Vogue’s January issue features their annual “Best Dressed List,” including Agyness Deyn, as styled by Katherine Neale and paired with E.T. It’s actually sort of amazing and fizzy, and almost negates the essential question - why would you hire a stylist for a shoot that showcases one’s personal wardrobe choices?

The LA Times has a story this week about blondes with roots, and it’s so insane it actually makes sense:

Writer Monica Corcoran asserts that brown roots with blonde hair is “the latest way to feign indifference to your appearance” - if $300 shredded jeans, threadbare designer t-shirts, and anything by Martin Margiela doesn’t really work for you.

Her proof is a slew of rooted celebrities, including both Olsens, Madonna, and even Jessica Simpson, plus Los Angeles stylists paid hundreds of dollars to paint “lowlights” and darker roots onto their fair-headed clients.

There’s also a new wig from the Raquel Welch collection that comes with built-in roots, and a stash of Marilyn and Brigitte Bardot photos showing the sexbombs with their own dark scalps.

Corcoran surmises the tarnished blonde hair represents a good-girl-gone-bad complex, and her argument is both persuasive and intriguing.

Still, in our ash-blonde experience, we can also say those dark streaks growing in are less good-girl-gone-bad and more good-girl-gone-broke.

It must be those $300 jeans that were carefully run over by a monster truck before hitting Barneys…

As any Gossip Girl fan can tell you, Blair and Serena wear more lip gloss than all of the Spice Girls combined.

This makeup trend is also embraced by actual socialites, whose various Patrick McMullan poses require a Sephora overdose for maximum glamour and don’t-you-want-to-be-me power.

Today, WWD acknowledges these women as aspirational inspirations for a handful of makeup companies. These brands think the tastemaking power of Tinsley, Fabiola, and the rest of the UES pack is comparable with actual celebrities, and they’re prepared to compensate accordingly:

Dior Beauty is going public with its Tinsley Mortimer partnership - she’s their “beauty ambassador,” alongside Charlize Theron, the face of their fragrance. Mortimer’s fee goes to charity. Meanwhile, Lucy Sykes Rellie just signed up to consult for Blow, the West Village salon specializing in hot air. Similar deals exist with Byrdie Bell (left) and Orlane, and Lydia Hearst and Sephora, and Julia Restoin Roitfeld and Tom Ford’s fragrance, Black Orchid. And we can just see Jessica Joffe as the face of some skin cream, since her face is so glowy and fresh.

But will there ever be a socialite linked to a Botox brand? In public, we mean, of course…

Mert + Marcus may be doing the next string of Louis Vuitton ads, but Annie Leibovitz has reunited with the monogrammed brand for yet another upcoming campaign shoot, according to reader Christopher.

On December 20th, Louis Vuitton rented various areas of the Regency Hotel in New York for their latest commercial, directed by Ms. Leibovitz and produced by Karen Mulligan.

We hope some behind the scenes footage of the shoot can eventually leak online, especially since Louis Vuitton just posted a slew of scenes from their Mert + Marcus shoot online, with Marc Jacobs and Naomi Campbell describing the production, and Zoe Cassavetes creating the footage.

The last round of Leibovitz + Louis ads starred old school actress Catherine Deneuve and Russian icon Mikhail Gorbachev. Maybe this new slew has Gwyneth.

Michelle Williams is a very gifted actress, but today we learned she’s missing a gift:

Apparently, the Brooklynite was sent a new handbag by Karl the Kaiser Lagerfeld, but the clutch never made it into her clutches. Since everything from Chanel is so gorgeous and in-demand, the accessory was accidentally swept up and sent to a shoot for another blonde actress. It now floats between a photo set and a fashion closet on the Left Coast.

When my mom heard the story, she asked, “Can’t Chanel just give Michelle another bag?”

I answered, “Ooh, Chanel and Michelle rhyme.”

But yes, they could find Ms. Williams another bag. Maybe this one’s engraved or blessed by an Australian rabbi - or just incredibly gorgeous, as Chanel things are wont to be.

Anyway, if you’re on a celebrity photo shoot in Los Angeles, keep your eye out for a lovely bag that shouldn’t be there - then steal it, since it’s already lost - much like the Golden Globe nomination that Michelle Williams really should have gotten for I’m Not There…

Today in Women’s Wear Daily, reporter Whitney Beckett goes “undercover” to test out how Thom Browne is being sold to Brooks Brothers’ customers.

(I should confess now that Whitney and I were partners in crime at Duke, so her new extracurric intrigues me, but also: How does a groomed Texas blonde go “undercover” at Brooks Brothers? With a fake lisence from Connecticut? Questions for another day, and another girl.)

Anyway, Whitney found the Brooks Brothers’ / Thom Browne merger to be fun and slightly overpriced, just like Boston’s Institute of Contemporary Art, where I went today and saw an exhibit of Thom Browne’s clothes. They hung as part of a show on industrial design. There were also some pieces by Narciso Rodriguez, Zero Maria Cornejo, Nike, and Kid Robot, plus an actual robot that said “Hey baby, gimme five” when you walked past it.

The offer was tempting, but instead I camped out by the Thom Browne stuff to see how museumgoers would react. The place has a neat policy of letting anyone under 18 in for free, so there were lots of families and especially (for some reason) lots of preteen girls.

Sort of funny: Most didn’t understand the clothes were actually for men. “That’s a pretty jacket,” said one, staring at a blazer threaded with silver tinsel. “Like in The Parent Trap, the old one,” said another girl to her friend, as she pointed at long, slim shorts.

Sort of predictable: Most adults said something about the pants being too short. But it’s still interesting to consider whether Mr. Browne’s silhouette will one day flood the mainstream, or whether it’s just something for hipsters, fops, and really cute skinny guys.

At the other end of the design hall were wigs designed by Orlando Pita, showcased along with an image of Mr. Pita with Lily Donaldson, which appeared two years ago in Vogue.

I took the Lily D. sighting as my cue to leave, but not before the robot called “Hey baby” again as I searched for the exit.

“It was cruel enough to imagine Ms. Wintour in her underwear (as the site does), but it was downright inhumane to offer her a Missoni-style knit hat and moon boots.” —Eric Wilson on the year’s worst style crimes

The sweet veggie news for today is that Natalie Portman will design a shoe range for the Soho boutique Te Casan.

The shoes are vegan friendly, and debut in February, which should make for a very fun party complete with Natalie Portman on everyone’s camera phone rosters.

We like Natalie Portman very much, but when we heard the footwear news, we had to smile and remember this quote from the actress, widely circulated in the celebrity columns last month:

“I get pissed off that I go to a premiere to talk about my movie and the first thing they ask me is what dress I’m wearing. And look, I buy into that because I play along - you have to, in a certain way. If you don’t dress up then they’ll talk about that! It almost becomes less of an issue to play along with it, because then it doesn’t become a conversation topic. But that’s annoying.”

Maybe not annoying enough, huh?

The shoes will cost about $200, far cheaper than the Stella McCartney vegan heels, but hopefully just as cool.

Here’s an interesting tip from our financial friends:

A rumor from luxury consultants that although Juicy Couture’s numbers are still good, they’re not nearly what were projected when Liz Claiborne bought the company. The rumor is that Liz’s head honchos are considering whether or not to resell Juicy as an independent label, and focus instead on Kate Spade, Narciso Rodriguez, DKNY Jeans, and their other brands.

If Juicy does get freed from its corporate ties, it could be great for the brand - their suburban clout is still strong, but reeks of manufactured popularity, and that might not give it the same kind of legs that let American Eagle and Urban Outfitters reign supreme in junior high schools.

Then again, that kind of cultivated cool does seem to work for Abercrombie + Fitch, albeit A+F has more sex appeal and a unisex banner of inclusion that doesn’t happen with Juicy (despite a line of menswear). So maybe cafeteria domination is inevitable if a financial heavyweight is behind them.

Either way, it’s just a rumor, but here’s a side dish of fact:

There’s a pile of Juicy Couture longsleeve t-shirts for $28 at the T.J. Maxx in North Andover, MA right now, and if you’re in the Boston area, perhaps you’d like to buy them.

WHICH major fashion stylist was recently so enraged at a Manhattan magazine office that she had a vicious temper tantrum? The bony muse must have invoked all her strength, because she managed to pull down an entire rack of YSL and Givenchy dresses that were hanging for a shoot.

[And no guys, it’s not Rachel Zoe. She’s actually really nice and reasonable.]

A few weeks ago, we asked if Heidi Klum’s jewelry line looked a little too similar to Van Cleef and Arpel’s signature Alhambra designs.

Apparently, Van Cleef’s lawyers thought so, too:

This week, they announced they’re seeking about $25,000 in damages from Ms. Klum and her jewelry company for copyright infringement.

We recognize they may not win, since the Alhambra shape is also very close to a classic clover, as seen in Lucky Charms cereal and also (sort of) in classic Louis Vuitton monogram.

We’ll be following the case, and meanwhile, we do appreciate the irony of Klum hosting a show that constantly challenges designers to be as innovative and industrious as possible.

Also, we’re still a little bitter that there’s no new Project Runway tonight, but perhaps that’s another story.

PS - Heidi’s design is on the right; the original Van Cleef pendant is at left.

For those of you waiting for the complete Girls Gone Styled screen test, here it is.

We shot the whole thing on my bed in the East Village, it’s very rough, very unedited, and very silly.

For actual episodes of Girls Gone Styled, check back in January, when there will be models, designers, studio visits, and other blips of madness.

Also:

Start cleaning your closets - there will be more wardrobe visits in Season Two.

“I have also begun to think the unthinkable. That people in L.A are not stupid after all. Could this be an extremely sophisticated, somewhat cruel joke that they are playing on the world, pretending to be shallow, self-absorbed and unable to make a left turn? Is this a cunning plan to fool us into underestimating them so they can take over? Mmm.” - Franklin Getchell, partner of home furnishings company Moss, on Los Angeles, in The Moment.

The Guardian has an interesting but expected story today on the European model guidelines put forth in Milan and London.

Though both fashion hubs sought to ban Size 0 girls, smoking, long hours, and underage models from the catwalks, initial reports say those guidelines “are not being implemented.”

The funny thing is, we didn’t need a study or survey to tell us that -

A quick survey of this year’s catwalks revealed the spindled backs and undead eyes of many familiar faces, and a rush of Russian girls whose other lives lay in junior high.

To combat the issues, the British Fashion Council is trying to get Milan, Paris, and New York to agree on the conditions of a “model health certificate” that would endorse those women fit to work. But regulating the tastes and tolerances of an international fashion community is both difficult and perhaps inappropriate - will companies really allow themselves to be told whom to cast?

The BFC is also seeking to limit digitally enhanced graphics in magazines, which seems extremely unlikely and may do more harm than good:

There will always be impossibly gorgeous and young people working in the fashion industry - if photo editing is banned from style spreads, those few girls will get all the jobs, limiting what’s considered beautiful even more.

Shirley Maclaine will play Coco Chanel in an upcoming biopic, and it just gets weirder:

The project is a Lifetime TV miniseries, which chronicles Chanel’s later years returning to Paris, after exiling herself in Germany and Switzerland during World War II.

According to Variety, the project is completely endorsed by both Chanel and Karl Lagerfeld, with costume designer Stefano de Nardis even getting archival research from the company.

The program will run next year on Lifetime. Meanwhile, the Chanel feature-length movie, Coco Avant Chanel, has begun production in Paris, with Audrey Tautou as the lead.

Demi Moore is still rumored to be in talks for an American Chanel movie, and we think that would be fantastic - but Angelina Jolie would be cool for the part, too.

Our favorite “Who Wore It Better” of all time comes from People - apparently Sienna and Britney wore the same paisley See by Chloe dress.

The question of who in fact did wear it better is kind of obvious, but we’re more interested in the bizarre meeting of worlds that somehow led to Sienna and Britney wearing the same dress.

What does it mean? Are Sienna’s days as a fashion icon finally over? Or is Britney some kind of prescient genius that we just can’t fully appreciate in her lifetime?

If we were Sienna, we might have some pretty harsh words for our stylists - how could they let her leave the house in a dress lent to Britney Spears? Unless, of course, Sienna wore it first. In which case, Britney’s stylist should have warned her of the style bar set light years above her head…

—ALISON COOL

Those searching for corduroy peacoats with mismatched buttons should hold off until January 9th, when Trovata opens its first retail space in New York City.

The boutique is a pop-up shop at the Earnest Sewn store in the West Village, at 821 Washington Street. It follows other Earnest Sewn collaborations with Repetto, Malin + Goetz, and Rogues Gallery.

The move seems smart for Earnest Sewn, the celebrity denim brand, since although Trovata makes cute khakis and slacks, it hasn’t yet started a denim line, so there’s no product overlap between the two companies.

The store stays open until February 9th, and by then, you’ll have a whole new load of Trovata clothes to covet - they’ll be back in New York for another presentation during Fashion Week, showcasing their Fall ‘08 collection.

If you know your right ventricle from your left, you can probably appreciate the “anatomical heart necklace”, ($65) from Brooklyn-based Analogous Jewelry, more than others.

A delicate silver outline – which on first glance looks like an artsy abstract design – forms the contours of a real human heart.

The shape is solid cast in sterling silver, and dangles low, so it’s perfect for layering.

It’s a little edgier than the ubiquitous heart locket, and a little less gross than a full-on replica of a beating heart - a pretty funny Valentine’s Day present, if you’re already sick of thinking about the current holidays.

