“Geez, I’m surprised Google didn’t make their letters all pink and rhinestoned for the day.” - Kyle.

We hear Julia Roitfeld is working on a new project, an indie magazine called The Last.

The giant new glossy will actually be made of newsprint, and creative directed by Magnus Berger, the artist currently dating Ms. R.R.

Julia will do projects with graphic design, following her past work with V Magazine, Zac Posen, Peter Som, Luella Bartley, and Teen Vogue.

Also involved is fashion wunderkind Keegan Singh, the stylist and all-around hot boy who’s worked for Vogue and a gazillion It Girls.

The project sounds like it has real potential to be the first art book created by a new generation of movers and makers, and we absolutely cannot wait to see it.

Go kids, go.

Update: We’re hearing now that Julia isn’t set to be the Editor (the project is mainly Magnus’), just a big fan and supporter. But here’s to hoping she does come on board! - 6/4

Natalie and I are both kind of wondering what’s up with the influx of moonlit animal tees.

Maison Martin Margiela’s $1,395 tee recently made headlines for knocking off a David Penfound painting. But now we’re seeing more of these tees hitting the pages of NYLONguys, like this one from Element.

You normally see shirts like these sold in souvenir shops, or on the backs of ATV riders about to head out hunting for the day.

So what’s the deal? How did this look make it onto everybody’s radar? Maybe we missed something, but we don’t really see the appeal in wearing a t-shirt with a moose on it.

—KYLE HAYES

There’s been some excitement for a while now in anticipation of the launch date for YOOX.com’s vintage Dior sale.

And so the date just arrived in our inbox: Set your alarms to June 4th, when the Holly Brubach-curated selection will finally go on sale.

The clothes are coming from all over the place - estate sales, private collections, Christie’s auctions - and include wonder pieces like the Dior couture gown, at left, from 1952 ($8,665).

YOOX says the sale’s expected to run through July, but judging just by the little look book they sent, we’ll be shocked to see it on sale past a week from now.

Quick!

How are these shoes different?

1. Length of ankle strap.

2. Angle of the back part of the shoe that covers your heel (sorry, we’re not cobblers)

3. Color of buckle.

4. Color of that little cap on the heel.

5. Oh, and the insole - One’s Jimmy Choo, $585; the other’s Nine West, $89.

But if either of these stomped past us down Madison? We’d think you were out $600…

Don’t ask us how or why, but we somehow ended up with one extra ticket to Sex and the City: The Movie tonight.

It’s for the 6:30pm showing at the Battery Park Regal theater, and we’ve decided to just give it away to one of our lovely readers.

Here’s how: The first person to e-mail Tips@Fashionista.com with the correct answer to the question below, gets it.

The catch? You’ll have to swing by our office before 4pm today to get it.

So here goes:

Which model once ran for European Parliament?

GO!

(Also, we’ll give you a shiny, new copy of the SATC: The Movie book to go along with it, just because we’re actually super nice people.)

Update: Actually reader Ana got it!

To: Tips@Fashionista.com

From: Laura @INoticeEverything.com

Oh no, Oh no! I just watched the E! red carpet special of the SATC premiere, and I saw SJP show off her (ugly) gold Givenchy shoes. Clicking through the Fashion Police on E!’s website, I noticed that Heidi Montag wore the same shoes when she made a fool of herself on Dave Letterman.

What’s worse: SJP and Heidi wearing the same shoes period or SJP wearing the shoes AFTER Heidi has already ruined them? At least SJP had the decency to hide hers under that stunning Nina Ricci gown…

xo Laura

Ooh, we love happy fashion rumors, and here’s a really good one:

That the up-and-coming British label Poltock and Walsh, known for their kooky-cool take on girly dressing, will do a Topshop diffusion line within the next year.

There’s absolutely no proof this is happening, but there is something interesting:

Yesterday, Kate Moss - arguably Topshop’s biggest ambassador next to, um, us - was spotted wearing a P+W dress to a party.

She looked grown up, modern, and really hot:

Exactly the type of vibe we hope to find when Topshop flings open its NYC doors in October.

Kate, shopgirl for Lyell (at left), Jo, shopgirl for Mayle (right)

Got Them: On Mott St, after leaving the florist.

Stalked Them: Because Kate’s tights and Jo’s shorts/shoe combo made our heads whip around as we walked by

Shot Them: So many reasons actually: We loved Kate’s braids, Jo’s specs, the high-waisted tucked-in look, and because they look like an Anthropologie catalog come to life - plus, this is the second time we’ve spotted similarly dressed friends on Mott.

They Say: “We didn’t plan it, we just happen to dress alike a lot.”

We Say: You guys need a theme song.

I’ve been trying to avoid the OAK store for a week now. It’s been hard, real hard.

But that hasn’t stopped me from clicking through the pages of new things they’re stocking online. Among my favorites are the new styles of Rubber Duck espadrilles.

Reasons why I think everyone should have at least one pair:

1. They’re a cute alternative to boat shoes, but just as comfortable.

2. They come in seven black and white patterns from stripes to psychedelic checks.

3. OAK stocks men’s and women’s styles and sizes, so you can buy a pair for a boyfriend, girlfriend or any friend, really.

4. Ten percent of the sales go back to the workers in Bangladesh and China as bonuses for making the shoes, and other portions of the proceeds go to global charities

6. Because you can never have enough pairs of flats.

—KYLE HAYES

“You will have a Vogue wedding… Vogue photographers. Vogue makeup artists. Vogue airbrushing.” — the best line of the Sex and the City movie, as said by Candace Bergen.

Elise Øverland may just be getting into the menswear market with her label, but it looks like Rykiel Homme has seen its end.

Nathalie Rykiel, Sonia’s daughter, has revealed that the label has not lived up to the rest of the Sonia Rykiel empire, and so they’re pulling the collection off shelves.

Their SS 09 show in Paris is still on for next month, the last one after eighteen years.

We have to say we’re actually a little sad - who else is going to put the boys in pink leopard caps?

Robert Lee Morris, winner of two CFDA awards and longtime Donna Karan collaborator, is working on a jewelry line for Elizabeth & James.

According to WWD, MK + A are longtime fans of Morris’ jewelry, which ranges from blurred dollar sign earrings to rings with crosses.

His work has appeared in ELLE, Harper’s Bazaar and Vogue, and will be part of the Elizabeth & James label sometime this summer.

The line will consist of “silver and brass dagger necklaces, amorphous knuckle rings and edgy earrings” - expect to see Mary-Kate decked out in every piece during Fashion Week.

[**Note: We’ve only got one pair, in one size, so the first correct answer wins! If nobody gets this (which Jazzi is seriously doubting anyone will) we’ll give you a new letter every day until you do. Ok, Ready… Go!]

Update: OK wow, contest over. Reader Chris will be getting them!

“All the boxes (of clothes) are sitting in my mom’s living room at the moment. So we’ve got to get them out soon or she’ll just burn them or take them down to church.” - M.I.A., on the line she designed but hasn’t yet promoted.

Who: Bulga, maker of that Butterfly bag seen on every Soho shoulder circa 2005

What: Sample sale, 35% - 60% off retail - Any and all bags

Where: 214 West 39th St, between 7th and 8th, Ste 704

When: Today and tomorrow, 9am - 7pm

Why: You might be able to snag the Marquis! (at left)

Cash, credit, whatever, just be there.

—KYLE HAYES

Back when I was a beauty intern, I noticed something curious: the number one gifts to send to beauty editors are always the same - Picnic baskets, fluffy robes and flip-flops.

So we knew it was only a matter of time before somebody came up with this newest designer (makeup, that is) collaboration.

Trish McEvoy, Bobbi Brown and Laura Mercier have all just designed their own pair of limited-edition Havaianas. They’ll be available at Saks the entire month of June, and all proceeds from each sale benefit charity: water.

The one at top is Laura Mercier’s design - click through to check out Bobbi Brown’s and and Trish McEvoy’s.

