Last night’s unveiling of Banana Republic’s Fall 2008 Holiday/Fall line was like a lot of other fashion week shows, except in April.

It started twenty minutes late, PR girls everywhere, editors pretending to ignore the free champagne, assistants in standing room only - the Vogue girls even held court from their first and second row seats, just like the good old days of February.

The clothes were, of course, perfect Banana Republic - cozy coats, elegant dresses, a muted color scheme of mostly blacks and grays.

But we think the real standout of the night was the models. Not only did Iekeliene walk for the label’s 30th anniversary, but we fell in love with a new girl, too -

Meet Arlenis (she’s so new we don’t even know her last name), a newbie at Marilyn who’s not only rumored to be involved in the already infamous Vogue Italia set to drop this July, but who’s also a favorite of COACD.

Every time she stepped out on the runway, eyes stopped staring in the direction of the clothes, and went up to try and figure out where in the world this girl came from.

Can’t wait to see what she walks in September…

Everybody seems to want to talk about Agyness getting her own mannequin today, even though that really is old news.

But here’s a fun amendment to all the hype -

The Agyness mannequin is even getting its own party. MAO PR’s throwing the bash in Chelsea on May 20, and Agyness’ mannequin is said to be unveiled wearing an outfit that reflects Agyness’ personal style - we’re assuming something House of Holland is in order.

No word on what Aggy herself will wear - we think it’s safe to assume she’ll be in attendance.

But the real news, of course, would be if Twiggy showed up, too…

“Stop it! Stop asking me about Hillary’s pantsuits, or any other aspect of her personal style! If you persist, I swear to God I will stuff Mrs. Clinton into a Balenciaga bubble dress with matching gladiator spike-heeled boots, and then you’ll be sorry. Every 20 minutes, I get a jangling call from an earnest hack looking for quips about the fashion choices of the presidential candidates. These content generators are hell-bent on viewing the current political jousting match through the lens of la mode: What do I think of Hillary’s pink blouses? Is Cindy McCain hitting the mark with her fashion choices? How about that tie Barack wore last night? Oy vey! Talk about looking for love in all the wrong places.” - Simon Doonan, in The New York Observer.

Dear Gwyneth,

You’re the talk of the town thanks to Iron Man’s impending premiere.

Every newspaper/blog/talk show passes judgment on your legs, your children and your heels, (which by the way are so beautiful they make me want to take out a loan to go to Barneys).

I’m sorry everyone’s being so mean.

I don’t think you come off as cold and snobby, (in fact, that one time I met you in London you were beyond warm, friendly and gracious), but rather you handle your fame with the grace of movie stars past.

And your clothes? Not to obsess, but I’m in love with nearly everything you wear. Your short numbers of late have been fresh, innovative and appropriate. And that black lace Stella McCartney? Natalie and I pretty much had a heart attack when we saw pictures of it - it was kind of perfect.

So keep wearing whatever you want and talking about your kids and living part-time in London because I think everyone’s just a little bit jealous.

Or, as Brett says, “Don’t let the haters bring you down.”

xo
Britt

It’s been a while since the last time we came across a spoof of the Anya Hindmarch “I’m Not a Plastic Bag” tote, but we think this one really beats them all.

Despite the bag’s popularity, and the good things we know came from it, we couldn’t help but burst out into laughter when we came across Fashion Indie’s “I’m Not a Douche Bag” tote on Cafe Press.

So seventh grade, and yet, so on point - we’d love to swing this around the Whole Foods salad aisle while enunciating our plans to offset the bag’s carbon footprint using only macrobiotic beets.

I was having lunch with my friend Kristina, fellow FIT student and shop girl extraordinaire, and I couldn’t take my eyes off her Wohl-worthy headband.

Not quite as structured as Blair’s, but a little less lounging-in-capri than a headscarf, it seemed like a great way to hold back last season’s bangs that you’re desperately trying to grow out before summer.

And the best part? Like a true Teen Vogue subscriber, she made it herself.

Here’s how…

—BRETT KANE

Reader Melinda sent in this strange edition of Adventures, because she’s a little confused, as are we -

The Steve Madden version came first, then the Target by Tressa, but why copy at all?

We think Steve’s were probably inspired by Juicy Couture, lover of useless chains, but the truly interesting aspect of this one is that a mass brand is knocking off another mass brand, which means that Steve Madden shoppers are much more likely to buy the Target pair, seeing as how they’re almost $40 cheaper.

This is definitely a case of stealing a customer base - not to mention, a case of really ugly shoes.

Laura from Men’s Health just alerted us to the coolest thing to happen to Google since G-chat.

You can personalize your homepage even more - and that doesn’t just mean choosing where your icons go - it means picking an entire designer or artist theme.

Options include fashion darling and artist Jeff Koons, Coldplay, glass-blower extraordinare Dale Chihuly, Dolce & Gabbana, Oscar De La Renta and signature Diane Von Furstenberg prints including the one from that dress we’re still obsessed with.

So now you have something to play with until lunch.

Enjoy!

The Hills has been lacking fashion lately, and with the elusiveness of labels and editors comes a sharp sense of anything with stitches - sort of the way you can smell anything when you’re hungry.

So when Lo says to Audrina, “are we wearing the same pants?”

We were immediately like, “Why yes, you are, and they’re Loomstate, and they’re from Barney’s Co-op, and they’re $79 on sale, but you can find similar ones at Urban Outfitters and also at Madewell.”

And that is when we decided that we will probably not watch The Hills anymore.

But even so, the pants are quite cute.

Also made from organic cotton, which we like - but not as much as we liked The Hills when it actually took place (or at least looked like it took place) inside a Conde Nast building.

Sigh.

“Why did we stop drinking these?” - Miranda

“Because everyone else started.” - Carrie

From a SATC: The Movie commercial. Memo to Gossip Girl…

While everyone continues to try and guess whether Nina Garcia just happened to be hanging out at the Hearst building yesterday, or if she is in fact being courted by Harper’s Bazaar, we offer some more fun Nina news to brighten your morning -

The former ELLE Fashion Director has partnered with Step Up Women’s Network and Bayer to bring us another kind of design contest for which (we’re guessing) she’ll be a judge - the “YAZ: Step Up and Go Beyond” contest.

Yep, that YAZ.

The contestant who can best redesign what Nina calls, “an iconic accessory,” the little plastic cases that house birth control pills, wins $10,000 to invest in a future career in design. You can enter until June 30, and the winner will be announced around Fashion Week this September.

Nina thinks the winner should be able to redesign the birth control case that Duane Reade gives out for free into “a chic, more sophisticated carrying case that they could slip into their purses” because apparently all women are secretly yearning to eye up each other’s plastic pill packs.

You heard it here first - Lutera’s so out for S/S ‘09.

“I just adore Chuck. Each Tuesday morning is indeed the beginning of a very long, boring drought until the following week’s episode. Maybe you can start posting a picture of chuck every Tuesday morning? You could call the new feature “Chuck Bass Tuesdays”…or “About Last Night”…or “Aww, Chucks”. Now what were you saying? Something about clothes, I think…” - Commenter rf, earlier in the day.

There’s an online sample sale tomorrow, and it includes Vivienne Westwood!

What: Wholesale-priced Vivienne, along with Maisy Bloom and Le Full

Where: Designer Sample Sales

When: April 30 at noon until May 2 at midnight

They even have a phone number in case your computer freezes and you need to beg to put something aside:

212.388.0339

Start working out your wrists now…

Some of you have been asking why we’re not covering The Hills today. Here’s our official position.

We tried to defend Aggy, we really did, but this does not help her cause.