—ALISON COOL

WHICH model had to be thrown into a vat of water in order to sober up during a magazine editorial shoot? As a revenge of sorts, the magazine put the photos in their final spread.

It looks like beauty will get you in just about anywhere.

Just two months after her October meeting with Hugo Chavez, Naomi Campbell is out to score another high-profile interview, this time with Chavez’ personal friend, Cuban leader Fidel Castro.

According to the Daily Telegraph, Campbell is planning on staying in Cuba as long as it takes, saying that she’ll even spend Christmas with him “if that’s what it takes.”

According to Vogue UK, the two interviews are the first in a series of interviews by Campbell to be featured in GQ. Next on her list? French President Sarkozy.

We don’t know if this is incredibly cool (maybe Naomi Campbell is the new Oriana Fallaci?) or an incredible waste - there are countless journalists who would kill to have this kind of access, and who would undoubtedly have the journalistic experience to handle it appropriately.

But maybe some kind of interview (both Chavez and Castro are notoriously silent to the press) is better than no interview at all?

And more pressing - do you think she’ll wear a Che Guevara tee?

We received a mysterious invitation in our Inbox today, proclaiming “Celebrate the New Old Navy.”

We didn’t know that khakis and blouson t-shirts could be reinvented so forcefully, which makes us wonder what’s actually happening to Old Navy.

Our guesses?

1. Old Navy realizes everyone in America is now (somewhat) obsessed with fashion - or at least, with “fashion” - and they’re turning themselves into a Forever 21, with influxes of on-trend clothes flooding into stores, and flooding out just as quickly.

2. Old Navy is releasing a quirky TV commercial with their new head designer, Todd Oldham, that’s going to be like House of Style on a sugar high.

3. Old Navy is finally buying Fred Flare and turning into a complete lifestyle store.

That’s the rumor, anyway.

Although practicality tells us to get flat boots for the winter, who can resist an adorable pair of cone heel booties?

Japanese footwear designer Miho Masui, went that extra step, winning our vote for Best Heel of the Year with these quirkily striped conical heels - The soft leather uppers and surprise gold lining don’t hurt either.

Stripes have been everywhere lately (see Giles and Gareth), so apparently heels were just the last possible space to take on the look.

Our only suggestion is to avoid wearing them with anything else striped or red, lest you should look like a deranged candy striper.

—ALISON COOL

Part of the attraction of ribbons and bows is that they remind us of our favorite hobby – getting presents.

Jewelry designer Jill Alberts clearly understands the psychological resonances of the sticky bows that sit atop the cutest presents, designing a ring loosely based on their shape.

The “ribbon ring” has little bits of turquoise nestled inside the folds of a gold bow. The result is a really unique (and timely) take on this season’s large cocktail ring.

Best of all, you don’t have to do that weird trick with the scissors to get the satisfaction of a curly ribbon – all the work’s been done for you.

—ALISON COOL

On our way to work today, we saw a woman who made us turn.

She was wearing an all-black pantsuit with a black scarf and gloves - probably a lawyer, we thought. We wouldn’t have noticed her at all if it wasn’t for one thing: her otherwise funereal ensemble concluded with a pair of mens’ wingtips.

She’d managed to turn a boring, single-note work uniform into an outfit - kind of like adding a fun dot to straight line, she turned herself into a walking exclamation point.

It was the first time we’d ever seen menswear on a regular person (i.e. not a 6’ tall model or a theatre actress out for a cigarette break,) that actually looked like clothing, and that the wearer rocked completely as her own. We don’t know if we could take it much further than maybe a vest (and we’d die if we could actually get away with suspenders,) but we certainly stop and admire those who can pull it off so well.

Do you ever wear styles truly inspired by menswear?

The Writer’s Strike has hit The Daily Show, Gossip Girl, and 30 Rock - now it threatens to take away red carpets.

Because of the complications of writing the Oscars and Golden Globes, both events are threatening to be smaller, shorter, and maybe devoid of the fashion parade that opens each night.

But though some designers will panic at the prospect (like Allen Schwartz at A.B.S., whose entire business depends on knocking off celebrity gowns), an awards season without red carpets could open the celebrity floodgates somewhere else:

New York Fashion Week.

It’s a known fact that some starlets need red carpet publicity as much as movies (or maybe more) to fund their lifestyles. Scarlett Johansson is a great actress, but she’s made more ads than films at this point - ads built on her fashion reputation, not her IMDB roster. Lindsay Lohan, Nicole Richie, Joy Bryant, Emmy Rossum, Rihanna, and even Camilla Belle are dependent on fashion coverage to maintain their careers, while Kirsten Dunst, Michelle Williams, and Anne Hathaway have branded themselves as smart and cool because of their outfits and magazine covers.

If red carpets disappear in February, maybe front rows will afford these stars - who usually don’t come to Fashion Week - their big opportunity to score face time in InStyle.

Of course, an influx of in-demand celebrities will make fashion shows start later, and turn seating situations into minor soap operas, but that’s what caffeine and expense accounts are for…

Kim Cattrall is the newest celebrity to take part in PETA’s Fur Coat Donation program, having just agreed to donate all the furs she’ll wear in the upcoming Sex and the City movie.

According to PETA representative Michael McGraw, “the only people who can be excused for wearing fur are the homeless - to keep warm during the winter,” and that’s exactly where Kim’s furs will go in a few weeks.

The donations sound noble, except for one piece of information: The New York Post reports that the “donated skins will be marked with a red X on the back”.

It’s good to know that PETA’s charity only goes so far - it’s okay for the less fortunate to keep warm in winter, as long as they’re stigmatized with PETA’s self-righteous version of the Scarlet Letter, right?

“Of course that only proves that Pantone is on the curve, and not ahead of it, and I recognize the pure publicity value of ‘naming’ a color from the 21st century palette. As if.” - Cathy Horyn, on the announcement of Blue Iris No. 18-3943 as the color of 2008, imitating Cher Horowitz.

Mega-model Gisele Bundchen is taking a memo from Kate Moss, designing her own capsule collection for Dolce & Gabbana.

According to Vogue UK, the former Victoria’s Secret Angel has been hounded by designers to create her own line, but stuck to strutting until her close friends, Stefano and Domenico, asked her to guest design for them. The news comes almost a year after rumors swirled that Gisele would have her own range of lingerie and bikinis at H&M.

No details on what the range will look like, but we’re pretty confident it’ll be a mix of slinky, sequined tops and miniskirts with hardware.

Of course, the irony is that Gisele is most famous when her clothes are off, but that doesn’t mean she can’t endorse (and vaguely “design”) a great slinky halter dress.

When designers send their entire collections for free, perhaps asking for clothes is too much.

That’s the only way we can reason the recent and very funny news from London, that Victoria Beckham received a book - yes, really - from her husband David for Christmas.

The new face of Marc Jacobs got the Valentino retrospective, Valentino Garavani: First Name in Fashion from Vanity Fair byliner Matt Tyrnauer, which costs about $1500 - it’s signed by the designer and limited edition.

Although Ms. Beckham confessed in 2005 that she’d never read a whole book before, she’ll probably sail through this one just fine -

There are lots of pretty pictures… although none are of her, so she could get bored.

We’re not sure we believe this tip, but we certainly like it:

We hear Rumer Willis will be attending some select shows at Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week in February.

The Rumer rumor certainly makes sense, as Ms. Willis will take the stage as Ms. Golden Globe in January - a position often undertaken by Hollywood aristoquettes looking to break into movies.

Having photos snapped at Rag & Bone or Temperley would definitely help a public profile get raised, without any scandal, seduction, or shocking pregnancy (ahem).

If Rumer does attend New York Fashion Week in February, we hope two things:

1. That she takes tips from her mom, Demi Moore, on front-row posing, since last season, Demi was a total pro.

2. That she gets rid of her hair extensions and goes back to the bob. It was so, so chic.

Watching this Who What Wear Daily video of the latest Fall Trends felt a bit like letting a big sister into our closet: When someone’s being a gentle know-it-all, especially about your style, you want to tell them “Get out of here, and give me back my Converse!” And yet, you know you should listen, so you grudgingly take a seat and let her work some magic.

That was our reaction to this video, anyway, where the WWWD team skis through a range of runway trends, including the belt-over-sweater trick and also a series of mild lectures about how you should spend all your money on shoes and coats (this may explain why they’ve shown Givenchy shoes with an H&M jacket, which seems like a good idea).

Those living in colder climates (including us, in New York!) really liked how much layering happened in the show, which is a huge bonus when it’s freezing and you’re sprinting to work.

But our favorite moment comes at the end, when they tell you to “make the look your own” - something that’s so easy and so very hard when you’re copying trends from the runway and celebrities!

Next time, we want an All-Olsen episode.

Seventh Avenue’s Fashion Walk of Fame will have some new names added in 2008, after a break of five years.

According to WWD, 114 industry leaders have been sent paper ballots to return with their vote for two fashion designers each, one living and one deceased. After the tallies, eight designers will be commemorated along with the likes of Claire McCardell, Donna Karan, Halston, and Marc Jacobs.

The requirements: each nominee must be an American designer with a showroom in New York, and a business history of at least ten years.

We think it would be a shame for Gilbert Adrian not to make it – the man who turned Greta Garbo into a fashion icon deserves the recognition, even if he was technically a “costume” designer (see his handiwork at left). As for living, our vote goes to Diane von Furstenberg. If a designer is clever enough to build a decades-long empire on a versatile dress, she at least deserves the plaque for it.

And as for her having been born in Belgium, we think they’d make an exception – plus, not everyone on the list is American-born (continuing reading to see who’s already made it to the Fashion Walk of Fame.)

Who would you add to your ballot?

We’ve been playing our Fafarazzi Project Runway game quite seriously, changing our teams every week and actually putting thought into our choices.

And last week, it finally paid off.

Natalie’s team tied for first place after she picked all three winners for episode four - Rami, Jillian and Kevin - winning an actual prize!

But since it’s the season for sharing, we’re giving away the trophy, the Project Runway Complete Second Season DVD, to one of our equally obsessed readers.

Post here who you think will win tonight’s episode, and we’ll send it off tomorrow to whoever submits the first correct guess. Be sure to also e-mail your answer to natalie@fashionista.com, along with your address, so we know where to send the DVD.

Just think, you’re holiday break could include hours of Santino! Good Luck!

[Ed Note: We just realized that there isn’t a new Project Runway until January! Very sorry, but our little game is still on, of course, just with delay…)

What you could get if you bid on one of WWD’s six designer stockings on eBay tonight:

1. From Stella McCartney: A boat load of her Adidas yoga gear, products from her Care organic skincare line.

2. From Badgley Mischka: Their very own Barbie, a certificate for a portrait session with photographer Gilles Bensimon (bikini and desert background not included).

3. From Oscar de la Renta: A cashmere stole, an alligator clutch

4. A warm fuzzy feeling since all proceeds benefit Citymeals-on-Wheels.

Since the stockings are filled with hand-picked gifts from the designers themselves, we’re betting the auction is going to start around a gazillion dollars. The most cost-effective move might be to go for the Anthropologie sock - not only is the biggest (the model for WWD actually fit inside,) but it’s filled with the most stuff - and since it’s not “designer,” we think it’ll go for a little less.

The auction starts at 10pm EST, so you might have to multitask if you’re planning on watching the new Project Runway.

Happy Holidays!

With all the parties crammed between this week and New Year’s, there’s going to be a lot of dressing up.

And we all know what that means: high heels.

They’re uncomfortable so it’s too bad they always make you look good, especially with a short party dress. But after several wears in one week, you can start to seriously consider pulling a too-cool-for-school move and showing up in sneakers.

The solution seems obvious - just wear flats, right? But why is it that nobody ever does that? We once stalked a streetwalker wearing flats to a party, but we think it’s a rare girl that can pull this off without looking severely underdressed.

Would you wear flats to a party? (And we don’t mean a party at your best friend’s apartment. We mean out in public, with many strangers taking pictures). Or do you suck it up and wear pumps to every soiree?

We knew Ashlee Simpson made the rounds last Fashion Week, but we didn’t know she’s as fashionably educated as she (or her stylist) seems to be.

In her newest video, Outta My Head, you can see the pop starlet shaking it in what looks like a giant steel birdcage, wearing one of our favorite Gareth Pugh dresses from S/S ‘08.

We don’t know if Ashlee had the fashion chops to pick this dress out for herself, or if a team of professionals did the job for her (probably the latter).

Either way, we love exposure for Gareth, even if it comes from an Ashlee Simpson music video.

“Let me put it this way — if her napkin falls on the ground, don’t try to replace it.” - Frankie Marshall, a server at the Gramercy Park Hotel restaurant Wakiya, on serving Anna Wintour.

Zip ties – those thin plastic strips widely used in the place of handcuffs these days – don’t exactly strike us as something to think about.

But it turns out that if you have the mind of a talented jewelry designer, like Natalie Gomensoro, you can refashion them as a very cute ring.

It’s simple enough to wear on a daily basis, and on first glance looks like a traditional ring with a solitary gemstone. It’s subtly subversive yet remarkably elegant, and we’re pretty sure this counts as recycling – we’re in love.

You can get them cast in sterling silver or gold, and all the rings are custom-made by the designer for her line, Metalnat.

—ALISON COOL

The Times UK has a very funny roundup of “The Year in Fashion,” proclaiming Sienna and (pregnant?!) Lily Allen as favorite style icons and Kate Moss as a major fashion trooper.

