Aesthetically, it’s nice to have fussy vintage needlepoint purses and wallets. But let’s face it - any wallet that lives in our purse is going to take a serious beating, so it better be sturdy.

We found this mini-bag, which you could use as a clutch or an oversized wallet over on Etsy, from Glasgow-based designer showpony, and it was love at first sight. The concept is genius - she screenprints a delicate drawing of a fussy vintage purse onto a thoroughly modern organic, fair trade cotton canvas wallet.

It’s the best of both worlds - cute design, practical form.

And guess what? It’s only $20!

—ALISON COOL

The article in today’s NY Times about the goths, punks, and drag queens who fit in perfectly at their places of employment - Halloween costume stores - while being cast as fashion misfits in the world at large struck an emotional cord with us.

When we were in college, one day our across-the-hall neighbor - a very conservatively-dressed Psychology major- came knocking on our dorm room door. She wanted to know if she could borrow some of our clothes for her Halloween costume. “Something funky, you know - like the stuff that youwear,” she explained.

“My costume is going to be like ’80s girl,” she continued, while amusedly sorting through our collection of large vintage earrings, party dresses, colored tights, and tight black jeans. “Your clothes are so funny. Oh my god, can I actually wear this in public,” she asked, holding up one of my most cherished thrift store finds, a tight vintage 1980s black and silver Betsey Johnson skirt.

Of course it wouldn’t have been in the Barnard sisterhood-is-powerful spirit to not help her out. But we have to confess, we were somewhat dismayed to have our everyday gear pronounced “the perfect Halloween costume.”

We’ll be the first to admit that many of our college fashion choices were regrettable (an outfit that included ripped purple leggings and a leopard-print miniskirt comes to mind), but what do you do when your personal style is another girl’s idea of a costume?

—ALISON COOL

Reader Julia writes in with a fun fact about Caroline Trentini:

“I have been a longtime supporter of the Kikoy Womens Group, both in principle and in their actual merchandise.

The women [in the Kikoy group] are paid for each Kikoy that they knot, they are able to carry the Kikoys to their houses and knot in their homes. Not only preserving a craft, The Kikoy Company are now assisting all these women who can improve their lifestyle tremendously without detriment or neglect to their children.

Understandably I was super psyched to see Caroline Trentini supporting such a fair, pro-labor company. Here she is sporting her very own Kenyan Kikoy!”

And it’s really cute.

We’ve often wondered where models get the gauzy patterned scarves that seem so fundamental to their hallmark layered styles. If you’re looking to emulate a similar look, the Kikoy scarf seems like a good way to go - wear it like Caroline or also peeking out of a leather bomber jacket…

We’re Apple girls at Fashionista, but that doesn’t mean we don’t admire and adore the HP ads, especially the new campaign with Gwen Stefani.

Besides their fizzy images of Tokyo street life, the commercials have the adorable image at left of Gwen in a Kingston tank.

The shirt references the crazy Kitson moment of early 2000, when celebrity tees screamed “Mrs. Pitt” and “Mrs. Timberlake” and (our favorite) “Mrs. Brody.”

But Gwen’s tee seems cooler, and slightly tongue-in-cheek. We wonder if ours could say “Nicolas” or “Alber” or “Lazaro…”

Or maybe, “Sorry babe, but only rock stars get to wear blazing, tight wife beaters. Nice try, though.”

As anyone with open eyes knows, bikes aren’t just for sports geeks anymore.

Seen around the city are models, designers, and other fashion packers who’d rather spend their money on Ghesquiere than on gas, and anyway, no cars = more carbs - if you work out while you travel, there’s no need to fuss with food.

Apparently London agrees, as they’ve just done a piece called “Goodbye Lycra, Hello Street Cred” in their fashion section.

The story details Chanel’s new bike, Paul Smith’s new sportsgear, and the way environmentalism, economics, and looking cool are colliding.

What they don’t mention, despite their “Street Cred” title?

That part of the reason bikes are so hip now is because they’ve popped up in fashion editorials and street style blogs around the world!

But maybe they’re just making a more subtle reference:

Check out the photo from the story, shot by Stephen Lock. See the guy running towards Agyness in the background? It’s chicks-on-bikes addict Scott Schuman, also known as The Sartorialist.

Maybe The Telegraph should back pedal a little?

We think the ELLE.com staff is gearing up for worldwide (web) dominance, because they’ve swiped yet another magazine staffer for their team.

This time, it’s Alexandra Gershman, the Nylon designer who’ll start work on ELLE’s website - with special attention to ELLEGirl, our former favorite magazine - in a few weeks.

The move comes as ELLEGirl separates itself from Alloy, the teen marketing megaship that’s also responsible for those crazy Traveling Pants, the Gossip Girl series, and (in part) that little plagiarism scandal where Harvard freshman Kaavya Viswanathan “wrote” a book that was actually someone else’s.

Whether the separation is enough to catapult ELLEGirl back into the hearts of teen girls is something we can’t predict, but we can reiterate our fail-proof adolescent ploy one more time:

Dear ELLEGirl, please give Emma Watson a blog!

Elite already makes beauty products for other countries, and now Ford Model Management may have their own apparel line:

Today a company called Zazzle announced they’d partner with the agency for further retail opportunities.

Since Zazzle specializes in custom-made merchandise, it seems Ford thinks their logo could be as ubiquitous on sportswear as Juicy Couture or Lacoste -

In other words, they’re not just a company, they’re a lifestyle.

We can see Ford t-shirts becoming the next cache item in schools (Remember how everyone needed a Banana Republic tee with the actual safari hunter on it, and it was the biggest deal? And Vuarnet, Coed Naked, and Hypercolor?).

But if Ford wants to do big business, they’ll need to get some favorite faces involved in the business - we highly suggest Chanel Iman for the task.

Mary Kate and Ashley may run with a high fashion crowd, but make no mistake about their intentions:

The girls want their clothing line to catch light across the country.

How else to explain the surprising access they gave USA Today, telling the paper they’ll never act in another joint project, and admitting that sometimes, their clothes aren’t quite right.

When describing a recent appearance at a Christian Louboutin party in LA, Ashley admits “I felt so underdressed…I came in jeans and a T-shirt, and everyone was in these dresses with their hair and makeup done. I had not a stitch of makeup on!”

One might argue that everyone else saw Ashley and felt too done, but still, The story also includes a quote by Annie Leibovitz on Mary Kate’s work ethic, and a confession from MK that fashion is partly a learned quality.

“We’re just starting to get it,” she says, but she’s already learned a key rule of celebrity clothing:

When in doubt, just remake your own outfits…

We finally got around to watching The Hills tonight, and our favorite part was this:

When Kate Waters, the Vice President of PR at Marc Jacobs, offered Lauren some different shoes.

She actually said, “I bet you didn’t think you’d be doing [casting and styling] today - do you want a different pair of shoes?”

Cut to the perfectly placed row of Marc footwear.

Never mind that most of those shoes are just as hard to wear as Lauren’s throwback Carrie Bradshaw pumps - industrial boots with plastic five-inch heels make everything easier!

It was amazing, and also:

We loved the streaming tally of New York fashion babes that ran through the episode.

A complete catalog of them is below… plus a shot at those kill-for-me shoes (Marc’s, not Lauren’s - but you knew that).

We’re sure you wouldn’t have left your costume planning until the very last minute, but if you’re desperate you might get inspired by the American Apparel website.

They’ve created about ten costumes - including Twiggy, Marilyn Monroe, and our personal favorite - the cast of Scooby Doo - made entirely from items available at American Apparel.

We also couldn’t help but notice that every single one looks like a cross between a Halloween costume and what the employees are wearing every time we go into one of their stores.

That gave us a flash of inspiration and a hilarious Halloween costume idea: American Apparel employee!

You could style this any number of ways, but don’t forget the sporty knee socks - and don’t forget that you’re in excellent company. We hear that the super Valerie Bolster of Vogue is wearing all American Apparel during her Halloween!

—ALISON COOL

WHICH hip hop star is mulling a denim collaboration with a cooler-than-thou jean label? The idea was hatched in Paris, but we’re still waiting to see if it’s got legs - really severe drainpipe legs, in case you need a hint.

Vena Cava and Henri Bendel get name checked weekly on Gossip Girl, and we’d expect them to brag harder then Brooklyn girls who kiss Heath Ledger.

But it seems someone else is hyping their new style status, as seen on Serena and Dan:

The New York Observer.

Check out their most recent Facebook ad, with the proclamation, “You saw it on Gossip Girl, now read it for yourself. The New York Observer brings you the cream of the gossip crop every day.”

Really? Are you sure? The cream?

Okay Jared Kushner, if you’re so smart, then tell us when Blair and Nate will actually break up.

Or at least when you and Ivanka will finally take it public.

WHICH US public relations director is being carefully watched by her International bosses?

She doesn’t know it yet, but because of her abusive behavior in the office, not to mention the way she’s started ignoring press requests from editors, there’s already mention of “shifting” within her department. In other words, the next pink slip she sees may not be one on her Paris runway.

Watch out!

It’s fall, so the leaves are rapidly dropping off the trees here in the northeast. But sadly, there aren’t so many trees in the city, at least not for those of us whose apartments look out over concrete instead of Central Park.

Luckily for us, Seattle-based jewelry designer Sarah Hood has incorporated the stark look of bare tree branches in the winter in her beautiful “Arbor” collection of sterling silver and 24k gold.

Necklaces, earrings, and brooches are adorned with the delicate shapes of tiny tree branches, occasionally studded with a tiny gold leaf. We especially love the earrings - about $360.

While many of Hood’s gorgeous jewelry designs are housed in museum collections, we’re happy to report that she sells a good selection of her work on her website.

—ALISON COOL

We’ve been addicted to Shopbop since high school, but we’ve never actually bought anything until a few weeks ago.

We always wondered who could drop hundreds of dollars on a dress without actually trying it on. But when we searched Manhattan high and low for the Frye boots we desperately needed, and couldn’t find them anywhere, we had to turn to the internet.

That’s when things got interesting:

We bought the boots online. We became an official ShopBop customer.

Then we got a ShopBop catalog in the mail, and we were like, “What?”

Isn’t an online store essentially the same thing as a catalog, but way more environmentally friendly? The thick paper booklet features the exact same images as the ones online - including the photo you all referenced a few weeks ago, when you wondered why their red head model looks like a frozen statue.

We weren’t sure what to do with a ShopBop leaflet.

Are you really going to buy something if it’s on a piece of paper versus online?

—BRITT ABOUTALEB

We laughed so hard when we read Amy Claire’s article on designers who spot their own fakes.

She ran into Kate Spade at a party, and asked if Kate had ever confronted a woman carrying a faux bag.

Turns out, it happened: Once in Soho, she saw a woman with an obvious fake, raced across the street, and asked where the bag was bought.

“[The woman] said, ‘Oh I didn’t buy it, my husband did!… Anytime you ask someone, they say that… Oh, I don’t know, it was a gift.”

We’ve never designed accessories, but we have similar feelings - whenever we save for a designer bag, then hunt it down, it makes our skin curl to see its plastic evil twin on the subway or bouncing on a shoulder down the street. We seriously want to grab the girls and ask, “Don’t you realize you look totally varnished?”

Meanwhile, we once asked if you’d dump a guy who gave you a fake bag - almost all of you said yes.

But would you ever confront your friend about carrying one?

There’s no one better than Aussie label Chip Chop for playful totes that are guaranteed to hold all of your stuff.

We’re a big fan of their new “Le Touriste” collection of tees and totes that poke fun at our traveling fetish - the kind that inspires everyone to run out and buy new luggage whenever they’re going somewhere.

Our favorite is this oversized pink “Oui Oui” tote, since, as they put it, “everything sounds better in French.”

Plus, what better place to stash Du côté de chez Swann so you can impress boys on the train by pretending you can read French? Or you know - actually reading French - but what’s the fun in that?

—ALISON COOL

PS to American Girls: Despite its international provenance, you can buy this stuff and have it shipped straight to your closet!

The Post has an article today about the new trend of stylish washable suits. We don’t own any suits, but we do wish that all clothes were machine washable.

Dry cleaning is expensive, inconvenient (especially if you live in Brooklyn far from any reliable dry cleaning establishments), and bad for the environment.

Plus, it’s not even really “dry” - the clothes are soaked in chemicals!