(We kind of wish these were coming with neon nail polish, but whatever.)

Steve Madden knows that everybody on the planet is going to see Sex and the City - The Movie this weekend. He also knows that whatever is seen on the foot of Carrie Bradshaw is retail gold.

So he’s done his research.

At left, the Dior shoe that Carrie will wear while wandering the city and pondering her relationship with Big for the 8-millionth time. At right, Steve Madden’s copy.

He’s so accommodating, he’s even made a more sales-friendly version, with a lower, slimmer heel and lesser ankle strap.

How thoughtful.

As anyone with a MySpace account can tell you, previews for The Strangers are running everywhere.

The movie that stars Liv Tyler and features Gemma Ward in her first American movie has also launched their new website, and it’s sort of a kick:

Besides playing creepy noises every time you move your mouse, the site also features a biography section where you can read about the cast.

Liv Tyler’s bio includes her fifteen years of film roles, and takes about a minute to read.

Meanwhile, Gemma Ward’s bio is a monolithic scroll that lists every single designer she’s ever modeled for.

Ever.

Clearly, the marketing department at Universal is chock-stocked with Style.com refugees, because, wow.

During a transitional period of my life, I enjoyed a brief stint as a wardrobe stylist for Playboy magazine - also known as the most ironic job ever.

It was probably the most fun job I’ve ever had - deciding which frilly pieces of lace went with which table top, kitchen counter, couch, pool table… you get the idea.

Believe it or not, naked girls have been popular since long before Dita - but they haven’t always been “in fashion.” But now I can name a handful of lingerie designers (it’s funny to think that Kiki didn’t even exist three years ago) who one-up plenty of designers on the runway, and even mega-store Sephora now has a pin-up campaign.

Lingerie’s been on the mainstream mind since Marc’s Spring 08 show, since burlesque took over the LES, since Kate Moss for AP, since that Playboy France cover shot by Karl - but I’ve been taking notes since puberty.

So that’s why I’m so excited to see lingerie and pin-up get their due with a real-life fashion model - continue after the jump to see Anouck Lepere, and witness just why Playboy France might soon be getting more fashion props than Vogue.

— JAZZI McGILBERT

Elise Øverland’s presentation is always a favorite of Fashion Week -

You show up, you crash into Hope Atherton / Arden Wohl / Taylor Momsen, you walk around the solid block of impossibly cool and stylish women dressed like Nordic Warriors, you take a few photos, you drink, you kiss-kiss, you run to the Marc Jacobs show.

But last night, Elise revealed she might be changing things up a little bit:

“We need some guys!” she said. “Guys change the energy of everything! It would make things better!”

We’re not going to disagree there, especially since Elise got her start by designing for guys - Aerosmith’s Steven Tyler and his crew, when he needed tour costumes.

It would be cool to see some of that action in the collection - and definitely in the party!

As I was packing my bag to come to the office today, my roommate stopped me on my way out the door and asked an all too familiar question: “Is that a woman’s bag?”

Sure. It’s a black leather Marc by Marc tote with a little bit of shine to it. I got it on Bleecker and I’ve seen it carried everywhere around the city - mostly by women. But is that a bad thing?

I see fashionable men carry totes of all sizes all the time, but at what point along the bag spectrum (think of say, a briefcase on one end and a pink Juicy pouchette on the other, with a carryall from American Apparel in the middle) are men supposed to stop?

It’s funny how I’d carry a Muse, the rigid structure has a masculine appeal to it, though I’d never carry a Stam - even I’d make fun of the kiss lock closure.

So I’m wondering, where do all of you stand on this? Can a man embrace the functionality and cuteness of a woman’s bag without coming off as totally silly?

Better yet: Do bags really have a gender?

—KYLE HAYES

(almost forgot - image from the Sartorialist!)

Overheard in an elevator last night:

A young designer (we won’t mention your name, though we know it), babbling to a friend about how most investment banks won’t put money into a fashion label until it’s made $10 million.

The exception, she said, was Theory, whose president, Andrew Rosen, is meeting with emerging designers, she said, to invest in smaller brands, she said.

The only catch?

If your label is successful, Theory will always get a percentage of your sales - she said.

It’s a cool story if it’s true, but if you’re silly enough to talk loudly in a crowded elevator about your secret business meetings, maybe you’re also silly enough to get your facts wrong…

This may only matter to Refinery 29 staffers, but here goes:

Last night at the Men.Style.com party (or should we call it Lohan-gate?), designer Alison Lewis said she’d split with her design partner, Rachel Antonoff.

The two 26-year-olds were the chicks behind Mooka Kinney, the indie jumper label best known for getting a romper on Lily Donaldson during a summer paparazzi shoot.

They also have a dress on Carrie Bradshaw in the upcoming Sex and the City movie, which we’re seeing tonight at a screening (we’ll let you know…).

Alison will be merging with jewelry designer Samantha House on her new label, called Lewis + House.

Today’s WWD had a long article on what they’re calling the ‘return of the supermodel”.

We’ve sensed for a while that there’s definitely been a shift back to the unique women of the 90’s rather than models that we can sometimes barely tell apart.

But the article brings up something of note: that the design houses giving these women (“girls” just doesn’t seem quite right here) are mostly European with the exception (so far) of DSquared, which is designed by two brothers from Canada.

Do we have a problem with older women in America?

Try not to laugh at that.

(For an extra dose of fun, click through to see some of the upcoming ads for Fall, and a full list of which supe is posing for which brand.)

Reader Bridget sent in a follow up to an old Adventures - seems that Forever 21 let Steve Madden take the first jab at this Miu Miu, and came up with their own version only recently.

Honestly, we’re not so into any of the three, though the Forever 21 version definitely look the cheapest thanks to the addition of black, which just makes the other colors look like big mistakes.

But can any of you tell which is which (without clicking on the links first!)?

“Burberry, the British luxury fashion brand, is riding out the credit crunch with £450 wellies, an £11,000 alligator skin handbag and a £3,000 chevron coat worn by Sarah Jessica Parker in Sex and the City - the Movie.” - Steve Hawkes, in the London Times

“Sometimes I’ll walk past a store and see that [$500 flip-flops], or see rubber boots for $500, and it disgusts me. I know what it costs to make them.” - Robert Duffy, in the New York Times.

There was a fun little fact tucked in at the end of a longer story in WWD today:

Purple, everybody’s favorite magazine, is opening its first office in New York.

Olivier Zahm has announced that it will open in September, so we expect every 2008 grad to promptly freak out and try to land their first job / internship with the good people that put out images like these to make us all giggle in the middle of the work day.

Maybe that’s why we spotted him right in our neighborhood recently… will the office be in Soho?

Good luck!

This Thursday, BET is taking on the subject we’ve all been talking, thinking, and writing about for a while. In a half hour special, Fashion Blackout, they’ll bring together pretty much everyone you’d think (including Naomi, Andre Leon Talley, Constance White, and Tracy Reese) to sound off on the topic of Black presence, or lack thereof, in fashion.

Not to get too heavy, but as a Black woman working in fashion (or trying to), it’s really disheartening to see “No Ethnic Girls” on calls for models, or many other forms of blatant discrimination in the industry I love so dearly. I agree wholeheartedly with BET when they say it’s “one of fashion’s biggest faux-pas.”

It’s great to see this topic coming into the spotlight in a big way, so here’s to more open discussion on the topic - preferably longer than 30 minutes - plus, we need more time to hear Chanel speak (and we’re crossing our fingers that she does in fact speak).

If you’re bored or just curious, you can also take the Fashion Blackout quiz or just wait and watch the special when it airs this Thursday at 8:30pm.

— JAZZI McGILBERT

Margherita and Theresa Missoni already get to inherit a fashion label and a series of very cool print plates.

Now they’ll also get some hotels.

Reports are surfacing that the chain of Missoni hotels that have been in the works are finally ready to open across the world.