But the bottom of the story is where it gets interesting, as our idol Lisa Armstrong proclaims lip gloss to be dead.

She compares Juicy Tubes and Lip Venom to porn star chic, but we link it with Rihanna, Heatherette, and The Hills - maybe not the chicest of choices, but one that’s fun, youthful, and easy to wear with heavy eyeliner or a low cut dress. Granted, both of those things appear frequently at The Playboy Mansion, but they’re also standard for a Friday night out.

But maybe this is one of those examples when London trends and American ones don’t quite stack up - we still haven’t fully embraced Beth Ditto, soccer, or wearing feathered veils to church. In which case, perhaps a fresh coat of lip varnish is downright patriotic… or at least practical, since we use it instead of Chapstick in the winter.

WHICH designer has his staff worried - his energies are so focused on a new relationship with a younger boy that he’s totally blown off certain key chores for the Fall ‘08 runways?

As fashion creeps further into pop culture, brand strategies are trying hard to climb on board.

Our favorite recent example is Moet & Chandon, who’ve eschewed the Hollywood crowd (remember when a bottle of Moet was on every Golden Globes table?) in favor of the slightly quirkier kids in fashion.

Their latest promotion is a Moet “pop up boutique,” a concept also practiced by Mulberry, Alice Roi, and Nike, where shoppers can bring champagne bottles, pay $30, and get them bedazzled or personalized.

But despite the glam factor, the famous faces linked to the project aren’t starlets, they’re part of the style pack. Photographed with their Moet bottles for promotional materials are Erin Fetherston (left), Betsey Johnson, the Marchesa duet, and Terry Richardson, who clutches a bottle bedazzled with “Daisy Marc Jacobs.”

That sure makes us want to drink.

I can’t believe anyone watches Girls Gone Styled except my mom, but for the hundreds of you who emailed and asked when our second season starts, here’s some news:

It sort of starts now.

The show officially hits Fashionista in January, but there’s a new test reel with DIY bracelet instructions, Brad Pitt winter wear, and a small fake bag soapbox.

There’s also a new hostess, Quinn Asteak, whom you may remember from our crazy vintage episode. Quinn is the fashion market editor at Paper, and she’ll take over for Abby, who’s paying her dues in the fashion closet of a big magazine.

Have a peek, and then stay tuned for 2008, when 12 new episodes will be waiting (just as soon as we kidnap Catherine McNeil, hijack some DKNY mini-dresses, and make them)… For now, we’ll just call this episode Girls Gone Styled: Unplugged because, um, it’s two girls on a bed talking about fashion.

Bloggers - they really are just like us.

WWD is all excited about the Gucci / UNICEF auction, and with good reason. While they raise funds for Malawi orphans, they’ll also raise their own profile with Madonna, Drew Barrymore, Adrien Brody, Salma Hayek, Alicia Keys, Demi Moore, Gwyneth Paltrow, Sarah Jessica Parker, Rihanna, and Sting.

But the party takes place on Wednesday, February 6th in New York City - and that’s smack in the middle of Fashion Week.

If all of these stars are in town during Tent season, does that mean they’ll actually show up for some shows?

We doubt Madonna will attend anything, and after sitting dangerously close to the photo pits in Paris this Fall, we can’t really blame her.

But if we were betting girls, and sometimes we are, we’d say a definite seat filler in February will be Lucy Liu (who will need tons of PR for her new TV show, Lipstick Cashmere Jungle Fight (isn’t that the name?).

Demi might return to subtly brag (again) that she just looks better with age. It would be fun to see her again, even though we don’t know which big magazine is left to interview her (maybe W?).

And Drew Barrymore?

Well, we doubt it, but there’s always wishing on stars… or in this case, wishing on Chris Benz’s inspiration board.

There’s been some talk of Whitney leaving The Hills, and her recent interview with T’s The Moment may have just confirmed it.

T’s Online Editor Jonathan Paul comes right out and asks Whitney if she’s getting “phased out” of the show. Whitney responds that it’s just a rumor, saying she’s “still going to be continuing filming”.

BUT, after being asked “what’s next” for her at the magazine, she says, “I think Amy [Astley, Teen Vogue’s Editor-in-Chief] thinks [Lauren and I] are maybe getting too old for the magazine.”

Are Lauren and Whitney getting tossed from the show like a couple of just-turned-23-year-old models? We think it’s true, but not because they’re “old” (if 22 is too mature to work at Teen Vogue, then everyone but the interns couldn’t work there.)

Rumors say Teen Vogue might be trying to distance themselves from the show - regular shots of Lauren and friends drinking and hanging around questionable guys may not fit in with the lifestyle Teen Vogue maintains within its pages.

So what would The Hills be like without the fashion closet? We have no idea, we just know we probably wouldn’t watch it anymore (especially if this rumor happens to be true).

“Above the shop floor, in the cash office, Prince Boateng is not so forthcoming. He is waiting anxiously for the return of a ‘Charley run’, in which staff wearing protective glasses ‘in case someone wants to spray their eyes with pepper spray – or perfume’ push a metal safe around the store to collect the takings from every till.” — On the madness of working at TopShop on December 15th, from the London Times.

Checking out the Beauty Flash spread in next month’s W makes us think of the ongoing conversation we’ve been having with friends for years- beauty products that actually work.

It’s no secret that advertising drives a lot of what’s found in magazines, and that publications with a luxury perspective tend to showcase the glitziest and rarest of the newest crop of whatever, no matter if they work or not.

Products by Clinique, Estee Lauder, Revlon, La Prairie and the like make it into high-end glossies every month, but everybody knows they’re a huge waste of hard-earned cash. Ask any beauty editor what she washes her face with every morning, and you’re like to hear some combination of Neutrogena and Olay.

Readers don’t hear about great products like Cetaphil because they don’t seem to advertise, and the packaging is less than persuasive.

So do you really need that new La Mer Cleansing Foam “fortified with precious jade and pearl powders” for $65? We think (know) not.

How do you inform your beauty product purchases? And have you ever splurged on something because a favorite magazine told you to?

We were all about our mood ring when we were in 6th grade, even though it basically stayed the same shade of bluish purple until we lost or broke it a year later.

And if you still love My Girl as much as we do, you can bring back the look in a slightly more adult fashion. The designers and engineers at Phillips have brought us the Bubelle Dress, a frock that will change colors depending on your mood.

The Bubelle is made up of two layers- the inner one contains biometric sensors that “pick up a person’s emotions and projects them in colours onto the second layer, the outer textile”. The dress was made as part of a project predicting lifetyle items for the year 2020.

We’re not totally sure if we want to wear a dress that broadcasts to the world whenever we’re feeling “flirty” – but then again, it would eliminate the need for a lot of awkward conversations.

—ALISON COOL

We’ve been reading about the new fashion networking site, Fashionspace, and we have to say, despite the good press, we’re skeptical.

The site, inspired by the internet-based success of the creator’s high school classmate Lily Allen, is another in a string of attempts to create such a site for fashionistas, after Myspace.com/fashion and the unsuccessful Iqons.

While it seems like a great idea to network on a site to break into an industry practically surrounded by the Great Wall of China, it misses the point. Most fashion people are way too discreet to do anything as conspicuous as “networking,” especially online- they don’t even leave comments on websites, let alone post detailed profiles of themselves complete with contact information.

We still think Fashionspace might succeed at being like a Monster.com for aspiring designers- maybe fashion houses will look to it when hiring assistant designers? But as far as becoming the all-out fashion MySpace that it wants to be, we doubt it- it’s just too straightforward to be picked up by the least straightforward people on earth.

When MTV aired “How to Dress Like the Hills”, we were kind of amused but not interested enough to actually watch it.

Then Gossip Girl arrived, devoted most of their site to the characters’ wardrobes, and name dropped random brands into pivotal scenes.

And this weekend, we saw a preview for a special episode of The Real Housewives of Orange County, detailing which brands move its fashion-forward ladies to drop their thousands.

We thought we’d only want to look like characters dressed by Patricia Field. Then, like magic, our chance appeared - HBO updated its Sex and the City webpage with descriptions of almost every outfit and accessory from the show.

We don’t know if the shopping and TV merger is an attempt at making shows more accessible, or if networks make a profit from what are, essentially, commercials

But we do know this takes TV shows that much closer to becoming infomercials with plot lines, and then what would happen to this new, great venue for selling us stuff?

Rules of sidewalk conduct in winter:

1. Thou shalt not stop for no reason in the middle of morning foot traffic to look for something in your bag.

2. Thou should not even think of walking three-across with two friends, making everyone behind you go around and through icy snow banks to get ahead of your incredible slowness.

And now, we think we’ve found the ultimate sidewalk no-no: the Glover, a two-in-one mitten combination meant for cold-weather strolling lovers. So now you can have a whole new kind of sidewalk faux-pas to hate on with your friends.

Frankly, we don’t understand how this could exist. Not only is it insane to think you actually need this instead of just holding hands with your own pairs like normal people, but what do you do when you reach your destination? Casually remove your love mitten and ask to see a menu?

We’ve seen it online, but thankfully, never in person (and yet it’s sold out on several shopping sites…)

We really just don’t understand this accessory. If we saw a couple walking 1mph because of this thing, we think we’ve have to bodycheck them into the nearest open store cellar. You?

—ALISON COOL

“What I found offensive was the public editor’s Lego-man hair.”

The Times public editor, Clark Hoyt, proclaimed the spread “a mistake” in a recent column.

When Zune launched their media player in October, they claimed their mp3 toy was more artistically inclined than most.

We didn’t quite get it until now, when dozens of short films created by artist and musicians have popped up on their website - our favorite, called Magic Trick, is linked here.

You can download the art shorts straight onto your iTunes, which will perhaps replace episodes of The Hills on heavy digital rotation.

And if you get really addicted, our other recommendation is this short movie - called Rainblo - by sometime-Fashionista photographer Jeremy Kost.

Just don’t use it as a makeup tutorial and you should be okay…

We’re not sure what to make of Make Me a Supermodel, the new Bravo reality show with Tyson Beckford and Niki Taylor. The series claims to be like American Idol for fashion models, with the audience voting each week for their favorite face.

Our gut feeling is the show will stink, but it is produced by Bravo, who can even make cooking look interesting, so who knows.

But even if the show is dull, its behind-the-scenes makeup is fascinating, because of one thing:

The show is produced by Tiger Aspect Productions, a division of IMG Media. But while IMG is making money off the series, it won’t be lending its name in support:

Despite having arguably the best modeling agency in the world, IMG isn’t offering the show’s winner a chance to share their roster with Stam, Freja, Gemma, and Tanya D. Instead, the prize comes from New York Model Management, which boasts Daisy Lowe on its boards.

Maybe IMG learned their lesson during Season Two of Top Model, when they inherited the gorgeous but not-quite-fashion-focused Yoanna House from the series.

Or maybe it’s more practical than that - half of Make Me a Supermodel’s cast is men, and IMG recently sold off their boys’ division, which could leave their eventual winner in a really lonely spot.

Five months after Jane closed, its super editor Brandon Holley has announced her next move:

She’s overseeing lifestyle content for Yahoo, including astrology, food, health, and technology.

Mediaweek reports that Brandon hasn’t commented on her new position, but the job certainly makes sense for the editor who added a lot of substantial content to the Jane website, and also brought a perspective to ELLEgirl that went beyond clothes and boys - they were the first magazine to put Mischa Barton on their cover, and the only teen magazine to have a dedicated music issue since Sassy.

It’s no secret that everyone at Fashionista loved Jane and ELLEgirl - we’ll be watching the Yahoo pages in hopes that some of the same spirit comes through.

*The Marchesa wedding

*The Gemma movie trailer

The Marc dress on an actual civilian.

The impulse to collect shopping bags from designer stores.

The second showing of Zac Posen… in Berlin!

The biggest Kate Moss bag ever.

The Amy Winehouse trend inspires a beauty class.

The way Champion wants to be American Apparel.

The End. xo.

When Harold Koda and Andrew Bolton planned their newest exhibit for The Met, they knew they wanted to bring “a noisy public together with an opportunity.” They wanted to give all of those blabby critics that stroll through the Met a forum where they can critique the works to (hopefully) open up a world-wide discussion about fashion. In short, they wanted us to blog.

And in the coming days, we’ll see if people go for it. The exhibit, blog.mode: addressing fashion, opens to the public tomorrow. You can see what Harold calls “a sampling of the range of the museum’s collection” which he hopes will “provoke commentary” for everyone who goes.

The inspiration for blog.mode was, unsurprisingly, the rise of the fashion blog (that means us!)- visitors can blog their reaction to the show on site, or from wherever.

Harold and Andrew decided that “it’s a blog moment,” inspired by the lengthy commenters on Cathy Horyn’s blog, On The Runway, and by those on The Sartorialist- “People would analyze based on contemporary aesthetics, and we thought, if they could apply those thoughts to historic dress, we could really open up the dialogue.”

We suggest checking it out for yourself, even if you don’t plan on blogging about it- a few of the stand-out pieces include one of Dior’s New Look dresses, a theater gown worn by Paul Poiret’s wife and a rare model from Chanel’s Russian Collection of 1922.

Koda and Bolton plan to turn some of the worthier comments into entries in a book about the exhibition, so load a Thesaurus onto your iPhone and start hashing out your fashion theses.

When we ran to Barneys last spring to grab a piece of Kate Moss for Topshop, we had our heart set on the floral mini-dress - but alas, when we threw it on we looked so far from Kate, we almost cried.