Maybe all that Coachella Valley sun and music got into her head, because NME just announced that the world’s most over-exposed pixie cut will release her first single.

Yes, like, music single.

She’s collaborating with New York band Five O’Clock Heroes, singing on the track titled ‘Who’, dancing around in the upcoming promo video, and probably being really, really, ridiculously good looking on the cover to be released June 23rd.

Maybe she, Kate, Karen, Omahyra and Irina can form like a Spice Girls of the runway tribute girl group.

Can’t wait.

— JAZZI McGILBERT

A good friend of ours, like any good PR girl who knows about our teensy tiny Gossip Girl fixation, sent us some info on Kimberly Baker.

Maybe you’ve never heard that name before, but you will soon - her jewelry’s been all over your TV sets, subliminally seeping onto wish lists everywhere courtesy of Serena, Blair, Jenny, and even Vanessa - you can also see Mary-Kate sporting her Wolfette ring on her January NYLON cover.

Considering at least one Kimberly Baker piece has been spotted on literally every female GG character, we’re just waiting to see a throw-down between Georgina and, well, anybody, involving Kim’s Bianca Ring, at left (our favorite).

Ok - I will now return to moderating the ongoing battle for official “Chuck’s Girlfriend” title here in the office.

— JAZZI McGILBERT

_blank">Alber Elbaz is designing for Acne Denim!

We’d obviously die over a Lanvin diffusion line - even though we know the clothes would be nothing without the luxurious fabrics and intricate detail that make them so expensive in the first place - but this is probably as close as we’re going to get for a long time.

He announced, “It’s time to go back to a product that has a dream to it. I asked myself, ‘What kind of jeans can I bring that will be a Lanvin jean and Acne spirit infused in one?”

Unfortunately the jeans will be priced similarly to Lanvin’s ready-to-wear, as in they’ll be terribly expensive.

But we can’t wait to see how he works with a material so foreign to a Lanvin runway, not to mention a brand so different than what he’s built at the French house.

Will there be denim bow-ties?!

For those of you left wishing you could live on set of Gossip Girl, here’s a little snack to tide you over at the beginning of your week-long withdrawal -

The LA Times got their hands on a picture of the first of Lydia’s outfits for her run on the show.

Personally, we think it could have been a little better.

The Sigerson gladiators are cute but just ok, the shape of that bag is starting to get annoying, and the dress, well, you fill in the blank.

Chuck, on the other hand, looks perfect in plaid, though we’re still hoping for a shark sweater encore.

Spotted: Nina Garcia leaving the Hearst building, sprinting across the street before hailing a cab and trying to avoid eye contact with anyone as she left. Stay tuned.

“It’s a duchess satin stole, Champagne, specially made — I had several made for different photo shoots. I thought this one was really appropriate.” - Michael Roberts, fashion director of Vanity Fair, on Miley Cyrus’ not-a-bed-sheet outfit.

We bet when Phillip Lim named his label 3.1, he didn’t mean his dresses would cost under $31 dollars.

Still, that’s what’s sort of happening, thanks to the copycat masterminds at Forever 21.

The scheming stealers recently put up this “rosette dress” for $29.90, but of course, that’s not where it originated:

Phillip Lim stuck it on his Spring ‘08 runway, and now it resides on Net-a-Porter - for $595.

Too much for a silk shift?

Absolutely.

One more example of an innovative designer getting royally screwed?

Yes, that too.

WWD reports that things at Elle are getting even uglier.

Nina Garcia’s set to guest star on Ugly Betty in just two days, but if that isn’t enough editor-on-TV for you, don’t worry - both Robbie Myers and Joe Zee, (who must love appearing in front of a camera), will appear in the season finale with previously announced guest star Naomi Campbell.

The three make up part of Elle’s softball team which plays against Mode’s softball team for a charity tournament. We hope they don’t actually let Naomi use a bat.

We love Elle, but once their hard working editors get tired of being on TV, reality or otherwise, can someone in production please get in touch with Vogue?

We can’t think of anything better than Meredith Melling-Burke and Anna plotting in a dugout.

Something’s happening over at Wet Seal, but we can’t quite put our finger on what it is.

First, they let Ashlee Simpson design a line of t-shirts, some even with her face on them.

Now, they’ve launched a Community section on their site, which includes a “social networking element” meant to create a more in-store kind of experience, so that girls can chat with each other while they shop.

We’re not sure what to make of this, but here’s a funny coincidence -

Last week’s episode of The Office (is this a shameless, un-fashiony television reference? Why yes, it is) started with the return of Ryan, and the problems that arose from Dunder Mifflin’s attempt at incorporating a social networking component into their paper-purchasing site, which nobody saw a reason for…

“Galliano girls are very romantic and very after dark.” —John Galliano, on his new gothic jewelry line.

Heidi Klum graced the pages of the new Sports Illustrated swimsuit issue.

The beloved annual spread is half swimsuit catalogue for women, half eye candy for men. (Yes, apparently over 28 million women read “the Academy Awards” of swim wear fashion.)

In this edition, Heidi wears a suit by Red Carter, and now the label’s profits are up 60% from this time last year and they’ve already sold 400 of the $137 bikini Heidi wears.

When we saw Heidi posing with Will Ferrell, all we could think was, wait, Heidi Klum’s a model? While the fashion industry devotes its love to the Tanyas, Natalias and Jourdans of its world, everyone else has made Heidi Klum the face of fashion.

Us Weekly just named her Style Icon of the Year and now even Bloomberg’s reporting on the fact that whatever you put on her body will sell out in minutes.

Is it just us, or was her faux Van Cleef clover jewelry enough to discredit her style icon status?

We totally support Louis Vuitton in its quest to stop all fake-making “inspired” by their designs, but their most recent lawsuit is a little hard to swallow -

LV has sued a student artist, Nadia Plesner, over her “Simple Living” campaign, a fundraiser that benefits the Divest for Darfur organization.

Plesner drew an image of a Darfur victim holding a teacup style dog and toting an LV-inspired bag, to prove that a Paris Hilton-centric image would get more media attention than real-life Darfur victims. She was right, and has been raising money for the cause by putting her drawing on t-shirts and posters.

Except LV isn’t exactly happy about it - even though 100% of Plesner’s profits have been going straight to Darfur victims, Louis Vuitton is suing her for around $22,000 per day that she continues her campaign - apparently they think the design, though it doesn’t include an exact copy of the Murakami pattern, infringes on their intellectual property rights.

We understand why Louis Vuitton might not want what is clearly meant to represent their most recognized accessory hanging off the arm of an emaciated child victim, but, really? Suing a charity?

“We aim to be un-knockoffable.” - Lazaro Hernandez of Proenza Schouler, to Teri Agins in the Wall Street Journal.

Are you a college student who wants to be a stylist? Can you handle working for some of the biggest names in fashion?

Then pay attention.

W Magazine needs full time and part time interns for Fall ‘08. You should be prepared to work 2-5 days a week, for 8 - 12 hours a day. You should be able to justify working for free to Conde Nast by either being a real college student with a lot of free time, or a fake college student with a plausible explanation for why you have a semester off.

You will be working in the W fashion closet, calling in clothes, helping to pack for fashion shoots, and occasionally assisting on sets. You will be really bored and really stressed unless the only thing you have ever wanted to do is work at a fashion magazine.

If you can handle that, email Garrett_Munce@condenast.com with a short explanation of why you will work until you collapse for nothing, and your Fall ‘08 schedule.

WHICH fashion assistant emails big PR companies, complaining about how wretched their own assistants are? We hear her roommate needs a job, and thinks she might like to work at one of them…

Because we watch too much television, we have been waiting for this:

The arrival of Holly Kiser on New York Model Management’s website.

