series from the 1930s that paired disparate celebrities, the exhibit unfolds in intimate short films directed by Baz Luhrmann that star Miuccia Prada herself and actress Judy Davis, portraying Schiaparelli, who died in 1973. The two women are accessorized by a deep display of archival outfits, ranging from an embellished skirt from Prada's 2012-13 spring collection to the surrealist hats Schiaparelli made with Salvador Dali in 1938.</p><p>The presentation and subject matter couldn't be more different from last year's big success story, a retrospective of Alexander McQueen, the Met's most popular fashion exhibit ever.</p><p>"It's not at all like McQueen," says curator-in-charge Harold Koda. "That was fantasy and not intrinsic to what people wear. This show has a much more subtle representation of artistry that infuses fashion, but it's always subsumed under the reality of clothing that no matter how extreme, it can still be worn."</p><p>Koda wonders whether the garments' practicalities reflect the designers' gender.</p><p>"I'm wondering if pragmatism is a quality that would come out of conversation of a lot of women designers; that somehow a woman needs to feel comfortable in her clothes," he says.</p><p>He draws other parallels between the Italian-born women, including their interest in contemporary art, their provocative aesthetic and their broad definition of "beauty."</p><p>"They presented things that most people might say were unattractive and made them be chic," Koda says.</p><p>Part of the exhibit is categorized into looks that are "ugly chic," think discordant combinations; "hard chic," the military- and menswear-inspired silhouettes; and "naif chic," drawing inspiration from the sweet styles of children and turning them tougher.</p><p>Both designers seem aware, though, that despite their reputations to like the unconventional, their customers tend to be straightforward.</p><p>"Curiously enough, in spite of (my) apparent craziness and love of fun and gags, (my) greatest fans were the ultra-smart and conservative women, wives of diplomats and bankers, millionaires and artists, who liked severe suits and plain black dresses," Schiaparelli was quoted from her autobiography "Shocking Life." (Fodder from the book dictated Schiaparelli's half of her conversation.)</p><p>The rest of the show covers the classical body and exotic body.</p><p>Some of what visitors will see:</p><p>_Schiaparelli's cape in black silk velvet with an embroidered image of the Greek god Apollo from 1938-39; a "Shoe" hat, crafted with a cone heel, from 1937-38; a black silk crepe de chine evening dress printed with matchsticks from 1935; a bolero in pink silk crepe embroidered with circus elephants and acrobats from 1938.</p><p>_Prada's retro 1950s cruiser-car stilettos with a fin-shaped heel and red plastic taillight from 2012; a signature black nylon dress with zipper closure from 1995; a blue-and-gold matelasse Lurex cocktail dress from 2002; a white cotton-canvas top embroidered with monkeys, bananas and baroque scrolls paired with a skirt of pink-and-black striped cotton canvas from 2011.</p><p>Koda said these two were really the first and best choices for the conversation that he conceived with co-curator Andrew Bolton because there was a comparison and contrast for every look, detail and idea.</p><p>He allowed, however, "It could have been (Madeleine) Vionnet and (Azzedine) Alaia."</p><p>"Impossible Conversations" opens Thursday and runs through Aug. 19.</p><p>___</p><p>___</p><p>Bloomberg:</p><p>Prada SpA, the Italian fashion label that makes Miu Miu bags and Church's shoes, hired Goldman Sachs Group Inc., Intesa Sanpaolo SpA and UniCredit SpA to arrange an initial public offering planned for next year.</p><p>The proposed listing will depend on ``market conditions,'' the Milan-based company said in an e-mailed statement today. Law firm Bonelli Erede Pappalardo will act as legal adviser.</p><p>An IPO may value Prada at about 5 billion euros ($7.2 billion) and would be the biggest in the luxury goods industry, a person familiar with the plan said last month. Prada, which has scrapped three listing attempts this decade, is focusing on Miu Miu, Church's and its namesake brand after selling the unprofitable Jil Sander and Helmut Lang labels.</p><p></p> <br><p>Bright nautical colors, traditional burgundy, cornflower blue, or vibrant green and, obviously, blue and white.<br> <br>Possibly thanks to the Olympic Games, or the recently ended Wimbledon and Roland Garros competitions, sports are dominating the runways in Milan. Already in Florence show was based upon sports garments: from shoes to side-stripe pants that looked like tracksuits, yet flawlessly cut.<br> <br> sent down the runway a pure and colorful collection, mixing shades of blue with burgundy, greens and grays, showing total refinement in the shapes of the loose t-shirts with contrasting neck trimming. The girls wore sporty and colorful fur coats and looked incredibly chic and sensuous. New materials and shapes, from duster coats to jackets. A new way to interpret sports without looking ordinary.<br> <br>Also Moncler Gamme Bleu, inspired by sailing boats and featuring sailors dancing tip tap, was totally sporty, with more conventional colors like yellow, blue, red and white. The nautical theme was explored in a traditional way without innovative touches, with the exception of a few more eccentric, but not easy, garments.</p><p> played with metallics getting inspired rather by car bodywork colors and creating contrasting details. Young and fresh and showing a well-defined style.</p><p>The first 'comeback' collection by looked 'very Jil' and featured linear and sharp and always extremely refined shapes. An example of understatement and style.<br> <br>Also at a sporty mood was in the air, always revisited and reinterpreted by Thomas with his signature volumes and colors.<br> <br>I have lately emphasized the importance of exercise to be healthy and beautiful. With this sports obsession being in shape will be a must. For all of us, and not just for men, because we all know that a strong trend affects everyone.<br> <br>Including women, as seen at Prada and with other womenswear pre-collections. Stay tuned, stay in shape.</p> <br><p>Follow Franca Sozzani on Twitter:</p><p>As one of fashion's most outspoken figures -- or , the industry's "agent provocateur" -- Franca Sozzani knows a thing or two about controversy. </p><p>But the Vogue Italia editor-in-chief's latest role is unequivocally positive: Sozzani is the first-ever Goodwill Ambassador for Fashion 4 Development, a global awareness campaign that uses diplomacy, business, media and creative industries for the purpose of ending poverty, reaching gender equality and creating global partnerships through fashion. </p><p>It's a more formal step in the activism Sozzani has embraced for years, as the editor has taken stands on tough issues like race and body image through the pages of Vogue Italia. Working with an organization and creating a systematic program takes it to a new level. </p><p>Sozzani explained, "It cannot be something abstract, like, 'OK, I would like to have the black girls [in the magazine],'" referring to . The idea, she says, is direct action on a larger scale: "Not just, say, to help one girl to become a model or one to become a designer. We want to create something that’s much more of a system, to help many people."</p><p>It's an exciting new role for the Italian editor, who is already particularly busy with Milan Fashion Week kicking off today. In light of her country's biggest fashion event of the season, we made sure to ask Sozzani what we can expect this week -- and how she feels about , which appeared in the magazine's most recent issue. </p><p>Below, excerpts from our chat with Sozzani.</p><p>HuffPost: Given that we're about to start Milan Fashion Week, are there any Italian designers that you're looking forward to seeing or a rising star that we should look out for?<br> <br>Sozzani: We just found a few new designers who we saw at this contest that we do every year [the “Who Is On Next?” design competition, co-sponsored by Vogue Italia]. We saw them in July with the winter collection, so we're excited to see how they evolve. <br> <br>We cannot find a new talent, a big talent, every season -- it's impossible. But we can find the young people that their dream is to become a designer, step by step. I think that some of the people that have been chosen in that past, like Aquilano.Rimondi, Albino – they all came out from this contest and they have amazing work.<br> <br>HuffPost: Is there one particular show that you're very excited for coming up in Milan?<br> <br>Sozzani: As everybody knows, we're always waiting for Prada, always waiting for big labels -- because Muccia Prada, she's showing every season and the way she does something completely different from the season before… So sometimes people like, sometimes less. But it's the feeling that she is going on. She's amazing all the time and that’s very interesting and very important. And many others they do because... well, we have Dolce & Gabbana, Fendi, Gucci, we have a bunch of big labels.<br> <br>HuffPost: Even though you've put plus-size models in the magazine and been a big advocate of different body types, that it's a slow process or even a nearly impossible process for plus-size models to really break through. Do you think that's something we are going to eventually see on the runway, if not right now on the normal runways?<br> <br>Sozzani: Are you talking about girls who are not anorexic and not so skinny?<br> <br>HuffPost: Yes.<br> <br>Sozzani: Honestly, you know, when they ask me what I think of the runway, I'm not a fortune teller. The only thing I can say is that when we had couture in Paris, I saw many more women than little girls. This is a little bit of the feeling, that I feel from all the designers, that it's time to get more women -- and when I say women, I mean girls with shapes, not totally skinny skinny skinny.<br> <br>Because [the models] are so young, so probably changing a little bit with age -- because when they are 14 and 15 they're not natural in their bodies. Maybe just choosing about 18 or 19 [year-old models], you’ll kind of a different kind of body. So you have someone more sensual, more feminine, with more shape.<br> <br>HuffPost: Speaking of the really young bodies, something that had been addressed in New York Fashion Week was the guidelines that were established for not having a model below the age of 16. Is that a thing that’s been a similar problem of the runways of Milan, to have girls who are simply too young?<br> <br>Sozzani: They say all the time, I hear for years, “Not less than 16, not less than 17…” And we know that some girls are 14 or they just lie about their age to get on the runway. But you’ll see that it probably this year won’t happen, because more or less everybody agrees that it should be a little more grown-up, with more grown-up girls.<br> <br>HuffPost: One of the things that was mentioned in the Newsweek/Daily Beast article is your friendship with Anna Wintour, but also the differences between the magazines and the different cultures. What is the difference between what you can do with Vogue Italia versus what can be done in the American magazine, given the different culture?<br> <br>Sozzani: We are different cultures and we are different countries. We are a country of 15 million, not even, people and you are 200 million people. And everywhere in Italy is about cities and you [in the US] have miles and miles and miles of country. It's a completely different mentality as soon as you leave New York, you leave Los Angeles, you leave Dallas, you go inside another world.<br> <br>So I get it -- because with American Vogue and the work that Anna’s doing has to be correct, even sometimes politically correct. She cannot say something or do something that could be immediately controversial, you know, in your country.<br> <br>If I am controversial -- and I am all the time controversial [laughs] -- today, it’s part of the magazine. It's not like someone could say, “Oh, did you see what Italian Vogue did? Oh my God, no…” It's not possible. No, they just say, “They did [it].” Some things you like more, you like less, and not everybody likes in the same way. You expect, in a certain way, that I do things that are not politically correct. It’s not politically correct and it’s not on the same line every month -- you know, one month they like, one month they dislike, one month they think it's genius, and one month they think is too much. It's part of the magazine.<br> <br>But you can do this because we have Italy, first, but we also have 40 percent of the magazine is sold in the United States, in England, in many other countries. It's taken as an experimental magazine, not like a magazine that goes in the family – I mean, American Vogue does over a million copies, and we do 145,000 copies. It's a different approach.<br> <br>HuffPost: Speaking of running into controversy, you mentioned in the Newsweek article, “Bring back Galliano.'” Can you expand on that...is it for the sake of Dior or because he's forgiven?<br> <br>Sozzani: About Galliano, I don’t want it to become a big deal. I understand that it's getting a big story. But it was not in this way that I wanted to say.<br> <br>I said that -- Jacob [Bernstein] was writing what I thought, so everything was perfect[ly accurate]. But what I say and what I mean is that there’s been time for the mistake that he did, for which I completely agree in the attitude and the way that Mr. Toledano and Mr. Arnault made the choice, because I would have made exactly the same choice. It’s not like I would say, as I told to Newsweek, “Oh bad boy. Come on, keep cool, go away for a holiday and when you’ll be better, come back.”<br> <br>I only say that what he did with his talent was genius, what he did was very good for the shows and all of his collections and that he is a really talented person who made a bad mistake. But I didn't mean hire bring him back. I only say that it’s a pity that he’ll not be there anymore. It’s completely different.<br> <br>HuffPost: One last question: do you think Marc Jacobs would be a good replacement over at Dior, as the rumors go?<br> <br>Sozzani: I think that it would be a great idea because I love Marc, I know that he is a big-name person and he's very modern. He could make a change. Because after Galliano if you go after the same style, you will only have a bad copy. Marc has such a modern attitude, with everything that he touches. And he would completely change the attitude and I think it would be great, yes. I totally like him a lot. </p><p><br></p> <br>eGHZmFyID44mYu00M5dZQhYaAu%2FAmgJCGfYy66NCsZ3y2%2BCd8epkdQj2UKN14xi7V2f6zvgZ4FLzuHlXFqCtvHEMfu8cnurHR%2Bk7huUTK5GduMziZZw2K6rSnCeVSnLO4kIuB5Ua5hfpX3jCUjpesONZAp5v%2FZYto0CpL2BNQDbLKBQntDL%2BG2ZKPlg9r%2BFVeGHZmFyID44mYu00M5dZQhYaAu%2FAmgJCGfYy66NCsZ3y2%2BCd8epkdQj2UKN14xi7V2f6zvgZ4FLzuHlXFqCtvHEMfu8cnurHR%2Bk7huUTK5GduMziZZw2K6rSnCeVSnLO4kIuB5Ua5hfpX3jCUjpesONZAp5v%2FZYto0CpL2BNQDbLKBQntDL%2BG2ZKPlg9r%2BFV<p>Fashion is getting fiesty.</p><p>First in Anna Wintour and Karl Lagerfeld's directions, and now Giorgio Armani has opened up his moth about the corporate ways and outlandish designs of brands like Prada and Dolce & Gabbana. </p><p>, the designer got critical after his Milan menswear show on Tuesday:</p>Armani also suggested that houses like Prada and Dolce & Gabbana make men look ridiculous, and blamed the press for not being more critical about clownish runway styles that men don't wear. Prada is "ingenious" for her "irony," he said, "and bad taste that becomes chic." But, certain Prada collections are "sometimes ugly," he noted, and stil always get positive coverage in the press. "You know why..."<p>:</p>His outburst contested how houses such as Prada and Dolce & Gabbana make men look ridiculous and blamed the press for not being more critical about clownish styles that men don't wear.<p>Armani , saying, "Fashion is in the in the hands of the banks [and] the stock market [...] It no longer belongs to the owners, but to those above them."</p><p>The statement was taken to be a direct comment on . Armani added that, unlike his own debt-free company, "Prada's problem is that they have to pay back the money that the banks spent to build up the brand." </p><p>For more, read up at and . </p> <br><p>Say goodbye to your interlocking "G" logo Guess bag. The over who has rights to that famous "G" has finally reached an end -- in Gucci's favor.</p><p>U.S. District Judge Shira Scheindlin , which represents the profit Guess made from using certain unauthorized Gucci trademarks, according to The Fashion Law.</p><p>The court also against Guess' use of three of the four challenged designs.</p><p>The $4.6 million payout, however, is a tiny slice of the $120 million the Italian company had originally asked for, claiming Guess' appropriation of the "G" logo confused customers and caused them to lose profits.</p><p>, alleging that the LA-based fashion brand "diluted its brand" by imitating four specific Gucci designs: the green and red stripe; the interlocking "G" pattern; the square "G" and the brand name's delicate script font. The new court injunction will prohibit Guess from producing any of these patterns except for its script logo.</p><p>The Gucci vs. Guess lawsuit finally went to court last month and quickly heated up; Guess CEO and denied any wrongdoing, saying, "You interpret your own way with your own brand."</p><p>It looks like some of Guess' alleged knockoffs will now be a thing of the past.</p><p> and check out a few Guess and Gucci products below to see what all the fuss was about.</p><p></p> <br><p>We thought in a day was enough. But then Gwynnie got dolled up for the and let even more spill out. </p><p>The star walked the Met Museum steps wearing pale purple Prada frock, a short little thing featuring playful paillettes on the pockets. The dress also featured a high halter neckline with deep plunging sides, baring a sexy dose of skin for those of us with a 360 degree view. </p><p>Yes, we know . But with a dress this cute, on a person so fabulous? We're inclined to give Paltrow a pass and declare this racy look a win. </p><p>What do you think of Gwyneth's Met Gala dress?<br><br></p><p></p><p>Click below to see the rest of the!<br></p><p>Also on HuffPost:</p> <br>eGHZmFyID44mYu00M5dZQhYaAu%2FAmgJCGfYy66NCsZ3y2%2BCd8epkdQj2UKN14xi7V2f6zvgZ4FLzuHlXFqCtvHEMfu8cnurHR%2Bk7huUTK5GduMziZZw2K6rSnCeVSnLO4kIuB5Ua5hfpX3jCUjpesONZAp5v%2FZYto0CpL2BNQDbLKBQntDL%2BG2ZKPlg9r%2BFVeGHZmFyID44mYu00M5dZQhYaAu%2FAmgJCGfYy66NCsZ3y2%2BCd8epkdQj2UKN14xi7V2f6zvgZ4FLzuHlXFqCtvHEMfu8cnurHR%2Bk7huUTK5GduMziZZw2K6rSnCeVSnLO4kIuB5Ua5hfpX3jCUjpesONZAp5v%2FZYto0CpL2BNQDbLKBQntDL%2BG2ZKPlg9r%2BFVThank goodness, some people left in the world aren't stupid.<br><br>English Mon, Nov 28, 2011, 8:35 AM<br>I am English and live in England, this country is getting more and more ridiculous every day.<br><br>Dan Mon, Nov 28, 2011, 9:15 AM<br>If you're that much of a moron to take action from a harmless photo, perhaps you should commit suicide... Geezus, your intelligence factor has to be several notches below the general population, and it may time for you to excuse yourself from the human race. YES, there are definitely SOME PEOPLE with TOO MUCH TIME on their hands. * of teens hit by trains? Are you serious?<br><br>Liz Mon, Nov 28, 2011, 9:19 AM<br>When I first saw the photo I guessed they banned it for showing a teen in an unsafe location, but suicide never entered my mind. I think we are going too far in trying to protect our kids from everything that might be unsafe; it's resulting in breeding common sense OUT of the human race.<br><br>Lola Mon, Nov 28, 2011, 9:21 AM<br>Might as well not advertise anything related to fashion in Britain since people are so apprehensive and thick headed to understand the concept of art in fashion.eGHZmFyID44mYu00M5dZQhYaAu%2FAmgJCGfYy66NCsZ3y2%2BCd8epkdXTnR8lDy1nAhURRmUXMV2AaVPEOuupAuYTMVnj6Vl2nbYBKVLP34TWSAfIJlERCn2KAfzbLqPIytSSPuGr9zqh%2Bv%2BnYysuVd2pWdaG8BbM2MgjDVOxaTbPa8OPNJL6JeElqpQo%2FPRMzeGHZmFyID44mYu00M5dZQhYaAu%2FAmgJCGfYy66NCsZ3y2%2BCd8epkdQj2UKN14xi7V2f6zvgZ4FLzuHlXFqCtvHEMfu8cnurHR%2Bk7huUTK5GduMziZZw2K6rSnCeVSnLO4kIuB5Ua5hfpX3jCUjpesONZAp5v%2FZYto0CpL2BNQDbLKBQntDL%2BG2ZKPlg9r%2BFV<p>With the economy on shaky ground, these holidays will be a struggle for many Americans. Indeed, at all, and even of those that do. </p><p>That sentiment would be in line with indications that poorer consumers are tightening their belts this year, . </p><p>Overall, experts expect holiday retail sales , about half of last year's increase, according to the the National Retail Federation. Though millions of shoppers rushed to stores on Black Friday , a recent poll found that .</p><p>But that's not stopping America's luxury retailers from pushing some truly extravagant gift ideas. </p><p>For those with few spending limits, there's quite literally a boat load of potential gifts to choose from. Luxury department store Neiman Marcus has already worth $395,000 a piece and . </p><p>Likewise, the Robb Report, a luxury and lifestyle magazine for the ultra wealthy, , with items ranging from antique cars to private yachts with helicopter pads. And for those looking for a more intimate way to show off their wealth, Victoria's Secret is offering a diamond studded "Fantasy Treasure Bra" for $2.5 million (). </p><p>Then again, there's always Santa Clause.</p><p>Here are some of the most extravagant gifts on the market this holiday season:</p><p></p> Subscribe to the ! <br><p>; or, the next film to prove dominance in summertime is no fluke.</p><p>The new dramedy from Sony stars as a married couple who have lost their spark. It's only when they visit a marriage counselor (played by Steve Carell) that they start to lit each other up again ... at least until sex is brought up as the next step on their path to reconciliation. (Watch the awkward results from Carell's carnal request in the exclusive clip above.)</p><p>For Streep, "Hope Springs" will likely be the latest in a string of summer successes at the box office. In June of 2006, the three-time Oscar winner starred in "The Devil Wears Prada," which earned over $325 million worldwide. She followed that up with "Mamma Mia" in 2008 ($609 million) and "Julie & Julia" in 2009 ($129 million).</p><p>Of course, Streep isn't alone in "Hope Springs": As Carell proved last year with "Crazy Stupid Love" ($142 million worldwide), he's got the magic touch when it comes to adult-themed summer movies as well.</p><p>Directed by David Frankel (who also helmed the aforementioned "Devil Wears Prada"), "Hope Springs" arrives in theaters on Aug. 8. Watch the clip above and check back for more on the film in the lead up to its release.</p><p></p><p>While Fergie (Pea not Duchess) wasn't breaking a sweat at the Don-a-Matrix Training launch on 17 March, she was still sizzling, thanks to a pair of Prada flame shoes in (what else) St Patrick's Day green.</p><p></p> <br><p>R.J. Cutler's The September Issue and last year's The Devil Wears Prada have ripped the frilly veil off the $2 trillion global fashion industry, revealing it as the last bastion of a bunch of autocratic dinosaurs. Even for a dedicated non-fashionista like myself, it is shocking to see the iron grip that the fashion potentates have had over this huge marketplace, and equally refreshing to see the revolution that is clearly brewing to dethrone them.</p><p>For someone who is more familiar with the worlds of entertainment, media and politics, the recent slew of behind-the-scenes fashion movies is like taking a trip back to the days of Tammany Hall politics or movie mogul Hollywood. Seeing Anna Wintour dismissively pronouncing "I don't like black" as cowed assistants hurriedly remove all remnants of black clothing from the upcoming issue of Vogue is a lot like watching a Chicago political boss haul in a hapless City Councilman and summarily fire him or having Sam Goldwyn casually toss out a script by F. Scott Fitzgerald.</p><p>The point is that whether you are a politician or a movie producer or a fashion editor, you are ultimately supposed to answer to the voters or the audience or the readers. When a system gets so top-heavy that decision makers show only contempt for their constituents or customers, then you know that system is doomed to fail. Sure, the system can hum along nicely for years, but in the end, there will be a revolution that will bring the corrupt system down with a crash.</p><p>Today, that revolution has come largely through the internet, which gives voters, audiences, magazine readers, consumers and everyone else not only access to more information more quickly, but also the ability to communicate our ideas and feelings to one another much more easily. Gone are the days when politicians could simply close the doors and make secret deals. With C-SPAN and YouTube, much more of the public's business is done in the open, whether politicians like it or not.</p><p>With the internet and digital technology, all kinds of entertainment are being democratized, whether it is the creation of low-budget films, the recording and distribution of music, or the blossoming of personal videos on YouTube. It is a global burst of communication and creativity that involves everyone with access to the internet. No longer can the fashion doyennes have exclusive runway shows that are selectively leaked to favored publications, because within minutes of the show there are photos and videos online. No longer can designers hold off for months in offering their clothing to the public, because consumers want to buy it now and manufacturers will rush to sell it to them. And no longer can a few powerful people dictate fashion from the top down, because there is a growing fashion revolution from the bottom up, as more designers find underground, web-based outlets to reach consumers.</p><p>The global economic crisis has hastened the demise of the already toppling fashion establishment. It is as if consumers have awakened after a decade of mindless spending and asked "Why did I pay all that money for something I didn't want or didn't like just because someone I don't respect told me to buy it?" Clearly, this is the beginning of a mass uncoupling from the giant advertising machine whose main purpose was to get consumers to buy things they didn't need or want. And it may even be a backlash against the Bush years, when crazy spending beyond our means was epitomized by President Bush, who urged us all to put aside our concerns about war and terrorism and "go shopping."</p><p>Not there is anything wrong with shopping, or fashion, for that matter. Beauty and style are universal and timeless concepts, and are hallmarks of our humanity. But having these very personal modes of expression hijacked by aging potentates who display little more than scorn for the tastes or wants of average consumers stretches credulity. A very telling moment in the September Issue is near the end when Anna Wintour is presenting the issue to her bosses at Conde Nast, most notably Si Newhouse. After seeing her parade through the Vogue offices like some kind of third-world dictator, we see her timidity and anxiety as she presents her work to her real bosses -- the advertising world that pays the bills. It brings to mind slogans from revolutionary periods in the past, "The Queen is dead! Long live the Queen!" </p> <p>Follow Hoyt Hilsman on Twitter:</p><p>Think presidential campaigns are the only ones that can sling mud during an election season? Think again. There are a lot of hotly contested issues, not the least of which is where -- and from whom -- you will get your news. Comedy Central's Indecision has taken a proactive approach to getting your vote by releasing attack ads directed at their two biggest competitors: Brian Williams and the Internet (also knows as the place that has all the porn).</p><p>Take a look at the Brian Williams attack ad above and the Internet version below. Then think very carefully about who you want to spend election night with.</p><p></p><p>Also on HuffPost:</p><p></p><p>MILAN - Miuccia Prada never met her designing compatriot Elsa Schiaparelli in life, but the two are being united in an exhibit on the sidelines of Milan Fashion Week.</p><p>The Metropolitan Museum of Art has paired designs by the two female Italian stylists from decidedly different eras in what it calls "an impossible conversation" — impossible because it never happened.</p><p>Prada, 62, expressed surprise when asked if she had ever met Schiaparelli — only to be reminded that she had died in 1973 at age 83. The older designer's heyday was in the 1930s, making her memory much more remote.</p><p>"When I think of her, I think of the past," Prada told reporters Friday after the exhibit was introduced.</p><p>The ballroom in Milan's Royal Palace, which is adorned with statues damaged in Second World War bombings, contained pairings of the two designers' dresses, showing apparent similarities that fade when their techniques and inspirations are considered.</p><p>"I honestly see more differences than similarities," Prada said.</p><p>The exhibit, which will run at the Met from May 10 to Aug. 19, includes two dresses both inspired by the Indian sari.</p><p>Schiaparelli, who was influenced by the Surrealists, took inspiration from a famous 14-year-old Indian princess of the era to create a long printed orange silk chiffon evening gown that drapes lightly over both shoulders.</p><p>Prada, who is at the forefront of contemporary design and who often explores technique in her creations, was inspired by how a European traveller would interpret a sari. Her minimalist dress in golden fabric is shoulder-less with an elegant accordion side pleat.</p><p>The two also sewed insect motifs onto separate garments. Schiaparelli placed her Botticelli-inspired bugs on lapels, reflecting 1930s dinner society that put the focus on the waist up. Prada, who often focuses on the waist down, put her bug on a skirt, said curator Andrew Bolton.</p><p>Despite the exhibit, Prada said she doesn't take direct inspiration from earlier designers, like Schiaparelli, but rather from periods.</p><p>"Every decade represents a moment in the life of a person," she said.</p><p>Reflecting on Schiaparelli's era, Prada said today perhaps people are less eccentric because they have more freedom to express themselves.</p><p>"I'm interested in the limits of eccentricities, because too much eccentricity is ridiculous," she said.</p> <br>unfortunately she exhibits an extreme lack of self confidence or perhaps just bad taste which surprises me constantly. she went totally overboard with the implants. they really trivialized her as a woman of substance which I always thought she was. I simply dont understand her apparent bottomless need for attention. I dont understand it at all. And she does tacky things hawking her wares which I never thought she would do or want to do. She should be the icon and the brand not the desperate peddlar dragging her handbags on her fathers show in the most inappropriate places. She has a little Kardashian in her and it strikes a not so nice note. The boys seem to not have that craving for attention and I like them better.Here's a quick holiday photo postcard from two New York powerhouses - Lady Gaga and Barney's. Gaga's Workshop is Mother Monster's charity pop up within Barney's men's store on Madison Avenue for the festive season. On a street made famous by its Mad Men advertising past, this successful coupling of two iconic brands is an innovative, not to mention thoroughly enjoyable, form of chugging with 25% of all sales going to Gaga's Born This Way Foundation.<p>Prada is classic. Since its inception, Prada has made the man look as elegant as possible - but every now and then, like the man -- Prada deviates from the script adding the element of surprise and intrigue. This was the case during Milan Fashion Week when its latest collection. </p><p>This collection, ironically - showed more colors than Prada's spring collection. Purple, yellow, and a vivid magenta took to the runway nestled in overcoats, blazers, suits, and cardigans to accentuate, while trying not to intimidate. Everyman doesn't necessarily look good in every color. Still, Prada does a good job of bringing together their collection of color amidst their trademark gray, blue, and black. This year, khaki made a guest appearance that was just enough to tease the fashion senses without dulling them. </p><p>My favorite look for the collection:</p><p>One of the things that I liked the most about this collection was the appearance of brighter colors. The collection comes off as a fresh perspective. My favorite piece epitomizes the feel for the men's element of the Prada show. A light-tan overcoat with buttons impeccably placed on the breast and torso of the coat along with black/blue slim slacks dominated the model who also wore a yellow/brown sweater underneath with a basic blue shirt. I will say that Prada did a horrid job of choosing the model, which looked absolutely sickly in the look. Just the same, the perspective was strong and well-stated. <br></p><p>Follow James Sanders on Twitter:</p><p>Fashion and art: both luxury goods, both highly desirable, both totally different in their function.</p><p>One is in its broadest sense crucial to survival, preserving modesty and protecting from the elements. The other's function, to quote Oscar Wilde, "is quite useless."</p>René Gruau, Rouge Baiser (image courtesy of East of Mayfair) <p><br>So where does the co-mingling of these two worlds come from? Is it cynical überbranding propelled by the PR machines of the fashion industry who want to top their glamour quotient with the exclusivity and wealth found at museum benefits, in art galleries and auction rooms or is it a genuine exchange of creativity? </p><p>The obvious intersections between art and fashion that come to mind are are recent well-known collaborations between fashion houses and artists. Richard Prince and Takashi Murakami, for example, designed the most recognizable bags of all time for Louis Vuitton. It is also worth noting that Francois Pinault not only owns Christie's (the biggest art business in the world) but also the fashion conglomerate Gucci Group. Similarly Miucca Prada invests heavily in the arts through her Fondazione Prada. No Fashion Week or major Art Fair passes without a show or event that involves a collaboration between a gallery, museum, designer, starchitect, celebrity, model, artist, magazine editor and a major fashion brand, supported, of course, by the appropriate luxury liquor brand. Thedesirable new sponsors for museum shows are no longer banks and insurance companies, but sexy names like Gucci, Prada and Armani. The caché of one megabrand feeds another and vice versa. </p><p><br>But this isn't how fashion and art were initially intertwined -- at the turn of the last century, the two were inseparable. Before the advent of modern fashion photography, magazines like Vogue, Harper's Bazaar and La Gazette du Bon Ton were filled with fine drawings of clothes and accessories rather than glossy photo spreads of supermodels. Fashion illustrators were given free range to interpret the spirit of each decade through their own personal vision and style. The most famous names among them were Erté, George Lepape and Christian Bérard in the first half of the century and the visionary René Gruau and Antonio (Lopez) in the latter half. These artists didn't simply draw fabric on mannequins, they created the flair, glamour and desire surrounding each trend through their illustrations and advertisements. </p>Antonio & Juan Ramos, For Italian Vanity (Image courtesy of East of Mayfair) <p><br>This tradition persisted alongside fashion photography as late as the 1990's, but was eventually replaced almost completely by the more effective, practical and versatile medium. The very first modern fashion photographs were shot by Baron de Mayer and fine art photographer Edward Steichen. Soon after, the work of Steichen, Cecil Beaton (also a fashion illustrator) and Horst P. Horst developed fashion photography into a serious art form. </p><p>The photographers who followed in their wake are household names such as Irving Penn, Richard Avedon, Peter Lindbergh, Steven Meisel and Mario Testino. These icons created images that have shaped our perception of style and beauty immensely and remain highly collectible artworks today. </p><p>While the Mert & Marcus, Craig McDeans and David Sims of today may not be quite as well known to those outside the fashion industry, many brands are also looking beyond their borders and engaging fine art photographers to enhance their visual branding. Most recently, the brilliant minds behind Bottega Veneta have secured the likes of Robert Longo, Jack Pierson and Alex Prager to give their campaigns a serious artistic credibility, Diane von Fürstenberg's summer campaign contained surreal echoes of Dali and John Baldessari and Marc Jacobs commissioned artist Rachel Feinstein to design the spectacular set for his latest New York runway show. </p><p><br>While one could interpret such choices as a clever PR strategy, no better than a luxury brand slapping their logo on a serious cultural event, it is clear that the relationship is not one-sided. The art world is hardly being highjacked by high end brands -- it is just as enamoured with the fashion industry and both can feed each other in different ways. As long as the creative output is convincing (despite being very commercial) and allows both sides to take advantage of new ideas, audiences and resources without undermining artistic integrity, the romance will stay alive.</p><p>Janina Joffe is the co-founder and director of .</p><p>Jean Paul Gaultier is as well known for his remarkable designs as . The famed French designer recently to discuss the new documentary about him by one of his former models and muses, Farida Khelfa that recently debuted at the Rio Film Festival in Brazil. What happened?</p>Khelfa's film is one of an increasing number of documentaries and dramatic features set in the fashion world. Whether Valentino: The Last Emperor or The Devil Wears Prada, Gaultier has watched most of them. However, he has mixed feelings about the way the camera has captured his professional world.<p>"I didn't like, for example, Prêt-à-Porter," he says of Robert Altman's mid-Nineties comedy drama, complaining that it wasn't sarcastic enough. Nor did he much care for The Devil Wears Prada itself. "Anna Wintour is a lot more monstrous than she is described!" he laughs of the 2006 film, which features Meryl Streep as a formidable fashion editor not unlike US Vogue's editor-in-chief, Wintour. Ask about his attitude toward Wintour and he is a little evasive. Is she a positive figure? "She is a figure," is all he will say. </p><p>Ouch. We bet that someone won't be featured in an upcoming issue of a certain American magazine...</p><br> <br><p>www.mydaily.co.uk:</p><p>What's this? Jennifer Aniston in something other than a Little Black Dress? We could barely contain our delight at first clocking these pictures of the actress in LA, wearing not only a gorgeous floral print, but a colourful one at that...</p><p>Abandoning her usual funeral attire without a backward glance, Jen was positively blooming as she posed for pictures outside Grauman's Chinese Theatre in this adorable floral Prada dress, paired with leg-lengthening nude heels. </p><p></p> <br>eGHZmFyID44mYu00M5dZQhYaAu%2FAmgJCGfYy66NCsZ3y2%2BCd8epkdQj2UKN14xi7V2f6zvgZ4FLzuHlXFqCtvHEMfu8cnurHR%2Bk7huUTK5GduMziZZw2K6rSnCeVSnLO4kIuB5Ua5hfpX3jCUjpesONZAp5v%2FZYto0CpL2BNQDbLKBQntDL%2BG2ZKPlg9r%2BFV<p>Lately, I have been hearing more and more women my age talk about how difficult it is to date, make new friends, or have any kind of deep relationship with another person. I'm starting to think the phrase, "If you can make it here, you can make it anywhere," is being taken a little bit too seriously. Let's face it, New York: we're obsessed with our careers. We're so scared to not making it, that our personal lives often fall by the wayside. There's a great quote in The Devil Wears Prada, when the young heroin solemnly looks to a co-worker for advice with a personal problem, missing her boyfriend's birthday party for a work event, and he promptly answers, "Let me know when your entire life goes up in smoke, then it's time for a promotion."</p><p>Hey you, answering work emails in the movie theater, I'm talking to you.</p><p>How many times have we missed a friend's birthday party, or a cousin's communion because we've had to work on the weekends? Or maybe it's because we're just too burnt out from the week. And what about dating? No, I don't mean meeting someone at Argo Tea on your lunch break for 45 minutes because that's all you have time for. I mean real, deep, all-consuming dating. Or god forbid, falling in love and getting married. Yes, I understand you may have to take a week off from work for your Honeymoon but don't worry, there will be plenty more data for you to enter into Excel when you get back.</p><p>Now ladies, I know what you're thinking, there are no good guys out there so why even put down the Blackberry to let one buy you a drink? Don't you miss the fun of getting ready on a Saturday night? Or chatting about it with your sister the next day over brunch? I know that a lot of guys are work obsessed too, and it's not always easy to find out who's wild and free. I'm not suggesting you go down to the Lower East Side and try to lure one over with the smell of Clove cigarettes and patchouli oil (if we're being frank, the smell of incense just doesn't do it for me anymore fellas). And while I know his flexible barista work schedule fits into your 65-hour work week, and his acoustic rendition of Morrissey's "Girlfriend in a Coma" shows you what a sensitive soul he has, do you really need to hear it for the third time in a row at two o'clock in the morning?</p><p>Try Match.com (it's not that scary!), or meet your friend's co-worker she's been dying to set you up with, even if he does work on Wall Street and you've sworn off "the suits." Stop dating the same yuppie who's been stringing you along for four months without committing. I can guarantee you he's sleeping with someone else. Let me save you a trip to the gynecologist and a 10 day round of antibiotics. Please take my advice. Remember what the book says? He's really just not that into you. I'm sorry.</p><p>The point is ladies, there's more to life out there. If you have the type of job where your boss won't let you go on vacation, even when you've told him five months in advance, tell him to shove it. And don't get me wrong, I love New York, but we all really do need to calm down.</p><p>Contemporary art is the world's newest social and economic currency. Culture and art have become luxury products merchandised and promoted around the globe like handbags and Italian loafers. With the internet enabling us to study, discuss and experience art in ways not imagined before, artists work across medium and disciplines. Painters become film makers. Photographers become sculptors. Actors become performance artists. </p><p>Indeed, contemporary art has become the cultural fabric and language of the world we inhabit, a rich landscape of creativity, choice and innovation. </p><p>Art is more accessible, more integrated in our lives and more utilitarian than ever before in history. What's best is that everyone can now buy real art made by recognized contemporary masters for modest prices. With works priced from $30 to $5000, this year's Artworld Gift Guide for the Holidays brings affordable and near-affordable works from some of the world's greatest contemporary art legends. </p><p>This year's curated artist choices include:<br>Louise Bourgeois<br>Nick Cave<br>Jessica Craig-Martin<br>Peter Doig<br>Elmgreen & Dragset<br>Jim Hodges<br>Isaac Julien<br>Paul Pfeiffer<br>Andy Warhol<br>Carrie Mae Weems<br>Kehinde Wiley</p><p></p><p></p><p>Louise Bourgeois is undeniably one of the greatest female artists of the 20th century. Born in France but living most of her life in America, Bourgeois made paintings, sculpture, drawings, prints, and other works including textiles. She was prolific and excellent in all aspects of her work. Made just prior to her recent death, this limited edition print showcases her trademark red. As an object of beauty, as an investment, as an homage to an artist who will long live in the pantheon of great artists, this work will stand the test of time on every measure. <br></p><p></p><p>Combining elements of dance, music, fashion and theatre, artist Nick Cave creates Sound Suits, sculpture which incorporates all these elements. This limited edition photo of a Cave Sound Suit in action conveys the artist's obsession with movement, musicality and craft. Nice Cave is surely one of the most important contemporary artists working today. While his works are waiting list only for art collectors, you now can enjoy have a Sound Suit in your home thanks to this editioned photograph. </p><p>http://aceditions.com/products/soundsuit-number-1</p><p></p><p></p><p>The daughter of a famous artist and well-respected in her own right, Jessica Craig-Martin has created a photographic multiple that is suggestive and sexy. Is this a still from American Gigolo, a party pic from your last trip to LA or a fantasy? </p><p></p><p></p><p>If you're heading to the beach for the holidays, there's no better artist to take with you than Trinidad-based artist, Peter Doig. His paintings often feature scenes like the one reproduced in this all cotton, beach towel. Why pay over $2 million for a DOIG painting at auction, when you can wrap yourself with this masterpiece, then throw it in the washing machine? </p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>"Alongside a desolate stretch of highway outside the small Texas town of Marfa (pop. 2,121), a solitary white monolith emerges from the desert sand emblazoned with the most powerful word the world has ever known: Prada. Created in 2005 by Berlin-based artists Michael Elmgreen and Ingar Dragset, Prada Marfa is sculptural reconstruction of a Prada store, complete with actual Prada shoes and bags from the Fall 2005 collection displayed in the window. Yet, there is no working door, leaving the viewer as a perpetual window-shopper. Now Prada Marfa is essentially a minimalist sculpture paying homage to the town of Marfa, Texas--once home to revolutionary minimalist artist Donald Judd--while documenting a fleeting moment in the ephemeral tastes of fashion, forever as unattainable fetishized items of desire.-Drew Tewksbury" </p><p><br></p><p></p><p>Nothing says art world extravagance like these sunglasses made famous by the great patroness, muse and art world paramour Peggy Guggenheim. Designed by American artist Edward Melcarth, these glasses come from Italy, like Guggenheim herself, who held court over her salon from a Venetian villa on the Grande Canale. You too will feel like a doyenne looking at the world through these blue tinted glasses! </p><p></p><p></p><p>Every year, famed art collector, billionaire Peter Norton commissions the hottest contemporary artists to make gifts for his friends in the art world. Who is on the list to receive these amazing gifts? Leading curators, collectors, big donors and influencers in the art world, naturally. Jim Hodges was recently commissioned to make one of the annual gifts, and now, thanks to the Museum of Modern Art's gift shop, you too can be wrapped in the elegance and beauty afforded to Norton's nearest and dearest. </p><p><br></p><p></p><p>Isaac Julien's films and photo still images transport viewers to extreme and exotic landscapes, along the way exploring issues of race, immigration, and class. This image taken from Julien's True North series is exceptionally beautiful, juxtaposing the black woman in the Icelandic landscape. </p><p> </p><p> <br> <br></p><p>Paul Pfeiffer's use of video stills in this tryptich show everything but the ball! </p><p><br></p><p></p><p>This poster was printed to commemorate a gallery show hosted by art world genius Larry Gagosian. While Andy Warhol, surely the most important 20th century American artist, is known for his iconic portraits of Marilyn Monroe, Elvis, Jackie O, and Liz Taylor, his earliest work focused on elevating the images of every day consumerism like Campbell's Soup cans and Coca-Cola. Nothing says POP ART better than a Warhol Coca-Cola image. This will make the perfect gift for the young enthusiast. Everyone desires to begin his or her collection with a Warhol. Nothing says POP like Andy Warhol's Coca-Cola image. <br></p><p></p><p>This black and white photo comes from Weems' "Kitchen Table Series" which portrayed Weems in various domestic scenes in which the artist performs various stories, creating a narrative about relationships, family, race, sex and society. The work is evocative, mysterious and dramatic. What more can one hope for in the art we live with?<br> <br><br></p><p>The author first met Kehinde Wiley over a decade ago thanks to The Studio Museum of Harlem's Thelma Golden. Wiley, known primarily for his luxuriously baroque paintings, takes inspiration from the classical Renaissance Court artists.</p><p>His works are portraits of beautiful young men in heroic poses, elevated far above their contemporary context. By going back in a historical context, Wiley raises up his young black men. </p><p>The editioned sculptural work here positions the subject as a King of France, specifically inspired from a marble bust of Louis XIV. </p><p>A bright new face has been added to the crowded Web, drawing a large readership and uploading more than 900 stories in its first twelve weeks. Still in soft-launch, The Jim Luce Stewardship Report () is focused on "Connecting Goodness."</p><p>Covering Faces, Issues, World Affairs, Life Style, the Arts, and Video, JLSR offers articles by a global mix of over 50 writers since its spring inception, including the American Ambassador to Haiti, the Sri Lankan Ambassador to the U.N., and the new JLSR Health Editor, Dr. Steven Becker. The group page for contributors and friends already has more than 600 members.</p> <p><br>The portal's mission is to engage the world to improve it. It is about bettering ourselves so that we can do more to better humanity. It is accepting the responsibility we have as human beings -- Buddhist, Christian, Muslim, Jewish, Hindu, Humanist, or None of the Above -- to actively help better the world. </p><p>The Stewardship Report focuses on what my Jewish friends call tikum olem. Christians, the Social Gospel. Muslims, helping the unfortunate - a key tenet of Islam. Buddhists, mindfulness with a purpose.</p><p>For me, this has meant helping orphaned children in the developing world though Orphans International Worldwide (). My passion. Your focus might be the arts, the environment, women's issues, gay rights, housing. JLSR is for all of us who care, and who are frustrated that we do not know how best to make a difference. We can collectively heal the world. This site will feature information about and ways to do that.</p><p>The Stewardship Report includes profiles, social diary, business, children, conflict resolution, connectivity, education, environment, eyewitness, health, viewpoint, politics, United Nations, news and views from Africa, the Americas, Asia-Pacific, Europe, Mid-East, South Asia, Developing World, as well as Artists, Cultural, Dance, Film, Fine Arts, Literature, Music, Museums, Theater, Photography, and the Performing Arts. The most-read section is .™</p><p>The Jim Luce Stewardship Report Index™ ("The Luce Index™") ranks thought leaders and global citizens on ten confidential criteria which collectively indicate the individual's ability to create positive social change. The theme of The Stewardship Report is Connecting Goodness, and The Luce Index™ ranks leaders in their ability to do so. Luce Index™ scores are updated frequently and may be used for public use with attribution to Luce Index™. More than 300 thought leaders and global citizens are already ranked (and written about).</p><p>Skype Interviews. One benefit of getting to know heads of state and CEO's is that they know much more about the world than I do. Take Josh Silverman of , for example. He turned me on to software that records videos from Skype calls. I can now interview heads of state anywhere in the world and create a record of it on-line. I would like to Skype-interview Arianna Huffington in Washington, Desmond Tutu and Nelson Mandela in South Africa, Bono, Michelle Obama, Muhammad Yunus in Bangladesh, Oprah Winfrey in Chicago, the Dalai Lama in India, and Elie Wiesel in Los Angeles.</p><p>With ad revenues increasing, the editorial team has announced the portal's first editorial calendar. The Fourth Quarter has been set as follows:</p>October is all about Culture: film, literature, theater, and the arts. Plus music, dance, architecture, and photography. I personally want to interview one of my favorite authors, Sri Lankan-Canadian Shyam Selvadurai. Look for special features on Jazz at Lincoln Center, Clive Davis, and even Vodou Rock.<p><br>November we tackle Health. Why are people in my family dying of cancer? Where are we now with HIV & AIDS? Our health editor will help us answer questions. I also want to cover NGOs and health, looking at Doctors without Borders and The Smile Train.</p><p>December is the Holiday Season - a time for Peace and Hope - and we shift to universal good will and a search for unsung heroes. Know any? Desmond Tutu, Peter Yarrow, and Bob Edgar of Common Cause are big for me. Also a look at giving around the world.</p><p>The First Quarter of 2011 is eclectic:</p>January is the month to look at child care around the world, including my passion: orphan care. I want to learn more about SOS Children's Villages and better explain the mission of Orphans Interntional Worldwide. Do you know the difference between Family vs. Full Care? What's up with UNICEF and CARE? If WorldVision is willing to help kids, does it matter that at heart they want to convert them to their version of Christianity? It does to me - I think it is immoral.<p><br>February is all about love and relationships. Gay Marriage. Gay Immigration in the U.S. Gay Valentines in... Jamaica? Should I go check it out? Interracial love can be as challenging today as romance was for Romeo and Juliet. And yet it is also more common than ever in our history. How about intergenerational romance? Foster families?</p><p>March is about poverty, in the Developing World - and in the United States. Do you have any idea how many Americans today receive Food Stamps? How does poverty differ from New York City to Port-au-Prince and New Delhi? Child porostituiton is a problem in Phnom Phen - and in Brooklyn.</p><p>The Second Quarter of 2011 is what your mother warned you never to discuss in public: religion, politics, and finances.</p>April is about religion - or lack thereof. I would love to interview the Episcopal Presiding Bishop, Dr. , , and the . Would I be foolhardy enough to attempt a definitive five page article on What is Christianity? Islam? Buddhism? Hinduism? Humanism? You bet.<p><br>May is about politics, when we re-visit in Cambodia, in New York, and all our friends in between. JLSR deals with Goodness, so you will have to read about Dick Cheney and Sarah Palin elsewhere. I would like to chat with George Bush, however. And interview Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton. Maybe even Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton!</p><p>June we get serious and discuss finance and our economy. I will find experts who can explain the world in ways that we can understand it. If the Chinese can make that lamp at Home Depot for me to buy for $30, what's the problem? There is one - let me explain it. What about Wal-Mart? And where are we with unions in this new millennium?</p><p>The Third Quarter of 2011 will be as follows:</p>July will feature stories on the Environment and Going Green. Environmentally-friendly reconstruction efforts in Haiti and other stories will run during this month. A close-up on mHealth, mEducation and mCommerce and how they impact Social Change. Chats with people close to the Aga Khan, the Earth Institute at Columbia, and the Rockefeller Foundation.<p><br>August will focus on Travel, including pieces on "Almost Heaven, West Virginia," "Puerto Rico - More than Ricky Martin," and to beat-the-heat, "Book Now for Dog Sledding in Alaska!" Plus the best of Africa, Asia, the Mid-East, of course Europe and the Americas.</p><p>September brings us to the more sobering topics of both Human Rights and the Environment. We will learn more about Universal Human Rights Declaration of the U.N. and the NGO Human Rights Watch. A look at Robert Kennedy and the Waterkeeper Alliance is planned.</p><p>And voila - the first year of The Jim Luce Stewardship Report () is in the bag. It seems so simple, yet of course, it isn't.</p><p>"There is a fine line between another blog and a news and views portal," states attorney , an advisor to JLSR. We are positioning the Stewardship Report between the and - both of which Jim Luce has written for."</p><p>John Lee of . is our Lifestyle Editor. Dr. Steven Becker is medical editor, and Veejay Sai is a lifestyle contributor, interviewing fashionistas such as Agatha Ruiz de la Prada.</p><p>Presently, viewers are primarily spread between ten countries: the U.S., Canada, the U.K., Cambodia, Germany, Malaysia, France, Ireland, Netherlands, and Singapore. The average time readers spend on each story is over five minutes. The JLSR goal is to reach 500,000 unique viewers per month in 2010. At present, readers speak over 30 different languages.</p><p>Recent readers have logged on from Afghanistan, Argentina, Australia, Bahrain, Belgium, Brazil, China, the D.R., Greece, Haiti, India, Indonesia, Israel, Italy, Japan, Jordan, Kenya, Laos, Mexico, Norway, Philippines, Portugal, Russia, South Africa, South Korea, Spain, Sri Lanka, Sweden, Switzerland, Syria, Taiwan, Thailand, Togo, Tunisia, Turkey, the Ukraine, U.A.E., and Vietnam.</p><p>Be prepared for an exciting year with lots of e-books on the horizon. Our writers will tell you what you want to know from around the globe. Whether it's in Africa, the Americas, Asia-Pacific, Europe, Mid-East, South Asia, about politics, religion, or the arts, The Jim Luce Stewardship Report intends to grow into a portal you call home. Connecting Goodness!</p><p> is published by Luce Publications, established in 1984.</p>See also by :<p><br><br></p><p>Follow Jim Luce on Twitter:</p><p>Fact: There are 28 Springfields in the U.S. according to the United States Census Bureau</p><p>It's not even the most-recurring place name in the country. But for every uninspired destination name, there's one that's so wacky, you might wonder whether some town official from way-back-when named it on a dare. </p><p>In some cases, that's not far from the truth. But family names, language gaps and indigenous species have more to do with the far-fetched place names of middle America. Get your trivia fix right here. </p><p></p><p>Karlie Kloss may be a fierce supermodel with legs for days, but she’s also a super adorable teenager from St. Louis. The W cover girl is featured in W Editor at Large Lynn Hirschberg’s latest “Screen Test,” in which she discusses being a teen model, being forced by Carine Roitfeld to do ballet at a Prada store, and what high school was like, which wasn’t very long ago for the 19-year-old.</p><p></p>Botox, plastic breasts, air brushed photos, bleached hair,calling women"hoes and b*****s", first name has to be Kat( a little humor), honor killings,partial birth abortions used as birth control,muslim "stoning" of women, turning runaways into prostitutes,teenage pregnancies,mothers abusing babies,the porn industry, legitimate rape cases and false rape accusations,teachers not getting fired for having intimate relations with students(male and female) and more. What are we doing to our moms,daughters, nieces, aunts, grandmothers,etc,etc? We need more laws, stricter penalties, less probations, better protection, less plea deals, family units( two people raising children not that a single person can't but is becomes a financial problem) Women's organizations have to get involved in these social problems instead of a 3rd grader who kisses a little girl on the cheek and wants sensitivity classes for the 7 year old boy.Got it?<p>Kate Middleton proves yet again that she's just like the rest of us. Well, sort of.</p><p>Like many women, Kate opted out of watching the football game with her husband on Friday. Instead, she joined 150 kids for a performance of "The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe" in London's Kensington Gardens. </p><p>The Duchess' outfit choice was another another nod to the common folk: a teal Zara dress paired with a black blazer from Whistles. She accessorized the low-key look with black satin pumps and clutch and a pair of drop earrings.</p><p>Kate's been known to wear every now and then ( and ), so we already knew that girl could just as well as . But some of her more democratic sartorial choices .</p><p>Do you think her look was high-low perfection or ?</p><p>PHOTO: </p><p></p><p>Check out some more pictures from Kate Middleton's kid-friendly outing below.</p><p></p><p>Want more? Be sure to check out HuffPost Style on , , and .</p><p>Vogue editrix Anna Wintour recently sat down as a guest , batting down The Devil Wears Prada puns and teasing Colbert about his out?t. At one point, Colbert asked Wintour why she bothered with fashion -- and if she ever just had an urge to give it all up, throw on a tracksuit and go to Long John Silver's. Leave it to Colbert to ask the poignant questions. But Wintour doesn't lack a sense of humor, and so she played along congenially before bringing the point back up: Does fashion have merit? If so, what?</p><p>Colbert's query was more than satire, as I've faced similar lines of questioning. I've felt the need to defend fashion, and my interest in it, ever since I started reading Vogue as a sophomore in high school, trying to convince peers that yes, I could still be intelligent and read fashion magazines; yes, fashion is a natural place for art, love, history and culture to mix; and yes, there were articles in there. I'm certain I'm not alone in believing fashion is much more than the clothes on a model, much as I'm certain I'm not the only one who's received skeptical responses to their interest in subject.</p><p>Over the years, I've heard a variety of criticisms. To all of you naysayers, I wish I could shut you down with a verbal smackdown like the one Meryl Streep in?icts on Anne Hathaway in The Devil Wears Prada -- bless that woman -- but I don't have deliverance of that fortitude. At least not now.</p><p>I'll start with this. Agreeably, many of the prices in the fashion world are toeing the proverbial "outrageous" line, especially when compared to, say, the cost of a fedora from Target (and I love their fedoras). I'll admit that. However, in reality, very few people in the world today can actually afford couture, and the median household income of the women's luxury magazine readership falls at roughly $63,000 -- a far cry from salaries cut out for consistent spending on esteemed fashion brands. Even if one does have the money to spend on luxury items, clothes ring up at the lowest end. There's no question. But if so few people can actually afford the clothes that are being produced, what's the point?</p><p>Allow me. In the same way that most people who admire a Picasso will never be able to buy one, the majority of people who pine for an iconic Chanel suit will never feel that wool against their skin. Nevertheless, much as one can still appreciate Picasso's pieces and his invaluable contributions to the art world as co-founder of the cubist movement, one can still look at early Chanel designs and see how themes of women's empowerment and activity were manifested in the designs. You don't have to love cubism and you don't have to love Chanel, but perhaps there should be some semblance of equal understanding and respect. See my point?</p><p>I've decided fashion can be two things. It can be as simple as something you put on to make yourself feel beautiful, or as dynamic as something illustrative of culture, time and its transformations. As someone with previous fashion closet experience, I admit that holding a jewel-encrusted Dolce & Gabbana bodysuit, or running my hands over a pair of Charlotte Olympia mother-of-pearl Dolly shoes is an experience in and of itself -- and one mostly limited to luxurious trappings of the industry. But I would also I submit that those who take time to see past the surface of fashion -- those who understand its currents, in?uences, messages and history -- are able to see its merit.</p><p>Miuccia Prada, heralded designer and head of the iconic Prada fashion conglomerate, is so simple it's often overlooked:</p>"Fashion is the ?rst step out of poverty. You have nothing and then you put something on. It is one of the ?rst things you do to elevate yourself. ... Why are people scandalized by spending money on clothes? Everybody is so passionate about this -- there's a resistance to fashion -- an idea that to love fashion is to be stupid. Clothes are very intimate. When you get dressed, you are making public your idea about yourself, and I think that embarrasses people."<p>As a society, we're taught not to judge a book by its cover, yet we often do. In this same spirit, I'd urge you not to judge fashion merely with a glance. Even if you think Wintour is an ice queen with a bias (for the record: I do not) and your only association with Prada is that the devil wears it, trust me on this one: As far as fashion goes, there's more than meets the eye.</p><p>I remember a time when the words "Olympics" and "style watch" used in the same sentence amounted to little more than counting the sequins on the tiny tumbling leotards of gymnasts, preppy lusting over the equestrian britches and giggling at the swimmers' Speedos before they elongated to those little shorts Ryan Lochte sports oh so well. But that was in the yesteryear of the pre-digital era when if you missed a match or a meet, there was no replaying via livestream and empty seats and other faux pas were kept on the quiet in the non-existence of Twitter. </p><p>The 2012 Games are, one could argue, the first truly social media savvy installation of the world's greatest sporting event, which in turn means that with the increase in the number of eyes fixated on moments both on and off the courts, and infinitely more channels on which to discuss infinitely more topics than say, the score, the fields of play have now become fields of fashion. </p><p>Consider: "Since Beijing hosted the summer Olympics in 2008, smartphone ownership has skyrocketed to 107 million, a 456 percent increase in four years. Facebook accounts have increased 900 percent and the number of Twitter accounts has gone from just under 1 million to 300 million in 2012" </p><p>Now consider: "The athletes' parade during Friday's opening ceremony might as well have been a catwalk show, with some of fashion's biggest names - Armani, Prada, Ralph Lauren, Stella McCartney - designing the team uniforms" </p><p>You can always count on the fashion industry not to count themselves out of a multi-media friendly spectacle. The 2012 Games cements it: from here on out, every global media event-sporting, political or otherwise - is now fair game for a fashion event. In terms of marketing, it doesn't get any better than this spur-of-the moment real-time engagement, positioning Prada pool-side and Hermes against the hurdle. </p><p>Who cares what the athletes are doing so long as they look chic doing it (in 140 characters or less)? Double up on national pride, free models and large-scale social media exposure. For brands, Olympic visibility means accessing a market via social media that is not limited to runway related interests, that is to say, a broader demographic that may or may not find such fashion week hi-jinx and luxury fashion in general a touch elitist, inaccessible and generally inapplicable to their lives, and therefore, uninteresting. It's a (back)stroke of genius for designer brands looking for ways to engage newer and bigger audiences via their viral channels all the year long, particularly in the fashion slow-down months of July and August. </p><p>Giorgio Armani's duds for the Opening Ceremony included a navy blue suit with soft two buttoned jacket in cotton jersey teamed with classic trousers, a light blue cotton shirt and a regimental tie for him and a softer version of the same for her. Stella McCartney tapped her longstanding association with Adidas to create the on and off duty gear for team UK (Union Jacks all around) and herself caused quite the stir Instagramming away from the Opening Ceremonies as she cheered on a "Hey Jude" crooning Papa Paul clad head to toe in a delightfully chic shimmery gold number. </p><p>The Jamaican team had its duds designed by Cedella Marley (daughter of Bob) for Puma and Ralph Lauren took some good old fashioned American flack for outsourcing (or was it off-shoring?) the manufacture of Team USA's kit to China. Hermes neatly arranged riding jackets for France's equestrian team (some saddles would be nice too guys, mais pas?) and Salvatore Ferragamo designed the official uniform for the tiny Republic of San Marino. Karl, in true Lagerfeld style, left the German team to their own unchic devices and cashed in for himself launching, ahem, the Team Karl collection at Selfridge's. The Kaiser accordingly that he would not be watching the Games as he likes the "idea" of it better than the actual event. Team Karl obviously plays in its own thinner, much less sweaty league. </p><p>The British Fashion Council also announced that a consortium of emerging British talent had a hand in designing costumes for key segments of the Olympic Opening Ceremony. Over the course of the last year Suttirat Larlab, Creative Director for Danny Boyle (who orchestrated the Opening Ceremony), toured the studios of the best of British based new young designer talent in the run up to the big event and selected three to partake in it all. Christopher Shannon, Michael Van Der Ham and Nasir Mazhar were the qualifying finalists gleaned from the East End for Britain's homegrown sartorial team, creating the looks for 350 out of the 1200 dancers that performed on opening night. </p><p>The style spectacle also spills, just like fashion week, off the pitch and into the sidelines: Michelle wore Mendel and Kate sported Kane, as presses releases lining my inbox over the weekend informed me. And as I keep my eye to Instagram, you can bet there will be some street style scouts on the loose and round-ups of the "best Olympic outfits" coming to a slideshow near you. </p><p>While the impetus behind fashion's social media sanctified Olympic love affair undoubtedly circles back to a commercial/marketing objective, the implications are rather positive ones. An industry that is normally associated with all sorts of unhealthy practices and substances slipping out of its lofty stilettos and into a pair of sneakers so as to celebrate the human body in all its properly nourished and psychically honed glory seems like a positive enough move to me. Athletes, on account of perpetual training rather than perpetual hunger, make great models that send strong, healthy messages and it's great to give these inspirational individuals a chance to shine in an arena other than their own. Who's to disapprove of the likes of Michael Phelps soaking in a Louis Vuitton bath as opposed to smiling up wholesomely from a Wheaties box? So long as we still pay attention to the actual sports, a little side serving of style never hurt anyone.</p><p>I suppose the only question left is WHEN will one of our stylish fashion friends lend a helping hand to those poor scrunchied gymnasts still straggling in the mid-nineties? Gabby Douglas would look great springing across that floor in a little Pam Hogg number, don't you think?</p> <br><p>Follow Kristin Knox on Twitter:</p><p>As you can probably tell (or most likely have seen or read for yourself, depending on how closely you involve yourself with the show milieu), the street style thing of late has transcended to a whole new dimension of CRAY. So much so that this season I even witnessed a former Sidewalk Queen declining would-be paps (but then again maybe that was because we'd ALL seen that Christopher Kane embroidered bomber before...). Even Anna Dello Russo seems to have calmed down, changing only three thrice daily instead of five times and even lowering the altitude of her headgear. That being said, in the last season or two, I've noticed a shift in the ubiquity of "trend" from being designer and runway led to street style championed. These days, there seems to be more diversity amongst catwalk creations than there are individuals loose on the sidewalks -something of a fashion industry irony. As show orbiters pin down the rules of street style attraction to a fine science, the result is a gamut of items and trends, from "edgy" and hipster to the power luxury and editor, that have been overexposed. So below I've collated 10 trends which I sincerely hope, come next season, are relegated to the archives in every sense of the word.</p><p>1) The Neon Cambridge Satchel<br>They've been around for at least three seasons now, probably reaching their apex in appropriateness in September or even during the menswear shows in the summer. At first they were punchy, then they were personalizeable and now they're pariahs. Not that I don't love a good Cambridge Satchel, but the neons/stars/polkadots--it's all too much. Just give me classic brown, put some books in it and basta. </p><p></p><p> 2) The Glitter Booty-Miu Miu or Otherwise<br>I'll be the first to admit I was head over glitter heels for these booties when they first shimmered onto the circuit about a year ago. In September, I swear there were more glitter boots on the loose than street style photographers, leaving a trail of sparkling sidewalk like Lucky Charms wherever they went. This season, I have to say (and I HATE this phrase but here goes) they just looked so last season. I am a firm believer in the myth of the trend, that is to say, I believe you should just wear whatever you want when you want, it's all a question of how your style it. But sometimes, pieces with such strong personality negate excessive styling and so what you end up with is an army of similarly simply clad girls all boasting the same statement bootie. Thus the time for all tinkerbell inspired footwear to go back in the box has come.</p><p></p><p>3. Versace for H&M<br>By the time fashionistas were queuing round the world during all hours of the night to get their hands on the stuff, I was already sick of Versace for H&M, having had more press releases about the incremental implementation of the collaboration than had Kate Middleton stepped out in public hand and hand with the Queen having forgotten her flesh-tone tights. Yes, really. Hence why yours truly was slumbering peacefully in her bed while a good portion of the fash pack battled it out all over the globe, their brave early morning tales clogging up Twitter whence I woke. And where, pray tell, did all this sold out Versace for H&M go? It went straight to fashion week. Be it the printed tops and skirts or, even more prevalent, the studded mosaic biker jacket, Donatella's foray into fast fashion was the uniform of the season. Just remember they call it "fast" for a reason. </p><p></p><p> 4) Bright Dip-Dye<br>I will concede, about this time last spring I was practically in tears when my hair stylist refused to sear bleach into the tips of my hair to then dunk it in auburn to create what I was convinced would be the most ah-mah-zing ambre dip dye ever, refusing to "destroy" my natural color and texture. Fast forward six months later, and I revoke the title I bestowed upon him of London's grinchiest hair stylist who doesn't know what the hell he's talking about. The dip dye thing was so visually exciting when it first trickled like spilled Kool-Aid across the tresses of the so-called "hipster sect" of the fash pack, making for great photos against derelict brick walls, all the more so as cool kids were quick to match their tangerine locks to their tangerine trousers, their green tips to their green tops, and so on and so forth. But since we tipped the new year, it's felt a bit dipped out to me, with only the subtler dip dye jobs--such as varying shades of honey blonde--still registering chic in my book. Time to whack off those ends and start again, ladies. </p><p></p><p> 4) Blue Hair for Him & Her<br>On the subject of hair, I'd like to say: blue is not the hue. This season, on the crops of both men and shortly shorn ladies, blue hair dye was seen on way too many individuals. Tavi went for the grey/blue granny-meets-cookie-monster look what feels now like years ago and was not lauded for it then. Come on boys, back to the salon you go. </p><p></p><p>5) Prada Creepers<br>They're EVERYWHERE, on men and women alike, Prada's raffia woven brogue flatforms are now a scourge on our sidewalks. Personally, I've never really warmed to the flatform, preferring to either wear (call me old fashioned) flats or platforms. Even the miniature of Marc Jacobs at his own exhibition with Louis Vuitton features the designer sporting a pair. I feel a flatform intervention coming on...creep away, creep away (and take your little blue stripe with you please). </p><p></p><p>6) Side Plait<br>As much as it pains me to say it, its time to untwist your side plaits. While I still personally love a good braid, especially when one does not have time to wash one's hair between fashion partying straight into one's 9AM show, we're now coming up on year two of the trend and I find myself drawn to sleeker pony tails than braids these days. </p><p></p><p> 7) Celine Luggage Totes<br>Some of you may try to hack my site for this one, but I do think the Celine luggage tote could benefit from a short bow out. Celine is like crack for street stylers and over the seasons, editors, bloggers, buyers and models off duty have discovered that a Luggage Tote in any size, shape or color will land you on someone "Best of Fashion Week X" list. So what began as a sort of 21st century edition of a Birkin-status bag, that is to say, heirloomable bags so expensive and so exclusive they can only be obtained by long waiting list, now feels over saturated. I'm not saying the loose the Luggage indefinitely, just check them into the baggage hold for a season or two. </p><p></p><p> 8) Valentino's Studded Patent T-bar Pumps<br>Somewhere on the road, I overheard someone say that you can tell who's having a moment by the footwear most spotted during fashion month, a useful line of reasoning which I filed away til now. Following this logic, the designer of this season would have to be Valentino, because his studded t-bar pumps were spotted on some of the most stylish feet from New York to Paris, so much so that I'd say they're on the cusp of overexposure. That is to really say, fine for February, stash away for September. </p><p></p><p>9) Le Petit 2.55<br>I still kind of want one, but I will hold back as long as I can. These pocket-sized Chanel 2.55's have been cropping up on all sorts of arms this season, and I can totally see why. They're cute, collectable and CHANEL (not to mention their quaint jersey quilt costs the same as a pocket of a regular leather sized 2.55). On some refined editors, the little 2.55 was a new variant on a classic accessory of which you know they have the better part of an army stashed away at home. On others, it screamed: "I Chanel because I can." And that's not a covetable label for anyone. </p><p></p><p>10) Novelty Cameras<br>Thanks to folk like Lomography and retailers like Urban Outfitters, novelty cameras and things to put on your camera have become the kitsch must have of bloggers worldwide. However, having tried very unsuccessfully to wrangle one myself, I can confirm that they are not the handiest of things for having with you at shows, and you wind up posing more with it than you do behind it. My fashion week camera philosophy is thus: if it doesn't improve your image quality, do you really need it? The same goes for "cute" camera cases and things resembling necklaces supplementing for camera straps.</p> <p>Follow Kristin Knox on Twitter:</p><p> tends to establish her own signature styles, from to . But while hanging with her pal Donatella Versace in Milan this week, Gaga decided to recreate someone else's legendary look: Elizabeth Hurley's safety pin dress. </p><p>The pop star was seen exiting her Milan hotel on Tuesday , complete with the plunging neckline, the embellished straps and the gold safety pin sides. Gaga even had her "hair" (which we're guessing was a wig?) dyed brown like Hurley's. </p><p>The one key difference: Gaga had on those ubiquitous platform boots of hers. Hey, it ain't a Gaga outfit without treacherously high footwear, right?</p><p> before, but this dress might be the most memorable. which she attended with her then-boyfriend, Hugh Grant. The racy Versace dress got so much attention it earned its own nickname ("That Dress"), was memorialized with and is still one of the most famous items ever designed by Versace (along with , natch). </p><p>So who better to revive the safety pin dress than Queen of the Wild Dresses herself, Lady Gaga? .</p><p>PHOTOS:</p><p></p><p></p><p>What other legendary dresses could Lady Gaga revive?<br></p><p>Want more? Be sure to check out HuffPost Style on , , and .</p><p>When the time comes to settle down, where should an Angeleno look for the best spouse? Amongst the skinny-jeaned, headbanded hipsters of LA's Eastside? Or the golf-playing, Prada-wearing preps of LA's Westside?</p><p>The answer may surprise you. The vast majority of Angelenos who use the leading dating site for married people seeking affairs, , live on the Westside. Only one of the top 10 adulterous LA neighborhoods is on the Eastside. </p><p>Another cheating statistic that sets Angelenos apart is our penchant for nighttime love, AshleyMadison spokesperson Shari Cogan told The Huffington Post. While most American AshleyMadison members have affairs between 9 a.m. - 5 p.m. with only 18 percent having affairs after 5 p.m., 47 percent of LA members rendezvous between 5 p.m. - midnight. Perhaps it gets a little too hot and steamy in LA's year-round "broad daylight"?</p><p>Finally, LA members are also looking to have an out-of-state affair more than the average US member. While 10 percent of male members on AshleyMadison purchase the "Traveling Man" feature across the US, 19 percent of LA men purchase the feature (almost double the national rate), Cogan told HuffPost. When asked in what city these LA "traveling men" are looking to have a secret liaison, New York was the overwhelming top choice, with 47 percent of male Angelenos wanting a Big Apple affair.</p><p>Across the City of Angels there are more than 475,000 cheating members on AshleyMadison, according to the site. Sound like a lot? Los Angeles actually didn't even make the top-10 list of US cities with the most cheaters. That somewhat surprising is as as follows, in order: Washington, DC (love them politicians!), San Antonio, Phoenix, Salt Lake City, Oklahoma City, Pittsburgh, Boston, Chicago, Dallas and Orlando. According to a spokesman for the site, high-ranking cities are filled with powerful people, and "the more successful you are, the more prone to cheating you are."</p><p>Still, while Angelenos are not top cheaters, we're definitely not prudes. Six of the top 10 US neighborhoods that "" are in LA, according to personality tests taken nationally by singles on . We also , according to a Trojan Condom survey.</p><p>Click through LA's top cheating LA neighborhoods:<br></p><p>When we exchange our Prada bags for Baby Bjorns, we also unwittingly check off the box that says "mothers don't drink." But just because we popped out a baby does not mean we still don't want to pop the Veuve Clicquot!</p><p>Why is it that as soon as we become mothers, we are expected to leave our cosmos at the bar and settle for reruns of ? Are all mothers who crave a glass or two of wine regarded as closet alcoholics?</p><p>When I was single and living in New York City, I regularly went out for a drink with the girls. I loved these evenings (or Saturday afternoons or Sunday brunches) -- they were a fabulous mix of fun, laughter and group therapy with smart, funny, like-minded women. After I married and moved, I continued the tradition with new friends, sharing a glass of wine with a gal pal after work or on the weekends in my new city. My friends and I always referred to these nights as "going out for drinks" or "cocktails with the girls."</p><p>So you can imagine my surprise when, after having my twins, the happy hour invites stopped and were suddenly replaced by e?mails and e-vites for Moms' Book Club, Mommy Spa Day, Make Your Own Purse Night, Mother of Twins Club and- - well, you get the idea. In my sleep-deprived, housebound-new mommy state of mind (did I mention that I was socially starved after weeks of pink and blue onesies?), I dusted off my English major literary prowess and drove to suburbia to my first Moms' Book Club.</p><p>Once there, I quickly learned that you cannot judge a book club by its cover. When I arrived at my first "meeting," instead of the provocative book discussion I had expected, I was greeted with a formal wine tasting, followed by a gourmet dinner and after-dinner drinks that lasted well past midnight -- on a weeknight! And then the same thing began to happen again and again: Make Your Own Purse night offered pitchers of sangria, Mother of Twins Club was drinks and appetizers at a local pub, Mommy Spa Day featured mini-spa treatments accompanied by perfectly chilled Pinot Grigio and finger food at the country club. Soon I saw a trend in all these mommy events -- they were our respectable, socially acceptable alibis for drinking. This got me thinking (and talking) about the strange double standard between the non-moms and the new moms. didn't have a chapter titled: "Top 10 Cute Ways for New Mothers to Secretly Steal a Cocktail." What happened to just saying (or even shouting) "I need a drink!"?</p><p>As I talked with other moms about this (over an Irish coffee during Knitting Club, of course), a common thread emerged: even when they try to hide it, all mothers (single or married, first-time or veteran) regularly celebrate, relax, and -- yes -- escape with a cocktail, all in the spirit of being a better mommy. A glass of Pinot Noir, a chocolate martini or a pomegranate margarita -- the cocktail does not matter, but the escape and the ability to temporarily blur reality does. Once, on a plane ride back from Las Vegas, another mother told me in a hushed voice that her nightly cocktail was her "mother's little helper," filling that time we all call the witching hour (just after the children's dinner and before Daddy returns home). The more I talked about this to friends and relatives, the more confessions I heard. One mom always jokes, "it's 5:00 p.m. somewhere" while pouring a glass of Chardonnay and calling her sister for a virtual drink date. Others have a weekly or monthly Moms' Club meeting that is never canceled. More attend Moms' Shopping Nights that involve strolling along quaint New England streets where each boutique offers sips of their favorite libations (one store owner and mother told me that these shopping nights can turn into shoplifting nights if the ladies get too tipsy).</p><p>Sitting at the computer with a glass of my favorite port, I have a realization: We really aren't any different than our single sisters. Sure, we are moms now. Okay, we left the city for the suburbs. Yes, we have children. Yes, some of us drive minivans, and many of us now call happy hours "moms' nights." But we will never pack away the Prada. We still have shrines to our Jimmy Choos. We will never, ever don mom jeans or need a . Regardless of labels and outdated stereotypes, we will always love and crave our cocktails with the girls. We are still as complicated and delicious as the perfect martini.</p><p>As I finish my drink before heading out to the Go Green Trunk Show at a nearby mom's house, I think that maybe I'll host the next event: a cocktail party.<br></p><p><br>Recipe: The Momtini<br>Prep time: 20 minutes (2 minutes to pour, 18 to drink)</p><p>Mix equal parts friends, fun, and your favorite alcoholic beverage.<br>Serve immediately and, if possible, without children. </p><p># # #<br>Excerpt by Laura Rossi Totten from "Mom's Club: The New Happy Hour" from MAKE MINE A DOUBLE: Why Women Like Us Like to Drink (Or Not), edited by Gina Barreca. Used with permission from University Press of New England, .<br></p> <p>Follow Laura Rossi Totten on Twitter:</p><p>Most perfume ads are sexy. .</p><p>So we were surprised when, , Prada released this highly un-sexy clip for its new fragrance, Prada Candy. </p><p>Lea Seydoux, , jabs, jumps and flings herself at her attractive, black-clad dance partner in the video. She also lets her skirt fly up quite often, revealing a pair of bunchy, too-big panties. </p><p>It's not a bad ad, per se -- it certainly expresses the bright, carefree vibe Prada was going for. But Seydoux's herky-jerky dancing and strange, monotone yelling is just a tad awkward to watch. And the panties -- oh, the panties. </p><p>WATCH:</p><p></p> <br><p>Between , her and , was one of the most highly anticipated stars on tonight's (at least, one of our most highly anticipated stars).</p><p>So when she stepped out on tonight to chat with E!'s Ryan Seacrest, we held our breathe... and then exhaled in partial relief. Her new 'do, a trendy pixie cut, looked perfectly coiffed -- super chic. Her makeup was all smoky eyes and nude lips, which never gets old. And her Prada dress... well, that's where we ran into troubles. </p><p>The gunmetal gray was sophisticated as was the lace. But there was something about the high-waisted cut that struck us as unflattering. so we know there's a great body hiding under there somewhere.</p><p>Check out Lena's outfit for her big Emmys debut. Do you love it or loathe it?</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>See the rest of the Emmys 2012 red carpet fashion!<br></p><p>Want more? Be sure to check out HuffPost Style on , , and .</p><p>Lily Allen is the latest style star to let Vogue UK get a peek of her clothing collection by documenting a month's worth of outfits for . </p><p>The singer and showcases her unique brand of high-low dressing, pairing high street finds with the likes of Prada, YSL, Balenciaga, Philip Lim, The Row...it's enough to make a girl green with jealousy.</p><p>Take a look at a handful of Lily's outfits and to see what else this down-to-earth fashionista has worn -- .</p><p>(All photos courtesy of Lily and Vogue UK)</p><p></p> <br><p>Well, she's definitely had enough practice getting dressed for court.</p><p>After some real style missteps like that and , it seems Lindsay Lohan's finally hit her stride when it comes to courtroom style. The been on an upward tick lately, with that earlier this month and the back in October.</p><p>But today's hearing might have been the occasion for Lilo's best courtroom look yet. Clad in an ivory Celine cardigan, matching Prada trousers, sunglasses and neutral pumps by Versace, Lindsay sped her way past photographers in Los Angeles this morning and into her hearing. Her punchy accessory? A Dior leopard print handbag, which added just the right zing.</p><p>And Linds' sartorial smash must have earned her some good karma in the courtroom: the judge praised her for completing her community service (at the morgue!) and for attending her required therapy sessions, </p><p>Linds is due back in court next month; here's hoping she keeps up the good work (and style).</p><p>Check out photos below.</p><p><br></p> <br>Rituals in the Arts have been part of human history since the beginning.Art is created to be experienced by others and engages us in community even when our reactions to Art are deeply personalized. You are welcome to like "Modern Art District" on Facebook.<br>Facebook.com/ModernArtDistrict<br><br>If you have more questions please contact.<br><br>Modern Art District<br>National Design Consultant<br>Jacqueline Correa<br>Phone: (512) 200-4ART<br><p>To commemorate 150 years as a unified country, six of the biggest luxury Italian labels have<br>come together to create a truly stylish exhibition of the season. "The style. The glamour. The<br>sophistication. The sex. All are part of the unique Italian fashion mix." says fashion writer Colin<br>McDowell about the Masters of Art photography exhibit at the Somerset House. The exhibit will<br>run through 14th August and will showcase imagery from Italian houses like Giorgio Armani, Dolce & Gabbana, Salvatore Ferragamo, Gucci, Missoni and Prada.</p><p>The collection highlighted Gucci's first print campaign back in 1922 to Prada's chic and<br>understated campaign with Christy Turlington in 1994 and Madonna and her dishwashing ways<br>in the 2008-09 Dolce & Gabbana campaign.</p><p>From bags to scarves and shoes, the Salvatore Ferragamo collection focused on product<br>imagery. The Missoni presentation was represented with the Italian house's symbolic striped<br>knitwear. Giorgio Armani emphasized collaborations with Mert Alas and Marcus Piggot.</p><p>Each designer in the exhibition has distinctively selected their best-loved images showcasing the<br>talents of renowned photographers which include Aldo Fallai, Steven Meisel and Mario Testino<br>and great models like Kate Moss, Isabella Rossellini and Amber Valletta. This exceptional collection portrays definitive moments in fashion for Italy.</p><p>"It is a great personal honour to have curated an exhibition in Somerset House--so quintessentially a British building, but base on the Italian rules of architecture--featuring the great names of Italian fashion: Giorgio Armani, Dolce & Gabbana, Salvatore Ferragamo, Gucci, Missoni and Prada.</p><p>Follow Lorelei Marfil on Twitter:</p><p>So The Iron Lady has arrived. Too lefty? Too righty? Offensive? Inaccurate? Streep? (Take a breath whilst remembering how fantastic she was in The Devil Wears Prada - then continue) An American as a Brit? The wrong choice? With the same rigour as Moses's parting of the Red Sea, The Iron Lady has . The politicians. The film-critics. The feminists. </p><p>Hold those debates. We have a better lesson to learn.</p><p>Thatcher may have done a lot of questionable things, but the lady knew how to power dress. As the film's shows, Thatcher's reign of terror depended on getting into character. The voice, the mannerisms, the gestures, and perhaps most crucially, the look - all engineered to boost her authority. The blue jackets. The court-shoes. The pearls. The perfect-for-thwacking-somebody-across-the-face handbag. </p><p>As I glanced around the cinema audience, Milton Keynes's finest, I saw no such sartorial panache. I was clad in my high street best - battered Converse and some kind of shaggy blanket masquerading as a cardigan. To my left there was a drab zip-up hoodie. To my right a floral tunic dress paired with Ugg boots. I even saw a woman in (whisper it) Crocs. CROCS. All around there were jeggings.</p><p>Jeggings. The strongest contender for 2012's worst design of the year award. They were everywhere, multiplying like some sick virus right before my very eyes. Ladies, don't you see, it's hard to command any sort of respect when wearing River Island denim-lycra with faux-pockets? </p><p>The high street has let us down. The products it pushes at us with such fervour - the 'hottest looks' and 'must haves' - suddenly seemed lacking as I stared at Streep-Thatcher on the giant cinema screen sashaying into parliament in a midi-skirt and blazer. Call me old-fashioned, but none of the trends available to women in most shops seem to celebrate, support or enrich us like Thatcher's wardrobe did for her. Instead they sexualise us, diminish us or, in simple terms, make us look ridiculous. </p><p>Just imagine today's high street finds on a female prime minister. A nice wetsuit-style neoprene t-shirt perhaps? How about some pleather quilted shorts? Take the crop top. Magazines and shops are going crazy for it. So sweet! So charming! Pair it with a sequin pencil skirt! Strike a pose! Vogue! It's everywhere. Seriously - try talking about something important with your belly-button on show. Try it. That visible sliver of flesh not only looks agonisingly bad, the worst kind of 90's throwback, but also automatically lessens the wearer's IQ by about 40%. Intelligent, opinionated women reduced to looking like aged members of Atomic Kitten. I'm all for freedom of dress, but has it really come to this? </p><p>What The Iron Lady does is reinforce that age-old adage, that clothes maketh the man. Sure Thatcher was a lot - and I mean a lot - more than a snazzy handbag, but that doesn't change the fact that appearance was vital in creating her veneer of power. I'm not suggesting that we all start donning Maggie-inspired twinsets but there is something to be said for properly embracing clothing with clout. </p><p>Power dressing comes along ever few years as some kind of trend. Nestled snuggly in the page of magazines alongside 'nudes', 'tartans' and 'fringing'. As if women are only legitimately allowed to look like a powerful female after Alber Elbaz has shoved a model down the runway in a pencil skirt and shoulder pads. As if we only want to dress with authority once every three years during the Autumn/Winter season. </p><p>Men have the suit. That classic disguise. The layman's equivalent of superman's red pants and cape. They put it on and suddenly they're transformed. Before, a dishevelled boy, after, a man, a real man, like Don Draper. Men also get the tie. Like that magic 'talking stick' passed around at primary school, it gives the holder the divine authority to speak, to be listened to and to be taken seriously. What do women get in return? We have no wizard-like neckpiece, no sartorial sandwich-board demanding that we be acknowledged. </p><p>Remember Teresa May's 'cubist coat'? Course you do. Remember what Cameron wore that day? Or Miliband? No. Naturally. Men get to hide behind the power of the suit, whilst women flounder at the style wayside. Struggling on, through the mounds of high street tat, hot-pants designed for skeletal teenagers and dresses for the cast of Geordie Shore, looking for something, anything, work appropriate.</p><p>Important lessons can be learned from the recent flood of historical dramas. Mad Men helped remind us all that we have a waist. Let's hope The Iron Lady helps remind us all that it's okay to look smart, powerful, and even a bit intimidating. (On a side note - take note, men of Britain, of the sheer sex appeal of a red-velvet smoking jacket. See Douglas Booth in the Christmas hit Great Expectations. Swoon.)</p><p>Just as Thatcher had to transform her style to cement her status, the high street needs to transform its attitude towards the powerful female. Stop treating her as a passing trend, as fleeting as the polka-dot, as worthless as tulle. Hidden behind the jeggings, there is an Iron Lady in all of us.</p><p>Follow Lou Stoppard on Twitter:</p><p>PARIS - Marc Jacobs, more than anyone, knows that it's not what you say but how you say it. The Louis Vuitton showman thus capped an incredibly strong Paris fashion week — with help from artist Daniel Buren — by building a life-size shopping mall inside the Louvre.</p><p>Understatement is not a word in Jacobs' vocabulary, so a collaboration with the minimalist artist — who made the famed striped columns in Paris' Palais Royal — might have raised eyebrows. But Buren rose to the occasion.</p><p>"(The Louvre) was already big, all I did was make it bigger," said Buren, with trademark humour. "It was others that called me a minimalist, not me."</p><p>The sky's the limit when you're backed by Europe's richest man and LVMH-owner Bernard Arnault, with whom he mingled before the show.</p><p>Meanwhile, Miuccia Prada, who herself presides over a lucrative fashion empire, felled a small forest in aid of her presentation for Miu Miu, one of the final day's other big shows. Fashion insiders clutched wooden invitations as they walked down a wooden "red carpet" and into the auditorium with a 30-meter (yard) wooden runway, and the show's huge wooden-tiered seating.</p><p>There was some irony that the collection was held at Paris' grand Environmental Council.</p><p>Paris Fashion Week designers are often described as show-stopping, but none more than Elie Saab. The Lebanese designer threw huge graphic chunks of moon rock down the catwalk as set, to evoke his more geometric theme. Unfortunately, one attendee didn't pick up on the visual props and tripped head over heels — slightly delaying the show.</p><p>Trends on the ninth exhausting day of the season included prints — both graphic and colored — as well as sheer transparencies and cutouts.</p><p>LOUIS VUITTON</p><p>What do you get if you mix up the world's most famous checks and Paris' most famous stripes? The answer: Louis Vuitton, whose 1960s style spring-summer fashion show twinned the iconic checked Damier pattern with a set designed by artist Daniel Buren.</p><p>Buren created four full-scale escalators, featuring his signature 8.7cm stripes, which wowed spectators inside.</p><p>"It's exquisite, beautiful," said 29-year-old Christina Malaki. "What a spectacle."</p><p>In fashion terms it was strong, with most of the 64 retro looks delivered in Mary Quant-style checks that made a bold optical statement in black and white, as well as browns, grey and leaf green.</p><p>Slightly puffed rounded shoulders, miniskirts, beehives and a few exposed midriffs pointed to one thing: The swinging 60s are back.</p><p>The silhouettes — often flat and loose— prioritized the Damier above the female form, which rippled nicely in skirts as the models, who walked in pairs, filed by with handbags.</p><p>Louis Vuitton is a house that is proud of its tradition, but also likes to evolve. The collection saw the ubiquitous monogram banished for the first time.</p><p>Instead, one recurrent feature was, so say the program notes, "the smallest sequins ever produced."</p><p>Thousands of microscopic sequins brought a dazzling metallic shimmer to dresses and skirt suits, though when it was used on the blocked Damier pattern it was slightly too much.</p><p>"It's all about being graphic. (Buren's escalators) are a mathematical equation," Jacobs told journalists after the show.</p><p>Another math equation will come from the buoyant receipts from this, a highly saleable collection.</p><p>It's a fair bet that by next year this bold check will be everywhere.</p><p>MIU MIU</p><p>Miu Miu's spring-summer 2013 show in Paris had a wintery vibe.</p><p>Despite the slightly off-kilter season it was a slick display, with lashings of faux fur on coats and stoles with dyed patterning at the brand often seen as Miuccia Prada's baby sister offshoot.</p><p>It picked up nicely on this season's fascination with prints as contrasting explosions on loose skirt suits — sometimes resembling the negative of a photograph.</p><p>As ever, it remained demure, but interesting back features graced a few reversed boxy tops. Alongside looks in denim and the prints, it gave the clothes a distinctly cool edge which reached its peak in a few eclectic, asymmetrical pieces.</p><p>Only a master like Prada can make a tiny strapped cropped camisole work underneath a thick fur coat, accessorized with leather gloves and jeweled Roman sandals.</p><p>Uber-cool actress — and Miu Miu spokesperson — Chloe Sevigny watched from the front row.</p><p>ELIE SAAB</p><p>Elie Saab, master of the va-va-voom silhouette, broke out of his strict mould for his spring-summer 2013 show in Paris.</p><p>The Lebanese designer must have been feeling in an adventurous mood: He dabbled in graphic details and floral prints in Wednesday's show.</p><p>But never fear, his bread-and-butter traffic stopping dresses and sequins were still there — in cerulean blue and vermilion. After all, it's what his buyers and celebrity wearers such as singer Taylor Swift on the front row expect and love.</p><p>But the palette this season was updated to include a beautiful cobalt, which in turn exploded into fluorescent colour prints on gowns, some full length, others above the knee, that fluttered by in silk muslin.</p><p>Saab included the odd peplum and some '90s looks with black-and-white geometric lines.</p><p>The catwalk set of graphic angular moon rocks signalled to fashion insiders even before the show started that Saab would move in this direction.</p><p>______</p><p>Thomas Adamson can be followed at http:/ /Twitter.com/ThomasAdamsonAP</p><p>Microbiologists are closer to understanding a strange ailment that causes snakes to act drunk and even tie themselves in knots.</p><p>Experts have identified an ailment they call "," a disorder which causes snakes like boa constrictors and pythons to regurgitate food and "stargaze," a term for staring off aimlessly for long periods of time, MedicalDaily.com reports.</p><p>“Some of the symptoms are pretty bizarre," Michael Buchmeier, professor of infectious diseases at the University of California, Irvine, told reporters. The snakes "tie themselves in a knot and they can't get out of it." </p><p>Experts claim for the disease, according to the New York Daily News.</p><p>Until now, arenaviruses have never been seen in reptiles. The usually effect rodents and other mammals, including humans, Buchmeier said.</p><p>"The fact that we have apparently identified that may predate the New and Old World is very exciting," Buchmeier said according to SBS.com.au.</p><p>The investigation was inspired by an outbreak of IBD among snakes at the Steinhart Aquarium in San Francisco. After looking at DNA samples from infected boas and pythons, researchers identified signs of an unusual virus normally found in rodents.</p><p>Joe DeRisi, a senior author of the study said that while IBD can devastate collections, zoos and aquariums that it infiltrates, there is no evidence the disease can spread to humans, according to the New York Daily News. Still, researchers want to figure out how the arenavirus gets transmitted from snake to snake.</p><p>GALLERY: ANIMAL IN THE NEWS<br></p><p></p><p>It's billed as 'the most glamorous night of the year' but there was one guest at this year's Schiaparelli and Prada: Impossible Conversations Costume Institute Gala (catchy) who had his own distinct take on glamour: step forward Mr Marc Jacobs.</p><p>The fashion designer is no stranger to an outlandish outfit or five having been spotted in a and a over the last few months.</p><p>But for last night's bash at The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York he opted for this delightful transparent, lace errrm, Dress? Oversized shirt? Overcoat? Who knows, but it showed off his crisp, white boxers a treat.</p><p></p><p>Add into the mix black socks and a pair of pantomime shoes and you've pretty much got the worst celeb outfit of the year so far - an accolade previously held by... Marc Jacobs.</p><p>Other celebs who coughed up $25,000 for a ticket to the bash - and showing Marc how it should be done - included Justin Timberlake, Kanye West, Cameron Diaz, Rihanna, Beyonce and Scarlett Johansson. </p><p>> IN PICS: SCHIAPARELLI AND PRADA: IMPOSSIBLE CONVERSATIONS COSTUME INSTITUTE GALA<br></p><p>Also on HuffPost:</p> <br><p>The first thing you see when you enter the Metropolitan Museum's exhibit is a large screen. On it, a scene with a dinner table and a crystal chandelier against a black backdrop. There are two women sitting at opposite each other, engaging in conversation. Miuccia Prada is played by herself, and Elsa Schiaparelli, who died in 1973, is played brilliantly by Judy Davis. Schiap's words are taken from her autobiography . This first film clip sets the scene; the two designers talk about how it was not their plan to be a fashion designer.</p><p><br>As you work your way through the "Impossible Conversations" exhibit, now open through Aug. 19, you can't help but thinking lucky for us they became not just designers but iconic figures in the fashion world. It seems hard to believe that Prada was, as she says, never influenced by Schiaparelli.  In the "Waist Up / Waist Down" section, the ornate Schiap jackets pair so well with the embellished Prada skirts that you have a hard time believing that they were made some 60 to 70 years apart. They seem to be cut, so to speak, from the same cloth. And so it goes throughout the exhibit.</p><p><br><br>Photo courtesy of the Metropolitan Museum of Art</p><p><br>These two designers are both Italian, but generations apart, with Schiaparelli working in the 1930s to 1950s and Prada designing today. They are very much alike but also very different.  The exhibit beautifully plays up these similarities and contrasts, in both the clothing on the mannequins and in the imagined dialogue between the two women. There are seven film clips, each serving as a backdrop to different scenes in the exhibit.</p><p><br></p><p><br>In Schiaparelli's day, ornamental hats were the big thing. She's famous for her shoe hat, a result of a collaboration with the Spanish artist Salvador Dali. For Prada, ornamental shoes are her thing, and her latest collection is of shoes inspired by vintage cars. Vintage Cadillacs with tail fins are re-imagined as shoes, complete with tail lights.</p><p>A sense of whimsy and art are recurring motifs in the two designers' collections. Yet in their impossible conversation the women disagree on calling fashion designers artists. Prada dismisses that label; Schiap embraces it.</p><p><br></p><p><br>So it may be no surprise then that Prada was reportedly reluctant to participate in this project, a collaboration of the Met's Costume Institute curators Harold Koda and Andrew Bolton with renown film director Baz Luhrmann. She wasn't too keen on being compared to another designer. But she told reporters that now she likes the exhibit. She posed for a photo-op with Vogue editor-in-chief Anna Wintour at the press preview on Monday. Apparently there was doubt about whether or not Prada would show up for that night's Costume Institute gala, because she fell off her high platform shoes, but she was there.</p><p><br></p><p><br>Throughout the seven film clips in the galleries, Schiap and Prada rarely agree. Schiap says she designed the fabulous and sometimes playful hats, necklaces and jackets to celebrate a woman's beauty. In her cafe society, women were seated and the lower half of the body was not seen. Prada abhors frilliness and decorations near the face.</p><p><br><br>Photo courtesy of the Metropolitan Museum of Art</p><p><br>The two women talk about how they try to avoid clichés of women and conventional  beauty.  Schiap says her mother called her ugly; Prada fights beauty. Some of Prada's designs can be downright dowdy. But Prada does manage to create something beautiful out of mismatched prints and fabrics, as seen in the "Ugly Chic" section of the exhibit. Prada says if she's done anything, "It is to make ugly appealing." Agreed.</p><p><br></p><p></p><p><br>You can't help but notice that Prada is much more reserved, even to the point of being depressing, compared to Schiaparelli. Prada says it's impossible to shock the fashion world, as Schiap was able to do. She can't do evening gowns.</p><p>Schiap and Prada never come to any resound conclusion to their conversation at the end of the exhibit. Schiap tries to get Prada to agree that fashion design is art: "Never, Schiap, never."</p><p>At the end, it's not hard to imagine that Schiap and Prada would have a conversation and lively debate were they living at the same time. And they do agree in the last film clip that they'd probably be friends. You come away from the exhibit with the feeling that both women are extremely strong personalities who celebrate women through design in similar ways. And I can't help but wonder who might be in an impossible conversation with Prada in the latter part of the 21st century.</p><p>Follow Mary Orlin on Twitter:</p>eGHZmFyID44mYu00M5dZQhYaAu%2FAmgJCGfYy66NCsZ3y2%2BCd8epkdQj2UKN14xi7V2f6zvgZ4FLzuHlXFqCtvHEMfu8cnurHR%2Bk7huUTK5GduMziZZw2K6rSnCeVSnLO4kIuB5Ua5hfpX3jCUjpesONZAp5v%2FZYto0CpL2BNQDbLKBQntDL%2BG2ZKPlg9r%2BFV<p>The Metropolitan Museum of Art hosts a variety of fancy exhibits every year, but perhaps the most fancy is the Costume Institute's yearly exhibit.</p><p>This year's exhibit is called "Schiaparelli and Prada: Impossible Conversations" and imagines the two female Italian designers having a conversation over a fancy meal that they never actually eat about fashion, their influences, their lives and their design philosophies. Their designs are also featured side by side so as to show the women's similar, yet sometimes opposing, takes on the female form.</p><p>What follows now is an impossible conversation about the exhibit itself. It is a conversation that would happen if the negative (read: contemptuous critic) and positive (read: supportive fangirl) sides to myself could extract themselves from my psyche and were caught on film by Baz Luhrmann.</p><p><br>Negative Me: It was too crowded to get a clear view of the entire exhibit, right?<br>Positive Me: Oh, I don't know. If you're patient and polite to the people around you, you could get around the throngs to see everything.<br>Negative Me: So, you have an opinion?<br>Positive Me: Oh yes! I really liked it. Schiaparelli's and Prada's work was exquisite.<br>Negative Me: The designers' work was gorgeous. The actual exhibit was crap.<br>Positive Me: No, it wasn't!<br>Negative Me: Yes, it was! It was designed by curators as a cutesy fan fiction experiment. I mean, filming Prada talking to Schiaparelli... but since Schiaparelli is dead, they got Judy Davis to play her? What does that have to do with fashion or design?<br>Positive Me: First of all, you better not be throwing any shade at Judy Davis. She was and is magnificent. I couldn't tell if she was sticking to some pre-ordained script or if she was improvising off of the clearly unrehearsed Prada.<br>Negative Me: Oh, don't get me wrong, Judy Davis is a goddess. She was amazing.<br>Positive Me: Wasn't she?<br>Negative Me: But why? Why set up a fake interview at all? It was pointless.<br>Positive Me: Well, I found it to be a theatrical interpretation of the larger metaphor that the exhibit represented.<br>Negative Me: Okay, that's bullshit.<br>Positive Me: The world was built on bullshit. Consider manure.<br>Negative Me: Manure smells bad. Explain your bullshit better and don't hide by being cute.<br>Positive Me: Okay, okay, okay. So, culturally and historically, the reason women care so much about fashion is that until very recently, we weren't allowed professional, legal or vocal ways of expressing ourselves. Fashion was a way of articulating our feelings about ourselves and our feelings about how we do or don't fit into our society.<br>Negative Me: Women love fashion because it's a way to adorn themselves to attract men sexually and to intimidate other women socially.<br>Positive Me: Sure, fashion is often used like that, but in the cases of female designers such as Schiaparelli and Prada, you can't deny that their designs must reflect their opinions of -- and aspirations for -- women.<br>Negative Me: I think you're overthinking this. I think you want an intellectual reason for why you like pretty dresses and sequins so much.<br>Positive Me: Just go with it for now.<br>Negative Me: Well, you're dragging me into it.<br>Positive Me: I'm gently directing. Anyway, when you look at the work of Schiaparelli and Prada as presented in this exhibit, you see that they work with very similar motifs, reflecting how they want similar things for women. They want women to escape conventionality and possess autonomous power.<br>Negative Me: That's not true. In the exhibit, Prada said that although she wants women to be powerful, she also wants them to be subservient to men.<br>Positive Me: She wants women to be everything and anything they want. In many circles that still is a revolutionary thought.<br>Negative Me: It seemed to me that Prada herself felt hindered by the opinions of others. Whereas Schiaperelli's inspiration came from confidence, Prada purposely avoided certain topics and materials and silouhettes so as not to feed certain critics. Prada seemed like she didn't have a definitive stance on what she wanted -- for women or her work -- but Schiaperelli did.<br>Positive Me: Well, not to be morbid...<br>Negative Me: You'd never want that.<br>Positive Me: No, but Schiaparelli is dead. Her work as a whole now exists as a definitive statement. Prada is still living and evolving. Also, Schiaparelli can't speak for herself anymore beyond what she left behind, so maybe she would disagree more.<br>Negative Me: This is the problem with letting an actress -- or a curator -- speak for a dead person. Especially if that dead person is supposed to have a discourse with a living person. <br>Positive Me: Well, I'm still not convinced it was a bad idea. I mean, the clothes themselves are similar, but incredibly different. I mean, you can see an obvious discourse in the design itself.<br>Negative Me: Seriously? The way it was curated made it look like Prada ripped off all of Schiaparelli's design ideas. <br>Positive Me: I think in art, the phrase is "was inspired by." For instance, the impossible conversation style of this piece was inspired by the exhibit.<br>Negative Me: Bitch, please, you didn't know what you were going to write about this week so you ripped off the exhibit.<br>Positive Me: Look, I thought it was really interesting how Schiaparelli thought the interesting part of a woman was above the waistline (face, mind, intellect) and Prada thought it was below (sex, reproduction, earthiness). That alone created a fascinating discourse on ideas of women.<br>Negative Me: That's a fancy way of saying that Schiaparelli was good with hats and jackets and Prada is good with shoes and skirts. Personally, I like purses.<br>Positive Me: Me too!<br>Negative Me: Purses were never addressed.<br>Positive Me: Well, they're accessories.<br>Negative Me: So are hats and shoes.<br>Positive Me: Hats were about Schiaparelli's connection to the head and shoes are about Prada's connection to the Earth.<br>Negative Me: This is bullshit again.<br>Positive Me: Purses only symbolize a woman's wealth and possessions -- which I think represent her independence.<br>Negative Me: Quit preaching. I'm the choir. <br>Positive Me: Hey, stop being mean! I'm on your side.<br>Negative Me: Back to the exhibit... If you're still hammering home the idea that the purpose of the exhibit was to show how fashion presents a way for women to have a voice, then why did the curators make it difficult to read and hear the women's actual words?<br>Positive Me: Well, they had the filmed interview portions throughout the exhibit and they had placards with quotes from both designers on the pieces shown. I don't see how they made it difficult to read and hear the designers.<br>Negative Me: Do you remember how you couldn't read the placards because they were on the ground and people were crowded around them?<br>Positive Me: Yes.<br>Negative Me: Do you remember how you couldn't see the film because the garments sometimes blocked your view of them?<br>Positive Me: Yes.<br>Negative Me: Do you remember how it was difficult to hear the film because of all the visitors around you complaining how they couldn't see the placards?<br>Positive Me: Yes.<br>Negative Me: What the hell was with those trompe l'oeil mirrors in the last room? You had to explain to two different little old ladies that they were mirrors.<br>Positive Me: Well, that was the "surreal body" room so the trompe l'oeil idea was clever.<br>Negative Me: That one little old lady almost walked into a mirror.<br>Positive Me: I stopped her!<br>Negative Me: You couldn't stop yourself from buying the book about the exhibit from the gift shop.<br>Positive Me: It was pretty! And I had 20% off for Member Discount Days!<br>Negative Me: Please make sure the internet knows that you've seen the exhibit because of the Met Member preview days. You did not get to go to the Met Ball because you are poor and unimportant.<br>Positive Me: I'm very unimportant. But I do pay my rent in NYC and I could afford Met Membership this year after taxes. So, I'll argue on the poor point.<br>Negative Me: You live in Queens and work an office job to pay your rent in Queens even though you're a writer. You're poor.<br>Positive Me: Okay. I'm poor.<br>Negative Me: So, did you see anything else interesting at the museum on your Personal Day from your office job, or did you just save little old ladies from walking into mirrors?<br>Positive Me: I saw the Rembrandt they're borrowing from Kenwood House.<br>Negative Me: And?<br>Positive Me: It's another picture of Rembrandt.<br>Negative Me: He did a lot of those. It's like, seriously, dude, stop being so self-obsessed. It's like you're a blogger or something.<br>Positive Me: I'm a blogger.<br>Negative Me: Yeah, and you're self-obsessed. You also don't know when to finish pieces or where to edit them.<br>Positive Me: Rembrandt was really self-obsessed, though.<br>Negative Me: Well, he's allowed to be. Unlike you, he was important.<br>Positive Me: I still really liked the exhibit. The clothes were very pretty and it made me feel inspired to go out and be a more powerful woman.<br>Negative Me: You just want to justify spending too much money on a summer wardrobe.<br>Positive Me: Yeah, pretty much, yes.</p><p>Follow Meghan O'Keefe on Twitter:</p><p>After author Lauren Weisberger announced that she was working on a sequel to her best seller The Devil Wears Prada -- titled -- there was only one question on every fashionista's mind: Is Meryl Streep ready to reprise her role as cutthroat fashion magazine editor Miranda Priestly? </p><p>At the Crystal + Lucy Awards on Tuesday night, Streep told "Access Hollywood" that she hasn't heard anything about the project, but she'd be interested in reprising her infamous role. However, there is one thing that could keep Miranda Priestly from returning to the big screen. </p><p>"I guess I would have to lose the f--king weight," she said. </p><p>Fortunately for Streep, the progress on Revenge Wears Prada is moving at a glacial pace, so it could be a while before she steps into Miranda Priestly's fabulous heels again. </p><p>Watch the hilarious moment in its entirety above. </p><p></p><p>Related on HuffPost:</p><p>Meryl Streep has proven yet again that age is no barrier to success. The 62-year-old actress snagged a third Oscar for her portrayal of Margaret Thatcher in "," adding to a post 50 career that has included everything from a musical to comedies to intense dramas. This 2012 "Best Actress" win comes after a dry spell of 29 years: in 1983.</p><p>To Streep, this win is particularly special: "It's an overwhelming feeling ... and I think it might be even sweeter that it's so late in my life, you know?" said Streep in the above video. "To be recognized when you're young and happening and on the way is one thing but -- well it's all so improbable in my life to be where I am at 62. It's like a miracle. And I'm really, really happy."</p><p>, making her the most-nominated actor ever. In addition to her Oscar wins for "Sophie's Choice," "Kramer vs. Kramer" and now "The Iron Lady," for her roles in "The Bridges Of Madison County," "Doubt" and "The Devil Wears Prada," among others.</p><p>The Hollywood icon -- who some described as an -- joked during her : "When they called my name I had this feeling I could hear half of America going, 'Oh, no. Oh, come on. Why? Her. Again. No.' But, whatever."</p><p>While we'd hate to disagree with Meryl Streep, it seems there were plenty of friends and fans cheering her on as she claimed the "Best Actress" Oscar. </p><p>From Alec Baldwin's congratulations:</p><p></p><p>To Kirstie Allie's support:</p><p></p><p>These tweets weren't the only love that Streep received last night. Check out our slideshow below for some of our favorite Oscars tweets honoring Streep.</p><p></p> <br><p>Having seen the misery associated with divorce on many occasions, I hope that 'Hope Springs' encourages other, real-life couples to save their relationships rather than splitting up for good.After all, I'm sure I'm not alone in loving a happy ending.</p><p>As one of the greatest actresses of all time (yep, we said it), is a magical on-screen chameleon, transforming into characters as different as Miranda Priestly and Julia Childs with utter effortlessness. </p><p>But there is some behind-the-scenes effort involved... on the part of the costume designers, at least. The age-old saying "the clothes make the (wo)man" was never truer when Meryl slipped into Maggie Thatcher's skirt suits, Senator Shaw's power blazers or, yes, Miranda Priestley's luxe Prada duds. And Meryl owned every single look. </p><p>So to celebrate today, we're taking a look back at the actress' most memorable on-screen looks. Which is your favorite? Vote in the slideshow below.</p><p></p><p><br> The annual Met Gala ball may not be as well-known as the Grammy, Golden Globe or Academy Awards, but its star-studded red carpet is always host to some of the best looks of the year. Also known as "fashion's Oscars," the event attracts stars of TV, film and music as well as the biggest runway models and fashion designers. Some of our favorite young style icons came out last night to celebrate the Metropolitan Museum Costume Institute's new exhibition, which honors legendary fashion designers Miuccia Prada and Elsa Schiaparelli. </p><p>We found some stunning photos of young celebs we love -- from Glee couple Lea Michele and Cory Monteith to the always-glamorous Emma Roberts and Dakota Fanning -- alongside fashion elite like Anna Wintour and Sarah Jessica Parker at the big event in New York City. Check out the slideshow below for some unforgettable looks from the most style-savvy up-and-comers in Hollywood. </p><p>Who has your vote for best-dressed? Share your thoughts in the comments below or tweet ! </p><p>Celebrities and the designers who love them will gather Monday night for the .</p><p>More than 700 famous faces are expected to attend the $25,000-a-pop event, meaning that if each guest paid for a ticket, $17.5 million would be raised in a single night.</p><p>“This fundraising event is The Costume Institute’s main source of annual funding for exhibitions, acquisitions and capital improvements,” said Nancy Chilton, the senior press officer/adviser to The Costume Institute, which is something of a miniature museum within The Metropolitan Museum of Art. It houses a collection of 35,000 costumes and accessories from the 15th century to present day.</p><p>The theme of this year’s event is "Schiaparelli and Prada: Impossible Conversations," and it will explore the similarities between Elsa Schiaparelli and Miuccia Prada.</p><p>But not every guest really shells out the big bucks to party at the Met. It was reported last week that Sports Illustrated cover star to Vogue Editor-in-Chief Anna Wintour, one of the event's co-hosts, in order to attend. But paying full price is a rarity, and plenty of guests are given discounted or comped tickets in order to ensure lots of famous faces on the steps of the art museum on the big night.</p><p>According to Chilton, The Costume Institute Benefit raised $10 million in 2011.</p><p>What will the stars wear tonight? Take a peek at the best Met Gala fashion from 2011:<br></p><p>Related on HuffPost:</p> <br><p>Get ready to (politely) rock the casbah: the is going Sid and Nancy for its 2013 Costume Institute Exhibit.</p><p> the museum's big spring exhibition, will "highlight the origins of the punk movement and draw direct connections to haute couture and ready-to-wear creations that it has inspired for the past three decades," Women's Wear Daily reports.</p><p>Instead of focusing on one designer's retrospective like or 2012's " show, then, this year's exhibit will include looks from Azzedine Alaia, Ann Demeulemeester, Dolce & Gabbana, Marc Jacobs, Rei Kawakubo, Alexander McQueen, Alexander Wang and Rodarte. With funding from both Moda Operandi and Conde Nast, the show will pinpoint the origin of punk designs in the early to mid-1970s in both New York and London and trace the influence of punk stylings throughout the decades. (If from 1994 doesn't make it in, we're quitting fashion forever.)</p><p>But the Met's punk exhibit will have some big Doc Martens to fill. In 2011, attracting over 650,000 visitors and netting 23,000 more memberships for the museum. While last year's , the costume institute has hosted popular exhibits on , and in recent years.</p><p>"Punk: From Chaos to Couture" will kick off with the annual Met Gala on May 6, hosted by Rooney Mara and Riccardo Tisci, and the exhibit will be on public display from May 9 to August 11, 2013. We hear is already waiting in line.</p><p></p><p>Take a look at the stunning guests from 2012's "Schiaparelli and Prada: Impossible Conversations" opening gala!</p><p></p><p>Want more? Be sure to check out HuffPost Style on , , and .</p><p>Michelle Dockery stood out from the crowds, even among the immaculately dressed A-list stars at New York's Met Gala Ball last night, as she arrived in a floor-length black and gold dress.</p><p>Complete with a pair of gloves that could have come straight from the set of Downton Abbey, Dockery, who plays the independent Lady Mary Crawley in the hit ITV period drama, shone as she turned up at one of the biggest nights on the US showbiz calendar.</p><p></p><p>She was joined by Laura Carmichael, who plays her younger sister Lady Edith in Downton, on the red carpet.</p><p>British talent wasn't short in supply at the Schiaparelli And Prada: Impossible Conversations Costume Institute Gala at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. </p><p>Other guests included singer Florence Welch from Florence and the Machine, Emily Blunt, Transformers star Rosie Huntington-Whiteley, Drive star Carey Mulligan and Mirror Mirror actress Lily Collins.<br><br>PHOTOS: All the Met Gala red carpet photos...</p><p></p><p></p> <p>NEW YORK, N.Y. - It's known as one of the most glamorous red carpets of the year, with movie stars, models and even a few star quarterbacks putting on their most fashion-forward outfits for the Metropolitan Museum of Art Costume Institute gala.</p><p>Gisele Bundchen and Tom Brady, Jessica Biel and Justin Timberlake, Rihanna, Gwyneth Paltrow, Sarah Jessica Parker, Heidi Klum, Tim Tebow and Florence Welch were among those to weave through the tented grand Fifth Avenue entrance to celebrate the new fashion exhibit that compares and contrasts the designs of two Italian women: Miuccia Prada, who wore a pantsuit to the event, and the late Elsa Schiaparelli.</p><p>Anna Wintour, editor-in-chief of Vogue, serves as hostess of the event, and she wore a white gown with lobster-motif gold embroidery by Prada. Carey Mulligan, Wintour's co-chairwoman this year, wore a Prada cocktail dress with metallic fish-scale beading, and Gwyneth Paltrow had on a steel-blue Prada dress with heavily embellished pockets.</p><p>Among others donning Prada: Eva Mendes, Jessica Biel, Uma Thurman and Linda Evangelista.</p><p>Unlike other big celebrity red carpets, where designers just want to hear the stars utter their names as the creators of their dresses, they are the A-list dates here. Michael Kors escorted Hilary Swank, wearing a red halter gown; Parker, in a metallic floral-print gown with long sleeves and belt, came with Valentino; and singer Lana Del Ray, cloaked in a long black cape, came with Joseph Altuzarra.</p><p>Jason Wu brought model Karlie Kloss, who wore a mostly hot-pink gown with an underlay of black beaded lace; Karolina Kurkova, in a rose-gold sequin gown and beaded cap, attended with Rachel Zoe; and Doutzen Kroes wore a one-shouldered, black-and-white gown as she walked arm-in-arm with Roland Mouret.</p><p>January Jones could have stopped traffic in her bright yellow custom Atelier Versace bustier gown, and model Coco Rocha also went the bright route, matching pink curls in her hair to the tank top she wore under a vintage taxi-yellow suit.</p><p>Other fashion moments:</p><p>— Scarlett Johansson in a custom bustier gown embroidered with gold thread and pearls and a long tulle skirt by Dolce & Gabbana.</p><p>— Ashley Greene in off-the-shoulder Grecian gown in white silk with chiffon pleats and fringe by Donna Karan, who also made Nina Dobrev's black-and-gold asymmetrical gown with a pooling train inspired by a gown Paltrow used as a costume in "Great Expectations."</p><p>— Bundchen in a high-slit black gown by Givenchy designer Riccardo Tisci, who also dressed Liv Tyler, Kanye West, Rooney Mara, Alicia Keys and Beyonce, who more a sheer black gown with strategic beading and a purple ostrich-feather hemline.</p><p>— Jessica Chastain in a corseted blue satin dress with crystals, pearls and crinoline by Louis Vuitton. Vuitton, designed by Marc Jacobs (who wore a black lace get-up), also outfitted Dakota Fanning in a lavender organza gown.</p><p>— Cameron Diaz in a long-sleeve, crystal-fringe embroidered gown by Stella McCartney, who also dressed Kristin Wiig in an orange lace dress.</p><p>— Welch in a cream-colored, organza tiered dress by Alexander McQueen's Sarah Burton, who also dressed Cate Blanchett in a black feather gown with ostrich hem.</p><p>— Rihanna in a black leather gown with crocodile-style embossing by Tom Ford, who additionally wardrobed Justin Timberlake and Brady.</p><p>— Sofia Vergara in a silver-embroidered illusion column dress with fan-style pleated tulle bodice by Marchesa, which also dressed Leighton Meester in a gold embroidered illusion dress.</p><p>— Amy Adams in a cream one-shoulder silk chiffon gown with black velvet insert from Giambattista Valli Haute Couture.</p><p>— Emily Blunt in salmon pink gown with cutouts by Francisco Costa for Calvin Klein, who also dressed Rosario Dawson. Klein's menswear creative director Italo Zucchelli wardrobed Victor Cruz and Amar'e Stoudemire.</p><p>— Camilla Belle in a delicate ivory tulle beaded dress from Ralph Lauren, who also dressed Michelle Dockery of "Downton Abbey" and Tebow.</p><p>— Renee Zellweger in a black illusion gown with an open back by Emilio Pucci.</p><p>— Katharine McPhee in a coral-colored, square-neck embroidered gown.</p><p>— Jessica Pare in a gold-and-bronze, second-skin sequined gown by L'Wren Scott, who came with boyfriend Mick Jagger.</p><p>— Amber Heard in an orchid-colored bustier gown by Zac Posen.</p><p>— Dianna Agron in a jade-green gown by Carolina Herrera with a peplum and snakeskin wrap belt.</p><p>— Brooklyn Decker in a slate-blue pleated gown with floral appliques by Tory Burch.</p><p>— Lea Michele in a blue gown with plunging neckline by Diane von Furstenberg.</p><p>— Claire Danes in J. Mendel white silk asymmetrical gown with embroidery.</p><p>— Ginnifer Goodwin in a Monique Lhuillier tangerine silk chiffon cap sleeve gown.</p><p>— Kirsten Dunst in an orange-and-cream, double-breasted, jacket-style gown by Rodarte.</p><p>Also on HuffPost:</p> <br><p> is often called fashion's Oscars, but honestly, we think it's bigger than that. Where else do you get every major Oscar star and fashion's most powerful names all together on one red carpet?</p><p>At the Metropolitan Museum of Art, of course, where Anna Wintour, Miuccia Prada and Carey Mulligan are welcoming the most glamorous stars on Earth at tonight's Costume Institute's annual ball. This year, fashion's finest are celebrating Prada as well as , who together comprise the Costume Institute's new exhibition, </p><p>So who's showing up to fete Prada, Schiap and all of fashion's finest? See our continually updated slideshow for all the red carpet glam. Vote on your favorite look of the night, follow for live-tweeting throughout the night and check out and .<br></p><p>Also on HuffPost:</p> <br><p>After the party it's the after party!</p><p>The 2012 Met Gala was Monday night, and the biggest stars strutted in the most impressive dresses with the greatest designers alive. The Metropolitan Museum of Art exhibit at the center of the evening was the Costume Institute's "Schiaparelli And Prada: Impossible Conversations." captured the gleaming madness of the red carpet arrivals spectacularly, but once the ball was over the same beautiful people and dresses headed to the real party -- the after parties. </p><p>Mick Jagger, Emma Stone, Karlie Kloss, Cloe Sevigny and more ran around town from parties at the Boom Boom Room and the Ukrainian Institute of America. Knick Amare Stoudemire escorted Ciara Princess Harris, Jason Wu was arm in arm with model Karlie Kloss, and Justin Long spent a lot of time hanging out with a dude with a giant radio around his neck. </p><p>Of course the only to way to pretend to have been there is to browse these photos, below. So check them out!</p><p><br></p> <br><p>As you might have heard (if you have that thing called the Internet), tonight is the . </p><p>While most of the fashion press is previewing the exhibit as we speak, Vogue editors are wrapping up their dress fittings and doing hair run-throughs for the Queen of the Met Gala herself, Anna Wintour. According to (including this AM), the Vogue editor-in-chief requested that the editors attending tonight's ball send her pics of themselves in their chosen dresses with several different hair options. Oh, and .</p><p>Yes, cue the Anna Wintour as Regina George jokes. (Think if Grace Coddington wears her signature black instead, Anna will shriek, "You can't sit with us!!"? We would die.) </p><p>The color choice, it would seem, is in honor of Elsa Schiaparelli, who was known for her signature "shocking pink." Schiaparelli is one of two designers being honored at the which will compare and contrast Schiaparelli and Miuccia Prada. </p><p>Fashionista did us a solid by , so we have an idea of what to expect. But we're still truly baffled by the idea of Wintour herself wearing pink. green, black, earth tones and the occasional orange -- but picturing the famously icy editor in fuchsia is a tad difficult. </p><p>In about six hours, we won't have to picture it -- all will be revealed on the Met Gala red carpet, livestreamed on , (the event's sponsor) and . We'll also be chronicling the stars every move both here and And you don't even need to wear pink to follow along. </p><p>What will the stars wear tonight? Take a peek at the best Met Gala fashion from 2011:<br></p> <br><p>Just when (SCF is totally a real ailment -- ask any fashion blogger), a new announcement worth talking about: Mia Wasikowska is the new face of Miu Miu!</p><p> and there are a few more , all showing the "The Kids Are All Right" actress in maroon floral prints against a blindingly bright background. </p><p>The color palette is bizarre and the mix of prints garish but totally work, achieving a perfect balance of ugly-chic as only Miuccia Prada can. </p><p>The Mia-Miu Miu pairing, which will presumably replace , makes perfect sense and not only because of the cutely matching names. Like Miu Miu, Mia is a well-known name but not in-your-face famous, and she experiments with both movie roles and beauty choices for playful, unpredictable results. </p><p>The ads aren't our absolute favorite of the season (that honor goes to ) but we're definitely excited to see what else Mia and Miu Miu will do together. </p><p>Below, see the spots as well as a shot of Mia at Miu Miu's Spring 2011 fashion week show. </p><p>PHOTOS:</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>Also on HuffPost:</p> <br><p>Does fashion follow politics?<br> <br>With every politician invoking the need for change, the fashion industry seems to be capitalizing on it.</p><p>A rundown of the latest or what is soon to be the greatest trends--and why I love them.</p><p>1. Tie Dye. The fashion expression of freedom and creativity is back. And it's one of the fairest trends of all. No need to envy the pixie stick wearing a Marc Jacobs for Louis Vuitton number. Because this is one trend you can add your spin to it. Or make that rubber band. How to avoid looking like you're a tourist or hippie? </p><p>2. Punk hair. Not mohawks. It's more of the strands of fuchsia, hot pink, and violet hair. I'm thinking it's a great way to cover up frizzies or excuse my bad hair days. Manic Panic, anyone? It's sooo... Vivienne Westwood!</p><p>3. Bonding with women over political picks and not shoes. It's become the cocktail fodder of choice amongst the most stylish.</p><p>4. Beads! Beads! Think love beads. Ain't nothing stone cold about them.</p><p>5. Cut-off jean shorts. Buying two sizes up in jeans sans guilt? It's just what everyone could use. The only annoying part is that you still have to shave your legs.</p><p>6. Headscarves. Rain and humidity can get to your head.</p><p>7. Pink slips. Hopefully, it's only going to be of the silk variety.</p><p>Michelle Obama and Jill Biden spent their 100th day in Washington bagging food for hungry children at the Capital Area Food Bank. .</p><p>For the occasion both women went super casual. The first lady wore cropped gray capri pants and a yellow argyle cardigan with silver and metallic pink sneakers. Dr. Biden did preppy chic in a blue and white striped shirt paired with cropped white pants and silver flats.</p><p>UPDATE: The first lady's kicks are Lanvin cap toe sneakers, as ID'd by websites and and the , and range between $540 and $565 . The argyle sweater is from J. Crew, of course.</p><p>See photos below.</p><p></p> <br><p></p><p>A Conversation with Matt McGinley from The Gym Class Heroes</p><p>Mike Ragogna: Hey Matt, how are you doing?</p><p>Matt McGinley: Hey Mike. </p><p>MR: Thanks for sharing some time with us while you're on tour. </p><p>MM: Actually, I'm at home, which is slightly more comfortable than a tour, but unfortunately, with less music being played. We were on tour and our singer Travis got pretty ill, so we're kind of just taking it day by day and unfortunately canceling shows as he was in the hospital. So, that's kind of where we're at right now. </p><p>MR: Sorry about his illness.</p><p>MM: It's all good, we're all human and everyone needs time to get better.</p><p>MR: Speaking about getting better, you guys seem to be getting more high profile, like on "Stereo Hearts" with Adam Levine joining you. What's the story behind that song?</p><p>MR: So how did "Stereo Hearts" come together?</p><p>MM: That's a song that we actually worked on with producer Benny Blanco. He kind of came to us with this rough skeleton of a song--it had that reference chorus in there. We thought it was really cool and we started working on it, and the possibility of getting Adam Levine to sing that chorus was presented to us. It was kind of something we just jumped at. We've been big Maroon 5 fans since their first album, Songs About Jane. Obviously, it's a huge opportunity for our band. I always tend to think of us as the perpetual underdogs. Whenever we're presented with the opportunity with working with other incredible artists, it's always a big deal for us.</p><p>MR: Let's take everybody back to when you and Travie first got together to start the band. </p><p>MM: Yeah, I had just started high school and I met Travis the first day of school. He was in my math class and gym. He was a few years older than me, so it was a little weird that we had math class together. I think Travis has always been this wise, intelligent, academically underachieving individual. It kind of only made sense that he would be a few years behind when it came to math because he was more interested in art and poetry. We sort of linked up in Gym Class, and typically, we would hang out and talk about music, while the other kids got athletic and sweaty. It was a connection for us, and he was actually playing drums in another band. I was playing drums in another group of guys that would later become Gym Class Heroes. We didn't have a singer, we were just playing these weird instrumental, funk, jazz songs that would really go nowhere and drone on and on. We were playing a friend's party, and Travis' band was playing there as well. When we were sort of just jamming, he came up and grabbed the mic and started rapping over the stuff that we were creating. It just kind of clicked. We could tell even the small group of kids that were there to watch us perform were really into it as well. Gym Class Heroes really began after that, really just with the sole purpose of making music for our friends. That was always our barometer of whether a song was good or not, whether our friends were into it or not. To me, that's going to always be at the forefront of why we're writing music. I guess it becomes more difficult to do as you progress in your career in terms of establishing yourself as a mainstream, commercial or radio artist. With this new album Papercut Chronicles II, it's kind of something to strive to get back to as far as the naivety and writing songs that don't identify or subscribe to one type of music or a certain type of song structure. On the original Papercut Chronicles, we didn't even have proper songs. It might just be a 60-bar verse and then an outro. That's something that we kind of tried to get back to on this one. </p><p>MR: Cool. By the way, you guys definitely aren't underdogs anymore.</p><p>MM: I don't think I will ever be happy to hear that. (laughs) I sort of like the challenge of constantly feeling like you have something to prove. I definitely don't want to ever lose that spirit and become content or relegated to any success we have. I think once you're content with where you're at, you're kind of losing. We would like to be Charlie Sheen winning as underdogs for the rest of our career. </p><p>MR: How does the creative process work with the group?</p><p>MM: It really goes a variety of ways and we don't really have a particular formula. With Gym Class Heroes, there's really not one songwriter in the band. I know a lot of bands have one guy who really fleshes out the song and then brings this thing to present to the band. Sometimes, I see bands like that, and I just say I wish we had that because it just seems so easy to hear other songwriters talk about that. For us, it tends to be a collective process and a bit of a democracy when it comes to writing songs. Everyone in the band has their own background, and I think it's great. Everyone has their own superpowers, almost, that creates something stronger than we can create on our own. </p><p>MR: Right, like if Travie comes in and is starting to rap something, it's not like you're going to back that down. Is the dynamic that whoever is bringing something in is a pro at it so you leave them alone?</p><p>MM: No, I don't think so. It's important that everybody be into it. If we're writing a song, and someone plays something that just isn't connecting, you can kind of sense it without having to have a sit down discussion with them about it. At the same time, I think it's important to be open with how you're feeling and just be keeping communication alive when you're writing. I think we're all reasonable enough people where it's not going to affect us deeply and it's not going to hurt us deeply if someone has constructive criticism. Maybe fourteen years ago when we started the band, it would have been a different story. I definitely remember Travis and I having really heated arguments over parts of the song. Looking back on that, I think we've grown a lot and become more mature to the point that it doesn't need to escalate to that level; but in a way, I kind of miss that. I kind of miss just being so passionate about a certain part that I actually would have to get into a verbal altercation with my singer. It's kind of interesting because on the first Papercut Chronicles, I think we were still in that immature headspace. Some of those songs on that album never would have made it on that album if not for one of us really getting vocal about it and pleading our cases. Looking back on it, I'm so happy those did happen because I'm so excited we have those songs in our catalog of music. </p><p>MR: There's the song "The Fighter" with Ryan Tedder, its concept, to me, being the idea of living life fully 'til you're dead. Are you in that headspace?</p><p>MM: I want to be. I think at times, I'm definitely not. If anything, that song is a rowdy anthem for never giving up and standing up and getting your stuff together. I think that's one of the more inspiring and special songs on the album. I can't wait to get it out there and I'm hoping people take the message as personally as we intended to write it.</p><p>MR: Linking to that theme, there's "Life Goes On." That's your new single with Oh Land right?</p><p>MM: Yeah, it's kind of a gray area. It's sort of a soft viral release. I don't know if it's getting pushed to commercial radio or anything like that. Definitely, a really awesome song.</p><p>MR: It really speaks to me, especially the midlife crisis lines. (laughs) </p><p>MM: Yeah, for sure. To us, it's definitely from the heart. We've spent the last years of our lives perpetually on tour, constantly away from family, friends and loved ones, so the songs are kind of a response to some of the feelings of dealing with being away from girlfriends, wives, kids and everything. I think it's kind of a little voyeuristic peek into our personal lives for the last six years. </p><p>MR: Linking on to that, there's also the song "Ass Back Home" with Neon Hitch.</p><p>MM: Oh yeah, that's a song we are super stoked on. We're actually working on the video for that tomorrow in New York. </p><p>MR: What's the background on the song "Ass Back Home." </p><p>MM: That's another one that's very reflective of the touring lifestyle. We've always had this idea of shooting a video in a documentary style tour video (style). So, we're kind of going to shoot that one, in a way, from the cameraman's perspective or watching like you're on a journey and a ride with us, coming along to the shows and the backstage and tour buses, and dressing rooms. It should be a fun one.</p><p>MR: "Stereo Hearts" was a number top ten record, right? </p><p>MM: It could be, I'm really bad at following the charting success of the songs. </p><p>MR: That's a healthy sign. </p><p>MM: It's really difficult for me to think about the marketability of the songs. I think as long as I can passionately play the songs every night, that's the most important thing. </p><p>MR: I want to ask you about the song "Holy Horses**t Batman!" It takes so many swings at religion in a lyrical, poetic way. What's your viewpoint about even being solicited about religion? Which is the premise for this song initially in the lyrics. </p><p>MM: As far as the song goes, that song took a pretty drastic turn. It's an interestingly phrased song as far as the lyrics go. It's not really confirming or denying the religious aspects. For me, personally, I really identify with those lyrics because I'm not necessarily for or against religion, I'm still searching just like anybody. I think the song puts it out there that we're people that don't have all of the answers and are confused just like everyone else. That song's really interesting, it's one of my favorites. When we originally wrote it, it was a song called "Rain, Rain," and Travis lyrically re-imagined it and that's something we've never explored in our music. I think Travis is kind of known for tackling for a huge range of concept and themes. To finally address religion in a song, even as a member of the band, it's something we're finally tackling. Some people can receive it with an open mind and hopefully make some people think. </p><p>MR: Is "Solo Discotheque" what I think it's about?</p><p>MM: I haven't really picked Travis's brain about that track, but I think it's basically about dancing around your room naked. At least that's what I get from listening to it. That's definitely a pretty important song for this album because we probably wrote 30 to 40 song ideas for this album and that was the very first song idea we wrote. It was sort of darker melodies and tones on that one, it kind of steered the album as a whole really in that direction. That's a pretty important song for this record. </p><p>MR: What advice might you have for new artists? </p><p>MM: I think first and foremost, artists have a lot of success when they put the most emphasis on the music. I think people tend to have this notion that if they get the right people to hear my music and I will achieve success. I think if you're doing something right and you're doing something special and important, then people will find you. The world we live in right now with the internet, it's giving artists the opportunity to get outside of their home, town, and country with the click of a button. It's a pretty important avenue for artists to utilize the internet, and being able to a garnish humongous following without leaving their bedroom. </p><p>MR: What are your thoughts about Occupy Wall Street? </p><p>MM: I don't know much about the issues, to be honest. If nothing else, I'm glad people are taking a stand on something. It's an interesting thing to watch from an outsider who knows little about the issues. I was actually staying in New York for a few days last week and when I got home, I was super bummed out that I didn't go down there to check out what was going on firsthand, instead of having to read about it in the news.</p><p>MR: Do you have any words of wisdom? </p><p>MM: Live long and prosper. (laughs) </p><p>MR: Any predictions about Gym Class Heroes over the next year? </p><p>MM: We're going to be out on the road a lot, always playing live is so important to us. We just hope to remain consistent and making quality music. </p><p>MR: Papercut Chronicles III?</p><p>MM: That's hard to even think about. I think we might table that one for a second and explore some other areas. Who knows...in ten years...come back to complete the trilogy.</p><p>MR: Hope to talk to you again before that. Thanks so much, Matt. </p><p>MM: Thanks a lot, man. </p><p>Tracks:<br>1. Za Intro<br>2. Martyrial Girls<br>3. Life Goes On - with Oh Land<br>4. Stereo Hearts - with Adam Levine of Maroon 5<br>5. Solo Discotheque (Whiskey Bitness)<br>6. Holy Horses**t, Batman!<br>7. Ass Back Home - with Neon Hitch<br>8. Nil-Nil-Draw<br>9. Lazarus, Ze Gitan<br>10. The Fighter - with Ryan Tedder of OneRepublic<br>11. Kid Nothing And The Never-Ending Naked Nightmare</p><p>Transcribed by Theo Shier</p><p><br></p><p>A Conversation with David Nail</p><p>Mike Ragogna: David, you've been on tour with Taylor Swift, you've had top ten country singles, and you have a new album, The Sound Of A Million Dreams. Do you feel the momentum?</p><p>David Nail: Yeah, I think that there's a combination of a lot of things. Just spending a few years out on the road and really huffing it...I think we played one hundred-seventy shows last year and we're probably going to have that many again this year. It's just about having a record out and then going on the road to more or less try to build it, and we've done that. We've had six or seven really strong spots throughout the country where we've gone in as a complete unknown, and then slowly, over time, we're now almost on the verge of outgrowing some of the venues. Take, for example, in Carbondale, Illinois, where we'd actually never played before, and we darn near sold the place out. I really think this record is going to enhance that growth, you know what I mean? It's a better record than the last record. I think it's more intriguing on the ears. It's bigger and hopefully, it will entice people to want to come out and see us live, which I think is our strongest asset. </p><p>MR: As far as the songwriting, you've got Keith Urban, Scooter Carusoe, and Billy Montana. Actually, before we get too much further here, I want to congratulate you on your World Series performance.</p><p>DN: Thank you so much. It was definitely a blur. I was telling someone earlier that it seems like that was a month ago, and it was only about five days ago. We flew in--it was kind of a blur of two days--and then the next day, we were back out on the road, so there was not really a lot of time to digest it all but it definitely felt good.</p><p>MR: Nice. Did you get to visit with either of the teams while you were there?</p><p>DN: I have several people that I'm friends with and in touch with on the Cardinals--I don't really know any of the Rangers. But I saw a few guys at a couple of parties after the game. For the most part, they were obviously running a mile a minute too. It was nice and it was very satisfying to see them accomplish such an amazing thing.</p><p>MR: David, what's the story behind "Let It Rain" on The Sound Of A Million Dreams? It was written by you and Jonathan Singleton, but what else have you got?</p><p>DN: This is the first time we'd ever written together. If you know anything about Jon, he's a a phenomenal guitar player, a great singer and right away, he just started playing that guitar riff. In a weird way, my excitement level went from really excited to just extremely fired up because I'm not a great guitar player, so to have someone sitting across from me playing something so unique made me know that it was really special. It really came together rather easily. As he began mumbling words and singing some of the melody, a lot of what he was saying was really good, so we tried to just take it. It's obviously a very unflattering subject matter, but we were trying to just showcase a guy that truly acknowledges the significance of what he had just done and is willing to do whatever it takes to make up for this mistake, if that is even possible. It was really, really easy, and some of it just sort of fell out and actually Jonathan and I have gotten together a couple times since. We're always kind of dumbfounded by why we can't recreate that same kind of chemistry. </p><p>MR: I love how in the song, you see that that just one night of infidelity upsets the whole trust that you've built up, in this case, over seven years.</p><p>DN: You can have the most amazing relationship--five years, ten years, fifty years--and all it really takes is just that one moment to throw a wrecking ball into all of that.</p><p>MR: Now, I don't know if this is ever going to be a single, but my favorite song on the album is "She Rides Away." What an emotional recording.</p><p>DN: Thank you so much. That's definitely one of my favorites. That's a song where we got the demo and it was really different than anything we'd heard before, and really different than anything I had ever really entertained recording. The more I listened to it--I don't want to say that I knew it had potential because the demo was great, but I just felt like this was something we could elaborate on and really make cool even more so than it already was. So, we went in, and to be honest with you, in a weird way, we really struggled with it. It was a tough one to get down. We couldn't, for whatever reason, figure it out. We were all kind of sitting in the studio and one of the guitar players had remained in the actual studio itself and began messing with this guitar effect. We all just kind of looked at each other and said, "Wow, that's it." We went back in, and all of a sudden, there was just this new found energy. I can remember listening to the first few mixes that we got and emailing my producer to say, "Man, I think this is the coolest thing we've ever done." It's just really unique and really different from anything we've ever done before.</p><p>MR: I love the concept that she tells you right from the start that she's going.</p><p>DN: That's one of my favorite lines that I've ever recorded, "She told me when I met her she would leave me, like it was written in red letters." It's just such a genius line. It's that classic case of that one you know is probably bad from the start, but for whatever reason...you know it's bad, but you just can't keep from chasing after it.</p><p>MR: Yeah, I know what you mean. I want to ask you something about your history here. This is officially your second album, but technically it's your third, right? You had one that was self-titled that never came out that you worked on with Keith Stegall.</p><p>DN: Yeah, back in '01, I made a record for Mercury Records. We had a single out and it didn't do very well--barely charted I think. To be honest with you, that was a huge heartbreaking moment, but looking back, it was so necessary. I had moved to town at twenty years old and got a record deal very quickly, then the next thing you know, you're making a record, doing a photo shoot in LA, and it's all this craziness. As a young kid, I just thought, "Wow, this is easy." I made some choices that I definitely wouldn't make now at thirty-two years old. I think it was a classic case of not being ready and being extremely young. So, I spent the next seven or eight years kind of figuring out my way, and lo and behold, I ended up back at Universal, this time on MCA, with a lot of the same people, and it was just an amazing opportunity. They've been like family to me for a long time.</p><p>MR: Well, at that point, you had Luke Lewis overseeing everything, and I think that changed the vibe of how the creative teams and promotional teams are working records these days.</p><p>DN: Yeah, Luke's an amazing boss, and I told him the other night, "The freedom that you allow your artist's to just go and do their own thing is truly an amazing thing." </p><p>MR: Yeah, in the old days, the truly good A&R guys were the ones who used to leave the artists alone and just sort of facilitated. The nasty A&R guys were the ones who always seemed to need to manipulate things and become back seat producers.</p><p>DN: Totally.</p><p>MR: Let's continue with your history. What got you into country music?</p><p>DN: My father was a band director and listened to all kinds of music. He had a very extensive record collection, and really, country music wasn't a part of that. So, I grew up listening to everything. I was in my late teens before I realized that all my friends weren't listening to Elton John, The Beatles, The Stones, The Commodores, Crosby, Stills and Nash, and Lionel Ritchie. I was astonished to know that that wasn't the current music. Then, in the '90s, I found country music with everybody else, and just enthralled myself with it. I really began to research the history of the genre, and that's when I found a guy by the name of Glen Campbell who really just completely changed my life as far as singing. Even today, I try to emulate the strength and power of his voice, both from a range standpoint and also a communication standpoint.</p><p>MR: When I was a kid, Glen Campbell was the first country artist that I came to love. There are a lot of people that are really sad right now that Glen has recorded and released his last album.</p><p>DN: I think that he just has that cool factor. There are certain people who have that aura of, "It doesn't really matter what I'm dealing with right now, I'm just cool." There's a degree of kind of a James Dean-esque quality to his persona. If you talk to people who've known him for years, they'll tell you, "Oh, he's just a regular guy. He's so down to Earth." I think there are only a few people that have that aura--you think of like a Tom Brady or Michael Jordan, where there's just this pristine film around them, and Glen has just always been one of those guys to me.</p><p>MR: Getting further into your history, you were a Pi Kappa Alpha over at Arkansas State.</p><p>DN: In my childhood, I was kind of the classic case of, "Okay, I can say that I've done that now." Even now, I guess there's a degree of that in how I live my life. I went to junior college, I played baseball, and I was like, "Okay, I can say I've done that now." While I was doing that, all my friends were in other schools, joining fraternities and sororities, and I'm hearing all these stories about how fun it is, and I wanted to be able to say that I did that. So, I moved back home and went to college at Arkansas State, about forty-five minutes from where I grew up. I joined a fraternity and I learned how to party. I formed some great friendships, and after being there for a year and a half, I could say, "Well, I can say I did that. Now, I need to figure out how I'm going to do this music thing, which is what I want to do for the rest of my life."</p><p>MR: Right. Now, we talked about your unreleased first album, but you did put out I'm About To Come Alive. You're first single off that was the title track, "I'm About To Come Alive," which, of course, is the Train song from their My Private Nation album. What turned you onto Train and especially to do that song?</p><p>DN: Well, in my mid-twenties, I started singing at a place called The Tin Roof in Nashville--it was really the first and only time I had performed regularly around town. I was going through a rough stretch personally, and I was a huge Train fan already. I've always been a huge fan, and I think Pat is the best singer I've ever heard, male or female. The My Private Nation album came out, and a buddy of mine got the record early, so we were driving around and he played me that song. I can remember exactly where we were when I first heard it and I don't think I got through the whole song before I began starting it over. I immediately started playing the song live. Obviously, it wasn't a single for them, and still so many people had never heard it, so most of them would never have known that it was a Train song. I think people that would come see me play would always talk about it and assume that it was one of mine. I've always said that that's one of the true un-enjoyable moments, to have to break the news that, "No, that's not, in fact, one of my songs. I just think it's brilliantly written." When it came time to make that first record, Frank, my producer, had caught wind of this acoustic version of the song that I'd done and he just said, "Hey, it's obvious this song is extremely close to you and means a lot to you. I just think we should do it." It just was the perfect title of the record too. Here I am at twenty-eight years old, making my introduction to the music world out there after eight years of ups and downs. It was very ironic that it served as the title too.</p><p>MR: And you also had the hit "Red Light" off of that album, and "Turning Home," another biggie from that album.</p><p>DN: Yeah, I've always said that "Turning Home" was the most important song of my career. It's brilliantly written, and it's the first song I ever felt like, "Man, here's a song that I can really sing." I just gravitated towards the emotion in it. It got nominated for a Grammy, and I think it's kind of been my signature song.</p><p>MR: Can you go into the songs "Half Mile Hill" and "That's How I'll Remember You"?</p><p>DN: "Half Mile Hill" was the last song that we cut and kind of the last song that came in the picture. It's a very reflective song of your youth. I really wanted to stay away from those songs because they were so much a part of my first record, but when I heard this song, it just killed me, and it was really just a matter of it being an amazing song. We really thought it would be just a bonus track, but it turned out so great. Every time I'd sing it in the studio, I just felt like it was an extremely important part of the record. "That's How I'll Remember You" is one of the first songs we cut. I'm a huge baseball fan, so the fact that it references baseball in the second verse was really cool for me. I think we've all been there when you break up with somebody and you kind of refuse to acknowledge the bad. You just want to focus on the good and leave everything pleasant. </p><p>MR: And sometimes because there is so much passion involved, you just can't do the right thing in those situations.</p><p>DN: Yeah, for sure.</p><p>MR: I wanted to ask you about your GAC appearance on the show Day Jobs. How did it go?</p><p>DN: It was great, man. It was an awesome opportunity to kind of go back there and relive that summer of my life. </p><p>MR: What advice do you have for new artists?</p><p>DN: Get your college education first. I moved to town at twenty years old because I'd dropped out of three colleges, and there have been a whole lot of sleepless nights where I wonder if I made the right decision. You look when my first record came out, and hell, I could have been a doctor. I could have stayed in school for eight years or ten years. I was so fixated on moving over here and getting in the business at an early age, and I just think that having that background in education is a really important part. I'd also just tell them to write and to sing as much as possible. I made a record--and thank God hardly anybody heard it--when I was twenty years old. I didn't know how to sing then, and I didn't know who I was, I was just singing. There was nothing unique or different about me, and I hadn't lived enough to really tell the sort of stories that are at least interesting. I think that life experience is extremely important and I think that you have to have a little of that out before you start telling stories every night.</p><p>MR: Looking back at David Nail from when you first started 'til now, what is the biggest growth?</p><p>DN: Well, it's definitely harder to stay in shape. I could eat whatever I wanted to back then, but now, my metabolism is slower. I think that the biggest thing is just finding my voice. There was probably about three or four years there where all I did was sit in my bedroom with a twelve pack of beer, a guitar, and just sing for five or six hours straight. Those nights, I learned how to not only sing, but I kind of developed my voice, and hopefully, some sort of unique niche that there is a place for out there.</p><p>MR: Very nice. Now, you're going to be picking up touring again for this album, right?</p><p>DN: Oh yeah. We're working 'til the end of the year, and then we'll take off for the holidays. I'm not exactly sure where we'll start for the New Year, but we'll be working hard, man. The road is kind of, in a weird way, my mistress. I'll complain and want to go home, but then when I get home, I complain and want to get back out on the road. It's one of those things that my wife probably doesn't enjoy, but it's what I do now.</p><p>MR: Well, everybody's got their thing to do, as you pointed out in "Songs For Sale."</p><p>DN: Yeah, exactly. That song more or less just kind of says my philosophy. I'm no different than you, I just sing for a living. My job is no more important than yours, and in fact, in the grand scheme of things, it's probably the least important.</p><p>MR: But your job does give a lot of people joy.</p><p>DN: Well, this is what I was born to do, so the fact that people pay money for a record or to come see us play is icing on the cake and definitely makes all the travel and stuff worth it.</p><p>MR: What song haven't we talked about on this album that you feel a special connection to?</p><p>DN: Probably the song that was the most fun to record, and one that I just enjoy playing every night would be "Grandpa's Farm." This is a song that I heard one day. There's a guy by the name of Adam Hood who is a great singer-songwriter in town, and I had gotten a compilation of about forty of his songs. "Grandpa's Farm" was the first song on it, and it just blew my mind. It was really different, and it kind of reminded me of some old school kind of Elton John, Black Crows in it. It's just been a blast to play.</p><p>MR: Yeah, it rocks nicely. Thank you very much, David, for taking the time to talk with me today.</p><p>DN: My pleasure. I appreciate it. Any time. </p><p>Tracks:<br>1. Grandpa's Farm <br>2. Songs For Sale <br>3. Desiree <br>4. She Rides Away <br>5. Let It Rain <br>6. I Thought You Knew <br>7. Catch You While I Can <br>8. Half Mile Hill <br>9. That's How I'll Remember You<br>10. The Sound Of A Million Dreams <br>11. Catherine</p><p>Transcribed by Ryan Gaffney</p><p><br></p><p>A Conversation with Mike Hranica from The Devil Wears Prada</p><p>Mike Ragogna: We're talking with Mike Hranica from The Devil Wears Prada, how are you Mike?</p><p>Mike Hranica: I'm doing great.</p><p>MR: Lets talk about the recent album, Dead Throne. What was the approach creatively this time out?</p><p>MH: It was a little different than what we usually do when we write records, but at the same time, it was fundamentally the same in some regards. We wrote it a little bit different. Ever since we did our second record, it was a very confrontational realization that when you do a new record, the expectations are so exponentially higher. We've always dealt with that, and that plays a big part in when we write new music, but at the same time, we go into a record pretty loose. We never go into a record saying we need to have this and this, it all comes out pretty natural. The big difference musically was that we did focus on the heavier side of things, that's what we focused on when we did the Zombie EP last year, and fans really seemed to like it. Writing heavier music is not something that's unnatural to us, it felt very organic. We leaned in that direction and just went with it.</p><p>MR: You have a mobile game that coincides with the Zombie EP, how did that work?</p><p>MH: Really, when we did the Zombie EP last year, there's so much fun stuff you can do with a conceptual record like that. As far as when we put out the record, there was the comic book that you got if you pre-ordered it. It's just little things like that that give you room to explore when you did something like we did with the Zombie EP. I think the idea was founded by our drummer Daniel who always has creative ideas as far as online and social networking. He had the idea to do the app a long time ago. Unfortunately, through back end changes, we weren't able to do it. Early this year, it actually came into picture and became a reality. It took a really long time to make, we put out the game not that long ago. There goes a lot to go into coming up with a game like that. There's a lot of bands with apps, but ours is taking up the most space in my phone as far as apps, because it's pretty extensive. It is a full-blown iPhone, iPad, and iPod game. </p><p>MR: You guys probably know how many downloads of the app there are, it must be doing pretty well.</p><p>MH: Yeah, I don't have the exact number. With a lot of the app stuff, I've taken a back seat because there are much bigger app nerds in the band then myself. It has been great, I've seen a lot of great things. I've looked in the app store at the five star review thing, and last I looked, it was four or four and a half stars. So, I'm stoked and it's a fun project to do. Obviously, there is a lot more to do with a game like this. It's been a lot of fun and it's definitely an interesting market to be moving in as far as in the band world. There's always new things that come up that bands have to catch onto. The app store and the app world is definitely something to put some concentration into. </p><p>MR: And you guys are no stranger to Guitar Hero either. </p><p>MH: True. </p><p>MR: Do you play those games?</p><p>MH: I've played Guitar Hero. Again, Daniel our drummer, when we started our band, he was the only one with money because he was the only one with a full time job. The rest of us were in school or in college, and I remember he bought Guitar Hero as soon as it came out. It was sort of this abstract or strange idea for video games, but obviously, it just blew up huge. I remember going to his mom's house and playing it there years and years ago. I really think that was the last time I played it, but I couldn't be happier with The Devil Wears Prada on those games. There's a number of bands that I started listening to back then because I heard it on the game. I actually just saw something on Twitter where it said something like, "I just listened to this band The Devil Wears Prada, thanks Guitar Hero." It does a world of good, gaming like that.</p><p>MR: Now, you're classified as "metalcore," right? </p><p>MH: Something like that. </p><p>MR: It seems like this album is rocking harder than your previous one, With Roots Above And Branches Below. It seems like you guys are getting tougher as you're progressing as a band.</p><p>MH: Definitely. You know, it was weird, when we did With Roots Above..., we kept being called "screamo." I thought, "We've never tried to be a screamo band," but I play the old records and I guess I could see it be screamo. It was a realization for me when we did With Roots Above..., we're not trying to be that. The real good, post-hardcore and screamo bands these days are ashamed to call themselves screamo because it's such a bad stereotype with how many bad screamo bands there are. We did With Roots Above... in 2009. We were never setting out to be screamo, we were focusing more on metalcore. I wanted to put that in focus and put that on track, that was kind of what we did. The thing is that the songs and recordings are heavier now than what they were earlier, but I think a lot of the aggression has always been there, it just took us a few records and years to find how to control that, put that into a song, and record it. Since the beginning, we've always thought of ourselves as being aggressive and hard hitting. We're a six-year-old band now, and it took us to Dead Throne and started with ...Roots Above... to find how to record that, and really capture that whole sound. </p><p>MR: Are you getting a second glance by the Christian community as you're getting harder? Is there any kind of backlash? </p><p>MH: We might. When we did the Zombie EP, as soon as it came out, we thought we were going to get crap for this. People are going to buy like, "They're not Christian." The only thing we can do is laugh at it. To be frank, it's entirely ignorant. We can't pay attention to things like that anymore. To me, not trying to put myself above the criticism or judgment of other Christians, I make sure that the discipline I put myself through is all I need as far as making sure that the sound and the lyrics is what it needs to be within a Christian perspective. To answer you honestly, I don't know, there could be people out there that could be saying, "Death Throne is so heavy and evil, they're not Christian anymore." It wouldn't surprise me in the slightest bit, because we take flack from Christians all of the time; "I hear they cuss," or "I hear this guy drinks beer." I kind of just turn a deaf ear to people criticizing us for the wrong reasons. The fact of the matter is that whether it's heavier now or hard hitting, it doesn't matter because it's still just as truthful as it was Day One; still just as honest, and we're still just as sincere as ever about our faith. </p><p>MR: So, opinions like that don't affect or make you adjust your art either. </p><p>MH: No, not at all. Honestly, I can only call it a waste of time to be distracted with things like that. It's really not worth putting the attention into because it really doesn't change things. You can't face every critic and ever reviewer and justify yourself to them. I take that same point of view to the overly harsh Christian community.</p><p>MR: Mike, your group name "The Devil Wears Prada" is an anti-materialist statement right?</p><p>MH: Yeah. </p><p>MR: How did you come onto that name and concept?</p><p>MH: Way back in the day, actually before I joined the band, it was three guys--Chris, Dan, and James. They started jamming and really couldn't come up with a name and started jumping around these goofy names, and Chris's mom was reading the book and he thought it was a clever name, so they picked it. A year or two later, it became a hit best seller and a movie and all of this. It quickly became, "Shoot, we should have named it something else." It was definitely just a group of kids who were trying to make music and needed a name. We picked out this stupid band name and stupid song titles to the first three albums and everything. The meaning is always very serious behind the band, but we are very comical people and we do joke around incessantly. We just kind of picked out these ways to joke and unfortunately, the band name was one of them. Now, we definitely regret it and say, "It would have been better if we had taken the time to pick a better band name." It's too late now, but really, the thing we saw in the band name that we thought was clever was the idea of people taking materialistic ideas way too seriously. It's not to say that we don't like materialistic things, because we do; we like television and Apple products. But there's definitely a line being drawn between letting that go too far and focus on that more than the important things in life, which aren't the material things, rather, love, hope, grace, and faith.</p><p>MR: What advice do you have for new artists?</p><p>MH: It's really just be honest and express something. Now that I have been here for years and years, I can say that I've become more jaded than I'd like to admit. I see these bands and I see their intentions, and it's absolute garbage. For us, when we started the band, we had something we wanted to say, and we wanted to play every show we could and just get to play the shows, all of the local shows we were already going to, because we loved all of the local bands and (I) have all my favorites. I would see them every weekend...I would drive an hour or two every weekend. We just wanted to play those shows and we wanted to make music too. We did that and it was never about trying to do Warped Tour or have as many Twitter followers as possible or become these empty false celebrities. That's really what I see in young bands now is that it's always about taking photos and trying to come up with an internet presence before writing good songs. It's something very easy to fall into. </p><p>I'm not trying to say that we had the most perfect intentions; we made mistakes when we were young. The way I word it is that if you come up with the band and it sells a thousand records and you never get to tour full time, if you can be proud of those songs and you feel that those songs mean something to you and express who you are, then that is way better than selling 50,000 records under lies and music without any purpose, reason, or true content. I try to explain that to young fans and people wanting to picking up guitars or start playing in a band. Just remember that it is music, and music is not a look, it's expression and it's art, which is even hard to say nowadays, because I think the music scene has raped all art out of music. But that's a whole different story and I could rant about this all day. </p><p>MR: That could be the topic of our next interview. So, you have a seventeen-year-old fan, Dylan Chenfeld, who's a pretty talented musician himself, and he has a few burning questions. Can I throw them in?</p><p>MH: Yeah, absolutely.</p><p>MR: Thanks. What is a "Dead Throne"? </p><p>MH: A "Dead Throne" is something that the title track really tries to describe. I had the idea to call the record Dead Idols a long time ago, and the idea of Doing Idols, which doesn't roll off of the tongue too well, so instead...Dead Throne. It's precisely the same idea as far as putting idols onto this figurative or metaphorical throne and setting all of this stuff up. The title track tries to describe that and putting all of our carved images and man made objects all up on this throne when, as Christians, the only thing that should be on the throne is God.</p><p>MR: What does the upside down triangle logo mean? Does it tie into Dead Throne? </p><p>MH: It doesn't, the big misconception with the triangle is that it's "Dead Throne," but the triangle is The Devil Wears Prada. It will be used until we stop making records. We wanted something without letters or words that described the band, the same as Black Flag bars represent Black Flag, like black sheep represents Minor Threat. We wanted something like that and we came up with this triangle. A lot of people have been expecting this really meaningful explanation as to what the logo means. Really, we just worked with a designer and we wanted something that felt thought provoking, geometrically intriguing. We really didn't have many ideas. Besides that, I liked the idea of a triangle and I can't say it's too original because triangles are becoming very hip and trendy right now. I had the idea for a triangle, and the designer had the idea for three lines to represent a pitch fork, obviously, to resemble the devil in The Devil Wears Prada. It really doesn't have any meaning behind it, it's something you can see and instantly think The Devil Wears Prada or that brand and band. </p><p>MR: Will "Kansas" ever be performed? If yes, will you be playing guitar on it?</p><p>MH: I probably shouldn't be saying this, but we're performing "Kansas" right now on the Dead Throne tour. I don't like to give away the production secrets and the setlist for tours we're on, but we are playing "Kansas." I'm actually playing guitar on the song and it's actually my favorite song to play because I very much enjoy playing guitar. </p><p>MR: Thank you so much for your time Mike, lets definitely do this again. </p><p>MH: Thank you very much, it's much appreciated and thank you for having me. </p><p>Tracks:<br>1. Dead Throne <br>2. Untidaled <br>3. Mammoth <br>4. Vengeance <br>5. R.I.T. <br>6. My Questions <br>7. Kansas <br>8. Born To Lose <br>9. Forever Decay<br>10. Chicago <br>11. Constance<br>12. Pretenders<br>13. Holdfast</p><p>Transcribed By Theo Shier<br></p> <p>Follow Mike Ragogna on Twitter:</p><p>MILAN &mdash; The looks were sheer and the message for next summer from Milan was crystal clear: Fashion should be fun.</p><p>Many designers showing spring-summer collections during Milan Fashion Week made prominent use of sheer fabrics. But rather than being straight-out sexy, the effect was often an optical illusion, giving the eye more to feast on, not less.</p><p>At Missoni, a form-fitting tube dress in the label's trademark patterns was worn under a voluminous sheer organza dress, while Blugirl layered sheer over sheer, creating a romantic effect without really covering up.</p><p>Prints and graphic motifs popped up all over, with cheery floral patterns the most ubiquitous. Color was important, with apricot, sea foam green, powder pink, blues and earth tones as the background. White and black are perennials, but no longer dominate the show.</p><p>The kaleidoscope of uplifting color &ndash; and the prolific use of ribbons, ruffles, beading and glitter &ndash; could be a designer rebellion against the European financial crisis and an invitation for women to look on the brighter side of life.</p><p>"Basta (enough) drab colors!" said Lavinia Biagiotti, who runs the Biagiotti label with her `Queen of Cashmere" mom Laura. `'We need to come up with some anti-crisis vibes, and why not start with what we wear?"</p><p>Designers didn't dictate a hemline, giving women free reign. They seemed more interested in the upper silhouette, which was often loose and embellished with pleats, flounces and rich embroidery. Variety also reigned in the trouser department: Gauchos and pedal pushers, palazzo pajamas and cigarette pants, and even the occasional hot pants.</p><p>The big trend in shoes was high-heeled sandals strapped at the ankle. In a bit of season-bending, Ferragamo combined the high-heeled sandal with an over-the-knee boot.</p><p>Bad news for hair stylists, the look is long and unfussy. There were few hats, but lots of hand bands and head scarves.</p><p>Asia provided the inspiration for many designers &ndash; whether it was a stylistic tribute or a nod to the importance of the new markets for luxury labels was impossible to know. Prada deconstructed the kimono, Aquilano Rimondi incorporated elaborate obi sashes and Pucci embroidered dragons, tigers and snakes on silk chiffon.</p><p>Prada, already widely heralded for the upcoming season's designs, ended fashion week Monday by reporting first-half earnings up 60 percent from a year earlier due largely to Asia, but also to tourists visiting Europe. That's a net income of (EURO)286 million ($370 million) on revenues of (EURO)1.5 billion ($1.94 billion)</p><p>The fashion caravan now moves to Paris, where French designers will show their summer ready-to-wear wares.</p><p>CAVALLI</p><p>Roberto Cavalli closed the door on Milan Fashion Week with a show that had little to do with his trademark sexpot hype.</p><p>The Florentine designer's 2013 spring-summer collection opened with a series of white outfits combining chiffon with leather cut like lace, which set an elegant pace for the rest of the show.</p><p>White leather-lace pants fit tightly but looked classy, not trashy.</p><p>A series of outfits were also seen in delicately printed silk, pairing wide trousers or ladylike skirts with an extra-long jacket in the same print. The floral (usually jungle) prints came in pale green, pink, and apricot and at times were mixed with spotted and striped animal prints. Still, the effect was serene, rather than the usual sexual aggression evoked by jungle references.</p><p>There was serenity, too, in a series of negligee-inspired dresses. Despite their lacy embroidery and enticingly innocent styles, the models walking down the runway never crossed the line from sexy into vulgar.</p><p>DSQUARED</p><p>Leave it to Dean and Dan Caten to go over the top.</p><p>The Canadian twins behind the DSquared2 label hit the `'excess" button on their spring-summer 2013 womenswear collection, which was four parts black biker chic and one part ruffles and ribbons. The excess was especially strong on the accessories, with gold chains and strands of pearls draped by the dozen around models' necks.</p><p>Bare legs were the centerpiece of most of the outfits, be they cheek-baring hot pants, mini-dresses or even micro-minis small enough to confuse with belts. The looks were paired with high-heeled leather sandals or boots for maximum sex appeal.</p><p>The collection reached a crescendo with a gown fit for Alice in Wonderland's Queen of Hearts. Mini in the front, the dress rippled out to an oversized squared train, edged with wide purple-and-black ribbon. A large ruffle fanned over the bust in this creation strictly for the statuesque.</p><p>`'Unapologetically sexy and rigorously glamour, `' the twins wrote in their fashion notes. `'Nothing exceeds like excess."</p><p>FERRE</p><p>The designing team of Federico Piaggi and Stefano Citron presented their third runway collection for the label since taking over last year. The company has had a troubled design succession since the sudden death in 2007 of founder Gianfranco Ferre.</p><p>Their new collection had hints of Asia, including a bustier embroidered with snakes and maxi-obis that become mini-dresses. Asymmetric shorts and quilted skirts were paired with tailored white shirts &ndash; a clear reference to the style of the late founder.</p><p>The new owners, the Dubai-based Paris Group, have reiterated their commitment to maintain the fashion house's base in Milan &ndash; even though the headquarters and the show theater no longer belong to the label but to Ferre's brother.</p><p></p><p>MILAN - Strong and yet soft are the watchwords for the next winter season.</p><p>The looks are demure, but with an edge that is expressed largely through the materials — leather and big shaggy fur — and military accents. Details give a feminine feel: pleats, beads, feathers and bubble sleeves.</p><p>Many designers showing their winter wears on the second day of Milan Fashion Week on Thursday favour ankle boots, either equestrian-style or Victorian, most with extra-high heel.</p><p>The pantsuit is making a comeback, but not at the expense of dresses, which permeate the runways.</p><p>The basic palette is black or white, with bursts of colour ranging from autumn hues to bright yellow, purple and red. Multicoloured patterns also make an appearance.</p><p>PRADA</p><p>Miuccia Prada's collection has some basic building blocks: cropped pants worn either under a long skirt, with a short jacket, an empire-waisted long coat or sleeveless vest for a layered look.</p><p>Details make the difference.</p><p>Elegant black combinations were the backbone of the collection. Some long coats featured tails, a look Prada launched for men last month. Oversized beads ringed pant hemlines, decorated the bodice like so many brooches, or created a vertical pattern down the skirt.</p><p>Want to know how to rock a pantsuit? United States Secretary of State Hillary Clinton sure knows how. This is her on a recent trip to Asia.<br></p><p>The empire waist of the jackets and dresses provide a flattering silhouette.</p><p>Even with the heavily layered look, Prada's lines remain impeccably clean — both ethnic and elegant.</p><p>After the introduction in black, Prada exploded with brocade prints recalling hip 1960s upholstery in bright orange, pink, green and purple.</p><p>Long printed coats dipping below the knee and belted high with a jewelled buckle were paired with cropped pants, the better to show off the comfortable flat Mary Janes with bright rubber soles — an antidote to the super-high-heeled strapped pumps.</p><p>Prada brought back the pant suit, a look which is popping up all over Milan, but she also sometimes paired complementary prints, say a purple and red hexagon vest over brown and black diamond pants, leaving lots of room for the Prada woman to mix and match.</p><p>A fiesta of bags accessorized the look, including Prada favourites from doctor bags to tiny cellphone-sized evening purses. Models wore dark eye makeup, and long hair extensions often in contrasting colours.</p><p>———</p><p>FENDI</p><p>There's something of a Nordic warrior in Fendi's womenswear collection for next fall and winter.</p><p>Fresh from the hunt, the Fendi woman is draped in fur — sometimes in bright warpath yellow, more often in earth tones — or clad in leather, crocodile, or eel. Her accessories, from thick belts that double-cinch to oversized collars, create an armoured look, tough and resilient.</p><p>Many of the clothes were stiff and deconstructed, but not without feminine touches like pleated skirts and puffy sleeves.</p><p>Silvia Fendi Venturini, who collaborates with Karl Lagerfeld, called the collection "strong, sweet and soft."</p><p>The collection's accents were both old-fashioned and modern. A violet blue tailored woollen coat featured balloon shoulders that finished in long sleeves, while two-toned Victorian tie or button-up ankle boots, worn with ripped tights, completed most outfits. To keep it contemporary, there also were square IPad cases carried by handles.</p><p>Leather gave the collection its toughness, but that wasn't the final word. Leather dresses or skirts were cut out to allow a lightweight pleated skirt to sway alluringly.</p><p>Fur was not only shaggy and voluminous, screaming for attention in multicolour, but also light and wispy. A fitted shearling dress had wisps of fur at the shoulders, while a straight dress featured a ring of fur around the hips.</p><p>Colours were mostly earthy brown, black and blue with some crimson, mustard and peacock. Models wore double braids, white eye shadow and partially rimmed cat glasses.</p><p>———</p><p>MAX MARA</p><p>Max Mara meets Lili Marlene could be the title for the latest womenswear signature collection from the fashion group known for its fashionable yet easy-to-wear styles.</p><p>The theme for next winter is without a doubt military, as epitomized by the army cap that appeared throughout the show, and the khaki green palette.</p><p>Military coats, duffel coats and toggle sweaters all combine to make up a bold collection for a woman who likes to be in control, and at the same time dares to be different. Leather and alligator print inserts in a dropped waist and leather half-belts accentuate the military feel of the collection.</p><p>But the latter-day Lili is as much at ease in her fatigue pants gathered at the hem like a parachute as she is in her tailored shorts worn under a long sheepskin coat. Classic Max Mara styles such as the camel coat are given a new twist when fashioned into a power jumpsuit.</p><p>For a night at the officers club, she wears a sailor-striped jumpsuit highlighted with art deco tassels, but never lets go of her hat. Here black and white join the army shades.</p><p>Fabrics make all the difference. Far from military wool felt, these uniforms are made out of angora, patterned knits and a whole range of soft leathers and wool fabrics.</p><p>Footwear could hardly be anything but booties with an aggressive heel, but an occasional Mary Jane in silver mirrored leather softens the look. Leg and arm warmers accompany many outfits, a trend that seems to be making a comeback on the Milan preview runway.</p><p>———</p><p>BLUGIRL</p><p>Whether cheerleader or Siberian siren Anna Molinari's girl will have a vast wardrobe to chose from next winter, according to the designer's latest Blugirl collection.</p><p>By day, she is on campus cheering on the local football team, in a bright argyle knit skating skirt, oversized sweater and red duffel coat. By night, she morphs into an icy vixen in a white beaded chiffon gown with Mongolian fur moon boots and matching fur hat.</p><p>In between she's the life of the cocktail party in combinations of candy-coloured pink, yellow and green pastels. Her dress is fashioned out of fur, her gloves sparkle with sequins and her two tone high-heeled pastel lace-ups could be the envy of Mary Poppins.</p><p>Musts in the Blugirl's winter wardrobe are cosy knit leg warmers (a favourite on the current Milan runway), furry ear muffs and a pair of fingerless gloves — a reminder that designer Molinari's first thought is fashion not frost.</p> <br>eGHZmFyID44mYu00M5dZQhYaAu%2FAmgJCGfYy66NCsZ3y2%2BCd8epkdQj2UKN14xi7V2f6zvgZ4FLzuHlXFqCtvHEMfu8cnurHR%2Bk7huUTK5GduMziZZw2K6rSnCeVSnLO4kIuB5Ua5hfpX3jCUjpesONZAp5v%2FZYto0CpL2BNQDbLKBQntDL%2BG2ZKPlg9r%2BFV<p>From wild platforms to over-the-top fringe, sometimes most memorable moments are indeed its most outrageous. </p><p>There were plenty of . Besides all the , oversized accessories, lightning bolts, wacky platforms and took a turn down the runway. As came to a close on Monday, we decided to gather all the truly wild looks in the slideshow below. Don't miss our recap of and , and stay tuned for our updates from Paris!</p><p></p><p>Want more? Be sure to check out Stylelist on , , and .<br></p>eGHZmFyID44mYu00M5dZQhYaAu%2FAmgJCGfYy66NCsZ3y2%2BCd8epkdQj2UKN14xi7V2f6zvgZ4FLzuHlXFqCtvHEMfu8cnurHR%2Bk7huUTK5GduMziZZw2K6rSnCeVSnLO4kIuB5Ua5hfpX3jCUjpesONZAp5v%2FZYto0CpL2BNQDbLKBQntDL%2BG2ZKPlg9r%2BFV<p><p>PARIS &mdash; Lance Armstrong considers the 2010 Tour de France course "tough" because of the cobblestones sections and three punishing summit finishes in the Pyrenees.</p><p>The seven-time Tour champion attended the unveiling of the route and had lunch with French president Nicolas Sarkozy on Wednesday.</p><p>He also said more cyclists will have a chance to win thanks to the elimination of the team time trial.</p><p>"I think it will be much more open than last year because the TTT really eliminated some people last year and you won't have that again," Armstrong said. "Whereas this year you had three or four guys who could win the Tour, this year you'll go into the tough sections with 10 guys."</p><p>Armstrong finished third at this year's Tour after an intense rivalry with Astana teammate Alberto Contador, the eventual winner.</p></p>eGHZmFyID44mYu00M5dZQhYaAu%2FAmgJCGfYy66NCsZ3y2%2BCd8epkdQj2UKN14xi7V2f6zvgZ4FLzuHlXFqCtvHEMfu8cnurHGtdTrlO6FQ53rI4f%2FNo7oyXAvVcpcAPr4kIuB5Ua5hfpX3jCUjpesONZAp5v%2FZYto0CpL2BNQDbLKBQntDL%2BG2ZKPlg9r%2BFV<p>After the Metropolitan Museum of Art decided to focus on another popular modern designer for the next Costume Institute exhibit: Prada.</p><p>, the Met will pair the work of Miuccia Prada with that of surrealist designer Elsa Schiaparelli. Given that and made the deceased designer a household name (in New York, at least), you'd think Miuccia Prada would be thrilled about her new honor.</p><p>You'd be wrong. that the exhibit, which will open to the public in May, is disappointing:</p>"It's too formal; they are focused on similarities, comparing feather with feather, ethnic with ethnic, but they are not taking into consideration that we are talking about two different eras, and that [Schiaparelli and I] are total opposite. [...] I told them, but they don't care."<p>Eek. Think Harold Koda is listening? We hope he adjusts the exhibit to Miuccia's liking by the time it's unveiled at May's Met Gala. Otherwise this year will be a repeat of 2009, when that he and pals Stephanie Seymour and Naomi Campbell skipped the gala altogether. </p><p>And we wouldn't want Prada and her legion of fans -- mainly the Devil in Prada herself, Anna Wintour -- skipping the biggest red carpet of the year. </p><p>. Also, apropos of nothing other than the Met, take a look at collected by Paper.</p><p>UPDATE: as well as to us to clarify Miuccia's reported comments, saying, "Miuccia Prada is honored and proud to take part in this exhibition which is 'an impossible conversation between Miuccia Prada and Elsa Schiapparelli'. The comments printed are taken out of context and therefore misconstrued. Mrs. Prada confirmed that she admires the total curatorial independence of the museum to the extent that they almost did not take into consideration her vision." So that's that. </p><p>Also on HuffPost:</p> <br><p>The best thing for a fashion designer's career? Get an exhibit at the Met.</p><p>After this year's blockbuster "Alexander McQueen: Savage Beauty" exhibition at the Metropolitan Museum of Art's Costume Institute, that would seem to be fashion's new operating logic. </p><p>, making it the Costume Institute's most popular exhibit of all time. </p><p>Now Women's Wear Daily reports that two other major designers will get the McQueen treatment next year: .</p><p>While Prada and Schiaparelli may not have the same mystique surrounding their names as McQueen, who committed suicide on the eve of New York Fashion Week just last year, both female designers have large bodies of work to display.</p><p>Miuccia Prada has been the creative director of Prada since 1978, when she inherited the Italian luxury goods company from her grandfather. Since then she's transformed the brand with a streamlined aesthetic, creating those ubiquitous black nylon bags that defined Nineties fashion and establishing a quirky, "ugly chic" look for the clothes ( but we're fans...) </p><p>The Prada pick means we can expect plenty of celebs walking the Met Gala red carpet in Prada -- perhaps including the Devil In Prada herself, host Anna Wintour?</p><p>Elsa Schiaparelli, on the other hand, may have fewer wearers that night. The couturier, who died in 1973, was the queen of surrealist fashion and a collaborator with artists such as Salvador Dalí and Alberto Giacometti. </p><p>She also happened to be one of Coco Chanel's biggest rivals. </p><p>Her large body of work, which received , includes humorous and mind-bending designs like a high-heel hat, a skirt suit with pockets mimicking a chest of drawers and her famous lobster dress. </p><p>Known for her signature color, "shocking pink," Schiaparelli and her designs might be worn today by Lady Gaga. </p><p>So who will show up on the red carpet of the Met wearing dug-up, vintage Schiaparelli? We can't wait to find out.</p><p>.<br></p> <br><p>The art world's elite gathered for the on Tuesday evening, where celebs including Kim Catrall, a , and artist Cindy Sherman (who currently has a up at the museum) celebrated the annual bash.</p><p>Santigold took to the stage to perform for the (dinner went from $2,500 to ). </p><p>Model Coco Rocha was also spotted showing off her to the beat of Earth, Wind, & Fire's "September." </p><p> CORRECTION: This article previously stated that Coco Rocha was banned from wearing Prada at this year's Met ball, citing a Racked article. A publicist tells HuffPost this is untrue. This post also stated that tickets to the after-party were $2,500; tickets to the dinner cost that much, while after-party tickets started at $150.</p><p>Check out photos of the soiree and enjoy some of Rocha's groove below:</p><p><br></p><p>A 19-year-old capuchin monkey named Mookie is under house arrest after biting a man that tried to pet him.</p><p>The simian is confined to owner Brad Berman's home Merritt Island, Fla., for one month until authorities can figure out if it has rabies.</p><p>The transgression occurred this past weekend outside of a convenience store when the victim, 32-year-old Justin Debree, saw Mookie with Berman and asked if he could pet the primate.</p><p>“All of a sudden, a car comes into a parking lot and startles the monkey, and Brevard County Animal Services Capt. Bob Brown told Florida Today.</p><p>Debree wasn't seriously injured by Mookie's mandibles and Berman said according to NBC Chicago.</p><p>He also said that his monkey is registered with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, but officials ordered a 30-day quarantine of the animal at home to be sure Mookie doesn’t show any symptoms.</p><p>That decision is driving Berman ape since Mookie's 20th birthday will occur during the lockdown. KIAH-TV reported.</p><p>The return of "" (Tue., 9 p.m. EST on Fox) brought with it a mystery this week. Why were the roommates insisting that Schmidt needed to put $50 in the Douchebag Jar. It was the long-awaited return of the Douchebag Jar, and as if to make up for its glaring absence through most of the seasons, fans were treated to several quick snippets of violations that have cost Schmidt money.</p><p>But the big one they'd have to wait through the entire episode to unravel. It all came together on Schmidt's 29th birthday party, which was planned with all kinds of douchey things in mind, like a party bus with a stripper pole. After seeing how sad he was that his bus got booked by Frankie Muniz, Jess decided to "man up" and throw Schmidt the douchebag party of his dreams.</p><p>While it wasn't quite up to the standards of Schmidt's old college buddy -- and genuine douchebag -- Benjamin, it was more than enough to impress Schmidt and the guys. Even Nick's lawyer girlfriend Julia () seemed to be having a good time, despite Nick being convinced that this should all be a lot more embarrassing than it actually turned out to be.</p><p>Schmidt finally found his backbone when Benjamin made his move on Jess, standing up to his old friend/bully. Only it was Julia who got in the final world ... with her first. While Nick was embarrassed about his roommates and living situation, Julia was just as mortified about her issues with aggression and violence. Nick, on the other hand, found it kind of hot.</p><p>After the bus accident -- it's hard to steer when Julia is punching a dude into the driver -- the gang awaited cab rides home, leaving Jess and Schmidt for last. The two shared some heartfelt words, and then Schmidt completely misread the moment and leaned in for a kiss. A kiss that was never going to happen, and earned him his largest Douchebag toll yet.</p><p>"New Girl" continues every Tuesday night at 9 p.m. EST on Fox.</p><p>TV Replay scours the vast television landscape to find the most interesting, amusing, and, on a good day, amazing moments, and delivers them right to your browser.</p><p>Related on HuffPost:</p> <br><p>Nick Snider, who Forbes magazine named the world's fifth most successful male model in 2008, has been charged with three misdemeanors, including offering multiple law enforcement officials oral sex in exchange for release, .</p><p>The intoxicated 21-year-old was arrested on Monday morning for causing a disturbance at a friend's house in Batesville, Arkansas. Snider, however, was having none of it. </p><p>According to an Independence County Sheriff's Department report, Snider told the approaching officers "I am a very famous model." Then as he was being driven to the county jail in a patrol car, he told one of the deputies "If you stop I'll suck your dick and balls if you let me go." Then Snider "also harassed the booking Jailer with similar sexual comments," which got him an additional charge of attempting to illegally influence a public servant.</p><p>The Prada model is now free on a $780 bond and plead not guilty to three misdemeanor charges. His trial is scheduled for February 17th--which may conflict with the Fashion Week jobs he's been scheduled for, . Fashion Week begins in New York on February 11th and ends on February 18th.</p><p>At the time of his arrest, Snider was wearing a t-shirt that read "Hey babe, When we chillaxin?"</p><p></p> <br><p>*Scroll down for photos*</p><p>Last night was Fashion's Night Out--the Vogue-created, City of New York-endorsed shopping bonanza presumably born to boost retail sales in the face of economic dire straits. But when you're getting razed down by hordes of neon-clad sneakerheads, camera-toting tourists, and all-out fashion freeloaders spilling--rather, spewing--from stores while clamoring for a glimpse of Kanye West, it's hard to imagine that Fashion's Night Out is actually the brainchild of Vogue editor Anna Wintour. One doubts Ms. Wintour would approve of vendors hawking tempura chicken on a stick or Taco Trucks, or even sartorial-minded girls trampled by riotous herds screaming after Pharrell Williams (the equivalent of fashion road kill). Although I cannot say what took place uptown (perhaps a more high-brow affair), the scene downtown could be summed up in three words--a hot mess. </p><p>At Intermix, hordes of fashionistas clad in the latest trends gathered to celebrate J Brand's new 5x5 collection, which features collaborations with U.K. designers Christopher Kane, Erdem, Richard Nicoll, Meadham Kirchhoff and Peter Pilotto. On the premises were co-hosts Byrdie Bell and Brit it-girl Daisy Lowe, who flew in just for the occasion. Miss Lowe, clad in skinny jeans and a season-appropriate crocheted sweater, played the part of London party girl by stripping down to a white tank top and twisting to the Beatles spun by New York native DJ NVM. Later that night Byrdie Bell tweeted, "OMG, @djnvm just bust out Blues Traveler!" Even Hollywood honcho Ratner managed to squeeze through the doors after closing time to schmooze with Intermix owners Khajak and Haro Keledjian. </p><p></p><p>Around the corner, the usually quiet cobblestoned Bond Street was taken over by a block party offering a trendy "street fair" of sushi cones from Bond Street restaurant, wine tastings from Il Buco, and a temporary tattoo parlor from hip ink man Scott Campbell. Spotted on the stoop of boutique Billy Reid was model/designer/bad-girl-of-the-moment Erin Wasson donning a long tank dress and floppy hat and smoking cigarettes. Inside, a Steve Nicks cover band crooned for a downtown crowd who ogled the assortment of lumberjack plaids while swigging whisky and beer. I even spotted a fashionable twenty-something leaving the party and slipping a can of Pabst Blue Ribbon into her clutch. "How chic," I commented. "It's for later," she winked. <br><br>Elsewhere among the turbulent sea of SoHo happenings included other Brit It-girl Alexa Chung debuting her collaboration with Madewell, Scarlett Johansson feting the new Moncler flagship, and Vogue cover girl Halle Berry toasting Rag & Bone designers David Neville and Marcus Wainwright at their Mercer Street shop--but the spectacle of the night award goes to Prada, who had to lock their doors from crazed fans clamoring for a limited-edition lipstick print totes, leaving distraught fashionistas including Vogue's Andre Leon Tally and tennis pro Serena Williams imprisoned among Miuccia's laced ruffles and platform pumps. </p><p>The night finally ended at Don Hill's, Paul Sevigny's latest boite, where Russian heiress-cum-fashionista Dasha Zukhova hosted her coveted party for POP Magazine with DJ trio the Misshapes and Iggy Pop--word had it Britney Spears was holding a surprise performance. With lines of Beatrice Inn ex-pats snaking around the block, a gaggle of bearded bouncers manned the gates with uber-cool doormen's ammo du jour--iPads. Sadly my editorial date and I were (knowingly) not on the digital list, but can you blame us? It's Britney Spears! We were swiftly turned away but at least we can say, we survived Fashion Night Out--barely.<br><br>See many more here.<br></p><p>Follow Nicole Berrie on Twitter:</p><p>It might seem strange to read, but to a certain extent, it is evident that (the Stop Online Piracy Act) and (the PROTECT IP Act) has saved my generation from being portrayed as the paradigm of political disinterest.</p><p> have been written that say, as "trophy kids," our parents have created the perfect storm. Fearing that we will be interested in only the superficial, brand names of life have been glamorized in movies (see: The Devil Wears Prada). For many, it seemed as if the Millennium generation was headed towards the brink of failure. I, myself, as a young person who follows politics, have shared in that fear as well.</p><p>But SOPA and PIPA saved us all from an eternity of criticism and poor stereotypes.</p><p>When blacked-out its logo and devoted 24 hours to raising awareness about the potential repercussions of passing SOPA and PIPA yesterday, the negative response that was generated from millions of Americans, many of whom were youth, was of a gargantuan magnitude. I read the tweets and Facebook statuses of friends and family members who so despised the word "government" passionately opposing these bills. So many of them were infuriated with the concept that lawmakers could potentially accomplish something so devastating. </p><p>And I couldn't have been happier.</p><p>Finally, it seemed as if the importance of engaging in political discussion "clicked" for many youth my age. The passion for argument that I find so enthralling -- and the thrill of affecting legislation that drives the direction of this country -- were shared by others my own age! </p><p>All it took was a little nudge.</p><p>What could be a better lesson than this for why America has become the great nation it is today? Yesterday exemplified a living case study of the beauty of consent of the governed. My generation was influential in the fact that by sun down, legislators were issuing that condemned the contents of the bills they had been supporting just hours earlier. </p><p>In a moment in time in which the 2012 presidential elections will allow for an entirely new generation of Americans to cast their votes, it has never been more important to be informed. Thus, SOPA and PIPA could not have had better timing.</p><p>Moreover, it was reassuring that those of my generation, some of whom will not be able to vote in 2012, were engaged, if just for a day, in political discussion. </p><p>Yesterday, we were able to evince that we are not solely confined to the degrading stereotypes that many believe us to illustrate. I only hope, however, that this is not a lonely occurrence. One of the elements of politics that, for me, makes the field so enthralling is its intrinsic inclination towards change. The stories that made headlines yesterday, for example, have been replaced with new accounts of controversy and decision-making gone awry today. While we are fortunate to have specialized political advocacy groups that battle such legislation every day, it is important that we, as individuals, remained informed.</p><p>Therefore, it seems as if SOPA and PIPA have saved my generation. However, if we do not act, we might find ourselves drowning under the waters of disinterest once again. <br></p><p>Nora Ephron was one of the most successful female filmmakers of all time. All told, her directorial efforts -- eight films, starting with "This Is My Life" in 1992 and continuing through "Julie & Julia" in 2009 -- earned over $510 million in domestic ticket sales. Ephron, who after a battle with leukemia, was also the screenwriter behind the romcom hit "When Harry Met Sally."</p><p>Suffice it to say, she left an indelible mark on Hollywood -- both as an influence and a businesswoman.</p><p>Below, remember Ephron's largely successful career. Add your own remembrances of her and what she meant to the industry as a whole in the comments section below.</p><p></p><p>Also on HuffPost:</p><p>"You can't connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backwards. So you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future. You have to trust in something - your gut, destiny, life, karma, whatever. This approach has never let me down, and it has made all the difference in my life." Steve Jobs , CEO of Apple Computer and of Pixar Animation Studios.</p><p>Hindsight is a precious thing and is perhaps a thin (almost transparent) silver lining to the otherwise very black cloud that is - being told that you have an incurable illness. Suddenly you have the foresight to know that it's time to start looking back. You can contemplate what you have done, and what you haven't, and in the end, you will spend every waking second from that moment on, doing what made you happy and not what made you sad.</p><p>What Steve Jobs (and in turn the entire Apple Mac brand) represented was a certain type of innovation. We can give it many names; it's a kind of forward thinking, opinion forming, out-of-the-box-ideas way of life. And that really is what Steve Jobs represented. A way of life. Yes, I own a Mac, an iPhone, an iPod and I'm desperate for an iPad, but being a Mac user is more than just owning the products. It's allying yourself with the minority. </p><p>Nowadays, ask a PC person why they don't have a Mac and they will tell you that their computer can do everything a Mac can do only it's cheaper (and they'll feel quite smug about it too). But that's all a PC is in this day and age, just a great imitation, never an original thought. Let me give you an example of the difference.</p><p>If a Mac is Prada, a PC is Primark. Prada come up with the concepts each season, sending models down the catwalk in the newest designs, created from everything that was great about the past, with a sprinkling of things we don't even know are great yet, from the future. Primark doesn't have a catwalk show, it doesn't make a big show of itself, it's gets on with things, knowing accurately which trends are worth copying and which ones were too 'out there' for the masses. It dilutes the ideas of the major fashion houses and produces fashions that people can afford. It's aspirational.</p><p>Furthermore, if a PC is clever, a Mac is intelligent. A PC went to school and bought all the right text books. He read them front to back, he absorbed the information and he applied it during his exams. His essays were perfect. Exactly like the test answers he learned from. A Mac flicked through the book, extracting the important information. He then combined what he had already learned with his impeccable sense of reason, to come up with an answer that hadn't already been written in a book. His essays had style. </p><p>At school (I went to an independent girls school in Hertfordshire) I was a Mac. In hindsight, I think that what the teachers wanted to produce were PCs. Word perfect little lemmings, ready to embark on careers in law, medicine, business or politics. Serious jobs. 'Real' jobs. So when I exclaimed that I would be running off to art school instead of Oxbridge, more than a few eyebrows shot up. "But you're so clever!" was the frequent rebuff I would hear. It became like an insult. I didn't want to be clever, I wanted to be an artist.</p><p>Being stubborn, from that day forth I trusted my gut and eventually moved into the creative world of the arts. After university I went freelance and I've never looked back. If there is one thing I believe in life (and trust me, there aren't many, I have a very nihilistic view on everything) it is that there are no truer words than: "Don't Settle."</p><p>And noone says it better than Steve Jobs did himself, during the Commencement address on June 12, 2005.</p><p>"I'm convinced that the only thing that kept me going was that I loved what I did. You've got to find what you love. And that is as true for your work as it is for your lovers. Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work. And the only way to do great work is to love what you do. If you haven't found it yet, keep looking. Don't settle." </p><p>These words are not just inspirational speaking. For many, this is absolute truth. This is the gospel of the creative and innovative person. If you don't love what you do, you'll look back and the dots won't connect. You'll have wasted your life to somebody else's opinion of what you should have been or done.</p><p>Having a freelance career isn't necessarily 'free.' There is no guarantee of a wage every month... there isn't even a guarantee of work and you are only ever as good as your last job. The freelance life has no routine, you're jumping from one place to the next in completely different parts of town, with new working hours every day. You are constantly searching for something bigger and better. If someone asks "Do you wanna come for dinner on Thursday?" your answer is probably... "Err, can I let you know on Wednesday night?" - you might be free now, but you could be booked in a week. And God forbid you suggest a sick day to a freelancer. Every sick day is money straight down the pan. Plus, Macs never get viruses.</p><p>But inversely, the lifestyle is spontaneous, independent, full of new people and experiences. It doesn't matter WHAT you do, just that you're doing it. And this is what I love in life, being undefined yet still being productive. I am a writer. I am a journalist. I am an artist. I am a photographer. I design books. I research pictures... And why stop there? There is no end to the amount of job titles one should be allowed to apply to the bottom of their email signature. </p><p>If it wasn't for the Macs of this world, pushing the boundaries of what a job description is and could be, questioning the mundaneness of the 9-5, really progressing with new ideas and never stopping to question why, we'd all be stuck in a world with PCs that run beautifully well but never change.</p><p>For anyone out there like me, that worries when their friends with 'real' jobs call them lazy if they're stuck with seven days and no work, stop now. We just didn't settle for the life society told us we should have. And thank God we didn't. Because maybe one day we can make, do, write about, take a picture of, sculpt or solder together something inspirational that might change the world.</p><p>Well... that's what iDream about.<br></p><p>Follow Olivia Rose on Twitter:</p><p>We've teamed up with Greta Larkins, the genius behind the brilliant Tumblr in a weekly series of animated fashion shots.</p><p>This week, FashGif takes on this beaded jacket from 's spring 2013 show from . Can we expect to see wearing this on the campaign trail? We doubt it, but it sure would make things even more exciting.</p>Want more? Be sure to check out Stylelist on , and .<p><br>For previous Fashion Gifs, take a peek in our gallery below: <br><br><br></p><p>In the famous "Devil Wears Prada" scene, Miranda Priestly cryptically demands to her assistants, "Get me Demarchelier!" Within seconds, the more competent of two proves her worth by yelling out: "I've got Patrick!"</p><p>Yes, Patrick Demarchelier is that much of an style stalwart that knowing his name is knowing the fashion industry itself. He's shot for Vogue and Harper's Bazaar, Louis Vuitton and Yves Saint Laurent, and even the fantastical bridal photo shoot in the first "Sex and the City" movie.</p><p>This year, Demarchelier's biggest gig was a photographic retrospective of Christian Dior, for which he snapped original pieces of Dior couture dating back to the midcentury, gathered up in a massive book entitled, appropriately, "Dior Couture" ().</p><p>But with such high-profile projects, that his favorite subjects are still the most simple:</p>"When people ask me which is your favourite portrait... they expect it to be Diana, or someone famous. But the answer is my dog, Puffy. They think I mean Puff Daddy. No, it is the dog." <p>A dachshund, to be exact. 68-year-old Demarchelier is not overly impressed with celebrity, given how many famous faces he's shot. "You know," , "I don't care who I shoot. Sometimes, I do not know who they are."</p><p>Some, however, he can't help but know. Demarchelier muses, "I do weddings again. I just did the wedding in Monaco, ."</p><p>Royals, couture... and puppies? Sounds like ideal mix to us. That Demarchelier is one lucky man. </p><p>.</p><p>WATCH:</p><p></p> <br><p>PITTSBURGH &mdash; Motorists have reported a sharp-dressed pig running loose on a highway just outside of Pittsburgh. State troopers also spotted the animal but failed to catch it before it scurried off into the woods.</p><p>The pig is wearing a scarf. The sightings were reported between 8:30 a.m. and 9 a.m. Wednesday just west of the city on Interstate 376, known locally as the Parkway West.</p><p>State troopers from the nearby barracks in Findlay Township spotted the pig, but couldn't catch up to it.</p><p>Police say the pig appeared to be a baby and confirmed it was wearing a scarf. Police don't know why that is or who may own the animal.</p><p>Still, someone has created a Twitter account to chronicle the swine's "exploits." It's at . </p><p>Also on HuffPost:</p><p>Are you a devotee of both gaming and couture?</p><p>Now you (probably "you," singular, because that's gotta be a limited group) can combine your interests with , a Tumblr that adds carefree Pokemon characters to the most serious of fashion shoots.</p><p>The unnamed blogger behind the site adds whimsical Pokemon animals to pictures like , that and some Prada promotional photos. We're impressed by the combinations of colors, which make even children's cartoons seem elegant.</p><p>Check out some of the cool illustrations below, and </p><p></p><p></p><p>Also on HuffPost:</p> <br><p>ST. LOUIS &mdash; A St. Louis man accused of shooting at three boys who were setting off fireworks faces criminal charges.</p><p>Fifty-six-year-old William Prada was charged Friday with three counts each of first-degree assault and armed criminal action. Bail has been set at $75,000 cash only. No attorney is listed for Prada in online court records.</p><p>St. Louis police say the boys were shooting off fireworks in an alley Thursday night when the man yelled at them and pulled a firearm. Shots were fired in the direction of the 11-year-old and two 10-year-old boys.</p><p>Police say they recovered a firearm when they arrested Prada.</p><p>___</p><p>Some people say museums are a bore. This is museum probably not what they are referring to when they make such a careless statement.</p><p>Art, celebrities, sex, greed, fantasy, over-the-top decadence, and superb fashion will all be witnessed at The upcoming guerilla pop-up project from superteam Francesco Vezzoli and Miuccia Prada will take over Paris' Palais d'Iena for, you guessed it, 24 hours. It will make you gasp, tingle and drool (for a limited time only!) </p><p>The palace housing the art bacchanal normally acts as France's economic and social and environmental council. Vezzoli gleefully to fill the hall with neo-classical sculptures with celebrity heads that light up, making the vibes very "Brothel in Las Vegas." The ephemeral exhibition will address the mythical vision we hold of classical Greece as pristine and white when, in fact, those classical sculptures we study were once painted. </p><p>Vezzoli's magic lies in his ability to create unabashed kitsch monsterpieces with a deeper, almost political message for those who seek it. By turning a political edifice into a gaudy loveden Vezzoli reveals that underneath it all is power playing its game, whether in law, sex, fame or politics. </p><p>Vezzoli's night of luxury is also set to include a Twitter conversation between Vezzoli and a secret celebrity who he refers to as bigger than Lady Gaga. And Vezzoli would know, through his performance with Gaga playing a Damien Hirst designed piano at a MOCA event while wearing a Frank Gehry hat. These are the kind of high-profile hijinx that Vezzoli churns out. Who needs depth when the shallow can look so good?</p><p><br>Vezzoli's past works include extravagant pranks such as a star-studded trailer to a fake remake of Caligula in which Helen Mirren and Benicio del Toro wear togas. Then there is the Roman Polanski directed commercial for a non-existent perfume called 'Greed' in which Natalie Portman and Michelle Williams wrestle. Some might say providing advertisements for fictitious subjects is a tease, that Vezzoli's works don't, in fact, point anywhere. But then again, look at them glitter.</p><p><br><br></p><p><br></p><p>So what is the point of the museum? According to Vezzoli, to make viewers smile. Is this enough? You'll have to see, won't you?</p><p>The will be open January 24th in Paris.</p> <br><p>MILAN &mdash; Miuccia Prada's starts off simply sober, and builds slowly to sober psychedelic.</p><p>The womenswear collection for next winter and fall presented Thursday on the second day of Milan Fashion Week has some basic building blocks: cropped pants worn either under a long skirt, with a short jacket, an empire-waisted long coat or sleeveless vest.</p><p>Details make the difference.</p><p>Elegant black combinations were the backbone of the collection. Some long coats featured tails, a look Prada launched for men last month. Oversized beads ringed pant hemlines, decorated the bodice like so many brooches, or created a vertical pattern down the skirt.</p><p>The empire waist of the jackets and dresses provide a flattering look, and the combination of dresses and pants recalls a young girl's attempts to mix fashion with function on the playground.</p><p>Shirts are either a printed turtle neck, or a button-down white shirt embellished with a beaded collar.</p><p>Even with the heavily layered look, Prada's lines remain impeccably clean &ndash; both ethnic and elegant.</p><p>After the introduction in black, Prada exploded with brocade prints recalling hip 1960s upholstery in bright orange, pink, green and purple.</p><p>The polygon prints lent movement to the looks, a slightly psychedelic feel as the hexagons seemed to rotate.</p><p>Long printed coats dipping below the knee and belted high with a jeweled buckle were paired with cropped pants, the better to show off the comfortable flat Mary Janes with bright rubber soles &ndash; an antidote to the super-high-heeled strapped pumps.</p><p>Prada brought back the pant suit, a look which is popping up all over Milan, but she also sometimes paired complementary prints, say a purple and red hexagon vest over brown and black diamond pants, leaving lots of room for the Prada woman to mix and match.</p><p>A fiesta of bags accessorized the look, including Prada favorites from doctor bags to tiny cell phone-sized evening purses. Models wore dark eye makeup and long hair extensions often in contrasting colors.</p><p>MILAN - Miuccia Prada, one of the fashion world's most out-of-the-box thinkers, for next summer takes apart the kimono to discover its most basic silhouette. Then, she puts it all back together again to come up with a full collection of imperial outfits.</p><p>The central motif of the new collection previewed Thursday during Milan Fashion Week is a graphic flower, often with a bright red centre, which appeared on bags, tops, dresses, wraps and eyewear.</p><p>Prada has reinterpreted the Japanese Geisha sandal complete with split-toe tabi sock, which she crafted from leather with a zipper up the back, suggesting they could be footwear in their own right.</p><p>The impact of the entire collection was otherworldly, a reflection of Prada's reach for conceptual fashion where idea trumps fit. The kimono showed up as a wrap, a top tied neatly in the back, a skirt formed out of panels or just a simple tunic dress. Fabrics were shiny silk and satin.</p><p>Shoes were over the top, wedge and platform sandals, always worn with the tabi sock at times in contrasting gold and silver. The latest Prada palate includes soft pink and sage but the basic colour scheme stuck to black, white and grey — all the better to show off the flower emblem and highlight red accents.</p><p>The collection was decidedly warm weather, but Prada also devised wraps and three-quarter sleeved coats, often of fur, for chillier climes. Here too, the flower motif made the difference. The basic bag was a small summer shopper — more for the boutique than market.</p><p>Prada once again has transformed her fashion theatre, this time breaking up the distressed white arches with stark black columns to better set off her conceptual creations. Models' hair was teased and they wore bright red lipstick to match the flaming red of the flowers.</p><p></p><p>Italian fashion house Prada is not in talks to sell a stake to Richemont (CFR.VX), the world's second-largest luxury goods group, a Prada spokesman said on Tuesday, denying a newspaper report of a possible tie-up.</p><p></p> <br><p><br>* Q1 revs 686.7 mln euros vs 640 mln eur f'cast <br>* Net profit 121.7 mln vs 98 mln eur f'cast <br>* EBIT doubles, outpaces revenue growth <br>* Europe, Asia markets remain strong <br>By Antonella Ciancio and Farah Master <br>MILAN/HONG-KONG, June 7 (Reuters) - Italian fashion group Prada SpA shrugged off concerns of softer consumption of its leather handbags and brightly-coloured shoes in China and Europe, as first-quarter results beat forecasts and retail-driven profits grew faster than sales. <br>The Milan-based maker of Miu Miu dresses said net profit more than doubled to 121.7 million euros ($152 million) as the company's focus on Asia and its retail expansion paid off. <br>"Although we have seen these encouraging outcomes, we must consider ... the rising risks deriving from the uncertain international economic environment," the group said, adding it would focus on cash-flow generation and financial flexibility. <br>The European market achieved the best performance, growing 57 percent, followed by Asia, which makes around 38 percent of sales. The U.S. market grew by more than a third. <br>In the three months ended in April, earnings before interest and tax (EBIT) rose 106 percent to 164.8 million euros, driven by retail sales, and declining markdowns. <br>Listed in Hong Kong, Prada's shares have gained nearly 30 percent so far this year, easily outperforming the benchmark Hang Seng Index's 1.3 percent gain. <br>The luxury goods industry has enjoyed a strong recovery from the 2008 financial panic, helped by new-money buyers travelling through Europe and the United States. <br>But concerns about a worsening euro-zone crisis, a sluggish U.S. recovery and a possible slowdown in Asian luxury markets have spooked stock markets since April. <br>Tiffany & Co has cut its fiscal-year sales and profit forecasts on economic concerns in China and the United States, while Tod's and Brunello Cucinelli have seen negative sales in recession-hit Italy. <br>Prada, which floated in Hong Kong a year ago, said revenue climbed 47.9 percent, above estimates. <br>China's luxury market is poised to grow 18 to 20 percent this year, outperforming the single-digit forecasts for Europe, the Americas and Japan, according to U.S. consultancy Bain. (Additional reporting by Alison Leung in Hong Kong and; Sabina Suzzi in Milan; Editing by David Holmes)</p><p>MILAN &mdash; Maybe it's the staging, or the music &ndash; this round sexy French &ndash; or the clever themes. But somehow Miuccia Prada always puts together a great show.</p><p>The designer's latest collection presented Sunday evening, the second day of preview showings for summer 2013 menswear, was happy, snappy and just minimalist enough to insure the label's reputation as the most avant-garde maison of Italian fashion.</p><p>Young lads and mature men walked down the sloped, pristine white runway wearing nothing more than revisited track suits.</p><p>Prada created an entire collection and a brand new look, starting with the white-band theme of sportswear items.</p><p>First she put the white bands on the inside instead of outside of a trouser leg, then she accentuated the same white band for the neckline of the accompanying T-shirt top.</p><p>Like musical variations on a theme, the imaginative designer worked the bands into different components of her summer wardrobe from shirts to jackets to overcoats.</p><p>As the show progressed, the bands changed color and became ever larger, culminating in a two-tone effect for a simple polo shirt or the lapel of a jacket.</p><p>Meanwhile, the white band also showed up under the arm of a lightweight raincoat or became the cross strap of a flat leather sandal.</p><p>Not satisfied to limit the new inventions to the male population, Prada put together a his-and-her version of most of the outfits.</p><p>For the girls, however, the T-shirts came in luxurious dyed fur. All the female models wore a tennis band around their head to accentuate the sporty feel of the collection.</p><p>The new Prada bag is unisex. Big and boxy, it can be carried by hand and double as an overnighter.</p><p>From the white stands set up in the trendy Prada theater, Miuccia's many fans cheered her on.</p><p>Prada's latest video catalogue release, Real Fantasies, gives those of us who can't actually buy Prada a chance to drool over its Fall/Winter 2011 collection. Eye candy for the A.D.D. generation, the film is a moving pop-up book of bougie '60s beauties playing (and posing) around a psychedelic dollhouse. </p><p>The ideal of the waifish model is taken to an extreme as the models all appear in two dimensions; they remain flat as paper dolls, often susceptible to being moved like a game piece by giant hands. The film captures the fantasy of bourgeois ennui, of being so beautiful and so bored you begin to go a little crazy. </p><p>The collection itself employs the idea of a living fantasy with its opulent furs, sequins and aviator allusions, making models appear as if they could fly away at any moment. The maximalist vision reminds the viewer of a surrealist , pushing the obsession with beauty into a hallucinatory flurry. Watch here for a peek into Prada's dreamy dollhouse; unfortunately, getting any closer to the clothes may prove to be an Unreal Fantasy. </p> <br><p></p><p>MILAN - Miuccia Prada's starts off simply sober, and builds slowly to sober psychedelic.</p><p>The womenswear collection for next winter and fall presented Thursday on the second day of Milan Fashion Week has some basic building blocks: cropped pants worn either under a long skirt, with a short jacket, an empire-waisted long coat or sleeveless vest.</p><p>Details make the difference.</p><p>Elegant black combinations were the backbone of the collection. Some long coats featured tails, a look Prada launched for men last month. Oversized beads ringed pant hemlines, decorated the bodice like so many brooches, or created a vertical pattern down the skirt.</p><p>The empire waist of the jackets and dresses provide a flattering look, and the combination of dresses and pants recalls a young girl's attempts to mix fashion with function on the playground.</p><p>Shirts are either a printed turtleneck, or a button-down white shirt embellished with a beaded collar.</p><p>Even with the heavily layered look, Prada's lines remain impeccably clean — both ethnic and elegant.</p><p>After the introduction in black, Prada exploded with brocade prints recalling hip 1960s upholstery in bright orange, pink, green and purple.</p><p>The polygon prints lent movement to the looks, a slightly psychedelic feel as the hexagons seemed to rotate.</p><p>Long printed coats dipping below the knee and belted high with a jewelled buckle were paired with cropped pants, the better to show off the comfortable flat Mary Janes with bright rubber soles — an antidote to the super-high-heeled strapped pumps.</p><p>Prada brought back the pant suit, a look which is popping up all over Milan, but she also sometimes paired complementary prints, say a purple and red hexagon vest over brown and black diamond pants, leaving lots of room for the Prada woman to mix and match.</p><p>A fiesta of bags accessorized the look, including Prada favourites from doctor bags to tiny cellphone-sized evening purses. Models wore dark eye makeup and long hair extensions often in contrasting colours.</p> <br><p>MILAN &mdash; Luxury design house Prada SpA says its earnings rose 60 percent in the first six months of the year thanks to higher sales in Asia and to tourists in Europe.</p><p>Prada reported Monday first-half net income of (EURO)286 million ($370 million), up from (EURO)179 million in 2011. Revenues rose 28 percent to (EURO)1.5 billion from (EURO)1.1 billion last year.</p><p>Asia revenues were up 44 percent. Europe recorded a 31 percent increase, despite the financial crisis, due to rising tourist numbers.</p><p>Leather goods, which represent nearly two-thirds of sales, grew by 52 percent. Clothing and footwear contributed (EURO)564 million to sales, which Prada said "reflects client appreciation of the group's stylistic excellence."</p><p>Prada's summer 2013 collection centering on a deconstructed kimono was enthusiastically received during Milan Fashion Week.</p>Back in the 90's we had a running joke - whenever we found something at the thrift store that was cool but was two inches too short or one size too small we would joke ''well just say it is Prada" <br><br>It was because Prada was inspired from the ill fitting thrift store finds that all us kids were wearing at the time so she intentionally would put a dart in the wrong spot or have the buttons buckle etc etc.I like the Mary Jane part. I have Mary Jane's including Mary Jane Birkenstocks. However, I looked at them and said, "Where is the boot part"? The next question I had was, "My God, what is wrong with her legs?!?" Then I realized that was the boot.<br><br>I guess if someone wants to look like she has bare prosthetic legs, these are great. Otherwise, not so much.Real people DO wear these shoes. I've seen them, hobbling along, trying to concentrate on walking while trying to negotiate busy Manhattan Streets and subway stairwells during rush hour (I hate winding-up behind one on a crowded staircase while I'm trying to run for the train.) I have to concede that the shoes look very sexy, in a bound-foot kind of way. I can't wear them 'cause I can't walk in them. I've also seen several, older patients, who after having worn high-heels all of their working lives (they usually started wearing them during the Depression, to look older so that they could get jobs) have severe arthritis in their feet, are confined to their wheelchairs because they can no longer walk due to tremendous pain.<p>Oh, ombre hair. </p><p>It swept through the fashion set and down through average hometown salons with an intensity not seen since The Rachel (at least that's how it felt). Suddenly everyone and her blogger friend had the dip-dyed tresses, with dark roots fading to every shade of golden blonde on every stylish head. </p><p>But somewhere along the line, we lost track: was ombre still new? Was it trendy anymore? ? </p><p>Just when we were sadly contemplating giving up our own fading ombre style, Prada came and swiftly rescued us. in Milan today, Miuccia Prada styled her models with extreme dye jobs, with pin-straight hair fading from deep brown to bleached blonde. </p><p>Against the vibrant prints and orange-tinted smoky eyes, the bold hair popped... and made it official: ombre hair is back. Or still here. Whatever. We're keeping ours. </p><p>Check out the Prada girls as well as our favorite ombre'd celebs. Do you ombre? <br></p> <br><p>HONG KONG &mdash; Italian fashion house Prada SpA plans to raise up to $2.6 billion in a listing on Hong Kong's stock exchange, according to a person familiar with the deal, joining other foreign companies flocking to cash in on China's rising fortunes.</p><p>Prada plans to sell some 423.3 million shares in range of 36.50 to 48 Hong Kong dollars, according to the person, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they weren't authorized to comment officially.</p><p>If the shares are sold at the top of the indicative price range, Prada would raise HK$20.3 billion ($2.6 billion). The price will be finalized on June 17 and the shares will start trading on June 24, the person said.</p><p>The company was founded in 1913 in Milan by Mario Prada and started out making leather bags, trunks and crystal but its modern designs have helped it become a symbol of high fashion. It now also owns the Miu Miu, Church's and Car Shoes brands.</p><p>The company is privately held, with President Miuccia Prada and Chief Executive Officer Patrizio Bertelli each owning 33.2 percent. Miuccia Prada's brother Alberto Prada and sister Marina Prada each own 14.2 percent. Their stakes are owned through a holding company. The remaining 5.1 percent is owned by Italian bank Intesa Sanpaolo.</p><p>Prada is the latest in a string of companies going public in Hong Kong, attracted by the surging economy of its massive neighbor China that is minting millionaires and billionaires at a rapid clip. Hong Kong is a Chinese territory but has its own currency and legal system.</p><p>According to The Hurun Report, China's version of the Forbes Rich List, the number of people worth at least 10 million yuan ($1.5 million) grew by about 10 percent to 960,000 people in 2011.</p><p>China's newly wealthy are spending their money on a wide range of luxury goods, including designer clothing, flashy cars and expensive apartments. Airplane makers and shipyards are predicting that rich Chinese will propel sales of superyachts and private jets while Chinese collectors have helped turn Hong Kong into the world's third-largest auction center.</p><p>In a pre-listing document filed with the Hong Kong stock exchange, Prada said it expects Asia to be the luxury industry's fastest growing region, and China to be the fastest growing market. In the next five years, China will become the third-largest market for luxury sales worldwide, according to market research.</p><p>China's strong economic growth, increasing urbanization and higher spending by the rich will drive annual sales growth 15 to 20 percent in the luxury goods market from now until 2014, the company forecast.</p><p>Prada plans to open 70 stores in Asia by 2014, with 30 of those in China. It will also open 30 Miu Miu stores in Asia during the same time frame, adding to 25 currently.</p><p>"We believe further growth is possible due to continuing growth of the Chinese economy, which enables us to further our penetration into Chinese cities," the document said.</p><p>Asia accounted for a third of Prada's roughly euros 2 billion ($2.9 billion) in sales in the year ending January 31, second only to Europe, which had 42 percent.</p><p>Prada is holding a fashion show and presentation for investors Tuesday evening in Hong Kong as it prepares for the initial public offering.</p><p>The company is also looking at expanding in the Middle East, South America and Eastern Europe, according to the document.</p><p>Prada had discussed going public in the past, but the move was delayed after the world financial crisis in 2008 sent markets tumbling.</p><p>Swiss commodities trader Glencore and luggage maker Samsonite have also listed in Hong Kong this year. Luxury handbag maker Coach plans a listing in Hong Kong later this year to raise awareness of its brand in Asia.</p><p>MILAN &mdash; Miuccia Prada is on a fashion sabbatical from the real world, taking refuge in a fantasy land of comic strips, yesteryear toys and fictitious characters.</p><p>Prada, hailed by fashion critics as one of the few designers today with a personal point of view and a thirst for new ideas, had already skimmed the comic books for her summer menswear collection in June. She decorated her casual collection with cowboy figures, rockabilly dancers, old-fashioned cars and sports gear &ndash; especially golf, the main theme of the collection.</p><p>For her Spring/Summer 2012 women's collection, which previewed Thursday, Prada was back in the make-believe grab bag. She pulled out 1950s model cars (two in plastic foam doubled as seats for guests at the show), comic book figures and bouquets of roses from grandma's trunk in the attic.</p><p>The main theme was the car, from the motor-revving catwalk music to the exhaust flame prints and large and small vintage cars that decorated many outfits.</p><p>Here the clothes took over from the models, many of whom looked like television fashion character "Ugly Betty" before her remake.</p><p>Girls with purposely mousey hair, bad posture and a faltering gait walked the runway in lovely ladylike outfits with silk pleated skirts and matching pleated tops, demurely printed blouses, and summer coats decorated with wooly roses. A leather pencil skirt embroidered with a large convertible car is sure to be the hit of the season.</p><p>The Prada color palette is soft and feminine: yellow, beige, sky blue and wine red, the latter two often combined to create a soft olden days effect.</p><p>The outfits all had a proper hemline &ndash; just below or above the knee &ndash; except for a series of chaste beauty queen 1950s swim suits, which translated into the bold world of the new Millennium become trendy day or nighttime silk outfits.</p><p>Just in case there were a poolside misunderstanding, these outfits were worn with the new Prada shoe, open toed with a heel decorated with leather flames. Topping everything off was the latest double-handled Prada bag, very 1950s and very top drawer.</p><p>Sinning heels are so hot right now.</p><p>Last week we brought you the magic (?) of the , a pair of $1400 pumps that spell out the letters S-E-X when the wearer stands with her feet together. (The straight guys we polled.)</p><p>But not to be outdone, Prada has come out with its own take on salacious stilettos. One of our fave footwear blogs, Sea of Shoes, . </p><p>No, not like those trendy , or the . Prada designed their heels more literally, with giant pink lips on the toes that irreverently dangle (leather) cigarettes, complete with plumes of leather smoke.</p><p>What's next? Shoes that proclaim, "I'M BREAKING CURFEW RIGHT NOW"?</p><p>They'll , and they're .</p><p>Check out the sandals below and tell us if your toes will be taking a smoke break in the poll.</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>Also on HuffPost:</p> <br>eGHZmFyID44mYu00M5dZQhYaAu%2FAmgJCGfYy66NCsZ3y2%2BCd8epkdQj2UKN14xi7V2f6zvgZ4FLzuHlXFqCtvHEMfu8cnurHGtdTrlO6FQ53rI4f%2FNo7oyXAvVcpcAPr4kIuB5Ua5hfpX3jCUjpesONZAp5v%2FZYto0CpL2BNQDbLKBQntDL%2BG2ZKPlg9r%2BFV<p>Miuccia Prada is known for her bright colors and retro prints and both are out in full force in Prada's latest ads.</p><p>The Spring/Summer 2012 campaign, just one of the many to drop in the past few days (, , ), features a slew of brightly clad models photographed against a vivid blue sky by Steven Meisel.</p><p>The girls, including Elise Crombez and Natasha Poly, are strewn around a vintage-looking gas station, posing against hot rod cars and lacquered gas pumps exuding a '50s vibe -- sans pants (that's more of a 2011 thing, but we'll let it slide). </p><p>Not that Miuccia needed to worry about making a gas station seem chic. Those dirty gasoline repositories have been a favorite of the fashion set for a while now, as the site of and the location for .</p><p>Check out the Prada spots below -- don't they make you want to do the hand jive, hop in a hot rod and head on over to the drive-in?</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p><br></p><p><br></p> <br><p>Text By COLLEEN BARRY, Associated Press </p><p>MILAN - Prada goes bold for her spring/summer 2011 women's collection.</p><p>There's nothing understated in the colors, orange, green and royal blue; the stripes, decisively bold; and the patterns, from bananas to cherubs to monkeys. But there are also frills for a more feminine touch.</p><p>Miuccia Prada's skirts are tight-fitting and to the knee, but matched with looser jackets or tops, some echoing the men's collection presented in the summer with V-necks that evoke doctor shirts. The outfits are paired with wedged sneakers high enough to give basketball court advantage.</p><p>Check out images from the show and scroll down to keep reading.</p><p></p><p>The look becomes decidedly more girlie when a thick frill is added to the bottom of the tight skirts, providing a swirl of soft motion. The motion doesn't stop there: horizontal striped dresses are paired with vertigo-inducing striped sombreros slung over the neck for maximum contrast.</p><p>Dresses are fitted, with bold patterns and lots of stripes, often alternating in both color and thickness, with a stripe of fuchsia to grab the eye. And then there are the patterns: paired monkeys on a white background give a whimsical touch.</p><p>In fact, while the cut of the clothes is urban, urban, urban, the message is Caribbean, fun and loose, an attitude backed up by the fabric: cotton. In keeping with the mood, bright tropical fruits of marzipan were available for viewers after the show.</p><p>Even the sun dresses have a structured look about them. Thin straps and deep V-backs leave plenty of room for peek-a-boo, while tassels on the hemline beckon.</p><p>The little black dress makes an appearance for evening, with feminine ruffles around the gentle necklines. Lest anyone think, ah, black dress, seen that, Prada adds fun furry wraps in black and white stripes on a colorful background.</p> <br><p>Senior retail manager for Prada Japan Rina Bovrisse claims that the CEO of Prada Japan Davide Sesia asked her to "eliminate" fifteen employees who were "old, fat, ugly, disgusting or not having the Prada look," . Bovrisse also said she was told to lose weight and get a new hairdo. She is now suing Prada for discrimination and harassment. </p><p>After Sesia's visit last May, thirteen employees were transfered to other locations, but most of them ended up quitting instead. Bovrisse went on involuntary leave in November and pursued her lawsuit.</p><p>Bovrisse explained, "The level of harassment is beyond human understanding. My responsibility is to protect hard-working women and make sure their working environment is safe."</p><p>As of Saturday there was no settlement, :</p>The case was handled by an industrial tribunal, a streamlined system for resolving labor disputes without trial. If no settlement is reached through the tribunal, the parties involved can opt to proceed with a civil suit to seek a court ruling.<p>"I am planning to collect more witnesses and file a lawsuit as soon as possible," Bovrisse said, adding this process may take a month or two.<br></p><p>Prada wouldn't comment.</p> <br><p>Prada has countersued a former employee who is suing the luxury brand for sexual harassment and unfair dismissal, . Prada Japan has taken Rina Bovrisse to the Tokyo District Court, seeking for $390,000 for hurting the company's image.</p><p>, four lawyers representing Prada Japan went to the opening day of the countersuit but neither the store's managers nor Bovrisse were present. Bovrisse wrote in an e-mail, "Prada Japan's countersuit infringes on human rights, as it threatens victims from telling the truth about what happened and scares women who want to speak out bravely."</p><p>Back in March, Bovrisse, then a former senior retail manager for Prada Japan, asked her to "eliminate" fifteen employees who were "aged, ugly, fat, bad body shape, bad teeth, disgusting and not cute." Bovrisse herself was also told to change her hair and lose weight. She claims that when she complained, she was fired and is seeking $685,000 in damages for emotional distress caused by Prada. They couldn't settle out of court.</p> <br><p>There was a lot of hullabaloo on Thursday surrounding reports, , that Prada had fired some of their emaciated models in favor of curvier gals.</p>[Fuller's source] reports that a casting director suddenly threw up his hands, said "F-- it!" and ordered that sexy Victoria's Secret Angel models, Miranda Kerr (girlfriend of Orlando Bloom), Alessandra Ambrosio, Doutzen Kroes and Isabeli Fontana airlifted in for today's 1 pm EST show.<p><br>We did spot Miranda Kerr and Alessandra Ambrosio on the runway, but the girls still looked pretty skinny to us. And just when things looked so promising at Wednesday's show. But tell us: what do you think? Is this progress or is this a setback?</p><p></p> <br><p>BlackBook:</p><p>"I'm working on [a men's collection] right now and someone at the office worriedly asked me, 'You're not going to make short skirts again, are you?'," Prada recalls of a recent conversation with a collaborator. "So I'm now pushing it even further, just for revenge!"</p><p></p> <br><p>NASHVILLE, Tenn. — The life of a mutt that's been on doggy death row for more than a year has been spared by a judge following an outcry from animal lovers and the acceptance of a last-ditch proposal to keep the dog alive.</p><p>Now Prada, the 4-year-old pit bull mix that inspired thousands of strangers across the globe to sign a petition to save the dog's life, could be headed to Animal Planet fame.</p><p>The dog was declared vicious and ordered to be euthanized after escaping from her home and attacking several dogs in an upscale Nashville neighborhood in January 2011. It usually doesn't take long to carry out such an order, but Prada's owner fought a lengthy legal battle, vowing to never stop until she saved her dog.</p><p>Nicole Andree, a 35-year-old real estate agent who rescued Prada when the dog was 4-weeks-old, asked a judge to spare her beloved companion if she agreed to send the animal to the Villalobos Rescue Center in New Orleans. The rescue center is featured in Animal Planet's reality TV show "Pitt Bulls and Parolees," which puts ex-convicts and abused dogs together so both man and animal can be rehabilitated.</p><p>Andree said she didn't mind giving her dog up if it meant Prada would be spared. "I just wanted her to live."</p><p>She said her dog would be in good hands with Tia Torres, who runs the Villalobos Rescue center.</p><p>While she was relieved for her dog, Andree said the toll of endless legal battles and not knowing whether Prada was going to live or die has proven to be devastating for her own family. Andree's father died of a massive heart attack on Easter Sunday.</p><p>"The stress from everything killed my father," she said while choking back tears.</p><p>Andree has said her dog was being discriminated against because it is part pit bull.</p><p>The dog was ordered put down by three different courts after attorneys for the city of Nashville said Prada posed a public safety threat. In court documents, they expressed concerns that the city could be held liable if Prada were to attack another dog or even a human.</p><p>Afterward, Andree launched a social media campaign to save Prada, which inspired more than 11,000 people to sign a petition asking Tennessee Gov. Bill Haslam to pardon Prada. But the governor, through a spokesman, said it was a local matter and he couldn't pardon a dog.</p><p>Davidson County Circuit Court Judge Joe Binkley Jr. signed the order sparing Prada after city attorneys said they would not object to the plan to transfer ownership of the dog to Torres so it could live at the rescue center.</p><p>"After investigating Villalobos and speaking with Ms. Torres, Metro officials determined that Ms. Andree's proposed order was an appropriate resolution to this case," Metro attorney Alex Dickerson said in an email. "Ms. Torres has extensive experience caring for aggressive dogs and the Villalobos Rescue Center is adequately equipped to confine such animals. Accordingly, Metro did not oppose Ms. Andree's motion and will transfer Prada to Ms. Torres within the next two weeks."</p><p>The dog must stay at the rescue center for the rest of its life, Binkley's order said.</p> <br><p>By Colleen Barry, Associated Press</p><p>MILAN (AP) - Two of the Milan fashion world's designing women - Miuccia Prada and Gucci's Frida Giannini - like their men to be, well, masculine - but approached the job for next spring and summer very differently.</p><p>Gucci, which showed Monday on the third day of men's Fashion Week, in Milan, was about fine detailing and craftmanship. Prada was nothing if not spare. What they shared was clarity.</p><p>Both designers also played with blue denim, which is making a cameo in many collections for next spring and summer.</p><p>Check out images of the collections and scroll down to keep reading!</p><p></p><p>PRADA</p><p>Miuccia Prada described her menswear collection in bold colors and clear lines as "simplicity regained."</p><p>There was a distinct industrial feel to the show, held Sunday evening on a catwalk bathed in low-hanging light and constructed of silver medal grids that would certainly have tripped up stiletto-heeled female models but resonated well for the thick-soled men.</p><p>Simply cut pullover V-neck shirts in cotton, and sometimes denim, resemble hospital garb and are worn over ample Bermuda shorts that have an A-cut more suggestive of a skirt. Tailored jackets have three buttons, but only two are fastened, allowing the brightly colored stripe along the button line - say, royal blue, or yellow - to peek through and are paired with skinny pants, a favorite of the season. Sweaters had boatnecks and featured bold stripes around the top.</p><p>The accessories were nothing if not postmodern. Sunglasses were wrapped around the neck. Soft leather bags were belted around the waist or carried with a handle that slipped over the wrist, bracelet-like.</p><p>GUCCI</p><p>Gucci's summer collection evoked memories of the 1970s: leisure suits, braided leather and elaborate Native American designs.</p><p>Frida Giannini started off the collection on an elegant note, a double-breasted suit in deep blue over silk T-shirts with slim pants and set off with silver necklaces. Other versions had more casual jackets, accented by crumpled silk scarves.</p><p>But she left plenty of room for causal fun: a denim shirt with an intricate design that evoked Native American art, and sportswear recalling 1970s leisure suit sahara jackets with four front pockets. There were belted-suede shorts in bold printed shirts and a thick silver wristband.</p><p>As always, Gucci played prominently with its trademark bags, with a series inspired by travel with hand-braided handles and straps.</p><p>Destination: According to the designer's note, Marrakech, in the footsteps and image of international jet-setter Paul Getty III.</p><p>ROBERTO CAVALLI</p><p>Youth is fashion's fixation, but 59-year-old Roberto Cavalli is trying to define a look that both he and his son could equally wear. The show Monday night held in an elaborate outdoor courtyard was opened by three female figures clad in Moorish robes who lit a large flame with their torches.</p><p>The Cavalli look is full of bold prints based on photographs the designer took on a recent trip to Indonesia, mixed with solids and dark colors. Printed silk sarouel pants - Oriental-style wide as a skirt until the knees and then tighten toward the ankle - are worn with jackets lined with matching print evidenced by the rolled-up sleeves.</p><p>"A man has to be a man ... with a pinch of fantasy to emphasize his individual personality. I'm a man, no longer super-young, and today I'm proposing to you what I would wear ... and what my son would wear too," Cavalli said in design notes.</p> <br><p>There are moments in fashion when you recognise something that will change the landscape of our fair industry. It happened at Jil Sander in September 2010 when Raf Simons transformed neon colours into a palatable concept with that skirt. But now, the new 'it' item has arrived, storming catwalks and constructed by the real who's who in fashion. If you are looking for the defining autumn addition then this is it. Seriously. Introducing, the trouser suit.</p><p>Prada, the Italian fashion house, is getting ready to send its latest styles down the runways in Milan this week.</p><p>But the timing of Prada's other big show -- its initial public offering -- is far less certain. Although the company began talking about going public as early as 2000, it has postponed the event three times since then. Now, with many other companies withdrawing their initial offerings because of grim market conditions, many are wondering whether Prada will stick to its latest plan for an offering in 2008.</p><p>A Prada spokesman sounds confident. He told Women's Wear Daily on Sunday that the company, which owns the Prada and Miu Miu brands, expects to list on the Milan Stock Exchange in either June or November. No decision would be made before March, when Prada reports 2007 earnings, he added.</p><p>Just last month, Tommy Hilfiger, another popular fashion brand, fell victim to the market chill. Its private equity owners. Apax Partners, decided to postpone a public stock offering in Europe.<br></p><p><br>Read the original </p><p>Read more about the .</p> <br>"The Huffington Post UK" is provided by AOL (UK) Limited. &copy;2012 AOL (UK) Limited its affiliates and licensors.<br>Part of HuffPost News . HPMG News<p>It's not everyday that you get to see a small upstart emerge in the luxury market, let alone a heavy hitter. According to our sources Qatar will launch its own brand and its own luxury boutiques around the world. That's it!</p><p>The Huffington Post has obtained the name of this self-proclaimed luxury brand, as of yet kept secret: QELA. Given the virtually unlimited financial means of the Qataris, established brands such as Hermes, Dior and Louis Vuitton are not likely to take this news lightly.</p><p>Caroline Guillon, the marketing director of Qatar Luxury Group, which launched the brand, told The Huffington Post, "Since its inception, the goal of our group has been to create a fashion brand in Qatar, and then, in time, expand to an international vocation. We are currently working on the collection." However, for the time being, Guillon preferred "not to disclose the name."</p><p>This information came from the other side of the Atlantic when a source close to the project confided that Qatar is actively seeking commercial space in New York for a luxury boutique. Several real estate agents have been retained by the Qatar Luxury Group, which is owned by the . A commercial real estate specialist in Paris confirmed the group's interest in New York space. The new entrant is also searching for premises of at least 500 square meters in the French capital, with a preference for the fashionable rue du Faubourg Saint-Honoré, which already hosts Dior, Louboutin, Hermes, Lazzaro, Prada and Dolce & Gabbana. </p><p>"We are actually looking a little more closely at New York and Paris, but our priority is the store opening in Doha," Guillon said. "Otherwise, no date has been set."</p><p>Late 2012, Probably 2013</p><p>Ultimately, the launch could include more than ten cities including Paris, Los Angeles, New York, Milan, London, Tokyo, Hong Kong, Singapore and, obviously, Doha. Each of these stores would exclusively sell the brand. This project involves creating the stores as well as the products. The objective is to launch at the end of 2012.</p><p>But in reality, it will take a few more months. Not all of the commercial sites have yet been found. Accordingly, it is unlikely that leases will be negotiated and shops installed in just four months. "In my opinion, it is too late for the end of year," says a close affiliate. "The project is not yet fully put together, there are still too many unknowns."</p><p>Guillon says the group's priority is Qatar.</p><p>"We have filed for trademarks in many countries to date so that no one will be able to take the name," Guillon says. "But our priority is launching in Qatar. This will start as a local brand. Do not expect a launch with great fanfare or fireworks ..." In Doha, the goal remains to launch by the end of the year, but as always, construction is never free from delays.</p><p>QELA Already Recruiting</p><p>In Doha, things seem well underway, as recruitment has already started. The name of the future luxury brand is referenced within an announcement of the famous Michael Page recruiting firm:</p>(Click the image to go to Michael Page's website)<p>"As a luxury seamstress [...] you must meet the highest standards of quality QELA demands at all times," details the announcement from the Qatar Luxury Group. The employment announcement is dated Aug. 4, evidence that the pace of development for the brand is accelerating. "Our main shareholder is the Qatar Foundation, which has a mission to educate young Qataris," Guillon said. "Our future brand will allow us to train some in the luxury sector."</p><p>Registered Brand</p><p>The concept of launching Qatar's own luxury brand obviously crossed the mind of the head of the Qatar Luxury Group several years ago. In fact, the brand and logo were registered as trademarks in the United States on Oct. 21, 2009:</p><p> <br><br><br></p><p>Initially, this trademark was registered for textiles and cosmetics, such as essential oils, perfumes, colognes, potpourris, creams, deodorants, lotions, false eyelashes, beauty masks and so on. But on May 2, the trademark was extended to include a broader category of products. Now the Qatar Luxury Group can also market the following products under the QELA brand:</p><p>Leather goods (attachés cases, boxes, trunks, suitcases, travel cases)<br>Jewelry (necklaces, bracelets, brooches, rings)<br>Sunglasses,<br>Binoculars,<br>Notebooks,<br>Textiles (blankets, clothing)<br>Shoes,<br>Bath accessories (shoes, hats, bathrobes…), etc.</p><p>Of course, obtaining a trademark does not necessarily mean that all of the products listed will be sold, however, it does reserve the right to sell such products in the future and further prevents competitors from usurping the name for a similar line of products.</p><p>The brand was filed in Switzerland in October 2009 with a brand r. A deposit was also recorded in France at the .</p><p>( pour voir le détail, lien en allemand) et, en France, un dépôt a été enregistré à l'INPI ().<br></p><p>… And the Website</p><p>The group also took the initiative on the web. The domain www.qela.com was filed on June 13, 2002 but has been updated as recently as June 7.<br> <br> <br></p><p>Qatar Already Had One Foot in the Luxury Market</p><p>Qatar's interest in the luxury market is nothing new or surprising. But it has been several years since the Qataris have been involved in this market through their many investment funds, particularly in France. On March 16th, it was disclosed that Qatar had a in LVMH through its investment fund Qatar Holding. </p><p>The gas-rich Gulf Emirate has also bought up numerous luxury hotels, such as the Hotel du Louvre, the Royal Monceau Hotel Lambert and the Concorde Lafayette in Paris, the Martinez and and the Palais de la Méditerranée in Nice. The Qataris have also participated as a 6.39 percent holder of the Société des Bains de Mer, which owns four luxury hotels in Monaco. Finally, Qatar, through the Qatar Luxury Group, has become the majority shareholder () of Le Tanneur, the French handbag manufacturer.</p><p>Enacting a Luxury Brand</p><p>All these investments have certainly helped Qatar gain experience in the luxury market. Several French people have gone to work for the Qatar Luxury Group. Gregory Couillard directs both the Qatar Luxury Group and Le Tanneur. Is this sufficient to create a luxury brand? This remains uncertain.</p><p>Despite the enormous financial resources of the Qatari family, branding cannot be decreed. This is all the more true given that the most well known luxury brands have earned their stripes over decades. </p><p>"We'll see how they position themselves, but they do not have the aura of an Hermes or a Louis Vuitton," says one expert. "There is a probationary period in which a brand transitions from new to trendy to luxury."</p><p>Starting prudently at first in Doha, and then transitioning to New York and Paris demonstrates that the Qataris are not skipping steps. One thing is certain, we have not heard the last of them.</p><p>This in Le Huffington Post. </p><p>We’ve seen her depicted time and time again -- Miranda Priestly in "The Devil Wears Prada," Katharine Parker in "Working Girl," Amanda Woodward on "Melrose Place" -- the boss lady who clawed her way to the top and is always ready to undermine other women trying to do the same. </p><p>In 1973 this woman even got her own name courtesy of researchers G.L. Staines, T.E. Jayaratne, and C. Tavris -- . But there's a new study out that suggests that the Queen Bee archetype is far less ubiquitous than the press and the entertainment industry would have you believe. </p><p>The research, , a non-profit organization that focuses on expanding opportunities for women in the workplace, found that most women aren’t in fact looking at their female subordinates as competition to be cut down. Rather, they view less experienced female coworkers as potential talent and are actually more likely than men to develop that talent through informal or formal mentorship. </p><p>"We were looking at the extent to which people are paying it forward," Christine Silva, the lead researcher on the study, told The Huffington Post. "Are people [mentoring and developing] the next generation of people behind them?"</p><p>The answer seems to be yes. Catalyst’s researchers followed the career development of 742 "high potential" MBA graduates –- both men and women -- who worked across a number of different fields from 2008 to 2010. The researchers questioned these graduates about the career help that they had received over the years, including both informal mentorship and more intensive that actively fights for the career advancement of the individual he or she is sponsoring. </p><p>The survey also asked whether or not they were helping the next generation of employees advance. The report, titled "High Potentials In The Pipeline: Leaders Pay It Forward," found that many of the men and women currently involved in talent development had themselves been developed by someone else. Of this group, 65 percent of women who had received career support went on to return the favor to the next batch of emerging leaders, compared to 56 percent of men in the same situation. Out of the women who said they were developing talent, 73 percent said they are developing other women, the study showed. This contradicts the idea that the majority of powerful women are Queen Bees who discriminate against the women they supervise. </p><p>Catalyst’s findings also indicate that "paying it forward" isn’t just a selfless act. Men and women who developed protégés received an average of $25,075 more between 2008 and 2010 than those individuals who did not. This figure existed even when the researchers controlled for other factors. "It's really a win-win," said Silva. "It creates a culture of talent development where everyone recognizes their role in developing a good pipeline of leaders."</p><p>Why We’re Still Stuck On The "Queen Bee"</p><p>Although the Catalyst report indicated that the majority of women are involved in mentoring subordinates, the idea of the Queen Bee remains intact in popular culture. "Bad female boss? She may have Queen Bee Syndrome" written in April 2011. from July 2011 promised to fill the reader in on "Why Your Queen Bee Boss Won’t Help You" and the ever-blunt Daily Mail warned in 2008 "Beware the Queen Bee boss -- she’s hell to work for."</p><p>In an essay titled Forbes contributor Susannah Breslin suggested that women avoid other women in the workplace altogether. Breslin wrote:<br>Tired of women-on-women jealousy at work? Nip that in the bud by eliminating women from the equation. Most women have had an experience with a female superior who wouldn’t let her advance because the woman in power was threatened. You might be insulted men see you as less of a threat, but that may be what enables you to climb up the ladder.</p><p>Silva conceded that there are probably some women who display Queen Bee-like qualities out there. "It’s not 100 percent of women or 100 percent of men who are developing others," she told HuffPost. "I absolutely believe that there are people out there who aren’t helping others advance." Yet the closest male equivalent of the Queen Bee -- the ball-busting, in no way nurturing Alpha Male boss -- is rarely presented as specifically threatening to one gender’s career aspirations. </p><p> assigned these powerful men to four categories: Commanders, Visionaries, Strategists and Executors, extolling the many positive qualities that come along with an alpha male personality, while listing the negatives toward the end of the piece. On the other hand, Queen Bees are described as "emotionally unpredictable," "vain," "sharp tongued," "easily threatened" and "cliquey." </p><p>This may simply reflect the fact that there aren’t all that many females in the highest echelons of power to serve as examples of how women operate at the top. A showed that women run just 3.6 percent of Fortune 500 companies. The same study also showed that men are twice as likely as women to reach senior executive level positions, even though they are receiving advanced degrees at lower rates than their female counterparts. This when Catalyst controlled for factors such as career ambitions and having children. "There are so many fewer women [than men] in leadership roles," said Silva. "It seems that if one woman does something negative, it’s almost as though people take that to mean that all women do something."</p><p>Gail Evans, professor of organizational behavior and author of "Play Like a Man, Win Like a Woman," echoed Silva’s sentiments. "You see a lot of companies where the women who are making it are doing everything they can to help the other women," Evans told HuffPost. "But the minute we see a woman who isn’t doing this, we want to label her as the Queen Bee."</p><p>Evans said she considers the Queen Bee stereotype generational. "I think there certainly were Queen Bees around when the workplace was about scarcity for women," she said. "You ended up with women who were older who had given up a lot to get to those [leadership] positions. Their life was the job and their deep belief was 'I had to work hard, I had to give up a lot, it was tough to get here and the way in which I mentor younger women is to toughen them out.'"</p><p>But as more and -- and in smaller numbers into senior management positions -- this archetype has become more grounded in cultural stereotypes than in reality, she said. </p><p>The Bottom Line: Developing New Talent Is Good For Everyone</p><p>Queen Bees and Alpha Males aside, Catalyst’s new report indicates that men and women alike should be taking an active interest in developing both male and female talent. The mentor, the mentee and the organization all benefit.</p><p>One way to ensure that more talent development occurs is for organizations to promote mentorship and sponsorship from the top. Both Silva and Evans were wary about formally enforced mentor-mentee pairings -- "You can’t mentor someone who you don’t like and who doesn’t like you," said Evans -- but emphasized that it was the responsibility of a company to set the tone. "Perhaps a formal pairing wouldn’t work, but maybe a situation where executives are expected to play an advocate role [for those below them]," said Silva. "There are many ways for companies to start this conversation."</p><p>Silva also emphasized that men and women who hope to rise through the career ranks should be open to seeking guidance from superiors of either gender. A showed that the gender of a sponsor or mentor doesn’t matter, all that matters is how senior that person is. In companies where men dominate the upper echelons, high potential female employees need to be proactive and build positive working relationships with those men. On the flip side, are more likely to be aware of the barriers that women face in the workplace. </p><p>"The act of paying it forward is so powerful for the person doing it, the person being developed and the organization itself," said Silva. "I hope women hear that and think ‘this is something I can do proactively for my career.'"</p><p>Last Tuesday, amidst the drone of a taxiing airplane and the cacophony of half a dozen squealing infants, I tucked into my free copy of The Economist. Air Canada Flight 856 westbound from my former home, London, was delivering me to Toronto after an epicurean week's worth of art delectation. I felt some kind of latent nationalistic need to read one of Britain's most respected publications when I selected the magazine and it turned out to be an auspicious and informative choice.</p><p>Much to my delight, sandwiched between articles on former first lady Hillary Clinton's actions as Obama's secretary of state and Apple's stock value in plebeian terms was "un petit mot" on Damien Hirst's forthcoming . I was rather disappointed to miss Hirst's show by a mere eight days and wondered if Tate Director Nick Serota's selection of work could have ameliorated my opinion of Britain's po' boy-turned-global brand. More insistent, however, was my anticipation of how London's more serious art critics would react to the show and the conclusions they would ultimately draw. </p><p><br></p><p><br>The Economist article's headline, "Is nothing sacred?", is an apt sentiment with which to begin considering Mr. Hirst's sanctimonious position within today's art market. Described recently by art critic Sean O'Hagan as a "mouthy, working-class lad from Leeds, with hooligan tendencies," (1) much of the artist's audience regards him as a phenom who successfully exfoliated his humble skin to reveal a diamond underneath. Or at least a man with many diamonds' worth in his pockets. Is the value of art within its 21st-century constitution contingent on auction hammer price or meaningful cultural currency? Put simply, it continues to be questionable whether net worth is equivalent to critical and artistic worth. As the anonymous Economist writer points out, wealth notwithstanding, Hirst has not, until now, been offered a solo retrospective at a modern art museum. </p><p>A toss in the face of Hirst-dom is the fact that of the 67 artworks borrowed for his spring retrospective (the Tate partially owns six pieces), only three have come from public institutions. Dismissal from the public sector signifies doubt in the longevity of an artist's relevance to me. The bulk of the show has been loaned by private collectors the likes of Miuccia Prada, Bernard Arnault, and Steve Cohen. Aren't they glad that their property has been "anointed" by the Tate, raising the resale value exponentially? Smart move, Miuccia. Hirst's art is nearly exclusively discussed within the context of money and secondary market value, a trend to which The Economist article adheres. The fact that every visually analytical talking point is undermined by a comment on the asking price or ownership of that specific piece of art makes Hirst's conceptual and artistic worth rather dubious. Heck, the artist himself lent "A Thousand Years" (1999) to the Tate after buying it back from art business mogul Charles Saatchi in 2003. When an artist re-collects his own work, is he successfully inflating his market value or reclaiming something he deems meaningful?</p><p>The critic's agenda begins to turn opaque with the of "Mr. Hirst's ability to transform dry conceptual art into witty, emotionally engaging work." (2) The implication here seems to be that the 73 works on display will convince visitors of the artist's progression from tedious, immature assemblages to poised, intellectually thoughtful artwork. Having attended Mr. Hirst's recent exhibitions at the Wallace Collection and White Cube in addition to this year's foray of dots splattered across canvas at Britannia Street's , I can't conjure which body of work might have precipitated such a celebratory reaction from a critic. Let the reader be pre-warned that there are no figurative paintings included in the Tate exhibition. Could it be because Hirst received vehement criticism for his insulting appropriation of British darling Francis Bacon's style, themes, and subject? The omission of any material from the two above-mentioned London shows is surely indicative that Hirst's recent practice is anything BUT witty or emotionally engaging. </p><p><br>For those who are unfamiliar with the Tate Modern, the slanted descent into the gallery's Turbine Hall finds you questioning whether you are on the ominous path to Hades or are being granted access to some covert, sanctified crypt. The Hall has been host to artists of a startling calibre: and , among others. It is in this vacuous, "" that Hirst's "For the Love of God" (2007), will be spot-lit in a dark room. The skull-shaped sculpture of real human teeth and millions of dollars worth of diamonds is, apparently, a comment on what the calls "belief system of capitalism." Its dramatic spot-lit installation smacks less of a dialogue with today's socio-economic state, however, than it attempts equation with the Crown Jewels in the Tower of London. When compared to Turbine Hall's inaugural installation -- Louise Bourgeois' poignant and breathtakingly majestic steel spider, "Maman" (1999),"For the Love of God" is crass and sacrilegious. It is nearly impossible to engage emotionally with a £50m sculpture that . </p><p><br>Stepping off the plane into Toronto's frigid air, I came to the same conclusion I always do after reading about or seeing Damien Hirst's artwork: I am astonished that our fickle art world has allowed him gracious passage for over 20 years. Hirst's ability to transform himself into a branded personality is not novel, nor are his indulgent means of artistic creation. Finally, the fact that his retrospective is unable to travel to as intended because transportation and installation would exceed the museum's entire annual exhibition budget is absurd and maddening. Hirst should not be remembered for dissolving the border between the sacred and the profane, as The Economist critic has asserted. He should be scolded for flooding the current art market with overpriced, meaningless works of art that will inevitably be a permanent thorn in the wing of art's history.</p><p>Damien Hirst's mid-career retrospective runs from 4 April - 9 September at the Tate Modern, London.</p><p>(1) Sean O'Hagan, "Damien Hirst: 'I still believe art is more powerful than money'", The Observer, (Sunday 11 March 2012): 10</p><p>(2) "Damien Hirst Retrospective: Is Nothing Sacred?", Books and Arts, The Economist, (March 24-30, 2012): 92</p><p>Image credits in order of appearance:</p><p>Damien Hirst's "The Physical Impossibility of Death in the Mind of Someone Living" (1991), Courtesy of Tate Gallery, London</p><p>Damien Hirst's "For the Love of God" (2007), Courtesy Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam</p><p>Louise Bourgeois' "Maman" (1999), Courtesy of Tate Gallery, London</p><p>Follow Rachel Anne Farquharson on Twitter:</p><p>Bollywood luminaries have continued to pay their respects to India’s first superstar, Rajesh Khanna during a prayer function in Mumbai. </p><p>Khanna, , was known as the “King of Romance”, playing the lead in nearly all of his 170 movies. </p><p>The 69-year-old’s funeral last week drew thousands, desperate for a glance of his glass coffin before he was cremated in a Hindu ceremony. </p><p><br>Bollywood actor Rajesh Khanna was known as the "King of Romance"</p><p>Family members led the prayer meeting on Saturday, including his estranged wife Dimple Kapadia, daughters Twinkle and Rinke, son-in-law Akshay Kumar and grandson Aarav. </p><p>Celebrities including Amitabh Bachchan, Aamir Khan, Hrithik Roshan, Rishi Kapoor and wife Neetu Singh provided a dash of glamour to the event, which saw guests greeted with a large black-and-white photograph of the actor in his heyday. </p><p>The Indian Express described the gathering at a five-star Mumbai hotel as </p><p></p><p></p><p>What happens when three fashion powerhouses come together for an industry chat? You get lots of juicy insider info and a bit of trash talking.</p><p>Andre Leon Talley, The Daily Beast's Robin Givhan and fashion designer Ralph Rucci gathered down in Georgia this past weekend for a speaking engagement at the Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD). Our friends over at on all the juiciest sound bytes from their talk. </p><p>After some chit chat on how the internet is affecting fashion, disrespectful Hollywood stylists and the overuse of the word "couture" -- the discussion turned to this year's Met Gala. This is when they get to the good stuff! </p><p>First of all, as perfectly magical as at the Gala, it wasn't even suppose to happen. </p><p>"Beyonce was not slated to come," Andre revealed. "She decided to come last minute when the dress arrived at her house. She tried it on and then she said, ‘okay, I have to come.’ She did arrive at 8:55 and the ball had already started but it didn’t matter because she is Beyonce."</p><p>Obvi! And it's no wonder she was late, Andre said it took 350 hours (aka 14.5 days) to sew. Wowzas!</p><p>But if you think that's shocking, you haven't heard anything yet. </p><p>When Robin asked Ralph if he would ever dress reality star Kim Kardashian, he sharply replied: </p>"No, I think that’s bastardizing yourself [as a designer]."<p>Eek! That's gotta hurt. Plus, Kim didn't even get to attend the Met Gala with her new beau Kanye West thanks to Vogue's editrix. Double burn! </p><p>Check out the dazzling stars that were invited to the Met Gala in the slideshow below. </p><p></p> <br><p>Every season without fail there is an 'it' something. Be it a handbag, a pair of shoes, a colour, a print or a cut, the fashion industry sifts through the season's offerings and proclaims one item (or style) that will trample the rest and earn a prestigious 'it' recommendation.</p><p>For spring summer 2012 it appears the Prada 1950's-esque, turbo-charged, fire bolt lipstick heels are the must have for any participant in the it game. Now please don't feel I'm bad mouthing shoes, and definitely not Prada shoes for that matter! However I just cannot comprehend why this footwear, above the rest, deserves such attention. As I write this I am flipping through the pages of the Bristish Vogue collections supplement for spring summer, and the back page alone (a rather tasty pair of Kurt Geigers) has landed my seasonal wish list far quicker than a pair of Pradas. Whilst I am totally in awe of Prada's wacky design and playful mood, they surely cannot of gained 'it' status for their practicality?!</p><p>As a fashion journalist it is my job (and my pleasure) to stack up on magazines and flick through every single one to see what is in favour and what is in the shops. Interestingly, even high street weeklies have caught the Prada bug and have given the shoe a page all in its own right. Almost as a last minute temptation: "We appreciate you can't afford Prada, however take a glimpse at their latest footwear offering anyway and lust after them..."</p><p>Perhaps it's purely because one magazine decides these particular shoes are their favourite, another feels obliged to agree and puts the pair on their 'most wanted' list. Either way, the status ripples through the industry like dominos toppling and before you know it the fun, unconventional design is the latest must have.</p><p>Having said all of this, I would be most chuffed to own a pair myself. There is a great feeling of achievement and pride when one wears the latest fashionable item - let alone all the envious comments you receive from friends and colleagues! It's a funny emotion as not only will the shoes cost you a small fortune, but fashion turns so quickly anyway it's difficult to know if they'll last even two seasons. I guess that's the joy of buying a highly desireable item and wearing it to death until the fire bolts can fire no more.</p><p>My personal 'it' wardrobe for summer so far consists of a white, slit pencil skirt from Topshop (white is another key trend for the season) along with a green perspex clutch from Kurt Geiger and floral print blazer from Zara. Fortunately these three items seem to style quite nicely together in my imagination, however I'm sure a blast of fire bolt/lipstick luxury wouldn't go amiss either.</p><p>Follow Rebecca Stevens on Twitter:</p><p>The Costume Institute's new exhibition is a happy collision of fashion titans. Decades apart, Elsa Schiaparelli and Miuccia Prada are joined in a conceit devised by Met curators, Andrew Bolton and Harold Koda: a filmed dialogue, directed by Baz Luhrman, inspired by Louis Malle's two-hander, Dinner With Andre -- only this is two women talking, both Italian and interested in clothes. Hence Impossible Conversations: Judy Davis is cast as Schiaparelli and Prada is, well, herself. Their discourse is projected, heard over the mannequins sporting their shoes, dresses, ensembles, and hats. Provocative pairings make for exhibition as theater.</p><p>The Met seized the moment when they acquired a Schiaparelli collection from the Brooklyn Museum and did not want to duplicate an exhibition perfected elsewhere. The accompanying catalogue features Judith Thurman's wittily titled essay, "Twin Peaks," offering thematic direction and the ES-MP dialogue in short page inserts. Affinities as modernists and feminists emerge as virtual truth. The Futurists and Surrealists are important influences, as are Asian cultures. No surprise, each changed the way women dress in significant ways: among other ingenuities, Schiaparelli was responsible for wraparound dresses, culottes, swimsuits with a built-in bra, wedge heels, the power suit. Prada could be industrial, tailored, severe, but with irony. "The virginal convent girl" in pleats and knee socks, the "virtuous matron in twin sets and pearls" are referenced and subverted in her signature designs. Dowdy chic is chic still.<br>Differences speak to the times: Schiaparelli dressed women for dinner and so emphasized jackets, what's worn above the waist, adorning with, say, monkey fur. Prada goes for the skirt, embellished in an assortment of mirror shards, spangles, kitchen utensils.</p><p>Schiaparelli thought fashion was art. Prada finds that equation impractical for today's world. Fashion is about selling dresses. And other stuff too: the Met gift shops offer her pricy totes, scarves, lobster and banana earrings in bright red and yellow plastic.</p><p>As I traveled past Bergdorf's on the #4 bus down Fifth Avenue, I saw the Prada-decked windows. She might as well have said fashion is about merchandising, branding. This woman speaks what she knows, and does it very well.</p><p>A version of this post also appears on .</p><p>Ten years after taking readers into the cutthroat world of fashion media, The Devil Wears Prada is . EW.com exclusively reports author Lauren Weisberger is working on a second book, Revenge Wears Prada, due out in 2013. </p><p>The original novel, which chronicled the travails of Miranda Priestly, Andrea Sachs and a host of other characters at Runway magazine, was released in 2003 and inspired the 2006 film of the same name. In the movie, Meryl Streep played Priestly, a character inspired by Vogue's Anna Wintour. Anne Hathaway co-starred as Sachs, the young fashion journalist based on Weisberger's own experiences as Wintour's second assistant. </p><p>EW provided the following plot summary for Revenge Wears Prada: </p>Revenge Wears Prada picks up eight years after Andy parted ways with Miranda on bad terms. Andy is now editing The Plunge, the hottest bridal magazine around, alongside Emily, her one-time Runway nemesis turned current BFF. While Andy is planning her own wedding to Max, a handsome media scion, she remains haunted by her impeccably heeled former boss — and the magazine world being as small as it is, it’s only a matter of time before she hears the dreaded syllables “Ahn-dre-ah!” again.<p>Weisberger herself has stayed busy in the years since Devil made its big debut, writing three non-Vogue inspired novels. </p><p>The first book inspired a wide fascination with Wintour, with many wondering whether life at Vogue could possibly be so horrible. One HuffPost blogger wrote that readers shouldn't doubt that the magazine could be hell to work for. "Speaking to others who have undertaken fashion and beauty internships, it is clear to see that the process is a matter of survival rather than enjoyment," wrote Emily Louise .</p><p>As for Wintour? She dressed in -- you guessed it -- Prada.</p><p></p><p>Also on HuffPost:</p>eGHZmFyID44mYu00M5dZQhYaAu%2FAmgJCGfYy66NCsZ3y2%2BCd8epkdQj2UKN14xi7V2f6zvgZ4FLzuHlXFqCtvHEMfu8cnurHGtdTrlO6FQ53rI4f%2FNo7oyXAvVcpcAPr4kIuB5Ua5hfpX3jCUjpesONZAp5v%2FZYto0CpL2BNQDbLKBQntDL%2BG2ZKPlg9r%2BFV<p>Rihanna, at the risk of sounding like your mother, if you're reading this can you let us know you're ok please?</p><p>We have to say we're a little bit worried about old RiRi after she tweeted this picture of herself attached to a drip.</p><p></p><p>When a fan messaged her to ask if she was ok as she'd been quiet on Twitter, she simply replied with the snap.</p><p>And it's definitely her too, as those talons she's seen sporting in the photo are the same ones that angered Anna Wintour at Monday night's Met Gala. </p><p></p><p>The fashion designer was reportedly fuming when RiRi turned up late to the bash after getting a manicure. </p><p>A source told </p><p>"She missed her slot on the red carpet and left Anna in a frenzy. The pair had a heated conversation during the champagne reception. Rihanna will not be invited to any of her future events any time soon." </p><p>However, if she really was in hospital, she's out now, as hours later she tweeted a pic of herself catching a private jet.</p><p></p><p>"My ride home NY days LA nights," she wrote. </p><p>Phew, thank goodness for that. We couldn't be going too long without our beloved RiRi being snapped doing/wearing something controversial. </p><p>> IN PICS: THE MET GALA 2012 RED CARPET<br></p><p>Also on HuffPost:</p> <br><p>The U.N. Conference on Sustainable Development in Rio can be the take-off for the next industrial revolution driven by business and civil society. The conference can mark a change in leadership from a political top down process to a bottom up movement.</p><p>For all the disappointment coming out of Rio, our world leaders can still come home and take concrete steps to promote sustainable development and to wipe out poverty. They can start by supporting businesses that protect our air and water, eradicate poverty, and innovate solutions.</p><p>Times are tough for Marc Jacobs President Robert Duffy.</p><p>Over the weekend, , calling Duffy a "tyrant," and now he -- along with parent group LVMH -- is being sued by former chief financial officer and chief operating officer of Marc Jacobs International Patrice Lataillade, . Lataillade claims he was "subjected to a discriminatory environment offensive to him" and was "fired in retaliation for objecting to that environment."</p><p>What type of environment? :</p>According to the lawsuit, examples of the hostile work environment included Duffy's "production and dissemination of a book that included photos of MJI staff in sexual positions or nude" and "Duffy's use of a nude photograph for a billboard advertisement," among other charges.<p>The suit also alleges that Duffy "uses company funds for personal expenses and does not censor what he does or says."<br></p><p> that Duffy once forced a Marc Jacobs store employee to "perform a pole dance for him," according to the complaint. From the time Lataillade started working at Marc Jacobs in 2002, there were several sexual harassment cases brought or floated against Duffy. :</p>His conduct was so well-known, the filing says, that when the company's human resources department drew up a sexual harassment policy last year, they didn't actually disseminate it "because of a concern that it would anger Duffy," who co-founded the company with Jacobs.<p>Lataillade said he "complained about Duffy's behavior and requested, on numerous occasions, that Duffy's creation of a sexually charged workplace be stopped," but "nothing was done," the suit says.</p><p>Duffy's alleged victims also didn't have much success with their complaints, with the company lawyer telling a young female employee she needed a "thicker skin" and a male employee to "go home early and have a drink," the suit says.</p><p>An LVMH spokesman denied all allegations to WWD and the case is expected to be heard in New York State court. Jacobs, himself, is supposedly not named in the suit.</p> <br><p>On his 900th appearance for Manchester United, Ryan Giggs prolonged a script that would be deemed too hokey for Hollywood.</p><p>While the A-listers mulled over Prada or Versace to trip the light fantastic on the red carpet, United's own academy winner added another happy ending to his career with a stoppage time winner against Norwich City.</p><p>Arriving late to meet Ashley Young's inviting cross, he nonchalantly volleyed past Canaries goalkeeper John Ruddy to preserve the two-point deficit behind Manchester City for his 163rd club career goal. Giggs first scored against Norwich City in September 1991.</p><p>Rio Ferdinand paid tribute to his team-mate after the 2-1 win:</p><p></p><p>Ecstatic and relieved, the Welshman headed over to United's boisterous away following to revel in the moment along with his rapturous teammates at Carrow Road.</p><p>Next month Giggs will have played 21 years for the club, having made his debut as a substitute against Everton as a 17-year-old in 1991.</p><p>Here we present a gallery charting some memorable moments of a glittering career:</p><p><br></p> <br><p><br>Comedian Sacha Baron Cohen caused another security alert when he stormed the catwalk at Milan Fashion Week.</p><p>Cohen interrupted the fashion show of designer Agatha Ruiz de la Prada in Milan making it onto the catwalk dressed as his Austrian model Bruno. Dressed in a black cloak, and a bizarre bundle of clothing, Cohen strutted down the catwalk past the shows' models.</p><p>But the police were called when he refused to leave to restore order.</p><p>Scantily clad models screamed and security guards dived on him and several others with him and bundled them away. TV footage screened on Italian TV showed Cohen dressed as his creation Bruno, a flamboyant Austrian fashionista.</p><p>Cohen is in Milan working on a new film called Bruno: Delicious Journeys Through America for the Purpose of Making Heterosexual Male.<br><br>-or-</p><p>SCROLL FOR PHOTOS</p><p>-or-<br><br>WATCH THE CHAOS ON THE RUNWAY AND HIM BEING LED AWAY BY POLICE:</p><p><p><p></p><p>PHOTOS:<br><br><br><br></p><p>Salma Hayek will always be a bombshell, but lately we'd considered her in a new light. After all, the 45-year-old actress got married, gave birth to , made an (which she then ) and began in which she sounded off on Botox and anti-ageing skincare products. </p><p>But as we realized yesterday, girl's still got it. </p><p>Salma has spent this week in Paris for the couture shows, sitting front row at Giambattista Valli and attending film premieres. She's also made time to hit up , a new (or old, depending when you read this) venture in Paris that will include "interpretations of classical sculptures that make reference to contemporary divas." </p><p>While we're not sure what that means, Salma must have taken the "contemporary divas" part to heart. She looked every bit the heart-stopping diva in a skintight black lace dress belted at the waist, a black velvet choker and black platform pumps. </p><p>With her hair pulled back for full effect, she looks like she hasn't aged a day. </p><p>Check out Salma's ensemble below. Do you like the boldly sexy look or do you think the 45-year-old mom should tone it down?<br><br></p><p></p><p></p><p>Also on HuffPost:</p> <br>READ the news!<br><br>Samsung presented a PROTOTYPE phone called “the F700,” a concept that was in development WELL before Apple announced the iPhone at the beginning of 2007. Samsung was developing its own touchscreen smartphone WELL before it knew about the iPhone but corrupt Judge did NOT allow it . <br><br>How comical is that She allowed all of Apple's evidences while she banned all of Samsung's eveidences? THIS IS NOT A FAIR TRIAL AT ALL. If Samsung lose because of this BS trial Samsung should reapeal or take to internation court.<br><br>Everyone says Corrutp judge is bought out by Apple.<br><br>Btw, I'm not work for Samsung i'm just housewife and ordinary consumer who got disgusted by Apple's BULLYING practice against its competitor rather than spend thier money and time on innovations.<p> whose book just hit shelves. After 25 years in fashion, Morrison has some pretty interesting stories to tell...like tales from her earliest gig in the biz:</p>At my first job [as a "below-junior-level assistant" to Marina Schiano at Vanity Fair], I was 21 and I thought I knew everything, but I really didn't. I was yelled at in English and Italian. I've had several things thrown at me. But the big thing that tore Marina and me apart was delivering these dog biscuits to Carolina Herrera's dog. I had a 104 degree fever and we were doing a Christmas delivery and I was putting the dog biscuit bags in the back of the car and somehow I did something wrong and put the bag in incorrectly. So the bag got a little messed up and maybe the biscuit was broken and that was it. I've never been yelled at that loudly. That was the last straw straw, that's what got me out of Vanity Fair. It's pretty funny now, though at the time I thought my career was over and that my life was ending.<p>Hardly so. In fact, celebrity stylists and the age of Rachel Zoe were just on the horizon. According to Charnin Morrison, styling, as we know it, became a profession circa 1995, when (now-Michelle Obama favorite) Barbara Tfank put Uma Thurman in Prada for the Oscars. "Because it wasn't a costume design by Helen Rose, it wasn't a Bob Mackie creation, it just wasn't a costume. It was a piece that someone could buy off a rail. Before then, you just just didn't know where red carpet gowns came from," .</p><p>.</p><p>Uma in 1995:</p><p></p> <br><p>Today in , yet another catwalk queen has joined the mommy club: . </p><p>Pivovarova has given birth to a baby girl, she tweeted on Sunday. It's the first child for Pivovarova and her photographer husband, Igor Vishnyakov.</p><p>Pivovarova is a high-fashion favorite who has walked for labels such as Prada, Rodarte, Valentino and Chanel, fronted campaigns for the likes of Miu Miu and Giorgio Armani and . </p><p>Of course, the busy Russian model took time off of the runway while she was expecting. But just last week, before the baby arrived, Pivovarova made sure to strike the requisite maternity pose: , the first anyone had seen of the bump.</p><p>Just days after tweeting the photo to her Twitter followers, , "It's a beautiful baby girl #vovarovaholic :') ?" </p><p>Congrats to the happy family! </p><p>Today is my first day celebrating mother's day as a mommy! Happy mother's day to all mothers around the world :) Love, Sasha.</p>— Sasha Pivovarova (@vovarova) <p>It's a beautiful baby girl :') ?</p>— Sasha Pivovarova (@vovarova) <p>I'm really happy to share my growing belly with my :) Have a nice day ahead, TGIF! </p>— Sasha Pivovarova (@vovarova) <p></p><p>See more model-moms:</p> <br><p>THe Moment:</p><p>The native tongue of style insiders might sound like gibberish to the casual listener. (Adam Kepler, the assistant to T's editor, Stefano Tonchi, once wrote for The Moment about confusing Miuccia Prada with a cartoon about Mexican wrestlers.) But to industry diehards, the correct pronunciation of the style directory is as important as the right shoe.<br>Thankfully, the Imperial Hotel Management College (I.H.M.C.) in Vancouver has put together an assortment of YouTube audio clips as part of its "Luxury Studies" program. The clips aim to unravel tongue-twisting designer pronunciations. </p><p></p> <br>Community Notice:We've made some changes to our badge program, including the addition<br>of our newest badge: Community Curator.Click here to leave a comment.HuffPost High School welcomes a lively, thoughtful debate in the comment section. Keep in mind that the articles here are penned by young authors, so please keep criticism respectful, and help us to keep this a safe and supportive place for writers of all ages to contribute.eGHZmFyID44mYu00M5dZQhYaAu%2FAmgJCGfYy66NCsZ3y2%2BCd8epkdQj2UKN14xi7V2f6zvgZ4FLzuHlXFqCtvHEMfu8cnurHGtdTrlO6FQ53rI4f%2FNo7oyXAvVcpcAPr4kIuB5Ua5hfpX3jCUjpesONZAp5v%2FZYto0CpL2BNQDbLKBQntDL%2BG2ZKPlg9r%2BFV<p>While the excitement surrounding didn't have quite the same fervor as its predecessor (), we expected that it would fare pretty well. But, , the exhibition closed quietly Sunday with only about half of the number of attendees as McQueen had the year before.</p><p>To put this stat into perspective, the McQueen exhibition came on the heels of . The number of people that came out to see it -- 661,509 -- was , so it wasn't exactly an easy act to follow.</p><p>That said, Schiap and Prada's 339,838 attendance is still a bit lackluster. The show in 2008, "," brought out 576,000 viewers while had a turnout of 559,902. , , managed an attendance of 463,600. And even though Prada is also an important name in the fashion industry, perhaps her pairing with Schiaparelli was not enough draw for the masses?</p><p>This possibility, of course, was not unrecognized by the curators of the show. , co-curator Andrew Bolton, said that he had no intention of replicating the "emotional" frenzy of the McQueen exhibition:</p>We deliberately wanted to do something more high-concept and more intellectual than an emotional experience. We also wanted to focus on designers who are able to marry their conceptualism with practicality. <p>Well, we're fairly certain that , so we applaud the curators for putting together a show that they felt passionate about even if they knew it might be a dud. Do you think the choice to feature Prada and Schiaparelli was a mistake? </p><p></p><p>Take a look at the stunning guests at the "Schiaparelli and Prada: Impossible Conversations" opening gala!</p><p></p><p>Want more? Be sure to check out HuffPost Style on , , and .</p>eGHZmFyID44mYu00M5dZQhYaAu%2FAmgJCGfYy66NCsZ3y2%2BCd8epkdQj2UKN14xi7V2f6zvgZ4FLzuHlXFqCtvHEMfu8cnurHR%2Bk7huUTK5GduMziZZw2K6rSnCeVSnLO4kIuB5Ua5hfpX3jCUjpesONZAp5v%2FZYto0CpL2BNQDbLKBQntDL%2BG2ZKPlg9r%2BFV<p>Anyone who works in the fashion industry can confirm that The Devil Wears Prada is a piece of non-fiction work. At some point in our careers, we all have encountered our own Miranda Priestly, the unreasonable and oppressive manager whose mission is to make your life second-place to her demands. Impossible tasks, 14-hour work days, and personal sacrifices are the norm. Your salary is laughable, lunch is just a distraction, and your efforts are thankless. You envy your 9 to 5 friends and if you even dreamed of wearing flats to the office, you'd apologize to your boss first thing in the morning. Most of us will pay our two-year dues of hell for the stellar reference and prestigious name on our resumes. However, some of us aren't willing to forsake our sanity and go in search of laid-back pastures instead. <br> <br>But is the grass greener?<br> <br>Now, I am no fashion industry veteran, but I know for sure that on the other side there is a character that has yet to be captured in a New York Times bestseller or major motion picture. This one opts for comfortable, inexpensive footwear and strikes up conversations about your weekend. She actually cares that you eat lunch and will even join you. Her office door is always open and no attitudes are allowed. On the surface she seems harmless, but her actions are carefully calculated to distract you from her ulterior motive: to keep you from becoming greater than her. This proverbial wolf in sheep's clothing is riddled with mediocrity and preys on the ambitious. So when you're a brilliant 20-something with vocalized goals beyond the cubicle, watch out. <br> <br>Here are some signs that this is your boss.<br> <br>1. She's been in the same position since Cher and Dionne were running the streets of Beverly Hills.</p><p>If she took her mid-level position in a previous century, your drive will be misunderstood as a danger to her non-existent career. Complacency breeds idiocy. Miranda Priestly may be a battle-axe, but she appreciates the go-getter and eventually uses her power to help you move forward.<br> <br>2. Your seasoned co-workers are mistaken for interns. </p><p>Mundane assignments are a part of any assistant position, and not every company has the room to promote. However, a sensible manager will offer a good assistant more exciting responsibilities to compensate. If your co-workers' duties haven't surpassed packing boxes after three years, then you probably won't be going much further than the tape-gun either. </p><p>3. Her face turns redder than a Louboutin bottom with any indication of you working outside of Microsoft Office.</p><p>This quote recently came across my Twitter timeline: "Those who subscribe to mediocrity will always fear and mock those who subscribe to excelling in life". And this type of manager has a lifetime subscription to mediocrity that contains detailed instructions on how to target and suppress potential. Networking and gaining marketable job skills are keys to success, which she throws away because her insecurity cannot stand for you to be extraordinary. </p><p>4. She has complicit managers. </p><p>This master-manipulator is protected by her superiors who rely on her lack of ambition for their own good. While they work five hour days before heading to a Broadway show, she does the dirty work. They benefit from her settle-for-less mentality so a threat to her is a threat to them. And that threat is your ambition. </p><p>5. She wears Puma sneakers to a job in fashion. </p><p>Enough said. </p><p>You may be wondering how someone just four years out of undergraduate school can offer career advice. Well, I lived through this. </p><p>Once upon a time, I mastered the art of stuffing envelopes and expressed a reasonable interest in other areas of my job. (Ever heard of a producer forbidden to work on set?) I was faced with sabotage, passive-aggressive behavior, and inciting emails. I sat through a series of meetings with managers and human resources executives who patronized and mocked me, insulted my character, then dramatically exited-fur coat and Hermes bag swinging. I guess they looked to reality TV for a black woman reference and expected me to go Nene Leakes because disappointment was expressed in my composure: "Why are you smiling?" </p><p>For some peculiar reason, they were surprised by the integrity, dignity and poise of a you-can-do-anything raised, Howard University educated young lady. </p><p>Despite the Mean Girls games, I don't feel that it was a waste of time. I realized that this experience was not meant for me to acquire more job skills. It was about character building. I learned the power of calm and that not everyone appreciates the will to achieve. So be on high alert for those who take advantage of your hard work while keeping you from reaching your highest potential. And when they provoke, don't quit or react. Just do the following: </p><p>1. Privately line up other opportunities where ambition is required.</p><p>2. Celebrate after they not coincidentally decide to restructure the team and eliminate your position only.</p><p>3. Share your story with millions of readers to let those mediocre broads know they can't screw with everyone. </p><p>Looking through pictures of Shala Monroque, former Editor-at-Large at Pop magazine, we were struck by her tough-to-classify style. It's a melange of classic, current, edgy, feminine and artful...that's left us with a serious case of closet envy.</p><p>Born in St. Lucia, the fashion consultant and writer, who turns one year older on Monday, as her favorite designer, frequently donning head-to-toe looks from the fashion house and its secondary line, Miu Miu. For Shala, fashion and style are more about the confidence one exudes when wearing a look as opposed to the physical nature of the clothing itself. Perhaps that's why she can pull off some of the most intricate Rodarte looks with unmatched ease.</p><p>Enough gushing on our part. Take a look at some of her looks below and wish Miss Monroque a happy birthday in the comments. And if you, too, can't get enough, check out her blog, .</p><p></p> <br><p>Footage of Terry, a , has gone viral on the Internet, sparking a debate over its authenticity.</p><p>Allan McNamara, a computer technician, claims to have encountered the animal in a pasture in the north of England. He shot video of the grazing sheep, which he postulated was . </p><p>"He lives happily and has been checked by a vet to ensure he is in no pain. He can eat, sleep and do everything other sheep can," McNamara told The Daily Mail.</p><p>Despite McNamara's insistence that the animal's deformity is real, some have . "The altering possibilities modern technology enables are causing some viewers to believe the video of Terry is a fake," wrote the Inquisitr.</p><p>Although McNamara reportedly responded to critics by going back to the farm to snap more pictures of the sheep, photos of Terry hosted on Imgur -- and McNamara's original YouTube post -- had been removed at the time of this writing.</p><p>The sheep remains a curiosity for many. GhostTheory joked that it was referring to the 2011 nuclear disaster in Japan, and posted a . </p><p>But despite all the controversy, there is a scientific case to be made for Terry. According to a Web site maintained by the Purdue University agriculture department, there are more than 30 known or suspected genetic defects in sheep. </p><p>One of them, called (SLS), can lead to deformities that "commonly include abnormally long, bent limbs, , shallow bodies, flattened rib cages, and long necks."<br></p><p>Also on HuffPost:</p><p>Ten-year old (yes, 10) Kaia Crawford is "one to watch" if you believe this week's Grazia (which, incidentally, I generally do). Lottie Moss, Kate Moss's 13-year-old step-sister, has been signed up to Storm Model Management before she has even hit puberty. 15-year-old Hailee Steinfeld, meanwhile, is currently enjoying a stint as the international face of Miu Miu. Fashion critics may be falling over themselves to tell us that 2012 is the year of the "older model", but much of this evidence indicates the opposite. The fashion world, and designers in particular, are looking to younger and younger girls to show off their clothes. </p><p>But why is there this obsession with youth on the Prada and Balenciaga catwalks (among many others), and where did it come from? Fashion has always loved the "bright young things" that are drawn to its glamour like moths to a flame, but some of these girls are barely old enough to be dressing in adult clothes, yet alone be parading them down a catwalk in Milan. Many model bookers cite the very modern malady of FOMO (fear of missing out) as the thing that drives them to spot and sign pre-pubescent girls. With every agency scouring their respective fashion capitals for what they hope might be a "fresh new face" for the season, it is perhaps inevitable that the younger the girl, the fresher she seems, and, perhaps more importantly, the less likely she is to have been seen before elsewhere.</p><p>However, this frenzied competition that has led the agency bookers to stand outside girls' school gates and scrutinise the Year 7s and Year 8s as they leave class has unfortunately meant that the goal posts have shifted for us all. Call me old-fashioned, but I'm not sure I want to see the Lolita-esque Dakota Fanning staring out at me from UK Elle's February edition; all vacant stare and red lips. Even more so than this, I'm not sure that I want to be sold clothes by girls that were practically born in a different millennium to me (and, at 22, this is not a nice feeling). Real women will never be able to get back that flat-chested, boyish silhouette (would we want to?!), but the fashion industry insists on pushing it upon us daily, through campaigns, catwalks and glossy magazine covers.</p><p>London Fashion Week may say that the girls that they use on their catwalks must be 16 or over, and our magazine editors may defend their cover shoots of teenagers such as the Marc Jacobs model, Elle Fanning (13 years), as artistic statements, but the proof is often in the proverbial pudding, so to speak. And this pudding continually tells us that women like you and I do not enjoy being flogged clothes by the pre-pubescent - in fact, it is often the pieces on a "perfect 10" or a size 12 woman that make us reach into our pockets and part with our cash. </p><p>So will the fashion industry catch on to this discrepancy between their ideal and ours? Girls, I reckon there's cause for hope. Fashion is nothing if not fast, and youth, like beauty, is transient. There's a reason why the original super models continue to sell magazine cover after magazine cover. Kaia, Hailee, Elle and co have a lot to learn.</p><p>Follow Sophie Haslett on Twitter:</p><p>MADRID &mdash; Spain warned Bolivia on Wednesday that its nationalization of a Spanish company that owned most of its electricity grid will hurt the Latin American country's image among international investors.</p><p>But Economy Minister Luis de Guindos said there was no link between this case involving Red Electrica Corporacion S.A. and Argentina's process of nationalizing YPF, until now an affiliate of Spanish energy giant Repsol SA.</p><p>De Guindos said Madrid will be watching out to make sure Bolivia pays a fair price for the forced takeover of the Spanish company.</p><p>The nationalization could not come at a worse time for the Spanish government, the owner of 20 percent of Red Electrica, as it faces a recession, mass unemployment and investor concerns it will be the next eurozone country to need a bailout.</p><p>"The Spanish government does not like this kind of decision because we believe it is essential to maintain legal security in the investment process in countries like Bolivia," de Guindos said in Brussels, where he is to meet with his EU counterparts.</p><p>Of the decisions by Bolivia and Argentina to expropriate companies, he said "They are mainly negative for the countries that make them, for the governments that make them."</p><p>Over the mid-term they will have "implications" for their economic development and investor confidence, the minister added.</p><p>Red Electrica spokesman Antonio Prada denied Bolivia's accusations the local unit did not invest enough in the grid. He said the company had invested "the amount necessary to maintain and raise the quality standards" of the Bolivian electrical distribution network.</p><p>The seizure was announced Tuesday by President Evo Morales at a ceremony marking May Day.</p><p>Prada added that Bolivia only accounted for 1.5 percent of the company's revenues, which totaled (EURO)1.8 billion in 2011.</p><p>Red Electrica shares were down 1 percent at (EURO)31.90 in midday trading.</p><p>The vice president of Spain's main business federation, Arturo Fernandez, said that in the wake of these moves announced by Argentine President Cristina Kirchner and now Morales, Spain's government has to be tough. These nationalizations "could be contagious" and be emulated by countries such as Ecuador or Venezuela, he said.</p><p>"It is just not right that Mrs. Kirchner did what she did and now in Bolivia they toy with the Spanish people like this," Fernandez told Spanish state television.</p><p>"I do not see this happening with the French or the Germans. It seems we have been singled out. We have invested a lot of work and money, and we have resolved too many economic problems in those countries to be treated like this now."</p><p>Prada said Red Electrica expects to reach agreement with Bolivia on compensation for the nationalization of its Bolivia unit.</p>Well, let the young children vote. I think you'll find that, if left to their own devices, most young children would end up without clothes on because they are hot, cumbersome, restrict movement, etc. AND they don't really care about carrying the weight of social stigma about body gender, type, color, deformaties or most of the other baggage adults elect to carry around. Yes, clothes should be functional. Board shorts on a beach are functional for sopping up tons of water, dripping, being cold, collecting sand and shells and hiding a man's physique which a lot of men have worked very hard to culture... not to mention promoting the anemic legs that will never tan between the navel and the knees. A great look at the gym. Oh, and don't forget it's like swimming with a pair of pants on.<br>I like to see people who are happy with themselves and wear what suits them, is the most comfortable and functional and puts a smile on their faces. It's pretty tiring hearing the same old "watch out for the children" and "... only if they look good in it" arguments. Look good by whose standards? For my part if the wearer is happy I am happy for them and enjoy their happiness. I'm not qualified to judge everyone's choices in clothes or set arcane standards for them to follow. We're a pretty hung up country but that's another topic. Go Briefs of all kinds for those happy wearing them!<p>LONDON - Who said sportswear can't be chic?</p><p>The athletes' parade during Friday's opening ceremony might as well have been a catwalk show, with some of fashion's biggest names — Armani, Prada, Ralph Lauren, Stella McCartney — designing the team uniforms.</p><p>Many in the fashion industry are already calling this the most stylish Olympics ever.</p><p>The Italians must be some of the best-dressed athletes, scoring points with an understated monochrome kit in navy and white by Giorgio Armani, as well as waterproof blue designs for their sailing team by Prada.</p><p>Stella McCartney has worked with Adidas to design the sporting gear and "Village wear" (read loungewear) for Britain's home team, though the outfits weren't on show Friday as athletes covered up in white and gold tracksuits. McCartney's gear takes inspiration from the iconic Union flag, but she said she deconstructed it to make it "more delicate and feminine." Look out for them on the track and at the pool: Red is sparingly used to highlight a palette that mostly features white and shades of blue — turquoise, navy, cobalt.</p><p>Meanwhile, the American team may have gotten a barrage of bad press for its made in China Ralph Lauren uniforms, but the preppy designs were still some of the most stylish in the arena: clean-cut navy blazers, crisp white trousers, skirts, and shoes, accessorized with navy berets and blue, red and white striped scarves.</p><p>The Jamaican team is in the spotlight because of sprinter Usain Bolt, so it's fitting that it also got a boost in the fashion stakes this year. Their kit, which feature the national colours as well as lightning-like prints, were designed by Cedella Marley, daughter of legendary singer Bob Marley, for Puma. The styles were modeled by a flamboyantly dancing Bolt at a London catwalk recently.</p><p>"Cedella Marley brings island colour to team Jamaica — a sea of tropical yellow, green and black," said Avril Graham, Harper's Bazaar executive fashion and beauty editor, on Friday.</p><p>Other designers behind the Olympics this year include luxury label Hermes, which has designed riding jackets for the French equestrian team, and Salvatore Ferragamo, which designed the official uniform for the tiny European republic of San Marino.</p><p>Some designers didn't get involved in the official Olympics gear, but used the games as an opportunity to cash in and promote their brands anyway.</p><p>Karl Lagerfeld, for example, launched an Olympic-themed womenswear collection called Team Karl at London department store Selfridge's — though he reportedly said he wouldn't tune in to watch the games. Meanwhile, high-street chain store H&M said it was launching two pop-up stores dedicated to selling sportswear in London.</p><p>Friday's athletes parade also showcased some surprising and less popular designs.</p><p>The German team was notable for not using their national colours at all — instead, the kit was all hot pink for the women's jackets, and cornflower blue for the men; both were paired with white trousers. The Czechs, meanwhile, wore bright blue wellington rain boots paired with white shorts.</p><p>Spectators also made their own judgments about the much-maligned uniforms for the Spaniards and Russians, both made by Russian sportswear company Bosco. Some Spanish athletes have posted tweets grumbling about their garish red and gold outfits, and there are even Spanish Facebook groups set up to campaign against the gear.</p><p>Official kit aside, there were strong fashion showings in the spectator stand, too.</p><p>Michelle Obama chose a white dress by J. Mendel, while the Duchess of Cambridge, formerly known as Kate Middleton, dazzled with a pastel blue satin and belted coat dress reportedly by wunderkind Christopher Kane. British Prime Minister David Cameron's wife, Samantha, demonstrated her fashion credentials with a bold red and black outfit by London-based designer Roksanda Illincic.</p><p>Whether it's a Louis Vuitton, Proenza Schouler or Chanel that your heart desires, it's likely, if you're spending upwards of $1,000 on a purse, you want it to be real. </p><p>But there are plenty of people out there -- online and on street corners -- who are looking for people super keen on buying a Birkin to scam. (Can you imagine what it would feel like to think you've bought "the real deal" when all you've snagged is a knock-off? Blah.)</p><p>Avoid the feeling of "it" bag buying defeat, by checking out these tips from . Their five tidbits will help you spot a fake online, and will save you from serious sartorial heartbreak. </p><p>Easy Tells<br>Spotting replica handbags used to be simple; check the hardware, logos and material. Lightweight metal accents, slightly skewed logos and cheap materials are still the first lines of defence for warding off fakes, but with today’s higher-quality knock-offs, it’s a case of needing steps two through five as well.</p><p>Online Indicators<br>When buying a handbag online, make sure it’s from a reputable source. If sites are based in China or Hong Kong, proceed with caution, as the two countries make up 88.8 per cent of the goods seized. Also, check the descriptions and reviews for signs of inauthenticity. If customer reviews say the bags aren’t the real thing, then they likely aren’t.</p><p>Respectable Resellers<br>Just because a bag is sold online, it doesn’t mean it’s fake. Authentic and vintage handbags are often sold on eBay; buyers just need to be smart in researching the seller. If the deal looks too good to be true, it usually is. A Chanel bag will never be $50, so use common sense. Certified resale sites like Portero also offer discounts on authentic bags.</p><p>Craftsmanship Flaws<br>A Burberry or Prada handbag will not have crooked stitching or unfinished edges. High-end brands take ultimate pride in craftsmanship, so no imperfect bag would leave their factory for a legitimate retailer like Nordstrom. The leathers and fabrics of authentic bags will always be perfectly stitched and lined up, never crooked or gapped stitched.</p><p>Brand-Specific Giveaways<br>Know the signs to look for in the specific bag. For instance, Marc Jacobs’ zippers are embossed with either RiRi or Lampo and all Louis Vuitton bags made since the early ‘80s have a date stamped somewhere on the interior. Brand fanatics spend time spotting knock-off bags to protect their favourite designers’ integrity, so a quick search before you buy will reveal specific tells for each high-end brand.</p><p>Armed with these five tips, spotting imitation designer handbags should be simple. Don’t fall into the impostor trap -- if the real thing is too expensive, buy an authentic, quality handbag of a lesser-known brand. </p><p>Here are real Hermes bags on the arms of celebs:<br></p><p>Also on HuffPost:</p><p>For those who have it all, I present you with the splurge guide. </p><p>The Fendi Abici Amante Donna Bicycle<br>Fa la la la la around town on Fendi's luxury Abici Amante Donna bicycle; the luxury cycle is fully loaded with leather accessories, a leather GPS navigation holder, key and bike chain cover, and a detachable fabulous Fendi case ($5900). The more deluxe version comes stocked with all the above, plus removable saddle bags ($9500). Get moving in style. Exclusively available at Fendi flagship stores<br><br> <br>LaLaLuxe Concierge <br>If she prefers a perfectly planned, luxurious, last minute birthday party in Paris, or dreams of shopping at Dior at dawn, why not give the gift of a further curated life with . This luxury Purveyor offers personal shopping, wardrobe styling, fine jewelry and private on call concierge services year-round ($300 per hour). This season, slip away for an exclusive shopping getaway via private jet to Vegas, or San Francisco; and if shopping isn't your thing, LaLaLuxe will stock your wine cellar with Napa wines, coordinate a blindfolded cheese tasting with a "fumagier" or cooking lessons at Michael Mina. A perfectly seasoned menu of luxury (From $10,000).<br></p><p>iPhone 3G Kings Button <br>If your only wish for 2011 is never to hear "Honey, where's my cell phone?" The iPhone 3G Kings Button could potentially be your solution. This uber luxury phone is the brainchild of Austrian designer-jeweler , king of blurring the lines between gadget, art and jewelery. The phone is covered in 18 carat yellow gold, rose gold, white gold and approximately 138 small diamonds. The home button is where the real bling is -- it's encrusted with a huge 6.6-carat diamond; with a price tag of $2.41 million, your sweetie will certainly know exactly where that phone is. Clear service, not included. <br> </p><p>Hermes Coloring Book<br>Disney and Dora The Explorer are so last year. Give your kids creativity a splash of style with <br>the Hermes Les 4 Mondes coloring book ($130). This deluxe gift could be responsible for kick starting an early career in design. The coloring book for adults and kids includes 12 pages with 24 designs. Go ahead, color outside the lines. Available at <br> </p><p>Customized Prada Sunglasses<br>So you say you need something with a little more coverage this season? Pick up a pair of "PradaPrivate" customized sunglasses ($365). These designer shades allow you to express yourself in style; choose a frame color, and modify with cheeky letters, numbers and symbols like hearts, skulls, and snowflakes depending on your mood. Symbols can be easily inserted into the sunglasses' removable arms. ? A combo pack of the pieces are included with every pair. The perfect spectacle. PradaPrivate is available worldwide at Prada Boutiques.<br></p><p><br></p><p>Follow Stacie Krajchir on Twitter:</p><p>Maybe he wore a Prada suit.</p><p> that "Hunger Games" star Stanley Tucci recently married Felicity Blunt, his "Devil Wears Prada" co-star Emily Blunt's sister, in a secret wedding. </p><p>The pair met and became friends while Blunt and Tucci were filming "The Devil Wears Prada" in 2006 and .</p><p>The couple's relationship status was called into question on Monday when Blunt appeared on Tucci's arm at the New York premiere of fellow "Devil" alum Meryl Streep's new movie, "Hope Springs." </p><p>The couple is reportedly planning another more formal wedding for family and friends. This is Tucci's second marriage; his first wife, Kate, from breast cancer.</p><p>Tucci is just the latest celebrity to tie the knot in secret. in a quiet ceremony last weekend. Click through the slideshow to see more celebs whose vows flew under the radar.</p><p></p><p>Keep in touch! Check out HuffPost Weddings on , and .</p><p>Stanley Tucci has secretly married Emily Blunt's sister Felicity.</p><p><br>Stanley Tucci was introduced to his new wife Felicity by his Devil co-star Emily Blunt</p><p>The pair became engaged last year and the actor confirmed he is a married man after his new bride was spotted wearing a wedding band at a screening of new movie Hope Springs in New York on Monday.<br> <br>A source tells the New York Daily News that Tucci and literary agent Felicity are planning a formal wedding for friends and family later this year.<br> <br>Tucci was introduced to his new wife by actress Emily Blunt after they grew close on the set of their 2006 fashion hit The Devil Wears Prada.</p><p>The actor was widowed when his wife Kate lost her battle with cancer in 2009. </p><p>SLIDESHOW: 21 "They Really Dated?" Celebrity Couples<br></p><p>NEW YORK &mdash; It's known as one of the most glamorous red carpets of the year, with movie stars, models and even a few star quarterbacks putting on their most fashion-forward outfits for the Metropolitan Museum of Art Costume Institute gala.</p><p>Gisele Bundchen and Tom Brady, Jessica Biel and Justin Timberlake, Rihanna, Gwyneth Paltrow, Sarah Jessica Parker, Heidi Klum, Tim Tebow and Florence Welch were among those to weave through the tented grand Fifth Avenue entrance to celebrate the new fashion exhibit that compares and contrasts the designs of two Italian women: Miuccia Prada, who wore a pantsuit to the event, and the late Elsa Schiaparelli.</p><p>Anna Wintour, editor-in-chief of Vogue, serves as hostess of the event, and she wore a white gown with lobster-motif gold embroidery by Prada. Carey Mulligan, Wintour's co-chairwoman this year, wore a Prada cocktail dress with metallic fish-scale beading, and Gwyneth Paltrow had on a steel-blue Prada dress with heavily embellished pockets.</p><p>Among others donning Prada: Eva Mendes, Jessica Biel, Uma Thurman and Linda Evangelista.</p><p>Unlike other big celebrity red carpets, where designers just want to hear the stars utter their names as the creators of their dresses, they are the A-list dates here. Michael Kors escorted Hilary Swank, wearing a red halter gown; Parker, in a metallic floral-print gown with long sleeves and belt, came with Valentino; and singer Lana Del Ray, cloaked in a long black cape, came with Joseph Altuzarra.</p><p>Jason Wu brought model Karlie Kloss, who wore a mostly hot-pink gown with an underlay of black beaded lace; Karolina Kurkova, in a rose-gold sequin gown and beaded cap, attended with Rachel Zoe; and Doutzen Kroes wore a one-shouldered, black-and-white gown as she walked arm-in-arm with Roland Mouret.</p><p>January Jones could have stopped traffic in her bright yellow custom Atelier Versace bustier gown, and model Coco Rocha also went the bright route, matching pink curls in her hair to the tank top she wore under a vintage taxi-yellow suit.</p><p>Other fashion moments:</p><p>_ Scarlett Johansson in a custom bustier gown embroidered with gold thread and pearls and a long tulle skirt by Dolce & Gabbana.</p><p>_ Ashley Greene in off-the-shoulder Grecian gown in white silk with chiffon pleats and fringe by Donna Karan, who also made Nina Dobrev's black-and-gold asymmetrical gown with a pooling train inspired by a gown Paltrow used as a costume in "Great Expectations."</p><p>_ Bundchen in a high-slit black gown by Givenchy designer Riccardo Tisci, who also dressed Liv Tyler, Kanye West, Rooney Mara, Alicia Keys and Beyonce, who more a sheer black gown with strategic beading and a purple ostrich-feather hemline.</p><p>_ Jessica Chastain in a corseted blue satin dress with crystals, pearls and crinoline by Louis Vuitton. Vuitton, designed by Marc Jacobs (who wore a black lace get-up), also outfitted Dakota Fanning in a lavender organza gown.</p><p>_ Cameron Diaz in a long-sleeve, crystal-fringe embroidered gown by Stella McCartney, who also dressed Kristin Wiig in an orange lace dress.</p><p>_ Welch in a cream-colored, organza tiered dress by Alexander McQueen's Sarah Burton, who also dressed Cate Blanchett in a black feather gown with ostrich hem.</p><p>_ Rihanna in a black leather gown with crocodile-style embossing by Tom Ford, who additionally wardrobed Justin Timberlake and Brady.</p><p>_ Sofia Vergara in a silver-embroidered illusion column dress with fan-style pleated tulle bodice by Marchesa, which also dressed Leighton Meester in a gold embroidered illusion dress.</p><p>_ Amy Adams in a cream one-shoulder silk chiffon gown with black velvet insert from Giambattista Valli Haute Couture.</p><p>_ Emily Blunt in salmon pink gown with cutouts by Francisco Costa for Calvin Klein, who also dressed Rosario Dawson. Klein's menswear creative director Italo Zucchelli wardrobed Victor Cruz and Amar'e Stoudemire.</p><p>_ Camilla Belle in a delicate ivory tulle beaded dress from Ralph Lauren, who also dressed Michelle Dockery of "Downton Abbey" and Tebow.</p><p>_ Renee Zellweger in a black illusion gown with an open back by Emilio Pucci.</p><p>_ Katharine McPhee in a coral-colored, square-neck embroidered gown.</p><p>_ Jessica Pare in a gold-and-bronze, second-skin sequined gown by L'Wren Scott, who came with boyfriend Mick Jagger.</p><p>_ Amber Heard in an orchid-colored bustier gown by Zac Posen.</p><p>_ Dianna Agron in a jade-green gown by Carolina Herrera with a peplum and snakeskin wrap belt.</p><p>_ Brooklyn Decker in a slate-blue pleated gown with floral appliques by Tory Burch.</p><p>_ Lea Michele in a blue gown with plunging neckline by Diane von Furstenberg.</p><p>_ Claire Danes in J. Mendel white silk asymmetrical gown with embroidery.</p><p>_ Ginnifer Goodwin in a Monique Lhuillier tangerine silk chiffon cap sleeve gown.</p><p>_ Kirsten Dunst in an orange-and-cream, double-breasted, jacket-style gown by Rodarte.</p><p>Lauren Weisberger, the literary "it girl" whose 2003 roman a clef The Devil Wears Prada became an international bestseller and was the basis for the popular chick flick of the same name, is expecting her first child, but that is not stopping her from hitting the road promoting her most recent book Last Night at the Chateau Marmont.</p><p></p><p>The thirty- something blonde was at the suburban Washington, DC boutique Ginger as part of Bethesda Row Boutique week where she signed hardcovers and interacted with fans with the ease and affability of a sorority sister.<br> <br>The New York-based writer says that her pregnancy is not giving her creativity a surge, because she's "tired and hungry all the time," but she explained she likes to unwind between preparing for her baby and flacking her book by reading "the books everyone else is reading" like Jonathan Franzen's Freedom on her Amazon Kindle.<br> <br>During our brief interview, I got the distinct impression there's been no rapprochement between Weisberger and her old boss, Vogue editor Anna Wintour, whose witchy ways and diva like demands reportedly inspired "the Devil" in her popular book.</p><p>"I had flashbacks. I found it very transporting," Weisberger told me when asked what she thought of last year's fashion documentary "The September Issue," which chronicled how Wintour and her army of editors and assistants put together the most anticipated magazine of the year.</p><p>When it was suggested that the film made Wintour appear more "human," Weisberger responded with a cold and pensive "hmmmm."</p><p>Photo by Daniel Swartz for .</p><p>Follow Stephanie Green on Twitter:</p><p>Steve Madden of his namesake shoe line talked about what is, in his opinion, the biggest misperception about his company. He explained</p>We design shoes every day, and we are as creative as Prada. We are creating as much as the Pradas and the Chloés of the world. Do we make $900 shoes that are in Neiman Marcus? Have we made shoes just like that, which are less than $100 and have been great? Yes, we have. We're out there creating and designing every day, making and building a meal for our customers. That creativity is not appreciated, and I would argue that what we do is harder. I could design an $800 shoe line; it's easy. You use the best materials and you can make beautiful shoes. It's easier than making great shoes for $90.<p>But under-appreciated creativity aside, Madden has had a lot of highs along the way. </p>The biggest high was coming back from prison [in April 2005 after serving time for stock manipulation, money laundering, and securities fraud] and to work for the company. The excitement, the great people I missed and really trying to take the business to another level and then seeing it go to another level, that was an exciting high. It's definitely a different company since I've been back, in terms of pre-prison and post-prison. The company is so much better in so many ways.<p>However, he does seem to miss the '80s, calling it "a great time...with a lot of interesting kinds of shoes. Men's platforms were very popular." </p> <br>While the excitement surrounding "Schiaparelli and Prada: Impossible Conversations" didn't have quite the same fervor as its predecessor “Alexander McQueen: Savage Beauty” (understatement of the...<p>COQUILLE, Ore. -- Oregon authorities are investigating how a farmer was eaten by his hogs.</p><p>Terry Vance Garner, 69, never returned after he set out to feed his animals last Wednesday on his farm near the Oregon coast, the Coos County district attorney said Monday.</p><p>A family member found Garner's dentures and pieces of his body in the hog enclosure several hours later, but most of his remains had been consumed, District Attorney Paul Frasier said. Several of the hogs weighed 700 pounds or more.</p><p>It's possible Garner had a medical emergency, such as a heart attack, or was knocked over by the animals, then killed and eaten, Frasier said, adding that at least one hog had previously bitten Garner.</p><p>The possibility of foul play is being investigated as well.</p><p>"For all we know, it was a horrific accident, but it's so doggone weird that we have to look at all possibilities," Frasier told The Register-Guard.</p><p>A pathologist was unable to identify a cause or manner of death, the newspaper reported. The remains will be examined by a forensic anthropologist at the University of Oregon.</p><p>Terry Garner was "a good-hearted guy" who cared for several huge adult sows and a boar named Teddy, said his brother, Michael Garner, 75, of Myrtle Point.</p><p>Piglets were typically sold to local 4-H kids.</p><p>"Those animals were his life," Michael Garner said. "He had all kinds of birds, and turkeys that ran all over the place. Everybody knew him."</p><p>Michael Garner said one of the large sows bit his brother last year when he accidentally stepped on a piglet.</p><p>"He said he was going to kill it, but when I asked him about it later, he said he had changed his mind," the brother said.</p><p>Domestic hogs are not typically known to be as aggressive as their feral cousins, but "there is some degree of danger associated with any animal," John Killefer, who heads the Animal and Rangeland Sciences Department at Oregon State University in Corvallis, told the newspaper.</p><p>While pigs "are more omnivorous than other farm animals, (such as) cows," Killefer called the case highly unusual.</p><p>Most hogs are raised until they reach a market weight of between 250 and 300 pounds, while breeding female pigs rarely weigh more than 400 pounds, Killefer said.</p><p>Also on HuffPost:</p>In "The Devil Wears Prada," Andy Sachs (Anne Hathaway), a smart young striver fresh out of college, suffers for months at the hands of her demanding boss, fashion magazine editor-in-chief Miranda Priestly (Meryl Streep). At first the harried editorial assistant rarely manages to please the ice queen, but gradually she wins favor, in part through victories like the one in this clip. Because the Miranda character is rumored to be based on a specific person in a very specific position, Vogue's notoriously intimidating Anna Wintour, the film doesn't so much perpetuate the idea that all female bosses are unreadable and unreasonable -- just this particular boss. And a later scene of Miranda in crisis (in which Streep wears not an ounce of makeup) is the rare nuanced portrayal of a woman confronting the sacrifices she has made for her career. Here Andy is about to quit after receiving the most ridiculous request yet (to secure an unpublished Harry Potter manuscript for Miranda's twins), but she pulls through. I don't love that she couldn't have done it without the help of the famous male writer hoping to get her in bed, but she's the scheme's mastermind.<p>As you may have noticed, we've gotten something of a . A hint of blush here, a dab of mascara there: it's a whole new us!</p><p>Our (digital) freshening up got us thinking: what are some other famous makeovers that we've grown to know and love over the years? Most of them have been on the silver screen, like Andy Sachs' and that Beverly Hills bildungsroman where Tai becomes fly. </p><p>We'll never forget when Anne Hathaway blossomed from frumpy duckling to gorgeous stunner or Sandy's bad girl transformation in "Grease"; and even Nicolas Cage grunting at Cher in "You look beautiful. Your hair." (There's even some men in there, too -- Ryan Gosling giving Steve Carell the magic style touch, anyone?)</p><p>It was about time we made an ultimate compilation of the greatest cinematic transformations. So, grab some popcorn and watch our supercut above of the best movie makeovers ever! (Our personal favorite part: all of the male reaction shots to the newly-made over ladies.)</p><p>Thanks to HuffPost's Sam Wilkes for all of the cutting and dicing!</p><p>For some more Hollywood transformations, check out these celebs' Pygmalion moments:<br></p><p>Want more? Be sure to check out HuffPost Style on , , and .</p><p>Financial Times:</p><p>There are elegant, streamlined clothes that began life on the sketchpad of designer Michael Kors. Then there are short, gymslip-style black jersey dresses by Gwen Stefani, the frontwoman of the punk-ska band No Doubt and creator of the clothing line L.A.M.B. So far, so fashion. But neither Kors' nor Stefani's designs are on the catwalk or in a shoot; rather, they are uniforms for staff of the trendy W Hotels chain. This summer, what you see while lounging around a resort could be as chic as anything you see in a store.</p><p></p> <br>eGHZmFyID44mYu00M5dZQhYaAu%2FAmgJCGfYy66NCsZ3y2%2BCd8epkdQj2UKN14xi7V2f6zvgZ4FLzuHlXFqCtvHEMfu8cnurHR%2Bk7huUTK5GduMziZZw2K6rSnCeVSnLO4kIuB5Ua5hfpX3jCUjpesONZAp5v%2FZYto0CpL2BNQDbLKBQntDL%2BG2ZKPlg9r%2BFVShoes - the new accessory for people who don't have any thing interesting to talk about when they go to boring events.<br><br>People who actually do stuff - walk around cities, bicycle, etc., etc. shoes need to be comfortable, supportive, and something which you don't notice at all. In other words, they should be coordinated with your outfit. <br><br>These shoes could just as soon be worn by robots - maybe they would be better worn by robots because the actual people wearing them wouldn't detract from looking at the shoe.<br><br>They represent the last throes of western civilization - when the people who still have money spend thousands of dollars on worthless cr_p to go out to boring PR circuses to sell worthless cr_p. Everyone drinks or takes drugs to survive. Women and men starve themselves for their 15 minutes of fame.<br><br>And the planet continues to degrade. <br><br>What is the carbon load on this footwear and its promotion? How many endangered animals died in its production? What sort of garbage residue will it leave behind? How much lead is in those dies, in the tanning and softening processes?<br><br>When these young women are pictured in what they actually wear, it is almost never the shoes. The wear them for 15 minutes to make an entrance.<p>Anne Hathaway deserves a 'Catwoman' spin-off for her "incredible" performance in The Dark Knight Rises, according to director Christopher Nolan.<br> <br>The Devil Wears Prada star is the latest actress to play the Caped Crusader's feline nemesis, following in the footsteps of Julie Newmar, Eartha Kitt and Michelle Pfeiffer - and Nolan was bowled over by her scenes.<br> <br>He tells Access Hollywood, "Anne is incredibly precise and articulate about the psychology of the character. She's really built it from the ground up, it's just a delight to watch her perform. The things she does in those heels is not to be taken lightly.<br> <br>"She's an incredible character and we're very excited to see her and hopefully we'll leave people wanting more."<br> <br>Nolan will step away from the franchise after the blockbuster's upcoming release, but he is adamant Hathaway should star in a Catwoman spin-off, adding, "I certainly think she deserves it, she's incredible."</p><p>Meanwhile, if you can't wait another week until the third, final and most highly-anticipated of Christopher Nolan's films hits our screens... well, here's something to keep you going, and quite meaty it is too. </p><p><br>Bruce Wayne must debate whether or not to return as Batman in the third and final film</p><p>Warner Bros have released a 13-minute - yes, I know - featurette going behind the scenes of the epic end to the odyssey - SIT BACK AND WATCH IT ABOVE. </p><p>Director Nolan describes the story in this third film as "an elemental conflict between good and evil", and Hathaway remarks in it that "Nolan was able to amp up the stakes in a way nobody was expecting". </p><p>At the beginning of the story, we can see a damaged Batman, worn down by his experiences, who has retreated to his Bat Cave, a bigger and more technological version than one seen in previous instalments, one which "fulfils the promise of Batman Begins" - according to Nolan. </p><p><br>Anne Hathaway is a new face as Catwoman</p><p>While butler Alfred (Michael Caine) rues over his inability to protect Bruce Wayne as he promised his parents, Wayne must ponder whether he returns as Batman to protect Gotham from a new threat in the form of brutal prison escapee Bane (Tom Hardy). </p><p>The film includes unprecedented visual effects – a football stadium blowing up, tanks rolling into buildings, men jumping out of aeroplanes - and a 1,200-strong battle in Wall Street, with no CGI, all real. </p><p><br>Gary Oldman as Jim Gordon is Batman's conscience over the people of Gotham City</p><p>"This was our attempt to give a great story a great ending," says Nolan. "This is the biggest film I’ve done, by far."</p><p>This from the man who made Inception. Best prepare...</p><p>The Dark Knight Rises is in cinemas 20 July and stars Christian Bale, Anne Hathaway, Tom Hardy, Morgan Freeman, Michael Caine, Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Marion Cotillard. </p><p></p><p>In the lead up to Sunday's , my head kept inadvertently dubbing the event 'The Hunger Games'. On the surface, an event to call on world leaders to step up efforts to reduce child malnutrition doesn't appear to have much to do with a post-apocalyptic novel/blockbuster movie. Low and middle income district children risking their lives to feed their families and being made to fight each other to the death, as those from the high income district watch dispassionately on television while tucking in to piles of cream cakes?</p><p>Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen have already gotten their high-end line, The Row, , and in nearly every luxury retailer across the country.</p><p>But The Row's fashion domination is only beginning, as evidenced by this new move: to be its president and chief operating officer, according to Women's Wear Daily.</p><p>Kress has been at Prada since 2010, having previously served as the CEO and managing director of Bulgari. The selection of such a powerful player from a high-profile brand is a bold move for The Row and sends the message that Ashley and Mary-Kate have only begun to flex their industry muscle. </p><p>, "[Kress] quickly became the obvious choice for us and for the brand, having experience in multiple categories which we feel is essential for growth of The Row." </p><p>How that continued growth will manifest itself is unclear. The line has already expanded into sunglasses, jewelry and and it's widely known that the brand . </p><p>So what's next? The twins have discussed , which would certainly heighten brand awareness. Would more red carpet dressing or media publicity be next?</p><p>Only Ashley and Mary-Kate know for sure. Our best guess: whatever they create next .</p><p>.</p><p>Also on HuffPost:</p> <br><p>It was certainly a glamorous week...</p><p>The Knowles sisters stunned at the . Solange was --a color we've seen her rock beautifully before. And big sister Beyonce was the definition of a "hot mama" in a ultra sheer Givenchy gown. These ladies can do no wrong!</p><p>It was great to see Janet Jackson hit the red carpet looking fit and fabulous, as she attended the opening of Marco Glaviano's "Supermodels" exhibition in New York City. </p><p>And on the other side of the country, Rihanna bounced back in style at her "Battleship" premiere Los Angeles after a in the beginning of the week. We're glad she's back to beautiful form. </p><p>Check out those lovely ladies and the rest of the well-dressed stars in the slideshow below.<br></p> <br><p>Happy National Bosses' Day. It's Friday. We have all had the experience of working for someone who seemed determined to make our lives as difficult as possible, but can they live up to the most notorious bosses ever to grace the big and small screen? </p><p>We've gathered clips of some of the worst bosses we can imagine from movies and television shows. Whether they manage a mundane paper company, rule the stock market from Wall St., or dictate to the masses what's fashionable, these bosses are making the lives of their employees miserable. Vote on just how awful you think each one is, and make sure to let us know in the comments any bosses you think we should add. Feel free to share your own terrible boss experiences as well.<br></p><p> </p> <br><p>Tobey Maguire is upgrading his spandex spidey gear for some high fashion duds. </p><p>Maguire is the new face of Prada menswear for the fall/winter 2011 season, . The 35-year-old actor posed for the ad campaign, shot by David Sims in New York, in slim sweaters, turtlenecks, and a three-button jacket. </p><p>The unlikely model, who has shown little interest in fashion in the past, : </p>"A great supporter of the Arts, Miuccia Prada has inspired a culture of creativity that is woven through every aspect of her company, from her collections, her campaigns, to every design detail in her stores [...] I have such admiration for her artistry and I'm thrilled to be a part of Prada's fall campaign."<p>For more of the newly-stylish Maguire, keep your eyes open for Baz Luhrmann's upcoming "The Great Gatsby" reboot...perhaps we'll even see a few Prada costumes?</p><p></p><p></p> <br><p>The Met Gala this past Monday May 7, was unlike any other. Stars from around the world traveled to attend the opening of the latest exhibition, "Schiaparelli And Prada: Impossible Conversations," located at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. </p><p>The lush red carpet stretched from the sidewalk up the steps of the museum with a parade of black sedans and SUVs lining 5th Avenue. Hundreds of gawkers watched from a barricaded area across the street as the celebs strutted in their designer dresses and ultra expensive baubles while basking in the A-list air... wait, that's just the assorted smells of each star's-proclaimed fragrance. Beyonce showed her insured tush to the crowd, while notables from across the spectrum kissed one anothers'. Bruno Mars performed as designers and high ballers mingled until about 10 p.m., before heading to the multiple after parties scattered throughout the city.</p><p>#StarRamblings -- Kim Kardashian was absent and BF Kanye flew solo to the event. , Anna Wintour, the editor in chief at Vogue and host of the evening's event, is not a fan of Kim K in the slightest. Probably not the best enemy to have since she approves which stars could attend. According to sources, "Anna hates Kim... why would she be invited to the event? It is all the biggest stars in the world and Kim doesn't fit the bill at all'." Banned from this list must be harsh; Kim, try tossing Kanye a microphone and let him plead your case.</p><p>Now for the good part, the after parties, starting at on East 81st Street. I was one of the first to arrive, just behind Alex Rodriguez. A-Rod's crew consisted of his girlfriend Torrie Wilson, her friend Stacy Keibler, and some nerdy dude with glasses. We did the standard 3-stage handshake aka the man-shake, and asked him to hop into a party picture together, in a manly way of course. He replied with "I'm not doing pics." Side note- A-Rod's ex, Cameron Diaz wasn't on the scene because her and fellow actress, Gwyneth Paltrow, had their own bash at the Carlyle Hotel.</p><p>All three Jonas brothers were also at the Crown, and the only ones who had a bodyguard in tow, I guess they were sharing him (that's economical). Debra Messing sat on a corner banquette with Allure Editor, Linda Wells, while Rosario Dawson, Rachel Zoe, Ashley Greene, and Karolína Kurková and beauties all fluttered about the room. Just as I was heading out, nice guy N.Y. Knicks' Tyson Chandler rolled in with wife Kim -- there's fashionably late and then there's that time you miss all the fun. If found out, Chandler was more the picture-taking type and then hit the door.</p><p>I hopped in my car and just as I turned the corner, I spotted after-party #2, the Ukrainian Institute's colossal mansion. The dictionary should have a picture of this place next to the word "enormous," by NYC standards this place should have its own zipcode. Not sure what kind of business is conducted here during the day, but I do know the multilayers of security only meant one thing: There was a VIP. The "double secret" VIP directions went as follows -- go up to the 5th floor of the open turned staircase, make a left, go to the end of the hall and knock.</p><p>I walked in, was greeted with a cocktail, a table with a nice selection of munchies and , makeup artist to the stars, who was just like a MAC commercial -- rad, cool, edgy, and all those other fun words. We talked about her new baby girl for a few, but like a shark, I had to keep moving. Rihanna was there, and surrounded by guests and security goons. A part of me wanted to ask her what she's going to sing about when she scores a normal boyfriend... but I resisted. </p><p>Wandering deeper into the kingdom, It felt like an Easter egg hunt for stars. Celebrities were in every nook and cranny, including; Alicia Keys (unfortunately I missed her performance), Jessica Alba, Chloe Sevigny, Milla Jovovich, Emma Stone, and Diane von Furstenberg, to mention a few.</p><p>A fist pound from Aziz Ansari on the stairwell, some quick chit chat with Hamish Bowles in one room and then Gerard Butler in another. Then word came in (in the form of a text), that there was yet another party going on at the Standard Hotel, I forced myself not to go, as it was time to head home before becoming lost forever in the worm hole of icons that is N.Y.C.</p><p>Follow Tom Murro on Twitter:</p><p>One of the world's most famous photographers will be in Toronto for the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF).</p><p> -- perhaps known by some for the many times -- will be in the city taking shots of the famous faces who swing by NKPR and RW&Co's gifting suite the IT Lounge (one of the most star-studded lounges that pop-up for the fest).</p><p>The "man behind the camera" has shot covers for nearly every fashion magazine in the world -- including Vogue, ELLE, Newsweek and Rolling Stone -- and has photographed advertising campaigns for the likes of Giorgio Armani, Chanel, Versace, Ralph Lauren and GAP. He's also snapped portraits of the most famous names in Hollywood.</p><p>To say his presence at TIFF 2012 will up the ante in terms of star power is an understatement. Where this photographer's lens goes, celebs follow.</p><p>Want more TIFF news? Be sure to catch up on all of the must-see by following our . Here are some of the flicks we're looking forward to seeing.</p><p></p>The native tongue of style insiders might sound like gibberish to the casual listener. (Adam Kepler, the assistant to T's editor, Stefano Tonchi, once wrote for The Moment about confusing Miuccia Prada with a cartoon about Mexican wrestlers.) But to...<p><br>By Paulo Prada <br>CARACAS, Sept 6 (Reuters) - Venezuelan authorities have arrested the American captain of a U.S.-flagged cargo ship after finding three rifles on board, an embassy official said. <br>The detention follows last month's arrest of another U.S. citizen who entered illegally from neighboring Colombia and was denounced as a possible "mercenary" by President Hugo Chavez. <br>Socialist Chavez, who seeks re-election next month, is a ferocious critic of Washington, and his nearly 14-year rule has been characterized by frequent bilateral spats and incidents. <br>The U.S. Embassy official in Caracas said the "Ocean Atlas" has been in Maracaibo port, in west Venezuela, since last week, with the captain detained "a few days ago." <br>"It's an evolving situation," he added, saying it was unclear if charges were being pressed against the captain. He did not provide the captain's name. <br>Officials at Venezuela's interior and ports ministries did not immediately respond to questions about the incident. <br>A spokeswoman for Intermarine LLC, the New Orleans-based company that operates the vessel, could not immediately provide any details either. <br>The embassy official said the captain and 14 crew members, who remain on the vessel, are American citizens. The rifles, he said, were listed on the ship's manifest, but it was unclear whether their presence violated any local law. <br>Weapons are common on commercial ships and are often deemed necessary as possible defense against pirates or other threats. <br>The Ocean Atlas, according to Intermarine's website, is a heavy-lift, multipurpose cargo vessel built in 2000 with a length of 120 meters (394 feet).</p><p>Earlier on HuffPost:</p><p>Own Your Own Business! </p><p>Better yet, if you can, do not involve your father or mother, best friend, and especially never your husband... as he can threaten you, fire you and even replace you with another woman. The Art of Happiness is the Art of Independence, only be responsible to yourself.</p><p>There are two types of people (in general): those Fearless and those Fearful. You know who you are! If you are fearless, find out what talent or work you are good at, whatever makes you happy, even later on in life, and do it!</p><p>As for finance, have a good business plan, save or find some money for the basics, and build your business one day at a time. If you can not find any money you are not Fearless... then go get a job! </p><p>If you are Fearful, forget about it and don't look back. Enjoy the benefits of a life of semi-security, while knowing who to kiss up to, because you must have the intuition to know who's in your company, what team player's power you can attach yourself to. You could make it to the top of the ladder if your quarterback completes his passes. The team players and company owners have two very different sets of skills.</p><p>I remember once in Paris having words with Nicole, the chef d'atelier of my couture boutique. I had been having words to the effect that I would have not left early the day before, as she did. Instead, I would have stayed and redid the beading of a wedding gown until it was perfect, as the bride was expected to come in shortly. Instead of saying, "Oui, Madame", Nicole grabbed scissors and ran after me screaming, "I'm not you, I don't own anything". At that moment I realized we are all created differently -- workaholics, perfectionists, and everybody else! </p><p>I recently spoke about fashion at the Art and Initiatives Conference on the color red with Zandra Rhodes and Anna Sui. Afterwards, we had a delicious lunch at ABC Kitchen in downtown New York. There we were -- three survivors of our own fashion houses -- one French, one Brit, and one American, all women owners.</p><p>Fashion is the only industry in all the arts that requires four collections a year, four possibilities of failure, four times a year. You and your ego, and your talent are put to the ultimate test. Will someone buy my work?</p><p>It's all about the Dress, I explain what the challenges of owning your own business are. Owning your own business makes you the artist, agent, manager and publicist of your company. You often trade off being at the top of your field for being at the top of your own little world. Anna Sui's little world grew into a huge multimillion dollar empire.</p><p>Except if you are Martha Stewart -- who left a 15-year career on Wall Street to cater parties in her posh Westport, Conn., suburb. We all know she is fearless. She ventured into Manhattan and catered my opening party at Bergdorf Goodman. It was 1981 and she served sushi. Martha brought taste and the arts into the modern American home and on her first video she wore my beaded gown, black, on the cover; the same gown that Elizabeth Taylor had recently wore in white. Wearing the perfect power dress for fearless females, Martha knew where she was going.</p><p>Changing careers, leaving a secure job with little future, is often the case. My Parsons School of Design classmate, Mary Alice Orito (class of 1964), was an early stylist for music videos, a costume designer on Broadway and of daytime soaps (Search for Tomorrow), until the labor strikes of 1988.</p><p>She saw an insecure future in costumes, went back to college and became a psychotherapist. Today, continuing her personal art work has lead to her first solo show with The National Association of Women Artists in New York in March. Continuing her private practice, her lucky patients are often artists and fashion folk, who are grateful to have an understanding fellow designer to listen to their torments.</p><p>Melissa Skoog was the real girl Anne Hathaway portrayed in "The Devil Wore Prada"; the Vogue assistant we fell in love with, and who ultimately ended up heading publicity at Prada. After keeping her head on after working with Anna Wintour and Miuccia Prada, Melissa came away with the enough foundation in fashion advertising to launch her own namesake publicity firm in Chicago with a new husband, a new baby in her life, and a marvelous blog, "On My Plate."</p><p>I recently ended my four-month book tour in Palm Beach, where Elizabeth Fago, a young, fabulous philanthropist and nursing home developer, threw a party to end all parties. The party included serving a recipe from my book, Sophia Loren's Pasta. The event was thrown by a beautiful young party planner, who also left a career in advertising to open Beth Beattie Events in a town that throws about 10 parties every night. After seven years, Beth's business is a great moneymaker -- proof that a young beautiful woman with a fearless nature and a desire to be her own boss can succeed in a town known for beautiful women, who basically lunch and shop on their wealthy husbands' credit cards. After work she dates a handsome race car driver!</p><p>An exception to my rule about working with your man, are the husband and wife team of Amy Zerner and Monte Farber, who left their jobs as fine artist and musician to write 46 bestselling books on spirituality -- all illustrated by Amy. They became a "Mom and Pop" conglomerate. They have no children, their togetherness knows no end, as their team and their work is their baby. After many years, Amy created soft jackets with her art in panels on the back. In 1999 she sold a few handmade pieces to Bergdorf Goodman, and now has grown and added Neiman Marcus. She has also recently designed jewelry. She told me she has lived out Joseph Campbell's mantra, "Follow Your Bliss."</p><p>The economy today has no guarantee to improve. 2012 can be the year for the young generation to bite the bullet. As Amy Zerner told me, "For us, our bliss and our happiness has been our journey together on the path to making our life a work of art, and our art a work of life."</p><p>As I took a train up the Hudson River, working on this story, I realized that I now had another life as well. I no longer lived in Paris raising my children, with a driver and a cook, or lived in my Manhattan brownstone apartment taking yellow taxis to Bergdorf's to measure my couture clients. Today I had to drive myself, drive up a snowy mountain to my writer's cabin, to my new life, writing, lecturing, and sharing the lessons learned of a life well lived.</p><p>I will now fearlessly move on and reinvent myself. I will soon sell my beautifully made dresses on Home Shopping Network. For the first time a French couturier will present her bestselling creations for everybody.</p><p>It is a whole new world. It's time to reinvent yourselves too! Be Fearless. </p><p>There are two types of fashion designers: those who can draw drape cut and sew and those who can't, but they know everybody -- they are well-connected! I call the latter, "vanity designers." They have an idea of how people should look, their own idea, but they need to hire designers who can draw drape cut and sew so their name can be on clothing and they will matter.</p><p>The exhibition at the Met, "Conversations Between Schiaperelli and Prada," was just the latter; two vanity designers having a conversation about their influence in fashion. They both could have used better patterns.</p><p>Before I went to the show I asked my Parsons classmate designer-artist, Mary Alice Orito, what she thought of the show, and her comments were identical to the ladies who sat next to me in the self help dining room (where BTW the delicious fresh food salad bar was a highlight). Quite remarkably, my two out-of-town table neighbors had the SAME comments as the old pro:</p><p>1. This exhibit was such a letdown after the extraordinary Alexander McQueen exhibition in both display and beauty. (McQueen was a trained Savile Row tailor and theatrical.)</p><p>2. There was nothing of the 'anti-pretty' of Prada they would want to wear... nothing!<br> <br>3. Maybe this show is our historic moment... with artist and designers redefining 'pretty' by once again taking away the feminine? Our current world doesn't do pretty. Pretty is weak, pretty is decorative, pretty doesn't define, pretty becomes a different illusion of stretching artistic viewpoint by dumbing down or deconstructing to the point of ugly?</p><p>I said I loved and would wear the Schiaparelli velvet cape with the golden sequined sunburst in the back. The women looked at me, as their lifestyle didn't warrant gold sunburst velvet capes. I told them I had actually copied the idea in the '70s when Paris had a Schiaperelli show at the Musee de la Mode and I fell in love with her knee length cape. I did it in navy blue silk velvet but instead I had a 4 inch wide green sequin dragon wind around the back. My dragon even had a long red beaded tongue. I made it as a gift for Elizabeth Taylor, but I don't think she ever wore it as I saw it one day on the back of her teenage son Michael.</p><p>When I arrived in Paris to open my shop in 1964 my partner Mia Fonssagrives fell in love and married a proper French Faubourg St Honore couturier, Louis Feraud. Louis had his ateliers on the small street around the corner. There were 20 tiny maids rooms of sewers on the fifth floor. They were divided into two distinct groups; Flou and Tailleur... Draped and Tailored, and you could not be both! You were either!</p><p>Flou were all women; French, Tunisian, Spanish and Portuguese, who draped, beaded, and crocheted textured surfaces. The tailors were men, mostly Italians and British (where the best suits came from). They knew the art of facing and ironing so surfaces lie flat. They could make collars roll!</p><p>Both Elsa Schaiparelli and Miucchi Prada were trained in their brains, not their fingers. Neither were schooled or trained as couturiers. Both came from Italian Royalty; Elsa, a countess and Miucchi, the daughter of Prada; a classic handbag fashion house. Both had insider friends in the art and press world and yet they both contributed "Some New Things" to the fashion world. Chanel once called Schiaperelli "the Artist who makes Dresses."</p><p>Schiaparelli gave us, the Hat with the shoe on the head, the lobster on the dress and the Surreal accessory. Her serous contributions were the poly dress and bolero and the block printed knit! She was the first to put visible zippers in dresses, the first to use a lot of hot pink. I own her Shocking pink perfume bottle, a woman's torso, (before Jean Paul Gauthier's), done by Dali. Her artist pals like Dali and Giacometti helped her to get noticed. Chanel earlier in the twenties invented knits, and the knit cardigan we still wear today. She also, by the way, invented sportswear.</p><p>Prada gave us dresses, also in the same work-plastics as the Prada bags. These bags were the first $3,000 plastic bag that should retail for a tenth the price except for the 90 percent markup for the metal triangle that says "Prada." Today's tailored Prada clothing have arty appliques to the masculine tailored clothing. These dresses could stand on their own without a body inside. The body is superfluous. The minimalist garment is the statement, not you!</p><p>The Conversation Exhibit was too tightly packed together and the dresses were too forced to be seen up-close. The sewing was often very bad. Both designers designed for the ideal tall slim hipped woman with no breasts. I think Wallis Simpson and the stern thin red lips and a no frills hairdo.The one and only sexy cut bustier dress could have used McQueen's training to spot a nipple point in the wrong place.</p><p>The exhibit was not packed as the public knows a good show. God bless him, sadly, Alexander McQueen is a hard act to follow.</p><p>VICKY TIEL began designing clothes 40 years ago in Paris and still owns a boutique there, as well as dedicated mini-boutiques in Bergdorf Goodman and Neiman Marcus. In fall 2010 she launched a line of cocktail dresses and special occasion wear sold through department stores nationwide. Her memoir, IT'S ALL ABOUT THE DRESS: What I Learned in 40 Years about Men, Women, Sex, and Fashion was published by St. Martin's Press in August 2011.</p>eGHZmFyID44mYu00M5dZQhYaAu%2FAmgJCGfYy66NCsZ3y2%2BCd8epkdQj2UKN14xi7V2f6zvgZ4FLzuHlXFqCtvHEMfu8cnurHR%2Bk7huUTK5GduMziZZw2K6rSnCeVSnLO4kIuB5Ua5hfpX3jCUjpesONZAp5v%2FZYto0CpL2BNQDbLKBQntDL%2BG2ZKPlg9r%2BFV<p>www.mydaily.co.uk:</p><p>Here's a Monday afternoon treat for you, fashion fans. Prada has just released this stunning new video, which accompanies their Autumn/Winter 2011 collection.</p><p>Shot by Steven Meisel, the video is described as a "timeless tableau" where "innocence meets refinement."</p><p>Think plenty of fresh-faced models showcasing the utterly covetable scale dresses, velvet boots, chunky knit socks and python handbags. </p><p></p> <br>Since 2007, AMC's Emmy-winning show "Mad Men" has been inspiring fans and fashionistas to embrace all things old school. From the beautiful,...<p>Think: Cotton candy.... Pastel grey with a tinge of purple and patent! Could it get any yummier than this? These patent loafers are definitely on trend for the season and are perfect for a rainy day because they're relatively water resistant - added bonus! Functionality and fashionability? Yes, please! </p><p>I wanted to get some use out of my gilet before spring comes and before it gets too warm. So I'm wearing this gilet I picked up a few years ago and it's one of my wardrobe favourites. The gilet is a vintage Gucci while Tom Ford was Creative Director- so that's why in my opinion it was a great find - and lucky for me that it was in my size! </p><p>This blouse is a lovely shade and the contrasting collar gives it a bit of flair. It's a versatile blouse that can easily be dressed up or down. It also has the two small gold buttons on the cuffs as well as in the front- a small design feature that goes a long way. The sister duo of the Sandro and Maje brands have definitely grown on me and they have some amazing pieces that can be worn to work or casually. <br> <br>And the Prada bag that goes with everything? Definitely a classic in the making!</p><p>Blouse- Sandro<br>Mongolian Sheepskin Gilet- Vintage Gucci by Tom Ford<br>Grey Bag- Prada<br>Black Jeggings- Topshop<br>Leather Belt- Gucci<br>Loafers- Tods</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>Useful Tip:<br>Ballerina flats can get depressingly wet in the rain. Flats like loafers are a little more durable and practical and still stylish!</p><p>Vivian x</p><p>www.londonpersonalstyling.com<br>http://maisonvogue.blogspot.com</p><p>Follow Vivian Ho on Twitter:</p>If you have seen The September Issue, Grace Coddington comes across as the calm center to the storm that is Anna Wintour. I am looking forward to the book. Oh, and in her office, you can see several photos taken of her when she was modeling. She has the classic high forehead and the most amazing cheekbones! She was in an awful accident many years ago, and cut short her modeling career. She chose to go behind the scenes at Vogue, where she wields a mighty influence.<p>www.mydaily.co.uk:</p><p>If you've read US Vogue/seen pictures of Anna Wintour/watched The Devil Wears Prada you probably don't tend to think of Anna Wintour as someone who's up for a jolly jape or an office prank. You are, of course, completely wrong. Hamish Bowles (US Vogue's editor-at-large) discovered this when he found the words: </p><p></p> <br><p>As a child, my mom had dreams of her own.  She loved being the center of attention and would perform in school plays and sing her heart out at family gatherings. Her dream was to be a teacher one day, but her family's economic situation changed all that.  Early on in life, she learned about the preeminence of money and social status. By the time she was 5 years old, she was already selling oregano and yerba buena herbs in her neighborhood to help the family make ends meet.  She became a businesswoman out of necessity and once she earned her college degree, she opened up a small private kindergarten school in her family home. My mother was the model citizen, but Peru is no America. Back then and even now, you have law school graduates working as taxi-drivers.</p><p>In Peru, you didn't have to be a citizen to have an opportunity at success, you had to be the son of an upper class elite, the inheritor of colonial legacies of feudal exploitation. My mom, along with other working class youth weren't struggling to access the opportunities, there simply was no future for them. Confronted with this hopelessness and with the opportunity to reunite with my father in America, my mother decided that she wouldn't allow me to live the same hopeless life. The road ahead was daunting and uncertain. She wouldn't know the language and wouldn't be able to obtain a visa, so we would have to cross unknown lands on foot, leaving behind her family, friends, home, and in all likelihood, her chance of achieving the dreams she had as a child, just to come to America.    </p><p>And so my mom became a second class member of a new society, not much of a difference from her Peru, except this time there was a hope that her children wouldn't have the same fate. My mother was the Dreamer of a past generation. Her dreams, along with the dreams of countless other mothers and fathers of undocumented youth in this country have gone unfulfilled and have been long forgotten in the long hours spent kneeling down cleaning toilets or picking fruits in the scorching sun.  Dreams that are destined from the beginning to be just that, dreams.</p><p>I wonder sometimes, if any of these politicians, that hold the power to decide my family's fate, would have the courage to cross 7 countries, led only by a stranger with no kind of technology or advisers, just uncertainty and fear? Would politicians risk their lives and leave their mothers, brothers and personal hopes behind to live in the shadows with the dim hope that a distant future could be better? If everything they have was taken away from them and they ended up in my mom's situation at 21 years of age, would they still think and say the things they say? I think not, their biggest fears only consist of not losing their comfortable seats and positions of power.  And they pawn off what they know is right in their hearts. They could learn a lesson in courage from my mother.</p><p>A wise man once said, "the arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends towards justice". I know that day will come when we finally adjust our status, and I am looking forward to it. I wonder if then, when some Dreamers are elected into office and are sitting next to that politician, in old age, would they be able to look at us in the eye and refer to us as an "illegal"? I can only wonder.</p><p>All the while, other people will continue to argue that my mom should just go back and fix her own country, but how can they when the CIA along with other US funded, puppet right wing governments, and US corporations have violently suppressed attempts at real change for the working poor. Those same politicians that privately funded these wars and governments are the same politicians that are using our people as scapegoats for societies' problems, when they played a hand in forcing our families to migrate here to the US. Call my story a sob story, but it's MY story, and my reality.  I will defend it.<br></p>Wil’ Prada was born in Chorrillos, Lima to a family of immigrants from the small Andean cities of Apurimac. He has resided in Pasadena since he was 7 years old, where he runs a small business. He was able to obtain his education through the hard work and sacrifice of his loving parents. At UCLA, he was introduced to IDEAS, an undocumented student support group, where he lost his fear and shame of being undocumented, and became involved in activism. He graduated from UCLA with a degree in political science in 2010. He is a member of Dream Team Los Angeles where he participates in the media and communications team.The problem is all the articles I have read say the same as these do. I didn't see it in an article I saw it on the local news. They interviewed the boy who got shot and he is the one who said that when they shot the fireworks in the direction of this man, it was an accident. I think it was on KSDK, NBC affiliate channel 5. But when I tried to download and look at it, my computer didn't like the link. We have an old computer because we refuse to buy a new one every year or every other year and it has issues. You can go to their site and search for William Prada and see if it is there. The only other news we watch is Fox 2 News. <br>I swear I do not condone what this man did regardless of his reasons but I heard directly from that kid's mouth that at least one firework was aimed right at the man. The kids says it slipped out of his hand, I didn't buy it, at all.Where is the dateline with the location of the story subject? I probably overlooked it, but it seems to me Internet journalism has taken dominance yet with sloppy journalism, sorry if it is there an I don't see it, but I am accustomed to obvious professionalism by starting a story like (AP, Honolulu) and so on so you are oriented correctly from the get-go. They talk bout USA, Brazil, Japan, France -- where's is this stuff happening, am I supposed to do a study to find out or am I out of touch with the obvious? I wouldn't bring it up but it seems common to leave the reader out these days.<p>Since we buy most of our dresses at Ann Taylor and the H&M clearance rack (let's be real), we're gaping a bit at the price tag of the so-called , which debuted at Ukraine Fashion Week recently.</p><p> using 50 two-carat black diamonds. It weighs a whopping 29 lbs.; 25 of the sparklers line the dress' peplum (so trendy!) while the others line the shoulder shrug. Wingham, who sewed the dress herself, calls the frock that costs £3.7 million (about $5.7 million) </p><p>The World Record Academy says that Wingham's dress set the . As for other frocks, the world's has its own category, clocking in at $15 million with 85 diamonds. The costs about $14,000. But the real kicker: a few year ago Malaysian designer weighed down with $30 million worth of diamonds, which were arranged to spell out 'U MAD, BRO?'. (Fine, not really about the last part.) </p><p>The new Wingham dress certainly is gorg, despite being a wee bit heavy to lug down a red carpet. Still, we can think of one diva who'd probably be up to the challenge... paging Beyonce?</p><p>Scroll down to see Wingham's piece in all of its diamond glory. (The model slinks onto the catwalk at around 2:20 in the YouTube video.)</p><p></p><p></p><p>They may not cost $5 million, but check out some of the wildest dresses ever...<br></p><p>Want more? Be sure to check out HuffPost Style on , , and .</p><p>CORRECTION: An earlier version of this post incorrectly attributed a claim that the dress set a Guinness World Record for most expensive dress.</p>eGHZmFyID44mYu00M5dZQhYaAu%2FAmgJCGfYy66NCsZ3y2%2BCd8epkdQj2UKN14xi7V2f6zvgZ4FLzuHlXFqCtvHEMfu8cnurHR%2Bk7huUTK5GduMziZZw2K6rSnCeVSnLO4kIuB5Ua5hfpX3jCUjpesONZAp5v%2FZYto0CpL2BNQDbLKBQntDL%2BG2ZKPlg9r%2BFV<p>Zooey Deschanel hit a style home run at Sunday night's Golden Globes in her , and now the "New Girl" actress continues her sartorial tear by posing for </p><p>We're kind of distracted by Zooey's pouty red lipstick on the cover, but we managed to read some of the interview, where Zooey explains why she gets typecast as the quirky girl in movies like "500 Days of Summer": it's her hair color.</p>"Because I have brown hair and a low voice, I would get cast as dry, sarcastic, ironic people, which I can do, but it's just not my sense of humor. I'm a very positive person. I get excited easily, and I like to jump around."<p>Style-wise, Zooey looks fab (and pretty sexy!) in the photos shot by Norman Jean Roy, posing in sequined bodysuits and sexy librarian heels. And she says she's learned to shake off the naysayers by not reading certain websites:</p>"I can't go on Gawker. I actually think the writing is really funny, but there is a chance that somebody is undercutting me."<p>Despite what she says, we're guessing being Zooey is still pretty fun.</p><p>Check out the pics from Zooey's, dare we say, "quirky" Allure shoot below (and ), and make sure to pick up the February issue of the magazine on newsstands January 24th.</p><p>PHOTOS:</p><p></p> <br><p>The perennially "quirky" Zooey Deschanel didn't disappoint at tonight's Golden Globes, </p><p>The newly single actress, who's nominated for Best Actress for her TV show "New Girl," strolled the red carpet with her sister Emily in a dark green silk dress with an open back, custom made by Prada. The top is enriched with black and emerald green glass pearls, including a very chic ivory pearl embroidered collar. </p><p>Zooey complemented the look with a Prada clutch covered with emerald green glass pearls and Prada black satin platform closed toe pumps. And the crowning touch? Her tuxedo manicure, which she gleefully tweeted about.</p><p>I am wearing a gown but my nails are wearing tuxedos!!! </p>— zooey deschanel (@ZooeyDeschanel) <p>Check out pics of Zooey below, and tell us if you're digging her Prada in the poll.</p><p><br><br> </p> <br><p>Zooey Deschanel is known for her quirky and slightly , which might explain why she didn't know how to handle the fiasco that is the Emmys red carpet. </p><p>The "New Girl" star, who was nominated for Best Actress in a Comedy Series on Sunday night, stopped by "" Tuesday to discuss her weird encounter with fellow nominee Nicole Kidman and how she managed to look bad while doing something good. </p><p>"I got there a little bit late and we had to rush to do stuff and I ended up getting stuck on the red carpet with Nicole Kidman," Deschanel tells Ellen DeGeneres. "[She] came in at the same time and there are all these photographers and they got really confused, so I started seeing cameras go this way and this way and um, she’s a movie star, and I felt like you know, give it up for the movie star!" </p><p>That's when, unbeknownst to , she was photographed with her hands on her hips, looking miserable. A picture certainly is worth a thousand words.</p><p>"I was standing back so they could take Nicole Kidman’s picture and apparently some of these guys were still trying to take a picture of me, even though I clearly [gave up]," she explains, adding of the photos, "That’s the face of someone who has given up." </p><p>And funny enough, Deschanel also caused quite the stir when she overreacted to Louis C.K.'s Emmy win for Best Writing for a Comedy. Why was she so excited for Louis' big win? She has no idea. </p><p>"I don’t know him!" Deschanel tells DeGeneres, laughing. "I didn’t realize how excited I had gotten until later [when] people started tweeting me that picture. It was just pure unbridled enthusiasm. I'm a fan." </p><p></p><p>Sound the alarms: Zooey Deschanel wore something quirky!</p><p>Just kidding. We're used to it.</p><p>The "New Girl" actress, who most recently charmed us , was spotted on the set of her TV show today wearing a black parka and carrying an unusual accessory: a purse shaped like a rabbit.</p><p>We thought the bag might be part of the wardrobe for Zooey's "New Girl" character Jess, but it turns out </p><p>The Mandy Coon "Ginny Bunny" leather bags , but we're sure Zooey's love of them is going to shore up sales quite a bit. However, aspiring bunny bag toters, you might be out of luck: the bags, which retail for over $400, appear to be </p><p>We just wonder what you can fit inside it. </p><p>Check out Zooey's whimsical bag below and tell us: would you tote your stuff in it?</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>Also on HuffPost:</p> <br>Her marriage is wonderful, she&#039;s given up alcohol and from tomorrow she&#039;s hosting the nightly &#039;Strictly&#039; spin-off show &#039;It Takes Two&#039;<p>The third venture from Istanbul's dynamic House mini-chain has transformed a 19th-century waterfront mansion into a contemporary boutique hotel. The elegant Simon Kalfa building – he was part of the Balyan dynasty that left Istanbul with an impressive Ottoman-era architectural legacy, including Dolmabahce Palace – had fallen into disrepair but now, like the city itself, it's a well-thought-out combination of old and new.</p><p>As in the other House hotels – House Hotel Galatasary in a 19th-century Ottoman mansion in the up-and-coming antiques district of Cukurcuma, and the Art Deco House Hotel Nisantasi, perched above Prada in the city's most upmarket shopping district – the renovation has been sympathetic to the building's origins. The original lofty ceilings, ornate plasterwork and parquet floors are complemented by luxurious interiors from the award-winning Turkish design duo du jour, Autoban, making good use of their signature materials of marble, brass and oak.</p><p>The hotel has five floors topped by the enormous Penthouse Bosphorus Suite, with 180-degree views. On the ground floor, the trendy House Café serves traditional Turkish and international dishes, along with potent cocktails. It spills out onto a patio overlooking the Bosphorus, the bridge and Buyuk Mecidiye Camii, a magnificent neo-Baroque mosque. One floor up, the open-plan Lounge houses a formal restaurant, lounge, library and bar and is decorated with muted tones, a marble fireplace and sleek, low-slung cream leather sofas. Turkish dishes are presented with a contemporary twist, served with good local wines such as Sarafin, Corvus and Sevilen 900. This is also the place to sip raki, a potent anise-flavoured spirit while you people-watch – Kevin Spacey and Monica Bellucci are recent guests.</p><p>A leisurely breakfast is also served in the Lounge – a top pick is menimen, scrambled eggs, with feta, tomatoes and parsley.</p><p>Location</p><p>Cosmopolitan Ortakoy, &quot;Middle Village&quot; in Turkish, is one of Istanbul's coolest districts. The Buyuk Mecidiye Camii sits on a platform next to the iconic bridge; fishing boats bob in the harbour and the muezzin vies with beats from the city's glitziest super-clubs, including Reina and Anjelique.</p><p>Ortakoy's cobbled alleyways and squares heave with people at weekends, drawn by its street market, chic boutiques and waterfront bars and restaurants. The café culture of Bebek, one of the Bosphorus villages, is a stroll away, and you're only a short taxi or tram ride from historic Sultanahmet and the nightlife of Beyoglu. The coast road can get gridlocked in rush hour, but it's about 45 minutes from the main Ataturk airport and 60 minutes from the no-frills Sabiha Gokcen Airport.</p><p>Comfort</p><p>There are 23 rooms divided into six categories, ranging from superior to the penthouse. Almost all have river views – four suites and four rooms have full waterfront views, other rooms overlook Ortakoy Square with side views of the strait – with small balconies perfect for a post-sightseeing wind-down while you watch boats ply the water. The interiors are cool and calm, mingling the traditional with the hi-tech – king-sized beds with crisp white linen, gleaming white walls, polished parquet, original mouldings offset by Autoban's signature funky light fittings, remote-controlled curtains and a large flatscreen TV.</p><p>My deluxe suite's separate living area came with a streamlined sofa and dark-wood furniture, as well as a second TV and Nespresso machine. The marbled-tiled bathrooms have powerful rain showers and L'Occitane toiletries, while the penthouse suites have large Jacuzzi tubs, and wraparound balconies. There's free Wi-Fi throughout the hotel and a small gym.</p><p>House Hotel Bosphorus, Salhane Sokak 1, Ortakoy, Istanbul, Turkey (00 90 212 244 3400; ).</p><p>Rooms ***** <br>Value **** <br>Service ****</p><p>Double rooms start at €159, including breakfast.</p><p>Travel essentials</p><p>Why go now?</p><p>As spring takes hold in northern Italy, the cultural and commercial hub is moving outdoors. The city's rich array of attractions blends perfectly with al fresco life. And with two airlines starting up new routes this week from Gatwick, Milan is even easier to reach.</p><p>Touch down</p><p>The new services on and Air One – along with numerous existing flights on Alitalia, BA and easyJet – land at Malpensa airport, 30 miles north-west of the city. The Malpensa Express is the main rail link into town, serving Cadorna station (1) in about 40 minutes (€11). An hourly train serves Centrale station (2), and takes 50 minutes (€7).</p><p>Linate airport, six miles east of the centre, is served by Alitalia and BA from Heathrow and by easyJet from Gatwick. Bus 73 leaves every 10 minutes, taking 25 minutes to Piazza San Babila (3). Buy a €1.50 ticket in advance from the machine adjacent to the stop, and stamp it in the machine on the bus; you can use the same ticket on connecting public transport within 90 minutes. A non-stop version, the X73 (same fare), runs every 20 minutes on weekdays.</p><p>Get your bearings</p><p>The focal point of Milan is the Duomo (4), one of the largest cathedrals in the world. From this point, the trendy bar-laden districts of Porta Ticinese and Navigli are to the south, and the more genteel Brera to the north – with a shiny new financial district rising beyond Porta Garibaldi station (5). The centre of Milan's fashion universe, otherwise known as the Quadrilatero d'Oro (Golden Rectangle), is north-east of the Duomo (4).</p><p>The western edge of the city centre is marked by Piazza Castello, half-encircling the Castello Sforzesco (6), and location for the tourist office (7) at number 1 (00 39 02 7740 4343; visitamilano.it); open 9am-6pm daily, until 5pm on Sundays.</p><p>Check in</p><p>For location and style, try the new Palazzo Segreti (8) at Via San Tomaso 8 (00 39 02 4952 9250; palazzosegreti.com), tucked away just off the Via Dante. In the 18 individually styled rooms, earthy tones are offset by splashes of colour. Doubles from €275, B&amp;B.</p><p>The Bulgari Hotel (9) is tucked away at Via Privata Fratelli Gabba 7b (00 39 02 805 8051; bulgari hotels.com), a gemstone's throw from the Golden Rectangle; €671 for a double (excluding breakfast).</p><p>North of the Giardini Pubblici, at the friendly, family-run three-star Hotel Sempione (10) at via Finocchiaro Aprile 11 (00 39 02 657 0323; www.hotelsempione.it), doubles are €80, room only.</p><p>Take a view</p><p>The best panorama – sometimes stretching as far as the Alps – is from the roof terraces of the Duomo (4), which you can get to either by climbing just over 250 steps (€6), or by taking the lift (€10) (duomomilano.it); 9am-7pm daily. Afterwards, explore the splendid cathedral itself (7am-7pm daily, admission free, no shorts or big bags).</p><p>Day one</p><p>Take a hike</p><p>From the Duomo (4), walk through the elegant Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II (11). You emerge in the Piazza Scala, with the Teatro alla Scala (12) (00 39 02 88 791; teatroallascala.org) – one of the world's premier opera houses – looking surprisingly modest. Walk down the street to the right of the Scala, the Via Verdi, which is lined with boutiques and galleries. It continues north as Via Brera.</p><p>Lunch on the run</p><p>You hear Bar Brera (13) at Via Brera 22 before you see it – the terrace outside is always lively. Pastries, sandwiches and all kinds of Mediterranean delights are on offer for lunch from Tuesdays to Saturdays.</p><p>Cultural afternoon</p><p>The marvellous Pinacoteca di Brera (14), part of the palace at Via Brera 28 (00 39 02 7226 3264; www.brera.beniculturali.it; 8.30am-7.15pm daily except Mon; €6), is a showcase for masterpieces by some of the great artists of the 13th to the 20th centuries. Highlights are Mantegna's Lamentation of Christ and Raphael's The Marriage of the Virgin altarpiece. Caravaggio, Piero della Francesca, Rembrandt and Goya are also represented.</p><p>Window shopping</p><p>Lavori in corso, &quot;work in progress&quot;, evident everywhere in Milan, is especially irksome on one of the primary shopping streets, Via Montenapoleone, or &quot;Montenapo&quot;. Showcases for luxury brands such as Versace, Prada and the flagship Gucci store (15) are half-hidden while the road is dug up. The parallel Via della Spiga offers Miu Miu, Roberto Cavalli and Dolce &amp; Gabbana (16).</p><p>To spend rather than merely window-shop, one of the more personal and unusual stores is south of the Duomo (4): for a hand-made handbag, visit Travi (17) at Corso di Porta Ticinese 30 (00 39 02 8940 4202; 9.30am-7.30pm daily except Sundays).</p><p>An aperitif</p><p>Watch the sun sink over the main square from almost the same viewpoint as you enjoyed at the start of the day, only this time with a glass of prosecco or an Angelo Poretti beer in hand. The open-air Il Bar (00 39 02 885 2454; ilbarmilano.it) is on the seventh floor of the Rinascente (18).</p><p>Dining with the locals</p><p>At the top of Corso di Porta Ticinese, you can see 16 Corinthian columns from a pagan temple of the 2nd to 3rd century AD – and, behind them, the San Lorenzo alle Colonne, a superb 4th-century basilica.</p><p>You can also see ZeroDue (19) at number 6. This stylish restaurant (00 39 02 8942 0241; zeroduemilano.com; open daily except Monday) is named after the dialling code for Milan, 02.</p><p>It occupies part of the remains of a 15th-century convent on Roman foundations. Beneath the brick arches, dine on penne alla puttanesca (with tomatoes, capers and olives) for €9, or the house salad, which is laden with chicken, bacon and even blackberries.</p><p>Day two</p><p>Sunday morning: go to church</p><p>The artistic pinnacle of Milan – and arguably Italy – is Leonardo da Vinci's fresco of The Last Supper, painted on the wall of the refectory of the convent of Santa Maria delle Grazie (20), in the west of the city. Book by phone (00 39 02 9280 0360) or online at www.cenacolovinciano.net for a 15-minute slot as soon as you buy your flights – don't wait until you arrive in Milan. Tickets are available 8am-7.15pm daily except Mondays and May Day, price €6.</p><p>A walk in the park</p><p>The 15th-century Duke of Milan, Francesco Sforza, was the man responsible for both Santa Maria delle Grazie and the reconstruction of the fortress known as Castello Sforzesco (6) (00 39 02 8846 3700; www.milano castello.it; 7am-6pm daily) at Piazza Castello. The castle houses a collection of museums, but on a fine day your attention will be drawn to the vast, elaborate Parco Sempione – the largest green space in central Milan.</p><p>Out to brunch</p><p>Feast your way through the €30 Mediterranean buffet, served on Sundays from noon to 4pm, at the Cantina della Vetra (21) at Via Pio IV 3 (00 39 02 8940 3843; www.cantinadellavetra.it). This big, busy and very popular enoteca serves an array of charcuterie, seafood, vegetables and sticky desserts in abundant quantities; the price includes coffee.</p><p>Take a ride</p><p>Milan has recently acquired a bike-rental scheme, named bikeMi, with stables of bicycles dotted around the city – including one outside the Cantina della Vetra (21). Registering for the day costs €2.50, but as long as you keep each individual hire to less than half an hour there's no further charge to your credit card – you can use a bike as often as you like.</p><p>The trams in Milan take you back to a different era – many of the 1920s editions are still running. Buy a €1.50 ticket from a tobacconist or metro station, then hop aboard tram 2 or 14 going north from Largo Carrobbio (22), making sure to stamp the ticket at the machine at the front. It zig-zags north, and you should get off where the lines cross Via Paolo Sarpi (23). Then walk a short way east to the final stop.</p><p>The icing on the cake</p><p>The collector and entrepreneur Carla Sozzani has created a concept store in a former Fiat garage at 10 Corso Como (24), whose name is also its address (00 39 02 2901 3581; www.10corsocomo.com). In a shady courtyard full of greenery, art, home furnishings, books, music and clothes are sold under one roof, alongside a restaurant (half of which spills out into the courtyard) which serves modern Italian fusion food. There is an excellent (and free) gallery.</p><p>Additional research by William Severs.</p><p>Travel essentials</p><p>Why go now?</p><p>&quot;KL&quot; is coming into its own as a stopover for travellers en route to Malaysia's tropical islands of Penang, Langkawi and Borneo, or to Australasia. Malaysia Airlines has just stepped up its service from London with the arrival of new A380 &quot;Superjumbos&quot; as it tries to turn KL into Asia's biggest crossroad for tourists, just as the city used to draw merchants from all over the globe.</p><p>Chinese tin miners, Indian migrants and British colonists all helped to shape this hot, noisy capital in the jungle, and each has left its mark on streets of crumbling architecture and skyscrapers, the symbols of the KL's more recent oil riches. National Day (31 August) and the F1 Grand Prix (March/April) are good times to come, while a busking festival gives a more tuneful soundtrack in December.</p><p>Touch down</p><p>Malaysia Airlines (0871 423 9090; malay siaairlines.com) has the only direct link between the UK and KL. Daily flights from Heathrow start at £719 return. The international airport is 45 miles south of the centre, 30 minutes by train (RM35/£7) to KL's Sentral Station (1). By road, the journey takes twice as long and costs RM75 (£15) in a taxi or RM10 (£2) by bus.</p><p>Get your bearings</p><p>Sentral Station (1) is the hub for the city's transit network. A futuristic monorail winds north and east towards Bukit Bintang (2) and Bukit Nanas (3) stations, serving KL's &quot;Golden Triangle&quot; of malls, markets and famous skyscrapers, the Petronas Towers (4), and the KL Tower (5). Little India lies further north near Chow Kit station (6). The red Putra line, meanwhile, connects Sentral (1) to Merdeka Square (7) in the old colonial quarter, as well as Chinatown, a short walk or taxi ride east of the vast Lake Gardens area. Journeys on the transit network are easy and cost as little as RM1 (20p), making it the best way to get around the city, not least to avoid the paralysing rush-hour traffic. When things flow, short taxi rides should cost less than RM10 (£2).</p><p>Check in</p><p>I stayed at the high-rise Shangri-La Hotel (8) at 11 Jalan Sultan Ismail (00 603 2032 2388; shangri-la.com), one of many relatively reasonable five-star international hotels in the city. Doubles start at RM1,044 (£209) per night including breakfast and use of the hotel's delightful pool.</p><p>Sarang Mas (9) on Jalan Pudu (00 601 2333 5666; sarang vacationhomes.com) is a highly rated bed and breakfast in a 1920s house in bustling Bukit Bintang. Rooms in the shared house start at RM230 (£45) for a double including breakfast.</p><p>Dorm rooms in KL can cost as little as RM12 (£3) per night. The Backpackers Traveller Inn (10) at 60 Jalan Sultan is well located in Chinatown (00 603 2078 2473; backpackerskl.com).</p><p>Day One</p><p>Take a view</p><p>The 452m-high twin Petronas Towers (4) were the tallest buildings in the world when they opened in 1998, and they still dominate. Gawp at a striking, if not altogether pretty, city from the Skybridge that links the towers, and an observation deck near the top (9am to 9pm, closed Mondays; RM80 (£16) for both. My tip: the observation deck or kitsch revolving restaurant up the KL Tower (5) (kltower.com.my; 9am to 10pm daily; RM47/£10). Daredevils take the quick way down during an annual base-jumping festival (27-30 Sept this year).</p><p>Take a hike</p><p>You'll need patience and cold drinks to survive a walking tour of KL, where three-lane highways seem to spring from nowhere. Keep things compact by starting at Merdeka (independence) Square (7), a rare patch of green that was a cricket pitch before the Brits got bowled out of Malaysia in 1957. It's dominated by the copper-dome-topped Sultan Abdul Samad Building (11). Learn more about the city's past at the excellent City Gallery (12) at the southern end of the square (klcitygallery.com; free; daily 8am to 6pm). Then head east over the Klang River to the Art Deco façade of the covered Central Market (open daily 10am to 10pm). Batik, jade and other handicrafts compete today with tourist trinkets. Pick up an ice-blended drink at the Iz Jeruk tropical fruit stall (RM3.50; 70p) to sip on as you walk on to Jalan Petaling (13), the heart of KL's sense-assaulting Chinatown.</p><p>Lunch on the run</p><p>Pop two stops up the Putra line from Pasar Seni (14) to Dang Wangi (15) before the short walk to Yut Kee (16). The breezy, family-run café opened here in 1928, serving peculiar British-inspired dishes such as pork chop (served with potatoes and frozen veg). I had roti baba (RM8; £1.60) a delicious pocket of bread stuffed with shredded pork, onions and Worcestershire sauce, washed down with kopi peng: the best iced coffee you'll ever drink.</p><p>Window shopping</p><p>Whether or not you want to blow your ringgits in Prada, you should take in one of KL's refrigerated malls to get a sense of a city built on global commerce. The biggest is Suria KLCC (17), at the base of the Petronas Towers (4), home to a vast food court, cinema and concert hall. Labels are cheaper than in London, but not radically so.</p><p>An aperitif</p><p>Take a short walk from Suria KLCC (17) across the KL City Park to Traders Hotel (18) (shangri-la.com/kuala lumpur/traders) and head up to the 33rd-floor SkyBar (daily from 10am to 1am, or to 3am on Fridays and Saturdays). I watched the sun set on the Petronas Towers beside the hotel's pool while sipping a bowcut, a gin and pomelo-based cocktail (RM32; £6.50). Call ahead to book a good table (00 603 2332 9911; www.skybar.com.my).</p><p>Dining with the locals</p><p>Plunge back into KL at the street food stalls and cafés that line Jalan Alor (19) in Bukit Bintang. I started at Fat Brother Satay with skewers of octopus, chicken and mushroom dipped in fearfully spicy chilli sauce (RM15 or £3 including a bottle of Tiger beer). At Cu Cha, I washed down some Chinese pork belly with lin chee kang, a delicious chilled lychee drink that came with floating quail eggs. (Trust me, it's good.)</p><p>Day Two</p><p>Sunday morning: go to the mosque</p><p>Malaysia is a Muslim state and KL has dozens of mosques. The largest and most peaceful is the modernist National Mosque (20). Between prayers, suitably dressed tourists (purple gowns are available) can explore a monument to modern Malaysia (9am-noon; 3pm-4pm; 5.30pm-6.30pm), where Buddhism, Christianity and Hinduism thrive.</p><p>Out to brunch</p><p>Dash from the mosque to the outdoor Tanglin food court (21) on Jalan Cenderasari, where cafés vie for post-prayer trade. Take what you fancy or walk out back to find a chaotic, nameless barbecue. Before I could think about ordering (by pointing) I was given a plate of delicious grilled stingray with chilli and a chilled barley drink (RM12; £2.50 for both).</p><p>A walk in the park</p><p>By now, you're already in KL's central Lake Gardens, a vast, verdant relic of British rule and a free refuge from concrete and steel. After a stroll around Perdana Lake, continue your circuit to Bird Park (22), billed as the &quot;world's largest free-flight walk-in aviary&quot;, to pose with parrots and watch ostriches lay eggs (open 9am-6pm daily; RM48 (£10) for adults, 38 (£7.50) for children.</p><p>Cultural afternoon</p><p>Finish your exploration of the area in and around Lake Gardens at the under-visited Islamic Arts Centre (23) where the architecture alone is well worth the entrance fee. Quietly built in the same year as the thrusting pseudo-minarets of the Petronas Towers, the four floors of whitewashed walls surround a glass-sided inverted dome through which light pours – perfect for perusing all the scrolls, embroidery and dazzling bejewelled swords (10am-6pm daily; admission RM12/ £2.50; iamm.org.my).</p><p>Icing on the cake</p><p>Get out of town on the KTM Komuter line, seven miles north to Batu Caves (trains run every 30 minutes and take 30 minutes; returns RM4/80p). Almost 300 steps lead to a labyrinth of limestone caverns and Hindu shrines. Watch monkeys take shortcuts up the cliffs as you climb (7am to 7pm daily; admission free).</p><p>At the time everyone thought &quot;a-ha, what fun!&quot; but naturally, all this kind of messy, mish-mashed postmodernism seems terribly passé now. So, at the spring 2013 menswear shows in London, Paris and Milan, which finally wrapped up this month, designers seemed to be looking for a way out of such glorious excess and into collections that were punchy and focused. Spring 2013 seems like it could be a season of strong new directions.</p><p>Nautical</p><p>There were references to many sports, from fencing at Dries Van Noten (a sublime collection that deconstructed camouflage across a range of suits, denim jackets and quilted breastplates) to athletics at Prada and cycling at Trussardi and Issey Miyake. But one of the most chewed-over influences this season were nautical pursuits. Louis Vuitton led the way with a wonderfully detailed collection from Kim Jones, themed loosely on the sea. With its range of stunning outerwear options (including a floating, ankle-length parka and a leather, lifejacket-like gilet) it looked great on the runway, with laser-cut pockets on a yellow fishing mac and stingray buttons on a seersucker suit. At Dior Homme, sharply tailored suits in navy and grey were joined by Bretonesque jumpers with textured, rope-like knit stripes, and it became clear that the point here was a very subtle reworking of a nautical uniform.</p><p>Statement T-Shirt</p><p>For spring 2013, designers took steps to recreate the loved and loathed T-shirt. And none did this with more gusto than Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana.</p><p>The Dolce &amp; Gabbana catwalk was, from a showman's point of view, triumphant, featuring more than 70 streetcast models from Sicily and soundtracked by a live Italian village band.</p><p>But the adorable folksy, gawky clothes also stood up to scrutiny, and in particular the drop-shouldered, T-shirt-like cotton tops, printed with stripes, newspaper clippings and colourful maps, and with wide, uncuffed sleeves reaching to the elbow, for full, ill-fitting rustic charm.</p><p>At Givenchy, Riccardo Tisci continued to push printed T-shirts and sweatshirts, but this spring rendered these pieces in unusual, non-stretch fabrics such as sheeny satin and sheer gauze.</p><p>And across many runways there were further experiments with fabric, whether it was in Margaret Howell's oversized linen T-shirts and Astrid Andersen's wear-if-you-dare lace numbers in London, or the stiff knitted tees at Jil Sander, which held their shape to nicely increase the sharpness of the silhouette.</p><p>Supercharged Pastels</p><p>The vogue for loud flashes of colour in menswear has been a long time in development, and, unusually, even managed to hit the mainstream over the past years. But there was a new set of tones in play, sickly but muted, and hovering between pastel and neon. Kind of like the shades you might see in a gelateria. In Milan, at the Z Zegna show, minimalist artist Dan Flavin (he of the coloured tube-lighting) inspired wonderful, almost over-exposed shades of mint green, coral and melon-like pale orange, and at Gucci, too, where creative director Frida Giannini proposed a series of loud, one-colour suits in supercharged pastel shades. Meanwhile in Paris, Hermès showed macs and track tops in a sickly lemon yellow and Raf Simons fielded bomber jackets in three different lengths and lollipop shades of pale pink, orange and vibrant cherry, while Yohji Yamamoto combined primary colours.</p><p>Sports Minimal</p><p>At the Prada show, many were waiting for a new cornucopia of zany prints to come sailing down the catwalk, given the brand's interest in that direction recently. But all Miuccia Prada seemed to care about this season was a simple silhouette constructed from a polo-shirt shape and a striped, slightly flared trouser.</p><p>What was the punchline? That all these simple, retro, sports-inspired pieces (including v-necks, oversized tees and wide-collared, bib-front shirts) were rendered in unusual, unsporty fabrics such as wool gabardine, double faced bonded cotton and light cashmere. It was a return to the kind of thinking that made Prada the must-have brand of the mid-90s, when high fashion first began to exploit the idiom of popular leisure and sportswear, referencing its utilitarian nature to create a new kind of simplicity.</p><p>This fresh, reductive approach was echoed at Lou Dalton and Emporio Armani, where soft tailoring was mixed with tech fabric jackets, sporty striped sweaters and drawstring gym shorts, and at Lanvin, where Lucas Ossendrijver enhanced his typically ingenious sport references with a subtly monochrome colour palette.</p><p>Tailored Bermuda Shorts</p><p>Jil Sander showed her first efforts since returning to the label to replace the much-loved Raf Simons last year. And she gave us shorts. In a collection that was graciously aware of what Jil Sander has become in the past five years, she used pleated, high-waisted Bermuda shorts to lend a slouch to long, wide-shouldered silhouettes, undercutting the severity of pieces such as a crisp yellow mac or stiff knit T-shirt with a luxurious movement of fabric below the waist. The breezy tailored short had been prefigured in London by designers such as James Long (who did them in print with heavy pleats) and Shaun Samson (whose had more of a basketball-inspired swagger), and continued to be a relevant piece across Milan and Paris, including Kenzo, where wide shorts made for a gawky, tourist-on-safari chic, and Versace, where suits came sleeveless with pleated, matching shorts.</p><p>Camouflage</p><p>Camouflage was a micro-trend in the spring 2013 collections, but, when people did it, they really went for it – in particular Dries Van Noten, who built a whole collection around this inherently masculine print. With elegant understatement, Van Noten showed a range of canvas camo suits, reversible jackets and paneled denim jackets and shirts, subverting the usual colour scheme to create beautiful variations in orange, brown, sand, red and blue.</p><p>On the Comme Des Garçons catwalk there was a no less striking approach to camouflage, in a series of suits that were paired with coat-length grey track tops. And then there were shows such as Ermenegildo Zegna and Kenzo, that, although not too tied to camouflage in the traditional sense, played with prints of tropical foliage, for a similarly lush and densely geometric effect.</p><p>On the surface it's all a bit of a yawn – part of the general cycle of menswear in which if it's not about the suit, it's about the blazer. Or sportswear. Or one of the other three or four key looks that men are actually likely to have in their limited wardrobes.</p><p>So let's go a bit further than that: the shows this January were about masculine force, and re-asserting it. Lucas Ossendrijver, the reliably brilliant men's designer at Lanvin, was particularly eloquent on this point. &quot;A suit can give you power,&quot; he said, shortly after the show, which featured Seventies-tinged powder blue and camel suits (with a generous bootcut trouser), cropped morning coats and neoprene-bonded overcoats with imposing, hulking shoulders. &quot;Where women can wear shoulder pads, men can go back to suits,&quot; he said. &quot;It's not about being a dandy, or trying to be too modern. It's about suits that have character, suits that are special.&quot; In other words, a male uniform that doesn't feel like uniform anymore – one that has a stamp of authority, but also individuality.</p><p>Ossendrijver also talked about a &quot;man on a mission&quot; – and this was an idea that seemed to play out across the runways, whether it was at Raf Simons' Jil Sander show, with its lunch bag- and newspaper-clutching bankers (who looked poised to start work at some sinister institution), or at Adam Kimmel, where one model walked out in a Top-Gun style pilot's helmet.</p><p>At Alexander McQueen, there were shades of Victoriana; at Junya Watanabe, bearded gamekeepers wore wader-like trousers and braces; at Emporio Armani, there were mountain rescue hats and nomadic shawls; at Vivienne Westwood, beards strewn with icicles. Everywhere there was a sense of action, purpose, and imperturbable manliness that felt reassuring, if caricatured, at a time when a lot of men – the Greek prime minister, for exaple – must be feeling a little bit helpless.</p><p>Men and Supermen</p><p>In a season about imposing masculinity, many designers pumped up the male silhouette to startling, superhuman proportions. Viktor &amp; Rolf, perhaps surprisingly given their avant garde credentials, offered the most sensible proposition of the lot, with a series of suits, chesterfields and bomber jackets that were gently padded at the shoulders to give a shape just a little shy of a quarterback. At Lanvin, Lucas Ossendrijver went bigger and quirkier, with huge, round-shouldered sweaters in dip-dyed plaid, while Rick Owens rounded off his neat, somewhat restrained show with a series of hulking astronaut-esque down coats. The medal for overstatement, though, goes to Thom Browne. His Mohican-sporting dandy punks, who wore gimp masks, had their shoulders padded to Lurch-like proportions.</p><p>Military</p><p>Military-inspired pieces are never far from the male wardrobe but this autumn, martial garb had a marked predominance and bite. At Dior Homme, Kris Van Assche took a step away from his recent focus on super-minimal, deconstructed tailoring with a largely khaki collection of army-inspired suits, the jackets tightly fastened with four or five buttons, cinched in at the waistline with leather belts, or embellished with Napoleonic rope toggles. It was certainly a more aggressive collection than is typical, but it was softened with flowing cape jackets and a particularly elegant camo-esque bird print.</p><p>Camouflage was a major feature of the Versace collection too, albeit with a touch of what Donatella succinctly called &quot;the Versace treatment&quot;. And we all know what that means: the sludgy brown, khaki and grey pattern was rendered in red and pink, then burst in to bloom as &quot;flora-flage&quot;, while cavalry garb was re-imagined as a pair of silk pyjamas and models wore golden dog tags emblazoned with the house's Greek frieze motif.</p><p>Statement Chesterfield</p><p>Key outerwear this season included the chesterfield, a three-quarter length coat with a slim, double-breasted fit. It's not a particularly unusual piece, but the forthright classicism of the autumn runways brought it closer to the garment that preceded it – the frock coat – as well as introducing some novel twists to tinker with the basic shape.</p><p>At Dolce &amp; Gabbana there was definitely a turn-of-the-20th-century feel, not just because of the ornate, operatic gold embroidery that covered everything from blazers to socks, but also thanks to the long frock-like coats that were sharply fitted at the waist and worn with dandyish floppy bow ties. They brought out the chesterfield in something like 20 variations, and Comme des Garçons also experimented with the form, showing boxy and cropped polka dot versions. But the champion examples had to be those fielded by Miuccia Prada at her dressy, almost Edwardian show – and not just because they were worn by, among others, Willem Dafoe, Gary Oldman and Adrien Brody. These came in a range of lengths and textiles, from plain grey to pinstripe to kitsch, Seventies prints, and were variously enhanced with ironic details like giant collars and mismatching astrakhan trim. It was a poke at traditional masculinity, and turned out some very wearable clothes to boot.</p><p>Seventies</p><p>You'd be forgiven for thinking there's not been much room for flamboyance in autumn 2012. But that's where the Seventies came in. From the open-necked shirts and sandy colour palette at Umit Benan's show for Trussardi, to the jacket and turtleneck combos and bootlegs at Lanvin, and to the general preponderance of gangsterish coats with wide fur collars, there were a substantial number of references to the peacock-like male stylings of the decade that brought us glam rock, polyester shirts and Get Carter. Dries Van Noten's inspirations (Frank Zappa and Oscar Wilde) took us slightly earlier, but the result – shirts printed with slogans in psychedelic lettering and suits printed all over with an abstract-organic painted pattern – brought to mind the beginnings of Prog Rock, specifically, the artwork for In the Court of the Crimson King.</p><p>At Gucci, Frida Giannini has been working Seventies references for a few seasons, but seldom has it felt so right as it did this time around – skinny navy suits mixed with shearling-lined jackets, groovy geometric-print trousers and richly coloured flower-print blazers. It was dark and elegant, but also refreshing for its unashamed luxury and sense of fun – evident most of all in the paint-daubed carpet bags.</p><p>Teddy-Bear Fleece</p><p>It looks like autumn's going to be a cold, hard season for men, but lest anyone forget that, deep down, we're all big softies really, many designers peppered their collections with cuddly teddy-bear-like fleece and shearling outerwear. The biggest and best was at Bottega Veneta, where a short-collared jacket in creamy natural fleece emerged amidst the more fiddly overprinted suits, leather-panelled overcoats and crinkled, jodhpur-like jeans. Then there were fleecy gilets at Jean Paul Gaultier, a full-length astrakhan fur coat at Lanvin and super-soft fleece zip-ups at Kim Jones's Tokyo/Paris-themed collection for Louis Vuitton.</p><p>Luxe leather</p><p>If any of the current crop of designers knows how to make a fashion statement, it's Raf Simons, and this season he really went for the jugular with his predominantly leather collection for Jil Sander, which emerged from behind a graffiti-strewn door onto a black rubber runway. With its range of voluminous leather overcoats, sheeny, round-shouldered macs and granite-like wool marl suits, it was as scary as it was preposterously luxurious. And more so because it reeked of the businessman, the current era's foremost demon figure, who Simons was fixated upon for his &quot;accuracy&quot; and &quot;obsession for detail&quot;, as well as his &quot;vanity&quot;.</p><p>The collection was a daring move for Simons, not only because he has become so loved for his experiments with colour and print at Jil Sander, but also because fashion rarely attempts to be this intriguingly ambivalent. And the leather was key to this, he said, both as &quot;an expression of uncompromised luxury&quot; (particularly provocative in a retail environment that is very much compromised) and &quot;a material that could trace the dark side of the man I pictured with this collection&quot;.</p><p>Elsewhere there were equally enticing workouts in skin, both at Yves Saint Laurent and at Hermès, where even shirts came in super-fine leather.</p><p>It used to be that the only directives with socks were these: make sure they match, and make sure you take them off first when seducing someone, to avoid that awkward stockinged-feet-and-bare-leg stage. But as socks become a trend in their own right, it's time to put a bit more thought into the space between your statement trousers and your must-have footwear. It's time to pull them up – quite literally.</p><p>Visionary designer Miuccia Prada has long made use of socks as a styling tool, usually plumping for pairs of the downright dingy, ribbed grey-school-uniform variety. Needless to say, they're fabulous. This season, in her Miu Miu collection, they were conspicuously smoothed up calves between platform brogues and printed half-mast trousers, a bit of eye-catching frumpiness in an otherwise vibrant show. It's a tricky look to pull off – and one which will buck against all your aesthetic instincts – but choose pairs in nostalgic navy and grey (somehow black is still just too utilitarian) and hike them up to a height your nan would be proud of.</p><p>Meanwhile, novelty numbers were once the preserve of the office idiot, but thanks to Meadham Kirchhoff and the stalwart Paul Smith, fancy patterns, lurid Lurex and bright colours are all back in vogue above your brogue. Frills, too, have made a reappearance, inspired by a retro revival of bobby-soxer-esque preppy, hipster tastes, but be sure to tone down the girlishness with androgynous shoes or chunky flatforms. Socks and heels can work, too – as witnessed at Alexander Wang and Dries Van Noten – but keep styles edgy rather than overtly feminine, for fear of straying too far into FHM territory.</p><p>So begin, be bold and be brave. Remember that it is a far, far better thing to have your socks noticed for their coolness, rather than because you've made the mistake of pretending they don't exist and settled for a vomit-inducing trainer sock or an orthopaedic pop-sock. Take as your example the models at autumn's Comme des Garçons show and opt for simple white, let it slouch around your ankle and banish all thoughts of Michael Jackson.</p><p>At Prabal Gurung, models wore cat's eye sunglasses by Linda Farrow Project – an extreme update of the Fifties-style eyewear seen over the summer, but in this rendering deconstructed and given wavy edges to soften the graphic frames against the face. Perfect for sheltering behind in wintry sun.</p><p>Meanwhile, the sci-fi smoky-glassed visors by Alexander McQueen are the most statement showpiece to have gone into production since the label's sky-high armadillo shoes. Part-cyborg, part Olympic velodrome, it's just the ticket to top off the new season's Star Trek-meets-sports luxe look.</p><p>Jewellery-wise, go goth or go glam. Leather accessories have been in the style doldrums, thanks to the ubiquitous 50 Shades of Grey, but Lanvin's black leather panther choker is a suitably fierce and scarily sophisticated return to form, embellished as it is with jewelled eyes and mouth. Grrr. But if glitz is more to your taste, Dolce &amp; Gabbana's opulent, stranded gold necklace evokes all the arcane and baroque elegance of the Italian duo's heritage, dripping with pearls, curlicues, roses and rosary-esque beading.</p><p>Feet come into sharper focus too, but shoes are anything but razor-like. Instead, think clump: Acne's elasticated slip-on brogues in high-shine and slightly sinister black leather are key to this autumn's &quot;ugly&quot; trend, while at Balenciaga Nicholas Ghesquiere mixed the Eighties with out-of-this-world references to create a retro-futurist shoe: a wedge and kitten heel combined in the form of an Edwardiana ankle boot. Phew.</p><p>Print will play an important role in your wardrobe this season, but it shouldn't stop at your ankles. Follow Mrs Prada's example (for a change) and take it to your shoes as well, mis-matching the patterns on your stompy heels to the swirling lino-graphs on your painfully hip trouser suit.</p><p>Even wardrobe staples aren't immune to an overhaul, as at Givenchy, where designer Riccardo Tisci gave the timeless riding boot an altogether more functional makeover, affixing leather gaiters to knee-high wedge-heels, upping the dominatrix factor considerably but in a characteristically unconventional way.</p><p>Finally, pay attention to what is hanging on your arm. The It-bag is dead, but long live its blinged-up cousin, the statement bag. At Miu Miu, classic doctors' bags were streakily marbled in incongruous and sludgy colours; Chanel's clutch, meanwhile, looked more like it had been rough-hewn from the wall of a quartz mine, topped off with a hunk of semi-precious masquerading as a clasp. And Marc Jacobs' elegy to old-fashioned elegance at Louis Vuitton included a glittering and sequinned structured handbag in the shape of the house's famous monogram print. At the show, Jacobs provided porters to carry these for his models, but you may have to tote your own.</p><p>Being british isn't just about the Olympics this summer – lose the Lycra and check out one of our most timeless fashion icons at the Barbican by taking in the Designing 007 – Fifty Years of Bond Style exhibition, which looks at the aesthetic of Britain's best-loved film franchise and includes costumes from the likes of Hubert de Givenchy, Tom Ford and Miuccia Prada. To 5 September, </p><p> </p><p>Face to watch: Matt Bomer</p><p>One of Hollywood's few openly gay actors, Bomer can be seen working a thong in male-stripper drama Magic Mike and has had his star cachet confirmed as one of the many being talked up for the inevitable 50 Shades of Grey adaptation</p><p> </p><p>Lexpionage: Athleech, n.</p><p>A person who is prone to voicing loud and bullish opinions on sporting events while determinedly avoiding all forms of physical exercise themselves. Especially prevalent during the summer months</p><p> </p><p>Social networking: Match the tweet to the star</p><p>1 I know you are but what am I?</p><p>2 She says, over breakfast, &quot;You know that K.... sucks everyone's everything. Right?&quot;</p><p>3 Patchouli bums me out.</p><p>4 my little bird.</p><p>Answers at bottom</p><p> </p><p>App watch: The Sonnets</p><p>Wax poetic with this digital edition of all 154 of Shakespeare's lyric verses, read by the likes of Patrick Stewart, David Tennant, Kim Cattrall and Fiona Shaw and incorporating interviews with scholars including Katherine Duncan-Jones, James Shapiro and Henry Woudhuysen. £9.99 from iTunes store</p><p> </p><p>On the radar: Because some things are still worth getting excited about...</p><p>Polpo Cookbook</p><p>If you'd rather not queue for Russell Norman's ever-hip Soho bacaro, you can now recreate its Venetian delights at home with this new, beautifully put together spin-off cookbook. £25, Bloomsbury</p><p>Grabbers</p><p>This horror-comedy about an Irish village protecting itself from aliens with booze has earnt strong notices at the Edinburgh Film Festival and all signs point to it being a cult hit when it's released later this year. </p><p>Little mix</p><p>Yes, that's right: X FACTOR WINNERS IN QUITE GOOD, NON-COVER SINGLE SHOCKER. It's called &quot;Wings&quot;, it's somewhat Christina Aguilera-ish and you can have a listen here: </p><p>Tweets answers:</p><p>1. Stephen Mangan</p><p>2. Alec Baldwin</p><p>3. Juliette Lewis</p><p>4. Rebecca Black</p><p>If you're hitting the slopes this season, you’ll need to be decked out in the only skiwear that counts, Prada’s Montagna capsule collection. It features toasty alpaca knitwear, luxuriantly fur-timmed coats and oversized ski sunglasses. Trust us: the mountains simply won’t know what’s hit them. Below, faux fur pocket ski jacket, £990, prada.com</p><p>Face to watch: Stefan Golaszewski</p><p>The 30-year-old playwright pulled off a coup in creating a decent BBC3 comedy with bed-sitcom Him &amp; Her. Now returning to the stage, his latest play Sex with a Stranger is premiering on 1 February at London's Trafalgar Studios</p><p>Social networking: Match the tweet to the star</p><p>Juliette Lewis, Rupert Penry-Jones, Ollie Locke, Jessica Alba</p><p>1 Hello Alan. Is it you lovely</p><p>2 Conversation started again... Seemingly the genders are confused, to clear it up.. Girls DON'T Wee when the Poo, and guys ALWAYS do!!! x</p><p>3 Yin and yang... Discuss.</p><p>4 there's nothing quite like the melodic buzzing of an electric saw to gently wake you up</p><p>Answers at the bottom of the page</p><p>App watch: iPlayer</p><p>May the great and the goggle-eyed rejoice as the BBC's indispensable catch-up TV service finally makes its way on to the iPhone. Never again shall you have to converse with acquaintances on journeys, bus or car, long or short. Well, trusting the dratted 3G signal holds out, of course. Free from iTunes store</p><p>Lexpionage: New Year's resolution, n.</p><p>A commitment made to a personal goal or reforming of a habit, often allied to a sapping of all joy. You will likely need to be reminded of this in February. Or about 7pm this evening</p><p>On the radar: Because some things are still worth getting excited about...</p><p>Theatre: The Pitchfork Disney</p><p>Steel yourself for this early 2012 hot ticket, a revival of Philip Ridley's shocking fantasy featuring Misfits' Nathan Stewart-Jarrett. 25 January to 17 March, Arcola Theatre, London E8, arcolatheatre.com</p><p>Film: The Dark Knight Rises</p><p>The trailer for the final part in Christopher Nolan's Batman trilogy is out – and it's predictably intriguing. Rioting? Catwoman as anti- capitalist avenger? Tom Conti? bit.ly/s1lV7K</p><p>Music: Perfume Genius</p><p>We're predicting big things for this tremulous Seattle singer-songwriter and his achingly beautiful second album Put Your Back N 2 It. Check out taster track &quot;All Waters&quot; before its 20 February release: bit.ly/tTwljV</p><p>MATCH THE TWEET: 1. RUPERT PENRY-JONES; 2. OLLIE LOCKE; 3. JULIETTE LEWIS; 4. JESSICA ALBA</p><p>In the conclusion of an epic battle, he lies just two points behind the man who has tormented him all week. The medal decider for the top 10 in the Finn singlehander tomorrow involves a course on the trickiest piece of water, close to the shore and the grassy grandstand at Weymouth.</p><p>&quot;Am I where I want to be now? Yeah,&quot; said Ainslie, having steadily closed the gap on Hogh-Christensen. &quot;It's going to be a fascinating race on Sunday and I'm really looking forward to it. I know it may sound a bit perverse, but I quite like these situations.</p><p>&quot;Jonas has sailed well all week. It's going to be a really tough battle.&quot;</p><p>If Ainslie beats the Dane by one place in a race that counts for double points that would decide it, unless they had sailed each other to the back of the fleet and the third-placed Jan-Pieter Postma of the Netherlands wins. He would therefore snatch the gold.</p><p>The mathematics of Ainslie's situation are easy to work out. A combination of the conditions on the day and the way the race pans out may mean that any game plan the Briton devises will have to change.</p><p>Before the Finn shoot-out begins, the Star keelboat will complete its schedule with defending gold medallists Iain Percy and Andrew Simpson carrying an eight-point, four-place advantage over the crew they edged out in China four years ago, Brazil's Robert Scheidt and Bruno Prada.</p><p>The Brazilians then have a four-point cushion over Sweden's Freddie Loof and Max Salminen, leaving them with the conundrum of attacking for gold or defending a second silver. The rest are trailing well behind; the medals can only go to these three crews.</p><p>In both 470 dinghy classes Britain leads, Luke Patience and Stuart Bithell heading the men's and Hannah Mills and Saskia Clark making an impressive start in the women's.</p><p>The French team, Aleph, skippered by Bertrand Pacé, has told the America’s Cup Event Authority that it is not only withdrawing from Naples but from both the 45-footer world series and the America’s Cup itself, scheduled for July to September next year.</p><p>The Spanish-based, Italian-originated GreenComm team has said that it will not race in Naples but still hopes to race in Venice next month. But it is thought that considerable financial reorganisation will be necessary to make that happen. GreenComm previously announced that it had a €25m budget to compete next year.</p><p>The racing programme in Naples has already been modified, much to the chagrin of the mayor, sitting on a €5m investment in a racing programme that would now work out at €1m a day.</p><p>The arrival, courtesy of Prada, of the hugely stylish Luna Rossa team means that the two boats now not racing will be replaced by the Italian pair.</p><p>The America’s Cup organisation and its world series is in the middle of a huge organisational shake-up with both staff and other budgets being cut. But it has been given important permissions by San Francisco’s Board of Supervisors for a downtown village and team compounds. </p><p>And the cup holder, Oracle, backed by Larry Ellison and run by Olympic gold medallist and multiple Cup winner Russell Coutts is working flat out on a successful defence.</p><p>In the Pacific, the Spanish yacht Camper, managed by Team New Zealand, suspended competing in the Volvo round the world race to go into Puerto Montt, Chile, for repairs.</p><p>Astern, the damaged Abu Dhabi boat, Azzam, is also on track for Chile having effected a temporary repair but has yet to announce if it will also stop for further repairs.</p><p>On the other side of South America in the Atlantic the two leading boats, France’s Groupama and America’s Puma, were neck and neck but also looking over their shoulders as, having stopped for repairs at Cape Horn, Spain’s Telefonica reduced the deficit to 100 miles.  </p><p>Whereas Miuccia Prada's recent seasons have seen her blokes kitted out in technicolor floral bri-nylon, lurex cardigans and stack-soled wedges, this time we saw suits... and suits... and suits. Grey, black, single and double-breasted, some with natty astrakhan collars, some seemingly sans trousers (but with flapping boxers and over-the-calf City Boy socks). It was all about the suit – but they were suits that could be worn anywhere and by just about anybody. Prada wasn't the only one proposing that men be permanently suited and booted for winter: the power of this label is in epitomising what's making fashion tick at any one moment. Hence Italian cohorts Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana proffered a parade of braid-embroidered gabardines, Tomas Maier's Bottega Veneta showed sleek, single-breasted styles and Christopher Bailey at Burberry Prorsum put a new twist on the Sloane Ranger with jewel-toned corduroy and whipcord two-pieces (Mellors flat-cap optional). Even Roberto Cavalli's usually navel-gazing, flesh-flashing catwalk was buttressed with Savile Row quality tailoring, give or take the odd odd chartreuse tux.</p><p>Is this really so surprising? The suit, after all, has been the linchpin of the male wardrobe for about two hundred years. What's rare is to see fashion designers embracing that conservatism with quite so much gusto.</p><p>The Italians, of course, have a tailoring tradition to rival Savile Row's – although their craftsmen dotted about Rome, Milan and Florence cannot compare with the world's only true &quot;disguisery&quot; (the wonderful plural noun for a group of tailors) on &quot;The Row&quot;. But the suit reigned supreme during Paris fashion week too, Lanvin's muscular and full-shouldered, Louis Vuitton's sleek in camel and grey, and leather-bound at Stefano Pilati's final menswear show for Yves Saint Laurent (Raf Simons showed that over in Milan for his penultimate Jil Sander collection, too).</p><p>So what does the suit represent in the menswear landscape of today?</p><p>Power on the one hand and conservatism on the other. Mere months before The Iron Lady nabbed Meryl Streep an Oscar for her depiction of Margaret Thatcher, it feels as if this could be fashion's return to Wall Street's &quot;Greed is good&quot; Eighties ethos. These suits may be relatively sombre, even staid at times, but they scream &quot;money&quot; in a way a sweatshirt never could. A suit today can be the perfect sartorial palimpsest for rebellion; a language of dress every man understands but which can be utilised to say something revolutionary.</p><p>That's the way the American designer Thom Browne has always looked at the suit, using its &quot;rules&quot; to fight against the conventions still evident in male fashion. Browne's suit, less skinny than shrunken, single-breasted with trousers cropped high on the ankle, has dominated male style for the past half-decade. &quot;My goal for my collection is to be provocative and to make people think,&quot; says Browne. That's the purported aim of much flamboyant modern menswear, the difference with Browne's work being that the basis for these experiments are classic grey wool suits that could have been worn by bankers in the fifties. Turn a blind eye to the attention-grabbing &quot;skorts&quot;, beaded kaftans and tulle puffs Browne often favours: it's the proportions of the suit that are the most controversial and interesting thing.</p><p>Browne's combination of an ultra-trad base with subtly radical details finds echoes throughout menswear today. It's there in a poplin men's shirt by young London label Palmer//Harding, tucks and spiral pleats giving it a third dimension; and equally in Lucas Ossendrijver and Alber Elbaz's cross-breeding of a down jacket and officer's greatcoat at Lanvin.</p><p>&quot;The mix between tradition and newness is the story of this collection,&quot; said Elbaz backstage. And, for many men, raised on Casual Fridays and sportswear as everyday wear, there is a newness in the tradition of the suit, full stop.</p><p>The omnipotence of the suit for autumn/winter 2012 is part of fashion's standard flash-in-the-pan seasonal volte-face, but men are universally reclaiming the classic suit as a means of dressing up for the everyday. &quot;What we're seeing more and more of is younger customers buying into suiting,&quot; says Adam Kelly, buying manager of men's formalwear at London's Selfridges. &quot;The look is in no way just about workwear or occasionwear any more – I think British guys in particular just have an increasingly vested interest in looking sharp.&quot; The cold hard facts back that assertion: at Selfridges, suiting sales to date have increased 28 per cent on last year. &quot;I look for something classic and timeless in dress,&quot; says Constantin Bjerke, the dapper founder and CEO of media website Crane.tv, who buys his suits from London's Turnbull &amp; Asser. &quot;A well-cut, beautifully-detailed and constructed suit will last a lifetime and always look stylish.&quot;</p><p>Nick Lazarus, a treaty underwriter with Hiscox in the City, concurs that in his clothes he seeks &quot;an emphasis on quality and not visual impact. Save the odd unfortunate incident, I have never really been one to stick my head above the parapet on account of an outlandish wardrobe&quot;.</p><p>Those characteristics – stylish, timeless, quality – are endlessly assigned to suits, especially in the bespoke bracket. The latter is suiting at its most traditional, time-consuming and expensive – ready-to-wear (or, as tailors often disparagingly term it, &quot;off the rack&quot;) cannot compare to bespoke, where a pattern is drafted to a customer's individual measurements. Savile Row tailor Richard James describes the bespoke process as &quot;indulgence... time spent considering fabric,working on style, discussing small but important details to devise a unique suit that not only fits you perfectly and makes you feel great, but is also something you helped create&quot;. Even made-to-measure is a poor substitute in the eyes of the tailoring trade. &quot;It's not quite the same as having someone actually take a set of measurements and alterations for your figure. You can't improve on the fittings... distilling the pattern down till it actually fits,&quot; says Ritchie Charlton, managing director of Hayward of Mount Street. Charlton has been in the tailoring trade for three decades, working at high-profile establishments including Kilgour French Stanbury and the tailoring workrooms of Her Majesty's choice dressmaker, Hartnell, under former Christian Dior designer Marc Bohan in the early 1990s. In short, he knows his stuff – today, his custom-made, four-figure suits clothe dedicated followers of style, rather than fashion, including Primal Scream's Bobby Gillespie and perennially pin-neat photographer Nick Knight. When asked about seasonal changes in bespoke, Charlton shrugs his shoulders and responds &quot;there are seasons as far as the weather goes&quot;. But he does concede that &quot;bespoke tailoring moves with men's fashion... a young guy who comes into the shop, generally he's going to want a neater, shorter-fitting jacket at the moment than perhaps he would have wanted in 2002.&quot;</p><p>That's possibly one of the most seductive things about suiting: the subtlety.</p><p>&quot;Every collection, I address different ideas of proportion,&quot; says Thom Browne, attesting that the elements that make his suits stand out are &quot;attention to detail, the quality of the make, but most importantly the proportion&quot;. That's what proves seductive for many men and indeed for designers: using the convention of the suit to say something new; a quiet radicalism.</p><p>That could be the strap-line for Savile Row's latest leap into the 21st century: a made-to-measure collaboration between H Huntsman &amp; Sons – a bespoke bastion of tailoring tradition – and Alexander McQueen, another bastion, albeit of iconoclastic rebellion. Both are quintessentially British: Huntsman has been tailoring to royalty for more than 160 years and McQueen, of course, created that dress. Lee McQueen himself was also responsible for outfitting royals in rather more anti-establishment styles, legend being that he scrawled a variety of four-letter pejoratives across the canvas interlining of suits destined for the Prince of Wales whilst apprenticing at Anderson &amp; Sheppard in the late 1980s.</p><p>Sarah Burton's offerings, available from June, veer towards the traditional, with cashmere frock-coats, dinner-jackets and, fittingly enough, Prince of Wales check suiting. Albeit with breeches and embroidered lapels, the jackets cut slimmer and tighter against the body. A tongue-in-cheek twist on three all-important classics of men's suiting, they seem tailor-made for the archetypal English dandy – probably the most compelling argument for any style-conscious gentleman when buying another perfectly-proportioned suit.</p><p>Simons did not disappoint. This was a collection from a designer in his prime, one who has in recent seasons found a precise and idiosyncratic balance between the typically hard-edged sartorial purism that the brand is known for and the sort of exquisitely crafted, elegant clothing that makes its way into the history books.</p><p>Classic double-faced blanket coats opened the show, in feminine shades of candyfloss and raspberry pink, oyster, and toffee brown, and gave way to knitted dresses so delicate it was as if they had been spun from vapour. The label's signature geometrics were present in sharply cut and fluid tailored pieces, such as a structured black blazer that stood away slightly at the hips and silk bustier dresses made almost Cubist with seamed and pin-tucked planes protruding from their dirndl skirts in angular points.</p><p>Simons, 44, was born the year Jil Sander founded her eponymous label and has been at the house since 2005. He has brought a fresh vision to a brand that became famous in the Nineties for its androgynous take on masculine clothing. His past three collections have been named his &quot;couture trilogy&quot;, in which he has reinvented classic cutting according to his own modernist sensibilities.</p><p>Again, these couture ticks were present – in clothes that recalled the iconic postwar designs of Christian Dior and the golden age of the discipline. No doubt this will only serve to intensify speculation that Simons may be about to take up the post at that French house left vacant by the dismissal of John Galliano last March. His name had been suggested for Yves Saint Laurent but, according to unconfirmed reports yesterday from AFP, Hedi Slimane, one-time designer at Dior Homme, will take that post when the incumbent Stefano Pilati reaches the end of his contract next month.</p><p>At the end of the show, the audience whooped and cheered its appreciation, with some rushing right on to the catwalk; many were visibly moved by his valedictory collection, and none more so than the designer himself, who appeared for an encore to his brief curtain call in tears. He was too emotional to speak to the press afterwards, but thanked them for the standing ovation he received.</p><p>Also showing yesterday was Bottega Veneta, where designer Tomas Maier described his collection as &quot;powerfully physical&quot;. There was significant toughness in black wool Crombies inlaid with crepe and velvet dresses adorned with voluminous peplums in an opulent but subdued palette of maroon, green and tourmaline blue.</p><p>The shows in Milan continue today with Dolce &amp; Gabbana and Missoni.</p><p>After being described by Jimmy Spithill, skipper of the America’s Cup defender Oracle Racing, as “one of the biggest days ever in the history of the America’s Cup,” a racing yacht, emblazoned with the colours of Red Bull and heralding the Youth America’s Cup 2013 was launched into one of the busiest bits of waterway in Europe. Gondolier song was in danger of fracking into alarmed Austrian yodel.</p><p>The first Youth America’s Cup will be staged simultaneously in San Francisco during the running of the Louis Vuitton Cup challenger elimination trials in July and August 2013 to find the single challenger to the locally-based defender, Oracle. </p><p>In the youth event, there are 10 contestant places, with no more than one per country, and the crews must be between 19 and 23 and hold a passport of the country for which they are sailing. San Francisco would be able to enter its own team in addition to any U.S. team.</p><p>The races will be in the same 45-foot wing-powered catamarans that have been used in the America’s Cup World Series of regattas, one of which is currently underway in Venice, the number of crew will be increased from five to six, giving extra chances for women race alongside the men, and the costs are modest.</p><p>This is a neat solution all round. There are still only three declared challengers for America’s Cup 34, the deadline is at the end of this month, and filling two months of elimination trials for three boats would be stretching attention spans to breaking point.</p><p>The 45-foot boats already exist, the race management team already exists, the broadcast set-up already exists. The entry fee is just $35,000, but individual teams would be responsible for their own expenses, like travel and accommodation, and would be able to attract and publicise their own sponsor support.</p><p>Red Bull is thought to have supported the event with about $10m., which covers a basic package of event naming rights, television  rights and even the branding of Spithill’s and other Oracle team members’ helmets. Bolt-ons and expansions are being considered.</p><p>Ben Ainslie’s Ben Ainslie Racing, though he is at present contracted to the Oracle team for AC34, is keen to put together a team to represent Britain. If there were to be rival initiatives then it would be up to a combination of race director Iain Murray and talks between any interested parties.</p><p>Reaction varied among other AC challengers. The Prada-backed, Luna Rossa, for instance, is not as culturally in tune with youth sport and competition as New Zealand, which could probably put together half a dozen teams by the end of the month. Said Loick Peyron of France: “This would suit France. The future looks good, even if the present is difficult.”</p><p>Ainslie himself, in Falmouth, has blitzed a fleet of 94 boats from 29 countries to go into the last, so-called, medal race of the Finn Gold Cup, the singlehanded class’s world championship, with seven winds from nine races. The other two were thirds, one of which was discarded as a “worst” result.</p><p>With a 20-point cushion between himself and second placed Ed Wright, himself a former world champion, Ainslie has only to sail round the course, be the first to carry the Olympic torch when it arrives in Cornwall, and then set up a howitzer position in the boat park at Weymouth from where to beat far fewer boats into submission for his fifth consecutive Olympic medal and fourth gold.  </p><p>&quot;Louis Vuitton/Marc Jacobs is a story of two personalities and their contributions to the world of fashion,&quot; the press release reads. &quot;Louis Vuitton, founder of the house of Louis Vuitton in 1854, and Marc Jacobs its artistic director since 1997. Two innovators, both rooted in their respective centuries, advanced an entire industry. Two creators, each in his own language, appropriated cultural codes and trends in order to shape the history of contemporary fashion.&quot;</p><p>So far, so flowery. If anyone can make such grand claims then it is Louis Vuitton, however. It's still the most successful and money-spinning brand owned by LVMH (Louis Vuitton Moet Hennessy), the luxury goods conglomerate which also includes Dior, Givenchy and Céline in its portfolio.</p><p>While Louis Vuitton's own tenure was characterised by the birth of industrialisation and more widespread travel, and related to both the values of hand-craftsmanship and technological advancement in both spheres, Jacobs' rise to fashion supremacy reflects the mores of globalisation in fashion today. And there is no other designer working in the industry who has proved to be more in tune with the zeitgeist.</p><p>Dangling cherries, neon graffiti, magic mushrooms, battered denim, fine fur and high-gloss varnish have all decorated or been stamped across the resolutely classic monogrammed canvas bag for which this name is best-known since Jacobs arrived. The mix of respect for the Louis Vuitton heritage and irreverence – the fusion of wisdom and wit, if you will – makes for heady viewing. It's a determinedly populist and at times iconoclastic viewpoint that, with this designer as its principal poster boy, has come to epitomise fashion in the modern age.</p><p>&quot;When Marc first started at Louis Vuitton in 1997 the fashion industry was very, very different,&quot; says Katie Grand, creative director of the new exhibition and stylist at Louis Vuitton for more than a decade. &quot;It was Karl Lagerfeld and Valentino. Yves Saint Laurent was still designing. And they were all in an ivory tower. Before Marc and the team did their first show for Vuitton they had to present ideas to Bernard Arnault [LVMH CEO and president]. It was called Project Zero and they were in this hotel room with no furniture. They sat on the floor with sketches Blu-Tacked on to the wall. Then they'd stuff Marc into a white cab with all these polyboards to go off and see Mr Arnault. I love that image because it is just so different to how people perceived fashion in Paris in the late Nineties. And Marc still gets into a white cab at the end of the night now. He doesn't have a driver, it's not like he's off on his yacht every Easter.&quot;</p><p>From blockbuster show presentations (including the line-up of nurses that announced Jacobs' collaboration with the artist Richard Prince, and the procession of models in identical shirt-waisters in candy colours to introduce the bags designed by Takashi Murakami) to equally high-impact advertising campaigns (the Mikhails Gorbachev and Baryshnikov, Mick Jagger, Uma Thurman and Angelina Jolie have all appeared) and, of course, shoes, boots and a womenswear collection that is the envy of anyone worth their style credentials, Jacobs exceeds expectations season after season. Just as remarkable, he's as happy dressing Madonna as he is Miss Piggy – or even a fluffy bunny. It's no secret that the advent of fast fashion has caused even the most elevated brands to sit up and take note. With this in mind, the designer changes direction at breakneck speed, daring the rest of the world to keep up with him.</p><p>&quot;I'm all for different things,&quot; he told AnOther Magazine in 2005. &quot;The most exciting place to live – and I don't mean geographically – is in a world where there is difference, where there is variety.&quot; And Jacobs delivers that in spades.</p><p>While Marc Jacobs in person may not be the gilded fashion designer of folklore, his professional endeavours are, increasingly, less than conservative where budget is concerned.</p><p>&quot;I suppose as time has gone on we've realised that the sky's the limit,&quot; says Grand of Louis Vuitton's twice-yearly runway presentations in particular – the cost of embroideries alone for the brand's spring/summer 2011 collection was rumoured to be one million euros. &quot;I think there are great resources at Louis Vuitton and now that Marc's proved himself...&quot; It's safe to assume that link-ups with artists cost a small fortune but, says Grand: &quot;There are a lot of very tenuous relationships between the art and fashion world but Marc is a collector, it's one of his passions. He has honest relationships with those people. He's not just chucking money at something.</p><p>&quot;Of course, he makes expensive decisions,&quot; she continues. &quot;It's expensive to have Stephanie Seymour, Naomi Campbell and Natalia Vodianova dressed as nurses in a show, or to have Kate Moss close a show. It's also risky. But every time Marc takes a risk like that it works, it's on the front of every newspaper the next day.&quot; Ms Moss appearing in full Vuitton fetishwear and smoking on the catwalk for autumn/winter 2011 was a case in point. This was a move that proved all the more controversial given that it was National No Smoking Day, although all those involved with the casting insist that as they were in Paris they were unaware of that fact.</p><p>If the concept behind many of Jacobs' finest moments is a clever one, he is far from pretentious when addressing the subject of his work and that, too, is refreshing. &quot;I guess there's more charm in something that feels quite simple in its approach as opposed to heavy and intellectual. We are all drawn to things that are quite clichéd. They're clichéd for a reason. The symbol of two cherries, for example [another Murakami collaboration], is always summery and feminine, kind of classic in a way.&quot;</p><p>That is not to say that he is any less interested in the preservation of traditional techniques than Louis Vuitton himself once was.</p><p>&quot;Things are so casual in real life that couture holds a magic and it's also lasted, it endures,&quot; Jacobs told AnOther. &quot;Everything's so disposable and immediate these days and the idea of considering things, the linings, say, and qualities of fabrics. I think that's what makes something luxurious and special and precious.&quot;</p><p>Grand says that it took one specialist three months to make the eggshell bag that appeared this spring/summer season. &quot;Three months of work, one specialist, two pairs of tweezers, you wouldn't wish it on your worst enemy, would you?&quot; she laughs. &quot;But seriously, I think they love doing it. There are a lot of people around us that take such a huge pride in their work.&quot;</p><p>When news of Jacobs' appointment at Louis Vuitton broke, it was by no means unanimously well received. Coming hot on the heels of John Galliano's move to Dior and Alexander McQueen's to Givenchy it raised eyebrows throughout the French fashion establishment. None of these names were native to that country, after all, and Jacobs' position was perhaps the most extraordinary. He was a fashion designer, after all, and Louis Vuitton had never staged a show or featured anything but luggage and bags.</p><p>&quot;Of course I was surprised,&quot; the designer says now. &quot;I was shocked on lots of different levels. Firstly, I was American. Secondly, I was surprised that Louis Vuitton was even considering fashion. They had always been known for one thing, and here they were deciding that they wanted to move into all these different categories.&quot;</p><p>In the new exhibition, Jacobs has dedicated space not only to these but also to the people he says have most influenced his work. This, too, is unprecedented: portraits of Miuccia Prada, Rei Kawakubo, Karl Lagerfeld and Christian Dior will appear on the walls. If it's plainly obvious that every designer has his or her references, Jacobs is prepared to name them, a mark of confidence if ever there was one.</p><p>Here's how he sums up his handwriting at Louis Vuitton today. &quot;It's hard ever for me to define the [Louis Vuitton] woman in specific terms but I do think she's extroverted, flirtatious and feminine. Louis Vuitton is very feminine, very Parisian, very sexy, but not vulgar. It's definitely for somebody who wants to be seen and likes their clothes to be recognised. They like the status of fashion and they like the status of the accessory of the moment.&quot;</p><p>Louis Vuitton /Marc Jacobs is at the Arts Decoratifs, 107 Rue de Rivoli, 75001 Paris, 9 March to 16 September; the exhibition catalogue, 'Louis Vuitton/Marc Jacobs', is published by Rizzoli</p><p>The collection he unveils next Monday evening will be his last for this great fashion name.</p><p>&quot;[I am] incredibly proud of what I have accomplished with my teams over the past decade at Saint Laurent,&quot; Pilati told trade paper, Women's Wear Daily. &quot;I exit the house with fierce conviction in all that we have achieved and deep gratitude to those who have supported me along the way.&quot;</p><p>Pilati has good reason to be proud. It's no secret that while his predecessor at Yves Saint Laurent, Tom Ford, had been responsible for the reversal of Gucci's fortunes at the close of the 20th-century, he failed to inject new life into this more famous brand.</p><p>Although Pilati has garnered mixed reviews from the moment he stepped into Ford's shoes in 2004, there's no arguing with the success of the majority of his collections. The money-spinning &quot;muse&quot; and &quot;downtown&quot; bags and the &quot;tribute&quot; shoe – all of which were designed during his tenure – have, equally, gone on to become among the status accessories of the decade.</p><p>Last month, François-Henri Pinault, CEO of Pinault Printemps La Redoute (PPR), Yves Saint Laurent's parent company, praised the brand's profitability, stating that figures for 2011 demonstrated a &quot;giant step&quot; forward. Rumours of Pilati's departure have plagued him for the past two years, nonetheless, with designers including Raf Simons and Hedi Slimane, responsible for Yves Saint Laurent menswear to critical acclaim in the late 1990s, all cited as most likely to succeed him.</p><p>Pilati, who was born in Italy in 1965, worked variously for Giorgio Armani and Prada, where in 1998 he was promoted to assistant designer at Miu Miu, before becoming chief designer at Yves Saint Laurent in 2002, working directly under Ford. When Ford retired from the label under a cloud of controversy, Pilati took over his position and, since that time, has reinvested it with the quintessentially French sense of style for which it was once known.</p><p>The man who started the Olympic torch relay at Land’s End and has won four medals, the last three of them gold, playing away from home, will take some stopping when the Games kick off on the same waters as the Skandia Sail for Gold regatta off Weymouth this week.</p><p>But Scott has already upset the Ainslie apple cart this year, last month winning the national championship in the heavyweight Finn singlehander in Falmouth.</p><p>Ainslie went on to win the world championship a couple of weeks later, but Scott was absent, sailing for the Koreans on a 45-foot America’s Cup training boat in Venice.</p><p>Now the tormentor is back. After six races Scott has discarded his worst result so far, a 21st in the opening race, won the next four and was second to Ainslie in the sixth race. He has a clear margin at the top of eight points.</p><p>Ainslie is said to be carrying an infection, which his coaches will be monitoring carefully to ensure it does not threaten tip top fitness for the first race of the Games on Sunday 29 July.</p><p>“I had a nice final race to end the day,” said Ainslie afterwards. “I haven’t been 100 per cent at this regatta, but to be honest it is a great opportunity to get out on the water and see how the competition is doing and know more about the venue so it is completely worth doing and hopefully I will start to feel better towards the end of the week.</p><p>“I’m doing ok, but Giles is doing really well, he certainly has turned the pace up, especially upwind in these conditions. I am very lucky that he is my training partner.”</p><p>Also seeking to restore grip and authority on the Olympic selection are the west country pairing of Stevie Morrison and Ben Rhodes, who represented Britain in the 49er skiff last time round in China.</p><p>Throwing down the gauntlet have been Dave Evans and Ed Powys, and they still lead after eight races, but a first and a second in the two final races of the day have pushed Morrison and Rhodes up to fourth.</p><p>Second, and still favourites for gold in August, are Australia’s Games representatives Nathan Outteridge and Iain Jensen. They are just one point off the lead and know exactly how to exert pressure.</p><p>And leading the Star keelboat class is Iain Percy, who won the Finn gold medal in Sydney and went on to win the Star gold with partner Andrew Simpson in China.</p><p>“A much better day, today. We, found a lot more speed upwind and we are still working on our downwind, so we managed to get a second and a first,” said Percy. “Half way through the regatta and it all starts again, with any number of boats still in the medals.”</p><p>Percy and Simpson have a slender one-point margin over Robert Scheidt and Bruno Prada of Brazil, the pair they beat into second place in China. Scheidt was the man to whom Ainslie came second in the Laser in 1996 and then exacted dramatic revenge in Sydney four years later.</p><p>Racing is expected to begin early on Thursday in the hope of beating a forecast gale-force blow to the punch, so results in the bag now could prove very valuable.</p><p>Ainslie came to London 2012 as overriding favourite to top the podium, but he has yet to overcome Jonas Hogh-Christensen in the Finn class.</p><p>The Dane has palmed off the reigning champion for six successive races now, getting a bullet - a sailing term for a victory - this afternoon before holding off the home favourite to finish second ahead of him in the day's final race.</p><p>Hogh-Christensen boasts a 10-point cushion over second-place Ainslie, who is determined to come back strongly after tomorrow's rest day.</p><p>&quot;Yesterday I was really frustrated, but today was much better,&quot; Ainslie said.</p><p>&quot;I was in the game but at some point I need to start getting some points back.</p><p>&quot;He is sailing really well. He is certainly having the regatta of his life at the moment so all credit to him.</p><p>&quot;All I can do is the best I can right now and hope that if I keep pushing hard, he might slip up along the way.</p><p>&quot;He is sailing really well. At some point the tables have got to turn.&quot;</p><p>Such effort, though, might not be enough for fellow British gold medallist Goodison.</p><p>The Yorkshireman endured a poor start to his Laser campaign yesterday, ending 17th overall after placing 10th and 23rd.</p><p>Goodison revealed the latter performance was due to a back injury that required attention in order for him to compete in races three and four.</p><p>The 34-year-old finished 16th and then an impressive second this afternoon, but admits the pain is seriously hampering his performance.</p><p>&quot;It's pretty sore, to be honest,&quot; Goodison said with tears in his eyes. &quot;It was just at the start of race two yesterday.</p><p>&quot;We rushed off as quick as we could to get fixed up by the physio. Last night I could barely bend down.</p><p>&quot;They did a fantastic job but the problem is when you're in so much pain, trying to focus and make good decision is difficult.</p><p>&quot;This affected me again today. The body is in a lot of pain and you can push through that and fire forward to a certain degree, but when the pain is affecting your decision-making it is very difficult.&quot;</p><p>Asked if he was worried his regatta was in danger, he said: &quot;Yeah, for sure. I am worried my body is in a lot of trouble and until that is fixed you can't fire on all cylinders.</p><p>&quot;Unless you deliver your very best it is going to be very hard to win. I've just got to keep ticking away and give myself the chance to do it if I get better later on.&quot;</p><p>There was better news for the only other returning British gold medallists from Beijing, Iain Percy and Andrew Simpson.</p><p>The Star duo are reigning supreme on home waters and sit four points clear of nearest rivals Brazil heading into tomorrow's rest day.</p><p>Percy and Simpson easily won their first race this afternoon ahead of Robert Scheidt and Bruno Prada, who went on to win the final race ahead of the Brits.</p><p>&quot;It was an all right day today,&quot; Simpson said. &quot;There were tricky conditions again, annoyingly tricky.</p><p>&quot;We got okay results so we are happy about that.&quot;</p><p>British team-mate - and Olympic debutant - Ali Young can also be more than satisfied, having secured two second-place finishes in the Laser Radial class.</p><p>Stevie Morrison and Ben Rhodes were frustrated in the 49ers, having recovered from a difficult first day to come third in race three. They were well placed in the second race, too, only to capsize and sail home 18th.</p><p>Elsewhere, today saw the RS:X classes get under way and Nick Dempsey start the men's division solidly, hauling himself up the fleet in both races to post a fifth and seventh.</p><p>In the corresponding women's event, Beijing bronze medallist Bryony Shaw ended her first day at London 2012 with a seventh and a sixth.</p><p>Finally, the women's match racing team secured round-robin victories against Finland and France.</p><p>PA</p><p>Ainslie, winner of three golds in a row after an initial silver in 1996, lies 10 points behind the Dane after six races, never having beaten him once in a series in which he started as hot favourite.</p><p>Christensen seems to be enjoying a charmed life, even managing to turn back when he thought he had started the second race of the day prematurely and then ended up second, one place ahead of Ainslie. But Ainslie is unlikely to see his own desire for a fourth consecutive gold destroyed without first doing everything to bring Christensen's dream week to an end.</p><p>Both agreed that, with four more races to go before the double points top 10 finale, there was a long way to go. Both agreed that Christensen's 10-point cushion could vanish in a couple of bad races.</p><p>Ainslie said, before going into a day off today, that Christensen was having the regatta of his life. At the end of the first day he had said that &quot;it is too early to start playing games&quot; with Christensen. These two have not always had a friendly history. Both have a fiery temperament. It is not too early to start playing games any more.</p><p>Even managing to enjoy the pressure was Ainslie's long-time friend Iain Percy. After his opening race 11th is discarded, his record at the top of the score sheet is second, third, second, first and second, but that gives him only a four-point margin over the arch-rivals Robert Scheidt and Bruno Prada of Brazil.</p><p>Another old rival, but often training partner, Freddie Loof of Sweden with crew Max Salimen are a further three points back, but these three are significantly clear of a peloton led by Elvind Melleby of Norway and Mateusz Kusnierewicz of Poland.</p><p>There was more grief for Britain's 49er pair, Stevie Morrison and Ben Rhodes. &quot;We were sailing the boat really nicely, sailing really fast, but we ended up in a really tight situation and I knocked Ben over like a skittle and that was that, we ended up getting a bit wet,&quot; said Morrison after they capsized.</p><p>Whereas the 49er favourites, Australia's Nathan Outteridge and Iain Jensen, recovered quickly from Outteridge being knocked overboard, Morrison and Rhodes dropped from fifth to finish 18th after their capsize. They, too, need a run of top results to give themselves a medal chance, even though they have 16 races left.</p><p>A second in the final race of a breezy day – even more wind is forecast for today – slightly improved defending gold medallist Paul Goodison's campaign in the Laser; two seconds for Alison Young in the Laser Radial lifted her to fourth in a fleet led by a so far unbeaten Annalise Murphy of Ireland.</p><p>The 35-year-old is the undoubted star of Great Britain's sailing team and the bookies' favourite to top the Finn class podium.</p><p>Ainslie has previously struggled at the beginning of Olympics, but flourished on the home waters of the south coast this afternoon.</p><p>He finished the day with two second places behind Denmark's Jonas Hogh-Christensen, who he joked had the spirit of countryman Paul Elvstrom behind him - a man Ainslie would overtake as the most decorated Olympic sailor ever should he win gold.</p><p>&quot;It was a good day,&quot; he told Press Association Sport. &quot;They were tough conditions out there, especially on the Nothe Course [in the first race].</p><p>&quot;There was very, very shifty winds but it was a good start. It was ok, but there is a long way to go.</p><p>&quot;I think Jonas was on a hotline to Paul Elvstrom today.</p><p>&quot;He sailed fantastically well so all credit to him and we'll see how things develop for the rest of the week.&quot;</p><p>Thousands congregated in the Nothe Gardens to watch the racing on what was the first occasion ticketed spectators have been able to watch sailing at the Games.</p><p>Home supporters, though, had hearts in their mouth early on as favourite Ainslie rounded the first mark of the opening race outside the top 10, before producing a superb downwind leg to rise up the fleet.</p><p>&quot;I needed to show how to do it downwind in the first race as I didn't have such a great first leg,&quot; he said.</p><p>&quot;I had to get my work rate up downwind and pull through and thankfully I managed to do that.</p><p>&quot;It was very, very difficult conditions. When you're racing that close to the shoreline and the wind is unstable it is very, very hard.</p><p>&quot;It is very difficult to predict the wind so I didn't quite get it right but I was close enough to the leaders to pull back.&quot;</p><p>The opening races both finished with the same top three of Croatia's Ivan Kljakovic Gaspic then Ainslie in second and Hogh-Christensen.</p><p>The Dane was pleased with his performance but keen to stress this it is only the beginning of the regatta.</p><p>&quot;It was a great day, but Ben and Ivan are close behind and we're very early in the regatta,&quot; Hogh-Christensen said.</p><p>&quot;I need to keep cool, take it one day at a time and focus on tomorrow.</p><p>&quot;I got the shifts right, got a good couple of starts and it was a great day. There was great weather and a great crowd as well so it was good fun.&quot;</p><p>The other men's class to start today was the Star and saw British pair Iain Percy and Andrew Simpson recover from a difficult start to end the day in fifth overall.</p><p>The reigning Star gold medallists endured a poor first race in which they ended 11th, but responded superbly to end the day's final race in the top two.</p><p>After some confusion over the final result, victory was awarded to Brazil's Robert Scheidt and Bruno Prada - much to Simpson's disappointment.</p><p>&quot;We thought we were ahead but it sounds like it was unbelievably close or we need to look at it,&quot; he said.</p><p>&quot;It has changed back and forth apparently so that is a worry in itself so we better check that.</p><p>&quot;It's a bit annoying if we didn't beat them but it is a good marker for the rest of the week.&quot;</p><p>On a poor first race, Simpson added: &quot;We got it wrong, to be honest. We made a big mistake.</p><p>&quot;It was very tricky, very unlucky. It is super frustrating and that is a polite way of putting it.&quot;</p><p>PA</p>Her marriage is wonderful, she&#039;s given up alcohol and from tomorrow she&#039;s hosting the nightly &#039;Strictly&#039; spin-off show &#039;It Takes Two&#039;<p>According to the latest league table from BrandFinance Global 500, the value of luxury goods brands has rocketed this year with the likes of Louis Vuitton, Hermes and Ralph Lauren increasing their brand values by up to 24 per cent, while supermarket brands such as Sainsbury’s and Asda have seen their brand value fall.</p><p>The supermarkets woes are in stark contrast to the growth in upmarket brands – luxury jeweller Tiffany &amp; Co made the Global 500 for the first time with a brand value of $2.9bn while purveyor of luxury cars - Rolls-Royce – saw a 17 per cent increase in the value of the brand. Luxury goods houses Prada and Coach re-entered the top 500 this year and Christian Dior and Burberry join Tiffany as newcomers.</p><p>David Haigh, the chief executive of Brand Finance, said: “The rise to prominence of luxury and lifestyle brands in this year’s report is impressive. Whilst the world remains shrouded in economic misery, people are investing their hard earned cash in brands they rely on to produce quality and long lasting products.”</p><p>As well as luxury goods, the techonology sector is the strongest contender in the brand stakes with 49 technology companies making the top 500 and Apple crowned king – it is ranked as the world’s most valuable brand at $70.6bn.</p><p>Much of the 21bn rouble (£423m) reconstruction has been faithful to the original colonnaded interior, destroyed by fire in 1853. Silk embroidered tapestries return to grace the foyers while a two-ton crystal chandelier illuminates the auditorium's gilded boxes. The German companies Bosch Rexroth and Muller BBM have installed what the Bolshoi says is matchless backstage technology and acoustical engineering. But the project has been dogged by stoppages and delays, not to mention financial and other scandals.</p><p>A swamp was discovered underneath the foundations, along with 17 cracks running from the theatre's roof to the bowels. Investigation into massive embezzlement was launched this year after the designing company Kurortproekt was reportedly paid more than three times the agreed amount.</p><p>President Dimitry Medvedev himself stepped in, hiring Summa Capital, a huge investment group which has the controlling stake in the contractor. Things then moved at lightning pace, according to observers.</p><p>In one sense, the Bolshoi's well overdue modernisation should bring welcome relief for a company that, since the fall of Communism, has lurched from crisis to crisis. The Bolshoi relies on the state for 70 per cent of its expenditure. Two rounds of cuts to the cultural budget in 2008 chipped 27 per cent off its subsidy. That year's financial crisis hit hard, not to mention inflation.</p><p>By 2009 the company was averaging as little as one new production annually, most of its funding given to paying a bloated ensemble to appear in &quot;reheated&quot; productions of 31 operas per season and 38 ballets each year, some of them as old as the 1940s. International attention meanwhile focused on the rival Mariinsky Theatre in St Petersburg, which, under its omnipotent maestro Valery Gergiev, was turning out nine new stagings per season as well as lucrative international tours.</p><p>The Bolshoi has failed to engage someone with comparable charisma or talent. In 2009, the music director, Alexander Vedernikov, was pushed out; artistic differences were cited. The general director, Anatoly Iksanov, replaced him with a consortium of five conductors, an arrangement that lasted barely a year.</p><p>Stung by accusations of lack of transparency and what one former Bolshoi director called &quot;a culture of laziness riddled with corruption&quot;, Iksanov culled the workforce and scaled down production costs. He then launched a young singers programme and hired Alexei Ratmansky as ballet chief. It made a difference. Ekaterina Scherbachenko, the Bolshoi's soprano, won the Cardiff Singer of the World competition in 2009 while, among the new ballet stars, Natalia Osipova and IvanVasiliev amazed audiences worldwide.</p><p>But the administration struggled to reform at the required pace. Ratmansky left prematurely, frustrated with the Bolshoi's byzantine politics. Anastasia Volochkova, a ballerina fired in 2003 for being overweight, complained that the 200-strong ballet company had become a quasi escort agency for its rich patrons. &quot;Parties are organised for oligarchs,&quot; said Volochkova. &quot;Girls are told, if you go to the party, you will have a future.&quot;</p><p>In March this year, the ballet director, Gennady Yanin, resigned after pictures of sexual encounters with other men were posted on the internet. Iksanov blamed &quot;ambitious people within the theatre&quot;. Yanin said he was &quot;tired&quot; and had wanted to leave anyway.</p><p>The Bolshoi is experienced at weathering such storms. Its troubles do not appear to deter the high and mighty from wanting to be associated with the brand. On the board are some of the world's richest men: the telecom giant Konstantin Soludukhin, Alexander Zhukov, Victor Vekselberg (owner of the world's largest private collection of Fabergé eggs), and Oleg Deripaska, entertainer of British politicians on his yacht.</p><p>The Bolshoi's directors hope that these men will guarantee the future. But questions remain. One concern is that a place once accessible to all for a few kopeks will be an exclusive arena for high-spending tourists, Prada-wearing oligarchs' wives and their Kremlin friends.</p><p>She found out that her son was masterminding an eBay scam that had netted him A$200,000 (£130,500) – and that Australia's big four banks appeared to be helping him launder the money by allegedly showering him with bank accounts and debit cards.</p><p>Neither the boy nor his mother can be identified for legal reasons, but details of the bizarre case have emerged from documents lodged with the New South Wales Supreme Court. He was arrested at school after his frauds were linked to a classroom computer.</p><p>His mother, who lives south of Sydney, is seeking damages from the banks – Commonwealth, ANZ, Westpac and National Australia Bank – and an apology for &quot;unconscionable conduct&quot;.</p><p>The boy sold non-existent items on eBay, the online auction site, at one stage earning more than $6,000 a day. His mother's suspicions were aroused when he began booking penthouses costing $4,300 a night and hiring limousines to go to the beach.</p><p>He also flew friends around Australia for weekend parties in rented luxury apartments. &quot;There I was, a single mother of two, desperately struggling to put food on the table,&quot; his mother said. &quot;He, meanwhile, would stroll in after feasting at the latest fancy restaurant of his choice and chuck me leftovers in a plastic tub.&quot;</p><p>A log book she found solved the mystery. It detailed &quot;thousands of dollars worth of transactions with eBay customers, all of whom had deposited money into his bank accounts for non-existent laptops, mobile phones and watches&quot;.</p><p>The boy's mother said she repeatedly contacted the banks, warning them that he was a minor who was depositing illegally gained funds and begging them to stop giving him accounts and debit cards. They ignored her or refused to discuss the matter, citing privacy concerns, she alleges.</p><p>All four banks said they would defend themselves against the allegations.</p><p>Since 2007, the woman handed her son to the police 15 times. He was an &quot;insecure boy out to impress&quot;, she said. Now that he no longer had money, most of his so-called friends had disappeared.</p><p>The latest figures look mind-boggling. James's first book has sold in excess of 5.3 million copies in the UK, and the trio as a whole more than 12 million. Global sales of all English-language editions have topped 40 million. Susan Sandon, MD of the Random House division (Cornerstone) that publishes James, calls the phenomenon &quot;perhaps one of the most extraordinary experiences of my entire publishing career and I feel privileged to be part of it&quot;.</p><p>Time, I think, to stand back and strap Fifty Shades into the remorseless machine of history. It isn't simply that sex sells, and always has. No advanced civilisation has ever lacked erotic art, high and low. More germane to this case is the evidence that erotica may often spearhead change in the technology and distribution of culture. James's novels have shown that an ebook success can cross over into torrential print sales, with neither platform detracting from the other. Publishers might study that interchange between digital and dead-tree markets, once they have stopped flooding the shops and sites with knock-off imitations of James's books. By the way, someone ought to point out that the executives of Britain's leading houses have peddled their innumerable Fifty Shades rip-offs with rather less dignity and transparency than the sort of cheerful teenager who flogs fake Fendi, Gucci and Prada in the night-markets of Bangkok and Kuala Lumpur.</p><p>The role of erotic books and images as drivers in the evolution of media goes back at least half a millennium. In the early 16th century, works such as Pietro Aretino's Sonneti Lussiriosi – sexy sonnets partnered by Giulio Romano's illustrations of acrobatic positions – taxed the skills of engravers and printers, and enjoyed underground success through Europe. In the France of Louis XIV and Louis XV, the novel grew in scope and sophistication thanks to libertine tales, with giants such as Laclos and Diderot merely figureheads in an erotic armada. Over the Channel, mass readership of fiction in England boomed in part thanks to stories of vice, not virtue. We remember a few landmarks of lubricity, such as John Cleland's Memoirs of a Woman of Pleasure (Fanny Hill) in 1748, but not the iceberg of torrid print beneath such famous tips. Erotica (however you define it) has whipped print culture from one innovation to another.</p><p>Beyond its blissful union of print and digital appeal, Fifty Shades contributes to this history in one other unignorable dimension. Women have of course authored erotic hits before, but usually in the dark. For decades critics maintained that The Story of O by &quot;Pauline Réage&quot; (ie Anne Desclos) was written by a man; Dr Brooke Magnanti (once known as Belle de Jour) met the same assumption. In the 1980s, Anne Rice wrote some of the most stylish of post-war erotic works, but under the pseudonyms of Anne Rampling and AN Roquelaure. &quot;EL James&quot; may not be the real name of Erika Leonard, but the age of routine subterfuge has passed. Mistresses of sultry prose may now stand proudly before their readers as middle-aged mothers-of-two from Bucks, not shadowy houris clad in Myla with penthouses in Paris. In principle, we should applaud. In practice, I suspect, Eros still loves a little mystery.</p><p>It's not just about the bike. What of the golden shot?</p><p>In 2008, cycling superhero Bradley Wiggins published his autobiography. With another golden haul (not to mention the Tour) another memoir rolls into view. The wheeled wonder has moved to Yellow Jersey Press for Bradley Wiggins: My Time, due on 8 November. Publishers cater amply for cycling fans. Might they do the same with lower-profile Olympians: say Peter Wilson, the shooting champ? The farmer's son was coached by Sheikh Ahmed Al -Makhtoum of Dubai, after all. I can see not just a book but a feelgood movie in that.</p><p>Australia's golden team of thinkers</p><p>Back in 1974, Clive James entitled his first collection of essays The Metropolitan Critic. The title set out James's stall as the public man of letters who speaks boldly to a broad audience reachable through magazines, newspapers or broadcasting, rather than as the academic specialist who aims to impress one tiny tribe. After Gore Vidal's passing, we have just lost another thoroughly metropolitan voice who married depth of learning with passionate accessibility. Robert Hughes was not merely a superb art critic but popular historian, cultural pundit and all-round light-footed heavyweight. Hughes hailed from the same country as not only James but the late Peter Porter – always so urbanely companiable as critic and poet – and indefatigable Germaine Greer. Post-war Australia sent a champion team of public intellectuals overseas. Who is training their successors?</p><p>In a hectic final race in Qingdao in 2008 the British pair pushed Scheidt into the silver medal place on the podium and they will face each other again off Weymouth in just over two months. The competition will be fierce.</p><p>Scheidt is also remembered for pipping a youthful Ben Ainslie into silver in the Laser class at the 1996 Atlanta games only to be sailed down the fleet by Ainslie four years later in Sydney to reverse the spoils and bring sweet revenge to Ainslie, who then moved into the heavier Finn class and two consecutive golds in 2004 and 2008.</p><p>In Hyères, on the coast near Toulon, Percy and Simpson had led for most of the week but in a topsy turvey final race came 39th to Scheidt and Prada’s 38th. Both discarded what had been their worst results but Percy then had to count a fifth race 17th while Scheidt restored a 10th.</p><p>Percy had been five points clear going into the final race; the recount put him two points behind at 32 to Scheidt’s 30. Third.another point behind, were Denmark’s Michael Hestbaek  and Claus Olesen. Ireland’s Peter O’Leary and David Burrows were fourth.     </p><p>It was a space normally reserved for the amazing Ben Ainslie, but he was excluded after a rush of blood to the head which had resulted in being thrown out of the final encounter.</p><p>He had jumped from his boat to confront volunteer driver on the television boat and let both him and the television crew on board exactly what he thought of what saw as driving the boat in a way which was impeding his progress.</p><p>An international jury decided this was gross misconduct and brought the sport into disrepute. He was disqualified from both of Saturday’s races and that meant he slipped to 11th overall; his worst result in the first eight had been a third but only the top 10 make the cut for the medal race finale.</p><p>This is not the first time that Ainslie, Britain’s best with a silver and three consecutive gold Olympic medals so far, had been reprimanded under the sport’s famous Rule 69 but it was the first time that he had been thrown off the race course for his notorious, usually only colourfully vocal, short temper. </p><p>Take nothing away from the gold medal won by Giles Scott. He had sailed strongly and was at times ahead of Ainslie and always threatening. He is the current European champion and Britain has won seven of the last 10 Finn worlds. In one of the races Britain posted first, second, third and fourth. The squad is the envy of coaches worldwide.</p><p>For good measure the defending champion and fierce Ainslie rival Ed Wright’s bronze provided the sandwich to Pieter-Jan Postma of the Netherlands. He was silver medallist by just one point.</p><p>Scott had surged past Denmark’s Jonas Hoegh Christensen on the last leg of the race to finish second to Postma, who needed to win by two places. “I am really delighted to have won, but it all feels a bit odd as 2012 will be an odd year. I live in Portland near the sailing centre where the Games will be staged, but I came here looking for a win, I had something to prove having missed selection, so I have done something I have dreamed of.”</p><p>Ainslie is still the 2012 Games pick for Britain in Weymouth next summer and will also have another chance of winning his sixth Finn world title in Falmouth, where he sailed as a boy at Restronguet Sailing Club. He had been watching and was immediately full of congratulation. “It’s really good,” he said of Scott’s win.</p><p>An emphatic win in the men’s 470 decider for Luke Patience and Stuart Bithell secured silver but the defending champions, Mathew Belcher and Malcolm Page of Australia were under no pressure and still managed, always playing safe, to sail effortlessly into fourth.</p><p>They have only sailed together for a couple of years and this was the ninth medal they have won together at various championships. And had they learned anything about Belcher and Page? “Yes,” said Bithell. “They’re bloody good.”</p><p>In the women’s windsurfer, 2008 bronze medallist Bryony Shaw started sixth but slipped to a final eighth and Alison Young finished seventh in the Laser radial with a fourth in the medal race. </p><p>The first day for the Star keelboats saw the 2008 gold medallists Iain Percy and Andrew Simpson on top with a fourth and a third as two of their main rivals, Robert Scheidt and Bruno Prada of Brazil ninth with a 13th and a seventh while Mateus Kusnierewicz and Dominik Zycki of Poland slumped to 21st after winning the first race but being double penalty yellow-flagged out of the second.</p><p>In Cape Town, the six boats in the Volvo round the world race started the second, split leg to Abu Dhabi facing strong winds in the opening hours.</p><p>Paul Campbell-James took the Prada-backed Luna Rossa to victory at the final regatta  for the 40-foot catamarans in the Extreme Sailing Series in Singapore. They went into the final day with a huge 56-point lead over their arch rivals for the 2011 title, the French team of Groupe Edmond de Rothschild.</p><p>The circuit, which recently announced that a sponsor of one of its competing teams, GAC Pindar, had a three-year logistics contract, is expected to announce its 2012 programme tomorrow.</p><p>In a move which seems to have him riding two horses at once, he will be contesting the America’s Cup World Series representing the Royal Cornwall Yacht Club but is being welcomed into the San Francisco-based Oracle defence team and saying he hopes Oracle will win the cup.</p><p>How he would vote in the competitor forum, which includes teams from France, China, Korea, Spain, Italy and New Zealand, is unclear, as is whether he intends to pay the $200,000 entry fee that would give him a full vote at the America’s Cup table.</p><p>The 34th America’s Cup, which started with a yacht of that name beating the best of Britain in a race around the Isle of Wight in 1851, will be staged in San Francisco next year, But Ainslie, who has long wanted a campaign of his own and had seemed to be on his way with Sir Keith Mills’ Origin team, will have to wait under the terms of the deal struck with the man appointed to run the next cup, Kiwi Sir Russell Coutts.</p><p>Coutts has welcomed him, expensively, into the Oracle fold with the creation of Ben Ainslie Racing, which should make its debut in San Francisco in September in a 45-foot, wing-powered catamaran of the kind used in a series of exhibition regattas.The extent of the funding from Oracle is unclear and it is said that Ainslie will be paying his own bills.</p><p>Until September, Ainslie has been picked to represent Britain at the Olympic sailing regatta in Weymouth. A win there would give him a fourth consecutive gold medal to add to his silver in Savannah in 1996.</p><p>Before that he faces a tribunal hearing into being disqualified from the last races of a world championship in Fremantle last month for leaping from his Finn singlehanded dinghy onto a television boat to remonstrate with the driver. A jury at the time said there were mitigating circumstances and the British tribunal being convened by the Royal Yachting Association is expected to say that the disqualification was punishment enough.</p><p>But the tribunal findings will be passed to the International Sailing Federation’s executive committee. As this was not his first brush with authority for gross misconduct, Ainslie must hope that he is not given a suspension that would prevent him from competing in his home Olympics.</p><p>On joining Oracle Ainslie, who has been photographed in an Oracle crew shirt, said: “It’s a fantastic opportunity, I have a huge amount of respect for Russell, Jimmy (Spithill, the current Oracle skipper) and everyone involved.  I think with the direction the cup has taken in the last few years, it’s actually really important that Oracle wins again and it continues on the path that it has taken. I’m very excited about it and hopefully I can help the team retain the Cup.</p><p>“I’ve always tried to have a plan of what I’m doing next after the Olympics. The 2012 Olympics has been the focus, but from that has come the opportunity to be able to build a team which we hope can ultimately go on to challenge for the 35th America’s Cup,” he added.</p><p>Ainslie has yet to name who will be in his team, though the Australian Grant Simmer, who ran Origin after Mike Sanderson left, will manage it. It is expected that double gold medallist Iain Percy may switch from Artemis, while his Star crew, Andrew Simpson, would join the afterguard.</p><p>Nor is the full extent known of the deal between himself and Oracle. The powerfully-funded defender, owned by software house billionaire boss Larry Ellison, is asking questions about how much and with whom it can collaborate in the building and testing of the 72-foot catamarans in which both the Louis Vuitton challenger series and the cup defence will be contested.</p><p>At the same time, the Prada fashion house-backed Luna Rossa team has arrived in Auckland from Italy, joined by British Olympic medallist Chris Draper, as part of its joint programme with Team New Zealand to contest the cup. The only other confirmed challenger is Sweden’s Artemis, led by Paul Cayard and funded by Torbjorn Tornqvist. Both Artemis and Oracle have asked for clarification over the validity of the TNZ/Luna Rossa deal.</p><p>Olympic medallist Chris Draper and Paul Campbell-James are now dressed by the Prada fashion house as they skipper a pair of boats that is competing for the first time in the America's Cup World Series.</p><p>In near perfect conditions, crowds numbering thousands and stacked six to eight deep on the racecourse seafront gave polite applause when Team New Zealand's Dean Barker won both of the sun-bathed races, but there was cheering for the Luna Rossa team and extra applause at the mention of Draper crewman and local sailing star Francesco Bruni.</p><p>Draper also has Nick Hutton and David 'Freddie' Carr in his five-man line-up whereas Campbell-James has four Italians, including Luna Rossa team captain Max Sirena.</p><p>The organisation of this first of three regattas to complete the 2011-12 season as not been easy - the second is in Venice and the finale in Newport, Rhode Island - and two teams are missing, France's Aleph and the Valencia-based Italians of GreenComm.</p><p>There was also doubt about one of the America's Cup holder Oracle Racing's ability to race after the blustery opening day on Wednesday saw structural damage to one of its two boats. Swedish challenger Artemis had to replace its wing mast - borrowed from Aleph - after a capsize, and the Oracle shore team worked all night on a repair.</p><p>These races in 45-foot catamarans have no bearing on the America's Cup next year, which will be sailed in 72-footers, but they provide valuable training for the teams, allow the race management team led by Australian Iain Murray to refine the race style, and familiarise the public to the new style of 'stadium racing'.</p><p>The offshore division of team New Zealand, taking part in the Volvo round the world, is pushing Camper up the east coast of South America after stopping for repairs in Puerto Montt, Chile, and heading for the 1,000 miles to go marker to complete leg five from Auckland to Itajai, Brazil on Sunday or Monday.</p><p>Still bursting out all over, three of the top five have GBR emblazoned on their hi-tech sails with, inevitably, Ben Ainslie in pole position, National champion Giles Scott, back from playing on the AC45 catamarans in Venice, is third and Andrew Mills is fifth.</p><p>Holding both first and second in the 49er high performance skiff class are the young pairing of Dave Evans and Ed Powys followed by Dylan Fletcher and Alain Sign.</p><p>Evans and Powys came to Weymouth knowing they had nothing to lose after Stevie Morrison and Ben Rhodes, lying sixth, were given the nod to atone for a poor result in China. Evans and Powys are young, up and coming, and allowed to be fiery.</p><p>Back in a marathon tussle for supremacy in the windsurfer class are France’s Julien Bontemps and Britain’s Nick Dempsey, determined to add to wife Sarah Ayton’s tally of two Olympic golds on his own home waters.</p><p>Also at home is his 2008 bronze medal counterpart in the women’s division, Bryony Shaw, but she suffered the setback of a damaged mast to score a 44th, which she will later discard. Her other results are two thirds and a fifth, but even she cannot ignore the threat of the Polish leader, Zofia Noceti-Klepacka, with two firsts and two seconds.</p><p>Britain is still top dog on the Olympic sailing circuit and if team manager Stephen Park only achieves his publicly stated target of four medals at the Games there will be smiling approval in public but a bit of shouting in the privacy of the locker room.</p><p>Determined to be the cause of some of that shouting are the Australians, who have current world champion Tom Slingsby and Tom Burton first and second in the Laser singlehander with reigning gold medallist Paul Goodison in fifth.</p><p>In the men’s 470 dinghy Australia’s Matthew Belcher and Malcolm Page are leading and will be hard to beat, but in the women’s division the mojo developed by Hannah Mills and Saskia Clark in Fremantle last December  is continuing to work strongly after they won the world championship recently.</p><p>The fun and games has been in the Star keelboat class. Robert Scheidt and Bruno Prada of Brazil lead, but Iain Percy and Andrew Simpson, who pushed them into silver in China, won the third race of the day.</p><p>Behind them another Star gold medallist, Mike McIntyre, who won with Bryn Vaile in Korea in 1988, had come out of retirement to have a crack at the younger turks. He borrowed a boat John Gimson and Robert Shanks and then, in the second race of the day, in a British mutual destruction party, Gimson speared McIntyre in a t-bone collision, which sends McIntyre and crew James Grant home for the week and Gimson wondering how to word the insurance claim. </p><p>The games seller rocked up at the UK awards with a posse of bikini-clad models, midgets, a huge Hummer car and some branded condoms, which were liberally dispersed. Some of Grainger's staff got hammered and behaved obnoxiously. On its website, Grainger said: &quot;We wholeheartedly apologise if we offended anyone at last night's GMAs. We never intended to upset anybody.&quot;</p><p>Upmarket store set to widen appeal</p><p>Selfridges shoppers who find its Armani, Gucci or Prada lines too expensive will now be able to buy more affordable items in store at...Primark. The discount fashion outlet is to open a 1,000 square foot concession in the retailer's Birmingham store on Monday and will open another in Selfridges' Manchester branch next month. No wonder they call the retailer Primarni.</p><p>Headhunters rue missed gig</p><p>Headhunters must rue the day they missed out on the gig for Mitchells &amp; Butlers, the pub and restaurant group. This is because M&amp;B this week revealed that Jeremy Blood, its interim chief executive, was leaving. The departure of Mr Blood is the ninth change in a chief executive or chairman in the last four years, delivering huge fees for its headhunters. If you see folk from Korn/Ferry Whitehead Mann driving around in Ferraris you will know why.</p><p>Pink 'un spoof hacks off IT firm</p><p>Those cheeky folk at Alphaville, the FT's live-blogging site, caused a stir yesterday with a spoof story that their site had been hacked by Occupy London, the group behind the anti-capitalist protests outside St Paul's Cathedral. This apparently caused &quot;a huge panic round at Assanka&quot;, Alphaville's software provider. The FT later confessed it was an &quot;immature thing to do&quot;.</p><p>The yacht had to stop in Chile to repair a hull damage considered too grave to take the boat through the rigours of the southern ocean. </p><p>Unfortunately when we rounded it was dark, no moon to even lighten it for a slight sighting,’’ said media crewman Hamish Hooper.</p><p>“For some reason this doesn’t seem to bother me; more often than not it would with a landmark like this, but I guess it illustrates the relief and jubilation of finally making our way north out of the relentless southern ocean.”</p><p>The largely Kiwi crew on the Spanish boat now has to make over 1,700 miles up the southern Atlantic, reach the leg five finish in Itajai, Brazil, haul the boat out of the water to check all the repairs and make any new ones, and then be ready to take part in two inshore races before setting off on leg six to Miami.</p><p>But, barring any further catastrophe, Australian skipper Chris Nicholson will have bagged 15 valuable points and hold fourth overall behind Spain’s Telefonica, France’s Groupama, fitting a replacement mast, and the leg winner, the American-flagged Puma.</p><p>The Chinese yacht Sanya misses the next leg and is being shipped to Savannah for repairs. Abu Dhabi’s Azzam, skippered by Britain’s Ian Walker, is being shipped from Puerto Montt, Chile, to Brazil. </p><p>Three new members of the America’s Cup Hall of Fame have been announced by the Herreshoff Marine Museum at Bristol, Rhode Island. Highest profile is Patrizio Bertelli, boss of the Prada luxury goods house. He is joined by two Americans, Jonathan Wright and, posthumously, Gerald Lambert. </p><p>“It is a true honour to be part of the select circle of people which </p><p> has contributed towards writing  the history of the America’s Cup,” said Bertelli, who is mounting his fourth challenge for the Cup next year.</p><p>“I also consider being the first Italian ever in the America’s Cup Hall of Fame a special recognition; this is not only a personal reward but a tribute to Team Luna Rossa and to Italian sailing, of which I am very proud. </p><p>“I would like to dedicate this acknowledgement to all of those who have contributed to this with me.”</p><p>It is thought that LVMH (Louis Vuitton Moët Hennessy) will announce that Jacobs, who was named creative director at Vuitton in 1997, is set to take over any day now at sister house Christian Dior as a replacement for John Galliano, who was dismissed in February. The advantage of the move for the designer would be that he would not only be responsible for ready-to-wear but also haute couture. Exclusive to Paris and the most rarefied fashion craft form for which each and every garment is hand-fitted, made, beaded, feathered and embroidered by the most accomplished seamstresses in the world, this is a big draw.</p><p>Louis Vuitton – which remains the jewel in the LVMH crown financially – is still predominantly known for luggage and accessories and has never been part of the haute couture schedule.</p><p>With that in mind, the fact this collection focussed on a quintessentially French sense of style and the most intricate workmanship did not go unnoticed. An ultra-light, plumped up silhouette stood away from the body resulting in a refined, elegant and always youthful appearance that was a million miles away from Jacobs' fetish-inspired current collection.</p><p>Layers of organza were appliquéd with embroidered jewel-embellished daisies or wrapped around broderie anglaise in a refined play on the transparent and the opaque.</p><p>The silhouette also spoke of the mid-20th century glory days of haute couture. Trapeze-line jackets and bell-shaped skirts referenced the work not only of Christian Dior himself but also the other masters, including Yves Saint Laurent, Coco Chanel and Cristobal Balenciaga. Jacobs had updated all this. A pencil skirt sat more low on the waist than might be expected, for example, and was not fitted to the point where its wearer might have movement restricted.</p><p>Jacobs is one of very few working in the industry today with the breadth of vision necessary to build a brand way beyond the creation of clothes. Of course, there were money-spinning accessories: pale crocodile bowling bags, pretty oval purses that matched the clothes and, destined to be the big Louis Vuitton hit for next summer, a jelly bag crafted not in plastic, but the finest of leather – a typically witty and irreverent twist.</p><p>Kate Moss walked Jacobs' runway for the first time in almost a decade six months ago and was honoured with the finale again. She looked lovely – and uncharacteristically innocent – in a sequinned, feathered, broderie anglaise white powder puff of a dress.</p><p>For his part, Jacobs took his bows also dressed in optimistic white. He is right to be happy. He is probably the most wanted man in fashion just now – and with very good reason.</p><p>Miu Miu Brings paris to a fitting conclusion</p><p>Later in the day Miuccia Prada, also a major fashion force, was the last big name to take to the Paris catwalk with her spring/summer collection for Miu Miu. The designer showed Prada in her hometown, Milan, last month but the coquettish spirit of the former label is well-suited to the French fashion capital. On typically contrary – and brilliant – form this provocative designer took the sweet couture looks that have swept the international catwalks and turned them on their head. Models with hair reminiscent of Carrie's post breakdown and fierce blood-red gashes of make-up over their eyes stomped down the runway swinging dolly bags. They wore mismatched shapes and prints, dour colours and boots inlaid with roses with witchy pointed toes. Over and above saccharine sweet this looked freakishly cute and all the better for that.</p><p>However, very few people are still working in the industry as it is today who experienced the catwalk's transformation from determinedly elitist and intimate affair to full-on media circus first-hand. One who has is Chris Moore, at 77 the grand old man of catwalk photography, although he's far too modest and gentle a soul to ever make such a claim. Given that, for almost 50 years, Moore has made a living capturing the work of some of the wildest egos in history, he remains, conversely, quietly self-deprecating almost to a fault.</p><p>Next month his contribution to fashion will be acknowledged in an exhibition at the Kings Place Gallery in London. Showcasing his photographs from the 1960s – &quot;we only have very few of those&quot; – to the present day, it will doubtless serve as a brilliantly colourful, fly-on-the-wall documentary of a world that continues to excite, now almost to the point of hysteria.</p><p>For his part, Moore is the calm at the eye of the storm, crammed at the foot of the catwalk with his colleagues, the majority of them younger than him by 30 years or more, who show their respect by reserving a prime spot for him. &quot;It's quite jolly with the gang in the back really,&quot; he says. &quot;We're all good friends.&quot; His pictures are used by everyone from Suzy Menkes at the International Herald Tribune to Vogue and from the red tops (rarely – his take is generally not racy) to the front cover of TIME and this very paper.</p><p>In 2000 Moore launched a website, catwalking.com, where, in the throes of and after the event, writers and editors browse the collections and choose their own pictures, compile trend reports, designer profiles and so on. Pick a look, any look, from any show, and it will be there. There is no better research tool of its kind. Moore's archive, equally, is second to none and there are backstage images too: like all great photo-journalists, Moore's unobtrusive presence decrees that even the more shy and retiring designers allow him access.</p><p>The rise of John Galliano and Alexander McQueen were both followed by Moore's gaze. He witnessed the emergence of the supermodels on the runway and celebrity culture, from its nascence front row at shows courtesy of Gianni Versace and Giorgio Armani, to the full-blown, all-encompassing beast it has become today.</p><p>&quot;I occasionally try to take people's pictures front row,&quot; he says, &quot;but the terrible thing is I don't know who anyone is. It's absolutely appalling but I don't. Somebody once said to me: 'Will you go and photograph Sylvester Stallone?' I said: 'Alright then, but where is he?'&quot;</p><p>Before that, in London in the 1980s, Moore photographed collections by Rifat Ozbek, Katharine Hamnett, Helen Storey and, of course, Vivienne Westwood. In the 1960s, he captured British couture – the type of bespoke looks beloved by the British aristocracy and her Majesty the Queen.</p><p>The business of fashion never ceases to interest him. &quot;I should really be thinking about planting the spring greens but I do still enjoy it. It keeps me fit. I walk about with all this stuff on my back. I've got to stop soon though, otherwise they'll be pushing me round in a chair. I want catwalking.com to be my legacy.&quot;</p><p>It is true that the sheer physical energy required is considerable. Moore follows the fashion caravan from New York, to London, to Milan, to Paris for the women's ready-to-wear shows – he attends over 10 shows each day. He photographs the twice-yearly haute couture season – in the French capital again – pre-collections and menswear, although he readily admits the latter isn't the main draw of the job for him. &quot;I've always liked pretty girls. Looking at pretty women in beautiful clothes and wonderful situations. That's what makes the job so brilliant.&quot;</p><p>Sitting in his Islington office and home he flicks through images reflecting thus. &quot;Here's Marc Bohan for Dior in 1984. There's Princess Caroline of Monaco front row. She was only recently married. This is this season's Prada. I loved that show. There was something so ladylike about it, but modern too. Here are the beautiful girls at McQueen, walking around a tree wrapped in tulle. It reminds me of a Maypole. He did such lovely shows. It's so sad he did what he did.&quot; Moore has some fine pictures of the supermodels in their heyday. &quot;They seem to have suddenly flowered and then faded away. I can't say that there's anyone who's taken their place yet. Here's a John Galliano image. I'm pretty sure that we waited three hours for that show to start but it was worth it.&quot; Equally challenging was Nicola Formichetti's debut for Thierry Mugler for the autumn/winter 2011 season, a show made all the more frantic because it was opened by Formichetti's friend and colleague Lady Gaga. &quot;That show was a total nightmare. We were absolutely jammed together. I could hardly move my arms,&quot; Moore says, laughing: &quot;There's a lot of torture doing these shows and I do lose my temper very occasionally.&quot; He says he can't remember the last time that happened and neither, for that matter, having witnessed his professionalism for more years than I care to remember, can I.</p><p>Born in Newcastle, Moore moved with his family to London when he was four years old. &quot;I was 16 when my father found me my first job in a print studio.&quot; Terence Donovan joined him six months later. &quot;I didn't go to college. Courses in photography didn't exist at the time. I got a job making up the developer every Monday, getting the tea, that sort of thing.&quot; Aged 18, he became a photographer's assistant at Vogue working with Norman Parkinson and Cecil Beaton. Starting out in his own right, as well as photographing the catwalks, he also shot fashion in the studio. &quot;It was so different at that time. The models did their own make-up. There wasn't such a thing as a stylist. You just had the clothes and she'd turn up, get ready and you'd take her picture.&quot;</p><p>By the 1990s, he was photographing the catwalks full time, represented briefly by Camera Press and then on a freelance basis. He remains independent to this day. When Moore was a young talent, only a handful of photographers were allowed entry to the hallowed portals of the collections. Now they number in their hundreds, all working at breakneck speed – the move from analogue to digital has made the schedule more gruelling than ever. &quot;I used to walk gingerly into the hotels with a very large bag of processing materials,&quot; he says. &quot;We used to develop the pictures in the bathroom. In those days everything had to be processed. Everyone had to wait. You had time to have dinner. Now we work until 11 at night and start at 8am the next morning.&quot;</p><p>Not that hard work ever put this consummate professional off. &quot;It is more difficult mentally these days,&quot; he says, &quot;because you're always on such a tight deadline but I enjoy the fact that it's evolved. I enjoy the fact that it's digital now. Occasionally I still use film but it's such a pain. I embrace the newness of things.&quot;</p><p>Above all, Chris Moore still loves fashion and while he admits his opinions are not always aligned to that of the writers and editors he works with (&quot;sometimes I come out of a show and you all think it was awful but I thought it was great – I suppose we're not always looking for the same thing&quot;), his judgement as far as a great image is concerned is impeccable.</p><p>&quot;Of course, loving the clothes has a lot to do with it,&quot; he says. &quot;But you know I owe such a lot to the designers. That's why I've got these pictures. I just happened to be there, happened to be a fly on the wall. They've produced the shows that have enabled me to end up with some rather nice pictures and I'm very conscious of that.&quot;</p><p>Chris Moore: Catwalking is at Kings Place Gallery, Kings Place, 90 York Way, London, from 2 December to 10 February, kingsplacegallery.co.uk</p><p>One is Elvis Presley, airbrushed to matinee-idol perfection on the LP cover of – appropriately enough – Blue Hawaii. The other is the archetype of the American abroad, as brash and overblown as, well, the Hawaiian shirt across his back. Think of the pop artist Duane Hanson's hyper-real Tourists. Could the American everyman wear anything other than a Hawaiian shirt? That's the tussle in considering this oft-maligned, mostly reviled garment. In fashion terms, the Hawaiian shirt is less Wallis Simpson, more Homer Simpson. It's mass, crass and terribly bad taste. And for spring, it's just about everywhere.</p><p>There's no single place to pinpoint the upsurge in interest in the Hawaiian shirt – but, when you examine its composite parts, it's simple to see how it slots into fashion's current obsessions. It ticks the eye-popping print box first – and, loud though it may be, that's perhaps the easiest part to understand. Lush desert-island foliage is a small leap from standard florals, and an effortless way to zing up a T-shirt or basic shift dress.</p><p>&quot;You felt it starting in people's pre-collections,&quot; Kate Phelan, creative director of Topshop, says. &quot;Stella McCartney's pre-summer started with that tropical feeling, as did Givenchy. There was an exoticism I think that was coming through.&quot; McCartney and Givenchy's Riccardo Tisci both succumbed to jungle fever, splashing hibiscus prints and suspiciously idyllic sunsets across cotton T-shirts, sleek pencil-skirts and buttoned-up blouses. After all, the Americans call those collections Cruise – the perfect excuse for a Palm Springs-ready palm-frond screen print, a mood picked up by Altuzarra and Proenza Schouler in New York's spring collections. By the time of London Fashion Week, the jalapeño-hot hues of Peter Pilotto's prints and newcomer Maarten van der Horst's out-and-out ode to Kid Creole were less jarring and more intriguing. The decidedly wrong Hawaiian shirt had started to look right.</p><p>Before we go any further, there are a few things we should clear up. Firstly, the name – it's really an shirt, although when they began to be exported in the 1950s they acquired their region-specific moniker. Most high-fashion &quot;Hawaiian&quot; shirts over the past two years have come from Milan, courtesy of Miuccia Prada. Her September 2010 womenswear collection was awash with Hawaiian shirts, splodged with prints of sketchy monkeys clutching pineapples. The latter, alongside bold humbug stripes, came closest to a Hawaiian print true, but the boxy, simplistic shape in classic cotton poplin was bang-on. She revived it for her spring 2012 men's collection, splashed this time with Lily Pulitzer-inspired florals – last summer, it even ended up manufacturing those banana and baboon-emblazoned shirts for men.</p><p>Mention that &quot;Chiquita Banana&quot; spring 2011 Prada collection to the stand-out Fashion East star Van Der Horst and his eyes close painfully in a flashback to designing his MA collection: &quot;It was horrible – I was working with the Hawaiian shirts and then Prada did the Hawaiian shirt!&quot; Central Saint Martins MA head Professor Louise Wilson pushed him to carry on (via an expletive-laded speech) and in February 2011 Van Der Horst's collection leapt off the MA catwalk.</p><p>&quot;Perfectly tailored separates, those deliciously lush tropical prints, topped off with enough absurd frills to put a big smile on my face,&quot; is how Fashion East's Lulu Kennedy summarises Van Der Horst's graduation show, hibiscus-prints hula-ing their way across boxy, frill-packed separates that seemed to cross-breed the Hawaiian shirt with petticoat nylon. Or maybe that should be Polyester – not the fabric, but the John Waters movie that Van Der Horst could well be recostuming. &quot;The Hawaiian shirt... it's not John Waters, but it's so John Waters!&quot; Van Der Horst says.</p><p>That's part of its appeal. Over the past five or so years the shirt has been subject to many an ironic revival, vintage shirts splashed with lurid prints snapped up for a song. The Hawaiian shirt is the very nadir of naff, which for many immediately rendered it credible. In layman's terms, it's so uncool it's cool – the key to all the best fashion moments. But this summer, designers' Hawaiian moments are set to go mainstream, not just in the inevitable high-street &quot;homages&quot;to the designer prints, but in full-blown collaborations. Van Der Horst's graduation show not only caught the attention of Kennedy and just about every fashion editor in the Western hemisphere, it also attracted Topshop, which put its money where its mouth was and enlisted Van Der Horst to created a collaborative collection. &quot;Maarten's choice of the tropicals is totally on-trend with how everybody is thinking,&quot; says Kate Phelan of Van Der Horst's seven-piece high-summer Topshop collection, which is launching in-store and online on 19 April. &quot;The clever thing he's done is making the Hawaiian shirt a jacket and a Bermuda short, making it into a cool boy-girl feeling... it's very easy, it's very lo-fi design. It's based on the principles of quite a simple idea, but the print is what makes it feel special and right for this season.&quot;</p><p>Van Der Horst's printed blooms have been specially designed for his Topshop pieces, but for his own-label spring 2012 collection, he looked closer to the home of the shirt. &quot;We found a souvenir shop in Hawaii – and we just bought everything!&quot; Van Der Horst says, explaining that he bulk-buys his cottons in Waikiki. &quot;I thought we would find a factory that could make it, but no. We bought everything from a souvenir shop – the owner had no idea what happened to her!&quot; Couple that with Van Der Horst's designs, true-to-classic shirt shape with turn-down V-collar, a loose-fit and transparent buttons, this is an authentic ode to that so-wrong-it's-right shirt.</p><p>Van Der Horst's clothes may share an aesthetic heritage with Jack McCollough and Lazaro Hernandez's spring collection for Proenza Schouler, but the approach is different. Rather than true Hawaii, Proenza Schouler looked to middle-American Tikki culture in their raffia-embroidered skirts, eel-skin leathers and burnt orange and chartreuse Polynesian prints halfway between an shirt and beach-motel wallpaper. &quot;It was the idea of these land-locked people re-imagining primitive life,&quot; Hernandez says. &quot;Artifice, total fantasy.&quot; Bang – escape. That's what fashion's always searching for.</p><p>&quot;It's so 'Disney', isn't it?&quot; Kennedy says. &quot;An unrealistically brighter, cuter, less-messy version of reality.&quot; Oddly enough, that's what the shirt represented way back when – exoticism, fantasy and escape. To less-sophisticated eyes, this garment was an indicator of world travel, a jet-set souvenir, a true slice of island life. And today? It's still symbolic of escape, albeit into a kitsch fantasy of Americana past. &quot;I love the escapism of the references,&quot; Kennedy says. &quot;How it takes you someplace else, a happier place.&quot; Tasteful or not, isn't that what fashion should be all about?</p><p>Photographs: Julia Kennedy</p><p>Model: Kat Hessen at Next</p><p>Hair: Kota at Balcony Jump using Shu Uemura Art of Hair</p><p>Make-up: Kim Kiefer using Dr Hauschka skincare</p><p>Photographer's assistant: Patrick Schuttler</p><p>Stylist's assistant: Sky Moore-Clube</p><p>Illustrated in pastel and pencil by Anna Roberts; , , </p><p>And five years after first arriving in the UK, Swedish label Cos is becoming as much part of the fabric of our town centres as its stablemate, H&amp;M.</p><p>Launched with a catwalk show at the Royal Academy in 2007, and operating out of a coolly designed flagship store which occupies the ground floor of the old Dickins and Jones building on Regent Street in 2007, Cos (it stands for Collection of Style) has since become a wardrobe saviour; a go-to for simple and anonymous clothing, stylish basics and zeitgeist-y geometric and minimal pieces that owe their success as much to their casual complexity as they do to their reasonable, mid-market prices. After a favourable reception, branches opened in Manchester, Glasgow and Brighton – and the company will expand to Asia and the Middle East later this year.</p><p>&quot;At Cos, we want to propose a style inspired by architecture, graphics, design and arts,&quot; explains womenswear design manager Karin Gustaffson (pictured above).</p><p>&quot;To play with volume and proportion, rather than follow fashion trends. We have always hoped to create styles that last beyond the season.&quot;</p><p>This sort of refreshing, customer-focused logic is another part of the reason Cos has done so well. Arriving on our shores just prior to the financial meltdown, what Cos offered was a world away from the fast fashion prevalent at that time, suggesting timelessly classic but consciously current pieces that don't date or look tired.</p><p>&quot;I wouldn't say we have changed the high street,&quot; Gustaffson adds modestly, &quot;but it feels to us that customers' shopping habits have changed. They are looking for key styles that last, such as the white shirt, chinos and the little black dress, all of which we have interpreted to fit the modern lifestyle.&quot;</p><p>To mark its fifth anniversary, the brand has released a capsule collection of re-imagined white shirts, each finished variously with bib fronts or sporty, elasticated cuffs and cotton voile. While some of the label's design quirks might seem just that – a bit off the wall – Cos simply doesn't do faddy; to begin with, it barely even did colour. Initially, stores were stocked full of black and grey, sports-inspired drapery and tailoring that took inspiration from avant-garde labels such as Helmut Lang, Jil Sander and Marni, as well as some of the more utilitarian aspects of vintage Prada. It introduced, in subsequent seasons, vibrant neon brights and pastel hues, each delivery complementing what had come before and developing a coherent, and characteristic, sense of style.</p><p>&quot;We've been told that customers see us as filling a gap that exists between designer and high street,&quot; continues Gustaffson.</p><p>&quot;We pay a lot of attention to the quality of our garments and always look into ways to innovate fabrication to feel modern and interesting.&quot;</p><p>While Cos may be full of heavy slub jersey and traditional quality wools, there are also additions, such as neoprene, metal mesh and intriguing technofabrics, which give an added sense of quality and consideration to pieces which feel anything but mass-produced. Since its launch, Cos has been singular among non-designer brands at cultivating a sense of authenticity that doesn't come across as exclusive or in-the-know.</p><p>&quot;I'd attribute a lot of Cos's success to intelligent visual communication,&quot; says Agata Belcen, fashion editor at AnOther Magazine and a fan of the label's signature ascetism. &quot;It shares this with labels such as Céline, Comme des Garçons and Acne, who promote themselves not just with images of their products, but by letting us into their worlds with in-house magazines and non-commercial booklets. We're given an old portrait; an interview with a florist; a guiding principle that may have inspired them or may have no direct influence, but which is just something they'd like us to know about.&quot;</p><p>Undoubtedly Cos is more a lifestyle than it is a store: it's about buying into an aesthetic rather than picking a new party dress. Clothing is serious and designed to fit into the lives of its aficionados. And that vision just happens to have chimed perfectly with the vein of sleek modern minimalism that has enjoyed such a resurgence in the past five years, championed on the catwalks by the likes of Céline and Yves Saint Laurent. It's the understated garb of the creative industries, a destination for the directional, recognisable without being conspicuous. As far as fitting into the British high street goes, Cos has been as unassuming and understated as the clothes it sells – and is all the more alluring for its quiet confidence.</p><p>The crop top comes in many guises, from body-con to retro and from sporty to floaty. As long as it stops above the navel, anything goes. The most brave will be attracted to bra-style tops, as seen on the Dolce &amp; Gabbana catwalk, which have the look of a 1950s foundation garment about them. It's the style which requires the most confidence to wear as the underwear as outerwear detailing doesn't leave much to the imagination.</p><p>Bandeau tops are just as skimpy, while a cotton option with gathered edges is more sweet than brazen. Miuccia Prada prints her bandeau tops with cartoon hot rod cars and cuts them in luxurious matte silk and broderie anglaise. For those with more conservative taste, just as fashionable is a T-shirt or vest with a high hem and a width of 1980s proportions. This style is meant to be worn baggy and looks best when printed and bright. And just because it's a crop top doesn't mean it has to be so short it's exposed: cuts which fall to just below the waist are more than acceptable.</p><p> </p><p>The perfect pairing</p><p>Lessen the need to hold in your stomach when wearing a crop top by thinking carefully about what to wear it with. What works with these barely there separates? Skirts in all guises come to the rescue here. Prada and Dolce &amp; Gabbana both pair their crop tops with knee-length, figure-enhancing pencil skirts and the result is pleasingly 1950s pin-up poster girl. If that's too overtly sexy, a Sixties style, A-line skirt as seen at Miu Miu and Marc by Marc Jacobs is a less curvaceous, more playful and youthful alternative. High-waisted Daisy Dukes will also ensure a retro vibe, but only the super-confident (and super toned) need apply.</p><p>For those concerned about baring too much flesh, a crop top paired with a maxi skirt is less exposing – they look best cut in a casual material such as denim or cotton. For those who prefer to wear the trousers, a block- coloured, wide-legged cut with a simple bandeau or leather vest makes for a modern, high-impact look or skinny printed trousers with a retro bra-top is a sassy look.</p><p>If you can't be brave, be bold</p><p>Not everyone wants to bare their middle – even those in possession of a perfectly toned stomach don't necessarily want to show it off to everyone. Layer a crop top over something longer and rest safe in the knowledge that the new season's proportions are yours while modesty is in tact. Opt for a loose-fitting, cropped T-shirt style – Urban Outfitters does a great range of fun printed tees and simply wearing one over a longer length vest will save any blushes. This has the advantage of also appearing less try-hard than look-at-me bra tops.</p><p>Cropped outerwear is also an option and a trend that looks set to dominate the forthcoming autumn season too. A modern leather bomber, biker jacket or clean-line blazer cropped to just above the waist will be a welcome addition to any wardrobe. For those really wanting to get ahead of the times, meanwhile, the cropped Puffa jacket looks set to be popular in the near future.</p><p>Harriet Walker: How to get the body</p><p>Every season there comes at least one trend that you know won't work for you. It's usually something colourfully faddish or involves the sort of peacockery that only adolescents can get away with. So the rest of us smile indulgently – nostalgically even – and move on.</p><p>And for summer 2012, one of the most prevalent looks also happens to be the hardest to pull off: the bare midriff. There are few grown women who'd be comfortable wearing a bandeau top with a low slung pencil skirt, but if Miuccia Prada wants us to, then maybe it's time to heed the directive.</p><p>But you don't send troops into battle unarmed, and you don't show off a stomach that has spent winter gurgling and expanding happily beneath knitwear without taking it to task first.</p><p>The workout</p><p>&quot;Performing a great number of crunches and other abdominal specific exercises does not provide you with a flat stomach,&quot; trainer Vicky Smith tells me when I visit the headquarters of the Matt Roberts (he who is responsible for the sveltesse of Naomi Campbell and David Cameron) chain of fitness studios. &quot;Intensity during training is preferable to duration – you should be performing full-body sessions to get the biggest energy expenditure.&quot;</p><p>She then takes me through a circuits routine that includes leg squats, 40 seconds bursts of high-impact work on an exercise bike and cross trainer, and a horrible thing called the &quot;plank with reach&quot;, where you hold your body straight, supported by your toes and forearms and then stretch each arm out in turn. By the end of the session I am walking bent double, and the next day my torso resounds with the aftermath of hard work.</p><p>An initial consultation costs £185; one month of six sessions is £400, </p><p> </p><p>The science bit</p><p>Feeling somewhere between a mother-to-be and a microwavable ready-meal, I lie back and think of bare midriffs for the &quot;EF Ultra&quot; treatment. This claims to work by firing ultrasonic waves into the stomach (and can be used to target any wobbly area) to break down the membranes of cells and make them less good at their job of storing fat. The second phase is a blast of radiowaves applied to the same area, which apparently tighten the skin and stimulate collagen production and the metabolism.</p><p>In theory, it's a bit like waking up your flabby bits with cold water and then making them go on a 10-mile run. In reality, it's tingly without being unpleasant – and rather more palatable than a sweaty session in the gym.</p><p>£300 per session, six to eight sessions recommended, </p><p> </p><p>The embarrassing one</p><p>It isn't necessary to go into the particulars here but having a few litres of water repeatedly sloshed around your colon and sluiced out again isn't as unpleasant as it sounds. The procedure is painless, takes around half an hour and is morbidly fascinating. As well as claiming to expel molecules that irritate the gut and cause bloating, this left me feeling cleansed and wholesome and less willing to taint my whitewashed colon with any junk food either.</p><p>Colonic hydrotherapy £90, </p><p>Not in the sense, necessarily, of big news or even making a big noise but literally. Leave it to Rei Kawakubo of Comme des Garçons to show every other designer how this might best be done. Her collection of &quot;two dimensional&quot; (flattened) and enormous clothes in uncompromising colours – blithe blues, pinks, reds, yellows and with Legoland bobbed hair to match – and printed with everything from leopard spots and faded cabbage roses set the tone for the season. The effect was brilliant. And gentle in intention too. In a world where over-exposure – and the over-exposure of women in particular and in predictably uncharitable a manner – is the story, anyone, big, small, short or tall could wear these clothes. The designer stated that it was their individual shape that would give body to the clothes. It's beautiful to be bold.</p><p>It seems not insignificant that Céline's Phoebe Philo appeared to be thinking along similar lines. Although hers was a more conventional working wardrobe, shapes were scaled up – broad-shouldered masculine coats and low-slung trousers with a wide, curved leg in particular – and flattened too, from the front or the side. This was a perfect, small and intimate presentation where every last detail had been studied to the nth degree, and purity – not to mention fashion envy – was the result.</p><p>Hussein Chalayan is a designer who has long demonstrated a profound respect for the woman who wears his clothes. For him too, enveloping the body as opposed to parading it, thus creating a private dialogue between wearer and clothes, is important. Roomy grey flannel coats were fused with neon techno-foam and loose-fitting column dresses made for the most modern statement in eveningwear that has been seen for some time.</p><p>Mushrooms inspired Alexander McQueen's Sarah Burton, she said. And they too were big. They were very big. Moving away from a signature, pencil-thin silhouette, clothing appeared to sprout from and grow on the body. Add to extreme volume fluttering feathers, dandelion and cherry blossom embroideries and enamel flowers, uncompromising platinum hair, mirrored visors and heel-less &quot;horse shoe&quot; boots and the effect was extraordinary.</p><p>Is the era of the superstar designer coming to an end? Certainly, it appears that those who remain behind the scenes are garnering the most critical acclaim. Burton cut her teeth in this way; Chalayan's is a quietly contemplative aesthetic as opposed to an amplified one; Philo has always preferred to express herself through her work and Kawakubo – of course – is famously averse to personal attention.</p><p>The Balenciaga designer, Nicolas Ghesquière, is also backwards in coming forwards and this despite the fact that he is the most talented designer of his generation and a man whose shows are so full of ideas and imagination that they consistently live up to the greatest expectations. Here were Balenciaga office workers (hence the 1980s hair) but of the sort that might turn up of a morning in a slightly skew patch-worked cocktail dress from the night before with a drop dead chic (big) wool overcoat with leather lapels over the top. It's safe to say that few women in the average workplace are this incredibly dressed. Embroidered power sweater shirts over stiff A-line skirts and more in satin hand-embroidered with jewels and printed with lurid sci-fi imagery and slogans including JOIN A WEIRD TRIP and OUT OF THE BLUE will doubtless turn out to be the most expensive garments of their kind in fashion history. And they'll sell out the minute they hit the rails.</p><p>Martin Margiela was the ultimate invisible designer. When he retired from the label he founded the fashion world went into mourning and his handwriting continues to inform the industry's most high-profile names. His successor – and it should be pointed out long-time first assistant – Nina Nitsche has not been treated kindly by the press. This season, however, she found her stride, casting aside the gimmicky Margiela By Numbers mindset in favour of a lovely collection that was big – obviously – both in terms of size and on ideas. Exaggerated funnel necks, a super-wide shoulder, giant gingham and deconstructed kimonos were all in line with the spirit of this label and moved it forward to boot.</p><p>When Maria Grazia Chiuri and Pier Paolo Piccioli arrived at Valentino they too struggled to invest the label with the refined form of glamour it represented. Allowing them time to settle was a smart move. Now, this is one of the most hotly anticipated shows of the Paris season and, with no big mise en scène, concept or grand gestures to be seen, that is all because of the loveliness of the clothes. In particular, the pair tread the line between embellishment and restraint in a manner that should make the house's namesake proud.</p><p>Here too there was volume but it was so subtle and intelligently judged that it was delicately feminine, not fierce. Tailoring was almost virginal in its covered-up purity, cotton gowns fitted at the torso and with sweet puffed skirts and scalloped edges were equally demure. Mia Farrow in Rosemary's Baby sprang to mind just as she did in the designer's couture show in January. The youthful, beautiful and, it goes without saying, wealthy, would do well to shop here.</p><p>Rumour has it that Haider Ackermann was sent flowers at the Dior atelier following his show. Someone wants him to get the job, then. And with good reason. Another designer feted by the fashion insider and as quiet in person as the proverbial mouse, his collection was a powerful display of pattern-cutting expertise and sensitivity to the female form. Ackermann was educated at the Academy of Fine Arts in Antwerp and it shows. Sculpted leather, weightless volume and possibly the finest sense of colour in the business made for wonderful viewing.</p><p>At Dries Van Noten too, if the man behind the label is a reluctant star, the clothes speak volumes. This master of delicately executed pattern and print took antique clothing – a vintage kimono or ancient Chinese robe – and spliced them up, applying them to a contemporary silhouette in ever more inventive ways. These clothes could be studied for hours – and worn for years – and it would be impossible to tire of them. Understandably, women the world over love this designer for that.</p><p>Miuccia Prada bored by skirts shock! The trouser suit loomed large on the Miu Miu runway and the result was playfully nerdy. Stripes, checks, hounds-tooth and more were coloured up in a rich and unpredictable fashion and a coolly knowing, typically idiosyncratic look was great.</p><p>Toot! Toot! Happy birthday Marc Jacobs at Louis Vuitton. He has been at the helm of this house for 15 years and his play on proportions – big clothes on small people, deceptively childlike embroideries which were, in fact, worthy of the most elevated haute couture runway and, of course, the finest bags known to fashion, cemented his position as perhaps the industry's most powerful player.</p><p>Vreeland (1903-1989) was one of the sacred monsters of the fashion world: a magazine editor who used to browbeat her photographers and models; who never deferred to her publishers or advertisers and who approached each new issue of her magazines with a messianic zeal.</p><p>Don't suggest to Lisa Immordino Vreeland (the director of the new film) that her grandmother-in-law's chosen world was superficial. Immordino Vreeland contends that &quot;Mrs Vreeland&quot; (as she respectfully calls her) was a fashion revolutionary: a career woman who changed the way women dressed while also transforming the world of magazine publishing. According to the director, Vreeland also created the modern-day fashion editor. Before she arrived, fashion was the domain of &quot;society ladies&quot; who would offer advice on how women could please their husbands or cook a nice pie.</p><p>Vreeland was the one who discovered Lauren &quot;Betty&quot; Bacall (long before Howard Hawks cast her in To Have and Have Not and The Big Sleep) and was responsible for Jackie Kennedy's &quot;look&quot; during JFK's early days at the White House. She was the high priestess of exoticism. &quot;She had a taste for the extraordinary and the extreme,&quot; Anjelica Huston says of her on camera. &quot;She would go anywhere,&quot; a photographer notes, claiming that Vreeland would have arranged photo-shoots in outer space if her publishers had allowed it.</p><p>For all her extravagance, Vreeland also possessed the common touch. An early champion of denim and of bikinis, she brought colour and fantasy into readers' lives as well as images of clothes they could conceive themselves wearing.</p><p>It's striking how terrified of Mrs Vreeland so many of her former colleagues remain. For example, Ali MacGraw, who worked as her assistant in the days before she became a movie star, talks with evident alarm of Vreeland &quot;storming into the office&quot; and barking out orders. MacGraw portrays a character altogether more terrifying than Anna Wintour, the current editor of Vogue, or the Wintour-like magazine editor played by Meryl Streep in The Devil Wears Prada. On one occasion, Vreeland returned to the office after lunch and hurled her coat at MacGraw, expecting the assistant to hang it up. Instead, MacGraw hurled it back. Vreeland was furious but also admired her assistant's gumption.</p><p>Invariably, half her staff was reduced to tears before the day was over. Even so, they grew (and remained) devoted to her. Immordino Vreeland contends that Vreeland's intimidating persona is one reason why no films have been made directly about her now (although she is referenced in everything from Stanley Donen's Funny Face to Douglas McGrath's Truman Capote drama Infamous.)</p><p>The Eye Has to Travel is one of an increasing number of feature documentaries about formidable figures in the fashion world. These docs have certain traits in common. They're unashamedly nostalgic, evoking a lost world of couture and glamour. Their central characters (whether designers like Valentino or editors like Vreeland) are exotic and eccentric figures. Their private lives are shadowy and they only really come to life when they're working.</p><p>&quot;Why don't you paint a map of the world of all four corners of your boy's nursery so they won't grow up with a provincial point of view... why don't you wear violet velvet mittens with everything,&quot; the precocious nine-year-old Olivia Vreeland suggested midway through my interview with her mother, Lisa. These are snippets of Diana Vreeland's journalism in the 1930s, when she started her career writing a &quot;why don't you column&quot; in Harper's Bazaar. They're included in the film and Olivia can still recite them perfectly. Such brittle and witty one-liners seemed frivolous as the Second World War broke and Vreeland stopped the column. </p><p>However, watching the film, you begin to suspect that the &quot;why don't you&quot; columns weren't entirely tongue in cheek. In the rarefied world that Vreeland inhabited, washing your blond child's hair in dead champagne to keep its sheen (&quot;like they do in France&quot;) was probably what passed for common sense. Lisa Immordino Vreeland, a designer and former fashion PR, never actually met Mrs Vreeland but is so steeped in her life that she arguably knows her much better than either her relatives or old colleagues. &quot;I got to know her through my research,&quot; the director (who pored through 26 years worth of Harper's Bazaar and nine years of Vogue as well as records of Vreeland's controversial stint as consultant at the Costume Institute of the Metropolitan Museum of Modern Art.)</p><p>More than 40 &quot;talking heads&quot; feature in the documentary, among them some of the most celebrated names in the fashion world. What is startling is how differently her family and her colleagues remember her. To her sons, she was an absentee mother. They testify how they wish she could have been just an ordinary parent, like the ones their school friends had.</p><p>Immordino Vreeland's primary interest is in &quot;the professional side&quot; of Vreeland. The relatives dutifully appear on camera, talking about her with a mix of bafflement and affection but the director doesn't want to probe too deeply into her family background or Diana's relationship with her husband. Her childhood is skimmed over although it's hinted that her drive to succeed came from her difficult relationship with her mother, a society beauty who scorned her as the ugly duckling of the family.</p><p>&quot;In her autobiography, she [Vreeland] talks about the fact that her mother called her 'her little monster',&quot; the director recalls. &quot;She had a beautiful younger sister who was her mother's favourite. She said, 'Well, I've got to become an original because if my looks are not going to bring me somewhere, I've got to be original in thought, style and the way I express myself.'&quot;</p><p>The director contends that Vreeland's style was &quot;actually quite classical.&quot; In spite of her own (slightly ghoulish) appearance – tight skull cap, dyed jet-black hair – she believed above all in elegance.</p><p>Just occasionally, the documentary hints at its subject's vulnerability. Vreeland had had almost no formal education. She was such an intimidating presence that few would challenge her. However, she had her knock-backs. She was fired from Vogue and overlooked for the top editorial position at Bazaar. When she was organizing costume exhibitions at the Met, other curators questioned her academic credentials. The Queen Bee was in her element when she was editing a magazine but was a forlorn and diminished figure when she was between jobs and trying to adjust to &quot;ordinary&quot; life.</p><p>Unlike many fashion editors and commentators today, Vreeland was open to the world outside the hot-house atmosphere of the shows and the catwalks. She thrived in the 1960s, embracing pop culture, civil rights and the new permissiveness. British photographer David Bailey testifies that she was the first to publish a picture of (a then little-known) Mick Jagger in a fashion magazine. Under her stewardship, the pages of Vogue featured not only Twiggy and Jean Shrimpton but Maria Callas, Luchino Visconti, Alexander Calder and Truman Capote. Vreeland was always drawn to the oddball: if models were very tall (like Veruschka von Lehndorff) or had irregular features, she would pick up on it. &quot;If you have a long nose, hold it up and make it your trademark&quot; was her attitude and explained why she featured Barbra Streisand as a model, emphasizing her &quot;Nefertiti nose.&quot;</p><p>The elegiac quality in The Eye Has to Travel is self-evident. &quot;Those [the 1960s] were the golden years of Vogue,&quot; the director states. &quot;Before, it was very much a society magazine but she brought life to it. She brought culture, she brought interest... they really covered art, culture and literature.&quot;</p><p>'Diana Vreeland: the Eye Has to Travel' will be released in the UK later this summer</p><p>Rumours of Simons' departure have been whispered around the industry for almost six months, and the announcement will only serve to increase speculation that the Belgian designer is destined for the top job at French house Christian Dior, a vacancy that has remained conspicuously unfilled since John Galliano's dismissal last March.</p><p>&quot;Jil Sander thanks Raf Simons for his dedicated commitment to the brand and wishes him the very best for the future,&quot; the company said in a statement. &quot;The group will communicate the appointment of a new creative director in the next few days.&quot;</p><p>In a strange twist, Jil Sander herself, the German designer who founded the label in 1968, gave an interview published yesterday in which she told the German magazine Gaia that she would like to return to the brand which bears her name. The Milan-based company has declined to comment on this.</p><p>Sander originally left the label in 2000 after selling a 75 per cent stake to the Prada Group, citing disagreements with CEO Patrizio Bertelli. They negotiated a truce and she returned in 2003, only to leave again the following year for the same reason. After a period of retirement, Sander's name became common currency once more when she signed on to collaborate with Japanese high street chain Uniqlo in 2009.</p><p>Since his appointment to the label in 2005, designer Raf Simons has brought his own version of conceptual femininity to Jil Sander. Originally a brand that thrived during the Nineties vogue for minimal design with its androgynous subversion of the masculine wardrobe, Simons' more delicate version of fashionable purism has widened the label's reach and developed its personality considerably.</p><p>&quot;I was thinking about the heritage of Jil Sander,&quot; he said backstage at last season's acclaimed show, in which he mixed Fifties dirndl skirts and dresses with paisley and Picasso prints, &quot;but I don't want to use her methods anymore. I want it to be sexier, more romantic.&quot; Simons' past three collections have been dubbed his &quot;couture trilogy&quot; by some, as his aesthetic has reached ever more ambitious and exquisite heights. Could they have been preparation for a new beginning elsewhere? The fashion world waits with baited breath.</p><p>Meanwhile, the catwalk schedule continued with MaxMara and Fendi yesterday showing two very different versions of luxury. The former developed several trends to have emerged previously in both New York and London, with military-inspired olive greatcoats made from double cashmere, as well as houndstooth and Prince of Wales check knits embellished with sparkling crystals.</p><p>Karl Lagerfeld's collection for Fendi is sure to divide opinion, with its use of exotic furs and skins. Tufted fox decorated the shoulders of cable- knit sweaters, while goat hair was dyed canary yellow for a shaggy and striking finale. Whatever the ethical dilemmas, there is a demand for such materials in Italy – and, most importantly, the emerging markets – and this is a collection sure to satisfy those tastes.</p><p>Yesterday evening also saw another of Milan's biggest names unveiling their autumn range. &quot;I didn't want to talk about power, but about being important,&quot; said Miuccia Prada after showing her collection of mainly tailored pieces, printed with vintage lozenge and rhomboid prints from the label's own archive. &quot;And about the importance of beauty. It wasn't ideas, just clothes.&quot;</p><p>These came in an idiosyncratic silhouette, with waists cinched at empire-line height by belts with chunky plastic buckles, short trousers layered with mid-length kilt-style skirts and cropped frock coats with tails that were also embellished with plastic tiles, crystals and mirrored beads.</p><p>Initial pieces in plain black wool felt austere, but as the collection moved from darker separates to suiting, a palette of increasingly challenging colour combinations emerged. The graphic prints had a seventies feel - in orange and purple, mustard and brown, even navy and black - and repeating pastille imagery was picked out in 3D with yet more oversized plastic adornments.</p><p>&quot;They were fake prints,&quot; Prada said. &quot;Just plastic not jewels. It was poor embroidery.&quot;</p><p>But it was of the highest quality, of course, from a powerhouse known for her attention to detail.</p><p>Fashion week in Milan continues today with catwalk shows from Versace and Moschino.</p><p>After I remortgaged my house to pay the fare, I wandered over a bridge and there were the manga girls, who follow the style of Japanese comics. To say they were a disappointment would be no exaggeration. I'd imagined hundreds of weird alien youth all dressed up with nowhere to go. As it was there were two girls who looked like they used to be in Strawberry Switchblade and one dressed as a plastic nurse. I tried to take their picture but two men jumped out with signs in English saying: &quot;You no take piktcher.&quot; I didn't bother arguing and hopped on to the underground to head for the Imperial Palace. I got to an impressive set of ancient walls surrounded by a wide moat. This was going to be good. </p><p>After 20 minutes wandering around, I realised the problem: the Imperial Palace is wonderful except... there is no actual palace, which I do think should be mentioned in the guidebooks. It's just a park full of people looking for a palace. </p><p>I popped into the Museum of Modern Art where there was an exhibition of Japanese nudes. It seemed very full. I then decided against this as it felt a touch pervy. </p><p>Half an hour later I was in Akihabara. This, I was told by everyone I met, was the best place in the world for electronic shopping. Indeed, it was so popular that the entire street had been closed to traffic so that shoppers could wander about. Again, it was not that impressive – just a larger version of all those stores on Tottenham Court Road that sell everything with a plug. I suppose I was expecting to be able to purchase a house robot or a flying car, but it was all irons and televisions. </p><p>Undaunted, I headed for Ginza and the famous &quot;Brand Street&quot;. This is another huge boulevard, closed off to the public, that has every big name store from Prada to Tiffany's. In and out of these glitzy money palaces I went, but I ended up feeling curiously depressed by the whole experience. Just as I was about to bail out, I spotted a sign saying Beer Hall. This seemed very timely and not a touch out of place. I dived in. </p><p>It was built in the 1930s and had a very authentic Bavarian feel, complete with rather impressive old murals. Diminutive Japanese women tried their best to appear buxom and Bavarian while plonking huge three-pint glasses of Sapporo on your table. It was an extraordinary place and rather highlighted the peculiarities of travel in Japan. </p><p>In the middle of the large room sat a woman in full geisha garb, minus the white face paint. She was knocking back a huge glass of beer while typing on her iPhone. I sat back and tucked into the beer – then I ordered another. By the time this was under way, all thoughts of shopping were receding. Happy New Year... hic. </p><p>“The cargo ship that has served as the main mode of transport between America's Cup World Series venues arrived this week in Valencia, where it will discharge its cargo”, said an official statement.</p><p>&quot;We took the decision to land the equipment in Valencia, after considering several factors,&quot; explained regatta director Iain Murray. &quot;There is a possibility for a number of teams to train together in Valencia, given the local infrastructure from the previous America's Cups there.&quot;</p><p>Following a three-month stop in Valencia, all the equipment will be shipped out from Valencia in the middle of March, in time for the start of the world series event in Naples, Italy on April 7, 2012, said America’s Cup Race Management.</p><p>Previously Murray, now firmly in charge of overall management of the America’s Cup on behalf of Russell Coutts, had said: “The bulk of the equipment is going to Naples,” But he discounted any thoughts of using Valencia as an alternative, saying: “We have built very strong standards in broadcast and regatta management, so for us to go back [to Valencia] is not really in our interests of promoting our assets of the America’s Cup going forwards.”</p><p>There is an investigation being carried out by the Naples city authorities over the suitability of the original Bagnoli site for the regatta village because of the possibility that toxic waste has been buried in the vicinity. The smaller Via Caracciolo site is the favoured alternative.</p><p>British Olympic silver medallist Chris Draper has left Team Korea, one of eight challengers contesting the AC45 series ahead of the launch next July of the first of the 72-foot wing-powered catamarans in which the 2013 America’s Cup will be sailed.</p><p>Team Korea says it will announce a new skipper to take over for the Italian regattas in April and May. The Italian, Prada-backed Luna Rossa will begin training with Team New Zealand in Auckland in January as it builds its first AC72 in collaboration with the Kiwis.</p><p>In the Volvo round the world race France’s Groupama, skippered by Franck Cammas, led the fleet into the ‘stealth zone’ which hides the positions of the five remaining boats – the damaged Chinese entry Sanya is in Madagascar for repairs - as part of protecting them from Somalian pirates.</p><p>They are all heading towards the Doldrums with a clear difference of opinion about the most favourable strip to cross. Groupama was tending to the west, with second-placed Puma (Ken Read/USA) heading east, crossing Groupama’s tracks.</p><p>Telefónica (Iker Martínez/ESP), the third boat, and Camper (Chris Nicholson/AUS) are clearly intent on shooting through to the east, while Ian Walker and Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing are still formulating their plans, 187.5 nautical miles behind the leading boat.</p><p>A watch can be a tricky purchase; play safe with an elegant number in a stylish silver-and-gold colour combination.£250, seiko.co.uk, 01628 770988</p><p>2. Earrings</p><p>Prada's new capsule collection of jewellery comes in high on many a label-lover's Christmas list; try these chandelier earrings for a head-turning look.£320, Prada, prada.com</p><p>3. Purse</p><p>You can't go wrong with a purchase from this quintessentially English brand. Invest in a timeless classic.£280, Mulberry, mulberry.com</p><p>4. Make-up</p><p>Invest in the best for the beauty lover in your life. Sisley's Skinleya is a revolutionary foundation which benefits from the brands famed anti-ageing technology. £110, Sisley, 020-7591 6380</p><p>5. Handbag</p><p>Stella McCartney's shoulder bag can spruce up any look, and in a pillar-box red it's effortlessly chic.£665, Stella McCartney, stellamccartney.com</p><p>6. Ring</p><p>For a quirky twist on classic jewellery, choose this adorable bunny ring in 22ct-gold plated silver, from brother and sister design duo Zoe and Morgan. £77, Zoe and Morgan, matchesfashion.com</p><p>7. Heels</p><p>If you've got cash to splash, give the glamour puss in your life the ultimate twinkle-toe look with these starry shoes. £330, Dolce &amp; Gabbana, dolcegabbana.com</p><p>From the top floor of the by now lovingly restored and quietly impressive place the views over the city, including the famous cathedral with the Rubens' altarpiece, are spectacular. This particular area is reserved for buying appointments and all of that profession who attend can expect to be served with traditional Flemish fare – meatloaf with cherries and roast potatoes, to be precise. Much of the raw structure of the building has been preserved and it is furnished by an eclectic mix of antiques. Van Noten is an avid collector and so, when the Antwerp courts of justice chose to rid themselves of any original 1930s fixtures and fittings, for example, he was only too happy to take these items off their hands. There's a black, high-shine 1960s sofa here, oil-painted portraits of King Baudouin and Queen Fabiola of Belgium in gilded frames there, all of which form a perfectly harmonious and relatively domestic counterpoint to a sense of industry and modernity that is also very much in evidence throughout.</p><p>On the third floor, bolts of fabric from past seasons are piled up on shelves alongside zips, buttons and labels. Van Noten's labels are distinctive, as the size of the garment is printed beneath his name. Although the complex nature of his design process renders his twice-yearly collections more difficult than most to copy, the archive is a precious commodity and is closely guarded for that. It is testimony to the fact that Van Noten's rise to success was a gradual one that it dates back no further than the mid-Nineties. Until that point, and still struggling to make ends meet, he paid his models in clothes, as was the custom with any up-and-coming name worth his or her credentials at the time. On the second floor, the newly arrived (and vast) spring/summer collection hangs in polythene wraps and is subjected to rigorous quality control before being shipped around the world to upwards of 500 points of sale.</p><p>Van Noten's office and studio is on the fourth floor. He's dressed today in smart blue chinos and sweater (I am reliably informed that he doesn't wear jeans) and is kept company by his dog, Harry, a magnificent Airedale terrier with a butch bark and a gait like a prima ballerina, all out-turned toes. &quot;Harry is a lot of work,&quot; Van Noten says. On weekdays and when he doesn't have the run of the designer's famously lovely garden at his 19th-century home on the outskirts of the city, Harry has his own unusually glamorous dog walker.</p><p>It's more than 30 years since Van Noten founded his business. With a turnover estimated at around 50 million euros a year, it is a minor miracle that the label remains entirely independent and ultimately under the control of this unassuming and highly civilised man. In the last decade of the 20th century, when corporate superpowers were snapping up each and every designer name they could get their hands on, Van Noten resisted the temptation to play along, although &quot;I thought at certain points that was maybe the way to go, that that was the future. The big groups weren't only buying labels but also all the factories. Our shoes were made in Italy. The heel manufacturer was sold to Gucci, I think, the last manufacturer to the Prada Group and the producer itself was bought by Armani. My most important yarn suppliers were also bought by Prada. And it's still like that at least some of the time.&quot; In the end, though, &quot;that's not my way of doing things. I like to choose my own way forward. I really do want to create something that I personally like a lot.&quot;</p><p>For similar reasons, Van Noten doesn't design a pre-collection or any subsidiary lines, preferring instead to concentrate on two ready-to-wear collections for both men and women a year, all four of which he shows in Paris. &quot;For me, the show is the only moment when I can tell my story,&quot; he says. &quot;It's the way I communicate my ideas to the world.&quot; The collections are expansive in that they include both high-end and entry-point pieces.</p><p>&quot;For me personally, there's too much fashion around in this world,&quot; Van Noten says – not something one might expect to hear from the mouth of a fashion designer. &quot;There are too many images, too many impressions and the danger is that the whole thing is lost in one big blur. That's a pity. Before you had only images from ready-to-wear designers, now there's Topshop, Diesel... Everyone does fashion shows and produces imagery that is as strong as possible, just to attract attention. In the past, it was twice a year for men and twice a year for women and then there was couture. It was far more definite and there was breathing space in between.&quot;</p><p>Given that today's industry is notoriously driven by money-spinning accessories, it is equally remarkable that less than 10 per cent of this designer's business is based on those. &quot;I'm a fashion designer, not a shoe designer,&quot; he says by way of explanation. &quot;I like to design clothes. It seems strange to me that people buy a whole outfit in a high-street store, but they still have very expensive shoes. OK, shoes and bags are important but not so important. The whole thing, the combination of all the elements, is important.&quot; Van Noten chooses not to advertise or bombard celebrities with his designs, although he has dressed Cate Blanchett and Maggie Gyllenhaal for the red carpet. &quot;Who are the clothes for?&quot; he wonders. &quot;It is challenging to create clothes for people who perhaps don't have the perfect body, who aren't a size 38, and to put those into the collection too. Why not? It's a real world out there.