Then we spent the summer wistfully watching the dress walk by on sidewalks from Brooklyn to the Upper East Side; we still wanted it, but took comfort in the fact that no one looked like Kate.

We thought we’d seen the last of it, but TopShop doesn’t want you to forget that cap-sleeved dress.

In what might be our strangest case of Adventures in Copyright, the British chain has stolen Kate’s design, (which was for Topshop), changed the color palette to wintery purple, black and ivory, and offered it in another of its themed departments.

The best part is that you can still purchase a version of Kate’s, the Sunny Flower Puff Sleeve Dress, online.

But if you’d rather have the Ditsy Print Tea dress, well - we can’t tell the difference.

We loved Marchesa’s trompe l’oeil necklace dresses for fall, which inspired us to seek out a bib necklace that we could pair with tops and dresses for a similar effect.

Our favorite bib necklace comes from jewelry label Jalea Jalea, from Mexico-based designer Tatiana Sánchez.

From far away, the necklace looks like an intricate abstract design, but on closer inspection, you see that the pattern is made up of the outlined shapes of flowers, apples, cherries, and hummingbirds.

Depending on what you’re wearing it with, you can flip the reversible necklace over. The gleamy brass side stands out when paired with a darker-colored dress or shirt, whereas the black acrylic side of the necklace looks great with a white or pale ensemble.

—ALISON COOL

The name Rogan Gregory conjures two thoughts - jeans and a very green earth.

While the designer might not have launched his eponymous line intent on spearheading fashion’s green movement, he’s since become one of its strongest leaders because all of his clothes use free-trade cotton and organic dyes.

Rogan designs for two other clothing lines: Loomstate, which works with 100% organic cotton, and Edun, which exists to develop trade and create sustainability in Africa. And Rogan’s home line, Rogan Objects, consists of furniture, from tables to lamps, constructed entirely of found objects.

Rogan’s entire brand is based on green living, which is why we were so surprised to hear that he’s the latest designer for Target.

Stella McCartney had her own line of clothes at H&M two years ago - because of her organic sensibilities, she insisted on biodegradable shopping bags for her outfits. The gesture was nice, as if Stella was telling us, “Look, I didn’t forget my values!” But Stella’s known more for her vegan tendencies than an environmental inclination. Rogan for Target is like if Stella crafted a leather jacket for H&M and said, “I swear, I’ll only do it this one time.”

We’re not the most eco-conscious people; from a shopper’s perspective we jump over almost any collaboration. But if we worked as hard as Gregory to build a brand with a specific stance and newfound respect within the industry, (hello CFDA award?!), we wouldn’t want to tear it down for a shot at the mass-market.

But details on Rogan’s Target partnership have yet to be released.

Maybe it will all be organic, and made in Africa, and packaged in recycled tote bags…

The LA Times has a step-by-step guide to getting cat-eyes today.

The demonstration on using liquid eyeliner to wing-tip your lashes is brilliant… if you’re still into the trend.

The problem is, the look is everywhere, and sometimes it looks perfect - on Lily Allen and Amy Winehouse, on the Versace runway, on the Lower East Side, on the original cast recording of Sweet Charity.

The problem comes when the look suddenly smears everywhere, like runny eyeliner that’s six month’s old. It’s worn with preppy cardigans and pretty poufy pink frocks, and just like bubble skirts or skinny jeans, if girls play into the look because it’s trendy and not because it’s an extension of their style, it may look a little forced.

Of course, now that Hannah Montana has a best-selling record, the blur between what’s popular and what’s actually rock ‘n roll has yawned substantailly - maybe eyeliner is the least of anyone’s identity issues.

New campaigns are always exciting, but the latest slew of Champion ads set off a slight alarm:

It seems the sportswear company has checked out photo blogs and American Apparel ads, and adopted their high-contrast, high-skin style as their own.

Exposed in their latest campaign are several girls wearing sweatshirts as dresses (with no tights underneath), plus boys with tattoos and a coed game of what looks like touch football that seems to be on a bedspread and not on a playing field (though the two areas are basically the same, if we’re going with the American Apparel style of sex).

The thing that’s really odd about this campaign, though, is that there actually seems to be a little bit of fashion infused into the jersey knits and french terrycloth.

We’re not sure we’d wear a giant sweatshirt and flats as an outfit, but we can totally see Charlotte Ronson or even Martin Margiela thinning out the shape, adding some darts and a cool bound hemline, and sending it sailing down Shannan Click on the Fall ‘08 catwalk.

Karl Lagerfeld isn’t the only one taken by Amy Winehouse:

We hear after his Chanel Paris-Londres show, which he claimed was alight with Winehouse’s style, the Bumble & Bumble University team crafted a special hair class to teach their hair flock how to make a modern beehive.

“It was amazing,” tells a model from the class. “They made this amazing beehive using only my actual hair, which isn’t that long. I looked so cool.”

Could the beehive - or maybe we should call it a half hive - replace the traditional up ‘do at proms and formal functions? Maybe, but if it needs a whole hair class to figure it out, a flat iron and a cute headband from Goody might be a saner choice for party girls without stylists.

TopShop isn’t the only place where Kate Moss designs.

The supermodel and wannabe super mogul also put her stamp on the Longchamp Legend Bag, which launches in its second incarnation this February.

The Legend Bag has a boxy fit and a red interior hand-picked by Kate, who models a shiny scarlet version in their upcoming ad campaign.

But it looks like the bag isn’t the only thing Kate’s inspired:

Check out her outfit in the ad, including a pair of black PVC leggings that look identical to the ones she wore at this summer’s Glastonbury Festival, where she sang with Pete Doherty just before their big and rather blustery breakup in the Fall.

The big difference, of course, is that this pair isn’t spattered in drippy, trippy mud.

This year, Hugo Boss and Vivienne Westwood presented their collections at Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week in Berlin.

In January, Zac Posen will join them.

The 27-year old style star will bring his Spring ‘08 collection (which you already saw in New York) to Germany, just weeks before he presents his Fall ‘08 line in New York.

The trip might be exhausting, but it could also be a great investment:

In recent years, the Berlin art scene has exploded, bringing rock stars and fashion designers back into the city for vacations and collaborations, and paving the way for a new creative and retail community - sort of like London in the ’90s. If Zac lays down some Berlin roots now, he could attract a new group of acolytes that could help grow his brand abroad - not that Mr. Posen needs much help in the sales or PR department…

Zac is joined in Berlin by Wolfgang Joop, who is reprising his Spring ‘08 collection for the Berlin crowd - it was first shown in Paris last October.

The true test of a New York transplant is how she carries her lunch:

The newer girls haul their leftover pasta in small shopping bags from Barneys or Tiffany that they carefully save for subway rides.

Once you’ve been here a few years, you give up and start hauling yesterday’s Dim Sum in a plastic sack from Duane Reade. Eventually, of course, you surrender altogether and walk to Whole Foods during your break (where the Pomme Frite station is particularly amazing).

Still, that hasn’t stopped big stores in New York (and elsewhere) from changing up their shopping bag design, attempting to create “walking billboards” out of their shoppers - at least according to the New York Times.

They claim stores have recently started revamping their shopping bags for brighter, smarter sacks that attract more customers and also broadcast the store’s allure - but I think the true test of a store’s shopping bags is how often they get reused.

Cathy Horyn recently recounted an experience of seeing a guy on the street hauling a Jimmy Choo bag which “had cost him enough to feel proud and, I suppose, pleased with himself.”

My two Jimmy Choo shoppers got sent out with the recycling, but I do have one Louis Vuitton bag under my bed that I don’t really want to chuck, though it’s too small to carry anything except a few cannoli (my winter addiction).

Do you keep your shopping bags? Which ones? Why?

Rebecca, 25, writer

Got Her: At the Guggenheim Young Collector’s Ball, next to a sculpture by Ryan McGinness

Stalked Her: To be truthful, she was stalking us - but we’d never seen the Marc Jacobs one-shouldered folded mini-dress before, except on Kim Noorda during the runway show.

Shot Her: Because we like how she threw on such a precious dress with black tights and booties, as if it were any other cocktail frock, and it makes it look cooler.

She Says: “I waited a long time to buy this dress - it was very on sale. But I feel like I’ll be able to wear it for a long time, because even though it’s recognizable, it feels like a new classic.”

We Say: Black in business.

The new movie trailer for The Black Balloon is out, and it actually looks like a very good film.

That’s not the most surprising thing - Toni Colette usually doesn’t do films unless they’re exciting, and she’s the lead. What really interested us was how much time Gemma got during the trailer - and how big her photo is on the movie poster (which you can see when you click below).

“Gemma is really famous in Australia,” pointed out my friend from Melbourne. “Like really famous. Everyone on the street anywhere would know who she is, even though she’s only really famous in the fashion world in America.”

Ah yes, this is an Australian movie - which means we’ll have to wait a while longer before we get it in the States. Though we imagine it’ll be marketed the same way over here - after all, Gemma is so pretty that studio execs would probably put her face on absolutely anything to sell tickets!

First reports are in from Harvey Weinstein’s wedding on Saturday to Georgina Chapman, a designer for Marchesa.

The couple were married in Connecticut, with a reception catered by Cipriani and a guest list of attending starlets and fashion notables including the following:

Anna Wintour
Anne Hathaway (who wore Marchesa, good girl)
Cameron Diaz
Eva Mendes
Glenda Bailey
Helena Christiansen
Jacquetta Wheeler
Jennifer Lopez
Kerry Washington
Natalia Vodianova
Renee Zellweger

We hear that Vogue also has an exclusive to cover the event, which would mean more of their reporters may have also been on scene. Absent was Lindsay Lohan, despite the fact that she represented Marchesa with the designers at the Costume Institute Ball two years ago.

Marchesa’s co-designer Keren Craig was the maid of honor, in a dress of her own design. The bride also wore Marchesa, and now we imagine, so will a lot of other wedding-day women.

Update: Last night at the COACD Christmas party, we heard from a reader about why Saks limits designer quantities: “My brother works at the Saks in Greenwich, and he says it’s because women from Thailand and Korea would come into the store and buy, like, 20 of the same nylon Prada bag. Then they go back home and have these Tupperware-style parties, where they resell the bags to their friends for twice the price.” Hmmm…

1. Pose as stiffly as possible so the sides of the bag don’t droop - make them think you have a handbag filled with luxury goodies.

2. Hold it at the most unnatural angle possible to show off the shape of the bag and toned upper arms.

3. Sit with it in front of a wind machine.

4. Have friends (or stage hands) attach clear wire to the bottom of your bag. Pull the wire so your bag appears to magically fly to your side.

5. Give a look that says, “What bag? I’m so busy seducing you I didn’t even notice this giant suitcase!”

We know that ever since the cell phone, watches are kind of obsolete. But we think you’ll find this silver locket version too cute to pass up.

It has the look of a necklace perfect for layering with thinner strands and vintage dresses, but it’s also utilitarian, which is a pretty cool mix.

Think of it as what Flava Flav would wear if he was a sentimental girl.

And if you find yourself in a boring situation, you could pretend to play with your locket, but then sneak a peak at the time when the right moment strikes.

In any case, for only $22, you might just want to keep it around for the next time your phone battery dies.

—ALISON COOL

If you’re sick of shopping for other people and can feel a fat bonus weighing down your wallet, take yourself to either of Opening Ceremony’s sales, starting today!

Things you could walk away with from the season sale: Topshop, Alexander Wang, Boy, and more- all 30-60% off.

And at the sample sale? Same names (and probably Chloe Sevigny’s line), 75-95% off.

Both of these sales started at 11am today, so fake like your sick, switch into flats and stop by the ATM- they’re only taking cash.

Season sale- at their store, 35 Howard St.
Sample sale- 10 Greene St, basement level.

Earnest Sewn needs a PR assistant to work in their West Village office. You should have 1-2 years of PR or magazine experience, and be ready to work on January 3. You should also be awesome.

If you think you can breeze through sample pulls, showroom cleanups, calendar organizing, gift sending, and wearing cute jeans at all times, send a brief cover letter and resume to Eleanor Ylvisaker:

eleanory@earnestsewn.com

Please only apply if you’re qualified, and don’t embarrass yourself by wearing another brand of pants to the interview.

They won’t look as good on you anyway.

We’ve been seeing berets on the street a lot lately, and we have to say, we’re torn.

Some people think a beret is pure costume, no matter how cute the girl sporting it, and others see a French style of hat appropriate at any time.

We kind of think the question of whether or not to wear a beret depends on the wearer herself.

While intern Britt actually looks cool and kind of urbane in hers, we know that if we ever tried it, we’d look like Chris from Project Runway had picked out our outfit that morning - or that we were going to a children’s book convention, dressed as Madeline.

Of course, the outfit holding it up depends on the way the hat is interpreted, too. We wouldn’t suggest wearing one with a jumper and knee socks, but we would suggest jeans tucked into boots with a loose sweater and coat.

Would you wear a beret? Or is this one accessory better relegated to Halloween parties?

Sadly, Target didn’t ask Proenza Schouler to launch another diffusion line, but there’s another high-low collaboration that’s going in for seconds:

Today Lela Rose revealed that Payless renewed her shoe contract, meaning another round of Lela’s heels and flats will be on sale at the store next Fall - and they’ll also appear on Lela’s upcoming runway.

The move is great news for anyone who likes cheap shoes - we’re especially into her gold embossed flats, which are great for clomping in the rain - but it also reminds us of all the other designers who should get a second turn with their secondary lines.

