Sarah, Buyer

Got Her: Rushing in and out of the bathroom pre-Guy Laroche at the Louvre.

Stalked Her: Because I couldn’t believe my eyes, was that a mom in Balmain?

Shot Her: Isn’t it obvious?

She Said: “I am a buyer for the department store Detail in Korea, and everything I am wearing is Balmain, except the t-shirt. It’s just a t-shirt. Oh, and the necklace is Erickson Beamon.”

We Said: This is multi-tasking at its best.

—REBECCA SUHRAWARDI AUSTIN

“And new-millennium Balmain has definitely caught the fashion moment, as well as the attention of a whole wide world of bloggers, Tweeters and cyberspace image makers. They see in Mr. Decarnin the vibe of the moment: love it, grab it, own it, have fun with it. MySpace is his space.” —Suzy Menkes in her interesting IHT article that cites Balmain and Christophe Decarnin getting twice the Tweets and Google results of the superior, in her opinion, Nicolas Ghesquière and Balenciaga.

At the Balmain show this morning in Paris, Twitter was again on fire. From Derek “@dizzyblazeberg” Blasberg’s: “‘This is some hooker military shit,’ the stylist next to me observed” and “It’s a slutty sexy tent city over here” to @TheMoment’s “Savage Balmain! Think G.I. Jane meets Cher! Super sexy- again.”

And then we came to Joe Zee’s TwitPic of the sequined jeans. We’ve seen lots of sequins already this season, but I can only recall one other, Ralph Lauren, that involved a pair of jeans. I believe I stand alone at the office in liking this particular Ralph look (and the entire collection for that matter.) But I cannot be swayed. The sequins on those jeans are cool.

Now the Balmain version is of course much flashier, and will indeed cost a phenomenal amount more money. But these are definitely going to be all over the Beyoncés and Rihannas of the world. Riri even watched them go by in person from the front row.

And granted there could be some ugly trickle down versions that happen that happen as a result of this trend. But I’m on board so far. What about you?

My Favorite Martian: Daria returned to the runways this morning at Balmain. And apparently, the alien-like beauty of Tanya D. will grace us with its presence once again very soon. We missed your boundless energy backstage in New York, Miss T! {Fashin}

LSD’s Burial Outfit?: Apparently it may be a Julian Louie dress. And yes, that’s vaguely morbid. But we still love the commentary on the Vogue-ette’s Fashion Week choices. {StyleFile}

Copping To It: The Nina Ricci relaunch tonight in Paris will be a low-key affair. Our desire to see what Peter does, still anything but low-key. {FWD}

Jill Stuart’s show at the New York Public Library was very reminiscent of something. What’s that, you ask? Oh, that would be Marc Jacobs (which is nothing new for the designer) and Balmain.

Shoulders and military styles on the Decarnin front, 80s dresses via Jacobs. We used to have a running joke way back when I worked at Jane about Jill Stuart’s rampant Marc-ness. I just kinda wish she would stick to making those pretty party dresses that she’s always had in her collection instead of belatedly jumping on someone else’s directional designs.

There was also some majorly unwearable shortness in the skirts and dresses. The poor models were pulling them down as they walked in hopes of keeping their lady parts private. All that said there were definitely some pieces that girls are gonna love, especially in black and white. And probably the hot pinks and blues too.

Programming note: we’ll all be seeing this show on Bravo come Housewives of NY’s new season. Kelly Bensimon was on hand (with crew) in all her crazy glory.

Dear Fashionista,

I’ve come to really enjoy browsing Bebe’s website for a daily dose of designer knock offs. They’re so lazy that they don’t even bother tweaking their designs in the slightest (minus cheap fabrics).

I’d grown used to their love of the sexier runway bits: sky-high Gucci heels and skintight Balmain minis, but I couldn’t have been more shocked to find this AW09 Prada dress, complete with AW09 Prada hair in their embarrassing online magazine.

There are so few women who can even pull off the original; I’m terrified to see what happens when it’s available to the masses.

xoxo,
S

If you’re not designing a label right now, you should at least be curating something.

And we love Lara Stone all the more for taking the latter route. She’s responsible for the September issue of Not Just a Label, the online shop dedicated to unknown designers and one-offs from the ones we already love.

Her collection kicks off tomorrow with an orange dress by recent graduate Su Pei Ho, a leather bolero by Spon Diogo, an embroidered top and miniskirt by Anna Aichinger, a leather zip up dress and a Balmain-like jacket for boys.