You may remember Holly from her reign on Make Me a Supermodel, the super-boring Bravo reality show that we managed to watch half-drunk and mostly exhausted as we collapsed from nights of parties.

Holly managed to beat out four gorgeous boys - and the votes of thousands of gay guys - to win the title. Can her early success replicate that of Amanda Laine, the winner of the V a Supermodel contest that ran on the internet last year - who went on to open Lanvin - or Alice Burdeau, the winner of Australia’s Next Top Model who booked Proenza and Louis Vuitton?

It’s still too soon to tell, especially since NYMM has a really strong group of girls, but nobody who’s massively famous - yet.

It’s also worth noting Holly isn’t the first reality contestant the agency’s taken on - they’ve also got “Corinne” Hatch - whom you may remember as actually being Britt from America’s Next Top Model.

At 12:22 today, I got a text from Natalie: “Hey, are you dead?”

I ignored it and shoved my cell back in my pocket.

At 1:07, she texted: “Just let us know you’re ok! It’s not like you to be late and not call”

So finally I had to admit where I was. I tapped out: “Hey. Sorry. Cheap Monday sample sale! 5 minutes, i swear! It was a fashion emergency.”

I felt terribly guilty, shaking as I handed the checkout person my money, and yet I was filled with the same jittery excitement I always get when I see slashed prices and fitting rooms made from bed sheets.

The stats: Cheap Mondays for 20 bucks (they even have the really exciting pair flecked with dots, and the turquoise ones that look like Ksubis), Rogues Gallery T’s for $15, Vena Cava blouses for $100. Too good to miss. They had every size, even though this is the last day, and random boxes of clothes marked $10.

There was even Shipley and Halmos stuff, but it was all pretty expensive. And the women’s Vena Cava was golden, as was all the Wayne (especially this white dress splattered with black that is totally giving us Cynthia Vincent for less).

Seriously, go.

495 Broadway, near Broome

This may be my last post for a while. Natalie is really concerned. She’s sending me to rehab, though secretly I think she’s really hoping I’ll run into an Olsen.

—BRETT KANE

Friends in New York and LA send constant complaints about the cost of “keeping up,” but as any 10th grader at an affluent school can tell you, it happens in the suburbs too.

Witness the latest proof:

A slew of new boutiques from Intermix set to open in Orlando and Charlotte - cosmopolitan, sure, but hardly places where one immediately thinks “fashion” - in fact, in both cases, our first thought is “air conditioning.”

So what can we learn from this?

That because of the internet and fashion’s pervasive “reality” on TV, more Americans in cities without visible fashion industries are getting obsessed with labels?

Sure.

That if you’re visiting cousins in Winter Park, you can now snag a Chloe bag out of boredom?

Definitely.

But also this: That despite the “crashing” economy, women are still really excited to shop. This is especially odd considering a full tank of gas now costs the name as a Marc dress, but it’s definitely something to notice.

Here’s an easy way to prove your Louboutins are real, and not from Nine West:

Buy them at Barneys on May 1 (New York) or May 7 (Los Angeles).

Bring them to Mr. Louboutin himself.

Give him a Sharpie.

Voila!

You’ve just stamped a pair of Louboutins with the undisputed seal of fashion approval.

The signings go from 3 pm - 7 pm, and bring your book / Blackberry / travel-sized game of Scrabble, because you know there’s going to be a big line.

Forever 21’s returned to designer archives for their latest batch of dresses we’ve seen before.

Reader Jessica e-mailed this tiered shift dress with a black bodice and a layered skirt in the prettiest retro, (Marc Jacobs?) colors. We actually love the dress.

Too bad its design was snatched off Jonathan Saunders’ Fall ‘07 runway.

The skirt’s fabric’s a bit flouncier and they were courteous enough to change the color of the bottom layer from a vivid yellow to a buttery shade.

We know being copied is the highest form of flattery, but somehow we don’t think Jonathan would be too thrilled.

“Christian’s shoes are like the circus coming into town…[like] a total drug and there is no methadone.” - Simon Doonan to WWD.

WWD’s Marchesa story this morning had a much more fun story packed near the bottom:

Maggie Rizer is starting her own doggy care business.

The 90’s beauty’s been searching for the perfect West Village spot to open a dog day care and spa with her boyfriend (and high school sweetheart - remember him from Maggie’s Style Channel profile?), Alex Mehran.

So if you know of a space that’s roughly 3,000 square feet and with tons of floor-to-ceiling windows, please call her.

You never know - since the spa is meant for both pooches and owners, maybe you’ll end up with Maggie as a masseuse.

Rumors are popping up everywhere that Victoria Beckham might be the costume design consultant for Tom Cruise’s next movie The Hardy Boys.

Tom supposedly approached Posh about the opportunity at her 34th birthday party in LA.

So far, Posh has styled Katie Holmes, Jack Nicholson, Ellen Degeneres and Jennifer Lopez for various magazine spreads, and her denim line, DvB, has been getting mixed reviews since it debuted in 2006.

The Hardy Boys job sounds more like just agreeing with whatever the real TBD costume designer decides on, but still, an actual job in fashion nonetheless. If she accepts the position (and if whoever’s above Tom accepts Posh), she’ll get a namecheck in the credits of the film.

Confession: I love Lindsay Lohan.

I know. It’s bad. I can’t help it.

I love her and her leggings and her comedic timing and her oh-so-cool bad girl ways and I can’t help but worry about her desperately failing career.

So I was thrilled to read in WWD that she’s landed herself a job.

Unfortunately, the job description made even me, a true Lindsay lover, cringe. The troubled starlet’s “turned her attention to ethical fashion,” a cause she’s failed to mention in the past twenty-something years.

The campaign in which she stars aims to encourage clothing donations to an outpost in London’s Covent Garden in exchange for credit card points.

We love the idea, the cause and the reward, but why is Lindsay posing in vintage clothes for its promotion?

And will she really encourage people to get fashionably green?

“I lip-synch, but I’m more of an example, an icon in my own right, a muse. I want people to look at me and feel inspired, to feel hope, to smile. I want to surge positive energy in your body.” - Andre J, in New York Look Book, a Gallery of Street Fashion.

This just in from WWD:

Gucci Westman, makup genius extraordinaire, has just been named the new Global Artistic Director of Revlon.

She ended a nearly five year-long career at Lancome, as their International Artistic Director, this past December.

She’s been widely credited with building Lancome’s bridge to Hollywood super stars and to hyping up the brand’s presence during New York Fashion Week - feats she will no doubt again perform for Revlon.

We remember seeing a knockoff of Christian Louboutin’s Sarah B shoe a few seasons ago at Nine West, but we didn’t think much of it.

Then we saw another at Forever 21, which struck us as odd. Why are mass retailers knocking off a shoe that’s nearly four years old? Maybe the new strategy is to knock off old designs and hope no one will remember far back enough to notice.

The only real difference between the two is the heel - but we imagine 5-inch stilettos wouldn’t have gone over well at a $20 price point anyway - and, of course, the Louboutin red soles, which would have actually been kind of funny.

— JAZZI McGILBERT

And you thought Faran was a flake.

Today, Lauren Conrad announced a new partnership with College Tonight, a social networking site aimed at campus communities.

Not only will Lauren be paid a lot to blog her opinions on the site, she’s also being given her own opportunity to showcase her style, and of course, her burgeoning fashion line, which she’s aligned with ShopIntuition in order to drive eCommerce.