Besides Proenza Schouler, we’d kill for Stella McCartney to launch another H&M range, and if Luella Bartley could come back to Target, we would absolutely freak.

Of course, once Gareth Pugh ties the knot with TopShop, we’ll have something new to get us in a queue…

Susan, fashion director of Glam.com, and Katherine, assistant curator at the Guggenheim.

Got Them: At the museum’s artist ball, sponsored by Chloe.

Stalked Them: Because this is the modern party uniform - short a-line dress, black tights, and very little skin.

Shot Them: Well, how could we not shoot a girl in Chloe?!

Susan Says: “The dress is made from real feathers, yes, but it’s pretty vintage. My mom’s best friend found it in her closet and gave it to me. I’m surprised it hasn’t fallen apart!”

Katherine Says: “My Chloe dress is actually supposed to be a little asymmetrical, but it’s too big on me, so it’s hanging as a t-shirt dress instead. I was supposed to get it altered, but I didn’t have time because I was too busy trying to sell art!”

We Say: The night time is the right time… to be with the clothes you love.

I’m not one of those girls who’s dreamed of her wedding since kindergarten. Until recently, I never thought I’d get married at all, but now that it’s happening, I have to actually answer questions like, “What’s your theme going to be?” and “Will you be a June bride?”

Of course, the question I get most often is, “What’s your dress going to look like?”

There is really only one kind of wedding dress- long, often poufy, usually strapless, and always white. But, I don’t want to wear a white wedding dress (Mom, I hope you’re not reading this.)

When I tell people that I don’t know what color I’ll wear, they tell me that I’m sure to regret it- the wedding dress is, after all, one of the most significant fashion choices you can make.

But I don’t understand how we all concluded that white is the only option, which is a relatively new concept. Before Queen Victoria wore it to her own wedding (after which everyone followed suit), it was just another option like lavender or blue. Then somewhere along the line, it came to symbolize purity, and don’t even get me started on how annoyed that makes me.

It’s not that I’m purposefully not wearing white- I just don’t think it’s the most flattering color in the world. Not to mention that I’ve never cared for looking like everyone else.

Besides, I don’t want to be someone I’m not on the day on which I should be most like myself (I never wear all white.) If it’s really about symbolism, wouldn’t it make better sense to wear green, the color of spring and new beginnings?

Maybe if I’d been one of those little girls with a Wedding Barbie, I wouldn’t be able to think of a wedding without the white dress. But since I wasn’t, I don’t see myself budging on this one. Tradition be damned, I’ll wear whatever I please.

“The long line of partygoers at the elevator banks had quite a few Rockefeller Center tourists gawking in disbelief (Welcome to New York! Do you like my codpiece disguised as a snake?)” - WWD, describing Marc Jacobs’ Christmas party

Dear womens’ wear designers:

We have an urgent plea.

It’s getting colder, and those of us without town cars are freezing whenever we walk to the subways, the parking lots, or the bus stops.

Your clothes are not helping.

The open-toe-and-tights trend looks so chic, and hurts like hell in the wind. The beaded a-line dresses give incredible holiday shimmer, but their stones freeze cold against our skin. Cropped motorcycle jackets are not very warm, even with those amazing scrunched cashmere gloves that go with them.

But you know what’s really warm? Flannel lined jeans.

We wore them across our prep school campus in 10 degree weather, and survived. We crashed in them during ski breaks. We slept in them while camping.

It would be so amazing to wear them to work with a cute blazer and heels. But right now, the only pair come from L.L. Bean, and look like they were cut especially for uncool moms.

Womens’ wear designers, please study these jeans and then make them in a chicer cut - a lower waist, a slimmer leg, a boxy flare, something.

Like Luella Bartley’s Gisele bag, a hot pair of flannel lined jeans could be your best selling item ever.

Please, get going - we’re freezing over here in our little shrunken jackets from Miu Miu!

While some Top Model junkies debate whether the competition was rigged in favor of winner Saleisha Stowers, the newest reality winner has arrived in New York.

We hear Ms. Saleisha visited the Elite offices in Manhattan for the first time yesterday, though she wasn’t sent out on any go-sees because she was too busy getting interviewed by the press (funny, we never got to speak with her!).

The general consensus seems to be that she’s a very cute girl - but is that enough to actually book jobs?

Probably not, though we can totally see her guest-starring on a children’s sitcom like Hannah Montana - if anything, Saleisha looks like a really adorable, accessible pop star from Nickelodeon… in heels.

The new slew of Ben Sherman ads, shot by photo blogger Merlin Bronques and styled by Fashionista contributor Josh Madden, are finally getting released.

Our favorite shot, of a crowd-surfing cheerleader, is above. The rest of the shots, of scenester kids, are below.

If you’re a soft-spoken person with a penchant for modern jewelry, we may have found your next favorite accessory.

This hand-crafted sterling silver ring from Taipei-based Etsy designer Analogue Aesthetics ($105) is not only a cool, minimalist piece of jewelry, it’s also a working microphone!

It has a little input on the side, so you can quickly plug in to a nearby speaker and loudly put in your two cents whenever the occasion demands.

We think this could be the perfect gift for Justin Timberlake or Hannah Montana, so they could switch into pop star mode at any moment. But since we don’t know either of them personally, we’ll stick to pretending we’re supermarket announcers while in the office.

—ALISON COOL

“Olivier Theyskens is the Johhny Depp of fashion.” - Assistant Editor Natalie, in an office discussion about male designers.

Caitlin, 17, Irregular Choice sales clerk

Spotted Her: At the opening of the new Irregular Choice shoe store on Lafayette.

Stalked Her: The swishy yellow dress caught our eye. And then we noticed the bright orange nails.

Shot Her: The fitted vest is a clever way of cinching her pleated dress- much more original than a hum-drum wide belt.

She Says: “The dress is from H&M. I just moved to New York, and my friends helped me pick out my outfit. They’re both first-years at Parsons.”

We Say: Buzz Buzz.

—ALISON COOL

[Editor’s Note: Faran was outvoted 2/1 on this one.]

It’s that time of year again- beauty companies are repackaging their shades into giftable palettes, big and gigantic, so they can charge you $65 for eight shades of makeup you would never use all at once anyway.

In theory, makeup palettes are a great idea. They keep all your makeup in one place, and they make your dressing table look really cute.

But, practically speaking, they’re incredibly difficult.

We like to keep most of what we’re wearing with us through the day, in case we want to touch up. But since palettes are always bigger than necessary, we end up carrying around dead weight just to use that one eye shadow out of the selection of sixteen. It’s so much smarter to buy individual shades to keep in a reusable organizer instead.

We’ve interned at a couple magazines that actually have a ban on showcasing palettes, unless they have all new (and usable) colors, which they never do. We think makeup companies would do a lot better with customers and press to just get rid of palettes entirely, or to at least make the little pans removable so you can fit them with what you actually want (although that still wouldn’t fix the problem of the case itself taking up precious real estate in our handbags.)

Beauty companies, we ask you- please, stop the palettes.

Confession: We’ve only seen about half the movies nominated for Golden Globes this year.

But we’re still excited for the ceremony, because it should boast some incredible fashion. In particular, two of our favorite red carpet cuties, Keira Knightley and Marion Cotillard, will be walking the line in January, and their outfits will be hotly anticipated by celebrity weeklies and fashion newspaper pages everywhere.

We should note that both Knightley and Cotillard have strong ties to Chanel - Keira is the face of their perfume, Chanel Mademoiselle, while Cotillard’s incredible movie, La Vie En Rose, had its American premiere thanks to sponsorship by the fashion house. But while Keira doesn’t seem contractually obligated to wear Chanel in public - she’s sported Rodarte to recent premieres - Marion is all Chanel, all the time.

Will they both sport Karl’s gowns on the red carpet?

Or will Keira commission Kate and Laura Mulleavy to make her something else?

Incidentally: We didn’t actually believe that Rodarte could work in real life until we saw Keira wear their gray mist dress, at left, to a premiere…

We’re thrilled that Henry Holland will show again at London Fashion Week, and now we hear that TopShop will help him out:

Our favorite mega-store will sponsor the New Generation initiative (again), giving financial assistance to Henry, plus Christopher Kane, Duro Olowu, Erdem, Louise Goldin, Marios Schwab, Nicholas Kirkwood, Poltuck and Walsh, and Todd Lynn, as they mount their latest collections next February.

Seeing new designers is one of the most exciting parts of London Fashion Week, but we can’t help but giggle over the TopShop / Henry Holland payment, since the store did knock off Henry’s tees last year!

Oh well. As long as there’s money and fun involved… meanwhile, TopShop and New Gen will also help Krystof Strozyna debut his new line at FashionEast, the group show for emerging labels in London. Strozyna graduated from Central St. Martin’s just ten months ago, so of course everyone is chomping to see whether their youth fashion fetish will pay off.

Stay tuned, and PS:

The supermodel t-shirts are now (finally) on Henry’s site.

We’ve been wearing strapless American Apparel leotards under summer skirts for years. They’ve kind of been our little secret, like pulling a tube dress out of a magic closet.

And when we saw them in H&M last week, we knew our smooth move was officially a full-on trend.

But we’re not seeing them paired with tasteful pieces, like high-wasted skirts or paper-bag shorts. We’re seeing them with huge fur coats, spangled capelets and, most importantly, without any pants.

Some people think wearing a leotard a la Sienna is cute in a leggy kind of way. And even though you seem on display, they ensure that everything stays in its place.

We still think an uncovered leotard makes it look like you’re about to bust a move to Tchaikovsky’s Nutcracker Suite at any second. But maybe we’re just not playful enough?

Would you wear a leotard? Or is this a look better left to pre-teen dance recitals?

—ALISON COOL

The explosion of pyramid studs and chunky chains over the past few years may have some people surprised, but not Anna Sheffield.

The sculptor-turned-designer runs the jewelry label Bing Bang, whose textured metal pieces have been seen on the runways for Marc Jacobs, Phillip Lim, and Lutz + Patmos.

In the process, her home-hewed style of mixing metals, jagging edges, and studding even the most expensive of jewels to look like motorcycle dowries has become something of an industry standard - how many cleeted bags got sacked on the Burberry and Balenciaga catwalk for Fall?

Now Anna’s moved into making her own handbags, as seen on Claudia Schiffer, and designing a new collection for Fall ‘08. This year, she was nominated for the CFDA Swarovski Award for Accessories. Next year, maybe she’ll win an Oscar.

Okay, maybe not - but she’ll probably gain a good group of girls, sick of their status bags but still needing something stamped by the fashion packs as “approved.” Plus, she admits in her interview that she used to mangle her Barbies - a style soul mate, indeed.

Staring at Zac Posen’s latest Pre-Fall collection, we saw a sort of trend with folding sheets of fabric down the front of a dress. It starts with Marc Jacobs’ one-shouldered folded mini-dress, then continues to Proenza Schouler’s pleated shift dress, and simmers with Zac, where he’s taken folded pink fabric and wound it into a pleated bow - a subversive take on the pink satin sashes that usually go around a party dress waist.

Kate moss poses for V Magazine at Nick Knight’s Show Studio… guess that means she won’t be with her boyfriend, Jamie Hince, at the Chloe / Guggenheim ball tonight.

10. Will Christian say “fierce” more times than Kevin says “I’m straight”?

9. When Steven said the wedding dress was “death on a stick,” did he know that’s how we felt about weddings in general?

8. Did you notice how Sweet Pea’s button got picked last? Is she really always the last for everything?!

7. Will they let Jack come back and play again next season?!

6. Ricky, why are you trying on your client’s heels? Come on now…

5. How screwed is Steven? Sooo screwed.

4. How much do we love Chris? Sooo much.

3. How hot is Patrick Robinson? Well, you can decide that on your own.

2. No really, Tim Gunn, what kinds of decisions have you made at 3 am?

1. Did Michael Kors really just tell America that he loves beading? Does that mean “Mother of the Bride” is icky but actual bride is perfect?

Oh dear.

We all know if you want a Birkin or one of the Balenciaga blazers, you’ll have to sign a waiting list.

But we recently discovered that even some un-coveted items also have major restrictions.

Yesterday, a lot of you concurred that buying an expensive piece of luggage, like this Prada duffel bag, is stupid (and kind of silly.) And yet, you can see on Saks that its purchase is restricted to “no more than three units per customer every 30 days” due to popular demand. A quick search to see what other items are restricted reveals dozens of pages filled with similarly disgusting merchandise.

So who’s buying all this stuff, and in droves? We know there are more logo-driven shopping cultures out there, but we somehow doubt that they’re trolling Saks.com for slightly cheaper Gucci Moccasins.

And if you’re thinking people overseas buy Gucci, then turn around and sell it on Ebay, we’re not sure this theory holds water. We checked a few items on international eBay sites, and they either weren’t sold from another country, or they were going for much, much cheaper than retail.

Why the Prada embargo?

Reports are streaming from London that a large pack of models are seeking to join the British chapter of Actor’s Equity, the union that represents theater performers.

According to The Independent, the group includes some very famous models, and aims to set easier working conditions for the girls, who fear if they speak up to their agencies, they’ll get dropped.

If the move works, it could revolutionize the inner-workings of the industry, especially during Fashion Week, when models often work for days on end with little food or sleep (for that matter, so do fashion journalists, but that’s another issue).

Joining Equity could also offer the girls protection if they’re forced out of jobs because they’ve gained weight, something many models privately say is a huge fear in their lives.

