Dear Mr. Maier,

I stayed up way too late last night reading an article on you in the new Vogue UK. You came across differently than most designers. Softer, more intellectual, maybe even slower thinking - none of which is better or worse - just different. I liked you.

Then I woke up this morning and looked through the pictures from yesterday's show and I changed my mind - I love you.

The next time someone asks me what I want to be when I grow up, I'm not going to ramble incessantly about the million and one things I plan to do in the next thirty years; instead, I'll say, "I want to be the kind of woman who wears Bottega Veneta." Which will, I think, sum up those million things nicely.

The monochromatic palette is ideal, the shapes are surprising yet appealing, and the simplicity is what makes it all truly perfect. And that tailoring - I can imagine each dress fitting my size 8 body as well as Freja's size zero. (Very differently! But still well.)

So thanks for giving me an answer to that terrible question. And thanks for giving me something so tangible to look forward to.

xo,
Britt

We stayed home from Milan this season to show you things you might actually wear.

Namely, the latest collection from Old Navy - except, although it's new, you've probably seen it before.

We know we have - the bold prints, the white shorts, the head scarves, all of it - as it walked down the runway last season at Diane Von Furstenberg.

Now, Old Navy is smart enough to not copy a DVF pattern, and what they've come up with on their own is really, really adorable.

But there's something about the styling that just screams "Alek Wek on the runway last year!"

It's a great look, it's easy for many women to pull off, and it looks like Old Navy is going a long way towards facilitating that.

We just wonder how much cuter this stuff will be when you mix it with your own stuff, instead of matching it up with someone else's luxe runway - like the shorts at left, with a threadbare band tee, could be kinda perfect.

For those taken with the ka-pow of colors on the London runways this season, or with Jazzi's adept roundup of them, maybe you want to think about this:

J. Crew's latest merino dress, on sale for $175.

We're a little shocked to see it at the preppy chain store, since it looks a little bit like a graffiti child's scribbles after ice cream cake, but it's crazy and fun, and could be rocked very well with some simple tights and heels.

Weirdly, Anouck Lepere might look a bit too sweet to pull it off (she's the model wearing it here), but the dress captures the vivid explosion of pattern and color that rushed through London Fashion Week. It's not as expensive as those clothes will be, and you can have it now instead of in August / September.

Sounds like a good deal to us.

I fell in love with the 3.1 Philip Lim jacket, at left, while browsing on eLuxury last week.

I love wearing jackets but I don't always want to look like I'm on my way to the country club. The shrunken fit of the Philip Lim makes the look a lot younger, and kind of precious - almost like picture day in second grade.

But Philip Lim's version goes for over $700, so what's a stylish boy to do?

Check out the Brooks Brothers boy's department, of course! I found this prep school version for a fraction of the original's price, and I'm already planning on throwing it over my Steven Alan shirts and Rogues Gallery tees.

Now if I could only get cheaper versions of everything Thom Browne through his imaginary boy's department, then I'd be all set to have my photo snapped everyday.

--BRETT KANE

Charlize Theron is on the upcoming issue of T Fashion, but we're way more interested in Chloe Sevigny, and also, of course, her story.

The Big Love actress and sideways style darling gave The Times a flurry of photos, all documenting what she thinks are milestones of her style.

There's the gamine Miu Miu ad from the '90s, the iconic poster of Kids, the slinky minidress from The Last Days of Disco, and of course a few shots of her latest project with Opening Ceremony.

The magazine hits stands on February 24th, but we'd be really bad friends if we didn't leak the Chloe Sevigny story to you right here, right now.

Now go wash that Chloe perfume off your hands...

These looks from London's Armand Basi, Erdem, and Eley Kishimoto could have popped straight out of a Saturday morning cartoon. Or a Crayola box. The 64-ct. of course.

--JAZZI McGILBERT

Our baby Emily Eisen sent us a panicked note last night:

"Sasha missing from Prada! Sasha missing from Prada!"

And, well, she's right:

There's no Sasha in the Prada show...

But does that mean there will be no Sasha in the upcoming Prada ads?

Well, let's not get ahead of ourselves...

Though Ms. Pivovarova might finally get to go to art school next season!

WHICH socialite/kind-of designer needs all her clothes laid out for her? Her ability to put together an outfit is so lacking that her personal shopper at a major New York department store picks out almost all of her clothes for her and even has to stop her from trying to put together ensembles by herself...

And they made YouTube videos about it!

We know we shouldn't be laughing so hard, but oh, we totally are.

Guess if you're going to put your self at risk for another night in jail, it should only be for the muse of Chanel and Balenciaga?

Sticking a giant bow on any accessory is a risk that shouldn't be taken lightly.

Sticking a giant bow on an already huge satchel that's either loudly metallic or patent leather, is probably not the best bet.

And charging $2,000 for that bag would just be ridiculous, since one could only wear it so often before being known as the girl with the giant bow handbag. But if anyone's going to try, and maybe even achieve success with said oversized bag, it would be Valentino.

We're not sure how successful Nine West thought their rip-off would be. Future note to them: There are some accessory details - giant bows, excessive ruffles, textured leather etc - that really do need to be exceptionally well made (read: expensive) to look nice.

Oh, and it's a good thing they remembered that name plate.

"What you don't often see in a fashion advert is a model giving a colonic to an unspecified four-legged animal, as our Gucci model seems to be." --Hadley Freedman in The Guardian.

For those of who you worship Agyness Deyn, your taste has just been venerated. For those of who you are sick to death of her, well, we hope you're not going to shop at a Zara anytime soon.

The Daily Telegraph reports that Adel Rootstein, the British mannequin company, has designed an Agyness model to launch in a Dusseldorf branch of Zara before being released in Zara's worldwide.

With this deal, Agyness joins the ranks of Twiggy, a former Adel Rootstein mannequin herself, and kind of one-ups Kate Moss, who was rejected by the late Adel Rootstein herself for being "too short."

Aggie is reportedly hanging on to just one life-size doll of herself - maybe to send down the runway on skates to pick up a little extra cash?

We hope the Zara window dressers are smart enough to not put the Agyness mannequins anywhere near the windows - she'd be a prime steal for those smash-and-grabbers...

[PS If you can't get yourself to a Zara, or if you just can't wait, you could always wear Agyness' likeness on your back - is this girl a phenomenon or what?]