It seems that any time we buy clothes from a high-end label, even if we get a good deal, we need to add the cost of a lifetime of dry cleaning. Also, even when you get a t-shirt or something made from jersey, if it has a designer label, you aren’t allowed to throw it in the dryer.

It makes designer clothes seem spoiled - demanding dry cleaning or that you “lay flat to dry” - when your tees and leggings from American Apparel or jersey dresses from H&M are happy to endure whatever kind of cleaning you deem appropriate. We understand that sweaters are a special situation, but still!

Should all clothes be machine washable?

—ALISON COOL

What saves the Wall Street Journal’s knockoff article from being, well, a knockoff of Eric Wilson’s copyright piece in The Times?

The video they’ve made on how to buy cheap clothes.

It’s interesting but also unintentionally funny, like when their “style expert” points out that cheap clothes have ratty buttonholes, and if you buy an inexpensive cardigan, you must keep the buttons done at all times.

Also: when Vera Wang sends a statement to the WSJ, insisting the unfinished hem on a Simply Vera piece is intentional, not cheap. We believe her, too, but you’ve got to admit, it’s giggle-worthy.

Even though some of them are actually cute, we can’t embrace most celebrity clothing lines because we can’t believe how much they cost.

The clothes from Chloe Sevigny’s line for Opening Ceremony impressed us in editorials, and on Chloe. But we looked twice at the prices, because $300 shorts? Oh no way.

And we’d wear almost anything from Twenty8Twelve, Sienna and Savannah Miller’s line, but their jeans go for $300, and a coat for almost $800! That’s right up there with Chloe (which we also can’t, and sadly won’t, buy).

Then the Olsen twins launched two brands this year. The Row sells $300 t-shirts and their “accessible” lower priced line Elizabeth & James, offers $250 satin hot shorts.

It’s Gwen Stefani’s LAMB that confuses us most. Prices range from $200 for a top and up to $1200 for a coat. Granted it’s adorable, but part of Gwen’s talent is the way she fuses a lip-smacking smartness into sugary pop. Girls who love Gwen may think Chanel is cool, but they mostly shop at American Eagle or Urban Outfitters, where $1200 is for rent and not for closets.

Karl and Proenza have managed to make successful diffusion lines with stuff under $100 - why can’t stars do the same thing?

—BRITT ABOUTALEB

We met Jaslene Gonzalez last week, very randomly, and we learned something very fun:

She’s rumored to have booked a fashion campaign, for Eve’s new line, Fetish (another celebrity clothing range!).

According to a source close to the brand, that makes her just the second Top Model champ ever to score a series of clothing ads - the first was Eva Pigford, who booked an Apple Bottoms campaign a year after her win.

Look for Jaslene’s pictures to break soon, but she’ll probably be seen first on the new season of the show, giving advice to the top 3 girls before their big Cover Girl shoot (and our picks for the top 3 girls are… Jenna… Heather… and, um, Lisa?).

“Tyra and I stay in touch over email,” Jaslene told us, “Because we’re both so busy!”

It’s okay Jaslene - we’re not sure we could handle talking to Tyra all the time either.

We’re just crawling in from the Paper Nightlife Awards, and hands-down the best moment was this:

When Perez Hilton tried to introduce Coco Rocha and Behati Prinsloo onto the stage, but he couldn’t say her name.

“I’m not even going to try,” sighed Perez before turning to Coco. “Who is she? Where is she from?”

Perez was psyched when Behati said she was from Namibia (“Really? Are you serious? That’s so hot!”) but the real action came when he realized two of our favorite faces were standing blankly on stage.

“I think you need to have a walk-off,” he announced. “Can you do a little walk? Just for me?”

The audience went crazy. The girls went into supermodel mode. And then Perez said, “Okay great, now kiss!”

It didn’t happen, but that didn’t stop Erin Fetherston from almost falling out of her chair from laughter.

“I like it because it’s sexy,” said Ashley Parks about the Pussycat Dolls’ image.

Ashley is 10, and we’re kind of disturbed that her definition of fashion comes from a manufactured girl-group whose members usually wear corsets and fishnets.

When we were ten, the appropriateness of spaghetti strap tank tops was the fashion debate among parents. Fifteen years later, kids’ fashion seems to be spiraling out of control, prompting one mom to write a book titled, Stop Dressing Your Six-Year Old Like a Skank. This is the best title ever.

But here’s the weird part:

As little girls’ clothes become increasingly provocative, women’s high fashion is more conservative, to the point where some of the most expensive, most revered stuff - think Marni, Prada, and Chloe - makes you look like a very cool tent.

Why are little girls wearing the clothes that scream sex, especially when women on magazine covers - Jennifer Connelly, Cate Blanchett, ever Scarlett Johansson - are covering up? How long will it take before the high fashion trends filter down to the moms who think playgroup is just extended sorority rush?

Maybe it’s up to the Disney Channel to convince girls that they can look cute and not slutty - if High School Musical can outsell those icky Pussycat Dolls, maybe Hannah Montana can wear some McQueen and start a revolution?

—BRITT ABOUTALEB

There’s an article in The London Times worshiping cats in fashion. Its author, the novelist Emma Forrest, deems cats as the most stylish animal, and claims that cat-like women are the sexiest women.

Forrest uses Irina K.’s recent success as evidence of feline supremacy, “the 16-year-old Russian has a snub nose, shortened upper lip and upward-tilted eyes.” But she fails to mention Jessica Stam or Kate Moss. We think they fit the cat-like profile more than Irina, and they’ve been around for much longer.

She also says that agencies are done with alien like girls and want “cats” instead.

But we think model trends are cyclical. Maybe cat-like girls this year, waifs next year ( isn’t Irina K. just another waif, anyway?) And there are always a few girls who don’t fit into any category and we usually like them best. General trends among models on the runway change as much as the clothes they wear.

We think of cats as lazy more than as a “symbol of dark secrets and neurosis,” as Forrest suggests. But the author has two cats, a cat print above her desk, and a cat tattoo on her shoulder. She’s also fond of photographing herself stretching half-naked in cat poses.

So maybe this is just a beasty case of loving the models that look like you?

—BRITT ABOUTALEB

It’s no secret that looks matter in fashion - you don’t have to be Gemma to get a career in clothes, but you can’t pull a look together, you probably won’t pull a resume together, either.

But is that fair / ethical / legal?

Yesterday, the Scotland on Sunday discussed the issue. Apparently there’s an uproar over employers requesting photographs alongside resumes, a practice that only seems to happen for fashion jobs.

Some within the industry claim they only want photos so they can remember whom they interviewed - but when Scotland’s clothing chain, Cult, tried using that defense, they ended up on the wrong side of the law.

A fashionable Scot says, “Firms ask for photographs from potential employees so that they can weed out candidates who they believe are less attractive, overweight or older.”

The other day, at that nameless dowtown boutique where I work, we debated the importance of attractive salespeople. Sometimes it’s just about the clothes - do you look like the image you’re selling? But sometimes, stores don’t want a salesgirl (or boy) unless they look just like the ads - have you been to the Abercrombie store uptown? And then there were stories two seasons ago, when Dior Homme was hiring just one new sales boy, and the entire male population on Orchard Street went on the baby food diet before their interview.

But that leads to another issue - pulling together an outfit may be required for your work (would you trust a stylist in a bad outfit?). But where does the line stop between looking good and just being good looking when it comes to your work in fashion?

—BRITT ABOUTALEB

We hope Steve Madden is sending Miuccia Prada a major Christmas gift, because nearly all his big shoes this season are directly stolen from her Miu Miu line,

Last week, we saw the dip-dyed Mary Jane knocked off, and now?

Reader Kate K. sends word that Miu Miu’s Vernice Pop Pump, $525, has been translated - badly - into a Steve Madden creation.

He’s kept the exact shape and pattern of the heel, but heightened the contrast of the colors, turning the quirky dye job into something closer to a clown shoe.

It’s $129, which is really expensive for a shoe that we can’t quite figure out how to wear - black tights and a sheath dress seems like the only option, or maybe wide leg jeans.

If we’re lucky, and global warming, nuclear war, and the like don’t destroy the world in the next five years, then we can start planning our outfits for the future.

Bubbly Judy Jetson suits are one option, but we’re more excited about the futuristic designs from Japanese designer Mikio Sakabe’s fall collection. Holographic patterns, pixelated designs, and hyperreal imagery adorn Sakabe’s imaginative, yet wearable, women’s collection.

Based in Tokyo and trained at Belgium’s prestigious Hogeschool Antwerpen, Sakabe brings a dedication to the craft of tailoring and an artist’s eye for color and shape to her work.

Sakabe’s been picking up awards all over Europe, including the special jury prize at Italy’s Trieste ITS 5, so it’s safe to say that we’re sure to hear more about this inspiring designer.

—ALISON COOL

Halloween seems to be huge among fashion folk, probably because it’s yet another excuse to dress up.

At Alison Sarofim’s famed Halloween party this weekend, our baby Chris Benz went as a matador and Fabiola Beracasa made her own outfit - she encrusted an orange couture gown with leaves and acorns to become, simply, “The Fall.” Meanwhile, Subversive Jewelry’s Justin Giunta donned plaid and grinned, “I’m a Fashion Bear.” We dug it.

Meanwhile, the Post has a poll today about which designer makes the best Halloween costume.

Our choices are Karl Lagerfeld, Richie Rich, John Galliano, and Donatella Versace. We think it would be most fun to dress up as Karl, but Donatella wins the survey hands down.

Maybe it’s because more women are playing along than men - the feature is on the Fashion page, which is statistically read by more females, and if you’ve got a chest, dressing up like Galliano gets a major nix (at least, we wouldn’t want to try it). But if you do dare to dress as Donatella, we recommend mixing your self-tanner with some baby oil, for that plastic-makes-perfect look.

And just in case you’re looking for a more low-maintenance option:

Tonight we had a Halloween dinner, and pulled on a pink dress, a tiara from the toy store, and we wore a roll of toilet paper as a bangle. When anyone asked what we were, we said, “Oh, we’re the Princess and the Pee.”

It went over really well, in that back-to-fifth-grade kind of way…

“There is only one acceptable way to own a Ramones t-shirt. This is to have attended a Ramones concert, sweated, bled, transcended and then purchased one at a merchandise table en route to the concert-hall exit.”

So begins one of the best fashion essays we’ve read in a while, by rock critic David Giffels in The New York Times Magazine.

He tells of his 10-year-old son, who wants a Ramones t-shirt for his birthday.

He explains the weirdness of Hot Topic, where Ramones t-shirts are so easy to find, they might as well be ketchup at McDonald’s.

And then… well, we won’t spoil it. Go read the essay, and then come back and tell us:

Where exactly do you wear a band t-shirt, when you’re not 10 and you’re not a suburban Dad in Ohio? Because we have a Greatful Dead baby tee from our mom, and it only comes out when The MisShapes do…

Sally, 28, fashion stylist.

Got Her: At an East Village house party.

Stalked Her: Because we’ve gotten loads of email this week about how and when to wear plaid. This is a good example - wear it casually, wear it with solid colors only, and wear it with the knowledge that you’re rocking a trend so you might as well look like a celebrity on her day off.

Shot Her: Because we can’t muster the style strength to try this look, but we appreciate someone who can.

She Says: “To go with my plaid, the shorts are from Lagerfeld, the socks are Wolford, the hat’s from Burberry, and the boots are Alexander McQueen. I don’t mess around!”

We Say: “I cut down trees, I wear high heels, suspenders, and a bra…”

WHICH designer’s had to scale back her staff… because she hits them with her shoes? The international terror is a whiz with silhouettes, but she’s lost a string of assistants due to her abusive tendancies. Does this explain why some of her dresses look a little like bondage gear?

We saw Coco Rocha a few weeks ago. She was gorgeous and awesome, and also very talkative.

“I just got back from Paris,” she smiled, “Like, this morning.”

“Oh yeah?” We grinned back. “Bet you were shooting Chanel.”

“You bet wroooong!” She said. She did a little dance. It was almost like a gloat, probably because she was really shooting Dior, which made us even more confused.

Coco opened the Chanel show. Coco starred in the Chanel look book. Then who else would be in the Chanel ads?

Claudia Schiffer, that’s who. We hear the buttered blonde replaces Freja as the official face of the brand, just in time for Spring ‘08. Claudia was front and center at Chanel this month, and she was so pretty, we had to make sure it wasn’t a hallucination.