The properties come after a series of rumors that the brand would pair with the Ritz Carlton (they eventually went with Rezidor, a Belgian hotel group) to make some boutique hotels - maybe even with Missoni boutiques inside of them.

The first two open in Kuwait and Edinburgh, Scotland, and since Faran lived there for a year, she sincerely hopes Missoni makes a kilt for the occasion.

Earlier this week, we got some sort of invitation from G-Star - apparently, they’d be working with Dennis Hopper on an upcoming bash.

Then Tod’s sent us an email, saying that Gwyneth Paltrow had been directed by Dennis Hopper in new commercials for the brand.

And we’re like, why?

So here’s the possible fashion connections to actor Dennis Hopper:

1. Warhol made a print of him in the ’70s.
2. He was friends with James Dean.
3. His third wife (of five wives) was named Daria.

Aside from that, we’re totally lost, but as usual, we’ll watch anything with Gwyneth Paltrow in it - even a handbag commercial.

California may be home to Hollywood and Hugh Hefner, but Miami is getting a one-up in the form of a secret:

Victoria’s Secret, that is.

Today, the company announced its December fashion show won’t take place in Los Angeles, but instead in Miami, Florida.

The move comes on the heels of many VS changes, most notably in their models: Gisele is out and Miranda, Behati, and Trentini are in.

Maybe the high fashion profile that comes from using those runway girls is also what motivated the move down South -

Before VS got to Ocean Drive, it was taken over by Karl for Chanel’s most recent resort show!

Reader Emily sent in this latest design double-take, and we can’t get over how close the copy is.

The original wrap dress is navy blue and by Diane von Furstenberg. The copy is Pepto pink and by Calvin Klein.

Other than some minute changes here and there (length of the bow, shirring at the sleeve hems, size of neck ruffles) the “inspiration” is way too direct to call coincidence. The real kicker? The copy’s even called the “Wrap Front Dress”.

Calvin’s selling his for $128, which definitely puts it in the general price point of a DVF wrap dress - we would tell you the price of this particular one by Diane, but it’s already sold out on Nordstrom.

Glad some people know the difference.

Move over, Doutzen and Coco - there’s a new set of girl-crushes from Vogue and they only look like models.

They’re the current crop of Vogue assistants and (gasp) even a few interns, who will all be posing for a fall fashion story on “office chic.”

Of course, it’s no secret that to work at Vogue, you have to dress like a model anyway, so this probably isn’t a stretch for the various women involved.

Stay tuned for the story; it should be fun (though perhaps not as much fun as last year, when Lauren Santo Domingo styled a piece called “Dressing Like a Teenager” that somehow shoved every cutie from Chapin and Spence into the back of one truck for a photo…)

For those of you who missed out on the amazing Net-a-Porter sale this past week because you still can’t bring yourself to order Chloe shoes online, here’s a real-life sale to get you in on the fun:

Ksubi, maker of Ashley Olsen’s jeans, is having a sample sale in LA all day tomorrow and Friday.

Stop by 860 S. Los Angeles Street (the Cooper Building), #529, from 9am - 5pm.

Expect “great stuff from past seasons,” drinks and a DJ.

Who doesn’t love a good mix of party and shopping?

WHICH model ran into a little trouble with the law recently? It seems she was using a neighbor’s dumpster as her own trash can so often he finally called the cops on her…

When news got out that the new Project Runway would be leaving Bravo for Lifetime, the general reaction was, “Lifetime? You mean the channel that plays The Golden Girls?” [Full disclosure: I’m a huge GG fan, that’s Golden, not Gossip, and I maintain Blanche Devereux was the original Samantha.]

And it looks like Lifetime made have heard us loud and clear. Former intern Brett wrote in to let us know that Lifetime’s changed its logo - and it kind of looks a bit like Interview’s.

We love it whenever there are cuter outfits involved.

There have been some rumblings of the Proenza boys starting an accessories mecca ever since last July when they sold 45% of their company to Valentino, but now it’s official.

According to WWD, Proenza’s signed a licensing deal with Italian shoe god, Giuseppe Zanotti.

It’s an odd pairing - Proenza, maker of bustier-tanks (and kind of clunky shoes, really); Giuseppe Zanotti, maker of these, but we trust this is more of a “can we use your factory?” situation rather than a joint-design effort.

There are already some styles for Resort in the works, but the line officially kicks off with Spring ‘09, which means we’ll work extra hard to get full-length pictures for you guys at their show in September.

See you in the pit!

Everyone’s still taking guesses for July’s all-black Vogue Italia cover, but there’s actually another upcoming Vogue cover featuring a black model, too -

The June/July Vogue Paris has two covers, one with Laetitia Casta, the other with Parisian superstar Noémie Lenoir.

Noémie’s the first non-white woman to grace the cover alone in more than a year (other than Andre J. and Naomi who both shared covers with white models).

Unfortunately, Noémie only gets one photo in the Mario Testino editorial and she, again, is sharing a pose with Laetitia.

Maybe she should have held out for more solo pages in Vogue Italia?

—KYLE HAYES (our new intern!)

And you thought the Cory Kennedy train had derailed long ago.

NYLON just reported that the face of Urban Decay is now the face of Sebastian, too.

Here’s a little behind-the-scenes video of her shooting the campaign for those of you still in disbelief - click to hear that she (of course!) uses the products on her own time, that it’s made for “people”, and to watch her try to hop around in her broomstick yellow YSL Tributes.

Whether the main product, Whipped Crème, will come with a diagram on how to get the perfectly haven’t-seen-a-shower-in-months look remains to be seen…

Remember back when Britt and Faran met Joe Corre at the Agent Provocateur / Kate party earlier this month?

Remember how Faran jokingly asked if he would name panties after them? Remember how funny it was when he said he would even though nobody thought he would?

Turns out Joe was dead serious, because here they are, on their way to an AP near you come September.

The one on the left is the Faran, and on the right is the Britt (she actually got two versions, click through to check them out).

Britt would like it to be noted that she’s actually much more conservative than her new panties might imply…

We fully admit we watched Living Lohan last night, and it was about on par with the latest Indiana Jones: Poorly planned, gleefully great when it wasn’t paying attention, and ultimately better with alcohol.

But as Dinah Lohan constantly Googled herself, and the show’s producers considered it a plot point, we noticed something awful:

Dinah was wearing black nail polish.

Her young but leathery daughter Ali was also wearing black nail polish.

Their rock solid assistant, whose sole job it seemed was to keep Googling the Lohans, wore black nail polish, too.

And so we knew, it’s officially over. Like Kristen Johnson plunging from the window in the best Sex and the City episode ever, this was “the end of an era”:

Black nail polish is dead.

But keep your bottles around, so you can coat silver barrettes, Tory Burch logos, and Prada sandal stones black, to make them cooler…

PS: The graphic at left is from Hollywood Grind. It has nothing to do with this article, except it shows Lindsay at age fourteen, and Ali at age fourteen. Odd how Ali looks like the older sister, isn’t it?

We anticipate some hate comments on this one, but we actually like the dress at right from Forever 21.

It’s clearly a send-up of the Marc by Marc Jacobs dress at left, but sadly that dress is not for everybody - in fact, quite literally, it’s not for every body.

Stick thin girls will look great in it, and so will really curvy bombshells - think Top Model Whitney, Raven Simone, and Jurnee Smollett, who was so good on Grey’s Anatomy last week, we totally cried.

But if you’re short or just have a short torso, that dress may not be such a great idea - the bow at the top is a little overwhelming if the space from your boobs to your hips is just a few inches.

The Forever 21 dress has a great drop waist, which can help elongate your body, and also make you feel a little taller. It’s $24.50, which is great, and it seems far enough away from the Marc version to be it’s own dress… which is even greater.

Sometimes, it’s the little things that make you happy.

This week, BeneFit Cosmetics releases PosieTint, a spin off of their famous BeneTint liquid that stains lips and cheeks (and eyelids, if you’re really brave and know what you’re doing).