&quot;</p><p>We are talking today about his offering for his spring/summer collection, currently flying out of stores, and something of a departure from Van Noten's signature, more ethnically-informed work. Now, as always, however, the fabrics take precedence, providing the starting point for the collection – although never at the expense of the silhouette, which is just as considerate of its wearer's needs as it always has been.</p><p>&quot;The idea was to find things that were aesthetically interesting but which have no connection with fashion at all,&quot; the designer says. &quot;I thought: 'What would happen if we use elements on garments that were not created to be printed on garments?'.&quot; Van Noten looked at technical drawings of butterfly wings from the 17th century and at 18th-century black-and-white etchings of landscapes. &quot;What's on the etchings? A lake and some houses. So, OK, that's the way they used to do it, now let's look at the modern way of doing it. So we have water from the 18th century and we have 21st-century water, too.&quot;</p><p>Then there's his collaboration with the photographer James Reeve to consider – Van Noten first came across his work at the Hyères International Fashion and Photography Festival in 2010 when he was president of the fashion side of the event, which is aimed at nurturing young talent. &quot;He obviously has a completely different way of looking at cities,&quot; Van Noten says. Reeve's night-time images of everything from London's Albert Bridge to the casinos of Las Vegas have a similar quality to that seen when flying over urban spaces at night. Applied to clothing, at first sighting each piece appears to be scattered with tiny jewels. It is only when looked at more carefully that these patterns reveal themselves to be figurative. &quot;We had to find a balance between the prints and achieving a garment that is nice to look at and, especially, nice to wear.&quot;</p><p>You do indeed, but there is something uplifting about wearing an oversized cotton dress or vest that turns out to be printed with blue sea, green palm fronds or ancient black-and-white sycamore trees – or indeed all of these things at the same time. &quot;The danger with prints like these is that we would end up with very simple sack shapes – you can't use too many seams,&quot; Van Noten says. The solution? The cut of the garment looks to mid-20th-century Spanish and Italian haute couture – and to Balenciaga especially – for inspiration. &quot;French couture at that period was very Cardin and Courrèges,&quot; Van Noten explains. &quot;Whereas in Spanish and Italian couture it was more about lace and about ruffles – olé, olé! – and I like that much better.&quot;</p><p>Dries Van Noten was born in Antwerp in 1958. His grandfather was proprietor of a men's ready-to-wear clothing store in the city. His father was responsible for a larger designer clothing boutique in its suburbs. &quot;It was a completely new concept,&quot; Van Noten remembers. &quot;Until that point, all the stores were in the city centre. This was destination shopping ... on a Saturday people would drive to the store. It was menswear, womenswear, childrenswear, there were small fashion shows every weekend.&quot; Van Noten's elder brother and two sisters were at university studying by this point, so he used to join his father after school and do his homework there. His mother also owned a clothing store and collected antique linen and lace. &quot;During the school holidays, I accompanied my parents on buying trips to Milan, Florence and Paris,&quot; Van Noten says. It is fair to say, then, that fashion is in his blood.</p><p>By the time he was 18, in 1976, Van Noten was ready to enter the prestigious Royal Academy of Fine Arts in his home town and to undertake the rigorous fashion course there presided over by the infamous Mme Prigot. &quot;She thought that long hair for girls was untidy, that they had to have a chignon, or she just took them to the hairdresser's herself and paid for them to have it cut off. Oh, and she didn't like knees,&quot; says Van Noten now. &quot;She thought the only good fashion designer in the world was Coco Chanel. It was the end of the 1970s. It was punk. Of course, when you have that many restrictions you rebel against them and that makes things quite interesting.</p><p>It is the stuff of legend that, with Ann Demeulemeester, Dirk Van Saene, Dirk Bikkembergs, Marina Yee and Walter Van Beirendonck, Van Noten formed the Antwerp Six, perhaps safe in the knowledge that few outside their native country would remember, or even be able to pronounce, their individual names. In 1986, and with Van Noten having worked as a freelance designer since graduating in 1980, they drove their collections to London in a van and took the biannual collections in the British capital by storm. They were all completely different, both personally and professionally, of course, but they shared a belief that it was possible to break from tradition and to create innovative fashion without outside financial support. It says something of those involved that, to varying degrees, they went on to do just that. Although Van Noten remains friends with most of his contemporaries, he brushes off any suggestion that there is a shared Belgian aesthetic. &quot;But we maybe do look more at clothes piece by piece. That's why shops can easily sell Belgian designers, because they can mix their clothes with other things.&quot;</p><p>Van Noten's own pragmatic approach is certainly refreshing. &quot;Doing only the creative part of the job would be boring,&quot; he says. &quot;In the end, it's all part of the same thing. What's the point of designing something if afterwards you don't know whether it sold? It's not that if something sells really well we're going to repeat it, because everyone who wanted to buy it has done so already and will want to move on to something else. But it keeps me in touch. I keep in mind what people want and maybe also why they want it. Did other countries buy it? Yes, no. Why did a collection not sell very well in one country when it sold fairly well in another? Maybe the balance of certain shapes wasn't right, the volumes were too oversized or not oversized enough. It's interesting. I like to look at that.&quot;</p><p>Van Noten says that he is, for the most part, left alone when out and about in his home town. &quot;People recognise me but not too much. I'm more recognised when I walk around in Tokyo or Hong Kong than I am here. And that's good because I'm not really a big fan of that. I like to have my own life. I have my house. I am able to do things I like to do which are not always the most fashionable...&quot; He lives with his long-time partner, Patrick Vangheluwe, and they work together, too. Cooking and gardening are both high on their list of favourite pastimes.</p><p>&quot;I think it's the dream of every fashion designer to have six months off,&quot; Van Noten says. &quot;To have a sabbatical just once because it all goes so fast. But that's impossible. I'm forced to think about the future because I have a responsibility to the people who work for me and who have been working here for 10 years, as well as to the people who open stores and to suppliers. We have a few thousand people working for us in India who do the embroideries, for example, so I have to make sure that every season I sell so many pieces of embroidery that represent so many hours of work...&quot;</p><p>Although Van Noten travels frequently, he's as likely to spend the summer driving around the northern English countryside as fly off to anywhere more obviously exotic. He has spoken in the past of his clothes being inspired &quot;by travel of the mind&quot;. Of Paris, where he has a second office and showroom, he says: &quot;I'm always very happy to go to Paris but I'm always, also, very happy to leave. Paris is a city where you need a lot of energy to survive.&quot;</p><p>Dries Van Noten is Antwerp's most successful designer. His stand-alone store on a corner at the city's centre, around a 15-minute walk from his office headquarters, is a destination for local residents – who queue round the block each time a new collection arrives – and tourists alike. It's an elegant space where staff are attentive and well-informed but never intrusive.</p><p>&quot;Antwerp is a very easy city to live in, I think,&quot; the designer says. It helps that it is lovely to look at, too. As so too are Dries Van Noten's clothes. They are a multi-faceted, cultural and philosophical reflection of one another in more ways than one. Above all, though, both are somehow modest – this is neither a city nor a fashion designer that likes things loud.</p><p>&quot;I don't really want to make clothes that shout,&quot; Van Noten says. &quot;I think the people who buy our clothes are quite individual. They're not buying them because they want the label or because they want people to admire that label. They're buying them because they like them.&quot;<br><br>MODEL: LEAH DE WAVRIN AT IMG <br><br>MAKE-UP: EMMA MILES USING JAPONESQUE <br><br>HAIR: CHRISTOPHER SWEENEY AT DWM USING BUMBLE &amp;BUMBLE <br><br>PHOTOGRAPHER’S ASSISTANT: JED SKRZYPCZAK <br><br>ALL CLOTHES FROM THE DRIES VAN NOTEN SPRING/SUMMER COLLECTION, AVAILABLE FROM HARVEY NICHOLS, HARVEYNICHOLS.COM; SELFRIDGES, SELFRIDGES.COM; AND BROWNS, BROWNSFASHION.COM. <br><br>ALL SUNGLASSES DRIES VAN NOTEN BY LINDA FARROW, LINDAFARROW.CO.UK</p><p>&quot;I'm possibly the wrong person to ask. I got married after a year of engagement,&quot; acknowledges Blunt, 29, who dated the US actor John Krasinski for just nine months before becoming engaged. They walked down the aisle two years ago at their friend George Clooney's home at Lake Como, Italy. Before that she was involved in a three-year relationship with the Canadian crooner Michael Bublé. Having come to the attention of Hollywood six years ago with a break-out role in The Devil Wears Prada, the British actress has effortlessly adapted to the ex-pat lifestyle and lives with her husband high up in the Hollywood Hills overlooking Sunset Strip. &quot;It's such a lovely time for me right now,&quot; she says. This year, she has already starred in Lasse Hallstrom's Salmon Fishing in the Yemen and has roles forthcoming in the sci-fi action film Looper with Bruce Willis, and the independent comedy Your Sister's Sister.</p><p>&quot;Happiness is different for everyone. Some people are happy cultivating drama, but I'm personally quite even and easy-going. I'm just enjoying the selfish spontaneity of life right now, which I think all changes when you have children. I'm from a big family, so I would like to have children. I don't quite know when, though.&quot; The second of four children born to actress Joanna and high-profile barrister Peter Blunt, she was raised in the affluent west-London suburb of Roehampton. &quot;I've got plenty of time. I have a lot of friends who are having babies right now, and I feel like there are so many social opinions on it from other women. It's all so snobby and imperious the opinions that some women have on motherhood. 'You didn't breastfeed?' That is so condescending. It seems like the worst part about being pregnant is the birth classes where everyone asks, 'Is this your first?'. That's the part of it that I dread,&quot; says Blunt.</p><p>&quot;I think those attitudes are a very American thing although there's no going back for me – this is my home now,&quot; she says. She still indulges in British treats such as tea and toast and apparently forcibly introduces non-Brits to Marmite on set.</p><p>Today, as we chat in a Beverly Hills hotel just 10 minutes from her home, she's all movie-star glamour, dressed in a cream Dolce &amp; Gabbana silk dress which sets off her porcelain complexion and orange strappy sandals. Her brunette hair is cut in a choppy bob framing bright blue eyes.</p><p>It's those eyes that allow her to pull off an uncanny likeness of Princess Diana for a scene in The Five-Year Engagement where she poses as the late princess at a New Year's Eve fancy-dress ball.</p><p>&quot;We did the blue eye-shadow and the lipstick first and then, once the blonde wig was on, it was quite surreal,&quot; she says, recalling how she learned of Diana's death in 1997 hours before her family. &quot;As a kid, I was always up before anyone else, practising my cello, and so I turned on the TV and it was just everywhere, and I woke my mum and dad to tell them. It was just this ghastly moment where she started crying and my dad sort of keeled over the bed&quot;. The actress has form playing royals. She starred as Queen Victoria in The Young Victoria in 2009 and is rumoured to be playing Kate Middleton in a television movie. &quot;No one has offered me a Kate Middleton part,&quot; she demurs. &quot;Maybe there's just a royal overload at this point.&quot;</p><p>While The Five-Year Engagement looks at the problems involved when partners have separate dreams they wish to pursue, she doesn't believe marriage means abandoning ambitions: &quot;Everyone needs a dream to follow, and is entitled to one. I don't think it's selfish. Ideally, your other half emboldens you to be more than you ever thought you could be. To be honest, things have only got better, and more exciting, more boundary-less, actually, since I met John.&quot;</p><p>Blunt was lucky to realise her dreams early. Discovered at 16, she made her stage debut in Paul Sellar's musical Bliss at the Edinburgh Fringe in 2000 while studying for A-levels. She went on to appear in the West End and on TV's in Foyle's War and as Catherine Howard in Henry VIII. A versatile actress, she has worked in action, drama and comedy with stand-out roles in Charlie Wilson's War opposite Tom Hanks, and in last year's sci-fi thriller The Adjustment Bureau with Matt Damon. &quot;You've got to love this job because it definitely knocks you around at times,&quot; she says. &quot;It's a very personal job, and so when you achieve something, it's so rewarding because you take it very personally. And then in the same stretch, when you get rejected or someone is overly critical, it does hurt. I think that you've got to kind of wear a helmet and roll with it and not place too many expectations on this business because if you invest in it too much, it's going to devour you.&quot;</p><p>Blunt has reportedly been considered for action-hero roles from The Black Widow to Catwoman to Captain America's girlfriend Peggy Carter. &quot;I'm fatalistic,&quot; she says. &quot;If I don't get the role, I don't tend to pine or rage about it. You have definite disappointments, but I really don't dwell on them. I'm a big believer in fate and timing, and, if the moment's right, you're going to get the job that's meant for you.&quot;</p><p>'The Five-Year Engagement' is out on 22 June; 'Your Sister's Sister' on 29 June</p><p>At Louis Vuitton, comically oversized headpieces had a gently crumpled, elegant flamboyance, while Marc Jacobs opted for a similar look in his eponymous collection, just furrier, wider, brighter and taller.</p><p>For Grand the hair was about &quot;colour and proportion&quot;. Hairstylist Guido Palau clamped the hair straight at Prada, brushed it back off the face and lengthened it with extensions in artificial hues matched with the models' natural colour, while at the McQ Alexander McQueen show he created a dense ring of hair that hovered, suspended above the forehead in a donut-shapedring. Crowning confections these certainly were.</p><p>But they were only half of the story. What about the face? One need look no further than the multibillion-pound cosmetic industry to know that make-up matters. Over the years designers have become increasingly interested in what the make-up artist Alex Box, a long-term collaborator of Rankin and Pugh, terms &quot;face architecture&quot;. Think Hussein Chalayan's tear-drop wooden mask, Gareth Pugh's ecclesiastical mouth lights or McQueen's veil spiked by enormous antlers. Sounds a bit heavy? As luck would have it, many designers found a new lightness of touch with their fashion-forward creations north of the neck.</p><p>Take Rei Kawakubo's spring/summer offering for Comme des Garçons, where frothy rounds of creamy fabric bordered plain, childlike faces. Or Sarah Burton's collection for Alexander McQueen, where fabric crept up from the body, encased the skull and reached down on to the face. The finely woven lace in balmy pastel hues crafted a graceful softness from the macabre silhouette. Burton sought the femininity in a futuristic aesthetic for autumn, with mirrored visors adorning plain ladylike faces.</p><p>Kawakubo, meanwhile, inverted her previous season's silhouette by covering the face completely with a bondage-style balaclava that grew out of a bright floral body suit. The silhouette was constrictive but the character was warm and invulnerable. The thinly woven balaclavas pulled down over faces painted with a spirited flash of red lipstick at Rick Owens had a similar effect. His models strode out against an inferno; this was, he later asserted, a look he saw as completely wearable.</p><p>Predictably, not all designers embraced covering the face in such a theatrical fashion. Instead, traditional make-up was whipped up to show that eye shadow and lip-gloss were not for the sartorially small minded.</p><p>At Meadham Kirchhoff, designers Edward and Ben came to make-up artist Florrie White with a clear vision for their autumn winter show: 1990s supermodel meets 1980s drag queen. &quot;It was gradual, as if the two were meeting each other,&quot; White says. As the old-school glamour and sculpted features of Christy Turlington entered a collision with Trojan, the drag queen at the heart of the Eighties club scene, a scrawl of paint around the eye grew into an hallucinogenic eye patch, a nude lip became a canvas for hyperactive pastel doodles. And those eyebrows? Lest any detail get lost in translation, each zig-zag was scrawled on by Edward.</p><p>The conflation of traditional beauty with an unusual element captured attention elsewhere. Bejewelled, ruler-straight eyebrows – embroidered in collaboration with the Maison Lesage – provided a graphic embellishment against a simple and austere base at Chanel. Colour was big elsewhere. Baby-blue hues and licks of white paint were flicked across the eyelids at Miu Miu in playful flourishes, while Prada dispensed a lesson in grown-up glamour, with orange scored across the eyebrows, a smoky-black lid and a flash of purple underfoot. Charlotte Tilbury took inspiration directly from Prabal Gurung's clothes for her autumn/winter creation. &quot;We wanted to complement and enhance the clothes by creating an enchanting beauty look inspired by 'beetle wings' and birds of paradise. Dual tone teal green and bright blue shadows were applied diagonally on the lids all the way up to the eyebrows like colours in a peacock's feather.&quot;</p><p>As Tilbury aptly surmises, &quot;the make-up looks for autumn were about making the girls look beautiful with a twist&quot;. So what had designers and make-up artists beating the same drum? For Grand, this was partly a reaction against celebrity models: &quot;It was about keeping the girl blank, creating a blank canvas.&quot; Box applies this diagnosis to the look in general: &quot;It's amniotic times and people want to wipe the slate clean.&quot; It is ironic and perhaps fitting for fashion's often contradictory grand narrative that the simplicity of new beginnings is located in a cacophony of colour and concealment. For this year, at least.</p><p>Make-up maestros</p><p>Kevyn Aucoin</p><p>Arriving in New York City in 1983, Aucoin quickly caught the eye of photographers Steven Meisel and Irving Penn and soon became the go-to make-up artist. &quot;His signature touch was transforming a face by using neutral tones to sculpt, define, highlight and shape the complexion, minimising and maximising features,&quot; Charlotte Tilbury says. A true master of sophistry, Aucoin made up Cindy Crawford for her first Vogue cover.</p><p>Serge Lutens</p><p>Born in 1942, Lutens is a fashion veteran: his precocious work for French Vogue in his 20s earned him the task of launching Christian Dior's make-up line in 1967, where he created an industry powerhouse. &quot;He did everything and really pioneered a rounded look,&quot; Alex Box says. Lutens has collaborated with the Japanese brand Shiseido since the 1970s and launched an eponymous collection of essentials in 2005.</p><p>Gucci Westman</p><p>Westman is something of a world-wide tastemaker. She was International Artistic Director at Lancome from 2003, until she took up the position of Global Artistic Director at Revlon in 2008. She speaks five languages, trained at École Chauveau in Paris and turned Cameron Diaz into frumpy Lotte Schwartz in Being John Malkovich.</p><p>Pat McGrath</p><p>Vogue has called her &quot;the most influential make-up artist in the world&quot;. Not bad for a girl from Northampton. McGrath moved to London in the early 1990s and worked for i-D and The Face before going on tour to Japan with Caron Wheeler from Soul II Soul. Twenty years on and McGrath counts 20 of the world's greatest designers as clients.</p><p>Peter Philips</p><p>Philips did not pick up a make-up brush until he was 27: a degree in graphic design was followed by further study at the Antwerp Royal Academy of Fine Arts. On graduation in 1993, Philips cultivated his passion working with Alexander McQueen and Raf Simons before his appointment as creative director of Chanel make-up in 2008.</p><p>Charlotte Tilbury</p><p>If you haven't heard of Tilbury, you will have seen her work with covers for Vogue, Vanity Fair, W, LOVE and Pop, and ad campaigns for Versace, Tom Ford, Stella McCartney, Givenchy and Louis Vuitton under her belt. Tilbury makes her subjects look beautiful and interesting; think high-octane smoky eyes or a glazed lip on glowing skin.</p><p>Leading the pack, the Design Museum will from March present a retrospective of the work of the French shoe designer Christian Louboutin, he of the scarlet-soled, skyscraper heels. The month after, the Barbican Centre marks 007's half-century on the big screen with Fifty Years of James Bond Style – 100 outfits and accessories created for the films by the cream of British costume design and international fashion royalty such as Miuccia Prada, Thierry Mugler and Oscar de la Renta.</p><p>The V&amp;A makes its own entrance with Ballgowns: British Glamour Since 1950 in May. The inaugural show in the newly renovated Fashion Galleries will feature lavish eveningwear spanning six decades, from the mid-century couture of Norman Hartnell to red-carpet numbers worn by Princess Diana and catwalk show-stoppers by contemporary luminaries including Gareth Pugh.</p><p>British curators are right to have confidence in the power of fashion to persuade the public to part with the price of an entry ticket. Savage Beauty, last year's Alexander McQueen retrospective at the New York Metropolitan Museum of Art's Costume Institute, drew 660,000 visitors and was named one of the top 10 most-visited shows in the museum's 140-year history.</p><p>Around the world, style showcases continue to multiply. The French designers Azzedine Alaïa and Jean Paul Gaultier and the Italian label Max Mara are all currently enjoying successful retrospective exhibitions in art museums. Later this spring, Paris's Les Arts Décoratifs museum will host a show celebrating the work of Marc Jacobs at Louis Vuitton, while The Costume Institute's follow-up to Savage Beauty will fete Miuccia Prada and Elsa Schiaparelli. In Florence, visitors sated with Renaissance masterpieces can turn to the new Gucci Museo, which has been a huge attraction since opening in September.</p><p>Fashion has not always found itself so at home in museums. Zandra Rhodes, whose work will feature in the V&amp;A Ballgowns show, has seen a shift in attitudes: &quot;Compared with 20 or even 10 years ago, I think museums are taking it more seriously, partly because they have discovered that people are curious about clothes, for all sorts of personal, historical and artistic reasons, and it's one of the most popular things they can show.&quot;</p><p>Valerie Steele, director of The Museum at the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York, ascribes the current public appetite for fashion exhibitions to an accessibility that other art forms lack: &quot;People believe they are able to understand and appreciate fashion, whereas they are often unsure about contemporary or even historical art.&quot;</p><p>As Rhodes says: &quot;To me, a dress that has been marvellously made has more value than an unmade bed with a lot of garbage round it.&quot;</p><p>He also lost his own label, only days before shows for both were staged. Everyone from Karl Lagerfeld to Natalie Portman (among the faces of Dior) was quick to condemn the designer, who, in September, was found guilty on both charges. Those who witnessed the extraordinary workings of his mind couldn't help but mourn his departure from a position that he lit up with his wild imaginings.</p><p>2. Art attack</p><p>The gap between high and low culture continued to narrow as Yves Saint Laurent's Stefano Pilati dressed the cast of Harold Pinter's Betrayal for Ian Rickson's production at London's Comedy Theatre in June. Kristin Scott Thomas, Douglas Henshall and Ben Miles all wore his designs. In November, Louis Vuitton unveiled a trunk created in collaboration with Grayson Perry, with his bear Alan Measles – or at least a stunt double – in pride of place. LV is the title sponsor of Perry's ongoing British Museum show.</p><p>3. Harsh words</p><p>In March Hermès CEO Patrick Thomas accused LVMH (Louis Vuitton Moët Hennessy) president Bernard Arnault of &quot;rape&quot;, when it was revealed that the latter had acquired a 20 per cent stake of his label. In an uncharacteristically exasperated moment in the history of a venerable status name, Thomas said: &quot;If you want to seduce a beautiful woman, you don't start by raping her from behind.&quot; That same month, Christophe Lemaire took over from Jean-Paul Gaultier as creative director of Hermès womenswear and showed his first collection there.</p><p>4. Happy birthday</p><p>On 8 April, Vivienne Westwood turned 70. Gucci celebrated its 90th birthday with the opening of a Gucci museum in its hometown of Florence in September. The Marc by Marc Jacobs collection was born a decade ago this year as was designer Peter Jensen's eponymous label – a book was published to commemorate the event in the autumn, and last month Jensen staged a retrospective fashion show at the Victoria &amp; Albert Museum. Dazed &amp; Confused is now 20, meanwhile. Another book (Making It Up As We Go Along, published by Rizzoli) and an exhibition of pioneering photographic work (at Somerset House, central London) marked this anniversary.</p><p>5. There went the brides</p><p>While Alexander McQueen's Sarah Burton denied claims that she would be dressing Catherine Middleton for her marriage to Prince William, on 27 April she was spotted entering the Gore Hotel in Kensington where the Middletons spent the night before the wedding and the truth was out. The gown was received as a thing of great and suitably modest beauty the world over. No one could ever accuse Kim Kardashian of modesty. Kardashian commissioned no less than three wedding dresses for her marriage to Kris Humphreys on 20 August, all by Vera Wang. Wang has since designed affordable copies for lesser mortals and due to go on sale in February, some time after Ms Kardashian filed for divorce, then, which is romantic. Her marriage lasted just 72 days. Another Kate – Ms Moss – got married too, to long-time partner, Jamie Hince, on 2 July and wearing an ivory bias-cut slip made for her by John Galliano.</p><p>6. The rumour mill</p><p>Even before Galliano had officially parted company with Dior, the rumour mill began turning regarding his successor. Until recently, Marc Jacobs, creative director of Louis Vuitton, was considered to be frontrunner, but it is now believed that Raf Simons is the main contender. Givenchy's Riccardo Tisci, Alexander McQueen's Sarah Burton and Balenciaga's Nicolas Ghesquière have also been cited as in the frame. While LVMH continues its search, Galliano's long-time first assistant designer, Bill Gaytten has taken over his signature line and is also caretaker at Dior.</p><p>7. Ruby slippers</p><p>On 8 April, it emerged that shoemaker to the stars, Christian Louboutin, was suing Yves Saint Laurent for using a red sole to match the upper of a new-season suede pump. Louboutin trademarked his signature sole in 2008 and asked YSL to withdraw the offending item. &quot;M Louboutin is the first designer to develop the idea of having red soles on women's shoes,&quot; his lawsuit stated. Attorneys acting on behalf of Yves Saint Laurent responded: &quot;Red outsoles are a commonly used ornamental design feature in footwear, dating as far back as the red shoes worn by King Louis XIV in the 1600s and the ruby red shoes that carried Dorothy home in The Wizard of Oz.&quot; On 10 August, at the preliminary hearing in New York, Judge Victor Marrero took such flamboyancy one step further, denying the injunction and comparing the case to a hypothetical one in which Picasso sued Monet for using the colour blue. Louboutin's lawyers have said that they will keep fighting.</p><p>8. Going Gaga</p><p>Lady Gaga took to the Paris catwalk for her friend and collaborator Nicola Formichetti's debut show for Thierry Mugler on 3 March and the media went into overdrive. It's been a busy year for Formichetti elsewhere too. Since Jil Sander's departure from Uniqlo (her final collection is in store now), he has been appointed fashion director of the Japanese high-street giant's Innovation Project while Naoki Takisawa, formerly of Issey Miyake, is its new design director. Formichetti also curated a series of T-shirts for Uniqlo – designed by Gaga again, Alber Elbaz, Karl Lagerfeld and more – to raise money for those affected by the earthquake in Japan.</p><p>9. High fliers</p><p>On 17 June, Prada floated on the Hong Kong stock exchange. Any interest was generated not least because it demanded full disclosure from the business, which hitherto had the luxury of keeping any figures to itself. And so it emerged that Miuccia Prada and her husband and Prada Group CEO Patrizio Bertelli earned €10m and €9.7m the previous year respectively, making them among the most highly paid figures in fashion.</p><p>10. Alexander the great</p><p>Savage Beauty – an Alexander McQueen retrospective – opened at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York on 4 May and broke all attendance levels. The show was extended for a week in August to accommodate as many visitors as possible. McQueen's contemporary, Hussein Chalayan, was also honoured with an exhibition, this time at Paris's Les Arts Decoratifs – Mode et Textile that opened at the beginning of July.</p><p>11. Back to school</p><p>In September, the £200m Central Saint Martins redevelopment opened its doors at Granary Square, King's Cross. For the first time in the college's history, students from the fine art, graphics, fashion, drama and performance departments gathered under one enormous roof – there's a massive 10 acres of floor space. The most famous fashion college in the world now has a working environment to match.</p><p>12. Cool Britannia</p><p>Tom Ford now thinks London Fashion Week is high-profile enough to be home to his twice-yearly women's ready-to-wear show – he unveiled his summer collection in the British fashion capital in September. If ever there was a year when this all-too-often beleaguered event exceeded all expectations then 2011 was surely it. Unprecedented attendance levels, not to mention talent that, like Meadham Kirchhoff's, more than lives up to the hype that surrounds it notwithstanding , Italy's Camera Nazionale della Moda has fixed its autumn 2012 collection dates in direct conflict with those of the British collections. The Huffington Post described this turn of events as &quot;The Battle of the Catwalks&quot; as, despite increased pressure from all sides, Milan's designer superpowers have refused so far to budge.</p><p>13. Viva Versace</p><p>There's nothing like a well-judged collaboration and 2011 has seen its fair share. Top of the list must be Versace for H&amp;M, a baroque extravaganza that went on sale on 18 November – La Versace went so far as to make a personal appearance at the chain's Regent Street store. The collection sold out in a matter of days and was so successful there's more to come next year. Christopher Kane's line for J Brand, which launched in November, was an equally impressive coup, featuring candy coloured denim with fashionably frayed edges, courtesy of British fashion's designer du jour. Also of note this year has been Opening Ceremony's link-ups with MM6, Rodarte, Chloe Sevigny, Pendleton and more, and M.A.C's with Cindy Sherman, Gareth Pugh and Miss Piggy. Soon to come is the make-up brand's Daphne Guinness collection. Ms Guinness also launched a fragrance – named Daphne – with Comme des Garçons in September.</p><p>14. Bear necessities</p><p>Whoever said the fashion industry has no heart? In November, some of this world's main protagonists gave Pudsey Bear a makeover. Erdem, Louis Vuitton, Topshop, Giles Deacon, Pringle, Mulberry and Liberty were just some of the names who took part and bears were auctioned online to raise money for Children in Need. Vuitton's Pudsey (designed by Kim Jones, named Louis Vuitton's menswear director in March) went for a massive £35,600, putting any competition, however well-intentioned, into the shade.</p><p>15. Great British brand</p><p>Never a brand to miss a trick as far as digital innovation is concerned, at London Fashion Week in September Burberry gave the world its first ever &quot;tweetwalk&quot; – every exit appeared on Twitter moments before it made it on to the catwalk proper. Also of note, several key looks in the collection went on sale online immediately after they were shown – normally even the most fashion obsessed consumer would have to wait a good six months to buy them. More generally, and despite global recession, this much-loved British label continued to post figures that are surely the envy of its esteemed competitors the world over.</p><p>Fashion Awards</p><p>The 2011 British Fashion Awards took place on 28 November at the Savoy Hotel. And the winners were...</p><p>Designer of the Year: Sarah Burton for Alexander McQueen</p><p>Isabella Blow Award for Fashion Creator: Sam Gainsbury</p><p>New Establishment Award: Christopher Kane</p><p>Red Carpet Award: Stella McCartney</p><p>Designer Brand: Victoria Beckham</p><p>Menswear Designer: Kim Jones</p><p>Accessory Designer: Charlotte Olympia</p><p>Outstanding Achievement Award: Paul Smith</p><p>Model of the Year: Stella Tennant</p><p>British Style Award (voted for by the British public): Alexa Chung</p><p>The contribution to fashion of stylist and editor-in-chief of LOVE magazine, Katie Grand, was acknowledged when, on 27 October, she received the Wall Street Journal Fashion Innovator Award. Grand was in elevated company. Ai Weiwei (art), Bjarke Ingels (architecture), Steve Ells (food), Elon Musk (technology), Joris Laarman (design) and The Giving Pledge (philanthropy) were among those also awarded gongs by the paper.</p><p>The Way We Wore</p><p>Looks we loved...</p><p>Block colour (best at Jil Sander). Neon (Miu Miu and Christopher Kane). Pleats (that Whistles skirt). Androgyny (everywhere from Stella McCartney to Chanel and all over the high street too). Fetish (leather leggings and Louis Vuitton latex and handcuffs). Theyskens Theory (what's not to want?). Baseball jackets (Isabel Marant's spawned a million imitations). Polka dots (so Rive Gauche). Duffel coats (think Paddington Bear). Flats (finally running is fashionable). Glitter shoes (Dorothy lives and breathes). Knee boots (in leather, rubber, wedge, spike or flat-heeled). Practical bags (from the Céline cabas to the Cambridge Company's satchels).</p><p>And weren't so sure about...</p><p>Victoriana (a nice idea but so last century). Gap flares (we tried – and failed). Fruit prints (Prada's bananas were a timely ruse but grapefruits took things a step too far). Designer star prints (over before they had even started so easy were they for the high street to emulate). Navajo (the meaningless appropriation of faraway styles is less than desirable).</p><p>Launches to remember...</p><p>Prada costume jewellery (so true to the first lady of fashion's personal style). Make-up ranges from Tom Ford and Dolce &amp; Gabbana (what could be more glamorous?). No. 19 Poudre (a lovely new interpretation) of the original scent. Chanel Peridot (the green/gold nail colour of the year). Jonathan Saunders menswear (chic but not cheap). Current Elliott menswear (now boys can wear the most beautifully worn denim too). Eres London (the finest swimwear in the world now has its own London home).</p><p>And forget...</p><p>Lanvin childrenswear (although we hate to say it, cuteness can go too far). Lip transfers (the last word in over-embellishment). Fe jeans (sitting on silicone implants seemed like a good idea at the time but then it didn't).</p><p>And so farewell...</p><p>Elizabeth Taylor, Loulou de la Falaise, François Lesage and Evelyn Lauder.</p><p>Leading optometrist Andrew Hogan made a foray into the world of hairdressing last week by claiming that sporting a side fringe – also favoured by celebrities such as Rihanna – could give you a lazy eye. &quot;If a young emo chap has a fringe covering one eye all the time, that eye won't see a lot of detail,&quot; he told the Australian Daily Telegraph. &quot;And if it happens from a young age, that eye can become amblyopic.&quot; Other experts have since rushed to dismiss his claims, leaving heavy fringe fans to breathe a sigh of relief.</p><p>However, this is just the latest episode to call into question the price we pay for looking good and the fact that style could be bad for your health. Just last month, Christian Louboutin, he of the red-lacquered soled shoes, admitted he had little sympathy for people who struggled to walk in his towering creations. &quot;High heels are pleasure with pain,&quot; he declared.</p><p>The Independent on Sunday looks at the potential dangers of being a dedicated follower of fashion.</p><p>Looking good usually leaves you feeling good. But for how long?</p><p>Heavy handbags: A proper door stopper</p><p>Big bag ladies like Nicole Ritchie could be running a weighty risk in the name of fashion. Some bags are so large &quot;they can get stuck in revolving doors&quot;, the American Chiropractic Association suggests. It warns they can cause shoulder and neck pain, and headaches.</p><p>Flip flops: Cool feet cost the NHS dear</p><p>The summer footwear sported by celebrities hurts more than 200,000 people a year. The NHS spends £40m each year treating such injuries: falls, blisters, weakened ankles or tendon pain in lower leg and shin splints.</p><p>High heels: Posh's bunion burner</p><p>All that tottering can cause painful bunions: see stiletto poster-girl Victoria Beckham. Researchers in Australia have found regular wear shortens the fibres in calf muscles in women and can change the position of joints and muscles in the feet. What's a fashionista to do?</p><p>Slimming pants: Hold tight to your tummy</p><p>From Oprah Winfrey to Selena Gomez, women reach for the contour-formimg knickers for a big night out. As well as clinching in the tummy, control underwear could cause heartburn, panic attacks, back ache and incontinence, and aggravate reflux and irritable bowel.</p><p>Tattoos: Etched with pain</p><p>For Angelina Jolie, a tattoo follows a &quot;self discovery&quot;. For the rest of us, it follows pain under the needle. The Chartered Institute of Environmental Health warns it carries the risk of infection from HIV and hepatitis, and skin conditions such as scarring and lumps.</p><p>Body piercings: Prince Albert's legacy</p><p>Risks: infections, blood poisoning, toxic shock, bleeding, swelling, scarring... and, specifically, speech impediments and chipped teeth for pierced tongues. Genitals? Sex and urination could be &quot;difficult and painful&quot;. Something to bear in mind before choosing a Prince Albert.</p><p>Ties: Too tight around the neck</p><p>Men, it seems, need to loosen up. Or pay the price. According to a Cornell University study, 67 per cent wear shirts that are too tight. Tight ties can result in headaches, blurred vision and tension.</p><p>Skinny jeans: Close to the nerve</p><p>Popular with punk rockers to supermodels such as Kate Moss, tight trousers are a definite style statement. But they increase the risk of a condition called meralgia paresthetica, compression of the nerve running from the pelvis into the outer thigh, according to the Canadian Medical Association Journal.</p><p>Jewellery: The price of a rash choice</p><p>Whether you shop in Prada or Primark, accessories can make or break an outfit (just ask Lily Allen, who launched her own jewellery collection). Pick the wrong material and your fashion statement could be an itchy rash: nickel allergy affects 30 per cent of us.</p><p>Norsa has a duty to his employer, and its famous clients, to make sure its shops look as beautiful as the well-crafted clothes, shoes and leather goods that they sell. Ferragamo, shoemaker to the stars, counted Marilyn Monroe, Audrey Hepburn and Greta Garbo among its fans and has just hired British supermodel Kate Moss as its &quot;face&quot; for this autumn.</p><p>Norsa is visiting the Old Bond Street store – which has been home to Salvatore Ferragamo for 74 years — after paying what is thought to be the UK's top rent, estimated to be £1000 per square foot for the most important part of the shop, to renegotiate a bigger store and longer lease. No wonder he wants it to look its best.&quot;London is very important to us. It is growing very fast and we have shoppers from all over the world who come here.&quot;</p><p>Tanned, smiling and impeccably dressed in Ferragamo, Norsa is clearly at home on the shop floor in spite of years in the board room of companies including Sergio Tacchini and Valentino. As he justifies the top rent Ferragamo is paying, he is surveying his emporium of Italian style – from the new lights to the menswear floor.</p><p>&quot;We have made the store 60 per cent bigger. London's rent is going up, of course, but it is fair. We were able to take a long view and invest in the store. Bond Street will be here forever and we want to make sure we keep this beautiful store,&quot; he says.</p><p>But it isn't just Bond Street that has had a makeover. Its other London spot — Sloane Street will double its floor space this year over three floors — to give more space for the £350 Vara bow heels or the £2300 python skin handbag.</p><p>London is just one of Ferragamo's important global &quot;flagship&quot; cities. Three new stores are planned for China this year to add to its 320-plus outlets. The luxury goods obsession with giant, shiny new stores to showcase growing collections is now a global phenomenon with identikit Prada or Louis Vuitton stores from Sloane Street to Sao Paulo. And now Ferragamo's expansion is being closely watched by investors after its listing in Milan just over a year ago.</p><p>Norsa, having spent most of his career at family-owned companies in Italy, joined Ferragamo in 2006 — the first non-family chief executive. He took over from Ferruccio Ferragamo, the eldest son of Salvatore, who is now chairman. It was the first step in modernising the group. The family shareholding is complex. Salvatore Ferragamo had six children and Ferruccio also has six; there are a total of twenty-three grandchildren.</p><p>The family decided to sell a 25 per cent stake — to raise money for expansion and free up capital for some of the family. And for Norsa &quot;working for a listed company is a nice challenge.&quot;</p><p>At the time of deciding to go public, the markets ran wild with rumours that the family were looking at following fellow Italian fashion brand Prada to Hong Kong. But Norsa says: &quot;Italy is part of our DNA. You can get all the advantages that you can get anywhere. And being listed in Italy doesn't mean we do not have investors from elsewhere. We have many overseas investors.&quot; Indeed Peter Woo, a Honk Kong-based businessman who owns a stake in Ferragamo, became a board member.</p><p>Making sure the company is synonymous with Italy means every single item — bar the Swiss-made watch parts — is made in that country.</p><p>When in the Nineties, clothing manufacturers started moving east for cheaper labour, luxury brands including Prada and Burberry followed the trend with swathes of the business being farmed off to factories in Turkey, Thailand and China. But unlike most of its peers Ferragamo stayed put. &quot;It is a commitment but it is something we truly believe in.&quot;</p><p>The decision by some brands to move production from their home countries is still having repercussions today with a renewed consumer backlash at some brands.</p><p>Norsa has seen first-hand the factories that England used to be proud of. &quot;I have visited these factories in Scotland and in England. Now people recognise the value of knowing where something is made. It is now very important for the shopper to know where and how it is made.&quot; The growth of luxury brands in the Chinese market has been fuelled by a desire to buy something which is &quot;made in Europe&quot;.</p><p>Ferragamo is not quite as old as French brands Louis Vuitton or the Hermès but it certainly has a vivid archive. Having started life as a shoemaker in a small room in Florence in 1927, it now has a market capitalisation of £2.6bn, selling everything from leather goods and watches to perfumes and ready-to-wear for men and women. It is one of the best known classic luxury brands — known for comfort and style.</p><p>The history is important but it is Norsa's job to make sure his creative director — Massimiliano Giornetti — keeps the brand relevant.</p><p>&quot;We have been very good at keeping the heritage through to the present. But through events, marketing, social media and digital we have to make sure we stay in touch with our customers. People want to be in touch with the brand.&quot;</p><p>The strategy has paid off so far. Last year revenues were up 26 per cent to €986.5m (£629m) and will update the market with its first half results for 2012, this month.</p><p>Ferragamo's rich Italian history might be in vogue with consumers in Asia, but the region's growth spurt could be losing steam. Fears of a Chinese economic slowdown are causing shares in luxury goods brands to fall and the likes of Hugo Boss and Burberry have reported slower growth in the region.</p><p>But Norsa is sure growth will continue. &quot;We are still seeing significant growth. Of course there are concerns on the future but … reassuringly we have seen Chinese consumer confidence is still strong,&quot; says Norsa. &quot;And there are still so many Chinese consumers who are only just making their very first step into luxury.&quot;</p><p>China's luxury shoppers join Brazilians, Arabs and Russians in Bond Street and Norsa is reeling off the nationalities which visit his London stores. &quot;Here in London we have something very unusual. Nigerians are in our top three.</p><p>&quot;We have to make sure we have every size available for the different types of people who shop with us. And now we know exactly when Ramadan, Chinese New Year and Russia's Orthodox celebrations are.&quot;</p><p>With Bond Street a hot spot for the travelling global wealthy, Norsa's shopkeeping nous is paying off.</p><p>He leaves later on his first diplomatic foray — to Berlin, where he is meeting German Chancellor Angela Merkel to debate austerity and growth in Europe. The eurozone has avoided a new recession, thanks largely to Germany, but new political turmoil in Greece has revived fears about thefate of the shared currency. </p><p>Hollande, 57, is only the second Socialist president of modern France, after Francois Mitterrand's 1981-1995 tenure, and rode to the presidency on a wave of resurgent leftist sentiment amid Europe's debt crisis and anti-free-market protests around the world. </p><p>He was elected to run this nuclear-armed nation earlier this month after voters ousted incumbent Nicolas Sarkozy after only one term. Voters were disappointed over Sarkozy's handling of France's economy — which has high unemployment and low growth — and recoiled at his aggressive personality.</p><p>Arriving this morning at the 18th-century Elysee Palace that is the traditional residence of French presidents, Hollande was greeted by Sarkozy on the red-carpeted steps. The two held a 40-minute private meeting that is traditionally the moment when the outgoing president hands over the codes to France's nuclear arsenal.</p><p>Hollande was declared president after the head of the constitutional court read out the final results of the 6 May election.</p><p>He immediately acknowledged the challenges he inherits: &quot;a massive debt, weak growth, high unemployment, degraded competitiveness, and a Europe that is struggling to come out of crisis.&quot;</p><p>In his first presidential speech, Hollande promised to fight financial speculation and &quot;open a new path&quot; in Europe. He has pushed back against a European budget-cutting pact championed by Merkel and Sarkozy.</p><p>&quot;To overcome the crisis that is hitting it, Europe needs plans. It needs solidarity. It needs growth. To our partners, I will propose a newpact that will tie the necessary reduction of public debt with the indispensable stimulus of the economy,&quot; he said.</p><p>Hollande also pledged to bring &quot;dignity and simplicity&quot; to the presidential role — something voters felt that Sarkozy did not always do.</p><p>With the economy in the doldrums and joblessness high, the French mood is glum and many voters are looking to the inauguration as a rare moment of national pride, and to Hollande's presidency as a new opportunity to make things better.</p><p>Three hours before he took office, the state statistics agency released new figures showing the French economy failed to grow in the first quarter. Some economists predict a contraction ahead, which would complicate Hollande's promises to rein in the deficit.</p><p>World markets and other European leaders will be watching closely tosee whether and how Hollande follows through on his campaign promises, such as pulling French troops out of Afghanistan, freezing gasoline prices and hiking taxes on the rich. Observers expect that once he settles into the presidency, he's likely to fall back into the moderate consensus-building that has characterized his career.</p><p>A key sign will come when he names his prime minister, expected later today. </p><p>Hollande received the insignia of the Grand Croix from the hands of Gen. Jean-Louis Georgelin, who heads the prestigious Legion of Honor, and the necklace of the Great Master of the Order of the Legion of Honor. Each linked medallion of the necklace bears the name of a president, with Hollande's name recently added. </p><p>Sarkozy left the palace hand-in-hand with wife Carla Bruni-Sarkozy, had a last handshake on the palace steps with Hollande, then was driven away. Former staffers gathered in the palace courtyard applauded loudly as Sarkozy left, and fans gathered at the Elysee gates waving signs reading &quot;Nicolas, merci!&quot; </p><p>Guests at today's ceremony included France's leftist political elite, 10 French Nobel Prize winners, France's chief rabbi, the head of an umbrella group of French Muslim organizations and a host of cultural figures. </p><p>Hollande shook hands with many of the hundreds present at the ceremony then reviewed troops in the palace gardens. Following tradition, 21 shots were fired from cannons at the Invalides, a domed complex on the opposite side of the Seine River that holds Napoleon's tomb. </p><p>Rain started pouring down on the famed Champs-Elysees avenue as Hollande rode up its center, standing in the sunroof of his hybrid Citroen DS5, trailed by dozens of Republican Guardsmen on horseback and motorcycle. His suit was visibly drenched within moments. He then headedfor the Arc de Triomphe, and its monument to the unknown soldier. </p><p>The normally traffic-clogged Champs-Elysees was closed to cars and buses and crowds were sparse for the first procession of Hollande's presidency. </p><p>Hollande, who has four children but has never been married, was joined for the Elysee ceremonies and in his motorcade car by hispartner, journalist Valerie Trierweiler. </p><p>Hollande's first presidential meal reflected relative modesty, at least by French culinary standards: lobster and citrus terrine, cote de boeuf, and strawberry macaron cookies for dessert. </p><p>Sarkozy's inauguration five years ago broke with some of the tradition that the French associate with the Elysee Palace, and offered up a first lady in Prada and romantic intrigue instead. Sarkozy and his then-wife Cecilia — both already on their second marriages, and on the verge of divorce — posed on the red carpet with their blended family of five kids. </p><p>Sarkozy's hands-on presidency brought change to the once-stuffy Elysee — but that, and Sarkozy's image as a man too friendly with the rich while recession hit, ultimately turned many voters against him. </p><p>Sarkozy has said he will quit politics now. </p><p>AP</p><p>Previously the domain of frisky public schoolboys and chalet gels, European Royals and mega-watt celebrities, getting piste is becoming more and more popular with those to whom &quot;winter&quot; is a season not a verb.</p><p>And so, if the moonboot fits, then why not wear it? If you are a first-timer or a seasoned pro planning a trip to snowy climes this season, there is plenty to ensure that whether you end up spending your time on the bunny slopes, black runs or with a chocolat chaud and your tail between your legs in the chalet, you can do so in style and splendour rather than in a pair of ill-fitting hand-me-down salopettes.</p><p>For the young at heart, London Fashion Week designer Ashish has joined forces with Topshop, bringing his sense of fun and glamour to a capsule collection of ski and snowboarding clothes. Make like a snow leopard in the matching ski jacket, sweatshirt and salopettes – which meet high technical specifications to ensure that you don't sacrifice comfort for style. Cut from wind- and waterproof fabric, the technical pieces have a warm and cosy fleece interior, while basics like zipped and waterproof pockets for gloves, goggles and MP3 player will keep the essentials safe.</p><p>The designer behind the range, Ashish Gupta, is known for his exuberant designs which mix sportswear with sequins. Of this collection, he says: &quot;I love leopard print, and I thought it would be really fun to do matchy matchy leopard print ski pants and Puffa jackets and backpacks. I wanted it to be fun but also functional.&quot;</p><p>If head-to-toe leopard seems a bit too Big Cat Diary to appeal, then a waterproof rucksack or bumbag in the same print are an easy way to add a distinctive touch to a more classic outfit.</p><p>Alongside the technical pieces, the capsule collection showcases tongue-in-cheek slogan jumpers referencing winter sports, such as &quot;snow bored&quot; and &quot;piste off&quot;.</p><p>If this all sounds rather jolly, but a bit too school ski trip for your taste, then Miuccia Prada is on hand to offer a more classically chic – and it almost goes without saying expensive – collection. Prada Montagna, which launched last month for men and women, observes the timeless, clean shapes associated with the traditional uniform of Alpine sports. Using technical fabrics as a jumping-off point, the collection includes down coats and jackets and accessories. The sporty origin of the pieces is evident and so too is that staple of Italian luxury – real fur.</p><p>Of course, the latter will not appeal to the sartorial sensitivities or even ethics of all. Fur-free pieces will add warmth and a splash of colour whether on the slopes or après ski, however. Alpaca knitwear comes courtesy of Peru – continuing the brand's &quot;Made In&quot; project that was set up last year to trace the journeys made by founder Mario Prada to source the highest quality artisans to create the luggage and goods which he would stock.</p><p>The width of the range is impressive, with some pieces – such as oversize sunglasses which are a sight more glamorous than the traditional snow goggles – intended largely for mountain use. But as the winter chill begins to set in, it would be foolish not to incorporate the coats and woolies into your wardrobe – if you've got them, wear them. Why restrict your designer wardrobe to the slopes, after all?</p><p>Finally, any seasoned skier knows that the right footwear can be the make or break of your trip – quite literally in some cases what with all that snow and ice about, not to mention peach schnapps.</p><p>Not content with cornering the market in covetable music festival attire, Hunter has now upped the ante with its seasonal offerings. The quintessentially British brand, which can be traced back to the North British Rubber Company founded in 1856, has long been a favourite thanks in part to the sculpted leg shape of its wellies. With additional grip benefits as well as added warmth, the new Snow collection should have something for everyone.</p><p>The unisex Chatel (pictured) is a classic snow boot that comes in a selection of sporty colours – white, black, red and navy – and has an insulated leg and foot, a snow-proof cuff and imitation leather trim. Laces wind round the leg in a sweet touch of retro styling.</p><p>The Breckenridge is a laced leather ankle boot with a shearling cuff which can be folded over to form a shorter boot or left up for extra warmth in harsh conditions. A Vibram snowshoe outsole with Icetrek technology ensures formidable grip and performance. Bridging the gap between a Wellington and a ski boot, the Original Tall Snow incorporates iconic Hunter design features with a snowshoe outer sole to provide maximum grip in wintery conditions, while a neoprene lining will keep legs and feet warm.</p><p>It would be unfair to say that Wood specialises in playing brats, vamps and renegades... but she is certainly good at it. You can see her in the new George Clooney movie The Ides of March as a political intern/femme fatale who very rapidly beds political spin doctor Stephen Meyers (Ryan Gosling) who is running the campaign for would-be president Clooney.</p><p>Her character, Molly Stearns, flirts outrageously with Gosling, coming on in the early scenes like a modern-day version of Barbara Stanwyck in Double Indemnity. She has a flair for double entendre and knows just how to flutter her eyelashes in a way that teases and tantalises the hapless Meyers. Only slowly do we realise just how young and vulnerable Molly is.</p><p>She is tremendous, too, in Todd Haynes' HBO mini-series Mildred Pierce as the headstrong, spoilt and promiscuous daughter who wreaks misery in her mum Kate Winslet's life. As befits someone who plays Sophie-Anne Leclerq, the vampire queen of Louisiana, in True Blood, her skin is preternaturally pale. (She herself puts this down to her Celtic roots and her links, which she doesn't fully explain, to the Macleod clan. &quot;I am Scottish and so sunscreen is really important... I have really sensitive skin.&quot;) She is a tiny, elfin presence, even if she does claim that she can't resist loading up on the carbs: &quot;potatoes and bread and pasta and all of that&quot;. Not that she is much of a cook. &quot;Right now, I can defrost,&quot; is her own summation of her skills in the kitchen.</p><p>Wood has a sense of humour that you don't always find in Hollywood stars. Her Goth rocker ex-boyfriend, Marilyn Manson, testified that it was her enthusiasm for the 'director's commentary' version of Paul Verhoeven's cult movie/prize turkey Showgirls (along with her Lolita-like sunglasses) that first attracted him to her.</p><p>Wood has been acting since she was a child. She grew up in the business, appearing in plays at the age of four, auditioning for Neil Jordan's Interview With a Vampire (she lost out to Kirsten Dunst) but subsequently winning roles in a host of TV movies. Her father, Ira David Wood III, runs a community theatre company in North Carolina. Her mother, Sara Lynn Moore, is an actress. Her parents separated in the mid-1990s. Having spent her childhood in North Carolina, Wood moved to California with her mother to pursue her acting career.</p><p>British audiences will probably first have noticed her as the nice suburban teenager who turns into a hormone-crazed, Britney Spears-like tearaway with a pierced tongue and a navel ring in Thirteen (2003), Catherine Hardwicke's cautionary tale about the perils of female adolescence. They may have seen her, too, as frontier woman Cate Blanchett's daughter, kidnapped to be sold into prostitution in Ron Howard's western The Missing (2003) and as Mickey Rourke's estranged daughter in Venice Golden Lion winner, The Wrestler (2008). Thanks to her recently announced bisexuality and her on-off relationship with Manson, she is a regular fixture in celebrity gossip columns. At the same time, leading directors clamour to work with her and take her very seriously as an actress. Darren Aronofsky, Todd Haynes, George Clooney, Julie Taymor, Woody Allen and Robert Redford have all cast her in prominent roles. Her regular appearances in HBO dramas on the small screen are likewise a stamp of quality on her career.</p><p>Glance through Wood's filmography (which already stretches to well over 30 titles) and you'll find very few bland, cookie-cutter style movies. &quot;I do independent films,&quot; she declares, as if that is a matter of principle as well as of fact. &quot;I feel like it has worked out for me just choosing roles I connect with and the material I love, and not doing it for money.&quot;</p><p>The actress is a disarming interviewee, frank, funny – able to discuss her career in earnest fashion one moment and her beauty routine the next. (For the record, she likes products that &quot;are very gentle, things that are really pure, with no fragrances&quot;.)</p><p>What is clear is that she approaches her roles with a Method-like intensity. To play Veda in Mildred Pierce, which she calls the hardest role she has ever done, she had to convince audiences she was a top soprano singer. &quot;Before we even began filming, we had two months of preparation for mimicking piano, which I can still do in the air,&quot; she wiggles her fingers to illustrate her point. &quot;I had to learn to lip-synch opera in three different languages. I almost wish I had really been singing because that would have been easier than having to nail down somebody's every breath and move.&quot; She says that she didn't listen to anything but opera the entire time she was working on Mildred Pierce. &quot;I even played the songs in my sleep so that it was subconsciously just engrained.&quot;</p><p>The young actress was also faced with one of her first nude scenes. This caused no end of prurient speculation about 'merkins' in the US press. These are the wigs used to simulate female pubic hair. Wood reportedly had to use one in the name of authenticity because women in the 1930s didn't bikini-wax.</p><p>&quot;I feel like I've avoided that as long as possible,&quot; Wood reflects on the scene. &quot;No matter what, everybody has got fears and insecurities. For me, when I am really afraid of something, I have to do it. I have to face that fear... and now I am so happy that I did it!&quot;</p><p>Her terror at the nude scene was mitigated (at least to an extent) by the presence of her co-star, the redoubtable Kate Winslet. &quot;Kate was the main person who really put everything in perspective for me...&quot;</p><p>Wood adds that the scene wasn't titillating in the slightest. &quot;It's not a sexy moment at all. It is one of the most unsettling, disturbing uses of nudity I've seen on TV in quite some time... I am not in a hurry to do it again. It was not as if it's some quick shot. It's one long shot, slowly walking past the camera. There is no hiding anything. It was terrifying, but afterwards Kate and I had a drink and Kate said, 'Here's to your first full-frontal!'.&quot; Wood mimics Winslet's accent, making her sound strangely like Joyce Grenfell.</p><p>What did her own mum make of her turn in Mildred Pierce as the daughter from hell? &quot;She loved it... the performance, not the character.&quot; Wood watched Mildred Pierce alongside her parents and was &quot;proud&quot; that they didn't flinch, even when Veda was at her most mischievous and destructive.</p><p>The young actress took a conscious decision at the age of 18 that she wanted to explore the &quot;wild side&quot;. She had been acting since she was a kid and has been ruthlessly disciplined in her approach to the craft. However, right from the outset, she had been hankering after independence. She may not have been as wilful as Veda in Mildred Pierce but she shares her character's spirit. &quot;I have to experience something to learn from it. I won't just take people's word for something. I can't have somebody telling me, 'Don't do this, do that'. I feel like every child is supposed to go through a period where you have to separate yourself from your parents and push away...&quot;</p><p>So she was a bit of a handful? &quot;The funny thing is I was a really good kid because I was raised extremely strict and I was working a lot. My mother wanted to be really, really careful because in this business, it's easy to go off the deep end, but I think that it worked against her because when I turned 18, I had been so sheltered for so long that I just exploded! I am glad I did because it teaches you a lot about yourself. Now, I've got it out of my system and I am ready to settle down.&quot;</p><p>How did her explosion manifest itself? &quot;I hopped on a tour bus and I got engaged to a rock star,&quot; she laughs with just a hint of embarrassment about her own antics. &quot;It doesn't get much crazier.&quot;</p><p>Her relationship with the rock star in question, Marilyn Manson, clearly helped as she tried to explore a radically different side of her personality. Aged 19, Wood appeared in Manson's macabre and sexually suggestive music video &quot;Heart-Shaped Glasses&quot;, which the rock singer acknowledged Wood had partly inspired. Her affair with Manson was seized upon by celebrity websites, many of which suggested that it had hastened the break-up of his marriage to burlesque model Dita Von Teese.</p><p>&quot;Just because a relationship ends, it doesn't mean that it failed,&quot; she reflects on her own break-up with her former fiancé. (Wood is since rumoured to have rekindled her romance with British actor – and Billy Elliot star – Jamie Bell.) &quot;I don't think I would be the person I am today without him [Manson]. He is inspiring. The timing was right and I felt a door was open to me to really explore, express myself and take risks.&quot;</p><p>Manson was a performer who captured the spirit of a time (which we're still in) when vampire stories moved from the margins firmly into the mainstream. The first Twilight film was directed by Wood's old mentor, Catherine Hardwicke, in 2008. Wood herself started appearing in HBO's vampire series True Blood in 2009. &quot;People are fascinated by it and it's a very romantic idea,&quot; she says of the fad for vampires. &quot;It's something that is very dangerous but also very sexy ... I think people crave that.&quot; As for her own role as vampire queen, that, she says, was a hoot. &quot;It's a great job. You're surrounded by blood and extremely attractive naked people every day.&quot;</p><p>For all her rebelliousness, Wood retains at least vestiges of the Pippi Longstocking persona she once had, before the Manson years. She speaks earnestly about the opportunities that a career in acting affords her. &quot;For someone who really feels like they're an artist at heart, to be given an opportunity to have a platform and a voice and a way to reach people is so many people's dream. I never take that for granted anymore. I've always tried to stay grounded and humble. I don't ever want to get used to luxury.&quot; When she is not working or travelling, she likes to stay home at her apartment on the beach in Venice, Los Angeles, with her cat, &quot;blasting music and singing. We have friends come over and we push all the furniture against the wall and go crazy&quot;.</p><p>Most Hollywood starlets are circumspect about their sexuality. Wood has no qualms about discussing her recent decision to come out as bisexual. &quot;It's funny when you suddenly realise you've bought into a certain idea for so long. You're just raised with a certain idea of what a girl is supposed to be and what a boy is supposed to be. That is not necessarily real. It's just what you've been taught,&quot; she reflects. &quot;I've always felt that way [bisexual] for as long as I can remember. I truly feel like you're just born a certain way [and] I feel the more people are honest about something as human as sexuality, the more it will stop being a big deal.&quot;</p><p>Her coming out as bisexual doesn't seem to have damaged her career. As she says, &quot;I've had a great reaction. Something like bisexuality throws people off slightly more because you're not saying you're one way or the other... I look back on my career and I see how many lesbians I've played, I'm like 'How did they know!'.&quot;</p><p>Wood laughs uproariously but suggests there is still a layer of homophobia in Hollywood. Whereas women can come out as lesbian or bisexual (&quot;a lot of people think it's whatever – that it's not even real sex and doesn't count&quot;), men who come out as gay are likely to face more of a struggle.</p><p>As for the future, Wood is staying coy. &quot;I like not planning too far ahead and so I am always surprised and not too disappointed.&quot;</p><p>'Mildred Pierce' has its UK Blu-Ray &amp; DVD release on 28 Nov (HBO Home Ent). 'The Ides of March' is in cinemas now</p><p>The London-based jeweller, founded by the billionaire Laurence Graff in 1960, yesterday set an indicative share-price range at HK$25-HK$37, according to sources familiar with the plans.</p><p>Graff plans to sell $850m of new shares and $150m in existing shares, the sources added. The deal is expected to comprise 211-312 million shares and could rise by 15 per cent to meet additional demand. </p><p>Graff is hoping to join the Italian fashion house Prada, luggage maker Samsonite, French cosmetics company L'Occitane and other global brands that have listed in Hong Kong looking to tap booming consumer demand and rising wealth in Asia.</p><p>The company is betting on resilient demand for diamonds and high-end jewellery, its founder said in November. </p><p>Graff is tapping Hong Kong equity markets after the worst start for IPOs in the Asia-Pacific region in about four years, with overall equity market activity down about a fifth from last year.</p><p>The benchmark Hang Seng index is down 7 per cent since 7 May, when Graff began meeting institutional investors and fund managers to gauge demand for the offering. </p><p>Graff's profit should reach $264m in 2014 from $117m, but the growth rate is forecast to slow in the coming years, analysts say. </p><p>Graff yesterday filed the first documentation needed for its planned IPO in Hong Kong, following upmarket contemporaries Prada and Samsonite International on to the stock exchange. French brand L'Occitane debuted there in 2010. </p><p>The company was founded in 1960 by Laurence Graff, the sole owner of the luxury diamond brand. He opened his first shop in London in 1962 and now has more than 30 globally with plans for stores in Macau and Hangzhou in China, Gstaad in Switzerland and a second in Hong Kong this year.</p><p>The company, which sells some of the world's most expensive items of jewellery, including 100-carat diamond tiaras, is positive for 2012, despite some believing this year is unlikely to match the growth seen in 2011.</p><p>Sales figures for Graff are not available for 2011 but experts in the sector believe that they were in the region of $800m. </p><p>Unlike its much larger rival De Beers, Graff does not mine its own diamonds. However, Mr Graff has a stake in diamond manufacturers which supply the business with the high-end rocks needed. </p><p>Chief executive of PPR, Gucci’s parent company, Francois Henri Pinault posed for photographs with Chinese starlet Gao Yuanyuan before the show, a week after his company’s announcement that Gucci’s sales in Asia had propped up the luxury goods conglomerate’s figures this year.</p><p>According to AFP, Chinese imports of Italian textiles went up 27 per cent in 2011 – not a figure to be disregarded while the country is mired in austerity measures and its fashion industry is predicting a five per cent drop in revenues for 2012. Such is the demand from this market, not to mention the economic necessity of addressing its consumers, that Milan Fashion Week’s governing body, the Camera Moda, has this season launched a Chinese language version of its website.</p><p>And it was clear from the clothes that this had been taken into account, with Gucci’s creative director Frida Giannini incorporating some of the house’s most successful signatures into her baroque-tinged, Chinoiserie-inspired vision for the coming season.</p><p>The label’s trademark leather riding boots and tasselled cord belts were teamed with silk and velvet brocade dresses and chiffon blouses with billowing bell sleeves and upright ruffled collars that recalled Edwardian Orientalism in their side-fastening cheongsam necklines. Characteristic gold hardware came on military-derived cropped and voluminous jackets, and prim blouses were updated with pleated tie necks. Forest green, burgundy and aubergine hues added to a feel of unadulterated luxury that began in sumptuous textures such as shearling and mink inlaid on chiffon to make full, silken coats and ended in a dress, skirt and jacket all made from a pavé of shimmering midnight green feathers.</p><p>“This is modern-day romanticisim,” Giannini explained, citing the pre-Raphaelites as inspiration. “Dramatic sensuality, and dark glamour.”</p><p>For the finale, chunky crystals and sequins were embroidered onto full-length goddess gowns made from double layers of wrinkled tulle that undulated with the body so as to shift from opaque to sheer with each step.</p><p>More than 72 fashion houses will show their collections in venues across the city over the next six days, with Prada and Fendi scheduled for tomorrow and Versace and Giorgio Armani over the weekend.</p><p>&quot;The flower was a symbolic of the life of women and the huge struggle we always have,&quot; she continued.</p><p>In a collection that was typically heedless of general consensus, Prada fielded lots of fur for spring 2013 – another nod, she said, to the fact women are often judged by what they wear.</p><p>&quot;If you go out with flowers on, people laugh at you,&quot; she said. &quot;The same with pink and with fur.&quot;</p><p>Draped, layered and folded minimal cotton shifts and separates gave way to elegant duchesse satin in pale pink and pistachio, wrapped like Japanese obi belts around the body and with wide-cut samurai sleeves. That said, Miuccia Prada did not acknowledge any Eastern influences on her work.</p><p>Shoes were either stack platforms or paper-flat metallic leather booties, while bags were small swinging shoppers, emblazoned with the same applique flowers.</p><p>Also on the schedule yesterday was Giorgio Armani's Emporio collection, which he titled 'Neat'. In doing so, tapped into an understated and utilitarian trend that other labels in Milan are also clearly interested in.</p><p>At Gucci on Wednesday, Frida Giannini presented brightly coloured but minimal tunics and trousers, while MaxMara's design director Laura Lusuardi also pared things down yesterday with pragmatic boiler suits and streamlined shirtdresses.</p><p>The Emporio Armani shownotes promised clothing that reflected &quot;a 'clean' attitude, a way of being and expressing yourself that is simple and natural, never too affected&quot;. For a designer who made his name in the late Seventies remodelling men's clothing for women and relaxing feminine codes of dress, this emphasis on purism is a priority.</p><p>Armani, 78, will show his eponymous main line in Milan on Sunday evening, but his trademark minimalism was evident even in his more youthful label, which tends towards girlish glamour rather than grown-up tailoring.</p><p>The shows in Milan continue today with Versace on the schedule, and a private performance from singer Beth Ditto in the evening to celebrate the label's diffusion line, Versus, which is currently designed by Central Saint Martins graduate Christopher Kane.</p><p>Streep plays wistful, put-upon Kay, whose 30-year marriage to Arnold (Tommy Lee Jones) has lost its savour: she cooks and cleans for him, he watches the Golf Channel, sleeps in a separate bedroom and grumbles about the pennies (he's an accountant). Her solution is to book them a trip to Maine and a week of &quot;intensive&quot; couple-counselling with marriage expert Dr Feld (Steve Carell).</p><p>What proceeds isn't exactly a laugh-riot – too painful for that – but it does offer a masterclass in less-is-more acting. Jones is great at conveying the close-mouthed exasperation of a man to whom talk of &quot;intimacy&quot; is torture; his whole body seems to cringe.</p><p>Streep is even better in the body-language department, fiddling with her clothes, staring dead-ahead in embarrassment, trying out a &quot;come-hither&quot; look. She's also touching as a woman who refuses to let age excuse a loss of passion. Steve Carell is gracious in the part of straight man.</p><p>As a comedy it won't find much favour with cinema-goers under the age of 40, but for everyone else there's plenty to chuckle at.</p><p>Take your inspiration from the ski slopes this winter and invest in a puffer. The quilted overcoat is having a resurgence; worn over a suit, it makes something uptown a little more downtown. French label Moncler is still the go-to brand for puffers and this season has collaborated with the British designer, Christopher Raeburn. His military-inspired take on cold-weather clothing is a masterclass in the trend. £215, Mauro Griffoni, </p><p>Paisley</p><p>A print that can be traced back thousands of years to its Persian roots clearly has staying power. On neck ties, pocket squares and shirts, the tear-drop motif continues to adorn menswear. And because it makes more of an impact than its sedate cousin plaid, a less-is-more approach when wearing this pattern is advisable. £5, </p><p>The roll neck</p><p>The humble roll neck is the only knit to wear with a suit this season. On the catwalk, Prada layered them under shirts for the ultimate in dandy refinement. If you do opt to wear one on its own, then avoid tucking it into your jeans or trousers. You want to be the epitome of Left Bank suave; not look as though you have unwittingly enrolled in the Simon Cowell school of dressing. £130, </p><p>Colour</p><p>Traditionally men only ever wear colour on the top half of their bodies, usually in the shape of a shirt or tie. But this season there's a veritable rainbow of jeans and chinos on offer. From raspberry and cerulean to forest-green, these vibrant hues will certainly let your legs do the talking. To anchor this flash of colour, simply team with neutral tops in greys and blacks.</p><p>Red: £145, Folk. Yellow: £145, Faconnable. Both from </p><p>The pinstripe</p><p>No longer just the uniform of bankers and city traders, pinstripe suiting is fashionable once again. This time, the cut of the suit is key to your sartorial success – gone is the bulky, shoulder-padded giant of the 1980s and instead a slimline version, be it single- or double-breasted, is left in its place. Dress down with a chambray shirt and bright-coloured, paisley-print tie. Power lunches optional.</p><p>Suit £425, shirt £79, </p><p>Jack Spade + Barbour</p><p>A collaboration between British heritage brand Barbour and American label Jack Spade was only ever going to yield satisfying results and the waxed canvas bags are a sight to behold. Choose from a tote, briefcase or pocket messenger, all lined with Barbour's signature check, so even the interiors of the bags are easy on the eyes, even if what you fill them with isn't. £290, </p><p>Amber delights</p><p>Winter's coming. What better way to indulge your olfactory senses than with a warming amber fragrance? Nearly two decades old and filled with complexity, Ambre Sultan is one of master perfumer Serge Luten's bestselling scents. £69 for 50ml, House of Fraser, nationwide</p><p>Monkstrap shoes</p><p>The monkstrap – a term which refers to the buckle on the side of the shoe – is perhaps the most versatile piece of footwear. Here's a shoe that can easily be worn with either a suit, jeans or shorts. This autumn, even wearing a suede version is a subtle and clever way of giving your favourite pair of jeans a confidence boost. £245, </p><p>Beauty tends not to have fads and crazes, so much as modes – longer, gentler cycles – which means that even now it's not too late to hop on an autumn/winter look. Especially since, in the case of the full, 1960s-style lashes on the catwalk at Miu Miu and Chloé, this one is universally flattering.</p><p>If you haven't Twiggy-fied your eyelashes thus far, do it now while the light levels are still low. Va-va-voom mascara, which for period authenticity should be applied liberally to top and bottom lashes, is a look that goes off in the summer sun, not least because the smudge factor is higher in the heat. However, that's not to say that it can't look fresh; just keep everything else simple.</p><p>Then the Chinese yacht Sanya, skippered by 2004-05 winner Mike Sanderson, announced that he, too was suspending racing to fix hull damage at Puerto de Motril.</p><p>Walker’s 100-foot super-high tech carbon fibre mast came crashing down without warning just over five hours and fifteen minutes down the track. No-one was injured and the crew of 10 plus an embedded media man saved all the sails and the three sections of mast. The rescue services at Cartagena were on standby but did not have to go to the aid of the 70-foot yacht about 20 miles offshore.</p><p>The wind was blowing between about 27 knots and a gale force 35 at the time but the seas were whipped into a difficult steep chop and the boat fell into a trough. “I know it’s a big wave when my feet come off the ground,” said a dazed-looking Walker, a British double Olympic silver medallist.</p><p>The crew was on deck completing a change to reduce sail area and the mast crumpled away from them. But they had to react quickly to minimise resultant damage to the hull, which was being speared by the spreaders though which the rigging runs.</p><p>A team of experts is on its way to assess exactly what caused the failure. The team’s spare mast was on its way to Madrid to be flown to Amsterdam for storage but was turned round, put on another truck, permits to use the Spanish motorways on a Sunday hurriedly issued, and was expected in Alicante late Sunday afternoon.</p><p>Essential is to find the cause of the breakage in case there is a similar fault in the spare.</p><p>Before the start Walker had proudly described the mast as “a peach.” It was a showcase product making its high profile debut after being made in Valencia by the British-founded company Future Fibres in a joint venture  with the Bergamo-based Italian company, Persico.</p><p>As well as making the high tech rigging for yacht masts, Future Fibres makes the tethers for the wheels on Formula One and other racing cars. Persico is the company again selected by Prada boss Patrizio Bertelli to build the hulls of his latest America’s Cup entry, Luna Rossa.</p><p>The Abu Dhabi team had originally negotiated exclusive use of the Future Masts technology. The development of the mould, milled from a solid aluminium block, was hugely expensive.</p><p>Abu Dhabi then agreed to allow a rival entry in the Volvo, China’s Sanya, to have a new mast made with an identical tube, though the design of the fittings is different.</p><p>Future Masts also supplied a tube for Mike Golding’s refitted Open 60, Gamesa, currently in the Atlantic in the double-handed Jacques Vabre race from Le Havre to Costa Rica.</p><p>The Abu Dhabi team was immediately in tough with Sanderson and members of the Sanya shore team immediately, as did others, offered to help with repairs but may have to break off to look after the damaged Sanya.</p><p>The repairs to Abu Dhabi could take three or four days and Walker could not hide the disappointment of such a campaign blow after working so hard for 18 months before the start. But others may also suffer setbacks over a 39,000-mile race which finishes next July in Galway. “Certainly, we believe we can still win this race,” he said.</p><p>Going into the second 24 hours, there was a Spanish one-two as the New Zealand-managed entry Camper was leading the charge through tough conditions in the Straits of Gibraltar with a four-mile advantage over Telefonica.</p><p>Third-placed Groupama from France then had a five-mile lead over the American-flagged Puma as Sanya pulled off the track.</p><p>Williams and his Team GAC Pindar need at least two more from their five remaining round robin encounters with each of their 11 opponents to feel in any way comfortable about securing one of the eight quarter final places. “Six wins should make us 95% sure of going through, but five would leave us 50/50,” said a much happier Williams.</p><p>The final race of the day, against Malaysian match racing champion Jeremy Koo, who has yet to trouble the scorer, meant that, after starting the day with a loss, Williams then hammered in four victories but, after the relatively easy task of dispatching Koo, Williams has no gimmes to cash in.</p><p>On Friday, New Zealand’s Phil Robertson is followed by Australian Torvar Mirsky, who commented; “Our backs are against the wall.” Up next is his nearest rival over the 2011 season, Italy’s Francesco Bruni – recently named as tactician for the Prada America’s Cup challenge – and finally France’s Mathieu Richard.</p><p>The second day started badly for Williams. Given a reprieve when losing his third race against another Kiwi, William Teller, in the dying breeze of the opening day, he lost again to be 0-3. Teller, a 21-year old, went on to become the first to qualify for the quarters, going into the clubhouse 6-2 after losing his final encounter of the day against Denmark’s Jesper Radich.</p><p>Perhaps the brief appearance of some sunshine helped to open his score against Denmark’s Jesper Radich and he went on to beat the second Frenchman in the field, Damien Iehl – there are five said to be fighting for the two spots in next year’s series – but he had to fight hard for his third point against Johnie Berntsson of Sweden.</p><p>What seemed like a dominant start turned into a game of catch-up made worse because Williams was carrying a penalty. “But we stayed close and put the pressure on that forced a mistake in which he was penalised for a collision – which cancelled both – and we took the lead going into the final leg.</p><p>“Now it is business as usual, but the guillotine can drop very quickly. When it happens it all happens fast.”  He is just outside the drop one in eighth and there is no room for error with both Mirsky of Australia and Richard breathing down his neck.</p><p>MONSOON CUP: Round Robin; Day 2: W Tiller (NZL) 6-2; J Berntsson (SWE)  5-2, P Robertson (NZL) 5-3, F Bruni (ITA) 5-2, B Hansen (SWE) 5-3, J Radich (DEN) 4-3, P Gilour (AUS) 4-4, I Williams (GBR) 4-3, T Mirsky (AUS) 3-4, M Richard (FRA) 3-5, D Iehl (FRA) 2-5, J Koo (MAS) 0-9. </p><p>He meets Italy’s Francesco Bruni in a first to three wins in the knockout stage of what is the  finale of the eight-regatta grand prix. If he wins, no-one can score enough points, even if Williams were then knocked out in the semi-final. Bruni would at least have to win the third place play off to be sure of overtaking Williams. </p><p>Bruni kept his hopes alive when they seemed to be ebbing away when knocking out the man lying third overall, Australia’s Torvar Mirsky, by a margin of four seconds. Earlier Bruni, who is moving on to be tactician on Italy’s Prada challenge for the America’s Cup, had beaten the veteran Peter Gilmour by just one second.</p><p>This would be Williams’ third world championship and he, like Bruni, was quick to commiserate with Mirsky, who also suffered the disappointment earlier in the season of seeing the Venezia Challenge America’s Cup team have its entry turned down by the Golden Gate Yacht Club on behalf of the San Francisco-based holder, Oracle.  </p><p>Mirsky’s contribution to the series over the years was acknowledged, but he was distraught, having led Bruni to within yards of the finish line. He may yet be back, but indicated strongly he would not be on the circuit next year. “Our team’s just shattered right now,” he said. “We know we have a competitive team but this has left a real sour taste in our mouths. We’re in a real mess right now.”</p><p>Outstanding performances by two young Kiwi teams, both of which have come through the Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron academy scheme, skippered by William Tiller and Phil Robertson, topped the original 12-boat entry, but only two points covered first to eighth when they had all raced each other.</p><p>There could yet be upsets and Williams needs to be in killer mood in the quarter finals. As the top three chose their opponents, he said: “No-one will pick us or Bruni.” He was right.</p><p>Motoring towards Tristan da Cunha, the crew of the dismasted, American-flagged Puma, the third from six starters to retire from the first leg of the Volvo round the world race from Alicante to Cape Town, is worried it will be picked up in time to reach South Africa for repairs which will allow them to start the second leg, to Abu Dhabi, in time.</p><p>Counting down through the 500 miles to go marker, Spain’s Telefonica, skippered by Iker Martinez, was still leading from the second Spanish boat, Camper by 130 miles, and France’s Groupama third, nearly 500 miles behind Telefonica.</p><p>It is filled with the new and exclusive Karl Capsule Collection; Karl, the affordable range for men and women; and Karl Lagerfeld Paris menswear, a more upscale affair. All of these are designed, according to the press release, to allow customers “to experience the Karl Lagerfeld world”.</p><p>Judging by the bright young crowd in front of the store's main entrance and dutifully lined up at the sides of its escalators, in anticipation of the arrival of the man himself, more than a few are intent on doing just that.</p><p>&quot;You know, personally, I don't even think that I'm famous,&quot; says Lagerfeld, at this point in full possession of his body and comfortably installed in a suite at Brown's Hotel for the afternoon. He is due to drop in on the launch in question before long.</p><p>&quot;I wouldn't say I was a beginner but you're only as good, not as your last show, but your next show. I can't go into a shop without people in front of the door taking my picture on their iPhones. That's very strange to me.&quot;</p><p>He will doubtless be more taken aback still, then, when he sees that the outline of his profile also graces everything from the interiors of lifts at the aforementioned department store to the T-shirts of those operating them or showing guests to the roof where cocktails are served and Alison Mosshart is DJing.</p><p>&quot;Yes,&quot; he says. &quot;Sometimes even I'm surprised at what can be done with my head.&quot; Surely, though, he must realise that his self-styled, always black-and-white image – from the clothes, to the hair to the dark glasses – has as much in common with a lithograph as a living, breathing, human being.</p><p>&quot;But I didn't do that on purpose. I see myself more like a cartoon. I wanted to become a cartoon artist when I was a child. I'm pretty good at it.&quot; His skills as an illustrator are unrivalled as anyone even remotely interested in fashion will know. &quot;But I never proposed my face [as part of the branding]. The company asked me if they could use it. I personally am too modest, if I can say that, to make such a proposition.&quot;</p><p>It must be a relief, in an age where respect for privacy is conspicuous by its absence, that people at least have the courtesy to seek permission before stamping his silhouette here, there and everywhere. &quot;Yes. Yes. Yes. Everybody still has to ask if they can use my head… the head doesn't come for free.&quot; Whether he fully understands it, Lagerfeld is as instantly recognisable as royalty and rock stars but nowhere near as intimidating as might be imagined. And he is perfectly well-mannered to boot. &quot;I got here two hours ago,&quot; he says, &quot;It's fun. It's nice. One shouldn't be too difficult, no? It's the first time I see London with so much sun. It's beautiful. All those Regency buildings in the sunlight. The standard is really quite impeccable.&quot;</p><p>Although great pains are taken by his people to separate the designer's work on the line that bears his name from that of his creative directorship at Fendi and, of course, Chanel, Lagerfeld says what he wants to say, when he wants to say it. And given his long, spectacularly grand career and ability to keep up with the times, that is as it should be. And so the Karl and Karl Lagerfeld collections are &quot;a reflection of me as a person and the others are more like an interpretation of a style. It's never mixed. Fendi never looks like Chanel, Chanel never looks like Karl Lagerfeld. I don't know how I've managed it. I think I have no personality but in fact I have three.&quot; Lagerfeld's public persona has effectively blocked any real attempts at probing over the years and the personality he speaks of is therefore communicated on a surface level. &quot;You see a silhouette. There's nothing else to see. I remember a photographer saying to me, 'I have to spend three days with you to know what's behind the image'. I said, 'You're wasting your time; there's nothing there'.&quot;</p><p>Both Karl and Karl Lagerfeld rely on sharp cuts inspired by menswear, on a monochrome colour palette on the contemporary uniform of T-shirt and jeans and – closer still to the designer's personal style – detachable high collars and fingerless leather gloves. For his part, Lagerfeld's skinny black brocade trousers are of his own making as indeed is his tie, but his shirt is made for him now, as always, by Hilditch &amp; Key and his narrow black jacket is Dior Homme. &quot;But I have worn Dior for a long time,&quot; he says.</p><p>Lagerfeld's output is more diverse than any other designer's: he is responsible for everything from Chanel haute couture where money is no object to the accessible Karl. In 2004, he was the first big name to collaborate with the Swedish high-street chain H&amp;M: he says it was that company's decision to use his photograph in the accompanying advertising campaign that made him a household name.</p><p>&quot;I'm very much against the idea that 'commercial' is a boring word because you cannot make a collection that nobody wears. Fashion is what people wear and what they buy. I know exactly what can be done and for what price. I know what costs what and why something is expensive or affordable. That is part of my job. I think it's very pretentious to think that you are only catering to a limited group. I am lucky, though, as I have the total range.&quot;</p><p>Luck, in a world where Lagerfeld's very longevity is the exception that proves the rule, has nothing to do with it. Instead, his is the infinitely protean model that has set the standard for contemporary fashion as practised by everyone from Miuccia Prada to Marc Jacobs. As well as designing Karl, Karl Lagerfeld, Fendi and Chanel, Lagerfeld has a publishing imprint, 7L, a subsidiary of Steidl, and he is also an accomplished photographer.</p><p>&quot;I'm militating for a 48-hour day but that's a problem, especially in France, with the 35-hour week,&quot; he says. &quot;I have 35 hours of rest. But I'm not tired, so that's okay with me. I have the job I want and the right circumstances in which to do it. Nobody has that like I do.&quot;</p><p>If Karl Lagerfeld is blessed then his good fortune pales into insignificance as compared to that of his one-year-old cat, Choupette. &quot;Now, Choupette really is famous,&quot; he says. &quot;She has become the most famous cat in the world. I even get propositioned by pet food companies and things like that but it's out of the question. I'm commercial. She's not. She's spoiled to death. Obviously. &quot;</p><p>Choupette travels with Lagerfeld to St Tropez on his private jet &quot;in the cockpit, with the pilot, she loves looking at the sky&quot;. She has three maids whose duties include keeping a diary of all activities and taking her to the vet for a check-up every 10 days. &quot;I don't take her,&quot; Lagerfeld says. &quot;I don't want her to be furious with me.&quot;</p><p>And with that he's off to make a brief appearance at his own party and then back to Paris. &quot;Choupette waits for me at the front door,&quot; he says. &quot;She doesn't like being alone. She gets moody.&quot;</p><p>Probably not. But we sort of know what Kenyon means, don't we? In 23 movies over five decades, the Bond films established a template of off-hand heroism and high-gloss adventure that effectively bullied the world into believing they were cool, stylish and happening. The films were actually about as stylish as old Martini TV commercials, the kind that showed Mediterranean playboys relaxing on yachts with their laughing blonde companions. The movies existed in a bubble of faux sophistication, with rich, scarred villains bent on world domination, with homes in travel-guide locations and beautiful girlfriends whom they mistreated. And a hero who wore, and drove, and drank and moved through a whole department store of cool stuff that we ourselves couldn't afford; and got to shag the villains' cast-off, vengeful mistresses, plus anyone else with breasts who wandered into the action.</p><p>James Bond as a character wasn't ever cool – in the early films he was a terrible fusspot about champagne, and complained about needing earmuffs to listen to the Beatles. His later incarnation was abused by his boss M as a &quot;sexist dinosaur&quot;. But he was (as Ian Fleming conceived him) an efficient machine when it came to killing, running, dodging bullets, and piloting cars, planes, tanks and speedboats, and he was old-fashionedly saucy with the ladies. Whatever was going on in England at the time – flower power, glam rock, punk, Thatcherism, New Romantics, Britpop – the various incarnations of James could always be found being heroic in bespoke suits, commandeering motorbikes, being suave with bosomy horizontales, and electrocuting baddies, in landscapes full of money and foreign exotica.</p><p>As we wait for the new Bond movie, Skyfall, to knock us for six in October – on the 50th anniversary of the first Bond film, Dr No, released in 1962 – we can refresh our memories of celluloid Bondage at the Barbican this summer. Designing 007 – Fifty Years of Bond Style is an exhibition that tries to give a flavour of the whole shooting match, the sets, props, costumes, cars, gadgets, stunts – but also the credits, posters, storyboards and special effects.</p><p>The show is designed by Ab Rogers, most famous for restyling the motorway Little Chef at Popham with Heston Blumenthal. It's co-curated by Lindy Hemming, who did wardrobe design on five Bond movies, and the fashion historian Bronwyn Cosgrave, whose book about Oscar-night fashions, Made for Each Other, deals as much with films as frocks.</p><p>&quot;We hope that when a visitor finishes the show, they'll understand what has gone into designing a Bond film,&quot; says Cosgrave. &quot;They'll walk in through a gun barrel, enter a golden domain to commemorate the golden anniversary, visit M's office, look at gadgets in Q Branch, enter a casino, then visit the foreign territories which Bond visited.&quot;</p><p>They're dedicating a room to Bond villains, from the thinly smiling Dr Julius No with the contact lenses and artificial hands in Dr No, to the ruthless business mogul Dominic Greene with the sidekick called Elvis, in Quantum of Solace. For purists, no Bond movie is complete without an unfeasibly huge cavern in which the bad guy plans world domination. Space considerations, alas, preclude a life-size exhibit of Hugo Drax's space station in Moonraker, or Karl Stromberg's submersible Atlantis in The Spy Who Loved Me.</p><p>&quot;But we have drawings of Blofeld's lair in On Her Majesty's Secret Service [the one at the top of the Swiss Alps],&quot; says Cosgrave. &quot;We've gone to the archive and hand-picked items that will recreate it. We're screening the greatest scenes from the films and displaying objects that went into their design. The final room in the exhibition is the Ice Palace, from Die Another Day, and that's quite fantastic.&quot;</p><p>The word &quot;costume&quot; hardly seems to fit James Bond. He always wears business suits, because he's supposedly an executive working for &quot;Universal Exports&quot;. Sometimes he wears shorts, for running along beaches, and occasionally a tuxedo, for those crucial casino visits. That's it, isn't it? Has there been much evolution from Connery to Craig?</p><p>&quot;Terence Young, who directed Dr No and groomed Sean Connery to play Bond, sent him to his tailor [and Ian Fleming's], namely Anthony Sinclair,&quot; says Cosgrave. &quot;At the time Sinclair's signature design was the Conduit Cut, inspired by the athletic physique of his clients, many of whom were former Guards officers. The trousers had a very slim fit and the jacket was a hacking jacket with a longer cut. That suit's been copied several times. It's served as a reference point for all later designers, right up to Tom Ford with Daniel Craig.&quot;</p><p>And the tuxedos? Our first sighting of Bond, after all, is in a white tux… &quot;No,&quot; Cosgrave says firmly, &quot;it's black. He's in a casino called Le Circle, and the first sight is of his cuffs – a homage to Ian Fleming's turned-back suit cuffs.&quot;</p><p>When we think of the 80-odd Bond girls who have shimmered and flirted through the 23 films, exhibiting all feisty, gun-toting, research-scientist, feminist bona fides before getting their kit off for 007, we recall a succession of swimming costumes and evening gowns, like in old Miss World shows. The organisers insist there's more to it than that.</p><p>&quot;What fascinated me when I started to examine the films,&quot; says Cosgrave, &quot;was that the costume designers worked with the best fashion designers. There was always a strong, directional fashion style, from Pussy Galore's trouser suit – women weren't wearing trousers back then – to today when Muccia Prada adapts her clothes for the screen.&quot;</p><p>There are two pieces of Prada in the exhibition – the black dress Camille Montes wore when crossing the desert with Daniel Craig in Quantum of Solace, and the red top Michelle Yeoh wore playing Wei Lin in Tomorrow Never Dies.</p><p>&quot;Hubert de Givenchy dressed Lois Chiles for Moonraker, and we have the black satin jumpsuit she wore when escaping from Jaws in a Sugarloaf Mountain cable-car.&quot; And who designed the maddest costume of all – that of the murderous May Day, played by Grace Jones in A View to a Kill? &quot;Azzedine Alaia. He was her friend, she was his muse and she recommended him for the film.&quot;</p><p>Don't tell Cosgrave that the cars and gadgets and accessories you see in James Bond movies are basically boys' fantasy toys, the thriller equivalent of Wallace and Gromit. She insists that each Bond film was just ahead of contemporary technology.</p><p>&quot;In the first room, there's a drawing of Goldfinger's jet, which was modelled on Lyndon Johnson's. Remember the Ericsson flip-phone Pierce Brosnan used in Tomorrow Never Dies? The whole flip-phone concept was launched the following year. And the BMW R1200 motorbike that Bond and Wai Lin drove through Ho Chi Minh City in the same film – that great stunt scene? – BMW launched that later on. The Bombardier Skidoo [snowmobile] in Die Another Day – that was its first appearance, and it later went out commercially.&quot;</p><p>In the &quot;Q Branch&quot; sector of the show, visitors can see the progression of gadgets from the early sketches from John Stears (&quot;the real Q&quot;) to the special-effects department at Pinewood, where they were built and tried out. &quot;We have an Aston Martin DB5,&quot; says Cosgrave, &quot;we have the technical drawings, the models, the 'snooper' dogbot [mini-robot] from A View to a Kill, the piton weapon we see Pierce Brosnan fire in Goldeneye. We have drawings of the Bondola [the gondola that converted into a turbo-powered hovercraft in Moonraker] and the Q-Boat in The World is Not Enough.&quot;</p><p>There's clearly a treat in store for Bond-ophiles from next week until early September. But, while admiring the passion that's going into the exhibition (and the awesome research conducted by Cosgrave and her team), I've yet to be convinced that the Bond movies had a life outside their bubble of sophistication. Could Cosgrave give me one example of how the films influenced lifestyles?</p><p>&quot;Tailoring,&quot; she says shortly. &quot;You just can't imagine how many British tailors have been asked by clients to make them look like Bond. I know because they told me. The films also put Martinis on the map. And there's the style Ken Adam innovated, juxtaposing modern, stainless steel and chrome, stuff with antiques. It was there right from the start, in Dr No's lair, a futuristic environment with an Old Master painting. On Goldfinger's jet there was a Braque and a French telephone. It's become a signature.</p><p>&quot;I think Bond is still incredibly influential. The films showed a way of living which might have seemed far-fetched in the 1960s. But think of the techno-billionaires who collect Bond memorabilia at auctions, who want to live like him – and, because they have more money than ever now, think they can be him. The films continue to be a reference point for them.&quot;</p><p>God help us. I'm not sure we can take any more world domination.</p><p>Designing 007: 50 Years of Bond Style, Barbican, London EC2 6 July to 5 September ()</p><p>Goodwin is an easy person to loathe. He's a bit common, looks like a ferret, and has never publicly graced us with a full apology. He still lives in a posh house with mega-security in a swanky part of Edinburgh. What do Dave, Cleggy and Ed want? That he should walk down Whitehall in sackcloth having custard pies chucked at him by angry voters? </p><p>There are plenty of people as loathsome as Sir Fred – our former prime ministers Tony Blair and Gordon Brown, for starters, with their self-important charitable foundations and conspicuous lack of humility about their track records; their huge &quot;expenses&quot;; their trumpeting of their desire to &quot;help&quot; the underprivileged on a global scale; their refusal consistently to accept blame.</p><p>Taking away Goodwin's knighthood will not make any difference to the bonus culture or the deeply entrenched mindset in the City. The people who run our country have had more than three years to get cross about his gong, so why are politicians so incandescent with rage now? Almost certainly because they know they are powerless to prevent the steady flow of bad news on all fronts.</p><p>Unemployment is at a record high. The high street is in crisis, with liquidations every week. More young people than ever have been sitting around doing nothing for more than a year. There's the ever-present danger of a double-dip recession. The euro teeters on the brink of collapse. We seem to be blundering through a maze of misery, so (they seem to have decided) why not pick on an easily identifiable bloke and make him the scapegoat for all the current woes? Why not try and distract voters with a fall guy? </p><p>The truth is, Fred G was just one of many. The Labour government did bugger-all to deal with banking excesses. And when the crunch came, they still treated bankers as a special case. Ann Godbehere, the woman brought in by Labour to sort out Northern Rock's financial mess, was allowed to base her tax affairs outside the UK. And they appointed a new chairman, Ron Sandler, a non-dom whose £8m London house was owned by an overseas trust. </p><p>Labour chose these two key people to be in charge of billions of pound's worth of public money when we bailed out the bank – people who enjoyed tax breaks that were denied to ordinary people. So forgive my cynicism. I can't see that any politicians are committed to changing the way that bankers and tax avoiders operate. If they did, we would have signed up for the Robin Hood Tax, a levy on all financial transactions, a simple decision that would change charitable giving overnight and really help the needy.</p><p>Another thing about knighthoods is that they're worthless, a snobbish relic that reinforces our class-ridden, socially stagnant society. Terry Leahy, Philip Green, Stuart Rose and Richard Branson were all knighted for services to retail and various types of enterprise. In reality, they were already lavishly rewarded financially for their job. So why garnish their CVs with a gong? In the US, knighthoods don't exist, you are valued by your peers according to how well your business is doing. The US is a true meritocracy. We still believe titles carry clout.</p><p> When Simon Schama trashed Downton Abbey as &quot;a steaming, silvered tureen or snobbery&quot;, he hit the nail right on the head. There's a nasty little corner buried in the British psyche that secretly aches for a gong, that can't help itself genuflecting to a title. Sir Mick Jagger sold out when he accepted one. Ditto Sir Bob Geldof. Sir Fred's title is an irrelevance, not worthy of a moment's concern.</p><p>Decadence in Paris – here today, gone tomorrow</p><p>This Tuesday, Paris hosts a unique event, the world's first 24-hour museum dedicated to decadence. </p><p>Artist Francesco Vezzoli is a master of publicity – in 2009 he persuaded Lady Gaga to wear a hat designed by architect Frank Gehry and play a piano painted by Damien Hirst, while the Bolshoi Ballet danced around her. In 2005, he created a &quot;new&quot; trailer for the 1979 cult film Caligula – starring Courtney Love as Caligula and Helen Mirren, from the original cast, as Tiberius in a toga designed by Donatella Versace. The piece was unveiled at the Whitney Biennial. </p><p>This time, Vezzoli's grandiose plans for a museum to decadence are funded by the Prada Foundation, which put up the cash for artist Carsten Höller's fabulous Double Club in London in 2009. The museum will transform the classical Palais d'Iéna, kicking off with a swanky dinner and staying open all night. Next day, there will be school trips and a public party, before it closes for good. The contents sound fabulously tacky. We're promised 5m-high statues of celebrities that light up. </p><p>Vezzoli says he wants people to be inspired and plans to be there for the duration: &quot;If there's no sex, I'm going home!&quot; I'd love a ticket!</p><p>Joyful Hockney upsets sneery critics</p><p>Last week, I spent an evening at a preview of the stupendous David Hockney exhibition at the Royal Academy. The work is dazzling, exhilarating, and humbling. Hockney's monumental interpretations of the bleak Yorkshire Wolds, the flowering hawthorn bushes, muddy lanes and neat piles of logs are unforgettable. Of course, the curmudgeons in the art world were ready to sneer. Brian Sewell ranted about the &quot;ghastly gaudiness of Hockney's vision&quot;. Alastair Sooke complained the show was &quot;too big&quot; and implied Hockney was past his prime. Adrian Searle put the boot in with: &quot;It all becomes a sort of slurry.&quot; Their problem? The sheer positivity on show. It's too joyous by half. Luckily, what they say is totally irrelevant.</p><p>Desmond's sex drive hits gardens</p><p>Richard Desmond made a fortune from magazines that focus on one thing: sex. The multimillionaire now owns Channel 5 and seems determined that his recipe for publishing success should influence programming content – and judging by the glamour-girl content on Celebrity Big Brother, his wishes are being granted. Now, he's even managed to introduce sexual performance into the tasteful world of horticulture. David Domoney who hosts Garden ER on Channel 5, insists that adding a small amount of Viagra to drooping cut flowers &quot;stiffens things up nicely&quot;. He also advocates spraying Deep Heat muscle relaxant on tea bags as a cat repellent. Would an anxious middle-aged chap really bother to grind up a 50mg Viagra tablet to extract a 1mg dose to perk up their peonies? </p><p>At first glance, the designer is an incongruous presence at a film festival. Look at his credits, though, and you realise that he has worked on many movies with directors from Almodóvar to Luc Besson, from Peter Greenaway to Jean-Pierre Jeunet. He was also a key part of the team on the Madonna documentary, Truth Or Dare, &quot;the first reality movie. Bravo, Madonna! The first reality movie!&quot; he applauds the singer, with whom he is so closely associated in public memory.</p><p>Gaultier still speaks in the heavily accented and idiosyncratic English that many will remember from Eurotrash, the TV show he used to front. However, he is a more measured and less outrageous presence than you might expect, given how often he is still described as the enfant terrible of French fashion.</p><p>It is 40 years now since Gaultier was talent-spotted by Pierre Cardin. The young would-be designer from the provinces (he was born in Arcueil) has come a very long way.</p><p>&quot;One day, she [Khelfa] asked me, 'Jean Paul, would you like me to do a portrait of you?' I thought that it was a written portrait,&quot; Gaultier recalls of how Jean Paul Gaultier Ou Les Codes Bouleversés (&quot;Jean Paul Gaultier Or the Shattered Codes&quot;) originated. He is happy with how she has shown him on film. &quot;She knows me. She can show things even that I don't realise about myself.&quot;</p><p>Khelfa's film is one of an increasing number of documentaries and dramatic features set in the fashion world. Whether Valentino: The Last Emperor or The Devil Wears Prada, Gaultier has watched most of them. However, he has mixed feelings about the way the camera has captured his professional world.</p><p>&quot;I didn't like, for example, Prêt-à-Porter,&quot; he says of Robert Altman's mid-Nineties comedy drama, complaining that it wasn't sarcastic enough. Nor did he much care for The Devil Wears Prada itself. &quot;Anna Wintour is a lot more monstrous than she is described!&quot; he laughs of the 2006 film, which features Meryl Streep as a formidable fashion editor not unlike US Vogue's editor-in-chief, Wintour. Ask about his attitude toward Wintour and he is a little evasive. Is she a positive figure?</p><p>&quot;She is a figure,&quot; is all he will say.</p><p>Gaultier is markedly more enthusiastic talking about pop diva Lady Gaga, whom he recently met for the first time. Their encounter was filmed.</p><p>Lady Gaga dresses in a way that rekindles memories of Gaultier's clothes (for example, his cone bra for Madonna) during the late 1980s and early 1990s. Gaultier approves of Lady Gaga's sartorial sense, her business acumen and her voice. &quot;Fabulous,&quot; he proclaims of her interpretation of &quot;The Lady Is a Tramp&quot;, which she recently sang in a duet with crooner Tony Bennett. What he likes most of all is her outrageousness. At a time (he suggests) when fashion has become increasingly politically correct and petit bourgeois, she is a throwback to a less inhibited time.</p><p>Ask Gaultier about the troubled British designer John Galliano, who became caught up in a huge scandal, lost his position at Dior and was found guilty this autumn of making anti-semitic remarks, and the French designer sighs. He is not a close friend of Galliano, but is clearly pained by his fellow designer's plight.</p><p>&quot;I know John a little and I must say that what he does for his work shows he is not a racist,&quot; Gaultier suggests. &quot;It [the scandal] is something that happened and is beyond him. It's maybe because of drugs, because of alcohol, all that mixed together. I think it's also all the stress, that is enormous, about the importance of the collection... he didn't think about what he said.&quot;</p><p>The anti-semitic remarks that Galliano made were, Gaultier suggests, uttered as a defence mechanism when the designer felt himself being pushed into a corner. &quot;When you see the video, you can see it is someone teasing him... John is very talented. He has done some beautiful things for Dior. I think it is completely sad that he doesn't have his own label anymore. I think it's bad. There are some people who say and do terrible things and they are not even punished for it.&quot; He adds that he &quot;loves&quot; Galliano's work and hopes fervently that the British designer will again have the chance to &quot;make beautiful clothes that have enchanted so many people.&quot;</p><p>This may be the digital era, but Gaultier still has a relish for old-fashion media and for the &quot;real&quot;. He would never countenance launching one of his own collections online first. He likes to go to the theatre (&quot;it's good to smell also the sweat of the actor,&quot; he says, making an exaggerated sniffing noise) and would far rather see a movie in a cinema than on a laptop.</p><p>Film is a means of escape for him on both a personal and a professional level. Just as he likes to lose himself watching a movie, he relishes it when directors like Besson and Almodóvar recruit him to work with them. &quot;It's like going into another story. When I do my collection, it is in a way my own story. But when I work for them, it's a little of my savoir faire, let's say, going into their story,&quot; he says of how he mutes his own creative personality in order to do the best work he can for his collaborators.</p><p>On The Skin I Live In, Almodóvar was present at all the costume fittings. He accepted most of Gaultier's suggestions. &quot;I made a lot of propositions. He took away some that were very spectacular – a little too Grand Guignol, a little too theatrical,&quot; the designer recalls. &quot;It is always interesting to see him [Almodóvar] working because he is so precise – so definite in what he wants.&quot;</p><p>Gaultier finished a seven-year stint as creative director at Hermès last year. He is now back on his own. To many, he seems a figure from another era: a trailblazer in the 1980s and 1990s who had the chutzpah to put men in skirts (remember, for example, David Beckham in his sarong). He can't hide his dismay at a present-day fashion industry every bit as conservative in its attitude to gender as the one he was trying to shake up at the beginning of his career.</p><p>&quot;When I did the skirt, it was more like a symbol of equality for fashion for men and women... also, [to show that] men can be seductive and also men can be 'male objects'. It was not to scandalise or whatever,&quot; Gaultier says. Gaultier's mission was always to underline that you could be masculine but show feelings too: &quot;show your sensitive and fragile part.&quot;</p><p>The French designer is a firm admirer of British humour and British irony. &quot;It's rough and dignified at the same time. I love it,&quot; he enthuses. Gaultier likes British movies, too (citing My Beautiful Laundrette, Beautiful Thing and The King's Speech as favourites). As for the way the Brits dress, he manages to summon up some enthusiasm about that as well. &quot;I love their eccentricity, which I regret is not as much as in the 80s. In the 80s, it was more strong.&quot;</p><p>Ask him about his current projects and he talks of &quot;maybe making some project about cinema.&quot; He is quick, though, to scotch any idea that he has a hankering to direct films himself. &quot;Not at all – I am not that stupid! I know what I am able and not able to do. Fashion? OK. Fashion... clothes in theatre, in an opera, in a concert – all that I love. To make a movie myself... no!&quot;</p><p>The simplest piece may cost upwards of £10,000. For more elaborate designs, meanwhile, the sky's the limit. And who, in their right mind, and in this day and age, is prepared to invest in that? On the other hand, one might not unreasonably argue that, given the circumstances, such attention to detail is just the thing the discerning fashion follower is looking for: garments that can be worn and loved season after season, year in year out, and then passed down to a daughter or grand-daughter like a fashion heirloom.</p><p>Haute couture equals quality, the story goes, and there is no arguing with that, which is why, presumably, so many ready-to-wear designers have turned to it for inspiration. Despite the fact that their fashions are for the most part machine-made, the spirit of hand-craftsmanship has been reinvigorated and, in at least some cases, the finishing touches executed by hand.</p><p>Junya Watanabe's treatment of lace – the most classic and resonant of all the haute couture fabrics – is far from predictable or banal. Lace, of course, carries with it a symbolism that is unparalleled – lace for christenings, lace for weddings, funereal black lace. It is an important addition, then, to any woman's wardrobe and even life.</p><p>Conventionally, however, lace is frilled and stereotypically feminine, sewn in delicate pale colours and fit for a fairytale princess. Watanabe is not one for conservative treatments of heritage clothing. In fact, if there is a single unifying feature to his brilliantly diverse body of work it is his combination of a profound respect for timeless fashions coupled with an inventiveness, imagination and technical expertise that is second to none.</p><p>The designer has in the past applied this to everything from tartans, tweeds and bouclé wool – another haute couture stalwart, incidentally, thanks to Gabrielle (&quot;Coco&quot;) Chanel. He has worked frequently with denim – patch-worked, fused with vibrant African inspired prints – and collaborated with Levi's, in the first instance, to make jeans under a joint imprint and now under his own name.</p><p>In Watanabe's hands, the trench coat becomes a thing of great beauty and any trace of fustiness is overthrown. As for Savile Row inspired suiting... Suffice it to say that Watanabe is probably the most inspiring tailor of the ear – particularly where taking menswear and adapting it to fit the female form is concerned.</p><p>Watanabe's lace dresses are cut in the type of slightly stiffened and proudly acrylic threads that is also an integral part of his handwriting, and that would doubtless make the lacemakers at Chantilly, say, drop their thimbles in horror. For the most part following a sportswear-inspired line, with not a flounce or furbelow to be seen, in some instances black opaque panels and more intricate patterns make an appearance, although there is nothing trussed-up or old-fashioned to be seen.</p><p>This is lace, then, that retains all the sweet romance of the original but with a freshness and ease that is all new. It has also been vibrantly recoloured: there's not a cliched Miss Havisham shade of ivory or cream to be seen. Instead, choose from gunmetal grey, leaf green and rose and, pictured here, very slightly hyped-up violet, lilac and candyfloss.</p><p>The woman who wears these clothes won't be accessorising her lace dress with talon heels. That would be too obvious – too jolie madame – by far. Watanabe's signature take on footwear is, almost invariably, studiously heavy and flat, and this season's robust handling of the archetypal schoolgirl Mary Jane is no exception. Under-cutting any trace of woman as trophy still further, meanwhile, the powers that be at Junya Watanabe insist that all dresses be photographed with accompanying and decidedly demure cotton slips worn beneath them. No flashing of flesh required.</p><p>While other designers' takes on lace have been less extreme, and simpler to boot, Miuccia Prada's ultra-cute A-line dresses for Miu Miu are similarly stiff – even stiffer – and cast in strong block hues not normally associated with the fabric – plum and tomato layered over pale yellow and beige included. For Louis Vuitton, Marc Jacobs' lace designs are more retro in their unabashed pastel coloured prettiness and the attention to embroideries and finish are nothing short of extraordinary. Given that this remains the wealthiest designer brand of the LVMH (Louis Vuitton Moët Hennessy) stable, Jacobs has all the skills of the Paris ateliers which execute haute couture proper at his fingertips and that shows.</p><p>There is, by contrast, a slightly distressed look to Peter Copping's patch-worked treatment of lace at Nina Ricci, which embraces the haute couture tradition wholeheartedly while subtly subverting it. Finally, the great Roman couturier, Valentino Garavani, was always a lace lover par excellence and throughout his long and grand career was known for his relatively restrained handling of this delicately beautiful material. His successors – Pier Paolo Piccioli and Maria Grazia Chiuri – are similarly enamoured but there is a clean-cut modernity to their no-frills variation on an age-old theme that will suit a younger customer in search of some of the most exclusive ready-to-wear available down to the ground.</p><p>She was among bidders who paid almost half a million pounds for items from the personal collection of Daphne Guinness which was sold at Christie's. The lots went for four times the original estimate.</p><p>Gaga is understood to have set a new high for a McQueen, bidding £85,250 in a sale which saw her facing rival bids from institutions and couture collectors from around the world.</p><p>The record price was for an ivory silk tulle empire line gown, entitled The Girl Who Lived In The Tree.</p><p>Another McQueen - a metallic silver mini-dress dating from 2008, the year before he committed suicide - also beat the previous record, fetching £79,250.</p><p>Guinness was auctioning items from her personal collection to raise funds for the Isabella Blow Foundation, which she set up in memory of her friend to support emerging fashion talent.</p><p>Fashionista Blow killed herself in 2007, and her own extensive wardrobe - sold to settle debts on her estate - was bought in its entirety by Guinness to keep it intact.</p><p>Chart-topping star Gaga has spoken of her admiration for Guinness and Blow in the past.</p><p>She said in one interview: &quot;Isabella and Daphne are two exceptional human beings, women, icons.</p><p>&quot;Daphne, like Isabella, is a huge source of inspiration for me. I cherish them both. It is as if we are all cut from the same cloth.&quot;</p><p>The top lot of the sale was a photograph of Guinness taken by Mario Testino for a 2008 British edition of Vogue magazine. It was sold for £133,250.</p><p>McQueen was found dead in his Mayfair apartment in February 2010, days before London Fashion Week. His death shocked the fashion industry.</p><p>Christie's confirmed that Gaga was a bidder but was unable to provide further details of the items she purchased. Bidders from 21 countries took part.</p><p>Guinness said: &quot;This cause is close to my heart. I am genuinely touched by the response it has generated, and truly excited for the future of the Isabella Blow Foundation.</p><p>&quot;I'm overwhelmed by how many bidders took part this evening and I'm particularly moved by Lady Gaga's support for the foundation. I like her very much, and it's lovely to see the nascent beginnings of something that may help other people.&quot;</p><p>The collection went for £467,800, including buyer's premium.</p><p>Other items on sale came from designers such as Chanel, Gareth Pugh, Lacroix, Prada and Gucci.</p><p>PA</p>Her marriage is wonderful, she&#039;s given up alcohol and from tomorrow she&#039;s hosting the nightly &#039;Strictly&#039; spin-off show &#039;It Takes Two&#039;<p>To which list will surely be added in future, the &quot;new aviation hub&quot; that you propose (leading article, 19 January). Rising energy prices are driving up the costs of all forms of travel; measures to reduce CO2 emissions add yearly to these costs; and disposable incomes are shrinking year on year.</p><p>While these trends reduce recreational air travel, IT developments are making serious inroads into the business market: why spend three days and £5k to be jet-lagged at a meeting in Hong Kong, when you can Skype it for free?</p><p>Henry Ford said: &quot;If I asked my customers what they wanted, they would have said 'Faster horses'&quot;. Behind the trend as ever, our politicians have completely missed the cultural shift, and are still trying to accelerate the horses.</p><p>David Gordon<br>Hinton St George, Somerset</p><p> </p><p>In your leading article concerning a possible Thames Estuary airport you convey the bizarre idea that &quot;Boris Island&quot; and the Isle of Grain are in east London; of course, both sites are firmly in Kent.</p><p>Although the Isle of Grain did once contain an oil refinery, it is part of the Hoo peninsula, a rural area of high-grade agricultural land, panoramic landscapes, magnificent skyscapes, attractive shorelines, seascapes and two RSPB reserves.</p><p>The peninsula is full of ancient villages and churches, including St James at Cooling, the churchyard of which is the setting for the opening chapter of Great Expectations. This area of north Kent, including nearby Rochester and Chatham, are known, worldwide, as &quot;Dickens Country&quot;; he lived and died at Gads Hill Place in Higham, on the western edge of the peninsula.</p><p>The greatest concern is that any development will spread over the whole of this quiet, unspoilt, rural area and destroy it forever.</p><p>DE Williams<br>Rochester</p><p> </p><p>Boris Johnson's grand idea for an airport in the Thames Estuary is nothing new. Older readers may recall that in the 1970s there were two public inquiries in the search for a third London airport site. Both enquiries came to the same conclusion – Maplin Sands. Neither was acceptable to the government of the time and it took a third inquiry to come up with Stansted, which is what the government wanted in the first place. The attraction of Maplin Sands was not dissimilar to that of &quot;Boris Island&quot;. It would have been &quot;new&quot; land with sufficient space for a very large airport with approaches over the sea. It is conceivable that it could have replaced Heathrow completely, thus releasing a lot of very valuable land for redevelopment.</p><p>David Winter<br>Yeovil, Somerset</p><p> </p><p>Benefits cap targets the poor and weak</p><p>Mary Ann Sieghart's defence of the Coalition Government's benefits cap is a best disingenuous and at worst despicable (23 January). Large families may receive what seems like a large amount of benefit, but the amount they will have to subsist on per person will, in reality, be paltry. Defending the cap also assumes that if claimants migrate to cheaper areas, lower-cost housing will be easy to find.</p><p>Sieghart suggests that many traditional Labour voters stayed at home at the last election, &quot;because they were angry with the party's positions on welfare and immigration&quot;. As a traditional Labour party supporter myself, I stayed at home at the last election due to disgust at the way the party had lurched to the right and now saw its role as representing the middle classes rather than standing up for the poor and low paid. I do however deeply resent the way the mega-rich evade tax and that senior bankers are not being held to account for the deficit they caused.</p><p>Tim Matthews<br>Luton, Bedfordshire</p><p> </p><p>The Government's proposed benefits cap will be easy to avoid. All that is required is for one parent in a family to carry out some sort of work for 16 hours per week to qualify for Working Tax Credit, which makes them exempt from the cap. Following a recent ruling, it appears working as a Big Issue seller for a few hours a day would qualify.</p><p>This would enable those such as the Somali family Mary Ann Sieghart describes to retain extensive taxpayer funding, as their continued benefits would dwarf earnings, even if they were forced by other Housing Benefit changes to move to a less salubrious area.</p><p>Simon Leadbeater<br>Benson, Oxfordshire</p><p> </p><p>Your leading article of 23 January totally misrepresents my position on the Government's proposed welfare cap.</p><p>You say my &quot;decision to add my voice to all those campaigning against the Government's proposed cap on welfare payments is regrettable&quot;. It would be if I had done this. But I did not.</p><p>On the contrary, as I repeatedly made clear in the Sky interview to which you refer, I do not oppose the Government's proposals for a cap. I am strongly in favour of a benefits cap, but am concerned that, as currently proposed, the transition mechanisms for this are not yet right.</p><p>Mr Duncan Smith is proposing an overall and much needed reform to the welfare system which I strongly support. But he himself acknowledged that there was further work to do on the transition mechanisms before introducing the benefits cap, when he said in the Commons, &quot;We recognise that there must be transitional arrangements... We will make sure that families who need transitional support will receive it.&quot;</p><p>These proposals have not yet been published. My Lib Dem colleagues in Government, led by Nick Clegg, are pressing for this. If and when they are published and contain proposals which do, as Mr Duncan Smith promised, provide the most vulnerable families with the transitional support, I shall have no difficulty in supporting these proposals.</p><p>Until this is done, I cannot give them my support. That's what I said – no more.</p><p>Paddy Ashdown<br>Norton sub Hamdon, Somerset</p><p> </p><p>May I suggest that a far more appropriate target for Iain Duncan Smith is the universal Child Benefit? If ever there has been electoral bribery on the grand scale it is payment to comfortably off people of money they do not need just because they have children. It is almost as blatant as the much smaller bribe tendered to married couples.</p><p>Kenneth J Moss<br>Norwich</p><p> </p><p>Does the Labour Party not find itself in an awkward position on the Coalition's proposed benefits cap because it has lost touch with those from whom it took its name? People who labour, or work as we usually say now, which is the vast majority of us in the increasingly squeezed middle.</p><p>Maxine Watt<br>Leeds</p><p> </p><p>Physiotherapy is the way forward</p><p>I read with interest Harriet Walker's &quot;Notebook&quot; (6 January) regarding lack of physiotherapy resources in the NHS. As an orthopaedic surgeon, I have for years fought for good post-operative physiotherapy in order to not only improve the results but also prevent complications.</p><p>Unfortunately pressures on the NHS are now such that even diligent and conscientious surgeons have to prioritise. We at the Droitwich Knee Clinic have been trying to spread the gospel on the importance of good rehabilitation post-surgery and while we agree that in many cases physiotherapy may not make a difference to the long-term outcome, there are many patients who do need significant help post-operatively and the only way to identify this is a good physiotherapy assessment. Even that is denied to some patients, not only in the NHS but in private practice too.</p><p>Unfortunately the attitude among some orthopaedic surgeons is: &quot;My surgery is so good that physiotherapy is unnecessary.&quot;</p><p>Mohi El-Shazly, Consultant Orthopaedic Surgeon<br>Droitwich Knee Clinic Worcestershire</p><p> </p><p>Double standards in City of London?</p><p>Residents of the streets around St Paul's will be fascinated to learn (report, 19 January) that lawyers for the City of London Corporation have argued successfully in the High Court for the eviction of the Occupy London protesters on the ground that &quot;alcohol and other stimulants fuel noise levels that have caused complaints&quot;.</p><p>This is the same Corporation that licenses bars, clubs and pubs to operate late into the night in the area regardless of complaints about exactly the type of anti-social behaviour to which it here objects.</p><p>Clearly, the Corporation takes a different view of what constitutes a public nuisance when the offender wears Prada. It will be interesting to hear what its officers have to say when its lawyers are quoted at the next licensing hearing.</p><p>Mark Wheeler<br>London EC4</p><p> </p><p>This mansion is my family home</p><p>In 1970, my husband and I bought a wreck of a house with a jungle for a garden in Highgate for £18,000. Slowly, over the years we tended it, improved it, and raised our family in it. Now, as my retired husband approaches 80 years old, Mr Clegg informs us that it is fair to tax people, which would include retired people on fixed incomes, who live in houses worth more than £2m. Does he really believe that it is reasonable to force elderly people out of their lifetime family homes by imposing taxes they cannot possibly afford to pay because of the vagaries of the London housing market?</p><p>Judith M Steiner<br>London N6</p><p> </p><p>Save the date</p><p>Outside Holland Park in London there is a plaque confirming that Lt Lapenotiere R.N. arrived there on 5 November 1805 with the news of Nelson's victory at Trafalgar. So we can legitimately continue to remember and let off fireworks on the glorious 5th, without celebrating the abuse of Roman Catholics or the preservation of governments as opposed to peoples. Rebranding the date with honour may also help to take minds off the coming humiliation of being kicked out of the last outpost of Empire in the Falklands.</p><p>Nicholas Taylor<br>Little Sandhurst, Berkshire</p><p> </p><p>Ascot standards</p><p>How standards have dropped at Royal Ascot. Your report (23 January) quoted the race organisers as requiring men to wear a &quot;jacket and tie&quot; in the Royal Enclosure. The correct name for the upper half of a gentlemen's suit is a &quot;coat&quot;. As the redoubtable Hardy Amies once said &quot;The only thing that has a 'jacket' is a potato&quot;.</p><p>Stan Broadwell<br>Bristol</p><p> </p><p>Yacht argument</p><p>David Cameron has a blind spot where fairness lies. This, I think, is self-evident. But surely even he can see that a royal yacht paid for by a bunch of UK tax-avoiders is a royal yacht paid for by UK taxpayers.</p><p>David Woods<br>Hull</p><p> </p><p>Noisy cinemas</p><p>Cinema sound (Letters, 23 January) is loud to drown out all the munching of popcorn throughout the auditorium, so keep the decibels please...</p><p>Nicky Ford<br>Guildford, Surrey </p><p>That the Sixties are back was the main message at the Moschino show yesterday, while Etro looked to Japan for inspiration – just as Prada did on Thursday night. &quot;Colour played a vital role alongside our signature black and white looks,&quot; Moschino's creative director Rosella Jardini explained after the event. &quot;But I used these in different proportions – shorter. And for the first time, we used silver, not gold.&quot;</p><p>Double-breasted, collarless pea coats, shift dresses and mini-skirts worn with boxy jackets – all picked out in graphic monochrome – were pure Twiggy and Carnaby Street, and there were further nods to that era in oversized enamel buttons and mirror beads. Outerwear and tailoring was reminiscent of Andre Courreges' space-age separates.</p><p>There was a dash of Seventies too, with hippyish white broderie dresses – one all the way to the floor – made modern and not too prim by the giant cut-out heart shapes. Flower power came from technicolour garden florals, which were realised in 3D through retro beading.</p><p>Flowers also featured in Veronica Etro's collection for her family label, as hand-painted flora and fauna referenced lush Orientalist paintings and Japanese vases. They climbed in curlicues up the sleeves of crisp white blazers, and blossomed on silk blouses and kaftans. Kimono jackets, obi belts and samurai collars were co-opted into a collection that blended the sartorial asceticism of the East with the hyper-femininity more usually associated with Italian designers, and Ms Etro used her floral print to create what she called a &quot;modern paisley&quot;.</p><p>Despite his outburst earlier in the week about changes to the fashion week schedule, Roberto Cavalli seemed in high spirits when he turned up (with his German Shepherd, Lupo) for his diffusion line show yesterday. The Just Cavalli collection referenced the Mediterranean in aquatic prints and shades that decorated energetic pieces perfect for the youthful bon viveurs who buy this label; baseball jackets, distressed denim, leggings, lace shorts and pleated silk miniskirts. Other trends that emerged in New York and London and have been consolidated in Milan are dungarees, given a Seventies flavour at Moschino; tunics worn with slim-fitting trousers, seen at Gucci and Etro; and sunshine yellow, present both at Moschino and at Etro, where an E110 goddess gown closed the show. Finally, actress Sharon Stone is an unforeseen trend in her own right. Not only was she the inspiration behind Julien Macdonald's collection in London last week, Stone has also been on Rosella Jardini's mind at Moschino, who cited the her role in Casino as a main reference, and she made an appearance at the opening of the new Cavalli boutique in Milan last night.</p><p>Her infamous white ensemble from Basic Instinct chimes perfectly with the trends unveiled this week, but just be careful how your cross your legs should you dare to emulate it.</p><p>Khaki, oxblood, grey and, of course, black were accented with flashes of virulent green, yellow, purple and tomato. And there were more off-shades too, most prominently mustard and poison green. Move over also the bourgeois silhouette that has dominated the catwalk for so long has gone in favour of severe, boxy lines that either stand away from the body with aggressively sharp edges, or drown it entirely.</p><p>Christopher Kane himself described the moiré featured in his show as &quot;disgusting&quot; and the overall look as &quot;a bit sick&quot;. This smelt of Teen Spirit, from models' lanky, centre-parted hair to their pallid complexions and heavy black-leather ankle boots and Mary Jane shoes. Here ribbon trim was replaced by more black leather, padded and tied into stiff bows. The silhouette was narrow but never tight throughout – nasty more than nice. Kane said he was inspired by Joseph Szabo's portraits of the ambivalence of adolescence and young girls in clubs &quot;hanging around smoking&quot;. The look was as tough as it was accomplished and challenging, too, which after the sweetness of the designer's summer collection, was good to see.</p><p>JW Anderson's woman was no shrinking violet either. At times the clothing she walked in was so stiff she appeared barely able to bend her knees – not that that stopped her. Vinyl trouser suits – part space age, part surgical greens – were juxtaposed with tufted tartans and quilted skirts and jackets that, rather cleverly, were styled with un-quilted copies underneath, just in case our heroine is self-conscious enough to worry about her girth although clearly the message is: why should she be? The influence of the early work of both Comme des Garçons and Yohji Yamamoto was at play here: Anderson's not the only fêted designer to look to that just now and it's a smart move.</p><p>Way back when, these designers questioned the need for flagrant status dressing and to do so once again seems more than justified. Who wants another little black, beaded cocktail dress or a logo-heavy handbag? Only emphasising the fact that this was a collection for women who dress for themselves as opposed to any would-be admirer, bodies were enveloped entirely: one could only guess at the form within.</p><p>If ever proof were needed that heavy, almost industrial fabrics, have ousted gentle chiffon and lace it came in the form of Acne's show. Oversized dungarees suspended from huge, elasticised straps and worn over Puffa jackets, quilted sweaters tucked into wide-legged, high-waisted trousers, a violent lime fleece worn over more inflexible vinyl, scratchy wool corsets fitted over bulky sweaters and jackets and quite the most ungainly footwear imaginable made for a collection that was as fashionable in its utilitarian viewpoint as it was witty.</p><p>Sarah Burton's catwalk debut for McQ was, similarly, crafted in humble fabrics and boasted a strong-shouldered, waisted silhouette – this time achieved with wide, leather chain-belts. There was nothing much delicate about any signature embroideries: they were quite as robust as the clothes. McQueen being McQueen the finale was a big one: &quot;a never-ending forest&quot; was home to a disco/absinthe shack presided over by the fiercest supermodel of them all, Kristen McMenamy, and conceived by theatre company Punchdrunk.</p><p>Given that poking fun at the fashion establishment appears to be the order of the day, it should come as no great surprise that punk was a prevalent reference for more than a few designers. Kinder Aggugini's show (Appropriation: &quot;the action of taking something for one's own use, typically without its owner's permission&quot; read the show notes) featured prints that morphed the work of the Chapman Brothers, pictures of cowboys on 18th-century wallpaper, children's TV icons and Delft porcelain and scattered them across kilts, boxy jackets, men's shirts and more. It looked like a messed up take on Hermès. &quot;The work of celebrated artists and artisans, represented as my own,&quot; the designer stated further. &quot;There is no collaboration, just pure theft.&quot;</p><p>A similarly anarchic vocabulary was central to Louise Gray's finest show to date, from the models' sky-high Mohicans and millinery courtesy of Nasir Mazhar to the fact that more than a few garments looked like vintage clothing torn apart at the seams and put back together again. Except, of course, that it was all made from scratch and few of us have such technical expertise. What looked like ribbon appliquéd on to clothes, for example, was in fact woven into jacquard.</p><p>Jonathan Saunders' collection was reminiscent of Prada at its most studiously dowdy somewhere between the mid- and late-1990s. The slightly wrong colours, the colliding geometric (Formica?) prints, the A-line silhouette and more all spoke of that moment that was as prim as it was marginally improper: imagine a librarian on the edge, perhaps, and you get the picture. Saunders' work is becoming increasingly polished and this was all put together to perfection. It will no doubt sell to women of style the world over but, make no mistake, just beneath the ultra-stiff, starch there lurks a woman possessed.</p><p>There's no mistaking Meadham Kirchhoff's woman who looks as mad and bad as a hatter and is in no way trying to hide it. The designers said that this show represented their take on glam rock and it was a riot from start to finish. Neon yellow and SOS orange wigs, sparkly pink and blue painted ears, tinsel chubbies, rainbow-coloured sequinned trouser suits, metallic leopard-print knickers and more came together to form a picture of a woman who shouts her individuality from the rooftops. A crazed total look belied the commercial value of signature, small but perfectly formed knits and equally accomplished, hand-finished tailoring that regularly cater to more restrained followers of this increasingly accomplished name.</p><p>Peter Jensen's idiosyncratic muse this season was Thelma Speirs, half of Eighties-born millinery label, Bernstock Speirs, and a DJ in her spare time. As an homage to the woman in question all models wore grey wigs, just like Thelma's own hair, and the silhouette was, for the most part distinctively tomboy-ish, something that Jensen is more than a little familiar with, not to mention adept at realising. Preppy plaids, crisp shirt collars, brightly coloured ankle socks and flat, pointed masculine shoes all came together in suitably eccentric style, only added to by the odd pair of rabbit ears balanced atop the aforementioned do (rabbits are Jensen's signature) and flocked red and black headphones.</p><p>Giles Deacon described his show as &quot;the further adventures of the disco Jacobean fairy tale... If it was winter and your country house set on fire what would you rescue: things with sentimental value or some nice clothes?&quot;. The latter was saved of course and it was here that London Fashion Week's resident ugly duckling transformed into a swan. Scorch prints and embroideries embellished this princess's fire-ravaged clothes. Tailoring was strict to the point of ecclesiastic, jacquards were woven with heraldic and religious iconography, empire- line gowns spoke of innocence more than experience, starched, buttoned-up white collars of repressed sexuality and, yes, there was a whiff of the mad woman in the attic, too. This was a heartfelt collection of beautiful clothes, finished to couture standards and destined for big-entrance dressing over and above an everyday wardrobe. There was nothing red-carpet clichéd about it, however. Any Oscar hopeful wishing to stand out in a crowd would do well to look here.</p><p>Finally, to Sibling, and the loudest, proudest and most dangerous take on a jumper it is possible to imagine. Shapes were scaled up, colour was hard as nails. Oh, and models sported Mickey Mouse pom-pom ears and sparkling balaclavas with nothing as user-friendly as a space for eyes, nose and mouth to be seen. Leigh Bowery would have loved this look that was moody if not plain angry, and uproariously comedic too. So what if it might frighten the horses? In the immortal words of John Lydon: &quot;We don't care.&quot;</p><p>If the past few seasons have been characterised by a polite conservatism – fashion is nothing if not a cultural barometer – then, for spring, the British capital's more anarchic and irreverent spirit comes to the fore. The woman in question here would not be at home at a Saturday afternoon barbecue in the Cotswolds, say – she'd still be in bed, thanks but no thanks – and the designers who dress her are of the understanding that audacity triumphs over play-safe tactics on the catwalk.</p><p>Louise Gray – a woman for whom Westwood and the movement she presided over has clearly always been an inspiration, She is interested in dressing a woman whose wardrobe is proudly distinctive and who is in no way partial to playing arm candy. Gray herself defined this season's mood as &quot;art school&quot; and, with newspaper headline prints and weaves colliding with zigzag stripes, triangles, circles and squares, either monochrome or in bright, unexpected colour and fabric combinations, there was certainly a sense both of experimentation and the sheer joy of making things on display. Add to the mix winklepickers in violent shades, Stephen Jones' hats and Tatty Devine's jewellery – mirrored rings the size of small saucers scrawled with words including &quot;happy&quot; and &quot;good times&quot; – and the result was joyful, witty and anything but submissive.</p><p>Gray is not the only designer looking back, if not quite in anger, then certainly with attitude just now. Maarten Van Der Horst's debut solo catwalk collection embraced the industrious spirit of punk, where bright young things transformed the everyday and banal into clothing. The designer cut shirts, shorts, dresses and trench coats out of carrier bags (Tesco, not Prada) and more in utilitarian cottons printed with sooty graffiti that nodded to Stephen Sprouse.</p><p>Sister by Sibling is not a label aimed at the shy. Here the traditionally French toile de jouy print was subverted, peopled as it was by rioters in hoodies as opposed to anything more pastoral. It looked good on pretty summer dresses and shirts that otherwise boasted a butter-wouldn't-melt modesty. Lacy knits came in neon colours, cardigans were covered in gleaming skulls and white raffia was woven into oversized puffballs. Warriors in Woolworths was the name of the collection and cobweb facemasks and pom-pom ears made for perhaps the most impressively clad young looters in fashion history.</p><p>Remember Sign of the Times, the early Nineties boutique stuffed with lurid and largely ironic trash as frequented by London clubbers and Courtney Love in equal measures? Henry Holland does. His collection represented a confident leap forward and referenced grunge, he said, and with loud checked tailoring, tie dye and acid floral separates, rave culture too.</p><p>&quot;I'm sick of print,&quot; an editor who will remain nameless said this week. And she's not the only one. Jonathan Saunders, a fine designer known for that very discipline, chose this time to return to his more graphic roots for a collection shown underground at Tate Modern (a hell of a venue). Ihat featured sequined cardigans and skirts, chevron striped dresses, and bomber jackets in holographic leather and silk, all of which looked super-slick and glamorous but not in an even remotely well-mannered way. The backs of garments were black – shine from the front and enjoy the considerable benefits of a sartorially gifted disappearing act from behind.</p><p>A smashed-glass motif, intricately cut black leather and a looming Pegasus also lent an opposites attract loveliness to Giles Deacon's collection that demonstrated the fusion of romanticism and severity that is a signature for this designer by now. Deacon designs statement pieces for the thoroughly modern female but, for all their beauty, there is a rebellious undertow. &quot;I like the idea of Pegasus firing lightening bolts down on to Bond Street,&quot; the designer said.</p><p>&quot;How did it happen? It was a miracle,&quot; laughed Christopher Kane backstage at his show. And indeed it was. There was a saccharine sweetness that was, in the designer's own words, &quot;a bit sick&quot; to much of this collection and to narrow, fondant-coloured dresses and skirts in couture fabrics especially. These were finished with plastic bows, rubber lace and with jewels attached by black and white thermotape, however, which hardened the look up somewhat or indeed quite a lot. Perpsex nuts and bolts came in place of more traditional fastenings, merging an art-school sensibility (again) with a perfectionism that is second to none. As for full-on Frankenstein-print T-shirts – an afterthought, Kane said – don't be surprised when they sell out even before they make the stores.</p><p>With their blank gaze, pin-curled hair glittering with jewels and exquisite – truly exquisite – wardrobe, the women who walked Meadham Kirchhoff's hallucinogenic boudoir of a catwalk were miraculous too. This was the designers' most heavily referential collection. &quot;Almost embarrasingly so,&quot; Meadham quipped. It was also their most lovely, however. The unashamedly decorative viewpoint of Christian Lacroix, the romance of Nineties John Galliano, the baroque splendour of Eighties Gianni Versace were all very much in evidence and so too was the handwriting of Vivienne Westwood, neatly enough. It almost goes without saying these are fashion heroes and heroines one and all. Given the budget that London's fledgling designers work with, the fact that tiny, elaborate Edwardian line jackets, equally diminutive full-pleated skirts and patchworked lace dresses were hand-finished to a standard that would wow the petites mains in the Paris ateliers, the end result was more impressive still.</p><p>The ghost of Isabella Blow, as played by Lady Gaga, presided over Philip Treacy's show, where Michael Jackson's wardrobe, due to be auctioned later this year, was teamed with bumsters and cropped Savile Row-inspired trousers, courtesy of Sarah Burton of Alexander McQueen. That's a line-up to be reckoned with and one that brings to mind London circa Sensation when courage in one's convictions triumphed over commerciality every time. It says quite something of Treacy's ability as a creator that his gravity-defying sculptural headwear was not overshadowed by the theatrical shenanigans. A floral wreath – for Gaga too – burnished gold horns and a light-up spherical circus of a headpiece all held their own and reminded those in attendance that unbridled imagination coupled with brazen bravura is a potent mix.</p><p>Also in London, Marios Schwab demonstrated the enduring appeal of a little black dress. The classic nature of this wardrobe staple was cast aside, however, trimmed as it was with shiny, spiky black raffia and leather. JW Anderson, meanwhile, mixed menswear shapes and fabrics with oversized frills to starkly modern effect.</p><p>And what of Dame Westwood herself, the woman who arguably started it all and who continues to dominate the London fashion season like no one else before or since? Her show, she said, was inspired by the English garden – and the garden party in particular – but the prettiness of dainty floral prints, striped sundresses and more was undercut by the raw energy of a live soundtrack courtesy of one-time Westwood model and muse-turned-muso, Sara Stockbridge, not to mention models' faces painted hot pink, sky blue and chartreuse and, most of all, by the designer's own appearance. She was resplendent in cotton boxers, &quot;Climate Revolution&quot; T-shirt and oversized helmet shrouded with a veil of bronze sequins.</p><p>Transport kindly provided by Mercedes Benz</p><p>You could, for example, pick up a replica Mies Van Der Rohe Barcelona chair – that distinctive leather bivalve design gracing so many office reception areas – for £445 from Vita Interiors (vita-interiors.com) in Bath. At The Conran Shop (conranshop.co.uk) , which describes the Barcelona chair as &quot;one of the most imitated designs of all time&quot;, an authentic example from the Knoll factory will leave you little change from £5,000.</p><p>Neither chair is cheap. What you might find unusual is that those places selling the copies are doing nothing to disguise the fact that they are reproducing some of the most popular and revered furniture designs of the 20th century. You would never catch M&amp;S or John Lewis crunching out fake Chanel handbags and displaying them in shop windows. Nor would you see Topshop or Zara, well known for the speed with which they interpretcatwalk trends for the high street, advertising garments under the name of the original designer.</p><p>There is a reason for this. In the UK, the copyright of industrial designs expires 25 years after it is issued, whereas in most of the rest of Europe the protection of this intellectual property lasts until 70 years after a designer's death. This has made Britain the ideal market to build a culture of replica furniture.</p><p>&quot;The word 'replica' sounds like it might be a legit copy,&quot; says Michelle Ogundehin, the editor of interiors magazine ELLE Decoraton . &quot;This is sugar coating. It is not illegal, but it is the theft of intellectual property.&quot;</p><p>Ogundehin's argument is that the UK's lax laws regarding design copyright are damaging to the industry and disrespectful to the original designer. &quot;Why are the copyright laws for design so poor? They have been changed recently for music and art. Design is treated as the poor cousin. The presumption in the UK seems to be that we're good at design so we don't need to do anything about it, and the industry suffers.&quot;</p><p>The strange thing is, many people who would never admit to owning a fake Prada bag are quite happy to boast about how much they saved on a knock- off designer armchair. Who today has the resources to spend thousands of pounds on one item of furniture?</p><p>The Prime Minister and his wife decided they didn't when they bought a replica Arco light for £250 from Iconic Lights, instead of paying more than £1,500 for the original. Ogundehin criticised the purchase, calling SamCam &quot;cheap, hypocritical and fake&quot; for supporting the &quot;faux-furniture&quot; industry.</p><p>Samantha Cameron, as a former creative director of luxury goods brand Smythson and a member of the British Fashion Council, is a leading figure in the UK's creative industries. Her purchase of the replica lamp suggests that she doesn't see her responsibility stretching to furniture.</p><p>No doubt the Camerons would have been vilified had they spent £1,500 on a single lamp, and Ogundehin herself has since become the target of critics for her snobbery. &quot;[My critics] missed the point entirely,&quot; she says. &quot;The real issue is the hidden cost of these fakes. They are not environmentally friendly, and the labour costs are unclear.&quot;</p><p>On its website, Iconic Lights states &quot;there is almost no difference between our reproduction and an original&quot;. Paul Middlemiss, buying director for The Conran Shop, says that if you put a replica and an original in a line-up, the fake is obvious.</p><p>David Gutfreund, managing director of Iconic Lights, says that even the modern classics sold by The Conran Shop, Heal's and others are not exactly the same as the originals, because the methods of production and materials used have changed. He says the issue is one of economics rather than respect for the design and manufacture process: &quot;Both sides want to make money. If I come up with an original piece of art or invent paracetamol, I want to make money out of that for as long as possible. Yet someone invented the wheel at one point, and we no longer expect to be paying for that. We're not selling anyone's latest designs, but you can get your iconic classics here.&quot;</p><p>Colin Bloomfield, of Vita Interiors, agrees. &quot;There is a difference between buying 'rip-offs' of current in-patent designs or brands and buying reproductions of old historical designs allowed under UK law. We are totally honest and open about the fact that our furniture is made in China and always impart the information that our pieces are in reproduction.&quot;</p><p>Twenty-five years of protection seems very little. &quot;It's a bit like the music industry,&quot; says Middlemiss, echoing Ogundehin. &quot;If you don't support the people that design it, why will those people keep designing?&quot;</p><p>According to Middlemiss, the market for classic originals is growing, just as the replica market is. Arne Jacobsen's popular Swan chairs (£2,385 at Conran) are now being manufactured with microchips because they are so prized on the black market. Middlemiss bought his first designer item, an Eero Saarinen table, &quot;for something ridiculous like £5,000, but I will get back at auction more than I paid for it&quot;.</p><p>But neither Middlemiss nor Ogundehin are suggesting we collectively default on our mortgage and debt repayments to buy exorbitantly priced furniture. &quot;If you can't afford classic originals then there are a plethora of great, affordable and well-designed alternatives out there,&quot; says Ogundehin. &quot;Buy what you can afford, but buy an original design,&quot; says Middlemiss, who emphasises the manufacturing process is intrinsic to an original design.</p><p>Justin Pratt, manager of Knoll Studio UK, which manufactures a number of classic furniture designs, told ELLE Decoration: &quot;I'd like an Aston Martin. It is an elitist expensive car, but I can't afford it, so what do I do... stick an Aston Martin badge on my Volvo? Design should not be elitist. In fact Ikea do a beautiful watering can for 79p.&quot;</p><p>Ogundehin wonders if originals could be a little cheaper, to protect the market. Upcoming sales suggest there is some margin for this. London's Aram Store, for example, will offer up to 75 per cent off design classics in its January sale, with Arne Jacobsen's Swan chair down from £6,555 to £1,638, and the Eames Lounge chair and Ottoman down from £5,565 to £1,391.</p><p>But few can afford to splurge on the fakes, never mind the originals. This doesn't mean you can't value good design and desire to protect it. Ogundehin says design is woefully under-represented at an official level, and that Britain trains good designers, who then flee to Italy where their talents are rewarded. &quot;Fashion moves so quickly, but design is much slower,&quot; she says. &quot;You expect some longevity from it.&quot;</p><p>But in reality the Gudrun &amp; Gudrun sweater favoured by the Danish detective is stiflingly warm, not to mention itchy, and though it may cut the mustard attending a Copenhagen crime scene, it is far too warm for any weather Britain currently has to offer.</p><p>Imagine, though, that you could somehow break free from the itchy strangulation of a tight circle of oiled wool circumnavigating your clavicles. Imagine, if you will, a button. And not just one but a whole row of buttons, lined up in a serried rank down your front, just waiting to relieve you from the intense, claustrophobic heat of a jumper.</p><p>The cardigan may never make the most outré of fashion statements – its detractors will callously call to mind a litany of ostensibly naff cardie wearers from Pauline Fowler to the Tory twinset and pearls brigade.</p><p>But the cardigan wearer is strong enough to withstand these attempts at belittlement. For slipping one's arms into sleeves of softly spun wool and securing the buttons – be they tiny mother of pearl discs or chunky plastic – is a comforting experience akin to a hug. Plus, any soul worth their fashion salt knows that to decry all cardigans is far too hasty a step – for this is a varied beast.</p><p>The tribes of cardigan wearers are many. Do you have an almost threadbare, sloppy knit slung over the back of your office chair for when facilities set the air conditioning to blast directly down your neck? Or perhaps you managed to find a piece of single-ply cashmere indulgence in the sales that you reserve for occasions when you want to feel &quot;proper&quot;, or to add a prim touch to mannish trousers. Wearing a dress that swishes from the waist? Cardigan. Want to hide your bingo wings but not your bust? Cardigan. Fancy a long walk on a cold day without feeling like you're traversing the Amazon after 10 minutes? Cardigan.</p><p>A cardigan can be thrown on over almost anything without smothering the impact of what lies beneath, and the flexibility it offers is paramount to its appeal. The cardigan resonates in these straitened times – especially thanks to its inbuilt &quot;climate control&quot; functionality. Don't turn up the heating, pull on a cardigan instead. Feeling a bit rosy cheeked? Pop a few buttons.</p><p>A chunky jumper can truncate you – turning an ample bust into a bosomy shelf, creating sausage rolls of squeezed flesh that barely exist when that woolly layer is peeled off.</p><p>Extolling the practical virtues of the addition of a few buttons though can dismiss the obvious designer love for cardigans. Peter Jensen, that Danish executor of quirky cool, is a great proponent of the cardie. At Miu Miu – and when dressing herself – Mrs Prada repeatedly returns to the style staple, and it probably hasn't escaped your notice that Chanel's famous boucle jacket – a garment with one of the highest currencies in the world – is really, at heart, a cardigan. Albeit not one Pauline Fowler would ever have worn.</p><p>And finally, who could forget one of the most famous cardigan wearers of all time – Kurt Cobain? His grungy aesthetic inspired the copycat wearing of sloppy cardies all over the globe, and as we're in the middle of a Nineties revival, now is the perfect time to get caught up in the trend.</p><p>Against</p><p>Harriet Walker</p><p>As with leggings and pointy shoes before it, the cardigan is a brilliant example of how a retro trend cycle goes bad, eats itself and then defecates on the very fashionability from which it was birthed. Seriously. In recent years, the eminence of hipster culture, &quot;geek chic&quot; and a love of all things nostalgic and a bit shonky has seen the cardigan elevated from pensioners' practical wear to cosy cool, spawning not only prissy, &quot;ladylike&quot; drape-fronted wraps, but also the vile neologism &quot;coatigan&quot;, for those who prefer their cardies capacious and dressing-gown-like.</p><p>Suddenly, the cool kids were clad in sturdy, cable-knit, charity-shop versions that had more history and personality in their threads than existed in the ectomorphic frames they concealed; suddenly the cardigan was more than a wardrobe basic, it was now a fashion statement, hauled out from the nerd hall of fame alongside NHS specs and parkas.</p><p>Cardigans with skinny jeans; cardigans belted over tea-dresses; cardigans for festivals, cardigans as formal wear, cardigans with hoods on, with popped collars, with epaulettes. There wasn't an occasion or extraneous trim that you couldn't throw at the resilient front-buttoning garb that it couldn't absorb into its being and remit.</p><p>But there are few such stylised items that survive this sort of process, and the cardigan was not strong enough in the first instance. What is it but a halfway house between coat and jumper? What function does it serve that a sweater or a jacket could not? They're too cold to go outside in, but are hardly the type of indoor item likely to be ripped off in the throes of passion. What are those buttons for exactly?</p><p>The cardigan is essentially the masculine equivalent of a housecoat, which survived the age of austerity simply because men never throw anything out. And, as with so many so-called classics, women assimilated them into their own wardrobes too. But that doesn't make them right.</p><p>You will never look streamlined in a cardigan; you will always be just a little bit lumpy. The lumpier the cardigan the more intellectually aspirational you will appear, and the further into the &quot;grandad from the Werther's Originals adverts&quot; territory you will stray. You may start finding Woodbines and parts of Hornby train sets in the pockets. You will certainly feel a little under the weather and will probably want to stay in bed all day long.</p><p>No, the cardigan only really makes sense in a culture of twinsets, which were originally of course an answer to the modern perplexities of central heating. We highly evolved creatures are so finely attuned to homeostasis these days that we don't even need layers – and if we do, they come in the form of chic, fine-gauge knits, gilets, a blazer, a big scarf even. There is simply no need for cardigans in an age of air-conditioning – I don't argue that practicalities should be a primary fashionable concern, but it isn't like you can praise a cardigan for its aesthetic appeal either.</p><p>But the most deleteriously cool-killing aspect of latter-day cardie-wearing must be the regularity with which they are now seen on the backs of the worst sort of self-styled, try-hard, bad boy. The X Factor's self-immolating hairy mascot Frankie Cocozza is one prime example; Olly Murs another. The end result? Slim-fitting, fastidiously fastened cardigans are as much at home in Wetherspoons as a pile of sick these days.</p><p>I can only exhort you to banish yours forever.</p><p>Watching his team make its event debut was the fashion house boss Patrizio Bertelli; at the helm was British Olympic medallist Chris Draper; essential to the hugely popular victory was Draper’s tactician and local star, Francesco Bruni. Alongside them were British crewmen David ‘Freddie’ Carr and Nick Hutton plus Italy’s Pierluigi de Felice in the fifth slot.   </p><p>It rounded off a week in which one day’s excellent racing was offset by weather which closed the race village for one day as tough conditions saw one of the nine boars capsize. Lumpy seas kept the 45-foot wing-powered catamarans ashore for one of the weekend days, and rain made viewing more Medway than Mediterranean.</p><p>The Swedish team Artemis, skippered by Terry Hutchinson and to which British double Olympic gold medallist Iain Percy will return in October, won the match racing section.</p><p>There will doubtless be a serious review by the city authorities, who have signed up for another regatta in May next year and, as the series promoters hope to add Qatar to the programme for 2012-13, changes are already being discussed as the circuit moves on to Venice next month.    </p><p>The last boat racing on the fifth leg of the Volvo round the world race from Auckland to Itajai, Brazil, Spain’s Camper, is expected to arrive overnight Monday and pick up 15 very hard-earned points. The Team New Zealand-managed contender was forced to stop in Puerto Montt, Chile, for repairs and will be under pressure to turn the boat round for an inshore race on Saturday and the start of leg six to Miami.</p><p>Under even more pressure is Abu Dhabi’s Azzam, still being shipped to Brazil and needing two 4m x 1m panels to be cut into either side of the boat. The overall leader, Spain’s Telefónica, faces a disciplinary hearing on Wednesday for carrying an extra sail on leg four from Hainan Island, China, to Auckland.  </p>Her marriage is wonderful, she&#039;s given up alcohol and from tomorrow she&#039;s hosting the nightly &#039;Strictly&#039; spin-off show &#039;It Takes Two&#039;<p>One of my great grand-fathers made it to London, eventually running his own greengrocer's shop, while the other went to the Norfolk coast. Growing up with Italian grandparents was impossibly exotic; the stories of ancestors who fought alongside Garibaldi let the imagination run riot, as did hints of being related to Neapolitan dukes; but best of all were my grandmother's steaming braciola and home-made ice cream.</p><p>Only when I was older did I understand why the families had to leave such a beautiful place; there was no work. They were part of an exodus that was one of the biggest mass migrations in recent history; between Italian unification in 1861 and the 1960s more than 25 million Italians left their country.</p><p>There is a similar migration taking place in Italy today. The difference this time is that the young Italians flooding into Britain – and elsewhere in Europe – are talented, young professionals and intellectuals who are leaving because they too can't find work but also because of the nepotism and corruption that riddles the country. In one month this year more than a 1,000 Italians registered in London, taking the number living in the city to around 96,000.</p><p>You got a taste for just how deep their hopelessness runs from the recent Radio 4 programme in which young Italians interviewed described finding work in their home country; one, Silvia, a construction project manager, said: &quot;If I was 45, or somebody's daughter or mistress, I'd get work. But I'm not.&quot; Some of the stories of how they have been treated by employers – often not being paid for months on end– are disgraceful. Showing just how desperate they are becoming, the Italian Chamber of Commerce hosted an event last Friday for Italian businessmen and women running on how to make it in the UK.</p><p>No wonder Italy is standing on the precipice; the historical vices of its privileged political class have bitten deep into the economy, where mismanagement is so chronic that even university posts are used to pay off political favours. Indeed, one of the state's biggest costs is itself: according to the historian John Dickie, the author of the new book Blood Brotherhoods, Italian politicians have 76,000 limousines at their disposal while ours have a more modest 195.</p><p>Here in the UK, we've seen Silvio Berlusconi as a joke, a womanising extrovert. But the problems run deeper and removing him is not going to solve the problem overnight; he's just the bandana on a corrupt body politic.</p><p>Italy is still Europe's third biggest economy and the eighth biggest in the world. It has had huge debts, now £1.6 trillion, for years but has been able to muddle through until this latest crisis when investors realised the economy had stopped growing and couldn't pay its debt. The country's industrialists still make some of the most glamorous, and best designed products in the world – from Ferrari to Armani – yet industrial production has been flat-lining over the past two decades. Partly this is because the economy is paralysed by restrictive labour laws, crony capitalism and bribery – the &quot;black economy&quot; is about 15 per cent of GDP. It's also because Italian luxury brands such as Prada now make most of their goods in China, while Chinese manufacturers steal the market with their own version of luxury – a zero-sum game.</p><p>That's why Italy needs to do three things fast. First, the incoming Prime Minister Mario Monti, must persuade his creditors that the country's finances can get into better shape; like its southern neighbours, Italy under Berlusconi allowed public debt to soar so that it has overtaken the private sector. A start was made on Friday when the government passed new austerity measures, raising the retirement age and privatising more businesses. Next, Monti must restore respect and trust in both government and industry – sorting out the governance of universities is a good starting point. Finally, the government must find ways of reversing the relative decline through growth.</p><p>That growth can only be achieved by liberalising the economy and freeing it from the ridiculous restrictions that limit competition in all sorts of industries – from taxi-drivers to airline pilots who only work 30 hours a week. Such measures will be deeply unpopular – so Monti's going to have to be gritty. He's got to fight the unions on one side, but also take on the privileged many, showing them that they must give up their sinecures.</p><p>The new technocrat premier will need support if he is to succeed. Someone he should turn to is Luca Cordero de Montezemolo, one of the country's most respected industrialists. The head of Ferrari, who stepped down from chairing Fiat earlier this year and ran Italy's Confindustria, has been one of the most bitter critics of Berlusconi's leadership. Earlier this year – while denying political ambitions – Montezemolo talked of the need for reform, for a country with clear rules and, most pertinently, one with &quot;ethical responsibilities&quot;. Sounds like he gets the problem. If Italy is to prevent another diaspora, or even a break-up, it needs creative industrialists like him at the heart of any new government.</p><p>It was also the day that three female members of Vogue staff chose to wear his designs in signature paisley to London fashion week. Could there be any more overt a sign that the designer has arrived than this unified show of support?</p><p>Jonathan William Anderson, studied menswear at the London College of Fashion, graduating in 2005, before making his debut at London Fashion Week in September 2008. The acclaim which met his initial offerings led Anderson to show a capsule collection of womenswear. That in turn achieved enough of a buzz to be presented as a standalone for autumn/winter 2011.</p><p>&quot;I have major issues with menswear,&quot; says Anderson in the showroom of his public-relations agency in Shoreditch, east London. &quot;Not in a negative way, but is it relevant any more? Is there a men's market or do men look better in a T-shirts and jeans? I would rather do more conceptual things with menswear because it's more about an idea factory so it makes money and covers itself.&quot;</p><p>&quot;With women you can build a character and architecture and a woman will take the risk. I don't see any woman who buys my clothing would sleep with a man who is wearing my menswear. My issue is believing in men in fashion. I love Gap on men because it makes a man look like a man. But that's why I would rather exercise extremities, obscurities and ugly on men – because it's ugly.&quot;</p><p>There is something to be said for Anderson's somewhat contrary approach to selling clothes, for commercial viability is certainly a consideration for the designer. &quot;Sometimes I find the biggest selling pieces that we do are actually things that are really difficult because there's so much on the market.</p><p>&quot;When you find something really new, I always find it's really ugly because your eye isn't used to it and I think it never makes sense in the beginning – you will hate every drawing and reference. But by the time it hits the shop floor it makes sense because it's meant to. If it makes sense for people too quickly then there's no point.&quot;</p><p>His signature paisley prints are a case in point – they could be credited as the germ of spring/summer's pyjama trend. &quot;It's exciting to see someone in full paisley because it's really ugly, but it works.&quot;</p><p>Ugly isn't a term that's often bandied about in reference to the staff of Vogue – who present themselves with as glossy a sheen as the pages of that magazine. When asking Anderson about the case of the strikingly similarly dressed Voguettes, I begin to ask if it was an orchestrated show of support, &quot;No! Not by us,&quot; he says, before I can finish my question.</p><p>&quot;Vogue internationally, and Anna Wintour, have been imperative [in getting where we are now]. We've been very lucky but ultimately we put the work in to do it. Ultimately you need that American backing. It's easy to stand out in London but to stand out in America is a lot harder. You have to be able to appeal to the masses. We did [a collaboration with] Aldo because we wanted to get out to people – it won't be ignored. It's all part of the big system. I will do a collaboration with anything as long as I believe in it and can get something out of it.&quot;</p><p>And there he is focusing on the commercial concern again. As well as collaborating with Aldo and Topshop, Anderson is creative director of Sunspel and receives financial backing from the Newgen programme. &quot;It really helps. There's the belief that a show can be knocked together for £10,000 but that's impossible. It's more of a mechanism, because in London you have to be put into something and if you don't keep up with the pace of it you can lose your window and momentum. You have to be able to come out of it so that the next person can come in. You have to try and stand on your own.&quot;</p><p>A major influence on Anderson's aesthetic is his former boss Manuela Pavesi, fashion co-ordinator and right hand woman to Miuccia Prada. Now, his time working for the Italian superbrand has informed his approach to branding and retailing. &quot;Clothing is worldwide and yes, you have to come from somewhere but ultimately you have to appeal to all markets – to a woman in India and a woman in China. China is our biggest market. We're lucky because we entered [retailers] as a brand and were placed alongside Miu Miu and Proenza Schouler. My biggest focus was making sure the stores got it and you had to starve them from not having it to the point where we got to be exactly where we wanted because we held back and worked on the mechanisms.&quot;</p><p>With Anderson, everything is &quot;we&quot; and &quot;us&quot;, though it is his name on the lips of some of the most influential names in the business. &quot;In the last three seasons I've had a really great team of people who I love working with and it's like a little family. That's what makes it work, when you trust people. Because it's not just me on my own, we've really pushed things and tried to make things sharper and less London, more international but still coaxing out ideas and pushing things. That's the biggest aim – building architecture that is new with twists of the old.&quot;</p><p>In one sense, the dogged nostalgia of recent runways (cf Prada's gawky rollnecks and suede jackets; Gucci's shearlings and pastels; Dries Van Noten's nods to David Bowie's heyday) has made it easier to inject a wry, louche feeling into partywear. Jeremy Langmead, editor-in-chief of men's e-tailer Mr Porter, says this season is all about &quot;a nice hint of 1970s glamour&quot;, and recommends navy tuxedo jackets worn with a fitted polo neck (preferably cream) or dark jeans and patent shoes. &quot;Navy is the smarter option this season,&quot; he says. &quot;And it's more flattering than black if you're over 35.&quot;</p><p>However, if it must be black, then new eveningwear line Rake Lounge, designed by former Browns menswear buyer Clive Darby, has a more generous approach to the classics. &quot;I think there are more and more people that would like to put their own style take on something rather than feeling they have to conform, wear a uniform,&quot; Darby says. &quot;The whole concept of Rake is that everything is sold as separates, to be able to have a bit more fun and flexibility about how the garments are worn. The jacket has been cut in a way that the proportions still fit with a jean, it doesn't look like it's been taken from a suit that's been broken up.&quot; Jacket and jeans? Yes, hmm. But Darby, like Langmead, maintains this retro look can be done in style: &quot;There's ways you can put jeans with a dinner jacket and make it more flippant and louche.&quot;</p><p>Of course, the vintage Michael Caine look isn't going to work for every event, and for party dressing, as Darby puts it, &quot;the most important thing is to respect the occasion&quot;. For a dash of the unexpected at more formal events, it's best to use more subtle sartorial tricks, according to Luke Day, fashion director of men's magazine GQ Style and the man behind Gary Barlow's much-lauded wardrobe on this winter's X Factor. &quot;I think the small details can make a look more interesting,&quot; he says. &quot;A gorgeous pocket square, a Lanvin flower pin or a tiepin collar can make an ordinary suit look more dressed up.&quot; Duncan Campbell, editor of Acne Paper, is in agreement: &quot;While I can't get behind the spinning novelty variety, a bow tie, pocket square or cheeky coloured sock can be a great way to brighten up your look.&quot; As far as tailoring is concerned, Day recommends a three-piece suit, as it &quot;always feels grander&quot;. Garth Spencer, executive fashion director of 10 magazine, champions the waistcoat alone as an outsider option, especially during the holidays. &quot;Even if I hate them, it's a great way of wearing tailoring and still looking smart without wearing a jacket,&quot; he says. &quot;Also, they're great for keeping in the Christmas gut and give you room to move your arms for more eating.&quot;</p><p>Now, how much is too much? The jury is somewhat out here. &quot;New Year's Eve comes but once a year so better to be overdressed than underdressed, surely,&quot; Campbell says. Gianluca Longo, fashion editor-at-large at ES magazine, says we can afford to be more adventurous, and recommends adding a pair of studded Louboutin slippers for a &quot;rock'n'roll touch&quot;, or a bright red jacket from the Louis Vuitton runway, &quot;especially if you want to be noticed&quot;. Day, meanwhile, notes that there's a flamboyant side to the winter runways, which he says were &quot;awash with Lurex, velvet and evening suits&quot;. (Dolce &amp; Gabbana supplied the most dazzling of these.) But ultimately, says Charlie Gilkes, one half of the duo behind London night spots Barts, Maggie's and Bunga Bunga (where party excesses include a fancy-dress box full of Eurovision-themed clothes, amid much cheerful silliness), a real party needs you to &quot;wear what you feel comfortable in&quot;. And a party pooper? &quot;Trying to make a statement and seek attention. Especially when it's not your own party.&quot; You have been warned.</p><p>He is the Coldplay of comedy - posh-sounding peddler of arena-friendly, inoffensive, everyman shtick, loved and hated for it in equal measure. And love him or hate him, like Coldplay, the figures speak for themselves: half a million tickets sold, and counting, for this 71-date tour; 2.5million DVDs shifted so far; a Christmas special watched by seven million.</p><p>This gig is the first of a mammoth 10-night run at The 02, but he’s not complacent. “It’s very hard to get arenas to applaud”, he says near the start of the first of two 45-minute halves, his megawhite smile turning briefly to a pout when a joke fails to fly. </p><p>Not that hard if you’re Michael McIntyre, surely. As he ascertains with some odd, self-serving audience interaction, many in the 15,000-strong crowd booked their tickets over a year ago. He’s among friends. And yet, when he bounds onto the stage in his trademark too-tight black suit and surgical-looking Prada trainers, things feel a bit flat, a bit effortful in the vast space. He’s not helped by a face mic which picks up on every last puff and wheeze, making him sound breathless and a little off the pace.</p><p>The slow start is mainly down to some hasty observations about the summer of 2012 - a mildly amusing montage of everything everyone has been saying on Facebook about the Games and the Jubilee for the last few months, with the added punchline “Team GB!”</p><p>He warms up when he moves to comfier, more familiar ground - the amount of time it takes women to get ready, social graces, online booking forms, occupying kids during the summer holidays (“I’ve coloured Wally in”, he admits. “But we really needed some time to ourselves.”). </p><p>Sometimes, as in a brilliant deconstruction of the 50/50 sexiness of tights or a quickfire cocktail party for people whose names sound the same but are spelt differently, he spins these hoary old topics into orbit, with the help of some irresistible physical clowning. At other times, he coasts along, scattering glib, occasionally glittering, observations along the way. “What happened to paperweights, eh?” </p><p>You don’t split your sides, but nor do you ever stop smiling. It’s all very pleasant. The exception is a virtuosic closing 20 minutes about a trip to the dentist, numb mouth and all, which becomes a deliriously enjoyable sustained drama. He returns seconds later for an encore riff on hotels. </p><p>It’s classic McIntyre - instantly relatable, neatly done, just original enough. He’s certainly not the first person to find tiny hotel kettles irritating, but he’s the only one in The 02 to have made millions, and millions laugh, out of sharing his irritation - and it would be churlish indeed to hate him for that.</p><p>To 28 September (0844 856 0202) then touring to 3 December (www.michaelmcintyre.co.uk)</p><p>Hair: Gow Tanaka using Paul Mitchell</p><p>Make-up: Adam de Cruz using Shu Uemura</p><p>Stylist's Assistant: Emma Akbareian</p><p>Photographer's Assistants: Rokas Darulis &amp; Andy Picton</p><p>Filming and Editing: Daniel Burdett</p><p>Shot on location at Hollywood Beachside Hotel Suites, Miami, With huge thanks to and The Surfcomber Hotel, Miami, .</p><p>Go to to see a fashion film of this shoot</p><p>It features ultra-feminine shapes – think circle skirts, pencil skirts, halter-necks and blouses – as well as more than a nod to the latter Italianate obsession: cartoonish engines bursting here and there into flames, which playfully undercut an otherwise decidedly womanly appeal. &quot;Sweetness is a taboo in fashion and I wanted to combine sweetness, which is possibly the greatest feminine quality, with cars,&quot; the designer said.</p><p>It is true that of all the things we might expect from fashion – and of the formidable first lady of fashion, for that matter – sweetness is, on the face of it, the least likely. But Prada has spoken and, call it unfathomable designer intuition or just the obvious antidote to winter's more dark and androgynous looks, but everyone from Louis Vuitton in Paris to Christopher Kane in London appears to be in line with her way of thinking. Despite such elevated company, Prada pulls it off with a lighter touch than most.</p><p>The secret of her ongoing fascination with a stereotypical mid-20th century bourgeois silhouette is, invariably, to tweak and edit it and, of course, treat it with the hefty dose of irony it is due. That is by now as much one of her signatures as a nylon rucksack or fine leather bowling bag. From the designer's so-called &quot;sincere chic&quot; spring/summer 2000 collection forward, an exploration of the clichés of the woman's wardrobe – lip prints and roses, leather and lace – have both surprised and, at times, confused not least because wearing them in a less-than-knowing manner might bring out the frump in even the most dapper dresser. It's no coincidence that Prada herself, who has wit, intelligence and elegance in spades, is the finest poster girl for her own designs</p><p>In particular, this designer is in love with the skirt. She has said in the past that although trousers might reduce her apparent weight by a good kilo or more she prefers the more ladylike staple. Making fashion simply to flatter is, by her reckoning, banal. Prada loves skirts so much – be they dirndl, straight, car-wash pleat, long or so short they barely qualify – that, in 2006, she devoted an entire exhibition to them. Entitled &quot;Waist Down&quot;, it showcased everything from Prada skirts finished with crushed bottle tops (she called this &quot;trash couture&quot;) to more printed with designs inspired by vintage-Formica worktops, and from tufted alpaca skirts – which the designer herself described merrily as &quot;fattening&quot; – to &quot;porno chic&quot; designs, skin-tight, split-to-the-thigh garments that whispered of the work of Allen Jones.</p><p>Is Prada obsessed by skirts – which feature in almost every look of her current offering – because she is a woman? Certainly, a consciousness that she is a considered and clever female working at the heart of an industry that is often viewed as anything but is a tension that is central to her output. &quot;You know, I had to have a lot of courage to do fashion,&quot; she said when we first met more than a decade ago. &quot;In theory it is the least feminist work possible and at that time, in the late Seventies, that was very complicated for me.&quot;</p><p>As a young woman, Prada, who has a degree in political science and then studied mime with the Piccolo Teatro in Milan, was a signed-up member of the Communist Party and a reluctant inheritor of her grandfather's leather goods and glass company. She finally took the helm there in 1978.</p><p>&quot;Italian society was becoming obsessed with consumerism, but my big dreams were of justice, equality and moral regeneration,&quot; she said. &quot;I was a Communist but being left wing was fashionable then. I was no different from thousands of middle-class kids.&quot;</p><p>But in the 21st century it is fortuitous that Prada's exploration of sweetness is among the standout collections of the season. Next month an exhibition of her work opens at the Costume Institute of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. The output of this vibrant fashion entity – Prada is among the great success stories of the past 25 years and its eponymous designer is influential to a degree that is unprecedented – will be displayed alongside that of the couturier, Elsa Schiaparelli, famed for her collaborations with the Surrealist art movement and with Salvador Dali in particular.</p><p>Like Prada herself, Schiaparelli was an inveterate risk taker and also born in Italy. The show, &quot;Schiaparelli and Prada: Impossible Conversations&quot; (the name comes from the Mexican artist Miguel Covarrubias' column, &quot;Impossible Interviews&quot;, in Vanity Fair in the 1930s) aims to explore &quot;the striking affinities between these two Italian designers from different eras&quot;.</p><p>&quot;Given the role Surrealism and other art movements play in the designs of both Schiaparelli and Prada, it seems only fitting that their inventive creations be explored at the Met,&quot; Thomas P Campbell, that museum's director, says. &quot;Schiaparelli's collaborations with Dali and Cocteau as well as Prada's Fondazione Prada push art and fashion ever closer, in a direct, synergistic and culturally redefining relationship.&quot;</p><p>In fact, while Schiaparelli actually created garments with fine artists – the 1937 white evening gown painted with a lobster by Dali is the most famous example – Prada tends to keep her position as patron and collector separate. She is taken seriously enough in that role to have introduced last year's Turner Prize, but actually employing an artist's work in the creation of a dress, say, is not on her agenda. More significantly, Prada's work, like Schiaparelli's – or Schiap, as she was always known – is far from mainstream or people- pleasing.</p><p>So different is the output of both creators from that of their contemporaries that it has in its time been branded &quot;ugly&quot; (as in belle laide); Schiaparelli's &quot;hard chic&quot;, no-frills tailoring meanwhile could arguably be seen as a precursor to Prada's obsession with uniform, from her runway debut in 1988 and throughout the early 1990s. She was married to Prada CEO Patrizio Bertelli in 1987, wearing a less-than-conventionally pretty military-grey cotton dress and a man's overcoat.</p><p>In the end, Schiaparelli and Prada share a desire to break rules and question our notions of beauty. And that is the hallmark of visionary designers, male and female.</p><p>'Schiaparelli and Prada: Impossible Conversations' is at the Metropolitan Museum of Art from 10 May to 19 August 2012; metmuseum.org</p><p>Police and the city authorities estimated over 100,000 on a stretch of just over two kilometres which was shut down for over three hours to provide a narrow race track, though how many would have been there anyway on a sunny Saturday in May was not quoted.</p><p>Certainly, instead of all concentrating architectural glory they were looking on to a track as narrow as 140 metres, flanked on one side by spectators on foot and on the other by not just hundreds of spectator craft but a floating grandstand.</p><p>The locals were also given something to cheer as one of two Luna Rossa yachts, backed by the Prada fashion house, won the first of the two races, this one steered by Paul Campbell James, and the other, steered by Chris Draper, was beaten into second by 21 seconds by Terry Hutchinson, skippering Sweden’s Artemis, in the second race.</p><p>Adding to a great week for British hopes in Olympic sailing, as Ben Ainslie crowned winning his sixth world championship in the Finn singlehander by being the number one Olympic torch carrier in Cornwall fellow team members Hannah Mills and Saskia Clark won the women’s World 470 championship in Barcelona.</p><p>“It was really cool to cross the finish line and know we had done enough,” said Mills afterwards.  “I don’t think it has really sunk in yet for me but Sas is super happy, she’s so excited.</p><p>“We knew we had the potential to win here, and it’s a huge thing to be world champion, but, at the same time, I can’t stop thinking about this summer and the Olympics, which is what this year is really about for us. </p><p>“It’s a fantastic result.  Hannah and Saskia have made steady progress,” said Olympic manager Stephen Park. “Now everything will be focussed on delivering at the Games in Weymouth, but they should definitely take a moment to reflect on what they have achieved in becoming Britain’s first women’s 470 world champions.”</p><p>The Volvo round the world race fleet, back up to full strength with six boats, starts leg seven from Miami to Lisbon on Sunday with four of them all in contention ahead of Saturday’s inshore race.</p><p>The overall leader, Spain’s Telefónica retained the overall lea with 164 points while second-placed Groupama of France had 153, the second Spanish boat Camper had 149 and the winner of the last two legs, the American-flagged Puma, had 147. The remaining two legs are to Lorient, France, and Galway, on the west coast of Ireland, with inshore races in all three.</p><p>Outteridge,who, with crew Iain Jensen, blitzed the 49er fleet in the London 2012 regattalast month, is expected to join one of the three confirmed challengers for nextyear’s 34 America’s Cup with the Swedish-based Artemis as thefront runner. Draper is with Italy’s Prada-backed Luna Rossa challenge. Thethird is Emirates Team New Zealand.</p><p>The imminentofficial announcement by Korea team boss Dong-Young Kim, which will name Outteridge’ssuccessor, may also be coupled with final confirmation that Team Korea isputting its current Cup challenge on hold, though it has paid the $200,000entry fee, and aiming at AC35.</p><p>But the costof mounting a viable challenge in the new class of 72-foot wing-poweredcatamarans is upwards of $100m. So far Team Korea, which also has links withEnglish premier league soccer club Sunderland, has failed to announce that ithas raised any significant budget.</p><p>Among theTeam Korea crew in Naples, Venice, Newport, Rhode Island, and San Franciscothis year have been three top British talents, Giles Scott, Mark Bulkeley, andMatt Cornwell. Announcing a new skipper implies that Team Korea will race atthe America’s Cup World Series regatta in San Francisco early next month. Ifso, the crew will then need to be confirmed.</p><p>Another winfor the Yacht Club Costa Smeralda’s Azzurra in the first race of the day forthe 52 Super Series off Valencia signalled the start of an intense bout ofmatch racing in the second as the Italians, now within two points of theoverall lead, fought to keep the American yacht Quantum behind them.</p><p>That allowedNiklas Zennström’s British-based Rán to win the second race while, having keptQuantum fifth and last in fourth, Azzurra managed to sneak and extra place bypassing Tony Langley’s Gladiator on the last leg.</p><p>That putQuantum and Azzurra on equal points after 27 races, Quantum ahead on thetie-break because it has won one more race than Azzurra, and three more racesscheduled, two on Friday and the finale on Saturday.</p><p>“It’s goingto be exciting,” said Azzurra’a American, now Kiwi, coach Rod Davis. “Our firstmission was to cut down the six-point deficit and we’ve done that. We arealways tweaking our game plan and I’m sure they are, too.”</p><p>VascoVascotto, Azzurra’s tactician, added: “There’s a long way to go but I am proudabout all our team. We are sailing very nice regattas and we just have to keepgoing like that.”</p><p>Ed Baird,skipper of Quantum, was in laid back mood. “We had an ugly day on Wednesday andtoday was not pretty, but this is a very experienced crew and you can be surewe will be fighting hard,” he said.</p><p>In Cascais,Portugal, the five 70-foot trimarans started their third offshore leg of theMOD70 European tour to Marseille facing light and flukey winds for all of the1,000-plus miles.</p><p>“Therewill be puffs of wind here and there. One boat could get away and others arebound to get parked up. Yet again it’s impossible to predict a favourite,” saidBrian Thompson on Musandam-Oman Sail, who revealed they will leave with fivedays of food on board, even though the leg should finish inside three.     </p><p>Sourced from the house's own archives, they referenced a similar design from the spring 1996 collection. And that very evening, some fortuitous eBaying took me straight to a pair of the originals – cut for a different era, of course, and ever so slightly too small, but I bought them nonetheless. For 50 quid. Six months before the latest version even appeared in stores.</p><p>I'm not the sort to stay up all night bidding and I don't have much of a strategy. But in the past year, I've accrued a selection of designer pieces from eBay and similar sites – the Prada trousers (they don't really fit), a Comme des Garçons skirt, a Nineties Ann Demeulemeester blazer – all immensely wearable, all in great condition and all for significantly less than you might expect to pay in a shop.</p><p>The internet's role in the democratisation of high-end fashion is well documented, from street-style blogs to live-streamed catwalk shows. But it has also spawned a generation of informed bargain hunters.</p><p>Innovative and accessible new retail sites and concepts mean that, even as traditional retailers are re-adjusting to a frosty climate, buyers can stalk cyberspace round the clock for cut-price goods. Alex Fury, editor of LOVE magazine, agrees: &quot;I love eBay and discount websites, because you get a second chance to buy the clothes you missed out on first time around. Hindsight is a wonderful thing in fashion: you often don't realise how much you love something until you can't get it any more.&quot;</p><p>So much is borne out by the flourishing of past-season and second hand websites offering high-end designer clothing at what is often a fraction of the original price. Lian Michelson is the founder of the site Then and Now (thenandnowshop.com), which sells current collections from labels such as Rick Owens and Yves Saint Laurent, as well as pieces from their back catalogues.</p><p>&quot;Fashion is cyclical and trends often repeat themselves,&quot; she explains. &quot;Finding past season items for discounted prices that still fit with what's on the catwalk is not difficult.</p><p>&quot;Then and Now allows shoppers to buy in-season and search through the current trends, while also offering those who are more price-sensitive a slice of luxury for less.&quot;</p><p>The Outnet (theoutnet.com) was one of the first of these concepts to launch, in April 2009. It carries more than 250 top labels at up to 70 per cent off and hosts clearance sales that often crash the site, such is the demand among shoppers. &quot;You used to have to travel to out-of-town outlets or be in the know about sample sales,&quot; says managing director Stephanie Phair. &quot;But the internet has changed all that. I think for our customers there is an element of pride in finding a fabulous, past-season designer piece at great value.&quot; Names on the roster include Alexander Wang, Marni and Maison Martin Margiela, all known for their conspicuously directional aesthetic. Usually such tell-tale items are a no-no when it comes to sale shopping, but attitudes to whether pieces are brand new or not seem to have changed.</p><p>&quot;'Last season' used to be one of the worst insults you could hurl at anyone fashionable,&quot; says Alex Fury. &quot;But people today seem to appreciate a garment for being beautiful rather than for razor-edge appeal. There is a sense of longevity to really luxurious garments that mean you buy them in-season and out.&quot;</p><p>The profusion of discounted designer sites means that clothing which is six months old (or older) is no longer passé; instead, this has become the savviest way to shop. If fast fashion went out with Bear Stearns on the tsunami of the credit crunch, then collecting cannily and with caution (not to mention an eye on the purse strings) is what has taken its place. And these types of websites have cashed in on precisely that zeitgeist, by offering cheap alternatives and the chance to make money from your existing wardrobe.</p><p>Stylesequel.com has a &quot;Closet Concierge&quot; service that collects your unwanted and unworn designer pieces and re-sells them online, allocating a cut to both the owner and the company. &quot;There has been an explosion in the second hand market online in the last couple of years,&quot; says founder Emma Allen. &quot;You can find an amazing selection of high-end fashion bargains any time, in any country. You don't have to pay thousands for a designer piece, you can get one for hundreds. I like to call it 'second-chance style'.&quot;</p><p>Allen began in 2005 by selling designer pieces on eBay, the first second-hand and auction site of its kind, which commenced bidding as early as 1993. It does a roaring trade in second-hand and box-fresh designer items, from classic names right up to the most avant garde: type in 'Rick' and 'Owens' is the first suggested search term.</p><p>There is a cult of buyers and sellers in the community, seeking out beloved labels that are more usually priced well beyond their budgets.</p><p>&quot;I'm pretty good at eBay,&quot; admits fashion photographer Atlanta Rascher. &quot;I basically wear all my clothes for a while, then sell them again. I only wear designer, but never spend a penny – I hate the high street because of child labour, and I can't afford to buy new.</p><p>&quot;But I bought a really nice Balenciaga camel hair coat from a 2005 collection recently for £23. And a Lanvin fur coat for £350, down from £4,000. I think the lady who sold it was going through a divorce and needed some cash.&quot;</p><p>Incredibly, a piece of clothing is sold on eBay every second; a designer handbag goes every seven seconds; and more than 700 dresses sell every hour.</p><p>&quot;People no longer walk into a shop and buy a head-to-toe look off a mannequin,&quot; says Carrie Bienkowski, eBay UK's head of fashion. &quot;Shoppers have their own individual style and gain inspiration from all over the web. eBay enables people to find everything they need, from high street must-haves to that amazing bag from last season, to one-off vintage finds.&quot;</p><p>Internet fashion is then one of few heartening instances of increased consumer choice and people power in this respect. That's not to say that the stress of watching, bidding and counter-bidding is for everyone, but the web has opened up fashion to a much wider audience. Just beware the heat of the chase and set yourself a limit – many an enthusiastic eBayer has ended up paying over the odds for something that they didn't really want. And let the Prada trousers be a warning: make sure what you're bidding on will actually fit.</p><p>Going once! How to eBay</p><p>Know your designers: if there's a label which you particularly love, swot up on its recent collections so that you're more likely to recognise pieces when they do pop up.</p><p>Buy winter garments in summer, and vice versa, when prices are low.</p><p>Shop in January, as people offload unwanted presents and fewer people are spending.</p><p>Don't raise the stakes too quickly: bid cautiously so you don't inflate prices and set yourself a strict maximum before you get carried away.</p><p>Sell on a Sunday, and in the evening in particular, when more people are browsing – sales in December tend to generate four times as much as at other times of year.</p><p>The three-time challenger and enthusiastic sailor has already announced that he plans to plough €40m into competing at the next Cup, the 34th defence, in San Francisco next summer.</p><p>Time is short to build and trial the new 72-foot wing-powered catamaran selected for the next event.</p><p>His Luna Rossa team will build only one new boat, already under construction at the Persico yard in Bergamo, between Milan and Lake Garda. It will be launched and tested in New Zealand this autumn but “we’ll certainly challenge again for the Cup after this; this is a two-Cup campaign we have in mind,” said Bertelli.</p><p>Sitting with him on the stage at the sponsoring Circolo della Vela Siciliana were the two chosen helmsmen who will also drive the 45-foot versions of the catamarans in Naples next week, Paul Campbell-James and Olympic bronze medallist Chris Draper. Three more Britons, David Carr, Nick Hutton, and Alister Richardson are on a crew skippered by Max Sirena.</p><p>The Luna Rossa team is working closely with Team New Zealand, but the defender, the San Francisco-based Oracle, is also expected to trial its new boat in the home country of its chief executive, Russell Coutts, on the Whangaparaoa Peninsular north of Auckland. The fourth declared team, and challenger of record, Sweden’s Artemis, currently training in Valencia, may also use some of its allocated 30 training days down under.</p><p>In the Pacific, the Abu Dhabi entry in the Volvo round the world race, skippered by British Olympian Ian Walker, has finally bowed to the inevitable and announced that it will pull out of leg five from Auckland to Itajai, Brazil, after having to do makeshift repairs to the hull.</p><p>The boat will be shipped round Cape Horn to Itajai, the team hopes, for further repair and the start of leg six to Miami. Walker also had to pull out of leg one from Alicante to Cape Town after being dismasted less than six hours into the race and had to turn back to Auckland for repairs soon after the start of the current leg.</p><p>Still hoping to make it in time is the Spanish entry Camper, undergoing repairs in Puerto Montt, 1,000 kilometres south of Santiago, Chile.</p><p>Neck and neck going north up the Atlantic, are the French entry Groupama and the U.S.-flagged Puma, two miles apart after nearly 18 days at sea. And continuing to threaten after stopping for repairs near Cape Horn is the other Spanish entry and overall race leader Telefonicá. </p><p>Skippered by Iker Martinez, navigator Andrew Cape had pulled back to less than 50 miles behind the leader with 650 miles to the finish. All three are expected to arrive by Friday.  </p><p>The majority of Western women carry a bag and, while some are disciplined over its contents, more are not. My own, just emptied out, contains more than 50 items. Necessities range from those that concerned the judge – house-keys, a phone, credit cards, and a purse (other coins gambol in the bag's recesses), plus an Oyster card, pens, spectacles and a comb – to equally vital things including a Swiss Army knife, a jeweller's loupe, a compass, a copy of Fowler's Mechanical Engineer's Pocket Book (1965), a bradawl, iodine, a needle and thread, safety pins, a steel dip pen from Paris, a bottle of ink and a drawing pad. There is also a travelling tin of watercolours and a sable brush, a tiny bottle of water, a map of Venice, and a hard-boiled egg.</p><p>There are also completely unnecessary items such as lipstick, perfume, and various other embellishments.</p><p>So how did we reach this state, of fashionable women staggering under expensive, lopsided burdens as heavy as a squaddie's backpack, while men cruise effortlessly to and fro, as suave and streamlined as sharks in deep water?</p><p>&quot;Man-bags&quot; of various practical designs have been around since the 1970s (including the short-lived &quot;murse&quot; or man-purse), and today an increasing number of young urban men carry important-sounding messenger or organiser bags, made of leather or canvas in practical colours and a boxy, pragmatic shape. There's also the newest arrival, the slim iPad sleeve, popularised by Marc Jacobs. So why is a bulging handbag still a female encumbrance?</p><p>The short answer is pockets. Men's clothes have always had them built in. Frustratingly, women's often do not. While this absence could be sorted out in moments by clothing manufacturers, cost comes into play. Short-season fashion items are more cheaply made without pockets, which can distort a figure-hugging line. A male jacket, on the other hand, made to last several seasons (or even decades) and designed to skim rather than clasp the torso, has strong pockets built into its construction.</p><p>But the full answer is historical and political. From the 16th century, while men's coats and waistcoats had pockets, by means of which men scattered about their body coins, small clocks, small books, handkerchiefs, keys, snuff boxes and other items, their manservant toiled along behind with anything bulky. With the 19th century arrival of loose trousers rather than tight breeches, men added trouser pockets to their armoury of personal storage space.</p><p>By contrast, until the mid-19th century, middle- and upper-class women stayed at or near home, so had no need to carry much on their person. If they went out, servants carried it for them. An 18th-century woman of style had simple fabric pockets hung from a tape tied round her waist and underneath her vast skirts, which were slitted, so that she could reach her pockets. Into these hidden (and, so, salaciously regarded) compartments, she posted items of high personal value such as a small jewelled timepiece, notebook for billets-doux, lorgnette, or key to a writing desk. A maid carried pedestrian items. Should the lady go out, she might hold a muff, which had small pockets nestled in its furry depths. In the 19th century, women sometimes carried a small reticule.</p><p>However, since in law a woman literally belonged to a man, and usually had no legal property of her own, it followed that she should have no need for the means to carry a number of personal items – and certainly none concealed from her male owner's gaze.</p><p>So the modern woman's lust for handbags, the fetishising of eye-wateringly expensive carrying devices for stuff that could often just as well be transported in a plastic bag, has a political pedigree.</p><p>A woman's handbag is a sign of her emancipation and individual identity. The bigger and more noticeable the bag, the stronger the signal it gives of the bearer's personal freedom and individual wealth.</p><p>To his credit, it was butterscotch manufacturer Samuel Parkinson of Doncaster who, in 1841, ordered a bespoke &quot;hand-baggage&quot; for his wife, from HJ Cave, a new luggage manufacturer, as her reticule was too flimsy to carry the things she wanted about her when travelling by train. The handbag was born. Cave's luggage and bags long held a royal warrant. The London firm, recently revamped, will launch its first handbag for 80 years, the Tara, on 13 September.</p><p>Many expensive labels started out producing leather goods for horse tack or military use. Tanner Krolle, which began as A Krolle in 1856, made high-class leather for the military. Its fans have included Jackie Onassis and Diana, Princess of Wales. Its Sportsman holdall may cost £2,800, but &quot;customers are able to request their own … internal configuration&quot;.</p><p>Other big guns in the bag game include Prada, Fendi, Launer London, Louis Vuitton, Coach, and newcomer Kate Spade. But perhaps the best known of all is Hermès. In 1956, Grace Kelly was photographed on the cover of Life magazine with Prince Rainier on one arm and a Hermès sac à dépèches on the other. Quickly renamed the Kelly, it's one of the most successful large handbags in history, only matched by the Birkin. The big leather Birkin bag was famously born when actress Jane Birkin sat next to the head of Hermès on a flight and all her things tumbled out of her open straw bag (on which the leather Birkin is loosely modelled) from the locker overhead. Until recently this bag, which costs thousands, had an inexplicable six-year waiting list, whereas for a relatively modest £1,020, Launer London can make a Traviata (similar to the Queen's) in just three weeks.</p><p>Of course, you could get a large leather bag for under £100 and buy – say – a collectable vintage Morris Minor with the spare change. There's lots of room in that. But despite Mary Poppins's carpet bag satirising the bottomless pit that is, in truth, close to many women's reality, and despite the likelihood that, after Anna Karenina comes out on Friday, there will be a fashion for the small red bag she tosses to safety, a woman's handbag is a powerful symbol of equality and freedom. As Virginia Woolf might have said, it is a bag of one's own.</p><p>Philippa Stockley is a clothing historian, novelist and painter </p><p>Alexander McQueen's Sarah Burton said that her show, which buzzed with golden honey bees, was &quot;a celebration of femininity&quot;, and that could be a mantra for the season as a whole.</p><p>In place of ephemeral, trend-driven fashion, spring's focus is on character, of putting a look together more than stepping into a single statement piece. The Paris catwalks, still home to the most gifted designers, are the place where individuality shines. And so it did, brightly.</p><p>If there is an overriding mood, it is a minimal one. That could be seen in the pure lines and fondant-bright colours at Hussein Chalayan, in the prevalence of white and in a love affair with the trapeze line given to the world by Yves Saint Laurent but this season all over other designers' runways too.</p><p>Raf Simons's debut ready-to-wear collection for Christian Dior was so full of ideas it was difficult to keep track of them, on the runway at least. Simons paired a fine-gauge knit sweater with an overblown silk skirt, elaborate bell tops with black shorts and veiled black, strapless cocktail dresses to lovely effect. This was a huge collection, most impressive, perhaps, for its diversity: almost every piece told its own story.</p><p>Nicolas Ghesquière's collection for Balenciaga not only upheld the new season's central contradictions – hard and soft, masculine and feminine, black and white, often in a single garment – but also had a humanity to it that was good to see. Models looked as if they'd stepped straight off the street in their own clothes – albeit amazing clothes – wearing tiny golden charms round their neck and rings on every finger. The new so-called &quot;minimal ruffle&quot; (can there be such a thing?) found its spiritual home here – it is, after all, a name famed for architectural rigour. Tailoring – with sharp, laser-cut edges and in double-faced fabrics that stood away from the body – was masterful; the elaboration on dresses extraordinarily complex but never fussy.</p><p>&quot;Crushing. The energy of an explosion,&quot; was how Rei Kawakubo summed up her Comme des Garçons collection and, with scrap-metal crowns made of battered upturned paint cans and broken toys, that rang out loud and clear. The clothes began with toiles – pieces of garments in raw-edged calico squashed together to form dresses, tops and skirts: a sweet frilled sleeve here, a ragged shoulder there and the odd padded protuberance. Glittering pale silver and gold followed and finally black, which was where this collection truly sang. Comme des Garçons pretty much invented the non-colour of modern fashion and uses it less these days now that everybody else does. This was a masterclass in invention: brilliant, brave and bold.</p><p>The spirit of punk that swept the London collections was evident in this collection and in Dries Van Noten's show, too. Here arms were stripped off jackets and wadding was on show, the tartan beloved of the movement was cut in finest silk chiffon, and black leather thongs tied the open backs of tops and jackets to suitably déshabillé effect. There were shades of grunge, too, as Dries Van Noten's woman layered a boyfriend sweater over a shirt, over a pair of floral-print sheer trousers, over tailored shorts.</p><p>&quot;Friendship, beauty, support, life&quot; were the words that Phoebe Philo used to describe her collection for Céline, which was her most gentle so far and wonderful for that. Clothing that caressed its wearer was deceptively simple – the low-slung but still hugely elegant proportions are clearly worked on to the nth degree. The pairing of white and ivory shouldn't work but it did. The teaming of sandals that make Birkenstocks look light with coloured mink was equally unexpected: witty and surprisingly pretty. The finest raw-silk dresses were finished with coarse cotton fishnet, the most lightweight pale-gold trench coats were fashionably frayed all to discreetly but extremely desirable effect.</p><p>Next season's Miu Miu girl is equally relaxed and mischievous too, as always. Miuccia Prada's take on film-noir heroine meets nerdy student was as upbeat as it was – for all its maverick playfulness – chic. An exaggerated A-line silhouette was here juxtaposed with a more distressed, narrow one as aged fabrics and skins – including bags – rubbed shoulders with the super-shiny and new. Add to the mix giant fur stoles, long leather gloves and elegant court shoes gorgeous in rose pink… We could all be forgiven for wanting to be this person. Maison Martin Margiela's muse was something of a swot too, with her heavy glasses (sans lenses), jewelled nose clips and in clothes that were ultimately French classic with a huge twist.</p><p>How great to see yet another new lease of life on the Chanel catwalk, where a youthful and fresh play on scale – shoes, bags and pearls were huge, clothes were teeny tiny in places, bell-shaped and swinging on bodies in others – was on show. The Chanel suit, meanwhile, was barely recognisable: bolero jackets, A-line dresses and colours that one might not unreasonably want to eat.</p><p>At Junya Watanabe, the Puma logo appeared on the back of some of the designs – a collaboration, perhaps? No. Watanabe simply acknowledged the fact that he'd borrowed high-performance fabric from the PPR-owned brand. Lucky Puma. This show took sport couture to a new level: bright, clashing colours, T-shirts and trousers with curvilinear go-faster stripes, techno-stretch dresses that made the body-conscious look cool (that's not easy) and spiked, studded silver head pieces all made for a look that the sartorially discerning bright, young thing will love to wear.</p><p>The shadow of Helmut Newton loomed large over collections including Peter Copping's Nina Ricci (black fishnet, zips and underwear as outerwear more dominatrix than David Hamilton in flavour), Givenchy (a lovely juxtaposition between the curve of an oversized frill and a more sharp-edged silhouette) and Lanvin, where a particularly powerful vision of a woman was upheld as Parisian style was duly reinvented. The &quot;underpinnings as outerwear&quot; theme that ran through the aforementioned Burton's collection also nodded to this woman, all while showcasing the fetishistic attention to detail this house is now known for.</p><p>More &quot;butter wouldn't melt&quot; than siren was a perfectly pitched show by the Valentino designers, Pier Paolo Piccioli and Maria Grazia Chiuri, the refinement of which doubtless fills that house's namesake with pride. And finally – fashion heaven courtesy of the Louis Vuitton designer Marc Jacobs. Perfect set, perfect soundtrack and perfect clothes all worn by not-quite-identical twins who were more beautiful than nature ever intended.</p><p>He has switched the base of his challenge from Punta Ala, on Italy’s Mediterranean coast, to the Circolo della Vela Siciliana in Palermo. Bertelli challenged in 2000 and 2003, when the cup was held by New Zealand and was the ultimate challenger in 2000 and then the challenger of record in 2003.</p><p>After the noisiest, most stylish but ultimately disappointing challenge in Valencia in 2007, Bertelli had originally said he would not contest the 2013 America’s Cup, to be staged in San Francisco. Larry Ellison’s Oracle Racing first mounted a determined and hugely expensive legal assault on the holder, Switzerland’s Ernesto Bertarelli and his Alinghi team, through the New York courts, and then won easily on the water in a giant trimaran in 2010.</p><p>The switch to wing-powered 72-foot multihulls has been retained by Ellison and his four-times cup winner and CEO, Russell Coutts. Bertelli was thought originally to be against that move but may have been persuaded by the commercial opportunities associated with cup participation.</p><p>His entry is a significant endorsement of the event and may encourage others to join the party. Until now, only Sweden’s Artemis, headed by Torbjorn Tornqvist, and Team New Zealand, which is part-government funded, were considered certain challengers.</p><p>Prada is listed on the Hong Kong Stock exchange and it was notification of the board decision that led to this week’s announcement. The Far East, and particularly Chinese, market is very important to Prada, as it is to the sponsor of the challenger series, Louis Vuitton. There is also a potential challenger from China.</p><p>British challenger Sir Keith Mills has withdrawn from the fray and constant rumours about a British replacement have so far proved unfounded. Yet Andy Claughton, design co-ordinator of the shared design package and based at the Wolfson Institute of the University of Southampton, says: “I am staggered that no-one in the UK has seen the opportunity and grasped it.”  </p><p>There is a wealth of knowledge in the UK – Claughton is also working with F1 engineering companies McLaren and Cosworth – and he says that much of the design competition is “bog standard low speed aerodynamics.”   </p><p>“The real trick is how to organise the control of the hard wing,” he says. “There is a massive engineering competition in that area, and how make the soft sails interact with the wing.”</p><p>Claughton is convinced that, as the first of the 72-footers are not due to be launched until next summer, this is exactly the right time to start and that neither of the challengers, nor the defender, has an unassailable lead.</p><p>Britain also has plenty of talent and thoughts that deep experience in multihull sailing could be the deciding factor are dismissed. “A good sailor is a good sailor,” says Claughton. “Chris Draper, British double Olympic medallist, has done it in three months for Team Korea.”</p><p>The Commodores’ Cup, which features national, three-boat teams in a series every two years of both inshore and offshore races in the Solent and the English Channel, has been boosted by a three-event sponsorship deal with the investment adviser Brewin Dolphin.</p><p>Changes to the 2012 edition, organised by the Royal Ocean Racing Club, will give more flexibility over the choice of boats and will see all of the boats, large and small, start together instead of being split into three groups.</p><p>Brewin Dolphin, which has over £24bn under management, already sponsors the Scottish Series – and the Chelsea Flower Show – and plans to open new offices in Ireland, current holders of the cup. A team from Hong Kong also promises to return and there is strong French participation. </p><p>If you've ever tried to buy a coat only to be told that they sold out in August, pre-collections will doubtlessly be right up your street.</p><p>Like many things sartorial, they're actually nothing new: pre-collections – also known as resort or cruise – were originally for ladies who holidayed in winter and needed a wardrobe deemed 'out of season'. But in recent years the pre-collection has become something altogether more practical, not to mention commercially minded; its purpose now is to bridge the gap between a label's autumn and spring collections, which can, for restless retailers and skittish shoppers, often feel interminable, not to mention lagging behind when they have already been shown to the public six months previously.</p><p>Pre-collections add colour to the shopfloor during dreary months; they diversify from the standard seasonal variations; and, because they're a little more low-key, pre-collections can often be up to 20 per cent cheaper than their main collection equivalent. Buyers now report that pre-collections make up at least 50 per cent, if not more, of their orders per label per season.</p><p>&quot;The season has grown in importance,&quot; wrote Bernadine Morris for The New York Times in 1989, &quot;as European designers gain strength in this country and require new merchandise to fill their shops between fall and spring. In recent years, they have all added collections they call 'cruise' for American stores. They also find that these collections are gaining ground in Europe.&quot;</p><p>&quot;In the past these pre-spring collections began arriving in November,&quot; says Ruth Runberg, buying director at Browns, &quot;but many shipping dates have moved as early as 15 October. This is because brands realise that the earlier the goods are delivered, the longer selling window they have.&quot;</p><p>At this time of year, boutiques fill up with new things, which invigorate the rails ahead of Christmas and remain shiny until well into the new year, when tired autumn stock begins to be discounted. Pre-collection pieces rarely make it into the bargain bins, because they are less temporally oriented. These are quietly wearable clothes, which are not designed particularly for extremes of temperature so they don't get stale in the same way as the main collections can, arriving six months after they were first shown on the catwalks, only to remain in-store for another three.</p><p>Nor are they as conspicuous as the autumn and spring ranges, which define trends and make headlines, with certain pieces becoming a byword for certain designers, from Stella McCartney's polka dots to Céline's palazzo pants. Both set trends on the high street before the originals were even available to buy. Celebrities are frequently snapped on red carpets in pieces from collections that have only just been aired, wearing them a full half-year before anyone else can. Ubiquity becomes slightly inevitable and that, coupled with a rising awareness among savvy shoppers, is the kiss of death for any label.</p><p>&quot;The catwalk show is a way for designers to really express themselves and create the mood for their collections and profile for their brand,&quot; explains Liberty's womenswear buyer Stephanie Jones. &quot;The whole world has access to the show images – but in reality, they still need to create wearable fashion that real women will buy into. So pre-collections often aren't as exciting, but they're still very important.&quot;</p><p>&quot;It's probably our biggest collection in terms of sales,&quot; says designer Jonathan Saunders. &quot;It's more of a wardrobe suggestion as opposed to a silhouette suggestion or message for the season. It's like a core wardrobe that my customer wants and that's what's interesting about working on it. Often in collections, when you're trying to put a message forward, you see the same skirt in seven colours and the same silhouette.&quot;</p><p>If the pomp and ceremony of the autumn and spring collections is the time for showcasing concepts, skills and imagination, then the pre-collections are a chance to test-drive them first. Hence, the Balenciaga resort range by Nicholas Ghesquière – which is available now – prefigures the futuristic and boxy tailoring of the spring collection he showed in October and renders it less extreme (only slightly less, however). They're also a means of establishing a keynote for a label, of distilling its essence into a smaller capsule of pieces. As such, Phoebe Philo's pre-collection at Céline features the classic everyday staples for which she has become known: blouses, pleated skirts and modern, minimal trenchcoats. And it's also a chance for designers to work with new shades and see how they fit within an established repertoire – Prada's resort 2012 range foreshadows the pastels and rich hues, as well as the ultra-feminine silhouette, of the label's Fifties-esque spring show.</p><p>Pre-collections attract less publicity then the twice-yearly shows, but many labels do hold events for them. On the whole, New York is the venue for most – where fashion is more intensely commercial anyway – but Karl Lagerfeld showed his most recent resort collection for Chanel at the world's most expensive hotel, the Hotel du Cap in Antibes, having flown in models and much of the front row especially. The show featured classic Chanel bouclé suiting, spun in lemon yellow and lilac, as well as signature white tweed jackets to wear over black bandeau swimwear. &quot;Resort&quot; for some still means exotic holidays, after all.</p><p>&quot;At Elle, we've been shooting pre-collection stories for around five years now,&quot; says acting editor Jenny Dickinson. &quot;But in recent stories, we've placed more prominence on them. Pre-collections are beneficial all-round – the stores benefit from early deliveries; the designers benefit from getting a more commercial take on their catwalk offers; and the consumer benefits from something new and the designer's more accessible design.&quot;</p><p>In fact, pre-collections have become so intrinsic that even nascent labels and young designers are introducing them. London Fashion Week's Peter Pilotto launches its pre-collection this season, while up-and-coming designers are learning that they too must think about them and students are being inculcated at college.</p><p>&quot;I think the growth of the internet in the past 10 years has led to a speeding up of the fashion system,&quot; says Andrew Groves, course director for fashion design at the University of Westminster, where students create a pre-collection during their final year. &quot;We teach them to understand the key to a company's aesthetic signature and how to meet a customer's desires. They also need to understand the key pieces that make up a pre-collection, which can transcend seasons.&quot;</p><p>This has altered the mindset of the next generation of designers and shoppers, skewing them towards the pragmatic inter-season ranges rather than the more traditionally muscular main lines. Designer Tze Goh, 33, graduated from the acclaimed Central Saint Martins MA course last year.</p><p>&quot;Since it is the buying and wearing of garments that really contribute to what fashion is, I would have to say that pre-collections are more important,&quot; he says. &quot;I'm definitely considering and planning for pre-collections.&quot;</p><p>It's another example of how hard fashion has to work to stay relevant in a digital age of sell-sell-sell and nonexistent attention spans. The pre-collection may have been born out of mid-century millionaires needing to dress for Barbados in January, but it has turned into something inherently modern.</p><p>Hair: Gow Tanaka using Paul Mitchell</p><p>Make-up: Adam de Cruz at The Book Agency using Dior Spring Look</p><p>Stylist's Assistant: Emma Akbareian</p><p>Photographer's Assistants: Rokas Darulis, Andy Picton</p><p>Filming and Editing: Daniel Burdett</p><p>Retouching: Oliver Ingrouille</p><p>With thanks to and The Surfcomber Hotel, Miami, </p><p>One in four admitted they would break the law for a bargain and in the last year close to one in three adults (29%) came across suspected stolen items for sale at a market, pub (22%) or auction website (21%).</p><p>In a study involving more than 2,000 people, it emerged a growingnumber of burglars were stealing brands to order and using shops and auction websites to sell illegal goods.</p><p>According to the criminologists' research, one in 20 (5%) burglaries committed last year was carried out with the intention of finding a specific brand.</p><p>The research was undertaken by home insurer LV= and involved interviews with burglary victims and convicted thieves.</p><p>It revealed the stealing to order trend has increased in the past five years.</p><p>Apple, Samsung, Sony, Microsoft and Dell items topped the thieves' shopping lists because they could be sold on easily for a largeproportion of the retail price.</p><p>The average going rate on the black market for popular items by these manufacturers are £345 for a stolen iPhone, £210 for an iPad and £160 for a games console - around half the cost of buying them new from an official retailer.</p><p>Government statistics show burglaries increased by 14% last year,from 651,000 to 745,000 in 2011, with victims losing £1,400 worth of belongings on average.</p><p>Small electronic goods are the most commonly stolen items.</p><p>One burglar told researchers: &quot;Almost everyone I know sells moody (stolen) stuff online.</p><p>&quot;Just get a photo from the internet and put it up.</p><p>&quot;Wait till the orders come in and then go out and get it.&quot;</p><p>Auction websites have helped expand the marketplace for stolen goods with most of the thieves who took part in the research saying theyused auction websites to sell stolen goods.</p><p>Although most online auction sites have strict rules prohibiting sellers from using them to sell stolen goods, many thieves said they gotround this by having multiple seller identities.</p><p>As well as online auctions, thieves said they took orders from more traditional sources including markets and car boot sales, as well as some convenience stores who take 'under the counter' orders from customers in the know.</p><p>One burglar said he worked with a contact at a phone unlocking stall in a shopping centre who takes orders 'off the street' from willing buyers.</p><p>When selecting properties to target, unsurprisingly burglars targeted easily accessible properties in affluent neighbourhoods.</p><p>Burglars also trawled bins to garner clues from receipts and packaging.</p><p>High value fashion brands were also highly sought.</p><p>Mui Mui and Prada were the most common handbag brands that are ordered, as these can usually be bought for around a third of the cost of buying them new from an official outlet.</p><p>Designer perfumes and toiletries were also highly desirable with thieves mainly seeking out Chanel branded products, which can fetch around 23% of the official retail price.</p><p>Although handling stolen goods can result in a jail term, those who want the latest must-have brands at a fraction of the retail price are driving the trend.</p><p>John O'Roarke, LV= managing director, said: &quot;It is not surprisingthat thieves are focusing on electronic gadgets, which can be easily concealed, transported and quickly sold on.</p><p>&quot;Our own theft claims data shows a shift in recent years from larger electronic goods, such as TVs, to smaller electronic items - although the overall monetary value is the same.</p><p>&quot;Legitimate owners must take care not to fall victim to theft by leaving goods in view from the outside of their home and should take care to dispose of receipts and packaging properly.&quot;</p><p>PA</p><p>This season we will mostly be wearing see-through dresses, leather peaked caps and stiletto trainers, according to reporters on the front line of New York Fashion Week. </p><p>This will be great news for those who have come straight from a future-themed nightie party at a 1980s gay bar and didn't have time to get changed on the way. But there's a worry that ordinary civilians may get caught in the trap of thinking that fashion is all a load of nonsense and just carry on wearing their normal clothes. </p><p>This season, you must not be seen out in public in your normal clothes, or everyone will point and laugh and it will be just like school. Of course, anyone who has read or seen The Devil Wears Prada will remember the speech about how cerulean blue &quot;filtered down&quot; from the catwalks and that lumpy sweater you're wearing is the direct result of some girl with an eating disorder staggering up a runway in platform moon boots and a bikini made out of ostrich tears, but the key here is in the filtering down. </p><p>When this season's trends have filtered down into dresses that you can't see through, tweed peaked caps and, er, trainers, then we will wear them. Until then, let the trendies point and laugh. They'll be the ones with visible knickers.</p><p>Rave</p><p>You wouldn't catch the Duchess of Cambridge in a see-through dress. In fact, last week we saw her saving her modesty (at least that time) with a sensible underskirt beneath her floaty dress. It just goes to show that you should listen to granny and not to fashionistas when you're stepping out of an aeroplane on a windy day. </p><p>Nana, not Vogue, knows best. </p><p>Robert Burke, one time fashion director of Bergdorf Goodman, meanwhile, argued that until the Noughties, the looks of the forthcoming season were communicated via fashion editors and buyers who attended the international collections staged behind closed doors. He could have added that all of those present were required to sign forms promising that they would not pass on information or images from the shows in question that might in any way aid and abet any copycats. How times have changed.</p><p>Brands from Prada to Topshop allow instant access to their shows (the latter recently announced it would live stream its spring/summer 2013 collection only days from now for the first time; Prada has done so for the past two seasons). And so, anyone can catch a glimpse of clothes that won't go on sale for months and at the same time as the privileged few. Burberry has taken this concept one step further. At London Fashion Week six months ago, it tweeted looks from its forthcoming collection even before they made the runway.</p><p>Only a dinosaur would argue that mass exposure of the most innovative fashion is a bad thing. Far from it, it enriches and inspires. That said, and I declare a vested interest here, the raison d'être of covering fashion in individual titles – newspapers, magazines and online publications included – lies in the way it is edited. The savvy consumer – and the number of these is ever increasing – doesn't need to be told what to wear or how to wear it. That's just patronising. But there will always be trends and she (and indeed he) knows who to trust to identify these whether she wants to buy, browse or even just balk at them.</p><p>Instead, the November issue of American InStyle magazine, published at the end of last week, features an eight-page editorial featuring none other than Miss Piggy, dressed in bespoke Jason Wu, Prabal Gurung, Opening Ceremony... the list of American couture's young and fashionable who've fallen over themselves to run up suitably fetching looks especially for the porcine puppet goes on.</p><p>&quot;Supermodel? Moi?&quot; A rigorously performed survey (oh, alright then, a brief chin wag with a few girlfriends over a cup of tea) revealed the following in response...</p><p>&quot;At last, a woman of substance takes centre stage – in spirit and in flesh...&quot;; &quot;One in the eye for every passive clothes horse out there...&quot; And, the voice of reason, perhaps: &quot;But isn't she just an old sow/over-stuffed toy?&quot; Whatever, Miss Piggy's rise and rise in the fashion firmament doesn't stop there.</p><p>In the forthcoming Muppets movie, destined to be the US Christmas blockbuster of the year but, sadly, not out in the UK until February 2012, she plays a plus-size fashion editor at French Vogue. Take that, Emmanuelle Alt and your too-cool-for-school laid back Gallic style... Or perhaps just: &quot;Hi Ya!!!!!!!!!!!!!!&quot;</p><p>Knowing a cunning marketing opportunity when they see one, both OPI and Mac cosmetics are releasing a range of The Muppets nail polish (Fresh Frog Bel Air green, anyone...? Divine Swine magenta?) and a limited edition Miss Piggy make-up collection respectively to coincide with the release of the film. &quot;Style is about expressing your inner self, capturing your personal ethos and, more importantly, spending someone else's money,&quot; Miss Piggy tells InStyle, a summation of the editrix that is characteristically to the point.</p><p>From the devastating mood swings to the fabulous flamboyancy and taking in the frills, furbelows and none-too-well-adjusted eating habits on the way – why use your hands when you can just bury your snout in your food, after all? – this may well turn out be the fashion satire to end all fashion satires, making The Devil Wears Prada seem lightweight by comparison...in every sense of the word.</p><p>So the woman who has sworn sartorial allegiance to the skirt for decades, even though she admits they might on occasion add kilos to her apparent weight, has now traded them in – heartlessly – for trousers. &quot;Who's queen?&quot; she may as well have quipped as she travelled the Costume Institute ball red carpet last week, as footloose and fancy-free as it is possible to imagine in golden tunic and cropped trews.</p><p>For the record, she generally favours elaborate skirts and conservative cardigans accessorised with vintage jewellery of exquisite good taste and sometimes – though not always – sensible shoes. In trousers, though, she made the majority of guests, still flaunting their floor-length gowns and accompanying hard-to-handle trains, appear weighed down by their wardrobe by comparison. The designer is being compared to Schiaparelli just now but she has long and openly bowed down at the altar of the greater 20th-century couturier Yves Saint Laurent. It was this huge fashion talent that first sent trousers for women down the haute couture runway.</p><p>In 1966, his Le Smoking tuxedo for men adapted to suit the female form was a conscious and very high-profile attempt to relieve women of the frills and furbelows of traditional eveningwear which, to this day, many remain attached to. And I'm with Yves on this one also. While I am more than happy marvelling at the beauty of the workmanship on an overblown skirt for hours on end and also understand the sweet nostalgia such fashion whimsy is infused with, actually wearing one is not something I would generally consider. And nor would Miuccia Prada it seems. This, after all, is a woman who was married in a grey cotton dress and man's overcoat; one can only assume such unabashed sentimentality eludes her. I love it when we agree.</p><p>Take nothing for granted, however, as this is a designer who is nothing if not full of surprises. It wouldn't be difficult to imagine the Prada runway replete with floor-grazing frivolous fancies before long. Miuccia Prada has said that she currently finds tailoring more empowering than flou but given the breakneck speed with which she changes her mind one can only presume that won't last.</p><p>I am immediately plunged into bitterness, of course, (even though I am watching a brand new episode of The Simpsons), only added to when, 10 minutes later, another missive drops. &quot;By the way, here is a scoop. She is not wearing a jumper, but a shirt and tie. Very Jil Sander.&quot;</p><p>I am, at this point, left hanging. &quot;Please provide more information… Over…&quot; (Old school.)</p><p>&quot;The shirt's light blue, a workman's shirt – like Prada autumn/winter 2008,&quot; Mr Jensen replies. &quot;And the tie's black. She's wearing a navy pea coat on top.&quot;</p><p>I can now picture the entire thing in my mind which is lovely and testimony both to the greatness of Peter Jensen who is, after all, a fashion designer so he understands the importance of these things, and might also just tide me over until the third series of The Killing finally reaches British screens.</p><p>I love the idea of Sofie Grabol (aka Sarah Lund) in overtly masculine attire. There are very few women who can get away with this and she, I would imagine, is among them. &quot;Yes,&quot; Jensen duly confirms. &quot;She looks great.&quot; And also, as it happens, on trend. I give you… Chloë Sevigny in head to toe printed trouser suit, shirt and tie and every bit the fashion fox in this season's Miu Miu campaign.</p><p>Other shirt- and tie-wearing heroines… Marlene Dietrich, of course, as far back as 1930 in Morocco but also often in real as opposed to celluloid life; Diane Keaton in Annie Hall in 1977… More recently, Kristen Stewart was photographed in white shirt and black tie in the June 2012 issue of American Elle. The reference? Helmut Newton's famous photograph of a suitably androgynous model in Yves Saint Laurent's Le Smoking tuxedo, shot for Vogue in 1967.</p><p>My personal favourite woman-in-shirt-and-tie moment, however, comes courtesy of Patti Smith for the 1975 cover of Horses. Sigh. I can't wait to see for myself whether even Ms Grabol can top that.</p><p>And that, perhaps, is the reason behind Hedi Slimane's bewildering debut for Yves Saint Laurent – the designer has been working as a photographer since he left Dior Homme in 2007.</p><p>The show itself has since been entirely upstaged by the almighty and very public spat between Slimane and Cathy Horyn of The New York Times. But less of that, please, and more analysis of why the former chose to take a retro route last Monday when the anticipation that sprang up around his appointment in the first place was reliant on his bringing the hard-edged, architectural modernism that we all know he is capable of bringing to this most revered name.</p><p>Slimane could so easily have sent out a small, tight, hard-edged and ice-cool collection based on the narrow and androgynous tailoring that he was always known for – the Le Smoking tuxedo remains the most famous Saint Laurent signature and if anyone can reinvent that, then he can. But he chose instead to follow a warmer route and to reference Saint Laurent in his absolute heyday – the late Sixties/early Seventies – which, given Slimane's fascination with music, and rock stars' wives, is heartfelt, and I like that.</p><p>I would also be more than happy to wear the shrunken jackets and skinny jeans he sent out for spring/summer 2013: however scathing the reviews, I'd be prepared to place bets that I'm not the only one where that is concerned.</p><p>It is unfortunate, given the open-door policy today adopted by houses as successful as Prada, Chanel, Louis Vuitton and now Dior – all direct competitors – that the powers that be at Yves Saint Laurent were so fiercely elitist and controlling with regard to everything from seating arrangements at the show to the publication of portraits of Slimane himself. It served only to raise the bar and nothing short of perfection would have made this degree of antipathy towards people who are, in the end, trying only to do their jobs, acceptable.</p><p>Here's hoping, though, that what appears to be arrogance is more a case of new-boy jitters. I say: give the man a chance.</p><p>No such reservations for this season's fashion designers. Purple may be the colour of the gods but both Christopher Kane (in London) and Miuccia Prada (in Milan) threw caution to the wind by covering their catwalks in it and sending out clothes to match. If ever proof were needed that this is an industry that's far from shy, then here it is in spades. And purple's none too straightforward reputation extends beyond that. &quot;When I am an old woman, I shall wear purple,&quot; writes the poet Jenny Joseph, citing this gesture as a prime example of the freedom from any sense of decorum, aesthetic or otherwise, a certain age affords.</p><p>For Kane, purple's somewhat turbulent reputation appears to be part of its appeal. He himself described the purple flocked velvet in his collection as &quot;disgusting&quot;. It reminds him of coffin cladding. And purple, in Victorian times, was indeed a colour associated with mourning: purple ribbons were once tied around ladies perfume bottles during such periods and purple clothing was viewed as a suitable alternative to black during half-mourning, too.</p><p>Ever the fashion antagonist, Prada's attraction to all things widely deemed difficult is well known. There's nothing this designer likes more than a challenge, after all: a purple and orange graphic print trouser suit, anyone? Neither, growing up in Italy, will she be unaware of purple's relationship with the Vatican.</p><p>Purple dye, originally made from Murex shells, was the most expensive throughout Antiquity and beyond, and wearing it was therefore the preserve of judges and Popes.</p><p>Not any more. This season we will all have the opportunity to dress in this once supremely elitist and/or funereal hue. But be warned: as well as wearing purple, Jenny Joseph also dreams of one day learning to &quot;spit&quot;.</p><p>While the artist formerly known as Prince may have done his best to reverse purple's fortunes way back, its grand and unforgiving nature makes it far from a colour easily associated with shrinking violets.</p><p>The French marketing consultancy Presence hired mystery shoppers to grade some 400 stores and revealed last week that the attitude of sales assistants working at the gilded totems to capitalism lining Paris's Champs-Elysées were among the least helpful in the world. They ranked 16th out of 30 with New York's Fifth Avenue scoring more dismally still: it came in at number 26. </p><p>In fact, anyone brave enough to enter the more upscale boutiques in the French capital would be nothing short of disappointed were it any other way. In New York, similarly, while a polite (robotic?) veneer may be the order of the day, simmering just under the surface is the fact that sales assistants in that city apparently can't help but despise those foolhardy enough to enter their workplaces.</p><p>Perhaps, though, that is as it should be. Maybe employees in these proudly élitist spaces are simply meant to be thinner, more beautiful and more haughty than the humble likes of you and I. Were they anything less than dismissive, the effect might be disconcerting.</p><p>Who hasn't been made to feel like a shoplifter in such places, after all? Who hasn't been told something looks &quot;great&quot; when it's a size too small? And who hasn't considered buying something simply to spite the person serving them by proving that they're not some woeful pretender, thank you. </p><p>Might the same be the case, I wonder, were one to shop in a friendly city – in Sydney, for example. Would everyone there throw open the doors, beaming, and shouting &quot;G'day!&quot; before lavishing attention on those they are there to serve?</p><p>Although London wasn't included in the aforementioned market research, a frosty insouciance is often the order of the day in the British capital. There are notable exceptions. Balenciaga and Rick Owens in Mayfair, Matches in Notting Hill Gate, Margaret Howell in Wigmore Street, Prada in Bond and Sloane Street and Dover Street Market are, in my experience, staffed by men and women who prove that shopping for fashion may not necessarily feel like heading into battle.</p><p>More generally, however, it's small wonder that online shopping is increasingly appealing: no heavy-handed surveillance tactics the likes of which might make Inspector Clouseau blush, no disingenuous flattery, not even a curled lip.</p><p> The Tiffany blue box that brightens up any glamorous Christmas tree is as recognisable as the scarlet Louboutin sole that has been the subject of some controversy. </p><p>To recap: in April, Louboutin sued Yves Saint Laurent in a New York federal court, claiming that the all-red pump violated its 2008 trademark. In August, however, Louboutin's request that the shoes be withdrawn was overturned by Judge Victor Marrero, who argued that Picasso didn't trademark his Blue Period. Tiffany, though, registered its trademark in 1998. &quot;Tiffany is not taking sides,&quot; said the attorney, also, coincidentally, responsible for registering Louboutin's trademark. &quot;We are only trying to assure that this area of the law is not disturbed by an overbroad decision.&quot;</p><p>YSL's lawyers responded: &quot;We think Judge Marrero was right in denying Louboutin's request and fully expect the Court of Appeal to agree.&quot; Of course, this is all about big business, a fact that Picasso and, for that matter, Van Gogh, clearly overlooked when they painted Celestina, say, or Sunflowers respectively. But should any designer really have a monopoly on a particular colour? After all, the effects could reverberate across the industry to the point where Valentino might also have a claim on red, Chanel could trademark black and white, Armani would own beige and Prada would possess brown.</p><p>&quot;Tiffany has reason to be concerned,&quot; Susan Scafidi, director of Fordham University's Fashion Law Institute told WWD, pointing out that the &quot;broad nature&quot; of Marrero's ruling threatened to &quot;weaken colour trademarks across fashion&quot;. And it might not stop there. As well as Tiffany blue, there's Flash yellow, a very specific shade, and Coca-Cola red. It's a slippery slope and one that could result in Father Christmas dressed in orange. And Tango might have something to say about that.</p><p>The seismic nature of this change was only emphasised by the fact that this is a fashion talent so wedded to the skirt that she herself has worn little else for the past decade, generally with a shirt and/or cardigan should anyone out there be interested. You know you all are. At the 2012 Costume Institute Ball in New York, however, which opened the Prada and Schiaparelli: Impossible Conversations exhibition at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in that city in May, Prada put her money where her mouth is. She wore a silk brocade tunic/trouser combination of her own design that looked all the more remarkable given the floor-sweeping, gown-heavy, red-carpet context.</p><p>Moving on to Louis Vuitton – LV designer Marc Jacobs is another trailblazer par excellence – and for this autumn show too models descended a lovingly recreated early 20th-century steam train wearing vaguely directoire-line coats, tunics, jackets and dresses, finished with jewelled buttons and embroideries, and all worn over trousers cropped at the ankle.</p><p>Anyone attempting to resist the influence of these two great names must finally be forced into submission by Raf Simons' debut Christian Dior couture collection held in Paris this month. In an arena better known for dresses – from those aimed squarely at grand entrances to more that are the preserve of the lady who lunches – this was a gesture of quite radical proportions, reminiscent of YSL's first outing of Le Smoking for women almost half a century ago. Fifty years on and what could be a more modern solution to evening wear than a pair of perfectly fitted black tailored trousers teamed with a jewel-encrusted little bell top?</p><p>The most celebrated third nippler of all time, with apologies to Mr Dunn, is James Bond villain Francisco Scaramanga. He is so closely connected with the superfluous appendage (not that anyone knows why men have the other two) that it's often referred to as 'the Scaramanga' by the thrice blessed. Daniel Craig also has one, and if they remake The Man With the Golden Gun while Craig is 007, it might be renamed The Two Men With the Six Golden Nipples. Then again, it might not.</p><p>Others within the tight-knit tri-nipple community, real and fictional, are Lily Allen (she showed hers off on Dutch television), Mark Wahlberg (you can see his in the film, Shooter), Chandler Bing from Friends (as a small boy, he was convinced that pressing it opened a gateway to Narnia), the late Rolling Stones guitarist Brian Jones (he kept his on his inner thigh), Bart Simpson's comic idol Krusty the Clown, and Tilda Swinton who says, &quot;I've always been very proud of it&quot;.</p><p>Clive Dunn was not proud of his. As a child, presumably after going to his mother to ask, &quot;Permission to speak, mother, please may I have my third nipple removed?&quot;, he had surgery and very nearly died from post-operative complications. But don't panic, don't panic, if you have one you want rid of – Dunn is now 92 and in the late 1920s of his childhood, surgery was not as safe as it is today. Perhaps the young Clive, like those in medieval days, believed the superfluous nip was for demons to suckle on.</p><p>In these enlightened days, however, most tri-nipplers prefer the loud'n'proud Swinton line, while hard-liners are even suspected of looking down on the bi-nippled as tediously staid and conventional. In fact, considering that, with the 'pseudomamma', another name for the third nip is the 'accessory nipple', there is a gaping commercial gap for a tie-up between a leading prosthetics manufacturer and the good folk at Prada. How are you planning to wear your third nipple this spring? </p><p>OMA/Progress is set out in the art gallery of London's Barbican Centre, and the clash between the exhibition's dense collages of information – so characteristic of Koolhaas – and the murky stillness of the Barbican's spaces is instructive: this utopian structure, and the 66-year-old Dutchman's ideas, speak different architectural languages - the former more or less dead, the latter oscillating between insight and incoherence.</p><p>OMA has 3.5m images on its database, with 1,500 more sucked into it every day, so an informed presentation of images was impossible. The exhibition, curated by the Belgian collective Rotor, is a series of magpie's nests in which texts are as significant as images, models or materials. Koolhaas's response to our information age is evidently complex, intensely curious, and fundamentally objectionable.</p><p>A hand-written note to his staff reads: &quot;It would be great if each of you would generate/be responsible for a permanent record of the [design] process so that not every presentation [to clients] becomes a desperate improvisation.&quot; Yet desperate improvisation is at the heart of Koolhaas's architecture. Who else would create a facade for Prada made of aluminium panels deliberately crumpled by underwater explosions?</p><p>OMA/Progress, Barbican, London EC2 () to 19 February</p><p>Millions ofdollars are being thrown at winning, or retaining, what claims to be the oldestinternational trophy in international sport. Its origins go back to 1851 and arace around the Isle of Wight. It is unlikely to cost the teams, Oracle TeamUSA, Emirates Team New Zealand, Italy’s Luna Rossa, Sweden’s Artemis, and,though it has yet to confirm it has the money, Team Korea, less than half abillion dollars between them. Add to that the whole cost of staging andtelevising the event.</p><p>Until thelegally enforced Cup 33 went the way of the San Francisco-based Oracle Racingwhen they beat the Swiss holder Alinghi in 2010 in giant multihulls, theAmerica’s Cup has always been contested in monohulls.</p><p>Cup 34 willbe staged in 72-foot, wing-powered catamarans, starting with the Louis VuittonCup eliminator in July next year, with the winner squaring up against Oracle inSeptember. But one of the rules imposed by Oracle was that only 30 days of testingwas allowed in the new boats until 31 January next year.</p><p>In theorythis was to reduce costs, though spending is rampant in other areas. One of themany changes in the protocol format along the way was to increase the size ofthe wing and so make available more power than would ever normally be usable.Oracle boss Russell Coutts has since quietly acknowledged that 52-footers wouldhave been sufficient.</p><p>The racetrack on San Francisco Bay is close to the shore and restricted. But, as oneinsurance expert told The Independent: “You could hardly find a better trackfor a television spectacular and you could hardly find a worse track ifCalifornia lawyers ever have the chance to sink their teeth into some injurycompensation claims.”</p><p>Unlike inaviation, there is a very limited database about the hydrofoils on which theseboats will sit, at 40-plus knots. Much of what there is concerns straight lineboats seeking speed records, not boats which have to turn corners and race atclose quarters.</p><p>One manfaced with the “challenge” of delivering one of these boats with a combinationof a speed edge and a reasonable expectation of reliability is JuanKouyoumdjian, known always as Juan K, the Argentinian design chief of theArtemis syndicate, backed by the oil billionaire Torbjorn Tornqvist.</p><p>“We coulduse every hour and every bit of daylight and it still would not be enough,”says Juan K. But, curiously, he adds the view that changing the rules andabandoning the restrictions would not necessarily be agreed by the challengers.“It would benefit Oracle most due to their two-boat testing and noweven TNZ and LR since the jury allowed them to observe and exchange design andperformance information,” he says.</p><p>Words whicheveryone hopes will not be true prophetically come from the man who will runthe races, the Australian Iain Murray. “There are going to be injuries,” hesaid at the start of the 2011-12 season. Now the crews wear padding and crashhelmets in case, as has happened, they are catapulted through carbon fibre wingswhich, as they break, can shatter into deadly shards.</p><p>Meanwhile,Juan K’s team is working flat out having seen a trial wing crumple and knowingthat the clock is ticking ever more loudly. The Kiwis, whom Juan K sees ascurrent favourites, have looked impressive on their home waters and they willbe joined soon by the Italians, backed by Patrizio Bertelli and his luxurygoods house, Prada.</p><p>The sanction of theirco-operative deal by an international jury is described by Juan K as “a bloodyridiculous decision”, but, now, Artemis could trainalongside Oracle in San Francisco entirely legally. Scheming and bickering hasbeen part of this super-rich confrontation for 161 years. It will not stop now.Even the threat to life and limb is not new, just the level.       </p><p>Needing pain killers to counter a back injury, plus three sessions of physiotherapy the night before, he went on to the race track with some more pain killers, scored a fourth and a ninth, and ended in sixth overall after being 12th the day before.</p><p>“I’m feeling a lot better than I was this time yesterday. They spent a lot of time last night putting me back together, so my mind was a lot more focused on decision-making,” he said.</p><p>“Hopefully I can spend the rest day putting myself back together, so in the second half of the regatta we can fire on all cylinders.” He is chasing the Australian favourite Tom Slingsby, who himself is a point behind the leader, Pavlos Kontides of Cyprus.</p><p>Goodison has suffered a disc problem before and described races five and six as “pretty character-building stuff”. His first goal is to stay well up the top 10, then fight for a medal if it is in range, similarly for the gold. “You only get one shot every four years and you have got to give it your all,”. </p><p>Still lying fourth after six races for the Laser Radial is Alison Young who could take some consolation from the fact that she posted her worst result, 11th, in that sixth race as the overall leader, Ireland’s Annalise Murphy, was suffering an even worse 19th.</p><p>The 25-year old, originally from Bewdley, Worcestershire, has been on an upwards trajectory which has seen her quietly made her a medal prospect under the coaching in Weymouth of former Olympian Hugh Styles.</p><p>She has a no-nonsense, almost self-deprecatory style, but she is fourth overall going into a day off for both Laser fleets. “You just get on with whatever there is out there. To be honest, you just get what your given,” sums up her very pragmatic attitude.</p><p>A better day for the 49er skiff pair of Stevie Morrison and Ben Rhodes, who scored a fourth and a second, discarded the 18th they suffered in Tuesday’s capsize, and moved up to fifth overall.</p><p>“We didn’t sail any better today, we just didn’t make any mistakes,” said Morrison. “We didn’t change anything or allow ourselves to get too stressed about yesterday. We just carried on with what we know we can do. We know we’re pretty good at sailing 49ers. Yes, it was a great day but it didn’t make a great deal of difference in the overall scheme of things.”</p><p>In his much quieter style, Nick Dempsey, who would so much like to have his own Olympic gold medal to go with wife Sarah’s two, won the tightest of finishes over Byron Kokalanis of Greece in his second race of the day and that was enough to put him up to third overall after four of the 10 races which find the top 10 to go into the double points-scoring medal decider.</p><p>But, despite feeling slightly more comfortable with the racecourse under the spectator area on the Nothe, he was happier with the thought that his next six races will be in the less tricky conditions of the harbour, waters that, as a local resident, he knows well.</p><p>“The Nothe race course is very, very tricky,” he said. “It’s very easy to come unstuck on it. I was always concerned about that. You want it to be as fair as possible. Today the racing was fair. You just want an even playing field.”</p><p>He also said that he thought that Paul Goodison had been feeling a little more comfortable with the back pain but the mood generally in the British camp was “fantastic. Everyone is very upbeat and concentrated and it’s still a fantastic team to be part of. The spirit is good.”</p><p>Today the Finn singlehanders and Star keelboats return to the fray after a day off with Ben Ainslie, chasing his fourth consecutive Olympic gold medal, lying second, and needing to establish some sort of supremacy over Denmark’s Jonas Högh Christensen.</p><p>Iain Percy and Andrew Simpson will be hoping for continued fresh conditions to consolidate their lead over Robert Scheidt and Bruno Prada of Brazil, and the men in the 470 dinghy class contesting their opening pair of races. </p><p>It would involve the city putting in an initial $7m to 8m with a total spend of $18m to renovate piers 30 and 32 in a downtown area which could then accommodate up to five challenger syndicates.</p><p>An earlier scheme with at least $80m of total renovation which would have given the defence team, Oracle, owned by local software billionaire Larry Ellison, property development rights was shelved less than 48 hours before being put to the city’s 11-strong Board of Supervisors for approval.</p><p>Negotiations had been long and tortuous in a city notorious for highly active special interest groups. But the addition of a competitor facility that would allow the public to see the teams during the two months of the 161-year old event from July 4 next year was seen as a vital bookend to the race village, on piers 27 and 29. All of them are accessible from the central ferry building and on a popular waterside walkway which runs through Fisherman’s Wharf and all the way to Golden Gate Bridge.</p><p>The walkway will also offer many spectator viewing points, with big screen points along the way. The finish line for the races is just off the America’s Cup village.</p><p>The enemy for both sides is time. The organisers want to be able to welcome teams as soon after 1 July as possible, the date for the launch of the newest 72-foot wing-powered catamarans in which AC34 will be contested and without a definite plan for so much work would simply not be able to meet deadlines. </p><p>There is also a prologue regatta in 45-foot versions of the catamarans, part of the America’s Cup World Series, now delayed until October this year. There has been plans for two regattas in September but one of them may now be moved to New York in late August, following the conclusion of the 2011-12 series in Newport, Rhode Island in June. Italy hosts events in Naples in April and Venice in May.</p><p>The city needs to follow all its procedures and these, in the past, have either held up development or led to projects being scrapped. If both sides can agree, the revised and scaled down programme will be put to the Board of Supervisors on 27 March.</p><p>The main base for the defence team is miles away on Pier 80, though that could still be used by all the teams for major repairs. The smaller of two vast sheds is 340,000 square feet.</p><p>Only three challengers are seen as certain at the moment, Sweden’s Artemis, Italy’s Prada-backed Luna Rossa, and an aggressive Team New Zealand trying to take the Cup away from America for the second time.</p><p>But there are continuing hopes that two more will join the party – the South Korean government is said to be close to granting some funding – and the China Team insists that it is in full training to take part next year.  </p><p>She found out that her son was masterminding an eBay scam that had netted him A$200,000 (£130,500) – and that Australia's big four banks were helping him launder the money by allegedly showering him with bank accounts and debit cards.</p><p>Neither the boy nor his mother can be identified for legal reasons, but details of the bizarre case have emerged from documents lodged with the New South Wales Supreme Court. He was arrested at school after his frauds were linked to an IP address attached to a classroom computer.</p><p>The woman, who lives south of Sydney, is seeking damages from the four banks – the Commonwealth, ANZ, Westpac and National Australia Bank – and an apology for &quot;unconscionable conduct&quot;.</p><p>The boy sold non-existent items on eBay, the online auction site, at one stage earning more than $6,000 a day. His mother's suspicions were aroused when he began booking penthouses costing $4,300 a night and hiring limousines to go to the beach.</p><p>He also flew friends around Australia for weekend parties in rented luxury apartments, and paid for beauty sessions for his female friends. &quot;There I was, a single mother of two, desperately struggling to put food on the table,&quot; his mother said. &quot;He, meanwhile, would stroll in after feasting at the latest fancy restaurant of his choice and chuck me leftovers in a plastic tub.&quot;</p><p>A log book she found solved the mystery. It detailed &quot;thousands of dollars worth of transactions with eBay customers, all of whom had deposited money into his bank accounts for non-existent laptops, mobile phones and watches&quot;.</p><p>The boy's mother said she repeatedly contacted the banks, warning them that he was a minor who was depositing illegally gained funds and begging them to stop giving him accounts and debit cards. They ignored her or refused to discuss the matter, citing privacy concerns, she alleges.</p><p>The boy, now 19, opened his first bank account with the Commonwealth, with the help of a friend who claimed to be his guardian. &quot;He was an intelligent boy who worked out how to cheat the system and play it for all it was worth,&quot; his mother said.</p><p>According to her, he also defrauded the banks. &quot;He began placing small amounts of cash on his many debit cards, followed by instant large withdrawals. The flaw in the system is that you can go $1,500 overdrawn before they shut down the account. He didn't care. The moment one got closed, it was his cue to open another. It became an addiction.&quot;</p><p>In an effort to halt his behaviour, she contacted teachers, doctors and counsellors as well as the banking ombudsman and financial watchdogs. &quot;But each time, I was told the only people who could end this madness were the banks. To this day, they refuse to acknowledge it was their accounts being used to launder money, and their overdrafts to commit more crime.&quot;</p><p>Since 2007, she has handed over her son to the police 15 times, with the boy spending numerous spells in juvenile detention. At bottom, he was an &quot;insecure boy out to impress&quot;, she said. Now that he no longer had money, most of his so-called friends had disappeared.</p><p>All four banks said they would defend themselves against the allegations.</p><p>Scott won the double points medal race for the top 10 in the Finn heavyweight singlehander. Having been allowed to discard his worst result, a 21st in the first race, his record showed six wins and a second; impressive by any standards, but, coming on top of beating Ainslie in the national championship for the class in Falmouth last month, it bodes well for future success in a class where Britain won the gold in 2000 in Sydney through Iain Percy, and again in Athens and China, with Ainslie in complete charge. </p><p>To add to his misery, Ainslie capsized and came last in the medal decider, but retained the silver medal in a week that has seen the weather throw everything from the light and tricky to race-cancelling gales at over 1,060 competitors from 62 nations.</p><p>Britain ended with two golds, two silvers, and four bronze medals from seven of the 10 classes. Not too bad; but plenty to work on.    </p><p>The shining bonus of the week was the gold medal won by Alison Young in the Laser Radial, a class where there had been some doubt about Britain being in the medal zone. She had no doubt and a spirited second place in the medal decider was enough to put her on top of the podium.</p><p>Not so for her male counterpart, the reigning Laser gold medallist Paul Goodison, who ended fourth overall behind two Australians and a German, the gold medallist Tom Slingsby emphasising his status as favourite for the Games. Silver went to Luke Patience and Stuart Bithell in the 470 dinghy. They still have to work out how to attack the Games favourites, also from Australia, Mathew Belcher and Malcolm Page, who seem fast in both light and heavy conditions.</p><p>Heading a quarter of bronzes were recent world champions in the 470 women’s division, Hannah Mills and Saskia Clark. They have the potential also to top the class again, as do Iain Percy and Andrew Simpson, current gold medallists in the Star keelboat.</p><p>Permanently locked in battle with the Brazilian pair they pushed into silver last time in China, Robert Scheidt and Bruno Prada, they clashed, physically, in the medal race and that was enough to drop Percy and Simpson from first to third overall as the Irish pair, Peter O’Leary and David Burrows, leap-frogged to gold.</p><p>Bronze, too, for Dylan Fletcher and Alain Sign in the 49er skiff, one place ahead of the selected games pair, Stevie Morrison and Ben Rhodes, while Nick Dempsey picked up a bronze in the windsurfer. The gold and silver went to a countback between Dorian van Rijsselberge and Julien Bontemps, the Dutchman pipping the Frenchman. </p><p>A long programme of short races, after taking the boats to contest two short courses between the two bridges which span the Bosphorus, saw Austrian Olympic gold medallist Roman Hagara maintaining Red Bull’s lead in the Extreme Sailing Series in Istanbul.</p><p>The sun shone, the breeze was fresh and the hectic programme of sprints had everyone scrambling for wins, Britain’s Ian Williams ending an up and down day with a last race win to add to another in the Bosphorus, but he still lies fifth overall as he tries a new combination with tactician Nick Rogers, a double Olympic silver medallist in the 470 dinghy. </p><p>Franck Cammas and his French Groupama team extended their lead at the top of the overall points table in the Volvo round the world race after winning the Lisbon inshore race. Cammas is now eight points clear of Iker Martinez, whose Telefónica had led throughout the first half of the race, which started from Alicante last November.</p><p>The Spanish produced another shocker, coming last inshore for the third  time in four outings – they were fifth in the other one – and had taken a penalty for a collision at the start. But they still have a five-point cushion ahead of Kenny Read, second off Lisbon in the American entry, Puma.</p><p>Ten points further adrift is the second Spanish boat, Camper, skippered by an Australian, Chris Nicholson, and managed by Team New Zealand. Any of these four could still win but there was consolation for Britain’s Ian Walker. He won, in Abu Dhabi’s Azzam, the leg from Miami to Lisbon and was always in contention over a course which took the fleet under the Tagus Bridge.</p><p>And there was some satisfaction for Mike Sanderson, winner of the race in 2006-07 and skippering a last generation boat for the Chinese, finishing ahead of Telefónica.</p><p>The eighth and penultimate leg starts Sunday to Lorient over a course that will be adjusted to take account of the prevailing weather conditions. It finishes in Galway.    </p><p>In the wake of poor results across the sector and a forecast 5.6 per cent drop in revenues among the high-end Italian labels, creative director Frida Giannini will be hoping her spring 2013 offering will appeal especially to wealthy clients across the Far East and in developing markets such as India.</p><p>After flirting with Art Deco and an opulent gothic look in recent seasons, she returned to the label's strong point: slick and sexy modern elegance, with a touch of minimalism and a glamorous early Seventies feel.</p><p>Pared-down silk and crepe tunics were worn over slim-fitting kick flares; some were collarless, some high-necked and some adorned with over-sized waterfall frills that snaked around the body, across the yoke and spiralled down long sleeves, framing otherwise plain coats and column dresses.</p><p>&quot;These are portraits of aristocratic women,&quot; Giannini explained. &quot;The inspiration started with Richard Avedon and Gian Paolo Barbieri's photographs of their female icons.&quot;</p><p>Frilled and bell sleeves, dropped shoulders and cocoon coats were classically soft and feminine, but Giannini's use of bold, block colours, with graphic shades of hot pink, turquoise and chartreuse all in the mix, ensured that her vision remained punchy rather than overly pretty.</p><p>Clean lines and sparse decoration on belted tunics recalled the tailoring of the late Sixties and early Seventies, while a slim silhouette spoke of the house's reputation for womanliness and sensuality. The label became synonymous with high-octane sex and glamour under Tom Ford's directorship in the Nineties and, while Giannini's clothes are every bit as alluring – with cutaway backs and key-hole detailing on tunics and gowns revealing tantalising flashes of skin in an otherwise demure collection – hers is an aesthetic that combines sex appeal with practicality.</p><p>There was plenty of choice for heiresses and film stars among the many full-length, potential red-carpet gowns, but there were luxurious separates too: silk coats and shifts that were printed with enlarged sea anemone fronds taken from Japanese wallpaper, and a series of double-breasted and belted jackets worn with matching skirts embossed with a snakeskin print, made from paper fibres and silk jacquard, and so intricate that they looked like real python. The house's signature horsebit came on structured bags which matched the vivid outfits.</p><p>Milan will host almost 70 shows in the next five days, with Prada, Versace and Armani all on the schedule.</p><p>There was a brief spat earlier this week when Roberto Cavalli decried the organising body Camera Moda for changing Giorgio Armani's Monday slot to Sunday night, leaving Cavalli the only major name showing on the last day of the event. &quot;Do I stay on the final day, running the risk that some foreign journalists will forego my show,&quot; he wrote on his blog, &quot;or should I overlap with some of the smaller brands?&quot;</p><p>There have been complaints in the past that Milan's biggest labels have squeezed time slots for less established, designers, but such is the strength of those powerhouses that most foreign press and buyers attend for their names alone.</p>Her marriage is wonderful, she&#039;s given up alcohol and from tomorrow she&#039;s hosting the nightly &#039;Strictly&#039; spin-off show &#039;It Takes Two&#039;<p>Nationwide, there has been a 20 per cent increase in thefts over the past two years, up from an estimated £4.25m to £5.1m in 2011, according to a new study. The rise compares with a 14 per cent increase in shoplifting in commercial stores.</p><p>Professor Joshua Bamfield, director of the Centre for Retail Research in Nottingham, who conducted the study, said: &quot;Charities accept there is a problem, but feel it is a 'dirty secret' they don't want to talk about, as it may affect people's willingness to donate. Charities, like everybody else, like to talk about good news.</p><p>&quot;Charities are very heavily run by volunteers, and there is a feeling they may be crossing the line if they expect volunteers to confront shoplifters. They do not want to demoralise, nor divert funds from the causes they support.&quot;</p><p>That affects investment in anti-theft precautions. Sarah Thomas, at the Octavia Foundation, said: &quot;Shoplifting is a problem. But we have to keep focused on making money for the charity – we can't spend significant amounts on CCTV and tagging systems.&quot;</p><p>The increase in thefts is also driven by the vogue for vintage fashion. An original Chanel bag or Yves Saint Laurent dress innocuously hanging in a charity shop has big resale value. &quot;Vintage fashion has increased in popularity, and it can be almost impossible to prove that second- and third-hand goods are stolen,&quot; said Professor Bamfield, author of Shopping and Crime. &quot;The internet site eBay is very careful to try not to sell stolen goods, but it is an important way for people to dispose of their stolen merchandise.&quot;</p><p>The Centre for Retail Research visited 150 charity shops nationwide, and received information from 50 charities. At the Octavia Foundation shop in Kensington, west London, the manager Christina Rosa is resigned to daily thefts. A Barbour jacket worth £90 was stolen from the store, while a charity shop near by lost a pair of £350 Prada boots. One Oxfam manager said its London stores had lost a designer watch valued at £3,500 to thieves. &quot;Shoplifters go for designer labels, such as Ralph Lauren,&quot; Ms Rosa said. &quot;We have to staple clothes to the mannequins, and display only one shoe from a pair.&quot;</p><p>Emma Ashby, at Fara charity shop, South Kensington, which donates profits to orphaned children in Romania, recently had a £500 Moschino dress stolen. &quot;It is getting worse – because of the state of the economy people are becoming more desperate,&quot; she said.</p><p>At Living and Giving, in Primrose Hill, north London, which raises money for Save the Children, an Ossie Clark dress was stolen from the window display. The former television presenter Gail Porter, who volunteers in the shop, has appealed for its return. &quot;Maybe I am naive, but I really didn't think people had it in them to steal from a charity,&quot; she said.</p><p>Charities are trying to make it harder for thieves. One volunteer at Oxfam's store in Jesmond, Newcastle, said: &quot;We lock items for £40 upwards in glass cabinets, or keep them next to us.&quot; Adrian Gardener, manager of a Barnardo's store in Birmingham, said: &quot;It's usually clothes that are stolen. We have cameras and staff who are vigilant, but it's very, very difficult. A lot of the time, it's people who have nothing, and they're not trying to do it to make money.&quot;</p><p>Charities urge people to continue to donate their cast-offs because the money raised is crucial to their work. Chris Coe, director of retail at Save the Children, said: &quot;Sadly, there are rare incidents when items have been stolen from the shop floor. This action takes away life-saving help for the most vulnerable children across the world and is deeply saddening.&quot;</p><p>The designer outlet centre Bicester Village is home to 130 brands, including Burberry, Hugo Boss and Prada, and at the weekend its car parks are often so rammed it can take up to 20 minutes to find a space. </p><p>The success of the site has not been lost on the property company Hammerson, which yesterday said it was investing a further £100m in Value Retail, the operator of Bicester Village. This takes Hammerson's investment in the company, which was founded by American Scott Malkin and has eight other centres in Europe, from a 12 per cent stake to 22 per cent. </p><p>Designer outlets appear to have hit the sweet spot of enticing consumers cutting back and seeking value, as well as those trading up to buy quality designer brands in austerity Britain. </p><p>Neil Saunders, the managing director at Conlumino, says: &quot;Most designer outlets seem to be getting very good growth – certainly better than the high street.&quot; </p><p>For consumers, part of the attraction is that retailers offer designer goods at a discount of up to 60 per cent off in these centres. </p><p>CBRE, the property firm, says there are about 48 designer outlet centres in the UK, including Gunwharf Quays at Portsmouth Harbour and Cheshire Oaks in Chester. </p><p>Most schemes were built in the 1980s and 1990s and were initially called factory outlets, as they were often sited on, or next to, a retailer's manufacturing site. </p><p>The market is also highly heterogeneous, ranging from Bicester's luxury offer to centres, such as Braintree in Essex that sell high street brands, including Mountain Warehouse and Marks &amp; Spencer, at lower prices. </p><p>In terms of the luxury end, it is Bicester that arguably provides the blueprint, both in terms of its look and feel, but also in how it has gone after the overseas tourist market. </p><p>Mr Malkin wanted to introduce the American concept of discount shopping, and this is reflected Bicester's New England-style clapboard houses, which are painted in subtle greys and whites. </p><p>David Atkins, the chief executive of Hammerson, says: &quot;Bicester trades off the London tourist market,&quot; attracting high-spending visitors from Russia, Brazil, the Middle East and China. The site is marketed globally with a number of tour operators, and information is available in London's upmarket hotels. This is particularly true for four-fifths of Chinese visitors to London, who also fit in a trip to Bicester. </p><p>Jonathan De Mello, a senior director at CBRE, says: &quot;What Bicester is tapping into is that inflow of Chinese tourists coming to the UK.&quot; </p><p>For overseas tourists, the shopping outlet also offers peace of mind that the products are not counterfeit. </p><p>Mr Atkins says: &quot;If you come to Bicester, you are getting the real thing. That credibility and reliability of the offer is very important to overseas buyers.&quot; </p><p>Food and leisure facilities are also key to successful centres. For instance, the property firm Land Securities' Gunwharf scheme has more than 90 designer outlets, 30 restaurants and bars, and a 14-screen Vue Cinema.</p><p>Ashley Blake, the head of retail portfolio management at Land Securities, says: &quot;I think this is the future of outlets. People come in, have a good time, go back with a bargain and feel they have been prudent.&quot; </p><p>From a commercial perspective, designer outlets can offer both retailers and landlords a more flexible way to conduct business. </p><p>Mr Atkins says: &quot;It is a great way to deal with last season's stock, or discounts, and generate very strong retail volumes – and yet in a controlled manner that matches their own brand's aspirations.&quot; </p><p>For landlords, designer outlets typically give them more leeway in how they run centres. </p><p>As opposed to 10 to 15-year contracts under commercial lease law, retailers typically sign up to shorter leases and turnover-based rents. This gives landlords greater flexibility in moving out weaker retailers in favour of stronger ones. </p><p>Mr Blake says: &quot;We can take people out quite easily. If a retailer's sales fall below a certain level, the landlord can evict them. </p><p>&quot;At Gunwharf, we have seen a high level of lettings and relettings over the last three years – far more than a normal shopping centre.&quot; </p><p>He adds: &quot;In a way, you are running a designer outlet like a department store because you want to bring in new brands, which keeps the offer fresh and exciting for consumers.&quot; </p><p>Retailers are also keen to join the designer outlet revolution. Graeme Ellisdon, the founder of Osprey London, the retailer of vintage leather handbags and purses, says: &quot;As a retail tenant with eight Osprey London outlet stores, it is clear to me that the outlet sector continues to provide an attractive alternative to the high street – both for brands and customers.&quot; </p><p>Despite their attraction, Mr De Mello says that the building of designer outlet centres has &quot;tailed off&quot; over recent years. This appears to be changing, however. </p><p>For instance, Quintain last month signed up its first high-end fashion brand, Max Studio, at its London Designer Outlet at Wembley, which opens next year. And Henderson Global Investors last month submitted a planning application to extend its Swindon Designer Outlet Centre by 50,000 square feet of new retail and catering space. </p><p>Indeed, Mr De Mello sees room for more designer outlets in the UK, particularly in areas such as East Anglia and London. </p><p>He said: &quot;They are definitely a hot commodity at the moment. The market has not reached saturation in the UK.&quot; </p><p>The crowded car park at Bicester on a weekend certainly points to a big future for designer outlets in the UK.</p><p>My language may have been strong, but I feel strongly about this, having for a long time despaired of the sullen, patronising staff too often found behind the tills of the big chains (I exclude most independent shops, where the nice people seem to work). Is it in the job description, or does working in a bike shop do that to a man?</p><p>It turns out I'm not alone. A mother choosing a child's bike reported being treated as if her son had thrown up over the helmet display. Two colleagues were given the same attitude when taking back bikes so poorly assembled they posed a health risk. And I feel more intimidated walking into certain cycle shops than I would a Paris branch of Prada.</p><p>Are these guys would-be Mark Cavendishes taking out their frustrations on clueless customers? One tweeter suggested bike shops had the same recruitment criteria as record shops (think Barry in High Fidelity). I guess, with the decline of the latter, they have to work somewhere.</p><p>Of all the responses, however, one stood out. &quot;Because it's a sectarian religion,&quot; said Tom, &quot;and they're always suspicious that you might not be one of the elect.&quot; There remains an ugly tribalism in cycling. It's a hangover from the time when cyclists were viewed as virtuous deviants who espoused a holier-than-thou, I'm-doing-the-world-a-favour smugness. You still see it in the aggressive rider who bangs the windows of an errant car, the preachy green type who sneers at drivers through exhaust fumes and, I suggest, the typical bike-shop worker.</p><p>My message to all of you is this: Stop it. You're not saving the planet, you're not superior, and you're not in a tribe. You're riding a bike, which is the easiest thing to do after walking. More and more people want to ride – and buy – bikes, which is great because it's helping to erode the perception of cycling as an alternative activity, or hobby. So get over yourself, enjoy cycling for what it is (a nice way to get around) and smile a bit.</p><p>s.usborne@independent.co.uk; twitter.com/susborne</p>Her marriage is wonderful, she&#039;s given up alcohol and from tomorrow she&#039;s hosting the nightly &#039;Strictly&#039; spin-off show &#039;It Takes Two&#039;<p>David Cameron says you can't have housing benefit because you must stay with your parents until you're 25, even if they live in a cave and they beat you. We felt pretty sorry for you – until you started moaning. Until I read yet another blog post from somebody who is like totes miffed that she did a degree in journalism and now she can't get a job in it. Until I read a newspaper article complaining that you thought the world of work would be like Sex and the City or The Devil Wears Prada. Until you went around saying that this is the worst time ever to be 22 and looking for a job and that you now feel your arts degree was &quot;pointless&quot;.</p><p>Arts degrees were always pointless; that's the point. I'm sorry you paid so much more than we did to find this out, but seriously, what did you think they were for? Honing your brain, helping you find out what is written in all the brilliant books, understanding how power is distributed? Yes, yes that's what they can do. Getting you a job? Never.</p><p>You've been watching the wrong telly. My generation grew up with The Young Ones, which taught us that students were to be laughed at, because they were almost entirely useless. We still went on to become them, but we knew our worth, and wore it with a touch of humility.</p><p>Internship culture has gone bonkers, but you can help yourselves here. Do not, like the intern recently employed by the director of one human rights organisation I know, send an email on the day you are due to arrive, saying you have decided it is much better for everyone if you devote these months to working on your novel instead. Do not, once you start work, tweet about what a bitch your boss is, as I have seen younger friends do. I'm relieved I had no chance of becoming a journalist at 22 – I was nearer 30, having spectacularly messed up other careers first.</p><p>Still, it's really not your fault – not only has the telly misled you, but you've got the wrong sort of hip-hop. Back in the 90s, every rap song I heard was about the hustle, about how everybody had to fight their way out of the ghetto by dealing drugs. Now you've got the enlightened ennui of Kanye and Drake saying how miserable they are at the top, which is no use to anyone.</p><p>My advice to the Government if you want to create entrepreneurs? Bring back Neil from The Young Ones and Biggie Smalls.</p><p>A responsive Aga? No, thanks</p><p>I recently spent the weekend with some friends who left London a few years ago to move to the country, have babies, keep chickens and grow their own veg. As dusk falls, they pull their food out of their own garden and cook it on the Aga – living the dream.</p><p>Ahh, that lovely big warm Aga, with its lack of settings, its oil guzzling, its lazy expression. How it made me yearn for a simpler life as it sat there, lording it over their kitchen witlessly. It slumped like a sloth; unbudging as a stubborn relative in their favourite chair at Christmas.</p><p>So I was horrified to learn that Agas are to be made more responsive. Apparently, they are being redesigned to be programmed by remote control – yes, you will be able to text your Aga. This feels so wrong, it's like saying they've changed the law and the postman now has to come inside your house and fold your letters into your hand himself. It isn't right.</p><p>So I rang the friends in their rural idyll to discuss this distressing Aga saga. Turns out they didn't share my horror. &quot;That stupid old thing?&quot; they said. &quot;Binned it. We've just bought an Electrolux instead.&quot; </p><p>He is in pole position to win the fleet racing title overall for the 2011-12 set of six regattas and contests the Newport match race final on Sunday.   </p><p>The event has been popular as Newport approaches the height of the summer holiday season and the finals of both the match and fleet racing on Sunday will be televised live, free to air and terrestrial.</p><p>Suggestions that the target audience was the average Taco Bell buyer did not ring true. Despite the inevitable incessant accompaniment of pop music as a background to an over-excited commentary, the people paying their $20 to park and $10 each to walk in do not appear to fit the Taco Bell demographic. They are all there having made a conscious decision, rather than bumping into the event as at some other venues, though having the Rhode Island Disaster Medical Assistance Team standing by may not have calmed the nerves.</p><p>And the wing-powered catamarans, which have moved the event from steam trains through diesel trains to bullet trains are now much more familiar to the older members of the sailing community and are all that some newcomers to the game have ever seen.</p><p>The 72-foot versions in which the America’s Cup will be contested in San Francisco next year are still a much more unknown quantity. Already turbocharged monsters, the addition of foils to lift them out of the water and go even faster could produce scenes rather more dramatic than the sight of Emirates Team New Zealand, capsized on Thursday with both bows pointing up to the sky. </p><p>After an estimated $50,000 of overnight work and the cannibalising of a variety of parts to rebuild the wing, skipper Dean Barker and the boys, none of whom were injured, were ready to race again on Friday.</p><p>The match race final will be an all-American affair, except that the two Oracle skippers are Australian, in the form of Spithill, and Kiwi, in the person of Russell Coutts. Spithill was hardly stretched when disposing of Terry Hutchinson, the American skipper of the Swedish challenger Artemis, but Britain’s Chris Draper pushed Coutts harder when at the helm of one of the two Italian, Prada-backed Luna Rossa boats.  </p>Her marriage is wonderful, she&#039;s given up alcohol and from tomorrow she&#039;s hosting the nightly &#039;Strictly&#039; spin-off show &#039;It Takes Two&#039;<p>Beyonce, Gwyneth Paltrow, Sarah Jessica Parker and FlorenceWelch were among those to weave through the tented grand FifthAvenue entrance to celebrate the new fashion exhibit that comparesand contrasts the designs of two Italian women: Miuccia Prada, whowore a pantsuit to the event, and the late Elsa Schiaparelli. <br><br>Anna Wintour, editor-in-chief of Vogue, serves as hostess ofthe event, and she wore a white gown with lobster-motif goldembroidery by Prada. Carey Mulligan, Wintour's co-chairwoman thisyear, wore a Prada cocktail dress with metallic fish-scale beading,and Gwyneth Paltrow had on a steel-blue Prada dress with heavilyembellished pockets. <br><br>Unlike other big celebrity red carpets, where designers justwant to hear the stars utter their names as the creators of theirdresses, they are the A-list dates here. Michael Kors escortedHilary Swank, wearing a red halter gown; Parker, in a metallicfloral-print gown with long sleeves and belt, came with Valentino;and singer Lana Del Ray, cloaked in a long black cape, came withJoseph Altuzarra. <br><br></p><p>&quot;I think it will be an exciting season in Paris,&quot; Karl Lagerfeld commented. &quot;It's stimulating and both [Simons and Slimane] are people with a lot of talent.&quot; Praise indeed and it is not insignificant that Lagerfeld, ever in possession of the most finely tuned fashion instincts, has long championed both designers, famously losing weight to fit into the skinny vision of masculinity that Slimane gave the world at the turn of the millennium and, more recently, wearing Raf Simons's signature menswear with pride.</p><p>Slimane, who is showing his collection on Monday, rose to prominence as head of menswear at Yves Saint Laurent in the late 1990s, going on to light up the catwalk in a seven-year stint at Dior Homme in the Noughties.</p><p>The equally influential Simons came into the spotlight in the late 1990s, too, working under his own name, and it can surely be no coincidence that his first collection for Dior haute couture, shown in Paris in July, opened with a Le Smoking tuxedo – probably the late M Saint Laurent's most iconic contribution to women's fashion.</p><p>Finally, Christian Dior is owned by LVMH (Moët Hennessy, Louis Vuitton) and Yves Saint Laurent by PPR (Pinault Printemps, La Redoute), France's two largest, most powerful and rival luxury goods conglomerates, suggesting that the world of designer fashion is set to become a more interesting place.</p><p>It is, of course, not unusual for designers today to oversee both men's and women's collections – Givenchy's Riccardo Tisci, Gucci's Frida Giannini, Giorgio Armani, Miuccia Prada and many more are already responsible for dressing both sexes. However, it is more common for a designer to start out in womenswear and move into the traditionally quieter and less fast-moving menswear arena than vice versa.</p><p>And that will also have resonance. Stripped of the frills and furbelows of women's fashion, menswear – and particularly menswear as designed by Simons and Slimane – has an architectural precision and modernity and an eye on proportion that will doubtless colour the way women in the near future choose to dress.</p><p>The forthcoming spring season has already established itself as one more allied to a less showy aesthetic and with a greater emphasis on tailoring. The presence of Simons and Slimane will only up the ante where that is concerned, ensuring that women who would rather embrace a more understated and contemporary wardrobe will have much to choose from.</p><p>Leave it to Miuccia Prada, the industry's most accomplished spin doctor, to nail the mood of the new season with one word: &quot;sweet&quot;. And sweet it is, as pretty as the proverbial picture and with all the fondant colour (pistachio, lilac, lemon and every shade of rose), uplifting print (graphic, picture postcard, paisley and floral) and delicate, shimmering fabrics (chiffon, lace, aluminium organza) to match. Meanwhile, figurative details – faces, animal and human – bring a smile to even the most po-faces.</p><p>While a homespun feel may appear whimsical, it has its roots in the elegant and often rigorous craft of haute couture. Hand-pleating, elaborate jewelled embroideries, iridescent fringing, appliquéd flowers and more decree that, when times are hard, madam will be sure to get her money's worth out of any so-called investment pieces, which are impossible to copy and come with heirloom status attached. A mid-20th century silhouette – from Dior's New Look to Saint Laurent's trapeze and from Balenciaga's sack back to Schiaparelli's pencil-thin lines – is equally prevalent. It's steeped in unashamedly feminine nostalgia but with enough technically pioneering know-how involved in its realisation to ensure any heavy underpinnings are banished in favour of lightness and ease. There's a certain frivolity here but rarely wanton sexuality. Prim collars, covered buttons, ribbons and bows are more Parisian grande dame or Left Bank coquette than Italianate vamp in spirit.</p><p>The decades most ripe for revival are the roaring Twenties – flapper dresses there are aplenty – and the 1950s – from fully fledged (and skirted) women on the verge of a nervous breakdown to bebop girls whose clothes may or may not be decorated with flames and fast cars.</p><p>Budding Olympians will be happy to know that sportswear references including neoprene knickers, micro-mini skirts, shorts and even the humble sweatshirt, have all also been given a couture makeover. This style of dress is not normally cut from fabrics including Victorian dressing-gown silks, say, or bouclé wool shot through with metal thread. This caters to those who prefer a more androgynous wardrobe but one that is suitably haute.</p><p>In the minimal corner – and a more pared down aesthetic appears here to stay – stripped-back gowns and tailoring, often in white, though at times broken up with flashes of bright colour, allows for dressing to impress in a relatively discreet and understated manner. Waists are on the high side, almost across the board, peplums are enjoying a comeback and jackets are cropped, though again, the wonders of stretch materials decree that comfort not corsetry is the story.</p><p>Of course, summer wouldn't be summer without more than a nod to travel and exotic climes. With this in mind, ethnic and folkloric detail is incorporated into Western clothing and the mysteries of the ocean are plundered for inspiration. Seashells, pearls, anemones and other watery motifs appear to be the starting point for any number of big names.</p><p>Finally, back in the mind of Italian fashion's first lady, more good news comes with the fact that sweet may also be mischievous. A mismatched abandon and almost childlike interest in handicraft alongside more noble forms of workmanship suggest that girlish may not be quite as sugar-and-spicy as it first seems.</p><p>One company which has known this for some time is Rimowa, a German luggage manufacturer, established in 1898. Many of the smartest make-up artists carry their product from job to job in Rimowa cases, which were originally cast in aluminium (now they're more likely to be polycarbonate) and still boast a distinctive grooved surface. On a recent weekend away I was joined by a suitably well-heeled colleague who demonstrated the allure of its &quot;four-wheel spinner&quot; action (and, yes, I know that sounds less than entirely fashionable), sailing about town as effortlessly as a swan while I puffed along behind him, my endless moaning somewhat reducing the cachet of my otherwise quite impressive bags.</p><p>I haven't bought a Rimowa suitcase yet, although I did spend a good part of last Friday morning wheeling one around John Lewis wondering why I hadn't done so years ago. It's as light as the proverbial feather, no-frills in appearance in a pleasing substance-over-style kind of way and, while Britain's favourite department store doesn't stock the shiny black ones (they're definitely the prettiest) more than a few websites do, hence my procrastination.</p><p>It should come as no surprise that effortless transportation of one's worldly goods comes at a price. Even the smallest Rimowa case fetches around £300 – the large ones are over twice that amount. I'm still wrestling with that part of the equation, although it's perhaps worth noting that the inconvenience and/or expense of a slipped disc/dislocated shoulder/strained wrist may ultimately exceed that cost.</p><p>Susannah Frankel is Fashion Editor of The Independent</p><p>s.frankel@independent.co.uk</p><p>I have Miuccia Prada (via Net-a-Porter) to thank for the red shoes pictured here, which I am now proud to own. They're Miu Miu – a label reflective of the most playful side of the designer's personality – and in the first instance the colour is of note, clearly. That is: they're not black.</p><p>In Proustian terms (just call me Marcel Frankel, everybody else does), red shoes conjure up many references. Think of Hans Christian Andersen's dark fairy tale depicting a pair of red shoes in which the wearer couldn't stop dancing or, of course, of Dorothy's ruby slippers in The Wizard of Oz.</p><p>Right now, red shoes are big business, as proven by the recent ruling granting trademark status to Christian Louboutin's red-soled shoes.</p><p>My red shoes are not serious, though. They are shiny (satin-covered leather), embroidered with a flamboyant black crest, and their small heels are crafted in metal and studded with crystal. Yes, crystal. In an all-too-often downbeat world, they couldn't be better, giving even the most worn jeans, for example, an instant fashion lift and making innocent passers-by smile at me – or at least at my feet.</p><p>Susannah Frankel is Fashion Editor of 'The Independent'</p><p>s.frankel@independent.co.uk</p><p>Still, when a pair of Rick Owens 'monster' boots appeared on the site last weekend for a starting price of $158 – they normally sell in the UK for upwards of £900 – I sharpened my elbows, virtually at least. I need a pair of these in my life.</p><p>The first setback occurs when I create a user name; eBay suggests I try Susannah.frankel2012, which is on the literal side, but at least I'll remember it. Imagine my misery when I place my first bid (for $200) only to find that while everyone else involved has a heavily disguised identity, it looks like mine is spelt out for all the world to see. Luckily, I wasn't buying foot fungus cream.</p><p>Having fixed that problem, I proceed to spend a good part of the weekend following the boots' progress. Obligingly, once my maximum bid has been trumped, eBay e-mail to let me know. Then I place another bid, then another, and another... I'm tapping away on my BlackBerry throughout dinner with friends who don't think I'm rude because they're watching the football and tweeting about it while we eat.</p><p>An hour before the auction ends I place a bid for $300 – still, obviously, a bargain. &quot;Wouldn't it be amazing if I got them,&quot; I think. &quot;So amazing it's never going to happen,&quot; says the pragmatist lurking deep inside of me. I go to bed and wake up to discover, sure enough, that 0***9 has bought my boots for $305. I think I might hate her, whoever she may be.</p><p>Susannah Frankel is Fashion Editor of 'The Independent'</p><p></p><p>Praise continued to flood west after Sunday's 3-2 defeat of Arsenal, which, with all its panache, was so much more than a mere upset on the scoreboard. Meanwhile, at the Liberty Stadium, the mood was one of relief that this cultured cat was finally out of the Prada.</p><p>&quot;The winner was the audience,&quot; said Michel Vorm, their Dutch goalkeeper. &quot;It was live on TV, a lot of people saw it and now everyone knows what Swansea City is about and what we can do. We always had the belief and this result will send out the message. We just wanted to say to the world that Swansea deserve to play in the Premier League. We will get the respect now.&quot;</p><p>In view of the table, all that respect does not tally with their 10th place. Swansea cannot even claim to be the most successful of the promoted clubs, as Norwich sit two points above them. Yet most of the statistics do back up the giddying perception, as well as the growing conviction that they warrant higher billing than this year's Blackpool.</p><p>Remarkably, throughout the top leagues in Europe, Swansea are sixth in the pass-accuracy charts, with only Barcelona, Bayern Munich, Manchester City, Real Madrid and Chelsea ahead. Intriguingly, on Sunday they were below their average (85.2 per cent) with just 80.3 per cent of their passes complete. Don't tell Arsène Wenger; the poor dolt stormed away believing Swansea had been at their peak. With Leon Britton topping Xavi as the pass-accuracy master in Europe, commentators feel unashamed in evoking the name Barcelona to describe their style. And there was everyone thinking in south-west Wales that the only similarity linking Barcelona and Swansea was their status as glorious seaside cities.</p><p>If Brendan Rodgers' men have put Swansea back on the footballing map – in the rush to hail it as Swansea's greatest performance, many overlooked the fact that they beat Liverpool, Manchester United, and Arsenal when finishing sixth in 1982 – then the benefits may also be reaped over the bridge. Fabio Capello was in attendance at the Liberty, the first time he has visited, and inevitably the focus fell on Swansea's front three, all scorers and all young Englishmen.</p><p>Rodgers did his best to talk up Scott Sinclair, Nathan Dyer and Danny Graham. &quot;Sometimes players who play for 'non-fashionable' clubs are questioned whether they are technically good enough for international level,&quot; he said. &quot;But the technical side is what our game is based on and our players have shown they could perform [at international level] if asked.&quot;</p><p>So does Capello possess the nerve, or the vision, to call up any of that trio, or indeed Britton, a 29-year-old who simply does not waste a ball. The suspicion in Swansea is that Capello may give one of them a token squad selection but come Euro 2012 in the summer they will be overlooked. Another hunch is, however, that with Sinclair, Neil Taylor and Joe Allen fulfilling the 23-or-under Olympic criterion, Swansea could yet boast some big international representation this summer. &quot;I'd encourage it,&quot; said Rodgers. &quot;If it's good enough for Lionel Messi, it's good enough for our boys.&quot;</p><p>Everything is positive in Swansea, at the moment. The highly rated Chelsea teenager Josh McEachran arrived on loan yesterday, providing cover for the three-man midfield which is central to the Swans' style. &quot;This lad is an incredible passer of the ball,&quot; said Rodgers, who seemed unflustered when quizzed about the rumours of the big boys coming to snatch his talent. Liverpool are the latest to be linked with a January move for Sinclair, while Taylor's name creeps up in most transfer columns.</p><p>Rodgers is as adamant his squad will remain intact as the chairman, Huw Jenkins, is that Rodgers is going nowhere. It is understood Rodgers will sign a new contract this week. In truth, he'd be a fool to leave at this juncture and if football now understands one thing it is that this immensely impressive 38-year-old is anything but a fool. The players report he is as persuasive as he is enlightened.</p><p>&quot;The gaffer has told us over and over if we keep passing it and playing the way we are playing we will get results,&quot; said Sinclair. &quot;He's drummed it into us and against Arsenal you saw we did it even when we went down.&quot; And, indeed, when they went up.</p><p>There is a genuine sense of enjoyment and pride at the Liberty. When asked if Arsenal were the team he most would like to watch in the Premier League, Rodgers replied: &quot;No, I enjoy watching Swansea most. I think we're absolutely fantastic, some of the football we play. Statistically, we're up there with the top teams in Europe. But we're not trying to be anyone else. We're trying to improve what we are.&quot; What they are must be credited largely to Rodgers, but not entirely. The urbane philosophy was introduced by Roberto Martinez, nurtured by Paulo Sousa and then refined and updated by Rodgers in this staggering last 18 months. When it comes to awards this season, what must be taken into account is the improvement within this group; eight of this latest starting XI were in last season's Championship team. As Rodgers pointed out, so much for the widely held notion that British players are technically deficient by nature.</p><p>Swansea are proving it is possible for the newly promoted to go after survival in the elite with a rapier rather than a sledgehammer. With 26 points and an attractive run of fixtures, their Premier League status could be assured before even Rodgers' dreamed. Their first away win of the season, against Aston Villa a fortnight ago, should have given them the requisite confidence on the road, while one League defeat all season at the Liberty perfectly sums up their home comfort. It has all been based on Rodgers' attention to retention and the class in the pass.</p><p>&quot;The players have not only retained that philosophy, but cemented that philosophy as we've picked up results with it,&quot; said Rodgers. &quot;So we're really looking forward to the second half of the season. We have an ambition and a hunger, but understand the task. What we've shown is that we're a team improving all the time, capable of winning games. Whoever the opponent.&quot;</p><p>Swans' style: Stats</p><p>6 Home league goals conceded: joint-second fewest after Man City</p><p>85.2 Average percentage pass completion: the sixth-best in Europe</p><p>8.6 Average fouls committed per game: fewest in Europe</p><p>93% Leon Britton's pass completion rate: second only to Barcelona's Thiago</p>Her marriage is wonderful, she&#039;s given up alcohol and from tomorrow she&#039;s hosting the nightly &#039;Strictly&#039; spin-off show &#039;It Takes Two&#039;<p>&quot;Maybe because of the recession, maybe because of the new congestion charge.&quot; If the city's streets were ever-so-slightly easier to navigate than usual then its catwalks were too. At a time when the country is mired in deficit and insiders are predicting a slump in profits for 2012, designers stuck to what they do best for those customers not yet feeling the pinch. For labels that deal in luxury, the direction was clear: more of it and a tighter focus. The Milan collections spoke of opulence targeted very carefully at those remaining clients who will still invest, offering them more of what they like, not less.</p><p>Dolce &amp; Gabbana's show was a case in point – the label's first since the closure of their subsidiary D&amp;G line last September. The incorporation into the mainline of its more commercial angle was interesting to see: their collection was nothing if not grandiose, inspired by the romanticism of the baroque era. Models wore sumptuous black wool capes and coats embroidered with thick golden threads redolent of the curlicues of classical picture frames. Full-skirted silk dresses burst with needlepoint tapestries, cherubs and still-life fruits, but Milan's most famous initials were present too.</p><p>&quot;There is a T-shirt, look!&quot; protested Stefano Gabbana backstage, thrusting a simple white cotton, D&amp;G-emblazoned number at me. &quot;We're opening the market, we have opening prices here too and we're developing the business by selling them together.&quot; It's a cunning move to welcome the second line customers into the more prestigious fold; if all goes to plan, these T-shirts will act as a gateway to more expensive purchases.</p><p>At Bottega Veneta, Tomas Maier's woman already has quite a spending habit, but the label's tagline – &quot;when your own initials are enough&quot; – suggests she doesn't want people to know. Luxury here was understated in aspect but obvious in quality, with dense, compact wool coats tactfully decorated with crepe &quot;faultlines&quot;, and deliberately frayed edges, velour embroidery and scatterings of jewels to break up fitted separates in an intense palette of maroon, forest green and tourmaline blue. Digital prints represented &quot;twilight, obscurity and danger&quot;, Maier explained. &quot;The materials are virtually impenetrable, yet the effect is powerfully physical.&quot;</p><p>Frida Giannini's collection for Gucci took a similarly textural take on the body, but was softer in its approach, using velvet and double-layered wrinkled tulle. Taking the pre-Raphaelites as inspiration, she worked her version of luxury discreetly towards the Asian markets in which the label does so well, with the brand's equestrian motifs in riding boots, homely jumpers and high-necked blouses, some of which came with side-fastening necklines, and glamorous tradition reworked in tailored smoking jackets. &quot;This is modern-day romanticism,&quot; said Giannini, &quot;a dramatic sensuality, dark glamour.&quot;</p><p>Which was also apposite for Donatella Versace's autumn offering, although this designer prioritised sex appeal over romance. The house's bravado shone through in her &quot;rock chick&quot; look, which was made gothic with crushed velvet, armour-style bodices and pieces decorated with Byzantine crosses, and hammered home especially in citrus-bright bustier dresses printed with lettering that spelled out the label's name. It was a prime bit of opulent muscle-flexing from a name enjoying a timely resurgence in popularity after its return to the Paris couture schedule last month and two sell-out collections for high-street chain H&amp;M, and its strength lay in unabashed references to the label's Nineties heyday.</p><p>Ahead of her own H&amp;M partnership this week, Marni's Consuelo Castiglioni did a volte-face from last season's jangling and eclectic piled-on aesthetic. Her autumn collection was stripped back and stronger for that. Proportion-play, layering and a challenging new silhouette have an appeal beyond the label's regulars, while low-slung, anti-fit coats and structured, feminine tunics were characteristic without being caricatured. &quot;It was more architectural,&quot; Castiglioni said after the show, &quot;concentrated on shapes, colours and textures, with prints as punctuation.&quot;</p><p>This seemed a directive more generally, with many designers using prints sparingly, even where they might normally be the focus. Peter Dundas at Pucci incorporated the brand's signature scarf prints into pyjama-style separates and slashed dresses but most successful were his plain tailored pieces which came in an offbeat shade of sky blue. And Veronica Etro went back to the archives with paisley inlaid onto chiffon column dresses and sheer tops. but, after it became almost ubiquitous at other labels for spring, exercised well-judged restraint and excelled with simple tweed coats and blazers, expertly constructed.</p><p>At MaxMara too, outerwear was as subtle as it was well-executed: its iconic camel coat was transformed into a utilitarian jumpsuit, and greatcoats came in olive green cashmere, felted for a more functional finish and with none of the conspicuous gold buttons that the label normally uses. Likewise, the brand's diffusion line Sportmax presented a range of panelled and body-conscious shift dresses that felt pragmatic and decidedly un-showy. These Italian labels, which rely more on their heritage and staple pieces than they do on trends, appear to be taking their pointers from Italian President Mario Monti's austerity bills.</p><p>There were flashes of Milan's traditionally &quot;molto&quot; spirit at Roberto Cavalli, however, where animal print adorned casual separates and aggrandised floor-length dresses were proof enough of a certain stubborn glamour that endures in Italian fashion. Moschino too lost none of its sense of fun, although creative director Rossella Jardini reined in the surrealist tics this season and focussed on bright, bold pieces that her core customer base will go mad for. Likewise, Karl Lagerfeld at Fendi played to this label's clientele with a collection founded on furs and exotic skins, ranging from shagreen pony skin trousers to canary-yellow goat hair coats.</p><p>Even Giorgio Armani embraced whimsy, showing ruffle-edged velveteen coats and jackets layered over knickerbockers for his Emporio line and raspberry shades of suiting for his mainline, while Angela Missoni wrapped models in her label's trademark striped knits, giving them patterns and textures inspired by nature, and embellishing them with motifs of fallen leaves, tree bark and prints that resembled arid desert floors to add a tough edge to an otherwise homespun aesthetic.</p><p>If outerwear is a priori in autumn collections, then Raf Simons's take at Jil Sander spoke a thousand words. The double-faced cashmere clutch coats that opened his final show at the label immediately set the tone for a show as beautiful as it was ingenious, taking clear inspiration from Christian Dior's New Look and riffing on the widespread speculation that this could well be the designer's next posting. Dropped shoulders, sack-back jackets, bustiers and dirndls created a languid mid-century silhouette informed by the angular geometries that this label is known for, and made relevant through Simons' modernist sensibilities. It was a fitting end not only to his tenure but also to his recent exploration of latter-day couture, nodding to the golden age of that discipline as well as to its potential future.</p><p>But Milan's other great conceptualist was less hell-bent on giving customers what they wanted for autumn. &quot;My stores tell me that women don't buy so many jackets now – they want dresses,&quot; Miuccia Prada said backstage after her collection of tailored separates.</p><p>There was not a dress in the entire collection; instead, a series of layered pieces, newly proportioned with high waists, cropped trousers and mid-length skirts, in one of the label's archive lozenge prints, bejewelled and rendered 3D with scatterings of plastic tiles and mirror beads. Kilt-like skirts were worn with frock coats and over cropped trousers, and blazers were cinched at empire-line height by belts with chunky plastic buckles, which the designer described as looking &quot;poor&quot;. Her version of opulence was as quirky as it was challenging, in a colour palette of Seventies-referencing orange and brown, green and purple. &quot;It's day wear more than evening wear,&quot; she admitted, professing not to be interested in dressing for dinner. &quot;It's not about ideas, it's just about clothes,&quot; she shrugged, and with that she spoke for Milan as a whole.</p><p> </p><p>Paul Goodison</p><p>Age: 34</p><p>Place of Birth: England</p><p>Main Event: Men’s Laser</p><p>Rival: Tom Slingsby, Australia</p><p>Medal Prospects: Hot favourite for gold</p><p>Paul Goodison is the current reigning Olympic champion in his category and London will be his fourth Games. Coming into the Games the Yorkshireman is ranked number one in the world and holds the Olympic, European, World and British titles. With such a wealth of success and experience behind him, he will be expected to take gold but the highly talented Tom Slingsby cannot be discounted.</p><p>Dates of event: July 30 – August 6</p><p>Odds: 4/1</p><p> </p><p>Alex Gregory, Tom James, Pete Reed, Andrew Triggs-Hodge</p><p>Ages: 28, 28, 30 and 33</p><p>Main Event: Men’s Four</p><p>Rivals: Australia beat Team GB in June</p><p>Medal Prospects: Will be a hard fought battle for gold between GB and Australia</p><p>The team won gold in 2008 in a close race for the finish against Australia and France. This time round, with Alex Gregory rowing instead of Steve Williams, they will be looking to recreate that success. The Australian team are in great form so it promises to be a real battle.</p><p>Dates of event: July 30 – August 4</p><p>Odds: 8/13</p><p> </p><p>Katherine Grainger and Anna Watkins</p><p>Age: 36 and 29</p><p>Main Event: Women’s Double Scull</p><p>Rivals: The closest team to them are the Australians</p><p>Medal Prospects: Firm favourites for gold.</p><p>Katherine Grainger and Anna Watkins should be Britain’s most certain gold at London 2012 and a victory in London would be the icing on the cake for Grainger who has won three Olympic silver medals in her career. The duo have been a fearsome undefeated partnership since they joined up in 2010, winning all three World Cup events this summer in the build-up to the Games.</p><p>Dates of event: July 30 – August 3</p><p>Odds: 4/11</p><p> </p><p>Tom Daley &amp; Peter Waterfield</p><p>Age: 18 &amp; 31</p><p>Main Event: Synchronised Diving 10m platform</p><p>Rival: China, as always, are the team to beat.</p><p>Medal Prospects: Their last performance showed that they can be gold medal contenders.</p><p>Preparation for the Games hasn’t been perfect for the duo thanks to Waterfield suffering a neck injury and consequently not being able to train as much as they would have liked. A poor display at the Olympic test event in February caused concern over how the two would perform this summer but a superb performance in June at their last event before the Games saw them break their personal best by more than 15 points and surpass the Beijing 2008 gold medal winning score by seven points.</p><p>Date of event: July 30</p><p>Odds: 14/1</p><p> </p><p>Liam Tancock</p><p>Age: 27</p><p>Place of Birth: England</p><p>Main Event: 100m Backstroke</p><p>Rival: Frenchman Camille Lacourt is the current joint-world champion</p><p>Medal Prospects: It all depends on if he can hang on in the closing stages of the race, but he should be able to make at least bronze.</p><p>Liam Tancock is only the second British male swimmer to have retained a world title, a feat he achieved last year. The problem is that this was done in the 50m backstroke, an event that is not an Olympic discipline. The shortest Olympic backstroke distance is 100m in which he finished sixth at the Beijing Games. Consequently Tancock is an outside bet for a medal; it all depends on whether he can transfer his 50m prowess into the longer version of the race.</p><p>Dates of event: July 29 – July 30</p><p>Odds: 16/1</p><p> </p><p>Gemma Spofforth</p><p>Age: 24</p><p>Place of Birth: England</p><p>Main Event: 100m Backstroke</p><p>Rival: Australian Emily Seebohm</p><p>Medal Prospects: Has the ability to win gold.</p><p>Gemma Spofforth has struggled with serious emotional problems away from swimming since the death of her mother in 2008 and last year was set to quit the sport. However, the 100m backstroke world record holder hauled herself back to the pool and qualified for Team GB. On her day, as her world record proves, she has the ability to dominate the field and since she is leaving the sport after the Olympics she is determined to put everything into this last event.</p><p>Dates of event: July 29 – July 30</p><p>Odds: 12/1</p><p> </p><p>Squad: Marcus Bateman, Ric Egington, James Foad, Matt Langridge, Alex Partridge, Tom Ransley,. Mohamed Sbihi, Greg Searle, Phelan Hill</p><p>Ages: 29, 33, 25, 29, 31, 26, 24, 40 and 32</p><p>Main Event: Men’s Eight</p><p>Rivals: Germany</p><p>Medal Prospects: Hopefully silver but there is real competition for the podium.</p><p>The crew started the year well finishing second in successive World Cup regattas behind main rivals Germany. However, in Munich last month, they failed to capitalise on the Germans’ absence and dropped to third. The result in Munich shows just how tight the field is and that behind the Germans there are a few countries vying for silver and bronze.</p><p>Dates of event: July 28 – August 1</p><p>Odds: 11/2</p><p> </p><p>Frances Houghton, Debbie Flood, Beth Rodford and Mel Wilson</p><p>Ages: 31, 32, 29 and 26</p><p>Main Event: Women’s Quadruple Sculls</p><p>Rivals: USA will be their main rival in the battle for bronze</p><p>Medal Prospects: At best bronze</p><p>This crew are not as strong as past Quad Sculls crews and have found it difficult at times in the last year. They failed to make the world final in 2011 but did manage to win a bronze at the World Cup earlier this year. Houghton is the most experienced, having won Olympic silver in the last two Games, and she will have to lead the team to an exceptional performance if they are to get amongst the medals.</p><p>Dates of event: July 28 – August 1</p><p>Odds: 12/1</p><p> </p><p>Heather Stanning &amp; Helen Glover</p><p>Ages: 27 and 26</p><p>Main Event: Women’s Pair</p><p>Rivals: New Zealand</p><p>Medal Prospects: Look set to become the first British women to win Olympic gold.</p><p>Helen Glover may have only been rowing for five years, but she has rapidly become one of the top rowers in her discipline. Her partnership with Royal Artillery captain Heather Stanning has been formidable and due to the schedule of the Games, these two could beat fellow Brits Katherine Grainger and Anna Watkins to the honour of being the first British women to win gold in rowing.</p><p>Dates of event: July 28 – August 1</p><p>Odds: 8/11</p><p> </p><p>Zara Phillips, Kristina Cook, William Fox-Pitt, Piggy French and Mary King</p><p>Ages: 31, 41, 43, 31 and 51</p><p>Main Event: Team Eventing</p><p>Rival: Germany won gold in Beijing</p><p>Medal Prospects: The team will be confident of improving on the bronze they won in 2008.</p><p>Team GB have a wealth of experience in their eventing team this summer. London will be Mary King’s sixth Olympics, William Fox-Pitt’s fourth and Kristina Cook’s second. Surprisingly this is Zara Phillips’ first Games as she missed the last two because her horse was injured, while it is also Piggy French’s Games debut. The combination of experience and ability mean that the team will be hopeful of improving upon the bronze that they won in Beijing in 2008.</p><p>Dates of event: July 28 – July 31</p><p>Odds: 5/2</p><p> </p><p>Andy Murray</p><p>Age: 25</p><p>Place of Birth: Scotland</p><p>Main Event: Men’s Singles Tennis</p><p>Rival: Anyone of the two men ranked above him – although a rematch with Roger Federer is the one that will be most hotly anticipated.</p><p>Medal Prospects: He came so close at Wimbledon that he will surely back himself to go that one step further on his return to the grass courts.</p><p>Andy Murray became the first British man to reach a Wimbledon final for over 70 years in July but was prevented from winning the title by a sublime Roger Federer. The London Olympics sees tennis return to the grass courts of West London and give the Scot another chance to claim glory at the home of British tennis. Murray's job became a little easier when Spain's Rafael Nadal pulled out of the Games.</p><p>Dates of event: July 28 – August 5</p><p>Odds: 17/2</p><p> </p><p>Ben Ainslie</p><p>Age: 35</p><p>Place of Birth: England</p><p>Main Event: Men’s Finn</p><p>Rival: Zach Riley, USA</p><p>Medal Prospects: Looking to make it four gold medals.</p><p>London 2012 will be Ben Ainslie’s fifth Olympic Games and sees him in the hunt for his fifth medal to add to his three golds and one silver. Ainslie has dominated the sport in recent years and in May won seven out of nine races at the Finn Gold Cup in Falmouth. However at the pre-Games regatta in June he showed he could have an off- day when he capsized and finished second.</p><p>Dates of event: July 29 – August 5</p><p>Odds: ½</p><p> </p><p>Iain Percy &amp; Andrew Simpson</p><p>Age: Both 36</p><p>Main Event: Men’s Star</p><p>Rival: Robert Scheidt &amp; Bruno Prada, Brazil</p><p>Medal Prospects: Will be aiming for a silver</p><p>The duo won gold in 2008 in Beijing but their build-up to 2012 was difficult as Iain Percy was hit with a back problem at the World Championships in 2011. However, the two have worked hard and returned to the World Cup circuit in April where they vied with their Brazilian rivals for top spot. Their final warm-up competition saw them finish third in Weymouth in June.</p><p>Dates of event: July 29 – August 5</p><p>Odds: 7/2</p><p> </p><p>Annie Lush, Lucy MacGregor and Kate MacGregor</p><p>Age: 32, 25 and 20</p><p>Main Event: Women’s Elliot 6m Team</p><p>Rival: Team USA are their closest competitor for top spot.</p><p>Medal Prospects: Should get at least silver but will be aiming for gold</p><p>The team first came together in 2010 and have since won National, European and World Championship titles. Annie Lush has experience at Olympic level having been part of the GB set up in Athens in 2004. Lucy MacGregor, the elder of the two sisters, skippers the boat and has a long and impressive track record for a 25-year-old. Her younger sister Kate, 20, may not have as much experience but has ample skill. As a group they have already shown their ability and will be firmly in the hunt for a medal come Games time.</p><p>Dates of event: July 29 – August 11</p><p>Odds: 11/5</p><p>Sir Chris Hoy, Philip Hindes and Jason Kenny</p><p>Ages: 36, 19 and 24</p><p>Main Event: Men’s Team Sprint</p><p>Rival: Germany</p><p>Medal Prospects: Will probably take silver</p><p>There has been a lot of tinkering with the GB Sprint Team since Jamie Staff – the fastest starter in the world – retired. Despite this the team have consistently been winning medals. Their most recent competition, the World Championships in Melbourne, saw the team disqualified, but this was due to an infringement by 19-year-old Philip Hindes who was brought in to get experience.</p><p>Date of event: August 2</p><p>Odds: 5/1</p><p> </p><p>Victoria Pendleton and Jessica Varnish</p><p>Age: 31 and 21</p><p>Main Event: Women’s Team Sprint</p><p>Rival: Australia</p><p>Medal Prospect: Silver</p><p>Jessica Varnish has only been Victoria Pendleton’s starter for a year or so, but the duo have been solidly improving and set the world record at the Track World Cup in February. That record has since been broken by a very strong looking German team. The competition in London will be fierce but these two will definitely be in the mix for a medal.</p><p>Date of event: August 2</p><p>Odds: 3/1</p><p> </p><p>Ed Clancy, Peter Kennaugh, Steven Burke and Geraint Thomas</p><p>Age: 27, 23, 24 and 26</p><p>Main Event: Men’s Team Pursuit</p><p>Rival: Australia</p><p>Medal Prospects: Aiming for gold</p><p>Australia hadn’t lost in a significant Men’s Team Pursuit since the Beijing Olympics when Great Britain won the title. However, in April Team GB put in a superb performance to knock the Aussies off their perch in Melbourne and beat the world record that they set when they won gold in 2008. This is particularly significant because the team that has won the World Championships prior to an Olympics has gone on to win gold in the summer for the last three Games.</p><p>Dates of event: August 2 – August 3</p><p>Odds: Evens</p><p> </p><p>Rebecca Adlington</p><p>Age: 23</p><p>Place of Birth: England</p><p>Main Event: 800m freestyle</p><p>Rival: Lotte Friis, Denmark</p><p>Medal Prospects: Britain’s most successful swimmer will be aiming for gold although may miss out to world record holder Federica Pellegrini.</p><p>Despite her young age, Rebecca Adlington already has Olympic, World, European, Commonwealth and British titles to her name and is now looking to add to the two golds she claimed in Beijing. Now fully recovered from the problems she had with nerves that struck in the year or so following her 2008 success, Adlington is tipped by many to at least win gold in the 800m freestyle.</p><p>Dates of event: August 2 – August 3</p><p>Odds: 6/11</p><p> </p><p>Laura Bechtolsheimer</p><p>Age: 27</p><p>Place of Birth: Germany</p><p>Main Event: Dressage</p><p>Rival: There are several individuals who will prove stiff competition for a medal.</p><p>Medal Prospects: In what will be a tight competition she has a good chance of getting on the podium.</p><p>The dressage event at London 2012 is predicted to be a very close fought affair but Team GB’s Laura Bechtolsheimer has a very good chance of wining a medal. She has an impressive list of achievements to her name, having won the British National Championships three times and being Britain’s first ever medal winner at a World Championship event.</p><p>Dates of event: August 2 – August 9</p><p>Odds: 4/1</p><p> </p><p>Peter Wilson</p><p>Age: 25</p><p>Place of Birth: England</p><p>Main Event: Double-Trap Shooting</p><p>Rival: Joshua Richmond, USA</p><p>Medal Prospects: Britain’s outstanding medal hope in the shooting is a serious contender for gold.</p><p>Mark Wilson has enjoyed a very successful year which has seen him win his first gold medal on the World Cup circuit and climb to No.1 in the World Rankings last August. Since then he has slipped to second in the world but he did manage to set a world record at the World Cup earlier this year.</p><p>Date of event: August 2</p><p>Odds: 2/1</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>Chris Bartley, Peter Chambers, Richard Chambers and Rob Williams</p><p>Age: 28, 22, 27 and 27</p><p>Main Event: Men’s Lightweight Fours</p><p>Rivals: Australia</p><p>Medal Prospects: Will be in the fight for either a gold or silver medal.</p><p>A very encouraging last year saw the crew take silver at the Rowing World Cup in Belgrade followed by bronze in Lucerne and then a superb gold in Munich in June, overcoming great rivals Australia. This excellent run of results suggests that London could be the time for this crew to really shine.</p><p>Dates of event: July 28 - August 2</p><p>Odds: 15/8</p><p> </p><p>Zac Purchase &amp; Mark Hunter</p><p>Ages: 26 and 34</p><p>Main Event: Men’s Double Scull</p><p>Rivals: New Zealand</p><p>Medal Prospects: A disrupted 2012 so far means the pair are unlikely to do better than bronze.</p><p>Although they won in Beijing and are current world champions, the duo suffered some setbacks in their preparations for London. Illness played its part in some of their performances this year and they finished a disappointing sixth place in Munich. With their opponents pulling ahead there needs to be a real improvement but it would be a mistake to write this duo off.</p><p>Dates of event: July 28 - August 2</p><p>Odds: 7/2</p><p> </p><p>Fran Halsall</p><p>Age: 22</p><p>Place of Birth: England</p><p>Main Event: 100m Freestyle</p><p>Rival: Ranomi Kromowidjojo of the Netherlands is the favourite for the 100m freestyle</p><p>Medal Prospects: Her main aim is gold in the 100m freestyle but she has the ability to get into the medals in any of her other events.</p><p>Fran Halsall will be fighting on many fronts in the London Games as she is the only swimmer to have qualified for three separate individual disciplines as well as taking part in two of the relays. Currently ranked as world No.2 in the 50m freestyle and No.4 in the 100m freestyle she looks set to win a medal in at least one of those events, although she says the 100m is her main aim. Her third event is 100m butterfly in which she is ranked sixth in the world.</p><p>Dates of event: August 1 - August 2</p><p>Odds: 12/1</p><p> </p><p>Andy Murray</p><p>Age: 25</p><p>Place of Birth: Scotland</p><p>Main Event: Men’s Singles Tennis</p><p>Rival: Anyone of the two men ranked above him – although a rematch with Roger Federer is the one that will be most hotly anticipated.</p><p>Medal Prospects: He came so close at Wimbledon that he will surely back himself to go that one step further on his return to the grass courts.</p><p>Andy Murray became the first British man to reach a Wimbledon final for over 70 years in July but was prevented from winning the title by a sublime Roger Federer. The London Olympics sees tennis return to the grass courts of West London and give the Scot another chance to claim glory at the home of British tennis. Murray's job became a little easier when Spain's Rafael Nadal pulled out of the Games.</p><p>Dates of event: July 28 – August 5</p><p>Odds: 17/2</p><p> </p><p>Ben Ainslie</p><p>Age: 35</p><p>Place of Birth: England</p><p>Main Event: Men’s Finn</p><p>Rival: Zach Riley, USA</p><p>Medal Prospects: Looking to make it four gold medals.</p><p>London 2012 will be Ben Ainslie’s fifth Olympic Games and sees him in the hunt for his fifth medal to add to his three golds and one silver. Ainslie has dominated the</p><p>sport in recent years and in May won seven out of nine races at the Finn Gold Cup in Falmouth. However at the pre-Games regatta in June he showed he could have an off-day when he capsized and finished second.</p><p>Dates of event: July 29 – August 5</p><p>Odds: ½</p><p> </p><p>Iain Percy &amp; Andrew Simpson</p><p>Age: Both 36</p><p>Main Event: Men’s Star</p><p>Rival: Robert Scheidt &amp; Bruno Prada, Brazil</p><p>Medal Prospects: Will be aiming for a silver</p><p>The duo won gold in 2008 in Beijing but their build-up to 2012 was difficult as Iain Percy was hit with a back problem at the World Championships in 2011. However, the two have worked hard and returned to the World Cup circuit in April where they vied with their Brazilian rivals for top spot. Their final warm-up competition saw them finish third in Weymouth in June.</p><p>Dates of event: July 29 – August 5</p><p>Odds: 7/2</p><p> </p><p>Annie Lush, Lucy MacGregor and Kate MacGregor</p><p>Age: 32, 25 and 20</p><p>Main Event: Women’s Elliot 6m Team</p><p>Rival: Team USA are their closest competitor for top spot.</p><p>Medal Prospects: Should get at least silver but will be aiming for gold</p><p>The team first came together in 2010 and have since won National, European and World Championship titles. Annie Lush has experience at Olympic level having been part of the GB set up in Athens in 2004. Lucy MacGregor, the elder of the two sisters, skippers the boat and has a long and impressive track record for a 25-year-old. Her younger sister Kate, 20, may not have as much experience but has ample skill. As a group they have already shown their ability and will be firmly in the hunt for a medal come Games time.</p><p>Dates of event: July 29 – August 11</p><p>Odds: 11/5</p><p> </p><p>Zac Purchase &amp; Mark Hunter</p><p>Ages: 26 and 34</p><p>Main Event: Lightweight Double Scull</p><p>Rivals: New Zealand</p><p>Medal Prospects: A disrupted 2012 so far means the pair are unlikely to do better than bronze.</p><p>Although they won in Beijing and are current world champions, the duo suffered some setbacks in their preparations for London. Illness played its part in some of their performances this year and they finished a disappointing sixth place in Munich. With their opponents pulling ahead there needs to be a real improvement but it would be a mistake to write this duo off.</p><p>Dates of event: July 29 – August 4</p><p>Odds: 7/2</p><p> </p><p>Women’s Hockey</p><p>Rival: The Netherlands are favourites and are also in Team GB’s group.</p><p>Medal Prospects: The team should be in the hunt for bronze.</p><p>Team GB’s women are ranked 4th in the world coming into the Olympics. An encouraging performance saw them finish runners-up in the Women’s Championship Trophy at the start of the year but their most recent competition, the London Cup, saw them finish in fifth. However, four of the side’s key players were unavailable for the competition so the team will almost certainly put on better displays in the Games.</p><p>Dates of event: July 29 – August 10</p><p>Odds: 11/2</p><p> </p><p>Alex Gregory, Tom James, Pete Reed, Andrew Triggs-Hodge</p><p>Ages: 28, 28, 30 and 33</p><p>Main Event: Men’s Four</p><p>Rivals: Australia beat Team GB in June</p><p>Medal Prospects: Will be a hard fought battle for gold between GB and Australia</p><p>The team won gold in 2008 in a close race for the finish against Australia and France. This time round, with Alex Gregory rowing instead of Steve Williams, they will be looking to recreate that success. The Australian team are in great form so it promises to be a real battle.</p><p>Dates of event: July 30 – August 4</p><p>Odds: 8/13</p><p> </p><p>Bryony Shaw</p><p>Age: 29</p><p>Place of Birth: England</p><p>Main Event: Windsurfing RS:X</p><p>Rival: Marina Alabau, Spain</p><p>Medal Prospects: Gold is the dream but silver or bronze might be more realistic.</p><p>Bryony Shaw became Britain’s first Olympic female medallist in windsurfing when she took home bronze from the 2008 Games. Since Beijing she has seen great success, her biggest highlight being a gold medal at the 2010 World Cup in France. She ranked fourth at the last World Championships but will see herself as having a great chance of winning gold.</p><p>Dates of event: July 31 – August 7</p><p>Odds: 4/1</p><p> </p><p>Nick Dempsey</p><p>Age: 31</p><p>Place of Birth: England</p><p>Main Event: Windsurfing RS:X</p><p>Rival: Nimrod Mashich, Israel</p><p>Medal Prospects: Determined to get gold but current world number Mashich will probably get in his way. Silver at best.</p><p>Nick Dempsey comes into the 2012 Games determined to finish on the podium after a disappointing fourth place in Beijing. Since 2008 he has worked hard and enjoyed success, winning World Championship gold for the first time in 2009. That World Championships happened to have been at Weymouth and Portland, the venue for this year’s Olympic – surely a promising sign for the first Britain to win a medal in windsurfing.</p><p>Dates of event: July 31 – August 7</p><p>Odds: 4/1</p><p> </p><p>Ed Clancy, Peter Kennaugh, Steven Burke and Geraint Thomas</p><p>Age: 27, 23, 24 and 26</p><p>Main Event: Men’s Team Pursuit</p><p>Rival: Australia</p><p>Medal Prospects: Aiming for gold</p><p>Australia hadn’t lost in a significant Men’s Team Pursuit since the Beijing Olympics when Great Britain won the title. However, in April Team GB put in a superb performance to knock the Aussies off their perch in Melbourne and beat the world record that they set when they won gold in 2008. This is particularly significant because the team that has won the World  Championships prior to an Olympics has gone on to win gold in the summer for the last three Games.</p><p>Dates of event: August 2 – August 3</p><p>Odds: Evens</p><p> </p><p>Laura Trott, Dani King and Joanna Rowsell</p><p>Ages: 19, 21 and 23</p><p>Main Event: Women’s Team Pursuit</p><p>Rival: Australia</p><p>Medal Prospects: Looking to continue their domination of the event and win gold</p><p>The girls have dominated the sport all year. They won gold in February at the World Cup but then worked even harder to blow away the opposition yet again at the World Championships in April. They set the World Record in April and don’t be surprised if they beat it in London.</p><p>Dates of event: August 3 – August 4</p><p>Odds: 1/3</p><p> </p><p>Hannah Mills &amp; Saskia Clark</p><p>Age: 23 and 31</p><p>Main Event: 470 Class</p><p>Rival: Spain are tipped to push them the hardest.</p><p>Medal Prospects: The duo are in a great position to take gold.</p><p>This year has so far looked promising for the newly formed partnership and they enter the Games as favourites. The duo took silver at their first major regatta in April followed by two more – including one at the Olympic test event. The Games will of course bring a different level of competition, but the two should be more than motivated as Clark looks to put the disappointment of not winning a medal in 2008 and Mills tries to prove a point at her first Olympics.</p><p>Dates of event: August 3 – August 10</p><p>Odds: 11/4</p><p> </p><p>Dai Greene</p><p>Age: 26</p><p>Place of Birth: Wales</p><p>Main Event: 400m Hurdles</p><p>Rival: Javier Culson, Puerto Rico</p><p>Medal Prospects: Will be aiming to take gold ahead of his Puerto Rican rival.</p><p>Dai Greene is captain of Team GB and current world champion. His build-up to the Games had been disrupted by illness and injury but he managed to run a personal best in the Paris Grand Prix. The 26-year-old is desperate to complete a Grand Slam of World Championships, European Championships, Commonwealth Games and Olympic titles in London and given his performance in Paris is in good shape to do so.</p><p>Dates of event: August 3 – August 6</p><p>Odds: 57/17</p><p> </p><p>Greg Rutherford</p><p>Age: 25</p><p>Place of Birth: England</p><p>Main Event: Long Jump</p><p>Rival: Mitchell Watt, Australia</p><p>Medal Prospects: If he can equal his personal best then he should be contending for gold.</p><p>Greg Rutherford has been in fine form and earlier this year jumped 8.35m – the furthest jump in the world this year - to equal the UK record. The distance would have earned him a medal in any Olympics Games and was further than the gold medal distance of Beijing. This jump was followed up with a 8.32m in Rome to prove that it was not a one off and to show the world that he really will be a contender for gold this summer.</p><p>Dates of event: August 3 – August 4</p><p>Odds: 5/1</p><p> </p><p>Jessica Ennis</p><p>Age: 26</p><p>Place of Birth: England</p><p>Main Event: Heptathlon</p><p>Rival: Tatyana Chernova, Russia</p><p>Medal Prospects: Britain’s greatest hope for gold in athletics.</p><p>Jessica Ennis is the London Olympics poster girl and as the reigning World and European champion has a lot of pressure on her shoulders. She has won every championship she has entered since May 2009 and has topped the world rankings for the last three years. The only danger is that she might be overwhelmed by the occasion since this is her first Olympics, having missed out on Beijing due to injury.</p><p>Dates of event: August 3 – August 4</p><p>Odds: 11/13</p><p> </p><p>Christine Ohuruogu</p><p>Age: 28</p><p>Place of Birth: London</p><p>Main Event: 400m</p><p>Rival: Amantle Montsho, Botswana</p><p>Medal Prospects: An outsider for a medal but could potentially be looking at gold if run in the London Grand Prix is anything to go by.</p><p>Last year after the World Championships in South Korea, Christine Ohuruogu was a broken woman. A run of very poor performances had left her half the athlete she was in Beijing 2008. However, her performance in the London Grand Prix harked back to her superb displays in the last Olympics and showed that she might well have returned to form at the perfect time as she easily cruised past reigning world champion Amantle Montsho.</p><p>Dates of event: August 3 – August 5</p><p>Odds: 15/2</p><p> </p><p>David Davies</p><p>Age: 27</p><p>Place of Birth: Wales</p><p>Main Event: 1500m Freestyle</p><p>Rival: Will have to overcome a strong field</p><p>Medal Prospects: Outside chance of bronze. His late recovery of his form is not enough to make him a favourite but he has great experience and will not want to disappoint a home crowd.</p><p>David Davies is an Olympic veteran, with London 2012 being his third Games. The Welshman won bronze in Athens in 2004 and then silver in Beijing in 2008 and he will be hoping he can continue this steady improvement and win gold this summer. He struggled with fitness and form problems over the last year but recovered to win his spot in Team GB and take part at what could well be his last Games.</p><p>Dates of event: August 3 – August 4</p><p>Odds: 11/1</p><p> </p><p>Rebecca Adlington</p><p>Age: 23</p><p>Place of Birth: England</p><p>Main Event: 800m freestyle</p><p>Rival: Lotte Friis, Denmark</p><p>Medal Prospects: Britain’s most successful swimmer will be aiming for gold although may miss out to world record holder Federica Pellegrini.</p><p>Despite her young age, Rebecca Adlington already has Olympic, World, European, Commonwealth and British titles to her name and is now looking to add to the two golds she claimed in Beijing. Now fully recovered from the problems she had with nerves that struck in the year or so following her 2008 success, Adlington is tipped by many to at least win gold in the 800m freestyle.</p><p>Dates of event: August 2 – August 3</p><p>Odds: 6/11</p><p> </p><p>Anthony Ogogo</p><p>Age: 23</p><p>Place of Birth: England</p><p>Main Event: Boxing Middleweight</p><p>Rival: The favourite is Ievgen Khytrov of Ukraine</p><p>Medal Chances: In with a good chance of gold.</p><p>Anthony Agogo has taken up the mantle of GB’s Beijing gold medal winner James DeGale. He won silver in the 2010 Commonwealth Games and thanks to some intensive training is now in top form for of the Games. He has been training in the same gym as current IBF world super-middleweight champion Carl Froch and this may give him the inspiration and edge he needs to win gold.</p><p>Dates of event: July 28 – August 11</p><p>Odds: 20/1</p><p> </p><p>Andy Murray</p><p>Age: 25</p><p>Place of Birth: Scotland</p><p>Main Event: Men’s Singles Tennis</p><p>Rival: Anyone of the two men ranked above him – although a rematch with Roger Federer is the one that will be most hotly anticipated.</p><p>Medal Prospects: He came so close at Wimbledon that he will surely back himself to go that one step further on his return to the grass courts.</p><p>Andy Murray became the first British man to reach a Wimbledon final for over 70 years in July but was prevented from winning the title by a sublime Roger Federer. The London Olympics sees tennis return to the grass courts of West London and give the Scot another chance to claim glory at the home of British tennis. Murray's job became a little easier when Spain's Rafael Nadal pulled out of the Games.</p><p>Dates of event: July 28 – August 5</p><p>Odds: 17/2</p><p> </p><p>Ben Ainslie</p><p>Age: 35</p><p>Place of Birth: England</p><p>Main Event: Men’s Finn</p><p>Rival: Zach Riley, USA</p><p>Medal Prospects: Looking to make it four gold medals.</p><p>London 2012 will be Ben Ainslie’s fifth Olympic Games and sees him in the hunt for his fifth medal to add to his three golds and one silver. Ainslie has dominated the sport in recent years and in May won seven out of nine races at the Finn Gold Cup in Falmouth. However at the pre-Games regatta in June he showed he could have an off-day when he capsized and finished second.</p><p>Dates of event: July 29 – August 5</p><p>Odds: ½</p><p> </p><p>Iain Percy &amp; Andrew Simpson</p><p>Age: Both 36</p><p>Main Event: Men’s Star</p><p>Rival: Robert Scheidt &amp; Bruno Prada, Brazil</p><p>Medal Prospects: Will be aiming for a silver</p><p>The duo won gold in 2008 in Beijing but their build-up to 2012 was difficult as Iain Percy was hit with a back problem at the World Championships in 2011. However,</p><p>the two have worked hard and returned to the World Cup circuit in April where they vied with their Brazilian rivals for top spot. Their final warm-up competition saw them finish third in Weymouth in June.</p><p>Dates of event: July 29 – August 5</p><p>Odds: 7/2</p><p> </p><p>Paul Goodison</p><p>Age: 34</p><p>Place of Birth: England</p><p>Main Event: Men’s Laser</p><p>Rival: Tom Slingsby, Australia</p><p>Medal Prospects: Hot favourite for gold</p><p>Paul Goodison is the current reigning Olympic champion is his category and London will be his fourth Games. Coming into the Games the Yorkshireman is ranked number one in the world and holds the Olympic, European, World and British titles. With such a wealth of success and experience behind him, he will be expected to take gold but the highly talented Tom Slingsby cannot be discounted.</p><p>Dates of event: July 30 – August 6</p><p>Odds: 4/1</p><p> </p><p>Laura Bechtolsheimer</p><p>Age: 27</p><p>Place of Birth: Germany</p><p>Main Event: Dressage</p><p>Rival: There are several individuals who will prove stiff competition for a medal.</p><p>Medal Prospects: In what will be a tight competition she has a good chance of getting on the podium.</p><p>The dressage event at London 2012 is predicted to be a very close fought affair but Team GB’s Laura Bechtolsheimer has a very good chance of wining a medal. She has an impressive list of achievements to her name having won the British National Championships three times and Britain’s first ever medal at a World Championship event.</p><p>Dates of event: August 2 – August 9</p><p>Odds: 4/1</p><p> </p><p>Victoria Pendleton</p><p>Age: 31</p><p>Place of Birth: England</p><p>Main Event: Individual Sprint</p><p>Rival: Anna Meares, Australia</p><p>Medal Prospects: Will be vying with main rival Anna Meares for gold.</p><p>Victoria Pendleton won gold at the World Championships in April, beating Meares in the semi-final, so she comes into the Games on a high. This will be her last Games and her last track competition so it carries extra weight and importance for her.</p><p>Dates of event: August 5 – August 7</p><p>Odds: 11/5</p><p> </p><p>Robbie Grabarz</p><p>Age: 24</p><p>Place of Birth: England</p><p>Main Event: High Jump</p><p>Rival: Ivan Ukhov and Andrey Silnov, both of Russia</p><p>Medal Prospects: Gold could be within his reach.</p><p>Robbie Grabarz has quite literally jumped from relative anonymity into the limelight this year. At the end of last month he won his first European title and his personal best for the year is one centimetre short of the British record – a far cry from someone who ended last season 44th best in the world. His newfound form has seen him record the third highest jump in the world this year and in with a real chance of taking gold in London.</p><p>Dates of event: August 5 – August 7</p><p>Odds: 13/2</p><p> </p><p>Perri Shakes-Drayton</p><p>Age: 23</p><p>Place of Birth: England</p><p>Main Event: 400m Hurdles</p><p>Rival: Natalya Antyukh, Russia</p><p>Medal Prospects: Could snatch gold in a very open field.</p><p>Perri Shake-Drayton proved to the world that she has the ability to take gold in the Games when she raced to victory at the London Diamond League Grand Prix. Her time from that run was not only a personal best, but also put her joint second on the world list for this year – all on a wet and windy English night. If she can prove that it wasn’t a one off, then in a field that lacks stand out runners, she could even be in the hunt for a gold medal.</p><p>Dates of event: August 5 – August 8</p><p>Odds: 11/2</p><p> </p><p>Paula Radcliffe</p><p>Age: 38</p><p>Place of Birth: England</p><p>Main Event: Marathon</p><p>Medal Prospects: Has struggled in past Olympics so has the potential to finish on top or well off the pace.</p><p>Paula Radcliffe, veteran marathon runner, has one gap left in her superb career: she has not had Olympic success. The current World record holder had a slight injury scare at the beginning of the month. The foot problem that forced her to miss the London Marathon flared up again and meant she had to see a specialist in Germany. However, it is thought that she will make the Games and since this will be her last attempt she will surely be more motivated than ever to overcome here Olympic curse and win a medal.</p><p>Date of Marathon: August 5</p><p>Odds: 12/1</p><p> </p><p>Nicola Adams</p><p>Age: 29</p><p>Place of Birth: England</p><p>Main Event: Boxing Flyweight</p><p>Rival: Cancan Ren, China</p><p>Medal Prospects: Will probably be yet another showdown between Adams and Ren for gold.</p><p>Nicola Adams was the first British woman to win a major title when she triumphed at the European Championships in 2011. She has finished second place in the World Championships three times in a row and this year has been characterised by bouts with current World number one Cancan Ren. Adams and Ren have met twice this year, Adams won the first encounter but Ren triumphed in the second to win the World Championships.</p><p>Dates of event: August 5 – August 9</p><p>Odds: 7/4</p><p> </p><p>Louis Smith</p><p>Age: 23</p><p>Place of Birth: England</p><p>Main Event: Pommel Horse</p><p>Rival: Hungarian Kristzian Berki is the man who stands in between Smith and gold.</p><p>Medal Prospects: Smith enters the Olympics as second favourite.</p><p>Louis Smith has been a European silver medallist three times in the pommel horse and has won gold at the Commonwealth Games. On the world stage he won bronze at the 2008 Olympics and again in the 2011 World Championships. Currently in great form the 23-year-old is hotly tipped for a medal in London.</p><p>Date of event: August 5</p><p>Odds: 3/1</p><p> </p><p>Andy Murray</p><p>Age: 25</p><p>Place of Birth: Scotland</p><p>Main Event: Men’s Singles Tennis</p><p>Rival: Anyone of the two men ranked above him – although a rematch with Roger Federer is the one that will be most hotly anticipated.</p><p>Medal Prospects: He came so close at Wimbledon that he will surely back himself to go that one step further on his return to the grass courts.</p><p>Any Murray became the first British male to reach a Wimbledon final for over 70 yearsin July but was prevented from winning the title by a sublime Roger Federer. The London Olympics sees the tennis return to the grass courts of West London and give the Scot another chance to claim glory at the home of British tennis. Many said that defeat in the final would signal the start of the rise of Murray and the Games will be the first chance to see if such predictions will be fulfilled.</p><p>Dates of event: July 28 - August 5th</p><p>Odds: 17/2</p><p> </p><p>Ben Ainslie</p><p>Age: 35</p><p>Place of Birth: England</p><p>Main Event: Men’s Finn</p><p>Rival: Zach Riley, USA</p><p>Medal Prospects: Looking to make it four gold medals.</p><p>London 2012 will be Ben Ainslie’s fifth Olympic Games and sees him in the hunt for his fifth medal to add to his three golds and one silver. Ainslie has dominated the</p><p>sport in recent years and in May won seven out of nine races at the Finn Gold Cup in Falmouth. However at the pre-Games regatta in June he showed he could have an off-day when he capsized and finished second.</p><p>Dates of event: July 29 - August 5th</p><p>Odds: ½</p><p> </p><p>Iain Percy &amp; Andrew Simpson</p><p>Age: Both 36</p><p>Main Event: Men’s Star</p><p>Rival: Robert Scheidt &amp; Bruno Prada, Brazil</p><p>Medal Prospects: Will be aiming for a silver</p><p>The duo won gold in 2008 in Beijing but their build-up to 2012 was difficult as Iain Percy was hit with a back problem at the World Championships in 2011. However,</p><p>the two have worked hard and returned to the World Cup circuit in April where they vied with their Brazilian rivals for top spot. Their final warm-up competition saw them finish third in Weymouth in June.</p><p>Dates of event: July 29 - August 5th</p><p>Odds: 7/2</p><p> </p><p>Christine Ohuruogu</p><p>Age: 28</p><p>Place of Birth: London</p><p>Main Event: 400m</p><p>Rival: Amantle Montsho, Botswana</p><p>Medal Prospects: An outsider for a medal but could potentially be looking at gold if run in the London Grand Prix is anything to go by.</p><p>Last year after the World Championships in South Korea, Christine Ohuruogu was a broken woman. A run of very poor performances had left her half the athlete she was in Beijing 2008. However, her performance in the London Grand Prix harked back to her superb displays in the last Olympics and showed that she might well have returned to form at the perfect time as she easily cruised past reigning world champion Amantle Montsho.</p><p>Dates of event: August 3 - August 5th</p><p>Odds: 15/2</p><p> </p><p>Luke Campbell</p><p>Age: 24</p><p>Place of Birth: England</p><p>Main Event: Bantamweight boxing</p><p>Rival: Lazaro Alvarez Estrada. Cuba</p><p>Medal Prospect: One of Britain’s best chances for boxing gold.</p><p>Luke Campbell took silver at the World Amateur Boxing Championships last year and is seen as a favourite for gold at the Olympics this summer. Two years ago</p><p>Campbell was described as the benchmark for British boxing after going on an unbeaten run of 23 matches and he is still seen as the example for other British boxers to follow.</p><p>Dates of event: July 28 – August 11</p><p>Odds: 13/2</p><p> </p><p>Bryony Shaw</p><p>Age: 29</p><p>Place of Birth: England</p><p>Main Event: Windsurfing RS:X</p><p>Rival: Marina Alabau, Spain</p><p>Medal Prospects: Gold is the dream but silver or bronze might be more realistic.</p><p>Bryony Shaw is Britain’s first women's windsurfing Olympic medallist, having taken home bronze fromthe 2008 Games. Since 2008 she has seen great success, her biggest highlight being a gold medal at the 2010 World Cup in France. She ranked fourth at the last World Championships but will see herself as having a great chance of winning gold.</p><p>Dates of event: July 31 – August 7</p><p>Odds: 4/1</p><p> </p><p>Nick Dempsey</p><p>Age: 31</p><p>Place of Birth: England</p><p>Main Event: Windsurfing RS:X</p><p>Rival: Nimrod Mashich, Israel</p><p>Medal Prospects: Determined to get gold but current world number Mashich will probably get in his way. Silver at best.</p><p>Nick Dempsey comes into the 2012 Games determined to finish on the podium after a disappointing fourth place in Beijing. Since 2008 he has worked hard and enjoyed</p><p>success, winning World Championship gold for the first time in 2009. That World Championships happened to have been at Weymouth and Portland, the venue for</p><p>this year’s Olympic – surely a promising sign for the first Britain to win a medal in windsurfing.</p><p>Dates of event: July 31 – August 7</p><p>Odds: 4/1</p><p> </p><p>Hannah Mills &amp; Saskia Clark</p><p>Age: 23 and 31</p><p>Main Event: 470 Class</p><p>Rival: Spain are tipped to push them the hardest.</p><p>Medal Prospects: The duo are in a great position to take gold.</p><p>This year has so far looked promising for the newly formed partnership and they enter the Games as favourites. The duo took silver at their first major regatta in April followed by two more – including one at the Olympic test event. The Games will of course bring a different level of competition, but the two should be more than motivated as Clark looks to put the disappointment of not winning a medal in 2008 and Mills tries to prove a point at her first Olympics.</p><p>Dates of event: August 3 – August 10</p><p>Odds: 11/4</p><p> </p><p>Jason Kenny</p><p>Age: 24</p><p>Place of Birth: England</p><p>Main Event: Men’s Sprint</p><p>Rival: Gregory Bauge, France</p><p>Medal Prospects: Will be competing with his French rival Bauge and team-mate Hoy for gold.</p><p>Jason Kenny was part of the Men’s Sprint team that won gold in the 2008 Games and also won a silver medal in the Individual sprint, losing out to Chris Hoy. Since then he has won gold in the World Sprint Championship in 2011 – after his opponent Gregory Bauge was disqualified for infringing anti-doping laws – and taken silver in the same event in 2012, losing out to Bauge.</p><p>Dates of event: August 4 – August 6</p><p>Odds: 8/1</p><p> </p><p>Nicole Cooke</p><p>Age: 29</p><p>Place of Birth: Wales</p><p>Main Event: Women’s Road Race</p><p>Rival: Her team-mate Lizzie Armitstead, thanks to last year's falling out.</p><p>Medal Prospects: She has an outside shot of finishing on the podium</p><p>Nicole Cooke won Britain’s first medal in Beijing, winning the Road Race. However her career has stuttered since then and she had a very public falling out with team-mate Lizzie Armitstead last year when she didn’t follow the team strategy and arguably cost Armitstead a podium finish. However, on her day she is a formidable cyclist and at the sharp end of a race, if there is a break-away, her experience will be invaluable.</p><p>Date of event: July 29</p><p>Odds: 12/1</p><p> </p><p>Lizzie Armitstead</p><p>Age: 23</p><p>Place of Birth: England</p><p>Main Event: Women’s Road Race</p><p>Rival: Judith Arndt, Germany</p><p>Medal Prospects: If her team do their job then she will be in the frame for the top 3.</p><p>Armitstead is Team GB’s main medal hope in this event and she will have to put past differences between herself and Nicole Cook behind her if she is to have any chance.If her team do their job and the race comes down to a sprint finish, Armitstead will have a very good chance of getting her hands on a medal.</p><p>Date of event: July 29</p><p>Odds: 11/2</p><p> </p><p>Ben Ainslie</p><p>Age: 35</p><p>Place of Birth: England</p><p>Main Event: Men’s Finn</p><p>Rival: Zach Riley, USA</p><p>Medal Prospects: Looking to make it four Olympic gold medals.</p><p>London 2012 will be Ben Ainslie’s fifth Olympic Games and sees him in the hunt for his fifth medal to add to his three golds and one silver. Ainslie has dominated the sport in recent years and in May won seven out of nine races at the Finn Gold Cup in Falmouth. However at the pre-Games regatta in June he showed he could have an off-day when he capsized and finished second.</p><p>Dates of event: July 29 – August 5</p><p>Odds: ½</p><p> </p><p>Iain Percy &amp; Andrew Simpson</p><p>Age: Both 36</p><p>Main Event: Men’s Star</p><p>Rival: Robert Scheidt &amp; Bruno Prada, Brazil</p><p>Medal Prospects: Will be aiming for a silver</p><p>The duo won gold in 2008 in Beijing but their build-up to 2012 was difficult as Iain Percy was hit with a back problem at the World Championships in 2011. However,the two have worked hard and returned to the World Cup circuit in April where they vied with their Brazilian rivals for top spot. Their final warm-up competition saw them finish third in Weymouth in June.</p><p>Dates of event: July 29 – August 5</p><p>Odds: 7/2</p><p> </p><p>Annie Lush, Lucy MacGregor and Kate MacGregor</p><p>Age: 32, 25 and 20</p><p>Main Event: Women’s Elliot 6m Team</p><p>Rival: Team USA are their closest competitor for top spot.</p><p>Medal Prospects: Should get at least silver but will be aiming for gold</p><p>The team first came together in 2010 and have since won National, European and World Championship titles. Annie Lush has experience at Olympic level having been part of the GB set up in Athens in 2004. Lucy MacGregor, the elder of the two sisters, skippers the boat and has a long and impressive track record for a 25-year-old. Her younger sister Kate, 20, may not have as much experience but has ample skill. As a group they have already shown their ability and will be firmly in the hunt for a medal come Games time.</p><p>Dates of event: July 29 – August 11</p><p>Odds: 11/5</p><p> </p><p>Zac Purchase &amp; Mark Hunter</p><p>Ages: 26 and 34</p><p>Main Event: Lightweight Double Scull</p><p>Rivals: New Zealand</p><p>Medal Prospects: A disrupted 2012 so far means the pair are unlikely to do better than bronze.</p><p>Although they won in Beijing and are current world champions, the duo suffered some setbacks in their preparations for London. Illness played its part in some of their performances this year and they finished a disappointing sixth place in Munich. With their opponents pulling ahead there needs to be a real improvement but it would be a mistake to write this duo off.</p><p>Dates of event: July 29 – August 4</p><p>Odds: 7/2</p><p> </p><p>Liam Tancock</p><p>Age: 27</p><p>Place of Birth: England</p><p>Main Event: 100m Backstroke</p><p>Rival: Frenchman Camille Lacourt is the current joint-world champion</p><p>Medal Prospects: It all depends on if he can hang on in the closing stages of the race, but he should be able to make at least bronze. Liam Tancock is only the second British male swimmer to have retained a world title, a feat he achieved last year. The problem is that this was done in the 50m backstroke, an event that is not an Olympic discipline. The shortest Olympic backstroke distance is 100m in which he finished sixth at the Beijing Games. Consequently Tancock is an outside bet for a medal; it all depends on whether he can transfer his 50m prowess into the longer version of the race.</p><p>Dates of event: July 29 – July 30</p><p>Odds: 16/1</p><p> </p><p>Gemma Spofforth</p><p>Age: 24</p><p>Place of Birth: England</p><p>Main Event: 100m Backstroke</p><p>Rival: Australian Emily Seebohm</p><p>Medal Prospects: Has the ability to win gold.</p><p>Gemma Spofforth has struggled with serious emotional problems away from swimming since the death of her mother in 2008 and last year was set to quit the sport. However, the 100m backstroke world record holder hauled herself back to the pool and qualified for Team GB. On her day, as her world record proves, she has the ability to dominate the field and since she is leaving the sport after the Olympics she is determined to put everything into this last event.</p><p>Dates of event: July 29 – July 30</p><p>Odds: 12/1</p><p> </p><p>Joanne Jackson</p><p>Age: 25</p><p>Place of Birth: England</p><p>Main Event: 400m Freestyle</p><p>Rival: Her training partner Rebecca Adlington</p><p>Medal Prospects: Most likely bronze but could do better.</p><p>London 2012 will be Joanne Jackson’s third Olympic Games despite her young age. She failed to qualify from her heat as a 17-year-old in Athens but then won a bronze in Beijing in 2008. Her steady improvement was marked by her setting a world record in 2009. She has a whole host of European, Commonwealth and World Championship medals to her name and is a very real contender in this discipline.</p><p>Date of event: July 29</p><p> </p><p>Women’s Hockey</p><p>Rival: The Netherlands are favourites and are also in Team GB’s group.</p><p>Medal Prospects: The team should be in the hunt for bronze.</p><p>Team GB’s women are ranked 4th in the world coming into the Olympics. An encouraging performance saw them finish runners-up in the Women’s Championship Trophy at the start of the year but their most recent competition, the London Cup, saw them finish in fifth. However, four of the side’s key players were unavailable for the competition so the team will almost certainly perform better in the Games.</p><p>Dates of event: July 29 – August 10</p><p>Odds: 11/2</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>Chris Bartley, Peter Chambers, Richard Chambers and Rob Williams</p><p>Age: 28, 22, 27 and 27</p><p>Main Event: Men’s Lightweight Fours</p><p>Rivals: Australia</p><p>Medal Prospects: Will be in the fight for either a gold or silver medal.</p><p>A very encouraging last year saw the crew take silver at the Rowing World Cup in Belgrade followed by bronze in Lucerne and then a superb gold in Munich in June, overcoming great rivals Australia. This excellent run of results suggests that London could be the time for this crew to really shine.</p><p>Dates of event: July 28 – August 2</p><p>Odds: 15/8</p><p> </p><p>Zara Phillips, Kristina Cook, William Fox-Pitt, Piggy French and Mary King</p><p>Ages: 31, 41, 43, 31 and 51</p><p>Main Event: Team Eventing</p><p>Rival: Germany won gold in Beijing</p><p>Medal Prospects: The team will be confident of improving on the bronze they won in 2008.</p><p>Team GB have a wealth of experience in their eventing team this summer. London will be Mary King’s sixth Olympics, William Fox-Pitt’s fourth and Kristina Cook’s second. Surprisingly this is Zara Phillips’ first Games as she missed the last two because her horse was injured, while it is also Piggy French’s Games debut. The combination of experience and ability mean that the team will be hopeful of improving upon the bronze that they won in Beijing in 2008.</p><p>Dates of event: July 28 – July 31</p><p>Odds: 5/2</p><p> </p><p>Andy Murray</p><p>Age: 25</p><p>Place of Birth: Scotland</p><p>Main Event: Men’s Singles Tennis</p><p>Rival: Anyone of Roger Federer or Novak Djokovic – although a rematch with Roger Federer is the one that will be most hotly anticipated.</p><p>Medal Prospects: He came so close at Wimbledon that he will surely back himself to go that one step further on his return to the grass courts.</p><p>Andy Murray became the first British man to reach a Wimbledon final for over 70 years in July but was prevented from winning the title by a sublime Roger Federer. The London Olympics sees tennis return to the grass courts of West London and give the Scot another chance to claim glory at the home of British tennis. Murray's job became a little easier when Spain's Rafael Nadal pulled out of the Games.</p><p>Dates of event: July 28 – August 5</p><p>Odds: 17/2</p><p> </p><p>Bryony Shaw</p><p>Age: 29</p><p>Place of Birth: England</p><p>Main Event: Windsurfing RS:X</p><p>Rival: Marina Alabau, Spain</p><p>Medal Prospects: Gold is the dream but silver or bronze might be more realistic.</p><p>Bryony Shaw became Britain’s first Olympic women's windsurfing medallist when she took home bronze from the 2008 Games. Since Beijing she has seen great success, her biggest highlight being a gold medal at the 2010 World Cup in France. She ranked fourth at the last World Championships but will see herself as having a great chance of winning gold.</p><p>Dates of event: July 31 – August 7</p><p>Odds: 4/1</p><p> </p><p>Nick Dempsey</p><p>Age: 31</p><p>Place of Birth: England</p><p>Main Event: Windsurfing RS:X</p><p>Rival: Nimrod Mashich, Israel</p><p>Medal Prospects: Determined to get gold but current world No1 Mashich will probably get in his way. Silver at best.</p><p>Nick Dempsey comes into the 2012 Games determined to finish on the podium after a disappointing fourth place in Beijing. Since 2008 he has worked hard and enjoyed success, winning World Championship gold for the first time in 2009. That World Championships happened to have been at Weymouth and Portland, the venue for this year’s Olympic – surely a promising sign for the first Britain to win a medal in windsurfing.</p><p>Dates of event: July 31 – August 7</p><p>Odds: 4/1</p><p> </p><p>Zara Phillips, Kristina Cook, William Fox-Pitt, Piggy French and Mary King</p><p>Ages: 31, 41, 43, 31 and 51</p><p>Main Event: Team Eventing</p><p>Rival: Germany won gold in Beijing</p><p>Medal Prospects: The team will be confident of improving on the bronze they won in 2008.</p><p>Team GB have a wealth of experience in their eventing team this summer. London will be Mary King’s sixth Olympics, William Fox-Pitt’s fourth and Kristina</p><p>Cook’s second. Surprisingly this is Zara Phillips’ first Games as she missed the last two because her horse was injured, while it is also Piggy French’s Games debut. The combination of experience and ability mean that the team will be hopeful of improving upon the bronze that they won in Beijing in 2008.</p><p>Dates of event: July 28 – July 31</p><p>Odds: 5/2</p><p> </p><p>Chris Bartley, Peter Chambers, Richard Chambers and Rob Williams</p><p>Age: 28, 22, 27 and 27</p><p>Main Event: Men’s Lightweight Fours</p><p>Rivals: Australia</p><p>Medal Prospects: Will be in the fight for either a gold or silver medal.</p><p>A very encouraging last year saw the crew take silver at the Rowing World Cup in Belgrade followed by bronze in Lucerne and then a superb gold in Munich in June, overcoming great rivals Australia. This excellent run of results suggests that London could be the time for this crew to really shine.</p><p>Dates of event: July 28 – August 2</p><p>Odds: 15/8</p><p> </p><p>Andy Murray</p><p>Age: 25</p><p>Place of Birth: Scotland</p><p>Main Event: Men’s Singles Tennis</p><p>Rival: Anyone of the two men ranked above him – although a rematch with Roger Federer is the one that will be most hotly anticipated.</p><p>Medal Prospects: He came so close at Wimbledon that he will surely back himself to go that one step further on his return to the grass courts.</p><p>Andy Murray became the first British man to reach a Wimbledon final for over 70 years in July but was prevented from winning the title by a sublime Roger Federer. The London Olympics sees tennis return to the grass courts of West London and give the Scot another chance to claim glory at the home of British tennis. Murray's job became a little easier when Spain's Rafael Nadal pulled out of the Games.</p><p>Dates of event: July 28 – August 5</p><p>Odds: 17/2</p><p> </p><p>Ben Ainslie</p><p>Age: 35</p><p>Place of Birth: England</p><p>Main Event: Men’s Finn</p><p>Rival: Zach Riley, USA</p><p>Medal Prospects: Looking to make it four gold medals.</p><p>London 2012 will be Ben Ainslie’s fifth Olympic Games and sees him in the hunt for his fifth medal to add to his three golds and one silver. Ainslie has dominated the sport in recent years and in May won seven out of nine races at the Finn Gold Cup in Falmouth. However at the pre-Games regatta in June he showed he could have an off-day when he capsized and finished second.</p><p>Dates of event: July 29 – August 5</p><p>Odds: ½</p><p> </p><p>Iain Percy &amp; Andrew Simpson</p><p>Age: Both 36</p><p>Main Event: Men’s Star</p><p>Rival: Robert Scheidt &amp; Bruno Prada, Brazil</p><p>Medal Prospects: Will be aiming for a silver</p><p>The duo won gold in 2008 in Beijing but their build-up to 2012 was difficult as Iain Percy was hit with a back problem at the World Championships in 2011. However,</p><p>the two have worked hard and returned to the World Cup circuit in April where they vied with their Brazilian rivals for top spot. Their final warm-up competition saw them finish third in Weymouth in June.</p><p>Dates of event: July 29 – August 5</p><p>Odds: 7/2</p><p> </p><p>Annie Lush, Lucy MacGregor and Kate MacGregor</p><p>Age: 32, 25 and 20</p><p>Main Event: Women’s Elliot 6m Team</p><p>Rival: Team USA are their closest competitor for top spot.</p><p>Medal Prospects: Should get at least silver but will be aiming for gold</p><p>The team first came together in 2010 and have since won National, European and World Championship titles. Annie Lush has experience at Olympic level having been part of the GB set up in Athens in 2004. Lucy MacGregor, the elder of the two sisters, skippers the boat and has a long and impressive track record for a 25-year-old. Her younger sister Kate, 20, may not have as much experience but has ample skill. As a group they have already shown their ability and will be firmly in the hunt for a medal come Games time.</p><p>Dates of event: July 29 – August 11</p><p>Odds: 11/5</p><p> </p><p>Zac Purchase &amp; Mark Hunter</p><p>Ages: 26 and 34</p><p>Main Event: Lightweight Double Scull</p><p>Rivals: New Zealand</p><p>Medal Prospects: A disrupted 2012 so far means the pair are unlikely to do better than bronze.</p><p>Although they won in Beijing and are current world champions, the duo suffered some setbacks in their preparations for London. Illness played its part in some of their performances this year and they finished a disappointing sixth place in Munich. With their opponents pulling ahead there needs to be a real improvement but it would be a mistake to write this duo off.</p><p>Dates of event: July 29 – August 4</p><p>Odds: 7/2</p><p> </p><p>Women’s Hockey</p><p>Rival: The Netherlands are favourites and are also in Team GB’s group.</p><p>Medal Prospects: The team should be in the hunt for bronze.</p><p>Team GB’s women are ranked 4th in the world coming into the Olympics. An encouraging performance saw them finish runners-up in the Women’s Championship Trophy at the start of the year but their most recent competition, the London Cup, saw them finish in fifth. However, four of the side’s key players were unavailable for the competition so the team will almost certainly put on better displays in the Games.</p><p>Dates of event: July 29 – August 10</p><p>Odds: 11/2</p><p> </p><p>Paul Goodison</p><p>Age: 34</p><p>Place of Birth: England</p><p>Main Event: Men’s Laser</p><p>Rival: Tom Slingsby, Australia</p><p>Medal Prospects: Hot favourite for gold</p><p>Paul Goodison is the current reigning Olympic champion is his category and London will be his fourth Games. Coming into the Games the Yorkshireman is ranked number one in the world and holds the Olympic, European, World and British titles. With such a wealth of success and experience behind him, he will be expected to take gold but the highly talented Tom Slingsby cannot be discounted.</p><p>Dates of event: July 30 – August 6</p><p>Odds: 4/1</p><p> </p><p>Alex Gregory, Tom James, Pete Reed, Andrew Triggs-Hodge</p><p>Ages: 28, 28, 30 and 33</p><p>Main Event: Men’s Four</p><p>Rivals: Australia beat Team GB in June</p><p>Medal Prospects: Will be a hard fought battle for gold between GB and Australia</p><p>The team won gold in 2008 in a close race for the finish against Australia and France. This time round, with Alex Gregory rowing instead of Steve Williams, they will be looking to recreate that success. The Australian team are in great form so it promises to be a real battle.</p><p>Dates of event: July 30 – August 4</p><p>Odds: 8/13</p><p> </p><p>Katherine Grainger and Anna Watkins</p><p>Age: 36 and 29</p><p>Main Event: Women’s Double Scull</p><p>Rivals: The closest team to them are the Australians</p><p>Medal Prospects: Firm favourites for gold.</p><p>Katherine Grainger and Anna Watkins should be Britain’s most certain gold at London 2012 and a victory in London would be the icing on the cake for Grainger who has won three Olympic silver medals in her career. The duo have been a fearsome undefeated partnership since they joined up in 2010, winning all three World Cup events this summer in the build-up to the Games.</p><p>Dates of event: July 30 – August 3</p><p>Odds: 4/11</p><p>The British sailors had been out in front throughout the qualifying stages and looked set to successfully defend their Beijing gold off the coast of Weymouth. But a last minute dash by the Swedish team dashed their hopes and pushed the two Brits into second place in the final league table.</p><p>Britain, Sweden and Brazil all began the race with guaranteed medal positions. The final would simply decide which coulor would go to which team. For most of today's final it looked like the pair would win a top place on the podium. They had racked up an impressive three wins and four second places over the course of the week giving them a comfortable points cushion going into the final race.</p><p>All they had to do was beat Brazil and - if the Swedes won - they had to remain above sixth place. Throughout the course they jostled with Brazil's skipper Robert Schedit for fifth and sixth place while the Swedes battled New Zealand for the lead eventually coming in first. As Percy and Simpson came in for the final leg of the race they plummeted to eighth with their Brazilian rivals finishing one place ahead.</p><p>Neither Percy nor Simpson have attracted the same kind of media attention that Ainslie has drawn throughout his career but they are phenomenal medal winning sailors in their own right. Both are veteran competitors and long term stalwarts of Britain's sailing team. The pair came to London 2012 as defending Olympic champions in their Star class having stormed ahead of their opponents in Beijing. Percy had also previously won gold in the Finn class at Athens before Ainslie had even begun competing in the class. He now boasts three Olympic medals – two gold and one silver – to his name.</p><p>Speaking after the race Percy said: &quot;It feels cruel, we just got it wrong and it's pretty gutting. We sailed well all week and feel robbed to be honest but we have to take it on the chin.&quot;</p><p>But these were no ordinary robberies. Prugo is charged with breaking into the homes of a series of celebrities including Paris Hilton, Lindsay Lohan and Orlando Bloom. Last month he took the stand offering a deal whereby in return for testifying against his alleged partners in crime – Courtney Ames, Roy Lopez and Diana Tamayo – all but two of the charges would be dropped. If grassing on his former friends proves successful, Prugo could be looking at a sentence of just two years. He is due back in court next month for the verdict.</p><p>Prugo's hearing is the latest instalment in a saga that has dominated America's gossip pages since he was first arrested back in September 2009. Prugo is a member of the 'bling ring' – a group of affluent, club-hopping, (mostly) teenage Valley kids who, motivated by a warped obsession with celebrity, proved to be one of the most precocious burglary gangs in Hollywood history. They used Twitter to track when their targets were out, Google Earth to work their way into their mansions, and came away with a haul worth more than $3m. It's a story so perfectly of the moment it's as if it were lifted straight from the pages of a movie script.</p><p>Now Sofia Coppola, who came from Hollywood 'royalty' and has long been preoccupied with the vacuous nature of celebrity, has started making the movie. Shooting began in March (with Emma Watson as lead) and it looks as if the f film will be out even before the final few perpetrators have been sentenced for their crimes.</p><p>&quot;Nick is feeling very despondent right now,&quot; says Prugo's lawyer, Markus Dombois. &quot;He is physically very small and slight and is going to find jail difficult. I'm concerned for his safety. He was never the ringleader in all this. He's not completely without blame but he was like the little brother tagging along, he did it out of infatuation. He doesn't have a problem testifying against these people. At first they were his friends but now he realises how morally bankrupt they are.&quot;</p><p>The bling ring spree started towards the end of 2008 at the $4m Hollywood Hills mansion belonging to Paris Hilton. Initially, the perpetrators consisted solely of Prugo and his friend Rachel Lee, a classmate from Indian Hills high school in a wealthy Los Angeles suburb. They met when Prugo transferred there after being kicked out of his previous school for non-attendance. Lee was outgoing and popular – recipient of the highly coveted 'best dressed' award in the 2007 Indian Hills Year Book. By contrast, Prugo was quiet and awkward. She took him under her wing and the pair quickly became inseparable.</p><p>&quot;In a platonic sort of a way Nick was in love with Rachel,&quot; says writer Nancy Jo Sales, who was one of the first to pick up on the story and is now a consultant on Coppola's movie. &quot;He was a shy, troubled guy who followed this alpha female around. She kind of got him to do her bidding.&quot;</p><p>Prugo says they decided to target Hilton's place because they figured she was &quot;dumb&quot;. The pair arrived at her mansion nervous and under the cover of darkness to find she had gone out leaving the key under the mat and both the door and her safe unlocked. &quot;They found cocaine lying out on the bed and jewellery all around the place,&quot; says Dombois. &quot;It was like stepping into a store on Rodeo Drive when the owners were out.&quot;</p><p>At first they were discreet. When Hilton returned she didn't even notice she had been broken into. But it didn't take long before things escalated. Lee started carrying around Hilton's door key, like a trophy, on her own key chain. She began bragging about their deeds to friends and the ranks of the bling ring swelled to around six. And it was Lee who introduced the bling ring break-in rallying cry of, &quot;Let's go shopping&quot;.</p><p>&quot;It became like a party atmosphere and Lee kept getting more people involved,&quot; says Sales. &quot;I think they may have all had different motivations but certainly the designer labels were the main draw. They were totally obsessed with luxury brand names like Chanel and Prada. Nick told me that when they went into these starlets' houses they were just so shocked at the amount of clothes they would have – bags and bags of things that hadn't even been opened. I think that they idolised these people but at the same time there seemed to be a weird resentment, too – a feeling of you've got way more than you need so I'll take them from you. It was a great thrill. There was a feeling of power. They would go out wearing these clothes and joyriding around LA.&quot;</p><p>As time went on, their deeds began to buy them access to the celebrity world they so coveted. Adorned in their pilfered luxury labels and buoyed by their increasing sense of notoriety, they started getting into fashionable clubs such as Les f Deux and Miyagi's bar on Sunset Boulevard, where LA wannabes would gather in the car park after hours. They started hanging out with celebrities and, rumour has it, one of the bling ring even started a dalliance with a famous actor. For a while it looked as if their crimes were beginning to pay.</p><p>But it wasn't long before the net started to close. On Oscar night 2009, while she was out working the red carpet, they robbed the home of Audrina Partridge, star of The Hills, a faux-reality show, ironically also about the lives of a group of pampered LA fashionistas. &quot;I watched the security video,&quot; said an incredulous Partridge, &quot;expecting to see these big scary guys, but instead it was these kids.&quot; The bling ring made off with $43,000 worth of her possessions including a laptop, jewellery and jeans, which Partridge said, &quot;were made to fit my body to my perfect shape&quot;. She posted the surveillance video straight on to her website.</p><p>Then, after being burgled four more times, Hilton finally woke up to what was going on – only after one bling ringer, Roy Lopez, allegedly helped himself to more than $1m-worth of her jewellery, stuffed into a Louis Vuitton tote bag. Another big haul was found in the house of Orlando Bloom when, joined by Indian Hills classmate Alexis Neiers, they came away with a Rolex watch collection as well as artworks totalling nearly half a million dollars. &quot;Lee was moving to Las Vegas,&quot; explains Dombois, &quot;and she fancied some artwork to furnish her new place.&quot;</p><p>The final straw came when they broke into Lindsay Lohan's place. According to Prugo, Lohan was Lee's fashion icon and her ultimate celebrity prize and she made the journey from her new home in Vegas specially to do it. The resulting surveillance shots, showing them casually stuffing their bags, picks out their faces as clear as daylight.</p><p>&quot;The security videos are amazing,&quot; says Sales, &quot;Nick always looked very jumpy and scared, but Rachel was so blasé that at one point she went to the toilet and had a bowel movement. Can you imagine doing that in the middle of robbing someone's house? It's mind-blowing.&quot;</p><p>But by this stage the videos hardly mattered as the bling ring's bragging had seen to it that the police had already received numerous tip-offs. Detectives simply used Facebook to work out who was friends with who, to put together the final pieces of the puzzle. One by one, at the tail-end of 2009, the members of the bling ring were arrested.</p><p>&quot;It's one of those cases that defines a moment in terms of youth culture and media culture,&quot; says Sales. &quot;Some of the attitudes of those kids were really unpleasant and disturbing and it holds up a mirror to things we are witnessing in American youth culture right now – the obsession with celebrity and the obsession with fame. Unfortunately, there is just no shame any more. The only currency is fame itself.&quot;</p><p>What it also demonstrates is the level of confusion we have now reached between celebrity and non-celebrity – and in turn, reality and non-reality. &quot;The other striking thing it shows is how the wall between celebrities and ordinary people has completely broken down,&quot; continues Sales. &quot;It's absolutely permeable now. You have celebrities acting like real people – making themselves all the more available and accessible all of the time. And you have real people acting more and more like celebrities by having reality shows and tweeting to their followers. There used to be a sense that Hollywood celebrities were god-like creatures who rarely came down from the mountain and mingled with the common folk. Now it's completely blurred.&quot;</p><p>Dombois agrees. &quot;I think these kids felt the people they were robbing weren't actually real people – because they were celebrities. And I also think they felt they were vicariously participating in the whole celebrity lifestyle,&quot; he says. &quot;In LA today, for some people, attention and fame is worth much more than any amount of money could ever be. I think that may be what has happened here.&quot;</p><p>Tellingly, when the bling ring's activities were reaching a crescendo, Alexis Neiers, then aged 18, who describes herself as a hip-hop and pole dancing teacher, was actually shooting a pilot for her own reality show. The original intention was that it should be yet another programme about a Hollywood party girl but, no doubt, to the glee of the producers, it quickly morphed into the story of her battle to stay out of prison.</p><p>The show, entitled Pretty Wild, was commissioned immediately and premiered on E! in March 2010. Neiers's court hearing duly turned into a media circus. She chose her outfit carefully, had her make-up touched up on the court bench and coyly pleaded no contest to felony burglary. She was sentenced to six months and ordered to stay clear of Orlando Bloom's home. In the event she was out in just 30 days, which fitted in perfectly with filming schedules. The show was never commissioned for a second series.</p><p>&quot;Neiers was only being filmed for a pilot that might or might not happen,&quot; says Sales. &quot;Then she got a reality show because of the burglary and then she actually does become famous. It's like the dog eating its own tail.&quot;</p><p>It's also worth pointing out that the very celebrities that the bling ring so admired – Paris Hilton and Lindsay Lohan – had themselves been regularly waltzing in and out of jail (Lohan five times in as many years). These days, when Lohan has a court appearance, the attention it attracts is far greater than anything she commits to celluloid – as if the courthouse steps have superseded the red carpet in a twisted new pecking order. And, as if the story couldn't turn any more in on itself, Neiers actually found herself, for one night, in a cell right next to Lohan. &quot;It was insane,&quot; she told Extra, the American celebrity news show. &quot;It was mayhem. They put us on lockdown all day. I got the feeling the girls were actually excited. They were screaming 'I love you Lindsay, I want to be your girlfriend'.&quot;</p><p>Inevitably, all the members of the bling ring ended up, with help from expensive lawyers, fighting their corners and pointing fingers. Lee is currently doing four years in Valley State Prison for Women in Chowchilla, central California. &quot;The last two years of my life have changed me from an irresponsible and childish drug and alcohol addict towards becoming a responsible adult,&quot; she wrote in a letter to LA Superior Court Judge Larry Paul Fidler before being sentenced. &quot;I was really messed up from so much substance abuse as well as poor choices of friends.&quot;</p><p>Out of all of them, Prugo seems to have suffered the most. After his arrest he said he was finding it difficult to breathe, sleep and eat. &quot;I was even losing my hair,&quot; he says. And in his naivety, after his arrest, he confessed to crimes that the police had no idea he had committed.</p><p>Despite her guilty verdict, Neiers still flatly denies everything. &quot;Eventually my story will come out,&quot; she said, doing the rounds on yet another chat show. &quot;I witnessed a robbery. I didn't know whose house it was at the time until I woke up one morning with cops all round my house. It was devastating. I did make a bad choice of friends and I was out drinking that night and got taken to a very bad place. I already had a career going, I had goals, I had a show. Why would I do something like that?&quot;</p><p>As her 'celebrity' career limps on, it's a denial that betrays a distinct lack of remorse. &quot;Aside from perhaps Prugo, I just don't think they had any sense of consequence whatsoever,&quot; says Sales. &quot;I think it's a hangover from the Bush era – when there was very much a feeling of no consequence. These kids did not seem to have any notion that there would be any outcome to their actions. They were so reckless and so utterly blasé about committing very serious crimes.&quot;</p><p>And still the bling ring controversy goes on, as it turns out Coppola, again blurring the lines between fact and fiction, has employed some of the perpetrators in the making of her movie. Dombois says that Prugo was offered $20,000 to consult on the movie but turned it down because he did not want to appear to profit from the case. Neiers, meanwhile, signed up immediately.</p><p>&quot;The bottom line is that Sofia Coppola was going to make this movie with or without my help,&quot; she says, &quot;so why not give input and help her to make it a little more accurate?&quot; Also, she says, the pay cheque proved particularly helpful as her 22-year-old 'sister' Tess Taylor (not a birth sister, but a friend who had grown up living with her) was in the throes of heroin addiction and the money earnt would pay her way through Pasadena Recovery Centre.</p><p>The detective who led the investigation, Brett Goodkin of the Los Angeles Police Department, has also been employed by Coppola to play himself in the film. With three defendants still possibly facing trial, he has been accused of jeopardising their cases. &quot;It's very generic cop kind of stuff,&quot; he said in his defence. &quot;It's not like I'm Bruce Willis.&quot; Meanwhile, David Diamond, the lawyer for the bling ring defendant Roy Lopez, has just subpoenaed Coppola to have access to the entire payroll so he can see exactly who has been paid and for what. The story looks set to rumble on and on through the courts.</p><p>&quot;It's a fascinating case which is why Coppola is making a movie out of it,&quot; concludes Dombois. &quot;People may be saying these people are losers and criminals, why would you glorify them, but it's a societal and cultural phenomena and that's why it's of such interest. And why is Coppola making the movie right now? It's all about money – you've got to hit while it's hot. You've got to remember, we're talking about America here.&quot;</p><p>THE DIRTY HALF-DOZEN</p><p>Nick Prugo</p><p>Twenty-one-year-old Prugo was a founder member of the bling ring. He was on prescription drugs for ADHD. Prugo would surf the internet to establish the target's itinerary and address.</p><p>Rachel Lee</p><p>Lee had a tricky relationship with her mother and stepfather and moved to Las Vegas not long before the break-in at Lindsay Lohan's house. Her Audi A4 was used as the getaway car.</p><p>Alexis Neiers</p><p>Neiers claimed to be so inebriated on the night of the break-in at Orlando Bloom's house that she had no idea what happened. She was found guilty and served 30 days.</p><p>Courtney Ames</p><p>Ames, another student at Indian Hills, had been a good friend of Lee's since 8th grade. The LAPD has pictures of her at Les Deux nightclub wearing a Diane von Furstenberg leather jacket allegedly belonging to Paris Hilton.</p><p>Roy Lopez</p><p>Lopez, a bouncer and the oldest of the group, at 27, was charged with one count of residential burglary of Paris Hilton's home and allegedly stole up to $2m of her jewellery.</p><p>Diana Tamayo</p><p>Student president who was voted as having the 'best smile', Tamayo reportedly once aided the burglary operation by crawling into a target's home through a cat flap.</p><p>LENA CORNER</p><p>£1,415, brownsfashion.com</p><p>After the success of the label’s PS1 satchel schoolbag, the PS11 takes Proenza Schouler’s accessories into more grown-up territory: it’s modern and minimal, roomy and tough, and the colour will keep even the most fashionable shopper happy.</p><p>2. Prada</p><p>£1,500, Prada.com</p><p>In the show, this appliqué leather bag was carried alongside all manner of clashing prints – you don’t need to do this, as it makes quite the statement on its own. A bit Seventies, rather nostalgic and uniquely strange, this number has Prada written all over it. Not literally – they’re flowers.</p><p>3. Chanel</p><p>£1,830, 020 7493 5040</p><p>Chanel’s Boy bag is named after Mademoiselle’s great love, Boy Capel, and is a new take on the classic Chanel quilted bag. This versatile version has more of a gothic flavour, which will fit in perfectly with autumn’s dark romantic trend.</p><p>4. Gucci</p><p>£1,760, gucci.com</p><p>Forget what you think you know about velvet – Gucci’s Frida Giannini has reinvigorated it with a gothic equestrian feel. The gold hardware forms part of the brand’s signature, while the panelling feels new and modern but isn’t about to date any time soon, either.</p><p>5. Miu Miu</p><p>£1,195, miumiu.com</p><p>At Miu Miu this season, the doctor’s bag is a key accessory. This tan leather version is less traditional, with its double clasps, but feels all the more special for it. The classic, warm and natural tone will go well with everything else in your wardrobe too.</p><p>6. Alaia</p><p>£1,400, net-a-porter</p><p>Make the ultimate understated statement with this perforated leather tote bag by fashion’s demigod Azzedine Alaia. It’s chic, classically elegant and spacious – and will only look better with age.</p><p>7. Louis Vuitton</p><p>£2,510, louisvuitton.com</p><p>We know we’ve been banging on about this North South tote from Louis Vuitton, but it truly is something to behold. The luxury label’s classic monogram print is picked out in twinkly paillettes on felt and will add a bit of sparkle to your routine.</p><p>8. Dolce &amp; Gabbana</p><p>£1,810, 020 7659 9000</p><p>This season, the classic Dolce &amp; Gabbana shape gets a baroque tapestry update – two of the biggest trends of the new season – and features one of the Italian duo’s favourite things: gold. It might look like something your nana did in front of the telly, but this ladylike bag is pure luxury.</p><p>9. Celine</p><p>£1,195, celine.com</p><p>If you don’t already own a floppy, over-sized clutch bag, where have you been? This fold-over version from one of Paris’s most desirable labels is one of the best around, showcasing all the sleek hallmarks of designer Phoebe Philo’s minimal style. And you can fit everything you need in it without too much trouble.</p><p>10. Marni</p><p>£250, net-a-porter.com</p><p>Is it a bag or is it Puffa jacket? Marni’s utilitarian and sporty shopper is like carrying a lightweight sleeping bag on one arm, and if you don’t want to add bulk to your body with the Puffa trend this autumn, why not try it out with accessories instead?.</p><p>2. Miu Miu</p><p>£225, net-a-porter.com</p><p>In one of the hottest shapes of the season, the pink-tinted lenses will add a romantic touch to your vision that will make everything seem to be coming up roses.</p><p>3. Giles</p><p>£350, cutlerandgross.com</p><p>Available in four colourways the &quot;Sonic&quot; design was a continuation of the designer's drawings of swans and mirrors the &quot;elegant mystery&quot; of that majestic fowl.</p><p>4. Christian Dior</p><p>£210, 01423 520 303</p><p>Candy colours are inescapable for summer and a bright pair of sunglasses is a fun way to wear the trend if classic neutrals are more your thing clothes-wise.</p><p>5. Erdem</p><p>£350, cutlerandgross.com</p><p>Erdem Moralioglu's collection for spring/summer was a symphony of lace and florals. Here lace is encapsulated within acetate for a feminine, modern style.</p><p>6. Marc Jacobs</p><p>£219, Marc Jacobs, 01423 520 303</p><p>Aviators come in almost all shapes and sizes. This acrylic pair isn't flight regulation thanks to the oversize frame and fun and frivolous colours.</p><p>7. Louis Vuitton</p><p>£291, louisvuitton.com</p><p>Continuing the ice-cream shades throughout Marc Jacobs' spring/ summer collection, this pair has retro styling reminiscent of flight goggles with feminine curves.</p><p>8. Burberry</p><p>£159, sunglasses-shop.co.uk</p><p>Classic aviators are a perennially popular style. This luxurious pair comes replete with the house's signature check as a discreet detail on the arms.</p><p>9. Prada</p><p>£196.20, sunglasses-shop.co.uk</p><p>If you're struggling to choose between this season's cat-eye or round shapes, this angled pair offers the best of both worlds and is flattering to boot.</p><p>10. Celine</p><p>£220, brownsfashion.com</p><p>The keyhole detail on this pair of tortoiseshell shades references classic preppy styles. Honey and brown tones will flatter blondes who may find black too harsh.</p><p>2. ZPM</p><p>£10, ZPM, zpm.com</p><p>This company has a huge range of co cases in all manner of shape and size from those that mimic old-school pencil to multi-pocketed designs.</p><p>3. Muji</p><p>£3.95, Muji, muji.eu</p><p>Open any session make-up artist's kit and you'll find their skincare and cosmetics neatly packed away in little pouches which, more often than not, are these zip cases from Muji.</p><p>4. Prada</p><p>£85, Prada, prada.com</p><p>You might like to double up and make this your posh soap bag too, but there's no reason why this silk draw-string purse can't be used as your daily cosmetics bag too.</p><p>5. Lanvin</p><p>£355, Lanvin, net-a-porter.com</p><p>Let's face it, if you can afford a Lanvin handbag, then the matching make-up carrier probably won't be a problem either.</p><p>6. Monki</p><p>£15, Monki, Monki.com</p><p>H&amp;M's Swedish sister Monki's collection is so cheeky it's difficult not to fall in love with their quirky make-up bags, including this unusual cork effect one.</p><p>7. Biba</p><p>£59, Biba, houseoffraser.co.uk</p><p>Embossed with the instantly recognisable print from the Biba heyday, this leather make-up bag in apple green is ideal for those who like the look of vintage.</p><p>8. Ted Baker</p><p>£22, Ted Baker, tedbaker.com</p><p>Weightlifting rabbits, a bulldog on a sailboat and flocks of bemedalled geese are just some of the surreal illustrations on this vinyl make-up bag from Ted Baker.</p><p>9. Pierre Hardy</p><p>£130, Pierre Hardy, net-a-porter.com</p><p>We've lusted after his shoes and coveted his handbags and iPhone covers, so we can't wait to get our hands on one of his make-up bags.</p><p>10. Benefit</p><p>£22.50, Benefit, benefitcosmetics.co.uk</p><p>The handbag-sized version of the Benefit make-up bag will contain most of your favourite cosmetics if a quick touch-up is in order.</p><p>1. Infusion d'homme</p><p>£35/50ml, Prada, 020 7494 6220</p><p>This is the masculine version of the brand's Infusion d'Iris for women, with of neroli, cedarwood and incense, and benzoin.</p><p>2. Terre d'Hermès</p><p>£72/100ml, Hermès, uk.hermes.com</p><p>Grapefruit and orange sparkle through mineral gunflint in this warm and woody scent, with sensual cedars and earthy vetiver.</p><p>3. 34 Boulevard Saint Germain</p><p>£60/50ml, Diptyque, diptyqueparis.co.uk</p><p>This anniversary fragrance consists of a blend of some of the greatest hits of the famous perfumier.</p><p>4. Oud &amp; Bergamot cologne</p><p>£95/100ml, Jo Malone, jomalone.com</p><p>A masculine scent that packs a punch of sensual, smoky wood due to oud, with a bergamot note.</p><p>5. Amazingreen</p><p>£57/100ml, Comme des Garçons, 020 7494 6220</p><p>Light green top notes quickly dissipate leaving the smoky aroma of gunpowder accord, as well as a vegetal smell of the jungle floor.</p><p>6. Sartorial</p><p>£58/50ml, Penhaligon's, penhaligons.com</p><p>Inspired by the scents of the workroom of Savile Row tailors Norton &amp; Sons, this is ideal for the mature, dapper gent.</p><p>7. 1 Million</p><p>£53/100ml, Paco Rabanne, 020 7494 6220</p><p>Evoking sun-warmed skin thanks to spicy cinnamon, amber, patchouli and white wood, with a top note of grapefruit, mint and mandarin.</p><p>8. Synthesized musk</p><p>£36/30ml, Malin + Goetz, liberty.co.uk</p><p>With notes of patchouli, lemon and, of course, musk, this light, sweet scent can be worn alone or layered with the brand's lime tonic.</p><p>9. Vétiver</p><p>£125/125ml, Christian Dior, dior.com</p><p>Masculine vetiver combines with South American Robusta coffee, while freshness comes courtesy of Sicilian grapefruit zest.</p><p>10. Carbone</p><p>£59/100ml, Balmain, selfridges.com</p><p>Resin notes in this spicy aroma evoke the hallowed silence of old world churches. Musk and vetiver add sensuality and masculinity.</p><p>2. Ally Capellino</p><p>£98, 'Rocky', allycapellino.co.uk</p><p>In classic Capellino style, this simple and sweet wallet is made from soft Italian leather with subtle embellishments.</p><p>3. Marc by Marc Jacobs</p><p>£95, python print, stylebop.com</p><p>PVC and leather embossed with a python effect will bring glamour to your pocket – and the most mundane of purchases.</p><p>4. Prada</p><p>£260, embellished, 0207 647 5000</p><p>Contrasting rows of crystal studs make this wallet stand out – after all, shouldn't men have a bit of glitz in their lives, too?</p><p>5. Mulberry</p><p>£120, key holder, mulberry.com</p><p>House, car, bike lock, someone's heart – the modern man has all manner of keys to keep track of and this zipped pouch provides a chic alternative to pockets.</p><p>6. Yves Saint Laurent</p><p>£175, embossed leather, ysl.com</p><p>The midnight blue of this embossed tweed leather makes an elegant alternative to classic browns and blacks. The signature Y is a nod to its designer credentials.</p><p>7. Paul Smith</p><p>£105, tan leather, 0800 023 4006</p><p>Lined inside with chocolate leather, the longer shape of this burnished wallet makes a nice change from the traditional square shape.</p><p>8. Margaret Howell</p><p>£285, double press stud, margarethowell.co.uk</p><p>Made in England, the vegetable-tanned leather of this folded wallet will soften with wear, developing a unique character.</p><p>9. Steve Mono</p><p>£40, card case, youmustcreate.com</p><p>Ditch that ratty plastic wallet for this handy pouch that is perfect for carrying your business cards, travel card and security pass.</p><p>10. Folk</p><p>£100, unlined, folkclothing.com</p><p>This unlined billfold has something of the great outdoors about it. But don't worry if you're not the hunting, shooting, fishing type – it also looks great in the city.</p><p>2. L'Homme Libre</p><p>£34, 40ml edt, nationwide</p><p>This is the third interpretation of the classic YSL fragrance. This aroma, with basil and pink pepper, is a popular everyday choice.</p><p>3. Marc Jacobs Bang Bang</p><p>£31, 30ml edt, 0800 652 7661</p><p>This reinterpretation of the earlier Bang scent is refreshingly different. The fresh citrus top note is seductively tempting.</p><p>4. Homme by David Beckham</p><p>£30, 30ml edt, nationwide</p><p>The latest offering from brand Beckham, with its woody and spicy notes, certainly does smell very pleasant.</p><p>5. Eau Mage</p><p>£60, 50ml edt, www.diptyqueparis.co.uk</p><p>This year the Parisian brand turns 50. Eau Mage is part of its anniversary collection.</p><p>6. Aramis Impeccable</p><p>£45, 110ml edt, 0870 034 2566</p><p>For a limited time only, this classic has been spiced up. Aramis Impeccable includes essence of Moroccan cedarwood.</p><p>7. Dunhill Custom</p><p>£42, 50ml edt, Dunhill, harrods.com</p><p>Dunhill's newest fragrance smellsof luxury – oh, and English Pippin apple fused with black pepper.</p><p>8. Boss Velvet Amber</p><p>£110, 50ml, harrods.com</p><p>Part of a collection inspired byluxurious fabric, Velvet &amp; Amber is presented in a pouch of that fabric. Available exclusively at Harrods.</p><p>9. 212 VIP Men</p><p>£37.50, 50ml edt, 020 7494 6220</p><p>Aimed at the party-lover, this includes ingredients that might more readily be associated with a cocktail: vodka and mint.</p><p>10. Amber Pour Homme Intense</p><p>£44.50, 50ml edt, nationwide</p><p>Fans of Prada will be delighted with this intense scent, a blend of patchouli, vanilla and bergamot.</p><p>2. Nanette Lepore</p><p>£270, 020 7221 8889</p><p>Stride into the style of the Seventies with this pair of super-elevated cork wedges. The retro heel material is offset by modern neons.</p><p>3. Topshop</p><p>£38, topshop.com</p><p>Warning! Transparent sandals are recommended only for those with pretty feet. The colour and materials of this pair make for thoroughly modern footwear.</p><p>4. New Look</p><p>£14.99, 0844 499 6690</p><p>These paper-flat and relatively delicate sandals look brilliant in the colour of the season: orange. Keep the fake tan minimal so that your skin doesn't clash with your shoes.</p><p>5. Pedro Garcia</p><p>£240, net-a-porter.com</p><p>Good-quality Spanish leather makes these a pair of Jesus sandals with a difference. Wear them with everything from maxi-skirts to jeans and they'll last for years.</p><p>6. Opening Ceremony</p><p>£265, bstorelondon.com</p><p>This über-cool label has transformed a classic sandal style by crafting it in fashionable fluorescent yellow (orange is also available if that's more your thing).</p><p>7. Nine West</p><p>£115, ninewest.com</p><p>More Seventies nostalgia here, what with the chunky heel and platform sole, decidedly racy colour palette and rainbow-hued feather print.</p><p>8. Yves Saint Laurent</p><p>£205, ysl.com</p><p>Who says white footwear has to be clinical? These jelly sandals embellished with a trio of starfish are anything but. The whimsical detail will get you through summer.</p><p>9. Zara</p><p>£69.99, zara.com</p><p>A tough gladiator sandal for that metropolitan look. The zip-up back adds gleaming hardware and is also practical – 15 minutes spent buckling up each morning isn't clever.</p><p>10. Prada</p><p>£890, prada.com</p><p>The Prada shoe this season can be flat, high or wedge-heeled. The unifying factor is that all reference flames, lipstick and classic car fins in suitably saccharine colours.</p><p>2. Mango</p><p>Get on board with the tropical mood as seen on the runways. Add this colourful parrot brooch from high-street favourite Mango for an instant new season outfit update.</p><p>Where: </p><p>How much: £29.99</p><p>3. ASOS</p><p>This multi-disc design chain necklace from online behemoth ASOS is perfect for those who want statement jewellery. Wear it over a plain T-shirt for the greatest style impact.</p><p>Where: </p><p>How much: £40</p><p>4. Wallis</p><p>Layering isn't just a buzzword for your wardrobe this season, but can also work well for jewellery. This gold beaten stacked ring from Wallis gives a nifty three-rings-in-one look.</p><p>Where: </p><p>How much: £8.50</p><p>5. Radley</p><p>This blue rectangular-faced watch by Radley is a great wear-every-day style, the soft leather strap in navy blue adding a touch of sophistication.</p><p>Where: </p><p>How much: £64.99</p><p>6. Oasis</p><p>This chunky gold gem-embellished piece from high-street store Oasis is half chunky necklace, half neck collar. Wear it under a high-necked collared shirt or simple T-shirt.</p><p>Where: </p><p>How much: £25</p><p>7. TU</p><p>A twisted metal chain bracelet is just the thing to toughen up any overly girly spring fashions, and it looks far more expensive than its supermarket price tag.</p><p>Where: </p><p>How much: £6.50</p><p>8. Zoe and Morgan</p><p>Brother-and-sister duo Zoe and Morgan's rock and roll take on jewellery design made their brand an instant success. Try these drop pendant, ethically processed silver earrings.</p><p>Where: </p><p>How much: £110</p><p>9. Tatty Devine</p><p>Wear your heart on your sleeve, or your chest if you'd prefer. This bold glittery brooch will add a flash of colour and character to even the most ordinary of outfits.</p><p>Where: </p><p>How much: £18</p><p>10. Kenneth Jay Lane</p><p>Kenneth Jay Lane has been designing costume jewellery for almost half a century. Invest in this oversized cocktail ring with amber stone at a price that won't break your bank balance.</p><p>Where: </p><p>How much: £75</p><p>11. Michael Kors</p><p>Can't decide between silver and gold for your new timepiece? There is an alternative. This chronograph watch from US designer Michael Kors is a rose gold shade and effortlessly chic.</p><p>Where: </p><p>How much: £199</p><p>12. River Island</p><p>Spring blooms are always a big trend for the season, and your accessories can match with this oversized flower necklace. For a more fashion-forward look team with a flower print top.</p><p>Where: </p><p>How much: £25</p><p>13. Maria Black</p><p>Danish designer Maria Black's jewellery is characterised by its sleek and sexy aesthetic. This bracelet has a rock and roll edge that will work well as a day to evening transitional piece.</p><p>Where: </p><p>How much: £147</p><p>14. Diva at Miss Selfridge</p><p>Take inspiration from the 1920s; one of this season's biggest trends, with these gold- disc Art Deco-style earrings. Wear with a flapper girl-style dress for optimum period appeal.</p><p>Where: </p><p>How much: £6.50</p><p>15. Prada</p><p>If you're after statement gems, look no further than this pink crystal and green patent rose brooch. It comes from Miuccia Prada's debut jewellery collection launched earlier this year.</p><p>Where: </p><p>How much: £260</p><p>16. Erickson Beamon</p><p>Jewellery company Erickson Beamon was founded in Detroit in the 1980s. This gemstone ring is characteristic of its vintage inspired designs which all sport a modern twist.</p><p>Where: </p><p>How much: £198</p><p>17. Burberry</p><p>This stainless steel quartz watch is a great back to basics option. The strap's metal links are subtley reminiscent of Burberry's check print, which gives a contemporary feel.</p><p>Where: </p><p>How much: £295</p><p>18. Coast</p><p>Better known for eveningwear and wedding guest attire, this premium high-street brand's jewellery is worth a look. This agate and gemstone necklace will update a favourite dress.</p><p>Where: </p><p>How much: £50</p><p>19. Dorothy Perkins</p><p>Make a statement with this black-and-gold cylinder arm cuff from high street stalwart Dorothy Perkins. Let the piece take centre stage by pairing it with a simple crisp white shirt.</p><p>Where: </p><p>How much: £15</p><p>20. Dannijo</p><p>Dannijo is the cult jewellery brand founded by sisters Danielle and Jodie Snyder. These handmade gold-plated earrings fuse a bit of rocker vibe with everyday elegance.</p><p>Where: </p><p>How much: £140</p><p>21. NW3</p><p>Even the most traditional of jewellery lovers will hanker after this cute cat brooch from Hobbs contemporary line NW3; ideal for adding a bit of fun to more serious ensembles.</p><p>Where: </p><p>How much: £29</p><p>22. Alex Monroe</p><p>Alex Monroe is based in Suffolk and her jewellery designs are inspired by nature. This 22ct gold-plated silver leaf ring with Tourmaline gemstone makes an elegant addition to any hand.</p><p>Where: </p><p>How much: £150</p><p>23. DKNY</p><p>DKNY's navy ceramic chronograph watch is not just a practical option with its multiple time and date dials, but has an on- trend borrowed-from-your boyfriend vibe.</p><p>Where: </p><p>How much: £225</p><p>24. KG Kurt Geiger</p><p>Kurt Geiger's accessories collection is now a few seasons old and features jewellery such as this gold-plated knot bracelet, which would be an instant investment piece.</p><p>Where: </p><p>How much: £50</p><p>25. Bling Deenie</p><p>Not for the faint-hearted, this silver spike bracelet will provide a focal point for any look; style it right by keeping the rest of your outfit simple.</p><p>Where: </p><p>How much: £45</p><p>26. Marc Jacobs</p><p>These yellow stud earrings are from the Marc by Marc range, which provides the welcome opportunity to get a piece of New York's most famous designer brand for a lot less.</p><p>Where: </p><p>How much: £40</p><p>27. H Samuel</p><p>This stone-set ladybird brooch is an ideal first purchase for those wary of such things. The tiny piece from this high-street jewellers is both subtle and stylish.</p><p>Where: </p><p>How much: £14.99</p><p>28. Yves Saint Laurent</p><p>Yves Saint Laurent's iconic &quot;Arty&quot; ring. The popular design is available in a range of colours and finishes: this particular version is the eye-catching gold with blue stone.</p><p>Where: </p><p>How much: £165</p><p>29. Emporio Armani</p><p>If your time-keeping tastes are traditional, then this super-slim amber and crystal watch with classic roman numerals and brown leather strap will be right up your street.</p><p>Where: </p><p>How much: £179</p><p>30. Kara by Kara Ross</p><p>Horseshoes have long been worn as symbols of good luck and this oval pendant with black drusy gemstone is a stylish example.</p><p>Where: Harvey Nichols (020 7235 5000)</p><p>How much: £75</p><p>31. Whistles</p><p>Chain jewellery doesn't have to be of the scary industrial sort; try this delicate multi-strand bracelet complete with pretty W trinket from upmarket high-street store Whistles.</p><p>Where: </p><p>How much: £18</p><p>32. New Look</p><p>The trend for feathery fashion has had a resurgence in recent months so these feather earrings from New Look are ideal for those wanting to sport a more bohemian look.</p><p>Where: </p><p>How much: £5.99</p><p>33. Freedom at Topshop</p><p>There's something to satisfy every taste in the Freedom at Topshop collection. This oversized pink lip brooch can be worn on a top or attached to a handbag.</p><p>Where: </p><p>How much: £8.50</p><p>34. Van Peterson 925</p><p>American designer Eric Van Peterson has lent his skills to Debenhams for the affordable Van Peterson 925 collection that includes this classic silver leaf clasp ring.</p><p>Where: </p><p>How much: £60</p><p>35. Next</p><p>Choosing a watch for your fitness routine doesn't have to mean wearing something bulky and unfashionable. Try this sports watch in a rose gold shade.</p><p>Where: </p><p>How much: £22</p><p>36. Weekend by MaxMara</p><p>This dual-stranded necklace is a ready-made option that nails the layering look. The mixture of wooden beads and silver strands work as a wear-to-work or out-for-an-evening piece.</p><p>Where: </p><p>How much: £85</p><p>37. George at Asda</p><p>Next time you're in the market for a food shop spare a thought for in-house clothing brand George, where stylish pieces like this leaf bangle come in at not much more than a quick shop.</p><p>Where: </p><p>How much: £5</p><p>38. Erickson Beamon for Maria Grachvogel</p><p>Maria Grachvogel has teamed up with American jewellery designers Erickson Beamon for several seasons. Try these deco drops for double the clout.</p><p>Where: 0207 2459 331</p><p>How much: £235</p><p>39. AWear</p><p>This traditional multi-coloured brooch from high street retailer AWear can be pinned to a scarf for a jazzier look, or styled with a number of others to avoid the out-of-date connotations.</p><p>Where: </p><p>How much: £15</p><p>40. Isabel Marant</p><p>Isabel Marant is the not-so-secret favourite brand of the fashion world. The burnished effect and turquoise stone of this brass ring give it a vintage bohemian vibe.</p><p>Where: </p><p>How much: £50</p><p>41. Fossil</p><p>White and gold combine to make a modern classic with this bezel multi-dial watch with water resistance up to 50 metres, making it an ideal choice for summer wrist-wear.</p><p>Where: </p><p>How much: £105</p><p>42. Philippe Audibert</p><p>The Parisian jewellery designer is a trained sculptor, hence the architectural nature of his designs. This long chain knotted silver necklace will swiftly become a wardrobe essential.</p><p>Where: </p><p>How much: £90</p><p>43. Marks &amp; Spencer</p><p>Every jewellery box needs a thick gold bangle. This Marks &amp; Spencer option works well with any outfit but is particularly effective with eveningwear in providing a dose of glamour.</p><p>Where: </p><p>How much: £7.50</p><p>44. Monsoon</p><p>A statement pair of earrings is an easy way to transform a daytime look for the evening. Team these pretty, blue-gem drop earrings with pulled back hair for fail-safe eveningwear.</p><p>Where: </p><p>How much: £16</p><p>45. Marni</p><p>Fans of Italian label Marni's trademark bold prints will love this set of three patterned resin brooches. Wear them all together or mix and match for a more eclectic yet ultra-stylish look.</p><p>Where: </p><p>How much: £97</p><p>46. Aurelie Bidermann</p><p>An intricate gold-plated arrow crafted into a ring by French jewellery designer Aurelie Bidermann, whose romantic designs are high on many a jewellery lover's wish-list.</p><p>Where: </p><p>How much: £113</p><p>47. Guess</p><p>This colourful watch's double wrap strap gives it a part bracelet, part time-telling-device function and it's right on trend in this season's popular tangerine shade.</p><p>Where: </p><p>How much: £79</p><p>48. Red Herring</p><p>Tribal-inspired fashion is a key look this spring/summer and this gold-beaded necklace from Red Herring at Debenhams will see you seamlessly into the new season.</p><p>Where: </p><p>How much: £18</p><p>49. Lara Bohinc</p><p>From luxury accessories label Lara Bohinc this delicate heart charm bracelet will make an easy addition to your everyday wardrobe: it's simple and pretty without being overwhelming.</p><p>Where: </p><p>How much: £150</p><p>50. Monica Vinader</p><p>These sterling silver drop earrings are in the trademark colourful style of Spanish designer Monica Vinader. And carnelian orange is one of this season's strongest shades.</p><p>Where: </p><p>How much: £90</p><p>Tell us Fashion</p><p></p><p>More than just your average online retailer, TellusFashion sells not only designs from the most exciting new brands but also showcases multimedia content to go along with it including a magazine, blogs and an industry-networking hub.</p><p>Not Just a Label</p><p>  (Elizabeth Dunn shoes, £235)</p><p>If your preferred sartorial tastes lie with off-the-beaten-track designers, then you've found your haven. Not Just a Label, with its thousands of brands, is the world's leading online platform for new designer talent.</p><p>ASOS Marketplace</p><p></p><p>Marketplace is the democratic retail space created by online behemoth ASOS. The site is made up of smaller boutiques showcasing under-the-radar labels, indie brands and vintage-clothing sellers for the ultimate eclectic fashion forum.</p><p>Young British Designers</p><p> (Elise Berger dress, £255)</p><p>Created in recognition of great British design talents, this website is a stage for home-grown talent at the beginnings of their career. Designers include one of this season's NewGen winners, JW Anderson.</p><p> </p><p>Budget:</p><p>Awear</p><p></p><p>With 31 stores on the high street, Awear is a household name over in the Republic of Ireland. The online store, however, has quickly made a name for itself across the UK with its fashion-forward pieces at purse-friendly prices.</p><p>Linzi Shoes</p><p>  (Shoes, from £40)</p><p>Bringing the fast-fashion experience into the footwear forum, Linzi Shoes offers an impressive array of shoes and boots at prices that make it hard to check out with just one pair.</p><p>Glamorous</p><p></p><p>A daily delivery of new lines means you won't have to search far to find something you like. It's with dresses that this retailer really comes into its own with hundreds of styles in rainbow-worthy colours and prints.</p><p>She Likes</p><p> (Red dress, £22)</p><p>With new trends emerging on a near-weekly basis, websites such as She Likes are a welcome addition to the fashion scene. You'll find instant trend injections for your wardrobe at prices that won't break the bank.</p><p>Lavish Alice</p><p></p><p>You'll be in good company with a purchase from Lavish Alice, which counts celebrity names including The Saturdays' Mollie King and Little Mix among its growing fan base.</p><p>Boohoo</p><p>  (Blazer, £30)</p><p>In the eight years since its launch, Boohoo has become one of the leading online retailers in providing trend-led fashion for those on a budget. Taking inspiration from celebrity style, Boohoo has won many awards for its price-savvy designs.</p><p>Own the Runway</p><p></p><p>Using the catwalks as its inspiration, Own the Runway provides an affordable way to recreate high-fashion looks. It's not just the clothing that's worth a look, there's an impressive array of footwear to boot.</p><p>Missguided</p><p></p><p>Having established itself as a must-visit destination for on-trend fashion, Missguided is leading the way in showing you how to wear it, too, with an interactive fashion blog and trend section.</p><p>Stylist Pick</p><p></p><p>Aiming to give a more personal approach to online shopping; after a short questionnaire Stylistpick offers its customers a selection of pieces to suit their look carefully curated by a team of fashion stylists.</p><p>Prodigy Red</p><p> (Striped shirt, £14.99)</p><p>With dresses priced as low as £9.99 and shirts from £14.99 you can't really go wrong with this value-led fashion retailer. Expect to find a colourful array of on trend items at prices you really can't argue with.</p><p> </p><p>Vintage:</p><p>Vestiaire Collective</p><p></p><p>This is the online equivalent of a high-fashion car-boot sale where the online community comes together to buy and sell each other's wares, with the added advantage of an online team who check over the quality of every item.</p><p>Rokit</p><p>(Dress, £250)</p><p>One of the best names in the vintage market, Rokit started out almost two decades ago from a market stall in Camden. Its vintage clothing can now be enjoyed globally with worldwide shipping.</p><p>Vintage Seekers</p><p></p><p>In addition to its beautiful array of vintage clothing and watches, Vintage Seekers also offers art and wine for sale via its seeker personal-shopping service.</p><p>Style Sequel</p><p> </p><p>Style Sequel is a website that aims to give pre-owned, high-end designer clothing a second lease of life by selling it on to a new owner. Among its treasure-trove of second-hand pieces you'll find Chanel handbags and Christian Louboutin shoes.</p><p>Love Miss Daisy</p><p></p><p>For those in the market for vintage clothing but who prefer not to go down the rummage route, this site is for you. Love Miss Daisy sells vintage pieces from the Forties through to the Eighties, plus a stunning selection of wedding dresses.</p><p> </p><p>Discount:</p><p>Lux Fix</p><p> (Lara Bohinc boots, Prices vary)</p><p>Lux Fix showcases an ever-changing roster of designer collections, but this site is a rarity in that it offers stock from current-season collections at special (changing) prices. The only catch is that you'll have to sign up as these special deals are open to members only.</p><p>Yoox</p><p></p><p>One of the largest fashion online retailers, Yoox's roster of brands includes Alexander McQueen and Prada, but where this site really comes into its own is with its carefully selected end-of-season product sales.</p><p>Then and Now Shop</p><p> </p><p>This site says what it sells on the tin. Representing the &quot;then&quot; is past-season designer collections selling at discounts of up to 75 per cent off, while the &quot;now&quot; is a select collection of current-season stock from up-and-coming names.</p><p>Cocosa</p><p></p><p>One of the front-runners in time-limited online sales, Cocosa has established its reputation with an impressive and varied selection of sale goods. Look out for its newly launched beauty section with big-name brands at bargain prices.</p><p>TK Maxx Gold Label</p><p></p><p>TK Maxx has long been one of the leaders in discount designer fashion. It upped the ante, however, with an online presence and the introduction of Gold Label; reserved for only the most luxurious of designer labels.</p><p>BrandAlley</p><p></p><p>The supermarket of online-sale shopping, Brand Alley features a daily line-up of brands from French Connection to D&amp;G. In addition to the timed sales there's now also a year-round outlet section with no shortage of bargains up for grabs.</p><p>eBay Fashion Gallery</p><p> (French Connection dress, £29.60)</p><p>For those not wanting to go through the anxiety of bidding wars and buying from unknown sellers, eBay's Fashion Gallery provides a forum for discount clothing direct from the retailer, cutting out the middlemen but retaining the saving.</p><p>Secret Sales</p><p></p><p>There's nothing more exciting in the world of shopping than feeling like you're part of a private club. Secretsales.com has nailed the members-only formula to bring amazing discounts on fashion and accessories with new sales every day.</p><p>The Outnet</p><p></p><p>From the team behind Net-a-porter.com, The Outnet is a site dedicated to selling designer womenswear at discounted prices. It's worth signing up to email updates for the promotional sales with even further reductions.</p><p>My Habit</p><p></p><p>With online giant Amazon the brain power behind this online store, it's safe to assume it won't disappoint. Based in the USA but with flat-rate international delivery, the site offers 72-hour sales on women's, men's, children's clothing and interiors products too.</p><p> </p><p>Boutiques:</p><p>The Dressing Room</p><p></p><p>Based in Hertfordshire, this award-winning boutique has built up a dedicated clientele. Jeans lovers will enjoy its impressive array of premium denim brands including Hudson Jeans, Paige, Current/ Elliott and Mother.</p><p>Sefton</p><p></p><p>A highlight on Islington's trendy Upper Street, Sefton has been pulling in the crowds both in-store and online with its exciting mix of menswear designers as well as its popular own line.</p><p>Austique</p><p> (Christina shorts, £210)</p><p>Austique made its name with its diverse range of international designers both established and up-and-coming. Fans of popular Aussie brands such as Zimmermann and Camilla and Marc will love this site.</p><p>Coggles</p><p></p><p>With 30 years under its belt, Coggles, which started life in York, has become a master of its trade: more than just an online clothes shop, you'll find books, homeware and vintage pieces alongside its established mens- and womenswear collections.</p><p>Cricket</p><p>  (YSL bag, £1,185)</p><p>Cricket is the leading independent-clothing boutique based in Liverpool specialising in high-end designer womenswear. Log on to find offerings from the likes of Isabel Marant, Lanvin and Chloé.</p><p> </p><p>Luxury:</p><p>LN-CC</p><p></p><p>LN-CC, or Late Night Chameleon Café, takes the same approach of fusing a retail concept within an art installation online as it do with its store. A progressive array of labels is on offer in addition to lesser-known Japanese brands and a selection of rare books and music.</p><p>Avenue 32</p><p></p><p>A newcomer on the luxury online-shopping scene, supplementing the range of brands on offer the site focuses on providing high-end editorial content with an online magazine that includes designer profiles and trend reports.</p><p>My Theresa</p><p></p><p>German-based online store My Theresa has established a reputation as one of the world's leading online retailers. The site boasts more than 160 international designers and stocks hard-to-find online labels such as Balenciaga and Tod's.</p><p>Far Fetch</p><p> </p><p>In Far Fetch you'll find an online store that allows you to shop at the world's best boutiques all in one place. It hand-picks the boutiques on offer to ensure the most diverse and luxurious offerings online. This autumn sees new signings from Miami-based boutique The Webster and London's Browns.</p><p>Moda Operandi</p><p></p><p>A first in online retail, Moda Operandi operates an online trunk-show concept in which you are able to make orders direct from the unedited collections of designers such as Zac Posen and Marchesa months before they go on general sale.</p><p>Stylebop</p><p>  (McQ dress, £255)</p><p>A decade since its inception, Stylebop has become a leading name in luxury labels online: two million users a month log on to check out the great mix of established designers such as Pucci and Balmain with newer names Casadei and Raoul.</p><p>London Boutiques</p><p></p><p>London is a hotbed of designer boutiques and this site makes shopping in them all a breeze. Shop from stores such as Notting Hill's The Gathering Goddess or Shoreditch's 11 Boundary without ever having to leave your lounge.</p><p>Shoe Scribe</p><p>  (Casadei shoes, £690)</p><p>This website is a haven for all things footwear-related; think shoe shopping, shoe news and even a shoe valet who can sort out everything from maintenance to styling dilemmas.</p><p>Watch That Label</p><p></p><p>Sometimes the best fashion finds are the ones from under-the-radar brands. Watch That Label is a site dedicated to bringing only the best new names in luxury fashion for those looking for something a little out of the ordinary.</p><p>Mr Porter</p><p></p><p>It's not only the fairer sex who love to shop online. From the same fashion team that forged Net-a-porter, is the menswear version, Mr Porter – equally as sleek and as well stocked as its award-winning counterpart.</p><p> </p><p>For hire:</p><p>Girl Meets Dress</p><p></p><p>The perfect solution for those looking for something a little bit special to wear but without the whopping designer price tag.</p><p>Kennedy Purple</p><p>, (Balenciaga bag, 1 week £45)</p><p>If you can't afford to buy the latest designer it-bag don't despair because with Kennedy Purple you can now rent it instead. For a fraction of the retail price a new handbag from designers such as Chloé and Mulberry can be yours on a weekly or monthly rental basis.</p><p>The Shortcut</p><p></p><p>For those conscious of not being seen in the same thing twice, rental website The Shortcut offers a solution with its array of flirty party dresses for just £14.99 per weekend. Plus there's free postage, free returns and no need to worry about cleaning.</p><p>Wish Want Wear</p><p></p><p>As one of the UK's leading online dress-hire websites, on Wish Want Wear you'll find a roster of dresses for every occasion, whether it's black tie, bridesmaid duties or summer barbecues, in a range of sizes and brands.</p><p>That Dress</p><p></p><p>Eliminate the guilt factor of purchasing yet another evening dress by renting one instead. That Dress offers designer frocks to rent from as little as £35 and with a £3.95 damage waiver there's no need to panic about a little wine spill.</p><p>China is set to overtake India as the world's biggest goldmarket this year, as rising incomes in the country fuel demand forthe precious metal and the weak rupee diminishes Indian spendingpower, the World Gold Council forecast yesterday. The amount ofgold bought in China rose by a fifth in 2011 to 770 tons. Indiaconsumed 933 tons.</p><p>Ladbrokes beats profit forecasts</p><p>Ladbrokes was hit by string of favourites winning races andPremier League club results going to form at the end of last yearbut still beat City profit forecasts. Operating profits (excludinghigh rollers) fell only 4.3 per cent to £194m despite the fact itwas not a World Cup year. The first five weeks of this year saw anear 15 per cent rise in revenues.</p><p>Graff prepares $1bn HK float</p><p>The London-based jewellery business Graff Diamonds is looking tosparkle in Hong Kong in April, with plans for a $1 billion (£636m)float. Graff yesterday filed the first documentation needed for itsplanned IPO in Hong Kong, following Prada and Samsonite on to thestock exchange. French brand L'Occitane debuted there in 2010.</p><p>Helen Weir joins John Lewis</p><p>The John Lewis Partnership has scored a coup by hiring theformer finance director of Lloyds Banking Group into the same roleat the owner of the eponymous department store and the grocerWaitrose. Helen Weir was most recently the chief executive ofLloyds' retail division and will replace Marisa Cassoni at JohnLewis this summer.</p><p>Virgin complains over BA-BMI deal</p><p>Virgin Atlantic will today lodge an official complaint with theEuropean Commission claiming prices will be hiked, routes axed andcompetition &quot;eradicated&quot; if British Airways' owner InternationalAirlines Group is allowed its £172.5m takeover of BMI. IAG arguedthat the deal would safeguard jobs and regional services.</p><p>Reed Elsevier sees profits rise by 5%</p><p>The digital revolution continues at publisher and eventsorganiser Reed Elsevier, where print is down to just 22 per cent ofturnover. The owner of the LexisNexis legal database, Bankers'Almanac and the Mipim property trade show said underlying profitsrose 5 per cent to £1.6bn last year.</p><p>SocGen warns of more pain in 2012</p><p>Société Générale, France's second-biggest bank, warned of morepain in 2012 after a grim quarter hit by another writedown on Greekdebt and a loss at its investment bank, where bonuses are beinghalved. But SocGen also said it had met new capital requirementssix months early.</p><p>African Barrick hit by gold slump</p><p>African Barrick Gold, the Tanzania-focused miner, reported a 33per cent slump in quarterly profits of £33m, as costs rose andoutput fell. The company blamed extremes in the weather forproduction problems at its mines last year, amid protracted droughtin east Africa.</p><p>Norcros predicts profits gloom</p><p>The Triton shower and Johnson tiles supplier Norcros warnedfull-year trading profits are likely to miss its expectations afterchallenging conditions in the UK and South Africa in December. UKrevenues fell 3 per cent in the 18 weeks to 5 February.</p><p>Rent market gets off to flying start</p><p>Rents are back on the rise after the market sprung into life&quot;unseasonably early&quot; this year, according to lettings agents. Thetypical rent rose 0.1 per cent in January to £712 a month inEngland and Wales, according to LSL Property Services today.</p><p>RIM writes off tablet millions</p><p>Research in Motion, the beleaguered BlackBerry maker, haswritten off $485m related to the poor sales of its tablet device,the Playbook. The Canadian group revealed the profit warningyesterday, sending its shares down more than 8 per cent. Itadmitted that it would need a further promotional drive to shiftthe huge numbers of unsold devices.</p><p>US jobless rate falls to 8.6% low</p><p>The US unemployment rate fell to a two-and-a-half-year low of8.6 per cent in November and companies stepped up hiring in furtherevidence that the US economic recovery is gaining momentum.Non-farm payrolls increased 120,000 last month, boosted by a risein retail jobs. The jobless rate had been expected to stay at 9 percent.</p><p>Michael Kors to list in New York</p><p>The Hong Kong-based designer Michael Kors is preparing to listits shares on the New York Stock Exchange. The move comes afterItalian fashion house Prada listed its shares in Hong Kong earlierthis year. No new money will be raised in the initial publicoffering, with existing shareholders selling stock instead.</p><p>Pensioners in savings victory</p><p>British pensioners have won their campaign to prevent the Irishgovernment plundering savings held in high-yielding bonds. The Bankof Ireland has completed a £3.6bn capital raising with the backingof senior bondholders. This meant the government did not need toconfiscate £46m of former Bristol &amp; West bonds to make thetarget.</p><p>Brits confused about pensions</p><p>Confusion about pensions is widespread among British adults,with many failing to prepare for their retirement, according to asurvey by Friends Life. Almost one in three (32 per cent) employedadults are not saving for a pension, rising to almost half (48 percent) among under 35-year-olds.</p><p>WFEL in £57m deal with Swiss</p><p>The Stockport-based defence engineering group WFEL, which isbacked by private equity house Dunedin, has secured a contract tosupply £57m of tactical military bridges to the Swiss armed forces.WFEL supplies bridges to more than 40 different armed forcesworldwide.</p><p>100 jobs go as Irisa trims Ann Harvey</p><p>More than 100 jobs have been axed at Irisa, the fashion grouppreviously known as Alexon, after its new private equity ownersrevealed plans to close nearly a third of its high street shops.Sun European Partners has told staff that it will shut 20 ofIrisa's 68 high street shops, of which many are Ann Harveystores.</p><p>Ikea suffers 3 per cent sales fall</p><p>The Swedish furniture giant Ikea has become the latest retailerto feel the pinch as low consumer confidence and a poor housingmarket hit sales. The chain said like-for-like UK sales in the yearto 31 August fell 3 per cent to £1.15bn. However, Ikea's marketshare in the UK rose to 6.3 per cent.</p><p></p><p>SDL pays £70m to secure Alterian</p><p>SDL, the UK translation group, is set to secure beleagueredmarketing technology group Alterian after lifting its bid by morethan a third to £68.4m. SDL tabled an 80p per share offer inOctober, which the Alterian board rejected &quot;unequivocally&quot;, but itwon over the board with a 110p per share offer.</p><p>Homeserve buys Veolia arm share</p><p>Homeserve is to acquire Veolia's 51 per cent share of Domeo,which has 890,000 customers and 2.3 million policies in France. Thehome emergency business already has 49 per cent of the business,which will still use Veolia's brands in France. Homeserve is paying£83m cash for the business.</p><p>Prada profits boosted by Asia</p><p>Italian fashion house Prada has sounded a confident note aboutthe rest of the year as it posted a 75 per cent rise in profitsover the past quarter. The designer, which raised $2.5bn in June bylisting its shares in Hong Kong, was helped by sales in Asia, itsmain market. Prada is also looking at opening stores in economiessuch as Brazil.</p><p>Diamonds lose sparkle for BHP</p><p>BHP Billiton, the world's biggest miner, is considering sellingall or part of its diamond assets, which include the Ekati mine inCanada. Diamonds represent only a fraction of BHP's globalportfolio, and the diversified miner said it wanted to focus onareas where it could expand. A review is expected to be completedby the end of January.</p><p>WPP buys stake in app maker Lumi</p><p>The advertising giant WPP has taken a minority stake in LumiTechnologies, which creates apps that can be used on any mobiledevice. WPP also said it has agreed to buy US-based publicrelations firm Glover Park, which is headquartered in Washington,DC with offices in Los Angeles and Boulder.</p><p>Diabetes drug gets EU permission</p><p>Brussels has given AstraZeneca permission to sell its type-2diabetes drug Komboglyze across the European Union. The drug,launched in the US in January, was developed as part of a jointventure with its US rival Bristol-Myers Squibb. Nearly 53 millionpeople are affected by type 2 diabetics across Europe.</p><p>US boost for SkyePharma</p><p>Shares in SkyePharma jumped 9 per cent after the drugs grouprevealed US regulators are considering its Lodotra treatment forrheumatoid arthritis. The treatment uses SkyePharma's technology toprovide a delayed-release formulation of low-dose prednisone – adrug already used to treat rheumatoid arthritis.</p><p>Balfour Beatty staff back action</p><p>Workers employed by the building giant Balfour Beatty have votedfour to one in favour of strikes in a protracted row over unionclaims that long-standing agreements were being terminated andcraft workers' jobs being &quot;de-skilled&quot;. Unite also said it wouldballot workers at other construction companies involved in thedispute.</p><p>Xia-Xia crabs look to pinch Xmas lists</p><p>Character is to launch a toy crab which has taken the US bystorm in the UK in time for Christmas. The toy distributor hopesXia-Xia, pronounced Sha-Sha and developed by the creators of ZhuZhuPets, will help to prop up sales. The Bob the Builder toy groupalso posted an 11 per cent rise in annual sales to £95m as profitshit £9m.</p><p>Quintain back in the black</p><p>The property developer Quintain has moved back into the black inits first half-year but warned an improvement in its markets isunlikely in coming months. It made interim profits of £3.7m,compared with losses of £59m a year ago, when it took substantialwrite-downs on the value of its properties.</p><p>RBS to make 440 more staff jobless</p><p>Royal Bank of Scotland is to close its site in Bristol and makeanother 440 staff cuts from its customer support operations. Thebank, which is more than 80 per cent owned by the taxpayer, saidthe cuts were part of 3,000 job losses announced last year. Theunion Unite urged the bank to reconsider the closure.</p><p>Saab GB goes into administration</p><p>The UK distribution arm of the car company Saab has gone intoadministration, threatening more than 100 jobs. Saab GB hasexclusive rights to distribute Saab cars and parts in the UK. Itemploys 55 people in Milton Keynes, in Buckinghamshire. The parentcompany is continuing talks with potential investors.</p><p>2 Polar bear Christmas jumper £670, Stella McCartney, from net-a-porter.com</p><p>3 Panama notebook £110, shown with Soho Diary, £295, and iPad case, £395, all by Jonathan Saunders for Smythson, tel: 0845 873 2435</p><p>4 Unwind Body and Bath Oil £20, shown with body polish, £20, both from jainnisa.com</p><p>5 Limited-edition Christmas crackers Containing Grapefruit Cologne 9ml, Lime Basil &amp; Mandarin Body &amp; Wash 15ml, and Pomegranate Noir Body Creme 15ml, £28, Jo Malone, tel: 0870 034 2411</p><p>6 Hat with bobble £55, chintiandparker.com</p><p>7 Make-up brushes £15 to £22.50, benefitcosmetics.co.uk</p><p>8 Stripy umbrella £7.99, newlook.com</p><p>9 Glitter heels £370, Miu Miu, tel: 020 7409 0900</p><p>10 Silk blouse £239, Equipment, from my-wardrobe.com</p><p>11 Hand cream £9.99, burtsbees.co.uk</p><p>12 Nail Lacquer Silver Lake 071 and Swan 011, £17.50 each, Givenchy, from selfridges.com</p><p>13 Belt £20, frenchconnection.com</p><p>14 Thin-strap Watches £20 each, asos.com</p><p>15 Square Glitter Bag £65, frenchconnection.com</p><p>16 Silk bra £26, bouxavenue.com</p><p>17 Limited-edition candles Perdigone (spiced plum) and Epinette (spruce tree), £45 each, Diptyque, from spacenk.co.uk</p><p>18 Large white leather bag £1,185, Prada, tel: 020 7647 5000</p><p>19 Knitted bow ballerina slippers £35, rubyanded.co.uk</p><p>20 Large Leopard-print scarf £18, missselfridge.com</p><p>'Notting Hill Gate' frame sunglasses, £606, by pq eyewear designed by Ron Arad, 36 Beauchamp Place, London NW3, 020-7581 6336</p><p>Embellished shoes, £1,110, Prada, 16-18 Old Bond Street, London W1, 020-7647 5000</p><p>Wool and sequin North South bag, £2,510, Louis Vuitton, 17-19 New Bond Street, London W1, 020-7399 3856</p><p>Silk floral scarf, £255, Gucci, 18 Sloane Street, London SW1, 020-7235 6707</p><p>Velvet and lambskin shoulder bag, £1,711, Chanel, 26 Old Bond Street, London W1, 020-7493 5040</p><p>Bonded flannel fedora with leather trim, £169, Emporio Armani, 020-7823 8818</p><p>Artemis gold necklace, £175, Lulu Frost, </p><p>Crystal heel boots, £1,000, Chanel, as before</p><p>Styling: Gemma Hayward</p><p>Photographs: Catherine Losing</p><p>Set design: Sarah Parker</p><p>Assistant: Jemma Pearson</p><p>Fiennes art</p><p>Joseph Fiennes is set to become a work of art. At next month's Performa, New York's biennial of performance-based visual art, the actor will star in Happy Days in the Art World, by Elmgreen &amp; Dragset. The Scandinavian artist duo is best known for irreverent installations – they placed a replica Prada store in the middle of the Texan desert and transformed the Danish and Nordic pavilion at the 2009 Venice Biennale into a sinister collector's house, complete with body in the swimming pool. For Performa, they have created a witty autobiographical work about the perils of collaboration, creative deadlock and artists as celebrities based on Samuel Beckett's Happy Days and Sarah Thornton's Seven Days in the Art World. Fiennes will play one of the artists opposite Charles Edwards (last seen as Andrew Aguecheek in Peter Hall's Twelfth Night). The artists have designed the set and will make cameo appearances. Intrigued? The piece previews at Glasgow's Tramway on 21 and 22 October.</p><p>The goose stays in the picture</p><p>As scene-stealing performances go, the goose in War Horse is hard to beat. He may be smaller than his equine counterparts, but what he lacks in spectacle, he makes up for in quacks, flaps and comic timing. Now the noisy puppet has caught the eye of Hollywood. The artistic director of the National Theatre, Nicholas Hytner, has revealed that Steven Spielberg was so taken with the fowl, that he wrote him into his movie. &quot;The film is a new adaptation of the book, not the National Theatre production,&quot; a source tells me. &quot;Dreamworks bought some intellectual property aspects of our adaptation – there are some things in the play that aren't in the book – one of which was the character of the goose.&quot; The theatre can't reveal how much Dreamworks paid for the goose; rumours that he now demands his own dressing room at the New London Theatre are unconfirmed.</p><p>Ryan's jacket required</p><p>Forget the politics of ultra-violence, the crucial question raised by Drive is where did Ryan Gosling get that jacket? The anti-hero refuses to be parted from his silky, scorpion-design bomber even when it's spattered with blood and guts – so who designed it? Step forward, Erin Benach (who worked with Gosling on Half Nelson and Blue Valentine). &quot;They used the tailor Richard Lim of High Society in LA,&quot; I'm told. &quot;It was inspired by Korean souvenir jackets from the Fifties and Kenneth Anger's film Scorpio Rising.&quot; So now we know. There were 13 versions of the bespoke jacket – satin with wool collar and cuffs – made for the shoot. A website, Steady Clothing.com, is now selling a replica for $159.99, but there's no guarantee that it will make the wearer as cool as the Driver himself.</p><p>Follow the leader</p><p>More sartorial news, this time from Art London. Gazelli Art House are showing new work at the fair by the Korean artist Hyo Myoung Kim, 35, inspired, improbably, by David Cameron's dress sense. The Prime Minister is depicted in the abstract digital portrait as a set of stripes – black for his suit, white for his shirt, royal blue for his tie and rosy pink for his face. &quot;I was watching television and Cameron was talking about the financial crisis,&quot; says the artist. &quot;It wasn't the content that struck me, but the fact that everything was really shiny. His suit, his tie, his face. The suit became the content for me.&quot; The idea sparked off a series, &quot;Portraits of Suits&quot;, in which the artist deconstructs the bland uniform of leadership. Also on sale (for £2,500) are his takes on Obama and Sarkozy. Nick Clegg and Ed Miliband are available on request, should you feel the urge.</p><p>Jerusalem portraits</p><p>Last year, the artist Haidee Becker moved her studio to a former brothel in Archer Street, behind the Apollo Theatre where Jerusalem was enjoying night after night of sell-out success. In the last month of the run, she left a note for the show's star Mark Rylance at the stage door, asking him if she could paint his portrait. He appeared at her window 10 minutes later and suggested that Becker, 61, paint him in character at the theatre, along with the rest of the cast as they killed time backstage. Now, as the play returns to the West End, Becker's portraits are going on show at Bocca di Lupo, also on Archer Street. The fashionable Italian restaurant is owned by Becker's son, Jacob Kennedy, and normally features Becker's large, food-inspired canvasses on the walls.</p><p>Surely, in the face of such a stylish onslaught, our footballers, lovely (but not necessarily lovely to look at) English boys all, do not stand a chance in Kiev tonight. Or so runs the received wisdom. This column begs you to think again. </p><p>The land of love? This is a country – Catholic with a capital C – so sexually repressed its young people have to snog in their cars because they consider falling foul of the local serial killer less threatening than a chance encounter with the young lady in question's father.</p><p>Land of art? The Renaissance was long ago, and while Da Vinci had something, the last Italian artists to have made an international impact have either been dead for nearly a century, like Modigliani (La Belle Romaine, inset), or were born far from the boot-shaped land (De Chirico). What wouldn't modern Italy give for a Tracey Emino or a Damien Hirstio? </p><p>Food? You're having a laugh. Spaghetti is that stuff students throw in the pan when there's nothing in the fridge; pizza, an inferior take on Welsh rarebit only fit for eating when there's no pasta in the cupboard and you're too drunk to do anything but reach for a phone. </p><p>As for opera, Pavarotti had a decent voice (if you like that sort of thing), but his biggest successes came when he got a bit of help from the likes of our very own Bono. Just one Cornetto? Go Compare? That's the true legacy of this ancient musical art form. </p><p>And so to fashion. Of course, there are those understated labels previously mentioned. But far more conspicuous are Versace, Cavalli and D&amp;G – all of whom make clothes for men who wear white trousers and women with skin as leathery as their handbags. </p><p>They've got Ferrari. We've got Aston Martin. They had gladiators, we've got Wolf and Jet. Their empire was over by the end of the fifth century. Ours lasted until the end of the 19th. Viennetta, Gino Ginelli, Dolmio ... Come on England. We have nothing to fear. </p><p>The President will attend a series of high-profile fundraisers with key figures from the fashion industry, led by Anna Wintour, the British-born editor of Vogue magazine, who yesterday was tipped as a possible future candidate for US Ambassador to London.</p><p>Speculative reports suggest that Wintour, 62, is a candidate to succeed Louis Susman, America's representative in the UK, who is set to retire later this year. The formidable editor, who inspired The Devil Wears Prada, has been named a &quot;top bundler&quot; for Obama, having raised more than half a million dollars for his &quot;Victory Fund.&quot;</p><p>In Chicago tomorrow, Ms Wintour and supermodel Iman, who is married to David Bowie, will walk the red carpet at a fundraiser at Oprah Winfrey's TV studio in Chicago. On Thursday, Ms Wintour will join other key players at the New York home of Sarah Jessica Parker, the Sex and the City star, for a $40,000 (£25,850) a head dinner party attended by Obama and his wife Michelle. The Obama campaign's move to boost support in the fashion world comes days after he visited Hollywood for a fundraiser attended by key players in the movie business. He hosted a low-profile breakfast for 25 young Hollywood stars, including Jeremy Renner, Jessica Alba, and Zachary Quinto.</p><p>Democratic strategists hope that the President can use celebrities to once more spark the enthusiasm of younger voters, who turned-out in such huge numbers to support him in 2008, and must be persuaded to return to the ballot box this November if he is to succeed in securing a second term.</p><p>To that end, Obama's first national campaign video aired last week, during the MTV Movie Awards. It featured Sarah Jessica Parker calling Obama &quot;the guy who ended the war in Iraq; the guy who says you should be able to marry anyone you want; the guy who created 4 million new jobs... That guy!&quot; The video sparked criticism from Republicans, who have long used Obama's chummy relationship with the red carpet crowd to suggest that he is behaving inappropriately at a time of hardship for many voters.</p><p>Republicans say a raffle by the Obama campaign to win tickets to Parker's dinner party is &quot;frivolous&quot;. But GOP supporters are being asked to buy tickets to win a dinner with Mitt Romney and celebrity backer Donald Trump.</p><p>Celeb endorsements: who's backing whom</p><p>Film</p><p>Obama: Spielberg, Clooney, Hanks... take your pick.</p><p>Romney: Jon Voight, Chuck Norris, and, er, Kelsey Grammer.</p><p> </p><p>Music</p><p>Obama: Springsteen, Madonna, Will.i.am, 50 Cent, etc.</p><p>Romney: Ted Nugent, Kid Rock, Gene Simmons.</p><p> </p><p>Fashion</p><p>Obama: Marc Jacobs, Zac Posen, Diane von Fürstenberg, and many more.</p><p>Romney: Cindy Crawford (a former Obama supporter) and designer Joseph Abboud.</p><p> </p><p>We're not sure about: Hotpants</p><p>We know women don't sweat, they merely glow. Well, prepare to glow your behind off. These shorts have been designed to ramp up your body heat, burning up calories and claiming to shift two jeans sizes in two weeks. </p><p>zaggora.com</p><p>We're buying: Worthy of note</p><p>Bright young thing Jonathan Saunders has teamed up with Establishment favourite Smythson to produce diaries and notebooks in block coloured goatskin with velvet, brushed gold and enamel detailing. Lined in the Scot's signature print, these will make even a shopping list chic. </p><p>From £110, 0845 873 2435</p><p>We can't wait for: Fashion's Oscars</p><p>Voting for the British Style Award is now open ahead of the British Fashion Awards on 28 November. Have your say on who you think is a sartorial star and you could win a pair of tickets to attend the ceremony among the great and the good.</p><p>britishfashionawards.com/britishstyle</p><p>We're saving up for: Prada Montagna</p><p>If you're swish enough to be heading to the slopes soon, and you're not flying with Stavros, then this capsule collection of skiwear is for you. Featuring down jackets and gilets, gloves and Alpaca knits. Chic even on the bunny slopes. </p><p>From £175, prada.com</p><p>We're not sure about: Bum note</p><p>Touted as a &quot;fun summer look every guy can appreciate,&quot; white is surely an impractical choice for this T-shirt from Adidas. The blood stains from the ground-scraping knuckles of anyone Neanderthal enough to wear it will be a nightmare to remove.</p><p>We're buying: Graduate collections</p><p>The graduate collections are upon us, and though we might not have the purchasing power of the legendary Browns founder Mrs Burstein, there's still the chance to buy the work of bright young things. Ten University of Westminster students have collections for sale on Asos marketplace.</p><p>marketplace.asos.com</p><p>We can't wait for: Dinner and a show</p><p>London's newest restaurant, Shrimpy's, has the fashion and food worlds all aflutter, but as well as the 50-cover diner, architect Carmody Groarke has designed a shimmering, gilded, waved forecourt at the disused petrol station site in King's Cross. An arts programme is due to be revealed.</p><p>The Kings Cross Filling Station, London, shrimpys.co.uk</p><p>We're sharing: A bit off the top</p><p>This discount code will certainly afford plenty of investment purchasing at the LN-CC, the east London concept store that's had everyone talking about it, with labels such as Haider Ackermann and Givenchy.</p><p>Quote &quot;INDYLNCC30&quot; to receive 30 per cent off selected brands in store or online, 9-15 June, ln-cc.com</p><p>We're not sure about: Wax on</p><p>Perhaps The Audit is missing a trick here, but the new trend for massage candles has some very 9 Weeks connotations that sound – quite frankly – dangerously painful without crystal-clear instructions.</p><p>We're buying: Lost in Atlanta</p><p>With collaborations with Gareth Pugh and Henry Holland under her belt, Cordwainers College graduate Atalanta Weller is no stranger to strong design motifs. Her exclusive new collaboration with Urban Outfitters, featuring five covetable designs, launches today.</p><p>From £195, urbanoutfitters.co.uk</p><p>We can't wait for: Bond's booty</p><p>Charting a half century of the smooth spy – and his lovers – on the silver screen this exhibition will feature iconic costumes including the work Hubert de Givenchy, Muiccia Prada and Oscar de la Renta.</p><p>From 6 July, barbican.org.uk</p><p>We can't wait for: Scouting for style</p><p>Glamour is upping the relationship ante with a competition to find the best-dressed couple in Britain. With a prize of £20,000 to spend on my-wardrobe.com for the winner, it would surely be worth a singleton's while to hire a ringer.</p><p>glamour.com</p><p>Languishing on the unloved list for a while, paisley prints have become a signature for young designer J.W. Anderson. The pyjama print jumped from nightwear to the catwalk as Haider Ackermann and Stella McCartney showed silky separates festooned with the twisted teardrops.</p><p>An Olympian year</p><p>Who can blame designers for latching on to the Olympics and running with it – excuse the pun. Sports fans will be pleased to see that sweatshirts, shorts, bomber jackets and hoodies have been given a high fashion spin in luxurious fabrics and a pastel palette.</p><p>In a flapper</p><p>Gucci led the glamorous Gatsby-era charge with a black-and-gold showing of fringed flapper dresses. If you're worried about playing dress-ups, make-up is a good way to achieve a subtle version of the trend. Nars' metallic smudge sticks (£17, Nars; from selfridges.com) make a gilded eye a doddle.</p><p>Vroom, vroom!</p><p>The retro references continued with Prada's hyper-feminine outing, of which muscle cars were a signature motif – on everything from stilettos (£650, prada.com) to skirts and bags. Hourglass curves made an appearance in Dolce &amp; Gabbana's Mediterranean vegetable medley while the minimal pedal pushers and gingham at Jil Sander were a crisp take on the Fifties era.</p><p>Water world</p><p>Pearls were slung around models' waists, dotted down their spines and through their hair at Chanel's underwater-inspired extravaganza. Iridescent fabrics, jewel-encrusted netting and undulating ruffles all mimicked the delights at the bottom of the ocean. The conch-shaped clutch bags with a pearlescent finish are the accessory of the season, if you've a spare £18,200 (Chanel, 020-7493 5040).</p><p>Get waisted</p><p>Modern and sleek, this season, peplums, whether attached above or below the waistline, added volume to a straight silhouette at Céline and Dries Van Noten or emphasised an hourglass figure at Givenchy and Jason Wu.</p><p>Nailing it</p><p>Mix up the sweetness of the season with Dolce &amp; Gabbana's new kohl collection which features a series of vampy, glamorous nail shades (£17, harrods.com), or match it with Chanel's newest must-have additions – three pinkish shades named for the months of spring.</p><p>Sweetness and light</p><p>There's no getting away from it, saccharine pastels are one of the biggest colour stories this season, shown by almost everyone. The girliness of the hues is not for the faint of heart – although it may feel easier to wear fondant shades as make-up rather than clothes.</p><p>Bobbing along</p><p>A newly chopped bob can be a refreshing beauty statement for the spring, but if you're not quite ready to take the plunge with the scissors, the faux bobs as seen at Jil Sander are a good place to start.</p><p>Short shorts</p><p>Forget the Daisy Dukes or tailored city shorts, this season the shape resembles nothing so much as a big pair of knickers. Scarf prints and florals showed in the last-ever D&amp;G collection, while at Balenciaga, Nicolas Ghesquière balanced teeny-tiny shorts with boxy shoulders.</p><p>Lace ups</p><p>Spring and lace go hand in hand and the intricate fabric is sexy (of course) at Dolce &amp; Gabbana, romantic at Valentino and Erdem, and colour-contrasted at Miu Miu and Junya Watanabe. The supersize broderie Anglaise collars at Louis Vuitton are one of the key buys of the summer.</p><p>Darling buds of May</p><p>This season, florals are graphically printed, appliquéd and embroidered. Follow the trend up the garden path with Gucci's new Flora Garden collection (£72 for 100ml, available nationwide), Stella McCartney's lily-of-the-valley-inspired L.I.L.Y or Jo Malone's newly customisable classic Red Roses.</p><p>The brand, which first burst on to a somewhat arid high street in 1994, hit its apex at the time when the good ship Cool Britannia ruled the waves, before sinking almost without trace in 1999.</p><p>Menswear has gained ever more prominence in recent years, leading to the debut of a standalone event – the London Collections: Men – in June, so now seems the perfect time for the revival of this much-loved brand.</p><p>The move is spearheaded by design director Frances Walker, who was tempted from a two-decade career with Nicole Farhi menswear, which she had helped to launch after leaving university.</p><p>&quot;I loved the original,&quot; she says. &quot;I remember when it came on the scene and I realised it was using the same fabrics we were [at Nicole Farhi]. It had these great prices and the quality was really high – that's what always really impressed me about it.</p><p>&quot;That's what I'm trying to do with the brand this time around.&quot;</p><p>Steering clear of the conceptual direction in which the label was taken towards the end of its previous incarnation, she is more interested in ensuring that the range has broad appeal.</p><p>&quot;I'm not trying to replicate what it was. It's not about being of the moment so much in menswear now; it's not about being conceptual and wildly fashion forward – it's about having great clothing. Jigsaw Menswear isn't going to be out there in the Helmut Lang/Prada way that it was at the end of the 1990s.&quot;</p><p>This may seem like a shame to those who remember the progressive collections of the past, but it is true that, in London at least, there are plenty of young designers who are willing to push that envelope.</p><p>&quot;There's a massive resurgence in menswear at the moment,&quot; says Walker. &quot;I'm not trying to do a heritage brand, either. I think there's a heritage of men's clothing, as opposed to a heritage brand.&quot; Instead Jigsaw Menswear is pitched at the discerning male aged between 20 and 60, and Walker took inspiration from a variety of men who are &quot;sexy and charismatic, in an unkempt masculine way&quot;.</p><p>For the summer collection Walker imagined that the original Jigsaw client had &quot;lost everything at sea&quot; and faced the task of restocking an empty wardrobe. &quot;Everything has a worn-in feel – so everything feels a bit familiar.&quot;</p><p>Initially the collection – made up of chinos in Portuguese cotton and fisherman knit jumpers alongside tailored suiting – will find its home in established Jigsaw stores, while a menswear flagship will launch in London's Spitalfields later this month.</p><p>Stylist: Lee Holmes</p><p>Photographer: Brian Daly</p><p>Grooming: Simon Izzard at blushessalon.co.uk</p><p>Model: Alex at Select</p><p>By cheering coincidence, and without making a big deal about it, The Five-Year Engagement has all three of those ingredients. True, it's hampered by a bland giveaway title, but then it does start at the point most romantic comedies conclude. We first meet San Francisco sous chef Tom (Jason Segel) and his girlfriend Violet (Emily Blunt), a doctoral student in social psychology, on their way to a party. He's behaving rather oddly, and under her persistent questioning in the car he cracks, presenting her with the engagement ring he planned to give her in a lovely spot overlooking the Bay. She says yes, but insists that they go through with his sweet romantic hoo-ha anyway, even though they both know how it ends: the film is a bit like this, too.</p><p>So their troth is plighted, and all set fair. As the countdown to matrimony begins, however, circumstances conspire to delay them. Violet's sister Suzie (Alison Brie) jumps the gun by getting hitched to Tom's co-chef and best friend Alex (Chris Pratt), and they have a baby to boot. Then Violet wins a two-year research fellowship, not at the local university but in Ann Arbor, Michigan. A decision must be made, and Tom agrees to move, sacrificing the big promotion he was due as chef at the Clam Bar. What's interesting is that the script (by director Nicholas Stoller, reuniting with Muppets co-writer Segel) presents the couple's dilemma very honestly. Violet explains that her own mother had to move for her husband's job, and resented him ever after. She's determined they won't repeat that mistake: she doesn't want Tom to be a martyr and do it just to please her. Tom isn't a martyr, but he does do it to please her – and he will eventually come to rue it. His disaffection is traced with a beadiness that's at once comic and deeply painful.</p><p>The film makes light of its two-hour length thanks to an exceptionally strong cast. The leads do outstanding work: Emily Blunt, who first came to notice as the brittle junior witch of The Devil Wears Prada, shows an entirely different side here, investing Violet with a warmth and humour that feel quite spontaneous. Jason Segel is Hollywood's favourite Mr Nice Guy at the moment, and you can see why. He projects just the right amount of decency as Tom, and, without becoming a wimp, shows how his accommodating nature subtly undermines him. The Five-Year Engagement sets its face against the old tropes of traditional romantic comedy and its foolish enshrinement of &quot;perfection&quot;. It is altogether more humble, and more truthful, in charting the pitfalls of modern coupledom.</p><p>By cheering coincidence, and without making a big deal about it, The Five-Year Engagement has all three of those ingredients. True, it's hampered by a bland giveaway title, but then it does start at the point most romantic comedies conclude. We first meet San Francisco sous chef Tom (Jason Segel) and his girlfriend Violet (Emily Blunt), a doctoral student in social psychology, on their way to a party. He's behaving rather oddly, and under her persistent questioning in the car he cracks, presenting her with the engagement ring he planned to give her in a lovely spot overlooking the Bay. She says yes, but insists that they go through with his sweet romantic hoo-ha anyway, even though they both know how it ends: the film is a bit like this, too.</p><p>So their troth is plighted, and all set fair. As the countdown to matrimony begins, however, circumstances conspire to delay them. Violet's sister Suzie (Alison Brie) jumps the gun by getting hitched to Tom's co-chef and best friend Alex (Chris Pratt), and they have a baby to boot. Then Violet wins a two-year research fellowship, not at the local university but in Ann Arbor, Michigan. A decision must be made, and Tom agrees to move, sacrificing the big promotion he was due as chef at the Clam Bar. What's interesting is that the script (by director Nicholas Stoller, reuniting with Muppets co-writer Segel) presents the couple's dilemma very honestly. Violet explains that her own mother had to move for her husband's job, and resented him ever after. She's determined they won't repeat that mistake: she doesn't want Tom to be a martyr and do it just to please her.</p><p>Tom isn't a martyr, but he does do it to please her – and he will eventually come to rue it. His disaffection is traced with a beadiness that's at once comic and deeply painful. Unable to get a top job as chef, he settles for the modest horizons of the local deli. He becomes a loyal partner to Violet, and pals up with an &quot;academic husband&quot; in chunky knits. His transformation into a suburban-backwoodsman is evinced in his learning to hunt, growing a beard, putting on weight and losing much of his self-esteem. In a very funny dinner scene he serves alarming hunks of deer to the visiting Suzie and Alex, and pours his home-brewed mead into hairy beakers that &quot;look like Chewbacca's dick&quot;. (Producer Judd Apatow's trademark vulgarity is more sparingly used here, and the better for it). Violet meanwhile becomes a departmental star under the tutelage of her professor (Rhys Ifans), inventing a psychology experiment involving stale donuts that tests delayed gratification – which in turn becomes an extended metaphor of what's happening between her and Tom. Indeed, the film might have enjoyed the much better title of &quot;The Donut Experiment&quot; (they only had to ask me).</p><p>The film makes light of its two-hour length thanks to an exceptionally strong cast. The leads do outstanding work: Emily Blunt, who first came to notice as the brittle junior witch of The Devil Wears Prada, shows an entirely different side here, investing Violet with a warmth and humour that feel (as far as one can judge) quite spontaneous. She has a great laugh, too.</p><p>Jason Segel, who has already impressed this year in Jeff, Who Lives at Home, is Hollywood's favourite Mr Nice Guy at the moment, and you can see why. He projects just the right amount of decency as Tom, and, without becoming a wimp, shows how his accommodating nature subtly undermines him. Like Blunt, he has excellent timing, not just in their comic repartee but in serious moments of one-to-one confession: there's one late-night conversation that would be the envy of a good dramatist, let alone a comedy writer.</p><p>Around them satellite a number of fine smaller parts, including Alison Brie, better known as Trudy Campbell from Mad Men, nailing one of the best lines to her sister Violet: &quot;This is your wedding – you only get a few of those!&quot; Mimi Kennedy as Tom's mum gets a fantastic late scene in which she delivers some home truths to her son, his dad (David Paymer) capping it off with a charitable &quot;Had to be said&quot;. I also enjoyed Brian Posehn as the deli's dedicated pickler and world's worst speechmaker.</p><p>The Five-Year Engagement sets its face against the old tropes of traditional romantic comedy and its foolish enshrinement of &quot;perfection&quot;. It is altogether more humble, and more truthful, in charting the pitfalls of modern coupledom. To be selfish in the pursuit of ambition and fulfilment or to be a martyr in facilitating your partner's? Can one find a middle ground? In doing so the film also gets to grips with the difficult subject of self-worth, difficult for American movies, that is, which so often confuse it with self-entitlement. Feelings of wistfulness, of frustration and disappointment, underlie the comedy of this long engagement, and it's a mark of the nuanced script and performances that the outcome actually begins to matter to us.</p><p>The Year of Modesty</p><p>By Hugh Montgomery</p><p>If any truism rang true in 2011, it was that celebrities were human beings too – a fact you could hear straight from the horse's mouth! &quot;Most so-called 'celebrities' are just people who happened to become singers or actors or footballers...&quot; opined Leveson star Hugh Grant, &quot;and then also happened... to become successful.&quot; And, lo, he was followed into the witness chair by numerous A-listers, their tales of hounding inducing paroxysms of guilt among us showbiz gluttons. Slowly, we vowed to wean ourselves off the Mail Online &quot;sidebar of shame&quot; and survive on the gruel of ironic broadsheet columns.</p><p>Not that all celebrities should rest easy this year. For if showbiz hacks were pilloried for their shamelessness, then shameless fame-seekers are in for it, too. What are they, after all, but traitors to the virtuous, &quot;just happen to be famous&quot; cause? Indeed, from Joey Barton's Twitter tirade against the &quot;helmets&quot; of The Only Way is Essex to Daniel Craig's vilification of the Kardashians, celebrity class warfare looms large in 2012. Yes, nascent famous people, modesty is the thing from hereon: when there are fundamental privacy rights to fight for, an OK! &quot;at home&quot; spread or birthday sing-song for an Eastern European dictator simply will not do. Just look at the stars de nos jours for inspiration. There's Adele, whose extraordinarily ordinary rider – organic muesli and lager – merited levels of press coverage usually reserved for Lindsay Lohan DUI incidents. And Ryan Gosling, a paragon of doe-eyed sweetness as likely to go nuts on a chat-show as he is to star in a Michael Bay blockbuster.</p><p>Hell, even D-listers are valorising restraint. Check out Myleene Klass, not known for her Rousseauian adherence to the simple life but now loftily reflecting on the exalted joys of a &quot;secret&quot; wedding. Meanwhile, Mark Wright, TOWIE roué-turned-Nice Guy™, has left the show, upset at being portrayed as &quot;an exaggerated version of me&quot;, with others exiting in his wake.</p><p>And what about Twitter? Yes, even this vortex of self-promotion can be calibrated to the modern celebrity's modest needs: forget the humblebrag and say hello to the haterz retweet, as popularised by the likes of Robbie Savage, whereby celebrities rebroadcasting messages of abuse reflects both the toxicity of the sender and the self-effacing self-assurance of the recipient.</p><p>Modesty, self-effacement, muesli... yes, we're in for a lean year. But on the bright side, all this restraint might restore some mystique to these charmed vessels of our imagination. And if that leaves us wondering about Tara Reid's ambiguous marriage status, well then, so be it.</p><p>Hugh Montgomery is a New Review 'Style Shrink'</p><p>SPORT</p><p>The Year of Olympic Fall-out</p><p>By Andrew Tong</p><p>The year of the London Games will get off to a false start as rubbish bins overflow with Olympic mascots bought for Christmas presents. The nation has a new inspiration for burning off the excesses of the festive season as we buy cut-price Team GB leisurewear in the sales and join a taekwondo club, start a handball team or go running in the dark, burning torches in our hands. It's hard to tell if your neighbour is training for the discus or just can't fit into non-elasticated clothing any more.</p><p>The torch relay begins on 19 May and will pass through more than 1,000 towns and villages within 10 miles of 95 per cent of the UK's population. The test events continue apace at the Olympic venues, with gymnastics at the Greenwich Arena, the Track Cycling World Cup at the Velodrome, swimming and the Diving World Cup at the Aquatics Centre, and finally athletics in the Olympic Stadium itself.</p><p>Meanwhile, the four-year Cultural Olympiad culminates in the London Festival, which opens on midsummer's day. There's David Hockney at the Royal Academy, Shakespeare at the British Museum, and a Damon Albarn opera about a multi-disciplined Elizabethan called Dr Dee. Even football might be cast in the shade should Manchester City run away with the Premier League title and England make a predictable early exit from the European Championships in June.</p><p>But football will have its way: mid-summer transfer dealings will no doubt dominate the back pages, and its Olympic tournament even contrives to kick off two days before the opening ceremony. That showpiece will be hard-pressed to justify its £80m budget, let alone outdo Beijing's extravaganza, but if Boris Johnson's hair catches fire as the Olympic torch arrives in the stadium, it may be deemed the most innovative yet.</p><p>Some Olympic ticket-holders may not make it back in time from Euro 2012 and the Ukrainian railway system to attend their allocated events. Though more likely, punters will be delayed by our own stuttering public-transport infrastructure. Restrictions to London traffic lanes could mean gridlock and commuters jogging to work, proving that the Olympic legacy does exist. But they may have to sprint past the 13,500 British troops on their £553m security detail – many just returned from duty in Afghanistan, where only 10,000 are on parade.</p><p>Team GB will win a couple of golds and lots of bronzes and then it will be time for the football season again. After the Paralympics are over, the stadium will fall into disuse while its future footballing tenants are decided. Natural floodplains will be restored to the Olympic Park to create a wetland habitat on the River Lea, while the Olympic Village will be converted into homes for so-called &quot;key workers&quot; such as nurses and teachers – if they still have jobs. Finally, the Great A12 Traffic Jam will be set free after 144 days, just in time for Christmas.</p><p>Andrew Tong is a sports reporter for The Independent on Sunday</p><p>SCIENCE</p><p>The Year of Mass</p><p>By Steve Connor</p><p>Everything we touch, hold, eat and breathe has mass. In other words, all objects, from molecules to mountains, are made of matter which we can measure and weigh with the help of the force of gravity. The apple Isaac Newton saw falling to the ground did so not just because of gravity, but because it had mass. As he calculated, the force of gravity is a product of its mass and acceleration.</p><p>But there is something quite mysterious about mass. Why, for instance, do atoms have it while photons, the tiny parcels of light that travel all the way from the Sun, do not? Why do some objects have a bigger mass than others? Why does an elephant, for example, weigh more than elephant-sized candyfloss? The answer could be found in 2012 with the help of the Large Hadron Collider [LHC], the particle accelerator at Cern, the European Organisation for Nuclear Research in Geneva. If the theorists are right, the solution rests in the discovery of a fundamental subatomic particle called the Higgs boson. And if it exists, the LHC should find it.</p><p>Professor Peter Higgs of Edinburgh University first postulated the subatomic particle that now bears his name in the 1960s. He theorised that all matter has a mass because it interacts with a force field that pervades the universe – an interaction mediated by the boson. The greater the interaction between an object and this field, the greater the mass of that object.</p><p>Nearly 20 years ago, then-science minister William Waldegrave offered a prize to anyone who could explain the boson in simple terms. The winner drew an analogy with a cocktail-room full of political-party workers who stand uniformly distributed, chatting to one another in a relaxed manner. Into the party walks a former prime minister who, as she moves from one side of the room to another, attracts a small knot of people. This is what the Higgs boson does to matter: the greater the mass of an object, the greater the knot of people and the slower it moves through the &quot;cocktail drinkers&quot; of the Higgs field.</p><p>The beauty of the Higgs field is that it is all-pervasive and, in important respects, is indistinguishable from empty space. More importantly, because the boson endows virtually all matter we know about with mass, it also acts as a unifying influence over the fundamental forces of physics. It is the physicist's dream to formulate a grand &quot;theory of everything&quot;. Which is to say, the boson's discovery might not explain mass alone: it could help unify the disparate forces of nature into a single theoretical entity – possibly the greatest achievement in physics since Albert Einstein's theories of relativity.</p><p>Steve Connor is science editor of The IoS</p><p>POLITICS</p><p>The Year of Women</p><p>By Jane Merrick</p><p>Meryl Streep's chillingly accurate portrayal of Margaret Thatcher in The Iron Lady, out this Friday, serves as a reminder that no woman in British politics has come close to her dominance since she left office. Indeed, other than two interim exceptions (Harriet Harman and Margaret Beckett), there has been no other female leader of a mainstream English political party.</p><p>At the same time, Downing Street remains seriously concerned that the Government is performing badly among women voters: its internal poll shows that women are turned off by the austerity agenda, while the latest poll for The IoS put Labour on 44 per cent among women, 10 points clear of the Conservatives on 34 per cent; among men, the gap was just one percentage point.</p><p>This spring, David Cameron and George Osborne will do two things to try to reverse that trend: the first will be a Cabinet reshuffle that the Prime Minister will use to boost the number of women on the frontbench. (There'll be promotions, too, within lower ministerial ranks: expect the strident and fiercely intelligent Liz Truss, who some MPs believe bears similarities to a young Mrs Thatcher, to be among them.)</p><p>The second major overture will come in the Budget, when the Chancellor will do what he can to woo female voters with family-friendly policies such as childcare. There will also be help, it is expected, through the tax system for lower-income earners – a bracket dominated by women, who are also more likely to work part-time.</p><p>In the Labour Party, Ed Miliband believes he has a strong band of women on his frontbench, and, as he continues to speak up for the &quot;squeezed middle&quot;, will also target the female vote. The member of his Shadow Cabinet who could rival Mr Miliband for the leadership is not Ed Balls but his wife, Yvette Cooper – the Shadow Home Secretary (below) whose review of policing will likely feature in security issues around the Olympics.</p><p>But, by this time next year, as this Parliament's halfway mark is passed, thoughts will turn to the next leader not just of Labour but the Tories and Liberal Democrats, too. For all three, the next leader is likely to come from the 2010 intake. Is it possible that they will also all be women? Rachel Reeves, the Shadow Chief Secretary to the Treasury, is tipped as a contender after 2015. For the Tories, Ms Truss would be a good bet. The Lib Dems have a lower proportion of female MPs, but Jo Swinson is worth watching, as she could succeed Mr Clegg, if he decides to become an EU Commissioner. Could any of them follow in the Iron Lady's footsteps?</p><p>Jane Merrick is political editor of The IoS</p><p>FASHION</p><p>The Year of Sugar and Spice</p><p>By Susannah Frankel</p><p>Miuccia Prada has spoken. &quot;Sweetness,&quot; she announced immediately after her spring/summer collection was shown in Milan last September. And overnight, sugar, spice and all things nice – deemed not even remotely fashionable until now – were set in stone to become the last word in style. And so, three months later, as the new season's fashions begin to drop on a high street near you – and, yes, I know it's demented that one is expected to buy one's spring wardrobe in January, but we all know how it works by now – expect to see ice-cream colours, jewelled embroideries and flowers and a mid-20th-century haute couture silhouette. Sweetness indeed.</p><p>At times this may appear more reminiscent of the wardrobe of a fairy-tale princess rather than anything suited to a fully grown woman. And if that smacks of escapism, that's at least partly where such sentiments spring from. There's more than one way to confront hard times and the collective fashion consciousness has decreed that this is not the moment for austerity.</p><p>Moreover, while autumn signifies a certain sobriety, spring is the moment for fashion folly inspired, more often than not, by travel – whether that be in its &quot;I've been to India on a research trip and I now like pink&quot; incarnation, or imaginary. In Prada's hands, though, any prettiness is undercut by a witty twist: vintage-car motifs applied to the delicate, fondant-hued surface of clothes safe in the knowledge, as Prada explained, that women and cars are the two loves of the Italian man's life.</p><p>At Louis Vuitton, Marc Jacobs, that other fashion superpower, has embroidered and over-embroidered daisies on to his feather-light, fondant-coloured frocks, all hand-worked to the most elevated standards and shown against the backdrop of a snowy-white carousel, just to emphasise its almost perversely whimsical feel.</p><p>Christopher Kane was thinking of a teenager dressing up in her bedroom when he designed his collection: &quot;The sort of girl everyone at school used to hate.&quot; With this in mind, crystals and Crayola-bright stickers have been appliquéd on to the surface of aluminium silks to ensure that this is a wardrobe that might inspire jealousy in even the most well-intentioned friends. Of course, such unabashed femininity comes not without irony – a saccharine flourish in a less-than-hospitable world.</p><p>The starting point for Jonathan Saunders' spring collection is Miami colours – an Art Deco palette, then, of aqua blue, rose pink and mint green – but there's a zoned-out feel to the silhouette inspired by Dior's New Look line that whispers of the popping of prescribed pills by desperate housewives in times gone by. Come to think of it, didn't they come in pretty colours too?</p><p>Susannah Frankel is fashion editor of The IoS</p><p>ECONOMICS</p><p>The Year of Accountability</p><p>By Margareta Pagano</p><p>A few months ago I asked one of the Bank of England's most senior figures how he would explain the Great Financial Crash of 2008 to his grandchildren. Would he tell them about toxic mortgage-backed securities? Low interest rates provoking a credit binge? Or the bonuses being paid to bankers that drove them to dream up ever-greater leverage? He twisted and turned, and said: &quot;It was drift – we were all guilty, the politicians, the bankers, businessmen and women; consumers, too. We all got carried away; not just in the UK but round the world.&quot;</p><p>Getting carried away is probably as good an answer as we'll get. But this doesn't mean those responsible should be exonerated. The biggest challenge of this year will be for the UK establishment – the City authorities, the bankers and the politicians – to be held accountable for past excesses and lay the ground for a fairer future.</p><p>The latest report by the Financial Services Authority into its regulation of RBS – which received £45bn of taxpayers' money, and jettisoned 27,000 jobs – was feeble and, apart from the opprobrium heaped on Sir Fred Goodwin, no one has been held accountable. That's why it's crucial that the Business Secretary, Vince Cable, is forensic in his attempt to establish whether charges can be brought against ex-RBS directors.</p><p>It wasn't just RBS which drifted; so did banks across the US and Europe. Countries were equally culpable, the UK as well as those in the eurozone borrowing as though there were no tomorrow. Five European governments fell last year and there will be more political unrest if the French and Germans fail to create stability.</p><p>David Cameron's veto of the new &quot;fiscal pact&quot; may prove foolish in the long-term interests of our relations with our biggest trading partner, the EU. Cameron has not explained fully why protecting the City against a tax that will hit Europe's financiers equally is worth risking a war of words with our neighbours: we should be told.</p><p>If 2011 was the year of unraveling after the crash, 2012 will be when the fightback starts in earnest: demands for control of corporate pay; pressure for the Vickers banking reforms to be pushed through more quickly; stopping bankers' bonuses at the state-owned banks; more bank lending; and more to be done to help soaring unemployment among the young.</p><p>If the politicians fail to hold themselves and others accountable, don't be surprised if the Occupy protest movement grows bigger still. The cold may force the protesters to drift home, but the unease about the injustices they are attempting to articulate will remain.</p><p>Margareta Pagano is a business columnist for The IoS</p><p>MUSIC</p><p>The Year of Fast-Track Fame</p><p>By Simmy Richman</p><p>The slogging tour in a Transit van, the relentless recording of demos by day and waiting for an A&amp;R man to materialise at a show by night... such was the way for musical hopefuls from the Beatles to Arcade Fire. And while that route grew character and tested patience, it also built careers with the potential to span decades.</p><p>Last summer a young singer-songwriter from New York became the latest &quot;internet pop sensation&quot; when she posted a video on YouTube. A few million hits later and there she was on Later with Jools Holland. By the end of the year, pop observers as far apart as Pitchfork and Radio 2's Steve Wright (and, yes, The IoS's own Simon Price) were predicting that 2012 was going to be the year of Lana Del Rey. The evidence? A song called &quot;Video Games&quot; – which sounded extraordinary the first few times you heard it; like Muzak soon after – and an image that suggests Jessica Rabbit brought to life.</p><p>As &quot;Video Games&quot; went viral, the backlash began: internet &quot;haters&quot; questioned how a former folk singer called Lizzie Grant could have morphed into a femme fatale overnight. &quot;The problem with Lana Del Rey...&quot; opined one headline; &quot;Manufactured!&quot; cried the Village Voice, presumably expecting her to be a bona fide 1950s film star. Despite this, by year's end Del Rey had gone global with spreads in Vogue and Rolling Stone.</p><p>It's worth pointing out that Del Rey has not yet released her second single. It's called &quot;Born to Die&quot; and its title feels apposite. Because while a few years have passed since the internet changed the face of the record industry, Del Rey's &quot;career&quot; to date – a hallucinatory hurtle through the levels of fame – seems to signal the speed at which the future will chew up and spit out its music-makers. Forget the tipping point: anyone looking to make it as a pop star now had better be prepared for the tipping-over point – the moment where expectation is so high that there is nothing you can possibly do to satisfy it. Is Del Rey strong enough to survive? Things will become clearer when her debut album is released at the end of this month, but telling interviewers, &quot;I wish I could go back to normal,&quot; doesn't bode well.</p><p>Never mind: there are plenty more queuing up to take her place. Because, in spite of the Del Rey experience, pop in 2012 will be all about building buzz and very little to do with building a career. The &quot;Sound of&quot; polls, the SoundCloud scavengers, the Facebook likes and the tweets retweeted – these are the tools being used by a generation that has grown up not having to pay a bean for music and with its finger stuck on the shuffle button.</p><p>Simmy Richman is music reviews editor of The IoS</p><p>WORLD AFFAIRS</p><p>The Year of Revolution?</p><p>By David Randall</p><p>The past 12 months have been more eventful than any in my 33 years as a national newspaper journalist. World news is always unpredictable, and, in 2011, Planet Earth surpassed itself, bringing not only a fearful crop of earthquakes, famines and a tsunami, but also perpetual financial crises and the collapse of regimes which, last December, seemed impregnable.</p><p>In such circumstances, none but fools would make forecasts, something of which I am now only too aware. Last March, in a fit of press-day silliness, I wrote that, of all the regimes in the Middle East and North Africa which could fall, Libya's was the least likely. Sure enough, seven months later, Gaddafi fell. I point this out by way of a pre-emptive warning to any members of the betting community tempted to invest wagers on my reading of the world's tea leaves as 2012 begins.</p><p>Let us start with events we know will take place: a sequence of elections in which some of the leading lights are up for re-election, or, in Vladimir Putin's case, re-instatement. Despite the first signs in Russia that people are starting to weary of his personality cult and all those stripped-to-the-waist photo opportunities, his grip on Russia's media is such that he will be returned as president again.</p><p>As for Nicolas Sarkozy, his fate depends less on the unimpressive opposition – or anything he might say or do – than on euro-related convulsions being kept to a minimum. If the euro survives, so will Sarkozy.</p><p>The election which will dominate the entire year is in the US. Here, beginning in only two days' time, months of Republican primaries and caucuses will gradually decide who will stand in November. The winner will have a tough task. For all that President Barack Obama has failed to live up to his own soaring rhetoric, he has been non-flaky at home and has had major successes overseas. Whatever his poll ratings now, I expect him to comfortably beat either Mitt Romney (who looks like the front man in an insurance ad), or Newt Gringich (who looks more like what someone would want to insure against). Both are seriously sub-White House standard.</p><p>All these are the things that conventionally matter, but the great issue of 2012 is likely to be not &quot;Who?&quot; but &quot;What?&quot; The feeling grows with every passing nervous tic of the capitalist financial system that it is not merely suffering a bout of recession from which it will duly recover, but, in its more mature economies, is irredeemably flawed.</p><p>Consider: the inability to deliver anything even resembling fairness; the unstoppable drift towards greater and greater inequality; a banking system into which money is endlessly poured to little avail; electorates unable to see that low taxes and high public spending do not compute; and, perhaps most significant of all, the lack of any theory, or set of policies, which address these issues.</p><p>Lenin asked: &quot;What is to be done?&quot; 2012 will ask: &quot;What can be done?&quot; And the answer, if it comes, may be more revolutionary than we imagine.</p><p>David Randall is foreign editor of The IoS</p><p>ENVIRONMENT</p><p>The Year of the Arctic</p><p>By Michael McCarthy</p><p>Who owns the North Pole? It's probably a question you have never asked yourself. Or heard anyone else ask, either. But you will be hearing it a lot in 2012.</p><p>For the icy roof of the world, the frozen ocean and its seabed at 90 degrees north, is right at the heart of the next great scramble for natural resources – the Arctic oil rush. According to the US Geological Survey, the region above the Arctic Circle contains an estimated 160 billion barrels of oil, worth at current prices more than $18tr (£11.17tr), and the world's leading oil companies, the &quot;supermajors&quot; such as Shell and ExxonMobil, which have already exploited all the relatively straightforward sources of hydrocarbons around the world, are eyeing it hungrily.</p><p>The Arctic is a forbiddingly difficult place to work, but one ominous development, the melting of the ice of the Arctic Ocean because of global warming, is making exploration possible, and this summer both Shell and ExxonMobil will be starting multibillion-dollar drilling programmes, the former in the seas off north Alaska, the latter with Russian partners in the seas off Siberia. Edinburgh-based oil company Cairn Energy has already begun the scramble with a so-far unsuccessful series of test wells in the seas off Greenland.</p><p>It's not only the oil companies that are casting envious eyes on the High North, however. The Arctic countries themselves, the nations by which the Arctic Ocean is surrounded – Canada, Russia, the US, Norway and Denmark (via its ownership of Greenland) – are looking to stake their claims and extend their territorial waters and consequent sovereignty of the seabed out to 90 degrees North: four years ago the Russians planted a flag on the North Pole seabed, and this year Denmark signalled that it would make a formal territorial claim to it by 2014 at the latest.</p><p>Yet the Arctic is not only a potential source of oil and gas – it is also the world's most pristine ecosystem, as millions of people realised for the first time with the broadcast during 2011 of Frozen Planet, the BBC Natural History Unit's masterful and wholly compelling account of life at the two Poles. Just how much of it there was, in these icy deserts, and how epic were its struggles to survive, were the principal revelations of a documentary, narrated yet again in the nuanced, husky tones of David Attenborough, which from its launch in late October held much of the nation in thrall.</p><p>So when, in the first few months of the coming year, Greenpeace launches a major campaign to make the North Pole and the area around it internationalised – and thus off limits to oil development, no drilling, no territorial claims – it is likely to have a very substantial base of public support. People across the English-speaking world now know what is at risk from attempting to industrialise one of the the world's last great untouched ecosystems.</p><p>This is going to be one of the classic environmental battles, like the battle over whaling. Expect to see it in the headlines very soon – for 2012, in environmental terms, is without doubt going to be the Year of the Arctic.</p><p>Michael McCarthy is environment editor of The IoS</p><p>FOOD</p><p>The Year of Retro-futurism</p><p>By Lisa Markwell</p><p>The chomping classes like nothing better than a new trend, but in 2012, jaded palates and slender wallets might mean a return to the plates and places we know and trust. Retro-futurism, it's called: trad dishes made with modern techniques and understanding (ethics, health). Three-Michelin-star chef Massimo Bottura and food writer Laura Santtini employ the ethos. So if your chicken's not organic and prepared sous-vide (cooking vacuum-sealed food slowly in a water bath), why not?</p><p>The trend rode high in 2011 with fast food gone posh – think of Meatwagon's burgers with stellar beef inside, or succulent barbecue at PittCue Co's truck on the bank of the Thames. The wheels have come off both – in a good way: the former has a white-hot restaurant off Oxford Street; the latter has plans for a permanent home in the capital. There will be plenty of knock-offs of these two in 2012 and, of course, plenty more small-plate places in the style of Russell Norman's brilliant Polpo.</p><p>But could we also see the end of the meat-dominated menu? Please let it be so. Last year's £85 steaks at Cut and 34 may be the plateau point for fetishising beef. Can prices or provenance get any higher? One hit restaurant might have started a sideways shift: the Goodman chain's new outlet is called Burger and Lobster.</p><p>Another opening that will reveal whether we really are ready to shake the protein off is Orchard, a second venue for the people behind the haute vegetarian Vanilla Black.</p><p>And could this be the year that ramen finally becomes our favourite cheap fast food? Tsuru plans to open a mini chain in London and Koya's noodles have a devoted following. As a nation we've adopted sushi as our own, but what could be more soothing in the chill of economic strife than cheap, comforting, tasty ramen?</p><p>At the other end of the scale, restaurant titans Corbin and King had another glittering hit on their hands last month when The Delaunay opened. But unlike other recent swanky arrivals, the prices have been set to be very competitive, as front-of-house maestro Sebastian Fogg told me. Take that, Wolfgang Puck! We'll have to wait and see if Balthazar – a New York import arriving soon – is pitched at the same level. If so, London at least will be spoilt for choice with grand cafés offering luxe comfort food at a price within the reach of we mortals.</p><p>But what about those slaving over a domestic stove? Back to retro-futurism: John Lewis is selling a sous-vide machine for £349, which means if we really can't be parted from our swanky steaks, at least we can eat them at home (just google Heston for the recipe)...</p><p>Lisa Markwell is restaurant critic of The New Review</p><p>We head straight to Via Farini for a stroll under the frescoed porticos. After a few inauspicious shops, Via Farini broadens as in an ode to fashion: Hermès, D&amp;G, Louis Vuitton, Fendi, Gucci, Burberry, Bulgari, Prada.</p><p>Punishing The Benefactor's plastic won't be a problem here. Indeed, as I unleash the pair of them, my friend makes straight for Bulgari declaring she &quot;absolutely adores everything on display&quot;.</p><p>It is now 5.30pm, not exactly aperitivo o'clock, but what the heck: I know the perfect spot. A stone's throw from the shops we've just been raiding, Caffè Zanarini (00 39 051 27 50 041) is a Bologna institution, spreading out on Piazza Galvani with a dozen small tables covered by immaculate white table clothes. Within moments, a handsome young man in a navy blue waistcoat materialises at our table. I order three Spritz (Aperol liqueur, prosecco and soda).</p><p>After the fourth round, it is decided by The Benefactor that I will spend the night at the hotel with my friend, as The Benefactor is leaving and the room is already paid for. For the same reason, it is also decided that I will go to Rome the next day with my friend for the weekend. I am sent home to change and pack, and then told to meet them at the restaurant for 7.30pm. I learn that a reservation had been made at Pappagallo (00 39 051 23 28 07; alpappagallo.it), right under the two towers.</p><p>The high arched ceiling makes me dizzy, so I focus on the walls, covered in autographed pictures of the famous people who have dined here since the restaurant opened in 1919. We decide to order, amused to see that we have been given three ladies' menus (no prices).</p><p>The Benefactor and her daughter opt for the inevitable tagliatelle al ragu bolognese (as all self-respecting hedonists will tell you, bolognese sauce is never served with spaghetti), while I try to impress everyone with goats' cheese ravioli with aubergines and thyme. After the second bottle of Merlot, The Benefactor abandons us, duly paying the bill on her way out. We force the last spoonful of white chocolate and liquorice mousse into our greedy mouths, then plan the next stage of our entertainment.</p><p>Judging from the crowd gathering at La Capannina's bar counter (00 39 051 33 09 10; capannina.info), we're about 30 minutes from our mojito. Luckily, Italians have no concept of &quot;queue&quot;, so I clasp my friend's arm and nonchalantly make my way through a sea of waxed chests and Gucci bags.</p><p>The bartender winks and our drinks are soon safely in hand, so we walk away in search of a quiet spot. Easier said than done, as the music is a sad combination of Eurotrash and 1980s cheese (an unlikely soundtrack given the sleek décor). We ditch the prospect of another trip to the bar, and head instead towards a pair of suit-clad thirtysomethings brandishing a magnum of Veuve Clicquot. Hello, boys.</p><p>Later, my friend and I hail a cab to Via dell'Indipendenza. Upon arrival – and to my great surprise – a doorman helps me out. This way, madam, and watch the steps, madam. Turns out we're staying at the Baglioni (00 39 051 22 54 45; duetorrihotels.com), the only five-star in town. I take a moment to soak up all the marble and velvet and Moroccan leather and shimmering chandeliers in the lobby, then climb on to the plushest of beds and sleep.</p><p>Morning brings a closer look at the Baglioni (actually the Majestic since 2010, but everyone still calls it by the name of its founder): all stuccoed ceilings, damask wallpaper, gold-plated taps and rich carpets. But, frankly, what I'm really looking forward to is the breakfast, which doesn't disappoint. Then it's off to the train station for more of the same in good old Rome. But that's another story.</p><p>Maia Norman's label Mother of Pearl collaborates with artists to produce off-the-wall pieces every season. This spring, she has worked with none other than Pierre Hardy, Parisian cobbler to the stars, to create a sports-luxe high-top for her range. £405, motherofpearl.co.uk</p><p>2. Maria Nilsdotter</p><p>Nilsdotter's gorgeously gothic jewellery includes bat-winged rings, cuffs that look like scaly claws and spiky talon necklaces. Wildly classy. brownsfashion.com</p><p>3. Christian Louboutin 20th Anniversary</p><p>The man who revolutionised not only the high heel, with his signature hidden platforms and vertiginous stilettos, but also the red carpet with that trademark red sole, celebrates his 20th year of business this month by releasing an anniversary capsule filled with some of his most iconic styles. Above, £765, 020 7491 0033</p><p>4. Acqua di Parma Colonia Intensa</p><p>Calabrian bergamot and Sicilian lemon combine in this classic fragrance for men, reissued this month in a limited-edition wooden coffret by cult perfumerie Acqua di Parma. £100, harrods.com</p><p>5. Scarf prints</p><p>From porcelain to paisley, nautical to psychedelic, the way to wear your prints this season is on a scarf. A scarf that has become a blouse, skirt or shoes, that is: the traditional silk foulard was twisted and knotted into all of these at the final show for D&amp;G this season.</p><p>6. A new silhouette</p><p>Forget those dresses with a helping-hand hourglass etched on – there's a new silhouette in town, courtesy of Phoebe Philo at Céline and Nicolas Ghesquière at Balenciaga. High-waisted and broad-shouldered, it's not the easiest look to pull off, but that's the point. Perfect it now – because it'll be around next season, too.</p><p>7. 'Shop MAC Cook MAC</p><p>'Make-up trends follow the same hyper-feminine directive that clothing does this season and MAC's spring colours are a case in point, inspired by deranged and Technicolor 1950s housewives.</p><p>8. Essie</p><p>The long-standing salon staple for those with nail know-how. Essie nail varnishes will soon be available over the counter in Boots and Superdrug, so the limitless range of shades will be that much easier to get your hands on. From May, £8.99, available nationwide</p><p>9. Vogue festival</p><p>The Vogue Festival promises to lift the lid on some of the industry's secrets, with talks from the likes of Mary Portas and Christopher Bailey, as well as shoots and makeovers on-site. 20 to 21 April, voguefestival.co.uk</p><p>10. James Perse</p><p>This Californian label is quietly influential for its reliable basics and wardrobe staples. Understated separates in soft cotton, draped jersey and cosy cashmere are its USP, and the first stand-alone store will open in London's Westbourne Grove in April.</p><p>11. Pink hair</p><p>As sported by model du jour Charlotte Free and most of the line-up for Thakoon's spring show. Forget Amelia Lily's X Factor makeover: pink hair is a dead cert this season as long as you go bright and bold. Temporary colour is advisable, professional help is a must. Bleach London, tel: 020 7275 9500</p><p>12. Peplums</p><p>A peplum is that frill you sometimes get on skirts or jackets – and it's the big thing for spring. Atop pencil skirts at Jason Wu, curling round dresses and trousers at Dries Van Noten, it's a fuss-free feminine note for separates to thrill even the most frill-phobic.</p><p>13. JW Anderson</p><p>The name on everybody's lips at last month's London Fashion Week. His nostalgic, sportswear-informed, sharp and modern garments have made quite an impact in menswear and womenswear. For spring, he offers an on-trend paisley print, blown up and zoomed in on so as to look like squiggling amoebas. ln-cc.com</p><p>14. Cutler and Gross X Pollini</p><p>Footwear genius Nicholas Kirkwood has taken the reins at Italian shoe brand Pollini this season, and releases a collaboration with opticals label Cutler and Gross. These hexagonal shades won't be around for long, so make them your sunnies this summer. £250, pollini.com</p><p>15. bare Midriffs</p><p>A trend for the brave. But if Miuccia Prada gets behind a bare midriff, there must be something in it. Approach with caution; abandon as soon as you return from hols.</p><p>16. Seven veils</p><p>Experimental fragrance house Byredo has turned its attentions to classical antiquity with its latest launch: a perfume said to imitate Salome's Dance of the Seven Veils in its heady and spicy mix of vanilla, pimento and Indian sandalwood. £88, liberty.co.uk k</p><p>17. Miu Miu plongé bag</p><p>One of many It-bags of the season, Miu Miu's plongé is elegant but roomy and comes in a wide variety of colours with a detachable strap, so you can choose between using it as a tote or satchel. £795, 020 7409 0900</p><p>18. Hermione de Paula</p><p>You might recall that her swan-print blouse was worn by Florence Welch (of the Machine) recently. Or you might already know that designer Hermione de Paula cut her teeth creating prints at Alexander McQueen. Clearly, she's one to keep an eye on. Swan-print blouse, £685, my-wardrobe.com</p><p>19. Jigsaw menswear</p><p>This spring sees the relaunch of the chain's menswear line, in punchy colours and citified brights. Spanning the gamut from smart to casual, it's a collection for stylish gents of all ages and budgets. jigsaw-online.com</p><p>20. Monki</p><p>One of the most exciting high-street launches for a long time, Monki is a Swedish concept store from the H&amp;M stable, offering brilliantly cool design at eminently accessible prices. And it has just opened its doors on Carnaby Street. monki.com</p><p>21. Candy colours</p><p>There's no getting away from the fact that spring 2012 is girly: fondant colours and delicate material abound, such as the lemon- and mint-tinged broderie dirndls at Louis Vuitton. Still, it doesn't hurt to be a bit saccharine while the sun is shining, does it?</p><p>22. Bill Cunningham &amp; Diana Vreeland</p><p>Catch industry greats on celluloid this summer with films focusing on the careers of the original street style photographer, Bill Cunningham, who travels Manhattan looking for the sleek and the chic to fill the style pages of The New York Times, and the one-time editor of US Vogue Diana Vreeland, the fashion legend who told a fledgling Manolo Blahnik that he should design shoes rather than clothes. 'Bill Cunningham New York' and 'The Eye Has To Travel: Diana Vreeland' from April/September, available to pre-order now at amazon.co.uk</p><p>23. Dolce &amp; Gabbana: the make-up</p><p>Celebrate summer the Sicilian way with Dolce &amp; Gabbana's make-up line, launching this month. Inspired by the rustic glamour of its spring collection, based on an archive Sophia Loren film and featuring tomato-print bikinis and pasta-shell earrings, the accompanying cosmetics will boost your natural radiance and up your femme-fatale levels. Available nationwide</p><p>24. Cycle chic book</p><p>No longer just pedal and push, there's some preening involved in cycling these days, too, as testified by the new book Cycle Chic, which catalogues one man's journey to find the most stylish cyclists. Published in May by Thames and Hudson, priced £14.95</p><p>25. Pyjamas</p><p>You can't move for silken separates this season, printed in a variety of nostalgic patterns – some may call them pyjamas, others prefer &quot;two-sie&quot;. Either way, it's a matching top and bottom that look a bit like something you'd sleep in, but are in fact the pinnacle of chic.</p><p>26. Stella McCartney for Team GB</p><p>No look-ahead would be complete without mentioning the Olympics, so here's the chic angle on London's big PE festival: Team GB's kits are by Stella McCartney. And you can buy them, too. Above, £26, adidas.com</p><p>27. Liberty X Nike</p><p>This spring's unlikely hero: the wedge trainer. Shown first by Parisian designer Isabel Marant, the elegant hybrid has been taken up by Nike and Liberty, with a pair in adorable paisley. From 1 May, £95, liberty.co.uk</p><p>28. Topshop lipstick crayons</p><p>For a quick and easy image update, Topshop's Lipstick Crayons, in a range of pretty pinks, add a flash of colour in moments and won't break the bank. £6, topshop.com</p><p>29. Designing 007: Fifty years of Bond style</p><p>If you're the louche sort of cool cat who models his style on 007, why not catch some tips at the Barbican's exhibition in homage to 50 years of his studied nonchalance? From 6 July, barbican.org.uk</p><p>30. Prada/Schiaparelli &amp; Hollywood at the V&amp;A</p><p>May sees the annual star-studded ball at the New York Metropolitan Museum of Art to celebrate the opening of Prada and Schiaparelli: Impossible Conversations, an exhibition that will explore the symmetries between these two ingenious female designers. Opening in early autumn, the V&amp;A's fashion programme this year looks at the importance of costume and dress in Hollywood, featuring outfits from The Wizard of Oz and the Indiana Jones films, among others.</p><p>It's all in the bag</p><p>Leather jelly bags and oversized granny purses provide a witty twist, or why not carry a more minimal envelope?</p><p>Hand me the jewels</p><p>Jewellery is increasingly ornate – both delicate and dramatic. Pile on necklaces, bangles and more.</p><p>If the shoe fits</p><p>Flames, fishnet and flats are all fashionable. Anything goes so long as it's extreme.</p><p>&quot;It was about the impossibilities of women,&quot; said Miuccia Prada, of a characteristically inscrutable collection that featured minimal and sporty separates in cotton and duchesse satin, emblazoned with naive chalk-drawn and appliquéd daisies and dandelions. &quot;The flower is a symbol of the poetic life of women, and the huge struggle that we have. It was about making sweetness hard.&quot;</p><p>This was especially apparent in Prada's final phase of pieces, wrapped-satin stole tops and tunics, in a palette of oyster, pale pink and pistachio green, finished with Japanese-style obi belts and samurai sleeves, as well as enormously stacked floral platforms that were worn with zipped metallic tabi socks. Space-age clean lines mixed with girlish hues and youthful quirks: it was womanliness, but not as we knew it.</p><p>What the Milan shows had in common was a feeling that clothing can be feminine without detracting from how seriously the wearer is taken. Nowhere was this message clearer than at Gucci, where Frida Giannini offered sleek and plain tunics and trousers, and column and shift dresses in a variety of blocked, bright hues – cobalt, fuchsia, grass and chartreuse. They were embellished not with simpering frills but with giant, snaking peplums and collars that wound around sleeves, waists and necklines like architecture rather than froth. The designer called it &quot;aristocratic purism&quot;. &quot;Evoking a strong allure with a clean, precise, defined aesthetic,&quot; she explained in her show notes.</p><p>Tomas Maier, too, at Bottega Veneta, developed the theme, pondering the ways in which womenswear can be at once floral and fierce. The answer here came in nostalgically printed silk tea dresses, with strong, padded shoulders and angular necklines, covered in panels of contrast prints, appliqué florals and subtle seams of studs – even the sophisticated butterflies which adorned belts were cut from metallic leather.</p><p>Bottega is a brand which never underestimates its customer, a woman of high earning power and even higher expectations, and the soft-but-steely message was underlined by the attention to detail and superb craftsmanship that the label, and Maier, have become known for.</p><p>Other designers blended this feeling for femininity into their label's established modes. Jil Sander's first collection under her own name for eight years clarified the point. Precisely cut and minimal tailoring was given fluidity with ingenious darts, planes and oversized patch pockets, while circle skirts were proof enough that the couture aesthetic of the house under previous designer Raf Simons had not been entirely overhauled. A palette of rust, midnight blue and bright, coral orange was hardly traditional in its prettiness, but set against stark white shirts and casual jersey, the shades were once again proof of designers working to give the feminine a new sense of strength.</p><p>&quot;I wanted everything to feel light and fresh,&quot; Consuelo Castiglioni, of Marni, said after her show. &quot;This collection is all about a new and very clear elegance.&quot; So much was apparent in the label's trademark &quot;difficult&quot; dimensions, which included higher than usual waists – at almost Directoire-era height – offset with trapeze lines, dropped waist jackets and even-further-dropped waist peplums. Skirts and dresses were pinned at the back to give a bustle effect, falling to mid-lengths with dipped and fluid hems. Print was used sparingly and was graffiti-esque when it appeared on coats, but otherwise colours were plain and jarring – bottle green with baby pink, oxblood and peach – and mono- chrome window-pane checks gave depth with tape jacquard.</p><p>Where Castiglioni found inspiration in Bauhaus, Karl Lagerfeld, at Fendi, also looked to modernism – in particular cubism – with graphic shapes that were printed on to silk and crepe separates and eventually morphed into the brand's famous &quot;F&quot; on knitwear. They trimmed skirt-shorts like panniers and yokes of dresses, while the shoes continued the theme, with scales along the top looking like mini Sydney Opera Houses. Lagerfeld called the peach, mustard and dove-grey hues &quot;violent pastels&quot;, which summed up the clash of modern and meek.</p><p>&quot;Women can change,&quot; Donatella Versace pronounced backstage at her show. &quot;The collection was fluid – I wanted to show the tough and the fragile side.&quot; She did this by quite literally mixing masculine and feminine wardrobes, with lingerie lace and delicate black broderie detailing on mannish blazers. Similarly, the more youthful collection of dresses at her Versus label, overseen by Christopher Kane, married delicate pink silk with interlocking plastic chains. The masculine elements were still skimpy, but the Versace customer is no shrinking violet: cutaway silk minidresses, goddess gowns embellished with tinsel-like fronds and tie-dye pieces were suitably rock'*'roll for their usual base, while safer nods to the house's irrepressible obsession with skin and sex (a silk shirt inlaid with sheer lace, for example) should lure in the more pedestrian shopper, too.</p><p>This is what the new season take on womanliness boils down to. In trying times, designers need to find out what will sell. There are fewer women now buying fabulous one-offs – instead, they look for pieces that will continue to work for several years. And that means making informed choices about versatile clothing. At MaxMara, the label's trademark camel coat was reinvented as everyday blouses and utilitarian jumpsuit, complete with epaulettes and stormflaps. At the label's second line Sportmax, rich, bottle-green knits and leather jackets will fit into extant wardrobes. Missoni offered its signature wiggly weaves on blazers and tailored shorts; Moschino adapted pop culture and the Sixties into fun separates that could be worn as a whole look or slotted in with existing pieces. Shoppers want purchases that will retain sartorial value.</p><p>Giorgio Armani reprised the idea at both his mainline and his second line, Emporio, which was entitled &quot;Neat&quot;. Easy separates for day and for night were minimal and in neutral colours, yet again blending the pretty and the practical. Roberto Cavalli, too, practised this, inlaying lace on luxe shirts for his main line, and teaming plain shirts and blazers at Just Cavalli with statement, Sèvres-print trousers to create an up-to-date look that made use of bestselling staples.</p><p>Then of course, there was Dolce &amp; Gabbana, for whom femininity is all sun-roasted fecundity and Sicilian sensuality. The label's &quot;Fatto a mano&quot; or &quot;handmade&quot; collection was an ode to the glamour of their homeland – whether it fits into everyone else's workday schedule is irrelevant. While other designers are trying to ally their aesthetics to the worlds of their customers, Dolce &amp; Gabbana conversely invite you to step wholly into theirs. For showmanship and opulent craft, there are few to rival them. The fact is, there is an audience for this sort of luxury – dresses printed with theatrical characters, corsets and bustier dresses made from hessian-style linen sacking and deckchair-stripe, retro beachwear – and she is all woman. But she might not be anybody you know.</p><p>Photographs: Arved Colvin-Smith</p><p>Model: Renee Van Seggern at Union Models</p><p>Make-up: Dani Guinsberg at Balcony Jump using Paul &amp; Joe cosmetics</p><p>Hair: Kota Suizu at Balcony Jump using Kiehl's</p><p>Stylist's assistant: Olivia Rose Howes</p><p>Photographer's assistant: Michael Williams</p><p>That is perhaps why Marc Jacobs arrived resplendent in long, black lace Comme des Garçons shirtwaister, his white boxer shorts on display for all to see. Few men wear a dress as well as MJ. It also explains the thinking behind Anna Wintour's lobster dress – not the Schiaparelli original, which she worked on with Salvador Dali, but a Prada re-invention made for her by the great contemporary fashion name especially for the occasion. Miuccia Prada herself, meanwhile, bucked every trend in the book, including her own, by wearing trousers. How modern is that?</p><p>Talking of Anna Wintour – who co-chairs the event each year– the US Vogue editor apparently decreed that her team wear pink to the party, famously Schiaparelli's preferred shade. Leaving nothing to chance she went so far as to demand they provide her with pictures of themselves in their chosen outfit. That's not stressful at all.</p><p>Thankfully, it all worked out well in the end with the great and good united in pushing the boat out to showcase fashion at its most unashamedly celebratory and playful. Hollywood's bright young things in particular stole the show, proving there may be more to the red carpet than a strapless, corsetted, fishtail gown.</p><p>Inside, editors – including the inimitable Anna dello Russo, clad head-to-toe in the label's autumn/winter collection – marvelled at £10,000 watches and a bespoke handbag service, where customers choose from every shade of leather, crocodile and ostrich skin. The reason why Vuitton decided to launch this service exclusively in Milan is because this is a city where luxury is, paradoxically, a necessity, a way of life.</p><p>And despite universally grim economic tidings, it is alive and well: that was the message from the Italian shows. That same evening, Gucci launched a new installation in its flagship store just down the street; later in the week, the label opened a museum in Florence devoted to the history of the brand, to honour the 90th anniversary of its founding.</p><p>Paris-based Louis Vuitton cites 19th- century roots as proof of its high-end credentials. But the shows in Milan were testament to the sort of prominent luxury empire that can be built in a rather shorter timeframe, according to a culture of aspiration and conspicuous consumption.</p><p>Other milestones celebrated during the week included 100 years of leather goods-turned-womenswear label Trussardi (which staged a flawless show in the medieval Castello Sforzesco), and the 30th birthday of the Emporio Armani line, whose collection emphasised the label's bright and glitzy take on classics, with a monochrome palette showing off sequinned dresses and jackets, and hoop-hem tunics playing with proportion.</p><p>In short, colourful and confident bombast shone through at Milan Fashion Week and labels showed their strengths by digging deep into their sartorial DNA. So much was clear at MaxMara, for example, where the label's &quot;hero piece&quot;, the camel coat, inspired clingy, sporty separates, panelled with sheer swatches and turquoise colour-blocking.</p><p>At Gucci, Frida Giannini took its 1921 inception as her inspiration, reworking drop-waist flapper dresses according to the label's slick, urban aesthetic in shining black silk, plexiglass fringing and Metropolis-meets-Bladerunner beading. There were flashes, too, from the archives, in enamel detailing, gold and the house's signature shade of green. &quot;Fusing elements from our DNA and making them current with a strong sense of personality,&quot; Giannini explained.</p><p>And the Twenties became something of a trend – there were bright shift dresses at Alberta Ferretti, decorated with panels and chevrons of sheer tulle, while family-run label Etro spoke of a modern Jazz Age, although fringed- skirt dresses, kimono coats and Clarice Cliff-esque swirl prints were slightly too literal to be fully up-to-date.</p><p>For Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana, spring/summer 2012 was also all about personality – after applause had died down at the show for their D&amp;G label, it was announced online that they would be closing the second line. The final hurrah for D&amp;G was a fittingly exuberant show of silk foulard scarves – of all colours and prints, from acid pink psychedelia to pastel paisley – twisted, ruched and knotted into minidresses, trousers, handkerchief tops and even platform wedges, in a collection that celebrated the youthful essence and bold bravura of the label.</p><p>But if D&amp;G was a character sketch, then Dolce &amp; Gabbana was a cultural dispatch. Inspired by the 1955 film Pane, Amore e... starring Sophie Loren, the collection told the story of life in Southern Italy – onions, aubergines and pomodorini were naïvely rendered in painterly strokes on Fifties-inspired separates, including knickerbockers and sweetheart-neckline sundresses, while courgettes flowered on tailored shorts and swing jackets. &quot;For us, this is the essence of Italian beauty,&quot; explained the designers, of clothes that drew on the label's trademarks: Forties-line corseted dresses, unadulterated sensuality and exaggerated glamour by way of rhinestone-encrusted swimsuits and bra tops.</p><p>&quot;I didn't want to make references,&quot; said Miuccia Prada, of an automobile-inspired hyper-feminine show, that seemed to hark to mid-20th century pastels and values. &quot;I wanted to do what I really like – it's the typically bourgeois Prada style.&quot; So much was evident in a vast collection of separates, from crop tops to swing coats of appliqué crocheted lace and leather pencil skirts emblazoned with graphic Corvettes and exhaust fumes. And the designer's quirks were clear in the juxtapositions of bold and soft. &quot;Probably sweetness is the biggest taboo in fashion,&quot; she added, &quot;but it's possibly the greatest quality of women.&quot;</p><p>At Jil Sander, too, there was a delicate and womanly mood, with full-skirted and clean silhouettes referencing the objectivity of beauty in an almost Kantian vein. This was born of attention to the label's intrinsic values as well as its progression. &quot;I was thinking about the heritage of Jil Sander,&quot; designer Raf Simons said backstage, &quot;but I don't want to use her methods anymore. I want it to be sexier, more romantic.&quot; There was certainly more of the softness of his recent couture-inspired collections, in a show that took the label's famously minimalist personality and recast it in fluid dirndl skirts and knits embellished with cubist, Picasso-esque faces.</p><p>There were artistic flourishes, too, at Bottega Veneta, where artisanal handicrafts mixed with streetwear under Tomas Maier's careful instruction. The label has been a by-word for understated elegance since the Seventies; how then to create a sense of brand identity when anonymity is at its heart? With ultra-matte silk bustier dresses, shirts coated with PVC and what must surely be the most exclusive denim pieces ever made, certainly a first for the Bottega catwalk. &quot;There's no need to travel,&quot; said Maier of this casual opulence, &quot;you can find inspiration all around you – inside your own neighbourhood.&quot;</p><p>But for every version of subdued luxury – such as the elegant sculpturalism and subdued brocades at Giorgio Armani – there was something rather more vampish elsewhere. Roberto Cavalli showed gold-encrusted pleats that fluttered to reveal animal-printed interior folds, while at Moschino models wore cropped Toreador jackets that came, literally, with jingling bells on. Meanwhile, exoticism ruled supreme at Emilio Pucci, designed by the acclaimed Peter Dundas, where inspiration came from gypsy travellers and dark-eyed girls, at once nodding to the house's heritage as well as the glamour for which it is known. Beading and lacing on swirling printed maxi-skirts and handkerchief hems gave the bohemian look a vital and polished edge.</p><p>Versace's collection spun the house's innate brashness with soft leather dresses in armour-like cuts that blended neoprene separates decorated with seascape prints of conch shells and mermaids. The effect was a disco version of sweetness, camped up but affectionately so, and soft enough to remain wearable in the extreme. And there was further fashionable riffing on a theme at the diffusion line Versus, where Christopher Kane presented models in sports couture – silk shifts with zip details and striped knit dresses – on a catwalk decorated as a basketball court.</p><p>Stripes are, of course, a signature at Missoni too, but key to the spring/summer collection was an exploration of shape within the tensile zig-zags so beloved by fans of this label. Flamenco ruffles were added to asymmetrical tops and dresses, layered over slim-fitting trousers, while shoes were decorated with over-sized flowers, and earrings dripping with enamel fish are sure to be hits with more light-hearted customers.</p><p>This lightness of touch is something inherent to Consuelo Castiglioni's expression at Marni, where strong femininity was again underplayed with sweetness. Tiered apron-cut dresses and Bauhaus-inspired leather lozenge prints came on dresses and skirts, layered over sheer organza. &quot;My starting point was the innocence of a child,&quot; she commented after the show, and the eclectic sensibility of the collection showed in plastic and sequin embroidery, as well as photoprinted crochet on tailored separates.</p><p>There has been a tendency among designers to batten down the hatches in the face of the coming storm, but not in Milan. For the Italians, next season is about personality and, diverse though the visions may have been, shy and retiring types need not apply.</p><p>Trends</p><p>Pleats and ruffles: tight plissé panniers and panels at Bottega Veneta and Versace, and boxy car wash pleats at Versus.</p><p>Sheer: fine cotton layered with poplin at Jil Sander; panelled dresses and knits at MaxMara and Fendi, and at Pucci, boho skirts were daringly see-through.</p><p>Midriffs: the crop top was back at Prada, Dolce and Pucci – so get stomach-crunching.</p><p>Modern florals: digital impressionism at Sportmax, fuzzy boucle at Marni and bright tropical prints at Missoni.</p><p>Graphics: vegetables at Dolce &amp; Gabbana, fruit at Moschino Cheap and Chic, cars at Prada and faces at Jil Sander.</p><p>For anyone with pretensions as a cigar-chomping, big-betting &quot;high-roller&quot;, life has just taken a turn for the better: for the first time, you can fly first class from London. Surely, you might imagine, with recession piling upon credit crunch, it's the height of vulgarity if the only belt you're tightening is a seat belt in the unashamed luxury of first-class? But British Airways evidently believes there is demand for something even more stylish than Club World, and has now deployed a 747 with room for 14 lucky people up front.</p><p>As I boarded the plane and – oh, shallow pleasure – turned to the left, it was clear I was in for a treat. For a start, judged solely on this trip, every first-class cabin comes with a free Felicity Kendal. Each of the lucky 14 get a private seating area with three – count them! – three windows and your own little Berlin wall (no graffiti) to protect you from other passengers. But it's the little things that count, and by that I don't just mean Felicity Kendal. I mean the unseen replenishment of my glass of cranberry juice (my drink of choice – another reason I find it hard to see myself playing poker with the Sopranos); the sleep mask with its little woollen bridge for your nose to help it sit there more comfortably.</p><p>I felt a bit awkward standing there as the stewardess eased my chair forward and made up my bed for me – What? No bedtime story? – but I slept for three hours and 40 minutes. On a plane. Without waking up with corkscrew back and a pool of drool from the corner of my mouth nestling on my shoulder. Nice.</p><p>The Las Vegas show begins as you're landing. Those of us fortunate enough to be seated on the left-hand side of the plane (sorry, Felicity) were treated to our first glimpse of the crazed Vegas skyline, with the Eiffel Tower rubbing shoulders with the Empire State Building and the Great Pyramid. And forget about all this 40-minute-journey-from-airport-to-city-centre nonsense you get in most cities. That's a waste of valuable gambling time.</p><p>The Strip – and what an appropriate name for Vegas's main street given the city's love of lap-dancing – is right behind the airport. I practically stepped into the taxi then straight back out again. There was barely enough time to take in the passing billboard van proclaiming that hot girls were keen to meet me.</p><p>Now brace yourselves, stereotype fans. My hotel, The Cosmopolitan, was incredibly tasteful. The newest hotel on the Strip, it's part of the brand new CityCenter development of hotels (that's CityCenter in one word; don't offend by spelling it as two), a mass of glass and steel that includes the Veer Towers, two 37-storey towers built at an angle so they seem to lean against each other, Pisa-style; and the Crystals shopping mall, which I was told was the most expensive mall in the US and which, with its luxury brands (Prada, Gucci etc), was clearly as far as you can get from Lidl while still remaining on earth.</p><p>The Cosmopolitan, opened less than a year ago, attracts a young, hip crowd to its bars and restaurants, with barely a super-sized American in sight. I'd heard Vegas hotel rooms were all very average so guests couldn't wait to get down to the casinos, but The Cosmopolitan had clearly screwed up here. It would have taken Usain Bolt a few seconds to sprint across my room. It even had a dishwasher (though no dishes) and a balcony with a spectacular view of the city. The other hotels on the Strip don't have balconies, presumably to stop gamblers hurling themselves off them.</p><p>Resisting the challenge of the mini-bar – sensors register a purchase if the bottle is removed for 30 seconds, surely enough time to down it and refill it with water – I headed down to check out the casino. Like all the casinos, it's in the middle of the hotel. There are no windows, the theory being you can lose track of time, with no idea whether it's day or night. And it seems to work. I walked through the casino at 5 o'clock on a Monday morning and it was still, if not buzzing, then at least humming like an old fridge.</p><p>I'd heard that the slot machines by the entrance are programmed to pay out more often, thus enticing you deeper into casino heaven, so I stood by the entrance, waiting for the urge to pump those machines to kick in. But despite the cheers from the tables and a granny in a tracksuit working three slot machines as if she were spinning plates, the only thing I felt rising up inside me was a rant about the fact you're allowed to smoke in the casino. It wasn't looking good for my high-rolling poker fantasy.</p><p>It didn't take me long to realise that Vegas lurches from camp to sophisticated fast enough to give you the bends. One minute I'd be on my feet at Menopause: The Musical, whooping and cheering as an actress of a certain age sang &quot;Only You&quot; to a pink vibrator, the next some fascinating archive footage was helping me over my disappointment that the guy giving me my ticket at the Atomic Testing Museum didn't have two heads (the test site was just 60 miles from Las Vegas).</p><p>Bellagio, one of the more upmarket hotels, took me from Willy Wonka excitement at the world's largest chocolate fountain to the elegant sophistication of Picasso, a two-star Michelin restaurant, in a matter of yards. Fine dining is very Vegas at the moment, with the city boasting 15 Michelin-starred restaurants. In Picasso, I tried to find a hole in our host David's encyclopaedic knowledge of Vegas while stealing a piece of slow-cooked beef from his plate. Even factoring in the first rule of Food Club – that someone else's food, whether from chip shop or posh restaurant, will always taste better than your own – this was possibly the most delicately flavoursome mouthful I've ever eaten.</p><p>Maybe it was because I'd just been told that the five Picasso prints I could see from my seat were actually originals. Maybe it was because we were sitting right by the Bellagio fountain, which burst into action every few minutes, sending jets of water up to 400ft in the air, beautifully choreographed to tracks such as &quot;Singing In The Rain&quot; and that bit of pseudo-operatic nonsense Sarah Brightman sang, &quot;Time To Say Goodbye&quot;. But as the fountains did their disturbingly accurate impression of 50 men in evening dress dancing with canes (see it, you'll understand), I realised Vegas had offered me a Perfect Moment, a sort of entertainment Cluedo: slow-cooked beef, with the Picassos, by the Bellagio fountain.</p><p>I wasn't expecting any Perfect Moments from Cirque du Soleil's O. With seven shows in town and more on the way, Cirque du Soleil has the sort of hold on the city previously enjoyed only by the Mafia. I've never been a fan of its circusy ways and, at $117 (£78) a ticket, I was, to paraphrase Ant and Dec's one-hit wonder, getting ready to grumble. But the show, featuring a huge pool and a stage about the size of Birmingham turned the imagination and daring dials up to 11.</p><p>It was as if Hieronymus Bosch had taken happy pills and agreed to choreograph the greatest show on earth. As a man dived into the pool from a height Tom Daley would call suicidal I screamed like a girl at a Justin Bieber gig (most un-Soprano). By the end of the show the auditorium was littered with Disney executives with heads in hands, knowing they could never compete.</p><p>If you want to escape the gawdy craziness of Vegas while remaining in the city centre (or CityCenter), you could try the Mandarin Oriental Hotel. One of the objections Vegas traditionalists had to the CityCenter development was that there were no themed hotels to rise next to the Venice canals of The Venetian or the Luxor's sphinx and pyramid – surely you could remain contemporary and true to Vegas with a Hotel China or a banking-crisis themed hotel? But you could say the Mandarin Oriental's theme is calm. It's a totally radical concept for Vegas and includes the extra special facility of &quot;No Casino&quot;.</p><p>From the check-in 23 floors above the mania of the Strip to the special spa treatments for high rollers who've spent hours hunched and sobbing over a roulette table, everything here shouts &quot;zen&quot;, but quietly. And if you've a spare $15,000 for the night (though I'm told the price is negotiable), why not treat yourself to the Presidential Suite, with its grand piano, gym and enough space for the Waltons to play hide-and-seek for a week.</p><p>But if new Vegas isn't for you, then Petula Clark it and go downtown. Downtown is &quot;old&quot; Vegas, Rat Pack Vegas, with familiar hotel names and neon signs that make you feel like you've fallen into a Scorsese film. A few years ago, this was pretty much a no-go area, but as my guide Brian pointed out without irony, the district regenerated itself by consciously &quot;trying to create a pub crawl&quot;.</p><p>It makes you wonder how bad an area has to be for it to be radically improved by turning it into Basildon town centre on a Friday night, but it has worked. At night the place is packed, with free concerts and the largest TV screen in the world: a canopy over the street that's four blocks long, which is widescreen in anyone's book. The music and light show is extraordinary but, because it takes place above your head, so is the bill for the chiropractor.</p><p>In my half-hour downtown I saw no fewer than six brides. Brides are everywhere in Vegas. They're a bit like urban foxes: the first time you see one you're all excited but then gradually you take them for granted. One bride actually flew past me on a zipwire under the TV canopy. I barely reacted, beyond making a mental note to write a novel called Bride On A Zipwire. That's Vegas for you: the extraordinary starts to become everyday. You become like an addict, constantly chasing weirder, camper, crazier stuff. Lion in the middle of a casino? What else have you got? Water flume that goes through a shark pool? Meh!</p><p>I decided to go cold turkey for a bit and get out of the city. Heli USA offers a 45-minute helicopter flight to the Grand Canyon and back with a stop-off in its fully functioning cowboy ranch. I have to confess my first impression was more Fairly Good Canyon than Grand. I was hoping for that &quot;Ooh! Nature! I'm so insignificant!&quot; feeling you undoubtedly get when standing on the edge or at the bottom of the canyon but it's harder to get that when hovering, God-like, above. But such niggles were offset by the rest of the trip and our pilot. Much to my delight as a fan of the film Airplane, he was called Roger (I just hope his surname was Over). He flew us over the breathtaking Mojave desert and Lake Mead, the largest man-made lake in the US (believe me, that's large), pointing out the Hoover Dam, the place where Thelma and Louise went over the edge and a geological fault line you could actually see.</p><p>Roger even shared his thoughts about Area 51, not far from Vegas, where they, er, keep the Roswell aliens. Drawing on his experience as a military pilot he was convinced they had captured at least three spaceships. We nodded politely – after all, he had the controls.</p><p>Back in Vegas, even the brides were exciting again (I saw one with an Elvis lookalike – surely there's a name for that: a full house or something). But I remained completely impervious to the pleasures of the casinos. I wasn't so much a gambling virgin as a gambling eunuch. I needed to up my macho ante, so I headed for the Gun Store Indoor Shooting Range. That's my excuse and I'm sticking to it.</p><p>The Gun Store is like a parody of itself. Outside there's a large sign with a picture of a machine gun and the words &quot;Try Me!&quot;, like some strange kick-ass version of Alice In Wonderland. Inside, as people queue for up to four or five hours, the store offers a variety of packages: there's the &quot;World War II&quot;, allowing you to fire three different guns from that era for $119.95, or for just 10 dollars more, there's &quot;The Coalition&quot;.</p><p>The &quot;Ladies&quot; includes a pink AK-47, and if you're worried the littl'uns might feel left out, there's the &quot;Kids&quot; – 40 shots with a .22 weapon for just $40. Obviously all this is wrong, wrong, wrong and, as a wishy-washy leftie of the worst sort, I floundered a bit when my &quot;hostess&quot; Nana – a former cocktail waitress who found that she preferred serving guns to mojitos – offered me my choice of weapons. In the end I went for the Beretta M9 because Nana said it was James Bond's gun, and a Rambo-style machine-gun, the MP40, which I mostly chose so I could make jokes about it being better than the MP3, which only plays music.</p><p>I had a hunch the vetting process wasn't the strictest when I saw a picture on the wall of Ozzy Osbourne at the range firing a machine gun. Sure enough, all I had to do was sign a waiver stating I was &quot;free of emotional impairment&quot; and the like and I was ready to shoot. I have to say the handgun felt a bit dull after a few shots, but the machine gun was another matter. Within seconds I was screaming abuse at the target in an Arnold Schwarzenegger voice. It has probably saved me a fortune in therapy bills. Surely now I was ready for poker with the men who talk boxing.</p><p>But testosterone dwindles quickly at my age. I was too distracted by the possibility of a stress-busting massage and herbal tea at The Cosmopolitan.</p><p>And so, dear reader, I never gambled. There was one frantic moment before I set off for the airport where I finally put a dollar into a slot machine only to realise I didn't know how to work it. I ended up pulling at the one-arm-bandit arm at the side of the machine which was, I soon realised, purely decorative. Tony Soprano would have put a bullet through my head for my own benefit. But let's keep that failure between you and me. Like they say: what happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas.</p><p>Travel essentials: Las Vegas</p><p>Getting there</p><p>* British Airways (0844 493 0758; ba.com/lasvegas) flies daily from Heathrow to Las Vegas. BA offers three nights at the five-star The Cosmpolitan from £799 per person, including flights and accommodation with breakfast. With flights in first-class, the cost is £8,269 per person.</p><p>* Las Vegas is also served daily from Gatwick and twice-weekly from Manchester by Virgin Atlantic (0844 874 7747; virgin-atlantic.com).</p><p>Staying there</p><p>* The Cosmpolitan of Las Vegas, 3708 Las Vegas Blvd South (001 702 698 7000; cosmopolitanlasvegas.com).</p><p>* Mandarin Oriental, 3752 Las Vegas Boulevard South (001 702 590 8888; mandarinoriental.com/lasvegas).</p><p>Visiting there</p><p>* CityCenter, 3720 Las Vegas Boulevard South (001 866 754 2489; citycenter.com).</p><p>* &quot;Menopause: The Musical&quot;, Atrium Showroom at Luxor, 3900 Las Vegas Boulevard South (001 702 262 4400; menopausethemusical.com).</p><p>* Picasso Restaurant, Bellagio, 3600 Las Vegas Boulevard South (001 702 693 8865; bellagio.com).</p><p>* Cirque du Soleil's &quot;O&quot;, Bellagio (001 702 796 9999; cirquedusoleil.com).</p><p>* Atomic Testing Museum, 755 East Flamingo Road (001 702 794 5151; atomictestingmuseum.org). Open 10am-5pm daily (Sunday from noon); $14 (£9.30).</p><p>* Heli USA (001 702 736 8787; heliusa.com). Helicopter tours to the Grand Canyon start at $189 (£126) per person.</p><p>* Gun Store Indoor Shooting Range, 2900 East Tropicana Avenue (001 702 454 1110; thegunstorelasvegas.com). Experiences start at $25 (£16.70).</p><p>More information</p><p>* Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority: 020 7367 0979;</p><p>visitlasvegas.co.uk</p><p>2. Prada</p><p>£2,450, 020 7647 5000</p><p>The Prada collection is among the most feted of the spring/summer season, crafted in hyper-feminine fabrics and in colours to match. This Pyramide bag is just the thing to finish such a gentle look.</p><p>3. Proenza Schouler</p><p>£1,685, net-a-porter.com</p><p>The large version of this designer satchel is still as light as anyone might wish for, and will hold everything the modern woman needs to carry with her. This red version looks great with jeans.</p><p>4. Pierre Hardy</p><p>£1,075, Pierre Hardy, brownsfashion.com</p><p>What's not to want about this brightly coloured backpack? It's unlikely that anyone carrying this modish design in the colours of the spring/summer season will get lost.</p><p>5. Givenchy</p><p>£1,400, selfridges.com</p><p>The Antigona is as practical a bag as it is lovely to behold. It's big enough to function as a work bag, easily holding notebooks, papers, make-up and more, and has top handles as well as a shoulder strap.</p><p>6. Olympia Le-Tan</p><p>£1,110, brownsfashion.com</p><p>Olympia Le-Tan has made a career – and a business – out of crafting handbags that take their inspiration from the covers of books and films.</p><p>7. Chanel</p><p>£985, 020 7493 5040</p><p>It's a basic tote in a great colour but let's face it, the selling point of this is its logo. It's cut in cotton canvas, with leather trim and a signature leather and chain handle.</p><p>8. Yves Saint Laurent</p><p>£1,660, ysl.com</p><p>This Yves Saint Laurent classic has been given a sporting makeover, crafted as it is in the finest leather punched to resemble Airtex. The finished thing is as light as the proverbial feather.</p><p>9. Alexander Wang</p><p>£980, Alexander Wang, thecorner.com</p><p>Wang is the toast of New York and cool girls will love to carry this great leather bag. It's big enough to fit half a life in and looks gorgeous in ultra-luxe, grey suede.</p><p>10. Mulberry</p><p>£995, mulberry.com</p><p>This &quot;travel day&quot; bag is very much like the bestselling Alexa but with gleaming gold hardware added for good measure. It's even cuter that way but still light, though, which is clever.</p><p>2. Calvin Klein</p><p>£23, 020 3100 2900</p><p>While it's no longer de rigueur to have your Calvins poking out of your jeans, they are still fashionable pants with a reputation for good quality.</p><p>3. Sunspel</p><p>£25, my-wardrobe.com</p><p>Tight, white and bright – these are the type favoured by the male-model fraternity. If you fancy the look be warned – only the buff need apply as they're unforgiving.</p><p>4. Topman</p><p>£8, topman.com</p><p>If comfort is your top priority, then this pair, with its more generous than average length, won't ride up the leg – making it a safe buy. In white, polka-dot chambray cotton.</p><p>5. Comme des Garçons</p><p>£24, my-wardrobe.com</p><p>The fashion followers' choice, these black cotton pants are created with Hammerthor underwear. With a subtly branded waistband, the stretch cotton has a fine rib finish and slit open fly.</p><p>6.Björn Borg</p><p>£25, selfridges.com</p><p>The Swedish tennis ace has an impressive selection of pants to suit all tastes. The best take their lead from Prada, Givenchy et al and have a tropical print. For peacocks, not shrinking violets, though.</p><p>7. H&amp;M</p><p>£7.99, hm.com</p><p>For all those hiding under a rock, David Beckham has put his name to a Bodywear line for H&amp;M. It includes all the basics and no less than four styles of rather tight-fitting classic pants.</p><p>8. M&amp;S</p><p>3 for £18, marksandspencer.com</p><p>What says &quot;I love you&quot; more than heart-printed boxers? No? Well, it was worth a try and this is a nice pair of pants nonetheless.</p><p>9. River Island</p><p>£7, riverisland.com</p><p>Those planning to immerse themselves in Olympic frenzy might like to dress the part too – with these patriotic underpants.</p><p>10. Gap</p><p>£8, gap.eu</p><p>As well as this inoffensive blue plaid pair, Gap offers up stripes, spots and even armadillo print in a safe-ish boxer-short collection.</p><p> </p><p>The shareholder meeting of the banking giant HSBC should be a lively affair. The investor lobby group Pirc is calling on shareholders to vote against the re-election of the chairman, Douglas Flint, on the grounds that as the former chief executive of the bank he can hardly be deemed independent. There are also bound to be questions over chief executive Stuart Gulliver's £8m pay package.</p><p>The low-cost airline Ryanair upped its guidance for full-year profits from €440m (£355m) to €480m in January, and it might even beat that slightly. Of more interest will be chief executive Michael O'Leary's comments on the chances of a special dividend this year.</p><p>Results: BTG; British Land; Cranswick; Cable &amp; Wireless Worldwide; E2V Technologies; Mitie; Ryanair.</p><p>Tomorrow</p><p>Is the smooth -talking Dutchman Marc Bolland about to impress for more than the cut of his fine suits? On Tuesday he unveils full-year results at Marks &amp; Spencer, a closely watched annual event. Like other retailers it has suffered from depressed consumer conditions, and the weather hasn't helped much either.</p><p>He has won credit in retail land for overhauling stores to make them more easily &quot;shoppable&quot;, and most agree that M&amp;S's food offering has improved. Some say the clothes are still dull, though. Panmure Gordon says it prefers Next and Asos, noting that M&amp;S's fourth-quarter trading update was a clear disappointment. It reckons that full-year profits will come in at £689.4m, a bit below the City consensus, and says the shares are no better than a hold at 347p.</p><p>Results: Bloomsbury; Big Yellow; Homeserve; Marks &amp; Spencer; KCom; UK Mail; Vodafone; Yell.</p><p>Wednesday</p><p>Fresh from notching up record sales of £1bn in just six months, the luxury fashion house Burberry is expected to deliver more good news from investors with a healthy rise in annual profits to £367m-£377m. Angela Ahrendts' business – fast joining Prada, Gucci and Louis Vuitton as a global designer-label superpower – has enjoyed the biggest success in British, French and Chinese markets, defying wider global turmoil. The shareholders have down well too: the FTSE 100 may be sinking fast, but Burberry's shares are up 20 per cent since Christmas.</p><p>Meanwhile the property firm Shaftesbury – owner of swaths of Chinatown and London's Theatreland – should also sparkle with interim results. Visitors are still flocking to the West End despite the downturn, prompting heavy demand from tenants for its shop and restaurants. The Diamond Jubilee and Olympic Games are also putting the capital in the shop window, although Shaftesbury is braced for short-term disruption this summer as public transport creaks under the influx of tourists.</p><p>Results: Burberry; FirstGroup; Great Portland Estates; Telecom Plus.</p><p>Thursday</p><p>Daily Mail &amp; General Trust's half-year results should give an indication about whether advertising is getting a lift from the Diamond Jubilee and the Olympics. DMGT is set to be dropped from the FTSE 250 because it has a high proportion of non-voting shares, but Numis says fundamentals are strong, noting that &quot;earnings momentum feels like it has at last reached a positive inflection&quot;.</p><p>Investors in Cable &amp; Wireless Communications will be hoping to see improvement in the full-year results for the telecoms specialist for emerging markets including Panama, the Bahamas and gambling-mad Macau. CWC warned in February that profits in some regions would come in at the low end of expectations, but it is making the business leaner, and recently sold out of Fiji.</p><p>Results: Asos; Booker; Cable &amp; Wireless Communications; Dairy Crest; Electrocomponents; Mothercare; Qintiq; SabMiller; United Utilities; Young &amp; Co's.</p><p>Friday</p><p>Strong results from rivals lately should set the wind fair for full-year results from the property developer Helical Bar and investors will also be seeking an update on its plans to build new shops, offices and 200 flats near St Barts hospital in the City of London. Its chief executive, Michael Slade, sold 200,000 shares at 193p a share on 30 March, which could give an indication of how he sees the market. Doubtless he will argue otherwise. Chairman Giles Weaver also sold a bunch – 36,000 – at 188p a share. Lucky them, the shares have fallen to 177p since.</p><p>Results: Helical Bar.</p><p>Economics Diary</p><p>TODAY: Rightmove house prices for May.</p><p>TUESDAY: Public Sector Net Borrowing figures for April. CPI and RPI inflation indexes for April. OECD economic outlook.</p><p>WEDNESDAY: Minutes from Bank of England's Monetary Policy Committee meeting in May. Plus Bank agents' summary of business conditions. European Union leaders' summit in Brussels. US homes new sales figures for April.</p><p>THURSDAY: Office for National Statistics second estimate of GDP in Q1 2012. ONS index of services for March. BBA mortgage approvals for April. Eurozone manufacturing, services and composite PMI flash estimates for May.</p>Her marriage is wonderful, she&#039;s given up alcohol and from tomorrow she&#039;s hosting the nightly &#039;Strictly&#039; spin-off show &#039;It Takes Two&#039;<p>Wear the trousers</p><p>Trousers are the new skirts. Often, however, they are worn with a tunic and/or dress – a case of enjoying the best of both worlds which is always good. At Junya Watanabe flocked velvet dresses are worn over tailored pants borrowed from menswear; Marc Jacobs styled narrow, empire-line dresses over cropped designs for his own label and at Louis Vuitton and at Prada too the shoulders are narrow, the hemlines wide by comparison.</p><p>From left to right: Marc Jacobs, Prada</p><p>It's a wrap</p><p>Stating the obvious: it's autumn so a coat is important. This time that coat must be big. It looks lovely in its masculine incarnation at Dries Van Noten, has a military borrowed from menswear toughness at McQ, is a signature cut in soft gabardine at Yohji Yamamoto and also in wool at Maison Martin Margiela. Jean-Paul Gaultier's parkas have a luxe-utilitarian appeal and Chalayan's oversized grey wool version is trimmed with neon: to ensure any wearer will be seen in the dark? Left: Chalayan</p><p>Baroque is beautiful</p><p>The fragility of surface embellishment was once its very appeal but now the opposite is the case. Crystals the size of cough sweets feature at Miu Miu. Marni's jewelled buttons are the size of saucers. At Lanvin lace, fur, ribbons and bows are piled onto jewelled cocktail dresses.