Meanwhile, we got word yesterday that Kate Moss is taking over for Gisele in the Spring ‘08 campaign for YSL.

We’re sure she’ll be perfect, but this is also important:

Two huge brands are going back to the Big Girls of the ’90s. Meanwhile, in America and Europe, real conversations are starting to happen about how the fashion industry should portray and promote beauty.

A lot of the focus is on girls as blank slates - they’re too young, they’re too interchangeable. That’s the argument anyway, but aside from the occasional Sasha / Gemma mix-up, we think the new crop is mostly amazing, too.

Still, the way two major campaigns are reaching backwards for a face is worth noting, and also this:

We saw Gemma in Soho yesterday. She wore black skinny jeans and a big wool hoodie.

She was prettier than ever.

One of the best parts about having a blog is you get to break news at 3 am.

Here’s today’s, though of course we’ve got to classify it as a “rumor” since we can’t call Jonathan’s studio and say “Hey, can you confirm…”

It’s Sunday; they’re sleepy.

Anyway, a stylist told us an hour ago that Jonathan Saunders will indeed move to New York this February and show his latest collection - something everyone speculated when he appeared last week to host a dinner at The Inn on Little West 12th. Mr. Saunders follows Preen, whose Fall ‘07 collection was so sharply great, it was actually worth the hour-long wait in Soho to see it.

And make no mistake: Jonathan Saunders is just as good, his clothes will make New York that much better, and we’re psyched.

Hopefully a real confirmation on Monday, but until then, back to bed.

Lisa Armstrong reports from London today that Oxfam is turning down cheap-chic offerings, with this explanation:

“Say you bought [an outfit] in a [chain store] for £3. And let’s assume, for politeness’ sake, that you wore it just the once. On the assumption that most clothes devalue by 50 per cent the moment you take them out of the bag, and by another 50 per cent once they’ve been worn, shoved in the back of the wardrobe, slammed into a bin liner and left to fester for a few seasons, the most Oxfam could charge would be 75p.”

Lisa raises a few interesting concerns. She reminds us, again, that some cheap clothes are harder to recycle (thanks to that nylon poly blend described on the label), while also hinting the changing face of the thrift store customer:

It used to be that chain stores were for those with more money, and thrift stores were where you went when you couldn’t quite afford The Gap. At least, that’s where we went, in middle school and high school, when we couldn’t.

Now the shopping setup shifts, with chain stores offering the cheapest stuff, and thrift stores becoming “vintage boutiques” and - for the most part - catering to a more fashion focused group.

One more thing to think about:

The head of Oxfam, Jane Shepherdson, was once the head of TopShop, and she’s the one largely held responsible for making cheap chic into the norm.

But even if her charity stores in Britain won’t accept the clothes she helped create, we bet American thrift stores would - do you know how many US teenagers would kill for a TopShop dress?

Our favorite Fashion term of the week comes from Columbia University, where one girl questioned Natalie Portman’s outfit… by asking if it was “humanitarian appropriate.”

Really.

The funny critique came on Tuesday, when the actress spoke about her work with leading micro-finance organization FINCA.

We thought Natalie dressed well for the occasion in her autumnal, pumpkin-orange dress and brown sandals — a cute but unpretentious ensemble that didn’t distract the audience from her message. But some of our peers insisted the dress was “super short” and “too trendy” for a political event.

But we think maybe some celebs just think of their charity outfits as another costume.

We’re reminded of the colorful headscarf Global Cool ambassador Sienna Miller donned on a recent trip to India. Paired with a uniform of t-shirt and jeans, Sienna’s look was no-fuss but not at the expense of her bohemian look.

And as long as a star acts respectfully towards their new environment, we don’t think it’s necessary to sacrifice a personal look and wear only conservative neutrals while doing service to others.

After all, what better way to look sincere about the issue than by dressing like yourself?

—NATALIE GUEVARA

Our personal favorite article headline of the day, “Handbagged: How we’ve all been brainwashed into buying bags we can’t afford,” comes from the Daily Mail.

While the general argument - handbags are getting more expensive, celebrities are photographed with purses they didn’t even pay for, and us commoners end up spending more than our monthly rent on an expensive bag to house our empty wallet - is kind of obvious, there was one particular point that really resonated with us.

We think of it as the “emotional bag buy.” Here’s what happened to the writer:

“Four years ago, I picked up and rather fell in love with a Marc Jacobs bag. I was deeply unhappy at the time, but somehow bought into the myth that striking up a relationship with Mr Jacobs would ease my pained heart.

Much to my shame, I fell in love with another bag from “Miu Miu” on the same day and, in the delirious state of newfound infatuation, I decided to buy both.

I am not proud to report that the Marc Jacobs set me back no less than £600, and the Miu Miu £400.

Wallowing in my own disgrace, I took the bags home and have never used either.

[…]

So now it and the Miu Miu bag hang on my wall - testaments to the madness that can grip women when they see an “It bag” for sale.”

Personally, we’ve never been so devastated as to buy a Miu Miu and Marc bag on the same day, but we can connect most of our bigger purchases to various unfortunate events - breakups, school or job disappointments, fights with friends, etc.

Are we alone in this?

—ALISON COOL

There’s a roundup of hot new labels in Variety today, and the piece accidentally highlights two very big issues:

1. Celebrities are as important, if not more important, to a new designer’s success as the fashion press.

2. People actually buy clothes they see on celebs - maybe the most telling quote from the article comes from Jenni Kayne, the former Olsen babysitter who says “Michelle Pfeiffer wore one of my dresses to the L.A. premiere of ‘Hairspray’ and it was a great branding experience… That dress ended up being one of our bestsellers. People from around the country were calling to find out about it.”

We’ll admit this news was surprising - we like to wear outfits that nobody’s ever seen, except maybe, sort of, on the runway.

But it seems there’s a massive pack of girls who take their cues from the red carpet and not from the catwalks, from vintage photos, from art, music, film, or from the mess of old clothes heaped up in their bedroom. It’s all Page Six, all the time, and as Jenni found out, it pays.

But is it fun to wear something As Seen On TV? When can you do it and look like a fashion girl, and not just a fan?

While it seems unlikely that a Chanel penguin sweater will ever find its way into our life, we’ve found another aquatic animal and knitwear combo that’s closer to our price range.

Finnish-Hungarian art/fashion label Sohjo, known for their handmade clothes and celebration of Northern (as in, close to the Arctic) geography, has a perfect blue felted skirt and scarf printed with cheery whales.

The skirt is very 1950s poodle skirt, but with whales instead of poodles, of course.

But we’ve really got our eyes on the scarf, which we envision wearing this winter with a big pair of glasses while reading Moby Dick on the subway.

—ALISON COOL

When people talk about menswear-inspired clothes, they usually reference Annie Hall. It’s a great movie, and Diane Keaton looks cute, but we definitely wouldn’t want to wear her outfit.

On closer inspection, in most of the movie, she’s wearing some combination of the following: baggy pants, weird oversized vest, big thick tie, huge woven tote bag, dorky glasses, and super messy hair.

It’s totally endearing, but let’s face it - not really that attractive.

We think a better example of how to look cute in menswear stuff comes from up-and-coming Norweigan designer So Hee.

Her fall/winter lookbook is like a textbook in how to pull off the masculine-feminine vibe without veering off into completely disheveled Annie Hall slob territory.

—ALISON COOL

We’ve been trying to switch to a smaller everyday bag because in the final analysis, we probably don’t reallyneed to take four books, two notebooks, a magazine, 20 crumpled pieces of paper, and a partridge in a pear tree with us every single time we leave the house.

Then we found these mini canvas totes from Swan Clothing on etsy.com, and we think they’re adorable and the perfect size to force you to take just the things you need.

The bags are handmade from unbleached heavy cotton canvas, and have a silver chain handle. They’re also fully customizable - you can choose what color stripes of ribbon you would like to adorn your mini-tote.

They remind us a little of Goyard bags, except they don’t cost ten billion dollars, and last time we checked you couldn’t get knock-offs of these guys on Canal St.

—ALISON COOL

Sometimes, we wish copying other designers was a benevolent practice - especially when our favorite lines ever get knocked off, with cheaper prices.

In fact, every time someone duplicates a piece from Marc by Marc’s Fall ‘05 collection, we get a little pang of “Oooh, but isn’t it okay to buy it, just this once?”

It isn’t, but seeing this Marc by Marc by Wallis outfit makes us realize two things:

1. Marc’s pretty-grunge collection from over 2 years ago is still one of the biggest influences on youth uniforms and mass-market sportswear today.

2. Some dresses should really just be reserved for Gemma.

But maybe Marc should consider a Greatest Hits collection… or maybe he’ll just knock off his own Fall ‘05 line if his mass-market line, M3, ever gets off the ground…

The persistent warm weather in New York has only enabled our procrastinating and foot dragging on the all-important matter of choosing a winter coat.

But if it ever does get cold around here, we might choose this navy blue puffy jacket from edgy U.K. designer Elliot Atkinson.

Unlike most coats we like, this one actually looks like it might be warm and somewhat water-resistant. But what really sold us on it are the delicate gold chains on the back of the coat!

It’s the perfect balance between warm/cozy/practical and whimisical/fancy/cute.

Until it gets cold out, maybe we’ll steal a styling idea from the lookbook and pair it with the black and white checked shorts (also from Elliot Atkinson’s a/w collection.)

—ALISON COOL

Last year, Beyonce posed in whirling teacups for Disney, and this year, it’s Gisele.

The blonde Brazilian was cast by Annie Leibovitz to star in the latest Disney World ads - she’ll be Wendy from Peter Pan.

The move marks another coup for Gisele, whose Victoria’s Secret contract wasn’t renewed last year, but instead got replaced with work for Cacharel and Yves Saint Laurent.

We know the Disney ads pay a huge sum, but we’re also a bit intrigued by the casting, as in high school, we were delicately informed that Peter Pan is nothing but a perverse fantasy about repressed sexual desires and wish fulfillment.

Making Gisele into Wendy Darling - not even Tinkerbell! Wendy! - should provide some confusing dreams for every 10-year-old in America.

Meanwhile, it’s made us question every Disney fixture in very inappropriate ways… Mister Toad’s Wild Ride? Eeeew!

One of our favorite emerging trends is the “90s fashion editor” look.

It’s based more on the stereotype of a fashion editor than on any one specific person. It’s like what non-fashion people would think a fashion editor would wear.

This picture is from Acne Jeans’ fall collection, but you can click through to see some of the other fashion editor images we’ve gathered to help you get inspired.

Here’s a couple ways to do the look:

You take a really big, sculptural black dress, coat, or likeminded garment. Add opaque black tights and black heels. Slick your hair back. No make up.

Another 90s fashion editor option is the black tights, sculptural black jacket, and pencil skirt look.

Potential accesories include oversized pearls, a black Chanel bag, dark sunglasses, and a standoffish attitude.

You could wear this look for your everyday glamarous out-and-about press previews and luncheons, but we also think it could be a great Halloween costume idea. Any takers?

—ALISON COOL

News from last night’s Black Ball, hosted by Bono and hopefully only the latest step in bringing medicine, education, and relief to AIDS stricken areas:

The latest Product (RED) extension isn’t another clothing line -

It’s an art gallery.

On Valentine’s Day, 2008, Damien Hirst and Jeff Koons will host a Sotheby’s auction, with all proceeds from the art going to The Global Fund to fight AIDS, tuberculosis, and malaria.

We think it’s a pretty amazing idea, and we expect to see millions raised for the fund. But if you can’t buy an expensive art piece and still want to give, we’re also huge fans of the Buy Less Crap philosophy that shopping is fun, but sending money directly to charities you support is the most efficient way to go.

That said, if you need a new pair of sneakers, we think the Converse (RED) ones are pretty cute, so you might as well go with those.. and wear them to Sotheby’s.

Today, we discovered that Tara Subkoff looks a bit like Teen Vogue’s Jane Keltner, but Eric Wilson discovered something else:

That Tara Subkoff’s latest line is for Bebe.

We’ll admit the partnership is intriguing, especially since Bebe’s been so desperate to claw into the fashion world that they hired Mischa Barton and later Rebecca Romijn to pose for the brand, with little success of elevating its appeal.

If Tara takes the reigns and actually gives it some focus, she could transform the chain from SoTrashy to So Trashy Like Downtown L.A. And Silverlake. And that could be very cool.