The texture, durability, and ease of BeneTint is amazing, but the color hasn’t changed since it was first invented, and if you don’t like having a deep rose color on your face, it’s probably not the right product for you.

But PosieTint has the same formula, it’s just lighter and pinker.

You may think it would be best for fair-skinned girls, but we dare all of you with honey and coffee-colored skin to try it, too - it’s cool how great a sweet, light pink shade can look on darker skin tones.

Lutz & Patmos loves guest designers, though they’re usually of Fabien/Carine /Sofia type.

So we were super surprised and pleased this morning when WWD reported that the sweater lovers new guest designer is an Amtrak conductor, Chris Waugh.

Apparently, Conductor Chris and Tina Lutz became fast fashion friends on the train after Lutz’ repeated trips home to Rhode Island, eventually leading to him designing his own sweater for L&P, called the Shoreliner, after his train line. (The only available picture of it online was from the WWD article, modeled by Conductor Chris’ daughter, Brooke, at left and tiny.)

At first, we were like, “What experience does he have designing clothes?” And then were we were like, “Oh yeah. Just as much as Kirsten Dunst, really.”

A curious phenomenon is sweeping the streets of New York, and we’re dying to know if you’ve seen it elsewhere:

Girls strapping their gladiator sandals over their skinny jeans.

It can look clumsy if you don’t have the right proportions for it (hint: if your legs are quite short, turn away from the screen), but there’s something intriguing about turning gladiator straps into a kind of accessory themselves, and it also stretches the shoes past their summer use into Spring and Fall.

But is this look just really silly and best seen on a Vice Magazine “Don’t”?

Or does it actually have real fashion potential?

Last week, we raised some hell about big companies making t-shirts that say “recycle” and “earth day” - even though the companies are major polluters, and exactly 0% of their clothing is 100% natural.

Someone at the Wall Street Journal must have heard us, because their Sunday fashion story broke down which major fashion companies claim they’re “green,” and which of them actually are environmentally and/or socially considerate.

Among the winners in the article are Loomstate (left), Patagonia, and Timberland - the latter two because they make their clothes and shoes with recycled materials; the denim because it comes from organic cotton.

Meanwhile, Edun gets a gold star for using fair trade fabrics and encouraging poorer global communities to sustain themselves through fashion endeavors - although the WSJ says fair trade companies can’t be 100% “green” because they use major fossil fuels to ship their clothes to America and Europe.

But the labels the WSJ says to avoid at all costs are the ones claiming their bamboo fabrics are “Green.” Although bamboo is a sustainable plant, the chemicals used to break it down to soft fabric are toxic, which cancels out the whole purpose.

The article is great and very informative, but we wish they’d mentioned one more option for recycle-friendly shoppers: Vintage! Wear something really gorgeous from the ’90s! It won’t end up in a landfill, and you’ll end up on the Sartorialist!

WHICH editor takes a stand against extreme diets in public, but has a different set of rules for her staff? Underlings take their food outside or close their office doors for fear of being caught with anything but water and the occasional cut veggie.

Lily Donaldson has the new Dolce + Gabbana campaign, and also a new home:

She just bought an apartment for about $2,200,000 on Avenue B.

That puts the model just a few streets away from Gemma Ward, who has a place on Third Avenue, but also closer to another working girl:

Lily’s now in the same building as Noot Seear, one of our favorite faces who’s posed for Karl and Calvin, and opened Alexander Wang’s show last year.

The building has a doorman, a view of Tomkins Square Park, and it’s within walking distance from Whole Foods and Trader Joe’s.

Not that we’d ever expect to see Lily Donaldson in either of those two places…

It was fun while it lasted.

Though Victoria Beckham, Dakota Fanning, and M.I.A. have all starred in recent Marc Jacobs ad campaigns, we hear the designer is shifting back to models for this Fall.

Maybe that’s because we can’t imagine many girls looking incredible in his latest collection, a whitewashed mash of Connecticut mommy and cross country collegiate. Even though celebrities are alluring, most of them can’t pull off really conceptual fashion in the way a face from IMG or Elite can manage it.

So now comes the big question:

Which women get to do the honors?

Hit us up if you know: tips@fashionista.com

For those of you checking in on this gorgeous sunny weekend, we’ve just returned from the Marc by Marc Jacobs store on Bleecker St.

It’s happily empty of tourists and locals alike which means all the 40% off shoes are sitting there waiting for you.

There are spring shoes and fall shoes, heels and flats, wedges and stilettos in almost every single size.

And the best part is - the sale’s going on in any city with a Marc by Marc store. So have fun, go crazy, and enjoy your Memorial Day in your pretty new shoes.

See you Tuesday!

“One day in the distant future, the children of our children’s children will look back upon the ‘aughts’ for retro inspiration and stumble upon the sartorial black hole that is Paris Hilton. Her egregious crimes against fashion are too numerous to list here, but in this photo of Her Tragedy, accompanied by her boyfriend Benji Madden, the offending look is very wannabe It couple: If you took a snapshot of Kate Moss and Pete Doherty from two years ago, photocopied it 27 times, covered it in Velveeta, ran it through a Hot Topic sample sale and then sold it as a cheap knock-off on Canal Street, it would look like this picture.” —Elizabeth Spiridakis on The Moment.

Last night at dinner, my gray hairs came up as a topic of discussion. Again.

For some reason, people seemed to be annoyed that I won’t do anything about them. One friend recently remarked, “Wow, those are certainly filling in!” and I’ve started to notice some people noticing them a little too much for polite conversation. [Note: I don’t have that many, but since I’m just a smidge over an Olsen, almost everyone ends up staring right down into my roots.]

But even with every type of dying product known to man coming out, I don’t want to do anything about it. I’ve never dyed my hair before, and I don’t see why I should have to start now. Silver hairs don’t bother me, in fact, I think they’re kind of cool.

I may have been the kind of girl who needed lip gloss to study for an exam, but I just won’t change myself in a way that can’t be washed off at the end of the day. It’s not that I think it’s too fake - I have no problem with other people dying their hair - it’s just not my style. Which would be fine, except for some reason, this style seems to be pissing other people off.

It it just too matronly? Too fifth-grade teachery? Just too damn unsexy to not cover up? [Note: The only woman in fashion we could think of with gray hair was Miranda Priestly, a fictional character, in case you forgot.]

Would you let your hair go gray? Or are you going to pretend you’re beach-blonde til you’re 90?

Victoria’s Secret is apparently grooming Namibian Behati Prinsloo to be “the next Gisele”.

The nineteen year old’s already posed for Nina Ricci, Marc by Marc Jacobs, Gap and H&M.

She signed on to model for the lingerie company at the end of February, but we think she’s really too cool looking to just be a Pink girl anyway.

We’re more excited to see her debut in the new, and actually first, Virgins video this summer rather than on mall billboards and catalog covers.

Not to mention we can’t think of anything weirder than rocking out with New York’s favorite underground/non-underground band while simultaneously hawking low-rise sweatpants with ‘pink’ plastered across the butt.

Guess our summers are usually more low key.

Kate Moss may have Vogue’s August cover, but the magazine has chosen someone else to hit their Fall Fashion issue:

Natalie Portman.

The actress spent all of Wednesday on a shoot for the magazine, surrounded by stylists and vegan goodies.

But we wonder whether all the clothes on set were vegan, or if bits of wool, silk, and leather made their way into the dressing rooms.

Obviously, expect a lot of Stella McCartney, but also look out for the interview, where Natalie will display her obvious charm and intelligence and also - hopefully - explain how she went from telling the press that she hated fashion to starting her own line of overpriced shoes.

Of course, since this is Vogue, the shoes will be called “affordable,” but that’s another story.

We really do like Natalie (seriously) and can’t wait to see the supercool cutie, and excellent role model for women, on the cover… but please rush the Kate Moss issue first!

“It’s all about the computer these days. People might look at a picture of me and say, “Wow, I wish I had her body”, but they should realise that I often look at a picture of myself and say, “Wow, I wish I had my body.” ’ - Coco Rocha, to the Daily Telegraph.

