This past weekend, Teen Vogue hosted a Fashion University event for their readers who were eager to learn the ins and outs of the business.

Not only were they given the rare opportunity to visit the magazine’s editorial floor and famed fashion closet, but they also got the chance to sit down with designers like Richard Chai, Philip Crangi, and Thakoon Panichgul. In a discussion moderated by Amy Astley, Thakoon shared stories about his rise through the ranks of the industry and gave pointers to the many aspiring designers in the audience.

You may already know that his Fall 2005 presentation was the most buzzed-about of the season, or that his most famous customer is Michelle Obama. But here are some things you might not know about the designer. I definitely didn’t.

Last night Teen Vogue celebrated their super cute handbook with a little cocktail party at the Rose Bar at the Gramercy Park Hotel.

Amy Astley and her crew were of course all there in the cozy confines, with Amy’s kids and their friends taking over the pool table. The rest of the crowd out to toast the book included Vera Wang, Jenna Lyons, Thakoon, Keegan Singh, Eddie Borgo, Henry Holland, and Chanel Iman. All in all a very lovely party.

As far as EICs go, Amy’s definitely regarded as one of the nicest in the business. And she’s certainly built upon the Vogue brand in a great way since the launch of TV. Thanks to the book, she’s doing a little mini-tour of speaking engagements. Next up is Cali. So if you live in LA, we highly recommend turning out to see her when she heads west. There’s a signing at Book Soup on Sunset at 4 pm on the 18th. FIDM folks can catch her on the 19th at 10 and 11:30. And that evening, she’ll be speaking at Otis at 7pm. It’s free, but space is limited so click here to reserve a spot.

Go. Listen. Learn. It just might give you a leg up at your next interview.

A quarter. 25%. That’s the big budget cut number supposedly hanging over the heads of editors and publishers at 4 Times Square, according to an article today in The New York Observer. That’s a mighty chunk, huge even.

“There will be significant layoffs. Significant,” said one company source in the story. Well, yeah, I’d think so. And I hate that people are going to lose their jobs, but I think that some of the bloated mastheads at magazines like, ahem Glamour, are easily the first place one looks when making cuts. This is the kind of economic climate where a 23 person fashion department really doesn’t make a whole lot of sense. According to the Observer, the entire editorial staff of Details is only 35 people.

The great thing about a Phillip Lim show is that you know you’ll love whatever comes down the runway.

It might not be revolutionary, but it’s cute, comfortable, flattering, easy to wear and pretty, which is probably why Leighton Meester sat front row bobbing her head to the music, laughing with Hamish and waving to Alexa Chung across the aisle - Lim has that effect.

Along with, at least yesterday, a “Woah, what’s going on” effect when he sent out five dresses that might as well have had Rodarte labels sewn into the neck. A quick scan of the front row’s eyeballs made it clear how blatant the ‘inspiration’ was.

But other than that there were sequins and sequins and more sequins, an adorable red patent trench and, I’m sorry to say, a handful of crop tops. No pants I can do, but crop tops will never happen (for me I mean).

The gold sequin romper Hanne wore toward the end though? That will most definitely happen.

“Teen Vogue, like many fashion magazines, takes heat for photographing thin models. Guilty as charged — professional models are nothing if not tall and absurdly lanky… I am not the only person in the fashion industry who thinks these girls would be even more beautiful with a few additional pounds on their bodies. But outrage over even the boniest of celebrities and mannequins seems to obfuscate the more urgent and widespread story about Americans and weight. Only about 1 percent of women in this country are anorexic…[while] one in three U.S. children and adolescents are either overweight or obese.” — Amy Astley’s letter from the editor in June’s Teen Vogue.

I do love Paul & Joe.

Sophie Albou’s clothes are always cute and relatively affordable, her Target collection was a hit and I usually linger over the summer dresses on Net-a-Porter - but when you throw them onto Angela Lindvall and Eniko Mihalik and Jourdan Dunn and put them on a runway under bright lights, yikes.

Her Fall 09 collection included a couple of jumpsuits that looked like pajamas and a Pepto pink halter version. There were fringed shirts tucked into white jeans with over-the-knee boots - in pink. There was, seriously, a fox stole with the head still on that had been dyed turquoise and bedazzled around the mouth. The show closed with a handful of sequined minis, or fabric printed to look like sequins, that were so tiny I was afraid someone’s bottom was going to pop out in Amy Astley’s face.

But it’s the first time I’ve seen Paul & Joe on a runway, so maybe when I see it in a store, without that terrifying fox stole, we can forget this one morning in Paris.

Yesterday’s intimate Trovata show made me wish I was on the beach in California, with candles and boys who actually dress like that.

John Whiltledge might not be leading a fashion revolution, but he consistently presents clothes that everyone wants to wear. This season that meant slouchy cardigans and prairie blouses, skinny black pants tied with satin ribbons at the ankle, white Katharine Hepburn pants, suspenders, bow ties and navy blue slip dresses.

The models had trouble navigating their X walking pattern, most of them broke into smiles before they made it backstage, which made the clothes all the more appealing.

One got the feeling the Trovata racks at Barneys this fall will be as frequented by the Kate Schelters and Amy Astleys in the front row as the hipsters in standing.

While we put the finishing touches on our “Team Ali” t-shirts, here’s some more news about our favorite young model:

She’ll appear on The Today Show in June, supposedly with Teen Vogue’s Amy Astley, to discuss body image and fashion.

The segment will focus on an upcoming Teen Vogue shoot with the Texas model, where she discusses her experiences in Paris and how they varied when she went from 100 lbs to 105 lbs.

Some of our friends in the industry pointed out that several other girls were also excluded from many runway shows because of their size, but Ali is the only one who’s been vocal about it.

It’s a tricky issue, especially since the majority of Americans have health issues because of obesity, not because of skinny models. And yet, the standards set by the fashion industry have huge ramifications on the rest of pop culture, and therefore the rest of youth culture.

Thankfully, Ali seems smart enough to discuss the whole thing gracefully. Good luck, babe.

Faran just got back from London, where she reports that girls have thinned out their Irina-Lazareanu bangs of last year, turning their blunt and long bowl cuts into something shaggier, thinner, and more shredded.

In short, all the girls are now copying the haircut of Daisy Lowe - meanwhile, all the gay boys are copying the haircut of Agyness Deyn, and have even been dubbed “The Ag Hags” by Grazia Magazine. Amazing.

But while mimicking Agyness is understandable, the rumble for Daisy is slightly stranger:

She’s not quite famous, not so visible, and generally more under the radar.

Of course, that seems about to change:

We hear that Daisy has indeed clinched a campaign spot with Burberry, although those rumors might stem from her recent appearance at the Teen Vogue / Burberry Brit party in their Soho store -

Ms. Lowe was recruited by Amy Astley to host the event, though for her part, Astley didn’t change her trademark bob to show her admiration of Teen Vogue’s latest muse.