We’ll be waiting to see whom Tara wants as her campaign face - Scarlett Johansson probably wouldn’t do it, but we keep imagining Billy Walsh’s girlfriend from Entourage, or someone else with that slinky, skeezy vibe of California dreams…

Lightweight scarves, like everything else we really love, have little practical or functional use.

They’re just all about jazzing up your outfit. When girls wear them, it’s all French Godard-film glam. If a guy ties one on, it’s instantly dandifying.

While the patterns, fabrics, and sizes change, scarves usually come in two standard shapes - the square and the rectangle.

But Swedish accessory designer Mariah has ingeniously found a way to make the best accessory even better. Her delicate black and white scarves have beautiful scalloped edges and unexpected shapes.

We especially love the one with a feather-like graphic pattern that looks a bit like a bird draped around your shoulders. If it doesn’t keep us warm, we’ll just fly south for the winter.

—ALISON COOL

Sabine Roemer, jewelry designer

Got Her: On 11th St. and Avenue B

Stalked Her: Because the drizzly drear of last night lifted when we saw her ketchup colored dress - with a bubble hem.

A bubble hem!

Shot Her: Because we haven’t dressed up in soooo long.

This was a good reminder that we should.

She Says: “I’m from Germany, but I’m based in London. I’m a master goldsmith and all of the jewels I’m wearing, I designed myself and I made them myself, too. But the dress is from Zara!”

We Say: Raindrops keep falling on my red.

The London bike thieves have struck again, this time smashing into Sonia Rykiel’s store on Brook Street.

Meanwhile, a new string of American style stealing is on the rise:

Someone’s planning heists at Victoria’s Secret.

A month ago, a burgled store in Fairfield, Connecticut reported the theft of 100 bras from their Pink line. And last week, the same thieves stole over $4000 dollars worth of bras.

The investigating officer says, “We have some people who steal strange things.” He’s probably imagining a bizarre lingerie fetish, but we think he’s wrong.

With the loads of lingerie appearing on major runways this season, it’s clear the thief just wants to be in fashion.

—BRITT ABOUTALEB

Julia Roberts has gone into mommy-hiding lately (as would we, if we were a celebrity with 3 toddlers and a ranch in New Mexico), but next May, she’s coming back to the spotlight.

The actress will host the spectacular Costume Institute Ball with George Clooney and Georgio Armani in May, and the event’s other co-chair is Anna Wintour.

When Sienna Miller hosted the Met’s Anglomania ball, she landed on Vogue’s cover soon after, and last year it was Cate Blanchett, who received similar style treatment in the wake of her appearance.

Does this mean we’ll see Julia Roberts on the May issue of Vogue?

Maybe… she’s got a new film, Fireflies In the Garden, set for a Spring ‘08 release, so the timing could be perfect.

We always salivate when pictures emerge of Monaco royal Charlotte Casiraghi’s latest outfits. Fashion forward since before she could say “Chanel,” Grace Kelly’s granddaughter can afford a style that’s a fine mix of polished and provocative.

Now Charlotte is bringing her savvy to a new journalism gig at London’s Independent.

We’re used to socialites attempting to chronicle their fashion adventures - which are usually pretty boring - and so we were surprised with the quality of Charlotte’s first piece, a profile of the David Lynch/Christian Louboutin “Fetish” exhibition entitled “Sole Mates.”

Although the piece was a bit fawning, it did explore the way shoes and sex collided on film, and the way Lynch outlawed skinny models on his set.

While credit for the story’s construction must also be paid to co-writer Rhiannon Harries, an Independent staffer, we’ll be curious the next time Charlotte is snapped with a big-name designer — she might profile them as a follow-up.

—NATALIE GUEVARA

Kate Bosworth’s dad was an executive at Talbot’s, and we’ve always wondered why they didn’t hire the actress as their face.

Now it’s too late, as Kate’s been snapped by Coach. Her new ads are the company’s latest in a series of efforts aimed at earning a higher place in the luxury goods market.

Meanwhile, it was reported yesterday that Coach’s shares just hit a six-year low. Is Kate’s face enough to save the hurting company?

Even though the ads are only being published in China, it’s only a matter of time before they pop up stateside (or at least, on the internet) and Kate and Coach will become somewhat synonymous among anyone following fashion.

But is she stylish to help the most boring bags in America survive? Or will Kate’s fashion cred become purely the work of gifted stylists? Stay tuned…

—BRITT ABOUTALEB

It’s fun when “serious” media discovers things that women have always known.

Today’s Wall Street Journal is a great example - their piece on “Fashion Bullies” highlights the shocking truth that girls get attacked for their wardrobes at school.

The piece decides that “fashion bullying is happening at younger and younger ages,” citing children’s clothing from Chloe and Dior as potential catalysts for attack. But really, who doesn’t remember getting sludged by a fifth-grade friend for wearing a party dress to class?

Maybe the most interesting part of the piece is that they don’t cover girls who dress themselves in wild clothes - it’s all about mothers who want fashionable daughters, and the backlash it creates in classrooms. The story opens with a 5th grader in Dolce & Gabbana, and includes quotes from a distraught Canadian mother whose 8th grader won’t wear pink because of hallway taunts. Her mom’s response? “Pink looks wonderful on her — she’s a blonde — and she looks really good in it.”

It’s hard to take an article seriously when it’s not about girls and their self expression or even their appearance - it’s about their moms’ fashion fantasies getting played out in the juniors aisle.

But yes, this one time we wore our father’s cableknit sweater as a dress to class (in 7th grade) with tights, a belt, huge hiking boots, and a plaid shirt underneath. We thought we looked just like Julie Delpy in W but the girls in our class thought… well, they thought we looked like shit, and made us know it in every single hallway.

It scarred us for the rest of our life, and is probably the reason we work in fashion today.

So maybe there’s a good side to all of this… but it’s not the idea that moms buy $400 jeans for their 12-year-olds.

We’ve been scheming some amazing DIY posts, but until we hire our new associate editor (stay tuned!), we don’t have time to whip them up.

Until then, we’re throwing it back to you:

Last month in Milan, we spotted this white tank dress at Marni.

We think the effect would be just as cute - maybe even more functional - if the garment was a long and roomy white tank top, and not a muscle dress.

Can you make a similar shirt, for under $30, using just these photos and some innate fashion brilliance?

We bet you can - send us photos of your interpretation, and we’ll put them on the site!

As for our interpretation, I’m going to try and make one on Saturday afternoon, if anyone wants to come to Lee’s Art Shop with me…

Questions we imagine get asked to this Magic 8 ball, made by Juicy Couture:

*I want to spray paint my puppy with glitter. Will that be pretty?

*Should I hit on that kid from Laguna Beach?

*Platinum blonde hair is always in style, right?

*Whom should I ask for more shopping money, Dad, or Step Dad?

*More lip gloss?

*What Would Ashlee Do?

Questions we want to ask this Magic 8 ball, made by Juicy Couture:

*You don’t really cost $35, right? Right?

Fashion Week is finally over, but one final debut needs to break.

It’s the Hussein Chalayan show, a holographic video made by Nick Knight and the ShowStudio crew that was kept so secret in Paris, you needed a password just to see it.

Three weeks later, the clothes are finally public, and internationally on display at the ShowStudio blog.

We wish we could see a closer view of the clothes, but getting to flick through the collection is certainly exciting -

At least, it is if you think it’s a strong collection…

If you’ve already watched Gossip Girl this morning (again), there’s another way to keep you from work or the gym.

It’s the Girls Gone Styled bloopers reel, and it’s even sillier than Andre Leon Talley at the Oscars. We sing. We crash. We even curse like Lindsay when she’s drunk, but it’s all in the name of good fun… and technically, fashion.

If you need the senseless, sugar-high kind of entertainment that only comes from Thursday morning’s weekend crave, click play.

If you’d rather have Starbucks, well, we just saw Jessica Stam at our one in the West Village, so happy hunting.

We hate it when hype is deserved (so boring) but Style.com’s new book is certainly worthy.

Called Stylist: Interpreters of Fashion, the catalogue of Carine and Grace Coddington shows the women and men behind our favorite images, and even references some of the outrageous spreads we’ve tried to pox (in fact, the chilled W photos of Lara Stone, etc, writhing on the floor get somewhat explained by Alex White).

Just as fun is how Style.com is promoting the book -

With their own dose of Fashion Trivia!

They’ve pulled the strangest quotes from each stylist, and thrown them up on their site.

Can you play their game of he-said-she-said?

We couldn’t - but we’d know those images of Gwen Stefani, as created by Andrea Lieberman, from miles away.

We wouldn’t expect Neiman Marcus to be on the edge of technology, but something about their new Christmas Book is brilliantly new:

The department store’s put the whole thing online, and encoded each page with a click-to-buy feature. That means as you flip through the decadent catalogue, you can run your mouse along Anja and Stam’s outfits, and instantly find out how much they cost.

We’ve never seen an easier way to shop, and we’re waiting for when magazines wise up and put their fashion pages online - complete with a gizmo that lets you point to Coco Rocha and immediately get her shoes.

Sure, it blurs the editorial-to-shopping line, but let’s face it:

They’re not photographing the latest Miu Miu platforms because they’re art. The latest Nina Ricci dresses, however, could make a successful argument…

We don’t know when Halloween went from a candy-fest into a major production, but here in New York, it feels like a scary (or slutty) costume can cost as much as a Bar Mitzvah.

And so, we’ve come up with a coping strategy:

Every Halloween, we dress up as a designer, complete with one of their dresses. That way, if we have to spend money on a Halloween costume, at least it can eventually get absorbed into our wardrobes.

Last year, we dressed as Lilly Pulitzer. The year before, we were the Studio 54 version of DVF. This year, we might try being Rachel Zoe because we have a crush on an otherwise-too-lush sparkle dress from Phillip Lim.

Is it okay to buy an expensive Halloween costume if it’s also part of your closet?

Or is this just another excuse to spend too much, too soon?

PS: Thanks to the bizarre minds at Newsgroper for the Obama shot.

We may never get to hear a full duet from Kate Moss and Pete Doherty (or from Irina Lazareanu and Pete Doherty, either…), but another model-musician couple have recently hit the recording studio.

Heidi Klum and Seal have recorded a duet together, called Wedding Day, which they wrote during their Honeymoon in 2005 (at least, that’s the official and press-friendly story). The song breaks in mid-November, when Seal’s latest album launches Stateside, and that’s not all:

Rumors from Germany just sailed onto our desk, and we hear that Heidi Klum and Seal may sing together at the Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show.

It would be pretty cute, in a pink-and-plastic kind of way, and for those of you worried that Heidi can’t sing, she’s actually already released an album called Wonderland in Germany.

Presumably though, she wore all of her clothes when she was singing on that one…

If you step into the studio of any major fashion designer, you’ll probably find yourself distracted from the clothes because you’ll be checking out the design assistants. While it’s certainly not required that employees should be attractive, hiply-coiffed, skinny, and obsessively stylish, it’s not hard to pick out someone who “works in fashion” from the crowd.

But today’s New York Observer points out a growing trend - the “design bears.” Increasingly, bearded, beefy, plaid-loving gay men are joining the ranks of the slim and effete in the world of fashion design.

The article identifies Rob Seroka at RSRV, Robert Tagliapietra of Costello Tagliapietra, and stylist/designer Patrik Rzepski (who works with Sienna Miller and Maggie Gyllenhaal) as fashion “design bears,” pointing out that their lumberjack-inspired personal style and appearance doesn’t stand in the way of creating delicate and dainty womenswear designs.

We think this is great, but we also wonder if the fashion world is as accepting of women who don’t conform to the typical tall/thin/impeccably chic mold.

At least now we know why everyone wears plaid this season!

—ALISON COOL

It’s bluish-green, stripey, and mustachioed.

It’s our latest t-shirt obsession!

We love the idea of layering this tee, from artist Tiffany Malakooti’s design for Blood is the New Black, under a cozy cardigan and adding a pair of high-waisted jeans to the mix for a weekend outfit.

The wacky, slightly nerdy appeal of the design recalls the low-fi graphics of early computer games.

Also, in our optimistic assessment of the Mona Lisa smile of the face design, we think the t-shirt is grinning at us.