Is Eva Mendes fashion’s next exhibitionist?

First she posed on the cover of (now defunct) Jane with just a couple flower bunches for a bra.

Then more recently, she posed for a Vogue Italia shoot that had people writing headlines like “Eva Mendes Does Topless and Toe-lickin’ “.

And now, her new ad for Calvin Klein’s Secret Obsession is (so far) banned from television networks for baring way too much of just her, once again.

All she needs now is for Juergen Teller to snap a naked Polaroid of her and she’s all set to be the next Lily Cole…

Here’s a fun rumor as heard on the campaign trail (that’s fashion, not politics, in case you’re wondering):

Scarlett Johansson won’t be involved with Reebok anymore, and instead, the brand is actively courting more celebrity involvement from other red carpet babes.

We really liked the heart-laden last collection made by Scarlett for the brand - inspired, apparently, by vintage shopping with the actress - but we can think of a few other women who are sporty, confident, and could be cool replacements.

We’re thinking Gwen Stefani, Jessica Biel (as much as we don’t really love her), and especially Rihanna could do the honors of representing strong, sexy girls around the world.

And fortunately, we heard from an insider that one of those women is indeed being considered for an upcoming partnership.

Hmmm… !!!

Remember Bethany Hamilton, the heroic teen surfer whose arm was taken by a shark?

She’s fully recovered and… designing lip gloss.

Now 18, the Hawaii native has a line of lip products called Stoked that you can push up and down with just one arm.

They sell on Amazon for $4.50 and could probably be useful even if you’re not an invincible surf baby, but instead a really busy girl carrying coffee and keys in one hand, and a handbag and a cell phone in the other.

There will also be a movie made about Bethany’s life, but it probably won’t include any makeup endorsements (although really, who knows…)

“Biologists term this Peter Pan state neoteny. Fashion calls it the new look for fall.” —Guy Trebay in The New York Times on Thom Browne vs. Tom Ford, and fashion in general.

WHICH magazine had a party recently that ended with a little bit of an awkward table moment? Near the end of dinner, two of the editors started making out right in view of everyone else…

We know Urban Outfitters sometimes makes shirts with stupid sayings, but this one really takes the cake -

The mega-chain had to halt sales of a certain new tee after pretty much everybody reacted in outrage.

The shirt features a Palestinian boy (which can be deduced by the Palestinian flag and map of Palestinian territories next to him), crouched, holding a large gun with a couple friends behind him doing the same, with the word “Victimized” beneath him, and “Fresh Jive” above him (the shirt was actually designed by Fresh Jive, a company out of LA), and a white dove near the top.

Urban has come out and said that they didn’t mean to upset anyone, and have pulled the shirt from shelves and their website completely. Fresh Jive has this response to criticism on their site.

But no word on why they apparently thought this was funny or ironic or whatever they thought in the first place.

“I must have more than 100 pairs. I don’t even think that’s excessive for a woman. You could compare it to what guys are like about cars.
 Shoes to women are just as exciting and important.” - Gisele Bundchen, to Contact Music.

One of our favorite jewelry makers, Anna Sheffield, is expanding her company.

Her line, Bing Bang, is now going to sort of be available at Urban Outfitters.

She’s producing a lower-priced line, called Bee 23, exclusively for Fall that college girls might actually be able to afford now.

According to WWD, the move is meant to make her chain necklaces and pyramid stud earrings accessible to new (read: younger) customers without lowering the cache of Bing Bang, which is usually sold in places like Barneys.

No word on where she got the name (we’ll be sure to ask her later today), but we’re hoping it means a Teen Vogue spread…

Jackie Astier is Bravo’s latest reality TV star. Pass it on.

Style.com

The Daily.

xo.

This month, ELLE has Rihanna on its cover… and Dancing with the Stars on its new website.

The magazine famous for its razor-sharp fashion coverage is launching its own celebrity news site, akin to People.com, and calling it Hollywood Up Close.

So far, the site’s homepage - which we think must be in soft launch - stars Kristy Yamaguchi, Britney Spears, and David from American Idol.

This isn’t ELLE’s first big foray into the entertainment world:

After their recent Project Runway scuffle, the magazine is launching Stylista, a reality show about a hellish editor starring the normally low-key Anne Slowey.

Here’s a fun fact:

Style.com actually cares about Mollie Sue, one of the America’s Next Top Model girls.

They included her in a little video on street style in Paris, and you get to hear Mollie talk about her outfit, and watch her hold her bag in that Jenny Humphrey way that kind of makes us want to shake her until she drops it.

Most notably, she’s listed as “model”.

Rumors surround Kate Moss like socialites surround the upcoming Chanel sample sale

But this particular one, that she’ll grace the cover of Vogue’s August issue, appears to be true.

She was out and about in East London the other day wearing a Burberry trench, being directed by Grace Coddington and shot by Mario Testino - and that’s pretty much the Vogue Trifecta. An August cover would also coincide quite nicely with the September opening of New York City’s first Topshop - a party Kate’s sure to attend.

With Philip Green’s biggest star on the cover of the biggest fashion magazine, there’s potential for him to single handedly revive lagging ad sales.

Which means those much anticipated September issues might still be ridiculously heavy.

Our list of fashion pet peeves used to go like this:

Sunglasses with crystals on the lenses.
Any pant with a drawstring closure.
Shorts with thigh highs.

But now there’s something more serious on our radar, and it’s become our biggest fashion vice yet:

Clothes that say “Recycle!” or “Earth day is every day!” or whatever - that are made in factories with synthetic materials.

Of course, the number one offender is Forever 21, whose latest graphic tee screams, “What’s your carbon footprint?”

I don’t know, F21, what’s yours? Because between shipping your clothes from factories in Asia, using chemical dyes and fabric treatments, and handing out giant yellow plastic bags to every customer… well, you get the idea.

We’ve also spotted “eco tees” at Urban Outfitters, Victoria’s Secret, and Target - but at least they’ve paired with Rogan Gregory on an actual line of sustainable, conscious clothing.

Buckle up and do the same thing, Forever 21, because “carbon footprints” aren’t trendy - they’re dangerous, and sometimes, so are you.

End of rant.

The Good News:

Net-a-Porter has finally reinstated their “Shop by Designer” function on the sale pages, which means you’ll have something to do if - like us - there’s absolutely nothing going on in your office today.

The Bad News:

Even on “sale,” this Giles dress is still almost $1000.

Also, it’s called the Kruger dress -

Though despite its clean lines and cool shape, we doubt Diane Kruger will leave her Chanel allegiance for it.

Maybe Giles really meant Freddy Kruger, since the red streaks kinda look like slasher blood?

Faran: Tell me if this is awful.

Natalie: Okay.

Faran: What if we did a post being like, “But will Jonathan Saunders’ new line for Target be better than Forever 21’s ripoffs of Jonathan Saunders?”

Natalie: Haaaa! It’s true.

Faran: But it’s awful.

Natalie: Well, it’s interesting.

Faran: Plus, he’s already taken, like, his entire runway from last season and turned it into t-shirt dresses for TopShop. And now there’s going to be a Target collection of diffusion stuff from him, even though Forever 21’s already diffused his latest runway line, albeit without his permission…

Natalie: Yeah…

Britt: Didn’t this whole Jonathan/Target thing come out in January?

Faran: Gosh, this is making me dizzy. I think I need Pinkberry.

[Annnnnd scene.]

Which designer used to alert the paparazzi of both her presence at and the location of family functions when she was married to a blue blooded American?

The New York Times has a great story today on Parish Nation, a clothing label popular with hip hop artists that goes into troubled public schools and produces fashion shows.

The brand’s founder, Tony Shellman, argues that producing a fashion show teaches teamwork, responsibility, business skills, creativity, and risk taking.

Of course, it also produces consumerism, superficial judgments and solutions, and class division, or at least heightened class awareness.