Still, if some models unionize and others don’t, there’s a big chance those models in Equity will simply get less (or no) work, in favor of girls without representation and rules on when and how they can work. For this to be effective, nearly every working model would have to join, and certainly all the in-demand ones.

Then again, the fashion and beauty industries could simply promise to treat their girls better, though some would argue that for the money the top models are making, they should just be quiet and look pretty.

Oh yes, and who do you think will win Top Model tonight? Jenna who looks like Sasha, Salesha who looks like a pop star, or Chantal, who’s really, really blonde? We think Salesha because they’ve given her the nicest edit… and because she went to Tyra’s summer camp.

Things that could go wrong while wearing red lipstick:

* You might want to kiss a boy - too bad!

* You might forget to re-apply post holiday cocktail.

* You might have to answer to Marilyn Monroe all night (yes, this happened once).

However, you will feel insanely glamorous, or at least we do. The shade in our vintage caboodle is MAC’s Ruby Woo. It’s so matte it’s almost powdery which is perfect if you tend to forget about your make-up once it’s on your face.

When we put it on at night, usually with something casual and neutral (because, well, we can’t pull off neon outfits with flaming red lips), we feel kind of transformed and very confident.

But best thing about the retro look might be the interesting people we meet. Maybe they like looking at cartoonish lips move, but we like to think it makes us mysterious, or at least different from every other girl at the party.

Do you wear red lipstick? What’s your favorite shade?

Everybody is freaking out about the economy now. If they’re not talking about interest rates or the looming recession, they’re pointing to the fact that the holiday shopping season has been exceptionally slow.

But since here at Fashionista we always try to think in terms of sales (as in, cheaper shopping, not retail stats,) something has just dawned on us:

If holiday shopping has really been as lame as the reports of been claiming, then where will all the holiday merchandise end up? The only logical response – post-holiday sales!

Do you think this Proenza dress could go for under $1,500? Could this Chloe bag be ours for under $500?

For the first time in our lives, we can’t wait until January.

—ALISON COOL

We’ve always had fantasies of making our own clothes. We could whip up little dresses in time for a party and finally have the perfect pair of jeans, all while claiming to people that we only wear couture.

But we can barely handle sewing lost buttons onto our coat without filling up with fear and dread. So, we’re seeking professional help – from Brooklyn boutique Flirt’s Home Ec sewing classes (held at 303 3rd Avenue between Carroll and 1st Street.)

They’ll teach you embroidery, block printing, appliqué, and there’s even a three-session workshop on how to make a skirt. The classes are very reasonably priced – about $40 -$60 per session – and you’re sure to save money on having your clothes repaired and tailored.

The class comes just in time for tonight’s Project Runway, but if you don’t think you’ll ever be able to sew a dress out of corn husks, maybe you’ll get enough sewing skills to make finger puppets of the Harry Potter characters.

—ALISON COOL

We’re all giggly over Style.com’s new video of Irina Lazareanu, for the following reasons:

*She manages to talk for three minutes straight and say some really profound things, while making absolutely no sense.

*She looks the same before having her makeup done as after, because she’s just that gorgeous.

*She introduces us to “Harper,” who is actually “Harper Simon,” who is actually “The son of Paul Simon,” whom we guess is a substitute for the other son-of-rock-star Sean Lennon.

*She takes us to a party that happened three months ago.

*She shows us a little of her Mercer Street apartment, which is so big and so lovely (grrr).

*She wears little pink antennae on her head. Which just seals the whole thing for us.

Enjoy!

Models.com loves Gemma as much as we do!

After about a bazillion weeks of leading their Top 50 Models, Gemma is on her way to the MDC Icons list, joining other top beauties such as Kate, Daria and Gisele.

Gemma’s had a remarkable past five years- we’ve seen her in so many campaigns and editorials that we can spot her on the street even when she’s wearing a hat and huge sunglasses. But at 20 years old, is she really ready to be an icon?

The turnover of models is so fast now that they sometimes disappear after just a season. And, apparently, girls unable to order a drink can rank on a list topped by Kate Moss and Carolyn Murphy.

As much as we love Gemma, especially as of late, we can’t help but take this move as a sign of the modeling industry’s habit of going through models like Kleenex. And anyway, isn’t Gemma a movie star now?

We’re willing to admit that we spend a long time getting dressed every morning, even if we’re just on our way to the store.

We try on multiple tops, change our shoes a few times, and decide to wear a dress instead before we finally put on our coat and walk out the door.

You’d think with all the time and effort we devote to picking out our outfit, we’d be pretty attentive to details. In general, we do OK, but there is one major and recurring issue:

Socks.

For us, socks fall into the category of “things that shouldn’t cost a lot.” Which means that 90% of our socks were purchased by our mom and given to us in holidays past.

They’re cute, but many times underneath our carefully-chosen jeans and ankle boots we’re wearing mismatched novelty pairs – like one black sushi-patterned sock and one pink sock dotted with cheerful cocktails. This makes us feel stupid.

That’s why we’re so excited about the creation of purposefully mismatched socks (but that kind of perfectly match.) They’re cute and knowing, and they even come in different sizes.

And at $16, we won’t sit around thinking about all the other clothes we could have bought if we just waited for our mom to buy us reindeer booties.

—ALISON COOL

When we saw Bergdorf Goodman fashion director Roopal Patel in YSL’s splatter paint dress, we were so excited.

The dress is age appropriate for almost everyone. The shape flatters almost every body type. The pattern is fresh and exciting without being overbearing. In short, the whole thing was cool.

So cool, in fact, that the outfit’s already happened.

Intern Britt pointed out that in June, Demi Moore wore the YSL splatter paint dress in Los Angeles, when Stefano Pilati paid a visit to the Hollywood Hills to present his latest resort collection.

We love the way both women wear the dress, because it’s an amazing dress, but who wears it better?

(Actually, better question - if we bought a white shift at H&M, and some good acrylic paint at Lee Art Supplies, could we make the same one?)

Being on a fast fashion diet frees up time, and money, to do productive things like decorate.

Pillows have never really been high on our list of priorities, the pile of fluffy white ones on our bed seemed sufficient.

But we did promise our mom (after she bought us a new duvet cover almost a year ago) that we’d buy at least one or two decorative pillows to make our room look “put together”.

So, we might have to get these “‘Eighties Eye Pillows” from Urban Outfitters.

They’re kind of awesome and would make us giggle every night when we crawl home exhausted from work, or play.

Plus, they remind us of Warhol’s portraits of Diane Von Furstenberg, and who better to watch over our closets?

For those who love obscure British industry gossip, listen up:

We hear Alistair Allen has taken over the Dazed and Confused website.

Allen is the scenester photographer whose Dirty Dirty Dancing website helped make BoomBox famous, and who chronicled the Henry/ Gareth/ Agyness circus in London.

So far, that hasn’t upped the rave coverage on Dazed Digital, but the partnership is apparently still new.

While you’re waiting for snapshots of Kelly Osbourne or Lily Allen, or various assistant designers at Vivienne Westwood posing their socks off, check out their latest feature on designer Louise Golden, who was one of our favorites during London Fashion Week.

You can also peruse the Burberry Beat Party photos on Alastair’s website, and wonder why exactly the MisShapes baby Jackson Pollis was bopping around with Christopher Bailey.

The new Bravo show Make Me a Supermodel looks rather boring - except for one thing.

It’s Niki Taylor, former Cover Girl (and Sports Illustrated cover girl) who’s hosting the show - after about ten years on vacation.

But Niki’s not the only ’90s supermodel who’s got a reality gig. Heidi Klum’s fame achieved a new level when she took on Project Runway, and now Veronica Webb is Tim Gunn’s accomplice on his Guide to Style. Iman is also a Project Runway host, in Canada, and Elizabeth Hurley has the judging duties in London. Meanwhile, Rachel Hunter hosted Make Me a Supermodel in the UK and a very silly show called Style Me in the US.

Then of course there’s Tyra, who was perhaps the catalyst for the model-hostess trend in the first place. Her incredibly successful TV show turned her (back) into a star, and made her a lucrative production company in the process.

But maybe reality-models go deeper than Tyra, and into something about the very nature of mannequins. If their job has always been to heighten life, making things seem almost normal and attainable but also not really, then reality TV is their perfect place, a surreal space where you understand what’s happening, but it could never actually happen to you.

Unless, of course, you think The Hills is real.

It looks like Clinique is trying to wipe the dust from its fragrance, Happy, just in time for the holidays.

They’re targeting a younger market, and they’re doing it rather quickly.

First we saw that Happy was the virtual give-away of the day on Facebook. Then we saw that you can have a custom bottle made with any picture you upload onto Clinique’s website. Now we hear that The Hills’ darling Whitney Port will be hanging out at NYC’s Bloomingdale’s this Friday in honor of Clinique’s Happy Day (yes, they’ve given it a day.)

Since the only person we’ve known to wear Happy is our mother, we’re not sure that this marketing ploy will work. But if the Clinique people can get the bottle a lengthy spot on Blair Waldorf’s dressing table, that’s another story…

— Wideleg trouser jeans make a comeback
As does the nylon bomber jacket.
Go short with cuffs and drawstrings,
Paperbag or bermuda shorts. —

It’s not a random piece of modern poetry - it’s the beginning of the DKNY Jeans look book, which heralds their Spring ‘08 collection.

We’re pretty sure wide leg trouser jeans made their comeback at least a year ago, but maybe not everyone’s as obsessed with the denim movements of Kate Moss as we are.

We do love the grey nylon anorak - which their poem assures us is “for rain or shine.” And the t-shirts look cute and comfortable. But we’re also a bit confused with the “paper bag shorts” - shorts are really hard to wear already, so maybe comparing them to Whole Foods disposables isn’t the way to go.

But we’re always grateful for DKNY’s Lookbook Poetry - maybe, like Rodnik, they’ll start a rock band.

Most ten-year-olds we’ve seen seem happy to run around in some combination of loose striped tops, sweat pants, plastic jewelry and baseball caps.

But apparently, at least some people feel that even kids need to up the ante on their personal style.

Footballer’s wife, U.K.-girl-about-town, and occasional model Coleen McLoughlin wrote a series of books called “Coleen Style Queen,” which will offer fashion and make-up advice for the pre-pre-teen set. Expect to see the first two editions this spring. (And if you’re sitting there thinking, “Who?”, keep in mind that footballer’s wives are style icons in the UK - in fact, Henry Holland’s first t-shirt was for Ms. McLoughlin.)

We can’t imagine what a book of style tips for fourth-graders should consist of - appropriate attire for recess? When and where hair clips are acceptable? The etiquette of friendship bracelets?

Young girls are already bombarded with the message that they should obsess over their appearance, watch their weight, and apply sparkly lip gloss whenever possible.

So do they really need to pay attention to fashion trends, too? Or do we desperately need another generation of Britneys?

—ALISON COOL

We didn’t come up with FakesAreNeverinFashion.com, but we wish we did. The website is part of Bazaar Elite.com - and it’s the most fun one can have while fighting fashion crimes.

Their “Shop” section teaches you how to spot a fake, while their “Learn” section lets you report them. It also shares video clips and articles about undercover investigations into the mafia-like world of counterfeiting.

On the “We’re T’d Off” page, anyone can submit their designs for an anti-faux statement tee. The winner’s shirt will be mass produced and published in an issue of Harper’s Bazaar. And if you send us one, we promise to wear it the next time we walk down Canal St.

Our favorite part is their Fake to Fabulous sweepstakes. If you do have a faux-Vuitton hidden in the back of your closet, you can send it to the magazine’s headquarters and they’ll enter you into a $1000 shopping spree - and if you do your shopping homework, you can get a couple of real designer handbags for that much money.

Over the past few years, holiday parties celebrating all that is hideous, sequined, and Christmas-themed have cropped up all over the country. And the dress code is sweaters – the uglier the better.

But if you want to stand out in a sea of tacky knitwear and take home the ugliest sweater prize, (oh yes, there’s a prize,) you’ll have to dig a lot deeper than a plain old Santa sweatshirt - or the reindeer knits worn by Colin Firth in Bridget Jones.

This type of shopping calls for Ebay. Our favorite knitted uglies include a navy acrylic number featuring hugging reindeers wrapped in an attached faux scarf, and a tomato red, zip-up turtleneck cardigan depicting a family of caroling penguins.

You can always tone down your crazy Christmas shirt with tight black leggings and high-heeled boots, especially if dressing up for parties comes second in your book to flirting.

But of course, if you’re too cool to really participate in the Ugliest Christmas Sweater Party, you can always show up in Chanel’s adorable Penguin take.

We were talking with a friend recently about travelling home for the holidays, and the inevitable subject of packing came up.

She said that packing would be so much easier this year since she just bought a new Prada duffel bag… for $1,285. There was a pause in the conversation- we’ve been using the same rolling Eddie Bauer we bought at Target for several years (under $50.)

We were confused- does luggage matter? We think of it as a flexible box to keep your stuff in when you’re travelling, and as long as it rolls and stays closed, it’s good.

Our friend said that it ruins it for her when she puts her carefully selected wardrobe into a cheap bag, but we kind of think that dropping over $1,000 on a nylon bag would ruin our wardrobe. And it’s not just her- even Lisa Armstrong of the London Times just wrote about designing her own valise through Louis Vuitton, saying that she’s “fantasized” about the perfect piece of weekend luggage.