—ALISON COOL

Nick Knight shot Naomi Campbell for the opening of Fashion Rocks last week, and she’s so beautiful, our world stops when we watch the video.

It’s also got a funky sound effect happening, and when the light hits the Swarovski shards in Naomi’s hair, it sounds a little bit like a video game and a little bit like a Disney movie.

You won’t learn anything new from this super-short “film,” but if you need to inject some sheer prettiness into your morning, just hit “play” over and over again.

Some fashion people may prefer a different kind of sparkle dust, but we think this one is really the best…

Aspiring CFDA kids, listen up:

Thakoon needs your help.

He’s created a new poufy t-shirt - think the signature Thakoon sleeves, as seen on Coco at left, but morphed into casual knitwear - but he thinks something’s missing. He wants an original graphic to screen on the tee, but now that he’s doing Hogan’s bags, his time is a lot more expensive.

So if you’re a future great designer, do you think you could maybe help him?

Thakoon wants something “chic, sophisticated, ethereal, and original” - so probably scrawling “I’m With Stupid” in Sharpie won’t cut it.

The designs will face the reckoning of Thakoon himself, plus ELLE’s creative director, Joe Zee, and the owenrs of Kirna Zabete.

If you’re the grand prize winner, you’ll get your design featured in ELLE and sold at Kirna Zabete - plus $1000 shopping credit at the store - about enough for exactly one Thakoon dress.

Hey, nobody ever said fashion was fair…

Tim Gunn says “make it work” a lot, and it seems the style spokesman is taking the motto to heart.

He’ll soon reprise his role as a Project Runway mentor, while also serving as the new chief creative officer of Liz Claiborne. And let’s not forget his other show, Tim Gunn’s Guide to Style, with dazzling Veronica Webb.

But this Fall, the dapper Mr. Gunn has another starring role - as the front man for Macy’s.

He’s now on television, performing in commercials with Martha Stewart, whose new home line just hit the department store.

But Macy’s isn’t a Liz Claiborne company, and neither are Martha’s licensed sheets… which means Liz Claiborne was so desperate for Mr. Gunn’s unique talents, they let him have free reign within their conglomerate.

If only Project Runway would give him the same leeway - whomever decided skeezy Vincent could outlast Alison Kelly ruined half of Season Three!

The new blogger catching light at The Times is Eric Wilson, and today he reports on Trovata’s new suit:

It’s not wool or seersucker, it’s paper and made by lawyers against Forever 21.

Eric says that “two things make the Trovata case interesting. [John] Whitledge is the first designer to cry foul over men’s wear designs, which are typically less distinctive than women’s. Also, Trovata is not exactly known for its prints, but rather for generic preppy styles… which are hard to describe as “originalâ€? under the current copyright laws.”

The offending clothes have already been stricken from F21 ‘s website, but we get the gist:

They made some striped cardigans with mismatched buttons and printed lining, and voila, Trovata realized they’d been nicked.

But will their case hold up in court? Eric’s ending observation seems best:

“It will be tough to argue that Trovata owns stripes.”

So true, but at least Anna Wintour seems to think so.

Cross dressing now seems more normal than Britney, thanks to Hairspray and Top Model, and the fact that Britney’s insane.

But is it chicer than Doutzen in Lanvin?

Carine Roitfeld seems to think so - at least for this month.

She’s paired our favorite downtown tranny, Miss Andre J, with photographer Bruce Weber and the famed makeup model Carolyn Murphy. They’re posing adorably together in Montauk, recalling Andre’s sparkly quote from the Look Book, “Become Your Dream.”

It’s a really cool cover, and we say, you go girl! Or boy. Whatever.

We were clearing out our pile of look books this morning, and we came across this one from a line called St. Grace.

The clothes are nothing special - folded and flouncy, they remind us of Lauren Conrad’s line with more faded fabric.

But the look book still caught our attention because of the model.

She swooned, she sulked, she took every silly pose from Top Model’s play book.

Really now -

What would Tyra say?

—BRITT ABOUTALEB

Tonight’s the launch of Pat Field’s new line for Payless - her cheap-and-shiny shoes are called Sake, Sushi, and Tempura, so don’t get excited if you received an invitation, as it’s not the menu you’re looking at, just the heels.

The party happens in her Bowery headquarters, and since her name’s on the invitation (and the expensively wrangled collaboration), most expect her to be there.

The only issue?

Sex and the City is scheduled to film tonight on Mercer Street at 8 pm. We know because they’ve papered our entire neighborhood with signs that say so. And if Patricia is the costume doyenne of Carrie and Company, she’s probably needed in the Manolo trailer.

Where will Patricia Field be tonight?

Only time - and the paparazzi - will tell. But if you’re a huge fan of hers, just park yourself somewhere in Soho and look out for the neon gorgeousness of her hair, and you’ll spot her soon enough.

There’s an article in this month’s W called Underage Fashion. It’s a discussion about tweens and couture, and brings up an issue we’ve considered before.

If you’re wearing Chanel couture at 15, (Emma Watson this summer), what do you have to look forward to?

W agrees with us; the article acknowledges how inappropriate it is to wear thousands of dollars worth of designer clothes at such a young age.

But most of the designers and stylists they interviewed don’t see a problem. Marc Jacobs discussed his line’s recent face, 13-year old Dakota Fanning: “(She) really just fits into our approach to advertising, which is that we’re not selling anything. This wasn’t aspirational. You didn’t want to be Dakota Fanning. It was an opportunity to have an intimate moment with somebody I admire.”

Really Marc?

Because as a teenager, we devoured the pages of Vogue, (and yes, Seventeen), and we always wanted to be the girls in the ads. And if those girls had been our age, we would have identified with the clothes that much more. We might have even felt like we had a right to that $2000 bag. Not to mention your ads are very aspirational; we’d love to look as cool as the Marc girls (and in one of those ads, Dakota looked about 20).

We splurged on a Philip Lim dress last year and Miu Miu flats this Fall, but we don’t have a Chanel bag yet. For us, that’s half the fun - looking forward to a great purchase, and earning it.

Obviously, we’re not movie stars.

But considering what happens when child actresses try to blow up too quickly, if we were a young celeb, we might pace our red carpet outfits, too.

—BRITT ABOUTALEB

Nazzy Beglari-Scarlet, international war correspondent

Got Her: At the corner of Prince and Mercer.

Stalked Her: Because we couldn’t stop staring at her Comme Des Garcons wrap dress while she crossed the street. And we were relieved at her fresh take on the Wayfarer shape of shades.

Shot Her: Because while we might not be sure how to dress for this awkward fall/spring weather, she managed to look both stylish and comfortable.

She Says: “My style is just casual chic.”

We Say: Fade to black…

—BRITT ABOUTALEB

On Sunday, the Times wrote a three-page account of Candace Bushnell’s snarl with Darren Star.

She wrote a novel, Lipstick Jungle, which will be made into a television series this winter.

He wrote a series, Cashmere Mafia, which will also be on TV, with the same plot (unfulfilled women with too much success), the same clothes (Heels! Blazers! And something quirky!), and apparently, some of the same locations.

Like Harry Potter and Lord Voldemort, it seems like only one can survive, and though the Times describes the story from Carrie - sorry, Candace’s - point of view, Vogue is going for Darren, and giving him the front page of their TV section.

It’s curious because Ms. Bushnell used to write for Vogue, but Patricia Field is the costume designer for Cashmere Mafia, so maybe some fashion angst was involved in their choice.

Both shows look good, but we don’t know if we can abandon Gossip Girl in order to watch anything else…

We hear Bianca Balti is the new face of Missoni.

The Italian bombshell was once the face of Guess.

Now she’ll take over for Daria Werbowy in the Spring ‘08 campaign for the boho-luxe label.

Her dangerous curves seem perfect for a knitwear line, and though we’ll miss Daria’s dirty sophistication, we’re excited for any model who looks like she eats men for breakfast and pasta for dinner.

The ads just wrapped (in Milan? Maybe?) but you’ll have to wait for February to see them.

Until then… arrivederci!

We’ve finally found our favorite fall sneakers!

These absolutely perfect hi-tops come from a collaboration between London-based grafitti artist Best One (Mark Amos) and hip British shoemakers Swear.

We love the classic shape and lines, and the gray and black will work with pretty much any outfit you can dream up.

When graffiti artists and sneaker companies get together, the results are usually incredibly garish and flashy, which makes us really appreciate the cool simplicity of the Best One x Swear line.

But, of course, the best thing about these shoes is the adorable white paint drip design. It’s subtle but quirky, which is the best possible combination.

—ALISON COOL

(with apologies to Josh Madden, for breaking his sneaker heart)

In addition to designing a gorgeous collection inspired by Ancient Greek architecture and lacey Victoriana, Central St. Martins grad Bryce D’anice Aime created some of the most clever accessories we’ve seen in some time.

They’re called “difus,” and they’re meant to be worn on the wrist. In the front, they’re all frothy lace, ribbons, and bows. Small straps and buckles on the reverse hold the difu in place.

You can wear it with a long-sleeved top or under a three-quarter length sweater and it looks like the sleeves of an intricate blouse peeping out.

Or, you can wear one or two with a party dress for a look that’s partly punk wristband and partly fabric jewelry.

Either way, you’ve got an accessory that’s totally original.

—ALISON COOL

Today, The Daily Mail vocalized what’s been on a lot of our minds - what’s up with the current “ugly trend”?

Well, we never really thought of it as the ugly trend before, but we have to agree with writer Liz Jones - a lot of the options this season don’t exactly promise to flatter.

She singles out the wide trouser, tight high-waisted pants, patent leather corset belts, and super-short tulip dresses paired with chunky platforms - items all but guaranteed to highlight your physical imperfections.

As she puts it:

“The ugly look certainly seems to scare off men. As an experiment, I wore the bright blue furry fronted skirt from Prada with my huge Marni platforms, over-the-knee socks from Topshop (I kept having to pull them up), and a really horrible shrunken green squiggles Vivienne Westwood T-shirt from the late Seventies, for dinner with a quite sane man (i.e. not one who works in fashion).

I asked what he thought.

“The socks are hideous. Why do all women nowadays wear woollen tights, and black leggings? Why do you want to cover up your figure (Ugh, I can’t possibly go out with a man who says the word ‘figure’)?

“Men like women to look feminine and solvent, with strappy shoes that show their toe cleavage. We don’t want to date a bag lady.”

Indeed. Well, at least my outfit separated the wheat from the chaff, revealing my potential boyfriend to be both humourless and a bit of a pervert, actually. “

He sounds like a jerk, and anyone who has “toe cleavage” as a requirement is, um, ew. But we still get the point - do “quirky-chic” clothes make you feel pretty?

—ALISON COOL

In our musings about the Roberto Cavalli for H&M collection, we never stopped to ponder what the men’s collection might look like.

Yes, there is a men’s collection!

We checked out pictures on the official H&M blog, and there’s nary a trace of leopard print in sight. Instead, Roberto wants to dress the boys in black, black, and more black.

There’s a tuxedo - because every guy needs one, right? The collection also includes a (Kate Moss-inspired?) skinny vest, a classic black trench with an ornate silver belt buckle, and some Euro-style collarless shirts.

We’ve always felt really bad for guys because the options at H&M are pretty unappealing if you already own a striped sweater.

But are the dudes going to snap up the tuxedos and trenches or are we going to see them all sad and lonely on the sales rack?

—ALISON COOL

Our first designer shoes were Miu Miu; they’re green and purple suede, cris-crossed over wool herringbone with a 4-inch heel.

We still think they’re stunning, and Miuccia Prada’s bridge line continues to produce some of our favorite shoes. So we take it a little personally when they’re so directly ripped off.

The other day, we saw our black patent Mary Janes at Steve Madden, sighed, and let it go. But today, we found last season’s coveted pump, the two-tone satin Mary Jane, on Nine West’s website.

The shoes are the same shape, the same height, and the same fabric. We’d think the easiest thing to copy from Miu Miu’s Spring ‘07 runway would be the color scheme, but that’s where Nine West went horribly wrong.

Gone is the subtle ivory satin offset with rich spring colors and in its place are dark wintery colors that we couldn’t, and wouldn’t, match to our outfits.

—BRITT ABOUTALEB

They may have built their own social network site, but Conde Nast still needs MySpace to boost their pages.

Today, they went live on the friend-hoarding system with ShopVogue TV, a site created to push Vogue readers towards the magazine’s most valued advertisers.