If only we could borrow Lara’s body for the day, it’d make wearing all the avant-garde clothes a bit easier.

We like Betsey Johnson now, but we loved Betsey Johnson fifteen years ago, which is why we spent last night watching these vintage videos instead of True Blood.

Her team’s uploaded an insane archive, dating back to 1978 when Betsy debuted her namesake label and sent gyrating models down the runway in neon satin dresses with major side ponytails and shoulders I’ll call Balmain even though I’m aware they weren’t that back then.

You can catch Steven Tyler and Marc Jacobs walking her runway, as well as Pat Field, Bjork and of course, the famous ending cartwheel.

There are ten videos posted so far through the eighties and into the early nineties, and they’ll be adding more on a daily basis on Youtube, their Facebook page and via Twitter.

Here She Is: Vogue’s smallest September issue in years checks in at 584 pages. Charlize Theron holds down the cover in one of the most unflattering pictures ever. {TFS}

Disposable Income: Of all the new things on Net-a-Porter, this $11,255 jumpsuit complete with a drop crotch and sequined bodice actually made us laugh out loud. They call it “the ultimate in status style.” {Net-a-Porter}

Now You Know: Did you ever wonder how Anna Della Russo, Trainas & Co. remained so damned perfect throughout hours of shows on opposite sides of pretty big cities? Well, now you know. {Sartorialist—Jak&Jil}

Really Though: Every day someone declares heels dead and flats in or platforms over and stilettos the rage, but really, don’t people just mix it up everyday? Is it so wrong to want both? {TimesUK}

We love Wednesdays, not because it’s almost Friday, but because it’s when Net-a-Porter gets new stuff and we can wake up and wonder how the Balmain jackets and Halston mini-dresses sold out before we’ve even had coffee.

Today, we almost squealed with glee when we saw these DIY scarf kits.

For $85 you get all the Peruvian wool you need to make a seriously chunky scarf in bright fuschia, grey, turquoise, blue or purple. It even comes with new knitting needles and it’s kind of the perfect stuck on the L without a book subway project - though Faran wholeheartedly disagrees with me.

Meanwhile, we hate to introduce another fall shoe option, but these Thomas Wylde biker boots are amazing.

Blue Crush was the start of my wetsuit envy.

Seeing Kate Bosworth in her super sick rash guards totally made me buy one to wear on my wakeboarding (mis)adventures. I swear it had (almost) nothing to do with the surfer boys.

And we love when we see the styles emerge from the ocean and end up on the runway or in non-surf shops, like this high-waisted skirt that designer Thomas Renaud created in collaboration with Screaming Mimi’s.

Renaud designed it as a part of his COMBHARD for Screaming Mimi’s line. The super futuristic skirt is made of breathable neoprene and is completely reversible.

The thing about Balmain’s party dresses is that if they weren’t made quite so skillfully out of of such exquisite fabrics and crystals etc., they’d run the risk of looking downright trashy.

Christophe Decarnin’s perfected the tight sexy thing and made it work among the fashion crowd because, well, it’s so well done—which makes the girl look and feel the same. And isn’t that the point of looking hot on a night out?

Because even if you rock this Bebe knock off with its spot on asymmetrical hemline and triangular zig zags, you’re not going to look like Anja Rubik at the Met Ball. However, if you buy something that’s not supposed to look like something else inexpensively copied, something for well under $179, you just might look better than Anja.

Though you probably know that.

Also, while we’re on the subject of Bebe, these are heart-breaking.

Balmain, which WWD describes as “a hot ready-to-wear brand” is showing buyers and editors a very tight selection of bags during their pre-collection previews.

Christophe Decarnin’s clothes are in fact pretty damn hot, though the designer suffered a few critical stings last season when his AW09 clothes looked just like the SS09 clothes everyone else had already ripped off, or sorry, taken inspiration from. So now, while the world waits to make sure he can in fact do something new, they’ll also anticipate a handbag or two.

I had a folder in elementary school with this picture of Michael Jackson on the front. It actually had a cardboard record coming out of the top like a real album cover…and it was my most prized possession.

Of course, I was as obsessed with his music as any girl in the 80s, but I was also incredibly infatuated with the look—the vest, the yellow, the bow tie. And to be frank, I was completely in love with Michael Jackson.