Now, we think Lauren Conrad should absolutely take advantage of every business opportunity possible, and so if an internet company offers her a gig, cool -

But we can’t help noticing: Lauren’s life on The Hills seems a lot more like Juicy Campus, not some sanitized attempt at the social networking that Facebook and MySpace already enable college kids to do.

But maybe that kind of tawdry network is more of a Heidi endeavor?

Tomorrow night’s events roster includes a fashion show benefit in support of Bobby Kennedy’s Riverkeeper Foundation and the Amazon Conservation Association.

The show will take place at the Hilton Ballroom, and will also be the premier of Maggie Norris’ eco-couture collection - we don’t know what that’s going to look like, but here’s a fun detail:

Lydia Hearst, newest Gossip Girl addition, will be strutting her stuff on the runway.

Her sister, Gillian, and Lauren Bush will be in the crowd, no doubt table modeling FEED bags.

We love when good things happen to good people.

So here’s the equivalent of a newspaper posting pictures of cute puppies:

Scott Schuman was just shot for the Fall ‘09 Gap ads!

Aww, we can’t wait to see him sitting on a stool in a striped sweater or something -

Or do you think they’d use one of him taking a picture of a cute girl on Prince?

More pressing: Will he pose with Caroline?

Reasons to check out this video on the preparation for the Met ball on Vogue’s site:

1. You get to see Coco mid-superhero makeup

2. You get to see the little finger wave thing she does when talking about Poison Ivy

3. You get to see her throw a couple punches while smiling

4. You get to hear Stephanie Winston Wolkoff explain her strategy for seating (“Who went out with who?”)

Enjoy!

To: Natalie@Fashionista.com

From: ILoveBags@OrangeBoxes.com

Just saw Serena, Chuck, Nate, Eric, Lily, Bart, and Queen B at the Palace for Lily and Barts’s wedding!

Queen B was wearing a hot pink floral dress and a hot pink headband and flats.

No Jenny or Dan - significant?

Even stranger: Lily wasn’t wearing a wedding dress, but Bart was in his tux. Weird wedding.

xoxoB

Thanks for the spot - you might like this, too, though we don’t know how much of a surprise it is…

Naomi’s been up to a lot more than just modeling these days.

First, she dabbled as a political journalist for GQ, took up some community service mentoring younger models, and now we hear she’s set to appear in the season finale of Ugly Betty (full disclosure: we have never seen this show).

She’s got a lot to act up to: We haven’t seen her in anything notable since Unzipped and Miami Rhapsody (though that one was probably only notable to us), and she played a supermodel in both, so we’ll have to see if the Ugly Betty people let her take on a different role.

The last fashion notable to cameo on the show was Posh Spice, whose blip was beloved, so we hope Naomi’s practicing her lines as we type.

This just in from a source:

Steven Meisel has just shot an entire issue of Vogue Italia with all black models, hoping that other issues of Vogue start to diversify their own portfolios.

Apparently, all of the photo shoots have already happened, as model bookers at various agencies have been contacted and sourced for new, beautiful, not-white girls — and now they’re twittering about how cool the issue will be.

No word on when the issue will hit stands or who’s on the cover (Jourdan Dunn? Chanel Iman?), but whatever:

We don’t really report the news over here. We just break it wide open.

xoxo.

Wait, for real, no more Sasha?!

Shalom Harlow still reigns supreme as the face of Tiffany, but Kylie Minogue is ready to give her some competition.

The Aussie singer and lingerie “designer” was just announced as the new face of TOUS, the Spanish jewelry line that has a lot of money but not a lot of visibility (yet).

She’ll pose in a series of magazine and online ads, and she looks pretty sparkly, albeit in a Long Island Mom kind of way.

Of course, the big question is payment:

Did she get Australian dollars, Euros… or just a heap of diamonds?

When we noticed that The Fashion Spot got a makeover a couple weeks ago, we sort of wondered what was going on.

The site went from an impossible-to-navigate forum to an actual site, complete with real articles and real bylines - they even have videos now.

But we had no idea what brought this on until today -

Apparently, TFS was bought by AtomicOnline, the media company that also owns SheKnows, TeenCrunch and CraveOnline.

The official launch was announced today, but they’ve been looking for new writers for a couple weeks.

Guess it won’t be so hard to search for stuff anymore.

“Fashion thinks more about me than what I think about it. I just wore what I wore and people noticed. The sexiest thing a woman could wear? Being stark f***ing naked. Show me a woman who is faithful, and I won’t believe you. I don’t do underwear. I never do the washing. How would I know whether my clothes stink? I throw them away.” - Keith Richards to the London Times.

I love J.Crew. My mom snuck me out of class to go to the store opening in Orlando, I bought my first winter coat at the Rockefeller Center store, and I wait in suspense for each new shipment of Favorite Boxers. But scrolling through the site recently, I worry that someone has replaced my favorite preppy retailer with an evil twin sister like in Double, Double Toil and Trouble. Here’s why:

1. Yoga Clothes. Seriously? As Natalie points out, the Yoga trend died years ago, and more importantly, do J.Crew girls really do yoga? Don’t you picture them in a spinning class, or on a tennis court?

2. Awkward Girl. This isn’t a W spread, we swear. It’s just a J.Crew model sitting in a most unflattering position, making this cute gingham frock look about as attractive as a t-shirt at Savers.

3. The Luggage Collection. No joke. Italian leather luggage, in white, orange and yellow no less, for $1200 to $2000. For a little more, you could buy Louis Vuitton (or better yet, Tumi plus a plane ticket to Paris).

I get it. J.Crew wants to play with the big boys of luxury - thus the fine jewelry, organza ball gowns, and now editorial catalogs and insane luggage - but taken as a whole, are they really selling all of this to the same customer? Don’t pull a Gap on us now, there aren’t enough Patrick Robinsons to go around.

—BRETT KANE

What do Rumer Willis, Kristin Cavallari, Christina Milian, Josie Maran, Pete Wentz, Corbin Bleu and Wilmer Valderamma have in common?

a) They all wear clothes.

b) Their careers need help.

c) They frequently grace the pages of US Weekly.

d) They fascinate people under the age of 20.

e) All of the above.

Iconix Brands Inc., are thrilled to announce the group will appear in various ad campaigns for their new junior brand, Op, to be sold at select Wal-Mart stores around the country.

Just please don’t tell us they’ll be co-designing the line, we might have a heart attack.

We didn’t go to see 27 Dresses, but we think we might have to stop by next week’s event at the Central Park Boathouse celebrating the flick’s DVD release.

Bender/Helper is hosting the “Always a Bridesmaid, Now a Bride” event this Monday at 9am - they’ve invited soon-to-be brides to show up in the worse bridesmaid’s dress of their single life history to strut in front of a panel of judges in the hopes to win for donning the ugliest teal pouf possible.

The prize? A Kleinfeld’s dress to wear on her big day, and an entertainment system from Best Buy.

The judges? Malin Akerman, Randolph Duke, and… Chris March!

We knew his radar for bad taste would pay off soon.

Abyaar Real Estate Development Co. just announced a partnership with Christian Lacroix.

The designer’s set to build a 38-unit residential tower in the Jumeirah district of Dubai.

With Lacroix’s lace, brocade, glitter and bold prints, he might actually be the perfect designer to take Dubai to the next level in its quest to be the Las Vegas of the Middle East. Though we’re surprised at the Armani-like branding from one of the world’s most respected couturiers.

Personally, we’d rather live in a Christian Lacroix couture gown than in one of the condos he’s designing, but we guess the girl who can afford one can afford the other and just live in a Lacroix-centric world.

To: Natalie@Fashionista.com

From: IReadVogue@nyu.edu

I saw Lily Cole walking around the NYU buildings this afternoon.