</p><p>From left to right: Lanvin, Miu Miu</p><p>The new gothic</p><p>Givenchy's Riccardo Tisci has long channeled a gothic mood and made many a well-dressed woman and indeed man about town very happy by so doing. At Gucci, Frida Giannini is of a similar frame of mind this season; Peter Copping's take at Nina Ricci is more scary fairy and sweeter for that; Karl Lagerfeld's vision for Chanel is also softer though still spooky. Finally, at Versace a predominantly dark collection is embroidered with jewelled crucifixes. Vintage.</p><p>From left to right: Nina Ricci, Gucci, Givenchy</p><p>Hell for leather</p><p>Leather is more prevalent than ever in the form of full mid-calf length skirts at Christian Dior and Hermès and total look and totally black in the totally great Loewe and Valentino collections. For Stefano Pilati's final collection for Yves Saint Laurent belted racing green and ox-blood tunics are the height of tough luxury and then there's Celine leather which we all want.</p><p>From left to right: Valentino, Yves Saint Laurent, Celine</p><p>Winter flowers</p><p>More fairies, this time flowery ones. There's nothing more lovely than blooms printed, embroidered or appliqued in the autumn season. Valentino's are delicate in all the shade from pales pink to black. Dolce &amp; Gabbana's are more exuberant. Christopher Kane's flowers are plain nasty in funereal flocked velvet and Giles Deacon's crushed roses on white satins and silks unashamedly romantic. At Alexander McQueen, Sarah Burton's blossom-encrusted designs appear almost to be growing on models frames like otherworldly flora and fauna.</p><p>From left to right: Alexander McQueen, Dolce &amp; Gabbana, Giles Deacon</p><p>The big easy</p><p>Dare to wear clothing that is oversized in the extreme and – at Comme des Garçons and also, more discreetly, Celine – flattened. Sci-fi inspired sweatshirts with moulded sleeves at Balenciaga make for some of autumn's most covetable clothing as does voluminous wool tailoring at Haider Ackermann – most beautiful in blue. For Raf Simons' final collection for Jil Sander, the new Dior designer developed an oversized haute couture-inspired silhouette for an audience that was visibly moved by it. Acne's take is tough and utilitarian.</p><p>From left: Comme des Garçons, Haider Ackermann, Balenciaga</p><p>Punk princesses</p><p>Punk's riotous spirit is all present, correct and as anarchic as expected in the British capital where Meadham Kirchhoff's Leigh Bowery-inspired glamour girls, Louise Gray's brilliant mix-and-match colour and pattern, Kinder's twisted prints and Sister by Sibling's leopard knits with masks and ears are loud and proud. And of course, Vivienne Westwood is still the trailblazer here.</p><p>From left to right: Meadham Kirchhoff, Louise Gray</p><p>British skipper Mike Golding, who, with Franco-Canadian Bruno Dubois, is racing the 60-foot Gamesa, said: “The team is still expecting strong winds up to 40 knots and big seas, and there is still a threat of another depression.”</p><p>The other British skipper is Alex Thomson, who shares responsibilities on Hugo Boss with Spain’s Guillermo Altadil. </p><p>Confirmation that Prada boss Patrizio Bertelli is entering a challenge for the America’s Cup in 2013 was announced in Milan, though he has switched the Italian base of his challenge from Punta Ala to Palermo, Sicily, and the Circolo della Vela Siciliana.</p><p>He has also set up an alliance with one of the two other major challengers, Emirates team New Zealand. The two will collaborate until 31 December 2012 and Luna Rossa, under which Bertelli has challenged, will open a base in Auckland.</p><p>The agreement “includes access to all ETNZ design and performance data for this period,” said the Prada statement. “The hulls for the Italian 72-foot wing-powered catamaran will be built in Italy – at Persico -, but all other elements will be built in New Zealand.”</p><p>Luna Rossa will then switch to San Francisco, venue for the 34th America’s Cup, in March 2013. The board of the Milan-based but Hong Kong-quoted luxury fashion house recently approved a €40m. budget for the challenge.</p><p>Luna Rossa will also join the world series run by the America’s Cup Event Authority and contested in 45-foot wing-powered catamarans. These regattas are not part of the America’s Cup proper, nor its elimination Louis Vuitton Cup series.</p><p>Luna Rossa also currently competes in the Extreme Sailing Series for 40-foot catamarans. It goes into the final regatta in Singapore later this month leading the 2011 series, but has yet to confirm that it will continue to compete in 2012.</p><p>Grant Dalton, boss of ETNZ, said: “The co-operation with Luna Rossa is another step towards the long-term objective of establishing our team as a provider of technology and services that highlight New Zealand’s marine industry expertise.</p><p>“New Zealand still has a love affair with Luna Rossa after being the challenger in 2000 and challenger of record in 2003 and this is the only team with whom we could have done a deal like this. It has never been done in the history of the Cup. It will only work if it is 100 per cent. transparent.” </p><p>It remains to be seen how many of the other teams racing on the 45-foot circuit, Korea, China, two French teams, and another Sicilian team based in Spain, will join the Swedish challenger of record, Torbjorn Tornqvist’s Artemis, in raising the funds to build the 72-foot catamarans in the America’s Cup proper.</p><p>The third and final 45-foot regatta is scheduled for San Diego later this month but all attempts to stage a southern hemisphere regatta in January or February have so far failed and the organising America’s Cup Event Authority, through America’s Cup Race Management, has issued a notice saying that any dates and venue “if any” is to be confirmed.</p><p>The series moved to Naples in April Venice in may and finishes in Newport, Rhode Island at the end of June.</p><p>The 2012-13 series opens with two regattas in San Francisco, but venues for October and December are also “to be confirmed”.</p><p>An enthusiastically supported Legends regatta, being staged ahead of the Volvo round the world race in Alicante, saw 16 boats and competitors from all of its 30-year history taking part. Also attending is the Mexican winner, Ramon Carlin, now 84, of the original Whitbread Race in 1973-74. The less than demanding conditions may have been welcomed by some less than fit veterans, but even they would have welcomed something to blow away the cobwebs of the night before.   </p><p>With all that on offer, it's not difficult to see why Italy is one of the favourite destinations for British holidaymakers. But it might also mean that you feel a little scruffy departing for Venice or Milan on a no-frills flight at the crack of dawn. Happily, there are dozens of options for injecting style into your trip.</p><p>For the ultimate arrival, there's really only one choice. Book a berth on the Venice Simplon-Orient-Express (0845 217 0799; orient-express.com). This sophisticated service, pictured above right, with its elegant cabins and fine dining, departs London Victoria for Venice Santa Lucia on a trip that takes two days and costs from £1,830 full board. This year, there's even an option to spend your whole holiday on the luxury train, with the new nine-day &quot;Renaissance Rivals&quot; trip. Devised to showcase some of Leonardo da Vinci and Michelangelo's works in the cities of their creation, this is one of a series of escorted tours in association with London's National Gallery. Departing London Victoria on 16 May, the trip costs £7,950 per person and features three nights' accommodation at the Villa San Michele in Florence.</p><p>However, you don't have to save up for the trip of a lifetime to arrive in style. For a civilised and leisurely journey to Italy, take the Eurostar (0870 518 6186; eurostar.com) to Paris – with return fares from £69 in standard class and £189 in standard premier class – where you can connect to the Thello (00 33 1 83 82 00 00; thello.com), an upgraded sleeper train that has been running the overnight route from Paris to Milan, Verona and Venice since December. The connection from Paris to Bologna, Florence and Rome is due to recommence from 20 June. The best fares are available direct through Trenitalia (00 39 06 6847 5475; trenitalia.com), which runs the new service with Veolia. For the journey between Paris and Milan, expect to pay return fares in March from €160 for a couchette in a shared cabin to €440 for a single compartment.</p><p>If you also have the luxury of time, you could take the slow lane and drive through France via Eurotunnel (08705 35 35 35; eurotunnel.com), with returns starting at £44 per car, or one of the ferry services that cross the Channel, from £74 return for the P&amp;O service from Dover to Calais, entering Italy through the Mont Blanc tunnel at Courmayeur.</p><p>A hire car will give you the greatest flexibility for getting around, but Italy's extensive train network is also one of the best ways to explore, linking many towns and cities. And from this spring, the sleek new red Italo (ntvspa.it) trains – aka the Ferrari Train – are due to take to the rails of Italy's high-speed network alongside the current Trenitalia schedule, calling at Turin, Milan, Venice, Padua, Bologna, Florence, Rome, Naples and Salerno. Premium passengers will get free Wi-Fi and access to a cinema carriage and station lounges.</p><p>Grand tours</p><p>What better name for a classic grand tour with a contemporary twist than the &quot;Italian Vogue&quot; tour? This luxurious journey offered by Insight Vacations (01475 741 203; insightvacations.com/uk) travels from Rome to destinations including Capri, Chianti, Florence and Venice, and includes such top-class lodgings as the Capri Palace and Spa, private tours to sites such as Pompeii, right, and a Cinque Terre cruise.</p><p>If you have £3,465 to spare – a price that excludes flights but includes luxury coach transport, accommodation, most meals, wine tastings, and private tours – there are still spaces on the first departure on 23 April.</p><p>Nautilus Yachting (01732 867445; nautilusyachting. com) has just opened a charter base in Grado, from where you can explore the Gulf of Trieste by chartering a four-cabin Bavaria 47 Cruiser from £1,939 a week.</p><p>Make a stately journey of exploration on one of the new tours from Great Rail Journeys (01904 521980; greatrail.com). Among them is a 13-day itinerary from Rome down through Puglia and Basilicata via Lecce, Matera and the Gargano peninsula. It costs £1,935 per person, based on two sharing, including first-class rail and coach travel, transfers, 12 nights' B&amp;B, nine dinners, guided tours and a guide.</p><p>Stellar stopovers</p><p>There are several luxury lodgings opening this year. One not to miss is Castello di Casole (00 39 0577 967560; castellodicasole.com), right, an Etruscan castle near Siena in Tuscany due to open as a hotel from 1 July. It is the former home of the film-maker Luchino Visconti and is set amid vineyards, olive groves and a wildlife reserve. It will offer guests 41 suites, two restaurants, a bar and spa. Doubles from €630 per night.</p><p>Another film-maker has just opened a hotel in the birthplace of his grandfather. Francis Ford Coppola's Palazzo Margherita (00 39 0835 549060; palazzomargherita.com), in Bernalda, Basilicata, offers doubles from €360, B&amp;B.</p><p>Other hotels to anticipate include the latest addition to the Salviatino Collection, Palazzo Victoria (00 39 045 590 566; palazzovictoria. com), opening in Verona later this month, with B&amp;B from €230. In May, Monastero Santa Rosa Hotel &amp; Spa (monasterosantarosa.com) opens in a 17th-century monastery on the Amalfi coast, with rooms from €415.</p><p>There's also a crop of superior new self-catering lodgings. Highlights include Monteluce in the Sicilian countryside near Noto, a beautiful one-bedroom property with a pool, available from £1,068 per week through Holiday Lettings (holidaylettings.co.uk/185485), and a refurbished three-bedroom apartment, Scale Nove, in Gallipoli near Lecce, available through Think Puglia (020 7377 8518; thinkpuglia.com) from €2,550 per week.</p><p>Il Rosaio, a four-bedroom stone house in Umbria with private pool, is newly offered by Vintage Travel (01954 261431; vintagetravel.co.uk) from £1,550 a week. And Sardinian Places (0845 330 2050; sardinianplaces. co.uk) has added the Villa Montemoro, a three-bedroom property near Porto Cervo on Sardinia's Costa Smeralda. Price from £484 per person per week, based on six sharing, with flights from Gatwick and car hire.</p><p>Cultural riches</p><p>Italy's cultural heritage draws millions each year, and 2012 sees yet more museums, exhibitions and special tours to keep the human tide flowing (www.italiantouristboard.co.uk).</p><p>In Milan, add Gallerie di Piazza Scala (gallerieditalia.com), via Manzoni 10, to your itinerary. This new cultural venue displays more than 200 works of art, dating from the 1800s and featuring artists from Antonio Canova to Umberto Boccioni, within rooms at the Palazzo Anguissola Antona Traversi and Palazzo Brentani. (Visit before the Novecento section officially opens later this year and you'll get in free.)</p><p>In Modena, you can pay homage to the supercar star of the new Casa Ferrari Museum (00 39 059 2033 940; museocasaenzoferrari.it), opening next Saturday, 10 March. The complex includes the house in which Enzo Ferrari was born in 1898 and a new extension shaped as a car bonnet, in the same yellow against which the prancing horse is set. Inside, a collection of Italian cars, historic documents and memorabilia will more than satisfy discerning petrolheads. Entrance is €13.</p><p>And don't be just another face in the crowd at the Sistine Chapel, pictured above, in Vatican City. Italy With Us (00 39 06 3972 3051; italywithus.com) can get you in for an exclusive morning viewing before the doors officially open or after hoi polloi have been ushered out at night. Tours from €50 per person.</p><p>Eat, drink and be merryFor top-class dining, get a copy of this year's Michelin guide to Italy (michelin. com). You'll find 38 newly starred restaurants, with Lombardy heading the list. Must-book tables include Massimo Bottura's restaurant Osteria Francescana (00 39 059 210118; osteriafrancescana.it) in Modena, which won a third star. New two-star restaurants include Principe Cerami (00 39 094 261 3111; amthotels.it; open April-October) in Taormina, Sicily; L'Olivo (00 39 081 978 0111; capripalace.com) at the Capri Palace hotel; Quattro Passi (00 39 081 808 2800; ristorantequattropassi.com) in Massalubrense; and Restaurant Oliver Glowig (00 39 06 321 6126; oliverglowig.com) in Rome.</p><p>Arblaster &amp; Clarke (01730 263111; winetours. co.uk) has a new nine-night tour that travels from Florence to Naples, calling at top vineyards along the way. It costs £3,450 per person, based on two sharing, including accommodation, most meals, vineyard visits coach and train transport, and the services of a tour manager. Flights excluded.</p><p>Lastly, Italy holds its first Slow Food Day (slowfood.it) on 26 May, with events in more than 300 locations.</p><p>Luxury on a shoestring</p><p>Enjoy luxe for less on the Tuscan island of Elba, pictured above (visitelba.com). The third largest of Italy's islands is known by the British for little more than being the place to where Napoleon was exiled. That's all likely to change in 2014, when it will mark the 200th anniversary of his incarceration. However, beat the crowds to learn more about this island-cum-nature reserve with great beaches. Do it in budget style, too, at the Hotel Ilio (00 39 0565 90 80 18; hotelilio.com), which opens for the season on 20 April. This three-star property in the hamlet of Capo Sant'Andrea and has half-board doubles for €140.</p><p>Amid thousands of properties, the new short-stay accommodation company House Trip (020-3463 0087; housetrip. com) features the fabulously opulent Penthouse Marquis Lucifero around the corner from the Campo dei Fiori in Rome. It can sleep up to four, but at £120 per night for the whole apartment, it's affordable for two people.</p><p>Families who like a bit of classy camping can bridge the luxury gap at Canonici di San Marco (00 39 348 722 5577; viacanonici.com), a small collection of beautifully furnished lodges where you can mix country frolics with sightseeing in nearby Venice. The lodges sleep two to six and cost from €700 per week for two sharing, with additional beds at €20. Prices include breakfast, bikes, Wi-Fi and transfers.</p><p>Check out special promotional sites, such as lastminute.com's Top Secret Hotel (0871 222 5969; lastminute.com). At time of going to print, it was offering 50 per cent off three nights at a four-star hotel in Milan from 8-11 March, price £166. The catch: you'll find out what hotel this is only after booking, though you are allowed to know that it has a spa, pool and it's in the Bovisa district. Keep an eye on Secret Escapes too (secretescapes.com), which runs &quot;flash sales&quot; of hotels and holidays.</p><p>Shop and flop</p><p>High-class shopping doesn't begin and end on the via Condotti in Rome, or Milan's golden quadrangle. For truly high-end purchases, consider a private appointment with the artisans who create covetable luxury goods. Watch the craftspeople at Luigi Bevilacqua's showroom in Venice weave delicate velvets, satins and damasks on hand-operated looms dating from the 17th century. If it inspires you to commission a piece for your own home, you'll be pleased to know that this special tour of the workshop, titled Glimpses of Textiles, organised by The Italian Connection and Spirito Italiano (01424 728 900; italian-connection.co.uk), includes the services of a personal shopper. Tours, pictured, are available on request for £510 for groups of up to six. Flights and hotels extra.</p><p>If your budget is a little tighter, Summer's Leases (0845 230 2223; summers leases.com) has a cottage for two in Moncioni, Tuscany, called Podere La Rota, from €650 a week, that is perfectly positioned for snapping up ritzy bargains at The Mall (00 39 055 8657 775; themall.it), which teems with outlet stores for Gucci, Valentino, Bottega Veneta and Prada. More retail tip-offs can be found in the cottage's savvy House Book.</p><p>Weisberger has gone on to pen three similar morality tales about sensible women who are thrust into glamorous worlds and forced to choose between their real selves and a shallow future filled with diamonds and nightclubs. But Everyone Worth Knowing, Chasing Harry Winston and Last Night at Chateau Marmont failed to recapture her first novel's success, garnering negative reviews and disappointing sales, despite following the formula (not to mention all having identical front covers of – yawn – stilettos). But the publishers are taking no chances with the forthcoming sequel by reworking the original's title JUST TO REALLY DRIVE IT HOME.</p><p>Weisberger is not the first author who has been forced to revisit the characters who first made them famous. Just look at Irvine Welch, who has had a similar career trajectory to Weisberger, even if his specialty is the drug-addled working classes of Scotland as opposed to Manhattan's velvet ropes. After publishing Trainspotting in 1993, Welch authored similar tales of depraved individuals in the likes of Filth and Glue but having never quite recaptured his initial success, published Porno in 2002, a sequel to Trainspotting. Earlier this year he published its prequel, Skagboys. At least he didn't title them Spaintrotting and Spottraining.</p><p>Monday 9pm, BBC2</p><p>On November 12, 2011 the directors Ridley Scott and Morgan Matthews invited everyone in the UK to film part of their day and upload it to YouTube. The resulting 11,526 clips and 750 hours of footage have been edited into this feature-length documentary – a project for the BBC Cultural Olympiad that was inspired by Kevin Macdonald's global snapshot, Life in a Day. From a soup kitchen, postal sorting office and a night bus to a dying man's hospital bed, the Occupy London encampment at St Paul's and a woman bathing with a budgie on her head (and an awful lot more), the film does capture the singularity of our lives, the snippets ranging from the intriguing to the dull. You may question, however, the overall effectiveness of this kaleidoscopic approach.</p><p>Jools Holland: London Calling</p><p>Saturday 9pm, BBC2</p><p>&quot;A knees-up of discovery of London music&quot; is how Jools Holland describes his flavoursome history lesson, taking in folk songs at the site of Tyburn Tree, Damon Albarn and his collection of bells, Roy Hudd on Thirties music hall, calypso arriving with the Windrush and blues at the 100 Club. Infuriatingly insubstantial to start with, this is a grower.</p><p>Louis Theroux: Twilight of the Porn Stars</p><p>Sunday 10pm, BBC2</p><p>Discovering that the going rate for starring in a gang bang starts at $3,000, and that flagging male stars can visit the &quot;porn doctor&quot; for a &quot;boner pill&quot;, Theroux returns to California's San Fernando Valley to catch up with the actors he met in 1997, and to discover that the US pornography industry is in crisis – the victim of internet piracy and new technology.</p><p>All in the Best Possible Taste with Grayson Perry</p><p>Tuesday 10pm, Channel 4</p><p>The ceramicist delves into middle-class taste this week, hanging out at an executive housing estate in Kent, where Prada shoes press the accelerators of Range Rovers and the locals gather over champagne and cupcakes. It's all about &quot;the clarity of meaning of a known brand&quot;, reckons Perry, who admits to his discomfort. &quot;There's no litter here... no mess&quot;.</p><p>The Secret History of Our Streets</p><p>Wednesday 9pm, BBC2</p><p>This excellent series charting the fortunes of London streets focuses on Camberwell Grove, which boasts some of the capital's finest Georgian architecture. Built as a middle-class retreat, many of its properties became derelict during the Victorian era. Re-gentrification began in the 1950s, and to judge by the inhabitants filmed here, is now complete.</p><p>The Men Who Made Us Fat</p><p>Thursday 9pm, BBC2</p><p>With obesity levels on the rise worldwide, Jacques Peretti goes in search of the people who revolutionised eating habits, starting with high-fructose corn syrup sweetener, championed in the 1970s by Richard Nixon's Agriculture Secretary – the aptly named Earl Butz. This body-builder can now be found in most processed food and soft drinks as a cheaper alternative to sugar.</p><p>Match of the Day Live: Euro 2012 – Sweden vs England</p><p>Friday 7pm, BBC1</p><p>Drab draws seem to be par for the course when these two countries meet, and with Roy Hodgson's side still lacking Wayne Rooney up front, the chances are that that record won't be sullied tonight, as Group D continues its second round of matches (Ukraine vs France is on ITV1 at 4.30pm). Gary Lineker hosts from the Olympic Stadium in Kiev.</p><p>Two current Olympic gold medal teams, Paul Goodison came second in the Laser singlehander while Iain Percy and Andrew Simpson were second in the Star. Ahead of them were their greatest rivals, Robert Scheidt and Bruno Prada of Brazil.</p><p>Ben Ainslie had already made sure of the gold with a race to spare in the Finn singlehander and Helena Lucas took silver in the 2.4mR paralympic class.</p><p>Heading south towards Cape Horn the Spanish entry Camper has resumed racing after being repaired in Puerto Montt, Chile. And heading north from the River Plate is the French team, under reduced crew, reduced sail, and makeshift rig, both determined to make the finish of leg five of the Volvo round the world race from Auckland to Itajai, Brazil. </p><p>And not just there. There is a new feel to the World Match Race Tour as it kicks off in Germany, the flexible –perhaps that should read fluid – approach to running the America’s Cup, and the continuing row over Olympic equipment selection for 2016 means more crossroads than the sport needs, especially against a background of struggling finances.</p><p>After the withdrawal of Audi support for the MedCup series, which pitted the best of the US, Britain, the rest of Europe, and New Zealand, a loose capitalist co-operative has taken over the running of a TP 52 circuit essentially reduced to four regattas bolted on to exiting events.</p><p>Joining Zennström, who is also a serious campaigner in a 72-footer of the same name, is the American sail loft Quantum and, with a new boat, Sardinia’s Yacht Club Costa Smeralda and Alberto Roemmers. They have appointed a Valencia-based sports marketing company, Jacaranda, to redevelop the circuit and are committed to two seasons.</p><p>Next year’s programme, they promise, will be announced at the end of June or early July and in the meantime the fleet is enlarged by the presence of Britain’s Tony Langley and the Stephane Kandler-managed Franco-German All4One team.</p><p>The All4One skipper, Jochen Schuemann is absent, nursing an injury according to an official explanation, though he is taking part in the same regatta aboard a 94-foot Wally, Magic Carpet Squared.</p><p>Also absent for rather more painful medical reasons is Buckingham but his tactician/alternate skipper Kevin Sproul could telephone the good news of three opening bullets in a seven-strong 40-foot fleet which originated in South America and will often race alongside the TP52s on a beefed up European circuit.</p><p>The America’s Cup organisers have agreed to yet another modification to the protocol for AC34 in San Francisco next year which pushes back the deadline for entries from 1 June to 1 August this year. The move was led by the French Energy Team, which has been chasing finance in the Middle East at a time when a presidential election at home has only made the search for sponsorship even harder.</p><p>Everyone, including the three expected challengers, Sweden’s Artemis, Team New Zealand, and Italy’s Prada-backed Luna Rossa, plus the Korean and Chinese syndicates, agreed. </p><p>Aaron Peskin, a former president of the city’s Board of Supervisors, wants to delay a decision by the present board to give the go-ahead to a $55m. deal which would  commit financial support from the city and give the green light to extensive waterfront development. In addition San Francisco would pump $32. into the event.</p><p>The 11-member board is due to vote on Tuesday, but Peskin wants a further environmental impact study. He says that if the board is willing to delay its vote he will withdraw his law suit; otherwise he wants a judicial block on a move which would see building works begin next month.</p><p>The lawsuit alleges the city failed to properly review the environment impacts that the event will have on the San Francisco Bay and the city. It asks a judge to order a halt to construction until the lawsuit is resolved.</p><p>The lawsuit names the city, its board and planning commission, organizers of the event. several construction companies, architectural firms and yacht clubs.</p><p>Stephen Barclay, the director of the independent America’s Cup Event Authority (ACEA) but also chief operating officer of the defending Oracle Racing team, says that a 12-month timetable has already been condensed by delay into nine months. While saying that he expected continued support from the city “of course there is always a plan B.”</p><p>He said the $55m. plan is to upgrade the old piers “but we want to be reimbursed.” That would be done by commercial property rental income of up to $55m. plus interest at 11 per cent., on the waterfront property given rent free for up to 66 years or however long it took to make the money back, after which the property would be returned to the port and the city. ACEA can also sell the rent stream.</p><p>Local politicians and activists, described by Barclay as “some of the more liberal members” had been “getting a lot of press about this being a property deal. We have drawn a line in the sand and said they must decide on 28 February. If they vote it down we’d huddle fairly quickly and it would not be all over.”</p><p>While the Cup is technically held by the Golden Gate Yacht Club, the team which won it and which is due to defend it in September next year is funded and entirely in the control of Oracle computer software boss Larry Ellison, one of the 10 richest men in the world.</p><p>One economic impact forecast said that the cup defence, plus the challenger elimination series, would be worth $1.4bn to the city and 9,000 jobs. So far, however, only three teams, Sweden’s Artemis, backed by commodities trader Torbjorn Tornqvist, Italy’s Luna Rossa, supported by Patrizio Bertelli’s Prada fashion house, and Team New Zealand, backed by both the government and commercial sponsors, are confirmed to challenge in 72-foot wing-sailed catamarans.</p><p>The cup, originally won by the yacht America in a race round the Isle of Wight in 1851, claims to be the longest running in international sport; international because the Doggett’s Coat and Badge rowing race has been run on the Thames since 1715.</p><p>After a bitter legal battle, it was won 2-0 in a best-of-three races between monster multihulls off Valencia in 2010, the Californian team easily beating the Swiss holder, Ernesto Bertarelli’s Alinghi team.</p><p>On the fourth leg of the Volvo round the world race, the fleet of six is still two days behind schedule, having been delayed for almost 24 hours when starting from Sanya, Hainan Island, China. Working hard to retain its lead on the way to the home port of Auckland, the Team New Zealand-managed Spanish entry, Camper, is still in front.</p><p>But there are still over 4,000 miles to go and the American-flagged Puma is still convinced that its tactical gamble of sailing north to skirt the light winds that have plagued their rivals will eventually pay off.</p><p>Donatella Versace's collection of what she termed &quot;rock chick&quot; pieces harked back to the brand's 1990s heyday, with leather-strapped harnesses acting as yokes on minidresses and eyelet fastenings on cutaway corsetted cocktail dresses, recalling that safety pin number worn by Elizabeth Hurley.</p><p>Coats and dresses in black wool were embellished with glittering visigoth crucifixes, which later became a digital print on pencil skirts and daywear, picked out in jewel colours reminiscent of stained-glass windows.</p><p>A bullish selection of dresses on which the brand's name was spelled out was a glorious spot of logo-heavy self-promotion from a label revelling in a zeitgeist-y appreciation of what it does best.</p><p>This was especially apparent in the final sequence of full-length chainmail evening gowns, sheer but for flesh-coloured under-pinnings and exaggerated at the bust and hips by Boudicca-style armoury.</p><p>Earlier, Milan had been treated to a girlish offering from the Italian megabrand Moschino. Models walked to a drummed tattoo in what creative director Rosella Jardini described as a &quot;swinging parade&quot;.</p><p>Military influences cropped up as gold hardware on black wool and quilted leather coats, and a traditional trench was re-worked in bright yellow. &quot;I decided to use black with vibrant pops of colour, such as fuchsia, Yves Klein blue and canary yellow. I wanted a slimmer and more structured silhouette,&quot; said Jardini.</p><p>Family business Etro took opulence in a more subdued direction, showing the house's trademark paisley print in dark shades printed onto chiffon column dresses that were given texture and perspective through patches of velvet and swirling Op-art graphics. Here too, tailoring was given a military once-over, with structured tweed blazers belted with equestrian-looking panniers.</p><p>After acclaim for her graphically printed collection on Thursday evening, Miuccia Prada attended the launch yesterday of &quot;Schiaparelli and Prada: Impossible Conversations&quot;, the New York Costume Institute's spring exhibition at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.</p><p>Jil Sander.....back at Jil Sander</p><p>After Thursday's news that the designer Raf Simons would leave his post at Jil Sander, the Italian fashion house announced yesterday it was appointing the woman who founded the company more than 44 years ago.</p><p>&quot;I am very happy and excited to be back,&quot; Jil Sander said in a statement. &quot;The fashion world needs original voices and genuine signatures.&quot;</p><p>For Sander, who sold a 75 per cent stake in her company to the Prada group in 1999, this will, it is hoped, be a case of third time lucky. She has left her label twice before, after disagreements with Patrizio Bertelli, CEO at the time.</p><p>With her unforgettable poker-straight platinum locks, sky-high heels and pillow-like lips Donatella took over designing after her brother, and founder of the label, Gianni Versace was murdered in Miami 15 years ago. </p><p>But behind the scenes, beavering away for the past three years, has been chief executive Gian Giacomo Ferraris – the company's doctor, who has performed a financial rescue and a self-imposed clean-up of the business. </p><p>Before his arrival there were dark days at the Milan-based powerhouse. </p><p>Donatella was Gianni Versace's muse and best friend. During the label's heyday of the 1980s and early 1990s the brand and the family were on a high. They were the toast of the international catwalks and socialised in the best celebrity circles, counting Elton John and Princess Diana as close friends. </p><p>But after Gianni's death Donatella, obviously devastated, began a spiral into a life controlled by drugs and drink to dull the pain of her loss. </p><p>Her designs and the brand inevitably suffered. The collections' colourful patterns, curls and over-the-top black-studded leather began to look off the pace compared with the clean-cut lines of other designers in the early 2000s. </p><p>Sir Elton John eventually encouraged her to go to rehab. It was successful, but by 2009 the business was a mess. It was haemorrhaging cash and its banks were breathing down its neck. </p><p>Gian Giacomo Ferraris recalls: &quot;I joined in the centre of the economic crisis. What had happened was very complex but the main issue was the company had broken its banking covenants and had more than €100m (£83.6m) of debt, sales were dropping and I had to act immediately.&quot; </p><p>Versace had farmed out most of the control of its products to franchising and licensees who were making bags, belts and shoes and selling them across the world without Versace being in control. The strategy was flawed – not only because the lack of control meant the brand could be damaged by overselling to the wrong retailers – but also because it isn't as profitable as doing it yourself. </p><p>Serious surgery was needed. Fast. </p><p>The calm and straightforward Mr Ferarris might first appear the antithesis of the typical Italian fashion maestro. An engineer by trade, he has worked on restructurings, cost cutting and turnarounds at luxury brands before. He began his career at Ermenegildo Zegna in 1987 but cut his teeth at US consulting firm, Kurt Salmon. Following that his CV reads like a fashion week brochure, including stints at Jil Sander and Gucci-owned YSL, Balenciaga, Stella McCartney, Alexander McQueen and Bottega Veneta. At Versace he simplified and consolidated IT, logistics, manufacturing – culling its expensive systems and facilities – and in the process slashing nearly a quarter of its workforce. He says: &quot;Tough action is necessary and I have justified the tough action with the results you see.&quot; </p><p>And one look at the results last week certainly shows he has made his mark. Net profits hit €8.5m for 2011, compared with a whopping loss of €21.7m in 2010. Revenues jumped 16.4 per cent to €340.2m for 2011, up from €292.3m in the previous year. </p><p>He says: &quot;I acted immediately to cut losses and I touched every single area of the business except the creative team and product development.&quot; </p><p>Donatella, for her part, in February this year returned to the Paris couture schedule after an eight-year absence and used the couture collection that her brother Gianni had produced. </p><p>The fact that Donatella felt comfortable to revisit it is evidence of the more comfortable place that she, and the business, finds itself. Not the tormented and problem-riddled former Versace. </p><p>The move to bring in Ferraris in 2009, echoes a growing trend for fashion and luxury brands to be run by corporate people who have more experience of balance sheets than fabric swatches. </p><p>Many of the once-family-owned designer brands are now predominantly owned by one of the large conglomerates of LVMH, PPR or Richemont. Even those still independent, like Versace, have drafted in their equivalent Ferraris to make sure someone has their eye on the bottom line. </p><p>But how does a management guy, a suit, get on with the temperamental and creative outbursts of a fashionista like Donatella? </p><p>&quot;Everything I did was with the support of Donatella and the board. I worked with her,&quot; explains Ferraris. </p><p>He then slips into the whimsical language of the fashion world he belongs to saying: &quot;Donatella was the muse of Gianni, her brother. I have her, I have the archive, I have the historical story of the company. </p><p>&quot;Donatella is my cradle. This maison has to have a voice and she is the soul of Gianni. With her help we changed things in creative development. We have created diffusion lines and we have returned to the core competencies – ready to wear, accessories, shoes, couture.&quot; </p><p>But does Donatella really turn up to management meetings and strategy meetings? Is she not better suited to the catwalk rather than the boardroom? </p><p>&quot;I have to thank Donatella as she has taken on the role of managing the four lines. She is very business focused, she is a driven entrepreneur. I have never had any issues of creative against management. From the moment I came here the feelings have been positive. </p><p>&quot;At every monthly meeting she arrives prepared and focused and brimming with ideas.&quot; </p><p>Now the restructuring is on track the focus is on expansion. Donatella's original baby – Versus – her &quot;diffusion&quot; line, the cheaper, younger more rock and roll collection given to her by Gianni, has its own new star. Donatella brought in British fashion designer Christopher Kane and it is this brand that is one of the key areas of growth. It is looking for more of its own stores and is in talks to open a Versus store in Mayfair in London. </p><p>During 2011, Versace ended agreements with Versus' licensees, taking back control of the brand. It has refocused on its key lines Versace mainline, Versace Donna, Young Versace and Versus. </p><p>In the first three months of 2012 sales through its directly operated stores, which account for around 50 per cent of revenues, were up on last year. But the huge growth potential for the business is new markets including Brazil and Korea as well as existing businesses in China, the US and Japan. </p><p>Ferraris travels the globe constantly but makes sure he still has the hands-on approach back in Milan, where he also lives. </p><p>&quot;There needed to be more personal interaction between the levels of management and staff. This is in my DNA. Yes, it takes a lot of time but communication and the personal touch must be done.&quot; </p><p>Shops and shows are par for the course at a fashion brand but Versace has realised it needs to step into the current century with a better website. It will relaunch in Europe and the US in September and later will set up in Asia. </p><p>Last autumn the house designed a sought-after collection for high street favourite H&amp;M to rave reviews. </p><p>So now Versace resembles a corporation, rather than a family business, is the next step an IPO? </p><p>Rumours have been floating that Versace could follow fellow Italian family companies Prada and Salvatore Ferragamo, who listed in Hong Kong and Milan respectively. But management is claiming this is not on the cards. </p><p>The business is still owned by the family and the family says it wants long-term control. Allegra, Donatella's 25-year-old daughter, inherited 50 per cent when she was 18 years old, as stipulated in her uncle's will. </p><p>Ferraris insists he has now &quot;secured the long-term future of the company&quot;, so with the finances in order, it is up to Donatella to make sure Versace stays a hit on the catwalks.</p><p>In the 21st century, no matter how much money you spend, how expensive your lawyers, pictures can never be suppressed, banned, wiped or eliminated. They exist in cyberspace until the next even hotter story comes along. The Duchess made two big mistakes. The first was dropping her top in the first place. The second was to decide to seek some kind of retribution through the courts, a move doomed to fail in its purposes of preventing the dissemination of the images and deterring photographers from behaving like that again.</p><p>Unexpectedly, her band of sympathisers included former porn publisher and owner of Channel 5 television, Richard Desmond, who claimed to be &quot;outraged&quot; that a newspaper he part-owned in Ireland printed them, even though his papers ad magazines contain images of women which many find extremely offensive.</p><p>Even more bizarrely, a breast cancer awareness campaign which shows bare breasts to illustrate the symptoms has been banned before 9pm, for fear of offending viewers.</p><p>But what about other women who are happy to be paid to bare their breasts? Last week, a petition was building to ask Dominic Mohan, editor of The Sun, to stop showing topless women. Page 3 girls started in the 1970s as part of a tabloid circulation war. They seem so old-fashioned today: porn, and any kind of nudity, is free online, and it's hard to see how a pair of nipples can sell a paper in 2012. Petrol discount vouchers or coupons for Tesco would probably do more.Lucy Holmes, who started the campaign to end Page 3, will have 30,000 signatories by this week, including Jennifer Saunders and Rebecca Front. When we ran a poll on Loose Women, 85 per cent of ITV1 viewers who responded agreed, suggesting this isn't just a middle-class cause.</p><p>The people who published Kate's breasts used all sorts of justifications, including &quot;pride&quot;. But the truth is, her nipples, like those in The Sun, were just a marketing tool, a way of increasing profits. Which means that The Sun might as well abandon Page 3, as mammaries don't seem to deliver any more.</p><p>Given the need for a bit of positive PR, wouldn't it be a good idea for Rupert Murdoch to pick up the phone and tell Dominic Mohan to bin Page 3 and win some female fans?</p><p>As for Kate, she's learnt an important lesson the hard way. But then she was never exactly a poster girl for feminism in the first place.</p><p>How's about that?</p><p>Government plans to relax planning regulations so homeowners can build bigger extensions has caused outrage- with some councils like Richmond in south-west London, preparing to refuse to implement the changes. I agree: nothing will cause more local disputes than this ill-judged policy &quot;initiative&quot;. The picture of Jimmy Saville's hideous gravestone, unveiled last week, so enraged me I now want the planning legislation extended to cover cemeteries. This memorial, overloooking the sea at Scarborough, fails on every level. It's ostentatious, vulgar, over-sized, and contains a dreadful poem, written by the deceased:</p><p>Stop, share this view I've chosen</p><p>And spend some time with me</p><p>Look down towards the castle</p><p>Which we can also see.</p><p>Another long-winded tribute reads:</p><p>He wrestled men, he cycled, he ran marathons we know</p><p>He worked in many dance halls and he worked in radio.</p><p>Call me a snob, but this is banal cack, and if any of my relatives were buried nearby I would be extremely upset. Modesty doesn't seem to have been high on Sir Jim's agenda: most saints, prime ministers, military leaders and philanthropists have low-key memorials compared with this.</p><p>Horror show</p><p>I'm getting a bit tired of the &quot;ugly chic&quot; look Miuccia Prada continues to pursue so singlemindedly. First, knee socks, then mega-clompy shoes, and now in her latest collection huge mirrored Japanese geta sandals embellished with flowers and worn with leather socks. Is she having a laugh? Clothes that fold like complicated origami festooned with big white daisies will only sell to dedicated fashionistas and then in very small amounts. Miuccia is a very clever woman, a towering intellect in the world of fashion, but her company makes most money from perfumes and accessories. So the need to capture headlines is paramount: hence the horror show on the catwalk. Why modern women would want to wear clothes inspired by geishas, many of whom exist to service men, is quite beyond me.</p><p>Easy to refuse</p><p>Here's some good news for anyone who loves the countryside. Following a protest campaign, Kent councillors have finally seen sense and told the Government they are not interested in hosting a storage facility for nuclear waste under wonderful Romney Marsh, already desecrated by wind turbines on land owned by the Crown Estates. Last week, Shepway council voted to reject the offer, unimpressed by a presentation extolling the benefits of the &quot;geological disposal facility&quot; which the Government claimed would bring community benefits of up to £1bn – and was &quot;a bigger deal than the Olympics&quot;.</p><p>The only remaining possible site, Copeland, in Cumbria, is expected to turn down the proposals early in October, leaving the Department of Energy and Climate Change the task of persuading another part of beautiful Britain to become a nuclear dump by offering big wads of cash. Any takers?</p><p>Grand designs</p><p>Today is the last day of the London Design Festival and there are exhibitions and events all over the city. To celebrate 25 years in business, the Conran store in Chelsea put together Red, a stunning exhibition of objects created by over 50 of the world's leading designers, ranging from coathangers and lights to tables, sun loungers, china and luggage. There's even a special pair of Manolos.</p><p>My favourite object is a giant Mickey Mouse, which sadly costs £3,995. I wonder if the new inhabitants of Chelsea – fabulously wealthy Russians – will buy these modern icons in their national colour?</p><p>Terence Conran has announced that, at 80, he's finally handing over the running of the business to his son Jasper. He still remains an impressive designer. His latest range for Marks &amp; Spencer contains a fabulous desk with a bright blue tubular steel frame that will become a modern classic. </p><p>But inside, the fashion desks of two of the UK’s biggest glossy magazines are queuing up almost in their entirety to make choices and place orders from his spring/summer 2012 collection, a punchy pastel confection of hand-embroidered kaleidoscopic paisleys on silk tulle, printed dirndl skirts and dresses, and wispy, minimally crafted organza blouses.</p><p>Saunders, 34, surveys the scene with a smile, recognising most of the women present as longstanding devotees of his blossoming eight-yearold label and greeting them in warm Glaswegian tones. He is an enviable shade of brown, just back from the British Fashion Council’s showrooms in Los Angeles, where young London designers are able to present their wares to West Coast press and buyers, and he blends in perfectly with the clothes around him, their vivid shades of peachy pink and grass green, inspired by Fifties housewives and Miami-resort vibrancy. “I had one day of sunbathing,” he says. “So I’m happy.”</p><p>But otherwise, it is straight down to business. He has had a frenetic year, with the launch of a menswear collection during Fashion Week last February, an inter-seasonal women’s pre-collection that buyers have snapped up and the main womenswear show in September. Add to this the unveiling of an “Editions” line with the department store Debenhams in January, as well as a post within the Italian house Escada designing its Sport range and a collaboration with the stationery brand Smythson, which is using the bird prints from his autumn collection on a range of notebooks and diaries, and there is some sense of how sought after Saunders is. And he designed the staff uniforms at Sir Elton John’s Grey Goose Winter Ball last month, a ritzy affair to raise money for the Aids Foundation ahead of last week’s World Aids Day.</p><p>“They’re like the autumn collection,” he says of the waistcoats and shirts. “A traditional, ornate and decorative print design combined with a modern, strict silhouette. I looked at William Morris and art nouveau, and then at a sophisticated Forties woman.”</p><p>That collection, shown last February, has become one of the most popular and widely written about – not to mention most conspicuously worn by the cognoscenti – of the season, embracing at once a clean but opulent sculpturalism in its strict and silken silhouette, as well as a classic and womanly look by way of 1940s pencil skirts and 1880s decadent bird and leaf prints.</p><p>“Trend is always a reaction against what you worked on the previous season,” Saunders says when I ask him how inspiration struck. “It’s a new direction within the ethos of what your brand is about, but a new interpretation of it. I think that what I wanted to offer my customer was something a little bit more serious in a way.”</p><p>Saunders is nothing if not serious about his work – so much is evident in his sliced and precise patterns, a signature lightness that never becomes frothy, and his attention to detail. But he also speaks about the clothes he makes with a businesslike sense of creating merchandise – a hangover from his original line of work in product design. “I’ve always loved making things and I’ve always loved being creative, but it’s always been product-driven,” he says. “I wasn’t sketching and making art. I’ve always been interested in the mix between between creativity and business, and I think, at the end of the day, you have to be convinced with what you’re saying in your collections but you also have to meet the needs of your customers.”</p><p>After growing up in the Burnside area of the city and graduating from the Glasgow School of Art in 1999, Saunders became yet another success story on the Central Saint Martins postgraduate course, where he studied printed textiles. He then created a best-selling bird of paradise print during a stint at Alexander McQueen, and worked for Chloé and Christian Lacroix among others, before showing a debut collection at London Fashion Week in 2003. References for this first collection included Vasarely and Escher; luxurious and expensive items were decorated with his characteristic screen prints, some of which incorporated no fewer than 18 different shades.</p><p>“I’m an ambitious person,” he says. “I think the more I learn, the better I get at doing it. But it’s balancing that confidence with the humility of listening to what your customer wants. It’s not just about what I think, it’s about what they want.”</p><p>Lulu Kennedy, founder of the Fashion East initiative for young designers, says: “I met him straight off the Saint Martins MA. In a matter of minutes I was trying on the clothes and calling the selection panel to say, ‘hey, we’ve got someone really special here’. He was incredibly focused, articulate and worked long hours.”</p><p>Saunders is part of a new wave of commerce savvy designers, who are well-suited to the current tide of financial gloom. He isn’t a larger-than-life industry diva – his quiet, considered manner makes that sort of behaviour seem passé, and he is tight-lipped about his personal life, preferring to focus on the work that has come to define him instead. His label doesn’t simply rely on a traditional luxury-loving demographic which remains unhurt by the economic climate, it is about speaking to a new generation of independent women, with sartorial tastes and needs that have not yet been met. “Jonathan has a very grown-up sense of chic,” Harriet Quick, Vogue’s fashion features director, says. “Pretty sundresses in jacquards and waffle knits for spring – they’re utterly modern yet with a desirable breeziness.”</p><p>Saunders’ trademark austerity comes with an edge of delicacy and sensuality that speaks to several different sensibilities. He showed his collections at New York Fashion Week for several seasons, gaining acclaim for his trompe-l’oeil, panelled column dresses that cinched the waist, before he was invited to come back to London as part of its 25th anniversary in 2009. There is a transatlantic functionality to his work which, crossed with British sentiment, makes for a winning combination.</p><p>“It’s a joy buying Jonathan’s collections,” says Natalie Kingham, an international buyer at the boutique Matches, in whose atelier I meet and speak to Saunders. “Women of all ages can wear them and easily style it to make it their own, and they will stand the test of time. He’s a very empowering designer.”</p><p>Saunders’ strategy is to focus on separates and knitwear, which build a wardrobe for those who wear them. And you don’t need to be head-to-toe in Jonathan Saunders, something he understands only too well. “Separates are key,” he agrees. “A knit with a colourful skirt is really key for me. Knitwear in general – an A-line dress, a flattering dress, is something that’s always worked really well. Something that feels special but that ranges through from occasionwear into daywear as well. There’s a modern femininity that our customer looks for – not just minimal, or masculine. I think it’s that balance.”</p><p>He finds that balance in the designers that most inspire him: Coco Chanel, Miuccia Prada and Balenciaga’s Nicholas Ghesquière. All have quietly revolutionised the feminine sartorial code through innovation, wit and a strong sense of their own aesthetic. Saunders is no different: his steadiness and elaborately pragmatic vision translate directly into clothes with a universal audience and an ultra-modern message.</p><p>Working and studying in fashion often brings to mind scenes from ‘The Devil Wears Prada’ with menacing figures at the root of fashion houses or magazines that make decisions on the latest trends, which affect everybody whether they realize it or not. Working in fashion is a career that many aspire to. with glamorous ideals painted by the media. Everyone can and has to engage with clothes and whether you realise it or not, this plays a huge role in your life and how it maps out; first impressions are always important. Why wouldn’t you want to be part of such a huge and influential industry?</p><p>Certainly part of the stereotypes behind fashion are true; it is a competitive industry - each job opening one ‘a million girls would kill for’, which means that an ambitious and hard-working nature is needed to survive and thrive in an ever-changing industry. It’s true as well, that we get discounts from friends of friends with a network of contacts all eager to scratch one another’s backs! However I’m sorry to deliver the news that fashion is not simply glamorous – we just work with glamour, but some of it is bound to rub off.</p><p>My story starts with a foundation course at my local college in general art and design where I took classes in ceramics, textiles, illustration and photography to experience previously unknown aspects of the arts. I produced two collections, one on regency dress and the other inspired by Midsummer Night’s Dream, and gained a distinction from my initial year immersed in design.</p><p>From here the London College of Fashion was my first choice for my studies since the course BA (Hons) Fashion Design and Development combined the savvy sense of business with the practical knowledge of design and garment construction. For me, each aspect of fashion supports and makes sense of the others within such a dynamic industry. London is, and forever will be, one of the fashion capitals of the world and a designers’ playground. That’s why creative people gather here, and where my college, one of the best in the world for fashion, forms an amazing community under the University of the Arts umbrella. The myth that an arts degree may be easier than others is just that: a myth. Working in any creative industry is a lifestyle rather than simply a job. Once you’ve completed one project you’re on to the next. They overlap, and you carry it with you in your mind wherever you go. It may be hard work but it enhances the world and makes you who you are.</p><p>The course offered ‘live projects’, which meant working with clients such as Volcom and Kings College London to get industry feedback on targeted designs for a specific customer in mind. My year prepared a portfolio and prototypes for new NHS nurses’ uniforms, and Volcom commissioned a younger perspective on women’s sportswear. This was perfect training for eventually working for a brand where the brand’s ethos and customer profile informs the outcome of their collections.</p><p>The third year of the course is a year-long placement year to gain experience of the industry first-hand and help us to see which direction we might wish to follow both in or final year project and in our future careers. I worked at Mulberry Company Design for the full year as a raw material buyer for both sampling and production purposes. Mulberry celebrated its 40 year anniversary last year and still remains one of Britain’s most successful heritage brands. During this year, I was offered a part-time role in Product Development which suited my skills of being a creative designer whilst still applying business sense to every decision made.</p><p>Working three days a week at Mulberry whilst studying in my final year pushed me to start my own business, Make Fashion British, to unite young designers such as myself with manufacturers here in Britain. I graduated in July with a 2.1 and am now working at Mulberry which is a wonderfully friendly company with an extraordinary team. I have the opportunity to work on the runway collections and work backstage during London Fashion week, dressing the models and preparing the outfits to be viewed at their best. Famous names abound in the fashion world and I have rubbed shoulders with Jimmy Choo, Lana Del Ray and Anna Wintour to name but three.</p><p>I would recommend a career in fashion to those who appreciate beauty in design, are ready to work hard under pressure and understand that fashion is one of the world’s largest international industries that has moral and economic issues as well as being the glittering show-stopper on the cover of Vogue.</p><p>However, their clarity of viewpoint is an inspiration to members of the fairer sex across the globe and that applies to everything from the creation of clothes to the controlling of the image of the companies they preside over more broadly. In particular, for spring/summer 2012, their entirely diverse talents were remarkable.</p><p>To take it from the top, Rei Kawakubo's collection for Comme des Garçons was probably her strongest and most profoundly moving for years. Kawakubo is the single most influential fashion designer – male or female – of the past 30 years. Since she arrived on the scene in Paris in 1981, when her anarchic spircaused fashion editors to run tearful from her shows, she has given the world deconstruction, deliberately aged fabrics – boiled, faded and frayed around the edges – an oversized silhouette and more. Kawakubo overthrew – and continues to overthrow – any notion of status in designer clothing. We even have this designer to thank for the (non-) colour black in the fashionable wardrobe which is now ubiquitous to the point that it has become clichéd.</p><p>Conversely, the godmother of the avant-garde worked this time around entirely in white. Media-shy to the point of reclusive, all Kawakubo had to say of her extraordinary presentation was &quot;white drama&quot;. Later in the showroom that was elaborated upon, at least to a certain extent, by her husband and business partner, Adrian Joffe, who said his wife had been thinking of &quot;everything that makes you happy and sad in life&quot;. Kawakubo was trying to express all of life's big events and the sentiments they evoked including, in particular, marriage and the potential restraints that go with it through white clothing. An ambitious concept to say the very least.</p><p>And so models' arms were tied at the front with soft, oversized bows, their torsos and legs were enclosed in silk-covered cages, crinolines were worn over dresses and trousers and more dresses sprouted overblown skirts from in front or behind. Sleeves, meanwhile, were so long they grazed models' ankles. Crochet-knit jackets brought christening blankets to mind, while cocoons of silk encasing bodies and then even heads whispered of the shadow of death.</p><p>Perhaps inevitably, at least some onlookers concluded that Kawakubo was reacting to the earthquake in her native Japan – she lives and works in Tokyo travelling to Paris for a few days only four times a year for her shows – but she was quick to assert that was absolutely not the case. Whatever, the play here between nihilism and optimism and innocence and experience made for a visual and emotional tour de force that was magnificent even by a designer of such elevated stature's standards.</p><p>Phoebe Philo is still a fledgling talent comparatively, although she was responsible for the spectacular success of Chloé in the Noughties and is now working her magic at Céline. Although she demonstrates very different concerns both women, interestingly, share a reticence to speak about their personal lives. Passionately private, the point of it all is the work and their designs should speak for themselves, their thinking goes.</p><p>In the two and a half years since Philo has been creative director at Céline her aesthetic has certainly spoken to women of style and, it has to be said, considerable means the world over. The &quot;cabas&quot; and &quot;luggage&quot; bags, the Céline tunic, white shirt, crepe jumpsuit and perfect cocoon coat are all part of the label's vocabulary by now and have earned Philo a following that would rival many of those who have been striving to achieve such a clear identity for far longer. The hype that has sprung up around this label is all the more noteworthy given its understatement. Céline is subtle, about wardrobe over and above seasonal stand-out pieces, and to all but the initiated far from immediately identifiable.</p><p>While the Céline classics were all present and correct at Philo's show last week there was a jump forward in silhouette. There are very few designers working today who have the ability to develop new proportions. Here, though, jackets were high-waisted and kicked from the empire line down and were worn with skirts and trousers cut low on the hip. Shoes were high, even by catwalk standards, only adding to the impression of tallness in the clothes. Like Kawakubo, Philo works against the traditional hourglass silhouette, preferring her clothes to be moulded around the body and for there to be a space between garment and wearer. The distinct feeling here is that tight clothes are too obvious somehow. In the past there has been a severity to the Céline look. This time, however, softness was evoked by the veiling of white trousers in black chiffon or the concertina pleating of a strict white shirt when seen from behind.</p><p>As the final day of the Paris collections dawned, a friend and colleague wondered: &quot;How long do you think it will be before we're all bored of sweetly romantic clothes?&quot; If the Miu Miu show was anything to go by, Miuccia Prada's over it already. This may seem just a tad contrary given that her collection for Prada, shown in Milan not much more than a week before, showcased just the pastel colours and ultra-feminine silhouette that more than a few designers in Paris have since upheld as the last word in summer chic. And that, perhaps, is the key to the blinding success of Italian fashion's first lady. She has an extremely short attention span, jumping from one idea to another at breakneck speed, forcing the rest of the world to struggle to keep up with her quick and elegant mind only if they dare. Prada, who with her husband and CEO Patrizio Bertelli, has recently floated her company on the Hong Kong stock exchange and is believed to be among the highest earning people in contemporary fashion, has made a small fortune out of such thinking.</p><p>With this in mind, belle laide was the story at Miu Miu where many of the staples of the classic bourgeois and/or haute couture wardrobe that have proved de rigueur in New York, London, Milan and, finally, Paris were subtly subverted to typically mischievous effect. Lace – the fabric of the spring/summer season – here came stiffened and in the type of unlikely hues this name is famous for, not least burgundy and beige. Velvet bows were scaled up and tied capes no longer than a matador jacket and designed to be worn off the shoulder. The bell-shaped skirt that has cropped up here, there and everywhere, looked considerably more fierce with an exaggerated high waist and in a palette of navy, black and grey. Matchy matchy? Miuccia Prada doesn't do matchy matchy. Instead the disparity between a lace dress, a patchwork cotton cape, a velvet bow, brass-finished dolly bags in myriad fabrics and colours and shoes and boots inlaid with roses and with witchy pointed toes was exaggerated almost to the point of madness. As for the hair and make-up... Gashes of blood-red eye shadow and hair plastered to the head with a centre parting that was often slightly skew centre-parting made even the most beautiful models appear far from conventionally pretty. It looked brilliant and you could almost hear the designer laughing to herself backstage.</p><p>Tali Lennox</p><p>Tali Lennox is fabulous. There's simply no other word: an internationally recognised catwalk model by the age of 18, she skipped working the fashion weeks this year to go the annual Burning Man festival (a radical art-muso gathering in Nevada), and she has just been appointed the face of high-street label Mango. Her predecessor in that role was Kate Moss, but Lennox isn't fazed.</p><p>&quot;In my first season, I was trying to make a point,&quot; she explains, having taken her initial steps on the catwalk for Marc Jacobs, Prada, Christopher Kane, Miu Miu and Acne (among others) during the spring/summer 2011 collections. &quot;I wanted to show I'm not just who my mum is. Fashion week is hard work. It was a way of proving to myself that I could do something that wasn't given to me.&quot;</p><p>Her mother, Annie Lennox of Eurythmics fame, may be present in the familiar crystal-clear skin, pouting lips and aquiline nose, but no one could accuse Tali of relying on her name.</p><p>Despite the jet-setting and inherited celebrity, Lennox is refreshingly down-to-earth. Interested in art, she sequesters herself to paint whenever she can. &quot;I can switch off while I'm doing it. I might be rushing around but I can sit and paint portraits for six hours at a time. I'm drawn to dark, distorted artists, such as Francis Bacon and Cindy Sherman, the sunken eyes and bruised faces. It's ironic, given my job is about being pristine, but it's liberating to be a bit messy.&quot;</p><p>That messiness comes across as a lack of artifice in Lennox's work, which also includes a Burberry campaign shot by Mario Testino, as well as her personal style, a mix of high-street (&quot;Topshop, of course,&quot; she says, having modelled for the brand's Christmas campaign last year), gifts from designers such as Dolce &amp; Gabbana, and pieces rooted out at vintage fairs in London and Paris.</p><p>Bonnie Wright</p><p>What is there left to do when you have scaled the dizzying heights of celebrity by the age of 16? Plenty, says Bonnie Wright, now 20, who entered the public eye aged nine, when she landedthe role of Ginny Weasley in the Harry Potter franchise.</p><p>&quot;I'm in the last year of a film degree,&quot; she says. &quot;I'll graduate as a director, but it takes years to get the stories and the confidence to be a good director, and I'm scared to do it immediately. So I'm acting for now, stretching myself.&quot;</p><p>There aren't many students who spend their final year starring in blockbusters while pondering their coursework, but in the past 12 months, Wright has not only written and directed her own film, inspired by the countryside around Dungeness in Kent, where she spent much of her childhood, she has also taken a role in an independent movie filmed in Indonesia about thought experimentation. The Philosophers will be released next summer.</p><p>Since her parents are behind the jewellery label Wright &amp; Teague, based on London's Dover Street, she is also well versed in the fashion canon, and has become a front-row regular since she came of age, when she took up her place as one of the industry's favourite clothes horses. &quot;I love costume in film and how it develops characters,&quot; she says, &quot;and, of course, some of the shows are very theatrical. When I was young, I used to love dressing up.&quot;</p><p>Wright claims she had no inkling that she would get the part in the Harry Potter films; her brother, meanwhile, was convinced she was the girl for the role and it was his idea that she audition. &quot;I'd love to do theatre,&quot; she adds. &quot;It's another experience, isn't it? Something different every night.&quot;</p><p>One thing's for sure, Bonnie Wright isn't about to get bored.</p><p>Rita Ora</p><p>&quot;It's Gwen Stefani meets Where's Wally? with a bit of Bianca Jagger,&quot; says singer Rita Ora of her look, which is normally rather more low-key than these pictures suggest. &quot;I mix and match high and low, so cheap jewellery and vintage clothes, maybe a vintage Chanel bag. I live on Portobello Road [in west London], so I'm always at the market there.&quot;</p><p>She cuts a striking figure, with a shock of curly blonde hair and eyes deep enough to lose yourself in. And her musical style is similarly eclectic. &quot;I was brought up on The Beatles, Duran Duran and Eric Clapton as well as a lot of soul, so I have an open mind. My music is pop, but with a twist. It's natural and honest, it's about real life and feelings, but it incorporates a lot of different genres.&quot;</p><p>The 20-year-old Kosova-born singer-songwriter was raised in London, where she attended the Sylvia Young Theatre School. Eighteen months ago, she was signed to rapper Jay-Z's record label Roc Nation; a single is due out this year, ahead of her first album in 2012. As part of the project, Ora has worked with Jay-Z himself, Kanye West and Beyoncé. &quot;Beyoncé was one of my idols growing up, so having her involved... I had to pinch myself. But you have to act calm; they're normal people. It's part of the process, these friendships you gain on the way.&quot;</p><p>She's certainly well-grounded for one so young, but then she's been in the studio and cutting records since the age of 14. Yet, Ora will admit to a frisson of excitement at being invited to the Louis Vuitton spring/summer 2012 show earlier this month, where she was seated on the front row and dressed from head-to-toe by the atelier. She's fascinated by fashion, and dreams of one day starting a label. &quot;I'd love to win Grammys,&quot; she adds, &quot;maybe some acting. Right now, I just want my album to be perfect. I hope everyone likes it as much as I do.&quot;</p><p>Hair: Peter Beckett at Frank Agency using Kiehls</p><p>Make-up: Annabel Callum using Diorskin Forever</p><p>Prop stylist: Lucy Spink</p><p>Photographer's assistants: Will Bunce, Ant Prothero</p><p>Stylist's assistants: Emma Akbareian, Dominique Major</p><p>Prop stylist's assistant: Andrew Lavin</p><p>Thanks to: The White House at Location Works</p><p>This, of course, is enough to fill most of us with dread. And understandably so – who in their right mind wants to look like an extra from Miami Vice or, depending on your fancy, The Golden Girls.</p><p>In the world of high fashion though both Mugler and Versace gave us pastels galore, sometimes from head to toe. Be warned that great men, both fictional and real, have tried and failed when they've taken this route. Even F Scott Fitzgerald's sartorially elegant anti-hero Jay Gatsby failed to pull of a pastel pink suit, looking plain gaudy and faintly ridiculous when he wore it. In the real world steer clear of this type of folly. The simplest option is to invest in a good pair of pastel shorts or chinos, Ralph Lauren or J Crew. Roll them at the cuff and wear with grey socks.</p><p>Shirts</p><p>Fifties fashion doesn't have to begin and end on Madison Avenue – a less buttoned-up way of dressing has been quietly bubbling away for a season or two now. And so it's the turn of the rebellious Teddy Boy to have his moment in the sun. Marni's high neck, loose-collared shirts are experiencing a renaissance of sorts. Tuck them into trousers or jeans and accessorise with a narrow leather belt. If you have the hair for it, meanwhile, finish the look by coiffing locks into an eye-catching pompadour. Use your combing skills to good effect: Elvis in his prime should be your yardstick. Too much height and you risk aping the wily mistress that the style was named after.</p><p>Waterproof</p><p>Waterproof jackets are perfectly designed for the UK, where even in summer there's always the potential for a downpour. Weather aside, this is also a textbook jacket for urban living. Rolled and folded, it takes up minimal space in your bag – perhaps that's why British labels have always been such champions of this unassuming garment. From Folk to Margaret Howell, those who have reinvented the waterproof are impressive. Christopher Raeburn, winner of the Emerging Menswear Category at the British fashion awards, consolidates this long standing love affair with eye-popping reds and greens for spring.</p><p>Red White &amp; Blue</p><p>The nautical stripe is a tried and tested style for summer, usually in horizontal navy and white. However, this season at Dries Van Noten and Alexander McQueen, white and blue stripes, together with red, make for a refreshing take on this trend. Maybe it's Olympics fervour, or perhaps it's to do with our very own diamond Queen and her jubilee, but looking patriotic has never been so easy. Don't be too brazen though: stripes should be confined to the top half of the body only. Top to toe Union Jack colours will blend in with the bunting.</p><p>Shoes</p><p>Shoes come in all shapes and styles for spring, with the ubiquitous deck shoe set to make a predictably seasonal appearance. Less obvious is the return of the brothel creeper. As with many a successful menswear staple, this style of shoe has its origins in the Second World War. Worn by soldiers stationed in North Africa, its thick sole was comfortable and hard-wearing, with its very sponginess ensuring silence underfoot when sneaking up on the enemy. In civilian life too this has proved useful. Legend has it that anyone wearing a pair of these shoes could move deftly from illegal drinking den to brothel, without as much as a squeak. By the 1950s the shoe was an indispensable part of the Teddy Boy look. But a pair from Burberry Prorsum are given a 1970s twist with the cork sole.</p><p>Navajo</p><p>Navajo-inspired patterns made a fairly large splash in menswear last summer and the ripple effect is very much in evidence. But it's the smaller details that have the most impact in your everyday wardrobe. A beaded rucksack is a well-considered nod.</p><p>Prints</p><p>Those Teddy Boys weren't all about quiffed hair and brothel creepers. Back in their colourful Fifties heyday, prints – especially Hawaiian – were a weekend staple of the dapper man's wardrobe. And this season there's a feast of showy patterns and prints to choose from.</p><p>It makes a welcome change from that most overused and ubiquitous of men's wardrobe staples, the lumberjack checked shirt. The floral print flourishes at Prada in particular, make this season a veritable hothouse of colour and pattern. Some of the best prints may also be found at Givenchy, where creative director Riccardo Tisci's beautiful bird of paradise prints dominated the catwalk. Eye-catching as they may be, these designs are only for the brave-hearted male, but Italian label Marni's monochromatic flower print T-shirts are a masterclass in more restrained yet dramatic blooms.</p><p>If admitted misanthrope can overcome her aversion to the homeless to learn the true spirit of Christmas, can't we do the same?</p><p> , , "doesn't really like people all that much." And while she concedes that she's always found Western homeless people "smelly and scary" (and one can't accuse her of not being equal opportunity; she's already expounded on her ), perhaps humbled by she volunteers at a shelter on New Year's Eve. There, she finds kindness and humanity and Christmas spirit, and abandons many of her assumptions.</p> <p>In a slightly less personal exposition, visits a homeless center as part of the Crisis Christmas initiative, which provides not just safety and food, but hair and makeup services and a good dose of festivity. These reports (along with Prince William's much-maligned stint on the streets of London) come as part of London's vow to eliminate homelessness by the 2010 Olympics - as well as a push to remind people that it's very much an ongoing problem.</p> <p>The same, as if it needs saying, is true in America, where the foreclosure crisis has led to an upswing in numbers. While exact statistics are difficult because of the shifting nature of the population, that since the economic downturn,</p> <p>12 of the 25 cities surveyed reported an increase in homelessness due to foreclosures and another 6 didn't have enough data to be sure. Thirteen of these cities had adopted policies to deal with the recent increase in victims of the housing crisis, but 10 cities had not implemented new policies.</p> <p>In this regard, reminders are valuable. But it's also crucial not to limit our awareness to the holidays - in New York, at least, food pantries and shelters have been literally overwhelmed this holiday season, and while that's great, the need doesn't disappear on January 1st. A piece like Jones' may seem beyond parody, but in fact it serves a function that her more peculiar rants don't: hers are assumptions and prejudices that many share, and while they might not be as comfortable admitting to them (or indeed, to most things) this is a case where the candor, no matter how unattractive its results, is useful: in a parable as old as time and Scrooge, Jones learns to open her heart. And if she can, we all can.</p> <p> []</p> <p> [Guardian]<br> [National Coalition For The Homeless]<br> [Daily Mail]</p><p></p> <p>Musto goes on: "Calvin, darling, you're embarrassing yourself. What's worse, you're embarrassing the whole community. You were never really that much of a gay hero in the first place. Remember when you suddenly had a wife because, as AIDS made it uncool to be gay, you took the wussy way out and closeted yourself so you could sell more T shirts and perfume?" Burn. Klein has been increasingly open about his sexual orientation in recent years &mdash; but only since departing the fashion label that bears his name. The whole thing is really worth reading. []</p><p>"I usually maintain a fairly even temper about Hollywood because I couldn't do my job otherwise," Manohla Dargis told me today. But the formidable NY Times film critic has fighting words for Hollywood and how it treats women.</p><p>Dargis' "fuck them" - the first of several - refers specifically to a fact she highlighted in her this weekend on the lack of progress in Hollywood films for and about women: Two major studios, Paramount Pictures and Warner Brothers Pictures, didn't release a single movie directed by a female, even in a year of renewed prominence for women in film. One bright spot: The Hurt Locker by Kathryn Bigelow (pictured above) is the early : in the past two days alone she and her film have gotten top accolades from the Los Angeles Film Critics Association, the Boston Society of Film Critics, the American Film Institute, The New York Film Critics Online, and the Alliance of Women Film Journalists.</p> <p>In a wide-ranging conversation this morning on women in Hollywood, Dargis, who has been a chief New York Times film critic (a title she shares with A.O. Scott) since 2004, had similarly strong words for Hollywood conventional wisdom and the studio system overall. "My tendency is not to talk in sweeping terms, but one thing I can say in sweeping terms is that there's a lot of sexism in the industry," she says. Here are some of the other highlights from the conversation.</p> <p>On why women in Hollywood aren't faring any better: This business is really about clubby relationships. If you buy Variety or go online and look at the deals, you see one guy after another smiling in a baseball cap. It's all guys making deals with other guys. I had a female studio chief a couple of years ago tell me point blank that she wasn't hiring a woman to do an action movie because women are good at certain things and not others. If you have women buying that bullshit how can we expect men to be better?</p> <p>On working within the system: For me the most sobering thing of the last ten years is that there really was a point where four of the studios were run by women… and you would have thought that would lead to an uptick of women directors. I'm not saying I've done a systematic analysis, but it doesn't look like it changed very much… Working within the system has not worked. It has not helped women filmmakers or, even more important, you and me, women audiences, to have women in the studio system. … I think the studio system as it exists now is a no-win situation for women filmmakers.</p> <p>On director Kathryn Bigelow's success (achieved in part by getting funding outside of Hollywood, detailed in Dargis's June ): Something like a woman winning best director for directing an action movie and not a romantic comedy is symbolically important. Whether it then leads to a lot of women doing things outside of the pathetic comfort zone of romantic comedy – and I say that as someone who loves romantic comedy – we'll see. We know that because women are allowed to make romantic comedies that they can make romantic comedies. That's in everyone's comfort zone. The idea that a woman can be a great action director is not is everyone's comfort zone. That's [Bigelow's] exceptionalism.</p> <p>On Bigelow's chances for Oscar or future commercial success: The only thing Hollywood is interested in money, and after that prestige. That's why they'll be interested in something like The Hurt Locker. She's done so well critically that she can't be ignored.</p> <p>Let's acknowledge that the Oscars are bullshit and we hate them. But they are important commercially... I've learned to never underestimate the academy's bad taste. Crash as best picture? What the fuck.</p> <p>On male and female directors being held to different standards, as Dargis suggested in comparing Bigelow and Michael Mann in her piece: Do you think that a woman would have been able to get forty million dollars to make a puppet movie the way that Wes Anderson has been able to make, bringing to bear all the publicity and advertising budget of Fox? After two movies that didn't make a lot of money? I think this is true for a lot of black filmmakers too – they're held to a higher standard. And an unfair standard. You can be a male filmmaker and if you're perceived as a genius – a boy genius or a fully-formed adult genius – that you are allowed to fail in a way that a woman is not allowed to fail.</p> <p>On whether there's an essential difference between male-made and female-made movies: Flaubert wrote Madame Bovary. That's all we need to say about that. But I do think as 51 percent of the population we should be given a chance… It's very boring to watch the same people coming from a certain kind of background make the same kinds of movies.</p> <p>On Nancy Meyers and Nora Ephron: I personally don't think either of them is a good filmmaker &mdash; they make movies for me that are more emotionally satisfying but with barely any aesthetic value at all. I really like Something's Gotta Give, but I don't think it's a good movie…. I'm of two minds. Sometimes I think what women should do what various black and gay audiences have done, which is support women making movies for women. So does that mean I have to go support Nora Ephron? Fuck no. That's just like, blech.</p> <p>On Sandra Bullock, whom she recently wrote should use her production company to "start giving female filmmakers a chance to do something other than dopey romances": Use your power for good, Sandy!</p> <p>On why so many romantic comedies are so terrible: One, the people making them have no fucking taste, two, they're morons, three they're insulting panderers who think they're making movies for the great unwashed and that's what they want. I love romantic movies. I absolutely do. But I literally don't know what's happening. I think it's depressing that Judd Apatow makes the best romantic comedies and they're about men. All power to Apatow, but he's taken and repurposed one of the few genres historically made for women. ….We had so few [genres] that were made specifically for the female audience and now the best of them are being made by Judd Apatow. But what are his movies supposed to be about? Nominally about the relationship between a man and a woman, but they're really buddy flicks. Funny People was supposed to have an important role for a woman, but she was uninteresting and an afterthought.</p> <p>On representations of women onscreen: There's a reason that women go to movies like Mamma Mia. It's a terrible movie… but women are starved for representation of themselves. I go back to Spike Lee and She's Gotta Have It. I remember going to see it at the Quad in New York, surrounded by a black audience. People are starved for representations of themselves.</p> <p>On women being taken seriously as moviegoers: It's a vicious cycle. We're not going to movies because there aren't movies for us. Therefore we're not seen as a loyal moviegoing audience. My point is that if there are stories about women, women will come out for that…</p> <p>That's why [women] go to a movie like The Devil Wears Prada and make huge hits. They want to see women in movies. People in the trade press constantly frame that as a surprise. This, gee whiz, Sex and the City's a hit, Twilight, hmm, wonder what's going on here. Maybe they should not be so surprised. In the trade press, women audiences are considered a niche. How is that even possible? We're 51 percent of the audience.</p> <p>On from a box office analyst for Hollywood.com, in The Washington Post: Fuck him. What an asshole. Yes, that's what I want! That's exactly what I want. If Angelina Jolie had been cast in a movie as a good as The Bourne Identity with a filmmaker like Paul Greengrass, I would have gone out to see it, and I'm sure I wouldn't be alone. That is absurd. That's blaming female audiences – you get what you deserve? Is that what he's saying?</p> <p>On being a female critic reviewing and featuring women's films: I wanted to get [Bigelow] on the cover of 'Arts and Leisure'. I wanted this fantastic woman director to get her face on the front of the New York Times…[But] I am an equal opportunity critic. I will pan women as hard as men. I've had testy people imply that I should go easier on women's movies. I find that incredibly insulting. Are you kidding me? I don't want to be graded on a curve. None of us want to be a good woman writer.</p> <p>I don't want to be the woman critic. I don't want to be the feminist critic. I don't want to be the shrew. What I want to do is talk about the art that I love and point out, every so often, inequities….It's a weird balancing act and I'm not saying there aren't contradictions.</p> <p>On whether the prominence of women-directed films in 2009 will change anything, even if they're not statistically significant compared to other years: It's pretty shitty right now. Anything positive can only help a little bit. How's that for optimism?</p> <p> [New York Times]<br> [New York Times]<br> [New York Times]<br> [The Washington Post]</p> <p>Related: [The Atlantic]</p> <p>Earlier: </p><p>"This accounts for some 80% of the gunch at law school," claims a University of Florida law student who goes by the name of Benjamin Straight, before cutting and pasting a charming essay he's composed about a sort of tragic character that, depending upon your point of view, describes either the average "law school girl" or the inner monologue of the average late-onset misogynist, in all its sheeeeeer unbridled lunacy. Straight &mdash; I can't find him in the campus directory but, according to a Jezebel tipster, he's a second-year with a wife and kids, because there if there's anything we can learn from lawyers there's no justice in this world &mdash; has a fledgling blog over at the URL and, it would seem, something resembling contempt for his fellow human beings, because he has also dedicated an essay to a short, balding, unshaven hair product-abusing Miami character he calls "Law School Guy."</p><p>While Straight's exact identity is still unclear &mdash; I'm hoping he turns out to be the same Benjamin Straight responsible for writing , because that guy looks like a studddd &mdash; I'm nominating him tentatively for the title of "Douche Du Jour." Because unlike the more exotic/pathetic brands exhibited by Paul Janka, John Fitzgerald Page, the Drunken Stepfather and such, there is something all too genuine and familiar in his misogyny. Note the special brand of contempt he seems to reserve for people (men and women) who work out and yet remain somewhat chubby in parts! Think he was rejected by a girl at the gym? Or does it take the military contractor to fuck a dude up this bad? Read and ponder, below.</p> <p>From: Benjamin Straight<br> Date: Feb 6, 2008 9:03 AM<br> Subject: I am a law school girl<br> To:</p> <p>This accounts for some 80% of the gunch at law school. Of course- if you are a chick and read this- you will say, "He's not talking about me...." Yeah, just like Lil' Jon ain't talking about you while you are in your slut outfit at the club dancing to 'skeet skeet skeet' at 2 in the morning.<br> <br> <br> <br> I am a law school girl (snatch, gunch, clam, whisker biscuit- pick your subject synonym).<br> <br> <br> <br> Let's get one thing straight up front- I am not here to learn. I am here to prove something.</p> <p>As you pretend to listen to me so that you can fuck me, I will probably tell you that either my uncle molested me or that I was raped when I was 15. I also never knew my father. I was high school class president, president of my sorority, student body president of my undergrad, a 4.0 student in my psychology major, maxed the LSAT, but chose UF because it is the cheapest for the best education. I also earned the money to pay for the brand new BMW that I drive (even though I am only 22). I am under-valued, overly-perfect, and haven't bothered to audition for American Idol because it would be unfair to the rest of the competition. I have tried every diet, perfect to the direction, but still can't lose the extra 5 lbs. stuck on my ass. However, I will pretend that the weight doesn't exist by sticking out my tits and dressing fashionable.<br> <br> <br> <br> I am here to prove my fashion sense. I watch Sex in the City, therefore I am. Miranda and Charlotte wear Prada and carry Fendi bags, so do I- but just don't tell anyone I got them as knockoffs from a Chinese seller on Ebay. Miranda is a big-city power attorney and so am I- just in rural northern Florida. I wear the big Paris Hilton sunglasses because I want to look important. In fact, I am Paris Hilton. I am even this important in class, on rainy days, and at 8 in the evening. There may be a barrage of paparazzi just around the corner and I have to be prepared for their snapshots.<br> <br> <br> <br> I hate Britney Spears, but I carry my Starbucks around like her and check the gossip columns every class to see what she is doing now. I even have a pet rat dog that I carry in a purse and bring to school to show how Bohemian I truly am. There is something I love about becoming rich for being a sex symbol, and I secretly want old men to jerk off to my image at 3 in the morning. Speaking of being a sex symbol, respect me for my mind. I may have fake tits, lips, and cheeks, but you are never to look at any of my plastic snap-on parts or I will consider bringing a sexual harassment claim against you with Dean Inman. I wear just enough clothing to cover my fake tits and love to show them off, even when it is 32 degrees outside. They are my table centerpiece. Every day is a Thanksgiving Spread and my tits are the stuffed turkey. I also love showing my legs that are either too skinny from starving myself, too tan from being fake baked in January, or have enough cottage cheese on them to make salad bar complete- so that you can look at them when I walk up and down the stairs in my high heels.<br> <br> <br> <br> I wear high heels because I have to announce my coming and going and warn the paparazzi and fat girls to move out of the way. I also wear them to lift my ass so I can be 'bootylicious' like Beyonce. High heels make me feel important. Fat girls can't wear high heels, so I wear them to let the blind students know that I am not fat and an important person.<br> <br> <br> <br> I have a tit job and botox, but I am constantly outside by the bike racks smoking cigarettes. This is called self-improvement. I smoke so I don't get hungry. I then lose weight and my fake tits look bigger. Now I just need a face lift because the years of tobacco abuse have likened my face to an old catcher's mitt. I have my priorities straight, so don't question them.<br> <br> <br> <br> In the end, I am only really here to catch a good dickin', or hot beef injection. You see, my biological destiny is to whelp out a few puppies and use them as excuses as to why I never made it in the legal world. The law world is a man's world, and I will continue to remind people in class discussions that women make 75 cents on the dollar that a man makes, even though the areas of law I am concentrated in (Family, Pro Bono) are the lowest paying. And I will leave the workforce to shit out a few kids, feel my calling as a mother, stay out of work for 5 years, and then expect to come back as if I had never left (especially after my husband is sick of not getting blow jobs and trades me in for a newer and less-broken model). I figure that any guy that throws me a dick here will at least be on the hook for child support and will make enough money, by default, to pay me a modest monthly salary for purposely skipping my birth control the night he spent 200 bucks on me at the bar and then took me home. But I got Cosmos out of it, and Miranda and Charlotte love their Cosmos while out on socialite scene of 13th Ave.<br> <br> <br> <br> My favorite hobby is shopping and cars should stop for me when I run out into traffic, with my Ipod on, during rush hour. What would your vagina say if it could talk?</p> <p>Oh, bonus fact! That last bit refers to a female law school student who had been killed by a car during her morning jog. Stay classy, Straight!<br></p><p></p> <p>Welcome to Modelslips, Jezebel's inside guide to Fashion Week as seen through the gimlet eyes of our very own 35-inch hipped, gel-schellacked, damaged-hair and hotdog-eating Anonymodel "Tatiana." She's smart! She's thin! And she's BEHOLDEN TO NO ONE. But what she was this weekend was a little bored, and so, instead of tripping down the runway (no that's not her above left), she answered your questions.</p> <p><br></p><p>The biggest difference between modeling and, well, other jobs I've had, is how much surprise is inherent to the former. It's kind of cool that, on a given day, you might get a call from your agent informing you that you're booked on the next plane to Prague. The perpetual motion of fashion pulls even people like me, the totally unknown, relatively-interchangeable, low-hanging fruit of the modeling world, to locales we might never have dreamed of, back at home. And then sometimes, it doesn't.</p> <p>This weekend, Diane von Furstenburg had her show, as did Alexander Wang, Hervé Leger, Preen, Miss Sixty, Abaeté, Sass & Bide, Threeasfour, and Tuleh. Even , that spit-marking freak, and Zulema, that crazy-eyed model thief, had shows. I was on option for a total of five jobs this weekend, including one or more of the above. An "option" is modelspeak for a Pretty Good Shot at a job &mdash; it means the client likes you enough to want to officially nab first dibs on you for a given time slot. Some options get upped to confirmations, some dematerialize for reasons unknown. Of course, as with grades, there is options inflation: Prada is notorious for putting hundreds of models on option for shows or campaigns and then picking only a half-dozen or none at all, in which case they'll just start their process over. But, in general, options are strong indications of interest, and over the long term as many as one half should come through. Given the rough formula of Jobs = Options X .5, I thought I'd be working all weekend.</p> <p>Instead, my options collapsed like a house of cards. Every last one canceled. Even the designer who, right after his casting last week, called me back uptown and kept me in his studio for five semi-clothed hours, causing me to miss three other castings while I feverishly wriggled into and out of every scrap of cloth the man designed in the last six months &mdash; the designer whose wholesale volume I read in WWD just topped $1 million &mdash; dropped me. Five unpaid hours. Sometimes them's the breaks.</p> <p>I'm afraid I consequently failed to do anything particularly model-esque this weekend. Aside from going to the usual castings, and hitting up a sample sale where I popped my Christian Dior ready-to-wear cherry to the tune of $200, I did not actually work. I did not get my hair done, nor was my makeup professionally applied. I did not walk as if my shoulder blades were tied together by an invisible thread, and I did not go to any crazy cocaine-and-champagne parties at sweaty clubs in the Meatpacking District where a quarter of the models were drinking water to feel "full." I did not see the Fug Girls or Fern Mallis or even Nolé Marin. I sat home watching crappy TV, went to a museum, and wondered why I keep reading about when my agency has BCBG on its blacklist for non-payment.</p> <p>But I'm not in low spirits. I'm confirmed for various shows this week &mdash; heck, even Chanel Iman had a slow start to her New York fashion week last season &mdash; and if my five weekend options all fell through, then the formula should hold that nearly all of my remaining options should come through. Either that or I'll find out I'm going to Prague next weekend.</p> <p>Instead of regaling you more with tales of my uneventful weekend, I took the opportunity to answer some of your (very thoughtful and much-appreciated!) questions.</p> <p>1. From : What's the most ridiculous direction you've ever been given on a photo shoot? How do you feel about nude shots? Who's the nastiest designer you've worked for? The kindest? Who is the most like Jacobim Mugatu?</p> <p>I'm fine with nudity, personally. I consider it a point of professionalism to just wear the clothes you're given. The stylist picked them for her own unsearchable reasons, and it's not my job to say things like, "Oh, I'm not comfortable wearing a huge crucifix/exposing my left nipple/jumping around in those ridiculous Hammerpants." I'm a model. The least I can do is wear the clothes. Luckily enough my boyfriend has no issues with my chest appearing in the occasional fashion magazine. My professionalism finds its limits in only one area: depictions of smoking. I just don't see why I should advertise Philip Morris gratis.</p> <p>The nicest designer I've ever met was also the most deeply annoying. Kris Van Assche stole my boy Hedi Slimane's spot at the helm of Dior Homme, and for this I will never forgive him. Hedi Slimane could design darts that made me weak at the knees. Hedi Slimane took a fashion backwater where the main creative activity was making the two-button-suit v. three-button-suit question seem new! each! season! and turned it into a phenomenon people actually paid attention to. Men in skirts! Madonna in menswear! Karl Lagerfeld lost over 88 pounds to wear Hedi Slimane's suits. That is a fucking fashion talent. And then his first assistant, Kris Van Assche, took over the label and made .</p> <p>So even though he seemed like the nicest guy in the world when I met him, I was still crying on the inside. Because just one season prior, I would've had the chance to touch Mr. Slimane.</p> <p>2. A series from : Is it funny or horrifying to watch a fellow model take a dive on the runway?</p> <p>Horrifying. And always particularly horrifying because nobody ever steps in to help: at a lot of runway shows, the front row is seated just inches from where we walk. But there's a kind of diving-bell/don't-touch-the-strippers aspect to runway work. Whether it's Naomi Campbell plopping on her ass or just poor Kamila W. hitting the floor, nobody ever offers a hand. I live in fear of ever working a Vivienne Westwood show. I adore her aesthetic, and applaud on hiring minority models. But she has a longstanding habit of expecting her models to walk in 9" fetish heels, heels that can and have broken ankles. I think I'd be too frightened to take a step.</p> <p>3. Are underage models, i.e. 15, paid fairly or are they taken advantage of (and how the hell can they work in the US, don't we have child labor laws?)</p> <p>I think the teens are paid as well as the models who've reached the age of majority. There's no such thing as youth rates for modeling jobs &mdash; but most of the youngsters have higher expenses, since they need to live in chaperoned apartments, and/or have a parent traveling with them, so they'll see less net from a $4,000 job than, say, I would (come on, someone, send a $4,000 job my way! I have consumer debt like the rest of y'all). In general, I think you're less likely to be sexually harassed on the job if your high school profession is modeling instead of the ubiquitous alternative, . I've done both. Modeling is full of gay men who tell you you're fierce and make ribald jokes you can actually laugh at. Retail is full of creepy managers constantly undressing you with their eyes and angling to cop a feel. As for child labor laws, I think modeling falls into the exceptions governing entertainment and the arts, so there are child and teen models the same way there are child and teen actors.</p> <p>4. If models eat do they promptly throw it up?<br> <br> I don't, and I've never knowingly lived with a bulimic model. The rates of eating disorders among models, for all the attention the issue has attracted, are actually relatively unstudied by academics. performed at the University of Waterloo in Canada in 2007 compared models with female undergraduates, and found that the prevalence of eating disorders did not differ significantly between models and students. However, models were significantly more likely to smoke, and twice as likely as students to report vomiting after meals. But all the models who admitted vomiting for weight control claimed to do so only occasionally, meaning they wouldn't necessarily all meet the criteria for a bulimia diagnosis.</p> <p>5. From : If I can toss in a question, I'd like to know if you ever feel proprietary about your image? Like, do you get angry or embarrassed by a client's concept or a photographer's execution?</p> <p>One of the few reasons I still read American Vogue is for Jeffrey Steingarten's food column. Like lots of models, it's never been my favorite fashion mag because it's very repetitive month-to-month and even page-by-page in some cases. But Steingarten's a genius. In a piece about the truffle hunters of Piedmont, Italy, Steingarten asks one of his sources, a man who's coming to the end of his career, what he dreams might await him in heaven. The old man pauses, and says that all he would really, really like to see is all the truffles he's ever retrieved in one room. Just to see what they look like, all together in one place.</p> <p>I have kind of the same feeling about my pictures. I sell the rights to my image for a living. I'm complicit in my own objectification, and I have no role in the creation or dissemination of the pictures I animate, yet I'm still unmistakably there. I do not feel proprietary about these images &mdash; I think you give up that right when you sign the agency contract &mdash; but I do feel a strange sort of attachment to them. I get my photo taken dozens of times daily, if not hundreds. Every casting agent snaps a zillion Polaroids (sometimes I think the fashion industry is single-handedly keeping Polaroid in business). At shows, where everything from the hairspray to the nail polish to the champagne is sponsored, photographers from all the donor companies crowd the backstage, getting hundreds of frames of whatever in the makeup artist's hands. Then, on the runway, the whole press corps snaps away at you, not to mention editorials, with their hundreds of discarded frames. They're all tiny, tiny parts of me.</p> <p>Sometimes I imagine what it would be like to see every picture I've ever appeared in in one place. How high would the stack be? How many megabytes would I fill? When do I look most confident? Most nervous? What was my best haircut and color after all? When there are so many pieces of you out in the ether &mdash; liable to turn up in in miniature on the back pages of magazines with captions like "Models backstage at the X show," or plastered on posters for the public to scribble on, or stored in a designer's archives as an indelible record of collection Y from year Z, should anyone ever care to look it up &mdash; and when your job depends on being able to take a good picture, these are the (moderately self-obsessed, semi-male-gaze-theoretical) things you think about, from time to time.<br></p><p> , arbitrator of all things "," went on the this morning to spout things like "more women on the should think about men." And that's just the beginning.</p><p>Morgan appeared alongside Today style editor Bobbie Thomas and they couldn't have picked two more different guests. While Thomas has mostly positive things to say about the fashions, Morgan seems to take a particular pleasure in pointing out physical flaws and making stay in the kitchen-style jokes. Right off the bat, the two disagree about Sandra Bullock, who Morgan says isn't "a great natural beauty compared to the others." When Thomas steps in to defend her Bullock, Morgan shuts her down, saying "Well, I'm the fashion expert around here." Cue uncomfortable laughter.</p> <p>For the next several minutes, Morgan makes it clear that being a "fashion expert" is somehow synonymous with "jackass." He bemoans Charlize Theron's dress on the grounds that it is an example of "women dressing for women." Carey Mulligan is the "perfect woman" because of the "kitchen utensils" covering her Prada dress. The entire segment is kind of uncomfortable to watch, as the guests clash and host Meredith Vieira does minimal damage control.</p> <p>Morgan's criticism exemplifies two of the biggest problems of red carpet commentary: mean-spirited bitchiness combined with open sexism. Mocking celebrities has become something of a national pastime, but there is a point where the all-in-good-fun critique veers into dangerous territory. For lack of a better word, Morgan's brand of commentary is purely bitchy. There is nothing fun about his appearance; he isn't trying to be particularly quick or witty. He is little more than a poor man's Simon Cowell, but instead of doling out harsh truths, he plays on stale jokes and outdated stereotypes. In lieu of insight, Morgan panders to our basest impulses. And it seems that far too much of the red carpet talk has fallen into this pattern of alternating between vicious take-downs and praise made fainter by the smattering of backhanded compliments. I'm not exactly a believer in the if you cant say anything nice school of thought, because being truly and consistently nice can get rather boring. But maybe "fashion experts" like Morgan should follow this modified rule, borrowed from our own commenting policies: If your statement is neither complimentary, insightful, or redeemed by the sheer brilliance of your wit, maybe you should keep it to yourself.</p><p>Know how all sorts of fashion types are about the death of the It Bag? Did you believe them? Cause if you did, well, then : Rising from the ashes of the It Bag is the It Shoe! (Even Miuccia Prada says so, and whatever she says goes.) "The obsession with handbags has finished a little now. It feels over. It's about shoes now," says Prada. Adds Michael Lewis, head of design for Kurt Geiger: "For women, shoes are still about fantasy and dressing up &mdash; shoes can make you feel something special in a way a bag really can't. Shoes can give you a different persona." Shoes, of course, also give you bloody heels, hammertoes, bunions and collapsed arches &mdash; which leaves us wondering what it all really means.</p> <p><br> <br> Says handbag designer Orla Keily: "Looking forward, I think the whole idea of it-anything will be questioned, Whether it's a bag or a shoe, do you really have to have this thing at all? And what about making a personal choice, rather than one that's been dictated to you?" Well fashion is never about need; it's about want. And there will always be a new objet being shilled by the fashion industry, something designed to stir desire in consumers worldwide and simply sell more expensive shit. Expensive shit that everyone else already has.</p> <p>But if it shoes are the new it bags, we may as well check 'em out: Do you love or loathe the Spring 2008 Prada shoes? After all, if you can't beat 'em...<br> <br> <br> </p> <p> [Independent]</p> <p>Earlier: </p><p> ex-communist designer Miuccia Prada is handling the costumes for the Met's upcoming production of Verdi's opera Attila. But , Prada has balked at dressing anyone who couldn't fit into a sample size.</p><p>Attila's non-singing supernumeraries &mdash; the opera's extras &mdash; had been cast months ago. But when Prada met the supernumeraries in person yesterday, the designer allegedly told the producers that there was no way she could outfit them with her costumes. As Paper's Peter Davis reports, a tipster says she "took one glance at the women and groaned: 'I cannot clothe them! I need models!' "</p> <p>The Metropolitan Opera swiftly fired the non-model extras and threw together a casting for models who would take their roles. "Employing models is ridiculous," says Davis' source. "Being a supernumerary is about how you move, not how you look." The Met , saying the re-casting was "due to a change in concept."</p> <p>Prada has long been a sort of intellectual hero for a certain kind of woman: those who, and I class myself among them, respect the craft, beauty, and artistry of high fashion even while being put off by its materialism, its insistence on acknowledging only the merest sliver of the world's supply of female beauty, its pageantry of excess.</p> <p>With her doctorate in international relations, her self-awareness, her covetable pretty/ugly aesthetic and obvious design chops, Prada always seemed like she got it. The existence of someone so level-headed, so reasonable, in an industry of puffery was living proof that it was possible to love fashion without forgetting or ignoring that there are very solid grounds on which it can be criticized. That she did not see a flat-out contradiction between being a smart woman and working in her industry was heartening. "Today I am having a crisis. And why? Because I can't match a dress with a pair of shoes. I am embarrassed to say that. But in the end I cannot forget what I do. I make clothes. It's silly. But it's my job."</p> <p>She's a serious art collector; she had a slide installed in her office; she used to be a mime. She always sounded pretty damn cool. So why the hell, of all people, is Miuccia Prada telling actresses to step off and let the skinny, pretty people have their jobs? Surely she ought to recognize that the most important part of a stage production isn't how it looks, but how all the elements come together to make the audience feel something &mdash; and while one might argue that these are "only" non-singing roles, it still seems fundamentally short-sighted and wrong-headed to institute a beauty standard for a production like Attila. Miuccia Prada is the last person I would expect to see a roomful of women with non-model bodies as problems to be solved, rather than as people to be dressed. And what must it say about her confidence in her own design skills that Prada balked at adjusting her designs to suit a different physical ideal? Consider my girlcrush canceled until further notice.</p> <p> [Paper]<br> [P6]</p><p></p> <p>Don't get us wrong, our anonymous model Tatiana has had a busy couple weeks. (Europe! Magazine photo shoots! The private satisfaction of being anonymously "famous" on the internet!) But in a business where nothing is real (except hunger pangs) she sometimes finds herself pondering the age-old question, how IS it that some of these girls get so fucking famous? Exhibit A: Karlie Kloss (left). The young Texan is suddenly the Most Famous Person In Modeling. And in fashion, if you're not talking about how great she is, you're drunkenly wondering aloud to your friends what the fuck is so great about her. This and other pressing Modelslips questions, answered by Jezebel's most symmetrically-featured contributor, after the jump.</p><p>The crush of castings and shows taking place in my temporary European home has obliterated my sense of narrative/grip on objective reality. To be recovered post-fashion week, when I can think again? I've had a full head of makeup applied and wiped off four times in the last 24 hours, entire bottles of Elnett have been applied to and then brushed out of my locks, and even my favorite heels have given my gnarled hooves blisters that tingle as I type. But &mdash; even though I come to you without a coherent anecdote to relay, I still had your handy questions to occupy my mind. What do professional models think of Miss Tyra and her cyclic night-time T.V. series? How do you get the most from a client who's paying in clothes? Sweatshops: do they weigh on anyone's conscience in fashion-land? And what's up with those agencies and their wacky commissions? That's what I'm here for!</p> <p><br> <br> <br> <br> <br> From :<br> <br> Anyway, Tatiana, since you brought up the subject of established models, maybe you can answer something I've wondered for ages. What's so different about the girls who become successful? Why do these particular girls get so much buzz? I've seen so many workaday models who seem just as beautiful and compelling as the more famous ones.</p> <p>If I knew that, I'd found an agency and get rich! I do know that it involves buzz, and often a crucial meeting with one casting director. , for example. Or Russell Marsh. Katie Grand, a stylist, has done a lot for Rachel Clark's career.</p> <p>Sometimes, people just sort of fill a niche that seems to be lacking. Exhibit Karlie Kloss, the undisputed model of the moment. She is 15. She used to model for Macy's inserts. That is supposed to be a no-no. Ha!</p> <p>She's American.<br></p> <p><br></p> <p><br> <br> She's the anti-Agyness.<br></p> <p><br></p> <p><br> <br> And yet, she is Agyness.<br></p> <p><br> <br> I met a photographer for Dazed and Confused during New York Fashion Week who told me that I was "too pretty" to work shows. (There are definitely girls who only surface during show season, nab every booking, and then disappear while the rest of us slog off to catalog jobs and magazine edits. Given how poorly paid shows are I have no idea how they eat; but it's true that they tend to be the weirder-looking models.) Whatever; I took it as a compliment.</p> <p>From :<br> <br> I am completely fascinated by "paid in trade". Do you get to choose what you want? Do you keep what you are wearing? What if it is hideous?</p> <p>Payment in trade can happen many ways, always at the designer's discretion. You might get a simple gift card, or an invitation to the showroom (which means you might have access to samples and next season's line). Other times someone will hand you a Mystery Bag as you leave, and you inside will find a t-shirt and a jar of face cream. Once I received a set of temporary acrylic nails, and self-adhesive nail diamantes.</p> <p>Incidentally: I know one of the girls who for Marc Jacobs two seasons ago. She got a handbag. Jacobs has yet to book her for any subsequent show.</p> <p>From :<br> <br> So, for those shows that pay cash money, what happens to the clothes? They can't sell them, can they? So, who gets to snag them?</p> <p>It's one of the persistent mysteries of fashion. Some houses keep runway samples because they are the only extant iterations of their nascent lines, and they will become production prototypes. Some keep them to send to magazines for editorials. Some keep them just because &mdash; in which case you might be able to bat your eyelids and flatter and beg for a gorgeous pair of shoes or a dress you know you'd totally rock. I tend to have good luck with shoes. When they're a designer's own, and not some random borrowed/sponsored pair, you can often get some person with a headset to say "Just take them..."</p> <p>I think, very occasionally, samples survive being weeded-out by grabby models, editors, and design team underlings long enough to get rounded up and sold in actual sample sales.</p> <p>From :<br> <br> What a waste. Why are you in this industry if you admit its vacant and abuses human life via sweat shops and people who pay up the twat for "knockoff of something old" clothes.</p> <p>I understand that this was more of a rhetorical gesture than a question, but it's still a sentiment I think about. Often.</p> <p>The thing is, I don't believe fashion is "vacant", or at least that it's not always and necessarily so. I've met makeup artists with law degrees, refugee-from-academia stylists, and editors with genuine booksmarts. Miuccia Prada is a political science Ph.D.; I defy anyone to call her an intellectual slouch. There is creative talent housed in the rarefied echelons of high fashion &mdash; whether it's embodied by the sample sewer who apprenticed for seven years to get her padstitching up to couture standards, the designer who dreams about Proust and ancient Greece and the use of in Islamic pottery, or the critical mind who parses these labors for the public. I refuse to be told that caring about fashion is for stupid women. In fact, I think that the main reason fashion is not always considered intellectually respectable is because it's largely run by, and concerns, women. Modeling is one of the few areas where women out-earn men: if I'm stupid for participating in it, I'd be far dumber to turn it down.</p> <p>Not every label is run by competent, interesting, sharp-minded people. And there are plenty of commercially successful lines where the folks in charge are utterly craven. But I do meet people in this industry who have more stamps on their passports than a squad of diplomatic attachés, and who can talk about art or ancient Egypt or Italian cooking (in several fluent languages!) as well as they can hemlines.</p> <p>I don't have an answer to the sweat shops. The raises-all-boats theory is crap; the economics of an industry that plucks some girls from third-world countries out of poverty and into something like fame, at the same time as it indirectly employs hundreds of thousands of other third-world girls at starvation wages, are difficult for me to weigh in on. The apparel industry has long been marked by inequality, and even a kind of systematized woman-on-woman economic violence: Victorian mill girls and garment workers also worked in underpaid and conditions to make finery for fabulously wealthy women. For all I know, so did the women who made the Roman senators' wives their purple-edged stolas.</p> <p>When you buy an overpriced designer dress, at least you know that in addition to paying for the brand's imputed "value", and its marketing, and all the rest of that crap, you're also paying for centuries-old Italian silk mills to stay in business, and for retirement benefits for sewers who live middle-class lives in France. When you buy a knockoff or a chain-store cheapie, you're probably just propping up Chinese sweatshops (unless it was made in , in which case: buy mall offerings early and often!). Not that I can manage to avoid chain stores on my earnings.</p> <p>From :<br> <br> How do girls break into the industry?</p> <p>You meet an agency scout who takes an interest. Other tried-and-true methods include sending Polaroids to an agency, or attending an open call. Whatever you do, do not go on America's Next Top Model. Avoid modeling scams like , , and . And don't pay for professional "portfolio" pictures when you don't have an agency.</p> <p>From :<br> <br> Have you watched America's Next Top Model, and if so, does any of the advice and training they give have anything to do with being a working model? I prefer to think that Tyra is just crazed with power, obvs, but would like to hear your take on it.</p> <p>Well, the funny thing about all the "woe is ANTM it's nothing like real modeling" bullshit is that the whole premise of the show just apes the industry practice of sending newly signed models on what're called test shoots &mdash; imitation editorials where you and the photographer get to keep the resulting images for your respective books. Of course, most test shoots involve zero-to-minimal hair and makeup, clothes from the stylist's closet (or things she's purchased to return at the shoot's end), plain studio backgrounds and/or simple outdoor settings. Not the prosthetic-nosed, race-switching, body-painted, couture-dress-wearing, Photoshopped, elaborately wigged, bizarro images ANTM challenges &mdash; God bless Ken Mok! &mdash; bring into this world. Never once have I had to walk on a rotating catwalk, or pose on a treadmill as if I were running from the fashion ghoul as embodied by Miss Jay, or make myself look like a crime victim, without But it's a fun bit of escapism.</p> <p>From :<br> <br> Do the models have to pay all their airfare and rent, trainfare? If not, do their agents negotiate it for them? I read that agency fees in Paris are 70%, it seems you'd be paying to model if you also had to pay living expenses. It also seems the agency should earn their keep somehow!</p> <p>Yes, we pay all our own expenses. And agencies have zero incentive to make your travel or living costs any cheaper than necessary: each day you stay in a given market doesn't cost them anything, but there's a chance you might work, and if you do, they'll get a cut. Agencies are also known to shamelessly overcharge on rent for the models' apartments they own (think five models sharing a 1BRM, spending $30-$40/night each), as well as for deducting mysteriously large sums for things like "photocopying" and messenger fees. That plus the fact that my last magazine editorial, which was shot for a Hearst-owned title you've probably read, paid me the stunning daily rate of 124.17 Euros (before agency commission!) means I eat a lot of pasta-and-pesto. I'm in debt to my agencies in two out of three European markets right now; I'm in the black in L.A. and New York City. It's an uneasy feeling.</p> <p>Models need a friggin' union. Or !</p> <p>From :<br> <br> i guess my main question is: why are you anonymous? I'm a bit of a skeptic; mainly because of my own experiences in this vapid business, full of "girls" who go to casting after casting without a thought passing through. [...] I guess my main question is: where were the Tatiana's when I was working? It would have been a much less lonely job.</p> <p>I'm anonymous because I fear professional repercussions. How would it benefit me to crow about having attended university, however briefly, or having read a given book or seen a movie? There are some people who just don't want to hear that from a model, and unfortunately they bear on my career. So I generally tell people I started modeling out of high school &mdash; it's simpler &mdash; and if I run into one of those assholes who likes to drop oh-so-obscure literary references around the unlettered models, I'll try and parry them back just to see the look on his face (it's nearly always a he).</p> <p>Agencies and clients tend to like models young and pliant. I wouldn't book jobs because of this column, so I'm going to do my best to keep my identity a secret.</p><p>Today marks the opening of the Katherine Heigl-helmed romantic comedy 27 Dresses. We feel like we knew everything about the movie's plot before even reading a single review. So what did we learn by reading the reviews? That it, in addition to its thin storyline &mdash; and we don't mean "thin" in a pro-ana sort of way &mdash; 27 Dresses is pretty bad. Also, it's probably even more anti-feminist than that movie Katherine Heigl claims to be have been , Knocked Up. See what some hilarious critics had to say, after the jump.</p> It's not that [27 Dresses] is cynical; it's that all the chick-flick trappings &mdash; the fashion, the wedding chitchat, the masochistic one-way crush &mdash; drive the story rather than the other way around. 27 Dresses is a movie geared to a pitch of high matrimonial-princess fever. It's white-lace porn for girls of every age, and the way that it revels in that get-me-to-the-altar mood, to the point of making anyone who isn't getting married feel like a loser, is the picture's key selling point...Even the satire of the wedding industry plays like a backhanded endorsement of it. &mdash; Owen Gleiberman, Entertainment Weekly Anyone who has seen a chick flick knows what is going to happen next, and next, and next... But there just isn't enough story here to justify a 107-minute running time, no matter how many montages debuting director Anne Fletcher whips up. Heigl, who demonstrates her gift for physical comedy, has complained in interviews about the sexist tone of "Knocked Up." But what happens when she teams up with a woman director and screenwriter? You get "27 Dresses," which delivers that great feminist message: A woman's life is meaningless without marriage. &mdash; Lou Lumenick, New York Post [D]irector Anne Fletcher... makes the reasonably insightful, moderately funny point that modern American weddings, however they may strain for individuality and specialness, are all pretty much alike. The problem is that much the same could be said about modern American romantic comedies...The best thing about "27 Dresses," which was written by Aline Brosh McKenna...is that the Guys are not really the point. Or rather, if getting the Right one is the point of the story, the spark of comedy is carried by the women in the picture. Too bad it's such a dim spark. &mdash; A.O. Scott, New York Times There is a movie to be made from that shared humiliation &mdash; actually, there are many, and they already litter the shelves of Blockbuster. So at this point, the question is whether "27 Dresses" has anything new to add. And the answer is a resounding no... &mdash; Elizabeth Weitzman, New York Daily News Heigl is terrific, this uninspired romantic comedy is considerably less so. A tired pastiche of the 27-odd wedding-themed vehicles that preceded it, the film essentially slaps together all the stuff that worked so well the first or second time around, minus any of the original charm or verve. That it manages to function at all is mainly Heigl's doing... &mdash; Michael Rechtshaffen, The Hollywood Reporter "27 Dresses" is a romantic comedy in which nothing the least bit surprising occurs, no disagreement or estrangement seems sufficiently serious to persist, and no one behaves in a manner that cannot be predicted by anyone who has seen more than two or three other romantic comedies. &mdash; Joe Leydon, Variety "27 Dresses"... sags like a day-old bouquet... when Jane's supermodel little sister Tess (Malin Akerman) shows up, throwing an extroverted, platinum-blond spanner into the already shaky works. It's at this point that "27 Dresses" becomes a movie not about people or relationships, but about cute apartments and cuter outfits...There is not one surprising, charming or endearingly quirky thing about "27 Dresses," which hews to the rom-com formula with bland, regimented precision. This is a movie that actually invokes the term "Bridezilla" as if it's a brand-new idea instead of a ready-for-retirement cliche. &mdash; Ann Homaday, Washington Post Katherine Heigl is amiable, pleasant to look at, and has comic ability, and so on that basis "27 Dresses" is almost satisfying. In a romantic comedy, half the ballgame is the charm of the lead actress, and it's no strain to spend 107 minutes in Heigl's company. But then there's the other half of the ballgame - things like story and having characters that make sense and a resolution that's satisfying and a script that avoids cheap sentimentality. On those points, "27 Dresses" collapses. Actually, it collapses in slow motion. It gets worse and worse as it goes along and finally ends just as it's becoming unbearable. &mdash; Michael La Salle, San Francsico Chronicle If only it didn't have that unconvincing, sub-par sub-plot, which trots out blah characters and weak twists that include, I'm not kidding, vacuum-cleaning. I understand why the script gives Jane an obnoxious twiggy sister (Malin Akerman) and a dreamboat boss (Edward Burns), and I understand why it throws them together. But Burns looks bored. To death. I'm really worried about him. &mdash; Amy Biancolli, Houston Chronicle "27 Dresses" is so chock full of romantic-comedy cliches, it almost plays like a parody. (It might be fun, though, if they handed out lists at the multiplex door to allow you to check them off as you go along &mdash; could be an interactive thing. You know, to help pass the time.) &mdash; Christy Lemere, AP It's an uninspired romantic comedy that adheres slavishly to the conventions of the genre. But the movie is made pleasant by the likability of its star, Katherine Heigl, and her chemistry with the affable James Marsden. Certainly Heigl fares better in less formulaic fare, such as Judd Apatow's irreverent Knocked Up, but she does raise the level of this chick flick from bland to mildly entertaining. &mdash; Claudia Puig, USA Today <p>Earlier: </p><p>Just four months after announcing its commitment to end the practice of hiring models under the age of 16, Vogue magazine has violated its word &mdash; for a second time. </p> <p>The latest model for whom Vogue ignored its own rules is 14-year-old Brazilian Thairine Garcia. Garcia, who will turn 15 this December, last week shot an editorial for Vogue Japan with photographer Sharif Hamza. (Hamza was the photographer responsible for Vogue Paris' infamous 2011 featuring child models dressed and made up to look like much older women.) Garcia's editorial is understood to be for Vogue Japan's December issue. Further details about the unpublished spread are not yet available.</p> <p>American model Ondria Hardin, who is currently 15, was by Vogue China for its August issue.</p> <p>Following months of media scrutiny of the issue of underaged models in fashion and the conditions of their labor, Vogue magazine this May announced a new six-point pledge regarding the well-being of the models it hires. Point 1 was, "We will not knowingly work with models under the age of 16." Vogue further pledged to ask that agencies not send models under 16 to Vogue, and said that its casting directors would card prospective models just in case. Condé Nast, which publishes Vogue, announced the commitment would affect all 19 international editions of the magazine. In an unprecedented show of unity, the editors-in-chief of all of the world's Vogues together for a photograph to announce the new manifesto, which Vogue called its "Health Initiative."</p> <p>The Vogue initiative marked the first time that any major publication had attempted to set an age limit for its models. Various fashion weeks around the world have set 16 as an age limit for runway work, with mixed success &mdash; New York's ban is regularly flouted, Paris' is strictly enforced &mdash; but in any case, fashion week is just a couple weeks out of the year. A lot of modeling work happens the rest of the time. There are many why the mostly unregulated modeling industry can be an inappropriate working environment for a child (and why it's problematic for any 13-year-old to be working essentially full-time in any field). Given that the modeling industry's reliance on child labor has been linked to everything from financial exploitation, to interrupted or abandoned schooling, to eating disorders &mdash; not to mention that it contributes to an unrealistic beauty ideal for the adult women who are the main consumers of fashion's imagery &mdash; the prospect of a publication setting an age limit for print work was potentially revolutionary. If only it had been observed.</p> <p>Garcia and Hardin have both been working regularly since they were just 13. Hardin was 13 when she shot the fall, 2011, Prada campaign and has worked extensively for clients all over the world, including the magazines W and Lula. Garcia has been on the cover of V magazine, and has shot an astounding 11 consecutive editorials &mdash; including two covers &mdash; of Brazilian Harper's Bazaar. Garcia appeared on the cover of Vogue Italia in April, just before Vogue announced its new commitment. This September, despite a voluntary ban on hiring models under 16 for runway work in New York promoted by the Council of Fashion Designers of America, Hardin and Garcia each walked for seven designers. Brands who hired the two underaged models include Anna Sui, Marc Jacobs, Marchesa, Oscar de la Renta, Peter Som, Thakoon, Theyskens' Theory, and Yigal Azrouël. (Garcia is pictured at the top of this post walking in the Theyskens' Theory show.)</p> <p>Although Vogue technically announced it would not "knowingly" work with models under 16, Hardin and Garcia are two of the most high-profile (and successful) underaged models currently working. It seems hard to imagine that Vogue wouldn't know their true ages &mdash; even if its casting director didn't, as Vogue instructed, card the girls. How disappointing that Vogue's commitment to the health of its models should prove to be so short-lived.</p>In order to view comments on jezebel.com you need to enable JavaScript.<br> If you are using Firefox and NoScript addon, please mark jezebel.com as trusted.<p>Ever since Anna Wintour's third decade atop the masthead at American Vogue began in June, rumors of her imminent have intensified. Signs offered in support of this include the fact that her contract is ending, the shuttering and/or draw-down of spinoff titles Men's Vogue, Fashion Rocks, and Vogue Living, and the fact that competitors have been weathering the downturn better, as measured in . A new twist came in the form of news Wintour could be getting . By Carine Roitfeld, her Vogue Paris counterpart. While it sounds like a tale right out of The Devil Wears Prada, if there's any merit to the rumor, big changes will be ahead for the title. An examination of the differences between the spunky Parisian and the chilly Brit, and a round-up of why la Roitfeld might just knock some cool into the stuffy luxury mag, after the jump.</p><p>1. Fewer Celebrity Covers<br> The formula for a typical American Vogue cover under Wintour goes like this: A celebrity, probably with a film to promote, posed in some self-conscious location, often outdoors, photographed full or 3/4 length, with an awkward expression, PhotoShopped to approach the point of plasticine unrecognizability. The styling is stagey, overproduced, and 80s.</p> <p>Since Wintour took over in 1988, American Vogue began featuring more celebrity covers than ever before&mdash;a cancerous, fashion-averse trend that has since spread through the women's magazine industry. At first, the covers were said to improve sales: readers were motivated to pick up the issue to read the profile of the celeb within more than they were by cover images of models, who have always held a much more circumscribed kind of fame. You could even make the argument that for a magazine such as Vogue, which seeks out the independent, successful, working reader, giving more covers to women for what they do as opposed to what they look like was an empowering step of sorts.</p> <p>But the celebrity cover has had two negative effects: firstly, it's made Vogue's fashion dumber, since celebrities inevitably go about posing for fashion magazines as though it's a promotional drudgery they only put up with for the benefit of the latest terribly important film they starred in, and they always come phalanxed with minders whose entire purpose in life is to insure that the celebrity never cede too much control of her image. It limits the creativity of all involved, and drains the resulting images of the drama and charisma that resides in the best fashion photography. Secondly, the prevalence of the celebrity cover has caused an inevitable gerrymandering of the definition of "celebrity"&mdash;meaning that instead of our magazines periodically serving up interesting in-depth profiles of only the best actresses, singers and public figures, we get puff pieces that examine the inner musings of Kate Bosworth and Jessica Simpson faster than they can think them up. And according to , readers have grown weary of being told 23-year-old Keira Knightley's life story several times per annum.</p> <p>Vogue shouldn't be a promotional arm of the film industry: it should be a luxury fashion magazine. And Carine Roitfeld understands this. Paris Vogue's covers are striking and evocative; there's no formula in evidence. Models frequently take the honors, because whose image is more easily molded to suit the story of the moment than a model's? A Hollywood ingénue, like as not, has neither the look nor the inclination to pull off, say, an all-black avant-garde ensemble. Or a wacky couture gown constructed out of 15 yards of orange silk. But you can find a model who can. And Roitfeld consistently does just that.</p> <p>And when she does feature a celebrity on her cover, Roitfeld doesn't put her through the generic setting, lighting and retouching that makes American Vogue covers so sameish. Behold Charlotte Gainsbourg, whose magnificent aquiline nose would've been doubtless rhinoplastied into submission with the liquify tool over at American Vogue:<br> <br> Or what about this 2004 Madonna cover? It's a vivid shot of a legitimately interesting icon &mdash; and it's not easy to find a compelling way to shoot and style a woman who's been photographed millions of times. Roitfeld, unlike Wintour, does not fear the close crop. I want to travel back in time just so I can buy this magazine.<br> <br> Under Carine Roitfeld my bet is American readers would finally be treated to more interesting and more varied covers, featuring singularly striking images of whoever embodied the given moment best &mdash; not just more portraits of some pretty so-and-sos who can give empty quotes about a (probably average) movie.</p> <p>2. Diversity<br> In March of 2007, Jennifer Hudson became the first black woman to grace a cover of American Vogue since a 2005 Liya Kebede cover. Under Wintour's leadership, readers ought not expect more than one black woman on a cover every 2-3 years. All told, 14 black women have made the cover alone, and another 4 have been included in group covers, in the publication's 116-year history.</p> <p>As for Vogue Paris, I can bring to mind several very recent black cover subjects. Naomi Campbell and Kate Moss had a cover together in February.</p> <p>Noémie Lenoir had a solo cover in June/July. (Half the print run featured a Laetitia Casta cover with identical lighting, styling, and pose.)</p> <p>And who can forget , a bearded drag queen who was chosen after a chance meeting with Bruce Weber and Roitfeld? (Which shows the kind of freewheeling spontaneity that can go into a Vogue Paris cover, and which American Vogue's triangulated, procedural covershots under Wintour conspicuously lack.)</p> <p>Obviously people of color are a part of Carine Roitfeld's conception of fashion in a way they simply aren't at American Vogue. Fashion as an industry still struggles with racism, despite the fact that black women spend more than $20 billion a year on apparel, despite the fact that closing issue after issue without a single editorial page devoted to a model of color ought to be a source of shame for any editor-in-chief, and despite the fact that it is the damn 21st century. Roitfeld's approach would be a welcome change.</p> <p>3. Creative Freedom</p> <p>At virtually every shoot I do, the photographer and the fashion editor come prepared with materials for inspiration. Sometimes it's as elaborate as a bulletin board covered in location snapshots, iconic art photography, historic or news shots, and tear sheets from magazines, where the images together inform the story of the shoot, or even just the mood. (Other times it's as simple as a post-it in a Tim Walker book that points to the picture the client would most like to rip off.) Either way, there are always a million magazines on set for supplementary inspiration, or just to stave off boredom. And during the hours it takes to set up, everyone flicks through the titles, searching for an image that might help inform the inchoate ideas. Fashion people are rarely highly verbal, and to aesthetes, the right picture means a lot.</p> <p>At the danger of putting words in her mouth, I believe this was what Anna Wintour was getting at when "If you look at any great fashion photograph out of context, it will tell you just as much about what's going on in the world as a headline in the New York Times." One can talk all day about how fashion reflects the world; the million little tells it betrays to anyone who cares to notice, like how a certain kind of soutache embroidery became popular in Europe in 1919 only because the Communist revolution, which expelled skilled workers, temporarily depressed the wages of the Russian garment workers who produced it, or any of the other myriad ways styles have points of origins the way wines have a terroir. When you work in fashion, pictures start off being in your world, then they define your world, then they become your world. You live in pictures. You communicate in pictures. Pictures are everything.</p> <p>So it's perhaps telling that, for as long as I have worked in fashion, I don't recall ever being directed to an American Vogue image as an exemplar of something to aim for.</p> <p>Stylists and photographers, they thumb through Vogue Paris, Vogue Italia. British Vogue. Because what are you going to find inside an American Vogue? We already know. A Craig McDean editorial, shot in a studio with a neutral background, of . A boring profile of a celebrity you cared about . A shot by someone like Steven Klein or Steven Meisel where the great photographers try and work dumbed-down versions of ideas they explored at greater length and with greater freedom&mdash;more suitable props, edgier locations, maybe a surrealist touch or two, or a reference to an obscure film&mdash;seasons ago in Vogue Italia's pages. Or in Vogue Paris's. Wintour reportedly demands a full selection of images from every photographer she works with, so that she can make the final photo choices herself (it's much more normal for a photographer to do a first edit, and for the eventual images to be something of a compromise between the photographer and the magazine). This level of control has hamstrung her publication, which consequently recycles the same tiny list of models, stylists, and photographers virtually every issue. American Vogue has, for far too long, been deficient in that most fashionable quality, surprise. Carine Roitfeld would breathe in some life.</p> <p>Of course, S.I. Newhouse quickly the Roitfeld replacement rumor through a spokesperson. And Roitfeld herself has always claimed that she is not gunning for Wintour's job: Last year, she , "My best quality is to be stylist. I never think about this career, this big job [...] I never wanted to be what I am today, and I will not die in the position." Roitfeld is said to dislike New York. She spends as little time in the city as possible, and her daughter in Paris too much to ever leave. It's also possible that Roitfeld might not be keen to sign up to fill Wintour's shoes because in the current economic climate, it's a virtual certainty that Wintour's successor will never be granted the leeway Wintour carved out for herself, which includes vast editorial control, a reported 2 million dollar salary, a $50,000 annual clothing allowance, and a personal chauffeur. When Wintour wanted to buy an apartment in Greenwich Village, Condé Nast cut her a $1.6 million loan, interest-free. S.I. Newhouse will probably never grant a single editor-in-chief such extraordinary freedoms again.</p> <p>It's possible that these rumors are unfounded, and perhaps the challenge presented by American Vogue&mdash;a mass-market title with a circulation of 1.3 million&mdash;might itself wreck all it is that's so inspiring about Roitfeld's editorial vision. A Roitfeld who could not change Vogue would be instead changed by it, and not, I would wager, for the better. And Roitfeld is, after all, comfortable overseeing a small-but-mighty 133,000 circulation magazine more loved by the fashion crowd than the wider world.</p> <p>But even if the next in line proves not to be Roitfeld, it will be someone else, and sooner rather than later. Anna Wintour is nearing 60; the flurry of varying replacement/retirement rumors reported in different titles from different sources might at least be pointing in the right direction. Change is long overdue.</p> <p>Related: [Gawker]</p> <p> [NY Mag]</p>In order to view comments on jezebel.com you need to enable JavaScript.<br> If you are using Firefox and NoScript addon, please mark jezebel.com as trusted.In order to view comments on jezebel.com you need to enable JavaScript.<br> If you are using Firefox and NoScript addon, please mark jezebel.com as trusted.In order to view comments on jezebel.com you need to enable JavaScript.<br> If you are using Firefox and NoScript addon, please mark jezebel.com as trusted.<p>We've already dissected and evaluated the female characters' , makeup, and costume choices based on early Great Gatsby images (and that ) &mdash; now it's time for the men. Brooks Brothers was the "official clothier" for the film, which is costume-designed by Catherine Martin (who won an Oscar for her work on Moulin Rouge). Martin trawled the company's 1920s archives of clothing and advertising imagery (such as that seen at right) to produce more than 500 men's day and evening outfits for Baz Luhrmann's $125 million adaptation. Maybe the movie won't be any good &mdash; but at least it will look good. []</p> Unsurprisingly, Jonathan Adler and Simon Doonan's Shelter Island summer home is gorgeous and kinda kitschy in just the right proportions. [] Jimmy Choo &mdash; which is no longer associated with former creative director and co-founder Tamara Mellon &mdash; is unveiling a collaboration with artist Rob Pruitt. That apparently resulted in the dégradé, lace-printed zebra heels seen here. []<p>Two months before the Metropolitan Museum of Art's Costume Institute show dedicated to Elsa Schiaparelli and Miuccia Prada opens, the New Yorker's Judith Thurman has a lengthy about the show. It appears Thurman didn't get to speak to Prada for the piece, but she did interview the curators. And perhaps best of all, the piece is accompanied by a gorgeous portfolio of photos by Platon, which showcases some of Prada's and Schiaparelli's most iconic designs.</p> <p>"It is doubtful that the notoriously touchy Schiaparelli would have been happy about sharing a double bill, even with such an illustrious compatriot," writes Thurman, "or that Prada would have submitted to comparison with a contemporary." What Thurman doesn't mention is that Prada is in fact on record as critiquing the Met's curatorial vision for the show. This January, she reporters, "They are focused on similarities, comparing feather with feather, ethnic with ethnic, but they are not taking into consideration that we are talking about two different eras, and that [Schiaparelli and I] are total opposite. I told them, but they don't care." (The company spokesperson quickly clarified that Prada's griping was just her independent mind: "Mrs. Prada confirmed that she admires the total curatorial independence of the museum to the extent that they almost did not take into consideration her vision.") Thurman does a good job of exploring the similarities, aesthetic and biographical, that make the Schiaparelli/Prada comparison one whose appeal is obvious to everyone (save, perhaps, the two principals).</p> <p></p> <p>Its subjects were born six decades apart (Schiaparelli in Rome, in 1890; Prada in Milan, in 1949), and they never met, though some of their affinities seem almost genetic. They both had strict Catholic girlhoods in upper-crust families, with traditional expectations for women, and they both took heart from maternal aunts whose feistiness defied the mold. Schiaparelli is the more patrician &mdash; her mother descended from the dukes of Tuscany &mdash; but her father was a university professor, and so was Prada's. Neither woman set out in life to design clothes, or even learned to sew. They were both ardent rebels and feminists who came of age at moments of ferment in art and politics that ratified their disdain for conformity. Schiaparelli was involved with the Dada movement at its inception in Greenwich Village, after the First World War; Prada was a left-wing graduate student in Milan during the radical upheavals of the nineteen-seventies.</p> <p>Schiparelli and Prada are also both known for their relationships with contemporary artists &mdash; Schiaparelli as a Futurist and Surrealist fellow traveler who collaborated with Dalí, and Prada as one of the most influential private collectors in the world and the director of a huge exhibition space and . And they are both known for their experimental approaches to textiles, with such non-traditional materials as plastic, paper and crochet finding their way into formal wear.</p> <p>Thurman's piece returns again and again to the concept that perhaps best defines the link between the two designers: what is the Met has decided to call "ugly chic." Ugly chic is to fashion what dissonance is to music, or Cubism was to painting: an aesthetic that suggests there are things more valuable than mere beauty.</p> <p>It isn't that Prada undervalues beauty's power &mdash; both she and Schiaparelli have dozens of ravishing ensembles in the show. But the old radical, you suspect, resents it as an unearned asset of the one per cent, and the brainy feminist wants you to understand its pathos as a love charm doomed to expire. You shouldn't need it if you love yourself.</p> <p> [New Yorker]</p>In order to view comments on jezebel.com you need to enable JavaScript.<br> If you are using Firefox and NoScript addon, please mark jezebel.com as trusted.<p> Photographer of young naked people Bruce Weber announced on his official Facebook page that he'd completed four new "Web films" for Abercrombie & Fitch &mdash; all of them were wrestling-themed, and one ended with two wrestlers looking into each other's eyes and leaning in for...a full-on dude-on-dude forehead kiss, bro. Abercrombie & Fitch, which uses Weber to shoot all of its advertising, has always profited from the frisson of homoeroticism in the photographer's work (that and all the "edgy" nudity that tells kids that Abercrombie is cool and pisses off your parents, and without which the retailer would only ever make headlines for its discriminatory and exceedingly whiffy ).</p> <p>Because the films were by Weber, because he presented them as work done for the company, because all the male models featured wear (very little) Abercrombie clothing, and because Weber has made wrestling-themed Abercrombie ads , many people assumed that the clips were in fact Abercrombie ads. Even the really gay one, which is embedded above &mdash; the kiss occurs at around 1:20. But apparently the lips-to-forehead same-sex contact was too much for the retailer, which the films and said they were not part of any advertising campaign.</p> <p>The four clips remain on Weber's Web site, where you can see young, hard-bodied men wearing Abercrombie & Fitch to do stuff like wrestling together in an , wrestling in slow-motion , jumping rope so fast their Abercrombie shorts , wrestling on top of a , and about trying to lose 4 lbs in one hour to make weight (which is actually pretty disturbing). It looks like Abercrombie will need a little more coaxing to come out of its glass closet. [, , ]</p> Christy Turlington and an eyeliner moustache star on the May cover of Tatler. [] And Victoria Beckham is on the May cover of British Harper's Bazaar. [] Jessica Stam, one of the stars of Vogue Italia's controversial "Haute Mess" cover story, says that the images weren't racist because they were "all in fun" and "I don't know, whatever." She also confirmed that the shoot was based on "references pulled off of websites" (as we showed ) and that the pictures were "pretty exact to these references." [] Gucci's lawsuit against Guess for alleged copyright and trademark infringement has finally reached court. Gucci complained in 2009 that Guess had infringed on its intellectual property by copying nearly 1,500 of its designs, including these shoes. At issue in particular is the interlocking "G" print. Gucci says that Guess sold $221 million worth of infringing products. Guess says that of the products under consideration, 99% "could never be confused with Gucci." [, ]In order to view comments on jezebel.com you need to enable JavaScript.<br> If you are using Firefox and NoScript addon, please mark jezebel.com as trusted.<p>You might think that heading out and about in brightly colored sleepwear would attract attention but not so according to Adele, who loves nothing more than color blocking her way through London's tourist hotspots. "I was a bit worried. I was in my pajamas. I was in color. I'm always in black. I threw pumps on, this massive green coat and then little pink pumps. Nobody recognized me," she said of a recent stroll through Trafalgar Square. "A couple looked round but they were like, ‘No, she's in color.' And what would she be doing walking through a packed Trafalgar Square on a Saturday?" The get-up is all a part of her bizarrely successful plan to keep a low profile, both on the street and in the press. "I just wanna make music. I don't want anyone chatting about me, really. I still hope I have a little bit of clout in 10 years. All I've ever wanted to do is sing," she said. "I don't want to be a celebrity. I don't want to be in people's faces, you know, constantly on covers of magazine that I haven't even known I'm on." You heard the woman, move along, nothing to see here. []</p> <p>If you're a guy working in any service industry ever chances are John Travolta begged you for sex at some point. In the latest case, Fabian Zanzi claims the actor came onto him when he was working on a Royal Caribbean cruise in 2009, by giving him a naked bear-hug and offering him $12K for a little pole in the hole action. "He told me he had something on his neck," said Zanzi. "I thought it was fuzz. As I approached, he took off his white robe and was naked. He hugged me and asked me to do a massage." []</p> <p>Bristol Palin is copping flak hard and fast after she for Barack Obama's decision to support same-sex marriage – which will potentially unleash a furious tidal wave of awesome weddings upon US shores. "Bristol should keep her uneducated ignorant mouth shut," Tweeted JWoww. Samantha Ronson also jumped in with: "We know that in general kids do better growing up in a mother/father home.' really bristol palin? how's your kid doing?" But actual cast member Lea Michele said it best when talking about the Glee connection. "Amen," she Tweeted. []</p> <p>I may talk a lot of shit about babies and the horrors of a childbirth that I'll never have to endure, but the prospect of Mother's Day must be pretty exciting for new moms like Beyonce. "[We're] all going to be together," said Tina Knowles. "We're excited because it's Beyonce's first Mother's Day… I'm hoping to cook! I want to cook. []</p> <p>It looks like I'll have to eat my words – and a suicide pill – after Kris Jenner blamed Scott Disick for the amazing , making him likeable for a split second. After noticing a Tweet on her feed that described an unfortunate sharting accident, she updated: "Uh yes I got hacked so sorry dolls!!!! I'm guessing it's @ScottDisick???" Though I'm still holding out hope it was Khloe. []</p><p>Women in are being pressured to "whiten up" by advertisements that feature Caucasian models and promote skin lightening products.</p> <p>Clothing stores such as Prada, Burberry, and Zara use their American and European ads featuring white models in Asia, and according to Royce Yuen, chair of Hong Kong's Association of Accredited Advertising Agencies, it's not just so they can reuse the same ads. "I think it's a conscious effort that they are featuring Caucasian models," says Yuen, "it gives people the impression that they're more international and more premium." A survey found that 38 percent of women in Hong Kong, Korea, Malaysia, the Philippines and Taiwan used skin-whitening chemicals and every major cosmetics company offers a whitening cream. Many of the creams contain hydroquinone, a pigment-altering agent that is linked to cancer and may cause liver and kidney damage. The chemical is banned in the U.K., but Virginia P'an, a business analyst and CEO of China Pacific Partners, still claims the ideal of lighter skin is "basically harmless." "A good part of Asia is still an agrarian society. Being whiter-skinned shows you aren't a laborer or a farm worker," she says. "These are cultural trends that are not going to shift overnight." []</p><p>American Apparel may be facing bankruptcy at last. According to the company's latest financial report &mdash; filed late, as is Dov Charney's custom &mdash; American Apparel lost $86 million in 2010, and had just $5.3 million in cash as of the end of February. Sales fell by 4%. Lion Capital, the private investment firm that has bailed the troubled t-shirt-maker out on more than one occasion &mdash; it first lent American Apparel $83 million to avert a bankruptcy in 2009 &mdash; had two seats on the company board; both of those members have just resigned. Charney is now talking about "creative financing." </p> <p>Charney, who sank $1.3 million of his own money into the company last week, says he is seeking "creative financing." According to the Post, "insiders say the risk of a bankruptcy appears to be rising." [, ]<br> Related (?) news: American Apparel is giving away free clothes to everyone who spends $10 online today. []</p> Miu Miu is selling tiny versions of its handbags. They cost $115-$380. [] Here is your long-awaited Christian Siriano cleaning sponge. Handsome, isn't it! [] Karlie Kloss published a photo of her wearing her Jason Wu prom dress. [] Kate Moss and her teeny anchor tattoo star in the new campaign for Dior cosmetics. []In order to view comments on jezebel.com you need to enable JavaScript.<br> If you are using Firefox and NoScript addon, please mark jezebel.com as trusted.<p>Fred Perry says its with Amy Winehouse is "on hold" following her death. Last year, in an Harper's Bazaar described as mostly incoherent, Winehouse claimed of the clothing line, "We've pretty much done like up to autumn/winter 2012, and I'm like, ‘Have we?' Yeah!" []<br> Fashion columnist Robin Givhan on the relationship between Amy Winehouse and the fashion industry: "The industry has some experience with addiction and 12-step programs; that it would be empathetic of Winehouse and drawn to her music is no surprise...Yet there was something weirdly defiant, admiring, and perhaps even envious in the way the fashion industry went agog over Winehouse...What made Winehouse intoxicating was that she blended vintage style with the fashion industry's love for destruction, for fetishizing imperfections, and for elevating broken-down beauty...there's nothing more old-fashioned than treating high designs, expensive clothes, or rare jewels as something precious. Modern style dictates the need for imperfection. Take a luxury garment and wreck it in some way. Pair a fancy evening gown with bed head. Being too polished, too perfect, reads as fake. Authentic beauty comes when something precious is treated with nonchalance &mdash; even disrespect, perhaps even a bit of abuse. The idea is to show how little you care." Just a few years ago, Karl Lagerfeld was pronouncing Winehouse a "muse" to him and a "genius"; following her death, the only fashion house to respond to Women's Wear Daily's request for comment was Fendi, which a tactfully worded statement via a spokesperson. []</p> Stella McCartney's fall ads, shot by Mert Alas and Marcus Piggott, feature Natalia Vodianova. And a shrubbery. [] Han Jin is on the cover of Vogue Korea's 15th anniversary issue. [] Here are the first photos of Balmain's soon-to-be-launched secondary line. The goods will be sold under the brand name "Pierre Balmain," and rather than selling like the real Balmain, Pierre Balmain t-shirts will only set you back $172. [] Twilight star Kellan Lutz and model Anne Vyalitsyna star in new ads for Dylan George, the denim label run by Danny Guez. Lutz and Guez collaborated on a 25-piece collection to be called Abbot + Main, which launches this fall. [] Italian mobsters can no longer wear their bespoke suits while serving their prison sentences in Sicily. Newly banned labels at Ucciardone prison in Palermo include Prada, Gucci, Valentino, Versace, Louis Vuitton, Armani, and &mdash; subject to the guards' whims &mdash; Trussardi. "My husband will be left naked," said the wife of one inmate. "He only has designer clothes, and that's not because he's flashy but because they last much longer and are better quality. Why humiliate him? Why force us to buy clothes at street markets?" Why indeed. []<p>Victoria's Secret has quickly pulled an Asian-themed lingerie collection called "Go East" that traded in sexualized, generic pan-Asian ethnic stereotypes. The item people found most offensive? The $98 "Sexy Little Geisha" teddy. The teddy was part of the lingerie giant's "Sexy Little Things" product category &mdash; making it sort of like the outfit or the get-up VS also offers, only with overtones of Mickey Rooney in Breakfast at Tiffany's.</p> <p>The "Sexy Little Geisha" teddy boasted an obi-style belt and was accessorized with chopsticks for your hair and a paper fan. "Your ticket to an exotic adventure: a sexy mesh teddy with flirty cutouts and Eastern-inspired florals," read the VS Web copy. "Sexy little fantasies, there's one for every sexy you." Jeff Yang at the Wall Street Journal interviewed one of the most insightful voices on the topic of fashion's construction of race, Mimi Nguyen from , about the "Go East" collection:</p> <p>Mimi Nguyen, associate professor of women's and Asian American studies at the University of Illinois–Urbana Champaign and cofounder with Minh-Ha Pham of the Threadbared fashion blog, flags the collection as a set of "stereotypical images that use racist transgression to create an exotic edge," pointing out that all of the models wearing the Go East lingerie are non-Asian. "Asians can't wear things like the ‘sexy little geisha' outfit without looking ridiculous," she says. "But it's a way for white women to borrow a racially exotic edge for a moment's play." Or, as, Phil Yu, the inimitable voice behind the AngryAsianMan.com blog, puts it even more simply: "Hooray for exotic orientalist bullshit."</p> <p>Following this uproar, Victoria's Secret promptly yanked the Sexy Little Geisha outfit, and then obscured access to the whole Go East collection, with publicists now saying that the line has "sold out," an assertion belied by the fact that the items have been purged from the website's very database: Searches for "Geisha" or "Go East" now come up as errors. ()</p> <p>[, ]</p> This is Prada's fall campaign video and it is amazing. [] Karlie Kloss shot an editorial for the new Numéro. Notable things: 1. Kloss is fairly nude throughout. 2. She appears to be wearing a pair of boots from Kanye West's collection. 3. They didn't Photoshop out her ribs. [] The late Hélène Rochas' art collection is to be sold at auction. Rochas and her husband, the late couturier Marcel Rochas, accumulated hundreds of works of art and antiques, including paintings by Kandinsky and Balthus, and four Warhol portraits of Mme. Rochas herself. At left, the Kandinsky and on the right, one of the Warhols. [] Hilary Rhoda is on the cover of Vogue Mexico's October issue. [] Free People got Garance Doré to shoot Lou Doillon for its latest catalog. []In order to view comments on jezebel.com you need to enable JavaScript.<br> If you are using Firefox and NoScript addon, please mark jezebel.com as trusted.In order to view comments on jezebel.com you need to enable JavaScript.<br> If you are using Firefox and NoScript addon, please mark jezebel.com as trusted.<p>Australian model Andrej Pejic is on one of the covers of New York's fall fashion issue. "In this society, if a man is called a woman, that's the biggest insult he could get," he tells the magazine. "Is that because women are considered something less?" Pejic appears topless on the cover, something which in the recent past has by certain chain bookstores; there's no word on whether New York, like Dossier before it, was required to wrap the issue in an opaque cover. Of his rates &mdash; modeling is one of the few fields where women out-earn men by a wide margin &mdash; Pejic jokes, "I don't get out of bed for less than $50 a day. I want to make that clear to America. This is a new age of androgynous supermodels. We don't get out of bed for less than $50 a day." []</p> Emma Watson and a puppy star in a fashion spread in the new i-D. [] Patrick Schwarzenegger, son of Ahnuld and Maria Shriver, posed for the fall Hudson Jeans ads. [] Fashion's Night Out, Anna Wintour's holiday dedicated to full-price retail, overloaded mass transit, random celebrity appearances, and booze, is back for a third go-round. Find local events . While the night promises everything from a dog fashion show with Joseph Altuzarra at Bergdorf's to Solange Knowles deejaying at Lord & Taylor, if we go anywhere, it'll probably be to Saks Fifth Avenue, where Tilda Swinton and Central St. Martin's Louise Wilson will be on hand for "a special event." [, ] These holidays, Barneys New York is teaming up with Lady Gaga to create a store-within-a-store, a kind of Santa's Workshop of Gagamania. "Holiday is about joy, sharing and inclusiveness, and to me, Gaga really represents all of that," says the company C.E.O., obviously. On sale will be items specially chosen by the Lady herself (or her fashion friend Nicola Formichetti), including jewelry made of rock candy and what is described as an "exclusive" Rubik's Cube. [] Charlotte Casiraghi was shot by Mario Testino for the September cover of Vogue Paris. [] We find it incredible that China Machado is 81. Machado, a muse of Richard Avedon, was the first non-white woman to model for major fashion magazines. "We had no images," she said, growing up. "We had nothing that told us we were nice-­looking. Nothing. So I didn't think of myself as good-looking at all. It never occurred to me." [] Also profiled in New York's fashion issue is Shala Monroque, the 32-year-old fashion editor, Prada brand ambassador, lover of low-heeled shoes (and, full disclosure, a friend). Monroque grew up in St. Lucia. "We always got all of the American TV shows late, and I grew up watching Leave It to ­Beaver and other shows from the fifties. Life here just seemed better, and freer. I couldn't believe that on TV, kids would just open the fridge, pull out a box of orange juice, and drink from it." []<p>Andrej Pejic has addressed the over his shirtless Dossier cover, which two U.S. bookstore chains required to be sealed in an opaque plastic cover. "I think the question really isn't the gender of the person on the cover, it's whether it's porn or it's art. And clearly, it's art, so art really should not be censored in a democratic society." The Australian male model says even the fact that plenty of other men get to be shirtless on magazine covers "is irrelevant. It's art, so I don't think it should be censored at all. It's not any sort of sexual image." []</p> David Gandy is the subject of a book compiled by Dolce & Gabbana. A Dolce & Gabbana book. About David Gandy. [] This Dior model looks a lot like PJ Harvey in 1995. [] Enterprising teen alert: A 16-year-old named Tara Houghton is selling red stickers for the soles of your shoes for $9.99 a pair. Let's see how long it takes for Christian Louboutin to cry havoc and let slip his legal team of war. []In order to view comments on jezebel.com you need to enable JavaScript.<br> If you are using Firefox and NoScript addon, please mark jezebel.com as trusted.<p>Angelina Jolie's Louis Vuitton ads have been released. The actress, shot by Annie Leibovitz, poses on a boat in Cambodia. Perhaps she is paddling towards another baby in need? Louis Vuitton's PR folks expect us to believe that Jolie was photographed "wearing her own clothes, no makeup and toting her own elegantly weathered monogrammed Alto bag." (The part about the bag, at least, might be true; she was photographed carrying it a few years ago, and that exact style is no longer in production. But the clothes look like Edun to us, and no makeup &mdash; who are they kidding?) Jolie was $10 million for the campaign; the brand says that she donated "an undisclosed portion" of her fees to "a charity." []</p> Emma Watson's July Vogue cover has leaked. This is the second cover of American Vogue to hit the Internet without authorization in &mdash; and the first on which someone (the leaker?) wrote "Piece of shit" right above "BEAUTY NEWS: REVERSING THE BODY'S SIGNS OF AGING." [] New York City cops, they ain't too smart. One of the city's finest threatened to ticket a cyclist for the total non-offense of biking while wearing a skirt. On the other hand, maybe the woman is just lucky he didn't decide she needed "help" getting back to her apartment. [] Michelle Obama wore a $29.99 Gap dress as a tunic. [] Tom Ford's first foray into a full cosmetics line comes with this bonus story of a cucumber-related beauty mishap he suffered as a teen: "When I was 14, I had to be taken to the emergency room because the cucumber slices I had put on my eyes &mdash; to camouflage the bags &mdash; had made them swell shut. I could eat cucumbers, but my eyes were clearly allergic to them." Lara Stone stars in the ad campaign; Stone had, as of one year ago, been contracted to appear exclusively in Calvin Klein advertising and runway shows. [] Dutch model Valentijn de Hingh came to the industry after undergoing gender-reassignment surgery. Filmed from the ages of 8 to 17 for a television documentary about gender identity disorder in children, she ended up getting signed by an agency in Amsterdam. In her late teens, she worked in Paris for designers including Martin Margiela and Comme des Garçons &mdash; without much apparent fanfare about her transsexual status. (Contrast that with the scrutiny leveled against Lea T. once she about her status.) When she reached her full 6'1" height, de Hingh stopped modeling and became an agency booker. But the recent interest attracted by Lea T. and (non-trans, but very androgynous-looking) model Andrej Pejic has rekindled her career: de Hingh was shot by Patrick Demarchelier for LOVE magazine (which featured Lea T. on a cover) and had a booking with Candy. [] Thom Browne is getting into eyewear. The result? $450-$1000 shades that look like antique aviation goggles (that we're pretty sure Kenneth Branagh wore in Wild Wild West). [] This house in West Philadelphia is painted to look like a Gucci bag, sorta. []In order to view comments on jezebel.com you need to enable JavaScript.<br> If you are using Firefox and NoScript addon, please mark jezebel.com as trusted.<p>In an for The Handbook, is asked: "Describe your typical day." She replies: "There is no typical day. Every day is different, and that's why it's fun." Wait: Did Nuclear Wintour just say FUN?</p><p>The accompanying photograph even depicts Ms. Wintour smiling. The Viscountess of Vogue talks, of course, about why Fashion is Important, saying:</p> <p>"Fashion reflects the times just as much as a headline in a newspaper does. If you look at the miniskirts of the sixties or the Chanel suits and jewelry of the eighties, you can see that. Vogue informs the reader about what's going on in the world, not only through fashion but also through politics, the arts, philanthropy, and sports. Fashion does not exist in a vacuum."</p> <p>But Wintour takes a hard line &mdash; well, a realistic line &mdash; when it comes to young people who are interested in fashion: "Because of reality television and all these celebrities thinking they can be designers, everyone imagines that they can just become a designer, photographer, or model, but that's not the way things work," she says. "People have to go to school, learn their craft, and build a brand-that's the right, healthy way to do things. If you're an overnight sensation, you can be yesterday's news in no time, whereas building something slowly and carefully that has value and quality, that's what's going to have legs. You'd be amazed at how many people come in here, and they make perfectly nice clothes, but they don't understand how to differentiate their brand from another, or they don't have a business plan, or they don't know where to produce things. Don't run before you can crawl."</p> <p>Still, it seems like she wants potential Vogue staffers to think she's not the Devil Wears Prada ice queen she's made out to be:</p> <p>Q: Is there a "wrong" thing to wear to an interview with you?<br> A: A suit, I have to say. But who knows? Maybe next year I'll love suits. And I don't mind jeans. If there's a girl applying to work in the fashion department and she comes in here with a great pair of jeans pulled together with the right top, it's fine.</p> <p>That's right, Anna Wintour says it's okay to wear jeans. The "right" top, however, is probably the Luz & Patmos sweatshirt seen in the October issue, which has a price tag of $395.</p> <p> [Teen Vogue]</p>Anna Wintour did something a little unusual last week at the White House state dinner: she reached deep into her no doubt capacious closet, and fished out a Chanel haute couture gown she last publicly wore three years ago. To another high-profile event &mdash; the Met Ball, which she organizes. That was far from the Vogue editor-in-chief's first incursion into the normal-person practice of outfit repeating. In fact, she's been doing it for years. Often she repeats an outfit several times in one season, but sometimes her repeats are a little more ambitious. Why, just last month, Wintour wore a five-year-old dress to an event for the Human Rights Campaign. Why would someone who receives a rumored annual clothing budget of $200,000 as part of her compensation package from Condé Nast bother outfit-repeating? Fucking Christ, people, she's Anna Wintour. She can wear whatever the hell she wants. If she never wants to take off her favorite Prada snakeskin coat ever, ever, ever again, she doesn't have to. Besides, I bet she really enjoys trolling us all.<p>Anna Wintour is probably not headed to Paris, really wanted to be headed to the Senate, David Paterson doesn't know who he wants, Israel is still bombing Gaza and I need coffee.</p> <p>New York is apparently awash in rumors that which were all sparked by a terse "No comment" by the Obama team to an out-of-the-blue inquiry by Page Six Magazine. Of course, with relations with Iran high on the agenda and a 225+ year relationship to repair (they backed us in the Revolutionary War, remember?), the natural choice for the brainiac Obama Administration would be a fashion magazine editor all but pilloried in the book and movie The Devil Wears Prada. Also, naturally, Hillary Clinton &mdash; who rather famously backed out of appearing in Vogue last year and then was herself pilloried by La Wintour &mdash; would have nothing to say about it either. Either way, it's slightly more believable that , his imposter and Spidey at the Inauguration (though such an occurrence might make that worth attending). And it's way more plausible that and that's why she was selling it. Honey, we've all watched Intervention, and we're not buying.</p> <p>Sheri's co-grandparent is back in the news (one might say she never left), having about how the media &mdash; as opposed to millions of unReal Americans &mdash; elected Obama. Sadly, I have to agree that it is probably legitimately upsetting as a parent to be accused of not giving birth to your own child and to have it suggested that you are forcing your daughter to marry. I'm also a little concerned that I find myself agreeing that , despite having been potentially deemed unqualified, isn't facing that same level and kind of criticism and when Sarah Palin said "there is a class issue here," I went, yeah, actually, there's kind of is and maybe that is part of the crap she took. But maybe I just need coffee.</p> <p>David Paterson isn't as concerned about Caroline Kennedy's money as he is about , which he identifies as her relationship with Obama and her lack of legislative experience, respectively. He thinks to look at appointing, including the ones who turned in their mega-disclosure forms (which Andrew "Shucking And Jiving Is Not A Racist Term" Cuomo isn't saying whether he did or not but he so did).</p> <p>Obama is already in trouble with the legislative branch, having only just barely left it and not yet joined the executive, over his stimulus package because that thing where Republicans say that Democrats hate tax cuts? Yeah, . Whoops. Obama's the only one that's got that change you said you wanted to believe in, but from giving money to Henry Paulson's personal friends to giving it to people that are fucked by Henry Paulson's personal friends, so there's that anyway.</p> <p>Other people fucked by this economy are Norm Coleman, who's about to be unemployed and has been , and noted torture advocate Alberto Gonzales, who for some strange reason ! It must be the economy. I mean, at least he's not saying that and help perpetuate racism by not confronting it in other white people, though that's totally true. Bobby Rush would probably use that to try to get Roland Burris seated, but, then, actually, unsurprisingly it turns out that named in his indictment like I've pretty much been saying for the last week. Whoops.</p> <p>Also up in the shit are the Israelis, who are now , and . But there's only 11 days until Obama is inaugurated and they have to finish their important work by then or they might be credibly asked to stop doing bad things by an American president! Who, in fact, has already and .</p><p>The Late Show With has put up a teaser clip for the talk show host's much-anticipated interview with Vogue editor , on a press "tour" for the The September Issue. So: How did it go?</p><p>It went okay, or so it seems. Dave started things off by describing Wintour as "transcendent", and then asked her to agree or disagree. Wintour's response was to take a minor swipe at Times Op Ed columnist Maureen Dowd, who, for some inexplicable reason - the Sunday Op Ed page? Really? - to an unilluminating column about the woman also known as Nuclear Wintour.</p> <p>Wintour's reputed toxicity was not on display, although she came off as a bit disingenuous when she half-explained/half-complained that, over the past week, she's been described by Times writers as an "ice queen," an "alien," and a "dominatrix". (Really? She's never heard herself described that way before? Much be nice to live in that bubble.) Not surprisingly, she seemed rehearsed - "I seem to remember that the movie was fiction? And we really like fiction at Vogue," was her response to Dave's prodding about the film - and she made startling good use of the camera time, mugging to the at-home audience with all manner of sultry-ish stares and attempted smiles.</p> <p>Initial verdict (based on, of course, a 2-minute teaser clip): Wintour has a sense of humor, but not enough of one to jettison her "ice queen" reputation; she is confident, but not comfortable. It is doubtful this performance - strangely, briefly Palinesque at times - will earn her, or her , more fans. So we are left with two three (initial) questions: One: What designer was she wearing? Two: When was the last time Vogue published actual fiction? Three: Can someone with some Photoshop talent show us what "lukewarm royalty from outer space with a whip" actually looks like?</p> <p>Related: [NY Times]</p> <p>Earlier: <br> <br> </p>In order to view comments on jezebel.com you need to enable JavaScript.<br> If you are using Firefox and NoScript addon, please mark jezebel.com as trusted.<p>Anna Wintour is apparently campaigning to get Kate Middleton on the cover of American Vogue. Duchess Shinyhair-Upon-Tyne is basically the ladymag world's biggest get right about now, so the "news" here is that Wintour is essentially behaving like any editor with a scintilla of news judgment, ever. Only better-connected: Wintour's been allegedly putting the screws on Mario Testino, who frequently shoots for Vogue (Testino does about 10, sometimes 11, of Vogue's 12 annual covers) and is also close with the royal family. (He shot Williams and Kate's engagement photos, remember?) []<br> In other news of Middlemania, Alice Temperley, a designer who had Pippa at her show a week ago is still talking about how wonderful it was. More interestingly, Temperley says her 2-year-old son "was obsessed with smacking the models' bottoms" backstage. []<br> And in other Wintour news: "In an interview published today in Italian daily newspaper la Repubblica, Ms. Wintour calls the Italian prime minister a dictator and urges the world of fashion to rebel against him during fashion week. In the interview, Ms. Wintour also speaks about the gap between Italy's flourishing artisanal industry and the country's tarnished image because of its leadership." []</p> If you read that Rebecca Mead of Daphne Guinness and thought, "Hmmm...little contrived" &mdash; well, here's a photo of Guinness in the 1980s, with her then-husband. And a photo of her in 2002. [] Did L'Oréal lighten Freida Pinto's skin in this ad? It wouldn't be . [] "Forget the ballet flat. Retailers claim that the hot trend in flat footwear for fall, from contemporary to designer, is the smoking slipper." Dolce Vita leopard-print smoking slipper at left; $159. Has anyone seen any evidence of this trend? Anyone? [] Women's Wear Daily thinks Tom Brady's "greasy long hair with a hint of a beehive suggests premature midlife crisis." [] Fashion figureheads, re-imagined as animals. []<p>Have you ever wondered if Jennifer Aniston finds you boring, Gwyneth Paltrow thinks you're kind of pretentious, or Kim Kardashian wonders why you even got hired in the first place?</p> <p>Finally, one celebrity has admitted that she reciprocates one unfamous Massachusetts woman's totally unfair opinion of her. The Onion :</p> <p>"You can tell Cathy Lerro's totally in love with herself, even though she's really just fucking annoying," Hathaway said in reference to the 36-year-old Sudbury resident, who the Devil Wears Prada star grudgingly acknowledged was decent that one time as an office manager but hasn't done anything nearly that good since. "Ugh. Just hearing her name makes me kind of ill. And that voice."</p>In order to view comments on jezebel.com you need to enable JavaScript.<br> If you are using Firefox and NoScript addon, please mark jezebel.com as trusted.<p> Before she was a goofy nerd-turned-princess, Catwoman, or in The Devil Wears Prada, Anne Hathaway was just a girl playing a girl in a commercial, who happened to be in love with her neighbor. The boy reassured her that even though they were selling their house, it would "take time" and that they'd have "the whole summer together." That is, until they realize it's Better Homes And Gardens that's selling their house, and the tears commence.</p> <p>The YouTube describes it as such:</p> <p>This is a commercial we did in 1997 and according to her mom on the set, it was the first time she was ever in front of a camera. Only 14 yrs old, there was no doubt from anyone that day that she was going to be a star.</p> <p>[ via ]</p><p>Much like from Prada, another luxury brand is experimenting with existential themes in the medium of short film. OK, OK, it's a commercial. But with angst! Beauty, ennui, fuzzy, unfocused camera work and faces slipping out of the frame. In fact, it's so much of a mood piece that you barely see overpriced crap they're trying to push. But this brand, while popular, could really use re-positioning. And this gorgeous, teasing commercial could be just the thing. We're not naming the brand, but if you pay attention, (or skip to the end) it's obvious. A frame-by-frame breakdown, after the jump.</p><p> </p> <p>What is a journey? Asks the first frame. While you think about it, check out this Jesus-like figure:<br> <br> <br> </p> <p>And this sleeping redhead. She's holding a CLUE!<br> <br> <br> <br> <br> So yeah, what is a journey? You think you know, don't you? You think a journey is a trip.</p> <p></p> <p>Wrong! A journey is not a trip. Now check out this boat in the mist.</p> <p></p> <p></p> <p>And this old guy!<br> <br> <br> </p> <p>But don't forget the question, about the journey. You're thinking it's like, a vacation, right?<br> <br> <br> Wrong! It's not a vacation.</p> <p>But this narrow little street is cool.<br> <br> <br> </p> <p>But this narrow little street is cool. Anyway. Back to the journey. It's a process. A discovery. We know this because the text tells us so.<br> <br> <br> </p> <p>And! It's a process of self-discovery. See what they did there? No, we don't know who these people are.<br> <br> <br> </p> <p>OMG are you ready? BIG HINT:<br> <br> <br> </p> <p></p> <p>Obligatory feeling of ennui:<br> <br> <br> </p> <p> <br> </p> <p>Back to the narrative: A journey brings us face to face<br> <br> <br> <br> ...with ourselves. Deep!</p> <p>Random modern cityscape!<br> <br> <br> </p> <p>Random modern cityscape!<br></p> <p> <br> And this girl!<br></p> <p> <br> A journey shows us not only the world...</p> <p> <br> ...but how we fit in it.<br> It is no accident that this guy appears to be leaning. Who is he? We'll never know! But he's important. He's you. Maybe.</p> <p></p> <p>Does the person create the journey? Well yeah. The person has to book the tickets, the hotel, the rental car and whatnot. Oh, unless you have "people" to do that for you. Is that what they mean?</p> <p></p> <p>Hmm, guess that's not what they mean. OK. So does the person create the journey, or does the journey create the person? Way existential.</p> <p>What we need right now is a guy to make us make you nostalgic for a life we've never known.<br> <br> <br> Thanks.</p> <p></p> <p>Ooh, more ennui.</p> <p></p> <p>The journey is life itself. Aww. Sweet. Something you can relate to, even if you do not possess airline reservations at the moment. You possess a heart, you are alive. Good work.</p> <p></p> <p>Where will life take you?</p> <p>Wait! There's a BIG HINT coming!<br> <br> <br> Did you catch it?</p> <p></p> <p>Fin.</p> <p></p> <p> [AdRants]<br> <br> [Everything's Better With Brentter]<br> <br> Earlier: </p><p>The top international modeling agency Women has copped to an oopsie: its most promising new face of the season, a girl by the name of Valerija Sestic who has already walked for 16 of the biggest designers at New York fashion week, is underage. In a season when all modeling agencies made a pledge not to put girls under 16 forward for runway work, Women lied. Sestic is 15. And yet here she is, pictured walking in runway shows for Prabal Gurung, DKNY, and Marc by Marc Jacobs. This news will be an interesting test of the industry's resolve for change, and of the limits of its capacity for self-regulation. </p> <p>A few things first: as long as there has been a modeling industry, it has been the case that most models begin their careers in their early teens. Carmen Dell'Orefice was "discovered" at age 13; in 1947, at 15, she made the cover of Vogue. Brooke Shields was 14 in 1980 when she was the face of Calvin Klein denim. Kate Moss, Patti Hansen, Niki Taylor, Kimora Lee Simmons, Bridget Hall, Gisele Bündchen, Karolina Kurkova, Linda Evangelista, and Christy Turlington: these are just a few of the well-known models who started working at age 13, 14, or 15. More recently, Tanya Dziahileva, Chanel Iman, Karlie Kloss, Lindsey Wixson, Monika Jagaciak, Daphne Groeneveld, and Hailey Clauson have all found fame within the industry after starting young. (Of course, there are many more models who begin working in their early teens who never become well-known.)</p> <p>There are some problems that arise when you have a labor force that is overwhelmingly young, foreign, and female, especially one that is in the employ of an industry dominated by wealthy, established interests. These girls work for clients that report quarterly earnings in the hundreds of millions; there are board members at these companies who have served longer than these girls have been alive. New models know that they are just one face out of the hundreds represented by their agencies. Is it any wonder that the workforce is therefore vulnerable, at least potentially, to exploitation? And this is an industry where some scouts talk openly of "grooming" their new faces.</p> <p>I have long felt that the modeling industry's reliance on exceedingly young girls &mdash; children, frankly &mdash; breeds a certain lassitude. Put simply, it's system set up around the simple truth that girls &mdash; especially girls who don't know any differently, because they've never had another job &mdash; will put up with treatment that women won't. Model age isn't just an issue because a shoot for a magazine that wants to do topless or a runway changing area full of backstage photographers or any of the many, many places where someone working in fashion might encounter illegal drugs or a photo studio alone with Terry Richardson (or any of the men like him) is an inappropriate place for a young girl to be &mdash; although those are inappropriate places for a child to work. Model age is also an issue because the way that the modeling industry profits, to a certain extent, off of the relative youth and inexperience of its workforce is a systemic problem, and one that can only be addressed by having models who are adults. As Ashley Mears recently in the New York Times, "Decades of critiquing representations of bodies in fashion have not changed what we see on the catwalk; reforming the conditions backstage just might. Empowering models as workers could potentially help them stand up against other aspects of the industry, like unhealthy expectations about dieting."</p> <p>So. Valerija Sestic. She's from the Swiss town of Thun. Her parents are Croatian. She apparently speaks five languages. She was born, her mother Mirela says, on October 21, 1995. She modeled as a child. Her mother also models; Mirela Sestic a Croatian-language news source in March that she was "Currently negotiating with several agencies" on Valerija's behalf, "and soon we start with the first engagement." Mirela said she has put her career "on ice" and planned to travel with her daughter. As Google translates her response when asked about her daughter's relative youth, Mirela says, "If you do not try, later might be too late. I am willing to sacrifice much to achieve, and her wishes. It's like in professional sports, if the parents at some point, in some years, do not stand behind their children and give them maximum support, it can be difficult to develop a top athlete. I would not like to later blame myself." This industry makes parents and girls believe that if they don't start at 14, they'll never get anywhere. But it's entirely within the power of agencies and clients to change that reality, should they want to.</p> <p>Here's Sestic some traditional Croatian crafts at an event in Germany, also back in March. And here's Sestic in one of her test shoots for Women. Clauson, whom Sestic strongly resembles (I initially mistook her for Clauson on the DKNY runway), a photographer who allegedly sold a similar shot of her to be printed on Urban Outfitters t-shirts without authorization. That would be a strange coincidence, except I'm pretty sure that these days they issue crotch-shot-on-a-motorbike photos to all newbie models at signing.</p> <p>The Council of Fashion Designers of America, a trade association that represents the interests of U.S. designers, has long recommended that its members not hire girls under 16 for runway work. This season, it asked its members to card models at castings, and extracted a pledge from all the top New York agencies not to put anyone under 16 forward for shows or highlight any underage girls in their show packages.</p> <p>Now that we are at the end of New York fashion week, it is plain that the honor system has had some failures. 14-year-old Ondria Hardin, who is currently a face of Prada, was in Ford's show package, and was booked by Marc Jacobs for his runway show. And after Women lied about her age, Sestic walked in sixteen shows, including some of the biggest of fashion week: BCBG by Max Azria, Rag & Bone, Doo.Ri, Prabal Gurung, DKNY, Y-3, Carolina Herrera, Marc by Marc Jacobs, Tory Burch, Hervé Leger by Max Azria, Rodarte, Theyskens Theory, Oscar de la Renta, 3.1 Phillip Lim, Ports 1961, and Philosophy di Alberta Ferretti. (Despite her age, Ports 1961 styled Sestic in a dress with a translucent top. That kind of styling is not uncommon: three seasons ago, when Lindsey Wixson was 15, she that exposed her breasts. Wixson had recently given an interview in which she talked about how awkward it was to ask for a strapless bra on a W shoot where the magazine asked her to wear some sheer garments, although the magazine did oblige her request.) Sestic skipped London &mdash; where a firm ban on models under 16 is in effect &mdash; and went straight to Milan, where so far she's walked for D&G, Anteprima, Blumarine, and Moschino.</p> <p>And at least one of those clients is pissed. A spokesperson for Tory Burch said Sestic wouldn't have been booked had the company known her true age. "We are conscious not to use models under 16."</p> <p>"It is true. She is 15," says Dejan Markovic, the president of Women Management. "This is never going to happen again from our company. I take full responsibility." Forgive me if I remain unconvinced of Dejan Markovic's sincerity on this score; the new face he lied about to give a start just became a breakout star.</p> <p>Clearly, the honor system isn't keeping children off the runways, and even if it were effective to just ask agencies to pinkie-swear their girls are at least 16 &mdash; fashion week is just two weeks out of the year. There's a whole lot of modeling that goes on the rest of the time. What's needed is for the modeling industry to stop regarding 12-year-old girls as a natural resource. Ondria Hardin, who was 13 when she shot her Prada campaign with Steven Meisel, had already worked extensively in Asia, where clients and agencies are even more prepared to look the other way on age than they are in the West.</p> <p>What would be so wrong with agencies taking a pledge not to sign any model for the adult market until she turns 16? And what if clients were to test that by ID'ing the models they hire &mdash; not just for runway jobs, but for all gigs? What if 16 were a firm starting age for all modeling work? What if the media started taking notice of, and reporting on, models' ages? If instead of models starting at 13-14, and being allowed onto the runway at 16, models simply started their careers at 16? It sounds like a small change, but the longer these girls have to devote to their educations, to grow their support networks of family and friends, and to develop in maturity and life skills before embarking on a career that can pose distinct challenges to all of the above and more, the better.</p> <p> [WSJ]</p><p>Apparently, some people who buy counterfeit purses eventually migrate to buying the real thing. Here comes another round in the age-old "counterfeiting hurts sales" vs. "counterfeiting helps sales" argument. </p> <p>Reports :</p> <p>A dirty little secret is that Prada rip-offs can also function as free advertising for real Prada handbags &mdash; partly by signaling the brand's popularity, but, less obviously, by creating what MIT marketing professor has described as a "" product. For her , Gosline immersed herself in the counterfeit "purse parties" of upper-middle-class moms. She found that her subjects formed attachments to their phony Vuittons and came to crave the real thing when, inevitably, they found the stitches falling apart on their cheap knockoffs. Within a couple of years, more than half of the women &mdash; many of whom had never fancied themselves consumers of $1,300 purses &mdash; abandoned their counterfeits for authentic items.</p> <p>This result is intriguing, if counter-intuitive. I would have hypothesized that at least as many consumers of counterfeit luxury goods would, once they realized they had acquired a decent-enough fake to fool the average on-looker, would feel embarrassed that they'd ever considered spending thirteen-hundred freaking dollars on a bag to carry their phone and keys and tampons around in. Then again, the people Gosline studied had acquired their counterfeit bags at purse parties; at least a few members of their social group knew for a fact that the handbag in question was a fake. Perhaps they ended up buying real ones partly out of affinity for the brand, and partly because there's nothing sadder on God's green earth than a known-to-be fake designer handbag? (I say nothing sadder because, one, human susceptibility to branding always is, and two, child labor is always a : "I remember walking into an assembly plant in Thailand a couple of years ago and seeing six or seven little children, all under 10 years old, sitting on the floor assembling counterfeit leather handbags. The owners had broken the children's legs and tied the lower leg to the thigh so the bones wouldn't mend. [They] did it because the children said they wanted to go outside and play.")</p> <p>I kind of hate how academic studies of counterfeit goods always seem to focus on parsing either of their consumers or the macro-economic effects of the trade, on quantifying &mdash; or disputing other academics' quantifications of &mdash; the exact losses to luxury brands and the authorities (in the form of tax revenue) that counterfeiting causes, or doesn't cause. Counterfeiting isn't a crime because the folks at Hermès, a company which makes its money selling $600 scarves and $6,000 purses, really need another of 26% sales increases and some people in China are threatening their bottom line. To regard every counterfeit item sold as a direct loss to an established company, as some luxury brands argue, is ludicrous. Counterfeiting is a crime because, yes, theft of intellectual property is actually wrong; but it's also a crime because the production of counterfeit goods generally takes place under atrocious circumstances &mdash; even by the standards of the international rag trade, a domain not known for its commitment to worker safety and environmental protection &mdash; and because the people who produce, smuggle, and sell counterfeit goods are often the same criminal gangs that control the drug trade and human trafficking. I don't need to know whether some suburban housewife somewhere feels bad about her fake Louis Vuitton bag, and if so, why she feels that way, to know that the trade in counterfeit goods is pretty much evil and that the people who deal in them deserve to be punished to the full extent of the law.</p><p>There's nothing like the end of a hard-fought and losing campaign to bring out the scandals you never would've heard about if the campaign had prevailed. So, while Obama focuses on Cabinet picks and Rahm Emanuel), we leave a little room to talk about Africa, NAFTA, Randy Schenemann getting fired and how beautiful back-stabbery can really be. and I hit on all of that, plus the all-important puppy speculation after the jump!</p> <p><br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> MOE: Hi.</p> <p>MEGAN: Hey, at least one of us got to sleep in! Are you back in New York?</p> <p>MOE: No I am not. I am on the couch of the gracious Rachel Baker of Boston Magazine again. I didn't get to sleep until about 3:30. In any case, I apologize for my tardiness. I will gladly allow you to garnish my wages, oh wait.</p> <p>MEGAN: I'll be lucky if my wages aren't garnished by the end of the month, what with the election being over and no one caring anymore. Luckily, Sarah Palin is the scandal that keeps on giving. Quick! Name the !!</p> <p>MOE: Quick! Pronounce all the high fashion designers who contributed to her brand new quarter million dollar wardrobe! Has she made plans to sell it on eBay yet?</p> <p>MEGAN: Oh, hell, she doesn't even know! But the only name I've heard mentioned is Valentino. The rest have been, like, Tahari, Ann Taylor, Cole Haan. Even the Louis Vuitton bag is supposedly fake, which is sort of hilarious to have a candidate for Vice President of the United States carrying around a counterfeit knock-off bag. I mean, we bitch at the Chinese all the time (and I mean, ALL the time) about the prevalence of counterfeit goods in China and then our VP is carrying one. (Notably, NAFTA includes Mexico, Canada and the United States, though I'm sure you, at least, knew.)</p> <p>MOE: I love how it was McCain's that gets fired for siding… with Palin. So…Cheneyesque, only if the president was the old dude a few dozen open heart surgeries away from holding onto the presidency, and his running mate was this young, spry, Machiavellian…total ignoramus!</p> <p>MEGAN: Well, it's less that he "sided" with Palin and more that he was the one going around trashing Nicolle Wallace last week to suck up to her and help Palin shape the media narrative that none of this was her fault. Which, you would think the foreign policy adviser would be the most upset about his charge not knowing that Africa was a continent made up of many disparate countries, but everyone knows Randy Scheunemann doesn't care about Africa. They don't have the kind of money Georgia does, so he's not going to make a Presidential campaign dance to their tune.</p> <p>MOE: Okay, two things: I actually do not believe it is possible she believed Africa was a country. As for Randy Scheunemann, any campaign that has "shaping the media narrative" is a frankly unreliable narrator to say the least. Is it possible to reach the age of forty having never taken a sufficiently long look at a map? I just don't believe it, especially what with all her cosmopolitan travels around the warmer latitudes back in college.</p> <p>MEGAN: I mean, let's just state the obvious: she was probably drunk then. But, also, this is the woman who reportedly sought to give her own concession speech before McCain's and had to be told that no such thing had happened in the history of Presidential concession-speech giving.</p> <p>MOE: Well they're a team of mavericks. They're gonna disagree. No such thing as Sarah Palin had ever happened in the history of Presidential concession speech blah blah!</p> <p>MEGAN: Well, he was a maverick. This is a , who's the guy Davis and Schmidt ousted to take over and run the campaign into the ground.<br></p> "If you had told me two years ago that John McCain would end his active national political life perceived by many as the candidate of the special interests tied to lobbyists; that many people considered his campaign dishonorable and focused on small things; that he wasn't seen as presidential and the right person to have in a crisis; and that the broad center in American politics had turned against him, I would have laughed in your face," said John Weaver, his longtime friend who resigned from the campaign in a power struggle last year. <p>"That's not who he is," Weaver said. "But that's the campaign that he chose."</p> <p>Like, I don't think you'll get a more honest assessment from a guy that actually likes and believe in McCain &mdash; to this day &mdash; than that. But, really, the money quote is this:<br></p> "The Palin pick was a base pick in a non-base election," Weaver said. "In this media world that we live in, you can't take someone who has not had any exposure, who had not had any vetting, public and private, and strap her to a rocket." <p>Really? We can't? Could we, um, maybe try?</p> <p>MOE: Well Mark McKinnon pointed out a few weeks back that running a campaign sucks, and that it's the easy thing to blame or whatever. I mean, duh, his campaign was insane and inane, both of which, as Olbermann won't let you forget, rhyme among other things with "membrane," which leads me to observe (how could it not) that such things need tough skins to sail through unscathed, and a thin permeable membrane that makes visible all the discord beneath the surface, which John McCain never had in his broke talk express days, is always a bad sign.</p> <p>MEGAN: And now I have a mental vision of the McCain campaign as a baby calf, crying inside its cowl after having been deposited, bloody and foul, onto the barn room floor. I watch way too much Animal Planet.</p> <p>MOE: Yeah I was actually trying to hint at a partial birth abortion reference, albeit counterintuitively considering seventy two is way past the "viable" age for making it outside the womb, as this when he took out his rage re: Obama on two poor guys who most likely were not even black. Pennsylvania has really had the best election violence.</p> <p>MEGAN: Oh, there is around, too.</p> <p>MOE: Ha ha old coot took out his rage on the BLIGHT brothers. Can that possibly be real? Also, totally voted for Obama. Heal the Animal Planet, and the continent of Earth too.</p> <p>MEGAN: Also, I love that they were in Pizzle's Bar. That is an awesome dive bar name.</p> <p>MOE: So, where is Jeremiah Wright in all this? On vacation somewhere exotic like Australasia??</p> <p>MEGAN: Well, if the right wing crazies are to be believed, he's probably holed up with Obama plotting revenge. In reality, I believe he's writing his memoirs and staying out of the press, probably trying to avoid more death threats. So, what do you think of the whole ? Because I'm sort of , in that it seems a strange move for Rahm except for one thing. And that thing is the next gubernatorial race in Illinois.</p> <p>MOE: So I think this all bodes well for . I haven't watched Fox since Tuesday &mdash; when in liberal Massachusetts, etc. &mdash; but I relished so much I can't wait to get home and switch it on! As for Rahm, I don't know him but I would say, there is probably nothing more attractive than the job you have had once and loved but know you could do an immeasurably more effective job at doing now that you're ten years older etc. etc. He seems like he has a big ego, but I chalk a lot of that up to partisan rage built up over twelve years of GOP leadership in the House. It's in the culture.</p> <p>MEGAN: No, he has an enormous ego. That's not, from me, a criticism, but he is a politician. He doesn't, by any means, have the largest one on the Hill, but he's definitely top 100 and I'd bet he'd admit it. On Shep, let's also not forget his yesterday.</p> <p>MOE: Oh, wow. Cunts are still running Public Citizen I guess. To think I voted for that guy.</p> <p>MEGAN: I love when Shep gets outraged, I'll admit it. When I was in Denver and St. Paul, I tried to get the Fox people to hook me up with Shep instead of Bill Hemmer, but he wasn't there. Last week, Jon Stewart called Shep's show "Studio Bee-yotch" after the Joe The Motherfucking Plumber thing and I was like, he's my Studio Beyotch, Jon!</p> <p>MOE: Here's all I want to know from you: Treasury Secretary ... who is?? Creed and I have elaborate Anderson Cooper Shep Smith Katrina fantasy involving Prada life vests, just throwing that out there.</p> <p>MEGAN: I know, I'm such a fruit fly, these are things I've just accepted about myself. Anyway, on Treasury Secretary, Politico had their .<br></p> Treasury secretary: Former Clinton treasury secretaries Larry Summers and Robert Rubin; FDIC Chairwoman Sheila C. Bair; New York Fed President Timothy Geithner, former Treasury under secretary and assistant secretary; former Federal Reserve chairman Paul Volcker <p>My money's on Volcker, for obvious reasons.</p> <p>MOE: Yeah yeah yeah but there's been no narrowing since then? I'm rooting for Bair, if only because I know the S&P 500 will not like it if she's announced, because she is a chick, and wants to keep people in their houses. And the market will be right, there is really nothing to be "confident" about and they might as well not rally, but Bair will be right because keeping as many people in their houses as possible is the most economically sound thing to do, even if it is not glamorous work you can solve with some fancy "model. Whoa, Governator one of two on the short list for energy secretary? Does he take that job? WTF</p> <p>MEGAN: I think that's someone's idea of a joke. And, no, I don't think Schwarzenegger gets it. The Republicans that get appointments &mdash; if any &mdash; won't be vociferous McCain supporters.<br> MOE: Also wtf is a "Press staff morale chief"?</p> <p>MEGAN: Well, none of those people appear, at least from what I've read, to be on the transition team or the advisory board, which tradition holds don't end up in appointments, so no narrowing yet I think. I can't see Summers getting it.</p> <p>MOE: Hahaha what you get when you google Tommy Vietor, the shoe-in for press staff morale chief: some 2005 exchange wherein Vietor assures a reporter Obama is . Foreshadowing!</p> <p>MEGAN: Who among us wants them to adopt a mutt from a local Humane Society? None of this fancy-shmancy breed crap, not even if it's a rescue. I want a straight-up shelter dog.</p> <p>MOE: Whatever, I don't care, as long as they don't give the fucking thing a book contract. Though I would like to know why the Bushes have a dog named "Barney."</p> <p>MEGAN: "Barney" is kind of a good dog name. I personally question the wisdom of "Mrs. Beasley".</p>In order to view comments on jezebel.com you need to enable JavaScript.<br> If you are using Firefox and NoScript addon, please mark jezebel.com as trusted.In order to view comments on jezebel.com you need to enable JavaScript.<br> If you are using Firefox and NoScript addon, please mark jezebel.com as trusted.In order to view comments on jezebel.com you need to enable JavaScript.<br> If you are using Firefox and NoScript addon, please mark jezebel.com as trusted.In order to view comments on jezebel.com you need to enable JavaScript.<br> If you are using Firefox and NoScript addon, please mark jezebel.com as trusted.In order to view comments on jezebel.com you need to enable JavaScript.<br> If you are using Firefox and NoScript addon, please mark jezebel.com as trusted.<p>Beth Ditto &mdash; who is known for applying her own makeup with great precision &mdash; is launching a limited-duration collaboration with MAC. This actually makes total sense, given the singer's in makeup comes off as genuine, and that she's talked in interviews about how she loves to do her friends' makeup. And how awesome is that promo shot? The collection will be in stores this June. []</p> French Elle published an online opinion column written by a contributor named Nathalie Dolivo. The topic? How great it is that Barack and Michelle Obama are inspiring black people to follow "white codes" of dress. "Chic," wrote Elle has at last become a "plausible option" for black people, who until now had only conceived of fashion as "streetwear." For any member of the white-code-dressing "black-geosie" who wants to add an "ethnic" touch, Elle suggested a "batik-printed turban." As Claire Sulmers puts it on Fashion Bomb Daily, "Dear Magazines: This is what happens when there are no black people on staff." The column has been pulled, without acknowledgment or apology. [] Here's Brooklyn Decker in the poster for What To Expect When You're Expecting. [] Jean-Paul Gaultier's couture collection &mdash; review and full slideshow to come &mdash; was inspired by the late Amy Winehouse. Andrej Pejic walked. [] Natalia Vodianova is returning as the face of Stella McCartney for spring. [] Karl Lagerfeld interviews himself in his library to promote his new KARL lower-priced line in this video. "I'm never happy with myself," he says. [] The line is fronted by Anja Rubik, Saskia de Brauw, Arizona Muse, and Sui He. [] Vogue Paris' Web site is getting a much-needed revamp on February 6; look at that clean, clean screenshot. [] This Stéphane Rolland couture gown, worn by Yasmin Le Bon on the runway, weighs 110 lbs. Rolland is known for his preference for heavy materials and embellishments, including plastic fins and discs, but this dress was made of silk jersey and "lacquered metal appliqués." []<p>Beth Ditto says she would like to make "the IKEA of clothes for fat girls and boys. Cheap, affordable, basic &mdash; but ethically made." She says she didn't have that experience when she designed a plus-size line for the U.K. retailer Evans . "I wish there was more control in that line, but there wasn't. It was really fun, but the things that I really wanted couldn't be turned around in time. It was made in India, which caused a lot of conflict for me. I really want to do my own line that's ethically made, and I can do whatever the fuck I want with it. I also want to start an online vintage store, kind of like Re/Dress [Brooklyn's now-closed plus-size haven]. I want to do a 'buy the outfit' function, and I want to show how outfits look on all kinds of different body types, even boys and butches. It's high-concept, and I don't have time. I'd need to find someone to work with me on it, but I'm also very controlling about this, just like I am with Gossip stuff." Asked (again) about Karl Lagerfeld's comments on Adele's weight, she replied, "First of all, Karl Lagerfeld is not even sane." []</p> André Pejic was styled in Jean Paul Gaultier couture and tied up for a bondage-themed shoot in a Chinese magazine. [] Steven Klein shot male model Chris Fawcett in a pregnancy prosthesis for Candy, the trans-everything fashion magazine. [] Lara Stone is in this music video for something called Hot Chip. She plays a sort of alien princess. [] Dazed & Confused made up some models to look like René Gruau drawings for this gorgeous shoot. (: that is one way to do creative makeup.) []<p>Since very, very few of us have had intimate, personal conversations with Pregnance or Jay-Z about the sex of their child, it's impossible to say what it's going to be. Unless you're Kelly Rowland and you have talked to Pregnance. Then you'd know .</p> <p>Sources have referred to the upcoming arrival as "she" to PEOPLE, and former Destiny's Child bandmate Kelly Rowland alluded to the baby's gender at an awards show Thursday night. Rowland told Bang Showbiz: "I have no idea what I'm going to buy Beyoncé at the baby shower because Jay is going to buy that little girl every single thing possible."</p> <p>That said, the couple's first child is due in February and will likely be awesome, no matter what gender.</p> <p></p> <p>The Devil Wears Prada's Stanley Tucci is engaged to former TDWP co-star Emily Blunt's sister! And yes, :</p> <p>The 50-year-old actor is engaged to Felicity Blunt, Emily Blunt's sister. Emily and Stanley starred together in the hit film The Devil Wears Prada.</p> <p>"Emily loved Stanley on the set of Devil, and just thought they would hit it off, so she set them up," a source said to Us.</p> <p>Stanley's first wife sadly passed away from cancer in 2009. "It hasn't been easy for him getting into a new relationship, but Felicity is a lovely person and very warm and comforting," the source added.</p> <p></p> <p>"I guess they're bigger overseas?" band Snow Patrol says U2 :</p> <p>"When U2 took us on tour in 2005 and then the subsequent three years on the 360 Tour, they showed us the virtue of a show compared to a gig. Even when we were playing bigger gigs around Chasing Cars and Eyes Open, we were still turning up for gigs like we had just fallen out of the student's union at 3am.</p> <p>We didn't really think about stage presence. We would work out the set list five minutes before we went on stage in the same clothes we had been wearing in the pub. U2 showed us the approach we should be taking. There should be a show, a spectacle."</p> <p></p>In order to view comments on jezebel.com you need to enable JavaScript.<br> If you are using Firefox and NoScript addon, please mark jezebel.com as trusted.<p>Tom Scocca wrote a glowing review of Bill Cunningham New York, the documentary about New York Times street style photographer, which was just released in the U.S.: "Cunningham's work falls in the territory where fashion becomes clothing, or vice versa. The fashion industry itself prefers to obfuscate how this works, how the decisions of designers, prepared seasons in advance, correspond somehow to the collective desires of the public to choose put on a particular style in the moment. Cunningham blows away the smoke and mist, asking only, what do I see people wearing now?...The theory of Bill Cunningham is democratic and objective; the practice is autocratic and subjective. That is: he's a journalist, a real one. He imposes his sensibility on the world with severe neutrality." []<br> The film is outstanding. Here is a clip to tide you over until you go see it. [] <br> James Franco gets a cover, a multi-page editorial spread, and 5,000 words devoted to his various excellences in the new issue of GQ Style, GQ UK's semiannual fashion supplement. []<br> Jean Baptiste Mondino shot Mia Wasikowska &mdash; one of the Kids who is All Right &mdash; in a white face mask for the cover of W. []<br> Karl Lagerfeld did some lovely fashion illustrations for a new edition of Justine Picardie's biography of Coco Chanel. []</p><p>So there's this trend. It's been going on for a while. The lead in a television show &mdash; or movie &mdash; is a white girl with some sort of problem. And when she needs to talk, she turns to her BBF: her Black Best Friend. Today's L.A. Times : The BBF's job is to "support the heroine, often with sass, attitude and a keen insight into relationships and life," writes Greg Braxton. It's easy to watch the BBF in action &mdash; just check out The Nanny Diaries, The Devil Wears Prada, The New Adventures of Old Christine, Ghost Whisperer, Alias, Ally McBeal, Felicity, Summerland and Private Practice, among others.</p> <p>Yes, it's great to have black actresses getting work. But why are they stuck in the ghetto of second banana? A former studio exec who now works for TV One, a network targeted to black audiences, says, "Historically, people of color have had to play nurturing, rational caretakers of the white lead characters. And studios are just not willing to reverse that role." Well, when you think about it that way, it's like Scarlett O'Hara had Mammy &mdash; the BBF is the new house negro. Sigh.</p> <p>Actress Aisha Tyler, who was the first recurring black love interest on Friends, became a BBF on Ghost Whisperer. (She's since left to work on her directorial debut.) "But I don't know what the alternative is," says Tyler. "I think the more roles there are for African Americans, the better. This trend feels like a consolation prize, but at least these roles are available. A lot of ensembles are not diverse at all, so if it's a shot, it's a good thing."</p> <p>So which is it? Should black actresses count their blessings and be happy they get cast? Or should they hold out for more substantial roles? And what's up with all the sassy advice? Is it offensive how these women are all basically playing the same part &mdash; which involves them always telling it like it is?</p> <p> [LA Times]</p><p>Blake Lively &mdash; who was only just to us about how Chanel didn't just make a nice handbag, "It's a quilted case full of lipstick, love letters, and the dreams and possibilities that I have always felt every time I see that beautiful 'CC'" &mdash; has defected to a rival luxury brand. She's now going to be a face of a Gucci perfume. Presumably it smells like money. []</p> MAC just added 65 new nail polish colors. Look at them all. Purrrrrrrty. [] Prada is releasing some t-shirts with artist Vahram Muratyan. [] Candice Swanepoel stars in the fall Versace Jeans campaign. []In order to view comments on jezebel.com you need to enable JavaScript.<br> If you are using Firefox and NoScript addon, please mark jezebel.com as trusted.<p>Maybe we're fashion retards, but we just don't get contemporary menswear. Because "real men" &mdash; that is, straight, beer-drinking, X-Box-owning, porn-watching men &mdash; are never going to wear skinny suits with cropped legs. But what we don't get more than contemporary menswear is today's in The New York Times Thursday Styles section on the just-concluded contemporary menswear shows in Milan. We aren't , but we're pretty sure this story was fashion criticism at its most all-over-the-place, with references to everything from hedge fund hotties to late 80's gender theory to dandyism to Pete Doherty. Oh, and somehow Prada and Romanticism got tossed in there too! We like to think of ourselves as fairly-bright women. But this one left us baffled. But then, we thought, perhaps we're not being fair! Maybe it's because we're not guys (like Times writer Guy Trebay) and maybe we need penises to have an opinion on menswear? Or even find it interesting? Looking for a few good answers, we had Jen chat up friend-of-Jezebel and quintessential straight dude Don. Their IM deliberation on pink silk pajamas &mdash; and the allure of a woman wearing man's clothes &mdash; after the jump.</p> <p>JG: So today's NYT Styles section has on "innovative' menswear. Like, would you wear a skinny suit with a cropped ankle?<br> Don: "Innovative" is pretty much the word that gives your assertion credence.<br> JG: Indeed. So was my suspicion.<br> Don: is great stuff.<br> JG: Like, would you rock that?<br> Don: Hahahahahha.<br> JG: It's not even esoteric. You know how you can rationalize absurd women's fashion with some overly-academic art historical-sociological explanation? You can't with this. This is a skinny checked suit. And no dude goes out looking to get laid &mdash; by a girl &mdash; wearing that.<br> Don: Okay, well, I like to not be harassed by people. That suit would definitely get a lot of "faggots" from strangers wearing that.<br> JG: Really, the sweater vest underneath the suit takes it to a whole other level. Like, you still might be safe without that.<br> Don: No, no you wouldn't. I don't know where you hang-out, but my favorite bar downtown has a lot of Cubs t-shirts. I feel weird walking in with a polo.<br> JG: Okay so even a gay man wouldn't wear that suit with a sweater vest?<br> Don: is probably worse...<br> JG: That's my thing with menswear! What purpose is it serving? No guy with an X-Box (or better, a Wii) will ever wear that. And it's never going to trickle down in some watered-down, derivative version, even.<br> Don: No, not at all.<br> JG: Guys who like beer, boobs, and video games are not going to adapt to that.<br> Don: I dream of a day when business attire is a jumpsuit. That way, I know exactly what I have to wear and only focus on the cleanliness of my underwear. Function is key. I would wear . If I was going to a Halloween party. As Jarvis Cocker. But could be a return to Rat Pack, no?<br> JG: Do you want to return to the Rat Pack?<br> Don: No. But I can see how it can appeal to certain men.<br> JG: What did you wear to work today?<br> Don: Taking the day off - KnivesOut t-shirt, jeans, and ghetto slippers.<br> JG: I think that is what every straight dude I know is prob wearing. Okay, my last menswear question is this &mdash; did you read the article I sent you? All that talk of pink silk pajamas? What would it take to get you into pink silk pajamas?<br> Don: Ohhhh no. I didn't read it, went straight for the pictures, like porn. I mean, looking at clothes and scoffing is far less painful than reading about clothes you really don't care about. But... I did want to make one point. The jeans/t-shirt/fuck it attitude does carry over to women as well.<br> JG: In what way?<br> Don: I was talking to some folks the other night about all that Victoria's Secret shit...<br> JG: Victoria's Secret is gross.<br> Don: But every now and then it's nice, kinda like role-playing with clothing. Okay , so I was talking to these 2 guys and 2 girls, like I was saying...<br> JG: Okay and what did they conclude?<br> Don: Well, it was more...heyyyy, favorite shit to see a girl in. And really, both dudes agreed it was when they use our button-downs in the morning. Of course, I'm partial to union-jack suits or underwear and an NHL jersey (and I don't even like hockey).<br> JG: But you don't like that because it's some profound sartorial statement &mdash; it's because it's nice to see a girl wearing your clothes the next morning.<br> Don: Ummmmm, maybe. It's also... holy shit, girls really are smaller than dudes.<br> My shirt can be a dress on my most women. (Unlike menswear!) But yeah, suits... I'm going to the Men's Wearhouse. And I'm not spending more than $500... maybe $600 if the shit's banging. I've had my one 5 hunny suit for a good 8 years. I have a thrift suit (30 bucks), but that shit needs some serious help. And I bought a suit for $150 because I was young and thought "Dude, Elvis Costello would totally wear this" &mdash; It's not that cool now. Yeah, suits are things you have to buy (funerals, weddings). I really think about a new bicycle, HDTV and the lust for tools (but since I don't own, it would be stupid, but damnnnnn I WANT IT). So right, that checkered suit, fuck that. Also, if we're going to boil it down... who's going to fuck you in that suit? You don't want to fuck that person!</p> <p> [NYT]</p><p>Remember when we counted the mentions per page in the hateful YA series The Clique (1.8 brand mentions per page, for those of you keeping score)? Well in today's New York Times style section, Cathy Horyn takes a page out of our playbook and notes the number of products placed in the brand-loving hitting shelves this summer. Horyn examined the Choo-addled pages of James Patterson's Sunday at Tiffany's, and found "When I got done turning down the corners of the pages of Mr. Patterson's novel that mentioned a brand name or a stylish place (he, too, transports his characters to Nantucket), my copy looked severely riddled."</p><p>Imagine that! She compares Truman Capote's classic Breakfast at Tiffany's to Sunday and the other Capote also-rans and discovers to no one's surprise that these new books are entirely (tacky) style and zero substance.</p> <p>"This summer's brand-flogging novels also reveal a kind of empty clink at the bottom of fashion's well," Horyn noted. "Is that all there is? Has the fashion plot thinned to such a degree that it's just about presenting life as a blue velvet ring box or a giant Birkin bag?"</p> <p>Horyn tries to figure out why women continue to buy these books. Is all this name dropping aspirational? Harper Collins editor Jonathan Burnham says, "The audience [for these brand-heavy books] is Middle American women looking to buy a taste of the glittering East Coast experience, with all the silliness," while another editor says that like glamorous movies during the Depression, these books provide a glittery salve for those struggling with pedestrian struggles like mortgages.</p> <p>Really? If my house were being foreclosed on and I started reading a book about basically empty women who are blowing thousands of dollars on gaudy couture, it would not distract me from my plight. It would make me want to punch these fictional harridans directly in the cooch. Which is sort of how I felt when I read this quote from Vogue's Plum Sykes, whose Bergdorf Blondes was a bestseller when it came out in 2004. "Using all those brand names is sort of bizarre," said Ms. Sykes. "At the time that ‘Bergdorf Blondes' and ‘The Devil Wears Prada' came out, it seemed so modern. Now it seems old-fashioned." Oh yes Plum, you invented brand name dropping eons ago, and now that all the plebes have caught on, it's so desperately out of touch!</p> <p>Anyway, although the venerable Ms. Sykes hath declared brand-name dropping "old-fashioned," Lauren Weisberger's Chasing Harry Winston, which is chock-full of expensive accessories, has been on the New York Times bestseller list for 13 weeks so far. Clearly we can't beat 'em, so we might as well join 'em: mark your calendar for my forthcoming novel, Humping Hermès Scarves to hit book stores in the summer of 2010!</p> <p> [New York Times]</p> <p>Earlier: <br> </p><p>Vogue Italia editor-in-chief Franca Sozzani runs a web portal, Vogue Black, dedicated to black women and fashion, issued a famous , and has recently put Beyoncé, Rihanna, and Jay-Z on the covers of her magazine and its counterpart, L'uomo Vogue. So Sozzani's a little pissed that Liz Jones didn't call her for her "Is Fashion Racist? Yes" piece in the Daily Mail last week. On her editor's blog, as rendered by Google Translate and lightly polished by us, Sozzani writes, "Let's step back. It is true that the models of color are a very small percentage. It is also true that those who succeed, then become famous and remain forever, whether Naomi, Iman, Pat Cleveland, or Jourdan Dunn, Liya Kebede, Tyra Banks, and many others." Sozzani puts the origins of the problem in modeling agencies and their scouting methods, which largely target Eastern Europe and South America: "There would be more if the agencies did more scouting in that direction." Of course, you could also say that if more magazines used black models, agencies would scout more of them. []<br> Alexandra Shulman, the editor-in-chief of British Vogue, Jones in that piece that the fashion industry isn't racist "in the slightest. There have always been black players on the scene &mdash; at the moment look at the stylist Edward Enninful, make-up artist Pat McGrath and [models] Jourdan Dunn, Liya Kebede and Joan Smalls, who are at the top of the tree." Well, for his part, Enninful says, "You know, I look around the industry, there's still very few black people." []<br> Protesters are calling for São Paulo fashion week, Brazil's largest fashion week, to require designers who show there to hire at least one black model for every four white models. In 2008, São Paulo's public prosecutor found that of the 1,128 models booked for fashion week, just 28 were black. (The prosecutor was investigating because the event receives partial public funding &mdash; meaning that millions of Brazil's black, mixed race, and indigenous citizens were paying to support an event that only hired just 0.02% black people for its most visible positions.) After that inquiry, event organizers of black and indigenous models for two years. But this season, the first quota-free season, almost no models of color models were hired says Frei Davi Santos, who organized a protest of the event. "São Paulo fashion week sells the image of a Swiss Brazil where everyone is white and blue-eyed. The organisers...forget that more than half of Brazil's population is black." []</p> Tavi Gevinson wrote her first piece for xojane.com. It's a "What's in my bag" piece. She writes: "For some reason I'm always expecting 'What's In My Bag' to become some juicy confessional, with descriptions like, 'My will, that body I killed, and a convenient Google Maps of where Amelia Earheart and Biggie Smalls currently reside.' Sore disappointment follows when it's just a lot of really pretty makeup and Prada iPhone cases." Gevinson writes about what was in her locker by the end of the school year: jazz shoes, play-doh, a wig, and "a very questionable Ziploc bag full of some strange half-liquid/half-solid green/brown mush. I wanna say it's from an old lunch but I don't eat healthy stuff." [] Here's a sampling of photos from the new book by Dolce & Gabbana about male model David Gandy. [] Marilyn Monroe's white dress sold for $5.6 million. [] Prada's fall campaign stars Frida Gustavsson, as well as unknown new models Ondria Hardin and Kelly Mittendorf. [] Lara Stone appears with brown hair on the new cover of Vogue Russia. []In order to view comments on jezebel.com you need to enable JavaScript.<br> If you are using Firefox and NoScript addon, please mark jezebel.com as trusted.In order to view comments on jezebel.com you need to enable JavaScript.<br> If you are using Firefox and NoScript addon, please mark jezebel.com as trusted.In order to view comments on jezebel.com you need to enable JavaScript.<br> If you are using Firefox and NoScript addon, please mark jezebel.com as trusted.In order to view comments on jezebel.com you need to enable JavaScript.<br> If you are using Firefox and NoScript addon, please mark jezebel.com as trusted.In order to view comments on jezebel.com you need to enable JavaScript.<br> If you are using Firefox and NoScript addon, please mark jezebel.com as trusted.In order to view comments on jezebel.com you need to enable JavaScript.<br> If you are using Firefox and NoScript addon, please mark jezebel.com as trusted.In order to view comments on jezebel.com you need to enable JavaScript.<br> If you are using Firefox and NoScript addon, please mark jezebel.com as trusted.<p>The unregulated feline fashion model industry is booming, like a prospectin' town in the Ol' West or a shore town's lone custard stand over Fourth of July weekend. Cats owe their new popularity among fashion photographers largely to their conspicuous mix of fuzziness and haughtiness, and also to the fact that they dominate the internet and all magazines nowadays want to be because the internet is where all the super-cool people hang out, like you and me (but not any of these other dweebs, *elbow in the ribs, snicker snicker*).</p> <p>Amy Odell over at Buzzfeed the rise of fashion cats, which have been appearing more often in ads ever since Lanvin's fall 2009 campaign. Since that fateful season, cats have infiltrated Miuccia Prada, Chanel, Givenchy and even magazine editorials (as writers, I would assume, because cats seem like they'd make good writers). Even Karl Lagerfeld's cat Choupette &mdash; who has more employees than you have had or ever will have acquaintances &mdash; is starting to make her presence felt on the fashion scene, securing representation from IMG and a recent photo shoot with model Laetitia Casta.</p> <p>The problem, though, with the cat trend is that cats, according to Karen Hoeverman, cat whisperer, are really hard to train, probably as hard as they are to herd or teach how to samba on only their hind legs (it can be done). Even with regular training sessions, some cats can still be intransigent assholes and straight-up refuse to cooperate with anyone else's schedule. They earn comparatively less than human models ($20,000 a year is a really high cat model salary), and, surprise, the fashion industry is extremely choosy about which cats are most photogenic. If you think "smashed-in face" cats would be the most popular at fashion shoots because they are the most popular at fashion shows, it just proves how little you know about fashion &mdash; smash-face cats look too angry to help sell designer clothes, so designers prefer to use long-nose cats, ocelot-looking cats.</p> <p>If you have a cat and you're thinking, "Hey, my cat is adorable and well-behaved enough not to kick poop out of the litterbox &mdash; I should put it in Vogue or something, the better to supplement my own income," two things: congratulations on being a responsible pet owner, and nobody wants your ugly cat to be in their ad for handbags. Career cats dominate the fashion scene (they have their own agents and everything), and if those cats ever saw an normie cat try to worm its way onto a fashion shoot, they'd probably snark on its belly pouch, because cats can be really shallow and mean.</p> <p> [Buzzfeed]</p>In order to view comments on jezebel.com you need to enable JavaScript.<br> If you are using Firefox and NoScript addon, please mark jezebel.com as trusted.<p>Apparently, there have been "internal grumblings" at Chanel's U.S. division over the brand's choice to hire Blake Lively as a face. Certain people say that Lively's is an "off-brand look" &mdash; "the bitchy fashion industry's clinical way of saying that Lively's contemporary American beauty does not dovetail with Chanel USA's efforts to sell its fashions as the height of European sophistication," explains the Daily News. When Lively was named the new star of the brand's ads, she memorably told the press that Chanel handbags are special because they're "full of dreams." []</p> After studying Lara Stone's underwear very closely, a CBS affiliate is willing to advance the theory that this billboard has a hidden message that reads "F U c K." Once you see it, you can't un-see it. []In order to view comments on jezebel.com you need to enable JavaScript.<br> If you are using Firefox and NoScript addon, please mark jezebel.com as trusted.In order to view comments on jezebel.com you need to enable JavaScript.<br> If you are using Firefox and NoScript addon, please mark jezebel.com as trusted.In order to view comments on jezebel.com you need to enable JavaScript.<br> If you are using Firefox and NoScript addon, please mark jezebel.com as trusted.In order to view comments on jezebel.com you need to enable JavaScript.<br> If you are using Firefox and NoScript addon, please mark jezebel.com as trusted.<p>Christina Hendricks has swimsuit season ish. She says, "It's really hard to find a bathing suit if you have breasts. You either get smooshed down or there's no support." The actress continues, "My husband and I have sketched out designs." Christina? We guarantee that if you paid someone to turn those sketches into samples, and showed those samples to stores, PEOPLE WOULD BUY THEM. Swimsuit designers generally have no clue what to do about a lady's funbags. []</p> Kelly Osbourne shot another season's worth of ads for Madonna's Macy's line, Material Girl. [] Here's Naomi Campbell, snarling away in the fall Givenchy campaign. [] YSL's fall campaign features Raquel Zimmerman posing in front of a full-length plate glass window, 31 floors up in a Manhattan skyscraper. [] Two more pictures from Hailee Steinfeld's Miu Miu campaign have been released. We continue to really enjoy the fact that this was not shot in another bloody studio! Great outdoors FTW. []<br> The ads were shot near Miami. [] Lily Donaldson graces the cover of August Vogue Japan Beauty. [] Soon-to-be divorcée Natalia Vodianova designed a lingerie collection for Etam, of which she is a face. [] This tiny minaudière, at $150 retail, is the cheapest bag from Nicole Richie's forthcoming accessories collection. The most expensive is a $625 "taupe and ivory pony burnout hobo." [] Refinery29's slideshow of well-dressed women in their 70s is absolutely amazing and wonderful. "A good pair of sunglasses is better than a facelift. It hides the ravages of time and lets you spy on people," says one. "To age is a privilege," says another. [] Today in Lagerfeldiana: Chanel quilted flat-screen televisions handbags. [@]In order to view comments on jezebel.com you need to enable JavaScript.<br> If you are using Firefox and NoScript addon, please mark jezebel.com as trusted.In order to view comments on jezebel.com you need to enable JavaScript.<br> If you are using Firefox and NoScript addon, please mark jezebel.com as trusted.<p>As a Jew, Christmas sweaters have long intrigued me. After all, it can't just be holiday cheer and love for Jesus that inspires grown women to wear sweaters emblazoned with sequins, the occasional jingle bell, and a tableau of knit animals acting out the Nativity, right? So it was with particular interest that I read New York Times' no-holds-barred examination on the issue today. "Styles" writer Eric Wilson had a heart-to-heart with Coldwater Creek SVP of Product Development Kathy McConnell, who believes &mdash; truly, madly and deeply &mdash; that Christmas sweaters warm the heart.</p> I truly believe that when you walk into a store and see a holiday sweater on display, it should make you smile. We always think of [our customer] while we come up with concepts. We always want to give her some snow-inspired themes. We always do well with a cat, but we never want to repeat too much or too often. One year, we may have a snowflake, or one year a wintry tree. I am absolutely positive that this is the process Miuccia Prada goes through each season too! <p><br> <br> Wilson also learned the following from McConnell:</p> Cats, as a rule, do well as a subject of holiday sweaters, especially when playing with a ball of string. Cats are nondenominational. Most people, with the exception of dog people, think cats are cute....Then there are birds. Birds, as a category, are evergreen, perhaps because they are inherently more varied as a species. This year's birds are chickadees, which are cheerful and sociable birds, and also small, so more of them can fit onto a sweater. (""It's an almost American kind of bird," Ms. McConnell said.)...Holly wreaths are over. Mistletoe is so last year. Most of the sweaters at Coldwater Creek do not speak to a specific holiday, like Christmas, but are more generically seasonal. This way, the designs are more inclusive of different faiths Oh, honey. Bedazzle that fucking sweater with a blinged out Virgin Mary if you feel like it &mdash; it's a goddamn Christmas sweater after all. Have you ever heard anyone talk about how much they love whipping their non-denominational winter season sweaters out of the cedar-lined storage closet? Yeah, that's what I thought. And take it from a Jew: My people might be neurotic, but after thousands of years of persecution, the last thing we would ever do is wear a sweater showing snowmen decorating a Christmas cheer, with a fire roaring besides them. Put those snowmen in some concentration camps and then let's see if they still are all about the sartorial celebration of holiday cheer. You can keep your Christmas sweaters; we've been through enough. <p> [NY Times]</p>In order to view comments on jezebel.com you need to enable JavaScript.<br> If you are using Firefox and NoScript addon, please mark jezebel.com as trusted.In order to view comments on jezebel.com you need to enable JavaScript.<br> If you are using Firefox and NoScript addon, please mark jezebel.com as trusted.In order to view comments on jezebel.com you need to enable JavaScript.<br> If you are using Firefox and NoScript addon, please mark jezebel.com as trusted.In order to view comments on jezebel.com you need to enable JavaScript.<br> If you are using Firefox and NoScript addon, please mark jezebel.com as trusted.<p>A new documentary about Lee will screen tonight on British television. Here's McQueen's brother, on their mother's death and McQueen's suicide: "She wouldn't have been over the moon with my brother for what he did. I'm afraid no one was. It was very disappointing in that respect. He always thought the world of our mum." A former design assistant also recalls that McQueen once called "you fucking bitch," and manhandled her backstage at a show. Herzigova cried on the runway. McQueen's head of PR at Givenchy says McQueen "would call to ask for certain ‘vitamin substances' to help him stay up all night and through the day of a fashion show. I'm not talking about vitamin C, I am talking about cocaine." []</p> <p>Emma Watson modeled for her third, and last, collection for the brand People Tree. The clothing is all Fair Trade-certified and the cotton is organic. []</p> <p>Here is Kirsten Dunst, an oversized perfume bottle, and a lion. So Bulgari is pursuing this naked-celebrity-with-animals motif. Can't wait for the naked-James-Franco-with-lemur-and-cologne campaign. []</p> <p>Here's a first look at how the Met will display the Alexander McQueen pieces at its forthcoming show, which is dedicated to the late designer. Remarkably few hacky "contextual" gestures/dumb painted dioramas, which, along with mis-spelled wall copy, are the Costume Institute's , are in evidence at this time. []</p> <p>Amanda Seyfried is on the cover of the latest Interview. []</p> <p>Inside, Jack McCollough and Lazaro Hernandez of Proenza Schouler are interviewed by Chloë Sevigny. On their name, McCollough says, "The whole reason why we even picked that name in the first place was that when we started, Barneys had just bought our collection and we didn't have a name. We thought, Hernandez McCollough? Doesn't sound so high end, does it?" Hernandez says that while "Proenza Schouler" &mdash; their mothers' maiden names, combined &mdash; is better, "I actually regret it." McCollough explains, "It's like alphabet soup. There are so many letters. Even coming up with a font was a mission." Also, people mis-pronounce it. "I think people think Shooler is more sophisticated that Skooler," offers Sevigny. []</p> <p>Here is a great collage of some of the black models who walked during the last New York fashion week. []</p><p>Two years ago, Si Newhouse, the publisher of Vogue and Glamour tapped a female Wall Street Journal editor for an intriguing new job &mdash; start a new business magazine! This was a risky proposition, namely because while the readers of business magazines (ourselves notwithstanding, natch) generally have boatloads of cash, they're either way too smart to fall victim to advertisements for "mineral" foundation and "anti-aging" serum or they're the people trying to sell these things in the first place. But Mr. Newhouse and his beloved Conde Nast bucked the conventional wisdom, pouring a nine-figure investment into Conde Nast Portfolio, which hits newsstands today amid something of a media firestorm, thanks in part to the fact that Portfolio Editor In Chief Joanne Lipman has said she , only, you know, thinner.</p> <p>Portfolio, Issue One has some enjoyable stuff, including a somewhat drab that reminds us why we here at Jezebel try to distract you from our own dubious assertions with pretty pictures.</p> <p>On April 11, for instance, "Fashion Inc." blogger Laurie Goldstein Crowe (rendered in an illustration and presumably not as thin as Lipman) writes:<br></p> <br> Umbra Fist, a columnist writing for Grist, an environmental news and advice site, recommends that we should be "buying fewer clothes." Well, OK for the environment, but what about the economy? <p>This got me thinking, perhaps the best way for luxury brands to counter the rise of H&M, Zara, and the new COS (which I adore), is to communicate to consumers that buying fewer, better things is the best way to save the planet. Luxury is also sweat-shop free.</p> <p>Which sounds good and all, but if the "luxury brands" of which she speaks are really worried about competing with H&M and Zara, they are probably not "sweat-shop free", since anything LVMH makes that's priced accessibly to a Zara shopper is made in China. And if you're genuinely worried about the long-term health of the economy, you've probably found better places to invest your wad than the Birkin bag waiting list. But hey, no one's tapped us to sell ad pages against that message!</p> <p>P.S. Joanne: Glamour's wants your diet Dos and Don'ts!</p> <p> [Portfolio]<br> [New York Times]</p><p>This 17-year-old is so obsessed with high fashion, he's willing to go to jail - repeatedly - for his shoplifting habit.</p> <p>, described in as "a slight 17-year-old standing no more than five foot seven" who lives with a single mother in a housing project, has only been shoplifting designer duds for a year, but in that time has managed to do serious damage. An honors student with an aptitude for Calculus, the teen quickly developed a taste for good clothes and stealing high-end merchandise became an addictive challenge.</p> <p>"I experimented and took this Comme des Garçons shirt...I was just testing, like, how easy it is. That was my first high-class shirt I took. Then me and my brother went to Bergdorf Goodman, and we stole vintage Ralph Lauren polos-and that's the hardest store to steal from. The next day, we went to Barneys again, and we took some 7 for All Mankind jeans. And I went in Bergdorf Goodman and stole a navy-blue Gucci V-neck T-shirt, and then I was like, Damn, I need a pair of shoes with these, so I went right to Prada and I crafted-I took those lavender patent-leather Pradas."</p> <p>The more wardrobe he accumulated, the easier it became to blend into high-end stores, and despite a series of arrests (and the fact that under New York law he's charged as an adult), jail time and a stint in a group home, he found his reputation as a style maven and his newfound status too heady to give up. He's been arrested literally dozens of times and stolen thousands and thousands of dollars' worth of clothing. Despite countless chances from sympathetic judges, his compulsive thieving finally lands him in jail for good.</p> <p>When I ask about his plans for after he gets out of prison, all he wants to talk about is fashion, firing questions at me: "Who does Dior now?" "Who designs Paul Smith?" "Remember Louis Vuitton? Like, a few seasons ago, he did a SpongeBob theme? You know Louis Vuitton started off making trunks, right? In the 1800s?" "Balenciaga, who does it for women's?" He pauses to learn how to correctly pronounce Nicolás Ghesquière's name. "You know that Yves Saint Laurent died, right? At 71 years old. He's the first person, the first designer, to have black people model his clothing." A burly Department of Corrections captain is supervising our visit, and I've been imagining his disdain as he listens to this conversation. Now he interrupts. "He could be good working for a fashion publicist," he says. "That's something I can see you at, right there."</p> <p>What's so strange about this story - well, besides the teen's compulsion - is that for once it is not a story of the system failing someone, so much as society's influence resoundingly beating the system out. Quite simply, fashion, and what it connotes, have become more important to this boy than his freedom. Even though everyone knows his clothing is stolen, it no longer matters - so it's gone beyond projecting an image to giving the garments themselves an odd Talismanic power. In some ways it seems like the sympathetic judges with whom he deals want to go easy on him because the fetish seems to them so frivolous. And because, as the guard says, it seems like here's a young man who could easily turn his talents and passion to a career with far less effort than it takes to survive a long stint up the river. Reading it, you want him so badly to get himself together, maybe get an internship with a fashion P.R. house. But it's obvious that he's in the grip of something so much bigger than himself, where the only concrete thing is - well, things. And who can wonder at someone wanting to forcibly grasp stability?</p> <p> [New York]</p>In order to view comments on jezebel.com you need to enable JavaScript.<br> If you are using Firefox and NoScript addon, please mark jezebel.com as trusted.<p>This past weekend, I came across reporting that single women "overwhelmingly believe cowboys are better in bed than businessmen" and that of those single women surveyed, some 60% would rather live in a house in the country than a fancy condo in the city.</p> <p>Whether scientifically valid or not (probably not, but you tell me), the survey reminded me of my friend Jessie, a onetime New York City singleton and writer who, in a scenario straight out of a chick-lit novel, went on assignment to Montana, attended a rodeo, and came back with a real-live cowboy named Jake. (That's him, above.) I'd always been curious about Jessie's cowboy beau: Did he regularly smell of manure? Was he naturally bow-legged? Did he ride her as well as he rode horses? After the jump, Jessie takes time out from freelance writing and hauling stuff around her garden in a John Deere to confirm and deny a few myths about horse-wrangling he-men.</p> <p><br> <br> A lot of city women fantasize about hooking up with a cowboy. I was one of them. After 15 years in Manhattan, I'd pretty much reached the conclusion that I didn't want to end up with a New York guy, and ended up looking beyond the tri-state area for husband material. I ended up getting sent out on assignment to write a story about a rodeo in Montana where I met &mdash; lo and behold &mdash; a cowboy named Jake. We ended up getting married and settling in small town Lexington, Virginia &mdash; the home of his alma mater, Virginia Military Institute. In case you've ever wondered what it's like to live with and love a cowboy, allow me to demystify a few things:<br> <br> <br> Myth: Cowboys are sexy<br> Reality: Affirmative. When I first met my husband he'd just been thrown from the back of a bull and he was wearing Wranglers encased in a pair of golden chaps with tassles. What hardboiled NYC woman wouldn't fall for such a specimen of manhood? I couldn't help but compare this guy to my previous NYC boyfriend who thought an expression of manhood meant dropping $80 on a Prada keychain. Plus, cowboys workout from sun-up to sun-down&mdash;building barns, mending fences and the like&mdash;which is why the obesity epidemic still hasn't hit this segment of the population.<br> <br> <br> Myth: Cowboys like to work hard and play hard<br> Reality: Cowboys like to work hard and work hard.<br> My husband relaxes by digging trenches. He unwinds by stacking firewood. The only reason he comes inside each night is because I make him. For our upcoming honeymoon to New Zealand, he asked if he could pick up some work on a farm while we're there&mdash;you know, for fun.<br> <br> <br> Myth: Cowboys aren't in touch with their feelings<br> Reality: My husband got really, really pissed when his Bobcat broke down. But other than that, nothing much phases him.<br> <br> <br> Myth: Cowboys are hopeless romantics<br> Reality: Can a person own a machine gun and still be considered romantic? If so, then my husband is very romantic&mdash;especially when he shot a hole through a dime at 80 yards with said weapon of destruction (what can I say, he went to a military college). He eventually got rid of the machine gun, but I still have the dime as a token of our love.<br> <br> <br> Myth: Cowboys make better lovers<br> Reality: Who would you rather do &mdash; the horse whisperer or Spencer Pratt? Exactly.<br> Also, (and this is just my crack theory) I'm convinced that working outside, surrounded by trees and birds and babbling brooks and sunshine while burning a kajillion calories an hour, has a calming effect on a man's libido. Seems like every guy I dated in NYC had some degree of porn addiction &mdash; the result of sitting in front of a computer all day with pictures of illicit Chechnyn nymphets at their fingertips. The downside of all this outdoor manual labor is that when my husband's head hits the pillow at the end of day, he's already asleep.<br> <br> <br> Myth: You can't corral a cowboy<br> Reality: Despite the John Wayne "don't-fence-me-in" stereotype, cowboys are actually really into longterm commitments &mdash;e specially if you're a city chick. In fact, there's not a more perfect pairing than an urban woman and a range rider First of all, there's the issue of population density &mdash; or rather, the lack thereof. Aside from the occasional gal working behind the counter at the Feed & Seed, there's only a smattering of pretty women vying for a cowboy's attention (and when I say women, I mean those who don't chew Kodiak or go turkey hunting). Secondly, if you're at all intelligent, independent and don't work at the Kum & Go, he knows he can still do his cowboy thing and you won't get all needy. It's perfect. City dudes, on the other hand, are constantly bombarded by beautiful, perfectly coiffed babes, and they end up living under the Adderall-induced illusion that there's always a finer, choicer piece of ass sitting in the next cubicle.<br> <br> <br> Myth: Cowboys want to take care of a woman.<br> Reality: Mm, no. While I'm sure Jake would gladly shoot an intruder between the eyes to protect me, he makes me do things like hold heavy hydraulic nail guns and help him carry 300 pound pieces of timber from one corner of our property to another. And when I got bucked off a horse for the first time and landed on my head a few weeks ago, he chuckled.<br> <br> <br> Myth: Cowboys know how to clean up.<br> Reality: No matter how hard or how long my husband scrubs, he always has dirt under his fingernails. Always. At dinner parties, weddings, our own wedding...<br> <br> <br> Myth: Cowboys make better husbands than city guys.<br> Reality: They make better husbands in that they still harbor old-fashioned values. My husband never swears, he dislikes movies about adultery, calls everyone "sir" or "ma'am," he always says a prayer before dinner and he can't wait to have kids. And he doesn't beat me &mdash; love that!</p> <p> [Cleveland Plain Dealer]</p><p>Reviewers disagreed on whether and have chemistry or not in their new romantic comedy , but said the film highlights their shared knack for picking terrible projects that waste their talents.</p> <p>In the film, which opens today, Sandra Bullock plays Margaret, a bitchy book editor who is similar to Amanda Priestly in The Devil Prada (or any other female executive in a romantic comedy). When she learns that she's going to be deported to her native Canada, she tells immigration officials that she's engaged to her assistant Andrew, played by Ryan Reynolds. He agrees to go along with the charade, as long as she gives him a promotion. The Taming of the Shrew plot is then combined with the "city girl stranded in the country" formula when Andrew takes Margaret home to Alaska for the 90th birthday party of his wisecracking grandmother, played by Betty White.</p> <p>Critics said the film was inoffensive, but reminiscent of dozens of other films in the same genre. Naturally, there is a mildly misogynistic tone. Margaret is a successful businesswomen, which of course means she hasn't had sex in two years and needs Ryan Reynolds plus a town full of quirky country folk to teach her to love again. Many reviewers said their romance was unconvincing, but the film's biggest shortcoming was just being bland and forgettable. Below, we check out the reviews for The Proposal.</p> <p></p> <p>Starting the film as a borderline caricature of an unpleasant workaholic, Bullock convincingly peels back the layers of Margaret, revealing the pain behind her steely facade and the vulnerability that surfaces as she and Andrew get to know each other better amid the tense masquerade. By midpoint, we're actually rooting for this erstwhile office gargoyle. It helps immeasurably that Bullock has tremendous chemistry with Reynolds. The former TV actor and Van Wilder cutup has been getting a lot of work lately but hasn't quite broken through as a star. The Proposal should remedy that. He matches Bullock's comic timing note for note and conveys all of Andrew's frustration, exasperation and growing attraction to Margaret. (His remarkably fit physique also is a boxoffice plus.) The situations might be formulaic, but the teamwork of the two leads brings them to sparkling life.</p> <p></p> <p>Just looking at the poster for The Proposal, a by-the-numbers romantic comedy starring Sandra Bullock and Ryan Reynolds, tells you exactly how it's all gonna go down... It's as predictable and comforting as a Happy Meal, but it must be said that The Proposal manages to elicit some genuinely amusing moments, especially when it comes to physical comedy. Director Anne Fletcher (27 Dresses) started out as a choreographer, and that's still where she shines, in early sequences where an entire office staff collectively shudders in horror when Bullock's character makes her scary way past their desks, and later in a preposterously staged two-way naked body-slam. Reynolds and Bullock don't generate much chemistry, but both can be thanked for bringing restraint to otherwise thankless roles.</p> <p></p> <p>Like most Hollywood these days, The Proposal is all about bringing a woman to her knees, quite literally in this case. The simple premise is partly telegraphed in the advertising tag line, "Here comes the bribe," which evokes wedding bells and desperation...You know the rest because you've seen (and read) it many times before. After nestling in the bountiful bosom of family and some unexpected naked slapstick with Andrew, Margaret melts. He mans the ramparts, she lowers her defenses. He thrusts, she parries. He chops wood and loses his shirt. She loses her cellphone and ditches the heels. He rescues her, scooping her out of the water after she falls from a boat. She shivers and smiles and tears up as she talks about her tragic past, revealing the sad little girl who's long been hidden behind the cruel disguise of a sensationally successful professional adult. Ding-dong the witch is soon dead and in her place, well, here comes the bride.</p> <p></p> <p>The cast isn't populated by heavyweights. It has been a while since Sandra Bullock has been in the fast lane, and it's been about a decade since she was a prime romantic comedy actress. Ryan Reynolds, who showed flashes of genuine talent in Adventureland, is back to phoning it in. (Although, to be fair, his flummoxed expression when Andrew "learns" he's engaged to Margaret - which carries through more than one scene - is possibly the film's funniest element.) Mary Steenburgen and Craig T. Nelson are playing the stereotyped father/mother roles, and Betty White is pretty much exhuming her Golden Girls character. (This is not one of those roles in which she drops a string of f-bombs and other assorted profanities - something she has done on more than one occasion to get a cheap guffaw.)</p> <p></p> <p>The Proposal, in fact, appears to have been written using a secret cache of computers stored beneath Walt Disney HQ since 1978-codename "Pete Chiarelli," the first-time screenwriter who receives credit for having pilfered every rom-com convention since the invention of breathing. (It was directed by Anne Fletcher, who stitched together 27 Dresses out of the leftover scraps not used here.) Or, perhaps, it's the product of a book of MadLibs in which spaces are left blank for The Handsome Male Ingénue Specializing in Cocked Eyebrows, The Former Rom-Com It-Girl on Comeback Trail Who Looks 10 Years Younger Than Her Age, and The Ex–Golden Girl as Dirty-Minded Grandmother.</p> <p></p> <p>What do you do when your movie is all premise and no pop? Try harder. Or at least that's the tack taken by The Proposal, a romantic comedy that yokes Sandra Bullock to Ryan Reynolds as a sham couple, then tries to compensate for the absence of chemistry by keeping them busybusybusy with random subplots and comic business. Look, there's Oscar Nuñez from The Office, stripping! And Betty White doing a tribal dance! And Craig T. Nelson grimacing paternally! And an eagle chasing a puppy!</p> <p></p> <p>"The Proposal" reworks Two Weeks Notice with the genders switched. Bullock's Margaret Tate is known as "it," not "her," around her publishing house full of ninnies and bowers and scrapers. Assistant Andrew (Reynolds) loathes her ways, her cutting, soulless but well-preserved ways. (I don't want to get into the whole plastic surgery question, but I did prefer Bullock's previous look, the one that looked a little less like someone wearing a Sandra Bullock mask.)</p> <p></p> <p>it could have done without the serial misuse of The Office's Oscar Nuñez as Ramon, a waiter/exotic dancer/store manager/minister who ups the yuck factor with the world's most revolting striptease. He accounts for most of the script's worst cliches. The rest are mild enough, including one pallid joke about the leading lady's age. Bullock has 12 years on Reynolds, the actual Canadian in the group.</p> <p></p> <p>A romantic comedy doesn't need to be original to be enjoyable, and yet The Proposal still falls way too short of the mark. Its appeal rests on how much we can bring ourselves to love Bullock: She can be an extremely appealing actress... and at worst she's just sort of vaguely inoffensive. It's probably possible to actively dislike Sandra Bullock, but she gives off such an approachable, nice-girl vibe that it barely seems worth the effort. There's a degree of warmth in The Proposal; there just isn't enough crackle, particularly between the two stars. Reynolds, whom I'd pegged as a dull, flavorless actor until I saw his nicely shaded performance in Greg Mottola's recent Adventureland actually gives a better performance here than Bullock does.</p> <p></p> <p>Individually, his sarcasm can be amusing, and her straining for comedy is occasionally funny. In The Proposal, neither brings out anything good in the other, and watching them try hurts the eyes, the tummy, and the libido. The nature of the genre, regardless of how it begins, ends with both parties in each other's arms. And while I watched these two sets of lips (one set being a little fuller than I recall) head for collision, I prayed the movie might fall off the assembly line and jostle loose the dreaded oncoming event. I've rarely been less lucky. What is the opposite of fireworks? When two people kiss, can firing squads go off?</p> <p></p> <p>If every relationship is built on shared interests, it's easy to see why Sandra Bullock and Ryan Reynolds would pair off. After all, they have at least two major things in common: they're both unusually likable leading actors, and they both have unusually awful taste in movies. Reynolds, at least, has finally started heading in the right direction after years of choosing scripts painfully beneath him. So it would have been nice if these two had found something worthy of their combined talents. Instead, their mutual inclination towards synthetic Hollywood junk just drags them down together.</p><p>"Brace yourself for a shock, theatergoers. There's no delicate way of putting this. 'Cry-Baby,' the latest Broadway musical based on a John Waters movie, is... tasteless. Why aren't you shocked? Oh, I see. You thought that I meant the show that opened last night at the Marquis Theater was in bad taste....When I said 'tasteless,' I meant without flavor: sweet, sour, salty, putrid or otherwise. This show in search of an identity has all the saliva-stirring properties of week-old pre-chewed gum. (Not to be tasteless.)" So New York Times critic Ben Brantley in today's paper, reviewing Cry-Baby: The Musical, the latest movie-turned-musical from John Waters. Oh well. At least the opening gave us some goodies! On hand last night were John Waters, Debbie Harry, David Byrne, Cindy Sherman, Kathleen Turner, Adam Duritz, Ricki Lake, Chris March and... Rocco DiSpirito. The full Good, Bad and Ugly of the opening of Cry-Baby: The Musical after the jump.</p> <p><br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> The Good:<br> I can't really explain my love for Adam Duritz. Or for his insane suit.<br> <br> <br> Chris March gets points in my book anytime he's not wearing an outfit trimmed in human hair.<br> <br> <br> 1) OMG it's David Byrne! 2) OMG it's Cindy Sherman...in Prada.<br> <br> <br> In the spirit of John Waters, I love Kathleen Turner's tacky suit.<br> <br> <br> The Bad:<br> I so badly want to get my hands on Debbie Harry and give her a head-to-toe makeover. Girlfriend needs to learn about Rodarte. Or Chris Benz, even! Why is she wearing such weirdly dated looks and not seeking out the best of intellectual fashion? End rant.<br> <br> <br> I want to grow up to be a crazy cat lady just Estelle Parsons.<br> <br> <br> This is not the right dress for Hairspray star Nikki Blonsky.<br> <br> <br> Dear Ricki Lake: It's not nice to steal clothes off of drag queen's backs.<br> <br> <br> Rocco DiSpirito: Looking more and more like Siegfried and Roy's lost brother every day.<br> <br> <br> The Ugly:<br> OK, I think John Waters looks awesome. But we all know he would be insulted if he weren't placed in this category.</p> <p>[Images via .]</p><p>Daphne Guinness, the heiress who wears clothes, told a newspaper writer she thought Victoria Beckham was "an ugly pig! Downbeat, miserable and awful. Of course she's going to make money &mdash; she's backed by Simon Fuller. I don't have anyone! She annoys the shit out of me." []<br> Or did she? Guinness took to her Twitter page to the article "badly executed, false, and typical of a journalist that has not researched anything," to reporter Camilla Long. "The article was AWFUL, really inaccurate, I work so hard ang [sic] this is the kind of shoddy treatment you get. I am beyond hoffified [sic]." And : "I feel like killing myself, I was stabbed in the back by that journalist." Guinness the quote, too. "And for the record I not only admire Victoria Beckham but know her and like her. My point was that I do most things alone without a backer." There's more. "I would never call anyone an ugly cow, not my words." [@]<br> Rihanna is looking pretty Ariel-tastic on her Annie Liebovitz-shot American Vogue cover. []<br> Fashionista points out that the Dolce & Gabbana dress on Emmanuelle Alt's brand new Vogue Paris cover &mdash; her first as the magazine's new editor-in-chief &mdash; has already been featured on two spring covers: Vogue Germany's and Vogue Spain's. It's that infernal gold Balmain dress, all over again. []<br> James Franco, his smirk, and his armpit hair star on the new cover of Vogue Hommes International. []</p>In order to view comments on jezebel.com you need to enable JavaScript.<br> If you are using Firefox and NoScript addon, please mark jezebel.com as trusted.In order to view comments on jezebel.com you need to enable JavaScript.<br> If you are using Firefox and NoScript addon, please mark jezebel.com as trusted.<p>The old Anna-Wintour-for-ambassador rumor is back. You may recall that in 2009, following superlative service to the Obama campaign as a fundraiser and amidst rumors that her contract renewal negotiations at Condé Nast had stalled (remember when people actually thought non-Anglophone Carine Roitfeld was going to get her job?), the Vogue editor's name was as a candidate for ambassador to France. By Page Six magazine. And people nonetheless took this rumor seriously for about one (very heady) day. Well: Wintour is still a topObama fundraiser &mdash; she's bundled over $500,000 at last count, and endured from the right wing media for daring to step out of her frivolous, silly, fashion-lady box. And the post of U.S. ambassador to the U.K. is expected to be open later this year. The rest of this rumor goes something like "And isn't Anna Wintour, like, from Europe or something? She'd be perfect!" Think about it, folks. Please. []<br> One reason why the above rumor will never come true: Vogue's decision to print a glowing profile of Asma al-Assad in March, 2011 &mdash; just as the nascent Syrian uprising was being met with brutality by the forces of dictator Bashar al-Assad &mdash; is back in the news today, thanks to its enduring value as a . (Which is doubtless why Vogue deleted from its Web site all references to the infamous story and the Norman Rockwell-style Assad family portraits, shot by famed photojournalist and war correspondent James Nachtwey, that accompanied it.) Anna Wintour released the following statement when pressed for comment by the New York Times:</p> <p>"Like many at that time, we were hopeful that the Assad regime would be open to a more progressive society. Subsequent to our interview, as the terrible events of the past year and a half unfolded in Syria, it became clear that its priorities and values were completely at odds with those of Vogue. The escalating atrocities in Syria are unconscionable and we deplore the actions of the Assad regime in the strongest possible terms."</p> <p>Riiiiiight. Meanwhile, the story's author, former Vogue Paris editor Joan Juliet Buck, said she regretted the headline that Vogue had given the piece ("A Rose In The Desert") but that Asma al-Assad was "extremely thin and very well-dressed, and therefore qualified to be in Vogue." As previously , the Assad regime secured the profile with the help of a $5,000-a-month Washington, D.C., P.R. firm. The death toll from the Syrian uprising currently at over 14,000. Most recently, journalists and U.N. monitors who finally reached the burned-out homes of the town of Qubair, where the Syrian armed forces allegedly perpetrated a massacre last week, are "appalling terrors," including pools of blood and body parts. According to the BBC's Paul Danaher, "The stench of burnt flesh was still hanging in the air." []</p> Photojournalist Steve McCurry &mdash; famous for sneaking into Afghanistan during the Soviet invasion to take the photo of 12-year-old Sharbat Gula that he titled "Afghan Girl" &mdash; will shoot this year's . Karlie Kloss is rumored to be among the models featured. [] Cindy Crawford is on the new cover of S Moda. [] Here are some early agency test photos of a young Kate Upton. []<p>Poor little rich Vogue. Faced with a recession, it's forced to act like it cares about the financial troubles of its more plebeian readers. This means showcasing gifts from Wal-Mart (horrors!) and recasting expensive clothes as "investments" (don't buy stocks, buy a $2,700 Prada molten-metal mesh off-the-shoulder top). But Vogue still has some of the old spark. There's the venerable Mrs. Exeter, who gives "advice" to a cash-strapped holiday shopper by rattling off her own list of pricey gifts for pals like Oscar de La Renta and Sarah Palin. And there's "Ice Age," in which writer Sarah Mower spends three minutes inside a -275 degree torture chamber in exchange for increased libido and a facial "underglow." All this and more, after the jump.</p> <p></p><p>'s shows tend to have a few defining features: a flirty aesthetic, a neutral palette of fabrics, and &mdash; for the past umpteen seasons &mdash; an almost all-white cast of models. Yesterday, I asked him why that is.</p><p>Since the Spring 2000 season, Azria has never booked more than three models of color in any single show &mdash; and his are big shows, often comprising more than 40 outfits. In fact, for a seven-season stretch in the middle of the decade, Azria hired an all-white cast for every single show he mounted. Since then, the diversity of Azria's casting &mdash; and the diversity of the modeling industry in general &mdash; has hardly improved. Although the problem is certainly not limited to Azria &mdash; and Prada are among those brands who seem to struggle to bring themselves to book models who aren't white &mdash; Azria is notable because he is a commercial designer with vast impact on the marketplace. After this past February's , which was overall than previous seasons, I noted:</p> <p>One of the worst offenders was Max Azria. At his three high-profile New York fashion week shows, , Max Azria, and Hervé Leger by Max Azria &mdash; each attended by virtually every important fashion editor, and worked by one of fashion's most exclusive casts &mdash; diversity was practically non-existent. BCBG had one black model, Shena Moulton, and one Asian, Shu Pei Qin, out of a 29-look lineup. Hervé Leger had only the same two girls of color, in a 32-look show. For his eponymous line, Azria showed 36 looks, and used just one model who wasn't white: Shu Pei.</p> <p>This season, Max Azria booked, for BCBG Max Azria, only one non-white model. The Max Azria show had two Asian models and one black model. Hervé Leger had an all-white cast but for one black model and one Asian model. So yesterday, as soon as the Hervé show was over, I talked to Azria about it. Turns out I've got it all wrong; he casts based on trends and he simply has no idea ahead of time what kind of a "look" will be "in."</p> <p></p> <p>Funny that it seems being a white person is always in style.</p><p>Demi Moore is returning as the face of Ann Taylor for the holiday season. Her forthcoming ads were shot by Norman Jean Roy, and although they show the actress in a snowy forest, they were created at a Los Angeles photo studio. Moore had no comment about her marriage to Ashton Kutcher, which is obviously all the tabloid and fashion press cares about in regards to her right now, but did issue some boilerplate about Roy's "creative vision." []</p> Here are some more ads for Versace's H&M collaboration. [] Photos of Giambattista Valli's one-off collection for Macy's have hit the Internet; there are lots of pieces that use Valli signatures, like pink, and leopard print. Having seen the line in person last night, we can report that the fabrics are not too shabby, either; this trapeze line black dress with the ruffled hem particularly stood out. [, ] At last: video of Hamish Bowles auditioning for X Factor in disguise. []In order to view comments on jezebel.com you need to enable JavaScript.<br> If you are using Firefox and NoScript addon, please mark jezebel.com as trusted.In order to view comments on jezebel.com you need to enable JavaScript.<br> If you are using Firefox and NoScript addon, please mark jezebel.com as trusted.<p>Portfolio says the new Prada LG phone has since March, which could be more than the iPhone! Rumors swirl that an Armani Samsung is not behind. Uh, ? Anyway, you know what would be awesome? A cheap, colorful, hypertrendy H&M phone! It might break in six weeks but you could just go out and get a new, cuter one!<br> [Portƒolio]<br> [FashionWeekDaily]</p><p>We've all grown accustomed to seeing super-skinny models on the runways, acting as hangers for designer clothing. But even off the runway, designers still don't seem interested in designing pieces for the average American woman.</p><p>A lack of fashion choices for the typical American woman, who wears a Size 14, can be attributed to a reluctance amongst major designers to expand their lines to suit larger women, by Emili Vesliind of the Los Angeles Times. "The relationship between the fashion industry and fuller-figure women is at a standoff, marked by suspicion, prejudice and low expectations on both sides," Vesliind writes, "The fear of fat is so ingrained in designers and retailers that even among those who've successfully tapped the market, talking plus-size often feels taboo."</p> <p>The fashion industry's reluctance to design for the average woman has left many women with few options when it comes to stylish clothing; chain stores and online retailers provide some relief, but the frustration that many women feel when trying to find plus-sized clothing is only growing as the average woman finds herself surrounded by piles of fairly terrible clothing. "I don't want any more polyester, hip-hop gear, frumpy jeans and themed capris," one average-sized woman writes, "I want the designers not to assume that I am a frumpy 55-year-old, middle-management employee. . . . Is anyone listening to us?"</p> <p>One designer bucking the trend, Rachel Pally, can't believe that more of her contemporaries don't provide designer options for all women: "Fashion-forward plus-size women have no options," she says. "They're so thirsty for the product. It's like, 'Hello? Don't you guys want to make money?'" Pally's design team was initially opposed to her plus-sized line, fearing that it would ruin her reputation, which appears to be a common theme amongst major designers. "There was a lot of resistance," Pally admits, "but I did it anyway. I used to say my brand was for everyone, but it really wasn't."</p> <p>Many major designers feel that expanding their lines to accomodate the average woman will take away from the exclusivity of their products. As Vesliind notes, many top designers "worry that sallying into the market will dilute their brand's mystique and, ultimately, their sales. Prada designer Miuccia Prada may have had these concerns in mind when she stated that she would not sell clothes over a size 10."</p> <p>Plus-sized supermodel Emme says these designers are to blame for the lack of fashionable options for most women: "Stores feel they don't want to give in to women with more flesh. There's this idea of slovenliness and all those stereotypes and myths that have been embraced since the '50s. It's ridiculous," she says, "It really does come from very few edicts from a few people," she said. "You have to ask yourself why they are [defending] against this. Seriously, there are issues there."</p> <p>One wonders if the difficult economic times will cause some designers to reconsider their anti-plus-size stances and open their lines up to all consumers; there are millions of women who would love to drop a few dollars on a really great piece, providing someone is willing to give them the option.</p> <p> [LA Times]</p><p>Diane von Furstenberg gave an interview about China, where she has been expanding her business. "When I was a little girl, and I didn't eat my dinner, my mother would say 'Think of all the Chinese who have nothing to eat,'" recalls the designer. "My children's generation is the Chinese making everything, and now my grandchildren's generation is the Chinese buying everything." On other perks of China as a market: "It is great to design for Chinese women, because they have great bodies. They are slim and have tiny waists, so it's nice." []</p> In this clip from the documentary About Face, former Avedon muse China Machado recalls what it was like to model in the 1950s. "I was paid $100 a month, and I was the highest-paid model anywhere," she says. "You didn't allow the buyers to touch your dress. Because they would try to feel underneath to see what was inside. And so you walked like you had an attitude, like 'Don't touch me.' Not a smile on your face." [] Mulberry's fall ads, shot by Tim Walker and starring Lindsey Wixson, feature a giant, furry monster. [] Mulberry creative director Emma Hill says of her company, "We're not tea and crumpets and the Queen-British: we're bonkers and crazy and craft." Hill also says, when asked about Hermès, "No one can touch them in terms of quality. A friend who was working at Hermès said that if there was even the most minor imperfection on a bag they would take it out the back and burn it &mdash; no compromise." Eat your heart out, . [] Rianne Ten Haken is on the cover of the recently launched Vogue Netherlands. [] Here are some pictures of Gisele Bündchen modeling the latest offerings from the namesake underwear line she sells in her native Brazil. []<p>A former member of Gucci's legal team who is now suing the brand for racial discrimination alleges that once her boss found out Rihanna was from Barbados, he said that Gucci would find a way to bilk the star out of 30% of her fee for endorsing a line of accessories. "When [Gucci international tax counsel Stan] Sherwood discovered that Rihanna was from a Caribbean island," reads the lawsuit, "he told [complainant Josephine] Robinson to ‘tax the hell out of her' and find a way to allow Gucci to withhold 30 percent of her fee." Rihanna's ads for Gucci's "Tattoo Heart" collection bowed in 2008; she was paid an undisclosed fee for her services, but Forbes put her 2008 at $15 million. Gucci denies Robinson's allegation. []</p> These python men's sandals from Lanvin cost $995. And they look like a ski boot mated with a surf sock and had horrible snakeskin-covered babies. []<p>Natalie Portman and Benjamin Millepied got married this weekend! They did it under a chuppah in Big Sur, California. But on to the important details: Grazia, which claims to have seen "sneaky snaps" of the dress, reports:</p> <p>Picture this, if you will: a classic white frock in a '50s stylee, full-skirted with a nipped in waist and a midi hemline. Yep, no floor-sweepers for our Nat. The sleeves are long and sheer and the design is fuss-free. As for the veil, a waft of chiffon cascaded to her lower back from a floral headband worn over loose brunette waves. The look was topped off with a classic pair of nude heels.</p> <p>There is speculation that Portman may have worn Dior couture. She is a face of the house and several gowns from Raf Simons' recent collection seem to fit the above description &mdash; or could have been made to with the addition of sheer sleeves. UPDATE: In Touch is that the dress was Rodarte. Portman is friends with the designers Laura and Kate Mulleavy and wore Rodarte to the Academy Awards in 2011. You can see some rude (but now no doubt amply compensated) guest's bad cell-phone picture of the dress . []</p> Victoria Beckham, who is near-sighted, has launched an eyewear collection. She says she's always been "self-conscious" about her need to wear glasses, so she opted to design six styles herself. The frames will cost around $410. [] Lily Collins is in some Movado ads. [] i-D has some photos of Choupette, Karl Lagerfeld's kitten, for you to nomnomnomnomnomnom. [] Agent Provocateur has hired Monica Cruz, sister of Penelope, to be the face of its fall ads. [] Karlie Kloss is now the face of Juicy Couture. []<p>A former employee claims that the queen of causing America's Eat, Pray, Love fans to freak the fuck out over free shit used a chemical aid to induce tears during her interview with Barbara Walters. Please welcome... scaaaaandaaal!</p><p>The employee accused Oprah of fake crying during her show as well. On a scale of "Fonsworth Bentley" to "the woman who wrote The Devil Wears Prada, where do you think Oprah's accuser falls on the Disgruntled Employee Scale? []<br> <br> Selena Gomez is denying doing the romance with Justin Bieber after being spotted eating at an IHOP and then walking arm in arm with him. Don't believe a word of it, readers. It's a fact that pancake eating and arm-touching are both integral parts in the rarely-seen flash in the pan teen star mating ritual. []<br> Is Elizabeth Hurley cheating on her husband with an Australian cricket star? World, please stop spinning until we find out! []<br> Like a James Bond supervillain, your suddenly super evangelical religious aunt or The Terminator, Ke$ha ominously says she's been reborn this year. What fresh horrors await us in 2011? []<br> Nicole Richie married one of the guys responsible for one of the worst bands of all time yesterday. Let the bidding war over their wedding photos commence! []<br> According to Carrie Fisher, John Travolta is super duper gay, but everyone should just leave him alone about it because it really doesn't matter. Once again, Carrie Fisher is right. Can I get that on a tee shirt? "Carrie Fisher is right." []<br> Nicholas Cage has paid the IRS more than $350,000 in back taxes. The bad news is, he still owes $TEXAS. []<br> Willow Smith, who at nine years old is so much cooler than me that it's depressing, says she gets her career advice from her parents as well as Jay-Z and Beyonce. We can only assume that Hova and B advised her to engage in hair whipping and to encourage others to do the same. []<br> According to Helen Mirren, "Hollywood worships at the altar of 25 year old men and their penises." Note to men who aspire to date Helen Mirren: don't sext her pictures of your penis. This means you, Kanye West. []<br> Guy Ritchie and Madonna are spending Christmas together for the sake of their children. In preparation, Madonna is putting up a festive Christmas tree and dusting off the ol' fake British accent. []<br> Glee star Heather Morris might be the new Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Now if she can only learn to use that stake to kill off stupid guest artist episodes of Glee, I might start watching again. []<br> Miley Cyrus has arrived to film her new film after this week's pot smokin' controversy. Rather than condemn her, we should all be thankful that the starlet has opted to use a drug that will help her mellow out. God help us all if Hannah Montana ever discovers cocaine. []<br> Natasha Beddingfield fondly recalls the time when Lady Gaga was her opening act. I fondly recall the days before Natasha Beddingfield subjected the world to that horrible "Feel the rain on your skin!" song. []<br> Hugh Laurie doesn't know what fun is. And he wants you to show him. He wants to feel what fun is. He knows you can show him. []<br> Dog the Bounty Hunter joked that he was after Randy Quaid and his wife, both of whom went totally off the rails this year. My only suggestion is that the quest for justice involve Chevy Chase and vacation hijinks. Those Griswolds! []</p> <p>Image via </p><p></p> <p>Hats off to Anna Wintour, who displayed what may have been the tiniest spark of humour by showing up to a screening of former assistant Lauren Weisberger's book turned movie in New York.</p> <p>WWD reports:<br></p> "...the crowd controlled themselves admirably and there was nary a gasp or a sideways glance at Wintour's entrance. And with daughter Bee Shaffer and companion Shelby Bryan on either side, Wintour sat stoically through the entire film before literally bolting out of the Paris Theatre to avoid press as the credits rolled." <p>Wow. It's kind of like the Pope turning up to a screening of The Da Vinci Code.</p><p>The August issue of Vogue China includes the model Ondria Hardin in one shot, pictured above, in a group editorial. So far, so much the usual for a rising star in the modeling world. But the problem is that Hardin &mdash; at least according to print and online news sources &mdash; is not 16 yet. Has Vogue already violated the Health Initiative it to abide by just four months ago?</p> <p>Hardin, a South Carolina native, has been modeling since the age of 13 &mdash; and given her extreme youth and the lack of labor protections available to models, controversy has long swirled around the industry's demand for her. In the spring of 2011, when she was just 13, Steven Meisel shot Hardin for the fall, 2011, Prada . That September, after turning 14, she at New York fashion week for designers including Marc Jacobs. In February of 2012, designers pledged not to hire for runway work models under the age of 16, but Hardin &mdash; along with at least one other model under 16 &mdash; walked for Jacobs, spurring significant in the media. She continued to work through the spring and summer, shooting editorials with magazines including W and Lula (where she scored a cover), numerous designer lookbooks, and walking in Resort shows for the likes of Stella McCartney. In February, Hardin was reported to be 14. At the New York shows this September, when Hardin could have been no older than 15, she walked for seven designers, including Jacobs, Thakoon, Marchesa, and Oscar de la Renta. Just a couple hours ago in Milan she walked for Gucci.</p> <p>Hardin's agency, Ford, says she is currently 16, but won't divulge her date of birth or provide any proof of her age. Lying about models' ages is common in modeling; there are famous examples both of models being told to shave years off their true ages to compete in an ageist industry (Agyness Deyn) and of models being instructed by their agents to tell clients they are older than they are in order to book more work (this is documented extensively in, among other sources, the new movie Girl Model; 15-year-old Valerija Sestic was also able to walk at NYFW after her agency, Women, lied to clients about her age). And Ford has about its business practices as they pertain to model age in the past: the same season it sent 14-year-old Hardin to walk for Jacobs, it signed a pledge not to put models under 16 forward for runway work.</p> <p>And Vogue, well, Vogue promised in May to end its practice of hiring models under the age of 16 for print work in all of the magazine's international editions. Yet here is Hardin in the August issue. How old was she at the time of the shoot? Not 16, surely. []</p> This is allegedly Katie Holmes on the cover of Harper's Bazaar Russia. [] Lots of designers are showing big, tall, stiletto gladiator boot-sandals for spring. Does nobody remember the horrible year for footwear that was 2007? [] Speaking of shoes, here are some that people wore to NYFW. []<p>Dior insists that studio head Bill Gaytten, who oversaw that of a fall couture collection, is just a place-holder designer. The brand will "take all its time" to replace John Galliano, the longtime creative director it fired in March for habitual drunkenness/being an embarrassing racist. "You know when you ask young girls all the time when they are going to get married, they reply: When I find the right man," said C.E.O. Sidney Toledano. []</p> Balenciaga shot its fall campaign in "a church in Harlem" &mdash; anyone know which one? &mdash; and a studio made to look like a tiled bathroom. Models Julia Nobis and Liisa Winkler star, and Steven Meisel was the photographer. [] Here's Emma Watson's British Harper's Bazaar covers, newsstand and subscriber edition, side-by-side. [] Vogue asked designers to tell them which women embodied classic, American style: responses included Gisele Bündchen (who is "American" in the...larger sense, we guess), Cate Blanchett (who is, um, Australian), Willow Smith, and the eternal safe option, Michelle Obama. [] Gisele Bündchen is on the cover of the new Vogue Brazil. As Made in Brazil points out, the model is depicted "completely out of focus and with bad hair." [] The stars of Downton Abbey appear in a spread in the new British Vogue. [] Lindsay Lohan posed for Italian Vanity Fair. Wait, is that Pedo Bear? [] Fashion blogger BryanBoy is thrilled to have made Star magazine's worst-dressed list. [@]<br> BryanBoy was photographed while attending Prada's men's wear show &mdash; which has been widely praised, despite featuring a weird mixture of ugly 70s-inspired floral prints, polo collars, Boy Scout scarves, and tweed. But Fantastic Man editor-in-chief Gert Jonkers says he thinks the collection is for "fashion victims...There were lots of things that were very puzzling." []<p>Lady Blue Shanghai, is, in true form, a weird, surreal tale, starring and complete with moody music and wafting smoke. But unlike Lynch's other films, is really a commercial. For Dior.</p><p> and Prada short internet pushing handbags before, but Dior doesn't just attempt to dazzle with existential meaning or trippy animation. No, the draw here? Noted director Lynch and award-winning actress Cotillard. On the one hand, it's genius; Dior may have paid Lynch and Cotillard a hefty sum for the project, but since the clip's online for free, the brand doesn't have to bother with ad space on a major network.</p> <p>It's a trick, though &mdash; because while it may be intriguing to see what kind of story Lynch has cooked up, what kind of heroine Marion is and how the bag and the city of Shanghai all fit together, in the end, you realize that you have willingly watched a sixteen-minute commercial. In an age of trigger-happy fast-forward fingers and DVR! It's sixteen minutes you'll never get back, and you could have used it to ask your boss for a raise, buy some stock or look into phone sex work &mdash; you'll need some extra cash if you really want the ugly, shiny, awkwardly square patent leather , which retails for £1,360 ($2,009). Dapper Chinese lover not included.</p> <p><p> <p> <p> <p> <p> </p> <p> [New York]</p> <p>Related: [Dior]</p> <p>Earlier: <br> <br> </p>In order to view comments on jezebel.com you need to enable JavaScript.<br> If you are using Firefox and NoScript addon, please mark jezebel.com as trusted.In order to view comments on jezebel.com you need to enable JavaScript.<br> If you are using Firefox and NoScript addon, please mark jezebel.com as trusted.<p>A "new survey" says that more than 27 percent of women said they'd wear skimpier clothing to the office if they thought it would help them get a promotion.</p> <p>So, take this for what it's worth but, a survey conducted by theragtrader.com, based on 3,000 workers, finds that, according to the , "one in four women think the secret of success is how they dress and are willing to show a little more skin to get ahead," while one in 20 women admitted to dressing in a deliberately provocative way on a regular basis.</p> <p>This is depressing and lame enough to hardly require further analysis, but it also strains credulity. In my own experience, at one of my jobs someone had to take one woman aside to ask her to dress less provocatively, which was humiliating for everyone and seriously uncomfortable. Or, take Katie on Stylista: her cleavage hardly served to advance her career. Sure, these were women-heavy industries, but in what world does showing skin equal "getting ahead?" I'm not questioning that it gets some male attention, maybe some admiration, but executive material? These seem like some seriously misguided dames.</p> <p>The rest of the findings were less than revelatory: 78 per cent of women believe the way they dress affects their day at work, feel and perform better when they look "smart," and, presumably, feel at a disadvantage when they're ill-kempt and shleppy. "Even when working from home, it's incredible how clothing can influence your productivity." (Anyone who's had to strategically position cardigans to conceal stains can vouch for this.) In terms of industries, marketing and advertising were found to be the most sartorially competitive, followed, allegedly, by "media workers," presumably of the Devil Wears Prada varietal.</p> <p>Oh, then there were the humiliations, like the more than a quarter of women who, says the , "had to face the embarrassment of someone else in the office wearing the same outfit as them," plus the 63% of workers who deal with "wardrobe malfunctions" like runs in tights and open flies - horrors that make massive worlwide unemployment a palliative indeed! "Fourteen per cent have even split their trousers while in the office."</p> <p> [Telegraph]<br> [Daily Mail]<br> [New York Post]</p><p>When we sent our own Jenny G down to The Gap in Times Square at 8:55 am this morning, she was anticipating hordes. Droves. Masses of both professional (ahem, Conde Nast-y) and amateur fashion folk, flocking to snap up the limited edition Vogue/Council of Fashion Designers of America-sponsored, white dress-shirt inspired pieces commissioned from the labels of Thakoon, Rodarte, and Doo.Ri.</p> <p>Instead, Jenny found a handful of South African tourists, confused by all the hullaballoo, a kind merchandising director named Theo who made sure she photographed both him and his window displays from their best sides, and a surly store manager (name withheld to protect the innocent) who placed her on Gap probation.</p> <p>Having been tossed out on her ass before for her renegade fashion photography tactics (note to the Prada security guard &mdash; Jenny hasn't forgiven or forgotten), she revised her scheme, pulled her favorite items, and took to the dressing room to hide and play dress-up.</p> <p>Jenny's more detailed timeline, after the jump.</p> <p>8:53 am - All quiet on the western (store) front. Only 7 minutes until the big shebang, and the employees of The Gap on 42nd Street are still furiously assembling their window displays. Perhaps part of the delay comes from the fact that the window-dressing boy would rather pose for pictures for me then finish hanging the display.</p> <p>8:55 am - "No, no! Photograph the straight one! The straight one!" Theo, this store's merchandising director (and the coordinator of the last minute window hustle), rushes towards me. He wants the world to know his windows are straight. (Insert obligatory joke here). As he is the nicest employee I come in contact with all morning, the least I can do is indulge him.</p> <p>9:02 am - "So, are you here for Doo.Ri? Rodarte?" I say to the perturbed-looking women hovering outside the store's entrance. They turn to me in shock, looking like I've asked them how often they practice anal sex. I soon learn that they are tourists from South Africa who have already gone through all their clean clothing. They are anxious to buy new clothes so they can start their day. They have no idea what the CFDA is, nor do they care to learn. They are angry because the store should have opened two minutes ago. They do not want to talk to me anymore.</p> <p>9:05 am - At last! The doors open! The manager tries to make some sort of speech, welcoming us. It's awkward, because at this point it's just me and the South African tourists. I try to muster some enthusiasm from our meager crowd, and encourage an unnecessary mad-cap dash up the stairs to the second floor, women's wear. And there at the top of the stairs, it greets us: Doo.Ri. Thakoon. Rodarte. All here at The Gap.</p> <p>9:08 am - There is a moment of panic when no more medium-sized Doo.Ri dresses seem to be around. The floor staff informs us that there are plenty more in the back. During the crisis, however, I befriend Suzanne Donaldson, the Photo Director at Glamour magazine. She tells me she had no idea these items even existed until reading the item in the Times this morning and has been sent to purchase on behalf of several of her co-workers. She thinks the Rodarte pieces are best, and says she fears not about keeping her whites whiter and her brights brighter as she's a self-proclaimed "bleachaholic." The sight of this much white is heaven to her. Suzanne, I'm sure your co-workers thank you for doing the dirty work for them.</p> <p>9:15 am - Though some employees seem somewhat distracted, this is not the case for the store's manager Phillip. Phillip says he understands "how thrilling all these white shirts are," but informs me that taking photos inside The Gap is a big no-go. My choices? Camera away, or leave the store...</p> <p>9:16 am - ...or just snatch up my favorite items, hide in the dressing room, and snap away! Here's the before shot: Me in one of my favorite Gap pieces from two seasons back, the giant Boyfriend v-neck sweater. See, Gap, I love you &mdash; why don't you love me back?</p> <p>Now the fashion show begins:</p> <p>Look One: The Rodarte bow top isn't just cropped, it's cruel. It would be too short for even a slutty four-year old. Fashion-Victim Me is tempted, though, to buy it to prove my street cred. Cheap Me refuses to shell out $78 to be in on the joke. Frugality trumps style, but just this time.</p> <p>Look Two: Fresh and sleek and smart is Rodarte's high-neck trapeze-shape tunic. Architectural yet wearable: I think I'm in love.</p> <p>Look Three: I love everything about Thakoon's shirt-waist dress...except for its massive leg-of-mutton sleeves. The seaming in the back, which creates an insta-bustle the moment you tie the sash, is sheer genius. I try to see past the disastrous sleeves, which look like they're eating me alive, but then I realize I can't. That's how big they are.</p> <p>Look Four: My life-long wish to wake up one day and find myself to have morphed into Charlotte Gainsbourg is actualized the moment I put on Doo.Ri's neck-tie blouse. Magical thinking? Maybe. Magical clothing? Yeah.</p> <p>Look Five: Doo.Ri's phenomenally full-skirted shirt dress makes me want to go back to the future, become June Cleaver, bake a pie, and seduce the mailman. Duplicitous, it feigns modesty while oozing sex.</p> <p>Look Six: In a stroke of (self-proclaimed) styling genius, I undo the tie on the Doo.Ri dress, and find myself sheathed in a gorgeous trapeze sheath. If I were Nina Garcia on Project Runway, this look would be endowed with the highest of compliments: It's very modern and very expensive looking.</p> <p>9:49 am - As I exit the dressing room, I behold a stiletto-clad woman clutching a quilted Chanel bag in one hand and a giant camouflage GQ tote in the other. "Where did that girl go? Where are my dresses? Why aren't you people moving any faster?" The Nasties have arrived, clearly, so I take my cue and proceed to check-out.</p><p>A reader pointed us to a called xkcd, where the poster asks, "Quick, name a few recent popular movies where the two top-billed stars are female." Does your mind go blank? Hollywood loves a buddy movie, but when it comes to women, they're usually love interests, or looking for love interests. Especially recently. Of course, indie films and horror or sci-fi flicks often get away with having a woman as the lead (and not in love), but indie &#8800; Hollywood. And directors get away with having a woman as the hero in a horror or sci-fi movie because it's not real. It's a fantasy when Milla Jovovich kicks zombie ass or Uma Thurman slashes ninjas with a samurai sword. In any case, the guy from xkcd tallied up the male/male pairings, the male/female pairings, the female/male parings and female/female pairings of a few years' worth of movies, using IMDB to pinpoint the 20 biggest titles of each year. Here's what he found:</p> <p>As someone who grew up on flicks like Desperately Seeking Susan and The Craft, I'm disappointed that, out of the 110 flicks counted, xkcd says, "There were over sixty movies in the sample with two male stars top-billed. The only movies with two top-billed female roles, on the other hand, were The Devil Wears Prada and Scary Movie 4." And sure, there's Juno and Little Miss Sunshine, but are they the norm? He continues:</p> My cousin has been working on tallying (by hand!) all movies with two top-billed female stars. She reports that there are staggeringly few of them, and the roles fall mainly in two genres: mother-daughter bonding movies and horror films. Our brother site Defamer recently Whither the superheroines? But the question should be whither the women? Not the girlfriends or wives or chicks that dudes want to be girlfriends or wives. Just women hanging out together. Alien came out in 1979. Thelma & Louise was released in 1991. wasn't exactly a hit. Mean Girls is four years old. As a former screenwriting major, I'd like to remind you: When you buy a ticket to the movies (or rent a DVD), you're casting a vote for what kind of movie you want to see more of. The silly, testosterone-fueled antics of Wedding Crashers sparked a glut of boys behaving badly (You Me, And Dupree). You may not love the premise of Tina Fey and Amy Poehler's Baby Mama, but think about what message Hollywood producers will take away should the movie flop. <p> [xkcd]<br> Related: [Defamer]<br> Earlier: <br> <br> <br> </p>In order to view comments on jezebel.com you need to enable JavaScript.<br> If you are using Firefox and NoScript addon, please mark jezebel.com as trusted.<p>In 2008, MIT Professor got an unexpected thank-you for presenting at a conference: a Prada bag. Carrying the bag made him feel different. Special, even. So he .</p> <p>Writes for the ' City Room blog,<br></p> In one of his studies, half of the 250 subjects were told that the designer glasses they were wearing were "real," while the other half were told they were wearing "counterfeits." They were told to do a number of tasks that seemed to be related to the glasses, like evaluating scenery. But tucked into the sequence was a math test. Researchers found that 60 percent of those who were wearing "counterfeit" glasses cheated, while only 20 percent of those wearing "real" glasses cheated. <p>Study participants also were given a financial incentive to lie about the location of circles in a series of visual puzzles &mdash; and those with the "fake" glasses lied both sooner and more often.</p> <p>The Times draws the conclusion that buying counterfeit goods has a discernible corrosive effect on an individual's morality &mdash; that, in effect, wearing an item you know to be fake is like kryptonite for your sense of right and wrong. But can it really be that simple?</p> <p>I don't question that wearing branded or luxury items makes us feel a certain way: maybe smarter, perhaps more put-together, more attractive, possibly more comfortable. Some of that is the result of thoughtful design &mdash; a fabric with a superior hand against your skin, a more flattering cut greeting your glances in the mirror, a better quality of embellishment, hand-sewn details, a secret silk lining in a daring color only you know about. But a great part of our emotional reaction to brands is the sole result of calculated marketing decisions and the tide of logo-infected imagery that's washed over us all since birth. (Which conditioned response is, weirdly enough, what Ariely's study considers "real.")</p> <p>Ariely also seems to have lacked a control group. No research subjects were asked to complete the honesty-testing tasks while wearing sunglasses whose brand-status was not stated, or while wearing no sunglasses at all. Having essentially no baseline for comparison makes the results suspect; unless we know how often "average" people will cheat at mathematics or lie for low-stakes financial gain under identical conditions, there's no real way to know if people wearing branded items they believe to be counterfeit or real lie and cheat more or less often.</p> <p>But most importantly, in real life people are not randomly assigned authentic or copied goods &mdash; they choose to buy them. And what motivates those choices more than wealth? The segment of the population who can actually choose to buy a real Birkin (price range lower limit: ) is vanishingly small. The market for the $100 Chinatown version is increasingly well-stocked. How utterly insulting that a study should come along effectively to congratulate the tiny segment of the population who can afford authentic luxury items on being not only more financially successful than the rest of us, but more moral. Except I'm pretty sure Bernie Madoff's Cartier wristwatches were real.</p> <p>This isn't to say that counterfeiting is a business worth supporting. It's a wretched concern for any number of reasons. In addition to the obvious wrong of stealing someone else's intellectual property, it defrauds the nation of tax revenue, and large-scale counterfeiting rings are often involved in drug smuggling and other, more serious forms of organized crime. Designer copies are also frequently made by child laborers in sweatshop conditions. But do we really need to be told &mdash; by a researcher who presented his findings at a conference sponsored by no less an interested party than &mdash; that carrying a bag we know to be cheap tat made in lamentable conditions will make us cheat and deceive those around us?</p> <p>Ariely gave the thank-you Prada bag to his mother. But, like so many of us, once he'd known that special feeling of owning something "genuine" and "real" (whether or not what that mainly means is merely really, really expensive), he couldn't stop. Ariely bought a Mont Blanc pen. (Starting price: in the hundreds.)</p> <p>"When I take it out and I start writing, I have this objective feeling that my thoughts are clearer. My handwriting is clearer," he says. "The truth is &mdash; I didn't anticipate it &mdash; when I take this pen, there is a special feeling."</p> <p>After a lifetime lived without "fashion products," a conference sponsored by a leading ladymag ruined the good professor for anything else. If there's a lesson in that, it's not that fakes are only bought by sneaky cheating crass folk, and the real deal is always carried by upstanding citizens.</p> <p>[Image via ]</p> <p> []</p> <p>Related:<br> World's Most Extravagant Handbags []</p>In order to view comments on jezebel.com you need to enable JavaScript.<br> If you are using Firefox and NoScript addon, please mark jezebel.com as trusted.In order to view comments on jezebel.com you need to enable JavaScript.<br> If you are using Firefox and NoScript addon, please mark jezebel.com as trusted.<p>Donatella Versace and Miuccia Prada like to get together and eat paninis. Versace says the two Italian designers met at an event years ago in Milan and became fast friends.</p> <p>"I made a joke and she started to laugh and she said let's go and get some paninis because we're starving… and off we went. We just talk, talk, talk. She's so inspiring. We make fun of each other and teach each other. She says, 'I could never make sexy clothes, but I love them.' And I say, 'Well, I love what you do.'"</p> <p>Prada &mdash; who was a leftist and second-wave feminist while studying for her PhD in International Relations in the '70s &mdash; is on record as saying that feminism is dead in Italy. Versace, asked about her friend's remark, said:</p> <p>"Feminism is dead in the world. It comes from another time. I'm a feminist. I want to fight, but I don't see many people with this desire to fight for something. Women don't help each other, especially in fashion. I know Miuccia… but that's it. Nobody else."</p> <p>[]</p> Schiaparelli may be a fashion house without a designer, but it is no longer a fashion house without a headquarters: this is what the soon-to-be-fully-revived brand's new Paris salon looks like. There's a chest of drawers shaped like a lobster and a Sphinx statue that adorned Elsa Schiaparelli's original offices. [] Here's Blake Lively's new Gucci perfume ad. [] This, starring male model Marton Dorfler, is Balenciaga's first men's wear ad campaign. [] In honor of couture week, Vogue has this slideshow of archival couture spreads. [] "Haute couture is supposed to die since 1925," says Didier Grumbach, president of the Chambre Syndicale de la Haute Couture, when asked about the future of the business. "You'd be surprised to have extraordinary articles decrying the end of the artisanat, and as you see it's still existing and you are still interested. And wen you speak with some brands, they would never consider for one minute to stop the haute couture. So for me, haute couture will last forever." []<p>When I arrived last night at &mdash; a meet 'n' greet for fashion worker bees and bankers &mdash; a woman from Merill Lynch was being unceremoniously turned away at the door for violating the event's gender code.</p><p>"This is a private event for the women of fashion and the men of finance," explained the woman with the clipboard. "And you are a woman who works in finance!" The rejected banker &mdash; who, though this should hardly matter, was young, attractive, and wearing a nice cocktail dress such as would have suited the crowd &mdash; stepped away from the velvet rope crestfallen.</p> <p>I walked right in, even though I had no cocktail dress, and was not even wearing heels, because I am a woman who works in fashion.</p> <p>The bar was crowded. Then it became more so. When the "tasting hour" designated by the gluten-free vodka sponsor ran out and I asked for a glass of water, the bartender said he could only sell me bottled water for $5. I protested, and he turned to the woman to my right, who had worn a cocktail dress and platform sandals, who desired a vodka cranberry. But while he was filling her glass with ice, he waved his gun over my empty tumbler and pressed 'water.' The noisy, tacky, tiki-themed environs of this particular East Midtown bar motivate one to appreciate even the smallest of mercies.</p> <p>There's really no reason for me to go to such a thing as Fashion Meets Finance. I don't need to "meet" anyone, and even if I did, I have always specialized in dating men who earn in the multiple thousands of dollars. I'm sure, if the need arose, I would fall for another one of those in a trice. This assortment of Windsor knots and Harvard degrees and clicking high heels is not my crowd. I suppose I wanted to know for sure that Fashion Meets Finance &mdash; tagline: "Ladies, you don't need to worry that the cute guy at the bar works in advertising!" &mdash; actually exists, because it seems like the kind of thing that is too disappointing, or perhaps too wretched, a statement of human cravenness and of contemporary gender politics to be true. I suppose I was acting in the grand tradition of Jezebels who . But mainly, though, I never pass up an opportunity to use a good fake name. My friend who joined me agreed that was the evening's main selling point &mdash; she often passes herself off as , the population who actually reads Wharton being apparently small and not generally given to standing on street corners with a clipboard and an earpiece, the better to sneer at women with advanced degrees in economics.</p> <p>As I was departing the mosh pit scene at the bar, a middle aged man with frizzy hair tapped me on the shoulder. "Do you work in fashion? Because i just finished reading an excellent book about the fashion industry. Called ." He went on to explain that he had been to Fashion Meets Finance's several past events &mdash; this one was dubbed "The Recession Is Over!" &mdash; and always had a good time, because as "an outgoing person," he can always meet other outgoing people. I escaped, but not before he had told me that he had always wanted to go to the country where I grew up, New Zealand, and heartily advised me to see "a wonderful, funny movie about fashion," Brüno.</p> <p>Then I talked to a Spaniard who worked for UBS but with whom I had difficulty communicating, between my accent and his. "I have heard New Zealand is very beautiful," he cooed, before adding, "maybe I go there some day if I can get the vacation time."</p> <p>I trudged back to the bar for another surreptitious water. If there was one thing that was surprising about the crowd, it was that it seemed to lack a certain fashionable quality. While one would hardly expect freelance styling assistants for the European Vogues to journey up to E. 50th Street on a Thursday night, the "fashion" representatives all embodied a certain value of "good taste" that true fashion types, in my experience, put little stock in; everyone had on a tasteful dress, tasteful shoes, and small amounts of tasteful jewelry, and while everyone looked very nice, I began to wonder just how many of these people really worked in fashion. Where were the plain white tees styled just so? The handbags? The ironic 90s floral prints? The scarf stolen from your mother? The vintage? The bar looked as if it had drawn an entirely typical bon-chic-bon-goût Murray Hill crowd and deposited it 10 blocks northward. Some of the men were imposters, too: one admitted to working in &mdash; gasp &mdash; real estate.</p> <p>I soon found myself talking to a Jamaican who'd grown up in Crown Heights about that neighborhood's gentrification, and also the gentrification of Harlem and Fort Greene, a topic in which, as a white resident of Harlem, I am somewhat personally invested. "My friend who lives in Harlem called me the other day, said the neighborhood, it's gone," smiled the man. "He passed a white girl on the street at 2 a.m. and he said she didn't even look scared. That's when you know!" I could have pointed out that yesterday on my block seven squad cars chased and arrested a boy who looked to be about 12 years old, and then arrested his 15-year-old brother when the brother tried to calm their screaming mother, but I did not see the good in even indirectly reminding anyone who grew up in Crown Heights of the bad old days. The man started off in business running a tailor shop, so instead we discussed two-button vs. three-button suits, eventually finding common ground in double vents and natural fibers. I told him to Google , and when I asked why he'd come to Fashion Meets Finance, he paused and said, "I guess I just wanted to know this is really there," which sounded wise enough.</p> <p>Then I met an Indian man who said he'd recently corresponded with a woman from the New Zealand consulate, in the trade delegation, named Georgina, did I happen to know her?</p> <p>The Countess Olenska and I decided to talk to a young group of clean-cut banker types who seemed especially secure; their ties were wider than anyone else's, they broadcast WASPish entitlement and lacrosse expertise and looked like they probably browsed porn on their daily commutes to Connecticut. Also one of them had just done that thing where he thumped his beer square on a friend/victim's bottle's neck and his beer fizzed all over the place, oh yeah brah. The countess and I walked over, looked at the men, looked at each other, then looked again, more awkwardly, at these laughing golden boys &mdash; and immediately I knew that all the liquid eyeliner and velvet ropes and jet planes in the world will not stop and have not stopped me from remaining the person I was in high school. There's a certain kind of popularity that, if you should be so lucky as to experience it at 15 or 16 or 17, deposits in its wake a sense of pure social mastery that never really leaves you. And there's a certain kind of awkwardness, bodily shame, and tongue-tied single-sex-high-school befuddledness in what I still think of as "mixed" social situations that precludes any kind of innate suavity and leaves one always at the mercy of frizzy-haired shoulder-tappers.</p> <p>So we didn't talk to the boys.</p> <p>Except, then, somehow one did peel off &mdash; tall, Princeton, hedge fund &mdash; and he told me about how he grew up in Kentucky, and this year got to see the Derby horses in their stables before the race. His trainer friend informed him that virtually all professional race horses are doped. "They call it 'medicine,'" he explained, "They say, 'This horse needs its medicine.'" I dreamed of cracked-out race horses with enlarged hearts when I fell asleep last night. I don't think I'll be going to Fashion Meets Finance again.</p> <p> [FMF]</p><p>"There's no evidence that physical appearances are the predominant hiring qualification," . " don't reflect the hiring concept that we're pursuing. We're trying to hire people that are trustworthy."</p><p>Neither Dov Charney nor anyone else at American Apparel has responded to our attempts to get in touch about the company's photo-based hiring decisions, and the company higher-ups' apparent habit of critiquing (and mocking) their retail drones' appearances. Nor has anyone cared to explain to us why it is, exactly, that American Apparel manufactures so much of its . But America's sexual-harassiest C.E.O. gave a long, somewhat rambling, self-justifying interview to Y.M. Ousley at Signature9, during which these subjects were broached. It is revelatory of the extent to which Charney appears to genuinely believe his company can do no wrong:</p> <p>Photographing people head to toe is the right thing to do if you want to see how people present themselves to customers. It's not for a beauty pageant like Miss America where we're looking at someone's breast size. We want to see their style.</p> <p>I suppose we should have known he's . Then, there's this exchange:</p> <p>YMO: So if they're not "90's Vogue Chic"…</p> <p>DC: That was a young worker's way of describing the style.</p> <p>YMO: So it's not an official policy?</p> <p>DC: Trying to describe a fashion sensibility &mdash; it's difficult to put into words. Our customer is getting older, they're getting more mature. Madonna started wearing safety pins than become an elegant lady. She goes from punk to haute class, and our customer is going through that. In the same way that Levi's followed the boomers, we're following their kids.</p> <p>Actually, at American Apparel, it's </p> <p>In Charney's view, his company is being victimized by a vicious online hate campaign that finds fault with him for doing what many retailers do: regulate their employees' appearance at work. But according to the company's own internal documents, American Apparel's rules go well beyond those of many competing brands.</p> <p>"We need to clearly see everyone's hair, color, and length. It plays a big role in how they look," warns for how to take the mandatory photographs (close-up "AND a clear, well-lit head to toe shot") of prospective recruits. (Charney repeated that some of the e-mails and company documents leaked to Gawker were "doctored," but, notes Ousley, Charney "couldn't recall" any specific message that he says was altered.) There are sometimes extremely specific rules about makeup, jewelry, and uniform at most jobs &mdash; but where else do we find that higher-ups have to approve an employee's pictures once again before authorizing a raise or a promotion? (Okay, .)</p> <p>As "Your looks determine your position and pay rate, not how effective you are at your job."</p> <p>Despite all that, in Charney's mind, American Apparel is the party being discriminated against.</p> <p>DC: I think this is an inauthentic false crusade. The fact that we're concerned about what our employees look like… You run American Apparel and they're wearing old clothes, or you see someone on the sales floor with their pants below their underwear or they look like they just rolled out of bed, and you're not supposed to have a problem with it?</p> <p>So we use the Internet to do something that wouldn't have been possible 10 years ago, and efficiently monitor the presentation of employees in our stores and it becomes a big issue. Efficiency is a part of this business, and Gawker's portrayal of American Apparel employees as some kind of an exploited class is ridiculous. By trying to regulate their appearance we've committed some atrocious act? That's preposterous.</p> <p>YMO: I don't think anyone is un-supportive of the working conditions for people who are hired.</p> <p>DC: We had 2500 workers who lost their jobs because the government couldn't get a solution to immigration reform in place. People are so focused on this narcissistic issue that we're taking these photos to evaluate these employees… it's all about tasteful presentation. The majority of people who receive paychecks from American Apparel are people of color &mdash; some who weren't even born in this country, of all different shapes and sizes who receive above standard wages and benefits.</p> <p>Charney also downplayed the company's serious financial troubles. "While 7% is a big deal to stakeholders, if you sold $100 worth of shirts last year and you sell $93 worth of shirts this year...I wouldn't be in panic," he said, apparently unaware that his readers might include some people who know how to Google. "I'm not crying over that."</p> <p>Sales at American Apparel are down far more than 7%, with sales at stores open more than 12 months &mdash; a key indicator of retail health, since an overall sales increase spurred by new store openings can be misleading, as it camouflages the huge start-up costs incurred by openings &mdash; , . of 2009 overall, .</p> <p>In 2010, things have not improved. Preliminary results for the first quarter show in same-store sales. Meanwhile, the company was on its $80 million revolving credit if it didn't renegotiate with the lender, Lion Capital. Although for now Lion is &mdash; the company is apparently worth more to Lion as a going concern than as a bankruptcy &mdash; the brand's financial situation is precarious. The , not far off its 52-week low of $1.14.</p> <p>YMO: Finally, I wanted to ask about customers who wear large sizes. Jezebel noticed that not all of your merchandise is available past a size Medium. Are Large customers "off brand"?</p> <p>DC: No. That's a misleading statement. We support people in a variety of shapes and sizes. Our men's line in particular has been geared towards smaller men, because when I'd go shopping I couldn't find anything for my body type. The Gap and many American retailers focus on the 175-pound male. We service the 145-pound male, but we have larger sizes too.</p> <p>We sell probably 5 million garments &mdash; about 10% of our production in size XL or above. But we also have a very small store and [our production facilities] were invaded by Homeland Security. We've hired 1000 people in the last 6 weeks, but we haven't had the production capacity for a full range of sizes in all of our products.</p> <p>YMO: Just out of curiosity, is there really such a big difference in fabric costs for a size L versus a size S?</p> <p>DC: The cost of a larger size isn't just the cost of fabric, but the cost of it not selling. When I look at our inventory of unsold items, a lot of times it's the size L that's left over. There could be any number of reasons for that. Is it because we alienated them? Is it because the large didn't capture the market? Is it because that style isn't designed for someone 5'11" and 200lbs? Should we represent the style in a different setting?</p> <p>Online we get crazy with big sizes, but we don't offer them in the store.</p> <p>Actually, Charney, you , either. And why would making a skirt in a size 8 take some kind of special production expertise?</p> <p>"This is a company that started with me selling t-shirts locally in Montreal, and I've been growing this thing and I'm exhausted," says Charney. "I'm getting punched in the face for the slightest mistake, but it's going to be fun and we're going to do the great things."</p> <p> [Signature9]<br> [The Gloss]</p><p> Dov Charney gave a rare on-camera interview to CNBC which aired today. In it, the founder of hipster t-shirt-and-scrunchy supplier American Apparel laughed off his company's ongoing . Charney thinks that "you're casting it from the wrong perspective" if you point out that the company he founded is now in its third year of losing money. "From an accounting perspective...yeah, it's unprofitable," he says. "But our gross margins are as high as a luxury brand like Prada." And besides, he thinks American Apparel could "proba&mdash;maybe" turn a profit next year.</p> <p>American Apparel's stock price is still well below $1 &mdash; down from a height of over $15 &mdash; and in addition to just effectively doubling the interest rate on its $80 million credit facility, it is paying a 18% interest rate on its $116 million loan from Lion Capital. Charney called that rate "somewhat subprime."</p> <p>And then there's that whole sexual-harassment thing. "The fact that I'm a target for baseless lawsuits," says Charney, "is a testament to my success...The allegations that I acted improperly at any time are completely a fiction."</p><p>American Apparel is in quite the pickle: its sales have now been in steep decline for over two years, it lost $86 million last year, owes over $140 million to various banks, and it warned that Chapter 11 bankruptcy and liquidation was a looming possibility in an SEC filing on Thursday. The company has around $5 million cash on hand, otherwise known in retail as no fucking money. If it cannot find new financing by April 30, bankruptcy is likely. "Without an additional injection of cash, the company is done. Somebody has to write a check," says one New York investment banker. But Dov Charney, naturally, is having none of this. When asked about the prospect of bankruptcy &mdash; which, again, his own company admitted just days ago was a likelihood in the event that no new sources of cash materialize in the next three weeks &mdash; Charney said, "In my opinion, there's no chance of that. That's not an option we are going to explore. We have a variety of options. We could do a private placement of stock. Or we could use the resources we have. We do $10 million a week in sales." Lion Capital, American Apparel's chief lender, seems more sanguine about the prospect of Chapter 11. "If they do file, I feel okay. I believe the brand has a lot of value, and it's more than what they owe me," says Lion founding partner Lyndon Lea. []</p> The pink Chanel-style suit Katie Holmes wears in The Kennedys was actually made by...Armani. [] Complex made this fun listicle of the 50 worst fashion fails in music history. It includes the Stones on the cover of Dirty Work, David Lee Roth wearing chaps, and Axl Rose's cornrows. [] Kelly Cutrone's new book, Normal Gets You Nowhere, has a cover and a release date: May 3. []<p>When 3 people wrote in on a single day asking about "accessories" &mdash; and they weren't the first! &mdash; we knew it was time to tame the fashion beast.</p><p>It's a hard one. We all know that accessorizing &mdash; be it through jewelry, belts, artful scarves or rakish hats &mdash; can add untold flair to someone's look. It's an inexpensive way to add personality and versatility to a wardrobe. My aunt, the zippiest dresser I know, uses accessories with tremendous flair. (That picture of her, circa 1972, is a constant inspiration to me.) My oldest friend, Elaine, puts together the best "outfits" you've ever seen. Another friend is never without an armful of bangles. But that's them! These selfsame things can be intimidating and confusing. And are there "rules" for such things? Putting together a look, at the end of the day, is highly personal. And much as I love scarves and hats and vintage necklaces, I felt funny dictating such things to others.</p> <p>Here's what, after much thought, I think it's safe to say. First: don't be afraid to be unadorned, if that's just who you are. Second, if you'd like to get into more accessorizing, don't be intimidated. The good thing is, these items tend to be cheap. (Indeed, those of us who go in for it quickly find our closets overflowing with costume jewelry, 2/$1 thrift store scarves, a plethora of cheap bags and plenty of things we don't wear.) And while accessorizing is all about expressing personality, I do think there are general guidelines for "getting started."</p> <p>Start slow. Add one piece - maybe a draped winter scarf, a simple necklace, or a pair of dangly earrings - and see if it feels comfortable. You can always take it off! Getting used to pure adornment - with no practical utility - can take some getting used to.</p> <p>Look for inspiration. Take note of accessories you like, creative uses, new ideas. It's not about transforming yourself; just looking for ways to amp up your style.</p> <p>Try to find pieces that have significance to you: I have an "S" pin I love to wear, and a turtle brooch inherited from my Grandmother. Another friend always wears an heirloom locket with her parents' pictures inside.</p> <p>Don't try to "pull something off" that doesn't feel like you.</p> <p>The following are, I think, optional: bracelets, hats, hair ornaments, brooches. Some people never wear any of these and live full, happy, chic lives. You are a hat person or you're not. Now, you may be one and not yet know it, but don't feel bad if it just isn't you. But a basic accessory wardrobe might - might! - include some or all of the following, all of which can be found cheaply at a thrift store, online or at Forever21:</p> <p>Scarves:</p> <p>Necklaces:</p> <p>Earrings:</p> <p>Bags:</p> <p>Belts:</p> <p>A bare-bones list, yes, but I'm convinced with these few items you could be well-accessorized for months.</p> <p>A big, pashmina-style scarf is an easy place to start, because you can actually wear it for warmth. Loop it and draw the ends through the loop; or wrap it once loosely around your neck: experiment!</p> <p>Silk scarves are another matter. Don't be intimidated by all the lore of French women and their intricate folds. I usually wear mine very simply: folded into a triangle and tied loosely around my neck to form a "bib"; or rolled a few times and then tied into a loose necklace; or, like a pashmina, simply looped with the ends drawn through. It's also cute in the hair with the ends hanging down, 1960s-style. Any way you do it, it's an easy way to dress up a tee or simple sweater. And if you're well-coordinated, there are endless hours of experimentation ahead of you. ( may give you inspiration, and here's a how-to!)<br> </p> <p>But none of this really addresses the question: how to put it all together? While I don't think there's one answer, I asked a bunch of really chic women how they accessorize. Some had methods and rules, others have a more organic process, but altogether it gives you a picture of how different people approach the topic to create very different styles.</p> <p> <br> For myself, when I started to think about it, I realized I had certain things I almost always wear. Belts, necklace, pin. First, I have big glasses, so I always take these into account and choose to never do an earring. Because I have a bust going on, I like to break up the line with something vertical, either a long necklace or a scarf. I always wear a certain pendant made of antique watch-chains; sometimes I layer this with longer necklaces, or even a scarf. When I wear a blazer or jacket, I always have my little "S" stickpin in the lapel. And I'm a sucker for hats, so weather permitting I'll generally throw on a tam or something else soft; it makes me feel fully-dressed. Here's what some other women of style had to say:<br> <br> Amber: Girl Friday, bold fashionista.</p> <p>I tend to build around earrings - they are generally the most important accessory for me...earrings determine what hat I can and will wear. Scarves are definitely built around the outerwear/coat - if there is a prominent collar on the coat - no scarf! Bags have to go with the outfit and whether there is a lot of walking in my day - if there is a lot of walking in my day then an across the shoulder or fancy leather back pack. So many outfits are elevated by belts - that is a minefield for me.<br> <br> Bonnie: Beauty historian, vintage queen.<br> Weirdly, I am known for my accessories. But I have a tense relationship with accessorizing. I have naturally large hair and a large chest; I often feel that those are a bit much without accoutrement. I so enjoyed that time in the mid-nineties when chic was defined with the perfect khakis and endless black tops. But looking back, it was rather lifeless. So I started with my love of the past and have spent the last decade collecting vintage evening clutches. (A tiny, blue glass-beaded one with an intricate metal filigree clasp has been lent out to all my best friends for their bridal "something blue.") My point here is that one way to get into the topic is to start with a hobby or interest and make it the topic of your accessories. (As you know, I'm sort of a beauty historian.) My very favorite thing is a copper ladies ashtray. My grandmother carried it with her to speakeasies; even a wild lady doesn't ash on the floor.</p> <p>So for evenings out, I've got it down. But day to day, I find myself often plucking out earrings, belts, and bracelets as soon as I step in the door. Now I usually pick two or three pieces per season and wear them to death. If none of it comes naturally, I say just be the girl with the dachshund brooch (or what have you) and leave it at that. Here are my greatest hits. Use them as tips or ideas for readers or your self...</p> <p>1. Big rings. I buy colored glass bubble rings from Red Beri in Brooklyn, wear one on my pointed finger, usually until it breaks two years later. Then I replace with a new color. Works great as the sole piece of jewelry. Bonus (or not): babies are fascinated by these.</p> <p>2. Wide hip-slung belts. I have slim hips, but not such a tiny waist. Trying to create a waist with a belt makes me feel dowdy, but I will wear one of my extra-wide braided belts over almost any dress, or to make my frequent jeans and wife beater more interesting.</p> <p>3. Long necklaces. This spring I copied a lariat I saw in a catalog. It's so long that it almost functions as a scarf. I get vaguely claustrophobic if there's a chain snug on my neck, and medium length necklaces seem like arrows pointing to my cleavage. I have a couple large 60s and 70s pendants that I hang from waist-length chains.</p> <p>4. Scarves/wraps. I can make a silk scarf work around my neck only when my hair is straight and tamed. With the big curls it's all too much. But I love, love my lightweight cotton, silk, and feather-light wool scarves from Indian and Tibetan boutiques. This summer, I've worn one as a skirt with the above belts, and the cotton ones roll up tiny, come in gorgeous saturated colors, and are warmer then you'd think for air conditioned theaters and offices.</p> <p>6. Big dangly earring. I've come to like these with big or small hair. I just feel...sparklier. This summer I'm wearing ones I buy at the same boutiques as the scarves. In fall and winter I tend more towards big gold hoops or small diamond (or shmiamond) studs.</p> <p> <br> Elaine: world-traveler, champion thrift-shopper.</p> <p>For me it can work one of two ways- either starting with an accessory or single item (an elaborately patterned scarf, vintage boots or big jewelry, for instance) and choosing the entirety of the rest of the<br> outfit based on that, or, adding the accessories last if I feel what I'm wearing seems a little too austere. I think the former approach almost always results in better and more creative dressing, but<br> restrictions of laundry, lateness, laziness, etc, do not always allow this. Some other thoughts:</p> <p>-Although being too "matchy" is looked down on these days (at least in the pages of Lucky!), choosing accessories/clothing in the same (or complimentary) color family is a sound move in my book, particularly<br> if you're working with wildly patterned scarves or other potentially overwhelming items. I also think it's preferable to have bag/shoes/belt in the same general range&mdash;certainly not exactly the same hue (although that could be impressive, if outré), but say a burgundy-ish belt with dark brown shoes/bag, etc. Unless you're a pro, one obviously vintage/ethnic piece per outfit is probably another good rule.</p> <p>-Same goes for jewelry-it may be a rather grandmotherly rule, but if you are pulling off some seriously ambitious jewelry, do stick to all silver or gold, and balance out an impressively massive necklace with<br> delicate earrings, for example.</p> <p>-I read some dubious fashion advice once that one should never, never repeat an outfit exactly, even if you change only a single small thing each time. This is hokum. I think we all have outfits that we<br> automatically associate with certain accessories, or families of clothes/accessories that work especially well together, for good reason- some of the clothes/accessories that always make me feel good when wearing them fall into this category. That said, if you're accessory-shy to begin with, it can be very easy to only ever wear a certain scarf with a certain jacket, so it's instructive to occasionally branch out from the clothing/accessory unit you may be most comfortable with.</p> <p>-Scarves- choose scarves in opposite/complimentary colors of the clothing colors you tend to favor. If you wear a lot of black or navy, don't buy scarves in these colors as they'll just melt into your clothing, but if you tend to wear mostly white or khaki they'd be just the thing. Don't attempt a neck-draped scarf with a headband/headscarf, or a big long necklace and a neck-scarf.</p> <p>-Badges and necklaces- if you're one of the many who has to wear some sort of work id/badge around your neck, forget necklaces that are the same length as your badge lanyard&mdash;it looks visually messy, and will end up getting tangled by the end of the day. You can still do shorter necklaces though, and if you really miss that sort of long necklace, you can always find some inexpensive but dashing ones and wear your badge from that instead (Forever21 is a great source for them!)</p> <p>-When in doubt and you feel over-accessorized, Chanel was not wrong.<br> </p> <p> <br> Jenna: Jezebel, fab scarf-wearer.</p> <p>I'm a shameless style biter. If I see a page in a magazine, or a picture on a blog, or a girl on the street, with an outfit comprised of items whose typology recognize, but put together in a completely different way than I'd ever thought of, I have no qualms about copying either the detail I like or the outfit as a whole. On some level, even though I know there really are no "rules," it's nice to feel "permitted" to knot a leather belt as though it were a sash belt, or to wear a scarf and a hat, or to put a necklace on over a buttoned shirt. Or whatever. If I see something unusual and flattering, I try and figure out what it is specifically that's caught my eye, so I can imitate it later.</p> <p>If I have a single guideline when it comes to accessories, it's never to wear the belt that comes with the garment. They're always so naff! I take the sash belt from the 70s secretary dress and wear it as a scarf. I take the cordovan leather belt and wear it with the camel coat. I take the black suede belt and put it with the LBD. I take the black Margiela plastic belt and put it with the black winter coat. And ribbons are belts, too!</p> <p>I'm also a firm believer in the principles of balance and contrast. All-black outfit? Knot a colorful scarf around the handle of your bag. (Actually, I do that almost no matter what.) Orange dress? Green shoes. Grey dress? Red shoes. Wearing something sleek and elegant? Why not try on your bulkiest necklace from that weird Tibetan shop. Do you have on something unisex-looking? Try girly shoes, or delicate jewelry. I like wearing a string of pearls and a pair of grandmotherly secondhand Ferragamo shoes with an oversized vintage YSL men's shirt.</p> <p>I shop thrift stores, and eBay, eBay, eBay. My love for eBay is so embarrassingly excessive, I actually did an interview with their blog. You can set search alerts in your favorite brand and size. I'm mostly into it as a shoe shop. Over the years, I've bought secondhand shoes in good conditions from high-end brands I could otherwise never afford, like Prada, Miu Miu, Ferragamo, Gucci, and Jil Sander, and I rarely pay more than $15-$25 a pop.</p> <p>I guess that's about it. I look to accessories that provide a counterpoint to what I'm wearing - clunky ugly-pretty Prada shoes with pretty-pretty dress, not with ugly-pretty 70s librarian getup; fine jewelry with men's wear, not with cutesy dress; scarf turban with jeans, not with caftan - and I swap all my belts around. After that, it's all a matter of personal taste, really.<br> <br> Susan: Aunt, style icon</p> <p>I guess what I do is I start with one focal piece - it can be really small, like a pin - & use it to express my mood or whatever it is I'm trying to convey. Usually it's something whimsical (no point in trying to be sexy at my age). Then I choose a couple other things that 'go with' it. For instance, at your engagement party I had that white hat with a red flower in it. I wore my red reading glasses that day (I have lots of different pairs from the dollar store) and also red toenail polish, to pick up on the flower. Also, I had this black dress with a funny collar, like a string of black cloth beads, so I wore big silver ball earrings to reflect the ball collar thing. But you can't wear too many accessories of the same color, or have too many different elements or it starts to look like Grandpa Moe's backyard. Not that that isn't a look. If I were to wear too many silver things (shoes, belt, bracelet, earrings, bag) it would look too 'put together' & I am too vain to let people know I think much about what I wear.</p> <p>At work I have to wear lots of black, cause I'm around little kids & it gets pretty messy. So I use accessories a lot, to dress up my look & to amuse them. Always a pin or a scarf around my neck or in my hair. Sometimes I'll make a pin from a kid's artwork and wear it in the classroom. When it's really a dressy occasion, I like to wear gloves & carry a small handbag, so I can slip them off & on for effect...</p> <p>Lately I've found my best fashion accessories to be my concertina & mandolin. I don't play them very well, but they serve the same function as accessories, in that they catch the eye & amuse/distract a person. When I played out the other night, I also pinned a plastic chameleon to my dress, because I was nervous...<br> <br> <br> And of course, no discussion of accessorizing would be complete without a few words from Dodai, whose trademark is, of course, a flower in her hair.</p> <p>I always liked putting things in my hair, and after I cut it short (in my 20s), it was easier to accessorize with clips/barrettes/etc. I have done feathers and headbands, too &mdash; I just think the flower sticks. It started to become more persistent in the last 5 or 6 years… after I turned 30. My 30th bday was a "red" party &mdash; you had to wear red, red hots and red candy were in a pinata, etc. I wore a real red rose behind my ear. I liked the way it looked, and started buying one rose when I was headed to a party or drinks... eventually I bought an artificial rose hairclip. Basically, I never intended for it to be my "thing," but it's just so easy to clip it in! I wear a lot of black and it adds color near my face, which keeps me from feeling/looking washed out. I'd see pictures of myself with it and I really just liked it! Now when I go out, I feel weird if I don't grab it… like something is missing. The frequency has definitely increased in the last 3 years. So many people have flowers these days I am tempted to try something else, but I love that it's now, it's retro, it's tropical, it's Dorothy Dandridge, Dorothy Lamour, Billie Holiday… And it makes me feel less bad about how I'm too lazy to put on makeup.</p> <p>.............<br> At the end of the day, I love this quote Bonnie sent me, 'from one "Mr. John," in The Charming Woman, edited by Helen Frasier (1950):'</p> <p>Take that $5 bill in your hand, go to the most reputable store in town, walk directly to the hat of your choice and declare your love. Let your instinct tell you what to do. If the hate fulfills your dream, buy it. Be strong, be firm, and don't ask anyone's advice. Don't try to make that hat look good on all your children and your friends, don't ask any questions&mdash; just buy. All great things are done impulsively. Sometimes they turn out to be the best decision you have ever made. If you do make a mistake, you learn from your mistake. The only real mistake is to take the problem too seriously. Go trust your subconscious integrity, don't waver, defy all gravity, let the $5 ride wherever it wants to go&mdash; it will be the best experience for $5 you have ever had.</p> <p> <br> For all of our handy Dress Code guides, .</p><p>Ever wanted to dye your own stuff? It's actually a lot easier than it sounds, it (miraculously) doesn't take any special equipment, and the results can be a million times cooler than the basic tie-dye t-shirts the counselors made 9-year-old you do at YMCA camp. </p> <p>So get your materials together, and just look her in the eye and say it's all right Ma, I'm only dyeing.<br> You're going to need everything you see here, plus a couple pots and pans, an iron and an ironing board. Being able to work in a stainless-steel sink or a washtub helps things, too. Clockwise, from top left: 1. Powdered or liquid fabric dyes in the colors of your choice. 2. White distilled vinegar. 3. White habutai silk, or another white fabric in a natural fiber. (Natural fibers generally take dye better than most synthetics, although the synthetics that are made of cellulose &mdash; rayon, viscose and Tencel &mdash; will generally take dyes intended for cottons and linens; many nylons are very difficult to dye, and some synthetics, like polyester, don't take dye at all without industrial equipment.) Linen or cotton muslin, fine wool, or any light weight natural fiber with a flat weave and no nap will make a good scarf. Habutai is nice because it's kind of the muslin of silks: cheap (mine was $7 a yard at Mood), readily available, and easy to work with. Allot roughly one yard per scarf for square scarves, less for oblong scarves. 4. Fabric scissors. 5. Embroidery needles. 6. Two kinds of thread: a thread in the same fiber as your scarf fabric (in my case, silk) and a regular polyester-wrapped buttonhole thread. The polyester thread can be in any color. Click any photo to enlarge.</p> <p>First, cut out your scarves, and hem them. You can use a machine for this, of course, but if you do, make sure you have the right kind of foot and a very small, very sharp machine needle &mdash; thin, delicate fabric like habutai will snag easily. You may need to lower or cover your feed dogs. I decided a hand-rolled hem was worth the hassle, although I will admit that it took me two episodes of , one , one , and one to finish both my scarves. (I also finished most of a bottle of wine, which, as always, I very much recommend.) Whether you sew by hand or by machine, be sure to work in the thread in the fiber that matches your fabric, not the polyester thread. (Polyester thread won't take dye, so if you use that you'll be left with bright white stitches standing out against a dyed scarf.)</p> <p> a hand-rolled hem is easy, if repetitive. I work on my lap, going from left to right. My method is to secure the right-hand edge of the fabric under my right leg (or hold it down with a heavy book). I then roll the raw edge of the fabric under with the forefinger and thumb of my left hand, creating a "tube." I pin the roll down at the left edge with the middle finger of my left hand, pulling the fabric tight across my lap. With my right hand, I sew a blind-stitch, originating from within the little fabric "tube," emerging every 8 mm or so to catch a few threads of the flat part of the scarf in my needle, and then re-entering the tube. I pull my thread through the thumb and foreginger of my left hand, to minimize snags and twists in the thread. Every four or five stitches, I tug on my thread gently to ensure stitch tension stays even. Roll, pin, stitch-stich-stitch-stitch-stitch, tug. Repeat.</p> <p>We're going to do two kinds of dyeing for this project. One is a fairly straightforward ombré dip-dye, the other is a kind of shibori dye known as suji. Shibori is Japanese resist dyeing; there are many, many different techniques that variously involve creating dye-resistant areas in the fabric via pleating, folding, stitching, clamping, tying, or wrapping around a dye-resistant object like a pole or a stone. Shibori gives some really beautiful results. I had never done it before &mdash; in fact, until I started this project I had never dyed anything, except a little tea-dying &mdash; so I did a lot of reading up on it. This has a great overview of shibori, with examples of many techniques. This blog explains in extraordinary detail and over the course of six separate posts how a textile artist one of her pleated, overdyed, shibori silk scarves. Here are some step-by-step photos. There's also this , with instructions, examples, and a history of shibori, which you could find at your local library. And if you're a Threads subscriber, the February/March 2011 issue had a nice article about shibori.</p> <p>I did four test swatches &mdash; one test of the ombré technique, and three of my chosen shibori method, suji. The ombré was easy to get right, the suji was hard; one of my tests was too pale, another was too muddy, the third was about right. Experiment with your fabric offcuts until you get the hang of the pleating and the wrapping, and most importantly, the dye concentration level that will work for you.</p> <p>When you're comfortable, wash and iron your scarves to remove any oils, stains, or fabric finishes that might not be visible to the naked eye, and which could interfere with your dyes. Iron the scarves, and pleat one of them.</p> <p>With the polyester-wrapped buttonhole thread, tie your pleated scarf tightly in the middle, and at even points all the way to the hems. Don't worry about how the thread ties squish the pleats; that's what creates the shapes and patterns in the dye. Tie these threads as tightly as you can. Fold the long, pleated tube in half, and tie it together.</p> <p>Mix your chosen dyes according to the manufacturer's instructions, using stainless-steel containers, if at all possible, for easy cleaning. Many commonly available dyes contain noxious chemicals, so work in a well-ventilated area and avoid breathing in any of the powders. (Wearing a painter's mask is a good idea.) There are non-toxic dyes available; I have heard good reports about and , though I have not used either myself. I found that for the suji scarf, I needed to use half the suggested quantity of water when mixing the dye, to concentrate the color. When your dyes are mixed, use an eye dropper or a pipette (or a teaspoon) to drip dye onto your tied scarf. You are Lee Krasner and your scarf is canvas, baby. Work in one color at a time, varying your mark-making &mdash; little droplets here, a big splash there, maybe a dip or two. Don't over-saturate the scarf, or your pattern will end up muddy.</p> <p>When you're done, set aside your suji scarf to dye for about an hour (or the period suggested in your dye instructions). To make my ombre scarf, I added water to my dye pots, to take them down to the recommended concentration, and poured the lightest color &mdash; turquoise &mdash; into a large bowl. Working in the sink, I dipped about three-quarters of the scarf into the first dye, and waited 15 minutes. Then I drained the pot and replaced the turquoise color with my next dye, and dipped the scarf up to about the half-way mark. Lastly, I dipped about a quarter of the scarf into my darkest dye, navy blue.</p> <p>Run each of your scarves under cold water to remove excess dye. In the case of the ombré scarf, it helps to run the water vertically, from the white edge on down.</p> <p>When the water runs clear, fill a container with cold water and add a big splash of the white distilled vinegar. Soak each scarf for a few minutes to set the colors. (You will still want to wash these scarves separately in hot water the first time, in case any excess color remains.)</p> <p>Allow each scarf to dry &mdash; let the suji scarf dry still wrapped and tied &mdash; then iron. I'm kind of disappointed in my ombré scarf, to be honest: my test looked a lot better, with a more even gradation and a much richer color. Which is strange, but hey. My suji scarf on the other hand is looking pretty good.</p> <p>As you can see from the detail, the colors are bright, the dyes don't run together or look "muddy," the pattern repeats nicely, and there's a good amount of white space.</p> <br> The ombré scarf still looks pretty nice tied to my satchel, however. Best of all, dyeing at home took a lot less time, effort, and space &mdash; and wasn't nearly as much of a mess &mdash; as I had feared. Mostly, it was fun! I could definitely see making a batch of these for holiday gifts or birthdays. Maybe with machine-sewn hems. (Sorry, friends.) <p><br> Next week, look out for a Very Special Episode of Friday DIY, in which Dodai and I team up to show you how to alter clothing for a Very Special Area &mdash; your boobs. In the meantime, to check out past Friday DIYs &mdash; including how to your nails with stripes, how to make a custom dress form and , how to make a , how to a thrift-store dress, how to make an at-home of a Prada bag, and how to make a pair of &mdash; click .</p><p>With the tiny increase in the number of larger models in fashion magazines, the issue of models who are too thin has somewhat receded. But another former model has spoken out about how she developed anorexia in order to work.</p><p> in the U.K. tabloid the Mirror suffers from sensationalism, contains potentially triggering and somewhat tactless photographs, and is hazy on certain points of fact such that it strongly suggests its authors are unfamiliar with the material. No matter: It's still an important tale.</p> <p>, a German former model who is now 24, worked for years in Asian and European markets, doing jobs for designers like Christian Dior, Benetton, and Miss Sixty. Although she did not have to lose weight in order to begin modeling, as she grew older in an industry where her ability to work depended on her size, and where models have little control over many basic aspects of their lives, she began to cut out certain foods. Then entire meals. Nobody &mdash; not her agents, not her clients, not the models she lived with &mdash; notice her eating disorder and encourage her to seek help. In fact, casting directors would talk about her "fat ass" as if she wasn't even in the room.</p> <p>She was hospitalized when her parents saw a picture of her at work in Shanghai and implored her to come home. In recovery, as Radziejewski started to return to a healthy weight, she found she was unable to return to the job she'd been doing since the age of 15. At a fit-to-confirm for a Prada show held in London, things didn't go so well, :</p> <p>[T]he man measuring me said, "Hips 102 cm," and the fitting woman repeated "What?" And there was a long pause, and they said, "Thank you," and I left and never heard back from them.</p> <p>Typically, models have hips of 86.5-89 cm, or 34"-35". Anything over 90 cm is considered undesirable.</p> <p>Radziejewski's struggle to conform to these standards isn't necessarily unusual. In 2006, Uruguayan model and the Brazilian both died from complications of anorexia. In 2007, Ramos' sister, Eliana, also a model, died for the same reason. When was 14, her then agency asked her to get her 43" hips down to 34"; this amounted to losing 40% of her body weight in order to model, and she lived for years with an eating disorder. had an eating disorder. , 's sister, had an eating disorder. So did . So did . And then there are the many, many more women who've worked in this industry whose eating habits, while perhaps never meeting clinical criteria, were less than healthy. People who developed disordered eating, and a disordered relationship with their own bodies, as a coping strategy to deal with the constant scrutiny and competition based on their size.</p> <p>These standards, which can be met naturally and safely by so few people, have to change. The fact that women can be forced to choose between their career and their health &mdash; the idea that if you choose to work as a model, you somehow cede the right to a healthy workplace environment &mdash; has to change. Agencies need to "We don't want you to be anorexic, we just want you to look it!" Because too many of them are. In any other job, a worker who developed a serious health problem due to the job's conditions would get workers' compensation. Models get, generally speaking, fired. In any other job, if enough workers were developing the same serious health problem due to the job's conditions, there would be an outcry, and the dangerous conditions would be abolished. Now, we've had the outcry: stories like Radziejewski's, and the nodding of the talking heads that inevitably follows them, are distressingly common. But where is the change?</p> <p>In other dismaying news of the day, the Girl Scouts of America surveyed teenage girls in the United States, and found that 75% rate fashion as "really important." Almost nine out of ten feel pressure to be thin. And celebrities and models influence girls' self-perceptions more than parents or friends. Obviously, conditions need to change within the fashion industry to benefit the models who live and work in an environment that can be hazardous to their health. But with fashion playing such a crucially influential role in the lives of young women, we need change &mdash; larger sample sizes, more diversity in magazines and on the runway, a greater focus on health and better eating disorder screening &mdash; for the good of all girls.</p> <p>Interestingly enough, the vast majority of teenagers would also prefer to consume fashion imagery that has not been excessively Photoshopped, and to buy clothes modeled by people who aren't super-skinny. These sound like specific instructions from a key segment of the apparel market &mdash; meaning that change would not only be morally admirable, but remunerative as well. The only question, as always, is whether or not the fashion industry is listening.</p> <p> [Mirror]<br> [Sinclair Management]<br> [Reuters]</p>In order to view comments on jezebel.com you need to enable JavaScript.<br> If you are using Firefox and NoScript addon, please mark jezebel.com as trusted.<p>Elizabeth Taylor's world-famous collection of fine jewelry, including the 33.19 ct diamond ring Richard Burton gave her, is on public display at Christie's in Manhattan, pending an auction that is expected to see $50 million in total sales. You could also pick up Taylor's first wedding dress, her Louis Vuitton luggage (remember your !), or one of her three Oscars. []</p> This Louis Vuitton sales associate in the Philippines did a pretty awesome performance for company C.E.O. Yves Carcelle when Carcelle visited the store. It turns out the 24-year-old part-time employee has won the Philippines national yo-yo championship. Twice. [] Tommy Ton shot Garage magazine's Shala Monroque in her native St. Lucia for Vogue Japan. [] Dominican model Marihenny Rivera Pasible says it was a highlight of her runway season to be the only black model to walk for Marni. She also says her family is supportive of her career &mdash; mostly. "Every time [my mother] sees my pictures in magazines she shows everyone, saying, 'Look, this is my girl!' My brother is jealous, though, because the boys back home always bug him about me, and say, 'What about your sister? How is she? I want to be her boyfriend.' He tells them that I got married to my mother agent, who's gay, just to shut them up." [] Madonna is sending pairs of male models to hand-deliver her new perfume to editors of major publications. For future male model-related deliveries, Gawker Media is located at 210 Elizabeth Street, fourth floor. []In order to view comments on jezebel.com you need to enable JavaScript.<br> If you are using Firefox and NoScript addon, please mark jezebel.com as trusted.<p><br> Anna Wintour she's not, but is Roberta "Robbie" Myers gunning for more name recognition? Not only is she to be to become the next Nina Garcia, the Elle editor-in-chief (and former boss to our very own Jennifer Gerson) appeared on Larry King Live last night to tout the new issue of her magazine, its cover subject (guest Posh Spice) and, presumably, herself. (Jen confirms what we've suspected: She is "camera-shy" and "rarely does TV".) Anyway, here's what we learned: Ms. Myers has seen the Devil Wears Prada. She's different from Ms. Wintour in that she doesn't have any fur coats (but seems to like leather). She also endorses the idea of celebrities who design their own clothing and perfume lines. (Of course she does; Sarah Jessica Parker is !). Get to know Robbie in the clip above, and, as an added bonus, check out Posh's self-aware, slightly cute camera-faces as she arranges her head and lips for the best camera-angles.</p> <p>Earlier: </p><p>I am an outrageously partial reader when it comes to Elle. Which, uh, sorta happens when the magazine was your first post-college professional experience. However I will say in all sincerity and honesty: The newly redesigned Elle? Absofuckinglutely gorgeous. Though small changes had been made to the magazine following the installation of new creative director Joe Zee back in February, this, the September issue, is the first to exhibit the full Zee effect. My conclusion? Divine. After the jump, learn more about what's changed... or rather, what's changed for the better.</p> <p><br> The cover: Where once a Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat sensibility used to dominate, the new (scandalous, Lindsay Lohan!) cover has been pared down: The gold lettering of the title is replicated in some of the coverlines, offset by other ones in always-fashionable black and set against the traditional solid white Elle background, making for a strong statement of sophistication. Hell, it practically makes Lohan look classy.</p> <p>The FOB (front-of-the-book): Once opened, the first thing that jumps out is the change in typeface given to the magazine's page numbers at the bottom of each page, as well as accompanying text repeating the name of the magazine and where to find it on the web. (Is there anything that exists without accompanying URL anymore?) It's a small detail, yes, but one with a great impact. As for the FOB fashion pages themselves, where they were once muddled collages, they are now sleek and Euro-minded, making for much easier reading and causing me, at least, to occasionally confuse the magazine with one of my favorite fashion rags, French Vogue.<br> <br> The fashion spreads: Here is where one sees the biggest change in the new and improved Elle, and everything &mdash; the styling, the photography, the concepts, the narratives &mdash; is exceptional. In fact, the opening fashion spread, "Bright Young Things", is so effective it compelled me to do something I have never ever not ever done before: Haul my ass to a store to buy something the day I saw it in a magazine. (Prada shoes. The price? Yeah, don't ask.) The story on Charlotte Gainsbourg, "", is equally awe-inspiring. And the "Made in America" feature was styled by Mr. Zee himself, encompassing the same cool, sporty, all-American style seen in his advertising work. (An honorable mention goes to Mr. Zee's work in Lohan's photospread: Damn! !) All of it is hilarious and fresh and young and smart and contemporary: The things that editor in chief Roberta Myers' says the new Elle has set out to be.</p> <p>The verdict: Exceptional. Gone are the redundant and increasingly banal images of the Gilles Bensimon years, swiftly replaced with the crispest, most relevant-looking American fashion magazine currently on the market. Yeah, yeah - I know my fellow Jezebels will continue to hate it for touting all sorts of "expensive shit" and the inclusion of a column featuring the fashion musings of Nina Garcia (Pregnancy! No fun 'cause you get fat!) but even they, I predict, will have to admit that this is the only book on the market worth resting their eyes on. Because in the end, if you threw all that silly "editorial" stuff in fashion magazines out the window, there's no way Elle wouldn't win the beauty pageant.</p> <p>[]</p><p><br> height="198" class="left" /&gt;Last month, Elle ran a fashion spread called 'Stand and Deliver' featuring a model wearing a pair of what appeared to be the sort of body-slimming undergarment that never fails to bestow upon us a string of urinary tract infections lasting pretty much all through the<br> summer wedding season. Glamour followed suit (pun!) this month.</p> <p>Aparently it is now acceptable to wear these things as actual clothes as long as they are made by Prada, which we think is really great for the gender, especially when we see them on role models like Christina Ricci, who as everyone knows has a long-standing super dooper relationship with her body. Now, if we could only Photoshop our thighs in real life!</p> <p>After the jump, more hot girdle-on-girl action.<br></p> <p><br> src="http://jezebel.com/assets/resources/2007/04/shorts3.jpg" width="250"<br> height="431" class="right" /&gt;Here we have the initial offending story. The<br> text reads "Assert yourself in spring's bold and body-conscious clothes and<br> fearless platform stilettos. From World War II-era maillots (note to<br> self: what the fuck are those?) and factory-worker dresses to<br> '80s-style power suits, modernized retro looks appeal to today's<br> forward-thinking set."<br> Modernized retro...that's one way of euphemizing "grandma panties"!</p> <p><br> src="http://jezebel.com/assets/resources/2007/04/shorts4.jpg" width="300"<br> height="420" class="left" /&gt;Here we have Glamour's softer and<br> decidedly de-politicized approach to the girdles as clothes trend, in a<br> fashion spread on how to dress on vacation in the inevitable situation that<br> you find yourself invited to a "sexy hedge fund manager" themed beach party.<br></p>In order to view comments on jezebel.com you need to enable JavaScript.<br> If you are using Firefox and NoScript addon, please mark jezebel.com as trusted.In order to view comments on jezebel.com you need to enable JavaScript.<br> If you are using Firefox and NoScript addon, please mark jezebel.com as trusted.In order to view comments on jezebel.com you need to enable JavaScript.<br> If you are using Firefox and NoScript addon, please mark jezebel.com as trusted.In order to view comments on jezebel.com you need to enable JavaScript.<br> If you are using Firefox and NoScript addon, please mark jezebel.com as trusted.In order to view comments on jezebel.com you need to enable JavaScript.<br> If you are using Firefox and NoScript addon, please mark jezebel.com as trusted.In order to view comments on jezebel.com you need to enable JavaScript.<br> If you are using Firefox and NoScript addon, please mark jezebel.com as trusted.In order to view comments on jezebel.com you need to enable JavaScript.<br> If you are using Firefox and NoScript addon, please mark jezebel.com as trusted.<p>A story on the challenges facing the denim line in the Wall Street Journal today helpfully reminded us of the "challenges" faced by such other and equally-ridiculous brands behind heinous Los Angeles-spawned fashion fads like Uggs, Crocs... von Dutch trucker caps. And yes, the word "challenges" is employed, because, while back in 2003 you probably thought the challenge would be wiping the words "Von Dutch" permanently from your mental cache, that part turned out to be relatively easy! And meanwhile, some bank is trying to figure out how to salvage the $20 million they invested in the business because while fashion may be fickle, the kids selling these hats say they've really tapped into the zeitgeist, that they could have the next big lifestyle brand here. (People said the same thing about Ralphie Lifshitz and those Polo shirts and what the hell are you going to do with all that cash your private equity firm raised anyway? Invest in like, "biotech" or something else that takes actual brains to understand?)</p> <p>Anyhow friends, the moral of the story is this: For every really idiotic ephemeral fashion trend out galvanizing the brainless youngsters, there are a couple of rich bankers shitting themselves about how to recoup their ill-advised investment in it. And that is probably the closest we can come to justice in the world.</p> <p>Related note: What was the last dumb trend you personally invested in? Manhattan Portage? A Prada mini-backpack? Confess here! (Also: American Apparel deep-Vs do not count because I said so.)</p> <p> [WSJ]</p>In order to view comments on jezebel.com you need to enable JavaScript.<br> If you are using Firefox and NoScript addon, please mark jezebel.com as trusted.<p>"I don't like to exploit anybody. That's not my bag. Everyone has fun on my shoots," fashion photographer Terry Richardson. But those who work with him continue to accuse him of sexual harassment, and they've told us their stories.</p><p>Last week, the Danish supermodel Rie Rasmussen , and said he abuses his position of power within the industry to sexually harass young women with impunity. "They are too afraid to say no because their agency booked them on the job and are too young to stand up for themselves," said Rasmussen. "I told him, 'What you do is completely degrading to women. I hope you know you only fuck girls because you have a camera, lots of fashion contacts and get your pictures in Vogue.'"</p> <p>Rather than defend himself, Richardson allegedly fled the scene, and instead called Rasmussen's agency to complain about her.</p> <p> wrote of an experience she had on a shoot with Richardson six years ago. When she said she wanted to keep her underwear on because she was menstruating, Peck says Richardson asked her to take out her tampon so he could play with it, and make "tampon tea." He insisted on being called "Uncle Terry," and during their shoot, Richardson unexpectedly stripped naked.</p> <p>"Before I could say 'whoa, whoa, whoa!' dude was wearing only his tattoos and waggling the biggest dick I'd ever seen dangerously close to my unclothed person (granted, I hadn't seen very many yet)." In Peck's words, Richardson eventually "maneuvered" her over to a couch in his studio, where he "strongly suggested I touch his terrifying penis." When he ejaculated, one of his assistants gave Peck a towel.</p> <p>Richardson , former model Nikki Uberti, for Shalom Harlow when Uberti was diagnosed with breast cancer at age 29.</p> <p>Following the publication of Peck's allegations, other stories of Richardson's questionable behavior at work poured forth. I heard from modeling agency bookers and former bookers, photographers (many of whom told me that they are disgusted by Richardson in part because by propagating the idea of the fashion photographer/predator, he makes their jobs harder), fashion writers, magazine editors, models of all descriptions, stylists, and others in the industry. Because of Terry Richardson's extraordinary position of power, all of these people spoke to me anonymously, for fear of losing their own jobs or being blacklisted in an industry that hates to endure any overt challenge to its power structure.</p> <p>One fashion insider says agencies "know full well Richardson's predatory behavior," but that he "is tolerated because the industry folk are just sheep. There are only a handful of photographers who have the power, a handful of editors who have the power, and a handful of clients who have the power. Everyone else just follows this small group of people." In a multi-billion-dollar industry where the product is subject to a high level of uncertainty &mdash; will this be the look of the season or will that? Will this trend take off or will that one? &mdash; people tend to cluster around the handful of people who are powerful enough to actually influence outcomes. Because Richardson carries the dual stamp of editorial approval of Anna Wintour and her French counterpart Carine Roitfeld, and because he also shoots for behemoth commercial clients like H&M, his entrenchment in the fashion pantheon is virtually complete. And that, says the source, makes him practically untouchable. "Those people in power, the women, need to take their responsibility for what happens to the girls because by booking him, they are tacitly giving their approval that whatever he does is OK."</p> <p>Several people pointed out that while Richardson shoots frequently for major titles including American Vogue, Harper's Bazaar, Vogue Paris, British Vogue, i-D, V, and GQ, he has one curious, and high-profile, exception to his editorial credits: W magazine, where Richardson's services are apparently not in demand. Two current and former W staffers confirmed that Richardson has not worked with the magazine in a while; another individual thought the most recent instance of his work appearing in the magazine dated to a Mexico City-shot story, with model Esther de Jong, in the mid-1990s November, 1996 issue.</p> <p>We've asked W's art director, Dennis Freedman, why this is so; one source heard a rumor at the time that the ban on Richardson's work was instituted because Freedman took offense at a Richardson photo of a model posed with her head in an oven. Freedman has yet to comment &mdash; &mdash; but we'll update if and when he does.</p> <p>A story from 1999, indexed , about a payment dispute Richardson had with the French label Paul & Joe, mentions that at the time, Kate Betts "seems to have put an end to [Richardson's] short-lived stint at Harper's Bazaar." Betts, who now writes for Time, was editor-in-chief of Harper's Bazaar from June, 1999, until June, 2001, and it was only under the reign of her successor, Glenda Bailey, that Richardson's work returned to the fore. (Richardson shot three covers for the magazine, counting subscriber covers, in 2009 alone.) Betts claimed not to recall why she didn't use Richardson during her tenure at Harper's Bazaar when I asked her about it yesterday afternoon. But there are clearly people in fashion on whom Richardson's particular charms are lost, and people who do not seek to deny, tolerate, or excuse what he does.</p> <p>Meanwhile, these stories of Richardson's behavior speak for themselves:</p> <p>I was a model in the late 90s in London, and I was booked on a Terry Richardson job for Arena Homme Plus. The shoot was at an amusement park, and I would estimate that there were 30 models in total [...] and we were told that all of us would be given an opportunity to shoot a cover try. Being familiar with Mr. Richardson's.....peccadillos, many of the models were eager to please; pleasing in this instance consisted primarily of pulling down pants, pulling up skirts, losing blouses, and a bit of finger sucking thrown in for good measure. It seemed painfully clear to me that the phantom lure of a cover try was sufficient reason for a handful of young women with waning career prospects to humiliate themselves in front of each other while Terry Richardson giggled, panted, said "That's hot," and pushed them further. During lunch, I approached him and asked him if he had any moral quandaries about exploiting the sad dreams of models who hadn't yet made it and probably never would. I asked him if he realized that they were enacting what they believed were his expectations and fantasies in order to gain his favor and hence gain a cover or a future booking. "I don't really think about that stuff," he told me. "I guess you're smarter than me."</p> <p>Indeed.</p> <p>We also heard from a woman who is friends with a stylist who used to work with Richardson. "She quit because of having to watch him sexually harrassing/abusing two (naked) teenage Eastern European models who didn't speak English &mdash; she didn't speak up and was so ashamed I don't think she did anymore styling for quite a while afterwards."</p> <p>One woman in the industry said, "People should also be asking Terry why he doesn't shoot black girls." It's true that Richardson's extensive fashion work features almost exclusively white models. In fact, I struggled to find of Richardson using a black model for a fashion story.</p> <p>The following story comes from the only source who wrote to me from an anonymous e-mail address, and who has not responded to my follow-up questions. Does this cast doubt on her allegations? It's for you to decide. I present her story here because even if it cannot be verified, it is still, I believe, worth hearing. The writer says she was 19 at the time of her Richardson shoot, which was two years ago. She took a gig she understood to be "shooting artful nudes" because she'd lost her coffee shop job and needed the income:</p> <p>He first asked me to play with myself, and just made really creepy demands.</p> <p>He said it wasn't pornish because he was shooting still shots, and when I said that I felt like he was seeing if I was just dumb, he handed me the camera and said, "Fine you should [shoot] me playing with myself."</p> <p>I mean his assistants were like, "Do you think all these celebrities would take pictures with him if it was porn?"</p> <p>Then he said to take pictures of him touching me.</p> <p>Eventually, he had me go down on him and took pictures of him coming on my face, which I had never done before, and when I went to the bathroom to clean up I could hear him and an assistant joking about it which is when I decided to never tell anyone.</p> <p>The writer says she later called Richardson and asked for the pictures not to be used. "He said I had already been paid and that I had signed the release. I just didn't want anyone to know about what I'd done and what an idiot I was to let myself be used like that."</p> <p>Sarah Hilker, who is now a freelance fine art model based in Los Angeles, was 17, and had just quit high school in order to break into modeling in New York City when she met Terry Richardson. Armed with "a perfect fake" ID, Hilker went to a party for the hipster pin-up website Suicide Girls, which was at the time planning the launch of a magazine. The party was in early 2004, and Richardson was the event photographer &mdash; in fact, it was the same event where Jamie Peck initially encountered Richardson. Hilker writes that she went to the bar where the party was being held with a friend:</p> <p>My "friend" looked at me and actually said, "It's not who you know, it's who you blow!" His friend walked me over to this nearly invisible door to the backstage where the real party was going on. I slowly opened it and walked in. The entire room STOPPED and stared at me. That immediately made me uncomfortable. In one corner there was a literal pile of SG bras and panties and the other was a small table with model release forms. Some stranger immediately grabbed me and whisked me over to the panties pile meanwhile, another person came over to me and shoved a model release form in my face. They had no interest in seeing my I.D. or even asking me any questions. I was being pushed towards the front of the line to go shoot with their panties and a blank model release form in my hands. I hadn't even had time time get undressed to put them on.</p> <p>I saw him shooting some obviously inebriated chick straddling a full naked erect guy with her SG panties pulled over to the side one hand on the camera; the other hand grabbing his cock over his pants. I'm like HOLY SHIT! I immediately backed away, ran through a bunch of drunk women, confused business people, and out the door like I had just had the worst nightmare imaginable.</p> <p>[...]To this day, I think it was one of the best decisions I've ever made.</p> <p>The point of this investigation into Richardson's behavior &mdash; which, I hope, is only just beginning &mdash; isn't to lead some kind of crusade against the photographer, but to give a voice to the many, many people who, whatever their opinions of his work or his talent, object to the way he treats many of the women he works with &mdash; as potential receptacles for his dick. In a witch-hunt, the witch is the blameless one: but Richardson, like any predator, is a powerful individual who manipulates and victimizes the weak. When they speak out against him, . The power structure protects its own. But why should sexual harassment be tolerated? How is it "daring" or evidence of one's heightened sensitivity to the "creative" life to speak up for a wealthy member of the establishment with a client list longer than the hairs of his pedo-stache? Why is Richardson the untouchable one?</p> <p>And, most importantly: Why do publications like American Vogue and companies like Prada, Gucci, and H&M think that a man who sees nothing wrong with interrupting the workday to manipulate his young models into performing sex acts on him, while his assistants look on, is worthy of continued patronage? What about that behavior is praiseworthy, Anna Wintour?</p> <p>Do you have an experience with Terry Richardson to share? .</p> <p>Irin Carmon contributed to the reporting on this story;Noorain Khan helped with the photo research.</p> <p>Photo of Terry Richardson and Eniko Mihalik . Mihalik is pictured for illustrative purposes only.</p> <p>Earlier: </p>In order to view comments on jezebel.com you need to enable JavaScript.<br> If you are using Firefox and NoScript addon, please mark jezebel.com as trusted.<p>I've been speaking out over the past few days about the looks coming down the runway, but what do the so-called, ahem, "legitimate" fashion critics have to say about Prada, Jil Sander, Giorgio Armani, Burberry, and Bottega Veneta? Eh, some things nice. Some things not so nice. Below, the fashion critics speak.</p> <p>Prada: "Deeply erotic" "some will probably declare it not their Prada cup of tea." "The colors too drab," "too sexually ambiguous." "we are struck less by her references than by her complex view of women and women's lives." - Cathy Horyn, NY Times</p> <p>"Fairies? At Prada?" "so sweetly unchallenging you (almost) can't recognize her" "literal connections between past and present were contradicted" "this is a woman who never loses the plot." -Style.com</p> <p><br> <br> "[W]eird and wonderful" "mythical" "eerily beautiful." "Full of surprises" "light and pretty fairy dresses" "took fashion on its mystery tour." "some of the loveliest summer dresses... that we have yet seen in Milan."-Suzy Menkes, IHT<br> <br> <br> Jil Sander: "Gumby-like silhouette" "supersaturated color" "ingeniously simple dresses" "light and airy" "starched or glazed" "some...so dense they looked frozen"-Cathy Horyn, NY Times</p> <p>"putting the credibility back into Jil Sander" "there are difficulties" "The crop of the jacket might work on a flat-chested beanpole model, but on a woman with a real-life bosom?" "super-skinny pants are not the most forgiving" "hot pink, orange, and vivid royal blue seems unlikely to hit the spot" -Style.com</p> <p>"[B]reaking the mode" "beautifully shocking" "vivid colors" "poetic" "in an abstract way, brilliant" "Can I handle a sheer cover-up on the subway?...Do my nipples look good in this?"-Suzy Menkes, IHT<br> <br> <br> Burberry: "[L]ean and aggressive" "slim skirts" "Chrome Hearts" "But is it fashion or just branded merchandise?" "What you don't find in this collection, really, is Mr. Bailey's distinctive voice. Instead you hear all the competing gimme demands: more luxury, more stuff on stuff." -Cathy Horyn, NY Times</p> <p>"[L]uxury warrior" "the sexiest version of Burberry yet" "an accurate riff on nineties body-con dressing" "stirrings of the heavy-metal revival" "play[s] it to an international audience"-Style.com</p> <p>"[S]ense of cool young London..had gone from the collection" "has rightly moved a long way from those checks" "skimpy ruched dresses were ultra glamorous" "But something was lost" "Bailey needs to migrate to his homebase" -Suzy Menkes, IHT<br> <br> <br> Giorgio Armani: "You've got to admire Giorgio Armani" "small jackets with silk pirate pants" "a tank dress with legs." "For him, this is fashion. And because he is Giorgio Armani, with brand power, they will find an audience."-Cathy Horyn, NY Times</p> <p>"[D]idn't pack quite the knockout punch" "some lovely clothes" "unusual pants" "endless variety of covetable tops" "I Dream of Jeannie evening jumpsuits" "less formal, but no less special" -Style.com</p> <p>"It's hard to believe that [what was] sent down his runway...had been created with the conviction that it might alter the way women think about their wardrobe" "simply too absurd" "strangely awkward shorts" "seems to have confused the source of pleasure"-Robin Givhan, Washington Post</p> <p>"[H]eavy on the bloomers and sarong-tie pants" "handkerchief hems... floated on too long" "quintessentially Armani" "his most loyal clients...might even learn to love." "a particularly gentle and elegant version of the tropical isle theme"-Suzy Menkes, IHT<br> <br> <br> Bottega Veneta: "[T]oo prosperous a brand for its designer" "plays it safe" " classic summer dresses" "more in the world than the worldliest people"- Cathy Horyn, NY Times</p> <p>"[E]xemplary illustration of...restrained, minimalist, functionalist design" "relevant" "delicious" "virtually colorless" "doesn't take a Ph.D. to analyze" "goddess draping" "you'd need a heart of stone not to think, There goes something gorgeous." -Style.com</p> <p>"[I]f women wanted their wardrobe to go unnoticed, they would...go to Banana Republic" "At Bottega Veneta...a woman...should get...more from her clothes" -Robin Givhan, Washington Post</p>In order to view comments on jezebel.com you need to enable JavaScript.<br> If you are using Firefox and NoScript addon, please mark jezebel.com as trusted.<p>A few weekends ago in the Guardian, Professor confronted the ghost of and the persistent stereotype of the dismal singleton.</p><p>Her column got it so right that I was tempted just to reproduce it here in its entirety. But Churchwell broached so many issues-about the power of stereotyping and singledom-that I wanted to discuss it in greater detail.</p> <p>Churchwell's begins:</p> <p>A survey this week – misleadingly called a "study" by some reports – found that of 2,000 [British] women in their mid-20s, a majority of those polled felt that 26 was the ideal age for marriage, and hoped to have children a year later. The implication was clear to editors across the country: Bridget Jones is back! One paper explained that young women don't want to end up "like author Helen Fielding's fictional singleton". But this isn't the return of Bridget Jones so much as the dogged survival of an insistent stereotype: women need to get married young and have babies. And judging by this survey, young women are listening.</p> <p>The editor of More magazine, which commissioned the poll, commented, "Young women today no longer want to be party girls throughout their 20s only to reach their early 30s and find they've loved and lost Mr Right. They don't want to fall into the Bridget Jones syndrome and view their future through an empty wine glass."</p> <p>"Times are changing fast," the report concluded. Changing times may sound like progress; sadly, this report represents anything but. Careers, evidently, have no place in women's plans: girls just want to have fun, and then marry Mr Right, so they'd better not wait too long or he'll slip through their fingers.</p> <p>More, incidentally, bills itself as "A comprehensive resource and community for women over 40." Part of their over-40 community spirit appears to be snarking on young women's career and marriage choices. It's the same chauvinist faux-concern women have been fed for years: we want you to be happy, but if you prioritize your own fulfillment you'll wind up miserable and aloooooone. Congrats, More magazine-you win the gold-medal for Undermining.</p> <p>Bridget Jones's Diary-the novel based on Helen Fielding's newspaper columns-was published in 1996, the year I gradated from college, moved to New York and began climbing the career ladder. Bridget was a decade older than me, but I identified with her in an aspirational way. Bridget was like the big sister whose strappy heels you might borrow for a night out; I tried on her dating-work-friendship stories as I started to create my own.</p> <p>I was one of many. Churchwell points out:</p> <p>Women who identified with Bridget Jones in the 90s didn't view her story as a cautionary tale; she represented not what they feared, but how they felt. Which, by the way, wasn't miserable, or desperate, although occasionally lonely.</p> <p>Here's a newsflash: men are occasionally lonely, too. Where are the surveys asking them what they think the ideal age is to marry and have babies? Personally, I'm waiting for the "study" that shows Ms Right is so busy pursuing her career that Mr Right needs stop playing his Wii and go find her.</p> <p>Right on. I've harped on this plenty, but it bears repeating. Society treats women as though it's our highest calling to make a man want to marry us-even if that requires giving up on education, career and financial security. It's never his responsibility to drop everything to find the right woman, or to accept her for who she is. Nor does anyone expect him to be tormented by the possibility of winding up alooooone. The stereotype of the desperate singleton with the empty wine glass and cats and a pint of ice cream is reserved only for the despised single female.</p> <p>Churchwell notes:</p> <p>The problem, again, is stereotyping. Asking "What do women want?" presumes that all women want the same thing – and the answer assumed by those who are not women continues to revolve around marriage, the home and children.</p> <p>Sadly, due to the inevitable creep of stereotyping, the answer isn't just "assumed by those who are not women." It's assumed by women too. Stereotyping is a misogynist pile-on that women also participate in, including Bridget's creator, Helen Fielding.</p> <p>Unfortunately, the evolution of Bridget Jones's story has been all too representative of the way "times are changing". In the first novel and film, Bridget was insecure, yes, but surrounded by loving friends, enjoying her work, and learning self-respect; her gentle embarrassments were endearing.</p> <p>By the second [Bridget Jones] film, in keeping with the dismal, downward spiral of recent "chick flicks"…Bridget's character was forced into increasingly degrading situations, in which her behaviour is borderline deranged. She has far less investment in her career, and is so desperate to preserve her relationship that she constantly humiliates herself. By 2005, creator Helen Fielding was writing columns in which 40-something Bridget was now desperate for a baby; persistent rumours of a third Bridget Jones film presume that her biological clock will drive the plot – and doubtless she'll be interpreted as an object lesson once more.</p> <p>This dismal downward spiral–and the fact that I find Renee Zellweger incredibly irritating–is why I gave up on Bridget long ago. Helen Fielding's vision of Bridget's life went from a knowing, funny narration of an urban professional's highs and lows to nothing but the lows, as her heroine became increasingly pathetic, neurotic and baby-hungry. Fielding went from inviting her women readers to identify with Bridget to inviting them to mock Bridget and to fear turning out like her. It's as though Fielding-and Hollywood-simply couldn't imagine a different future for Bridget: if she was single and working by her mid-thirties, she was doomed to be a joke, a fool, a lonely, regret-filled cautionary tale. It's no wonder that the later adventures of Bridget Jones failed to sell the way the original did.</p> <p>Of course, if you choose not to be like Bridget, you're no more assured of happiness or societal approval. Fictional women with successful careers who deliberately choose not marry may not be presented as pathetic and pitiable, but they are inevitably scorned in other ways:</p> <p>Meanwhile recent films such as The Devil Wears Prada, The Ugly Truth and The Proposal vilify career women as frigid and uptight, and anywhere from controlling to malevolent.</p> <p>This is why Harpy trips to the movies often result in muttered obscenities during the previews for rom-coms. It's nearly impossible to find a comedy with female characters that's not based on one of two premises: desperate single gal must cutely entrap a willing male or cold-hearted career bitch must reform herself in order to find love. PhDork has gotten to the point where she can express her utter disdain for such movies simply by frowning and flaring her nostrils. Pilgrim Soul and I still resort to outright cussing. I also bounce up and down in my seat a little. You may not want to sit next to us at your local multiplex.</p> <p>But:</p> <p>Does it matter? The standard defence is that these stories are merely stories, not a treatise on contemporary womanhood. But in aggregate, that's just what they are. It's no coincidence that a film such as last year's He's Just Not That Into You began life as a self-help book: these stories are advice manuals, and women – and men – are listening. Just ask the young women who've decided to get married 10 years younger than they might have done a decade ago.</p> <p>Well…I'm not as convinced as Churchwell that stereotypes can abolish the advances women have made. The constant toxic drip-drip of stereotypes and double standards often gnaws away at the pleasure we should be taking in our achievements.That can leave women feeling angry, confused and resentful–and rightly so. But in practical terms, are the survey's young women who want to be married by 26 actually doing that en masse?</p> <p>The , at least, says that the "play dumb and marry young lest you wind up alooooone" message is not gaining much traction. Education and work are more a priority for women than ever before, and more women now graduate from college than men. An increasing number of women are out-earning their husbands, who fail to shun them for such temerity. And professional, educated women-far from being discarded for their frigid, career-bitch ways-are getting and staying married in greater numbers than their less-educated counterparts, even as they are marrying significantly later than their foremothers did. The tired notion that a woman will wind up alone if she doesn't mate before her mid-20s certainly exists, but the data would indicate it's more a platitude than a reality.</p> <p>Despite this, stereotypes derive staying power from their familiarity. Stereotypes are hard to uproot, and they grow lots of low-hanging fruit for the entertainment industry. It's easier to create entertainment-be it novels, TV shows or movies–that play into existing stereotypes than it is to come up with an alternative. With few exceptions, Hollywood–and publishers, to a lesser extent–are so lazy and risk-averse that they keep recycling the same threadbare plots and stock characters. That invariably leads to a shucking, jiving gallery of bros, hos, ditzes and bitches, with maybe just a smidge of empowerfulment in the form of cocktails and casual sex.</p> <p>Sarah Churchwell takes a very dim view of what results:</p> <p>Social psychologists – in actual studies in the US and Europe – have identified a process called "stereotype activation", in which people characterised by a demeaning stereotype (whether sexist, racist, or any other) unconsciously fulfil it. Many experiments have shown that when a group of women and men taking a maths test are told that they will perform equally well, they do. But when women are reminded of the gender stereotypes around maths, they significantly underperform. This is the power of suggestion – and, crucially, the women weren't verbally abused, they were just patronised. What they were basically told is: "I'm sure you girls will do just fine." And you know what? They didn't.</p> <p>I'm not sure the data supports rock-bottom pessimism. There's no doubt that women are constantly receiving and absorbing harmful or unhelpful messages, including the pernicious "you'll be aloooooone" one. The truth is, women have always been assailed by such negativity; there's been no time in the history of womankind that we have not been the target of manipulative messages and pernicious stereotypes.</p> <p>The radical achievements we've made, especially over the last 100 years, put paid to the old stereotypes of women as dumb, silly and helpless. New ones have sprung up to accomodate the cultural shift–the barren career-bitch is purely a 20th century invention-but despite this, women's achievements are accelerating, not stalling. Looking at women's actions, rather than society's conventions, might prove instructive for those tempted to trot out Bridget Jones as a scare tactic–and as proof that women can't win.</p> <p>This post on the blog . Republished with permission.</p> <p>Want to see your work here? </p><p>Teen blogger Tavi Gevinson spoke this morning to a packed room of industry professionals, reporters, and marketers about the "unpredictability" of Generation Y. They wanted to know how the generation's personal qualities would make young people liable to buy things.</p><p>Gevinson, the 14-year-old , , , , , and the blogger behind the site , was addressing a conference convened by NYU professor of business Scott Galloway. Under the microscope was Generation Y, the Millennials &mdash; a generation of which I am a member, albeit one elderly enough to hear the ring of a really bad Spice Girls song (and a worse Pepsi slogan) in Galloway's event title, "Generation Next Forum: Insight Into Tomorrow's Affluent Consumer."</p> <p>The lineup consisted of a mix of old-media figures, Internet entrepreneurs, , a guy from the U.S. State Department who led the 'Text Haiti to 90999' project, America's youngest congressional candidate, a woman who gave a gripping, totally pro-sex 9-minute talk about porn culture, and a bunch of people who wanted to sell us stuff. Words like "investment," "communication," "creativity," and "transparency" were thrown around as if they had some kind of timeless meaning. Like all business seminars, a great deal of it seemed truistic and over-determined rather than insightful. Consumers like "value." They like "quality." They like products that make them feel "cool," and they like products that signify "cool" status to peers. A 19-year-old who does not use the library to write papers said, "Today, the Internet means that information is literally at our fingertips." Teen Vogue's publisher talked rapturously of her magazine's iPhone app, with its built-in e-commerce platforms, and said, "The future is here and now and we are making it happen all around us!" A man claimed, "Nobody says, 'I got it on sale' anymore. They say, 'I got this on deal.' That's the language Gen Y is using." Someone put up a slide that said, "Blogs, blogs, blogs. Nobody really cares about objectivity anymore." The editor of ReadyMade, one of the event's many praisers of "authenticity," played a clip of Bad Brains &mdash; "which unfortunately isn't there anymore." Actually, it is. It's just a John Varvatos store now.</p> <p>Tavi Gevinson got up to speak in a black high-necked dress over a Proenza Schouler tie-dyed t-shirt, brown vintage shoes, mint lace-edged socks &mdash; and a yellow Miu Miu collar, of which she said, "I can't wear it to school so I wear it whenever else I can, because it has naked people on it." Her PowerPoint slides had stills from Daria and the Mean Girls cafeteria map, the latter captioned, "Where do you fit in, Lindsay Lohan's character? HMMM?"</p> <p>Gevinson praised certain brands who she said manage their online identities well &mdash; Burberry, Prada, and Alexander McQueen, going back to 2002. Her take on Prada's recent coffee table book, "it had stills from films they've made, background information on the architects of their stores, they even have photos of the way that the bags are made &mdash; there's nothing to hide," was ; I don't think there's any way to call a self-produced work of corporate brand history an open book, although Prada successfully gives the impression of offering readers an unedited, inside take.</p> <p>"Being trendy doesn't really work [for brands] because they're over in two seconds," said Gevinson, "but then trying to sell us the whole 'edgy' thing &mdash; like, there's , where Daria concludes, 'Edgy is a term created by middle-aged, middle-brow people who try to say that they're doing something really dangerous but they're really just, you know, marketing a product that came out of lots of research and meetings.'" The audience laughed.</p> <p>Afterwards, Galloway said he wanted to give Gevinson a gift. When he was 15, he said, he hit a growth spurt &mdash; "imagine Ichabod Crane with bad acne" &mdash; and found "some form of security, in the form of fashion." He reached into his breast pocket and produced a pair of angular sunglasses. "I was the bomb in my flash blue Vuarnets," he said, and Gevinson giggled and thanked him as he handed them to her.</p> <p>Later, I went over and introduced myself &mdash; in fact, Tavi was the one who let me know, via Twitter, about the conference, and she very kindly ensured I got a ticket on her list &mdash; and she immediately hugged me and started talking about Terry Richardson, Sassy magazine, and showed off a 1992 issue of Details with Nirvana on the cover, which she had just acquired from Marisa Meltzer. Kurt Cobain looked particularly dejected in one of the photos inside. "Maybe someone just told him, 'Robert Pattinson is going to play you in a movie one day,'" deadpanned her friend Nate Erickson. Tavi was trailed by the New Yorker's Lizzie Widdicombe, whose notebook hung open, page upon page already filled. Tavi complimented my shoes and introduced me to her mother. (A prouder, more supportive parent could hardly be imagined.) We stepped out into the muggy afternoon sun of Midtown, and hugged goodbye; Tavi had to head out of town for an uncle's wedding.</p> <p> [Official Site]<br> [Official Site]</p> <p>Earlier:<br> <br> </p>In order to view comments on jezebel.com you need to enable JavaScript.<br> If you are using Firefox and NoScript addon, please mark jezebel.com as trusted.In the new film The Science Of Sexy, Dita Von Teese plays a bespectacled scientist who turns into… Dita Von Teese. Her lab coat gives way to lingerie. This movie has already been viewed over 200,000 times, but not in a theater: It's playing on . The short film is produced by Wonderbra, and, as Oliver Horton writes for the International Herald Tribune, the is having a moment. Prada has released short films, and Louis Vuitton produced one . Of course, not matter how fancy they appear to be, these "fashion films" are really just commercials.But when you're a luxury brand, you're special. You don't want to seem low-rent, like a dishwashing detergent. So you're can't just make a commercial. You've got to make a film, and it's got to be for the interwebs. Marcus Black, the editor of Specialten, a bimonthly magazine on DVD, explains: "Magazines are losing out to computers. What people are sitting in front of is where advertisers want to be." But here's the question: Does it work? Do people who wouldn't otherwise be interested in Prada see the trippy and buy a Prada bag? How about that existential crisis LV ad? (I was in a movie theater when the Louis Vuitton commercial appeared on screen and people in the audience actually hissed.) As for Dita, at least her "film" is straightforward: No mythical beasts or sense of ennui. Just a great-looking gal in well-fitting bra. Wouldn't you buy that? [International Herald Tribune] Earlier:<p>The British Fashion Awards were last night, and while the big winner was Sarah Burton of Alexander McQueen, who took home Designer of the Year, the more surprising news is that industry bigwigs signalled their increasing acceptance of celebrity-designer-WAG-Spice-Girl hyphenate ne plus ultra Victoria Beckham by giving her the Designer Brand Award. (Fashion's establishment is rarely receptive to famous folks who get an inkling they'd like to design; editors who apparently can't tell the difference between a runway show and a 9th grade lunch table and eye-rolled at one of Beckham's shows this year.) Beckham reportedly when she took the stage. She then said, "I'm sorry, I'm so rubbish," and thanked her husband and her "team" profusely. Meanwhile, in the public vote for British Style Icon, Alexa Chung beat out Kate Middleton (who was initially passed over for the shortlist, and then added a day later, after the media noticed the slight). "This is for girls who dress like awkward boys," said Chung. Presenter Kate Hudson recalled feeling "like the coolest, hippest girl in the world" when she wore Stella McCartney to the Oscars in 2001. The next morning, hungover and still Oscar-less, Hudson turned on her TV and learned "I'd made every worst-dressed list known to mankind. Later I called Stella &mdash; and we laughed our asses off." Above is Beckham, Eva Longoria in one of Beckham's dresses, and Hudson in the offending Stella McCartney. [@, ]</p> Chloe Moretz wears barrettes (rhyme!) on the new cover of Jalouse. [] Karlie Kloss, whose recently graced the Dior runway and whose disco-ball-covered ass enlivened the Victoria's Secret show (airing tonight, sigh), shows off some side-ass (is that a thing? it is now!) on the new Vogue Italia. [] Vogue Turkey put Jacquelyn Jablonski on its December cover. [] But our favorite of today's new covers has to be Magdalena Frackowiack on the front of Vogue Latin America. [] H&M has announced that its next designer collaboration &mdash; after Versace for H&M's spring collection reaches stores in the early new year &mdash; will be with the covetable Italian brand Marni. There appear to be some cute signature Marni prints, and some very nice wooden-heeled shoes. It will be at 260 stores in March. [] If you believe this random poster on Fashin who didn't provide a source for the image, this is manufactured indie singer Lana Del Ray in a Prada campaign. UPDATE: As we suspected, it's a fake. The is from a spread in Wonderland magazine. []<p>Fashion Week is here! And with it, the inevitable Fashion Week-pegged crop of even more inevitable stories about the many wondrous aspects of making clothes: The one declaring the "" underway in the way we avoid nakedness this season; the about how, thanks to modern technology LIKE EMAIL, knockoffs are making their way into stores before the real thing these days; the one about how, thanks to modern technology LIKE EMAIL (and also, photography, the Gutenberg press, etc. ) "luxury" has found an audience in such far-flung quarters as ; the about how rich people from foreign lands where clothes are also worn are "increasingly" investing in fashion companies, and finally and most surely, the about how fashion is soooo unfairly maligned and misunderstood and disregarded as being vain and frivolous and "like a Satanic cult" when truly it deserves so much credit for being meaningful and historic and, more than ever, used by its consumers as a vehicle of self-expression.</p> <p>(I couldn't decide what to blockquote. It's all pretty annoying.)<br></p> When Valerie Steele, the director of the museum at the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York, declared an interest at Yale graduate school in pursuing the history of fashion, colleagues were horror-struck. "I was amazed at how much hostility was directed at me," Ms. Steele said. "The intellectuals thought it was unspeakable, despicable, everything but vain and sinful," she added. She might as well have joined a satanic cult. And that, substantially, is how a person still is looked at who happens to mention in serious company an interest in reading, say, Vogue <br> One would have thought that few people understand this truth as well as the woman occasionally known as Hairband Hillary, who, after all, assiduously recast her image from that of demure and wifely second-banana to power-suited policy wonk, dressed to go forth and lead the free world. <br> "Even when people don't have anything," Ms. Prada said, "they have their bodies and their clothes." They have their identities, that is, assembled during the profound daily ritual of clothing oneself; they have, as Colette once remarked, their civilizing masks. <br> There is this suggestion that fashion is not an art form or a cultural form, but a form of vanity and consumerism"....Particularly in academia, where bodies are just carts for hauling around brains, the thrill and social play and complex masquerade of fashion is "very much denigrated," Ms. Showalter said. "The academic uniform has some variations," she said, "but basically is intended to make you look like you're not paying attention to fashion, and not vain, and not interested in it, God forbid." God forbid indeed!<br> In places like Silicon Valley the quest for newer and better stuff results in technology patents, a clear measure of economic robustness. Fashion innovations may be harder to patent or track, but it seems obvious that huge sectors of the New York City economy would churn to a halt if all the Project Runway types suddenly stopped migrating here in the belief that the world could be changed by the sort of innovation inherent in how a garment is cut. Long sigh. <p>To which we would like to offer more retorts than you could ever possibly read, but let's start. For one thing, less than a generation ago, the sort of "fashion" most of us would have been consuming was synonymous with Housework. That it took such a short period of time for the knockoff industry to migrate from the realm of pattern books and sewing rooms &mdash; Jesus Christ, I learned how to use a sewing machine as a kid &mdash; to the factories of Japan to the factories of Taiwan to China to Bangladesh to Laos to ever-poorer, ever less-developed economies, is a testament to how truly simple the industry is. And while there's nothing wrong with simple industries, fashion's elevation to the ranks of the economy/society's most dramatically overfetishized sectors largely on the backs of a handful of fastidious men (hello, Guy Trebay; Emeril) annoys me just a TAD, especially when it is couched in terms of expressing "individuality" otherwise-known-as-perceived-economic-and-social-status. The notion that fashion is more important than it used to be because, more than ever, the idea that one broadcasts one individual identity through clothes is thoroughly ludicrous when we are talking about an industry of mass-market wool coats produced in countries where the temperature never drops below 70 degrees that will sell at a 1000% or 500% markup depending upon whether this whole "paradigm shift" idea really catches on. But it underscores an important point: more than ever, fashion is used to exhibit &mdash; and marketed for the purposes of exhibiting &mdash; a very important component of people's identity: the extent to which they desire to signify their aspired social status to other insecure people in the most superficial manner possible. (Now people all the way in Austin, Texas are doing it!) Mere vanity and pop culture romanticism, coupled with the undeniable pleasure that accompanies such traditionally female rituals as applying moisturizer, deftly chopping peppers like Penelope Cruz in Volver, eliminating soap scum and stitching the perfect darts, were much truer reasons, IMHO, to appreciate dressing up.</p> <p>And with that, I'm about to dress myself really, really incompetently to go and witness my very first fashion show.<br> [NYT]<br> [WSJ]</p> <p><br></p>In order to view comments on jezebel.com you need to enable JavaScript.<br> If you are using Firefox and NoScript addon, please mark jezebel.com as trusted.<p><br>She didn't end up on the ground this time around, but one senses it was touch and go.</p><p>Walking on the runway is one of those things that most people who look at, think, 'Shouldn't be that hard!' and leave it at that. And that's a fine point, except for the fact that when you're wearing 6" heels, an outfit that might not fit and/or is held together with basting stitches and double-sided tape, you can't look at your feet, you've been given some nonsensical instruction like "Walk strong! But feminine! Not girly!" and you're in a darkened room where all eyes are on what you're wearing, it can get a little complicated. The fashion industry has a sort of deadline problem, in that most of the things we do only come together at the very last minute; all this past week I've been at castings witnessing designers putting together collections full of clothes that were manufactured in China but embroidered in India with knitwear done in Indonesia and leather accessories in Italy and every last bit of it is being altered, slowly, in the workroom, but first they have to pick models, and so-and-so might be confirmed for a bigger, conflicting show and in that case we'll have to go with someone else, and then the jewelry isn't ready but let's see her in that look anyway, there are decisions to be made about lighting and music and hair and makeup, photo reps and stylists just waltzing in to grovel for invitations, and are there going to be tights on the runway, what about tights, again? It's this giant, multifarious play acted out by people who mostly don't get paid very much money, and occasionally the left hand forgets what the right hand is doing.</p><p>And it's no surprise when minor disasters happen, like a poorly designed set causing a series of falls, because this is the first time all these elements were ever combined; there's no rehearsal where you find out the lighting design is going to blind the girls as they walk out, or that the last-minute alterations to that dress are going to cause it to split up the back, or that the floor is like ice under the soles of those Louboutins, so you all have to roll with it in the grand tradition of fashion experimentation. It was all the people at Leger could do, probably, to get the runway looks styled and more or less assign somewhat fitting shoes to each girl, and somewhere along the line someone didn't think about how slippery those unworn shoes might be on that shiny floor. (The same thing happened at Marc Jacobs a few seasons ago, when he used gleaming white enamel paint on his catwalk.) </p><p>The actual moment when you're on the runway is, strangely, the most zen part of a fashion show. It's the only time nobody's tugging your arm or pulling on or off your tights or mussing your hair; nobody with a headset is going to tell you where to go or what to do for those 10 seconds. It's not even long enough to form a thought as coherent as 'Make the dress look good' or 'Don't fall.' I don't know about anyone else, but my mind sort of blanks. </p><p>I imagine a fall coming in the midst of that serene mental quiet would be a tremendous shock indeed. And potentially quite painful. Monika "Jac" Jagaciak, a 15-year-old Polish model, and Karolin Wolter, a 17-year-old German whom Style.com hilariously a model who looks like she "arrived in NYC with a bit of life experience," both soldiered on admirably. Jagaciak is an industry veteran, with a Jalouse cover, an Hermès campaign, and an in a secondary market under her 24-inch belt. (And attests to the fact she can walk, should any casting directors be in doubt.) </p><p>Now, because all's well that ends well, an image gallery of what went down on the runway yesterday afternoon.</p><p>In September of 2007, it was that of all the 101 shows that took place during New York fashion week, one third employed zero models of color. Since then, we've to diversity on the every season.</p><p>We do this here at Jezebel because what we see on the runway &mdash; and who wears it &mdash; influences the faces we will go on to see in magazine editorials, advertising campaigns, and all the other images the fashion industry will create over the coming season. The models who walk in the shows are working with the stylists who matter, and being seen by the top editors. Those stylists are thinking of the campaigns, editorials, and other jobs they'll be consulting on over the coming months; the editors are thinking of their feature wells and the garments and stories and faces that might fill them. The industry at large is watching these shows and thinking: Who has buzz? Who's that new face? Who do we have to have? The runway is like a hopper that feeds the fashion industry's image-making machine. And the fact is that those images overwhelmingly feature white faces; this, we believe, perpetuates the cycle of marginalization and racism experienced by people of color.</p> <p>Even if, come spring, you don't buy any of the overpriced designer clothes fashion week notionally exists to unveil, and even if you are not a habitual reader of the hard-core fashion magazines, chances are you'll still be bombarded with the perfume ads, the Gap campaigns, and the Maybelline billboards &mdash; not to mention the garden variety ladymag editorials &mdash; that will stem from this season and its casting.</p> <p>This fashion week, there were 128 New York shows and presentations that were covered by Style.com. (We've always used Style.com as the basis for our data because it publishes look-by-look slideshows, often with models' names included, for a comprehensive swath of New York's shows.) Those 128 shows together presented 4,170 runway looks. That means 4,170 opportunities to choose a woman or girl to model that outfit.</p> <p></p> <p>3,410 of those opportunities, or 81.8%, went to white models. That means of course that 760, or 18.2%, went to models who were non-white. Non-white Latina models were used 95 times in all of fashion week, or around 2.3% of the time, and Asian models were used 296 times, or 7.1% of the time. Black models were used 353 times, or 8.4% of the time. Models of other races, like the Moroccan Hind Sahli and the Canadian model Tara Gill, who has Native American heritage, were used 16 times, or 0.4% of the time.</p> <p>Since Jezebel has been been tracking the relative diversity of New York fashion week for so many seasons, I thought I'd try and chart the last few seasons and their numbers. (We did not generate data for Spring/Summer 2009, or Spring/Summer 2010.) You will notice that this season presents a small improvement on six months ago, in terms of its diversity, but that essentially New York fashion week is right back where it was 18 months ago.</p> <p></p> <p>Lots of people within fashion will tell you that casting models is an extraordinarily complex, creative pursuit, one that requires balancing multiple subjective qualities (does this model give me the right feeling?) with more objective ones (does this model fit the clothes, and can she walk?). Some people that choosing a cast that suits a designer's creative vision is more important than taking even the most basic steps to insure that cast isn't all-white. (At least, the apologists for the status quo prefer to talk about designers and "creative visions" rather than about casting notices that say "No Ethnic Girls" and black models who say they work less than their white friends.) But why is it considered acceptable for a designer's creative vision to not include people of color? Do those designers not want any black or Latino customers either?</p> <p>This season, there were six shows and presentations that included no models of color at all. These included Philosophy di Alberta Ferretti &mdash; which is cast by the highly influential casting director Russell Marsh, who also casts for Prada and Miu Miu &mdash; as well as Mulberry, Reem Acra, and Doo.Ri. Prada, you will recall, is the Italian global luxury brand that went a decade without casting even a single black model in any of its shows. (This season, Prada had two black models &mdash; Jourdan Dunn and Melodie Monrose &mdash; present one look apiece in its 41-look collection.)</p> <p>There were also plenty of shows that had all-white casts but for one or two models. Anna Sui, Calvin Klein, Donna Karan, Jeremy Scott, Jill Stuart, Narciso Rodriguez, Rodarte, Diesel Black Gold, and Thakoon are among them. What's worrisome is that that list is thick with some of the most influential and prestigious labels in all of fashion. And they don't seem to see any use for more than a couple token models of color. Mass-market powerhouse Max Azria, via his brands Hervé Leger by Max Azria, Max Azria, and BCBG Max Azria, booked his customary nearly all-white casts, all while he was the "king of diversity in fashion."</p> <p>Who were the designers who did things better? 3.1 Phillip Lim, who hired nine models of color, and Sophie Théallet, who showed 13 of her 32 looks on models of color, were among the buzzed-about younger designers had very diverse casts. Among the old guard, Carolina Herrera (11/52), Oscar de la Renta (13/60), and Diane von Furstenberg (17/50), had the most diverse casts. Rachel Comey, Betsey Johnson, Costello Tagliapietra, Tara Subkoff's relaunched Imitation line, Jason Wu, Christian Siriano, Gwen Stefani's L.A.M.B. line, both Marc Jacobs and Marc by Marc Jacobs, and Richard Chai were also among those labels that valued diversity in their casting.</p> <p>Melodie Monrose, with 19 shows including Tory Burch and Rag & Bone, was fashion week's top black model. Shena Moulton and Joan Smalls, who booked 13 apiece, were second. Moulton was the only black model at Calvin Klein, and Smalls walked for Alexander Wang, Derek Lam, and Michael Kors, among others. The top Asian model at New York fashion week was again Liu Wen, who walked in 18 shows. Fei Fei Sun and Shu Pei Qin had 16 each. Among non-white Latina models, Simone Carvalho booked nine shows, while Juana Burga had a respectable eight. The only models of other ethnic backgrounds to speak of were Hind Sahli, who worked six shows, and Tara Gill, who booked three.</p> <p>Why doesn't fashion &mdash; especially multi-national brands whose profitability rests on convincing the largest number of consumers possible to purchase their perfumes, underwear, and diffusion lines, like Calvin Klein &mdash; have more consideration for the beauty and worth of people who aren't white? Is New York fashion week plateauing at around 82% white, no matter how much advocacy or consciousness-raising gets done, or how many trend pieces get written about this issue? Will it ever become unacceptable to put on a fashion show in a thoroughly multi-racial city like New York and not hire a single model of color? Will it ever become unacceptable to blame that choice on an alleged "creative vision"? As long as these questions remain, we'll continue to ask them, time and time again, and look for answers in seasons to come.</p> <p>Photo: Model Marilia Dutra passes Samantha Gradoville on Oscar de la Renta's runway.</p> <p>Interns Noorain Khan and Katie Luscombe contributed to this post.</p> <p>Previously: <br> <br> </p><p>There two types of fashion writers: Those who unabashedly delight in fashion because they wholly and sincerely, as the sagelike Amy Astley once put it, "love clothes" &mdash; and fashion writers hired by the newspapers of record. The latter types are not really supposed to unabashedly "love clothes" but offer highfalutin intellectual opinions on them, and at the same time, attend to the soul-crushing business of being the fattest person at every party they attend, with the possible exception of Andre Leon Talley.</p> <p>Meet Robin Givhan and Cathy Horyn. Horyn used to cover fashion for the Washington Post until 1995, when she left and was replaced by Givhan. Horyn now works for the New York Times, where she has written around a dozen stories about the DJ trio Misshapes and watched her old successor win a Pulitzer Prize. Anyway, in Sunday's Times &mdash; in the section, no less &mdash; Horyn, without naming names, took a big swipe at Givhan's careful attention to the sartorial decisions of politicians and public figures.</p> <p>First, Horyn got general.</p> There is a danger in reading too much into the fashion choices of a person, particularly a public figure. Namely, you can be wrong. <p>Then, she got personal.</p> Two years ago, a Washington Post critic castigated John Roberts and his wife, Jane, for dressing their two young children in "nostalgic costuming" when he was nominated to the Supreme Court and awaiting confirmation. The suggestion was that the Robertses were using their children's outfits to create an image of an idealized family. But to believe that is to believe that millions of American parents are abusing their kids every Sunday with seersucker and Mary Janes. <p>There are a couple of curious things about this assertion. For one, in the first two years of the Clinton presidency, when Horyn had Givhan's job, the terms "Cathy Horyn" and "Hillary Clinton" showed up in 30 separate pieces in the Washington Post. Pot, meet Prada bag!</p> <p>Secondly, those Roberts kids really did look like little twerps in those clothes! Saddle shoes? Our parents dressed us like that, and if they hadn't, we probably wouldn't be so damaged now.<br> <br> And lastly, Givhan &mdash; who smartly equated fashion with sports ("you don't need either, but both are billion dollar businesses") &mdash; is generally right.</p> <p>Here's her take on Katherine Harris, in the wake of the 2000 election:</p> By the time perplexed Americans got another gander of her, she was suited up for business. Her cascade of auburn hair did a lazy Veronica Lake dip over one eye. Her lips were overdrawn with berry-red lipstick&mdash;the creamy sort that smears all over a coffee cup and leaves smudges on shirt collars. Her skin had been plastered and powdered to the texture of pre-war walls in need of a skim coat. And her eyes, rimmed in liner and frosted with blue shadow, bore the telltale homogenous spikes of false eyelashes. Caterpillars seemed to rise and fall with every bat of her eyelid, with every downward glance to double-check&mdash;before reading&mdash;her most recent "determination." <p>And on Condi Rice during a trip to Germany in 2005:</p> Rice boldly eschewed the typical fare chosen by powerful American women on the world stage. She was not wearing a bland suit with a loose-fitting skirt and short boxy jacket with a pair of sensible pumps. She did not cloak her power in photogenic hues, a feminine brooch and a non-threatening aesthetic. Rice looked as though she was prepared to talk tough, knock heads and do a freeze-frame "Matrix" jump kick if necessary. Who wouldn't give her ensemble a double take &mdash; all the while hoping not to rub her the wrong way? <p>Rice's coat and boots speak of sex and power &mdash; such a volatile combination, and one that in political circles rarely leads to anything but scandal. When looking at the image of Rice in Wiesbaden, the mind searches for ways to put it all into context. It turns to fiction, to caricature. To shadowy daydreams. Dominatrix!</p> <p>Whereas Cathy Horyn is often just wrong:</p> <p>In the "Week In Review" piece:<br></p> In a crisis, fashion produces a crisis of its own, and I can imagine how someone, riveted by the simple-mindedness of a fashion faux pas, might &mdash; oops! &mdash; overlook the fact that maybe the seamen were in the wrong place when the Iranians detained them. <p>(Didn't we, like, settle this already?)</p> <p>And here, from the Times' T Style Magazine in February:</p> As a college student in the late '70s, I bought Yves Saint Laurent, not much, maybe, but certainly I never felt harassed by the idea that my income (actually, at the time, my allowance supplemented by odd jobs) was a serious impediment to owning good clothes. Where there was a will, there was a way. <p>So yeah: The point is that you can puke now. Where there is a will and a trust fund, there is a way for us to not take you seriously! Also? We heart Robin Givhan.</p> <p> [New York Times]</p><p>As MySpace will attest blogger Faran Krentcil has many friends, one of whom works at a magazine and has an assistant they like to laugh at behind her back because she wears totally hideous outfits all the time, and sometimes they pay her false compliments just so they can get a closer look at her insane ensembles, and today she decided to post a blog about this fact, and I think you can see where this is going i.e. commenter MUTINY. Wrote one:</p> "everyone always laughs at you faran when you go out. trust me on this." <p>And another!</p> the next time someone says you look nice, do they actually mean you look like a rabbit with curls...? Because Faran is a helpful and generally nice person whose time we have wasted hours instant-message polling we decided to IM her. Was the assistant in question in danger of recognizing herself in her bitchy blind item? And if so, didn't she owe it to the internet, to society, to out the subject of the blind item in which the fashion magazine editor cuts in line at a club by telling the girl behind her ""?? Well, as for the first part: I don't think the assistant will realize it's her, no. For various reasons, but mostly because although the girl's accessories are very over-the-top, her work ethic is incredible and she's probably packing Prada samples right now, not reading blogs. And the second? We made a plea, but she wouldn't budge. So Faran, consider this your online petition. If you're going to embarrass poor misguided fashion assistants on your blog, you kind of have to embarrass the bitchy fashion editor ubercunts even more. It's called morals, or moral relativity, or something. <p> [Fashionista]</p><p>What a thrill it is, every once in a while, to read a rip-roaring take-down! Today's specimen is Reed Krakoff, the Coach designer who launched his own super-expensive namesake brand last year, who is by Ariel Levy in this week's New Yorker. Levy &mdash; whose last fashion profile was an psychological portrait of Lanvin's Alber Elbaz &mdash; seems not to have been so taken with Krakoff. </p> <p>Levy seemingly delights in relating details of Krakoff's privileged background, the contents of his Upper East Side mansion, the prattle of his guests and customers, and in quoting from various exceedingly negative reviews of his fashion collections. "Krakoff's detractors think that he is a brand architect who made a fortune at Coach by marketing middlebrow goods to barely fashionable consumers, and that he has no right to reinvent himself as a real designer," reads the indictment. Krakoff does not come across as capable of meeting that charge.</p> <p>Krakoff was sensible enough not to be drawn on Levy's questions comparing him to Tom Ford, another designer who leveraged success at an established house (Gucci) to launch an obscenely expensive line of his own &mdash; wise choice, considering we know from the Elbaz profile that Levy kinda hates Ford's "naked-man-on-bearskin-rug" aesthetic. But she manages to skewer him all the same: friends, when a journalist quotes a source pointing out that the books in his library have all been opened, you know that is a source who has been given enough rope.</p> <p>Here are eight of the most damning passages:</p> <p>SPHEROID. TOILET. That pretty much says it all, doesn't it?</p> <p> [New Yorker]</p> <p>Earlier:<br> </p><p>Last night, Sadie and I hiked through Manhattan in unseasonable wind and rain to attend Fashion's Night Out. As the stores opened to the boozehound hordes, we had many experiences that were challenging and puzzling. And some that were fun.</p> <p>At downtown boutique Opening Ceremony, the line stretched down the block. The promised customized cars, out of which designers like Rodarte (a low rider convertible) and Alex Wang (a black van) were to sell their wares were just a row of cars parked cheek by jowl on the side of the narrow street; the real action was in the store, and the entire population of Williamsburg appeared ready to wait upwards of an hour to see it. I texted a friend who works at the store &mdash; no response &mdash; then screwed up my courage to go talk to the burly security guard at the door. "I'm a reporter," I said, plaintively. "I'm here to write about this!" He looked at me skeptically. I repeated this claim to a small woman in a large fascinator and a complicated dress, who eventually waved me in.</p> <p>New Fashion Rule: If you cannot spell "Azzedine Alaïa", you should not be permitted to sell his shorts for $60.</p> <p>I'd had a weird day at the tents &mdash; at one point I was standing next to four people deadpanning conversation, all wearing sunglasses inside &mdash; so I called that affable Marxist/skewerer of frivolity/drinker, former Jezebel editor Moe Tkacik. My partner in crime for the night eventually made it into the store, and we were served big cans of Asahi by a smiling bartender in a skintight waistcoat. We looked at the people. We looked at the wares &mdash; knits covered in rickrack, jewelry that looked like animal claws &mdash; and watched as people lined up to buy Fashion's Night Out t-shirts. We drank our beers and watched the crowd. Later, we made our way to Rag & Bone, the pricey vintage store What Goes Around Comes Around, and a multi-designer sample sale at the TriBeCa Grand hotel. Sadie, on the whole a more dedicated shopper, checked out Opening Ceremony, Prada, Intermix, Banana Republic, Oak, Club Monaco, Madewell (she likes their boots!) and a couple of boutiques.</p> <p>Jenna: So! I was just writing about the scene at Opening Ceremony. What did you think of Opening Ceremony? How long was the line when you got there?<br> Sadie: The line was nuts - all the way down the block, and it didn't seem to be progressing at all.<br> Jenna: I shamelessly blagged my way in as press.<br> Sadie: The whole vibe was unpleasantly "hot club" &mdash; down to the letdown of getting in.<br> Jenna: Yes! All it needed was a velvet rope. The bouncers, the clipboard dragons. The boomboom music. It was just like a club, except inside it was brightly lit. And, you know, except that the Beatrice never tolerated anything so unseemly as an actual line outside.<br> Sadie: Well, Banana Republic actually had a 3" velvet rope!<br> Jenna: Wow. Tell me about that &mdash; I didn't go there.<br> Sadie: Ha, that was the best: they had the rope, and this poor woman in an evening gown wielding a fan &mdash; but then inside it was...Banana Republic. Open late, it's true! Did you get to Intermix?<br> Jenna: No, I missed it. I went to Rag & Bone to see my friend who works there, except the FNO iPhone app sent me to the Christopher St. store. And my friend works at SoHo. Thanks, Style.com!<br> Sadie: Oh, dear. How was R&B otherwise? Hipstered out?<br> Jenna: Actually, it had a very pleasant down-home kind of feel. I rendez-vous'd there with some friends who had just come from the gallery openings in Chelsea, and one of them lives in Japan. He kept on comparing the store's aesthetic to Japanese clothing, which I can actually totally see.<br> Sadie: Oh, definitely. Were folks shopping?<br> Jenna: You know, that classic pieces reworked and finessed, done with an eye for design, but subtle, kinda thing. But it was strange at the same time, because the store was made over as an Irish pub.<br> No, I saw very few shoppers.<br> But they had a fiddle band! And honeyed whiskey. And Guinness, from an actual keggerator. (I think.)<br> <br> Sadie: Ooh, nice!<br> Jenna: Moe and I got to talking about keggerators, because she used to live in a house that had one.<br> Sadie: I got insufficient drinks, considering.<br> Jenna: (Dude room-mates, of course.) Rag & Bone also had this neat gravity-fed whiskey autodispenser. Very technological.<br> Sadie: Ha! Now: what did you wear?!<br> Jenna: Important question, which I spent a long time thinking about before leaving the house. I wore: a green 1940s bouclé jacket with balloon sleeves and a nipped waist. It has a totally shattered lining &mdash; which meant I got it cheap &mdash; but the greatest part is it's got an awesome collar. It's self fabric on one side, and rabbit fur (I think?) on the other. And you can either let the collar fall open across your shoulders, and it looks like these awesome, structured, furry shoulderpads on the outside of your jacket. Or you can tie the collar up tighter and it forms a big muffler around your face. It came in handy because it was so cold last night! I wore it with jeans and comfortable shoes. What did YOU wear? :P<br> Sadie: Well, I changed from my actual work clothes into a fake business costume, trying to convey that "coming-from-a-cool-office" vibe. I wore this swell pair of very high-waisted pleated plaid trousers, apparently the former possession of an elderly society matron, now in a nursing home. They are about 40% ridiculous. With them, a plain blouse and some very high vintage heels. Oh, and I cut myself a possibly ill-judged ragged bang just before running out the door.<br> Jenna: Oooh, last-minute haircut. I like that. I trimmed my own hair myself the other day because it was getting shaggy in back &mdash; I'm trying to turn my pixie into a messy bob, Karen Elson c.a. 1997 kind of thing. Naturally, I thought of your post and all kinds of disastrous self-inflicted haircuts of years past.<br> Sadie: Yes, but the temptation always proves irresistible! Did you see any really noteworthy looks? (Besides those dudes voguing wildly in the window of Opening Ceremony.)<br> Jenna: I saw two great looks, actually: I dragged Moe, Japan-man, this German guy, and everyone else I was with to What Goes Around Comes Around, where they were almost out of booze but had amazing black and white cookies. And this shopgirl had on the perfect pair of jean shorts, not cut-offs but actual high-waisted vintage shorts, and a really simple silk printed blouse. And cowboy boots. It was very straightforward but the pieces looked fantastic together, and she looked comfortable, especially for someone who was standing around in 40 degree weather in shorts. Then, at the sample sale at the TriBeCa Grand, there was a beautiful woman wearing a teal suede vintage mini-dress. It had shoulder pads and a scoop neck, and it fit her perfectly. She said she'd bought it at a thrift store in Palm Beach for $4.<br> Sadie: I saw one girl whose look was so hip as to verge on dowdy, and I loved it: she had sort of Cameron-Diaz-in-Being-John-Malkovich hair, big glasses, and this maxi dress. She also looked furious.<br> I spied Lynn Yaeger, in what looked like vintage lace but might have been partly Prada.<br> Most folks were too self-consciously fashion-y in cage heels and leggings etc.<br> Jenna: Oh, man, a Lynn Yaeger sighting. I am so jealous. That Cameron Diaz in Being John Malkovich look is so hard to pull off, I always mentally nod in respect when I see it even attempted. I agree, though, in general the crowd was very skinny-destroyed-jeans, studs-on-things, chunky-heels, blouson-top, "I-totally-just-threw-this-on," either all-black or whoa-random-colors. Kind of a boring look.<br> Sadie: I complimented her, which was maybe breaking the fourth wall, because she was clearly put out by my importuning. My blouse got ripped in the crush. But hopefully everyone thought it was a deliberate twist on buttoned-up menswear. Punk edge, you know.<br> Jenna: me: Absolutely. So where else did you go?<br> Sadie: Saw a little of the Rapture's "set" at Prada...glimpsed the Miller sisters...<br> Jenna: Spy Grace Coddington?<br> Sadie: No! Sadly. I bet she left; I don't blame her &mdash; having to strand around these stores for 6 hours seems very tedious.<br> Jenna: Absolutely. Not least because nobody was buying much.<br> Sadie: I grabbed drinks at Madewell and Club Monaco, as they were en route to the hot dog truck.<br> Jenna: I guess they are hoping heavily for a sort of follow-through, now the seal has been broken.<br> I did not have any food all night! Aside from those black and white cookies.<br> Sadie: One assumes. Tell me how much actual shopping you saw, because I witnessed very little!<br> Jenna: Plenty o' booze, though. Moe and I did well on that score. Very little shopping. Some people were trying things on at the TriBeCa Grand. But most of the stores I went to were mobbed because of the entertainment/gawking/novelty factor.<br> Sadie: The atmosphere was really not conducive to shopping. And some places served red wine!<br> Jenna: Not because of actual sales opportunities.<br> Sadie: How would you characterize the atmosphere, overall? And the crowd? (Relative to the hype.)<br> me: It was really cool, actually, I enjoyed myself more than I thought I would. It was definitely fun &mdash; if occasionally ridiculous. I saw a woman in a leopard print dress and a (different) leopard print scarf at What Goes Around Comes Around. She tried on a blue sequined jumpsuit I had just browsed on the rack. It cost something like $2,500.<br> And the Opening Ceremony scene was just &mdash; nuts. The camera set-up in the store window, the prices of things, the mayhem.<br> Sadie: I mean, that was frankly kind of my idea of hell. That's why I don't go to "clubs."<br> Jenna: did you see that cardigan by Rodarte at Opening Ceremony, folded up, with two tags? One was printed and said $2,800. The other was written by hand in highlighted sharpie, and said DO NOT PICK UP RODARTE. It was the most heartbreaking thing ever. I took a picture.<br> <br> Sadie: YES! But overall: yeah, kind of fun. There was definitely a carnival atmosphere on the streets.<br> Jenna: So Moe and I went over to the mannequins and TOUCHED THE RODARTE. Rodarte is soft, it turns out.<br> <br> Sadie: NO!!!<br> Jenna: Yup, we did.<br> Sadie: Did officious publicists scream at you? Did the guys in the window stop voguing? DID YOU HURT THE ECONOMY?<br> Jenna: No! We just pawed at the pretty gothic-Stevie Nicks dresses until we were satisfied. Then drank more Asahi. Did you buy anything?<br> Sadie: Nope! (Well, except the hot dog.)<br> Jenna: I bought a gorgeous Marios Schwab dress from a vintage seller at the TriBeCa Grand. me: it's black, billowy chiffon, with polarfleece sleeves, and a strange technofabric-and-elastic boned harness that comes over the shoulders and clicks in front with a &mdash; one of those closures they use on backpacks or fanny packs, generally with poly webbing. You know? Or on bicycle helmets. It was really cool, in a sort of techno-gothic way. I'm wearing it right now! It's warm. Best of all, it was only $50. But I only had $20, so I had to get my Opening Ceremony worker friend to spot me $30 from his hidden stash of emergency money. As he said, it was clearly a Fashion Emergency. (Yuk, yuk, yuk!)<br> Sadie: That is the perfect thing to buy at a fashion event. (Besides a hot dog.) Wear it next year &mdash; maybe we can skip the lines at O.C. Assuming this hasn't fixed the economy, that is.</p><p>Ke$ha, what have you wrought? The trend for long, clip-in feather hair extensions has apparently led to such tremendous demand for rooster feathers &mdash; butt plumes make the best hair decorations, apparently &mdash; that thousands of birds are getting plucked each week. Most do not survive the plucking. Such strain is there on the nation's feather stocks that some fishing tackle stores are also refusing to sell their feathers to women, or anyone else they suspect may be not an angler, but a hair stylist. ("She brought a bunch up to the counter and asked if I could get them in pink," reports one shop proprietor. "That's when I knew.") Why can't people copy Ke$ha's relatively benign grooming choices, like bathing in glitter and glue, or the use of Jack Daniels as toothpaste instead? []</p> Ashton Kutcher Tweeted a photo of him and Demi Moore hanging out with Karlie Kloss, as well as modeling mother agents Jeff and Mary Clarke. Kutcher and Kloss were each "discovered" by the Clarkes, in Iowa and in Missouri, respectively. (Full disclosure: they used to be my mother agents, too.) [@] Solange Knowles is looking gorgeous in her new Rimmel London ads. [] Herieth Paul made the cover of Elle Canada. Cover line: "NAOMI...Move Over." Because &mdash; did you forget? &mdash; there can be only one black model in the world at a time. [] Burberry's fall campaign features all British people. [] Just when we thought we couldn't love Tavi Gevinson any more, the girl up and marches in the Chicago Slutwalk against sexual violence and victim-blaming. [, via ]<p>If you live in or are visiting New York City or its environs and you do not go see the Carsten Höller that just opened at the New Museum, I don't want to ever see your Philistine face in here again. Okay? Okay. There's a pill-clock. And one experiential piece that employs a simple sensory illusion to make you feel like your nose is growing, and then shrinking, and then growing, and the trick is so simple but so weird that I just can't stop thinking about it. There's also a huge aquarium inset with three Plexiglass alcoves, sized just right that you can lie back, stick your head in one, and look really closely at all the fish; a bird-cage mobile filled with singing finches; and an immersion tank you can float in. But really, let's cut to the chase here: you want to do the slide. It's like a trippier, colder, faster waterpark slide, and it goes right through two floors of the museum. You catch flashes of the other artworks through the glass windows in the tube, and it bottoms out in a darkened room full of flashing white neon lights. I did it three times! The people in the flashing room clap when you finish, and how long has it been since you saw that in a museum? Just because Höller's slides are all famous &mdash; Miuccia has one in her office! &mdash; doesn't make it hack-y or in any way lame to really, really love the slide. Just do the slide. Then get back to me. Don't worry, I'll wait here.</p><p> The of boxer Keisher McLeod-Wells in the New York Times today includes details about her persona as "the Boxing Diva" &mdash; she likes Gucci anything, pink Juicy Couture knee-socks, Prada platform heels, Tory Burch tops and Bulgari eyeglasses. But some of the facts from the piece are plain-old depressing:</p> <p>"There are many talented female boxers, but a lot of times, you need to have a gimmick," says McLeod-Wells. Talent is not enough? Sad. And when it comes to getting paid for a championship, it's "Maybe $8,000, $10,000," Ms. McLeod-Wells says. "It's pennies compared to a man." Sad.</p> <p>Even sadder?</p> <p>Last month, she traveled to Chiapas, Mexico, for six weeks to tape "Todas Contra México," a reality show for Mexican television about female boxers in the vein of NBC's recent show "The Contender."</p> <p>That's right! In Mexico, lady boxers have their own TV show. Americans have no such love for the females who fight &mdash; unless they're "real" housewives.</p> <p> [New York Times]<br> Related: [Official Site]<br> [YouTube]</p>Welcome to the Drag Industry Variety Awards 2008 (that's right, the DIVAs) at Sydney's Paddington Town Hall. Othelia Sharft, Fagget Roaster, Freeda Corset, Prada Tlutch and a cast of thousands channeled all the arts of man and nature in their quest for drag fabulosity. The results? Magic. The Sublime, the Ridiculous, the Gravity-Defying - after the jump!The Good:<p>With models like Crystal "Vogue Paris" Renn becoming true crossover stars, and agents like Gary Dakin of Ford+ reporting so much demand that he turns work down, it seems like the fashion industry is finally starting to recognize the beauty of bodies that aren't runway-sample-sized. Here are five we think are ripe for mainstream success. We'd love to see any one of them on the runway this fashion week.</p><p></p> <p>The 5'11" Ukraininan Alyona Osmanova came on to the international modeling scene in 2006, at the age of 18. Her agency, Supreme, listed her measurements as 33"-23"-33" &mdash; actually an inch smaller than the straight-size runway standard. Osmanova's first season was pretty much a blockbuster: she walked for designers including Marc Jacobs, Donna Karan, and Thakoon, and scored the coveted Prada exclusive. (Every season, and her casting director, , choose one girl out of the hundreds of hopeful new faces, and give that girl and her agency a pile of cash to walk in the Prada show and the Prada show only during Milan fashion week. Sometimes Prada also books the model exclusively for her show in Paris; Osmanova did both.) She went on to walk for Proenza Schouler, and Chanel and Givenchy haute couture, among many others. Over the next four years, Osmanova racked up editorial credits in the top magazines, including Vogue Italia, Teen Vogue, V, and Pop.</p> <p>But during winter last year, with New York fashion week approaching, she found could no longer keep her weight down. "I did part of Fashion Week, and I couldn't [finish] because I couldn't fit in any of the dresses," Osmanova New York's Amy Odell. "I pretty much didn't know what to do for three months or four months, and I was trying to work out and diet but I was stressing out." She heard about plus-size modeling, and signed with Ford.</p> <p>Since her switch, Osmanova has walked in the Elena Miro show in Milan, and modeled for Teen Vogue. (She told the magazine, "The body is such a unique gift, and we won't have it forever, so there's no time to hate anything about it.") Those are great bookings, but it's undeniable that Osmanova's career has slowed down significantly since her crossover to plus &mdash; which is a great shame on the industry. Osmanova is an experienced model who's worked with some of fashion's greatest talents. Why aren't more clients keen to capitalize on that? Where are all the designers and the magazines who were scrambling to book her two years ago? Where's Russell Marsh? With legs for miles and those cheekbones, if ever there were a girl destined for high fashion, Osmanova is it.</p> <p> <br> </p> <p>The striking, 6' tall bi-racial Swede Sabina Karlsson is, like Renn and Osmanova, yet another girl who struggled as a straight-size model with the industry's size restrictions, and emerged later and healthier as a plus-size model. Karlsson was first launched into the industry in 2005 at the age of 17 via the Ford Supermodel of the World competition, which the agency uses to scout for new faces. She also competed on Sweden's Next Top Model (Karlsson came second). During her first New York fashion week, Karlsson booked 12 shows, and she would go on to walk for designers including , Betsey Johnson, and Tracey Reese.</p> <p>At the time, her agency gave her hip measurement at 36", which is definitely on the larger side for a runway model, and there was some industry sniping about how Karlsson was "bottom-heavy." In 2007, she told a magazine, "It's sad that the model world requires models to be so skinny, just so they can fit the designer clothes. And, in a way, it's the designers who are pushing this problem forward &mdash; if they keep on making clothes in size zero, models will always need to be a size zero." (She claimed in the same interview to maintain her weight with healthy eating and exercise habits.) On the editorial side, Karlsson worked for American Elle (and we in Glamour), and she did ads for Madewell and American Eagle.</p> <p>Karlsson crossed over to plus-size modeling in 2010, and I her in the One Stop Plus show at New York fashion week. You can see her and Osmanova interviewed by fellow plus-size model (otherwise She Whose Cleavage Was Too Hot For Fox To Handle) . Karlsson has the kind of truly unique look that fashion ordinarily values &mdash; those freckles! that red hair! that gap! &mdash; and it would be a natural fit for her to continue doing now the kind of edgy jobs that she was booking as a teenager.</p> <p> <br> Ashley Graham</p> <p>Speaking of Ashley Graham: she's gorgeous, even if she's not so much a model to watch as a model we are already watching, and have been for a while. Ashley Graham is obviously highly photogenic, but she's also so beautiful in person that the first time I met her &mdash; at the flagship on 34th St., where I had gone to interview Crystal Renn &mdash; I was almost speechless. And I pretty much write about models and modeling for a living. Graham has lately been working up a storm: not only was her censored Lane Bryant ad a boon for her career, even before it had aired, she was already shooting for magazines including Glamour and American Vogue. (Well: American Vogue's annual "Shape" issue. Why not any of the other eleven issues, Vogue?) She is also the latest face of Levi's. Ashley Graham needs to be the face of more things, stat.</p> <p> <br> </p> <p>Marquita Pring hit my radar after her for Solve Sundsbo in V last year; she followed up last September with a trip down the catwalk for Jean-Paul Gaultier, and back-to-back Levi's campaigns. Pring is 20, and she's been modeling for several years. I think fashion needs to see more of her. Will she show up on the New York runways this season? If she does, you'll be the first to know.</p> <p> <br> </p> <p>I probably ought to disclose right off the bat that I've met Leah Kelley numerous times, and shared wine and conversation and at least one pretty terrific Mexican dinner with her. (Also she once lent me a copy of I Know This Much Is True, in the way that friends-of-friends sometimes loan one another books for extended periods, and I am afraid I have neglected so far to finish it.) But if there's one thing above all else that biases my opinion of Kelley's work &mdash; aside from her superlative trampolining &mdash; it's her beauty. And my attendant belief that this stunning blonde from Sacramento should be getting even more work than she already is. Kelley's modeled for designers including and Elena Miro, as well as clients like Nordstrom, Macy's, and . She this story of how she came to be "discovered":</p> <p>"I was 19 and in my second year of college, working for a tow truck company in Sacramento (yes, I can unlock your car or change your tire) when I was discovered. It began while I was browsing the internet, and I saw a link through MySpace for the Ford Models online submission. I did not really think very much of it, and it took about a month for a reply. I actually almost deleted the response, because I used to get a lot of emails from auction lots relating to the automotive industry, and I misread the sender as Model Fords. I ignored the email for about four days."</p> <p>Thank God she opened it. And now, will someone get this girl an editorial in Vogue Italia? Please?</p> <p>There are plenty of other great plus-size models I would love to see get more work. In addition to those mentioned above, there's Lizzie Miller, Inga Eiriksdottir, Candace Huffine, Tara Lynn, and Amy Lemons. Fashion is far from perfect &mdash; and what the industry needs to do away with, more than anything, is the notion that making room for one token plus-size model at a time is acceptable proof of "inclusivity" &mdash; but it seems that some change is happening, albeit slowly.</p><p>Flip-flops: The ultimate in comfortable warm-weather footwear? ! The little pieces of rubber are, in fact, seemingly no better than high heels, causing conditions like inflamed Achilles tendons, hammer toes, and fungal infections, amongst other things. Fun! Things may be looking up for the shoe-obsessed after the end of summer, however: The spectator shoe (or, in layman's terminology, the saddle-shoe) is apparently , thanks to, among other designers, Prada. The irony of course, is that even though they're butt-ugly, they're probably pretty good for your feet. (God, we hate it when fashion designers are right.)<br> [USA Today]<br> [LATimes]<br></p><p>Forever 21 is being sued for copyright infringement by an up-and-coming designer &mdash; again. The folks behind a line called Feral Childe allege that the California-based creepy-Christian sweatshop emporium copied one of their textile prints. This is noteworthy because while under current law garments themselves &mdash; as in patterns, "cut," construction elements, and everything else that makes a dress unique &mdash; are not copyrightable intellectual property, graphic elements that might be featured on garments &mdash; as in prints &mdash; are. Forever 21 has been sued for copying more than 50 times by designers including Anna Sui and Diane von Furstenberg; the company has always settled out of court. One trade dress infringement claim by the now-defunct label Trovata in a lengthy trial, during which the court was treated to the spectacle of Forever 21 co-founder and creative director Jin Sook Chang claiming ignorance of her company's ownership structure, of who her company's other executives are, and even of her company annual sales. Trovata later settled out of court. Feral Childe's textile design is shown at top; Forever 21's is below. []<br> Feral Childe's designers Alice Wu and Moriah Carlson say their textile design, called "Teepees," is registered with the U.S. Copyright Office. Wu says it took her and Carlson "several months" to develop the print, "starting from sketchbook drawings and then refined and edited in countless email exchanges between us until we perfected the image. This type of markmaking reflects the very particular philosophy of drawing taught at the New York Studio School, where both of us studied...We have made the image very personal and particular to Feral Childe. There are hidden pictures of teepees and crowns and pennants in the drawing that aren't necessarily apparent at first glance. How could anyone else come up with that combination?" She continues, "Whoever at Forever 21 discovered our print and decided to co-opt it wasn't looking closely and probably just assumed this was just an abstract 'scratch print' and didn't notice our hidden pictures." []<br> Meanwhile, this morning Lazaro Hernandez of Proenza Schouler, a Harvard law professor, and a spokesperson for the American Apparel & Footwear Association, an industry lobbying group, testified before Congress in support of the proposed Innovative Design Protection and Piracy Act. The IDPPA would extend limited copyright protection to clothing itself when a designer's work was deliberately copied by someone who had access to or was aware of the original, resulting in a copy that is "substantially identical" to the original. Council of Fashion Designers of America president Steven Kolb says the proposed law, which was developed with Senator Chuck Schumer, is necessary "because we see the vulnerability of designers, particularly young designers and small business owners and the consequences of their ideas, intellectual property and creativity being taken from them and how it impacts their ability to manufacture their collections and grow their businesses." Indeed, behemoths like Forever 21 have a preference for copying the work of younger and less-established designers, because they are less likely to be protected by a phalanx of scary litigators, like, say, Louis Vuitton and Chanel are. []<br> You can read Hernandez' congressional testimony along with all the witnesses' testimony here. []</p> Justin Bieber's perfume Someday has broken all sales records. In less than three weeks, it's rung up more than $3 million at Macy's. At this rate, it is on track to become the top-selling perfume of 2011. Previously, Beyoncé's Heat was considered the top-selling celebrity perfume at launch. Heat did $3 million in its first month. [] Taylor Swift Has Laryngitis, Also A Perfume. [] Jane Lynch and her wife are in a Vogue spread. [] Karen Elson and Raquel Zimmerman star in the fall Lanvin campaign, which was shot by Steven Meisel. [] Jefferey Campbell knocked off the Prada creeper-brogue hybrid. Point the first: this isn't even a very accurate copy. (Holly Shoes a version that included both that band of hemp and the treaded soles, neither of which Jeffery Campbell could apparently be bothered to get right.) Point the second: Still ugly. [] The Olsen twins' handbag line includes this backpack that costs $39,000. Barneys New York fashion director Amanda Brooks says the backpack is "super triple chic." She continued, "I think if you were every going to spend $39,000 on a bag, that's the bag you should buy because I think you'd wear it for a really long time." Simon Doonan, Barneys creative director, however says backpacks aren't for him. "I never was a backpack person. My gay sister was always working a backpack and it's a little too hearty for me." Two of the $39,000 backpacks have already been pre-ordered. [] Michele Lamy, the wife and muse of Rick Owens, has an unusual background. She studied law, worked as a stripper, protested in Paris in May 1968, and responds to questions about whether she has an interest in the occult by saying, "Belief is a way to express a memory of your genes." She has a couple gold-plated teeth and does her nails with a henna-like vegetable dye. (Women in Morocco and the Middle East do this, too, but with actual henna.) [] Here is a gallery of fashion photos of (mostly) models eating pasta. []<p>"Prada is selling their products to women, yet they are abusing hard working females who supported their company for decades." for telling her to fire corporate employees it deemed "unattractive," .</p><p>Bovrisse's case , after arbitration &mdash; a compulsory precursor step to filing a wrongful termination lawsuit in Japan &mdash; failed to result in any resolution. Bovrisse, who has worked in the luxury goods industry for nearly 20 years, including lengthy stints at Louis Vuitton and at Prada in New York, claims that within months of being hired as a senior regional manager by Prada in Japan, 15 women managers they deemed unattractive or too old.</p> <p>"[M]ost of the female employees at Prada Japan distant themselves from me in fear of getting fired too," says Bovrisse. "They reminded me of women repressed of their rights decades ago. That was when I was like, wait a minute, this is 2010, are they for real?"</p> <p>Bovrisse says that while she complied with the directives of Prada's Japanese C.E.O., , and senior human resources manager during her first three months with the company, when she was a probationary hire, as soon as she became a permanent employee, she signaled her disagreement with the policies through the appropriate channels. The reasons offered for the demotions were that the employees concerned were "ugly, fat, old, disgusting, or with bad teeth, [or] not Sesia's & Takahashi's type," says Bovrisse. "They liked ‘cute' rather than smart, highly skilled female employees." Then higher-ups told Bovrisse to change her hair color and lose weight. Demotions, especially in combination with a transfer to a rural or undesirable store, were preferred over outright firings because the employees would often resign anyway. "This works in Prada's favor as they don't have to provide any layoff or termination package."</p> <p>"Prada is selling their products to women, yet they are abusing hard working females who supported their company for decades," says Bovrisse. And although she claims her former employers offered her a cash settlement during the compulsory arbitration, she continued her case. "In Japan, we don't fight for money, we fight for human rights."</p> <p>Discrimination based on age or looks is hardly unknown in the field of retail or in the fashion industry as a whole, although it is perhaps slightly unusual for a corporate employee such as Bovrisse to fall subject it. 's controversial "looks" policy was recently called into question when it banished , an employee with a prosthetic arm, . (It lost the discrimination lawsuit Dean brought.) And everyone knows that store employees &mdash; especially in big cities &mdash; are at least partly selected for their looks. Working in fashion, one almost expects to encounter a certain level of discrimination based on factors beyond one's own control &mdash; and yet even then, Bovrisse says what she faced at Prada was unprecedented in her career:</p> <p>It was a shock. I didn't work as a model on the runway...I worked in this industry for almost two decades worldwide and I never thought I would face anything like this. The females I respect who taught and inspired me in my career all fall into their 'not Prada look' category. Even the famous ones like Oprah/Suzy Menkes, they are not young or size 0.</p> <p>Prada eventually fired Bovrisse, first, it claimed, for taking her complaints up the chain of command beyond Japan, and later, it said, for speaking without authorization to the media. Her career is now effectively over. "Everyone knows everyone in fashion," she says. And her case &mdash; which may not succeed &mdash; is still many months away from any potential resolution. But Bovrisse believes that what happened to her was wrong, and that the world depends on people not just rolling over and taking it when the world wrongs them. "I heard Gucci just announced worldwide managers to be careful about discrimination mentioning about what happened recently to 'another luxury brand' as a case study to learn from. If it helps minimize any potential harassment and discrimination in the workplace in any or all industries, I think my enormous stress is worth it."</p> <p>A recent history of negative publicity, not to mention even a handful of high-dollar-value damages rulings, might have the kind of chilling effect that would allow the women of fashion to breathe a little easier.<br> [Fashaddix]</p> <p>Earlier:<br> </p><p>Remember of that almost-unrecognizable atrocity at left? Turns out we can blame Pascal Dangin for that. Dangin, you see, is what writer Lauren Collins, in of the New Yorker, calls "the premier retoucher of fashion photographs", a onetime hairdresser who so believes in reincarnation (symbolic, not metaphysical) that, when he moved from France to the U.S in 1989, he chose the first very flight out of Charles de Gaulle airport on the very first day of the new year.</p> <p>Many women are transformed by Dangin's computer stylus, which sits in a basement laboratory at "Box", his four-story, Manhattan Photoshop fortress: In addition to Drew, there is the trophy wife with the "flat" face and "short" legs; the shoulder blade found "in a recent project at W"; the cast of the Sopranos; Prada models; "a famous actress in her late twenties"; a "crunchy"-faced model; "another well known actress"; "an actress with a movie coming out this spring"; Kate Moss; models Liya Kebede and Raquel Zimmerman; Madonna. And then there is model Christy Turlington, who, Collins explains, "needs the least help".</p><p>Collins, interestingly (purposefully?) glosses over Dangin's flaws as adeptly as he reshapes a model's nasiolabial folds. Her interview subjects, she explains, liken him to "a translator, an interpreter, a conductor, a ballet dancer articulating choreographed steps". (She compares his work to that of painters Jasper Johns and John Currin; he is, she later explains solemnly, "savantlike".) Collins also seems almost resolutely disinterested in exploring Dangin's role in perpetuating unrealistic standards of beauty and when a photograph ceases to be a photograph and becomes, what Redbook editor Stacy Morrison , "an image": most of the critics and/or experts of photo manipulation Collins quotes are all long-dead; the only living people she does quote are all fans of Dangin; and she all but skips over the news that Dangin retouched Dove's "Campaign for Real Beauty" advertisements. And when she finally gets around to asking Dangin about the work he does and how it affects and defines those aforementioned standards of beauty, she follows his explanation &mdash; "I'm just giving the supply to the demand" &mdash; with a cynical parenthetical announcing, "fashion advertisements are not public-service announcements." (Yeah, tell that to Newsweek's Jessica Bennett, who put up on Friday, quoting a NYC stylist as saying "those young kids looking at the magazines, they're dreaming of something that doesn't exist.")</p> <p>The work Dangin does, has, not surprisingly, made him very rich. (He owns homes in Manhattan, the Hamptons, and St. Bart's; in addition to the cover portrait of Barrymore, Dangin, with the help of favorite Photoshop tools as the smudge brush, the warping tool, and the clone stamp, retouched &mdash; or "tweaked" &mdash; 107 advertisements and 36 fashion photographs in the March 2008 issue of Vogue alone.) It has also, interestingly, made him somewhat of a god among the egotistical, easily-unimpressed bigwigs in the fashion and photography industries, who defer to his whims without a second thought. His list of clients is both impressive and iconic: Steven Meisel, Patrick Demarchelier; Annie Leibovitz ("Just by the fact that he works with you, you think you're good"); Inez and Vinoodh; Craig McDean, who says he gives Dangin "carte blanche" to basically do whatever he wants. Whether Dangin enjoys all the adulation and deference that comes his way, Collins does not make clear (nor does she explore the fact that from the photographers to the photo retouchers to the art directors, images of women in fashion magazines are manipulated and decided upon by men before they ever appear before a female fashion editor's eyes.) As for the things Dangin doesn't enjoy &mdash; on the women whose photographs he alters, that is &mdash; they include the following: ropy blue veins; bony temples; fleshy chins; bumps of all sorts; big knees; "slumpy" legs; bad pores. Oh, and of course, fat asses.</p> <p>Several days later, Demarchelier returned to the studio to continue winnowing images for the show. The conversation turned to which shot to include of another well-known actress.</p> <p><br> <br> "I like her in this one, because she looks very natural," Dangin said.</p> <p>"Yes," Demarchelier agreed. "In that other pose, she looks like an actress."</p> <p>"But she's also very good here," Dangin said, of a shot that showed her partially nude.</p> <p>"Yes, she's very beautiful in that position. Do you want to cut it?"</p> <p>"No, no. I'm going to keep it for the ass," Dangin said.</p> <p>"Maybe we could redo the ass."</p> <p>"Yes, the ass is quite heavy."</p> <p> [The New Yorker]</p> <p>Related: [Newsweek]</p> <p>Earlier: <br> <br> <br> <br> </p>French Vogue editor Carine Roitfeld styled model Lily Donaldson in a doozy of an editorial for the April issue. It's a cigarette-fueled, pregnancy-padded, bottle-fed primer in that which cannot be done in Vogue's American pendant.In order to view comments on jezebel.com you need to enable JavaScript.<br> If you are using Firefox and NoScript addon, please mark jezebel.com as trusted.<p>Coming : A riches to rags flick, in which two posh sisters have to move in with their (Chicana) aunt after the death of their father. Inspired by and starring . Possibility of maid jokes: High.</p><p>"What do you think of these?" I asked my boyfriend, showing him an image of the It Shoes of the season, the Prada sandal platforms that, according to a in today's New York Observer, look "like the work of someone on acid, or at least weed". "I dunno," replied boyfriend. "Guys don't notice shoes." Women, however, do, which is why it is so very odd that this season's most-talked about accessories are the ugliest expensive shit you ever saw. So why are women shelling out the big bucks for things that might turn you to stone for looking at them, if you don't break your back walking in them? Are ugly and overpriced shoes the latest ploy by retailers to create a wealthy elite?</p> <p>Let's face it. If you are a normal person, you do not have close to $800 to spend on a pair of shoes. And even if you did, you would probably be spending it on something you could wear over and over again, or, hell, something you could wear at all. (Forget "if you have to ask you can't afford it", this is "if you have to be mobile you can't afford it.")</p> <p>"I feel horrible when my girls come in here and say, 'I can't spend this much on sandals,' " says one boutique owner, who spoke with the Los Angeles Times regarding the . "They think it's my fault, but I am paying these high prices too." Another LA boutique owner agrees. "When Chloé came on the scene, I remember noticing it. All of a sudden, every line started designing a shoe collection that was more elaborate and more expensive."</p> <p>Why do women do it? Bankrupting themselves, making their tootsies uglier and forcing pain upon themselves for some perverse pleasure gotten from owning something so impractical, so debilitating, and so (we repeat) fug? Let us the sagacious words of our favorite paper, London's Daily Mail, which explains the allure of high heels thusly: "Men like an exaggerated female figure." Yeah, my boyfriend who insists men aren't looking at my feet? Apparently he's right.</p> <p> [NY Observer]<br> [LA Times]<br> [Daily Mail]</p> <p>[Image via ]</p><p>We never tire of discussing the politics of style (or is it the style of politics?) and this country's increasingly-manic presidential campaign is inspiring lots of fashion-minded folk to weigh in. (Like Mark Fiore and his genius on Project Runway and the Clinton campaign.) The question being is, who would make a more stylish First Lady: Michelle Obama or Cindy McCain? The Guardian breaks down the two women's "qualifications" into the following categories: hairstyle, accessories, "x-factor," pre-campaign, occasion wear, and power suit. Should anyone even be evaluating these women for their preparedness for a position based on something as superficial as fashion? Probably not. But, hell, it's Friday. After the jump, we respond (in a highly partisan manner) to the Guardian's rankings and style the women for such First Lady events such as standing patiently at inauguration ceremonies and kissing sick babies in hospitals.</p> <p>Hair Cindy McCain: They say: "Cindy's is white-picket-fence hair: sprayed into submission by a ton of Elnett, she's a blonde Marcia Cross in Desperate Housewives. In fact, if the Topshop salon had "Republican hair" listed on its blow-dry menu there would surely be a picture of Cindy McCain beside it." We say: Cracked out (pill habit!) former pageant queen. What happens when the JonBenets of the world get to actually grow up. Michelle Obama: They say: "Michelle's relaxed, flicked-up bob - particularly when she's accessorising with pearls - is reminiscent of Jackie Kennedy and could also be described as deeply American." We say: ages ago. Their verdict: "[T]he Democratic bob has the edge over Cindy's neurotic blonde do, as it has more than a hint of Diana Ross (60s Supremes era) about it, and that can only be a good thing for a potential first lady. Our verdict: Michelle FTW, natch. Is this even a fair competition?</p> <p>Accessories Cindy McCain: They say: "[She's been] carrying a Chanel bag [since] 2004. OK, it's not the classic 2.55, but if memory serves, this was the shape to carry that year." We say: An expensive bag does not a woman of style make. Michelle Obama: They say: "Michelle is fighting a negative campaign in those elasticated knee-length boots with skinny mid-height heel." We say: Ain't nothing wrong with those boots. Their verdict: "Cindy has the edge....Chanel trumps LK Bennett every time." Our verdict: Someone's hitting the same pill bottle as Cindy McC? Michelle, FTW, natch.</p> <p>X-Factor<br> Cindy McCain:<br> They say: "Cindy is some way towards achieving this. Her clothing consistency is satisfying: always immaculate, with never a hair out of place."<br> We say: When you use so much hairspray that never a hair is out of place, that earns you a big red 'X', not "x-factor".<br> Michelle Obama:<br> They say: "She's starting to own the puffed sleeve - it works for her on blouses and even on a red tailored suit that she wore recently."<br> We say: Her look is great, but it's her spirit that's magnetic. That's what real x-factors are about.<br> Their verdict: "[McCain's] striving for perfection is also her un-doing: she doesn't know how to have fun with fashion."<br> Our verdict: Michelle FTW, natch.</p> <p>Pre-Campaign<br> Cindy McCain:<br> They say: "Cindy is the more seasoned competitor...and looks as if she has more of a handle on White House chic....[S]he knows the power of a colour-blocked suit, simple jewellery and what look to be Chanel two-tone shoes."<br> We say: Terrifying: Then, now, always.<br> Michelle Obama:<br> They say: "Michelle...looks sartorially unsure of herself, the pastels fighting with the austere ankle-length black skirt and long-line coat."<br> We say: Michelle's not unsure of herself. About anything. Have they never heard the woman speak?<br> Their verdict: "In politics an almost cartoon-ish approach to dressing often works best - and Cindy worked that out first."<br> My verdict: WTF?! Michelle FTW, natch.<br></p> <p><br> Occasion Wear<br> Cindy McCain:<br> They say: "Cindy, however, was a rodeo queen in Arizona in 1968 and it shows here. Hers is a look that worked for Krystal Carrington, but is less successful in the political context."<br> We say: Amen to that.<br> Michelle Obama:<br> They say: "[D]esigners will be falling over themselves to dress her if she becomes first lady."<br> We say: Amen to that.<br> Their verdict: "Michelle is the front-runner here."<br> Our verdict: Michelle FTW, natch.<br></p> <p><br> The Power Suit<br> Cindy McCain:<br> They say: "Cindy delivers a masterclass in the trouser suit...Cindy's trouser suits have nothing of the woman-in-a-man's world about them; for her they look to be a positive choice."<br> We say: They do recall that they also called her a rodeo queen, right?<br> Michelle Obama<br> They say: "Michelle understands how to work tweed...It's a fabric that can be dowdy but the cut of the suit with the nipped-in waist shows off Michelle's figure in a way that immediately neutralises any frumpiness. Miuccia Prada would be proud."<br> We say: They do know they also compared her to Jackie, right?<br> Their verdict: "It's a draw."<br> My verdict: Michelle FTW, natch. It's not even a contest.<br></p> <p><br> As we all know, if you're First Lady, you've gotta outfit yourself wholly in American designers. Here's what I think each of them should wear if they find themselves at the inauguration itself:<br> <br> All eyes would be on Michelle in this sharp blue-gray Calvin Klein sheath (l) and this Ralph Lauren ensemble (R) could easily transition from the Hill to the rodeo.<br></p> <p><br> And then at the Inaugural Ball:<br> <br> The Obamas are the party of youth and revolution! Which is why Michelle Obama would shine in this gown (L) by up-and-coming youngster Frank Tell Koblitz. (Hey, he even got a shout-out in Teen Vogue this month: If that doesn't spell "revolution" I don't know what does. Also, he's one of the only designers who that fashion isn't just for white women!) And Cindy McCain would need a dress whose volume could match her massive hair: Thank goodness for this Bill Blass (R).<br></p> <p><br> Or at a hospital, visiting sick kiddies, which is seems to be a real popular First Lady activity:<br> <br> Sparkly flowers by Peter Som would make the kids smile when worn by Michelle, and hot pink by Diane von Furstenberg for Cindy would, well, at least distract them from their pain.</p> <p> [Mark Fiore]<br> [Guardian]</p> <p>[Images via except for Frank Tell image, courtesy of Dan Lecca.]</p><p>Prada did something unusual for its men's wear show: it stocked the cast with famous actors. Willem Defoe, Jamie Bell, Adrien Brody, Gary Oldman, Tim Roth, Emile Hirsch, and Garrett Hedlund all walked around modeling Miuccia Prada's latest collection of snobby, bemedaled clothes for playboys. The Times rated them as models, and opined that Hedlund</p> <p>Committed at least two cardinal sins of modeling &mdash; first making eye contact with the audience and, second, he didn't seem to know what to do with his hands. At the end of the show, he was pretending to play piano along with the soundtrack.</p> <p>Oh, Garrett. Meanwhile, Hirsch and Bell "lacked in height," and Defoe impressed by "turning on a dime." The Times rated Adrien Brody the all-around best, possibly because he was tasked with making that red velvet overcoat with a fur collar look alluring and very nearly managed it. []</p> Taylor Swift is on the February cover of Vogue. Adele is said to be on the March cover. [] You guys. Kreayshawn is in a Marie Claire spread, and she has on Gucci. Insert own "basic bitches" joke here. [] This is a bar of gold "designed" by Jean Paul Gaultier. It weighs one ounce and costs $1,826.33, or 10% more than the current market price of gold. That's because it's designer, obviously. [] Meet Lance Corporal Dmitry Tanner, everyone. When he's not an active-duty Marine, he's a Calvin Klein model. Tanner was raised in a Russian orphanage until age 12, when he and his brother were adopted by a Maryland couple. He enlisted after high school, and was scouted by a modeling agent while off duty. His first job was to walk the Givenchy show. [] Rebecca Minkoff collaborated with Proper Attire on three designs of condoms. The accessory designer says she wanted to make "a condom that girls can feel comfortable carrying with them." [] Today is Kate Moss's 38th birthday. Many happy returns, Kate. []In order to view comments on jezebel.com you need to enable JavaScript.<br> If you are using Firefox and NoScript addon, please mark jezebel.com as trusted.<p>Fashion writer Suzy Menkes is at the International Herald-Tribune that Dior is set to announce tomorrow that Belgian-born designer Raf Simons will be taking the reins at the fashion house. Dior has been without an artistic director for more than a year, ever since longtime designer John Galliano was fired following his arrest &mdash; and eventual conviction &mdash; for using hate speech. (That would be the "I love Hitler" speech.) Although the creative interregnum has not hurt Dior's financials, the collections overseen by a former Galliano studio head did receive -to- reviews from critics. </p><p>So who is Raf Simons? He's 44, and studied industrial design, not fashion design. His training, coupled with his work for Jil Sander, a house with a strong minimalist aesthetic, means that the adjective perhaps most commonly applied to his work by critics is "architectural." Two months ago, when Simons was by the label Jil Sander, speculation that he would be in line for the job at Dior immediately followed. It took a while &mdash; and a few more turns of the rumor cycle &mdash; but today Simons , "I feel fantastic. It is one of the ultimate challenges, and a dream to go to a place like Dior, which stands for absolute elegance, incredible femininity and utter luxury."</p>In order to view comments on jezebel.com you need to enable JavaScript.<br> If you are using Firefox and NoScript addon, please mark jezebel.com as trusted.In order to view comments on jezebel.com you need to enable JavaScript.<br> If you are using Firefox and NoScript addon, please mark jezebel.com as trusted.<p>The backlash over Anna Wintour's political activities &mdash; the Vogue editor is a top-tier Obama "bundler," having raised more than $500,000 for his reelection campaign, and has personally donated over $96,000 to Democratic candidates since 2004 &mdash; is here. And it is very, very sexist. On his radio show, Glenn Beck attacked Wintour and the Web ad she recently filmed for the Obama campaign (the one where she invited supporters to donate for a chance to dine with the president at a fundraiser Wintour is co-hosting with Michelle Obama and Sarah Jessica Parker) by referring to everyone's favorite hit dramedy of 2006, The Devil Wears Prada. "She was the devil part," said the radio host. "She was the person who was actually in the movie treating her co-workers... like garbage, waiting on her every whim. She is what [Obama] says capitalists are like all the time. She is everything she says the Republicans are and she's an Obama supporter." He then put on an accent to mock Wintour's pronunciation of "Mee-chelle Obahhma," and her invitation from the video: "I'm saving the best seat for you. Actually, I'm lying. You're gonna get a crumbum seat because you're part of the people." For good measure, he added, "She's not from a foreign country, she's an American." Wintour is in fact "from a foreign country" &mdash; she was born and raised in the U.K. (though she is also a naturalized U.S. citizen).</p> <p>Meanwhile, paleoconservative-with-a-Post-column John Podhoretz devoted his entire weekly rant to Wintour and her fancy-schmancy, "ridiculous," nose-in-the-air high-fashion turpitude. Podhoretz posted a still from the video, and called Wintour a "horror show" in the image caption. "The head-scratching political event of the weekend was the Obama campaign's release of a video starring that peerless political thinker and ideological visionary, Vogue magazine editor Anna Wintour," he writes. (John Podhoretz's qualifications to opine on matters political include the fact that he won Jeopardy! like five times in the 90s.) Podhoretz calls out Wintour's "relative lack of fame" compared to her co-hosts, and swoops in low for a joke about how fashion people have food issues, asking whether "the menu will include a salad of three lettuce leaves without dressing with a Tic Tac for dessert?"</p> <p>The conservative Web site the Daily Caller put a photo of Parker on its homepage under the headline, "Horse Race." The subhed: "FROM THE STABLES: Horsing around with Sarah Jessica Parker."</p> <p>That politicians sometimes host fundraising events with celebrities and figures from the media is hardly news. Mitt Romney is currently a strikingly similar celebrity dinner sweepstakes with Donald Trump in New York. "Dine with the Donald!" promises Romney's Web site. For donating $3 or more, you too can be entered to win a chance to "Ride in the Trump vehicle while in New York," get a tour of Trump Tower, and "Dine with Donald Trump and Mitt Romney." Why is Obama's dinner fundraiser getting so much negative attention? Probably because it happens to be co-hosted by two women who can be painted as frivolous, for entirely sexist reasons, thanks to their involvement with fashion. [, , ]</p> Cass Bird was shooting Shalom Harlow for an Oyster cover story when a dude with a blue mohawk who calls himself Punk Kouture wandered onto the set from the Bowery Hotel restaurant. (We are hesitant to call anyone who dines at the Bowery Hotel restaurant a "punk," but Mr. Kouture certainly went to great lengths to embody the style.) Harlow flashed him, the moment was immortalized both by Bird and by behind-the-scenes photographer Christopher Peterson. And now it's in the magazine. [] Karl Lagerfeld's book of celebrities wearing black Chanel cardigan-style jackets is here. At right: Lauren Hutton, Yoko Ono, and Kanye West. []In order to view comments on jezebel.com you need to enable JavaScript.<br> If you are using Firefox and NoScript addon, please mark jezebel.com as trusted.<p>Last night, Victoria's Secret taped its annual fashion show. There were 69 looks, including many with Swarovski crystals, Nicki Minaj and Maroon 5 performed, and celebrities a-plenty sat front-row. Backstage before the show, Candice Swanepoel said reporters always ask Victoria's Secret models about their diets. "It's always the first question: 'So! What have you been cutting out?' I understand the speculation because [the show] is about our bodies and we take such good care of ourselves so people want to know how." But to her, it feels like the questioners have an agenda. "They want to think that you're unhealthy." []<br> Speaking of which, a headline presented without comment: "From Gaining Weight to Liquid Diets, Which Victoria's Secret Angel's Pre-Show Diet and Work Out is the Craziest?" Warning: the more time you've spent reading ladymags, the less "crazy" any of these "diets" will seem. []<br> The Telegraph's take on the show:</p> <p>Unlike most fashion week runway shows, where dour faced models tend to walk passionlessly up and down so as not to distract from the clothes, here the models are encouraged to wink, wave, blow kisses and whoop up the crowd. At the end of the runway, there is more winking, wiggling &mdash; and at one point Joan Smalls pulled the rip-cord on her costume and a silver parachute inflated around her shoulders. Alessandra Ambrosio wore gold-plated wings that weighed 22lbs and were decorated with 105,000 Swarovski crystals.</p> <p>[]<br> What underwear do VS models like to wear in their own time? Men's superhero underwear, if you're Anne Vyalitsyna, who commandeered her boyfriend Adam Levine's underthings. "He had an amazing collection of superhero underwear that I really love, but he doesn't like to wear it anymore...Actually, I took over the whole collection. Now I wear it to go to bed." []<br> Vyalitsyna says the VS show is her favorite modeling gig. "This is the only show that's all about the girls, all about fun, and you're looking as beautiful as you possibly can. That's what makes it so special. Most of the other shows, it's about a certain look, it's about a certain mood. And here, you pretty much go and have the best time ever. But then you prepare for weeks before, that comes with a lot of hard work." Karlie Kloss agrees: "I think the only difference [from other shows] is that I get to be me. I get to smile, I get to blow kisses...I get to do anything I want on that darn runway. Usually, they're like, 'Straight forward, no swinging, no hips, stop, look straight in the camera, turn left, come back.' It's very military-like to do a Prada show, or another show." []<br> Gloria Steinem's opinion of the VS show, in case you were wondering: "Well, it's employing those women! But women's bodies are not just ornaments, they're instruments. Walk around the street and look at real people. That's much more helpful than those ads." Yes, we have reached a point in the discourse where any feminist criticism, however tepid, of the Victoria's Secret show and the kind of beauty ideal it mainlines right into America's jugular will be poorly received. "She's just jellus," etc. []</p> The Marc Jacobs perfume ad featuring Dakota Fanning and a suggestively placed bottle has been banned in the U.K. The image is too "sexually provocative." Fanning was 17 when the ad was shot. [] The Olsen twins sport some serious laceface on the cover of Vogue's annual best-dressed supplement, which is themed around sisters. Inside are Fannings, Middletons, Knowleses, Doillon/Gainsbourgs, Delevignes, Aldridges, Clarinses, and Maras. [] Women's Wear Daily's man of the week: Herman Cain. The sexual-harassiest presidential candidate gets a C for his suits, which lack a "strong shoulder," and a yellow tie that makes him "look cocky." []In order to view comments on jezebel.com you need to enable JavaScript.<br> If you are using Firefox and NoScript addon, please mark jezebel.com as trusted.Today, the reported on a sleazoid named Arzillor Raihan who's been trolling around Manhattan, posing as a movie producer in order to lure women into dressing rooms at mall-type chain stores (H&M, Banana Republic, Urban Outfitters) by promising them roles in films, all so he can cop a feel. One of the women duped by Raihan (who alternately goes by "Jay"or "Ray") was editor Olivia Allin. She about her experience with him (and also posted his cell phone number, which no longer works), in which she described spending "8 fucking hours trying on the fugliest outfits while this guy re-arranges my boobs (seriously) and plays with my hair…Yeah, I was freaked out. And yeah, I should have left sooner. But I was curious." After reading the description of this guy, it dawned on me that two Jezebel staffers had a run-in with the same dude last fall.<br> Back in October, Jennifer Gerson and I attended the Paper Magazine Nightlife Awards. She covered the event for , and I . I wrote about how this dude who approached us immediately at the entrance when we first walked in. We just thought he was some annoying networker, so we kind of forgot about him as soon as we walked away from him while he was in mid-sentence. Then after the awards, he came to bother us again, mentioning something about being in the movie business, and inviting us to a penthouse party he was throwing that night with some club owners. (The same club owners who won the big award that night for like, club owners of the year or some shit.) We never saw him with any friends; he was always alone. We were totally annoyed with him because Jennifer and I were trying to talk to each other and he kept interrupting us, telling Jennifer that he would make her famous. In the end, we literally had to tell him to go away. After I wrote about that encounter, one of the commenters on the post relayed of being sleazed upon by the same fucking dude, but for her, it was in the Prada store in SoHo. What's with this guy!? Some of the girls Raihan has groped have gone to the cops, but were basically shooed away, because his offenses "didn't amount to much more than misdemeanors." So we have to wait for him to actually rape a girl (if he hasn't already) before anything gets done? Anyway, ladies, don't go into dressing rooms with strangers, and if someone "discovering" you for a movie role seems too good to be true, it most definitely is. [NY Post] Related: Predator Alert! [Missbehave] [Gawker]Gucci designer Frida Giannini showed a fall collection that owes a heavy debt to the '70s. It includes chiffon dresses, bell-bottomed suits, and lots and lots of fedoras.In order to view comments on jezebel.com you need to enable JavaScript.<br> If you are using Firefox and NoScript addon, please mark jezebel.com as trusted.In order to view comments on jezebel.com you need to enable JavaScript.<br> If you are using Firefox and NoScript addon, please mark jezebel.com as trusted.In order to view comments on jezebel.com you need to enable JavaScript.<br> If you are using Firefox and NoScript addon, please mark jezebel.com as trusted.<p>Folks: we officially live in a world where Beyoncé's skin gets for ads and Isabeli Fontana's gets darkened. H&M is under fire from public health and cancer groups for hiring model Isabeli Fontana for its latest swimwear campaign and making her look really tan &mdash; tan in a way that many people can't achieve via healthy means. A photo of Fontana from the last time she modeled for H&M is included for comparison. We don't know if this is bronzer, fake tanner, Photoshop, or some unholy combination of all of the above &mdash; hopefully it's not a tanning bed or the sun, eek &mdash; but Fontana doesn't normally look like . Note to H&M: if you like the way your swimsuit colors "pop" against darker skin tones, these days they have models who naturally have those skin tones. At nearly all of the major agencies! Maybe hire them? []</p> Those Photoshop pranksters at Lucky give us another round of designer collaborations that aren't real (but which would be awesome). Mary Katrantzou for Lululemon, make it happen! [] Carey Mulligan listed her custom Prada Met Ball dress on eBay for charity. This &mdash; given the proceeds are going to Oxfam and given the dress is going to sell for a bajillion dollars anyway &mdash; is the only situation in which it is acceptable to bid on an eBay item that is nine days, seven hours away from being sold, FYI. (We are firm members of the Coalition Against People Who Bid Too Early On eBay, Thereby Driving Up The Price For Those Of Us Who Actually Have The Patience And Cunning To Win [And No Sniping Software, It's Unsporting, You Jerk].) [] Vogue Paris got itself an iPhone app. [] Karl Lagerfeld Tweeted this photo of his kitten, Choupette, playing with an iPad. "iPet," wrote Karl. [@]<p>H&M's capsule collection of evening wear made from sustainable fabrics hits stores today. Amanda Seyfried, Viola Davis, and Michelle Williams have already been wearing pieces from the collection on the red carpet. Dresses made of organic cotton and hemp and recycled polyester will retail for around $60-$300, which is a good deal pricier than H&M's usual wares. The collection is seen as H&M testing the waters for the new chain of more expensive stores it wants to start, which it recently announced would be named "& Other Stores." []</p> Scarlett Johansson is one for pretty heady conversation, according to her friend Stella McCartney. "We started sipping dirty martinis with some friends of hers, and she opened a debate, which was ‘Are you born a killer, or are you made into a killer?' I thought, Wow, she's not just a pretty blonde actor." [] Lindsey Wixson is now 18. Happy birthday, Lindsey. [] Crystal Renn says she dyed her hair blonde "because I think it's the last thing people would expect me to do &mdash; which is exactly why I did it. Besides, I was having a Gemini moment." What, pray tell, is a Gemini moment? "It means that you can get bored and you want a bit of a change." She also mentioned that she has "projects in the works," the implication being thanks to the new hair color. [] A pregnant Alessandra Ambrosio appears on the cover of Spanish magazine YO Dona. [] Charlotte Free, who still has pink hair, is now the face of Forever 21. [] Fashion blogger BryanBoy takes a political position more conservative than Bill O'Reilly. Huh. Also uses the word "tranny." Ugh. []<p>Call in sick, cancel your meetings, turn off your cell phone. Scarlett Johansson nude pictures have leaked. No work will get done today, since no one on earth has never seen a nipple before. Earlier this year &mdash; in March &mdash; TMZ a list of celebrities whose pictures and videos were stolen from their computers and mobile devices. Vanessa Hudgens was the focus of the investigation at the time, and even sat down with the FBI. But ScarJo was also on the list, and two noodz are online. Although: They might be fakes. But in any case, we really need to take a look at this fucked up situation: Hackers are targeting women, making their personal business public. But also: These women are taking naked pictures of themselves in an era when no personal information is safe. WTF. [ (NSFW), , ]</p> <p>Beyoncé is caring for The Greatest Fetus Of All Time&trade; with the help of BFF Gwyneth Paltrow. According to a source: "Gwyneth has known about this pregnancy for over a month and has been telling Beyonce to drink a shot of wheatgrass each morning and to rub her belly with coconut oil to prevent stretch marks. She's also advised her to meditate for an hour every day and soak her feet in ice water to prevent swelling." Apparently Beyoncé is all, girl, calm down, thank you, but I got this. []</p> <p>So you know how Jennifer Lopez and Bradley Cooper went on a "date"? Cooper didn't know it was a date. It was a business dinner, the details of which were mysteriously "leaked" to the press. As you may recall, the same thing happened in 2002, when JLo and Ralph Fiennes were filming Maid In Manhattan together. It was splashed across newspapers as a date. Fiennes later said: "I had dinner with her and her producer and her manager who's in the background of the shot as well. That didn't upset me because it was just so not true and so badly set up." Obviously Lopez's team wants her to look like she's on the prowl, post-divorce. []</p> <p>Two-month old Harper Seven Beckham looooooves Prada. []</p> <p>Anderson Cooper's new show, Anderson, hasn't been getting the kind of ratings you'd think, possibly because men's tennis was on yesterday. Come on people! Pull it together. Anderson is the new Oprah. Get on board. Start watching. []</p> <p>Volunteers at the Toronto International Film Festival have been instructed to turn and face a wall when Madonna passes &mdash; one may not gaze directly upon Her Madgesty, are you mad? []<br> Madonna's rep says: "Neither Madonna nor her security ever gave instructions for the volunteers to turn away from Madonna. In fact, she was so impressed with the volunteers that she publicly thanked them from the stage for their hard work before the premiere of her film last night which earned a standing ovation… We are still trying to figure out who and why anyone would ask the volunteers to turn away from Madonna. She has never and would never ask anyone to do that ever." []</p><p>Fourteen-year-old actress Hailee Steinfeld, who frequently wore Miu Miu and Prada on the red carpet during the awards season just ended, has been named the new face of Prada's (slightly) lower-priced line. Steinfeld is to our knowledge the youngest person ever to be featured in the brand's ads; model Lindsay Wixson was the face of the house when she was 15. Past celebrity faces have included Katie Holmes, Kirsten Dunst, Lindsay Lohan. Steinfeld's ads will first appear in August. [, ]</p> Princess Beatrice's hat is being auctioned off for charity, and with five days left to go, the price has already topped $29,000. [] Yves Saint Laurent is apparently finally selling its Touche Eclat concealer in colors that suit black and Asian skin tones. [] Mondo Guerra has a jewelry line! Everything's priced at $35-$40, and the pieces are made of plexiglass. They're not heavy. "The earrings won't give you saggy lobe," he says. And if you order anything, chances are good it will have been touched by the hands of Mondo himself: "I still live in Denver in my 500-square-foot apartment with my partner, and my studio is probably less than 200 square feet. So it's easier for me to produce this stuff, and everything that I do right now is handled by two other people and me." [] Tom Hanks and Julia Roberts are on the new cover of W. Hanks tells the magazine, "I told my agents that I wasn't going to play pussies anymore. I was tired of playing, ‘Oh, boo-hoo–I was in love, but oh, boo-hoo-hoo.' There comes an age when you can't do that any more. I wanted to play men instead of boys." Roberts says she too seeks out different roles now. "I think it's called growing up. Light and funny has a more compelling quality when you're younger. But I haven't abandoned the genre: I love ; I love Lucille Ball. It's just that a lot of those stories revolve around problems that I can't convincingly portray at this age." []<p>An objectively horrible and undeniably racist New York City hairstylist named Marina Vance called a no-show client and left her what must be one of the nastiest, most racist voicemails in the history of telecommunications. Vance said, in part:</p> <p>"I'm sure you're a fucking nigger, ah, who doesn't care for anybody's time, alright? I wish, you know what, please, that you don't show up for your appointment, ah, which is coming. Tifany with an 'F,' a fucking nigger, next time, or or a fucking Dominican bitch."</p> <p>The client, a woman named Tifany McIntosh who had been set to enlist Vance's services for her wedding day (she says she missed a preliminary appointment due to a family emergency, not that it matters because did you see that voicemail), took a racial discrimination case to the NYC Commission on Human Rights. Somewhat unsurprisingly, McIntosh won. (In fact, the hairstylist &mdash; who seemed to have such a problem with people who can't keep appointments &mdash; didn't even show up to the hearing.) The bigoted stylist, whose name again is Marina Vance, will likely have to pay a $22,500 fine. []</p> Johnny Weir wears a corset embellished with beads and rhinestones in his first MAC ads. The skater is the face of the holiday collection, "Glitter and Ice." [] Pictures of Nicki Minaj's OPI collection, due out early next year, have hit the Internet. [] This mesmerizing concealer ad featuring Rico "Zombie Boy" Genest having is probably the coolest thing you'll watch today. [] This is what the cover of Jimmy Choo XV looks like. It's a book celebrating the shoe brand's 15th anniversary this year, with pictures of 15 "iconic" designs. [] The new issue of V features a fashion spread where male models re-create snapshots from their youth, like Brad Kroenig here. [] Versace has reissued three of its printed silk shirts from the early '90s. Strangely, they are still hideous. [] Ali Lohan, in the guise of a model, is on the cover of a magazine called Fault. [] This is Nine West's first perfume, Love Fury. [] Fashionista points out that Mattel released a "Van Gogh Barbie" in June, which looks strongly reminiscent of one of Rodarte's looks from its spring Van Gogh-inspired show. Unrelated: When do we get a Claes Oldenburg Barbie? [] <br> Image via Lindsay Dean/The last time Vogue did a models cover, for the May, 2007, issue, an , which rather dulled the suspense, if not the excitement of seeing Hilary Rhoda, Doutzen Kroes, Lily Donaldson, Sasha Pivovarova, Coco Rocha, Chanel Iman, Caroline Trentini, Raquel Zimmerman, Agnyess Deyn, and Jessica Stam together under the tagline "The World's Next Top Models."<p>Even if you have about The Help, there's a good reason to applaud the film's success. Supposedly, it's confirmed the box office viability of a radical new genre: "Chick flicks" with a bit of substance.</p> <p>In the L.A. Times, Steven Zeitchik :</p> <p>Over the past few years, it's become practically a ritual that a star-driven movie about female-friendship and -empowerment come out every summer, usually in August, and usually based on a book-club favorite. Last year it was "Eat, Pray, Love;" the summer before it was "Julie & Julia." "The Devil Wears Prada" (which was released over the July 4 weekend) served the genre in 2006.</p> <p>Aside from a high likelihood of Meryl Streep showing up, Zeitchik says these films have two things in common: They "traffic in themes about female identity" and they're successful.</p> <p>There's no reason to think these movies wouldn't perform well, since they're based on bestselling novels and feature A-list stars, but Zeitchik says timing had something to do with it too. Since the mid-'90s, action movies have come to dominate the summer, and by July audiences are sick Michael Bay films. ["Never!" &mdash; The American public.] Zeitchik writes:</p> <p>After all, the people who like seeing movies about something other than explosions were still around, and they had the desire, possibly even more than ever, to see a movie aimed at them. Hollywood calls it counterprogramming, but really that's just a jargony way of saying that if there's too much of one thing, it reminds a whole group of people that they want the other.</p> <p>A more likely explanation: The female half of the population doesn't suddenly remember in early August that we like to watch films that reflect our own experiences, that's just when these movies happen to come out. According to the bestseller/strong ladies/A-list star criteria, The Blind Side should be on this list too (like The Help there's even that questionable "white lady saves poor black people" angle). However, the film came out around Thanksgiving and wasn't considered a "chick flick" because it's not humiliating for guys to watch a football movie.</p> <p>The message Hollywood should be taking from these films is that women are always interested in (at least slightly) meatier films that pass the Bechdel Test, and we have the power to make them hugely successful. Women will actually take their moms, sisters, and friends (and maybe even the men in their lives), to films that don't feature Kate Hudson as a bitchy career woman who learns about life and love from a working class guy (who may or may not take her on a madcap trip through the countryside). Though, if studio executives get stuck on the idea that they have to release a "thinking woman's chick flick" in August, so be it. We'll be happy see Hollywood produce more female-centric films, even if they're only released once a year.</p> <p> [LAT]</p> <p>Earlier: </p><p> that Winona Ryder and Christian Slater are to reunite in a sequel to the 80s cult classic mean girl movie Heathers. Although there is not a lot of info on the plot or the cast, we have a few suggestions for director Michael Lehman.</p> <p>In a recent interview with Empire magazine, Ryder discussed two of her most famous roles&mdash;Susanna from Girl, Interrupted and more importantly, Veronica Sawyer from the 1988 flick Heathers:</p> <p>"Whatever you hear, there is a sequel in the works. I swear to God," she told the magazine. "But for some reason the writer Dan Waters and director Michael Lehman don't want to talk about it. I've been wanting to do a sequel forever. There is a story, and Christian [Slater] has agreed to come back as a kind of Obi-Wan character."</p> <p>For those unfamiliar (spoiler alert!), the original film takes place in Ohio, at a fictional high school where a group of , called "the Heathers," control the student body through their cruel pranks. Three of the girls in the popular clique are named Heather, and they are led by queen bee Heather Chandler. Ryder's character, the sarcastic Veronica, is part of the group, yet still somehow separate. She becomes bored of her life in the popular crowd, and with the help of a new student, J.D. (Slater), she begins to rebel against the tyranny of the ruling class. However, the charming J.D. is actually a violent sociopath with serious mommy issues: He goes on a murderous spree, killing not only two thirds of the Heathers, but also some random meathead jocks. Eventually, he moves on to plan a mass murder of the entire high school under the guise of a suicide pact.</p> <p>The movie became a cult classic, and its not too hard to see why. It contains many of the same elements as a John Hughes film, yet with darker content. Heathers takes the revenge fantasies of every kid who has ever been tormented in high school by those who have been arbitrarily deemed popular and amps them up a notch, allowing us to enjoy watching the backstabbing and bullying of the popular crowd while simultaneously reveling in their downfall. We seem to have a cultural obsession with the bitchy, beautiful girls of high school, whose bad behavior is at once both condemned and celebrated. Is the continued fascination with the cruelty of teenagers because it's so universal, or because it somehow seems less real than the violence of the adult world?</p> <p>Anyway, we're not sure whether to be excited about the return of Ryder and Slater, or afraid of the possibility that Heathers 2 will completely mangle all the things we once loved about the original. There that the movie will follow the surviving characters (which are Veronica Sawyer, Heather Duke, and Martha Dunnstock) into college and beyond. If Veronica goes to college, we expect it will be set at a big, preppy, Ivy-esque university, where she will come into contact with some snobby sorority girls. Although there is no mention of whether Shannon Doherty will be back to play Heather Duke, we hope that someone will fill in the role of the Moby Dick-obsessed teen.</p> <p>As for casting, well, we know that Ryder will be back, hopefully playing Veronica, but here are a few mean girls we'd like to see on screen:</p> <p>Leighton Meester. This one is a no brainer. Meester has already perfected her bitch face playing Blair Waldorf on Gossip Girl, so this would surely be an easy role for her.</p> <p>Amanda Seyfried. She played the dumbest of Tina Fey's mean girls, and flexed her acting chops on HBO's Mormon drama Big Love, now lets see her bitch it out with Ryder.</p> <p>Emily Blunt. It's no secret: we love Emily Blunt. After seeing her play a supercilious fashionista in The Devil Wears Prada, we're pretty sure she could take on the role of a collegiate bully.</p> <p>As for the other characters, we think Maggie Gyllenhaal could be a great ally for Veronica in her quest to demolish social hierarchies. And although Slater is set to return as an "Obi-Wan character," we would like to nominate Ed Westwick as his Skywalker.</p> <p>Now that we've had our say, what say you? Who would you like to see duke it out in Heathers 2? And are you looking forward to the sequel, or dreading the potentially disastrous outcome?</p> <p> [People]</p>In order to view comments on jezebel.com you need to enable JavaScript.<br> If you are using Firefox and NoScript addon, please mark jezebel.com as trusted.<p>There are many glad tidings of Heidi Klum this morning. First: the supermodel-slash-AOL-blogger shot a new Got Milk? ad. []<br> And Klum is said to be posing nude for sexy new promo shots for this season of Project Runway, since Lifetime is The Sexy Channel For Women and all. []<br> Klum's line for New Balance is expanding to include six models of footwear, priced at $60-$90. []<br> And in yet more news of the German One and, um, footwear, she also has a namesake shoe line called HK by Heidi Klum, which goes on sale at Amazon today. Styles will go for $89-$159. Perhaps we underestimate Klum's appeal, but $160 is an awful lot to spend on celebrity branded shoes. []</p> This roundup of Kate Moss pictures is intended to show how she looks bloody awful now, that harridan, how dare she enjoy a drink or a smoke or a sniff of cocaine, but instead it kind of shows that Kate is freakishly ageless. Total body-snark fail, Daily Mail! []<br> Speaking of Kate photos, here's a roundup of her wearing various white dresses over the years. []<br> And an old Burberry campaign, in which she posed as a bride. [] This week, Bluefly launched a fancy new online eye wear site called Eyefly where the glasses cost less than $100. It hired Tommy Ton to shoot a bunch of fashion celebrities for the homepage, and threw a (presumably) swell launch party last night. (We were invited but couldn't attend due to a conflict.) Last year, a site called Warby Parker was launched, and it too sells fashionable glasses for less than $100 (each pair sold equals one pair donated to charity, like Toms shoes). If you look at the shots of models wearing glasses on Eyefly, some of them are identical to those on Warby Parker. Did Eyefly really steal Warby Parker's photos? What, they couldn't spring for their own model and their own photographer? [] Beyoncé's on the new cover of Essence. [] Claudia Schiffer is dreamy-looking in Prada on the new cover of Harper's Bazaar UK. []<p>Sofia Vergara had an Emmy Awards , which she later Tweeted about. Vergara's heavily beaded backless gown caused the invisible zipper to split minutes before she was to go on stage. But apparently her fiancé Nick Loeb acted like the whole thing was, like, such a drag and generally behaved like an asshole:</p> <p>According to a source, a frantic Vergara came storming through the halls with an entourage as she covered herself in Loeb's jacket. "Someone in the front was screaming ‘Wardrobe! Wardrobe!' and she was frantic and in tears," says the spy. "Nick was trailing in the back looking annoyed."</p> <p>So what did Nick Loeb do? Did he comfort his tearful fiancée? Or help her find someone to fix the dress? Nope. He allegedly complained that he needed a cigarette, and kind of implied the whole thing was her fault, saying, "Her dress got stuck on the seat and made a huge rip. Her whole fucking ass was sticking out." While an assistant (where was her stylist?) used a needle and thread to sew the zipper closed as a temporary fix, Loeb said helpful things like, "Let's go Sofia!!" []</p> This is Beth Ditto performing live at the Versus show in Milan. This video almost gets across how weird it is to watch live music at a seated fashion show: the awkward placement of the stage off to one side, so as not to obstruct anyone's view of the clothes, the dead vibe of the crowd, and the truncated, too-short set. The music rarely seems integrated into the rest of the production, just tacked on. [] Kate Upton and her cleavage are on the new cover of Jalouse. [] Upton also appears in this weird behind-the-scenes video, shot by Bruce Weber, for her CR Fashion Book cover. There are...goats. And a man dressed as a unicorn. Never change, Carine. [] Because somewhere along the line we went very, very wrong as a society, Kelly Osbourne's manicure for the Emmys cost $250,000 and was made of diamonds. [] Lea T., the Brazilian transsexual model and longtime friend of Riccardo Tisci, opened and closed the Philipp Plein show in Milan. T. had her sex reassignment surgery last year. She looks gorgeous, but frankly, she could do a little better than Philipp Plein &mdash; he's a designer best known for stunt-casting Lindsay Lohan, and Lea T. has been in Givenchy campaigns, Vogue Paris, and on the cover of LOVE. Apparently it was a runway exclusive. [] Whoops. In its profile of Chelsea Clinton, Vogue mistook a deputy assistant secretary in the U.S. State Department for an interior designer. [@]T magazine styled a fashion after Giuseppe Arcimboldo, the 16th Century Italian painter who became the focus of renewed appreciation following the Surrealists' rediscovery of his work. Who's hungry?<p>H&M just announced it'll be selling a Dragon Tattoo movie tie-in limited-edition clothing collection, in case you hadn't already assembled all the items necessary for your Lisbeth Salander Halloween costume from your local Hot Topic. Designed by the American film adaptation's costume designer, Trish Summerville, it'll hit stores on December 14 &mdash; one week before the release of the movie. "It was really great that H&M is a strong company that can afford and wanted to do some sort of collaboration with us, because it is a very controversial book," said Summerville. "They were just like, ‘Yeah, she's Swedish, she's amazing, and we want to be a part of this.' And that was so great to hear, because America has a little bit of a harder time with those kinds of issues. I mean, Americans are fine with violence but they're like, ‘Oh &mdash; sex? Strong women? We're not so sure about that.'" The most expensive item from the collection will be a $199 leather jacket. []</p> Speaking of collaborations, Lindsay Wixson runs backwards on a life-sized hamster wheel in the ad for Versace's H&M collection. [] W published an American football-inspired editorial. Meh. Mikael Jansson did it a few years ago for Vogue Paris. [] In case you were wondering, yes &mdash; it did take a lot of work to cover up Rico "Zombie Boy" Genest's full-body tattoos for that concealer ad. [] Bottega Veneta, continuing its tradition of commissioning artists to do its seasonal campaigns, tapped Brazilian photographer Mona Kuhn to shoot its Resort ads. [] Léa Seydoux, the French actress and former American Apparel model, is the face of Prada's Resort campaign. [] The Huffington Post noticed that there have been a lot of magazine covers that feature armpits recently. We find this slideshow instructive in how it shows different titles' approaches to Photoshopping pits, though. [] This Valentino pump, according to 35,000 people on the Internet who voted in a poll, is the year's sexiest shoe. []<p>Natalie Portman is nude &mdash; again &mdash; in her latest ads for Dior. Or at least she's technically "nude": all you can really see on the left there is a tasteful glimpse of shoulder, but we suppose Dior knows that the chance to put "Natalie Portman Nude" in a headline virtually guarantees the world media will take an interest in an otherwise mundane ad for overpriced makeup. The actress has also gone tastefully topless in several ads for Miss Dior Cherie perfume.</p> <p>But there's also a fake Natalie Portman nude Dior ad going around that is not part of the new campaign: it's a photo of the actress lying naked on a rug (either an old picture or a Photoshop hackjob), with a Christian Dior logo kind of half-assedly superimposed on one corner. That's the fake ad on the right. Even though it is not really convincing as a Dior ad, the Daily Mail was apparently taken in by it and the fake. []</p> This is Nicki Minaj's perfume bottle. Well, that sure is...different. [] Alexa Chung is on the cover of Japanese Numéro. She tells the magazine that she's working on a clothing line: <p>"Yes, I'm definitely going to do that. I'm looking into it right now. I've got nothing to lose, it's a bit of fun. In this current era of celebrity no one believes you actually design the stuff anyway, even though I sketch everything myself. So if it sucks I can say I had nothing to do with it, and if it's really good I can say ‘Here are the drawings, it's all my own work!'"</p> <p>[]</p> Vogue got Justin Bieber to star in this ad for Fashion's Night out &mdash; but apparently it couldn't get him to learn the event name. The Bieberator flubs it, calling it "Fashion Night Out." And in a corner office on the 12th floor, Anna Wintour plots revenge. []<br> For good measure, there's also a Fashion's Night Out ad starring Karlie Kloss, Victoria Beckham, Francisco Costa, Darren Criss, Carolina Herrera, Chanel Iman, Marc Jacobs, Liya Kebede, Solange Knowles, Michael Kors, Doutzen Kroes, Arizona Muse, Jessica Paré, Coco Rocha, Hailee Steinfeld, Alexander Wang, Kristen Wiig, Olivia Wilde and Jason Wu. [] This is one of the pieces from Grace Coddington's collaboration with Balenciaga. The collection features prints based on Coddington's own drawings of cats, and is named for the editor's cat, Pumpkin. [] Here's a photo of Sarah Jessica Parker on the Glee set in character as Isabelle, the editor of Vogue.com. Anna Wintour styled the actress's costume. [] Whatever you say, Daphne Guinness. [@]In order to view comments on jezebel.com you need to enable JavaScript.<br> If you are using Firefox and NoScript addon, please mark jezebel.com as trusted.<p> Well, it looks like those stimulus checks from the government are starting to trickle in, and everyone is going crazy about what to buy! Apparently the checks are working and were "better than expected" (it turns out when you give people money, they spend it!). However, the May deficit for the government thanks to all those $300-$600 checks made out to John and Jane Taxpayer, but who's complaining? (Besides some economists, Democrats, and others who think promoting intense consumerism is the last thing American needs?) Everyone loves (sort of not really) free money! The real question is: How did you spend the cash?</p><p>A new website called "" is devoted to people posting pictures and stories about how they spent the free government dough. A book, based on the entries received, is to come, naturally.</p> <p>Michael, from Los Angeles, spent his on a nice little vacation to a communist country (Vietnam). Apparently the spending of American dollars in communist countries was .</p> <p>There were also a lot of people who wisely spent their checks on bills, , , and other things they were in need of. One woman gave her stimulus check to her to help the poor kid start paying back all the debt the government has acquired by borrowing money from China (and using it for stimulus checks). Fun!</p> <p>Of course, there were also plenty of dumb people who spent their stimulus checks on frivolous things like luxury goods and clothes (including me, sorry mom!). One guy bought a fucking . Another guy spent his check on a pair of (from the Sunglass Hut, no less). Money well spent?</p> <p></p> <p>You decide.</p> <p>Eric, an earnest guy in Seattle, decided to spend his check on "services" because he heard they would stimulate the economy better than just buying things. He went to go see with his family. Do you think he enjoyed it?</p> <p></p> <p>Hm.</p> <p>What did you all spend your stimulus check on? Did you even get it? (Many on the Jezebel staff have not! Give these women their checks, government, there is wine to be bought!) Sadie spent hers on getting someone to clean her kitchen "really, really well." I was planning on saving mine but decided to "invest" (haha) it in some adult clothes (a Helmut Lang blazer on sale and some black pumps by Marc Jacobs). Now all I need an adult situation to wear them in!</p> <p>[]</p>It's been a while since we had a truly glorious Steven Meisel satire for a Vogue Italia cover editorial. In the past, the famous photographer has set his sights on celebrity rehab centers and extreme plastic surgery, but lately he's delivered more covers inspired by old movies and the 90s. Which is fine, but sometimes fashion likes a giggle. For January 2012, Meisel and Vogue Italia deliver for your consideration an editorial that looks like stills from a home shopping TV show.<p>Hillary Clinton totally stood up Vogue, which was going to shoot her for a cover, leaving Annie Leibovitz standing around getting paid to do nothing, according to the New York Post. Apparently her campaign decided at the last minute it would be "too glamorous," and elitist, even though she's done it before, and also, her major decider of such things, smoking hot aide Huma Abedin, just ! Oh shit! What firm, longstanding might she on next? What impassioned policy beliefs might she adjust to appeal to the fickle demands of the American electorate? Ha ha ha, just playin!</p> <p>Seriously though, on balance this was obviously a good idea, since the first time she posed for Vogue was before The Devil Wears Prada, and the writer assigned to the profile, Julia Reed, totally has a .</p> <p> [NY Post]</p>In order to view comments on jezebel.com you need to enable JavaScript.<br> If you are using Firefox and NoScript addon, please mark jezebel.com as trusted.<p>Today's Financial Times reports that French luxury goods group LVMH had , thanks in part to the Louis Vuitton "Neverfull" handbag, pictured. Additionally, Burberry also thanks to its line of handbags. In a video posted on the NY Times' website on Sunday, controversial Times columnist Deborah Solomon hits the streets of Manhattan and tries to figure out . Well, not why they cost so much, but why people are willing to spend so much.</p> <p>Solomon begins at Chanel, highlighting the venerable French brand's classic handbag ($3,150). A passerby admits that she is going to score one by simply asking her mom to buy it for her. (Gotta love spoiled New York bachelorettes!) Some Swedish tourists explain that they're shopping at Chanel because it's cheaper here than in Sweden (damn dollar!) Solomon goes on to point out that unlike a house in the Hamptons or a painting, you can take a bag with you where ever you go &mdash; so everyone can see your status symbol. Wielding a $1,700 patent purse at Prada, she asks, "when did bags start to cost as much as cars?" Actually, Ms. Solomon, it's been a while, at least since 1998, when the Fendi baguette spiked in popularity thanks to Sex And The City.<br> <br> <br> But for us, the moment of clarity comes when unnamed guy says, "You reach a level. You have a house. If you got any brains you have the house first, and then you get the Prada. But getting the Prada while you're in a small apartment? You've got the priorities wrong." Those words stung. Even though ours is Dior and not Prada. We're totally guilty of buying into the luxury brand brainwashing even though we know it's evil. We're not Carrie Bradshaw, with $40,000 worth of shoes and no savings account, but we have made some absurd purchases that made perfect sense. And what that guy doesn't understand is that we're living in a world in which we're constantly being judged. No one can see your wit from across the room. The basis of who we are begins with what we wear. And that can include a well-chosen, well-made, tasteful handbag that just happens to be expensive. Also, some of us have a . We're working on it, okay? (And by that we mean thinking about buying another bag.) Anyway, here are the top 5 rationales we use when considering expensive shit:<br></p> <p> [Financial Times]<br> [Financial Times]<br> [NY Times]<br> Earlier: </p><p>Consider the curious case of : A wildly influential designer who . A master of color who never did a makeup line. A couturier who never made an it-bag. Here's what might befall him .</p><p>Lacroix's owners, Florida-based , bought the foundering house from the LVMH conglomerate in 2005, near the height of both the real estate bubble and the luxury goods boom that easy credit helped fuel. Despite the fact that Falic was best known for its duty free retail chain, it set about an ambitious company restructuring, and opened two new U.S. stores.</p> <p>Lacroix made certain gestures toward becoming the kind of brand that produced profitable marginalia like sunglasses and perfumes &mdash; two scents were eventually produced under license by Avon, and Christian Lacroix did a designer water collaboration with Evian in 2007 &mdash; but fundamentally never became the kind of luxury brand that could turn its couture business into a loss-leader. Unlike Balenciaga and Gucci, two other houses revived by the combination of skillful collections, and then astronomical sales of handbags, sunglasses, and watches, Christian Lacroix never quite crossed over. The company restructuring and expansion was completed just as the retail economy as we knew it imploded; there can hardly have been a worse time to be in the business of selling $20,000 dresses than last fall.</p> <p>Thus the bankruptcy filing this May. Thus the . Thus the . Though during the bankruptcy court process various companies expressed interest in buying the brand &mdash; two seriously, an Emirate sheikh who , and France's Bernard Krief Consulting &mdash; neither could produce financial guarantees for the court. So the judge ruled that the Falic Group's plan to deal with the bankruptcy would be approved.</p> <p>What is the Falic Group's plan? It involves the closure of both the couture and ready-to-wear clothing lines, the firing of nearly all the company's 120 workers, and the brand's continuation only as a name to be licensed.</p> <p>The brand is not being liquidated, chief executive is keen to point out. This leaves open the possibility that another party might buy the company and revive it as a clothing line &mdash; depending on the creative team in charge, and Christian Lacroix's involvement, potentially a good option. Of course, it also leaves open the possibility that the Falic Group might license out the Christian Lacroix name to other clothing manufacturers who have nothing to do with the famed designer from Arles: it's not hard to imagine Christian Lacroix denim, Christian Lacroix lingerie, Christian Lacroix sportswear. The company executives could decide to enter territory.</p> <p>It's not known at this time whether or not Christian Lacroix &mdash; who has been working unpaid for over a year now &mdash; is intended to be among the 15-20 employees the Falic Group might keep on staff to run the licensing operation, or indeed whether or not Lacroix would want to continue his involvement with the company. But there is nothing to stop him designing for another fashion house, so long as it doesn't trade under the Christian Lacroix trademark. There's a small but tenacious number of designers who continued working in fashion after being dumped from the namesake labels they had founded: , who had the distinction of being fired from her company not once but twice after Prada bought a controlling share of the business, being one. (Sander eventually took on , and does a line of clothing, +J, with the Japanese retailer.) It's far from outside the realm of possibility that Christian Lacroix the person might continue on in fashion, even if Christian Lacroix the brand does not, or does so only under the limited terms of licensing agreements.</p> <p>It's ironic that Lacroix, one of the designers most identified with the 1980s &mdash; at least, the 1980s of pouf skirts (which he famously invented), mixes of bright colors, and graphic prints, if not the 1980s of Armani greige &mdash; should experience a business failure just as fashion tastes were flirting hard with the decade of excess. (The Fashion Spot users started , and spied convincing Lacroix-a-likes in the collections of , , , and Erdem.) Given he went 22 years without a profit, it might seem hard to argue Lacroix deserves a second chance. But to lose his talent from fashion entirely would be a terrible shame.</p> <p>Image of Nadja Auermann in a Lacroix dress from Richard Avedon's 1995 editorial "In Memory Of The Late Mr. And Mrs. Comfort", via </p> <p> [Guardian]<br> [WSJ]</p><p>In addition to its history of labor violations, Forever 21 has been sued more than 50 times for allegedly stealing the work of other designers and passing it off as their own. Despite this long legal history, Forever 21 continues to get away with it: The chain has never lost one of these cases in court.</p> <p>(Only once, in a case brought by the label Trovata, did the dispute even result in a trial. That ended in a hung jury; a lone holdout took the chain's side. Forever 21 on the eve of the retrial.)</p> <p>Forever 21 has copied everyone, from big brands like Anna Sui and Diane von Furstenberg to smaller, independent designers like Trovata, Foley + Corinna, and 3.1 Phillip Lim. The chain has most recently been sued by Feral Childe, a fashion label run by a pair of friends named Moriah Carlson and Alice Wu, for producing clothing out of a printed fabric that looks virtually identical to one of Carlson and Wu's original prints.</p> <p>Wu and Carlson say it can take months to develop just one of their textile prints. "We look for inspiration outside of fashion or textiles," they wrote in an email interview. The two share a fine arts background; they met when they were both hired to wash eggshells for an art installation. "Ideas often start with historical images, paintings, scientific illustrations, our travels or things in our everyday environment. The actual creative process consists of the two of us sitting side by side drawing and painting together, cutting up and gluing down pieces to make collages, and improvising printmaking techniques." They say that producing their own prints is "much more expensive" than buying ready-made fabrics, but they see original prints as intrinsic to their brand. "We always try to invent something we haven't seen before." Although technically copyright protection extends to any original textile print created in the U.S., registered or no, Feral Childe takes the extra step of registering each of its prints with the Copyright Office. (The process costs about $40 and can be done without the aid of a lawyer.)</p> <p>The thing is, textile prints are subject to copyright. A garment's overall design is not. "At first it boggled my mind that Forever 21 wouldn't steal the unprotected garment design, but would steal the protected fabric print," says Fordham University law professor and fashion legal expert Susan Scafidi. "Because as a legal strategy, that is a complete inversion &mdash; it makes no sense. If you're going to steal, steal the things that aren't legally protected."</p> <p>I asked if Wu and Carlson were surprised that Forever 21 apparently duplicated their print, which they named "Teepees," given that if the company had copied one of the garments the print was on, the chain would have been on much more sound legal, if not ethical, ground. "We were surprised to be copied at all, because we make what might be considered a very niche product in both print design and silhouette," the designers wrote back. "We were particularly astonished by the choice of Teepees since it is so idiosyncratic and signature Feral Childe. We like to play hidden pictures with our prints and silhouettes and there are teepees, crowns, and pennants in the print that may not be apparent at first glance." Teepees, crowns, and pennants which all appear in the exact same configurations in Forever 21's print, too.</p> <p>"Fabric prints weren't always copyrightable," says Scafidi. A court decision in the 1920s held that prints weren't subject to copyright, "but in the 1950s, the Copyright Office was expanding its scope of coverage, and one of the realizations it made was that paint on canvas or ink on paper is not that different from dye on fabric when you analyze it from a graphic perspective." Ever since, textile prints and lace patterns have been copyright. (Of course, a lot of designs are in the public domain, including basic prints like stripes, many plaids, ginghams, and houndstooth checks.)</p> <p>The effect of copyright has been largely positive for the textile industry. "It's helpful for designers who have an interest in using prints, and the wherewithal to create their own prints, to get some protection," says Scafidi. "Because they can't for their clothing designs, but they can at least for their textiles."</p> <p>Scafidi characterized Wu and Carlson's case as very strong: "My money's on Feral Childe for this one." Forever 21's print looks like it could be a photocopy of the original design &mdash; "when you get close," says Scafidi, "and you start looking at the cross-hatch marks, and the details, it really is very identical." "We're confident in our attorneys," wrote Wu and Carlson. Attorneys, they point out, who have successfully represented plaintiffs in other textile design copyright infringement cases.</p> <p>Nonetheless, "It would surprise me if this case were to go all the way to trial," says Scafidi, because Forever 21 has a big incentive to settle. Because Feral Childe registered "Teepees," that would &mdash; in the event of a trial victory &mdash; entitle them to not only actual damages, but attorneys' fees and punitive damages as well. Forever 21 has no interest in seeing that happen, and it has deep pockets with which to buy off plaintiffs. (The chain is worth around $3 billion and has 440 stores worldwide.)</p> <p>At first, said Scafidi, she was confused by Forever 21's tendency to get sued again and again over the same issues with taking other people's intellectual property. "But then over time I realized that they've been caught so many times, they've been publicly exposed so many times, they've even been sued &mdash; although many fewer times, because all they do is settle &mdash; and the lightbulb went off: this is just part of their business strategy. They go ahead and they take what they want, and when they get caught, they pay up. It's probably cheaper than licensing it in the first place." Forever 21 did not respond to requests for comment.</p> <p>Scafidi has spoken with many attorneys over the years who have pursued Forever 21 for copying their designer clients' original works, and says that the company's response is methodical, even phlegmatic. "It's not as though their attorneys are surprised and shocked that their client has been caught copying."</p> <p>When Forever 21 settles a dispute over copying &mdash; which, again, the company has done more than 50 times in its 27 years of existence &mdash; it typically includes a non-admission of guilt, financial compensation to the designer whose work was copied, and a confidentiality agreement.</p> <p>Forever 21 continues to copy because copying a dress design &mdash; even copying a dress design clearly made first by someone else, even copying a dress with stitch-by-stitch exactness &mdash; isn't in and of itself illegal in the U.S. "Because the law has been so reluctant to focus on fashion specifically as an appropriate subject for protection, has been so reluctant to acknowledge fashion as a creative medium, we &mdash; and by 'we' I mean the legal profession &mdash; have been called on to pull and stretch other areas of intellectual property to cover bits of fashion," Scafidi explained. "So trademark can be stretched to cover the label. Trade dress, a subset of trademark, stretched a little further to cover very iconic designs. Copyright pulled in to cover jewelry and to cover fabric prints, jewelry because it is like a little mini sculpture and not merely a useful article. Occasionally, patent pulled in to protect functional elements, like Velcro, or a zipper...So intellectual property sort of stretches these bits to cover parts of fashion, leaving most of fashion naked and exposed. Which is why the need for the additional law, to finally say, Look, we can cover the core as well. We can cover the central aspect of any garment, and that is its actual design, if it is indeed innovative."</p> <p>Scafidi consulted on the development of one such bill, supported by New York senator Chuck Schumer as well as fashion and retail trade groups, which is currently under consideration in the House.</p> <p>Forever 21's main competitors &mdash; retailers that share a business model built on selling rapidly mass-produced runway-inspired stock, like H&M, Zara, and Topshop &mdash; don't knock off designers' works with anything close to Forever 21's avidity, Scafidi pointed out. "They're based in Europe," she explained, where copyright protection does extend to clothing designs. This, she argues, is better for the consumer, because anyone interested in, say, "those white blazers that were all over Stella McCartney's runway last season" or "those Prada stripes" can choose between H&M's interpretation, Zara's version, and Topshop's. Making chains unable to just rip off an existing garment exactly forces them to be creative about it.</p> <p>Today in the Guardian, Do Won Chang, the co-founder of Forever 21 his take on why his company is so prone to lawsuits such as Feral Childe's. Its his vendors' fault, you see:</p> <p>I have in the past overly trusted people and was, in turn, let down by some. Since then I have learned the difference between putting faith into people and blindly trusting them.</p> <p>Maybe he should have a talk with his daughter, Forever 21 marketing executive Linda Chang so they can co-ordinate their messages, because in the same news story, Linda seemed to deny any lawsuits had ever taken place:</p> <p>"We've never settled," she says of the label's lawsuits, making unquivering eye contact.</p> <p>There's a first time for everything. Or a fifty-first.</p> <p>Earlier: </p> <p> [Official Site]<br> [Susan Scafidi's blog]</p> <p>Anna Sui image ; Betsey Johnson image ; Feral Childe print image ; DVF image ; Foley + Corinna image ; 3.1 Phillip Lim image ; T-bags image ; Trovata image .</p><p>In the olden days, magazine editors were famed for...well, I guess not a lot of them were famed so much as respected: for cultivating writers, ushering in new journalistic forms and most critically, broadening the horizons and sating the curiosities of any reader longing for a connection with the world outside themselves. But onto the present! Bonnie Fuller and Anna Wintour, the most influential, economically important magazine editors of our time, were profiled in the weekend papers in two stories from which we gleaned a new job description for those of you pining for success in this most rewarding field. Just as Wintour "taps into that core desire to be gorgeous," you see, Fuller focuses on "that prurient desire to know just a little bit more." Further explains Janice Min, Bonnie's successor at US, the job is "to almost distill the id of the reader." The Id of the reader! I remember hearing the same rationale behind with animal pictures. Maybe that's just it! You have to learn how to locate and then stimulate that magical spot deep within the hippocampus where women's most infantile desire for fabulosity collides with their worship of large numbers.</p> <p>Here, allow me to excerpt. Here's the NY Times' David Carr on Fuller:</p> When the current issue of Glamour promises "101 Racy Little Sex Ideas," you are seeing Ms. Fuller's twining of sex and numerology. Ditto for this week's People, which promises "91 Sexy and Single Guys." The added single digit seems gratuitous, but admit it: you wonder what the 101st weapon in the erotic arsenal looks like and which guy came after the 90 other hotties. That prurient need to know just a little more is pure Bonnie Fuller.<br> The critical moment &mdash; Ms. Fuller's version of published cold fusion &mdash; arrived in 2002 when she took over Us Weekly, a distant cousin of People magazine that Jann Wenner owned. She not only turned Us into its own darn thing, but found a way of presenting celebrity news as a not-so-guilty pleasure... "I'm not embarrassed to say that I was reading proofs in the delivery room," Ms. Fuller wrote of the birth of her second child. <br> And ex-employee Robin Givhan of the Washington Post on Wintour, whom she reminds us is famous for being thin and having bobbed hair and forcing other people to get thin and bob their hair and also, dressing in Prada: The magazine is at its most provocative, though, when it turns its attention to personalities not typically associated with high fashion &mdash; Oprah Winfrey, Laura Bush, Hillary Clinton, Michelle Obama, Cindy McCain, Condoleezza Rice. The resulting photographs are fascinating not because of any reality they reveal but because of the fantasy they unleash.<br> Vogue sets its sights on an of-the-moment character and transforms her into an impossibly perfect version of herself. In the accompanying story, her accomplishments are detailed: Her charitable acts. Her legislative successes. Her business acumen. But the primary photo rarely illustrates all that brainy, do-gooder activity. The photo is pure glamour.<br> It taps into that core desire to be gorgeous and declares it righteous and worthy and, most important, smart. Vogue validates the modern careerist's fantasy, that she can run the world and look fabulous doing it. I happened to be on the bus while I tugging at my nonexistent beard (since I can't caress my nonexistent schlong in public!) reading these stories. What was my problem with all this? I glanced at the little girl next to me. Clad in a pink ruffled shirt and a pink tiered skirt with soft metallic streaks on the lowest ruffle, bejeweled silver sandals and a few subtle pink streaks in her hair, she looked about five, and reminded me of myself at the same age. She was reading a book called The Jewel Fairies: Collection 1, Books 1-4. Over her shoulder I read the words: The little fairy wore a prett dress with a fluttery skirt. The dress was white but every time the fairy moved it shimmered... I didn't get any further, because at that moment she flipped to the front cover and stopped reading. I didn't blame her. That Id, it does get boring! Maybe because neuroscience has sort of pointed out how &mdash; unlike the G-spot! &mdash; it doesn't really exist. Or maybe it's just the cold fusion, thawing out, I don't know. Either way, around that point my basest instincts intervened and summoned my attention to a story in the Journal about the disenchantment of Iranian youth with religion. They're turning to , it turns out! Before long they will be seeking solace in celebrity gossip and perhaps fabulosity too when the oil revenues kick in. But eventually they, too, will get bored, right? You're sort of sick of animal pictures, no? <p>No?</p> <p>Eh, I give up.<br> [Washington Post]<br> [NY Times]</p><p>Oh. My. God. Okay: Henry T. Nicholas III is the former CEO of Broadcom. Broadcom makes chips that run your cable boxes and cell phones and modems and crap, but that is so beside the point here. (Well, there is this theory that porn drives all communications and media innovation, but let's cut to the chase.) In the midst of investigating Broadcom on a run-of-the-mill options backdating scandal, the Feds learned something interesting about how Henry T. Nicholas III would close a deal with a cable box manufacturer or a modem maker or whatever: he'd slip drugs into their drinks. Generally Ecstasy. Sometimes meth or coke. No seriously. The indictment is He'd do this, among other places, at concerts, the Super Bowl, Rome, and in an underground room and tunnel he'd built under his Rodeo Drive apartment. Seriously, And now, thoughts.</p><p>1. This is a rather productive way to employ one's biological date rapey tendencies. Might evolutionary biologists learn something about the intersection of masculinity and capitalism from the case of Henry T. Nicholas? Oh probably, but more importantly<br> <br> 2. Dude, 1999: so much money, so many drugs, such terrible dressers. Parachute pants and Prada mini backpacks actually put shoulder pads and perms to shame. Does prosperity just naturally beget awful fashion trends?<br> <br> 3. What is it about geeky billionaires? Why is it always the finance billionaires that turn pervs with underage sex dungeons, while the geeks start underground sales dungeons? You would think that the demographics of the tech world vs. the finance world would make the tech guys more desperate and therefore likely to date rape. But the opposite is true! Is this just another chapter in my "New York Is A Warped And Poisonous Place That Kills All Love" manifesto? Probably!</p> <p>4. Oh, but he had a thing for hookers. Naturally. Well, who doesn't I guess.</p> <p> [WSJ]<br> <br> [Gizmodo]<br> <br> <br> <br> [WSJ]<br> <br> [WSJ]</p><p><br> The Supreme Court's about to hear a case that will determine whether or not network TV and broadcast radio can finally be freed from the shackles of decency requirements. Thanks in part to expletives uttered by the likes of Cher and Nicole Richie, networks may soon be held to the more lax standards of their cable brethren. Who knew that The Simple Life had such noble intentions for the First Amendment?</p> <p>Bloomberg that on January 10, the Justices will consider whether or not the Federal Communications Commission violates the Constitution when it imposes fines on network TV stations for indecency. Fines in dispute include those levied against the network that aired the Simple Life episode wherein Nicole Richie asked viewers if they'd ever tried to "get cow shit out of a Prada purse." She then added, "It's not so fucking simple." Another network was fined for showing a shot of a woman's butt on NYPD Blue.</p> <p>The Obama administration has spoken out against the relaxation of standards, saying that TV needs to be a safe place for families to sit around together and not talk. Those in favor of the relaxed standards say that the FCC's enforcement of decency laws is uneven, inconsistent, and unfair, especially considering the fact that most American households have cable, anyway, so Protecting the Children from swearing on CBS won't do any good when they're a click away from bloody True Blood vampire sex. Analysts and Supreme Court nerds think that the Justices will side against the FCC given their history of supporting free speech, even by corporations.</p> <p>If the Supreme Court sides against the FCC, this will be the biggest change in standards for broadcast TV since the end of the Fairness Doctrine, which until 1987 required TV stations to present both sides of controversial issues. Ironically, the lifting of The Fairness Doctrine has allowed stations like Fox News to become so very Republicanly Fair and so Tea Partily Balanced today.</p> <p>On a more immediate level, this means that America's network TV-viewing audience better get ready for some fucking swearing. And it's sort of thanks to America's least irritating celebutante.</p> <p> [Bloomberg]</p><p><br> Former Glamour and Shop, Etc. editor Charla Krupp was on the Today show this morning, shilling for her new book . In the above clip, Krupp encourages over 40-year-olds to look "young and hip" because otherwise, they'll get fired! "You have to look current to stay in your job today," Krupp says. "If you're wearing clothes that are dated, people are going to think your ideas are dated." But that's not all the knowledge Krupp's dropping. She also extols the and other "injectibles" in a recent interview in Time. (Yes, Time. Her hubby works there!) In addition to getting botulism injected into your face, according to Krupp, "the other thing that [boomers] really need to do is color our hair." Man, someone should tell Meryl Streep she's looking like a real ancient fool in Devil Wears Prada with that hideous white hair! Horrors!</p> <p> [Time]</p><p>I feel like this happens to me all the time: I'm browsing the racks at the SalvA, skipping past unfortunate housedresses and schmattas of little significance when I spy something astonishing. Something really gorgeous. And this something only costs a few bucks, and I simply must have it. Only problem is, it doesn't quite fit. The dress is too long, it's too short, it's too big, it's too small, the arm holes are too high or they're too low, the waist gapes or the hips are tight, or maybe it just doesn't generally sit "right" &mdash; whatever the problem is, the astonishing dress is just not quite wearable as-is.</p> <p>While professional tailoring is certainly an option, there's a weird feeling of financial asymmetry to dropping $40 or $50 on improvements to a thrift-store dress, and besides, a lot of tailors take your individual measurements but work off standard sizing blocks, which isn't terribly helpful if you are very long or short-waisted, broad or narrow-shouldered, small or large-chested, or have any other of a myriad totally normal bodily quirks. But fear not: with a few easy tricks, a little bit of knowledge, and a seam ripper, you can make a not-quite-perfect secondhand dress into something that fits like it was made for you. Depending on the alterations you're making &mdash; from raising or lowering a hem to a total seam-ripping garment makeover &mdash; this is a project that could take anywhere from a half an hour to a day. Luckily, it's cheap: the only upfront costs are the price of the dress and a spool of matching thread. I'm going to show you how to raise an arm hole, take in or let out side seams, create or alter the depth of darts, and sew a hem. And I even threw in a bonus tutorial in how to repair a broken zipper.<br> The most important part of this process is garment selection. Before buying a dress to alter, check the seams. Are the seam allowances deep and generous? That's a sign that the original garment was well made, and will be easier to open up and alter. Skimpy seam allowances indicate a cheap garment, and one which will be impossible to let out. And frankly, you probably don't want to put this much effort into a cheap dress. Wovens are easier to alter than knits (unless you have a serger, in which case, rock on, but this tutorial deals exclusively with wovens). A dress that is simple in its construction, like a sheath, will be easier to alter than a more complex pattern with lots of major seams that will need individual attention. Generally speaking, solid colored garments are easier to alter than anything with a print or a stripe: matching those patterns as you go about your alterations is kind of crazy-making. Altering things that are cut on the bias is not impossible &mdash; but it is a very advanced business. Mostly, be reasonable in your expectations: tailoring is for making changes within about a 1-3 dress size range, for raising and lowering hems, and for tweaking overall fit here and there. Tailoring is not miracle-making.</p> <p>My mum &mdash; a thrift store champ whose flair for rooting out '60s Courrèges and snazzy little '40s suits in the wilds of Minnesota never fails to shock me &mdash; found this rather plain but lovely navy blue raw silk sheath at a Goodwill. It was beautifully made, cut perfectly on grain with deep seam allowances and all kinds of details I never even bother with in my home sewing but which I know signify "this is a good dress," like a bias hem facing. (The label said it had been handmade, God knows how many generations ago, by a Mrs. So-and-So at some little store in Chicago. All hail the Mrs. So-and-Sos of this world and their impressive skills for both sewing and entrepreneurship.) The dress cost $6. It was also huge on me, and like most dresses, it had a waist that wanted to sit a good two inches higher than my own, and it hung in a singularly unflattering way over my minuscule, prepubescent-boy chest. (Peep that underarm gaping.) This was going to take some extensive modifications. But it wasn't hard to make it work.</p> <br> If you are doing more than just raising or lowering a hem, first, draw a sketch of what you'd like your final garment to look like. I decided to add princess seams to the bodice, lower the waistline, dart the skirt, and add a waist seam. Adding seams = adding opportunities to take in excess fabric. Conversely, taking seams away &mdash; for instance by letting out darts and side seams or reducing their depth &mdash; is how you create more ease in a garment. <br> The tools you're going to need: 1. A pair of scissors. 2. Thread in a color that matches your dress. 3. A pin cushion, straight pins, and sewing needles. 4. 5. and 6., not pictured: An iron and ironing board, tailor's chalk, and a sewing machine. Recommended, but not strictly speaking necessary: A seam-ripper. <br> First, separate the lining from the fashion fabric. I always start by opening the seam that attaches the lining to the zipper. Then I cut the thread chains that attach the lining to the hem facing and open the seams that attach the lining to the arm and neck holes. I love ripping seams: every line of stitching has a point of rapture, it's all about finding the exact angle of approach that will allow you to just press gently and rrrrrrrip through that thread, leaving your fabric untouched. <br> Next, open the seams in the garment that attach the zipper to the fashion fabric. <br> Now, if the first thing you do upon freeing your zipper from the dress's clutches is run the slider all the way up the teeth, and right off its tracks because, oh fuck, this zipper has no stoppers on top, like, um, someone I know &mdash; well, fear not. There's an easy fix. Don't try to jam the slider back down onto the top of the zipper from whence it so recently came; that's a losing battle. Take the closed zipper, take the orphaned slider, and lay them out on a flat surface. Now take your pinking shears or sewing scissors, take a deep breath, and snip off the bottom inch of the zipper, right above the stopper. <br> Next &mdash; and again, breathe deeply, but know that this is Going To Be Okay &mdash; pull the two sides of the zipper apart. Just tug gently. They'll separate with no trouble. Position your orphaned slider at the bottom of the zipper tape. <br> Again, working upwards from the bottom of the zipper tape, slowly ease the two sides of the tape into the feed tracks of the slider. Try your best to keep the two sides of the tape even. <br> As soon as the zipper slider "catches" onto the tape, you're golden. Ease the slider up the tape. (Not all the way to the top. Not that again.) <br> Using a needle and thread, sew a new stopper onto the bottom of the tape. Wrapping the thread around the teeth a few times will suffice. <br> Do the same at the top. Now you have restored a zipper to functionality! Congratulations. You deserve a drink! <br> Next, open the hem of the dress. <br> Rip open the stitching that defined the darts in the front and back of the dress, and press those former darts open. You're going to re-set these darts to suit your body. You can make shallower alterations without opening every seam and dart, true, but for alterations this profound, you essentially want to reduce a dress to a tube of fabric before starting in earnest. <br> First, I tried on the dress and marked where my waist actually hit on the side seam. <br> Extrapolate from that mark until you have a horizontal waist line all the way around. Your true waist is probably higher or lower than the original garment's. <br> Now, you could just use your marked waist line as a guide for your alterations &mdash; especially if you are, say, letting a dress out. If you are taking it in, and you want to create a horizontal seam at the waist, now's the time to cut all around the dress right on that line. <br> If you're lucky enough to be working on a dress form, use a piece of styling tape to mark your waist line on the form. Don't worry, you can still do perfectly professional-looking alterations without a form, by trying the garment on. <br> Now is when the alterations start in earnest. It's simple: put the dress on the form, and just start pinning it until it starts to fit. Add or take away ease as you see fit. Keep your alterations symmetrical. Open the shoulder seams, too, and pin them into better position. (The fit in the shoulders is key, since most clothing isn't skin tight, and in fact hangs from the shoulders.) If you're working on your body, it's pretty easy to make alterations: just put the garment on inside out, and pinch out the excess fabric until the dress starts to fit you well. Pinch and pin, people. Pinch and pin. <br> When you're satisfied, try the dress on. Move any pins as necessary. Then, using a contrasting thread color, hand-baste in your new darts, side seams, and shoulder seams. Try the dress on again and make any final tweaks. <br> Mark your basting lines with the tailor's chalk. Fold the pattern pieces in half to double-check that your new dart lines are going to be symmetrical; even up the lines if necessary (splitting the difference works). If you, like me, are creating a princess seam where there was none before, snip the top open before you attempt to machine-stitch the seam (otherwise the seam may bunch up). <br> Pin. <br> And sew! Then clip open your new darts and press. <br> Follow the same process &mdash; chalk, pin, sew, clip, press &mdash; for the back. <br> Try on the dress or put it on the dress form, and check the fit once again. Re-sew and re-press your darts as necessary. When satisfied, sew your side seams. <br> Next, using a contrasting thread, baste a line of stitching where you want your new arm and neck holes to go. <br> Now, if you, like me, have been treating the skirt and the bodice of your dress as separate pattern pieces, is the time to rejoin them. Pin the skirt back onto your dress form (or put it on your body) and mark your center-front. Align the center-front of the skirt with the center-front of the bodice. <br> The key to a professional-looking finished product is having darts and other design elements that align across major seams, ie in this case the waist seam. Measuring from the center front out towards the sides, mark where the darts in your skirt should lie. Pinch them out, and pin. Try the dress on, and adjust as necessary. <br> Work your way all around the skirt, setting the darts and adjusting the side seams. <br> Mark your new darts and side seams with tailor's chalk. Pin, and sew. <br> Clip the darts and press open like I did here. <br> Now, with the right sides of your fashion fabric facing up, match the darts across your waist seam. With pins, mark where your skirt side seams should hit. (Yes, you already marked your side seams before, but this is a way to double-check with greater precision.) Try on, adjust again as necessary, and then stitch. Press the side seams open. <br> Now we're going to match our bodice to our skirt, right sides together, and sew the waist seam all the way around. The key to getting darts or seams that match up across a lateral seam is simple. First, push a straight pin through the actual stitching of the seam of one of the skirt darts. Get the pin tip into the space between two stitches, if you can. You want the dead center of the seam. The pin will go in from wrong side to right side, since the right sides of the fabric are of course facing one another. <br> Then, push the tip of that same straight pin through the stitches of the seam on the corresponding bodice dart. The pin tip will go in from right side to wrong side, since the right sides are of course facing one another. <br> Push the pin back to the front. If you have a waist seam like mine, place pins in this manner at all of your major darts and the side seams. Add additional darts in between as necessary. Sew the seam. <br> Press your waist seam open. <br> Try the dress on. If tweaks to the fit are still necessary, open the waist seam and adjust the depth of your darts/side seams, then re-close the waist seam. Pin the center-back seam below the zipper opening. <br> Stitch the new center-back seam according to your pinned adjustments. <br> And using a seam ripper or scissors, open the original center-back seam. Press the new seam allowance open. <br> Try the dress on again, and pin down the center back, this time across the zipper opening. With the zipper opening pinned closed (a friend may be helpful at this point), move around, stretch, raise your arms above your head, etc, to check that the dress isn't going to be too tight. Once you have the opening pinned to the correct depth, let the pins out on one side. These pins are going to be your markers for setting your zipper. Press the two sides of the zipper opening lightly, according to the depth of the pins, and then pin the zipper one one side. <br> Sew that side of the zipper. <br> Now, of course you also want your waist seam to match across the center-back zipper. Before stitching the second side of the zipper into position, pull the zipper closed. On the side of the zipper that's not yet stitched to the dress, mark with the tailor's chalk where the waist seam hits on the corresponding side. Then open the zipper again, and line this chalk mark up with the waist seam before stitching in that second side of the zipper. <br> Turn the dress right side out, close the zipper, and give the whole garment a light pressing. Try the dress on, and check the fit. Open the shoulder seams that you basted earlier, but transfer their markings to your fashion fabric in chalk. Lay the dress flat, right side out. <br> Now your dress is practically done, it's time to rejoin its lining. With the lining inside out, slide it over the dress. (So that the right side of the lining faces the right side of the dress.) Lining is slippery, so pin it into place. We've made lots of alterations to the dress, but we don't need to make them to the lining; it's okay for a lining to have a less precise fit than a dress. We'll eventually anchor the two together with thread chains, anyway. <br> Following the lines of basting that you put in at the arm and neck holes, stitch through the fashion fabric and the lining. Stitch up to your marked shoulder seams, backtrack, and stop. <br> Trim your seam allowances, and clip to your line of stitching. Turn the dress right side out, and press around your new arm and neckholes. <br> Using your chalk shoulder lines as guides, pin the fashion fabric right sides together at the shoulders. Stitch only through the fashion fabric, not the lining. Trim the seam allowance. Press that seam open. Then, tuck in the lining as shown here &mdash; this picture was taken when bottom side had the lining tucked in and the top side was untucked. <br> Once both sides are tucked in, hand-stitch the lining together across the shoulder seam. Press. <br> Next, hand-stitch the lining to the zipper tape. Try the dress on. If you notice the lining slipping around under the dress, attach the lining to the dress at the side seams using thread chains. <br> Lastly, re-set and hand-stitch your hem. Using a yard-stick and measuring up from the floor is the correct way to set a hem. (At this point also, a friend definitely helps.) Stand up straight and mark the same height from the floor all the way around with pins ; press. Closing the hem with a running stitch is sufficient for our purposes. If you have to re-hem the lining, you can do it by machine. Thread-chain the lining to the hem at the side seams. And if you are raising your hem considerably, consider saving the leftover fabric &mdash; it can make for pretty trims, pockets, or patches on future projects. Give a final pressing, and your dress is done. <br> Before: a blah, ill-fitting dress with plenty of raw potential. After: a beautiful, properly tailored sheath in a classic, A-line style. <br> I'm satisfied! And remember &mdash; if you can pinch, pin, sew, and press, you can alter almost anything there is on earth to fit you. <p>For past DIY posts, including how to make a dress , how to paint your nails with , and how to sew a pair of , click .</p> <p>Next week, look out for a DIY on how to make a knitted leather clutch purse &mdash; loosely inspired by a Prada bag.</p><p>Struggle with the stereotype that black people have huge breasts, a huge ass, a huge cock, and/or huge lips. Discover non-black people only want to sleep with you because they think being black means you have something enormous to offer.</p><p>Websites such as Big Booty Black Videos, Ethnic Hoes and 98% of Interracial Gay Porn Involving A Black Dude confirms this. Feel stressed out because you don't want to let everybody down.</p> <p>Get admitted to Harvard College before any of your non-black friends. They don't get into Harvard, Yale, or Princeton, are stuck with Washington University (a much lesser school). Tell you it's all your fault. They were National Merit Scholars. They did community activism in Botswana. They got a perfect score on the SATs. They went Le Rosey in Switzerland but then transferred to Dalton (a $250,000 education). They wrote a New York Times best selling debut novel, which also made it to Oprah's Book Club. But you stole their spot because of Affirmative Action. Laugh in their face-better yet, send them a postcard from Apley Court, your new dorm which is overflowing with Ivy.