When we were in college, there was a “charity fashion show.” It was a huge deal, where if you got cast as a model, you were automatically deemed one of the school’s most desirable girls, and if you weren’t somehow working on it (as a “stylist,” an art director, a publicist, a producer, whatever) you decided you hated the whole crew - even in the high school from the article, Camden High in New Jersey, only a little more than half of the students were allowed to attend the show with priority going to athletes, honor students and those with perfect attendance, arguably the kids who need the extra attention the least.

Obviously, using a Fashion Show as an opportunity for self esteem and business experience is different - but is it different enough to encourage in all schools?

The 36th annual FiFi Awards (think of them as the Oscars of fragrance) were last night, and all the winners are in.

It’s no surprise that perfume monolith Coty walked away with five awards, and the recipient of Fragrance Foundation’s Hall of Fame Award was none other than Vera Wang, who has launched quite a few fragrances with Coty, most notably Vera Wang Princess.

But we’re curious what you guys have to say about the awards - do you think Intimately Beckham was the most appealing women’s fragrance of the year? Do you think Daisy Marc Jacobs was a favorite women’s “luxury” perfume? Have you ever even smelled Vera Wang Princess?

So here’s a list of who won in which category, courtesy WWD.

Do you like the winners?

Those excited for Peter Som’s strides with Bill Blass have some worrying to do:

The designer might not get to hem those legendary seams much longer.

As Portfolio bluntly points out in a recent article, NexCen, the brand behind Bill Blass, is sinking. In need of funds and fast cash, the company’s financial board may sell off Bill Blass to the highest bidder, whomever that may be.

And if that happens, well, everything could get very shaky - the new owners could decide to license the brand, make it a mass market Macy’s kind of deal, etc.

The good news?

Bill Blass by Peter Som is still on the schedule for September Fashion Week - at least for now.

Looks like Lily Cole isn’t the only redhead Marks & Spencer is counting on to up its image -

Vogue UK says that Pat Field’s going H&M style and designing a limited-edition line for the chain retailer, which is not only a first for Pat, but a first for M&S as well.

The 35-piece range hits stores in October, and will be available online and in international stores other than M&S so everybody can get in on the fun.

Pat says the concept for the line is “Destination Style New York”, which we take to mean as a little bit Andre J and a whole lot of Samantha, with just a dash of marketability.

We’re sure the line will do well, no matter what Pat thinks up for it, so we guess the next logical question would be, who’s going to design the next capsule collection for M&S?

We love it when fashion and Go Go Gadget collide. So naturally when we came across this Butterfly Flap Dress, we were tickled.

The dress was designed by Alex Reeder, a grad student at NYU, who’s working on changing the way we think about clothes.

He’s designed a white, strapless frock (ok, a little bridal, we know), with fabric butterflies attached to the front that actually flap their wings in tandem with the wearer’s heartbeat, thanks to a little battery and a whole lot of brain power.

Not the best thing to wear on a first date, admittedly, but still a fun thing to know exists. Alex is currently working on more informal versions of the dress, though you can’t actually buy one just yet.

We like to think of it as a mood ring, but prettier.

Since we could all use another dose of models-turn-movies, here’s another little update (kind of) on Lily Cole’s acting endeavors:

We’ve been following the super slow progress of Marilyn Manson’s directorial debut, Phantasmagoria: The Visions of Lewis Carroll, but somehow missed the first stills of Lily in her bunny-cuddling glory. How? We have no idea (apparently they surfaced a few years ago!?) but since no one we know noticed them, we figured some of you may have missed them, too.

Rumors about this movie have been rampant since 2005 - aka before Evan Rachel Wood morphed into a vampiress - first Lily was Alice, then Wood, then Lily again, and now we know that they will share the role, with Wood as Alice’s alter-ego (way to write in the girlfriend, Manson).

The horror flick will star Manson himself, Tilda Swinton, Evan Rachel Wood, and Lily Cole in the role her doll-face (sorry Gemma) was born to play - but we already knew that.

Now let’s hope it actually gets released sometime before bloomers become totally passé.

— JAZZI McGILBERT

Reader Jade sent in these very similar bracelets.

One’s Kenneth Jay Lane ($220), inventor of the strawberry charm necklace seen everywhere in Soho about a year ago. The other’s Topshop (a little under $50), with which we’re all familiar.

We know one bracelet features an elephant and the other a lion, but the choice of turquoise, gold and safari animal heads make this too coincidental a trifecta to ignore.

Is it terrible that we actually like the one from Topshop way better?

Reader Marina just sent us a copy of the Camard auction house catalog and we scrolled through to this Karl Lagerfeld designed, Chanel sunglasses wearing Lego lady.

We laughed and laughed and laughed until we caught sight of the 3,000 to 4,000 euro price tag, which we don’t think is funny.

We’re all for playful fashion-y toys as a reminder not to take the whole thing so seriously, and we actually loved the plastic teddy bears in the Fendi windows last month, but selling a two foot tall plastic toy for three times more than a Chanel 2.55 bag seems absurd.

Unless of course Karl painted over a solid gold figurine that holds a key to the Chanel archives.

Because we’d totally scrap together six grand and not eat or shop for a year for that.

“Last night there was a category for famous people whose initials are “MJ”. Alas, Marc was not an answer.” - Natalie, on last night’s Jeopardy.

Kate Moss’ High Summer Topshop collection just launched and while we know we’ve reviewed a few collections already, this one caught our eye because:

- We appear to be the only ones still craving new pieces. While Kate should be embarrassed by a couple of the items, I’m madly in love with the Frill Sleeve Dress, Natalie’s obsessed with the Mirrored Hotpant, (if you can’t tell, she has a thing for short shorts), and we both want the Open Side Beaded Top.

- Do the prices look high to you? We know there’s beading involved, but $200 for a Topshop top seems a bit much - especially compared to Kate’s past collections and even the Topshop Unique pieces I used to lust after when I lived down the street from the Kensington High Street store.

- Now that there’s an opening date for our very own Topshop, (a dangerous five blocks from our office), we’re starting to wonder just how many collections Kate’s contracted to design. As in, will she ever run out of vintage clothes to mass produce?

Anything catch your eye?

As we all know so well by now, SATC: The Movie is finally coming to a theater near every person in America on May 30th.

Naturally, we want to go, but we also remember what it was like trying to find tickets on the day The Devil Wears Prada came out - annoying as hell.

So here’s a fact: there’s another fun flick coming out that day, The Strangers, featuring Gemma Ward as a crazy killer girl.

According to IMDB, her character’s name is Dollface (we couldn’t think of a better name, really), and here’s a little clip of her freaking Liv Tyler out with a knife game.

In other semi-fashion related movie news, Fashionista highly suggests checking out Priceless with Chanel’s newest face, Audrey Tautou, playing at Cinema Village on 12th Street. It’s kind of like a modern day How to Marry a Millionaire, except French and with better clothes. But the best part of the movie experience was when the new Louis Vuitton travel commercial played before the film - the entire packed theater burst into laughter at its end.

Amy Winehouse may be elusively avoiding fashion contracts - and also detox and jail - but her influence rings clear.

Even when she herself can’t be present on a photo shoot, she seems to leak in anyway. We saw it in Vogue Italia when Lara Stone posed with massive painted tattoos on her body. We saw it in the Chanel Cruise show, when Siri wore crazy cat eyes and teased hair, and in the new Chanel ads with Coco.

And now, we’re seeing it on the Sephora website, where they grab Kat Von D, the tattoo artist and fetish model from TLC, dress her up like Amy Winehouse, attempt to sell her makeup line, and call her a beauty insider.

On the upside, she must be cheaper than the $1 million rumored to be Amy’s fee for a private appearance - and Kat will be clean and sober on a photo shoot.

WHICH prime-time lovely loves her swag? She scooped up every free thing in sight at an event on one night, then wore it all to another camera-heavy event the next night…

A couple weeks ago, we shared with you guys that Agyness was no longer going to be the Burberry girl starting next season.