This is the third time I’ve seen her around there or in Washington Sq. Park in the past week.

Is she taking classes at NYU???

Obviously, Tisch and Gallatin kids, we’re expecting you to spill and spill now.

Is Lily Cole in your advanced physics class? Have you seen her running laps with the track club? Is she pulling all nighters in Starbucks with an anthropology textbook? Seriously, what’s going on.

WHICH internet fashion writer is in talks to have her own fashion show with a major TV channel?

We hear Barneys New York might have some very special visitors this fall:

Mary Kate and Ashley Olsen!

The super twins are in talks with the super store for a PA - that’s personal appearance - on behalf of their line, The Row.

If they make it, they won’t be the first sisters to hold court at a much-hyped store:

Sienna and Savannah Miller launched their line, Twenty8Twelve, at Bergdorf Goodman during Fashion Week last year, and Paris and Nicky Hilton teamed up a few years ago to launch some Tinkerbell outfits for Fred Segal. And of course, Laura and Kate Mulleavy have made quite a few appearances on behalf of their own collection, Rodarte.

Does this mean Hilary and Hayley Duff will be at Bendels by Spring ‘09?

When Rogan Gregory was announced as Target’s new Go! International designer, the timing was rather suspect.

It was like a week after Rogan took the CFDA / Vogue Fashion Fund award, and since Proenza Schouler had recently launched their own Target collection, everyone was like, “Oh, Anna Wintour waved her wand.”

But in fact, things happened a little differently.

“We were offered a partnership with Target about two years ago,” Rogan told us at last night’s Sundance Channel bash at Barneys, “But we told them we wouldn’t do it, because they couldn’t produce the clothes in a sustainable, ecologically respectful way. It took us two years of working with them to get it together, but Target pulled through and they did it. This is the first Target collection that can say it’s really green friendly, so it was worth waiting.”

The collection hits shelves in about two weeks, and you can get it at Target and - psych! - Barneys Co-Op, where you can also drop off your old t-shirts for recycling!

Ok, we’re a little pissed we didn’t get to this first, but alas, we haven’t yet jumped (ha) into the world of video, so we’re glad someone else got around to compiling every single image in which Anna told Caroline, “Jump!”

It’s gotten to such an extreme that there’s even a picture of Caroline jumping smack in the middle of the wall between our desks with a big ‘X’ through it saying, “No More Jumping Caroline!!!”

But we secretly love it.

If we’d made the video, we would’ve set it to Kris Kross, but at least we know the lyrics well enough to sing, “Jump, Jump!” in our head.

Remember Ashanti?

We didn’t either, until we heard this:

Like Eve, the R&B singer will serve as a face of Cartier’s Love Bracelet this season.

She’s gorgeous, poised, and quite eloquent, so we’re sure she’ll be a fabulous spokeswoman for AIDS relief and research, but the choice does have us a little perplexed since we haven’t heard her songs on the radio since… um… college?

So Ashanti is really like the Minnie Driver of hip hop: Totally great, totally talented, but somehow still sliding off the radar despite buzz from 1999.

Maybe this is prelude to a comeback? After all, if diamonds are forever, perhaps they can inject her with some sort of longevity.

WHICH socialite is luring her friends via email to a party by telling them Getty Images will be there, so it’ll be a great time for photo ops? Don’t forget your makeup, girls.

Dita Von Teese is performing for Cointreau tonight, but if you can’t get into that party (at a tiny little Boite on the Lower East Side), take heed:

There’s another burlesque act in town and it’s open to all.

Lord & Taylor has imported the cast of Gypsy to their Manhattan store this Thursday at 6 for a little performance.

The party commemorates Lord & Taylor’s recent revival of their coveted Rose symbol, and we suppose it’s appropriate since Gypsy’s having yet another revival on Broadway as well.

Still, we wonder exactly what kind of performance can happen in a public and family-friendly department store…

Especially since it won’t be happening in their lingerie dressing rooms! Ah well.

Sent in by reader Nina. Thanks!

“Did it strike anyone that Blair’s running through the crowd after getting yogurt thrown on her was like Anna Wintour’s running through the masses outside of Fashion Week when someone slammed a pie in her face? Plus 2.” - From the plus-side list of the Daily Intelligencer’s GG recap.

So, Sean Avery, player of both hockey and women, is going to spend his summer interning at 4 Times Square.

Apparently, the 28-year old Ranger loves all things fashion and hopes to hone his sartorial skills “making copies” under Anna Wintour’s watchful eye.

And he doesn’t just shop for his girlfriends, WWD says. “He prizes his black patent leather Yves Saint Laurent high-tops,” which obviously means Vogue’s the next best place for him after the Madison Square Garden ice rink.

For those of you always asking how to get a foot in the fashion industry, take note, signing a $2 million contract that leaves your summers free for interning is probably a good bet.

And for those of you already lucky enough to have landed a summer internship in Vogue’s closet, let us know which editor he throws against a wall first.

10. So did Lauren just like text Lisa Love to say she’s quitting?

9. Audrina wears dresses? Phillip Lim ones?

8. What the hell is a “computer class”?

7. Heidi - you really need another “girls’ night”? Don’t these usually end in embarrassment for you?

6. Is Lauren wearing a knuckle ring? For her first post-fight scene with Heidi? And Justin Bobby? (And is that a kids’ bed sheet wrapped around her chest?)

5. “Oh my gosh, here comes Justin” - read from a teleprompter?

4. Oh Heidi, fake nails? Dark red? Oof - but we guess it’s just another one for the list.

3. Could Justin Bobby care less about the whole Heidi-Lauren backstory? Guess he really wants to get Audrina on the bike…

2. Does Lo secretly hate Audrina?

1. Has Spencer kind of retired from the show? Because he’s actually coming across as semi-sage compared to everyone else.

We’d bet money or even shoes on the fact that someone at the Costume Ball will arrive wearing Prada, and someone will arrive wearing Lanvin.

The curious thing is, Miuccia Prada and Alber Elbaz may not arrive at all.

We hear from an inside source that, as of today, neither the Prada head nor the Lanvin creative director have made plans to attend the Costume Ball, a curious notion considering both are huge Vogue advertisers and both are also pretty damn cool.

Even more interesting is that Prada most definitely has a table at the ball - they’ve even invited Tilda Swinton, Oscar winning awesomeness, to sit there.

Why are the designers avoiding the “Biggest Party of the Year”?

And is there any way that we could just dress up as them and go instead? Because duh, we’d totally wear glasses and a bow tie or a giant feather hoop skirt, just for the chance to shake George Clooney’s hand and brush up against an Olsen!

At last season’s Marc party, Faran found out that Lydia Hearst and Michelle Tractenberg were BFF. She took that photo at left to prove it, air kissed, and moved on.

But it seems Lydia and Michelle do more than just fashion shows together - they also do TV.

Today, at this very second, Lydia Hearst is filming one of her first scenes for Gossip Girl, the show that Michelle Tractenberg will soon enter.

According to one of her reps, Lydia will be playing a “socialite,” which is obviously quite a stretch for the model / actress / activist / workout fiend.

When will her episodes air? Will she torture Serena or Blair? Will Nate or Chuck fall victim to her charms?

Or is she… gasp… THE REAL GOSSIP GIRL?

Sit tight, little preppies.

xoxo Gossip Girl… oh, who are we kidding.

The Grecian dress from Target’s in-house Go International collection looks both random, cheaply made, and poorly fitting - even on the model.

We love a good steal from our favorite megastore, but draping should be left to those with quality fabric and serious skills. Plus, the dress doesn’t really fit the fashion-for-the-masses mold.