</p> <p>Become concertmaster of a well-known orchestra. Have your stand partner and everybody else in First Violin tell you you only got the role because you're black, even though you studied with Donald Weilerstein at the New England Conservatory, captured first prize at the Queen Elizabeth International Competition, and now record exclusively for Deutsch Grammophone. When will you be good enough in their eyes?</p> <p>Really love or really hate Tyler Perry movies.</p> <p>Get asked every summer if black people tan.</p> <p>Get laughed at in elementary, junior, and high school by all your black friends because you "talk white." Philosophize for years about what it means to "talk white." Have an identity crisis. Go away to college or boarding school and have your new white friends swear up and down you're nothing like the way black people are "supposed" to be. What happened to you? Go home with your new white friends during holidays, play the role of Model Black.</p> <p>Seamlessly slip in and out of Ebonics. Talk to your friends in one voice but as soon as a family member or another black calls, thass when you be done' took the Ebonics out.</p> <p>Get used to not seeing other black people on the covers of magazines, in any of the advertisements, or in any of the movies. Cringe when Your Local News shows racist images of black people, such as mug shots, jail shots, and videos of robberies. Get used to people assuming you like rap. Get used to things like racism, hot sauce.</p> <p>Shop in a fancy store such as Bergdorf's, Barney's, or Prada. Get followed around the store. They think you can't afford anything. Are on the verge of calling the cops. Ask you to open your bag when you leave the store. You can't believe this. This is your Oprah-in-Hermes-in-Paris moment. Then you shout, "Don't you know who the fuck I am?!" They don't, but it makes you feel better to say it aloud, anyway. It's like therapy. Go back the next day and buy $260,000 worth of couture, and be sure to bring your BFF Madonna and all the paparazzi with you.</p> <p>Join a gay hook-up site such as Manhunt or Adam4Adam. Send a friendly message to "Dannyc888" (white) saying, "Whoa, aren't you cute!" Wait for him reply, "Too bad you look like you have been burnt by the sun LOL!" He blocks you so you can't respond which proves he knew he was saying something racist and offensive. Click on another boy with a cute profile and get sad when it says, "NO BLACK" or "ONLY INTO WHITE AND LATINO. AND LIGHT SKINNED MIXED. I'M NOT RACIST, IT'S JUST A PREFERENCE!!!" Sit back and think, um, it's racist, dude. Write him anyway.</p> <p>Madison Moore is a freelance writer and doctoral student at Yale University. This post on . Republished with permission.</p> <p>Want to see your work here? </p> <p>Image via iofoto/</p><p>Back in the era of Deco and Depression and FDR, ladies who did paint their fingernails didn't generally paint their fingernails the whole way. Wouldn't you like to know their secrets? </p> <p>As this excellent on the (sadly, apparently now defunct) Art Deco blog The Painted Woman points out, "In the early-mid '30s, women usually only painted the center of the nail, leaving the half-moon cuticle and tips bare with the underside tinted with a nail-white pencil or cream." It's the "moon manicure": like a French manicure in reverse, in a bold color, without all the Jersey Shore associations of a pink-and-white French. (Yes, I will silently judge your tacky manicure. Bite me.)</p> <p>What polish colors were popular in the '30s, you ask? According to the Painted Woman, "All reds &mdash; from rosy to deep crimson &mdash; were popular, of course. But it isn't true that 'they' didn't wear pink in the 30s. Pinks were very much seen, as were nice peachy-browns and tawny colors that looked nice with suntans (the concept of changing one's make-up according to the season was not unknown to 30s women). Cutex color choices in 1932 were Natural, Rose, Coral, Cardinal, and Colorless. Revlon colors introduced for the summer of 1935 included 'Sun Rose' and 'Chestnut.' Cutex named the 'smartest colors' for 1936 as Rose, Ruby, and Rust...wild colors such as green, blue, black, and gold were indeed available."</p> <p>Since the '30s heydey, versions of the moon manicure have turned up on the runway and on the nails of those cool, effortlessly vintage-y girls I try not to feel overwhelmingly envious of on sight. This manicure is a little fiddly to achieve, but with a bit of patience, I got my moons down. Also, can I have that evening gown on the right? Thanks!</p> <br> You're going to need: hole reinforcers (you can use actual French manicure stick-on guides, but hole reinforcers from a stationery shop are good and cheap); a base coat of your choice (I use Nail Envy by OPI, an allegedly "strengthening" and "nourishing" base coat, more out of superstition/the conviction that at least it is not maybe hurting my nails than out of any firm belief in its effectiveness); two colors of polish; and a top coat of your choice (Sally Hansen Insta-Dri in my case, your mileage mary vary); and polish remover. <br> First, prep for your manicure. The steps that come before the first stroke of base coat go a long way to determining the durability of your polish. Soak your hands and scrub any dead skin away. Tidy up your cuticles, then clean, trim, and shape your nails. While this manicure looks awesome with long, pointy old-fashioned style nails, keeping your nails short decreases the likelihood of your polish chipping. <p>Do not apply any products containing oil to your skin or nails prior to your manicure. Wait, I hear you saying, 'But...but...Jenna, polish can strip your nails of moisture, and healthy nails=moisturized nails! How can I moisturize my nails between drying manicures without, um, moisturizer?' Here's what I do, when I can be bothered to remember: I remove my old polish at night (most of the time I peel it off, I don't even use remover, I'm so bad, bite me x2). Then I rub gobs of castor oil all over my nails and cuticles, put socks over my hands, laugh at my mitt-hands, pour a drink, laugh at myself trying to drink the drink with my pathetic mitt-hands, think highly original thoughts about Edward-Scissorhands, watch some Netflix, forget about everything else, and fall asleep. Next morning, I remove the socks; no more mitt-hands. Whenever I get around to painting my nails, my hands are moisturized, and I wash any residual oil off with soap and water. Oil, if present, will interfere with the adherence of the polish to your nail, causing chips. I believe this to be true because my cousin, who does nails to put herself through college, says so. She's 19 and a full-time student and the manager of the salon where she works, she knows from nails, okay. (Hi cousin!)</p> <p>Now for the actual nail painting: Apply your base coat. And then apply the color you want your "moons" to be, over the bottoms of your nails like so. I opted to use an ancient Estée Lauder pearly pink I think my mum got free with a lipstick eons ago. I had never up until this point used it for anything other than stopping up runs in my stockings.</p> <br> While your polish is drying, trim your hole reinforcers into narrower curves. (I mean, this step is optional, but I think having moons that are scaled to the width of your individual nails makes sense, aesthetically.) When your polish is completely dry, apply the hole reinforcers to each nail. A good guide for moon depth is to have the edge of the center hole hit right at your cuticle. <br> Then apply your main polish color. I went for a burgundy shade by Essie. I chose not to leave the tip-stripes that some true '30s ladies had. You do you. Now, I'll be completely honest: the hole reinforcers did not work for me exactly as I'd hoped. I had some issues with incomplete reinforcer-adherence, which led to some unfortunate seepage of the burgundy onto the moons. I used remover on a Q-tip to clean up, and lightly re-applied the pearl polish in a few instances. If you have a steady hand, you could forgo guides, and paint the curves of your moons freehand. <p>Two more tips for a lasting manicure, again courtesy of my cousin: use the freshest polish you can, because nail polishes are full of volatile chemicals that begin evaporating as soon as the bottle is opened, changing the characteristics of the polish inside. (You cannot, contrary to rumor, restore an old, thickened bottle of polish to health by adding a few drops of remover to it, although they do sell nail polish refresher solutions at beauty-supply stores. Never experimented with any of 'em myself.) And two: leave your thumbs 'til last. That way you can use your thumbnails to clean up polish mistakes on your opposite hand, improving your application immensely. And an even application is an even manicure is a long-lasting manicure.</p> <br> And then, when you're all done with the rest of your manicure, do your thumbs. Ta-da. <br> Apply your top coat, let it dry, rub some oil or moisturizer into your cuticles, and voilà. I thought these colors looked cool against a dusty rose pink dress, since that's a very '30s color. (At least, the dress is dusty rose when not photographed in full evening sunlight.) Now go enjoy the compliments you'll get on your eye-catching manicure. <p>Next week, by special reader , I'll show you how to make a purse that looks like an envelope. Yeah, an envelope. In the meantime, to check out past DIYs &mdash; including how to your nails with stripes, how to make a custom dress form and , how to make a , how to a thrift-store dress, how to knit an at-home of a Prada bag, and how to sew a pair of &mdash; click .</p><p>We all have disastrous hair stories. Here's how to avoid them.</p><p>I've had a lot of bad cuts in my time - probably a history no different from that of anyone with curly hair, who's lived though mushrooms and blunt layers and strange volume. That's what hats are for. My real horror story had to do with color. Now, I don't normally color my hair, which was dirty-blonde and is now what the French call chatain and here they call "ash." Or maybe "mousy." When I was 23, a friend asked if I wanted to be part of a makeover story for a start-up magazine; they needed someone to go blonde. Sure, why not? I thought. At the time I was out of work and had nothing but time on my hands, so I hied myself to some Soho loft space and put on a dun-colored shirt for the obligatory unflattering "before" picture.</p> <p>The first inkling of unease came when they broke it to us that, in fact, the story focused on the use of some new at-home haircolor. Even though a salon would apply it, this was not what I had signed on for. Nevertheless, I duly submitted to an hour under the foils and dryer, Cosmo in hand and with the promise of imminent, having-more-fun glamour. And then, the reveal. I had known from the concerned murmurings of the technicians and the fact that I'd had some "second process" applied that there were concerns. But nothing - nothing - had prepared me for what I saw in that mirror.</p> <p>My hair was the color of Velveeta. Not cool, deliberate, Rayanne Graf punky-yellow, either. Just an obviously poor at-home haircolor choice that belonged on a hospital wall and drained my complexion to the color of a 19th Century wax doll's. I burst into tears. "It's not my fault," said the haughty Italian stylist who'd superintended. "Her hair was too dark; she wasn't emotionally prepared." Nevertheless, he attempted some third corrective treatment, at the end of which my hair looked just as bad but was completely fried into the bargain. The guy reluctantly offered to "correct" it "since I had such a problem with it" when it was less damaged. Thanks.</p> <p>All this would have been bad enough, but two days later, two days in which I made the intimate acquaintance of the sort of nylon turban that, at that time, had not yet been reclaimed by Prada and were the sole domain of old ladies, I got a call for a job interview. It was a good job, a job I wanted. And I had velveeta hair. I called a very expensive New York salon and scheduled an appointment. I'd have to stay blond, said the stylist, but she could make it look "more flattering." For the first three months at that job, I had platinum blond hair. And did not have appreciably more fun while I was at it. As soon as was decently possible, I had it colored brown. And since, it's remained virtually untouched.</p> <p>How could this have been avoided? Well, in fairness, only by saying no in the first place. But there are preventative measures. I queried stylists and friends and hair victims and those with perfect coifs, and here are a few hints I collected:<br> <br> Choosing a Stylist: Maybe you're new in town. Maybe your scissor sister left to have a baby, or go back to school. Maybe she was promoted out of your pay grade. Maybe you just want a change. So, how to find someone new?</p><p>It's getting mighty chilly up here around the 40th Parallel of the earth's Northern Hemisphere, leading some (okay, me) to turn our crafting imaginations to scarves and visions in bulky-weight yarn. This Burberry-inspired cowl is warm enough to wear under a blazer or a jacket on a brisk autumn evening, and &mdash; layered over a scarf &mdash; it kept my neck and ears warm last night during Occupy Wall Street's very cold Brooklyn bridge march. Best of all, the pattern is available for free online, and it only takes a few hours to make. Here's how. <br> This is what I used to make one cowl: 1) My favorite knitting reference book, Donna Kooler's . This is the book I learned to knit with. There are two semi-unusual techniques in the Burberry-inspired cowl pattern &mdash; the temporary cast-on, and the final joining or "kitchener" stitch. I used the Encyclopedia of Knitting to refresh my memory of both. 2) Enough bulky weight yarn to complete your pattern (I used three 50g balls of Merino/Silk/Polyamide blend that I got from in Winona, Minnesota). 3) Size 10 needles (they don't have to be circular needles). 4) A cable needle. You will also need a blunt-pointed tapestry needle, straight pins, and an iron, not pictured. Click any photo to enlarge.</p> <br> The pattern I followed is not my own: it was written by the excellent Julianne Smith, who once fell in love with a $750 Burberry cowl she saw in the pages of InStyle, couldn't find any such item for sale at any Burberry store or stockist, and thus decided to make a cowl of her own inspired by the designer original. (Kind of like I did with .) Smith makes the pattern available for free , but asks that it not be reproduced, so I am not reproducing it here. You should read it on Smith's . This DIY does, however, go into slightly more instructional detail than Smith does when it comes to a couple of the pattern's key elements: the use of a temporary cast-on, the cables, and the final kitchener stitch. All of these things are easy to master. The pattern itself is great: it's a straightforward 58-stitch width, with 30-row repeats, and staggered cables. Four repeats are sufficient to make a cowl. Smith kindly makes this pattern available free for non-commercial purposes, so please don't be that jerk who whips up a bunch of Burberry-inspired cowls to sell on Etsy, okay? <p>To get started, you'll need to use the provisional cast-on. For reference, here's the Encyclopedia of Knitting's diagram for that cast-on. Start by loosely knotting a second piece of yarn wide enough to cover the whole 58-stitch width of your cowl to the end of your working thread; this second piece of yarn is going to hold your stitches in place until you're ready to finish your work. I recommend using a piece of yarn in a contrasting color to make it easier to distinguish your working yarn from your temporary yarn. (I actually used a piece of silk ribbon left over from another project, the wrapped hair comb from last week.)</p> <br> Holding the contrasting piece of yarn taught down the length of your needle, wrap the working yarn over the needle, around the contrasting yarn, and back up and over the needle again. Each loop of the working yarn over the needle counts as one cast-on stitch. <br> Start working your pattern. Cabling is easy! When you get to a cable, here's what to do if you haven't cabled before: 1) First, slip however many stitches your pattern calls for &mdash; in this case, eight &mdash; off your source needle, and onto the cable needle. 2) Turn the cable needle so that the stitches are resting in the bend &mdash; if you think of the cable needle as the legs of a little person, then that bend is the crotch &mdash; and either let the cable needle dangle to the front of your work (the right side) or pass it to the back (wrong side), depending on your pattern. (One creates a left-leaning cable, the other creates a right-leaning cable. Most knitting patterns with cables stagger the pass-to-the-front cables and the pass-to-the-back cables so that a pleasing overall order emerges.) Then, knit the next stitches off the source needle (in this case, eight). 3) Then, slip the stitches out of the bend and down onto the other "leg" of the cable needle, and knit them as though the cable needle were your source needle. Finish the row, and continue knitting. Your cable will look like the photo in 4) when you've done a couple more rows. See how those stitches cross over each other and create a sort of a twist? That's your cable. <br> Continue working Julianne Smith's pattern until your cowl reaches your desired length. You want to be able to slip it over your head easily. (If you wanted to, you could double or triple the length, and make a möbius strip infinity scarf. That would be pretty cool.) When you're done, block your work while it's still on the needles. Pin the unfinished cowl to an ironing board; lightly tug at the cables, not to the point that they flatten, but just so they open up a little. Then put your iron on its hottest, steamiest setting, and just steam the heck out of your knitting &mdash; without letting the sole plate of the iron touch your project. Allow your knitting to dry completely before removing the pins. <br> Next comes the kitchener stitch, our combination join and cast-off. The great advantage of this stitch is that it creates a join that has no visible seam. Once you're finished, you won't be able to find where your cowl began or ended. To do it, you essentially thread a needle and use it to graft your last knitted row to your first. To begin, take your working yarn, measure out about three times the width of your cowl, and break the yarn at that point. Thread your blunt-tipped needle, and arrange the two edges of your work &mdash; the last row you knitted and the first &mdash; so that they almost meet. Poke the tip of your tapestry needle through two of the stitch loops from your cast-on row; ease those stitches off the contrasting yarn that had been holding them in place, and pull the tapestry needle through. Then, returning to the last row, ease two stitches off your source needle, and pull the needle through those. Take the tapestry needle back over to the cast-on row, and poke the tip through the loop of the second of the two stitches you first sewed &mdash; and through the next loop that comes off the contrasting yarn. Return to the last row, put the tapestry needle through the second loop from the last stitch and the next loop off the source needle. Continue in this way, slowly easing loops off the source needle and off the contrasting yarn, and joining these loops to each other with the tapestry needle and yarn, until you reach the other side. Then break your yarn, and work in the ends, either with a crochet hook or the same tapestry needle. <br> This is the final product. Pretty snazzy, right? I know the color in these photos is weirdly inconsistent, ranging from Muppet-bright to dank grey-blue; in real life it's a nice, deep, blue somewhere in between. This is a fine project for a beginning-to-intermediate knitter: it lets you practice cabling, and mastering the kitchener stitch is fun. I can see several of my friends getting these for the holidays. Happy knitting! <p>And again, that pattern is: [The Garter Girl]</p> <p>If there's something you'd like to see as a DIY project, you . In the meantime, to check out past DIYs:</p> <p><br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> </p><p>Ever have a moment of acute designer covetousness that coincides with the realization that you have, like, $67.16 to last you through your next paycheck? The things we see on the runway and in magazines might as well for most of us exist in another universe. But if you consume designer collections more with your mind's eye than with your wallet, and you have some basic crafting skills, making your own at-home versions isn't always too hard. Last week, I took an idea Prada had &mdash; making handbags out of knitted leather &mdash; and translated it into a purse of my own. If you can knit, you can knit this bag.</p> <p>You'll need everything you see here for this project. Clockwise from top left: 1. A pair of knitting needles (I used size 8). 2. An awl. 3. PVA or wood glue, or other glue suitable for gluing leather. 4. A knitter's kilt pin. 5. A seam-ripper. 6. Sewing scissors. 7. Crewel or embroidery needles, plus a knitter's blunt-tipped tapestry needle, and thread. 8. Either a purse frame, or an existing clutch purse in a color that approximately matches your leather. 9. Leather! You'll need about 50 yards of thin, wide leather strips, depending on the size of the bag you're working from, obviously. I used a combination of Tandy Leather Factory Velvet Suede Lace and 7mm-wide strips I cut from an old black leather skirt I've been cannibalizing for craft projects for years. The Velvet Suede Lace is thin and durable enough to knit with, and it is available from Michael's stores and .</p> <p>Click any photo in this tutorial to enlarge.</p> <p>My inspiration for this project was the group of knitted leather handbags Prada showed with its fall-winter 2010 collection. Something about the chunky-knit texture of the purses, and the way a common handbag material &mdash; leather &mdash; was given an unusual treatment &mdash; knitting &mdash; just made my mind race with possibilities. In real life, those purses started at $2600. But inspiration is free. While I'm against the counterfeiting of designer goods and all the misery, human-trafficking, and organized crime etc. it tends to fund, I can't see anything wrong with a home sewer seeing a designer's fabric treatment, color combination, or silhouette, and offering his or her own non-commercial kind of take.</p> <p>First, knit a gauge swatch. It'll help you to get used to knitting with leather, and it will allow you to determine how many stitches and how many rows you will need to cover your "base" purse. What we are going to do, essentially, is create a knitted sack that will wrap like a façade around a plain clutch bag; then we'll attach the façade to the bag with whip-stitching around the purse frame at the top. I nabbed this plain, black, leather-trimmed Banana Republic purse at Goodwill for $5.99. If you are more ambitious, you could also knit a bag, sew a lining, and attach the two to a metal purse frame with much the same whip-stitching.</p> <p>One fantastic online resource for bag making in general is Lisa Lam's blog . I've read her site for years. The materials she sells are decently priced and high-quality, her tutorials rock, and she posts lots of reader submissions, too. Lam even put up a photo of the , bags I ever made, way back in 2007. I gave the black one to my mum, the tan and snakeskin I still have, and the cream leather envelope clutch I actually gave to onetime Jezebel commenter SkinnyBoneJones for her birthday when I lived in San Francisco. I miss that town, man.</p> <p>When you've determined the number of stitches you'll need to cover one side of your "base" purse, cast on double that number of stitches using your preferred casting method.</p> <p>Now, knit the bag. In order to avoid having to knit a front and a back, and sew them together at sides and bottom, we're going to made one double-sided tube. This kind of flat, double-sided knitting is easy: when starting your first row, knit the first stitch, then pass the yarn to the front, and slip the second stitch onto the receiving needle. Then pass the yarn to the back, and knit the third stitch. Pass yarn to the front, slip the next stitch, pass to the back, knit the next stitch. In this manner, we will knit every other stitch down the first side, and then we will then turn around and on our way back knit all the stitches we skipped, passing the yarn in front of each of the stitches we just knit on the front. Simpler: Knit every other stitch on the way there, and then every other stitch on the way back. This is essentially like knitting on a circular needle. And, like like on a circular needle, you never have to purl. (If you're more comfortable on a circular needle, or double-pointed needles, you could use those instead.) As you work, make sure to remember which side is your front and which side is your back, so you end up with an even number of rows at the end. If you are switching colors periodically, it won't be too hard to differentiate between the front and back because the pattern of color distribution will be different. If you're using one color, consider using a stitch marker.</p> <p>If you're making a multi-colored bag &mdash; I'm mixing black, tan, and light brown &mdash; or whenever else you need to splice in a new piece of yarn, do it by overlapping the two pieces of leather yarn by a half an inch, taking your crewel needle and thread, and sewing a few running stitches at the join. Be careful to knit fairly loosely, because leather doesn't stretch like most yarns, and it can break. And watch out for the dye &mdash; it will start to rub off on your fingers. With a podcast on the stereo (I love ) and a liquor drink to sip at the end of every row, I could seriously spend hours at this.</p> <p>When you've finished the number of rows it will take to cover your "base" purse up to the frame, begin casting off. This will take the two knitting needles, plus the kilt needle. First, knit the first stitch of the front of the bag and pass it onto the receiving needle. Then slip the second stitch &mdash; which, remember, because of our nifty front-and-back-in-one method is actually the last stitch of the back of the bag &mdash; onto the kilt pin. Close the kilt pin.</p> <p>Then, knit the next stitch on the front side. Keep your cast-off stitches loose. When you have two knit stitches on the receiving needle, slip the first over the second, and let it drop.</p> <p>You now have one stitch left on the receiving needle. Repeat what you did before: slip the next back stitch onto the kilt pin, close it, and loosely knit the next stitch. Slip, and drop. Repeat all the way around. When you have finished casting off on the front side of the bag, turn your work around, and cast off in the same manner, using the kilt pin as your source needle. Note: This just happens to be my preferred method of casting off. If you have a better one, or one you're more comfortable with, use that cast-off instead. Just be sure to slip every back stitch onto a kilt pin or other stitch holder as you make your way across the front.</p> <p>Now, using the blunt tapestry needle, open up the bag and work your yarn tails into the wrong side.</p> <p>Slip your new knitted bag-façade over the actual bag (or over the lining you've sewn, if you're going the make-your-own-bag-from-scratch route). Pin in place at center front, center back, corners, and at the ends of the purse frame (which are not visible in this photo).</p> <p>Using your awl, and working carefully (remember !), punch holes through the lining of your "base" bag, right next to the frame.</p> <p>Thread the blunt-tipped tapestry needle with a length of leather and pull it through the first hole, leaving about a 1" tail. Use a dab of glue to secure the tail to the inside of the purse frame. Then wrap your leather around the frame, and pull it through the next awl hole.</p> <p>With every whip-stitch, make sure to catch your casting-off stitches with the needle. In this way, you will attach the knitted bag to the purse frame, and cover the purse frame with an attractive row of leather whip-stitches.</p> <p>Work your way along the frame. If you run out of one piece of leather, push its tail flat against the of the frame inside, start a new piece of leather, dab glue on the two leather tails, and wrap over the tails to hide them. Repeat the whip-stitching on the other side of the bag. Remove your pins as you go along.</p> <p>To secure the end of your line of whip-stitching, sew two back-stitches through the last awl holes, and then tie the leather in a knot. Trim the tail, but not too closely.</p> <p>For a final step, use the seam-ripper to remove whatever label was originally in your "base" bag. This is not Banana Republic's bag anymore, beotches.</p> <p>Here's our final product. I like that it doesn't look like I was trying too hard to copy Prada, cus that's lame &mdash; the width of my leather yarn, the overall shape of the clutch, and the balance of black, brown, and tan are all pretty different on my bag. I took what I liked about a new (to me) way of using leather, and made something that looks equal parts granny and tough. I can't wait to take this thing out.</p> <p>For next week, I'll show you how to make a necklace out of materials from the hardware store. In the meantime, to check out past Friday DIYs &mdash; including how to your nails with stripes, how to make a custom dress form and , how to make a , how to a thrift-store dress, and how to make a pair of &mdash; click .</p><p>Making a necklace out of hardware store gleanings isn't exactly a brand new idea &mdash; in fact, there's a whole dedicated to hardware store jewelry projects &mdash; but it is easy, satisfying, and generally cheaper than making a necklace out of regular old beads. (Or maybe the bead stores in my city are just overpriced.) And best of all, you can finish a necklace in about five minutes flat.<br> Here's a quick inspiration board for this week's project. My necklace is in the center; the three other examples are from Lanvin's fall 2009 collection. Mine is not intended to be an exact copy &mdash; for a pretty direct at-home knock-off, there's a nice DIY tutorial &mdash; but a reinterpretation. I happen to dig the oversized, chunky look of the jewelry.</p> <br> For this project, all you'll need will be parts from a hardware store in the desired dimensions and quantities, plus ribbon &mdash; I used a mixture of velvet and organza ribbons, to vary the texture and transparency &mdash; and a set of scissors. Straight pins and a needle and thread are optional; you can either sew or knot your ribbons together. Obviously, the key ingredient here is the hardware store stuff: I used mostly pipe couplings from the plumbing section of my local hardware emporium, but you could go heavier on the nuts, washers, incorporate some chains, or choose to work only in one color metal depending on the look that you want. Go for what inspires you. <br> This project is dead simple. First, lay out all the hardware store bits in some approximation of how you want your necklace to look. <br> String 'em up. <br> Knot or sew your ribbons together at the desired length. (For a Lanvin-inspired touch, you could make little bows out of your ribbon, and stitch them over your knots.) <br> Bam! Necklace. I'm into how the ends of the copper couplings that are bent tuck inside the pipe couplings that are straight. That gives the necklace a kind of neat articulated look. <p>For next week, I'll show you how to dye scarves at home for pleasure and profit. In the meantime, to check out past Friday DIYs &mdash; including how to your nails with stripes, how to make a custom dress form and , how to make a , how to a thrift-store dress, how to make an at-home of a Prada bag, and how to make a pair of &mdash; click .</p><p>Okay, so your shorts don't have to be white. You could make them blue, red, yellow, teal, cerulean, seafoam, hyacinth, striped, spotted, dip-dyed, appliquéd with your home-made N*Sync fan art, or printed with a mosaic of stills from Rebecca Black's "Friday." Mine just happen to be white, because something about white shorts says "summer" to me. Like white wine, white weddings, and white-cresting waves. But this is a set of directions for making shorts, period. Choose the style and the fabric that you want. This is a moderately challenging project that you can finish in about an afternoon. Even if you've never set a fly before. Promise.<br> Here's the inspiration board for my project. Naturally &mdash; as with so many potentially ill-advised sartorial flights of fancy &mdash; it all started with Audrey Hepburn. (And yes, as soon as I finished the shorts, I copied her entire outfit and no, I'm not the least bit embarrassed about it.) The other vintage photos of fine ladies and their white shorts are from , and , and I found the woman in the awesome vintage crochet shorts . My shorts are in the middle. While I was Googling "white shorts" a lot, I also found , which I think is a pair of white women's shorts intended to carry a concealed weapon. Really, sometimes I am just overcome with gratitude that the Internet exists.</p> <br> Here's what you'll need: 1. A pattern. (Here's you can download.) 2. Fabric in the length your pattern calls for. (Shorts are great because they only take like a half a yard.) I used a canvas with 1% elastane; you could use any kind of twill, denim, or suiting that strikes your fancy. 3. 12" or so of lining fabric, for making the pocket bags. (I used a cotton muslin. You know how sometimes when you see someone on the street who's wearing a light-colored pair of pants, you can see the outline of her pockets through the fabric? Not because of the texture, but because the areas that have two layers of light-colored fabric sandwiched together are noticeably different in color from the areas that have one layer of light-colored fabric, over skin? There's an easy way to avoid this. My canvas fashion fabric is heavy enough that the lining will not show through, but if your fashion fabric is of a lighter weight, pick a pocket lining fabric that matches your skin tone, not that matches your fashion fabric. Then there's no show-through.) 4. About 12" of medium-weight fusible interfacing. (Also in a light color or a color that matches your skin, if possible.) 5. An 8" zipper, or a zipper in the length that your pattern calls for. 5. A button or slide closure, for the waist band. 6. Matching thread. 7. Sewing scissors. 8. and 9., not pictured: A sewing machine and an iron. <br> I worked from a pattern that I drafted. It's based on this pair of vintage "Hillbilly" jeans that I found at a thrift shop. I loved the high waist and the seaming on the seat, but I wanted the fit to be tighter through the ass and thighs, I wanted hip pockets rather than patch pockets, and the Hillbillies happened to have what might be called "a massive camel toe issue," so I made some tweaks. The friend I was with when I found these pants takes a very sanguine attitude about that &mdash; "Toe happens," she's been &mdash; and I loved the butt seams, so I obviously bought them, but when I set about making my pattern, I altered the crotch depth. That, in my opinion, is the most important thing to alter about any pants pattern, because a correct crotch depth equals comfortable, well-fitting pants. This Threads introduced me to a really great technique for making adjustments of that nature. <br> Here, in case you want to take inspiration from my pattern, is a picture of it laid over a 1"x1" grid. Click to enlarge. Note, this pattern includes no seam allowances or waist band. Also, the "tab" part of the fly needs to extend about an inch and a half longer than shown. Weird family factoid: I made a pair of jeans from this pattern last year, and when I wore them at Christmas, my dad did a double-take. He owned several pairs of Hillbillies in the '70s. The brand's tag line was "Be Kind To Your Behind," which is funny and so cheesy. <br> Here are my pattern pieces, cut out. Note that I added seam allowances. I don't ever cut out my waist band until I get up to that point in the pattern, but I always save a nice long strip along the selvedge for that purpose. <br> Next, cut out the pocket bags. <br> I apologize for the inconsistent coloration of these photos; I was working at night. (Night crafting is the best crafting, I find. Maybe because there's always drinking involved.) The best tip about sewing anything is to work from the "inside" out: you actually want to take care of the things that seem like "details" first, not last. If your pattern calls for welt pockets, for example, it's vastly easier to insert the welt pockets first than it is to sew your pants legs, and then try to do the pockets. So, the first seam I sewed was to join the two pattern pieces that together make up the back of my shorts. <br> When the seam is stitched and edge-finished (zig-zag or serger, it's your call), press it to one side. It has taken my lazy ass years to admit it because it sounds boring as fuck, but pressing really is just as important as sewing. Your projects will look better if you pay attention to pressing, and press virtually every step of the way. And speaking of irons: before beginning a project that involves any kind of light-colored fabric is a great time to clean yours. The last thing you want is a speck of rust or a nasty mineral deposit getting coughed up in a big burst of steam and ruining your precious white shorts. Fill the tank with one part white vinegar and one part water, set it on its highest steam setting (or if it has an auto-clean setting, use that) and steam, steam, steam until the tank is totally empty. Repeat with a tank of water. You can also clean the sole plate &mdash; once it's cool, dummy &mdash; with vinegar, water, and a soft cloth. <br> Top-stitch the first seam. Now you have your two back pieces. Pin, and join them. Another great pants-sewing tip: When you are sewing the seat, stretch the fabric as you run it under the machine. (This seam is essentially on the bias, so just grab it and pull. It's got a lot of give.) The seat seam takes a lot of stress and you want it to last. I always sew it twice, stretching both times. <br> You'll want to press the seat seam to one side when you're done. <br> I was pretty into how neatly my top-stitching lined up. <br> For some reason, I always like to insert my pants flies before I do my front pockets. I know, weird, right? What follows is my particular fly-insertion method. If you have your own, by all means, use it. First, fuse the interfacing. (Again, my canvas fashion fabric is heavy enough for this not to matter, but do not follow my poor example and use black fusible with a white project. It's generally a bad idea.) <br> Next, line up the two pattern pieces, right sides together. Fold back the fly to the correct depth, and press. <br> Place the zipper. I always like to put it fairly deep, with the tape starting about half an inch in from the edge of the fly. I'm neurotic about my zipper tape flashing while I'm wearing pants, and if the zipper is tucked away as far from the edge as possible (and the waistband is sized correctly), the chances of this happening are minimal. <br> When the zip is where I want it, I flip it over and sew it from behind. I always sew the zipper first to the "back" part of the fly, with the tab that extends on the inside of the garment and isn't visible except to the wearer, and then later I sew the zipper onto the "front" of the fly, with the tab that is tucked behind itself and top-stitched. <br> Flip the zipper over, press. (If you're using a plastic zip, like I am, be very careful not to iron the teeth for fear of melting them.) Then top-stitch the zipper again. See, this way the zipper tape is tucked behind by your stitching, and your fly looks fancy. <br> Line up the two pattern pieces, and pin the "front" of the fly, just like you pressed it, earlier. Pin where the two pattern pieces will meet, at the point just below the fly. <br> Stitch the crotch seam. Stretch, like you did for the seat seam. <br> Top-stitch along the edge of the "front" of the fly, where you pressed the pattern piece earlier. <br> Fold the two pattern pieces along the edge of the fly, right sides together, to expose the interfacing on the inside of the "tab" part of the "front" of the fly. Feel behind it for the zipper tape. Pin the zipper tape to the "tab." Unfold, and run your hands over the pattern pieces to feel that everything's lying flat. Re-pin as necessary. <br> Unzip the zipper all the way, and, using your zipper foot, stitch the "tab" to the zipper tape. Do not sew all the way through to the front; top-stitching comes later. <br> Now that the zipper is attached, we do the top-stitching. Pin through the two layers of the fabric and the zipper tape. <br> I find it useful at this point to use my gridded ruler to check that my pins are all even. Your fly top-stitching should be about 1.5" in from the center front. <br> Sew the fly top-stitching in two sections: First, sew from the top edge straight down, through the "front" of the fly, the tab folded behind it, and through the zipper tape. At the point where the line of top-stitching begins to turn towards the center-front, stop, raise the presser foot, and cut your threads, leaving a reasonably long tail. Next, do the curved part of the top-stitching. Start at the center-front, just where your line of edge top-stitching meets the crotch seam. Sew through the "front" and the "back" parts of the fly, and across the bottom of your zipper, if applicable. When your second line of stitching almost meets your first, stop, raise the foot, and leave a long tail. Thread a needle, and hand-stitch the last couple of stitches, so that your line of top-stitching really looks perfect. Tie a knot, and trim. Last, add two bar tacks: One where the line of top-stitching meets the center-front and the crotch seam, and one at the point where the top-stitching breaks and turns toward the center front &mdash; right on top of where your two sections of top-stitching meet each other. And now you have a fly. <br> I spoke too soon: If your zipper, like mine, is a little too long, hand-stitch around the teeth a few times, knot, and then pink off the rest of the zip to trim. <br> Next, pockets. Sew the interiors of the pockets to the pocket bags. Zig-zag all around is fine, this seam will be hidden inside the pocket. <br> Stitch the bottoms of the pocket bags shut. I always do a French seam, 'cus why not? <br> Line up the pockets with the front pattern pieces. Trim off the excess fabric on the pocket bag. <br> Pin and stitch to join the pocket bags to the front pattern pieces. Stretch the curved seam straight, as you stitch. <br> Be sure to clip the seam. <br> Turn the seam out, and press. Pin, then top-stitch. (Like the crotch and seat seams, your pocket edges will take a lot of stress, so be sure to stretch as you sew.) Press again, then baste through all layers along the top and the side. <br> All right! You now have a front and a back. Join them together, and you practically have shorts. Make sure not to get your pocket bags caught in your side seams as you sew. Add bar tacks to the edges of the pockets, for strength. <br> Ta-da. Check the fit. There should be no camel toe. (That, again, is one of the main reasons to always adjust a pattern for crotch depth.) I like how these fit, but I think at the waist they're slightly too high in front, so I'm going to cut them down by about a half an inch. <br> Baste around the raw edge at the waist. Trim to that line of basting. <br> Next, cut your waist band. I always use a selvedge, but follow your pattern. Fuse interfacing. <br> Pin the waist band to the raw edge, right sides together, and stitch. <br> Press, and fold over the waist band. Stitch. <br> Clip. <br> Turn the waist band and press. You can use a bone (or plastic) point turner for precision, or, you know, a pencil. Or the tip of your sewing scissors. <br> At the edge of the waist band, on the interior, fold up the raw edge. The rest of the way around, I don't bother. <br> Top-stitch in one, long burst around the waist band. Top edge, bottom edge, and sides. <br> At this point &mdash; before hemming, and before adding the button closure &mdash; I always wash whatever I'm working on. Washing relaxes the fabric, gets rid of any tailor's chalk residue, and will take care of any last bit of shrinkage. (Fabrics like denim or twill generally shrink primarily in length, not width, and they may have a little bit of shrinking left to do even if they are "pre-shrunk." And you definitely want whatever you're making to have finished all of its shrinking before you hem, or else hello unintentional clam-digger pants and way too teeny-tiny shorts with a wavy hem.) <br> These are the results. Pin the waist band to determine the placement of your button or slide closure. (I used a slide.) Once you have the placement correct, hand-stitch in place securely. <br> Hemming is next. Choose a shorts length that works for you. Cuffs can be cute, but you may not want a horizontal design element to hit at mid-thigh. (Or maybe you do! Seriously, cuffs can look rad. And I reject the idea that as a woman you're supposed to be so consistently aware of the need to "camouflage" your "problem areas" that that pursuit should be the very goal of getting dressed, as opposed to the goal being wearing what you want to wear. Fuck you, magazines. I don't have "problem areas." I have legs.) So, do you want shorts, short-shorts, or very short shorts? It's up to you. I went with very short shorts, because it's summer, it's very hot outside, and with crafts in general I'm like, go big or go home. <br> Pin your hem. When you think you have it just right, press lightly. Then try the shorts on, and pin again. Adjust until the hem is perfect. <br> Then, press heavily, and trim the hem to a depth of one inch. <br> Sometimes with shorts, what looks straight on your leg is actually, in two dimensions, quite curved. Clipping your hem will allow the fabric to lie flat, but it may mean that you can't machine-sew your hem. <br> Which is fine by me, because I happen to think that the best, most durable, and least visible way to finish a hem is with a series of catch-stitches. Mine are loose because my shorts are made of a stretch fabric. <br> This concludes the making of your shorts. May you wear them with pleasure. (Audrey Hepburn dress-up time optional. Also optional is the shrine to Audrey and the Ouija board used to commune with her spirit in your living room. Wait. I've said too much.) <p>For next week, look out for a post on how to make a knitted leather clutch purse &mdash; loosely inspired by the Prada was selling in fall-winter 2010.</p> <p> for past Friday DIY columns, including how to make a custom dress form, and how to paint your nails with stripes.</p><p>Summer's coming. Couldn't you stand to have some whimsical sunglasses in your life? </p> <p>In honor of the Met's new Costume Institute show, "Schiaparelli and Prada: Impossible Conversations," I set about finding a DIY project inspired by the late, great Italian designer. (I've already inspired by Prada.) Elsa Schiaparelli was known for her eclecticism and references to (and collaborations with) contemporary artists. She moved in Surrealist circles and collaborated numerous times with her friend Salvador Dalí. Schiaparelli was up on all the newfangled technologies, like zippers, and she had a love for nontraditional design elements. She mixed the mundane with the luxurious in ways that remain surprising &mdash; like an embroidered evening jacket whose buttons looked like locusts, a gown where the metal zipper was the focal point, and not something to hide under a lapped seam, or a day dress made from a fabric printed with images of seed packets. She was witty, but she was also making an argument for enlarging the culture's definition of beauty in clothing and of what counted as high-end. She also made some really bad-ass sunglasses, which this week I decided to replicate. Here's how you can, too. This project is fun &mdash; and the best part is, it's easier than saying "Surrealist Schiaparelli sunglasses" three times quickly.<br> <br> These beauties, which Schiaparelli made during the '40s and '50s, are the kinds of glasses I'm talking about. You can see more examples . These will be our inspiration. Click any photo to enlarge.</p> <br> For this project, you'll need: 1) A pair of cat-eye style sunglasses. 2) A variety of beads in complimentary colors (for the 3-D flowers, look for beads made of fimo or modeling clay &mdash; or make and bake your own). You'll also need a hot glue gun or some other glue of your choice (not pictured). <br> You probably have gathered that this project but one real "step": taking the beads and gluing them onto the sunglass frames. To get a bead design that you like, play around until you hit upon a pleasing bead configuration that will suit the cat-eye frames. Lay your pattern out while your glue gun heats up. <br> Then lay out a pattern for the arms of the glasses. <br> Start with the arms to practice your glue technique, because any mistakes there will be less noticeable. Hot glue is a pretty forgiving medium &mdash; if you do get a blob of glue in the wrong place, just wait 'til it dries and scrape it off the frames. Working quickly and alternating from arm to arm to keep the bead spacing even, dab the backs of the beads with the glue and press them firmly into position. <br> When finished, your arms should look something like this. <br> Then start with the front. Place the largest, most eye-catching bead first, and then work inwards, bead by bead as before. <br> Here's the end result. <br> I just had to put on coral lipstick to match my new coral pseudo-Schiap sunnies. Summer can't come fast enough, as far as I'm concerned. I'm such a dork that I'll probably wear these to the Met this weekend to see the show. <p> is open at the Met through August 19. If there's something you'd like to see as a DIY project, you . In the meantime, to past DIYs:</p> <p><br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> </p><p>Take a look at the language used to sell a certain item to women. What is this light and luscious "must-have," you ask? Not a whisper-thin Philip Lim dress or a Weight Watchers angel food cake. The product is a pack of Camel cigarettes. This "must-have" is a known carcinogenic, but "they taste as good as they look," which is all chicks care about, right? Camel No. 9s are packaged in a sleek black box trimmed in pink. And the ad (in its entirety, after the jump) is pink and black, like an elegant boudoir or the inside of a jewelbox. There's a "purse," which holds two black credit card-like coupons, and and offer to visit the Web site and get cigarette cases designed by three "up-and-coming fashion designers." (We logged in but couldn't find further information, any idea who these up and comers are?)</p> <p><br> <br> The ad, which was elaborately designed and executed, arrived to one Jezebel's home via direct mail, which is one way tobacco companies are forced to reach people, now that they . The vibe is upscale, luxe, exclusive, pretty &mdash; words you could use to describe say, Vogue or the lifestyle portrayed on Sex and the City. (And Camel is .) But a pack of cigarettes is not a Prada dress or Blahnik shoe. Or is it? Is there something inherently chic about smoking, even today? Teenagers often start smoking because it "looks cool" and then find themselves with a habit that's hard to break. And though think that smoking and advertising have nothing to do with each other, the fact remains that a deadly product is glamorized. Wouldn't we all give pause if we saw a gun or a disease-loaded syringe treated the same way?</p> <p>(Click to enlarge)<br> </p> <p><br> Earlier: <br> </p> <p>Related: [Glam.com]<br></p><p>Leopard-print nails are fun, and one of the easiest "fancy" manicures to DIY. All the painting is freehand, and you can work quickly because the more uneven your leopard spots are, the better. With three chords, you can write a rock song. With three polish colors, you can do your nails all leopard-y. </p> <p>Here's what you'll need: A top coat (I use Sally Hansen Insta-Dri, which is far from Insta in its Dri but otherwise gets the job done), a feature color for your spots, a base color, a dark color for outlining your spots (a nail art pen or a small brush helps), and a base coat of your choice (I use OPI Nail Envy). Go wild with picking out colors: for a traditional leopard print, try a beige base, a tawny golden feature color, and a dark brown or black outline. Or else go tone-on-tone, with lime green, medium green, and black &mdash; or lavender, purple, and black. Or light blue, royal blue, and black. Whatever. I did a leopard manicure last November when I broke my toe and it was freezing outside and I got really bored with a grey base, bright blue feature, and maroon outlines.</p> <p>Now that it's summer and my outlook is slightly brighter (and my toe seems to have healed), I figured pink and turquoise couldn't be wrong. If you have some polish colors that you like, but which have proven disappointing in their durability when you've used them in the past, now's the time to bring them into the mix &mdash; as your feature color, not your base. (Whenever I've done my nails with the hot pink I'm using, no matter how careful the application, that shit never goes more than two days without chipping. Never.) But here that won't be a problem, because the base color does the heavy lifting in this manicure.</p> <p>First, prep for your manicure, to make it last longer. Remove your old polish, if any, and soak your hands in warm water for a few minutes. Trim your nails and push back your cuticles. (My cousin who's putting herself through school doing nails says: Don't cut your cuticles, because that's how infection starts.) Don't use lotion at this stage, and make sure your nails are clean, dry, and oil-free before you apply your base coat, because if there's any oil on or around your nail it can affect the drying time and the durability of your manicure.</p> <p>Do your base coat. Two coats for even coverage. Click any picture to enlarge.</p> <br> Next, start applying your feature color in little blobs, all over your nails. You can do big leopard spots or small (obviously, the smaller the more difficult), but for my medium-sized spots, about three-to-four blobs per nail is ideal. Keep the blobs roughly the same size, but vary their shape. <br> Spread 'em out, and make sure they aren't too centered &mdash; have some blobs that start at the cuticle, some that start way off to the edge of the nail, and some that go off the tip. <br> Then, using your skinny brush or your nail-art pen, turn your blobs into leopard spots. You're going to outline each blob with your dark polish. This part should be easy because basically, the wobblier the outline, the better. One trick is to break up the outline into two sections, leaving some of each spot outline-free. One section is a short, like a little "c", the other is longer, like a big "C." When you've outlined all your spots, look at the overall effect. If there are any areas that seem too empty, add a little dot or two &mdash; either between the larger blobs, or going off the tip of the nail is nice. <br> Finish outlining each nail, and apply your top coat. When the manicure is dry to the touch, I dab a little castor oil onto my hands, and rub it into my cuticles. It's a great, inexpensive natural moisturizer and promoter of healthy skin. And now your nails are done. <p><br> Next week, look out for a Very Special Episode of Friday DIY, in which Dodai and I team up to show you how to alter clothing for a Very Special Area &mdash; your boobs. (I know we said we'd do that for today, but we got a little overwhelmed with other projects.) In the meantime, to check out past Friday DIYs &mdash; including how to your nails with stripes, how to make a custom dress form and , how to make a , how to a thrift-store dress, how to make an at-home of a Prada bag, and how to dye your own &mdash; click .</p><p>Brightly colored stripes were the spring collections &mdash; Jil Sander, Prada, Marc Jacobs, Fendi, and Céline all played with parallel lines &mdash; but a dress or a top by any of the aforementioned isn't exactly within my freelance writer's budget. So...I set myself the challenge of incorporating stripes into my look in a far cheaper, and reassuringly temporary, way. Striped nails! Here's how I did it. </p> <p>First, these are the final results. I did this last Friday, and aside from one or two minor chips, everything's still in place. I suspect I'm heading into ten-day territory. Which is good, because this project took almost two episodes of This American Life and three micheladas to complete. Cheers.</p> <br> I used everything you see here. The main equipment was a cutting mat and ruler, a rotary cutter (an X-acto knife or similar would also work, or, in a pinch, a sharp paring knife), and a roll of medical tape from my first-aid kit. For the nails, I used OPI Nail Envy as a base coat, OPI "Don't Mess With OPI" green polish (from that company's Texas-inspired collection), Essie "Waltz" white polish, and Sally Hansen Insta-Dri top coat. It is far from Insta in its Dri, but it is the most durable top coat I've ever encountered. I chose white and green because it seemed fun. I was pretty tempted by yellow and black, green and blue, and orange and pink. <br> I started using Nail Envy, both on its own and as a base coat for manicures, about eighteen months ago on the advice of my cousin Dallas. She's working her way through college in a nail salon, so I figured she'd know, and she said it was the best. I can't say its extravagant claims of nail-strengthening feats have exactly been borne out by subsequent experience &mdash; my nails still break, albeit a bit less than before &mdash; but I like that it's fast-drying, and it gives a very thin, even coat with no mess. (I bite my nails, and it's such a thin coat that, unlike a clear polish, I can't chip it off with my teeth. That's a good thing.) And I'm still on my first bottle, which is a relief considering the shit costs like $16. You want to start any manicure with clean, dry nails (do not apply cuticle oil or lotion before beginning with the paint). A base coat will make everything stick, and also last longer. <br> While that was drying, I put a piece of tape on my cutting mat, and sliced it into long ribbons about 1/16 of an inch wide. <br> Then I peeled off the strips, cut them to a finger's width, and applied them to each nail, keeping them parallel. Medical tape worked better than the painter's tape and the sellotape I also experimented with. <br> It did occur to me that the sensible way to do a striped manicure would be to paint the entire nail with the lighter color, wait for shit to dry, then mask off each nail and paint the darker stripes over the top. But my white polish takes about four coats to look even, and the green takes 1-2, and I didn't want half an inch of polish on my nails by the time I was done. So I did the green stripes first, then removed the tape, and filled in the white stripes. If you have a better white polish that gives even coverage in a more reasonable number of coats, by all means, use the sensible method. <br> Slather those nails with the green polish. I used two coats. <br> Once the polish has dried completely, whip off the tape. Voilà. <br> I used a really small brush (and, at times, a toothpick) to apply the white carefully between the green stripes, without going outside the lines. The best general manicure tip I've ever heard is to do your fingers first, and thumbs last &mdash; that keeps your opposite thumbnail free to scrape off any accidents. The lines of the stripes on this hand are not so perfectly straight, but that'll all be fixed when... <br> ...the top coat is applied. I swiped side-to-side, instead of down the nail like usual, and it kind of cleaned up all my little wobbles and inconsistencies of line. That's the thing that's great about Insta-Dri &mdash; it's like it seeps into the polish all the way down to the nail, evening out the color and coverage, and strengthening the manicure. It turned like four layers of polish and base coat into one, impenetrable striped nail. I was feeling pretty damn proud of myself at this point, until I realized I then had to do another whole hand. When everything's all dry, rub some oil on your cuticles, or lotion, or whatever is your wont.<p>Just bought People at Duane Reade, where the following interaction occurred:<br> Clerk: Oh, his first name is Owen... For some reason I thought it was his last name.<br> Me: Um, yeah, his brother, Luke Wilson, was actually in a reaaaally romcom with Kate Hudson once, which makes the whole thing sort of confusing.<br> Clerk: I was, like, telling one of my friends about it, and I was saying, you know, the guy with the funny nose! Who always seemed so cool! I loved him in You, Me and Dupree. He always looks like he's having such a great time...<br> Me:: Yeah, he was sort of like, least likely to be all depressed, right?<br> Clerk: Well you know they say rich people are, on the whole, less happy than the majority of us.</p> <p>While on the whole, the picture is a bit more than this, we think it's safe to say that on the whole, the less we know about wealthy people, the happier we are. But we bought People anyway and realized there are exceptions: reading erstwhile Scar-beau Ryan Reynolds testifying to the fact that money doesn't buy happiness can, in a small way, make us marginally sorta happier.</p> <p>Says Ryan on the "swag at industry events":<br></p> I have very little patience with all that stuff. It's pretty crazy. It's like, 'Why don't you go to the Prada tent or the Adidas tent?' And you're like, 'Is this the free shoes for the rich program?' I don't understand. Why are all these people lining up? You made $20 million last year! Sigh. In fact, swoon. Please tell us he dumped that dumb bitch we so irrationally loathe already.<p>Sex And The City was at the box office this weekend, in case you've been living under a rock. The flick made $55.7 million, which "exceeded expectations." How come people had such low expectations, anyway? Matt Lauer was on the Today show this morning saying something like it must have made so much because couples went to see it together. In other words, surely women couldn't make box office history without men! But no: Women made it number one; the audience was . On one hand, there's some pride in the fact that dollars-obsessed Hollywood has proof that women will go to the movies if you give them what they want. On the other hand, it's a little tragic that there's so much hoopla surrounding Sex And The City. Because the movie was terrible.</p><p>To be honest, I was a fan of the TV show when it first aired. A female writer living in New York and dealing with messy relationships? Of course I could relate. Of course I was attracted to the glitter, the nightlife, the search for love and the dating psychodramas. And what the show did really well was to tell those modern urban love legends: The Guy With The Funky Spunk, The Guy Who Died Before The Second Date, The Time The Writer Fell On The Runway, The Time Your Friend Had A Brazilian Lesbian Lover For Like A Week. But the movie made me want to cut myself. It was a showcase for how hollow and soulless these characters were. Do they have hobbies, aside from shopping? Interests? Do they read anything beyond Page Six? They are just rich bitches who don't even have the decency to be over-the-top, and therefore amusing, like Absolutely Fabulous. I was seriously offended when Charlotte wouldn't eat anything except packaged chocolate pudding on their trip because "It's Mexico." I was also offended by Miranda's rudeness to her nanny and Samantha's "Honey, we can pay people to do the stuff we don't want to do" attitude. Then it dawned on me: These women are assholes.</p> <p>Unlike many people who live here, I actually grew up in New York. I used to roll my eyes at the women wobbling on heels as they navigated the litter of soda cans and condoms on downtown streets. Real New York women need to be mobile. Real New York women never know when they might have to run for their lives. So when HBO first started airing Sex And The City, it was a given that the characters were ridiculous &mdash; their problems, however, were entertaining. Much like a Woody Allen movie, the New York pictured was very specific: Mostly white and subway-free, with oodles of money on display. While the SATC TV show often presented silly conundrums easily solved and then post-mortemed over cocktails; SATC the movie insists that the audience empathize with these fools. Carrie cares more about herself and her elaborate gown than her groom, and we're supposed to feel sorry for her? I always thought Big was a smug cad who dyed his gray hair black, so I didn't care if she ended up with him or not. Samantha breaks up with Smith by saying "I love you, but I love me more," and that's supposed to be empowering? Is getting a lapdog really a happy ending for a 50-year-old? I found myself hating every single one of them: Idiotic, superficial Carrie; stuck-up, naggy perfectionist Charlotte; cold, ruthless Miranda and bitter, narcissisitic Samantha. The worst part is that these women have spawned a new generation of materialistic empty-headed women: When Carrie thanks Jennifer Hudson's character, Louise (rightfully a by Moe's sister) for bringing her back to life, Louise replies, "And you bought me my first Louise[sic] Vuitton." Because the only thing more important than soul-searching is having a thousand-dollar bag that will be out of style in three to six months. (Marketing Daily that the "feel-good" movie will get women shopping; but wasn't the message that "stuff" is not as important as relationships?" You know, the last line of the film: "Love, the one label that never goes out of style.") We're supposed to think Louise is smart because she cleans up Carrie's website, something every fifth grader in America can do these days.</p> <p>Still, the movie gave women a chance to "remember the sisterhood" and bond, maybe because relationships between women is an under-explored topic in Hollywood. We need another superhero like we need a hole in the head, but those flicks keep on coming. Yet obviously movies like SATC, Juno, The Devil Wears Prada and Baby Mama prove that women are interested in movies about women (and pregnancy need not always be at the core). It also gave us a chance to read the many horribly sexist reviews ("Parker is an actress who puts the horse in clothes horse," Dominic Rushe for the Times Of London) and to think about what we' d really like to see in a movie about modern women: Ethnic diversity, genuine soul-searching, "Big" questions &mdash; not about men, but about women. About our changing role in society, about our continued second-class citizen status. About the way we deal with each other. About the tough choices we have to make every single day. Especially this year, election year, when the on looks, cosmetics and cleavage became politically correct.</p> <p>In the end, while it's embarrassing that SATC: The Movie is the woman-centric sensation of the summer and will go down in history for its record-breaking weekend box office, it probably will not stand the test of time and become a classic, like, say, The Women, All About Eve, Breakfast At Tiffany's, La Femme Nikita, Alien or even Clueless or Mean Girls. Which is fine with me: I'd rather forget all about it.</p> <p> [Wall Street Journal]<br> <br> [LA Times]<br> <br> [Marketing Daily]<br> <br> [Times Of London]</p> <p>Related: </p><p>Kim Kardashian will eventually fade into obscurity? Yes. Kim Kardashian as an anal bleach spokesperson? It seems inevitable. But Kim Kardashian as a future Oscar winner? Well, that's now also a possibility according to big-name acting coach Susan Batson who recently took her on as a client. Known outside the industry as the woman who Nicole Kidman thanked in her Academy Award speech for The Hours, she also helped others like Jennifer Connelly, Juliette Binoche and Jamie Foxx realize their golden statuette dreams. Clearly enjoying a challenge, she's now planning to transform Kim from reviled reality star to a serious actress. And before you go thinking Susan will work with whoever will help her make a quick buck, she addressed this in an old New York magazine interview. "If you know who I said, 'Don't bother sending' to agents ..." she said, trailing off. "You have to have talent. Otherwise I really can't work with you." We hope you've had some rest, Susan, you have a mountain of a job ahead of you. []<br> And it's just as well, with some gossip journalist/economics major releasing a book that says Kim's earning potential as a bottom-feeder might be coming to an end. []<br> Phew, we can all exhale, Kim has returned to blogging after two whole weeks. []</p> <p> Giving celeb journalists a reason to get up in the morning Kristen Stewart speaks about her love for babies and confirms Robert Pattinson is a natural with them while discussing the wee actresses that were cast as their Twilight: Breaking Hymen daughter, Renesmee. A Renaissance faire-issue name if ever there was one. "Rob's really good with them, too. Every time they started crying it was just like, I would literally go ‘Oh God, where's its mom?' I would be worried about the baby," she said. "He would literally go into the corner and just shake it to sleep. It was weird to see that." Well, we don't know if shaking babies is actually that good a thing, but we'll let the on-set baby wranglers deal with that one. []<br> Not to be outdone, Robert says Kristen makes an "amazing" bride. []</p> <p>Charlize Theron reveals that she's happy to be single for the first time in 17 years. Taking a hiatus from acting in an attempt to fix her flailing near 10-year relationship with Stewart Townsend, she says that even though things didn't quite work out as she'd hoped on that front, it's been cool to stand on her own two feet for the first time in her adult life. "I've never been single," she says. "This is the first time in my life. From the time I was 19, I've been in relationships, literally gone from one to the other within a month. It's been good for me." []<br> She also talks about working with Kristen Stewart in Snow White And The Huntsman saying she "just doesn't give a fuck" and she's "looking forward to killing her and taking her beauty. That's what happens, right?" []</p> <p> The endlessly entertaining Courtney Love packed a sad at a show in Brazil and left the stage after someone held up a picture of Kurt Cobain. "I'm not Kurt. I have to live with his fucking shit, and his ghost, and his kid, every day," she said before she left. While she has a point, we doubt Frances Bean would love to be referred to as something to be endured. []</p> <p>While many of us would pull all sorts of ridiculous shit just to see what we could get away with, Jessica Simpson still deserves savage eye-roll after pulling her own little private Devil Wears Prada moment and making sure she was the only one riding the elevator when she went to get her hair did. And she does it all the time because of "privacy reasons," apparently. What could she possibly be doing in the space of a couple of floors? []</p><p>Today's Women's Wear Daily asks the legitimately thought-provoking question: Just who do women dress for? Now, since I work from home, I dress for no one, meaning I am regularly clad in orange sweats, an old tank top, thick wool socks, and my glasses. If I thought anyone could see me, however, I'd probably put on a pair of darkwash jeans, my favorite rose-colored low cut silk blouse and maybe the Marc Jacobs brown patent leather granny shoes I blew my last paycheck on. (Also, I would brush my hair.) Which, I guess, makes me like Anne Hathaway, who tells WWD (and not entirely originally) that "Most women dress for their most fashionable friend." But the other famous folk WWD spoke to were actually fairly split on whether women dress for other women... or for men.</p> <p>Socialite Jamee Gregory says women dress for other women. ("Noted fashion photographer" Nigel Barker points out that "most men don't realize what's going on half the time. If their friend at work wears the same thing every day, they wouldn't notice. It's not in the gene pool.­­") But Ken Downing, the fashion director for Neiman Marcus, disagrees: "Women want to look sexy and stylish. They certainly want to dress for the man in their life and there's always a little competition with other women. That is the truth because I spend a lot of time around women and clothes." Adds designer Agatha Ruiz de la Prada: "In Spain, women dress for men...I think it's very tiring to have to dress to be sexy all day. It's horrible and exhausting to have to wear high heels for 24 hours."</p> <p>And then there are those who say that women dress simply for themselves: "I don't know for everyone else. For me, it's for myself. When you feel good about yourself, you feel good about everyone else," says Carine Roitfeld of French Vogue. Echoes actress Sophia Bush: "I dress for myself. There are days when I don't want to be dressed up so I'm not. And there are other days when I really want to be done from head to toe. You've got to dress for you." And former Anne Klein designer Isabel Toledo points out that while she thinks that, on the whole, "Women dress for men. I do dress for myself because it makes me feel empowered, but I'm definitely looking for [husband] Rubin's expression, not his approval. I do use clothes to speak &mdash; how I dress is a form of communication for me."</p> <p>Now I'd be hard-pressed to think of a time when I've been conscious of having put on a certain outfit hoping to attract the sexual interest of men, but I've definitely dressed hoping for the approval of other women. And while most days I don't dress myself thinking "I must win the love and acceptance of others!" I think it's sort of a bullshit to say you dress for yourself, always. Because in my case, no one can see what I'm wearing. (Those neon orange sweatpants). And I like to believe that Carine Roitfeld would be, too, if no one could see her. After all, if a fashionista falls in the forest and no one is around to see, is she really a fashionista?</p> <p> [WWD]</p><p>Loathing your dark skin isn't just for . A new product in India, Fair and Handsome, is just one of the many skin-lightening creams that are, the Washington Post, "exploding in popularity." In fact, though these products are nothing new for the ladies, the mens' market has grown 150%. India has a long history of colonialism and caste-systems, and darker skin is often openly reviled. Nikki Duggal, a New Delhi-based graphic artist says, "It's something we have internalized, and it's propagated by everyone since we still have this colonial hang-up that white is better, white is wealth, white is someone rich enough to never toil in the sun. It's so prevalent in India that fair equates to more success in life. There is a very sad message that if you are dark, you are doomed." Oh, and by the by: The lightening creams which will save you from certain doom? They cost about $1. Which is half a day's wages for many Indians.<br></p> <p>The vile attitude toward dark skin is reflected in the way the cosmetic companies market these products. The for Fair And Handsome feature men who are sad outcasts and can't get women because they're too dark. Just a little cream and the ladies swoon over their new, light complexion!</p> <p>Ages and ages ago, there was a time when darkness, as a concept, was not evil. Darkness was the night, the soil, the strongest trees, the womb. Mysterious but nourishing, alive, full of power. White was for death and sickness. Thousands of years later, civilization, slavery, societal hierarchies, xenophobia, fear of disease and ignorance have flipped the script, so to speak. All too often, around the world &mdash; including in this country &mdash; black is bad. (Please refresh your memory with by Kiri Davis, in which young children point to identical black and white dolls and proclaim the white doll "good" and the black doll "bad." It's a 2006 recreation of a 1950s test, with similar results.) I wish I didn't have to keep typing these same words over and over again, but here goes: This is the same reason we the number of black models on the fashion week runways and black models in fashion magazines. If the world around you reminds you every day that your skin tone is neither fashionable nor desirable, how can you be expected to think otherwise?</p> <p> [Washington Post]<br> Related: [AOL Video]<br> [You Tube]<br> (Moral: No matter how good an actress you are, you can't be a star unless your skin is pale!) [Daily Motion]<br> [Google Video]<br> Earlier: <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> </p><p>Marc Jacobs still doesn't get why it's not appropriate for 14-year-olds to be working essentially full-time as fashion models. "You have child actors and children who model for catalogs," the designer tells Time. "What's the difference between doing a commercial for peanut butter and being on a runway?" An interesting position for a man who has devoted his career to convincing consumers that differences more profound than mere label and price exist between his clothes and accessories and the ones you can buy at, say, Wal-Mart. But the difference? The differences include the hours worked &mdash; child modeling is a very, very part-time job, while the time demands of the grown-up modeling industry are manifold; Thairine Garcia, the Brazilian 14-year-old Jacobs used for his runway show, already has an extensive work history including ad campaigns, runway shows, and covers of Brazilian Elle, Harper's Bazaar, and Marie Claire, ditto Ondria Hardin, the other 14-year-old, who was a face of Prada last year when she was aged just 13 &mdash; and the fact that those kids who do TV commercials for peanut butter, like other child actors, benefit from labor standards, educational protections, financial transparency requirements, restrictions on working hours, mandatory breaks, and other concessions earned over many years by their unions. Oh, and ? The difference is that the children in the peanut butter commercial get paid! But Marc Jacobs doesn't believe in standards or rules; he doesn't even, , believe in labor laws. "I was just kind of doing what I felt," he says, by hiring those 14-year-old girls. "I don't ever mean to be provocative." []</p> The best part about this, Model Call, a reality-TV spoof about fashion week casting produced under the aegis of V magazine (and starring, full disclosure, a casting director we're friendly with, Preston Chaunsumlit) is definitely when Chaunsumlit asks Lakshmi Menon if she does nude work, and she just looks at him and says, "Not for Terry." [] When a reporter called the Sears customer service line to ask why, exactly, the retailer was selling baby onesies with trompe l'oeil stripper pasties on them and other inappropriate messages, the associate agreed they were offensive and shouldn't be for sale. "I cannot believe how offensive this is," she said. "I have kids, I understand, we need to take it down and take corrective measures." UPDATE: Apparently, the baby onesies were sold by another retailer, and used by the Daily News, confusingly, as an illustration. Sears sold different but equally offensive t-shirts. []<p>So guess what? That thing about the in the groin with a scalding fork turns out to be quite possibly true. I just called Elyse Eisen &mdash; the Hofstra alumna who, yesterday, emailed fellow Phi Epsilon alumni in response to in the New York Post containing the allegations of a de-pledged sorority sister who claimed the sorority was a violent cult &mdash; and I asked her, point blank, whether it was true that her sorority brands its sisters with a three-pronged fork to represent their three "values", as we had been hearing. (Because, you know, it seemed like a bizarre claim to me, and although I knew branding was popular with such a practice would not seem to carry the co-opted symbolism with a bunch of suburban white chicks at school in Long Island.) And then I began receiving emails (including but not limited to ) from Hofstra alums; emails that lent context and credibility to the emails and that claimed that the sorority had gone so far as to make its symbol a cow &mdash; a reference to the branding practice. I mentioned all this &mdash; paraphrased of course &mdash; to Elyse, dear readers. And she said: "No comment."</p><p>"No comment?" Okay then!</p> <p>Reportorial duties thus totally completed, I guess I can share with you a little of what our sources are telling us about Phi Epsilon. It is, it seems, something of an anomaly at Hofstra: a "local" sorority governed by no national or academic body and with relatively low dues payable on a financial aid recipient budget; a sorority known for being "scrappy" on a campus more often associated with a word that rhymes with "scrappy" and that also conjures luxury goods and blow-outs. To its credit, Phi Epsilon purportedly celebrates diversity among its members, but that diversity yields a certain amount of "brutish" behavior. "It's not like a bunch of Prada bag toting idiots doing this," one said. According to our sources, who requested anonymity for fear of retribution, Phi Ep has a reputation for being particularly cruel throughout the hazing process; at the "Sister Dinner" referenced in yesterday's email, it is apparently common practice to order recruits to prepare an elaborate meal for their new community only to have it thrown in their faces. Girls who drop out of the process are harassed and mocked in public.</p> <p>But the best part is their unique &mdash; and shockingly literal &mdash; approach to the the proverbial "Hell Night" celebrated by Greek Organizations across the land. On Hell Night, sisters are rumored to actually dig their own graves. They then spend the night in coffins. In the morning, they are "reborn as Phi Ep."</p> <p> [Wikipedia] (Phi Epsilon is on there.)<br> <br> [Hofstra Chronicle]<br> <br> [NY Post]<br></p> <p><br> <br> Earlier: </p><p></p> The first time I saw an International Male catalog was at the all-girls Virginia boarding school I attended in the 1980s. The cool girls &mdash; the ones who owned their own horses and got BMWs for their 16th birthdays, with car-size bows on top &mdash; got the catalog in their mailboxes, along with subscriptions to GQ. The uncool girls, if we were lucky, got to peer over their shoulders at pictures of male models in thong bikinis. I found the presentation of male genitalia, packaged and posed and seemingly aroused, totally terrifying. Were they really that long and tuber-like? And were men supposed to stare at you in such a brooding, animal way, their eyes glowering at siesta level, their mouths puckered in baby-doll O's? So NY Times reporter/socialite Alex Kuczynski in yesterday's T: Style magazine in an essay about the catalog. Having never heard of International Male before [What are you? 23? Oh, yeah. -Ed.] I went to take a look myself at what Barneys Creative Director Simon Doonan describes as a catalog full of "objectified men". My favorite images from the current catalog, after the jump. <p>New Push-up Thong: Padding hidden inside lifts you up and out. ($23)</p> <p><br> Contour Thong: Our famous Contour underwear with a sleek thong back. The V-seam pouch is contoured for a natural look and terrific support. Machine wash. Cotton jersey. Import. ($8)</p> <p><br> Gauze Caftan: Think of all the occasions you have to wear such a comfortable piece of clothing: the beach, the pool, Sunday mornings at home, late at night. Oh the comfort. Made from a lightweight and airy cotton gauze. Loose, full sleeves. Deep cut neck. Side slits. ($29)</p> <p><br> Times Square Leather Trenchcoat: 120 square feet of soft lamb leather. 56" long. Single-breasted. Banded collar. Silvertone buttons run from collar to waist. Darted/pleated back. 5" long leather cuffs. On-seam pockets. Slightly padded shoulders. 3/4 polyester lining. ($399)</p> <p><br> UNDERGEAR® Kensington Denim Vest: Flap pockets, metal buttons down the front. Cotton denim. Machine wash. ($45)</p> <p> [NY Times]</p><p>OHMYGODOHMYGOD, it's almost January 3! Do you live in Iowa? Hillary has an for you. Go to college there? Barack Obama has a bus waiting to take you back so you can exhibit your youthful delusion that a black man could be voted president in this terrible country. Today is a very exciting day, because both Al Sharpton AND Michael Moore, pillars of the fat ugly blowhard hater lefty establishment we all so love, have finally chosen to weigh in on the Democratic candidates, and their choice is...well they're still on the fence. Here is a theory: the candidates are all too pretty for them. I mean, would you even do a double-take if you saw Elizabeth Kucinich walking down the street with Barack Obama or John Edwards? After the jump we discuss beauty, socialism, whether the country is irredeemably racist, and somehow, professional basketball, for your voyeuristic pleasure!</p> <p>MOE: OMG THANK GOD YOU'RE BACK HUGE DAY HUGE DAY. How's your car? And happy new year<br> MEGAN: happy new year! and, it's not in great shape<br> i barely passed the inspection i was supposed to have had done last month and, given that cops drive my my place constantly, i didn't want a ticket for a lapsed inspection on top of everything else<br> MOE: Oh my god srsly. This one time when I lived in LA I was driving around and got, like, arrested for having a missed inspection. Or not arrested but they insisted on towing my car. Whatever. CARS. I hear those come in handy in places like IOWA.<br> MEGAN: almost as useful as tractors!<br> MOE: We have like nineteen minutes but out. He likes Hillary but she refused to be interviewed by him for Rolling Stone so he doesn't like her. He likes Kucinich but Kucinich is endorsing Obama. He doesn't like Obama because he "doesn't think Wall Street is such a bad place" although that's sort of unsourced. He likes Edwards because he fell hook line and sinker for that fucking "corporate greed" line, which is admittedly a good line, but corporate greed is directly responsible for why John Edwards has made so much $$$$ suing corporations that he can now lavish buying votes in Iowa which he has been doing for the past four years.<br> MEGAN: At least he's not endorsing Ron Paul?<br> Also, Hillary Clinton is the love of Michael Moore's life? Way to beat the charges that you traffic in hyperbole, Michael<br> MOE: Ugh the statement bothered me so much. For one thing, insurance companies are really nowhere near as evil as pharmaceutical companies, they're just an easier target.<br> And seriously, corporations are not inherently greedy but, ehhhhh, that's another story I guess. Did you read ??? I skimmed.<br> MEGAN: It doesn't surprise me that they smell bad?<br> Wait, I'm still skimming? They can't drink, toke or fuck? They're really just high on life?</p> <p>MOE: Yeah they're total losers now I understand why you hate them in other news what REALLY SERIOUSLY REALLY FUCKING BOTHERS ME about Michael Moore, back to Michael Moore &mdash; who I love, by the way &mdash; but this statement:</p> Sen. Obama has a big heart, and that heart is in the right place. Is he electable? Will more than 50% of America vote for him? We'd like to believe they would. We'd like to believe America has changed, wouldn't we? <br> MEGAN: Wow, he actually went with "a black guy can't win"? Sigh.<br> Oh, Michael. Way to call everyone racist while being kinda racist<br> MOE: If you must believe that half of America is so irredeemably racist and foul, Michael Moore, then why is he the favorite Democrat candidate of Republicans? Why are the ones who are supposed to tip the scales in his favor???<br> Hahahaha exactly.<br> He has no real problem with Obama other than maybe he suspects him of being a lightweight... and then goes on to almost-endorse John Motherfucking Edwards???<br> MEGAN: I mean, I think my grandpa would have trouble voting for Obama, but not that much if he was facing Huckles.<br> I love, btw, that Morre had to "get past" Edwards' hair.<br> I don't want to get past his hair! I want to run my fingers through it!<br> MOE: Personally I would like to house-sit for John Edwards.<br> I'm sure there's a poll somewhere of that right?<br> MEGAN: Ooh, good call. But, no, would still rather run my fingers through his pretty, pretty hair.<br> Ooh, good call. But, no, would still rather run my fingers through his pretty, pretty hair.<br> MOE: That just made me think of how FUCKING ATTRACTIVE those two Dems are. Imagine Obama w. Edwards as his running mate. And Elizabeth, all skinny from the cancer! And their pretty spawns. These candidates don't get enough credit for being hott IMHO.<br> <br> That just made me think of how FUCKING ATTRACTIVE those two Dems are. Imagine Obama w. Edwards as his running mate. And Elizabeth, all skinny from the cancer! And their pretty spawns. These candidates don't get enough credit for being hott IMHO.<br> MEGAN: Well, don't forget Michelle!<br> Well, don't forget Michelle!<br> MOE: Michelle goes w.o saying obvi.<br> Michelle goes w.o saying obvi.<br> I will just slobber if I allow her to enter the conversation at this point.<br> <br> MEGAN: And, yes, they all had fucking adorable kids.<br> MOE: But wait, speaking of pudgy blowhard pillars of the leftstablishment I personally love but in whose irrelevance I am taking great enthusiasm AL SHARPTON.<br> Did you read that NYT story of a few weeks ago?<br> I mean a few days ago<br> In which it is revealed that Jesse Jackson's daughter was one of Michelle Obama's bridesmaids<br> <br> MEGAN: no! i only read where he talks about how important he is<br> MOE: Yes but does he talk about himself in the THIRD PERSON???<br> MEGAN: No. Thankfully. One annoying thing Al Sharpton doesn't do.<br> MOE: "A black candidate doesn't want to look like he's only a black candidate," the Rev. Al Sharpton, the civil rights activist, who ran for president in 2004, said in an interview about Mr. Obama. "If he overidentifies with Sharpton, he looks like he's only a black candidate. A white candidate reaches out to a Sharpton and looks like they have the ability to reach out. It looks like they're presidential. That's the dichotomy." <br> MEGAN: Also, I cannot abide Al Sharpton. Al Sharpton who said that me and nearly every person I ever knew until I was 18 (because I spent my entire life in upstate NY) were all unreconstructed racists because of what we "allowed" to happen to .<br> 10:06 AM<br> Tawana Brawley who the grand jury said faked it all, and who ran away to avoid a civil judgment against her.<br> So, I try not to write about Al Sharpton too much because he basically said that all us rural white folks are irredeemable and I somehow can't hear him talk about race relations in this country without the bile rising. <p>11 minutes<br> MOE: I forgot about Tawana. That just made me think of Tawana Iverson. That was her name right? Allen's wife. And her weird fruity cousin who made up all this shit about how he was a wifebeater. And how the Philly cops bought it hook, line and sinker. Because Iverson was an ungrateful thug who didn't go to practice. And yeah they were racist, but not irredeemably racist. A lot of black folks thought Iverson was a nogood thugpunk whatever too. And I dunno, I personally think Iverson just had some demons; he was a really interesting wiry little dude who would have been happier playing in the days of Magic Johnson and Larry Bird, back when basketball was a true team sport, with honor etc. etc., before the nine-figure sneaker contract he got bc little kids identified w. his realness and little kids had no way to really understand that buying a hundred dollar pair of sneakers is the ultimate way to express one's realness. I'm going off the rails now, but I think the thing that Barack Obama understands that Michael Moore does not is that no one is irredeemably racist. Or greedy. Even corporations. We are all at some level complicit in the system that got us here and the failure is of government to provide an adequate balance to all of it. There is no ENEMY.<br> MEGAN: The enemy is us? Yeah, that seems about right.<br> MOE: I mean, if I learned anything from The Devil Wears Prada it's that not even Anna Wintour is the enemy.<br> MEGAN: Because she brought turquoise back? I'm cool with that. I look nice in blue.<br> MOE: Ooooh, that reminds me, on New Years I made a frantic shopping trip to Urban Outfitters and I bought a dress with COLORS. I don't really wear colors. But it was on sale.<br> MEGAN: How very un-New York of you. Virginia must've rubbed off on you.<br> MOE: I know, right? And I saw my friend Susie last night, who used to be the Beijing correspondent at TIME and is now taking time off to, like, go to SCHOOL and learn new things and shit. And I remembered that living in a society where everyone wears the same fucking thing in the same drab colors... I mean, I might be okay with that, but most people get really bored by socialism.<br> MEGAN: Socialism, and winter.</p><p>Sydney Zamora is a brash, calculating and unrepentant heroine who is quick to drop a suitor and curse him out as she extracts herself from the date. Is she the new prototype for chick lit characters?</p> <p>With her new novel, , author Erica Kennedy seeks to use Zamora's story as a springboard to pioneer a brand new genre: "bitch lit." And not a moment too soon. Chick lit, the popular and fluffy genre geared toward women readers, is having a bit of an identity crisis. Even Plum Sykes, of Bergdorf Blondes fame, is ready to on the genre:</p> <p>[Sykes] was skeptical that a new genre of chick lit could emerge from the recession, partly because she believes we've already seen the last of the "sex and shopping book as a publishing phenomenon". She added: "Chick lit seems so out of date now. Not only because of the economic reality but because it's been done to death."</p> <p>The recession hit, taking the sugary tales of credit card backed retail therapy with it and leaving authors in a panic. Would people still relate to their characters if they stopped living charmed lives? For some reason, publishers seem to think "" are the next hot trend. I'm fairly skeptical, myself - after all, half the fun of a fluffy novel is the escape from reality.</p> <p>Lakshmi Chaudhry agrees in a sense, </p> <p>The literary problem with the current economic debacle is that its architects are irremediably inane, self-absorbed and shallow-and, therefore, perfect for chick lit-the first fictional genre to wholeheartedly embrace the recession. Hedge Fund Wives by Tatiana Boncompagni, Social Lives by Wendy Walker, The Penny Pinchers Club by Sarah Strohmeyer and The Summer Kitchen by Karen Weinreb detail the travails of affluent women suddenly burdened with shrinking bank balances and AWOL or, worse, imprisoned banker husbands.</p> <p>What's a Fifth Avenue socialite to do? Tap into her girl power, of course. "One of the big motifs in these books is a sort of empowerment," says Jonathan Segura, an editor at Publishers Weekly, who told The New York Times, "Swathed in Gucci, Prada and what not, their protagonists realign their priorities and realize, ‘Oh, I don't need that Givenchy gown. I can look great in Eileen Fisher, too'". Sacrifice, it's the American way!</p> <p>But is that what readers want? Listening to the whine of the formerly privileged whose recent brush with brokeness forced them to reflect on the meaning of life seems more like torture than pleasure. And our current cultural mood seems to go between more serious matters (like politics and the economy) with straight up escapism (werewolves, faeries, and vamps, oh my!)</p> <p>Perhaps writers and publishers could pay more attention to the lives of the women that create their audience. Many of us are scared for our jobs and cutting back, but that doesn't manifest in maniacal penny pinching or schadenfreude. Some times, tapping into this particular type of economic strain, is as simple as allowing your character's thoughts to roam. A good example of this is a highly relateable passage in Feminista:<br></p> <p>Sydney had no desire to be that rich. Every rich kid she'd ever known had been completely fucked in the head. She didn't even aspire to be average rich, but seeing that kind of obscene wealth up close made her life seem so small and insignificant. For the last month, she had been agonizing, agonizing, over whether she should waste three hundred dollars on a pair of fucking shoes! She compulsively saved her pennies, never splurging on herself unless she could write it off, and for what? To buy a tiny apartment that was the size of that spoiled bitch's linen closet?</p> <p>She used to think that if she just had enough, she'd be happy. Enough money in the bank, a decent apartment, a little disposable income to go on a modest vacation or two a year. After reading a widely e-mailed Times story about $200,000 being the new $100,000, she had to ask herself what exactly constituted enough? Before she had finished grappling with that question, the paper of record ran a chilling piece about millionaires in Silicon Valley who didn't feel rich because they lived among people who had tens of millions. Before clicking to the second page, Sydney had to stop and pop a Xanax. The quest for "enough" was what got her out of bed every morning. It was what kept her going when she wanted to give away all of her worldly possessions and move to a tropical island and sell handmade trinkets on the beach. She didn't want to ponder the idea that "enough" was unattainable, that it was a constantly moving goal she might never reach. Because that would force her to confront the possibility that her entire life's course had been charted with a faulty compass. And why put herself through that when she could just self-medicate?</p> <p>Whether it's chick lit or bitch lit, romance novels or , the key to any selling any story lies in sympathetic characters and the willingness of an audience to want to walk through the world created between a novel's pages.</p> <p>So, I suppose, the fate of chick lit rests squarely on one key question: what is the audience looking for?</p> <p> [Amazon]<br> [The Independent]<br> [Daily Mail]<br> [Live Mint]<br> [Feministe]</p>In order to view comments on jezebel.com you need to enable JavaScript.<br> If you are using Firefox and NoScript addon, please mark jezebel.com as trusted.In order to view comments on jezebel.com you need to enable JavaScript.<br> If you are using Firefox and NoScript addon, please mark jezebel.com as trusted.<p>Last night I attended an event called "Out Of Fashion: The Absence Of Color," a "conversation" hosted by longtime agent Bethann Hardison and held at the New York Public Library. The discussion attempted to draw attention to the question: Why have images of black models been in sharp decline in high fashion for more than a decade? Also on the panel: Designer Tracy Reese, casting agent James Scully, model agent David Ralph and stylist Lori Goldstein. In attendance were Iman, Vera Wang, photographer Marc Baptiste, industry insiders, writers, editors and dozens of black models.</p> <p><br> <br> Ms. Hardison began by explaining that in the '80s and 90s, there were many black models, but the decline has been steady &mdash; and scary. She said she was hoping to bring a radical change in the industry, and named some of her pet peeves, including: Image-makers not having the eye to define black beauty; image-makers allowing only one black model at a time; hearing that black covers don't sell, hearing "I already have one or two black models"; the fact that agents have such a tough time selling black models that they get worn down. Also, modeling agencies often do not allow black "marquee name" models to be photographed for "black" magazines. She noted that since fashion has become such a huge industry and people around the world see images of runway shows, this is not a small issue. "Globally, it affects everybody."</p> <p>James Scully has been in the business for over 20 years, worked in Milan, and in addition to booking models for Harper's Bazaar, had worked for Gucci under Tom Ford. He argued that if Tom Ford said, "Bring me a beautiful girl," he meant a beautiful girl of any color, which is how Liya Kebede ended up with an exclusive contract for Gucci in 2000. He went on to say that the next wave of fashion, which was lead by Prada, leaned toward blank, colorless models &mdash; a runway in which all the girls were virtually the same, and there were absolutely no faces of color. "Everyone followed," he said, meaning that Prada set a trend for other designers. (Check the and you will see: Zero black models.)</p> <p>Ms. Hardison said that designers don't even like models anymore, explaining that in her day, a designer and a model were like a husband and wife, working together, in a relationship. Everyone seemed to agree that the trend now is toward younger, cheaper, faceless, nameless models.</p> <p>Lori Goldstein acknowledged that the business has changed. "It's homogenous," she said, and admitted that there were a lack of "ethnic" girls in the packages that the agencies send out.</p> <p>At some point, the discussion turned to black women who have narrow features &mdash; do they represent black beauty, or are they merely "white girls dipped in chocolate?" Iman got pissed. "Each person in Africa is different, you cannot say that one look is 'African,'" she argued from the audience, with a microphone provided for her.</p> <p>Blatant racism was discussed as well. Mr. Scully pointed out that when he was first working with Liya Kebede, some designers and photographers were not interested in working with her because she was black. Once they saw her in photoshoots he had successfully pitched for her, some of them said, "I love her, who is that?"</p> <p>One editor recounted a story of working at Vibe, and told of how someone at Manolo Blahnik would not loan the magazine shoes for a photo shoot. Former editor Emil Wilbekin called Iman, Iman called Manolo Blahnik himself, and suddenly they had "a whole lotta shoes" for the shoot.</p> <p>A photographer in the audience noted that fashion is about exclusivity, so naturally, minorities get excluded. Another audience member, who works closely with Louis Vuitton, said that they would often make sure there was at least one Asian model in the shows since Asia is a huge market for them.</p> <p>Photographer Marc Baptiste asked, "It's 2007. What is the solution?" Ms. Hardison replied, "We're all trying to figure that out" and said it was important to keep talking. "It's a slow tsunami," she explained, "we have to keep rolling forward." She did say that she would meet with Diane Von Furstenberg and the CDFA soon. She also said, "I feel like there is one person, behind a curtain, like in The Wizard Of Oz, turning the knobs. And that person could change everything. And we all have to think, 'Who could that one person be?' Think of that one person," she urged the audience. "Don't say it! Just think it."</p> <p>We have someone in mind, do you?</p> <p> [NYPL]<br></p>In order to view comments on jezebel.com you need to enable JavaScript.<br> If you are using Firefox and NoScript addon, please mark jezebel.com as trusted.In order to view comments on jezebel.com you need to enable JavaScript.<br> If you are using Firefox and NoScript addon, please mark jezebel.com as trusted.<p>Magazines are celebrating curves! As long as they stay within the narrow size requirements.</p><p>There are straight-size models and plus-size models, and then there are the models who fit the straight-size measurements but are just a little more curvy and busty. They just aren't waif kind of straight-size, and are therefore used by magazines and labels to gain some cred for being inclusive. The straight-size-but-with-boobs models walked the Fall runways for Prada and Louis Vuitton, and Prada's influence is so vast that you could credit the brand for the industry's obsession with blonde, doe-eyed waifs in the Sasha Pivovarova mold. But why isn't the influence holding any power now, and here in the U.S.?</p> <p>Since the Fall shows ended, European publications such as French Elle and Italian Vanity Fair have cast in editorials plus-size Amy Lemons and Crystal Renn, respectively. But when American magazines talk about "plus-size" women, the publications benefit more than the actual plus-size models themselves. They can throw around words and headlines that make them look inclusive, but when it comes down to who they actually choose to feature and the images they present, the plus-size models aren't getting work; the "bigger" straight-size ones are. American Vogue straight-BUT-WITH-BOOBS Lara Stone's struggle in the industry and used straight-BUT-WITH-BOOBS Doutzen Kroes for a swimwear story, and straight-but-LOOK!-BOOBS! Miranda Kerr was featured in the recent V spread entitled "A Woman in Full."</p> <p>Prada used Kerr in their Fall campaign. V dedicated an issue to size &mdash; my problems with it were by Laia at Geometric Sleep &mdash; and promised to start using plus-size models regularly, but the only one they've hired since is Crystal Renn, and she got only one photo. Glamour put Renn on its cover wearing a bathing suit, though there were a with the context. Renn also for Chanel's resort collection &mdash; let's hope she's kept for seasons people actually care about, and that she doesn't become the plus-size model among brands and magazines, meaning, the only one ever used.</p> <p>I'd like to see plus-size models allowed to actually wear clothes more often; otherwise you're not changing the idea that high fashion is exclusive to skinny women. Don't continually point out that they're different, with a few condescending headlines about how, don't worry, curvy women can be beautiful too!! If you want to be accepting of different body types, just include the different body types without having to justify it with a special headline, repeatedly making sure that we see how celebratory of body diversity you are for not using a 15 year-old Twiggy replica. You don't need to ease the consumers into anything, giving us time to get used to seeing thicker girls. We're ready!</p><p>Glamour's 20th annual Women of the Year awards at Carnegie Hall brought together world leaders and royalty with the Hollywood varietal. And the clothes? From regal to royal mess!</p><p></p><p></p><p>"While tech heads on Friday lined up at the Apple store to buy the latest iPhone, fashionistas evidently hurried to newsstands across New York City to get their hands on the July Italian Vogue featuring all black models," WWD. A Condé Nast spokeswoman says the company increased newsstand distribution of the special issue by 40 percent in the U.S. Friday night (on my way to the commenter meetup), I walked by the newsstand on Avenue A, where I'd called and stopped in about a dozen times in search of Vogue Italia, and I jokingly shook my fist, damning the store for not having the issue. That's when I saw it in the window. I bought three copies. Flipping through the much-hyped issue is interesting: After the pull-out cover featuring four striking close ups (Liya Kebede, Sessilee Lopez, Jourdan Dunn and Naomi Campbell), the next thirteen pages of ads &mdash; for Valentino, Prada, Gucci, Dolce & Gabbana and Dior &mdash; all feature white faces.</p><p>I don't read Italian, but some of the headlines and captions have English words. One of the first stories on the "People" page is about Michelle Obama. The next piece is about Spike Lee's film, Miracle At St. Anna, which focuses on four black soldiers trapped behind enemy lines in WWII. There's also a picture of Naomi Campbell and Nelson Mandela with information about the Nelson Mandela Children's Fund, and in the caption, the words "benefit girl." A few pages after that: A short piece about Essence magazine, followed by one about Ebony. It's kind of funny how between the pages of editorial content with black faces, the ads continue to have white faces. In any case, I had to scan the page about Ebony because Lena Horne on the March 1946 cover looks amazing.</p> <p></p> <p></p> <p>Skipping ahead, you'll find a six-page ad for PINKO, starring Naomi Campbell. No matter how you feel about her, you cannot deny that the woman is astounding. She is 38 years old and still built like a thoroughbred.</p> <p></p> <p></p> <p>There are eight pages of up and coming black models called "You Have A Go-See." Maybe it's for the people who claim there are no black models. All of the young women are gorgeous; I scanned three for you guys to check out.</p> <p></p> <p><br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> </p> <p></p> <p>The first big black model shoot is the beauty spread; it's shot by Dusan Reljin. Edgy. Not technically "pretty." The underlying subtext seems to be about the meaning of blackness, the meaning of black as a hue, as a skin tone. Not my cup of tea, but here are a few shots:</p> <p></p> <p><br> <br> <br> <br> <br> </p> <p>Question: Is blackface on a black face still blackface?</p> <p>Oh! An ad for a company called Quodlibet uses a black model! It's so '80s your hair will crimp.</p> <p><br> <br> <br> </p> <p></p> <p>And so we come to the feature well. The first photo spread is the "Modern Luxe" story by Steven Meisel. Alek Wek, Alva Chinn, Sessilee Lopez, Ubah, Kiara Kabakubu, Noemie Lenoir, Vernoica Webb, Arlenis Sosa, Liya Kebede, Karen Alexander, Iman, Yasmin Warsame, Jourdan Dunn, Gail O'Neill and Chanel Iman appear. have already been on the web, so I'm only scanning a few:</p> <p></p> <p><br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> </p> <p></p> <p></p> <p></p> <p>It's awesome to see Karen and Gail since they were in the issues of the fashion magazines I read as a pre-teen magazine junkie and I haven't seen them since.</p> <p>Next is the shoot appropriately titled "There's Only One Naomi." The photographs (again by Steven Meisel) are like scenes from ordinary days in Miss Thing's life: Luxe, aloof, a little crazy.</p> <p></p> <p><br> <br> <br> <br> </p> <p>After Naomi? Tyra.</p> <p></p> <p><br> <br> <br> </p> <p></p> <p>Then 8 images of ensembles worn with crazy hats, called "Elegance As A Form."</p> <p><br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> </p> <p></p> <p>The "How To Dazzle" shoot is 25+ pages of black and white photography; here are just a few images. In case you're curious about how to dazzle, the mag seems to suggest smoking, large jewelry, turbans and animal print.</p> <p></p> <p><br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> </p> <p></p> <p>Did you know that ANTM alum Toccara Jones was in this issue? She is smoking hot. Aside from the whole woman-is-an-object-like-a-car thing. And she is topless! Absolutely stunning. Gotta love that they included a "womanly" body.</p> <p></p> <p><br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> </p> <p></p> <p>There's one last "Black on Black" shoot, but it pales (heh) in comparison to the rest, so I didn't even bother scanning it. But after counting black models on runways and in magazines and finding them ignored by the fashion industry, this much-anticipated issue really delivered.</p> <p>Is it a gimmick? Yes. But the fact remains that flipping through the issue and seeing page after page of gorgeous black women can act as a reminder to editors, stylists, modeling agencies and consumers &mdash; that beauty comes in many forms. It can be edgy, irreverent, weird, pretty, strong and avant-garde &mdash; while being black. While perhaps some may be upset that it took a "stunt" like this to throw a spotlight on the issue of the lack of diversity in magazines and runways, it's actually a beautiful souvenir, a keepsake to remember these troubled times. A protest song in photograph form. Never has the racism issue looked quite so stunning.<br> <br> <br> </p> <p></p> <p>Related: [WWD]</p> <p><br> <br> Earlier: </p>For the first time since its famous all-black of July, 2008, Italian Vogue has printed a magnificent 17-page editorial, featuring twelve black models. The story is definitely reaching for a languid, finger-curled, Harlem Renaissance feeling. Let's explore.<p>Today I received a story about Italy from my brother, who works at the German Embassy. The message: "Could this country get any less serious?" And reflexively I was like, "yeah, Mussolini may have made the trains run on time but try putting THEM in charge of a genocide!" And then I read the story; OMG. Basically, the Italian police department outfitted its female cops with "official" Italian police stilettos. "To give their uniform a younger and sexier look." Does that even happen in Bond movies? So yeah, the police department ordered a shipload of high-heeled shoes. (It's the "fixing broken stilettos" theory of crime fighting!) But oh no &mdash; they all came back too small! Since they ordered the shoes from Romania.</p><p>Because Italy doesn't have much of an impractical footwear industry within its own borders or anything. So now the cops are making do with flats. And it sucks because flats are sooooooo over. But it rules because we thought Italians could not possibly outparody themselves, and we were sooooo wrong.</p> <p> [Spiegel Online]<br> <br> Image by , via </p>In order to view comments on jezebel.com you need to enable JavaScript.<br> If you are using Firefox and NoScript addon, please mark jezebel.com as trusted.<p>On GMA today revealed one of the business tips from her book The Trump Card, namely, that if calls offering you a position at Vogue on the eve of your graduation, say no. Clip at left.</p>In order to view comments on jezebel.com you need to enable JavaScript.<br> If you are using Firefox and NoScript addon, please mark jezebel.com as trusted.<p>The folks at J.Crew say that little sister brand Madewell is all grown up and ready to move out. "Starting a company like this, where there is a commitment to fashion, quality and design, is not an easy process," says C.E.O. Mickey Drexler. "We weren't ready to take a more ambitious stand until we felt confident. It takes longer [with a fashion brand] than perhaps going into a discount or price-oriented business." The company has big plans for expansion: it says Madewell's retail square footage, which grew up 50% from 2010-2011, will jump by another 30% this year, and the pace of store openings will increase. J.Crew is also sending Madewell off to college &mdash; literally. This summer, a big Madewell-branded Airstream trailer will be winding its way across the U.S., hitting college towns like Lawrence, Kansas, to spread the word about the brand among women aged 20-35. Analysts put the brand's performance at around $100 million in sales this year, and say that it is profitable. J.Crew wouldn't comment. []</p> Jessica Chastain is a palette of magenta, copper, orange, and yellow on the new cover of T. [] These dresses &mdash; made by Lanvin, Christopher Kane, and Christian Lacroix &mdash; are among the items that Daphne Guinness is auctioning from her wardrobe. The whole lot will be on public view in London in June. []In order to view comments on jezebel.com you need to enable JavaScript.<br> If you are using Firefox and NoScript addon, please mark jezebel.com as trusted.<p>James Franco's naked, tramp-stamped ass is farting at you on one of the new covers of Flaunt. Full, uncensored, kinda-NSFW image after the jump.<br> Click to enlarge. In other news of Francophilia, he a short story in bed for The Paris Review. []</p> Meanwhile, Jared Leto's naked torso is in British Vogue. Between the two of them, we've got most of the important parts of one dude. [] Hey girl, Ryan Gosling and his piercing blue eyes is on the new cover ofRussian GQ, which we for our favorite magazine. [] And Gisele Bündchen is on the cover of British Vogue. Those pants. Can we talk about those pants? [] Kiernan Shipka &mdash; a.k.a. Sally Draper &mdash; is blogging her outfits for the week at Lucky. She takes inspiration from Tavi Gevinson's blog. [] In other news from the annals of precocity, 3-year-old Hudson Kroenig &mdash; son of the male model and longtime Chanel favorite Brad &mdash; sleeps with one of those Karl Lagerfeld Steiff teddy bears, and wears lots of Chanel. [] Crystal Renn did a street style slideshow and talked about her job and friends. She mentioned again that she wants to design a clothing line in the future. []<p>Two contraception coverage plans &mdash; one the of Arizona legislators and the other President Obama's mandate that employees of religious affiliated institutions receive free contraception coverage &mdash; moved forward Friday, revealing that the difference between stalwart social conservatives in this country and the reasonable people who raise eyebrows at them is pretty much the difference between Stanley Tucci in The Lovely Bones and Stanley Tucci in The Devil Wears Prada.</p> <p>Not only would the evil Stanley Tucci bill allow religious-affiliated employers to deny contraception coverage to employees, but any employers who cite "religious beliefs" would also be exempt from providing FDA-approved forms of contraception as part of their employee health plans. The onus for procuring contraception would fall squarely on the shoulders of female employees, who, in order to have their contraception covered under their employer's health plan, would have to prove that the contraception is for another medical reason other than preventing pregnancy because I'm sure such parsimonious employers as would exclude contraception from their health plans would definitely be awesome about offering paid maternal leave. If she successfully proves that her contraception isn't for making her uterus hostile to precious new life, this beleaguered Arizona employee, after wasting so much energy not working and instead trying to prove that she's an active procreator, could ask an employer to reimburse the cost of contraception, most likely, according to the bill, if she pays an additional "administrative fee" for the privilege.</p> <p>Though Arizona Republicans such as Rep. Debbie Lesko (co-sponsor of the new bill) have pulled out the Cold War tough-talk &mdash; Lesko said this week, "I believe that we live in America. We don't live in the Soviet Union" &mdash; in their effort to push their plan through the legislature, Jan Brewer has expressed some encouraging reticence to sign the bill into law should it pass both the state House and Senate, saying Friday that such a measure could make women "a little bit uncomfortable" to discuss contraception with their employers.</p> <p>The biggest problem &mdash; and there are plenty to choose from &mdash; with the Arizona bill is that it allows employers far too much latitude in deciding what kinds of health care they'll provide for their employees. "Religious beliefs" can amount to just about anything, and barring language that forces employers to prove their professed beliefs in just as rigorous and humiliating a way as their female employees would have to prove that their sex lives are entirely procreational rather than recreational, the bill sets up an inherent iniquity in the employer/employee relationship. If a woman would have to prove that her contraception isn't exclusively for preventing pregnancy to ensure that it's covered under her health plan, then her employer should have to prove that he or she is seriously religious and not just the sort of person that shows up at church on Christmas Eve for the free snacks or read Siddhartha once in college. There could be a whole new government department where employers could obtain a religious license, something sort of like the DMV. They could go in, wait in line, and explain to a disinterested public worker how religiously essential it is to them that their lady employees not use their vaginas for fun. Then they'd take an eye test and probably a multiple choice test on a computer only it'd be in Aramaic because how else could we weed out the fakers from the true believers?</p> <p>Meanwhile, at the federal level, even as Arizona's evil twin to the contraception coverage mandate picks up steam, the Obama administration moved forward with its healthcare plan, which shifts the burden of contraception coverage from balking religious employers to insurance companies, by opening a 90-day public comment period to find ways to most effectively and immediately implement the new rule.</p> <p> [CBS]</p>In order to view comments on jezebel.com you need to enable JavaScript.<br> If you are using Firefox and NoScript addon, please mark jezebel.com as trusted.Jessica Stam is one of the few working models whose name we actually know. She's been in ads for Gucci, Dolce & Gabbana, Prada, Dior, DKNY and H&M. She's walked the runway for Victoria's Secret and has a Marc Jacobs bag named after her. In July 2007, she was #15 on the Forbes list on the World's 15 Top-Earning Supermodels. Clearly she has packed a lot of living into her 22 years, and, since she wants to get her , has only just begun. But the photos of her apartment inside of the October issue of Elle Decor are a wee bit upsetting. Where's the ratty, hand-me-down couch and bookcase made of cinder blocks or milk crates? Where are the beer bottles, ashtrays and stained rug? Where's the bong? What kind of 22-two-year-old is forced to live in an apartment like this, anyway? Pictures after the jump. The Moroccan doorway was left behind by a previous tenant. The antique chaise was found on eBay. Stam used interior designer Rafael de Cardenas, who had a vision that didn't work in Stam's original apartment. So she moved. If I sound jealous, it's because I am seething with envy. A rug without soy sauce stains and a table free of the clutter of magazines and bills. How ever does she do it? Everything is lovely, I just wonder it it's appropriate for a young model of 22. Is it fun enough? Young enough? Kicky enough? Maybe someone like… a writer… Around my age? Would be more comfortable here. Ahem. Sigh. I know being a model is not just winning the genetic lottery. It's hard work! But dudes psyched to sleep with a supermodel don't want to see this calm, tranquil oasis with muted colors and 1930s wallpaper. They want mirrors and hard edges and leopard print. Sorry, Jess, better try again… I'll just take that custom headboard off your hands… [Official Site]<p>"Forget Louis Vuitton or Prada suits," the London Times. "The latest must-have accessory for China's wealthy elite comes ... from the plains of Tibet. The Tibetan mastiff." The droopy-faced breed of dog, which can weigh up to 250 lbs., are extremely rare, and therefore highly coveted. One puppy with a "fine pedigree" goes for about $4,000. A fully grown "iron and gold" male can fetch (ha!) over $390,000. Hopefully the owners aren't feeding it dog food made in China. []</p>In order to view comments on jezebel.com you need to enable JavaScript.<br> If you are using Firefox and NoScript addon, please mark jezebel.com as trusted.In order to view comments on jezebel.com you need to enable JavaScript.<br> If you are using Firefox and NoScript addon, please mark jezebel.com as trusted.<p> "whether a disaster zone is the right place to flaunt one's gym physique."</p><p>Writes ,</p> <p>You could call it the effect. Mr. Cooper has rarely missed an opportunity throughout his career to showcase his buff physique (as anyone knows who remembers him stripping to a bathing suit to quiz Michael Phelps.) But Mr. Cooper is no longer the only CNN correspondent with a self-conscious taste for form-fitting charcoal T-shirts, accessorized with a tiny microphone clipped at the neck...Looking somewhat sheepish about it, a newly sleek Dr. moved through the ruins of Port-au-Prince wearing a snug gray T-shirt, his hair styled in the obligatory CNN crop. His colleague Jason Carroll, reporting on Wednesday's aftershock, and looking like a guy who had dropped to the ground and done 20 quick pushups before going on air, wore a T-shirt so snugly revealing it called into question whether a disaster zone is the right place to flaunt one's gym physique. A spokeswoman for CNN declined to comment, but in journalism, as in most things, old standards of decorum are clearly on the wane.</p> <p>The upshot, to Trebay, is that "old standards of decorum are clearly on the wane." (That or some roundabout tap-dancing about sexuality, I'm not precisely sure.) Old ones, maybe, but the new ones, if anything, seem more stringent. What I take away from this is that a journalist couldn't get away with being a mere journalist anymore - you need to be ripped or, like Gupta, "newly sleek." If you don't have a body that can be shown off by a tight tee, well, stay behind the camera. I don't blame the journalists - whatever they're wearing, I'm guessing they weren't thinking about it when they hit the ground, and hey, maybe they don't have any normal clothes that are neither club-ready nor Prada. But this televised ubermensch is definitely setting the bar high for men, be they journalists or neurosurgeons. At least you can't accuse the networks of double-standards. The better question is, perhaps, whether a disaster zone is the right place to critique fashion - but I'll let the Times field that.</p> <p> [NY Times]</p>In order to view comments on jezebel.com you need to enable JavaScript.<br> If you are using Firefox and NoScript addon, please mark jezebel.com as trusted.<p>Justin Bieber is launching his first perfume. "Let's be real, the way a girl smells is very important to a guy!" says the singer. Terry Richardson shot the campaign, and yes &mdash; the product line includes a hair mist. Bieber's perfume could realize retail sales of around $30 million in its first year. []<br> The top ten women's fragrances in the U.S. last year were all classic best-sellers &mdash; and, um, something by Juicy Couture. The list, in order: Chanel Coco Mademoiselle, Estée Lauder Beautiful, Dolce & Gabbana Light Blue, Chanel No.5, Donna Karan Cashmere Mist, Estée Lauder Pleasures, Thierry Mugler Angel, Juicy Couture Viva La Juicy, Calvin Klein Euphoria, and Clinique Happy. []</p> Here's Daria Werbowy, Arlenis Sosa, and Elettra Weidemann in a new Lancôme ad for neon eyeshadow. [] These rings are made of dried fruit, and are therefore edible. We thought we had a comprehensive edible-ring vocabulary, what with our undying love of Ring Pops and sticking Cheez Doodle O's on our fingers. But these are kind of cool, too. [] That white Dolce & Gabbana lace dress that's been on every cover this spring just scored another one: Constance Jablonski &mdash; who already wore The Dress for the cover of Spanish Vogue in February &mdash; wore it again for the new Greek Vogue. []<p>Justin Timberlake wishes he'd never worn that matching denim suit. He told Playboy about his fashion regrets: "God, I feel I've gone to therapy just to erase some of them. The cornrows I wore with 'N Sync. That was pretty bad. Britney and I wore matching denim outfits [to the 2001 American Music Awards]. Yeah, another bad choice. I'd probably pay good money to get some of those pictures off the internet." []<br> Speaking of which, Britney Spears' costumes for her latest tour include a black Swarovski crystal outfit. That lights up. With a matrix of LEDs. Which "animates fire and lightning." []</p> Here is a photo of Vanessa Hudgens chewing bubble-gum and ironing with no hands for the latest Candie's ads. [] This is Snooki's footwear license. Her pickle-print flip-flops will retail for $15-$50. []<p>Master couturière JWOWW debuted her luxury creations . Moderately priced at only a few hundred dollars for dresses comprised of genuine Swarovski crystals, spandex, and European Lace, top fashion critics are weighing in on Ms. Woww's wares.</p><p>, $319.99.</p>In order to view comments on jezebel.com you need to enable JavaScript.<br> If you are using Firefox and NoScript addon, please mark jezebel.com as trusted.In order to view comments on jezebel.com you need to enable JavaScript.<br> If you are using Firefox and NoScript addon, please mark jezebel.com as trusted.<p>You might find the of worker mistreatment at the factories that produce several of the Kardashian family's numerous clothing and accessories licenses horrifying, disgusting, or even sadly unsurprising. Kris Jenner has a different word: Libelous. The Kardashians have called Star magazine's claims that child labor and forced labor are taking place at Chinese factories that make Kardashian tchotchkes baseless, and have sued the magazine. Also on the sue list is the Institute for Global Labour and Human Rights, which was one of Star's sources in its investigation. IGLHR director Charles Kernaghan said &mdash; on TMZ, natch &mdash; that his organization had already been investigating factories that manufacture for the Kardashian brands when Star called, but admitted that he personally had not visited the factories in question and seen the conditions first-hand. "We haven't finished our research," said Kernaghan, "but what I'm saying is that with every research campaign we have done in China, you always come up with nasty sweatshop conditions." The Kardashians claim they have people who "patrol" the factories their licensees contract with to ensure safe working conditions. []<br> UPDATE: Counsel for AMI, which publishes Star, tells us that the Kardashians have not filed suit.</p> Ivanka Trump's footwear licensee is denying it copied a Derek Lam sandal, even though the two shoes are so identical they could be worn as a pair. Lam the company a cease-and-desist after learning of the existence of the knock-off, but Trump's licensee, Marc Fisher, won't be complying because it says Lam's shoe is "not iconic." They nonetheless seem to have found it "iconic" enough to copy stitch for stitch. [] 2011 really was a good year for animals guest-starring on fashion covers. [] Andrej Pejic is on the cover of Fashion. [] Saskia De Brauw &mdash; who is everywhere right now! &mdash; is also on the cover of Figaro Madame. [] Christian Louboutin shows what a lifetime of practicing yoga can do for you. [] Daphne Guinness Tweeted, and then took down, this photo of herself with her boyfriend, French writer Bernard-Henri Lévy. Lévy is married to actress Arielle Dombasle. [@]In order to view comments on jezebel.com you need to enable JavaScript.<br> If you are using Firefox and NoScript addon, please mark jezebel.com as trusted.<p>Did you wake up this morning, yearning to hear Karl Lagerfeld's thoughts on marriage? Well, out with it, Karl! "Marriage was invented when people died at 30. Now they marry at 30 and have to do it for 60 years. Perhaps it should be based on more than sex. The idea that you will never look at anyone else, that is a problem." The Kaiser says he will be watching Kate Middleton and Prince William's wedding. "Royalty is good for the crowd." Of Middleton, he says, "She is a lovely person with a beautiful body. I like her nose." []</p> Beyoncé and her back-up dancers wear Alexander McQueen Fall 2010 collection (the last season overseen nearly to completion by McQueen himself, before his tragic death) in a forthcoming video. Beyoncé has also been snapped on the video set in Roberto Cavalli and Givenchy couture. [] Christie's is auctioning a batch of René Gruau prints. [] Four mock-ups of Rachel McAdams' forthcoming Elle cover leaked on Twitter. Oops. [] And here's Lady Gaga's Harper's Bazaar subscriber cover. [] Prada banana-print nails. Cool manicure or coolest manicure ever need it now OMG gimme gimme mind blown? [] Designer Bijan Pakzad, famous for his yellow Rolls Royce and his over-the-top aesthetic, died this weekend aged 67. Here's a 1998 ad for the cologne Bijan released with Michael Jordan. []In order to view comments on jezebel.com you need to enable JavaScript.<br> If you are using Firefox and NoScript addon, please mark jezebel.com as trusted.In order to view comments on jezebel.com you need to enable JavaScript.<br> If you are using Firefox and NoScript addon, please mark jezebel.com as trusted.<p>There is a random rumor that John Galliano is right this minute "ensconced" at the Seventh Avenue atelier of a Mystery American Designer, working on Kate Moss's wedding dress. That would mean that the designer would have had to jet out of Paris just after the conclusion of . Moss, who allegedly told someone at a dinner back in February that Galliano was making her dress, but whose fiancé has since denied the account, gets married next weekend. []<br> Meanwhile, Times fashion critic Cathy Horyn has this report from Paris on Galliano's potential future in fashion:</p> <p>On Thursday, I ran into a number of executives who work with LVMH, and they would speak only on the condition of anonymity because of their close dealings. One individual said there had been casual discussions among LVMH executives about the feasibility of Mr. Galliano returning to his own label. Would the media and the public accept his return? This individual said he thought so. Another executive with whom I spoke had the same view. He cited the appeal of Mr. Galliano's ultrafeminine fashion and added that in recent years the designer had lost touch with that sensibility (and indeed reality). "It became a kind of Lady Gaga show, and he's more talented than this," the executive said.</p> <p>Horyn writes, "I hope he continues to get treatment. He should have a second chance." []</p> John Galliano just presented its latest Resort collection &mdash; without John Galliano, of course. "There has been a lot of interest, a lot of appointments booked, so we will see," says the company CEO. "Obviously it has been a complicated year." [] Here are Naomi Watts and Eva Mendes' first Pantene ads. One hair industry exec says actresses are great at opening customers' wallets: "The days of wondering what their beauty secrets are, are gone. They talk about their beauty challenges and their beauty secrets nonstop. They can tell real stories." Compared with models, "they are much more relatable." As evidence of this alleged relatability, the industry source said Mendes tested well with focus groups because while she is sexy she is "not threatening," and pointed out that Watts "does not have the perfect hair." We don't know about you, but our first thought upon seeing this ad was definitely "Gee, that totally relatable woman has such not-perfect hair! Let's buy Pantene." [] As , Heidi Klum posed nude for thte latest Project Runway promo shots. The president of Lifetime says the channel is "trying to revamp" its image. [] Eva Mendes, the latest face of Thierry Mugler's Angel perfume, says "I grew up with Angel. I remember thinking, as a child, ‘That's what a woman smells like.' I'm the baby [in my family] by 10 years, and my sisters wore it. It comes full circle now that I'd be the face of Angel." It's interesting that Thierry Mugler, in its latest bid for reinvention, is dropping the "Thierry" from its brand name where clothing is concerned &mdash; Nicola Formichetti designs for "Mugler" tout court &mdash; but keeping it for perfumes (which have long been the label's sole proven source of revenue). [] Speaking of Mugler, at the latest men's wear show, Nicola Formichetti distributed a racy magazine. Vaguely NSFW, for bare asses. You can also watch the promised "X-rated" Mugler men's video on Xtube, . (Warning: It's pretty boring.) [] The first image from 14-year-old actress Hailee Steinfeld's Miu Miu campaign just dropped, and for once, it's not shot in a studio. We like. It's shot by Bruce Weber. [] Sixteen-year-old Zimbabwe-born model Nyasha Matonhodze &mdash; who is a current face of Louis Vuitton &mdash; appears on the newest cover of LOVE magazine. She seems to be wearing a crow as a hat and weeping blood. [] Coco Rocha is the fall face of Canadian retailer Jacob, and the company is pledging not to Photoshop her in its ads. "Bold move? Lasting trend? Stay tuned for the results," promises Rocha on her blog. [] True Blood cosmetics. Guess that had to happen. [] This outfit, which incorporates a bowler hat, high-waisted sailor shorts and knee-socks, is currently the most-liked on Lookbook.nu. It has over 2,400 "hypes," which are like Facebook "likes." [, via ]<p></p> <p>Of course, according to other, older tabloid reports, Kate Moss and Jamie Hince got engaged over New Year in Thailand, and according to other, even older tabloid reports, they got married on an island off of Sicily last summer, and according to even older tabloid reports...they've married each other about 80 times already. []</p>In order to view comments on jezebel.com you need to enable JavaScript.<br> If you are using Firefox and NoScript addon, please mark jezebel.com as trusted.In order to view comments on jezebel.com you need to enable JavaScript.<br> If you are using Firefox and NoScript addon, please mark jezebel.com as trusted.<p>Kate Moss is on the cover of British Vogue &mdash; again. This is the supermodel's 32nd cover of the magazine since earning her first in 1993, aged just 19. To keep things interesting, Vogue had her pose this time around with a big rope. []</p> Alexa Chung Tweeted about a "strange (sexy) Karl Lagerfeld dream" she had. And then, perhaps in perplexed disgust at her own subconscious, Alexa Chung deleted the Tweet. [] British GQ cherry-picked the sexiest images from Tom Ford's latest men's wear lookbook, which the magazine characterizes as "surprisingly risqué." ? Maybe to anyone who's never seen a Tom Ford lookbook before. []<p>Solange Knowles called Kate Moss her "role model" because she effectively handles having a successful career and being a mother. To be fair, this was at an event celebrating Kate Moss's line for Rimmel, where it would have probably been weird to say anything actually less-than-glowing (coughcocaineisahellofadrugcough) about Kate Moss. []</p> Telegraph fashion critic Hilary Alexander Tweeted that Kanye West told her he was "a bit nervous" about his upcoming Paris show &mdash; thereby confirming that the rapper is indeed launching a fashion line with a Paris show. Meanwhile, Fashionista claims to have seen an invitation to said show. [@, ] Here is a woman in Manhattan wearing head-to-toe Missoni for Target. []<br> In other (bad) news of the massively popular Target/Missoni collaboration, which repeatedly crashed the retailer's web site on its launch day, some customers who did manage to place orders have been sent emails informing them that Target won't be able to ship the items they bought by the date originally estimated, and may have to retroactively cancel their orders entirely. Ouch. Just putting this out there: Filene's Basement has a massive sale on Missoni (like, Missoni-Missoni) right now. And overstock from the Barneys Warehouse Sale. Hearing of , we ventured forth this weekend and snagged green suede $800 sandals for less than a Benjamin. [] If you're looking for jeans so neon they're practically radioactive, Christopher Kane and J Brand have you covered. []In order to view comments on jezebel.com you need to enable JavaScript.<br> If you are using Firefox and NoScript addon, please mark jezebel.com as trusted.In order to view comments on jezebel.com you need to enable JavaScript.<br> If you are using Firefox and NoScript addon, please mark jezebel.com as trusted.<p>Kate Moss will not be included in the walk of fame being installed in her home town, Croydon in South London. Who was the supermodel passed over for? An actress who won an Oscar in 1984, and some guy who wore the Darth Vader suit &mdash; not James Earl Jones &mdash; in three of the Star Wars movies. []</p> Priscilla Chan's wedding dress was by Los Angeles designer Claire Pettibone. It retails for $4,700. [] Emma Stone and Olivia Wilde are in some new Revlon ads. And Stone's is black and white. [] Tom Sachs &mdash; the artist who once made a model of a death camp out of a Prada box &mdash; did a collection for Nike. "A good part of what drives the fashion business is perceived obsolescence, but it can have a destructive impact on consumers," says Sachs. "The answer is we have to make stuff that lasts." Or stuff that's just really expensive: the Nike sneakers he designed cost $385, and the tote bag is $700. [] A Canadian journalist interviewed Petra Collins, the 19-year-old photographer whose dreamy, somewhat dark images of teenaged girls inform the look of (and who just wrapped a gig for Vogue Italia). Collins and the author walked in to Collins' old high school and used it as the setting for their shoot. []In order to view comments on jezebel.com you need to enable JavaScript.<br> If you are using Firefox and NoScript addon, please mark jezebel.com as trusted.In order to view comments on jezebel.com you need to enable JavaScript.<br> If you are using Firefox and NoScript addon, please mark jezebel.com as trusted.In order to view comments on jezebel.com you need to enable JavaScript.<br> If you are using Firefox and NoScript addon, please mark jezebel.com as trusted.In order to view comments on jezebel.com you need to enable JavaScript.<br> If you are using Firefox and NoScript addon, please mark jezebel.com as trusted.In order to view comments on jezebel.com you need to enable JavaScript.<br> If you are using Firefox and NoScript addon, please mark jezebel.com as trusted.In order to view comments on jezebel.com you need to enable JavaScript.<br> If you are using Firefox and NoScript addon, please mark jezebel.com as trusted.In order to view comments on jezebel.com you need to enable JavaScript.<br> If you are using Firefox and NoScript addon, please mark jezebel.com as trusted.<p>The PR honcho is so over revenge. In the contemporary Panopticon of social media, reality television, and e-mail forwards, Cutrone's rule is "don't ever put anything in writing and never say anything when anyone's around." Except for, apparently, .</p><p>"I don't really take pleasure in getting revenge anymore," Cutrone tells Complex. "It used to give me great pleasure to write threatening emails to people but now I know that's not such a good thing to do on a lot of levels." Still, this may not be a get-out-of-jail-free card: Cutrone points out that she is a Scorpio and a Sicilian, so she knows from revenge. Okay? Okay.</p> <p>The interview is lengthy and wide-ranging, covering everything from the plight of drug-addicted Hollywood stars &mdash; which Cutrone compared to the ongoing humanitarian crisis in Haiti &mdash; to the casting of the Madonna vehicle , to the proliferation of "designers" as the Internet and amateur culture has hopped over fashion's barriers to entry ("I guess any time a dollar crosses art, it's called Prada"). Like any good episode of the shows that have brought Cutrone a measure of fame outside the industry in which she works, it was not without its eye-roll moments, like when she declared, "If you actually kind of slow-mo , there's a lot of really great modern-day workplace advice."</p> <p>In fashion, says Cutrone, "You never know. That one cunt-y person could become the new Editor-In-Chief. Sometimes the nasty person wins." Touché.</p> <p>Cutrone has some dire predictions for the media, both on- and off-line. "Twenty years ago, nobody would believe you'd get your news instantaneously and for free," she said. "You used to have to buy something called a newspaper. The whole thing about magazines is that for me, magazines are going to become deeper and more tutorial, and the nature of the magazine is going to change. These little blog sites post: 'Halle Berry loves Shimmer Me Pink Lipstick at $1.69,' they're instant hits and they're going to move product." Magazines, she says, should become more like or Life: publishing the kind of reported content that is, in its way, timeless, so as not to compete with the Internet's structural advantage where breaking news is concerned.</p> <p>Cutrone's take is not an entirely original analysis &mdash; nor is it, in my opinion, a dumb one &mdash; but how print publications may be able to provide that reporting so as online sources with much lower cost structures compete with them for advertising dollars, naturally, remains unclear. (And besides: there are also a hell of a lot of blogs that abjure the "instant hits" of content that "move product," and actually tackle stories that fall into more established publications' rather large blind spots. And besides, isn't Vogue the market leader in idiotic "Buy This Lipstick, Halle Berry Loves It!" features?)</p> <p>But we don't read interviews because she's a future-of-media guru. We read because she will say things like this:</p> <p>There was this girlfriend of mine who wrote this movie, The Next Best Thing, with Madonna in it and . They actually wrote the part of Madonna's best friend based on me. This girl wrote the part, and they wanted me to play me. was the director, and was casting the movie. Schlesinger wanted to see me play the role of myself, and I was telling Mel, "I don't think this is going to be such a good idea." I went to meet John Schlesinger and Mali Finn, and Mali Finn called Rupert and Mel Bourdeaux and John Schlesinger afterward and said, "I really like her, but she's too outspoken and very, very edgy." So not only did I not get the part of myself, my husband at the time's ex-girlfriend got the part. So not only could I not play me, but someone my husband used to fuck could play me better.</p> <p>That movie . Point to Cutrone.</p> <p>She also said, "I am happy for that's she's going to jail. I think she's going to get sober." Then she almost immediately clarified, "I'm not happy for her that she's in jail, but I'm happy that somebody's going to try to help her get some help." She adds:</p> <p>I don't know anybody who's ever been alive who hasn't had like, heartbreak, despair, depression, death, drug or alcohol, or weight problems, or health problems. For her, I think she's had a combination of those things and I think it's then super-inflamed by the fact that she is a celebrity. Let's face it, fucking society loves this type of thing. They loved to do it to Britney, and they loved to do it to Robert Downey. This will be great if she can live through it.</p> <p>Meanwhile, forget Haiti. Things are bad in Hollywood. "I can't believe there are all these people going, 'Oh, we need to raise money for all these kids in Haiti,'" she says. "I don't get it. Where is everybody? I mean, all these young kids in Hollywood are fucking dying. is dead. There's like all these kids ODing."</p> <p>If anyone could found a charity for Brittany Murphy and Lindsay Lohan, it'd be Kelly Cutrone. (But seriously. Give money .)</p> <p> [Complex]</p>In order to view comments on jezebel.com you need to enable JavaScript.<br> If you are using Firefox and NoScript addon, please mark jezebel.com as trusted.In order to view comments on jezebel.com you need to enable JavaScript.<br> If you are using Firefox and NoScript addon, please mark jezebel.com as trusted.<p>Kim Kardashian married Kris Humphries just 73 blissful days ago. She wore two gowns by Vera Wang that day &mdash; gowns that Wang arranged to sell "affordable" $1500 versions of at David's Bridal. But the knock-offs won't reach stores until February, by which time Kim & Kris and their whole brightly choreographed happily-ever-after will be nothing but an afterimage on the retina of a paparazzo. Will people want to buy a wedding dress associated with divorce? Bear in mind, people were presumably willing in the first place to buy a wedding dress associated with Kim Kardashian. []</p> Janet Jackson is wearing Tom Ford on the new cover of Harper's Bazaar's Arabian edition. [] Raquel Zimmerman racked up another cover of Vogue Italia. Steven Meisel shot the supermodel in a lazily styled (one can practically hear them saying, "Fuckit, let's do Gaga again") editorial on the A/C/E line &mdash; and on some train cars whose design we don't recognize, perhaps they took a trip to the Transit Museum? Either way, the angry New Yorker in us is just happy our commute wasn't interrupted by this. [] Videos of Lindsey Wixson falling on the Versace runway last month have racked up tens of thousands of views on YouTube and garnered coverage from sources that rarely take an interest in models (unless they are dating actors and/or men who play with balls professionally), including the Daily Mail. What wasn't reported was that Wixson sprained her ankle in the fall. The next day, she went to hospital. "They wrapped my ankle and said that I couldn't take the bandages off for 10 days and that I had to ice it three times a day," says Wixson. She was forced to cancel her remaining Milan bookings, but rather than resting up in Paris, her agency sent her on castings where clients kept trying to get her to walk in heels. She booked Miu Miu, where she had to negotiate high-heeled boots on a runway that included several flights of stairs. There is no mention of Versace compensating Wixson for the cost of her medical treatment, or for her lost earnings. Models are independent contractors, meaning clients are not legally responsible for any kind of injury models might suffer on the job. [] This, friends, is Marc Jacobs' promised "very perverse and decadent" Cabaret-inspired Halloween costume. [] Just like she said she would, model Chrissy Teigen went to Heidi Klum's party as a kid from Toddlers & Tiaras. [@]<p>"Kim Kardashian," writes Benjamin Wallace for the New York magazine fashion issue, "may be the world's first human avatar in a massively multiplayer online role-playing game." What, exactly, is a Californian reality T.V. star famous for her sex tape and her televised wedding and her tireless ability to shill to her fans doing on the cover of this magazine? Well, "she's the ninth most-followed person on Twitter," for one (she has 15.7 million followers):</p> <p>[W]hy, according to one branding expert, she was recently tied with Snooki at the pinnacle of the celebrity-loyalty index; and why she was the second highest-earning TV actress in the year ending this past May.</p> <p>Recently tied with Snooki. The chain she and her sisters own, Dash, opened a boutique in New York last year, she has a fragrance, and a line of licensed apparel. Oh, and she's dating Kanye West. But Kardashian has hardly been embraced by the fashion establishment. Anna Wintour reportedly banned her from the Met Ball, and her embrace of the industry is seen as even more suspect than West's. The magazine puts this down in part to her body:</p> <p>While the attacks may derive partly from a good-faith aesthetic response to some of the clothing she wears, at least as much of it seems to stem from an aversion to non-eating-disorder body types and a broader snobbery and classism. Fashion likes to celebrate and appropriate street culture and even trash culture, except when it doesn't. [...] Kim and Kanye brightly stand on opposite sides of the line between fashion's dos and don'ts. With Kim, says a fashion executive, "I think she sees fashion as another means for making money. I don't think she's ever going to want to go to a fashion show for her love of clothes. She's going to want to get paid for going to that show."</p> <p>What does Kim have to say for herself? Nice, inoffensive things about liking people, liking fashion, liking Kanye, and hoping to be with him "sitting somewhere when we're 80." The piece closes with Kardashian's side of a conversation with the rapper:</p> <p>"Hello? Hey. Just leaving the zoo. I'm finished with my shoot and I'm just finishing up. I'm heading actually to your place right now. Where are you? Okay. So maybe I'll go in and change and then I'll eat … What time is that at? Seven? Will you be done? … Okay, so, that's an hour. So I'll just wait at the place. Will you come get me? Okay, well, I don't have a car. Do you want me to just take a cab? Or can your car come get me first? … Where is ‘up here'? Is it far? Okay, well, um, maybe-" etc., etc. Kim signs off: "Okay, bye. Love you, too. Bye."</p> <p>[]<br> In other Kim Kardashian news, the aforementioned licensed clothing line, the Kardashian Kollection, is expanding to 13 countries (kountries?) this fall. The family is working with the Australian Jupi Corporation, the licensee, and Topshop founder Philip Green's Arcadia Group. []</p> Michael Phelps appears in a Louis Vuitton ad &mdash; part of the brand's "Core Values" campaign (those are the ads for the less trendy bags and duffels that have featured everyone from Keith Richards to Mikhail Gorbachev over the years). In one image, Phelps is seen chatting with gymnast Larisa Latynina, who won 18 Olympic medals in the 1950s and '60s. She held the world record for the Olympic athlete with the most medals until Phelps beat her last month. (Latynina still holds the record for Olympic medals in individual events with 14 to Phelps' 13.) In another, he's wearing a Speedo in the bath. Fashionista thinks it can see a fart bubble in that one. [, ] With its September issue, Vogue Paris got a redesign. Garance Doré has a column (yay!), the editor's letter is now called "Le Point de vue de Vogue," and the typography is different. On the cover this month are Lara Stone, Kate Moss, and Daria Werbowy, each wearing the same black Dolce & Gabbana dress. In fact, the theme of the entire issue is the color black. How chic. [] Gap is trying this thing where they put "up-and-coming" musicians and so forth in their ads. But these people are so up-and-coming we don't actually know who they are. Karmin? Gap will try just about anything these days, it seems. [] Prada has a new men's fragrance, called Luna Rossa after the company's professional sailing team and athletic wear line. The ads feature sailor Nick Hutton. [] Here is Chloë Sevigny wearing a bear claw hat on the cover of Dazed & Confused. Because it's Monday. []<p>Remember that that Anna Wintour had "banned" Kim Kardashian from Vogue and from the Met Ball, forcing Kanye to go stag? It apparently isn't a ban that extends to the international editions of the fashion bible. Kardashian Tweeted this photo, which she says came from an "Amazing shoot today for Vogue Italia!", CC'ing the stylist and the photographer. [@]<br> But Vogue Italia editor Franca Sozzani soon clarified, also on Twitter, that the shoot was for L'uomo Vogue. Keep trying, Kim. [@]</p> The new issue of American Vogue, meanwhile, is Olympic-themed, and stars three athletes on its cover: Serena Williams, swimmer Ryan Lochte, and soccer player Hope Solo. [] Inside, Karlie Kloss has an editorial with Lochte, basketball player Dwyane Wade, twin doubles tennis players Bob and Mike Bryan, decathlete Ashton Eaton, and gymnast Jonathan Horton. Vogue last used the model-perched-on-a-basketball-hoop visual trope, by the way, with Caroline Trentini in 2007. [] Fashionista has a look inside the costume department of the New York City Ballet. Eighteen full-time seamstresses built tutus and sewed costumes for the company's new production of Symphony in C. It takes about a week to make one tutu. [] Best Coast's Bethany Cosentino's Urban Outfitters collection is now on sale. []<p>Old Navy is preparing to defend the $20 million filed by Kim Kardashian, who alleges that the chain tarnished her reputation by using a lookalike model in an advertising campaign. Old Navy's legal strategy? What reputation! Parent company Gap Inc.'s lead lawyer, Louis Petrich, wants to make the value of Kim's endorsement a key plank of his case. Hint: Old Navy does not think that value is very high. And Petrich is seeking documents that seem calculated to cause the maximum embarrassment to the Kardashian Korporation.</p> <p>Petrich has put together a plan that seeks to ferret out Kardashian's true worth as the two sides engage in a discovery process that's expected to take up much of this year. Among the documents sought by Petrich are financial records that show how much Bebe and Sears earned by making deals with Kardashian and why Bebe dropped Kardashian. The clothing retailer ditched the reality star about the same time that The New York Times published a particularly scathing review that described Kardashian's Manhattan pop-up store as a "fashion desert."</p> <p>The defendant also says it hopes to find out about "Kim Kardashian's reputation as a singer and dancer."</p> <p>The model in Old Navy's ad, a tertiary-grade reality star and ex of Reggie Bush named Melissa Molinaro, is a singer and a dancer; Old Navy's point is that Kim is not, and couldn't pass for one. Gap Inc. also plans to call Bush to testify. []</p> Here's a picture of Christian Louboutin posing with two Crazy Horse dancers, to promote the designer's upcoming collaboration with the famous cabaret club (David Lynch and Swizz Beatz wrote the music for the show, y'all). But we just want to know one thing: where are the nipples? [] Ann Taylor made Kate Hudson its face for spring. [] In this arresting video from the men's shows, watch shirtless male models react in slow-mo as water, colored liquid, and powder makeup is dumped on them. [] Cindy Crawford and Rande Gerber's 10-year-old daughter, Kaia Gerber, is now the face of Versace's kids' brand, Young Versace. Crawford was a muse of the late Gianni Versace, and Donatella says that having Cindy on-set "took me back to all those amazing Avedon photo shoots we worked on together." []In order to view comments on jezebel.com you need to enable JavaScript.<br> If you are using Firefox and NoScript addon, please mark jezebel.com as trusted.<p><br> The fugly, vintage Yves Saint Laurent dress; the unfortunately-timed Isabella Blow-esque headgear; the boyfriend who looks like he can't remember then last time he bathed. Oh Kirsten, it's all wrong, wrong, wrong. We see that Miuccia phoned for help &mdash; did the style ambulance arrive too late?</p> <p>[Metropolitan Museum of Art; New York, May 7. Image via ]</p>In order to view comments on jezebel.com you need to enable JavaScript.<br> If you are using Firefox and NoScript addon, please mark jezebel.com as trusted.In order to view comments on jezebel.com you need to enable JavaScript.<br> If you are using Firefox and NoScript addon, please mark jezebel.com as trusted.<p>Not everybody thinks Kreayshawn &mdash; who was to a $1 million recording contract on the strength of one self-released single about Gucci Gucci Fendi Fendi Louis Louis Prada, and the basic bitches who wear that shit so Kreayshawn doesn't even bother &mdash; is the coolest thing since penicillin. But Kreayshawn is undaunted. "Most of the haters are just miseducated," says Oakland-based rapper Kreayshawn. "It's just like, ‘What the fuck you want? Why don't you go make a song and listen to yourself and shut the fuck up, you know?' Shit."</p> <p>Rag trade newspaper Women's Wear Daily periodically profiles up-and-coming stars from the world of entertainment so that its primary audience &mdash; designers, executives, fashion PRs, and their many employees &mdash; can evaluate said starlets' potential as future shills, all while getting the news about the price of cotton and Macy's new store plans. It's an audition of sorts, only rather than offer up palatable soundbites about her "style" or riff on rompers or offer her take on the debt crisis or issue a tearful apology to Gucci, Fendi, Louis and/or Prada in the hopes of one day being dressed by same, Kreayshawn said stuff like this:</p> <p>"When I was younger, growing up in the ‘hood, being the only white girl, like, there's time when you're like shit, it sucks being white, you know?"</p> <p>How 'bout some cheese with that whine, artist-formerly-known-as-Natassia Gail Zolot? Hiyo!</p> <p>(Being black in Oakland is a well-known .)</p> <p>Before Kreayshawn became famous on the Internet, she dealt Adderall, worked at Ikea, slung coffees at Starbucks, and worked as what WWD calls "an interior landscaper," whatever that is. She also talked her way into film school in Berkeley even though she never finished high school, and convinced the dean to give her a scholarship because she couldn't afford tuition. She dropped out after eight months. (She was blamed for the disappearance of a $1000 cable.) But there were also fundamental artistic differences, you see: "As soon as it came time to do your own projects, I was like, ‘Fuck this. You can't tell me that my idea sucks,'" she says. "I'm an artist &mdash; it's my ideas." Kreayshawn will apparently tell anyone who'll listen that she's an artist: journalists, fans, readers , people on the street who mistake her for Lady Gaga, radio hosts. "People be like, ‘oh, that's that white rapper.' I don't like the sound of that. That sounds hella whack to me &mdash; white girl rapper. I'm an artist."</p> <p>Presently, WWD reports that she is an artist with about 14 minutes' worth of music to perform.</p> <p> [WWD]</p><p></p> <p>The full quote is: "As an adult working in the fashion industry, I struggle with materialism. And I'm one of the least materialistic people that exist, because material possessions don't mean much to me. They're beautiful, I enjoy them, they can enhance your life to a certain degree, but they're ultimately not important." Ford is never one to shirk his responsibilities to provide the press with "controversial" soundbites. On women: "I lust after beautiful women. First of all, I love women. But I lust after beautiful women in the way that I lust after a beautiful piece of sculpture &mdash; this will probably get me in trouble &mdash; or a beautiful car. I believe everyone's on a sliding scale of sexuality. There are moments where I am sexually attracted to women. But it doesn't overpower my first impulse; my lust for them is the same as my lust for beauty in all things. It's not like I ever think, 'Oh, my god, I've got to spread her legs and fuck her.'" And: "I think gay men make better designers." And: "In our culture, we use female nudity to sell everything. We're very comfortable objectifying women. Women go out and they are basically wearing nothing. Their feet and toes are exposed, their legs are exposed, their breasts are exposed. Everything is exposed &mdash; the neck, the arms. You have to be really physically perfect, as a woman, in our culture to be considered beautiful. But full frontal male nudity challenges us. It makes men nervous. It makes women nervous." []</p>In order to view comments on jezebel.com you need to enable JavaScript.<br> If you are using Firefox and NoScript addon, please mark jezebel.com as trusted.In order to view comments on jezebel.com you need to enable JavaScript.<br> If you are using Firefox and NoScript addon, please mark jezebel.com as trusted.In order to view comments on jezebel.com you need to enable JavaScript.<br> If you are using Firefox and NoScript addon, please mark jezebel.com as trusted.<p>Nicola Formichetti, one of Lady Gaga's favorite stylists and the new creative director of Mugler, talks about the many struggles of his brief career in the new issue of W. See, it's hard to work in fashion when you're just so frank and so original and so very, very bad at what Formichetti refers to as "the whole politics thing." Formichetti says, "I would just tell people the truth, and I'd get fired." Oh, Nicola Formichetti, can you lay some of that mind-blowing truthiness on us? How about this example of crusading truth-telling, from when he worked at Dazed & Confused:</p> <p>One shoot, which involved dressing a rock band, was particularly unfortunate. "I was only used to dressing models and skinny kids," he recalled. "And I turned up and it was, like, three fat guys. I just left. That was the last time I tried to work with fat people. I think one of them was Ali G's brother. It was so ghetto."</p> <p>Aside from the (very) obvious: we are concerned that Nicola Formichetti seems to think that Ali G is a real person. (The band this anecdote seems to refer to, , is a four-piece ensemble that combines Middle Eastern and world music with dance beats. It counts Erran Baron Cohen as a member.) []</p> British Vogue nabbed Kate Moss for its August cover, the first magazine cover to feature Moss since her wedding to Jamie Hince on Friday. Moss will also appear on the September cover of American Vogue. [] Justin Bieber's February cover of Vanity Fair is on track to become the magazine's worst-selling issue in 12 years. (Twelve years ago was when Will Smith was given the July 1999 cover, to promote Wild, Wild West.) Bieber also sold well below average on the covers of Teen Vogue and People, indicating perhaps that the tweens who buy every single piece of media the Biebs' visage has ever graced to put it in their scrapbooks comprise a market as limited as it is reliable. [] This may shock you, but Lily Allen says the entertainment industry's pressure on stars and models to maintain forever the dimensions of girlhood directly fosters unhealthy behavior: "I hang out with models, the biggest pop stars and, you know, really and honestly, I hate saying this, but none of them are achieving those body shapes by being healthy. They're not just going to the gym two hours a day. They're not eating or they're taking speed not to eat. In America everyone abuses that Adderall stuff and people aren't normal." [] But Hailee Steinfeld eats pizza in one of her new Miu Miu ads, so everything must be okay! [] Jason Wu "customized" two styles by Melissa, the Brazilian brand that makes those plastic shoes, for spring. [] A press photo of Pippa Middleton, turned black-and-white and surrounded with cut-out flowers, is on the cover of Tatler. []In order to view comments on jezebel.com you need to enable JavaScript.<br> If you are using Firefox and NoScript addon, please mark jezebel.com as trusted.<p>Ariel Levy's profile of Alber Elbaz, the Israeli who's helmed Lanvin since 2001, succeeds in describing the designer's grasp of women's wear &mdash; which is founded in no small part in Elbaz's own troubled self-image.</p><p>Elbaz, who has long won accolades for designs that consistently hit at the sweet spot of the continuum between beautiful and interesting, started off in the industry working on "horrible mother-of-the-bride dresses" in New York's garment district. Given a leg up by Geoffrey Beene, who took him on as an assistant, Elbaz eventually earned his first head designer position at Guy Laroche in 1997. A stop at YSL followed, but what Elbaz is known for is the eight years he has now spent at Lanvin.</p> <p>In the pages of the New Yorker's Style Issue, Levy captures Elbaz's uneasy relationship with the images of luxury he so skilfully creates. Elbaz is 47, and, Levy writes, "there seems to be something fundamental about him in need of comforting." He is also overweight, and in a moment that must ring familiar to almost any woman on earth, Levy observes him dithering over his breakfast order at the Carlyle Hotel: " 'Should we be good today or bad? Maybe we start good and get bad later.' He ordered the fruit salad. He wanted the pancakes."</p> <p>Some designers are, or at least seem, to the manner born: Karl Lagerfeld, Ralph Lauren, and Tom Ford, et. al., embody the moneyed ease and supreme self-assurance their particular labels sell. Other talents clearly retain something closer to an outsider's perspective, some sense of a life beyond the lifestyle evidenced through frumpy outfits or quiet demeanors. (Some designers, like Marc Jacobs, start up in one camp and end up in the other &mdash; the early Jacobs, with his nerd glasses, pallor, and paunch is orders of magnitude away from the contemporary gym-toned, tanned, health-farm Jacobs; it's like looking at an El Greco and then a Botticelli.) Elbaz is clearly in the more modest category. He compares his job shaping the dreams and expectations of the select group of women that are his customers to working as a concierge in a fancy hotel &mdash; the concierge being the person who has to go home at night. "You have to go back to reality. You have to go back to nothing in order to maintain the dream," he says. "The moment the dream becomes reality and you start to mingle too much with all these people..."</p> <p><br> Photo by Tim Walker</p> <p>Levy's profile really heats up when she contrasts Elbaz's aesthetic with that of Tom Ford, who took the Moroccan-born Israeli's job at YSL Rive Gauche a few months after Gucci Group's acquisition of the brand in 1999. (Yves Saint Laurent had at the time been grooming Elbaz as his successor.) Ford, in Levy's construction, was the spirit guide and permanent booster of the ra-ra bling-bling late 1990s and early 2000s, while Elbaz was the quiet talent cut out for more unassuming times.</p> <p>Ford could not have been a more maddening foil. Where Elbaz was pudgy and Jewish and self-doubting, Ford was toned and tan and Texan. Elbaz is shy and still not exactly a household name; when Ford guest-edited an issue of Vanity Fair, in 2006, he put himself on the cover, flanked by Scarlett Johanson and Keira Knightley in the nude. Perhaps most significant, Elbaz has always presented in his work a quiet, complicated conception of female sexuality. One of Ford's more memorable ads as the designer for Gucci featured a woman [Estonian supermodel Carmen Kass] pulling down her underwear to reveal the letter "G" shaved out of her pubic hair.</p> <p></p> <p>Perhaps the New Yorker's sense of propriety forbade Levy from mentioning Ford's other boundary-stretching campaign of the period, when, during his time with YSL Rive Gauche, he chose to advertise the men's fragrance M7 with a full-frontal nude portrait of martial arts champion Samuel de Cubber.</p> <p></p> <p>"But," writes Levy, "little by little, as the money and the grandiose sense of self-assurance of that era fell away, Ford's sensibility came to seem less stylish." The writer narrates Ford's retirement from women's fashion and the Gucci Group, in 2004, and mentions that a pair of cufflinks she recently browsed in Ford's eponymous Manhattan men's wear store costs $34,000. Her conclusion:</p> <p>In our current moment, Tom Ford, with his tan, and his cufflinks that cost as much as a car, and his naked-man-on-bearskin-rug aesthetic, seems distant and comical. He has become Bijan. And Alber Elbaz has gradually won.</p> <p>If Levy's skewering of Tom Ford, whose idea of recession-friendly pricing is , is a delight of schadenfreude, it's also a little easy. Elbaz, and his aesthetic, were never in any mortal danger after being cut loose from YSL; the designer walked into a dream position at Lanvin, where the label owner's only instruction was to "Please wake the sleeping beauty" less than a year later. Moreover, Elbaz's clothes for Lanvin are every bit as expensive as Tom Ford's were for Rive Gauche and Gucci. It's difficult to imagine many women who can admit a $4,000+ sheath dress into their wardrobes without hardship.</p> <p>Elbaz explains the huge cost of his garments in terms of their materials and workmanship &mdash; which is true to a point. (The markups that retailers typically add, which can be 60-70% over wholesale prices, go unmentioned by both Levy and Elbaz.) Elbaz, who alternates in the profile between the airy fashion-speak of one who spends his life on the astral plane of aesthetics, and more articulate quotes, analogizes making a dress with the research and development requirements of pharmaceutical companies. "Doing a collection, for me, is almost like creating a vaccine," he says. "Once you create the vaccine, then you can duplicate it for nine dollars and ninety-nine cents. But see if you can create it for nine dollars and ninety-nine cents, and the answer is no. In that sense, I have absolutely no problem with the prices. I don't think we do it just to do it." (It's also worth pointing out that the Lanvin atelier is located in France, where garment workers earn a middle-class living, and where Elbaz claims his company pays 65% taxes.)</p> <p>The designer has said in the past that he does not care to design the dress that will make a man fall in love with a woman; he wants to make the dress that a woman wears when she falls in love herself. But I'm not sure the rhetorical inversion necessarily works: although I appreciate woman-centered design, that departs from the first principles of the wearer and her needs and desires, as opposed to those of the implicit male observer of the dress, whoever knows ahead of time when they're going to fall in love? A dress to make you more loving is a curious idea indeed.</p> <p>At times, Elbaz seems flinty and difficult, which can often be the downside to being a visionary (at least for those who surround you). When he visits a potential site for his fall/winter show with his team, a former load-out station in the 13th Arrondissement, Elbaz speaks in a stream-of-consciousness that must be impossible to parse. "I had many, many thoughts. The dogs. The black car waiting outside. The man with the white coat and the dirty hands. The crystal on the floor and the train station just in the back. I'm looking for something to clean my eyes!" He muses for a while on the "bad spirit" of the warehouse space, before, in what comes across as a self-pitying gesture for its very unseriousness, momentarily contemplating leaving fashion. There's also an episode over some handbags which aren't to his liking, and an hours-long meeting with the team of architects who are at work on his London store, in which he exclaims, "If a woman comes in and it doesn't smell right or the light isn't right, she will think the dress doesn't look good!" Elbaz sometimes seems like that maddening boss who expects everyone to do the right thing but cannot articulate what it is.</p> <p>All in all, I think Levy's thesis &mdash; that women have moved beyond Tom Ford's sexy dresses, and into the prim refinement of Lanvin under Elbaz &mdash; isn't entirely spot-on. Any woman, no matter her career or age, wants at least occasionally to look hot; if that note is missing on Elbaz's scale, it's a lack. And it's a heartbreaking statement about women in general that Elbaz should have such a presumed accord with our needs because he personally understands feelings of physical inadequacy. (When Levy asks him what his life would be like if he were thin, Elbaz doesn't skip a beat: "Amazing.") But Elbaz's work as the concierge of Lanvin, ironically, displays all the assurance he himself can't seem to muster. He never exhibits the clumsy pretty-ugly tics of Miuccia Prada &mdash; he knows real women don't want to look dowdy. His idea of sexy is never louche, like Roberto Cavalli's. His clothes are tailored, but not restrictive like the work of Roland Mouret. Intellectual touches don't impede wearability, as they can at Comme des Garçons. ("If it's not edible, it's not food," says Elbaz. "If it's not wearable, it's not fashion.") Alber Elbaz's work, for those who can afford it, is classic without the connotation of dustiness. And it's nice to get to know, at least a little, the fevered, nervous, visionary personality behind the curtain.</p> <p> [New Yorker &mdash; sub req'd]<br> [New Yorker]<br> [Style.com]</p>In order to view comments on jezebel.com you need to enable JavaScript.<br> If you are using Firefox and NoScript addon, please mark jezebel.com as trusted.In order to view comments on jezebel.com you need to enable JavaScript.<br> If you are using Firefox and NoScript addon, please mark jezebel.com as trusted.In order to view comments on jezebel.com you need to enable JavaScript.<br> If you are using Firefox and NoScript addon, please mark jezebel.com as trusted.<p>Reader Tanya asked us to look at Trembled Blossoms, the digitally-animated on the Prada Web site. And we did! And tripped the fuck out of our minds. The creepy, dreamy, product-pushing visual art tells a mythic story set to delicately bizarre music. See, once upon a time there was a sexual-organ-esque flower. This flower's juicy center was penetrated by a hummingbird, and a little jizz seeped out... (join us as we storyboard and caption our favorite stills after the jump)</p><p> <br> </p> <p>The jizz dropped down to the ground, where it shattered the surface and woke up a sleeping, flat-chested, dead-eyed naked nymph.<br> <br> </p> <p>The nymph was approached by some horrifying bugs, but they turned into high-heeled Prada shoes. Just what every newly awakened sylph needs!<br> <br> <br> </p> <p>As the nymph struts around in her new shoes, she spots a piece of fruit. When she picks it, the world around her blooms!<br></p> <p> <br> </p> <p>Sashaying through the creeptastic forest, the Nymph is jumped by a Checkered Lesbian Fairy...<br> <br> <br> </p> <p>Who clothes her in a perfectly fitted checkered Prada suit and stockings. Just the thing for hiking!<br> <br> <br> </p> <p>Night falls and the well-dressed nymph encounters a Faun, not as hot as in Legend, but whatevs.<br> <br> <br> </p> <p>The faun urinates a pond. A dragon flies into the pond and turns into a fish. Nymph girl polishes off the fruit she's been carrying and then throws the pit into the hungry fish's mouth. What a bitch!<br> <br> <br> </p> <p>The water recedes; the fish has turned into (TA-DAH!) a Prada purse.<br> <br> <br> </p> <p>The Faun presents it to the Nymph...<br> <br> <br> </p> <p>Who is so fucking psyched to complete her outfit she spins around in circles...<br> <br> <br> </p> <p>...Not realizing that the Faun's head has cracked open. He is DYING.<br> <br> <br> </p> <p>And by dying I mean turning into a flower with a bulbous center, much like the one in the beginning of the tale.<br> <br> <br> </p> <p>The Nymph pulls the sheets of the world around her &mdash; but then notices her purse has a bird in it.<br> <br> <br> Do all Prada bags come with wildlife? Do the wallets come with moths?</p> <p>So yeah, the Nymph pulls the covers over her head and...<br> <br> <br> ...Fin.</p> <p>Moral of the story: Take hallucinogens before you purchase Prada items, and spray them liberally with Raid.</p> <p> [Prada]</p>In order to view comments on jezebel.com you need to enable JavaScript.<br> If you are using Firefox and NoScript addon, please mark jezebel.com as trusted.In order to view comments on jezebel.com you need to enable JavaScript.<br> If you are using Firefox and NoScript addon, please mark jezebel.com as trusted.In order to view comments on jezebel.com you need to enable JavaScript.<br> If you are using Firefox and NoScript addon, please mark jezebel.com as trusted.<p>Linda Evangelista is on the cover of the new LOVE &mdash; and inside, the supermodel talks about that she filed against luxury chief (and husband of Salma Hayek) François-Henri Pinault. Evangelista had never previously revealed the identity of her 4-year-old son's father, but says that Pinault's total refusal to pay her any child support forced her to sue him, and therefore publicly reveal his identity. She says she otherwise never would have brought her son into it. "I need to protect him," she says. "I never, ever used my son for publicity. He'll have his say one day if he wants it. He'll have the last word. He has time to defend himself." Pinault, who conceived a child with his then-girlfriend Hayek around the same time Evangelista's son was born, People that he "recognized" the child. Evangelista is $46,000 a month in child support; François-Henri Pinault, the head of PPR, reportedly has a personal fortune of $11.5 billion. []</p> Jennifer Connelly is now a face of Shiseido &mdash; again. The actress was a face of something called Shiseido Perky Jeans (which was not in fact a line of jeans, but cosmetics) in the 1980s. "It's nice to reconnect with them after so many years," says Connelly. [, ] L'Oréal has made a somewhat surprising move: it's signed 18-year-old runway model Barbara Palvin as its newest face. Having walked for designers including Louis Vuitton, Prada, and Chanel, Palvin is well-known within fashion, but might not be so familiar to the mass market; certainly not compared to the likes of Gwen Stefani or Claudia Schiffer. Palvin's first ads will be for lipstick. [] Sofia Coppola claims she took a job directing a commercial advertising Marni's upcoming collection for H&M because she's "never really done anything around fashion, and when they told me it was Marni it sounded like an interesting project." Oh, you know, Sofia Coppola has never really done anything around fashion. Other than direct Dior advertisements, be in Louis Vuitton campaigns, a line of Louis Vuitton bags, be the face of a Marc Jacobs perfume, grace the front rows every damn season, oh, and a fashion line of her own, Milkfed. "Never done anything around fashion." Please. Girl interned at Chanel at 15 and had her "style" chronicled endlessly by Seventeen while she was still in high school. Why downplay it? [] Here's a first look at Jun Takahashi's line for Uniqlo, which will be known as Undercover Uniqlo, or UU. In stores March 16. [] Rihanna dyed her hair blonde for an upcoming cover of American Elle. [] Banana Republic is doing a second Mad Men collection. It'll be in stores on March 1, just ahead of the new season premiere, March 25. [] Women's Wear Daily asked designers to imagine an outfit for Rooney Mara to watch the superbowl in. Because she comes from a football family. Logical. []<p>Linda Evangelista recently in a court filing that the father of her 4-year-old son is not, as she'd claimed previously, "a Manhattan architect," but is in fact François-Henri Pinault &mdash; husband of Salma Hayek, father of her 3-year-old daughter, and one of the richest luxury tycoons in the world. Now in a new filing, the supermodel's lawyers have revealed that they are seeking $46,000 a month in child support. The judge in the case says that would be the biggest support order in New York family court history. Pinault, who is worth an estimated $11.5 billion, runs the conglomerate that owns Gucci, Alexander McQueen, Yves Saint Laurent, and Bottega Veneta, among other brands. According to Evangelista's lawyers, he donates $50,000 a month to an $11 million trust fund for his daughter with Hayek, but has never paid a cent for the care of Evangelista's son. Evangelista &mdash; who herself is worth around $11 million &mdash; wants, among other things, $175,000 a year for ex-police security and drivers, and $80,000 for a round-the-clock nanny. []</p> Glee's Dianna Agron is in a fashion spread in the new Flaunt. [] This fall's major luxury ad campaigns include three that feature very young celebrities: Hailee Steinfeld, 14, is the face of Miu Miu, Elle Fanning, 13, is the face of Marc by Marc Jacobs, and Dakota Fanning &mdash; who herself fronted Marc Jacobs when she was 13 &mdash; is now the 17-year-old face of Marc Jacobs' Lola perfume. This has various people Very Concerned about The Children and such. What these people are not concerned about, at all, as far as we can tell? Prada &mdash; which calls Miu Miu its "little sister" &mdash; shot a 13-year-old girl for its seasonal campaign. Her name is Ondria Hardin, she is pictured here at right, and she's a model from North Carolina. (She has turned 14 since the Prada ads were shot.) We suspect that it's because she's a model, and not a celebrity, that nobody particularly cared to report on her age. Models commonly begin their international careers at age 13-14. With proper supervision, a fashion shoot isn't necessarily an inappropriate place for a young teenager to be, but all of this alleged concern strikes us as bogus insofar as it extends to the famous teens who moonlight in this industry, but not the relatively anonymous (and much less privileged) girls who work in it every day. [] Philadelphia-raised Sessilee Lopez, who has been modeling since she was 14, says it took a long time for her to realize she had "made it." Even a cover of Vogue Italia, which she bagged back in 2008, didn't quite do it. "But then one day, I got recognized when I was back home by some, like, thugged-out, gangster dude. And I was like, ‘Wait, how does this guy know about me? He's not in fashion.' But he said, ‘You're the girl from here who made it. You made it! Know that! Own that!' He took a picture on his phone and said, ‘I'm going to put this on Facebook.'" Also, once Christian Siriano &mdash; whom Lopez calls one of her favorite designers to work with &mdash; put her in a dress that was so tight she couldn't sit down. "It was this feathery number. I was like, ‘Can I sit?' and he's laughing like, ‘Bitch, do you know how many hours I spent plucking those birds?'" [] Raquel Zimmerman stars in Alexander McQueen's gorgeous fall campaign. []<br> In other McQueen news, the Met's show, "Alexander McQueen: Savage Beauty," on Sunday night became the most popular Met Costume Institute show ever, when it welcomed its 582,000th visitor. Opening day attendance was higher than for any other special exhibit, save for a Van Gogh show the museum mounted in 2005. It later the Van Gogh show, and Savage Beauty doesn't close till August 7th. Determining which is the "most popular" Met show ever is difficult, because the museum mounts many different special exhibitions of varying durations. A show of Jeff Koons' "balloon" sculptures drew over 657,000 viewers, but it was up for six months. [] Jourdan Dunn and Natasha Poly are in a beauty editorial in the new Vogue Paris. [] Freja Beha Erichsen and her girlfriend Arizona Muse star in an editorial inside Freja's issue of British Vogue. [] Australian model Myfanwy Shepherd wears hand-painted shoes. Her life motto? "Don't fuck your friends." [] Terry Richardson shot Liza Minnelli for the new issue of LOVE. [] Dennis Hopper's photography is the basis for a new Vans collection. [] Well, this is...interesting. Sperm vendor, front-row , Republican filmmaker Vincent Gallo is in the new G Star campaign. [] Dennis Freedman, the former longtime creative director of W, took over as Barneys New York's chief window-dresser from Simon Doonan. So we're trying very hard not to automatically hate him and everything he does. His first effort at doing all of the store's windows includes a contribution from the architect Rafael de Cárdenas, who was inspired by a Fassbinder film. Another window display "was built from found materials such as recycled garbage and melted detritus." [] Speaking of garbage, Christian Louboutin made a pair of shoes out of trash. He calls them his "eco-pumps," and they cost $1095. []<p>Lindsay Lohan's career has taken a turn for the inevitable now she's agreed to grace the pages of Playboy. Apparently the deal has been in the works for months after Hugh Hefner offered her $750,000 and she came back asking for a cool million. Though she didn't get quite so much, those hard-working source types say it got close. "I can neither confirm or deny at this time," says her rep of the talk. Which we all know roughly translates to: "It's on, y'all!" Heavy traffic for her New York mag nude shoot crashed the publication's site back in 2008, though it remains to be seen whether the public are all nippled out a few years on. []</p> <p>Mark your diaries, today is the day everything you knew about the celebrity pecking order came crashing down as Justin Bieber, Jaden Smith and Connor Cruise make their debut as the Hollywood Brat Pack 3.0. Hanging out together at Universal Studio's Halloween Horror Nights, the trio were said to be "totally scared", though not as much as we are at the prospect of our quickly fading youth. []</p> <p>Strengthening their bid for total world domination, Janes of all trades<br> The Kardashians have filed documents with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office to release towels, candlesticks and beer mugs emblazoned with their seriously made-up faces. Wake me when they extend the line to include toilet paper, douches and kitty litter. []</p> <p>Even Robert Pattinson's detractors will be on Team Edward when they hear he played an important role in building a school for girls in Cambodia. Basically, a year ago a Chicago family paid $80,000 for meet-and-greet – which would otherwise be ludicrous – and the money went to GO Campaign who, in turn, gave it to PAGE, an organization that helps educate teen girls in the country. Move over Oprah! []</p>Jennifer Lopez has had bad luck with her clothing lines. The star founded JLO clothing in 2007, and closed it two years later. Replacement label Justweet lasted two seasons. . Good thing she's still raking in the dough from her perfumes.In order to view comments on jezebel.com you need to enable JavaScript.<br> If you are using Firefox and NoScript addon, please mark jezebel.com as trusted.In order to view comments on jezebel.com you need to enable JavaScript.<br> If you are using Firefox and NoScript addon, please mark jezebel.com as trusted.In order to view comments on jezebel.com you need to enable JavaScript.<br> If you are using Firefox and NoScript addon, please mark jezebel.com as trusted.<p>People whose job it is to shill luxury brands are flipping the fuck out right about now. According to Guy Trebay's in yesterday's New York Times, everything, everything is on sale. Barneys New York had a "designer freak-out sale." Saks dumped Prada wallets &mdash; usually kept under glass &mdash; into bargain-basement style display stands. Fashion éminence grise Tim Gunn says:</p> <p>"I was in Saks last week, and there were these staggering discounts and it’s not even Jan. 1. I was told by easily half a dozen sales associates that if I opened a Saks credit card, I’d get another 15 percent off. What I wonder is, 'What are the real margins?'"</p> <p>Alana Semuels writes in the Wall Street Journal that some luxury brands in order to "trigger that buying feeling." Extravagant events aren't a waste if you target your customer and instill loyalty, the thinking goes.</p> <p>But on the retail level, Mr. Trebay writes of Valentino evening gowns marked down 60%, of Loro Piana cashmere blazers priced at $329, down from $2,000. Here's the thing: In this uncertain and tough economic climate, does "luxury" lose its appeal altogether, no matter the "bargain"? Questions Trebay:<br></p> Once consumers become acquainted with slash-and-burn prices, how can designer fashion regain its mystique? Will shoppers ever again want to buy luxury goods at full price? <p>Listen, even if you could never afford any "luxury" items, they still had a place, a role as untouchably elegant and remote; something to fantasize about. Does a Marc Jacobs bag still seem special, rare and unique when you've seen a bin full of them at slashed prices? Never mind what happens to a dream deferred &mdash; what happens to a dream marked down?</p> <p> [NY Times]<br> [WSJ]</p>In order to view comments on jezebel.com you need to enable JavaScript.<br> If you are using Firefox and NoScript addon, please mark jezebel.com as trusted.<p>Macy's is suing Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia for breach of contract, following the announcement that the Martha Stewart brand of homewares would be sold exclusively at J.C. Penney following the expiration of her current exclusive Macy's contract. The Macy's deal was set to expire this year, freeing Martha to shill muffin tins and bath mats at Penney's starting in 2013, but Macy's claims its contract allows them the option to renew for another five years. Macy's sure seems sad it lost its shiny toy, but we're team Martha on this one. Stewart may be 70, but we're in no doubt she could still cut a bitch. And smilingly dispose of the body in four handsome, home-y, and ecologically aware ways, if necessary. []</p> The Etam show in Paris sounds un-missable: Grace Jones, Gloria Gaynor, The Pointer Sisters, Sister Sledge, and Chaka Khan performed their hits live while the models walked. Grace Jones kicked things off, after briefly disappearing backstage &mdash; "She did the same thing at a Louis Vuitton show in Tokyo five years ago: she disappeared and then reappeared. What counts is that she reappears," joked brand owner and Louis Vuitton Moët Hennessy scion Antoine Arnault. And for a grand finale, all the singers got onstage to do "We Are Family." The show was also notable for being Arnault and Natalia Vodianova's first planned public appearance. Vodianova is a face of the lingerie brand, and she and Arnault have been dating for months (Vodianova confirmed last year she'd split from her husband, Justin Portman) but had avoided being photographed together. []<br> Arnault also shared his impressions of the luxury sector with the Telegraph. "We are going to enter an era in which logo and ostentation is going to be less successful," he says. "People are going to want more quality, and less ostentation. Especially in a world in economic crisis: you don't want to be seen with evidently expensive products. Just something that is beautiful." When are these guys ever not selling "real luxury" over "mere logos"? Jesus. That's like the oldest trick in the luxury book. Arnault also says Christian Dior is in no hurry to name a creative director, even though nearly a year has passed since the firing of John Galliano (for being ). "People say 'What's going on?' but inside [Dior] people are absolutely Zen about it. There is no urgency at all." Just picture the entire Dior atelier in lotus pose, saying "Om. We are not racist. Om." [] Chanel's couture show was held on a set that looked like an airplane. Karl Lagerfeld loves to fly, you see; he finds it terribly relaxing. There was a beverage cart, and guests entered via a long, metal-paneled hallway that looked like an airport skyway. The whole thing took five days to build. We have a full review and photos coming soon. [, ] Here's a first look at the ad for Jason Wu's Target collection, featuring the mas-cat, Milu. [] Missoni has an unusual model fronting its spring campaign: Pedro Almodóvar. Juergen Teller shot the director, Angela, Teresa, and Margherita Missoni, and actresses Rossy de Palma and Blanca Suarez. The only model in the ads is Mariacarla Boscono. The campaign was shot at a Madrid restaurant called Villa Rosa, which will be familiar to fans of Almodóvar's film High Heels. [] Model Maria Bradley hails from Wichita, Kansas. Her first fashion show in New York City was for Alexander Wang, which she opened. "I had done local shows in Kansas, but in a mall, and there's a curtain we're all behind. This was nothing like anything I had ever done before. When I got there, I walked into that giant warehouse on the pier, and I was like, 'Oh…my…god,'" she says. "It was like a stadium setup back there, with like 100 people running around." Bradley, who is 17, has since traveled internationally for the first time thanks to her new job. "I had no idea the fashion world was like this. I mean, when I shot in Kansas, it was like at a Humane Society, holding puppies, and now I was thrown into this." [] There is speculation that Freja Beha Erichsen and Arizona Muse were dropped from the Chloé campaign after paparazzi photographs of them on the set emerged. To be fair, they were shooting at the Chateau Marmont, which is like the Mecca of paparazzi (in this cosmology we just made up right now, the Ivy would be their Dome of the Rock, and let's say the Grove is the paparazzi Vatican). Now, the final campaign has emerged, and it stars not Erichsen and Muse but Karmen Pedaru and Kate King. Maybe modeling's favorite lesbian couple were dropped. Or maybe they were shooting something else entirely &mdash; a campaign video, say. [] Speaking of campaigns, Kate Moss was shot by Terry Richardson for Mango's spring ads. Women's Wear Daily posted the images this morning, but has since pulled them. Not before we grabbed them, though. []In order to view comments on jezebel.com you need to enable JavaScript.<br> If you are using Firefox and NoScript addon, please mark jezebel.com as trusted.<p>Having licensed her name to a clothing line for tweens, Material Girl, Madonna has announced she'll do a second line for adults &mdash; specifically, women aged 27-50. It's brought to you by the same people behind Material Girl, and it'll be called Truth Or Dare by Madonna. It will be a "lifestyle" brand, which is what industry types call it when they want to hawk everything at you from handbags to scented candles. Truth Or Dare by Madonna's first product will be an as-yet unnamed women's perfume, set to launch in 2012. []</p> Makeup artist Pat McGrath shared some of her backstage snapshots from the 20 shows she keyed during the last show season. [] The new Visionaire magazine is, at 57.48" by 79", the world's largest magazine ever produced. [] Here is Karl Lagerfeld's boy-toy Baptiste Giabiconi dancing to (a weird, French live cover of) the Friends theme on the French Dancing With The Stars. "In terms of technique," says the first judge, "Baptiste, I found you as clumsy as Ross or Chandler." Another called Giabiconi's performance "a little uptight." []<p>Madonna has plans to someday "do" a men's fragrance, at the urging of her daughter Lourdes. "She likes to wear cologne &mdash; don't ask me why," the star explained at the New York launch of her first perfume. "I love musk and amber and woody kind of fragrances on men. I love the smell of whiskey &mdash; we should make a men's cologne that smells like whiskey. I can't drink it, it's too strong, but it smells amazing &mdash; a really good old whiskey." Madonna says she "worships and adores" Jean Paul Gaultier. "He's creating one of my costumes, and kind of godfathering the costumes for a section of my show, with all my dancers. I'm really happy he's doing it, because he's such a genius." She says the rest of the costumes for her upcoming tour will be by Arianne Phillips, her longtime costume designer, plus some pieces from Riccardo Tisci at Givenchy (who costumed Madge's Superbowl performance). Speaking of which, Madonna says next time she does an extravaganza like that, she may wear &mdash; gasp &mdash; sneakers: "The dance that LMFAO does, the shuffle, was really hard to do in heels. I have to say, I would prefer to do the shuffle in sneakers. If you want to drop it like it's hot, it's good to wear flats, because then your booty gets really close to the floor." []</p> Legendary New York Times street-style photographer and documentary subject Bill Cunningham started out as a millinery designer &mdash; and on Wednesday, 23 of the hats he made in the '50s and '60s under the label William J will go on sale at 1stdibs.com. Cunningham some archival photos of his hats to Times readers last year. [] Seminal fashion photographer of the '40s, '50s, and '60s &mdash; and a woman in the field &mdash; Lillian Bassman is the subject of a solo gallery show on now in New York City. According to her daughter, Bassman led something of a charmed life: "Quirky things used to happen to her. She would land in Paris and for some reason there would always be a duke or a count who would want to show her around town. She would always say ‘Why are they giving me so many flowers and so much Champagne?' I remember she did the lead show of a Spanish photo fest at The Prado in 2002, and Queen Sofia of Spain, who always wore gloves so she wouldn't have to touch anyone's skin, suddenly appeared and then her staff disappeared. The Queen walked next to my mother discussing the photos as if they were old friends." Bassman at age 94 in February. [] In these new Yves Saint Laurent beauty ads, Anais Pouliot sure is wearing a lot of makeup for a swimming pool. [] Fashionista tracks the progress of seven of spring's most-photographed runway looks. If the Vogues and Harper's Bazaars of this world have their way, we'll all be wearing bedazzled bodysuits (preferably either by Prada or Dolce & Gabbana) this season. []<p> ABC executives demanded that this 30-second ad for Madonna's soon-to-be-released perfume be digitally edited to cover more of her boobies. The suits didn't like Madge's cleavage, and told the singer's people that even after the Photoshop modesty girdle had been added, the ad could be broadcast only after 9 p.m. &mdash; or, curiously, during The View. []</p> A Ugandan newspaper published a story referring to Franca Sozzani as the wife of Ugandan oil millionaire Charles Mbire. The paper also ran photographs of Mbire's lavish birthday party for the editor and spelled her name "Suzani." Sozzani laughed off the coverage, saying she is single. [] Vogue Italia's April cover is out, and it has a prom theme. With masks, as previously. [] In the age-old quest of school administrators to kill any incipient student joy, slutty prom dresses are a flash point. As . [] Prabal Gurung released two nail wrap designs with Sally Hansen. Both are based on the digital prints used in his spring collection. []<p>Now that 13-year-old Lottie Moss's pictures are all over the world wide web following her turn as a bridesmaid in her famous older half-sister's wedding, modeling agents are tripping over themselves to represent her. "Lottie looks beautiful and fresh &mdash; a very English rose look," says Carole White, who "discovered" Naomi Campbell (and who is now embroiled with the supermodel). Lottie's mother has expressed reservations &mdash; "She's too young," says mama Moss &mdash; but that is no barrier to Carole White's ambitions. "Her mother is quite right to wait until she is 14 and has developed more but she has wonderful features and could definitely make a model." The child is pictured above, next to Kate. []</p> Kate Moss and Jamie Hince, meanwhile, are honeymooning on Philip Green's yacht. [] Estée Lauder face Joan Smalls wears her dad's old shirts, and got whole body chills when designer Riccardo Tisci booked her for the Givenchy couture show, her big industry break after long years as a workaday model. [] Karen Elson and her friend, the director and performer Sarah Sophie Flicker, wrote an essay about their friendship for the site that their friend Zooey Deschanel co-founded. Elson writes, "It's friends who can drag you kicking and screaming from the darkness into the sweetness and light. I couldn't survive without these women, they are my bloodline." [] Björk guest-edited the new issue of Dazed & Confused. This should be interesting. [] Penélope Cruz is on the cover of the new V, the "Transformation" issue. [] And Paris Hilton transformed herself by posing for an edgy shoot inside the mag. How can you tell it's edgy? She has bangs and dark eyeliner, duh. "I don't copy anybody," says Paris. "I'm like my own Barbie doll!" [] What do you think of when someone says "Prada"? Really expensive handbags? Stripes? Complicated shoes? Nerd-cool? Mustard? Maurizio Cattelan? Rem Koolhaas and his vague pronouncements ? Well, set those associations aside, because Prada's new perfume is called...Candy. Prada. Candy. Prada Candy. Doesn't exactly roll off the tongue. And that pink illustrated box? This shit looks about as "Prada" as Paris Hilton. An executive at Puig, which holds the license for Prada perfumes, says Candy explores "the modernist, creative and colorful sides" of the brand. [] By the way, here is a crocodile bag that costs $40,000. Ah, there's the Prada we know and love. [] Marion Cotillard, 9/11 Truther extraordinaire, is still booking Dior campaigns. []In order to view comments on jezebel.com you need to enable JavaScript.<br> If you are using Firefox and NoScript addon, please mark jezebel.com as trusted.In order to view comments on jezebel.com you need to enable JavaScript.<br> If you are using Firefox and NoScript addon, please mark jezebel.com as trusted.<p>Marc Jacobs turns 49 today. He's down in Brazil celebrating with the porn star who's been calling the designer "boyfriend" on Twitter, where we hope nobody is giving him a birthday present in trade. In honor of the momentous date, British Vogue has a look back at how his style has changed over the years. Here's Jacobs in 2005 and 2006. []</p> The aforementioned porn star Harry Louis &mdash; who is neither the first porn star (Erik Rhodes) nor the first Brazilian (Lorenzo Martone) the designer has dated, but may in fact be the first Brazilian porn star &mdash; Tweeted the designer a happy birthday message. []<br> Jacobs and Louis, who first got in December, have been hitting the scene in Rio de Janeiro this week. [] Jacobs' new perfume, Dot, has a bottle (ladybug-ish), a price ($48-$89), and an ad campaign (Codie Young by Juergen Teller). Jacobs says: "I asked myself, What would this Dot be? And for me, it would be something that was chic, something that was charming. A dot is timeless and a pattern I always love, and round shapes are always beautiful." [] Carine Roitfeld's new magazine will be named CR Fashion Book, CR for short. This is a mock-up cover. The first issue will be 288 pages and will cost $9.95; the magazine will have no front-of-book section, no standalone ads (only spreads), and will publish only long-form writing and fashion and beauty editorials. Included in the mock issue is a story about Patti Smith, accompanied by Bruce Weber photos, pictured. That is so great we hope it's real. [] Arizona Muse rocks asymmetrical hair and a big smile on the cover of Vogue China. [] Here are the characters of Final Fantasy XIII-2 wearing current season Prada men's wear. Photoshopped for Arena Homme Plus. []In order to view comments on jezebel.com you need to enable JavaScript.<br> If you are using Firefox and NoScript addon, please mark jezebel.com as trusted.In order to view comments on jezebel.com you need to enable JavaScript.<br> If you are using Firefox and NoScript addon, please mark jezebel.com as trusted.<p>For more than five years, Marc Jacobs International says it was the victim of a $20 million fraud. More details are emerging in the lawsuit and countersuit between Marc Jacobs, his business partner of more than 25 years Robert Duffy, and their former chief operating officer Patrice Lataillade. Lataillade that Duffy created a hostile work environment by talking about and watching porn on company time (Lataillade specified, for some reason, that it was gay porn), using company funds for personal expenses, and forcing one employee to do a pole-dance for him. Well: Marc Jacobs International has responded with a countersuit alleging that Lataillade was embezzling the company to the tune of $20 million. MJI says Lataillade inflated the company sales figures and hid the true costs of expenses so that he could collect huge bonuses from MJI's parent company, Louis Vuitton Moët Hennessy. The suit says Lataillade perpetrated this fraud by "overstating royalty receivables, understating selling, marketing and administrative expenses, overstating raw materials inventories and failing to write off bad debts." The company also points out that Lataillade was given a salary of $1 million, free private school tuition for his children, an annual family vacation in Paris, and a $10,000 annual car allowance. MJI also allegedly lent Lataillade $60,000 in 2008, which he has yet to repay. The alleged fraud was uncovered after a new director of finance came onboard, and Lataillade was fired. Lataillade's lawyers deny the charges, and point out that the company was audited several times during the period in which he is alleged to have been cooking the books. Even if Marc Jacobs International's allegations against Lataillade are true, one still wonders what kind of financial condition a company must be in for an executive to get away with fraud on that scale for over five years. [, ]</p> Beyoncé says she was going for "iconic James Dean" in her wardrobe choices for the "Crazy in Love" video. And she's worn heels since she turned 13: "I'm wearing red pumps in the video. As a child I trained myself to dance in very high heels. At 13, in Destiny's Child, we were told to wear heels, but at first we couldn't walk in them. We couldn't keep our knees straight. But we learned, and that became the image of Destiny's Child: so young and so glamorous. Now I have a rule that my dancers have to wear their heels when I'm wearing my heels. They say, ‘Please take your shoes off, Beyoncé.' At home, I'm always barefoot. And I have a heavy walk without heels. When they hear me thumping through the house, they say, ‘Oh-Beyoncé's up!'" [] Versace will be H&M's next guest designer, and the collection will go on sale in H&M stores on November 17. []<br> In 2008, Donatella Versace of diffusion lines, "I respect everyone who does it. But the reason I didn't do it is because I work very hard to put the Versace line in the luxury section. I think to put the Versace line in H&M would confuse the brand." Bygones. Karlie Kloss shot for Victoria's Secret Pink. It is the first time the 18-year-old model, currently the face of Dior, has worked with VS. [] Photographer Grégoire Eloy shot backstage at fired Dior designer John Galliano's runway shows fir six years, but he waited until the week of Galliano's to two strangers in a café to put the resulting photographs on public show in Paris. Of Galliano, Eloy says, "I think that he had been having trouble psychologically, that he was exhausted, for several years, it was obvious, but no one talked about it." []<br> Meanwhile, Azzedine Alaïa says he was offered the job of head designer at Dior. He didn't take it. Alaïa, in the words of reporter Vanessa Friedman, was "flattered, but not about to pursue. The story of what happened with John was a sad story, he said when I asked him, and he didn't want to be part of the next chapter." This would have been, to put it mildly, a surprising choice. Writes Friedman, "here's the thing: Mr Alaia has been perhaps the most vocal advocate of all living designers about the need to change the fashion system, to slow it down, to stop the relentless demand for more collections and more store openings. Years ago he stopped having official fashion shows, and started showing, and delivering to stores, only when he was ready as opposed to when the schedule dictates. And one of the houses that most embodies that continuous pressure is Dior; indeed, when former designer John Galliano imploded, the pressures of the system were cited as major contributing factors...Since I would never under-estimate Bernard Arnault, chairman of Dior (which actually owns LVMH), nor CEO Sidney Toledano, however, this makes me wonder if perhaps the group has some interesting plans to change the way it does business up its sleeve, and will use the new designer as an excuse to do so." [] Carine Roitfeld styled Kristen McMenamy for Jean-Paul Gaultier's fall campaign. The former editor of Vogue Paris also styled Chanel's fall ads. []<br> Gaultier says of his 1988 single, "How To Do That," of which , "I sold around 30,000 records &mdash; almost made it to the Top 50, but I think that was my last foray into the music business as a musician. I prefer to dress the stars." []<p>Marc Jacobs says he's planning to expand into cosmetics and is working with Sephora on a line.</p> <p>"I see makeup, fragrance &mdash; everything, really &mdash; as an opportunity. The idea of choosing a color for your lip, or an eyeliner &mdash; it's just such a delight. The ritual of waking up and making those choices is something people really enjoy. We currently are working on defining what Marc Jacobs cosmetics will be, what they'll say, what makes them distinctive. I think that will take some time, but the first meeting was good."</p> <p>No launch date has yet been set. []</p> Here is one minute of Bar Refaeli playing tennis in her underwear, in promotion of her new underwear line. She picks a wedgie at approximately 0:06. Cool ad, bro. [] Crystal Renn has blonde hair now. And when it's not wet from swimming with dolphins (!), she looks kind of like Lara Stone. [] Lauren Conrad is topless on the cover of Glamour. [] Emily Blunt made the cover of British Elle. [] Charlotte Gainsbourg is on the cover of the new Oyster. [] Anthropologie is launching 11 new limited-edition designer collaborations &mdash; including one with Karen Walker &mdash; on April 5. The wares will retail for $120-$300. []Last night, Marc Jacobs showed a neat little collection of neat little 1950s-inspired dresses and coats for his fall collection. Injecting a little levity in the proceedings were touches like fake fur and polka dots. As well as these jaunty, shiny hats the models wore.<br>In order to view comments on jezebel.com you need to enable JavaScript.<br> If you are using Firefox and NoScript addon, please mark jezebel.com as trusted.In order to view comments on jezebel.com you need to enable JavaScript.<br> If you are using Firefox and NoScript addon, please mark jezebel.com as trusted.<p>The May issue of Marie Claire has a fashion shoot that really pinpoints my love/hate relationship with fashion magazines. I get that they're selling a fantasy, which is why you'll find a microscopic raffia bikini on a Estonian girl standing by an African waterhole with a hyena, or an elaborate evening gown being whipped by the winds in the middle of the desert. It's not supposed to be realistic; it's supposed to look cool. When it's done correctly, the results . Done incorrectly? I ask, politely, WTF? This "Prairie Tale" shoot is problematic: I "get it" but I just don't like it. It's not the kind of fantasy I want to live. Check the high-waisted pants and pioneer-chic blouses, after the jump.</p> <p><br> <br> "Rowdy, romantic outlaw chic" means $840 Gucci shoes. Can one actually walk on sand with those heels? Where's the covered wagon when you need it?</p> <p>If only the pioneers had had retro radios.</p> <p>Here's the $13,000 gown! There is something darkly beautiful about it, but would a gothic castle would have been a better backdrop? Too predictable? Seeing this dress in stark bright daylight doesn't seem right.</p> <p>Is it okay to wear fishnets while horseback riding? Is it okay to wear a $1400 necklace while horseback riding?</p> <p>Dress: $5,320. Shoes: $790. Stockings: $120. Shooting Prada so close to a horse's ass: Priceless.</p> <p>I was going to make a joke about the model being mauled to death, but it seemed too grisly. Heh. Sorry.</p> <p>Dress, $5,060; top, $2,330; Roberto Cavalli. Model Anna Kuchinka says, "If I weren't a model I would be a clinical psychologist." Maybe she can help us process why that Cavalli blouse is more than an airline ticket to Italy?</p> <p>Yeah... No.</p> <p><br> Earlier: <br> <br> <br> <br></p><p>Kyle Anderson, Marie Claire's accessories director and Sex and the City caricature come to life, pens a Monday morning column for fashion blog, Daily Front Row. is a cheeky little column that carefully chronicles all the things that Kyle buys while gallivanting around town in a single weekend. Items range from $5 coffees from Starbucks to $185 keychains to $785 trinkets from Prada. The yooj.</p> <p>As of February 6, after three surreal months of dropping by "Barney's with my model friend" and subsisting on nothing but foamy chai lattes, Anderson has rung up a bill totaling $43,927.43. The equivalent of, I don't know, a year in college. Or more than the salary of any entry-level position at Marie Claire. But hey, what can you expect? You can't put a price on being faboolus.</p> <p>Here is a list of some of Kyle's recent purchases. And just for fun, you'll find some of my own wishful purchases sprinkled in:</p> <p>[Image via ]</p>In order to view comments on jezebel.com you need to enable JavaScript.<br> If you are using Firefox and NoScript addon, please mark jezebel.com as trusted.In order to view comments on jezebel.com you need to enable JavaScript.<br> If you are using Firefox and NoScript addon, please mark jezebel.com as trusted.In order to view comments on jezebel.com you need to enable JavaScript.<br> If you are using Firefox and NoScript addon, please mark jezebel.com as trusted.<p>Meet Glamour's new Alyssa Shelasky. (He used to bone Alyssa Shelasky!) Mike Cherico &mdash; aka 'Edgy English Teacher' &mdash; has not only taken over blogging responsibilities for Alyssa but he is soooo bummed right now because he watched The Break-Up last night just after &mdash; what is it summer or something? &mdash; with the exotic beauty pictured here!</p> Jennifer looks great, Vince, not so much. Am I destined to look like Vince while she gets off looking like Jen? Um, judging from his April about their relationship Mike's being a little optimistic! My current g.f. hates my button pushing, like when I listen to Howard Stern around her. And she can't stand my ooh's and aah's when Jessica Simpson or some other random hottie flashes onto my TV screen... Last night she recited some existential psychobabble and told me she would ignore those remarks from now on... I'd better buy her some Prada this weekend or no nookie. Okay, whatever, you know, we can't top "nookie." But on a related note: where the fuck does an English teacher in South Central Los Angeles get Prada money? The same source of $3,000-a-month blogger Alyssa's Gucci? OMYGOD IT'S AL QAEDA. <p> [Glamour]</p>In order to view comments on jezebel.com you need to enable JavaScript.<br> If you are using Firefox and NoScript addon, please mark jezebel.com as trusted.<p> There is a real-life Edina Monsoon, you guys, and her name is Lynne Franks. Franks was a notorious player in London's fashion P.R. industry in the '80s and '90s, and was friends with Jennifer Saunders, who based the character of Eddie on her. Franks seems to own the whole Absolutely Fabulous thing &mdash; she titled her '97 memoir Absolutely Now and says she loves the series, which is coming back for three more episodes this winter &mdash; but has one quibble: "I like to think that my taste in clothing was marginally better than Christian Lacroix," she says. "But the show was pretty spot on, actually." Katherine Hamnett, a designer Franks once represented, described meeting her as being "like an avalanche hitting you." Franks was legendary for her parties ("It was the most genius party &mdash; very aristo-posh English &mdash; with transvestites"), her power, her insane outfits (she wore a dirndl and orange-and-purple hair to Studio 54 &mdash; while eight months pregnant), her drug and alcohol use (she once passed out in a bowl of onion soup at 5 a.m.), and her neglectful parenting. When she quit P.R. in the early '90s, she became a Buddhist. Now she dotes on a Labrador-Jack Russell cross called Noodle, runs a women-only business club she founded, and basically, Lynne Franks is our hero. In her honor, let's re-watch the "Is it a bee?" bit. Lynne Franks, we raise our Bolli-Stolis in your general direction. []</p> The Hunger Games nail polish line has inspired a parody. It includes colors like "Important Reminder Purple" &mdash; the bottle comes marked with "This is a death tournament, not a fashion show" &mdash; and "Greasy Sae Surprise," the color of raccoon gallbladder. [] Deborah Turbeville shot Valentino's spring campaign in Guanajuato, Mexico. [] Michael Pitt &mdash; who played Kurt Cobain in that Gus Van Sant movie &mdash; is now a face of Prada. In 2005, Pitt actually turned down a Miu Miu campaign (Miu Miu had men's wear back then) because he didn't think it would be good for his image. [] Prada, by the way, is selling these headphones for $595. [] Holy eyebrows, it's the new YSL campaign. [] Early concept sketches for Emma Watson's Lancôme campaign have leaked. And they are really pretty. [] Saskia De Brauw, who as we now has pubic hair, is on the new cover of Vogue Japan. []<p>Cover Girl signed two new faces, and both are athletes: boxer Marlen Esparza, right, and beach volleyball player Jennifer Kessy, left. Kessy and Esparza will compete at the London Olympics this summer &mdash; and they make a bit of a change from the roster of actors, singers, and models who usually shill for Big Makeup. "You don't have to be famous to look good," says Esparza. "CoverGirl is celebrating the fact that beauty and femininity can come in so many forms," adds Kessy. "To be able to convey this to girls and women is a very good feeling." []</p> Prabal Gurung's spring campaign video features Candice Swanepoel. [] Charlize Theron is on the cover of British Vogue. But we've . [] Miranda Kerr and her 15-month-old son Flynn posed for the cover of the Australian tabloid Who. It is Flynn's first professional magazine shoot. There is no word on what Kerr et famille were paid. []In order to view comments on jezebel.com you need to enable JavaScript.<br> If you are using Firefox and NoScript addon, please mark jezebel.com as trusted.<p></p> <p>In a statement, the couple says: "We ask for consideration and respect for our family as we go through this difficult period." They have two kids from the marriage, and Melissa has two children from a previous relationship. Sigh. []</p><p>Intern Maria did the tireless work of looking for black models, Asian models and models of any color but white in the December issues of the major women's fashion magazines. She writes, "Surprise! There were no women of color in ANY fashion spread (not counting the 'shopping' sections, since spreads are what matters in terms of 'big time modeling'). The products I noticed did use a lot of non-celebrity women of color were mostly skin companies (Aveno, Olay, Johnson and Johnson) and lower price-point companies like Payless Shoes and I.N.C. However, there were also a lot of (non-celeb) Asian women in Rock and Republic and Lord and Taylor ads. Bigger corporate companies like The Gap also threw in a few black and Asian models/celebs into the mix." After the jump, see Maria's tallies for W, Harper's Bazaar, Vogue, Marie Claire, Allure, Glamour, Lucky, Elle and Cosmopolitan.</p> <p><br> <br> Maria says, "I counted 'ambiguous race' when I thought the women were intentionally meant to be 'ambiguously' black/asian/white or mixed race."<br></p> <br> W<br> Total number of ads: 103<br> Total number of black women: 4 (1 was a celebrity, 1 Naomi)<br> Total number of Asian women: 4<br> Total number of women of ambiguous race: 1 (ad for KLS) <p>Total number of fashion spreads: 1<br> Total number of black women: 0<br> Total number of Asian women: 0<br> Total number of women of ambiguous race: 0</p> <p>Harper's Bazaar<br> Total number of ads: 112<br> Total number of black women: 3 (2 were celebrities)<br> Total number of Asian women: 1<br> Total number of women of ambiguous race: 1</p> <p>Total number of fashion spreads: 4<br> Total number of black women: 0<br> Total number of Asian women: 0<br> Total number of women of ambiguous race: 0</p> <p>Vogue<br> Total number of ads: 173<br> Total number of black women: 10 (6 were celebrities)<br> Total number of Asian women: 3 (1 celebrity)<br> Total number of women of ambiguous race: 2 (1 celebrity)</p> <p>Total number of fashion spreads: 4<br> Total number of black women: 0<br> Total number of Asian women: 0<br> Total number of women of ambiguous race: 0<br> <br> Marie Claire<br> Total number of ads: 99<br> Total number of black women: 6 (4 were celebrities)<br> Total number of Asian women: 2<br> Total number of women of ambiguous race: 1<br> <br> Total number of fashion spreads: 2<br> Total number of black women: 0<br> Total number of Asian women: 0<br> Total number of women of ambiguous race: 0<br> (although they did employ an as a "model.")<br> <br> Allure<br> Total number of ads: 96<br> Total number of black women: 5 (2 were celebrities)<br> Total number of Asian women: 0<br> Total number of women of ambiguous race: 1</p> <p>Total number of fashion spreads: 2<br> Total number of black women: 0<br> Total number of Asian women: 0<br> Total number of women of ambiguous race: 0<br> <br> Glamour<br> Total number of ads: 91<br> Total number of black women: 6 (3 were celebrities)<br> Total number of Asian women: 1<br> Total number of women of ambiguous race: 4 (2 were celebrities)</p> <p>Total number of fashion spreads: 2<br> Total number of black women: 0<br> Total number of Asian women: 0<br> Total number of women of ambiguous race: 0<br> <br> Lucky<br> Total number of ads: 147<br> Total number of black women: 8 (4 were celebrities)<br> Total number of Asian women: 2<br> Total number of women of ambiguous race: 3</p> <p>Total number of fashion spreads: 2<br> Total number of black women: 0<br> Total number of Asian women: 0<br> Total number of women of ambiguous race: 0<br> <br> Elle<br> Total number of ads: 161<br> Total number of black women: 6 (1 celeb, 1 "real woman")<br> Total number of Asian women: 1<br> Total number of women of ambiguous race: 3 (1 celebrity)</p> <p>Total number of fashion spreads: 3<br> Total number of black women: 0<br> Total number of Asian women: 0<br> Total number of women of ambiguous race: 0</p> <p>Cosmo<br> Total number of ads: 103<br> Total number of black women: 3 (Budweiser, Dove, Lee Jeans)<br> Total number of Asian women: 0<br> Total number of women of ambiguous race: 1 (Levi's)</p> <p>Total number of fashion spreads: 2<br> Total number of black women: 1 (Beyonce)<br> Total number of Asian women: 0<br> Total number of women of ambiguous race: 0</p> <p>Total number of beauty spreads: 2<br> Total number of black women: 2 (1 model, 1 Rihanna)<br> Total number of Asian women: 0<br> Total number of Hispanic women: 1 (Christina Milian)<br> Total number of women of ambiguous race: 0</p> So, what have we learned? Black, Asian and models of color are still not "fashionable." But advertisers use black and Asian models, because they know not to fuck with buying power &mdash; at the NYPL conference. Still - -can you think of another billion dollar industry in which blatant racism is tolerated? And what is a black or Asian woman who loves fashion and fashion magazines to do with this information? <p>Earlier: <br> <br> <br> <br> </p>In order to view comments on jezebel.com you need to enable JavaScript.<br> If you are using Firefox and NoScript addon, please mark jezebel.com as trusted.In order to view comments on jezebel.com you need to enable JavaScript.<br> If you are using Firefox and NoScript addon, please mark jezebel.com as trusted.In order to view comments on jezebel.com you need to enable JavaScript.<br> If you are using Firefox and NoScript addon, please mark jezebel.com as trusted.In order to view comments on jezebel.com you need to enable JavaScript.<br> If you are using Firefox and NoScript addon, please mark jezebel.com as trusted.In order to view comments on jezebel.com you need to enable JavaScript.<br> If you are using Firefox and NoScript addon, please mark jezebel.com as trusted.<p>Further evidence that Mindy Kaling is thoroughly and completely awesome: she shops at Loehmann's, you guys. (And she reads this very blog!) Refinery29 interviewed Kaling about her style. She calls her style "a very ethnic/New Money aesthetic" and says she wishes she could be one of those cool girls who wears Helmut Lang leggings and monochromatic, asymmetrical tops and whatnot, but she always ends up drawn to the bright and the colorful. "I am all about statement necklaces over gray T-shirts this fall. I'll so be the woman at the ArcLight wearing the 30lb ethnic African necklace and people don't know if English is my first language." []</p> When asked his opinion of various movies about fashion, Jean Paul Gaultier &mdash; who costumed the new Almodovar film &mdash; isn't shy. He finds Prêt-A-Porter not sarcastic enough. And The Devil Wears Prada fails because "Anna Wintour is a lot more monstrous than she is described!" he laughs. You won't be laughing when none of your clothes are ever photographed for Vogue again, buddy! Given the opportunity to make amends by the reporter, who asked if he thought Wintour was "a positive figure," Gaultier said only, "She is a figure." [] Solve Sundsbo shot the new cover of Vogue Italia Beauty. It's wet. [] Crystal Renn, Andrej Pejic, Lea T., Hanne Gaby Odiele, Jeneil Williams, Jenny Shimizu, and Hannelore Knuts, among others, star in this gender-bending promotional clip for the Gay Men's Health Crisis' upcoming AIDS benefit. [] Models damage their hair and feet for a living, basically. [] We truly respect Coco Rocha's devotion to makeup. Lip glosses arranged in order of color! Shadows laid out with military precision! "I like my makeup," she says. "I like anything and everything, the more the better. That's why I have it all. It's funny when I see other models that I've worked with on the street and they say, surprised, ‘Were you working? Why do you have makeup on?' almost like, ‘Why would a girl ever wear makeup?' And I don't understand, because every other girl does, at least something, but models don't wear anything. I mean, they will not even wear cover-up. I just don't understand because you learn everything…you learn all the tricks of the trade, why not use it on yourself?" [] Chloë Moretz may be too young to see Taxi Driver &mdash; "My mom won't let me watch it," she says &mdash; but she apparently isn't too young to re-enact it for a Harper's Bazaar spread with Keanu Reeves. []In order to view comments on jezebel.com you need to enable JavaScript.<br> If you are using Firefox and NoScript addon, please mark jezebel.com as trusted.In order to view comments on jezebel.com you need to enable JavaScript.<br> If you are using Firefox and NoScript addon, please mark jezebel.com as trusted.In order to view comments on jezebel.com you need to enable JavaScript.<br> If you are using Firefox and NoScript addon, please mark jezebel.com as trusted.<p>Arizona Muse maintains that there are "plenty" of models who juggle baby-birthing and having a job, but, when pressed by the Telegraph, admits that her pregnancy might have been a little different because she had a kid first and then made it big. "I think the others were established before they had children. I had a child and then became established, which I would not recommend doing! I highly recommend getting your career established first and then having children." Muse, 23, is the single mother of a 3-year-old son named Nikko (who has already starred in a few fashion shoots). She started working as a model in her teens, but her career was not so successful that her old agency had any qualms about dropping her when she became pregnant in 2007. It took her over a year to get back to work. And Muse doesn't pretend that she lost the pregnancy weight in six luxurious weeks of newborn bonding, painless breastfeeding, and sipping on green juice.</p> <p>"At first I was like, 'I'm going to be fat for ever!' I think we all feel that way after we have a baby. I threw away so many clothes thinking that it would be so depressing having them sitting in my drawer when they're never going to fit me. I got rid of my favourite pair of jeans, which of course would fit me now. You just have to give your body time. You can't have a three-month-old baby and think, 'That's it for me.' I tell mothers that you have to wait a whole year before you start judging your body, before you start working on it."</p> <p>She eventually lost weight and got back to work, she says, because she needed to support herself and her son. Then Miuccia Prada cast her to open the Prada show, Anna Wintour dedicated an editor's letter to her, Freja Beha Erichsen started dating her, and the rest is history. []</p> Anne Vyalitsyna and that dude from that shitty band broke up. []In order to view comments on jezebel.com you need to enable JavaScript.<br> If you are using Firefox and NoScript addon, please mark jezebel.com as trusted.<p>"Come on, guys, it's better to be skinny than to be fat!" So said 30-year-old model Natalia Vodianova as part of a panel discussion at the British Vogue Festival over the weekend. (This was after she was asked, "It's undeniable that models are very thin, expected to be very thin, and thinner than 99.9 percent of the population. What message should you be sending out?") Vodianova, who started her career at 15, and has worked for Guerlain, Givenchy, Calvin Klein, Louis Vuitton, Yves Saint Laurent, L'Oréal, David Yurman, Marc Jacobs, Stella McCartney, Versace, Diane von Fürstenberg and Chanel, continued: "We eat well, we exercise &mdash; please, do the same and you will look like this." (Wait, if I eat well and exercise I will look like a 5'9" Russian?) She went on: "I'm sorry, but today the NHS [Britain's National Health Service] are fighting against obesity, children are taken away from their parents because they're too fat … And here we are, defending that we are healthy and skinny." She also said: "I respect my body &mdash; my body is my temple. If I eat like a pig, I feel like a pig." And: "I must say I actually came to [an event at] the V&A after giving birth to [my son] Victor, three days later, and I was wearing Givenchy Couture." And!</p> <p>I don't want to offend people who are trying to lose weight &mdash; if you want my tip, everyone should look into the only diet I've ever done. When I was little I had ulcers in my stomach from not eating very properly. I had really bad digestion and suffered from it for a long time. Then somebody recommended the . Ever since, I have more energy and I've been doing it for five years now. It really works for me. It's not about eating more protein or more carbohydrates &mdash; it's which protein you eat, and which carbohydrates.</p> <p>Don't you feel more enlightened now? []</p> <p> This video of pretty people kissing is part of the Fashion Against AIDS campaign. H&M is asking couples to submit pictures of themselves kissing, and planning on donating $1 to AIDS prevention for each snap. So far there are are more than 10,000 images on the . []</p> <p>Roberto Cavalli has been tweeting up a storm and talking crap about Anna Wintour while he's at it: "I confide you a secret," he tweeted on Saturday, April 21st, "Anna Wintur das nt come to see my show in Milano ……. Why ?? becouse I dont do publicity in American Vogue ??" Meaning, she doesn't show up because he doesn't buy ads. Hmm. He continued: "Fashion…is a big machine of money !! no creativity anymore ! In 50 years the books of fashion … THEY DONT HAVE NATHING TO SAY ABOUT US" You tell 'em. []</p> <p>If you have $128,758 to spare, why not spend it on the limited editon Range Rover "designed" by Victoria Beckham? She created mood boards, which involved " yachts, luxury jets, and classic cars." []</p>In order to view comments on jezebel.com you need to enable JavaScript.<br> If you are using Firefox and NoScript addon, please mark jezebel.com as trusted.In order to view comments on jezebel.com you need to enable JavaScript.<br> If you are using Firefox and NoScript addon, please mark jezebel.com as trusted.<p>Last night, five months following her first about the lack of diversity in fashion, model-agency owner Bethann Hardison held a similar gathering with the stated goal of examining why models of color are in such short supply on the fashion industry's runways and magazine editorials. (The attention to the issue seems to be growing: At a September event called "The Lack Of The Black Image In Fashion Today", 70 people, including Naomi Campbell, showed up; Hardison's second symposium, held in October at the New York Public Library, drew 275, and last night, a group of around 200 were on hand.) Ms. Hardison (seen above left between Campbell and Iman) began yesterday's proceedings by addressing the crowd &mdash; a motley crew of models, journalists, designers, stylists and industry insiders &mdash; saying when it comes to a lack of diversity on the high fashion runways, "All of us are responsible."<br></p> <p><br> <br> Ms. Hardison then read a statement from Vogue editor-at-large Andre Leon Talley, who could not attend because he was in Chicago in conjunction with the Barack Obama campaign. (Talley was with making phone calls to voters in South Carolina in support of Mr. Obama.) Talley's message was eloquent and impassioned, beginning with the fact that black people first arrived in this country as cargo and that it's been a battle for them in the hundreds of years since. He stated: "This struggle is so important to all of us... They will say this is not an issue, but it is..." Borrowing from the Obama slogan, Mr. Talley wrote that "Change we can believe in has to happen."</p> <p>Next up were freelance creative director James Scully (who has worked for Tom Ford and Harper's Bazaar) and Nian Fish, creative director of KCD, the pr/event production firm responsible for many of the top runway shows. As he did in October, Mr. Scully blamed Prada for the influx of "15-year-old Russian girls" on the runway, a look he claimed other designers copied and fashion people got accustomed to seeing and not critiquing. Ms. Fish pointed to the early '90s, when many British designers and stylists came to the U.S. with a certain aesthetic and wanted only white models. She stated that she had been privy to conversations with designers and stylists who would literally say, "we already have one of those" when pointing to a black model as an excuse not to hire another.</p> <p>Many other people spoke: model said that when she started in the business at 15, her agency wanted her to get a nose job and she refused. Another model from Ethiopia claimed that she attended the Ford Supermodel Of The World event and saw that 80% of the models chosen were white or Eastern European. Harriet Cole of Ebony magazine pointed out that models are supposed to reflect the world and that fashion is global. "With the political season upon us, if the globe doesn't recognize black people, what does that say?" she asked, rhetorically.</p> <p>A man named Roman Young from Elite Model Management, hails from Hawaii and said that the modeling agencies cannot bear all of the blame. "When a client says 'I want the girl next door,' I say 'The girl next door to who?'" Mr. Young told the crowd. Model Jessica White, who recently a deal with Maybelline, said that celebrities are taking the spots of many black models &mdash; after all why should marketeres get a model for their advertisements when they can get Beyoncé or Halle Berry? But, Ms. Hardison countered, neither Beyoncé nor Halle Berry ever walk the runways in Milan or Paris. Veteran model suggested that black people not purchase items from designers who do not use black models and pointed out that neither Prada nor Jil Sander ever do. Damon Dash spoke of his transition from music to fashion with wife Rachel Roy and said, "We gotta watch each others' backs." And Mr. Scully suggested the group start shopping at the Gap as Patrick Robinson is now the head designer.</p> <p>Ms Hardison reminded the audience that the issue of the lack of black models is not about creating an all-black runway but diversity. "I'm not trying to tell anyone what to do," she continued. "I'm just trying to raise consciousness. We can make a change just by being here."</p> <p>Ealier: <br> <br> </p><p>Three high-profile models have sued their former agency, Next, for allegedly stealing $750,000 of their earnings. And the trio contend that the shady dealings are a pattern of conduct for Next. They want the agency to open its books.</p><p>The Polish models Anna Jagodzinska and Anne Aleksandra Cywinska, together with the Estonian Karmen Pedaru, are accusing Next of failing to pay them money they were owed, and of misappropriating those funds for Next's own use. Jagodzinska (center) and Pedaru (right) are extremely successful models; between them, they have graced the covers of American Vogue, Italian Vogue, Australian Vogue, and Japanese Vogue, walked for Chanel, Givenchy, and Valentino couture, and been the faces of brands including Oscar de la Renta, David Yurman, Prada, Tom Ford, and Bottega Veneta. Cywinska (left), who works under the name Ania, has a less high-profile career, but she has modeled successfully in New York, Spain, Australia, and Germany, and her clients have recently included Saks Fifth Avenue and Nordstrom. Full disclosure: when I modeled, Next was my agency in New York and in Los Angeles. I have met Jagodzinska and Cywinska socially. Cywinska was the room-mate of a friend when both were tenants in one of Next's models' apartments. When I left Next, in the summer of 2009, Next paid me my outstanding earnings in full and in a manner I considered timely.</p> <p>Pedaru, Jagodzinska, and Cywinska all left Next in April of 2010. Their lawsuit, a copy of which I obtained, alleges that when they switched agencies, each had earnings left outstanding, including some payments still pending from jobs going back to mid-2009, and that in the ensuing months, Next has flatly refused to pay up. That would be a little like if you quit your job the day before your pay period ended, only to find that your former employer felt entitled to keep your last paycheck.</p> <p>Pedaru claims in the suit that she is owed "an amount not presently ascertainable, but believed to exceed $400,000." Jagodzinska estimates the earnings Next withheld at $320,000. Cywinska says she is owed $30,000. Each woman is seeking punitive damages of $1 million.</p> <p>When the three models broke with Next and switched to the competing agency Ford, Next sued Ford for allegedly offering them unlawful enticements to break their contracts. That lawsuit is ongoing. In their suit, Jagodzinska, Pedaru, and Cywinska argue that they never would have left Next had it honored their contracts by paying them their money on time in the first place.</p> <p>Modeling agencies do not employ models &mdash; models are independent contractors who are paid by their clients. However, agencies hold significant control, financial and otherwise, over the women and men they represent. Agencies give models notice of castings, handle models' resulting bookings and invoice their clients, then agencies disburse those earnings to models, less fees and expenses. Models are dependent on agencies to find work. Agency contracts typically give agencies a monopoly on managing a given model's image in a given geographical area, and in New York, agencies generally take 20% of each model's earnings, plus any management expenses the agency says it has incurred, and often plus an additional 20% booking fee charged to the client. (Sometimes surprisingly large deductions for things like photocopying, messenger services, and for being on the agency website are common, even at high-profile agencies.)</p> <p>In addition, if a model passing through town needs accommodation, agencies are generally only too happy to make the necessary arrangements &mdash; generally by booking her a berth in one of the apartments they maintain for the purpose. And, of course, charging her for the privilege. One month in New York sharing an agency 1-bedroom with two other girls might cost a model $2,000. Those costs and fees are not really negotiable. If your account says the agency spent $178.84 on Fed-Ex on your behalf during the month of May, you just have to eat it, because they certainly aren't going to show you a receipt. If these costs incurred push your agency account into the red, then congratulations: you now have what's known as agency debt. Most models go in and out of debt to their agencies frequently during their careers, often racking up thousands of dollars worth of debt in a competitive market like New York or Paris, only to be sent by their agencies to work it off in less-fashionable but more lucrative markets like Germany and Australia. Rinse and repeat.</p> <p>Modeling industry accounting can be quite opaque, from the model's perspective. You have to trust your agency completely with all of your financial affairs &mdash; "trust" being the operative word, because not much protects you, as an independent contractor in a largely unregulated labor market. Although a model should technically be allowed to request to see her agency account at any time, the typical modeling contract pre-authorizes the agency to make whatever deductions it feels necessary without seeking any model's consent. And while expenses are typically debited from a model's account as soon as they are incurred, payments are only credited when they are received from clients &mdash; which can take months, or never happen at all. It is not uncommon for an agency to refuse take measures against deadbeat clients; to an agency, the production house or brand that stiffed that one girl over that one job may represent hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of bookings per annum for dozens of other girls. The potential cost of that one model leaving the agency &mdash; if she even did leave &mdash; is almost always lower than the potential cost of displeasing that production house or brand. It is very, very common for models to experience difficulties recovering money that is owed them after leaving an agency; it is rare, however, for models to litigate over such instances of apparent theft.</p> <p></p> <p>Most unusually, Pedaru, Jagodzinska, and Cwyinska's lawsuit alleges that Next's financial misconduct was so egregious and so systematic that other models are very likely to have experienced similar pilfering of their earnings. The three plaintiffs are suing in part to force Next to open its books to allow the court to examine its alleged "willful...pattern of and course of conduct of withholding compensation from models." These three women say they have reason to believe that Next's breach of fiduciary duty "spans many years" and affects many other victims. If the judge allows that to happen, this could prove to be a very interesting lawsuit, indeed.</p><p>The style bar is set pretty low for men of 's age. As long as you remember two things &mdash; shave, and wear clean clothes &mdash; you'll at least look dignified.</p> <p>That low barrier to entry might just be what left the septuagenarian Canadian Vietnam war correspondent feeling entitled to come to some very definite opinions about other sartorial matters during the course of his reporting on for last night's . I edited the juiciest examples of Safer's judgments on his newfound area of expertise into the clip at left.</p> <p>Exposure to the month-long rigmarole of the international ready-to-wear season made Safer so cranky he seems to have forgotten the London shows even existed, as he blithely elides them from his list of fashion weeks. But seated there in the front row, with Wintour as his guide, Safer at least learned enough to confidently diss 's "Dracula" look, and accuse Italian Vogue's legendary Anna Piaggi of being "campy." He calls models "as angry as they are emaciated" while footage of Alyona Osmanova in the fall/winter Prada show rolls. Then his camera zooms in on the straining sleevecap of 's suit as Safer, in perfect underminey ladymagspeak, intones that "some might say" the designer would benefit from "a better tailor." Louis Vuitton Moet Hennessy chief executive , whom Safer later interviewed, definitely had that tailor, so the journalist gives him props. But wait! As we find out in this clip, when Safer gets a tour of the Vogue accessories closet, there's a whole lot more to style than just picking the right suit.</p> <p>"I guess all of this constitutes accessories," says Safer warily, peering at rows of hats and bags. "Right!" explains a Vogue worker bee, helpfully. "Everything that is not a piece of clothing is an accessory." So much to learn, and so little time. Keep working on it, Morley!</p> <p> []<br> [CBS News]</p><p>January is traditionally the month in which the fashion magazines are slimmer than usual. Not the models &mdash; the actual publications. In the post-holiday issues, advertising pages are down, and compared to December, it's a slow month in terms of projects, news and celebrities. So often, January is the month you'll find a person of color on the cover! And lo and behold, Rihanna is on Allure, looking gorgeous. (Christina Aguilera is on Marie Claire.) Our own Maria-Mercedes Lara did a tireless search through the January issues of W, Harper's Bazaar, Vogue, Marie Claire, Allure, Glamour, Lucky, Elle and Cosmopolitan, looking for women of color (she uses "ambiguous race" to describe models clearly not meant to be seen as "white.") Her tallies, after the jump.</p> <p><br> <br> Women Of Color In The January Fashion Magazines:</p> W :<br> Total number of ads: 30<br> Total number of black women: 2 (1 celebrity; 1 young girl for Marc Jacobs)<br> Total number of Asian women: 0<br> Total number of women of ambiguous race: 1 <p>Total number of fashion spreads: 2<br> Total number of black women: 0<br> Total number of Asian women: 0<br> Total number of women of ambiguous race: 0</p> <p>InStyle:<br> Total number of ads: 61<br> Total number of black women: 4 (no celebs)<br> Total number of Asian women: 1<br> Total number of women of ambiguous race: 0</p> <p>Total number of fashion spreads: 0 (not counting Katie Holmes)<br> Total number of black women: 0<br> Total number of Asian women: 0<br> Total number of women of ambiguous race: 0</p> <p>Allure:<br> Total number of ads: 50<br> Total number of black women: 5 (3 celebrities)<br> Total number of Asian women: 1 (a "real woman" for Proactiv)<br> Total number of women of ambiguous race: 2 (1 celebrity)</p> <p>Total number of fashion spreads: 1<br> Total number of black women: 0 (but Rihanna is on the cover!)<br> Total number of Asian women: 0<br> Total number of women of ambiguous race: 0</p> <p>Vogue:<br> Total number of ads: 54<br> Total number of black women: 8 (3 celebrities)<br> Total number of Asian women: 1 (1 celebrity)<br> Total number of women of ambiguous race: 1</p> <p>Total number of fashion spreads: 3<br> Total number of black women: 1 (Chanel Iman, in the accessories spread)<br> Total number of Asian women: 0<br> Total number of women of ambiguous race: 0</p> <p>Harper's Bazaar:<br> Total number of ads: 29<br> Total number of black women: 1 (1 celebrity)<br> Total number of Asian women: 1 (1 celebrity)<br> Total number of women of ambiguous race: 2</p> <p>Total number of fashion spreads: 3<br> Total number of black women: 1 (Liya Kebede, in an actual fashion spread!)<br> Total number of Asian women: 0<br> Total number of women of ambiguous race: 0</p> <p>Elle:<br> Total number of ads: 49<br> Total number of black women: 2<br> Total number of Asian women: 1<br> Total number of women of ambiguous race: 1</p> <p>Total number of fashion spreads: 3<br> Total number of black women: 0<br> Total number of Asian women: 1 (Miss Universe, Riyo Mori)<br> Total number of women of ambiguous race: 0</p> <p>Lucky:<br> Total number of ads: 43<br> Total number of black women: 5 (1 celebrity, 1 "real woman")<br> Total number of Asian women: 0<br> Total number of women of ambiguous race: 0</p> <p>Total number of fashion spreads: 1<br> Total number of black women: 0<br> Total number of Asian women: 0<br> Total number of women of ambiguous race: 0</p> <p>Cosmopolitan:<br> Total number of ads: 59<br> Total number of black women: 5 (1 "real woman")<br> Total number of Asian women: 2 (1 "real woman")<br> Total number of women of ambiguous race: 0</p> <p>Total number of fashion spreads: 1<br> Total number of black women: 0<br> Total number of Asian women: 0<br> Total number of women of ambiguous race: 0</p> <p>Marie Claire:<br> Total number of ads: 31<br> Total number of black women: 5 (1 "real woman")<br> Total number of Asian women: 0<br> Total number of women of ambiguous race: 2 (1 "real woman")</p> <p>Total number of fashion spreads: 2<br> Total number of black women: 0<br> Total number of Asian women: 0<br> Total number of women of ambiguous race: 0</p> <p>Glamour:<br> Total number of ads: 46<br> Total number of black women: 6 (2 celebrities)<br> Total number of Asian women: 0<br> Total number of women of ambiguous race: 1 (Jessica Alba?)</p> <p>Total number of fashion spreads: 3<br> Total number of black women: 0<br> Total number of Asian women: 0<br> Total number of women of ambiguous race: 0</p> Even though January is a slow month, there are many zeroes in the tally above. Non-white models exist! You just won't see them in today's mainstream fashion magazines &mdash; despite the fact that black models worked constantly the '80s and '90s. Advertisers know who's out there spending cash, so they attempt to show diversity in their images. But the editors still seem to think that being non-white is "unfashionable." (But guess what? Black men !) How long are we going to look for black, Latina and Asian models? As long as the billion dollar fashion industry continues to be so blatantly color-blind. <p>Earlier: <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> </p> <p>Related: [AdAge]</p><p>A slew, a cavalcade, a veritable quiver of lady-driven movies have come out over the last few years, and this exciting fact has led some observers to wonder if, perhaps, the era of the female action hero is upon us. Could it be? Have we grown weary of the steely-eyed, vein-choked action hero who kills Communists without prejudice and somehow manages to outrun the blast radius of a nuclear warhead set to a thirty-second timer (this, btw, happened in the last installment of Rambo)? The answer, according to USA Today's Susan Wloszcyna, is, sure, maybe.</p> <p>Wloszcyna about the most recent box-office surge in the woman ass-kicker genre, citing the record-setting success of The Hunger Games and the big-screen reappearance of Lisbeth Salander. Though movies used to oscillate, according to Wloszcyna, between the "seductive supervixen" (Angelina Jolie in Tomb Raider) or the "macho tomboy" (Keira Knightley in Domino), they now feature a new breed of complex, fully-wrought female protagonists. (Sigourney Weaver's Ripley and Linda Hamilton's Sarah Connor are footnotes in all this, though it should be noted that they're both exceptional cinematic badasses.)</p> <p>Ever since Rooney Mara's compelling portrait of flawed goth-chic hacker Lisbeth Salander led to her Academy Award nomination in last fall's The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo (whose arrival was preceded by that kid-sisterhood of Kick-Ass, Hanna and True Grit), there has been a steady stream of films featuring a more evolved species of female combatant, one who doesn't feel compelled to compromise her gender identity while taking care of business.</p> <p>It's not just action movies either than are pushing women to forefront. Box-office successes like The Help or The Devil Wears Prada have also keyed studios in on the fact that there exists a market for blockbusters beyond the playpen of 18 to 34-year-old men. Jeanine Basinger, head of Wesleyan University's film department says that while this should come as no surprise (Titanic, after all, rose to box-office legend on the strength of its female audience), movies such as The Hunger Games are starting to capitalize on a whole generation of girls who grew up immersed in the pages of YA fiction much the same way that dude-geeks latched onto comic books.</p> <p>Female movie protagonists, in other words, are becoming more complex because they're having to please female audiences who've come to expect nothing less than fully-wrought characters (obviously). The problem with all this excitement about female protagonists, however, is that it seems a little premature. Sure, The Hunger Games was huge, but The Avengers was bigger, and, moreover, it was part of a yet another summer catalogue of comic-book movies featuring male heroes front and center. A mega-hit doesn't necessarily change the Hollywood formula and, besides, most of the other movies Wloszcyna parades out as proof of a protagonistic shift either weren't big hits or only featured women in supporting roles. Hanna and Haywire, for instance, only made little ripples at the box-office, while True Grit's heroine had to ultimately be rescued by a boozy cowboy.</p> <p>Maybe, though, people are starting to feel like the male action hero is running out of shit to break with his fists. The Expendables 2 will feature an ensemble cast of men who reached their action-prime two decades ago, and the only interesting thing about The Dark Knight Rises, according to some film critics, is Anne Hathaway's Catwoman. The New Yorker's curmudgeonly film critic Anthony Lane of Hathaway that "her expression is that of a grown woman who surveys all of these sombre boys, plus their whizzing toys, and sees only Bat-crap." She's out of place, according to Lane, and that may just mean that our leading men are out of interesting things to do and that it's time, at least where the blockbuster-making formula is concerned, to let the women take over.</p> <p> [USA Today]</p><p>Over the years, film and TV have fostered the birth of lots of : the Fast Talking Dame, The Fashionista, The Woman who has to , and of course, . Now, meet Mrs. Uptight.</p><p>Described in The Onion as the girl sent to "re-adjust the attitude of even the broodiest, most uptight male protagonist," the is every male's on-screen fantasy. Flaky, free-spirited, and possibly dying (see Sweet November and Garden State). If she's the girl you don't bring home to mom, then Mrs. Uptight is mom. The common thread? Both seem born from the mind of a disgruntled male teenager. (Though they're usually not, for the record.)</p> <p>Usually in her late 40's, perfectly coiffed and obsessed with 'French Country' home decor, she's the re-enforcer of stupid rules. The kind of rules that real women don't have time to care about: constant coffee-table coaster demands, 6 throw pillows to every bed, perfect Christmas dinners, no shoes in the house, no eating off of paper plates, no wire hangers, no sloppy drunken moments, no feeling comfortable around people of any race besides white, no fun pets, no intentional cleavage, no sex ever ever ever and especially not with a disgusting, sweaty pig husband. The list goes on.</p> <p>And then suddenly, she has a breakthrough. Her trigger may be an affair with a young hot man, a kinship with a grouchy old neighbor who threatens to resemble her future, a friendship with a person of another race, or a fatal disease. </p> <p>And even though you're supposed to like the character more since she's starting to live every day like it's her last. "I'm only having dessert and liquor," Cathy Jamison (played by ) quips at dinner with her husband. It's hard to root for someone so material and sexually reserved that indulging in sweets and a cocktail is defiant and uproarious.</p> <p>While Mrs. Uptight only really surfaces in movies and TV shows geared toward women, she the kind of a one-dimensional female character only a one-dimensional male character could love, or at least secretly want to have sex with. "Just to loosen her up," he might say. What this fictional character really needs is to live in a mud hut in the wilderness for about 5 years with nothing but a spear and a rock catapult until she gets over the real thing that's bothering her: aging. It is impossible to see a middle-aged woman portrayed on screen without the underlying motivation of age-anxiety. That always seems to be at the root of her coldness, and the trigger of her breakdown: she's losing her looks. In one scene Linney complains to the dog that nobody wants to look at her breasts. In another she probes her young doctor for physical compliments. Mrs. Uptight is at once insecure about her body and a stallion in bed. That's goes with the turf, no matter what kind of fatal illness she's grappling with.</p> <p>Getting handed down a death sentence makes for strong reactions. Laughing is one of them. But really laughing. That's another thing Mrs. U (or Linney's Cathy) hasn't really mastered. The kind of snorty, panic-inducing spasms that threaten never to end, that's a reaction. Our leading lady only knows how to smile through tears, or reminisce with about a time and a place the audience can't imagine, with a few chuckles. Cancer isn't funny, but the anxiety and anticipation, the humanness it brings out in its victims can be. It's Mrs. Uptight that's not funny. She can't take a joke and the only thing that makes her laugh is her own sexual and social defiance. Inspiring maybe, but funny? Not in the least.</p> <p>So we've got descriptors like perfectionist, frigid, fragile and humorless. How is this stereotype good for women? Ask any serious actress of a certain age. They hunger for this kind of role. And proven female talents like director Nancy Myers and Big C writer Darlene Sloan keep creating them. It's Oscar/Emmy-bait. It's comeback material. The Motown dancing, plate breaking, food tossing, telling off a cheating husband scene is primed for awards season.</p> <p>Who is this woman and why do so many leading ladies embrace her? Perhaps because she's derived from more nuanced characters. Brought to life with variation in Woody Allen's "Interiors" and "Deconstructing Harry", or conquered through parody by Meryl Streep in "She-Devil" and even "The Devil Wore Prada", she's never a clear-cut heroine. And her truly subtle or truly over-the-top breakthrough moment takes us by surprise. Suddenly, we kind of like her.</p> <p>What's changed is that the same middle-aged, upper-class mother type, whose perfect life is underscored by insecurities, is now supposed to be our unquestionable heroine. Whereas in a Woody Allen film, blatant racism is knowingly attributed to the character, the creators of "" don't seem to be aware of how offensive their heroine can be. Linney's teacher offers to help Gabourey Sidibe's sassy high school student lose weight&mdash;her scrawny, anemic white-bred figure is supposed to serve as a model. She flirts with the African-American pool guy, making a 'size' joke, and we're supposed to think she's rebellious for flirting. She resents her husband for staining the couch, and we're supposed to understand it's not really about the couch. But these aren't traits of a complicated woman, they're the cartoonish qualities of Disney villain: manipulation, senseless rage, ignorance and blind self-adoration. So why is a decent middle-aged woman so hard to find in movies and TV? Maybe the better question to ask is what happens to manic pixies when they grow up?</p> <p>This post on . Republished with permission. Read more of 's work .</p> <p>Want to see your work here? </p>In order to view comments on jezebel.com you need to enable JavaScript.<br> If you are using Firefox and NoScript addon, please mark jezebel.com as trusted.<p>The Times of London feminist historian and Fellow of Oxford University Diane Purkiss, who says of : "The heroines are getting dumber and dumber." She continues:</p> <p>"The entertainment industry allows you, the audience member, to pat yourself on the back and say: 'I'm smarter than her, I'm more together than her, and I'm not as stupidly anorexic as her.'" The Times' Kevin Maher notes that ten years ago, we had spunky heroines like Bridget Jones (and in music, the Spice Girls). But now?<br></p> The recent Anne Hathaway/Kate Hudson catfight Bride Wars or the forthcoming are aimed exclusively at women, and yet feature female characters who are variously neurotic, idiotic, label-obsessed, weight-obsessed, man-obsessed or weddingobsessed, and often all at the same time. <p>And! He doesn't hold back:<br></p> Increasingly, the modern Hollywood women's picture or so-called chick flick has become home to the worst kind of regressive pre-feminist stereotype and misogynistic cliché. <p>Maher has an explanation for the state of chick flicks, and here's another blockquote, because he is just so good at breaking it down:<br></p> The chick-flick heroine that emerged then was often ditzy, yes, but she also had recourse to irony, self-satire and intelligence. When Bridget the movie appeared in 2001 and eventually scooped more than £150 million at the international box office, the chick flick became a hot Tinseltown property. However, for every smart-thinking Bridget Jones, Legally Blonde or Devil Wears Prada there appeared a slew of movies that appealed to the genre's baser instincts.Films such as 27 Dresses, Made of Honour, License to Wed and What Happens in Vegas were cookie-cutter movies defined by lazy stereotypes (wedding overkill, anyone?) and explicit anti-feminism. <p>Melissa Silverstein of Women & Hollywood counters: "Women go to these movies, because they want to go to the movies. And most of the time there are no other options out there." But Maher has good news: The glut of "chick flicks" &mdash; that is, dumb, cheap-shot movies aggressively targeted to women with the sole purpose of taking their money &mdash; may die down. Once the market gets flooded, the appetite wanes, and actual quality films &mdash; with women in them &mdash; like Michelle Williams' upcoming road movie, Wendy and Lucy, can shine.</p> <p> [Times Of London]</p><p>Since cycle 15 of premieres tonight, we were invited to an "intimate champagne breakfast" this morning with and André Leon Talley. The event was kind of like speed-dating. But with smizing!</p><p>The focus of the press conference masquerading as a social outing was how very high fashion the new season will be. The winner lands the cover of Vogue Italia and a contract with IMG; guests include Diane von Furstenberg, Patrick Demarchelier, Karolina Kurkova and Italian Vogue's editor in chief, Franca Sozzani. (Why yes, she did just publish an inspired spread! But she was also responsible for the issue.)</p> <p>We, the press, sat at five round tables laden with fruit and flowers. A PR lady announced the hosts, and then there was a moment, a pause, when we all looked expectantly at the back of the restaurant but no one appeared. Then we heard André Leon Talley's powerful voice: "We're here!" Tyra and Mr. Talley materialized. He was wearing a shiny black leather trenchcoat with shorts; she was wearing a clingy knit dress. Applause.</p> <p>Mr. Talley began by thanking us for attending, noting, "you all write what gets out there to all the fans." Tyra explained, "Andre joining the show was the beginning of taking Top Model to a more elevated place." And added: "It took me eight years to get him." To which ALT replied: "Slowly we move, slowly we groove."</p> <p>We learned that Tyra was wearing Alexander McQueen, and that André Leon Talley's coat was Prada, his shirt was Polo, and his shorts were Juicy Couture. On his feet: Tod's driving shoes.</p> <p>There were two empty seats at each of the five tables full of reporters and editors, and Tyra and Mr. Talley spent 10 minutes at each table. "It's like speed dating," I said to the writer to my left. As we waited for the stars to make it to table 3, the young woman to my right introduced herself as Kasia. "Didn't Jezebel write about V magazine's plus size issue?" she asked. "I !" She was so sweet and pretty, I felt compelled to take her picture:</p> <p></p> <p>When Tyra and ALT finally made it over to table 3, we were armed with questions. Someone asked Mr. Talley about a Fashion Night Out event he'd attended the evening before. "Everything is fun if you're having fun," he proclaimed. I commented that a few years ago, the buzz was about the lack of black models in the fashion industry, and asked if things were getting better. "I think it's getting a lot better," Tyra said. "Much better," André Leon Talley agreed. "There's still room for improvement. But I think they've made great strides. But there's always room for improvement. Always. I think if you pick up the magazines this month &mdash; the fall books &mdash; you will see some women of color in major campaigns, in major houses." (I declined to mention I'd actually counted the number of black models in editorial spreads for the fall issues and let him continue.) "It's not just Banana Republic or Gap &mdash; you can see a woman of color in a Gucci ad, and that's a big plus." Tyra added: "The thing is, though &mdash; to make true progress &mdash; we can't go in and out of fashion. Women of color, as well as different body types, go in and out of fashion. Can't it just be &mdash; it should be where it just is."</p> <p>The two also talked about eating disorders and models who are starving themselves (you'll see something about that on the next two episodes). Tyra confessed that she always wanted plus-size models represented, and even pitched an all-plus-size cycle, but was vague about how the network responded. She admitted that her show was "a little more commercial" in the past, but now that it's "more high fashion," she's hoping the winner of this cycle will show up not just on the cover of Italian Vogue, but in French Vogue and Japanese Elle and so on.</p> <p>After making the rounds, Tyra and ALT stood and answered some "wacky" questions &mdash; about "drekitude," for instance:</p> <p></p> <p>And in the end, each writer was invited to "smize" in a photograph with Tyra and André. I don't have it yet! I keep checking my email, anxiously waiting for the jpeg to arrive. Hopefully it will be Christmas card material.</p> <p>P.S.<br> I was given a gift bag! Contents:<br> One issue of Italian Vogue<br> One copy Of Vogue Talents<br> One bottle of SmartWater<br> One bottle of Vitamin Water<br> One CoverGirl lipgloss<br> One piece of candy packaged to look like soap<br> One box containing two bite-sized bon-bon like cakes<br> Conditioner, leave-in detangler, shampoo, and smoothing repair treatment by Unite<br> The bag itself is a cotton zippered thing that is so high fashion one can barely stand it.</p> <p>UPDATE: The arrived.</p>In order to view comments on jezebel.com you need to enable JavaScript.<br> If you are using Firefox and NoScript addon, please mark jezebel.com as trusted.In order to view comments on jezebel.com you need to enable JavaScript.<br> If you are using Firefox and NoScript addon, please mark jezebel.com as trusted.In order to view comments on jezebel.com you need to enable JavaScript.<br> If you are using Firefox and NoScript addon, please mark jezebel.com as trusted.<p>You may be sick of expensive holiday present ideas (which we have decided to call "Christmas Grifts" from now on) but the stores are not! They need your end-of-the-year dollars, and they need them bad. Neiman Marcus begs you to do your part: They have 100 "gifts" you're really going to adore. Because your loved one's life will not be complete unless you drop $85 on a silver-plated baseball glove paperweight. A hoodie with sequins, fugly Uggs and a "Downtown" tote that costs more than rent downtown. All of it after the jump.</p> <p><br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> Listen, we get it. You're taking the helicopter to Gstaad for a ski lesson and you can't be seen in LL Bean. So Prada it is! But while the jacket's price can be rationalized because, um, it's Gore-tex&trade; and has a belt and fur-trimmed hood, the price of the pants makes no cents, har har.<br> (Prada ski jacket, $1735; pants $645)</p> <p>A bag this large can carry everything but the kitchen sink. Though at this price point don't you wish it would make ice and dispense fountain soda?<br> (Yves Saint Laurent Downtown Tote, $1895)</p> <p>Ew. Seriously. Why does it cost so much to be so unattractive?<br> (Pashaveneto shearling coat, $1625; Michael Kors cashmere hoodie, $395)</p> <p>It is really hard to get behind "folkloric" shit when it is unfathomably fugly.<br> (Ugg emrboidered boots, $200)</p> <p>This present says, "Dear Dad, you're too busy putting innocent men in jail to play ball with me but mom says that prosecutors have a lot of paperwork so here is something to remind you of what you're working for besides Mom's tummy -tuck. Love, Your Son."<br> (Silver-plated glove and personaized ball, $85)</p> <p>Ugh, tic-tac-toe set with shoes and handbags? What a waste of time, energy, brain power, silver plating, rhinestones and the paper this abomination was printed on.<br> (Tic-Tac-Toe set, $65)</p> <p>Everyone loves subservient Republican mascots!<br> (Elephant cake plate, $500)</p> <p>Looking for something to wear New Year's Eve? Got five grand?<br> (Byte by Teso mink coak, $3800; Fendi bag, $1180)</p> <p>Shopping doll. Head exploding, brb.<br> (NM doll in silk doupioni ensemble, $150)</p> <p>People. Juicy Couture is neither juicy nor couture. It is a rip-off. Please avoid. Thank you.<br> (Journal set, $55; 14K gold, rhodium-plate and cubic zirconia layered charm necklace, $98)</p> <p>"When I go to the gym, I like to have a little sparkle, you know? A little flash. I want people to notice me! First I walk by the cardio machines, then I visit the free weight room. Then I peep into the yoga studio, and I'm done! If I have a lot of energy, I'll do another lap, but usually just walking around one time is enough. Then I go have a cigarette."<br> (Juicy Couture sequined hoodie, $398)</p> <p>[]</p> <p><br> Earlier:<br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> </p><p>That new Neiman Marcus catalog we has an accessories "story" called "Aiding and Abetting," in which a model pretends to be a cat burglar. Because, you know, crime is sexy. Plus, since the crap is so effing expensive, theft is pretty much the only way you can get it. (An aside: Do you think that someone was like, "Uh, but we can't use a black model for this shoot." And someone else was like, "Why not?") After the jump, the most well-accessorized "break-in" since . Or .</p> <p>It's not easy to be sneaky when you're wearing $1000 booties.<br></p> <p>(Burberry studded black napa "The Knight" handbag, $2,995; platform boots, $940)</p> <p>The model totally watched episodes of The Addams Family to prepare for this shot.<br></p> <p>(Miu Miu patent leather bootie, $625; calfskin tote, $1,445)</p> <p>We looked for a footnote reading "no animals were harmed during this photoshoot" but there isn't one. Also: who knew leather alternatives were so damn pricey?<br></p> <p>(Stella McCartney bronze painted and flocked patent PVC handbag, $995; black polyurethane-coated polyester and wool platform bootie, $995)</p> <p><br> We had a yellow-eyed black cat like this when we were young. His name was Spooky, and he was gorgeously evil. He'd bite and scratch you if you pet him too much, and we loved him dearly. Also, we like these shoes.<br> (Gucci black/gold suede and leather platform sandals, $675)</p> <p>What do you think is inside the safe? Diamonds? Cash? Pictures proving the lunar landing was staged?<br></p> <p>(Tod's winter white patent leather pump, $445; black/winter white/ecru napa "Quilted Day Bag" handbag, $1,575)</p> <p>This doesn't make sense. Those aren't jewels, they're ornaments for a chandelier, right? Right? Why would you want to filch those? Is this what rich people steal from each other?<br></p> <p>(Prada nude/gray ombré leather handbag, $2,390; nude/black ombré patent leather and elastic sandal, $550)</p> <p>Earlier: </p>In order to view comments on jezebel.com you need to enable JavaScript.<br> If you are using Firefox and NoScript addon, please mark jezebel.com as trusted.<p>AdFreak that there's some new thing called StyleCaster, which is "the Web's first truly personalized, integrated fashion channel." The site has a in which slender, impossibly pretty models hang around doing stuff. Jessica Joffe (writer, blogger, socialite, model and ex-girlfriend of Ryan Adams) changes clothes while walking and shoplifting; some other chicks get "ready for work" by dressing each other in a giant loft. Don't get it? Neither do I. But here's an explanation from the site:</p> <p>As the first personal style discovery platform, StyleCaster provides members with creative and stylistic inspiration, as well as real world utility. Every day, millions of people wake up and ask, "What is the weather? What should I wear?" Until now, no platform has addressed these questions.</p> <p>Hahahaha! I don't know about you, but I get my weather from the bottom lefthand corner of the TV or from the "Dashboard" on my Mac; the "what should I wear?" question I've been answering for myself since age 7 or 8.</p> <p>Look: I get that magazines can be boring, static and rigid, and that the web allows you to make fashion come to life &mdash; film's been tried by and . But so far, the "films" on StyleCaster &mdash; which credit the director, stylists, hair stylists and make-up artists &mdash; seem pointless. Boring, even. Fashion may be frivolous, but isn't it supposed to be fun? I dare you to watch StyleCaster's safe, manufactured chic and not have your eyes glaze over.</p> <p> [AdFreak]<br> [Offcial Site]<br> Earlier: <br> <br> </p>In order to view comments on jezebel.com you need to enable JavaScript.<br> If you are using Firefox and NoScript addon, please mark jezebel.com as trusted.In order to view comments on jezebel.com you need to enable JavaScript.<br> If you are using Firefox and NoScript addon, please mark jezebel.com as trusted.<p>Believe us, that Foxy Brown has been misbehaving for a long time, and recently, she's practically been compulsively violating the terms of her probation (stemming from an incident in which she slapped the crap out of two manicurists over a bill dispute). She's definitely earned her year-long stay in Rikers, but we felt a twinge of empathy for her when we read Andrea Peyser's piece in today's in which she took Foxy to task for not showing up for her court appearance last week, because she didn't want to be seen in public without her hair and makeup done. Andrea says:</p> What a tragic sight... Foxy Brown walked into the Brooklyn courtroom wearing no hair extensions, no makeup, no Christian Louboutin stilettos. She wore a sad, brown corduroy jacket and contrasting plaid pants that were not from Prada, but H&M. Her braided hair was matted. Why is it that when people want to take a woman down a peg or two, they almost always resort to potshots about her sexuality or physical appearance? <p>It's been particularly bad in the press lately, from all the fat jokes about Britney Spears to the nasty Peyser's colleagues made about writer Vanessa Grigoriadis. Frankly, it's a lazy method, but more than that, it's so fucking sexist it blows our minds. For instance, was the following passage really necessary?</p> I've been watching Foxy's court escapades for more than a year, watching her come late, make excuses, and laugh off the justice system. I even trailed her during a memorable appearance when she could barely keep her shirt on. First of all, Foxy is not the female rapper known for her nip slips, Lil' Kim is. But anyway, yeah, we get it, Foxy has been acting like an asshole and breaking the law. She probably needs some serious anger management therapy and serving time might actually do her some good. But honestly, we think that Peyser should take some of the advice that she dishes out to Foxy, and "Grow up, girlfriend." <p> [NY Post]</p><p>So, that Obama speech. Hard to knock, right? Ha ha, we said hard, and some ("roaring straight!") writer guy in Park Slope, Brooklyn just wrote on Craigslist "Even the lesbians were crying," he writes. And there is no one more mirthless and cynical than fucking dykes, right? Ha ha wrong! Right Wing news added to its lineup of blogging conservababes today, so we dutifully checked their sites to see how the "non-choir" perceived the speech. "He's done. If he ain't done, America is," claimed our blogger . "He is going down the hate-mongering ship." wasn't much kinder.</p> <p>"Its the old Eminem defense: Rev. Wright is only giving you things you joke around with your friends inside your living room, the only difference is he's crazy enough to say it out loud. Fabulous," said the Who are these people? Well, the Princess Blog's motto is "Party politics the Post in the Prada Age." She claims to be a "relapsed Catholic."</p> <p>Anyway, that's when it hit me: you know what? We have to stop fantasizing about Obama. He is clearly getting laid. If we really wanted to affect change, we would swallow that vomit forming in our throats and go service the conservative blogger population.</p><p>Someone at Singapore L'Officiel has a gloriously twisted sense of humor. An editorial called "Balancing Act" spoofs the runway falls that have become ubiquitous over these last few seasons, as shoes have climbed skywards.</p> <p>With a wink and a nod to the infamous Prada Spring/Summer 09 show, which featured the shocking sight of models in ridiculous platform heels tripping and falling all over the slick concrete runway, Singapore photographers and together built a spread that re-writes potential tragedy as tongue-in-cheek farce.</p> <p></p> <p> &mdash; and I have to say, I'm laughing with them. The female model here is , and the guys are Sahib A. and Bertie R.</p> <p></p> <p>I don't know that the shoot exactly carries off the impression of being at a runway show &mdash; pray tell, why are there only two men watching the proceedings in this empty white room? But the concept is clearly represented, and it's pretty funny.</p> <p>Falling on the runway is reputed to be a career-ender, but that rarely actually happens. (Monika "Jac" Jagaciak fell at Hervé Leger &mdash; and then booked a debut spot at Calvin Klein. fell during her first trip out of the gate at Prada, and it has hardly set her back. Everyone recognizes that models generally don't fall because of their incompetence, but designers'.) As far as we know, nobody was actually hurt at the show L'Officiel is spoofing. Having a giggle when no persons or careers were injured seems devilishly irreverent and appropriately un-self-serious in the way that the best fashion magazines can be, not mean-spirited.</p> <p></p> <p>And from an aesthetic point of view, I love that this shoot shows how clothes move without resorting to some dumb concept that would inevitably involve making Sharon van de Pas jump. So is this officially a meme now? How delicious.</p> <p></p> <p>The best laugh-out-loud moment is when you realize that L'Officiel included the exact runway look that Katie Fogarty was wearing when she tumbled so badly she had to take off her shoes. It's quirky cosmic justice that this look should become emblematic of that fall, instead of 's design chops.</p> <p></p> <p>See? Now who says fashion people are humorless.</p> <p> [ONTD]</p> <p>Earlier: </p>In order to view comments on jezebel.com you need to enable JavaScript.<br> If you are using Firefox and NoScript addon, please mark jezebel.com as trusted.In order to view comments on jezebel.com you need to enable JavaScript.<br> If you are using Firefox and NoScript addon, please mark jezebel.com as trusted.<p>A piece on The Huffington Post that in addition to the , (gray-haired) 43-year-old and 47-year-old have graced recent fashion runways. The headline asks: "Are 'Older' Models The New Black?"</p><p>New York magazine's fashion blog The Cut answers: Not exactly. designer used McMenamy in his show, but he opened that show with a model called , who is 16.</p> <p>The Prada show earlier this year featured "curvier" models &mdash;many known for their work with Victoria's Secret &mdash; but as The Cut's Amy Odell s, "Sexy, curvaceous figures seem to be on the rise, but the vast majority of girls walking that we saw were still super-skinny and super-young."</p> <p>It would be wonderful if designers wanted more diversity on the runways &mdash; age-wise, body-type wise, race-wise &mdash; to the showcase the universal appeal and wearability of the clothes. But unless the fashion industry makes inclusive casting a steady habit, whenever a model deviates from the norm, it'll feel like a stunt for attention instead of progress.</p> <p> [NY Times]<br> [HuffPo]</p><p>We've been continuing to count models of color as the fall 2008 designer collections are shown around the globe, and although things were not good in and , Milan was the worst so far. The runways were overwhelmingly white. (That's the Gucci lineup, at left.) Our own Maria-Mercedes Lara ran the numbers: Of thirty-seven runway shows, there 1,084 opportunities to send out a model. Asian models walked 28 times, Latina models walked 17 times, and black models walked 14 times. Keep in mind we're counting instances of models on a runway and not the models themselves; Jourdan Dunn and Chanel Iman, for example, were in more than one show. What's really interesting is how many shows by big-name Italian designers had absolutely zero diversity. (Keep that in mind the next time you consider buying a Fendi purse or anything by Jil Sander!) Some examples, and percentage breakdowns, after the jump.</p> <p><br> <br> Shows featuring black models included MaxMara, (?!?!) and Bottega Veneta. Of the 1,084 instances of a model on the runway, a model of color was used 59 times. That's a mere 5%.<br> </p> <p>The "diversity" was broken down thusly: A black model was used 14 times, an Asian 28 times, and a Latina 17 times. We included Bruna Tenorio because she is of indigenous Brazilian descent, but also noted when Spanish models Barbara Garcia or Sheila Marquez were used, as they offer an alternative to the pale blond Eastern European image that so dominates the runways.</p> <p>As seen here, the instances of an Asian model on the Milan runways are almost double the instances of a black model. Since Milan is considered the capital of fashion, can one assume it is not fashionable to be black?</p> <p>A black model was sent out fourteen times out of 1,084 looks during Milan fashion week. That is 1%.</p> <p>Here are how some of the top shows panned out:<br></p> D&G<br> Black Models: 0<br> Asian Models: 2 (Hye Park, Dual Kim)<br> Latina Models: 0 (Although Spanish model Shelia Marquez and Brazilian bombshell Isabeli Fontana did walk)<br> White Models: 43<br> Total Models: 45 <p>Emilio Pucci<br> Black Models: 0<br> Asian Models: 0<br> Latina Models: 0<br> White Models: 25</p> <p>Etro<br> Black Models: 0<br> Asian Models: 0<br> Latina Models: 1 (Bruna Tenorio, of indigenous Brazilian decent. Shelia Marquez also walked)<br> White Models: 45<br> Total Models: 47</p> <p>Fendi<br> Black Models: 0<br> Asian Models: 0<br> Latina Models: 0<br> White Models: 24<br> Total Models: 24</p> <p>Gianfranco Ferre<br> Black Models: 1 (Kinee Diouf)<br> Asian Models: 1 (unidentified)<br> Latina Models: 1 (Bruna Tenorio)<br> White Models: 35<br> Total Models: 38</p> <p>Gucci<br> Black Models: 0<br> Asian Models: 0<br> Latina Models: 0 (Shelia Marquez walked)<br> White Models: 25<br> Total Models: 25</p> <p>Jill Sander<br> Black Models: 0<br> Asian Models: 0<br> Latina Models: 0<br> White Models: 32<br> Total Models: 32</p> <p>Giorgio Armani<br> Black Models: 1 (Yordanos Teschager)<br> Asian Models: 3 (unidentified, Eugenia Mandzhieva, Han Jin)<br> Latina Models: 1 (Bruna Tenorio; though Barbara Garcia and Penelope also walked)<br> White Models: 37<br> Total Models: 43</p> <p>Earlier:<br> <br> <br> <br> <br> </p><p>This is not good: über-cool hipster-y fashion chain Opening Ceremony's online boutique was hacked on February 16th, and the company didn't notice the malicious code until more than a month later, on March 21st. And even though it seems that the hackers "may have accessed the names, addresses, and credit card information of customers who purchased an item on our website during this period," according to the store, it chose not to alert customers to this fact until on May 4. Seriously? Three months after the fact, you see fit to let your customers know their credit-card data was compromised? What the fuck, Opening Ceremony? []</p> If you haven't gotten enough of Met Ball , here are some TwitPics from the event and its assorted after-parties. Coco Rocha and Alexander Wang proved especially diligent Tweeters, with Rocha sharing photos of the , Zac Posen and Amber Heard , and her , and Wang Tweeting shots of the , , , and . Fashionista has a round-up of those and other Tweets. [, @, @] Rihanna, for example, Twitpic'd this photo of Lala Anthony's cleavage. To be fair, Lala Anthony's cleavage is very impressive. [@] Are you interested in a rare chance to see some Steven Meisel prints up close? Are you really, really rich? Potential collectors are invited to make an appointment at the photographer's studio to view a selection of prints currently offered for sale. [] An Australian graffiti artist named R.J. Williams (no relation to the child actor, presumably) is threatening to sue Madonna for infringing upon his trademarked logo. Williams alleges that the logo used by Madonna's upcoming perfume and clothing line is too close to the logo for his company, The Massive Corporation, which he registered in Australia last year. [, ] Gisele Bündchen is the newest face of David Yurman. [] Trina Turk is doing a summery capsule collection for Banana Republic. Coco Rocha is the face of the line. "The Slim Aarons photo of ladies having drinks at the pool has been an inspiration for our brand," says Turk. []<p></p> <p>Ed Note: We hear about and see so many stories that we can't find the time to comment on that we're gonna try something new: "Leftovers", a daily "accounting" of the stuff we had to leave behind. Let us know if you like it, and, obviously, feel free to click through on the stories and flesh them out for everybody.</p> • her old designer clothes to crazy fans. • Oprah to create a "" TV show. • Central American girls homes to join machista street gangs. • Cat poop coffee goes for at Sloane Square, London. • British man , hopes to "cure obesity." • into losing weight! • Miss World contestants have to prove that they . • Woman photographs in Las Vegas. • New book for women becoming flustered and men being idiots. • A 42-year-old woman claims to having been by her lover. • Baby Couture, , shills for Prada Kids and makes a play-on-words with "flip-flops." • A man in Louisiana was in public. • Large-breasted gals told may be the root of their back pain.In order to view comments on jezebel.com you need to enable JavaScript.<br> If you are using Firefox and NoScript addon, please mark jezebel.com as trusted.In order to view comments on jezebel.com you need to enable JavaScript.<br> If you are using Firefox and NoScript addon, please mark jezebel.com as trusted.In order to view comments on jezebel.com you need to enable JavaScript.<br> If you are using Firefox and NoScript addon, please mark jezebel.com as trusted.<p>In news that will surprise absolutely nobody who has ever tried to buy anything anywhere in Paris, a survey of shoppers found that the Champs-Elysées rates 22nd out of 30 great world shopping streets for customer service. Many people reported that sales assistants at the luxury stores that line the boulevard showed irritation at being asked to serve customers. Imagine! New York's Fifth Avenue, however, did even worse: it came 26th. The best place to shop in the world, if you've got the money? In news that will surprise absolutely nobody who's ever bought anything in Singapore, it's Orchard Road. []</p> Demi Moore is on the cover of the new Harper's Bazaar, wearing Tom Ford. Inside, she talks with Amanda de Cadenet, the actress-turned-photographer who presents the upcoming interview-focused T.V. series that Moore is producing. They talk about body image, self-acceptance, sleeping nude, and all that typical ladymag bullshit. The most interesting part is when Moore asks de Cadenet, "What scares you?" and she replies, "Infidelity scares me. It scares me when it happens to my friends; it scares me that it's going to happen to me...It's like someone saying, 'I don't value you. You don't mean enough to me, so I'm just going to totally dishonor and disregard all that you've shown me.'" Moore does not disagree. Oh, and this is mildly funny: Moore says her real guilty pleasure, "and it's totally stupid, is those long-distance flights where you are able to change into those pajamas they give you without ever leaving your seat and nobody can see your body exposed. It is an absolute guilty pleasure in the sense that I derive pure joy and some weird sense of accomplishment over being able to do it." Demi Moore, secret mid-air pajama contortionist. [] Last season's Prada exclusive Madison Leyes, 19, is Canadian &mdash; and a Buffy fan. She got the Prada gig after spending a month doing "looks" for the brand &mdash; basically, working as a fit model while the collection was finalized, edited, and styled. It's not unheard of for a looks model to end up on the runway &mdash; New Zealander Ella Drake made that jump for Gucci in early 2010 &mdash; but it is unusual enough to not escape notice. Leyes says Miuccia Prada is "very reserved, but not cold. She's just very focused on what she's doing. When you see her smile, though, you know she's genuinely happy. She's not someone who does the fake, cold smile." [] Here are some pictures of Natasha Poly sitting on chairs. They comprise the new Proenza Schouler campaign. [] Spending $85 on a set of ten nail polishes because they're named after Dickens characters ought in theory to hold some appeal for us &mdash; call us fans; we once spent an evening with friends brainstorming Dickensian drink names (Pip's Cup, Bleak House White, or Martini Chuzzlewit, anyone? How about a The Ghost Of Christmas Pastis? Don't worry, we'll see ourselves out...) &mdash; but this is just stupid. They're all black. Who needs ten black nail polishes? []In order to view comments on jezebel.com you need to enable JavaScript.<br> If you are using Firefox and NoScript addon, please mark jezebel.com as trusted.In order to view comments on jezebel.com you need to enable JavaScript.<br> If you are using Firefox and NoScript addon, please mark jezebel.com as trusted.In order to view comments on jezebel.com you need to enable JavaScript.<br> If you are using Firefox and NoScript addon, please mark jezebel.com as trusted.<p>John Galliano's perfume Parlez Moi D'Amour launched in Europe and the Middle East with a snazzy Taylor Momsen-infused ad campaign last year &mdash; and was supposed to go on sale in the U.S. this spring. But . The company wouldn't give precise figures or name names, but some German and U.K. stores have not stocked the scent &mdash; although the impact on sales in Italy and France has been minimal. "Everyone knows John was sick at the time" he was caught on camera ranting about loving Hitler and all the people who would have been "fucking gassed," says the head of the company that holds the perfume license. John Galliano &mdash; who has from the label that bears his name &mdash; is just like Kate Moss, in fact. "We have all forgotten now that she messed up." An industry analyst, speaking anonymously, put the perfume's global wholesale sales since the launch at around $14 million, and said that it could be "several months" before people forget their "negative perceptions of the brand." []</p> Versace booked Dutch model Saskia de Brauw for its fall campaign. "For me, it is expected to have the blonde girl, the sexy girl, and this is what Versace meant recently," says Donatella Versace. "But I thought about how in the past, when Gianni used girls like Kristen McMenamy and Stella Tennant, everyone was always saying, ‘Wow, this is not a Versace girl, she is not blonde.' Sometimes you need to renew yourself to work better and to make a little bit of a push." [] Here's another shot from Helena Bonham Carter's Marc Jacobs campaign, which is maybe our favorite of the season so far. [] Our enjoyment of these photos of Joe Jonas modeling Calvin Klein men's wear is necessarily impacted by the fact that we can't remember: is Joe Jonas the one who fucks? [] Here's Eva Mendes in her Thierry Mugler Angel perfume campaign. [] Heidi Klum conducted an interview from a luxury suite at the Mondrian hotel &mdash; from atop a big pile of sand she'd had dumped on the floor there specially. Where can one go to get a big pile of sand delivered to a hotel suite in Manhattan, you ask? Home Depot. Klum, who is promoting her and her soon-to-be-released perfume, Shine, says Seal has never seen Project Runway. "You know, my husband has never seen one [episode.] What about that for a fun fact? He's come to the set, but he hasn't watched an episode." Klum will begin Tweeting this summer. "But I'm not into Tweeting like, ‘I'm at Starbucks and I took two sugars and syrup in my coffee.'" And she says her ads for Shine are not overly retouched. "You can sell a dream, and you can sell a lifestyle that a woman aspires to have, but you can't completely trick her. If people retouch me too much, I get upset &mdash; yes, you can help me out a little here and there, but don't go overboard. I have one tooth that's longer than another, and if you look at the [Shine] ad my snaggletooth is coming out a little bit &mdash; but I like that." [] Mariah Carey's Lollipop Bling perfume has begat the even more ridiculously named Lollipop Splash The Remix. (Coming up with names for perfume sequels must be a fun job. Naomi Campbell Cat Delxe With Kisses.) [] Beyoncé is also adding a third perfume to her retinue: Beyoncé Pulse is expected to sell around $70 million at retail in its first year. [] Jean-Paul Gaultier is the subject of a major retrospective at the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts. The museum director and chief curator says, "We are a fine arts museum and it was more about the message he has, a very humanist message, a social message, about his vision and his generosity. I think it's that we wanted to work with him as a contemporary artist, not as a fashion designer. I wanted to show this dimension of his work, and because it was contemporary art." []<br> Gaultier says, "I don't think my work is art. We are in the service of men and women." [] Rodarte's collection of ten couture dresses is displayed in an installation in Florence. Speaking of contemporary art, there's a Dan Flavin-esque feel to the set. []In order to view comments on jezebel.com you need to enable JavaScript.<br> If you are using Firefox and NoScript addon, please mark jezebel.com as trusted.<p></p> <p></p> <p>She Tweeted an apology to fans from the ambulance: "I'm so so so sorry to end the show that way… Didn't get clipped in2 harness correctly, drug me off stage, fell in2 barricade…I hope it at least looked cool!!!" After being checked out, Pink announced: "Nothing's broken, no fluid in the lungs, just seriously sore." []</p><p>It's that time: Jezebel Jennifer's last day of work. Earlier this week, when and upcoming arrival at the offices of Ralph Lauren, I mentioned a little of what I like about her. Now, I'd like to call attention to a little of what I liked that she wrote. For over a year, Jennifer has been writing our "" fashion-industry roundup, and last night when doing a search, I was shocked to find that she has done the column a staggering 300 times. (She's also done thousands of "Snap Judgments", and according to my calculations, over on her beloved Project Runway alone.)</p> <p>But beyond that &mdash; and her putting up with demanding edits, late night emails, two exhausting New York Fashion Weeks, a diagnosis of vertigo, and hundreds of hours watching Martha, The View, and Regis & Kelly &mdash; Jen has done a number of features that I think regular readers should revisit and new readers should introduce themselves to. (Readers with other suggestions are welcome to link to them in the comments!) There was her foray into , her , her in Bryant Park, her experience being , the she hit up last fall, and, my personal favorite, our feature, for which Jen sewed designer fashion labels into cheap clothes and tried to sell them to snotty consignment stores. All of these are examples of Jennifer's singular initiative, good humor, intelligence, creativity and energy, for which I will always be grateful. Ralph Lauren is a lucky man. Godspeed, sweetie, and don't forget those polo shirts!</p> <p>Earlier: </p><p>So, Britney, who we are pretty sure is &mdash; which is a good thing, don't get us wrong, for America &mdash; is apparently worried she might be the "Antichrist." The Antichrist, in case you didn't know, is a made-up concept popularized by the bestselling books, which are sort of like books but better sellers because they get prime slottage at Wal-Mart. Apparently Britney didn't get the memo, though, is WAYY the front runner among candidates for AC. Does Brit stand a chance? What would the Bible say? After the jump, we lay out Brit vs. Bar's AC credentials. You can read them &mdash; but why bother informing yourself before voting anyway? Take the poll!</p> <p><br> [News of the World]</p> <p> [Wonkette]</p> <p> <p>Gawker Media polls require Javascript; if you're viewing this in an RSS reader, click through to view in your Javascript-enabled web browser.</p> </p> <p>The Antichrist is supposed to come out of nowhere and have people</p> According to some apocryphal Bible texts the AC is supposed to be tall of stature, of handsome appearance with shining face, and well put together in all parts of his body... <p>Obama 1, Brit 0. While her face is probably shining from all the lack of bathing, the whole "well put together" part sorta knocks her out of the running.</p> According to Daniel, the AC will probably be either Jewish or atheist (probably both) and gay or a eunuch. "Neither shall he regard the God of his fathers, nor the desire of women, nor regard any god: for he shall magnify himself above all" <p>Obama 0, Brit 0, Sarah Silverman 1. Barack and Brit both have kids and convingly straight proclivities. If Brit turns out to be a Jew, though, maybe she is the AC.</p> According to Revelation, the Antichrist is supposed to make war with "saints." And it was given unto him to make war with the saints, and to overcome them: and power was given him over all kindreds, and tongues, and nations. <p>Obama 0, Brit 0.5. The universe that canonizes Cheney, Rumsfeld, Bush and the Clintons as "saints" would accept K-Fed as its lord and savior.</p>In order to view comments on jezebel.com you need to enable JavaScript.<br> If you are using Firefox and NoScript addon, please mark jezebel.com as trusted.In order to view comments on jezebel.com you need to enable JavaScript.<br> If you are using Firefox and NoScript addon, please mark jezebel.com as trusted.In order to view comments on jezebel.com you need to enable JavaScript.<br> If you are using Firefox and NoScript addon, please mark jezebel.com as trusted.Nicki Minaj was in the front row at Prabal Gurung's show this weekend. I am generally terrible at recognizing celebrities in real life &mdash; they're Fran Lebowitz &mdash; but I have to admit this was a pretty extreme boldfacefail. I mean, she's Nicki Minaj. And she's wearing a pink bow that looks like a halo.In order to view comments on jezebel.com you need to enable JavaScript.<br> If you are using Firefox and NoScript addon, please mark jezebel.com as trusted.In order to view comments on jezebel.com you need to enable JavaScript.<br> If you are using Firefox and NoScript addon, please mark jezebel.com as trusted.<p>Images understood to be from Prada's spring campaign have leaked. The ads may not have undergone final retouching (we can't tell) but all signs point to their authenticity. Other sites have removed the pictures, but we believe they're pretty newsworthy!</p><p>The seven images, featuring models , , , , and Zuzanna Bijoch, were uploaded to Flickr two days ago by a user of the insider-y modeling industry message board . The user claimed the images were part of 's spring campaign for Prada. Once the pictures were reposted by the blog , they began spreading over the web. We've contacted the individual who claimed responsibility for leaking the images to ask him how he came by them; we'll update if we receive any response.</p> <p>Yesterday, Fashion Copious its post and removed the images, following a takedown notice from , which represents Steven Meisel. The fact that Meisel's agents acted swiftly to try and suppress the images, coupled with the fact that they clearly depict looks from Prada's spring runway collection, seems to suggest that these are in fact images from a real Prada campaign. Among the other blogs that had reposted the pictures, , , and have all removed their posts without explanation, presumably after receiving similar takedown notices from Meisel's people. The Fashion Spot has similarly removed that discussed the leaked images, as well as that started the leak.</p> <p>We don't intend to remove these images. Luxury companies love to control every aspect of the dissemination of their advertising, because that advertising directly impacts their brand image, and therefore their ability to continue charging . Who could forget 's reaction &mdash; as in the New Yorker &mdash; to seeing an ad that she did not believe reflected Versace's current "values" in the pages of American Vogue?</p> <p>Suddenly, she homed in on a page, letting her black sunglasses slip down the bridge of her nose and then teeter around her jawbone. Summoning a crew of retainers to the table, she jabbed a finger at page 111: a fashion spread of an austere Versace coat, shaped like a bell and trimmed at the hem with a band of gray fox fur. Facing it, on page 110, was a Versace advertisement showcasing a baby-pink ceramic watch, studded with pink diamonds. "I need my phone," she said.</p> <p>Within seconds, she was on the line with a team of attorneys in Milan. Evidently, the ad was outdated and had been placed by a licensee, without Donatella's consent. The juxtaposition of the two photographs was accidental, but the effect was embarrassingly inconsistent. For years, Versace upheld a reputation as the loudest, louchest, most decadent name in fashion, but recently the company has aspired to a quieter image&mdash;less superlative than comparative, the sort that might improve its fortunes at department stores in the "better ladies' apparel" section. "She's saying, 'Send them a legal letter,' " an assistant explained, translating from Italian the escalating blasts of contempt. "She never approved that image. The new ad campaign is supposed to have a cleaner look."</p> <p>"Non si deve permettere!" Donatella continued, flicking her cigarette in the direction of an ashtray etched with Versace's emblem, a Medusa head. "Mai piu!"</p> <p>Luxury companies treat the debuts of their seasonal ad campaigns like the meticulously planned branding exercises they are; they want their pictures to be released in the venues they prefer (which are generally print venues) and in the form that they prefer (which is generally the complete and finalized form, with maybe a couple retouched-but-relatively-candid "behind-the-scenes" snaps, for that veneer of "authenticity"). Luxury companies certainly don't like it when for reasons totally outside of their control those images are leaked early &mdash; and who can blame them? But it's not the media's job to play along with luxury brands. And it's not the media's job to make believe that a leak, when one occurs, hasn't happened, and to dutifully scrub the Internet of all evidence of said leak. Like it or not, this is news &mdash; these images, and the circumstances in which they came to be revealed, are the story here. They provide a rare and interesting insight into the process of image-making that drives the fashion industry. And they'll be a nice point of reference when the final campaign eventually does come out, against which the public will be able to judge further retouching and post-production alterations.</p> <p>So write us a takedown letter if you must, Mr. Meisel. We don't intend to comply.</p><p>Prada is, always, the biggest show of each fashion season. No one manages to be ahead of the trends quite like that PhD-holder Miuccia Prada, whose wares women love and men can't even find remotely sexy. Prada's looks are always "intellectual" and "provocative," but not in the bullshit way those terms are usually banded about: She plays with ideas, perverts expectations, and &mdash; sorry, menfolk &mdash; knows more about sex than Dr. Drew and Sue Johansson combined. Her fall/winter 2008 collection was done nearly all in lace. But no frou-frou doily shit here. Oh no: This was lace for tough chicks. Dominatrixes never had it so good. Annotated gallery of selected images &mdash; there was ! &mdash; begins below, with the critics' rave reviews after the jump.<br> </p> Ms. Prada's black lace dresses are something else. Lace is the fabric of women's lives, from christening robes to bridal gowns to widow's weeds. (And let us harmonize: We are fashion nuns!)...Ms. Prada took a single idea and stayed with it, working the black and beige lace (or orange and blue lace) into coats and slim dresses and tops with stiff satin peplums, all over bodysuits or white cotton shirts... Structurally, proportionally, the clothes were very direct and simple &mdash; the ruffled edges of some of the 1940s dresses repeated in the suede and patent-leather pumps and nylon bags. The lace becomes the intellectual and emotional catalyst. You can't not ask if the dresses are indecent &mdash; many of them are, after all, transparent. But Ms. Prada has made sure that it's not the only question her collection raises against the female self. &mdash; Cathy Horyn, New York Times Then came the first shot of arsenic and old lace: the lace worked in flowers, crunchy or transparent, with the kicker in the sexual charge coming literally from underneath in the case of transparent panels showing and revealing clinging underpants and alabaster white thighs...It was a remarkable show, powerful in its presentation as the models descended the ramp, but above all original, inspiring and intensely Prada in its mix of the prim and the perverse...As if in a Fellini movie, there was a clerical hint to the buttoned-up collars and a sense that Prada was unleashing on the fashion universe both a lace revival and erotic dreams. &mdash;Suzy Menkes, International Herald Tribune Miuccia Prada offered a new form of austere sexuality, with lace as the new tool of seduction... butt there was a perverse side to her vision, too. The silhouette almost obliterated the breasts; indeed the entire upper body was shielded, from waist to a tiny, high-set governess like collar which finished just under the chin. Instead the clothes created erogenous zones on the hips - emphasized with a boned, "peplum" skirt, fastened with a buckle - and bare legs, which were glimpsed through the intricate floral patterns of heavy, Guipure lace. &mdash; Hilary Alexander, Telegraph ...Prada sent out a brilliant lace-based collection that was feminine, strong and intriguingly austere, and that owed debts to haute couture as well as early Nineties Prada (call up those Geek Chic button-up shirts)... Prada leapt a world away to a place all about arch control done up in lace, a material she had long disliked until she happened upon a certain swatch and found herself obsessed. Of course, hers is not of the prissy ilk... In fact, everything about it amazed, starting with the long, lean silhouette punctuated by leather snoods for the hair and those shoes that featured offbeat ruffled extensions...Yet for all of the surface interest, a sense of confident calm prevailed, with an undercurrent of minimalism in spirit if not in fact. Lest one miss that point, the designer de-laced momentarily with a skirt and dress stark in their unfettered beigeness. &mdash; WWD it was no surprise that last night's keenly awaited catwalk collection was &mdash; within the parameters of the quirky Prada aesthetic &mdash; a very commercial one. Semi-sheer guipure lace dresses and skirt suits in black or coffee were both elegant and rather avant-garde, which is precisely the kind of combination for which women are prepared to pay the prices Prada charge. &mdash; Jess Cartner-Morley, Guardian Miuccia Prada doesn't do uniforms (unless they're vaguely fascistic, and ironic) and she certainly doesn't do sexy, at least not in the conventional sense. It's odd though, because at her show last night &mdash; one of the most anticipated and the most thought-provoking &mdash; the models wore lots of sheer lace, in black, gold, blue, camel and brown, with little else, apart from buttoned-up mens' shirts and bib fronts; the shirt-tails providing a fig-leaf of modesty over their bottoms... But this was by far the best show of the season. It sounds nerdish to get worked up about a fabric, but Prada managed to spin a whole new aesthetic from her lace, which is more usually associated with brides, babies and hookers, mixing heavy woollen guipure lace with lighter, finer lace, and even silk dresses screen-printed to look like lace. &mdash; Lisa Armstrong, Times of London Tuesday night's collection was a knockout with models descending a curved runway like superwomen from the sky. Longer length, black pencil skirts sprouted ruffles like wings, with the odd men's shirt collar peeking out from the neckline of a dress, hinting at a woman's masculine side. Come fall, everyone will be wearing lace because this was a collection resplendent in the stuff. In black, brown, navy or gold, lace became three-dimensional, with lace flower appliqués fused on top of full skirts that reached below the knee. True to Prada's kinky side, some pieces were see-through, because a woman's sexuality is part of her power. &mdash; Booth Moore, Los Angeles Times [A]s usual, there can be no mistaking this designer's work for anyone else's, season by season... I found the whole thing stimulating because it made me think that these ruffle and lace textiles, like people in general, have been stereotyped in certain roles, but can break free. Artists should make us think, and Ms. Prada is definitely an artist. But how to wear those unlined lace suits? On the runway, Ms. Prada had the models wear body suits, shorts and other clothes underneath. Very theatrical, but that would look weird on Main Street. So I asked her later if she would line them in the store. "Of course," Ms. Prada quickly replied, grinning. Then she played with the thought, and pondered whether she might leave a few unlined for more daring clients. She has a genuine demeanor, but I swear her smile was a little wicked. &mdash; Christina Barkley, Wall Street Journal <p>Earlier: </p><p>Just in case you didn't feel guilty enough about all the couture you don't earn enough to buy, here's another little chink in your self-esteem: The $800 .</p> <p>We're kind of 'meh' about the phone itself,</p> <p></p> <p>But we're totally 'un-meh' about the cover, which we certainly would spend 800 bucks on this,</p> <p></p> <p>Okay, so we wouldn't really shell out 800 green ones for a cell phone case, but we like to think that one day we'll be so rich that we can order fifty at once and wander the streets with a gracious smile, giving them to really sad people, like the homeless and all that.</p> <p>[]</p>In order to view comments on jezebel.com you need to enable JavaScript.<br> If you are using Firefox and NoScript addon, please mark jezebel.com as trusted.<p>Fact: Whatever Miuccia Prada designs becomes "important." That is, a la The Devil Wears Prada's Miranda Priestley, many of us will wear whatever she conceives in some trickled-down form by the time the next season's clothes are actually on the racks. Fact: Miuccia Prada is frequently cited as a designer who designs for women's ideas of sexiness, femininity, and beauty, and not men's (straight, gay, or otherwise), creating clothing that makes women feel smart, confident, and occasionally sassy. Fact: I know you all are going to vilify me for saying this: I think the Prada Spring/Summer 2008 ready-to-wear collection, which showed this evening (Milan-time that is), is really, really good. And really, really smart. It is everything that Prada is supposed to be. A gallery of images from the show begins below.<br> <br></p><p>Maybe the devil is Prada? (Sorry.)</p><p>Rina Bovrisse, a manager in Japan who oversaw 500 employees in 50 stores, says that the CEO of , Davide Sesia, made her fire 13 employees he called "old, fat, ugly, disgusting or not having the Prada look." Another person who didn't have the "Prada Look"? :</p> <p>Ms Bovrisse alleges that she herself was later summoned to a meeting and informed that Mr Sesia reportedly wanted her to "change her hairstyle, to lose weight" because he was "ashamed of Ms Bovrisse's ugliness, so he doesn't want visitors from Italy to see her".</p> <p>When Bovrisse complained to the Milan headquarters, she says, she was fired for bringing "negative energy" to the company.</p> <p>News of the complaint was broken by the Japan Times, which also got a look at the court filings. This is from Sesia's testimony:</p> <p>"I don't want to mention (Bovrisse's) body shape, but Prada's customers recognize value in Prada's brand image and admiration toward Prada, and thus it goes without saying that it is desirable that customers looking at shop employees build admiration to wear Prada products just like Prada shop employees do.... I thought it is necessary to ask Ms. Bovrisse, who supervises shop employees, to make efforts to be a role model, in order to avoid lowering shop employees' morale."</p> <p>In an interview with the Japan Times, Bovrisse said, "My responsibility is to protect hard-working women and make sure their working environment is safe." As for Prada itself, it has issued the following statement:</p> <p>‘Besides underlining our serene position and our flat refusal of all the allegations put forward by Ms Bovrisse, we believe it is inappropriate to add any comment regarding this matter whilst the judgment is still pending. After the court's decision, we will be available to give full explanation about the matter.'</p> <p>It may just be a translation issue, but I for one am thrilled that they're serene. Like being skinny, beautiful, and appearing rich, it's part of the Prada look.</p> <p> [Japan Times]<br> [Telegraph]<br> [Daily Mail]<br> [NYDN]</p>Milan Fashion Week marches on, and yesterday, Prada presented a Spring 2013 collection that seemed inspired by both traditional Japanese clothing and the '60s. What does that mean? Kimono sleeves, -ish pop-art blooms, skirts folded like origami, collarless coats reminiscent of Courreges, and shoes made kind of like , with shiny leather -type socks that separate the big toe from the rest of the foot. Weird, but strangely cute? Click through and judge for yourself.<p>Thanks for once again completely befuddling me when it comes to high fashion. Because while I certainly love the designs of classic American automobiles, I would never have thought to apply their iconic spoilers and taillights to high-heeled shoes.</p> <p>But that's exactly what the company has done with their 2012 spring collection. At least to part of their shoe lineup, with ridiculous looking designs featuring automotive parts like spoilers, wings, lights, chrome accents, and even flames that hearken back to the hot rod culture of the 1950s.</p> <p>I've no idea how much these monstrosities will cost, but with a Prada logo somewhere on there you can guarantee they will be expensive. But I'm sure that won't stop fashionistas from snatching them up. [ via ]</p><p>Sound snippets from last night's Project Runway: Suede loves talking about Suede in the third person. Stella is "urban." Korta is "paranoid." No one likes "team ugly brown fabric." Natalie Portman is "so tiny I could carry her around on my hand." But the best sound bite of all was uttered by Blayne in response to Stella's unapologetic love of leather: "I love you, leatherface." (Clip at left.) Moving on: The challenge, designing a cocktail dress for a model who has picked out her own (green/organic) fabric, sounds simple enough. And yet! The wacky designers came up with some crazy shit. View all of the dresses, after the jump.</p> <p>Keith's dress was the first out on the runway, and it wasn't terrible, but is that a compliment?<br> Daniel gets points for making a wearable cocktail dress, but we'll have to deduct points because it's something we've seen before.<br> Blayne is living in a parallel dimension where it's 1983. Worse things have happened.<br> The braided halter on Emily's bodice was cute, but then the back was kind of weird. Does it work? Is it pretty? Not sure.<br> Jerrell made fun of "team ugly brown dress" but glass houses, stones, etc.<br> Jennifer's little number looked great swinging down the runway.<br> Joe is the straight dad from Detroit, and this is his design. Makes sense.<br> Did anyone else not really "get" Kelli's garment?<br> Loopy Leanne's dress was a loopy mess. She's a crier, in case you hadn't noticed.<br> Does anyone else find it surprising that Stella's dress was considered one of the "best" on the runway?<br> Korto's kimono dress in the first challenge was gorgeous; this is fug. That said, the "wings" were very . Not that that makes them acceptable.</p> <p>Dear Wesley: God Ugly is in the details. That is why you were auf'd.</p> <p>Terri's dress was actually my favorite.</p> <p>Kenley's dress receieved high marks from the judges.</p> <p>Suede won the challenge with this kicky number that looked like cat vomit in the workroom but turned out to be quite sweet.</p> <p> [Bravo]</p><p>Sorry, but you would have to be batshit insane not to think that Daniel Vosovik was robbed in Project Runway Season 2. (Chloe Dao only won because Nina Garcia wanted a woman to win. Seriously. Did the judges not see the same Dynasty-esque collection Chloe showed that we did?!) Anyway, we had big hopes for Daniel V. After all, it's not like the Project Runway winners have exactly gone on to launch illustrious careers or anything. So we were intrigued that Daniel was putting out his own clothing line. Perhaps, we thought, this was his chance for singular success? Not quite. Daniel's new line, it turns out, is a series of hotel uniforms. (For a chain called "Nylo"). Our thoughts (with images) after the jump.</p> <p>For the Ladies:<br> <br> First off, what's with the obvious Prada knock-offs with the knee socks and shoes? (Or, uh, are those just actual Prada socks and shoes?) And though we like the look on the left, well, isn't it a little, well, done. Can you not hear the voice of Tim Gunn sighing, desperately, "Don't bore Nina!" when you look at it? And the look on the right is way too school girl uniform (and not in a fun way).</p> <p>For the Gents:<br> <br> Say what you will about Daniel, but unlike this season's contestants, at least he knows how to make a pair of fucking pants. Love the little button detail on the zippy pullover on the left (even if the trousers seem a tad snug), and the suit on the right puts the lady-pants Uncle Nick made for Daniel in the makeover challenge to shame.</p> <p> [Blogging Project Runway]</p><p>We all know the true cost of an H&M synthetic sweater is not reflected in its $29.90 pricetag. The fashion industry and it has a nasty habit of treating garment workers as disposable labor.</p><p>The waste is systemic. Fibers like cotton are water-intensive and take vast quantities of fertilizer to grow, which creates harmful agricultural runoff. (Synthetics can be even worse, since the petrochemicals they're made from deplete the ozone.) Fabric mills apply further chemical treatments and dyes, which can be dangerous for the mill workers who are exposed daily, as well as for anyone who drinks from the area's water table. Shipping the finished garments around the world creates yet more waste. Then, because the fashion cycle has accelerated to the point where Forever 21 feels like it needs to thrust new offerings under consumers' noses every week, .</p> <p>And despite what the "investment piece"-touting magazines might say, high fashion's ethical record is not necessarily much better. Higher prices often subsidize more fabric-intensive cuts, which generate more waste. The pollution generated by the fabric mills that supply high-end brands is just as bad, if not worse. Many luxury labels do their manufacturing in India and China, and getting accurate information about labor conditions can be difficult. Some luxury labels, like Prada, do most of their construction in China, and then ship their items to Italy where a few finishing touches are applied, and a "Made in Italy" tag is affixed. (Kind of like Tommy Hilfiger is his "Made in the U.S.A."-labeled clothing in Saipan, a U.S. territory that doesn't require companies to follow federal minimum-wage laws.) This is at once exploitative, wasteful, and a big, fat lie.</p> <p>So what's to be done? As people who don't want to buy into a system that is making wasteful use of our planet's precious resources and mis-treating its most vulnerable workers, but who have to clothe ourselves, what are the options?</p> <p>Not shopping is, of course, probably the best thing. (We have to wean ourselves off of the absurd idea that every chain store should be like a sushi conveyor belt of brand new styles that all cost $5.) This world doesn't need more stuff, and considering the Sex And The City juggernaut of consumer-porn is still going strong, shopping could stand to be de-aestheticized. But what happens when you really want something new? Thrift stores are green (and cheap), but hunting through their racks can be time-consuming and offer inconsistent results. What are the choices for decently-made, competitively-priced, really cute stuff? I'm honestly asking.</p> <p>One possible answer: The German catalog company Hessnatur has for 30 years been treating its workers decently, making everything out of organic cloth, and using no synthetics. And in addition to its main line, it puts out capsule collections from designers &mdash; Miguel Adrover has had one since 2008, and for this fall, Eviana Hartman of Bodkin is launching another. I recently previewed their fall collections, which go on sale online in August. (H&M and Zara, you may recall, don't even have e-commerce in the U.S.)</p> <p>Adrover was a fashion darling in 2000, when he . Then he put on a show with models in chadors shortly after 9/11, lost his financial backing, and disappeared off the fashion map. Adrover's line for Hessnatur is comprised of smart, tailored basics &mdash; a trim, grown-up three-button flannel suit, and a camel blazer with a generously draped shawl collar &mdash; interspersed with some wonderful knits.</p> <p>The prices &mdash; $198 for cool pleated wool flannel trousers, $78 for a turtleneck, $338 for the camel jacket pictured above &mdash; are not "cheap," but they are roughly competitive with, say, Ann Taylor, where a blazer can run $200-$250. (And would not, needless to say, be designed and manufactured with such care.)</p> <p>Adrover's collection makes heavy use of baby-soft Peruvian alpaca. There's a cable sweater, above, with a long cowl that spirals around the neck ($218), and a full black knitted skirt ($228) that has a sort of Alaïa feel, with its nipped ribbed waist.</p> <p>Hartman's collection is even cheaper, and more sporty. The long-sleeved t-shirts, at $35, cost barely more than the tops at Zara or American Apparel.</p> <p>The proportions are fun: this wool and cashmere cardigan has long, tight ribbed sleeves and an oversized bodice. Under a coat, the sleeves wouldn't bunch, but there's enough fabric in the torso that you'd hardly need a scarf. (And it can be buttoned asymmetrically.) It costs $98. There's also a knee-length wool and cashmere tank dress with a matching long, draping vest that would be suitable for most working environments, but is also beautiful enough (and comfortable enough) to want to wear out.</p> <p>The most expensive piece is a $250 boiled wool motorcycle jacket. Boiled wool is practically wind-proof, but the rib-knit cuffs will stop winter's drafts, too. The last jacket I bought at H&M cost $120 &mdash; $250 is a big step up in price from that, but .</p> <p>Hessnatur, Hartman, and Adrover remind me of Jil Sander's +J line for Uniqlo: both collaborations are examples of established designers piggy-backing on the superior sourcing and distribution networks of major retailers in order to provide classic, cleverly designed basics at relatively modest prices. Hessnatur's just happen to be good for our world as well.</p> <p>This isn't the only company whose ethics don't go out the window when faced with the need to turn a profit and the need to manufacture items of beauty. There are others, like Ali Hewson's company &mdash; which has attracted backing from the luxury giant Louis Vuitton Moët Hennessy &mdash; and Liya Kebede's line , which is made in the supermodel's native Ethiopia, which are also worth checking out. Fundamentally, it's less and less the case that making ethical, sensible consumer choices is a freedom that hews to class lines. A $35 t-shirt that's better quality than the $10 Wal-Mart version is still close enough in price that it's attainable for most shoppers.</p> <p>If companies that really treat their workers with decency and use natural resources with an eye to the future continue to grow, then the synthetic empires of chains like Forever 21 and the head-in-the-sand attitudes of designers like Frida Giannini may have to do something very fashionable indeed: change with the times.</p> <p> [Official Site]<br> [Shop Cheap Look Loaded]<br> [Ecouterre]<br> [NY Observer]<br> [Independent]</p><p>Queen Latifah says plus-size "is a word we need to bury at this point." Promoting her just-announced line for HSN, Queen Latifah said her collection will feature plus-size clothes but is not a plus-size line because "it's for all sizes." The line, to be called Queen, will launch in August and will include sweaters, jeans, leggings, T-shirts, handbags, and clip-in hair extensions. "The truth is," she says, "we all would like to wear the same clothes. We all want to wear beautiful, fly clothes no matter what size you are, and so for me it was important to match with a company that understood and respected that ideal." In fact, this is part of why the actress &mdash; who prefers to wear Prada, Louis Vuitton, Donna Karan, Ralph Lauren, Carmen Marc Valvo, and Gucci in her own life &mdash; hasn't ventured into fashion until now. "I felt like larger girls were not respected, even though we are huge consumers. I felt the marketplace didn't respect us in the way it should. I was not going to step out with a clothing line that didn't respect a fuller-figured woman or a curvaceous woman, and really all women." []</p> Meanwhile, HSN is pulling the toucan brooch from the Iris Apfel jewelry collection that was last week to be a copy of a brooch by the designer Hanna Bernhard. HSN admitted that the Apfel collection was never intended to be anything other than knock-offs of Apfel's own favorite pieces. "Iris Apfel's collection for HSN is intended to share her interpretations of some of her vintage jewelry pieces. Mrs. Apfel explained to HSN that, like many of her pieces, she purchased her toucan brooch from a flea market and believed it was a vintage piece. As we have discovered that this is not a vintage piece, the brooch will be removed from the collection." [] We admit we do not entirely understand Giovanna Battaglia's Cannes dress. [] On the left, a Rodarte for Target dress, designed in 2009 and currently on sale for $15.74. On the right, a Guess by Marciano dress, new in stores and priced at $168. Isn't the point of a knock-off that it's cheaper than the original? [] Chanel Iman and Fei Fei Sun are the latest faces of DKNY Be Delicious perfume. A fragrance campaign without a white girl in it &mdash; there's something you don't see every day. []<p> Rachel Getting Married, the latest offering by director Jonathan Demme, is being acclaimed by many critics as one of Demme's best films to date. The film is centered around the days leading up to Rachel's (Rosemarie DeWitt) wedding and a visit from her eternally rehabbing sister Kym (Anne Hathaway) whose propensity for narcissism and cold snark causes problems for Rachel's wedding. Demme is an accomplished filmmaker who carefully strays from cliched family melodrama and the performance from the normally Disney-ready Hathaway is a refreshing turn for critics who may have been ready to dismiss her as just another Hollywood princess. Considering the overwhelmingly positive reviews, this may not be a film that you would want to skip out on this weekend. The collected reviews after the jump.</p> <p>:</p> <p>Maybe the characters Demme is showing us are in some ways too real. There were stretches of "Rachel Getting Married" that made me feel restless and annoyed, itching to get away from the aggressive, overgrown neuroses of these characters: A little of that goes a long way in the movies, and a filmmaker doesn't need to fetishize characters' rampant self-absorption to get the point across. But just when someone says or does something that makes you want to shout at the screen, Demme pulls back and reminds us &mdash; by focusing on a particular face, or by showing us a character's awkward body language &mdash; that these are, quite simply, people in pain. Hathaway, in particular, with those wary eyes and lips that always look on the verge of quivering, brings much of that pain to the surface: This isn't a character you want to hug &mdash; she's got too many angles &mdash; but Demme feels so deeply for her that he makes us feel for her, too.</p> <p>:</p> <p>I've never been much of an Anne Hathaway fan. She always seemed, to borrow a phrase some brilliant blogger once used about Gwyneth Paltrow, to be "sprinkling herself with fairy dust." But Hathaway transcends her usual complacency in this role and resists the temptation of using Kym's (and her own) wounded-bird appeal to let the character off the hook. Bill Irwin, the great stage clown who's a Demme regular, is marvelously expressive as the girls' overanxious father. And when the luminous Debra Winger first appears onscreen as their withholding mother, you want to grab her and say (on your own behalf as well as her daughters'): Where have you been all these years?</p> <p>:</p> <p>The themes of dependency and recovery that Kym brings home in her overnight bag are familiar, even banal. Every unhappy family may be unique, but every addict is fundamentally the same, and if “Rachel Getting Married” had surrendered its story completely to Kym, it would have risked becoming as drab and familiar as a made-for-television 12-step homily.</p> <p>But Mr. Demme protects the film against such an unsatisfying fate. He is certainly sympathetic to Kym, even as he and Ms. Hathaway conspire to show her at her appalling worst. But he has never been one to restrict his sympathies, and the wonderful thing about “Rachel Getting Married” is how expansive it seems, in spite of the limits of its scope and the modesty of its ambitions. It’s a small movie, and in some ways a very sad one, but it has an undeniable and authentic vitality, an exuberance of spirit, that feels welcome and rare.</p> <p>:</p> <p>"Rachel Getting Married" is welcome for any number of reasons. It's a gratifying return to his independent film roots for Oscar-winning director Dem- me, a powerful screenwriting debut for Jenny Lumet, a herculean job of hand-held cinematography by Declan Quinn and a career-changing performance by Anne Hathaway, of all people, as an ultra-troubled young woman set loose from rehab for her sister's wedding.</p> <p>:</p> <p>Anyone expecting the demure, doe-eyed Hathaway of "The Princess Diaries" or "The Devil Wears Prada" is in for a shock. Kym is a major pain in the ass, and Hathaway's raw, spiky performance makes no attempt to ingratiate. Yet she makes Kym's inner torment so palpable you can't help but feel for her, however insufferable she may be. It's a terrific performance, and DeWitt matches her step for step: you can feel a lifetime of tangled sisterly feelings in every charged moment between them.</p> <p>:</p> <p>Rachel Getting Married sounds like a joyless dirge, but it's actually far from it, and a lot of that is owed to the way Demme harnesses the genuine love and good feeling that buoys the occasion. If he ever retires from directing, he could have a great side business as a wedding planner: The rehearsal dinner, the ceremony, and the reception are brimming with sweet multi-culti touches and great music, including performances by the likes of Robyn Hitchcock and TV On The Radio's Tunde Adebimpe. (The cutting of the cake, for one, may be the most moving moment in the whole movie.) With an easy, freeflowing style—owing partially to the Dogme-style approach that has led some to compare the film to The Celebration—Demme captures the group dynamic of the wedding party, with its seismic shifts in mood from celebratory to melancholy and back again.</p> <p>:</p> <p>Up to my eyeballs in draggy, shapeless amateur junk, I am genuinely thrilled to welcome a film this colorful, artistically realized and wonderfully alive. Steeped in the tradition of sound narrative form yet scrappy and unpredictable, acted and written with enormous style but with front and back doors open to experiment and surprise, it’s a film that challenges you to keep a jogger’s pace to keep up with it, then leaves you breathless. With three more months to go, Rachel Getting Married is already high on my 10-best list for 2008.</p> <p>:</p> <p>This melting-pot wedding creates a frisson of its own; it's a vision of a new world. I do wish that Demme hadn't let the wedding music, by Robyn Hitchcock, Sister Carol East, and a few others, take over the last act. This much healing-by-'80s-hipster-taste is too much. But Rachel Getting Married is still a triumph — Demme's finest work since The Silence of the Lambs, and a movie that tingles with life.</p> <p>:</p> <p>Shot through with smart humor, "Rachel" outlaws cliche. Sydney's good-looking best man, Kieran (Mather Zickel), whom Kym has previously spotted at a 12-step meeting for struggling addicts, materializes at the wedding like her perfect romantic partner. In a humorously unexpected twist, Kym immediately beds him in the attic and ignores him for the rest of the film. A whole romantic subplot is nipped in the bud, leaving the screenplay room to open family wounds and explore less predictable territory.</p> <p>:</p> <p>The characters' volatile moodswings are matched by the restlessness of the HD camerawork commandeered by Declan Quinn ("Monsoon Wedding"). Quinn's camera, few of whose moves were blocked out beforehand, proves ever ready to take off in unexpected directions.</p> <p>:</p> <p>Hathaway's performance as the brittle Kym has been trumpeted as a potential Oscar turn for her, demonstrating her dark side after her roles playing princesses.</p> <p>But there's more than one award-worthy performance here. As the titular Rachel, DeWitt adroitly plays a sympathetic figure who still manages to be hard to like.</p> <p>And as the aloof Abby, the MIA Debra Winger returns to the screen with a small but powerful performance that implies a lot of repressed rage and regret.</p> <p>'Rachel Getting Married' opens today in limited release.</p><p>"Raf Simonsto leave Jil Sander. Show on Saturday to be his last." So Tweeted New York Times critic Cathy Horyn this morning at 8:53. By 9:04, the official statement was out and Horyn's post was up: Simons, the popular and critically acclaimed Jil Sander designer would leave the house on Monday, just after presenting the fall Jil Sander women's wear collection. This breaking news bombshell has already spawned to two parallel lines of speculation: that Simons is leaving to take the top job at Christian Dior, and that Jil Sander &mdash; the German who founded, built, sold, was fired from, returned to, and was again fired from her namesake line (after giving up a controlling stake to Prada) &mdash; might return to lead the house that bears her name a third time. It's a triple-whammy fashion job-go-round rumor, friends! Simons' name has been with regard to Dior (which memorably its longtime creative director John "I love Hitler" Galliano almost exactly one year ago, after he was berating in a Paris café with a ) since December. The Jil rumor has been reported by the German celebrity magazine Gala and by the British Telegraph; the label is no longer owned by Prada, whose C.E.O. Patrizio Bertelli Sander so famously clashed with. Sander also returned to the world of fashion via a multi-year collaboration with the Japanese mass retailer Uniqlo. Her recently ended line there was well-received. Simons, if he is in fact going to Dior, would be a marked departure from Galliano's theatrical aesthetic: his clothing for Jil Sander has been minimalist, but feminine. Dior collections produced under the supervision of Bill Gaytten, Galliano's former studio head, have been (but the house says they have sold well). [@, , ]</p> Horyn has a long and insightful profile of Stella McCartney &mdash; her family background, career trajectory, business strategy, marriage &mdash; on the cover of the New York Times Magazine. Interestingly, McCartney managed to negotiate 50% ownership when she started her own line with backing from luxury conglomerate PPR; the usual arrangement is for the backers to take a controlling stake. Her company employs a mostly female design team, and Horyn observes that the atmosphere is not mean-girl-y: "You know, the fashion industry has got some funny personalities," says McCartney. "We don't. We like a nice atmosphere. We don't see the point in too much ego or competition. We just want to get on with it." There's also an interesting exchange when McCartney mentions that her friend Tom Ford tried to recruit her to Gucci when he left for Yves Saint Laurent, in 2001: <p>"He said: ‘Just come to my studio and look at everything. Maybe you'll do it,'" she recalled, shaking her head. "As if all those exotic skins and corduroy hamster fur were going to turn me on and make me change my entire ethic."</p> <p>Ford says now that it never happened but that, "I think she might have interpreted that at a certain point." Horyn put that to McCartney:</p> <p>"Oh, he's a lying, cheating...what?" McCartney exclaimed, when I repeated his comment. "That's the weirdest thing. Why would he take me into an office and show me every dead animal? Oops!" She laughed and, frowning, said to me: "How are you going to handle that? ‘Stella says she got offered Gucci but she didn't...LOSER!'" She continued to chuckle.</p> <p>[]</p> Here's a better look at the upcoming Mad Men tie-in collection from Banana Republic, modeled by Shalom Harlow and David Gandy. [] Joan Rivers gives a tour of her closet in this video. "Fashion should make you feel happy," she says.<br> "We're all our own Barbie doll. Anyone who takes fashion seriously is a fool. What's the worst that's going to happen? You're going to go out somewhere, and you're going to put something on, and you're going to look like an idiot. So what? You can take it off, and it doesn't matter." On her purse shelf, Rivers has her mother's Hermès bags and a $49 clutch from her own QVC line. She also says her favorite shoes are by Payless. "They are so...damn...comfortable," she stresses. [] It's hard to tell whether the stumbling Italian economy (not to mention the ongoing Euro crisis) influenced Gucci's designs for fall, or whether the stumbling Italian economy and the Euro crisis influenced how the Telegraph critic Luke Leitch perceived Gucci's designs for fall &mdash; perhaps it was a little from Column A, a little from Column B. In any case, Leitch turned in a review that casts everything from Gucci's choice of a deep burgundy carpeted runway to its use of black chiffon (which he called "rich women's armor") as a function of the economy. We are on the fence; yes, the collection is dark, and so is the economic outlook &mdash; but it's fall for Chrissakes. Fall collections are often dark. And forgive us, but we expect even our metaphorical "armor" to be, you know, hard. Anyway, whatever their inspiration, the clothes are quite beautiful. []In order to view comments on jezebel.com you need to enable JavaScript.<br> If you are using Firefox and NoScript addon, please mark jezebel.com as trusted.<p> Dizzy from last night's ? We are too, so we organized the gowns into compact color wheel to see what color trends popped up frequently on the red carpet.</p><p> <br> (Click any image to enlarge further)</p> <p>Aside from the usual varying degrees of classic grays and blacks, there were a surprising number of gauzy ballerina pink gowns and cerulean blue dresses (looks like the color Miranda Priestly bashed in The Devil Wears Prada has made a comeback). Below, we explore last night's varying shades of gray.<br> <br> <br> </p><p>Post-The , The Fashionista Diaries and Stylilsta comes , the new series set behind-the-scenes at . Is anyone still interested in how their magazine sausage is made?</p> <p>Eric Wilson of the New York Times says: Yes. "The allure is still there, as confounding as the inability to resist a pair of $1,600 Prada knee-high boots," he writes. But! Most of us can resist Prada boots. (Most of us do!) Still, Joe Zee, the creative director of Elle who plays a nastier version of himself on the ABC series Ugly Betty agrees: "This is one industry that remains very intriguing and mysterious," he says. "Magazines are about making beauty, and how that happens is fascinating to a whole group of people." People who aren't already sick of all the "OMG fashion is actually hard work" shows and movies which already exist, presumably.</p> <p>But: Where Elle's Stylista was shot on a set, (the real offices were "too dowdy"), Running In Heels promises to be much more realistic. Writes Wilson:<br></p> Running in Heels, which is produced by Left/Right Productions, the team behind This American Life, the television version of Ira Glass's quirky public radio program, strives to be a more authentic representation of what happens at a fashion magazine than its predecessors… Nevertheless, following a similar conceit to its predecessors, the drama unfolds mostly through the actions of the three sacrificial interns, Ashley, Talita and Samantha, who were cast, it would seem, because of their sense of aggression, entitlement or insecurity, respectively. <p>Will viewers tune in for the Devil Wears Prada moments (one intern is left bleeding and hobbled by running errands in heels)? To see Project Runway's at her real job? Or to find out what happens to the wide-eyed interns? Well, spoiler alert: None of them got hired. According to WWD, editor in chief says the show was never meant to be a competition: "In this economy? No. We weren't raffling off a job." Perhaps the last word here should go to Glamour's editor in chief, Cindi Leive, who says: "Even a job in a glamorous industry involves sitting around in a lot of windowless conference rooms talking about budgets."</p> <p> [NY Times]<br> [WWD]</p>In order to view comments on jezebel.com you need to enable JavaScript.<br> If you are using Firefox and NoScript addon, please mark jezebel.com as trusted.Rodarte showed a spring collection that was eminently "wearable" &mdash; which I guess is fashionspeak for "there were no horror-film-inspired dresses that looked like they were bleeding this time around." And nothing made of tentacles of black leather, either. Nor any rag-bag collages. What front-row guests like Elle and Dakota Fanning, Tavi Gevinson, Taylor Swift, Solange Knowles, and Her Gravid Eminencé, The Pregnancé saw at yesterday's show were neat little dresses, many of which followed a 1950s silhouette.In order to view comments on jezebel.com you need to enable JavaScript.<br> If you are using Firefox and NoScript addon, please mark jezebel.com as trusted.<p>Controversy has erupted over the references to aboriginal art in Rodarte's fall collection. Megan Davis, an aboriginal law professor and an expert member of the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues, says that she finds the collection offensive. "The thought of seeing women walking around in this particular ready-to-wear collection sickens me," says Davis. "Because it is my culture and it is where I come from. I appreciate that we live in a postmodern culture, where people do take inspiration from particular areas and it is a complex area of law. But as an Aboriginal lawyer I found the designs offensive." Davis says the use of sacred art works as fabric prints "is completely insensitive to Aboriginal art and spirituality and land and how they are inextricably linked." Australia's indigenous peoples practice the world's oldest living art tradition, and the paintings that Rodarte used as textile prints describe "a clan's songlines, story, life and very essence, with responsibilities and reciprocal obligations to land and kin." The issue of fashion's appropriation of indigenous people's art and culture has been brought to the fore most recently by the Navajo Nation, which is suing Urban Outfitters for marketing over 20 items as "Navajo" when they were not, in fact, Navajo-made &mdash; including some especially insensitive things, like a hip flask and women's underwear. []<br> After stalling for some four days, Rodarte released a brief statement saying they had licensed the prints in question "through the appropriate channels." The company says, "As a result, the artists will share in proceeds of the pieces inspired by their work." []<br> Apparently, there was only one aboriginal artist whose work was used: the late Benny Tjangala. "The widow of artist Benny Tjangala will see this use of his artworks quite differently to the professor," says Anthony Wallis of the Aboriginal Artists' Agency, which did in fact arrange for the license. "She will appreciate the royalty flow over the next 12 months!" It strikes us that Davis' comments were fair, given that Rodarte was forthcoming about neither the fact that it licensed the prints, nor the individual artist's name. That reticence leaves the unfortunate impression that while Rodarte was happy to pay to use another artist's works, the brand was less keen to share the credit. A simple mention in the show notes might have avoided this whole thing &mdash; and led to fewer cringe-inducing fashion reviews erroneously crediting generic "Outback influences" (, Robin Givhan &mdash; but this isn't a steakhouse) as the inspiration for the collection. []</p> This Zoo York ad featuring Kate Upton working out to a commentary track from the brand's signature cockroaches has been banned from T.V. for being too racy. Apparently a curvaceous woman exercising in leggings, a sports bra, and an unzipped windbreaker is "racy" now? We're familiar with the well-worn publicity stunt that is the purposefully un-broadcast-able "too hot for T.V." ad, but this actually seems like a real ad that somehow ran afoul of Standards and Practices. This is the "uncensored" version &mdash; the T.V. edit would have bleeped out the cockroach profanity at the end &mdash; but even the censored version was rejected by Adult Swim (!) and MTV for an alleged "erect nipple." Ladies, never forget that your nipples are too hot for Adult Swim. [] Anais Gallagher, daughter of Noel Gallagher and Meg Matthews, had her first model test shoot. She blew bubbles at the camera. Anais Gallagher is still 11 years old. []In order to view comments on jezebel.com you need to enable JavaScript.<br> If you are using Firefox and NoScript addon, please mark jezebel.com as trusted.<p>The premiere episode of the -oriented reality show has , and despite the annoying "interns" and the overall farce, the show is fairly entertaining.</p> <p>The ep begins by introducing you to the three "new interns." Ashley, from DC, is an aggro bitch; Talita, from L.A., is a diva with long legs, long hair and a chihuahua named Chanel; Samantha is the wide-eyed noob from Wisconsin who's never seen the big city. Ashley claims they "decided to live together" so she "found an apartment online." (It's a pretty big SoHo one-bedroom. They have a bunkbed.) Far more interesting are the characters we meet at Marie Claire magazine: Joanna Coles, the quippy, brisk editor-in-chief; Zoe, the hard-working, long-suffering shopping editor; and, of course, , of Project Runway fame. Where the interns were obviously chosen for their personalities and camera-friendly looks, the mag staff all seem sleep-deprived and stressed out, although they each swear, "I love my job." About 22 minutes into the episode, Coles sends Samantha to pick up a dress and we see her &mdash; you guessed it &mdash; running in heels.</p> <p>The best part of the episode was toward the end: At a party to celebrate Nina Garcia's arrival at the magazine, there's word has arrived but may not walk the red carpet because there's no poster of her cover displayed. Somehow, Joanna Coles magically convinces LL to pose for pictures and gets what she calls her "money shot." Meanwhile, Samantha from Wisconsin is hanging out at the party &mdash; she's supposed to be working &mdash; and she's not wearing any shoes, which infuriates the other interns. (Clip above.)</p> <p>Between The Devil Wears Prada, Ugly Betty and Stylista, this show seems the most realistic, coming from someone who has worked in magazines. Which is not to say that it's not completely preposterous: The interns are clearly just for TV (Joanna Coles herself said they these women) and there's a lot of cheek-kissing and not a lot of actual working. That said, there's a sick pleasure in watching these "interns" &mdash; who think they're "perfect" for the job despite having zero fashion magazine experience &mdash; find out how painful running in heels can be.</p> <p> [Fashionista]</p><p>Dov Charney inserted himself into the Chinese-made-U.S.-Olympic-uniforms story last week when he told the New York Post that his company, American Apparel, was "in talks" with the Russian Olympic Committee to manufacture Team Russia's uniforms for the 2014 Winter Olympics. The juicy, newsy tidbit &mdash; for color, Charney added that the Russians "said they didn't want anything made in China" &mdash; was widely picked up, including by , and even made the ABC evening news. The only problem is it isn't true.</p> <p>"The Sochi 2014 Olympic and Paralympic Organizing Committee is not in negotiations with American Apparel for the Winter Olympic Games in Sochi," says a spokesperson for the committee, which already has a uniform vendor under contract through 2016. "The official outfitter of the Russian team up to 2016 is the company Bosco Sport." Bosco Sport says it manufactured the Russian uniforms for the London Olympics in Europe and Asia.</p> <p>The American Apparel founder, however, is sticking to his story. Charney maintains that he was contacted by "an organization that is connected to the government" and says "nothing has been signed, but we're in dialogue." Sure. []</p> Here's a video showing how Lady Gaga's perfume is made: by shirtless male models in a black-and-white Paris laboratory. (Not really.) [] Kate Upton wears a blazer, a tie, and some horrendous blue eyeshadow on the cover of the U.K.'s Sunday Times magazine. []In order to view comments on jezebel.com you need to enable JavaScript.<br> If you are using Firefox and NoScript addon, please mark jezebel.com as trusted.In order to view comments on jezebel.com you need to enable JavaScript.<br> If you are using Firefox and NoScript addon, please mark jezebel.com as trusted.<p>Dolce & Gabbana is discontinuing its lower-priced D&G line. The , just shown in Milan, will be the brand's last. Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana say that they have long looked to Chanel, with its one brand, as an example for business. D&G's many licenses, including perfumes and eyewear, will gradually be phased out. The closure of D&G had been rumored as far back as this March. At the time, retailers expressed surprise. One , "I don't understand, because D&G is a line that makes €400 million [$531 million], it's young and flexible and it's doing really well. It's a lot to ask retailers. In my case, for example, I don't carry the signature line, but I've never missed a season with D&G." []<br> In contrast: for the first time in years, Versace will hold a fashion show for its diffusion brand Versus, which is designed by Donatella Versace and Christopher Kane. Versace relaunched the line five seasons ago, and has recently taken Versus production in-house. []</p> Nars held a contest on its website where people could upload photos of themselves replicating makeup looks by François Nars. Users then voted for their favorites, and would you guess who won? A gay boy from Amarillo, Texas, named Kale Teter. That's him in one of his winning looks on the right. Teter wins makeup, and a position on the Nars team at next February's New York fashion week. Congratulations! [] $230 Kermit sweaters for hipsters are a thing that now exists. [] Designer couple Jeffrey Costello and Robert Tagliapietra show off their workroom and closet in this piece (there's video!). "The East Village of the '80s provided the perfect space for their 'gay prep tribe identities' to emerge. 'I love the early '80s,' Jeffrey says. 'That, to me, is when I came of age.' For him, there is something 'elegant and beautiful about the seediness of the time,' when they were living out of Keith Haring's old apartment, passing Anne Bass in the middle of the night with armfuls of leather jackets as she left Ramrod picking things out of garbage cans. Characters lined up outside club doors had monumental style; once, Jeffrey recalls, he saw '80s fixture Sally Randall working the door at Palladium &mdash; and refusing to let Andy Warhol in, he says, 'because he was wearing beige.'" []In order to view comments on jezebel.com you need to enable JavaScript.<br> If you are using Firefox and NoScript addon, please mark jezebel.com as trusted.In order to view comments on jezebel.com you need to enable JavaScript.<br> If you are using Firefox and NoScript addon, please mark jezebel.com as trusted.<p>Last night, late, great Jezebel editor Megan Carpentier and friends the White-House-crashin' Salahis as "the Speidi of Washington." What does that make scapegoat : LC? Or, worse, Audrina - someone raising herself above her natural place and abilities?</p><p>You know it's bad news when Maureen Dowd , and that's exactly what the NY Times columnist did this morning to the glamorous White House social secretary, declaring archly,</p> <p>The statuesque social secretary brandishing a Harvard M.B.A. and animal-print designer shoes is not any mere party planner. The old friend of the first couple from Chicago has the exalted and uncommon title of social secretary and special assistant to the president....Instead of standing outside with a clipboard, eyeballing guests as Anne Hathaway did in "The Devil Wears Prada," Desirée was a guest at the dinner, the center of her own table of guests, just like the president and first lady.</p> <p>In sum, concludes Dowd, "Even before the Salahis swept in preening, the Obama staffers were there preening, standing around celebrating themselves. And of course, savoring the wonder of the Obama brand."</p> <p>She's referring, of course, to Rogers' , in which the social secretary (clad, as everyone mentions, in Viktor and Rolf, Prada and Cartier), "We have the best brand on earth: The Obama brand." And despite - or because of - her , title as and front-row seat at Fashion Week next to Anna Wintour, the White House thereafter clamped down on the elegant Rogers' public speaking. As the ,</p> <p>In recent years, social secretaries had always quashed their own public profiles, demurred from seeking the limelight, in service to their position and in deference to the first lady. Indeed, the names of the most recent social secretaries &mdash; Cathy Fenton, Lea Berman and Amy Zantzinger probably ring no bells outside of Washington circles. Those who have more prominent profiles such as Ann Stock, who worked in the Clinton administration and now at the Kennedy Center, and Letitia Baldridge of the Kennedy years, waited until their post-White House years to step into the spotlight.</p> <p>Arguably, people have been waiting for Rogers to get her comeuppance for some time, but the Salahi's opportunism seems a pretty weak pretext. As 's Michael Scherer explained it,</p> <p>Rogers' sin, if it can be called one, was apparently in making herself a guest at the State Dinner-a star not a clerk, you see-for which she wore a cream-colored Comme des Garcons number, which was so high fashion that it looked like she might have made it herself. She also did not assign a staff person to hover over the Secret Service gates checking off guests as they arrived. Security is not her office's responsibility, everyone agrees, but it was possible, some mused, that Rogers or her staff might have provided a second set of eyes to spot interlopers when the Secret Service failed to do its job. Both the Secret Service and the House Homeland Security Committee have promised investigations, but that has not stopped a chorus of conclusions.</p> <p>Immediately, fingers were pointed at Rogers. Said Lloyd Grove, bitchily, "Where, oh where, was Desiree Rogers?...In the past, White House social secretaries have worked, not partied." Michelle Malkin, of course, jumped into the fray with a slideshow of the secretary's presumably Marie Antoinette-frivolous gowns. Always with the clothes! Said Washington Post fashion critic , sagely, "It was the sort of attention-getting dress, with its translucent sleeves and strands of pearls encased in layers of tulle, that proclaimed the wearer a fashion savant."</p> <p>When Bravo floated the D.C. Housewives franchise, the response was low-level incredulity. No self-respecting D.C. hostess would, it was said, countenance such a thing - and if they did, whither the drama? Well, here we go. This one, first incident has launched enough cattiness for a whole season of Real Housewives, and then some. That's what's so absurd: the objectively ludicrous Salahis didn't need to bring down the dignity of the occasion, or the city, when the tsuris was all there and desperate for any excuse to get out. Bravo's just figured out how to make this series the most dramatic of all - because this time, it's political.</p> <p> [Time]<br> [NY Times]<br> [Washington Post]<br> [Vanity Fair]<br> ) [HuffPO]<br> [Wall Street Journal]</p>In order to view comments on jezebel.com you need to enable JavaScript.<br> If you are using Firefox and NoScript addon, please mark jezebel.com as trusted.<p>Puerto Rican model Joan Smalls made the cover of Vogue Italia, which she called evidence that "dreams do come true" on Twitter. Smalls was the at New York fashion week this season, and is the current face of Chanel. The cover editorial, which the magazine has been hyping with animated GIFs, looks like a typical Steven Meisel OTT-extravaganza &mdash; peep those green and tiger-stripe acrylic nails. Smalls is the first black model to grace the cover of Vogue Italia since the magazine's famous of July, 2008. [@]</p> Stefano Pilati is out at Yves Saint Laurent. Rumors of the designer having fallen from favor at the house have been circulating for several seasons; accessories were said to be selling better than Pilati's actual clothes, which were sometimes received with rave reviews (and other times...not so much; Anna Wintour was giving Pilati withering assessments for his reliance on the color black as far back as the filming of The September Issue documentary). Executives at PPR, YSL's parent company, say they wish Pilati well. Earlier this month, Pilati frankly to Vice magazine about the difficulties he'd faced "putting all the bullshit aside" in taking over the creative direction of such an esteemed brand: <p>"YSL &mdash; unfortunately for me &mdash; is already strongly defined in people's imaginations. Pretty much everyone has an opinion about it. You make flounced skirts, they ask for capes; you do capes, they ask for tuxedos; you do the tuxedo, they want it more 1970s; if you go 1960s, no, you should have gone to the 1980s."</p> <p>Hedi Slimane, the erstwhile Dior Homme designer who threw fashion over for photography in the early 2000s, is said to be a frontrunner to replace Pilati. []</p> Jil Sander is officially coming back to lead the company she founded in 1968 &mdash; for a third time. Sander sold a controlling stake in her namesake label to Prada, then infamously clashed with company C.E.O. Patrizio Bertelli, who fired her, asked her back, then fired her once again. Now that Prada no longer owns the label, and now that Raf Simons is leaving, Sander is free to return. []<br> The industry reaction to the move seems mostly positive. Speaking of Sander's recently ended Uniqlo collaboration, the editor of Vogue Germany says, "I think the lines of people waiting outside Uniqlo showed there's still a fascination for fashion from Jil Sander." [] Marcel Nars, François Nars' pet bulldog and occasional makeup model/mascot, has died. [] This is (a grainy cell-phone photo of) one of Carla Bruni's old modeling comp cards. []In order to view comments on jezebel.com you need to enable JavaScript.<br> If you are using Firefox and NoScript addon, please mark jezebel.com as trusted.September's Marie Claire does this one thing that immediately endears me to its cause: the mag identifies the models in its three 10-page fashion stories! Each girl gets a teensy little Q&A - kind of like the ones in Playboy that tell you curvaceous Kristy's favorite color and college major - wherein we learn that Anna from Illinois once burst into tears on a shoot, Eva from Krnow dreams of being a lawyer, and Valerie from St. Petersberg would like to meet J.D. Salinger. Models! We're just…like…you? Let's investigate, after the jump.<br> Doing 20 editorial looks, solo, against a grey studio backdrop, with nary a prop in sight and no organizing principle to the clothes other than "Fall silhouettes!" probably approaches my idea of hell. You're not playing a character, you don't have an evocative setting, and there isn't even a particular mood or feel the editorial is intended to convey &mdash; it's just you and your basic posing repertoire, alone in a brightly lit box. No wonder Anna Rachford of Woodstock, IL, is sporting basically the same position and expression in three of the above shots; there's no story here. What unites this spread other than the fact that it's fall, and, yes, this might necessitate the donning of coats and knitwear? We see this editorial every season. It's the fashion equivalent of those insipid freshmen-oriented survey classes where the reading list is such a ragbag (you know, Middlemarch and Fielding and Frankenstein and Borges for good measure) that you wonder just what in hell the professor was thinking. Probably that delivering lectures that attained their mature form in 1973 is a hoot when you have tenure. And probably that an appreciation for literature is an admirable social grace suitable for the weekend delectation of young ladies' minds. I'm not much given to puffery in my novels and I like it even less in my fashion.<br> Oh, no, tights! Once I did a fall lookbook for an Asian client and we had to shoot two dozen some outfits in one day &mdash; and every single get-up came with a different pair of brightly colored tights. And, because the client's line was designed with its shorter-legged market in mind, the tights went up only about as far as my knees, and what with the quick changing and the many layers, I was already sweating from every pore since of course it was July, and I sensed even at the time that this epic struggle of Model v. Unyielding Spandex, times 24, was, even if I prevailed (and, you'll be glad to know, I did live to model another day!), going to become the stuff of panicked flashbacks. At one point there was an assistant stylist poised at each thigh, firmly yanking at the waistband of a pair of aubergine wool-blend tights while I sort of jumped up and down in place and the photographer's assistant tried to look like he wasn't peeping. Tights, oh God. You weren't there, man!<br> I have no idea what Anna's doing in that green psychedelic drum majorette getup, either. Sending imaginary semaphore for "Send Help Trapped In Photoshoot"? Directing the landings of nearby aircraft? Unseen shadow puppets? Let's chalk it up to studio daze and move on.<br> Eva Poloniová says that the hardest thing about modeling is "Wearing beautiful clothes without being able to keep them." Funny you should say so, Eva, given you've shimmied into a $3,040 Prada dress &mdash; and I'm guessing your paycheck for the edit was $100 or so for the day. Before agency commission, natch! Keep trawling those sample sales, darling. You never know.<br> This next story is all about female fashion icons who wore pants: for some reason, someone decided Meg Ryan belonged on the list with Marlene Dietrich and Diane Keaton, and, also for some reason, someone determined that a blonde Russian was qualified to impersonate every "iconic" woman who wore pants, ever. Nevermind; I kind of can't dislike the girl. Valerie Avdeyeva said her most memorable experience was posing on an Argentine glacier &mdash; cool! (There's nothing that drives me deeper into apoplexy than a model who gets to go to Morocco or Iceland or Papua New Guinea for an editorial who comes back and shrugs, "It was okay, I guess. The food was, like, really weird.") And Valerie parried back a stupid question about which celebrity she'd most like to meet with a cheery reference to the author of Franny and Zooey! Plus she said she couldn't function without her iPod and her eyelash curler &mdash; that's a practicality/frivolity ratio I can get behind. Even if she doesn't give me any Jane Birkin in this picture, it's not her fault Birkin was an incorrigible brunette.<br> Seriously?<br> Whoa. She eats candy bars. Valerie is officially new favorite model material!<br> Oh God. Janis Joplin sings a song called "Rose" &mdash; so we have to represent the (brunette!) hippie idol (in $1395 pants and a $2055 blouse!) swaying beatifically and staring at a prop rose? Weak.<br> <br>Oh, Vogue! You never fail to charm us with your and your ridiculous lifestyle pieces. This month, we learned that socialites are limiting their gala events and instead preparing tuna steaks together at their palatial country estates. Vogue has recession-beating ideas for the rest of us too. Is that Cartier watch looking a little dated? Don't buy a whole new one (spend that money on "a strict, limited uniform" of Prada and Chanel). Instead, jazz it up with a new band! Our take on Vogue's multifaceted wisdom, after the jump.<br><p>Every August, the September issues of the major women's magazines hit newsstands, and every August, media watchers ooh and aah over these magazines' total , , , thicknesses, and yes, . As a way of differentiating ourselves, we decided to put Interns Maria and Cheryl to work adding up all of the priced merchandise in each magazine in order to determine which title is full of the most shit. In this, our second installment, Maria and Cheryl compare the apparel, accessories, beauty products and other assorted items in Vogue & Elle magazines. After the jump, a breakdown of the two magazines' net 'worth'.</p> <p>Vogue<br> Apparel: $825,764 (Most expensive: $61,000 Dolce & Gabbana beaded dress. Least expensive: $48 Splendid cotton shirt)<br> Accessories: $350,569 (Most expensive: $44,600 De Grisogono watch. Least expensive: $38 Wolford velvet leggings)<br> Beauty: $103 (Most expensive: $50 Lancome Destiny Cube. Least expensive, $25 Lancome Le Crayon Kohl Oriental Duo)<br> Other: $6921 (Most expensive: $1,830 Gothic armchair. Least expensive: $20 Mary Mulcahy napkins)<br> Total Shit: $1,183,357<br></p> <p>Elle<br> Apparel: $263,368 (Most expensive: $5290 Carolina Herrera Wool Coat. Least expensive: $25 Isaac Mizrahi for Target shirt)<br> Accessories: $301,116 (Most expensive: $6,400 Betteridge equestrian brooch. Least expensive: $7 socks by Ralph Lauren)<br> Beauty: $364 (Most expensive: $188 Dermaquest Peptide serum. Least expensive: $6 Prada face wipe)<br> Other: $73,001,215 (Most expensive: $73 million Mark Rothko painting. Least expensive: $15 old-school telephone)<br> Total Shit: $73,566,063 ($566,063 without painting)</p> <p>Earlier: </p><p>Both are blonde. Impossibly thin. Married (or once married) to rock musicians. Famous because of their famous parents. Say hello Kate Hudson and Gwyneth Paltrow, cover girls for the September issues of Harper's Bazaar and W magazines, the two American fashion magazines with the biggest hard-ons for high society and Hermès. (Yes, even more so than Vogue.) For this, the fourth installment of our Expensive Shit (Fight), Interns Maria and Cheryl add up the priced merchandise in the September issues of the two magazines in order to determine which title is full of the most shit. After the jump, the winner of the Bazaar/W face-off, plus breakdowns of the two magazines' net 'worth'.</p> <p><br> Harper's Bazaar<br> Apparel: $686,476.50 (Most expensive item: $175,000 Dolce & Gabbana gown. Least expensive item: $26.50 Gap turtleneck)<br> Beauty: $1,939.56 (Most expensive item: $275 Giorgio Armani Crema Nera. Least expensive item: $2.99 Herbal Essences Body Envy Volumizing Mousse)<br> Accessories: $351,036.50 (Most expensive item: $30,000 Messiah by Michel Piranesi earrings. Least expensive item: $13.50 DKNY tights)<br> Other: $4,263.97 (Most expensive item: $1,800 Maria Antinori Inc. chair. Least expensive item: $9.97 album by The Killers)<br> Total Shit: $1,043,716.53</p> <p>W<br> Apparel: $29,443 (Most expensive item: $8,665 Chloe coat. Least expensive item: $1,100 Yansi Fugel jacket)<br> Beauty: $1,025 (Most expensive item: $350 Prada fragrance. Least expensive item: $20 Laura Mercier Lip Stain)<br> Accessories: $581,940 (Most expensive item: $115,000 Buccellati earring. Least expensive item: $250 Mulberry leather gloves)<br> Other: $110,435 (Most expensive item: $110,00 Fred Leighton compact. Least expensive item: $280 one-night hotel stay in the Uma Ubud hotel in Bali)<br> Total Shit: $731,843<br> Note: Apparently, 75-80% of the items in the issue did not have accompanying prices. Intern Maria says tack on another $1 million to the above price and you're good to go.</p> <p>Earlier: <br> <br> </p><p>Did you hear? The overhyped ShopVogue.tv site is now live. The New York Times it's a great "added value" for advertisers, and allows readers to get insidery, behind-the-scenes info. Fashionista it might be more fun than actual Vogue. Two of us checked it out: One cynic and one enthusiast. The reviews? Not what you'd think!</p> <p>Dodai (the cynic): I log on not really knowing what to think. I expected it to be slick, and it is &mdash; everything looks great, loads quickly, the graphics and fonts are pretty. The choices you're faced with are "Shop," "Watch" and "Share." They've got videos of collections: Carolina Herrera, Versace, YSL and more &mdash; sparkling electro beats and models strutting on a runway &mdash; fashion at one of its purest forms. While viewing a behind-the-scenes piece of the Chloé ad campaign shoot, I wonder about the price of the graphic dress Shalom Harlow is wearing, so I click "shop the ads" and discover that the dress is $2425. I stop watching the video.</p> <p>Next, servicey stuff: "60 Seconds To Chic." A makeup artist shows how he creates a natural look and a glamorous look. A stylist named Jen Rade shows how a Mary-Jane can take a summer dress from Summer into Fall. "That shoe is cute," I think, and click on the adjacent ad, discovering that the shoe is affordable at $140! Swept up in the easy, "See. Want." mentality of the site, I suddenly decide that I'll buy the shoes. But when I submit my zip code (downtown Manhattan) I get a message: "Sorry, we couldn't find any stores." WTF. Shoe-blocked! (Later I went back and found the link to the online shopping site, but the thrill was gone.) Moving on: "TrendWatch" has a video about Phillip Lim's new store, snooze. I skip to fall accessories: Ooh, environmentally-friendly reusable grocery bags! Wait, no click and buy option? Grrr. I jump over to "Share." Here's where you're encouraged to "share your style" and submit a photo. How democratic! Is this really Vogue? I try submitting a shot of my friend Richard's cool shoes and socks, then discover I have to wait and see if my shot is approved. Ah, so it is Vogue, after all. Final verdict? Love the immediate gratification; hate the postponed acceptance. It's designed for a fashion junkie with a short attention span and a large pocketbook. But if you love fashion &mdash; actual fashion, not just styled celebrities &mdash; looking at clothes and accessories and wondering if you can afford them &mdash; this site delivers, and it's kind of fun.<br> <br> Jennifer (the enthusiast): I'm confused. I spent a solid hour trolling the site and still have no idea what the fuck it is. I thought it was supposed to somehow facilitate &mdash; through the magic of Web 2.0! &mdash; being able to interactively shop the pages of Vogue. Either I am stupid, or this is untrue. "Shop", one would think, should be the most significant category. But in reality, it seems to merely display the ads for many brands (the label the Devil supposedly wore is noticeably absent. Pringle of Scotland in but Prada out? Huh?). Soon enough, I tire of looking at objects I can neither afford nor buy impulsively if I want to. So I try some "Watch"-ing. I see the Chloé ads get shot (and hear Shalom Harlow get called "bourgeois" by the Chloé designer), learn three Maybelline make-up looks in 60 seconds (all of which seemed to consist of "pencil your brows, put on Maybelline mascara, apply Maybelline lip gloss), and watch about half of a Vera Wang runway show before I start to feel like the NY Times' Cathy Horyn. And still I wonder what the fuck any of this has to do with shopping my way through Vogue &mdash; and why this wasn't just loaded as new, much needed, content on Style.com, the official website of Vogue(and its other Condé Nast sisters). Hell, at this point I would be grateful for even a Lucky-esque shopping tour of one given city street! Finally I turn my gaze to "Share." Some chick has uploaded pictures of herself riding camels? I give up. Bored, confused, and still hankering for the "shopping" of titled promise, I realize it's time for me and ShopVogue.tv to break up.</p> <p>[]<br> Related: [NYTimes]<br> [Fashionista]</p>In order to view comments on jezebel.com you need to enable JavaScript.<br> If you are using Firefox and NoScript addon, please mark jezebel.com as trusted.In order to view comments on jezebel.com you need to enable JavaScript.<br> If you are using Firefox and NoScript addon, please mark jezebel.com as trusted.In order to view comments on jezebel.com you need to enable JavaScript.<br> If you are using Firefox and NoScript addon, please mark jezebel.com as trusted.In order to view comments on jezebel.com you need to enable JavaScript.<br> If you are using Firefox and NoScript addon, please mark jezebel.com as trusted.<p>The zipper on the green Zuhair Murad dress Sofia Vergara wore to the Emmy Awards broke just before the ceremony was due to start. Obviously, the actress Tweeted a photo. [@]</p> Girls star Allison Williams brought a file of red-carpet photos and a single request to her initial meeting with stylist Cristina Ehrlich: "My dream &mdash; my dream &mdash; is to wear Oscar de la Renta. It is one of the only designers I feel like I've always known about, and I've always noticed." Ehrlich says, "We've had a very planned-out way that we wanted to see the evolution of her style come to fruition. It was always about getting to this moment where she would wear Oscar de la Renta." And that is the long, involved story of how Allison Williams came to wear a green dress to the Emmys. For good measure, Williams and Ehrlich threw in a pink de la Renta for an Emmys pre-party. [] Lara Stone is on the cover of the Sunday Times' style magazine this week. She says if modeling doesn't work out, "I'd like to have my own burger place. I'm going to call it Lara's Baps and Buns. There's not a proper good caff here. I want a proper good chips place. They're all too fancy." Given that "baps" and "buns" is also British slang for "tits" and "ass," it is possible Stone just might be having us on. [] Vena Cava, in lieu of doing a fashion show this season, approached the Safdie brothers about directing a feature film loosely inspired by the brand. Heartland, a story about a cult of women led by a charismatic man, is the result and this is the trailer. Co-designers Lisa Mayock and Sophie Buhai are in it, as is Annie Clark of St. Vincent. [] Said Donatella Versace to the Women's Wear Daily reporter backstage after the Versace show in Milan, "It's subtle. Subtle. Can you underline this?" [] Former Ungaro designer Esteban Cortazar &mdash; the guy who was fired because the label's then-owners had the bright idea to hire Lindsay Lohan as co-creative director &mdash; launched his first eponymous collection for Net-A-Porter. Mostly done in white, it includes items like cape-backed jackets, cut-out evening dresses, and lots of gold hardware riveted onto the garments at points like pocket edges and hems. []<br> Meanwhile, Emanuel Ungaro is getting re-re-re-relaunched, as a line of women's wear produced under a seven-year license by the Italian company that does Alberta Ferretti and Moschino. The designer will be the young Italian Fausto Puglisi. [] Jeez, even Katie Grand knocked off the Isabel Marant wedge sneakers. The stylist and LOVE editor has a small collaboration with Hogan; Grand says the shoes are inspired by the brand's archive. Right. []In order to view comments on jezebel.com you need to enable JavaScript.<br> If you are using Firefox and NoScript addon, please mark jezebel.com as trusted.In order to view comments on jezebel.com you need to enable JavaScript.<br> If you are using Firefox and NoScript addon, please mark jezebel.com as trusted.<p>"Luxury"? A fallacy. At least that's what Dana Thomas concludes in her new, widely-publicized book Deluxe, by Michiko Kakutani in today's New York Times. And apparently Prada is to blame! Those nylon backpacks spotted everywhere in the 90's? They were at so low a price point ($450) that tons people bought them, thereby making the concept of "luxury" available to the masses. Kakutani's review notes that Deluxe is not only very good but very easy to read ("a crisp, witty social history that's as entertaining as it is informative") but, most importantly, Kakutani takes the opportunity to give a slight, backhanded bitchslap to Vogue editor Anna Wintour:</p> Although this volume quotes Anna Wintour, the editor of 'Vogue', saying such changes mean that 'more people are going to get better fashion' and 'the more people who can have fashion, the better,' the author reaches a more elitist and pessimistic conclusion...[Thomas concludes] 'Luxury has lost its luster.' Incidentally, this is reason #382 why we have a massive girl crush on Michiko Kakutani. And now Dana Thomas, too. [NYT]In order to view comments on jezebel.com you need to enable JavaScript.<br> If you are using Firefox and NoScript addon, please mark jezebel.com as trusted.<p>The "woman child" is having a real moment. She's an increasingly prominent and powerful breed of pop-culture female who seems to be aging backwards. She's a counterpart to the "man-child" stars of Judd Apatow movies; she would rather rally girlfriends to see The Hunger Games than the more peer-group-appropriate What to Expect When You're Expecting. The women-children love the new television shows with "girl" and their style gurus are celebrities who often dress younger than their years: Zooey Deschanel, Katy Perry and Nicki Minaj. From sporting sparkly nail polish to religiously reading every bestselling young adult novel, these women seem to be reliving their teenage years with real gusto. </p> <p>Social networking has made it easier for a "woman-child" to find company in her love of Hello Kitty and polka-dot dresses with bows, particularly if she's feeling lonely as a single girl. She doesn't have to go into a Tower Records (if they still existed) to buy a Taylor Swift album. She can just download it and blog about her favorite songs on , a new popular website devoted to all things tween.</p> <p>A "woman-child" is the type to prioritize her female friendships as if she were in a high school clique by posting pictures of her girls' birthday dinners or boozy vacations on Facebook while her peers post wedding and baby pictures with similar zeal. She truly believes that women are in it together and is all about helping her friends start businesses, meet guys and pick out a cute outfit for a big event. Competiveness among females in the workplace is perceived as totally 80s. "Women-children" are increasingly looking back to create a new common ground and it's a warm fuzzy ground.</p> <p>The woman-child will likely get married later than the increasing national average. Advances in fertility treatments like egg freezing have also added to their confidence that they can reproduce older and potentially prolong their own girlhood.</p> <p>Maybe "women-children" are afraid of becoming grown-ups in an increasingly scary world of layoffs, rich Republicans and insane weather patterns. Or maybe they have better survival skills. "Women-children" certainly seem to be enjoying themselves more than their peers who struggle with the motherhood/career conundrum. The trend has crept into my peer group, too. It's as if some of the women around me still want to be girls because girls just want to have fun. Girls certainly don't obsess over a feminist article in The Atlantic or the dearth of female directors in Hollywood.</p> <p>Popular culture is full of examples to support my observation. Over the past two years, Mary Jane-style shoes by Prada, Marc Jacobs, Christian Louboutin and Dolce & Gabbana have been selling like crazy. New Girl star Zooey Deschanel is a national media superstar, constantly being photographed wearing bows and headbands. Her style has even been mocked in a Saturday Night Live sketch about "being quirky." Teenage blogging sensation Tavi Gevinson got her own online magazine, Rookie. It's supposed to be for teenagers but it's attracting an older demographic and contributors, include the defunct Jane magazine founder Jane Pratt.</p> <p>The raunchy standup comic Sarah Silverman, 41 without any kids, almost always wears sneakers, jeans and hoodies. She wrote a bestselling book about being a bedwetter throughout high school.</p> <p>Even serious women journalists are becoming "women-children." Kim France spent a decade editing the Condé Nast shopping magazine Lucky. Last year, at the age of 47, she left her job and started a blog, , geared at women in their 40s who, as her website claims, "don't mind calling themselves feminists," and "look at pictures of their moms at their age and somehow don't feel as grown up."</p> <p>In a New York Times article, France her target demo was "somebody who is obviously a grown-up but you've got some feelers still in your youth" and who never dropped their "youthful enthusiasms" like Led Zeppelin or leopard-print coats. She also joked that another project she wanted to work on was a Tumblr to be called I Preferred the 90s, "which I may still, because it sort of was the last time before things started being super adult. And I liked that time." In those days she was an editor at the teen magazine Sassy.</p> <p>Girlie nail art is suddenly huge, even with my seriously career-focused friends, like an actress pal who requested anonymity to protect her privacy. She recently hosted a girls' dinner party at her home near Hollywood. At one point during the evening, she gave her guests a tour and showed off the extensive collection of bright, patterned nail stickers she keeps in her bathroom. The audience &mdash; a group of accomplished showbiz types &mdash; was rapt. I felt a little left out, having no interest in ever using those nail stickers.</p> <p>Listening to my actress pal's guests bond about nail art, I wondered if I was missing out on the female bonding because I was raised in a dungeon or skipped sorority rush.</p> <p>According to an April 2011 by veteran New York Times fashion reporter Ruth La Ferla, I'm in the minority these days when it comes to nail polish. Her article said department store nail polish brands saw a 67 percent jump, which helped contribute to $710 million in total sales. "Muddied orange, toxic green and shrieking mauve, rare in the marketplace six months ago, are crowding the shelves of department and drugstores, snapped up by consumers intent on releasing their inner Nicki Minaj," wrote La Ferla. "Women's enthusiasm for brazen tints, three-dimensional effects and quirky patterns (think python, cobweb or cheetah spots) has propelled nail polish into the fastest-growing segment of the beauty trade, surpassing even lipstick as a recession-proof cosmetic enhancer." The fashion designer Thakoon also released a limited edition line of neon colors for the brand Nars, inspired by his spring 2012 line. It has been wildly popular.</p> <p>Since celebrities are usually the engines of pop culture trends, I took a deeper look at the poster girls for the girlie craze. Minaj already had her own nail polish line with OPI when she became a bona fide rock star with her chart-topping album Pink Friday in the fall of 2010. In the same month, MAC cosmetics made her a spokeswoman and launched a Pink Friday lipstick, selling all 3,000 in stock in 15 minutes in addition to an impressive 27,000 over the next three weeks.</p> <p>"She was fun and cute," the president of MAC cosmetics, John Demsey, told The Times in an a few months later. "She's funny, loves makeup and has a mashup style between Vivienne Westwood and a Harajuku girl." Neither was ever a fashion icon for me. I'm more inspired by Talitha Getty lounging in a caftan on a Marrakesh rooftop. I consider brushing my hair making a major effort on the appearance front.</p> <p>That same article, by Laura M. Holson, talked about how Minaj was the "It Girl" that season and had made a big splash sitting front row at the New York Fashion Week shows in wacky outfits, like the neon puffball tunic she showed up wearing to the relatively staid Carolina Herrera Spring 2012 show in September. "She could even claim Halloween last fall, judging from the scores of tutorials on YouTube for fans seeking her fluorescent look and ice-cream swirl tresses," wrote Holson.</p> <p>This was seismic stuff. When I graduated from college in 1999 and started working as an assistant at the Observer, it was fashionable to try to emulate the look of the Park Avenue Princesses like Aerin Lauder, who almost always wore sophisticated, muted tones. Narciso Rodriguez, who designed Carolyn Bessette Kennedy's simple white slip of a wedding dress in 1999, was the darling of the fashion world. Gwyneth Paltrow had just single-handedly brought pink back into vogue by wearing an elegant Ralph Lauren gown when she won an Oscar for Shakespeare in Love. I was out of it then, too, but in a different way. I thought Banana Republic was a great place to shop.</p> <p> These days, the fashion icons are dressing increasingly younger than their years. Minaj is hardly the only pop star getting in on the girlie action. Madonna, 53, is currently on tour dressed as a cheerleader and Katy Perry has emerged as the reigning Girlie Queen, complete with her own 3D biographical movie. In 2010, Perry's self esteem album Teenage Dream reached the Top 5 of the pop singles charts in at least 20 countries. Her breakout song is about kissing a "girl," and she often performs with blue hair while sucking on massive lollipops. The video for her song "Last Friday Night" features her dressed up as a dorky teenager the day after a massive party, and the video for "California Gurls" is set in Candy Land.</p> <p>In a June 2011 cover story for Rolling Stone, my friend Vanessa Grigoriadis (not a girlie girl; she tends to sport a blazer, jeans and designer shoes when she's working) described Perry's look as "a little bit burlesque and a little bit Japanese teenager." At one point during their interview, Perry wore enormous fluffy slippers from Japan with cat faces on the front and said, "I love things that have a face on them but are also useful, like a toothpick holder." Perry also said she did cartwheels and splits in the office of her longtime manager when they first met. "How else was I going to get him to listen to me?" she asked.</p> <p>What ever happened to a firm handshake and good eye contact?</p> <p>I recently met Perry at a friend's pool party in Los Angeles. Even though she's a huge celebrity, I almost didn't recognize her. Her hair was black and she was wearing a white tank top, dangly purple earrings and a long blue skirt &mdash; until she stripped down to a black and white bikini to jump in the pool. (The perfectness of her body intimidated the majority of the other women at the party enough to keep their clothes on). When someone offered Perry an ice cream cone with rainbow sprinkles while she was swimming, Perry demurred.</p> <p>"It's ironic, but I don't like sweets," she said.</p> <p>That's when I realized she was a marketing genius instead of a "woman-child." She's riding the trend right to the bank.</p> <p>Sure, pop culture has always romanticized youth, but I'm increasingly seeing my own peers try to reclaim their girlhood for reasons that have nothing to do with appearing wrinkle-free. It goes way beyond nail art, too. Over the past year, I've been invited to a bunch of "game nights" organized by serious career women. Instead of being like the sophisticated dinner parties I presumed grown-ups had when I was in college, some combination of cupcake, candy and pizza are almost always served &mdash; the standard menu for a toddler birthday party. Connect Four, Boggle or Mafia get played with the sort of focus I once gave to them on rainy days at camp. Guys at these parties often complain that they can't actually talk to any women with all the games going on, which is ironic because I think these game nights are often thrown to try to match up singles.</p> <p>Perhaps this reversion to girlhood, particularly by single women, has something to do with the rising average age of brides. In a December 2011 analysis, the Pew Research Center said only 51 percent of adults are married in the U.S., a record low. The average age for women to get married was 26, and for men, the average age was 29, both record highs.</p> <p>I blame the recession in part for the obsession with overextended adolescence. In the past few years, recent college graduates have been moving back home with their parents in record numbers, heading right back into their childhood bedrooms. They can't get the jobs they want to kick off grown-up careers, so they waitress, nanny or tutor for longer than expected. Instead of moping around about not having any cash to go shopping for a real Cartier love bracelet, or someone to buy it for them, they can just slip on a stack of rubber bracelets from high school, still sitting in a drawer.</p> <p>And it's not just young women who move back home. Women with big jobs are also more panicked about holding on to them in the current economic climate, prioritizing their careers over becoming wives and mothers. Wearing a dress with a pink bow is a lot more fun than worrying about a pink slip.</p> <p>It certainly seems to me &mdash; writing this from the safe distance of imminent motherhood &mdash; that it's never been easier, more fun or more acceptable to remain locked in the warm, comfy embrace of childhood. It sure beats figuring out how to afford a nanny.</p> The above passage is an excerpt from Girls writer Deborah's Schoeneman's Kindle Single, "Woman-Child." (Singles are Amazon's series of longform essays and articles offering in-depth explorations of a variety of topics.) If you've got a Kindle, and give it a full read. <p>Want to see your work here? .</p><p>Harper's Bazaar has done it again. As with , the August edition's trend page 'Great Finds'&mdash; which purports to celebrate "fashion at affordable prices" &mdash; has the most ridiculous-looking, ridiculously-priced hair accessory on display. This time around, it's a $475 elastic-and-metal Prada headband, not a $246 tweed Louis Vuitton one. But unlike last month's offering, the magazine is willing to admit that its latest 'great find' is, in fact, a splurge. (Which kind of negates the whole "affordable" assertion, but whatever. Rome wasn't built in a day!) The offending item, after the jump.</p> <p><br> Earlier: </p>In order to view comments on jezebel.com you need to enable JavaScript.<br> If you are using Firefox and NoScript addon, please mark jezebel.com as trusted.<p>This morning in Paris, Madonna and Gwyneth Paltrow BFF Stella McCartney showed her Fall/Winter 2008 collection and, unlike Jean-Paul Gaultier's , there wasn't an animal skin or pelt to be seen. (Stella designs vegan fashion.) The looks, however, were a bit inconsistent, mixing diaphanous mini-dresses with long, heavy, columns of sweater dresses. I am positive, however, that we'll be seeing almost all of it on Serena van der Woodsen when Gossip Girl resumes this fall. The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly of Stella's latest, after the jump.</p> <p><br> <br> <br> <br> The Good:<br> Was Stella peeping in Miuccia Prada's workroom? Her take on the peeping Tom lace theme is less fashion-forward, but certainly wearable, beautiful, and fresh.<br> Light as a feather, I would style this barely-there dress with black tights and flats.<br> An unexpected take on both suiting and separates and, if I could afford it, I would be running to wrap myself up in that blanket sweater.<br> Again, see above. It's cozy and slouchy and cool and could even be great n the summer with flip-flops.<br></p> <p><br> The Bad:<br> This blanket-whatever is silly and totally impractical. Do not dress yourself in tapestries stolen from museums.<br> Did Stella steal this from Forever 21? Too big, hate the bubble hem, and it looks cheap.<br> The material is too heavy for the cut.<br> Again, I just want the bubble hem to die a swift, yet painful, death. The way the underlay peeps through is nifty, but there's something almost juvenile about the complete look.</p> <p>The Ugly:<br> I'm sorry: This is a nightmare.</p> <p>[Images via and .]</p>In order to view comments on jezebel.com you need to enable JavaScript.<br> If you are using Firefox and NoScript addon, please mark jezebel.com as trusted.In order to view comments on jezebel.com you need to enable JavaScript.<br> If you are using Firefox and NoScript addon, please mark jezebel.com as trusted.<p></p> <p>"I am thrilled when I see these pictures," says Gary Dakin, the head of Ford +, the Ford division that represents some of the world's top plus-size models. "Firstly, it shows that these girls can work with great photographers and amazing magazines like V and be taken more seriously for the work they do. For my girls, it means that the word ‘plus' can &mdash; hopefully &mdash; go away soon since they are now working in every major magazine in the world...Glamour, French Vogue and a host of other publications have ensured that this segment of the industry is here to stay and a force to be reckoned with." []</p><p>Well, it's here: the long-awaited premiere of the Tyra Banks-produced reality series, Stylista. The premise is a simple (if not recycled) one: a group of young adults compete for the coveted position of "junior editor" at Elle magazine (a job once held by former Jezebel ), which includes a year of rent-free living and a wardrobe allowance. The show revolves around Elle Fashion News Director Anne Slowey, who is, by most accounts, not as icy as the Anne Slowey that she plays on TV. The critics agree that the show is good for its niche, but if a combination of The Devil Wears Prada, Ugly Betty and Project Runway doesn't appeal to you, you might want to skip this one. The reviews, after the jump.</p> <p>:</p> <p>The show feels approachably lo-fi (wardrobe by H&M, cinematography by no one interested in the beguiling gold of them thar Hills), and the references to aesthetics are just arch enough to convey that it's in the know as a work of trash about mechanical reproduction. The contestants, being somewhat more literate than your usual reality-TV cretins, say dumb things in an interesting way. (Poor, poor, unfortunate Arnaldo: "I think in the box, out of the box, and sometimes take the box and turn it into a triangle.") Stylista is not a guilty pleasure; the guilt is the pleasure, and never more so than when Kate, freshly savaged by Megan, whimpers with terror at her newfound capacity for contempt: "I've learned what it feels like to hate other people." Chin up, honey. You are only on the precipice of adulthood. With practice, hating people is as fun and easy as an afternoon of backgammon or an hour of bad TV.</p> <p>:</p> <p>Given that the show comes from the "Top Model" team, the slick accessories and production style shouldn't be completely surprising; still, this genre is so overcrowded right now (Bravo's "Runway" knockoffs alone are practically stumbling over each other) that the prospects seem inherently limited.</p> <p>Throw a bouquet, then, strictly to the casting folks for the assortment of types they've assembled. Beyond that, "Stylista" qualifies as fierce, to borrow producer Tyra Banks' phraseology, only in its steadfast commitment to copying the same old models.</p> <p>:</p> <p>At times Slowey comes off like a Mean Girl writ large, but some of this at least appears to be put on &mdash; a put-on. (She barely resembles the Slowey who appears on the Elle website, leading a video tour of her own closet.) At other times, with Creative Director Joe Zee by her side, judging the contestants' self-makeovers or their mock magazine pages, she can seem like a reasonable person.</p> <p>:</p> <p>Are there any bosses anywhere as demanding as Ms. Slowey pretends to be? Not really, and maybe on some level we miss them. Part of the appeal of a show like “Stylista” is that it resurrects a long-vanished way of office life, one filled with rules and regulations, distinct hierarchies and dress codes and nothing as fuzzy as flex time. As Ms. Slowey succinctly explains to the contestants at the outset: “To be in my world you either get it or you don’t.” No one has to spend a lot of time figuring out a manager like this.</p> <p>:</p> <p>Resemblances to the movie "The Devil Wears Prada" are obvious; the job that the competitors are vying for is essentially the position that Anne Hathaway had in the movie, and "Stylista" has a very bossy boss in Anne Slowey, Elle magazine's fashion news director. She's not the fire-breathing shrew played so merrily by Meryl Streep, but she's obviously a toughie. She reviews the appearances of the contestants soon after they arrive, telling one of them: "Your cleavage is busting out. It's in my face."</p> <p>The wisdom imparted by Slowey and by Joe Zee, Elle's creative director, hardly sounds like hot insider poop, however: "First impressions are important" is among the priceless gems. "If you're going to live in my world, you either get it or you don't," lectures Slowey before reviewing the contestants' first assignment: buying her a takeout breakfast from a local deli.</p> <p>:</p> <p>Imagine Slowey's horror to think that someone with my style sense is judging her show. Why, if I were to accidentally drift into her rarefied orbit, she'd faint dead away - then call the fashion police, who'd faint dead away, too. But I do know something about TV shows, and this one works best when she is on camera (which is not nearly enough) and the program focuses on clothing - that great, exasperating, endlessly complicated art form known as "fashion." Really, does anyone care that Anne only eats almonds that have been soaked overnight (amusing, but ...) or how to lay out a page? Of course not. Fashion queens like Slowey promise the keys to the kingdom; landing a gofer gig at Elle would hardly seem to be that.</p> <p>'Stylista' premieres tonight on CW at 9 p.m.</p><p><p> <p> Stylista, the reality show where contestants compete to be a "junior editor" at Elle, debuted last night, and it was a delightful festival of bitchery. Joe Zee, Elle creative director, at the show's premiere party, "We weren't mean to be mean. We were mean because we were being honest." He's practically brimming with "honesty" in this YouTube clip, where he's evaluating each contestant's outfit as Elle-worthy or poopworthy. Sure, it's a low rent reality knock off of The Devil Wears Prada, but it sure is fun!</p> <p> [Observer]</p><p>The latest season of bridal shows began on Friday, and already we are mildly concerned with what we see. While really big name Badgley Mischka is, um, one of the really biggest names in this market, I found the whole collection to be 1) ugly 2) dated and 3) kitschy. Seriously, the looked better than this shit. Monique Lhuillier, who is what Vera Wang was 10 years ago (aka the choice of "cool" brides who don't have to worry about money), offered a much better showing, her looks markedly sophisticated and tasteful and "modern' on the whole. Maybe it was just the choice of models, but something about it, though, left me with a funny taste of "child bride" in my mouth. The collections for your review, after the jump.</p> <p><br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> Badgley Mischka<br> <br> L to R: Um did they hem this dress a little short?; Look! The gown hurts her heart so badly she has to grab her sides!; Wedding dress? Or New Age straight-jacket?<br> <br> L to R: How original; Bling, anyone?; Where's Rami Kashou when you need him?<br> <br> L to R: If George Clooney marries that cocktail waitress, I bet she'll wear this; No more mermaid silhouettes, please; Just say no to tiers.<br> <br> L to R: Just painful; No more shiny, please; For the pregnant bride, clearly.<br> <br> L to R: That has to be the tackiest neckline ever; Stop! The originality is killing me! Sparkly and a mermaid silhouette!</p> <p>Monique Lhuillier<br> <br> L to R: Perfet for Romeo's Juliette &mdash; who was supposed to be what? 13 years old?; Ruffle booty!; Someone free her boobies, please.<br> <br> L to R: And Prada thinks they own the whole lace thing this season; Lo. Li. Ta: Light of my life, fire of my loins; Has this girl even hit puberty?<br> <br> L to R: Why is there something a little good touch/bad touch about this?; Tyra calls this the "couture pose"; The bride is the age of a flower girl.</p> <p>[Images via .]</p><p>Although we'd always naturally assumed that wearing underwear made out of metal and precious gems would be totally comfortable, Selita Ebanks says that is most emphatically not the case. Ebanks, who wore the Magical Diamond Bra And Panty Set Of Destiny in the 2007 Victoria's Secret fashion show, says that the stones hurt in her special lady place. A reporter asked Ebanks if she was nervous wearing underthings with a cash value of $4.5 million, and she replied, "I wasn't scared &mdash; it hurt. Yeah, diamonds hurt. I don't know about wearing diamonds on your crotch. It's like you're walking and scraping. This is not cohesive to get a man. No man wants a scratchy vagina." Pretty sure she meant "conducive," but her larger point still pretty much stands. Ebanks continued, "That's not sexy. Nobody wants bruises on their vagina." Indeed. []</p> Karl Lagerfeld is launching a new perfume named Karleidoscope. And yes, the packaging doubles as a kaleidoscope. [] The People story about Kim Kardashian's wedding to that tall fella has been online less than four days, and it's already gotten nearly six million clicks. [] DSquared2's insane fall ice skate heels &mdash; nicknamed the "Skate Moss" shoes &mdash; are in fact shipping to stores as-is, and not being dumbed-down for retail. They'll set you back $1,485 to $1,895. [] Rafael Nadal has two new ads for Emporio Armani out. [] And Reese Witherspoon is now the face of something called Lindex. [] Eniko Mihalik, Anna Jagodzinska, and Isabeli Fontana each got a September cover of Vogue Mexico. [] Alexis Bittar's Surrealism-inspired new lookbook is like as not the prettiest thing you'll see today. []In order to view comments on jezebel.com you need to enable JavaScript.<br> If you are using Firefox and NoScript addon, please mark jezebel.com as trusted.In order to view comments on jezebel.com you need to enable JavaScript.<br> If you are using Firefox and NoScript addon, please mark jezebel.com as trusted.In order to view comments on jezebel.com you need to enable JavaScript.<br> If you are using Firefox and NoScript addon, please mark jezebel.com as trusted.<p>Out of 100 people who made the cut on , only thirteen are women. Seems like the New Establishment is still taking notes from the Old one.</p><p>The list reinforces some familiar tropes: Men are the innovators and trailblazers of industry. Women, well, we're generally entertainers or being lauded for our social skills.</p> <p>I must admit, I am perplexed at a lot of this list. Glenn Beck made the list alone, Angelina Jolie had to share the spotlight with Brad Pitt. There were more women of color on the list than I expected (normally, we only see Oprah) but the Obama Administration is directly responsible for the two new entrants. And while many of the listmakers are grouped together by what they have in common, it seems that women are disproportionately tied to men.</p> <p>Here are the women on the list:</p> <p>At number eight, Brad Pitt & Angelina Jolie. She is technically the first woman to appear, but she and Brad's accomplishments are bundled together, Bill and Melinda Gates style.</p> <p>At number fifteen, we have David Axelrod, Rahm Emanuel, Valerie Jarrett, and Pete Rouse. Again, in a bundle with the other politicos.</p> <p>The first woman to get her own entry was Desirée Rogers.</p> <p>28. Desirée Rogers<br> White House social secretary</p> <p>NEW ENTRY.</p> <p>STAGE OF GLOBAL CONQUEST: Bringing glamour and energy to her role as White House social secretary, the Harvard M.B.A. sees herself as keeper of "the best brand on earth: the Obama brand." She has infused what she calls "the people's house" with a younger, hipper, and artsier spirit through a flurry of events such as its first-ever "poetry jam." She made room for a dance floor in the State Dining Room so the nation's governors-and the president-could join a conga line as Earth, Wind & Fire performed.</p> <p>FASHION SENSE: Elegantly attired in Chloé, Jil Sander, or Thakoon, Rogers, 50, was profiled by Vogue-and sat next to its editor, Anna Wintour, at New York's runway shows.</p> <p>FITNESS REGIME: Jumping rope, yoga.</p> <p>WOMAN-OF-THE-PEOPLE MOVE: Using the Internet to distribute more than 30,000 tickets to the White House Easter Egg Roll instead of forcing the masses to wait on line outside for hours.</p> <p>ROOTS: The New Orleans native is a descendant of a Creole voodoo priestess-and she has been queen of the Zulu Mardi Gras krewe.</p> <p>(Side note to : Don't encourage the birthers!)</p> <p>Barry Diller and Diane von Furstenberg clock in at number 36.</p> <p>The next woman to get her own billing is the ever-formidable O.</p> <p>38. Oprah Winfrey<br> Harpo</p> <p>LAST YEAR: 43.</p> <p>STAGE OF GLOBAL CONQUEST: Oprah is still the single most popular, and powerful, TV host in the world, able to steer millions toward whatever book, diet, or self-help philosophy she embraces. Her highest-profile endorsement to date: fellow Chicagoan Barack Obama. Its partial payoff: she scored lots of camera time during his Election Night victory speech in Chicago's Grant Park. And while there is continual chatter that her appeal may be dimming, no challenger has come close to catching her.</p> <p>COOL NEW PAL: Former Viacom C.E.O. Tom Freston, whom Oprah, 55, describes as her "business soul mate" and who has been helping her staff the new Oprah Winfrey Network, with hires like Christina Norman, the former president of MTV (and former Freston employee).</p> <p>LATEST BIG GET: The Queen of all Media will open her 24th season with pop diva Whitney Houston, in what is being billed as "the most anticipated music interview of the decade." The singer, who's had a tumultuous several years, hasn't given an interview since 2002.</p> <p>LATEST ENTHUSIASM: Oprah gave trendy Web service Twitter a boost in April by signing up and introducing her audience to its co-founder Evan Williams. (She had a million followers in 28 days.)</p> <p>THORN IN HER SIDE: In August, Oprah and her medical guru, Dr. Mehmet Oz, filed suit against more than three dozen companies to stop them from using the two's images to sell dietary supplements online.<br> YEAR AHEAD: ?</p> <p>And the rest of the women are as follows.</p> <p>40. Meryl Streep<br> Actor</p> <p>NEW ENTRY.</p> <p>STAGE OF GLOBAL CONQUEST: Everyone adores the regal Streep, who at age 60 is undeniably Hollywood's most skillful actress (her performance as a tough nun in Doubt earned her a record-breaking 15th Oscar nomination and 23rd Golden Globe nod) as well as one of its top-drawing female stars, as witnessed by The Devil Wears Prada ($325 million worldwide gross) and Mamma Mia ($600 million). The Wall Street Journal described her buoyant turn as Julia Child in this summer's Julie & Julia as "a grand comic performance" from "a fearless actress," and The New York Times wrote: "By now this actress has exhausted every superlative that exists, and to suggest that she has outdone herself is only to say that she has done it again." Critics and audiences alike felt Streep's culinary giant upstaged Amy Adams as the present-day blogger Julie Powell.</p> <p>FAMILY RELATIONS: She took a year off after the birth of each of her four children, who are now aged 18 to 29.</p> <p>LEGEND HAS IT: She was a mousy teen before she dyed her hair blonde, switched to contact lenses-and was named homecoming queen of her New Jersey high school.</p> <p>YEAR AHEAD: ?</p> <p>44. Miuccia Prada<br> Prada</p> <p>LAST YEAR: 30.</p> <p>STAGE OF GLOBAL CONQUEST: After opening 34 new stores in 2008, the famed designer and her C.E.O., husband Patrizio Bertelli, negotiated an extension on payment of some $650 million in debt, a move which will aid her burgeoning fashion empire's ongoing expansion. (She now has 238 stores worldwide.) Last September, the awful economy forced the company to call off its long-in-the-work plans for an initial public offering of stock. But Prada reportedly turned down investors who were interested in taking minority stakes, and is still looking to go public eventually.</p> <p>BOLD MOVE: Despite the pressures of the economic recession, Prada, 60, has remained committed to her patronage of the arts beyond her work in fashion. April marked the debut in Seoul of her new exhibition pavilion, "Transformer," a 180-ton, 66-foot-tall structure of steel supports and translucent polyvinyl skin, designed by starchitect Rem Koolhaas.</p> <p>69. Maria Bartiromo and Erin Burnett<br> CNBC</p> <p>NEW ENTRY.</p> <p>STAGE OF GLOBAL CONQUEST: Bartiromo, 42, is still the queen bee over at CNBC, but Burnett, 33, is coming on strong. The women are the only two CNBC personalities who anchor solo hours while the stock market is open. A new, five-year deal Bartiromo inked with her bosses at the end of 2008 means the original Money Honey isn't ready to relinquish her crown yet, so Burnett had better steel herself for a long fight. (Burnett signed a three-year deal in mid-2008.)</p> <p>BRAGGING RIGHTS: Bartiromo scored the first post-firing interview with John Thain of Merrill Lynch. Burnett was invited inside Herb Allen's Sun Valley mogul retreat this year-which is notorious for forcing reporters to remain at arm's length.</p> <p>MEASURING STICK: The currency of the television interviewer is the "get." Bartiromo is on a roll: then Treasury secretary Henry Paulson, Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, Sarah Palin, and Russian president Dmitry Medvedev. But so is Burnett: Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner, JPMorgan Chase's Jamie Dimon, Goldman Sachs's Lloyd Blankfein, Morgan Stanley's John Mack, and Bank of America's Ken Lewis.</p> <p>WORLD-DOMINATION WATCH: In the never-ending battle for primacy among CNBC talking heads, Bartiromo was ahead in one noticeable regard for months: it was her face staring down from a giant billboard on the southbound side of Manhattan's West Side Highway. "I was flattered and honored by it," she says. "But it was a little Big Brother, considering how huge it is."</p> <p>FOOT IN MOUTH: In November 2007, on MSNBC's Morning Joe program, Burnett, while looking at footage of then president George W. Bush flanked by two other world leaders, called him "the monkey in the middle."</p> <p>YEAR AHEAD: ?</p> <p>82. Stephenie Meyer<br> Author</p> <p>NEW ENTRY.</p> <p>STAGE OF GLOBAL CONQUEST: The Mormon housewife's Twilight teen-vampire romance novels sold nearly 29 million copies in one year, capturing the top four positions on the USA Today best-seller list for 2008, making her the first author ever to do so. (J. K. Rowling came close with Nos. 1, 2, 3, and 5 with her Harry Potter titles in 2000.) The movie version of Twilight grossed $191 million in the U.S., and the film adaptation of her second book, New Moon, opens in November. Meyer has also inspired hundreds of Web sites from fans who call themselves "Stephen-ites" or "Twi-hards."</p> <p>MARITAL RELATIONS: Her husband, Christian, quit his job as an auditor to look after their three sons.</p> <p>DAILY HABITS: Drives fast but doesn't consume alcohol or caffeine.</p> <p>LEGEND HAS IT: Meyer, 35, began writing as a 29-year-old Phoenix housewife in 2003 after dreaming of vampires one night. She wrote 10 pages the next morning before driving her sons to swimming lessons. She moved a desk into the living room and finished her 130,000-word first novel in only three months.</p> <p>THORN IN HER SIDE: Stephen King, who said that "Rowling is a terrific writer and Stephenie Meyer can't write worth a darn."</p> <p>NEW THORN IN HER SIDE: Jordan Scott, who has alleged in a lawsuit filed in August that Meyer stole ideas from her 2006 vampire novel The Nocturne, and used them in Breaking Dawn, which Meyer published in 2008. Meyer's publisher has said that the claims are meritless.</p> <p>YEAR AHEAD: ?</p> <p>86. Meredith Whitney<br> Meredith Whitney Advisory Group</p> <p>NEW ENTRY.</p> <p>STAGE OF GLOBAL CONQUEST: Financial analyst Whitney's star continues to rise 17 months after her "sell" rating on Citigroup sent the market into a tailspin and helped cost Citigroup C.E.O. Chuck Prince his job. After more than 15 years of working for other people, she set up her own shop in February, the Meredith Whitney Advisory Group.</p> <p>FITNESS ROUTINE: For several years, Whitney, 39, and her girlfriends have attended a fitness retreat in Mexico called<br> Bikini Boot Camp.</p> <p>MOGUL RELATIONS: Despite the fact that Merrill Lynch and Wachovia were two of her biggest short positions in 2008, ex-C.E.O.'s John Thain and Bob Steel still came to a party she had in June to celebrate the opening of her new office.</p> <p>THORN IN HER SIDE: The Wall Street Journal's David Weidner, who wrote in April 2009 that Whitney's reputation as a Wall Street oracle is overblown and undeserved.</p> <p>MORTAL ENEMY: Whitney's 2007 "sell" rating on Citigroup put an end to Chuck Prince's career just four days later. She<br> says she has yet to run into him in a dark alley but keeps an eye over her shoulder just in case.</p> <p>BRAGGING RIGHTS: In July, Whitney made a midday call to buy shares in Goldman Sachs, turning a down day into a feverish rally.</p> <p>QUOTE: "The funny thing is, in your twenties you try and look serious, and after your twenties, you just try and look hot. I'm not an old white dude, so I stick out."</p> <p>YEAR AHEAD: ?</p> <p>88. Arianna Huffington<br> The Huffington Post</p> <p>LAST YEAR: 90.</p> <p>STAGE OF GLOBAL CONQUEST: Her eponymous Web site, which recently linked up with Facebook and launched sections devoted to sports, books, and technology, hit its stride during the 2008 election, when its mix of lefty bloggers and news stories culled from other publications resonated with an ever increasing audience. After Barack Obama's victory, it raised another $25 million from investors, then swapped out C.E.O. Betsy Morgan for venture capitalist Eric Hippeau.</p> <p>SILENT PARTNER: Huffington gets the headlines, but Huffpo co-founder Ken Lerer, a P.R. hotshot who also put in time at AOL, has at least as much influence on the site's strategy.</p> <p>LABOR RELATIONS: Huffpo pays nothing to the bloggers and publications it "aggregates." Huffington, 59, says her contributors should be pleased to get the exposure, and that other sites she points readers to should be happy to get the traffic. Very often, she's right.</p> <p>QUOTE: "I did not single-handedly kill newspapers. I had a lot of help from Craigslist."</p> <p>YEAR AHEAD: ?</p> <p>100. Lauren Zalaznick<br> NBC Universal</p> <p>NEW ENTRY.</p> <p>STAGE OF GLOBAL CONQUEST: One of TV's most influential curators, Zalaznick runs NBC Universal's Bravo and Oxygen cable channels and fills both with highbrow takes on lowbrow reality shows: Top Chef, NYC Prep, Real Housewives. One show you can't see on her networks: Project Runway, which started out on Bravo but has been moved, against the network's will, to Lifetime.</p> <p>PREVIOUS LIFE: The Brown semiotics major spent years in the indie-film world, producing serious fare such as Swoon and Kids.</p> <p>CRIB: Manhattan's East Village.</p> <p>PREVIOUS CONTRIBUTION TO MASS CULTURE: As an executive at VH1, Zalaznick, 46, championed Pop-Up Video, which helped pioneer a meta-commentary perspective that today's media consumers take for granted.</p> <p>SIGN OF OBSESSIVE BEHAVIOR: Once had her family pose for a photo every day of the year.</p> <p>YEAR AHEAD: ?</p> <p>In addition to the main feature, there were also two side articles. The first showcases , who are lauded for leaving an "indelible mark on the world of business". Women on that list include: Annette De La Renta (listed with Oscar); Diane Sawyer (listed with Mike Nichols); Melinda Gates (listed with Bill); and Barbara Walters.</p> <p>Only one woman made : Donatella Versace.</p> <p>After reviewing the three lists, I am reminded of why I like to seek out niche publications like Black Enterprise and Pink to see what African-American and women entrepreneurs are doing. Whenever I read a list like this, or the list, an island in their sea of financial power coverage, it stands to reinforce the view of the dominant power structures in society. Women and minorities still do not have a fraction of the power and influence that the men on these lists have attained. And, despite all of our advances over the last forty years, it is exactly as I said in the beginning of the piece: the New Establishment is still taking notes from the Old Establishment.</p> <p> [Vanity Fair]<br> [Vanity Fair]<br> [Vanity Fair]</p> <p>Earlier: <br> <br> Note: This post has been updated to reflect the oversight of Stephanie Meyer and Meryl Streep at the original publication time.</p>In order to view comments on jezebel.com you need to enable JavaScript.<br> If you are using Firefox and NoScript addon, please mark jezebel.com as trusted.In order to view comments on jezebel.com you need to enable JavaScript.<br> If you are using Firefox and NoScript addon, please mark jezebel.com as trusted.<p>16-year-old Tavi Gevinson is on the cover of Bust magazine and this week's New York Times Style section. The blogger and editor talks to the former about her interest in fashion, feminist conversion experience, and college plans. The Times tagged along on Rookie's recent road trip of readings and events across the U.S., which ended last week in California.</p> <p>Tavi tells Bust about how at age 12 she convinced her parents to let her skip school to line up for the Chicago launch of H&M's Comme des Garçons collection. Gevinson pleaded her case at the family dinner table. "I just said that I thought [Comme des Garçons] was really interesting and that it meant a lot to me," says Gevinson. "Because it was not about looking attractive or looking cool or looking pretty. In retrospect, that must've been really comforting to parents who had a kid in middle school, when everyone else has, like, humping parties or whatever."</p> <p>Gevinson also explains why she now spends less of her time writing about fashion and attending fashion week events. It's that mean girl Anna Wintour's fault, basically:</p> <p>"I sat next to Anna Wintour at a Band of Outsiders show, and she asked me, "When do you go to school?" I just felt like, When do your models go to school?...There wasn't any real enthusiasm coming from the people who were there for what was going on around us, even though it should have been this exciting, creative thing. I felt funny about that experience. I wanted to start writing about other things on my blog, branching out from fashion."</p> <p>Never meet your idols.</p> <p>Although Gevinson's ardour for fashion has cooled somewhat, and Rookie, the online magazine Gevinson founded at 15, is a general-interest site aimed at teenage girls, Gevinson still thinks a lot about clothes and their meanings. "Fashion can be used to assert your individuality and your control and power over how you perceive yourself and present yourself, and it can be a form of expression." [, ]</p> Speaking of very young women in fashion, in the September issue of Flare, 18-year-old cover model Lindsey Wixson says that she thinks about her family every time she's asked to pose topless or nude: <p>"I want to make them proud and I try to keep it pretty modest. The fashion industry always wants something else out of you and you can decide if you want to fall into that or maintain your morals and stay true to yourself. I always think about what the people from my hometown would think of some of my shoots. I care about what my family thinks &mdash; they wouldn't want to see my boobs printed everywhere."</p> <p>When she was 15, Wixson having to ask a W stylist to let her wear a flesh-toned bra underneath a transparent blouse the magazine had chosen for her. []</p> Fashionista and the Fashion Law point out that many of the styles in Madonna's new footwear line strongly resemble designs by Christian Louboutin and Nowhere. Originals are on the left, Madonna's are on the right. [, ] OPI is releasing a top coat flecked with tiny pieces of 18-karat gold leaf this fall. No word on price. [] A Los Angeles-based artist designed this Louis Vuitton wafflemaker. []<p>Taylor Swift's February Vogue cover profile is online. Interesting tidbits include the fact that she knows the entire "Honey Badger" viral video off by heart. But there is sadly no record of this, because Swift asked writer Jonathan Van Meter if "her cursing could be off the record," and he obliged. Unlike honey badger, Taylor Swift do give a shit. Elsewhere in the piece, Swift says that the people she "really trusts" all have one thing in common: they were not cool when they were growing up. "If you know how to be cool in middle school, maybe you have skills you shouldn't," she says. "Maybe you know how to be conniving, like, naturally." And she shares her four rules for dating &mdash; one is that dudes can't be "too obsessed" with privacy (she invokes paparazzi specifically, but presumably dudes Swift dates also need to be un-privacy-obsessed enough to be resigned to the fact that she will eventually write a song and/or songs about them), and another is that they can't make her feel "like a princessy diva" for having security or other trappings of fame. "I don't have security to make myself look cool, or like I have an entourage. I have security because there's a file of stalkers who want to take me home and chain me to a pipe in their basement." []</p> Rihanna is in some more Emporio Armani underwear ads. [] Shaven-headed Alice Dellal is a face of Chanel and of Marc by Marc Jacobs this season. [] Chanel Iman is looking gorgeous on the new cover of L'Officiel Paris. [] The upcoming Yves Saint Laurent retrospective at the Denver Art Museum looks fantastic. [] OMG EVERYBODY KARL LAGERFELD HAS A NEW KITTEN IT IS NAMED CHOUPETTE AND ISN'T IT SOOOOOOOO CUTE KITTEH KITTEH FASHUN AWWWWWWW!!!1!!1! [@]In order to view comments on jezebel.com you need to enable JavaScript.<br> If you are using Firefox and NoScript addon, please mark jezebel.com as trusted.In order to view comments on jezebel.com you need to enable JavaScript.<br> If you are using Firefox and NoScript addon, please mark jezebel.com as trusted.<p>Hailey Clauson's lawsuit against Urban Outfitters for allegedly printing her image on t-shirts without authorization will proceed. Clauson's lawsuit against photographer Jason Lee Parry was dismissed on procedural grounds, but where Urban Outfitters is concerned the judge found that there is a case to answer for the unauthorized use of her image. Clauson and her parents the retailer for $28 million after taken for an obscure German fashion magazine called Qvest somehow came to adorn t-shirts that were sold at Urban Outfitters stores and online. Clauson turned 15 the month the highly sexualized photos were taken. Clauson, who celebrated her 17th birthday a few days ago, was most recently seen in the pages of Pop, being [NSFW]. []</p> A second employee has added her name to the $50 million lawsuit filed against Alexander Wang for alleged labor violations. Garment worker Flor Duarte alleges that she was forced to work 90-hour weeks in Wang's studio without required breaks or overtime pay, and that when she complained of the illegal treatment and filed a worker's compensation claim, she was fired in retaliation. Wenyu Lu, another garment worker, made similar allegations last week. [] J. Lo is on the cover of Vogue's annual "Shape" issue. The cover reminds us just a little of Rihanna's "Shape" issue cover from last year &mdash; ocean in the background, bright red in the foreground. [] Heidi Klum is on the other, non-Jessica Simpson, cover of Elle this month. She tells the magazine that she doesn't see the point in talking to the press about her separation from Seal. "People don't need to know who did what. I don't want to talk positively or negatively about the ups and downs that we had. Every couple goes through things. Unfortunately, we're in the public, so the highs are out there. But I don't think it's necessary &mdash; especially for our children &mdash; to have the lows being printed in magazines and talked about." [] Cameron Diaz's first Tag Heuer ad is out. []It's official: The "all black" issue of Italian Vogue is a hit. According to Time magazine's Jeff Israely, "After the original run of the July issue sold out in the U.S. and U.K. in 72 hours, Vogue Italia has just rushed to reprint 30,000 extra copies for American newsstands, another 10,000 for Britain and 20,000 more in Italy. The only complaints about the reprints might come from those currently trying to sell copies on eBay for $45 apiece." But not everyone thinks the issue is ground-breaking enough. Writer Priyamvada Gopal has a column in today's Guardian in which she claims black women actually have "little to gain" from the issue. So for whom should we chalk one up?Gopal writes: Well, it certainly is one for the inalienable right to be tall, thin, and airbrushed… Black models? Sure. But there's not a "natural" or "kinky" in sight, indeed, barely even a mop of curly hair. This is black girls-as-white girls: all aquiline noses, large eyes, oval faces (bar the standard exception of "unusual" Alek Wek), hair coaxed into silky straightness or carefully turbaned away in shot after shot. As for "black", it's more latte than americano. By simultaneously marking blackness as "special" and yet ensuring conformity to dominant (white and European) ideas of sophistication and beauty, the "black issue" tells us a great deal about race and ethnicity in the media today. To be non-white is to be constantly relegated to a "special issue", while the regular edition remains determinedly white. She has a point. Magazines are not inclusive. There's absolutely a euro-centric point of view; a Westernized, Caucasian standard of beauty. But I'll argue that without the "special" issue, some people would not be talking about the race problems in the fashion industry at all. Model mogul Bethann Hardison spearheaded conversations about the lack of black models last fall; I attended her "Out Of Fashion" discussion in . Then another one in . The number of people at the events grew; the number of news outlets discussing the issue grew. By , Vogue had acknowledged the problem. Italian Vogue may be but a hammer blow to the wall put up around a billion dollar industry; a fortress to which, for years, only willowy Eastern European 16 year-olds had access. It wasn't always so; black models worked in the '70s and '80s more than they do now. Does Italian Vogue solve the problem? No. But every little bit helps. A dialogue helps. And the next wall to break through just might be weight: With the exception of Toccara, all of the models in the "all-black" issue held to the slim standard. Unfortunately, according to a by business professors at Villanova University and the College of New Jersey, ads featuring thin models made women feel worse about themselves but better about the brands featured. Writes Jack Neff for AdAge, "Despite the negative effect on their body image, women preferred ads showing thin models and said they were more likely to buy products featured in those ads than in ones showing 'regular-size models,' said Jeremy Kees, a business professor at Villanova." Why do we expect magazines to embrace women of all colors, shapes and sizes, when we, the women reading them, fail to do so? [Time] [Guardian] [AdAge] Earlier:<p> A new round of self-congratulation among the fashion industry's boosters argues that this past season was great for "curvy" girls, such as the "womanly" at Vuitton. What are we really talking about here? Boobs.</p><p>Claire Brayford of The Daily Express is the latest to that "curvy girls are the future," and that the models at Prada and the supermodels at Louis Vuitton were some kind of sea change: "There is clearly a new benchmark being set for women of varying body types."</p> <p>Glamour editor Cindi Leive also loved the Vuitton show for similar reasons, although she wasn't trying to rhapsodize about the coming revolution:</p> <p></p> <p>We'd welcome any divergence from a standard that can be hauntingly gaunt. But let's not get carried away with the Dove-style celebrations. These women are "curvy" in the way is curvy: They have tiny waists and very little body fat, but they have relatively large breasts. Neither feminine ideal breaks the mold particularly.</p> <p>Brayford is actually quite explicit on this point:</p> <p>Not since the supermodel hey day back in the late Eighties have we seen so much bounce on the catwalks.<br> At the recent Prada and Louis Vuitton shows, boobs were definitely one of the defining features.</p> <p>Brayford joins a party that includes noted advocate of women's self-esteem , who last week in the Huffington Post that the same two European fashion shows heralded "a victory for all women!" :</p> <p>As stunning as these women are, they've been pretty much banished from top designer runways in recent years &mdash; they've been considered "too comercial" [sic] by snooty fashion insiders. In other words &mdash; us regular women might like to actually look like them and wear the clothes that they're modeling.</p> <p>There is a grain of a point here: the lean, straight-down bodies of the runway may be preferred for not distracting from the clothes, as the usual argument goes, but they are also implicitly considered more "luxurious," while prominent breasts are deemed lower-class. Still, Fuller took it to a whole other level during New York Fashion Week:</p> <p></p> <p>Here are some recent images of the women she is calling "curvy" and "normal-sized."</p> <p><br> </p> <p>That would be progress from a size 0 to... a 4? The breasts get bigger, but the waist stays tiny. It's the same sort of celebration of loving your body that Victoria's Secret offered us with the commercial below. Meet the new boss, same as the old boss.</p> <p></p> <p> [Daily Express]<br> [Huffington Post]</p> <p>Earlier: </p>Men's fashion week has wound its way through Milan and Paris, leaving streaks of body makeup and memories of ridiculous clothes in its wake. When your stockbroker is also a leather daddy, buy him Versace. He'll thank you. And if you stare intently at the yellow pants for long enough, a picture of a handsome, stylishly dressed man appears.According to Vogue's Emily Holt, has a lot to do with the looming presidential election, which translated on the runway to a looser fitting clothes that "would liberate women's movements as they go about their day." You know, like help them vote or whatever &mdash; I'm not really sure because I know almost nothing about fashion. I say "almost" instead of "absolutely" because I've seen The Devil Wears Prada like four and a half times. I have, however, seen Mortal Kombat like forty-seven times and know that, if these looks entered into a deathmatch tournament, some would fare much better than others. What follows are some...matchups. Fashion people of the internet, look on this slideshow and despair &mdash; it's the Prabal Gurung Spring Collection Smackdown.<p>Spring has sprung! This year, there are five items every woman must have her wardrobe. As the seasons change, so should your essentials; and when it comes to accessories, think bright, light and white! The five items you ought not be seen without, after the jump.<br> <br></p> <p><br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> 1. A bright bag.<br> Begone dull, drab winter blues! Hello, electric vivid hues! Spring and summer are all about brights this year. Try this papaya-colored patent leather shoulder bag from Fendi, $1,860. []</p> <p>2. An "it" shoe<br> It really ought to be Prada. How can you not be in love with the new flower-heeled Mary Jane from Prada? Whimsical, unique, fresh: Everything a spring shoe should be! ($790)<br> []</p> <p>3. Something sequined<br> As seen in the April issue of Allure, sparkle &mdash; especially for evening &mdash; is effortlessly chic. We especially like Lanvin dress ($1,133), it's fit for a goddess! Ooh, and the Christian Louboutin suede and crystal peep-toe pumps ($2,500) are exquisite.<br> <br> 4. A white-banded watch.<br> A fresh, clean, white watch will look crisp and right with Spring brights and florals. Just look at the choices from the April issue of Vogue: From a $1,600 Tag Heuer to a $11,500 Hublot, there's a choice for every budget. As Vogue says, "Need it now!"</p> <p>5. A piece of jewelry that makes a statement.<br> Whether you choose a necklace, a ring, earrings or a bracelet, look for a large item which refuses to be ignored. This year, jewelry does not whisper. It shouts: I am here, and I am gorgeous! We absolutely adore this 35 carat spessartite pendant: With a floaty dress or narrow jeans, you'll be beautifully adorned. ($66,000) []</p> <p>Be sure to check out fall accessories picked by Candy Pratts Price over at .<br></p><p>Sure, Victoria "Posh Spice" Beckham is all -esque in the August issue of Allure, but even more interesting is the "Art And Artifice" fashion shoot inside. Photographed by Patrick Demarchelier, the spread features "the best of the fall collections," which means lots of fur and boots and stars (gasp!) an Asian model. Did buzz around the recent Italian Vogue have an effect on the fellow Condé Nast mag? Or did the editors at Allure just realize they needed to branch out? (The November issue had ; December had Asian models and January featured Asian models.) Is diversity finally returning to magazines? And can a mainstream American magazine shoot an Asian woman without resorting to any Asian stereotypes? A few images, after the jump.</p><p>One of the Asian woman image stereotypes is that of "China Doll." While this (gorgeous!) woman certainly has unreal skin, her "you may gaze upon me if you like but I'm busy doing other things at the moment" pose is not so passive as to be offensive. In my opinion. Am I wrong?<br> Fur, leather, luxe. Loving this despite myself.<br> is back, sorta.<br> This feathery dress is organza and therefore mind-boggling, which means it must be super expensive.<br> So. Damn. Elegant.<br> Ding ding ding! We have a winner. If you shoot an Asian model, you have to have a kimono. Duh. Luckily they didn't opt for chopsticks in the hair. The model, , is from Shanghai; kimonos are traditionally Japanese. But maybe since this one is by Donna Karan it's neither here nor there?</p> <p>Earlier: <br> <br> </p><p>The fashion industry in 2010 was rocked by everything from untimely deaths to unlikely unionization efforts. Money, sexual harassment, suicide, and shocking resignations: here's what changed fashion this year. [NSFW]</p><p>Alexander McQueen Died</p> <p> On the 11th of February, the fashion designer Lee Alexander McQueen was found dead in his London home. An inquest would that before hanging himself in his wardrobe, the 40-year-old designer ingested a lethal quantity of cocaine, tranquilizers and sleeping pills, slit his wrists, attempted to hang himself from a shower rail in his bathroom, and wrote a suicide note on the back of a hardcover book, which read:</p> <p>Look after my dogs. Sorry, I love you, Lee. P.S. Bury me at the church.</p> <p>Although McQueen had bolted and chain-locked his door, his housekeeper managed to get in through a side door, and she found his body. McQueen's remains were cremated.</p> <p>The designer died on the eve of his mother's funeral, after what friends acknowledged had been a long struggle with depression and substance abuse. (His psychiatrist testified at the coroner's inquest that McQueen had made at least two previous suicide attempts.) Attendees at New York fashion week, the overglamourized trade fair that kicks off the designer fashion season, learned of the news during the morning of the first day of shows. (I woke up to hear of McQueen's death hungover and still halfway drunk from a Gen Art party the night before where, I recall, I'd lightly discussed "the whole woman-as-object discourse" of the models tableaux with a dude who went to Oberlin.) You expect fashion week to be mediocre-bad, like spending a week at the DMV bad, all long lines and uncertain outcomes; for an actual incidence of human tragedy to rupture the proceedings was strangely shocking. McQueen's sure sense of craft &mdash; honed at Central St. Martins, and at Gieves & Hawkes on Savile Row &mdash; was brought to bear on designs that evidenced considerations far beyond fashion's usual bailiwick, like politics, the impact of technology on culture, and the bloodier episodes of Scottish history. For this, McQueen inspired a kind of devotion that was unusual for its rabidity and its broad base: he was a designer it was okay to like, even if one was a "serious" person who ordinarily didn't care about that fashion stuff, and he was simultaneously the contemporary designer who made possible fashion's highest expression. To outsiders, Alexander McQueen was fashion's redemption. To insider's, he was its apotheosis.</p> <p>The potential influence of the "industry" on McQueen's frame of mind was immediately under the microscope. Stefano Tonchi, then the editor of the New York Times' T magazine, called the designer, "just one of the little cogs that got squeezed." Philip Treacy, the hatmaker who was McQueen's friend for 20 years, said, "Creativity is a very fragile thing, and Lee was very fragile." There was fervent over whether McQueen was a "misogynist."</p> <p>Meanwhile, McQueen's second-in-command, Sarah Burton, oversaw the presentation of McQueen's last, unfinished, at Paris fashion week. It was very well received. After rumors that everyone from Gareth Pugh to Christian Siriano might take over, Gucci Group eventually Burton as the brand's new creative director.</p> <p>Before he died, McQueen gave what turned out to be one of his last interviews to LOVE magazine. He , in part, "When I'm dead, hopefully this house will still be going. On a spaceship. Hopping up and down above the earth."</p> <p>Terry Richardson Was Accused Of Sexual Harassment</p> <p>It all started in March, when the Danish model Rie Rasmussen confronted the fashion and art photographer Terry Richardson at a party in Paris. Rasmussen, who once worked with Richardson on a Gucci campaign, went up to him and told him he abuses his position of power within the industry to sexually harass young women with impunity. "They are too afraid to say no because their agency booked them on the job and are too young to stand up for themselves," said Rasmussen later to the New York Post. "I told him, 'What you do is completely degrading to women. I hope you know you only fuck girls because you have a camera, lots of fashion contacts and get your pictures in Vogue.'"</p> <p>Rather than defend himself, Richardson allegedly fled the scene, and instead called Rasmussen's agency to complain about her.</p> <p>Days later, a model named Jamie Peck published an essay detailing her two shoots with Richardson; Peck said Richardson at one point asked to have Peck's used tampon, with which to make "tampon tea." Peck's of her time with Richardson includes the line, "I'm not sure how he maneuvered me over to the couch, but at some point he strongly suggested I touch his terrifying penis." Richardson once said of breaking into modeling, "It's not who you know, it's who you blow. I don't have a hole in my jeans for nothing."</p> <p>More models and fashion industry insiders to us with many other stories of Richardson's sexual misconduct. After nearly a week of newspaper and blog coverage, Richardson a non-specific denial of any wrongdoing. Though Richardson's behavior at work had long been a topic of discussion and concern within the industry, and, in particular, among models, this was the first time that people outside the industry were learning of his alleged abuses of power, and it was the first time that several women came forward publicly with specific allegations of misconduct.</p> <p>Although there were reports that Richardson was personally badly shaken by the scandal, his career has not really suffered in the months since: he has maintained his relationships with his high-paying commercial clients, like H&M and Aldo, and if anything, he has worked for his editorial clients, like Vogue Paris, American Vogue, and American Harper's Bazaar, more often than even before. But being Terry Richardson these days must mean living in the knowledge that there's always another shoe that might drop.</p> <p>New York Fashion Week Moved To Lincoln Center</p> <p>New York fashion week, that aforementioned overglamourized trade show, moved from its longtime home at Bryant Park to Lincoln Center. Swapping the New York Public Library's back yard for the lot adjacent to the ballet and the opera struck a lot of fashion observers as a significant move up; endless column were with on fashion's integration into the high culture (or, the punditry , ruminations on the significance of the fact that the shows were taking place in Damrosch Park, the part of Lincoln Center usually occupied by the circus). What changed practically was that venues and backstage areas got bigger, and most shows moved to a centralized e-ticketing system that shortened lines but made it drastically harder to sneak in, which was always kind of the part of fashion week.</p> <p>In other news, there was a , and a barely averted . The best part of the whole proceedings was definitely Sadie's insurgency.</p> <p>Models At London Fashion Week Unionized</p> <p>The next week, across the Atlantic, London fashion week got underway as the first fashion week to ever proceed under a collective bargaining between models and designers. The U.K. model union, in 2007 as a shop of the actors' union Equity by two models named Victoria Keon-Cohen and Dunja Knezevic, reached an agreement with the British Fashion Council governing working hours, break times, minimum rates for fashion shows (most shows pay "in trade," that is, in clothes) and the like. (If those provisions sound very basic, they are: The modeling industry at present lacks almost any regulation whatsoever.) As independent contractors who are also often minors, models have traditionally been vulnerable to exploitation. Agencies supposedly exist to further models' interests, but the terms of most agency contracts leave the model responsible for virtually all costs and risks, and with little recourse for dealing with issues like, say, sexual harassment or financial exploitation.</p> <p>Things like the Terry Richardson scandal, as well as the of model-turned-filmmaker Sara Ziff's Picture Me, are slowly making the public aware of the issues many young models face, like being made to choose between finishing high school and having a career, being encouraged to develop unhealthy eating habits, and agency debt. Ziff recently announced that she intends to found a professional organization for models in the U.S., and Fordham University now has a legal clinic available for models who need legal advice. It's never easy to foment these kinds of changes, and there are certainly powerful, entrenched interests who have long grown used to having a labor force that is young, relatively economically powerless, and interchangeable. But hard-won developments like these certainly renew my that this industry will become a safer place for some of its youngest and potentially most vulnerable workers.</p> <p>Michelle Obama Wore Clothes</p> <p>The American First Lady continued to be a fashion story unto herself. Whether wearing Talbot's, Marc Jacobs, Alexander McQueen, or vintage, people wrote books about her style, blogged it, discussed it on cable TV, and criticized it. The Harvard Business Review studied her public appearances, and :</p> <p>Michelle Obama created $2.7 billion in cumulative abnormal returns &mdash; value over and above normal market variations &mdash; for fashion and retail companies associated with the clothes she wore.</p> <p>Unknown is how HBR managed to explain the fact that Maria Pinto, a designer Obama wore frequently, went in 2010.</p> <p>Every Victoria's Secret Angel Known To Man Is Having Or Has Recently Had A Baby</p> <p>The Victoria's Secret baby boom of 2009 &mdash; Karolina Kurkova, Gisele Bündchen, Adriana Lima, and Heidi Klum all gave birth late last year &mdash; continued unabated this year, with both Doutzen Kroes and Miranda Kerr . And young mother Arizona Muse walked the most recent Prada exclusive.</p> <p>Carine Roitfeld Resigned From Vogue Paris</p> <p>Just as it seemed fashion in 2010 was going to go out with a whimper, Carine Roitfeld suddenly that she was leaving Vogue Paris, the publication she has edited for a decade. Roitfeld said only that she was tired, and wanted a change; after the March issue ships, she'll be gone. Although inevitably sprung up that she had been fired, no replacement is in immediate evidence. During her time at the top, Roitfeld made possible some of Vogue Paris' editorials, and also some of its all-out . Whatever the circumstances of her departure, and whatever she turns to in future, her mark on fashion is made.</p><p>Anyone who's ever been dragged to a mall to buy a backpack's worth of notebooks and a new pair of regulation shoes has surely wondered if it wouldn't be possible to, you know, cram even more harried, bickering parent-teen pairs into a confined, fluorescent-lit space redolent with stale movie popcorn and sadness. What if there were some way to make back-to-school shopping even busier? Even bigger? Even more crowded? Well, Teen Vogue is inventing a new fashion holiday, to sit in the pantheon of shopping holidays alongside Black Friday and Cyber Monday and Boxing Day (Commonwealth, represent!): Back-to-School Saturday (nothing says "fun" like "school" and "Saturday" in the same sentence!). The magazine has decided the inaugural event will take place this year on August 11. Think Fashion's Night Out for the middle and high school set. Naturally, there will be branded partnerships. The Times reports that stores including Aéropostale, American Eagle Outfitters, Express, Guess, H&M, Maybelline New York, Pacific Sunwear of California, Quiksilver, Staples and Vans will participate. Cover Girl, Olay, Pantene and Tampax &mdash; all owned by Proctor & Gamble &mdash; are also involved.</p> <p>Deborah Marquardt, vice president for media and integrated marketing at Maybelline New York, part of the L'Oréal USA division of L'Oréal, said that for Teen Vogue's target generation, "shopping is like a sport."</p> <p>Back-to-School Saturday represents an "opportunity to get out in front of this key audience," she added, in a relevant way that "gives shape and focus to something that's already existed, elevating it, event-izing it and celebrating it."</p> <p>"If it doesn't provide anything of value," Ms. Marquardt said, consumers will not respond. "But they're going to get samples, and they're going to get offers, and there'll be a fashion show at the Grove," she added, referring to a mall in Los Angeles, "where 10-to-15,000 are expected."</p> <p>Let August 11 heretofore be known as the day to avoid all public places where commerce takes place. []</p> More fall campaigns are rolling out: Burberry tapped up-and-coming British actress Gabriella Wilde and musician Roo Panes to be its latest faces. [] Marc Jacobs' fall campaign stars models Marie Piovesan and Marte Mei van Haaster. And some large, furry hats. [] Shalom Harlow talks about her career in this behind-the-scenes clip from the Alexander Wang fall show, which she walked. Harlow grew up in Canada with "hippie" missionary parents. She was scouted at a Cure concert. "I had no connection to fashion whatsoever. I had never even seen a fashion magazine. I grew up without a television," she says. "I had no reference point for anything and I was suddenly in Paris on catwalks for designers that I could barely even pronounce their names. We would all watch on the monitor while so-and-so was out there doing her thing. And we were all screaming and clapping. And it was about what you did at the end of the runway. And then sometimes it would be about one-upping each other." [] Isabeli Fontana wears double denim on the cover of Vogue Bresil. [] Adam Sandler announced that Victoria's Secret Angel Erin Heatherton scored her first film role, on Sandler's Grown Ups 2, which is currently in production. Judging from the monitor image Sandler Tweeted, Heatherton plays a cheerleader at a carwash. "Had a blast, if you ever need a sponge bath, you know who to call," replied Heatherton. [@] Here are sketches of some of Arianne Phillips' and Jean Paul Gaultier's costume designs for Madonna's upcoming tour. [] Roberto Cavalli's Twitter is the gift that keeps on giving. [@] Skate Moss is no longer just a punny, dangerous-looking from DSquared2: it's a punny, copyright-lighthearted conceptual skate brand. Take a picture of Kate Moss, Photoshop it on a skate deck, and you have a Skate Moss board. [] Lucky has a nice round-up of old photos of big-name designers. []<p>The big names showed up at the 64th Annual Cannes Film Festival for premieres like Tree of Life, Melancholia and La Conquete with looks ranging from glamorous to grim.</p><p></p><p> is, sadly, a rarity: A movie with a mostly-female cast that focuses on realistic characters, not Louboutin-wearing "cougars" or some Successful Career Gals Who Can't Win At Love. The characters aren't always likable, but critics loved the film.</p><p></p> <p>The major theme of the movie, which opens today, is guilt. Kate () feels guilty about everything, from owning a successful business where she buys furniture from estate sales and sells it at a profit to rich New Yorkers, to having a nice apartment that she'll expand once her elderly neighbor dies. Kate regularly gives homeless people $20 bills, refuses to buy her surly teenage daughter Abby (Sarah Steele) $200 designer jeans, and attempts to give a man her doggie bag on the street, before realizing he's just a bad dresser, not homeless.</p> <p>Kate struggles with her desire to be charitable to her cantankerous 91-year-old neighbor Grandma Andra (Ann Guilbert), which is accompanied by Kate's greedy hope that Andra will die soon so she can use the apartment she's purchased from her. Similarly, Andra's two granddaughters have different attitudes. Rebecca (), a mammography technician, is devoted to her grandmother, while Mary () is mean and self-absorbed. She winds up having a fling with Kate's husband Alex (), who then has to deal with his own guilt.</p> <p>Several critics compared the film to Woody Allen's early films, and all praised writer/director for "administering a stiff antidote to the toxic women's movie." The entire cast gives strong performances, particularly Keener, who has appeared in all of her films. Please Gives's female characters range from lovably flawed to totally irritating in the film, but Holofcener's goal is to show real, relatable characters, not "idealized types and aspirational figures we can take pleasure in or laugh at in all their plastic unreality."</p> <p>First, the trailer. Then below, the reviews.</p> <p></p> <p>Kate is a close relative of the complicated women who regularly populate Holofcener's smart, articulate, female-centric movies - women previously played by Keener in the filmmaker's Walking and Talking (1996); Lovely & Amazing (2001); and Friends With Money (2006). Indeed, with Keener's unique ability to portray characters who are simultaneously blunt (and even abrasive) but also soft and vulnerable, the actress has become the embodiment of a Holofcener woman. More than that, with their shared characteristics of sex, age, motherhood, and brunet hair, Keener has become Holofcener's artistic alter ego. In Please Give, the sharp-eyed filmmaker sends her vibrant representative out into the world to explore what it means for a woman to be lucky and still feel itchy. The report has the resonant ring of truth.</p> <p></p> <p>Holofcener's filmmaking ambitions are not great in the typical sense. She's more like the slow and steady poker player quietly stacking up chips in the corner. In her case, the chips are performances. Every actress (and Platt, just about the only male character) gets multiple opportunities to shine in character. If this were a Woody Allen movie, there would be twice as many big names - but you'd only remember the performances of a couple of them. Here not only Keener and Peet, but Hall, Guilbert and Steele are lovely and, in their own way, amazing. But what makes Please Give work is the even hand playing these chips. For each of her biting insights Holofcener offers a counterpoint suggesting we are all worthy of compassion and yes, a little giving.</p> <p></p> <p>I'm as susceptible as the next two-faced feminist to a big, shiny, escapist chick flick. But honestly, girls, haven't the pickings been pitifully slim since - well, since The Devil Wears Prada? From the extended shopping trip of Sex and the City to the finger-wagging self-help manual that was He's Just Not That Into You, we've been ripped off, patronized to a pulp and left to stew in that very bad guilty pleasure, Valentine's Day. Enough's enough - or would be if SATC2 weren't hovering in the wings, dangling Manolos.</p> <p>Enter Nicole Holofcener, and not for the first time, to administer a stiff antidote to the toxic women's movie. A born provocateur, this willfully independent filmmaker makes smart comedies - Walking and Talking, Lovely and Amazing, Friends with Money - for smart females who don't admire or recognize themselves in the earth mothers and giddy shopaholics who people the studio comedies ostensibly made to measure for the modern woman.</p> <p>Not that Holofcener is in the role-model business. The women in her movies, honed to a beautifully sharp point by her muse and alter ego Catherine Keener, range from hand-wringing neurotics to mad bitches on a tear. Holofcener is unafraid to show us at our bedraggled worst.</p> <p></p> <p>Though it may seem at first that Please Give divides people between the selfish and the guilty, with a few normal folks around the edges, that does not turn out to be the case. This is a film that focuses on the tiny moments of connection and consolation that sustain us in a hard-edged world because they are all we have. "My movies," Holofcener said in an interview, "are a series of small moments that build incrementally to ... a bigger small moment." In her skilled hands, that is saying quite a lot.</p> <p></p> <p>Few American filmmakers create female characters as realistically funny, attractively imperfect and flat-out annoying as does Ms. Holofcener, whose features include "Friends With Money" and "Lovely & Amazing." You may not love them, but you recognize their charms and frailties, their fears and hopes. They may remind you of your friends, your sisters or even yourself, which makes them attractive and sometimes off-putting, an unusual, complicated mix. We don't necessarily or only go to the movies to see mirror versions of ourselves: we also want (or think we do) better, kinder, nobler, prettier and thinner images, idealized types and aspirational figures we can take pleasure in or laugh at in all their plastic unreality. The female characters in Ms. Holofcener's films don't live in those movies: they watch them.</p> <p>Generationally, Abby, Mary and Andra embody the ages of woman - youth, adulthood and old age - a sort of variation on Gail Sheehy's "Passages." But because they're so unmodulated, barely saying a kind word among them, they become tough to take. (Ms. Peet, nonetheless, keeps you watching and engaged.) The appeal of Ms. Holofcener's films, which are visually unmemorable, rests almost entirely in her characters, so the lack of shading among these three throws the story off balance. Rebecca lacks a similar modulation until she meets a guy, Eugene (Thomas Ian Nicholas). Men might not make women happy here, but left to their own devices, women tend only to make one another unhappy. The more you get to know these women, the less time you want to spend with them - they're so full of complaint that it feels as if Ms. Holofcener were worried about making them false, turning them into movie characters.</p> <p></p> <p>I saw the film several week's ago and the performance that has stayed with me is the one of Sarah Steele as Kate and Alex's teenage daughter Abby. Abby is miserable. She has a face full of acne and her mother is oblivious to her pain. And the thing about Steele is that you actually can feel Abby's pain and desperation. Your heart just breaks for her when she comes to dinner with a pair of underwear on her head because she has a huge zit on her face. I had remembered Steele from her wonderful performance as Tea Leoni's daughter in Spanglish. In that film she also struggled with her mother and spent the movie dealing with body issues. This young woman has created two of the most richly defined teenage girls on camera. She's as good as America Ferrara was in Real Women Have Curves. What I admire about Holofcener is that she's not afraid to make her characters unlikeable. Her films are about real people, people you might see on the street, or people you might know and quite frankly there are a lot of unlikeable and miserable people out there.</p> <p></p> <p>Everyone in this ensemble is top-notch. The gently melancholy Hall is exceptional, Steele captures the complexity of adolescence and Platt is wonderfully likable. Keener gives her most multi-faceted performance in a career of strong roles.<br> Sometimes - and far too rarely - a film will hit all the right notes, with sharp, original dialogue, brilliant casting and an absorbing story. So caught up in its spell, you dread seeing the credits roll. Please Give is that movie.</p><p>Gisele Bündchen</p><p>There's a strong case for calling Gisele the face of the decade. Although she technically rose to fame at the very end of the 1990s &mdash; she was Vogue/VH1 Model of the Year for 1999, and nabbed the November 1999, December 1999, and January 2000 covers of American Vogue in a rare hat-trick &mdash; Gisele has continued to dominate the entire fashion spectrum. Claudia Schiffer called her the only true modern supermodel. Gisele is a category-killer, pulling off high-fashion editorial work, commercial gigs, Victoria's Secret, and campaigns for Dior and Versace, with equal aplomb. (She is also one of the only contemporary models to have gained any kind of tabloid notoriety, which celebrity ironically makes her a more likely cover choice for fashion magazines, now that they don't put mere models on their covers.) Through every change in style, Gisele has remained on top. She goes by one name. She is . She has a line of sandals in her native Brazil. Her work ethic is highly praised, and an economist even to mathematically prove that companies that hire her make money. It outperformed the Dow! Other models should probably just give up now.</p>In order to view comments on jezebel.com you need to enable JavaScript.<br> If you are using Firefox and NoScript addon, please mark jezebel.com as trusted.<p>Now that college-age young women (and men) are getting accustomed to their autumn schedules, it's time for a (perhaps) long-awaited internship announcement.</p><p>We're looking for two intelligent, curious, opinionated and, most importantly, energetic and extremely hard-working junior Jezebels for internships beginning in early November and lasting until spring. A passion for and keen understanding of pop culture (everything from The Hills to the History Channel), women's issues, current events, the web, and the print media (particularly the ladymags we love to hate) are, obviously, major pluses.</p> <p>Here's what we'll need from you: A brief email explaining why you want to work for the site, plus a list of your work and educational experiences, accomplishments and interests. (No attachments. Any emails with attachments will be deleted unread.) In addition, please specify how many hours per week you will be able to work - a minimum of 12 is required. Residency in New York City is not required.</p> <p>Send your information to with the phrase "Fall/Spring Internship" in the subject header. Due to the large volume of emails, we will not be able to respond to most applicants, but we will introduce the new interns on the site early next month.</p> <p>Note: These are unpaid, non-writing internships, but we are able to offer a small monthly stipend and some writing assignments may be offered.</p><p></p> <p>You're young. You're fabulous. But above all, you're aspirational. Why content yourself with reading the , or just seeing the . Now you can <br> the dream too! Of course, it's not Prada, dumbass, and Anna Wintour would shrivel into herself with disgust and horror if you ever came within ten feet of her with any of the aforementioned items, but hey, you're fat and poor so this is the best you can do.</p> <p>Alternatively, go for . It features "a sterling silver devil with a pitchfork, lipstick, and a heel". And tell everyone the 'lipstick' is really the shrivelled penis of the last man who dumped you. Works for me.<br></p><p></p> <p>Welcome to our second installment of "I Work Retail," in which we investigate the very peculiar torture of selling designer goods. The anonymous author, C, worked at the Soho Prada flagship store, the site of a five-alarm fire last year. She saw symbolism in that, and shared with us this cautionary tale.</p> <p>In the literary phenomenon that was The Devil Wears Prada, the devil denotes Anna Wintour, and the point of wearing Prada is that she's some divine style setter or something. Well, I worked at Prada, and I am here to set the record straight. Both Anna and the Devil do wear Prada; the problem is that no one else does. They buy the bags, sure, and sometimes the shoes; and most commonly they buy the fakes. But Prada clothes are worn by few besides lesbian art dealer types &mdash; which is how a cynical vampy goth-type like me ended up working there &mdash; and Anna Wintour, who I once had the privilege of coming in three hours early to wait on.</p><p>She arrived at 8 a.m. and bought a wool sweater, some socks, and ordered twenty white T-shirts and maybe a skirt. And by "bought," of course, I mean she did no such thing; all her clothes were always free &mdash; Sarah Jessica Parker, meanwhile, justified merely a 30% discount &mdash; which may have been why she did not treat anyone too horribly. It was difficult to see her as the devil, when the real satanic force in the room was standing right next to her, ushering her through the store while managing to avoid making eye contact with any of the people who worked there. It was Connie Darrow, the CEO of Prada USA and the most miserable person I have ever had the displeasure of knowing. Next to her, Anna was snooty and overprivileged but essentially harmless, like a poodle somehow captured in human form.</p> <p>So anyway: Connie. A Barney's veteran who had been kissing rich bitch ass since the eighties, she'd been at Prada since the mid-nineties and was not exactly humble about this fact. The first time I met her was on my third interview with the company, an adventure which took me to their odd lab-like US headquarters in a desolate part of Midtown next to the Hustler strip club. I had lied on the requisite personality test in which they determine whether you are masochistic enough to handle high-end retail, and passed the credit check they used to sort out where my finances stood on the trust fund to junkie-likely-to-steal spectrum. I was almost in.<br> <br> <br> <br> Connie stood about 4'11 in Prada jazz shoes. She was dressed in a full Prada skirt embroidered with glass beads, Prada knee socks, a Prada blouse, a black mink cape and a diamond-encrusted Fred Leighton tiara. Fred Leighton was allegedly a friend of Connie's, and that shit had to be worth a hundred grand, which is tasteful attire, when you are interviewing someone you're planning to pay $18 an hour &mdash; though it makes more sense when you remember the company had sunk some $30 or $40 million into building the temple to consumerism I was about to call work.</p> <p>The interview was filled with little gasps and "ohhhh's." Connie tried her best not to look at me directly. "I see you have tattoos, do you plan on getting more?" she wanted to know. (I had a small one on my wrist.) "No," I replied. "Do you speak Italian?" (Errrr, they didn't teach that at my high school?)</p> <p>High-end retail is always somewhat soul-killing and ruinous of your ability to do anything else. I had moved to New York at eighteen to go to college for creative writing, but I was broke and met a girl at a hostel in Queens I briefly lived in who got me a job at the boho-chic shop Calypso, and from there I worked at another high-end Italian designer store, where my assistant manager then quit for Prada, so I had been around enough to recognize a few critical problems. For one, there are so many rich assholes you are required to be excessively, absurdly nice to, that you treat normal people &mdash; your significant other, say &mdash; like total shit, just because it's so much easier that way.</p> <p>All day long, you smile at the grayed sixtysomething rich guys as they escort their dewy faced young girlfriends into the high-tech dressing rooms for a little pre-splurge BJ action. You smile at fourteen year olds carrying handbags that could pay your rent for a semester. You smile at tourists who mistake Prada for a cultural attraction &mdash; it did, after all, used to be the Guggenheim &mdash; and the other tourists who mistook their fake Prada bags for real ones they could bring in for repair. And you smile as Kimora Lee Simmons DEMANDS that you furnish her with a skirt two sizes too small for he and throws a tantrum when it doesn't fit.</p> <p>And then: you go throw up, or do a line (coke? heroin? whatever works, hon!), or go into the backroom and jerk off to gay porn (like my bisexual assistant manager, who was, incidentally, sleeping with too many of our co-workers to really justify needing porn.) Two other salesgirls in women's ready-to-wear had teeth that were brown from all the puking. I personally turned into a cokehead.</p> <p>But Prada was worse than most high-end retail jobs because the company was in trouble. It had pissed away millions on fixtures like automatically fogging-up dressing room doors and a huge, pointless ramp that looked like a skateboard half-pipe, just as all the cash the company made off those damn mini-backpacks was starting to subside, when September 11 happened and slowed down shopping even more. The rumor was that the store's extravagance was a product of an illicit affair Miuccia Prada was having with its architect Rem Koolhaas, but it was also a symbol of dotcom era hubris. Connie seemed to deal with these facts with a combination of tactics: denial and self-destruction. She set my department's goals around $75,000 a day &mdash; impossible at the time &mdash; and then proceed, in a fit of mad "inspiration," to shut down the section while she ordered in tea and scones and ruminated about how best to rearrange the place. Nothing ever worked, of course; no one downtown felt like coughing up five figures on a beautifully made dress that didn't really fit that well. The shoe department fared slightly better, but was hugely territorial about their sales. We were told to skip lunch &mdash; not that anyone really felt like eating, what with the coke and the crystal meth and the eating disorders.</p> <p>On the best day of work at Prada, some hipster skater kid came in and slid down the half-pipe. Someone called the cops. My assistant manager was fired over the porn, and I quit shortly afterwards. Connie was ousted in 2005; her "personality" was cited in the trades. Then in 2006, the store burned down. No, really. I cannot say I was sad about it.</p><p>Yesterday's Independent featured a by Harriet Walker about skyscraper heels. Prompted, of course, by Victoria Beckham in spindly 5 inch stilettos. Writes Walker: "Just when you thought heels couldn't get any higher, guess what: they have." This season, Prada, Louboutin and Dior all have towering heels. And the Giambattista Valli shoes for fall (pictured) have a retro feel, but with platforms and heels so high they almost seem designed for toppling over. The Daily Mail points out that high heels have been around since 3500BC, when Ancient Egyptian noble women picked their way through the pyramids. Hundreds of years, billions of aching feet, twisted ankles, throbbing bunions and crusty corns. Why do we do it?</p><p>Are heels this season so high because the economy is so low? There's power in height, in the instant and literal lift one gets from heels. Some say they feel sexier, and there's no doubt that wearing heels changes the posture of a woman &mdash; pushing out the chest, tensing the calf muscle, elongating (actually hyperextending) the leg and putting stress on the lower back, causing hips to work harder and therefore "sway." But where is the true power when you can't really walk? Where is the power when most of the popular shoes were designed by men who don't wear them? Ever notice how ladies who wear sneakers all the time have smooth and un-callused feet, and women with a "sexy" heel habit have stressed out and jacked up feet? Why, after thousands of years and a sexual revolution, do we continue to do this to ourselves? Is it because there's a thrill in being a woman, in claiming all of the chicks-only, "feminine" accoutrements that go with being decidedly female? While you ponder these questions, I'm going to see if I can find a price for those black Giambattista Valli numbers on the lower left. What? Just curious!</p> <p> [Independent]<br> <br> [Daily Mail]</p> <p>Earlier: <br> <br> </p> <p>Flora's Box" /&gt;</p>In order to view comments on jezebel.com you need to enable JavaScript.<br> If you are using Firefox and NoScript addon, please mark jezebel.com as trusted.In order to view comments on jezebel.com you need to enable JavaScript.<br> If you are using Firefox and NoScript addon, please mark jezebel.com as trusted.<p>We're all well-versed in the predictable shenanigans of The Devil Wears Prada. It's really no secret that assistants in the fashion and media industry work long hours, slogging away well into the night to complete menial assignments dished out by their superiors with little or no thanks, and some of the time, little or no respect. But to be fair, that's their job. Heck, many would say they're lucky to have the job at all. They get paid to "start somewhere." Interns on the other hand, do not. And this, it seems, is where the lines get blurry and lawsuits get filed. </p> <p>Last week, Xuedan Wang, a brave unpaid intern at Harper's Bazaar, (potentially on behalf of hundreds of unpaid interns, if it turns into a class action case) accusing the magazine's publisher, Hearst Corporation, of violating federal and state wage and hour laws by not paying her, even though she often worked full time (40-55 hours a week, allegedly).</p> <p>The gutsy intern seems to have ruffled some feathers in the magazine world, sparking tough debate within the industry and bringing to light some of the moral issues surrounding one of the most glorified and glamorized industries where the internships are highly coveted, intensely competitive, and if you can land one at a major glossy, well lucky you &mdash; you've just hit internship jackpot in the magazine world.</p> <p>While Hearst will likely fight the lawsuit with the unequivocal fact that their interns willingly sign up for three-month internships well aware they will only receive college credit for their troubles (Conde Nast interns, meanwhile, are paid a small stipend, roughly $7 per day, or a whopping 10 cents per hour if you want to get technical), at least it has got people talking, because there are some things that seriously need to be discussed.</p> <p>Being part of the media has always held rank as one of those out-of-reach, glamorous careers that sits right next to "supermodel" on the what-I-want-to-be-when-I-grow-up wish list of many girls, and breaking in is just plain tough. Read any comment board or forum on the website of any tween magazine and you'll see hundreds of wannabe fashion experts pleading for on can wind up at Teen Vogue.</p> <p>We can't get away from the fact that companies see previous experience as essential to entry-level paid positions. So sure, it makes sense that internships help to showcase bright-eyed, bushy-tailed college graduates as young professionals, enabling them to brand themselves and essentially look good on paper &mdash; which is pretty damn important, seeing as the highly prized, actual, real-life, paid job openings are so scarce.</p> <p>That all seems relatively straightforward. The National Association of Colleges and Employers even reported that 38 percent of unpaid interns got genuine job offers after their internships in 2011. So internships help people get jobs? Cool. But really, that's beside the point. Companies have no money; students are desperate for work experience. It's awful formula that sees many employers take advantage of interns and their unwavering enthusiasm to gain access to the industry, violating Labor Department rules in the process.</p> <p>Under the Fair Labor Standards Act, a company may legally offer unpaid internships so long as they are educational &mdash; in other words, benefiting the intern rather than the employer. The department says that unpaid interns must not displace regular employees and that "the employer that provides the training derives no immediate advantage from the activities of the intern; and on occasion its operations may actually be impeded." But see, the bone I have to pick with the industry is that using interns to essentially do the jobs of paid workers without providing bona fide educational experience or compensation is only a small part of a much bigger problem.</p> <p>Many interns tell their own Devily Prada stories of working 10-hour days on their feet, sometimes with no lunch break because Dior needs that dress back "right now!" and sometimes with bleeding blisters which are dismissed with a sharp look that says "just get on with it." They are ridiculed in front of other staff members, their naïve questions have in some cases even been tweeted about by their supposed-to-be-mentoring editors, who often speak to them with the kind of disdain and nastiness that would make any 18-year-old turn into a quivering mess.</p> <p>Sure, there are many paid assistants in the fashion and media industry who have to deal with this on a daily basis (and this is a whole separate argument I will save for a later date), but for an intern carrying out tasks equivalent of an entry-level employee at a multi-million dollar company, subjected to the same humiliating behavior and horrible attitudes, unpaid; well I'm pretty sure that's called slave labor.</p> <p>"If the interns weren't doing the work, then they would have to hire someone else to do it," said Elizabeth Wagoner, one of Wang's lawyers. A sign, she said, that labor laws are being broken.</p> <p>Quite rightly, the lawsuit against Hearst states, "Employers' failure to compensate interns for their work, and the prevalence of the practice nationwide, curtails opportunities for employment, fosters class divisions between those who can afford to work for no wage and those who cannot, and indirectly contributes to rising unemployment."</p> <p>Many less affluent students say they can't afford to spend their summers at unpaid internships, and let's be honest, if mom and dad can't fork out for rent and pocket money it can be tough slog to scrape together enough cash outside of an unpaid 40-hour-a-week internship for a roof over your head, three meals a day, with enough spare time at the end of it to actually study. In other words, survive.</p> <p>Sure, maybe working for free and waitressing to make ends meet teaches you a lesson, maybe having to hustle means you fare better in the end. It is, after all, a competitive industry. But if the whole point of offering an internship is to help those wanting to gain access to the industry, and those people can't afford to compete for that internship, then the equality is fundamentally eliminated, and in the end internships only end up fostering the few kids with enough money to get by.</p> <p>Outlawing unpaid internships altogether won't work either. As an outsider, the one realistic way to get into the media industry, and to compete with others who grew up around the business, would be to offer your services for free.  And in the end, if it was a requirement for all interns to be paid a minimum wage, we'll either end up with no internships at all, or the internships will go to those well connected kids (usually with a famous last name) who already have a list of editor friends to contact. Obviously, a world where there is opportunity for anyone to break into an industry if they want it badly enough is better for everyone.</p> <p>So lest I suggest something entirely unthinkable such as, say, paying interns a fair wage, a change in attitude from the top right down to the assistants who manage the interns might be all it takes. Being an intern does mean doing the crappy jobs sometimes &mdash; it comes with the territory and it would be wrong to feel entitled to, say, start styling a whole fashion shoot when your editor has been working at it probably since you were born. But my god, in an open request to all editors and assistants out there, didn't your mothers ever tell you, do unto others as you would have them do unto you? Should the Department of Labor really have to regulate niceness and solid mentorship in the workplace for interns?</p> <p>So listen up. Be nice to your intern; respect them, their efforts and all their hard work. Let them have lunch, the Dior dress can wait. And if it can't, god forbid, send it back yourself. If you don't have time to get your own coffee, of course it's ok to ask the intern to get it for you, but say "thank you" like you mean it; then perhaps they won't want to sue you afterwards.</p> <p>Image by Jim Cooke, model photo via .</p><p>It's Met Ball day! That means tonight's the night all the top models, designers, celebrities, and assorted rich people in New York head to the Upper East Side to listen to Azealia Banks and drink prosecco in the Temple of Dendur. The event has raises millions for the museum every year, and fêtes the annual Costume Institute show &mdash; "Schiaparelli and Prada: Impossible Conversations" opens Thursday, friends. Only the guest of honor and the only surviving member of this year's headlining duo may not be able to attend. Miuccia Prada reportedly fell off her "high-rise platform shoes" this weekend; when journalist Suzy Menkes met her at her hotel for an interview, Prada was "resting" and unsure if she would be able to make it to the ball. . []<br> Not entirely coincidentally, the house of Schiaparelli &mdash; which closed its doors in 1954 &mdash; is being prepared for a relaunch. Tod's owner Diego Della Valle acquired the Schiaparelli name and archives in 2006. He has hired model Farida Khelfa to serve as a brand ambassador (kind of like he hired Inès de la Fressange to lend a little glamour to the relaunch of Roger Vivier shoes in 2002); Khelfa will be wearing vintage Schiaparelli at the ball tonight. The company is still searching for a creative director, and says the first new Schiaparelli goods will hit stores next February. []<br> Sarah Burton of Alexander McQueen says, "I often look to Schiaparelli. I think she was an incredibly inspiring designer. We've had her on our research boards many times." []<br> Some of the pieces for this year's show were loaned to the Met by a 70-something rich lady in Michigan who has spent her life collecting rare, old couture. And, through some feat of (enviable?) self-repression, never wearing any of it. []<br> Here's a list of which designers are taking which models and celebrities. Azealia Banks is being dressed by Alexander Wang, and Proenza Schouler is taking Isabel Lucas. Poor Joan Smalls has to wear Balmain. []<br> "Sources" say that no less an authority than Anna Wintour has asked all of the Vogue editors to wear pink to the ball tonight. Shocking pink was Schiaparelli's favorite color. Reports Women's Wear Daily: "Wintour is said to have asked the magazine's editors to take pictures of themselves in their dresses, with a few different hairstyle options, and send them to the Vogue editor in chief." []</p> Coco Rocha is wearing a vintage yellow and hot-pink Givenchy couture jumpsuit that once belonged to Elizabeth Taylor. The model bought it at the auction of the late actor's things last December for $3250. It's not quite pristine, says Rocha. "If you look carefully, you can see the suit has this very faint red wine stain on it. After I had it cleaned I took it to show the editors at Vogue and we could still see the stain. We all agreed that since it was Liz Taylor's wine stain, it's OK to wear as is." [] As for the small matter of the actual show? Apparently, it involves a film directed by potential imminent Gatsby-ruiner Baz Luhrmann, in which the Australian actress Judy Davis &mdash; playing Schiaparelli &mdash; has a conversation with Prada. [] Meanwhile in London, the Victoria & Albert Museum is readying for opening an exhibition called "Ballgowns." These are some of the gowns featured. [] Natalia Vodianova designed a girl's dress with the label Caramel Baby and Child and had her six-year-old daughter Neva model it. Half the proceeds go to support Vodianova's charity, the Naked Heart Foundation. [] In other mother-daughter news, Nicole Kidman and her daughter Faith Margaret are on the cover of Australian Harper's Bazaar. Only the kid is looking away from the camera. [] Charlotte Gainsbourg is le nouveau sexy, according to Elle France. [] Want to participate in the "Navajo" "trend"? Don't want to give money to Forever 21 or Urban Outfitters? The Native American fashion blog Beyond Buckskin has just launched an online boutique showcasing the work of 11 Native American clothing, jewelry, and leather goods designers. T-shirts start at $30, and right now silk scarves . [] Kanye West hates everything you own. Look at your life. Look at your choices. []Back in February, Prada debuted Trembled Blossoms, an film that used creepy psychedelic imagery to push purses on hopelessly hypnotized fashionistas. Get ready to trip again: Prada has a new movie, , which features music by Antony & The Johnsons and makes little sense. Thank goodness we're here to do a (sorta) frame-by frame dissection. A breakdown of the stills from the film begins after the jump. Our story begins in Ancient Rome. Or the place where they built Barack Obama's DNC speech set. Our heroine sits, contemplating her perfectly Botoxed face in a mirror whilst keeping a firm grip on her Prada purse. Her "Shadow" lurks in the background, as the help is supposed to do. "Did I overdo it with the injectables?" she wonders. Fed up with the self-absorption disguised as self-reflection, The Shadow flees. The Shadow wanders the streets of the deserted city. Not a soul to be found. Damn stock market crash. The Shadow comes upon a young child near an aquarium. As with all little girls in movies, this child may or may not be Dakota Fanning. Somehow, The Shadow ends up in the water. Friggin kids. Then the shadow turns into a child. Or does she? It is but a reflection in a well-appointed dressing room. Ah, here is The Shadow. Veiled. Did someone die? Is The Shadow mourning the death of childhood? The Shadow ditches her flowers and leaves the church. Out in the courtyard, The Shadow meets a rawther large compass. They dance. Back at the manse, the Lady of the house has yet to notice something is awry. Note that (DUM DUM DUM!) her is missing. The Shadow returns from her adventures; The Lady embraces her. The Shadow returns to her seat in the back. The Lady's purse has magically reappeared. All is at it was in the beginning. All's well that ends well. Moral Of The Story: Keep your eye on your Prada bag when shady characters are afoot. [The Frisky] [Prada] Earlier:<p>If you want to write a serious of the editor of the biggest new thing in the magazine world, don't start it," has never met a handbag she didn't love."</p> <p>Love, Condé Nast's new great white hope of a recession-era fashion mag, is Big News, as is its editor, Katie Grand, who's been a major fashion insider for years. Clearly, she's got serious chops. Which the Times gets around to after discussing her "fittingly high-pitched, cartoonlike squeak," the forementioned bag fetish, the stuffed guinea pig on the couch, and her getup: "Paper Denim & Cloth jeans, a vintage Sigue Sigue Sputnik T-shirt, a Chanel blanket wrapped as a scarf and glittery Miu Miu heels."</p> <p>We get it: this is fashion journalism, and obviously this is a fashion writer, and to a degree, the disconnect between the launch of a very big gamble and such cute trivia probably doesn't seem as manifest to them as to the casual reader. Yes, we get that Grand, a major stylist, has worked with Prada, collaborates with Marc, dated Giles Deacon, hangs with Agyness and has worked her share of frivolously outré projects. But opening with that bag line does quite a bit to distract from concrete statements like, "‘It's very easy to be cool and self-indulgent,'' she said. ‘‘I think as an editor you have a responsibility to do an interesting, commercial magazine that people want to look at. We need a readership as well as advertisers,'' or,<br> "with the economy as it is, I wanted to do something that was a reality check on many levels.''</p> <p>What that constitutes to a consummate fashionista, of course, is an open question. She says at one point,<br> ‘‘They basically said, ‘Do whatever you want.' The fact that we have Beth Ditto naked on the cover shows that.'' Beth Ditto, nude, should not in itself be regarded as a piece of outrageous high-fashion performance art; challenging convention is very different from challenging conventions of beauty. And it's hard to get a sense, from this piece, of exactly what the magazine will be: "edgy," we're told, and involving a lot of her "favorite" personalities, but between the indulgent anecdotes about hats that resemble "an evening bathing cap," it's hard to say whether the insidery nature of Grand's career makes her better or worse suited to guaging the commercial marketplace. Certainly there's a lot to admire - and we like the stories of Grand's "earning money by knitting, mostly for other students, and writing knitting patterns for British Elle" while in school - but as evinced by the very tone of this profile, the demands of a resolutely fashion-centric world can be alienating to the rest of us when the chips are down. There's escapism, and then there's tone-deafness. We'll have to wait and see which Love is, because "Love Child" certainly isn't going to tell us.</p> <p> [T Style]</p><p>The fickle fashion folk can never decide about who they love and who they love to hate. Vera Wang was all but the of the Fall 2007 shows last September, but lo and behold, Style.com &mdash; brought to you by the meanest of the mean at Conde Nast &mdash; is now the Vera Wang-designed babushka! Yup, the turbaned, Prada-Orientalist look &mdash; what would say? &mdash; is now out, and the Vera-goes-Russian look . We just hope someone tells Vera that Marc by Marc Jacobs was all about the Russian revival . Anyway, those who plan to actually buy into this babushka trend (suckas!) can learn the right way to wear their headpieces in our handy Marc vs. Vera gallery, after the jump.</p> <p></p> <p>Marc by Marc Jacobs</p> <br> <p>Vera Wang</p> <br> [Style.com]<br> [NYMag]In order to view comments on jezebel.com you need to enable JavaScript.<br> If you are using Firefox and NoScript addon, please mark jezebel.com as trusted.In order to view comments on jezebel.com you need to enable JavaScript.<br> If you are using Firefox and NoScript addon, please mark jezebel.com as trusted.In order to view comments on jezebel.com you need to enable JavaScript.<br> If you are using Firefox and NoScript addon, please mark jezebel.com as trusted.<p>There is something almost touchingly prelapsarian about , R. J. Cutler's documentary about the making of the biggest ever issue of American Vogue.</p><p>The September, 2007, Vogue, which sold 13 million copies, weighed nearly five pounds, and its 840 pages made it the single largest magazine ever published. Seven-hundred and twenty-seven of those pages were ads. When publisher Tom Florio exhorts the magazine's advertising sales team to "sell Vogue the brand like it's never been sold before," you feel it: this is what things were like when economic growth and consumer spending were lockstep in one upward trend, and magazines like Vogue could reliably put out Our Biggest Issue Ever, every year.</p> <p>You feel it when reports that Wintour, in killing shots from a lavish 1920s-themed spread, has "just thrown out probably $50,000 worth of work." You feel it when Wintour, having seen stills from an editorial with a color-blocking theme, orders a re-shoot, with different models, different clothes, and a different photographer. (No sum is supplied for the cost of that waste of daily rates, studio rental, and catering.)</p> <p>You also feel it when Wintour is filmed with her deputy, , at a retailer luncheon the magazine has convened. Retailers are nervous about certain of the things they've seen on the fall runways, and they rely on Wintour as a kind of emissary to the design world; when Singer prompts her boss to share their "good news," Wintour tilts her head and reports that she has spoken to "Mrs. Prada" several times, and that she has agreed to "reinterpret" certain of her runway looks in a more wearable silk-mohair blend, instead of the wool-mohair she had shown on the catwalk. The assembled tableful of executives from Saks and Bergdorf's practically coo with appreciation.</p> <p>After that decree is handed down to such a happy reception, , the president and C.E.O. of , starts to ask Wintour a long question about delivery schedules. Designers, it seems, are making late and infrequent deliveries, which retailers feel cost them sales; customers want what's new right now. Tansky uses the phrase "demand outstripping supply" several times. It is a shocking moment: it's as if the incredible glut of oversupply, the $3,000 handbag bubble that rose through the market during the years of easy credit and burst last fall in a mess of steep discounting and steeper layoffs, had risen up, taken over Tansky's body, and thunderously demanded to be fed.</p> <p>Wintour's response is equally shocking: given her magazine's role in pushing the culture of consumption, the culture of "aspirational" consumerism and "It" bags, one might expect Wintour to tell the titans of retail that she will speak to these tardy designers and tell them what's what. But instead she dresses down Tansky, giving him a politician's non-response about how she "hears what he is saying" and that it boils down to a problem of "editing." She says some of the younger designers have trouble editing their collections down, and she will see what she can do. Never mind that "editing" is almost the exact opposite of Tansky's concern; Wintour gets up from the table and leaves. And one is confronted with the surprising sense that, whether or not she knew it at the time, Wintour was on the right side of that issue.</p> <p>There are a number of surprising things about The September Issue, which I finally saw last night. Although Wintour comes across as fairly warm and forthcoming, the camera cannot hide her staff's authentically fearful reactions to her presence; when Wintour is perusing photo spreads with her art director, she moves slowly and deliberately down a long bench, looking at photos one by one. When she approaches a young assistant who is lingering over, or perhaps just straightening, one of the shots, Wintour, without moving a muscle, says quietly, "Excuse me." The girl jumps out of Wintour's way like she's been bitten, and Wintour continues down the line of pictures without breaking stride.</p> <p>Apparently, there also must be a rider in 's contract about being able to shoot in beautiful locations, because we witness the production of one of those terrible, jumping, grey-background editorials of which Vogue is so very fond, and it doesn't take place at Milk Studios. Demarchelier, , Coddington, and the rest of the team are whisked away to a beautiful modernist house on a wide-open expanse of land; in the living room, a grey backdrop has been hung, and what emerges is a shoot which gives no inkling of its geographical origin. The location fees alone for that shoot boggle the mind.</p> <p>The adversarial but respectful relationship between Grace Coddington, Vogue's top stylist, and Wintour is also explored. While other fashion editors crumble under Wintour's reproach &mdash; Edward Enninful says after a styling critique where Wintour rejects nearly every look he has put together that he wants to kill himself &mdash; Coddington fights, both in her editor's office and via backchannels. (She's always using the documentarians to try and find out how her spreads are faring &mdash; gaining pages, losing pages, or holding steady &mdash; in the layout room.) Wintour seems to respect Coddington all the more for her willingness to scrap; it's as though, like a good boss, she wants to be challenged.</p> <p>When cover subject steps into the scene, an instructive juxtaposition between celebrities and models is created. (We also see , Caroline Trentini, , and numerous other no-name girls, do their thing; during a couture shoot in Paris, Zimmerman carefully eats a fruit tart the size of a saucer, while a distressed makeup artist looks on in preparation to re-perform her handiwork.) Sienna is full of life, giddy and excited and seemingly fun &mdash; also a canny business woman: she makes sure to introduce her designer sister, Savannah, to Wintour and the Vogue team &mdash; and the models are more subdued; there's a care taken in their movements. When a source makes the argument that women like Sienna got the idea to be models because they saw the supermodels of the late 80s and early 90s take over the fashion world, and grew to covet and 's beautiful ubiquity, it's hard not to agree. Sienna poses and jumps and mugs for the camera like an actress trying to look like a bombastic 80s model, as if by sheer enthusiasm she could will a beautiful picture into existence, and consequently her shots take all manner of Photoshop trickery &mdash; fake backgrounds, a head from one shot Frankensteined onto the neck and shoulders from another &mdash; to finesse. Raquel and Coco know just how to move a hand or a shoulder to set off the lines of the garment, and they work at it until the shot is just right. Coddington says at one point that she wouldn't care if she never saw another celebrity again in her life; and after seeing the focus that Raquel brings to &mdash; which ended up in the October, 2007, issue &mdash; you can't help but kind of agree.</p> <p></p> <p> The film is a well-studied evocation of all the hard work that goes into producing a magazine; unfortunately, the beauty and editorial sides are a little under-represented (we briefly see a spread featuring the makeup artist in the layout room, and Wintour spends one scene looking bored while a junior editor goes over story ideas for the issue. "We're focusing on the eye, because I think eyes are a real concern for all women, they're the first thing that starts to really show age, even girls in their 20s worry about their eyes," says the editor. It's like watching a need being manufactured.) Wintour emerges as a surprisingly insecure. "Just because you like to put on a beautiful dress or a pair of blue jeans instead of something basic from Kmart doesn't mean you're a dumb person" is the kind of pre-emptive defense that says more about the defender's perceptions of the attack than anything else. "People are scared of fashion &mdash; because they're frightened or insecure, so they put it down...There is something about fashion that can make people very nervous." The idea that people only hate what they do not understand &mdash; implicit in which is the idea that there are no valid grounds on which to criticize Wintour, her magazine, or the fashion industry, just hurt feelings &mdash; is about the oldest trick in the book. And it comes off like Wintour, with her intellectual heavyweight family, is shadow-boxing. Who seriously pretends these days that appreciating good design and being smart are incompatible? Wintour's eagerness to defend herself on the issue is telling.</p> <p>Vogue editorial image via </p><p>While there's plenty of eye rolling and passive-aggressive banter in , critics say doesn't live up to her bitchy reputation. Either she's actually just a decisive boss, or she knew not to berate underlings on camera.</p><p>The film, which opens today in New York and in other cities on September 11, follows Anna Wintour and the staff at Vogue during the eight months it took to construct the September 2007 issue, the largest magazine ever produced. It's believed that Wintour allowed director R.J. Cutler, who produced The War Room, such unprecedented access because she was trying to rehabilitate her image after The Devil Wears Prada or because her contract is up this year. Many reviews mention that Wintour comes off as cold and direct, but there aren't really any outrageous diva moments. However, creative director Grace Coddington emerges as the hero of the film.</p> <p>Coddington is a red-haired former model from North Wales whose career was cut short by a car accident. She and Wintour started on the same day at Vogue, and she is now the only person who routinely stands up to her. Though some critics complained that the film's focus on their workplace conflicts isn't really all that dramatic since there was never a question as to whether or not the issue would be completed on time, most said it was entertaining. The film doesn't offer a scathing expose of Wintour, Vogue, or the fashion industry in general, but for those fascinated by how Wintour influences desigers' collections or why she decides to reconstruct Sienna Miller's cover shot in Photoshop, it's the most revealing portrait we're likely to see.</p> <p>Below, check out what the critics are saying:</p> <p></p> <p>Some juicier behind-the-scenes drama and a more revealing examination of the creative process might have bulked up The September Issue,... But what remains is still a dishy and engrossing peek inside the fashion world's corridors of power &mdash; every bit as slickly packaged as the publication it seeks to uncover &mdash; that should rivet couture enthusiasts in endless trips down the cable runway... Like the hit movie version of The Devil Wears Prada, The September Issue often resorts to bubble-gum montages (edited by Azin Samari), hurling evening wear, headdresses and pop songs at the screen and inviting the viewer to get lost in the magnificent chicness of it all. The clothes are fab, to be sure. But a more rigorous, analytical approach would have offered more insight into Wintour's aesthetic criteria (about the only concrete thing we learn is that she likes fur and hates black) and reinforced her belief, shared early on, that fashion is more than just expensive fluff.</p> <p></p> <p>Cutler navigates Vogue's predominantly feminine realm with aplomb, concentrating as much on the magazine's publishing process as the fashion angle. His observational approach captures a wealth of revealing moments between magazine staffers, designers, photographers and stylists, sometimes to the participants' palpable chagrin... The digital production clearly benefits from the format's mobility, as cinematographer Bob Richman seeks out subjects' most telling glances and gestures, then opens the frame to absorb the glamour and excitement of haute couture fashion shows and photo shoots. Editor Azin Samari stylishly distills hundreds of hours of footage into a vibrantly energetic narrative.</p> <p></p> <p>The people on display here are neither lionized nor criticized. Cutler just lets them be, and so our interest lives or dies on how fascinating we find the world they belong to. Indeed, once you're hip to Wintour's approach (cruelly cold and distant in the office, benevolently cold and distant at home) she becomes a fairly monotonous presence. The doc's breakout star is Vogue creative director Grace Coddington, a former model whose plain appearance (the end result of a horrible car accident) and frumpy clothing belie her genius for fashion. She counters her boss every chance she can get and provides the film with a much-needed emotional center.</p> <p></p> <p>Despite the movie's use of bulletins, apparently to add a sense of urgency and suspense to the proceedings-three months until the close of the issue, six weeks, a month, a week, etc.-it's a completely false sense of urgency. None of the doings on-screen suggest a desperate race against the clock. A larger problem is that fashion is all about the moment-thismoment. The September Issue is old news, all the more so given the recent recession-driven transformation of the magazine landscape.<br> Because Ms. Wintour's lightest word is law-this keeps meetings brief and conversations briefer-and because the magazine's staff communicates in the shorthand of glances and gestures and seems experienced at heading trouble off at the pass, nothing much happens in The September Issue.</p> <p></p> <p>R.J. Cutler's documentary never does catch Wintour lashing an assistant with her belt or any of the other dirty doings you know she gets up to when there isn't a camera in her face. But if a syllable could kill (and it can, can't it?), the movie would be the Texas Chainsaw Massacre of the stiletto-heeled and dagger-toothed... Wintour evidently consented to the film as counterpropaganda to the movie The Devil Wears Prada, which came out the year before, but that strategy is like curing a whiskey spree with a beer. The September Issue is milder, but its cast of husky-voiced women and shrill men still generate plenty of chuckles.</p> <p></p> <p>Is it possible that Wintour isn't so much a sponge-squeezing killjoy as simply ... an editor? She names decisiveness as her greatest strength, and the movie shows her making good decisions, rapidly and repeatedly. The first picture Wintour vetoes from Coddington's treasured shoot is distractingly fussy and rococo. Grace mopes, but the magazine benefits. At the film's climax, Cutler plays up the drama of Coddington's refusal to allow an appealing but not-quite-model-standard image to be digitally nipped and tucked at Wintour's request. It's lively storytelling, except that Wintour's suggestion seems more like playful banter - an attempt to be charming for the documentary crew - than an edict.</p> <p></p> <p>Though most will visit R.J. Cutler's subtle, supple documentary hoping to peek beneath the formidable bangs of Vogueeditor Anna Wintour, they will be disappointed: This is a movie whose ambitions range wider than the contents of her guarded psyche... But a life dedicated to selling outrageously expensive clothing to averagely compensated women demands a personality programmed to repress, and the portrait that emerges is that of a brilliant and influential woman whose mind is as masked as her runway-show presence. We see no partner, no home life, no friends and no indication of her beliefs or worldview. Whenever a flicker of emotion disturbs her glacial surface, it's quickly contained: a flash of defensiveness when comparing her work to that of her siblings (a political editor at The Guardian, a low-income housing advocate, a labor organizer), and a fleeting sadness when her daughter, Bee, announces a preference for legal briefs over the designer variety. If Wintour's prodigious self-control were the primary emotion on view, The September Issuewould quickly alienate all but the most Ungaro-obsessed. But Cutler - and his movie - are clearly more drawn to the magazine's senior creative director, Grace Coddington, whose gorgeous layouts are continually getting bumped in favor of the celebrity du jour.</p> <p></p> <p>Is she a diva, a bitch? The devil in Prada? (If my eyes don't deceive me, she seems to prefer Lagerfeld.) Well, she's a devil only if you think there's something nasty about a woman who's paid a royal salary to elevate her every whim into a command. The September Issueis organized so that we observe the ruthlessness, the high perfectionistic logic, of each decision Wintour makes. There's not enough color in that collection! Why does this layout feature only one fur garment? - it looks out of place! "I don't see any real evening on that rack," she tells a quivering Yves Saint Laurent designer. No casual comment about after-dark wear was ever such a threat. Yet Wintour isn't mean; she simply means what she says.</p> <p>If she were just pushing people around, we might look on with derision (or fear), but part of the movie's dishy fun is that there's room for more than one ego in the room. André Leon Talley, who is Wintour's consigliere and editor-at-large, isa bitch (I mean that as a compliment), a witty postmodern man so neurotic about swaddling his giant physique that he can't play tennis without draping a designer towel over his shoulders. And if Wintour is the film's subject, its true heroine is Grace Coddington, Vogue's passionate and addled creative director. A former model (like Wintour herself) who rose up in the 1960s glory days of swinging London, Coddington now looks like a Pre-Raphaelite ghost. It's she who orchestrates the magazine's photo shoots, which are like eroticized couture dioramas that fuse the past and the future... I came away from The September Issue liking Anna Wintour more than I thought I would, but mostly with an appreciation for her mission: not just to sell magazines, to market clothing and style, but to give femininity its sheen.</p> <p></p> <p>R.J. Cutler's vibrant and mischievous documentary The September Issue is only partly a movie about fashion. At its heart, it's really a movie about work, about the ways individuals compete with, grate against and inspire one another in the workplace. What really drives Cutler's picture is the dynamic between Wintour and her right-hand woman, creative director Grace Coddington, who has, for more than 20 years (she started at American Vogue at the same time Wintour did, in 1988), been the mastermind behind the magazine's most imaginative fashion spreads. Wintour may be the elusive minx who first captured Cutler's interest. But with Coddington as the other half of this highly mismatched tag team, Cutler has struck documentary gold. Coddington &mdash; a former model and flame-haired Welsh giantess who pads around the Vogue office in billowy black trousers and sturdy flat sandals, a chic but earthbound contrast to Wintour in her tiny, fur-trimmed jackets and spiky heels &mdash; is the not-so-secret star of The September Issue. Radiating equal parts flamboyance and good common sense, Coddington needles Wintour in a way no one else on staff dares. Their working relationship is an uneasy chemistry of mutual regard and know-it-all stubbornness, a fascinating model &mdash; not easily described, nor, alas, readily reproducible &mdash; of the way creativity and friction can coexist in the workplace.</p> <p></p> <p>The quick peeks into Her Highness's inner life break up Cutler's too-often-rushed, montage-heavy countdown of the frenzied months leading up to that behemoth issue's close, capturing the desperate attempts of Voguestaffers to please their boss and their singular, gnomic pronouncements at meetings: "The jacket is the new coat." Even Vogue's queenly editor-at-large, André Leon Talley must bend to Madame's will, explaining his presence on a tennis court: "Miss Wintour said I had to lose weight. What Miss Wintour says, goes." But not always. Grace Coddington, Vogue's creative director and the only one who dares to say no-if not always directly-to Wintour, emerges as The September Issue's true star, or at least the player with the greatest resolve, a devoted romantic who still has the sanest perspective on the industry... Coddington is especially gifted at manipulating the presence of Cutler's crew to get what she wants from her boss.</p> <p></p> <p>[The Devil Wears Prada] readers might wonder why a figure as legendarily image-conscious and remote as Wintour might open herself up to the scrutiny of a documentary, but the fashion/publishing icon makes it through September with her privacy and secrets intact. Director R.J. Cutler maintains a respectful distance from Wintour and similarly compelling subjects, like model turned Voguecreative director Grace Coddington and towering, iconic editor-at-large André Leon Talley. Cutler is in the enviable position of having arguably too many fascinating documentary subjects, but while Septemberis never boring, it's also superficial. The internal machinations of Voguemight be too much for a single documentary to handle; a multi-part TV documentary series might have given the folks behind the camera more time and space to flesh out these colorful characters and let audiences decide for themselves whether they love or hate Wintour, or fall somewhere in between.</p> <p></p> <p>Most of the truly ugly stuff in fashion - the models starving themselves, the exploited Chinese workers cranking out couture fakes and the animals inhumanely slaughtered for their fur - remains unnoted in The September Issue, much as it often does in Vogue. And while the movie shuns any overt discussion of money, it includes an instructive scene of Ms. Wintour playing the coquette with one of the magazine's important advertisers. Of course it really is all about money. Despite being crammed with glossy images of beautiful, weird, unattractive, ridiculous and prohibitively expensive clothes and accessories, Vogue isn't about fashion: it's about stoking the desire for those clothes and accessories. It's about the creation of lust and the transformation of wants into needs. Almost everything in this temple of consumption, including its lavish layouts and the celebrities who now most often adorn its covers, hinges on stuff for sale. Some of that stuff comes with a price tag, but some of it is more ephemeral because Vogue is also in the aspiration business. Mr. Cutler doesn't notice or doesn't care about any of that, which makes his movie as facile as it is fun.</p><p>The New York Times has a slideshow called featuring footwear from the major collections in Milan and Paris. And, please, take it from me, a person who truly loves shoes: It's absolutely horrifying. I watched it while barefoot and felt my heels tingle and ache. Let's start with the John Galliano for Christian Dior heel shown at left. Even if you like stilettos, even if you like tough-chick, kick-ass heels, there's a word for that shoe, and the word is: Ouch. As for Galliano's other shoes:</p> <p>What the hell? Sure, high fashion is about fantasy. But walking doesn't seen possible, or probable. Creating works of art is a noble goal, but what is the purpose footwear that cannot actually be worn to walk in? It's not just about heel height; these monstrosities do little to contort the foot. But they ought to come with an orthopedic surgeon on speed dial. Let's not get started &mdash; &mdash; on the Galliano that involve walking on the head of a . But the at Prada, which seem to be held together , actually caused runway models &mdash; whose job it is to walk &mdash; to .</p> <p>The least-ridiculous shoes in the slideshow are the by Karl Lagerfeld for Chanel. A lady may look like she's escaped from Fraggle Rock, but at least she can walk away with dignity, since the heels are mid-height. And look! to match.</p> <p> [NY Times]</p> <p>Earlier: <br> </p><p>Because of the writer's strike, last night's 'People's Choice Awards' were shot "on location," which is an unconvincing euphemism that means that stars accepted awards via satellite so that no one had to cross a picket line, etc. And while we could care less about "the people" chose to anoint as winners of this round of entertainment industry awards, we were sorta devastated to be denied the opportunity to put stars through the ringer in regards to their sartorial choices. So we decided to play a little game of make believe! After the jump, the looks we would have put on last night's big winners. Ladies of Hollywood: Ditch Rachel Zoe &mdash; let us style you instead?</p> <p>Drew Barrymore: Favorite Leading Lady, 'Music and Lyrics'<br> <br> We are more than a little tired of seeing Drew Barrymore play her "OMG-I-Am-Such-A-Hippie-But-Also-I-Come-From-A-Famous-Family-So-That-Somehow-Doesn't-Make-Me-A-Poser" card. A Which is why we would put her in British designer Jonathan Saunders (who frequently dresses the always beautiful, if not frequently frighteningly thin, Thandie Newton) futuristic sportswear-goes-night time. We think this would make Drew look chic, cool, not smell like patchoulli, and will keep her knockers in place, to boot.<br> <br> <br> Rihanna: Favorite R&B Song - 'Shut Up and Drive"<br> <br> Enough already with Rihanna's legs, which she reportedly had insured for like a gajillion dollars. All her talk about how she's a young woman in flux and needs to express her bad girl side? Bullshit. We think she needs to learn how to express her minimalistic side. If she really wants people to "Shut Up and Drive," she should step into this sleek Francisco Costa-designed Calvin Klein number: That'll get 'em listening.<br> <br> <br> Ellen DeGeneres: Favorite Talk Show Host<br> <br> Yeah, yeah, we know that Ellen wears the pants. And only the pants. But we'll poke our eyes out before we see her in yet another pantsuit with broad lapels and flared legs. Why not mix up the silhouette with these high-waisted, wide-legged trousers by Abaete? They're so sexy, all Ellen has to worry about is having main squeeze Portia di Rossi steal them from her &mdash; and not waiting 'til Ellen's done accepting her award to do so.<br> <br> <br> Katherine Heigl: Favorite TV Female Star<br> <br> Katherine Heigl seems to have found her groove in sticking to classic, old-school, glamour-girl looks. And while she always looks pretty, it's starting to get a little boring. Girlfriend needs to know you can look glam and still look a little, well, weird. Which is why we are dying to get her into one of Miuccia Prada's giant patterned skirts she showed for spring. We suggest, however, that Katherine invest in a better bra than the model shown here and skip the scary tights and shoes, too.<br> <br> <br> Reese Witherspoon: Favorite Female Movie Star<br> <br> Reese Witherspoon is someone else suffering from "Pretty-Girl-Who-Plays-It-Safe" syndrome. And we know she is in cahoots with Olivier Theyskens at Nina Ricci and can only wear his designs or whatever, so we're pushing hard for her to step outside her comfort zone with one of his more edgy looks, which shouldn't be too difficult, considering that his spring collection was inspired by the idea of the girl who had a little too much to drink and stayed out a little too late the night before. This look is the perfect combination of polished and dirty, we think.<br> <br> <br> Chandra Wilson: Favorite Scene Stealing Star<br> <br> Since Dr. Bailey is the only redeeming thing nowadays about Grey's Anatomy, we think she deserves to be dressed by one of latest faves, Phillip Lim. This white dress is fresh without being infantilizing, and since People's Choice is a little more chill than other awards shows, the short length keeps things fun: We think it would make Wilson look ultra-femme and stand-out like the winner that she is.<br> <br> <br> Keira Knightely: Favorite Female Action Star<br> <br> Why does Keira always look so angry on the red carpet? We dare her not to smile in this chartreuse Vena Cava sheath. That "No-Sense-Of-Humor" syndrome she suffers from? This look would remedy that.<br> <br> <br> <br> Gwen Stefani: Favorite Female Singer<br> <br> Hey Gwen &mdash; how 'bout you don't wear L.A.M.B for this one? Good? Good. 'Cause we're putting you in up-and-coming boy wonder Chris Benz instead. We think you are one of the few stars who has the balls to try his bold color palette on for size. After all, after you've had hot pink hair, what's one little hot pink dress? You're funny, you're cool. He's funny, he's cool. It's a match made in fashion heaven.</p> <p> [AP]</p>In order to view comments on jezebel.com you need to enable JavaScript.<br> If you are using Firefox and NoScript addon, please mark jezebel.com as trusted.I synthesized 2,061 Getty red-carpet photos from last night's Met Ball fêting the opening of the Met's "Schiaparelli and Prada: Impossible Conversations" show into an all-time ultimate Top Three. Let's break it down.<p>"It was one of the worst moments in my entire life," Jones says. "It was an audition for Coyote Ugly, my second audition ever." The anecdote comes courtesy of Hollywood Reporter which convened a beautiful white women roundtable so that Emmy Rossum, January Jones, Claire Danes, Mireille Enos, Julianna Margulies, and Kyra Sedgwick could sit down for a lady-chat. Among the revelations: Jones loved her Mad Men fat suit, Margulies's leading-lady schedule makes her understand why Judy Garland ate all the pills, and Enos was terrified of kissing Brad Pitt. []</p> <p>Martin Short continues to be a preternaturally gracious doll about Kathie Lee Gifford's recent gaffe (Kathie Lee Gaffer? Did we do that one yet?), in which she asked him a bunch of questions about how he keeps the romance alive with his not-alive wife. "On live television, people make mistakes," Short said. "There's no ill will intended. It's nice to aspire to be kind of elegant." Also, in an unrelated but totally true story, one time I met Kathie Lee Gifford and she pulled the front of my dress out and yelled "JIMMY HOFFA? ARE YOU IN THERE?" into my cleavage. []</p> <p>Jurors find John Edwards not guilty on one count of corruption, but Edwards has the tact to convict himself on a million counts of being hella gross: "While I do not believe that I did anything illegal, or even thought I was doing anything illegal, I did an awful, awful lot that was wrong," Edwards said. "There is no one else responsible for my sins." []</p> <p>Usher's ex-wife, Tameka Raymond, says that the two are "not enemies," despite his allegations that "Raymond (née Foster) is trying to keep him from seeing their sons, 4-year-old Usher V and 3-year-old Naviyd, and that one day when he was dropping off the kids she followed him to his car and spit on his current girlfriend." Usher is asking for joint custody. []</p><p>Did you know there is a Dutch Jersey Shore? An Australian Jersey Shore? A Danish Jersey Shore? Unauthorized reproductions of the most hungover MTV reality series have been springing up all around the world &mdash; demonstrating that the appeal of watching moderately attractive drunken, tanned young people who use "gym" as a verb cavort in a vacation home is universal. As with the U.S. show, which attracted criticism from Italian-American groups for perpetuating negative stereotypes, many of the international editions have proven controversial for the ways they portray other minority groups. Let's take a closer look at America's most sozzled cultural export. </p><p></p><p>These nude photographs of Miranda Kerr of unknown vintage have surfaced online. Shot by photographer Laurent Darmon, they were uploaded to his Web site yesterday (and have since been removed). It's not unheard of for nude work from early in a model's career to become the subject of editorial or even tabloid interest later, when that model has made it big: in 2010, Lara Stone successfully a photographer who cashed in on her rising fame by selling nude images of her from a 2008 test shoot to French Playboy. Kerr has done her share of nude work, posing for, among others, the Pirelli calendar and the cover of Australian Rolling Stone. Copyright law where photographs of a well-known person are concerned is tricky; photographers are in most nations considered to hold authorship rights over every image they shoot, but public figures also can have rights of publicity over images of themselves, too. [, ]</p> Chris Burch's new line, C. Wonder, has been criticized by his ex-wife Tory Burch for allegedly being a little too close to her own business idea. But now he's being sued by an artist named Zlatka Paneva who noticed striking similarities between some C. Wonder homewares and her own text-based artworks. [] Hugo Boss picked Gwyneth Paltrow to be the face of its new women's perfume. [] Prada models play a human-sized game of full-contact chess, Alexander McQueen-style, in the fall campaign video. [] J.W. Anderson knocked off a vintage J. Crew sweater that BryanBoy has been wearing on his blog. [] Nina Garcia apparently earns so much money that she thinks a Birkin is only "a few weeks' salary." [@] Happy 20th birthday to Karlie Kloss. And happy 22nd birthday to Jourdan Dunn. The two supermodel friends share a birthday. Dunn, for her part, spent the evening of her birthday in an airport bar. [, @]<p>Details &mdash; including the first review &mdash; of tonight's Met Ball are trickling out. Anna Wintour, surrounded by curators and assistants, striding through the Met yesterday afternoon, and minutes later spotted Suzy Menkes lingering near coat check &mdash; presumably just after reporting . The late designer Lee Alexander McQueen, whose longtime assistant Sarah Burton took over the creative direction of the house he founded after his suicide last year, is the Costume Institute's sole focus this year. Tonight's opening gala promises to feature a passel of celebrities &mdash; Sarah Jessica Parker, Salma Hayek, Daphne Guinness &mdash; wearing McQueen. Dinner will be served in the Temple of Dendur. (It's Scottish-themed, to reflect McQueen's heritage, but haggis is not on the menu.) Sarah Burton and Stella McCartney will speak. Beforehand, you can even head down to Barneys New York to watch Guinness get dressed for the event in a store window; somewhat more prosaically, blogger BryanBoy (who is not attending the gala, but is covering the red carpet arrivals) will be his ball prep from 2:30 p.m. EST. As for the show, Menkes says that the Met has some pretty full-on bells and whistles: audio-visual elements, including clips of old McQueen shows, a cabinet of curiosities for a centerpiece, and elaborate backdrops featuring antiqued mirrors and broken wood. One cape is even shown in a wind tunnel. She writes: "Was Mr. McQueen really an artist who just happened to work in cloth? [Curator Andrew] Bolton might have discussed the designer's place in the Brit Art scene, alongside the Chapman brothers, or compared his fascination with nature's decadence with that of Damien Hirst. Instead, we get Sarah Jessica Parker's breathless and witless take on the McQueen style." If they really have fucked this one up, our advice would be to head to the Richard Serra drawings instead &mdash; it's excellent. "McQueen: Savage Beauty" opens May 4 in New York City. []<br> Coco Rocha says she had a hard time finding something to wear for the gala because all the more "extreme" Alexander McQueen looks were already in the museum show. "All they have available are these nice dainty dresses," she says. She has nonetheless picked one out. [Modelinia, via ]<br> Ball organizer Sylvana Soto-Ward says her job has taught her "simple things, like which gallery in the Met has cell service. Like if you really need to reach someone and you have no bars because you're in the Egyptian wing, but if you move five feet to the right you have two bars." []<br> Celebrities and socialites are stuck choosing between two high-profile competing events tonight: the Film Society of Lincoln Center's gala for Sidney Poitier, and the Met ball. What to do?! []</p> This is what Rick "Zombie Boy" Genest looked like before his head-to-toe trompe l'oeil tattoo transformation. [] Cindy Crawford is also on the May cover of Elle China. [] The new issue of Visionaire, guest-edited by Givenchy's Riccardo Tisci, features this photo of Carine Roitfeld gagged by lace and a portrait of Tisci suckling at Marina Abramovic's breast. It costs $495. []<p>To be fair, the by Prada also come in and . Guess brown-skinned women who love this quirky trompe l'oeil look will have to buy those! Because the "flesh"-colored ones definitely don't represent the fleshtones of black people. Not a big deal, really, but definitely interesting. Since the brand is for not casting any black models. Not just one season. For and years. than a decade, actually. Not one black model on their runways for more than ten years.</p> <p>So! Anyway, it's not surprising that they didn't consider making a dark version, just disappointing. On the bright side, now we won't have to snicker at Michelle Obama, Oprah, Halle Berry, Tyra, Beyoncé or Rihanna for sporting these silly shoes.</p> <p> [The Life Files]<br> [TrendHunter]<br> [Net-A-Porter]</p> <p>Earlier: <br> <br> <br> </p> <p>Related: [BlogHer]</p> <p>See also: <br> </p><p>The fashion industry has always been, in part, about selling expensive shit to women in the form of female submission (corsets, stiletto heels, etc.). But there seem to be more submissives than normal in the ads of the major American fashion magazines this month, specifically, models and actresses in the sort of awkward, recumbent poses as "arrogant, slightly insolent" expressions meant to in consumers. We asked Mark Duffy, the dude behind the blog for his opinion, and he gave a somewhat different take. "The advertisers want the ads to look inviting, so the models are put in subservient positions, so as not to intimidate readers," he told us. "Also, such positions also serve as a 'pointer' (arrow) to the products." So which is it? Are such ads inviting or intimidating? Take a look at the offending ads after the jump and weigh in.</p> <p><br> <br> (Click on any image to enlarge)</p> <p>Miu Miu<br> </p> <p>Louis Vuitton<br> </p> <p>Valentino<br> </p> <p>Reem Acra<br> </p> <p>Furla<br> </p> <p>Marc Jacobs<br> </p> <p>Prada<br> </p> <p> [Google Books]<br> Related: a href="http://copyranter.blogspot.com/"&gt;The Copyranter<br> [University of Pennsylvania]</p><p>Everyone has a theory about what the recession will "mean" for fashion. Wanna hear New York Times critic Cathy Horyn's? Oh yes you do!</p> <p>The recession has already spawned its own language of buzzwords, as if the right combination of meaningful letters whispered in the consumer's ear will suddenly unlock her wallet: there's , , the (That one sold out, so perhaps Stefano Pilati's on to something.) "Ethical" fashion. We're told there will be "slow" fashion, to match our slow food. There's the fantasy that , and the competing theories that we'll &mdash; or that we'll .</p> <p>What this confusion of language speaks to is the underlying truth that this recession will permanently change the apparel industry &mdash; and the profound uncertainties that still cloud what those changes will be. How we dress, how we shop, how we are marketed to, where our clothes come from and who makes them are all up for reconsideration. The propagation of is just evidence that even most industry experts are only grasping at straws, like the rest of us.</p> <p>Cathy Horyn was asked to speak on fashion and the economy last week at an event for Citi's Women & Co., a $125-a-year members-only women's professional organization run by the bank. Horyn's speech, a "trimmed" , and then chased with , amounted to a kind of fashion state of the union.</p> <p>Horyn gets down to business by assessing the state of fashion before this recession began &mdash; and noting how it's different than past periods of economic instability. The downturn of the early 2000s, she argues, barely registered in fashion (in 2001, consumer spending actually increased). The late 90s and the early 2000s, taken together, were a period of remarkable consolidation and expansion in the rag trade. As Horyn explains,</p> <p>This was the era when luxury groups were being formed &mdash; when Saint Laurent sold out to Gucci, when Bernard Arnault hired John Galliano and Marc Jacobs to shake up Dior and Vuitton respectively, when Prada made a bid for global power by buying Jil Sander and Helmut Lang, and when PPR eventually took control of Gucci...This shift from a largely craft-based, family-owned culture to a brand management culture mirrored what was happening in the financial markets, in the explosion in the art markets, and the excitement surrounding new architecture, particularly in countries like China and Dubai. Dress codes and divisions of all kinds have been breaking down for years &mdash; we scarcely notice when someone mixes high-low elements. But the late 90s and early 2000s saw fashion's ivory tower crumble a little more as designers became ardent marketers &mdash; selling the image rather than, in some cases, the clothes. In 2001, Marc Jacobs brought out the Vuitton bag splashed with Stephen Sprouse graffiti. It was followed by the Murakami bag, along with those indelible, digitally enhanced advertising images by the photographers Mert and Marcus. These designs were plainly creative, but the point is these bags were not precious objects. They expressed perfectly the blending of art and commerce, and insolence over elegance &mdash; a mood also conveyed in the ironic images of the photographer Juergen Teller, who for more than a decade has created Jacobs' ad campaigns for his own label, including the one of Victoria Beckham as a commoditized celebrity in a shopping bag.</p> <p>So the recession of 2001 did not throw anyone off the rails.</p> <p>In many ways, Louis Vuitton is the perfect embodiment of this grading-down of luxury. Until the 80s, Louis Vuitton was just another nice French handbag brand, perhaps known for quality and definitely known for high prices, sure, but not a "fashion" brand with much season-to-season variance, and certainly not a true "luxury" one either. Its coated-canvas monogram wares were widely available and sold in department stores like any other high-end bag; for nearly 20 years, handbags were . Then that all changed: Louis Vuitton restricted the sale of its bags to its standalone boutiques, and started aggressively associating its bags with luxury and status through advertising. Naturally, the company raised its prices, which only raised its cachet. But the Speedy 30 that was sold off the shelf at Saks in 1980 is still fundamentally the same bag that runs today. It was a triumph effected with marketing and precious little besides; the bags did not noticeably change or actually become more "luxurious" in their trip up from "good brand" to "luxury brand." But we bought them anyway. Now the deal isn't looking so good.</p> <p>The stock market crash of 1973 and the long period of stagflation that ensued, as Horyn remarks, is a formal pendant for the current economic situation: a Wall St. crisis that spurred a recession in the "real" economy. But within the apparel industry, too much has changed to allow for any direct analogy between then and now:</p> <p>In the mid 70[s], fashion was also a relatively small, familial world, with manufacturers forming relationships with stores through expert buyers, and styles evolving slowly. In 1975, a widely popular style was the quilted Chinese jacket, no doubt influenced by the opening of diplomatic relations with China. I am reminded of a conversation I had years ago with the comic Sandra Bernhard, who told me that when she began to do stand-up, she would include as part of her act a reading from Women's Wear Daily's pages. That's how strange and remote the fashion world seemed &mdash; those socialite names sounded exotic. By contrast, in the past decade, fashion has become a marketing tool for all kinds of non-fashion products, from stylish cell phones to boutique hotels. And, for better or worse, it has transformed urban neighborhoods, like the Meatpacking District in New York or South Congress Avenue in Austin, Texas.</p> <p>So what is next? And what are the issues on the table, according to Horyn?</p> <p>[T]his recession is different. Just about every luxury group and upscale retail chain has reported declines, and no category, with the exception perhaps of watches, is performing very well. Private investment in fashion companies is virtually non-existent, and there is very little acquisition activity. Of course, part of the problem is over-capacity &mdash; there's just too much stuff around.</p> <p>That's not strictly true; certain luxury categories are performing well. Hermès leather goods division &mdash; the sector of the company that sells $50,000 crocodile handbags with a three-year waiting list &mdash; experienced a during the first quarter of this year. (It's the expensive but comparatively lower-priced goods, like watches and perfumes, that aren't doing so well for the French brand.) But other luxury companies are deeply troubled. Harry Winston and Tiffany's both just released that were marked by steep losses.</p> <p>Horyn sees the industry facing challenges along two primary axes. For one, there will continue to be steep growth in consumer spending in emerging markets, like Asia and South America &mdash; especially at the high end of the retail continuum. While the recession might be stalling luxury spending in Japan, it won't stop growth in China and India. It can't. At the couture shows in Paris this January, the happiest man around was the consultant who helps introduce wealthy Indian women to the designers and advises them on which pieces to buy. (And by "piece," we are talking here of $75,000 dresses.) These consumers will be predominantly under 35, and they will want "real" luxury &mdash; not $4,000 Prada it-bags that only hold any allure for a season. There's a reason they're going to the Paris couture collections.</p> <p>As for the rest of us? Horyn thinks the designers that will be successful over the coming years and after the recession will be those who cast off "history-minded" dressing and think instead of, wait for it, the future.</p> <p>It involves thinking of the consequences of technology, and relating these changes more imaginatively to how we dress, how we shop &mdash; the design of stores, the potential of online magazines and stores. A "sartorial consciousness," to use Quentin Bell's term, is not limited to moral indignation; it also applies to the raw materials, the energy sources, and labor practices used in making a garment. "Green fashion" will become more and more important, and young consumers in particular will expect to see innovation and experimentation in this area &mdash; the kind they see in proposals for wind-powered skyscrapers and carbon-free transportation systems. Indeed, I am somewhat surprised that a big luxury group has not had the foresight to create a separate eco-brand of high-quality garments, with a casual yet sophisticated aesthetic. We've seen a number of niche labels, but not one that draws on the brand power and advertising reach of a luxury group.</p> <p>Perhaps that's exactly what , and bringing its tremendous marketing resources and distribution network to bear on the organic cotton, sustainably-made fashion line.</p> <p>Horyn's closing remarks I'll give in full:</p> <p>a great many people in the fashion world would share the photographer Horst's view that "fashion is a universe full of art and excess where no one thought of the outside world," even though that statement was made about the late 1930s. This may be why many designers do not know how to fully relate the Internet to fashion &mdash; imaginatively. I mean only that it took radio roughly 40 years to reach 50 million people, while it took the Internet just 4 years to reach the same number of people.<br> This is the dynamic that fashion must embrace in the coming years in order to be truly creative and relevant. It's great to talk about "slow fashion" and the value of handcraft in informing our imagination. These qualities will still be important, as Paris is, but imagine the other system of thought that revolts and finally breaks free of the old world.</p> <p>If that's the future of fashion, I want to be there to see it. Provided it costs less than $700 for a canvas bag.</p> <p> [On The Runway]<br> [On The Runway]</p> <p>Related:<br> [Fast Company]<br> [WWD]<br> [Forbes]<br> [South Florida Sun-Sentinel]<br> [NY Times]<br> [ABC News]<br> [WSJ]</p> <p>Earlier:<br> <br> </p><p>Welcome back to Midweek Madness, in which we search for actual news amongst the blaring headlines of the weekly celebrity magazines. Today Jessica Simpson has earned herself two covers for being (maybe) dumped by Tony Romo and (maybe) jealous that John Mayer is with Jennifer Aniston. Reese Witherspoon gets a cover because she might marry Jake Gyllenhaal. Nicole Richie gets a cover because her baby daddy Joel Madden was seen sitting next to Lindsay Lohan. And Brad Pitt gets a cover and the headline "Brad Walks Away," because he is pictured, um, walking away. Intern Sharon assists in our thirsty quest for the quench of juicy gossip in In Touch, Life & Style, Star, OK! and Us.</p><p><br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> OK!<br> "Ready To Wed!" Here's the gist: Reese Witherspoon doesn't want her children to see her living "in sin," so she won't let Jake Gyllenhaal move in until they're married. But! The kids love him. So conditions are perfect. "Hollywood Big Mouths" is a 2-page spread out OK!'s favorite pouty lips. Janice Dickinson, Anne Hathaway and Ali Lohan are honored.<br> Grade: F (salt water)<br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> Us<br> "Stabbed In The Heart!" Intern Sharon says, "That is so emo." Jessica Simpson is so distraught that her ex John Mayer is with Jen Aniston that she's been turning to alcohol. Apparently she went out with her friend CaCee Cobb (who is dating Scrubs star Donald Faison) and they all knocked back so many margaritas that Jess had to call her mom for a ride &mdash; and it was the night before Mother's Day! (CaCee drank so much she "puked a little under the table," says a source.) This story goes on for eight pages and there's a chart called "Jess Vs. Jen: The two share more than just John Mayer" where the ladies are shown in bikinis so you can compare them. Classy. Moving on: Liv Tyler and Royston Langdon are dunzo, but they want to be civil, so it's easy on their son Milo. A source says, "They fell out of love." Sniff. Heath Ledger's Joker action figure is selling out at toy stores, although it's not really a collectible or worth anything. People just want to own it. Blind item! "Which Golden Globe-winning TV star was disinvited[sic] from her own sister's wedding because her family is so distrustful of her long-time beau? Says a source, 'Her mom thinks the guys is a mooch.'" Also inside: Tom Cruise holds people so tightly his hand leaves a mark (Fig. 1). Are Britney and Kevin reconciling? The exes have a "camraderie," says a source. Jennifer Lopez's sister Lynda Lopez is expecting, if you care. Angelina's "bizarre baby plan" is to have the kid in France. Also, Us points out that Star reported that Angie has gestational diabetes, but it's not true; and Star claims she is having twins, but she says "my baby" when discussing her pregnancy. Also, Brad and Angelina will not get married any time soon, because it would complicate their finances. Lastly, there's a four-page Sex And The City story with cocktail recipes and quiz.<br> Grade: D- (gray water) In Touch<br> "Brad Walks Away" Apparently Brad and Angie have been arguing because she doesn't want to get married and he was spotted drinking alone at a bar on the coast of France. (But, um, she can't go drinking with him, she's pregnant.) Maybe she has a fear of commitment because of her parents' divorce, speculates a psychologist who does not treat her. Moving on: Lindsay Lohan bitched out a girl who was talking to Samantha Ronson while Sam was DJing. LL pointed at the woman and screamed, "You're a slut!" Apparently the look on LL's face was "scary." Britney's "mystery bump" is probably due to the fact that she's on Prozac and Zoloft and eating a lot. Lastly: Victoria "Posh Spice" Beckham has pages from fashion magazines up in her closet. "When she can't think of what to wear, she closes her eyes, spins around, and points at a picture. That will be what she wears."<br> Grade: D- (purified water) Life & Style<br> "Friends Fear That Jessica Got Dumped Again!" While Tony Romo was at Uncle Fatty's Rum Resort in Chicago, he told his buddies that he and Jessica Simpson had split. That same night, Jessica drowned her sorrows in booze and burritos. Jen Aniston has a new love and a new body! She only eats salad, sez the mag. Jen is telling people that John is more adventurous than she's used to &mdash; and she likes it! Angelina has been relaxing in France in a bikini. "Angie loves her pregnant body," crows a caption. Lastly: Vince Vaughn turned down a threesome with two goth sisters and they sold their tale (and picture) to the mag. (Fig. 2)<br> Grade: D+ (sparkling water) Star<br> "Nicole In Tears!" At Crown Bar in L.A., Joel Madden and Lindsay Lohan sat next to each other. "Their heads were practically touching and his leg was over hers," says a spywitness. When Paris Hilton saw what was happening, she made a huge deal of it and made sure everyone saw. Then she texted Nicole with the news. One source says Lindsay is clueless and "just doesn't get that she crosses the line." Another source says Nicole thinks Lindsay is a horrible human being. Moving on: Newlywed Nick Cannon is so happy, "My cheeks hurt from smiling so hard," he says. Kate Bosworth is "back to bones." She is 5'7" and 102 lbs. Apparently when she was with Orlando Bloom, he would tell her she had puffy cheeks and she got down to 100 lbs. Then she was back up to 113 lbs., but her new boyfriend is a model and very weight-conscious. Also inside: Scarlett Johansson says she never thought she'd get married so young but Ryan Reynolds "kept asking, at least for the last six months. He just wore me down." Lauren Conrad and Doug Reinhardt are already dunzo: She was too clingy, he was just in it for the fame. "Doug spent all his time looking for his pictures in magazines and Googling himself," says a source. Heidi Montag scandal! "This summer, Heidi plans to wear loose clothes and even strap on some padding around the waist, to make it look like she's three months along," says an insider. She and Spencer will refuse to confirm or deny anything to keep the rumor mill going. John Mayer wants to impress Jen Aniston, so he spent $6,000 on gifts for her: $600 patent leather YSL pumps; $2,175 quilted leather Prada bag and three 18K gold bangles for $1,150 each. Kristin Davis is not like Charlotte York because she is an alcoholic who no longer drinks. At all. Fresh-out-of-rehab Kirsten Dunst was seen drinking at a NYC bar; she slammed whiskey shots and rum and cokes and she was out of control. Relapse! Ashlee Simpson and Pete Wentz will get married in Mexico and honeymoon there, too. Pete's gonna wear sneakers with his tux. (Intern Sharon says, " I wouldn't expect anything else.) Suri Cruise drinks a special Scientology formula that is made from barley water, organic milk and organic raw honey. Sometimes it coagulates into an unappetizing yellow. A pediatrician who does not treat Suri says she may not be getting the vitamins she needs. Plus, honey can rot babies' teeth. But Scientologists don't believe in breastfeeding.<br> Grade: C- (mineral water) Fig. 1<br> </p> <p><br> Fig. 2<br> </p><p>Welcome back to Midweek Madness, in which we check out the "beach blunders" from In Touch, Us, Ok!, Life & Style, and Star. This week, Britney's new job might trigger another meltdown; Snooki is gonna start designing sunglasses for babies; and Jessica Simpson needs to lose almost 100 lbs. in six months. </p> <p>Ok!<br> "Take Me Back!"<br> Russell Brand has been bombarding Katy Perry with phone calls, texts and emails, pleading for a reconciliation. The mag informs us that Katy Perry is all nope, no thanks, I got that dude from Florence + The Machine now (even though we know that KP and Robert Ackroyd have broken up) and there's a sidebar called "He's Special," detailing how Katy and Rob bonded through music. And! A pullquote which reads, "Rob Makes Katy Happy Again." Snooze! They've broken up. Next: Jessica Simpson is "ready to be a bride." And wants to have a beach destination wedding. Finally, Kanye West wants to marry Kim Kardashian and keeps asking her, but she isn't officially divorced yet. Still, they joke about it, and have discussed not having a big wedding &mdash; just walking into City Hall and getting married without fanfare. YEAH RIGHT. Kim's whole deal is, if it's not on E!, it didn't even happen.<br> Grade: F (broken glass in the sand)</p> <p>Life & Style<br> "Wedding Already!"<br> Frustrated novelists work at tabloids, and the first paragraph of this cover story is proof: "As baby Maxwell slept contentedly in her white crib, her adoring mother, Jessica Simpson, was shopping up a storm on Etsy." Jessica and Eric wanted to get married last year on 11/11/11 but when she found out she was pregnant, they put the ceremony on hold. So now they're aiming for 12/12/12. A sidebar blares, "SHE'S GOT SIX MONTHS TO LOSE THE BABY WEIGHT" and notes that she wants to weigh 130 by December. BTW, this issue taught me that if you like the curly Baroque Prada but don't want to spend $300, you can get a for five bucks. The only other vaguely interesting thing in this issue is the sheer massive scale of Ryan Seacrest's house, the house that Idol and The Kardashians built. (See Fig. 1) Sigh.<br> Grade: D- (cigarette butts in the sand)</p> <p>In Touch<br> "It's A Boy!"<br> Snooki and Jionni did an interview and photoshoot with the mag, and the mag also had someone prepare a composite photo of what their still in-utero fetus will look like (See Fig. 2) Is one eye off-center? Anyway, Snooki is deliciously quotable, and here are some things she says about her unborn child:</p> <br> Moving on! Jessica Simpson is planning her "dream wedding," but first: She has to lose weight! Only six months to go! She was 210 lbs. while pregnant and wants to be 130 when she goes down the aisle. And I swear to God this sentence is in print: <p>"Jessica would rather be an unwed mother than a fat bride," explains the insider.</p> <p>Next: Did Emily The Bachelorette get implants? (See Fig. 3) Adam Levine's ex, model Anne V, is now bumping uglies with Jared Leto. "Curvy and Proud" is a not-terrible four-page "story" featuring women like Kim and Khloe, ScarJo, Cheryl Burke and Rihanna in bikinis. Finally, there's a 2-page story on Stalker Sarah, which is so .<br> Grade: D (dog poop in the sand)</p> <p>Us<br> "Hot Bodies 2012"<br> This is a very thick, photo-driven issue, and if you like pictures of pretty people looking pretty, then you'll be happy. 17 pages of fine physiques, and if you turn to page 95, you'll find a dazzling full-color shirt-open shot of Jesse Williams you can tear out and put in your locker. You're welcome! (See Fig. 4) There are also four pages of Kelly Rowland showing us her ab workout. Moving on! "Born The Same Year" is quite a revelation: Dakota and Courtney? Owen Wilson and Daniel Craig? (See Fig. 5) Kristen Stewart likes to change into heels right before she hits the red carpet, which is pretty smart. (See Fig. 6) Britney Spears might be taking on "too much, too soon" with this X Factor business. At the Fox upfronts last week, she was supposed to do a musical number with the kids from Glee &mdash; where they'd do a medley of Britney songs and then, surprise, she'd sing the last lyrics &mdash; but her team decided it was "too much" for her. Some worry the TV show will send her "back into meltdown territory" because she is extremely nervous and anxious, hard on herself, and not very confident. In addition, sometimes she is "loopy and not right," or "happy one minute and crying the next." Right now, her life is set up so that she never really has to leave the house; her hairdresser, spray-tanner and trainer visit her at home, and she has a chef so she never has to go out and shop or eat. And! She is lonely, and has no friends, and the day her X Factor gig was announced, her cuticles were bitten down and bloody. (See Fig. 7)<br> Grade: C (seaweed brushes your leg while you're treading water)</p> <p>Star<br> "55 Best & Worst Beach Bodies"<br> If it seems like we had a gawk-at-women-in-swimsuits issue of Star just last month, it's because . But Memorial Day and nice weather mean it's time, again, to deem people's flesh "SEXY! SKINNY! SCARY!" Actually, I think I am going to create a little orange sticker like the one on the cover and just walk around slapping it on people. SEXY! SKINNY! SCARY! Fun, right? Anyway, Olivia Munn is voted "best bod." The "You'll Never Guess" image on the cover is Beth Chapman, wife of Dog the Bounty Hunter, and her caption reads, "her boobs could double as floatation devices." The sunburned ass with the "guess who" is Lydia Bright from The Only Way Is Essex, because by "guess who" they mean "no one you know." The pink crotch with tan skin "guess who" is J-Woww &mdash; who is accompanied by the caption "cottage cheese, anyone?" There's tons of snark in here, including this gem: "Few actresses are as milky white as Anne [Hathaway] &mdash; which makes her as easy to spot in LA as a parking space." She's "Casper" on some kind of skin-o-meter. Also inside: Jennelle from Teen Mom might be pregnant. Jeremy Renner is "drunk with a vengeance," and during a recent meal at the Chateau Marmont he spilled a drink on his pants and kept saying, "my balls are wet." The KnifeStyles page is all about cup size, but it seems like 2 out of three are push-up devices. (See Fig. 8) Megan Fox's unborn fetus is of the female persuasion, and in the final story, we learn that Bethenny Frankel and Jason Hoppy are on the verge of divorce: Both parties have visited attorneys and Bethenny has been seen in a New York restaurant's private dining area with her arms wrapped around her business partner, Matt Hesse.<br> Grade: F (carried away by riptide)</p> Addendum <p>Fig. 1, from Life & Style</p> <br> Fig. 2, from In Touch <br> Fig. 3, from In Touch <br> Fig. 4, from Us <br> Fig. 5, from Us <br> Fig. 6, from Us <br> Fig. 7, from Us <br> Fig. 8, from Us <p>And just for kicks:<br></p> <br>In order to view comments on jezebel.com you need to enable JavaScript.<br> If you are using Firefox and NoScript addon, please mark jezebel.com as trusted.In order to view comments on jezebel.com you need to enable JavaScript.<br> If you are using Firefox and NoScript addon, please mark jezebel.com as trusted.In order to view comments on jezebel.com you need to enable JavaScript.<br> If you are using Firefox and NoScript addon, please mark jezebel.com as trusted.<p>Vogue magazine titled its Tim Tebow profile "Superman Returns." Really. Tebow tells the magazine that his perfect woman will have "a servant's heart" and must rival his mother in saintliness:</p> <p>"I definitely, definitely want a family...I've been blessed to have an amazing mom and two amazing sisters &mdash; so they set a very high standard," he says. "Obviously looks play a big part. Being attracted to someone plays a big part, but there's also so much more than that for me. It's about finding someone sweet and kind &mdash; and that has a servant's heart. It's about finding a girl who likes me for me, and not because of what I do or who I am or the name."</p> <p>In other Tebow news, if that whole quarterback thing doesn't work out, "There are a lot of goals and ambitions that I have in life, things I want to accomplish. Who knows? I mean &mdash; it could be politics one day. I want to have a life that can help people." []</p> These dudes stole $810,000 worth of watches from Selfridges in Manchester. The robbery, which took place while the store was open, was over in 80 seconds. [] Claire Danes is on the latest cover of T. [] These leather toe-sock shoe-things Prada showed for spring: discuss. Fashionista has an entertaining gallery of celebrities looking miserable as fuck in the front row. But we love Sad Paris and Incredulous Aaron Paul the most. []<p>If you don't have any lesbian friends, you'd better find some fast, because they're this season's hottest accessory! At least, that's what Britain's Sunday Times claims in a breathtakingly inept that ran yesterday.</p> <p>Stephanie Theobald starts:</p> <p>Everyone loves a lesbian these days, according to Claire Balding. The BBC's hearty horse racing presenter says her popularity has shot up since she came out. Women love her and her girl-friend coming round to dinner because they're not going to "nick their husbands", and men love lesbians because, well, you can talk to them about Spurs. And anyway, who cares about sexuality any more?</p> <p>Well The Times, apparently. After reading this article, we realized we haven't been paying enough attention to our friends' sexual orientation. Sometimes we get so caught up in treating our lesbian pals like actual people, that we forget to appreciate that they're just about the only ladies who aren't trying to seduce our boyfriends.</p> <p>Among straight British couples, lesbians are said to be more popular than ever, particularly among the middle class. In fact, straight people are so comfortable with homosexuality that they'll often refer to gay friends with endearing terms like "lesbo":</p> <p>"The majority of my friends are straight," says Emma Reynolds, 32, who set up Tsuru organic sushi restaurants, in London, "and my sexuality is rarely mentioned. Although sometimes, when I'm going to a dinner, friends will say, ‘Sarah's coming, Scott's coming... and the two lesbos are coming.'" The other "lesbo" is Clare Eastburn, 34, a banker, Reynolds's partner of two years. "I think it's because they don't know many lesbians," Reynolds says. "It's their way of normalising the situation for everybody."</p> <p>Though, not everyone is so hip. 54-year-old Andy Ashton, who works in publishing, complains to the Times that when one of his co-workers came out in an office-wide email, everyone was just embarrassed. He adds, "with lesbians, there is still the classic reaction of curiosity, then a twinge of disappointment at their unavailability." Finding out a female co-worker isn't interested must be a pretty big shock to Ashton, because he sounds pretty irresistible!</p> <p>If you're looking to jump on the bandwagon, the Times has a servicey guide titled "How To Spot A Lesbian." Here's a sample, but if you can get behind the Times paywall, you should really read the whole thing. Try to collect all seven!</p> <p>The DJs<br> Find them: On the decks at a fashion party, or falling out of the Box after pulling an A-lister.<br> Signature look: Justin Bieber fringe, American Apparel T-shirt, low-slung Carhartt jeans, wallet chain and Louis Vuitton high-tops by Kanye West.<br> Make friends with them: With some straight-up tonsil tennis.</p> <p>The fashionistas<br> Find them: On the front row, or hovering around Helmut Lang in Selfridges.<br> Signature look: A fierce bob, Céline blazer, bodycon dress, killer shoes and the latest It bag (currently pushing a stripy Prada clutch).<br> Make friends with them: Working out with Tracy Anderson (in Adidas by Stella McCartney).</p> <p>The latecomers<br> Find them: At their kids' parent evening.<br> Signature look: Channelling pin-up Ellen DeGeneres, in slacks and boyfriend blazer (sleeves rolled up, all the better for flashing that new tattoo).<br> Make friends with them: On an Ottolenghi cookery course - since their ex left, they've embraced lentil quiche.</p> <p>Unfortunately, this fad is not without its dangers. For instance, some guy says this one lesbian he knows is a total bitch!</p> <p>Ian Pearson, a 38-year-old civil servant, says he finds lesbians "very self-centred". This is from personal experience, since his wife's sister is a 47-year-old gay woman. "I think it's her lack of children that makes her so unbelievably selfish. She and her friends still live like students, getting up late, nipping out to the pub for last orders, taking random days off work and then having to work frantically all night or at weekends to catch up."</p> <p>It's clear from this fine work of journalism that the Times has learned at thing or two about lesbians since it was forced to apologize to the aforementioned Clare Balding after a TV critic called her a "dyke on a bike" . Well, some might say the feature on the popularity of the "hearty horse racing presenter" and her ilk is actually kind of insulting, but certainly the Times couldn't be that petty and moronic.</p> <p> [Sunday Times]<br> [The Guardian]</p>In order to view comments on jezebel.com you need to enable JavaScript.<br> If you are using Firefox and NoScript addon, please mark jezebel.com as trusted.In order to view comments on jezebel.com you need to enable JavaScript.<br> If you are using Firefox and NoScript addon, please mark jezebel.com as trusted.<p>We were psyched to learn that won with Elle's &mdash; and a lot less excited about W's photo shoot.</p><p>Good news first: after failing a screen test for an Elle reality show, a who currently lives in an RV in a Wal-Mart parking lot, for advice. Instead, she got with E. Jean herself, whom she calls "a very funny, slightly crazy, super-awesome columnist whom I've read for years." Though it took a while for her to find out about the offer &mdash; she didn't know that E. Jean had published her letter &mdash; she's now slated to start September 1. She'll be telecommuting to E. Jean's "East Coast mountain office," a remote hideaway that kind of makes E. Jean sound like Dick Cheney, but with better hair. And better taste in employees.</p> <p>The bad news? Someone at W thought the recession was a good time to offer up what Fashion Week Daily calls (what was the old meaning?). In addition to the shot above, there's a model sort of "passed out" on a pile of Prada bags, and an urchin in a fur coat who appears to be begging &mdash; for Versace. , anyone?</p> <p>In her letter to Elle requesting her initial screen test, Bri wrote,</p> <p>I do love writing, and I love fashion, especially vintage and retro clothing. I bet I could out-cute SJP and her super-overpaid stylist any day, haha.</p> <p>Hers sounds like a voice that could make fashion magazines less elitist, less focused on expensive shit and predictable advertorials and more accepting of the creativity and originality that can make fashion truly exciting. Fashion mags don't have to curry favor with big-name brands &mdash; they could be spotlighting independent designers, DIY, and vintage clothes that don't cost $5,000. Maybe if Bri stays in the industry, she can help point it in this direction &mdash; and away from photo shoots of girls wearing Dior bags.</p> <p> [Homeless Tales]<br> [Elle]<br> [Fashion Week Daily]</p><p>Both of the covers of the new W have leaked. The snapshot of Christina Aguilera's cover that was leaked leaves a lot to be desired, so perhaps it isn't a fair fight, but Beyoncé is clearly winning this one. Lynn Hirschberg's profile of Aguilera &mdash; "The pop diva comes clean about her fall from grace, and how she's singing her way back to the top" &mdash; sounds like it will make for interesting reading, however. But who are we kidding? We'll totally flip to "Donatella on a dirt bike, Lagerfeld in the tub" first. [, ]</p> <p></p> <p>Beyoncé is also on the new cover of L'Uomo Vogue. []</p> <p></p> <p>The guy responsible for Rihanna's tour costumes explains himself: "I was thinking of a Fiorucci rave goddess. The bikini is an insane asylum...We fit it four times on Rihanna to make it fit in that incredible way that hugs her curves. Once the fittings were completed we gave it to Tom [Binns] to paint. When you see that thing in person it's the most incredible fucking thing." []</p> <p></p> <p>And in a random news item from 2006 that seems to have shaken loose of the space-time continuum and inserted itself into the news cycle of today, Tobey Maguire is the new face of Prada's men's line. []</p> <p>Prada's IPO road show is meeting early success: Shares are already five times oversubscribed in Milan. The company hits New York and Boston later this week. Final share price will be determined Friday, and trading will begin on June 24. It sounds that the price will be at the higher end of the range offered, which could value the company at over $15 billion. []</p> <p>The Italian apparel industry as a whole, according to the Italian Chamber of Fashion, expects its revenues to hit $93.2 billion in 2011. []</p> <p></p> <p>Devon Aoki and her fiancé, James Bailey, have welcomed their first child, a son. Bailey Tweeted throughout the labor, and after delivery snapped photos of the , four , and the couple's . The child, whom they haven't yet named, was born on the anniversary of the couple's engagement. Bailey Tweeted, "Not a bad anniversary present 'Aw Derrick, he did his first look!' ." [@]</p> <p></p> <p>Karen Elson and Julia Stegner each scored a cover of the new Zoo. []</p> <p></p> <p>Jeanne Bice, the designer and QVC host behind the Quacker Factory clothing line, has died. She was 71. []</p> <p></p> <p>This "God Save McQueen" scarf costs $595. []</p> <p></p> <p>We're sure Lanvin's brand-new children's line is no cheaper, but damn is it cute. []</p> <p>Alber Elbaz was thrown a surprise birthday party in New York. Paper's Kim Hastreiter &mdash; who Tweeted throughout the event &mdash; deejayed, and guests included Iris Apfel and Lynn Yaeger. []</p> <p></p> <p>Former Valentino C.E.O. Giancarlo Giammetti's New York apartment is now on the market for just $10.8 million &mdash; a savings of nearly $2 million from its original listing price. []</p> <p></p> <p>Jimmy Choo is launching a new "Icons" collection of fifteen reissued styles from its archive. ("Archive" meaning the fifteen years in which the company's been in operation.) There's a shoe from Sex and the City ("an early episode") and a shoe Tamara Mellon wore to get her OBE and a shoe that celebrities "love." These shoes will not be selling for their "archival" prices: they will retail for $850-$3,785. Ten per cent of the proceeds will go to charity. []</p> <p></p><p>Reading this transcript of Tom Ford answering frankly posed questions about race is an awkward experience. The designer careens from defensiveness, to dismissiveness, to insecurity, to something perhaps approaching how he actually feels, to downright tone-deaf distastefulness. Ford, who has always favored ethnically diverse runway casting &mdash; he's often credited with launching the career of Liya Kebede when he was at Gucci &mdash; tells Time Out Hong Kong that choosing racially diverse models is a responsibility of designers: "When you do a fashion show it's very important and it's a responsibility to represent a multicultural cast." But he also says, "When you grow up in America, contrary to popular belief, we are racially blind because we've had Japanese and Chinese families, five generations, living in America. So we grow up with Asian-Americans, African-Americans, European-Americans." Ford describes himself as "colorblind" when it comes to race. When the reporter tells the designer that she tried on some of his clothes, Ford, apparently anticipating a criticism, interrupts with "Did they not fit?" And then launches into this lengthy defense:</p> <p>First of all, we did have some fitting problems with this collection and you know this is my first collection and I did it in three months because I was working on the Oscars until March and then I had to hire my team, find manufacturers, find my studio, set it all up, and finish [the collection] from April to July because that has to be ready for New York. So it's a tiny collection. And to be quite honest, there were some fit discrepancies between things. [Thinking aloud] Umm, but no, it would be fine.</p> <p>"But will it fit everybody?" asked the reporter, who wanted to know about the differences in designing for Asian people versus for Westerners. It's a good question; bodies are different (though of course they differ far more among racial categories than they do between them) and fashion design is, on a fundamental level, a matter of choosing who will be able to wear your clothes. The body of the eventual wearer is encoded in the garment. Ford replied, "If we have to talk about things like this, Americans are too fat. And in London they are starting to get fat too. So I have to say that if we have to talk about race system and nationalism, I find it refreshing that everyone Chinese is slim." []</p> Rachel Weisz and a lion pose together for Bulgari's new perfume campaign. They've used this trick . [] Karl Lagerfeld, who we all know doesn't use computers (he has "people" to do that for him) sure loves his pens. So he now has a namesake line of pens. "I wanted a fountain pen in a certain way," he explained. []<br> Karl Lagerfeld's pen is apparently so impressive it merited not one but two items in today's Women's Wear Daily. []<br> Karl Lagerfeld read Buddenbrooks when he was eight years old. What did you do when you were eight, hmm? Read a Little Golden Book? You amateur. [] Heidi Klum is looking very Photoshop-fabulous on the cover of Russian GQ. [] Bob Mackie is auctioning off 46 of his "thousands" of fashion sketches at his website, Bobmackie.com. [] Here's a picture of Coco Rocha, Arizona Muse, and Karlie Kloss in Paris. [@]<br> Elle finally published something about the rumor that Arizona Muse and Freja Beha Erichsen are an item. Online mutterings about same have been going around since October of last year; back in February, a reliable source who lives in Erichsen's building told us she'd seen Muse making evening visits. Erichsen, one of the only out female top models working today, has dated Catherine McNeil (openly) and (allegedly) Irina Lazareanu in the past. Erichsen and Muse covered Vogue Italia together earlier this year. []  The Council of Fashion Designers of America is selling $35 tote bags decorated by designers including Diane von Furstenberg, Reed Krakoff, Marchesa, and Jason Wu. The totes come emblazoned with the anti-counterfeiting slogan You Can't Fake Fashion, and will be sold on eBay. [] Here's fall's Juicy Couture campaign. Raquel Zimmerman looks like she's trying really hard to make that Hot Topic-ish plaid suit look interesting. [] Prada's stripe-tastic collection scored 77 spring fashion magazine covers. Gucci took 69, while Dolce & Gabbana nabbed 63. []In order to view comments on jezebel.com you need to enable JavaScript.<br> If you are using Firefox and NoScript addon, please mark jezebel.com as trusted.<p>Tom Ford has some important advice for Gisele Bündchen. You know, the supermodel. Ford is very concerned about the imminent loss of her physical beauty:</p> <p>"This sounds negative, but when you're considered one of the most beautiful women in the world, it's very, very hard when that starts to slip away. It's hard to feel good about yourself when people react to you differently. And, Gisele, I hope you're not reading this, because it's going to sound so negative but I know through some of my best friends who are really famous actresses &mdash; I'm not going to mention their names &mdash; who were at one point considered to be among the most beautiful women in the world at different periods of time, and how hard it is for them emotionally. So I hope Gisele is prepared for that, because it's so difficult."</p> <p>Tom Ford just hopes Gisele is prepared for that. For when she's old and decrepit and washed-up and ugly and nobody remembers her name &mdash; which, given Gisele just turned 32, will probably happen any minute now. Because Tom Ford, king of Restylane and crown prince of Botox, has such a healthy relationship with aging. Weirdly, the designer shared this advice with Tom Brady. (What do you even say to that? 