I could go on for a million years about the moments and the memories that his music brings to mind. I will never forget sitting in the family room with my mom and dad, watching the “Thriller” premiere. For any of you too young to remember, this was a serious national event. When MJ’s hair caught on fire on the set of that Pepsi commercial…major disaster! And don’t even get me started on all things related to “Man in the Mirror”.

And bloggers take one more step up the fashion food chain.

Holt Renfrew, the Canadian department store, will pay tribute to a handful of fashion’s most famous online personalities including The Sartorialist’s Scott Schuman, BryanBoy and Jak & Jil’s Tommy Ton in their new window displays.

Creative director John Gerhardt’s orchestrated the entire thing without any input from the bloggers themselves - just inspiration from their sites and their voice. So we’re guessing layered prep a la Band of Outsiders with a bright scarf for Scott (and a bike of course), an explosion of Balmain and Givenchy for Tommy and just something major for BryanBoy.

We can’t wait to see the windows come Friday (because someone will send us pictures, right?) and we probably would buy anything straight out of one of Scott or Tommy’s gorgeous images, but we can’t help but wish Gerhardt had actually enlisted the bloggers’ help with the project.

We’re starting to hear rumors that fabulously talented makeup artist Tom Pecheux is in talks to create his own line with a major cosmetics company.

From what we’ve heard, this is not likely to be a simple one-off collaboration, but indeed a brand under his name. We like the sound of this a lot.

As a former beauty editor, one of the first things I do when I look at an editorial is check out who did the hair and makeup. Well, after I’ve tried to make my educated guess first. More times than I can count, it’s Tom on makeup. Seriously, there’s not much the man hasn’t done from Balmain ads to YSL shows to French Vogue editorials.

Dear Rihanna,

I don’t know much about your music. Mostly because I tend to pick up on music from the boys in my life and yours aren’t exactly their go-to tunes. But you’re on my radar (because I don’t live under a rock) and I’m digging your sartorial choices.

I know you have a red carpet/video/tour stylist, but I’m pretty sure when you walk out of the house in something like the Chris Kane dress at left, you’ve thrown it on all by yourself. Between that and your Stella sailor cardigan, the slouchy bag with which you dressed down that Alex Wang dress, your Balmain touches and this necklace you’re rocking all over NYC, we’re impressed.

So please wear more Chris Kane, check out Charles Anastase and maybe grab one of Marios Schwab’s 3D dresses? Also Ann D’s ribcage belt probably has your name etched along the spine and we’d love to see you in some Rodarte knits.

In closing, thank you for branching out where so many wear faded white tees and leggings - you’re like Michelle Obama for the Hollywood set and we kind of love you for it.

Dear Intermix,

We love you. We spent almost an hour in your store yesterday trying to find the perfect dress to wear to a very important wedding and we’ve narrowed it down to three. So don’t worry, we’ll be back.

But we do have a merchandising question. When one rack looks like this: black Balmain jacket, Balmain jeans, ripped-off Balmain jacket by a brand called Marley and the next rack looks like this: white Balmain jacket, leather Balmain pants and white ripped-off Balmain jacket again by Marley, what exactly are you going for?

Because as a customer (probably your target customer, less the desired clothing budget), we’re torn. It’d be hard to drop $5,000 on a jacket when you see something for $400 a mere foot away. But on the other hand, no one wants to buy the $400 version because the quality looks on par with Forever 21 when it’s sitting next to actual Balmain.

Do tell. Did we miss a retail secret along the way?

xo
F

If we were as clever and cute and charming as Seth Meyers and a team of SNL writers, we’d launch into a “Really?” tirade pointed at Target’s PR right now.

At a party the other night, someone told us we were the Rip-off police; we get at least ten emails per day alerting us to various knock-offs; lawsuits (Anna Sui, DVF) have been brought after reading our Adventures in Copyrights and today, or yesterday actually, Target’s PR sent us an email.

It says:

Hi Britt,

Hope you had a great weekend! Recently, stars like Beyonce and Rihanna have been sporting the Balmain military look which has had fashionistas everywhere dying to replicate the style! Now, Target has the answer with the Go International Line Bandleader Vest which is perfectly pared-down chic to pull of[f] this trend at an affordable price.

The email comes with pictures of Beyonce and Rihanna wearing actual Balmain next to pictures of Target’s sleeveless copy. We’d ignored the vest because it’s not an exact copy and it’s been written up everywhere, but companies sending us their rip-offs is too weird to ignore.

Really publicists?