After wondering aloud where they got the idea, we dropped the subject until we came across this gorgeous Alberta Ferretti frock.

Our first thought was, “Hello, Lauren Conrad!” And our second was, “Um, looks like Target scrolls Net-a-Porter as much as we do.”

So Target, if you’re listening, we love what you’ve done with mass fashion and please call Mr. Alexander McQueen to design the next GO International collection.

But leave the intricate draping, pleating, flowing silk look to those with access to Italian fabric mills.

There was a love letter to online shopping in the London Times this weekend.

The author says, “Shopping has long been viewed as something that offers comfort in times of need, loneliness, boredom or inebriation, and now the door is open 24/7.” She’d rather spend obscene amounts of money on Net-a-Porter than in Harvey Nichols and even admits to buying a few outrageous pieces after a night of heavy drinking.

Natalie sympathizes. She loves to shop online - she’s bought clothes, shoes, bags and even, wait for it, bras. She credits some of it to the fact that she often buys the same brands so she always knows her size - she also knows the difference between buying a bag (safe) versus buying a dress (risky) over the internet - and that Nordstrom has the best return policy ever.

But I’m so baffled by the entire concept. How in the world do you know how something fits/feels/hangs without trying it on?

When I shop, I have to take every size - yes, small, medium and large - into the dressing room to see which fits best. I own jeans in sizes 28 through 31, dresses range from a 4 to an 8 and that’s even from the same brand! I can’t be bothered with ordering something, waiting for it, and possibly hating it and having to go through the trouble of sending it back.

Not to mention the fact that I have little self control and once I open the floodgates of online shopping, it’s only a matter of time before I stumble home at 3 am and buy the shoes to the left with little or no thought of the consequences.

If you shop online, how do you do it? And do you still go to real stores like Natalie, or do all your purchases get made in cyberspace?

Now that Kate Moss has returned to Agent Provocateur, she’s already back at work filming underwear videos for the brand. Here are outtakes from her first escapade, sent in by a source. They’re cool, but… wow, we never realized how thin Kate Moss actually is until now… not so sexy, huh?

WHICH fashionable boutique has strict grooming rules for their shop girls? Specifically, French manicures are forbidden - they’re seen as too “pedestrian” for pushing Tory Burch…

Last week, we got about a million messages asking us to post about Gossip Girl which, as you all know, returns tonight.

We assume you’ve all read the interview in NYLON and know all about the coming yogurt fiasco on the steps of the Met.

But here’s a little more info courtesy Natalie’s HD Player: Tonight’s episode is called “The Blair Bitch Project.”

And here’s a little taste of what happens: “Blair hesitantly returns to school after being dethroned as Queen Bee; Serena struggles to adjust to living with her future stepbrother, Chuck, and receives disturbing packages from an unknown sender; Jenny’s drive to be popular hits a high.”

Who else thinks the packages come from Georgina? Discuss!

Ok! T-10 hours…

“I never comb my hair or make anything pretty. When people look too beautiful, it’s too easy. I know I’m dressed wrong if the businessman turns his head. But I like to think that after an hour of sitting next to me on the train, he’d look. I’d have grown on him.” - Lou Doillon, to the Sunday New York Times.

According to the Daily Telegraph, sales of sewing machines are way up, which means more people must be sewing their own clothes.

They cite the culture of fast fashion as inciting a backlash and causing people to want to customize their own clothes and make sure it wasn’t sewn in sweatshop.

We’ve had dreams of being super seamstresses long before Season 1 of Project Runway. The idea of making clothes exactly the way we want it - rather than scanning a zillion stores and sites in search of a dress design that popped into our head - and of it fitting us exactly how we want is enough to make us consider taking our own sewing machine down from its high place in the closet, before we remember that we don’t even remember how to thread the machine, let alone sew straight lines.

We’ve been considering taking a sewing class or two to get things started, but there are just a lot of other factors - time (it seems like it’s a lot faster to shop rather than design a dress, pick out the fabric, actually make the dress, deal with mending the dress that we probably didn’t sew correctly, etc), quality (after all, what the hell do we know about designing clothes?), and, oh yeah, skill.

So we’re wondering, do any of you sew your own clothes? And if so, how did you get started?

(Editor’s Note: If you make a compelling enough of an argument, you might be able to convince Britt and Natalie to sew their own dresses for an upcoming event. DIY ball gowns? Only if you’re inspiring…)

We’ve been avoiding the MOMA store on Spring St. because we can’t go in and out without buying a piece of really amazing jewelry.

But we have little self control when it comes to shopping so we’ll be heading there after work for this Murano glass bubble necklace by Marina and Susanna Sent.

The artists, who grew up in a family of Venetian glass blowers, strung the lightweight glass balls on a thick white rope to create one of the most perfect summer necklaces we’ve ever seen.

Will pair with a strapless dress, layer with lapis beads over a white t-shirt a la Dries, and wear it pretty much every day for the next three months.

We might even blow some pink Bubble Yum for extra effect.

WHICH popular model recently lost favor with a major fashion brand after a big campaign shoot? She insisted on doing her hair and makeup herself, and when she smeared her dark nail polish, she refused to let the manicurist touch her. “They can Photoshop it!” she snapped to the makeup crew in her posh accent.

We’re all for Sex and the City spoilers, but MySpace comments?

Not so much.

So imagine our “oh ick” moment this morning, when the official Sex and the City MySpace left us a comment - a giant photo of SJP eating pizza that said, “Hey, it’s Carrie. Need to talk about Big. Maybe over pizza?”

Maybe over our puking bodies?

Of course we’d expect a major motion picture to have its own MySpace. It’s just the pretending-they’re-Carrie and the leaving-pizza-comments that gets a little out of hand.

So although we’re thrilled to see the movie when it finally premieres, here’s what we’re going to tell this silly MySpace campaign:

We’re just not that into you.

The publicist of a major Italian fashion label confides some news about Nina Garcia:

She’s still styling for ELLE.

This week, the publicist’s American showroom received a request for sample pulls from the magazine.

When asked who’d be the creative director behind the shoot, the assistant on the phone answered, “Nina Garcia.”

Unless this is some sort of reality show challenge, it seems the Project Runway judge has indeed accepted an at-large position with the magazine, at least until she gets her own TV show / consulting firm / PR Director title / you get it.

It seems the constant catalogue of Blair and Serena dresses at Forever 21 and Fred Flare aren’t the only homages to Gossip Girl this year:

We hear Dolce & Gabbana is shooting their Fall ‘08 campaign in a Manhattan mansion, just around the corner from the Palace Hotel, otherwise known as Serena Van Der Woodsen HQ.

The models - Lily Donaldson, Jessica Stam, and Caroline Trentini - have all been dressed to look like Brearley babes going out - and they’re shooting them “sneaking out” of their mansion as if it were a paparazzi shoot of these three rich chicks getting caught in the middle of the night.

There’s a separate shot of boys, too, in trenches and black suits that don’t mimic the North Face puffies actually worn by private school boys, but definitely do imitate the Chuck Bass school of wardrobe.

The whole campaign is being shot by Steven Klein, and it’s almost (almost!) done.

A source on the set says Caroline Trentini is the nicest girl to deal with, but that’s no surprise…

Did Heidi Klum just reveal the first challenge of Project Runway’s Season Five?

She recently told Contact Music that she’s constantly inundated with requests to redesign uniforms for the likes of Starbucks and American Airline employees.

We’re pretty sure these people aren’t asking her directly, but probably the designer contestants she’ll be Auf’ing all season in a few months.

First up? Actually, probably Starbucks. It would fit in with the brand’s recent change of wardrobe anyway.