'Um, thanks Tom, I'll sure tell my wife to worry a little more about losing her looks'?) No joke, aging is kind of hard when you're in an industry that fetishizes youth and discards people seemingly at whim, but the outcomes are hardly as grim as Ford makes out. We imagine Isabella Rossellini of her time thinking about how she looked when she was younger, for example. [VMan via ]</p> Michael Phelps posed for a Louis Vuitton ad, which could lead to him being stripped of his gold medals. There's an Olympic rule against athletes endorsing any brand which is not an Olympic sponsor within one month of the games &mdash; and Phelps' ads appeared online on the the London games officially ended. Louis Vuitton and Phelps say that the two ads were leaked by a party or parties unknown. To protect sponsors like Visa that pay up to $100 million to endorse the Olympic games, athletes who promote non-sponsor brands can be stripped of their medals. Phelps' people say that's unlikely to happen in this case because the release of the photos was not the swimmer's fault. [] Sales and net income at Urban Outfitters both rose during the second quarter under newish C.E.O. Richard Hayne, who replaced Glen Senk in January. Quarterly net income rose year-on-year by 8.1%, to $61.3 million. Investors sent the stock up on the news, which beat estimates. Sales for the same three-month period grew by 11%, to $676.3 million. Same-store sales were up 12% at Free People, 6% at Urban Outfitters, were flat at Anthropologie, and fell 1% at BHLDN and Terrain. []<br> Urban Outfitters is, if nothing else, the official retailer of Stephen Colbert, John Stewart, and Indecision 2012. Here's the merch. [] Better know your Lanvin fall campaign faces &mdash; a of non-models diverse in age and ethnicity &mdash; in this charming behind-the-scenes video. [] Cindy Crawford is launching a clothing line with the German mass-market chain C&A. [] Coco Rocha is on another two September covers &mdash; Elle Spain and Elle Korea. [@] It seems a September W spread by Steven Meisel took inspiration from a video game called The Path. [] Model Hannah Holman grew up on a ranch in Utah riding horses and hunting. In fact, when she was 13, she was one of very few people to get a permit to hunt a cougar: <p>"It's a lottery system and my name was drawn by chance. So we went out with a friend who is a hunting guide and knows exactly which peaks and little valleys they hang out in. Mountain lions often hang out up in trees but this one went into a cave. I was scared it was going to attack us and took a few shots with a .30-30 rifle but ran out of bullets, so my dad handed me his pistol and that was the lucky shot."</p> <p>[]</p><p>The culprits in this case were British supe Karen Elson's insane heels. Hers is practically the platonic form of a runway fall &mdash; she sinks to the ground inside her giant pouf of crinoline with all the tragic drama of Holly Hunter in that scene in The Piano. Bonus points to Caroline Trentini, who helps her up, and to front row guest P. Diddy, who breaks rank to offer a hand. Elson's smile shows she handled the fall with charm.<br><br>2. Jessica Stam at Chloé, Spring/Sumer '06</p><p></p><p>Fashion week isn't just about pretty dresses and champagne: it's also about long hours for the people who work it. And some of those workers are children. The Times is reporting on the Council of Fashion Designers of America's efforts to ensure all models who work New York Fashion Week are over 16 years old. Last season, at least two agencies &mdash; Ford and Women &mdash; those guidelines, and models aged 14 and 15 walked for a number of top designers, including Marc Jacobs, Tory Burch, BCBG, and DKNY. Ford, despite pledging to honor the CFDA age guidelines, has apparently not changed its practices this season:</p> <p>Ford Models includes the hot newcomer Ondria Hardin in its show package, the portfolio of models it presents to casting agents, even though Ms. Hardin was reported to be 14 when she appeared in the Marc Jacobs show last season. Paul Rowland, her agent, did not respond to messages regarding Ms. Hardin and another reportedly underage model currently promoted by Ford.</p> <p>[]<br> Ford released a statement in response to the Times article, explaining that when it pledged not to put forward girls under 16 for runway work (in the CFDA's pre-fashion week open letter, published just two weeks ago) the agency didn't have any intention of keeping its word.</p> <p>We take the age and maturity of our models very seriously. We work on a case-by-case basis alongside a prospective model's parents to make a determination as to whether they are ready to walk the runway. In most cases, the answer is no. But a select few demonstrate the know-how and maturity that are necessary to work earlier than they otherwise would.</p> <p>Among the underaged models Ford represents are Ondria Hardin, who is 14 (turning 15 this summer) and Kremi Otashliyska. Hardin is pictured above in last fall's Prada campaign, which she shot aged 13. []<br> Meanwhile, Karlie Kloss &mdash; who started her international runway career at the September, 2007, Calvin Klein show, one month after her 15th birthday &mdash; is rumored to have canceled all her NYFW bookings for a "big opportunity." []</p> We would totally carry a minaudière that looked like a pill. In fact, we are currently trying to imagine how to DIY one. [] Inge Jacobsen, the Danish-Irish artist who came to world for her cross-stitch covers of fashion magazines, did an arresting cross-stitch ad campaign for jeweler Georg Jensen. Freja Beha Erichsen stars. The four cross-stitch works took Jacobsen and 19 assistants over 2,000 hours to complete. [] Yesterday, Rachel Comey showed a fall collection that included some cute knit tops, styled with clear plastic belts, a print that looked a lot like a Surrealist photo-collage, and a killer orange funnel-necked coat. Also, apparently Parker Posey sat in the front row and we didn't even recognize her. Boo us.In order to view comments on jezebel.com you need to enable JavaScript.<br> If you are using Firefox and NoScript addon, please mark jezebel.com as trusted.In order to view comments on jezebel.com you need to enable JavaScript.<br> If you are using Firefox and NoScript addon, please mark jezebel.com as trusted.In order to view comments on jezebel.com you need to enable JavaScript.<br> If you are using Firefox and NoScript addon, please mark jezebel.com as trusted.In order to view comments on jezebel.com you need to enable JavaScript.<br> If you are using Firefox and NoScript addon, please mark jezebel.com as trusted.<p>Alyssa Shelasky has just announced on her blog that she has inexplicably broken up with her boyfriend of a month and a half (and she's making a valiant effort not to equate it with the Virginia Tech tragedy!). In light of this surprising romantic development, and Alyssa's unsatisfying lack of explanation for it ("It didn't work out") we've come up with a few theories as to why things went south.<br></p>In order to view comments on jezebel.com you need to enable JavaScript.<br> If you are using Firefox and NoScript addon, please mark jezebel.com as trusted.<p>Victoria Beckham, who reportedly has a slipped disc, is under doctor's orders not to wear her customary high heels until her back gets better. That's what Posh would be punished with if she were an uppity mortal in a Greek myth who got on the wrong side of Aphrodite. []</p> Spanish Vogue's September cover is out, and it features Helena Christensen, Claudia Schiffer, and Eva Herzigova. [] Alexa Chung's collections for Madewell continue to look cute, understated, and highly wearable. [] 17-year-old Dutch-Greek model Ros Georgiou has already walked for Céline and Dries van Noten, but as soon as this September's New York fashion week is over, she'll be heading back to Athens for high school. "I'll come back next year, after I graduate," she says. "I think when I go back [to Greece] I'll work more, but for Greek magazines, doing jobs after school. Finishing school is important, and I want to do that before I take anything big on." Smart girl. [] Grammarians, get out your pearls! Old Navy is selling a line of t-shirts that say "Let's Go [Sports Team Name Here]." Only they forgot the apostrophe in "let's." And...clutch. []<p>In the week of her 70th birthday, Vivienne Westwood tells the Wall Street Journal about her favorite book (A La Recherche du Temps Perdu), her favorite experience (Noh theater), and what she likes to cook (Beef Wellington). She rarely watches her own fashion shows. And the secret to a good marriage, in case you were wondering, "is tolerance. Don't expect anything. I'm quite secure in my marriage. I could be wrong; if I am, I don't really care, actually, because I am so committed to this relationship." Westwood on young people: "I don't put any faith in youth. I do to the extent they're always idealistic, but the last lot of them have been brought up to be heavy consumers." But she also says of the punk movement, "when I look back, it was only a look, and it was just a marketing opportunity." []</p> Lauren Conrad is on the cover of Allure, for some reason. She has strong feelings about having once been referred to in the press as a "Reality show talent": "I'm like, ‘What's my talent?'" WE HAVE BEEN WONDERING THAT SINCE 2006, Lauren. [] Apparently, Allure has an "annual nude issue"? Keri Hilson and Ashley Tisdale are in it. Tisdale takes this opportunity to state these facts: "I'm not just the young girl everyone thinks I am. I'm actually a woman." Guys, it's time for me to tell you something. I'm not just the obstinate blogger everyone thinks I am. I'm actually a highly trained pangolin with a fondness for Manhattans. [] Marquita Pring shot bathing suits and beach cover-ups for New York. [] Agyness Deyn, sporting blonde hair again, worked with Tim Walker for British Vogue's May issue. The editorial was shot in the Namib desert and is the model formerly known as Laura Hollins' first appearance in the magazine in two years. [] Karl Lagerfeld threw a party to celebrate his "collaboration" with "Coca Light" (what the freedom-hating surrendermonkeys across the Atlantic call Diet Coke) and all the waiters were dressed like him. [] Can you guess who shot this Diesel ad? His name rhymes with Merry Kitschardson. [] Terry also shot Riley Keough &mdash; Elvis's granddaughter, who models &mdash; for Lee Jeans. [] Here is a photo of a very young Stella McCartney and her dad, eating cotton candy &mdash; or as they would call it, being Brits, candyfloss. []<p>First Alexandra Shulman, the editor of British Vogue, "war" on size zero sample clothing sent by major fashion designers; now Vogue Australia editor Kirstie Clements her, saying:</p><p>"Some of the international designers' samples look like dolls clothes when they arrive. We shouldn't have to starve to fit the clothes. The clothes should fit us."</p> <p>In a letter not intended for publication &mdash; but sent to Karl Lagerfeld, John Galliano and designers at Prada, Versace, Yves Saint Laurent, etc., Shulman : "We have now reached the point where many of the sample sizes don't comfortably fit even the established star models." But let's not get it twisted: This is not about embracing women of all sizes. The editors' goal, primarily, is for the clothes to fit the models. Models are much, much thinner than the average woman. Still: when a fashion editor complains that she's got to hire women with "jutting bones and no breasts or hips" just so they'll fit into the samples, clearly, something is wrong.</p> <p>Of course, as the blog points out, Vogue, as a brand, is still obsessed with thinness. Writes the Girl With A Satchel blogger of the current issue of Australian Vogue:<br> </p> <p>Given the down-to-earth sentiment expressed by Aussie Vogue's top lady, I'm surprised then to see she approved 'Body of evidence', this month's "health" story, which could be called 'How to be a size zero'. The piece basically reinforces the fact that Vogue has a thin body ideal we should subscribe to, even in middle age, in order to fearlessly fit into all that fabulous, doll-sized designer garb.</p> <p>The feature starts thus: "Spring's slimline pants and waist-cinching belts hold no fear for Gail Catterick. At 169 centimetres and 50 kilograms, the self-confessed fashionista delights in slipping her leanly muscled size-six frame into the latest catwalk trends. She loves a short skirt, and breezily carries off sleeveless shifts with all the elan of a woman half her age. Or less than half. Because, next birthday, Catterick will be 63 years old."</p> <p>The burning question is whether American Vogue's Anna Wintour will speak up. (Hunch: No.) After all, she people who live in Minnesota "little houses." Her June issue has a story called "Fat Chances," the subhead of which reads: "Will body perfection one day be possible? from skin-tightening lasers to fat-dissolving ultrasound, Catherine Percy discovers a new world way beyond lipo." December's issue had a story in which a writer for tighter-looking thighs. So while other editors are tired of the clothes getting smaller and smaller, is Wintour &mdash; who famously to be on Vogue's cover &mdash; actually thrilled?</p> <p> [Girl With A Satchel]<br> [Times of London]<br> [Guardian]<br> [Daily Telegraph]<br> Earlier: <br> Related: [Gawker]</p> <p></p>In order to view comments on jezebel.com you need to enable JavaScript.<br> If you are using Firefox and NoScript addon, please mark jezebel.com as trusted.<p>It probably won't surprise you to learn that R.J. Cutler's Vogue documentary, , was 's idea. Ms. Wintour admitted so in a rare Q&A at Sundance over the weekend.</p> <p>In a of the event, Wintour says: "R.J. came to us originally with the idea of another documentary; creating something around the Costume Institute Ball that we do every year, but the idea of doing a documentary about the September issue is something I've always wanted to do."</p> <p>R.J. Cutler, who directed The War Room, says he is "thrilled" that "Anna chose me." And he calls the pace of Vogue "a marathon that moved at the pace of a sprint, constantly." But: According to Wintour, Vogue's creative director, Grace Coddington, is the real focus of the film. And Fox 411's Roger Friedman , writing:<br></p> …The real star of the film is Grace Coddington, [Wintour's] number 2 editor and unsung hero of Vogue for the last two decades. Now a raven haired beauty in her 60s, Coddington was a British supermodel for years before a car accident disfigured her face and cut her career short. She is a remarkable figure, and emerges as the heart and soul of an organism that is otherwise devoid of humanity. <p>Wintour is not stupid. Far from it. She is wise enough to step aside and let Coddington become the sympathetic center of “The September Issue” while she, Wintour, does the dirty work.</p> <p>The real question, of course, is: Is the film worth watching? Salon's Andrew O'Hehir , deeming it "Delicious." He adds:<br></p> We travel to haute-couture shows and photo shoots, private breakfasts with major advertisers, and even into Wintour's office for her tense aesthetic and financial standoffs with Grace Coddington, the onetime swinging-London model who is now Vogue's creative director. <p>I'm sure this movie will appeal most strongly to fashion buffs (and Vogue's September issue usually sells about 13 million copies) but I found it completely addictive and haven't even glanced at a fashion mag in years. Whether or not you think what they do is meaningful, Cutler captures the intense passion Wintour and Coddington bring to their work.</p> <p>And! Those of you hoping for a delightfully evil Cruella De Vil or Devil Wears Prada-esque performance from Wintour will not be disappointed, according to Roger Friedman: "She’s abrupt, chilling, and cold to those around her. Warm and fuzzy? Not a chance." Plus! Employees apparently say things "Anna doesn’t want that, I’m going to get fired, I’m going to kill myself," Fashionista reports. And André Leon Talley "attempts to play tennis in white pants and a polo t-shirt with a LV monogrammed scarf/towel/blanket around his shoulders, an LV monogrammed tennis racket cover, an LV monogrammed water bottle holder and an LV monogrammed case."</p> <p>Of course, what others believe this film really represents is the end of an era. The documentary's center, the giant, phone-book sized September 2007 issue &mdash; chock-full of ads and editorial &mdash; ended up being the largest in the Vogue's history, AdAge. Ad pages were down 12% in 2008, and 2009 could be worse. Will the film end up being a historical document of what AdAge calls "the Last Days Of Luxe"?</p> <p> <br> A snippet of the Sundance Q&A with Anna Wintour and R.J. Cutler is embedded below.<br> <p> <p> <br> </p> <p> [Fashion Week Daily]<br> [Fox 411]<br> [Salon]<br> [Gawker]<br> [AdAge]<br> [Fashionista]</p>In order to view comments on jezebel.com you need to enable JavaScript.<br> If you are using Firefox and NoScript addon, please mark jezebel.com as trusted.In order to view comments on jezebel.com you need to enable JavaScript.<br> If you are using Firefox and NoScript addon, please mark jezebel.com as trusted.<p>Black Swan star/Harvard graduate Natalie Portman's January Vogue cover has just been released. And it's been swiftly that the new cover looks almost identical to Portman's May, 2002 Vogue cover. Only, you know, worse.</p><p>Among the similarities: both covers feature Portman wearing pale-pink pleated dresses (2002's was by Prada, 2011's by J. Mendel), in both, Portman poses against light, hazy backgrounds, and both covers share a very similar composition. Adding to the sameness is the fact that the type on both covers is red and black.</p> <p>So Vogue's styling has officially been stagnant for almost nine years. Good to know! Portman must have been dying of déjà vu when the magazine showed her its cover look.</p> <p>January's re-tread cover is actually the 29-year-old actress's fourth time on the front of American Vogue to date. She also had covers in February, 2002, and in March, 2006, when she was promoting V for Vendetta. To the best of my recollection, none of the three Vogue profiles of Portman that have been published has yet mentioned "A Simple Method To Demonstrate the Enzymatic Production of Hydrogen from Sugar," the high-school science she co-authored, which was published in The Journal Of Chemical Education, or her . (It's five, Vogue.) But maybe they're saving that for January.</p> <p>The biggest difference between the 2002 cover and the 2011 cover, however, is the Photoshopping. I'm sure Portman was 'shopped in 2002, but the new cover has that overworked look, like the image has been subjected to so many manipulations and adjustments that it no longer resembles its ostensible subject. And whereas in 2002, Portman's face is expressive and her pose is dynamic, in 2011, she looks kind of sleepy, and like she's timidly resting her limp hand against her chest. Who picks these photos? What planet are they from? I simply cannot believe this is the best shot Vogue and Peter Lindbergh could get of Natalie freaking Portman.</p><p>Condé Nast International, which is responsible for all 19 international editions of Vogue, released a statement this morning that's potentially pretty ground-breaking: from the June issues forward, no edition of Vogue will work with any model under the age of 16. This won't mean much of a change in the pages of American Vogue, which tends to work with slightly older, more established models, but for Vogue Paris, Vogue Japan, and particularly, Vogue Italia &mdash; regarded as prestigious launching pads for new face models, some of whom are as young as 13 or 14 &mdash; it is kind of a game-changer. (For context, see our nifty lineup of historical and recent Vogue covers above &mdash; each of which features a model under 16. From left: Amy Lemons, Vogue Italia, age 14. Brooke Shields, American Vogue, age 14. Daphne Groeneveld, Vogue Paris, age 15. Carmen Dell'Orefice, American Vogue, age 15.) Vogue Italia has a 14-year-old &mdash; Brazilian model Thairine García &mdash; on its April cover, which is still on newsstands. And then there are all the other, lesser-known Vogues that nonetheless sometimes book very young models: the Vogue Brazils, Vogue Koreas, Vogue Australias, and Vogue Latin Americas of this world. They'll have to stop that right quick. Jonathan Newhouse, the head of Condé Nast International, said in a statement:</p> <p>"Vogue editors around the world want the magazines to reflect their commitment to the health of the models who appear on the pages and the well-being of their readers."</p> <p>Every editor of Vogue also agreed to the following six-point pact:</p> <p>1. We will not knowingly work with models under the age of 16 or who appear to have an eating disorder. We will work with models who, in our view, are healthy and help to promote a healthy body image.</p> <p>2. We will ask agents not to knowingly send us underage girls and casting directors to check IDs when casting shoots, shows and campaigns.</p> <p>3. We will help to structure mentoring programs where more mature models are able to give advice and guidance to younger girls, and we will help to raise industry-wide awareness through education, as has been integral to the Council of Fashion Designers of America Health Initiative.</p> <p>4. We will encourage producers to create healthy backstage working conditions, including healthy food options and a respect for privacy. We will encourage casting agents not to keep models unreasonably late.</p> <p>5. We encourage designers to consider the consequences of unrealistically small sample sizes of their clothing, which limits the range of women who can be photographed in their clothes, and encourages the use of extremely thin models.</p> <p>6. We will be ambassadors for the message of healthy body image.</p> <p>That actually seems fairly comprehensive and eminently reasonable. The modeling industry's reliance on child labor has been linked to everything from financial exploitation of models, to interrupted or abandoned educations, to eating disorders that stem from the pressure to maintain the measurements of girlhood well past puberty. Not to mention to setting up an unrealistic ideal for the adult women who are the main consumers of fashion's imagery. We'll see if they stick to it. []</p> Cindy Crawford talks about "unconditional love" with her mother and her daughter and this is supposed to make you want to shop at J.C. Penney. [] This is Rodarte's sketch for the Donna Anna costume they designed for the L.A. Philharmonic's new production of Don Giovanni. [] And here is Anna Dello Russo, talking about the upcoming line of accessories she's doing for H&M. "For me fashion is semiotic, it's like it means something else. You can read fashion also as observatory of the future," says the editor, who admits, "I'm really more fashion victim than fashion icon." []<p>Fashion week &mdash; which really should be called fashion month, or fashion six weeks, or fashion long-enough-to-get-blisters-and-your-period &mdash; finally hit the Continent, and Vogue's Model.Live was there to bring you the highlights as experienced by three young models named Madeline, Cato, and Austria. And at last the series seems to be settling into a groove. After the jump, a recap of all the riveting modeling action, plus a clip above, which includes Cato's almost touchingly un-self-aware utterance of the line, "If I don't get it this time, you know, I already did Prada once."</p> <p><br> It is hard to break into the show circuit. Designers are so given to rotating their regular crop of supes among themselves that they will for the top girls to rush over from the previous show rather than settle for a newbie. The big catwalks are awash with the Catherine McNeils and Lily Donaldsons of this world, meaning that thousands of hopefuls &mdash; who have already run the gauntlet of getting agency representation, building their books up to competitive standard, and developing a runway body by any means necessary &mdash; are competing for just a couple of spots in the shows people notice. Most new (Austria) and newish (Madeline) models need to get lucky to even book one of the tiny, overlooked shows that crowd the penumbra of the main fashion week calendars.</p> <p>And then there's Cato Van Ee. I really want to like Cato. She seems intelligent. She has &mdash; parents who wisely got their daughter to finish high school despite the interruption of covers for L'Officiel and Dutch Elle and, oh yeah, that Prada/Miu Miu show exclusive. Maybe I've just been having a blah time with the clients since leaving my beloved New York, or maybe it's just the general fatigue of so many time zones and jets and trams and buses and tiny models apartments. Maybe I am an incorrigible grump. But I recognize a sort of Patrician smugness in Cato's face when she collapses in gales of ohmaigawds when her booker tells her the news that, yes, she has booked Prada for a second season, and that makes me want to kick her in the shins.</p> <p>Especially when she does her "Wooo! Prada + Cato, best team ever!" hand jive in the back seat of her private car.</p> <p>Things aren't going so well for Madeline and Austria. Austria looks sullen and exhausted at her castings &mdash; something which I can confirm was not simply due to editing. In person, Austria looks so much like a little girl, albeit a tall one, it's anybody's guess why IMG is pushing the child so hard right now &mdash; with a few more years education and maturity, she could be, well, a humbler but no less successful Cato. Madeline glows and her body is phenomenal, but Milan just isn't much of a market for unknown girls with short hair.</p> <p>So Madeline and Austria cut out for Paris castings early, while Cato walks Prada, Just Cavalli, Dolce And Gabbana, Allessandro Dell'Acqua, and probably 23 other well-regarded shows in her unperspiring, non-acneic spare time.</p> <p>Bitch.</p> <p>Next week: the light at the end of the tunnel... Paris.</p> <p>Earlier: <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> </p> <p>Related: </p><p>Cato Van Ee has had the best season of the three models IMG picked to follow for this series. The agency must have known it had a surefire smash hit in Cato; coming off high-profile exclusives for Prada and Miu Miu the previous season, plus a cover of L'Officiel, it would take spectacular bungling on the part of either agent or model for her to not have had a stellar season. What's been served up is a kind of very managed portrait of an emergent supermodel—what the head of the IMG development board, David Cunningham, terms "A confirmed new star on the market—but, you know, I say 'star' in small letters." Clip above, and full recap of what's new with the Dutch beauty after the jump.</p> <p><br> This kind of peek at a girl-on-the-verge reminds me of nothing so much as novelist Jennifer Egan's wonderful 1996 New York Times Magazine about the first European season of a certain 16-year-old from Omaha who went by . James got shingles on her back from the stress.</p> <p>So because of this strange moment, we get to see Cato — who walked in 37 shows in four cities, and, yes, that is her in the brand new D&G cruise campaign—thinking out loud about her future in the business at a time when she is still sometimes uneasy at having to think of herself in the third person. And we get to see her parents expressing their reservations about her choices. Her mother calls her burgeoning career "bittersweet" since Cato's rarely home in the Netherlands these days. Her father seems disappointed that she is delaying university, saying, sternly, "You've gotta finish an education."</p> <p>On this week's episode, Cato is moved from the development board — the home of the young, the inexperienced, the rising stars who could go either way — to the main women's board, which is for those who have more or less arrived. Cato's reaction, in the full clip, when her agents sit her down for the news is unruffled: "I was thinking that at any moment it could happen," she says, evenly. She's not stupid; anyone with an inkling how this industry works would know it's time for a girl like Cato to graduate, though not in the way her dad would wish.</p> <p>'Model.Live' must be taking off on a Cato-ish trajectory for IMG and Vogue. What was as a one-off series with a 12-episode arc has somehow stretched the 4-week ready-to-wear season into 14 weekly episodes, with the last set to go live next Friday. I had been wondering if the success would lead IMG to develop the idea further — for instance, if there would be any follow-up with Madeline, Austria, and Cato when the Fall/Winter 09 shows roll around. But this episode ends with the revelation that there will be a second season. Maybe sometime soon Cato will take Caroline Trentini and Catherine McNeil's places over at Express.com. She was all over competitor H&M's online home earlier this fall.</p> <p>Earlier: <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> </p> <p>Related: [Vogue.tv]</p><p>Another week, another fashion extravaganza to rush headlong into. London, , is in full swing as I type this, and Austria and Cato are here to show us how walking more than a dozen shows in six days is done. (Blister Band-Aids, your own eye makeup remover, and a big bottle of cheap conditioner plus the richest overpriced salon hair mask you can find &mdash; for combing out and repair, respectively.) Madeline? Never makes it onto British soil. Dum dum dum! Clip above, and recap after the jump.</p> <p>Madeline &mdash; whose hipsterish, short-haired look struck me as likely to suit the client imagination better in London than perhaps any other stop on the fashion circuit, fails to get her work visa papers stamped in advance of her trip. So British immigration puts our favorite Hoosier on a plane back to New York. Her booker looks at her like she's an idiot for forgetting the notarization of her visa &mdash; and it is a rookie error. But doesn't Madeline also pay IMG to keep her up to speed on such details of duck order? It strikes me as almost as much their fuck-up as her own, since I'm guessing, like every model I know, that Madeline relies on her agencies for all her immigration arrangements. Her booker should have been reminding her about the visa stamp daily. He should have put that shit on the girl's chart. If there's even a chance it was your bad or incomplete advice that put her in that position, it's passive aggressive in the extreme to go all philosophical-shrug on a girl who's still too young to drink and who, having just done a trans-Atlantic round trip and missed her chance to even be in the London shows, is no doubt feeling entirely bad enough. Weaksauce, IMG.<br> <br> <br> But London proves difficult even for those who make it off the plane. Austria and Socrates McKinney, her Santo Domingo mother agent, have a hard time navigating their way to castings &mdash; even with a driver. (Now wise to the trap of agency debt, I can barely look at a driver without seeing dollar signs spinning like on a slot machine. That luxury must be costing the poor teen a fortune &mdash; far more than she could make back in a month of shows. And he's not even getting her to her castings.)<br> <br> <br> In one scene, Socrates makes Austria take over his call with IMG London and write down her own new casting information because, he says as she wearily takes the ball point, writing gives him headaches. Oh, mother agents! They all work so hard for their lifelong, exclusive, worldwide, multi-agency kickbacks.<br> <br> <br> Cato reconnects with the man who is possibly the world's most influential casting director, Russell Marsh, who determines the lineups for clients that include Prada and Miu Miu. (Cato got last season's much-sought show exclusives for those.) (Marsh earlier this year of accepting bribes from both IMG and the agency Women to cast their girls in Prada: strangely enough, Model.Live doesn't mention this particular scuttlebutt.) Marsh likes Cato, London likes Cato, Cato walks ten shows.<br> <br> <br> Austria does three. Including one where a harried fast-talking show director insists on calling all the models by their runway order numbers &mdash; as in, Number 3, Number 4, get over here now &mdash; because "It's just the easiest way." Austria's sad, perfectly still face in the chair as the makeup and hair artists tug and turn her this way and that speaks volumes. She looks magisterial on the runway, though, so I can't help but suspect the girl is enjoying herself a little bit. At least that's what I hope.<br> <br> <br> Previously:<br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> Related: <br> <br> </p><p>"Fashion magazine with models on its cover" should be a flippin tautology, but the infrequency with which clotheshorses grace the front of American Vogue meant that Well, it's here.</p><p>Featured are the nine models everyone pretty much assumed &mdash; and no, Lara Stone didn't get spiked, as had been rumored. On the front cover are Liya Kebede - the third black woman on Vogue's cover in as many months - Natalia Vodianova, and Anna Maria Jagodzinska. Isabeli Fontana, Stone, Jourdan Dunn, Raquel Zimmerman, Caroline Trentini, and Natasha Poly share the fold-out. I can't tell for certain what the nine are wearing, but if I'm not mistaken, Dunn, Stone, and possibly Vodianova have on dresses by Rodarte.</p> <p>An honest-to-goodness surprise? Anna Wintour allowed Steven Meisel to put Jagodzinska, a relative newcomer and the current focus of the photographer's frequently-shifting attentions, right up front next to the established supermodels, Kebede and Vodianova. Jagodzinska is no overnight success, like Dunn &mdash; she's been working since 2004, although she quit in 2006 before coming back in a major way last year &mdash; but her most significant cover prior to this was Vogue Australia. That's like going from drinking out of a handsome silver julep cup (and feeling pretty good about it), to supping from the holy grail itself. A hell of a step up for the blonde Pole, and, on the part of Wintour, an unusual nod to the fashion-forward audience that would most easily recognize her.</p> <p>The cover bears American Vogue's signature apparent use of Photoshop. Something's off around Isabeli Fontana's jaw line, and there's an unreal look to all the overlapping heads. At least the retouching team left Wintour's favorite Brazilian her much-vaunted freckles.</p> <p>The biggest laugh? "The Man Who Made Them Stars" is a cover line that teases to a story about Meisel, who shot the main inside editorial, which is a 21-model extravaganza titled, not so humbly, "The Godfather," and which includes two group shots with the man himself. Meisel, though an extraordinarily influential () photographer, did not "make" all nine girls on his cover "stars." Jourdan Dunn was chosen by casting superagent Russell Marsh to walk for the Prada fall/winter 08 show, which launched the Londonite into the industry's good books. Lara Stone, after working all over the world in relative obscurity for over five years, switched agencies and attracted the attention of Givenchy designer Ricardo Tisci before Meisel ever started using her for Italian Vogue. Liya Kebede made it big when Tom Ford cast her in his shows back when he designed for Gucci. Natasha Poly doesn't really owe her career to Meisel, either. Let's be honest and call "The Man Who Made Them Stars" this issue's first .</p> <p>user Luxx at The Fashion Spot" /&gt;</p> <p>Earlier: </p><p>In the "Talking Back: Letters From Readers" section of the new issue of Vogue, there are two, yes two letters regarding the LeBron James/Gisele Bündchen cover. We read them this weekend, and the over at The Fashion Bomb have already posted them. The first is from Christine Fox of Santa Ana, CA: "I'm an African-American women who sees nothing wrong with the April cover. I know there has been a lot of buzz about it, and folks are outraged, but it's ridiculous!" Her letter goes on to say: "It is just fashion, dahling." The other letter, From Stephanie Jackson in Brooklyn, states: "The April cover bothers me. More devastating than the perpetuation of stereotypes in mainstream culture is the dismissal of the counterargument as if it doesn't make sense. If controversial imagery rubs a minority group the wrong way, shouldn't the appropriate response be an apology?"</p><p>Anyway, as if to prove that the magazine is part of the solution and not part of the problem, this same issue of Vogue has a story called "Is Fashion Racist?" The piece has "interviews" with models Chanel Iman, Jourdan Dunn and newbie Arlenis. See? Vogue is not racist &mdash; some of its best friends are black!</p> <p>The funny thing is that the editorial "proof" that Vogue embraces black models &mdash; a single page highlighting their appearances in the magazine &mdash; has, as its most recent usage of a black model a 2006 shoot with Liya Kedebe. Two years ago! The most recent cover on this page? Kiara Kabukuru, in July 1997.</p> <p></p> <p>The first issue of Vogue hit stands in September of 1916. Beverly Johnson was the first black model on its cover in 1974; she also appeared on covers in 1975 and 1981. In the '80s, models like Louise Vyent, Kara Young, Shari Belafonte, Sheila Johnson, Karen Alexander and Naomi Campbell had covers, but the number severely decreased in the '90s and since the turn of the century. (Anna Wintour began editing Vogue in 1988. Recently celebs like Oprah, Halle Berry and Marion Jones have graced the cover, but black models? Not so much. The issue had Chanel Iman on the cover… but far to the right and therefore under the fold, where Conde Nast &mdash; or is it Annie Leibovitz? &mdash; black people belong.)</p> <p>Last year, we took it upon ourselves to count black models photographed for fashion editorials. Vogue's October issue? black models. Vogue's November issue? black models. Vogue's December issue? black models. In January, one black model, Chanel Iman, in Vogue, a good three months after Bethann Hardison's on the "lack of color" in fashion. Vogue has a three month lead time, by the by. (Sometime in February, Style.com, the online "home" of Vogue, a picture of Jourdan Dunn with the name "Chanel Iman." Whoops!)</p> <p>In any case, we'll have more to say about this when the "black model" issue of Italian Vogue hits stands, but here's a question: If Vogue is the leading fashion magazine, should the question "Is Fashion Racist?" actually be "Is Vogue Racist?"?</p> <p> [The Fashion Bomb]<br> <br> Related: </p> <br> <br> [COACD] <p>Earlier:<br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> </p>In order to view comments on jezebel.com you need to enable JavaScript.<br> If you are using Firefox and NoScript addon, please mark jezebel.com as trusted.In order to view comments on jezebel.com you need to enable JavaScript.<br> If you are using Firefox and NoScript addon, please mark jezebel.com as trusted.<p>Nicki Minaj's manager may have the Times that the star was "in talks" to do a Vogue cover &mdash; but what has emerged from the depths of the feature well is a brief profile, written by Lynn Yaeger, for which the magazine painted Minaj's body Smurf blue. Alternative reference: the Miss Argentina in Beetlejuice. Kids, this is what happens when you run your mouth in the press about Anna and her cover choices. [, @]</p> Tavi Gevinson and Cyndi Lauper co-star in the ads for Uniqlo's new Orla Kiely collection. [] Margherita Missoni's Milan apartment is just as trippy as you would imagine. [] For dedicated collectors of Terry Richardson arcana: here is the fashion photographer/accused serial sexual harasser's Hollywood High student ID from 1980. [] We basically want to live inside a Roxanne Lowit photograph. []<p> Whatever happened to prompt Dior designer 's arrest Thursday night in Paris for allegedly launching into a racist, anti-Semitic assault against a couple in a cafe, it appears that it was not Galliano's first such incident. In fact, in a separate outburst at the same cafe, a very drunk Galliano was captured on video clearly telling two women, "I love Hitler. People like you would be dead. Your mothers, your forefathers, would all be fucking gassed." []<br> The video may or may not be connected to a second police complaint, filed by a woman, alleging Galliano used anti-Semitic slurs. Meanwhile, Galliano is counter-suing his alleged victims, Géraldine Bloch and Philippe Virgitti, for defamation. The three are scheduled to meet at a Paris police headquarters this afternoon. []<br> In her statement to police, Bloch, who is not Jewish, alleged that Galliano screamed at her, "Dirty Jew face, you should be dead," and told her to "shut your mouth, dirty bitch, I can't stand your dirty whore voice." As for Virgitti, who is of Asian descent, Bloch says Galliano yelled, "You fucking Asian bastard, I'll kill you!" He then returned his attention to Bloch. "You're so ugly I can't bear looking at you. You're wearing cheap boots, cheap thigh boots. You've got no hair, your eyebrows are ugly, you're ugly, you're nothing but a whore." And for his finale, Bloch &mdash; whom initially mistook Galliano for a homeless person, perhaps angering him &mdash; says Galliano yelled, "I am the designer John Galliano!" and struck a pose. []<br> And the Oscar fall-out: "Dior ambassador and best actress nominee Natalie Portman donned a violet Rodarte dress rather than a Galliano creation for her stroll down the red carpet. However, Sharon Stone wore a Dior gown but skipped all press interviews on the red carpet." []<br> A designer who has worked with Galliano in the past says he "can't imagine he would do this to anyone. I'm an observant Jew, and I know from my own experiences with him that there's no way he hates Jewish people. He's incredibly gentle." []<br> Louis Vuitton Moët Hennessy, which suspended the designer immediately following his arrest, has still made no public comment on Galliano's future at Dior, which is scheduled to present its fall collection on March 4. (John Galliano is also scheduled to show his namesake line on March 6.) Vogue Italia editor-in-chief Franca Sozzani says, " without John Galliano would be a huge pity." []<br> A Dior spokesperson: "It's out of the company's hands &mdash; and with the police &mdash; and Galliano will be suspended until it is resolved. I know there have been rumours about a possible announcement today, but it's not something I can confirm." []</p> <p></p><p>The collective gay hive mind has given all sorts of crap to people who use the f-word (as in "fag"), like and , but even gay men walk around calling our closest female friends "fag hags." Well, it's time for an alternative.</p> <p>I've been doing the same thing, walking around talking about and bitching about "fag hags" for years. I even called yesterday. I figured if the girls called themselves that and the guys called themselves that, what's the big deal? After Gawker , I actually thought about it. First, it's degrading to women by calling them "hags" and, if you've spent any time with the women who hang around gays in New York you'll know that they are often more attractive and well put together than the average lady.</p> <p>Also, it refers to their gay friends as "fags" something we wouldn't even tolerate if Liza Minnelli called us that (maybe Judy, but not Liza!). When we toss it around to each other, that's kind of OK, but it's taken on a life of its own. Like so many other terms that once you would only hear in Chelsea or West Hollywood, "fag hag" has gotten into the mainstream, so if average (read:straight) Americans out there are using it, maybe we need something with a better message.</p> <p>The problem is the alternatives all suck. Most people fight for "fruit fly," but it is so cutesy and silly and stupid. And, just like a flock of screeching bachelorettes in a gay strip club, a fly is also a pest, a nuisance. The girls that hang around with predominantly gay men usually aren't that at all. I also hate the girls who are all "my gays" or "my best gay" like their friend is some sort of accessory, like he's some bedazzled Prada purse who you take shopping and, every time you come out of the dressing room shouts, "Werq, hunty!" (Gay to English translation: You look wonderful, my friend.)</p> <p>One could argue that as gays are more accepted in the mainstream and people hang out with all sorts of people of all sorts of orientations, maybe we should retire the concept altogether. A woman who hangs around with gay men is just that, a "woman." But the F in a group of M4Ms is still a common occurrence, a wonderful phenomenon, and if people are going to need a name for her, we should at least have some control over it.</p> <p>But what should it be? My Jezebelian colleague, Anna North (no stranger to nights out with a cadre of homosexuals) suggests "gabe," a portmanteau of "gay" and "babe." I like that! She also points out that Gabe is probably the name of the closeted boy every girl-who-loves-boys-who-loves-boys dated in high school, so that might be a little weird. I also like "Tori," in honor of "fag hag" extraordinare and costar of Trick Tori Spelling (and also gay icon Tori Amos), but that might get confused with a conservative British politician, or, you know, girls actually named Tori. But wouldn't it be funny to rebrand Tory so that when you say it out loud, Brits don't know if you mean a right-winger or a gay-loving lady? It's like a whole new Santorum!</p> <p>What do you guys think the new term should be? Leave your suggestions in the comments, and I'll collect the best ones and we'll have a poll to decide on the new name for some of our favorite ladies. We don't have such great success with developing words to replace "" or "" but maybe, unlike "fetch," this will be the one that happens.</p> <p>It's up to you, guys (and girls) (and gays).</p> <p>[Image via Getty]</p><p>Are you overdue for a reminder that your high-heeled shoes are nothing more than pretty, pretty evidence of your status as a quisling to your sex? Well, the Chicago Tribune has an op-ed about the horribleness of heels and the women who wear them.</p> <p>Why? Because heels aren't to the personal taste of the author, a woman named Jennifer Moses, who still bears the emotional scars inflicted by a pair of "pointy-toed black suede heels" that she wore to a bar mitzvah only to be felled by calf cramps during the Torah reading. High heels, writes Moses, are an attack on women's very dignity.</p> <p>It strikes me as bizarre that in the aftermath of feminism, American women, who are perhaps the most liberated women in the history of humanity, choose, of our own free wills, to cripple ourselves. Now we can barely stand at all, let alone march for our rights, in our 6-inch heels. [...]</p> <p>As far as I can tell, there has never been a time in the history of womankind that shoes haven't been a source of longing, envy and even lust. But not among men: Unless they're shoe designers, men don't think twice about women's shoes. No matter how much women are told that high heels elongate and enhance the shapes of our legs and add a sexy sizzle to our walks, I suspect men don't so much as notice shoes.</p> <p>High heels are indicative of a widespread, virulent, anti-feminist cultural misogyny &mdash; and by the way girls, you don't even need to wear 'em to snag a man!</p> <p>Boxes ticked on the anti-high-heels-op-ed bingo card include: Chinese foot-binding; Sex And The City; Manolo Blahnik; I Read A Wikipedia Page About The History Of Footwear Late Last Night On Deadline And Here Are Some Things I Learned (About Chopines); Straight men don't even notice shoes; The word "Cripple"; You can't be a feminist in heels; High heels are a conspiracy by gay men to keep women in their place. (The author includes Prada, Gucci, and Versace on her list of "women's shoe designers [who] are men." Nobody had better tell Miuccia, Frida, and Donatella.)</p> <p>Listen. If you don't like high heels, nobody wants you to have to wear them. Really. That is why the good Lord made free will and cute flats! I understand that many women don't find high heels to be comfortable, practical, or even desirable. That is a perfectly reasonable way to feel. Good for you, person who likes to wear flats. Flats are always a good choice.</p> <p>But don't tell those of us who &mdash; sometimes! &mdash; do like to wear heels that we're bad feminists, or stupid ladies who must have been brainwashed into acting against our own interests by Big Fashion. Wearing heels doesn't necessarily make you a good feminist &mdash; the point is that feminism has less to do with what you put on your feet than what you put in your head. And are we seriously still arguing that our clothing choices make women victims? Because I know a feminist that might take issue with that sentiment.</p> <p>Sometimes a heel is just a heel.</p> <p>[]</p>In order to view comments on jezebel.com you need to enable JavaScript.<br> If you are using Firefox and NoScript addon, please mark jezebel.com as trusted.<p>We went through the November issues in search of black models, and that advertisers &mdash; who know where their dollars come from &mdash; are using black models, but fashion editorial continues to lag behind. This time, we attempted to also look for models of color &mdash; Asian, Latina &mdash; but of course, this is an imperfect science. We all know that Jennifer Lopez is Puerto Rican, but with some models, it's hard to tell &mdash; we Googled one to be sure! After the jump, See how Lucky, Elle, Allure, Glamour, Marie Claire and Vogue faired (heh) in our count.</p> <p><br> <br> Models Of Color In Advertisements, November 2007:<br> Lucky: 15, 3 of whom are celebrities: L'Oréal (1) American Express (1), Olay (1), Dillard's (1) Lucky Jeans (3, including an Asian baby and a black kid), Macy's (1), Liz Claiborne (1), Lord & Taylor (1), M By Mariah Carey (1), Lucky subscription ad (1), Bluefly.com (3).<br> Elle: 12, 2 of whom are celebrities, 1 of whom is Asian: Liz Claiborne (1), CoverGirl (1), Emporio Armani (1), Puma (1), Lucky Jeans (3), Bluefly.com (2), Johnson's (1), Secret (1), Natrelle (1).<br> Allure: 3, 1 of whom is a celebrity: Revlon (1), Olay (1), Johnson's.<br> Harper's Bazaar: 7, 2 of whom are celebrities, 2 of whom are Asian: Diesel (1), Gucci (1), Dior (2), CoverGirl (1), M By Mariah Carey (1), Gottex (1).<br> Glamour: 10, 2 of whom are celebrities, 1 of whom is Asian: Ann Taylor (1), Redken (1), Dillard's (1), Olay (1), M By Mariah Carey (1), Revlon (1), Liz Claiborne (1), Aquafresh (1), Alli (1), Lee Jeans (1).<br> Marie Claire: 9, one of whom is a celebrity: CoverGirl (1), Liz Clairborne (1), Lucky Jeans (3), Aquafresh (1), Grand Marnier (1), Levi's (1), Johnson's (1).<br> Vogue: 14, 5 of whom are celebrities, 2 of whom are Asian: Tommy Hilfiger (1), Movado (1), Dillard's (1), Jaguar (1), Redken (1), Liz Claiborne (1), Grey Goose (2), Revlon (1), Lexus (1), Citi (1), Avon (1), M By Mariah Carey (1), Natrelle (1), L'Oréal (1).</p> <p>Models Of Color In Fashion Editorial, November 2007:<br> Lucky: 0 (But an Asian "real woman" and 2 black "real women" are used as models.)<br> Elle: 1 (One black model in an 18 page fashion feature.)<br> Allure: 1 (Jennifer Lopez is the cover story and feature shoot.)<br> Harper's Bazaar: 4 (Chanel Iman posed with children dressed as designers; Asian model in accessories shoot; 1 of 10 models in Ralph Lauren story is black; Naomi Campbell has an 8 page solo fashion editorial. As this is the issue celebrating the history of Bazaar, there are several small shots sprinkled throughout mag of Naomi, Diana Ross, Oprah, Maggie Cheung and Rachel Roy which we noted but did not count.)<br> Glamour: 2 (Mariah Carey, cover model and feature shoot; 1 Sudanese model in "New sweaters, New faces." There are also 2 black "real people" models, one of whom is plus-sized.)<br> Marie Claire: 1, Puerto Rican model Kat Fonseca.<br> Vogue: 0. (In the 20 page CFDA designers story, one small backstage snapshot features a black model. In the Index section, Chanel Iman says she likes Tory Burch flats, but we do not consider either of these to be proof of employing black models for a fashion editorial.)</p> <p>While it may look like this is progress from October, both Jennifer Lopez and Mariah Carey have a lightened, straightened, more Caucasian look than they did earlier in their careers. (Look at Mariah and Mariah ; and Jennifer Lopez and .) So is it really progress? And where are the black models?</p> <p>Earlier: <br> </p><p></p> <p>Who knew?</p> <p>As you smugly handed over $40 for a fake Prada bag on Canal Street, you were not only comitting a crime against fashion, you were </p> " In the year between October 2005 and September 2006 the Department of Homeland Security made 14,000 counterfeit goods seizures worth $155 million, almost double the previous year. In New York alone the trade was worth $80 billion and costs the city $1 billion a year in lost sales tax revenue. <p>'It's virtually all profit and it isn't funding anything good. It is a threat to democracy and a threat to the rule of law,' New York Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly told a conference on counterfeiting on February 1.</p> <p>Kelly said the group accused of the 2004 Madrid train bombings, which killed 191 people, used proceeds from the sale of fake CDs. U.S. authorities have said a group sells counterfeit goods including fake Viagra to support Hezbollah."</p> <p>In the near future expect Dick Cheney to invent announce evidence of secret caches of counterfeit Fendi purses, ooooh, somewhere not a million miles from Tehran. You heard it here first.</p>In order to view comments on jezebel.com you need to enable JavaScript.<br> If you are using Firefox and NoScript addon, please mark jezebel.com as trusted.In order to view comments on jezebel.com you need to enable JavaScript.<br> If you are using Firefox and NoScript addon, please mark jezebel.com as trusted.<p>A story in the Times of London claims that between maintaining a youthful face or a great body. Fashion editor Lisa Armstrong quotes actress Catherine Deneuve: "A 30-year-old woman must choose between her bottom and her face." Basically, the "theory" assumes that as a woman gets older, she can either maintain her face or her body, but not both. Armstrong writes that while attending fashion shows, she found that though the front row celebrities may focus on Botox and face-lifts, for the international editors, stylists and buyers in attendance, "being thin has always been more important than having a dewily youthful complexion."</p> In the fashion world, a skinny 60-year-old who can carry Lanvin or Prada gracefully and doesn't have to confine herself merely to wearing the handbag because she can't fit into any of the (diminutive) sizes has as much cachet as a slightly plump, clueless 20-year-old, if not more. <p>According to Armstrong, former model Rachel Hunter singles out Teri Hatcher as someone who has clearly chosen "backside over beauty." Armstrong also calls women like Nigella Lawson, Oprah and Judi Dench "sitting beauties" who "have clearly decided to pamper their faces and let their bodies get on with it." She adds: "...fat women might have lovely, plump skin, but an out-of-shape body can be just as aging as a lined face." Have you taken a moment to absorb how shallow, superficial, sexist, ageist, annoying and sad this is? Are you wondering how it has come to this? And are you also secretly thinking which would you rather have as you get older? A great face or a fierce body?</p> <p> [Times]</p><p>Two minutes into the The Colour Of Beauty, a modeling agent says: "When [a model] comes in with big eyes, big nose, big lips… Things that are common traits in African-Americans &mdash; it doesn't work."</p><p>The man, Justin Peery, continues: "But for those lucky few girls who have white girl features…" and trails off. It's clear that those are the women who get booked. "It's kind of messed up, but that's the way the industry is," he says.</p> <p>Peery represents the gorgeous Renée Thompson, a model who is originally from Jamaica but moved to New York from Toronto, and has been modeling for 10 years. At the ripe old age of 24, she is at a make-or-break moment in her career, and nearing an age when many models are forced into retirement. The film focuses on Renée, and her dream &mdash; to "kill" at fashion week.</p> <p>Six minutes in, Maurilio Carnino, a fashion week casting director and producer, says: "Black models… they tend to [have] a little bit wider hips… And a little more round… Sometimes, even though the face is amazing, they tend to have a fit problem. " He explains that white models have the "more skinny" look that the designers want. And: "One time one of my clients said, 'I need a black model, but she has to be like a white girl dipped in chocolate.'" This is how people are talking about young women they want to hire for a job.</p> <p>In general, though the subject here is clearly racism, the film &mdash; and the people in it &mdash; dance around the word racism. Jeanne Beker of FashionTelevision says, "Racism &mdash; I hate to call it that." What else do you call a person being discriminated against for their looks and ethnicity? Beker admits: "Sometimes you do see a black girl on the runway and it's sort of a tokenism."</p> <p>As for Renée, she says:</p> <p>"It does get very discouraging, It gets to a point where you feel like you're constantly justifying your worth… You can only take so much beating up every day and constant rejection &mdash; or that fear, that when you walk through that casting door, you're going to be reminded, yet again, that you're a black girl. [But] quitting to me seems like you're giving in…"</p> <p>Renée, who has been told by potential clients that "black women are not our demographic," believes that the industry leans on &mdash; nay, expects &mdash; white models in major fashion campaigns (Gucci, Chanel, Valentino, et al). "It's a crutch," she says. The film points out that according to a 2008 survey, 87% of New York Fashion week models were white. (Where ever did they get ?)</p> <p> <br> <br> <br> Lisa Tant, the editor-in-chief of Flare magazine, notes: "If you look at the emerging markets in the fashion industry, it's China, Brazil, India. If we keep sending all white models down the runway, that isn't going to speak to the consumers in those markets." One could argue that people all over the world have been conditioned to believe that being white and thin is fashionable, and sending white models down the runway just confirms the ideal.</p> <p>Still, the film is an interesting look at the hardships, stereotypes and uncomfortable, race-oriented conversations that shadow black models trying to make it in the fashion industry. And while it's amazing to hear Renée speak so eloquently about her determination in the face of these obstacles, one of the best quotes in the film is from a hairstylist named Mann:</p> <p>"I think fashion is five steps behind real America, real Canada. There's been way more progress in personal and interpersonal relationships between the races than there has in fashion. Fashion is stuck in 1955, and I don't know what it's going to take to get them to move forward."</p> <p> [Work For All]<br> Related: , [Schema Magazine]</p> <p>Earlier: <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> </p><p>Think of 30 Rock, first season, third episode. Jack the-Great-and-Powerful Donaghy is setting up Liz No-I-Don't-Need-Any-of-Your-Help-Especially-Not-with-Dating-which-I-Don't-Have-Time-for-because-I'm-All-About-My-Career-Thanks-a-Lot Lemon with his friend from out of town. Jack catches her in the hall and tells her the name of the fancy restaurant where he's set up the blind date. A pause. He takes in her typically casual attire [i.e. unglamorous sweatshirt and jeans]. "What are you going to wear?" he asks (as though he doesn't know). Exasperated with his overbearing behavior, Liz insists "I don't have time to change." Jack shakes his head gravely, "That won't do." He hands her cash and tells her to go to a women's clothing store during her lunch break. Liz grudgingly accepts and turns up looking elegant for a change.</p> <p>My first thought on seeing this sequence of events was, "He was right to do that (albeit their work relationship –- as per sit-com logic –- isn't spectacularly appropriate)." Then my second thought was, "It's kind of sad that Liz needs a man to mentor her, especially when it comes to her appearance and dating. Couldn't they have written her a female mentor?" Jack Donaghy is obviously a gleaming showcase for Alec Baldwin, but it got me thinking, where are all the female mentor characters?</p> <p>What? You say you can name countless examples? Allow me to complicate things. In all of the films, shows, and books I can think of, the woman's mentor is normally a male, either gay or a potential love-interest. If a woman happens to give the heroine some mentoring, it's limited to certain advice-giving incidents, which are often questionable and sometimes destructive.</p> <p>The Devil Wears Prada and Miss Congeniality provide adorable and hilarious examples of the gay male mentor. These guys get the heroine into glamorous clothing and force her to stop whining about how unfair their life is. Dangerous Liaisons, in contrast, has the wickedest pair of faux-mentors (older female and male) that a young impressionable girl could ever have. In Gigi, the far less sinister incarnation Aunt Alicia gives her niece lessons on how to be a dazzling courtesan, but the film makes it evident that all of her advice is superficial and useless.</p> <p>Though he's neither her gay pal nor a potential love interest, George Clooney schools Anna Kendrick on how to do business in Up in the Air. The film makes it plain early on that there is zero romantic tension between George and Anna's characters so if the point was that gender is irrelevant when it comes to what he has to teach her, then point taken. Then again, couldn't they have just as easily given George a male coworker and given Anna as a foil to Vera Farmiga, George's parallel female exec and love-interest? Since Vera turns out to be hiding a relationship-ending secret, then never really gets the opportunity to explain herself and soften the unfortunate implications, the filmmakers set up George as a model for Anna to follow if she wants to succeed, whether they intended to or not.</p> <p>On Mad Men, though Joan (dear Joan) does try to give Peggy advice from time to time, Don is her model for success. Liz Lemon may not try to model herself on Jack Donaghy, but as the series progresses and he actively tries to mentor her (usually against her will), she relies more and more on his particular problem-solving methods. Also, though it pains me to say it, there's Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Again, he's not gay or a love-interest (Buffy/Giles ‘shippers forgive me), but Giles is Buffy's Watcher and main source of guidance. Her mother Joyce is loving, but either oblivious to the dangers Buffy faces or simply not there. Potential female mentoring figures –- her psychology professor Maggie Walsh and Gwendolyn Post (maybe the only female Watcher ever) –- turn out to be evil.</p> <p>Literature isn't much more encouraging. In Rona Jaffe's The Best of Everything, four young women try to make it in New York during the 1950s and much heartbreak –- personal and professional –- ensues. More importantly, there isn't a female mentor in sight. The only potential one, Caroline's boss Miss Farrow, is the grandmother of Miranda Priestly. To be fair, the men don't particularly try to mentor any of the women (other types of relationship are on their minds), but the one possible female mentor is a shining example of everything Caroline doesn't want to become.</p> <p>Even in Jane Austen's novels the mentoring female figures aren't really around when they're needed (if they exist at all) or they're somehow neglectful. Rather, it's the natural good sense of the protagonist that ends up saving her. That, and a good hard metaphorical slap in the face from a male character. Elizabeth Bennet doesn't exactly listen to her aunt or her sister's cautions about Wickham –- it's the confrontation with Mr. Darcy that sets her right. Emma Woodhouse listens to no one –- until Mr. Knightley scolds her for being selfish and cruel.</p> <p>It's not that I think a man isn't an appropriate mentor for a woman. I'm certainly not suggesting that women collectively hate each other. And I'm not accusing Jane Austen or anyone elseof trying to push an agenda,* but this seems to be a dominant pattern in storytelling. I'd say it's the result of a combination of factors.</p> <p>First there's the strength of the Pygmalion myth (and its Broadway cousin), wherein a man creates his ideal woman and falls in love with her, the modern riff being the gay stylist who enables the woman to get the man of her dreams. Second, the heroine often needs to be parentless/lacking a mentor in order for the story to unfold (or the conflict has to be with the parenting figure). If the statistics of film, television, and literature held true in the real world, the percentage of orphans would be astronomical.</p> <p>Although female mentors might not be plentiful, heroines sometimes get help from best friend/sister figures, whether it's the wisecracking Dorothy to Lorelei's dumb blonde in Gentlemen Prefer Blondes or Mameha and Sayuri in Memoirs of a Geisha. What's more, the males are hardly perfect. Don Draper is not the poster boy for contentment and Prof. Henry Higgins is not Prince-Charming-in-a-Cardigan. Fitzwilliam Darcy (yes I'm going to criticize him) is cold and insensitive. More than that, many of these males need their female counterparts to give them a good reality check. Peggy is often there to remind Don he's not nearly as clever or successful as he thinks. Eliza Doolittle is probably the first and only female to stand up to Higgins. Darcy needs Elizabeth to accuse him of being less than a gentleman in order to properly thaw out.</p> <p>All this notwithstanding: more female mentors please. There seems to be a shortage.</p> <p>*I don't think I'd accuse Jane Austen of anything ever.</p><p> may have lawyered up and non-apology-apologized for his infamous "I love Hitler" rant &mdash; preserved forever by a cell phone video &mdash; but if he thinks he's going to somehow be welcomed back at Dior, he's dreaming. Galliano is a great designer who thinks Nazism is awesome, and no matter what Franca Sozzani says, that is not something anyone's career can survive. So who's going to replace him? Here are the names being mentioned. </p> <p>The Candidates<br> Riccardo Tisci, 36, is the head designer at Givenchy. Givenchy is owned by Bernard Arnault's Louis Vuitton Moët Hennessy, the same parent company that owns , and the creative directorship of Givenchy is considered a traditional proving ground/practice mat for the top job at Dior. Galliano came from Givenchy; Alexander McQueen, less successfully, also held the position prior to launching his own label. Post-Galliano, Givenchy went through a bit of a wilderness period. Designer turnover was high (even Julien MacDonald had a go) and collections were...not good. Tisci's arrival in 2005 changed that: Critics love his consistently gothic-inspired aesthetic, and celebrities known for their unusual fashion choices, like Cate Blanchett and Tilda Swinton, love his clothes, too. Tisci is known for his long-lasting relationships with his muses, including the transsexual model Lea T. and fellow Italian Mariacarla Boscono, as well as his friendship with Marina Abramovic. Abramovic has incorporated Tisci's couture into her performance art. (She once even publicly floated the idea of creative directing a Givenchy show, and "teaching the models to walk in a different way.") Tisci has couture experience, which is highly relevant to the Dior gig, and although Givenchy recently stopped producing couture shows every season, its couture collection is (unlike Dior's) said by LVMH to be profitable. Accessories also perform well for Givenchy &mdash; the house had quite a hit with its "Nightingale" purse, and everyone knows bags and shoes (along with fragrances and cosmetics) are where most fashion houses make most of their money. There are rumors &mdash; all unsourced, unverified, and unverifiable &mdash; that Tisci is favored for the job at Dior. Odds: 1 in 4. (Skinny jeans)</p> Alber Elbaz, 49, designs Lanvin. His is a dream position, basically: a generous financial backer, Taiwanese media baron Shaw-Lan Wang, acquired the world's oldest surviving fashion house from L'Oréal in 2001, and hired Elbaz. Her only instructions to him were to "please wake the sleeping giant." Wang waited patiently for the house to become profitable, which it did in 2007. Elbaz has a wide degree of creative freedom, and his clothes &mdash; a touch girly, with a focus on draping, raw edges, and bright colors &mdash; are generallly beloved by women and critics. Elbaz, who was by the New Yorker's Ariel Levy in 2009, is known for being the chosen successor of Yves Saint Laurent himself (Tom Ford beat him out after Gucci Group acquired the brand). He's also known for his food issues, his shyness, and his kindness: here's a designer who, when he noticed that the models in his show couldn't walk in the six-inch titanium heels he'd designed, delayed his show to get them in flats. (Miuccia Prada, by contrast, said she thought it was "funny" when three models fell in one of her shows.) Would Elbaz leave Lanvin? It's unclear; he certainly seems very happy there, but Dior is on the very short list of houses (Chanel is another) that could theoretically tempt even a designer in that rare position of contentment and security. (Also, Bernard Arnault has a lot of money.) Elbaz's warm, feminine aesthetic could even be a more natural fit at Dior than Tisci's severity. Odds: 1 in 5. (Leopard-print flats) Olivier Theyskens, 34, has held a lot of jobs in fashion &mdash; lately, after a period of unemployment, he's been designing a collection for Theory called Theyskens Theory. Previously, the Belgian fashion school drop-out designed his own label (which closed, although Madonna did wear one of his dresses to the Academy Awards in 1998), designed for Rochas (which also shut down, in 2006 &mdash; though it has since relaunched under designer Macro Zanini), and Nina Ricci (which fired him, in 2009). Anna Wintour and many critics loved Theyskens' gothic-influenced dresses. And any major luxury house, finding itself with a job vacancy, always places a call to Anna. But Theyskens has a reputation as a financial backer's nightmare: at Rochas, he insisted on designing what was technically ready-to-wear as though it were couture, creating fashions that could not be mass-produced, and required extensive work by hand. Some of his pieces retailed for over $20,000. His profligacy &mdash; and his distaste for high-grossing accessories &mdash; are among the reasons why Rochas closed down, and why Nina Ricci fired him. Theyskens is extremely talented, and until Andrew Rosen brought him in at Theory, he was one of the most high-profile out-of-work designers around. Dior is also the kind of place where Theyskens' maniacal attention to detail without regard for cost could be an asset, since the house has an actual couture division. But Dior is also a global mega-brand which licenses its name to everything from cosmetics to neckties, and would Theyskens be right for that? Odds: 1 in 15. (A fucking $20,000 dress) Christian Lacroix, 59 &mdash; speaking of unemployed couturiers, hello? Why go to the bother of poaching a designer from a perfectly comfy position when one of the 20th Century masters of couture is, as far as I can tell, totally available? Realistically, Lacroix used up all his LVMH second chances long ago; in 2005, Bernard Arnault finally sold Lacroix's label to a company that makes most of its money running an airport duty-free chain. It turned out that, after 18 years in operation under the auspices of LVMH, Lacroix had once turned a profit. (The duty-free chain people didn't do much better, and in 2009, Lacroix's fashion division was closed, its founder and staff were fired, and the company was turned into a licensing operation.) But Lacroix knows couture, his bombastic aesthetic is right for Dior, he'd be perfect. Odds: 1 in 10,000. (Peep-toe boots in the snow) Alexander Wang, 26, was on Twitter as a potential Galliano replacement by none other than Paper magazine's Mickey Boardman. Random? Completely: Wang's famed slouchy-t-shirt-and-skinny-jeans, "model off-duty" aesthetic, relatively low prices (only relatively: we're talking $160 for a sweatshirt, instead of $1,600), and reliance on China for production is light years away from what we think of as Dior. But a young designer is not entirely out of the question; Dior may in fact prefer a creative director who is fresher and less established, provided of course that individual has the vision necessary to carry a major brand. (Yves Saint Laurent, after all, succeeded Christian Dior at the tender age of 21.) Could that person be Alexander Wang? Probably not &mdash; but that doesn't mean Joseph Altuzarra and Kate and Laura Mulleavy of Rodarte (who were last year to be in talks to sell a stake in their brand to LVMH) haven't taken any calls. Odds: 1 in 100,000. (A pocket too small to put anything in)<p>Our favorite magazine-industry blog, the anonymously-penned "View From The Fourth Row", has a new post up: A about a "true life editrix" (we hate that word, "editrix") who is said to love her BlackBerry so much she'd take it into the shower if she could. We don't really care who this unnamed fashion editor is &mdash; Self-obsessed fashion editors! What next? &mdash; but the item serves to remind us of our longstanding obsession with another unnamed fashionista, that is, the person (we are thinking it's a she) behind the blog itself, because even though we don't know/care who she's talking about, she's got some righteous fucking anger, so its sort of like watching an Italian flick we don't quite understand:</p> Talk about high school...fashionistas are the worst. Let's take Karolina (ok, names have been changed to protect...ok, maybe not PROTECT since really, when did I start to give a shit about these assholes?...anyway as I was saying...names have been changed so that I don't get sued for defamation of character!)... <p>To which we say: Bravo! But who the fuck is she already? Some suggestions have been , and we've parsed the possibilities a bit , but as of now, nothing. And we're certain some of you people know who she is. So cough it up.</p> <p>Update: 's Faran Krentcil says we misread her clue, explaining: "If the 'View from the Fourth Row' blogger is working from the building from Devil Wears Prada, she's not necessarily working from 4 Times Square. Remember, in the film, The Devil Wears Prada building is actually the Time Warner building - you can see it at the beginning, when Andy's coming out of the office." Ok, we are appropriately humbled, and totally on this.</p> <p> [ViewFromTheFourthRow]<br> Earlier: [Fashionista]<br> </p><p>Gap did something interesting this week: it unveiled a new ad featuring a same-sex couple (or models posing as a same-sex couple; it's not entirely clear) (UPDATE: It is a gay couple! Tony nominee Rory O'Malley and his boyfriend Gerold Schroeder, to be ) on a billboard at a prominent Los Angeles intersection. Gap is struggling to revamp its image and recently parted ways with its longtime advertising agency. Although the jury's still out on whether the company will be able to turn itself around after years of poor sales and lackluster merchandise, including gay people in its ads seems like a good change.</p> <p>Gap is hardly the first clothing company to put a same-sex couple in one of its ads. J.C. Penney, which has already stood up to the ire of conservative pressure groups by by its spokesperson Ellen DeGeneres, a lesbian couple and their daughter for its Mother's Day catalog this year. Abercrombie & Fitch a same-sex kiss in an online video earlier this year &mdash; though it later disavowed the clip. Last year, J. Crew shot one of its designers and his boyfriend for a catalog. Levi's has run campaigns that feature models playing both and . And as can be seen from these print ads for Prada and Dolce & Gabbana, at the high end of the market, designers don't exactly shy away from homoerotic themes.</p> In fact, fashion seems to be one of the few industries that makes an effort to include gays and lesbians in its advertising. When was the last time you saw a gay person in a U.S. ad for a car? This one ran in Canada in 2008. And this McDonald's spot is cute and doesn't even make that big of a deal about how this kid happens to be gay. It aired in France in 2010. Here in the U.S., where lesbians are present in mainstream advertising, they are likely just being used to sell the product via titillation. Witness this ad for Miller, the point of which seems to be "Lesbians...Sex...Beer!" That truly next-level technique also works for bisexuals and chewing gum. And where sexy lesbian sex won't sell your product, of course there's always that old standby, the heteronormative twist ending. Order is restored, bro. When you see gay characters featured in U.S. ads in a positive light (or portrayed in a way that doesn't reduce them to their sex lives), chances are you're watching not an ad but a PSA. Like this one, which aired in 2001, for GLAAD. (, the site linked in this spot, still serves as an archive of gay-related advertising collected by GLAAD from around the world. It's a fascinating resource to poke around. And it's where I found most of these ads.) And of course there was this tear-jerker of a pro-same-sex marriage ad from Australia, produced last year. <p>Given angry U.S. fringe groups (like the so-called One Million Moms, who opposed DeGeneres' J.C. Penney contract) are able to generate weeks of talkback outrage over something as innocent as, say, a picture in a clothing catalog of a little boy with painted toenails, it's not surprising that few big companies (outside of fashion) are willing to include gay characters in their ads. But the lack of representation leaves weird gaps in the discourse.</p> <p>Lede photo via , via </p><p>What makes a successful model? By what process is it decided that will walk in 55 shows and grace the cover of Vogue Italia, while so many peers languish in models' apartments arguing about who used whose shampoo?</p><p>The industry makes this question more confusing by defining "models" as an almost totally homogenous group. They are alike size-wise: fashion models should all be 5'8"-5'11", and measure no more than 34"-24"-34". They are alike race-wise, too: the majority of successful ones are white. And they are alike age-wise: most begin their careers in their mid-teens and work through their mid-twenties. Among this group of tall, thin, teenagers, how is it that the industry determines to anoint one to the level of a supermodel, and not another?</p> <p>It's a question I often pondered when I was modeling. I suppose I realized logically my career would never amount to anything the day Steven Meisel's assistant looked me up and down, pursed her lips, and said, "You don't have the best book, do you?" But the industry occasionally rewards unreasonably high expectations. There are women like Lara Stone, who worked underwhelmingly in what fashion regards as second-tier markets like Sydney for more than five years before a change of representation pushed her in front of the right casting directors. Then Riccardo Tisci picked her to open the Givenchy haute couture show, and the rest is pretty much history.</p> <p>Stone's is not a common career trajectory, but it's also not uncommon. I remember working a job during one of my Sydney tours of duty that involved in order to take a picture that would be used for an in-store display. At the job, I remember talking to a girl named Anastasia Kuznetsova; she was about my age and from St. Petersburg. We commiserated about our unstable housing situations and played model geography. She was leaving the next day for Paris, and I haven't seen her in person since.</p> <p>Where I have seen her is on Rodarte's catwalk, in the Victoria's Secret show, walking for Chanel haute couture, in campaigns for BCBG and Topshop campaign, and in V magazine (repeatedly!). About a year after we did that very odd job, she crossed over and became the kind of model no client would ever book to cover in body paint. I have to admit, I got a vicarious kind of thrill from watching the process unfold for her.</p> <p>Of course, there are also girls who go the other way. The industry is full of models who started off strong but whose careers somehow stalled: the spring/summer two-thousand-whatever Prada exclusive who decided to finish high school and years later ended up working New Zealand Fashion Week with the likes of me; the onetime Lagerfeld favorite lining up for commercial castings in L.A. There are plenty of models who, no matter how many great gigs they book, never seem to be let into the winners' circle. I have another friend who's walked for designers including Marc Jacobs, Vivienne Westwood, and Armani. She's been in campaigns for major brands. She even walked in Karl Lagerfeld's Fendi show on the Great Wall of China, and she's been on the covers of the magazines I couldn't even book editorials in when I was working. But she is probably never going to be counted among the ranks of models who walk in those kinds of shows and book those kinds of campaigns every season; she's still considered, by those who do the considering, in some way peripheral. This is why, even though our careers could not have been more different in caliber, she and I have both experienced the unique disappointment of being told by an agency that we are surplus to requirements. It could drive one mad, to think about it, but is there any reason why one girl works and another girl doesn't? Is there, at least, some kind of observable methodology at play?</p> <p>Sociologist Ashley Mears, a professor at Boston University and a onetime model, from the standpoint of economics. Taking as an example Coco Rocha &mdash; the Canadian model who, incidentally, worked in a few secondary markets in the two years before her career switched over into hyperdrive &mdash; Mears writes, "The secrets to Coco's success, and the dozens of girls that have come before and will surely come after her, have much less to do with Coco the person (or the body) than with the social context of an unstable market." You see, it's partly because fashion models are so objectively interchangeable in size, age, and height that their value in the fashion marketplace becomes subjective.</p> <p>Russell Marsh is perhaps fashion's most influential casting director; he casts shows like Prada, Miu Miu, Dries Van Noten, Max Azria, Hervé Leger, among others. (My friend who was in the Great Wall show once explained her position in the industry as, "You know, Russell Marsh knows who I am, but it's not like he's going to cast me unless something really strange happens.") Mears interviewed him:</p> <p>When I put the question to him &mdash; why this model as opposed to that one? &mdash; he threw his hands up in the air, and excitedly pointed around his studio, "Why did I decide to buy this chair and sofa? You know, for me, it ticks the box. You know, it's an internal thing!"</p> <p>Like dozes of fashion producers I spoke with, Russell doesn't really know what it is about a kid like Coco Rocha that excites him. He "just knows" if a model is right for him, and further, he "knows it when he sees it." This instantaneous knowledge is what sociologist Patrik Aspers calls "contextual knowledge" that creative producers tap into as they broker otherwise "fuzzy" values like beauty and edginess. It's also what sociologist Michel Abolafia has called "gut feeling" in his study of Wall Street traders &mdash; on the trading floor, brokers have a kind of 6th sense for what's hot and cold.</p> <p>In an unstable marketplace where the relative value of a cultural product is, by definition, subjective, people tend to cluster around the positions of established market leaders. (Like Steven Meisel. Or Russell Marsh.) And they behave as they think others will behave &mdash; just as, Mears writes, investors react to each other as well as to what they perceive to be likely movements in the market. In doing so, "they exacerbate systemic risk. Essentially, valuing financial goods is a matter of trying to be in fashion, which is a gamble."</p> <p>So that's one reason fashion's so dysfunctional. Perhaps we should go ahead and blame this one on capitalism? Awesome.</p> <p> [3 Quarks Daily]</p><p>Pretty dress after pretty dress went by on the red carpet outside the Metropolitan Museum of Art last night &mdash; and it was all pretty damn unimpressive.</p><p>At left, Giselle at the ball in 2008. At right, her appearance last night. Click to enlarge.</p> <p>The nice outfits were pretty in unoriginal ways, and the bad ones were generally not so much ugly as they were suffering from certain technical difficulties &mdash; mistaken placement of a bow, an error of proportions.</p> <p>The palette tended heavily towards the neutral &mdash; beiges, tans, eggshells, whites, creams, greys, blacks &mdash; and what colors there were, were muted. (Christina Hendricks' breast-binding cerulean gown and Rachel Weisz's cutesy hot pink one were among the few exceptions.) Prints? Almost none to speak of, and when they did occur. Interesting textures? Carey Mulligan and that reliable fashion trickster Chloë Sevigny each tried lace; their mileage varied. Ralph Lauren paired too-perfectly whiskered blue jeans with his tuxedo jacket, and made himself an example of the kind of high-low look that has become utterly trite. (His wife, Ricky, looked amazing as always in a proper tux, while Alexa Chung's attempt at men's wear fell into overwrought urchin territory.)</p> <p>Where were the stand-out dresses? Where were the gowns we will remember seeing for years to come? Gisele Bündchen's Versace dress from the 2008 Met ball (above left), was and is and ever shall be stunning; I'm also thinking here of an Yves Saint Laurent dress in a purple print that Elettra Wiedemann wore in 2007, and Kate Bosworth's from the same year, and even of that that Claire Danes wore, which transformed suddenly into a vivid red-orange around the waist. Even the unappealing outfits have often been entertaining or at least interesting &mdash; last year, we had in bunny ears, and in a tunic made from a print fit for a couch out of The Ice Storm. (And matching leggings.) The whole shebang this year seemed very tame by comparison. Like a slow-speed procession of the pretty, the safe, and the conservative, as though the worst thing that could happen would be for any dress to be Too Much. This year, Gisele wore a leather-strap contraption by Alex Wang (above right). She looked about as boring as a supermodel can.</p> <p> Many stars clung predictably to the brands they represent. Anne Hathaway wore Valentino, Sarah Jessica Parker wore Halston, Marion Cotillard wore Dior, Diane Kruger wore Calvin Klein; while some of them looked nice, this contractual quality quashed any element of surprise. Though we can more or less presume that Eva Mendes has been replaced as the face of Calvin Klein jeans are true on the basis of her wearing Dolce & Gabbana. Jessica Alba's Sophie Théallet gown was a beautiful and assured take on the 1930s, but the fact that she is a disappointment. Amanda Brooks wore something cool, but then again maybe it just stood out because it had sleeves.</p> <p>Lady Gaga, who should by rights have wowed us all with something fascinating, didn't even bother to walk the red carpet. That left Katy Perry to fly the flag for fashion creativity &mdash; and she did it by wearing a battery-powered light-up dress that looked as if it belonged to a raver bride. In 1996. She turned it off before eating dinner.</p><p>According to reports, Anna Wintour's team has been calling in some samples in U.S. sizes 14 and 16 &mdash; an event so unusual in our age of miniature celebrities that it merits a mention in today's Women's Wear Daily. Certain (unnamed) designers have been asked to create special outfits so Vogue will have plenty of cover options &mdash; and the word is that all the effort is for a cover that will feature Adele. This would be for Vogue's March issue, the spring fashion issue. This is newsworthy for a couple of reasons: one, it's been four years since Vogue featured a plus-size woman on its cover (Jennifer Hudson in 2007) and two, Vogue isn't even putting Adele on the Shape issue cover, it's apparently giving her a "real" cover. (Conventional ladymag wisdom is that March is the second most important issue of the year after September &mdash; which is a huge vote of confidence on the part of Vogue in Adele's salability.) It's been a good year for Adele, vocal cord issues aside: 21 is the top-selling album of the year, and she's nabbed six Grammy nominations, in addition to covers of U.S. Cosmopolitan, British Vogue, and The Gentlewoman. []</p> These Chanel running shoes are so hideous. And yet they cost $795-$950. [] Model Anna Speckhart hails from Pittsfield, Illinois. She says she doesn't talk much about her career with her friends when she visits. "I don't really talk about it at home. I avoid questions about it. They're really proud of me but it's awkward for me. I feel totally unrelated to my pictures sometimes," she says. Even though as a model she's under a certain amount of pressure to look stylish at castings, "I'm not going to spend $1,200 on designer gear," says Speckhart. "I'd rather work for money than trade...I'm really frugal &mdash; J.Crew is a real stretch for me." [] From the man who : there's a new Baptiste Giabiconi song trailer, y'all. (Songs have trailers now?) [] The new Prada campaign is here! As promised, it features Elise Crombez. Damn, have we missed Elise Crombez. [] H.R.H. Princess Shinyhair-upon-Tyne wore a black velvet Alexander McQueen dress to a black-tie event. [] Here's the official ad for the Hunger Games nail polish collection, Capitol Colours. It stars Elizabeth Banks in character as Effie Trinket. [] Arizona Muse, Raquel Zimmerman, Karlie Kloss, Anja Rubik, and Lara Stone were the five models who worked the most for Vogue (and all of its international editions) during 2011. Muse shot some 220 editorial pages, enough for a magazine of her own. [] Vogue's roundup of designer holiday cards is pretty cute. []In order to view comments on jezebel.com you need to enable JavaScript.<br> If you are using Firefox and NoScript addon, please mark jezebel.com as trusted.<p>Last July, the "all black" issue of Italian Vogue hit newsstands, but as Milan kicks off this week, it's a "whiteout," says Guy Trebay of The New York Times.</p> <p>We noted that there were barely any on the runways in Milan . This year, writes Trebay:<br></p> While Giorgio Armani notably cast some black models for his Emporio Armani show, as did Donatella Versace for hers, there was not a single black (or Asian or Latino) face to be seen on the runways at Jil Sander, Missoni, Burberry, Trussardi, Bottega Veneta, Gianfranco Ferre, Roberto Cavalli or Prada. <p>(Armani and Versace had a few.)</p> <p>The crazy thing is that there's a tabloid magazine, Urban, that's being given away at the men's shows this week, and the cover line is "Black Fever." The mag's editors claim that "From politics to fashion, photography to art," black is the color. And they don't mean hue &mdash; they mean black people. Except, of course, on the runways.</p> <p>All of the models were white at the Gucci show, but Frida Giannini, Gucci's head designer, said: "I think it would be great if there was an industry initiative on this issue, because I am always looking for black models, or even Chinese or whatever, for the shows. I'm after a specific kind of look, and I request the agencies — I asked last season — to send me someone interesting. But they never send me anyone very new." And so begins the blame game: Designers and editors blame casting directors and model agencies; model agencies blame designers and editors. In fact, Trebay contacts NYC modeling agency owner George Brown, who flew several of his black models to Milan. Brown says: "They had some amazing options, options I’d never seen before on black guys," meaning some big designers put the models on hold. But: "The options fell off and we found the same line-up of white guys doing all the major shows."</p> <p>Of course, these are the men's shows, and not the more consequential women's wear, but we'll see what happens: Can Italian designers really look through the and not want to hire any of those ladies?</p> <p> [NY Times]</p> <p>Earlier: <br> <br> <br> <br> </p> <p>[Image via .]</p>In order to view comments on jezebel.com you need to enable JavaScript.<br> If you are using Firefox and NoScript addon, please mark jezebel.com as trusted.<p>Ever since we first heard about the "all-black" issue of Italian Vogue, we've been in a tizzy. The magazine has still not hit in New York, but we're making friends with all the dudes at the best newsstands, who are amused as we keep calling. ("What is in this July issue?" asked one vendor. "It's special," we replied. "All black models." "Oh," he smiled. "Nice.") As for the issue: Is it good? Is it bad? It's hard to comment without actually holding a copy of the magazine in our hands. Still, an with Franca Sozzani, whom the Telegraph calls "the seraphic, Botticelli-haired editor-in-chief of Vogue Italia," offers some insight:</p><p>"I'm not trying to be provocative," she says. "It's just that, like everything else we do in fashion, the idea started from watching the shows. It's got to the point where I can't tell one model from another, except for [Liya] Kebede (pictured), who started me thinking. In the early Nineties, we knew all the models' names, recognised even the less famous ones. Liya was reminding me of Iman. And then I was in New York for Super Tuesday, seeing what was happening in America." Because how is it that we can have a black man running for president when of models on Milan's runways are black?</p> <p>As previously discussed in summits held by model mogul Bethann Hardison, things were not always so bad. Black models were part of the fashion industry's fabric for decades. Telegraph has a quote by Brigid Keenan, from her book The Women We Wanted to Look Like, written in 1977 (when , , and were ubiquitous): "Women like [Naomi] Sims prove that the battle for black beauty has been fought and won."</p> <p>Perhaps, as they say, the battle was won, but not the war. is being held in Paris this week, and the lack of black models in couture shows is the issue, reports Breitbart. There's a blame game, of course: "I asked the modelling agency for black girls for our next show but there simply aren't any," says Mario Lefranc, of the Lefranc-Ferrant design duo. An assistant to Jean-Paul Gaultier says: "It's really very difficult at the moment. There are no black models on the market, the agencies have none." But the agencies probably don't have any because designers and magazines won't book them, correct? At least one person was extremely frank: Renee Dujac-Cassou, head of Paris's Crystal model agency says:</p> <p>"Blue-eyed blondes have always been the dream type. It's as simple as that. A beautiful African woman is not the dream type, neither is a Tibetan or a Chinese princess. [The number of non-white models] will always be extremely limited."</p> <p>And here we have the true problem: People think that people don't like diversity. Experts claim that "the market" demands a uniform, pale, Euro-centric look. (For the record: I love to shop, I love fashion, I love diversity. Raise your hand if you can say the same.)</p> <p>But what about going "all-black"? Like Italian Vogue? Or the recent Dsquared men's show, which featured an (almost) all-black cast of male models? Over on Stereohyped, a post , "As much as it delights me to glimpse the gorgeous pics in Italian Vogue and peep the gorgeous men in the Dsquared show, collectively, these efforts at diversity seem to be more like a passing fad instead of something that will actually change the industry. Sort of 'Let's do all black guys this time! It will be fabulous!' Having all-black magazine issues and all-black fashion shows isn't going to solve any problems." Agreed. But. Having all-black issues and runway shows does call attention to the problem. Having all-black issues and runway shows also gets black models working. Having all-black issues and runway shows allows editors, designers, stylists and mere mortals to see that, indeed, beautiful people come in all colors. That being in style or high fashion is not merely the territory of fifteen year old Estonian children. If black people can model, so can Asians! And brown people! While there's a danger in having an all-black cast becoming a fad or a trend, anything that calls into question the recent and pervasive whiteout in the fashion industry can't be bad. Now if we could just get our hands on that July issue…</p> <p> [Telegraph]<br> <br> [Stereohyped]<br> <br> [Telegraph]<br> <br> [Fashionista]<br> <br> [NY Times]<br> <br> (slideshow) [NY Times]<br> <br> [Breitbart]</p> <p>Earlier: <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> </p> <p>The New York Times." /&gt;</p>These days, it's not enough for a magazine to just be a mere publication. A magazine has to be online. A magazine has to be on TV. Yesterday, AdAge that after Elle participated in Project Runway, the mag saw newsstand sales and ad pages soar &mdash; going from number 6 to number 2 in its category, second only to Vogue. (Now Vogue has an online docu-series "Model.Live.") Elle has parted ways with Project Runway, but will launch Stylista on The CW in October. And Marie Claire the Style Network to produce Running In Heels, a weekly series about the lives of Marie Claire editors. But none of the TV shows about magazines will show you what you really want to see:The juicy stuff. The scandalous stuff. Who showed up late and bitchy for her cover shoot? Who had to have Evian for her lap dog? Which editor is generally hated for her negative attitude? Who is ultimately responsible for the epic amount of Photoshopping that goes on to create a cover "image"? What do the photographs of the women on the covers of these magazines look like before they are tampered with? (Well, we for that.) The chances that we'll see any of this stuff is as slim as the waists they whittle on the covers of and . Having worked in magazines for 10 years, I was privy to all kinds of tantalizing secrets: A friend at a rival teen mag witnessed breast augmentation scars while a certain pop star was changing at a photo shoot. A member of a boy band confessed he threw away his underwear after wearing it once. I walked into an interview with a popular recording artist, who had a major radio hit, to find the conference room at the record label completely filled with marijuana smoke. And I was small time! Imagine the stories the folks at Marie Claire could tell. Instead, Running In Heels will be an attempt to "uncover what it means to be a working woman in the cut-throat, exhilarating world of a top fashion and beauty magazine," which means we'll probably see, well, women running in heels. Which we saw when The Devil Wears Prada came out, two years ago. [AdAge] [Folio] Earlier:In order to view comments on jezebel.com you need to enable JavaScript.<br> If you are using Firefox and NoScript addon, please mark jezebel.com as trusted.<p>Last night at Harvard, while speaking with on a panel about models' health, pledged to no longer use girls under the age of 16 in his shows and campaigns. It's a step, but is it enough?</p><p>Said Wintour: "Everyone's eyes are open and looking at the problem." But it was hard to tell, beyond "looking at it," what the people in power are actually doing about the problem.</p> <p>The discussion, called "Health Matters: Weight and Wellness in the World of Fashion," was moderated by Dr. , who . Herzog is the director of the Harris Center for Education and Advocacy in at Massachusetts General Hospital. This man has spent his professional life examining the destruction eating disorders inflict on the lives of women. This makes the question of why he's so far up Anna Wintour's/Vogue's butt that much more compelling.</p> <p>Herzog fawned over the work the CFDA's Health Initiative has been doing in the three years since its inception in 2007. How can we see for ourselves the results of these labors? Herzog thinks you should check out the April issue of Vogue &mdash; you know, the "Shape" issue. Herzog clearly hasn't realized that as good as it can be to see the variety of body shapes and women in that issue &mdash; when the rest of the time Vogue is &mdash; it that it is still just one issue out of 12. Nine years after the first Shape issue appeared on newsstands, have the sizes of the models in Vogue become more diverse or attainable? And outside of its debatable victories in Vogue, what else is the Health Initiative doing, really? Has it managed to get designers to abide by its suggestion to not use models under 16? No. New York is still known for its 14- and 15-year-old breakout runway stars, like Monika Jagaciak and Karlie Kloss, and the many, many other models like them who work in relative obscurity. Has the Health Initiative gotten clients to make sure healthy food is available during show season? Not really; Jenna says there was more food backstage at the Bryant Park tents last month than in seasons past, but it was still very hit-or-miss. Has the Health Initiative done anything to fundamentally shift the industry's power dynamic more in models' favor? No &mdash; they're still vulnerable to their agencies' and clients' demands. Pretty pictures in Vogue aren't sufficient to address these problems.</p> <p>What I walked away with as the group's main message can be summed up by Michael Kors, in the Health Matters video shown, which was created and funded by Condé Nast and Michael Kors, Inc: "The change has been the awareness." When your goal is the fuzzy cure-all "awareness," any step can be made to seem like success.</p> <p>Wintour, Vodianova, and Kors returned to this theme again and again. Wintour spoke first, and earnestly set about proving that the Health Initiative has brought about some real change. She pointed to , and claimed that fashion shows have become entirely different events since recommendations were put in place &mdash; she said there is less alcohol backstage, and that there is in fact more food provided to models. Wintour failed to offer any real evidence to support this claim, other than being quick to commend Kors' efforts to use healthy, age-appropriate models in his shows. Wintour also pointed to Vogue's support of the Initiative. She mentioned , and its as proof that "We want healthy-looking girls; our readers want healthy looking girls."</p> <p>Before I went to last night's event, Jenna told me that in the past, Wintour and others at Vogue have blamed small sample sizes, the ages of the models who fit into these sizes, and the use of celebrities for beauty and fashion magazine shoots as causes, or at least primary elements, of the problem. Impressively, Wintour managed to hit every one of these talking points. She said the very young average age of models promotes a body type that is unrealistic for most adult women, she pointed to über-thin celebrities taking over as cultural influencers, and then shrugged and said Vogue was stuck using whatever models fit into the tiny sample garments designers lend it. Wintour wryly described the "tyranny of clothes that fit, just barely, 13-year-olds on the brink of puberty," as if it were not in her power to request a larger size garment from a designer. Wintour commended Prada for hiring Doutzen Kroes to walk in Milan last month (Kroes was in attendance as well, in the first row) and said, "Change does seem to be within reach."</p> <p>I think Michael Kors was probably the most popular of the three on panel. His opening statement &mdash; "The fashion industry, as a whole, is starting to address real women again" &mdash; earned the crowd's spontaneous applause. His best moment came when he said that simply making recommendations was "passive" but, like Wintour, didn't really make it clear what active steps the CFDA should be taking, or better yet, what other players in the industry could be doing.</p> <p>Kors obviously knows and understands who is buying the clothes he makes, and repeatedly returned to the idea of representing "real women" in the fashion industry. "Girls dressed up in their mother's clothes? Guess what, it's not attractive." In the night's big moment, Kors committed to action himself by publicly pledging to no longer use any model under the age of 16 in his campaigns or runway shows. (That shouldn't be too hard. Kors used only one model who may have been under 16 in &mdash; Keke Lindgard, whose biography states only the year of her birth, 1994. Kors used three 16-year-old models: Monika Jagaciak, Frida Gustavsson, and Julija Steponaviciute, though it should be noted that Jagaciak, whose birthday is January 15, turned 16 barely a month before the show. Last September, Kors booked Jagaciak, who was then 15.)</p> <p>Kors condemned the fashion industry's tendency to treat young models as a commodity to be discarded when no longer wanted. Kors told a story about meeting a young model who became increasingly distressed throughout a fitting. Kors took her aside, and she told him the sweater he had chosen for her was too sheer, making her uncomfortable. At this point, Kors told the audience, he was reminded that "this was a child," not always capable of protecting herself. It was a good anecdote until Kors ruined it by throwing in, "She thanks me every time I see her."</p> <p>Soft-spoken supermodel was the most charismatic member of the panel. People around me kept whispering how cute she was &mdash; she had a tendency to giggle. Vodianova talked about returning to modeling after the birth of one of her children having lost a drastic amount of weight, and later her realization that she had a problem, brought on at least in part by the pressures and scrutiny of the fashion industry. After therapy and her own self-examination, she realized "no one is judging me the way I judge myself." But we had just heard Vodianova describe hearing the criticism leveled at other models; worrying about what was said about herself seemed a very legitimate fear.</p> <p>Vodianova was quick to credit modeling for changing her life, granting her travel and educational opportunities she would not otherwise have had access to growing up in poverty in small-town Russia. "I knew I was a lucky one," she said. Vodianova tended to veer between acknowledging the pressures and dangers the fashion industry presents to models, and crediting the industry for her success and even her recovery from her own eating disorder. She explained that in the fashion industry, where models' bodies and appearance &mdash; indeed, all matters of their lives &mdash; are largely subject to the whims of the agency, the stylist, or the magazine, "Anorexia is the only form of control girls have. It's what girls can do to take some control of their careers." Vodianova said, "Their sense of worth is handed over to people who don't care about their feelings. They're simply not paid to."</p> <p>Rather than take questions from the audience, the organizers apparently solicited queries via email at some point prior to the discussion, and chose three. The whole thing took 15 minutes. This unwillingness to engage the audience, the extent to which everything was prepared and scheduled, made it all a bit dry. Herzog completely failed to challenge any member of the panel &mdash; he was also very mild-mannered at last month's CFDA Health Initiative &mdash; which is probably why he was chosen as moderator. Maybe he doesn't know much about fashion, but just flipping through a Vogue might have helped him come up with a few questions for Wintour (especially since organizers weren't willing to take any from the audience), and we could have heard some real dialog.</p> <p>Herzog did ask the panel to predict what changes or progress might have been made three years in the future, but tellingly, everyone on the panel was reluctant to say what the Health Initiative could accomplish in that time. Said Wintour: "I think we should just feel really good about today." With that pat on the back, the panel dispersed.</p><p>A of 1,042 American workers has found that women feel guiltier about "boundary spanning work demands" &mdash; email or phone contact for work-related purposes &mdash; after hours.</p> <p>The study, published in the Journal of Health and Social Behavior, that this was consistent in women regardless of their age, socioeconomic level, or whether they were married or had kids. That in itself is shocking: You don't even have to have kids to experience conflicted feelings about your . The guilt rose as the work increased.</p> <p>One of the authors ,</p> <p>"Initially, we thought women were more distressed by frequent work contact because it interfered with their family responsibilities more so than men. However, this wasn't the case. We found that women are able to juggle their work and family lives just as well as men, but they feel more guilty as a result of being contacted. This guilt seems to be at the heart of their distress."</p> <p>Bonus points to the first genius who responds, "Duh." But there are several things at play here, including the obvious aspect that women are culturally conditioned to feel guilty about doing exactly what their male counterparts are doing: Earning a living. (Remember the moral of the story in The Devil Wears Prada, in which the protagonist becoming good at her demanding job is conflated with abandoning her values and her boyfriend and friends? In which she watches a woman at the top of her game lose her husband?) We're also constantly expected to make it look effortless, with which a frantic late night call or email tends to interfere.</p> <p>Another is the fact that though these are characterized in the social science research as "boundary spanning," in an always-reachable age of email and smartphones, compounded with broad job insecurity for the past several years, where exactly are those boundaries?</p> <p> [Journal Of Health And Social Behavior]<br> [Medical News Today]<br> [Reuters]</p><p>Today, Salon has the . The panel was moderated by producer Lynda Obst (Contact, Sleepless in Seattle). Included in the conversation were (among others) writer/director Nora Ephron (When Harry Met Sally), writer/producer Laura Ziskin (To Die For, Spider-Man), writer/director Callie Khouri (Thelma & Louise), producer Cathy Konrad (Walk the Line), writer/director Kimberly Peirce (Boys Don't Cry), and a female studio head: Universal president of production Donna Langley. (Part of the discussion appears in this month's Elle magazine, but Salon has the extended version.) The group touched on a number of subjects, including whether or not women &mdash; other than , that is! &mdash; can "open" films. Some of the highlights, after the jump.</p> <p><br> <br> Women don't pursue producing and directing careers because they would rather have kids.<br> Ms. Ziskin says, "I think it's harder for women whose peak career-making years coincide with their peak baby-making years. Directing is a job that requires 100 percent of your time and energy and it's therefore hard to have children." Ms. Peirce points out, "I think the indie world is actually great for women, and for gay people. Because if you have a story, you're going to be able to [tell it]. That's where a lot of women get their start. But you get into your second, your third movie, and you're building a career, and it's hitting smack up against those years when you want to have a child. I mean, you can't get bonded [insured for the film] if you're pregnant." Callie Khouri admits that she chose her career over giving birth. "I didn't have kids because I felt like, I'm not going to be able to do both things. I'm not going to fail at two things," she reveals. "I'm the kind of person &mdash; it's hard for me to leave my dog. And my dog I can bring to the set and I don't feel so guilty about it. So I made a conscious decision... I'm going to give that up because I want to have a career." Margaret Nagle thinks that there's a double standard for working moms and working dads: "I was working with this producer, and his kid would have an ear infection and he'd leave the meeting, and everybody would go, 'Oh, God, he's so great,'" she says. "And I went, 'If I took that call and left this meeting because my kid had an ear infection, I'd be fucking vilified.' It would be over. There would be a call to my agent. I remember just thinking, 'You're probably going to see your mistress. You're not going to the kid with the ear infection.'<br> <br> <br> Women don't direct as many movies because the scripts don't come their way.<br> Cathy Konrad claims, "The material that gets made at studios is a function of the culture: what is branded and what makes money. I'm not saying that women only want to make dramas, but I do think that you'll find a lot more women that want to tell stories about people than cars." On the other hand, Ms. Khouri, despite writing Thelma & Louise, says she would love to do a movie about cars. "The stuff that comes to me is still way girlier than I would go after on my own," Khouri says. "I spent years trying to get a baseball movie made, and that didn't happen. I wanted to make a NASCAR movie. The stuff that comes to me, I'm always like, 'I don't want to do this. There's crying in this.' That's what sifts down to me, and it is frustrating. I would like to work outside of the female-centric world. But if it's got a woman in it, I'm going to have a better shot at [getting] it." Big action movies make money, but, Ms. Nagle says, "I've never wanted to make anything blow up. That was something my brothers did, and I never wanted to watch movies where people blew things up." Kimberly Pierce, on the other hand, is pro-explosions. "I love blowing things up," she admits. "I just did Stop-Loss, a war film, and there was nothing more exciting than when they set those cars on fire."<br> <br> <br> Women would go to the movies more if there was something worth watching.<br> The panel discussed the success of the Bourne movies, which appeal to women even though they have "all that testosterone." Also, though it was marketed to women, men went to see The Devil Wears Prada because "Everybody's had a scary boss," says Ms. Nagle. In addition, Spider-Man was an action-packed movie with emotional heart, so it had a broad appeal.<br> <br> <br> If Hollywood won't help, you have to do it yourself.<br> In the end, the women admitted that while there are only one or two women (Julia Roberts and Reese Witherspoon) that can get a picture green-lit by a major studio, Ms. Khouri and others just end up making their movies independently, with other actresses. Says Ms. Nagle, "There's more than one way to skin a cat. If you can't take one path, we're learning to take another path. And that's a very good path for chicks like us to learn."</p> <p> [Salon]<br></p><p>A very long, but insightful and interesting in today's WWD attempts to tackle the issue of women in fashion. More and more females are heading big-name fashion houses or are gaining prominence with their own labels. "In the early Nineties," says Floriane de Saint Pierre, head of a consulting firm in Paris, "the creative directors of fashion houses were nearly all men." For example: Michael Kors at Celine and Tom Ford at Gucci, who were succeeded by Ivana Omazic and Frida Giannini, respectively. Could it be part of a larger context, considering Hillary Clinton is running for president, and prominent politicians include German Chancellor Angela Merkel and China's vice premier, Wu Yi?</p> <p>Pamela Golbin, curator of 20th-century fashion at the Museum of Fashion and Textiles in Paris, notes that Coco Chanel, Madeleine Vionnet, Jeanne Lanvin, Elsa Schiaparelli and Madame Grès were the queens of Paris fashion in the early part of the century. After World War II, women "went back to the home," and the post-war names in design were men like Christian Dior, Pierre Balmain and Cristobal Balenciaga.</p> <p><br> <br> Men still dominate high fashion, but women seem to be gaining. "I sincerely hope we are witnessing a major and permanent change, not only in the fashion industry, but also in society in general," says Marni's Consuelo Castiglioni. Donatella Versace adds, "The worlds of banking and management are opening up to women at long last. But in fashion, specifically, I think it points to an understanding that women are instinctively in tune with the female customer." Versace also says Italy is leading the way in appointing female designers and that this fits in with the nation's culture, "as we have long been a matriarchy!" (See: Gucci designer Frida Giannini, Miuccia Prada, Angela Missoni and new hires Alessandra Facchinetti at Valentino and Christina Ortiz at Salvatore Ferragamo.)</p> <p>Could it be that women are actually better at designing clothes for women? "When seeing the Milan fashion shows and then immediately going to Paris, one sometimes has the sense of going from real clothes to fantasy-made-for-the-catwalk clothes," said Mary Gallagher, a Europe-based associate at Martens & Heads, a New York executive search firm. "Maybe that's why there are so many prominent women designers in Italy. They are the ones wearing the clothes, so they know what feels and looks good on them and what works in a woman's busy life."</p> <p>The argument is that men tend to be more "conceptual" but less concerned with the practical. And since the fashion world is becoming less and less focused on couture, women who design with "practical" aspects in mind will succeed. The problem there is the underlying prejudice: If couture is art, for which men are celebrated, then a woman's ready-to-wear becomes mass market seamstress patternmaking, and the respect and impact are sucked out.</p> <p>The truth is, if the fashion world had any kind of equality in it, women and men would design for women &mdash; and men.</p> "I would like to think that a good design speaks for itself," added Linda Fargo, senior vice president and fashion director of Bergdorf Goodman. "When we use our senses, whether it's taste, sight or hearing, for example, we don't first think, hmm, was this chef a woman? Or, was this music performed by a man? Hopefully, we have evolved enough not to judge these things first through a sexist or ageist prism, but through the strength and merit of design." But in the billion dollar fashion industry, women have yet to "evolve" enough to dominate. And though there are a growing number of female creative directors, the worst result would be if this were just a trend, or a cycle. Because trends fade quickly. Cycles end. In this story, Vera Wang says, "It's a good time to be a woman designer again." Hopefully it will never be a bad time. Because if women around the world are spending billions on clothing, female designers should be able to reap those rewards. And even when a man does design for women, he usually has a muse, a woman who inspires him. Says Diane von Furstenberg, "Women do not need muses... they are their own muses." <p> [WWD]</p><p>Although G.I. Joe was number one at the box office over the weekend with $56.2 million, Julie & Julia, which came in at number two (and $20.1 million) can be considered a total success story. A few reasons why:</p> <p>First, the numbers: While G.I. Joe made $56.2 million, Time, it cost $175 million to produce and more than $100 million to market worldwide. Will the studio recoup those costs?</p> <p>On the other hand, Julie & Julia cost $38 million to make. And Time's Richard Corliss notes that the Julia Child-oriented movie got loads of free publicity: "Nora Ephron, the movie's writer-director, was the subject of 15 New York Times articles in the past month."</p> <p>Next, Women & Hollywood's Melissa Silverstein for perspective:</p> <p>Nora Ephron's Sleepless in Seattle opened in 1993 on over 1700 screens to a approx $17 million gross. It earned $126 million domestically. You've Got Mail opened in 1998 on over 2600 screens and earned a little over $18 million. Film went on to earn $115 million domestically.<br> And from Meryl Streep. The Devil Wears Prada opened in 2006 on 2,847 screens and grossed $27 million. The total domestic gross was $124 million. This film made more overseas with a total box office cum of $326 million. Mamma Mia opened on over 2900 screens and grossed approx $27 million on opening weekend. The domestic gross topped out at $144 million and the worldwide total is an astounding $600 million.</p> <p>These women make hits.</p> <p>But even more noteworthy is the fact that the true star of Julie & Julia is not a slinky young ingenue (coughMeganFoxcough) but 60-year-old Meryl Streep. Corliss writes: "With The Devil Wears Prada and Mamma Mia! both earning well over $100 million domestic, and her new picture on its way to hit status, she is arguably the movie's top female star. And she's 60. That's never happened in Hollywood history." (Yet who's on Vogue's August issue? G.I. Joe's Sienna Miller.)</p> <p>Lastly, and maybe most important: Julie & Julia is a movie about two women whose romantic lives are secondary in the plot. While other comedies focus on beaus and babies, the movie manages to acknowledge that women have other hopes, dreams, desires and things to talk about. Which is, of course, something to savor.</p> <p> [Time]<br> [Women & Hollywood]</p> <p>[Image via ]</p><p>Much unlike many a magazine editor who recommends you buy all sorts of crap that they most likely got for free, your Jezebel staff doesn't get jack shit (other than books, unsolicited). And that's how it should be. But on our own time, in our personal lives, we still buy stuff. So this is Worth It, our daily recommendation of random things that we've actually spent our own money on. These are the things we buy regularly or really like, things we'd actually tell our friends about. And now we're telling you.</p> <p>Over the past decade, my hair has ranged in length from chin to nipples. But no matter where it falls, my hair drives me nuts when it's wet, because it's so…wet. I feel like I can never really get my back or shoulders dry because it's dripping everywhere; if I try to wrap up my hair in a towel before drying off the rest of my body, I have to spend 10 seconds cold, naked, and wet while I take care of the damn hair. Unless it's blistering hot, I hate those 10 seconds.</p> <p>And the basic towel-turban solution, you see, doesn't cut it. I'm a petite gal (5'1 and 3/4" &mdash; and that 3/4" means the world to me) with a petite skull, and even basic, modestly-sized bath towels are too big to stay balanced atop my head for more than 2 minutes. I need the towel to stay put for a bit, because I usually go right back to the computer right after I shower, and I won't really stop to take care of my hair for another 30 minutes, easily. (The bloggin' life, god love it.)</p> <p>Enter the Turbie Twist. I ran across them hanging on one of those "as seen on TV" racks at Bed Bath & Beyond. It looked ridiculous, but I'm ridiculous about the wet hair thing, so hey.</p> <p>The Turbie Twist is a thin-but-absorbent towel, shaped kind of like a hood. The curvature of the fabric wraps easily around your head. Twist it up, fasten it in place with a little elastic loop that's attached, and that hair is out of your face. It's super easy, and it stays put. You can control how tightly you wrap it; these are one-size-fits-all. I'll go an hour with the thing on my head before I remember that it's there. And when I finally do take it off, I only need to spend 2 minutes with the hair dryer.</p> <p>That's all. It's kind of silly, the name is horrid, but the product is wonderfully simple. I love it.</p> <p>Turbie Twist, 4 for $19.99 at .</p> <p>Worth It only features things we paid for ourselves and actually like. Don't send us stuff.</p>In order to view comments on jezebel.com you need to enable JavaScript.<br> If you are using Firefox and NoScript addon, please mark jezebel.com as trusted.<p>One of the most wonderful things about my tiny apartment is that it is located right down the street from one of my favorite places in New York: The Rem Koolhaas-designed Prada flagship store in Soho, which, had it been around in the late 1950s, would probably have taken the place of Tiffany's for the stylish, sad-sack Holly Golightly. As much as I love to loiter outside, fantasizing about the fashions on display behind the store's enormous picture windows, actually stepping foot inside unleashes my deepest sartorial insecurities: Not only can I not exactly afford the silken turbans of yesterday and the orange fuzzy coats of today on display, but apparently this fact is something known - intuited, at least? - by the store's severely-suited salespeople, who seem to regularly play retail Darwinism, casting disparaging glares at visitors who have "no reason" &mdash; meaning: no bank account &mdash; to justify being there. So I decided to embark on what I decided to call the Pretty Woman experiment: visiting the store in different states of dress to find out whether I would be treated differently based on my appearance.</p><p>1. On August 11th, I dropped by dressed, essentially, in my pajamas: Leggings from Target, oversized red flannel shirt, glasses on, matted "morning hair" tied up in a knot and nary a lick of makeup. Clad in this ensemble I did not garner negative attention, I immediately noticed, but no attention at all. No one said hello as I pushed the heavy door open myself, took a quick turn around the floor, and then proceeded down the stairs to the footwear level. Several salespeople mingled among the high-priced shoes: It was a Saturday afternoon and the fall/winter styles had just arrived in stores, so it was prime shopping season. I lingered for what seemed like forever before the display of the trend shoes of the season: The ombre patent Havana-heeled pumps, the multi-hued colorblocked sandals. I picked them up, examining their heels, their soles, their prices. And still, nothing. After a few minutes I gave up, headed back up the dizzying, seemingly floating blond wood stairs and headed on my merry way. I thought I heard one of the security guards mumble, "Have a good afternoon" as I stepped out the main door and into the midday sunshine, but that could've been wishful thinking.</p> <p>2. Two days later, I returned, this time dressed to the eights (not nines: I was, uh, wearing Target flip-flops) with a long, creamy Vivienne Westwood skirt belted over a black, v-neck tee. I had on mascara, eyeliner, even blush: No grooming detail had been overlooked, and as I approached the store, the door opened for me, almost magically. I had hardly a moment to register the accompanying "good afternoon" when a sales clerk appeared and asked if there was anything she could help me with. (Success! Maybe I could leave?). I thanked her for asking and began strolling through the maze of clothing on the floor below, surrounded by knee socks and logo-stamped bags at every turn, taking my time (I was a "lady of leisure" after all!) and at each different clothing rack, it seemed, found another sincere, smartly-outfitted shopgirl. Eventually, I decided it was time to tackle footwear, and lo and behold, the second I stepped foot on the shiny, black floor of the department I heard a warm, welcoming voice, not unlike that of a fairy godmother. I asked the saleslady if I could see the object(s) of my desire: The season's new open-toed pink and black ombre Havana heels of earlier mention, with the thick elastic strap that sits across the front of the foot. "Do you have them in a 39?" I asked. Her face clouded with worry, "Ooh I'm not sure. Let me go check right away and see what I can do." She emerged moments later, looking practically crestfallen. "We only have them in a 7 1/2 and a 9 1/2. Do you want to try either of those? Maybe the 7 1/2 will work?" I asked after the 9 1/2 and before I could even blink, she emerged with a shiny black box. I slipped the shoes on: Magic. Pure magic. I walked, strutted, and skipped around the shoe floor. Every once in a while, my guardian angel peeped around the corner to check on me. "No rush! No rush at all!" she insisted, warmly. I pranced some more. And then the saleslady emerged again, informing me that she had just learned that these very shoes were 1 of 2 pairs (the other being the 7 1/2, naturally) left of this style in the entire city of New York.</p> <p>Needless to say, I capitulated, and, for the first time in my life, bought something Prada. It was sick: At the checkout registers on the main floor, I simultaneously giggled like a schoolgirl and almost teared up. Hypnotized by the combination of shiny things and someone willing to give me the time of day, I had fallen under the luxury-market's spell, dropping dollars faster than you can say "The devil wears..." But I guess one could look at it this way: someone's gotta actually pay full price so Anna Wintour can continue to get her , right? Was I duped? Possibly. But better-heeled? Certainly.</p> <p>Earlier: </p><p>A new study concerns some interesting analysis when it comes to real estate agents, house prices, and the length of time a property is on the market, Marina Adshade for Big Think. In a paper titled "Broker beauty and boon: a study of physical attractiveness and its effect on real estate brokers' income and productivity," published in Applied Financial Economics, Sean P. Salter, Franklin G. Mixon Jr. and Ernest W. King found that what the agent looks like matters. First of all, you don't want a dude:</p> <p>It turns out having a male agent is bad for the selling price of a house. Both male listing agents (those acting on behalf of the seller) and male selling agents (those acting on behalf of the buyer) are associated with lower house prices than their female counterparts.</p> <p>And, what's more, homes with good-looking agents sold for higher prices:</p> <p>Being attractive, for both listing and selling agents, is associated with higher final sale price for a house, with the effect on house prices of having an attractive listing agent is about twice as large as that of an attractive selling agent.</p> <p>In a way, it makes sense; humans are visual creatures, and if some polished, pleasing-to-the-eye power broker who looks like a million bucks tries to sell on something worth a million bucks, we're probably going to agree to the price. That's just how sales works! The pretty people in Prada have known this for years.</p> <p>That said, it's disappointing to think that we are so shallow that two agents could have the same skill and experience, but the more attractive one secure a sale at a higher price (and make more of a commission). And, usual, being a black person is a setback:</p> <p>The study also finds that non-white listing agents are associated with lower final prices and both non-white listing agents and selling agents are associated with longer times on the market.</p> <p> [Big Think]</p> <p>Image by Andy Dean Photography/.</p><p>About a year ago, I was desperate to review Dial L For Loser from the New York Times best-selling tween book series . I thought the title was hilarious and I wanted to see what sort of written culture the kiddies are consuming these days. Within the first ten pages, there were mentions of Ella Moss, Neiman Marcus, Prada, Range Rovers, and Chantico drinking chocolate (even hot beverages must be branded!). In fact, it broke down to 1.8 brand mentions per page, which is staggering when you consider that each page had about 160 words. The characters consuming these lux brands were supposed to be seventh graders. Well listen up kiddies, the brand-infiltration of books aimed at ten-to-twelve year olds is only going to get exponentially worse. by HarperCollins and named for a heroine called Mackenzie Blue is offering brand sponsorship for each new novel before the books are even written.</p> <p>The author of the books, Tina Wells, is not even a writer by trade; she is, according to the NY Times, "chief executive of Buzz Marketing Group, which advises consumer product companies on how to sell to teenagers and preteenagers." But this is nothing new: Clique series author Lisi Harrison used to be at MTV and is the brains behind such classics as "Room Raiders." (Also, the middle schoolers in the Clique series are apparently , but that's a whole other post. We miss you, , and your menses loving ways!).</p> <p>Ms. Wells claims that brand sponsorship will not interfere with Mackenzie Blue's content. "Mackenzie loves Converse...Does Converse want to work with us? I have no clue. But that doesn't negate the fact that Mackenzie loves Converse," Wells told the Times. When reporter Motoko Rich asked her if she would refuse a lucrative contract from Nike even though Mackenzie is a "Converse girl," Wells said, "Maybe another character could become a Nike girl." Don't you see, brands won't be dictating her content at all!</p> <p>Even worse is Mackenzie Blue publisher Susan Katz. "If you look at Web sites, general media or television, corporate sponsorship or some sort of advertising is totally embedded in the world that tweens live in," Ms. Katz said. "It gives us another opportunity for authenticity." [Cue gagging sounds here. -Ed.] The thing is, tweens may be beginning to resent the bill of goods YA novels are selling. In an Amazon.com customer review* of , part of the Sweet Valley High series but published in the aughts, reader "gt7941a" complains, "Note to author: bring back realism, excitement, romance w/o jumping into bed and LOSE the talk about what brand of makeup & clothing everyone is wearing. It used to be Pascal/John used phony names even for the mall stores & the only recognizable brand were Bruce's Porsche."</p> <p>The only way to halt this seemingly unstoppable tide of brand worshiping is for kids to quit buying these books, but that doesn't look like it's going to happen anytime soon. Some might argue it's good the kids are reading at all, since than they did 10 years ago. Meanwhile, I'm tempted to only buy books published before 1980 for my (future) children. Or you know, cash in on this YA novel branding trend while it's still hot! Hey Reebok, I have a heroine I think you'd just adore!</p> <p>*This review was spotted by Lizzie Skurnick, our own columnist and YA enthusiast par excellence.</p> [New York Times] [Utne Reader]<p>Commenters, what can we say? We've felt like we've actually really known you since that very first day you commenced anonymously bitching us out, but, following our post yesterday, something within you blossomed. Combined centuries of ill-advised fucking has clearly matured you into the sorts of brutally honest, emotionally unavailable but physically totally-game ladies we're proud to call "interfriends." Your reasons for having sex, beginning with and ending with confirmed all our favorite suspicions about you. Also, thanks to you we were reminded of our :</p> when the power is off after a hurricane there is nothing else to do but drink all the beer in the fridge before it gets hot and fuck. It really is the perfect setting; windows boarded up, generators to drown out the noise, and eating hotdogs from the Red Cross van in your unrecognizable, debris riddled lawn can really be a turn on. (Our fantasy involved Anderson Cooper and Shepard Smith in Prada life vests, which is our only fantasy about the gays, which we think says a lot about how erotically-charged massive humanitarian crises can be, which we think says a lot about how we're fucked up.) Anyway, here are some of the other best reasons to have sex, according to you: <p></p> <p></p> <p></p> <p></p> <p>.</p> <p></p> <p></p> <p></p> <p>And finally, the "we've done this" award goes to:</p> <p></p> <p>Earlier: </p><p>Poor Simon Doonan: the writer and creative director of Barneys New York is from a fashion-inflicted injury, or so he says in his column in this week's New York Observer.</p> I once laughed unsympathetically when my mother's best friend broke her thumb putting on her girdle, and now, lo many years later, God has seen fit to punish me... It's hard to say if my affliction is more or less embarrassing than that girdle-mangling horror of yore. I will let you be the judge. Here goes: I was felled by a man-bag, a Goyard man-bag at that...After two or three years of lugging round my luxe accessory...I incurred a nasty case of bicep tendinitis....[It] is a painful and immobilizing condition involving months of rehab. Motivated by his sorry state, Doonan set out to track down fellow victims of the thing we call fashion. After all, who amongst us has not pulled a ? (Says the Allure editor-in-chief: "There I was in the dressing room, trapped in a designer straitjacket [aka - a Prada turtleneck], mortified...I still can't understand how one can get into something but not get out of it.") <p><br> <br> Doonan's other fashion victim pals include realtor Burt Minkoff (angora in the contact lens landed him in the ER); gallerist Karen Boltrax (Paul Smith clogs fucked up her feet); an anonymous Allure staffer (thrombosis from too-tight leather pants &mdash; guesses, anyone?); and US Weekly's Sasha Charnin Morrison (took a tumble leaving a Versace show, got a photo and a Versace band-aid to prove it).</p> <p>I for one, have an anecdote: It was my sophomore year of college and I had signed up to be a tour guide for prospective students and their parents. Finishing up a tour while walking forwards (not backwards, like a good tour guide should!) in my brand spankin' new ballet flats &mdash; which just might have been an eency bit loose in the heel &mdash; I tripped, took flight, and landed face down, using only my knees to break my fall. I was rushed to the ER, as the doc on campus was positive I had not one but two broken kneecaps. (They ended up being severely bruised, and I was put on bedrest for 2 weeks.)</p> <p>Anyway: So here's the challenge: Can you guys top these fashion injury stories? Go for it. Make our day.</p> <p> [NY Observer]</p>When it comes to makeovers at the movies, the rules have always been fairly straightforward: Girls get a story, while guys get .<br><br>It's pretty much been that way since the dawn of the movie makeover genre, which authors Elizabeth A. Ford and Deborah C. Mitchell trace to 1942's "Now Voyager" (starring ) in their 2004 book "The Makeover in Movies."That film may not be familiar, but the story arc certainly is, and it can be found in movies ranging from the animated (1950) to the live-action "The Princess Diaries" (2001). A fashion-challenged female character is transformed, frequently with the help of a fairy godmother/guru/gay friend, into a femme fetale, discarding the thick glasses, orthopedic shoes and potato-sack dress along the way. Our heroine emerges as if from a cocoon, an exquisite feminine beauty.<br><br> The male version of the movie makeover has a slightly different storyline; in this transformation, a 98-pound weakling is bitten by a radioactive spider or given a magic ring or the opportunity to step into a phone booth and materializes as a finely muscled superhero. A spectacular transformation to be sure, but wardrobe-wise their outfits usually don't amount to much more than bodystockings.<br><br>Until now.<br><br>This month, a pair of movies at the multiplex have traded in the cape for the clothes closet, and served up a kind of style-centric male makeover not often found on the big screen: starring and "Crazy, Stupid, Love," starring .<br><br>Is it simply coincidence that the two summer films dial up the stylish side of the male makeover, or do they reflect a shift in popular culture?<br><br>In "Larry Crowne," Hanks' schlubby character &#8211; who favors tucked-in polo shirts; baggy, pleated khakis, and Members Only style windbreakers &#8211; gets an extreme makeover thanks to a community college classmate who ends up putting him in tight black jeans, layered vests, shirts with embroidered detailing on the yoke, leather jackets, and, in perhaps the ultimate touch, slings a strappy messenger bag across his chest. When he makes his classroom debut in a dark, monochromatic outfit, a classmate can't resist name-checking the Man in Black. "Yo, ," he says.<br><br>Likewise, Steve Carell's Cal Weaver in "Crazy, Stupid, Love," is transformed -- at the hands of Lothario Jacob Walker (played by ) &#8211; from a life of two-sizes-too-big brown corduroy blazers, billowy, horizontal striped polo shirts and pleated khakis into a slim, trim, layered-look ladies' man sporting and jackets.<br><br>In one particularly fashion-focused scene, Weaver's New Balance running shoes are tossed off a balcony during a shopping trip to the Westfield Century City shopping center, and his newfound style advisor forces him to repeat the phrase: "I am better than the Gap."<br><br>Although "The Makeover in Movies," was written specifically to address the way women were treated in the genre from 1942 to 2002, co-authors Mitchell (currently a professor of English &amp; Film Studies at Westminster College in New Wilmington, Pennsylvania,) and Ford (currently professor emerita of English at Westminster), said the topic of the male makeover was one that was frequently discussed.<br><br>"We didn't have to look very far to find the superhero, which is the first kind of male makeover," Mitchell said. "'s alter-ego Clark Kent has all the signifiers: the glasses, the suits that hid his physique, his bumbling awkward nature and his shyness with women." It's a physical power makeover.<br><br>Mitchell thinks "Crowne" falls into a second category of men's makeover "where the goal isn't [superhero-like] power, but a kind of cool that he doesn't have to begin with. Before he's completely dorky and after he gets made over he's cooler. That happens in the 2003 movie 'The Shape of Things' where is an art student who gives dorky a makeover to turn him into a cool dude. I think she turns him in as an art project at the end."<br><br>The third type of male makeover, according to Ford and Mitchell, can be found in movies as diverse as "The Bridges of Madison County" and "Avatar."<br><br>"'Groundhog Day' could fit into that category as well," says Ford. "It's a movie where ['s character] is making himself over not so much physically as psychologically &#8211; he's trying to make himself over to be a better fit with his romantic partner."<br><br>"Crazy, Stupid, Love" might be described as a hybrid: it begins as a seemingly superficial "quest for cool," but eventually evolves into "make be a better man" kind of makeover.<br><br>Nonetheless the sheer amount of screen time devoted to the building of Weaver's new wardrobe -- the handiwork of the film's costume designer Dayna Pink, who dressed him in top-of-the-line tailored pieces from lines like Ermenegildo Zegna, Burberry, and &#8212;is one of the distinguishing characteristics of the movie..<br><br>Watch a post-makeover Cal Weaver saunter in and take a seat at the bar, sporting a dress shirt, no necktie and a perfectly fitting blue Canali blazer, with exquisite drape and the ever-so-slightest bit of shine to telegraph his new-found confidence. It's every bit as transformative as the superhero's cape &#8211; and infinitely more subtle.<br><br>While Pink thinks the movie &#8211; fashion-focused makeover and all -- could just as easily have hit theaters five or even 10 summers ago, she thinks today's male movie-goers will probably be more receptive to the fashion cues than in decades past. "More men are reading about, and seem interested about what's happening in fashion," she said. "It's surprising to me how many guys will know who is, for example, and it isn't just a metrosexual thing."<br><br>Mitchell and Ford think the time is ripe for more nuanced male makeover movies. "I really think we're going to start seeing more and more of the male makeover films," Mitchell said, "and not the superhero kind."<br><br>Instead, they describe a transformation that hews closer to the character development of Cal Weaver in "Crazy, Stupid, Love": "A friend or a girlfriend will prompt the makeover but then the character goes on and has to reconcile the new self with the former self," Mitchell said. "The character merges these two parts of himself into a 'nicer makeover' &#8230;There's an idea now that portraying the male as a whole character, able to hurt and feel, is suddenly OK."<br><br>As for what's behind that shift, Mitchell points not to Hollywood but Washington, D.C., citing Susan Jeffords' 1993 book "Hard Bodies"," which linked the proliferation of white, male, action hero movies of the '80s to the Reagan Revolution.<br><br>"What comes out of Hollywood is generally tied to the political agenda of the day, and who is sitting in the ," she said. "Look at the Obama era and you start to see connections."<br><br>Whether "Crazy, Stupid, Love" ultimately helps usher in a new era of the male movie makeover remains to be seen, but costume designer Dayna Pink isn't setting her hopes that high.<br><br>"Hopefully there will be some guy who goes to see this movie who's wearing a horizontal-striped polo shirt that's two sizes too big," Pink says. "And when he walks out of that theater, he'll look at himself and say: 'I've got to get to .' Then I'll know I've been successful."<br><br><p>We&rsquo;ve all seen it, and we all want it: The most premium, couture fashions from the most exclusive of designers. Yet most of us, covetous as we are, cannot afford it. Or can we? According to the authors of the soon-to-be-released book &ldquo;&rdquo; (Vivays Publishing), the high end is accessible to everyone. You just have to know how to source it. We caught up with co-authors Jemi Armstrong and Linda Arroz to talk about some of their secrets for finding couture on the cheap.</p><p><br>All the Rage: Isn&rsquo;t it really just a small percentage of people who can truly afford couture?<br>Jemi Armstrong: No. Normal women can go out and get couture or high-end designer clothes now if they just know how. A lot of this started when I came home with a $1,500 pair of Manolo Blahnik knee-high black suede boots I bought for $87 at &rsquo;s Rack. You can do this. Women can look really great and have really beautiful things and do it without a lot of money.</p><p><br>All the Rage: Where&rsquo;s a good place to start looking?<br>Linda Arroz: The first thing anybody can do is Google and look for flash sales, or online pop-up stores. They&rsquo;re temporary online offers private to members only. There&rsquo;s usually no charge to belong to the group, and you get first dibs, which is actually the name of one of the greatest sites of all.</p> <p><br>All the Rage: How about resale?<br>Linda Arroz: In Santa Monica alone, there are multiple resale shops within walking distance. You could do your own walking tour. If you really want to get into this, you&rsquo;re going to everything from thrift to resale to high-end vintage resale couture shops like The Way We Wore.<br>Jemi Armstrong: Timing is everything. In Paris, there&rsquo;s a store where the designers take their samples. It&rsquo;s called Reciproque, and it&rsquo;s a block long. There&rsquo;s rack after rack after rack of stuff that is samples, and it&rsquo;s all designer stuff. So there&rsquo;s a brand new Jean Paul Gaultier jacket that&rsquo;s $250, but originally it was on the runway for $3,000. In L.A., after the , actresses bring their gowns to resale shops. <br>Linda Arroz: The stars can&rsquo;t wear clothes like we do. Once the star&rsquo;s been photographed, that&rsquo;s it for that dress.<br>Jemi Armstrong: Every single season a celebrity may have 25 or 30 pairs of Manolos she sends to a resale shop.</p><p><br>All the Rage: Affordable couture isn&rsquo;t only about consignment, though. You can also buy it new, right?<br>Linda Arroz: Absolutely. There are Premium Outlet Malls all over the world, many of which have outlets for luxury brands. Loehmann&rsquo;s has its Back Room, which is where the high-end designer goods are. In the L.A. area, there are two Premium Outlet Malls within an hour of the city. A lot of companies have started making their own products for their own outlets, so while the style is the same, the fabric is different. In Milan, one of the six shopping cities we cover in the book, designers have their own outlets. In Italy, you can go to the outlet.</p><p><br>All the Rage: What&rsquo;s driving the desire for couture?<br>Linda Arroz: , "America&rsquo;s Next Top Model" and all the celebrities on the red carpet have created this interest. TV shows like are driving sales of vintage clothes through the roof. A few years ago, a lot of the museums started to do these retrospectives of designer collections.</p><p><br>All the Rage: Is the interest in couture in some way a reaction to fast fashion?<br>Linda Arroz: I think women are really frustrated by fast fashion in spite of the fact that it&rsquo;s really exciting that a lot of designers are doing things for H&amp;M. These clothes don&rsquo;t last. You wear them a few times, throw them in the washer, and they fall apart. There&rsquo;s an awareness of the difference now. Years ago when we discovered we could go to for our basics and buy an investment piece at Barneys or Bloomie&rsquo;s, that opened a lot of people&rsquo;s eyes that you could mix these price points. And then moving forward, women are looking to develop their own personal style, and they don&rsquo;t want to look like cookie cutters. They don&rsquo;t want to have the outfit that was on every floor way in a department store and are collecting and buying clothes that are very unique.</p><p><br>All the Rage: In the book, you walk readers through the history of couture, key pieces for a woman&rsquo;s wardrobe and couture care, which can be challenging. What do regular women get out of wearing couture?<br>Linda Arroz: The book points out how couture is constructed. The clothes feel so good on your body, they can elevate your self esteem.<br>Jemi Armstrong: There&rsquo;s a paragraph in the book about the Masonic handshake. It talks about how when you walk into a room wearing a Margiela jacket, you&rsquo;re instantly accepted by everyone in the room who&rsquo;s in the know.</p>What I am about to explain could get me barred from the Lincoln and Holland tunnels or any other routes into Manhattan. But as a baker who loves bagels and all the things that can go on them, I am duty-bound to dispel urban legends and to tell you that anyone can make great bagels at home, no matter where you live.<br><br>In fact, after making these at home, if you do happen to be on Manhattan's and decide to stop in at H&H for old time's sake to pick up a bagel or six, I think you will discover that your memory of their singular greatness is only in your mind.<br><br> Here's one of the secrets: It is not about the water, it is all about long, slow, cold fermentation. Knowing this one fact could change your baking life forever.<br><br>Bagels are about the simplest of all breads to make. A little flour, water, salt, yeast and barley malt syrup (or honey) is all it takes. The secret ingredient is time. Any decent bagel shop knows this and uses an overnight method to stretch out the fermentation, allowing chemical and biological processes to work on the dough for at least 12 hours, releasing all sorts of subtle flavors trapped in the flour.<br><br>Though bagel shops often use a type of high-protein flour not available to home cooks to achieve that distinctively chewy texture, the fact is that unbleached bread flour from any major supplier ( , Pillsbury, King Arthur, Bob's Red Mill, Hodgson Mill, etc.) will do the trick.<br><br>Unlike baguettes and other European hearth breads that use a high percentage of water to achieve a soft, open-holed texture, bagels are made with a much lower percentage of water, producing a stiff dough that can stand up to being dunked in boiling water before going into the oven for the final bake.<br><br>This boiling step, more than any other, defines the uniqueness of the bagel. A number of bagel companies now skip the boiling (really, more like poaching) and use steam-injected ovens, but this produces a different sort of product, kind of a hybrid bagel/French bread texture that some people (but not all) like.<br><br>A die-hard bagel freak like me, or my friends, however, refuses to call this product a bagel but rather think of it as a knockoff, like a fake Prada or bag.<br><br>Finally, the one distinctive ingredient that bagels usually feature is barley malt. Though this seems like an exotic, hard-to-find product, it is available at many markets, usually labeled barley malt syrup and shelved with other syrups. It looks like dark honey or molasses. The syrup is made from sprouted and then cooked barley, a process that releases a lot of maltose sugar from the grain.<br><br>If you cannot find it, substitute an equal amount of honey. Your bagels might not have the malty flavor of memory, but they will still be better than almost any bagel you can buy. This type of malt syrup is not enzymatic, as some malt powders are (known as diastatic malt because the diastase enzymes from the barley are still active), but is considered non-diastatic (the enzymes are denatured, or destroyed, by the heat that turns the syrup dark). Malt syrup, by the way, is strictly a flavor enhancer, not a dough conditioner.<br><br>You now know more about bagels than 99% of the people who eat them. If you follow the steps in this recipe (a great activity, by the way, to do with kids 6 and older), you will soon be making bagels that rival any memory in your bagel hall of fame. Expect your New York friends to show up at your door.<br><br>Reinhart is the author of "Whole Grain Breads."<br><br><p> &mdash; Placards for Van Cleef &amp; Arpels decorate the main street of capital, heralding the Bolshoi Ballet premiere of 's "Jewels," with the best seats costing between 7,000 and 8,000 rubles ($233-$266). Expectation runs high.</p><p>This three-part company showpiece was called the first full-evening abstraction when New York City Ballet introduced it in 1967, and since that time some five dozen ensembles, foreign and domestic, have faced its challenges. Now it's the Bolshoi's turn.</p><p>Inspired by the radiance of gemstones and also &mdash; inevitably with Balanchine &mdash; profound musical issues, the ballet seems to evoke different periods in ballet history. "Emeralds," danced to the music of Faur&eacute;, embodies the refinement of early French Romanticism. "Rubies," to Stravinsky, captures the jazz-accented bravado of all-American neoclassicism. "Diamonds," to Tchaikovsky, resurrects the grandeur of the imperial Russian ballet.</p> <p>"Diamonds" should be a perfect fit for the Bolshoi dancers and even a metaphor for their antique theater, which recently reopened after a controversial $720-million renovation. This big fix attempted to repair seemingly everything, from disintegrating foundations to enormous cracks in the walls and ceiling, besides making room-by-room decorative restorations that replaced the hammer and sickle of the Soviet era with the new/old double-headed eagle.</p><p>The company too has cracked and crumbled in recent years, with administrative instability and even sexual scandal taking its toll on an institution that was once the nation's flagship ballet but has since yielded that status toSt. Petersburg'sMaryinsky (formerly Kirov) company. Might "Jewels" help restore Bolshoi primacy?</p><p>Perhaps, but it doesn't. At the premiere, the company's great international stars are conspicuously absent &mdash; and will be just as conspicuously absent from the Bolshoi "Swan Lake" at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, Thursday through June 10. (More on that subject shortly.) The physical production ranges from an evolving spray of stars at twilight for "Diamonds" to formalist backdrops for "Emeralds" and "Rubies" that suggest commercial boutique windows.</p><p>Worse, the dancing remains faceless, with ragged corps passages and assorted mistimings contributing to the impression of ruinous under-rehearsal. The lead couple in "Diamonds" cautiously works through its glorious duets as if trying to avoid mistakes. The central male in "Rubies" so carefully husbands his energy that he looks bottled up until the end. "Emeralds" fares best, marred chiefly by soloists trying to make an impression instead of bonding with the music. Even so, the men's final pose of heart-sore yearning achieves a promising level of interpretive depth in an evening of glittering disappointments.</p><p>If "Jewels" at the Maryinsky represents a display of stratospheric achievement, it's one more opportunity squandered at the Bolshoi.</p><p>Exactly what "Jewels" needs can be found next door at the Bolshoi annex in coaching sessions for the company's North American tour (Toronto and Ottawa in Canada as well asWashington, D.C., and Los Angeles). There, in intimate studios, stars past and present work meticulously with their prot&eacute;g&eacute;s, one on one, leaving nothing to chance but at the same time helping each dancer make a distinctive contribution to familiar roles.</p><p>In one room, for example, world-class firebrand Nikolai Tsiskaridze (one of the original "Kings of Dance" in 2007) guides Anzhelina Vorontsova through the serene Dryad Queen solo from "Don Quixote." In another, 79-year-old Nikolai Fadeyechev (who partnered the legendary ballerinas and in the 1950s) rehearses Ruslan Skvortsov in bravura solos from "Copp&eacute;lia" and "Swan Lake."</p><p>The powerful, charismatic Skvortsov will dance Siegfried twice in the Music Center "Swan Lake" run, while the willowy Vorontsova is announced for several secondary roles (the Russian bride, the first-act pas de trois) throughout the engagement. In an hour's time, they dance ceaselessly, harder and longer than in an actual performance. And even when physical control inevitably begins to falter, the coaches heighten their artistry by emphasizing niceties of placement and bearing. To an outsider, the refinement of Russian technique is always a pleasure, whatever the role. And it proves one of the saving graces in "Jewels."</p><p>"We have a very good school, but a lot depends on the intellect of the dancers," Tsiskaridze comments, speaking through a translator while sitting in a Georgian restaurant eating khachapuri (cheese pie), which he says was one of Balanchine's favorite dishes.</p><p>Looking casually dapper in a white T-shirt, Tsiskaridze is outspoken about problems with the Bolshoi renovation: "The greatest tragedy is the change in acoustics. It can only be called a crime." But he reserves his greatest scorn for the company's artistic policies. "The administration doesn't want any stars," he says. "They want people who can be substituted for anyone else and nobody will notice the difference. To them, it doesn't matter who dances because the house will always be full."</p><p>That explains the "Swan Lake" casting in Los Angeles, he says, and the opening-night principals in "Jewels." "They are what the administration calls stars. But they cannot represent the true brand of the Bolshoi Theater."</p><p>As expected, Sergei Filin disagrees. The current Bolshoi Ballet artistic director (and former leading dancer) said in a written response to interview questions that he was "very happy" with the premiere of "Jewels" and satisfied that "our dancers could perform Balanchine's choreography at a very high level and could discover new sparkling facets in their talent." He also said that there was no point in talking about his casting policies and that "many international stars from the Bolshoi" were cast in "Jewels" and in the Los Angeles performances of "Swan Lake."</p><p>Adapted and choreographed by Yuri Grigorovich for the Bolshoi in 1969 (two years after "Jewels"), that "Swan Lake" originally had a tragic ending. "However, it happened just before the Bolshoi tour to London, and the government asked him to change it," Filin says. "He could come back to his original concept with a sad ending only in 2001. &hellip; In this production the Prince remains alone and his ideal love is destroyed by his betrayal."</p><p>Whatever the ending, this "Swan Lake" lies dead center in the Bolshoi's comfort zone, and generations of coaches have honed every detail in it. So it's almost certain to offer a more positive picture of the company's current prowess than Balanchine's balletic troika. Filin sees "Swan Lake" in terms of "internal conflicts between ideal love, reality and the imperfections of human nature." Those internal conflicts and imperfections are very, very evident in the reality of the Bolshoi Ballet 2012. But there's still plenty of hope for ideal love.</p><p>ALSO:</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>Segal, formerly The Times' staff dance critic, is a freelance arts writer. His critical essay on Nikolai Tsiskaridze appears in Nina Alovert's study of the dancer, published in Moscow in 2010.</p>Watching people shop farmer's markets religiously on Sundays, splurge on locally grown blueberries at and select dishes from fancy menus that name-check family farms got me thinking. Localism is a huge trend in food; why not in fashion?FOR THE RECORD:<br> L.A. fashion industry: An article on local clothing production in the June 19 Image section referred to the L.A. Garment District. The correct name is the Los Angeles Fashion District. &#8212;<br> <br><br>I know the issues are complex, but with national unemployment numbers rising to 9.1% in May, paying a little bit more for a shirt that's made in America &#8212; or better yet, Los Angeles &#8212; versus one manufactured in could make economic sense.<br><br>Studies show consumer attitudes toward goods made in America are improving. And though large, $30-million-plus apparel businesses used to have to move production offshore to stay competitive on price, some companies even larger than that are finding they can produce here at home with only a minimal price difference passed on to shoppers.<br><br>In the last few years, brands such as L.L. Bean, Pendleton, Frye, Stetson and Woolrich have played up their made-in-America heritage, creating a fashion trend for Americana.<br><br>And in a survey of 1,300 affluent shoppers conducted by Unity Marketing, the U.S. ranked highest on the scale measuring quality in luxury goods manufacturing. It topped both Italy and France, home to such brands as Louis Vuitton, and .<br><br>"The public is more conscious of where things are made, and how the negative trade balance affects the whole political spectrum," said Pam Danziger, president of the Stevens, Pa.-based research firm, "Consumers believe this is not good for them, not good for the brand and not good for the country."<br><br>On the local level, 2,500 shoppers turned out last weekend for the Thread show at the Cooper Building in L.A.'s Garment District, featuring locally made jewelry and clothing by 90 designers.<br><br>And while not all the designers represented the best L.A. fashion has to offer, shoppers at the event seemed happy to be doing their part, even if that just meant showing up.<br><br>"When I was at a restaurant the other day and saw vegetables on the menu from Oxnard, I had so much pride, because I remember going to Oxnard as a kid to get vegetables," said Melissa Gross, a medical student at who was browsing the booths of feather-trimmed hair clips and silk-screened T-shirts with two friends. "There's something exciting about just seeing things that are made where you're from."<br><br>There's also the possibility of more jobs. A recent Analytics report noted that if consumers spent an extra 1% on U.S. goods, it would create 200,000 jobs.<br><br> said this month that America can "win the future" by rebuilding its manufacturing capability. He didn't mention apparel manufacturing during his speech announcing the $2 billion Skills for America's Future initiative to improve job training and placement, but maybe he should have.<br><br>That's because, against all odds, employment in the apparel manufacturing sector has seen modest gains in recent months, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The bureau had projected a slow and steady decline because of imports and technical advances in production.<br><br>After reaching an all-time low of 155,000 jobs last September, employment numbers climbed to 157,400 in May, an increase of 300 jobs over the month before.<br><br>"To the extent that the only way out of our economic morass in the long haul is manufacturing, manufacturing at the lowest common denominator is making a T-shirt," said Ilse Metchek, president of the California Fashion Assn. "We do have a growth industry here."<br><br>But local and federal government need to do more to stimulate apparel manufacturing with tax credits, equipment-based financing, training and marketing, as well as coming to a resolution on the issue of undocumented workers, she said.<br><br>New York-based designer Yeohlee Teng agrees. She is fighting to keep local apparel manufacturing jobs in New York's Garment District by helping to launch Made in . The joint venture between the Design Trust for Public Space and the Council of Fashion Designers of America will deliver recommendations to the local government on zoning, economic incentives and branding to help rebuild the area. "There is so much focus on the auto and tech sectors, but apparel is potentially a multibillion-dollar industry," said the designer, who is known for her high-end architectural clothes.<br><br>In September, Teng moved her retail store to the same building in New York's Garment District as her design and production offices in an effort to demonstrate how business benefits from having artisans, factories and suppliers in close proximity.<br><br>Words &amp; Ideas<br><br>Compiled by Grace Krilanovich.<br><br> SUNDAY<br><br>Black Clock Issue 12 Launch: Contributors to Issue 12 of the Los Angeles-based literary magazine &#8212; "The Sports Issue" &#8212; will read their work. Participants include authors Richard Rayner, Nina Revoyr, Samantha Dunn, Tod Goldberg, Paul Cullum and Monica Carter. , 1818 N. Vermont Ave., L.A. 5 p.m. Free. (323) 660-1175.<br><br>Tom McCarthy: The author of the new novel "C" (which was recently shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize) will read and discuss his work with author Chris Kraus. Art Catalogues Bookstore, Ahmanson Building at , 5905 Wilshire Blvd., L.A. 4 p.m. Free. (323) 857-6000.<br><br>MONDAY<br><br>Evgenia Citkowitz: The author of "Ether: Seven Stories and a Novella" will read and discuss her new book with actress . Art Catalogues Bookstore, Ahmanson Building at , 5905 Wilshire Blvd., L.A. 5 p.m. Free. (323) 857-6000.<br><br>Smart Chicks Kick It!: A group of authors embarking on a national tour together &#8212; Kelley Armstrong, Rachel Caine, Melissa de la Cruz, Margaret Stohl, Kami Garcia, Melissa Marr, Alyson Noel, Rachel Vincent and Mary Pearson &#8212; will discuss and sign their books. , 695 E. Colorado Blvd., Pasadena. 6 p.m. Free. (626) 449-5320.<br><br>Monique Truong: The author of "Bitter in the Mouth" will read and sign her new novel. , 8818 W. Sunset Blvd., West Hollywood. 7 p.m. Free. (310) 659-3110.<br><br>Charles Yu: The author of "How to Live Safely in a Science Fictional Universe" will read and sign his debut novel. , 1818 N. Vermont Ave., L.A. 7:30 p.m. Free. (323) 660-1175.<br><br>TUESDAY<br><br>Angie Chau: The author of "Quiet as They Come" will read and sign her new collection of stories. , 8818 W. Sunset Blvd., West Hollywood. 7 p.m. Free. (310) 659-3110.<br><br>Barry C. Lynn: Zocalo presents a discussion and signing with the author of "Cornered: The New Monopoly Capitalism and the Economics of Destruction." The Actors' Gang at the Ivy Substation, 9070 Venice Blvd., Culver City. 7:30 p.m. Free. (310) 838-4264. http://www.zocalopublicsquare.org.<br><br>Mona Simpson: Aloud at Central Library presents the author of "My Hollywood" in conversation with novelist Michelle Huneven. Richard J. Riordan Central Library, 630 W. 5th St., L.A. 7 p.m. Free. (213) 228-7025. http://www.aloudla.org.<br><br>Isabel Wilkerson: The author of "The Warmth of Other Suns" will read and sign her new book. , 695 E. Colorado Blvd., Pasadena. 7 p.m. Free. (626) 449-5320.<br><br>WEDNESDAY<br><br>Rae Armantrout and Joshua Clover: The poet ("Versed") and the author of "1989: Didn't Have This to Sing About" will read and discuss their new books. Ahmanson Hall Forum, , 9045 Lincoln Blvd., L.A. 7:30 p.m. Free. (310) 665-6892.<br><br>Garin Hovannisian: The author of "Family of Shadows: A Century of Murder, Memory and the Armenian American Dream" will present and sign his new book. , 8818 W. Sunset Blvd., West Hollywood. 7 p.m. Free. (310) 659-3110.<br><br>Antonio Sk&#225;rmeta and Daniel Cat&#225;n: A conversation held in conjunction with the world premiere of "Il Postino" at the Los Angeles Opera will feature Chilean novelist Sk&#225;rmeta and Mexican composer Cat&#225;n. , 10899 Wilshire Blvd., Westwood. 7 p.m. Free. (310) 443-7000.<br><br>thought he would be directing a biography, not wrangling a herd of ostriches on the Thousand Oaks set of <br><br>The legendary soul singer and wild animals would seem to have little in common, but Crowe the boyish 54-year-old "Jerry Maguire" filmmaker said the two movie projects were ultimately much alike &#8212; both love stories.<br><br> When "My Name Is Marvin" fell apart early last year over casting and budget issues, Crowe quickly jumped into "We Bought a Zoo," the writer-director's first narrative feature since 2005's critical and commercial dud "Elizabethtown." Loosely adapted by screenwriter Aline Brosh McKenna ("The Devil Wears Prada") and Crowe from the miniseries "Ben's Zoo" and the book "We Bought a Zoo," the movie, opening Dec. 23, follows the unusual midcareer switch by journalist Benjamin Mee, who moved with his family into 's Dartmoor Zoological Park.<br><br>The fact-based story has been fictionalized and relocated from the United Kingdom to the United States. Even though Benjamin's taking over a failing zoo is still central to the plot, that's not really what "We Bought a Zoo" is about.<br><br>Six months before the film opens, Benjamin () has become a widower. He is as discontented as a newspaper reporter &#8212; even with a great gig at the Los Angeles Times! &#8212; as he is as a single dad. His brooding adolescent son, Dylan (Colin Ford), draws violent pictures and is expelled from school, while his 7-year-old daughter (Maggie Elizabeth Jones) tries to become the family's substitute mom.<br><br>"Do me a favor," Benjamin's brother, Duncan (), counsels him. "Attempt to start over."<br><br>But Benjamin has no interest in ditching the memory of his wife and courting the single moms pushing lasagna and themselves his way. Instead, he believes he needs a new adventure, so he quits his job and sells his home. When a real-estate agent shows Benjamin a sprawling rural estate whose residence happens to be part of a zoo, he jumps in. "This is simple destiny," he says of reviving the run-down Rosemoor Wildlife Park.<br><br>Benjamin has to fix the zoo's enclosures and care for an ailing tiger. Yet "We Bought a Zoo's" real repair work is personal: Benjamin must mend his own self-absorption and his fractured relationship with his son, whose grief his father has failed to address.<br><br>"The zoo is like the mall in 'Fast Times at Ridgemont High,'" Crowe said during filming, as Church and Damon tried to do a scene while the ostriches kept pushing against them, mistaking their tool belts for feed bags (the animals, including the tiger from were mostly imported from local teaching zoos). "It's not just the setting, but a pressure cooker &#8212; an incubator."<br><br>Audiences might detect two different films within "We Bought a Zoo." The first is the sometimes slapstick fish-out-of-water story of a city dweller struggling in a new career, even though helpful zookeeper Kelly Foster () makes Benjamin's leap easier. The second is Benjamin's learning that all animals &#8212; especially his son &#8212; often require special handling and that "letting go" might be an empty aphorism that can't relieve his sorrow.<br><br>"I loved the metaphor that was in the script &#8212; the loss in his life," said Crowe. Most movies would follow Benjamin's romantic reawakening &#8212; let his late wife (Stephanie Szostak) fade from memory and let him try to tame Kelly. But Crowe said he wasn't interested in following that path, a choice dramatized in the film's unusual final scene.<br><br>"People make this big case, 'You gotta move on, you gotta move on.' And I say, 'Really? Who says you have to move on?'" Crowe said. "Benjamin is a guy who is still in love with his wife, and he is not going to get shaken from that. That's the greater challenge: to pay tribute to the person who's not around anymore."<br><br>Crowe, who has twin 11-year-old sons and is recently divorced, built his career on youthful infatuation &#8212; his first two features were "Say Anything" and "Singles." Before "We Bought a Zoo," he said, "I hadn't been able to write about adult love as I had experienced it."<br><br>But what shaped the movie more was his experience as a father, reflected in an emotional fight between Benjamin and Dylan and in a line the father tells his son. His son's friends have failed to visit, even though Benjamin has called them up and beseeched them. "That comes from being a parent &#8212; the stuff you do after hours that you never tell your kids about," Crowe said. "I never could have written those lines if I hadn't been a parent."<br><br>For women, one of the fastest ways to get to know a new friend is to look through her closet. Sifting through the layers of silk, sequins, cotton and wool, one can learn about the new acquaintance's past, her obsessions, her quirks and the things shared in common.<br><br> Los Angeles artist, photographer and fashion lover Jeana Sohn is inviting everyone to this intimate party, via a weekly feature on her blog.<br><br> Though women posting photos of themselves and their outfits online has become ubiquitous in this Internet age, Closet Visit ups the ante, presenting elegant, at-home portraits of some of L.A.'s most creative, stylish women, such as handbag designer Clare Vivier and jeweler Kathryn Bentley, shot with their wardrobes.<br><br>Sohn says that since she started the feature in mid-September it has doubled traffic to her 5-year-old blog (jeanasohn.blogspot.com) &#8212; from 2,000 hits a day to 4,000 &#8212; and generated countless recommendations as well as a few eager volunteers. It not only indulges the audience's voyeuristic impulses, it also satisfies the subject's ageless feminine desire to play dress-up.<br><br>The Korean-born Sohn says that when she decided to launch this project as a way to "practice" with her new camera, a Canon 7D SLR, she felt nervous that the women approached "would be like, 'Oh, she's just some girl, I don't want to show her my closet.' But they're actually flattered. I was really surprised; when I get there, all the outfits are laid out."<br><br>Her first "visit" was with gallerist Heather Taylor, who represents Sohn's delicate, nature-inspired paintings at Taylor De Cordoba in Culver City and helped her put together a list of potential future subjects.<br><br>"I was totally onboard right away," recalls Taylor, whose bohemian Hollywood glam mode encompasses vintage floor-length Halston, ankle-length jeans from the Gap and studded velvet Prada pumps. "Jeana has such an interesting and unique aesthetic," she continues. "Whether it's photography on her blog or her paintings, she finds this light that's really beautiful. I feel like it has a specific effervescence, so I knew she would bring that to it." Still, Taylor says, "I can't even believe how amazing they are."<br><br>Normally posted on Monday mornings, each visit features up to eight different looks and settings, plus the found still-lifes that Sohn's lens captures: a tangle of jewelry, shoes against a carpet or a work space mid-project. There's an undeniable shared sensibility, but each woman is an original.<br><br>Although Vivier and Bentley live across the street from one another and wear each other's pieces, Vivier's style is classic with a streak of off-beat Parisian chic and a weakness for ankle boots, while Bentley mixes Native American jewelry and tribal prints with vintage Balenciaga and Belstaff. Mohawk General Store's Bo Carney, also featured, has designs by Vivier and Bentley in her shop and her closet, but her style overall is bolder and more modern.<br><br>Sohn also interviews her subjects, and it's fun to pick out the common threads: , and are repeatedly named as style icons, and the Italian label Marni seems to be the across-the-board favorite &#8212; and that includes for Sohn, who writes that she was "dying" over screenwriter 's Marni collection.<br><br>But for Sohn, this is about more than finding a woman who "dresses cute."<br><br>"I'm trying to find someone who's more inspiring and creative and hard-working ... and who dresses well," she says.<br><br>The chic women in her orbit are definitely keeping Mondays looking pretty for now, but Sohn isn't opposed to opening Closet Visit up to New York or other cities. "It would be amazing if someday it turned into a book," she says. At the moment, though, "I'm gonna just have fun with it and let it grow."<br><br><p>In the run-up to the , which starts Friday, we've been anticipating not just the music and art but also the independent sense of style that will be on display. Here are some of the standouts who will hit the stages in Indio over the next two weekends. Their looks are bound to turn heads at the increasingly fashion-focused festival.</p><p>Grace Potter &amp; the Nocturnals</p><p>For the last few years, Grace Potter, the leggy singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist fronting Waitsfield, Vt.'s Grace Potter &amp; the Nocturnals, has been working a - vibe, favoring sparkly, fringed mini-dresses inspired by the 1960s and '70s. But Potter says that her look &mdash; and the band's &mdash; evolves with each successive album. With a new album set for release June 12, Potter says she's finally lifted the "denim jihad" that's been in place since the band's 2010 self-titled album was released. (But that doesn't mean you'll see the band awash in head-to-toe blue jeans any time soon.)</p> <p>Style icon: "My style icons growing up tended to be men, so it was in the leotards, bell bottoms and suspenders and &mdash; especially his outfits from the movie 'Labyrinth.' You can see influences of that in what I wear today. Some days I want to be Mick Jagger, some days I want to be Bianca Jagger, but either way there's definitely a lot of '70s influence running through what I like to wear."</p><p>Fashion influences: "As a kid, I was obsessed with fashion, and I basically worked with whatever was in the shed &mdash; my parents had all their old, crazy, '60s and '70s hippie clothes in trash bags in a shed by our house. Every couple of months, I'd dig into that and go through every article of clothing and invent crazy outfits."</p><p>Favorite brands: " is huge for me. I love , and has some fabulous shoes right now. Every once in a while I like to incorporate something a little more refined, like a piece from or . Lanvin moves really beautifully onstage and I love the textures they're using right now.</p><p>"I love , but a lot of times it doesn't fit me properly, so I have to get it specifically tailored. And of London has some really amazing dresses, so when it does come time for me to wear a [full, floor-length] gown, there are a few things I'm impressed with. makes some nice, nonfussy dresses and little chiffon floaty shirts, and ALC is killing it right now. I love their silk pieces because they're light enough for summer but they're this luscious, buttery silk."</p><p>Coachella wardrobe: "It's important to put some thought into our 'moments in the sun' &mdash; our TV moments, our big, onstage Coachella moments &mdash; so you know exactly how everything's going to look on camera. And right now my dream list for Coachella includes , an [ piece and some ... We'll see which of those three is going to wind up onstage.</p><p>"The guys [bandmates Matt Burr, Benny Yurco and Scott Tournet] will probably be dressed in All Saints, [which is] bringing some custom pieces for me to try on. I'm a huge fan, and they're like the gasoline that fuels our tour. If it weren't for them, I'm not sure we'd ever be in clean clothes.</p><p>"At festivals, especially when I'm bopping around doing press and not onstage, I like to keep it light and simple and fuss-free, so I find the beach approach is a good way to go. Sometimes I'll just wear a bathing suit and throw a bunch of stuff over it."</p><p>Favorite stores: "I'm bicoastal at this point because of work, and I find amazing pieces in Vermont. I'll go to some random store where there's a lady knitting scarves and get a beautiful beret or a gorgeous super-thin long scarf. Then I'll bring it out to L.A., and I'll build around it by zinging over to someplace like Sunset Plaza. H. Lorenzo is a great store that's got a lot of exciting, hard-to-find pieces, pieces that are pretty rare, pretty hard to find.</p><p>"I like to hang out at Barneys and in a pinch I'll go to Robertson, but I'm more of a Beverly Center kind of girl. I love Traffic &mdash; they're an amazing store; our drummer Matt has borrowed suits from them. For festival stuff, I find a lot of light pieces at Calypso and amazing basics atJ. Crew. Corey Lynn Calter is a designer I love, and she's got a lot of great festival stuff."</p><p></p><p>The Oakland-based world fusion-electronic music troika Beats Antique mashes up genres including hip-hop, Afro-beat, Middle Eastern belly dance and jazz. The group consists of David Satori, Tommy Cappel and Zoe Jakes, the latter of whom accompanies the music with a unique blend of tribal fusion belly dance during each performance.</p><p>Style icons: "Everything I learned I learned from trannies," Jakes said. "Because they're brilliant and I love them and they have the best styling and makeup advice &mdash; the best makeup artists are always trannies &mdash; so pretty much all of my secrets come from them. I'm usually performing on a stage with an incredible amount of light so everything has to be really extreme and exaggerated, the heavy eyeliner and the really long false eyelashes."</p><p>Fashion influences: "The people who have shaped me as an artist are other tribal fusion belly dancers Rachel Brice and Katarina Burda. I was also into the whole vaudeville scene, which has really affected my aesthetic."</p><p>Favorite stores: "I use EBay a lot. Sometimes I'll find something I really like at a fabric store and just buy it and hold onto it until I have a concept. The only other place I really shop is All Saints. They've got a great aesthetic, and I really love their clothes."</p><p>Drummer Tommy Cappel shared his sartorial sources as well: "David [Satori] and I both get our outfits from a vast community of seamstresses and clothing designers. I wear stuff by a group called Steam Trunk [in San Francisco] and S&amp;G [boutique] in L.A., and we have a group of artist friends that own a store in San Francisco called Five &amp; Diamond."</p><p>Coachella wardrobe: "I've had it planned for weeks," Jakes said. "The costumes are going to need to come off and go on very quickly because of all the costume changes &mdash; I usually change costumes six to eight times in a show &mdash; so I need to get them on and off within two or three minutes tops.</p><p>"For Coachella, we'll be having guest dancer Auberon Shull joining us, and we've got some mermaid tails. I think there's a flamenco skirt in there somewhere. There will be my heavily beaded antique costumes made from old, old, turn-of-the-century Egyptian fabrics, and I always wear a lot of old tribal silver jewelry. There will also be some antlers in there somewhere, as well as some feather fans and a few masks."</p><p>Pow! Hot-hued, high-impact accessories can put the finishing touch on the season's sporty looks. Take a vibrant piece, like 's cherry-red perforated leather bag, or 's vivid yellow gold leather boots, and pair with a dress, a button-down shirt, jeans or leggings in a contrasting but equally vibrant color. Or let multihued accessories like Pierre Hardy's tricolored suede and leather wedges, 's ostrich and calfskin ankle boots, 's rubber-bottom Mary Jane pumps or C&eacute;line's tricolor envelope bag do the color-blocking for you.</p>It's hard to miss those paparazzi shots of celebrity toddlers being toted around by their famous parents, kids who are dressed, well, to look just like mom or dad. 's boys sport mohawks, black rocker T-shirts and baggy cargo pants like their dad ; 's daughter Honor Warren mimics her mother's frilly, feminine style; and little seems to love perusing the shoe section at just as much as does her stylish mother, .<br><br>The parade of mini-me's isn't relegated to celebrities and seems to be a trend among many parents who are buying designer wear for their kids, much to the delight, no doubt, of luxury houses that have expanded to include tiny sizes.<br><br> Some companies, such as , have offered children's fare for years; others, such as and , are releasing their kids' lines later this year. In the 12-month period that concluded in May 2011, sales of children's clothing in the U.S. reached $32.4 billion, and $800 million of that was spent on designer lines, according to the NPD Group Inc. Consumer Tracking Service.<br><br>"People are no longer buying over-the-top homes and cars," says Marshal Cohen, chief analyst for NPD. "We did that, and that kind of backfired, but we will continue to splurge on our kids. In their minds, the best thing consumers can do is make sure their kids get all the right things and dress the part."<br><br>Cohen adds that this is one reason why the children's clothing market is being infiltrated by a growing number of high-end designers and luxury brands and that the area is generally one of the last to be affected by a recession and one of the first to recover. In 2008, when the adult apparel industry dipped 5%, the sale of children's clothing dropped just 1%.<br><br>"That could practically be considered growth in this market," Cohen says.<br><br>The wealthy, of course, have always garbed their children in luxurious fabrics; go to any large museum and check out paintings from the last several hundred years and you'll see infants in lace; toddlers in velvet and 7-year-olds in dresses with embroidered pearls.<br><br>Most families, of course, have never had that option. Nonetheless, in the last few decades, the sales of children's clothing have grown rapidly, as parents in the U.S. have upped the number of garments in the family wardrobe. Even parents who might scrimp on clothing for themselves will buy beautiful dresses and jackets for a family photo portrait or a special occasion. And options for the wealthy have multiplied in the last several years.<br><br>Many luxury fashion houses (think , , , , , Dior, Burberry, and ) have a children's division, which generally includes garments designed to fit a range of ages that runs from newborn to 12 years old. Some of the designers churn out mini versions of their men's and women's ready-to-wear lines or logo heavy accessories; others merely riff on the aesthetic of their already established brand.<br><br>"It is about picking the most charming and cute items, and scaling them down," says Phillip Lim, whose whimsical children's line is called Kid. "Nothing is skimped on. It's just as you'd get in the adult version &#8212; Italian fabrics, hand embroidery, only smaller. It's like 'Mommy and me.'"<br><br>Versace is just joining the kids' clothing game, releasing the Young Versace line this fall. As one might expect, the style will be slightly over the top and very much in line with the glitzy look of the luxury house adult fare &#8212; Medusa heads and all. "Nothing is plain; it's very rock 'n' roll and colorful," says Gian Giacomo Ferraris, chief executive of Versace. "This is the attitude of the house. It expresses our glamorous DNA."<br><br>Part of that expression includes limited-edition leather items and Swarovski-encrusted baby bottles.<br><br>"We're finding that our customers are looking for very special emotional pieces with a wow factor," says Colleen Sherin, fashion director of Saks Fifth Avenue, which carries a robust selection of designer kids lines, including Prada, Burberry and Fendi. "There's an emotional response to the items and not really any price resistance."<br><br>Sherin says footwear (from brands like Prada and Gucci) gets the biggest response in the children's category on the Saks.com website and that the designer children's wear category in general is an area of growth for the retailer.<br><br>"These lines have the same innovative design found in the brand's ready-to-wear collections," she says. "They've translated the look into kid's clothing, so the woman who wears these labels is going to find the children's line appealing."<br><br>The price tags ($250 and higher for designer kids' shoes and around $350 to $475 for a coat) are about half that for the grown-up versions and, just as with the adult lines, the desire for having Burberry check on a collar or a Gucci horse bit detail on a ballet flat is appealing to parents with big bank accounts.<br><br>"It's all about the generation of the mini-me," says Amy Tara Koch, style expert and author of "Bump It Up," a book about how to have a stylish . "They want their kids to stand out &#8212; or in the language of 'Project Runway' &#8212; to have a point of view. It's like the fashion-forward version of playing dress-up with an American Girl doll."<br><br>"Especially with the first baby, people go crazy, they have no limits," says Rosie Pope, a New York maternity concierge, designer of a maternity clothing line and star of the Bravo channel's "Pregnant in Heels." "They justify the purchase in their heads. And since at 6 months, the babies start to look like little people and parents can really start to see them as an extension of themselves, it's part of the whole process of becoming a parent. It's the fun part."<br><br>AFTER THE Dow's plunge this month, it's safe to say many people aren't rushing out to buy the season's latest "it" bags. Even for those who've got the cash, that $2,000 might do better in the bank than hanging from a shoulder.<br><br> And yet, it's only natural to want a new fall carry-all after years of buying back-to-school backpacks and filling them with shiny school supplies. If you can afford to usher in the season with a leather satchel or oversized tote from Valentino or Prada, live it up. But there are also lots of great bags in the "moderate designer" tier, with prices under $700.<br><br>This "affordable luxury" category has never looked better, with lines such as L.A.M.B. and MZ Wallace doing the season's graphic prints and floral patterns well enough to pass for high end. They are stylish, and they won't make you wince when your card is charged.<p></p><p>Undefeated at home, no more. Hey, you know what they say about fun while it lasted.</p> <p>For the that meant seven games. They suffered their first home loss of the season Tuesday when could not run down &rsquo;s run-scoring triple in the top of the ninth, to fall 4-3 to the before a sleeved-blanket crowd of 44,014.</p><p>With the game tied 3-3 in the ninth, the Dodgers called on closer . Shortstop greeted him with a single and was sacrificed to second by pinch-hitter Jack Wilson.</p><p>Guerra struck out , but Prada then hit a deep drive to right-center. Kemp had to go a long way, but didn&rsquo;t exactly run the most direct route. It looked like he could have caught the ball at the wall, but it got past him for the triple.</p><p>And the Dodgers went to 7-1 at home.</p><p>They had jumped out to an early 2-0 lead in the first inning when followed a hit with a two-run homer that hooked into the left-field loge. He was the first Dodger to homer in the loge section since Kemp hit one there in 2007, and it was the first home run this season for Rivera.</p><p>It remained a 2-0 game heading into the fifth, when the Braves got to right-hander for a pair of runs.</p><p> celebrated his 40th birthday with a leadoff home run, his third of the season. Singles by and Pastornicky, and a walk to Bourn loaded the bases with one out, enabling a Prado groundout to score Heyward with the tying run.</p><p>The Braves took a 3-2 lead in the sixth after singled past the Dodgers&rsquo; shifted defense and walked. Harang induced Jones to bounce into a double play and intentionally walked Heyward, but then unleashed a wild pitch to enable McCann to score the go-ahead run.</p><p>The Dodgers tied it in the bottom of the inning after and Mark Ellis led off with singles. Kemp then hit a bouncer to Pastornicky at short, who flipped the ball to Dan Uggla at second for the force on Ellis. Uggla&rsquo;s poor throw to first baseman went past him for an error and Gordon sprinted home to tie it.</p><p>Kemp, however, ran down the line, past first, past the infield and onto the grass. When he first saw the ball get by Freeman, he took a step toward second before quickly realizing he had no chance to advance. He stepped back into foul territory and walked toward first. Freeman tagged him, and after initially being ruled safe, Kemp wascorrectly called out by the umpires.</p><p>Harang left after six innings, allowing the three runs on six hits and four walks. He struck out two. Minor also went six innings and allowed his three runs and eight hits; he did not walk a batter and struck out two.</p><p>Rivera left the game after straining a hamstring running out a single in the sixth. He is, naturally, day-to-day.</p><p> pitched a scoreless ninth to earn his sixth save. Guerra fell to 1-2.</p><p>RELATED:</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>The Emmys used to be seen as an early dress rehearsal for the seriously overloaded awards-season style gantlet that starts in January. But no longer.</p><p>Two of fashion's biggest red carpet stars &mdash; and ("Hemingway &amp; Gellhorn" and "Game Change," respectively) are among the nominees, along with , and ("Homeland," and ). Other glamour girls expected at the event include "Mad Men's" Jessica Par&eacute;, recently celebrated in Vogue for her red carpet style; "New Girl" , who attracted attention last year in offbeat and twirly Monique Lhuillier gowns, and "'s" Michelle Dockery, leading this year's British invasion of Emmy nominees.</p><p></p> <p>Those names alone should ensure a frenzy of red carpet chatter.</p><p>"I used to say it was the , but the Emmys really set the tone for the season now," said celebrity stylist Deborah Waknin, who's dressing her regular, Sofia Vergara, as well as Emmy presenter this time around.</p><p>What's more, this year the follow New York Fashion Week, instead of preceding it as in years past. That means stylists for high-priority nominees and presenters can pull from the new spring 2013 collections, although fashion houses also have to juggle those requests with editorial shoots and sales appointments.</p><p>"We know stylists like to have the newest collection at their disposal," said Sahar Sanjar, founder of the fashion public relations firm La Chambre, adding that many of her designer clients (, ) have made the red carpet their priority and shipped collections to be viewed in the week prior to the awards show. Film Fashion's Carla Blizzard said designers such as Pamella Roland and Tadashi Shoji have done the same thing, while a representative for zipped into town last weekend instructing stylists that any choices had to be locked up right away so the rest of the sample gowns could be returned to market.</p><p>That doesn't mean red carpet watchers will see Fashion Week standouts such as the dominatrix-lite harness dresses from , the silvery Warhol-esque columns from or the full-stop Bollywood fantasia from . And that's probably a good thing, because over-the-top fashion and celebrity wattage can lead to disaster on the red carpet.</p><p>On the other hand, that doesn't mean Wu won't be represented. Pre-awards talk among fashion publicists around town already had one of the prime "gets" &mdash; Allison Williams of HBO's &mdash; committing herself. Did she signal her (probably custom-designed) choice when she turned up at Wu's runway show, her sole appearance during New York Fashion Week?</p><p>Another New York designer recognized for his youthful elegance, Bibhu Mohapatra, emailed a link during fashion week to a Glenn Close appearance on "The View," where she revealed that the "wonderful young designer" was dressing her for the Emmys.</p><p>Waknin ticked off a list of New York designers with potential red carpet placement: Donna Karan ("she has a whole new team"), ("she knocked it out of the park"), Marchesa, , , Lhuillier ("great, great gowns") and ("very original, the gowns looked like paintings").</p><p>That's in addition to the expected international names, such as , , and, possibly, (a favorite of stylist Cristina Ehrlich, who dresses Par&eacute; and ). "And I've heard maybe even Prada might be getting in the game," Waknin said.</p><p>As far as trends go, everyone agrees that the Emmy red carpet likes color, and, according to Film Fashion publicist Blizzard, "jewel tones are always popular." From the recent New York shows, there's also a preference for the cooler tones of purple, teal and sea foam.</p><p>It's unlikely that many actresses will break the long-gown custom to wear a short dress, even though it's a perennial topic of conversation. Nonetheless, local designer David Meister says he always loves to see an actress "wear a major cocktail dress with a sick shoe."</p><p>Indeed, at last year's Emmys, that combination of mini and distinctive footwear was worn by nominee , who looked chic and modern in the onstage lineup of comedy actresses.</p><p>And that kind of individuality shouldn't be overlooked, according to Sasha Charnin Morrison, fashion director for Us Weekly. "When it's all starting to blend into one thing, it's exciting to see something unexpected or some designer we never thought would be red carpet material."</p><p></p>From the full-skirted polka-dot dresses of "I Love Lucy's" Lucy Ricardo to the cone bras and figure-hugging outfits worn by the women of " ," costumes have done as much as anything to make television memorable.<br><br>In recognition of the part clothes play, more than 75 outfits from contemporary shows, including some that are nominated this year for Emmys in costume design, are on display at the Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising's museum and galleries in downtown Los Angeles. It's the fifth consecutive year for the show, mounted in conjunction with the Academy of Television Arts &amp; Sciences. (The academy will bestow its costume awards Aug. 21 during the 2010 Creative Arts . The 62nd Primetime Emmy Awards are to be telecast live on Aug. 29.)<br><br> The free exhibit, which opened July 27 and runs through Sept. 4, also includes last year's winner for outstanding costume design for a series, Robert Blackman for "Pushing Daisies."<br><br>We caught up with three of the designers FIDM is featuring this year who have been nominated in the series category (there is also an award for outstanding design for a miniseries, movie or special) to find out what inspires them and what it's like to work on their hit shows.<br><br>Joan Bergin, <br><br>Bergin won Emmys for the series in 2007 and 2008 and received Irish Film &amp; Television Academy awards in 2008 and 2009 as well. Her museum-quality costumes were featured in a Macy's display in New York City on . Bergin has contributed to movies including "My Left Foot," "In the Name of the Father" and "The Prestige." She is currently working on the Network production of "Camelot," starring and .<br><br>Image: How many costumes did you create for the show?<br><br>JB: I kind of lost count! My workshop was actually quite small, but across the series we made about 500 costumes and rented and modified countless others.... The amount of clothes &#8212; when I look at it now, I laugh. The relevant note is that I drape onto a form like old-style couture with a goodly degree of skill. Every detail, from cloth to braid to button. The workshop [staff] tease me.... I should just put [cloth, etc.] on the actors, pins and all, without having to make it up.<br><br>Image: Which character did you design the most for?<br><br>Bergin: . let the show take its natural course. For example, Anne came as a young girl who had studied a bit of the court but was no princess. I was able to slowly build her to become this magnificent creature.<br><br>Image: The characters don't physically age much as time progresses. The costumes are key in portraying this progression. How did you plan this out?<br><br>Bergin: I'm a great believer in research. Especially the social history around these people &#8212; it can be quite arrogant to make decisions for them. I figured, as Henry ransacked more and more churches and monasteries, he spent a lot of it on his own back and the clothes at court. I made them more opulent. As a character came more into the king's favor, they would dress better. Not unlike nowadays, as if someone were in a rising corporate position.<br><br>Image: What a sexy set! Which male and female character was your favorite to dress?<br><br>Bergin: Well, one of the things about Jonathan Rhys-Meyers [Henry] is that he is a natural clothes horse. He was very interested in the costumes. If he hadn't liked what I was doing it would have been agonizing. He really enjoyed the fittings and contributed. With women, it was Anne and Catherine Parr. We did magnificent jewelry for her [Anne's] coronation scene that cost an absolute fortune. We had a bodyguard on set!<br><br>Image: But both [Charles Brandon] and Jonathan Rhys-Meyers are gorgeous. Did you have a favorite?<br><br>Bergin: Let's just say I always like things complex and difficult, and Henry [Rhys-Meyers] was more &#8230; complex.<br><br>Image: The jewelry was extraordinary. Did you create that?<br><br>Bergin: I have a lovely story &#8212; I got a letter from a company in called Sorrelli, huge fans of the show, who sent six pieces that were perfect for the costumes. The next two years they supplied "The Tudors" with most of the jewelry. They even have "The Tudors" collection on their website (). There was also an Italian vendor, Autore, who lent us a $40,000 pearl necklace that was used for the decapitation of Anne.<br><br>Image: Is it true that you were inspired by modern clothing for the Tudor look?<br><br>The lights are still on at the Eiffel Tower. They keep ringing up sales at in Rome, and is getting ready to start partying for about a year and a half, beginning with the April 29 of Prince William and at .<br><br> All in all, you wouldn't know that Europe has suffered through an economic crisis as brutal as ours, because strong social programs in the social democracies we love to visit &mdash; England, Italy and France &mdash; keep people at work, which is part of the problem. Governments that don't have the resources to pay for such programs &mdash; Portugal, Ireland, Greece and Spain &mdash; have needed bailouts from neighbors, generating ill will and doomsday scenarios about the impending collapse of the . If you think that's of marginal interest to tourists, you've forgotten what it was like to travel on the Continent before the advent of open borders and a single currency.<br><br> It's worth thinking about as you plan your trip, though nobody expects the EU to unravel this year. "Europe is an evolution, for 60 years going two steps forward and one step back," says Europe travel expert Rick Steves. "We always hear about the stumbles. But I can't imagine the euro zone falling apart."<br><br> Here's what you'll need to know about trips to Europe this year:<br><br>Priced to go<br><br> If you've always wanted to visit Portugal, Ireland, Iceland, Greece, Spain, Romania or Bulgaria, 2011 is the year to go. That's because these countries were hit hardest by the recession, forcing some travel providers to "try to create demand through value pricing," says Jerre Fuqua, president of Travcoa, based in El Segundo.<br><br> At the same time, the governments of these nations are increasing efforts to support tourism, creating new options and incentives for travelers. Iceland, laid low in recent times by a bank collapse and a , has set the standard, enticing travelers to a once extremely expensive destination by ramping up air and tour package deals, says Jan Rudomina, U.S. chairman of the European Travel Commission.<br><br> Hard times in the most economically distressed countries of Europe resulted in protests and strikes last year, which turned violent in Greece, though tourists were marginally affected. "I was just in Athens and didn't feel it was in crisis," Steves says. "For a visitor, I'd say the troubles are almost unnoticeable."<br><br> Hotel prices are rock bottom in Prague, Czech Republic; Budapest, Hungary; and Madrid, with southern European capitals such as Lisbon, Rome and Athens still somewhat below normal, according to Colliers PKF Consulting, a hotel industry research firm. On the other end of the spectrum, rates are sky high in Geneva, Stockholm, London, Moscow and Oslo, Norway.<br><br> In other words, hotel bargains are to be had where you least expect them, but not always where you most want to go. As ever, France is the world's favorite travel destination, visited by almost 99 million people in 2010, according to the U.N. World Tourism Organization; in second and third places were the U.S. and China, which bumped Spain off the list last year.<br><br>Fast trains<br><br> This year marks the 30th birthday of European high-speed trains, which debuted between Paris and Lyon, France, in September 1981. Since then, 1.5 billion people have traveled on fast TGV (Train &agrave; Grande Vitesse) trains in France, and high-speed lines have proliferated across the Continent.<br><br> Besides TGV, you'll find ICE in Germany; Eurostar connecting Britain, France and Belgium; Thalys between Paris, Brussels, Amsterdam and Cologne, Germany; AVE in Spain; X 2000 in Sweden; and Eurostar Italia and NTV, a new private rail company putting luxury, state-of-the-art, French-manufactured AGV (Automotrice &agrave; Grande Vitesse) trains on Italian government tracks.<br><br> Europe's super trains travel as fast as 200 mph and have the added money-saving convenience of embarkations and disembarkations in city-center stations, including London's gloriously renovated St. Pancras, with a 100-foot-high train shed that was the biggest enclosed space in the world when completed in 1868.<br><br> But Europe's railways aren't just for train buffs and speed demons. More and more, taking a fast train is a principal part of the European tourist experience, especially for Americans who think railroad travel is almost as bad as taking the bus.<br><br> Even if you book second class, there are roomy, reserved seats, clean restrooms and appealing buffet cars. If you go business or first class, amenities include light and full meal service, Wi-Fi and laptop plug-ins, special check-in counters and waiting lounges, complimentary newspapers and the opportunity to book a taxi that will be awaiting for you on arrival.<br><br> And then there are the views of lavender fields in Provence, the cliffs of Dover and Rome's ancient walls.<br><br> Recently completed routes include Paris-Stuttgart, Germany (31/2 hours), Madrid-Valencia, Spain (11/2 hours) and Perpignan, France-Figueres, Spain (11/4 hours). The most popular &mdash; and my favorite &mdash; line is Paris-Avignon, France (21/2 hours), which costs between $100 and $250 one way, depending on class and date of travel. To get the best rates, book early on the line's website (for instance, ) or at Rail Europe (www.raileurope.com).<br><br>In the euro zone<br><br><p>Judging from the plethora of eye-catching eyewear that's been getting face time over the last few years &mdash; be it on the ready-to-wear runways or in the adjoining office cubicle &mdash; it's clear that glasses have gone from nerd necessity to chic accessory.</p><p>It's a shift reflected in the current look-at-me trends &mdash; retro, vintage-inspired frames, chunky tortoise shells and geometric shapes that attract rather than deflect attention &mdash; and reinforced by the laundry list of fashion-focused brands with a presence in the eyewear arena. These include high-end European luxury labels like , and Dolce &amp; Gabbana as well as American contemporary brands Brooks Brothers, , Tiffany &amp; Co. and Sperry Top-Sider, which aims to translate the brand's footwear DNA into a line of licensed sunglass and ophthalmic frames due to hit the market next year.</p><p>While it might seem logical to blame the deteriorating eyesight of the aging baby boomer population or the ever-increasing computer- and smartphone-induced strain on our collective eyeballs, consumer behavior statistics don't show a jump in the number of people who need prescriptions. What they do show, however, is an increase in the number of people who wear glasses without prescription lenses &mdash; presumably to look cool.</p> <p>Dorothy Parker famously observed, "Men seldom make passes at girls who wear glasses." How did we go from that image to bespectacled bombshells? How did eyewear go from the disguise that turns into his milquetoast alter-ego to an individual expression of signature style?</p><p>Some in the eyewear industry point to the traditional pop-culture petri dishes of Hollywood celebrity and fashion runways. "Maybe they're seeing more celebrities" wearing glasses, said Larry Leight, co-founder and creative director of boutique brand Oliver Peoples. "And there are more &hellip; fashion magazines and runway shows where designers are accessorizing their shows with ophthalmic glasses &mdash; the kind that aren't sunglasses &mdash; with either clear lenses or only slightly tinted colored lenses."</p><p>Milena Cavicchioli, vice president of marketing for &mdash; the Milan-based eyewear company that owns Ray-Ban, Oakley and Oliver Peoples, among others, and which also makes eyewear and sunglasses under license for some 20 fashion labels &mdash; points to the recent Hollywood award show season as evidence. "Think of on ," Cavicchioli said. "She was wearing beautiful frames. And she's not the only one. Jennifer Garner and are two I often see in clippings. When people are looking at [celebrities like] them to see what the latest trends are, them wearing frames is a huge support and endorsement."</p><p>She said there have also been other factors at work over the last half decade, including fashion designers' approach to eyewear both in the frames that bear their names and in the styled looks that hit the runways during fashion week.</p><p>"The [optical] collections themselves are becoming more elaborate," she said. "There are some [styles] that are like jewelry pieces, that make a big fashion statement &mdash; like Prada's Baroque frame, for example. The collections are being treated in a more fashion-forward way."</p><p>Fashion designers have realized just how powerful a brand extension eyewear can be, especially in comparison to some other offshoots. "It's difficult for a brand to be visible with a fragrance because you're the only one who knows what you're wearing," she explained. "But when you wear a pair of sunglasses or optical frames, the brand itself gets exposure in the most prominent way because this is something you wear on your face. It's not like a wallet that you put in your bag. I would say that it is as powerful as a [designer hand]bag as a brand statement, as brand exposure."</p><p>Not just a powerful statement, but an economical one too, points out David Rose, vice president of design and manufacturing at Costa Mesa-based Salt Optics. "A few years back, before the economy took a hit, people would spend a lot more money on their bags and their shoes," Rose said. "But now eyewear is an accessible way to have a quality accessory." Rose also said that switching out the spectacles provides a quick and easy way to create a whole new vibe. "It's like getting a haircut &mdash; going from [having] long hair to buzzing your head &mdash; it really changes your overall look."</p><p>It's not just the designers who've seen the value of cultivating the eyewear-as-fashion-accessory notion. Cavicchioli said that over the last five years Luxottica has increased its advertising in fashion magazines and worked to get its brands noticed by influencers and trendsetters. "We're using the category to make a statement as well," she said.</p><p>At the same time, those responsible for styling fashion shows &mdash; putting together complete runway looks that include hair, makeup, footwear, accessories and jewelry &mdash; have increasingly employed eyewear to help bring the designer's vision into focus. "Dolce &amp; Gabbana and Prada were the initiators. They have been using frames in their shows for years," she noted. "And now it's normal."</p><p>Cavicchioli isn't the only one in the industry who's noticed an increased presence on the fashion runway. Another is Gai Gherardi, co-owner and co-designer (with Barbara McReynolds) of the independent L.A. Eyeworks brand.</p><p>"Yes, we've noticed more and more [optical] styling on the runways," Gherardi said. "And I love it so much. I remember so clearly opening a newspaper or a magazine a couple of years ago and one of the big [fashion houses] had sent this flock of models down the runway in gorgeous clothes &mdash; gowns really &mdash; with clear eyeglasses on. It was really a turning point."</p><p>Gherardi is pleased since more cat-eyes on the catwalk helps reinforce the connection between spectacles and style. There's been more exposure for her brand too &mdash; designers who have styled runway looks with L.A. Eyeworks' spectacles in the past include Corey Lynn Calter, , Rachel Pally and Erik Kim.</p><p>But she said it's only a reflection of the changing attitude, not the genesis of it. For that she points to what she calls "a couple of big milestones."</p><p>The first wave, Gherardi said, came on the heels of the mass-market embrace of rimless, disappear-on-the-face frames that had their heyday in the first half-decade of the new millennium.</p><p>"Everybody was wearing rimless frames," she said. "It was rimless frames, rimless frames, rimless frames. Suddenly everybody looked like they were 70 years old and should be running Daimler [Group]."</p><p>Then stepped into the spotlight as presidential hopeful 's running mate with her distinctive Kawasaki 704 eyeglass frames. "[She] went around wearing those, and everyone wanted that look," Gherardi said.</p><p>The notion that a pair of eyeglass frames can so easily help define one's personal sense of style is borne out by annual consumer behavior studies conducted by the Vision Council of America.</p><p>According to the group, as of the 12-month period through December 2011, 63.6% of Americans reported wearing prescription eyewear. Although that's down a half a percentage point from two years earlier, it's essentially offset by an increase in the use of contact lenses (up 0.4%) and reading glasses (up 0.1%) in the same period. But among U.S. adults who don't wear prescription eyewear, 19.2% said they have worn eyeglasses without a prescription just to be fashionable &mdash; an increase of nearly 4% from December 2008 to February 2011.</p><p>Today the throwback look, dominated by classic shapes and tortoise-shell patterns &mdash; call it vintage-inspired, geek chic or the "Mad Men" effect &mdash; reigns supreme, while the addition of bright pops of color and unusual shapes make fashion-forward eyewear more eye-catching and image-defining than ever.</p><p>"Retro-inspired design and classic shapes continue to influence the market," Cavicchioli said. "But the cat-eye style that has been popular for the last couple of years is on the decline, and we're moving into more geometric shapes; the hexagon, for example, is a shape that's coming on strongly. Things are also getting a bit smaller &mdash; we were getting a little bit oversized &mdash; so you'll see a return to smaller sizes. But, in the next year and a half, the geometric and sculptural shapes will be where there is newness in the market."</p><p>Salt Optics' Rose sees some similar trends. "We've had this vintage kind of feel for a while," he said. "A lot of the vintage, heavier, chunkier frames have been slimmed down, and I'm doing a lot of slimmer [frames], with deeper eye shapes. ... As far as color goes, I've been digging into opaque colors &mdash; aquamarine, aubergine and some nude colors that have been a big trend for us lately."</p><p>But Rose says that the '50s and '60s vintage-retro look has dominated eyewear trends for so long, people are starting to tire of it.</p><p>"Now I'm looking to the '80s and '90s for inspiration."</p><p></p><p>Forget the Gossip Girls, Joan Holloway, Bettie Page and those other retro chicks. There is a new feminine ideal this fall, and she kicks butt. If the last five years have been dominated by the preening and pristine women of "Mad Men," we are now shifting to a tomboy ideal.</p><p>We can look to Hollywood as well as the runway for inspiration &mdash; recent film heroines such as the bow-and-arrow-wielding Katniss Everdeen of the cartoon princess Merida in Snow White as reimagined in and in that high-gloss Catwoman cat suit in </p><p>Lisbeth Salander in "The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo" has been influencing many designers this season, most notably Calvin Klein's Francisco Costa, who had the girl herself, , sitting front row at his runway in February.</p> <p>There were also plenty of nods on the runways to that distant silver-screen cousin . 's East-meets-West collection was inspired by Dietrich's 1932 "Shanghai Express," and Donna Karan's pinstripes and fedoras nod to the gender-bending star's 1930 film "The Blue Angel."</p><p>So, yes, the new tough is about borrowing from the boys. But it's more than that. It's about swagger in all its varied forms, from dandyish to downright dangerous. Here are a few manifestations of the trend:</p><p>Is it any wonder that leather is everywhere this fall? 's studded, second-skin leather dresses and 's kimono-sleeve coats and jumpsuits are the stuff of action heroes. For the rest of us, there are stretch leather pants and moto jackets, which look fresher in bordeaux, navy blue or bottle green than in black.</p><p>At the extreme, the new tough is also defined by a bold new silhouette. Big on the top and the bottom, it's not for everyone. But if you could pull off one of 's oversized jackets inspired by fencing, karate and judo, worn with a pair of slouchy, wide-leg trousers (a look also seen at ), you could be your own fight club.</p><p>Stella McCartney designed the British team's Olympic uniforms, and her interpretation of the new tough for fall is also sporty, but with a collegiate twist &mdash; a varsity jacket paired with cherry-red pleated pants, for example, a silk button-down shirt in a clever print of collaged monograms and an electric blue coat with technical-looking asymmetrical zippers.</p><p>Chanel's Karl Lagerfeld takes the tough mood to more futuristic territory. His new three-piece suits (a skirt and jacket over pants) have a sharp geometry, with angular shoulders and polyhedron-shaped sleeves.</p><p>Gucci's Frida Giannini brings dark romance to the look with opulent equestrian-inspired floral jacquard jackets and tassel belts, riding pants tucked into tall boots, wispy chiffon blouses and dramatic velvet capes. pairs menswear-inspired houndstooth jodhpurs and pantsuits with rainbow-hued Fair Isle sweaters, colorful fox fur-collared coats and mini crocodile attache cases. And Miuccia takes the mood to dandyish heights with riotous jacquard suits and trippy Mary Jane shoes dipped in rubber &mdash; the new gumshoes.</p><p>Several designers have added drama to everyday pieces with graphic lines and pops of color that could be drawn from a comic book. Consider 's wear-to-work, two-toned cigarette pants, black in the front and white in back. Full of contrasts between light and dark, his collection is for the superhero in all of us.</p><p>Bold silhouettes. Future shock. Dark romance. Drama. The toughest thing of all may be having to choose.</p><p>It's about swagger in all its varied forms, from dandyish to downright dangerous.</p><p></p>Distilling dozens of designer collections isn't easy. But after a month-long cavalcade of fashion weeks in the style capitals of Paris, Milan, London and New York, here goes &#8212; our picks for the fall-winter 2011 season's top five trends.<br><br>Caped crusaders: The newest-looking outerwear pieces for the season are capes and ponchos. There was one or the other in nearly every collection, and choices to suit nearly every mood, from sporty (Rag &amp; Bone) to sleek () to sex kitten ().<br><br> Novelty furs: Fur has been a perennial on the fall-winter runways for several years now. So this season, designers had to use it even more creatively to get our attention &#8212; on goggle straps (Wang), dickies (), cross-body bags () and even grocery carts that models wheeled down the runway ().<br><br>Lace: It was the stuff of plains women at , ladylike artistes at and fetish queens at Louis Vuitton. Lace embellished everything, even the models' faces, at .<br><br>Sixties rewind: There were nods to mod at , , and . And the entire collection was inspired by 1960s supermodel Jean Shrimpton. Other designers (at , and ) took midcentury couture shapes and translated them for today, using modern materials and sportswear accents.<br><br>Glam : Forget the greasy hair and thrift store finds of the Kurt and Courtney days. Grunge went glam on the runways at , , , and Alexander Wang, with a long, lanky silhouette and long, loose layers of rich fabric.<br><br><p>Looking for a stylish read? Here are some very fashionable books out this spring.</p><p>"City of Style" (Harper Collins, $21.99) is an approachable field guide to L.A. style in all its incarnations, whether Laurel Canyon bohemians or Mexican American cholas, written by former Los Angeles Times Image section staff writer Melissa Magsaysay.</p><p>"L.A. style is ever-changing and moving in a direction not solely dictated by what's happening on the runway. It blends the past with current trends and a lifestyle determined by the varied landscape, golden light and sense of freedom," Magsaysay writes in the introduction. The breezy book is divided into sections about romantic bohemians, glamour, skaters and surfers, rockers, chola-style, indie eclectic and casual chic, with historical context for each.</p> <p>In the course of describing the boho look, Magsaysay flashes back to the 1960s, talking to Trina Robbins, Laurel Canyon's unofficial seamstress who designed folksy costumes for the likes of and Cass Elliott, and Bob Steinberg, purveyor of paisley and tie-dye at Melrose Avenue's Fabric Emporium, which had a strict "no-polyester policy."</p><p>For the rockers' section, she speaks to a range of characters, from groupie extraordinaire Pamela Des Barres (who danced with the Flying Burrito Brothers, Three Dog Night and other bands) to hard-rock guitarist ofGuns N' Roses fame.</p><p>To bring the looks into focus for today, dozens of fashionable Angelenos are profiled, including stylists (Ilaria Urbinati), designers (Melissa Coker) and boutique owners (Desiree Kohan) who share their wardrobe signatures.</p><p>The book also contains handy styling suggestions and tips about where to shop the different looks &mdash; such as El Pachuco in Fullerton (chola style), Val Surf in Valley Village (skaters and surfers) and Hidden Treasure in Topanga (bohemians).</p><p>&mdash;Booth Moore</p><p>Online empire</p><p>In "By Invitation Only: How We Built Gilt and Changed the Way Millions Shop" (Portfolio, $27.95), Alexis Maybank and Alexandra Wilkis Wilson tell the story of how they launched Gilt Groupe in 2007, bringing the thrill of sample shopping online on their members-only site, where they offered designer merchandise at up to 70% off and created a new retail phenomenon.</p><p>Best friends first, the two met at Harvard Business School and bonded over a passion for shopping the rough-and-tumble world of designer sample sales. Using their cumulative experience at EBay, Merrill Lynch, Louis Vuitton and Bulgari, they persuaded luxury brands to get over the fear that online discounting would kill their prestige, bringing onboard for their first sale. The members-only concept created a sense of exclusivity, even if all one had to do was sign up and anyone could join.</p><p>"If shopping was traditionally a slow, leisurely activity that might consume an entire weekend (the exception being sample sales), it would now be competitive, addictive, urgent, thrilling &mdash; a rush delivered at the same time each day via the Internet," they write. "It would be the appointment you couldn't miss at a time we'd specified."</p><p>From the first day, they drew a crowd, proving that luxury shoppers like a good bargain as much as anyone.</p><p>The book traces the rise of Gilt from its first days as a startup with five employees, including Maybank and Wilson. The company, valued at $1 billion, now sells a multitude of items, including cars, Judith Leiber clutches, chocolate truffles, as well as some non-luxury goods. Gilt ships to 90 countries and hosts more than 20 sales a day on several sites, including Gilt City, Gilt Taste and Jetsetter.</p><p>There is plenty for fashionistas and budding entrepreneurs alike to chew on, including anecdotes about , Madonna andJ. Crew Chief Executive Mickey Drexler; practical advice about how to find the right business partner; and tips on how to know if your business has the potential to go viral. There are also lots of behind-the-scenes stories about the origin of the Gilt name, how "The View" doubled membership overnight and why the two founders turned down an opportunity to buy acres of amazing European designer clothes and felt good about it.</p><p>&mdash;Booth Moore</p><p>Schiaparelli and </p><p>Twins separated at birth, "most alike &mdash; indeed, virtually identical &mdash; in their sovereign ambition to be unique." That's how 1930s era fashion designer and her modern-day counterpart Miuccia Prada are described in Judith Thurman's introduction to "Schiaparelli and Prada: Impossible Conversations" (Metropolitan Museum of Art/Yale University Press, $45). The book is the catalog for the exhibition of the same name that opened Thursday at the in New York.</p><p>The book, by Andrew Bolton and Harold Koda, explores the similarities and differences between the two women born six decades apart, both of them native Italians with rebellious streaks who grew up in strict Catholic households. More than 200 photographs of Schiaparelli and Prada ensembles are featured, along with a series of "impossible conversations" between the two women, which curators Bolton and Koda orchestrated using quotes from Schiaparelli's autobiography, "Shocking Life," and interviews they conducted with Prada.</p><p>The two designers, both self-taught, "converse" about famous fans (Schiaparelli's include , , Millicent Rogers and Daisy Fellowes; Prada says, "I don't go out of my way to dress actresses...."). They "discuss" their affinity for uniforms (Schiaparelli was asked to design a costume for the typical Soviet woman in the 1930s, and Prada was heavily inspired in the 1990s by industrial materials and a kind of minimalist uniformity). They hold forth on their shared love of "ugly chic" and whether dress designing is an art (Schiaparelli says "yes," Prada says "no").</p>When I started working at the Los Angeles Times nearly 15 years ago, downtown L.A. was a style wasteland. Sure, there were denim wash houses, sewing shops, designer showrooms and studios, but you wouldn't know it walking down the street. Fashion was something that happened behind closed doors.<br><br>When I went to New Moon across from the California Market Center to meet designers over the famous Chinese chicken salad, I didn't feel safe walking the seven blocks from The Times office. Shopping was almost nonexistent, except for the bland Macy's and Robinsons-May department stores, which catered mostly to the career suit-wearing set, and the stalls hawking discount tank tops and knockoff purses in Santee Alley.<br><br> FOR THE RECORD:<br> Fashion Diary: The Fashion Diary column in Sunday's Image section said Andre Balazs' Standard Hotel opened on 5th Street in downtown Los Angeles. The hotel is on 6th Street. &#8212;<br> <br><br>Back then, the colorful kimonos in Little Tokyo and embroidered Mexican blouses on Olvera Street were the finds.<br><br>Starting around 2000-01, a few pioneering designers held runway shows at quirky locations downtown. Michelle Mason closed off the 2nd Street tunnel one season and the former St. Vibiana's Cathedral another. Jared Gold staged his show in a pungent alley, before upgrading to the .<br><br> opened its factory downtown with a lot of pride of place, and founder Dov Charney's aesthetic &#8212; love it or hate it &#8212; gave the area an edgy vibe.<br><br>After Andre Balazs' Standard Hotel opened on 5th Street in 2002, downtown became the destination the next year for the first centralized Los Angeles Fashion Week in some time. And, oh, how people complained &#8212; about the traffic, the parking, the nonexistent coffee bars. There was no place to go after the shows ended at night and no reason to stay.<br><br>But slowly, brick by brick, things started to change.<br><br>Jorge Pardo's Mountain Bar on Gin Ling Way started luring the artsy set. Then came the nightcrawlers, dressed up like they would for a prom to line up at velvet ropes outside the Edison, the Golden Gopher and Broadway Bar. For awhile, it seemed like it was during the daylight that they rolled up the streets.<br><br>In 2006, "Skin + Bones: Parallel Practices in Fashion and Architecture" drew a different kind of crowd downtown: avant-garde fashion followers, who came to the Museum of Contemporary Art to see Viktor &amp; Rolf's famed Russian doll collection. (Three years later, would perform at MOCA's 30th anniversary gala held on a closed off block of Grand Avenue, wearing a dress designed by Miuccia Prada, who hosted a table at the swank event.)<br><br>In 2008, downtown L.A. got some seriously cool retail, with the arrival of the Comme des Garcons guerrilla store. It was as if designer Rei Kawakubo was doing some urban planning of her own, all the way from Japan.<br><br>Downtown was on a roll. Since that first fashion week event at the Standard, groups have come and gone trying to establish downtown as a runway show destination &#8212; Downtown L.A. Fashion Week at the Geffen Contemporary, Concept Fashion Week, BOXeight and on and on. The downtown fashion fervor reached a fever pitch when "Project Runway" decamped from New York in 2008, and Tim Gunn was spotted shopping at the downtown Ralphs.<br><br>Cole's reopened, and the Varnish bar with it..<br><br>Along came hot restaurants, too, with dynamic young chefs &#8212; Church &amp; State, Riviera and Bottega Louie, where the macarons are as lovely as you'd find in Paris. Now, there are so many new places to eat and drink, you can't even get to them all.<br><br>When we started shopping for fashion finds for this issue, I really noticed how far downtown has come on the street level. On Central Avenue in Little Tokyo, I saw a gaggle of girls in short shorts with shopping bags from contemporary clothing boutique Number A heading to the exhibit at MOCA. In Chintatown, shoppers weren't checking out silk slippers and bamboo plants; they were trying on natural-colored canvas wedge shoes by conceptual clothing label Slow and Steady Wins the Race at a boutique called Ooga Booga. On 9th Street, near Santee Alley, it wasn't the knockoffs that caught my eye, but the vintage wares at Virgo, where a pixie-haired designer-hopeful was working the counter.<br><br>On 4th Street, there is a whole new retail zone, with local labels Skingraft and Elmer Ave. opening up shop. Even the Goodwill store on Broadway near 2nd Street is looking good. (I recently saw a pair of brand-new Christian Louboutin pumps there for $100, still in the box.)<br><br>I used to make it a policy never to come downtown after the work week was over, if I could help it. But lately, I'm breaking that rule a lot. "If you squint, it feels like a Manhattan street," my companion said the other night, as we crossed Spring Street at 6th, passing the Z Loft Boutique vintage store with its door still wide open after 8 p.m.<br><br>We were headed to a birthday party for handbag designer and personal shopper extraordinaire Raven Kauffman, who was entertaining friends for the first time in her new loft. The place was on four levels &#8212; one of them was her color-coded closet, another an outdoor patio with a hot tub. . All kinds of fashionable people were there, including designers Pegah Anvarian, Barbara Tfank and Michael Schmidt, boutique owners Desiree Kohan (Des Kohan), Lisa Bush (Mona Moore) and Rose Apodaca (A+R), and "House" actress Lisa Edelstein.<br><br>Not one person complained about having to come downtown. It wasn't even an issue.<br><br>Sipping Champagne and nibbling mini-cupcakes on the roof, with the Standard Oil building and the rest of the skyline twinkling below, it was easy to see why. If you are a creative person living in L.A. right now, downtown is the place to be.<br><br>booth.moore@latimes.comStealth wealth. Fashion gaming. . . What else? Here's a list of stylish people, trends and ideas to pay attention to in 2012.<br><br>Surrealism. Opening May 10, the Costume Institute's exhibition "Schiaparelli and : Impossible Conversations" will explore the link between 1930s era Italian fashion designer Elsa Schiaparelli and her modern-day counterpart Miuccia Prada. Both designers have been informed by the whimsical motifs of surrealism. Schiapparelli created the iconic lobster dress, shoe hat and insect brooch, and Prada created lip-print skirts, tromp l'oeil jackets and, for spring 2012, shoes with "flames" and "headlights" inspired by cars. Both designers were influenced by contemporary artists of their time &mdash; Schiaparelli by and , and Prada by Anish Kapoor, Dan Flavin and others featured in her Milan art space and museum, the Prada Foundation.<br><br> <br><br>Art Deco. The spring 2012 collections haven't hit stores yet, but the 1920s trend evident when they were shown on the runways last fall is already making an impact on the red carpet. Florence Welch and have both worn black-and-gold fringed dresses from 's Art Deco-themed spring collection on red carpets in recent weeks. And now that set in 1927 Hollywood, is a front-runner at the awards shows, we're likely to see more flappers and fringe as the red carpet season heats up. Also, in December 's take on "The Great Gatsby," set in the Jazz Age, is slated to hit movie theaters with and Carey Mulligan in the title roles, and with costumes designed by Luhrmann's wife, Catherine Martin, who wowed us with her stylish work on and "Moulin Rouge."<br><br>Hollywood costume designers. Too long relegated to the sidelines, Martin and other Hollywood costume designers will get their due in a blockbuster exhibition opening Oct. 20 at the Victoria &amp; Albert Museum in London. Curated by Deborah Nadoolman Landis, director of the David C. Copley Center for the Study of Costume Design at UCLA, "Hollywood Costume" will feature gems from every decade of film, from the early days of to the 2012 Batman film, "The Dark Knight Rises." For a sneak peek, check out Landis' 2007 book "Dressed: A Century of Hollywood Costume Design" (Harper Design).<br><br>Designer fast fashion fizzle? Sure, fast fashion designer collaborations make news. But do they still make sales? Despite the buying frenzies of 2011, there were also plenty of returns in stores and items put up for sale on EBay from last year's for and for H&amp;M collections. And the for merchandise didn't seem to move much at all. The next big designer collaboration is at H&amp;M, debuting on March 8. Marni designer Consuelo Castiglioni has a knack for color and print, but her designs are quite avant garde, which could make this collection H&amp;M's most esoteric yet &mdash; after Comme des Garcons, that is. directed the ad campaign. We'll see who lines up for the launch.<br><br>Fashiontainment. It seems like there are more fashion-themed TV shows now than ever, including 's "Project Runway All Stars," which premiered Thursday, with and designer alumni from the original show; Lifetime's "24 Hour Catwalk" with and Derek Blasburg (premiering Tuesday), and NBC's with and (premiering March 13). All three shows follow the familiar designer competition format. What else to watch? "Jane by Design" (premiered Jan. 3), a scripted series on that's a cross between and "The Devil Wears Prada," and "It's a Brad, Brad World" (premiered Monday), a on Bravo that follows stylist and ex- assistant Brad Goreski.<br><br>Stealth wealth. dominated the headlines last year, and now the Courage Campaign is trying to drum up support for a November ballot measure to increase taxes on wealthy Californians, using as their example of millionaires who could pay more. Will the growing class division and jobs debate usher in an era of stealth wealth style? Only time will tell. But for now, Kim, you might want to leave that Birkin bag at home.<br><br>A Dior decision. It's been 10 months and counting since Dior has had a creative director at the helm of its ready-to-wear and couture collections. was abruptly fired in March after he was caught on video making anti-Semitic slurs, and the collections have been designed by the house team since then. Meanwhile, nearly every major designer working today has been rumored to be in the running to be his replacement, including Riccardo Tisci, Sarah Burton, and (who recently told Vogue magazine he turned it down). So who is going to take the job? Women's Wear Daily reported last month that Dior was closing in on Raf Simons. The Belgian designer at the helm of would certainly be an inspired choice. His modern interpretations of couture shapes, in high-voltage colors, have made the Jil Sander runway collections among the most influential in recent seasons. It would be exciting to see what he would do given the resources and archives of a real couture house. But Dior still isn't commenting.<br><br>, the new . The momentum for Brazil as an emerging luxury market has been building for some time now. And in 2012, 30 high-end brands are set to open stores there, according to Forbes magazine, including Prada, Dolce &amp; Gabbana and . With the debt crisis continuing to dog Europe, that makes Brazil a bright spot for fashion. When luxury brands started looking to China for business opportunities, designers also looked there for inspiration. Maybe we'll see the enthusiasm for Brazil turning up on the runway too. Samba style anyone?<br><br>Feel-good fashion. It was almost as if designers were trying to will optimism back into shoppers' mind-sets (and wallets) with the spring 2012 collections, which were awash with upbeat color (, ), prints (, ) and ethereal pearlescence (, ). Call it feel-good fashion.<br><br>Media mash-ups. Facing declining readership and more ad dollars migrating to the Web, glossy fashion magazines will continue to try to reinvent themselves to generate more revenue. Harper's Bazaar and Glamour are planning major redesigns, while other titles are plotting moves into e-commerce and entertainment. Last year, Conde Nast (which owns Vogue and Vanity Fair, among other titles) launched an entertainment division to develop TV, film and book properties. Details entered into a partnership with e-commerce site Mr. Porter, and did the same with Gilt Groupe. Look out for more media mash-ups in the coming months.<br><br>Counterfeiting in fashion. The battle over fakes in fashion seems to be escalating after several recent high-profile lawsuits over designer trademarks (Christian Louboutin vs. over who can use red soles on shoes, and Louis Vuitton vs. over fake LV logo luggage in the film ), and the Obama administration's increased focus on the issue leading to more vigorous crackdowns from law enforcement. (Last month, in a single raid at the , federal authorities seized $4 million in fake designer jeans, apparel and shoes with Gucci, North Face and True Religion labels). The Innovative Design and Protection Piracy and Prevention Act (which has the support of some in the industry, but not others) was introduced in Congress last year and is being reviewed by a House subcommittee.<br><br>Shopping 3.0. It's now possible to shop from your desk and your phone, to pre-order designer looks straight from the runway (ModaOperandi.com) or borrow them for a special occasion (RentTheRunway.com), to ask our friends for advice (ShopWithYourFriends.com) and comparison shop for the best deal (ShopWiki.com). In 2012, there will be even more out there to entice tech-savvy shoppers. Some possibilities? Kiosks in brick-and-mortar stores offering personalized style suggestions, crowd-sourced clothing designs, and social gaming adding a fun, interactive element to the e-commerce experience.<br><br>IPads, Nooks and Kindles may be topping wish lists this holiday season, but when it comes to reading about fashion, nothing beats the glossy, full-color grandeur of a coffee-table book.<br><br>This season's crop of oversized style tomes is especially alluring. Among them are memoir-esque reads, playfully pedantic books on how to hone personal style and a pair of opulent tomes focusing on men's fashion, encompassing styles from cowboy chic to Savile Row sleek.<br><br> Of course, you won't be packing these biceps-building books for your next red eye. But then not all reading has to be on the run. Curling up in front of the fire with a big juicy traditional book is a great way to take a break from the holiday season hubbub. Here are some of our picks for giving or for savoring yourself.<br><br>The Fashion File: Advice, Tips, and Inspiration From the Costume Designer of Mad Men<br><br>By Janie Bryant with Monica Corcoran Harel. $26.99<br><br>"Mad Men" costume designer Janie Bryant is a master of optimizing a woman's figure through wardrobe &#8212; just look at what she's done with curvy . And in "The Fashion File," co-written by veteran L.A. style writer Monica Corcoran Harel, she offers a bevy of helpful style tips that neither condescend nor confuse. Ideas include picking the right colors for your skin tone, adding drama to any outfit via strategic accessories such as opera-length gloves, and figuring out if you're a Betty [Draper] or a Joan [Holloway]; the book encourages women to find their inner leading ladies &#8212; and then festoon them with abandon.<br><br>Anna Sui<br><br>By Andrew Bolton. Chronicle Books. $60<br><br>Legendary New York designer Anna Sui has been melding girlish whimsy with rock 'n' roll attitude in her collections for more than 20 years. And in "Anna Sui," writer Andrew Bolton chronicles the inspiration behind every collection she's sent down the runway &#8212; starting with fall 1991, which featured then-baby-faced models Linda Evangelista and decked out in prep-school plaids. The book features a flattering forward by photographer Steven Meisel, along with vintage magazine spreads, ads and portraits of celebrities including , and . And while a few of Sui's vintage collections seem cringe-worthy today (fall '92's pirate-themed collection comes to mind), Meisel elucidates, "Anna will always gild the lily, and I'll be the one saying, 'Anna, does that outfit really need a birthday cake on the shoulder?'"<br><br>Isabella Blow<br><br>By Martina Rink. Thames &amp; Hudson. $50<br><br>Isabella Blow, the famous stylist, editor and muse who nurtured the considerable talents of and Philip Treacy, committed suicide in 2007. "Isabella Blow," written by her former personal assistant, says goodbye to the fashion provocateur through heartfelt letters written by industry and celebrity friends, including Paul Smith, Valentino Garavani, , Manolo Blahnik, and . A true original, she "had no time for anything humdrum, banal or mundane," writes Wintour, who hired Blow to be her assistant at Vogue in the 1980s, "to the extent that the task of cleaning her desk every night had to be done with a bottle of Perrier water and No.5."<br><br>The World's Most Influential Fashion Designers<br><br>By Noel Palomo-Lovinski. Barron's Educational Series Inc. $29.99<br><br>In fashion, what goes around inevitably comes around again. "The World's Most Influential Fashion Designers" shows us exactly how that ebb and flow works. Through linear graphs detailing 50 major designers &#8212; beginning with Parisian pioneer Paul Poiret &#8212; the author details who inspired, and was inspired by, each. Miuccia Prada, for example, was influenced by Japanese designer Rei Kawakubo, who also challenged the notion of femininity being "contingent on coquetry"; and labels she's inspired include Phillip Lim and Proenza Schouler. Exhaustively assembled by Palomo-Lovinski, an assistant fashion design professor at Kent State University, the book is full of "aha" moments (how did we ever miss the shared sensibilities between Stella McCartney and sharp-line-loving '80s designer Claude Montana?). And it connects the dots in a smart, style-savvy way.<br><br>Harper's Bazaar Fashion: Your Guide to Personal Style<br><br>By Lisa Armstrong. Hearst Books. $24.95<br><br>Fashion books on achieving personal style seem antithetical. After all, how can so many general rules apply to creating an individual wardrobe? Which is why "Your Guide to Personal Style," a metallic gold-covered tome written by fashion journalist Lisa Armstrong, doesn't delve too much into fashion do's and don'ts. Instead, it offers tips on how to choose the best looks for your shape (for instance, curvy girls shouldn't wear voluminous looks), how to buy accessories (invest in that Cartier Tank watch &#8212; it will gussy up every outfit, every day) and the kind of garb to don for a night out, a daytime party and even a backwoods cabin getaway.<br><br>Bespoke: The Men's Style of Savile Row<br><br>By James Sherwood. Rizzoli. $65<br><br>"Bespoke," a fully illustrated history of bespoke (or custom) tailoring, charts the ascendance of Savile Row, a small street in that's known globally as the epicenter of men's tailoring. Moving chronologically from the late 1700s onward, the book tells the story in part through profiles of 26 master tailors and tailoring firms from Savile Row &#8212; including stalwarts such as Gieves &amp; Hawkes and relative newbies including Ozwald Boateng. Chapters such as "Savile Row at War: Tailoring for Heroes" and "Savile Row in Hollywood" cover wide swaths of eras, adding richness to an already storied subject.<br><br>American Fashion Menswear<br><br>By Robert E. Bryan. Assouline. $50<br><br>The third volume in the Council of Fashion Designer's American Fashion series, "American Fashion Menswear" tackles men's fashion by movement, such as Ivy League style and Western wear, and by archetype, such as "the dandy" (think rock star Prince or Vogue's Andre Leon Talley). There are also lengthy chapters on Hollywood actors and musical artists, featuring a phenomenal collection of historic photographs of , , and (among others). The history of American menswear is told in short essay format in between the book's splashy photos, but the real story here is told visually.<br><br>Louis Vuitton: 100 Legendary Trunks<br><br>By Pierre L&#233;onforte and &#201;ric Pujalet-Pla&#224;. Preface by Patrick-Louis Vuitton. Abrams Books. $125<br><br>It stands to reason that the first book about Louis Vuitton trunks would be sturdy-yet-luxurious, like the very luggage it chronicles. And despite its hyper-niche focus, the 496-page book is actually a delightful read, imparting short stories about very personal pieces of luggage. Standouts among the custom-made trunks (and other cases) include a suitcase especially made for the dolls of Princesses Elizabeth and Margaret of England in 1938; monogrammed trunks for the movie "The Darjeeling Limited," in 2007; a trunk that pops open into a cot-like bed made for Italian-French adventurer Pierre Savorgnan de Brazza; and a trunk that turns into a shower, specially made by the company for an invention competition in 2004.<br><br>A funny thing happened on the way to the fur salon: The fur was forgotten. Designers instead turned to polymer chemists for a substitute that could please fur-coveting consumers and possibly assuage a few concerns of animal rights activists.<br><br>This fall, some of the most eye-catching jackets and accessories incorporate realistic fake fur or are made from other materials with textures reminiscent of fur.<br><br> "It's really about the tactile nature of the season," says Colleen Sherin, fashion director of Saks Fifth Avenue, speaking about the fall trend. "We're even seeing things happening in knitwear where the yarn is cut specifically for a furry effect."<br><br>Stores and online sites, including high-end designer brands and mass-market retailers, are full of garments with materials that look like mink, cheetah or beaver.<br><br>Even at the high end, fake fur is being used widely by designers who note the improved quality and realistic nature of materials coming from Europe and Japan. These imported materials allow for more versatility in design, not to mention lower costs compared with real fur. Consider: Designer includes a full-length faux fur mink coat in his line for HSN that sells for about $900. The real thing would cost upward of $10,000.<br><br>Think of it as high faux.<br><br>The trend has been bubbling up for a couple of years. based its fall 2009 show around fake fur, producing getups reminiscent of woolly mammoths that seemed suitable for a dinner party at the North Pole. The fall 2011 runway included a mix of real and faux fur adorning jackets in bold and offbeat colors such as yellow, teal and purple.<br><br>It's increasingly difficult to tell the difference between real and fake, says Dan Mathews, senior vice president of , which has opposed the killing of animals and manufacture of fur in high-profile campaigns for many years.<br><br>Mathews cites a major uptick in fake fur sales over the last several years and says that fewer celebrities are choosing to wear real fur as more high-end designers offer garments made from synthetic material. Still, he is concerned that the look and feel of the new realistic fakes could perpetuate people's desire for the real thing.<br><br>Consumers will encounter the high-faux look on items including boots, bags, coats and vests. At the wholesale level, sales of fake fur reached $250 million in the United States last year and those sales are expected to increase by 30% over the next two years, according to Pell Research, a Washington, D.C., firm that identifies new markets and trends for major companies.<br><br>"The fur trend in the U.S. is toward fake," says Amy Lechner, an analyst with Pell Research. "The stigma of fake fur is rapidly decreasing."<br><br>Indeed, fake fur used to be known for its natty, matted quality, but today designers are seeing it as a desirable fabric, a category unto itself not solely meant to mimic real fur.<br><br>"It's all about a fashion statement and creating a look, just like you would with any other fabric," says designer , who works with real fur in his ready-to-wear line, but also creates a robust faux fur collection for his Dennis by Dennis Basso Collection for QVC. "You're able to do some things with faux fur you can't do with real fur. Like, you would never make something in real leopard or cheetah. Women will buy something in faux not just for how realistic it seems but because of the look and design. It was originally made to imitate fur, but today it stands on its own."<br><br> is planning to stock more fake fur this fall than in seasons past, including from top-selling brands such as INC and , says Caprice Willard, vice president and regional planning manager for the department store chain. "We're introducing [fake fur] not just in ready to wear, but also with shoes, boots, belts and handbags," says Willard, who adds that this season's garments are cut to look more modern and less boxy than traditional real-fur items. Coats are slimmer, waists are nipped in or belted and silhouettes are more flattering overall.<br><br>Faux fur vests and accessories have been bestsellers on HSN, according to the direct response retailer's fashion director, Lauren Wilner. "Vests do really well, as do cropped jackets," she says. "Leopard is the biggest seller. Actually leopard print across the board is really great for us."<br><br>Khan's fake fur collection, which HSN will start marketing in November, will include "mink" coats with shawl collars and "cheetah" vests, all made from fake fur from Tissavel, a French manufacturer that has been making it since the '50s and is known within the textile industry as having high-quality fiber and finishing techniques, as well as an anti-shed technology to keep "fur" from shedding.<br><br>"The impact of how many designers were showing [fake fur] in their fall collections was huge," says Anna Lemessurier, senior product developer of handbags for Aldo, which has used fake fur on boots, bags, ear muffs, gloves, belts and hats for fall.<br><br>Judging by the wide array of fake fur items hitting stores for fall, this season faux is the real deal.<br><br>THE BEST WAY TO FLORENCE, <br> <br> From , Alitalia, and Lufthansa offer connecting service (change of plane) to Florence. Restricted round-trip fares begin at $884, excluding fees and taxes.<br> <br> TELEPHONES<br> <br> To call the numbers below from the U.S. dial 011 (the international dialing code), 39 (the country code for Italy) and then the local number.<br> <br> WHERE TO STAY<br> <br> Granduomo, No. 1/7 Piazza del Duomo; 055-2670004, . A newly restored 18th century palazzo overlooking the Duomo offers elegant mini-apartments, a roof terrace and a cozy library. Doubles from $200.<br> <br> Four Hotel, 99 Borgo Pinti; 055-26261, . A luxury grand palazzo set in a private park. Doubles from $770.<br> <br> J.K. Place Firenze, 7 Piazza Santa Maria Novella; 055-2645181, . Chic, stylish boutique hotel in Florence's most beautiful piazza. Doubles from $435.<br> <br> WHERE TO EAT<br> <br> Lungarno 23, 23 Lungarno Torrigiani; 055-2345957, .<br> <br> Trattoria Baldovino, 22 Via San Giuseppe; 055-241773. .<br> <br> Olio &amp; Convivium, 4 Via Santo Spirito; 055-2658198, . An elegant wine bar, delicatessen and restaurant.<br> <br> WHAT TO DO<br> <br> Palazzo Vecchio Scavi, 5 Piazza della Signoria, 055-2768224. Underground tours must be booked through . $8.40 for a single adult ticket; $19.60 for a family ticket for four (two adults and two children).<br> <br> Context Travel will arrange tours, led by an art historian of the Vasari Corridor. $140 a person.<br> <br> Barberino Designer Outlet, Via Meucci, 50031 Barberino del Mugello, 055-842161, . Reduced prices on brands such as Bulgari, and ."Florence has changed," my friend Alessandra told me on the phone. "There's a new spirit here."<br><br>"I don't believe it," I said. "I know Florentines; they're conservative people who hate change."<br><br> "Come and see for yourself. I'm going on a trip. You can have my apartment," Alessandra said.<br><br>It was an offer I couldn't refuse. Although Florence was the birthplace of the Renaissance, and its entire center has been designated a World Heritage site, both of us worried that it had become tourist hell. Too many day-tripping visitors. Dowdy, impossibly overcrowded museums and galleries. Suicidal traffic choking the narrow streets. Mediocre hotels and restaurants. It's hard to say when the life goes out of a place, but the signs seemed unmistakable in Florence.<br><br>On a bright, chilly autumn day I took the train from Rome to Santa Maria Novella, Florence's central station. The station is a modernist gem, but in recent years leaving it meant navigating a seedy plaza covered in litter, jammed with hustlers and street vendors and surrounded by tourist buses, idling and belching exhaust.<br><br>No longer. The plaza was open and clean. Municipal police in their tall white helmets &mdash; previously an endangered species in the city center &mdash; were on patrol to keep it that way. Ordinary Florentines milled about, getting on and off Florence's public buses, which had been freshly repainted in red and white &mdash; the city's colors.<br><br>I spent the rest of the evening with Alessandra, and the next morning, after she left for the airport, I headed to the Palazzo Vecchio, city hall since the 13th century. Matteo Renzi, the young mayor and the man credited with revitalizing Florence, works here in a magnificently frescoed office. His predecessor was known as the invisible sindaco, or mayor. Renzi is the opposite: gregarious, outgoing, at 36 very much a modern politician. He has his own Facebook page, rides a bike to work and is the most popular mayor in .<br><br>"Florence is a city with a history [that is] very incredible," he told me. "But it is very important to maintain it as a city, not a museum, and this is the challenge for us, to create a link between our cultural heritage and our future."<br><br>Music to my ears, but what did it mean in practice?<br><br>Renzi's first initiatives included cleaning up the main station plaza; extending opening hours at the Palazzo Vecchio and the city's handsome new central library until midnight; and, in the museums he controls, installing baby-changing rooms and ATMs. Small steps but symbolic.<br><br>On a bigger scale, he's tackling the traffic nightmare, exiling tourist buses and ramping up public transportation (weaning Italians off their cars is probably harder than doing it with Angelenos) and trying to use art and the city's cultural reserves to attract longer-stay visitors rather than polluting mass tourists "who come in the morning, trek round the Uffizi, buy a panino [sandwich] and an apron with David's genitalia and get back on their coaches in the afternoon," as James Bradburne, director of the Palazzo Strozzi and a close ally of Renzi's, puts it.<br><br>When Mayor Renzi left to meet a class of kindergarteners, I went to one of the new attractions he'd told me about. This one was underneath the Palazzo Vecchio, where excavations have uncovered parts of the Roman town, including an amphitheater. The tours are only in Italian. Although I couldn't understand all that was said, I've rarely felt such a thrilling sense of history as exploring a Roman street while walking beneath the foundations of a Renaissance palace.<br><br>I emerged above ground at lunchtime, and in keeping with my plan to visit only what was new in Florence I tried the city's hottest restaurant which is &hellip; a hamburger joint. Ah, but Lungarno 23 isn't any old . The burgers are made from local Chianina beef, and the toppings include black olive salsa and truffles. As for my fellow diners, they weren't the jeans and T-shirt crowd but well-dressed Fiorentini, each showing off his or her bella figura, or sense of style.<br><br>After lunch, it was a short stroll back across the Arno to my prebooked visit to the Vasari Corridor, between the Palazzo Vecchio, where Cosimo de' Medici had his office, and the Palazzo Pitti, which his wife, Eleanor, called home. I had been trying for almost 20 years to see this nearly half-mile-long elevated corridor built for the Medicis in five months flat by their favorite artist-architect Vasari. Theoretically open to the public, for one reason or another &mdash; restoration, bureaucracy, funding &mdash; it was always shut. But that was in the old Florence.<br><br>In the new Florence it's open, though you can visit only with a guided group, cheap if you speak Italian, more expensive if you need an -speaking tour. But it's worth every euro to walk along on top of the shops on the Ponte Vecchio and to admire the view from the middle of the Arno.<br><br>From the quietly solemn corridor, with its yellow walls hung with the world's largest collection of self-portraits ( donated his, saying he wanted to have at least one of his paintings in the Uffizi), it was a shock to be decanted down a short staircase and come out beside the Boboli Gardens. Huge, state-owned and poorly maintained, the gardens became a metaphor for Florence living on its past. I went instead to the nearby Bardini Gardens, recently and splendidly restored after 50 years of neglect. They were peaceful and uncrowded, and the view from the top of their hill is picture-perfect Florence.<br><br>There's also a separate Museo Bardini, named after Stefano Bardini. Bardini was one of the first big-time art dealers &mdash; among his clients was Isabella Gardner, of the Boston museum &mdash; and Museo Bardini is filled with his personal collection. During his lifetime, the connoisseur kept the place as a private museum and showcase for his business, arranging the objects according to his own aesthetic rather than in chronological order.<br><br>A recent restoration has put back the dark blue walls and Bardini's display, and the result is a great small museum, nearly empty of visitors. You won't find Michelangelos and Masaccios here, but what you will find was all exquisitely chosen. I wandered around feeling as though I was cleansing my artistic palette after the Renaissance riches elsewhere.<br><br>The Palazzo Strozzi, Florence's main public gallery, represents the other end of the museum spectrum from the Bardini. Situated in the heart of town just off Piazza della Repubblica, the Strozzi for years was a white &mdash; or rather dark gray &mdash; elephant. As I found out the next morning over an espresso with director Bradburne, Florence's 21st century renaissance actually began here. "When they appointed me, it was a very brave decision to have a non-Italian at the Strozzi," said Bradburne, who is Canadian.<br><br>Bradburne has opened the Strozzi's public spaces outside museum hours, put a cafe in the courtyard, installed video screens and free Wi-Fi, negotiated ticket discounts with other Florentine museums, and authorized the cafe to serve free coffee to anyone standing in line for longer than an hour. He throws "cocktail parties" for Florence's taxi drivers and hotel concierges to promote the museum's shows. These things are the norm in user-friendly American, British and French museums but amount to a revolution in Italy, where museums are still run by and for scholars and art historians with minimal attention to the paying public.<br><br>By now, I'd found my own routine in Florence. Midmornings were spent on the top floor of the new library (a former convent), where the snack bar has plenty of seating and the best view in town of Brunelleschi's famous dome. Afternoons included a museum or gallery visit, followed by a cocktail at the Four whose painstaking restoration of 15th century Palazzo della Gherardesca single-handedly created a new top tier of Florentine hotels.<br><br>Then there was dinner at one of the handful of restaurants where young chefs are developing lighter, modern variations on the traditional rich Tuscan cuisine, such as the Navari family at Zeb, Mario Stabile at Ora d'Aria or David Gardner's Trattorio Baldovino. It was Gardner who told me the cardinal rule of good eating in Florence: It's not California. Don't think you can sightsee all day and find a meal at 3 or 4 p.m. Florentines eat lunch between noon and 2 p.m. and dinner between 8 and 10 p.m. and that's it. Outside those hours expect stale panini and warmed-over pizza.<br><br>On my last day I decided to do something different &mdash; shop. With Florence's many makeovers in the civic realm, what about the private sector? Has business risen to the challenge? Alessandra told me the inside story.<br><br>Fashion-conscious Florentines increasingly shop out of town at one of two big outlet malls. I paid 12 euros, or about $18, to take the dedicated bus half an hour north to the Barberino Designer Outlet. This is Florence as Disneyland, a fake Renaissance town on a riverbank where I found discounts of 30% to 70% on designer names such as , and local luxury stores such as Cavalli and the Bridge. (I got a bag and matching boots for less than 300 euros, or about $428.)<br><br>I've saved the best for last. Renzi's first act in office was to close the piazza around the Duomo to all traffic. After 45 years of discussion, and with 2,147 buses and 10,000 cars and trucks once roaring through the piazza every day, the deed is finally done.<br><br>That evening I got back to town just as the bells in Giotto's campanile started to ring, startling the pigeons who clapped their wings. When the bells stopped, there were only the sounds of people talking and laughing. Renzi told me, "The message is you stay in the square and you think about our past and our future because we are the people who love our city." Thank you, Mr. Mayor. I love Florence again too.<br><br><p>Sure, the London Olympics, barely a month away, will ultimately be about the feats of strength, speed and endurance of the participating athletes. But long before the first brow is beaded with sweat, the first real competition will take place the moment the nations enter the Olympic Stadium.</p><p>As soon as the athletes begin parading July 27, their opening ceremony outfits will be seen by billions worldwide and judged by legions of armchair critics. Italian luxury labels such as (Team Italy) and Ermanno Scervino (Team Azerbaijan) will walk the world's runway alongside North American brands including (Team USA) and Hudson's Bay Co. (Team Canada) in an arena where a standout piece of apparel can drive sales &mdash; becoming, for a clothing company, the equivalent of taking home the gold.</p><p>For proof, one need look no further than the 2002 Winter Games in Salt Lake City, when Team USA's blue fleece berets sold so briskly to fans that maker Roots Canada had to ramp up production and airlift more into Salt Lake City. One million hats were sold.</p> <p>So to honor what is perhaps the world's most-watched fashion moment, we've highlighted some of the clothes and countries worth paying attention to when the big moment arrives.</p><p>Azerbaijan</p><p>When was the last time the Republic of Azerbaijan was on the fashion map? Well, the Southwest Asian country &mdash; which on a world map borders the Caspian Sea to its east and neighbors Russia, Georgia, Armenia and Iran everywhere else &mdash; appears ready to make a memorable splash at the Olympics, having tapped European luxury brand Ermanno Scervino for the big event.</p><p>The Florence, Italy-based label, which routinely shows its collections during , has created formal and casual apparel for Azerbaijan's athletes that melds the blue, red and green colors and the crescent moon and eight-point star symbols of the republic's flag with the atelier's upscale vibe.</p><p>The result is a formal uniform consisting of a strong-shouldered, notch-lapel navy blue jacket made of a heavy stretch cotton jersey, teamed with pleat-front stretch cotton dress shirts and white chino trousers for the men and a white pencil skirt for women.</p><p>The guys' outfits are finished off with silk twill neckties and matching pocket squares in a tropical-looking blue, red and green print. The same print is rendered on a silk twill neck scarf for the women's uniform, which is finished with thin red belts. An embroidered patch on the left breast of the jackets bears the eight-point star from the republic's flag.</p><p>Germany</p><p>It looks like Bogner is marching in from the cold.</p><p>After kitting out the German athletes for 17 consecutive Winter , the Munich-based clothing label will dress the team for the opening and closing ceremonies of the Summer Games this year.</p><p>The parade outfits consist of zippered jackets &mdash; bright pink weatherproof shells for the ladies and the same in baby blue for the men &mdash; along with white chinos and shirts and a lightweight pink or blue plaid scarf. The shoes are by German footwear brand Sioux.</p><p>With the bright colors and bold zipper accents (dark blue on the men's jackets, white on the women's), the only thing that keeps these clothes from looking like they just schussed off the slopes and into the wrong season are the summery white hipster fedoras that complete the look, each boasting a hatband in the black, red and yellow stripes of the German flag.</p><p>But there's a trick up Bogner's sleeve &mdash; the jackets are designed to be reversible, with the brightly colored nylon shells converting into navy blue blazers (complete with buttons) for evenings and more formal situations. "It is also important," the company explains in its press materials, "that athletes maintain a distinguished appearance, as they will be meeting a host of international diplomats and world class athletes and celebrities."</p><p>Italy</p><p>Giorgio Armani has something of a lock on the Italian national Olympic team which, according to the company, "will wear EA7 sportswear and formal wear every day and at all official events for the duration of the competition." (A notable exception is the Italian national sailing team, whose sponsorship deal with has that luxury brand supplying athletes' competition uniforms.)</p><p>Images will be made public Tuesday, an Armani representative says, but some hint at what Armani has in store for the brand's first Olympic opening ceremony wardrobe can be found in the company's description of the 50-piece kit that will be supplied to each athlete. Designed in a color palette of white and midnight blue, it includes a full wardrobe of mix-and-match pieces, a nylon jacket, Bermuda shorts, trousers, T-shirts, athletic shoes and two pieces of luggage.</p><p>To date, the standout piece is an official track suit (in midnight blue) with an asymmetrical zipper jacket that has the words to the Italian national anthem screen-printed in gold on an inside breast pocket, where they'll rest symbolically over the heart. A track suit that stylish sets the bar, so expect the Italian athletes' opening-day outfits to be nothing less than the understated elegance Giorgio Armani has made his signature.</p><p>Jamaica</p>-- continued its China blitz Tuesday, announcing that it would join the country's increasingly competitive luxury-car segment by introducing Lincoln automobiles to the Chinese market by 2014.<br><br>The announcement comes a day after Ford broke ground on its sixth factory in China, a $600-million plant in the southwestern city of Chongqing, and revealed that it had won initial regulatory approval to free itself from a local joint venture to manufacture cars with Mazda.<br><br> The developments allow the Dearborn, Mich., automaker to ramp up its ambitious expansion plans in China in an all-out effort to catch up with its far more popular foreign rivals, Volkswagen and <br><br>"Lincoln is an important part of our plan, and introducing Lincoln in China marks the next step in our expansion in Asia and our commitment to serving customers in the luxury market," said Ford CEO Alan Mulally, who is touring China.<br><br>Ford is a latecomer to China but has committed about $5 billion since 2006 to build factories, grow its vehicle lineup and expand its dealership network in the world's second-largest economy.<br><br>Ford now sells an array of compact vehicles, sedans, SUVs and vans in China. Sales hit just over half a million units last year. Passenger vehicle sales have grown 7% this year, according to LMC Automotive, about 2% below the industry-wide rate of expansion.<br><br>With the introduction of Lincoln, the company hopes to tap a consumer segment that has been wildly successful for Audi, BMW and Mercedes-Benz. The three German automakers combine for almost 80% of the luxury-car market.<br><br>Unlike those brands, which manufacture in China, Ford will import the still-to-be-released Lincolns when they're officially launched here in the second half of 2014. A new Lincoln MKZ sedan is to be launched in the U.S. this year, part of a revitalization plan to introduce several new vehicles to the brand's lineup.<br><br>Ford said it's considering the needs of Chinese consumers in designing the new Lincoln vehicles. The company consulted luxury fashion labels Prada and Burberry because of their experience with rich. Spacious rear seats were deemed a must as luxury-car owners in China tend to be chauffeured. The company is also betting Lincoln's nearly 100-year-old history (one that includes many presidential limousines) will resonate in a country that prizes heritage brands.<br><br>"We have a chance to be different here," said Jim Farley, Ford's head of global marketing, "different from the Germans, the Asian brands, the other American brands, Cadillac. It&rsquo;s a perfect time for Lincoln to come here because our DNA is different from all the other choices customers have."<br><br>Ford estimates that luxury-car sales in China will more than double to 2.7 million units by 2020, surpassing the U.S. as the world's top market. As a whole, China posted auto sales of 18.5 million last year, compared with 12.8 million in the U.S.<br><br>The strength of Chinese luxury auto sales today belies an industry-wide slowdown triggered by over-capacity, China's weakening economic growth and stricter car-ownership restrictions in some of the country's most congested cities, such as Beijing.<br><br>"The issue of over-capacity has really not affected the high end of the pyramid," said Bill Russo, president of the Synergistics auto consultancy in Beijing and Chrysler's former chief in China.<br><br>Still, Russo warned that Lincoln would have to find a way to stand out and justify its potentially hefty price tag with engineering performance and interior features. <br><br>"The degree of difficulty will be high," Russo said. "You have a very established set of competitors in a market with Chinese consumers who already equate luxury with a certain portfolio. Getting them to recognize Lincoln is going to be the main challenge."<br><br>Michael Dunne, the Indonesia-based head of auto consulting firm Dunne &amp; Co., said Lincoln may benefit from being a new market entrant, especially at a time when Chinese car buyers may be looking for their second set of wheels.<br><br>"The Chinese like differentiation, something fresh and new," Dunne said. "Land Rover has done well in the SUV segment by essentially just being different. Mainly it's image. Someone might say, 'You have an Audi? Half my friends already have an Audi. I have a Lincoln now.'"<br><br>ALSO:<br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br>He's been called the godfather of Rodeo Drive. And it's not all hyperbole. Before Beverly Hills was the land of designer logos, before it was teeming with tourists and rolling with Rolls-Royces, the city was home to Fred Hayman, the proprietor of the Giorgio Beverly Hills boutique. Hayman was an architect of luxury in Los Angeles, bringing high fashion, a social shopping atmosphere and white glove service to what was still a sleepy main street when he went into retail in 1967 at the age of 38.&#182;During the 31 years he ruled the retail roost from his perch under Giorgio's signature yellow and gold awnings, he cultured relationships with designers and celebrities and set a new standard for fashion parties, helping to promote Los Angeles as an international style center. Among his most noteworthy creations was the Giorgio Beverly Hills perfume, a bottling of "Dynasty" and "Scruples"-era excess and one of the most successful fragrances in history, with more than $100 million in sales in its first four years.<br><br>And now, at age 86, he is getting his due, as the 15th recipient of the Rodeo Drive Walk of Style Award (an award he created), and the subject of the new book "Fred Hayman The Extraordinary Difference: The Story of Rodeo Drive, Hollywood Glamour and the Showman Who Sold It All" by fashion journalist Rose Apodaca, former Women's Wear Daily West Coast bureau chief.<br><br> FOR THE RECORD:<br> Fred Hayman: In the June 12 Image section, an article about Giorgio Beverly Hills proprietor Fred Hayman incorrectly said he was 38 when he went into retail in 1967. He was 42. &#8212;<br> <br><br>The lavish coffee table book chronicles Hayman's life, including his childhood in Zurich and Paris, and his early career in the hospitality industry. He rose through the ranks at the in New York City, "a boot camp of a genteel kind," Apodaca writes, and eventually moved west to become director of banquets at the Beverly Hilton, where he would help make a home for the .<br><br>With hundreds of historical photos and dozens of interviews, Apodaca takes readers from the 1960s, when the fashion retail scene on Rodeo Drive was just beginning to take shape, through the boutique boom of the 1970s and '80s, and into the 1990s, when Hayman was on the cutting edge in a different way, selling a line of branded fashion and accessories on what would become the .<br><br>Throughout, Apodaca puts Hayman in the context of L.A.'s movers and shakers, including shop owners Jerry Magnin, Jack Hansen, Charles Gallay and Herb Fink, hair cutters Gene Shacove and Vidal Sassoon, model Peggy Moffitt, and writers Caroline Graham and Judith Krantz.<br><br>"Rodeo Drive would just be another district if not for Fred's marketing vision," Beverly Hills Mayor Barry Brucker said last month, during the Walk of Style Award ceremony, referring to Hayman's creation of the Rodeo Drive Committee in 1977 that helped beautify the street and elevate its retail tenants.<br><br>Apodaca, who now, with her husband, runs her own store &#8212; A &amp; R on Abbot Kinney Boulevard in Venice &#8212; has been working on the book off and on for the last six years, meeting with Hayman at "his canteen" &#8212; Spago &#8212; or at his Malibu beach house, where he has a memorabilia room stuffed with Giorgio Beverly Hills logo wear, including sweatshirts, scarves, teddy bears and sunglasses. She also accompanied him to the opera, where she met his friends, including such old school Los Angeles personalities as and the late .<br><br>When Hayman arrived in the early 1950s, Southern California was still the wild frontier in terms of society, Apodaca says. "There was a new moneyed class learning how to entertain, how to dress and how to live. And that allowed for individuals with a sense of European flair, like Fred Hayman, [restaurateur] Michael Romanoff and [designer] Don Loper, to reinvent themselves here and teach the new society."<br><br>But it was not all smooth sailing for Hayman. In a matter of years, he was fired from the Beverly Hilton, left his job as general manager of the Ambassador Hotel, and oversaw three failed restaurants. By 1967, all Hayman had left was Giorgio, an existing store at Rodeo Drive and Dayton Way, an investment he had taken over from two other partners in 1962. "He didn't invent Giorgio &#8212; or the perfume, that credit goes to his third wife, Gale," Apodaca says. "Fred's strength has always been in recognizing an opportunity."<br><br>After leaving the restaurant business, he turned his attention to retail. Neither Fred nor Gale Hayman knew much about selling clothes, but they learned fast; and Fred used his background in the hospitality industry to woo the chic set, sending personal notes to potential customers, and entertaining them when they came in.<br><br>Indeed, Giorgio became a hangout, with a mahogany bar, cocktails served in crystal goblets, a newspaper rack, pool table and personal valet to deliver customer purchases by Rolls-Royce. , , , and became Giorgio regulars in the 1970s. would bring her pet chimpanzee Candy in to visit.<br><br>But people also came to shop, thanks to Gale's eye for fashion. She brought 's flowing chiffon gowns to the West Coast for the first time, along with pieces by , , Giorgio di Sant' Angelo, Thea Porter, Zandra Rhodes, , Kenneth Jay Lane and .<br><br>Hayman produced and sold his own branded merchandise in Giorgio yellow, with the Giorgio crest, so customers who couldn't afford a $5,000 dress could buy something. "Even though some of the items are kind of tacky, the funny thing is now, luxury brands do their own versions of them," Apodaca says, referring to entry level logo products from brands such as and .<br><br>The Haymans' legacy was in creating "retail-tainment," she says. "The idea of<br><br>creating an environment that's about more than shopping."<br><br>Hayman also played an important role in forging a relationship between fashion and Hollywood. You could even say he was the original celebrity stylist. In 1989, he was named the first fashion coordinator for the , a position he held for a decade. He hosted annual pre-Oscars fashion shows for the media and persuaded skeptical designers to participate. And he was always on call to help dress nominees. His efforts helped make celebrity dressing an industry of its own.<br><br>In addition, he revolutionized the beauty industry with the 1981 launch of the Giorgio Beverly Hills fragrance. "We forget now because everyone and their dog has a perfume," Apodaca says. "But in the not too distant past, Paris and New York ruled the industry. It was radical that they thought they could come out with a perfume."<br><br>The launch party was one of Rodeo Drive's most over-the-top events, held under a yellow-and-white-striped tent in the parking lot that was where Via Rodeo is today. More than 70 pounds of caviar were served, and the trunk of a Rolls-Royce was filled with bottles of perfume given to departing guests.<br><br>Hayman made millions with the fragrance, which he sold to Avon in 1987 for $165 million, and the continued success of Giorgio and other independently owned fashion boutiques through the 1980s and early 1990s made Rodeo Drive an enticing destination for designer nameplate-driven brands such as and .<br><br>As more designer retail palaces opened, Rodeo Drive began to lose some of its local charm &#8212; and rents started climbing. Family-owned businesses moved out. "The designer names became more important than the store names," says Jerry Magnin, who owned the Jerry Magnin store and the franchise for the store on Rodeo Drive in the 1970s and '80s.<br><br>In 1997, Hayman received an offer he couldn't refuse from Louis Vuitton to lease the 10,000-square-foot landmark. Giorgio closed its doors the next year.<br><br>In the book, Hayman says he would have stayed on longer if the offer had not come along, but Apodaca isn't so sure. "When he was in business, there was no paparazzi. And having a back door for celebrities to come in like they do today, he shudders at that idea," she says. "Times were changing in terms of service, and independent boutiques were suffering, and not just on Rodeo Drive. Retail is a fast-moving game."<br><br>Hayman divorced in 1983, and was married for the fourth time in 1995, to Betty Endo, a former celebrity assistant. Since his retirement, he still visits his office on Canon Drive a few times a week, and holds court during lunchtime at Spago &#8212; like a godfather should.<br><br>Washing that gray right out of your hair (to borrow from the famous song) is no longer a mandatory part of getting older. So asserts a growing cadre of American women who are embracing their naturally silver hair tones.<br><br>Letting tresses go gray (or white or salt-and-pepper) may not be the Hollywood way, but it's become a hot topic for real women all over the country. Seeds of a colossal shift in thinking &#8212; away from the arcane preconception that going gray means "letting yourself go" &#8212; have already taken root.<br><br> Going gray is the most commented-on theme on More magazine's website, which caters to women over 40. The "Today" show recently featured a seven-minute clip about whether it's "OK to go gray," and how to do so gracefully. And recently published books about ditching dye-jobs for good, including Diana Lewis Jewell's "Going Gray, Looking Great!" and Anne Kreamer's "Going Gray: What I Learned About Beauty, Sex, Work, Motherhood, Authenticity, and Everything Else That Really Matters," continue to sell briskly, and (in the case of Jewell's book) have inspired the formation of online mini-communities based on a shared belief that going gray is more than OK.<br><br>Jewell's tome, a how-to guide to transitioning to silvery shades, inspired a of the same name that launched in 2008 and now boasts more than 2,000 registered members. The site &#8212; which covers topics including various ways to grow out the gray (the brave embrace a pixie haircut, while others suffer through a period of calico color) and how to find complementary makeup for the new hair hue &#8212; also includes a slew of first-person stories and photos from its members.<br><br>Jewell was a bottle-blond with highlights when she started the project but boasted 6 inches of gray roots by the time she finished it. "That first focus group I held inspired me to go gray," she said. "I interviewed all these women, and I thought there was really something really special going on with this community."<br><br>The site's spirit of camaraderie (regular users jauntily refer to themselves as "Silver Sisters") has even inspired some members to organize "mini-meets," social get-togethers held in different cities.<br><br>"They feel they know each other through the site," said Jewell, "and they organize these events by themselves." The last two mini-meets were in Cape Town, South Africa &#8212; evidence that the movement has, on a small or large scale, gone global.<br><br>Website member Suzanne Fleishman, a 42-year-old stay-at-home-mother who lives in Long Beach and boasts a pretty pewter-toned bob, started going gray in her mid-20s and was soon regularly dying her hair its pre-gray shade of chocolate brown. Years later, she was still a slave to the salon&#8212; suffering fast-fading color treatments and botched dye jobs.<br><br>"I would leave the hairdresser and parts of my hair were shiny and glossy, but looking at it up close, I could see that other parts weren't even getting covered," she said. "And after a couple of weeks, it would fade to this orange-y dull color."<br><br>When she turned 40, "I thought, I feel good about who I am. Why am I doing this to myself? I'm the mother of three children and I have a nice life."<br><br>Feedback from friends and family has been overwhelmingly positive, said Fleishman. "People have said, 'I think it's really gutsy.'" She's also noticed more women letting themselves go gray at a younger age recently &#8212; but admits that she might be more attuned to it since doing so herself. "I'll be at Trader Joe's shopping, and I'll see several women with gray," she said. "Sometimes I think there's a little wink and a nod between us, like a 'You go, girl' sort of thing."<br><br>Considering how deeply ingrained the message of "gray equals grandma" is in American culture, not covering gray could be considered downright rebellious &#8212; a turning away from the 1950s Clairol generation, when women started home coloring en masse. "From that point on, women were brainwashed into thinking that to look young they have to color their hair," said Jewell. "Clairol did a fabulous job of it. We grew up seeing our mothers and grandmothers religiously dying their hair. We got that message."<br><br>Of course, the no-dye trend has yet to infiltrate the Hollywood sphere, which almost single-handedly sets the national tone on beauty issues. went white for her role in "The Devil Wears Prada," but she's always baby blond on the red carpet. And although we've glimpsed gray root on celebrities including and , it's unlikely they will be forgoing their coloring appointments any time soon.<br><br>A clutch of slightly older celebrities &#8212; including , and &#8212; carries the torch for chic silver styles.<br><br>But, oddly enough, gray has become a hot color among the young-and-trendy set recently. , Pixie Geldof, and 13-year-old fashion blogger Tavi Gevinson are among the fresh-faced notables who have dabbled in shades of silver as of late. It's an oddball trend &#8212; and one that's likely to burn out quickly &#8212; but could potentially lend support to a larger whiteout in popular culture.<br><br>Lynn Hyndman, co-owner of the Purple Circle salon in Los Feliz, which specializes in envelope-pushing cuts and color, said she's had younger clients request "gunmetal gray and sometimes lavender" locks recently.<br><br>And Jennifer Metzger, regional director of Fantastic Sams in California, said that while the salon chain hasn't been seeing an uptick in women embracing their silver roots, it has seen a surge in the popularity of gray highlights among the company's younger, more fashion-forward clientele. "They put in a blond color that's so blond that it's actually gray &#8212; it's very contrast-y," she said. "I was pretty shocked when I first saw it, but then the kids do a lot of different things."<br><br>As for more mature Angelenos going gray, Los Angeles-based hairdresser Neil George (whose eponymous salon has tended to the manes of , and ), said he hasn't seen an uptick in women embracing their true roots. "I have a few older women clients with gray hair, and they always get a lot of compliments &#8212; especially if they have a slightly olive-y skin tone," he said. "Women always come up to them, saying, 'I wish I could do that.'"<br><br>Hollywood's annual awards season kicks into high gear with the unfurling of the red carpet on Sunday. From afar, it will probably all seem the same as usual &#8212; cheering fans in the bleachers, photographers and TV crews by the yard, glamorous women ready and willing to strut and pose.<br><br>Look a little closer, though, and that carpet's seeming a little frayed and down-at-the-heels. Call it red carpet fatigue syndrome, a syndrome that incubated during the last year's worth of "step-and-repeat" appearances at award shows, premieres and press junkets.<br><br> If the rigmarole seems a little tired, there's good reason.<br><br>"It's a never-ending red carpet," Hollywood fashion publicist Marilyn Heston of MHA Media said. "If you wake up on any Tuesday, there's an awards show or a premiere somewhere." In the first two weeks of January alone we've had the People's Choice Awards, the Palm Springs International Film Festival and now, starting off the third week of the year, the Golden Globes.<br><br>"You have to look at this from many angles, and a lot of what goes on in this town doesn't translate internationally," she said, noting that only , the Globes, the Grammys and command worldwide attention. Nevertheless, here at home, the weekly tabloids, entertainment cable channels and daily bloggers are always gunning to parse a star's getup, on any red carpet at any given time.<br><br>So just after New Year's, Hollywood publicists and stylists hit the ground running to keep up with the ever-expanding award season calendar, as Anne Crawford, brand ambassador to uber-chic Roger Vivier shoes, said in early January.<br><br>"There's the Palm Springs Film Awards, The Art of Elysium gala, the Bulgari Red Carpet party, several premieres&#8230; then the Golden Globes," she said. Then the calendar gets really jammed, with the Producers Guild awards (Jan. 22); the Directors Guild awards (Jan. 29); the awards (Jan. 30); the BAFTAs, given by the British critics group (Feb. 13); and the (Feb. 26), all leading up to the Academy Awards the next night.<br><br> "Everyone needs at least 10 outfits," Crawford said.<br><br>Veteran Hollywood stylists like Elizabeth Stewart, known for her work with and , has ordered just a small handful of custom gowns for her newest client, first-time Globe nominee . She doesn't worry too much about the scrutiny.<br><br>"There's always this dance between wearing something I love and picking something we know will be liked by Us and People," she said. In the end, all you can do is be true to your client. "Forget trying to please anyone else."<br><br>But, not so fast, say the critics.<br><br>"Our thing is that if you're gonna dress up, put the effort in. On the red carpet you need to entertain us &#8212; that's what you're there for," said blogger , who, with his partner Lorenzo Marquez, runs the popular former "Project Rungay" website (now called that morphed into a lively red-carpet forum often featuring side-by-side photographs of outfits on red carpet stars and as originally on the runway.<br><br>Apparently that's a lesson that Young Hollywood still needs to learn, after the fashion implosion at this year's People's Choice Awards. Starlets such as Minka Kelly, and showed up in drab browns and baggy looks, and the critics howled. ( New York magazine's the Cut blog: "one of the saddest red carpets in some time&#8230;some of this nation's most gorgeous women swaddled themselves in what could have been their grandmothers' pillowcases." Jezebel: "The Worst Red Carpet We've Ever Seen." Los Angeles Times fashion critic Booth Moore: "Let's just say, things can only get better.")<br><br>"I don't know what that was," said George Kotsiopoulos, co-host of 's Fashion Police (revived last fall with red carpet lightning-rod back in the saddle). "Probably they thought, If I get dressed up for this, I'm gonna look like a fool."<br><br>Certainly they'll do it up right for the Globes, he said, but celebs shouldn't have written off the People's Choice, even if it's generally regarded as a lightweight event where you get an award just for showing up.<br><br>"The viewers at home don't know it's not a 'real' awards show," he said, later adding: "You have to know this is business; it's not just about trying to dress pretty. The smart girls get that."<br><br>Whether lacking smarts or just individual style, the red carpet has become "sort of like high school, where one girl wears something and then everyone else does," said blogger Marquez of the last year's mind-numbing default by young actresses to the black mini-dress and platform clomper.<br><br>Of course there are still style luminaries, like a "breathtaking" Cate Blanchett at Cannes, he added, in her architectural black and white gown emblazoned with a flying silver eagle that certainly was the last word in edgy drama.<br><br>But with the sheer multitude of images &#8212; all that fashion-obsessed white noise emanating from multiple awards shows and premieres &#8212; could they say whether anyone would remember it next year? "I just don't think we can have those kinds of iconic moments anymore," Fitzgerald said.<br><br>And really, for sheer entertainment, what's an edgy McQueen, anyway, when pitted against the spectacle of a meat dress?<br><br>For 2010 was also the year the red carpet literally went Gaga, as the Lady herself threw it down at the Grammys last January &#8212; in a look that was part gown and part solar system science project &#8212; and she never let up, book-ending things at the VMAs at the end of the year in her infamous sirloin slip.<br><br>Publicity-craving also embraced red carpet stunt-dressing, upending Vogue magazine's painstakingly choreographed procession of starlets in tasteful designer gowns at the Met Ball by wearing an LED-wired dress that lit up on the carpet. And it landed her the cover of Women's Wear Daily.<br><br>Even without those extremes, awards season got off to a bad start last year when the Golden Globes' red carpet was almost rained out. Now it's just a soggy memory of ruined fishtail hemlines and nominees such as channeling Mary Poppins while being photographed under big umbrellas.<br><br>The weather behaved for the rest of "the season" but the gloss seemed off. picked up her expected Academy Award for best actress in an equally expected gilded column gown. (Fashion insiders had been handicapping that dress as "the one" as soon as it was shown on the runway weeks before.)<br><br>And amid the Oscar red carpet's sea of net (as in tulle) neutrality &#8212; a boring tone of "blushnudeplatinumivory" &#8212; there was gown gridlock as many actresses opted for a ball-skirted "princess" moment. During the show, two of the evening's best-dressed stars, in a riveting black bi-level ball gown and in an orchid-toned couture puff-ball style, were forced to hike up their skirts unattractively and hold their breath as they made an ill-conceived entrance on a moving stairway while the audience cringed.<br><br>Certainly, the fashion world has a love-hate relationship with the Hollywood red carpet &#8212; designers crave the mass exposure when a star triumphs but recoil when she looks bad, in recent years heaping their scorn on "the stylists" for ruining their precious vision.<br><br>"Trophy stylists are pretty savvy, so when you get a clunker it's usually that the star wore what they wanted &#8230; or what the boyfriend wanted," said Anne Crawford "They have the last word. And then we all have something to talk about the next day."<br><br><br><br>Vincent Boucher is a stylist and writer in Los Angeles.It was a red carpet with more fashion fizzles than sizzles. Shades of pale were a popular trend, as were fishtail hems. And there was a certain boring sameness to many of the looks, including B&eacute;r&eacute;nice Bejo's blue strapless gown, Freida Pinto's blue strapless gown and ' black strapless Dior gown.<br> <br> But for those who dared to make more unconventional choices, it paid off.<br> <br> <br> <br> embodied the stuff of which Hollywood fairy tales are made. Her blush-colored chiffon Dior couture gown, with an oversized bow at the waist and thigh-high slit, was so striking it made one wonder if the French fashion house needs to bother finding a new creative director to replace the fired after all, or just keep going with its in-house design team, which did a stellar job in this case. Theron made another inspired choice in her 1920s Cartier hair band, which, along with ' Fred Leighton hair band, is sure to spark a major new trend.<br> <br> and picked up on the black-and-white trend that is in fashion at this moment. Danes' graphic gown was a more modern iteration, while Winslet's Jenny Packham gown with a black hammered silk top, white column skirt and jeweled grosgrain belt, was old Hollywood at its best.<br> <br> 's blue-and-white ink splotch Monique Lhuillier ball gown, which she said her 2-year-old had a hand in picking out, was another unconventional choice that paid off. Rooney Mara's racy black Peter Copping for gown, with lattice-like straps at the bodice, didn't disappoint either. If Lisbeth Salander had to go to the Golden Globes, this is what she would wear.<br> <br> Like black, red is also a perennial red carpet fashion choice. 's fishtail hem gown was a snore, and Dianna Agron's gown covered in swan cutouts &mdash; as cool as it was &mdash; overwhelmed her. But Emma Stone showed red done right, with her maroon and fuchsia pleated gown with jeweled eagle belt buckle. She looked like a fashion superhero. Lanvin had a big night on the red carpet, dressing too.<br> <br> Of course, placement of clothing and jewelry on the red carpet is big business for brands. When wore that glorious lilac chiffon Prada gown to in 1995, it put the Italian design house on the international fashion map and ushered in the modern era of celebrity dressing. It was nice to see Prada back on the red carpet at the Globes, dressing in a green silk gown with an open back and pearl embroidered top. It was a quirky dress, but she's a quirky girl.<br> <br> And speaking of product placement, it was the first time I had ever heard someone plug hair care on the red carpet. name-dropped Suave Professionals products, along with designer Julien MacDonald, who made her silvery gown, and her own line, House of Harlow, which made her bag. Suave immediately started trending on Twitter. And the untidy ponytail &mdash; it was the hairstyle of the night &mdash; looked great on her.<br> <br>After weeks of safe style at the and , red carpet fashion finally found its edge at the Grammys.<br><br>Everyone knows is on her own fashion planet, which made the futuristic Priv&#233; she wore for arrivals all the more fitting. More engineered than sewn, it was distinguished by a hoop skirt being orbited by glittery silver rings. Crystal-covered stockings and extreme platform shoes completed the Judy Jetson look.<br><br> Beyonc&#233; played up her killer curves on the red carpet in the perfect diva dress, a peachy nude satin short-sleeve gown with curve-tracing piping, designed by Stephane Rolland, a Paris-based couturier who launched his line only in 2007. When he showed his most recent couture collection just days ago, the Associated Press described his gowns as sprouting what looked like "dinosaur vertebrae," though Beyonc&#233;'s look was certainly more subdued.<br><br> nude-colored Zac Posen gown with gold-metal flower-shaped embroidery managed to be both sexy and playful. She said she chose it because it reminded her of India, where she recently vacationed with fianc&#233; . The theme carried over to her elephant-shaped, crystal-covered Judith Leiber minaudi&#232;re.<br><br>, who typically is a sedate dresser, looked as if she was trying to push the envelope in an asymmetrical white silk Edition by George Chakra gown with silver leather straps across the bust and shoulders, but it fell flat. Jennifer Nettles' cerise crepe gown with black accents and cutouts at the waist was a better example of the body-conscious trend.<br><br>Ciara's long-sleeved black Givenchy dress had everything but the kitchen sink on it -- lace, clear crystals, silk cord and vertebrae-like details. It was a "Mad Max" moment for sure. And not in a good way. ' dark green Herve Leger mini-dress and messy hair didn't do her any favors, either.<br><br>For the men, the suit was far from being all business.<br><br> wore a striking gray silk shantung Prada suit with a black leather tie and gray mesh sweater underneath; , a beige Emporio Armani three-piece suit with an oversized check shirt and a polka dot tie. Meanwhile, the group MGMT took thrift-store chic to a new level, wearing more clashing prints than a closet full of clown clothes. LMFAO have their own style, too -- you might call it skater pimp.<br><br>The cool guy accessory wasn't a pair of shades, it was a shady hat -- perhaps as an ode to ? and Ne-Yo chose black fedoras, while 's hat was red carpet red.<br><br>Then there was the male equivalent of Lady Gaga when it comes to fashion. He looked slick in a black sequin jacket, black nail polish, glam rock boots and a ribbon tie.<br><br>Only Lambert, with his daring neckwear, could channel Colonel Sanders and get away with it.<br><br><p> helps defend the planet in films such as and but off-screen she's just a normal gal &mdash; who has been named the most stylish lady on our little blue rock.</p><p>Paltrow has been handed the title of best dressed woman in the world by People, part of an annual that also features , Jennifer Lawrence and Emma Stone.</p><p>"She has a uniform: It's simple, not overdone," Gwyneth's stylist Elizabeth Saltzman told the magazine, USA Today."She goes, 'I'm happy &mdash; and that matters more.' That's what sets her apart from the rest."</p> <p></p><p>Paltrow's red carpet style has long been celebrated, from the pink gown she donned in 1999 accepting her Oscar for "Shakespeare in Love" (it has its own ) to the Tom Ford she wore to the 2012 Academy Awards.</p><p>As she approaches 40, Paltrow isn't afraid to experiment with daring looks, like the mini-dress she wore to the 2012 Met Gala, underscoring her discipline in diet and exercise.</p><p>Paltrow also dabbles in design: Her lifestyle blog Goop has been rolling out fashion since early summer, featuring items including Rag &amp; Bone blazers and leather jeans made specifically with her brand in mind. </p><p>Paltrow most recently as executive producer for the Stand Up to Cancer telethon. "Iron Man 3" and the sex-addiction comedy open in 2013.</p><p></p><p>ALSO:</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>Follow Matt Donnelly onand. Follow the Ministry of Gossip on Twitterand on Facebook.</p>host and executive producer and her husband, singer-songwriter Seal, have sold their Beverly Hills Post Office-area estate in an all-cash deal for $7 million. Listed at $6.9 million, the property received multiple offers and closed after a 23-day escrow.<br><br>The house, more than 9,000 square feet, sits behind gates on more than 4 acres with a tennis court and swimming pool. Features include a glass-enclosed wine vault in the dining room and a wood-paneled library. There are six bedrooms and 91/2 bathrooms.<br><br> Klum, 39, also has been a star and executive producer of the TV series (2011) and "Models of the Runway" (2009-10). The ninth season of "Project Runway" begins later this month.<br><br>Seal, 48, won three of his four Grammys for his hit "Kiss From a Rose," from the soundtrack to "Batman Forever" (1995). He shared his fourth this year in the pop collaboration with vocals category for "Imagine."<br><br>Public records show the property was bought in 2005 for $7.6 million.<br><br>Lynn Teschner of Coldwell Banker, Beverly Hills South, was the listing agent. Debby Berg and Mike Syre of the John Aaroe Group represented the buyer.<br><br>TV star closes his WeHo 'office'<br><br>"The Office" star husband of actress , has sold a West Hollywood home for $880,000. It came on the market at $945,000 in March.<br><br>The 1926 English country-style house is gated and sits behind tall hedges. The residence features French doors and high ceilings, according to details at Realtor.com. Including a detached guest studio, the property has three bedrooms and three bathrooms in nearly 1,300 square feet.<br><br>The 31-year-old actor has appeared on the TV mockumentary since it began in 2005. He was in "It's Complicated" (2009), "Away We Go" (2009) and (2008).<br><br>Blunt, 28, costars in "The Adjustment Bureau" (2011). She starred in "The Young Victoria" (2009) after gaining the attention of American audiences in "The Devil Wears " (2006).<br><br>Public records show Krasinski purchased the property in 2006 for $1.05 million. He and Blunt were married in 2010. They own another house in the Los Angeles area.<br><br>Richard Ehrlich of Westside Estate Agency, Beverly Hills, was the listing agent. Kathleen A. Pytka of South Park Group represented the buyer.<br><br>Looking for a new place to park?<br><br> co-creator Michael Schur and his wife, Jennifer Philbin, have put their Hancock Park house on the market at $1,749,000.<br><br>The Spanish-style house, built in 2007, has an old world ambience that belies its features, which include prewiring for media, built-in speakers, automated lighting and a remote-controlled pool system. The 3,604-square-foot house has five bedrooms and five bathrooms in two stories. The gated lot has a backyard pool with spa.<br><br>Schur, 35, is a producer, director and comedy writer. He worked on "The Office" (2005-07) before creating "Parks and Recreation" (2009-present) with Greg Daniels. Philbin, 36, is a TV producer and writer whose credits include (2004-07).<br><br>Public records show they bought the house in 2007 for $2,215,000.<br><br>Jeff Yarbrough of Keller Williams Realty, Beverly Hills, is the listing agent.<br><br>HOLIDAY GIFT GUIDE 2010<br><br>RUGGEDY ANDY<br><br> This guy loves the outdoors and looking good while he's out there. Or he's just a guy who appreciates the tradition of a heritage label and the subtlety of earth tones. Err on the practical side and give him something that keeps him warm, tells time or adds to his tool kit.<br><br>Penfield for Rag &amp; Bone men's Mallory jacket in deep khaki, $695 at Saks Fifth Avenue<br><br>Pendleton (for) Levi's blanket, $198 at Levi's retail stores nationwide and <br><br>Gap Men's fingerless gloves, $14.50 at <br><br>Nixon (for) Barneys Limited Edition Watch Collection "The Chronicle" with interchangeable band in black stainless steel or brown Horween leather, $495 at , Beverly Hills<br><br>American Living Western Vest, $85 at JCPenney<br><br>Tool set by Jonas Damon, $95 at <br><br>BEAUTY QUEEN<br><br>Sephora's got nothing on this girl. She has an encyclopedic mind for cosmetic brands, collects limited-edition beauty products and loves a new lipstick like others love shoes. Shiny, pretty packaging doesn't hurt either &#8212; she'll swiftly swing these new items into daily rotation or tuck them away in her purse to stare at later. Here are some sure-to-be-appreciated items.<br><br>Nars Bento Box, $125 at <br><br>Clarins limited-edition beauty balm with Swarovski crystal packaging, $48 at Nordstrom<br><br>Dolce &amp; Gabbana, the Lip Jewels compact, $60 at <br><br>Sephora Favorites "Give me some lip" box set of 10 lip glosses, $48 at <br><br>GHD Dazzle Collection Set $240, at <br><br>THE MELLOW FELLOW<br><br>The yoga studio is this person's home away from home and he or she won't eat a vegetable if it doesn't come from the local farmers market. Gift the friend who sticks to a natural and organic lifestyle with some stylish but useful items.<br><br>Yogamatic customizable yoga mat, $85 at <br><br><p>starring and , is an unusually intelligent cut at the relationship game. And considering the age of its stars, it's a rarity for the movies, which tend to favor youth in all things.</p><p>This well-considered look at a long marriage that has lost its spark proves that old love is as fraught as any teenage crush and sex never fades as a source of contention. Darker and coming nearly a decade after and 's middle-age flirtation in "Something's Gotta Give," Kay (Streep) and Arnold (Jones) are the conflicted couple. Their issue isn't how to date at this stage in their life, but how to reclaim what has been lost after more than three decades together.</p><p>Their therapist, Dr. Bernard Feld (), is about to become the bridge over those troubled waters. The question is whether they can, or will, make it to the other side. For a change, it's nice not knowing for sure how things will turn out.</p> <p>Regardless of age, these sorts of love stories so often stray into sappiness. Refreshingly, resists the temptation, directing his stars with a measured empathy that doesn't allow the sap to seep in. Screenwriter Vanessa Taylor's shrewd cultural take on an all too common, but little discussed, dilemma only adds to the film's distinctiveness. On occasion the movie stumbles, and the couple momentarily lose their footing, but those are minor quibbles.</p><p>Indeed, these Oscar winners turn out to make a pretty terrific couple; certainly they are well-matched sparring partners. Arnold, an implacable and impatient number-crunching partner in an accounting firm, is a character that fits Jones as perfectly as his tailored suits and starched white shirts. Arnold is the flip side of the actor's U.S. marshal injust as implacable but instead of hot pursuit, he's hiding out in his bunker, watching golf on TV.</p><p>In contrast, Kay is a homemaker who picks up pin money with a part-time job at a clothing store. She has spent a lifetime deferring and accommodating and is so unlike the strong women Streep typically plays, it is jarring at first. Streep creates a sense of unease and clings to it long enough that watching Kay at her weakest is almost unbearable. But it ultimately works for a film that is aiming at a certain level of discomfort.</p><p>"Hope Springs" has its share of comic moments, but the film opens on a downbeat. Kay is checking her hair in the bathroom mirror and adjusting a flowing nightgown that hints at her cleavage and curves. A few minutes later there's a hesitant knock on Arnold's bedroom door down the hall. A quick rebuff, and she's back in her own bed &mdash; alone. That sense of isolation, as much as the loss of intimacy, shapes their marriage and sets the film's bearing.</p><p>Frankel, who directed Streep in "The Devil Wears Prada," is patient in building the various tensions necessary for us to begin to understand this particular marriage, milking small moments for a thousand small truths. Director of photography Florian Ballhaus, another "Prada" alum, keeps a keen eye on the details.</p><p>Typical is the couple's morning routine. In it you can feel every one of their 31 years together. Kay is dressed and coiffed, apron on, cooking a slice of bacon and an egg just so. Arnold strides in, sits, and dispenses with the food and the morning paper in minutes. As he walks out the door he announces when he'll be home. She lets him know what's on tap for dinner. They do not touch; they barely make eye contact. It's all very civil, very sad.</p><p>That d&eacute;tente is about to crumble as Kay's unhappiness has reached a breaking point. A tentative first step at rebellion &mdash; picking up a marriage self-help book &mdash; becomes a line in the sand when she buys an intensive therapy package from its author, Dr. Feld. It entails a week of intensive couple's counseling in a lovely coastal town in Maine appropriately named Great Hope Springs. Arnold resists until it sinks in just how out of character this is for his normally passive wife. If he were to look at his feelings, he might see fear, but he doesn't.</p><p>Instead, Arnold goes to Maine with his wife, packing up his discontent and endless carping along with the vacation clothes. It takes a while, but on Dr. Feld's couch, grievances emerge, wounds are opened, psyches are exposed. Sometimes it comes in sharply constructed dialogue. At other times it is all body language, Kay and Arnold's positions on the couch speaking volumes. Carell has not been quite as effective at stripping his normally unflappable sensibility of any ironic undertones since he did so winningly in "The 40-Year-Old Virgin."</p><p>When you are nearly as fed up with Arnold's bombast as Kay is, the storm breaks and moves toward a possible reconciliation. This is where comedy starts to find its way into the film as they struggle to implement Dr. Feld's "homework." Something as simple as holding each other seems insurmountable; actual sex, unthinkable.</p><p>There are fantasies to consider fulfilling and logistics to figure out &mdash; a banana comes into play. Equal parts funny and poignant, the groping in "Hope" is as awkward and unsure as any you'd find in a coming-of-age romance, and in Jones and Streep's fumbling hands, as believable.</p><p></p>is a visual smorgasbord of a movie, a cast of hundreds dressed in everything from utilitarian garb with Depression-era grit to glam-gone-grotesque Gaga get-ups inspired by the latest haute couture. Then there's that dress worn by the young heroine Katniss () that goes up in flames.<br><br>It may seem as if it doesn't get much better than this for a costume designer. But the pressure is on to please fans of author Suzanne Collins' YA trilogy, who have purchased millions of copies of the books and have already broken the record previously held byfor advance ticket sales for the film, which opens March 23.<br><br> "I tried to stay as close to the descriptions in the book as I could," says costume designer Judianna Makovsky. "When I was doing ',' I changed to an unlisted phone number because I was so terrified I was going to disappoint people."<br><br>She needn't worry with this film, which depicts a dystopian universe of haves and have-nots, with a glittering Capitol that is the seat of "let them eat cake" power and the outlying districts, including the drab, impoverished District 12 that is Katniss and Peeta's home. The annual Hunger Games require 24 participants, a boy and a girl from each district who fight to the death until only one is left. And the "show" is broadcast live, watched by everyone in the land with the same fervor real-life viewers have for reality TV.<br><br>The costumes in the film are wonderful to look at, but they are also an interesting study because of how they reflect today's fashion world.<br><br>The simple beauty of the clothes in District 12, for example, recalls fashion's never-ending fascination with vintage work wear, authenticity and Americana, which is seen in "heritage" brands such as RRL and L.L. Bean. And the outrageous clothing in the Capitol brings to mind the see-and-be-photographed blogger culture that thrives on peacockish personal style and celebrates the kookiest among us, from Nicki Minaj to Bryan Boy.<br><br>There's also the legion of "Hunger Games" stylists &mdash; led by Cinna () &mdash; who help the Tributes, as the Hunger Games contestants are known, dress to impress. In the last decade, styling has become an industry unto itself.<br><br>Makovsky put as much thought and consideration into the low-key costumes for District 12 as she did for those in the Capitol.<br><br>She started her research by looking at photographs of working-class people from the turn-of-the-19th century to the 1960s in Appalachia and other places in America, particularly images by Lewis Hine and Mike Disfarmer. "We took the basics from that, the simple shapes of the clothes and the colors."<br><br>A pair of striped pants Katniss wears to hunt were made from an 1870s pattern. Her caramel-colored leather jacket was modeled after 1940s styles plucked from costume houses for inspiration. It's not oversized, as specified in the book, where it is described as a hand-me-down from her father.<br><br>"We tried that, but it didn't look good, and she couldn't move her arms to shoot," Makovsky explains.<br><br>The Sunday-best blue dress that Katniss wears at the Reaping, as the lottery for the Hunger Games is known, was also difficult to get right.<br><br>"We made dozens of different versions, some sheer, some not. Originally we thought it would be cotton, but rayon looked better. We found the fabric at the Western Costume fabric shop. And we bleached and dyed it to get just the right blue, and put some smocking at the top. It's supposed to be her mother's dress."<br><br>For inspiration for the Capitol costumes, Makovsky looked at Italian Fascist architecture and the work of 1930s and '40s fashion designer for her "sense of elegance and amusement."<br><br>Filmgoers get their first taste of the Capitol when Effie Trinket (), the ambassador to the Hunger Games, arrives for the Reaping dressed in a bum-hugging fuchsia dress and a pink wig with a vintage 1930s flower hat stuck on. Her gold booties are from , whose work comes to mind when looking at the Capitol dwellers.<br><br>Effie is one part Marie Antoinette and one part Isabella Blow, and she can barely walk in her shoes &mdash; which was intentional. "She is a fashion victim," Makovsky says.<br><br>The stylist Cinna, on the other hand, is more understated. "I wanted a simple elegance for him. I found the black Lurex sweater he wears, and we built on that."<br><br>Cinna, whom we meet in the Capitol, conceives of the outfits that Katniss and her partner Peeta () wear to represent District 12 in the parade that opens the Hunger Games, and help curry the public's favor. Their glossy patent jackets have flames that shoot out of the shoulders (added in postproduction using CG technology).<br><br>For the "girl on fire" dress Katniss wears when she's interviewed on TV on the eve of the games, Makovsky was inspired by Orry-Kelly's transformative gowns in the 1962 film "Gypsy," starring as an awkward tomboy who transforms into legendary burlesque stage performer .<br><br>"I wanted the dress to be red, but not so covered in stones that it would look like something out of'Dancing With the Stars,'" Makovsky says. The silk taffeta and organza dress has vertical pleats, so that it moves when Katniss twirls, and flame-like crystal embroidery. The dress is not really "engulfed" in flames, as the book describes, but the skirt does ignite (with the help of CG).<br><br>"I didn't want the clothes to overwhelm Katniss," Makovsky says. "We all wanted to go crazy with the costumes, but sometimes it was better to be subtle. It was important to be able to see the characters through the clothes."<br><br>Isla Fisher, who stars in has a secret of her own: It was all method acting.<br><br>"I'm not anti-shopping, but I shop rarely and poorly," says the actress, who's been handed the Herculean task of making a hero out of a woman who can't say "no" to a splurge while in real life the economy is imploding.<br><br> In the film, which opens Friday, Fisher plays a financial journalist named Rebecca Bloomwood who will stop at nothing to satisfy her retail addiction. Getting her fix lands her in debt to the tune of $16,200. Ultimately, however, it's a Hollywood redemption tale and, without giving away too much plot, the character comes to realize that accumulation of the material is immaterial. (You might be buried in that Prada frock, but you still can't take it with you.) En route to that epiphany, she schemes, splurges and even spars over a pair of red suede boots at a sample sale.<br><br>"It's difficult because someone who is seen as very superficial and drawn to bright, shiny objects is not necessarily a likable person," says Fisher, 33. "For me, it was about keeping the character real and then trusting that the audience and sympathy would follow."<br><br>The movie's producer agrees: "Isla has to play a despicable character and get the audience to still like her."<br><br>Bestselling ladies<br><br>Luckily for everyone involved, the film has a built-in following because it's based on Sophie Kinsella's bestselling 2001 book. Since then, the British author has expanded the franchise to include "Shopaholic & Baby" and "Shopaholic & Sister," among others. (Could "Shopaholic & Second Cousin" be next?)<br><br>Fisher may not be much of a shopper, but she understands the appeal of chick lit. At 17, she wrote two bestselling novels -- and "Seduced by Fame." At that time, she was successful as a young soap star in Perth, . On one show, "Paradise Beach," her entire wardrobe could fit in a clutch. "I wore a bikini throughout," she recalls, with a laugh. "If there was a funeral, I was there in a bikini." She went on to study drama in Paris at the Jacques Lecoq stage school and acted in London before landing her first Hollywood role, playing Shaggy's love interest in 2002's "Scooby Doo." Three years later, she made a critical dent in "Wedding Crashers" as a neurotic nympho with a shriek that could shatter a Champagne flute. She not only held her own against and Owen Wilson, but she also hijacked many of her scenes.<br><br>To tap into the psyche of a label fiend, Fisher didn't trawl Rodeo Drive or Fred Segal for overzealous shoppers. Instead, she chose to view Bloomwood as a deranged woman who assumes that her selfish actions are for the greater good. Fisher even developed a mantra: "I kept thinking of how in 'Streetcar Named Desire' Blanche DuBois says, 'I just wanted to make the world more beautiful.' " More often than not, as a woman, you don't get the opportunity to play someone who's flawed and carries the story."<br><br>Rather than complain about the ways of Hollywood, Fisher has been developing her own scripts such as "Cookie Queen," the story of a woman whose record as the top cookie-selling Girl Scout is threatened by an up-and-comer. Or "Groupies," a female-driven about backstage bimbos that she's cultivating with .<br><br>And though "Confessions" is more of a comedy than a cautionary tale, Fisher attended local meetings for overspenders. (In the movie, Bloomwood drops in on a Shopaholics Anonymous gathering and rhapsodizes about how spending makes her feel "confident, alive and happy." The quickly unravel, and the scene is played for yuks.) "It was not funny. It was very depressing," she recalls of her research. "There are bulimic spenders who shop a lot and then return everything. Or image spenders who will do visible things like pick up the tab for 40 people. You realize that shopping has devastated lives."<br><br>Fisher looks stricken for a moment and then steers the conversation away from the deflating topic of debt and addiction. "The movie is supposed to be fun," she says, brightly but firmly. And it is, thanks to her expressive features and pratfall prowess.<br><br> "She reminds me of and because of her great timing," says Bruckheimer, who cast her after they met at an awards show. "She can do physical comedy, but she has dramatic skills too."<br><br>"I was trying for dramatic roles and getting rejected and getting disheartened," she says of her not-so-long-ago career shift from aspiring ingenue to wisecracking waif. Her fianc&#233;, Sacha Baron Cohen, a.k.a Borat, nudged her to switch genres. "He said I should go and do comedy, and it was such high praise coming from him that I listened."<br><br>Throughout the film, Fisher -- who considers to be her personal style icon because she takes fashion risks and wears emerging designers -- mines fashion for snickers. In high heels, she has the gait of a nervous foal. Her outfits, courtesy of "Sex & the City" and "The Devil Wears Prada" costume designer Patricia Field, are loud in hue and &#252;ber-over the top. (Imagine Carrie Bradshaw wearing all of her accessories at once. Then add a few of Samantha's choice pieces too.) Fashion bloggers have complained that the clothes aren't chic or wearable, so perhaps the film may deter a future spendthrift from piling on the Prada.<br><br>"I did a lot of shopping for her in Tokyo because the colors here are very conservative. A shopaholic would have a coat in every color and lots of accessories," says Field, who favored a wardrobe palette of "berry" -- from fuchsia to plum. There are plenty of vivid blues, greens and plaid too. "Isla is quick and quirky, so I wanted to do her very colorful and bold."<br><br>Field work<br><br>For Fisher, who grew up wearing Doc Martens, black jeans and a T-shirt, working with Field was like collaborating with Houdini. "She'll take a bright blue sweater and an orange skirt and green shoes and suddenly she'll put a belt on it and use words like deconstructed and contrasting," she says. "It's this whole other language that I never heard of and suddenly, I'm a fashionista."<br><br>But not offscreen. Fisher, who with Cohen has a 15-month-old daughter named Olive, just bought a sewing machine. "I'm into crafting. My mom sewed and I'm excited to get going on that and make some kids clothes," she says. Perhaps that's the best way to keep her daughter out of the mall?<br><br>Update: "The Office" star husband of actress , has sold a West Hollywood home for $880,000. It came on the market at $945,000 in March.<br><br>The 1926 English country-style house is gated and sits behind tall hedges. The nearly 1,300-square-foot residence features French doors and high ceilings, according to details at Realtor.com. Including a detached guest studio, the property has three bedrooms and three bathrooms.<br><br> The 31-year-old actor has appeared on the TV mockumentary since it began in 2005. He was in "It's Complicated" (2009), "Away We Go" (2009) and (2008).<br><br>Blunt, 28, costars in "The Adjustment Bureau" (2011). She starred in "The Young Victoria" (2009) after gaining the attention of American audiences in "The Devil Wears Prada" (2006).<br><br>Public records show Krasinski purchased the property in 2006 for $1.05 million. He and Blunt were married in 2010. They own another house in the Los Angeles area.<br><br>Richard Ehrlich of Westside Estate Agency, Beverly Hills, was the listing agent. Kathleen A. Pytka of South Park Group represented the buyer.<br><br><p>The Supreme Court this week punted on whether the Federal Communications Commission's policy of punishing fleeting expletives on prime-time TV violated the 1st Amendment. Instead, deciding the case narrowly, it said that the two TV networks that appealed sanctions for spontaneous utterances of the &ldquo;F-word&rdquo; hadn&rsquo;t been warned in advance that that was a no-no.</p><p>The non-decision was a disappointment for court junkies who were waiting to see and &ldquo;a person named &rdquo; (as Justice referred to the faux celebrity) enshrined in a landmark 1st Amendment decision, joining , the gay-bashing Westboro Baptist Church and Paul Robert Cohen.</p><p>Cohen entered the legal history books in 1971 when the Supreme Court overturned his disturbance-of-the-peace conviction for showing up at the Los Angeles County Courthouse on April 26, 1968, wearing a jacket bearing the words &ldquo;F*** the Draft.&rdquo;</p> <p>Writing for the court, Justice Harlan -- not, as you might guess, Justice William O. Douglas -- held that O&rsquo;Brien was exercising his right to protest the . As for , Harlan said that &ldquo;while the particular four-letter word being litigated here is perhaps more distasteful than most others of its genre, it is nevertheless often true that one man's vulgarity is another's lyric.&rdquo; (This year Harlan&rsquo;s law clerk at the time, Thomas Krattenmaker, claimed credit for that phrase.)</p><p>Fast forward to 2012, and the justices are explaining why the FCC acted illegally in sanctioning for &ldquo;fleeting expletives&rdquo; uttered by Cher and Nicole Richie. In case you forgot what they said and where, here&rsquo;s Kennedy&rsquo;s summary:</p><p>&ldquo;First, in the 2002 Billboard Music Awards, broadcast by respondent Fox , Inc., the singer Cher exclaimed during an unscripted acceptance speech: &lsquo;I&rsquo;ve also had my critics for the last 40 years saying that I was on my way out every year. Right. So f*** &lsquo;em.&rsquo; Second, Fox broadcast the Billboard Music Awards again in 2003. There, a person named made the following unscripted remark while presenting an award: &lsquo;Have you ever tried to get cow s*** out of a Prada purse? It&rsquo;s not so f***ing simple.&rsquo; &rdquo;</p><p>What&rsquo;s interesting about this passage is that Kennedy didn&rsquo;t spell out the F-word. (Neither did I in the reference above.) Yet in the Cohen case, decided four decades ago, the court did use the whole word. Are justices more prudish today than they were in 1971? If so, does that foretell trouble for the next network that allows the F-bomb to be dropped on the air?</p><p>ALSO:</p><p></p><p></p><p></p>Prominent Angelenos are flocking to President-elect and inaugural balls on Tuesday, and to related, high-profile events scheduled for this weekend. We spoke to attendees and party hosts, from to Shepard Fairey -- the L.A. street artist who created the iconic Obama poster inducted into the Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery -- about their inaugural plans -- and, of course, what they plan to wear.<br><br>Arianna Huffington<br><br> Huffington Post cofounder and editor in chief<br><br>Which events are you attending? <br><br>Our Huffington Post party "Countdown to a New Day" on Monday at the Newseum is a midnight countdown to a new era with and will.i.am performing. The theme is turning the country around with everyone's engagement and participation. We have a video of Americans around the country taking the oath that Obama will take the next day. The slogan: "It's our inauguration."<br><br><br><br>Your outfit?<br><br>I'm wearing a long eggplant taffeta skirt so I can wear flat shoes. My favorites are Dolce & Gabbana brown leather -- they have elastic in the back so they never slip.<br><br><br><br>Who's the designer?<br><br>It's all custom. [Beverly Hills tailor and retailer] Domenico Vacca makes great things in beautiful fabrics. He's become a friend and he'll be at the inauguration ball too. The top is beautiful cashmere by Vacca. I'm not having a lot of stuff made; I'm mixing and matching.<br><br><br><br>Are your daughters also wearing tailored Domenico Vacca pieces?<br><br>No, my daughters are probably wearing H&M.<br><br>Cheryl Hines<br><br>Actress, 's "Curb Your "Enthusiasm" and "In the Motherhood." <br><br>What events are you attending?<br><br>The 2009 Inauguration and International Conservation Gala on Monday and the Creative Coalition Inaugural Brunch and Ball on Tuesday.<br><br>What are you wearing? <br><br>Lace has a perennial place in fashion, from late 19th century mourning dresses to 's '80s-era, piled-on pop star layers. But this season, lace is showing up everywhere, including on shoe booties and hipster leggings, thanks to Miuccia Prada's fall runway collection. The trendsetting designer proved that this most delicate material can look fierce, showing peekaboo lace skirts and shirts, and lace- and ruffle-trimmed handbags.<br><br>But lace can be tricky to wear in real life. Adding it to your wardrobe in small doses is the safest way to keep from looking as if grandma's curtains fell on you. Lace can be rich and expensive, but this fall, it is turning up on clothing and accessories at every price point. has a $58 cotton dress in royal blue or black with a feminine lace yoke. The lace makes the simple dress, which is fitted at the waist with an A-line skirt, feel special enough for the holidays. Beginning the second week of November, the Freedom by Topshop label, newly available in the U.S. at , will offer a fabulous bib-style statement lace necklace with scattered rhinestones for $120 that looks like it could be Lanvin. It's a more daring way to wear lace, but the dramatic length and hint of sparkle would make a whole outfit.<br><br> Another option is to make a lace piece yourself. This DIY project might be the most inexpensive way to incorporate lace into your everyday look, instead of just saving it for dress-up affairs, lingerie or your wedding dress.<br><br>I got the idea for these lace-trimmed T-shirts from a friend who made them as gifts for her bridesmaids. She made various color combinations -- a subdued heather gray T-shirt with a black lace collar and a punchy purple T-shirt with a turquoise lace collar. The feminine lace and comfy cotton jersey shirts can be worn with denim, a workday skirt or even sweat pants. The article at right shows how to make your own lace T-shirt.<br><br>Magsaysay is a Times staff writer.<br><br>If there was a common thread running through the spring-summer 2011 menswear shows that ended last week it was the notion of light &#8212; in every sense of the word. There was a lightness of attitude &#8212; not the cautious, bet-hedging, whistle-past-the-graveyard sort seen last season, but what seemed to be a genuine sense of optimism.<br><br>It started the night before the official run of shows began, with Missoni's garden party presentation of patchwork knits, long-waisted grandfather shirts, cardigans and eye-popping acid greens, lemon yellows and vibrant-hued, color-blocked suede deck shoes against a palette of beige and khaki.<br><br> It ended on the last day of the shows when sent a fashion designer's version of a smiley face emoticon down the runway: slate gray suits paired with pale blue dress shirts and knit vests, a scattering of subtle microdot patterns, and punctuation marks of vivid yellow shoes, belts and pocket squares.<br><br>There was lightness in fabrication and construction too: lightweight washed silk, linen and hemp trousers with drawstring waistbands or rope belts at Dolce &amp; Gabbana's 20th anniversary menswear show, shown with shirts in poplin and muslin cotton, unlined jackets with raw seams and rope sandals that gave the luxury brand a rumpled, sun-drenched, post-beach feel.<br><br>There was also a kind of uncomfortable, intense light at times. Prada's collection was a preschool paint class full of bright colors, intense blues, bright orange suit jackets and sweaters with playful bold stripes. The show was staged on a raised metal grid-like runway sandwiched between banks of fluorescent tubes, creating a post-apocalyptic nuclear-powered assembly line, a notion underscored by the futuristic wraparound sunglasses the models had slung around their necks.<br><br>And then there was the eerie spotlight effect that was used on a handful of pieces in the presentation (the first menswear collection to be presented since the designer's death in February, under the direction of his longtime head of design, Sarah Burton). It used printed trompe l'oeil shadows beneath collars and pocket flaps and created the look of faux bright spots across the shoulders to create the distinct impression of a high-powered spotlight shining down on the wearers from directly overhead.<br><br>But this same collection also included a pair of military-inspired stretch trousers with utility pockets near the knee, a variation on the season's most noticeable trend, the entrenchment of the workingman's cargo pocket in luxury trousers and shorts, as well as its multi-pocketed up-torso cousin: the safari-inspired jacket, like those at . One silhouette or the other was present in nearly every collection in Milan.<br><br>Asked about the preponderance of cargo pocketry, Missoni's creative director Angela Missoni spoke of her customer, saying: "When you travel, you need lots of pockets for things, and these are my urban travelers &#8212; my tribe."<br><br>In past seasons, designers were all too happy to get strappy with shoulder-slung bags or to accessorize models with Santa-worthy satchels. This season they seemed to be jettisoning the man baggery in favor of blousy, technical-looking pockets. The man of 2011 is on the move, but he's unencumbered and pared back. He's got no baggage &#8212; of any kind.<br><br>There were some head-scratching moments: notably an Emporio Armani collection that was reptilian, dark and brooding, including crocodile scales and a music video clip cameo in advance of the jack-booted backup dancer costumes (everyone but the Lady G herself was dressed in Emporio Armani in her "Alejandro" video).<br><br>But even if you question the potential luxury consumer appetite for a rockabilly-themed Versace collection, or D&amp;G aloha-print shirts, it's hard not to look at those collections &#8212; metallic fringe and eye-bending optical prints among the former, picnic blanket prints and 's photo circa "Cry-Baby" among the latter &#8212; without thinking the designers are eager to inject a little fun back into men's fashion again.<br><br>And they're banking that by the time spring-summer 2011 comes around, guys will see the light too.<br><br><p>Ticket holders at this summer's will have something in common with non-sporting London visitors: At some point, they will want to flee the jam-packed capital. Luckily, escaping the madding crowds is as easy as hopping on a train. As a Brit who grew up near the city, here are my recommendations for 10 gold-medal-winning day trips.</p><p>Highclere Castle</p><p>The real-life is an ideal day out for fans of Violet, the dowager countess. Stroll elegant staterooms and peek into posh bedrooms before descending the handsome oak staircase to the arch-lined saloon &mdash; the dramatic heart of the house as well as the blockbuster TV series. Don't miss the Egyptian Exhibition tracing the fifth Earl of Carnarvon's 1922 discovery, along with Howard Carter, of King Tutankhamen's tomb. Save time for the expansive gardens before a swish meal at the nearby Carnarvon Arms, where Downton stars stayed during recent Season 3 filming. . From Paddington station to Newbury, 50 minutes plus a 15-minute cab ride.</p> <p>Cambridge</p><p>Prettier than larger rival Oxford, the cobbled center of this bike-loving university town bristles with castellated old colleges, creaky-floored Tudor pubs and tomb-quiet medieval churches. Photograph the Venetian-style Bridge of Sighs over the River Cam, then nose around the lavish Fitzwilliam Museum, which is like a mini British Museum. Highlights include filigree ceramics and Technicolor Egyptian sarcophagi. Fuel up at Fort &mdash; reputedly the city's oldest pub &mdash; before dropping into King's College for a choral service at one of 'smost beautiful chapels. . From King's Cross station, 45 minutes.</p><p>Brighton</p><p>Luring Londoners since the playboy Prince Regent began building his onion-turreted Royal Pavilion here in 1815, Brighton is the Britain's coolest seaside city. Start at the Pavilion &mdash; now a museum of gaudy palace interiors &mdash; then get lost in the labyrinthine Lanes and North Laine areas. Lined with indie shops, galleries and restaurants, this back-street tangle warrants an hour or two of on-foot retail therapy. Then hit the wind-whipped seafront: Eschew the ankle-breaking pebbly beach for Brighton Pier's slot machines, fish and chips and neon-pink, toothache-triggering peppermint rock. http://www.visitbrighton.com From Victoria or London Bridge stations, one hour.</p><p> Cathedral</p><p>This soaring Gothic confection in Kent &mdash; a World Heritage Site &mdash; is the Mother Church of the Anglican faith. Check out where Thomas Becket was martyred, duck underground to the multicolumned crypt and marvel at the breathtaking stained-glass windows, including one from 1176. Before jumping back on the London-bound train, explore the town's picture-perfect medieval center, stopping at the Roman Museum and Canterbury Heritage Museum. Great old pubs abound, including the wood-beamed Parrot where Bishops Finger ale is recommended. . From St. Pancras International station to Canterbury West, one hour.</p><p>Warner Bros. Studio Tour London: The Making of Harry Potter</p><p>Britain's hottest new family attraction isn't in London but in Hertfordshire. Although you won't be hopping the Hogwarts Express to get here, you'll soon be marveling at a magical array of real sets and props used to bring 's fantasy world to life on the big screen. Highlights include the Great Hall, Dumbledore's office, the triple-decker Knight Bus and some scarily live-looking monsters, including a terrifying Aragog. Calm your nerves with some Butterbeer and Bertie Botts jelly beans &mdash; earwax flavor included. . From Euston to Watford Junction, 20 minutes plus a 10-minute shuttle bus ride.</p><p>Bicester Village</p><p>Swap overpriced Oxford Street for Oxfordshire's wildly popular designer outlet destination. Determinedly upscale, the outdoor "village" has 130 stores &mdash; think Prada, Paul Smith and Diane von Furstenberg &mdash; and its shoppers aren't your typical outlet mall rats. Peruse temporary pop-up shops, then take a break from all that credit-card action at the Fabulous Feasts caf&eacute; where the goat cheese and broccoli tart is recommended. . From Marylebone station to Bicester North, 50 minutes plus 10-minute shuttle bus.</p><p>Sissinghurst Castle</p><p>The residence ofVita Sackville-Westand Harold Nicolson is even more famous for its dreamy country garden, started in the 1930s. It's a romantic fusion of fragrant herb garden, riotously hued cottage garden and delightfully monochrome White Garden, dotted with creamy irises and dahlias. Protected by the National Trust, the highlight building is the 16th century tower where Sackville-West wrote &mdash; in a room that's preserved as if she's just stepped away. http://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/sissinghurst-castle. From Charing Cross station to Staplehurst, one hour, then bus No. 5 to Sissinghurst village.</p><p>St. Albans</p><p>Arrive Wednesday or Saturday at this historic Hertfordshire city for the bustling St. Peter's Street market, then head to the cavernous cathedral. Built from 1077, it's a spectacular fusion of architectural styles from Norman to Victorian Neo-Gothic. Spot the slender bricks in its central tower: They were swiped from the ruined Roman settlement started here around 50 A.D. Head down the adjoining grassy slope toward the fascinating, Roman-focused Verulamium Museum, stopping for lunch at the wood-beamed Ye OldeFighting Cocks, reputedly England's oldest pub. http://www.stalbans.gov.uk/tourism. From St. Pancras International station, 25 minutes.</p><p>Hatfield House</p><p>Across from Hatfield station. This stately home's sweeping driveway entrance is a fitting drumroll to Britain's grandest Jacobean pile. It's lined with portrait-dotted oak paneling and centered on a magnificent wooden staircase studded with carved figures. Must-see areas include the recently restored Victorian kitchen and the sumptuous, tapestry-lined Great Hall. Pick up an audio-tour headset to learn all about the house's top-drawer history: This is where, in 1558, a young Princess Elizabeth learned of her accession to the throne. . From King's Cross station to Hatfield, 30 minutes.</p><p>Culture Line</p><p>The Overground branch line weaving from East London to West Croydon is studded with small museum gems, providing a tranquil day's escape (with a handy London Travelcard transit pass) from all that Olympic mayhem. Places not to be missed include the Geffrye Museum's home interior displays; the Horniman Museum's natural history gallery; and the tiny Brunel Museum, relating the story of the first tunnel under the River Thames. The nearby Mayflower Pub is recommended for a pint and pie pit stop. And don't miss verdant Crystal Palace Park, complete with giant Victorian models of dinosaurs peeking from between its trees. . From Highbury &amp; Islington station.</p><p> </p>ended a few days ago, but next month, 12 of the city's top designers plan to hit the road, bringing their clothes to Los Angeles in a bid for red carpet stardom.<br><br>The London Show Rooms Los Angeles is scheduled to take place Oct. 17-19 at a venue to be determined, with celebrities, stylists, retailers and press invited to attend. Jessica de Rothschild is to host a party at her L.A. home to celebrate, and plans are in the works for a customer event as well.<br><br> Among those planning to show are Moralioglu, maestro of lace and prints, who is a favorite of Catherine, the , and Samantha Cameron, wife of the British prime minister. , who has dressed in his sculptural designs, will make the trip, as will master colorist , a go-to for . , who outfitted Dianna Agron in a couture-like ocean blue gown for the recent , is also onboard.<br><br>The trip is part of an initiative funded by the European Regional Development Fund to help young designers raise their profiles internationally. To that end, London designers have hosted a showroom at since 2008. "It was a response to designers in London doing well on the catwalk but needing more time post-show to meet buyers and sell," said Caroline Rush, chief executive of the British Fashion Council. "We've seen fantastic dividends. Designers learn how much to manufacture and when they need to make deliveries. The professionalism of London designers has increased tenfold."<br><br>The program expanded to New York in 2009 and makes its way to Los Angeles and Hong Kong for the first time this season.<br><br>'s SoCal Vibe<br><br>Speaking of hitting the road, designer Miuccia Prada's spring 2012 collection, shown in Milan last week, was particularly relevant for those who live in Southern California, the home of Ed "Big Daddy" Roth, Kustom Kulture and Hollywood hot rods.<br><br>I loved the funky retro 1950s car print on the satin coat and the shoes with the flames shooting out the back. And the one-piece bathing suits modeled like cars, hugging every curve were to die for.<br><br>The retro, Route 66-diner culture vibe was reminiscent of 's spring 2012 collection shown in New York last week, its themes of westward expansion and the broken American dream.<br><br>Very interesting ... and timely.<br><br>Legendary <br><br>Another strong runway trend for spring 2012 is the 1920s. The era was characterized by the Gatsby-style excess reflected in the and collections shown in New York and Milan respectively. But it was also the dawn of modern sportswear and , whose knit jersey jackets, straight skirts and sailor blouses seemed to influence this season.<br><br>The fascination with Chanel is seemingly unending, Hal Vaughan's recent book "Sleeping With the Enemy" made headlines for claiming the designer was a Nazi spy during . A biography due in November, "Coco Chanel: An Intimate Life" by Lisa Chaney, will claim she was a lesbian drug addict.<br><br>Then there is "Coco Chanel: The Legend and the Life" by Justine Picardie. The book was originally published in 2010, but a new edition is out now with drawings by Chanel creative director . The book was f&#234;ted Thursday night in Los Angeles at a dinner hosted by the French fashion house and Liz Goldwyn, whose grandfather, studio head , orchestrated the ultimate publicity coup by paying Chanel $1 million to come to Hollywood and design film costumes during the depths of the Depression.<br><br>Picardie's book also addresses Chanel's purported anti-Semitism. In fact, the author examined the same document Vaughan cites as his smoking gun, a police report with Chanel's Nazi spy code name and number. "I have a different interpretation," said Picardie, who has Jewish family members who perished in camps during the war. "She made some terrible errors and had tragic flaws, but being a Nazi was not one of them."<br><br>Picardie had access to Chanel archives and to Coco Chanel's private apartment. She also visited the abbey where the designer, an orphan, was raised by nuns, and draws interesting parallels between Chanel's design codes (the interlocking Cs, Maltese crosses and little black dresses) and the window panes, mosaics and stark uniforms there. Picardie also unearthed photos of Chanel on a fishing trip in Scotland with her lover, the Duke of Westminster, and wearing his tweed clothes. The tweed suit, as well as the fusing of masculine and feminine styles, are other hallmarks of Chanel designs.<br><br>"I'm not here to be an apologist for Chanel," Picardie said. "And I'm not an authorized biographer. Karl Lagerfeld said he wanted to do the drawings because he liked the darkness in the book as well as the light."<br><br><p>Whether you're an avid viewer of or have only a passing acquaintance with the network, it's been nearly impossible not to notice anchorwoman and "America Live" host . Particularly during the primary round of debates and Super Tuesday coverage, Kelly's position in the lead anchor chair along with co-anchor has put the 41-year-old blond front and center at Fox News as the network's fresh face and opinionated voice of this election season.</p><p>Kelly, a former lawyer and subject of a rather racy 2010 photo shoot (for which she makes no apologies), is known for direct, no-nonsense reporting, which has drawn commentary from fans, critics and comedians alike. She's been famously ridiculed, for instance, for calling pepper spray "a food product, essentially" and lauded for defending Chaz Bono's turn on Her in-studio interview Wednesday with presidential contender drew commentary from across the political spectrum.</p> <p>For Kelly, it's all in a day's work.</p><p>The confidence she displays on air isn't just reserved for the camera. It translates into her TV and real-life wardrobes, which she describes as "tailored, classic and never frilly."</p><p>It's this sharp look and strong sense of on-air style that set her apart sartorially from the rest of the pack of reporters and commentators. Though she says, "I still don't consider myself a fashion girl," her fans and viewers might think otherwise, taking notice of her reworked traditional suits, the peep-toe or T-strap stilettos that sometimes peek out from under the news desk, the length of her hair and even the shade of her lip gloss.</p><p>The morning we meet in her Midtown Manhattan office, she's in her off-camera "uniform": dark skinny jeans (Citizens of Humanity and Joe's "Honeycut" style are favorites), a long-sleeved white cotton top and black boots topped off with a plush faux fur vest from Elizabeth and James. Her chin-length blond hair is pulled back into a low ponytail and her face is makeup-free.</p><p>"Before I got into TV, I wasn't fashionable at all," says Kelly, who practiced law for nine years before making a career change at age 32 and going to work in Washington, D.C., at News affiliate WJLA-TV as a general assignment reporter. There, she covered state and presidential elections before joining in 2004 and eventually taking on a more visible role in the national spotlight.</p><p>As a lawyer, "I was more about getting into my legal clothes &mdash; navy, brown or black suits; that was it," she says. "Though I did make the executive decision to not wear sneakers with those suits while on my way to and from work. I didn't think about it that much. I was overworked and overwhelmed."</p><p>These days she still sticks to a conservative color palette during her down time. Navy, black and ivory basics are her go-tos and define a style she calls "New York casual."</p><p>"I'm not big on the hot pinks, bright reds," she says. "I just don't have a lot of that in my wardrobe. I like black, white and navy. I think navy looks good with blond hair and dark blue eyes."</p><p>Accessories, especially statement necklaces, are something she shuns both on and off camera. On TV, accessories can be distracting. Off the air, Kelly factors in the impracticality jewelry can pose while raising young kids &mdash; she and her husband, Douglas Brunt, have two, a 3-year-old son and an 11-month-old daughter. "I'm still getting spat up on," she says. "And my son is whipping things across the room."</p><p>Her approach to career dressing has changed significantly since she practiced law. She pays more attention to the role her clothes play in her overall image. A wall of dark wood closets lines one side of her office, housing brightly colored shift dresses, blazers and knee-length skirts from , and Chiara Boni. Color is a style hallmark of Fox News anchors.</p><p>Fashion stylist Gwen Marder, who has been dressing the on-air talent for 12 years, favors pops of solid, bright color, and there's no shortage of it in Kelly's wall of closets, despite her propensity for sticking to neutrals in her private life.</p><p>"I really like our anchors to wear color because people react in such a visceral way to color," Marder says. "It's stimulating and pretty to look at on television."</p><p>Wooden shoe racks propping up about 20 pairs of heels from designers including Giuseppe Zanotti, YSL, Jimmy Choo and Alexandre Birman sit directly across from Kelly's desk. Her footwear isn't always visible on camera, but she contends that wearing a pair of heels makes a difference in her attitude and confidence, regardless of whether anyone can see them.</p><p>On the day we meet, she checks her pedicure before deciding on a pair of black T-strap heels. She wears them with a pinstripe, wool Gucci bustier, black knit bolero, black pencil skirt and a skinny metallic belt to break up the dark color.</p><p>Her hair and makeup team does a 45-minute drill, rimming her eyes in dark liner, swiping a concoction of several shades of red and fuchsia gloss on her lips and adding voluminous curls to her short hair. Kelly emerges from under a blow dryer &mdash; and from listening to a conference call that her producers hold each morning to iron out last-minute details about the impending show &mdash; to say, "Hair and makeup sets a mood. I can't leave this room in a bad mood. It can be a therapy session." She goes right back to the call. The noise of the blow dryer and distraction of the mascara wand and false eyelashes hitting her eyelids never seem to faze her.</p><p>Once she reaches the set of her midday show, she is aggressive with her questioning during interviews, assertive with her guests, sometimes overlapping their answers with more questions. When her attention isn't fixed on the camera, she shifts focus to her laptop, where she continues to research the day's topics and stay updated on breaking news. Kelly's show averages about six to eight guests a day and includes a segment in which the host debates a hot topic along with several guest voices.</p><p>The demands of Kelly's schedule require an early start each morning at 6:30 a.m. in her Upper West Side apartment, where she begins to devour the information packets her assistant puts together each day to prepare her for the guests who will appear at 1 p.m. on "America Live." She also checks headlines from several sources, all of which she reads electronically. It helps that her wardrobe has been streamlined with Marder's help.</p><p>The stylist has what Kelly calls a "trunk show" twice a year, bringing Fox News anchors a selection of clothing she has approved. Talent, including Kelly, can pick what they want to wear for the season from the approved selection, mixing and matching pieces to create new looks. During this busy election year, Kelly chose two of her favorite blazer shapes and Marder had them remade in several different colors to make packing and getting dressed a no-brainer, especially while Kelly travels to various cities on the campaign trail.</p><p>Kelly knows her favorites, often repeating clothes before traveling to different states to do live election coverage. "It's not taboo to wear the same thing twice in one season," she says. "We don't have enough of a wardrobe budget not to. We try and mix it up with different shoes and jackets."</p><p>She also takes into account the venue and how buttoned-up or casual she needs to be. "When we went to Iowa and New Hampshire, I could be a little less formal in the evenings," Kelly says. "During the day I was more covered up but wore open-toe shoes some days. I didn't check all fashion at the door."</p><p>"Suits look much more professional and important during election time," Marder adds. "It's a long election season, so we vary it up. But Megyn looks really wonderful in everything and she's in great shape, well-proportioned and looks good in all colors. I've been dressing her for well over eight years."</p><p>It's a different look for Kelly, who doesn't wear suits on her daytime program. "On the election nights I'm more prone to wearing a suit," she says. "Those are big nights and you want to look more professional." Still, she wore a black dress during the South Carolina primary, adding that though dresses can be appropriate, she's conscious not to wear anything too flashy.</p><p>"If you're wearing a pair of shoes that's a little flashy, then it's important not to be flashy up top and vice versa," she says about her on-air outfit choices.</p><p>And as for any working woman expected to show up in a skirt or dress, foundation garments are not to be overlooked. "Don't get me wrong, there's a pair of under there," Kelly says with a laugh. "I'm not a barbarian."</p><p></p>The problem with menswear is that it moves at a glacial pace. The last time there was any significant change in the silhouette was when Hedi Slimane slimmed it all down at Dior Homme in the early aughts. Though Slimane is gone, the look still dominates among the fashionable set on the street, on the red carpet and on the concert stage -- where and the share the same whittled-down wardrobe aesthetic.<br><br>So, again this season, it's probably no surprise that things didn't change much. In these uncertain times, the men's runways were dominated by safe choices. The suit was king (probably because if a man buys anything in the next year it'll be an outfit to wear to that job interview), and Raf Simons served up some of the best, impeccably tailored and razor-sharp, though the neoprene shrugs were a distraction.<br><br> Even Prada, who usually can be counted on for an offbeat vision, was solidly in the wearable camp. "It's a dangerous time," seemed to be the message. Trends showed a desire to insulate (Dolce & Gabbana's quilted tux), escape (Viktor & Rolf's surrealist romp) and comfort in cardigans and cable knits (nearly everyone). <br><br>But there's always a hunger for change -- that's what fashion is all about. That's why people continue to look for someone to reinvent, instead of just retreating into what they've always done. At Dior Homme, the expectation was that Kris Van Assche could deliver the goods &#224; la Hedi. But to date, he hasn't been able to, and his latest collection -- which takes inspiration from the '90s voguing dance craze -- lacks the electricity of his predecessor. Yes, there were variations on the skinny black suit and some of the distinctive blousy trousers he's played around with for a few seasons, but Van Assche spends so much time being the not-Hedi, he doesn't end up being much else.<br><br>Which may be why the most ground-breaking and exciting shows of the two-week cycle were from newcomers on the men's fashion week circuit: Rick Owens and Gareth Pugh.<br><br>Pugh's cold, distant, razor-slashed geometric designs, black-and-white dystopian semaphores, signaled a marked departure from the current state of menswear. At Rick Owens, models clomped through swirling smoke clad in animal skins and wrapped in tunics, refugees from "Mad Max." If change is coming to menswear, you can bet it's not coming on little cat feet, but on multi-buckled Herman Munster clodhoppers and rubberized industrial work boots.<br><br>Yes, Pugh's hanging Damoclean shards of mirrored glass and Owens' operatic soundtrack borrowed from the final scene of "Salome" are theater, but it's theater that reflects the dire circumstances that surround us. It may well be that the duo of darkness is too many fall seasons ahead, but they could be on to something. These are dark times indeed, and vampiric overtones abound. Movies like "Twilight" and TV shows like capture the imagination of a generation whose social lives exist in the matrix of the Internet, an existence back-lit by the cathode-ray tube. <br><br><br><br> Forget "comfort" and "safe" -- Owens and Pugh exult in what the creatures of dark know all too well: When the sun drops below the horizon, and the winds become gale force, a pin-covered leather jacket or multilayered tunic under a severely belted trench coat is the kind of armor you really need. <br><br> Of course, if you'd prefer to weather the mother of all socioeconomic turbulence in a cardigan sweater, you'll have plenty of choices.<br><br><br><br>The Costume Institute Gala held at the New York's is excessively referred to as "fashion's ," and the Ministry is always proud to see our Hollywood favorites bring their sartorial A-game.<p>Monday evening saw another year of major celeb presence for the annual fete, this year showcasing "Schiaparelli and : Impossible Conversations," the museum's new exhibition.</p><p>Gala chairs , editor in chief of Vogue magazine, newlywed actress and designer Muccia Prada received the likes of , , Tom Brady and , , , Elizabeth Banks and , to name a few.</p> <p></p><p>Fashion appreciation abounded, like 's moment celebrating his tuxedo designer Tom Ford.</p><p>"He's a beautiful man and makes beautiful suits," Timberlake, with fiancee on his arm, told Vogue's carpet host William Norwich.</p><p>Style-heavy show "Mad Men" had two lovely ambassadors in Jessica Par&eacute;, the current Mrs. Don Draper on Matthew Weiner's AMC drama, and January Jones, who cut a slim post-baby figure in an electric yellow Versace gown.</p><p>"I was with my baby in the hotel room," Jones told Vogue of her pre-gala preparations. "I had makeup, and then hair and then bath for baby."</p><p> turned up nursing a potential injury, as she accessorized a black evening gown with a cane for support. Funny couple Amy Poehlerand Will Arnett got points for their refined looks, as did fellow pair Cory Monteith and Lea Michele, who was in a skin-tight Diane Von Furstenberg number.</p><p>Rooney Mara, she of the "Dragon Tattoo," came rocking her award season favorite , whizzing by Lana Del Rey in a gothic-glam creation from Joseph Altuzarra.</p><p>After the record-breaking success of Johansson showed up in a custom Dolce &amp; Gabbana gown, an appropriate solid gold creation to match her box-office triumph.</p><p>While Kanye attended sans girlfriend , he surely had acquaintances in Jay-Z and Beyoncepal Paltrow. Gwyneth showed off her Tracy Anderson-toned legs in a Prada mini with embellished pockets.</p><p>Speaking of embellished, big shout-out to "Twilight Saga" star Kristen Stewart -- for her third Met outing, it seems Stewart is really coming into womanhood and her own personal style. With designer Nicolas Ghesquiere by her side, Kristen wore a multi-patterned Balenciagamini with tousled hair and killer heels.</p><p>It was Rihanna, however, who pulled the evening's trump card: the pop singer came late, moments after the red carpet closed, in a body-hugging Tom Ford gown, an alligator skin in black with some major fingernails to match.</p><p>"The dressing part was easy," she said, running into the museum, "my nails took forever. They're like claws."</p><p>RiRi also hinted that some designing of her own is headed to shelves, saying "designing is definitely in the near future for me. We're working on it as we speak."</p><p>RELATED:</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>Follow Matt Donnelly on Twitter .</p><p></p><p>With many art museums pondering how to boost attendance &ndash; and some critics, curators and museum directors wondering whether maximizing crowds is really the best measure of success -- it&rsquo;s worth noting that beat Picasso in recent blockbuster shows at the .</p><p>The Met announced Friday that &ldquo;three widely acclaimed and highly attended exhibitions&rdquo; this year had boosted New York City&rsquo;s economy by $781 million, with out-of-towners who came to the shows pouring an estimated $78.1 million into city and state tax coffers.</p><p>But perhaps most interesting from a Los Angeles perspective, given this summer&rsquo;s debate over whether the Museum of Contemporary Art is putting too much emphasis on populist appeal, is that the Met&rsquo;s fashion blockbuster, &ldquo;Schiaparelli and Prada: Impossible Conversations,&rdquo; outdrew &ldquo;The Steins Collect: Matisse, Picasso and the Parisian Avant-Garde.&rdquo;</p> <p>It was close, with 339,838 attendees seeing the costume show that compared Italian fashion designers of different eras, and 323,792 turning out for a look back on how siblings Gertrude and Leo Stein helped launch modernism by championing and collecting art innovators of the early 20th century.</p><p>A spokesman for the San Francisco , where &ldquo;The Steins Collect&rdquo; was seen last year, said it drew 360,588 visitors there &ndash; the fourth largest in the museum&rsquo;s history, even though there was a $7 surcharge on top of the regular admission price.(At the Met, savvy visitors who don&rsquo;t mind appearing a bit cheap know that the $25 suggested admission is optional, and they&rsquo;re free to pay whatever they like.)</p><p>Doing even better, attendance-wise, at the Met is an attraction that invites people to clamber through a 20-foot-high architectural installation on its roof. In its first 3 1/2 months &ndash; about the same length of time as &ldquo;Schiaparelli and Prada&rdquo; and &ldquo;The Steins Collect&rdquo; were on view -- &ldquo;Tomas Saraceno on the Roof: Cloud City,&rdquo; a honeycomb-like assemblage of connected metal pods, drew 368,370 visits. It&rsquo;s open through Nov. 4.</p><p>The Met has scored big with other fashion extravaganzas, including last year&rsquo;s &ldquo;: Savage Beauty,&rdquo; which attracted a reported 661,509 visits. Overall, visits to the Met totaled 6.28 million in 2011 (including repeat attendees), the highest in more than 40 years.</p><p>ALSO:</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p>There was an assembly-line quality to the beginning of Miuccia Prada's spring show Thursday, the highlight of Milan Fashion Week. Set on a raised metal platform with industrial-style lighting, the models came out one after another, wearing boxy short-sleeve tops and pencil skirts that were uniform-like in their simplicity. Industrial orange, then green, then blue. Each model carried a neon-colored fur stole, which could have been real or fake.<br><br>Was the designer making a sly comment on fashion's rapidly churning pace? Or the way that live webcasts and Tweets are turning runway shows into mindless content at the expense of true luxury and creativity? There's no way to tell.<br><br> But you had to chuckle when the stripes started coming out. More like prison stripes than Breton stripes (the street fashion trend that just won't die), they walked the line of good taste, especially because they shared space on shift dresses and button-down work shirts with cartoonish Italianate cherubs and monkeys. Call it Baroque Pop. Old World meets New, luxury meets banality &#8212; Prada's favorite themes.<br><br>It was bananas, and there were bananas, as the collection took a Latin turn, with banana-print cha-cha skirts, crisp cotton sundresses with a -like character on the front and striped sombreros.<br><br>The joy of Prada is that her work cannot be summed up in 140 characters or less. So her collection was, as it always is, an amalgam of ideas. And it was fun! You only had to look down at the kooky platform creeper shoes to know that. The party did quiet down at the end, with a group of little black dresses that were uniform in their chicness, with a gentle ruffled high collar or plunging neckline, in easy summertime cotton.<br><br>Elsewhere on the runways here, many designers served up the same trends we saw in New York &#8212; the longer '70s skirt lengths, clean sportswear and floral prints.<br><br>The message at , where designer Frida Giannini produced her most mature collection yet, was seductive. A trek through Marrakech, a neutral palette with a dash of spice, safari and tribal influences &#8212; there was more than one nod to 1970s-era here. But Giannini put her own spin on the look with luxurious-looking tailoring and handcrafted leather details.<br><br>The focus was on pants &#8212; a high-waisted jade-green pair worn with a wide bronze belt and cinnamon-colored jacket nipped in at the waist; fluid jodhpurs paired with a soft safari jacket and tassel belt; and textured leather leggings with tops of suede crochet or swinging fringe. For nighttime, jewel-toned dresses were covered in feathers and fringe.<br><br>It was refreshing to see a less aggressive stance from Giannini &#8212; and not a single Gucci logo. Instead, leather accessories had a more easygoing, natural feel &#8212; cage leather booties and sandals on skinny heels, for example, and soft totes and clutches with basket-weave details.<br><br>At Fendi, 's take on the Me Decade wasn't so YSL reverential. Cotton dresses in soft shades of lavender, peach or mint green with airy, lantern-shaped sleeves, looked cheery and fresh, worn with sporty, two-toned belts and structured bags, or rainbow-woven leather clutches.<br><br>It was a midsummer night's dream at Alberta Ferretti, with sheer chiffon layers in subtle fern, flower and bird prints; floppy straw hats; and gladiator sandals with rope ties.<br><br>Soft jackets and shorts came in a nubby, natural-colored linen, and blouses and dresses were pieced together from bits of cream chiffon, lace and macram&#233; for a charming, 1970s ladies-of-the-canyon vibe.<br><br>At D&amp;G, designers Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana hit you over the head with the garden trowel. It was a floral fest of rose, hydrangea and freesia prints on bloomers, sundresses and kerchiefs, along with rope sole galoshes and the requisite red picnic-check totes filled with garden tools.<br><br>For a finale, the models came out in chiffon gowns, each one a different bouquet. Organic? More like engineered. It was one of those lightweight collections you could predict the moment the show invitation arrived with a packet of seeds attached. Talk about churning it out.<br><br>booth.moore@latimes.comThe look and feel of the modern man's closet owes much to the military.<br><br>Standard-issue pieces including the trench coat, the khaki trouser and aviator-style sunglasses have come to the wardrobe via the warrior.<br><br> Over the years, a handful of clothing makers now considered "heritage" brands have also benefited from military connections. Supplying the troops gave these companies the boost into the public consciousness (not to mention the revenue stream) that a shout-out on "Oprah" might have in more recent times. Outer-wear manufacturer Woolrich, for example, made its name supplying woolen blankets to troops during the Civil War. And contracts to supply military uniforms through both world wars transformed tiny Chicago-based retailer Hart Schaffner &amp; Marx into one of the biggest domestic makers of men's suits. It was the label that President Obama wore to his inauguration.<br><br>Now a West Coast company that few people outside of the military know exists is preparing to leverage a decade of dressing troops on the battlefield into a line of designer clothes for civilians that will meld high tech with high style. The garments will look like or , but they'll also be designed to follow the articulations of the human body, prevent body odor, wick moisture, offer a greater range of motion and be studded with stealth pockets. Called Massif Collection, the line is poised to hit stores with fall clothes in late July 2012.<br><br>It's the first foray into fashion for Ashland, Ore.-based Massif, a company that began in 1999 when its two founders &#8212; veteran search-and-rescue mountaineers Jeff Roberts and Randy Benham &#8212; became frustrated with the dearth of options available when it came to flame-resistant cold-weather garments. A dozen years later, the company (acquired by military footwear supplier Tactical Holdings and private equity partner Golden Gate Capital in 2009) boasts $100 million in annual sales. It provides a wide range of high-performance apparel to smoke jumpers, SWAT teams, military snipers, the and elite U.S. fighting forces of every stripe, and it has sold some 3 million of its technical garments to the U.S. government. Massif's most high-profile piece is a flame-resistant shirt called the ACS (short for Army Combat Shirt) which, according to company Executive Vice President Chris Wasgatt, has been the only combat shirt authorized to be worn by troops "outside the wire" (anywhere off-base in the combat theater) for the last 31/2 years.<br><br>A year ago, to help the label move from barracks to boutiques, the company enlisted Scott Branscum to serve as vice president and general merchandising manager of Massif's consumer brands. A menswear veteran whose r&#233;sum&#233; includes stints at , Eddie Bauer and Cutter &amp; Buck, Branscum is wiry and enthusiastic, coming across like a slightly smaller, more compact version of menswear designer John Varvatos &#8212; a resemblance made unintentionally humorous since Branscum often uses the Varvatos label as a point of reference.<br><br>"There are some elements of Hugo Boss to [Massif Collection], some elements of Victorinox and RLX , but looking at everything &#8212; how it relates, the taste level of the consumer, the price point and everything the closest thing would be Varvatos," Branscum said. "It's classic, it's got beautiful style and beautiful fabrics."<br><br>Indeed, many of the 40 styles in the inaugural collection have the same crisp, tailored, military-meets-minimalist aesthetic of Varvatos' oeuvre, especially pieces like the five-button wool blazer that could have marched right off the end of a European runway.<br><br>But a closer look reveals a Swiss Army knife's worth of functionality lurking beneath the luxe. The super-soft blazer is crafted from a four-way stretch wool and is designed with articulated sleeves and diamond-shaped gussets under the arms &#8212; characteristics that afford comfort and a greater range of motion. It also boasts anti-microbial and moisture management properties (to control odor and speed drying respectively), four inner zip pockets and a fifth, barely noticeable, zippered stealth pocket built into the blazer's left forearm. (But unlike its military counterparts, the civilian wear is not flame-resistant.)<br><br>These kinds of performance details run through the entire collection, which includes lightweight jackets (most at a suggested retail price of $250 to $350 with one leather jacket priced at $850), blazers ($350 to $550), sweaters ($350 to $450), button-front shirts ($100 to $200) and trousers ($120 to $220).<br><br>To date, prototype pieces have been shown to only a handful of industry insiders, but the full fall-winter 2012 Massif Collection is scheduled to make its debut before the fashion press and retail buyers at the Pitti Immagine Uomo menswear trade show in Florence, Italy, in mid-January.<br><br>Branscum said that though he isn't at liberty to discuss the specific retailers that might carry the collection, he was happy to share his wish list. "We're certainly looking at the higher end of menswear, which for department stores means and Nordstrom, and for specialty stores, boutiques like Fred Segal."<br><br>Heading for the high-end boutique makes sense beyond simply brand positioning, says Tim Bess, a men's fashion trend analyst with New York City-based Doneger Group. "I see it selling well in the kind of luxury environment where an employee can really tell the story and explain all the details," Bess said. "It's got a great story behind it."<br><br>But, Bess points out, if all Massif brought to the front line of fashion was a "rah-rah we protect the troops" kind of back story, it wouldn't be enough to win the hearts and minds &#8212; and dollars &#8212; of consumers.<br><br>"I think it's the story that gets you," he said. "But when it comes to luxury and high fashion, it's got to look good, and this [line] looks fabulous; it has a little bit of that feel to it. And they've done a really good job with fit, which is also important these days."<br><br>Bess said that the performance fabrics and design details such as the articulated sleeves, gusseted underarms and crotches, and a barely there cellphone pocket tucked behind the side seam of a dress trouser pant leg &#8212; the kind of things that consumers have come to expect from activewear and technical outerwear garments over the last decade &#8212; will make the line appealing to the tech-savvy early adapter.<br><br>And that is the Massif Collection's target demographic. "This is for the 25- to 55-year-old guy who waited in line for every new and when it came out," Branscum says. "He's well-educated. He's more of an urban, big-city guy &#8212; a guy with an active lifestyle and who wants to look sharp no matter what and needs stuff to keep up with him no matter what the environment."<br><br>Of course, as military men return to civilian life, there's also a little something called brand awareness, which labels such as Hart Schaffner Marx have historically leveraged to build the business on the home front. , the chief creative officer and president of that label's parent company HMX Group, says he's found early advertising campaigns that emphasize the connection. "Ads that show a college kid sitting at his desk in a tweed jacket with a military helmet sitting nearby," Abboud said. "Or that talk about the company's expertise at making things like the Norfolk jacket, which reminds people of its ties to the military."<br><br>Does Branscum think Massif has that kind of recognition?<br><br>"Four of Massif's ACS shirts are issued to every U.S. soldier that goes into battle, complete with a hangtag that has a Massif logo sticker," Branscum says. "The company gets photos of Massif stickers all the time &#8212; on walls, on the sides of tanks, all over the place in Afghanistan."<br><br>Doneger's Tim Bess doesn't think Massif's inaugural campaign to cross over will be much of a battle. "Are you going to wear these clothes into a volcano? No. But at the end of the day, if the product looks fantastic &#8212; which it does &#8212; and the story is right, and truthful and positive &#8212; which it is &#8212; I think it's a win-win situation."<br><br>And whether it's in reference to a war or a wardrobe, a win-win is a very rare victory indeed.<br><br>is having a moment.<br><br>Last month, the Italian luxury label's Missoni for collaboration was so hotly sought after that it caused the retailer's website to crash. EBay was flooded with resales of the stuff &#8212; some 21,000 items at one point &#8212; at inflated prices, including a pair of boots a Tulsa, Okla., woman posted for $31,000, in hopes, she wrote in the auction listing, of funding her daughter's college tuition.<br><br> Orders for the Missoni spring 2012 ready-to-wear line got a post-frenzy boost, and the company is pondering a mid-priced line. Copycat zigzags are turning up on everything from scarves to sweater dresses.<br><br>Last Sunday, three generations of Missonis gathered in Beverly Hills to accept the Rodeo Drive Walk of Style Award &#8212; the first fashion house to be honored as an entire family.<br><br>Could it be that Missoni is on its way to becoming a household name?<br><br>Before the ceremony, the family gathered to talk about the business at Mr. C in Beverly Hills. But what was supposed to be a small gathering turned into a full-blown family reunion, with wine flowing and three generations speaking in and Italian &#8212; often at the same time.<br><br>There was outspoken patriarch Ottavio "Tai" Missoni, 90, who recently won a gold medal in a track and field event for nonagenarian athletes. He and wife Rosita founded the company nearly 60 years ago, after meeting at the 1948 London , by combining resources from her family's shawl-making business and his sports and lounge wear startup. On this day, he was wearing a soft, pilly sweater vest that looked like it could be an antique but was actually from the fall collection.<br><br>Seated across from him was Rosita, 80, who stepped down from designing clothing in 1997 and now oversees Missoni Home. She was garbed in clashing Missoni patterns and giant plastic sailboat earrings, with a skinny braid dangling down from the back of her otherwise short coif. She was still wearing a sticker from the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, where she had viewed the exhibition earlier in the day.<br><br>Next to Ottavio was daughter Angela, 52, creative director of the brand, who exuded a hint of 1960s artistic flower child in a crochet skirt, in contrast with her brothers Vittorio, 57, and Luca, 55, who run the business. (Luca was in a Missoni baseball cap, and Vittorio wore a toned-down sweater.)<br><br>Across the table from Angela was her daughter, Margherita Missoni, 28, who starred in the Target ad campaign, collaborated on the collection with her mother and is quickly emerging as the next-generation face of the brand.<br><br>Dressed in cutoff jeans shorts and a 1970s vintage jersey Missoni top scored on EBay, Margherita appeared to be a free spirit like her mom, recounting tales of trips to the Burning Man festival and looking at photos of her race-car driver boyfriend in an Italian newspaper. She once had aspirations to be an actress but gave them up to join the family business, where she heads up accessory design and collaborations (including recent projects with Havaianas and Converse).<br><br>Over the course of the three-hour lunch, the Missonis interacted in a manner that conforms to an idyllic picture of familial harmony. (They often use family portraits as part of their advertising campaigns.) They held forth on many topics &#8212; the label's history, the origin of those trademark zigzag patterns that are the brand's under-the-radar logo, the dynamics of a family business &#8212; but often returned to the Target deal and the new opportunities it is creating.<br><br>"Honestly, we didn't expect it," Angela Missoni said of the Sept. 13 frenzy. "I kept getting calls from friends all over America saying, 'Do you know what's happening here? There are lines outside the store. The shelves are empty!'"<br><br>The Missoni for Target collection was the discount retailer's biggest high-low collaboration to date, with 400 pieces, including a $4.99 martini glass, $49.99 cardigan sweater, $399.99 bike and $599.99 patio set &#8212; all in Missoni's graphic patterns, and all significantly less expensive than Missoni's main line, which sells at and other high-end department stores at $1,000 or more for a dress.<br><br>Target first came calling five years ago. "But I wasn't sure they were ready," Angela said. "Then, after what they did with Liberty of London, I saw it was working very well. And we were attracted to what they could bring to the awareness of the label."<br><br>Colleen Sherin, senior fashion director for Saks Fifth Avenue, characterized the collaboration with Target as "brilliant." (Saks carries the runway and lower-priced M Missoni collections.) "I don't think anyone realized how incredibly successful it would be," Sherin said in an email. "It was very smart in terms of developing further brand awareness across the country and bringing iconic Missoni designs to a broader audience."<br><br>Founded as a small knitwear label in 1953, Missoni gained prominence in the fashion world in the late 1960s and early 1970s for using knitwear as a canvas for kaleidoscopic flame, zigzag and space dye designs, and fashioning a new kind of informal, soft wardrobe.<br><br>It has since grown into an international lifestyle brand with 40 stand-alone boutiques (including the one on Rodeo Drive) selling women's and men's ready-to-wear, and a number of licensed divisions, including M Missoni, eyewear and fragrance. (The women's runway collections have been more conceptual over the last couple of years, sometimes dividing critics. But the fall 2011 collection in stores now &#8212; with its cozy crocheted sweaters, some trimmed in marabou feathers, and maxi skirts in cotton candy colors &#8212; was well received.) Missoni has opened its first hotels in Edinburgh, Scotland and Kuwait, and three more are planned for Oman, Brazil and Turkey.<br><br>Nonetheless, in many ways it has been a niche brand in the United States &#8212; until now. In the online coverage of the Target deal, Angela remembered one commentator posting: "Am I the only one who doesn't know Missoni?"<br><br>Missoni is privately held. In 2010, the company had annual sales of about $45 million. (In 2010, Italian luxury brand had $2.75 billion in annual sales, including the Prada, , Church's and Car Shoe labels.)<br><br>Some industry watchers estimate the collaboration with Target was worth as much as $100 million in advertising for Missoni. And the family is already feeling the halo effect, with orders for the spring 2012 women's ready-to-wear line increasing 10% over last season, Margherita said. The family said they are hoping to continue to leverage the success by launching their own more affordable line.<br><br>"We can't waste too much time," Margherita said. "We have a lot of options because everyone is interested, but it has to be something that touches different categories.... The fact that you can put a zigzag on anything was part of the success at Target. People who wouldn't wear a top would have a glass or a blanket."<br><br>The new line probably wouldn't be priced as low as Missoni for Target, she said, and probably would be international. "Maybe it's a partnership with in the U.S. and someone else in Europe."<br><br>Margherita gives the impression that she is growing into her role, just as her mother did when she took the reins from her parents at age 31. The first time the two worked together was on the Target line. And generally, Angela seems to be in awe of what Margherita can accomplish.<br><br>"She entered the business with such gentleness," Angela said. "I am proud."<br><br>When family friend Quincy Jones presented the Walk of Style Award to what he dubbed the "Sumirago posse" &#8212; a reference to the family's hometown about an hour northwest of , Italy &#8212; he said the colors and patterns of Missoni designs "are like the notes of a beautiful love song."<br><br>Soon, we'll see how the next generation carries the tune.<br><br><p>This post has been updated, as indicated below.</p><p>The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences invited 176 new members into the organization on Friday, including , , , , , , Wong Kar Wai and.</p><p>A Los Angeles Times study published earlier this year found that academy voters are markedly less diverse than the moviegoing public and even more monolithic than many in the film industry may suspect. Oscar voters are nearly 94% Caucasian and 77% male, The Times found. Blacks are about 2% of the academy, and Latinos are less than 2%. Oscar voters have a median age of 62, the study showed. People younger than 50 constitute just 14% of the membership.</p> <p>A preliminary examination of the invitee list indicated that the class is about 28% female and 10% nonwhite. [Update, 3:15 p.m.: Academy officials say the roster is 30% female and 14% nonwhite.] In 2011, the invitees were 30% female and 10% nonwhite.</p><p></p><p>Outgoing academy president Tom Sherak and Chief Executive Dawn Hudson have said diversifying the ranks of the academy is a priority.</p><p>The 2012 invitees are:<br>Actors<br> &ndash; &ldquo;Margin Call,&rdquo; &ldquo;L.A. Confidential&rdquo;<br> &ndash; &ldquo;Flightplan,&rdquo; &ldquo;The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring&rdquo;<br>B&eacute;r&eacute;nice Bejo &ndash; &ldquo;The Artist,&rdquo; &ldquo;OSS 117: , Nest of Spies&rdquo;<br> &ndash; &ldquo;Inception,&rdquo; &ldquo;Platoon&rdquo;<br>Demi&aacute;n Bichir &ndash; &ldquo;A Better Life,&rdquo; &ldquo;Che&rdquo;<br>Jessica Chastain &ndash; &ldquo;The Help,&rdquo; &ldquo;The Tree of Life&rdquo;<br> &ndash; &ldquo;Star Trek,&rdquo; &ldquo;Traffic&rdquo;<br>Bryan Cranston &ndash; &ldquo;Contagion,&rdquo; &ldquo;Little Miss Sunshine&rdquo;<br> &ndash; &ldquo;Les infid&egrave;ls," &ldquo;The Artist&rdquo;<br> &ndash; &ldquo;The Iron Lady,&rdquo; &ldquo;Withnail &amp; I&rdquo;<br> &ndash; &ldquo;Moneyball,&rdquo; &ldquo;Superbad&rdquo;<br> &ndash; &ldquo;J. Edgar,&rdquo; &ldquo;In Her Shoes&rdquo;<br> &ndash; &ldquo;Milk,&rdquo; &ldquo;Y Tu Mam&aacute; Tambi&eacute;n&rdquo;<br> &ndash; &ldquo;Secretariat,&rdquo; &ldquo;Million Dollar Baby&rdquo;<br> &ndash; &ldquo;Bridesmaids,&rdquo; &ldquo;The Back-Up Plan&rdquo;<br> &ndash; &ldquo;The Lincoln Lawyer,&rdquo; &ldquo;A Time to Kill&rdquo;<br> &ndash; &ldquo;Albert Nobbs,&rdquo; &ldquo;Tumbleweeds&rdquo;<br> &ndash; &ldquo;Mother and Child,&rdquo; &ldquo;Terminator 2: Judgment Day&rdquo;<br> &ndash; &ldquo;Cowboys &amp; Aliens,&rdquo; &ldquo;Moon&rdquo;<br> &ndash; &ldquo;The Prestige,&rdquo; &ldquo;The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the &rdquo;<br> &ndash; &ldquo;The Help,&rdquo; &ldquo;&rdquo;<br> &ndash; &ldquo;Being Flynn,&rdquo; &ldquo;High Fidelity&rdquo;<br> &ndash; &ldquo;For a Good Time, Call&hellip;,&rdquo; &ldquo;My Big Fat Greek Wedding&rdquo;<br> &ndash; &ldquo;,&rdquo; &ldquo;Ray&rdquo;<br> &ndash; &ldquo;The Lady,&rdquo; &ldquo;Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon&rdquo;</p><p><br>Designers<br>Laurence Bennett &ndash; &ldquo;The Artist,&rdquo; &ldquo;Crash&rdquo;<br>David Brisbin &ndash; &ldquo;The Twilight Saga: New Moon,&rdquo; &ldquo;Dead Presidents&rdquo;<br>Scott Chambliss &ndash; &ldquo;Cowboys &amp; Aliens,&rdquo; &ldquo;Mission: Impossible III&rdquo;<br>Wendy Chuck &ndash; &ldquo;The Descendants,&rdquo; &ldquo;Sideways&rdquo;<br>Maria Djurkovic &ndash; &ldquo;Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy,&rdquo; &ldquo;The Hours&rdquo;<br>Sanja Milkovic Hays &ndash; &ldquo;Battle: Los Angeles,&rdquo; &ldquo;Mission to Mars&rdquo;<br>Mayes Rubeo &ndash; &ldquo;Avatar,&rdquo; &ldquo;Apocalypto&rdquo;<br>Anne Seibel &ndash; &ldquo;Midnight in Paris,&rdquo; &ldquo;The Devil Wears &rdquo;<br>Sharon Seymour &ndash; &ldquo;The ,&rdquo; &ldquo;Friday Night Lights&rdquo;<br>Sammy Sheldon &ndash; &ldquo;X-Men: First Class,&rdquo; &ldquo;V for Vendetta&rdquo;</p><p><br>Cinematographers<br>Florian Ballhaus &ndash; &ldquo;Mr. Popper&rsquo;s Penguins,&rdquo; &ldquo;The Devil Wears Prada&rdquo;<br>Oliver Bokelberg &ndash; &ldquo;Win Win,&rdquo; &ldquo;The Station Agent&rdquo;<br>Anna J. Foerster &ndash; &ldquo;Anonymous&rdquo;<br>Larry Fong &ndash; &ldquo;Super 8,&rdquo; &ldquo;300&rdquo;<br>Alwin Kuchler &ndash; &ldquo;Hanna,&rdquo; &ldquo;Proof&rdquo;<br>Toyomichi Kurita &ndash; &ldquo;&rsquo;s Madea&rsquo;s Big Happy Family,&rdquo; &ldquo;Waiting to Exhale&rdquo;<br>George Mooradian &ndash; &ldquo;Crazy as Hell,&rdquo; &ldquo;Nemesis&rdquo;<br>Guillaume Schiffman &ndash; &ldquo;The Artist,&rdquo; &ldquo;OSS 117: Cairo, Nest of Spies&rdquo;<br>Terry Stacey &ndash; &ldquo;Salmon Fishing in the Yemen,&rdquo; &ldquo;Friends with Money&rdquo;</p><p><br>Directors<br>Joseph Cedar &ndash; &ldquo;Footnote (),&rdquo; &ldquo;Beaufort&rdquo;<br> &ndash; &ldquo;The Kid With a Bike (Le gamin au v&eacute;lo),&rdquo; &ldquo;The Child (L&rsquo;enfant)&rdquo;<br> &ndash; &ldquo;Lorna&rsquo;s Silence (Le silence de Lorna),&rdquo; &ldquo;The Son (Le fils)&rdquo;<br>Philippe Falardeau &ndash; &ldquo;Monsieur Lazhar,&rdquo; &ldquo;It&rsquo;s Not Me, I Swear! (C&rsquo;est pas moi, je le jure!)&rdquo;<br>Asghar Farhadi &ndash; &ldquo;A Separation (Jodaieye Nadar az Simin),&rdquo; &ldquo;About Elly (Darbareye Elly)<br>(also invited to the Writers Branch)<br>Rodrigo Garcia &ndash; &ldquo;Albert Nobbs,&rdquo; &ldquo;Mother and Child&rdquo;<br> &ndash; &ldquo;Les infid&egrave;les (The Players),&rdquo; &ldquo;The Artist&rdquo; (also invited to the Writers<br>Branch)<br> &ndash; &ldquo;Talk to Me,&rdquo; &ldquo;Eve&rsquo;s Bayou&rdquo;<br> &ndash; &ldquo;The Tree of Life,&rdquo; &ldquo;The Thin Red Line&rdquo;<br>Micha&euml;l R. Roskam &ndash; &ldquo;Bullhead (Rundskop)&rdquo;<br>Wong Kar Wai &ndash; &ldquo;My Blueberry Nights,&rdquo; &ldquo;In the Mood for Love&rdquo;</p><p><br>Documentary<br>John Battsek &ndash; &ldquo;The Tillman Story,&rdquo; &ldquo;One Day in September&rdquo;<br>Amy Berg &ndash; &ldquo;Bhutto,&rdquo; &ldquo;Deliver Us From Evil&rdquo;<br> &ndash; &ldquo;Project Nim,&rdquo; &ldquo;&rdquo;<br>Marshall Curry &ndash; &ldquo;If a Tree Falls: A Story of the Earth Liberation Front,&rdquo; &ldquo;Street Fight&rdquo;<br>Johanna Demetrakas &ndash; &ldquo;Crazy Wisdom: The Life and Times of Chogyam Trungpa<br>Rinpoche,&rdquo; &ldquo;Bus Riders Union&rdquo;<br>Daniel Junge &ndash; &ldquo;Saving Face,&rdquo; &ldquo;The Last Campaign of Governor Booth Gardner&rdquo;<br>Mary Lampson &ndash; &ldquo;Kimjongilia,&rdquo; &ldquo;Harlan County, USA&rdquo;<br>Sam Pollard &ndash; &ldquo;Gerrymandering,&rdquo; &ldquo;4 Little Girls&rdquo;<br>Glenn Silber &ndash; &ldquo;El Salvador: Another Vietnam,&rdquo; &ldquo;The War at Home&rdquo;<br> &ndash; &ldquo;The Tsunami and the Cherry Blossom,&rdquo; &ldquo;Waste Land&rdquo;</p><p><br>Executives<br>James Amos<br>Michael Bostick<br>Richard Brener<br>Howard Mark Cohen<br>David C. Glasser<br>Jeffrey B. Goldstein<br>Frederick Huntsberry<br>Jon Jashni<br>Michael Marshall<br>Tony Safford<br>Gregory Silverman<br>Nigel Sinclair</p><p><br>Film Editors<br>Kirk Baxter &ndash; &ldquo;The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo,&rdquo; &ldquo;The Social Network&rdquo;<br>Nicolas De Toth &ndash; &ldquo;&rdquo; &ldquo;The Sum of All Fears&rdquo;<br>Scott Hill &ndash; &ldquo;Zookeeper,&rdquo; &ldquo;Bruce Almighty&rdquo;<br>Dan Lebental &ndash; &ldquo;Iron Man 2,&rdquo; &ldquo;Elf&rdquo;<br>Glen Scantlebury &ndash; &ldquo;Transformers,&rdquo; &ldquo;&rsquo;s Dracula&rdquo;</p><p><br>Makeup Artists and Hairstylists<br>Mark Coulier &ndash; &ldquo;The Iron Lady,&rdquo; &ldquo;&rdquo;<br>Linda Flowers &ndash; &ldquo;The Hunger Games,&rdquo; &ldquo;The Social Network&rdquo;<br>Toni G &ndash; &ldquo;Salt,&rdquo; &ldquo;Monster&rdquo;<br>Amanda Knight &ndash; &ldquo;Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2,&rdquo; &ldquo;Mission: Impossible&rdquo;<br>Tami Lane &ndash; &ldquo; Returns&rdquo; &ldquo;The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the<br>Wardrobe&rdquo;</p><p><br>Members-at-Large<br>Wendy Aylsworth<br><br>Patrick Crowley<br>Bud Davis<br>Chris deFaria<br>Sarah Katzman<br>John Kilkenny<br>Heidi Levitt<br>Kerry Lyn McKissick<br>Elizabeth Sayre<br>Michael Tadross<br>Mary Vernieu</p><p><br>Music<br>Ludovic Bource &ndash; &ldquo;The Artist,&rdquo; &ldquo;OSS 117: Lost in Rio&rdquo;<br>Alberto Iglesias &ndash; &ldquo;Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy,&rdquo; &ldquo;The Constant Gardener&rdquo;<br>Conrad Pope &ndash; &ldquo;My Week With Marilyn,&rdquo; &ldquo;The Rising Place&rdquo;<br>Ryuichi Sakamoto &ndash; &ldquo;Love Is the Devil,&rdquo; &ldquo;The Last Emperor&rdquo;<br>Theodore Shapiro &ndash; &ldquo;The Big Year,&rdquo; &ldquo;&rdquo;</p><p><br>Producers<br>Letty Aronson &ndash; &ldquo;Midnight in Paris,&rdquo; &ldquo;Match Point&rdquo;<br>Michael Barnathan &ndash; &ldquo;The Help,&rdquo; &ldquo;Rent&rdquo;<br>Jean Br&eacute;hat &ndash; &ldquo;London River,&rdquo; &ldquo;Days of Glory (Indig&egrave;nes)&rdquo;<br>Susan Cartsonis &ndash; &ldquo;Beastly,&rdquo; &ldquo;What Women Want&rdquo;<br>Tracey Edmonds &ndash; &ldquo;Jumping the Broom,&rdquo; &ldquo;Soul Food&rdquo;<br>Dede Gardner &ndash; &ldquo;The Tree of Life,&rdquo; &ldquo;Running With Scissors&rdquo;<br> &ndash; &ldquo;The Ides of March,&rdquo; &ldquo;Good Night, and Good Luck.&rdquo; (also invited to the<br>Writers Branch)</p><p>Thomas Langmann &ndash; &ldquo;The Artist,&rdquo; &ldquo;Mesrine: Public Enemy #1&rdquo;<br>William Packer &ndash; &ldquo;Think Like a Man,&rdquo; &ldquo;This Christmas&rdquo;<br>Aaron Ryder &ndash; &ldquo;The Raven,&rdquo; &ldquo;The Prestige&rdquo;<br>Peter Saraf &ndash; &ldquo;Our Idiot Brother,&rdquo; &ldquo;Little Miss Sunshine&rdquo;<br>Mary Jane Skalski &ndash; &ldquo;Win Win,&rdquo; &ldquo;The Station Agent&rdquo;</p><p><br>Public Relations<br>Larry Baldauf<br>Cindi Berger<br>Matthew P. Brubaker<br>Brian Daly<br>Rebecca Kearey<br>Adam Keen<br>Katie Martin Kelley<br>Eric Kops<br>Derek McLay<br>Michelle Sewell<br>Mark Woollen</p><p><br>Short Films and Feature Animation<br>Paul Cichocki &ndash; &ldquo;Brave,&rdquo; &ldquo;&rdquo;<br>Eric Daniels &ndash; &ldquo;Tangled,&rdquo; &ldquo;Meet the Robinsons&rdquo;<br>Amanda Forbis &ndash; &ldquo;Wild Life,&rdquo; &ldquo;When the Day Breaks&rdquo;<br>Emily Hubley &ndash; &ldquo;The Toe Tactic,&rdquo; &ldquo;Pigeon Within&rdquo;<br>William Joyce &ndash; &ldquo;The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore,&rdquo; &ldquo;Meet the Robinsons&rdquo;<br>Marv Newland &ndash; &ldquo;CMYK,&rdquo; &ldquo;T&ecirc;te &agrave; T&ecirc;te &agrave; T&ecirc;te&rdquo;<br>Floyd Norman &ndash; &ldquo;Waking Sleeping Beauty,&rdquo; &ldquo;Mulan&rdquo;<br>Jonas Rivera &ndash; &ldquo;Up,&rdquo; &ldquo;Cars&rdquo;<br>Michelle Steffes &ndash; &ldquo;The Interview,&rdquo; &ldquo;Day Labor&rdquo;<br>David Verrall &ndash; &ldquo;Dimanche/Sunday,&rdquo; &ldquo;Madame Tutli-Putli&rdquo;<br>Jennifer Yuh Nelson &ndash; &ldquo; 2,&rdquo; &ldquo;Madagascar&rdquo;</p>From the lava-like raw-linen tunic inspired by avant-garde Japanese design in to the Rodarte-designed twisted tutus in the fashion in this holiday season's "prestige" films is notable for historical references and inventive approaches to traditional costuming.<br><br>Here we talk to costume designers about the inspirations ( and Comme des Gar&#231;ons), (1930s vintage styles and dense, 32-ounce wools) and triumphs (delicate wings and illumination technology) of working on six stylish new films.<br><br> <br><br>"True Grit," opening Wednesday, is Joel and 's take on Charles Portis' 1968 novel about a headstrong young girl named Mattie Ross (Hailee Steinfeld) who sets out to avenge her father's murder in 1870s-era Arkansas and Indian Territory. She hires one-eyed U.S. Marshal Rooster Cogburn ( ) and, much to his chagrin, joins him on the trail.<br><br>Cutting a wide swath through the wild frontier, they cross paths with outlaws, snakes and a cocksure Texas Ranger named La Boeuf ( ). Thanks to costume designer Mary Zophres, the look of the characters along the dusty trail is intoxicating. She spent two months researching the project at Western Costume in North Hollywood, studying original photographs, diaries and books such as "Calico Chronicle: Texas Women and Their Fashions 1830-1910."<br><br>Zophres wanted Cogburn to look "iconic without being fancy. "One thing that bothers me about some westerns is that they are too slick," she says. His shirt was a replica of a Union Army issue, and his coat was designed to look like a Civil War blanket. (Zophres sourced wool from Europe, because she wanted a 32-ounce fabric that was produced in the U.S. in the second half of the 19th century but is not available in the U.S. now.) With his signature fringed buckskin jacket, La Boeuf is the dandy of the bunch, but it is Mattie's trail outfit that really inspires. Her oversized green coat cinched with a rough-hewn belt and Stetson "Boss of the Plains" hat is Prada fall/winter 2009 meets Herm&#232;s spring 2011.<br><br>"Men were not wearing belts in those days," Zophres says, "but they had belts that tied their saddle rolls together. So that's how I pitched it, that she could have wrapped that around the waist. It was really cute. I kind of want that outfit."<br><br> <br><br>The backdrop for this 1930s story is the relationship between speech therapist Lionel Logue ( ) and the reluctant Albert, Duke of York, who must deal with a debilitating stammer in the years before he becomes King George VI.<br><br>Costume designer Jenny Beavan commissioned bespoke suits for Albert and "off-the-peg" tweeds for Logue. Albert's wife, Elizabeth ( ), wears the charming, softly colored&#160;tie-front blouses, long skirts, fur-trimmed coats and feathered hats of the day.&#160;(It's easier to find 1930s vintage in the U.S. than in Europe, Beavan says, because America did not experience the devastating bombings that ruined much of the European landscape during .)<br><br>But the biggest fashionista in the film appears only briefly: ( ), the controversial&#160;American divorcee who captures the heart of&#160;Albert's brother, Edward VIII, and costs him&#160;the throne. She is dressed for a dinner party at Balmoral Castle in an aubergine off-the-shoulder&#160;gown&#160;and a necklace with a zipper pendant worn over her bare back. The piece was borrowed from Van Cleef &amp; Arpels and is similar to one Simpson commissioned from the jeweler in the 1930s.<br><br> <br><br>At its best, "The Tourist" recalls elegant 1950s-era films with Kelly, such as "To Catch a Thief." At its worst, it's reminiscent of the kind of slick perfume commercials you see on TV this time of year. But there's no denying that the costumes, in the hands of Colleen Atwood, are resplendent.<br><br>The film follows Frank Tupelo ( ), an American tourist in Italy caught up in a web of mistaken identity and international espionage. He's a hapless math teacher from the Midwest, and Elise Clifton-Ward ( ) is his glamorous heroine, who first appears on screen in a camel cashmere stole, long gloves and a tight skirt accented with an orange sash in back that swishes as she walks.<br><br>Jolie's sleek look, all neutral colors and rich fabrics, was inspired by Kelly's elegance, says Atwood, as well as the fashion photographs of and Louise Dahl-Wolfe. The sash was pure seduction. "It reminded me of wild animals, how they have a flash of color."<br><br>All of Jolie's costumes were designed and made by hand, except for a 1950s Charles James dress Atwood found at the Los Angeles vintage store the Paper Bag Princess. ("I couldn't resist," Atwood says.) The costume designer collaborated with Salvatore Ferragamo on Jolie's shoe wardrobe, including a pair of gold heels ($750) that were produced for Ferragamo boutiques. And that antique diamond choker Jolie wears with her Belle &#201;poque-inspired black tulle ball gown was adapted from a tiara from Robert Procop's private collection.<br><br>A former Asprey executive, Procop has been making pieces for Jolie for years. And it was Asprey, of course, that tapped Jolie to design a line of fine jewelry last year, so it should come as no surprise that there are several Asprey clutches and jewels in the film as well. That's synergy for you.<br><br>'The Tempest'<br><br>In 's version of Shakespeare's "The Tempest," the lead character Prospero has been transformed into a woman (Prospera), a queen who is banished to a deserted island with her daughter Miranda, where she uses her sorceress powers to shipwreck the members of court who sent her there.<br><br>-- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --<p>Fashion exhibitions at museums, like the ": Savage Beauty" show that set attendance records at the in 2011, are more popular than ever. Here is a selection of what's on now and what's coming soon, in the U.S. and abroad.</p><p> After Diana Vreeland Dedicated to the style and passion of the late fashion icon, editor, traveler and Metropolitan Museum of Art Costume Institute curator. Vreeland also worked as a special consultant to the museum from 1972 to the time of her death in 1989, setting the international standard for costume exhibitions. This show includes pieces of her personal wardrobe by , and ; theatrical costumes; and art objects. At the opening this month, her grandson Alexander Vreeland explained to Women's Wear Daily that Diana Vreeland "made the relation between fashion and art possible. This is standing on her shoulders. For important fashion to be seen in a museum, she forged that territory. And it's often the most lucrative part of a museum."</p><p>Through June 25 at the Fortuny Palace, Venice, , http://www.visitmuve.it.</p> <p>Charles James: Genius Deconstructed Celebrates one of the few American designers to have worked in the tradition of the French haute couture, whose work continues to inspire half a century after his death. It features 15 of his most memorable looks.</p><p>Through April 16 at the Chicago History Museum, chicagohistory.org.</p><p>The Total Look: The creative collaboration between Rudi Gernreich, Peggy Moffitt and William Claxton Explores the collaboration between Los Angeles-based designer Gernreich, an innovator before his time; his muse Moffitt and her late husband Claxton, who photographed many of Gernreich's designs, bringing them to life. Includes dozens of Gernreich's body-conscious looks, as well as film footage and photographs.</p><p>Through May 20 at the Museum of Contemporary Art Pacific Design Center, Los Angeles, http://www.moca.org.</p><p>The Sea The influence of the romance of the sea on fashion design. Featuring clothing and accessories from the 19th century to the present, from fashion houses including , and Emanuel Ungaro.</p><p>Through July 15 at the Phoenix Art Museum, http://www.phxart.org.</p><p>Louis Vuitton- The story of Vuitton, who founded his trunk business in 1854, with a "specialty in the packing of fashions," and Jacobs, artistic director since 1997, who helped design and market Louis Vuitton, turning it into a global fashion powerhouse.</p><p>Through Sept. 16 at Les Arts Decoratifs in Paris, http://www.lesartsdecoratifs.fr.</p><p>Yves Saint Laurent: The Retrospective Includes more than 200 garments tracing the arc of Saint Laurent's career, from his first days at Dior in 1958 to his final runway collection in 2002. The show is organized with the Fondation -Yves Saint Laurent; this is its only U.S. stop.</p><p>March 25 to July 8 at the Denver Art Museum, denverartmuseum.org.</p><p>Herb Ritts: L.A. Style Retrospective of the late photographer, whose aesthetic emerged in the 1980s, including images of fashion models and his anti-glamour style portraits of celebrities, many of which were recently acquired from the Herb Ritts Foundation.</p><p>April 3 to Aug. 26 at in Los Angeles, http://www.getty.edu.</p><p>Christian Louboutin Showcases the shoe maestro's design process and some of his finest work, from sneakers to stilettos, on the occasion of the 20th anniversary of his brand.</p><p>May 1 to July 9 at the Design Museum London, designmuseum.org.</p><p>An American Legacy: Norell, Blass, &amp; Sprouse Highlights the achievements of Norman Norell, , Roy Halston Frowick and Stephen Sprouse, all of whom hailed from Indiana, and how they contributed to the definition of American style over 50 years of fashion history.</p><p>May 4 to Jan. 27, 2013, Indianapolis Museum of Art, http://www.imamuseum.org.</p><p>Schiaparelli and : Impossible Conversations Explores affinities between Italian designers , who died in 1973, and Miuccia Prada, who entered her family business in 1978, with "conversations" orchestrated between them to suggest new interpretations of their work and an emphasis on their shared fascination with the Surrealist art movement.</p><p>May 10 to Aug. 19 at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, New York, http://www.metmuseum.org.</p><p></p>Whether it's a luxury automobile, a couture gown or a special vintage of wine, even those who aren't collectors and connoisseurs recognize that perceived rarity and quality drive up demand. And price. But would you be willing to pay a premium price &#8212; say five times as much &#8212; for yarn? What if it was a luxurious, lustrous fiber, hand-sheared, -washed, -dyed and -spun from an award-winning sheep &#8212; all by the same woman &#8212; less than 100 miles southeast of Los Angeles?<br><br>You might not, but fiber enthusiasts will. That's something shepherdess/spinner (she uses the term "fiber artist") Natalie Redding found out last September when her Namaste Farms wools and fibers &#8212; feather-soft skeins of iridescent purples and blazing oranges, some dangling with Hello Kitty charms and beads &#8212; became available at the click of a mouse.<br><br> In fact, business is booming so much that Redding's vertically integrated one-woman (with the assistance of husband, kids and a hired hand) small-batch fiber enterprise is bringing in almost enough to make the family's 5-acre farm in Temecula wine country self-sustaining.<br><br>How the 47-year-old former model became a "yarn-treprenuer" mogul is a long yarn itself, and one that Redding starts to spin on a tour of her farm one sunny weekend, her wiry 5-foot-7, 122-pound frame clad in a pair of dark-wash designer jeans, a form-fitting white tank top and a pair of scuffed cowboy boots, with hair falling to her belt, wrists jangling with silver bracelets and face framed by earrings the size of parakeet swings.<br><br>"Yes, this is my standard fare," she says when asked by a reporter if she actually tends to barnyard chores dressed that way. In the same breath, she says she wants to be taken seriously as a farmer and a businesswoman but refuses to fit anyone else's stereotype. "What bothers people is that I just don't look like an aggie [agriculture person]. I'm out there wearing boots, designer jeans and a belt, and I'm not wearing a men's T-shirt. For some reason it disturbs them."<br><br>The "them" Redding refers to are the people she says prejudged her and treated her poorly when she first started on the sheep- and goat-show circuit. "At my first show in 2006 everyone thought because I didn't look like everybody else, I was a poser. And they said things like: 'All you do is go out and buy the best animals.' Why would I want to buy bad animals?"<br><br>That comment about buying the best animals touches on another hurdle to being taken seriously &#8212; the notion that somehow Redding was nothing more than a deep-pocketed backyard hobbyist embarking on a vanity project. After all, a Cadillac Escalade and a Porsche sit in the driveway of Namaste Farms, and a ramshackle bungalow in the barnyard holds enough professional equipment to equip a recording studio. It is, in fact, a functioning studio (dubbed "The Recording Farm") used by her sound engineer husband Sean Redding, who happens to be the son of the late William "Jheri" Redding &#8212; the hairdresser, businessman and inventor of the Jheri curl.<br><br>Natalie met her future husband in 1992, after answering a help-wanted ad at a thoroughbred horse ranch, which it turned out Sean was managing for his father. Before that, in the early '80s, the Mendocino-born high school graduate had chosen Hong Kong over college, working there as a fashion model who supplemented her income as a cage-dancing cocktail waitress. Eventually Natalie Redding returned to California, went to college and earned bachelor's and master's degrees in animal science from Cal Poly San Luis Obispo.<br><br>It was that brought the Reddings to Temecula, but they started shifting to what Natalie calls "safer animals" when the couple began having children. For most of the decade in between they grew the farm with little in the way of fiscal restraint &#8212; buying and breeding the best stock money could buy, including angora and pygora goats and unique sheep breeds such as Gotlands, Babydolls and Wensleydale Longwools (with long, corkscrews of wool that look like a cross between curls and dreadlocks),<br><br>She hired the best breeders and in 2006 paid an expert $175 a day for a week to teach her the art of dying and hand-spinning the wool.<br><br>Today, Namaste Farms boasts somewhere between 85 and 100 head of goats and sheep and a menagerie that includes llamas, cows, pigs and a flock of peafowl (including some prized Java Greens), turkeys, chickens (Buff Orpingtons, Marans and Speckled Sussex) and three incubators that are in the process of hatching 600 to 700 eggs at any given time.<br><br>"Yes, my husband comes from a wealthy family," Redding says, "and Sean's mom had pretty much been his benefactor." But the economic downturn of 2007 and her mother-in-law's failing health made Redding hyperfocus on turning her wool gathering into a real business<br><br>"I realized that the economy was tanking and we had five kids and I wanted to really make this work. And the good thing was that at this point, I already had all the tools I needed," she says.<br><br>Although Redding started out selling her fiber through a few bricks-and-mortar yarn stores, the big leap forward for the burgeoning business came in September 2010 when she convinced one of the biggest online retailers of yarn and fiber to stock her hand-spun, single-ply long wool.<br><br>"The quality is absolutely superb," says Deborah Knight, chief marketing officer for Yarnmarket, which runs Yarnmarket.com. "Natalie buys high-quality animals and breeds them herself and ends up with a very high-quality fiber. And she's a good hand spinner."<br><br>Knight declined to divulge specific sales, but would say that by the time they tallied 2010 year-end numbers, Namaste Farms ranked 50th out of their 80 yarn providers in sales.<br><br>"Within four months she was already 50th," Knight says, "That isn't just pretty good, it's huge. Especially since everyone else we deal with is a huge yarn manufacturer that ships us hundreds and hundreds of bags &#8212; and she's the only yarn producer we deal with that spins all her yarn by hand."<br><br>Knight says that even taking into account the substantial difference in price (a comparable-quality machine-spun merino yarn retails for $21.85 for 110 yards at the site while Redding's 40-yard skeins of the same sell for $44.85) the yarn has sold remarkably well.<br><br>Redding says that Yarnmarket also helped her design labels, packing slips and invoices &#8212; all things she hadn't had before &#8212; and urged her to connect with the enthusiastic online fiber arts crowd through social media.<br><br>"When I started I was so riddled with self-doubt I didn't even want them to pay me for the yarn I sent them," Redding recalls. "And they told me to get on Facebook and to sign up at [online knitting community] Ravelry.com &#8212; I hadn't done any of that."<br><br>Today her frequently updated has 1,245 friends and she's posted nearly two dozen videos offering tips on sheep shearing, wool dying and spinning, and tours of her farm.<br><br>So, in a way, Yarnmarket didn't just give Redding a cyber-storefront and a chance at making Namaste Farms self-sustaining, it gave her a voice too.<br><br>The idea of orange makeup may conjure up images of circus clowns or overly tanned women sporting neon coral lipstick on a sweltering day. But this spring, orange and coral hues are looking fresh, modern and totally wearable.<br><br>From highly pigmented poppy lip lacquer to sheer and lightly sparkled coral blush, orange and coral beauty products are everywhere. Bobbi Brown has a coral collection that includes numerous variations of the hue, from earthy to ultra-feminine sheer with a pink cast. Make Up Forever's orange lip gloss and lipstick are an extreme take on the trend but can be diluted with softer shades or used as is to make a real statement.<br><br> For an example of how orange is making a splash this spring, just peek inside the front pages of a fashion magazine and you can't miss the electric orange pouts on the models in Prada's current advertisements. With the season's minimalist nude and white clothing trend, a vibrant orange lip or nail polish provides a nice balance between subtle and strong color.<br><br>But slapping on some opaque orange gloss and coral highlighter isn't going to get you the right look. It's about picking the right shade and applying it sparingly when choosing to wear these juicy colors.<br><br>Chanel celebrity makeup artist Kara Yoshimoto Bua breaks down the tricks and techniques for wearing the season's hottest makeup shades.<br><br>"The easiest way to work with orange and coral tones is by using it as blush," she says, noting that she likes the way coral can bring out blue eyes and also flatter olive and tan skin. "Corals on the lips are also really nice to brighten the skin, but make sure the gloss is more sheer and not something with too much shimmer."<br><br>Focusing on the cheeks and lips, Bua gave a step-by-step lesson on how to wear coral in a soft and everyday way and also how to pump up the lip color to a bolder shade if you're looking for more impact.<br><br>For a peachy-coral glow, Bua starts with a clean face consisting of natural, "everyday" foundation, a light application of brown eyeliner in the outer corners of the eye for definition and brown mascara applied sparingly to lashes for a clean look.<br><br>Using a nude lip liner pencil, she defines the outer rim of the lip and then fills in the entire lip with the pencil to create a base that makes lipstick and gloss last longer.<br><br>Bua is a big fan of mixing colors. "I'm an artist. I like to mix things like paint," she says, combining two colors of lip gloss &#8212; a sheer pink-peach and coral &#8212; to get the right shade. Bua uses the back of her hand as a palette and dabs the combined colors in the center of the lip, patting and working the gloss onto the lips lightly with her finger. "You want the color to start from the center and work out to the edges of the mouth," she says. "This way, excess gloss doesn't gather at the edge of the lips."<br><br>On the cheeks, Bua first contours with an earth-toned bronzer that contains no shine or shimmer. She hits the cheekbone area but also swipes the bronze hue across the eyelids and down the nose to add more warmth to the face. Then, using a coral blush with hints of gold flecks, Bua brushes the apples of the cheeks to get a pop of coral that complements the lips and gives an overall sheer coral glow.<br><br>To pump up the lip color to a juicy orange stain, Bua mixes two lip colors, using a strong coral-pink Rouge Allure lipstick in Genial and a Gloss Fluo de Chanel in Pop. Again using the back of her hand to get a perfect shade, she dips a lip brush into the color and applies it directly to the center of the mouth. Patting the color out from the center to edges of the lips works especially well with a brighter color to ensure the lips aren't just one solid block of orange. Instead, the technique gives them a glowing, romantic stain that stands out much more than the average lip color.<br><br><p>In certain circles, red carpet generates more buzz than the awards ceremony itself. That two-hour window when stars stroll, preen and gush often showcases the results of hours and hours of prepping by a team of experts tasked with readying their client to face a sea of photographers and impromptu interviews &mdash; to say nothing of the worldwide TV audience and the crush of off-camera media in critique mode.</p><p>For an event as big as this one, that team often includes a fashion stylist, tailor, hairdresser and makeup artist. Their work may have begun months ago, starting with the stylist combing through images from designer collections online or jetting to New York or European ateliers to lend input to custom creations. Here's a look at some of the people behind the scenes whose work will be on display Sunday as actors glide down the red carpet for the main event and its attendant parties.</p><p>Wendi and Nicole Ferreira celebrity fashion stylists</p> <p>"We live at Barneys; it's like our living room," says celebrity stylist Nicole Ferreira, who, along with her sister Wendi, is in charge of dressing supporting actress nominee , who has been raking in awards all season for her role in (Other clients include , , and .)</p><p>On a recent visit, the duo is grabbing heels from the department store's first floor shoe section for a client attending a premiere abroad &mdash; just one of more than half a dozen jobs they are juggling. In addition to shepherding Spencer through awards season, they have multiple movie premieres for Tatum and Pine and parties and press for Banks.</p><p>"Right now, we are spending most days jetting from fitting to store," Wendi Ferreira says. Although shopping is fun, she says, keeping track of multiple clients' clothes is challenging. "We have to stay organized. I'll say OK, the front seat [of the car] is for Elizabeth, the middle seat is for Octavia, to the right is Chris," she says &mdash; showing the way they keep garment bags organized on a busy day of picking up clothing.</p><p>"We definitely feel extra pressure during awards season," she says. "It's such an international audience. And really, there's only about 10 women each year who go to the Oscars and are really in the spotlight." This year, Spencer is one of the 10.</p><p>The duo met the actress in June a couple of months before "The Help" was released and quickly got to know that "she has a really strong, good opinion on what she likes," Wendi Ferreira says.</p><p>Since their initial meeting, the sisters have been robing the actress in a mix of custom and off-the-rack dresses from Los Angeles-based designer Tadashi Shoji, who they say has a wide variety of styles that fit Spencer well. Among the notable looks were a teal wrap gown she wore to the ; a V-neck, ruched front lavender gown to the and a shimmery silver gown with an embroidered bodice and draped skirt to the Screen Actors Guild Awards.</p><p>They agree that their favorite look for Spencer so far was her Golden Globes gown, a custom-made number based on a sleeveless Tadashi cocktail dress. "It was the first custom gown made for her," Nicole Ferreira says. "We all collaborated with Tadashi to come up with the color, sleeve, length and final design. The Irene Neuwirth jewelry completed the look and brought the whole thing together."</p><p>The Ferreiras have been working on Spencer's Oscar dress since nominations were announced in January, meeting with her once a week since then. Though they can't divulge any details, the styling team says that, like the rest of Spencer's red carpet looks this year, the focus will be on fit and comfort. "Octavia's style has been about flattering her figure and what makes her roll her shoulders back and feel beautiful and gives her an extra sparkle," Wendi Ferreira says. "That's how you can tell when a client loves a dress and that's how you know, that's the dress."</p><p>Ludmilla Tomashevskay tailor</p><p>At every fitting for an actress' Oscar gown or actor's tux, there is a tailor ready to nip in even the tiniest portion of fabric or rework a dress entirely to suit the vision of the stylist and celebrity.</p><p>"Gowns are supposed to fit like a glove," says Ludmilla Tomashevskay, one of Hollywood's go-to tailors. "They need to be exact and perfect, and that requires a lot of work. Most of our customers have beautiful bodies, and we really have to sculpt the dress to their bodies."</p><p>Tomashevskay operates her business, Ludmilla Couture, on Melrose Avenue in West Hollywood. It's where stylists for musicians, actors and actresses come to have stage costumes custom-made and red carpet gowns altered to perfection. , , , and are regular clients. Last year, she worked on E! host Giuliana Rancic's gown for the Oscars, as well as on the dress Kardashian wore to 's Oscar-viewing party, and she'll be fitting Kardashian again this year.</p><p>She estimates that she attends 20 to 30 fittings during awards season &mdash; sometimes going to two or three in one day.</p><p>To ensure secrecy, the tailor usually meets the celebrity and stylist somewhere private for fittings. She works with the dress on the celebrity's body until the fit is exactly right. Most times, the fitting takes place one or two days before the event, and Tomashevskay and her team of four seamstresses must work quickly, sometimes through the night, to have the gown ready.</p><p>In addition to fittings and alterations, Tomashevskay and her team are often asked by stylists to create the "back-up" dress &mdash; a gown that the stylist can have on hand in case something unfortunate happens to the chosen dress or a celebrity changes her mind.</p><p>"Tailoring for the red carpet is always complicated, because it's gowns and beaded pieces," she says. For beaded pieces, alterations are done by hand because the fabric cannot be cut. Many dresses are on loan and must be returned to the designer in their original condition, so Tomashevskay must do temporary alterations that allow a garment to be returned to its original size and shape.</p><p>Despite the work and long hours of awards season, Tomashevskay enjoys the pace and challenge. "Fittings can take three to four hours. There are so many dresses, and it's kind of like playing dress-up," she says "You can see how each dress a person tries on changes them. How they act, smile, try on jewelry or put up their hair. It's fun. It's always fun."</p><p>PARIS -- A bevy of starlets showed up for Miuccia &rsquo;s spring-summer 2013 fashion show on Wednesday, the last day of . Emma Stone, , Berenice Bejo and current Miu Miu campaign model sat along the sculptural wood runway at Paris&rsquo; Environmental Council building for one of the last shows of the season.</p><p></p><p>The look: Fittingly, the look was evocative of Hollywood femme fatales with a modern twist. Mid-calf-length pencil skirts, bustiers, swing jackets and coats in crinkled cotton, dark denim with fraying edges and a splatter-print satin that conjured images of explosive gunshot residue. Skirts and jackets slit high in the back. Backward tops (and some skirts) fastened with giant jeweled buttons. Furs, yes furs, for spring, with sooty splatter motifs. Jeweled flat sandals or killer pumps. Flat satchel bags.</p> <p>The verdict: Some strong ideas, but the show was a tad repetitive. And the loose-fitting bustiers and backward-fastening skirts could be a tough sell.</p><p>ALSO:</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p>Tired of reading grim news about the economy? Then skip the articles and go straight to the ads. It's December, after all; the season of lights, gift giving and glossy magazines and newspaper supplements that smell like Glade PlugIns and weigh enough to break your toe. <br><br>The advertisements, for a range of items from handbags to diamonds to perfume, to more perfume and diamonds, have always had a special role in status envy during the most wonderful time of the year. But these days they seem more -- what's the word? -- fantastical than ever. In a year in which hundreds of thousands have filed unemployment claims, there's something unseemly about peddling a piece of jewelry with a price tag that could keep a family off food stamps for six months. <br><br>Actually, it's more than unseemly. It's a little queasy making and kind of funny at the same time, in that absurdist way that accompanies outsized displays of consumption (if you've visited Hearst Castle, you catch my drift). <br><br>Let's take, for example, the December issue of Vogue. The formidable journal includes not only Jennifer Aniston's much-deconstructed statement "What Angelina did was very uncool" but no fewer than 115 ads, including one for an 18-karat white gold, diamond and malachite timepiece from Gucci and a sequined Prada handbag ($1,695, according to the Beverly Hills store). As in years past, the visuals are sleek and the copy, when it isn't just a triumphant brand name, hits the sweet spot between Thurston Howell haughtiness and Tony Robbins self-empowerment: "Some style is legendary" (Tiffany) and "Live the dream" (Calvin Klein's Euphoria fragrance). <br><br>Never mind that the Lexus costs more than what many people's houses are now worth. Never mind that peppered among the editorial offerings in last Sunday's New York Times' holiday style supplement were ads for such things as a $3,700 coffee maker (actually, a "coffee center"). Meanwhile, the front page reported on credit-rating firms contributing to the mortgage crisis by underestimating, or possibly ignoring, securities risks. <br><br> These are recession-free zones! In fact, they're free of just about everything we've been hearing about lately. Absent references (even subtle allusions) to the election, the environment or gay marriage, the holiday ads represent consumerism in its purest, least subtle, even most boring form. Save certain trends in fashion, hairstyles and fragrance bottles, it's possible to flip through them and have no real indication that the Reagan era is over.<br><br>"As smart as a lot of these retailers are, there's been an ignorance in not reading the signs correctly," says Tom Julian, who runs a brand consultant company and has worked with such clients as BMW and Tiffany. "A lot of these marketers are operating under the assumption that holidays are so much about escapism that they're recession-proof. But that's not the case this year. We know there's a consumer that feels somewhat conflicted and guilty about the shopping experience. ... I don't disagree that advertising is there to entertain, but you have to reflect the mood swings of the population."<br><br>Of course, marketing campaigns are planned months in advance. In most cases, the ads we're seeing now were conceived last spring; as bleak as the economic mood was then, few realized how bad things would be by December. Besides, according to Dana Thomas, the author of "Deluxe: How Luxury Lost Its Luster," economic hardship shouldn't necessarily preclude opulence. Though her book deals with the ways once-exclusive brands have gone mass market, she suggests that having your nose pressed to the glass of a fairy-tale lifestyle can function as a kind of coping mechanism. <br><br>"Back in the 1930s, Hollywood was making the most glamorous movies of all time," Thomas says. "The characters wore gold and lived in big houses and said 'dahling.' People who felt bad about their lives went to the movies, but instead of making them feel jealous, they felt better. So it makes sense that the retailers would ramp up the visuals. There will be less on the shelves, but they'll continue to promote the dream, and ultimately that's how the companies will survive."<br><br>So don't worry, we're not going to see a crop of ads showing a woman pawing through her Louis Vuitton Motard Firebird bag in search of change for the meter. Even in the best of times, that handbag isn't a handbag. Sure it's more useful than, say, a tiny ceramic zebra, but it's not so much a way to transport goods as it is a sociological construct. So why shouldn't the marketing be a little, you know, "theoretical"? Anything else would be false advertising. <br><br><br><br>Red was a distinct note on the fall runways, and plenty of red accessories are turning up in stores this season, adding a punch of color to wardrobe staples.<br><br>It's a longtime "power" color (remember the power tie? red?) and is traditionally believed to be stimulating and energizing. It's a hue associated with anger, sin, sex and virility. (Red-blooded anyone?)<br><br> Red is especially complementary to all of the camel hues and leopard prints seen in stores at almost every price this season. Try winding a skinny red belt around dark blue jeans and pairing both with a leopard print blouse. Or slip on some red ballet flats with a leopard print cashmere sweater and cropped black pants.<br><br>Need specifics? For daytime, Tod's red suede slip-on oxfords ($525) look good with dark cuffed jeans, a charcoal cashmere sweater and some layered gold necklaces.<br><br>A new pair of eyeglasses can incorporate red into a daily routine as well. Square frames from Prada ($220) are much more sleek and sexy than they are and could become a signature accessory. If eyeglasses are too much of a commitment, there are plenty of red sunglass frames that add warmth to the face in addition to being a nice, unexpected pop of color. Ray-Ban's new twist on its classic aviator is a red-piped frame called the "Road Spirit" ($149.95). For something more va-va-voom, try Chanel's oversized red frames with smoky lenses ($320).<br><br>Jewelry designers are using red in interesting and exotic ways. Kara Ross' "Eclipse" red python pendant ($360) could add a little 1970s glam to an outfit, and Isharya's red turquoise ($180) ring can be worn every day or donned to spice up a special look.<br><br>For those who really want to make a statement, fall offerings include the head-turning Sigerson Morrison two-piece buckled suede pumps ($595). They're pointy and sexy without looking over the top. Another strong red accessory is the felt Trilby hat from Reiss ($90). And for evening, try a pleated leather clutch from Tiffany &amp; Co. ($995).<br><br>Finally, what's more classic than a good red lipstick? Chanel's new Rouge Allure shade titled "Excessive" ($32) is a true pop of red that will put a feminine spin on the season's military trend and camo colors or bring drama to an all-black evening look.<br><br>Red catches our attention, whether it takes the form of a stop sign or a scarlet letter or a Kardinal rose. It's the color of Valentine's Day and the color associated with heat. Who knows what will happen when you make it your own?<br><br><p>With a lifetime of red carpet misses ranging from uncomfortably busty Guinevere gowns to something reminiscent of Grandma's doily tablecloth, Disney princess hasn't exactly been fashion It Girl material. Until now.<br> <br> The sleek and chic futuristic white dress Cyrus wore to the People's Choice Awards on Jan. 11 was so well-received that it could single-handedly turn the star's fashion fortunes around. The dress was by David Koma, a designer who hails from Georgia, shows in London and is so new to the fashion scene that his website is still under construction.</p><p><br> <br> When it comes to the red carpet, it's easy to think that a beautiful dress is just that: a beautiful dress. But the right dress can be a game changer when it comes to how a celebrity is perceived and the career opportunities that follow. And the wrong dress can mean this year's fresh young thing is forgotten by the time red carpet is rolled up.<br> <br> Some people get it. , for instance, has been appearing on red carpets in tough-and-sexy black gowns by and that have more than a hint of her Lisbeth Salander character in "The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo." B&eacute;r&eacute;nice Bejo, on the other hand, has been blending into the background, wearing a series of blue gowns by and , each one indistinguishable from the last, and missing an opportunity to stand out, either on her own behalf or on behalf of her hit film <br> <br> "Some actresses don't understand that a great dress on the red carpet does have an impact," says Hal Rubenstein, In Style fashion director and author of the new book "100 Unforgettable Dresses."<br> <br> "They are just looking for the pretty dress, not the right dress."<br> <br> Compare Bejo to , another French ing&eacute;nue who was a relative unknown when she burst on the awards show scene in 2007. Nominated for several film awards for playing in the film "La Vie En Rose," Cotillard was on a red carpet merry-go-round similar to Bejo, who has been nominated for several awards for "The Artist."<br> <br> "When Cotillard was nominated, she wore one distinctive dress after another," Rubenstein says. "'La Vie En Rose' wasn't a film that was going to be a big hit, yet she looked so distinctive, even the public who didn't see the film was asking who is this woman. B&eacute;r&eacute;nice Bejo is a lovely actress and a lovely woman, but her clothing is generic. So consequently, we're not noticing her."<br> <br> pulled off a red carpet coup at last year's when she showed up in a simple coral Calvin Klein gown and white-blond hair and upstaged everyone.<br> <br> "She was a brand new girl who had an unexpected hit in the kids' film " Rubenstein says. "And when she showed up, it was like someone opened a window. She was so striking, it introduced her to an adult audience." In the year since, Stone has become a Hollywood and fashion world darling. In 2011, she racked up Glamour, Elle, Teen Vogue and Vanity Fair magazine covers.<br> <br> The dress Cyrus chose for the People's Choice Awards speaks volumes about where she would like her career to go. For the first time, she came across less as a hard-partying, trash-talking, peace sign-flashing teen and more as a sophisticated, well-dressed, refined young woman. And as it turns out, that's what her stylist intended.<br> <br> "She's gotten a bad rap in the press," says Simone Harouche, who has worked with Cyrus for three years. "And I was sick of it. So I decided I was going to show people she is capable of being fashionable and grown up, not just this cutesy person."<br> <br> Convincing designers to lend clothing to Cyrus hasn't always been easy, Harouche says. So for this event, instead of pulling clothes from the usual Los Angeles showrooms, Harouche turned to London, known for its edgy fashion scene. After seeing runway photographs online, she pulled several pieces from Koma's spring 2012 collection, which was inspired by tribal body art, underwater scenes and the work of contemporary artist Kim Joon.<br> <br> "Koma's designs are very interesting, modern and sexy at the same time. This dress has deep, plunging neck and side panels, but they have mesh insets. So it isn't in-your-face sexy. And the iridescent beading looked very cool under the lights. There was a lot going on but it was sleek," Harouche says.<br> <br> When Harouche took the dress to Cyrus for a fitting, they both knew the style was "risky," but that it was a "step forward" for the star.<br> <br> The gamble paid off. praised Cyrus for "turning over a new couture leaf," and the London Sun newspaper said she "topped the stakes." Meanwhile, E! Online said the dress was "surprisingly chic and fashion forward."<br> <br> Cyrus could well be on her way to creating a new style identity for herself. But the perfect match of celebrity personality and dress is the exception, not the norm, as one could see from the sea of unremarkable dresses at the Golden Globe Awards last Sunday. The reason? Not enough choices in some cases, and too many in others.<br> <br> "At this point, there are so many celebrities wanting dresses that it's becoming more and more difficult," says Harouche, who pulls an average of 30 potential gowns per client per event. "You see so much of the same thing because there are so many people and so many red carpet events. And sometimes designers hold dresses back and say they are saving them for this event or this person."<br> <br> , the Los Angeles-based fashion designer who has dressed , and others, knows first-hand the importance of matching the right personality to the right dress. In 1995, she worked with to design the beaded lavender gown wore to the Oscars when she was nominated for supporting actress for "."<br> <br> "The difference in that dress and a lot of the dresses you see [on the red carpet] today, is that it was designed for her," Tfank says. "I was a costume designer at the time. And that dress was an amalgam of fashion and film in the way we approached designing it."<br> <br> Tfank asked Thurman whom she wanted to be that day, "which is what costume designers do when they work on films. We decided on meets Glinda the Good Witch from 'Wizard of Oz.' She felt at the moment those were the right icons for her."<br> <br> The lavender fabric was tested on camera to make sure the color value worked, and that the sequins showed up, Tfank remembers. "Everything is under klieg lights [on the red carpet], so the color value is diminished." If you wear a buff nude, it looks white.<br> <br> "Everything fell together," Tfank says. "It was young, fresh and comfortable-looking. It was about Uma, and her likes and dislikes and preferences. That dress didn't exist before. It came from my imagination. It was about building a character."<br> <br> The personal approach Tfank took to designing Thurman's gown was more reminiscent of celebrity dressing in the Golden Age of Hollywood, when the job fell to studio costume designers such as and Helen Rose. Actors were under contract, and it was in the studios' interest to create consistency in their images on-screen and off. "As an actress, you fit a slot, you fit a type," Rubenstein says. " was the spotless heroine, the temptress. And you dressed accordingly."<br> <br> But the studio system is long gone, and now the red carpet is big business for the stars themselves and for the designers who want to dress them. Part of an actor's career plan involves landing lucrative endorsement deals and advertising campaigns, and maybe even having a clothing collection of one's own. Which is why, more than ever, the objective on the red carpet should be to say, "Look at me! I can make a fashion statement!"<br> <br> </p>This is Beverly Hills?, I wondered, oh so many years ago when a friend took me to lunch in a sweet little house with a fireplace on South Beverly Drive. later moved to Santa Monica, and now dispenses soy lattes and iced green tea from that rose-covered cottage. Back then (and now), South Beverly Drive didn't seem fancy at all, more like a small-town Main Street where you'd find shops selling nightgowns and one-piece swimming suits, baseball cards and birthday gifts. Remember, though, Celestino Drago got his start here with his first restaurant, . And former chef Samir Mohajer chose the neighborhood for his first restaurant. Chin still gets the crowds, and California Pizza Kitchen too.<br><br>Though a newsstand sells papers from all over the world, South Beverly Drive is definitely not the Beverly Hills of Bulgari, Louis Vuitton, Prada or Fred Leighton, where the stars borrow their diamonds for the Oscars. This is everyday Beverly Hills, where kids come to spend their allowances on ice cream or pizza, housewives meet for coffee at Peet's and teenagers from Beverly Hills High hang out. The blocks between Wilshire and Olympic boulevards are filled with coffee shops and family restaurants with sidewalk tables out front. It's Beverly Hills minus and the paparazzi and about as unglamorous as you can get this close to the 90210 ZIP Code.<br><br> A new restaurant from the Hillstone Restaurant Group behind Houston's, Gulfstream and R+D, though, comes close to bridging the gap. is a polished take on straight-ahead American fare. But instead of just another Houston's, this new restaurant concept is slightly more upscale and designed to look more expensive than the prices would warrant. The design firm Assembledge+ has taken on the old space and transformed it into a darkly handsome restaurant and the adjoining Honor Bar. (The design recently won an award from the American Institute of Architects.)<br><br>South Beverly Grill's menu is a concise and well-edited compilation of familiar dishes dressed up for dining out. And because the adjoining Honor Bar features live music that leaks through an open doorway into the restaurant, a night out at South Beverly Grill feels as if you've actually gone somewhere. The restaurant has a sense of place that most chain restaurants don't provide. There's no problem taking your parents or your grandparents here. It will instantly feel familiar. Who doesn't like shrimp Louie, chopped salad or prime rib?<br><br>Deviled eggs are creamy and sharp, though laced with too much sweet pickle to make me want to order them again. Fried oysters, big ones, are golden and crunchy. "More fried food?" groans a friend who'd just come back from a road trip to Atlanta. But once she tastes these plump beauties, set on a little spinach and garnished with a dab of mustard sauce, she wants to get another order.<br><br>Ahi tuna tartare, cubes of raw sushi-grade tuna tossed in a classic vinaigrette and served with a stack of thin toasts and a fan of avocado, is a real bargain at this price, considering the amount of tuna. This, and most of the appetizers can easily be shared. There's an excellent chopped salad, a heap of cherry tomatoes, slivered carrots, peas and ribbons of Savoy cabbage garnished with a deviled egg.<br><br>This is California, so they have the salad thing covered. Shrimp Louie made with Mexican white shrimp is crossed with a cherry tomato salad to arrive at "Shrimp tomato Louie." Less dressing, please, and this could be the best of both worlds. And I don't quite get the salad of arugula with crispy fried chicken livers and gobs of creamy goat cheese in a rather sweet dressing. Is the goat cheese supposed to seduce people into downing a chicken liver? Lose the cheese, and this would be a better dish.<br><br>From the looks of the other tables, it's clear the grilled artichoke, imported from Houston's menu as a special, is a bestseller. The artichokes are tender and cooked through with a nice char at the edges, though they're slicked with a touch too much olive oil.<br><br>Need salt? Pepper? Anything at all? The almost unbelievably nice waiters are right there.<br><br>The hosts are always delighted to see you. Take a stool at the bar and watch the game, join a significant other in a two-seater booth or opt for one of the bigger booths. The lighting is on the table, not in your eyes. It's a relaxing sort of place, where no one has to gallop through a meal, unless speed is specifically requested.<br><br>At South Beverly Grill, regulars already have staked a claim to this or that table or booth. The people at the table behind us one night felt so much at home, the guys leapt up and shouted when the flat-screen monitor behind the bar showed their team hitting a home run. One guy was even waving a barbecued rib.<br><br>This is that rare restaurant where the main courses are actually better than the starters.<br><br>For prime rib enthusiasts, the standing rib roast at $28 is a beautiful rosy piece of beef that comes with a baked potato with all the fixings &#8212; sour cream, scallions and nubs of real bacon piled high on the halved potato. And that makes dinner. Lamb sirloin is not the thin slice I've encountered most places but a hefty 2-inch piece of meat. When I order mine medium-rare, the server comes back to say that because it's cooked sous-vide and then finished off on the grill, the chef serves it just under medium. It's firm yet tender, with grainy texture and deep lamb flavor enhanced by a slight char from the mesquite grill. It comes with saut&#233;ed spinach leaves and mashed potatoes and the lamb's natural juices.<br><br>Burger or French dip sandwich? I'd go with the French dip, finely sliced prime rib piled onto a soft bun, with its own "dip" of natural juices and another bowl of horseradish cream. At $18, it is quite a bit more expensive than Cole's or Philippe's but the quality of the beef is better. The cheeseburger is a neat package, a thick juicy beef patty on a soft yellow bun, all the fixings already in place, the tomato, the lettuce and some sweet pickles in there too.<br><br>The exception, sad to say, is the barbecued ribs slathered in a hot sweet mustard sauce. The ribs are very soft, maybe boiled first and then finished on the grill. They certainly don't taste smoked.<br><br>As for desserts, share, share, share. They're huge. From Houston's comes the apple crumble with plenty of walnut-studded streusel, thinly sliced apples and, to gild the lily with sticky sweetness, a caramel sauce. The best, though, is the strawberry shortcake, triangles of flaky poppyseed shortcake covered with juicy strawberries and lots of whipped cream.<br><br>South Beverly Grill does middle-of-the-road American food pretty well. The ingredients are good, the execution generally right on, but with the tendency to overdress and over-sauce things. Portions are generous but not quite -size. This is a classier operation. Well-run and responsive to guests, South Beverly Grill has eliminated most of the negative elements associated with a chain restaurant. The food may be predictable, but that's the point. Never underestimate the power of the familiar.<br><br>SOUTH BEVERLY GRILL<br><br>Rating: one-and-a-half stars<br><br>Location: 122 S. Beverly Drive, Beverly Hills; (310) 550-0242; .<br><br>Price: First courses, $3 to $15; main course salads, $15 to $25; main courses, $15 to $36; desserts, $8. Free corkage.<br><br>Details: Open noon to 11 p.m. Sunday to Thursday and noon to midnight Friday and Saturday. Full bar. Valet parking, $8 evenings; at lunch, 11/2 hours parking free in next-door lot, with validation.<br><br>Rating is based on food, service and ambience, with price taken into account in relation to quality. ****: Outstanding on every level. ***: Excellent. **: Very good. *: Good. No star: Poor to satisfactory.<br><br><p>--Facing an uncertain U.S. economy and a flailing Europe, Italian fashion house is planning to open 260 stores in the next three years to capture consumers in emerging markets who are hungry for luxury goods, a report says.</p><p>The Milan company, which owns and Church's in addition to its marquee Prada brand, is planning fresh outlets in countries such as Turkey, China and , according to Bloomberg.</p><p>Prada Chief Executive Patrizio Bertelli (also husband of head designer Miuccia Prada) told Bloomberg that the company will add 100 new stores this year and 160 stores the following two years.</p> <p>"We are expanding in Morocco, Istanbul, Beirut, Dubai and Qatar," Bertelli said. "Brazil is also a big market we're looking at."</p><p>--British online retailer Asos reported a sizable jump in profit in the last fiscal year as shoppers snapped up more of its stylish yet affordable clothes.</p><p>For the 2012 fiscal year, the clothier raked in a profit of 40.9 million pounds (about $64 million), up 43% compared with the year before. Sales rose 46% to 495 million pounds ($775 million).</p><p>Asos targets teenagers and young woman with clothes that mimic high-end designers. Similar to Zara or H&amp;M, celebrities such as Rooney Mara and Emma Roberts have been spotted sporting Asos apparel.</p><p>Chief Executive Nick Robertson said the outlook is bright for the current year as the company continues its "journey to becoming the world's number one online fashion destination."</p><p>--Convenience store chain is launching a summer promotion for shoppers to earn free gasoline by buying household essentials and beauty items.</p><p>Consumers sign up for the chain's ExtraCare program. This summer, shoppers can earn up to five $10 gift cards to Shell or Exxon/Mobile during select weeks through August by spending $30 on designated items at CVS stores around the country.</p><p>"This year&rsquo;s earn free gas promotion delivers on that promise and builds on the success and popularity of our program last year by giving customers an easy way to earn up to $50 in free gas while shopping,&rdquo; said Judy Sansone, senior vice president of merchandising for CVS/pharmacy.</p><p>RELATED:</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>--Action-sports apparel company Vans Inc. is venturing further into athletic footwear with the launch of the LXVI line of shoes.</p><p>The line, named after the Cypress, Calif., company's founding year in 1966, will start with five designs to be sold online, in select Vans stores and at retail stores such as , the company said.</p><p>Vans has traditionally appealed to teenagers who skateboard or those who simply like skater fashions. Priced beginning at $70, the new shoe line is aiming for a mainstream audience of young shoppers who &ldquo;are more likely to be a teen walking around the streets in a pair of running shoes or basketball shoes,&rdquo; Vans President Kevin Bailey told Bloomberg. &ldquo;This brings a new consumer into the Vans stable of footwear.&rdquo;</p> <p>--Luxury brand , the favorite of several first ladies of the United States, is stretching its retail footprint with a new London store and expansion of its New York flagship.</p><p>In April, the high-end retailer opened its second Middle East store in , and last November planted a boutique in the , bringing its store count up to 13.</p><p>President Alex Bolen told Women's Wear Daily that Oscar de la Renta was dedicated to adding more bricks-and-mortar stores.</p><p>&ldquo;We have become increasingly confident in the risk-reward of managing a retail business," Bolen said. "Don&rsquo;t misunderstand: E-commerce has many attractive characteristics.... As we&rsquo;ve opened our own stores and have learned what works and what doesn&rsquo;t, we&rsquo;ve become increasingly focused on expanding our retail presence.&rdquo;</p><p>--For its latest designer collaboration, cheap-chic retailer H&amp;M is teaming up with Paris design house Maison Martin Margiela.</p><p>H&amp;M has previously brought on high-end brands such as , Commes de Garcons and to design capsule collections, which have inspired huge crowds to camp out overnight at stores for a chance to get luxury designs at affordable prices.</p><p>The latest collection will go on sale in stores and online Nov. 15, and will include both men's and women's apparel and accessories.</p><p>H&amp;M confirmed the rumored holiday collaboration with H&amp;M by posting a short video on .</p><p>RELATED:</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>Follow Shan Li on </p>When Giorgio Beverly Hills was in its heyday, from the late 1960s to the late 1980s, Rodeo Drive was not lined with the kind of marquee designer flagships that are located there today. There was no Epicenter, with its arty open facade, or faux Italianate Via Rodeo shopping complex (that was a parking lot). And there certainly was nothing like today's Bebe and Guess stores, which would seem better suited to a suburban shopping mall than a billionaire's boulevard.<br><br>Back then, Rodeo Drive was a destination for locally owned independent boutiques, both hip and luxe, including Theodore, where retailer Herb Fink sold the -St. Tropez look to and other stars; and the West Coast outpost of New York's funky store Paraphernalia, merchandised by fashion school grad-turned-movie director .<br><br> , and other Hollywood leading men bought their suits at Carroll &amp; Co., founded by former publicist Richard Carroll. I. Magnin department store scion Jerry Magnin had a menswear boutique on Rodeo too, as well as the franchise for the store. There were also restaurants and clubs on the street, which attracted foot traffic and led to sales.<br><br>Families would roll up with two limousines; one for themselves and one for their purchases. "You used to have a much better chance of stargazing if you walked Rodeo Drive," said Fred Hayman's longtime publicist Katy Sweet. "Today, with all the back entrances and private changing rooms, the stylists and home delivery service, there's not as much of that."<br><br>"From 1970 when I opened, there were 95% locals on the street, and maybe one or two international nameplates &#8212; and ," Magnin said. "Today, there are virtually no locals &#8230; and if the owner of the store is 5,000 miles away, it's not going to have the same feeling as if Fred Hayman rips a suit off the wall and says, 'You would look great in this.'"After four weeks of runway shows parading designers' visions for this coming fall and winter, here's what retail buyers &#8212; who will bring the looks home to you &#8212; are saying.<br><br>Amanda Brooks, fashion director, <br><br> The season's big idea: Designers realize that women rarely wear their looks head to toe, so it's about designing great items and putting them together in a contextual way so that women can incorporate them into their wardrobes.<br><br>The must-haves: Longer skirts, around the knee or below, or all the way down to the ground &#8212; especially pleated skirts as seen at and . Loafers, both flat or on a heel. , and Valli all had loafers. Fur and novelty things with fur, such as the fur dickeys we saw at Celine. And 1960s volume, which was beautifully done at and , with cape-back dresses fitted in front. Capes themselves are also a humongous trend. Python is big for accessories, such as the trompe l'oeil boots at . And it's not about a hobo bag this season, it's more "lady." had beautiful structured bags.<br><br>What won't fly? The more literal 1960s look, mod. It's too specific and doesn't translate as well as other eras to the way modern women want to dress.<br><br>Will women go ? I'm more interested in the grunge silhouette and proportion than grungy prints or deconstruction. had a great take on the long sweater, long skirt look, which you could say was influenced by grunge. showed a similar silhouette. It's grunge, but it's glamorous grunge.<br><br>Holli Rogers, buying director, Net-a-porter.com<br><br>The season's big idea: There are really two. The first is a continuation from spring, the 1970s look is huge. And bubbling underneath is a new oversize proportion with exaggerated shoulders as seen at , and .<br><br>The must-haves: As part of the '70s look, capes, blouses and the wide-leg pants. And it's a sleek cape, not one that's ostentatious. We loved the capes at Lanvin, which was one of the strongest shows. Chelsea boots are quite important, and we're seeing more of a return to a flatter shoe in general. As far as bags, we're moving away from a lot of hardware to a more simple and lighter-weight bag. The Chlo&#233; bucket bags, for example, were really simple with just a tassel detail.<br><br>What won't fly? Extreme heels. We're still going to buy some, but we're also doing a lot of loafers.<br><br>Will women go grunge? Yes, but in a dressed-up way, not like it was in the 1990s. We're seeing it in all the checks and plaids too, at Carven and in other collections. And in the new emphasis on casual. Baggy trousers with a slouchy shirt is a very cool look.<br><br>Jeffrey Kalinsky, executive vice president of designer merchandising, Nordstrom<br><br>The season's big idea: Richness. The most important clothes have pure emotion and desirability, such as a gorgeous print velvet dress from or a luxe coat from Prada.<br><br>The must-haves: In New York, we loved the cocktail looks and gowns at . In Milan, the new volume at Jil Sander really struck a chord. In Paris, we had a lot of favorites. At Haider Ackermann, we loved the coats. One was black with the bottom done in white and another with the bottom in a multi-boucl&#233;. I also think the long slit boucl&#233; skirts are going to come in and go out. At Lanvin, the beginning of the show was particularly beautiful. One of the short dresses, bare up top, with gorgeous jewels &#8212; [designer] Alber Elbaz showed it with men's shoes. It was so new. At , there were so many gorgeous things, including a military shirt with embroidery all the way down the sleeve and mixed-media dresses. And all of Junya Watanabe's black leather was perfect. That is going to be a real trend. And , the velvet skirt with the trumpet detail in back, that alone is the kind of richness we're talking about.<br><br>What won't fly? We don't think about what we're not going to buy. We zero in on what we think is important and try to put together the puzzle of the season.<br><br>Will women go grunge? Yes. The designers inspired by grunge really offered a more modern, glamorous take.<br><br><p>The St. Zita Society<br>A Novel</p><p> Ruth Rendell<br>Scribner: 272 pp., $26</p><p>If you're unfamiliar with Ruth Rendell, if you've somehow managed to miss her 60 or so books, if you've never experienced the frisson produced by her unique blend of elegant prose and brutal plotting or laughed out loud at her acidic humor or social observations, then congratulations: Your reading life is about to get infinitely richer.</p><p>Reviewing is a bit like dissecting a butterfly to explain the wonder of its flight. It risks ruining the surprises. Fortunately, Rendell's stories are so solidly structured, so endlessly surprising, that they are only slightly diminished by any preview.</p><p>At the center of "The St. Zita Society" is June, the well-meaning instigator of what follows, an elderly employee of the even older Princess Susan Hapsburg, a doddering shut-in whose title was "incorrect in every respect except her Christian name."</p><p>Bitten once too often by the princess' yelping little purebred dog, June resolves to unite the diverse workforce of Hexam Place, "a street of white-painted stucco or golden brickwork houses known to estate agents as Georgian, though none had been built before 1860."</p><p>June envisions a mutual benefit society, named after the patron saint of domestic workers, a place where the gardeners, cleaners, nannies and drivers for the princess' wealthy and titled neighbors can band together to help one another.</p><p>But "worker solidarity" proves as oxymoronic as "honest government" or "responsible business practice." The society's meetings instantly devolve into gripe and gossip sessions that produce unintended and deadly consequences.</p><p>Miscommunication leading to murder is something of a Rendell specialty, and it drives the narrative here. Distracted by drink and mobile phones, tabloid headlines and Oxford Street sales, the workers do not unite. As so often happens in Rendell's work, hell turns out to be paved not so much with good intentions but misunderstandings. was never so cynical, bloody or entertaining.</p><p>Rendell brings a unique perspective to her subject. A peer in the House of Lords and a lifelong supporter, she lives among the elite but cares something about the little people. As with Patricia Highsmith, twisted mother of the talented Mr. Ripley, Rendell is a brilliant if detached observer of all levels of society.</p><p>If, as with Highsmith's writings, Rendell's new book often crosses rather than borders on cruelty, at least she never plays favorites. Neither the bosses nor the servants have a monopoly on bad behavior or outright stupidity.</p><p>Indeed, ignorance is the great unifier at Hexam Place.</p><p>Neither the princess nor Dex, the mentally unstable gardener, knows anything except what they see on television. When a worker first sees her employer's country estate, it brings back "recollections of period dramas on television, women in bonnets setting from&hellip;Regency bucks on horseback doffing hats to the ladies." When that same worker proves helpful in disposing of a body, it is only because of "her wide experience of reading and watching thrillers." Although one employer "was undoubtedly a financial genius, he was a weak man," impotent and incapable of changing a tire, fixing a meal or having an animal's instinct for survival.</p><p>"It was possible to know practically everything these days," Rendell writes of one young servant. "She was vaguely aware that it hadn't always been like that but it was now." And yet this particular servant's stupidity leads her into a sort of mindless criminality.</p><p>Perhaps the most fascinating character in the book, however, is London itself. Here is The City in which the worst of English traits &mdash; class obsession, xenophobia, , self-serving adherence to custom &mdash; thrive amid globalization, with its attendant greed, rank consumerism and inequality.</p><p>Lord Studley and the others living upstairs at Hexam Place may wear Prada and jog, may maintain their country homes through banking, may serve in the chinless coalition government, but they still dominate everyone, including the downstairs maids and manservants &mdash; and not just economically.</p><p>The maids and manservants may be Muslims now, or even the directionless daughters of the lord's college chum, but they still accept it all with the pathetic docility of sheep, or worse, with the vague hope that something good might come their way.</p><p>Like , Rendell writes about contemporary London crime, but no one would call Dickens just a mystery writer. Rendell's work is too great, too thought-provoking and too important to be pigeonholed. The only mystery is why everyone doesn't know it.</p><p>Shapiro is a former federal prosecutor who writes and produces for television.</p>Any doubt that there would be life for the brand after the death of its founder should have vanished over the last two weeks. The hoopla surrounding the opening of the "Alexander McQueen: Savage Beauty" exhibition at the in New York, and the revelation that his successor &#8212; Sarah Burton &#8212; designed 's wedding gown, were a one-two punch for a brand that could easily have stumbled after McQueen's suicide at age 40 in February 2010.<br><br>The speed and ease with which the transition has taken place raises a question that has haunted several top-tier design houses in the past: What happens to a brand when it loses its big-name designer? Whether it's , whose creative director was fired in March following an alleged racist outburst, or Calvin Klein, whose founder left the building years ago, how do luxury brands handle a transfer of power?<br><br> The McQueen brand was just 18 years old when he died.<br><br>"I don't know if the transition would have been so successful if not for the media glare of the wedding," said Adam Hanft, a consumer marketing expert and chief executive of marketing firm Hanft Projects in New York.<br><br>Enter Burton, who was toiling away quietly behind the scenes until the royal wedding day but is now a global fashion star with a label that could be more profitable under her direction than under McQueen's.<br><br>"Sarah Burton is a different person, and she is reflecting what has gone before, while bringing her own sensibility to the brand," says Mark Tungate, the Paris-based author of "Luxury World: The Past, Present and Future of Luxury Brands." "She's doing a bit of Alexander McQueen light. She doesn't have his dark vision. She's inspired more by the general idea of Britishness, paganism and the warrior element."<br><br>Had McQueen been alive, it's possible that he would not even have been asked to design the gown. Or if he had been asked, he might have declined. (This is a designer after all, who had a reputation for being a rebel, and who, while apprenticing on Savile Row, famously scrawled a profanity on the lining of a jacket destined for .)<br><br>Regardless of whether the legacy of McQueen the man was betrayed by having his name associated with the royal family, McQueen the brand benefited enormously from the wedding, and from the exhibition, which it is underwriting.<br><br>Robert Burke, president of consulting firm Robert Burke Associates, gives McQueen's parent company, French conglomerate , kudos. "PPR has been very strategic in getting Sarah Burton out there and giving her credit for the work she did prior."<br><br>Burton was the head of women's wear design at McQueen before taking on her current role as creative director in May 2010. Individual sales figures for the McQueen brand have not been released since then, but sales from PPR's luxury goods brands, including , , and McQueen, increased 26% in the first quarter of 2011 over the same period in 2010.<br><br>"A transition can be beneficial, because it opens the door for reinterpretation of the brand ," says Claudia D'Arpizio, a partner with global management consulting firm Bain &amp; Co., who is based in , Italy.<br><br>How Burton chooses to craft her public image remains to be seen. So far, she seems mild-mannered compared with McQueen, who once mooned the crowd, in lieu of a bow, at the end of his runway show.<br><br>Experts say that having a high-profile designer is more important when resurrecting a dormant brand, a label that certainly applied to when arrived in 1983, and Louis Vuitton when joined in 1998.<br><br>After died in 1971, sales dropped off dramatically, and by the time Lagerfeld took the reins, Chanel was little more than a perfume company. He transformed it into a multibillion-dollar global luxury goods powerhouse, inspiring what former French Vogue editor Joan Juliet Buck calls "the Lazarus movement" in fashion. The business model of hiring designers to revive dormant brands is still the norm today. Jacobs performed a similar turnaround at Vuitton, restoring value to the LV logo after it fell out of fashion in the early 1990s.<br><br>"When you buy a box of Kellogg's Corn Flakes, you don't think about the person who designed the packaging. But in fashion, you are selling a dream," Tungate says. "And it's easier to reincarnate a dream when you have a personality who you can aspire to, or who can be entertaining in their otherness."<br><br>Tom Ford, for example, became creative director of Gucci in 1994, when the company was coming off a decade of family feuds and scandal, during which time its luxury goods lost their luster.<br><br>"He had a tabula rasa to create what he wanted. So, like all good designers, he looked at the heritage, and the element of Gucci he chose to play up was the flashy Italian playboy, which he then turned into something harder and more disco," Tungate says. Ford restored sex and glamour to the brand, and along with then-CEO Domenico de Sole, built Gucci into a $10-billion business.<br><br>In 2004, when Ford left over a contract dispute, the fashion community reacted to his departure as though it were the end times. But it turned out even the charismatic Ford was replaceable. Gucci may have faltered for a couple of years, first appointing a team of three designers to take Ford's place (including then-accessories creative director Frida Giannini), followed by the ill-equipped Alessandra Facchinetti. The brand soon regained its footing under the sole leadership of Giannini, who took over in 2006, and chose to play up the brand's more ladylike Jackie Kennedy and , 1960s-era DNA instead.<br><br>The fashion house Christian Dior has had several incarnations since the death of its founding designer in 1957. It was briefly under the direction of Yves Saint Laurent, then Marc Bohan, then Gianfranco Ferr&#232; and most recently Galliano (the ousted designer's replacement is yet to be named).<br><br>"Galliano was great for Dior when he came, because Dior was like a grandmother's brand, and he was so provocative," Tungate says.<br><br>But it is a different time now. And Dior, like Calvin Klein, is a brand that has taken on a life of its own, regardless of the name behind the label. In 2003, Klein sold his company to and retired from the runway. The runway collection has been designed by Francisco Costa ever since, but it is the more affordable licensed sportswear and denim lines that have brought the brand to a younger generation. "Younger consumers don't even know there is a Calvin Klein," says Hanft, who has worked with brands such as AT&amp;T, and .<br><br>He predicts a trend toward the further depersonalizing of brands in the future. "The last thing you want to do is have your brand tied to a personality, especially in an industry where bad behavior is the norm."<br><br>Brand identities will be crafted around heritage and associations rather than a designer personality, as we've seen at with its equestrian heritage and with its relationship to the contemporary art world.<br><br>"Dior will want to take a rest from someone who is a lightning rod and go for a designer more known for what they turn out," Hanft says.<br><br>Milton Pedraza, chief executive of the Luxury Institute, a New York-based research firm, agrees. "The more it is about the personality, the less it is about the product and the customer."<br><br>Too bad there aren't any upcoming royal weddings in France.<br><br><p> </p><p></p> <br> SERIES<br><br>My Cat From Hell: In a new episode titled "My Cat Eats Everything!" a couple would like to have children, but emergency trips to the vet don't fit into that plan (8 p.m. ).<br><br>SPECIALS<br><br>Wedding: Impossible: In this new special "Restaurant: Impossible" star takes a break from rescuing restaurants to plan his own wedding a spectacular Napa Valley event (10 p.m. Food).<br><br>MOVIES<br><br>The Devil Wears Prada: A recent college graduate () gets a job working for the most demanding boss on Earth () in this enjoyable 2006 comedy, adapted from 's bestseller. , and also star (8 p.m. ).<br><br>Real Steel: is the star, but the main attraction in this involving 2011 combination of parent-child reunion tale and fantasy-adventure is a fighting robot. Dakota Goyo and star (8 p.m. Showtime).<br><br>Daybreakers: In this 2009 horror tale Earth is ravaged by a phenomenon that turns the population into vampires. , and star (9 p.m. ).<br><br>SPORTS<br><br>Little League baseball: (9 a.m. ; Noon ABC; 3 and 5 p.m. ESPN).<br><br>Tennis: Western &amp; Southern Open, Men's Semifinals (10 a.m. ); Women's Semifinals (4 p.m. ESPN2).<br><br>Golf: Golf , Third Round (Noon CBS). U.S. Amateur, Semifinals (1 p.m. NBC).<br><br>Baseball: The visit the (1 p.m. Fox); the Dodgers visit the (4 p.m. FS Prime); the visit the (4 p.m. WGN A); the visit the Angels (6 p.m. FSN).<br><br>Soccer: visits the (6 p.m. KDOC).<br><br>Women's basketball: The Sparks visit the Seattle Storm (8 p.m. KDOC).<br>Paul Tchen, general manager of Peninsula Hotel, was catching his breath. The hotel, which had had its soft opening only a month earlier, was running smoothly, Tchen a little less so: He had just noticed that his suit jacket and pants didn't match.<br><br>Tchen, a Cal Poly Pomona graduate formerly with the Beverly Hills Peninsula, had more important things on his mind: the challenge of opening a luxury property amid the global recession and the high expectations for this Peninsula, the first new structure on Shanghai's storied riverfront Bund since the Bank of China in 1927.<br><br> The grand opening &#8212; a gathering of 4,000 guests from around the world &#8212; is set for Friday. For Peninsula, this is a homecoming. Its corporate parent, &amp; Shanghai Hotels Ltd., started in Shanghai in 1866 and once operated four hotels here, the last closing in 1949. In recent years, high-end competitors such as the Four Seasons and the Ritz-Carlton opened in Shanghai, but Peninsula waited for a prime location to become available.<br><br>In an era of contemporary skyscraper madness in Shanghai, the 14-story Peninsula, with 235 rooms and suites, is designed to evoke grand hotels of the past, when Shanghai was known as the Paris of the East. "People have forgotten that travel is glamorous," Tchen said. "We want to bring back that feeling."<br><br>For me, that feeling kicked in the minute my chauffeur-driven Mercedes limousine pulled under the hotel's porte-cochere, attendants in crisp whites opened the Art Deco doors and I stepped directly into the heart of the hotel, the triple-height Lobby. It was teatime, and on the minstrels' balcony a string ensemble was playing "I Can't Get Started With You."<br><br>I had flown to Shanghai from hot and humid Bangkok, arriving on an unseasonably cold and rainy mid-November afternoon. Booking at the hotel's introductory rate of $294, which included a meet-and-greet at Hongqiao International Airport and round-trip transfer, made arriving and departing a breeze. (With the delivery of a fleet of bespoke BMWs earlier this month, the Mercedes has been replaced. For high rollers, the Peninsula has two Rolls-Royces.)<br><br>The Peninsula sits on the site of a former Friendship Store at the north end of the Bund, overlooking the gardens of the former Consulate. During my visit, the area was a construction zone as the city spruced up for World Expo 2010, which opens May 1. (During a private city tour, we visited one of the longtangs, the crowded, colorful, unsanitary lane communities that are fast disappearing in the cleanup.)<br><br>Fronted by a circular drive centered with a fountain, the hotel's low-profile, understated exterior only hints at its interior opulence. A passageway to the right of the Lobby leads to a reception area with a grand marble staircase. One of the first things I noticed were the magnificent floral arrangements, designed by a Japanese consultant.<br><br>In my room, I flicked on the TV, and there was President Obama in Shanghai, talking with a group of Chinese schoolchildren. The king deluxe room was 600 square feet, with a marble-floored foyer and a big dressing room with lots of closet space, a safe, a dressing table, a shelf for luggage and something new to me: a built-in electric nail polish dryer.<br><br>Off the dressing room was a large bath with a soaking tub, two vanities (one on either side of the room) and a separate rain shower. There were piles of fluffy towels and a pair of terry robes. The adjustable lighting &#8212; mood to makeup &#8212; was excellent.<br><br>Double doors led from the foyer to the bedroom, where, in the sitting area, fresh fruit had been set out with china plates on a table in front of an ivory-colored settee. The pillow-top king bed was covered with a white duvet, down pillows and Frette linens. A hand-painted black lacquer screen rolled down at the push of a button to hide the 46-inch flat-screen TV. A minibar and complimentary espresso and tea with china teacups were tucked away in the TV cabinet.<br><br>The electronics were amazing. Everything operated from keypads, and all outlets were dual voltage. New to this Peninsula are docking stations and the keypad on the bathtub wall that operates the radio, the flat-screen TV at the foot of the tub and the "Do Not Disturb" functions on both the room door and the telephone. Later, I tried them all while having a long soak.<br><br>"We have 40 engineers in Hong Kong who do nothing but develop new toys for us," Tchen told me. Toys such as that nail dryer and the light that went on as I reached for the remote control on a shelf under the TV.<br><br>Although the hotel's d&#233;cor and architecture may evoke yesteryear, Tchen said, "We're not creating an amusement park of the 1920s." There is contemporary Chinese art throughout, but there are also whimsical touches such as a cage elevator, a replica of a 1930s model in a Brussels elevator museum, to take guests from the ground floor to the basement jazz bar-speakeasy, Salon de Ning.<br><br>Unpacked and refreshed, I set out to explore, heading to the Compass Bar for a pre-dinner drink. It was dark and very purple &#8212; purple velvet sofas, purple walls. A pianist was playing standards. I ordered a scotch and soda ($9.50) but had to send it back twice because I kept getting scotch and tonic. Hiring staff with good English skills is "a challenge," Tchen said.<br><br>Sir Elly's, the hotel's Art Deco European restaurant on the 13th floor, was not yet open, so I chose for the Chinese restaurant, Yi Long Court, which resembles the home of a Shanghai nobleman circa 1930s, with mahogany accents, fireplaces and sofas. The Chinese chef has a star, but fans of spicy Sichuan &#8212; I'm one &#8212; may find the Cantonese cuisine a bit mild. My entr&#233;e &#8212; prawns with pistachios &#8212; was bland. I did love the whole scene: me, seated on a red leather settee at a table framed by red velvet curtains. And I coveted the chopstick rests, which were little silver junks.<br><br>During my two-night stay, I had breakfast and lunch in the delightful Lobby with its massive columns, celadon green walls and huge three-dimensional murals. And the food was fine &#8212; freshly squeezed orange juice with my eggs. But at both meals I was brought things I didn't order and vice versa &#8212; again, an apparent language gap. I couldn't fit in afternoon tea ($28.50), which is offered in both calorie-rich and healthier versions (think low-fat cheesecake).<br><br>For those who can't bear to leave those spacious guest rooms, there's an all-day room service menu with choices from a burger to hairy crab bisque and 1,000-year egg with jellyfish. This hotel is very much multicultural, with most guests expected to come from China. The U.S. is expected to be the largest non-Asian market.<br><br>By its grand opening celebration, 23 high-end arcade shops are expected to be open, among them Prada and Chanel. Other hotel amenities include a spa and fitness center and a skylighted 25-meter indoor pool with an adjoining view terrace for breakfast.<br><br>There are four view suites. I toured the Palace Suite, which is amazing &#8212; about 3,000 square feet, with a huge U-shaped terrace with a drop-dead view of the Bund, busy Huangpu River and the skyline of Pudong across the river ($9,500 a night).<br><br>In a nod to nostalgia, the Peninsula hosts tea dances in the Lobby the first Saturday of each month. Decidedly less sedate is the Salon de Ning, with live music Tuesday through Saturday nights. This speakeasy, named for Madame Ning, a flamboyant Shanghai socialite-hostess of the 1930s, is designed to recall an elegant drawing room of that era. Guests may sink into a sofa or retreat into one of four private alcoves.<br><br>Baxter of California turns 45 this year and is celebrating with a new barbershop &#8212; the recently opened Baxter Finley Barber &amp; Shop on La Cienega Boulevard &#8212; along with redesigned packaging and special anniversary merchandise that includes a limited-edition made-in-the-USA stainless steel razor in a leather case ($325).<br><br>Baxter Finley, a former advertising executive, founded Baxter of California in 1965 to introduce male baby boomers to moisturizers, including his signature Super Shape. Finley, a New York transplant to Los Angeles, thought moisturizers were necessary in Southern California's dry climate and couldn't find any made or packaged for men. Through Baxter of California's 1970s heyday, the company expanded into Bravado cologne and sold its products at department stores such as Robinsons-May and .<br><br> But in the 1980s, young men started using unisex grooming products and Baxter of California lost some of its luster, according to the company. After relying on back-of-magazine mail order for business, Finley sold the firm a decade ago to Jean-Pierre "J.P." Mastey, whose family had been in the salon business for two generations. Mastey's father, Marc, owned Marc Mastey Coiffure, a hair salon on Robertson Boulevard, and his grandfather had a barbershop in Mogador, now Essaouira, Morocco. Finley was an old friend of Mastey's father, who recommended J.P. as the ideal person to run a small men's-grooming product business.<br><br>Mastey, 35, said that interest in the men's grooming business goes in waves. Earlier in the decade, for instance, "Queer Eye for the Straight Guy" and the metrosexual trend brought a lot of attention to the industry.<br><br>"There's still a growth potential for men's grooming," Mastey says. "Teenagers use products that are OK for both boys and girls.&#8230; Axe also has invigorated the industry. Then those guys graduate from the fraternity to Baxter."<br><br>More than a year ago, Mastey, who retired Finley's original lemon-lime cologne because he thought it smelled dated, introduced two new fragrances, Bravado 2 and 3, that have more complex notes ($80). Marc Atlan, a Venice-based art director who has designed fragrance bottles for Comme des Gar&#231;ons and , designed the packaging. Mastey said that Baxter of California had a vintage appeal through its heritage and logo, so when they were updated this year by local designer Chris DiGiacomo, the signature griffin was retained.<br><br>The interest in vintage can be seen elsewhere as the American brand heritage trend chugs along and young men continue to discover brands such as Filson, a Seattle-based outerwear maker that recently partnered with Levi's. Baxter Finley Barber &amp; Shop is next to Craft, a menswear store that sells classic American heritage brands such as Alden shoes and Red Wing boots.<br><br>The four-chair barbershop has antique fixtures, including Koken White King barber chairs circa 1910 and an antique cash box. Barbers, including lead barber Jason Simao from Freeman's Sporting Club in New York City, give haircuts including classic Sinatra high-top fades and choppy hipster looks and shaves ($40 each or $75 for both) while wearing gingham shirts from Steven Alan.<br><br>515 N. La Cienega Blvd., Los Angeles. (310) 657-4726. 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday; 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Sunday.<br><br><br><br>SALON<br><br>Frederic Fekkai Sunday, Aug. 29: Fekkai wants you to have the red carpet experience, whether you're attending the Emmys or not. Book three signature services &#8212; blow-out, polish change and makeup &#8212; for $75 (regularly $170). Clients also get free glasses of complimentary champagne.<br><br>8457 Melrose Place, Los Angeles. (323) 655-7800. 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.<br><br><br><br>SAMPLE SALE<br><br>Kristinit and Anita Arze Sunday, Aug. 29: L.A. designers Kristinit and Anita Arz&#233; host a one-day sample sale at Being in LA Spa with a percentage of sale proceeds to be donated to Oceana, an oceans' advocacy nonprofit. Locally manufactured brand Kristinit was picked as a women's collection to watch by Lucky magazine. Choose from the designers' tops, sweaters, dresses and jumpsuits, priced from $50 to $95 (regular prices $225 to $450). Perfumer Sanae Barber will be selling her custom scents, while Being in LA is offering spa services such as facials and massages. RSVP to kristina@kristinit.com.<br><br>2016 Hillhurst Ave., Los Angeles. (323) 428-3221. 2 to 8 p.m.<br><br><br><br>SALES<br><br>Camarillo and Desert Hills Premium Outlets Friday through Sept. 6: Pick up a back-to-school or back-to-work wardrobe for less. Outlet stores are adding additional discounts to fashions already marked down 25% to 65%. Camarillo features new boutiques from Tory Burch, and , along with deals from stores such as Chico's (buy one, get one 50% off on Additions by Chico's items). Desert Hills has Splendid joining stores such as Coach, Prada, and Jimmy Choo. An example of the weekend's deals: William Rast is offering men's printed T-shirts for $13.75 (reg. $55).<br><br>Camarillo Premium Outlets, 740 E. Ventura Blvd., Camarillo. (805) 445-8520. 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. Friday, Saturday and Monday; 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Sunday.<br><br><br><br>Desert Hills Premium Outlets, 48400 Seminole Drive, Cabazon. (951) 849-6641. 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. Friday and Saturday; 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Sunday and Monday.<br><br><br><br>EVENTS<br><br>WE TV Wedding Mall Tour Saturday: WE television wedding expert Diann Valentine, author of "Weddings Valentine Style," shows brides-to-be how to create a celebrity-style reception on a tight budget. Attendees can also enter a national sweepstakes for a $1,000 shopping spree at Glendale Galleria or other General Growth properties, plus a drawing for a KitchenAid mixer or gift card, among other prizes. The first 150 attendees will receive a gift bag. Mocktails will be poured at noon, one hour before Valentine's appearance from 1 to 2 p.m. Other wedding experts and vendors will be displaying around the mall all afternoon.<br><br>Glendale Galleria, 100 W. Broadway, Glendale. (818) 240-9481. Noon to 6 p.m. <br><br>image@latimes.comCamper, a Spanish version of Cole Haan, makes comfy heels and stylish sneaks for fashionistas who don't want to sacrifice looks for comfort.<br><br>Based in the sunny Balearic island of Mallorca, Camper has opened a new store at the Original Farmers Market. The store walls are blanketed with flowery, petal-like sheets by Japanese artist Tokujin Yoshioka. Yoshioka, who was mentored by designer Issey Miyake, has collaborated with brands such as Hermes, Toyota and Swarovski on design concepts. Hee also designed "Honey-pop," a paper chair that was exhibited at the in New York.<br><br> In the 1990s, Camper made stylish sneakers that paired leather uppers with rubber soles for lower prices than those of competitors such as Prada. Now Camper produces pumps, such as the $175 Mamba, boots and sandals with the trademark rubber soles. The brand also offers non-hide options, such as wool ballet flats featuring partially recycled rubber outsoles. For the coming fall season, Camper collaborated with students from the Barcelona Design Center to produce a trendy ankle boot and spectator pump.<br><br>For men, Camper has a work-casual leather saddle shoe out this fall, also from the Barcelona student collaboration, with a rubber outsole and a shock-absorbing polyurethane insole for those who hoof it frequently. If you still equate the brand with a dressy gym shoe, the ACS ($180) is a leather sneaker featuring a neoprene Coolmax sock lining to keep feet cooler on warm days.<br><br>6333 W. 3rd St., Los Angeles. 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. daily.<br><br><br><br>EVENTS<br><br>Little Birds Thursday: Echo Park's Tavin Boutique hosts the latest in its series of salon events, featuring New York Times-bestselling author Janelle Brown, who will read from her novel "This Is Where We Live." Other readers include Jillian Lauren, "Some Girls: My Life in a Harem" and poet Mindy Kahn. Refreshments will be served.<br><br>1543 Echo Park Ave., Los Angeles. (213) 482-5832. 7:30 p.m.<br><br><br><br>Style Your Sole With Toms Saturday: Live! On Sunset hosts Toms shoes Style Your Sole event. Three local artists &#8212;Blair Urban, Derek Leitch and Jasmine &#8212; will custom-paint Toms shoes, bought at the event, with designs inspired by the theme "Where will your Toms take you in L.A?" Complimentary beverages, music and parking provided.<br><br>8801 W. Sunset Blvd., West Hollywood. (310) 360-1660. 2 to 6 p.m.<br><br>blog.liveonsunset.com<br><br>You're an outsider heading to the Westside of Los Angeles &mdash; not the beach cities, but Beverly Hills, Brentwood, Westwood and the nearby well-heeled neighborhoods south of the Santa Monica Mountains. This means you'll be well-fed, well-rested and perhaps more closely watched by the issuers of your credit cards. And while the dollars fly, you may learn a little about wealth, fame, geography and Persian desserts.<br> <br> For instance, you'll realize that Beverly Hills, like the "Mona Lisa" and certain leading men, is smaller than you might expect (5.7 square miles). You'll recognize Culver City's connections to Oz and the old Soviet space program. You'll be reminded that there's a big Santa Monica Boulevard and a little one (a.k.a. South Santa Monica Boulevard), which perplex the uninitiated by running parallel for more than a mile. In Westwood, you'll see how death has united and , among others.<br> <br> <br> <br> For more on these revelations, here are some Westside stories &mdash; 12 micro-itineraries to get a stranger started. This is the ninth installment of our yearlong series of Southern California Close-ups, each piece covering a different region of Los Angeles and Orange counties. You can find the first eight at .<br> <br> 1. Big screen, small wonders Studios (Ricardo DeAratanha / Los Angeles Times)<br> <br> If or makes you swoon, you'll want to check out Sony Studios (10202 W. Washington Blvd.) in Culver City. Its two-hour guided walking tour costs $33 (no children younger than 12) and includes soundstages where "The Wizard of Oz" was filmed in 1938 and where "Jeopardy!" has been shot since 1984. (On the tour, you may learn that , who wrote the "Jeopardy!" theme song in less than half an hour, reaped from it an estimated $70 million to $80 million in royalties.) If neither Judy nor Alex makes your world go 'round, think twice about this tour. It costs more and delivers less than the tour in Burbank. For a more engrossing (and affordable) experience in the same neighborhood, get thee to the Museum of Jurassic Technology (9341 Venice Blvd.). This odd little spot is all about the joy of weird stuff, presented with great museological pomp. Shuffle through the tiny dark rooms, your jaw slackening at the sight of the trailer-park dioramas, Soviet space-dog oil portraits, a tiny sculpted pope in a needle's eye and two dead mice on toast (the consumption of which is described as an old bed-wetting cure). Don't miss the tearoom upstairs. Next door stands the Center for Land Use Interpretation (9331 Venice Blvd.), whose exhibits and publications have probed the underwater towns of America, the traffic barricades of Washington, D.C., the helipads of downtown L.A. and other notable human interactions with the landscape. Also nearby, you'll find live drama at the Center Theatre Group's Theatre (9820 Washington Blvd., Culver City).<br> <br> 2. Beloved burgers and newfangled photosAnnenberg Space for Photography (Ricardo DeAratanha / Los Angeles Times)<br> <br> Since 1947 &mdash; long before the Westside Pavilion shopping center rose on Pico Boulevard &mdash; the Apple Pan (10801 W. Pico Blvd.) has been offering Angelenos burgers and desserts. No reservations, no alcohol, no air conditioning. The only dining area is a U-shaped counter, the wallpaper is red plaid and the sign says, "QUALITY FOREVER." Order the Hickory burger ($6.75) and maybe a big slice of apple pie ($5.50) for dessert. Or, to cut down on calories and red meat, follow the example of 31-year counterman Roberto Velasco, who has switched to the tuna melt. Then head two miles northeast to Century City, where you'll park beneath the soaring cold metal and glass of the Creative Artists Agency building. You have not scored a meeting with CAA's deal makers, but they will let you in next door, at the Annenberg Space for Photography (2000 Avenue of the Stars, No. 10), a nonprofit exhibition space that opened in 2009 with a video-friendly layout and sophisticated digital technology. It's free. If you show up in time to see the multimedia "Beauty Culture" exhibition through Nov. 27, you'll be wowed by its thoughtful, provocative and visually rich examination of the business that beauty has become.<br> <br> 3. Shopping on RodeoRodeo Drive (Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times)<br> <br> The Rodeo Drive shopping experience boils down to about three blocks &mdash; enough to enrapture certain shoppers for days, or to amuse a fashion agnostic for an hour or two. Start at South Santa Monica Boulevard and make your way southeast, past Brighton and Dayton ways, to Wilshire Boulevard. Along the way, you'll find enough designer finery to bankrupt the sultan of , or at least make a monarch sweat. See the impeccable salesman wiping fingerprints off the Cartier shop window? The strange staircase that architect placed at the front of the shop? The beckoning faux-European side street of the Two Rodeo shops? At the far end of your stroll, you'll find the Beverly Wilshire (9500 Wilshire Blvd.). This hotel, run by Four , is where once lived, where taught 14-year-old how to swim and where brought in "Pretty Woman." It's not perfect; an ungraceful '70s addition lurks behind the original 1928 building. But it has location, a steakhouse called Cut and Four Seasons service. Rooms for two start about $450. Oh, but wait. If you're a true retail warrior, you're not done shopping yet. Within a few blocks, you'll find (9570 Wilshire Blvd.), (9700 Wilshire Blvd.), (9560 Wilshire Blvd.) and Saks Fifth Avenue (9600 Wilshire Blvd.).<br> <br> 4. Cuisine on CanonBouchon Bistro (Alex Gallardo / Los Angeles Times)<br> <br> You can try La Cienega Boulevard, the official Restaurant Row of Beverly Hills, some other night. For now, scope out the high style and smaller scale of the eateries on Canon Drive between Wilshire and Santa Monica boulevards. At 225 N. Canon (on the ground floor of the Montage Beverly Hills Hotel), glass windows reveal the steamy kitchen of Scarpetta, one of the region's most highly rated Italian restaurants since its 2010 opening. There's Wolfgang Puck's flagship, Spago Beverly Hills, at 176 N. Canon Drive. There's Nic's (453 N. Canon Drive), with its lively bar and walk-in, drink-in vodka freezer. There's Mastro's Steakhouse (246 N. Canon Drive), with its $90, 48-ounce double-cut porterhouse steaks. And there's Thomas Keller's Bouchon Bistro, which opened in late 2009 at 235 N. Canon Drive. Main dishes in the big, tile-floored upstairs Bouchon dining room are $18-$45. On a budget? Get the steak salad (about $21) at the little Bouchon Bar downstairs. If you've recently won a lottery or been signed by CAA, take a few steps across Beverly Canon Gardens to the Montage and see whether there's a vacancy. Montage, opened in late 2008, sports a Spanish Colonial-Revival look, with dashes of Morocco and , and plenty of space in its 201 luxury-laden rooms. (Rates usually start at $495 a night.) But if it's Oscar week, Emmy week or Grammy week, skip the Montage. Chances are the nominees, presenters and producers have booked it solid.<br> <br> 5. A stroll in the park and a cubicle seatBeverly Hills sign (Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times)<br> <br> Grab an all-day parking spot at the Beverly Hills Civic Center (455 N. Rexford Drive; first two hours free) and walk or jog on the 1.9-mile greenbelt (a.k.a. Beverly Gardens Park) along Santa Monica Boulevard. At Beverly Drive, if not before, you'll realize you have company: That's where the big, gold BEVERLY HILLS sign is, and tourists arrive day and night to pose by the letters. If it's Sunday morning, head next to the weekly farmers market at 9300 Civic Center Drive. If it's between noon and 5 p.m. Wednesdays through Sundays, step into the Paley Center for Media (465 N. Beverly Drive), where pros and amateurs alike can watch or listen to any of 150,000 old TV and radio shows at a cubicle in a windowless upstairs room. Yes, it has the 1962 black-and-white first episode of "," in which the Clampetts strike oil, come to town and mistake their new mansion for a prison. They also have the 1955 episode in which Lucy and Ethel go rogue on a tour of the stars' homes. There's no fee beyond the Paley's suggested donation of $10 per adult. As you watch, picture at the next cubicle, studying and 's work on long-ago broadcasts, as he did before taking his turn emceeing at the Academy Awards in 2005.<br> <br><p> Studios, Plaza, 10000 W. Washington Blvd., Culver City; (310) 244-8687, .</p><p>Museum of Jurassic Technology, 9341 Venice Blvd., Culver City; (310) 836-6131, .</p><p>Center for Land Use Interpretation, 9331 Venice Blvd., Culver City; (310) 839-5722, .</p> <p> Theatre, 9820 Washington Blvd., Culver City; (213) 628-2772, . Live theater in a 317-seat venue since 2004.<br> <br> Apple Pan, 10801 W. Pico Blvd., Los Angeles; (310) 475-3585. $</p><p>Annenberg Space for Photography, 2000 Avenue of the Stars, No. 10, Los Angeles; (213) 403-3000, .</p><p>Rodeo Drive, main shopping district between Wilshire and Santa Monica boulevards, Beverly Hills; .</p><p>Cartier, 370 N. Rodeo Drive, Beverly Hills; (310) 275-4272, .</p><p>Prada Epicenter Rodeo Drive, 337 N. Rodeo Drive, Beverly Hills; (310) 278-8661, .</p><p>Beverly Wilshire, a Four Seasons Hotel, 9500 Wilshire Blvd., Beverly Hills; (310) 275-5200, . $$$$</p><p>, 9570 Wilshire Blvd., Beverly Hills; (310) 276-4400, .</p><p>, 9700 Wilshire Blvd., Beverly Hills; (310) 550-5900, .</p><p>, 9560 Wilshire Blvd., Beverly Hills; (310) 275-9998, .</p><p>Saks Fifth Avenue, 9600 Wilshire Blvd., Beverly Hills; (310) 275-4211, .</p><p>Scarpetta, Montage Beverly Hills Hotel, 225 N. Canon Drive, Beverly Hills; (310) 860-7970, www.scottconant.com/restaurants/scarpetta/beverly-hills and $$-$$$</p><p>Spago, 176 N. Canon Drive, Beverly Hills; (310) 385-0880, . $$$</p><p>Mastro&rsquo;s Steakhouse, 246 N. Canon Drive, Beverly Hills; (310) 888-8782, . $$$</p><p>Bouchon Bistro, 235 N. Canon Drive, Beverly Hills; (310) 271-9910, . $$-$$$</p><p>Nic's, 453 N. Canon Drive, Beverly Hills; (310) 550-5707, . $$-$$$</p><p>Beverly Canon Gardens, 241 N. Canon Drive, Beverly Hills; .</p><p>Montage Beverly Hills Hotel, 225 N. Canon Drive, Beverly Hills; (310) 860-7800, . $$$$</p>Southern California is home to strip malls, mini-malls, mixed-use malls, outlet malls and rarefied luxury malls.<br><br>But, unlike any other mall, the Beverly Center is a microcosm of the state of fashion and culture today. The behemoth at the edge of West Hollywood and Beverly Hills has eight levels &#8212; five of them for parking. The directory of stores, from to Forever 21, with very little in the middle price range, is indicative of today's high-low approach to shopping and getting dressed. And what's inside the stores &#8212; status handbags at and , $165 J. Brand skinny jeans and $65 James Perse T-shirts at &#8212; reflects that ethos as well.<br><br> This is a young person's mall, and in many ways, fashion has turned into a young person's pursuit, with too many designers and labels ignoring a large swath of the population (older than 50 and larger than size 12) in favor of churning out miniskirts for the Kardashian-obsessed set.<br><br>You'd be hard-pressed to find many suits, trousers or blouses, except perhaps at , , and the small Missy department of Macy's. But there are four sunglasses stores and two free-standing denim stores. The Bebe, Guess, , True Religion and Forever 21 stores represent some of the biggest names in the California apparel business and are responsible for carrying the notion of "California casual" out to the world.<br><br>When the Beverly Center opened in 1982, it was a regional mall, anchored by the California-owned Bullocks and Broadway department stores. Now, there is no such thing as a regional mall, and the Beverly Center is anchored by Bloomingdale's and Macy's, both owned by Federated, the Cincinnati-based victor in the department store consolidation of the late 1990s and early 2000s.<br><br>The Macy's store is a mess of too much merchandise without a strong point of view, although it does have the distinction of being one of the few area stores to feature the budget-minded Impulse collections.<br><br>Bloomingdale's is more organized and edited, with an emphasis on denim (almost half of the top level is devoted to the stuff) and briskly selling contemporary labels (Vince, Marc by , ).<br><br>Henri Bendel, founded in 1895 and once a mighty department store on New York's Fifth Avenue, has slowly been transformed into a national chain of specialty stores since being purchased by Limited Brands in 1985. And at the Henri Bendel store on Level 7 near Center Court, you can get the full experience of this high-end tchotchke shop, where the Bendel's famous brown-striped shopping bag motif has become a kind of logo, splashed on $148 enamel bracelets and $368 handbags.<br><br>Most brands in the mall are national or international chains. One exception is Traffic on Level 6. Despite the decline in the number of independent boutiques in today's retail environment, the men's and women's Traffic boutiques, opened by L.A. locals Michael and Sara Dovan in 1984 and featuring edgier designers such as Iro, and , have survived and thrived, even attracting a celebrity clientele.<br><br>You used to be able to see stars at the mall's Hard Rock Cafe too, the first U.S. outpost of the theme restaurant, back when theme restaurants were just beginning to get big. The shiny Cadillac protruding from the exterior of the building on San Vicente and Beverly Boulevard was a landmark until the restaurant closed in 2006. Now the space is a clubby, buttoned-up Capital Grille chain restaurant.<br><br>The Beverly Center also boasted a state-of-the-art mega-sized theater complex when it opened in 1982, where 16 films could screen at one time. The theater closed in 2010 to make way for a mega-sized Forever 21, as the phenomenon of cheap-chic-shopping-as-entertainment ($2.99 belts! $14.99 dresses!) took hold. Where you once might have spent an afternoon whiling away the hours in front of a movie screen, now you can while away the time at Forever 21, and, for about the same amount of cash, leave with six shiny new things.<br><br>The mall's Level 8 is cheap-chic central. H&amp;M has a massive space, and this is one of the lucky stores to receive all of the designer-collaboration collections, most recently for H&amp;M.<br><br>The young women tearing through the racks of $14.95 faux fur vests and $49.95 party dresses at H&amp;M have expensive Louis Vuitton and handbags on their arms, which they could have purchased from one of the mall's tenants on the newly created luxury row on Level 7 near Macy's.<br><br>For many years, Louis Vuitton was the only luxury boutique in the mall. In the last two years, as the Beverly Center has tried to shed its mid-market image, Burberry, Gucci, Prada, Fendi, Tiffany &amp; Co., Omega and now and Jimmy Choo have all moved in &#8212; despite already having locations fewer than three miles away in Beverly Hills. Their Beverly Center locations sell mostly logo-adorned bags and shoes, which are the lifeblood of the luxury business (luxury for the masses). At Yves Saint Laurent, the women's clothing is relegated to one small rolling rack.<br><br>In 2005, Apple took over the old Gap space on Level 6. The San Francisco-based brand that Donald Fisher founded on the principle of providing the best basic jeans and T-shirts and that played such a big role in shaping culture and shopping habits in the 1990s was supplanted by Apple, the Silicon Valley-based brand and Steve Wozniak founded on the principle of providing the best, most basic and user-friendly gadgets for the technological age.<br><br>That single retail corner, where Gap turned into Apple, is a snapshot of how much things have truly changed since the Beverly Center opened its doors in 1982. The Internet has turned the world topsy-turvy, undermined the staying power of fashion trends and sent many shoppers online.<br><br>And yet, we still can't resist the call of the mall.<br><br>Location: 8500 Beverly Blvd., Los Angeles. Bordered by 3rd Street and La Cienega, Beverly and San Vicente boulevards. From the 10 Freeway, take the La Cienega exit north.<br><br>Hours: 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. Mon.-Sat.; 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Sun.<br><br>Known for: Being the former site of an amusement park. Older Angelenos like to talk wistfully about taking pony rides there as kids, in the shadow of the oil wells.<br><br>What you'll find: Macy's and Bloomingdale's are the anchor stores, but the Forever 21 is just as big. A mix of luxury boutiques emphasizing accessories offerings, and mall regulars such as , , Steve Madden, Aldo, Express, Club Monaco and .<br><br>Vibe: The Beverly Center is frequented by locals, tourists and celebs alike; its biggest asset is that it's centrally located at the edge of Beverly Hills and West Hollywood. Opened in 1982, the mall still has an '80s vibe.<br><br>Survival strategies: Enter off San Vicente to avoid traffic congestion on La Cienega. Try to park on Level 2, which is less crowded. Don't forget to pay for your parking at one of the parking stations before exiting.<br><br>Take a break: The food court is under renovation, though California Crisp, Chipotle and other places are open. There's also P.F. Chang's and California Pizza Kitchen, which have to be entered from street level of the mall. But the best spot could be Obika Mozzarella Bar on Level 6 near center court, where you can get a salad with fresh buffalo mozzarella imported from Italy three times a week and a glass of wine. For snacks, check out Pinkberry and Coffee Bean &amp; Tea Leaf.<br><br>Holiday cheer: The Ice Palace, a 22-foot dome with a magical snow and light show and polar ice cap footage from Earth. Get your photo taken on the Ice Throne or with Santa.<br><br>Nearby: The Beverly Connection across La Cienega Boulevard has Old Navy, Nordstrom Rack, Marshalls and other stores. The boutiques on Robertson Boulevard are several blocks west of the mall.<br><br><br><br><p>It's not as secretive as, say, the lethal arenas in but still executed an under-the-radar wedding with British literary agent Felicity Blunt.</p><p>Tucci, who plays colorful "Hunger Games" host Caesar Flickerman in the film franchise, confirmed that he and Felicity, sister to actress , had tied the knot after announcing their engagement in November.</p><p>"Yaaa-yess,&rdquo; Tucci hesitantly answered the New York Daily News, who him on his marital status after spotting Felicity with a wedding band at a recent New York screening of 's "Hope ."</p> <p>It's unclear if Emily and her star husband were present for the occasion, but the Daily News report says the couple intend to have a second ceremony for friends and family in the near future.</p><p>"Stanley is very happy with her," a source said of Tucci at the time of his to Felicity. They were introduced by Emily, Tucci's costar in the hit "The Devil Wears Prada."</p><p>Tucci was previously married to wife Kate, who died in 2009 of . He has three children -- daughter Camilla andtwins Isabella and Nicolo.</p><p>RELATED:</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>Follow Matt Donnelly onand.Follow the Ministry of Gossip on Twitter.</p><p>If you&rsquo;ve ever lusted after unused items in a friend&rsquo;s closet, here&rsquo;s your chance.</p><p>Threadflip, a San Francisco start-up that launched this week, aims to give users a new way to discover, buy and sell fashion. The site's users can upload images of their belongings and set their own prices on clothing, shoes, bags and jewelry; photos can be directly imported from Facebook or Instagram.</p><p>Threadflip co-founder and Chief Executive Manik Singh said the company offered a seamless end-to-end experience.</p> <p>Among the site&rsquo;s features are convenient shipping: As soon as your item sells, Threadflip sends you a prepaid shipping box, a prepaid shipping label and wrapping material.</p><p>Too busy to sell your goods? Threadflip offers a &ldquo;white glove service&rdquo; -- just send the company your items and the start-up&rsquo;s stylists will upload photos and research pricing. Once your item sells, Threadflip will send you a check.</p><p>Singh said the idea for Threadflip came to him when he noticed his wife had an expensive pair of Spanish designer boots sitting practically new in her closet. She considered selling them on EBay but thought there were too many barriers to entry; instead, she sold them to a friend.</p><p>&ldquo;The model on EBay or even your neighborhood consignment store haven&rsquo;t been innovated,&rdquo; Singh said. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s the same old classified model where you have to take photos and write a description.&rdquo;</p><p>Instead, the company hopes to build a tight-knit community of social shoppers.</p><p>Threadflip takes a 15% cut from the seller&rsquo;s side to make money. It charges about 40% of the purchase price for its white glove service.</p><p>Threadflip appears to be geared toward fashion-forward shoppers, saying users could expect to find products from &ldquo; to , vintage to Vuitton and everything in between&rdquo; at a fraction of the original price. Singh said the company guaranteed the authenticity of products sold on its site and would provide refunds if items were found to be fake.</p><p>The company also announced a $1.6-million seed round led by First Round Capital and Baseline Ventures. Additional participants in the round included Dave Morin from Slow Ventures, Forerunner Ventures, Greylock Discovery Fund and Andreessen Horowitz Seed Fund.</p><p>RELATED:</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>In the early 1990s, the mini-backpack was a fashion "must-have." Most coveted was French designer Agn&egrave;s B.'s black cotton "Lolita" sack (reimagined briefly during a limited-edition 2010 collaboration with Opening Ceremony) and 's more structured black nylon bag with outside pockets and silver buckles (which also reemerged briefly in December 2010).</p><p>For about 20 years since, backpacks have gone the way of every other oversaturated fad, disappearing into the backs of closets and clustering on EBay, rejected in favor of oversized hobos, clutches and small cross-body purses.</p><p>Now, these double-strapped packs are returning to reclaim their place on women's backs in the company of other '90s fads, such as cropped tops, high-waisted floral-patterned jeans and denim jumpers. "I see [backpacks] getting more luxe," says Kristen Lee, owner of well-curated L.A. boutique TenOverSix, which, for fall, is carrying backpacks by Fj&auml;llr&auml;ven (for both kids and adults), Patrick Ervell (with intricately woven straps), Baggu and San Francisco's Joshu+Vela in canvas. "They are '90s referential, but cleaner and nerd[ier] ... worn high and tight in leather or canvas with highly detailed straps."</p> <p>Many of the new backpacks have a more geometric rectangular shape with clean lines, &agrave; la European schoolchildren's bags, and on-trend notes including neon colors, woven patterns and lambskin leather. Prices range from less than $50 to almost $4,000. As school comes back into session, we found some we think are at the head of their class.</p><p>Baggu Backpack</p><p>$34</p><p>This inexpensive Baggu Backpack, in neon yellow and, for fall, polka dot (among other shades), is made from recycled 16-ounce cotton duck with adjustable shoulder straps. Baggubag.com.</p><p>Fj&auml;llr&auml;ven Kanken Classic</p><p>$75</p><p>The Scandinavian brand reads more utilitarian than fashion at first glance, but hipster design buffs (including celebrities such as , , ) are suddenly going crazy for the Kanken Classic (a style launched in 1978 as a kid's school bag that has become a Swedish staple in the vein of Levis or Converse in the U.S.). Shop.tenover6.com.</p><p>MK Totem's Boho backpack</p><p>$350</p><p>Garrett backpack</p><p>$450</p><p>This urban-meets-bohemian line, launched in 2010, is reissuing its original signature Boho backpack, above, in September. And in January, its new Garrett backpack, below, is slated to go on sale in bold colors like magenta, royal blue, persimmon, lavender and black. It can moonlight as an oversized tote with straps that retract. Mktotem.com.</p><p>Jadetribe's Nicole backpack</p><p>$374</p><p>Founder Kimberly Hartman, who buys her sustainable handwoven textiles from village women in Laos, introduced her first backpack a year ago and is now releasing the Nicole, made of 100% hand-woven, organically dyed cotton with ultrasuede lining and leather detailing. Jade</p><p>tribe.com.</p><p>Longchamp Paris:</p>Summer and the City<br><br>A Carrie Diaries Novel<br><br> <br><br>HarperCollins/Balzer &amp; Bray: 409 pp., $18.99 ages 14 and up<br><br>For women of a certain age, Carrie Bradshaw and her pals are surrogate friends &#8212; lovable yet flawed characters who've collectively experienced the many and messy permutations of modern-day urban romance.<br><br>Other than reruns and the occasional movie, fans of Candace Bushnell's bestselling book or, more likely, its popular TV spinoff, haven't had a lot of options for keeping up their fictional friendships with Sam (and her revolving door of a bed), Miranda (with her commitment issues), Charlotte (and her Park Avenue lifestyle) and, of course, Carrie, her newspaper column and Mr. Big.<br><br>For those fans, "Summer and the City" will be a welcome visit from long-lost friends. The novel is the follow-up to 2010's "The Carrie Diaries," Bushnell's "Sex and the City" young-adult prequel that took place during Carrie's senior year in high school. Unlike the YA series kickoff, which centered solely on Carrie and her dating, drinking and smoking in the small Connecticut suburb of Castlebury, "Summer and the City" follows the 17-year-old's move to New York City to attend a writing workshop and her introductions to the women who will become her very best friends.<br><br>Samantha, it turns out, is the cousin of one of Carrie's friends. Somehow, Samantha has been charged with introducing Carrie to the city, which she does in grand style, taking her to a fabulous party attended by the rich and famous on her first night in town.<br><br>Sam is dressed in a sexy green Lycra shift, while Carrie wears "a navy blue gabardine jacket with matching culottes that I'd actually considered chic a few hours ago," she writes on the opening page of a breezy book penned from her point of view and with the youthful exuberance of a New York City newbie.<br><br>The hot-pink clutch-purse cover art already indicates this series has a girly, fashionista sensibility. It's just a retro sensibility, since the book takes place in the 1980s. Rather than Manolo Blahnik stilettos, Carrie wears borrowed Fiorucci boots. Instead of dresses, she dons medical scrubs and kimonos she's found at thrift stores. She listens to and the Police and writes on an actual typewriter.<br><br>As the book opens, Carrie dreams of being a writer but has yet to land her first byline. New York is merely the location of a writing workshop at the New School. It's a summer pit stop on her way to . Still, even though her purse is stolen just after her arrival in the city, Carrie knows she never wants to leave.<br><br>Miranda enters Carrie's life after she finds Carrie's purse in the trash and calls the number on her address book. When the two meet, Miranda is picketing against pornography in front of Saks Fifth Avenue, wearing construction boots, overalls and a purple T-shirt &#8212; all of which is topped with "tomato-red hair."<br><br>As teens and early twentysomethings, Carrie, Miranda and Samantha are all unevolved versions of the characters they later become. Their experiences in "Summer and the City" provide an intriguing glimpse into the situations that transform Carrie into the famous writer of a sex column, Miranda into the tell-it-like-it-is lawyer and Samantha into a sex addict. Charlotte enters the book only in the final chapter, doing so in characteristic Charlotte fashion. She's flipping through the pages of Brides magazine in the first-class cabin of the train, headed to New York and a boyfriend who works on Wall Street.<br><br>"Guy troubles, along with clothing and body parts, are a major source of bonding amongst women," Carrie notes halfway into the book. That philosophy is also a formula that works incredibly well for Bushnell. "Summer and the City" is Grade-A chick lit from one of its masters.<br><br>Sitting around a long dinner table at Octavio Becerra's are 24 impeccably coiffed young guests. Among them are "Mad Men" actor Miles Fisher, designer Tiffany Saidnia, editor Kat Odell, a Prada runway model, an entertainment attorney and several musicians. Crystal Meers, Los Angeles editor of , chats with William Kopelman, an art consultant who tells of his newest project -- negotiating the potential sale of a bronze cannon from the HMS Victory, a British battleship that sank near the Channel Islands in 1744 -- to a very important and wealthy "man of the sea."<br><br>FOR THE RECORD:<br> The Supper Club: In the Sept. 9 Food section, an article about a private dining club referred to it as Supper Club. Its full name is the Supper Club. &#8212;<br> <br><br>At the center of the table, dressed in a vintage cream-colored cocktail dress, her golden blond hair carefully arranged around her shoulders, is the dinner's host: British socialite Tamsin Lonsdale.<br><br>For the record: An article in Wednesday's Food section about a private dining club referred to it as Supper Club. Its full name is the Supper Club. <br><br>Lonsdale, 31, runs a business called , which has chapters in London, New York and now Los Angeles. Supper Club is what some might call a social networking club, but Lonsdale and her members -- all successful, attractive professionals in a variety of upwardly mobile careers -- dislike the word. Networking, they say, implies something needy and self-serving.<br><br>If it's not networking, then what is it? What young, popular person needs to pay an annual membership fee of $2,000 to $5,000 for a dinner invite? Members say Supper Club is about fraternity and food, not "networking." It's a club based on the luxury of belonging . . . and exclusivity.<br><br>"We turn down 80% of the people that apply," Lonsdale says. "And I would say 40% of those that apply are of good caliber. "<br><br>Lonsdale currently has 350 members in London, 400 in New York and 150 in L.A., along with 20 "ambassadors" in each city who pay no membership fee but act as boosters and recruiters for the club.<br><br>A spot at the table<br><br>To be considered for membership, candidates must be recommended by at least two members, then apply via the Supper Club's website. Lonsdale's assistant arranges a meeting at the Sunset Tower ("a hidden gem," she says of the spot that she works out of at least three days a week). Once a week Lonsdale has a committee meeting with her ambassadors to tell them about whom she met and whom she liked, and her ambassadors have the final say on whether a candidate gets to join.<br><br>The process could be compared to rushing an especially well-groomed fraternity or sorority at an school, except Supper Club accepts only 10 new members a month in each city and caps out at 400. There is currently a 700-person waiting list for New York and L.A.<br><br>Of her first meeting with Lonsdale, ambassador and stylist Kristin Ess says, "She's very nice, she's not intimidating at all, she wants to get to know you. That's the whole point. People don't pay this amount of money to be a member for just anybody to get in."<br><br>Kopelman, the art consultant, is on the fence about joining. He went to Taft boarding school in Connecticut with Daily Candy's Meers ("Lots of dirty white hats, lacrosse sticks and Mayflower names," he jokes) and has attended two Supper Club dinners as a guest. "I look at it like a book club, but for food," he says, but politely demurs that he's afraid his travel schedule is too busy to make a membership worthwhile.<br><br>Membership comes with a guarantee of at least three dinner invites a month. Not all members are invited to all dinners; Lonsdale takes great pride in her skill for mixing and matching members. "It's a personality thing," she says of her seating charts, "I meet everyone individually, so I know what they're like. Generally I'll sit one person on one side who would be good for professional reasons and one who would be good for personal reasons."<br><br>Lonsdale hosts her dinners at hot restaurants and private estates around town and secures the services of well-known chefs. chef Michael Cimarusti and Marcel Vigneron, sous chef at the Bazaar, prepared meals for a dinner at and a Black Dahlia-themed birthday party for TV host Carly Steel at the Sowden estate. Future dinners will take place at in West Hollywood (that one is open to nonmembers interested in joining) and at the Beverly Wilshire.<br><br>And though Supper Club isn't a singles club, Lonsdale notes she has five marriages between members under her belt. It's "when you sit down around a table and break bread that a new level of intimacy is entered into," she says. "That's great for people who are single because they know that the other single people who are part of the club are all of pedigree."<br><br>Natural hostess<br><br>Lonsdale grew up in Hampshire, England. She went to an elite boarding school and had a house in the country. Her father, Tony Lonsdale, is known as the "Blue Jean King of London," credited with starting that city's denim fever in the 1970s. Her mother was a model.<br><br>Lonsdale began hosting her first parties at 16 in "a cottage" on the family estate.<br><br>At Edinburgh University her events became more elaborate. She would hire out a mansion in the Scottish countryside and host themed parties -- cowboys and Indians for her 21st birthday and later a "Lord of the Rings" party.<br><br>In trying to explain Lonsdale's approach to hosting, Fisher, the 26-year-old actor and musician who plays the preppy drug dealer in this season of the hit "Mad Men," says, "It's the Tamsin show, and she really enjoys doing it. It's the perfect combination of passion and talent."<br><br>Fisher joined Supper Club four months ago after attending as a guest at a dinner at Luau in Beverly Hills. He has a top-tier international membership, which includes invites to events in all three Supper Club cities and a 24-hour concierge service for booking travel, dinner and entertainment while on the road. There are two other levels of membership: local or national (L.A. and New York).<br><br>Other sun-soaked Hollywood guests included actress Lynn Collins ( and ) and her husband, actor Steven Strait, as well as Daily Candy founder Dany Levy, actresses Lake Bell and Shenae Grimes, and "Watchmen" siren Malin Akerman. Not all were members; some came as guests of members or ambassadors.<br><br>In addition to the membership fees, Lonsdale also benefits from corporate sponsorships. Each event she plans is sponsored by a different brand of liquor that is poured exclusively during the pre-dinner cocktail hour.<br><br>At a recent lunch meeting Lonsdale arrived with a tall jar of greenish juice from the boutique "cleansing" company Izo Cleanze. (She shied away from meeting at the French restaurant du jour, Church & State, cautioning that she was on a juice fast and not in need of anything fancy because she would not be eating.)<br><br>After asking the waitress for a glass, she explained that Timothy Martin, the founder of Izo, sponsored her cleanse with the understanding that she would spread the word about its benefits to her members and friends.<br><br>"It's kind of funny because Tamsin is a producer," says Daily Candy founder Levy, explaining why Lonsdale's arrival in the entertainment capital of the world makes perfect sense. Levy has been a member for two months. "Before I went it seemed a little snooty and not something I pictured myself being a part of, but then I met Tamsin and was amazed by how she's . . . pretty down to earth, and just a nice, smart woman."<br><br>Two years after selling her original namesake company, Taryn Rose is back in full force. The orthopedist/shoe designer, who made her name crafting fashion-forward designs that are as comfortable as they are pretty, has debuted a luxury line that is available at , with new designs rolling out this fall. A less expensive division is featured on the Home Shopping Network. And with new partners the Schottenstein Group, Rose will have a midrange line available at stores including , Nordstrom and Macy's next year.<br><br>Julee Butler, vice president and divisional merchandise manager for women's shoes at Neiman Marcus, is thrilled to have the designer in-store again with her Haute Footure collection.<br><br> "When Taryn called and shared the good news that she was launching her new collection, we didn't hesitate to begin the collaboration," Butler says. "Taryn knows our Neiman Marcus customer very well and understands that she has discerning taste and wants a beautiful fashion shoe that is unquestionably comfortable&#8230;. The materials and details along with the comfort fit that Taryn put into the collection are really what makes them [the line] special&#8230;. She is making a lot of her loyal customers very happy."<br><br>Haute Footure, exclusive to Neiman Marcus, ranges in price from $365 to $1,000 in stores and online. New fall styles will emerge through October.<br><br>On the other side of the affordability coin, Rose has been on the Home Shopping Network since May with a line called High Heel Power that includes footwear, handbags, leg wear and skin care for the feet.<br><br>"[It's] the brand I created for women everywhere who multitask, balance a budget while looking good and wanting to take care of themselves," Rose says. Shoes in the High Heel Power collection run $110 to $150.<br><br>Lynne Ronon, the vice president of merchandising for HSN, thinks Rose adds a unique quality to the channel. "Taryn has it all. She's passionate &#8230; and has a tremendous product with a great story that provides a solution for customers," Ronon says. "With her background as an , she engages our customers and relates to them as women." The line's fall collection debuts on the network this month.<br><br>So where has Rose been for two years? In 2008, she sold her share of her company to a partner. It proved to be a good move, as the economy was declining.<br><br>"In hindsight, it was the best thing, because I sold before everything crashed," she says. "What this allowed me to do was observe what was going on in the marketplace. Reality is different than it was two years ago." Americans no longer buy as much as they used to, she says, though they still want quality, so she believes it is essential to deliver her shoes in a greater range of prices than ever before.<br><br>Rose has always been quick on her feet. As a young girl, she escaped from Saigon with her family at the end of the . They lost everything. Their survival in the United States depended on hard work and careful planning and she learned that perseverance means success. After graduating from , she attended the School of Medicine, where she specialized in orthopedics.<br><br>It was in the operating room (where she was renowned for wearing 3-inch Prada heels) that she saw first-hand the damage shoes can inflict on feet. Clearly, Rose realized, there was an open niche in the shoe market: luxe comfort. So, after 13 years of studying and practicing medicine, she decided to take a risky step: she would combine her expert knowledge of feet and her aesthetic sensibilities and become a shoe designer.<br><br>"I knew I was in trouble when all of my Ortho journals would still be wrapped in plastic but Vogue and Elle were torn apart," she says. "I needed to go where my life was telling me to go. I was blessed that I found a way to combine both my knowledge and my passion."<br><br>"I felt I'd rather live with failure than regret," she says. "Failure you can deal with; regret you can't change, because it's too late."<br><br>A garage became her studio and borrowed money her capital as she launched her first line in 1998. The gamble paid off. She soon made a $20,000 sale to a major department store. More successes followed and, in 1999, she moved out of the garage and into a Beverly Hills boutique. In 2000, she expanded to New York, and in 2002 and 2004, respectively, she brought San Jose and Las Vegas into the fold. What had started with $800,000 in sales in 1999 became $8.1 million in 2002. But it's what happened in 2003, with a few short sentences, that made the biggest difference:<br><br>"I remember wearing a pair of Taryn's shoes a few years ago to the O Magazine anniversary party. I knew I'd be dancing the night away, so I had those on underneath my long skirt. What great shoes you make." These words were uttered by on her show on Jan. 27, 2003. According to the transcript of that show, Oprah showed off her Taryn Rose kicks for all America to see and &#8212; presto! &#8212; in one year, Taryn's line doubled its sales to $16.4 million.<br><br>Oprah's Midas touch launched a craze for the shoes. Stores were swamped with women eager to look good and feel good too. Celebs were also keen to get in on the action. wore Rose's sleek peep-toe "Calexa" during her pregnancy with twins Knox and Vivienne. , , and Felicity Huffman became fans. says she appreciates how "Taryn's shoes combine her creative flair with the knowledge of how our feet must carry us our entire lives."<br><br>"As a surgeon, she understands empirically how we've literally suffered for vanity's sake, but as one with great personal style, she also knows that we women have a craving for beauty," Bassett says.<br><br>The craving of one lady &#8212; a first lady &#8212; even got Rose summoned to the . She was doing a press tour in Washington, D.C. and received a request to visit . "I arrived and was taken up to her private living room and had a lovely tea," Rose recalled. "[Mrs. Bush] said she loved my wedges because of all her outdoor events, and she didn't like sinking into the grass."<br><br>This fall, the Neiman Marcus Haute Footure line offers several styles, including a 4-inch leather wedge called the Evangeline and a lush suede flat called the Belle. Meanwhile, HSN's High Heel Power mixes funky textures with classic silhouettes. The Electra peep-toe, for instance, mixes a generous platform with festive multi-color glitter, perfect for a night on the town or holiday sparkle.<br><br>And for fans of the signature rose that graced some Taryn Rose shoes, no need to worry. Haute Footure features several styles with the embellishment. It has always exemplified Taryn's confidence, but the flower reflects new meaning now.<br><br>"My old rose was more like a cabbage rose &#8212; very sweet," Rose says. "This time I want it a bit edgier, more undone, a bit less uptight and a wilder look. I feel very free right now, and the rose reflects that I want to spread my wings design-wise."<br><br>image@latimes.comImage is a slippery creature, and one month's style sensation is the next month's tasteless trend. For those keeping score, we offer the 2008 Image Index, a sliding scale of the people, places, ideas and trends that moved up -- and down -- the pop culture barometer this year.<br><br>UP<br><br> MARC JACOBS <br><br>That last stint in rehab in March 2007 really must have stuck. Not only is Jacobs in top physical shape (see the January issue of Harper's Bazaar, where a graffitied Jacobs poses nude with a Stephen Sprouse for Louis Vuitton Neverfull bag), but his multi-culti mash-up collections for Spring '09 were also among the season's best. And those runway shows, which used to start as much as two hours late, have been right on time. At last, he's earned his title as the most influential American fashion designer.<br><br>'MAD MEN' <br><br>Smart, psychologically compelling plots that revolve around pencil skirts, double martinis and afternoon trysts made us wish for a bigger flat screen. The addictive show also elevated the aesthetics of workplace attire to include sweater sets for women and ties for guys. Meet you at the water cooler to discuss last night's episode?<br><br>THE 'STACHE <br><br>Not since popularized thick upper-lip fringe has the mustache been so hot, thanks to 's latest look. But really, he's no facial hair visionary. showed some fuzz in "Eagle Eye" earlier this year, and a coterie of 'stache-ophiles meet downtown monthly for Mustache Mondays.<br><br>RACHEL MADDOW <br><br>How refreshing to see a TV pundit -- and Rhodes scholar -- who's loyal to her signature style. , 35, waxes poetic about politics and takes on the on her daily eponymous show on . This month she appears in Vogue, and the self-described butch lesbian didn't succumb to a glitzy glam makeover; she's wearing a Jil Sander suit and black Converse high-tops.<br><br>UNISEX-Y <br><br>East Side guys in skinny jeans. Shrunken blazers with suspenders on gals. Gender-bending fashion was an equal-opportunity trend, and pop star -- who reportedly prefers DKNY women's denim -- even launched a unisex line in April. Hey, we're all for any fad that opens up new closets.<br><br>BRITNEY SPEARS <br><br>At the beginning of the year she was a mess, having just lost custody of her sons and been hospitalized for mental-health issues. But all that melted away, thanks to a few well-chosen TV appearances, an MTV , her new hit album "Circus" and a European comeback tour. Pop music's favorite fashion train wreck is blond again, and looking better than she has in years, thanks in part to &#252;ber-stylist Marjan Malakpour, who has been dressing her onstage and in photo shoots. We're even digging Brit's new ringmaster persona.<br><br>STONERS <br><br>This year the chemical bromance (named for a potent strain of herb) took in $89 million at the multiplex, we got hooked on 's and its dope-dealing soccer mom, and Cheech and Chong reunited for a sold-out reunion tour. When Jonathan Adler is dealing $68 pot-leaf motif and the cast of the 2009 weed-themed flick ("Leaves of Grass") includes , and , you know the stoner's stock is high.<br><br>OLDER MODELS <br><br>There were so many '90s supermodels gracing the pages of fashion magazines this fall, you'd suspect a George Michael and comeback tour was in the works. Linda Evangelista wore Prada's lace head to toe, looked as lithe as ever in the YSL ads, Christy Turlington gave her yoga togs a rest and posed for Escada, and was the season's most ubiquitous face as the main mannequin for Chanel and Ferragamo. All are well into their late 30s and early 40s, and in an industry where 24 is over the hill, it's refreshing to see that getting older is actually in fashion.<br><br>GADGET MAKEUP <br><br>Television takes the spotlight starting Monday at the upfronts in New York City, when most networks will announce which shows live and die. Many decisions will hinge on issues of substance &#8212; ratings and cost and critical acclaim. But no one should discount the role that style plays in a successful show.<br><br>A lot has been written about fashion on 's the 's and 's &#8212; and, in truth, many of us tune in to see just what Blair Waldorf and Joan Holloway are wearing. Clothing defines the characters in these shows, just as it did in "Sex and the City." You can't imagine "Glee" and crooked cheerleading coach Sue Sylvester () without her track suit, gay teen Kurt Hummel () without his designer outfits or guidance counselor Emma Pillsbury () without her goody-goody cardigans. Lou Eyrich's costumes for the dance sequences are brilliant &#8212; DIY riffs on looks worn by and Madonna.<br><br> But those highly stylized looks won't work for most of the scripted shows on television these days. "If you dressed or like 'Glee,' the character would be sabotaged by the look," says Deborah Landis, founding director of the Copley Center for the Study of Costume Design at UCLA. So many costume designers look for the clothes to fade into the background like scenery and avoid anything too trendy that could date a show after it goes into syndication.<br><br>That doesn't mean there's nothing stylish to watch. While most outfits in contemporary shows are put together by costume designers who shop off the rack, some of the looks are inspiring enough to try at home.<br><br>CBS' features the best-dressed career women on television, beginning with Alicia Florrick (), a litigator who returns to her Chicago law firm after her husband is caught in a political sex scandal.<br><br>Costume designer Daniel Lawson, who has worked on such films as "," turns to labels such as Dolce &amp; Gabbana, and for feminine-looking but professional suits that are a striking contrast to what we saw in legal in the 1980s and '90s.<br><br>Florrick wears jackets in bold red, purple and turquoise by Calvin Klein, and . And the senior partner at the firm, Diane Lockhart (), has a collection of statement necklaces to rival the first lady's, by such designers as Kenneth Jay Lane and Pono. Political campaigner Eli Gold () is no slouch either, in slim-cut suits by and Dolce &amp; Gabbana.<br><br>The costumes on "The Good Wife" have created so much interest that Lawson has a regular "Style Watch" column at CBS.com, where he answers viewer questions about the clothes.<br><br>Lawson is also the costume designer for 's "noir-otic" comedy in which writer Jonathan Ames () is nerdy cool wearing plaid jackets that look as if they could come from the L.A. menswear label .<br><br>On the other hand, the world of scripted TV does feature a disturbing number of female characters who dress inappropriately for their occupations.<br><br>The women of CBS' fall victim to this, as does Dr. Lisa Cuddy () on Fox's "House." (How does she sit in those tight skirts?) And Dr. Camille Soroyan in Fox's () treats the forensics lab like her own private catwalk.<br><br>"Producers today seem to be hung up on sex," says Mary Rose, president of the Costume Designers Guild and a Television Academy of Arts and Sciences Board of Governors member for Costume Design and Supervision. "Which is not to say it's not important, but not for a policewoman chasing criminals with her blouse unbuttoned over her cleavage and three-inch heels."<br><br>"There are many times a designer would love to have an asterisk next to their credit saying, 'Those five-inch heels were not my choice,'" Landis says, adding that a viewer "can't tell who makes those decisions."<br><br>There seem to be more well-dressed men in drama series than women. Raylan Givens () in 's based on a fictional U.S. marshal from 's novels and set in rural Kentucky, is a hillbilly hipster in a cowboy hat, Western shirts and skinny ties. On "Bones," agent Seeley Booth is a tough guy with a weakness for socks and a signature belt buckle emblazoned with the word "Cocky," both of which are actor 's own flourishes. Then there's the perfectly pomaded in "Mad Men" and the camel coat-clad in HBO's <br><br>Indeed, TV's sexy, new period and fantasy costume dramas are bringing to the small screen some of the most colorful and creative costumes we've seen in years, many built from scratch.<br><br>At first, there seems to be a time-space disconnect in the costumes by Michele Clapton for the epic HBO medieval series The men in fur pelts and crudely stitched tunics have groomed beards and gelled hair, and the bleach blond damsel Daenerys Targaryen (Emilia Clarke) looks like an Olsen twin in a filmy goddess gown with a metal halter neck.<br><br>But that's the point. These shows aren't history, they're fantasy. And the clothes are transporting, especially in the series which is like the "The O.C" with swords. Emmy Award-winning costume designer Joan Bergin adds contemporary cool to the post-Roman Celtic sensibility of the show (Arthur wears one of those surfer dude string necklaces), with clothes so richly detailed they make you want to hit the pause button.<br><br>"It was quite a difficult project, because despite the fact that Arthur lived in the 6th century, most people's view of the story is highly ," says Bergin, who was also the costume designer for the series "The Tudors." "I had many sleepless nights trying to work out how to honor that. It's the Dark Ages, but we couldn't just put them all in boiled wool. So we used a lot of textured fabrics, to make it look like they could have made the clothes themselves."<br><br>Merlin's textured coat with thick woven leather details, worn in the "Lady of the Lake" episode, looks like something fashion designer might cook up. Arthur's half-sister and rival Morgan () is a witch with one wicked wardrobe &#8212; fabulous Empire gowns, lush cloaks, gold sandals, Celtic jewelry and jeweled headbands.<br><br>And yet, no matter how sumptuous the costumes are, we all know that what is really going to keep these shows alive is how fast the characters can take them off.<br><br><p>After the coffee. Before avoiding Kings parade traffic.</p><p>The Skinny: Did Wednesday drag or what? Thursday's headlines include analysis of the Justice Department examination of the pay-TV business; is testing a new look; and has some tough words for Hollywood.</p><p>Daily Dose: As yours truly reported Wednesday, Productions is . Now attention will turn to who may buy the production company whose biggest franchises include the and Fox's "So You Think You Can Dance." Keep your eye on Core Media Group, the recently renamed CKX production company that is also a partner in "So You Think You Can Dance." Core is headed by former top NBC executive Marc Graboff, who is also intimately familiar with the finances of the Globes since he did NBC's deals to keep the show on its network.</p> <p>And justice for all? The Justice Department's probe of the pay-TV business, first reported Wednesday by the , grew out of the government's review of Comcast's acquisition of NBC. During the investigation into the potential implications of that deal, the DOJ apparently discovered several practices in how programmers and distributors interact that raised concern. Analysis of what the DOJ is looking at and whether it will lead anywhere from the and .</p><p>New look. Netflix is testing a redesign of its website in an attempt to make it easier for subscribers to find content. The new look separates movies and television shows into separate tabs. Previously, the only content Netflix broke out separately was kids' programming. More on the new look from the .</p><p>King is gone. News anchor John King is the latest casualty at as the cable news network is pulling the plug on his low-rated 6 p.m. show. CNN's quick fix will be to extend 's show by another hour. CNN is under pressure from its bosses at Turner Broadcasting to boost its numbers. Coverage from the .</p><p>The Iron Lady speaks. Meryl Streep took Hollywood to task by noting its obsession with big tent-pole movies that often flop ( ), which she said does a disservice to movies aimed at women and older viewers that often quietly make lots of money including her own and "The Devil Wears ." More on Streep's remarks from the and .</p><p>To see 3-D or not see 3-D, that is the question. There is a slew of 3-D movies coming out this summer, but are they all worth the extra money to get the glasses? The offers its thoughts on which films are glasses-worthy and which ones you can see in 2-D and not miss a thing. The WSJ said save your money with regard to</p><p>Making History. The success of History's "Hatfields &amp; McCoys" miniseries led the cable channel to beat the broadcast networks in total viewers for the week ending June. Believe it or not, that's the first time a cable network has pulled that off. Admittedly, it was during the summer season when the broadcasters were in rerun mode, but it is still a significant milestone for History and the cable industry. More from .</p><p>Fight? A few weeks back, Peter Chernin's TV production company severed its ties with the WME agency. The says the reason for the split is that WME is headed by Ari Emanuel and Chernin, who are now competitors of sorts. Both have new money from private equity and are on the hunt for investments and apparently often in competition.</p><p>Inside the Los Angeles Times: director is .</p><p>Follow me on Twitter and watch me battle tweeters half my age! </p>Walking into on Vine Street, just blocks from the swank interiors he created for the restaurant and the nightclub , appears a bit wary.<br><br>"Can you live elegantly and economically?" he asks, surveying the store's vast array of closeout merchandise for the first time. "We shall see. Give me 20 minutes."<br><br> The Hollywood branch of the discount chain is filled with colorful characters, including a silver-haired man in a yachting cap and a diminutive older woman bedecked with beads, and Starck fits right in. Clad in a leather motorcycle jacket and pants made from a bold African print, he pushes his cart purposefully through the aisles, conversing in French with his entourage -- his wife, Jasmine, and 30-year-old daughter, Ara.<br><br>"A children's folding table with four chairs for $39.99," he exclaims in a rare burst of English. "Can you imagine?"<br><br>Famous for putting a modern spin on 18th century French furniture and for creating exquisite environments using expensive materials and craftsmanship, Starck also embraces sensible consumerism. Buy quality over quantity, he says.<br><br>"You must be very rigorous," he says, sifting through discounted wares in search of the gems. "Try to find the essence, the most iconic or simple representation of a thing. Look for the bowl that looks most like a bowl. That means we must avoid colors and patterns, and everything that can be trendy."<br><br>To illustrate the point, he creates a place setting composed of a silver charger, a white dinner dish, a black salad plate and a white bowl carrying the name Today's Home, which he pronounces "Scandinavian" in style. He adds a glass tumbler, and the total cost: $5.50.<br><br>"If you have guests," he says, "put this on a white tablecloth and it is irreproachable."<br><br>For utensils, he selects a Hartford 42-piece set, enough for eight people, priced at $25.<br><br>"It has the least amount of design," he says, having compared it to more frilly patterns. As a finishing touch, Starck adds a mercury glass candle pillar with an old-world silhouette and an antique finish. At $12, it is a little expensive, he says, although similar pieces can cost up to twice as much at Target. "But it immediately gives you a deluxe look."<br><br>For the holidays, Starck throws a shot of red into the tabletop mix with a 20-piece set of Christmas balls for $4. The trick is to buy all the same color. It's not an urgent purchase, he adds, "but even if we are in an economic crisis, we must not be sad."<br><br>A $6 white cotton bath towel with a bold black check is a minimalist exception to Starck's no-pattern rule. In selecting clothing, he adds a gray T-shirt and work gloves, plus black tights and a bra for the missus and a $4 pack of boxer shorts. He considers the latter a necessity for the good life, "so when a man takes off his clothes, the girl will not laugh."<br><br>Starck is pleased by the store's furnishings and art supplies for kids. He picks out the aforementioned folding table and chairs, as well as sidewalk chalk, a 240-piece paint and marker set, a packet of paper in a color he dubs "Prada green" and a 10-pack of No. 2 pencils. Total: less than $50.<br><br>"In a crisis, we have to think about our children and especially push their creativity," he says. "If capitalism is failing because it is a selfish system, we can teach them to reinvent society so that it is based on sharing."<br><br>He is pleased to find a $3 DVD of the 2004 film "Before Sunset," which stars fellow Parisian , and a $4 CD of ' "A Christmas Carol" narrated by .<br><br>"These are two intelligent entertainments, and that is astonishing," Starck says.<br><br>Forty-five minutes after entering the store -- after a long perusal of bras and a fruitless search for organic food and wine in the grocery aisle -- Starck approaches the checkout counter.<br><br> As he unloads two baskets, the designer offers his take on how to get more by paying less.<br><br> "We have been sticking our money into the fan," he says, miming a stack of bills being shredded by the blades of a ceiling fan. "We must be more intelligent now."<br><br>Keeps is a Times staff writer.<br><br><p>Seeking a quintessential Los Angeles fashion experience? Here are our picks of the top boutiques where you can have one.</p><p>Elyse Walker</p><p>The vibe: Beachy casual with a metropolitan edge, a shop that includes evening gowns and flip-flops.</p> <p>The goods: The 6,500-square-foot store has everything a woman needs to take her from carpooling ( jackets, Inhabit sweaters and Mother jeans) to a business meeting ( suits, separates) to a museum gala ( and gowns). Owner Elyse Walker, whose family was in the shoe business, puts a huge focus on accessories, including bags by Nancy Gonzalez, and , shoes by Christian Louboutin and Pierre Hardy, and jewelry by Husam el Odeh and Lanvin.</p><p>The back story: Walker opened her store in 1999 with 800 square feet of selling space, gambling that women in Malibu and the Palisades would rather shop with her than trek to Beverly Hills. Personal shopping services are a specialty, and sales associates can text or email clients photos of styles they might like or deliver rolling racks of clothes to their homes.</p><p>Where to find it: Just off Sunset Boulevard at 15306 Antioch St., Pacific Palisades, (310) 230-8882, http://www.forwardbyelysewalker.com.</p><p>American Rag Cie</p><p>The vibe: Southern California high-low style and culture in all its glory &mdash; vintage mixed with denim and workwear, contemporary clothing and streetwear, plus books, DVDs and housewares, and a see-and-be-seen sidewalk cafe.</p><p>The goods: American Rag is really three stores in one. The main shop features designer clothing (Cynthia Vincent, Funktional, Free People, Comme des Gar&ccedil;ons Play) and shoes (Dr. Martens, Toms, Creative Recreation) alongside a superbly edited selection of vintage clothing and accessories. The World Denim Bar has work wear and denim (Denham, PRPS, Levi's Made &amp; Crafted, Ksubi), and the housewares store features outdoor furniture, glassware and accessories with a French Mediterranean twist to match the restaurant's menu.</p><p>The back story: Since opening on La Brea in 1985, founder Mark Werts has grown American Rag Cie from a modest vintage business into a mega boutique with locations in Los Angeles and Newport Beach.</p><p>Where to find it: 150 S. La Brea Ave., Los Angeles, (323) 935-3154, http://www.amrag.com.</p><p>Freecity Supershop</p><p>The vibe: The antidote to cookie-cutter fashion. Hippie chic-meets-Pop Art-meets commune.</p><p>The goods: Unisex T-shirts, sweat shirts, sweat pants, cargo pants and knit caps, as well as cases and Quoddy moccasins hand-printed with doves, rainbows, bicycles and other feel-good graphics, and slogans such as "Share Food," "Basic Goodness" and "Life Nature Love." The shop-cum-art gallery, which has a different theme each year (now it's bikes), also sells patchouli perfume, brown bread, ceramic pots and books on subjects like Oscar Niemeyer, Corita Kent and Yoko Ono.</p><p>The back story: Nina Garduno, the former menswear buyer for Ron Herman at Fred Segal, opened the Freecity Supershop in 2005. Her goal? Put the focus back on the art and craft of fashion.</p><p>Where to find it: 1139 N. Highland Ave., Los Angeles, (323) 461-2226, http://www.freecitysupershop.com.</p><p>Fred Segal</p><p>The vibe: The godfather of the L.A. fashion scene, nearly every designer and stylist in town has worked here at one time or another.</p><p>The goods: High-end designer clothing by , Proenza Schouler, , Carven, , Raquel Allegra and A.L.C., mixed with more affordable stuff by L'Agence, Current/Elliott, and Elizabeth &amp; James, shoes, accessories, beauty products and housewares at the Melrose location. Mauro Cafe, also at the Melrose location and open since 1994, is still one of the most fashionable lunch spots in town.</p><p>The back story: What started as L.A.'s first high-end jeans bar in 1960 has grown into a community of boutiques including Ron Herman, Ron Robinson, Conveyer, Madison and Zero Minus Plus, under the Fred Segal umbrella in two locations.</p>There was a luxe trashiness to many of the collections for fall that's curious when everyone is in survival mode. Between Alexander Wang in New York, Pucci in Milan, Balmain and Givenchy in Paris, I was left with a distinct morning-after feeling. But why, especially now, would you want to wear a mini-dress the size of a postage stamp that makes you look like a street walker? I suppose it would get you noticed.<br><br>This is the cutting edge of fashion, the thing that's making magazine editors giddy. And there were more measured takes on the tough chic look -- black leather leggings worn with a long boyfriend blazer, the black leather bustier or bomber jacket. I guess if nothing else, sex always sells.<br><br> Other designers leaned on their heritage (Burberry's checks, Missoni's layered knits, 's manor style and Chanel's -like kits of Madame's iconic accessories), or the heritage of others (Balenciaga's ode to ), offering the kind of tweedy coats, cozy sweaters and pretty evening looks that store buyers were referring to as "investment pieces."<br><br>There was a lot to wear: Prada's earthen-hued skirt suits, , and Marc Jacobs' sportswear classics with flashes of neon, Lanvin's elegant, bias cuts, the everyday jackets and pants at DKNY, Derek Lam, Etro, Dries Van Noten, Chloe, YSL and Stella McCartney.<br><br>Now we just have to wait and see if anyone's going to buy. Here, a rundown of the season's top trends:<br><br>Most likely to already be hanging in your closet: A black leather jacket. If not, they were everywhere, the best with a subtle, studded collar at Yves Saint Laurent.<br><br>Outta my way: Power dressing manifested itself in strong shoulders, leg o' mutton sleeves and one-sleeved dresses.<br><br>Sandals aren't just for summer anymore: If it's cold, wear them with tights. If it's slushy, try the season's other big footwear trend, over-the-knee boots.<br><br>To shop for at the vintage stores: Anything 1980s, especially long boyfriend blazers in geometric prints and sparkly mini-dresses.<br><br>New "it" color, besides black, that is: Jade green as seen at Chanel and Louis Vuitton. Wear it sparingly or risk looking like a leprechaun.<br><br>If money is no object: Go for the look at Balmain, the crystal-studded jackets and disco mini-dresses. Or buy the real thing at the Jackson memorabilia auction in Beverly Hills next month.<br><br>Most dubious trend: Capes, especially Marc Jacobs' neon, crossing-guard versions.<br><br>Trend that refuses to go away: Leggings. For a newer look, try high-waisted, pleated and peg-legged pants.<br><br>Trend we thought would never come back: Exposed bras, as seen at Balenciaga and Miu Miu.<br><br>Most timeless trend: Classical draping, as seen at Balenciaga, Viktor & Rolf, Versace, Bottega Veneta, Derek Lam and .<br><br>Most ingenious invention: Lanvin's knit-backed fur stoles, which can be pulled down over jackets, sweaters or coats.<br><br>Most annoying beauty habit: Hair crimping, which was responsible for at least one late runway show start.<br><br>Recession, what recession? Nadia Swarovski, sixth-generation member of the Swarovski family, which has built an empire by supplying crystals to fashion designers, sprinkled fairy dust on nearly every runway collection. She is the season's biggest winner.<br><br>Over the last decade, vintage shopping in Los Angeles has largely lost its sense of humor.<br><br>What was once a discount-centered exercise in fashion excavation has slowly morphed into a sometimes expensive high-fashion endeavor &#8212; where a no-name secondhand frock can easily cost three times as much as its H&amp;M facsimile.<br><br> Blame it on Hollywood's ongoing love affair with vintage, along with global, online-based competition for designer vintage. Outbidding a Saudi princess on usually verges on the impossible, after all.<br><br>But a growing number of local vintage hounds are putting the reason back into resale &#8212; by ditching the pricey overhead of bricks-and-mortar stores and rolling out racks of secondhand finery in their living rooms.<br><br>The residential "shops" specialize in well-priced garb and eliminate pushy salespeople, parking woes and boutique formality from the shopping equation &#8212; replacing them with a chatty girlfriend-to-girlfriend vibe that often leads to prolonged hangout sessions, impromptu styling from strangers and, in some cases, a mimosa buzz.<br><br>Promotion of the sales takes place through email and on Facebook and proprietary blogs, where addresses and opening hours are given.<br><br>"It's kind of big-sisterish," said Dani Muller, a stylist and photographer who recently launched Ladiess (pronounced "ladies"), a monthly residential vintage sale, with co-founder Sierra Feldner-Shaw &#8212; who hosts the sales in her Silver Lake house. "Girls will stay a long time and consult with each other, discussing what kind of shoes you'd wear with this, or what top to wear with that. It's really fun and easy."<br><br>Sales at Ladiess, which specializes in reclaimed and reworked vintage clothing for the runway-savvy, are part of a fledgling business that also includes wardrobe consulting and a blog in which the duo chronicle their lighthearted efforts to re-create runway looks using only secondhand clothes. (They usually get close, but freely admit when looks don't pan out.)<br><br>Muller added that roughly 80% of the clothes at the sales are priced at under $35, noting, "We want to have a good time, and we wanted to bring good-looking clothes to everybody."<br><br>Lifelong clotheshorse Renee Shaab, who works in the luxury hotel sales business, and freelance style writer Erin Weinger, a former Los Angeles Times staff reporter, recently launched a series of vintage sales in Weinger's Los Feliz apartment &#8212; getting the word out via email and Twitter.<br><br>The idea of hosting regular vintage sales crystallized during a late-night "quarter-life crisis" conversation between the two co-founders, when Shaab realized that her passion is vintage clothes shopping. "That's my talent in life," she said.<br><br>The pair shop for wearable vintage and secondhand clothes and accessories ("nothing too outrageous") in Palm Springs and "at lots of secret places we don't want to reveal," said Shaab, who chalked up the allure of at-home shops to "a level of comfort. We encourage people to play adult dress-up. We serve mimosas and have had some breakfast-y snacks. It feels comfortable."<br><br>The shop's prices are equally friendly. There's a $1 bin full of brooches, tees, bracelets and the like. Dresses hover around $15, with the highest price tags hanging from true designer pieces from brands including Calvin Klein and St. John.<br><br>Unearthing vintage and secondhand fashion that seamlessly integrates into modern wardrobes is Kitty Jensen's forte. The part-time nanny and full-time vintage fanatic has undoubtedly influenced the new crop of at-home vintage sellers in L.A. with Secret Shop, her 3-year-old living room boutique that counts celebrities such as Miranda July and Frankie Rayder among its regular drop-ins.<br><br>Jensen's shop, which is open by appointment only (she prefers to open up for small groups of friends), feels more like an old-school beauty shop than a retail space, with women curled up with cups of coffee on her sofa, flipping through magazines and discussing fashion.<br><br>"I didn't ever think it would be really a business that I would run," said Jensen, who buys much of her stock in her native Pacific Northwest, and deals in wearable, understated vintage &#8212; with very little polyester in the mix.<br><br>"But I did it because I love, love vintage and I love finding stuff. I always have. Within six months of opening, I was getting people to call about it. I made business cards."<br><br>Prices range from $24 for a rare tee to just north of $100 for a cool leather jacket.<br><br>Jensen, who says she makes roughly three-fourths of her income with Secret Shop, is contemplating a move to a bigger house to accommodate the growing business and has even toyed with opening a proper store elsewhere.<br><br>But she thinks that the residential surroundings are a key reason her shop's been so successful.<br><br>"I think that it's stressful to shop, and being in a home is more comfortable," she said. "I'm there drinking coffee, talking to my friends. There's no pressure."<br><br>Ladiess: Email for sale details and check out the blog at .; Renee Shaab and Erin Weinger: Email Renee Shaab at to be added to the sale notification list.; Secret Shop: Email Kitty Jensen at to make an appointment and check out secretshopvintage.com for news and occasional public hours.<br><br>Fourteen years ago, the gender breakdown for behind-the-scenes employment in the top 250 films was 83% men and 17% women. By last year, women had improved their representation -- ever so slightly.<br> <br> In 2011,the division of labor in the same number ofmovies was82% men and 18% women, according to a San Diego State University study looking at directors, writers, executive producers, producers, editors and cinematographers.<br> <br> "The shocking underrepresentation of women in our business" is how Oscar-winning actress described the "dreadful" statistics Tuesday night during Women in Film's 2012 Crystal and Lucy Awards ceremony at the Beverly Hilton hotel.<br> <br> Hollywood's heavy tilt toward men in the executive suites, and among those selecting which films get made, was lamented frequently during the star-studded gala that honored performer and NBCUniversal executive , among others.<br> <br> During the last five years, "five little movies aimed at women have brought in over $1.6 billion in worldwide box office," Streep told the ballroom crowded with women.<br> <br> Streepstarred in three of those five films -- "," "The Devil Wears Prada" and for which she won a best actress Oscar this yearfor her portrayal of British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher. The other two successes she mentioned were and<br> <br> Those films "cost a fraction of what the big tent-pole failures cost," Streep said, not mentioning by name movies geared toward men that turned out to be spectacular disappointments at the box office. Walt Disney Co. took a $200-million write-down on its bomband Universal Pictures'underperforming "Battleship" left top executives at the studio and its parent company,, more than a little seasick.<br> <br> "The Iron Lady" cost $14 million to make, Streep said, and generated $114 million in global ticket sales. "Pure profit," Streep said, noting that despite the strong showing, studios continue to make few movies specifically targeted at women.<br> <br> "Why? Why? Why? Don't they want the money?" Streep asked the crowd, who broke into laughter.<br><br> <br> Davis, who was nominated for for her role in "The Help" (but lost to Streep's "Iron Lady" performance) was honored by Women in Film for achievement and contributions to the industry, including breaking through Hollywood's gender and color barriers.<br> <br> Hammer, chairman of NBCUniversal Cable Entertainment, who is in charge of such cable networks as USA, , E! and G-4, received the group's Lucy award. The award is named for , a pioneer on the business side of television as well as onscreen.<br> <br> The group bestowed its humanitarian award on ("Up All Night"), and 15-year-old Chloe Grace Moretz received the Max Mara Face of the Future award. Anette Haellmigk, the lead director for three years on 's "Big Love," was honored with the Kodak vision award.<br> <br> Five Fox movie executives -- Nancy Utley, president of Fox Searchlight Pictures; Emma Watts, president of production for ; Elizabeth Gabler, president of production for Fox 2000 Pictures; Claudia Lewis, president of production atFox Searchlight; and Vanessa Morrison Murchison, president of Fox Animation, were recognized for professional excellence.<br> <br> RELATED:<br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br>Call it the Forever 21 effect, or fast fashion. Americans are buying, and discarding, clothes more quickly than ever. The average American throws 54 pounds of clothes and into the trash each year. That adds up to about 9 million tons of wearables that are sent into the waste stream, according to the &#8212; a 27% increase in a mere eight years.<br><br>Although resale shops are a good option for clothes that still have some fashion value, and charities will take items that are well past their prime, there are still an awful lot of ink-stained shirts and moth-eaten sweaters that find their way to the dump.<br><br> What to do with that favorite old shirt you ruined by inadvertently spilling a glass of red wine down its front, or that well-worn pair of slacks that finally split at the seams, or that dress you loved last year but now wouldn't wear to save your life?<br><br>There are a wide variety of options that are better than the trash bag, including charities (such as Goodwill and the Salvation Army), resale shops (Buffalo Exchange, Give + Take) and the retailers that first sold them to you.<br><br>Goodwill and the Salvation Army will not sell defective clothes or shoes, but they do offload them to textile recyclers, who either ship them to Third World countries where they may have a chance of a second life, or sort and resell them to textile "de-manufacturers" who can turn them into materials that can be worked into new materials, whether it's cleaning rags, carpet padding or rubberized playgrounds.<br><br>Forty-five percent of recycled clothes are sold to other countries, 30% are turned into cleaning rags and 25% are turned into fibers for stuffing or insulation, according to the Secondary Materials and Recycled Textile Assn.<br><br>Recycling awareness among clothing manufacturers seems to be on the rise. Goodwill, which in Southern California alone sold 14.6 million pounds of textiles to recyclers last year, recently joined with San Francisco-based &amp; Co. to educate jeans owners in how to care for their pants so they stand a better chance of reuse through the charity.<br><br>The partnership evolved out of a Levi's study of the environmental effect of a pair of 501s, which found that the amount of water used to grow the cotton was rivaled by the amount owners used to wash their jeans. That finding led to Care Tag for Our Planet, which started showing up on Levi's late last year, instructing owners to wash their jeans in cold water, to wash them less often, to air dry them rather than use a clothes dryer and, when they no longer want them, to donate them instead of throwing them away.<br><br> , which last weekend concluded a 10-day blue jean recycling event, collected about a quarter-million jeans that will be turned into insulation.<br><br>Patagonia, a pioneer in using recycled materials in its active wear since the '90s, has been running a garment recycling program since 1995 called Common Threads. The program has collected 13,000 pounds of clothes, which are shipped off to Japan, broken down and turned in to new Patagonia items such as rain parkas. Despite their long journey, Patagonia spokeswoman Jen Rapp says that recycling clothes, rather than making them from raw material, saves 72% in energy costs and 76% in CO2 emissions.<br><br>Recycling plastic that is used in textiles saves 57% of the energy used to make them from virgin materials, or about 1 ton of CO2 emissions for every ton that is recycled, according to the Natural Resources Defense Council. Patagonia's goal: that 100% of its clothing either be made from recycled material or be recyclable. Right now, the company says 70% of its offerings are recyclable.<br><br>Customers who want to recycle their Patagonia gear can do so by returning items to Patagonia retailers and dealers such as REI, or by mailing items to the company's Nevada-based service center.<br><br>Dora Copperthite is doing her own form of clothing recycling. Her Give + Take Boutique in Playa del Rey is like a large public clothing swap that lets people trade their clothes for others. For a $20 monthly membership fee, women who've tired of their Prada handbag or H&amp;M romper can have them valued for points that are then traded for other items.<br><br>Open since November, Give + Take has about 124 members and 1,000 items, the latter of which are divided into three categories: designer, cheapies and free.<br><br>"For me, it's an environmental cause. We have so much excess," said Copperthite, who donates whatever isn't swapped to Goodwill. "The green movement is big on shopping in your own closet. What I'm doing, you're not only shopping in your own closet but the closets of hundreds of ladies."<br><br><p>We&#039;ve had made-to-order shoes, customised sunglasses and now the Prada emporium are back with their latest offering - personalised luxury luggage.<br><br>With a range of bags, backpacks, trolleys and shopping bags in black leather or camouflage print anda host of coloured initials to stamp your mark, it looks as though the customised luggage revolution is here to stay.<br><br><br><br>Available online from January 15th and selected Prada stores - banish January blues and plan your winter get-away in style!<br><br><br><br><br><br></p><p>Notice to our readers&hellip;</p><p>We'd like to let you know that this site uses cookies. Without them you may find this site does not work properly and many features may be unavailable. More information on what cookies are and the types of cookies we use can be found </p>A/W 2010 Trend: Ladylike <p>From the moment Prada&#039;s beehived models sasheyed down the catwalk, curves spilling over corsted flared dresses, we sensed a strong ladylike vibe in the air. If you don&#039;t fancy going 50s in a full skirt, there&#039;s also elegant 60s chic or uptown-girl 70s.</p><p>Notice to our readers&hellip;</p><p>We'd like to let you know that this site uses cookies. Without them you may find this site does not work properly and many features may be unavailable. More information on what cookies are and the types of cookies we use can be found </p><p>Notice to our readers&hellip;</p><p>We'd like to let you know that this site uses cookies. Without them you may find this site does not work properly and many features may be unavailable. More information on what cookies are and the types of cookies we use can be found </p><p>Since employed Rachel Zoe to style her, the star&#039;s red carpet look as had a major overhaul. Anne daringly attempted to pull off this feathered Chanel autumn 2008 Couture dress at the Motion Pictures Awards bash, where she won Best Actress - and we think she looks radiant. Her Chanel pumps could possibly have been swapped for a sexier style, but her hair and make-up were totally bang-on. (15 January 2009)</p><p>The Hollywood starlet last week and now the pair have hit the red carpet to show off their love - and a serious sparkler<br><br> and her actor fiance Adam Shulman were at a glittering gala dinner for Kennedy Centre Honourees in Washington.<br><br>The star looked radiant in a floor-skimming black bandeau dress and diamond choker. But the most striking piece of jewellery was Anne&#039;s diamond engagement ring.<br><br><br><br>Turns out that her multi-talented actor fiance Adam is also a jewellery designer and worked with Kwiat Heritage Jewels to create the bespoke ring for . Could we be any more jealous?<br><br>about their relationship in , Anne said: &lsquo;Adam totally ruined my plan. I was really actually looking forward to a little alone time and then I fall in love like a fool.&rsquo;<br><br><br><br>Anne, 28, got together with Shulman after a turbulent relationship with property developer Raffaello Follieri. Anne split with Follieri in 2008 when he was arrested for fraud and sentenced to four and a half years in prison.<br><br>Now happily engaged to fellow actor Adam, Anne looks more confident than ever.<br><br>The loved-up couple were at the Kennedy Centre event to support Meryl Streep, Anne&#039;s co-star in The Devil Wears Prada.<br><br>Meryl was there to be recognised for her lifetime contribution to American culture through the arts - and she was honoured by none other than US president Barack Obama. <br><br>The Iron Lady star, 62, was also joined by her other Devil Wears Prada star, <br><br>Emily, 28, wore a high-neck scarlet gown and looked happy and relaxed on the arm of her husband John Krasinski.<br><br><br><br><br></p><p> arrived at the premiere of new movie Rachel Getting Married, looking positively bridal in a flowing ball-gown.<br>

