Ed. note: We’re backpedaling for a moment, to the last night of New York, before heading back to London.

When I said things couldn’t get better than my night with Narciso, I meant it.

But I was wrong. Last night, Linda Fargo and Andre Leon Talley (in a black eyelet robe) hosted a repeat performance of Phillip Lim’s SS10 collection for American Express card holders.

Prior to the presentation, I was escorted backstage to interview Phillip, slightly better than sneaking past security guards, and snooped around backstage area checking out the sky-high Louboutins and gorgeous clothes up very very close. (And no, I didn’t walk away with the sequin pants I had my eye on. I may be sneaky, but not sneaky enough to swipe the clothes right off the models backs just yet.)

Inspired by Picasso’s collages, Phillip wanted to create a collection that collaged the life of the modern woman. From his opening look, a red “New Suit” made of a techno-poly that can be machine washed but still feels and looks luxe to his closing “cubist” dresses that offer a different view from every angle, he wanted a collection that any woman could see herself in.

AmEx and Bergdorf Goodman hoped that the event would educate consumers about New York Fashion Week and inspire them to hit the stores. And based on the post-show conversation and excitement, it definitely worked. I don’t think I’m the only one headed to BG tomorrow.

The only thing more daunting that Fashion Week is turning out to be Fashion’s Night Out.

We’ve probably received fifteen to twenty emails per day since July telling us what’s up, who’s coming, where’s happening Thursday night and after much deliberation we’ve come up with a game plan.

Given there are really only two of us, splitting up’s the only way to cover the most ground without exhausting ourselves before the week actually even begins (and without spending all of our money before Christopher Kane hits Topshop).

I’ll run home for dinner after work which strategically puts me on Bleecker Street to start. I’ll kick off the night with Teen Vogue’s Bleecker Street party then swing by Intermix to glimpse the Miller sisters (and to actually buy a couple of tank tops I’ll need for the week) before swinging around the corner to Rag & Bone on Christopher Street where Jessica Stam’ll be at the cash register and Guinness will flow.

The Puppet Show: Fashion finger puppets are coming our way thanks to the kids at Rubbish. Put us down for one mini ALT. {NY Times}

What’s Your Damage? A while back we heard that Heathers was coming to Broadway. Today comes news that it’s getting remade for TV. {Variety}

Sporty Spice: Who knew Resurrection’s Katy Rodriguez was such a jock? Because really an unassisted triple play is pretty major. {VF Daily}

Bye Bye Birdie: Faran’s take on the stylings of Ann Margaret, Betty Draper, Mona Sterling and the rest of the Mad Men ladies in the second episode of the season. {AMC}

Fashion’s Night Out just released their prolific schedule for September 10th.

Seven hundred stores across all five boroughs will stay open until 11pm, but Anna Wintour, Michael Kors, a surprise celebrity guest and the cast of Hair will kick everything off at Macy’s six hours earlier.

At Barneys, Wool & the Gang will teach knitting while Scott Hahn & Rogan of Loomstate customize t-shirts. Zac Posen will be painting inside Bergdorf’s Fifth Avenue windows while Peter Som and Cynthia Rowley have an in-store cook-off. What are we most looking forward to (aside from the Olsens)? A fashion game hosted by Andre Leon Talley with teams led by Donna Karan, Robert Verdi and Linda Fargo.

Various contests will be held throughout the night in which one can win tickets to runway shows, haircuts by Sally Hershberger and Oscar Blandi, a custom Carolina Herrera wedding dress and the chance to be on set during a Demarchelier Vogue shoot. Cindy Crawford, Hugh Jackman, Stephanie Seymour, Sasha, Caroline, Chanel, Lily, The Misshapes, Taylor Momsen, Yasmin le Bon, Coco and Diddy are just a few of the people with planned appearances.

Don’t forget to shop while you’re out ogling your favorite fashion people!

The only movie that’s made me laugh harder than The September Issue this year is The Hangover.

Anna Wintour is funny; my mascara is smudged from tears of laughter. The film may start out with Anna saying that fashion’s picked on because people are bitter they aren’t a cool kid, but she only gets more human from there and by the end you might even want to hug her.

Grace Coddington is, as reported, the real star of the movie. Her inner turmoil over the changing industry and her role in Anna’s history plays out on screen and one can’t help but sympathize with her as Anna cancels more and more of her shoots.

The movie travels from New York to Paris for couture to London for a meeting with Mario Testino to Rome for Sienna’s shoot and back to New York to close the issue and present it to Si Newhouse. In Paris, we cringed when Anna shut Stefano Pilati down; in London we laughed at Mario’s grandly cinematic ideas and in Rome we admired Sienna’s energy and Sally Singer’s patience.