But ShopVogue’s site is still confusing - watching a runway show doesn’t necessarily make you buy Fendi - and so their MySpace page is equally odd.

How to make sense of the random Chloe ads, the adorable Balenciaga fans, and the bright Mini Anden video? We’re not sure.

But even if it doesn’t quite convey the ShopVogue purpose (of getting you to buy things, lots of things), it’s still pretty cute.

We just wish it also featured our favorite ShopVogue spokesgirl, Jessica Joffe. Shouldn’t she be on Vogue’s Top 8?

This week’s New York Magazine profiles Fabien Baron, the creative director of Harper’s Bazaar, the man behind Madonna’s Sex Book, and the creative director of the notorious Calvin Klein ads.

The magazine applauds the French designer as the visionary responsible for the union of sex and design. Those designs, for fashion magazines, ads, and even products, used sex in what Baron calls a suggestive way. His designs are not only hugely successful but well-remembered because…well, sex sells.

But the article quotes Baron as saying, “What’s sexy is what you see in your imagination. It’s not the dress; it’s what you imagine behind the dress.”

Did he feel the same way in the 90’s when a buck-naked Kate Moss was the face of CK Obsession? Because nothing was left to the imagination then. And as much as we love Kate, that might be the least sexy campaign she’s been in.

We tend to react better to the sensual power of suggestion over cold, naked sex when it comes to high fashion. What about you?

—BRITT ABOUTALEB

You couldn’t pay us to wear the sculpted pieces from Balenciaga’s recent runway. Maybe it’s because we have plenty of curves already, or maybe it’s because the molded shapes look too restricting for real life.

You can pay Jennifer Connelly, though. The actress rocked Nicholas Ghesquiere’s much talked about floral mini to the premiere of her new thriller Reservation Road.

With her bulb shape having a flashbulb moment, Connelly conveniently confirmed the rumors of her new role as the Balenciaga face.

We’ve loved Jennifer Connelly since Inventing the Abbots, but we also love model, and Balenciaga (like Prada) has a strong ability to launch new faces. They’ve pushed a long list of our favorite girls into the spotlight, including Hilary, Irina and Coco. We can’t help but worry about what happens when celebrities really do endorse everything.

Rumor has it they’re shooting the ads this week in LA — wanna bet she has to wear this dress?

—BRITT ABOUTALEB

Complex magazine - the shopping mag for men - has just opened up an exclusive shop in midtown (ugh, even the word midtown gives us shivers!), and the store is invite-only.

If you are so lucky as to find your name on the guest list, you’ll be able to pick up cult-favorite sneakers from labels like Jordan, Y-3, Clae, and Supra and suitably fancy sporty clothes to wear with them.

Each month, the store will stock the products featured in the current issue of the magazine. Anyone who feels that they may have been unjustly overlooked during the initial round of invitations can sign up online to join the “waiting list.”

We don’t know if we would be that excited to be invited to head up to 41st street to buy clothes at full retail price, but if Vogue ever wants to spearhead an invite-only sample sale they know where to find us!

—ALISON COOL

It seems that people really love to see models fall down on the catwalk.

The wildly popular video on youtube of model Sarah Walsh falling through a giant hole in the runway during the Shadang show at L.A. fashion week is partly bizarre and partly really funny (L.A. Times reports that she was not seriously injured, so it’s guilt-free funny).

We just can’t imagine this happening at New York fashion week - a giant hole in the runway? - so we just subtracted a few points from L.A. fashion week’s ascent towards being taken seriously.

—ALISON COOL

Recently, Galliano announced a partnership with Diesel to make children’s clothes.

But is he also starring in their new ad campaigns?

Witness this smoldering billboard, an ad for Diesel’s new fragrance, which features an urban matador selling a sexy scent.

If we didn’t know any better, we’d swear it was our favorite Johnny (next to Depp, sorry). And even though we’re sure it’s too good to be true, we think if Galliano ever needs a stunt double - maybe for one of his riskier catwalk entrances - he’s now got his man…

Meanwhile, do you think Diesel wanted a Galliano-esque figure selling their smell? Surely, they must have realized the resemblance.

To: tips@fashionista.com
From: Serena@Vanderwoodsen.org

Dear Fashionista,

I just raced home from Whole Foods to tell you that Lily Donaldson was there.

She bought not one, but three bags of groceries.

Needless to say, this was very exciting and I wanted to tell you ASAP.

You know you love me, xoxo.

PS: She looked even better than she looked in the French supermarket in Vogue Paris.

You can split most girls into two tribes: The ones who made clothes for their Barbies, and the ones who dismembered them.

Maybe that’s why we’re so obsessed with the Smile Ring from artist Margaux Lang, which sort of does both:

You get the smug fashion cred of a very unique accessory, and the more primal satisfaction of seeing impossibly tall, smooth, and pretty plastic women shredded to bits.

At $140, it’s a costly way to choke your conflicted impulses about your favorite glossed toy, but you shouldn’t be afraid to invest in a great piece, especially if it’s from an emerging label.

Anyway, it’s cheaper than therapy.

Vogue puts staffers on their own Best Dressed List, but ELLE seems to take a more humored approach to featuring their editors online.

This week, their ELLEgirl slide show has Halloween costumes… as worn by actual ELLE online editors.

There’s fashion news writer Tracy Lomerantz as Amy Winehouse, senior editor Holly Siegel as the Heroes cheerleader Claire, and market editor Joe Berean as Perez Hilton.

We don’t know what’s funnier -

That dressing as a blogger is a legit Halloween costume, or that a plea to get linked on the world’s biggest celebrity site can (sort of) become an awesome fashion shoot.

As for us, we’ll probably dress up as Penny Lane from Almost Famous… again.

Alexa, 17, student

Got Her: At Claridge’s Hotel in London (with various British musicians).

Stalked Her: Because our favorite look right now is a winter coat over a lightweight dress.

Shot Her: Because we had a moment this morning when we wanted to run away on a tour bus. We bet you’ve dreamed it, too.

She Says: “Don’t be trendy with your coat; go classic.”

We Say: It’s all happening.

It was only a matter of time before Keira Knightley and Sienna Miller became best friends - after all, they wear the same jeans, date the same rockers, and grace the same Grazia covers.

So we weren’t really surprised when Sienna Miller told the press at a recent “Mysteries of Pittsburgh” premiere that she wants Keira to be the face of Twenty8Twelve.

The exact quote is really adorable:

“Oh god Keira - I would love it. She’s the face of Chanel so she’s not likely to come and do my line. But she’s my mate, so hopefully I’d get mates rates. I would definitely love Keira to do it. I love her face,”

It might get a little confusing if Keira’s the face of Sienna’s line - it would be like Richard Meier drawing blueprints for Phillipe Starck - but whatever.

The celebrity knot would only catapult the line more, and open up future possibilities of mind-blowing weirdness - like, how about Mischa Barton for The Row? Rihanna for L.A.M.B.? Bueller? Bueller?

WWD reports on Barneys continued eco-obsession, and their new exclusive collection by Stella McCartney.

But maybe more interesting than the story’s newsy bits - Phillip Lim will also make organic dresses, Barneys will soon stock bamboo skateboards - is the assessment about Stella’s line, from fashion director Julie Gilhart:

“It does not read organic in any way, shape or form.”

We love that Julie said that, because it brings up an issue we’ve had for some time:

That most eco-friendly clothes look like costumes from Jurassic Park. There’s lots of khaki. There’s rumpled texture. And there’s a color palette that screams Laura-Dern-Playing-a-Plant-Doctor.

If Stella’s new line looks like her normal clothing, that’s good news for shoppers, but some new issues do arise:

Are organic garments as durable as synthetically made ones, or will they self destruct - much like some of Stella’s very expensive handbags?

And is eco-fashion really going to fix anything? Or is it too late (and too naive) to think that saving the world can happen with some earnestly sewn jeans?

Have you ever wanted to make your own shoes? If so, we wouldn’t suggest starting with a stiletto.

Aspiring cobblers and DIYers might want to check out this new “Stitch-It” - a “do it yourself” shoe from Simple. $65 gets you a kit containing all the materials and instructions you need to make your very own pair of somewhat floppy suede shoes.

We think they look a little bit like the Marc by Marc moccasins, but a LOT more homespun.

Would you sew your own shoes, or do you think this is one of those things best left to the professionals?

—ALISON COOL

Lately, we haven’t been able to sleep at night. We’ve been tossing and turning, in no small part due to our fall sock dilemmas.

We’re still into the Prada toeless over-the-knee socks (especially after we picked up a very similar pair at Nine West for $8), but for us tall girls (we’re 5’9 in flats) - they just don’t go over the knee. In fact they barely make it up to our knees!

Then we got some relief, because out and about on the streets, we’ve been noticing a lot of cute and stylish girls wearing knee socks, often with tailored shorts and moccasins or loafers.

We have a couple of pairs of black and navy knee socks in our drawer left over from our high school field hockey days, but we really don’t want to trigger the latent mine field of “Catholic school girl” fantasies.

With all this on our mind, we headed over to style.com to revisit some of the sockiest fall 07 shows (Miu Miu, Prada, Erin Fetherston) to figure out the sock thing, and these are the ideas we came up with:

We’re slightly obsessed with Mad Men, the AMC drama that premiered this summer and quickly amassed a cult following.

It centers around Sterling Cooper, a ’60s Ad Agency in New York. The retro office is overrun with sexy secretaries, married men, and way too much scotch.

Every Thursday, we swoon over Donald Draper, the company’s creative director, who gallivants through the city conducting passionate affairs with a Greenwich Village bohemian and a 5th Avenue princess. We didn’t even learn about the depressed wife and kids in suburbia until the end of the first hour.

We do wonder how the well-suited men get any work done in their cloud of smoke and booze, but we’re more interested in the amazing wardrobe.

Our favorite character is the one with the best oufits, Joan. She’s head secretary and mistress to the big boss, so naturally she gets the best clothes. Her two-sizes-too-small shift dresses come in every color, (the hot pink one was our favorite), and leave us wishing the show’s costume designer, Katherine Jane Bryant, would set up shop in NYC.

Apparently the fashion world is paying attention, too. Cathy Horyn referenced Mad Men yesterday as a possible influence in the spring ‘08 lingerie trend.

We’d welcome garter belts coming into fashion, but maybe not bullet bras.

—BRITT ABOUTALEB

Our favorite “news” today comes from Vogue UK, which reports an altercation at Harvey Nichols over that big Balenciaga jacket:

“THE “It-item” creating havoc in stores this week? Balenciaga’s cutaway stripe blazer. One woman, who was not on the waiting list for the $2500 jacket, refused to move until she was sold one in Harvey Nichols - and staff are considering bringing in extra security until the stock clears over the next few days.”

We like a woman who’s firm in her shopping, but something about the story seems ridiculous -

The fact that someone would fight forcefully to spend over $2000… on an item that’ll be on everyone’s “over” list by Fall ‘08.

We know J. Crew’s knockoff isn’t sold in London, but even Urban Outfitters could have lent a little help.

As for us, we’re still thrilled we snagged a cheaper version, even though we’ve spotted three women wearing the same one this week.

Our solution?

We might splatter paint it, Basquiat-style, out in the backyard, and wear it with old jeans and a t-shirt.

Mysterious, beautiful, and outrageously expensive, Iceland is one of the coolest islands around.

Capital city Reykjavik is currently hosting the second annual Sequences - an amazing arts festival featuring hundreds of artists and designers who transform the city into a living work of art. The theme of the festival is “time-based art,” which a particular emphasis on performance art.

We especially love designer Siv Stoldahl’s installation - pieces from her f/w “Cover Up” menswear collection are used to literally cover up the exterior of Kron Kron - one the hippest boutiques in Iceland. The installation was previously mounted at Stolahl’s design studio in London during fashion week, and will travel around the world.

Stoldahl gives all of her stockists an opportunity to transform their store into an installation, so we’re hoping to see it in New York!

—ALISON COOL

We’ve been spotting a bounty of glasses on the visually impaired and the non-visually impaired for some time now. The summer’s Ray-Bans have transitioned into the chunky thick-framed clear nerd glasses formerly relegated to your high school math teacher, now more likely to spot on models.

Our favorite glasses by far are these amazing custom-made versions from Urban Spectacles of Wood. You can specify what kind of wood you want, the shape of the frames, and the type of lenses you use and Chicago-based designer Scott Urban will produce the wooden glasses of your dreams.