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<p> French-born Szostak has appeared in The Devil Wears Prada and Dinner for Schmucks. Szostak, repped by UTA, Principal Entertainment and attorney Ken Richman, also plays Matt Damon&rsquo;s wife in the upcoming Fox drama We Bought a Zoo.</p>Getty ImagesMichelle Williams, left, and Tilda Swinton <p>With the Screen Actors Guild Awards announced Wednesday and airing Jan. 29, this makes the SAGs the group and show with the longest nominations out in the press. And how does this shake up the red carpet picture? Well, for one thing, there are going to be a lot of Bridesmaids who need dresses! And Kristin Wiig and Melissa McCarthy have now moved up to A-list status, so they will be getting some major dresses offered and made for them.</p>our editor recommendsSAG Awards TV: 'Modern Family' Leads Nominations, 'Homeland' SnubbedSAG Awards: 'Suits' Star Patrick Adams Reacts to Shocking Nomination, Talks 'Friday Night Lights' ExperienceSAG Awards: Jon Cryer on His First Nomination: 'I Had No Reason Whatsoever to Expect I Would Be Included'SAG Awards Nominations: The Complete ListSAG Awards Nominations: The Nominees' ReactionsSAG Awards 2012: The Winners and Nominees

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<p>Who Wore Metallic Best: Gameron, Gwyneth or Scarlett</p>Kevin Winter/Getty Images <p>Michelle Williams chose a Victoria Beckham dress for the 84th annual Academy Awards Nominees Luncheon. My Week with Marilyn&#39;s leading lady arrived at the Beverly Hilton Hotel wearing a printed dress from the Victoria by Victoria Beckham spring 2012 runway collection.</p>our editor recommendsSAG Awards Fashion: Michelle Williams Saves Color for the Important Carpets With Red ValentinoMichelle Williams Sizzles in Lingerie, Reveals 'Cosmic' Relationship With Heath LedgerMichelle Williams' Palm Springs Gala Dress Misidentified on Red CarpetMichelle Williams Brings a 'Heat Wave' to 'My Week With Marilyn' (Video)