Oh No, Coop: Word out of LA is that Mischa Barton is being held at the hospital on a 5150. That’s a Britney-style psychiatric hold. Send in Ryan Atwood! {WWD}

Tonchi to Times Square? Stefano might just be leaving T for the 12th floor of the Conde building. Interesting, very interesting. {FWD}

ALT In NC: Andre heads south, discusses Ashford and Simpson, The Wiz, and Maya Angelou. Needless to say the pic is brills too. {Life With Andre}

“I, for one, am over the mania for the high, high heel. Too many career women look like a herd of fashion beasts, aping one another in impractical shoes.” —Andre Leon Talley on the death of the towering heel.

Oscar De La Renta showed his resort collection this morning.

On Park Avenue, naturally, in a pretty small, light room with an organ at the end of the runway and a balcony wrapping around. Vogue took up three rows - Andre Leon Talley wore a dusty pink alligator trench, at least two girls rocked Ann Demeulemeester’s brown lace-up sandals, one lounged in Alex Wang’s grey sweatpants and when Anna tried to sit down Bee squealed, “Mom, that’s my seat!” to which Anna laughed and promptly switched to her proper seat beside Grace Coddington.

The first half of the collection - white and navy boucle tweed suits, shifts, newsboy - screamed Chanel, especially when set to French tunes. The fantastical cocktail dresses built from lace, jewels and what looked like a fabric interpretation of chocolate shavings are exactly what we’d wear if we decided to be a lady who lunched for Halloween (if the costume came with a check).

Karlie opened and closed the show while Aminata, Daiane, Kasia, Hanne, Arlenis, Liu and Ubah also walked. I couldn’t help but think of all the nasty comments Oscar’s made regarding the First Lady’s fashion choices and wonder if this was him desperately trying to land in her closet.

Meanwhile, we just heard Vogue has swine flu. Great. My morning just got significantly less glamorous.

Talking Cats: Mad-libs with Catherine Holstein. She loves cut-offs as much as we do, all things purple, dogs and shoes. {Glamour}

Twittered: In case you missed it, here’s a tweet by tweet account of Anna Wintour’s 92Y talk last night. It started with Peta and ended with Andre’s blogging. {NYMag}

Dig Deep: Ali from The City gets questioned. She really likes Splenda and scented candles and ended up on the show after Adam was cast. {Nylon}

Suzy Says: Suzy Menkes took a trip to SF. Alas, she doesn’t have time for tweets. {FabSugar}

Funny Face: Can someone who know something about beauty tell us how to get that perfectly red-rimmed eye without looking diseased? Thanks. {TheMoment}

Already Wins: Andre Leon Talley helped Marisa Tomei decide on a “lemongrass” Madame Gres toga-like dress for next week’s Met Ball. This will be in our top five. {VogueDaily}

And He’s Back: Christoper Kane’s doing Topshop again - this time bigger and better with shoes and bags added to the range. Guess that explains his New York presence earlier this month. {Grazia}

—PHOTOGRAPHY BY JEREMY KOST

[PS This set of photos is particularly beautiful.]

To: Tips@Fashionista.com

From: Girl@Anewmode.com

A fun tip: I was at Tracy Reese yesterday and a few minutes before the show started Andre Leon Tally was being escorted from the backstage area. But by that time, all the front row seats were filled in, and even though the PR people assured him they had a seat reserved, he refused to take it saying he didn’t want to kick anyone out of their seat and make a whole big thing about it.

They begged and pleaded with him (“No Andre, it isn’t anyone else’s seat, it’s YOUR seat, PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE let us take you there!”). However, he absolutely refused to budge and insisted on watching the show from standing. They tried convincing him for another few minutes and he was like “Just start your show because I’m not moving anywhere.”

Then they implored: Do you need anything? Water? Coffee? Anything? But he was like “NO I’m fine!” Anyway, they eventually gave up and Andre watched the show with the commoners in the standing section. So who knows, maybe standing room will be the new front row!

And on that note, we saw Julie Gilhart and Meredith Melling-Burke in the standing section of Behnaz today, too. It was for an easier exit, but anyway.

This afternoon, at Thakoon, I was almost swept up in Andre’s vampiric cape.

Black, lined in red, he glamorously threw it over his shoulder on his way backstage which made me giggle which made Bill Cunningham snap my picture which made me gasp and almost trip into the Eyebeam.

Inside, my eyes zoomed to the mass of red hair in the middle of the aisle - Coco Rocha kissing Grace Coddington hello. Grace joined Anna in the front row while all the other Vogue-ttes, sat second row which is kind of confusing with people like Derek Blasberg, Jessica Joffe and Olivia Chantecaille in the front. Whose view matters more?

Anyway, Thakoon sent out a collection of impeccably tailored dresses, capes and trousers topped off with furs colored like a parrot. The clothes were considerably younger than seasons past, especially the prom-like tulle and sequin dress Jourdan wore to close the show. There were at least two Balmain inspired looks and disco ball shoes. Michelle Obama might have difficulty choosing a first lady appropriate outfit from this selection.

But how much would you love to see her in one of those colorful fur hats?

Yigal Azrouel showed his very abbreviated collection at the tents this morning.

He’s sponsored by Mercedes-Benz this year and apparently they gave him a place to show but didn’t want to shell out for more looks than necessary.