Now everyone’s in a tizzy over that Metro UK article where an “insider” spills that Testino has dropped Agyness not because girls are dropped from campaigns all the time, but specifically because he thinks she’s “over-exposed”.

And the girl said to be her replacement? Rosie Huntington-Whiteley, a 21-year old that the British press has been swearing is the next Kate Moss since 2004, and Christopher Bailey’s date to the Met ball earlier this month.

Can a girl best known for modeling underwear replace the quirky Agyness?

It looks like we’re about to find out.

Here’s some unsurprising news:

Right on the heels of everyone obsessing over her 4-minute film for Tod’s, we find out that Gwyneth is the new official face of the Italian brand.

She’s replacing fellow tall, thin and blonde (remember that book?!) actress Sienna, who we thought was a rather strange choice for Tod’s anyway.

We hope the ads are shot in Capri, where the film short was shot, too. Maybe it’s because we always picture Gwyneth from The Talented Mr. Ripley, which was shot on the island of Ischia which is right next to Capri, but she just seems so positively in place there.

The GG obsession over at Fred Flare continues -

We’re kind of loving these “Team Blair” and “Team Serena” tees, even if they do sort of take what should be a private Monday night event into a little bit of too-embarrassing-for-public territory, and are much too reminiscent of other reality-TV tees of its time.

But we do sometimes purchase ahead of actual wearing time - like, wayyy ahead. Wouldn’t this be the funniest thing to rip out of the back of your closet in like ten years?

We suggest Team Blair, because, really, Serena’s too whiny for wear.

First, Swarovski steals the Tiffany blue color for their ads.

Now, Montblanc has a new charm bracelet that’s super suspicious because it looks like our high school graduation present:

The Tiffany charm with the giant heart on it!

We know Tiffany wasn’t the first to put a giant heart on a bracelet, but the iconography is undeniable, and anyway:

The bracelet wasn’t that cute in 1999 / 2001 / 2003 / whenever you graduated, and the Montblanc version?

Well, it’s even worse, isn’t it…

“I don’t know why they did that. I have never done anything for humanity.” - Karl Lagerfeld to Vanity Fair, on his Time 100 Most Influential People award.

Why I think every girl should buy this boring dress right now:

1. It’s 20% off for Memorial day

1. You can paint anything you want on it

2. You’d look breezy and cool with just a belt over it

4. It looks like something you would buy at Calypso and wear with Jack Rogers

5. It’s probably a precursor to the Erin Wasson fashion infusion to come (insert excitement here)

6. Seriously, it’s $37 - belt it, paint it, embroider on it if you can, whatever - this is the perfect fashion project canvas for those who can’t actually sew

—BRETT KANE

Models.com needs interns for this summer and fall.

Aside from the obvious necessary love of fashion and models - you must:

- be able to scan photos, photoshop photos and recognize the models in the photos

- be available 2-3 days a week, 2-4 hours a day

- be ok with the fact that it’s unpaid, even if you’re a star hockey player

- be excited and ready to take on all different tasks (read: don’t pout if you go from assisting a top editor to picking up lunch in the same day)

If that sounds like you, email production@models.com with ‘models.com internship + your name’ in the subject line with a brief cover letter and an explanation of why you want to intern for the website.

And then when you get the awesome internship, email us with detailed model gossip and videos of our favorite girls!

So here’s the most fun/awful rumor of the day -

The reason Kate Moss was missing from Saturday night’s Life Ball in Vienna - the annual runway show/party that raises money for AIDS research, for which Kate was set to be the sort-of-face via Agent Provocateur’s sponsorship - is pretty simple. Apparently, she “just bailed”.

So the Agent people did a last-minute switch, which ended up with Lily Cole taking Kate’s place, which inexplicably involved a leather catsuit (of course, Faran’s made sure we all get to see Lily in it, Vienna or not).

Next logical rumor: Lily for Agent? But what would her Political Geography 401 professors say?!

We’re not sure how “Forest” channels “Diesel”, but we’re sure it’s meant to in this too-close-for- comfort copy.

The wannabe is from Heritage 1981 (sent in by a reader), Forever 21’s annoying little sister, and the original is from Diesel.

A cute DIY might be to try the effect with some spray paint and stencils, but only, of course, if you’re not planning on selling it!

“Yours truly can be seen on the small screen dressed in exaggerated versions of my daily garb this fall. Splatter painted tutus, leopard printed coats, yellow sequin soccer jerseys and snakeskin 7-inch platforms, are just a few of the pieces from my closet that help define the look of what I describe to my closest friends as “the tranny version of Malina.” - Malina V. Joseph, Bookings Editor at ELLE, on the clothes on Stylista.

If you read your news online rather than in paper form, you might have missed Iekeliene Stange for the Pulse part of the New York Times style section.

Check her out in what she calls her “gypsy princess outfit”

Best quote: “I just ordered a harlequin [catsuit] on the internet.”

WHICH actress is showing up to photo shoots unable to fit into any of the clothes? We think her more grown-up body looks amazing, but she should probably call ahead to say she’s no longer a waif…

It’s always fun to see footage of a model from when she was just first getting to be known, so here’s a fun clip of Daria at the Fall 2005 shows.

Her voice is a little deeper than you might expect and we had no idea she was such giggly gal pals with Carmen Kass, but we love the shots from the Versace show, after Donatella got out of rehab and started designing clothes that made people use words like “electrifying” and “beautiful as hell”.

But the best part’s the little factoids that pop up in the corner of the video - they remind us of Fashion Trance, our favorite late-night tv show from back when the Style Channel was actually good.

Enjoy!

Lily Cole’s finally taking up her biggest bragging chip by officially packing up for Cambridge in the fall.

Lily’s wrapped up The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus, and is worried that the prestigious college won’t let her take a third gap year.

The Marks & Spencer face says she’s focusing on modeling this summer and then she’s off to study social and political sciences at King’s College in a few months. (Guess she was just visiting the cafeteria at NYU).

We hope she’ll at least work during winter and spring breaks - our jobs just aren’t the same without at least one Lily-exhibitionist editorial per season.

Last night’s fashion show for Chanel Cruise was a little frilly for our taste, but there was one standout look that made us update our shopping list:

A one-piece strapless bathing suit with ruching on the sides.

We loved the long, curvy look of the piece, which can stand on its own or with a cute pair of shorts and a hoodie, but there was one detail that made us gasp:

The giant black Chanel chains draped around model Liu Wen’s neck.

It reminds us of a Lindsay Lohan paparazzi shot from several years ago (also in Miami), where the actress paired her turquoise bikini with a plastic necklace and a scarf.

Would you wear jewelry with your bathing suit?

Or is that like wearing makeup on a run?

We hear Jordache, maker of vintage jeans and employer of Heidi Klum, is more than a little upset with Gossip Girl.

See, according to a GG insider at the CW upfronts, Jordache claims to have invented the ‘XOXO’ brand and they’re not thrilled everyone’s associating the phrase, (is it even that?), with Kristen Bell’s voice and Blair Waldorf’s sex life.

After all, the denim legend plastered it all over their print ads circa 1979 and the Upper East Siders have only been using it for one season and well, makers of Valentines have been using it since the dawn the of time.

How’s that for an adventure in copyrighting?

“He was larger than life. I admired him and his work even before I entered this business. He had so much energy. I kept calling him Mr. Avedon and he kept saying- please call me Dick. I said I just couldn’t do that.” - Jennifer Starr, to the Women Management Blog.

There’s been a lot of hype lately about Agyness getting her own mannequin from Rootstein.

So when we were tipped off that the life-size doll had already appeared in the windows of Saks, we had to check for sure - until now, we’ve been under the impression that the official unveiling of the mannequin will be at the party next Thursday.

But here she is, Miss Britain, a full week ahead of schedule.

We’re pretty sure that’s her - we’d recognize that hair anywhere - but if you’re skeptical, the window did in fact read “mannequin provided by Rootstein”.

Glad to see they didn’t strip her of her fashion sense. But wouldn’t it be funny to walk by when they change her outfit?