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<p>Vampire Diaries, which has booked Tod Williams and Grace Phipps for key roles, premieres October on the CW.</p>Annette Brown/The CW Network"The Vampire Diaries" <p>After that surprising season three finale, which effectively changed the course of Mystic Falls forever, who wouldn&#39;t want the dirt on The Vampire Diaries? </p>our editor recommends'Vampire Diaries': Kat Graham Teases a 'Surprise' Return and More Trouble for Elena (Video)'Vampire Diaries': 'Nine Lives of Chloe King' Star Heading to Mystic FallsComic-Con 2012: 'Vampire Diaries' Cast Tease Season 4, Talk Elena's Transformation'Vampire Diaries': 'Chicago Code' Star to Play Vampire Hunter

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<p>Email:&nbsp;Lesley.Goldberg@thr.com; Twitter:&nbsp;@Snoodit</p><p>Don&#39;t Trust the B---- in Apt 23&#39;s June may be a newcomer to New York but she certainly is making the most of it.</p>our editor recommends'Apt 23' Producers on Sex, Drugs and James Van Der BeekKrysten Ritter, 'The B---- in Apt 23,' Is One of TV's First 21st Century ChicksJames Van Der Beek Pitches Beek Jeans for 'Apt 23' (Video)

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<p>Email: Lesley.Goldberg@thr.com; Twitter: @Snoodit</p>Getty ImagesJenna Dewan <p>Jenna Dewan is stepping up into American Horror Story.</p>our editor recommends'American Horror Story' Locks Up Clea DuvallEmmys 2012: Ryan Murphy on 'Glee's' Missing Nominations and the Surprise Showing for 'American Horror Story'Emmys 2012: On the Set of FX's 'American Horror Story'

