(Photos and Nails by CND)

—PHOTOGRAPHY BY JEREMY KOST

I was walking through Saks yesterday, overwhelmed by the perfection of Helmut Lang’s pre-fall collection, when I saw the BCBG skirt at left.

It was hot pink in the store, so it jumped out against the greys and blacks, and perfectly banded. The piece was tiny and stretchy with a zipper up the back just like Herve Leger’s signature bandage skirts. At this point, you can find Herve rip-offs everywhere, but it made us wonder what Mr. Azria, the man behind both Herve and BCBG, stands to gain from ripping himself off - like when Topshop ripped off Kate Moss for Topshop’s dress.

A reader just sent us an email with the subject line: “Copyright Copycat F21 at it again.”

Boy, was she right.

Usually, in an Adventures in Copyright item, we’ll list one or two things that the copiers did to make it a little less obvious that they’re taking someone else’s design, but, well…if there’s some glaring difference we’re missing, kindly let us know.

The best we’ve got is that Forever 21 has put their dress on a model, and the BCBG is on a mannequin.

And we believe that’s what one would call “blatant”.

—AMANDA JEAN BOYLE

It’s New York’s 400th birthday next week.

Which makes us feel wonderfully young and makes designers, including Elizabeth and James, Michael Kors, Tibi, Tory Burch and DvF feel like making one-off designs in honor of the city they love.

The pieces will sell at the two Bloomingdales in New York (where a purchase also gets you two tickets to the Museum of the City of New York) and online.

Everything’s under $128, including jeans from Seven for All Mankind, a scarf from BCBG, a Michael Stars tee and a Kate Spade tote.

It launches on Monday, but if you’re feeling patriotic today, Gerard Butler’s been filming a 4th of July parade on my street all week.

The Whitney Art Party’s on Wednesday night and we’ve gotten the first edition of the confirmed guest list.

Starlets and artists will be there in droves, but as far as models go, there’s Coco Rocha, Lydia Hearst, Dree Hemingway, Brooklyn Decker, Lisa Cant, Julie Henderson, Maggie Rizer, Selita Ebanks and Hilary Rhoda.

And of course, we have no idea what to wear, especially since the party’s sponsored by BCBG again which means all of their perfect little bodies will be swathed in Herve bandages with feet tucked into sky high heels. Because sure, no one’s looking at us, but it takes a serious outfit to guarantee we won’t hide in a corner under the weight of being anything less than 5’11 with long blond hair and the perfect Rick Owens leather jacket.

So, should we follow in the footsteps of last year with a long vintage floral number, flat sandals and little effort? Or, is it time to step it up with something a bit smaller and louder? If only we had this in our closet.

Lots of people around here are very anti-pants these days. Many of you disagree, so let the discussion continue!

We present you with a very direct “to pants or not to pants” challenge.

This fabulous draped bodysuit from BCBG (on sale right now for about $59) has the potential to go either way. It is a super chic coral color, and we love the exaggerated draping of the silhouette, and the bow detail in back.

We plan on pairing our bodysuit with a high-waisted skirt and the fact that we won’t have to constantly re-tuck our shirt has us way excited.

Are you brave enough to go Gaga and wear yours sans bottoms?

—MELISSA ELLIOTT

Reader Aaron sent us this documentary on the life of BCBG pre-Fashion Week.

The rough cut documentary gets up-close and personal with Lubov Azria, Max’s wife, as she heads to New York to prepare for three major fashion shows: BCBG, Max Azria and Herve Leger.

She discusses the importance of celebrities wearing their clothes and delves into the major differences between the three brands. It’s interesting to see, as an outsider, how six months of work culminates in ten minutes on a runway.

As for Max? His main point of discussion is his wife’s perfectionism. Between the two of them, it’s no wonder Herve’s revival’s been so wildly successful.

Parts II & III after the jump.

—CARSON GRIFFITH

The BCBG show is always a shit show, as Natalie likes to say.

I don’t know where all those people come from but the tent is packed to the gills with people you don’t see anywhere else for the rest of the week. Everyone clamors for a view of the sexy draped jersey dresses and usually for a view of either Carine or Anna, both of whom just didn’t have it in them this year.

This season, Max Azria jumped ship and made not one, not two, but a whole group of crushed velvet gowns that produced priceless faces from the front row Vogue-ttes .

The show was held in the same tent as the Red Dress show, which featured a flood of three inch dress-shaped confetti at the end. At random intervals, the confetti would fall into the editors and on to the poor models’ heads - so at least something interesting happened!

Also, I decided to experiment with my amazing video skills and I hope it doesn’t make you nauseous. (If you want to see pictures you know where to go.)

—PHOTOGRAPHY BY JEREMY KOST

When we took our seat at the BCBG show this morning, the first thing we heard was a PR girl mumbling into her headset, “Anna wants to start. Now.”

Anna took her sunglasses off, and the lights dimmed exactly one minute later.

The clothes? Pretty, floaty, mostly muted colors - exactly what you might expect at a BCBG show.

Of note: It was the first time we saw new Lancome face Arlenis walk a runway - and she was a natural.

Also of note: Irina K seems to have adopted Karlie Kloss’ death drag, which brought the show to a screeching halt since it took her a few dozen seconds to round the corner at the end of the runway. She did, however, look kind of amazing doing it.

We see most of these looks on any starlette looking to perfect that “I’m naturally lithe and glowing” look on a red carpet somewhere in LA - or just on Shopbop…

Today’s rumor?

Tanya D. for BCBG.

The Belarusian model stormed every catwalk this season, starred in her fair share of editorials and has now, allegedly, landed a much deserved campaign.

We wonder if she’ll stay on as the face of Michael Kors.

We also wonder how she keeps getting booked for such all American designers when her stunning face screams, “Versace!”

The speakers at BCBG belted:

Caviar, escargot, don’t let go
I’m bored

But we definitely weren’t bored, not with Carine and Julia in the front row; not with everyone’s cameras going crazy each time Chanel Iman took to the runway, and not with the Bottega Veneta inspired collection.

Max Azria sent pleats, ruffles, faux layers and more pleats down the runway - with belts cinching almost every look. There were lots of open backs, like we saw at Yigal and Sue Stemp, (more on her later), very mini minis and enough party dresses to dress Sarah Michelle Gellar for the rest of the year.

And to the girl who asked us why New York girls always have messy hair - please see all runway pictures so far.

We’re actually surprised it didn’t happen sooner.

Herve Leger rip-offs, that is.

H&M should have launched bandage dresses over a year ago, once Lindsay, Posh and every other red carpet regular decided it was time to revive the BCBG owned brand. But instead, we walked past an Express window yesterday packed with short, neon, skintight dresses that are more than just an homage to the designer who now goes by the Karl Lagerfeld sanctioned name, Leroux.

The only piece available online is black, which is probably the only color that works for a band-aid tight dress on a normal body. It’s similar to Leger’s most basic designs, including the one on the left worn by Jemima Khan last year.

So stop by Express if you need to attend a red carpet event, want to blend in, and won’t spend $1500 on a dress that you can only wear post lemonade diet.