To: britt@fashionista.com

From: londonchloecutie@shop.co.uk

There’s a Chloe sample sale going on right now in London: the music rooms, 26 South Molton Lane W1K 5LF til 9pm today and 10am-8pm tomorrow.

It’s amazing - there’s loads of accessories and bags!

Technically, you need an invite but they don’t seem to be checking and they don’t take them off you so one could always hang around and ask for someone’s when they leave.

Please keep this tip anonymous, I don’t wanna get in trouble but it’s just too good not to share!

xo,
A Friendly Shopper.

To: tips@fashionista

From: goseequeen@michaelkors.com

Dear Fashionista,

Your new favorite girl, Arlenis Pena, stopped by for her go see yesterday, (we’re currently casting Resort), and she stood head and shoulders above the other girls. She’s absolutely stunning and probably the nicest model I’ve ever dealt with.

She barely speaks English and doesn’t even have real model cards - she gives out polaroids instead!

Thankfully that’s not stopping everyone from falling in love with her.

xo,
Another Arlenis Fan

Is getting a lipstick named after you the new replacement for getting your own bag?

Stila’s following in the footsteps of Behnaz Sarafpour/Gucci Westman and Tinsley/Dior, and giving the Marchesa girls their own lipstick shades.

After doing the makeup for Marchesa’s last four seasons, Stila’s finally let Georgina and Keren try their hand at picking out some colors for the face.

The Georgina will be a sheer red, the Keren’s a nude color, and the very fall-appropriate berry is named after Talia Shobrook, the makeup artist who helped create Backstage Beauty Collection, the limited-edition line Stila’s made using the colors from Marchesa’s Fall 2008 show.

The Marchesa lipsticks are permanent additions for Stila, retailing at $22 each.

Look for them in seriously every magazine ever come August - Stila is a well-known beauty editor favorite.

“Had fashion’s uncanny powers of economic prediction prefigured the coming financial crisis in the sudden drop of the crotch?” - Saran Mower, on the new loose pants, in the June Vogue.

Sean Avery, hockey star to the Rangers, started his internship at Vogue this past Monday.

But according to WWD, it seems the man is already getting some special treatment.

Not only is he sitting in on meetings, helping with every department, and going to the couture shows next month, but apparently he’s earning minimum wage for his time, too.

That might not sound like much to most people, but keep in mind that almost every single other intern there not only doesn’t get paid at all, but usually ends up actually paying to be there (as I, dear reader, did three times for Conde internships). Conde usually requires school credit for interning, and if you’re an NYC college student, you already know that a four-credit internship usually rings in around $4,000.

Did I mention Sean Avery earned $2 million last year?

I hope he gets sent to Starbucks every hour.

(On a side note: did anyone else catch Sean’s picture in the June Vogue? He’s flanked by Chanel and Behati on page 78. A Men’s Vogue cover is definitely in the works…)

Dear Desperate Housewives Fashion Publicists,

We’ve gotten a lot of emails lately telling us that Heidi Montag was spotted wearing whatever, that Kim Kardashian was spotted wearing whatever, that Fergie was spotted wearing whatever.

We understand you’re just doing your job, but there’s something you should know:

You’re killing your clients.

If American girls knew that Heidi Montag was wearing something they wanted, they would immediately put it down and sprint - not walk - out of the store.

So here are some unofficial guidelines:

If the person wearing your client’s clothes is…

* “Famous” for being a bitch on reality TV (see: Heidi Montag)
* “Famous” for sleeping with someone legitimately famous (see: Brandon Davis)
* “Famous” for being the sibling of someone legitimately famous (see: Ali Lohan)
* “Famous” because all they’ve ever wanted in their lives is to be famous, and therefore useless (see: Kim Kardashian, Stephanie Pratt, Kristen Cavalieri, anyone on My Super Sweet Sixteen, that Aubrey chick from Danity Kane, Jade from Top Model…)
* Really talented but constantly choosing terrible clothes (see: Fergie!)

Then we’ll never buy the clothes they’re wearing! Ever!

Please get the hint.

xoxo Fashionista. And every stylish girl in the world.

Spotted on Wooster between Spring and Broome.

We know this can’t be real, just like the first time - is this part II?

Interview follows after the jump!

We subscribe to a lot of newsletters, and while our inbox may be flooded daily, there’s one we actually look forward to -

The Cool Hunter brings us findings from all over the world in every category from architecture to literature, and and it’s not just cool, it’s really cool.

It’s where we first saw pictures of the Ann Demeulemeester green concept store, DVF’s new headquarters, Marimekko Manolos, and tons of other eye candy.

We always look out for Cool Hunter’s fashion-related content, so we were super excited when they put up a sneak-peek of their new site called Fashionation. They’re keeping pretty mum about it until the launch next month, but from these few images and Cool Hunter’s track record, we’re sure the content will be just as, well, cool as the name.

—JAZZI McGILBERT

A reader just sent this pretty interesting conversation on female beauty from Wowowow.

The best part’s when Lily Tomlin (remember her?) admits she used to pad her hips when she was 13 or 14 years old in her quest to emulate Marilyn Monroe, the beauty standard of her time.

I’ve never done anything quite like that in trying to look like what I think is better than myself, but it still makes me think of a lot of things - all the makeup I wore in seventh grade trying to look made-up and womanly, and the trouble I go through now to just look fresh-faced and natural.

Or the fact that I refuse to dye stray grays because it’s my way of drawing the line in the sand, kind of like saying, “I refuse to put any more effort into looking like how people think I should.”

Or that when I was sixteen, I refused to get braces at my parents’ behest because I thought the change in my appearance would just be too much, too far from what I really look like, even though I hated my very juvenile smile, a decision I wasn’t even totally comfortable with until a couple years ago.

Has your idea of beauty changed as you’ve gotten older?

Or even better - what kind of stuff did you used to do when you were younger in your quest for beauty?

Looking for something to buy today?

Bill Blass is having a sample sale, but only today and tomorrow, from 10am to 5pm.

So if the idea of buying a gown at 70% appeals to you, stop by:

550 Seventh Ave, 12th floor with either cash or a major credit card.

And if you’re sitting there going “But I just went to the Yigal sale yesterday”, here’s a little extra kick -

15% of the proceeds from the sale will be donated to the Southampton Fresh Air Home, a not-for-profit residential camp for physically challenged kids.

Shop on.

“For those of you who may be a little behind with this month’s glossy magazines and weekend supplements, here is the digested read: if you don’t own these shoes, you are a loser. Granted, they don’t spell it out quite as starkly as that, but the message is nonetheless pretty clear” - Jess Cartner-Morley, on Christian Louboutin’s Rodita shoes, in The Guardian.

The first additions to the Seventh Avenue Fashion Walk of Fame - after a five year hiatus - have finally been chosen.

Diane von Furstenberg (Fashionista’s pick!) and Liz Claiborne will be added to the Walk, alongside Calvin Klein, Donna Karan, Marc Jacobs, Mainbocher, Rudi Gernreich and the rest.

DVF and Liz Claiborne’s names will be imprinted on star-shaped plaques along with one original design from each.

We expect Diane to show up in her wrap dress, but we were half-worried at the thought that Tim Gunn could be the recipient for Liz’s award - thankfully, her widower, Arthur Ortenberg, will walk the ceremony in her place, hopefully in red.

“However this story shows what a great model Eva is…[She’s] taking advantage of the props at her disposal. Her right hand gracefully holds her cigarette. She is aware of the dangers of smoking but doesn’t care.” - Women Management Blog on Eva Mendes’ Steven Meisel Vogue Italia shoot.

Is it lunchtime already?

Because we have a little snack for those of you dying to point and laugh at something along with your cubemates.

Here are some clips from what might possibly be a show stranger than ANTM.

Did you hear those breakfast trays quivering? Catch the Miranda vibe?

Now that’s the sound of “reality”!

The only saving detail - the YSL star necklace!