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require huge amounts of bandwidth, the enthusiasm and race nerves you feel are the same for most participants. He worked as a superintendent for Brutoco Construction,.

ブルガリブルガリ 時計 | 2013/09/24 19:15

I know this if off topic but I'm looking into starting my own blog and was wondering what all is needed to get setup? I'm assuming having a blog like yours would cost a pretty penny? I'm not very internet smart so I'm not 100% positive. Any tips or advice would be greatly appreciated. Appreciate it
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シャネル 腕時計 | 2013/09/24 18:12

Wow that was unusual. I just wrote an extremely long comment but after I clicked submit my comment didn't appear. Grrrr... well I'm not writing all that over again. Anyways, just wanted to say excellent blog!
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hauthCreritup | 2013/09/24 13:39

衝撃を抑えてくれるのでの収納に。今回の任命は町役場でも200人のごぼう抜き出世ということだが、 また、あなたの仲間と一緒にあなたの会社、?
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Bvlgari 時計 コピー | 2013/09/24 12:37

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オリエント 腕時計 評判 | 2013/09/24 12:37

Sweet blog! I found it while surfing around on Yahoo News. Do you have any suggestions on how to get listed in Yahoo News? I've been trying for a while but I never seem to get there! Appreciate it
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Adidas Originals x Jeremy Scott Wings 2.0 White Blue | 2013/09/24 09:07

Los autores, especialistas en sus campos respectivos, hacen referencia constantemente a la otra contribuci¨?n de su secci¨?n y la discuten o la apoyan, y establecen relaciones con otras partes del libro, lo que hace de la obra una totalidad sin fisuras que evita la impresi¨?n de discontinuidad que con facilidad puede producirse en este tipo de libros..

Women's Adidas Jeremy Scott Metro Attitude Hi Navy Yellow | 2013/09/24 09:07

Sur certaines sont cousues de petites plumes, d'autres se terminent par de la fourrure, au niveau du d¨|collet¨|, ¨¤ l'extr¨|mit¨| des manches ou au niveau de l'ourlet..

undewoddecefe | 2013/09/24 01:08

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配置計画、まるで殺人鬼の目を通して実際に見たかのような光景だった。宿泊者だから特別に案内して貰えました。!
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当初はアウトレット148店を含む171店舗で構成。というワードが出現していることからも、安全性を考慮し3.2mm厚を確保しながら精度も高く、!
の高さはハードレンズならでは。月中旬以降、棚はガラスでも木でも可があり、.
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セリーヌ 財布 | 2013/09/23 12:42

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FliennyDicy | 2013/09/23 12:13

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サッカーショップ | 2013/09/22 23:45

Hello would you mind sharing which blog platform you're working with? I'm planning to start my own blog in the near future but I'm having a hard time selecting between BlogEngine/Wordpress/B2evolution and Drupal. The reason I ask is because your design seems different then most blogs and I'm looking for something completely unique. P.S Sorry for being off-topic but I had to ask!
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テンデンス 店舗 | 2013/09/22 23:30

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Benstoona | 2013/09/21 20:41

箱が汚れていたりしますが、ご注文後、前半以上の混雑が予想される激混みに加え、?
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Sassemash | 2013/09/20 22:29

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FliennyDicy | 2013/09/20 15:06

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アディダス 時計 | 2013/09/18 19:24

Today, I went to the beach with my children. I found a sea shell and gave it to my 4 year old daughter and said "You can hear the ocean if you put this to your ear." She placed the shell to her ear and screamed. There was a hermit crab inside and it pinched her ear. She never wants to go back! LoL I know this is entirely off topic but I had to tell someone!
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NoigneeDorn | 2013/09/18 17:45

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ルイヴィトン タイガ | 2013/09/18 13:47

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シャネル風 バッグ http://www.cars4teachers.com/%e3%82%b7%e3%83%a3%e3%83%8d%e3%83%ab%e9%a2%a8-%e3%83%90%e3%83%83%e3%82%b0-%e4%ba%ba%e6%b0%97%e3%81%ae%e3%82%b7%e3%83%a3%e3%83%8d%e3%83%ab%e8%b2%a1%e5%b8%83%e6%b5%b7%e5%a4%96%e9%80%9a%e8%b2%a9
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シャネル 時計 中古 http://www.cars4teachers.com/%e3%82%b7%e3%83%a3%e3%83%8d%e3%83%ab-%e6%99%82%e8%a8%88-%e4%b8%ad%e5%8f%a4%ef%bc%9a%e3%82%b7%e3%83%a3%e3%83%8d%e3%83%ab-%e8%b2%a1%e5%b8%83%e6%bf%80%e5%ae%89%e9%80%9a%e8%b2%a9%e3%80%81%e5%85%a8
シャネル ネイル 値段 http://www.cars4teachers.com/%e3%82%b7%e3%83%a3%e3%83%8d%e3%83%ab-%e3%83%8d%e3%82%a4%e3%83%ab-%e5%80%a4%e6%ae%b5-2013%e5%b9%b4%e6%98%a5%e5%a4%8f%e6%96%b0%e4%bd%9c%e3%82%b7%e3%83%a3%e3%83%8d%e3%83%ab%e3%81%8c%e6%97%a5%e6%9c%ac
シャネルの財布 http://www.cars4teachers.com/%e3%82%b7%e3%83%a3%e3%83%8d%e3%83%ab%e3%81%ae%e8%b2%a1%e5%b8%83%ef%bc%9a%e9%80%81%e6%96%99%e7%84%a1%e6%96%99-%e3%82%b7%e3%83%a3%e3%83%8d%e3%83%ab%e5%ae%89%e5%bf%83%e3%80%81%e8%bf%85%e9%80%9f%e3%80%81
シャネルのバッグ http://www.cars4teachers.com/5%e3%82%b7%e3%83%a3%e3%83%8d%e3%83%ab%e3%81%ae%e3%83%90%e3%83%83%e3%82%b0-%e6%ad%a3%e8%a6%8f%e5%93%81%e3%82%b7%e3%83%a3%e3%83%8d%e3%83%ab-%e3%83%91%e3%83%ad%e3%83%87%e3%82%a3%e7%b5%b6%e5%af%be
シャネル 靴 http://www.cars4teachers.com/%e3%82%b7%e3%83%a3%e3%83%8d%e3%83%ab-%e9%9d%b4%ef%bc%9a%e3%82%b7%e3%83%a3%e3%83%8d%e3%83%ab-%e9%95%b7%e8%b2%a1%e5%b8%83%e3%82%b7%e3%83%a3%e3%83%8d%e3%83%ab-%e8%b2%a1%e5%b8%83-%e3%83%a1%e3%83%b3

ルミノックス 時計 | 2013/09/17 01:04

Hi there! This post couldn't be written any better! Reading through this post reminds me of my previous room mate! He always kept talking about this. I will forward this article to him. Fairly certain he will have a good read. Many thanks for sharing!
ルミノックス 時計 http://www.ctsmice.com/common/images/mtokei8.html

ディーゼル 時計 | 2013/09/17 00:57

Howdy just wanted to give you a quick heads up. The words in your article seem to be running off the screen in Safari. I'm not sure if this is a format issue or something to do with web browser compatibility but I thought I'd post to let you know. The style and design look great though! Hope you get the problem solved soon. Many thanks
ディーゼル 時計 http://www.gzxwtpw.com/Survey/mtokei6.html

ディーゼル 時計 アウトレット | 2013/09/17 00:57

Howdy I am so thrilled I found your weblog, I really found you by mistake, while I was searching on Bing for something else, Nonetheless I am here now and would just like to say kudos for a marvelous post and a all round entertaining blog (I also love the theme/design), I don’t have time to look over it all at the minute but I have bookmarked it and also included your RSS feeds, so when I have time I will be back to read much more, Please do keep up the awesome work.
ディーゼル 時計 アウトレット http://www.gzxwtpw.com/Survey/mtokei6.html

coonnahak | 2013/09/16 03:59

http://www.yellowvw.com/
彼女が成功した理由の正当な理由のシングルは、状況を持っているなら、ボストンテリア!

http://カシオ.dgs2.com/Tags.html | 2013/09/16 02:03

Write more, thats all I have to say. Literally, it seems as though you relied on the video to make your point. You clearly know what youre talking about, why waste your intelligence on just posting videos to your blog when you could be giving us something informative to read?
http://カシオ.dgs2.com/Tags.html http://カシオ.dgs2.com/Tags.html

マークバイ時計 | 2013/09/14 23:34

Awesome blog! Is your theme custom made or did you download it from somewhere? A design like yours with a few simple adjustements would really make my blog stand out. Please let me know where you got your design. Kudos
マークバイ時計 http://www.tokei-jp.com/

CASIO 時計 | 2013/09/14 23:31

Whoa! This blog looks exactly like my old one! It's on a entirely different topic but it has pretty much the same layout and design. Great choice of colors!
CASIO 時計 http://watches.thompsongf.com/category/casio（カシオ）時計/

B-Barrel 腕時計 | 2013/09/14 23:08

Hello! This post couldn't be written any better! Reading through this post reminds me of my good old room mate! He always kept talking about this. I will forward this page to him. Fairly certain he will have a good read. Thanks for sharing!
B-Barrel 腕時計 http://www.mtokei.com/ビーバレル—bbarrel-nihon-16.html

グッチ 財布 アウトレット | 2013/09/14 13:37

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ヴィトンショップ | 2013/09/14 12:43

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ルイヴィトン 手帳 リフィル | 2013/09/14 12:41

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http://www.winkcamera.com/%e3%83%b4%e3%82%a3%e3%83%88%e3%83%b3-%e3%82%ab%e3%83%90%e3%83%b3-%e3%83%a1%e3%83%b3%e3%82%ba-%e3%80%90%e5%a4%a7%e4%ba%ba%e6%b0%97%e5%a3%b2%e3%82%8c%e7%ad%8b%e5%95%86%e5%93%81%e3%80%91%e6%b5%b7 ルイヴィトン ナイル ルイヴィトン 新作 財布 ルイヴィトン ベルト ルイヴィトン キャリーケース http://www.winkcamera.com/%e3%83%ab%e3%82%a4%e3%83%b4%e3%82%a3%e3%83%88%e3%83%b3-%e3%82%ad%e3%83%a3%e3%83%aa%e3%83%bc%e3%82%b1%e3%83%bc%e3%82%b9-%e9%80%81%e6%96%99%e7%84%a1%e6%96%99louis-vuitton-%e8%b2%a1%e5%b8%83-%e4%ba%ba 人気ヴィトンバッグ ヴィトン 靴 メンズ ヴィトン ケース ルイヴィトン サンダル http://www.winkcamera.com/%e3%83%ab%e3%82%a4%e3%83%b4%e3%82%a3%e3%83%88%e3%83%b3-%e3%82%b5%e3%83%b3%e3%83%80%e3%83%ab-%e9%80%81%e6%96%99%e7%84%a1%e6%96%99louis-vuitton%e3%81%ae%e8%b2%a1%e5%b8%83%e6%9c%80%e9%ab%98%e5%93%81 ルイヴィトン バッグ 人気 ルイヴィトン タイガ 財布 ルイヴィトン 財布 エピ http://www.winkcamera.com/%e3%83%ab%e3%82%a4%e3%83%b4%e3%82%a3%e3%83%88%e3%83%b3-%e8%b2%a1%e5%b8%83-%e3%82%a8%e3%83%94%ef%bc%81%e7%9b%b4%e6%8e%a5%e8%b2%b7%e4%bb%98%e3%81%91%e3%81%a7-%e6%bf%80%e5%ae%89%e5%a4%a7%e7%89%b9 ヴィトン 人気 バッグ ルイヴィトン キャリーケース 人気ヴィトンバッグ ヴィトン ケース http://www.winkcamera.com/%e3%83%b4%e3%82%a3%e3%83%88%e3%83%b3-%e3%82%b1%e3%83%bc%e3%82%b9-%e3%80%90%e5%a4%a7%e4%ba%ba%e6%b0%97%e5%a3%b2%e3%82%8c%e7%ad%8b%e5%95%86%e5%93%81%e3%80%91%e6%b5%b7%e5%a4%96%e3%83%ab%e3%82%a4 買取 ヴィトン ヴィトングループ ヴィトン タイガ 財布 ルイヴィトン セカンドバッグ http://www.winkcamera.com/%e3%83%ab%e3%82%a4%e3%83%b4%e3%82%a3%e3%83%88%e3%83%b3-%e3%82%bb%e3%82%ab%e3%83%b3%e3%83%89%e3%83%90%e3%83%83%e3%82%b0-%e3%83%ab%e3%82%a4%e3%83%b4%e3%82%a3%e3%83%88%e3%83%b3%e7%9b%b4%e5%96%b6 買取 ヴィトン ルイヴィトン 長財布 ヴェルニ ヴィトン人気バック ルイヴィトン 男性用 バッグ http://www.winkcamera.com/%e3%83%ab%e3%82%a4%e3%83%b4%e3%82%a3%e3%83%88%e3%83%b3-%e7%94%b7%e6%80%a7%e7%94%a8-%e3%83%90%e3%83%83%e3%82%b0%ef%bc%81%e3%83%a1%e3%83%b3%e3%82%ba-%e8%b2%a1%e5%b8%83%e4%ba%ba%e6%b0%97%e3%80%90 ルイヴィトン 手帳 リフィル ルイヴィトン 二つ折り財布 ルイヴィトン 新作 財布 ヴィトングループ http://www.winkcamera.com/%e3%83%b4%e3%82%a3%e3%83%88%e3%83%b3%e3%82%b0%e3%83%ab%e3%83%bc%e3%83%97-%e5%b0%82%e9%96%80%e5%ba%97%e5%9b%bd%e5%86%85%e3%81%a7%e8%b2%a9%e5%a3%b2 ヴィトン オンライン ルイヴィトン ウエストポーチ ヴィトン 靴 メンズ ルイヴィトン タイガ 財布 http://www.winkcamera.com/%e3%83%ab%e3%82%a4%e3%83%b4%e3%82%a3%e3%83%88%e3%83%b3-%e3%82%bf%e3%82%a4%e3%82%ac-%e8%b2%a1%e5%b8%83-%e4%b8%8a%e5%93%81%e3%83%ab%e3%82%a4%e3%83%b4%e3%82%a3%e3%83%88%e3%83%b3%e8%b2%a1%e5%b8%83 ヴィトン人気バック ルイヴィトン 二つ折り財布 ヴィトン オンライン http://www.winkcamera.com/5%e3%83%b4%e3%82%a3%e3%83%88%e3%83%b3-%e3%82%aa%e3%83%b3%e3%83%a9%e3%82%a4%e3%83%b3-%e3%80%90%e5%a4%a7%e4%ba%ba%e6%b0%97%e5%a3%b2%e3%82%8c%e7%ad%8b%e5%95%86%e5%93%81%e3%80%91%e6%b5%b7%e5%a4%96 ヴィトン オンライン ルィヴィトン新作 ヴィトンバッグ買取価格 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財布 カルティエ メンズ | 2013/09/14 12:12

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カルティエ 時計 バロン | 2013/09/13 21:47

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バーバリーブラックレーベル | 2013/09/13 20:47

I was just searching for this information for some time. After six hours of continuous Googleing, finally I got it in your site. I wonder what’s the lack of Google strategy that do not rank this type of informative websites in top of the list. Usually the top sites are full of garbage.

ミュウミュウ バッグ 値段 | 2013/09/13 20:45

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コーチ アウトレット | 2013/09/13 16:28

Charla Nash, the victim of the vicious chimp attack in Stamford in 2009, is among only a few customers while in the America to possess been given a complete face transplant.
コーチ アウトレット http://www.gallowayjapan.com/coach.html

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G-SHOCK 腕時計 | 2013/09/13 03:41

Hello there! This is kind of off topic but I need some help from an established blog. Is it difficult to set up your own blog? I'm not very techincal but I can figure things out pretty quick. I'm thinking about creating my own but I'm not sure where to begin. Do you have any tips or suggestions? With thanks
G-SHOCK 腕時計 http://www.tokeiwatchjp.com/スタンダード--jp-26.html

Casio 腕時計 | 2013/09/13 00:10

Hello just wanted to give you a quick heads up. The words in your article seem to be running off the screen in Chrome. I'm not sure if this is a formatting issue or something to do with web browser compatibility but I figured I'd post to let you know. The design and style look great though! Hope you get the problem solved soon. Kudos
Casio 腕時計 http://www.casiotokei.com/category/casio-腕時計/

カシオ.dgs2.com/Tags.html | 2013/09/13 00:04

Howdy! This is kind of off topic but I need some advice from an established blog. Is it tough to set up your own blog? I'm not very techincal but I can figure things out pretty quick. I'm thinking about setting up my own but I'm not sure where to begin. Do you have any points or suggestions? Many thanks
カシオ.dgs2.com/Tags.html http://カシオ.dgs2.com/Tags.html

Edifice 時計 | 2013/09/13 00:00

Currently it looks like BlogEngine is the best blogging platform available right now. (from what I've read) Is that what you are using on your blog?
Edifice 時計 http://カシオ.dgs2.com/category/カシオ-edifice時計/

4Nv70KaUyy | 2013/09/12 02:56

<a href="http://www.turkishreview.org/tr/brandcopy.html">www.turkishreview.org/tr/brandcopy.html</a>

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ヴィトン バッグ 新作 | 2013/09/07 19:30

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ニューバランス キッズ | 2013/09/07 03:18

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ルイヴィトン ショルダーバッグ | 2013/08/30 06:46

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ケイトスペード 長財布 | 2013/08/29 11:10

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ヴィトン ショルダーバッグ | 2013/08/29 00:41

Howdy this is kind of of off topic but I was wanting to know if blogs use WYSIWYG editors or if you have to manually code with HTML. I'm starting a blog soon but have no coding knowledge so I wanted to get guidance from someone with experience. Any help would be greatly appreciated!
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ファッションレディース | 2013/08/28 20:47

I love what you guys are usually up too. This type of clever work and reporting! Keep up the good works guys I've incorporated you guys to my own blogroll.
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ピアス メンズ | 2013/08/28 18:04

Awesome blog you have here but I was curious if you knew of any forums that cover the same topics talked about here? I'd really love to be a part of group where I can get feed-back from other experienced people that share the same interest. If you have any recommendations, please let me know. Thanks!
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prada ポーチ | 2013/08/28 12:26

Hey there! I just wanted to ask if you ever have any trouble with hackers? My last blog (wordpress) was hacked and I ended up losing several weeks of hard work due to no backup. Do you have any methods to stop hackers?
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グッチ 財布 新作 | 2013/08/28 12:26

Great blog! Do you have any recommendations for aspiring writers? I'm planning to start my own blog soon but I'm a little lost on everything. Would you recommend starting with a free platform like Wordpress or go for a paid option? There are so many choices out there that I'm totally overwhelmed .. Any suggestions? Appreciate it!
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グッチ サングラス | 2013/08/28 12:26

Hi! Do you know if they make any plugins to help with Search Engine Optimization? I'm trying to get my blog to rank for some targeted keywords but I'm not seeing very good gains. If you know of any please share. Appreciate it!
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コーチ ショルダーバッグ | 2013/08/28 12:25

Heya are using Wordpress for your site platform? I'm new to the blog world but I'm trying to get started and create my own. Do you need any html coding expertise to make your own blog? Any help would be greatly appreciated!
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プラダのバック | 2013/08/28 10:10

Hi there! I know this is kinda off topic nevertheless I'd figured I'd ask. Would you be interested in trading links or maybe guest authoring a blog post or vice-versa? My website goes over a lot of the same subjects as yours and I feel we could greatly benefit from each other. If you are interested feel free to shoot me an e-mail. I look forward to hearing from you! Great blog by the way!
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セイコー スプリングドライブ | 2013/08/28 09:26

Hello! Someone in my Facebook group shared this website with us so I came to take a look. I'm definitely enjoying the information. I'm bookmarking and will be tweeting this to my followers! Exceptional blog and terrific design and style.
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スニーカー 通販 | 2013/08/28 09:23

I'm curious to find out what blog system you're working with? I'm experiencing some minor security issues with my latest website and I would like to find something more safe. Do you have any recommendations?
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コーチ ネックレス | 2013/08/28 09:13

Hey there, I think your site might be having browser compatibility issues. When I look at your website in Safari, it looks fine but when opening in Internet Explorer, it has some overlapping. I just wanted to give you a quick heads up! Other then that, excellent blog!
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セイコー ブラックモンスター | 2013/08/28 06:26

Great blog! Do you have any tips and hints for aspiring writers? I'm hoping to start my own website soon but I'm a little lost on everything. Would you propose starting with a free platform like Wordpress or go for a paid option? There are so many choices out there that I'm completely confused .. Any tips? Bless you!
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