If you’re more into the sheen of plastic, Urban recently added the option of having frames made from your favorite old record - bonus points if you have colored or holographic vinyl!

—ALISON COOL

It’s no secret that New York’s popular people sometimes inspire style - Tinsley Mortimer’s handbags actually sell well, and Arden Wohl’s headband has been copied like crazy.

Now we wonder if Gossip Girls inspiration boards have stolen Patrick McMullan photos as well.

After Wednesday’s episode, we couldn’t help but notice the resemblance between Blair Waldorf, the Upper East Snide who seems pretty cool when she’s not being evil, and Olivia Palermo, the sparkly New School student sometimes spotted in Vogue.

Previously, we thought Emmy Rossum was the epitome of Blair’s essence, but we’ve changed our mind - at least in terms of style, they do look alike.

Is art imitating life?

Only if you call a teen soap opera “art” - or someone’s red carpet persona their real life…

Black tights were all over the runways this year, and for once there was a trend that any girl could have:

A walk to Urban Outfitters or CVS and you were stocked with style.

But while Fall fantasies include a great scarf and a pair of tights, the Fall reality goes something like this:

Global warming… Indian summer… Overheated… Bare legs.

But we always feel like we’re cheating a little, and showing a little too much of summer. Maybe we should just suck it up - that perhaps, even a sundress with tights would be better for Fall than a pencil skirt, a trench, and some skin.

Are bare legs for Fall part of “Seasonless dressing”? Or are we just being lazy?

We hear that Burberry will shoot their Spring ‘08 campaign next week, and it’s another cattle call of beautiful kids, with at least five models posing at once in the shots.

Will Agyness return?

Will Lily Donaldson down some clotted cream and resume her rightful place as an ad beauty?

Or is Kate coming back… again?

Stay tuned for the answers, but know this:

We hear almost the entire team for the shoot is British.

Now if only they’d do a show in London… !

A new Ben Sherman shoot is currently wrapping in Manhattan, and we hear the man behind the lens has a big Google trail.

He’s Merlin Bronques, the photographer responsible for Last Night’s Party, whose lubed-up shots from downtown parties (like the one at left) have made him famous, checkered, and a little bit imaginary - especially after a Sunday Styles piece that couldn’t pin down his real name, age, or origins, except for one small stint as a disco singer in Canada.

Though Bronques shot for big companies before, the hire marks one of the first times a photo blogger has landed a mainstream fashion project.

Whether his trademark neon snapshots will still resonate when all the models keep their clothes on… guess we’ll just have to see.

Also: We hear the models are being styled a little bit like Pete and Irina…

Kate Moss has showcased her vocal talents before, most notably in Primal Scream’s cover of “Some Velvet Morning”… and that weird Pete Doherty duet from last spring.

But could she soon have a hit single of her own?

American Idol czar Simon Cowell got snapped with Kate at the launch of her Christmas collection for TopShop on Tuesday, and Style.com reports they were hanging out all night.

We don’t think it was because he’s a modelizer - although yes, that too - but rather, because he wants to sign the supermodel.

“I would like to offer Kate Moss a recording contract, whether she can sing or not,” the music mogul was quoted as saying in The Mirror last year.

“The thing about Kate is that she’s a star - it’s the ‘Kate factor’. People attach themselves to her and instantly become interesting.”

Will Kate follow pal Naomi Campbell’s footsteps and release her own Baby Woman? Please say yes.

— NATALIE GUEVARA

We were obsessed with the J. Crew striped coat at left - it was too expensive (over $300), but still amazing. The swing, the sleeves, the stripes - we were into it. And you must have been too, because now it’s sold out.

But yesterday, we discovered it’s very available at Zara. The coat’s the same shape, length, and colors as J. Crew’s, but boasts a single-button collar instead of the double-breasted front.

Zara’s is cheaper by about $100, relatively new to stores. Meanwhile, J. Crew’s has been in their catalogue since August, and we wonder if this is the next knockoff frontier, when a mass brand pulls from another one that’s sold out of its cult item.

Meanwhile, the coat’s closest runway origin seems to be Gareth Pugh’s signature striped jacket from Fall ‘07… but without the plastic.

—BRITT ABOUTALEB

If you were hoping to boogie with Roberto Cavalli in New York next month, you might be bummed:

The leopard-print legend has scheduled his H&M launch party for Rome, where one of 200 H&M stores will debut Cavalli’s new line.

But that doesn’t mean America’s left out - for Cavalli’s big launch date on November 8, the H&M flagship in New York has “some exciting things planned,” according to a spokesperson.

Will it be as exciting as the massive garden party that Mr. Cavalli threw while shooting his ad campaign? Probably not, but you can experience the drama vicariously on Cavalli’s H&M blog (yes, really).

And what if you don’t like animal print? It’s okay; Roberto’s made some slim black dresses for the collection too - black dresses like the ones worn by Renaissance noblewomen to establish their elite class and style… just in case you wanted yesterday’s trivia answer…

While flowing locks have long been considered the feminine ideal, one of today’s hottest models, Agyness Deyn, is a standout because of her short pixie cut. Milagros Schmoll and Anja Rubik also booked more work when they chopped their hair, and Linda Evangelista had the most famous crop of all in the ’90s.

Fashion people aren’t the only ones who love short hair:

We have many guy friends who crush on crops instead of glamazons. They think short haircuts can emphasize a girl’s beautiful face.

But we also have a guy pal who can’t get over his girlfriend’s new haircut — a Winona Ryder pixie — because he says it “makes her look like a little boy.”

We see how such a dramatic haircut can arouse awkward feelings in a guy — and limit the ability to run his hands through her hair.

However, we also salute former and current gamines such as Jean Seberg, Winona, and also Rihanna for their confidence and bravado in pulling off a look that makes most women feel naked.

Still, we have to wonder about the Heath Ledger and Michelle Williams split. Was the haircut part of the rift?

— NATALIE GUEVARA

Lou Doillon did a denim line!

We almost squealed in excitement this morning when we heard we’d be able to get our hands on a pair of Lou sanctioned jeans. Does this mean her elusive French cool is somewhat more accessible?

Sure - but only if you’re in London, where the pants are exclusively sold.

The line is for Lee Cooper, the English denim company, and though the pants are very stylish, we’re actually having a doubt:

Her stuff is very high waisted, very long, and very unwearable unless you have a model body - like Lou and her mommy, Jane Birkin.

Doillon’s signed on for three years with Lee Cooper, and she’s supposed to create accessories and t-shirts, too. We’ll have to wait and get our fix then… especially since rumor has it, they’ll eventually be available in the US.

Barney’s Coop, are you paying attention?

—BRITT ABOUTALEB

Emily Finkbinder, 26, fashion editor at Interview Magazine

Got Her: Heading home on Broadway

Stalked Her: It was actually the purple handbag that got us. Who has a purple shiny handbag?

Shot Her: Because this is the way to wear color - keep your shapes simple, and your tights black.

She Says: “The dress is Diane Von Furstenberg, the bag is Mulberry, and the shoes are vintage. I know there’s some debate about wearing vintage shoes, but if you just replace the inside soles with your own inserts, I think it’s fine. And I really like wearing color, because I truly feel like when I wear color, it can effect me emotionally. It really does make me happier.”

We Say: I love hue. Hue love me…

H&M just launched their high-end range, COS, with a store opening in Copenhagen. With it comes this fun video, of everyone waiting for it to open.

We think it’s sort of adorable, and hysterical, and random - it reminds us a little bit of a Vanessa Beecroft installation.

But maybe it’s also indicative of how foreign fashion addicts shop, and how the American shopping experience has a different kind of urgency:

When Proenza for Target launched last year, there was a line around the block, a few tourist shoppers with glittery signs, and a noise so loud from the street, we briefly thought we were at a concert for The Rapture. We’ve seen similar scenes for Phillip Lim / Uniqlo, H&M / Viktor & Rolf, and of course Kate Moss / TopShop at Barneys.

In Copenhagen, it’s a little calmer - but if COS ever comes to NYC, we’re expecting madness… again

There’s a lot to love about Aussie label Willow’s spring/summer collection - the gorgeous draping, the subtle use of shimmer and sparkle, clever cut-outs, party dresses that refuse to be cutesy…

But what really caught our eye was how the dresses in shiny neutrals - whether beige, silver, or plain black and white - looked really fresh when paired with acid yellow shoes and belts.

The little flash of color from the shoes or a belt buckle is like, “Yeah, I know about the neon thing, but I have my dignity to think about.”

Which might be a good thing if you’re in your post-clubbing-until-dawn / digital-camera-darling phase, or would like to be by spring 08.

—ALISON COOL

After Anya Hindmarch got burgled this week, Style.com has a hypothesis:

Now that Luella, Christopher Kane, and Anya have been smacked by the same band of fashion robbers - who also broke into Ralph Lauren and Marc Jacobs to steal goodies - the only boutique left to sack is Stella McCartney.

And since the tale of the sensational London fashion thieves seems almost like folklore - they only rob stores? Are they Tatler editors on a dare? - we don’t mind joining the guessing game.

Like, don’t you think they’d hit Mulberry before Stella McCartney? Aren’t bags easier to carry than organic cotton blazers?

We have to wonder… and if it were us, we might have to steal one of Paul Smith’s rumply dresses. They look so good with Fall’s big boots!

Mischa Barton hit the most shows in New York, and Courtney Love appeared again (and again…) in Paris, but is Thandie Newton in the running for the biggest international fashion junkie?

Consider the actresses jet-set appearances this week:

On Tuesday, she paid a visit to Matthew Williamson, who celebrated his 10-year anniversary in London.

And now?

Thandie’s on a plane to China, where she’ll make a pilgrimage to the Great Wall of Fendi - actually the Great Wall of China, where the Italian brand is staging a huge show on the longest (and oldest) runway of all time.

Thandie joins Julia Roitfeld and Amanda Hearst, plus her half cousin (third cousin? something?) Fabiola Beracasa, and of course Fendi’s creative director, Karl Lagerfeld, for the greatest show on earth.

At least, that’s what everyone’s hoping…

Paris, New York, and Milan are over, but that means its time for some German design, imported to lower Manhattan.

Last night, Hugo Boss took the stage in the Financial District, and while Kate Winslet wouldn’t talk to press (Boo! We love Kate Winslet!), we did catch Lara, Tanya, Caroline, and Catherine McNeil just after they hit the runway - Catherine was arm-in-arm with Sasha P., who actually tripped on the runway, and then made the cutest face ever (a huge smiley “Oooh,” like kids do when they see snow).

As for the clothes, they were classic, and basic, and somewhat shiny. The trend of men wearing shorts with shiny pointy shoes isn’t just for TopMan and Prada - we saw it here too, with shiny lace-ups in ombre patent leather that faded gray-to-green.

After the show, girls in French Maid costumes pushed carts of champagne onto the runway. They crashed, flutes fell, and Kristin Davis almost got stabbed with the shards - but not before telling reporters she had faith the Sex and the City plot was safely stashed on a sound stage.

Woody Allen played clarinet onstage afterwards. And there was jumbo shrimp. The whole thing was quite an adventure, but back to the clothes:

More pink for Spring? Cool.

Last week, we wondered about Lily Allen’s favorite eyeliner:

After we got a tip saying she’d dish about it to T Magazine, we wondered -

What exactly was her favorite lid blotter?

Would she be as incoherent with her obsession as Mary Kate was, when she dared to pen a piece about her Chanel bag last year?

And would her story have anything to do with a rumored cosmetics campaign for the pop rocks princess?

We can’t answer that last little question, but we can tell you this: Lily loves Chanel eyeliner the most (the bags, the makeup, it must be a T thing…), and you can read her entire bohemian (emo?) rhapsody below. It debuts this Sunday in T: Magazine, but… well… you know how we get about waiting.

Who What Wear Daily has a fun dish today on Mary Kate Olsen.

They chart an entire outfit from the starlet, right down to her sweatshirt -which they swear you can find at American Apparel, and that makes us psyched.

But something about Mary Kate’s casual look made us look twice -

It seems to be the exact same one that Kate Moss wore when she announced her TopShop line.

Wrinkled three-quarter sleeves? Yes.

Brown belted jeans? Yes.

Haphazardly great jewelry? It’s there.