Do you spend a lot of money to accessorize for the check-in line at JFK? Or is this one of those minor purchases, like thermals or ponytail holders?

Thanks to our baby Greg for this ridiculous video, where the fire alarm at Harper’s Bazaar explodes in the middle of their Christmas concert - done by Stevie Wonder.

Oddly, our first thoughts about this whole event zoom to Stevie Wonder’s wife, Kai Milla, who’s been trying with marginal success to launch a clothing empire in recent years. We expect now that Stevie’s done the honors at a Bazaar party, Ms. Milla will be duly featured in a few fashion spreads.

Meanwhile, just in case there’s any confusion as to what, exactly, is happening, a lovely shrill male voice rings out from the crowd:

“Oh no! It’s a fiiiiiiiiire!”

But if you think the Bazaar party was flaming, you should see this guy’s Judy Garland impression.

Seriously.

In the past few months, there’s been great debate about the mini.

Many style gurus have asserted it shouldn’t be worn after 30.

Several - including Stacy London - have suggested it should actually fade from wardrobes after age 28.

And yet, this weekend Gwyneth Paltrow was photographed in a bitty plaid tartan, looking amazing at the age of 35.

Granted, a lot of women don’t have Gwyneth’s movie star figure, and yet, a lot of women in their mid ’30s do have amazing, gym-addicted bodies.

Should they be restricted to pencil skirts and a-lines because of some style experts?

We don’t believe so, but we’re also not the experts on dressing one’s age, since nobody who works at Fashionista is over 26.

But here’s what we do know - we need this outfit that Gwyneth is wearing. And we need it now.

WhoWhatWear Daily - can you help us?

Today’s Streetwalker reminded us of a pressing question we’ve never managed to ask:

Would you wear ankle booties?

On the one hand, they’re incredibly impractical and sort of ridiculous - what good is disguising your ankles if you’re doing it with a massive cuff of leather or suede? They look almost medieval in their design, and they’re also not that comfortable for stomping.

On the other hand, they can look incredibly chic - especially since the medieval thing is actually a big influence on this season, especially if Burberry and Balenciaga are any indication.

We’ve been gifted a very steady pair of gray heeled ankle booties -

But can we actually wear them?

Or is this one trend that screams “trying”?

Vans has long been known for their fashion collaborations, including sneakers with Marc Jacobs, Trovata, Loomstate, and Luella Bartley.

Now the skater sneaker company is launching a series for Fall 2008 that draws attention to something different:

Women in art.

We hear Vans will launch a small and limited-edition collection of sneakers designed by female artists and illustrators, to be released next September.

If you can wait that long, you could score these incredible designs by New York artist Keren Richter.

If not, well -

A pair of plain white canvas Vans, some Sharpie paint pens, and a good Led Zepplin album, and you could do something gorgeous on your own.

An official job posting - please don’t apply if you’re not located in New York and ready to work very hard and very well.

“The Peter Som press office is currently looking for a PR Assistant. This is a newly created position and would entail helping with all the day to day responsibilities of running the press office including: sample trafficking and liaising with all the magazines, hiring and managing all interns, managing credits and credit reports, assistance with the fashion show and so on. They are looking for someone who preferably has some fashion experience, is a go-getter with a strong work ethic, is highly organized and detail oriented and has a keen interest in working in the fashion industry.

Resumes and a brief cover letter can be sent to press@petersom.com.”

Get the job and then assign us a really good seat in the Tents, okay?

Style.com junkies may notice a new category called Pre-Fall buzzing up in the fashion scene.

The label’s pretty self explanatory - a shipment of clothes that hits stores before Fall’s big load.

But the idea of a Pre-Fall show is a pretty new phenomenon, and one that does take a bit of exploring, so last night at the Michael Kors soiree, we asked Vogue’s Valerie Boster to illuminate us. Here’s what she said:

“We’re used to thinking of the fashion calendar as halved - there’s Fall/Winter, and then there’s Spring/Summer. But in the past two or three years, shoppers have been able to see what’s on the runways as soon as it debuts, thanks to the Internet. By the time a Spring ‘08 dress hits stores, you’ll already recognize it from the runway and maybe even from a few celebrities. Some shoppers love this, but others are impatient - they’ve already moved onto what’s next. A Pre-Fall or a Resort collection can placate that sense in shoppers that they need something new.

Also, since Pre-Fall and Resort are all about the shoppers, the lines are generally more accessible. They’re more about what women can wear, not about pushing forward an idea or a silhouette. They’re easier for most people to wear.”

In fact, the Zac Posen Pre-Fall dress at left looks very easy for us to wear - we’ll be hunting it down at Barneys ASAP.

Brie Cross, 26, publicist at Bismarck Phillips Communications

Got Her: Outside our lunch mecca, Whole Foods Bowery

Stalked Her: Because it’s okay to wear just one color - as long as you play with proportion.

Shot Her: We have a weakness for military jackets. And gray tights. And big scarfs. Don’t you?

She Says: The skirt is by Jenni Kayne, the Californian designer. And the shoes are by Maloles. But this jacket, true story, I found it at H&M and I had to fight for it!

We Say: Paint it black.

“There’s like a Crillon Ball and they like need help… but I can’t go.” - Lauren Conrad, describing her plight on the season finale of The Hills

Next up on Style.com - a video of Cory Kennedy and Jeremy Scott from Los Angeles. We’re thrilled for sunlight and smeared eyeliner.

Henry Holland has a blog; Hedi Slimane has a blog; W Magazine has a blog.

Now Daphne Guinness, the couture collector and stylist (oh yes, and millionaire beer heiress) has a blog, too.

This one’s harbored at Starworks, the fashion and entertainment firm that secured Sienna Miller’s clothing deal and brokered Angelina Jolie into a St. John contract.

In her blog, Daphne writes about her latest obsessions, her daily adventures, and sometimes the front-row view from a fashion show or style party.

Frankly, we’re a little addicted - especially since the Starworks blog also has news from campaign shoots (Karolina Kurkova for Dell? Oh my…) and various fun instances of “I know famous people and you don’t, here are my cool candid photos of them.”

Of course, this is what every entertainment blog should ultimately try and show… sigh.

Meanwhile, we’re hoping Daphne Guinness eventually turns her digital camera on her own couture collection.

One of our peeves is a fashion ad with no clothes, and the latest culprit is Joe’s Jeans.

Their posters have papered Canal Street to the West Village, but is there a single pair of pants? No. Instead it’s just a half-naked model scaling a wall.

The ads don’t exactly make us want to buy a pair of jeans for ourselves - but we do want to buy some for the model, so at least she’ll cover up.

We’re also a little mystified by the strategy used in this ad -

Shouldn’t you walk away from a campaign with at least a vague idea of the product it’s pitching?

Not that we’re against huge photos of undressed girls… they’re just a little boring…

“All of my friends are fashion victims. You can’t hope to succeed in New York unless you are a fashion victim.” — Terence Koh, in an interview for The Moment.

WWD reports that Coty, the beauty monolith known best for celebrity fragrances, is buying a color cosmetics manufacturer as part of a long-term business plan to more than triple its profits.

Coty is number one in the mass-market perfume business, credited with starting the celebrity fragrance boom in America. We can thank Coty for scents such as NY Chic (Olsen Twins,) Lovely (SJP,) Intimately (David and Posh Beckham,) Shania Starlight (Shania Twain) and L (Gwen Stefani.)

And since it’s a bit of a one-trick pony (they sign celebrities to a cute bottle, fill it with Kool-Aid and sell it in department stores), we’re betting this means we’ll see more of the same approach, except with actual makeup.

Are you ready for a Carrie Underwood lip gloss?

How about some eyeshadow from Jessica Biel?

We’re a little worried by this video of Lou Doillion , even though she comes across as incredibly intelligent, very cool, and extremely deliberate in her style.

The scary part is the top hat, and the fact that she claims “The Artful Doger is my ultimate style icon and I always strive to look like that… the blazer I’m wearing can also perfectly fit my six-year-old son… I find nothing more erotic than when a woman bears her wrists.”

The film was made to promote Lou’s new line with Lee Cooper denim, which (of course) isn’t available in America yet.

Of course, those top hats are at most costume stores - and so if you’re thinking of going for the magician look that Lou’s got happening, it shouldn’t be too hard.

We’re bringing it up as a classic example of what a “style icon” can pull off, that the rest of us really can’t. Much like Kate Moss in Ugg boots and underwear, sometimes the truly, truly, truly outrageous flairs of the rich, famous, and beautiful are a one-shot deal.

Of course, with Phantasmagoria and two other Alice in Wonderland movies debuting soon, maybe this is just the beginning of a new hat trick (though our hopes say no).

Those wishing they could dress more like an anime character might soon get some encouragement:

Kid Robot is launching a new line of swim wear to be available next year.

The suits follow Kid Robot’s swift-selling line of printed hoodies, which are so popular they dot the Soho streets like pink streaks on a Pollock painting. They’ve also been severely knocked off by H&M and Forever 21, though their patterns are less dynamic.

The swim wear will be available in the Kid Robot store, and we’ll post photos of it as soon as we have it.

Meanwhile, just imagine some trippy cartoon prints and a pool…

One of our big Top Model peeves is that nearly all the girls are too old to begin a modeling career. Right now, most of the top girls are 19 and 20, and the ones that are 25-30 (Irina, Raquel, Angela, Missy) have been working for a long time. Even Agyness, 24, has been stomping in England since early 2000, although her big pickup didn’t come for two years.

But if Tyra’s girls are too old, are the V Model finalists a bit too young?

We realize that Gemma and Stam started working around age 15, but two of the five V finalists - who win a contract with Supreme and a spread on the magazine’s website - are in junior high, with Tennessee native Ashley Hanks (left) clocking in at thirteen years old.

She looks incredible, as do all the other girls, and we’re grateful to V for keeping their search realistically focused on girls who can really be models.

But there’s one problem:

If Ashley (or 14-year-old Dara, or 15-year-old Amanda) wins the Supreme contract, they won’t be able to participate in Fashion Week - at least not according to the CFDA, who ruled last year that girls under 16 can’t walk.

Remember the band of outlaws that haunted London’s most fashionable streets this fall? Elle UK is reporting that they’ve finally been caught.

Apparently, the group of bandits included seven men, ages 19-43. We’re kind of surprised there weren’t any women involved, since we secretly wish we could sneak into all the best stores after hours.

But we want to know, are these guys rocking their designer outfits to London’s hippest parties? Because we would have noticed if huge quantities of clothes and accessories from Sonia Rykiel, Luella, Marc etc. started popping up on eBay.

If the crime spree is really over, designers can head into fall Fashion Week breathing a bit easier… meanwhile, we can imagine this story getting optioned for a movie, sponsored by the designers involved.

Things fashion people frequently use in competition:

*Whose dress size is smaller.

*Whose dinner invitation is more exclusive.

*Whose runway seat is closer.

*Whose swag has the greatest resale value.

*Who knew that guy was gay first.

But now there’s another better-than-you prize to add to the pile, and it’s this:

Whose eco-friendly bag is the most green.

Today the Times UK reports “forget designer handbags - the eco rating of your handbag says more about you now.”

But we’re going to go ahead and say “no thank you” on this one.

After all, if you’ve started shopping with a big permanent tote, instead of the plastic or paper sacks given endlessly to girls at the supermarket, at Saks, or at Sephora, you’re already doing wonders for the planet by reducing the amount of waste that goes into the world.

And although it’s great to buy organic cotton, or recycled aluminum, or whatever else can make an amazing tote bag, your chosen sack shouldn’t be something that makes you feel guilty - “Oh my gosh, I thought I was being so eco-conscious by reducing my plastic bag use, but it turns out my Fendi tote was made with oil and electricity!”

Lugging groceries and Christmas packages around town in your reusable bag is certainly enough of a workout. We’re not sure the extra baggage of beating out everyone else’s eco-tote is really worth it (and anyway, we prefer finding our new bags on Etsy, to support emerging artists).

The Courtney Love interview in The Telegraph is so incredibly outrageous that of course it’s almost boring.

She chants for thirty minutes with a Buddhist guru before she starts the interview.

She admits to blacking out on large periods of her life, including a three-hour phone chat with Vivienne Westwood.

She is not dating, has not dated Pete Doherty.

And then talk turns to Frances Bean, whose godmother is Drew Barrymore and who was apparently offered a Tommy Hilfiger campaign, but was blocked from accepting by Courtney.

“She wants to be a political journalist anyway,” explains the singer/ actress, who appeared in the front row of more fashion shows this season than any other celebrity.

But we can think of another reason Frances Bean couldn’t be a Tommy Girl - she’s just too cool for their pressed leather bombers and flower-spackled sun dresses. One might even suggest it would be insulting to her family’s brand name.

Now if we heard that Courtney wouldn’t let her daughter do a Miu Miu campaign, we’d actually be wondering…

A few years ago, I met Marla Maples in L.A.

She was actually very nice, and told me the best part of having a teenage daughter was getting to swap clothes. “I could live in her Abercrombie and Fitch denim minis,” Marla said.

Meanwhile, it seems Tiffany was reaping the rewards of trading those $49.50 skirts for some of her mom’s leftover couture - now she tells Okay! magazine that she wants to start a clothing line.

It would actually make a lot of sense to have another Trump child with another enterprise, especially since Ivanka Trump has not just a real estate business, but also a jewelry boutique on the Upper East Side.

We’re wondering if Tiffany’s collection would have a Chick by Nicky Hilton vibe, or if she’ll go more upscale like her sister. Perhaps she could start by interning for another well-connected line like Marchesa, and take off from there?