He showed a punk rock meets western collection. There was plaid and there was slouch, but lots of it was studded with teeny tiny gold studs: The shoes, the bags, the leather jackets.

There was a high-waisted, black, skinny-pant jumpsuit with a silky white, draped top that we’d wear every day if we could wear black skinny pant jumpsuits in real life. The collection served as a seasonal reminder that only Yigal Azrouel can make so much fabric look so sexy.

Andre smiled from underneath his purple bedazzled Obama beanie. Everyone else smiled at the cute Yigal t-shirts they walked away with.

Before we say anything about the actual Alexandra Richards DJed Rachel Roy show - we must share the news that Andre Leon Talley is, at this very moment, out and about in New York City wearing tweed pants with a black crop top. As in, his midriff is bare underneath his black and white fur vest.

Anyway, Rachel Roy was a little too inspired by Stefano Pilati’s Fall 08 collection for YSL.

First, there were the sharp bowl-cut bobs and super shiny black lips. But they were paired with feminine, sheer, Easter-colored dresses so we thought, ok cool, those trends have popped up quite a bit.

But then we got to the grey wool trouser suits paired with corsets and really structured jackets. And the black jumpsuit with sharp, angular seams and chunky black shoes and thought, um, that YSL collection’s a little too iconic to reproduce just one year later.

Not that the clothes weren’t gorgeous - because they were and we’d wear that powder blue shorts suit anywhere - it’s just that we should have left thinking about that and not Stefano Pilati.

Reader Danielle found herself at Sundance’s premiere of The September Issue and knew she had to share.

Her favorite part? When Bee (Anna Wintour’s daughter) tries to engage her mother in a serious discussion on her own legal career aspirations while Anna gives her a “We’ll-see-about-that” look.

For more Vogue-y bits, jump.

But only if you want to know what happens!

We can’t imagine who would actually use this (nor do we suggest it), but in case you’re looking for a laugh, click here.

Maybe two weeks past the Christmas on which I finally got my Samantha doll, my little sister placed her delicate fur hat atop a light bulb until a hole burned through the top which left the poor doll nothing but her muff to keep warm with.

Ever since then, I’ve wanted a muff of my own - seriously.

It was a no go in California, and I kind of forgot until this morning when I saw a girl wearing one on the subway which triggered a vague memory of Andre Leon Talley wearing his on the colder days of fashion. Brett thinks they’re swell though they need to be tempered with something less sweet, and Natalie thinks they’re brilliant for iPod usage.

However, there is the issue of practicality. You can’t just stuff a muff into your purse or pockets once you get inside, and you probably can’t wear a muff with jeans and sneakers. Well, you can of course, but it’d be sort of like wearing your sequined platforms with a sweatshirt, though less rock and roll.

So before I even wonder where one acquires an open roll of vintage fur, I have to ask if you’d wear one or if the idea’s totally ridiculous.

If I find one, I’ll probably buy it and wear it regardless of your answer, but I’m wondering, would you wear a muff?

I went to today’s screening of Valentino: The Last Emperor, even though it was in the middle of the day / I don’t think pugs are cute / it was way above 14th Street.

But then there was free popcorn, and Andre Leon Talley sat in the seat behind me. The movie started, and it was awesome.

The documentary opens with Valentino’s Spring 06 collection, looks back on the Dolce Vita days and ends with his three day Roman blowout and retirement.

It’s part love story (him and Giancarlo), and part tragic end of an era (of couturiers that simply won’t exist again). It’s about a man who’s wants nothing more than to make women feel beautiful but who can’t, or won’t, find a way to fit into a changed industry, and I totally cried at the end.

But the best bits, which happen all though the movie right up until that final runway bow and Valentino’s heartfelt tears, are all the hysterical Odd Couple moments between Valentino and Giancarlo. They bicker over sets, over models, over pleats, and when Giancarlo asks Valentino why he’s using pink for his finale dresses instead of red, Valentino responds, disgusted, “Enough with the red! The red dresses are the most simple, the most stupid!”

Giancarlo says, “To be with Valentino as a friend, as a lover, as an employee - it’s all the same. You need a lot of patience.” And then he tells Valentino he’s too tan, which was, I think, Andre’s favorite moment.

Mine? When Karl Lagerfeld congratulated Valentino, “This is how it’s done. Compared to us, all the rest are making rags!”

Fact: If you’re not in the fashion industry, you probably think most people in it are bitchy.

But, if you are in the fashion industry, you know that while some are, most aren’t, (just like any industry) and a handful are pretty extraordinary.

So meet Nikki. She’s 14 and her mother teaches at Savannah College of Art and Design. She made friends with some of her mother’s students who eventually moved to NYC. And when Nikki was diagnosed with cancer, her New York pen pals flew her up to New York to take fashion obsessed Nikki to the Superhero exhibit at the Met.

The story spread and soon Nikki was touring Marc’s studio, lunching with Andre in Oscar’s showroom, getting her own WWD cover and chilling on the Ugly Betty set.

If you need your faith in humanity restored, read this.