Even the fried, flyaway blond hair that’s messy / sexy / unconditioned seems to be mirrored from Kate.

But somehow, we don’t think MK’s gonna go there and do the bangs, too… though we’ve been wrong before.

We’ve been obsessed with everything tuxedo-related since we saw photos of Irina in a 3.1 Philip Lim tuxedo dress at the Met Costume gala [editor’s note: Oh, you mean the tux that was taken from YSL’s runway? — Faran].

Now we’ve found an absolutely perfect tuxedo jacket from Danish designer Jens Laugensen’s s/s 08 collction. It’s extra long, which means you can wear it with the same stuff you would pair with this season’s oversized cardigan.

If the jacket doesn’t tickle your fancy, Laugensen also brings the tuxedo motif to vests and cute mini-dresses.

We don’t know about you, but we would definitely rent this jacket to wear to the prom…

—ALISON COOL

In the wake of Cathy Horyn’s proclamation, Style.com chooses their top shows for Spring ‘08, including Marc and also Lanvin, Rodarte, Prada, and Marios Schwab (yeah!).

And while we debate whether to list our own favorites - do you really want to know? - we’ve noticed something fun about the Marc show itself:

The zaniest trends from his runway managed to reappear all over other catwalks.

We’re not saying anyone copied Marc’s madness - they couldn’t have, since their samples arrived at the same time as Marc’s (in fact, judging by the show delay, probably earlier). But since MJ has arguably the most visibility of any fashion show, his trends might actually catch light, and lead to more sales and editorials for these other labels.

We’ve compiled a chart of the weirdest Marc trends below - and where else we saw them - but we’ve got to confess: We’re already plotting how to get the weird sunglasses, which look like The Corpse Bride on her honeymoon.

Today’s reality byte:

We hear Asia Nitollano, the winner of the Pussycat Dolls show, has landed an impressive modeling gig:

After posing for a few catalog shots for the Sean John women’s line, she’s been named one of the faces of Angels, the brand’s new collection of sportswear.

Inspired by Charlie’s Angels, the line also boasts Diddy’s muse and protege Cassie as a model, along with actress Lauren London, who is quite possibly the cutest girl we’ve ever seen on Entourage.

The line officially launches this Friday, and yes, we’ll be there - mostly out of love for Cassie, who’s awesome.

Meanwhile, tonight on Top Model, the girls have a photo shoot where they pretend to be gargoyles, and we think Ambreal might go home, even though she seems like one of the smartest girls they’ve got.

And now, back to our reality…

Earlier today, there was a comment about the must-have bangs, as seen on Kate Moss:

“I’ve had these for years before they were trendy,” wrote the mysterious Number Five. “What can I do when they’re over?”

The remark leads to something we’ve been meaning to explore:

What happens when trends encroach on your personal style?

Case in point: The fauxhemians.

When I was in high school, I had a sheepskin coat, a pile of Indian tunics, wide leg jeans, and Eskimo boots that would later be called Uggs. This was years before Almost Famous, when Sienna was still at boarding school and I just wanted to look like my mom’s vintage album covers.

In college, girls started wearing peasant blouses - and not just the cool girls, but the popular girls, too. Earlier in the year, they’d shunned me for mocking Lilly Pulitzer. Now they tried to steal my dry cleaning. And months later, magazines proclaimed my look as “over.” But how could it be finished when it never really started?

I clung to the Boho thing until last year, when Rachel Zoe turned my style into a factory production, Tory Burch brought it to soccer moms (left), and I went as Penny Lane for Halloween - in all my own, normal clothes. “Okay,” I thought, “If I can do this as a costume, maybe something needs to change.”

I bought some straight leg jeans. I found a pea coat. Last week I actually decided I could wear a blazer - albeit a long one, with white piping and too much attitude.

I think part of it was just growing up - new job, new friends, a shift in the way I was thinking and living… and therefore, a much-needed shopping trip. But sometimes I wonder - should I have surrendered my signature style to Nicole and Keira, or clung to its tenants until the trendoids moved on?

—FARAN

We’re usually disciples of the Buy Less Crap school, but Yoox has a new charity page that we think is seriously cool:

They’ve dug up the Moschino archives from the ’90s - their couture pieces, their crazy print pants and swimsuits, and the obsessable Cheap + Chic line - and put it all for sale.

The proceeds go to AMREF, The African Medical and Research Foundation, an initiative to help children in Kenya, and the stuff isn’t just good, it’s priced to buy.

We’d expect a ’90s Moschino gown to go for $1500 - in fact, we’ve seen it go for that in Manhattan and Los Angeles thrift stores - but their stash is priced between $300 and $500. T-shirts and swimsuits are around $100, and the couture gowns hover around $1000 - expensive, sure, but not outrageous.

If you want to surf through ‘90’s memories or maybe buy into the collection, click here.

Now if they’d just revive their amazing ad campaign with Linda Evangelista…

We heard a funny story yesterday, and it would be too wrong to stay quiet:

According to a source who discovered it herself, there’s a way to tell which “secret sets” in Manhattan are the ones for Sex and the City -

Just look for the sign marked “Avery Productions,” the secret code for SATC -

Apparently, production crews needed to invent one after women started mobbing the set, delaying Charlotte’s inevitable freakouts, Miranda’s control issues, and Carrie’s teetering-towards-awful outfits from ever getting filmed.

We’ll be searching out the signs, but not to stalk Kim Catrall -

Seriously, it’s because we still need some words with SJP over her wretched mass-market line! Although yes, fine, we can’t wait for the movie.

PS: Don’t be bummed if you’ve seen photos of pregnant Charlotte, wedded Carrie (at left), etc. - apparently, they’re filming multiple endings and “dream sequences” to throw off the press, and preserve the future plot…

People.com has photos of Kate’s new haircut , and we’re still getting used to her heavy, straight-across bangs.

Some of us think she looked better without them, but then again, she’s Kate Moss, so she can’t look bad.

More important, though, is the haircut choice:

Why is Kate Moss sporting Irina’s signature look? Is she trying to win back Pete (editor’s note: no), or is this middle-school warfare, the kind where you snatch your best friend’s signature style and rock it better?

If Kate dyes her hair brown, starts taking ballet class, and signs up for drum lessons then we’re going to start worrying.

Otherwise, the haircut is actually a good reprieve for you:

If you’ve gotten trendy bangs cut in the last six months, you’ve now got at least another six before you should stress that they’re over.

—ALISON COOL

Cold weather clothes can be drab and boring, as whimsical summer dresses get replaced by trusty dark sweaters.

But before you decide to hibernate for the winter, we suggest checking out NYC label Telfar’s f/w collection -

The palette is severe and moody enough for even the chilliest of days, but the innovative shapes and detailing guarantee that you won’t get lost in the crowd.

We also like how he has Ben Cho-esque hands on a few of the pieces, which work especially well on the waistband of a pair of pants.

NYC stockists include Oak, Pixie Market, Eva, Blue and Green, and Valley.

—-ALISON COOL

Yesterday, Cathy Horyn proclaimed Marc Jacobs “The Collection of the Season.”

She dug his looks the hardest because with Marc, “You see someone compelled to break out of conventions. You see a fashion that increasingly has its own identity, which it is lighter in spirit and harder to explain.” And we agree that we adored Marc, maybe the most, too, but there’s something else:

Marc’s show was magic to watch, but we don’t know if people will wear it. The whole thing reminds us of Marc’s Fall ‘05 show, a layered and tattered wonderland that polarized the fashion community. Cathy Horyn loved it, but most buyers were annoyed - not only did the show run hours late (sound familiar?) but the shapes were so skewed, they feared women wouldn’t wear them.

Indeed, it took a full year, maybe even two, before the topsy, piled look perfected by Marc and various Olsen acolytes actually caught light with everyone else.

And maybe that is the mark (the Marc?) of the best collection - it’s so brave and scary that it takes a few times to seep in.

But maybe there are other shows we should name “The Collection” - ones you’ll emulate in front of the mirror, and in front of other people, too.

What are they?

Anouck Lepere may be posing for J. Crew, but our favorite unlikely catalog girl is Lily Cole.

Last season, she was the face of Bloomingdale’s.

This season, she’s mugging for La Redoute.

The images may be a little cheesy, but let’s give the French-based chain store a little credit:

After all, their guest designer - and special Lilly wrangler - is Christian Lacroix.

Is his red ruffled trench a realistic look for Fall?

Maybe not, but it certainly hints at Lacroix’s childhood obsession: Matadors.

Just in case you were still wondering about Friday’s trivia…

We just got this photo of Rihanna, who’s rocking her high-waisted Grey Ant jeans with an explosive corset top… and a beret.

We love Rihanna’s style - and her gorgeous Teen Vogue spread - but we have to wonder:

Why is she wearing a beret if she’s performing indoors?

Clearly it’s not too cold out, since she’s showing more skin on top than a Hawaiian Tropics fan. And yet, the fuzzy hat remains. We think it’s really cute with her makeup, her jeans, and her personal style.

But is it okay to throw function completely out the window, and wear a fashionable hat inside?

Or does that immediately make it a try-too-hard situation?

We’re still debating…

We love going to the movies, we’re always game for a fusion of fashion and cinema, especially when it’s in French!

Starting tomorrow, you can get tickets for the new Karl Lagerfeld documentary, Lagerfeld Confidential, at the Film Forum on West Houston.

But don’t count on a straightforward story about Karl’s fabulous life. He’s famously said, “I don’t want to be a reality in people’s lives. I want to be like an apparition.”

Tickets may also be an apparition - the film shows for just two weeks, and in a place like New York - where we’ve seen subtitled documentaries on fish farming sell out in seconds - we bet this is going to be a very hot movie.

If you’re more of a Marc Jacobs kinda girl - or you don’t feel like scouring for a ticket hotter than a Paddington bag - you can pick up the new Marc documentary at his Bleecker Street store, starting today!

—BRITT ABOUTALEB

We were psyched to see Angelina Jolie on the cover of the new W. But then we saw Nicole Kidman, Lindsay Lohan, Katie Holmes and five other cover girls.

Does this mean no Angelina interview?

Apparently not.

The covers were created by Richard Prince, the artist who just made Marc Jacobs’ latest bags.

Prince layered the starlets’ alleged autographs over stock paparazzi photos for W’s latest creations. Of course, he actually wrote each quote, ranging from, “To Richard Prince, Love you long time, Cameron Diaz,” and “To Richard Prince, Let’s not and say we did, Jennifer Aniston.”

Though none of the cover girls are actually featured in the magazine’s Art Issue, Marc Jacob’s art-filled Paris apartment is.

Is this false advertising? Or would we rather see Marc’s latest muses than US Weekly images anyway?

—BRITT ABOUTALEB

Editor’s Note: Faran was sorta bummed there was no Angelina interview… sorry.

WHICH fashion legacy won’t wear pants because of her mother? The budding style expert has received warnings from her mom against wearing jeans (except to school, and other places not stalked by Patrick McMullan) because they made her look fat. Actually, we think everyone should aim to look like this girl, but whatever.

Aerin Lauder’s starring in the ad campaign for Estee Lauder’s new Private Collection scent, Tuberose Gardenia.

The fragrance is supposed to honor Estee herself, as it blends her two favorite flowers. But is it also supposed to kick-start Aerin’s modeling career?

In the black and white picture, the company’s creative director looks beautiful, but stoic. Her modelesque gaze is intimidating, and doesn’t really make us want the $400 perfume.

It’s true that scent is aspirational, especially when it’s expensive, but we always thought you should want to be the perfume models: Kate in CK 1, Gwyneth in Pleasures, Keira in Coco Mademoiselle.

But even if you could run to Harrod’s - the only place right now to buy the new scent - does Aerin’s face make you want to belong to the Estee Lauder dream?

—BRITT ABOUTALEB

It’s been a while since we delved into the world of plastic jewelry, mostly because we haven’t seen so many of those gumball machines where you can buy rings and trinkets for a quarter since we left home for the big city.

But we are awestruck by Patricia Von Musulin’s amazing clear lucite jewelry. The cuff bracelets, in particular, are breathtaking sculptural objects. The seeming heftiness and large scale of the pieces are balanced by their weightless transparency.

We’re not sure if you’d be able to type while you were wearing one of these cuffs, but that’s OK because like all great things, they’re really better suited for a surrealist-inspired dressed-up night out on the town.

—ALISON COOL