And the judge? Well, we’d hope for Armani, given his own work in uniform re-design, but we’re betting it’ll be more like Howard Schultz.

“I’m just an old-fashioned, shy girl” - Dita von Teese, to the Daily Mail.

Kerry Morgan, 22, model, (we know it breaks our rules, but we just had to)

Got Her: At the Vogue/Cover Girl party last night.

Stalked Her: Hello? Do you see her dress? Even Diddy gave her a second look. (He was wearing an original Members Only jacket, by the way).

Shot Her: Because we were staring at her for so long it would have been creepy if we didn’t go up and introduce ourselves.

She Says: “The shoes are Loubs! I wanted to wear something sexy so I borrowed the dress from Cassie. It’s Alessandro Dell’Acqua.”

We Say: Mission accomplished. And those aren’t just any Louboutins, they’re the Rodarte ones, and we seriously admire you for wearing those all night.

The sad thing is, we actually care about this stuff…

So we hear from a source at Epic Records that Audrina’s “work friend,” Chiara, will start having a bigger presence on the show. That seems to be good news, as the source claims Chiara is “smart,” “hard working,” and “rad.” Look out for her towards the end of this season.

Meanwhile, Jessica from People’s Revolution recently sent out an email saying she’d resigned to freelance for other companies. We hope at least one of those brands has an eyeshadow or mascara, because she has the coolest eyes we’ve ever seen.

But Jessica’s new absence leaves more questions:

1. How will Whitney triumph at work if someone else isn’t around to ignore the Pussycat Dolls?

2. Does this mean there’s a permanent spot open for Lauren?

We love the trend of modeling agencies starting their own blogs (thanks, Elite, for starting it!) because it gives us gossip and access to our favorite girls at like half the speed of stalking.

This week, Women Management launched their own blog, and here’s what we learned:

*That Ryan McGinley shot Shannan Click (left) for his own personal work.

*That Mariacarla Boscono is friends with Sean Lennon (did they meet through Irina?).

*That Meredith Melling Burke totally digs Toni Garnn.

*That Julia Stegner shot a Maybelline campaign in the rain last Friday and we totally missed it!

Check it out for yourselves.

We’ve always wished Teen Vogue had an uber eco-conscious fraternal twin sister who would be the founding member of her school’s Ethical Fashion Club, and tote around Naomi Klein’s No Logo as her boldest accessory.

Ok, so not really, but we do think BBC’s new online magazine Thread. is pretty cool, and fills a void we didn’t know we had.

The shoots are styled entirely with clothing that fits the magazine’s “Fashion Without Victim” tagline without looking extra crunchy.

Everything in the magazine must be at least one of the following:

- Made and traded sustainably
- Made of sustainable materials
- Recycled or vintage

As a part of the launch, on April 22, BBC Three will also air a four-part series called Blood, Sweat and T-shirts that sends six “fashion addicts” to experience life working in India’s cotton mills. We think it’s an excellent idea, so here’s to hoping Thread’s model selection improves a bit, and that the sentiment echoes with youth across the Atlantic.

Maybe next month’s issue can feature Alexa Chung visiting real sweatshops in India rather than setting up her faux sweat shops in London.

— JAZZI MCGILBERT

This video marks the first time we’ve really heard Raquel Zimmermann speak - and we’re in love.

If Freud had had a sexy secretary, we imagine she would’ve been a lot like Raquel.

Watch her smile, strut, and seduce you with her “and I go hoome and go to zleep” accent.

Best line: “Freja, stop staring at me!”

Worst line: The requisite “I drink lots of water” non-tip.

Remember that NYLON party we went to a couple weeks ago?

Well, I walked away with the prettiest glass bottle of Chloé perfume. The smell, however, wasn’t nearly as nice. But I tried it, just in case. Natalie said, “all wrong” and “too woodsy”.

I tried again. My roommates loved it, and so did my boy neighbors. And the woman shopping in Jumelle. And the girl who stopped me on the street today to ask what “divine” scent I was wearing. Even Natalie asked, “Wow, what is that?”

I know scents vary depending on the person, but do they vary on the same person from the first spritz to the third? Did my skin somehow adapt? Is that even possible?

Ruth La Ferla just wrote about bloggers and the dramatic way in which they’re changing the fragrance industry. They’ve cracked open the world of niche perfumes to an audience that’s used to learning about new scents in People or the billboard above their gas station, giving giants like Estée Lauder and Coty a mini panic attack.

Natalie is indeed prompted to smell a new perfume based on a positive review whereas I’m influenced by the print ads, (ridiculous, I know). And yet we’re both aware it’s impossible to form an opinion of a scent without wearing it repeatedly.

If I’d read Chandler Burr’s scathing review of the Chloé scent and trusted my initial sniff, I would have kept Chloé as a pretty paperweight. Instead, it’s replaced the YSL Homme I’ve trusted for almost a year.

Do you read scent reviews? How do you determine which perfume is right for you without wearing it for a bit? And more importantly, has an offensive scent ever become your fave?

Before the grandiose Erickson Beamon birthday necklace gesture of Gossip Girl ‘07, we had no idea people actually cared about Erickson Beamon.

Britt recalls from her days in retail that the hideously overpriced costume jewelry would sit untouched for months, only randomly purchased by total randoms. In fact, the only time she ever touched any of it was when it needed fixing - the polished rocks (yes, actual rocks) were known for falling from their settings a bit too often.

So we were a little surprised that last week’s big accessories news was a tame SJP outfit topped with a mélange of mismatched Beamon baubles, for which we hope she was dearly paid.

And today’s first e-mail pitch? “Media Alert: Dita von Teese wearing Erickson Beamon!” from the Phillips de Pury party.

Somebody over there’s working overtime to get glass and plated gold that starts at $700 a pop on everyone’s mind - the question is, who’ll be paid next for a red carpet plug? Paging Rihanna…

Tiffany, Steven Alan girl; Mara, tutor

Got Them: Lazing away the day on the corner of Prince and Mott.

Stalked Them: Because they were both wearing the same thing, except not really, and we wanted to know what they were drinking - a cappuccino and a watermelon juice, in case you’re wondering.

Shot Them: Because, Hello, they were totally giving us an advertisement for Steven Alan style

They Say: (Actually, not much. We asked them why they were dressed the same, to which they only giggled.)

We Say: We love fifth grade chic!

—BRETT KANE

“Think of me as your eco-everywoman.” - Cindy Crawford, in Vanity Fair.

Spotted on Prince Street yesterday afternoon.

A preview to the Met Ball?

Only to us…

Fashionista reader Kathleen writes in with these super-ugly Steve Madden shoes.

“Definitely trying to be Balenciaga,” she says.

Sure - unless they’re definitely trying to be part of a Toys ‘R Us ad on acid.

The “Bukled Bright Multi” shoe costs $99.95 which is about an eighth of what the Balenciaga lego shoes cost. They boast a four-inch heel and an e-commerce option.

Dignity and batteries not included.

For those of you who haven’t been abducted by Heatherette and dragged, drugged, on a plane, you may not know about the Life Ball.

It’s a giant celebration in Vienna every year that raises incredible funds and awareness for AIDS research and prevention.

Each year, a fashion label is chosen to host the event and throw a giant runway show before the dance begins.

Last year, it was (yep) Heatherette.

This year, it’s Agent Provocateur.

It’s exciting enough that there will be a giant runway show staged in a Hapsburg palace consisting entirely of corsets, underwear, and lace, but there’s something even giddier for the event:

Kate Moss is coming!

Of course it makes sense, considering she’s the face of Agent Provocateur, but still - so exciting.