She’s already an actress, a model, and a “clothing designer,” but will Sienna Miller soon have a pop album out?

That’s the rumor from London, where Sienna’s sort-of-boyfriend Rhys Ifans (yes, the total goofball from Notting Hill) has threatened to unleash a duet on the world between the two movie darlings.

The speculation comes on the heels of another big duet among two too-cool people: Irina Lazareanu and Sean Lennon, who performed together during last week’s Chanel show in London. Meanwhile, Heidi Klum and Seal famously sang together on the Victoria’s Secret runway last month (or last week, if your first view of the show was on TV).

We’re sure Sienna would release a lovely little single, sort of like Gwyneth Paltrow’s radio hit “Cruisin’” to promote her awful movie Duets -

But we hope Sienna takes a cue from Madonna and hires Mario Testino to shoot her album cover. Then there will really be something to talk about.

When Star Wars got re-released, it licensed new toys.

When Sex and the City gets re-released, it’ll license new underwear.

That’s the news today from Cosabella, the mass market lingerie line that will churn out new bras for Carrie, Samantha, Charlotte, and Miranda - plus all their wannabes.

The idea sounds like a perfect business move for the Sex and the City producers, since the entire success of their show was based on women thinking they actually were each of the characters. And we expect the different styles of lingerie to correspond with each different character - Charlotte’s will be lacy and pink, Samantha’s will be see-through and edible, and Miranda’s will be boxer shorts.

There’s only one question we have -

If Sarah Jessica Parker is entering into a licensing deal with Cosabella, doesn’t that prevent Steve + Barry’s from releasing a similar lingerie line with her? Surely all women need a bra that costs $6.99…

Those wishing to see The Sartorialist’s photographs in person should call The Danziger Gallery in New York.

Next month, they’ll host the first exhibit of Scott Schuman’s photographs, with prints selling for $1200 each.

Whether the images will be more illuminating than the blog is a matter of personal preference, but it’s worth noting The Costume Institute’s winter exhibit is also about the interactions between websites and style - their new program, Blog.Mode allows visitors to write their reactions to various Costume Institute outfits on a special Met blog.

Maybe it’s too much to ask, but we hope The Sartorialist will bring his camera to both art openings, documenting what people think they should wear when their own opinions and manifestations of style are on the line.

Also: we’re dying to go to the Sartorialist’s big art opening, because we know everyone will really dress up.

Those trapped in PJs and bored with TiVo this weekend can lean back with an eggnog latte and watch this instead:

Karl Lagerfeld’s most recent appearance on The Charlie Rose Show, with color commentary by New York’s Harriett Mays Powell, who wears black-and-white tweed.

In the segment, Karl says “I know women who wear couture like jeans,” which is lovely because we’ve always imagined you guys as wearing jeans like couture.

We recommend watching the show instead of the America’s Next Top Model marathon on MTV, because at this point, it seems everyone needs a break from the tiresome “expertise” of Jay Manuel and the way Jenna looks almost but not quite enough like Sasha P.

The Karl clip is an hour long, which is exactly how long we need to get motivated for the gym…but we’re going, we swear, we’re going.

Random Fashion Fact of the Day: This weekend, one of Laura Bennett’s sons will star in a Libby Johnson music video… and now, back to our closets.

We never realized how cool false eyelashes could look until Fashion Week, when girls became sex bombs with a little bit of glue.

Now that the Sweet Charity vibe has transcended fad and become the way some girls want to look all the time, it’s getting even more tempting to visit Shu Uemura and see what they can do in their famed lash bar.

But then there’s the downside:

If false eyelashes aren’t applied perfectly, they can sadly look like this.

And there’s also a part of us that feels like they’re a little bit gross, just another enhancement along with lip plumpers and body-shaping tights that we don’t really love, or necessarily want to endorse, even if they look amazingly lush, sometimes.

Would you wear them?

“I was Brokeback before Brokeback was cool.” — Heatherette’s Traver Rains, to New York Magazine, on growing up on a cattle ranch in Montana.

After watching (and re-watching) the new Sex and the City trailer this morning, we’re convinced that, like many of the scenes filmed around the city, this trailer is a fake.

The proof:

1. You can hear Carrie say, “Hello, Lover!” This is not new- it’s from when she sees the Louboutins that she buys for Big’s last night in New York.

2. You can hear the quote, “trends come and go, but friendships never go out of style,” also from an old episode.

3. In one scene, she is wearing the same tutu outfit from the opening credits of the show (we’re just going to pretend that no one would buy a tutu twice in one lifetime.)

Not to mention that it also seems too short to be a real movie trailer, and so much emphasis is put on Carrie’s photo shoot in a wedding gown- we’re pretty sure there’s no way Carrie will be married by the end. That would just be too much.

Does anyone else feel like it’s a fake?

Walking around Union Square yesterday, we noticed something that scares us even more than trying to find a Christmas present for our dad (why is that always so difficult?):

A plague of “Sexy Santa” windows.

Much like Top Model, the formula for these windows is always the same:

Robust male mannequins in luxe cashmere sweaters are posed in the middle, surrounded by (sorry) a gaggle of Santa sluts – female mannequins decked in garish red bikinis, trimmed with white fluff.

We know you can buy this kind of stuff online (what can’t you buy online?). But we didn’t know it’s the hottest holiday window display theme south of Rockefeller Center.

And really, does a Sexy Santa make you want to buy more stuff?

We’re saying no. Reindeer and cookies, s’il vous plait.

—ALISON COOL

One of the best parts of Notting Hill is when Hugh Grant can’t get into Julia Roberts’ hotel room, because he can’t remember which cartoon character is her alias.

Likewise, other celebrities enjoy their own alter egos.

One of our interns was once an assistant for a big fashion designer, and she remembers sending clothes to Lindsay Lohan at the Mercer, listed not for Lindsay but for “Brigitte Bardot.”

She remembered this when reading our Chanel review, but we’re imagining something different -

After all, with Kate Moss checking into the Mercer today, perhaps she’s got a nickname too?

Maybe something more realistic, ahem, than Lindsay’s.

I’ve recently sworn off fast fashion - ok, so maybe not entirely, but I’m slowly weaning myself off almost daily trips to H&M, Urban Outfitters, Forever 21, etc.

I rarely buy nice things because:

1. I don’t take very good care of my clothes - for three weeks out of every month my bedroom generally looks like it imploded.

2. I wear something a couple of times and I’m over it. I know - it’s a very serious problem.

A good friend of mine rarely shops, and when she does, she buys pieces worth their hefty price tag, like her two major purchases this fall: a classic Philip Lim winter coat and her perfect Costume National boots.

Tim Gunn recently said the number one problem he encounters with the women on his show is “So many clothes in the closet. Lots of clothes.” He gives the oft-repeated advice, “Buy less and buy better quality.”

I’ve decided to shop more like my friend and follow Tim’s advice, making my purchases slowly and with a lot more thought, investing in pieces that will last a few years, if not forever.

But it’s a practice easier said than done. Sometimes I just need a quick fashion fix, like the little brooch I’m craving from Screaming Mimi’s that I tell myself doesn’t really count as “fast” since it’s vintage. I can only imagine the excitement of looking forward to buying one or two amazing pieces, (that I swear I would hang properly in my closet), every six months.

Do you invest in a few great pieces every year? Or do you find yourself picking up loads of clothes that fall into the, “I can spill my drink on it and not care” category?

Catherine Malandrino must have thought her designs needed a little extra oomph this season.

Her Spring ‘08 lookbook features her usual assortment of flirty dresses, except this time with a strange twist- the mannequins wearing them are positioned in front of wind machines.

Such drama producing techniques are generally reserved for the cheesiest of photo shoots. You’ve seen their effects on America’s Next Top Model, in Sports Illustrated’s Swimsuit editions and Mariah Carey’s fragrance commercials. But this is the first time we’ve ever seen them in a lookbook.

The result is a bit disorienting. We can see the photographer putting the wind machine in front of the bald, shiny mannequins, and saying things like, “Less wind! More attitude!”

There’s a point in probably August where you wish it were cold.

The prospect of layers and textures gets into your skin, and your sundress seems suddenly boring, like a beach retreat that’s lasted a few days too long.

Chanel’s Paris Londres Collection can probably solve your yawning style issues, with richly robed girls straddling ’60s schoolgirl with medieval minor royalty. Rich purples, deep checks, and flared skirts and jackets that look like Sleeping Beauty on an ’80s hair band high.

Note also the makeup, a deeper eye that would melt off in summer but seems really perfect for Fall ‘08, or even, if you’re into jumping guns, for right now. Harder to justify are the Melrose Place chokers, but since their sort of Victorian, it might catch on.

Things we thought watching it: Bardot goes to Prom, Cher goes to Paris, Jane Birkin does ecstasy, Lady Amanda Harlech.

See it all below.

We’ve often heard guys lament that they have so many less fashion options than their girlier counterparts.

To be honest, we don’t think this particular injustice will ever change, but it looks like at least one designer is trying his hardest-

Manolo Blahnik is designing shoes for men!

The L.A. Times got a sneak peek of a few pairs, at left. Needless to say, we’re hoping these are the most flamboyant of the bunch.

It’s clear that guys have painfully few options when it comes to high-quality and fashionable footwear. And while we like the idea of more off-beat shoe options for our boyfriends, we’re not so into open-toe, suede slingbacks (for them) either.

Incidentally, if the leopard print sandals come in a mens’ size 6, we might be willing to shop the collection…

What’s a guy to do?

—ALISON COOL

Remember back in fifth grade when, dying of boredom, you would paint your nails with Wite-Out?

Well, if you were a fan of the look (and even if you weren’t,) brace yourself- Chanel is bringing it back with their new nail color, White Satin.

Peter Philips, Chanel’s Creative Director for makeup, had the flip side to last year’s megahit, Black Satin, worn by all the models at the recent Maison d’Art Collection show in London in a nod to 60’s mod.

Beauty brands like Nars and OPI have had white nail polishes out for a while, but we know when Chanel gets in on a look, it’s officially a trend.

The color won’t be available until January, but don’t worry- we’re betting no one will be able to tell the difference between Chanel and Essie.

Personally, we think white nails are a little too arts-and-crafts to look cute- but what do you guys think?

Does anyone else think it’s funny that both The OC and Gossip Girl aired episodes centering around a Cotillion?

We realize both shows were created by the same guy, Josh Schwartz.

Even still, such a random plot coincidence (who goes to a Debutante ball outside of the South? Unless you’re like at the Crillion?) caught us off guard.

Not only that, but it was difficult to embrace the cotillion fashion - that seemed a lot like the “Masked Ball” fashion, but without the great makeup - woven throughout the episode. Who wants to see Blair Waldorf dressed up like the Bush twins?

But back to the Cotillion coincidence - surely there’s something else that can happen in a Josh Schwartz show?

Or maybe the next thing you know, Serena’s going to shoot Chuck in order to save Nate’s life, and that’s when we’ll know for sure that Gossip Girl may not be the best use of our time.

Hopefully it won’t happen.

After what seems like an eternity of seeing the same few models on heavy rotation, ShopBop has decided to mix it up.

We noticed today that there are five new models added to the site, and so far, we like what we see.

They’re all quite pretty and don’t seem to make any weird faces. They’re also a little more reflective of the many backgrounds and races of girls who enjoy ShopBop (but still only a little.)

And what about the veteran models?

They’re all there (we checked), just not as frequently.

It even looks like they’ve been working on their poses.

Guess they got our memo?

We’re psyched for the Sex and the City trailer in spite of ourselves, and even though we’re fuming that Carrie’s getting married, we have something else to discuss:

The plight of Samantha Jones.

It’s not a secret that Samantha, or rather Kim Cattrall, didn’t get along with Sarah Jessica Parker as well as her other cast mates. She felt (perhaps rightly) that she wasn’t getting enough money, enough credit, and… well, even more money, and so refused to commit to a Sex and the City movie for years.

But despite reports of “reconciliation” between SJP and Kim, we’re a little worried when we see glimpses of her upcoming costumes.

Samantha, and Kim, are gorgeous.

These outfits are just not.

And since SJP is the executive producer of this movie, could it be she gave Patricia Field some specific instructions to make sure Samantha looks a little… well… old/ puffy / delusional (circle one)?

But maybe Samantha’s costumes are actually gorgeous, and our eye just isn’t sharp enough to recognize real fashion when we see it. After all, we didn’t care for SJP’s Bitten line, either.

See the whole trailer below.

Now that Agyness Deyn has her own Burberry commercial, it might be time for the brand to find some new British faces to pose with Lily D, Kiera G, and Georgia F.

We hear they’ve found their new girl and it’s Alice Gibb, 15, whom we’ve described as “Lily Cole with tuberculosis” and we actually mean that in a good way.

Alice is especially suited to the stark British brilliance in McQueen, Giles, and Christopher Kane collections (left), so it’s no surprise that all three used her this season (McQueen, in fact, send Ms. Gibb down the runway first).

Now we hear she’ll pose with the rest of the Burberry Brit Pack in their Spring ‘08 campaign. This won’t be Alice’s first time with their photographer, Mario Testino - he shot her at age fourteen for a British Vogue spread where she proclaimed her love of ballet.

We adore redheads and we can’t wait to meet Alice in person, and to hopefully see her Burberry shots. We would also love to feed her some slivers of cake, like Mad Hatters at a tea party, but that’s another story…