We’ll have spies at the party, so stay tuned - the actual party happens in May.

We were walking by LUSH today, and one of their employees was outside.

She was dressed in about a hundred plastic bags, all pinned to her apron to form a very ugly dress, and she was screaming, “Turn in your bags! Turn in your bags!”

It’s too bad we were so creeped out, because it was an excellent idea:

Bring in your plastic bags to LUSH and get something much, much cooler: The chance to sample some of the cool company’s signature bath and shower goodies, and the knowledge that instead of your bags filling a landfill, they’ll actually get recycled.

But what about recycling the bags yourself by wearing them as a dress?

We wouldn’t recommend that - it’s a little too Marjorie-The-Trash-Heap from Fraggle Rock.

Oh god, please tell us you’re old enough to remember Fraggle Rock…

We’re getting a little Gossip Girl crazy around here.

The sun is out, we’re eating Sour Skittles, and there are only 5 days left until “The Greatest Show of Our Time” returns, (we’re obsessed with NY Mag’s running commentary and look forward to it almost as much as we look forward to the show itself).

Fred Flare’s thrilled too.

Their “What’s New” section boasts a Canvas Jenny Tote and a Blair baby doll dress. The tote’s kind of eh but the Blair dress comes complete with a bib, buttons and ruffle - she’d totally wear it with white tights and patent pumps.

We searched for a Chuck grandpa cardigan or a brightly colored Serena scarf but no luck yet. We’ll be checking back for more inspired titles.

(Editor’s Note: Please enjoy this shot of Chuck at SubMercer courtesy of photog extraordinare Faran. Britt’s to the RIGHT, but she didn’t think her beauty could hold up next to Mr. Bass. Check out that ripped jersey and exposed dog tags, ladies!)

So everyone’s in a tizzy over the Daily News’ story today, claiming that the filming of Fashionista’s driving ELLE staffers crazy, and that no one thinks the winning contestant will be given a job.

Weird - we were recently told by someone close to the whole ordeal that the entire show is being filmed in fake offices (so no reason for the people with real jobs to feel like anyone’s getting “under their feet”), and that the winning position is to assist the accessories closet (which, believe it or not, really is a job a million girls would kill for).

Maybe they just mean that staffers are often wrangled away from their desks and into shootings someplace else in town?

Because that would be annoying, though not really real. Surprise!

To: Natalie@Fashionista.com

From: BigLove@HBO.com

Spotted:

Chloe Sevigny heading uptown on the R train, looking so relaxed and chic.

She must have been shopping but I couldn’t see what was on the bag she had in between her feet.

Interesting that she’s in town, considering it’s campaign season.

;)

We probably haven’t watched PBS since the last time we tuned in for Sesame Street, but we think we might have to forgo TiVo’ed Gossip Girl episodes for a little educational broadcasting tonight.

Illicit: The Dark Trade, a National Geographic Special, airs at 8pm EST, and we’re too curious to not see how deep into the world of fake bags it’ll go.

The documentary is based on the 2005 best seller Illicit, by Foreign Policy Editor-in-Chief Dr. Moisés Naím, who thinks that the economy surrounding fake goods could be more dangerous than terrorism - definitely comes off as an overstatement, but maybe we’ll understand after we see it tonight.

And if it sounds like enough of you tune in, too, maybe we’ll even have a little class discussion in Community tomorrow.

For now, we just think it’s too bad it couldn’t premiere in tandem with the Murakami exhibit.

When we checked out the Rogan for Target line courtesy of NYLON yesterday, we thought, “Oh my god, I need those shorts/that dress/that vest/nearly all of it.”

And apparently, we’re in some sort of topsy-turvy fashion dimension, because Julie Gilhart feels the same way.

According to The Daily, Julie’s convinced her friend Rogan (and apparently some mega-store execs), to let the Barneys flagships in New York and LA carry the line before it even debuts at Target.

This is probably the first time anything under $80 will have sold at Barneys, even if it’s going for sale on the Co-op floor, so we fully expect round-the-block lines on Madison come May 8th when the line debuts a full ten days ahead of the super chain - Barneys LA will carry the line starting May 15.

But you’ll have to act fast if you’re already imagining those leopard shorts with Chloe wedges - the clothes will only be available at Barneys for five days, after which you’ll have to make the trek to your nearest Target (or cough up shipping) if you want to get in on the fun.

No wonder male models have such a hard time.

While high fashion brands eschew the Cocos and the Chanels in lieu of actresses and It girls for their clothing campaigns, designers continue to use models as the face of their fragrances, (most of the time).

But it doesn’t hold true for the boys. Matthew McConaughey struck an awkward pose for Dolce, McDreamy’s doing Avon and WWD guesses Frida Giannini’s already signed James Franco for Gucci.

An interesting choice because:

- We bet most people who shop at Gucci don’t even know the mostly indie actor’s name, even if he was the bad guy in Spiderman.

- We’ll forever picture him circa 2000 in Freaks and Geeks - and we bet Frida hasn’t seen it.

- After seeing a couple of men’s shows in February, we know there are some seriously Gucci-esque male models out there.

But billboards with Franco’s face on them? Well, we’ll never complain.

“After recently sitting close enough to Madonna at a restaurant in Mayfair to see the svelte star’s lunch of a single boiled egg, I wonder if the saying ‘Blondes have more fun’ is really true.” - Emily Zak, Vogue UK editor.

We really have no idea what Peaches Geldof does every day.

We hear about sightings and projects - first that she would design a capsule collection for PPQ after closing their show for Spring, then that she would be getting her own MTV reality show editing a magazine - and now we’re hearing about another gig, too.

Peaches is said to host a best-dressed series on British channel Fiver with bestie Daisy Lowe. The show will include commentary and interviews with the women who made it to Glamour’s Best Dressed List of 2008, so there’s maybe that very slight chance that Kate Moss will actually drop by to discuss her jeans-tucked-into-boots techniques.

Think Daisy can convince step mum Gwen onto the show as a pundit?

Guess we’ll find out soon - the series begins at the end of this month, and then we’ll know for sure whether she’s a Mary-Kate or a Paris.

WWD reports a rather fun rumor this morning -

That Audrey Tautou is in talks to replace Nicole Kidman as the new Chanel No.5 commercial girl.

If the story holds true, Jean-Pierre Jeunet will direct Audrey, as he did in Amélie, and we’re sure the whole thing will serve as a sort of pre-commercial to the Coco Chanel biopic, Coco Avant Chanel, Audrey is set to headline.

But will she run around paris in a floaty pink dress?

For whatever reason, we have the feeling this one’s going to involve Audrey staring in the mirror of a beautiful vanity table, but we’ll see…

“When I go home at night I play Guitar Hero or listen to Billie Holiday. I’m amazing at Guitar Hero! I had it written into the show. I go to tournaments in Brooklyn and put fake tattoos all over my body so I look like a rock star. No, ‘cause I am a rock star. I made it to the semi-finals once, but they didn’t have style points.” - Blake Lively, to NYLON.

Malachy, Beauty Publicist

Got Her: On Mercer, heading to the place to be today - the post office on Greene.

Stalked Her: Because we’ve never seen a real woman wear such an Olsen-esque piece of clothing and not look ridiculous.

Shot Her:Because beyond the fur and the plaid, she had on some pretty awesome jewelry like the lapis stone bracelet, a snake bangle and horsebit thingy. Plus, we love an oversized clutch.

She Says: “Thank god I killed that bear! (awkward silence) Just kidding! It’s totally fake. Um, I guess my style is homeless chic?”

We Say: The style’s actually called Olsen.